From: Jonathan Hunt <jhunt24>
Date: Fri, 08 Dec 2000 02:52:54

SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson . . . I, too, was floored by this one this past year (even though it was published in 1999). I was left to wonder how it managed to lose both the National Book Award *and* the Printz Award.

BUTTONS by Brock Cole . . . This is one of two picture books I included in our mock Newbery because of its literary merit. The other is WIZZIL by William Steig, illustrated by Quentin Blake.

THE DOLL PEOPLE by Laura Godwin and Ann Martin, illustrated by Brian Selznick . . . I haven't read this one, but I can never resist picking it up in the bookstore to browse through Selznick's many wonderful illustrations.

BUILDING BIG by David Macaulay . . . Another one I haven't read, but just can't keep my hands off in the bookstore.

THE QUEEN OF ATTOLIA by Megan Whalen Turner . . . This is one of my favorites too. I think it's easily the best home-grown fantasy of the year, and I'd love to see it win some big honors. It's good enough, in my opinion, but it's an awfully crowded field for both the Newbery and Printz this year. If you're looking for the next great juvenile fantasy author to write in the stirring, epic tradition of Alexander, LeGuin, Cooper, and McKinley, look no further.

SILENT TO THE BONE by E.L. Konigsburg . . . This is a brilliantly contrived exploration of adolescent sexual guilt by a master at the top of her form. I really wanted to hold her Newbery Medal for THE VIEW FROM SATURDAY against her, but I just couldn't do it; this book is too good. I think it works remarkably well as a mystery, especially given the limited possibilites--Branwell dropped her, Vivian dropped her, the pizza guy dropped her, or . . . the baby jumped out of the crib-?cause Konigsburg maintains the suspense by refocusing her mystery on why it happened rather than who did it.

ESPERANZA RISING by Pam Munoz Ryan . . . I'm surprised we haven't heard more about this book yet, but it should compete for top honors this year as well.
  Ryan does a great job of framing her story within the context of the larger political events of the time, but never letting them steal the spotlight from Esperanza's very human, very moving story. Taking a broader view, it seems to me reminiscent of such adult novels as Helen Hunt Jackson's RAMONA and John Steinbeck's GRAPES OF WRATH. Moreover, with RIDING FREEDOM and now ESPERANZA RISING both set vividly in California, Ryan has dealt with some pretty powerful myths and archetypes about the region. It will be interesting to see if she is drawn to similar material in her future novels.

THE AMBER SPYGLASS by Philip Pullman . . . There are definitely some problems here, and with a lesser writer we would clearly see them, but they are obscured by Pullman's extraordinary literary gifts, his ornately profuse imagination, his absolute fearlessness with controversial subject matter, and the towering scope of his ambition in creating a work that will challenge the way we see our world.

DAVE AT NIGHT by Gail Carson Levine . . . This is another 1999 book, but I wanted to mention it because, I picked it as my favorite to win the Newbery last year. It was subsequently ignored by the Newbery every other major award committee. Now they're replacing the wonderfully vibrant original cover art for the paperback edition in the spring. Please do not let this book fall into obscurity; it's deserves better.

Jonathan Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com
Received on Fri 08 Dec 2000 02:52:54 AM CST