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Newbery Buzz #2: The Door of No Return
Back for our second buzz, Janie and Betsy talk over a troubling but moving verse novel. Out of Africa Janie: Kwame Alexander scored a gold medal in 2015 with The Crossover, a verse novel about a tight-knit black family. We liked The Crossover a lot (see our review). Alexander’s latest verse novel is generating a lot of speculation that this may be his year again. The Door of No Return has appeared on almost every “Best of” list there is and I gave it high (though qualified) praise in my Redeemed Reader review. Before we talk about it,here’s the synopsis: Kofi, the protagonist, enjoys the love of his family and…
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Sunrise With The Silver Surfers by Maddie Please
Delightfully Fun Sunrise With The Silver Surfers by Maddie Please is a delightfully fun contemporary novel that will make you smile as you read of sun-filled days. The novel is set in Australia. Maddie Please has some wonderfully descriptive passages enabling the reader to ‘see’ the landscape and ‘feel’ the heat. As with life, it […]
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Gladys Hunt on Metaphor and Imagination
Editor’s Note: Continuing this month’s Honey for a Child’s Heart Read-Along, we’re thinking further about value of literary fantasy. A Metaphor Says This is Like That Originally published on the Tumblon website, May 26, 2009 The fact that Stuart Little is a mouse rather than a boy is not a problem for children. They love him for his essence, his integrity and fortitude. When we say that Stuart is “just best kind of mouse” we are not talking about his clothes or his grades. Jane Stephens, a teacher of English at UNC. A mother called in on a talk show, when I was discussing children’s literature, to tell me that…
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The Neighbour by Gemma Rogers
A Compelling Read The Neighbour by Gemma Rogers was a compulsive contemporary psychological suspense that gripped me from the start. A cul de sac of six houses should be the ideal place to live – but no one expected the neighbour. Fresh from one nightmare situation and dropped into another. Can you guess what goes […]
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There’s No Place Like Home by Jane Lovering
Wow – Heart Racing! There’s No Place Like Home by Jane Lovering is a contemporary adventure novel that entertained me from the start. The premise is a reality tv show shot in the wilds of the Yorkshire moors, with contestants on the hunt for evidence of a big cat. Financial reward beckons as the group […]
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The German Messenger by M J Hollows
Rising From The Ruins The German Messenger by M J Hollows is a mesmerizing historical novel that gripped me from the start. The story is set in Liverpool 1940-1941 at the height of the blitz. M J Hollows writes of the horrors facing the brave people of the city. As the city burns, we witness […]
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The Lucky Ones by Linda Williams Jackson
In The Lucky Ones, an impoverished family in the rural south takes a big step up during the Civil Rights struggles of the 1960s. The Lucky Ones by Linda Williams Jackson. Candlewick, 2022, 304 pages. Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12 Recommended for: ages 10-14 Portrait of Poverty Ellis Earl Brown has ambitions: he’s going to become a lawyer or a teacher, or maybe both. It seems a reasonable goal for an 11-year-old who applies himself at school, but Ellis Earl happens to live in Mississippi in 1967, a middle child in a large black family whose single mother barely earns enough to buy food. His older siblings, all school…
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Wintry Stories: A Book List for Middle Grades and Teens
Whether you live in a place with snow or not, January is the perfect month for a cozy snow story (or three). Look for some of these at your local library and enjoy a long winter’s evening story time. WINTRY STORIES: A BOOK LIST FOR MIDDLE GRADES AND TEENS The Wintry Stories book list below includes books for independent readers (roughly ages 7-18). Do check reviews if you are unfamiliar with a title or aren’t sure whether it’s a good fit for your children or students. Enjoy! CHAPTER BOOKS *A Long Road on a Short Day by Gary Schmidt and Elizabeth Stickney, illustrated by Eugene Yelchin. Clarion Books, 2020. 59 pages.…
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Where The River Takes Us by Lesley Parr
Friendship & Adventure Where The River Takes Us by Lesley Parr is a very engaging children’s novel set in the Welsh valleys in 1974. 1974 was a time of unrest in Britain with three day working weeks and regular power cuts. Times were hard for many but even harder for the leading character and his […]
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Newbery Buzz #1: A Rover’s Story
It’s that time again, readers! The hour for selecting winners of the world’s most prestigious children’s book award draws near. Redeemed Reader has little (that is, NO) influence on that decision, but we like to speculate. This year we’ve set apart five likely buzzed-about titles for a closer look. Betsy leads off with Jasmine Warga’s A Rover’s Story. Betsy: Jasmine Warga is no stranger to Newbery love: Other Words for Home earned a Newbery Honor in 2020 (see our review). Other Words for Home is a novel in verse about a refugee girl; A Rover’s Story centers around a robot headed to Mars. The rover’s name is Resilience, Res for…
