Friday 14 March 2008

Books for the Young Reader

Finished March 11
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline
This is a lovely book, both for the story and the illustrations. Edward Tulane is an expensive, specially-commissioned rabbit china doll. His owner, Abilene Tulane, adores him and takes him everywhere, dressing him appropriately for every occasion. Edward takes her attentions for granted, and mostly ignores her. However, in a dreadful accident, the two are separated and Edward travels through many owners and terrible situations over the next few years. He is rescued by the net of a fisherman, then relegated to a garbage heap, where he is once again rescued, this time by a hobo, and then taken to the bedside of a very ill little girl. Through all his travails, Edward begins to see what real love is, and how he didn't realize what Abilene had given him until long after he lost it.

Finished March 13
The Mysterious Edge of the Heroic World by E.L. Konigsburg
Amadeo Kaplan has just moved to St. Malo, Florida with his mother, a corporate father. His father is an artist in New York City, where Amadeo used to live. Amadeo has always wanted to discover something and when he finds that a schoolmate, William Wilcox, is working with his mother to clear the estate of the eccentric elderly woman next door, he asks to participate. As Amadeo assists in clearing out the collected effects of a lifetime, he also connects with both Mrs. Zender, the elderly woman, and William in ways he didn't anticipate. The story reaches back to occupied Netherlands in the second World War, and from Florida up to Wisconsin.

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