9.14.2007

BEST OF FICTION 2007

BEST OF FICTION 2007

Where I Live by Eileen Spinelli, illustrated by Matt Phelan

I may be crossing too much into my “favorite” category, but I just adore this book. I read it at ALA and just cried with the Penguin sales rep. It’s so beautifully illustrated and the theme is handled so sensitively and poignantly. My heart broke reading it…yet my head knew that everything would be right in the end.

Talented Clementine by Sara Pennypacker, illustrated by Marla Frazee

I love her. I do. (Clemtine, that is) I just wish that every adult in my world was as sensitive as understanding as they all are in Clementine’s world.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

Innovative and fascinating. Wanna know how film and literature combine almost flawlessly into a single package? Read this book.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

This has made lots of “best of” lists. You know why.

And I'm only listing four titles on this list, for a couple of reasons. First, I couldn't find a fifth that I liked more than the others. Here's the list I was operating from:

If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period by Gennifer Choldenko
Mysterious Edge of the Heroic World by E.L. Konigsburg
Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt
Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson

None of those really stood out from the rest for me. Second, I haven't read Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis yet. I have a sneaking suspicion that would be on my list, if I had read it.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

My son and I read the first Clementine but not the second. It was a very funny book. I'll have to get The Talented Clementine soon. Thanks for the reminder.

fusenumber8 said...

I'd have picked Wednesday Wars from that list you couldn't pick one from. Sure, it may not have the kid appeal of Wimpy Kid (heck, it may not have the GROWN-UP appeal of Wimpy Kid) but it's still top notch stuff. We'll be tangling over Konigsburg, I see. Scathing review to come.

Anonymous said...

Just finished Lynne Jonell's Emily and the Incredible Shrinking Rat". It is lots of fun to read, full of delicious humor, dialog,and characters.

Unknown said...

I have the same problem with "Emily and the Incredible Shrinking Rat" as I have with "The Apple Pie that Papa Baked" - I'm the last darn librarian on the planet not to have read them! It's such a pain during these sorts of discussions.

Fuse - I'm sure I'll actually agree with your scathing review. "Mysterious Edge" has all kinds of problems. But I think "Wednesday Wars" does too. Dare I say they have the same problem? They're just so entrenched in nostalgia that they lose their kid appeal. They reek of adult perspective. (But don't get me wrong - I loved both books dearly. Probably 'cause I'm an adult...)

Susan - I read both Clementines with my daughter, and she loved them both equally. The ending of "Talented" is just precious and endearing...but not overly so. I'm sure you'll love it.