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1997 faves
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From: Martha Parravano <MPARRAVANO>
Date: Tue, 09 Dec 1997 13:55:19 -0700
I find it (unfortunately) easy to comply with Dr. Ruth Gordon's request to stop with the "I just love" stuff re: our favorite books of the year. There are a few 1997 titles that I appreciate a great deal, but none that I want to keep by my bedside to reread year after year (a la Harriet the Spy) and none that I want to run out and buy for a favorite child (like HIlary McKay's Dog Friday--to which this year's Amber Cat can't hold a candle).
But here are some good books that I haven't seen mentioned in others' postings:
Uncle Ronald by Brian Doyle, published by Groundwood Press
(Canadian)--a sometimes moving, sometimes comic, always beautifully written account of a young boy's escape from an abusive father and the stable (if quirky) home he finds with his uncle and aunts (the notorious O'malley girls). Lively, evocative, engrossing, with a wonderfully tangible setting and lively folkloric village stories.
Maurice Gee's The Fat Man (Simon)-- a totally edge-of-your-seat psycologhical thriller in which a really evil man returns to his hometown to pay back childhood bullies and changes the life of the son of his worst tormentor--who ultimately transcends the cycle of cruelty to respond humanely. No laughs here, though--sorry, KT.
Noah Makes a Boat, written by Pippa Goodhart and illustrated by Bernard Lodge. A Noah's Ark picture book with a human core--the relationship of Big Noah and Little Noah (his grandson) and how together they use their ingenuity to design and build the ark. I much appreciate its down'to earth humor and its child?ntered-ness.
Katherine Paterson's easy reader Marvin's Best Christmas Present Ever
(HarperCollins)--trademark Paterson humor and fine craft of writing in an easy reader. It has a real story and a contemporary, unglamorized rural setting in which the family lives in a trailer.
All for now... Martha Parravano mvp at hbook.com
Received on Tue 09 Dec 1997 02:55:19 PM CST
Date: Tue, 09 Dec 1997 13:55:19 -0700
I find it (unfortunately) easy to comply with Dr. Ruth Gordon's request to stop with the "I just love" stuff re: our favorite books of the year. There are a few 1997 titles that I appreciate a great deal, but none that I want to keep by my bedside to reread year after year (a la Harriet the Spy) and none that I want to run out and buy for a favorite child (like HIlary McKay's Dog Friday--to which this year's Amber Cat can't hold a candle).
But here are some good books that I haven't seen mentioned in others' postings:
Uncle Ronald by Brian Doyle, published by Groundwood Press
(Canadian)--a sometimes moving, sometimes comic, always beautifully written account of a young boy's escape from an abusive father and the stable (if quirky) home he finds with his uncle and aunts (the notorious O'malley girls). Lively, evocative, engrossing, with a wonderfully tangible setting and lively folkloric village stories.
Maurice Gee's The Fat Man (Simon)-- a totally edge-of-your-seat psycologhical thriller in which a really evil man returns to his hometown to pay back childhood bullies and changes the life of the son of his worst tormentor--who ultimately transcends the cycle of cruelty to respond humanely. No laughs here, though--sorry, KT.
Noah Makes a Boat, written by Pippa Goodhart and illustrated by Bernard Lodge. A Noah's Ark picture book with a human core--the relationship of Big Noah and Little Noah (his grandson) and how together they use their ingenuity to design and build the ark. I much appreciate its down'to earth humor and its child?ntered-ness.
Katherine Paterson's easy reader Marvin's Best Christmas Present Ever
(HarperCollins)--trademark Paterson humor and fine craft of writing in an easy reader. It has a real story and a contemporary, unglamorized rural setting in which the family lives in a trailer.
All for now... Martha Parravano mvp at hbook.com
Received on Tue 09 Dec 1997 02:55:19 PM CST
