Author - Melissa Nathan

I've read 3 of her books:

Pride, Prejudice, & Jasmin Field

Persuading Annie

and

The Nanny.

The first two are modern re-writes of Jane Austen's books Pride & Prejudice and Persuasion. I found the PP&JF at a used bookstore years ago, and I still like to read it once in a while. It is a light and easy read, stays true to Austen's story (will Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy end up together???), but also has an original take on the story that makes it fresh and modern.

I just read PA for the first time, and found the first 3/4ths of it a little boring and a little complicated. I couldn't exactly tell how Nathan's characters were supposed to match up with Austen's and how the story was supposed to match up (which was probably my fault for trying to match them up in my mind, but that's how my brain works), but then the ending made the story more interesting, and made it enjoyable overall.

I hesitated over The Nanny for a while. I had horrible visions of the Scarelt Johanson movie and knew I wouldn't be able to stomach that kind of squirmy, embarassing blather. I know the Nanny Diairies is a different book entirely, but I figured there is enough related subject matter to give me concern. Anyways, this book reminded me of PP&JF, with the light, fast moving story. Actually, the plot reminded me of Austen's Northanger Abbey, but I don't know if Nathan intended this one to be an retelling of Austen's novel. I might just read the Nanny Diaries now so I can compare them.

I'm going to be on the look out for Nathan's other books: The Waitress and The Learning Curve.

Aaach. While reading about The Learning Curve at amazon I learned that Melissa Nathan died of breast cancer shortly after finishing it, her 5th novel. It makes me sad for all sorts of reasons.

The Newberry Medal & Honor Books

I had so much fun with the 100 Books lists that I decided to do another one-- I have found some of my favorite books by trying to read my way through the Newberry Medal and Honor books. As my reading goals have changed I haven't read as many of these in the last few years, but I've also come to realize there are millions more books than I will ever be able to read. Which is soooo sad. I copied this list from the ALA's website.

Several things came to mind as I was reading through the list. First, all the wonderful books that I LOVE!!! Books I can, and do, read over and over- The Witch of Blackbird Pond is a perfect example. I've loved this book since I first read it in middle school. Second, I'm amazed at the number of books that are still popular today, like A Wrinkle in Time or Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. Third, there are so many books on the list! I'd better get started if I want to read them all!! There is a wonderful blog called The Newberry Project that is about reading all the Newberry winners.

And lastly, while I haven't liked ALL of the books I've read, the Newberry's do provide a wide range of socially and culturally diverse books, many of which have given me a glimpse into other worlds, real and make-believe.

I counted a total of 381 books on the list, but will freely admit I could have miscounted, so the grand total may really be give or take five or so.

2009 Medal Winner: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, illus. by Dave McKean (HarperCollins)
Honor Books:
The Underneath by Kathi Appelt, illus. by David Small (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster)
The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom by Margarita Engle (Henry Holt)
Savvy by Ingrid Law (Dial Books for Young Readers, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group in partnership with Walden Media)
After Tupac & D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson (G.P. Putnam's Sons, a division of Penguin Books for Young Readers)

2008 Medal Winner: Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz (Candlewick)
Honor Books:
Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis (Scholastic)
The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt (Clarion)
Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson (Putnam)

2007 Medal Winner: The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron, illus. by Matt Phelan (Simon & Schuster/Richard Jackson)
Honor Books:
Penny from Heaven by Jennifer L. Holm, (Random House)
Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson (Delacorte Press)
Rules by Cynthia Lord (Scholastic)

2006 Medal Winner: Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins (Greenwillow Books/HarperCollins)
Honor Books:
Whittington by Alan Armstrong, illustrated by S.D. Schindler (Random House)
Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow by Susan Campbell Bartoletti (Scholastic)
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale (Bloomsbury Children's Books)
Show Way by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by Hudson Talbott (G.P. Putnam's Sons)

2005 Medal Winner: Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata (Atheneum Books for Young Readers/Simon & Schuster)
Honor Books:
Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko (G.P. Putnam's Sons/a division of Penguin Young Readers Group)
The Voice that Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights" by Russell Freedman (Clarion Books/Houghton Mifflin)
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt (Clarion Books/Houghton Mifflin)

2004 Medal Winner: The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Timothy Basil Ering, (Candlewick Press)
Honor Books:
Olive's Ocean by Kevin Henkes (Greenwillow Books)
An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 by Jim Murphy (Clarion Books)

2003 Medal Winner: Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi (Hyperion Books for Children)
Honor Books:
The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer (Atheneum)
Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff (Random House/Wendy Lamb Books)
Hoot by Carl Hiaasen (Knopf)
A Corner of The Universe by Ann M. Martin (Scholastic)
Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie S. Tolan (HarperCollins)

2002 Medal Winner: A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park (Clarion Books/Houghton Mifflin)
Honor Books:
Everything on a Waffle by Polly Horvath (Farrar Straus Giroux)
Carver: A Life In Poems by Marilyn Nelson (Front Street)

2001 Medal Winner: A Year Down Yonder by by Richard Peck (Dial)
Honor Books:
Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo (Candlewick Press)
Joey Pigza Loses Control by Jack Gantos (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux)
The Wanderer by Sharon Creech (Joanna Cotler Books/HarperCollins)

2000 Medal Winner: Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis (Delacorte)
Honor Books:
Getting Near to Baby by by Audrey Couloumbis (Putnam)
Our Only May Amelia by Jennifer L. Holm (HarperCollins)
26 Fairmount Avenue by Tomie dePaola (Putnam)

1999 Medal Winner: Holes by Louis Sachar (Frances Foster)
Honor Book:
A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck (Dial)

1998 Medal Winner: Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse (Scholastic)
Honor Books:
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine (HarperCollins)
Lily's Crossing by Patricia Reilly Giff (Delacorte)
Wringer by Jerry Spinelli (HarperCollins)

1997 Medal Winner: The View from Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg (Jean Karl/Atheneum)
Honor Books:
A Girl Named Disaster by Nancy Farmer (Richard Jackson/Orchard Books)
Moorchild by Eloise McGraw (Margaret McElderry/Simon & Schuster)
The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner (Greenwillow/Morrow)
Belle Prater's Boy by Ruth White (Farrar Straus Giroux)

1996 Medal Winner: The Midwife's Apprentice by Karen Cushman (Clarion)
Honor Books:
What Jamie Saw by Carolyn Coman (Front Street)
The Watsons Go to Birmingham: 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis (Delacorte)
Yolonda's Genius by Carol Fenner (Margaret K. McElderry/Simon & Schuster)
The Great Fire by Jim Murphy (Scholastic)

1995 Medal Winner: Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech (HarperCollins)
Honor Books:
Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman (Clarion)
The Ear, the Eye and the Arm by Nancy Farmer (Jackson/Orchard)

1994 Medal Winner: The Giver by Lois Lowry (Houghton)
Honor Books:
Crazy Lady by Jane Leslie Conly (HarperCollins)
Dragon's Gate by Laurence Yep (HarperCollins)
Eleanor Roosevelt: A Life of Discovery by Russell Freedman (Clarion Books)

1993 Medal Winner: Missing May by Cynthia Rylant (Jackson/Orchard)
Honor Books:
What Hearts by Bruce Brooks (A Laura Geringer Book, a HarperCollins imprint)
The Dark-thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural by Patricia McKissack (Knopf)
Somewhere in the Darkness by Walter Dean Myers (Scholastic Hardcover)

1992 Medal Winner: Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (Atheneum)
Honor Books:
Nothing But The Truth: a Documentary Novel by Avi (Jackson/Orchard)
The Wright Brothers: How They Invented the Airplane by Russell Freedman (Holiday House)

1991 Medal Winner: Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli (Little, Brown)
Honor Book:
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi (Jackson/Orchard)

1990 Medal Winner: Number the Stars by Lois Lowry (Houghton)
Honor Books:
Afternoon of the Elves by Janet Taylor Lisle (Jackson/Orchard)
Shabanu, Daughter of the Wind by Suzanne Fisher Staples (Knopf)
The Winter Room by Gary Paulsen (Jackson/Orchard)

1989 Medal Winner: Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleischman (Harper)
Honor Books:
In The Beginning: Creation Stories from Around the World by Virginia Hamilton (Harcourt)
Scorpions by Walter Dean Myers (Harper)

1988 Medal Winner: Lincoln: A Photobiography by Russell Freedman (Clarion)
Honor Books:
After The Rain by Norma Fox Mazer (Morrow)
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen (Bradbury)

1987 Medal Winner: The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman (Greenwillow)
Honor Books:
A Fine White Dust by Cynthia Rylant (Bradbury)
On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer (Clarion)
Volcano: The Eruption and Healing of Mount St. Helens by Patricia Lauber (Bradbury)

1986 Medal Winner: Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan (Harper)
Honor Books:
Commodore Perry In the Land of the Shogun by Rhoda Blumberg (Lothrop)
Dogsong by Gary Paulsen (Bradbury)

1985 Medal Winner: The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley (Greenwillow)
Honor Books:
Like Jake and Me by Mavis Jukes (Knopf)
The Moves Make the Man by Bruce Brooks (Harper)
One-Eyed Cat by Paula Fox (Bradbury)

1984 Medal Winner: Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary (Morrow)
Honor Books:
The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare (Houghton)
A Solitary Blue by Cynthia Voigt (Atheneum)
Sugaring Time by Kathryn Lasky (Macmillan)
The Wish Giver: Three Tales of Coven Tree by Bill Brittain (Harper)

(104 books on the list so far- don't give up!!)

1983 Medal Winner: Dicey's Song by Cynthia Voigt (Atheneum)
Honor Books:
The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley (Greenwillow)
Doctor DeSoto by William Steig (Farrar)
Graven Images by Paul Fleischman (Harper)
Homesick: My Own Story by Jean Fritz (Putnam)
Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush by Virginia Hamilton (Philomel)

1982 Medal Winner: A Visit to William Blake's Inn: Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travelers by Nancy Willard (Harcourt)
Honor Books:
Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary (Morrow)
Upon the Head of the Goat: A Childhood in Hungary 1939-1944 by Aranka Siegal (Farrar)

1981 Medal Winner: Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson (Crowell)
Honor Books:
The Fledgling by Jane Langton (Harper)
A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L'Engle (Farrar)

1980 Medal Winner: A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl's Journal, 1830-1832 by Joan W. Blos (Scribner)
Honor Book:
The Road from Home: The Story of an Armenian Girl by David Kherdian (Greenwillow)

1979 Medal Winner: The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin (Dutton)
Honor Book:
The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson (Crowell)

1978 Medal Winner: Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson (Crowell)
Honor Books:
Ramona and Her Father by Beverly Cleary (Morrow)
Anpao: An American Indian Odyssey by Jamake Highwater (Lippincott)

1977 Medal Winner: Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor (Dial)
Honor Books:
Abel's Island by William Steig (Farrar)
A String in the Harp by Nancy Bond (Atheneum)

1976 Medal Winner: The Grey King by Susan Cooper (McElderry/Atheneum)
Honor Books:
The Hundred Penny Box by Sharon Bell Mathis (Viking)
Dragonwings by Laurence Yep (Harper)

1975 Medal Winner: M. C. Higgins, the Great by Virginia Hamilton (Macmillan)
Honor Books:
Figgs & Phantoms by Ellen Raskin (Dutton)
My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier & Christopher Collier (Four Winds)
The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope (Houghton)
Philip Hall Likes Me, I Reckon Maybe by Bette Greene (Dial)

1974 Medal Winner: The Slave Dancer by Paula Fox (Bradbury)
Honor Book:
The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper (McElderry/Atheneum)

1973 Medal Winner: Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George (Harper)
Honor Books:
Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel (Harper)
The Upstairs Room by Johanna Reiss (Crowell)
The Witches of Worm by Zilpha Keatley Snyder (Atheneum)

1972 Medal Winner: Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien (Atheneum)
Honor Books:
Incident At Hawk's Hill by Allan W. Eckert (Little, Brown)
The Planet of Junior Brown by Virginia Hamilton (Macmillan)
The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. LeGuin (Atheneum)
Annie and the Old One by Miska Miles (Little, Brown)
The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder (Atheneum)

1971 Medal Winner: Summer of the Swans by Betsy Byars (Viking)
Honor Books:
Knee Knock Rise by Natalie Babbitt (Farrar)
Enchantress From the Stars by Sylvia Louise Engdahl (Atheneum)
Sing Down the Moon by Scott O'Dell (Houghton)

1970 Medal Winner: Sounder by William H. Armstrong (Harper)
Honor Books:
Our Eddie by Sulamith Ish-Kishor (Pantheon)
The Many Ways of Seeing: An Introduction to the Pleasures of Art by Janet Gaylord Moore (World)
Journey Outside by Mary Q. Steele (Viking)

1969 Medal Winner: The High King by Lloyd Alexander (Holt)
Honor Books:
To Be a Slave by Julius Lester (Dial)
When Shlemiel Went to Warsaw and Other Stories by Isaac Bashevis Singer (Farrar)

1968 Medal Winner: From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg (Atheneum)
Honor Books:
Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth by E. L. Konigsburg (Atheneum)
The Black Pearl by Scott O'Dell (Houghton)
The Fearsome Inn by Isaac Bashevis Singer (Scribner)
The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder (Atheneum)

1967 Medal Winner: Up a Road Slowly by Irene Hunt (Follett)
Honor Books:
The King's Fifth by Scott O'Dell (Houghton)
Zlateh The Goat and Other Stories by Isaac Bashevis Singer (Harper)
The Jazz Man by Mary Hays Weik (Atheneum)

1966 Medal Winner: I, Juan de Pareja by Elizabeth Borton de Trevino (Farrar)
Honor Books:
The Black Cauldron by Lloyd Alexander (Holt)
The Animal Family by Randall Jarrell (Pantheon)
The Noonday Friends by Mary Stolz (Harper)

1965 Medal Winner: Shadow of a Bull by Maia Wojciechowska (Atheneum)
Honor Book:
Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt (Follett)

1964 Medal Winner: It's Like This, Cat by Emily Neville (Harper)
Honor Books:
Rascal: A Memoir of a Better Era by Sterling North (Dutton)
The Loner by Ester Wier (McKay)

1963 Medal Winner: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (Farrar)
Honor Books:
Thistle and Thyme: Tales and Legends from Scotland by Sorche Nic Leodhas, pseud. (Leclaire Alger) (Holt)
Men of Athens by Olivia Coolidge (Houghton)

1962 Medal Winner: The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare (Houghton)
Honor Books:
Frontier Living by Edwin Tunis (World)
The Golden Goblet by Eloise Jarvis McGraw (Coward)
Belling The Tiger by Mary Stolz (Harper)

1961 Medal Winner: Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell (Houghton)
Honor Books:
America Moves Forward: A History for Peter by Gerald W. Johnson (Morrow)
Old Ramon by Jack Schaefer (Houghton)
The Cricket In Times Square by George Selden, pseud. (George Thompson) (Farrar)

1960 Medal Winner: Onion John by Joseph Krumgold (Crowell)
Honor Books:
My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George (Dutton)
America Is Born: A History for Peter by Gerald W. Johnson (Morrow)
The Gammage Cup by Carol Kendall (Harcourt)

1959 Medal Winner: The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare (Houghton)
Honor Books:
The Family Under The Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson (Harper)
Along Came A Dog by Meindert Dejong (Harper)
Chucaro: Wild Pony of the Pampa by Francis Kalnay (Harcourt)
The Perilous Road by William O. Steele (Harcourt)

1958 Medal Winner: Rifles for Watie by Harold Keith (Crowell)
Honor Books:
The Horsecatcher by Mari Sandoz (Westminster)
Gone-Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright (Harcourt)
The Great Wheel by Robert Lawson (Viking)
Tom Paine, Freedom's Apostle by Leo Gurko (Crowell)

1957 Medal Winner: Miracles on Maple Hill by Virginia Sorensen (Harcourt)
Honor Books:
Old Yeller by Fred Gipson (Harper)
The House of Sixty Fathers by Meindert DeJong (Harper)
Mr. Justice Holmes by Clara Ingram Judson (Follett)
The Corn Grows Ripe by Dorothy Rhoads (Viking)
Black Fox of Lorne by Marguerite de Angeli (Doubleday)

(207 books on the list so far)

1956 Medal Winner: Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham (Houghton)
Honor Books:
The Secret River by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (Scribner)
The Golden Name Day by Jennie Lindquist (Harper)
Men, Microscopes, and Living Things by Katherine Shippen (Viking)

1955 Medal Winner: The Wheel on the School by Meindert DeJong (Harper)
Honor Books:
Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dalgliesh (Scribner)
Banner In The Sky by James Ullman (Lippincott)

1954 Medal Winner: ...And Now Miguel by Joseph Krumgold (Crowell)
Honor Books:
All Alone by Claire Huchet Bishop (Viking)
Shadrach by Meindert Dejong (Harper)
Hurry Home, Candy by Meindert Dejong (Harper)
Theodore Roosevelt, Fighting Patriot by Clara Ingram Judson (Follett)
Magic Maize by Mary & Conrad Buff (Houghton)

1953 Medal Winner: Secret of the Andes by Ann Nolan Clark (Viking)
Honor Books:
Charlotte's Web by E. B. White (Harper)
Moccasin Trail by Eloise Jarvis McGraw (Coward)
Red Sails to Capri by Ann Weil (Viking)
The Bears on Hemlock Mountain by Alice Dalgliesh (Scribner)
Birthdays of Freedom, Vol. 1 by Genevieve Foster (Scribner)

1952 Medal Winner: Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes (Harcourt)
Honor Books:
Americans Before Columbus by Elizabeth Baity (Viking)
Minn of the Mississippi by Holling C. Holling (Houghton)
The Defender by Nicholas Kalashnikoff (Scribner)
The Light at Tern Rock by Julia Sauer (Viking)
The Apple and the Arrow by Mary & Conrad Buff (Houghton)

1951 Medal Winner: Amos Fortune, Free Man by Elizabeth Yates (Dutton)
Honor Books:
Better Known as Johnny Appleseed by Mabel Leigh Hunt (Lippincott)
Gandhi, Fighter Without a Sword by Jeanette Eaton (Morrow)
Abraham Lincoln, Friend of the People by Clara Ingram Judson (Follett)
The Story of Appleby Capple by Anne Parrish (Harper)

1950 Medal Winner: The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli (Doubleday)
Honor Books:
Tree of Freedom by Rebecca Caudill (Viking)
The Blue Cat of Castle Town by Catherine Coblentz (Longmans)
Kildee House by Rutherford Montgomery (Doubleday)
George Washington by Genevieve Foster (Scribner)
Song of The Pines: A Story of Norwegian Lumbering in Wisconsin by Walter & Marion Havighurst (Winston)

1949 Medal Winner: King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry (Rand McNally)
Honor Books:
Seabird by Holling C. Holling (Houghton)
Daughter of the Mountains by Louise Rankin (Viking)
My Father's Dragon by Ruth S. Gannett (Random House)
Story of the Negro by Arna Bontemps (Knopf)

1948 Medal Winner: The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pène du Bois (Viking)
Honor Books:
Pancakes-Paris by Claire Huchet Bishop (Viking)
Li Lun, Lad of Courage by Carolyn Treffinger (Abingdon)
The Quaint and Curious Quest of Johnny Longfoot by Catherine Besterman (Bobbs-Merrill)
The Cow-Tail Switch, and Other West African Stories by Harold Courlander (Holt)
Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry (Rand McNally)

1947 Medal Winner: Miss Hickory by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey (Viking)
Honor Books:
Wonderful Year by Nancy Barnes (Messner)
Big Tree by Mary & Conrad Buff (Viking)
The Heavenly Tenants by William Maxwell (Harper)
The Avion My Uncle Flew by Cyrus Fisher, pseud. (Darwin L. Teilhet) (Appleton)
The Hidden Treasure of Glaston by Eleanor Jewett (Viking)

1946 Medal Winner: Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski (Lippincott)
Honor Books:
Justin Morgan Had a Horse by Marguerite Henry (Rand McNally)
The Moved-Outers by Florence Crannell Means (Houghton)
Bhimsa, the Dancing Bear by Christine Weston (Scribner)
New Found World by Katherine Shippen (Viking)

1945 Medal Winner: Rabbit Hill by Robert Lawson (Viking)
Honor Books:
The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes (Harcourt)
The Silver Pencil by Alice Dalgliesh (Scribner)
Abraham Lincoln's World by Genevieve Foster (Scribner)
Lone Journey: The Life of Roger Williams by Jeanetter Eaton (Harcourt)

1944 Medal Winner: Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes (Houghton)
Honor Books:
These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder (Harper)
Fog Magic by Julia Sauer (Viking)
Rufus M. by Eleanor Estes (Harcourt)
Mountain Born by Elizabeth Yates (Coward)

1943 Medal Winner: Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Janet Gray (Viking)
Honor Books:
The Middle Moffat by Eleanor Estes (Harcourt)
Have You Seen Tom Thumb? by Mabel Leigh Hunt (Lippincott)

1942 Medal Winner: The Matchlock Gun by Walter Edmonds (Dodd)
Honor Books:
Little Town on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder (Harper)
George Washington's World by Genevieve Foster (Scribner)
Indian Captive: The Story of Mary Jemison by Lois Lenski (Lippincott)
Down Ryton Water by Eva Roe Gaggin (Viking)

1941 Medal Winner: Call It Courage by Armstrong Sperry (Macmillan)
Honor Books:
Blue Willow by Doris Gates (Viking)
Young Mac of Fort Vancouver by Mary Jane Carr (Crowell)
The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder (Harper)
Nansen by Anna Gertrude Hall (Viking)

1940 Medal Winner: Daniel Boone by James Daugherty (Viking)
Honor Books:
The Singing Tree by Kate Seredy (Viking)
Runner of the Mountain Tops: The Life of Louis Agassiz by Mabel Robinson (Random House)
By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder (Harper)
Boy with a Pack by Stephen W. Meader (Harcourt)

1939 Medal Winner: Thimble Summer by Elizabeth Enright (Rinehart)
Honor Books:
Nino by Valenti Angelo (Viking)
Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard & Florence Atwater (Little, Brown)
Hello the Boat! by Phyllis Crawford (Holt)
Leader By Destiny: George Washington, Man and Patriot by Jeanette Eaton (Harcourt)
Penn by Elizabeth Janet Gray (Viking)

1938 Medal Winner: The White Stag by Kate Seredy (Viking)
Honor Books:
Pecos Bill by James Cloyd Bowman (Little, Brown)
Bright Island by Mabel Robinson (Random House)
On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder (Harper)

1937 Medal Winner: Roller Skates by Ruth Sawyer (Viking)
Honor Books:
Phebe Fairchild: Her Book by Lois Lenski (Stokes)
Whistler's Van by Idwal Jones (Viking)
The Golden Basket by Ludwig Bemelmans (Viking)
Winterbound by Margery Bianco (Viking)
The Codfish Musket by Agnes Hewes (Doubleday)
Audubon by Constance Rourke (Harcourt)

(311 books on the list and counting . . .)

1936 Medal Winner: Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink (Macmillan)
Honor Books:
Honk, the Moose by Phil Stong (Dodd)
The Good Master by Kate Seredy (Viking)
Young Walter Scott by Elizabeth Janet Gray (Viking)
All Sail Set: A Romance of the Flying Cloud by Armstrong Sperry (Winston)

1935 Medal Winner: Dobry by Monica Shannon (Viking)
Honor Books:
Pageant of Chinese History by Elizabeth Seeger (Longmans)
Davy Crockett by Constance Rourke (Harcourt)
Day On Skates: The Story of a Dutch Picnic by Hilda Von Stockum (Harper)

1934 Medal Winner: Invincible Louisa: The Story of the Author of Little Women by Cornelia Meigs (Little, Brown)
Honor Books:
The Forgotten Daughter by Caroline Snedeker (Doubleday)
Swords of Steel by Elsie Singmaster (Houghton)
ABC Bunny by Wanda Gág (Coward)
Winged Girl of Knossos by Erik Berry, pseud. (Allena Best) (Appleton)
New Land by Sarah Schmidt (McBride)
Big Tree of Bunlahy: Stories of My Own Countryside by Padraic Colum (Macmillan)
Glory of the Seas by Agnes Hewes (Knopf)
Apprentice of Florence by Ann Kyle (Houghton)

1933 Medal Winner: Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze by Elizabeth Lewis (Winston)
Honor Books:
Swift Rivers by Cornelia Meigs (Little, Brown)
The Railroad To Freedom: A Story of the Civil War by Hildegarde Swift (Harcourt)
Children of the Soil: A Story of Scandinavia by Nora Burglon (Doubleday)

1932 Medal Winner: Waterless Mountain by Laura Adams Armer (Longmans)
Honor Books:
The Fairy Circus by Dorothy P. Lathrop (Macmillan)
Calico Bush by Rachel Field (Macmillan)
Boy of the South Seas by Eunice Tietjens (Coward-McCann)
Out of the Flame by Eloise Lownsbery (Longmans)
Jane's Island by Marjorie Allee (Houghton)
Truce of the Wolf and Other Tales of Old Italy by Mary Gould Davis (Harcourt)

1931 Medal Winner: The Cat Who Went to Heaven by Elizabeth Coatsworth (Macmillan)
Honor Books:
Floating Island by Anne Parrish (Harper)
The Dark Star of Itza: The Story of A Pagan Princess by Alida Malkus (Harcourt)
Queer Person by Ralph Hubbard (Doubleday)
Mountains are Free by Julie Davis Adams (Dutton)
Spice and the Devil's Cave by Agnes Hewes (Knopf)
Meggy MacIntosh by Elizabeth Janet Gray (Doubleday)
Garram the Hunter: A Boy of the Hill Tribes by Herbert Best (Doubleday)
Ood-Le-Uk the Wanderer by Alice Lide & Margaret Johansen (Little, Brown)

1930 Medal Winner: Hitty, Her First Hundred Years by Rachel Field (Macmillan)
Honor Books:
A Daughter of the Seine: The Life of Madame Roland by Jeanette Eaton (Harper)
Pran of Albania by Elizabeth Miller (Doubleday)
Jumping-Off Place by Marion Hurd McNeely (Longmans)
The Tangle-Coated Horse and Other Tales by Ella Young (Longmans)
Vaino by Julia Davis Adams (Dutton)
Little Blacknose by Hildegarde Swift (Harcourt)

1929 Medal Winner: The Trumpeter of Krakow by Eric P. Kelly (Macmillan)
Honor Books:
Pigtail of Ah Lee Ben Loo by John Bennett (Longmans)
Millions of Cats by Wanda Gág (Coward)
The Boy Who Was by Grace Hallock (Dutton)
Clearing Weather by Cornelia Meigs (Little, Brown)
Runaway Papoose by Grace Moon (Doubleday)
Tod of the Fens by Elinor Whitney (Macmillan)

1928 Medal Winner: Gay Neck, the Story of a Pigeon by Dhan Gopal Mukerji (Dutton)
Honor Books:
The Wonder Smith and His Son by Ella Young (Longmans)
Downright Dencey by Caroline Snedeker (Doubleday)

1927 Medal Winner: Smoky, the Cowhorse by Will James (Scribner)
Honor Books:
[None recorded]

1926 Medal Winner: Shen of the Sea by Arthur Bowie Chrisman (Dutton)
Honor Book:
The Voyagers: Being Legends and Romances of Atlantic Discovery by Padraic Colum (Macmillan)

1925 Medal Winner: Tales from Silver Lands by Charles Finger (Doubleday)
Honor Books:
Nicholas: A Manhattan Christmas Story by Annie Carroll Moore (Putnam)
The Dream Coach by Anne Parrish (Macmillan)

1924 Medal Winner: The Dark Frigate by Charles Hawes (Little, Brown)
Honor Books:
[None recorded]

1923 Medal Winner: The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting (Stokes)
Honor Books:
[None recorded]

1922 Medal Winner: The Story of Mankind by Hendrik Willem van Loon (Liveright)
Honor Books:
The Great Quest by Charles Hawes (Little, Brown)
Cedric the Forester by Bernard Marshall (Appleton)
The Old Tobacco Shop: A True Account of What Befell a Little Boy in Search of Adventure by William Bowen (Macmillan)
The Golden Fleece and The Heroes Who Lived Before Achilles by Padraic Colum (Macmillan)
The Windy Hill by Cornelia Meigs (Macmillan)

Total I've read: 108
out of around 311 total.

More 100 Books

Again, from A peaceful day, a list of the top 100 Banned or Challenged Books in 2000-2007 in the USA. There are certainly some surprises. (Junie B. Jones???) See how many you've read of this list!

1 Harry Potter - J.K. Rowling
2 Alice series - Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
3The Chocolate War - Robert Cormier
4 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
5 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Maya Angelou
6 Scary Stories - Alvin Schwartz
7 Fallen Angels - Walter Dean Myers
8 It’s Perfectly Normal - Robie Harris
9 And Tango Makes Three - Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell
10 Captain Underpants - Dav Pilkey
Total: 2 read

11The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain
12 The Bluest Eye - Toni Morrison
13 Forever - Judy Blume
14 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
15 The Perks of Being A Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky
16 Killing Mr. Griffin -Lois Duncan
17 Go Ask Alice - Anonymous
18 King and King - Linda de Haan
19 Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
20 Bridge to Terabithia -Katherine Paterson
Total: 2 read

21 The Giver - Lois Lowry
22 We All Fall Down - Robert Cormier
23 To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee
24 Beloved - Toni Morrison
25 The Face on the Milk Carton - Caroline Cooney
26 Snow Falling on Cedars - David Guterson
27 My Brother Sam Is Dead - James Lincoln Collier
28 In the Night Kitchen - Maurice Sendak
29 His Dark Materials series - Philip Pullman
30 Gossip Girl series - Cecily von Ziegesar
Total: 3 read

31 What My Mother Doesn’t Know - Sonya Sones
32 Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging - Louise Rennison
33 It’s So Amazing - Robie Harris
34 Arming America - Michael Bellasiles
35 Kaffir Boy - Mark Mathabane
36 Blubber - Judy Blume
37 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
38 Athletic Shorts - Chris Crutcher
39 Bless Me, Ultima - Rudolfo Anaya
40 Life is Funny - E.R. Frank
Total: 0 read

41Daughters of Eve - Lois Duncan
42 Crazy Lady - Jane Leslie Conly
43 The Great Gilly Hopkins - Katherine Paterson
44 You Hear Me - Betsy Franco
45 Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut
46 Whale Talk - Chris Crutcher
47 The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby - Dav Pilkey
48 The Facts Speak for Themselves - Brock Cole
49 The Terrorist - Caroline Cooney
50 Mick Harte Was Here - Barbara Park
Total: 1 read

51 Summer of My German Soldier - Bette Green
52 The Upstairs Room - Johanna Reiss
53 When Dad Killed Mom - Julius Lester
54 Blood and Chocolate -Annette Curtis Klause
55 The Fighting Ground -Avi
56 The Things They Carried -Tim O'Brien
57 Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry - Mildred Taylor
58 Fat Kid Rules the World - K.L. Going
59 The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things - Carolyn Mackler
60 A Time To Kill - John Grisham
Total: 2 read

61 Rainbow Boys - Alex Sanchez
62 Olive’s Ocean - Kevin Henkes
63 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest - Ken Kesey
64 A Day No Pigs Would Die - Robert Newton Peck
65 Speak - Laurie Halse Anderson
66 Always Running - Luis Rodriguez
67 Black Boy - Richard Wright
68 Julie of the Wolves - Jean Craighead George
69 Deal With It! - Esther Drill
70 Detour for Emmy - Marilyn Reynolds
Total: 3 read

71 Draw Me A Star - Eric Carle
72 Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
73 Harris and Me - Gary Paulsen
74 Junie B. Jones series - Barbara Park
75 So Far From the Bamboo Grove - Yoko Watkins
76 Song of Solomon - Toni Morrison
77 Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes - Chris Crutcher
78 What’s Happening to My Body Book - Lynda Madaras
79 The Boy Who Lost His Face - Louis Sachar
80 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
Total: 1 read

81 Anastasia Again! - Lois Lowry
82 Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret - Judy Blume
83 Bumps In the Night - Harry Allard
84 Goosebumps series - R.L. Stine
85 Shade’s Children - Garth Nix
86 Cut - Patricia McCormick
87 Grendel - John Gardner
88 The House of Spirits - Isabel Allende
89 I Saw Esau - Iona Opie
90 Ironman - Chris Crutcher
Total: 2 read

91 The Stupids series - Harry Allard
92 Taming the Star Runner - S.E. Hinton
93 Then Again, Maybe I Won’t - Judy Blume
94 Tiger Eyes - Judy Blume
95 Like Water for Chocolate - Laura Esquivel
96 Nathan’s Run - John Gilstrap
97 Pinkerton, Behave! - Steven Kellog
98 Freaky Friday - Mary Rodgers
99 Halloween ABC - Eve Merriam
100 Heather Has Two Mommies - Leslea Newman
Total: 2 read

Grand Total: 17 read

More great ideas for future book reads!!

100 Books

According to A peaceful day, The BBC believes most people will have read only 6 of the 100 books here. How do your reading habits stack up? Look at the list and highlight those you have read.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

Total: 6 read

11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot

Total: 4 read

21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame

Total: 6 read

31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Berniere
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne

Total: 6 read

41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan

Total: 1 read

51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Total: 2 read

61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville

Total: 3 read

71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Inferno – Dante
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt

Total 3 read

81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton

Total: 3 read

91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

Total: 5 read

Grand Total: 39 read.

Some of these I read years ago so it was fun to think about them again, and now I have lots more ideas for future reads.

Recent Reads

Castle in the Air and House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones- sequels to Howl's Moving Castle. These were fun and entertaining overall. I was disappointed Howl and Sophie weren't the main characters and only featured in these tales, but you do still find out more about their lives together, and the books were good. Thumbs UP.

Crown Duel and Court Duel by Sherwood Smith- About a brother and sister who promise their dying father they will do all they can to overthrow the king, protect their lands from being taken or destroyed by the king, and one of them then ruling the country. These are told from the perspective of the sister. Okay stories. These don't fall into the predictable story mold of either of them becoming king or queen, but I can't decide if it was intentional or the story ran away from the author. But I did enjoy them. Thumbs UP.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians (greek gods not athletes) 5 book series by Rick Riordan-- Because I'm #230 something for the last book I'll go ahead and review this series without knowing how everything turns out. Percy thinks he's a normal boy until he discovers his father is really Poseidon. Then he has to go to demi-god camp to learn about the new world that he must now join to protect himself. In each book he either goes on a quest or helps a friend with a quest to save the world from Kronos, the father of Zeus and the other gods, who was banished by Zeus long ago, but is now trying to take over again. Not being very familiar with greek gods didn't stop my enjoyment of these books, but I suspect more knowledge would help a reader pick up foreshadowing, etc. And there is an overall prohpecy involving Percy and other kids who are illegitimate children of the 3 big gods, Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon, that ties all the books together. The whole "illegitimate children" thing isn't "in your face," though Percy does deal with emotional issues about being abandoned by his dad, and not seeing or getting to talk with his dad much. Thmubs UP

Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde- love these and will probably blog more about them in future, but must now rescue Jolie from "crib of death" or so she probably thinks it is.

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

First, our family loves Hayao Miyazaki's movies- I was first introduced to Hayao Miyazaki in my high school Japanese class with My Friend Totoro. It was a little hard to get what was going on because it was in japanese for class, obviously. Then a while ago (10 years or so?) Pixar and Disney started translating the movies into English and its so awesome!

Our Family Favorites: Howl's Moving Castle, Spirited Away, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Porco Rosso, The Cat Returns, Castle in the Sky, My Friend Totoro (the dakota and elle fanning version is the best, but we've had a hard time getting it--netflix employees don't realize there are two different versions so you might get the older version, which is still good), and Kiki's Delivery Service.

And there are a couple we haven't let the kids watch, but Kurt and I love: Lupin the 3rd: Castle of Cagliostro (there are tons of Lupin the 3rd movies, but this is the only one Hayao Miyazaki was a part of) and Princess Mononoke.

And Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea was released in Japan in 2008 but hasn't been released in the US yet.

Get them, watch them, love them-- enough said. (Note to reader- yes they are all a little weird, quirky, whatever, they are still fabulous)

Anyways, this brings me to the Second part of my post-- The totally great, awesome, fabulous, delightful, enchanting, non-stop action book Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones. I have been in a reading slump the last few months, but I have been snapped out of it by this wonderful book (and a couple other new series I'm in the middle of reading and will post about when I'm done). The movie is an excellent adaptation as far as those go, but the book has so much more to the story, characters, and my own enjoyment. PLUS, there are more Howl books by Jones, which means my hold list at the library is now full. My only warning is that you can't go into this book thinking about it seriously- its not going to have complete character development or describe everything down to the last detailed speck in the corner. Don't analyze it-- ENJOY IT!!

Poor Tom Bombadil!

As I have mentioned on my Our Days blog, my son Austin is listening to The Lord of the Rings and currently he is listening to The Fellowship of the Ring. Because of recent problems (staying up past midnight and listening instead of doing chores) he is listening to them downstairs, and as a result we are all listening to them. The audio cd's are an animated reading of the books, which means they are mostly the character dialogue with just a little of the explanatory details. So far I would have considered them mainly unabridged, until TODAY! I'm making dinner and the Hobbits leave the Shire and are suddenly walking into the Prancing Pony. What? What's up with that?

Poor Tom Bombadil is completely left out!! WHY?! First in Peter Jackson's movies and now the audio cd! Actually, the audio cd was probably made before the movies, but you get the idea.

Personally, I like him, and I like when he saves Merry and Pippin from Old Man Willow and then sings Old Man Willow back to sleep. I'm pretty sure it is the only song in the whole series that I can stand to read all the way through.

I would love to read The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and other verses from the Red Book, but my library only has it in spanish. That stinks.

Books by Polly Horvath

The Trolls & Everything on a Waffle by Polly Horvath (Author of The Vacation)

The Trolls is about 3 children being left with their Aunt Sally when the babysitter their parents arranged to take care of them while they go to paris for a week cancels. Melissa, Amanda, and Pee Wee have never met their Aunt Sally, travels from Canada to their Ohio home to take care of them. Aunt Sally is full of interesting stories about her and their father growing up on Vancouver Island, including the story of the trolls.

The book jacket touts the troll story as a story that "changed Aunt Sally's family forever," and will "affect the lives of the three present-day listeners in a different, but no less significant, way."

Yeah, I don't know. While this book is full of the quirky characters that I enjoy in Polly Horvath's books, it just doesn't fall together for me. Does that make sense? I don't really know how to explain it. Thumbs SIDEWAYS.

Everything on a Waffle was much more entertaining. The story of Primrose Squarp (I don't know whats up with the name, but poor tormented kid) whose believes her parents didn't die at sea, contrary to what everyone else believes- her babysitter, the school guidance counselor, the kids in her class, and everyone else in town. When the town council determines they can no longer pay Miss Perfidy, the babysitter, her hourly wage, they try to locate a family member. Uncle Jack is found, and he reluctantly comes to Coal Harbour to be her guardian. Primrose finds a true friend and an escape at a local restaurant, The Girl on the Red Swing, where everything is served with a waffle. The school guidance counselor, Miss Honeycut, takes a liking to Uncle Jack and thinks it is unfortuante this handsome bachelor is forced into parenthood, and seems bent on finding a reason to get rid of Primrose. Unfortunately for Primrose, several accidents involving lost digits find her cast into foster care. Through it all Primrose is certain her parents are alive, but does anyone else believe her?

Thumbs UP- lovely, quirky characters, unexpected happenings, and a happy ending.

A problem with reading a book series is . . .

When your library system doesn't have books 6 or 7 or 8, especially if book 5 ends in the middle of a crisis situation. I've been reading the Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan and none of the Salt Lake County Libraries, all 18 of them, have books 6, 7, or 8. What a pain. What to do?? We are in the middle of a CRISIS after all.

The Vacation by Polly Horvath

When we first started listening to this in the car I almost turned it off because it starts with Henry's mom wanting to become a Mormon so she go on a mission to Africa, mostly so she can have a free trip to Africa to help people, and I thought "What kind of a book have I picked?" But then I decided we could see where the story was going. The church tells her that's not how things work, so she and her husband go to Africa with another charitable group to build houses, even though she plans on telling everyone she is a Mormon missionary anyways. Henry is left in the care of his Aunt Magnolia and Pigg. Yes, her name is Pigg, and the book gives an explanation of why, but I don't remember the details, and it isn't as distracting as I first thought it would be. Henry has a couple months of school left, so Aunt Mag and Aunt Pigg, who have their own interior design company, decide to remodel the house while Henry's parents are away. Henry's parents occasionally check it to let him know where they are and what they are doing. After tiring of building houses, they go to another country in Africa to visit an animal refuge and help study the monkeys.

Back in the U.S., Mag becomes incredibly sick, but she doesn't go see a doctor until the house is finished. They find out she has a weird disorder, but isn't going to die, but this is when she decides she wants to take a vacation. They pull Henry out of school, load up the car, and take off. They start with wanting to go to the beach, so they head for Virginia. While on their way Henry's dad calls and informs him his mom is missing. She followed a student researcher out into the jungle, and neither of them have returned. So the dad is stuck waiting at camp for the mom to eventually come back. (At first I thought she left the Dad to run off with the researcher, but that's too PG-13 for this G book- she really is just lost in the jungle.)

When they make it to the beach, it just isn't as nice or exciting as they thought it would be so they head out again, and that's pretty much the basics of the book. Then they go to the Shenandoah Valley, and on the way Henry gets to visit his Grandpa for the first time in his life because he is estranged from Henry's mom. Around this time Henry's mom turns up in Africa, but his Dad has malaria so he can't travel yet.

When they go to Florida to visit the Everglades Henry gets lost by floating off on his raft and when he finds someone he thinks can help him, it turns out to be an autistic boy who has wandered away from home. They float through the Everglades to the ocean where they are picked up by a boat. Henry is happily returned to his aunts, and content to disappear from public view, but they aren't headed home. When Henry's parents find out he's missing they fly back to America, but he's been found by this time and driving through Oklahoma.

I really enjoyed listening to this book-- the characters were awesome-- weird and quirky and unexpected. Two forty year old single aunts trekking across America with their nephew? It was so much fun. But the ending was disappointing, and I'm going to discuss it so if you don't want it ruined for you stop reading now.

When Henry's parents start traveling with them the mood of the vacation completely changes-- henry's dad is angry with his mom because she disappeared and he caught malaria, and he's still sick. Henry's mom therefore gets upset with his dad, and they stay in separate motel rooms when they stop for the night. They've lost Pigg (I won't ruin that storyline for any potential readers) so Mag isn't her usual self either, and all this tension is driving poor Henry crazy. At this point the book spends a lot of time on the relationship of the mom and dad, which I think is distracting from the "vacation." The book ends with the family impulsively deciding to play in an all day softball tournament in one of the little towns they've stopped at and seemingly reconciling the relationship tensions. The End. I was disappointed. The vacation wasn't over, the family still needed to travel home. And there was so much plot on remodeling the house, and the parents not knowing about it, and how would they react, and to not take the reader home with them to see how surprised/upset/whatever reaction they have about their new house was annoying.

But even with the disappointing ending, I still really enjoyed the characters, so it gets a Thumbs UP

Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell

I first heard of this book through the Emmy nominations the BBC TV series received. I watched the BBC series and really enjoyed it, and so thought to read the book, only to find out the storyline for the tv series was the combination of 3 books by Elizabeth Gaskell, and also the screenwriters invention. I don't remember the other 2 books, in case you were wondering, but will post them when I find out. Having read Cranford I believe the screenwriters did an excellent job creating their story, and I highly recommend the series. But be prepared that the book does differ from the TV series, sometimes significantly (book kills off a character, TV series does not, and obviously TV series includes characters/storylines from other books as well).

The book was also excellent, though it seemed slow at times, and as always plot developments that differed from the movie were always surprising. There were no suspenseful moments where I just couldn't put the book down, and I read it over a few weeks time which is a really long time for me to read a book. Cranford is told through a young female visitor to the village of Cranford who is not interested in being married off by her step-mother at home. She stays with various older, single or widowed women of the community, focusing mostly on Miss Matty Jenkins. Miss Matty Jenkins is single and suddenly thrust forward when her sister, Miss Deborah, suddenly dies. Miss Deborah had very strict control of their quiet home life and following her death, Miss Matty is forced to make decisions for herself.

Miss Matty faces such dilemmas as which fabric to purchase for her new dress, whether her hired girl can have a beau, whether she should agree to be courted by a lover she refused to marry forty years before due to her father and sister's disapproval, what to do when the bank all her money is invested in fails, and, significantly, how to treat the people around her, both old and new acquaintances.

The Cranford village has such eccentric characters as the gossiping Miss Pole, the wealthy widow Miss Jamieson, Captain Brown-- a man, with all that that entails against him, and so on. The story showed a very charming picture of the quiet village life.

Thumbs UP.

Evelina by Frances Burney

Evelina is a young woman who has been sheltered from society and societies gathering places by her guardian, Reverend Villars. She comes of a troubled background-- her grandfather was well-known to Reverend Villars, but acted against the advice of this good friend in marrying a tavern girl. The grandfather asks the Reverend to raise Evelina's mother, which he does until he is requested to send her to the grandmother in France. In France, the mother finds herself being pushed into an unpromising marriage, and so chooses to run off and marry another, Sir John Belmont. Once Sir John discovers there is no money, he abandons Evelina's mother, who is pregnant. Evelina's mother dies not long after childbirth, asking the Reverend Villars to raise Evelina.

As a result, Evelina leads a sheltered country life and when she travels to London with some close friends she finds herself stumbling through the new experiences before her, sometimes making great social mistakes. While in London she happens to meet her infamous Grandmother, Madam Duval, who is ill-bred, unmannerly, and any other term you can think of to describe a horrible relation. Seriously, if you thought the relatives in Jane Austen's books are bad, the relatives in this book are far worse. Its hard for me to keep reading as Evelina has to witness and be a part of the blunders of her grandmother, her newly discovered cousins, the husband of her friend, all of which is very cringe-worthy. And unlike, for example, Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice, Evelina has no spunk or gumption to stand up for herself or speak out against or even think out against how her relations behave. She just lets herself be carried away by their behavior and choices, and so ends up in a number of uncomfortable situations (lying about being engaged to dance with a gentleman to avoid dancing with an unwanted partner, alone in a carriage with an unwanted suitor, nearly assaulted by a group of men, walking with prostitutes, etc.).

There are attempts made to have Evelina recognized by her father, which initially fails, but the reason is really one of the great twists of this novel, as is Evelina discovering she has a brother, falling in love with Lord Osbourne, etc.

Overall, I found it a charming story told through the letters Evelina writes to Reverend Villars, which is somewhat odd in that she discloses nothing, but lays it all out. It covers her entrance into society, trying to manage unwanted relations, and her efforts to be recognized by her biological father. I have actually read this before, and the really memorable parts are the unwanted relations.

Thumbs UP.

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo

We (me, Austin, Nyah) really enjoyed reading this book, and have recently been reading our favorite chapters. This book is the story of Edward, a 3 foot tall porcelain rabbit, who is self-centered and has never bothered to learn about real love. He is loved by a girl, Abilene, who unfortunately loses him while traveling by ship to England. Two boys snatch him up and begin tossing him back and forth between them, when he is suddenly lost over the side of the ship. He then begins his miraculous journey by sinking to the bottom of the sea, where he stays many months, before being rescued by a fisherman's net, and taken home by the old fisherman as a gift for his wife, where Edward is christened Susanna and dressed accordingly. The fisherman and his wife love and care for Edward, but soon their daughter arrives after hearing rumors of her parents treating a doll like a child. She tosses him into the garbage, and he ends up in the dump where he remains buried by trash until he is rescued by a dog. Then begins Edwards journey with a hobo and his dog, who again treat him as part of the family. After several years Edward is tragically separated from his companions, and finds himself picked up by an old woman who gives him the job of scarecrow for her garden. He is rescued by a boy as a gift for his sick and dying little sister. When the sister does die, the boy takes Edward and uses him as a puppet to dance to his harmonica music to support himself. Once the boy earns money he goes to a diner for lunch, but finds he doesn't have enough to pay the tab. The cook reacts by smashing Edward's head onto the counter. Through all of his journeys Edward has learned about loving and caring for others, but when he awakes and discovers the boy has given him up to a doll repairman in exchange for fixing Edward, Edward decides he will not love again and hardens his heart. But what does the future hold for Edward as he sits on the store shelves day after day watching customers come and go?

I admit I cried at the end of the book. It was a wonderful ending.

Thumbs UP.

Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher

When Elizabeth Ann is orphaned, Great-Aunt Harriet and Aunt Francis wouldn't dream of letting her live with "those horrid Putney, Vermont cousins," and so she comes to live with them. Every detail of Elizabeth's life is overseen by an over-protective Aunt Francis, making her a self-absorbed, hypochondriac nine-year-old who is afraid of everything. When Great-Aunt Harriet must go away for her health and Aunt Frances goes along to care for her, Elizabeth's life is turned upside down when she is sent to live with the dreaded cousins, Uncle Henry, Aunt Abigail, and Cousin Ann. After traveling for many hours on a train Elizabeth wants to revisit all the details of being forced to part with Aunt Frances and her trip., and instead Uncle Henry directs her to drive the carriage home. With a few guidelines Elizabeth succeeds and has her first taste of independence. While rules at the Putney farmhouse are relaxed, Betsy, as she is now called, is also expected to contribute. Betsy can have all the milk and good food she wants, not having to worry about taking more than her "share," but she also must wash her own dishes and help prepare meals. There are also a number of frightening situations that Betsy is forced to face, such as Shep, the big sheepdog, and walking to school by herself. None is as frightening as when she and her friend, Molly, find themselves left by their ride at the county fair. But by now Betsy has learned to think for herself and comes up with her own solution. Betsy loves the Putney family and farm, but when Aunt Frances writes to Betsy that she is coming to get her, Betsy is forced to make a difficult decision.

The kids and I recently finished reading this together and really enjoyed it. In some ways it reminded me of Anne of Green Gables.
Thumbs UP

Tales of Beedle the Bard by JK Rowling

A fun addition to the Harry Potter collection, these tales were quick and easy, but also enjoyable to read. They were a Christmas present to myself, so of course I love them.

The tales themselves were good-- a cooking pot inflicting its owner with all the maladies of the muggle villagers he refuses to heal until he helps them was original and great stuff, but I especially liked Dumbledore's commentary on them. He's hilarious. There is also great insight into the history of the wizarding world, especially the notes on the family history of the Malfoys.

It almost makes me want to dive in and read all 7 books again. Almost, but not quite yet. But they are on the list of "to read again soon."

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

Bleh. So, this book was recommended on one of the Yahoo!Groups I belong to, specifically, one of the LDS Mom/Education groups that is somewhat a book group. Its not one the group decided to read, but I read a lot of books on my own and thought I would give it a try. I was kind of thinking this would be like Charlie by Jack Weyland or I don't know what. NOT a "romance" with shallow morals books. I admit I did not read the whole thing, I read the beginning and the last half. Its not like a harlequin romance with all the sex scenes, in fact I don't think there were any sex scenes. Because I didn't like this book I'm not going to hold anything back so if you plan on reading it and don't want to know how everything works out stop now.

It opens with a main character, whose first name I don't know because its covered on the back of the book by the library sticker and I couldn't find it in the first few chapters or last half of the book. I suspect for most of it she is called Mrs. de Winter, anyways, she's the narrator. In the beginning she and her husband are in a small, out of the way hotel in Monte Carlo. They are dealing with a tragedy surrounding Mr. de Winter's great estate, Manderlay.

The book then flashbacks to when they first met. Mrs. de Winter, whose name I don't know and isn't really the Mrs. yet, anywho, she is a personal companion to Mrs. Van Hooper, an embarassing snob who is only looking for the best of people and goes out of her way to make new connections. They are in Monte Carlo and happen to be staying in the same hotel as Mr. de Winter. Mrs. Van Hooper rudely introduces herself to him, without proper introduction by third party etc., and they become acquianted. Mr. de Winter later apologizes to young girl whose name I don't know for the rude way he behaves. Through circumstances Mr. de Winter and girl end up spending time together, and when Mrs. Van Hooper decides to leave Monte Carlo taking girl with her, Mr. de Winter can't stand to see he go and proposes, they get married and are off to Manderlay, which is along the Cornish coast. Oh yeah, its only been ten months since Mr. de Winter's first wife, Rebecca died.

The new Mrs. de Winter quickly realizes that she is stepping into the shoes of a woman that everyone loved. Rebecca was loving and kind and wonderful to everyone. The servants all pity the new Mrs. de Winter, except for Mrs. Danvers, a creepy old lady who is completely loyal to Rebecca, having been her servant since Rebecca was a child, and it out to get the new Mrs. de Winter.

The new Mrs. de Winter comes to believe that everyone misses Rebecca, that whatever her husband is thinking or doing it is about Rebecca, that he can never really love her, that they can never be happy, blah, blah, blah. Then comes the night of a fancy dress ball, Mrs. Danvers tricks the new Mrs. de Winter into wearing the exact same costume that Rebecca had worn when she was alive. There is a great outburst by Mr. de Winter and grand hullabaloo. The new Mrs. de Winter retreats to her room, meeting up with an evilly happy Mrs. Danvers, and removes her costume. She puts on a plain dress and returns to the party, telling everyone the wrong costume was delivered.

The next day a ship crashes on the rocks along the coast. This postpones Mr. and Mrs. de Winter from addressing whatever, their relationship etc., but while a diver is down looking at the hull of crashed ship he discovers the late Rebecca's boat with a dead body in the cabin. Who is it? Well, Mr. de Winter had already identified a different body as Rebecca so no one knows. Well, Mr. de Winter knows.

After they are informed of finding the boat with body, Mrs. de Winter tells Mr. de Winter that she knows he still loves Rebecca, that he can never really love her, that maybe they can start over and be good friends and so on. Then he breaks down and says he nver loved Rebecca. She was really a mean, nasty woman, who spent much of her time living up life with her lovers in London, but managed to keep all this from everyone around Manderlay who thought she was an angel. But then she started bringing one of her lovers, who is also her cousin, to a cabin in Manderlay, Mr. de Winter grew angry about it, and one night when she told him she was with child and she planned on raising it as an heir for him, even though it wasn't his child. So Mr. de Winter shot her. Yup.

Then he put her body in her boat cabin, sent it out to sea, where it would sink and ta-da! Free to remarry. And the real reason he hadn't been happy since they had returned to Manderlay from their honeymoon was because he just knew something like this would happen to destroy their happiness, well, happiness they didn't have but there you go.

So the body is identified as Rebecca, though the water has eroded the evidence of the gun shot. An inquiry is held where everyone testifies to Rebecca's skill on her boat, but conclude she must of accidentally become trapped in her cabin, the boat overturned and she drown. Everyone that is, but the ship builder, whose business slacked off after Rebecca died, so when the boat turned up he went to examine it and found drilled holes in the hull, some other pipes opened up to let water in, etc. and determined these were intentional. Even though it is obvious someone killed her the inquiry determines it was suicide. Yeah.

Later, the lover-cousin turns up at Manderlay to blackmail Mr. de Winter into paying him money on a yearly basis to keep quiet about the murder. Mr. de Winter calls his bluff and phones the local police-investigator guy. The lover-cousin hands over a letter which is from Rebecca saying she has something important to tell him so he should come to Manderlay right away, which he didn't because he was out late. The lover-cousin says she would never have written this letter if she was really going to kill herself.

The policeman starts to suspects something is up, but with Mr. de Winter calmly denying killing Rebecca, and aiding in the investigation even, he can't decide whats up. Then they call for Mrs. Danvers who produces Rebecca's diary, which shows a mysterious appointment with a man named Baker the day of her death. They find out Baker is a doctor and head to his office the next day. Mr. and Mrs. de Winter conclude this is their last time together so they remain attached at the hip, jumping to the conclusion that the doctor will tell everyone she was pregnant, it will come out that it isn't de Winter's child, and he'll be arrested.

Instead the doctor tells them Rebecca had cancer, and was dying. The policeman concludes Rebecca must have killed herself, even though its pretty obvious to everyone else Mr. de Winter did her in. The lover-cousin wonders if cancer is contagious, says the doctor must be on their side, and threatens that the de Winter's will get theirs.

Mr. de Winter decides Rebecca must have intended for him to kill her by lying about being pregnant, and decides they will travel all night so they can go home to Manderlay. Once they arrive, Mrs. Danvers has disappeared and Manderlay is burned to the ground.

Thus they are hiding out, back in Monte Carlo, burdened with the past.

What a soap opera. Rebecca intened to have him kill her? Yeah, that makes it okay. And Mr. de Winter is burdened with having his happiness destroyed by the truth coming out, but doesn't feel bad about killing someone to protect Manderlay? Yuck

Thumbs DOWN.