Green Acres School

A few of you have asked for some reading suggestions for winter break. There are many wonderful books available right now that can be read alone by older children or read aloud to younger children. Here are some books that we are reading; we hope you enjoy them as much as we are!

Ruth, Bevin, Quinby, and Pam

Smile by Raina Telgemeier

This is an absorbing memoir about a girl’s dental odyssey after losing her two front teeth in an accident when she was 12. With an accessible format of clear, crisp cartoon-like graphics, the story incorporates the standard, difficult aspects of adolescence and puberty. Along the way the protagonist discovers what is important about friendship, beauty, and an outlet in art that turns into a career.

The Gospel According to Larry by Janet Tashjian

After almost 10 years, kids still love this book that describes the male teen psyche so well. Josh is a geeky, over-the-top, bright senior who is very concerned about the excessive consumerism in the world. Unfortunately, he doesn’t believe that anyone listens to him, so he creates an alter ego, Larry, who expresses himself via a website. Josh has a hard time staying anonymous and has to make difficult choices. The book is a captivating read and presents excellent material for discussion.

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly

A Newbery Honor winner last year, this exquisitely written book (the author’s first) is a great coming-of-age story set in Texas at the turn of the twentieth century. The author sketches her characters beautifully and writes about intergenerational tensions and the constraints of society. The language would make Henry James weep for its effortless flow and would bring grudging admiration from Hemingway for its simplicity and elegance. Even if Jacqueline Kelly never writes another book, she has given us a timeless classic.

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

The protagonist in this novel, set in 1968, is an extraordinary character — resourceful, wise, grounded, and responsible 11-year-old Delphine. Along with her two younger sisters, Delphine travels from her home in NYC to spend a month in Oakland, CA with their mother, who deserted them when the youngest child was an infant. Williams-Garcia puts her characters into wonderful and trying situations. The juxtaposition between the girls’ home life in Brooklyn with their traditional grandmother and father and their stay in Oakland with their avant-garde, poet/printer, more radical mother gives the book great depth. The summer camp and quasi-community center run by the Black Panthers is a very interesting addition that the author describes appropriately for children.

The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

The latest book by the most popular kids’ author in years is winning rave reviews, and adult readers finally are seeing the attraction. Riordan’s writing has improved with this novel. The characters have some depth, and the plot line is smooth rather than choppy. Action builds with an ebb and flow that is lacking in all of his other novels. The book still serves the wonderful purpose of engaging young readers, but for the first time Riordan’s writing is praiseworthy.

Countdown by Deborah Wiles

A riveting, multilayered book about what it was like to be an 11-year-old girl in typical American suburbia in 1962, Countdown is a definite candidate for the 2011 Newbery award. Franny Chapman is the typical middle child suffering through 5th grade. The author engagingly intersperses historical notes, quotes, and pictures throughout the engrossing text, and she skillfully matches the uncertainty of the times to the uncertainty that Franny faces as she tries to navigate the social strata of 5th grade.

Wonder Horse by Emily Arnold McCully

McCully’s books are gems of time capsules. As you read her stories you are whisked away to both the recent past and to ancient times, where you learn about extraordinary people often left out of the history books. In this book, the author tells the story of an ex-slave turned veterinarian who raises horses. He ends up taking to the road with his “wonder horse.” This book is about kindness and its importance for all living things.

The Secret Cave by Emily Arnold McCully

In another great nonfiction picture book by McCully, four French boys explore a cave looking for lost gold during WWII. What they find instead are prehistoric paintings that have been preserved exquisitely in the cave for 17,000 years. This is a picture book for all ages.

Mercury by Hope Larson

Although advertised as a YA graphic novel, this engaging book really appeals to kids from late elementary through high school. Set in Nova Scotia, the story begins in the present with a girl jogging through her old neighborhood where her family home burned down. Then there is a flashback to the same place in 1859, when another girl who lives on the same property is picking blackberries. From there the story of the two girls interweaves, and we learn about life during the pioneering and prospecting era as well as about a girl making new friends and learning to adjust to a new school.

Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse by Marilyn Singer

In this very clever book in reverso verse (using the same lines of poetry in opposite order), two poems are created with distinct meanings. Singer runs the theme of fairytales throughout the book. This is a fun gift book that will appeal even to upper elementary students.

Guys Read: Funny Business edited by Jon Scieszka

Intended to dazzle and entertain reluctant readers, this book contains an impressive set of stories by some of the top children’s writers (e.g., Kate DiCamillo, Christopher Paul Curtis, and Eoin Colfer). Scieszka’s first volume, Guys Write for Guys Read, is another great choice.

Ling & Ting: Not Exactly the Same by Grace Lin

This book contains delightful stories about two young twins who are “not exactly the same.” It is filled with humor and wisdom and is presented in a perfect format for beginning readers.

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin

This literary jewel has won praise from readers of all ages. It is a magical Chinese fairytale told in enchanting short stories with rich language and wonderful characters. Readers who loved the My Father’s Dragon trilogy will love this book.