From: Cathy Sullivan Seblonka <cathys>
Date: Fri, 8 Dec 2006 17:19:59 -0500 (EST)

For YAs, I second The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak. It's my favorite of the year. Such great characters, brilliant use of Death as the narrator, suspensful, and interesting German WW2 POV.

Younger kids:
*For You Are a Kenyan Child by Kelly Cunnane
*I Lost My Tooth in Africa by Penda Diakite
*Owen and Mzee by Isabella Hatkoff (good to pair with Mama by Jeanette Winter--both about the baby hippo who was swept out to sea in the tsunami, brought safely to shore, and who then found a friend in an old tortoise names Mzee)
*An Egg is Quiet by Dianna Aston (fun science, great illus.)

Older kids:
*The Hero Schliemann by Laura Amy Schlitz (fascinating, imperfect hero
---about the man who believed in Troy, found it, and disasterously excavated it)
*Lugalbanda by Kathy Henderson (beautifully illustrated, quiet message)
*Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron (nice to see another book with characters who live in a house trailor, humorous)
*The Man Who Named the Clouds by Julie Hannah and Joan Holub (after reading this one I began trying to identify clouds--I need to read it again)
*The Book of Everything by Guus Kuijer (more great characterizations and very humorous even though dealing with an abusive father)
*Once Upon a Mail Route by John Mooy (Mooy's a storyteller rather than a writer but for examples of sheer human kindness this book can't be beat. Charming illus.)
*The Amazing Life of Birds by Gary Paulsen made me laugh out loud as the young man struggles his way through puberty.

Cathy





Cathy Sullivan Seblonka Youth Services Librarian Peter White Public Library 217 N. Front St. Marquette, MI 49855
(906) 228-9510 fax (906) 226-1783 e-mail: cathys at uproc.lib.mi.us
Received on Fri 08 Dec 2006 04:19:59 PM CST