Tough Subjects for Kids

I just read Laurie Halse Anderson's Chains, a story about a slave during the Revolutionary War. Isabel has it tough, really tough. Her owner dies and Isabel is thinking about the freedom she has been promised. But the lawyer with the will has fled due to the war and, not surprisingly, no one will take Isabel's word for it. Before you can say Thomas Paine she' and her sister have been sold to a greedy loyalist and his bad tempered wife. Details about the war are seamlessly woven into Isabel's story, as are horrific facts about living as a slave. The story ends on a hopeful note. And that's where the title of today's blog comes in. It's a story for kids to read (I think the target is middle school but upper elementary kids would be interested and could read it) and so it shouldn't be too dark and grim, should it? On the other hand, it's a story about slavery and, facing facts, most actual slave narratives do not end on a hopeful note. Such a fine line--where to shelter and where to trust our child readers to know for themselves how much they are ready to process.

Other books this made me think of:
Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes--I think it would be very interesting to compare Chains to what I think of as an old-school Revolutionary War story
Calico Bush by Rachel Field--another old-school historical novel about a French girl who is an indentured servant

A Good Quest

The quest is classic theme, especially in fantasy novels. My favorite of Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles has always been Taran Wanderer, a quest story if every there was one. So I was pretty sure I would like The Farwalker's Quest by Joni Sensel even before I started. And like it I did. Ariel and her friend, Zeke, are both about to start their apprenticeships and the journey to adulthood when another kind of journey takes over their lives. Ariel is kidnapped by a couple of bad 'uns because they think she may be the next "farwalker", a trade that has fallen by the wayside after the collapse of technology and the increasing isolation of villages. Zeke follows behind to rescue her. Both are caught up in things they could not have imagined in their small fishing village as they travel through woods and mountains, to a monastery and towns large and small. A wonderful read for 4-8th grade. Coming out in February of 2009.

For readers who liked:
Taran Wanderer (see above) by Lloyd Alexander
Book of a Thousand Days (another strong girl character), by Shannon Hale

Absolutely Compulsively Readable

Absolutely Maybe, by Lisa Yee, I mean. I couldn't put it down and a week later I still have the characters voices running through my head. Maybe whose name is short for Maybelline (I know, it's awful but her mother is a former beauty queen who runs a charm school--wouldn't you choose Maybe instead of Maybelline too?) needs to get away from home, from her mother's negative comments, from her soon to be step-father's wandering hands. So when one of her two best friends gets ready to leave Florida to go to film school, Maybe comes along for the ride. Oh, and she brings her other best friend, Ted along too. Ted, Hollywood and Maybe make it to LA but that's when things get complicated. Hollywood starts calling himself Daniel now that he's at USC. Ted starts working for an aging, reclusive movie star. And Maybe can't find her real father although she's sure he must be somewhere in LA.

I loved Ted's non-stop chatter, his is voice is the one I still hear. I loved Maybe's growing self-confidence once she steps out of her mother's shadow. And I loved that it would have been so easy to turn this into a romance between Maybe and Hollywood but they remain friends. Unexpected, like a lot of this book. Oh, and I loved the food descriptions--I dare you to read this and not want to run out to the taco truck for a fresh taco or two.

For people who liked Jordan Sonneblick's Notes From a Midnight Driver; Sarah Dessen's The Truth About Forever; Liz Gallagher's The Opposite of Invisible; Paul Acampora's Defining Dulcie.