Brat has only known a life of hardship. She has never known her parents, and lives by working, or begging, for food. She usually sleeps outdoors, keeping warm by sleeping in a dung heap. That is where the village midwife finds her. Brat is kept by the midwife as a servant, cleaning the house, caring for animals, and running errands. No job is too disgusting, but Brat is happy to be warm and well-fed. Bit by bit, Brat learns the midwife's tricks of the trade, and, when the midwife is called away, Brat manages a difficult delivery, and earns the village's admiration. She decides she is worthy of a better name and a better life. Will she earn the place she feels she deserves? Will she ever find someone who loves her for herself?

Similar books: Never Trust a Dead Man by Vivian Vande Velde and The Dreams of Mairhe Mehan by Jennifer Armstrong

Awards won: John Newbery Medal

Reviewed by: sc

Date read: 4/13/2009

ISBN-10: 006440630X

ISBN-13: 9780064406307

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It's 1975 and Y'Tin lives in Viet Nam with his Dega family. At 13, Y'Tin is the youngest elephant handler in the village. He is also the best. He dreams of spending his whole life with the elephants and maybe someday opening a school so he can teach other Dega how to train wild elephants. But the war has a way of dashing peoples dreams. The Americans leave Viet Nam and without their protection, the North Vietnamese overrun the Dega villages. Y'Tin's life changes forever as he deparately tries to save his family and his beloved elephants.

Reviewed by: caroll

Date read: 9/7/2012

ISBN-10: 1416918833

ISBN-13: 9781416918837

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Each season on Maple Hill is filled with miracles. And when Marley's father returns home from World War II, that is just what that family needs. Soon after her father's arrival home, the family moves into Grandma's old house in the country, where the seasons take on a whole new meaning. The year is filled with small miracles from the first spring blossoms, to the sap running in the maple trees, to the biggest miracle of all as her father slowly regains his strength and caring. Follow the family's journey as they find the true meaning of love and value of friendship.

Similar books: The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall

Awards won: John Newbery Medal

Reviewed by: bklyczek

Date read: 1/18/2011

ISBN-10: 0152545611

ISBN-13: 9780152545611

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Maude and Sallie were orphaned when both their parents died of illness. Their Aunt Ruthie took care of them until she was killed by a stray bullet in a barroom shooting contest. Maude and Sallie are then taken in by the town preacher and his wife, who find themselves lucky to have free labor to care for their house and several small children. Maude, always proper and refined, takes matters into her own hands to escape all of this and an arranged marriage. She and Sallie start on a journey to find their Uncle Arlen. A journey that gets them mixed up in horse stealing, bank robbing, and a deadly shoot out with a desperate gang. Will Maude ever live down the reputation of 'Notorious Mad Maude March?' Read the Misadventures of Maude March and Maude March on the Run!, or, Trouble is her Middle Name to find out.

Reviewed by: sc

Date read: 4/28/2009

ISBN-10: 0375932453

ISBN-13: 9780375932458

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Commenter: St. Charles Reader, grade 0

In 1930's Mississippi, a 10-year-old white child, Jeremy Simms watches a bus driver order all black passengers, including his friends, the Logan family, off of a full bus because some white passengers, who arrived late, needed to board.

Reviewed by: sc

Date read: 4/13/2009

ISBN-10: 0141308176

ISBN-13: 9780141308173

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