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 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".
