I used to love this book as a child. It also terrified me. :)

Beautiful book on a tough topic. Keller's writing seems almost too clear at first, but her use of metaphor and descriptive language tug at you. She knows the subject matter well. Tough read, but a good read.

Grayson is "a boy on the outside, but a girl on the inside," and he's always been this way. After losing his parents at a young age, Grayson moves in with his Aunt and Uncle, and keeps his identity hidden. But a new opportunity comes along when Grayson decides to try out for a play....

Polonsky's characters are believable and dynamic. I loved Grayson's personality and how real the dynamics were of being "absorbed/not absorbed" into a new family after such a tragedy. I loved seeing Grayson coming out of his shell with theatre tryouts, and I appreciated that there was a balance between reading about the situation with the teacher (which adult readers would be more interested in) and what was going on with the kids. I personally got angry with the aunt, but I did "like" that the author painted a realistic picture of what many kids go through when figuring out their identity. :/ I thought the resolution was realistic, and I wish I had a Finn teacher in my own childhood. ;)

This is my first time reading a book like this, (so bear with me if I said anything dumb!) and I'm excited to read more!

Alfred, Zinnia, and Big Momma live in Montgomery in the 1950s bus boycott era. Every month when they try to make rent, the money disappears. Through a series of events, Alfa and Zinnia take it upon themselves to find out where it goes, and in the process risk arrest, loss of jobs, other accusations, and possibly losing their home.

This was a fantastic intermediate read about the civil rights era. Robinet captures the mind of these two child/teen characters exquisitely, all of them with distinct personalities. I love how we find out what happened to Alfa and Zinnia's mother, and though it's painful, I love how Big Momma is depicted, a pivotal matriarch in the community (black and white) with likely dementia.

I'm looking forward to reading more of Robinet's work! Her handling of the subject matter is age appropriate, but doesn't make any excuses. She keeps you interested with small inserts of details and real, raw depictions of surroundings. I also appreciated her author's note at the end of this book.

Hayaat, who has been in a terrible accident which disfigures her face, loves her grandmother despite her being a little annoying (and farting a lot) at times. But when Sitti becomes ill, she says in passing, "If only I could touch the soil of my land again, this would make me well."

So when curfew is lifted, Hayaat and her friend Samy (who is being raised Christian) take a risk to enter Jerusalem illegally, trying to make it there and back before the doors will have to be closed again.

This journey is more about our commonalities in religion, race, etc. than about these children getting to their goal - and while they don't make it to their grandmother's land, cuz they have no idea where her house is, they still take some soil from Jerusalem because "it's still the soil where she grew up" (can't remember the exact wording).

There are some beautiful gems in this book. Abdel-Fattah uses humor (seriously, she's hilarious) and then drops these painfully accurate truths that are clear and to the point. She does not mess around. What a fresh perspective! I look forward to reading Abdel-Fattah's other works, and this book has encouraged me to read more about the Israel-Palestine conflict.

I wish I had had access to books like this as a middle reader! Recommended.

Tree-ear is an unusual orphan who was taken in by Crane-man, a lame man who lives under a bridge just outside of the potter's village of Ch'ulp'o. Tree-ear is fascinated particularly with the After accidentally damaging the artwork of Min, one of the most famous potters in the town, Tree-ear volunteers to serve Min for 9 days and begins to learn what it takes to become a truly talented potter. When a royal emmisary comes to town looking for something new for the king, Tree-ear's service results in a new journey to discover both his past and his future.

Park's writing is perfect for this age group. We can identify with Tree-ear, and we feel his losses and his learning quickly. Park uses an incredible amount of history, but explains it so subtly that it doesn't feel like a history lesson at all (in my context, I learned very little about Far East history, which is really unfortunate). I loved the parallelisms of Tree-ear coming of age (though I don't think this reads like a typical coming-of-age book) and him being able to "feel" the refinement of the clay he's working with. I think Park's strength besides her descriptions are the consistency with her characters. Really great work.

Though we are saddened by Crane-man's death, we also feel Tree-ear's detachment. Yes, he was a parent figure and all he knew, but also not a real parent. This scene was beautifully done.
Tree-ear's rename at the end and his "adoption" by this family (though maybe a little reluctantly by Min!) was beautifully done and true to the characters of he and his wife. Excellent read. Recommended.

Pairings: Under a Painted Sky,

Excellent series! :) The plot thickens. :)

I stopped at the Long Winter for now. Picking this up again in 2018.