Another great book by British author David Almond, Kit's Wilderness
is the story of Kit, whose family has just moved to the coal-mining town of Stoneygate to be with Kit's grandfather after the death of his wife. Kit meets John Askew, a boy in his school, who soon involves him in his game called Death. In death, kids take turns going into an old abandoned mining tunnel. Kit discovers that he and John Askew have a shared history in the mine. In the meantime, Kit's grandfather tells him stories about his days in the mine and about the families of Stoneygate; soon, Kit is seeing Silky, the little boy with blond hair who plays tricks on the miners in his grandfather's day, along with the spirits of other people from the mine.Kit is writing a story within the story about a boy named Lak who lives in prehistoric times. Kit weaves Lak's story with John Askew's story, and through the power of storytelling he saves both his grandfather and John Askey.
I'm fascinated by David Almond's style; it is spare and lyrical, and he says a lot with very few words. This book has themes of family, generations, forgiveness, and living up to one's potential.
is fourteen years old at the beginning of the novel, a freshman at Alabaster Prep, a prestigious boarding school. Frankie is nothing special, but over the summer she grows into a beauty and manages to snag Matthew Livingston, one of the most popular senior boys at Alabaster, in her sophomore year. Matthew and his friends, most noticeably his best friend, a boy named Alpha (for being the alpha dog), are members of a secret society. When Matthew refuses to even acknowledge the existence of the secret club to her, Frankie decides, rather than getting even, she'll prove to Matthew and the others that she is worthy of becoming a member. In an ingenious plan, she soon has the Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds doing her bidding, pulling off such memorable pranks on campus as the Ladies, the Doggies in the Window, and the ultimate heist of the Guppy, the traditional symbol of the campus.
called The Lightening Thief. Percy is a kid with dyslexia and ADHD who is constantly kicked out of schools for creating problems, even though he has no control over them. It turns out that he is what is called a half-blood, a child of one of the gods of Olympus and a mortal. After "accidentally" vaporizing his math teacher, Percy is literally chased to Camp Half-Blood by the Minotaur. Camp Half-Blood is where all the other kids with one mortal parent and one parent who is a Greek god.
is about Lizzie and her dad, who are trying to get on since her mother died. The dad is obviously not handling it very well, as he decides to become a bird in order to enter the Great Human Bird Competition. He stays at home, builds a nest, creates wings for himself, and eats worms and bugs.
Christopher Paul Curtis. The Watsons leave Flint, Michigan to travel to see family in Birmingham, where they witness the bombing of the African-American church that killed four young girls. Hilarious and poignant.
Louis Sachar. It's incredible how Sachar weaves so many disparate stories into a neat little package at the end of the book. Better than the movie!
Gennifer Choldenko. Moose lives on Alcatraz with his family where Al Capone is the biggest celebrity.
Pam Munoz Ryan. Naomi Leon travels to Oaxaca with her mother to finally meet her father, and to take part in the Noche de los rabanos (Night of the Radishes).
Jacqueline Woodson. If you haven't read this African-American author, you should, but Locomotion is my favorite. It's written as poems by Lonnie, who lost his parents in a fire and learns to live with his foster mother.
Jean DuPrau. The first in a series about a city that is gradually going dark, leading Doon and Lina, two children, to discover the secret about their dying city.
Irene Hunt. One of the older Newbery winners, this is a poignant coming-of-age story of a young girl.
Joseph Bruchac. Bruchac is one of the best Native American authors out there, and this is my favorite. It captures the experience of a cntemporary young Native American boy who must learn to live between two cultures.
Gary Paulsen. One of Paulsen's less known books, Harris and Me is absolutely laugh out loud funny.
E. L. Konigsburg. I love books about misfits, and this is a great one, about four misfit children who come together to create a formidable quiz team.
Ruth Sawyer. One of the very first Newbery winners, Roller Skates takes place in New York in the 1890's. Lucinda is an irrepresible young girl who meets all kinds of interesting people while she roller skates around town.
by Cynthia Rylant: What a wonderful place for cats! and I adore the folk style paintings of cats enjoying their eternal play.
written by Barbara Hicks, illustrated by Dan Santat: A take-off on the James Thurber short story, Walter Kitty goes by his secret name: Fang!
by Howie Schneider: If you've ever had a puppy, you will love how Chewy Louie chews through the whole house!
by Melanie Watt. Another cat on a mission, Chester keeps re-writing the story that Melanie is trying to tell.
by Ian Falcolner. If you haven't read any of the Olivia books yet, you are missing out!
by David Wiesner. Wiesner takes the story of the three pigs and turns it inside out, as the pigs escape the pages of the book to take care of the big bad wolf.
is an award-winning graphic novel about Chinese and Chinese-Americans that recognizes the difficulties of being part of a culture that is often misunderstood or stereotyped. The novel follows the stories of three seemingly unrelated characters: the Chinese Monkey King, one of the most beloved characters in Chinese folk stories; Jin Wang, a young Chinese-American boy whose family moves from Chinatown in San Francisco to a mid-western town where is an anomaly; and Danny, a nondescript teenager who has to endure the yearly visit of his inappropriate Chinese cousin, Chin-Kee. Each of the three stories deals with the difficulty of being an "outsider".
were written by one of my favorite children's authors, Lloyd Alexander, in the 1960's. The first is The Book of Three, and the final one, The High King, won the Newbery in 1968. The books follow the story of Taran, an Assistant Pig-Keeper, the magical pig Hen Wen, and Taran's friends Gurgi, the bard Fllewddur Fllam, and the princess Eilonwy, as they battle to defeat the evil Arawn. It's your basic hero's quest, complete with comic relief, a princess who can take care of herself, and a very scary bad guy. Lloyd based the series on ancient Welsh legends. This series is similar to the Hobbit stories, but as a child I enjoyed these more because they were written for children. These would make great read-aloud books for kids as well.
about a boy who time travels with a cat through various time periods when cats were worshipped or feared, and Westmark, his series that features a female hero.
