A Family of Readers

by Roger Sutton

  I had loved living with Betsy and Tacy, had enjoyed bustling around solving mysteries with Nancy Drew, but I hadn’t become them. They were book friends, and they didn’t give my mother the migraines that my immersion in Holden’s life gave her.

  What I do know at this distance: Holden was teaching me about structure and narration, about the subjectivity, the turn-on-a-dime bias inherent in fiction. I had heard certain kinds of storytelling all my life. His kind was new, alluring in its impertinence, the perfect vehicle for me to use as an armored car in an adolescence that really didn’t need one. And there was a poignant gravity to Holden that has never left me. Could I have guessed that the mere mention of his name could still upset people, all these decades later? Not a bit.

  As a grown-up reader I love the sweet agony of becoming Jane Eyre, Clarissa Dalloway, Natalie Babbitt’s Winnie Foster, and some of Alice Munro’s exquisitely sculpted characters. But I think my early subversive partnership with Holden has also made it possible for me to come closer to becoming David Copperfield, Jerry Renault, Jesse Aarons, Will Parry, King Lear, and my favorite, Gogol’s Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkin. Holden let me sneak briefly into the guys’ clubhouse, and I’ll always be grateful.

  MORE GREAT BOOKS FOR TEENS

  Sherman Alexie, illustrations by Ellen Forney, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

  232 pp. Grades 8–10. Junior makes the difficult commute from his Spokane Indian reservation to an off-rez high school where he’s the only Indian. His inimitable and hilarious narration is intensely alive with short paragraphs, poetry in prose, one-liners, and take-no-prisoners cartoons.

  Coe Booth, Kendra

  293 pp. Grade 9 and up. Kendra, fourteen, lives with her strict but loving grandmother. Hot guy Nashawn has Kendra doing things that shame as well as excite her. Does Nashawn love her? Does her recently returned mother? Kendra’s present-tense narration is intelligent and honest, grounded by her basic common sense.

  Sarah Dessen, Lock and Key

  422 pp. Grade 10 and up. After her mother leaves, seventeen-year-old Ruby is placed in the care of her sister. The intricacy of relationships shines in this in-depth exploration of family, trust, and responsibility. The complex, deeply sympathetic characters are pure pleasure to spend time with.

  Sharon Dogar, Annexed

  341 pp. This audacious novel is Peter van Pels’s first-person, present-tense chronicle of life in the Annex with the Frank family. The novel provides a new look at Anne Frank — speculative, of course, but in no way contradicting her own famous diary.

  Saci Lloyd, The Carbon Diaries 2015

  330 pp. Grades 7–10. In a brilliantly conceived speculative drama set in the future, Lloyd extrapolates a logical, world-changing application of global warming that is both optimistic and terrifying. This gripping, perceptive, and impassioned book contains equal parts political immediacy and tart humor.

  E. Lockhart, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

  342 pp. Grades 8–10. Frankie’s boyfriend, Matthew, is the co-leader of an all-male secret society at her elite prep school. A clinical-sounding narrator addresses readers directly, giving the book a case-study vibe and presenting Frankie’s exploits in a dispassionate way so that readers are left to make up their own minds about this unique, multifaceted young woman.

  Catherine Gilbert Murdock, Dairy Queen

  278 pp. Grade 9 and up. Coaching the rival high school’s quarterback in a summer fitness program, farm girl (and football player) D.J. realizes she’s attracted to Brian, even as they face off on the field. D.J.’s practical, understatedly humorous voice drives this engrossing tale of love, family, and football. Sequels: The Off Season and Front and Center

  Jandy Nelson, The Sky Is Everywhere

  281 pp. Content to shadow her high-wattage older sister, seventeen-year-old clarinetist and secret poet Lennie is devastated when Bailey dies unexpectedly. Lennie’s profound loss awakens unanticipated new feelings, including an unwelcome attraction to Bailey’s bereft boyfriend and healthy first love with an exuberant new boy. Tender, romantic, and loaded with passion.

  Marcus Sedgwick, Revolver

  204 pp. His family’s Arctic Circle cabin is Sig’s entire world — a secure one until the day his father dies and the menacing Gunther Wolff arrives, demanding the gold Sig’s father owes him from the Alaska Gold Rush. Tight plotting and a wealth of moral concerns will appeal to fans of Gary Paulsen, Jack London, and even Cormac McCarthy.

  Francisco X. Stork, Marcelo in the Real World

  316 pp. Grade 9 and up. Seventeen-year-old Marcelo is at the high-functioning end of the autism spectrum. A summer job in the mailroom at his father’s cutthroat law firm tests Marcelo’s coping and social skills, moral compass, and loyalty. Stork ratchets up the tension as the plot winds to its memorable denouement.

  Rereading The Catcher in the Rye, or any of the books discussed here that I had read as a young person, I’m reminded of C. S. Lewis’s famous adage that “no book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally — and often far more — worth reading at the age of fifty and beyond.” I don’t agree with him: Catcher in the Rye was far more compelling to me as an adolescent than as an adult (although its poignancy became apparent to me only in my thirties), and we can all think of examples of books that were lifelines in childhood that simply do not resonate the same way now. But Lewis was arguing for a continuity of literature that I believe has been amply demonstrated by the landmarks and exemplars Martha Parravano and I and our colleagues have provided here. While Where the Wild Things Are speaks intensely to young children about conflict and the refuge of fantasy, it also stands with any work of art that champions the imagination. Similarly, while we may now be of an age with the (almost always) patient Quimby parents rather than the put-upon Ramona, we continue to wrestle with the problem of being misunderstood. Not only can Where the Wild Things Are and Ramona the Pest continue to speak to — to grow up with — an individual reader throughout a lifetime, they also remain alive, for both children and literary culture, a half century after their publication. Ageless, then, in two ways.

  We hope you do go on to read and enjoy many of the titles discussed here, and remember that they are only a taste from the feast. Whether you talk to your local librarian or bookseller, follow up on the suggestions given in this book, or peruse the lists we have on the Horn Book website (www.hbook.com), you’ll find no lack of recommendations. And if you have acquired a taste for reading about children’s literature, there is a sturdy tradition of that as well; see “Further Reading.”

  The best way to understand how children read is to read for yourself. There is no need to put yourself in the shoes of a ten-year-old even if you are fifty and encountering Holes for the first time. Your own shoes will be sufficient to walk you through the story. Only by experiencing it as a reader — not a grown-up, not a parent — will you be in a position to recommend it to another: not a child, but a fellow reader.

  BIBLIOGRAPHY OF RECOMMENDED TITLES

  Introduction

  Betty Baker, illustrations by Arnold Lobel, Little Runner of the Longhouse (Harper-Collins).

  Elizabeth Guilfoile, illustrations by Mary Stevens, Nobody Listens to Andrew (Follett).

  Robert Lawson, They Were Strong and Good (Viking).

  Dorothy Sterling, Mary Jane (Doubleday).

  Part One: Reading to Them

  Janet and Allan Ahlberg, Each Peach, Pear, Plum (Viking); Peek-a-Boo! (Viking).

  Aliki, How a Book Is Made (HarperCollins).

  Zoë B. Alley, illustrations by R. W. Alley, There’s a Wolf at the Door (Roaring Brook).

  Jim Aylesworth, illustrations by Barbara McClintock, The Mitten (Scholastic).

  Molly Bang, Ten, Nine, Eight (Greenwillow).

  Byron Barton, Boats (HarperCollins); Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs (HarperCollins); Machines at Work (HarperCollins); Planes (HarperCollins); Trains (HarperCollins); Trucks (HarperCollins).

  Chris Barto
n, illustrations by Tom Lichtenheld, Shark vs. Train (Little, Brown).

  Jonathan Bean, At Night (Farrar, Straus and Giroux).

  Bonny Becker, illustrations by Kady MacDonald Denton, A Visitor for Bear (Candlewick).

  Sandra Boynton, Blue Hat, Green Hat (Simon & Schuster); Moo, Baa, La La La! (Simon & Schuster).

  Raymond Briggs, The Mother Goose Treasury (Coward-McCann). The Snowman (Random House).

  L. Leslie Brooke, Ring o’ Roses (Warne).

  Craig Brown, Tractor (Greenwillow).

  Margaret Wise Brown, illustrations by Clement Hurd, Goodnight Moon (Harper-Collins); The Runaway Bunny (HarperCollins).

  Margaret Wise Brown, illustrations by Ashley Wolff, Little Donkey Close Your Eyes (HarperCollins).

  Anthony Brown, Me and You (Farrar, Straus and Giroux).

  Ashley Bryan, Beautiful Blackbird (Atheneum).

  John Burningham, Mr. Gumpy’s Outing (Holt).

  Virginia Lee Burton, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel (Houghton Mifflin).

  Eric Carle, The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Philomel).

  Peter Catalanotto, Matthew A. B. C. (Atheneum).

  Margaret Chodos-Irvine, Ella Sarah Gets Dressed (Harcourt).

  Eileen Christelow, Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed (Clarion).

  Vicki Cobb, I Face the Wind (HarperCollins); I Fall Down (HarperCollins); I See Myself (HarperCollins).

  Nancy Coffelt, illustrations by Tricia Tusa, Fred Stays with Me! (Little, Brown).

  William Cowper, illustrations by Randolph Caldecott, The Diverting History of John Gilpin (Pook).

  Donald Crews, Freight Train (Greenwillow); School Bus (Greenwillow); Truck (Greenwillow).

  Doreen Cronin, illustrations by Harry Bliss, Diary of a Fly (HarperCollins).

  Shutta Crum, illustrations by Carol Thompson, Thunder-Boomer! (Clarion).

  Chris L. Demarest, Alpha Bravo Charlie (McElderry); Firefighters A to Z (McElderry).

  Tomie dePaola, Tomie dePaola’s Mother Goose (Putnam).

  Leo and Diane Dillon, Mother Goose: Numbers on the Loose (Harcourt).

  Rebecca Kai Dotlich, illustrations by Sachiko Yoshikawa, What Is Science? (Holt).

  Olivier Dunrea, Gossie (Houghton Mifflin); Gossie & Gertie (Houghton Mifflin).

  Lois Ehlert, Eating the Alphabet (Harcourt).

  Ed Emberley, Go Away, Big Green Monster! (Little, Brown).

  Mary Engelbreit, Mary Engelbreit’s Mother Goose (HarperCollins).

  Lisa Campbell Ernst, The Turn-Around, Upside-Down Alphabet Book (Simon & Schuster).

  Muriel Feelings, illustrations by Tom Feelings, Jambo Means Hello (Dial).

  Denise Fleming, Alphabet Under Construction (Holt); Barnyard Banter (Holt).

  Brian Floca, The Racecar Alphabet (Atheneum).

  Mem Fox, illustrations by Judy Horacek, Where Is the Green Sheep? (Harcourt).

  Mem Fox, illustrations by Helen Oxenbury, Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes (Harcourt).

  Wanda Gág, Millions of Cats (Macmillan).

  Paul Galdone, The Three Little Pigs (Clarion).

  Taro Gomi, Spring Is Here (Chronicle).

  Bob Graham, April and Esme, Tooth Fairies (Candlewick).

  Emily Gravett, Orange Pear Apple Bear (Simon & Schuster).

  Janice N. Harrington, illustrations by Shelley Jackson, The Chicken-Chasing Queen of Lamar County (Farrar, Straus and Giroux).

  Kevin Henkes, Julius, the Baby of the World (Greenwillow); Little White Rabbit (Greenwillow).

  Eric Hill, Where’s Spot? (Putnam).

  Tana Hoban, Black on White (Greenwillow); Of Colors and Things (Greenwillow); White on Black (Greenwillow).

  Shirley Hughes, Alfie Gives a Hand (Red Fox).

  Rachel Isadora, The Fisherman and His Wife (Putnam).

  Joseph Jacobs, illustrations by John D. Batton, English Fairy Tales (CreateSpace).

  Stephen T. Johnson, Alphabet City (Viking).

  Barbara M. Joosse, illustrations by Barbara Lavallee, Mama, Do You Love Me? (Chronicle).

  G. Brian Karas, The Village Garage (Holt).

  Helen Lester, illustrations by Lynn Munsinger, Tacky Goes to Camp (Houghton Mifflin); Tacky the Penguin (Houghton Mifflin).

  Mike Lester, A Is for Salad (Putnam).

  Arnold Lobel, The Arnold Lobel Book of Mother Goose (Random House).

  William Low, Machines Go to Work (Holt).

  Janette Sebring Lowrey, illustrations by Gustaf Tenggren, The Poky Little Puppy (Golden Books).

  Amy MacDonald, illustrations by Maureen Roffey, Let’s Make a Noise (Candlewick).

  Leonard S. Marcus, illustrations by Amy Schwartz, Mother Goose’s Little Misfortunes (Simon & Schuster).

  James Marshall, The Three Little Pigs (Dial).

  Bill Martin Jr, illustrations by Eric Carle, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? (Holt).

  Bill Martin Jr and John Archambault, illustrations by Lois Ehlert, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (Simon & Schuster).

  Salley Mavor, A Pocket Full of Posies: A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes (Houghton Mifflin).

  Sam McBratney, illustrations by Russell Ayto, One Voice, Please: Favorite Read-Aloud Stories (Candlewick).

  Robert McCloskey, Blueberries for Sal (Viking); Make Way for Ducklings (Viking).

  Bob McLeod, SuperHero ABC (HarperCollins).

  Kate and Jim McMullan, I Stink! (HarperCollins).

  Susan Meddaugh, Martha Speaks (Houghton Mifflin).

  Eve Merriam, illustrations by Dan Yaccarino, Bam Bam Bam (Holt).

  Zoran Milich, The City ABC Book (Kids Can).

  Margaret Miller, I Love Colors (Little Simon); Now I’m Big (Greenwillow); What’s on My Head? (Little Simon).

  Barry Moser, The Three Little Pigs (Little, Brown).

  Chihiro Nakagawa, illustrations by Junji Koyose, Who Made This Cake? (Front Street/Boyds Mills).

  Satoru Onishi, Who’s Hiding? (Kane/Miller).

  Iona Opie, illustrations by Rosemary Wells, Here Comes Mother Goose (Candlewick); My Very First Mother Goose (Candlewick).

  Helen Oxenbury, All Fall Down (Aladdin); Clap Hands (Aladdin); Say Goodnight (Aladdin); Tickle, Tickle (Aladdin).

  Leslie Patricelli, Baby Happy, Baby Sad (Candlewick); Higher! Higher! (Candlewick).

  David Pelletier, The Graphic Alphabet (Orchard).

  Jerry Pinkney, The Lion & the Mouse (Little, Brown).

  Beatrix Potter, The Tale of Peter Rabbit (Warne).

  Laura Rankin, The Handmade Alphabet (Dial).

  Peggy Rathmann, Good Night, Gorilla (Putnam).

  Lynn Reiser, photographs by Penny Gentieu, My Baby & Me (Knopf); You and Me, Baby (Knopf).

  H. A. Rey, Curious George (Houghton Mifflin).

  Anne Rockwell, Big Wheels (Dutton).

  Anne and Harlow Rockwell, The Toolbox (Macmillan).

  Phyllis Root, illustrations by David Walker, Flip, Flap, Fly! (Candlewick).

  Glen Rounds, Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf (Holiday House).

  Robert Sabuda, The Movable Mother Goose (Simon & Schuster).

  Coleen Salley, illustrations by Janet Stevens, Epossumondas Saves the Day (Harcourt).

  Liz Garton Scanlon, illustrations by Marla Frazee, All the World (Beach Lane/Simon).

  Richard Scarry, Richard Scarry’s Cars and Trucks and Things That Go (Golden Books).

  Laura Amy Schlitz, illustrations by Max Grafe, The Bearskinner: A Tale of the Brothers Grimm (Candlewick).

  Jon Scieszka, illustrations by Lane Smith, Math Curse (Viking); The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales (Viking); The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! (Viking).

  Ann Herbert Scott, illustrations by Glo Coalson, On Mother’s Lap (Clarion).

  Laura Vaccaro Seeger, Dog and Bear (Roaring Brook); First the Egg (Roaring Brook).

  Maurice Sendak, In the Night Kitchen (HarperCollins); Outside Over There (HarperCollins); We Are All in the Dumps with Jack and Guy (HarperCollins); Where the Wild Things Are (HarperCollins).

  David Sh
annon, No, David! (Blue Sky/Scholastic).

  Bob Shea, Dinosaur vs. Bedtime (Hyperion).

  Judy Sierra, illustrations by Melissa Sweet, The Sleepy Little Alphabet (Knopf).

  Marc Simont, The Stray Dog (HarperCollins).

  Joseph Slate, illustrations by Ashley Wolff, Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten (Dutton).

  Esphyr Slobodkina, Caps for Sale (HarperCollins).

  Peter Spier, To Market! To Market! (Doubleday).

  William Steig, Brave Irene (Farrar, Straus and Giroux); Doctor De Soto (Farrar, Straus and Giroux); Sylvester and the Magic Pebble (Farrar, Straus and Giroux).

  David Ezra Stein, Pouch! (Putnam).

  John Steptoe, Baby Says (HarperCollins); Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters (HarperCollins); My Special Best Words (Viking); Stevie (HarperCollins); The Story of Jumping Mouse (HarperCollins).

  Nancy Tafuri, Have You Seen My Duckling? (Greenwillow).

  Eugene Trivizas, illustrations by Helen Oxenbury, The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig (McElderry).

  Chris Van Allsburg, Jumanji (Houghton Mifflin).

  Shigeo Watanabe, illustrations by Yasuo Ohtomo, How Do I Put It On? (Philomel).

  Rosemary Wells, Max’s ABC (Viking); Max’s First Word (Dial).

  David Wiesner, The Three Pigs (Clarion).

  Mo Willems, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! (Hyperion).

  Vera B. Williams, “More More More,” Said the Baby (Greenwillow).

  Margot Zemach, The Three Little Pigs (Farrar, Straus and Giroux); The Three Wishes (Farrar, Straus and Giroux).

  Gene Zion, illustrations by Margaret Bloy Graham, Harry the Dirty Dog (HarperCollins).

  Part Two: Reading with Them

  Tedd Arnold, Hooray for Fly Guy! (Scholastic).

  Monika Bang-Campbell, illustrations by Molly Bang, Little Rat Makes Music (Harcourt).

  Annie Barrows, illustrations by Sophie Blackall, Ivy and Bean: Bound to Be Bad (Chronicle).

  Charlotte Lewis Brown, illustrations by Phil Wilson, The Day the Dinosaurs Died (HarperCollins).

  Beverly Cleary, Ramona the Pest (HarperCollins).