Looking for Newbery - The Kneebone Boy

This is the last review Bill and I will post before making our predictions (sort of) tomorrow, the day before all of our favorite ALA awards are announced -- yay!!

Now that I have that out of my system, the last (but definitely not the least) book we'll talk about in our Looking for Newbery series is The Kneebone Boy by Ellen Potter.

First of all, I loved SLOB by Ellen Potter, so long before I knew The Kneebone Boy had some Newbery buzz surrounding it, I had wanted to read it. SLOB was so well done, with amazing character development, wonderful language, and some great surprises for the reader at the end. The Kneebone Boy has all of that as well, and pays equal attention to the clarity of detail and the importance of surprising the reader (not to worry, no spoilers here).

This story is about the three Hardscrabble children: Otto, Lucia, and Max. One of them is the narrator of the story, however the narrator never tells the reader which child he/she truly is. I definitely have my suspicions, but would love to talk to someone else who has read this book to see what they think.

The reader learns so much about each of the characters through their actions, their dialogue, what others say about them, and all the delightful tidbits of information the narrator drops for us along the way. This story will appeal to children because by chapter 3, the children have embarked on a great adventure, have been victims of one mess-up after another, travel far away on their own, and meet some very intriguing characters as well

And don't even get me started on the eccentricities of those supporting characters! Potter is truly a talented writer to be able to conjure up so many amazing personalities.

But it's not enough to have great characters; if an author doesn't have a story worth telling, the premise will far apart. Happily, that is not the case for The Kneebone Boy. It has a great plot with several subplots woven in as well that tie together very nicely in the end, and results in a fabulous book. I won't be a bit surprised if The Kneebone Boy gets some love from the Newbery judges. It is well written and most definitely distinguished!

And so there you have it: 13 days of Looking for Newbery. We hope you've enjoyed spending time thinking about some of these possible Newbery contenders with us. There are other very worthy books we didn't get to talk about with only 13 days this year, so we apologize if we didn't include one of your favorites.

It certainly has been fun having you stop by. Please come back and visit on Sunday for our final wrap-up, and some predictions.

Looking for Newbery Day 12: A Long Walk to Water

A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park is a book that makes an impression from the start. Based on the life of, Salva, one of the Sudan's "Lost Boys" from the late 1980s, the story moves back and forth between his search for his family and a safe place to live and the life of Nya, a girl currently living in Africa.

Salva's story is one of bravery as he walks from his home land that is ravaged by war to a refugee camp. He and his fellow travelers are challenged along the way by wild animals, thirst, hunger, enemy tribes and just the shear distance they have to cover on foot. Upon arriving in one refugee camp, they are forced to leave, many of them drowning when they are forced to cross a swollen river in order to escape. Salva finally arrives in a camp where his learning is encouraged by and English speaking man and Salva is finally airlifted to the United States where he is taken in by a family in New York.

Nya's story is one of a young girl living in Africa where she must walk to retrieve water from a stagnant pond. During the dry season many of her fellow villagers fall sick to the water born diseases found in the water. Despite efforts to educate the people about the dangers of drinking unsanitary water, they really have little choice.

Both stories are told at the same time switching back and forth seamlessly and leading the reader to an inspiring conclusion that is one of the most satisfying I've read this year. Told in only 128 pages most kids can read this one in a matter of hours making it a great example of how much can be said with just the right words.

This is one of my favorites, and should be shared with all middle grade students for the inspirational, motivating message it presents.


Other Reviews:
The Happy Nappy Bookseller
Bookpage
Meredithdias
Crazy Quilts

Looking for Newbery - Woods Runner

Woods Runner by Gary Paulsen is a book I found early last year; in fact I read it soon after last year's Newbery awards were announced in January. I fell in love with the gritty, survival nature of the story, and so was delighted to see it mentioned on several mock Newbery lists.

Paulsen didn't pull any punches when it came to some of the travesties of war. In fact, in the afterword, Paulsen specifically says that he didn't try to "clean up" the details of the War for Indpendence. He lets the reader know that this was long, bloody war of 8 years. I admire that he didn't gloss over details, but told a fictionalized story about a boy trying to survive and find his parents against a backdrop of some pretty horrific incidents.

Woods Runner is historical fiction, but Paulsen puts a very unique twist in with his fictional story. Before almost every chapter, he has inserted factual information that helps build the reader's background knowledge about the time, people, and events in the story. I've heard some people say they thought it detracted from the story, but for me, that factual information was critical to my understanding of this time in history. I really loved Woods Runner in all its format.

For more of my thoughts about WoodsRunner, check out my post last January.

So exciting -- 4 days until the Newbery!! Who will be the winner? :)

Looking for Newbery Day 10: Turtle in Paradise

I would really love to see Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer Holm win something this year. To me, it's the perfect Newbery book, great writing, excellent story, engaging characters and most importantly...KID FRIENDLY!

I have put this book into the hands of a large number of students and all of them have loved the story. Each one passes it to a fried with glowing descriptions and the book is never on the shelf. Each student has a different reason for liking it, some of them pick out one of the characters that really speaks to them, some of them love the setting because they've visited Key West, and some of them love it because they are fans of Jennifer Holm's other titles. Whatever the reason, all of them love the story. It's fun and entertaining with enough twists to keep the reader moving.

I wrote a full review of the book back in June and called it the perfect summer time read. Well now that the thermometer isn't going much above 30 and the sun is a rare sight in Columbus, I'm calling it the perfect winter time read. Just start reading and picture yourself on the sun drenched beaches of Key West, you won't be disappointed!

Other Reviews:
BSCkids
Semicolon
Dog Ear
Not Acting My Age (cool blog name)

Looking for Newbery - A Tale Dark and Grimm

I had heard so many great things about A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz from my online friends at twitter, I just had to make sure I read it over holiday break. And then, I was reading comments again over at Heavy Medal (I follow this blog a lot before the ALA awards), and A Tale Dark and Grimm was actually being talked about in conversation as being a possible Newbery dark horse (it would depend on whether the committee gave Gidwitz credit for an original idea since he borrows a little from the Grimm's fairy tales).

There are two main reasons I loved A Tale Dark and Grimm:

1. The different tales are woven together in an immensely clever way. Who knew Hansel and Gretel were soooo much more than a little boy and girl looking for a sugar fix?
2. The narrator in this book has such great "voice". The narrator had me chuckling throughout the book, even though the stories aren't necessarily of the chuckling nature.
   

That being said, a word of caution: these tales stay more true to Grimm's actual tales - there is not happily ever after and the story can be very dark. Oh, and lots of blood too. As the narrator warns time and again, this story is not for the faint of heart. But the darkness, the fighting, the blood - they're all written with the most amazing language.

If the Newbery is about "distinguished" literature; literature that stands out from the rest of the pack, then A Tale Dark and Grimm most certainly could be a contender.

Looking for Newbery Day 8: Keeper

I was not a fan of The Underneath by Kathi Appelt and I know that puts me in something of a minority. I probably would not have read Keeper based on that opinion alone except that it was showing up on a lot of Newbery watch lists which put it on my list of books I needed to read.

I liked it better than The Underneath, but they are very similar in the writing. Kathi Appelt moves between characters both human and animal telling her stories from many points of view which sometimes is confusing for kids. Several kids I know who read the book expressed this confusion to me telling the real from the unreal and who is talking when. I tried the fairy tale comparison where animals talk and people believe in creatures, but most of them weren't buying, a couple chose to abandon the book.

Keeper is the story of a young girl whose mother abandons her, leaving her with a young woman named Signe. Signe tells Keeper that her mother is a mermaid who returned to the sea after giving birth. Keeper grows up believing that she is half mermaid, her mother will return for her, and she will become a mermaid living in the sea. Her belief is so strong that at the climax of the story she, her dog and a seagull crawl into a rowboat to sail to the sand bar where the mermaids will be meeting under the blue moon. The tension created in this part of the book kept me reading because I had to see if Keeper and her crew would survive. It also drew me in because I wasn't' sure where the author was going. Would she continue the fairy tale showing Keeper's mother to be a mermaid? Or would she go the dramatic realistic fiction route and show that Keeper's mom was a woman not ready for motherhood?

In addition to Signe, Keeper and a host of animals, there are other very interesting characters that help raise Keeper. Mr. Beauchamp lives next door with his one eyed cat and dreams of long ago when he was young. Just down the road lives Dogie. Dogie runs a surfboard rental business out of an old school bus and pays Keeper to wax the boards for the customers. Together these characters make up sort of a family living along the Gulf Coast in Texas.

I really liked the characters and the descriptions of life along the beach. Kathi Appelt creates a simple beach life attitude with her words. It was easy for me to put myself on the coast for the telling of this story. Overall, I liked Keeper but it wasn't one of my favorites.

Other Reviews:
The Crowded Leaf
There's a Book
BookPage

Looking for Newbery - Touch Blue

Happy New Year! We hope 2011 is wonderful year for you!

And also a big Happy 5th birthday wish to our friends, colleagues, and mentors at A Year of Reading - congratulations to Mary Lee and Franki!!

Today's Looking for Newbery pick is Touch Blue by Cynthia Lord. I read it this past summer and fell in love with it! I'm not sure how many Mock Newbery conversations have discussed this as a possible winner, but I'm throwing it in as one of my possiblities because I loved the story line, the way the characters developed, the beautiful language, the setting (an island in Maine), and the fact that the main character's family makes their living by being lobstermen. Add in the symbolism that is so powerful in the book, and you know that Touch Blue is a quiet gem that needs bigger accolades.

In fact, I thought this book was so wonderful, it became the first book Cathy, the librarian at my school, and I chose for our GREat Discussion parent/student book club. And because great minds think alike, it is also the book that Bill and our friend, Joyce, chose for their Grand Discussion parent/student book club. (And on a side note, yes the names are slightly similar because I was at the school where Bill and Joyce teach, and when I moved, I brought their terrific idea with me. Now we have amazing parent/child conversations happening about books at two schools!!)

I'm not sure if Touch Blue will be in Newbery consideration or not, but regardless, it most definitely is a book to which many students should be exposed. For further specifics about how wonderful I think Touch Blue is, check my blog post from July. I think Cynthia Lord is a truly gifted writer, and this book is her at her best.