From: Ching, Edie <Edie_Ching>
Date: Wed, 3 Dec 2003 16:19:15 -0500

Here are a few of my personal favorites:
  Inkheart by Cornelia Funke. A very original story about those who love books and the characters that are longing to come alive. Maggie's father suddenly uproots his family because of the appearance of a strange visitor on a dark night, and the adventure begins. My students are fighting to get their turn to read it.
  Stop the train! A novel by Geraldine MacCaughrean. A "walloping" good read with larger than life characters in some cases
(the woman who comes out to be the baker's mail order bride and ends up as the school teacher-with some very creative and unique lessons). The book opens with people rushing off the train to claim land as part of Oklahoma's Land Rush. But they soon discover that the owner of the train, in a vengeful act, has sworn never to let the train stop at their town. The story revolves around the efforts of young and old alike to
"correct" that situation. This is a book about how people try to realize their dreams and also how they survive. Themes include friendship, rivalry despair and hope.
  Sword of the Rightful King by Jane Yolen.
  What more can be said about King Arthur? Well, read this book and find out. This is a novel that looks at loyalty, the quest for power, friendship and retribution. Yolen also tweaks more astute readers with little in jokes, Gawain asking, "What does a woman really want", and having his fight with his brother become a hugely inflated story about a green knight. The sword in the stone becomes an integral part of the story after Arthur is knighted and the surprise at the end is truly a surprise, and leaves us with a bittersweet feeling.
 
  Lower School Librarian St. Albans School for Boys Washington, D.C. edie_ching at cathedral.org
Received on Wed 03 Dec 2003 03:19:15 PM CST