SHANNON’S PICKS

 I love children’s literature!  I am all over the place in the genres I enjoy: realistic fiction, humorous stories, historical fiction, science fiction and fantasy…I’ll read almost anything!  I read everything from picture books to young adult literature.  So of course I have to share with you some of my favorite books.  Some are older classics, and some are newer titles.  

I won't describe what I look like. Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse.

From its opening chapter, Wonder had me hooked, and I finished this book in a matter of hours!  Wonder by R. J. Palacio is quite simply one of the best books I’ve ever read, and since it was a New York Times Bestseller and on many children’s state reading lists, I’m not the only one of the same opinion. 

Auggie Pullman was born with a face deformity, and was home-schooled his entire life until he enters the 5^th grade.  Told from Auggie’s point of view, and then switching to his classmates’, his sister’s, her boyfriend’s, and others, the story shows how a community learns empathy, compassion and acceptance.  In the time of focusing on bullying behavior, this book stands out as a bridge between the bullies and the bullied, and the bystanders.  Though the intended audience is middle readers, I think it should be required reading for everyone.  After reading this book (which I confess I came to several years after publication), I put it down and thought, “Why in the world didn’t this win the Newbery Award?!”  After looking up the winner for that year, I found I really couldn’t argue with the Newbery Committee, because that book was:

This book, inspired about a gorilla who spent 27 years on display in a shopping mall, is told by Ivan himself.  Ivan and a menagerie of other animals live in a sort of mini-circus at the Big Top Mall.  Ivan is mostly content with his lot in life, and hardly remembers his life in the jungle before he was captured.  He watches television, paints (his keeper sells his paintings), and talks with his friends Stella (an elephant) and Bob (a stray dog).  But when a baby elephant named Ruby is taken from the wild and added to the Big Top Shopping Mall, Ivan begins to see their home with new eyes and they begin to hatch a plan for escape.  Read this before the movie comes out in 2020!

 

You may also enjoy the companion picture book Ivan: the Remarkable True Story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla, also by Katherine Applegate.  The end of the book gives biographical information about the real Ivan.

 

Part historical fiction, part mystery, part adventure, with a splash of fantasy and magic…Serafina and the Black Cloak has something to offer all kinds of readers.  Serafina lives with her father in the basement of the Biltmore Estates, and her existence is a secret from the owners of the house.  Serafina has always obeyed her father by taking care never to be seen, but when children begin disappearing, Serafina has witnessed the culprit: a terrifying man in a black cloak.  Serafina risks everything by making friends and joining forces with Braeden Vanderbilt (nephew to the home’s owners) to rescue the missing children.  In order to save the missing, Serafina must enter the forbidden forest where she discovers her past includes magic.  Continue Serafina’s adventures in other books in the series.

Another book to read before the movie is released! 

Artemis Fowl is a 12-year-old criminal mastermind, a genius and a millionaire.  He plots to kidnap a fairy, and ends up with Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon Unit.  These fairies aren’t the kind and gentle folks of fairy tale stories: they’re armed and dangerous, and they don’t play by Artemis’ rules.  If you’re looking for magic, mystery, plots twists, and humor, enter the world of Artemis Fowl.  Turning the concepts of “hero” and “fairies” upside down, this book had me laughing out loud, while at the same time gasping in surprise at plot twists. First in a series.