The news recently has been full of war stories happening in Afghanistan. For many young people the part of the world is unfamiliar. Unfortunately stories out of this country will make headlines and news probably for many years to come. To fill in the gaps for young readers I would highly recommend SHOOTING KABUL by N.H. Senzai (A Paula Wiseman book, Simon and Schuster Book for Young Readers, 2010. $16.99. June 2010).
This story opens as eleven year old Fadi is staring out a cab backseat window one starry night. Fadi, his parents and two sisters are fleeing from Kabul, Afghanistan, heading to Jalalabad in the eastern part of the country. Fadi’s father has given him a charge to watch over his six year old sister, Mariam. The taxi leaves the family at an abandoned site where they will be collected and taken the final part of their journey into Pakistan. When the truck arrives, other refugees hiding at the site rush to board. Fadi refuses to put his sister’s Barbie doll in his jacket and in the confusion she slips out of his hand. She is swept into the crowd and, when they arrive, Mariam is not with them. She has been left behind.
I must admit I have never been one for series. I seem to like my stories all tied up in one neat package. However, I have to make an exception when it comes to the series by Peter Howe. The books about Waggit , the abandoned dog, have held me spellbound through all three volumes. The third book WAGGIT FOREVER by Peter Howe, drawings by Omar Rayyan (HarperCollins, 2020, $16.99. May 2010) finds Waggit and the other dogs in their family being forced to leave their shelter in the city park. It seems foodstuffs are becoming more and more scarce so the dogs will soon be forced to scavenge outside the safety of the large park. On the advice of a city dog group’s leader, Waggit’s group is advised to leave and journey through the dangerous city to another much larger and more remote park facility. They will be escorted in groups to avoid any contacts with the humans, particularly the dreaded dog-wardens.
A remarkable young adult author whose earlier book RED KAYAK was a must-read recommendation from me, has done it again in her latest BLINDSIDED by Priscilla Cummings (Dutton, 2010, $16.99. July 2010). In this story we meet 14 year old Natalie. She’s a typical young girl does well in school and has many friends. Her life is turned upside down, when on a recent visit to the eye doctor she is told she will soon be blind.
After the news is accepted, Natalie’s family arranges for her to attend a School for the Blind. Her eyesight at this point is still functioning on a limited basis and the family feels this will help Natalie when all of her sight is gone. Initially Natalie is withdrawn and tries to weather this new school without any companionship. She starts out as a single but son is assigned a roommate.
TAKE ME WITH YOU by Carolyn Marsden (Candlewick Press, March 2010, $14.99) brings the reader into a home in Milan, Italy, for babies abandoned after WWII. The girls, Susanna and Pina are best friends and have lived at the Istituto di Gesu Bambino as long as they can remember. We meet the friends at a Sunday service where some potential adopters are present. The girls know they are not considered candidates as they each have a parent in contact with the orphanage.
The nuns run the facility with iron gloves and offer little sympathy to the girls. To earn money for upkeep the nuns put the girls to work doing various jobs. At one point they crochet black berets to wear and sell; other times they are taken into the city of MIlan to sing at funerals and wakes. The two friends are constantly thinking of the parent(s) who have left them there.
A beloved friend is back to her humorous self. I first met Lois Lowry through her hilarious stories about Anastia Krupnik. These very funny stories brought laughter to many young readers. Lois then went on to win medals for such titles as THE GIVER and NUMBER THE STARS. This very versatile author is comfortable no [...]
Every school library collection should have copies of the series, TALES OF YOUNG AMERICANS, published by Sleeping Bear Press. This Press is an imprint of Gale, a part of Cengage Learning. One of their frequent authors, Gloria Whelan, has an exciting new book, THE LISTENERS , Illustrated by MIKE BENNY (2010, $17.95)
The story revolves around slave children Ella May, Bobby and Sue. Ella May works in the fields from dawn to dusk, but her work does not end after dusk. Then she collects the other two children and they head for their master’s house. Once there they settle themselves on the ground outside the window. Here they have been instructed to listen to the family conversation and report any pertinent information to the other slaves back in the quarters.