Waiting for Normal

Written by Leslie Connor, Waiting for Normal is the story of 12-year-old Addie and her all-or-nothing mother. Following her mother and stepfather's divorce, Addie and her mother move into a run-down yellow trailer. Addie's mom shows throughout the book that she is not the most responsible parent, often leaving Addie for days at a time to spend time with her new boyfriend. Addie makes do by making friends with Soula and Elliot, who work across the street at the minimart, taking care of her pet hamster, getting ready for her flute solo in her school's Christmas concert, and looking forward to visits from her stepfather and half-sisters.

The great thing about this book is that it tackles some really serious issues without making the reader feel incredibly depressed, but still with a good amount of realism. Addie's mom is negligent and self-centered, but never cruel. Addie herself is so used to her mother's erratic behavior that it takes a bit of time for her to fully realize that the way her mother lives is far from normal. This means that Addie does not spend the entire book wallowing in misery or being unnecessarily optimistic: She simply tells everything the way it is, both good and bad, and lets the reader draw his/her own conclusions about the situation. I've encountered few books that handle such difficult issues with this sort of tone. This would be a great read for those looking for more gritty issues, but not wanting to spend the entire book crying.

Overall Grade: A

ALA Award Winners

It's that time of year again! This morning, the American Library Association (ALA) announced the books selected by is subcomittee ALSC (Association for Library Service to Children) for its prestigious annual awards. I'm only going to focus here on the Newbery and Caldecott awards, but the ALA gives a large number of other awards in areas such as easy readers, non-fiction, and audiobooks. You can find a (mostly) complete listing of today's award winners here.

Other famous awards are granted by other ALA committees. Information about the Coretta Scott King award, given for works by African-American authors and illustrators, can be found here. Information about the Printz Award, given to books for young adults, can be found here.

Newbery Medal
This award is given annually to, "the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children". This year's big winner is The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. This award was a touch surprising. I wasn't terribly shocked to see this book recognized by the ALA, but I was surprised that it managed to win the Medal given the number of other great books this year. This is not an unhappy surprise, however - the book is very well put-together and will definitely appeal to children who are looking for a suspenseful scare.

The honor books are:

• The Underneath by Kathi Appelet
• The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom by Margarita Engle
• Savvy by Ingrid Law
• After Tupac and D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson

Caldecott Medal
This award is given annually to, "the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children". This year's winner is The House in the Night, illustrated by Beth Krommes written by Susan Marie Swanson. This book is done is beautiful black and white woodcuts. On each page, sources of light are done in a golden orange color, making them stand out against the otherwise dark night. This book would make a soothing bedtime story, and its unique artwork makes it a fairly worthy winner.

The honor books are:

• A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever, written and illustrated by Marla Frazee
• How I Learned Geography, written and illustrated by Uri Schulevitz
• A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams, illustrated by Melissa Sweet and written by Jen Bryant

My Thoughts

Overall, I'm pleased with this year's award winners. I'm excited that at least two of this year's Newbery winners, The Graveyard Book and Savvy are books that I could comfortably recommend to children - heck, kids will probably actually pick these books off of the shelf on their own! While I'm not terribly enthralled with this year's Caldecott Medal, it is a fairly unique and beautiful book that is worthy of being recognized.

The biggest problem this year can be found in the books that got passed up! The Hunger Games, one of my favorite books of the year, was completely passed up by both the Newbery and the Printz committee. I'm just hoping that they're pulling a Lord of the Rings on us and saving an award in the expectation that the last book in the trilogy will be the best. I just hope that we're not disappointed in this.

Another book that really got passed up was We Are the Ship, a book about Negro League baseball that was on a lot of people's lists for both the Newbery and Caldecott. While it did get the nod from the Coretta Scott King committee, its quality was so great that the fact that is did not get recognized by the other awards was surprising. Perhaps the fact that this book qualified for an "ethnic" award boxed it in and made committee members reluctant to recognize it in other ways.

Anyone else have thoughts about this year's award winners? What did you like? What don't you like?

A Dog Called Grk

I've picked up a surprisingly large number of British books over the past two or three months, and the latest addition to this trend was highly enjoyable. A Dog Called Grk is the story of 12-year-old Timothy Malt, whose life consists of fairly normal activities like going to school and playing computer games. One day Tim stumbles upon a small black and white dog called Grk who doesn't seem to have a home to go to and is in need of something to eat. A bit of investigation shows that Grk was owned by a girl named Natascha Raffifi, the daughter of the former ambassador from the country of Stanislavia who has recently been forced to return to his home country. When his parents will not let him keep Grk, Tim sees no other choice: He must travel to Stanislavia and return Grk to Natascha himself.

What Tim does not immediately realize is that Natascha and her brother Max are being held captive in a high-security prison and thought (incorrectly) to be traitors to their home country! The evil Colonel Zinfandel, who has taken over Stanislavia and rules with an iron fist, will stop at nothing to make sure that Natascha and Max remain locked away. But what chance to a boy and a rather foolish dog have against an army?

This book is a zany adventure that's a ton of fun. Most of the action is fairly unrealistic, but this only helps to add to the fun of the adventure. Fans of other quirky reads, especially Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events, will definitely enjoy this book. The only flaw in this book is the ending, which was just a bit too quick and tidy for my taste. However, additional books about Grk and his human friends will surely keep readers on their toes as they have other adventures.

Overall Grade: B+

I've read a lot of good reads by British authors recently and have enjoyed the different sort of humor that they use. I also just kind of get a kick out of the different words that are sometimes used ("lift" for "elevator, or "knickers" for "panties," for instance). But I guess not everyone can be a fan, and these differences could be (but are not necessarily) challenging to some readers who have never before experienced these differences. Anyone else have any thoughts about British books?

My One Hundred Adventures

My One Hundred Adventures is the story of 12-year-old Jane who lives with her mother and younger siblings in a beach house in Massachusetts. Jane is happy with her life, but prays to have one hundred adventures. The first fourteen of these adventures happen that summer as Jane begins helping the local pastor deliver Bibles, is roped into babysitting the children of a dislikable woman, and is visited by a number of men who could be her father. Peppered with incidents involving hot air balloons, a search for a "poodle portal," psychics, and a road trip to California with an old woman, these different adventures eventually come together as Jane comes to learn a bit more about life and other people's motivations. The people in Jane's life, especially the adults, all seem to be full of crazy quirks and their characterization really steals the show as they balance Jane's somewhat more conventional personality.

This book is narrated by Jane, who has a deeply poetic voice that is wise and poignant beyond her years. Despite Jane's wisdom, her train of thought and logic remains truly that of a child, a blend that is difficult to achieve but expertly done here. The imagery and language used is beautiful and will appeal to most, but along with the episodic nature of the novel might turn away some readers who seek more straightforward language and plot. Fans of author Polly Horvath (Everything on a Waffle) will certaily enjoy this book, as it is fairly comperable to past books in terms of tone, literary voice, and quirkiness.

Overall Grade: A-

The Hunger Games

I finally got my hands on a copy of The Hunger Games this weekend. There's been an awful lot of hype and even some Newbery talk about this book which usually makes me a little bit skeptical - but I was not disappointed! Set at some point in the future, North America has been reorganized as the nation of Panem, consisting of the all-controlling Capitol and its twelve surrounding districts. As a way of keeping the districts in line and reminding them that they control everything, each year the Capitol organizes the Hunger Games, where a boy and a girl from every district is randomly selected to participate in a televised game. Each of the 24 children selected - tributes - must battle harsh conditions, wild animals, starvation, and ultimately fight to the death. The winner is the last tribute left alive.

In District 12 - one of the poorest and least regarded districts - being selected as a tribute is generally regarded as a death sentence. But when her sweet younger sister is selected as the female tribute, sixteen-year-old Katniss quickly volunteers to take her place in order to save her life. And so begins Katniss' struggle to not only battle the challenges of the games themselves, but also to quietly oppose the Capitol's cruelty and maintain her own humanity in spite of the barbaric nature of the games.

This was an excellent book that will be hard for most readers to put down. Panem's dystopia is vividly drawn and unnaturally beautiful (read, "garish") Capitol contrasts sharply and effectively with the run-down yet homey District 12. The second book in this intended trilogy will be available next fall, and readers will eagerly await to see what sort of challenges author Suzanne Collins has planned for the Hunger Games' aftermath.

Overall Grade: A+