The Witch of Blackbird Pond

by Elizabeth George Speare

The Witch of Blackbird Pond is the simple story of Kit, a wealthy girl from Barbados whose last family member on the island dies. She stows away on a ship to Connecticut to find her mother's sister, and encounters a way of life that is completely foreign to her.

This was one of my very favorite books as a kid, and I'm quite certain I read it ten-plus times. I was a little hesitant to reread it as an adult, for fear that some of its magic would now be lost on me. Instead, it felt like having lunch with an old friend.

I LOVE Kit Tyler. She was my hero as a girl, and she's my hero now. It's interesting to think about what little me must have seen in her. She's brave. She's generous. She's headstrong, but she knows when to call it quits. She's loyal, practical, and hard-working. She's stubborn and a little bit arrogant. She hates the snow, and because of her, I still have an unfulfilled dream of visiting Barbados one day.

Even though it has been many, many years since I last read this book, I knew exactly what was going to happen when Prudence dropped her doll in the water. That scene, among many others, was burned in my mind. That's good storytelling, and that's good writing.

The Crossover

by Kwame Alexander

Twins Josh and JB are basketball stars in their last year of middle school. We hear the story through Josh's point of view. He's got a couple of things he's worried about. 1.) Winning the basketball championship. 2.) His brother has a girlfriend, and is totally wrapped up in her. 3.) Josh does not have a girlfriend and is kinda jealous. The star of this book isn't really the plot, though. It's the verse. You could read this book in an hour, since it's in poetry form, and the poetry is fun, accessible, and real.

UPDATE! This book just won the Newbery Medal!

The Midwife's Apprentice

by Karen Cushman

First called Brat, then called Beetle, our main character finally chooses for herself the name Alyce. She has nothing, and no one to love. No home, no family, until she saves the life of an orange cat who seems to be just as unfortunate as herself. She is discovered sleeping in a dung heap by a grumpy old midwife, and becomes her apprentice.

There is no real drama here, other than Alyce growing to believe in herself, fighting off horrible bullies, and learning how to birth babies in a time when many women died in childbirth. This is a beautifully told story, with rich historical details, and a main character you just want to hug. (After she cleans up from the dung heap, of course!)

Flora & Ulysses

by Kate DiCamillo

Flora is a cynic, and with good reason. Her parents are divorced, and her mom seems to love her lamp more than her own daughter. Flora lives for her comic books, so when her neighbor Tootie runs over a squirrel with her new Ulysses 2000X vacuum, and Flora revives him, she thinks he MUST have super powers. Turns out, being sucked up in that vacuum DID change the squirrel, whom Flora now lovingly calls Ulysses. He can type, fly, and write poetry. Unfortunately, every super hero must have a nemesis, and for Ulysses, that is Flora's mother, who only sees the squirrel as a rodent who must be dispatched, and fast. Flora and her neighbor's nephew, temporarily blind William Spiver, must protect Ulysses at all costs.

I love little cynical Flora, and her awesome, hilarious sidekick William Spiver. I listened to this on audio, and the narrator is amazing. This story works great as a read aloud, and her ability to give each character a different voice was a big part of the fun for me.

Yes, the young characters use big words that maybe a ten year old wouldn't use. But this story also stars a squirrel who types poetry, so I'm okay with it. The Newbery Committee made a great choice this year.

When You Reach Me

by Rebecca Stead

Summary: Miranda and Sal have been best friends since birth. As they walk down the street one day, a boy walks up to Sal and punches him in the stomach for no apparent reason. From that moment on, their friendship changes. He begins avoiding Miranda, and completely cuts her out of his life. By chance, Miranda must come face to face with Marcus (the puncher) at school one day, and the two have a very interesting conversation about Miranda's favorite book, A Wrinkle in Time. Marcus makes her think about things in a different way. Meanwhile, Miranda is finding strange, cryptic little notes that instruct her to keep the notes a secret, mention the location of her house key, and most importantly, to write a letter. What do the notes mean? Who are they from? And will her letter really help save Sal's life like the mysterious author claims?

My thoughts: Finally! This book is everything a Newbery Award winner should be. It's sweet, real, and completely believable, even though the biggest plot element is total fantasy. Somehow Stead makes you believe that the impossible can happen. I absolutely loved this book.

The Tale of Despereaux

by Kate DiCamillo

Summary: Despereaux, the little mouse with the big ears, has done the unthinkable--fallen in love with a human, and a princess, no less! This makes him very unpopular with the other mice, and he ends up in prison with some very unseemly rats. A rat falling in a bowl of soup kills the queen, complicating matters, and Miggery Sow, a peasant girl, strikes a deal with an evil rat because she is so dumb she believes she can take the place of the princess. Many plots blend together and intertwine to create an exciting and unusual adventure!

My thoughts: This is total and complete escape reading! It's so much fun to shake your head at this silly little mouse with his big dreams, while rooting for him at the same time!

The Higher Power of Lucky

by Susan Patron

Summary: Lucky lives in a tiny California town, and spends a lot of time eavesdropping on 12-step meetings, where she discovers the idea of finding a "higher power." Her mother is dead, and her father, who doesn't much like the idea of being a father, calls his first wife from France to come care for Lucky. Understandably, Lucky is afraid that all of the adults in her life are going to abandon her. She runs away into the desert in a dust storm hoping to gain attention, but instead learns some things about her family and herself.

My thoughts: I'll be honest. I think the Newbery Committee missed the boat on this one. I found the plot uninteresting, the writing dry, and Lucky kind of got on my nerves.

The Graveyard Book

by Neil Gaiman

Summary: Once, on a very dark, sad night, a man named Jack stabbed and killed an entire family--except for one. He missed the baby, who had wandered out of the house and down the road to the local graveyard. Mr. and Mrs. Owens find the child, but here's the catch: they've been dead for a very long time. When the frantic ghosts of the baby's newly-dead parents plead with the Owens' to protect their child, they decide to adopt him and raise him in the graveyard. They can't decide on a name, so call him Nobody Owens, Bod for short. The Owens, along with his mysterious "guardian" Silas, do a fine job raising Bod, and try their best to keep him from leaving the graveyard. It is quickly revealed that Jack is not finished looking for Bod, and still wants to kill him. Bod is a curious, intelligent child, and has lots of adventures in the graveyard, ranging from hilarious to downright scary.

My thoughts: The 2009 Newbery Medal Winner! This book has several pen and ink illustrations, which I think is a cool addition to many young adult novels. These illustrations truly add to the story. I think this book is a definite improvement over the Newbery choices in the past few years. While this isn't my favorite Gaiman book, it's well-written, original, and fun.