KUDOS IN TEXAS

Home, and Other Big, Fat Lies was just selected to be on the 2007-2008 Lone Star Reading list, which I'm told by those in the literary know is a pretty cool thing. Compiled by the Texas Library Association, the books were selected in hopes of motivating young adults to become life-long readers and to participate in the community of readers in Texas. Details at www.txla.org/groups/yart/lonestar.html

I haven't read most of the books on the list (okay, I haven't read any of them yet!), but coincidentally, I'm doing a book reading/signing this Sunday at Capitola Book Cafe with Ann Jaramillo. Her book, La Linea, another Lone Star honoree, is right by my bed for tonight's reading.

There are two other books besides mine on the list with foster care/social services themes. A lot of classic children's literature focuses on orphans or children otherwise separated from the adults in their lives. I suppose it's a way for young readers to be freed from the often overbearing influence and boundaries set by real world adults. Reading offers the adventure and delicious freedom of a world without grown-ups, but without the reality of danger.

If you're looking for a meaningful holiday gift for a 5th-9th grader, this is a good shopping list. Comments are not mine, but that of the Texas Library Association.

Lone Star Reading List 2007 - 2008

1. Buckley-Archer, Linda. Gideon The Cutpurse: Being the First Part of the Gideon Trilogy. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing. 2006.
In 1763 pickpocket Gideon Seymour is hiding from Tar Man when Peter and Kate, two timetraveling children from the 21st century, fall from the sky and into his life.
2. Bunting, Eve. The Lambkins. Joanna Cotler. 2005.
After being kidnapped by the lonely widow of a brilliant geneticist, Kyle finds himself shrunk todoll-size and living with three other children in a dollhouse from which there seems to be noescape.
3. Cabot, Meg. Avalon High. Harper Collins Publishers. 2006.
Having moved to Annapolis, Maryland, with her medievalist parents, high school junior Ellieenrolls at Avalon High School where several students may or may not be reincarnations of KingArthur and his court.
4. Carter, Ally. I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You. Hyperion. 2006.
As a sophomore at a secret spy school and the daughter of a former CIA operative, Cammie issheltered from "normal teenage life" until she meets a local boy while on a class surveillancemission.
5. Chima, Cinda Williams. Warrior Heir. Hyperion Books for Children. 2006.
After learning about his magical ancestry and his own warrior powers, sixteen-year-old Jackembarks on a training program to fight enemy wizards
6. Enthoven, Sam. Black Tattoo. Razorbill. 2006.
A sprawling fantasy epic set in modern day London, about a fourteen-year old boy, Charlie, whothinks he's been given superpowers, but in fact has been possessed by a demon. The adventurebrings Charlie--as well as his friend, Jack, and Esme, the one girl raised to stop the demon--from the streets of London into Hell itself, as they prepare for a battle with ultimate stakes.
7. Han, Jenny. Shug. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. 2006.
A twelve-year-old girl learns about friendship, first loves, and self-worth in a small town in theSouth.
8. Harkrader, Lisa. Airball: My Life in Briefs. Roaring Brook Press. 2005.
Uncoordinated Kansas seventh-grader Kirby Nickel braves his coach's ire and becomes captain of the basketball team in order to help him prove that NBA star Brett McGrew is the father he has never known.
9. Jaramillo, Ann. La Linea. Roaring Brook Press. 2006.
When fifteen-year-old Miguel's time finally comes to leave his poor Mexican village, cross the border illegally, and join his parents in California, his younger sister's determination to join himsoon imperils them both.
10. Korman, Gordon. Born to Rock. Hyperion Books for Children. 2006.
High school senior Leo Caraway, a conservative Republican, learns that his biological father is apunk rock legend.
11. Lisle, Janet Taylor. Black Duck. Sleuth/Philomel. 2006.
Years afterwards, Ruben Hart tells the story of how, in 1929 Newport, Rhode Island, his familyand his best friend's family were caught up in the violent competition among groups trying tocontrol the local rum-smuggling trade.
12. Lupica, Mike. Heat. Philomel Books. 2006.
Pitching prodigy Michael Arroyo is on the run from social services after being banned fromplaying Little League baseball because rival coaches doubt he is only twelve years old and he has no parents to offer them proof.
13. Mass, Wendy. Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life. Little, Brown & Company. Everything changes when the box arrives. Jeremy's father, who died five years ago, left behind a box for Jeremy to open on his 13th birthday. According to the writing on the box, it holds themeaning of life! The problem is, the keys are missing, and the box is made so that only the keyswill open it without destroying what's inside.
14. McKernan, Victoria. Shackleton’s Stowaway. Random House. 2005.
A fictionalized account of the adventures of eighteen-year-old Perce Blackborow, who stowedaway for the 1914 Shackleton Antarctic expedition and, after their ship Endurance was crushed by ice, endured many hardships, including the loss of the toes of his left foot to frostbite, during the nearly two-year return journey across sea and ice.
15. Meehl, Brian. Out of Patience. Delacorte. 2006.
Twelve-year-old Jake Waters cannot wait to escape the small town of Patience, Kansas, until the arrival of a cursed toilet plunger causes him to reevaluate his feelings toward his family and its history.
16. Murdock, Catherine Gilbert. Dairy Queen: A Novel. Houghton Mifflin. 2006.
After spending her summer running the family farm and training the quarterback for her school's rival football team, sixteen-year-old D.J. decides to go out for the sport herself, not anticipating the reactions of those around her.
17. Papademetriou, Lisa. The Wizard, the Witch, and Two Girls from Jersey. Razorbill. 2006.
Two mismatched teenage girls must find their way back home to New Jersey after being zapped into the pages of a fantasy novel.
18. Sonnenblick, Jordan. Notes from the Midnight Driver. Scholastic Press. 2006
16-year-old Alex decides to get even. His parents are separated, his father is dating his formerthird-grade teacher, and being 16 isn't easy, especially when it comes to girls. Instead of revenge though, Alex ends up in trouble with the law and is ordered to do community service at a senior center where he is assigned to Solomon Lewis, a "difficult" senior with a lot of gusto, advice for Alex, and a puzzling (yet colorful) Yiddish vocabulary. Eventually, the pair learn to deal with their past and each other in ways that are humorous, entertaining, and life changing.
19. Van Draanen, Wendelin. Runaway. Knopf Books for Young Readers. 2006.
After running away from her fifth foster home, Holly, a twelve-year-old orphan, travels across the country, keeping a journal of her experiences and struggle to survive.
20. Wolfson, Jill. Home, and Other Big, Fat Lies. Henry Holt. 2006.
Whitney has been in so many foster homes that she can give a complete rundown on the most common varieties of foster parents—from the look-on-the-bright-side types to those unfortunate examples of pure evil. But one thing she doesn’t know much about is trees. This means heading for Foster Home #12 (which is all the way at the top of the map of California, where there looks to be nothing but trees) has Whitney feeling a little nervous. She is pretty sure that the middle of nowhere is going to be just one more place where a hyper, loud-mouthed kid who is messy and small for her age won’t be welcome for long.