A recent bout of flu left me able to do very little except read and sleep, so I indulged my curiosity about some recent middle-grade novels.
I'll mention just two of my new favorites here:
Holes by Louis Sachar
The story takes place in a Texas desert-like wasteland. Kids get sent there as an alternative to juvenile detention centers, and there they get sentenced to what amounts to hard labor: digging holes. Why do they have to dig holes? The answer ties in wonderfully with the protagonist's own past. This one, I think, deserved every honor it got.
A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck (an author I read when I was combing the "J" section in the library as a kid) I enjoyed this one particularly because it took me away from present-day reality (things moving quickly, computers, and, when I read it, my own red nose). The grandmother in the story is one of those heroines you can't forget--the old-fashioned tough-but-tender Grandma who will do anything--even catch and kill a couple of foxes--so her granddaughter can have a good holiday season.
Well, okay, here's a third, but I can't reveal the title. It's a secret because my friend Susan is getting ready to send it out to agents. But--love it! It's a great tale, and I hope that soon you'll see it on the bookshelves with the others I just mentioned.
1 comment:
I actually read Holes a few months back with some of the little ones at the Youth center. The teens in my group loved it and at the conclusion I challaneged them to come up with other alternative juvenille correction methods. Here is the short list: All phone calls have to be made on speaker so everyone hears (Cali age 13), All the boys should have to spend time helping rebuild where Katrina hit (Evan age 16), and from my youngest reader Roy (age 9) comes this reply, "why dont thier parents just teach them not to get into trouble?"
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