This winning, accessible book is truly remarkable in that Creech lets us witness firsthand how words can open doors to the soul. And this from a boy who asks, "Why doesn't the person just / keep going if he's got / so many miles to go / before he sleeps?" (Ages 8 to 12) --Karin Snelson
]]>01 Blue Spruce Award Masterlist (YA Cat.), 00-01 Young Hoosier Book Award Masterlist (Grds. 6-8), Pacific NW Library Assoc. 2001 Young Reader's Choice Award Masterlist, and 00-01 South Carolina Book Award Masterlist(Grds 6-9)
Young Adult's Choices for 2000 (IRA)
]]>That's what twelve-year-old Annie loves to do. When she's barefoot and running, she can hear her heart beating . . . thump-THUMP, thump-THUMP. It's a rhythm that makes sense in a year when everything's shifting: Her mother is pregnant, her grandfather is forgetful, and her best friend, Max, is always moody. Everything changes over time, just like the apple Annie's been assigned to draw. But as she watches and listens, Annie begins to understand the many rhythms of life, and how she fits within them.
]]>Bailey, who is usually so nice, Bailey, my neighbor, my friend, my buddy, my pal for my whole life, knowing me better than anybody, that Bailey, that Bailey I am so mad at right now, that Bailey, I hate him today.
Twelve-year-old Rosie and her best friend, Bailey, don't always get along, that's true. But Granny Torrelli seems to know just how to make things right again with her interesting stories and family recipes. It's easier to remember what's important about love, life, and friendship while Granny Torrelli makes soup.
]]>Room 204—Miss Stretchberry
February 25
Today the fat black cat
up in the tree by the bus stop
dropped a nut on my head
thunk
and when I yelled at it
that fat black cat said
Murr-mee-urrr
in a
nasty
spiteful
way.
I hate that cat.
This is the story of
Jack
words
sounds
silence
teacher
and cat.
He may have been given a bit part in the school play ... but Leo dreams he is the biggest star on Broadway.
Sure, his big, noisy family makes him feel like a sardine squashed in a tin ... but in his fantasy he gets all the attention he wants.
Yes, his papa seems sad and distracted ... but Leo imagines him as a boy, tap-dancing and singing with delight.
That's why they call Leo "fog boy." He's always dreaming, always replaying things in his brain. He fantasizes about who he is in order to discover who he will become. As an actor in the school play, he is poised and ready for the curtain to open. But in the play that is his life, Leo is eager to discover what part will be his.
]]>There was a castle. But not just any castle. This was a castle that glittered and sparkled and rose majestically above the banks of the winding Winono River: the Castle Corona.
And in this castle lived a family. But not just any family. This was the family of King Guido: rich and royal and . . . spoiled. And King Guido was so spoiled that neither jewels nor gold nor splendid finery could please him, for what he longed for most was . . . a nap and a gown that didn't itch.
Far below this grand, glittering castle lived two peasants. But not just any peasants. These peasants, though poor and pitiful, were plucky and proud. And in possession of a stolen pouch. But not just any pouch. A pouch whose very contents had the power to unlock secrets and transform lives . . .
And oh, there is an author. But not just any author. Sharon Creech is a Newbery Medal-winning author whose tantalizing tale will not only dazzle and delight but also entertain and excite.
]]>School all weekend.
School on the holidays.
School in the SUMMER!
What was next . . .
SCHOOL AT NIGHT?
So it's up to Tillie to show her well-intentioned principal, Mr. Keene, that even though his fine, fine school is a wonderful place, it's not fine, fine to be there all the time.
]]>The things they are doing and saying—sometimes they make no sense. Did their brains fall out of their heads? And why so much saying, so much talking all the time day and night, all those words spilling out of those mouths? Why so much? Why don't they be quiet?
In the ancient stone tower of the Casa Rosa, in a tiny village high in the Swiss Alps, life for one angel has been the same, well, for as long as she (or he?) can remember. Until Zola arrives, a determined American girl who wears three skirts all at once. For neighbors who have been longtime enemies, children who have been lost, and villagers who have been sleepily living their lives: hold on. Zola and the angel are about to collide. Figs start flying, dogs start arfing, and the whole village begins to wake up. Zola is a girl with a mission. And our angel has been without one—till now.
This hilarious and endearing novel by Newbery Medal winner Sharon Creech reminds us that magic is found in the most ordinary acts of kindness.
]]> Baby burritoes . . .
are held very tight.
Banana babies . . .
are bundled up in the cold.
Leaky babies . . .
leak.
No matter what kind of baby they are, all new babies see, hear, think, and feel so many different things. But most of all they feel loved. Newbery Medal winner Sharon Creech and Caldecott Medal winner David Diaz give beautiful voice to that love in this celebration of family and the joy a new baby brings.
]]>In The Raven, Sharon Creech spoofs a publishing office while Susan Cooper shows the environment fighting back against overdevelopment in The Dollop. Patricia MacLachlan puts a twist on detention in The Bad Room and Katherine Paterson gives us a new twist on a classic fairy tale in The Billionaire and the Bird. Richard Peck's Effigy in the Outhouse is the story of schoolboys doing their best to trick a spooky substitute while Avi's Not Seeing Is Believing has words playing tricks on everyone.
With a star-studded lineup of writers there's a stage full of drama, comedy, and great storytelling waiting behind these curtains!
Newbery Medal-winning and beloved authors Avi, Susan Cooper, Sharon Creech, Patricia MacLachlan, Katherine Paterson, and Richard Peck have come together and written six original one-act plays to be read, shared, and acted out by the audience they know best.
The playwrights could write about anything and anyone they wanted, but one thing would need to tie the stories all together. Each author had to choose one word and share it with the group. These six words then had to be written intoeach of the plays.
The words they chose were "dollop," "hoodwink," "Justin," "knuckleball," "panhandle," and "raven." To find out the funny, odd, and creative ways they were used...Well, you'll have to read for yourself.
]]>As Sal entertains her grandparents with Phoebe's outrageous story, her own story begins to unfold -- the story of a thirteen-year-old girl whose only wish is to be reunited with her missing mother.
In her own award-winning style, Sharon Creech intricately weaves together two tales, one funny, one bittersweet, to create a heartwarming, compelling, and utterly moving story of love, loss, and the complexity of human emotion.Catherine, Called Birdy
Catherine feels trapped. Her father is determined to marry her off to a rich man -- any rich man, no matter how awful.
But by wit, trickery, and luck, Catherine manages to send several would-be husbands packing. Then a shaggy-bearded suitor from the north comes to call -- by far the oldest, ugliest, most revolting suitor of them all.
Unfortunately, he is also the richest.
Can a sharp-tongued, high-spirited, clever young maiden with a mind of her own actually lose the battle against an ill-mannered, piglike lord and an unimaginative, greedy toad of a father?
Deus! Not if Catherine has anything to say about it!Indian Captive
In this classic frontier adventure, Lois Lenski reconstructs the real life story of Mary Jemison, who was captured in a raid as young girl and raised amongst the Seneca Indians.
Meticulously researched and illustrated with many detailed drawings, this novel offers an exceptionally vivid and personal portrait of Native American life and customs.
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