From: Janet Wanamaker <jwanamaker>
Date: Fri, 27 Jan 2006 15:31:05 -0600

I thank Karen and Gail for kicking off this discussion. I was a little hesitant to be the first one to critique the book itself. I have no official credentials except that I read a lot.

I was lucky enough to have a copy of Criss Cross on hand when it was announced as the Newbery winner. I went home Monday night and read it. I wished I had read it before the award was announced because the whole time I was reading it I kept thinking, "so this is the Newbery winner...hmmm."

The cover art (also done by the author) has a quote, "She wished something would happen," and while it makes me sound like a harsh critic, I wished something would happen. With so many characters in the story, it didn't seem that any one of them had a compelling problem or issue that really drew me in. Debbie, the protagonist from Perkins' first book, All Alone in the Universe, lost a little of her voice in the author's switch from a first person narrative to a third person point of view. As the story lines came to a conclusion, it didn't matter to me one way or another how things worked out.

I felt the use of metaphor was a little overdone, and it took me "out of the story." I was also distracted by little side trips the author took such as a discussion on Nancy Drew, fruit vs. veggies in jello, and so on. It felt like she had all of these "bits" stored up and just wanted to put them in a story. Overall, it wasn't a book that moved me.

Other books:

I read Whittington by Alan Armstrong, having seen it recommended by people on this list. I think it will be a great read aloud book. I think young readers will have a little trouble with the jumps back in forth in place and time, though the author tries to set things up for each switch. Reading recovery (insert trademark logo here)teachers will love the fact that their program is named and claimed as a successful one. Young writers can look at the bibliography at the back of the book to see how much research writers have to do.

I am thrilled to see that Bryan Collier's art was honored for Rosa. I heard Nikki Giovanni speak at our Wisconsin state teacher's conference this fall and went out in search of the book. The art is amazing. Each page needs close consideration in order to see the mix of photos, textiles and oil painting. Very impressive book. Nikki Giovanni's poetic text will be a great example for teachers looking for non-fiction writing with a voice.

 tired of the secret message device.
Received on Fri 27 Jan 2006 03:31:05 PM CST