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From: Ginny Moore Kruse <gmkruse>
Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2006 12:55:51 -0600
"Way back" on December 8 Cathy Sullivan Seblonka wrote that THE HIGHER POWER OF LUCKY by Susan Patron is one of her favorites, and it's one of mine, too. Ten-year-old Lucky is such a distinctive, fully realized protagonist - inventive, funny, resilient and absolutely charming. The secondary characters are equally vivid and memorable, and that includes Lucky's dog named HMS Beagle. Susan Patron has fashioned a highly original plot set in such a real, believable rural community within the desert region of the U.S. Southwest. This novel's strong narrative voice and realistic sense of place are enhanced by Matt Phelan's occasional black & white spot artwork. Ever since I read THE HIGHER POWER OF LUCKY
(edited by Richard Jackson from Atheneum / Simon & Schuster) I've hoped that some members of the current Newbery Committee also have discovered this book and realized what a treasure it is!
The child-friendly photo documentary book FAMILIES by Susan Kuklin
(Hyperion) is another of my favorites this year. Here's how FAMILIES is described on the jacket flap: "In frank, funny, and touching interviews, children from fifteen different families talk about the ups and downs of their home lives. These families reflect the kaleidoscopic diversity of America: mixed-race and immigrant families; families of gay and lesbian couples; large and small families; religious families; families with adopted children or children with special needs. This book - told in the children's own words, and created in collaboration with them - is a celebration of all families." Indeed it is, and it's a book of excellence and importance, as well.
Another book I can't help but mention has already been suggested by at least one other person in the CCBC-Net community. It's the book NOT A BOX by Antoinette Portis (HarperCollins). Superb, spare line drawings and only a few words show a child engaged in imaginative play using a cardboard box while a perplexed "off-stage" care-giver's voice repeatedly inquires what's up. Because the box-like, brown book cover states "this side up" on the back of a book, it both is and also is not a box, depending upon whether or not someone handling this book also has a playful imagination. Two thumbs up for NOT A BOX!
Cheers, Ginny
Received on Tue 19 Dec 2006 12:55:51 PM CST
Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2006 12:55:51 -0600
"Way back" on December 8 Cathy Sullivan Seblonka wrote that THE HIGHER POWER OF LUCKY by Susan Patron is one of her favorites, and it's one of mine, too. Ten-year-old Lucky is such a distinctive, fully realized protagonist - inventive, funny, resilient and absolutely charming. The secondary characters are equally vivid and memorable, and that includes Lucky's dog named HMS Beagle. Susan Patron has fashioned a highly original plot set in such a real, believable rural community within the desert region of the U.S. Southwest. This novel's strong narrative voice and realistic sense of place are enhanced by Matt Phelan's occasional black & white spot artwork. Ever since I read THE HIGHER POWER OF LUCKY
(edited by Richard Jackson from Atheneum / Simon & Schuster) I've hoped that some members of the current Newbery Committee also have discovered this book and realized what a treasure it is!
The child-friendly photo documentary book FAMILIES by Susan Kuklin
(Hyperion) is another of my favorites this year. Here's how FAMILIES is described on the jacket flap: "In frank, funny, and touching interviews, children from fifteen different families talk about the ups and downs of their home lives. These families reflect the kaleidoscopic diversity of America: mixed-race and immigrant families; families of gay and lesbian couples; large and small families; religious families; families with adopted children or children with special needs. This book - told in the children's own words, and created in collaboration with them - is a celebration of all families." Indeed it is, and it's a book of excellence and importance, as well.
Another book I can't help but mention has already been suggested by at least one other person in the CCBC-Net community. It's the book NOT A BOX by Antoinette Portis (HarperCollins). Superb, spare line drawings and only a few words show a child engaged in imaginative play using a cardboard box while a perplexed "off-stage" care-giver's voice repeatedly inquires what's up. Because the box-like, brown book cover states "this side up" on the back of a book, it both is and also is not a box, depending upon whether or not someone handling this book also has a playful imagination. Two thumbs up for NOT A BOX!
Cheers, Ginny
Received on Tue 19 Dec 2006 12:55:51 PM CST
