Do you ever get cravings?








I do, for Jane Austen. I’d say it was a guilty pleasure, but it seems a lot of other readers love her, too. I listen to Nancy Pearl’s reviews on NPR and she recommended Keeping the Castle  (by Patricia Kindl) for Jane Austen fanatics. I read it in one night. Evil stepsisters, two handsome eligible men, a castle falling to ruin, and the need for a rich match to save the family’s crumbing castle. The heroine is a bit too full of herself to see clearly, like most Austen women. I got hooked when Althea’s mouth acts before her brain does. A pumpkin headed, yet very wealthy suitor murmurs, “You’re so beautiful,” and she answers, “And you’re so rich.” You won’t be able to resist this.
Ages: Girl romantics of any age

                                        Another great book from Ellen Potter

Sooner or later, you’re going to notice that I splurge when I read. When I like an author, I read all her books. I loved, as you know, the Knee Bone Boy, by Ellen Potter. For my next read, I picked The Humming Room because I was intrigued by its suggestion it was reminiscent of The Secret Garden. Brave words, I thought, to compare itself to my favorite childhood book.
Imagine living with a drug-dealing father in a trashy trailer. Picture yourself hiding when  men come to kill him and maybe, you, too. What do you do? Steal?  Lie? Hide when you have to? These are behaviors Roo must do to survive. So when you find yourself living with a distant uncle on a distant island, wouldn’t you keep on doing the same? Roo does. But, like all great books, there’s more mystery. Someone is held captive within the walls of the house, maybe someone who shouldn’t be freed. You’ll find yourself agreeing with the blurb when you finish the last page. It was another secret garden, one you never expected to find.

                                One of my FAVORITE Newbery Honor books

I imagined a twinkle in Grace Lin’s eye as she wrote Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. There’s a dragon afraid of monkeys. Oh, he can’t fly either, like a proper dragon should. No-don’t start thinking about the the Wizard of Oz.  No wizard sends Minli on a quest, it’s a goldfish. Now do you see why I was intrigued? Minli sets out to find the Old Man of the moon. Can he help her find happiness for her family?
The full-page artwork was beautiful and made it more kid-friendly, too. It also reminded me that I wasn’t in North Carolina anymore. (Oops, another Wizard of Oz allusion…but I think you’ll enjoy this book in the same way you did Oz.)

PS This was a Newbery Honor Book
PPS The companion novel Starry River of the Sky is out.

I'm bringing this blog up to date. Don't think I read all of these books in a week! This book gobbling has gone on for months.

Here we go!

New Recommendations in Books for Elementary Girls

Recently, I was asked for book recommendations for early and upper elementary girls. Here are some winners. Enjoy!




Early and Upper Grade Elementary:
Charlotte’s Web-EB White
Harriet the Spy-Fitzhugh
Sideway Stories from Wayside School-Sachar
The Laura Ingalls Wilder Series
Any book by Eva Ibbotsen
Ramona the Spy- Beverly Cleary
The Borrowers Series-Norton
Frindle-Alexander Clements
The Tale of Despaureaux- DiCamillo
BFG- Roald Dahl
A Little Princess- Burnett
Sideway Stories from Wayside School-Sachar

Upper Elementary:
Any of the books by Dianna Wynne Jones
Tamora Pierce Books
 When You Reach Me-Stead
The Invention of Hugo Cabret-Selznik
Holes -Louis Sachar
Walk Two Moons-Creech

This world is so real, even though it's peopled with goblins, witches and people made of gears and wheels, you feel as if you are there! Oh, in this story, goblins are good guys!

Great book for Boys and Girls Age 8 and up

Jinx

Sage Blackwood

As soon as I turned the last page of Jinx, I googled the author, Sage Blackwood, to find more of his books.
What makes this book so special is that the characters are both good and evil and evil and good. Just like real life. Here, though, the real world has man-eating trolls, devious witches and wizards. There's also a magic portal to another world.
Jinx, in Hansel and Gretel style, is taken out into the woods to be abandoned by his stepfather. It’s the stepfather, though, who disappears, not Jinx. Jinx is taken under the care of a wizard named Simon. Does Simon mean Jinx good or evil? You won’t know until the very end of the book.
 Oh, this is Blackwood’s first book, so I’ ll have to wait for his next one. I, for one, am hoping it will be soon.
Ages 8 and up
Good for both boys and girls

For years, I’ve recommended good reads for kids at schools, libraries,

and conferences.* Now I can do it here!

So every week or so, I’ll tell you about the last best book I’ve read. I’ll keep it short, so you’ll have more time to read my favorites.

Ta Daa! The first:

The Knee Bone Boy by Ellen Potter

Please don’t judge this book by its cover, unless you’re a fan of saucer eyed anime kids.

The Hardscrabble kids(mute Otto, “take-charge” Lucia and clever Max) would be right at home with the Pevensie kids from The The Chronicles of Narnia and the Drews from the Dark is Rising.The problems facing the Hardscrabble kids aren’t supernatural, but they are just as suspenseful. A missing mother, an absent Dad, and an adventure in a miniature castle with a dotty aunt…that’s exciting. Oh, who is the Kneebone Boy? I’m not telling.

Boys and Girls

Upper Elementary to Middle Grade

           

*Why listen to me? I have a Master’s in Reading, have been a children’s bookseller,

am a Writer’s Digest  judge, author (Monsters and Water Beasts, Henry Holt), and most important, a “Book Gobbler!”

By the way, no one pays me to review their book. So, I might not recommend a best seller. I just applaud good writing.