Home/Newbery by Year/Newbery Title Index/Newbery Subject Index/Newbery Author Index
1996
The Midwife's Apprentice by Karen Cushman (Clarion,
$12.20, sixth-grade level). ISBN: 0395692296. The Medalist Catherine, Called Birdy is a hard act to follow. To her
credit, Cushman didn't attempt to write a sequel. But this
story, also set in medieval England and involving a
smart-mouthed teen-aged girl, is pretty darn close. Alyce is the poorest of the poor. She's at the low end of
the social totem pole in a backward village. She can only
move upward, which she attempts to do by working for a
midwife. This wise woman is named Jane Sharp, which is a bit
of Cushman's trademark sarcasm. Alyce fails miserably in her first attempt at midwifery
and takes off running. Toward the end of the novel she has a
moment of insight, but it reads false. Cushman fans, among
which I number myself, maybe tempted to look past the book's
shortcomings. What Jamie Saw by Carolyn Coman (Peter Smith/Front
Street, $19, fifth-grade level). ISBN: 0844669687. Honor Book A third-grade boy watches his mom's boyfriend attempt a
horrific act of child abuse then tries to cope with the
outcome of that act. To my knowledge, this is one of the first juvenile novels
to deal prominently with the topic of physical abuse of children. Coman
makes the reader view the violence through the eyes of a
young child, so we are as confused and conflicted as the
witness. Adults jaded by the violence in the modern world
will be jolted into awareness when they view this despicable
act through the eyes of Jamie, an innocent. Coman doesn't give us any easy answers for either the
child or the mother, who thankfully, if slowly, escapes from
an abusive relationship. The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963 by Christopher Paul
Curtis (Delacorte, $13.56, fifth-grade level). ISBN:
0385321759 Honor Book A quirky family of African-Americans painfully learn
about racism and the travails of raising children during a
month in 1963. This is a charming book with well-drawn characters. The
characters reek of reality in a pleasant way. The portrait
of a loving, nuclear family is a joy to read, too,
dispelling lingering misperceptions about what
African-Americans families are often like. The racism of the times is viewed through the eyes of a
10-year-old boy, which makes it seem all the more ignorant
and pointless. Yolanda's Genius by Carol Fenner (McElderry, $13.60,
fifth-grade level). ISBN: 0689800010. Honor Book A 12-year-old black girl works very hard to see that her
intellectually challenged little brother gets the credit he
deserves for his musical talent. This is a warm story about the relationship between a
girl, large in girth, who is bright and bold, and her
fragile brother. The characters are well conceived, expressing a variety
of skills, dispelling a variety of stereotypes. I don't know
if Fenner intended it or not, but teachers looking for
expressions of multiple intelligences could turn here for
intelligible examples. The Great Fire by Jim Murphy (Scholastic, $14.95,
fourth-grade level). ISBN: 0590472674. Honor Book The author relates first-person accounts of the Great
Fire in Chicago to create a compelling piece of historical
writing. This is what Murphy does best. He is a master chronicler
and researcher who knows how to turn dry facts into a
compelling narrative. The story of the fire moves swiftly. Murphy dispels
myths and tells some hard truth about the economic and
racial prejudices of main stream America. This is more than
a disaster story; it's a comment about how humans react in
time of trouble.
Copyright David Ross 2003