November/December 2008
— A boy who can speak to animals flees with his wolf-dog when a monster called an Alarcon hunts him for his powers, ultimately escaping when a condor saves them from...
— Louisiana’s Song, by Kerry Madden; Viking Children’s Books: New York, 2007; $16.99 “We just keep walking but going nowhere.” This statement, spoken by Livy Two, the main character in Louisiana’s...
— In drought-stricken Africa, a girl's beloved zebra friend is sacrificed to save her dying mother, then the rains finally come.
— During WWI's Christmas truce of 1914, a young soldier gives his aunt's ugly sweater to a sick German soldier who returns it decades later on a lonely Christmas Eve.
— Red Moon at Sharpsburg, by Rosemary Wells; Viking Children’s Books: New York, 2007; $16.99 When I first glanced at the cover of Red Moon at Sharpsburg, by Rosemary Wells, the...
— A shy girl befriends the barefoot new student who claims to be a princess, then betrays her under peer pressure, only to discover the true meaning of friendship after Irah...
— A twelve-year-old slips outside at night to lie in wet grass, listening to her watch tick and feeling the wind carry away time's demands.
— A boy promises his injured grandfather he'll win the 400-meter dash, the same race that ended his grandfather's track career decades earlier.
— A girl arrives home from school to an empty house and contemplates how the world continues moving while she stands still in her quiet kitchen.