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1993

Missing May by Cynthia Rylant (Orchard Books, $11.96, fifth-grade level)). ISBN: 0531059960.	The Medalist An orphaned girl and her uncle come to terms with the death of her aunt, who held the family together. This is a charming story about people needing people, rural life, the inner beauty that shines out from those who love with an open heart, and dealing with death. Rylant reveals a pleasant sense of humor, too. For teachers looking for novels that work together, I can easily see reading this in sequence with Katherine Patterson's The Great Gilly Hopkins.
What Hearts by Bruce Brooks (HarperCollins, $13.56, fifth-grade level). ISBN: 0060211318	Honor Book Four scenes from the life of a boy who is brilliant but emotionally detached. This is a wonderful, well-written book. The emotions are powerful and the characters well-drawn. Brooks, who has been known primarily as a sports writer, clearly shows the high price kids pay for a divorce. This would be an interesting book to have gifted kids read because it deals quite succinctly with the problems that intelligent children face when dealing with adults who aren't as smart as they are. I could see using this book in conjunction with the film Sandlot because the narrator has much in common with the protagonist of this novel.
The Dark Thirty by Patricia K. McKissack (Random Library, $17.99, sixth-grade level). ISBN: 0679918639.	Honor Book The author shares a collection of supernatural tales from the South. This is a great collection of scary tales that kids as young as fifth-grade could read and enjoy. The content works with social studies units on slavery as well as African-American history. It's also a bit of a rarity. Prior to this, many collections appeared in the Newbery award lists. After this, none.
Somewhere in the Darkness by Walter Dean Myers (Scholastic, $12.76, seventh-grade level). ISBN: 0590424114.	Honor Book A 14-year-old African American boy has to cope with the dual handicaps of a deceased mother and a father who has escaped from prison and wants to make amends. The kid's dad is in the final stages of a kidney disease that will claim his life, but he decides to reclaim his son from the loving aunt who has raised him. They take off on a cross-country trip that exonerates the father shortly before he dies. He wants to be a good dad but he doesn't know how. Myers has the enviable talent of writing gritty, urban dramas without seeming trite of condescending. He carefully draws his characters, who continually try for the best even while fate seems to conspire against them.

Copyright David Ross 2003