CCBC-Net Archives
[CCBC-Net] Summer books
- Contemporary messages sorted: [ by date ] [ by subject ] [ by author ]
From: Sheila A Welch <sheilawelch>
Date: Sat, 15 Jul 2006 12:36:33 -0500
Here are a few more--
Many of the books already described bring to mind long, slow, nearly carefree days. A relatively new book by Bonnie Geisert looks at a different sort of summer. Based on her recollections of growing up in the 1950s on a South Dakota farm, she wrote PRAIRIE SUMMER about ten-year-old Rachel, who finds her summertime filled with difficult and sometimes frightening tasks and farm chores. Rachel realizes that her father is disgusted with her lack of ability to stand up to runaway cattle or burn trash without setting a field on fire. Her sisters are much better at farm work. When she overhears her father telling her mother that Rachel is "practically worthless," she longs to prove him wrong.
Another book about a difficult summer is the classic MY FRIEND FLICKA, by Mary O'Hara, which was written and takes place in the 1940s. Ken, like Rachel, wants desperately to show his father that he's worthwhile. But he constantly messes up, even choosing a particularly wild filly when his mother convinces his father to give him a horse of his own. While PRAIRIE SUMMER is written in a relatively simple style that seems to fit the landscape and lives of the characters, FLICKA is written in a detailed and sometimes complex style. Although I loved this book as a child, I can imagine it might be a hard sell with today's publishers because of its slow pace and detailed descriptions. I wonder how many of today's young, horse-loving crowd actually find and read this special novel.
Kevin Henkes's OLIVE'S OCEAN, as someone else mentioned, is a lovely summer story. Martha looks forward to a carefree visit with her grandmother, but her life has become complicated by the gift of a page from a dead girl's diary. Written in a spare but beautiful manner, this book evokes memories of summers that weren't quite as simple as we expected them to be.
Although not a camp story, Boy Scout campers do figure into Jacqueline Jackson's 1958 novel, THE PALEFACE REDSKINS. This book, like the above, is about a pivotal summer in the main character's life. When Marcy's family arrives at their summer cottage on a Wisconsin lake, they are horrified to discover that a Boy Scout camp has sprung up along the shore. Although by today's standards the title could be considered politically incorrect, the children in the story are respectful of the tribe that lived in the area, the Potawatomi. As Marcy joins with her siblings and a friend to attempt to rid the lake of the intruders, she begins to learn more about herself and the widening world around her.
Last of all, I'll mention my summer novel, THE SHADOWED UNICORN, published by Front Street/Cricket Books, a story about loss, family, and the power of imagination--favorably reviewed by BOOKLIST and VOYA.
Sheila Kelly Welch
Received on Sat 15 Jul 2006 12:36:33 PM CDT
Date: Sat, 15 Jul 2006 12:36:33 -0500
Here are a few more--
Many of the books already described bring to mind long, slow, nearly carefree days. A relatively new book by Bonnie Geisert looks at a different sort of summer. Based on her recollections of growing up in the 1950s on a South Dakota farm, she wrote PRAIRIE SUMMER about ten-year-old Rachel, who finds her summertime filled with difficult and sometimes frightening tasks and farm chores. Rachel realizes that her father is disgusted with her lack of ability to stand up to runaway cattle or burn trash without setting a field on fire. Her sisters are much better at farm work. When she overhears her father telling her mother that Rachel is "practically worthless," she longs to prove him wrong.
Another book about a difficult summer is the classic MY FRIEND FLICKA, by Mary O'Hara, which was written and takes place in the 1940s. Ken, like Rachel, wants desperately to show his father that he's worthwhile. But he constantly messes up, even choosing a particularly wild filly when his mother convinces his father to give him a horse of his own. While PRAIRIE SUMMER is written in a relatively simple style that seems to fit the landscape and lives of the characters, FLICKA is written in a detailed and sometimes complex style. Although I loved this book as a child, I can imagine it might be a hard sell with today's publishers because of its slow pace and detailed descriptions. I wonder how many of today's young, horse-loving crowd actually find and read this special novel.
Kevin Henkes's OLIVE'S OCEAN, as someone else mentioned, is a lovely summer story. Martha looks forward to a carefree visit with her grandmother, but her life has become complicated by the gift of a page from a dead girl's diary. Written in a spare but beautiful manner, this book evokes memories of summers that weren't quite as simple as we expected them to be.
Although not a camp story, Boy Scout campers do figure into Jacqueline Jackson's 1958 novel, THE PALEFACE REDSKINS. This book, like the above, is about a pivotal summer in the main character's life. When Marcy's family arrives at their summer cottage on a Wisconsin lake, they are horrified to discover that a Boy Scout camp has sprung up along the shore. Although by today's standards the title could be considered politically incorrect, the children in the story are respectful of the tribe that lived in the area, the Potawatomi. As Marcy joins with her siblings and a friend to attempt to rid the lake of the intruders, she begins to learn more about herself and the widening world around her.
Last of all, I'll mention my summer novel, THE SHADOWED UNICORN, published by Front Street/Cricket Books, a story about loss, family, and the power of imagination--favorably reviewed by BOOKLIST and VOYA.
Sheila Kelly Welch
Received on Sat 15 Jul 2006 12:36:33 PM CDT
