Katsa is Graced (talented) with Killing. She’s very good at it, and her uncle King Randa takes advantage of that fact and has her deal with people who have angered him, disobeyed him, etc. Katsa hates what she is and what she does. She hates how most people won’t even look into her mismatched eyes. If it wasn’t for her few friends, and the council she started to right wrongs, how could she keep on?
Thanks, Laura M., for turning me on to Graceling (Harcourt 2008) by Kristin Cashore. I hope this well-written fantasy becomes a classic. It’s another book that I’ll be rereading.
In October this debut author has another book coming out–I can hardly wait! Check out her website for more details on the upcoming Fire and to learn more about this talented (or should I say “graced”) lady. The title of her blog/website is: This is My Secret.
Category: Award Winners
Savvy
A 2009 Newbery honor book…
The first sentence of Savvy (Dial, 2008) by Ingrid Law is a grabber and immediately lets you know you’re in for an interesting ride. “When my brother Fish turned thirteen, we moved to the deepest part of inland because of the hurricane and, of course, the fact that he’d caused it.” The book doesn’t disappoint.
The main character, Mibs, short for Mississippi, is about to turn 13, the birthday when Beaumont kids get their savvy. She’s sure it will be a good one. But that especially becomes important when Poppa is injured in a car accident and won’t wake up.
This is one of those books I know I’ll be rereading! (And I’ve heard she’s writing a sequel and they’re making a movie…woo whoo!)
Read more about the author at her website. I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next!
Higher Power of Lucky & Hattie Big Sky
So the 2008 Newbery winners have been announced, but it’s only been in the last several months that I managed to read the 2007 winner and one of the honor books. I always love it when I agree with the committee.
The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron (Newbery winner) and Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson (Newbery honor) were both so good I made my husband read them.
Here are brief summaries and my thoughts:
Higher Power of Lucky (Atheneum/Richard Jackson Books, November 2006) early Middle Grade novel
Summary: 10 -year-old Lucky is sure her guardian Brigitte wants to go back to back to France and she’ll end up in an orphanage. (Brigitte is Lucky’s father’s first wife that he arranged to come take care of her after Lucky’s mother died.) “The meanness gland in her heart and the crevices full of questions in her brain make running away from Hard Pan, California (population 43), the rock-bottom only choice she has.”
Author Susan Patron has such a way of putting you right there with Lucky; I think it’s her attention to details – one in fact which got some negative attention in the press. This book is so hopeful. It’s one I think all kids should read.
Hattie Big Sky (Delacorte Press, 2006) Young Adult Novel Summary: “For most of her life, sixteen-year-old Hattie Brooks has been shuttled from one distant relative to another. Tired of being Hattie Hear-and-There, she summons the courage to leave Iowa and move all by herself to Vida, Montana to prove up on her late uncle’s homesteading claim.”
I loved the character of Hattie. I loved learning more about a time period–WWI–that I was less familiar with. Made me wonder what my own ancestors had experienced.
Do you have teens whining about how tough they have it? Have them read this novel, which by the way was inspired by a true story.
Read more about the author at her websitehttp://www.kirbylarson.com/.
P.S. I’ve known Kirby for years, and she is a real sweetie, which makes her award even more deserved.
Chanda’s Secrets
Chanda’s Secrets by Allan Stratton, 2004, Annick Press is well written. It shows the volatility of people’s emotions–one minute Chanda loves her neighbor Mrs. Tafa and the next she is totally mad at her. The setting is Africa; the problem is Aids.
16-year-old Chanda and the rest of her family and neighbors don’t talk about people having Aids, but say they have cancer or something else. Yet Aids is rampant and many people are dying from it. This brave teenager not only survives her own grief, but speaks out about the problem which gives the people around her the chance to speak openly.
Sidney Sheldon says, “You get your readers emotionally involved in your characters by being emotionally involved yourself. Your characters must come alive for you. When you are writing about them, you have to feel all the emotions they are going through–hunger, pain, joy, despair. if you suffer along with them and care what happens to them, so will the reader.” Allan Stratton must have suffered with his characters. No wonder this book has won so many awards.
Read about Allan at his publisher’s website: http://www.annickpress.com/ai/stratton.html
Want to help fight the battle of AIDS in Africa? Help a caregiver serving the sick by participating in assembling Caregiver Kits. Learn more by calling 866-962-4453 or go to www.worldvision.org/kits/caregiver-kits.html. (I’ve been involved with World Vision for over 20 years–mainly through their Child Sponsorship organization–it’s a trustworthy organization.)