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1981

Jacob, Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson (Ty Cowell Co., $12.76, seventh-grade level). ISBN: 0690040784.	The Medalist The uglier of a pair of twin sisters angrily marches through life until she finds her own niche. Well-written tale set in the Chesapeake Bay area. Good lessons on sisterhood, small-town life, making choices, repeating mistakes, and being trapped because of fear of breaking lose. It certainly qualifies as a coming-of-age story. Despite the passage of 20 years, it's relevance to today's kids hasn't diminished.
The Fledgling by Jane Langton (HarperCollins, fifth-grade level). ISBN: 0060236795.	Honor Book A young girl learns to fly with help from a powerful goose. This is an excellent story about wishing, the value of a child's unfettered imagination, the loss of imagination adults suffer (see The Velveteen Rabbit), and unusual children. I thoroughly enjoy Langton's focus on the power of imagination, a focus I see most modern juvenile fiction sadly lacking. In an obscure way, I can see pairing this with the novel Afternoon of the Elves or the film "Fly Away Home."
A Ring of Endless Light by Madeline L'Engle (Farrar Straus & Giroux, seventh-grade level). ISBN: 0374362998.	Honor Book A teen-age girl is faced with the death of her beloved grandfather and in the meantime must cope with the advances of three wildly divergent suitors. The author lays it on pretty thick in terms of emotions, which will scare away many readers, especially boys. The death and mourning theme is heavily overplayed too. Despite it all, the characters are well drawn and realistic. There are some scientific, and para-scientific, elements that will appeal to divergent readers.

Copyright David Ross 2003