The National Book Festival

Every year the National Book Festival falls on the weekend of my birthday.  I’ve spent several birthdays on the National Mall listening to authors talk about their craft and buying books.  The Maryland Renaissance Festival also coincides with my birthday, but I seem to have out grown wearing puffy shirts and ogling carnies in period dress.  This year three of my favorite children’s authors were featured guests, so I’m dedicating this week to Lois Lowry, Jerry Spinelli and Avi.  

All three of them have new books coming out this fall, and have written some of the all time best.  Of the three, I’ve known Lowry the longest.  Her Anastasia series was one of my favorites in fourth grade, and I still treasure my signed copy of Anastasia, Ask Your Analyst.  Unfortunately, I’ve found that today’s kids aren’t as enamored of the slightly nerdy, imaginative heroine to whom I related.  She’s better known for her Newberry Award winners, Number the Stars a beautifully written book about the Holocaust and The Giver, which started the dystopian society craze that seems to be the genre of choice for most tweens.  The fourth and final book in The Giver series, Son, is being released this fall. 

Spinelli is a very different writer, and I first discovered him in my student teaching when I read his classic, Maniac Magee.  Maniac is an orphan, who somehow manages to bring together the black and white sides of a segregated community.  There are so many layers to the book that it quickly became one of my favorite literature studies.  The Library Card is one of his more obscure books, but I love it.  It’s a collection of four short stories, each about a different kid who is saved by a library card.  Loser and Stargirl came out within a year of each other and deal with the same themes of bullying and fitting in.  Loser is geared towards upper elementary kids and Stargirl for middle and high-schoolers.  I read Loser to my class every year, because they needed to hear the message that it’s okay to be yourself.  His new book is called Jake and Lily.  I’m still on the library waiting list for it, but I’ve read the reviews and excerpts.  I’m sure it will be as good as his others.  It’s about twins with a strong and mysterious mental connection.  

Through most of middle school, Avi’s book The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle was my absolute favorite book.  It still ranks pretty high on the list, and the copy I keep in my classroom is much loved.  It’s about Charlotte, who is traveling across the Atlantic in 1832 to join her family in Rhode Island when she gets caught up drama of a mutinous crew.  Adventure and a strong female lead, what 13 year old wouldn’t love it?  Many of Avi’s books are historical adventure stories, like Crispin, Cross of Lead and The Fighting Ground.  The first is about a peasant boy in medieval England trying to escape death for a crime he didn’t commit, and the latter is about a young boy in Revolutionary America, who sneaks off to join the fight.  The entire book takes place over the course of 24 hours.  However, Avi is a varied and prolific writer.  He’s also written the Poppy series about some field mice, forever trying to avoid their predators.  It’s an adventure tale and discourse on the food web rolled together in one.  He’s written over 50 books, and I’ve yet to read one I haven’t liked. 

 

Books by Lois Lowry

Anastasia Krupnik

Number the Stars (Newberry Award Winner)

The Giver (Newberry Award Winner)

Gathering Blue

Gossamer

Messenger

Son (Comes out in October)

Books by Jerry Spinelli

Maniac Magee (Newberry Award Winner)

Loser

Stargirl

Fourth Grade Rats

The Library Card

Eggs

Jake and Lilly

Books by Avi

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle (Newberry Honor)

Crispin, Cross of Lead (Newberry Award Winner)

The Fighting Ground

Poppy

The Secret School

Midnight Magic

Iron Thunder

Sophia’s War (Comes out this month)