Richie's Picks: Great Books for Children and Young Adults

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"On the morning of the best day of her life, Maud Flynn was locked in the outhouse, singing 'The Battle Hymn of the Republic.'
"She was locked in because she was being punished. The Barbary Asylum for Female Orphans was overcrowded; every room in the wide brick building was in use. There were few places where one could imprison a child who had misbehaved. The outhouse was one such place, and very suitable for the purpose, because the children hated it."

I'm off to Seattle in the morning for the American Library Association's 2007 Midwinter meeting. In a few days we will all excitedly swarm into a meeting hall to attend the press conference at which they will announce which authors and illustrators are going to be the 2007 recipients of some of the world's most coveted children's book awards, including the Newbery, the Caldecott, the Sibert, the Coretta Scott King, and the Michael Printz Medals.

A year ago, when ALA Midwinter was in San Antonio, a highlight for me during the awards press conference was the announcement of the Schneider Family Book Awards. TENDING TO GRACE, which won the Schneider Family Award in the Middle School category, and UNDER THE WOLF, UNDER THE DOG, which won in the High School category, are longtime favorites of mine.

As children's book awards go, the Schneider Family Book Award is the new kid on the block. As described on the American Library Association website,

"The Schneider Family Book Awards honor an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences...The book must portray some aspect of living with a disability or that of a friend or family member, whether the disability is physical, mental or emotional."

I'd already been thinking about how great it would be to have SAINT IGGY, K.L. Going's story of a grown-up crack baby -- and one of my favorites YAs of 2006 -- win a Schneider Family Award for the high school level.

And now I have belatedly discovered a terrific 2006 historical novel which would make a superb Schneider Family Award winner in the Middle School category.

"The woman continued to limp toward the table. A queer sound came from her closed mouth. The sound was wholly unlike anything Maud had ever heard and seemed to be connected, in some way, to the woman's left foot. Every time the foot touched the floor, the woman uttered a cry. The noises ranged from creaking to guttural, with no two sounds alike."

A DROWNED MAIDEN'S HAIR: A MELODRAMA, is the story set in 1909 New England of 11-year old orphan Maud Flynn. Maud's frequent (and sometimes musical) outhouse incarcerations are abruptly brought to an end when she is chosen by the enchanting Miss Hyacinth Hawthorn -- one of a trio of elderly maiden sisters -- to leave the orphanage's Dickensian setting and become a member of the well-to-do Hawthorn household. The events that transpire when Maud is alternately seduced and pressured into acting a pivotal role in the fraudulent and lucrative activities of the Hawthorn sisters provide a fascinating glimpse into the Spiritualism Movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and makes this an intriguing read.

" 'Why does she make those noises?'
" 'She's deaf,' Judith explained. 'She can't hear. And she can't speak.' "

But what really moved me about Maud Flynn's tale, and what makes it my pick for a Schneider Family Award, is the relationship that Maud develops with the Hawthorn's live-in servant, whom Hyacinth Hawthorn had dubbed "Muffet": " 'I don't know why Muffet makes those noises, but it isn't her fault. She isn't aware that she makes those sounds.'
" 'She makes all that noise and she doesn't know it?'
" 'No, how would she? She can can't hear.'
"Maud shook her head in confusion. 'Is there something the matter with her foot?'
" 'I don't know.' Victoria looked a little sad. 'She's always limped, ever since I've known her. There's no way of asking her what the trouble is.'
" 'If she works for you, how do you talk to her?'
" 'We don't, answered Judith. 'Muffet knows her duties. If we have to give an order, Victoria acts it out or draws a picture.'
" 'I thought a deaf person would be quiet.'
" 'Perhaps some are. Muffet isn't. Come to think of it, her name isn't Muffet. That's just one of Hyacinth's foolish nicknames.' Judith's lips were tight with disapproval.
"Maud remembered how Hyacinth had dubbed her Maudy. 'Why does Hyacinth call her Muffet?'
" 'She's very much afraid of spiders,' replied Victoria. 'Her real name -- ' She stopped in mid-sentence. 'Gracious, how dreadful of Hyacinth! It's been so long since we called her anything but Muffet, I can't remember her real name.' "

As readers follow Maud's blossoming friendship with, and understanding of Muffet, their own comprehension of life with this disability will grow exponentially. Meanwhile, this self-proclaimed melodrama, full of deceit, duplicity, dreams, and drownings makes for a rollicking yarn.

Richie Partington
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