Amidst the intensity and anxiety of his world, Michael is a normal kid. He goes to school, plays soccer, and has friends with nicknames like Leakey and Coot. It's at home where his life becomes extraordinary, with the help of Skellig and Mina, the quirky, strong-willed girl next door with "the kind of eyes you think can see right through you." Mina and her mother's motto is William Blake's "How can a bird that is born for joy / Sit in a cage and sing?" This question carries us through the book, as we see Michael's baby sister trapped in a hospital incubator; as we see the exquisite, winged Skellig crumpled in the garage; as we meet Mina's precious blackbird chicks and the tawny owls in her secret attic; and as we finally see a braver, bolder Michael spread his wings and fly. Skellig was the Whitbread Award's 1998 Children's Book of the Year, and this haunting novel is sure to resonate with readers young and old. (Ages 10 and older) --Karin Snelson
]]>In Secret Heart Joe Maloney and his good mum live in the dilapidated English village of Helmouth, on the edge of the wasteland. He dreams of a tiger padding into his room, and the next morning a great blue tent has appeared on the edge of town: Hackenschmidt's Circus, on its final tour. The young toughs who always make fun of Joe stand around sneering at the circus folks, "Clear off, gyppo scum!" But Joe is fascinated with the blue dusk inside the tent, and with Corinna, a young trapeze flyer his own age. He turns away from the urgings of his best friend, Stanny, to come along on a camping trip with sinister Joff, who wants to make a man of him by teaching him to kill things. He much prefers the strange, warm-hearted circus people and learning to jump with Corinna into the net far below the trapeze. But in the sad last days of this circus there are no longer any wild animals. "There are no tigers," says Corinna, but Joe knows better as he goes into the wood to save them by a final confrontation with the great striped beast. A strangely satisfying story, delicate and engaging. (Ages 11 to 14) --Patty Campbell
]]>This is, therefore, not a book to read from cover to cover--more a volume to be dipped into, read at leisure and in digestible bite-size chunks. The various contributors have often delved into their own experiences to highlight a wide range of possible reads for the discerning older reader, and in doing so have achieved an accessibility, and connection, to its target audience that has perhaps eluded some previous, stuffier tomes.
Celia Rees tells potential readers that The Sterkarm Handshake by Susan Price is a great fantasy, Julia Green relishes her slow appreciation of Sonya Hartnett's Stripes of the Sidestep Wolf, Geraldine McCaughrean describes the splendidly sentimental Discword novel by Terry Pratchett called Monstrous Regiment and Meg Rosoff joins the fanatical following for Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time. Books from contemporary writers, still plying their trade, and modern classics from previous decades all rub shoulders for the attention of readers of the next generation.
Apart from the Book Recommendations, there are special features about specific genres and a number of poll results with headings like The Book you Couldn't Put Down and the Best Book About Relationships.
No guide like this can ever be all things to all readers, but it's a hugely impressive endeavour that should make a difference to any teen reader in a quandary about what to read next who picks it up.
(Age 12 and over)--John McLay
]]>Michael ist von Skellig fasziniert und sucht jemanden, mit dem er sein Geheimnis teilen kann. Er redet mit dem Nachbarmädchen Mina. Wird sie Skellig überhaupt sehen können? Von Mina lernt Michael, seine Umwelt genauer zu beobachten. Sie bringt ihm bei, dass es Dinge gibt, die sich so einfach nicht erklären lassen. "Manchmal denken wir, wir sollten fähig sein, alles zu wissen. Können wir aber nicht. Wir müssen uns erlauben, das zu sehen, was zu sehen ist, und wir müssen uns Vorstellungen machen."
Zeit des Mondes ist ein Jugendroman mit fantastischen Elementen, der die Pubertät als Verwandlung, als Zwischenstadium zeigt, in der die Wahrnehmung schärfer ausgeprägt ist als später im Erwachsenenalter und die Ebene des Traums bedeutungsvoller hervortritt. --Manuela Haselberger
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