June 2007

Channeling Nancy (Drew) &
Other Book Diversions from Nancy (Pearl)

Nancy Pearl, Seattle’s world-renowned librarian and model for Archie McPhee’s “library lady” action figure, has followed her Book Lust recommendations for adults with Book Crush: For Kids and Teens – Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment and Interest (Sasquatch Books, 2007). We caught up with the passionate and irrepressible book lover at her recent launch party for Book Crush at the downtown Seattle Library.

Everyone has a “book story,” she says. Below are some of her stories and suggestions, in her own words, along with a few of her 1,000 recommendations – arranged in 118 categories for three age groups (birth-7, 8-12 and 13-18).

“I was on a book tour, and went in to take a shower in the bathroom of the old Mallory Hotel in Portland. The door handle wouldn’t turn. I am stuck in there and I have nothing to read. If I don’t have a book with me, I get nervous. Then I channeled Nancy Drew. She would do something to try to get out. I used a pair of manicure scissors to tighten the screw until the handle would turn. I broke the scissors. After I stepped out, I saw that there was a phone on the wall inside the bathroom.”

In the Footsteps of Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys
(Middle Grade Readers, ages 8-12)

Stormbreaker, Point Blank, Skeleton Key, Eagle Strike and Scorpia, series about a 14- year-old, James-Bond type detective by Anthony Horowitz
Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief and others in a series about an intrepid girl sleuth by Wendelin Van Draanen
Shakespeare’s Secret by Elise Broach
Double Life and Shadow Beast, the first two books in the Invisible Detective series
by Justin Richards
Minerva Clark Gets a Clue by Karen Karbo
The Absent Author and others in the A-Z series of mystery book by Ron Roy
The Case of Hernue the Missing Monster and other Jigsaw Jones mysteries by James Preller

“Michael Gruber (author of The Witch’s Boy) has a book story. He was an unhappy young teen, and he saw a book in the library entitled “Less Miserable.” It was spelled a little differently – one less “s” in “less” and an extra “s” on the end of “miserable,” but he thought a book about being less miserable was the book for him. He took it home and read it, and even though it wasn’t about what he thought it was, Les Misérables opened up the world for him.”

This Is My Life (first-person narrator novels, Teen Readers, ages 13-18)

Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Very Far Away from Anywhere Else by Ursula K. Le Guin
My Brother’s Keeper and Cut by Patricia McCormick
The First Part Last by Angela Johnson
Hanging on to Max by Margaret Bechard
Speak by Lauri Halse Anderson
Armageddon Summer by Jane Yolen and Bruce Coville
Life is Funny by E.R. Frank
Alice, I Think and Miss Smithers by Susan Juby
Tending to Grace by Kimberly Newton Fusco

“We should be nonjudgmentally supportive of our children’s reading. Begin where they are, with what they’re interested in.”

Ahh, Those Adorable Anthropomorphic Animals (Youngest Readers, ages birth-7)

Aardvarks: Arthur books by Marc Brown
Amphibians: Froggy Gets Dressed and other amphibious tales by Jonathan London
Dogs: Bungee’s Voyage and Bungee Down Under by Sally Ford
Donkeys: Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig
Earthworms: Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin
Elephants: The Story of Babar and sequels by Jean de Burnhoff
Foxes: Zelda and Ivy books by Laura McGee Kvasnosky
Gorillas: Willy the Wizard by Anthony Browne
Hamsters: I Love You So Much by Carl Norac
Pigs: Olivia books by Ian Falconer
Rabbits: Tell Me Something Happy Before I Go to Sleep by Joyce Dunbar
Rodents: Angelina Ballerina books by Katherine Holabird; Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse and Lilly’s Big Day by Kevin Henkes; Doctor De Soto by William Steig
Wombats: Diary of a Wombat by Jackie French

“Set aside half an hour a day for the family to get together and read. You can each read separately or all read the same book aloud.”

Relativity (Stories about Families, Middle Grade Readers)

The Trolls and The Canning Season by Polly Horvath
A Corner of the Universe by Ann M. Martin
The Same Stuff as Stars by Katherine Paterson
The Bamboozlers by Michael de Guzman

“I don’t think kids should have to finish books they’re not enjoying.”

Just for Fun (Youngest Readers)

The Ice-Cream Cone Coot and Other Rare Birds and Fables by Arnold Lobel
Mixed Beasts by Kenyon Cox
Scranimals by Jack Prelutsky
Buttons by Brock Cole
White is for Blueberry by George Shannon
Hot Air: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Hot-Air Balloon Ride by Marjorie Priceman
The Happy Hocky Family and The Happy Hocky Family Moves to the Country! by Lane Smith
How Tom Beat Captain Najork and His Hired Sportsmen by Russell Hoban
How to Tame Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell
The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey

“My experience is that kids are reading. I think there’s a lot more reading going on than the National Endowment for the Arts thinks there is. I also think kids should walk into a library or read a book and find themselves.”

Girls Kick Butt (Teen Readers)

The Cry of the Icemark by Stuart Hill
The Goose Girl and Enna Burning and River Secrets by Shannon Hale
The Legend of Lady Ilena and Lady Ilena: Way of the Warrior by Patricia Malone
Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary “Jacky” Faber, Ship’s Boy and sequels by Louis A. Meyer
Pirates! The True and Remarkable Adventures of Minerva Sharpe and Nancy Kington, Female Pirates by Celia Rees

It’s A Guy Thing (Teen Readers)

24 Girls in 7 Days by Alex Bradley
Love Among the Walnuts by Jean Ferris
Code Orange by Caroline B. Cooney
New Boy by Julian Houston
Under the Wolf, Under the Dog by Adam Rapp

“Our book selections should broaden, rather than narrow, the world of the reader.”

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Seattle's Child, a publication of the Washington Post Company
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