USA
54
Crum, Shutta
Spitting Image
New York : Clarion Books, 2003. – 218 p.
ISBN 0-618-23477-2
Girl – Friendship – Family life – Poverty – Abuse – Alcoholism –
Kentucky – USA/1960s
In her remarkable first novel for children, Kentucky-born author Shutta Crum
conjures up the authentic atmosphere of a small country town in her home state
in the 1960s. During the summer holidays, Jessie and her best friend Robert
usually roam about, doing what they please. But this time, the resourceful
12-year-old girl not only wants to find out who her father is, she also has to
invent a plan of how to raise money for Robert’s desperately needed new
glasses. Yet, despite her noble intentions, the quick-tempered heroine seems
to stumble from one disaster into another. The fresh and direct first-person
narrative paints a vivid picture of an endearing girl’s eventful summer
between reassuring family bonds and threatening attacks from outside.
(10+)
55
DiCamillo, Kate (text)
Ering, Timothy Basil (illus.)
The tale of Despereaux : being the story of a mouse, a princess, some soup,
and a spool of thread Cambridge, MA : Candlewick Press, 2003. – 267 p.
ISBN 0-7636-1722-9
Mouse – Love – Princess – Servant – Rat – Revenge – Adventure –
Search for identity
In this fairytale-like novel, renowned author Kate DiCamillo tells a story
about love and hate, revenge and forgiveness, light and darkness, starring
three very different outsiders. Despereaux, a tiny mouse with a passion for
music and literature, falls in love with beautiful Princess Pea and is
punished by the mouse council for it. Chiaroscuro, who unlike his fellow rats
is fascinated by light, wants to take revenge on the princess for destroying
his dreams. And Miggery Sow, a poor dim-witted servant girl, longs to become a
princess herself. Guided through the captivating tale by the omniscient
narrator, the readers dive into a hair-raising adventure and witness how the
protagonists’ lives become intertwined through the rat’s cunning plan.
(9+) (Newbery Medal; 2004)
56
Florian, Douglas (text/illus.)
Bow wow meow meow : it’s rhyming cats and dogs
San Diego [et al.] : Harcourt, 2003. – 47 p.
ISBN 0-15-216395-6
Poetry – Cats – Dogs
After his latest success with Lizards, Frogs, and Polliwogs (Harcourt,
2001), which was termed »toadally terrific« by Kirkus Reviews,
Douglas Florian has created yet another hilarious collection of animal poems.
This time he focuses exclusively on the all-time favourite pets, dogs and cats
(plus their feral relatives). In 21 original poems accompanied by as many
delightful full-page watercolour illustrations, he unmasks the characteristic
features or habits of »scent-sational« bloodhounds, shaggy sheepdogs, and »fur-ocious«
lions and has his audience chuckling all the way through. Whether pet-lovers
or not, readers of all ages will enjoy this imaginative and playful homage to
»man’s (and woman’s) best friends«. (3+) ¤
57
Frost, Helen
Keesha’s house
New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003. – 116 p
(Frances Foster books)
ISBN 0-374-34064-1
Teenager – Family problems – Place of refuge
Keesha, Stephie, Jason, Dontay, Carmen, Harris, and Katie have one thing in
common: They feel as if their lives were falling apart. Luckily enough,
Joe’s house offers the desperate teenagers a safe refuge while they struggle
with life’s problems and try to sort things out somehow. In this stunning
first novel written entirely in verse, each of the protagonists gets their say
– as do some of the adults involved. To express the different perspectives,
Helen Frost resorts to two traditional poetic forms, the sestina and the
sonnet, with each of the poems written in its own distinct voice in a style
reading almost like prose. This fascinating collection of subtly
interconnected poems weaves together the depressing stories of seven young
people. (14+)
58
Gaiman, Neil (text)
McKean, Dave (illus.)
The wolves in the walls
New York : HarperCollins, 2003. – [56] p.
ISBN 0-380-97827-x. - 0-06-053087-1
Humans – Wolves – Threat – Resistance
After the success of his children’s book Coraline, Neil Gaiman has
once again teamed up with illustrator Dave McKean for a scary tale for young
readers. In this innovative mixture between picture book and graphic novel,
the gripping text, its playful layout, and the distorted computer-generated
pictures perfectly complement each other to conjure up a story with an eerie
atmosphere. Everybody keeps telling Lucy that »if the wolves come out of the
walls, it’s all over.« So the moment this actually happens, the family bolt
down the stairs and grudgingly set up camp in their own garden, listening to
the frightening romp inside their house. Lucy, however, quietly creeps back
inside and devises a strategy about how to turn the tables on the beastly
intruders. (6+)
59
Giff, Patricia Reilly
Maggie’s door
New York : Wendy Lamb Books, 2003. – 158 p.
ISBN 0-385-32658-0. - 0-385-90095-3
Ireland/1845 – Potato famine – Poverty – Family – Emigration
Nory is the last one to leave. Just like her family and that of her best
friend Sean, she intends to walk all the way to distant Galway and board a
ship to America trying to escape the hunger and desperation caused by rotting
potato crops in 19th century
Ireland. Told in chapters alternating between Nory’s and Sean’s
perspectives, this compelling sequel to Nory Ryan’s Song describes
the two teenagers’ separate, deadly exhausting and dangerous journey to the
port as well as their fate on board the crowded vessel where they eventually
meet again. Both have to suffer hunger and violence, sickness and cruelty. The
two narratives paint an authentic picture of the terrible sufferings people
had to endure, making that era come alive for teenage readers. (14+)
Special
Mention
60
Hoffman, Alice (text)
Mahurin, Matt (illus.)
Green angel
New York : Scholastic Press, 2003. – 116 p.
ISBN 0-439-44384-9
Girl – Family – Catastrophe – Loss – Surviving – Grief – Sister
– Difference
One day, the nearby city is completely destroyed by a terrifying catastrophe,
and 15-year-old Green at once loses her family, her future, and the world as
she knows it. Cutting off all her emotions in her struggle to survive, the
formerly shy and introverted girl turns into Ash, a tough creature who wears a
thorn-studded leather jacket and boots with sharp nails to protect herself
from physical and emotional attacks. Written in an exceptionally beautiful
poetic style, this quiet novel traces the slow healing process of a teenage
girl lost in desperation as she tries to recover her grip on life. The readers
are inevitably drawn into the touching first-person narrative and share the
grief and loneliness of the protagonist as she eventually accepts her fate and
allows some feeling of hope into her heart again. The delicate white-and-green
illustrations at the beginning of each chapter perfectly match the slightly
mystical tone of the text and make this book a true gem. (14+)
61
McDermott, Gerald (text/illus.)
Creation
New York : Dutton Children’s Books, 2003. – [32] p.
ISBN 0-525-46905-2
Creation of the Earth
Using handmade mulberry-bark paper from Japan, award-winning illustrator
Gerald McDermott retells the creation of the Earth in fascinating pictures.
The sparse text is written as a first person account of the events with the
words printed in various colours mirroring those of the illustrations. Thus
text and pictures are not conceived as separate entities but rather blend into
a harmonious whole. The large format gesso-and-fabric-paintings, which radiate
with a mythical atmosphere, start as dark, monochrome, roughly textured
surfaces. As the Creator adds various elements to his new creation, the
pictures quickly fill up until they are brimming with colourful plants and
creatures who inhabit the earth. (4+)
62
Paolini, Christopher
Eragon <proper name>
New York : Knopf 2003. – 509 p.
(Inheritance trilogy ; 1)
(A Borzoi book)
ISBN 0-375-82668-8. - 0-375-92668-2
(originally publ. in different form by Paolini International, 2002)
Adolescent – Dragon – Coming of age – Threat – Escape – Fight –
Good/Evil
When Eragon, while hunting in a dark mountain range, stumbles across a
mysterious blue stone, which turns out to be a dragon egg, he has no idea that
his whole life is about to change dramatically. Equipped with an ancient sword
and accompanied by his dragon and an old storyteller, Eragon is forced to flee
his quiet farmboy life and is plunged into a dangerous quest for magic and
power, identity and destiny, Good and Evil. Young author Christopher Paolini
started writing his epic fantasy at the age of only 15 and is now working on
the second volume of the trilogy. He sends his protagonists on blood-curdling
adventures through a convincing alternative world, inhabited by a rich
tapestry of characters that not only fantasy lovers will devour immediately. (14+)
63
Potter, Ellen (text)
Reynolds, Peter H. (illus.)
Olivia Kidney <proper name>
New York : Philomel Books, 2003. – 155 p.
ISBN 0-399-23850-6
Girl – Loneliness – Brother – Grief – Adventure
Another move, another flat, another anonymous apartment building, that’s
certainly not what Olivia needs right now. Someone who shares her troubles and
drives away her loneliness would be much more along her line. As she meets
some of her weird new neighbours (a ghost, a would-be psychic, a former
princess, etc.) she slides into the most bizarre adventures. Eventually, she
even finds a way to break down the wall of sadness between her father and
herself, which they had built up after her beloved brother Christopher’s
death. In this entertaining debut novel, Ellen Potter cleverly weaves real and
imaginary elements together to create a hilarious yet touching story about an
amiable heroine and an unlikely bunch of characters. (10+)
64
Smith, Hope Anita (text)
Evans, Shane W. (illus.)
The way a door closes
New York : H. Holt, 2003. – 52 p.
ISBN 0-8050-6477-x
African American family – Father – Unemployment – Leaving – Anger –
Forgiveness
Everything used to be perfect for C.J. and his younger brother and sister –
until the day when his father, depressed about having lost his job, suddenly
walks out on the family. Almost like a photo album, the 34 beautiful poems
offer short glimpses into the life of a close-knit African American family and
are supported by powerful realistic oil paintings in bright colours on a white
background. Narrated in a poetic and direct language from the 13-year-old
protagonist’s point of view, the moving texts make the readers empathise
with C.J.’s fear, frustration, and anger as he tries to come to terms with
the family falling apart – and share his hope and relief when the father
finally returns. (12+)