14-year-old Alex wakes up. He can’t remember how he got home last night. Wait, this isn’t his bed or his room. Or his body! He’s not in London any more and 6 months have disappeared from his life. He tries to contact home and discovers something terrible has happened to him. His body is in a coma. He has to figure out a way to get himself back into his own body.
How could you not read this book? It’s called Flip (Wendy Lamb Books, 2011) by Martyn Bedford and I loved it and the fascinating problem. The character is sympathetic. Great read. I’m not the only one to think so…
Flip has been named one of the 2012 Best Children’s Books of the Year by Bank Street College of Education, and has been tagged as one of the novels of “outstanding merit” on the list.
This is Martyn’s first YA book, but he has five adult novels out. Plus he has a second YA coming out next year. Read more about him, and even some fan mail about Flip on his website. You also might enjoy his Not The Home Page page.
Category: Award Winners
How to save a life
I love how the title of this book, How to save a life (Little, Brown and Company, 2011) by Sara Zarr, applies to multiple situations and characters in this story. Told in two viewpoints from two teen girls from very different backgrounds we see the world through them in very different ways. I love how the author has made me sympathetic for both girls even though they have opposing needs.
Here’s a brief intro to the girls:
There’s Jill, who has lost her father, and whose mother is doing this crazy thing of taking in a girl to adopt the girl’s baby, like that will replace Dad.
And there’s Mandy, who is pregnant, hopefully because of the wonderful experience she had at the fair, and not something else, is looking for a home for a child and a place to stay while she waits for him to be born.
Throw in Jill’s boyfriend, who is bonding with Mandy, and the tension rises.
Don’t pass on this very good award winning book by the wonderful Sara Zarr. Her website has been re-designed, so if you haven’t been there for a while, check it out. You might also be interested in her blog where she’s been posting episodes of “This Creative Life.”
Won Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku
Won Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku (Henry Holt and Co, 2011) by Lee Wardlaw, illustrated by Eugene Yelchin has won the 2012 Lee Bennett Hopkins/Penn State University Poetry Award. Not a surprise really. Lee Wardlaw is quite the award-winning author, and Won Ton is so darn cute!
It’s a sweet story of a kitty at an animal shelter. We learn what he thinks and feels about it and follow him as he is adopted and adjusts to his new house, where he finally reveals his true name. I love the illustrations. This is a definite book choice for cat lovers and one easy to read over and over.
I also like how the author gave a bonus in her note where she explains senryu and haiku.
Writers should go check out Lee’s “101 Ways to Bug Children’s Book Author Lee Wardlaw” on her About Me page. Take a look at how many other books she has published, too–you’ll find others you want to read.
Illustrators should check out the beautiful art on Eugene Yelchin’s site. Wow!
Blessing’s Bead
Isn’t this a beautiful cover?
Blessing’s Bead (Melanie Kroupa Books/Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2009) by Debby Dahl Edwardson is an interesting mix of historical and contemporary. I’ll be honest I felt the historical section was a bit slow at first–maybe because there were so many characters–but once I got going it was good. The contemporary section pulled me in right away. I loved how the cultural information was done. It was great how the two stories meet up.
Here’s a brief look at each section:
It’s 1917 and Nutaaq watches her sister Aaluk and the young Siberian wearing the string of cobalt beads. Nutaaq does well in a race and gets one bead. Her sister goes off to marry the Siberian, then illness strikes the village and very few are left.
70 years later, Blessing and her little brother are sent away from their mother to live with their grandmother. Blessing feels like an outsider with the Inupiaq, but then begins to learn about her family’s history. She finds a blue bead, which she treasures without quite knowing why.
Debby writes with authenticity about her adopted culture in Barrow, Alaska. Read more here and the kudos for Blessing’s Bead. Debby’s site has many extras, so you may want to spend some time there. I did and now I’m putting her other novel and her picture book on my TBR pile!
Okay for Now
Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
Just love this kid!
Okay for Now (Clarion, 2011) by Gary D. Schmidt is about Doug Swieteck (who appeared in the Wednesday Wars*). He’s older now, 12. It’s 1968. His abusive father has lost his job and the family has to move away from NYC to a small town in upstate NY. Doug nicknames the house “The Dump.” There’s nothing to do in the town, but he follows this girl to the library. Of course, Doug doesn’t want her to know he’s following her so he goes to the top floor where he’s captured by a picture under glass – a tern by Audubon.
I just love this kid. Feel sorry for him at how he’s treated by his father and brother; how people suspect him to be a criminal; not knowing how to read; his loneliness in a new town.
Gary D. Schmidt is a two time Newbery honor winner. Read about him here. For anyone looking for an example of great voice, this story is excellent.
*You don’t have to have read the other book to enjoy this one, although it’s great, too. But if you want to know more about it, go here.