Some years ago I wrote an article about role models in children's literature, wondering how far we can take the question of "identification." Do strong female characters produce strength in their readers? I couldn't answer the question--I don't do empirical research!--but I do think it's worth continuing to talk about the issue. Here's a nice piece in Parent Central that takes up some recent heroines and how they differ from their predecessors.
Girl heroes take spectacular flight - Parentcentral.ca
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Wednesday, March 03, 2010
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
another lazy post
When You Reach Me by Rebecca SteadMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Miranda's getting weird letters, and her mom is practicing to be on the $25,000 Pyramid, and her best friend doesn't seem to want to talk to her anymore. Middle school is bad enough--this all seems much, much worse.
I loved this book. Miranda's connection to A Wrinkle in Time makes her my kind of protagonist--nerdy, emotionally interesting, on the outskirts of popularity (but still fascinated by it and even hopeful that she might find it one day). The book raises some of the same kinds of questions that Miranda's favorite book does without seeming at all imitative or derivative. A keeper.
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Monday, March 01, 2010
a very lazy, and belated, review post
The Lightning Thief by Rick RiordanMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Like everyone else in America, I enjoyed this book--a clever way to introduce kids to Greek myths and a fun adventure as well.
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but should we see the movie?
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Top 100 Children's Novels (#45-41) - still going strong
I'm pretty sure this is the first time one of my top ten has made it onto Betsy's list, so I'm excited to share this chunk of the list here. Scroll to the bottom to find the other installments--this is seriously a labor of love here, one that goes way above and beyond mere list-making--it's well worth checking them all out.
Top 100 Children's Novels (#45-41) - A Fuse #8 Production - Blog on School Library Journal
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Top 100 Children's Novels (#45-41) - A Fuse #8 Production - Blog on School Library Journal
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Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Monday, February 08, 2010
100 Best
So that ten best list I gave you last time was just a teaser for Betsy Bird's list of the 100 best children's novels, voted on by her readers. Here are numbers 91-100, with all kinds of great commentary and links. None of mine are on this list...let's see if any of them break in a little higher.
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