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

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"Ooh child, things are gonna get easier
Ooh child things are gonna get brighter"
--S. Vincent

There is no contest. The absolute Best of 2006 is what happened across America on November 7th. It is my hope that we are witnessing the dawning of a new era.

"Little darling, the smiles returning to their faces
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been here" -- G. Harrison, "Here Comes the Sun"

If you locate and watch the YouTube video of "Power" a late Seventies performance that included Jackson Browne, Carly Simon, Graham Nash, and Bonnie Raitt, you'll see a guy with a red shirt and a guitar. That's John Hall, the song's composer and a longtime hero of mine who, in a few weeks, will be sworn in as a new member of the United States House of Representatives.

There are some powerfully good informational books that were published in 2006. My favorites are:

ESCAPE: THE STORY OF THE GREAT HOUDINI by Sid Fleischman
http://richiespicks.com/users/stories/picks/escape_the_story_of_the_great_houdini

FREEDOM WALKERS: THE STORY OF THE MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT by Russell Freedman
http://richiespicks.com/users/stories/picks/freedom_walkers.html

UP BEFORE DAYBREAK: COTTON AND PEOPLE IN AMERICA by Deborah Hopkinson
http://richiespicks.com/users/stories/picks/up_before_daybreak.html

CHEW ON THIS! EVERYTHING YOU DON'T WANT YOU KNOW ABOUT FAST FOOD
http://richiespicks.com/users/stories/picks/chew_on_this.html

"Each must make his life as flowing ink
Tumbling back on a stepping stone, just like
Poor people like you and me
Will be builders for eternity
Each is given a bag of tools
Shapeless lives and a book of rules"
--H. Johnson & B. Llewellyn
(as performed by Ratdog at the best concert I attended in 2006.)

My favorite 2006 picture book is one that I continue to obsessively read aloud to groups of kids of all ages:

UGLY FISH by Kara LaReau, illustrated by Scott Magoon

Working with eighth graders, you always find quite a diversity of reading interests and maturity levels (to say the least). But there are two of my 2006 absolute favorites that I haven't been sharing with the eighth graders. I'm hoping that the first one, on the younger end, will bring additional Newbery recognition to Kate DiCamillo:

THE MIRACULOUS JOURNEY OF EDWARD TULANE by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline
http://richiespicks.com/users/stories/picks/the_miraculous_journey_of_edward_tulane.html

The second -- it's very much of a high school-level read -- is the important book, about a group of high school football players, that has been repeatedly getting Bob Lypsite invited into high schools by librarians and then promptly uninvited by athletic directors and principals:

RAIDERS NIGHT by Robert Lipsyte
http://richiespicks.com/users/stories/picks/raiders_night.html

And here is the rest of the Best of 2006 (in the chronological order in which I read and wrote about them):

KING DORK by Frank Portman
http://richiespicks.com/users/stories/picks/king_dork.html

THE HOMEWORK MACHINE by Dan Gutman
http://richiespicks.com/users/stories/picks/the_homework_machine.html

DAIRY QUEEN by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
http://richiespicks.com/users/stories/picks/dairy_queen.html

FLY BY NIGHT by Frances Hardinge
http://richiespicks.com/users/stories/picks/fly_by_night.html

WHAT HAPPENED TO CASS MCBRIDE by Gail Giles
http://richiespicks.com/users/stories/picks/what_happened_to_cass_mcbride.html

NICK AND NORAH'S INFINITE PLAYLIST by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn
http://richiespicks.com/users/stories/picks/nick_and_norahs_infinite-playlist.html

CRISPIN: AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD by Avi
http://richiespicks.com/users/stories/picks/crispin_at%20the%20edge_of_the_world.html

THE RULES OF SURVIVAL by Nancy Werlin
http://richiespicks.com/users/stories/picks/the_rules_of_survival.html

SAINT IGGY by K.L. Going
http://richiespicks.com/users/stories/picks/saint_iggy.html

NOTES FROM THE MIDNIGHT DRIVER by Jordan Sonnenblick
http://richiespicks.com/users/stories/picks/notes_from_the_midnight_driver.html

BLACK DUCK by Janet Taylor Lisle
http://richiespicks.com/users/stories/picks/black_duck.html

A TRUE AND FAITHFUL NARRATIVE by Katherine Sturtevant
http://richiespicks.com/users/stories/picks/a_true_and_fiathful_narrative.html

AMERICAN BORN CHINESE by Gene Luen Yang
http://richiespicks.com/users/stories/picks/american_born_chinese.html

KNIGHTS OF THE HILL COUNTRY by Tim Tharp
http://richiespicks.com/users/stories/picks/knights_of_the_hill_country.html

Richie Partington
http://richiespicks.com
http://www.myspace.com/richiespicks
BudNotBuddy@aol.com