It’s so much fun when someone introduces me to a new fantasy world. (Thanks, Jenn!) I zipped through the first book, The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett (HarperCollins, 2003) and am onto the sequel, A hat full of sky (2004)
The first line of the first book gives you a delicious taste of what is coming: “Some things start before other things.” Tongue-in-cheek humor runs alongside the adventures of 9-year-old Tiffany Aching, who has read the dictionary all the way through. You’ll meet the local Nac Mac Feegle (the wee free men) and follow Tiffany as she deals with some emotional issues in her life.
In the second book, Tiffany is now 11. I’m not done yet, but it has the same flavor as the first and is calling to me as I write this . . .
Read what Terry says about these books on his site: http://www.terrypratchettbooks.com/ I discovered there is a third book about Tiffany that I’ll have to order.
Good story for boys, but not limited to male reader enjoyment.
Author Barbara Garland Polikoff drew me in with her first two sentences. Luz’s relationships with each of the people in her life all feel so real. This story about adapting and accepting change takes Luz, her mother, brother, little sister, and stepfather from Chicago to Puerto Rico. Through the new friends she makes and the things she learns to like about Puerto Rico and her stepfather, and the importance of being in Puerto Rico to care for her grandfather, Luz learns that it’s not so important to go back to Chicago. She also heals from the hurt of her father’s abandonment.
When I read The Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer (Atheneum Books for Children, 2004), I got so involved in the reality of Jack’s life, I found it hard to put the book down. Besides wondering why I had never discovered this author before, I immediately passed the fantasy book on to my husband for his enjoyment.
The Schwa Was Here by Neal Shusterman (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2004) is a very, very good middle grade novel. I loved the main character’s voice, his attitudes, how he talks about New Jersey I know I’ll reread it, because I’ll want to spend time with Antsy again.