At a certain age, boys seem to outgrow the fairy realm and girls still love them. Also these books have girl protagonists.
Published: 2013 Theme: Growing up Best for: Girls 8 to 10 "As she handed me back my most worn-out underwear, I realized she wasn't going to be at camp with me at all. Not even to help me put my things away...Or tuck me in, under my thin sleeping bag." In this children's book, we go away with Eleanor to summer camp, which starts out dreadful, and ends up wonderful. It's a great book for any young girl going off to sleep-away camp for the first time
Published: 2014 Theme: Best Friend Dramas Best for: 10 to 11 girls "Then she said, "I don't want you to be mad at me! You're as important to me as paper is to pencil!" "You hurt my feelings," I said. My voice was quivery, too. We both sat there, very miserable...." With the same simplicity, humor, and sensitivity that Sternberg's other books have, this children's book takes on the 'bff' problem of young girls head-on...
Published: 2006 Theme: Historical Fiction Best for: 10 and up "Any outrage as big as hiring a librarian was bound to bring everybody out of the woodwork. The hitching rail was chock-a-block with horses and wagons, and there was a farmer's tin Lizzie...a Ford Model T." Humor, eccentric characters, and a love of old cars flows through this historical fiction children's book. The story unfolds creatively and unpredictably...
Published: 2007 Theme: Bravery Best for: 9 and up "Twelve! And I haven't had a single real adventure. How will I ever get to be a famous knight?... I'm going to die of boredom, you wait and see! Maybe not overnight, but definitely before my next birthday!" I love this children's book. It has all the elements of fun, especially if you are a fan of books about knights. There's humor, adventure, magic, and wonderful heroes and heroines...
Published: 2010 Theme: Bravery Best for: ages 11 and up "Mattie felt a sudden dizziness. Just for a second or two, it was almost as if she herself were tumbling through the air. And once again the boundaries that separated human beings from birds seemed to dissolve." A wonderful creative look at the early life of Robin Hood and Maid Marian, with lots of equality for women thrown in...
Published: 2013 Theme: Coming of age FairyTale Best for: Girls 12 and up "So her days and nights passed and rolled into weeks and months, and she lived in the enchanted palace with the bear. Each afternoon she would turn from whatever she was doing to see the bear standing, watching her..." With beautiful descriptive language of the landscape and the characters, this retelling of the classic fairy tale has a surprising ending...
Published: 2001 Theme: Queen of England Best for: 12 to 14 "So my sister was now queen. And because she had triumphed, I was next! This was the moment, standing in the knot garden, when I realized that someday I, too, would become queen of England..." In this historical fiction children's book, we get a very good look at the way power can corrupt even the best of people...
Published: 2009 Theme: Self-determination Best for: ages 11 and up, especially girls "Granddaddy and I sat motionless for a good five minutes and then quietly collected our things and moved on. On the way back, he spotted the rarest and most delicate object in the wild, an old hummingbird's nest, fragile and expertly woven, smaller than an eggcup." Imagine a children's book which mixes together life in a rural southern town in 1899, a big dose of Charles Darwin, the natural world, and the coming of age of a young girl. If you think this is an implausible mixture for a children's book...
Published: 2010 Theme: Courage, Racial Discrimination Best for: 11 and older "Would Mama like the colors I picked? Would she be mad about me taking them pieces from her apron? I turned the quilt in the air, looking at it this way and that. Soon I would be running out of thread.Wasn't but a few inches hanging down like the tail of a kite." Gee's Bend is indeed a real place. The women of Gee's bend have a tradition of creating quilts that dates back to early American history. In recent years, their quilts were discovered...
Published: 1880 Theme: Healing Power of Nature Best for: all ages "Soon all the lively goats came leaping up the mountain, the nimble Distelfinck bounding ahead of the others. Heide was at once in the midst of the flock, which pushed her hither and thither with loud, stormy greetings." It has been far too long since I re-read the classic children's book, Heidi, and once I picked it up, it was impossible to put it down...
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