War Horse. Michael Morpurgo. 1982/2010. Scholastic. 176 pages. This one surprised me. I didn’t expect it to be so good, so compelling. After all, I don’t “like” horse books. But. This little book is narrated by a horse named Joey. We get a glimpse of his life before–before he became a war horse, sent to [...]
Posts Tagged ‘MG/YA’
Posted in 
Tags: 
Messenger (MG/YA)
Posted by on October 26th, 2012
Messenger. Lois Lowry. 2004/2012. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 169 pages. In anticipation of reading Son, I decided to reread the Giver trilogy. Messenger is the third book, and it is a companion to The Giver and Gathering Blue. The hero of Messenger is Matt, a character first introduced in Gathering Blue. Several years have passed between [...]
Goblin Secrets (MG/YA)
Posted by on September 21st, 2012
Goblin Secrets. William Alexander. 2012. Simon & Schuster. 240 pages. Rownie woke when Graba knocked on the ceiling from the other side. Plaster dust drifted down from the knocking. Graba knocked again. Baskets hung on chains from the rafters, and they shook when she knocked. Goblin Secrets was an almost-almost book for me. I do [...]
For Darkness Shows the Stars (MG/YA)
Posted by on August 10th, 2012
For Darkness Shows the Stars. Diana Peterfreund. 2012. HarperCollins. 416 pages. Elliot North raced across the pasture, leaving a scar of green in the silver, dew-encrusted grass. Jef followed, tripping a bit as his feet slid inside his too-big shoes. I really enjoyed Diana Peterfreund’s For Darkness Shows the Stars. Did I enjoy it because [...]
Curveball: The Year I Lost My Grip (MG/YA)
Posted by on February 29th, 2012
Curveball: The Year I Lost My Grip. Jordan Sonnenblick. 2012. Scholastic. 304 pages. The first picture is a wide-angle shot, taken through the chain-link fence of the backstop behind home plate. There’s a boy standing on a pitcher’s mound in full uniform: green and gold. His cap is pulled low over his eyes, and his [...]
Crow (MG/YA)
Posted by on February 12th, 2012
Crow. Barbara Wright. 2012. Random House. 304 pages. The buzzard knew. He gave the first warning. I was playing in the backyard while my grandmother stirred the iron wash pot over the fire. She had gray hair and a bent back. Standing, she looked like the left-hand side of a Y. If she’d been able [...]
Small Acts of Amazing Courage (MG/YA)
Posted by on June 24th, 2011
Small Acts of Amazing Courage. Gloria Whelan. 2011. Simon & Schuster. 224 pages. How can kindness get you into so much trouble? It started when Mother dropped into sickness and I was left on my own. No, before that, when the war came and Father, a major in the British Indian Army who led a [...]
Doggirl (MG/YA)
Posted by on June 13th, 2011
Doggirl. Robin Brande. 2011. Ryer Publishing. 269 pages. I believe in signs. And this one said: Dog trainer needed immediately. Must provide own dog. I snatched the paper off the announcement board before anyone else could see it. Riley Case is a girl after my own heart, and her story touched me. Riley is amazing [...]
The Land of the Silver Apples (MG/YA)
Posted by on April 28th, 2011
The Land of the Silver Apples. Nancy Farmer. 2007. Simon & Schuster. 512 pages. It was the middle of the night when the rooster crowed. The Land of the Silver Apples is the sequel to Nancy Farmer’s The Sea of Trolls. And I must admit that I loved it. I just loved, loved, loved it! [...]
The Ropemaker (MG/YA)
Posted by on April 26th, 2011
The Ropemaker. Peter Dickinson. 2001. Random House. 384 pages. It had snowed in the night. Tilja knew this before she woke, and waking she remembered how she knew. Somewhere between dream and dream a hand had shaken her shoulder and she’d heard Ma’s whisper. The Ropemaker reminded me of all the reasons I love reading [...]
