Edgar Nominees for the best kids fiction!
When the list of Edgar nominated books came out this year I was pleasantly surprised to discover they had both juvenile fiction and young adult categories! Armed with the list I set out to read all the nominees for these two categories, in order to help you find a great book for the kid in your life (or in my case the I am the big kid!). - Amber
JUVINILLE NOMINEES
The Buddy Files- The Case Of The Lost Boy by Dori Hillestad Butler (Albert Whitman & Company, mm, 4.99) 1 Accelerated reader point. King's people have disappeared, and a mean Uncle has abandoned King at the pound. Being a resourceful dog King comes up with a plan on finding his people, the only fly in the ointment? How to escape from the pound.....King's dilemma is solved when Connor and his Mom come and adopt him. His elation is short lived, when Connor disappears Buddy puts his search for his family on the back burner to find his new friend.
This is an engaging story, meant for a girl or boy from kindergarten to around third grade. This story would provide the start for both fun and serious conversations with kids when read together about strangers, divorce, moving, puppies, deductive reasoning and how people are defined by there smells (according to the dogs in the story). While touching on serious topics King’s or Buddy as his new family calls him, enthusiasm keeps the story from becoming to heavy for a young reader. I would recommend this for anyone looking for a fun chapter book for a young reader!
Griff Carver, Hallway Patrol by Jim Krieg (Penguin, hc, 15.99) 7 Accelerated Reader points. Griff Carver is the only member of the Hallway Patrol ever to have been expelled from school and kicked off the force. While in the end his records were expunged, his Old Lady (aka Mom) transferred him to a new school, Rampart Middle School. Where the same kind of kids inhabit the hallways; cool kids, bandies, student govies, hair girls and those up to no good. That is where the thin line of the hallway patrol and Griff sit between chaos and the student body. And when Griff gets wind of a counterfeit ring specializing in forged hallway passes, nothing will keep him away from busting it wide open. No matter the cost.
This book is a whole bunch of fun, it is a cross between The Maltese Falcon and Lethal Weapon. A rouge patrol with nothing to loose, who will stop at nothing to get his man. Even if it means going all the way to the top. Add a squeaky clean partner and a slick chick reporter we have a winning team. Pair this with a noir-esque writing style, and you have an entertaining read. This book is a great way to introduce kids to this style of mystery writing, while it might seem a trifle cliché to an adult, the humor and dialogue are fresh enough to over look this very minor flaw. A flaw, I am not sure would be apparent to those of its’ target audience. I would recommend this book for a boy reader (or open minded girl, since there is a good female reporter in it) since it is told exclusively from Griff’s point of view, from grades 4-8.
The Haunting of Charles Dickens by Lewis Buzbee (Feiwel and Friends hc, $17.99) is about Meg's search for her beloved missing older brother, Orion, in London in the year 1862. Accompanying her is her family's greatest friend, Mr. Charles Dickens, who is looking for inspiration after finishing his novel, Great Expectations. The quest takes them all over London, from seedy taverns, haunted houses, and even to mansions, all in the hopes of rescuing Orion and perhaps other misfortunate children along the way.
Buzbee does a good job in demonstrating how deductive reasoning works, how to digest clues and information into a meaningful whole and asking why something happened is as important as the how. Another element I enjoyed was Buzbee's subtly weaving of how we all can be inspired by our every day environment. Meg was inspired to try and communicate with Orion via the broadsheets plastered on the walls in London. While Buzbee wove elements from Dickens novels into the story to show how many varying elements can inspire creativity. I enjoyed reading this book. I would recommend it for nine-to-twelve-year-old girls. It is told from Meg's point of view, and while Dickens is a central figure I am not sure how relatable he would be to boys of the same age.
The Secret Life Of Ms Finkleman by Ben H. Winters (Harper, hc, 16.99) 7 Accelerated Reader points. Once a quarter in Bethesda Fielding's social studies class a special project assignment is given out. For this quarter, Mr. Melville's assignment is to solve a mystery from your own life. There are a myriad of ideas floating around Bethesda's class; someone wants to figure out why their mom isn't on speaking terms with her brother. Another kid wants to discover if the dolphin names Happy is really happy. And yet another kids wants to figure out why hot dogs are sold in packs of twelve, while their buns are sold in packs of eight. But Bethesda sees her very own mystery in her music fundamentals teacher Ms. Fielding, who no one including the faculty, seems to know anything about. And what she discovers shocks them all!
I really enjoyed this book! It would be a good read for girls (or an open minded boy, since the story is told mainly from Bethesda's point of view) for the fourth to eight grade readers. This is a fun fast paced story which never takes itself to seriously. There are bits about bullies, envy, cheating, leaping to conclusions and following your passions. However the excitement, enthusiasm and shifting perspectives never allow the book to sound trite or become boring. The ending was so heart warming and happy it made me tear-up a little bit! I would recommend this book for anyone who wanted to see their world as being filled with many small, solvable mysteries! I would recommend this for a girl (or open minded boy) 9-13.
Zora And Me by Victoria Bond and T.R. Simon (Candlewick Press, hc, 16.99) 5 Accelerated Reader points. Is it a coincidence that Zora imagines the Gator King which lurks in the marshes just outside of Eatonville, waiting to devour human souls. While at the same time a decapitated man is found on the railroad tracks. While the two girls investigate the Gator King they stumble on secrets, racism and envy which lead them to the killer and save their town.
This is the only piece not written by Hurston herself to ever be endorsed by the Zora Neale Hurst Trust. Hurst was an influential novelist and anthropologist who was an important figure in the Harlem Renaissance during the 1920s and early 1930s. This book is told from Zora’s best friends point of view, Clairre who investigates with Zora. It is a good book for kids around 13-16 years old.
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