The 7th Annual Wilde Awards continue this week with a salute to the year’s best long-format books. (To see last week’s picture book winners, visit www.newsobserver.com/lifestyles/books/book_ reviews/.) The honorees were selected by a committee that included Megan Isaac of Elon University, Durham art teacher Barbi Bailey-Smith, Carrboro school librarian Deb Bolas, children’s authors Louise Hawes and Clay Carmichael, and Beth Gerall, children’s books editor at the online journal Novelist.
Novels for Middle Grades
"Knucklehead: Tall Tales and Almost True Stories of Growing Up Scieszka" by Jon Scieszka (Viking, ages 8-12). Ever wondered why Scieszka’s fiction is so wacky? Maybe it was his wild childhood with four brothers. Autobiography meets read-aloud pleasure.
"Masterpiece" by Elise Broach (Henry Holt, ages 9-12). Complications are unavoidable when the drawings of a talented extroverted beetle are mistaken for the artwork of a shy, resourceful boy. When the two team up to catch a criminal forging Dürer masterpieces, their friendship is reminiscent of the one in E.B. White’s “Charlotte’s Web.”
"The Dragonfly Pool" by Eva Ibbotson (Dial Press, ages 9-12). Eleven-year-old Tally’s father, concerned about her safety in World War II Britain, sends her to a progressive boarding school, little knowing what dangerous adventures lie ahead for this wise and heroic heroine.
"The London Eye Mystery" by Siobhan Dowd (Random House, ages 10-12). Ted and Kat wait for their cousin Salim to exit the towering Ferris wheel ride that is showing him London from the air … and wait … and wait. Did he vanish into thin air? Can Kat with her fiery temper and Ted with his Asperger’s mind find Salim?
Contemporary YA Novels
"Trouble" by Gary D. Schmidt (Clarion, ages 12-up). Henry Smith, a wealthy 14-year-old, and Chay Chouan, a Cambodian scholarship student, attend the same prep school. That’s all they have in common until a tragedy makes their lives collide in this East meets West story of bigotry and understanding, sorrow and humor, trouble and grace.
"Little Brother" by Cory Doctorow (Tor Teen, ages 12-up). Picked up by Homeland Security and interrogated for six days in a secret prison, 17-year-old Marcus teams up with other technogeeks to fight the surveillance and loss of freedom that is supposed to “protect innocent Americans.”
"The Possibilities of Sainthood" by Donna Frieitas (FSG, ages 12-up). Antonia Lucia Labella, a Catholic school teen, has two secrets — she seeks sainthood and her first kiss. Humorous dialogues with her prima dona pasta-making mother are as funny as her letters to the Vatican.
Family Novel
"The Underneath" by Kathi Appelt (Atheneum, ages 10-up). Make this a family read-aloud, to help young readers absorb the intensity of the abusive human, Gar-Face, who attacks the animal family living underneath his home. They may also need guidance to understand the complexities of a thousand-year-old snake woman and to admire the way the author brings these stories together.
Nonfiction
"What the World Eats" by Faith D’Aluisio (Tricycle, ages 9-up). Photographs of families from 22 countries show their food supplies as they share meals ranging from spit-roasted guinea pig to rationed grain. Strength comes from visual impact, comparisons of charts and lists, evocative write-ups, plentiful maps and even recipes.
"The Way We Work: Getting to Know the Amazing Human Body" by David Macaulay
(Houghton-Mifflin, ages 9-up). Accurate, understandable descriptions of body systems in a playful CSI, child-friendly approach. For example, after oxygenation courtesy of the respiratory system, blood travels as if it were on an amazing roller coaster. Visual imagery and humor will please children and adults.
Historical Fiction
"Chains" by Laurie Halse Anderson (Simon & Schuster, ages 11-up). While the Colonies fight for freedom in 1776 New York, Isabel Finch, a slave, pursues her liberty. Turmoil of times and self create another absorbing Anderson novel.
"The Explosionist" by Jenny Davidson (Harper, ages 14-up).
Fifteen-year-old Sophie lives with her powerful aunt in an alternate historical 1938 Scotland amid exploding terrorist bombs, murder, political subversion, prophetic seances and impending war. Sophie resists a government-mandated lobotomy in this page turner with a creepy Orwellian atmosphere.
"A Thousand Never Evers" by Shana Burg (Delacorte, ages 10-up). Addie Ann Pickett’s 1963 Kuckachoo, Miss., community is blown apart by the truths revealed by the civil rights movement. Addie’s struggles to control herself in the face of injustices done to her family make this a powerful read.
"Here Lies Arthur" by Philip Reeve (Scholastic, ages 12-up). Conventional idealizations of King Arthur and Merlin are transformed by the compelling view of the child who aids the great wizard in his deceptions and serves a neglected Guinevere.
Fantasy Adventures
"The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic, ages 12-up). Poverty stricken teenager Katniss is one of 24 selected to fight to the death on television. Given her lack of training, what chance does she have? This gripping read is part Shirley Jackson’s “Lottery,” part reality TV.
"Impossible" by Nancy Werlin (Dial, ages 14-up). Seventeen-year-old Lucy is haunted by a generational curse in this gripping read: Will she, like others, be driven mad by the Elfin King when her daughter is born, or can she meet three impossible challenges?
"The Knife of Never Letting Go" by Patrick Ness (Candlewick Press, ages 11-up). Todd Hewitt, the last child growing up on a faraway planet where there are no women, discovers secrets that send him fleeing for his life. Adventure abounds in this suspenseful coming-of-age novel.
"Airman: by Eoin Colfer (Hyperion, ages 10-up). Raised by his adoring parents in kind King Nick’s court, Conor Broekhart is framed for the king’s murder. He must escape a terrible prison to regain his dreams in this adventure story that feels like an Irish folk tale.
Series Conclusion & Audio
"Inkdeath" by Cornelia Funke (Scholastic and Listening Library, ages 9-12). The Inkworld trilogy is based on a powerful premise: When Mo reads, the fictional characters in books come to life. This fantasy series concludes with another epic battle against the evil Adderhead. Allan Corduner brings all the action, romance and villainy to life in the audio version.
