Strong Female Characters. Yea, Girls!

Did you love Susan Cooper’s The Dark is Rising and C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe? Then Winterling should be your next read. Fer’s the kind of girl who’d rather be out in the woods than stuck in school. She knows she’s different than other kids, but not how or why. After she rescues a shapeshifting boy from wolves, she discovers the answer. She’s a being of two worlds, the earth and the magical kingdom of Way. The Way, she discovers, is where her father disappeared. The Way is in danger of becoming an endless winter because of the enchantress Mor, who’s determined to get rid of Fer, just as she had Fer’s Father. The Winterling is the first of two books by Sarah Prineas. I can’t wait to read the next, Summerkin.

Strong female characters

Ages 8 and up

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                                  The Seventh Wife by T. Kingfisher

Strong female characters! A dastardly villain! A sidekick who’s a talking hedgehog. Dead black birds squawking warnings. Previous wives turned into creatures like a golem, a clock, and a corpse. Poor Rhea’s promised in marriage to the sorcerer Lord Crevan, who’s in need of a seventh wife. No, this is not a retelling of the fairy tale Bluebeard, where the heroine is saved by her brothers at the last moment. Rhea saves herself, and happily, the other wives. It’s a fairy tale that’s funny, scary and inventive. 

Recommended for MG and YA

It’s 1665 in merry old England. Actually, it’s not so merry. Christopher’s master, an apothecary, is murdered and the authorities think he’s done it. Christopher knows he’s in danger, if not from the authorities, then from the cult of Archangel, the likely murderers. The cult wants the secret of magic fire, a world changing weapon Christopher’s master learned how to make .The Hawthorn Key’s not just a an exciting page turner, it’s Christopher’s coming of age story.  For 4th,5th and middle grades

Remember what it was like to play pretend? If you’ve forgotten, read The Mennyms by Sylvia Waugh. The Mennyms are rag dolls who live on a quiet street somewhere in England. They’re like any family, except they live a life of pretend. The rag doll Mrs. Quigley stays in the hall closet until it’s time for her weekly visit. When Mother Vinetta prepares tea, and the family just pretends to nibble at cookies. Then one day, a letter from Australia arrives. The new landlord is coming for a visit, wanting to meet the family who have rented the family house for 40 years. By reading The Mennyms I remember what it is like to be human, and even better, what it is like to play pretend.

Ever want to know what a six-year-old thinks? Read the Dory books by Abby Hanlon. Dory, aka Rascal, lives in a world of imaginary friends and monsters.
There is Mr. Nuggy, a fairy godmother who communicates by banana, and there is Mary, a cross between a Sendak wild thing and a puppy, (or is it a bear cub?) There are  monsters: a sock monster, closet monster, toilet monster, and more. None of them are the least bit frightening, except for Mrs. Gobble Gracker, who does such a terrible things like eat popcorn with your family when you’re in a "time out."
The narrative is easy to follow, aided by comic artwork and predictive actions.
For under six year olds, it might help for the adult reader to explain how the cartoon artwork adds to the story. Older kids won’t have any trouble, though.
This is a great pick for kids who love the Ramona Books, Ivy and Bean, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

I have a new category of books: COZY YA. There’s no mayhem or murder. My first pick is The Hired Girl by Laura Amy Schlitz (Newberry Award winner). It’s the 1900’s in America. Joan runs away from the farm and her brutish Father. Through luck and pluck, Joan gains a position as a hired girl in a wealthy Jewish family in Baltimore. It’s a book of firsts; the wonders of city living, the life of a Reformed Jewish family, and love. Those are the bones of the story, but there is so much more to it. Reading The Hired Girl took me back to the first time I was swept away by a book. Think of the Little House Books, or The Little Princess or The Secret Garden. That’s what The Hired Girl did for me.