Coming of Age through the Centuries

Preus, Margi. Heart of a Samurai. 2010. Newbery Honor Book.

The Japan of 1841 had been isolated from the world for over 200 years. No one was allowed to land on the island, if fishermen from Japanese villages drifted too far from the island, they would not be allowed back to their homes for fear of being tainted by the ‘barbarians’. Fourteen-year-old Manjiro is the youngest person aboard a small fishing vessel that gets lost at sea, they are eventually rescued by ‘barbarians’. Manjiro only wants to go home but after seeing and learning so much from the captain and crew of the whaling vessel that rescues him and his comrades, he agrees to continue on with the captain to America and live as his son. His life in America is a wonderful learning experience but he longs for Japan. Read Heart of a Samurai to learn Manjiro’s fate.

Philbrick, Rodman. The mostly true adventures of Homer P. Figg. 2009. Newbery Honor Book.

Homer’s older brother has just been sold. He is now a Union soldier going to fight in the Civil War but he is only seventeen. And Homer is going to find him and bring him home, even though Homer’s parents have been dead for years and they have no real home. Homer’s adventures are amazing and thrilling and sometimes sad but he is true to his purpose and continues to search for his brother despite all kinds of setbacks. Read The mostly true adventures of Homer P. Figg for a rollicking good time adventure.

Speare, Elizabeth George. The sign of the Beaver. 1983. Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction.

In the late 18th century Maine was mostly wild. Matt and his father built a log cabin in this wilderness in anticipation of bringing the rest of the family to settle at the end of the summer. Matt’s father leaves him alone at the cabin for the 6-8 weeks he will be away fetching the rest of the family. Matt’s father does not return for many months. Matt survives and thrives thanks to Attean, an Indian boy about Matt’s age. Matt tries to teach him to read and Attean teaches Matt how to survive in the woods. But white men are coming to Attean’s land and what will the Indians do. Read The sign of the Beaver for a tale of friendship and understanding.

Reinhardt, Dana. A brief chapter in my impossible life. 2006.

At 16 years old, Simone has a good life, she has parents who love and support her, a younger brother she loves and likes and good friends and a good future. Her life seems to become impossible when her parents tell her that Rivka has called and would like to talk to her. Simone resists strongly but in the end she realizes she has an opportunity to talk to her birth mother. The call opens a whole new world to her and Simone realizes that having another person in her life who loves her is a good thing. Read A brief chapter in my impossible life to see how life is always changing.

Davis, Tanita S. Mare’s War. 2009. Coretta Scott King Honor.

Octavia and Tali are dreading their cross country trip with their grandmother, Mare. Mare is not a typical grandmother she isn’t warm and full of hugs and she thinks her granddaughters are spoiled. So how will they pass the time on the long drive? Mare tells them about the event that changed the course of her life and thus, she became a WAC during World War II. Read Mare’s War to read a tale of a woman’s experience in war.

Schmidt, Gary D. The Wednesday Wars. 2007.

Holling’s 7th grade teacher, Mrs. Baker, hates him, he just knows it. Every Wednesday afternoon half the class goes to temple and the other half of class goes to church. No else stays in class but Holling and now his teacher has to stay and find things for him to do. And does she. First its cleaning erasers and the rats’ cage. Then it’s Shakespeare. But the thing is, Shakespeare is great and Holling learns not only from Shakespeare but also from Mrs. Baker. Read The Wednesday Wars for a wonderful coming of age story.

Rapp Adam. Punkzilla. 2009. Michael I. Printz Award.

Jamie is Punkzilla but what Jamie is really is a 14-year-old boy who’s run away from military school and is now on a cross-country trip to see his dying brother. He travels by bus and car having adventures and meeting some very interesting people along the way. He writes all this down in letters to his brother, which he hopes to read to him if he can get to his brother before he dies. Read Punkzilla for an edgy coming of age story.

Summer Reading

Everyone needs a few good books to read over the summer. Here are a few of mine.

White, Andrea. Surviving Antarctica. Reality TV 2083. 2005.

Todays Survivor television show has nothing on reality TV in 2083. There contestants vie to survive the Alamo and the Civil War and some don’t survive. The difference between those shows and this newest reality TV show is that on this show five 14-year-olds are going to try to recreate Robert Scott’s doomed trek to the South Pole. And they are going alone, miniature cameras have been surgically implanted unbeknownst to them. Their survival depends on themselves and the ‘ghost’ of Birdy Bowers. Read Surviving Antarctica. Reality TV 2083 for a taut adventure story.

Farmer, Nancy. The house of the scorpion. 2002. National Book Award.

We meet Matt when he is six-years-old. He does not have a mother or father. Technically his biological mother and father were born almost 150 years ago. Matt is the clone of El Patron a 140+ year old drug lord in a country called Opium between the U.S. and Mexico. Matt is not considered to be anything but a beast without a soul. He was not born but harvested and he lives only to serve El Patron in any way he sees fit. Matt is hated by most but loved by a few and these few might be able to change the course of Matt’s life. Read The house of the scorpion for a story that takes today’s technology to tomorrow’s level.

Avi. Ragweed. 1999.

When Ragweed seeks adventure and what the world has to offer, he finds more than he bargained for. Not only does he go to the city and discover a new way of life, he makes friends, sings in a band, learns a whole new way of talking and even leads the mice to take a stand against the cats of F.E.A.R. Read Ragweed and its sequels and come along for the adventure.

Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson. The familiars. 2010.

In this story, it’s the three familiars of the three wizards and witches that do the rescuing. The only problem is that Aldwyn, the new familiar of young wizard Jack is, in fact, an alleycat. Now Aldwyn has to try and save Jack and two other wizards and make sure that he is not discovered as a fraud by the other familiars; Skylar and Jay. The familiars and its two sequels make the sidekicks the unlikely heroes/heroines and it’s a fun adventure.

The Way It Was

These stories tell the true tales of the way it was for many people in the past. Amazingly, some of this past is only 40 years old and the understanding of the struggles of these times is in danger of being lost. Read these stories to read about how life could have been for you back in the day.

Blumenthal, Karen. Let me play. The story of Title IX. 2005.

What good do politicians do? Some politicians are great. Before the early 1970s, girls were rarely allowed the opportunity to play sports in school or even take upper level math and science classes in high school or college. Girls were not smart enough or strong enough to do either. Read Let me play to discover the long struggle and bias towards women and how a group of dedicated politicians worked to change the lives of women forever.

Bausum, Ann. Freedom Riders. 2006.

Fifty years ago John Lewis and Jim Zwerg took a bus ride that changed history. Because of them and hundreds of others like them, riding a bus or going to the movies became something all people could do together. It was only fifty years ago whites and blacks could not sit together anywhere in the south, now it seems unthinkable that Americans could believe and behave as they did just fifty years ago. Read Freedom riders to start to understand the times and the danger to the Freedom Riders.

Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. Black Potatoes. 2001. Robert F. Sibert Medal.

The Great Irish Famine started suddenly in 1845 and lasted for five years. These were years of hunger, despair, disease and prejudice. Millions died and millions more immigrated and those who were left had to pick up the pieces and live on in a land with little hope and even less food. Read Black potatoes to appreciate what you have.