Flotsam; The Three Pigs---A couple of books by David Wiesner:

Flotsam by David Wiesner
2007 Medal Winner

The Three Pigs by David Wiesner
2002 Caldecott Medal

Let's just start with the fact that David Wiesner has won THREE Caldecott medals and TWO Caldecott Honors. He's good! I haven't gotten my hands on the other medal and honor books he's written yet, but I look forward to doing exactly that!

FLOTSAM is a wordless picture book of a sophisticated nature. Many wordless picture books are designed for people too young to read. Not this one. Older children and adults will also enjoy Flotsam. The illustrations,  depicting a boys exploration on the beach, are detailed and fine, and there are lots of them--- some pages have more than a dozen frames.

If you love exploring on the beach and finding little animals and trash and treasures, you will resonate with the boy in this book. He's taking a close examination of a crab when a wave knocks him over. When he sits up again, he sees an ancient underwater camera that the wave washed up. And here the adventure begins. I'm not giving any of the rest of it away. It's cool. It's magical. This book is worth chasing down.

One of the things I love about the book is the way the illustrations, and really the whole story,  show the process of LOOKING. For example you see the hermit crab, huge, in sharp focus, looking startled. . . with the boys eye in the background. Then you see the boy stretched out on a blanket in the sand, a magnifying glass held up to his face (and making his eye enormous) and the hermit crab in his hand. If you are someone who loves this kind of LOOKING (and I do!) there is a lot of happiness seeing that process shown from various perspectives. You are pulled into the boys LOOKING and actually experience the story.

Highly recommended. All ages.

THE THREE PIGS is also totally clever and cool (though I'd have to say Flotsam would easily be my personal favorite.) This story begins with the usual "Once upon a time there were three pigs who went out into the world to seek their fortune. The first pig decided to build a house, and he built it out of straw."

I was thinking, "huh, I'm surprised that David Wiesner would want to do this story. . . " but then when the world huffed and puffed and blew the house in the little pig says "Hey He blew me right out the story!" and the pig actually sails OFF the page, and the wolf is supposed to be eating him up. . . but he's gone!

The rest of the book features pigs scrambling around doing their own thing IN BETWEEN the PAGES of the book. . . and then OTHER books!  This is so clever it's hard to explain! Which would be a good reason to give this man a medal! Heck the pigs even fold a paper airplane out of one of the pages in the book and fly away on it for a few pages. Ingenious and fun. In both books, for different reasons,  the sheer intelligence of this author-illustrator's  artistry impress me!

Here is a you-tube video of the artist talking about his most recent book. Seems like a very interesting man who likes to challenge himself! Art and Max by David Wiesner - YouTube

And here's an interview with the artist talking about getting the news of winning the Caldecott for the Flotsam and talking about his creating process: David Wiesner interview - YouTube

Love, Louise

One Crazy Summer

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

2011 Coretta Scott King Award Winner

2011 Newbery Honor Book

2011 Scott O’Dell Prize for Historical Fiction

2010 National Book Award Finalist

Delphine is the oldest of three sisters at eleven years old. Dephine, and her younger sisters Vonetta and Fern travel from Brooklyn, where they live with their Pa and "Big Ma" (his mother) to Oakland CA during the summer of 1968. The girls have been sent to meet their mother, Cecile, who left them immediately after Ferns birth, and isn't exactly "motherly." Cecile has changed her name to Nzilla, is a poet with a small printing press in her kitchen, and is involved with the Black Power movement. The girls spend their summer going to Black Panther summer camp where they get a free breakfast, learn the meaning of revolution, make friends with the children of freedom fighters who's parents gave their lives in the struggle or are imprisoned. It's a long way from Brooklyn and Pa and Big Ma. Cecile seems distinctly NOT glad to see them, and Delphine steps up to look out for her sisters the best she can. 

You will love these three girls. Several other characters are also memorable. The window into that time and place and movement is very satisfying. The intensity of Cecile/Nzilla and the mother she isn't is very compelling. Near the end of the book the girls take place in a rally that leaves them empowered. But the real culmination of the story happens the night before they leave when Cecile and Delphine have a heated discussion where Delphine finally learns her mothers life, and in the last moment before they step on the plane, to go home. 

I like this book! I could totally recommend it. Middle school and up. There are complex issues and scenes of arrests, stories about black panthers who were killed in episodes of police brutality, etc. So, I'd consider it ideal for adults and young people to read together as it would be a rich jumping off place for lots of worthy discussion! 

I feel the quote on the back of the book by Linda Sue Park (Newbery Medal author for her book The Single Shard) summed it up well: "One Crazy Summer is a genuine rarity: a book that is both important in it's contents and utterly engaging in its characters. . . with the tremendous bonus of being beautifully written."

Dear Mr. Henshaw

Originally posted 2003

Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary

1984 Newbery Medal

I thought this one was a bit “light weight” for a Newbery Medal. It’s told by a boy in his correspondance with an Author he likes and then in a journal he keeps. Tells of his parents breaking up and deals with family issues with his mom and dad. I didn’t love it. It was OK.

Related Blog-----Newbery Project Blog

I found this blog today that invites people to join and review Newbery Medal books.

The Newbery Project

It was fun to read other peoples impressions of some of the books I have read and if you want a second opinion, there are plenty of them here.

Love, Louise

The Wanderer

Originally posted 2003

The Wanderer by Sharon Creech

2001 Newbery Honor book

I liked Walk Two Moons so much that I made a project of reading everything Sharon Creech wrote! I like the Wanderer the best! A transatlantic sailing voyage sets the scene. An adopted girl is the central character and adoption issues figure into the story in a central way. There are great dipictions of family relationships especially with fathers and sons. Everyone is transformed by the voyage and the difficulties of a particular storm in a positive way. There are the characteristic Sharon Chreech wonderful people, including a wonderful boy character on the voyage.

The Higher Power of Lucky

The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron

2007 Newbery Medal

The town of Hard Pan population 43 is located in the Mojave Desert. Ten year old Lucky is one of those 43 residents and has one of the few jobs in town. She cleans up after the 12 step meetings that take place in the Found Object Wind Chime Museum and Visitor Center. "All the anonymous people left lots of litter, and each group could not bear to see the butts or the cans or the candy wrappers of the group that met before it. . . . The recovering alcoholics hated to see or smell beer cans left by the recovering smokers and gamblers, the recovering smokers could not stand cigarette butts left by the recovering drinkers, and the recovering overeaters hated to see candy wrappers left by the recovering drinkers, smokers and gamblers. Which means Lucky has a job."

She also has a spot behind the building where she eavesdrops on all the rock bottom stories the anonymous people tell. And listens carefully for any clues about finding your higher power, since she would like to find her own.

Lucky's mom died a few years ago and she has a guardian, Bridgette, who is from France. The main thread in the story follows Lucky's recovery from that loss. It has a happy ending.

I liked the book.There are a bunch of quirky characters who live in Hard Pan who are fun to read about. The book was funny and did a good job viewing the world through Lucky's eyes and in her language. But, it wasn't JUST funny, it also dealt with good themes of loss, love, recovery and community.

Although I think younger readers would enjoy the character of Lucky, and there's nothing horribly scary in the book, various things make me recommend it to middle school and up. A younger child reading WITH a parent might be OK. The whole context of the anonymous meetings, the opening rock bottom story has a snake biting a dog on the scrotum, stuff like that, makes me think of an older reader.

Love, Louise

A Year Down Yonder; A Long Way From Chicago

Originally posted October 24, 2003

Both of these are by Richard Peck. A Year Down Yonder was the Newbery Medal Winner in 2001 and A Long Way From Chicago was a Newbery Honor book in 1999. I read A Long Way from Chicago first because it is the "prequel" to A Year Down Yonder and I wanted to do it in order.

These stories have a storytellerish style, a kind of tall tale, yarn spinning quality. In A Long Way from Chicago each chapter tells a story about a gun toting, don't care what anybody thinks, tough as nails/heart of gold Grandmother that two kids from Chicago go visit each summer.

A Year Down Yonder follows the younger child through an entire year with her grandmother, during the depression when her parents are in a hard way in Chicago and decide it's best for the girl to live with her Grandmother for the year.

The chapters of each book stand on their own as stories. I bet it would be a fun one to read aloud.

I found that the each chapter a story format didn't suck me in quite a thoroughly as a regular novel does. The stories are funny, the Grandmother character outrageous and with good moral fortitude despite (or maybe because of?) her out law mentality. I think a lot of kids would love these books. Even though there's some gritty events, they are all placed in such an amusing, ridicules light that I don't think any of it is scary. I'd say it's aimed more at a middle school, high school audience, but I bet a much younger reader would enjoy them as well, especially if read with a parent.

Julie of the Wolves

Originally Posted October 24, 2003

Julie of the Wolves, by Jean Craighead George. Newbery Medal 1973

What a wonderful book. This is a Newbery winner that I'd easily put in the "classic" category. I read My Side of the Mountain by the same author in fifth grade and loved it (was also Holme's favorite book as a young person, and I think I'll need to find this one to read this again now) and this is kind of a girl version of the same kind of writing. Both stories reflect this authors love of the wilderness and fascination with going solo in nature.

Julie is the english name of an eskimo girl who lost both her mother and her father as a child. She lives with an aunt for a time and then at age 13 goes according to eskimo tradition to marry a boy who is the child of one of her father's close friends. When this situation turns unbearable, Julie runs away, hoping to travel by boat to San Francisco, becomes lost on the tundra and manages to survive partly because she is able to communicate with and befriend a pack of wolves.

The story details the life and ways of the wolves as well as the skill and native knowledge of the eskimo people. Julie struggles with her plight and then eventually comes to love her simple tools and the way her skills and knowledge, these traditional ways, are keeping her alive both in body and spirit. It's a story of coming to embrace her traditions and wanting to live in the old ways, which are rapidly vanishing among the eskimos. The ending is bitter sweet, with a realization that the old ways ideal she has come to embrace may no longer be viable.

Much of this book would be enjoyed by all ages. There are several key events, however that would be better skipped or saved for younger readers (alcoholism and a sexual assault triggers her running away for example) and the complexity of the cultural survival issues that the end of the story features, would be more deeply understood by older readers, so I'd recommend it for the 10 and up gang, but sections (all the stuff about being accepted by the wolf pack is pretty wonderful) could be read by the whole family.

The Secret Life of Bees; Three By Cynthia Voigt

Originally posted October 24, 2003

Secret Life of Bees (not actually on any of these award lists!)

Come a Stranger; Sons from Afar; Building Blocks---- all by Cynthia Voigt

OK, here I clear my recent reading list of various tangents that are often by Newbery authors, but not actually medal winners...!

The Secret Life of Bee's- I read this one because it's the Pittsboro Libraries project to get every one in the community to read this book in a Community Read project. I really enjoyed it a lot, and actually think teen readers would like it very much as well. The very beginning of the book is brutal and I almost wondered if I'd ever like it, with such a harsh start, but it quickly turns into a very good and gentle story. I wouldn't recommend it for young readers though for this reason. I think anyone 14 on up would do fine with it and some younger ones if they had some one to talk about it with could also do fine.

It's basically a coming of age story involving a girl who is being raised by her father as her mother is dead. Her dad is not a kind man, and she runs away along with a black woman who worked in their home. They end up finding a safe haven that leads to the disclosing of many aspects of the girls personal history that she was in search of. Plenty of thought provoking stuff on race relations in the south, womanhood, sisterhood, mothers and daughters, etc.

********

Now I begin the book reports on my massive Cythia Voigt tangent. After loving Dicey's Song so much I wanted to read more from this author. There are a couple of other books that follow the Tillerman family. . .

Come a Stranger is about Dicey's good friend Mina, who is African American. It deals with her dream of being a ballet dancer, the painful extinguishment of that dream, and the following rebuilding of her self concept and self esteem. It also deals in depth with the experience of an African American girl in a elite white world (the world of the dance camp she had won a scholarship to) and the many tensions and conflicts with in that experience. It's a good read. I'd suggest this one for 10 and up. Nothing scary that I remember, but I think the issues involved would be more of interest to the older reader.

Sons from Afar is the story of the two boys in the Tillerman family. Having lost their mother, and lived most of their lives with their Grandmother, the two Tillerman boys finally face the question of their father and go off in search of him, and really, in hope of learning more of themselves. The journey itself answers many of their questions and they eventually, after some dead ends and a harrowing adventure, come to peace with the issues at hand. I'd call this one for the 10 or 12 and up crowd. There is some scary stuff in the final encounter in the search.

Building Blocks is a different kind of a book, not about the Tillerman's and with more of a twist of fantasy than the other Cynthia Voigt books I read. It is about a boy who's mother and father are in conflict about what to do with an inheritance, and really in conflict in their relationship at the core. The boy ends up time traveling back to meet and know his dad as a boy, and returns with a much fuller understanding of his father. This might work for a slightly younger reader, maybe 8 or 9 and up if reading with a parent, but I still think it would be best appreciated by the 10 and older crowd. Her books are kind of introspective by nature and I'm not sure all the emotional, relational stuff would really be appreciated by the younger ones, but maybe I'm underestimating. There's some mildly scary stuff in this one, a getting lost in a cave scene, and some just mean dysfunctional family stuff in the family of the dad.

All in all, Cynthia Voigts mark as a writer is the depth with which she knows and presents her characters. They are stories about people. I found all her books good, but Dicey's Song (the medal winner) easily the very very best of the batch. She has a Newbery Honor book as well, A Solitary Blue, so I'll have to get my hands on that one eventually.

What are you reading?

Love, Louise

MC Higgins the Great; Whipping Boy

Originally Posted May 13, 2003

MC Higgins the Great by Virginia Hamilton

1975 Newbery Medal

The Whipping Boy by Syd Fleischman

1987 Newbery Medal

I found I never really "got" MC Higgins the Great. I just felt kind of lost and bewildered through most of it. Anyone else have a different (hopefully better) experience. I absolutely LOVE her book The Planet of Junior Brown, it was my favorite book in Junior High and I still liked it when I re-read it as an adult. Oh and I definitely would avoid MC Higgins with young readers for a variety of reasons. Sexual stuff, violent stuff, a very edgy relationship with a parent. . .

And The Whipping Boy didn't do it for me either. Just seemed kind of silly. (but NOT in the wonderfully silly kind of way.) HOWEVER, it was pretty harmless, and I think it would be fine to share with a young reader. (Maybe that would even redeem it, I don't know.)

Interested in other people's impressions of these two.

Love, Louise

Caddie Woodlawn; The Cat That Went to Heaven

Originally posted June 29, 2003

Here's a report on two of the earlier Newbery Medals. . . The Cat That Went To Heaven by Elizabeth Jane Coatsworth (1931) and Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink (1936).

Of these two books I liked Caddie Woodlawn A LOT, and would recommend it enthusiastically. I liked many things about The Cat That Went To Heaven as well, but couldn't recommend it quite as strongly.

Caddie Woodlawn is a true story about a pioneer girl growing up in Wisconsin at the time of the Civil War. Caddie Woodlawn was the authors grandmother and Carol Ryrie Brink grew up hearing her grandmother tell these stories and then set them down into a book. The book is a series of episodes that chapter by chapter nearly stand on their own. There's not one big climax but a lot of little adventures. I think it would make a great read aloud book and it would definitely be fine and good for the whole age range, including the younger ones.

Caddie is a totally likable tom boy character who is allowed to run wild with her two brothers because when a younger sister died soon after they'd arrived in Wisconsin and Caddie herself was weak, her father convinced her mother to agree to an experiment: Caddie would run wild with the boys and they would see if this would improve her health. It did.

Her adventures with her two brothers are rollicking good fun.

Rollar Skates had a similar "no big climax" style, but Caddie Woodlawn for me was a much more engaging read. And there was a subtle coming of age theme that made for some good closure in the end. I liked this book for it's "girl power" aspect! The only thing I found myself a little uneasy with was a some of the assumptions and attitudes re: Indians. Even though Caddies family was certainly progressive in their thinking for that day, and Caddie herself stuck her neck out on the Indian's behalf at least once, there are still moments of objectification or condescension to watch out for. (And other Pioneer/Indian encounters portrayed that are quite fine.)

Considering the book was published in 1935, that this is the only thing I found awkward I think is a good testimony for it's greatness! I know Lucinda enjoyed this one as well and my 14 year old sister in law, Sara loved it and has read it by now several times.

*****

I was excited when I realized that The Cat That Went To Heaven was set in Japan and was a story about Buddhism. (My mom is Japanese and Buddhist.) The story is about a poor artist who is commissioned by the temple to paint a picture of the Buddha's death. The book uses this frame story to tell many many traditional stories of the Buddha's life and of his previous lifetimes often as animals. As a storyteller, I've told or considered telling many of these same stories myself, so many of the Buddhist stories were ones I know or have studied. My main question about this book is how these stories come across to people who know NOTHING about Buddhism. I felt the retellings to be somewhat incomplete or sketchy and wasn't sure how easy it would be to follow if you didn't already know the stories. I liked the frame story a lot, following the artist in his spiritual preparations for this painting was very beautiful.

There are several early Newbery Medal winners that take place in Asia but are by Western authors. I'm curious about this, I think some of these authors were just interested in the cultures, others had grown up in Asia as children of missionaries. . . I personally am encouraged by the voices of Asian American authors telling stories of Asia and Asian American experience coming into print more recently.

I will say this about the earlier Newbery Medal winners I've read so far. . . they are vastly more tame in terms of gritty themes, violence, etc. So, those of you with the 8 and 9 year old and under kids, I think you might find some good read aloud choices among the 1950's and earlier books on this list!

I did enjoy The Cat That Went To Heaven, especially the frame story and would really love to hear from anyone else who reads it, especially if you aren't particularly familiar with the story of the Buddha, to see how it came across to you!

Love, Louise

Strawberry Girl

Originally posted September 5, 2003

Strawberry Girl

by Lois Lenski,

Newbery Medal 1946

Well, this is one of the few Newbery books that I just plain didn't like much. I had to kind of force myself to finish it. The story takes place in Florida many years ago and tells of two neighboring families, one of which is featured in the story --- a family that is hard working and virtuous, building a farm of strawberries and citrus, raising a bunch of kids right. The other family, is ignorant and basically "white trash" though they never come out and use that phrase. There was something about that set up that just grated on me, the endless contrast between these two families and the moralistic judgmental undertone beneath that comparison.

In the end the "bad" family get's saved, starts reading the bible,the father quits drinking and becomes grateful for his kind neighbors. . .I don't know, it just didn't work for me quite.

HOWEVER, the cool stuff in this story is what you learn about life in that place, in that time. I loved the detailed descriptions of every day life, making sorghum molasses, the ice wagons/iced shipping boxes used to ship strawberries by train up north, the one room school, etc.

So, if you were just dying to learn about the early farming of Florida, hey! you will learn some of that!

I'm curious about Lois Lenski, she's written a whole bunch of books similarly depicting different regions of the US, or different times in US history, has anybody just loved any of them? This is the first one I've read.

Love, Louise

The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales

The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales

by Jon Scieszka, illustrated by Lane Smith

1993 Caldecott Honor Book

I read this one out loud to Jabu (age 10) at bedtime last night. It is a book of spoofs on traditional fairy tales with titles like: The Princess and the Bowling Ball; Little Red Running Shorts, and The Boy Who Cried "Cow Patty". It was a good match for his mood, which was a GOOFY sugar induced state of wackiness. Much giggling. It is a very silly book.

Our favorite was The Boy Who Cried "Cow Patty" which we almost didn't find, because it was on the INSIDE of the book jacket, which was taped securely onto the book library style! In fact the entire layout and design of the book is whacky from start to finish. Things are upside down, out of order, and in strange places, with funny fonts.

The illustrations by Lane Smith are hilarious. AND, for this book it is absolutely necessary to remember that the Caldecott Medal and Honor books go to the ILLUSTRATOR. Randolph J. Caldecott, who the award is named after, was a ninteenth century English ILLUSTRATOR.

I found the "fairly stupid tales" to be, in fact, fairly stupid, and could not recommend the book based on depth of meaning or great literature! I found the stories to be disappointing. They made you laugh, but also left me feeling a little empty. It's a cheap brand of humor! This very brand of humor however, is pretty appealing to a 10 year old boy in a goofy mood, so, for the right occasion it's not a bad choice! But I wouldn't make anyone read it!

Love, Louise

The Lion and the Mouse

The Lion and the Mouse

By Jerry Pinkney

2010 Caldecott Medal Winner

This is a wordless picture book, by one of my favorite illustrators, Jerry Pinkney. It's a retelling of an Aesop's fable. The pictures are luscious, and I've always liked this fable about a lion catching a mouse and letting it go.; and the mouse returning the kindness.

I enjoyed it. Makayla (age 6) enjoyed it too.

Love, Louise

The Garden of Abudl Gasazi

The Garden of Abdul Gasazi

by Chris Van Allsburg

1980 Caldecott Honor Book

If you have read other Chris Van Allsburg books (Polar Express, Jhmanji, and more) this picture book fits right in. There is a starts in reality . . . crosses into the fantastic. . . . returns to reality. . . did it really happen or not????? quality that is a common thread in these books.

The drawings are black and white intricate pencil drawings, rather "realistic" looking. . . and then suddenly, we're in the world of "retired magician Abdul Gasazi" and dogs are getting turned into ducks!

It's a fun book. I enjoyed it.

Love, Louise

The Yellow Star: The Legend of King Christian X of Denmark

The Yellow Star: The Legend of King Christian X of Denmark

by Carmen Agra Deedy

2001 Christopher Award, Books for Young People, ages 10-12

I was drawn to this book at the library because Carmen Deedy is a storyteller and I performed with her at a festival long long ago, and thought she was GREAT.

This is a picture book story that takes place during the Nazi occupation of Denmark. It's a beautiful story of loving inspired leadership, unity and resistance. I don't want to give away the details! I recommend the book.

Even though the Christopher Award suggests ages 10-12, I think a younger child could enjoy this book if they are interested in history (my son Jabu was TOTALLY interested in biographies and historical stories from a young age) and have a parent to give back ground and talk about the issues.

In the authors note at the close of the book we learn that this story has not been confirmed in actual fact, but it still rings true to historic events in Denmark during that time, and definitely rings true to what we hope for in our common humanity.

The Christopher Awards, a new list for my project

I've added a new group of books to my project. The Christopher Awards.

The Christopher Awards

---

First presented in 1949, the Christopher Awards were established by Christopher founder Father James Keller to salute media that “affirm the highest values of the human spirit.” Their goal is to encourage men, women and children to pursue excellence in creative arenas that have the potential to influence a mass audience positively. Award winners encourage audiences to see the better side of human nature and motivate artists and the general public to use their best instincts on behalf of others.

Dave the Potter, Artist, Poet, Slave

Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave

by Laban Carrick Hill, illustrated by Bryan Collier

2011 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award

2011 Caldecott Honor Book

This is a picture book. I found it in the picture book part of our library, although it is a biography. It tells the story of Dave the Potter. A slave who made pots, they estimate he might have made 40,000 pots in his lifetime. Unique to his artistry, and especially surprising under his circumstance, he wrote little poems on many of the pots, and signed his name. Tiny 2-4 line poems, and it is from these poems that much of his life story is pieced together. He was also one of only 2 potters known to that time who could make really LARGE pots --- up to 40 gallons.

This book describes his life and the process of making pots---- from dirt, to wheel, to glaze, with simple lovely words and beautiful illustrations. A great book to share with young children and older ones.

Love, Louise

PS I shared this book with my daughter age 6 last night. We had an excellent discussion about slavery. My son (now 10) LOVED biographies from pre-school on and we discussed slavery, the civil rights movement, etc. etc. from age 3 forward. My daughter hasn't been so inclined towards non-fiction, and we haven't talked about history as much. I've started dedicating a half an hour to read with her each evening, just the two of us. It's a very sweet time, not related to bedtime, just a special time for us! And I realized last night that I'd like to sneak more historical/biographical picture books into the mix. The jumping off points for discussion from these books are SO invaluable.

My children are African American. I am of mixed heritage--- Japanese on my mothers side, Russian Jewish on my fathers side. My husband is European American. My son's sense of self in terms of his racial identity and African American heritage, and his perceptiveness about race dynamics in our daily experience, I think is very strong, and I believe the books that we read and talked about were a big contributor to this. Other stuff also contributed! Books alone wouldn't take care of this. . . . but they were a very positive factor!

Anyhow, I want to up this part of my daughters education and sense of self! So . . . bring on the books!

Yummy the Last Days of a Southside Shorty

Yummy the Last Days of a Southside Shorty

by G. Neri, illustrated by Randy DuBurke

Coretta Scott King 2011 Honor book

This is a comic book style telling of a true story of a 1994 gang violence incident in Chicago's Southside. I was not aware of the news story when it happened. It is a tragic story of a young kids involvement in gangs and a particular boy nick named Yummy, a member of the Black Disciples gang, who murdered a girl when he was 11 years old. He was on the run for some days after that. Then he called home and was considering turning himself in, when he was was picked up by some Black Disciples and murdered by his own gang members. Very scary and sad to know about. Very important message to circulate.

I'd recommend the book. Obviously not for young kids. But I would share it with Jabu age 10, with plenty of parent-kid discussion to go along.

Love, Louise

PS--- I found I couldn't stop thinking about this story as I went about my day yesterday. And not just because it was disturbing. It's a powerful important story, well told. I'm glad this book exists and I hope a lot of young people read it and take the lessons to heart.

Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli

originally posted September 5, 2003

Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli. Newbery Medal 1991

Wonderful. I loved it. I put a big star beside this one. Highly recommended!

It's hard to do justice to a review of this one, so let me just say it's better than what ever I'll be able to say about it here! It's a story about a kid who is a legend. A parentless kid who runs, sneakers flapping, until he comes to a certain city where he has various adventures leading him back and forth into, and into the heart of, both the black side and the white side of town.

He's a wonderful character. The windows on the various families and neighborhoods he passes through are illuminating.

Ultimately it's a story about belonging.

I think kids 9 or 10 and up would love this story. I don't remember anything horrible for kids younger than that, but I just think it would be more enjoyed by the slightly older ones.

If I had to recommend only 4 or 5 of the Newbery books I've read, this would be on the list. Holmes also loved it. Writing this makes me want to check it out and read it again. Maybe I will.

Love, Louise

Wringer by Jerry Spinelli

Originally Posted October 24, 2003

I loved Maniac Magee, and I loved Wringer by the same author, Jerry Spinelli. They are different stories, completely, but each brilliant in their own way. Wringer is a Newbery Honor book from 1998.

Wringer tells the weird story of a town that as a fundraiser for it's park holds a pigeon shoot, with live pigeons, each summer. The boys of the town "help" with the pigeon shoot by becoming "wringers" on their 10th birthdays, when they run on the field and wring the necks of any wounded pigeons to put them out of their misery. The story tells of a boy who dreads his 10th birthday, because he knows with complete certainty that he doesn't want to be a wringer.

It's an incredible story about boys, the pressures on them to be "boys", the pain and losses involved in succumbing to these pressures, and the courage and strength required to not give into them. Even though it has at it's core this weird unappealing pigeon death image, there's something about the way the story is told where you kind of know this boy is going to rise to the occasion and keep his own truth about the whole thing. So, with parental guidance, I would find this story to be OK for kids 8 or 9 and up, or with out so much parental involvement for 10 and up. I really liked it a lot and greatly appreciated it's message.

Love, Louise

The Secret River

The Secret River by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings; pictures by Leo and Diane Dillon

Newbery Honor book 1956

This was in the picture book section of our library. I love the illustrators Leo and Diane Dillon, who have also received the Caldecott medal. It's a beautiful book and both Jabu (10) and Makyala (6) enjoyed it as a bedtime read aloud (took more than one night to read). I found it when I was looking for books about Florida and it does a nice job of depicting rural Florida with it's cypress knees, live oaks, cat fish, and other creatures. Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings also wrote The Yearling, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1939 (and I have never read, so now want to!) This story was published posthumously and is the only story that the author wrote specifically for children. (Although the Yearling is now considered to be a young adult read, that was not the authors intention.)

The heroine of our story is a little girl named Calpurnia who was "born to be a poet." Hard times have come to the forest and the African American community Calpurnia and her family belong to. Her daddy runs a fish market, but it's looking like the market will have to close. With some instructions from Mother Albirtha, the wisest person in the forest, Calpurnia follows her nose to discover a secret river and brings back fish that turn "hard times to soft times". The real magic in the story though, is uncovered when Calpurnia sets out to find the secret river again. The ending is lovely and I'll save it for you to enjoy in the book!

Love, Louise

Miracles on Maple Hill

Originally posted August 17, 2003

date: 8/17/2003

Miracles on Maple Hill by Virginia Eggertsen Sorensen. 1957 Newbery Medal

Miracles on Maple Hill is wonderful! I loved it. I worked on a dairy farm on a Maple Hill in Vermont long ago and it brought back wonderful memories. On my Maple Hill I worked at Govewood Farm with an older farmer named Walter Smith and "Uncle" Miff Keene, who was also old and not really a blood relative but had lived with the family forever. There was also a dairy manager who's name is escaping me at the moment and a young worker named Mitch who like me was around 19 at the time.

Approaching Govewood Farm there were signs that said "Slow, we pasture this road". It was a wonderful farm with chickens, about 40 milking cows, pigs, a couple of working oxen, and all these wonderful people. I worked morning milking which meant getting up at 4 something in the morning and walking a couple miles up to the farm. We used milking machines that hooked up to each cow individually and then were dumped into pails to carry into the milk house where the pails were poured through filters into a big stainless steel vat. The cows were Holsteins and Jerseys with a few minor breeds that Miff had kind of like pets, I remember he had a couple of line backs. The barn was warm with the heat of beasts, even in the cold Vermont winters. And I remember in winter leaving the barn after milking where the sun would just be rising.

Breakfasts after milking were awe inspiring occasions. Mitch could eat a dozen eggs, a bunch of bacon and a whole loaf of bread by himself! Pitchers of milk straight from the barn were drunk by the huge glassful.

Mitch amazed me. I helped with hay making that summer and as I struggled to hoist my bales onto the truck using my knee maneuver it into a position where I could barely roll it on to the hay wagon somewhat precariously. . . Mitch could take a bale in each hand and then toss them high enough so they cleared the load with a good foot to spare and then landed neatly where ever he sent them.

Miff it turned out was a poet. He wrote these wonderful ballad like story-poems, and then later some free verse poetry. Some folks from the college near by "discovered" him and helped him publish several volumes of his poems. Miff loved for me to read the poems out loud and made me promise when he died that I would come to his grave and read to him again. A promise I still need to fulfill, and will.

I never helped with sugaring, but was aware of it as that season passed. Walter worked his sugar bush with a team of oxen, and I always regretted not being part of that season on the farm.

The beauty of that place stays with me. I loved Vermont. I remember one morning rising as usual at 4 and walking sleepily up the hill towards the farm. The sky was glowing. It was early spring, and in my sleepy headed mind I admired a show of lights sweeping the sky that I assumed was sunrise. . . I was thinking that the days were getting longer and it was getting light earlier than before. It wasn't until I emerged from the barn after milking and the sun was rising . . . again! that I realized I had seen was the Northern Lights!

Anyhow, back to the book. It's wonderful. It takes you through a year of seasons on Maple Hill (this Maple Hill is in PA, but had similar botanical and seasonal pleasures as my Maple Hill in VT.) through the eyes of a girl named Marley, her big brother Joe and their parents. They live in Pittsburgh, but have returned to Maple Hill, a family place of Marley's mothers, mostly in an effort to put the family back together again after the Dad returned from war, not injured, but clearly scarred emotionally. They plan for the Dad to stay there and fix up the old house, the mom and kids will come up weekends until school is out and then they will all stay for the summer. They have wonderful country neighbors there, who share with them the miracles of the all the seasons. Starting with maple sugaring and heading on into a glorious spring and summer. At the end of summer Maple Hill has claimed them, the healing they'd been seeking has definitely occurred, and they choose to stay!

The story is a pleasing blend of celebrating natural phenomenon and cherishing neighbors and family.

The references to the Dads war experiences are indirect and this would be a very nice read for all ages, including the younger ones.

Love, Louise

Secret of the Andes; Jacob Have I Loved; A Wrinkle in Time

Secret of the Andes by Ann Nolan Clark 1953 Newbery Medal

Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson 1981 Newbery Medal

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle 1963 Newbery Medal

Hey again, I'm catching up as you can see!

I LOVED Secret of the Andes (1953). It was almost a spiritual text for me. A beautiful story about the survival of indigenous people. It's about a boy who is a llama herder and someone who is a culture bearer for his people. I'm not sure if this story is "for everybody" but I really did love it. It's a quiet story, but very powerful. Ann Nolan Clark worked as a teacher on Indian reservations in this country and also in Latin America, I believe. I've read other stories by her and liked them as well. I trust her sensibilities re: the complex issues of Native culture and cultural survival. This is a book I want Native kids to read!

******

Jacob Have I Loved is one of the few Newbery Medal books which I actively DID NOT like AT ALL! It's by Katherine Paterson, the same person who wrote Bridge To Taribithia, (which I liked just fine.) The story takes place in the Chesapeak Bay on a remote island, and some of the secondary details about the life of a crabbing community were of interest. But in general. . .

Jacob Have I Loved was DEPRESSING! It was about two twin sisters. To start off with the second of these sisters born had to be resusitated and as they tell the story no one really remembers what happened to the "older" twin while all this was happening. Then at age three months this same "younger" twin took sick and had to be carried to the mainland to the hospital and the mother went with this baby to breast feed her, while the other twin stayed home with out her mother and ate formula. The mother and younger baby were gone for months. Anyhow, this sets the stage for the younger, adored, lovely and talented sister to nearly drive the older twin insane. The story is told from the older sister's point of view and it's pages and pages of pain and difficulty and shattered hopes with a few pages at the end that show this girl, as an adult breaking away from the family dynamics and making a life for herself. A little too saturated in adolescent angst for me? Too pyscho-literary? I don't know but I didn't enjoy reading this book. I think it was just the ratio of depressing pages to uplifting ones.

I don't remember anything violent or tragic specifically in this book, but a younger reader would not enjoy it. But then again, according to me, neither would an older one!

Lucinda, lover of depressing books! Did you like this one? Martha, lover of this author! Did you like this one?

******

A Wrinkle in Time (1963) by Madeleine L'Engle was a fun read, but didn't get a gold star on my personal list. (Secret of the Andes did get the Louise gold star!) It has a good active heroine. It's a blend of science fiction and some not so subtle Christian themes. There are some nice goofy fantasy characters, some good real people characters as well. It's a quest to rescue the main character's Dad and put the world right. (good prevails.)

I don't remember anything that would be objectionable to a younger reader, but I think the 10 and up group would like it best.

******

Love, Louise

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry; Roller Skates; Shiloh

Originally posted May 22, 2003

OK, I just finished reading Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor (Newbery Medal 1977), Roller Skates by Ruth Sawyer (Newbery Medal 1937), and Shiloh by Phyliss Reynolds Naylor (Newbery Medal 1992).

In terms of the "truly great book" category Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry definitely qualifies. It's wonderfully crafted, about something really important, and absolutely beautifully told. The author tells about a slice of history based on her own families experience, and the love she feels for her dad who told her these stories is evident through out. The story it tells is difficult. The book takes place in Mississippi in the 1930's, some 70 years after slavery ended. It is a world of sharecroppers, poverty, buying on credit at the company store, segregated schools, racial violence, night riders, and set in a time when a black person couldn't expect the law to provide justice. (Still true, I suppose, but thankfully, we have come a ways from 1930's Mississippi even if we still have a ways to go.) As hard as the story is, the family context Mildred Taylor provides holds out a thread of dignity, empowerment and hope that makes the story all the more beautiful and sad.

This thread of hope and love and beauty is what I found lacking in Paula Fox's Slave Dancer. It's definitely present in Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. I just felt stunned after reading Slave Dancer, Roll of Thunder is an emotional story, but in a very respectful, wise way.

The morning I finished this book I cried. It seemed like too great a privilege to just sleep through the night with out fear of attack! I wondered about explaining this stuff to Jabu. I was so thankful that this would not be his experience. I am very interested in hearing from families of older kids about how you have explored the many difficult parts of our American History (and world history for that matter) and how your children have responded. These novels make it all so real and emotional, which I think is their strength. What have your kids told you/asked you after reading them?

Anyhow, I am definitely a fan of this author. She writes with great strength of spirit and integrity. I want to read her other books. All of them! She has some titles on the Coretta Scott King award list as well.

Roller Skates was kind of a weird book to read directly after Roll of Thunder. . . it's a HUGE contrast! For one thing it's the earliest of the Newbery Medal books I've read so far (1937) and it is a whoppingly old fashioned book! It features a girl named Lucinda. (For those of you new to our discussion, know that OUR Lucinda's mom was given this book as a birth gift when Lucinda was born. One of her friends just went into a book store and asked for a story that featured someone named Lucinda!)

The author interested me because Ruth Sawyer wrote what is still the classic of storytelling "how to" literature "The Way of the Storyteller" a book I often recommend to storytelling students.

The character Lucinda is definitely appealing. . . she is a child of a privileged high society family of NYC, but she is spunky and tom boyish and unable to fill the stuffy expectations of her families social standing. The story is about a magical tenth year when her parents for health reasons must go to Italy (???) and leave Lucinda behind in the care of one of her teachers and her teacher's sister for an entire year. They live in a boarding house and Lucinda basically spends the year with an entirely unprecedented degree of freedom, roller skating happy loops around the city and making friends with everyone she meets: fruit stand peddlers, hansom cab drivers, various co-dwellers in the rooming house, a rag picker, etc. ; some of these people she wouldn't even be allowed near under normal circumstances, as she was normally under strict supervision by a French governess.

For me the story dragged a little. If you were to draw a picture of this story it would be a wiggly line going straight across the page. There wasn't a unified dramatic theme with crescendo and climax. It was more of a series of episodes. Somewhere in the middle of these I had a "I can't wait for this book to end" moment! Also, the "old fashionedness" of the book kind of kept this chipper, cheery, spunky tone of Lucinda always somewhat protected from trouble and harm and on top of what was going on, to the point of describing a murder scene and the death of a beloved child-friend with out ever reaching emotional depth! The book also skirted around some huge class issues with out ever bringing it to the full out moment of insight I would look for. Lucinda's new friends experienced hardship and poverty, but she remained in this role of their plucky friend ("maybe I can help, I'll think of something!") and she almost romanticized them in contrast to the stifling life she's escaped for the year.

The end of the book leaves Lucinda with her parents about to return and there's a sense that this year apart, and the relationships she had begun, won't necessarily be integrated into her life upcoming.

One really fun aspect of the book is the picture of NYC at that time. Lucinda roams the city freely, often alone, with out ever being in any real danger. It's clear that NYC wasn't especially dangerous at that time, at least that is what this book depicts. The book takes place in 1890. There are various glimpses into the life of that time/place and the technologies, cultures, foods, customs, etc. that are drawn with nice detail. Laced through out the book are a lot of literary references, almost as if the author was purposely trying to get young readers to want to read some of these classics she refers to.

On to Shiloh. This was a quick read for me, and I think would be quite manageable reading-wise for some of our younger readers. It's a good story about a boy who falls in love with a dog who is being mistreated by it's owner and his adventures on the way to trying to befriend this dog and protect it from harm. There is some nice tension about "what is right and what is wrong" as the boy has to struggle with various moral questions with out easy answers as he struggles to help the dog.

There is some animal cruelty stuff on the part of the dogs original owner, but it's not graphically depicted and to me wasn't hard to handle (and I'm kind of a wuss (sp?) about such things.) Also the whole story is in the context of the boy's efforts to help, which softens the harsh elements considerably. I also appreciated the author putting even the man's rough treatment of the dog in the context of this same man's rough life experiences.

OK, so for the age appropriateness question:

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry I would recommend for older readers, and for middle-old readers to read WITH parents. There is a lot of explaining to do if readers aren't up on their Black History, and this book would make a great opportunity to do some of that learning.

Roller Skates has a few touchy places (a murder and a death) but not described in what I'd consider a scary way. There would be some explaining to do to place the story in time, and I'm not sure it would hold the INTEREST of a very young reader, partly because of the old fashioned writing style, but there's nothing I'd find emotionally repelling about it in that regard. I think 8 and up could enjoy reading it, the younger ones with a parent, at least initially until the cadence of the writing style was comfy.

I'd OK Shiloh for younger readers too, even with the rough aspects, I think they are described obliquely enough and given enough context for it to be OK, and the writing style (told in the voice of an 11 year old boy) is very accessible and easy to read.

Of the three books Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is the only one that I'd get up on a soap box and demand people read!

LOVE to know what others are reading!! Love to know if anyone would review any of these books quite differently! I've got Dicey's Song (1983) and Gay-Neck (1928) checked out from the library now, along with another book by Linda Sue Park (because I loved A Single Shard so much!)

love, Louise

Island of the Blue Dolphins; Call it Courage

Originally posted September 5, 2003

Island of the Blue Dophins by Scott O'Dell, Newbery Medal 1961

Call it Courage by Armstrong Perry, Newbery Medal 1941

It makes sense to review these two together as they are both stories of young people who survive on an island alone. I think of it as the "boy version and the girl version!"

Call it Courage is the story of a Polynesian boy who has a deep fear of the sea as the result of a traumatic incident he experienced when he was very young. In his culture this fear leaves him actually unable to lead a normal life. His father is the leader of the village and ashamed of his son, and the boy feels this shame acutely . The boy decides to face his fears and sets out on the sea alone . . . but not really alone. . . he has his dear dog as a companion and a bird who is also his friend who travel with him on this adventure. He lives on a neighboring island for a time and then returns triumphantly to his village.

Island of the Blue Dolphins is a true story of a native american girl who is accidently left on her people's island (in the Pacific Ocean off the west coast) as they are fleeing the island. They are unable to return for her and she waits many years. The story tells of the life she creates for herself there, her occasional encounters with other people, her spirit and artistry. I get a kind of beautiful, lonely, sad feeling remembering the book.

Both stories have detailed descriptions of the technologies these young people invented and employed in order to survive. (I always like that kind of thing.) Both young people have many dangers and challenges they manage to overcome.

I liked Island of the Blue Dolphins a lot. The story is especially intriguing in the "trueness" of it and it's more complex emotionally than Call it Courage (or maybe I'm just a girl and go for the girl story?). Call it Courage had some somewhat troubling (to me at least) descriptions of "man eating" tribes of neighboring islands and some other stuff that I just wondered about the cultural context and accuracy or datedness there of . Island of the Blue Dophins stands more in the "classic" category.

If you or your young readers like stories of survival or are interested in native technologies/way of life, these would both be good reads. I'd recommend them for ages 10 and up.

Love, Louise

Out of the Dust, by Karen Hesse

Originally posted: September 5, 2003

Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse. Newbery Medal 1998

Woah, Alicia Adrian said this one was "intense" and that is practically an understatement!!!!! I'm glad she reviewed some of the other Hesse books, cause I wouldn't have necessarily sought them out after this one!

It is the kind of book that leaves visceral images permanently etched on your psyche! It takes place in the dust bowl of Oklahoma, a time and place I had very little feel for before reading this book. I was amazed by the phenomenon of the DUST. It was making me a little insane just reading about it, I can't imagine living through it. . . homes filling up with it, families sitting down to dinner with all the plates turned upside down and righting them just before eating to keep the dust from filling their plates, but the food already blackened with it. . . yikes!

As Alicia mentioned this is NOT a book for young readers, there is a tragic accident involving death and disfigurement early on that would NOT be a useful image for a young reader to be carrying around.

The book is basically a coming of age story, about Billlie Jo, fourteen. A story about pain and healing, blame and forgiveness, the urge to get away from home and the need to stay connected to it.

The one thing that I had trouble with was the "voice" of Billie Jo. . . the book is written in her voice, and the writing, for me, didn't SOUND like her! But the images of the dust bowl and Billie Jo's story were well worth the read.

Love, Louise

A Single Shard

Originally posted May 6, 2003

A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park (Clairion Book/Houghton Mifflin)

2002 Newbery Medal

I gobbled up A Single Shard in one big read. I LOVED it! Such that I'm eager to read the other books by this author. It takes place in ancient Korea. Two homeless people, a boy and a man who's cared for him since he was little are the main characters. The boy ends up being an apprentice to a master potter. There is a little of the "midwife's apprentice" stuff in here with the master not exactly being the most encouraging or nurturing teacher ever and the boy having to be so determined and devoted. But it's a much sweeter story than the Midwife's Apprentice in general, for me. Plus there is a ton of information about the history and craft of pottery, which I found really fun to learn. (NOTE: SARAH HOWE, I think you would find this a fun read as a potter!) I also appreciated a book set in Asia (my mom is Japanese) especially as I haven't come across this yet in the Newbery medal list in my reading so far. (It seems like Asian American children's literature is just now coming into a period of flourishing, where as African American children's literature is by now quite well represented, including in the Newbery Medal winners.)

Themes of friendship, loyalty, abandonment/belonging, loss/healing.

There is some gritty stuff in the hard life of the homeless boy and his friend and the injustice of that. And some events in the last few chapters that I would definitely preview before sharing with a younger kid. (Let me know if you want details I don't want to lay it ALL out for people who are about to read this!) It all ends well, though not with out some sadness in the mix. But definitely uplifting and hopeful in the main!

I would recommend this one enthusiastically!

Meanwhile I've been dragging through MC Higgins The Great (even though I've loved other's by Virginia Hamilton) and haven't really been grabbed yet by The Whipping Boy either, in fact I took a break from "working on" either of these (they do feel like work!) to fly through Bridge to Teribithia and A Single Shard, both of which have that "capture me and make me want to read through to the end" quality I really love in a book! Maybe these books will redeem themselves by the end, I'll let you know!

Love, Louise

Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo

Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo (Candlewick Press)
2001 Newbery Honor Book

This is my first read in the revived project!

Takes place in Florida and I appreciate the completely southern feel of the story. Involves a wonderful batch of odd-ball characters including an old lady librarian, a guitar playing/ex-convict/pet shop employee, a nearly blind old lady gardener, a preacher, and especially a girl named Opal and her dog, Winn-Dixie.

There were some whacky elements that I enjoyed . . . like the guitar playing/ex-convict/pet shop employee letting all the animals out of their cages every morning ("I take them out. I feel sorry for them being locked up all the time. I know what it's like to be locked up.") and playing his guitar for them while they listen, mesmerized.

And Littmus Lozenges---- a candy that tastes of root beer, strawberries, and a hint of melancholy.

It's an easy read. A sweet story, not too heavy, but with themes of loss and healing; acceptance and friendship. Nothing in here that would scare off anyone (a younger chapter book reader/listener could definitely handle it). I'd recommend it. It's next on the read aloud list for my kids, and I think BOTH of them (ages 10 and 6) might like it.

update:

I started it with Makayla age 6 last night and she LOVED it. She was a little reluctant at first because "it doesn't have pictures" but she is a big animal lover and she was captivated pretty much right away. :-)

update 2:
Jabu (age 10) read Because of Winn Dixie last week. He LOVED it, said it was the best book he has ever read! The kids also found the movie DVD at the library, so we watched it. I thought it was pretty good over all, but Jabu who had JUST finished the book didn't like it so well. Which I actually was pleased by! (Nice that his experience of the book beat the movie!) He was eager to find another chapter book to read after this one, another excellent recommendation for this book!

I also wanted to share some links that I found related to the book:
Kate DiCamillo's webiste has a nice essay "On Writing"--- On Writing
The publishers of the book have a discussion guide: http://www.candlewick.com/book_files/0763607762.bdg.1.pdf

Jabu enjoyed doing this crossword puzzle related to the book:
Crossword Puzzle

I can't find the link now, but I found some cool writing ideas---

* make a list of 10 things about someone important to you (like Opal had for her mom, and for Winn Dixie)

* invent a new kind of candy that evokes an emotion. And create an advertisement for this candy. 

Holes the book, Holes the movie

Originally posted: June 29, 2003

Dear Newbery Buddies,

I haven't written any book reports in over a month, but I've been reading all the while. . . so here is the first installment to catch up. . . re: Holes by Louis Sachar (newbery medal for 1999).

I read Holes and loved it. A few weeks later Holmes wanted to go to the movie. . . I was reluctant at first (I am total wimp about movies and thought it might be too violent for me!) but then decided to go for more "Newbery research" and to have a date with Holmes.

The book is GREAT. The movie is not great. It often happens that way, eh? The movie wasn't horrible, but not as good as the book by any means.

The book is zany, weird and wonderful. The story takes place at Camp Greenlake, a facility for boys in trouble with the law. It's primary theraputic principle is taking a these boys out in the desert of TX and make each one dig a hole measuring 5 ft in diameter and 5 ft deep everyday, this, apparently will turn a bad boy into a good boy. Stanley Yelnats gets sent there for doing something that he didn't actually do.

The book weaves together various strands. . . a family curse set into motion by Stanley's "no good rotten pig stealing great grandfather". . . a legend about Kissing Kate Barlow, an outlaw . . . the history of Green Lake, which used to be a lake and a town but hasn't been a lake (or a town) in a very long time but is instead the dry desert the boys are digging holes in. . . and Stanley's own experiences and the friends he makes through doing his time at Camp Greenlake.

The staff at Camp Greenlake are practically evil, but in entertaining ways! Just one quick example. . . the Warden makes her own fingernail polish out of rattlesnake venom! Stanley makes one good friend, Zero, and the story (which I won't give away) centers around their intertwining stories.

This story is whacky and fun. I wouldn't recommend it for the youngest readers, but 9 or 10 and up will love it.

The movie TOTALLY didn't do justice to the end of the story which is Stanley and Zero's most danger filled and transformative adventure. It was so watered down it really didn't bring the story to any kind of satisfying conclusion. In the book this was the most difficult possible undertaking where death was more likely than any other outcome, in the movie it was more like a somewhat difficult day hike. The movie also suffered from some rather sappy musical interludes. It wasn't the worst movie I've ever seen, but I wouldn't send anyone to see it. BUT I am extremely picky about movies. . . so I'm interested in other opinions.

I actually read the book AGAIN after seeing the movie. I wanted to see the comparison. The movie held up even less well after the second reading and I was able to pin point better why it didn't entirely work for me.

The best part of the movie for me was the character Zero. And the depiction of the early history of Green Lake and Kissing Kate the outlaw. Stanley's transformation didn't really come across in my opinion.

I've also read 7 other books since I last "reported in". So, more about those soon. What are you reading?!

Love, Louise

Homecoming and Dicey's Song

Originally posted September 7, 2003

Homecoming and Dicey's Song

Dicey's Song by Cynthia Voigt is the 1983 Newbery Medal winner. I read Homecoming first because Dicey's Song is a sequel to Homecoming.

Dicey's Song is NO QUESTION on of the most wonderful books I've read in this Newbery journey. I just finished it this morning and I absolutely LOVED it!!!!!

I do recommend reading Homecoming first, and then reading Dicey's Song with no delay!

Homecoming is the story of four children, brothers and sisters, who find themselves abandoned in a parking lot enroute to Bridgeport CT. The oldest one is Dicey, age 13. Dicey manages to take charge of their situation. Unwilling to ask for help, for fear of being placed in foster homes or separated, and with out enough money for bus fare, they decide to WALK to Bridgeport. And do. The journey doesn't end there as they find a less than ideal situation at the great aunt's house they walked to. Dicey then takes a chance and travels again with her family to Maryland to find a grandmother they had never met and who is reputed to be crazy. There, in a ramshakle farmhouse near the bay, with their eccentric and often prickly grandmother they find their homecoming.

The book chronicles their journey in some detail, the places, people, relentless problems to solve and close calls. Most of all the story gets us inside of Dicey and all the complexity of her grieving her mother's absence, her sense of responsibility to her younger siblings, the stress of that responsibility, and the determination, hard work, intelligence, and spunk that she brings to her situation.

Dicey's Song continues the story in Maryland. Now the children are situated with their grandmother and this book charts the healing that occurs for everyone, including Gram. The grandmother in spite of her feisty demeanor cares deeply and has some choice feisty wisdom to impart.

Cynthia Voigt's ability to get deeply inside complex characters in complex situations is quite amazing. I'm impressed. There's nothing superficial about this writing! I found this book to be wonderfully uplifting, but in a earthy real sort of way, and I was weeping by the end of it!

Love, Louise

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH

Originally posted: Tue, 13 May 2003

Dear reading buddies,

Hi! I just finished Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH and I loved it. I think this would be a good one for the younger readers in our group. There are a couple of things you might want to be heads up about with a young reader (ask for details if you want them) but it is a delightful read. Much more in the "what I think of as a children's book" category than some of the heavy emotion laden Newbery Medal's I've read so far. One thinks of Wind in the Willows and other such animal stories.

It's about some laboratory Rats who are being given injections to make them more intelligent and to make them live longer. It works a little better than the scientists ever imagined and they eventually escape the lab and make their wise and intelligent way in the world.

For anyone who thinks this story line is silly, whimsical and mere fantasy I share this real life story that happened, sure 'nough to me:

When I was living in Bynum a rat came to live in my house. I was familiar with mice coming in the house, and because mice, in my opinion, do NOT make good house mates, I would live trap them with have-a-hearts and then take them across the river bridge or walk them a good ways down the river trail and let them go. A drafty, leaky old house like my mill house in Bynum is just pretty tough to get completely mouse-proofed. So, for a while I was in denial about this new visitor, but eventually, I HAD to take notice.

It was like living with a poltergeist! Things MOVED from one part of the house to another. LARGE things. Like a bar of soap from the bathroom to the kitchen! Whole sweet potatoes. Whole avocados! BIG things like this (stuff a mouse couldn't possibly budge!) would relocate themselves in the night. The poltergeist also crawled up to the TOP shelf of a large bookshelf I had and rummaged around in some yarn I had, leaving some droppings that were MUCH larger than mouse poop.

Eventually, as I said, I had to come face to face with the fact that I had a RAT living in my house!

At some point soon after denial had lifted I remember calling my friend Wayne Poole to get some advice about this matter. "Yeah," Wayne said in his ultra slow, Durham native, wonderfully southern way, "There's not just ONE rat you know. They don't come one at a time. And it doesn't take them long to make MORE rats, and more rats, and more rats. . . Yeah, they'll swallow your house whole. . ." I was sitting on the couch in the late afternoon and could clearly see the jaw line of a LARGE rodent coming across my windows and then the house went completely dark. . . well OK, I could clearly (much TOO clearly) IMAGINE that.

Yet, I was determined to deal with this threatening intruder in a humane fashion. I wanted to solve the problem with out having to become a bloody murderer.

Wayne recommended that I consult another friend, herbalist Will Endres. Will proceeded to tell me a nightmarish story of a rat invasion he'd dealt with, with a distinctly murderous ending. He also underscored Wayne's gentle reminder that time was of the essence, that a small problem could become a LARGE problem in a very short period of time. Hinting, really, that murder might be required if I wasn't willing to move out and let the rats take the house. And as I was getting quite jittery about this whole matter by now, Will suggested that I take measures for dealing with phobias, he had helped several people with problems along these lines and recommended learning as much about what ever you were phobic of, in my case: Rats.

Attempting to head Will's advice, I went to the library. As it turned out I managed to avoid any factual information about rats available at the Pittsboro public library, and came home instead with a handful of children's stories, picture books, completely fictional, featuring them instead.

That actually helped lighten things up a little.

Looking around I could assess this much. The creature I was dealing with (I still was in denial about the creatureS plural aspect of my problem,) was SMART, STRONG, HARDWORKING and was FOCUSED on it's own GOALS and achieving them. It also was NOT dealing with any confusing moral quandaries where I was involved. It's conscious was completely clear and it was wasting no time wondering.

I on the other hand WAS still wringing my hands concerning it's fate.

Finally what I did was launch a major clean up effort with in the three rooms of my house. NO food was left out, I bought metal lard tins and stowed the yarn in them, all dishes were washed before going to bed, I even hid the soap. I tried to make my dwelling a not very good place to visit for snacks.

I could hear scurrying in the wall near the hot water heater in the kitchen. I figured the warmth from the water heater might make that area especially attractive. In order to keep the area clean and to watch it more carefully I cleared the table-height hot water heater off of all the stuff it had accumulated. . . a box of tiny origami cranes (I was making earrings out of them), some old cassette tapes I was attempting to label and organize, the usual mishmash of various random things. I tried to also figure out any possible access points and blocked them. A friend helped me cut off the old washing machine connections and we installed a piece of tin over the holes (the washing machine had been hauled off long ago). I stuffed steel wool around the water pipes where they came through the floor. (Even though Wayne had told me that rats could chew through METAL pipes to get water.) And I hoped that these efforts were being made with the rat on the OUTSIDE, rather than trapping him or her inside with no way to get out!

Then I bought a largish live trap and borrowed another. The first couple of times the door was tripped, but no one was inside. (Did I mention these animals are smart?) I had to learn to be a real hunter. I placed the trap along a wall. I made a "path" to the trap with bricks. The trap had to be entered straight-on in order to work most effectively.

And then at last, one morning, I went to check my trap line and found a not overly large rat trapped inside one of them. He was frightened. Not in any way scary looking. Almost cute. I covered the cage with a blanket to help him stay calm. Drove to another county (I wasn't taking any chances!) and let the rat free near the Haw River near the old Greensboro highway bridge.

And lo and behold! ALL rat activity in my house ended.

It seems that by some miracle, I really was dealing with RAT singular.

I counted myself lucky, took a deep breath, and eventually, after some time had passed was able to relax enough to return to my previous levels of sloth and lack of vigilance.

If this was the end of the story that would be exciting enough. But it is not. It gets better.

YEARS later the hot water heater spewed water all over the kitchen floor. In investigating this we lifted the lid to the metal box enclosing the water heater. . . and there in the insulation below, we looked down upon a cozy little dwelling. There was a large "nest" of cassette tape un-spooled. And there in the nest were about a dozen tiny paper cranes in an assortment of bright colors. They were in perfect condition. They had not been chewed up in any way. I swear they were there for esthetic reasons. Art? Rats?

The Rats of NIMH?

Love, Louise

From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler , Newbery Medal 1968 The View From Saturday , Newbery Medal 1997 both by E.L. Konigsburg

Originally posted: Fri, 5 Sep 2003

From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler , Newbery Medal 1968 The View From Saturday , Newbery Medal 1997 both by E.L. Konigsburg

Note: this author also got a Newbery Honor award for another book!

This author has a long list of books and about an equally long list of medals and awards to go with them. I haven't read any of the other ones, but I have a feeling she just cranks out good books, reliably. I enjoyed both of these.

I remember reading From the Mixed Up Files as a kid and liking it. It is a fun fun book about a couple of kids who run away from home (in the most organized way possible----- the older sister in this pair is hilariously organized in her departure from home and family!) They run away TO the metropolitan museum of art, where they LIVE for a time . . . bathing (and collecting money) out of the fountain, sleeping in one of the historic beds, hiding in the bathrooms while the guards are doing their final rounds at closing, etc. While at the museum they get involved in a art mystery which they become determined to solve. (and do.) I would recommend this for all ages. . . I think kids 7 or 8 and up would enjoy it.

The View From Saturday involves four stories, each one about a different kid, all of whom are the members of a certain teachers quiz bowl team. The four stories interlock in a variety of ways, and the friendship/bonds between these four kids give a good feeling, which is what I'm left with a couple months later. It's not quite as memorable as the Mixed Up Files in my opinion, (but it was still very good) and would appeal more to a slightly older pre-teen audience. (Nothing scary or tragic or horrible that I remember!)

Holmes read both of these and liked them too.

love, Louise

A Project Revived!

A while ago, when my older kid Jabu (now 10) was little and my younger kid Makayla (now 6) had not yet arrived I was endeavoring to read all the Newbery Award winning books. It was FUN FUN FUN. And I would write little book reports to a small list of people (by email) telling my impressions of these books.

Lately I've been feeling a need for more FUN in my life, PLUS, my older kid is now old enough to ENJOY these books with me! So, I've decided to revive this project. And it made sense to me to put it in a blog so that folks could access the old book reports not matter when they joined the conversation. I'm not an experienced blogger, so bear with me as I figure it out!

I discovered that I had SAVED the book reports (at least some of them) from my first go round, so I am going to post them here as a starting point, and then continue!

Also, I've decided to branch out a little and include other award winning books, Caldecott award winners and Coretta Scott King awards as well.

If YOU would like read and report on books you have read, or just comment on my "book reports", please join me!