What a wonderful, strange, treasure of a book Anne Ursu’s Breadcrumbs is. It’s the first book I finished in 2012, and I think the year is off to a great reading start if this is how it’s going to be.
Tag: newbery
Okay, I know this post is months late (the Newbery winners were announced in January). I have a very good reason for this; it took me this long to get my hands on a copy of The Surrender Tree, the last book left for me to read. I finally got it from the library this week, so here are my thoughts on each of this year’s Newbery books.
I’m watching the webcast of the 2009 ALA Youth Media Awards. It’s the Midwinter conference weekend in Denver, and it always ends by announcing all the children’s and YA awards (including the Newbery and Caldecott). I have some very exciting new books to read personally and add to my book order for school. There are so many fantastic books on these lists that I have been wanting to get to all year. Here are some of the highlights:
I finally finished the audio book of Kathi Appelt’s critically acclaimed debut novel, The Underneath, and while I thought it was a lyrically told story I just didn’t see the appeal to kids. It took me several tries to get through it; I really had trouble getting absorbed in this story.
This past week has been a complete and total bust in terms of work and home productivity. Every time I start a new job around a new set of little kids (which seems to have happened much more than I’d like the past couple of years), I get sick like two weeks in. I caught a cold which turned into a make-Jackie-so-dizzy-she-can’t-drive sinus infection and ended up home the entire week on my doctor’s orders. All I can say is, at least this time it’s being fixed before turning into a marathon fight with bronchitis. I’m really over those.
I really liked Pictures From Our Vacation. I think Perkins does an excellent job of capturing small details and experiences from kids’ lives. In this story summer vacation doesn’t start out the way the kids hoped, and they wish they’d gone to Disney World instead. But the rainy days, endless car voyages, and lazy times at their grandparents’ farm actually turn into something great. Especially when they meet all their cousins, aunts, and uncles. I liked the way this story focused on quiet moments rather than big events, and I really liked the pictures the kids took of their trip.
Read more on Pictures From Our Vacation and Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins…
I just finished If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period, and I’m not sure yet how I feel about it. Kirsten is white, affluent, and overweight. Her parents fight constantly, she has terrible self esteem, and she eats to feel better. Walk is black, poor, and brilliant. He is told his father died in the Air Force, and his mom works hard to give him better opportunities in life. The book follows them as they enter 7th grade at an expensive private school outside San Francisco. He’s on scholarship, her family can afford the tuition. They become friends and discover some very explosive family secrets. They also deal with the trials of middle school, including a very powerful and very unfriendly Queen Bee figure in their class.
Read more on If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period and Al Capone Does My Shirts, by Gennifer Choldenko…