08/11/10

I have some favorite books that I would like to share, and recommend.  I will add more as the year goes on. 

High School

She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb  One of my favorites

Jr. High-- Elementary

Stepping on the Cracks  by Mary Downing Hahn:    There is a boy named Gordy with a crazy father, a rumor about a person who was a science experiment gone wrong living in the nearby woods, and many more oddities in the mystery Stepping on the Cracks. The three main characters, Elizabeth, Maggie, and Gordy each have a brother fighting in World War II, or do they? In solving these mysteries they discover that sometimes your worst enemy can become your best friend.

The Giver  by Lois Lowry:   The story is about a 12 year old named Jonas. He is assigned the job of "Receiver of Memories". He holds the feelings and freedoms that were found in the past. He must keep them hidden from his "perfect" society in order to protect everyone from pain. In the end, he realizes the hidden truths about his so called "perfect" society and plots to return all memories back to the people. The beginning is rather slow but the excitement increases. It gives the reader a look into what our world would be if everything was the same. Even though our world can be sometimes cruel, I think we would still want our freedom.

ELEMENTARY

 MISS RUMPHIUS by Barbara Cooney

This beautiful picture book tells of the life of the author's great aunt Alice, now called The Lupine Lady. When she was little, Alice told her grandfather that she wanted to do as he did: go to far away places and live in a house by the sea. He told her that she must also do something to make the world more beautiful.

She accomplishes all she set out to do: traveling to tropical islands, climbing mountains before she hurts her back falling from a camel and decides to live by the sea. Her need to make the world more beautiful is a source of consternation to her.

Her solution of spreading lupine seeds wherever she walks is at first inadvertent - birds and the wind disperse lupine seeds from some she had planted in her garden before her bad back forced her into a semi-invalided life. When she sees new plants growing on nearby hillsides and cliffs, she spreads the seed herself after she feels better.

The illustrations are exquisite. They have the appearance of watercolors but were accomplished with acrylics and colored pencil. Several pages show a vast expanse of sea, marsh and land. Colors fade into the mist and just the right look of misty mornings by the sea is created.

References:

http://www.carolhurst.com/titles/missrumphius.html