To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

I declare this week To Kill a Mockingbird week on this blog. It was my turn to choose a book for book club and was about to choose a beautiful memoir I read last year. But then I heard the news of Harper Lee's passing and I knew I had to choose To Kill a Mockingbird. This book is at the very top of my list of books that everyone should read.

In case you aren't familiar with To Kill a Mockingbird, even though the narrator is a young Scout Finch, this book is definitely for mature young adult readers. I'm not going to designate an age, because each child is different. I highly recommend reading it at the same time as your young adult and having open discussions about some of the more difficult topics including racism and rape. Later this week I will post some discussion questions about the book.

I don't know how many times I've read this book, but I get something new out of it each time. Did you read To Kill a Mockingbird in high school? Have you read it since?
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To Kill a Mockingbird
By Harper Lee
Publisher: HarperCollins
Year: 1999 (40th Anniversary Edition)
Ages: Mature Young Adults

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

As a young girl, I went through a huge historical fiction phase. I loved learning about, and imagining myself in, another time and place. One of my very favorites was The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare. My fourth grade teacher recommended it to me. At first I didn't read it because I thought it was about witches in the Halloween sense. But once I did read it, I couldn't put it down and I read it over and over again. Oh, how I wished to be Kit, and how much I loved Nathaniel Eaton.

Kit grew up with her grandfather on an island, but when she's sixteen he dies and she has to go live with her only living relative, an aunt who lives with her family in Puritan New England. You can probably guess that her free-spirited ways don't mesh well with her new community. And when she befriends an old woman who is thought by some to be a witch, things only get worse for her.

Besides romance and adventure, this book offers a glimpse into Puritan society, New England in the 1600s, and old witch hunts. It's a book about friendship, loyalty, accepting differences, and accepting yourself. I highly recommend it for girls ages 10 and up--including their mothers.

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The Witch of Blackbird Pond
By Elizabeth George Speare
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: Sandpiper
Year: 1958
Info: Newbery Award Winner
Ages: Middle Grade Books, YA Books
Themes: historical fiction, New England, Puritans

Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse (Newbery Winner)

Once upon a time I made a goal to read all the Newbery Medal books. It's a goal that once met, was easy to maintain as it requires I read one new book each year. There are some weird stories that won back in the early days, but there are some beautiful books sprinkled throughout, especially in the last thirty or so years.

Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse stands out to me as a great book among other great books. The novel is told in verse form by young Billie Jo as she and her family live through the Dust Bowl of the 1930s and as she goes through unimaginably hard challenges. Since it's told in verse, the writing is especially sparse and beautiful--every word has a reason for being there. And the story is engaging, at times heartbreaking, and ultimately inspiring.

This book is great for middle grade and young adult readers alike. It's a good introduction to verse, or poetry, because it tells a story. The story is interesting enough to keep their attention, and it teaches about a part of American History. Many adults will enjoy this book too--it was well received when the women in my book club all read it.

(I will warn that there is death in the book. Not that children and young adults shouldn't read about death. But I've learned to be aware of recommending books with death and loss in them to children who have experienced a recent death in the family. Wait till emotions are less raw.)
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Out of the Dust: A Novel
By Karen Hesse
Publisher: Scholastic
Year: 1997
Info: won Newbery Medal, told in verse
Ages: Middle Grade, Young Adult
Themes: family, Dust Bowl, the Great Depression, historical fiction, loss, coming of age
Source: my bookshelf