The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman



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The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
307pages
2009 winner of the Newbery Medal

Nobody Owens, a little boy very much alive, is being raised in the graveyard by ghosts. I found the concept of this book fascinating, but didn't really get into the writing. Granted, I may have been the only one, since Newbery Winners are always the best of the best, in my opinion.

A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park



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A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park
152 pages
Winner of the Newbery Medal 2002

Tree-ear is a orphan, living with a dear older friend under a bridge in ancient Korea. When he is not looking for food in the rubbish heaps, he is fascinated by the local potters. His biggest dream is to become a famous potter like the men from his village. He finally gets his opportunity to learn from a conatankerous old man, Min. He chops wood for the kiln, hauls clay from the river, but it seems as if Min will never let him actually learn to throw a pot.

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

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When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

199 pages
Newbery Medal Winner 2010

Very light read, science fiction. Miranda, a sixth grade New Yorker, starts finding notes from a mysterious stranger who seems to know all about her. And though the proofs that the note writer leaves for her leaves her little doubt that it is legit, she is still unsure whether she should follow the instructions, especially when it comes to the part about 'tell no one.'

Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus

Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus

301 pages
Newbery Honor

Heart of a Samurai is quite an amazing story, based on the life of Manjiro, who is but a lowly fisherman who dreams of becoming a samurai. This book is full of historical facts, both in geography and superstitious beliefs. It is followed by notes on who Manjiro grew up to be, as well as glossaries and bibliographies for samurais, whaling, the gold rush, and Japan. On an interesting note, it is believed that Manjiro is possibly the first Japanese person to set foot on American soil. Loved this book!

I got curious and went to look up more on the life of Manjiro, who became a teacher, translated American navigation books into Japanese, and wrote the first English book for Japanese, about how to learn the English language. Sadly, until the day he died, some still saw him as some kind of spy, and even had to hire his own bodyguards to protect him from assassination attempts. I found this amazing website with loads of info on both Manjiro and Captain Whitfield, the captain who saved Manjiro and his friends after being shipwrecked. They have even set up an Earthquake Relief fund to benefit the survivors of the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

(from jacket cover)
In 1841, fourteen-year-old Manjiro and his four friends find themselves stranded on a deserted island after a storm at sea. Beyond the island is the unknown, filled with monsters, demons, and barbarians. Or so they have been told. They know they cannot return to their homes in Japan-the country's borders are closed both to foreigners and to citizens who have strayed. No one may enter, under penalty of imprisonment and even death!
One day an American ship passes near the island and takes the castaways aboard. Manjiro's curiosity overcomes his fear of the "barbarians." He joins in the work of the whaling vessel, eager to learn everything he can about this new culture. Over the next ten years, Manjiro travels the high seas, visiting places he never dreamed existed, including America. It is a time filled with new experiences and adventure, as well as friendship and treachery. Manjiro sustains himself on a dream of returning home and somehow-though he knows it is impossible for a simple fisherman-becoming a samurai.
Will he ever be able to go back to his native land? And if he does, will he be welcomed, or condemned?

Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool (best book i have read all year!)

Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool

351 pages

Newbery Winner

This is quite literally the best book I have read in a year! The adventures of Jinx and Ned made me laugh out loud, the yearning of Abilene for her train hopping father and truth behind his many secrets made me worry she would never find her piece, and watching the town unravel and put itself back together made me cry out loud. (My husband must have thought I was losing my mind!) I would recommend this book to young and old.

(from back of book)

The air in Miss Sadie's parlor was hot and thick. I thought that sitting on one of those red velvety couches chock-full of fringy pillows was probably akin to suffocating. I took a deep breath and ventured around the room.

The double door of the parlor whooshed open. A large fleshy woman stood before me in full regalia. Her eyes were all made up; her earring and bracelets jangled. The sign in the window said Miss Sadie was a medium. From the look of her, I'd have said that was a bit wishful.

Thinking she hadn't seen me, I turned to make a clean getaway. "Sit down," she said, her av oice thick and savory, like goulash. She put her hands flat on the table. "Let us see if today the spirits are willing to peak." Suddenly, it became clear: A diviner. A medium. This woman was a fortune-teller and a spirit conjurer. If you believed in that sort of thing.

Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff

Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff

166 pages

This past Newbery Honor book gives a good story, wrapped up in a beautiful ending. Loved it.

(from jacket cover)

Hollis Woods

is the place where a baby was abandoned

is the baby's name

is now a twelve-year-old girl

who's been in so many foster homes she can hardly remember them all. Hollis Woods is a mountain of trouble. She runs away even from the Regans, the one family who offers her a home.

When Hollis is sent to Josie, an elderly artist who is quirky and affectionate, she wants to stay. But Josie is growing more forgetful every day. If Social Services finds out, they'll take Hollis away and move Josie into a home. Well, Hollis Woods won't let anyone separate them. She's escaped the system before; this time, she's taking Josie with her.

Still, even as she plans her future with Josie, Hollis dreams of the past summer with the Regans, fixing each special moment of her days with them in pictures she'll never forget.

Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm

Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm

188 pages
2011 Newbery Honor

Turtle's story, told from Key West is a mixture of adventure and historical fiction, based on the author's own Conch great-grandmother. Joining the diaper gang, Turtle learns the secret formula for diaper rash, and how to calm a fussy baby, always working for candy in a time of extreme poverty for that area. The kids all dream of one day finding the legendary hidden gold of Black Caeser.

(from back of book)
Folks have always told me that I look like Mama.
Our eyes are different, though. I think the color of a person's eyes says a lot about them. Mama has soft blue eyes and all she sees are kittens and roses. My eyes are gray as soot, and I see things for what they are.

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

218 pages
2011 Newbery Honor Book

Great book! Delphine and her sisters get shipped off to live with the mother that abandoned them in the summer. They get a frosty reception, and get sent to a Black Panthers day camp every day to stay out of Cecile's hair. They make up their own minds how they feel about their mother, as well as the proper way to fight their own black revolution.

(from jacket cover)
Eleven-year-old Delphine has it together. Even though her mother, Cecile, abandoned her and her younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern, seven years ago. Even though  Delphine will have to take care of her sisters, as usual, and learn the truth about the missing pieces of the past. When the girls arrive in Oakland in the summer of 1968, Cecile wants nothing to do with them. She makes the eat Chinese takeout dinners, forbids them to enter her kitchen, and never explains the strange visitors with Afros and black berets who knock on her door. Rather than spend time with them, Cecile sends Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern to a summer camp sponsored by a revolutionary group, the Black Panthers, where the girls get a radical new education.
Set during one of the most tumultuous years in recent American history, One Crazy Summer is the heartbreaking, funny tale of three girls in search of the mother who abandoned them-an unforgettable story told by a distinguished author of books for children and teens, Rita Williams-Garcia.