From: Dean Schneider <schneiderd>
Date: Tue, 5 Dec 2000 08:48:15 -0600

My favorite intermediate/Newbery book of the year is Jack Gantos's Joey Pigza Loses Control from FSG. It's an artfully told story of Joey's summer visit with his father. It's a serious story told with lots of humor, and it's a fine character study. It gets Joey reunited with his father, and we, the readers, witness the destructive influences of Joey's father and the consequent unraveling of Joey's fragile self. In a couple of ways it reminded me of Margaret Mahy's writing, with its many allusions to fairy tales and horror stories, which add layers of meaning to the story.

My favorite book in the Printz picture is Margaret Mahy's 24 Hours from McElderry, another book, like Joey Pigza, during which I kept saying "Wow!" and jotting things down as I read. It's a latter?y Alice in Wonderland tale about a boy named Ellis who finds himself transplanted and transformed. It's a wonderfully compelling, rich, and complex novel.

My favorite picture book, at least the one I'd pick as my Caldecott choice, is Olivia by Ian Falconer from Atheneum. It feels like a potential classic to me, a charming, funny, delightful story with illustrations that wonderfully support and complement the narrative.

I would pick Walter Dean Myers's 145th Street for the Coretta Scott King Award, a collection of interrelated stories about a neighborhood in Harlem. And for illustration, Christopher Myers's Wings.

So, those are the ones I'd pick if I could only pick one, but I feel it has been a great year, so here are my other favorites for each category:

        Intermediate:


Shiva's Fire -- Suzanne Fisher Staples The Art of Keeping Cool - Janet Taylor Lisle A Year Down Yonder - Richard Peck Because of Winn-Dixie - Kate DiCamillo Dovey Coe -- Frances O'Roark Dowell Gathering Blue - Lois Lowry
                                                                
                Printz :

                The Amber Spyglass - Pullman
                Many Stones - Carolyn Coman
                Kit's Wilderness - David Almond

                Shiva's Fire - Suzanne Fisher Staples
                Stargirl - Jerry Spinelli
                Forgotten Fire - Adam Bagdasarian
                Hope Was Here -- Joan Bauer
                Fever 1793 - Anderson
                Sir Walter Ralegh - Marc Aronson

        Picture Books:

Gershon's Monster - Kimmel/Muth Satchel Paige - Ransome Big Jabe - Jerdine Nolen/Kadir Nelson Kate and the Beanstalk - Osborne/Potter

        Coretta Scott King (fiction)

McKendree - Sandra Belton

        Coretta Scott King (illus)

Satchel Paige - Ransome Big Jabe - Nolen/Nelson


Happy Reading!


Dean Schneider Ensworth School 211 Ensworth Avenue Nashville, TN 37205 schneiderd at ensworth.com
Received on Tue 05 Dec 2000 08:48:15 AM CST