Age: 4-8 years
Awards: 2011 Caldecott Honor
Media:

This little chicken's imagination is far superior to the old fuddy duddy fairy tale writers. This is better for children more familiar with the fable presented in the story because they will know how it will end. However, an obnoxiously adorable child is funny to all.

Age: 10-13 years
Awards: 1977 Newberry

At 9-years-old, Cassie's childhood naivete towards racism begins to peel away. Although she has a fiery personality and an independent, proud spirit, she begins to realize that white people don't see eye-to-eye with her. Throughout the turmoil and the frustration, Cassie finds solace in her family and the land that binds her to her past and her future.

Contains violence and real depictions of racism.

Age: 10th-12th grade
Awards: 2010 Lambda Literary, 2010 Stonewall Honor

Sprout. An interesting name for a kid. But don't think this protagonist will tell you 'Why Sprout?' until he wants to. With his cheeky, cynically poignant observations, Sprout's not one to elaborate on his own life story. When the advanced English teacher singles Sprout out as the next Kansas State Writing Champion, his subject material is anything but himself. When Sprout reveals he's gay ("Betcha didn't see that coming, did ya?") his teacher warns him against writing about it. While homosexuality does not define Sprout, he avoids disclosure because he fears that that's all people will see him as. He soon meets the boy of his dreams, someone who physically expresses but never vocalizes his attraction to Sprout.

This novel describes a character's journey towards his identity which hides behind humor. Instead of a plot-driven, triumphant winning story, Sprout gives the reader a journey with a nerdy teen into what "gay" means on a personal level.




**SPOILER The greatest part about this book was the ability to experience Sprout's journey of self-discovery, because the journey is the most important part. He does not tell us his big secret because he doesn't know it himself. For me, this realization--that can finally lead him towards self-satisfaction--was the climactic "ah-ha" of the book.

Age: 12-18
Award: 2010 School Library Journal Best Books

6 Zombie stories and 6 unicorn stories face off to determine who makes the more interesting subject (not necessarily who would win in a fight--although, the fight scene on the book's binding is pretty awesome).

Quite long (400 pages) but is easy to split up amongst short stories (the font is also larger). Banter between the compilers before each story is particularly humorous. This book is a great way to introduce an unfamiliar genre/subject into a teen's repertoire.

Age: 6-10 years-old
Media:
Awards: 2010 E.B. White Read-Aloud, ALA Notable

Celebration of creativity and tender care towards making something better.

Age: 6th-11th grade
Time period: U.S. Revolutionary War
Award: ALA Notable

Isabel and her little sister are freed from their master when she passes away. Just with the taste of freedom on their tongues in the countryside she loves, a relative of the old widow sweeps in to claim his own and disregards the will's request. With the lawyer gone, Isabel can do nothing and the nephew sells both girls to a New York City couple. A Tory family in the midst of the rebellion, Isabel hears insider information which was thought to fall on trusted ears and has something to gamble towards her and her sister's freedom.
Series #1 ends with Isabel venturing out to find her little sister, presumably moved to another household of the master's. Isabel helps to free a fellow slave, Curzon, from the prison where he was being held with other rebel soldiers for fighting against the British army.

Be advised: this has some truly graphic and very tragic depictions of slave life and the humiliation that accompanied it. Anderson describes a very graphic depiction of a branding (onto Isabel's cheek), a hanging, and the treatment of prisoners of war.

This book is so great because Isabel's character has so much reality and depth to her. She's is oftentimes hesitant about putting herself and her sister in harms way but pushes through regardless--for better or for worse. Her soul's revelation in the end is incredibly gripping and inspirational. This novel also provides a unique perspective of history that can add depth and understanding to a reader. For example, the tragedy of slavery lasted before the Civil War began, which may be how kids see it since this is the only time in which it is taught and elaborated upon.

Age: 3-8
Award: School Library Journal Best Books

The boisterous Max insists on being around Arthur the quiet elder while he is painting. Max's eccentricity and eagerness start stripping down the layers of art that compose Arthur. Although the language is spare and simple, the subject manner is quite complex and is a great introduction towards how drawings and art are made.

Age: 4th-6th grade
Award: Newbery

Jonas is a satisfied eleven-year-old living and shares his feelings with his parents, does not cause embarrassment upon others with prying questions, and volunteers at future career possibilities. While these actions are the dreams of a parent reader, we soon find out that Jonas lives in a rule-bound society where his life is carefully mandated by a society proclaiming itself utopian. One can be released from the society, but it is followed with great shame. When he and all his classmates turn twelve, they receive life jobs such as caretaker, birth mother, laborer, etc. Jonas is given the unique and crucial job of Keeper of memory. When the old Keeper gives Jonas his memories, Jonas realizes the world before his world where people held such feelings as love and happiness but also the pain of fear and hunger. He soon finds out that the "releasing" process is actually induced death and makes an escape from the community to search for a place outside his world. The end can be seen as a hopeful entrance into a new life or a release from a controlled life on one's own terms.

This is a good first book to present such complicated concepts as death, society, and individualism.

Award: Newbery Honor, ALA Notable, ALA Best Books for Young Adults

Age: 2nd-5th grade
Award: ALA Notable

Soon to be 11-years-old, Winnie declares to a friendly toad that she intends to run away, but not because her family rejects her but she feels stifled in her prim and proper house. She enters her family's woods and admires the beauty and cool reprieve that the colors offer. She stumbles upon a boy drinking from a fountain bubbling from the ground and asks for a drink. His mother and brother soon arrive and whisk Winnie away before she can fully understand what's happening. At the Tuck's house, Winnie finds comfort in their caring embrace. She also finds out that the Tuck family is immortal, having drunk from the same spring mentioned before. They confide their story in Winnie and ask her to never reveal it to anyone because immortality brings with it great sorrow. This secret is soon challenged when a man in a yellow suit seeks to exploit the spring's powers. The Tuck mother kills the man with the butt of a shotgun and is sent to jail. Winnie helps the family escape by posing as the mother. The younger boy Winnie first met asks her to drink from the spring once she reaches his age. In the epilogue, it is revealed that Winnie does not follow his offer and dies a married woman.

The speed of the narrative should keep the interest of the reader throughout, but the ending may go on a bit too long for some. Immortality--which is oftentimes glorified in Hollywood and comics--sets up a good discussion of being alive and *participating* in the circle of life.

A good replacement for the younger readers who desire to read Twilight.