What's Next (16): Becky

 

What's Next is a weekly feature started by Hafsah at IceyBooks. Basically, we need your help deciding what to read next! So check out the books below & vote on what YOU think should be our next read!

This week I've decided to look at some children's newbery contenders for 2012.  Which one should I read next?  

Title: Wonder
Author: R. J. Palacio
Pages: 313
Genre: contemporary realism
Audience: middle grade 

Summary: 
August (Auggie) Pullman was born with a facial deformity that prevented him from going to a mainstream school—until now. He's about to start 5th grade at Beecher Prep, and if you've ever been the new kid then you know how hard that can be. The thing is Auggie's just an ordinary kid, with an extraordinary face. But can he convince his new classmates that he's just like them, despite appearances?

Title: The Mighty Miss Malone                          Author: Christopher Paul Curtis

Pages: 320

Genre: Historical fiction

Audience: Middle grade 

Summary: 

Deza is the smartest girl in her class in Gary, Indiana, singled out by teachers for a special path in life. But the Great Depression hit Gary hard, and there are no jobs for black men. When her beloved father leaves to find work, Deza, Mother, and her older brother Jimmie go in search of him, and end up in a Hooverville outside Flint, Michigan. Jimmie’s beautiful voice inspires him to leave the camp to be a performer, while Deza and Mother find a new home, and cling to the hope that they will find Father.

Title: May B                                                          Author: Caroline Starr Rose

Pages: 240

Genre: Historical fiction

Audience: Middle grade 

Summary: 

May is helping out on a neighbor’s Kansas prairie homestead—just until Christmas, says Pa. She wants to contribute, but it’s hard to be separated from her family by 15 long, unfamiliar miles. Then the unthinkable happens: May is abandoned. Trapped in a tiny snow-covered sod house, isolated from family and neighbors, May must prepare for the oncoming winter. While fighting to survive, May’s memories of her struggles with reading at school come back to haunt her. But she’s determined to find her way home again.

Title: Crow                                                           Author: Barbara Wright

Pages: 304

Genre: Historical fiction

Audience: Middle grade 

Summary: 

The summer of 1898 is filled with ups and downs for 11-year-old Moses. He's growing apart from his best friend, his superstitious Boo-Nanny butts heads constantly with his pragmatic, educated father, and his mother is reeling from the discovery of a family secret. Yet there are good times, too. He's teaching his grandmother how to read. For the first time she's sharing stories about her life as a slave. And his father and his friends are finally getting the respect and positions of power they've earned in the Wilmington, North Carolina, community. But not everyone is happy with the political changes at play and some will do anything, including a violent plot against the government, to maintain the status quo.