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[CCBC-Net] Favorite Books of 2006
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From: Dean Schneider <schneiderd>
Date: Fri, 8 Dec 2006 15:49:50 -0600
Two books were written this year that I'd add to my list of all-time favorite books:
The Book Thief
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing
I see them both as for older young adults, though I have had a couple of 8th graders read and like Octavian Nothing.
In terms of Newbery-type books, maybe this is a year for a nonfiction winner. Russell Freedman's Freedom Walkers is amazingly good in telling the stories of the many people involved in the bus boycott, the famous and lesser-known players. It is well written, well documented, and important. And Ann Bausum's Freedom Riders is also a fine book, for all the same reasons.
I know it has its detractors, but I loved The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. Some say it's too similar to Hitty or to The Velveteen Rabbit, but I think it's so much more. Hitty was such a wooden
(literally) character and story; Edward Tulane is beautifully written, philosophical, and gorgeously illustrated. Edward is a complex character. He's unlikable at first, but as he has life experiences - good and bad - he comes to love and, thus, to appreciate the fullness of life. I don't see that richness and complexity in the books it's compared to. Another philosophical novel I loved was Wendy Mass's Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life, a wonderful story of a friendship between Jeremy and Lizzy and how Jeremy searches for, and finds, the meaning of life.
Another great nonfiction work is Deborah Hopkinson's Up Before Daybreak, an exceptionally well-told story using the voices of real people. Deborah Hopkinson is one of the best nonfiction writers out there. This is well documented, and the use of photographs and primary sources is exemplary.
Yellow Star, by Jennifer Roy, is a superb novel in verse telling the story of Roy's aunt Syvia, one of 12 children who survived of the Lodz ghetto. The verse format is perfect for this young girl's voice, and the novel would make a fine introduction to the Holocaust for readers in grades five and up.
Uri Shulevitz's So Sleepy Story is one of my favorite picture books of the year, one of those books you fondly say "Ahhh" when you think of it. It has a classic feel to it, and the ink-and-watercolor illustrations are fun and lovely. Sky Boys, by Deborah Hopkinson and illustrated by James Ransome, is another favorite - the story of the building of the Empire State Building in poetic prose and stunning illustrations. Finally, Dear Mr. Rosenwald, by Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated by R. Gregory Christie, is a fine and inspiring picture book in poems about Julius Rosenwald, who gave millions of dollars to help African-American communities build schools in the rural south in the 1920s and '30s. Christie's blend of realism and abstraction is, as always, fascinating and pleasing.
Dean Schneider
Ensworth School
Nashville, Tennessee
schneiderd at ensworth.com
Received on Fri 08 Dec 2006 03:49:50 PM CST
Date: Fri, 8 Dec 2006 15:49:50 -0600
Two books were written this year that I'd add to my list of all-time favorite books:
The Book Thief
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing
I see them both as for older young adults, though I have had a couple of 8th graders read and like Octavian Nothing.
In terms of Newbery-type books, maybe this is a year for a nonfiction winner. Russell Freedman's Freedom Walkers is amazingly good in telling the stories of the many people involved in the bus boycott, the famous and lesser-known players. It is well written, well documented, and important. And Ann Bausum's Freedom Riders is also a fine book, for all the same reasons.
I know it has its detractors, but I loved The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. Some say it's too similar to Hitty or to The Velveteen Rabbit, but I think it's so much more. Hitty was such a wooden
(literally) character and story; Edward Tulane is beautifully written, philosophical, and gorgeously illustrated. Edward is a complex character. He's unlikable at first, but as he has life experiences - good and bad - he comes to love and, thus, to appreciate the fullness of life. I don't see that richness and complexity in the books it's compared to. Another philosophical novel I loved was Wendy Mass's Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life, a wonderful story of a friendship between Jeremy and Lizzy and how Jeremy searches for, and finds, the meaning of life.
Another great nonfiction work is Deborah Hopkinson's Up Before Daybreak, an exceptionally well-told story using the voices of real people. Deborah Hopkinson is one of the best nonfiction writers out there. This is well documented, and the use of photographs and primary sources is exemplary.
Yellow Star, by Jennifer Roy, is a superb novel in verse telling the story of Roy's aunt Syvia, one of 12 children who survived of the Lodz ghetto. The verse format is perfect for this young girl's voice, and the novel would make a fine introduction to the Holocaust for readers in grades five and up.
Uri Shulevitz's So Sleepy Story is one of my favorite picture books of the year, one of those books you fondly say "Ahhh" when you think of it. It has a classic feel to it, and the ink-and-watercolor illustrations are fun and lovely. Sky Boys, by Deborah Hopkinson and illustrated by James Ransome, is another favorite - the story of the building of the Empire State Building in poetic prose and stunning illustrations. Finally, Dear Mr. Rosenwald, by Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated by R. Gregory Christie, is a fine and inspiring picture book in poems about Julius Rosenwald, who gave millions of dollars to help African-American communities build schools in the rural south in the 1920s and '30s. Christie's blend of realism and abstraction is, as always, fascinating and pleasing.
Dean Schneider
Ensworth School
Nashville, Tennessee
schneiderd at ensworth.com
Received on Fri 08 Dec 2006 03:49:50 PM CST
