Written by Monika Schröder
Published  by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2010
ISBN 9780374364113

There is a magnetic pull to stories of cultures unfamiliar. What do they eat? Where do they sleep? How do they dress? What do they think about? How are they different but, more importantly, how are they like me? Like you? Like every person on this planet?

I love Bollywood movies but those I’ve seen do not include the children of India. You may have seen Slum Dog Millionaire, but if you’re like me you kept wondering about the ordinary children, the everyday children, those whose lives aren’t so dramatic that their stories are told in movies.

Monika Schröder has lived in New Delhi, India, for seven years, teaching and serving as the librarian at the American Embassy School. Her keen powers of observation and unerring ability to interpret the details for our senses enable the reader to experience the culture from the inside out. There is plenty of drama here but it feels authentic, translating the unfamiliar to show us how these children are like you, like me, yet different in ways that make this book compelling.

Akash is smart. His brain sees patterns in numbers, absorbs the Vedic math, finds it irresistible. He wants to win a scholarship so he can go to school beyond seventh standard, to improve the lot of his family. Father, grandmother, uncle, aunt, cousins … they live in poverty, farming drought-dry land, falling deeper into debt to their landlord. Grandmother sends Akash to work in the quarry, to pay off their debt, but he recognizes the trap … the debt will never be paid. Akash flees to New Delhi, where he knows no one. He has no idea how he will eat or where he will sleep.

A group of street boys roughly accepts Akash and one, Rohit, trains Akash to scratch out a living in ways that test his morality. When a kindly newsstand owner observes that morality and encourages it, Akash has choices to make.

Throughout all the challenges, Akash looks to the Hindu goddess, Saraswati, she who oversees wisdom and knowledge. How will she guide him? Will she answer his prayer and show him the way to attend school, something he wants above all else?

This is a highly satisfying book that will fill the reader’s yearning to expand their own knowledge about people—and one appealing young man in particular–who are the same, but live in an unfamiliar world.

—Vicki Palmquist, children’s literature enthusiast

Written by Ed Emberley
Published by LB Kids (paperback), 2005
ISBN 9780316789714

 Sure, you remember the Ed Emberley drawing books, but when was the last time you pulled one—or twelve of them—off the shelf, took out your colored pencils or pens, and had a blast?

 At least once each week an adult utters these words to me: “I wish I could draw.” So isn’t that a worthy part of a child’s education? It’s a form of expression in which many people would like to be skilled.

 Still not convinced? Then I’ll tell you that this book is all about geometry, anatomy, sequences and patterns, spatial relationships, and process—from beginning to completion.

 Who wouldn’t want to draw weirdos? Whether it’s a vampire, a Frankenstein’s monster-type creature, a skeleton pirate, or a dinosaur, there are a broad range of weirdos in Ed Emberley’s world.

 There are few words, making this an ideal book for use with ELL students. Draw a weirdo, write the weirdo’s story.

 Draw a weirdo. In simple steps, using eight simple geometrical shapes, kids (and the adults who love them) will be satisfied with their mastery of drawing, never realizing all the learning that’s taking place.

—Vicki Palmquist, children’s literature enthusiast

Written by Sheila O’Connor
Published by Putnam, 2011
ISBN 9780399254581

Twelve-year-old Raine O’Roarke lives a contented life with her mother and grandfather in Milwaukee until her mother takes a summer job as cook and housekeeper at Sparrow Road.  Sparrow Road is a quirky, dilapidated mansion serving as an artist’s retreat that enforces complete silence until supper so the artists at work are not disturbed. ““I don’t want to stay,” I said the second Victor left us in the truck.  Sparrow Road looked haunted-mansion creepy, the same way Victor Berglund looked when I saw him at the train.  A man so thin he looked more skeleton than human; a man with ice blue eyes and a face as cold as stone.”

After Raine’s initial objections upon her arrival at Sparrow Road she discovers, as children do, the secrets and characters of the place—and there are plenty to choose from.  For one, Sparrow Road used to be an orphanage. 

The eclectic group of artists at Sparrow Road encourages individuality, personal expression, and gives Raine an opportunity to see how a loving and supportive community functions—and she becomes a valued and respected member.  They also provide a safe place for a girl about to discover a secret that could dramatically change her world. 

The story threads weave in and out in a satisfying way.  Specific details and characters are charming and engaging, and the story is beautifully written with forward momentum by a skilled writer.

—Kari Baumbach, children’s literature enthusiast

Written by Pat Schmatz
Published by Candlewick, 2011
ISBN 9780763653347

With keen insight into teens on the fringe, Schmatz tells the story of: Travis, an orphan living with his alcoholic grandfather; Velveeta, a witty, sarcastic, and insightful girl who recently lost the most important person in her life; and Bradley, nerdy, socially awkward, and kind.  Velveeta’s quirkiness and color play off Travis’s restraint and wariness, which play off of Bradley’s social awkwardness.  Together they form a satisfying triangle of some pretty human stuff.

All three characters have painful secrets they strain to hide every day.  They’re drawn to one another as though recognizing the pain and isolation that secrets cause.  Travis can’t read—not that he hasn’t tried.  Schmatz has his character nailed, that the words “just try” can shut a kid like him down, that books are a source of anxiety and shame:  “The pile of books at Travis’s feet crowded his legs, making him sit slightly sideways.  If all the books in the room jumped him at once, they’d bury him.  It would take days to punch his way up through the covers and the pages.”

Velveeta lives in a trailer park with a mother who obsesses over Velveeta’s troubled brother but pays her no attention.  She wears a different brightly colored scarf every day to help her step into her colorful Velveeta persona.  And Bradley makes up excuses why he’s late coming home after school because he’s preyed on by three bullies.  The characters in the book are presented skillfully by what they notice, what they say, and how they interpret and react to their world

Especially memorable in the book are the fascinating and moving secret sessions before school as Mr. McQueen teaches Travis to read in a way that encourages, makes all things seem possible, and allows Travis to retain his dignity.  We should all have had a Mr. McQueen in our lives.  Just once.

Schmatz’s characters are wonderfully flawed and self aware in a way that invites readers in.

—Kari Baumbach, children’s literature enthusiast

Written by Hallie Durand
Illustrated by Tony Fucile
Published by Candlewick, 2011
ISBN 9780763644963

Going to bed has never been easier thanks to the clever antics of 3+ year-old Mitchell and his dad. Fun for any young child interested in cars and driving, or parents trying desperately to find a way to inspire their young ones to go to bed without tears or complaining (or umpteen glasses of unnecessary water!)

The text is simple enough for a new reader to read along and the digital illustrations are engaging and full of expression. “I used to watch my children play remote-control dad at bed time,” the author writes, “ but it wasn’t until a few years ago that I realized my husband was actually a car and my children were driving him.”

A bit of a story with a whole lot of play as Mitchell “drives” his dad around en-route to his bedroom, this brightly colored picture book is sure to be a popular bedtime favorite.

—Heidi Håvan Grosch, educator and children’s literature enthusiast

Written by Dara Dokas
Illustrated by Bernadette Pons
Published by Dutton, 2009
ISBN 9780525479628

Muriel Magee was about to have a birthday, but what is a birthday without guests? Eagerly she delivers her invitations, unaware that as she goes her lovely red sweater is unraveling behind her.

Two types of text illustrate this story; the action itself and a simple sentence highlighting a preposition or action in a yellow box on every other page (“… across the street”, “… around the corner”, “Just then, Muriel turned around.”) This concept could easily be used in teaching prepositions or action words to new English language learners (or for any child just beginning to build their own vocabulary). The illustrations are playful, executed in bright colors with animal characters that are friendly and inviting.

This picture book is a new twist on an animal story and could be useful in the teaching classroom.

—Heidi Håvan Grosch, educator and children’s literature enthusiast

Written by Gary D. Schmidt
Published by Clarion, 2011
ISBN 9780547152608

When Douglas Swieteck’s father loses his job, the family moves to a house they call the “Dump” in Marysville New York in the late 1960’s at a time of pain from the Vietnam War and wonder at the Apollo space missions.  Douglas has grown up with an abusive father and two older brothers who pummel him and take anything of value.  One brother comes home from the Vietnam War forever changed and the other is accused of robbing a hardware store.  At first, the only soft spots are Douglas’s mother—and of course, the humor in everyday life Schmidt brings out so well. 

Douglas is full of attitude, but Schmidt knows how to leave an opening for a reader to care about such a kid.  He puts him in a miserable situation against overwhelming odds, makes him self aware, and makes him care deeply about baseball and a rare copy of Audubon’s book, Birds of America, he discovers at the library.  Douglas decides when he’ll respond to people around him with the hostile sarcasm he’s learned from his older brother and when he’ll set it aside.  He responds to the world as the world responds to him.  Schmidt also gives Douglas a whole community of interesting characters that reveal him, including Lil Spencer, a young woman who initially locks her bike up when she sees him, but later becomes an important ally. 

As the pages of Audubon’s rare book are sold off to meet the financial needs of the struggling town, saving each plate—each bird, becomes a mission and a lifeline for Douglas while life lifts him up and then beats him down.  It’s a story about hanging in there when things get as bad as they can possibly get and when they get even worse. 

Douglas interprets and relates what’s happening in each of Audubon’s plates of the birds to what’s happening in his own life.  Of the first bird he sees in the book after arriving in Marysville he thinks: “He was all alone, and he looked like he was falling out of the sky and into this cold green sea.  His wings were back, his tail feathers were back, and his neck was pulled around as if he was trying to turn but couldn’t.  His eye was round and bright and afraid, and his beak was open a little bit, probably because he was trying to suck in some air before he crashed into the water.  The sky around him was dark, like the air was too heavy to fly in.  This bird was falling and there wasn’t a single thing in the world that cared at all.”  

Gradually, as Douglas pursues his mission and deals with his struggling family, the obstacles at school, and the way he’s perceived, he builds a life, a community, and emerges whole.  The end wraps up, but not too neatly—a satisfying ending that acknowledges that life isn’t perfect but that if a kid has something to hang on to he can be okay.  For now.

—Kari Baumbach, children’s literature enthusiast

Written by Rae Carson
Published by Greenwillow, Sept. 2011
ISBN 9780062026484

I look forward to the rare occasions when I lose a night’s sleep because I can’t stop turning the pages of a new book … in this case, The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson (Greenwillow Books). Ms. Carson has created a magnificent heroine who is at once cunning and brave and fearful and lonely. Raised as the second princess in a kingdom of strict religious dissenters, Lucero-Elisa de Riqueza, Princess of Oravalle, has studied—and eaten—her way through her first sixteen years.

A star pupil, she knows the Belleza Guerra (a nifty parallel to Sun Tzu’s Art of War) word by word. Elisa has read the Scriptura Sancta diligently, conferring with her country’s priests, praying to God as naturally as she breathes. Absorbing the grace and strength of her father the King and her sister, his heir, she watches and waits, confused and feeling she will never measure up. God has chosen Elisa to be a Bearer, one of the people throughout history born with a Godstone—in this case implanted in her navel—and a calling to Service.

When Elisa is married at sixteen, sight unseen, to the King of the large country from which her people emigrated, she travels to Joya d’Arina without foreknowledge that she is a crucial pawn in a large and deadly impending war.

It is refreshing to find an empathetic heroine who uses her brain, engages in politics with a sense of duty, responsibility, and chutzpah, and still has sixteen-year-old worries about what people think of the way she looks.

Those looking for a swift-moving adventure story won’t be disappointed. Kidnapping, spying, guerrilla warfare … it’s all there alongside heart-touching romance. Elisa’s Godstone is a prize for which armies will march and sorcerers will commit hateful acts. It is a sign of an accomplished writer that we believe so strongly in her heroine’s abilities to defend her country and her people.

The first volume of a planned trilogy, Ms. Carson’s website says she has just finished volume two, The Crown of Embers, and I am considering wily ways to exhort a reading of the manuscript. Look for The Girl of Fire and Thorns on library and bookstore shelves this September, and try to wait for book two the following year.

—Vicki Palmquist, children’s literature enthusiast