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February 2004 Vol.5 Issue 2
This
month's book reviews
A
boy tries to save his dog which the
law says has to be destroyed
Eve Bunting's
"Summer of Riley" starts out by showing how having
a dog as a pet can help a young boy cope with his problems,
including grief over the recent loss of his grandfather. Unfortunately,
soon after the boy and his dog have bonded, the dog exhibit's
a possible tendency to chase livestock. In a ranching state,
the law says such an animal should be destroyed. Now the boy
has to take on a crusade to save the life of his dog friend.
The study of the
relationship between a boy and his dog gives way in this short
novel to a study of a variety of other relationships. These
include a look at the relationship between the boy and his
mother, the boy and his divorced father, the boy and an elderly
lifelong neighbor, the boy and a girl of his own age, the
boy and a bully from school, and several other relationships.
It's a lot more than just the typical dog story.
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A
retelling of the old story of Shahrazd
from the Arabian Nights tales
Author Susan
Fletcher in "Shadow Spinner" has taken the story
of Shahrazad and fleshed out the characters, added some new
ones, and retold the story in much more detail. The book has
been named a Children's Notable Book in the Field of Social
Studies. I presume that is because it gives much more life
to a famous old story that was told originally in sketchy
outline.
Parents need to
be aware that they may have to field questions about a harem,
eunuchs, and the unlimited and murderous power that a Sultan
held over his subjects, especially women. The few references
to Muslim prayer practices and to the meals and dress of people
of the Middle East in the day of the fictional Arabian Nights
would seem to do little to change Western World readers' stereotypic
perceptions. Still, it's good story just as it has been for
centuries.
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A
prize winning mystery novel for kids
"Dovey Coe"
by Frances O'Roark Dowell won The Edgar Allan Poe Award for
mysteries for kids in 2000. Twelve-year-old Dovey Coe is the
main character in the novel and is the narrator of her story.
At the beginning of the novel, the reader is informed that
Dovey is facing trial as the murderer of Parnell Caraway,
her older sister's ex-boyfriend. The story then in flashback
tells the events of the summer that led up to the charges
against Dovey. At the end, we hear the account of the trial
and find out whether Dovey really did it or not.
The novel is
aimed at kids 8 to 12 years old according to the publisher,
but is probably more suitable for kids at the upper limits
of that range or even for younger teenagers.
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Mistreated
orphan twins find
a happy home in a rustic setting
Twins, Florida
and Dallas, are named after places on the folded map found
tucked in the basket with them when they were left at the
door of the Boxton Creek Home for Children. Author Sharon
Creech's "Ruby Holler" tells the story of their
sad life in the orphanage and their later finding a happy
home with the older couple, Tiller Morey and his wife Sairy.
The twins are very dependent on one another, but they react
differently to their trials as abandoned children. Florida
becomes a distrustful and mouthy little girl, lashing out
at those around her. Dallas, her brother, is a daydreamer
who deals with his problems by escaping to fantasy worlds.
Basically, the
story shows how the dependency of the twins on each other
is paralleled in the interdependency of the elderly couple,
Tiller and Sairy Morey. When the lonely orphans merge their
lives with the empty nest Morey's, both pairs find their lives
enriched. The book earned the Carnegie Award for Children's
Literature in 2002.
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