NB1991

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1991

Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli (Little Brown & Co., $12.76, fifth-grade level). ISBN: 0316807222.

The Medalist

An orphaned boy is an athletic marvel, kind soul, open heart. He has various adventures crossing the color line in a small town before finding his place with an all-embracing black family.

Spinelli is well-known for his great sense of humor and he doesn't let us down here. He deftly weaves in serious themes (loneliness, homelessness, family, friendship, competition, bullies, etc.) among the stunts. The author also does a marvelous job of skewering racial stereotypes and the people who hold them.

Teachers could develop a Newbery unit on social consciousness, using this book, Crazy Lady! and The Family Under the Bridge.

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi (Orchard Books, $15.16, fifth-grade level). ISBN: 053105893X.

Honor Book

A 13-year-old girl making the crossing from England to the United States in 1832 finds, much to her dismay, that she is both the only female and the only passenger aboard a vessel with a mutinous crew.

The only thing missing to make this a bodice-ripper is sex. Our dauntless heroine finds herself becoming embroiled in the rebellion against the evil captain. Danger lurks at every corner. Who can she trust? Stay tuned.

I guess if I were a 13-year-old girl I might find this intriguing. I'm not.