September 2001

Book of the month:

Love That Dog, by Sharon Creech

--MG written in free verse. A boy comes to terms with the loss of his dog through poetry. A homage to children and their pets, to poetry, to Walter Dean Myers, and to good teachers everywhere. I had a very personal response to reading this book; our beloved family dog is now in what appear to be his final days. But even the dogless will be moved by this spare and elegant story.

· Knee-knock Rise, by Natalie Babbit. MG with a fairy-tale feel. What horrible monster makes the eerie wailing sound that drifts down to the village from Knee-knock Rise? Use of setting as a 'character,' done with her usual imitable style: Babbit never disappoints; she's one of my writing heroes.

· Frenchtown Summer, by Robert Cormier. YA. Another free-verse novel, the coming of age of a small-town boy centering around his relationship with his father, set in a French-Canadian town before WWII. The ordinary made extraordinary. The news of Cormier's passing has me trying to catch up on all his books; his contribution to YA literature cannot be overstated. But more than that, it is his integrity as a writer that I most admire. He is true to himself in every word.

· The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton. YA classic, re-read along with my daughter. Gang warfare in Oklahoma. Skillful juggling by the author makes each one of the Greasers memorable--even the minor characters. Years after reading this, my son still remembers Two-Bit fondly.

· Betsy-Tacy, by Maud Hart Lovelace. Younger MG classic. I never read the Betsy-Tacy books as a child, and other readers speak of the series so fondly that I had to give this one a try. Episodic chapters depict the sweet friendship between two little girls. I'd have loved this book back in those days when I was first learning the power of books--I'm sorry I missed it then, but was glad to have a chance to read it now.

· I Was a Rat! by Philip Pullman. Younger MG humor-fantasy. The most original Cinderella retelling I've ever read. Great fun. Epic fantasy, Victorian mysteries, short humor--I've enjoyed every one of this author's titles; is there anything he can't do?

· Homeless Bird, by Gloria Whelan. YA set in India, last year's National Book Award winner. Although I was disappointed that the setting was less than vivid for me, Koly's story is compelling.

Adult reading: Lots of it recently, but I want to make special mention here of Yellow, by Don Lee. A collection of loosely linked short stories set in a fictional town on the California coast. Think Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio--with a twist: All the protagonists are Asian- Americans. This is relatively new territory, and Lee's book helps light the path.