NB1959

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1959

Editor's Note: Many of the books are out of print. The header information will be as complete as I can make it.

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare (Houghton-Mifflin, $12.80, sixth-grade level). ISBN: 0395071143.

The Medalist

A high-spirited girl travels from the light-hearted Caribbean to puritanical colonial America and is outcast by all.

The good folks in the Colonies think she is a witch because she doesn't display the visible sainthood so craved by the Puritans. The novel contains a powerful lesson on tolerance, both religious and personal.

It would be nice to use this in fifth-grade units on Colonial America, but I fear it's much too difficult a read for many kids at that grade level.

The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson (Harper-Collins, $12, fifth-grade level). ISBN: 0060209917.

Honor Book

A hobo in Paris befriends three kids and their widowed mother. They get help from gypsies who provide them with shelter.

Moral: Family must stick together. Jobs give self-respect. The story makes the homeless look lazy so it would be a political disaster to use it in the modern classroom.

It would be interesting to have kids read this than something like Maniac Magee and do a compare/contrast study.

Along Came A Dog by Meindert DeJong (Econo-Clad, $12.20, fifth-grade level). ISBN: 0808547445.

Honor Book

A homeless dog befriends a toeless chicken before being accepted by an odd farmer.

This story lacks De Jong's usual humor and drama. It reads like a warm-up for Hurry Home, Candy, the best of his dog stories, even though it was written post-Candy.

Chucaro: Wild Pony of the Pampa by Francis Kalnay (Econo-Clad, $14.50, fifth-grade level). ISBN: 0613074904.

Honor Book

A beautiful pony draws much interest from a young boy and a greedy landowner in the Argentine pampas.

This is a weak story that lacks drama. The only reason to read it is to garner interesting facts about life on the pampas.

The Perilous Road by William O. Steele (Econo-Clad, $13.40, sixth-grade level). ISBN: 0613012576. Reprinted in 2004 by Harcourt.

Honor Book

An 11-year-old boy in the backwoods of Tennessee during the Civil War learns that life and war are complicated affairs.

The boy is thoroughly unlikable, which makes for a hard read. The story ends too abruptly and the boy's conversion is unconvincing. There are more and better Civil War novels among the Newbery canon - choose Across Five Aprils, for example.

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare (Houghton-Mifflin, $12.80, sixth-grade level). ISBN: 0395071143.	The Medalist A high-spirited girl travels from the light-hearted Caribbean to puritanical colonial America and is outcast by all. The good folks in the Colonies think she is a witch because she doesn't display the visible sainthood so craved by the Puritans. The novel contains a powerful lesson on tolerance, both religious and personal. It would be nice to use this in fifth-grade units on Colonial America, but I fear it's much too difficult a read for many kids at that grade level.
The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson (Harper-Collins, $12, fifth-grade level). ISBN: 0060209917.	Honor Book A hobo in Paris befriends three kids and their widowed mother. They get help from gypsies who provide them with shelter. Moral: Family must stick together. Jobs give self-respect. The story makes the homeless look lazy so it would be a political disaster to use it in the modern classroom. It would be interesting to have kids read this than something like Maniac Magee and do a compare/contrast study.
Along Came A Dog by Meindert DeJong (Econo-Clad, $12.20, fifth-grade level). ISBN: 0808547445.	Honor Book A homeless dog befriends a toeless chicken before being accepted by an odd farmer. This story lacks De Jong's usual humor and drama. It reads like a warm-up for Hurry Home, Candy, the best of his dog stories, even though it was written post-Candy.
Chucaro: Wild Pony of the Pampa by Francis Kalnay (Econo-Clad, $14.50, fifth-grade level). ISBN: 0613074904.	Honor Book A beautiful pony draws much interest from a young boy and a greedy landowner in the Argentine pampas. This is a weak story that lacks drama. The only reason to read it is to garner interesting facts about life on the pampas.
The Perilous Road by William O. Steele (Econo-Clad, $13.40, sixth-grade level). ISBN: 0613012576. Reprinted in 2004 by Harcourt.	Honor Book An 11-year-old boy in the backwoods of Tennessee during the Civil War learns that life and war are complicated affairs. The boy is thoroughly unlikable, which makes for a hard read. The story ends too abruptly and the boy's conversion is unconvincing. There are more and better Civil War novels among the Newbery canon - choose Across Five Aprils, for example.