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

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THE WANDERER by Sharon Creech, HarperCollins

The Absolute best children's fiction of the spring season. The adventure of a lifetime changes the lives of those who take it. This adventure, in which the mysterious Sophie, her two boy cousins and three uncles set sail to cross the Atlantic in a sailboat, is the most engaging story the Newbery-medalist Sharon Creech has written. The David Diaz illustrations elevate the book to a work of art.

A YEAR DOWN YONDER by Richard Peck, Dial

The previous book involving these characters was A LONG WAY FROM CHICAGO which was a Newbery Honor book. I like this sequel much more than the original book. It's a side-splitter of a story in which Mary Alice spends a year with Grandma Dowdel.

GIVE A BOY A GUN by Todd Strasser, Simon & Schuster BFYR

This is the most important book to be published for young adults this year. Fail to read it at your own risk.

BECAUSE OF WINN-DIXIE by Kate DiCamillo, Candlewick

Winn-Dixie is a big, ugly, happy, slobbering dog who is adopted by India Opal, who lives in Florida, in a trailer with her preacher father. India Opal learns the stories of her long-absent mother and of the wonderful characters in her town who end up getting to all know one another all because of Winn-Dixie.

THE LAST BOOK IN THE UNIVERSE by Rodman Philbrick, Scholastic

In this intrense adventure story we meet Spaz, a young man in a post-apocalyptic society. He teams up with Ryter, an old man with an Obi-wan kind of feel to him, who has the last book in a universe where people now get their kicks with mind probes.

STUCK IN NEUTRAL by Terry Trueman, HarperCollins

A totally cool Seattle teenager who narrates this story turns out to be a totally helpless victim of cerebral palsey who fears that his dad is about to put him out of "his misery." A taut thriller.

ESPERANZA RISING by Pam Munoz Ryan

Inspired by the story of the author's grandmother, Esperanza is born the daughter of a wealthy Mexican landowner and ends up, through misfortune, as a farmworker in California during the Depression. A spectacularly heartfelt story, the author's best work to date, it is sure to be adopted in hundreds of classrooms.

ADALINE FALLING STAR by Mary Pope Osborne, Scholastic

A girl-and-her-dog adventure based on the childhood of the daughter of Kit Carson and a Native American woman. Cruel relatives and her own courageous nature lead Adaline Falling Star to forge her own course through the wilderness. Scholastic claims that this is Osborne's most affecting and memorable work to date. I agree.

GATHERING BLUE by Lois Lowry, Houghton Mifflin

In a story that I found more memorable than Lowry's Newbery Medal-winning THE GIVER, the author creates a mysterious future civilization, savage and deceitful. We explore it through the eyes of a crippled orphan named Kira whose magical talents keep her alive as she searches for the truth of her world.

HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE by JK Rowling, Scholastic

How many pounds of books are there when you multiply this one by however many million are being printed. I love that every kid who reads this will not be daunted by a fat book again. No, I still won't tell you a word about what happens, but to say that Jo Rowling never lets us down.

FIREBRINGER by David Clement-Davies, Dutton

Set in the 1100's Scotland, this is an epic animal fantasy involving a society of deer and a prophecy, at the time of the Norse invasions. Two of my trusted young reviewers state that it's the best thing they've read since HARRY.

STARGIRL by Jerry Spinelli, Random House

Stargirl is a 10th grader who has been homeschooled her whole life--until this year. She is a colorful nonconformist whose story is told by a boy whose heart is captured with one smile. It is a story of popularity and accepting the differences of others.

DEFINE NORMAL by Julie Anne Peters, Little Brown

Antonia is a "nerd." Jazz is a "punk." But when these two very different girls find themselves facing each other in a peer-counseling program, they discover that they have some surprising things in common.

SPLIT IMAGE by Mel Glenn, HarperCollins

Award-winning poet Mel Glenn weaves a brilliant web of voices in this suspenseful story,told in poetry, about the way people interpret and mis-interpret each other. Mel Glenn's bet work to date.

THE AMBER SPYGLASS by Philip Pullman, Random House

The third book in the trilogy, and well worth waiting for. If you know the first two books I need not say more. If you don't then get a copy of THE GOLDEN COMPASS and find out why we've been waiting so restlessly.

Richie's Picks
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