A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park

This historical novel based on a true story follows the lives of two children from Sudan.  In alternating chapters the reader watches Salva, who in 1985 flees civil war to become one of the "Lost Boys" of Sudan, and Nya, who in 2009 spends 8 hours a day walking to and from a pond to get water for her family.  Salva ends up spending a decade in various refugee camps and sees terrible war atrocities.  Nya sees her little sister get sick from contaminated water during the dry season when the pond becomes muddy.  Both of their stories come together in a wonderful and hopeful ending.

This was one of my favorite books I have read in a long time.  This is interesting, because in some ways it was just as harsh as Wolf Hollow (which I hated).  The difference is that in the end, all the children's efforts come to a positive fruition. Another reason I enjoyed it is that my son, who is working with a lot of refugees in Germany/Austria/Switzerland, has heard stories very much like the ones in the book.  It is so good to get out of our secure middle-class America world and take a peak into another, very real, current, life experience from another culture.   (121 p.)

Skunked by Jacqueline Kelly

Here is an intermediate featuring the characters from the Calpurnia Tate series.  When Travis, Calpurnia's animal loving brother, finds a baby skunk, he just can't leave it to die in the forest.  He brings it home and hides it in the barn, hoping to raise it as a pet.  Calpurnia thinks he is crazy, but has a soft spot for her kindhearted brother.  Stink and mayhem ensue as they try to care for the skunk (and later, skunks, plural), without their parents finding out. 

This intermediate got some starred reviews, and with good reason.  It is just a fun, simple story, with several funny scenes.  The sweet sibling relationship that permeates the whole is an added bonus.  I will recommend this to kids who like Akimbo and the Tales from Deckawoo Drive series. (106 p.)

The Forbidden Library by Django Wxler

Alice is a bookish girl with a practical mind who lives alone with her father.  One day she happens to see her father talking to a being who looks like a fairy.  Two weeks later word comes that her father has been lost a sea.  Alice is sent to live with her "uncle," the keeper of mysterious library.  Through a series of events she discovers that she is a "reader," someone who can enter some kinds of magic books just by reading them.  Her "uncle" is a master reader and wants to take her on as an apprentice. Dangers lurk in every corner of the library, and Alice does not know whom to trust.  Could it be her "uncle" who sent her father to his death, or is it possible her father might still be alive?  Alice is determined to find out.

So this is the second book I read in a month about a magic library.  It was a decent and slightly creepy fantasy, maybe not as intense as the MacHale book, but more intriguing.  Alice and the supporting characters are very complex, and even by the end of the book it is not clear who are the good guys and who are the bad guys.  I think it is a fairly promising series opener.  (376 p.)

When the Sea Turned to Silver by Grace Lin

Pinmei is a shy little mouse of a girl who lives with her grandmother, the storyteller. When the evil emperor kidnaps Pinmei's grandmother Pinmei must overcome her shyness and embark on a quest to get her grandmother back.  As she does she slowly begins to realize that the legendary stories her grandmother told her are based on reality and her best friend, Yishan, is more than he seems.

This is the third a series that began with Where the Mountain Meets the Moon.  Like the others this one can stand alone, but readers of the other stories will recognize characters and events that happened in the earlier books that are now legends in this book.  Lin uses a lot of Chinese folktales in her books and it is amazing how she weaves the stories with her plot so the reader discovers they are all interconnected in the end. This is another book that is on our Newbery List.  I wouldn't be disappointed if it wins, but I would be surprised.  It is a little slow moving, and it is very much like the others in the series. Although it is certainly a great book, does not stand out enough to be "the most distinguished" book of the year. (370 p.)

Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk

Annabelle has a pretty nice life in a rural town in the 1940's until Betty moves in. Betty is a cruel and violent bully who beats Annabelle and threatens her younger brothers. Annabelle has a friend and ally who helps protect her from Betty named Jacob.  He is a WWI vet who lives as a hermit, and has a quiet and sensitive nature. When Betty turns up missing the town blames Jacob, and it is up to Annabelle to try to prove his innocence.

So this book is the top of lots of Newbery lists.  Granted, it is probably the most literary of the books on the list, that is to say there is more in it that a high school English teachers might ask students to write a paper about than any of the other children's books this year.  It has the nice language, the foreshadowing, the moral and ethical issues, the symbolism that English teachers love.  I, however hated the book.  It was just too harsh and brutal. (spoiler alert, don't read on if you don't want spoilers) I started to read it back in October, but put it down when Betty kills a dove as a means of intimidation. I didn't want to read more, but it is on my mock Newbery list and I heard it was my boss's top pick, so I picked it back up and in the next chapter the little girl gets blinded by a rock.  I am thinking, ok, so maybe the brutality is over, but then later, they find Betty impaled and bleeding to death and in the end Toby gets shot by the police. So not a single happy thing happens in this book.  It is just all awfulness. (291 p.)

Bad Hair Day by Sarah Mlynowski

This week I disassembled, painted, and reassembled the two puppet stages at work. It took more than 3 hours and while I was working on that project I listened to another book in the Whatever After series. In this one Abby is bummed because she got ninth place in the class spelling bee. To cheer her up Jonah suggests they travel through the mirror and they end up in the story of Rapunzel.  In the process of meeting Rapunzel they accidentally ruin her beautiful hair. Rapunzel is devastated because she had placed her self esteem on her hair. Abby and Jonah help her realize that there is more to her than just how her hair looks.  Of course, their experience helps Abby feel better about herself as well.

The books in this series are fluffy and fun with a little bit of a moral to them.  They are a good choice for reluctant readers and those who like light fairy tale retellings. They are also good background noise for a middle-age librarian working on a tedious project. (165 p.)

The Curse of the Boggin by D.J. MacHale

Somehow this week I got hold of two books about magical libraries.  This first one is about Marcus, who was orphaned at a young age, and is being raised by step-parents.  One day he starts having random supernatural experiences.  As he tries to figure out what is going on he finds out that his birth parents left him a large brass key that opens the door to a magical library.  In the library are histories of supernatural experiences, some of which are still being written.  He finds out that his parent's story is one of these and, with the help of friends, tries to bring it to a satisfactory conclusion by battling with the powerful and wicked Boggin.

This is a pretty intense and creepy fantasy.  Of course, we wouldn't have expected anything else from the author of the Pendragon series. Marcus and his friends are interesting enough as characters, but the strength of the book is in its fast paced, running-away-in-terror, action scenes.  Give this to the reader who likes Lockwood and Co and the Gordon Korman action fantasies.  (242p.)