Children's Books discussion

Come join us to discuss the Medal Winner,
Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse

and/or the Honor books:
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
Lily's Crossing by Patricia Reilly Giff
Wringer by Jerry Spinelli

I found several of these in Little Free Libraries over the years, saving them for this month, so Yay!

ELLA!!! Listen to the audiobook! It's so much better and easier to understand. This is one of my all time very favorite books. I tried pushing it on niece #1 last year but don't think she read it. I didn't even realize it was supposed to be a retelling of Cinderella until halfway through! (view spoiler)[The stepsisters were the clue. (hide spoiler)] I LOVE how Ella (view spoiler)[sets out to save herself, and does break the curse on her own because she loves Char and not because he's there to save her. (hide spoiler)] I love Lucinda and the twist on the fairy godmother christening story. I love Mandy with her fairy feet just like mine.

DON'T watch the movie. I refuse. I saw trailers and what the heck was THAT?
DO read Princess Academy- another favorite Cinderella retelling.
DO read Levine's little fairy tale books. They're hysterically funny.

Lily's Crossing is another favorite too. I first read an excerpt in American Girl magazine and the full novel later on. Patricia Reilly Giff was a great historical fiction writer. All her HF books are fabulous.

I chose not to read Out of the Dust because I do not enjoy novels in verse.

Thanks, I will look for the audio for Ella. I accidentally watched the movie first, years ago, then read it, but by now I've only vague memories of either.

I love everything that I've found by Levine.

I listened to Ella first which was a big help in figuring out the different languages spoken.

Ogre Enchanted features the fairy Lucinda, meddling as usual and Ella's parents as young adults.

So, a prequel companion... did you like that too?

Cheryl wrote: "So, a prequel companion... did you like that too?"

Not so much, no. It's been a very long time since I was into fantasy and actively reading books for that age group. I liked learning more about the world and the people. My niece #1 may have liked it when she was younger. She's a little old for that now but I thought she would like Ella, a strong and strong willed heroine.

Too bad.

Well, I'm finally (very likely) going to have a chance this weekend to read most of these. Carried them around all month, but late. Leaving this thread open until I do finish them all!

This is another Newbery year in which I liked the Honor much better than the award winner: I really enjoyed Ella Enchanted, but was ho-hum about Out of the Dust. I simply like fantasy novels better than historical novels, and I particularly find any novel about the Great Depression boring.
I have not read the other two books, and really don't have much interest in reading either one.

Beverly wrote: " I simply like fantasy novels better than historical novels, and I particularly find any novel about the Great Depression boring.."

I'm just the opposite and normally prefer historical fiction over fantasy but I went through a "what to read while you're waiting for the next Harry Potter" phase, discovered Ella and a bunch of similar stories and fell in love with the historical fantasy genre.

I enjoyed Out of the Dust more than I thought I would. But then, I'm an adult... I don't know if kids liked it.

My edition had back matter, including the author's explanation that she wrote it as a novel in verse intentionally. "The frugality of the life, the hypnotically hard work of farming, the grimness of conditions during the Dust Bowl, demanded an economy of words. Daddy and Ma and Billie Jo's rawboned life translated into poetry...."

She also revealed the intended theme. "It was about forgiveness. The whole book. Every relationship. Not only the relationships between people, but the relationship between the people and the land itself."

She also reminded me to read Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, and of the quote "There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One of these is roots comma the other wings." (Hodding Carter)

I gave Lily's Crossing only three stars. Good book, but I just didn't quite feel it. My edition had an author's note. "... I wanted to tell my readers that even though the times are different now, people have always worried about the same things... loss and separation, the future, and sometimes war. I want readers to know that love and friendship make a difference."

I found lots to think about, to discuss, in Wringer.

It reminded me of the famously horrifying short story The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. Only in this case, the victims know ahead of time what their 'destiny' is... can our boy Palmer ever be brave enough to reject it?

Can we fault Henry for not being brave? The whole town supports this culture of manliness being about the ability to receive and to give pain. Killing pigeons raises money for the playground, after all. Or, can we hope that somehow Henry can be saved, or save himself?

But, manliness.... We meet Palmer on his ninth birthday. By his tenth he's undergone some pretty serious rites of passage. In a white-bread small town (suburb?), not a primitive village of 'savages.'

Is the story an exaggeration? Louisiana was the last to outlaw cockfighting in 2007, for comparison, well after this book was written. Is there hope for this town in Palmer's lifetime?

Is Palmer the hero? Or is the neighbor girl, Dorothy, even more brave and wise?

Is Beans a psychopath? Is Farquar? Or can we blame their culture? What kinds of people will the various characters grow up to be?

Does Nipper represent oppressed people? Perhaps Black people, or homosexuals? After all, "He was born a pigeon."

Why did the newspaper at the end conflate the two boys? A desire to simplify in the name of keeping the tradition going, or simple blindness to the truths of what was going on that time, and every year?

Spinelli is a good author. Worth reading, and rereading.

I gave Ella Enchanted three stars.
I can see the appeal, for fun, for escape, but Newbery worthy?

I don't get it. Nice message about a girl who is mostly kind, mostly brave, and mostly smart overcoming adversity and winning her prince. But there are so many stories like that available. This seems slight & superficial. Maybe the Newbery committee recognized this as one of the first? But there's so much to nitpick, too.

I mean, couldn't Mandy have held onto the mother's necklace, when it's so obvious that something would happen to it at boarding school? Why couldn't Mandy have commanded "Don't ever obey a command that causes you to hurt someone?" Why were Hattie and Olive cardboard stereotypes? Even Char wasn't much more nuanced. The first suitor was a more interesting character!

I never felt immersed in the world, nor did I believe in the plot or the characters. Nor did I feel enriched.

Cheryl wrote: "I gave Ella Enchanted three stars.
I can see the appeal, for fun, for escape, but Newbery worthy?

I don't get it. Nice message about a girl who is mostly kind, mostly brave, and mostl..."

I read this before I joined Goodreads and basically had the same issues with the text that you did. Not a bad story but nothing special and how much Hattie and Olive were stereotypically nasty might work for traditional fairy tales but is not really worthy of a Newbery.