Best of 2008

Admittedly rather belated, but then again so am I, habitually. Without ado, the best books that I read in 2008. [Click for Good Reads page.]

1. The History of Love, by Nicole Krauss [adult, realistic]
2. The Bearskinner, by Laura Amy Schlitz [picture book]
3. Wasted, by Marya Hornbacher [memoir]
4. Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City, by Kirsten Miller [young adult, adventure]
5. The Perilous Gard, by Elizabeth Marie Pope [young adult, historical/fantasy]
6. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie [young adult, realistic]
7. God's Silence, by Franz Wright [poetry]
8. Coraline, by Neil Gaiman [middle-grade, fantasy/horror]
9. Looking for Alaska, by John Green [young adult, realistic]
10. Anne of the Island, by L.M. Montgomery [young adult?, realistic]
11. Song of the Sparrow, by Lisa Ann Sandell [young adult, verse, historical/fantasy]
12. The Wednesday Wars, by Gary D. Schmidt [middle-grade, realistic/historical]

Trouble

Gary D. Schmidt's Trouble is, as I described it earlier, the story of a crisis in a small New England community, the racial tensions that it creates - or throws light upon - and how those involved cope, as individuals and as families and communities. A book that has as much depth and reality as this one does, though, also has a way of ducking around categorizations, summaries, or expectations. Maybe all I can say is that I found the writing and storytelling of Trouble really, really beautiful.

Go look at Miss Erin's review and interview with the author, please; they're short and she expresses her thoughts on Trouble better.

From the back:

"Henry Smith’s father told him that if you build your house far enough away from Trouble, then Trouble will never find you.

But Trouble comes careening down the road one night in the form of a pickup truck that strikes Henry’s older brother, Franklin. In the truck is Chay Chouan, a young Cambodian from Franklin’s preparatory school, and the tragedy sparks racial tensions in the school—and in the town where Henry’s family has lived for generations.

Caught between anger and grief, Henry does the only thing he feels he can: he sets off for Mt. Katahdin, which he and Franklin had planned to climb together. One July morning, he strikes out for Maine with his best friend and the loveable stray, Black Dog, in tow.

But when they encounter Chay Chouan on the road, fleeing demons of his own, Henry learns that turning a blind eye to Trouble only brings Trouble closer.

With moments of humor, tenderness, and remarkable strength, Henry and Chay travel a path to the mountain that neither of them expects."

Grade: A+

I'd like to tell you about a book I've read recently...

...but which one would you like to hear about?

Tell me which sounds the most interesting to you, and I'll write about that one for Monday.

1. A graphic novel about a survivor of the Rwandan genocide
2. The second and third books in Justine Larbalestier's Magic or Madness trilogy (click here to read about the first book and what I thought of it)
3. Trouble, by Gary D. Schmidt (New England, racial tension, and families and individuals weathering crises)