Family Books

The Silver Kiss

Annette Curtis Klause

Amazon Price: $6.99 List Price: $6.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Laurel Leaf Amazon Marketplace: 75 new & used starting at $0.56

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Subjects -> Children's Books -> Literature -> Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery & Horror -> Mysteries, Espionage, & Detectives

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 177 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Beautifully written, great characters, scary gore, one of the best 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I am a great fan of the Twilight series. This author's writing is quite a few notches up from S. Meyer's. The Silver Kiss story is engrossing. The language is poetic and gorgeous. The finely drawn characters draw you in, immediately. The story was written in 1990 and so the references to the Ramones dates it a bit, but if you overlook any those small out of date references, the story is timeless, heartbreaking and unforgettable. All the thoughts, conversations, internal turmoil that our heroine goes through as she is struggling with her family that is trying to get through her mother's fight with cancer and how she naturally feels a kinship with the vampire's desire to avenge his own mother's death is pitch perfect.

Editorial Review:

Zoe is wary when, in the dead of night, the beautiful yet frightening Simon comes to her house.  Simon seems to understand the pain of loneliness and death and Zoe's brooding thoughts of her dying mother.



Simon is one of the undead, a vampire, seeking revenge for the gruesome death of his mother three hundred years before.  Does Simon dare ask Zoe to help free him from this lifeless chase and its insufferable loneliness?

Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack!

M. E. Kerr

Amazon Price: $6.99 List Price: $6.99 Usually ships in 1 to 3 weeks By: HarperTeen Amazon Marketplace: 55 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Social Aquarium 5 out of 5 stars.
8 of 8 people found this review helpful.

This book starts out as being the story of Tucker Woolf, self-apointed expert on libraries, and cronicler of strange existences. But it soon turns out that it is actually the story of four young teenagers, and, on a broader scale, their parents and their entire society.
Tucker has to deal with having a faher who cares too much about apearances, and drills Tucker into only revealing parts of the truth when dealing with strangers. Tucker is feels somewhat out of place wherever he is, and when he finds a stray cat he imediately bonds with it. When his dad turns out to be allergic, he has to give the cat away. It is this cat who, directly and inderectly, brings him into contact with the other characters. It is adopted by Dinky Hocker, a tragically overweight girl, whose parents completely ignore their daughters problems, in favour of helping drug-addicts and othe worthy causes. Her cousin Natalie, and a boy who shares Dinkys rather enormous problem, together form the core of the story.

The book is funny, the characters quirky and the situations somwhat absurd, but the real fascination of this book comes from seeing how the parents of these children forget them in favour of either their own problems or the problems of strangers. The thing that struck me most is that Dinkys charity-mom is actually one of the most selfish people in the world. I would recomend this book to anyone, even though it is technically a YA-novel. Its a good read, all the same.

Editorial Review:

When Tucker Woolf needs to find a new home for his cat he only gets one call.

It's from Dinky Hacker, the strongest girl he has ever met. She doesn't shoot smack, but she sure could tell you a lot about kids who do. And once the cat moves in with Dinky, visiting it means visiting the Hocker home, which turns out to be more than Tucker ever bargained for...

Best of the Best Books (YA) 1970 - 1983 (ALA)
Notable Children's Books of 1972 (ALA)
Best Books of 1972 (SLJ)
Children's Books of 1972 (Library of Congress)

Autumn Journey

Priscilla Cummings

List Price: $14.99 By: Dutton Juvenile Amazon Marketplace: 15 new & used starting at $5.88

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Very Realistic Fiction 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I first read this book as I read it to my fifth grade class, because Priscilla Cummings was visiting our school. I had no idea how touching this book would be. When I would stop reading for the day, my fifth graders would beg me to give them just 5 more minutes. At the end of the book, several of my students and I got teary-eyed during the reading. There was no end to the great discussion topics we had over Will, the sixth grader who is unexpectedly landed in the middle of a family struggle, and a struggle with a Canada Goose named Gray Feather. This a great book for independent reading, or for sharing! We all loved it.

Editorial Review:

When his family comes to live on his grandfather's farm in Pennsylvania while his father is out of work, eleven-year-old Will must deal with his father's distant behavior, his grandfather's heart attack, and caring for a goose he has shot.

Jacob Have I Loved

Katherine Paterson

Amazon Price: $6.99 List Price: $6.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: HarperTeen Amazon Marketplace: 214 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 182 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Not worthy of the award 2 out of 5 stars.
1 of 14 people found this review helpful.

I am totally blown away by the thought of a 14-year-old girl being romantically attracted to and interested in a man old enough to be her grandfather. And all of this just "hit her" when she hugged him? Not very believable to me. Why would something like this be written for children?

Editorial Review:

I was proud of my sister, but that year, something began to rankle beneath the pride.

Louise has had enough of her twin sister. Caroline is beautiful. Caroline is talented. Caroline is better. Growing up on the small island of Rass in Chesapeake Bay, Caroline seems to do nothing but take from Louise: their parents' love, Louise's chances for an education, her dreams for the future. They have spent their lives entwined -- sleeping in the same room, eating at the same table, learning in the same classroom -- and yet somehow nothing can bring them together. Louise's only hope lies in seeking a place for herself beyond the stretch of Rass's shores and her sister's shadow. What will it take for her to break free?

Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind (Border Trilogy)

Suzanne Fisher Staples

List Price: $5.99 By: Laurel Leaf Amazon Marketplace: 300 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 224 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Shabanu Got On My Nerves 1 out of 5 stars.
7 of 12 people found this review helpful.

Okay, I had to read this book for my Freshman English class, for our unit on the Middle East. I had already read the one by an Arabic author, and reading this, you could tell it was by an American. It was a total cliche: Shabanu is an oppressed girl in Pakistan. Shabanu does not like this. Shabanu complains about being oppressed. Shabanu "rebels" against oppression. Shabanu is beaten. Shabanu cries.
The end.
I've met Pakistani girls before, and they're nothing like Shabanu. They're proud to be Muslim- they are proud to follow the rules of their faith.
Shabanu, however, is not proud. She never stops whining about it.
And then the ending bothered me, too. It was just such an obvious set up for a sequel, it totally disgusted me. It wasn't even much of an ending, really. It's almost like she just chopped the chapter off short and stuck it in the next book.

Editorial Review:

"This first novel is, on several counts, one of the most exciting YA books to appear recently. Staples is so steeped in her story and its Pakistani setting that the use of a first-person voice for a desert child rings authentic--the voice is clear, consistent, and convincing. Shabanu and her sister are to marry brothers as soon as they all come of age. But she will eventually lose her betrothed and be promised to a wealthy landowner to settle a feud. The richness and tragedy of a whole culture are reflected in the fate of this girl's family. Through an involving plot Staples has given readers insight into lives totally different from their own, but into emotions resoundingly familiar."--(starred) Bulletin, Center for Children's Books.  

Bowman's Store: A Journey to Myself

Joseph Bruchac

List Price: $17.99 By: Dial Amazon Marketplace: 42 new & used starting at $0.76

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

A moving account of one man's recovery of his heritage. 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

Joseph Bruchac lived through a childhood few would envy. His parents used him as a weapon in their own endless battle. However, he lived with his warm and loving grandparents, and this story retells his life with them. His grandfather, the "Bowman" who owned the store, claimed to be "French Canadian" to his Indian-hating neighbors. Forced to hide his heritage, Bowman still taught his grandson how to grow up strong and proud of himself and his achievements. Now that Bruchac has recovered his Indian heritage, and become a well-known writer and editor of Indian works, this biography shows both the power of that heritage, and the need contemporary Indians feel to recover it.

Editorial Review:

Tracing the journey of writer Joseph Bruchac from childhood to the beginning of his career as a storyteller of Native American history and lore, Bowman's Store is a compelling and deeply moving memoir. Gracefully weaving themes from Bruchac's intimate knowledge of Native cultures with the scenes from the past that helped shape his life, here the consummate storyteller unfolds his most personal and poignant story of all. 30 photos.

Dicey's Song (The Tillerman Series #2)

Cynthia Voigt

List Price: $5.99 By: Fawcett Amazon Marketplace: 463 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 120 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Learning 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This book is really good, i love it. I learned to let go and grow up from this well-written story by Cynthia. I also liked how Dicey took care of her brothers and sister with love when her mother died.I would introduce this book to people, I think they will like it too.

Finally finding a real home... 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Abandoned by their mentally-ill mother, the four Tillerman siblings have - against all odds - located the grandmother who didn't even know they existed. They've persuaded her to let them stay with her in Maryland, and they're finally beginning to make a home together as family.

But 13-year-old Dicey finds it hard to let go. She's been taking care of her younger sister and brothers all her life, and suddenly she's being told to live her own life. Nonetheless, Dicey gives it her best try, finding new friends Mina and Jeff, taking on a part-time job at Millie's grocery store, and standing up against an unfair teacher.

Then, just as Dicey is beginning to accept and enjoy her new life, she learns that her mother has been found...

Editorial Review:

A NEWBERRY MEDAL WINNER
Keeping her family together is what thirteen-year-old Dicey does best. But now that all four Tillerman children have found a new home with their grandmother, Dicey has to learn the hard lesson of letting go. Dicey's got other problems than finding her new role in the family: she's bored with everyone and everything at school and doesn't think anyone can tell her anything she wants to know. But slowly, Dicey discovers that everyone has something to teach, and life is a lesson that doesn't get easier . . .

The Watcher

James Howe, Betsy Imershien

Amazon Price: $13.22 List Price: $16.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Atheneum Amazon Marketplace: 90 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 114 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

A Definite Success 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

The Watcher is told in the points of view of three troubled teens: Evan, who is coping with the very likely possibility of his parents getting divorced and wondering if he is a loser because he spends his time on the beach with his little sister Cally instead of with the cool crowd he sees every day; Chris, just out of high school and trying to ignore the fact his parents will never love him as much as his dead brother; and Margaret, who the theme centers on. Every day she comes to the beach and does two things: write in her notebook and watch Chris and Evan and his family. Both boys notice her watching them, and Evan, who is a bit paranoid of what other people think of him, thinks she's writing about what a loser he is. In truth Margaret is writing a fairy tale fitting everybody she knows into it. She is a long-lost princess, Evan is her adoring brother Evario, Chris is her guardian angel, her pianist mother is a music box, and her abusive father is The Beast. I won't give away the ending, but it made me cry like a baby for fifteen minutes,read the ending again, and cry some more. The Watcher makes some good points about how we can drown ourselves in fantasy, not to judge things at a first look, and to open up when something is wrong. Margaret's stories and poems are beautiful(And the angel came/And the beast was slain/And the doll's enchantment fell away),I could understand the characters, and it is very good. The only reason I gave it 4 stars was because the pace is a little slow and Margaret's metaphors might fly over the heads of some kids. Despite this, an excellent read.

Editorial Review:

What happens when one of the authors of the Bunnicula series (novels for young adolescents starring a vampire bunny) decides to write a book for older teens? The result is not what you'd expect. The Watcher is a serious story of a confused, broken, abused girl who observes the world instead of participating in it. By alternating four points of view, author James Howe explores the watcher and the watched--revealing how fantasy can drown us and how expressing our needs out loud can save us. This is a beautifully written meditation on how we perceive others and ourselves. Howe abandons vampires, yet still leaves us with a haunted feeling.

The Cuckoo's Child

Suzanne Freeman

List Price: $16.95 By: Greenwillow Amazon Marketplace: 34 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Not just for kids 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

This is one of those books that has a child for a narrator but speaks to all ages, especially those of us who remember the feel and details of life in 1962. It has the unchildlike true voice found in To Kill a Mockingbird or Member of the Wedding. Most of all it captures, with humor and quiet drama, one's growing inner life and the struggle to guide that life by the signposts of the outer world. Look for the passages on eating cookies, touching the clock dial -- you'll see what I mean. It's a treasure.

Editorial Review:

Mia Veery wants her family to behave like the families she reads about. They would never include a mother who flies airplanes and trades one husband for another. Or older sisters who dress all in black and read French novels. Or a father who moves his family from Ohio to live in Lebanon, where even the tangy air tastes foreign.

Every day in Beirut, Mia wishes she could live the way kids are living in America in 1962, eating hot dogs, drinking real milk, maybe watching Bonanza on TV. Then her wish comes true, but in a way she'd never intended.

Mia is sent back to the United States, to Tennessee, to stay with an aunt she's never met. During a summer spent longing for her parents and trying to find her place in her new surroundings, Mia figures out a few truths about families and all that they can and cannot be.

Mia Veery is fierce, funny, and finally, indomitable. Her story marks the extraordinary debut of a talented writer.

Kinship

Trudy Krisher

List Price: $15.95 By: Delacorte Books for Young Readers Amazon Marketplace: 29 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Kinship 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

A coming of age novel dealing with poverty and the importance of family. Characters are well drawn and really come to life. I like the way the vignettes of the trailer park residents give insight into Perts life. An excellent family oriented book and I would recommend it to students from the 7th grade up.

This was a surprise hit with me! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Perty's father abondoned her mother and her at birth but Perty still has hopes and dreams of her father that no one can take away. In fact, she talks to her father all the time by sending him ESP messages, usually to please come home, they need him. Well, Perty believes the last message got through to him because after church one Sunday, her daddy is standing on their front porch. No one was happy to see him much, except Perty, and she just can't understand that. All that matters is the here and now for her and her daddy is here now. She just can't get it, even after helping the trailer park with badly needed repairs, etc, her family, especially her grandma and brother are as cold as ever. Her mother just prays all the time, same as she used to. But Perty's world comes crashing down when he doesn't show up at the Father-Daughter dance, and momma's stashed-money-for-emergencies-comes up missing, and he takes repair money meant for the traier park and gambles it away. No one really comes to Perty's rescue with the truth about her father. Perty is strong willed and friends and neighbors know she must find out on her own how her daddy really is. And Perty finally does, she grows up and she's beyond the dreams of what a daddy really is supposed to be to see what her daddy is really is-a smooth talking, run-when-there-is-trouble kind of daddy. The concept and difference between kinship and family is unearthed in this great novel by a great author. I really could'nt put it down!

Editorial Review:

In Spite Fences, Pert Wilson was the loyal friend who helped Maggie Pugh stand up for her beliefs. Now Maggie has moved away from Kinship, Georgia, and 15-year-old Pert is aching for something more than the tiny community she's always known. Her circle of trailer park neighbors and her supportive mother and older brother aren't enough for Pert; she is lonesome for the father she has never met. But when Pert's Daddy suddenly returns to Kinship and sets her neighborhood spinning, Pert is forced to reassess her concepts of home, loyalty, family, and kin.