A Fine White Dust by Cynthia Rylant

A lot of Newbery reviews this past week.  A Fine White Dust by Cynthia Rylant is a Newbery Honor book from 1987.  This is one of those books which has benefited from a face lift.  Sadly, the book that I own is the cover on the right (blech!) but I love the book cover shown [...]

After Tupac & D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson

After Tupac & D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson is a beautiful book.  Woodson continues to not disappoint me.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again but I’m a Woodson fan girl.
At the heart of this story is the bond of three twelve-year-old girls.  Our unnamed narrator and Neeka are forever changed when D [...]

Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose

Do you know who Claudette Colvin is?  You do know that Rosa Parks wasn’t the first person to refuse to give up her bus seat to a white person in Montgomery, Alabama, don’t you?  Read Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose and you will discover this unsung civil rights hero.
In full honesty, I [...]

The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson

The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson, a 1979 Newbery Honor, is such a sweet book with wonderfully sweet characters.  Gilly Hopkins is going to stay with me for a long time.   Gilly’s transformation that takes place between the opening and closing pages of this book is bittersweet.  I felt happy and sad for [...]

Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff

Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff is a 2003 Newbery Honor book and is worth every minute of the short read.  Hollis is twelve years old and stuck in the foster care system.  She is known as being a trouble maker and constantly runs away from the homes in which she is placed.  [...]