Wings by Jason Lethcoe

"Edward Alistair Macleod had an itch that he couldn't scratch."

The abstract is hidden because it may contain spoilers. If you would like to read the full summary, simply use your cursor to highlight the next few lines and it will magically appear.

Abstract: In 1921, fourteen-year-old Edward gets caught up in a conflict between the Guardians of Woodbine--the place of the dead--and the Groundlings, the Jackal's agents of corruption on Earth, and sets out on an important quest using his newly-sprouted wings.

Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap; 214 pages

First Reading List for 2012 (Adult) Mock Newbery Discussion

This is the first of the "short lists" we will prepare for this year's Mock Newbery Election program at the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Basically, this means that while we will continue to highlight and discuss a wide variety of children's books on our blog -- and we encourage comments on all of them -- the books on this first list are destined to be 'brought to the table' to be discussed in more depth at our “in person” Mock Newbery Discussion and Election. We will plan to have 3 lists with ten titles on each. Our next list will be published by the end of September, and the third and final reading list for the year will be posted in mid-November.

So… without further ado… here are the titles on our first short list:

1. Amelia Lost – The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart by Candace Fleming
2. Bird in a Box by Andrea Davis Pinkney
3. The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens
4. Hidden by Helen Frost
5. Hurricane Dancers by Margarita Engle
6. Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai
7. Okay for Now by Gary Schmidt
8. The Penderwicks at Point Mouette by Jeanne Birdsall
9. Small Persons with Wings by Ellen Booraem
10. The Trouble with May Amelia by Jennifer L. Holm

We welcome continued online discussion through this blog and invite you to join us for our "in person" discussion to be held at our Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

If I Could Fly by Judith Ortiz Cofer

"When I come out of my room ready to go to church, I find Papi in the kitchen drinking yesterday's coffee."

The summary is hidden because it may contain spoilers. If you would like to read the full summary, simply use your cursor to highlight the next few lines and it will magically appear.

Summary:  When fifteen-year-old Doris's mother, a professional singer, returns to Puerto Rico and her father finds a girlfriend, Doris cares for a neighbor's pigeons and relies on friends as she begins to find her own voice and wings.

Farrar Straus Giroux; 195 pages

Here's List Number Three!

This is the third of four reading lists for this year's Mock Newbery at the Allen County Public Library:

• Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo

• The Dream Stealer by Sid Flesichman

• Operation Redwood by S. Terrell French

• Crossing Stones by Helen Frost

• Umbrella Summer by Lisa Graff

• Wings by Jason Lethcoe

• Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
  

• The Rock and the River by Kekla Magoon

• Day of the Pelican by Katherine Paterson

• Season of Gifts by Richard Peck

We'd love to hear what you think about these books. Just click on the titles above to leave comments about each book. If you would like to suggest a book for the next (and final!) list, send me an email or leave a comment here. Look for the other two lists here.

Small Persons with Wings by Ellen Booraem

"Last June, my parents jumped off a roof because of a pinky ring."

The summary is hidden because it may contain spoilers. If you would like to read the full summary, simply use your cursor to highlight the next few lines and it will magically appear.

When Mellie Turpin's grandfather dies and leaves her family his run-down inn and bar, she learns that for generations her family members have been fairy guardians, and now that the fairies want an important ring returned, the Turpins become involved in a series of magical adventures as they try to locate the missing ring.

Dial Books; 302 pages

The Night Fairy by Laura Amy Schlitz

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"Flory was a night fairy."

The summary is hidden because it may contain spoilers. If you would like to read the full summary, simply use your cursor to highlight the next few lines and it will magically appear.

Summary: Newbery Medalist Schlitz and a world-renowned illustrator and miniaturist venture into the realm of the illustrated classic with this tale about what happens to a fairy who loses her wings and is unable to fly. Full color.

Publisher: Candlewick; 117 pages