From: Tana Elias <telias>
Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 10:48:33 -0600

To Nancy, I would recommend Russell Freedman's _Babe Didrickson Zaharias_. It's a fascinating biography as well as commentary on gender politics and sports history in the 1930s and 1940s. And I don't even like sports! Also David Macaulay's _Building the Book: Cathedral_, which is fascinating, but probably not for every child or teen. I believe Ginny mentioned both of these books earlier, as well.

And for Amy, who wrote that she bought one book for her perfect goddaughter about bunnies, I'd recommend Peter McCarty's _Little Bunny on the Move_. I've been part of several spirited discussions about this book recently, and while I originally thought the text was pretty uninspiring compared to the illustrations, these conversations and several readings to children ages 4-7 have convinced me that this book might be one of those children's favorites which many adults just don't
"get." I'd be interested to hear what others think.

Also among my favorites, or "books I was interested in", is _Video_ by Karen Romano Young. The book is written in two different voices, Eric's and Janine's, and layers of the story include a school project where each teen has to observe someone else, Eric's initiation into private school as a result of his parents' separation, Janine's slow development of understanding into her own difficult character, and the reactions of these two teens to an incident of indecent exposure. I personally thought Young kept the story going, all the layers folding into one another just right, and I think she's got a knack for realistic teen dialogue and development of quirky but believable characters. I'd love to hear other comments about or reactions to Video or her earlier book
_Beetle: A Love Story_ privately at telias at execpc.com.

Happy Holidays!

Tana Elias, Librarian Madison Public Library


"Nancy A. Anderson" wrote:
Received on Wed 22 Dec 1999 10:48:33 AM CST