All year long the Wilde team has met, read and determined longer ‘09 books worth of the Wilde. Reviews come from librarians and writers including: Deb Bolas, Clay Carmichael, Beth Gerall, and Megan Isaac.
We Can’t All Be Rattlesnakes, Patrick Jennings (HarperCollins, $15.99, ages 7-10)
Enter the cold-blooded world of a sardonic gopher snake and meet the even colder-blooded human boy who captures him.
How to Scratch a Wombat, Jackie French (Clarion, ages 6-10)
French’s memoir cum non-fiction merges facts, memories of 48 wombats and fabulous pictures by Bruce Whatley.
Neil Armstrong Is My Uncle & Other Lies Muscle Man McGinty Told Me, Nan Mario (Roaring Brook, ages 8-11)
A bullying female character rejects and mocks the tender-hearted Muscle Man McGinty whom everyone else in her 1960’s neighborhood adores. She doesn’t care if he’s a foster kid with a hard life. To her, he’s a liar.
The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg, Rodman Philbrick (Scholastic, ages 8-11)
Slavery, injustice and Civil War battles sound like serious historical fiction. Philbrick handles these serious subjects with humor as Homer travels to rescue his brother wrongly conscripted into Union army. Adventures and vivid characters never end.
Wild Things, Clay Carmichael (Front Street, ages 9 and up)
The death of Zoe’s mother has saved her from a life of caretaking. Now she has to adjust to living with an uncle as eccentric as she. This is story of redemption written with extraordinary voice, poetic sensibility, bright spots of humor and wit, and vivid characters.
This Full House, Virginia Euwer Wolff (Harper, ages 11 and up)
In a third book of free-verse 17 year-old LaVaughn joins a special after-school science program, then discovers a secret that threatens her future. Gorgeous word use deepens LaVaughn’s determination.
The Last Olympian, Rick Riordan (Hyperion, ages 9 and up)
In the final fifth book Percy Jackson faces a last battle in NewYork with a powerful end and hints for a spin-off series.
The Islands of the Blessed, Nancy Farmer (Atheneum, ages 9 and up)
Jack’s third and concluding adventures are still steeped in Norse legend as he travels to the land of finned folk to righting wrongs done to a mermaid.
If I Stay, Gayle Forman (Dutton, ages 13 and up)
A glimpse of 17 year-old Mia’s life convinces readers of her unique and loving family, happy relationship and passion for music. Then an accident robs her of family and she lingers on the edge of death, deciding whether she’ll fight to stay alive. All done without a drop of syrup.
Marcelo in the Real World, Francisco X. Stark (Scholastic, ages 14 and up)
17 year-old Marcelo has been protected from the real world. But now his attorney father insists he spending a summer working in his high pressure firm. Marcelo struggles with Asperger’s impulses as he faces situations that would confuse the most well-balanced teen.
Solace of the Road by Siobhan Dowd (Random, ages 12 and up)
With strong voice we learn of Holly Hogan who longs to escape foster care and understand her early life. She dons a blonde wig and becomes Solace, a cheerful naïve traveler bent on reaching Ireland and a mother she hasn’t seen in almost a decade.
Wintergirls, Laurie Halse Anderson (Speak, ages 13 and up)
Inspired by mail from her fans, the author writes an honest, poignant, lyrical tale of one girl’s struggles with anorexia, her best friend’s death, cutting, and depression.
Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins (Scholastic, ages 12 and up)
Collins turns up the fictional heat with even more gripping twists and turns as all Panem sizzles with injustice. And heroes Katniss and Peeta are right at the center of trouble.
Leviathan, Scott Westerfeld (Simon Pulse, ages 10 and up)
In one book you get: two heroes with hidden identities, a slew of adventures, an alternate history of pre-World War I, wild inventions, bizarre beasties, and the hint of a sequel to follow.
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, Grace Lin (Little Brown, ages 8 and up)
Minli, a young girl inspired by her father's oft-told folk tales, sets out to improve her family's fortune. The setting is as rich as the author's interpretations of classic Chinese folk tales, her jewel-toned artwork and the important life lessons Minli learns.
The Thirteenth Child, Patrica Wrede (Scholastic, ages 11 and up)
An alternative history set during the Old West when magic and dragons were a part of daily life. Meet heroine Eff, the unlucky thirteenth child in her family.
When You Reach Me, Rebecca Stead (Wendy Lamb, ages 10 and up)
Friendship is one of the mysteries explored in this beautifully crafted novel about 12-year-old Miranda's attempts to discover who is leaving her cryptic notes. Despite its setting in NYC ,circa 1979, Stead's tale is both timeless and a clever piece of science fiction.
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, Jacqueline Kelly (Holt, ages 9 and up)
Calpurnia, a nature-loving girl with seven brothers, rebels against her mother's instructions to be a lady and pursues her dream of becoming a scientist.
Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice, Phillip Hoose (FSG, ages 10 and up)
The readable biography of Claudette Colvin expands and personalizes the Civil Rights events. Colvin, the first young woman to resist discrimination on Montgomery’s buses, set everything into motion, then was forgotten in history books.
Written in Bone:Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland, Sally M. Walker (Carolrhoda, ages 10 and up)
CSI merges with history and culture as a team of forensic scientists examines the graves of America’s earliest colonists. Vivid pictures and voice.
Marching for Freedom: Walk Together, Children, and Don’t You Grow Weary, Elizabeth Partridge (Viking, ages 10 and up)
Photos and a text written with immediacy chronicles the part children played in the Freedom Marches.
Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream, Tanya Lee Stone (Candlewick, ages 10 and up)
Thirteen women set out to prove their skills, strength, and endurance in an effort to become America’s first female astronauts, despite being derailed by their male, white colleagues.