From: Karen Cruze <kcruze>
Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2006 09:53:07 -0600

Like Ginny I was blown away by this book. I remember seeing it on the "new books" cart at work (it was ordered by the Juv Fiction librarian - I order YA), picking it up and being hooked by the first paragraph. In fact, as soon as I read that paragraph I thought "this is the Newbery." While I haven't had feedback yet from young readers, I think this is the kind of book that will find a particular young person, the same young person I would say that likes "The View From Saturday" and "Olive's Ocean." It isn't a book for everyone; but then I don't think the Newbery has to be ...

In this case the Newbery Honors kind of fill in the gaps for other types of young readers. In fact, one of the things I love about the picks this year is their diversity. These are excellent books for a variety of readers.

Ultimately I bought "Criss Cross" for our YA collection, because I think it is a "high" Newbery (or could have been a "low" Printz). I led a mock Printz discussion at the North Suburban Library System in Illinois and included it on our reading list. My disappointment there was that not one other librarian participating liked the book. They were very put off by the lack of traditional plot. If the book hadn't received any recognition, I could see how lack of enthusiasm on the part of many adult readers could doom it to obscurity. So I'm very glad it got the recognition it did and thereby will hopefully find those readers for whom it will strike a deep chord.

Karen Cruze Youth Services Librarian Northbrook Public Library Northbrook Il.
Received on Thu 16 Feb 2006 09:53:07 AM CST