December 2004     Vol.5 Issue 12

This month's book reviews

A "special needs" labeled child is
reached by a flamboyant teacher

"Sahara Special" is a humorously-written kids' book with a serious message to it. The message for kids is to accept differences - differences in their teachers as well as their classmates. The message for adults is that non-traditional approaches to instruction should be given serious consideration and respect. Schools must make room for more than formalized regimented skill and drill teaching. The practice of encouraging personal and expressive writing and the sharing of it for purposes of consideration and discussion with peers deserves a place in the total curriculum.

A hard look at the struggles of
pre-adolescents in coping with peer pressure

"The Skin I'm In" is a first novel by Sharon G. Flake. It won the 1999 Corretta Scott King Award. The novel is told in the voice of a seventh grade African American girl who is caught between peer pressure and the demands placed on her by a self-possessed and caring teacher in an inner-city school. The language is cleaned up from the real language heard in an inner-city middle school, but the first person narrative style seems authentic.

It would take a reasonably mature young reader to get the positive message the author intended, probably age twelve or older. A parent who is naïve about pre-adolescent behavior in a school setting would gain some real insight from a reading of this little novel. It probably should be required reading for all new teachers who expect to teach this age range.

A boy gets his wish to fly and then
finds he hadn't been so lucky after all

"The Boy Who Could Fly Without a Motor" is a fanciful story about a nine-year-old boy who overuses his imagination to cope with his loneliness. The story is tongue-in-cheek hilarity from start to finish. The message beneath all the fun is a simple one - be careful what you wish for, you just might get it. But how many of us, young and old, have dreamed of being able to soar over trees and roof-tops, flying without wings?

A prize-winning children's novel
about life in late Medieval England

"Crispin, The Cross of Lead," authored by Avi, won the 1992 Newbery Medal for the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. For any kids who love historical novels, the book lives up to its billing. The author does a great job of taking a main character, who really wants to be a good person but is naïve about the world around him, and showing how he matures and develops in the face of adversity. While telling this absorbing adventure, the author manages to inform his young readers about the details of English life in the late Middle Ages.