VOYA does it again with a great array of fiction for middle-grade readers. Some of my favorites from the year made the list, others are still patiently sitting in my to-be-read pile, and others are new to me. What more could you want from a list?!
Here are some of my favorites from the list:
Atherton by Patrick Carman.
Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George.
Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy.
A Drowned Maiden’s Hair by Laura Amy Schlitz.
See any of your favorites on the list?
A Milwaukee Journal article offers hope that finally people are realizing that there is an art to creating books for children! Amazing!
Here are some of my favorite quotes, but it is worth reading it in full:
“Most people have a warm and fuzzy and kind of inaccurate idea of what children’s literature is,” says John Warren Stewig, director of the Center for Children’s Literature at Carthage College.
….
In fact, the best writers for children are masters of illusion. They labor for years over their manuscripts, cutting out unnecessary words, boiling down descriptions to the finest, clearest images and immersing themselves in the worlds of childhood to make their stories authentic.
My only quibble with the article is their final section where they say that Hugo Cabret is “stronger on the graphics than the prose, which is rather plain.” Guess it goes to make their point that all children’s books are being held to standards by readers.
Waking Brain Cells 