A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine D'Engle

Sometimes, I can't remember if I actually read a book as a child, or if my older sister, Mikka, did, and just told me the entire plot so comprehensively that I think that I did. Like Lloyd Alexander's Westmark Trilogy, (an awesome series about a revolution that goes from the books up) the Newbery Winner, A Wrinkle in Time, was a book I knew the story of, but had never actually read. I realized this when I reread it last month, and came across passages I knew I had never heard before-- passages of startling imaginative resonance, and surprising (but realistic) romance. I can see, easily, why this book won the Newbery.

L'Engle said, in her Newbery acceptance speech, that the best books are the ones that provide just a little bit of light against the overwhelming darkness of our world. And A Wrinkle in Time is a book that does just that. According to Lewis Buzbee (author of the fabulous Steinbeck's Ghost, which, incidentally, begins with a reference to Comazotz, the scary-zombie-like planet) more people site A Wrinkle in Time as their favorite childhood book, than any other title. While I can't agree (because I never read it as a child) I can see how this would be true. The possibilities for a child's impact on the world, as imagined in this story, are vast, yet still dependent on innate traits any child might have. Walking the line between fantasy and science-fiction, with the emotional rawness of realism, A Wrinkle in Time was a pleasure to finally read.

Holes by Louis Sachar

It's amazing that I managed to be thirteen around the time this book came out, and yet was never inclined to read it. I remember hearing about it, or at least being aware of it, but I never even picked it up. In fact, I had some half-baked notion that it was a novel about a summer camp where enormous holes start popping up, magically.
This however, was not the case.
When I picked Holes up to read it as part of my Newbery Challenge deal, I promised my coworker Robyn (hi Robyn!) I would read the book and watch the movie, then compare. Which I did. But I'll start with the book.
Which I loved. There are so many layers to the plot of this intricately woven tale of transgression and atonement, yet it remains incredibly accessible. Debts are repaid. Friends are made. Character is built. Adventures are had. However, all of this is pushed against the violent history shared by black and white people in America, giving the story more resonance than one might have imagined a story that features a kid called "Armpit" might have.
The unlikely hero of this story is Stanley Yelnats, an over-weight, well-meaning pushover with an incredibly sturdy moral compass. When he is sent to Camp Green Lake (for a crime he did not commit), a desert wasteland juvenile detention camp, to dig 5 foot holes on a daily basis as means of penance, he befriends a boy called Zero (short for Hector Zeroni) who is written off by all the other campers and camp authority figures as a failure. He teaches Zero to read, and when Zero runs away from the camp into the foreboding desert, Stanley follows him with intent to rescue.

What made Stanley so likable to me was his lack of cool. He's not a smart-talking, slick guy at heart, even if he manages to come across that way. And that to me, was one of the first things I did not much care for in the movie. Shia Lawhateverhisnameis is just too cool to be Stanley. That next to the fact that the warden (played by Sigourney Weaver) is way more attractive than she is described in the book, the man called Mom is a more bumbling idiot than calculating coward and Zero is far more adorable... well, you get the idea. It seems like in translation the characters became too smooth around the edges for my liking.
So read the book. But don't necessarily see the movie. Unless you like a LOT of meaningful musical interludes, of which there are plenty.

more Newbery Winners...

It's just a typical Saturday night-- you know, sex, drugs, rock and roll. Or, reading kids books.

Ok, just the kids books part.

First, I finished the 1959 Newbery Winner, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, by Elizabeth George Speare. It's historical fiction, set in a little

Puritan settlement. The protagonist, Kit, who was raised in Barbados, moves there when her grandfather/guardian dies. A strong-willed girl with a rebellious streak, Kit attracts more attention than she bargained for in her new home. But it is not until she befriends a little old Quaker woman named Hannah, who many in the town think is a witch, that she begins to feel at home. Unlike some historical children's fiction, The Witch of Blackbird Pond avoids dullness and dryness with plenty of romance, namely between Kit and the dashing sailor boy, Nat. However, I did have two qualms with this book: firstly, that several of the minor characters were a bit flat, namely Kit's cousins, Mercy, who is such a Polyanna I could barely stand it, and Judith, who is so self-centered and vain that it's impossible to relate to her on ay level. Secondly, the plot wraps up with a happily ever after that I found too good to be true. I know it doesn't take place in Salem, but I'm pretty sure accused witches didn't typically end up with their lover of choice. And I wondered, what good does it do to sanitize history for kids' sake? Everything is so peac

hy in the end, all the girls get the boys they want, slanderers go punished, and little old Quakers go safe and free... So, while it was an enjoyable read, (with nice historical details, of course) it was not my favorite Newbery Winner so far.

Dear Mr. Henshaw, by Beverly Clearly, won the Newbery in 1984, which also happens to be the year I was born. And I'm pretty sure the book is aging more gracefully than I am. When I

started this whole Newbery Challenge, this is exactly the kind of book I was hoping to

find. Dear Mr. Henshaw is a book of letters and diary entries

that a little boy named Leigh Botts writes to his favorite author, who ultimately gives him the advice to try writing himself. It is a suggestion that Leigh takes very seriously, and his voyage as a writer begins in his diary. Cleary expertly maneuvers through a very difficult constraint to create a book that is at times funny, sad and always, always honest. She doesn't let the narrative voice get in her way of telling a very true feeling story wrought with realistic emotional travails, and yet still infused with humor. It's the perfect book for reading aloud together for kids who are starting to read more substantial chapter books on their own, but could also be the perfect book for any kid who may look to writing as an outlet. I wish that I had read this book when I was eight or nine. Maybe I would have started writing earlier.