Sandy's Picks 2011 - Chapter Books

With 2011 quickly drawing to a close, it's time once again for this librarian to share her favorite reads of the year!

According to my Goodreads.com account, I have read a grand total of 130 books this year. I also currently have two more in progress and reserve the right to finish them before the clock strikes midnight on December 31. Almost all of these books were written for children or teens, and most were written in 2011 (though several were published in late 2010, and a few were even older). But which of these books were my favorites?

In today's post we're going to take a look at my favorite kind of books to read: Chapter Books.

Jefferson's Sons by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
This piece of historical fiction tells the story of three slaves owned by Thomas Jefferson - two of whom are his sons by Sally Hemings, and another young boy who works at Monticello. Bradley asks some challenging questions about morality and identity over the course of this story and these discussions will certainly get reader's thinking. The ending is especially powerful.

Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to Not Reading by Tommy Greenwald
I didn't expect to like this book as much as I did, but in the end it really was a funny, clever story about a kid's desperate attempts to avoid reading.

Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
Told in verse, this book documents a young girl's immigration from war-torn Vietnam to the United States. It was interesting to see how in many ways, Hà's life in the States was just as difficult as it was in Vietnam.

Marty McGuire by Kate Messner, illustrated by Brian Flocca
In this easy chapter book, the title character is a precocious tomboy who is cast as the princess in her class' performance of The Frog Princess. Antics ensue. All in all, it's great fun.

Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt
A heartfelt story of a boy growing up in the 1960s who learns to find beauty in the world despite his troubling home life. The narrative style in the book is noteworthy as it is told in a conversational, yet incredibly polished style. This book is my top pick to win the Newbery Medal next month.

Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick
Told in the same brilliant combination of words and stunning pencil drawings as his Caldecott Medal-winning book The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Selznick really outdid himself in this book. This time Selznick explores Deaf culture as he follows two characters - a young deaf girl in the early 20th century, and a partially deaf boy who has recently lost his mother in the 1970s - who are each searching for something.

Warp Speed by Lisa Yee
Bullying is a popular topic to write about these days, but I was especially pleased to see the way it was handled in this book. There are no picture-perfect solutions in this story, but there are lots of funny moments too complete with first crushes, Marley's loving family, and plenty of geekery for the nerd in us all.

What were your favorite chapter books of 2011? Discuss in the comments.

Edit 1/23/12: Maybe I didn't call the big winner, but congratulations to Thanhha Lai for winning a 2012 Newbery Honor for Inside Out and Back Again. Lai also was awarded the National Book Award for Young People's Literature for this lovely book.