Karen Cushman
Newbery award-winning children’s book author
As part of my list of favorite fantasy novels, I offer Seraphina by Rachel Hartman. A gifted musician, Seraphina is also part dragon. Intriguing story with great characters and the wonderful image of her silver scales. Beautifully written.
Here’s Rachel Hartman’s website, where you can learn more about this book and her newest, Shadow Scale.
You may have heard. I have a fantasy novel coming out in June, Grayling’s Song. An interviewer recently asked me to recommend my ten favorite fantasy novels. Here they are, in no particular order. I’ll post them over the next few weeks. You might notice that all these novels are funny or have substantial humor in them. I don’t like a book that takes itself too seriously.
The Hobbit by J.R.R.Tolkien. I read the trilogy also but this seemed more—a funny word to use for a book about hobbits and elves and such—human.
See: The Tolkien Library
Earlier I noted my favorite books about museums for adult readers. For young readers, I particularly enjoy Masterpiece by Elise Broach, in which James and a beetle named Marvin prevent a crime at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and, of course, everyone’s favorite museum novel, E.L Konigsburg’s From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankenweiler, also set at the Met.
Q. What are your favorite books about museums, written for adults?
A. Jane Langton, who also writes for children, wrote a series of very entertaining mysteries set in and around museums: Emily Dickinson is Dead (the Emily Dickinson House Museum in Amherst, MA); Dead as a Dodo (Oxford University Museum); and Murder at the Gardner (the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston). Here’s a listing of all of Ms. Gardner’s Homer Kelly mysteries.
Question: What were your favorite books as a child?
Answer: My favorite books are not very popular anymore: Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski, Seventeenth Summer by Maureen Daly, and The Bobbsey Twins series.
How about you, Dear Reader? What were your favorites?
How do stories spring from real-life events? You can see some examples from the 20 authors (including me) who are part of this collection, Been There, Done That: Writing Stories from Real Life, which looks at the process of taking our experiences and turning them into works of engaging fiction. I had a great time writing my pieces—so much easier than a novel. Look for the book in November from Grosset & Dunlap, and let me know what you think of “Millie McGonigal.”
It’s award season and best of 2014 season, and so I am weighing in. Here are my favorite books of the past year. No money, no gold statue, just my sincere thanks for hours of reading joy.
Nest. Middle-grade fiction by Esther Ehrlich. Set on Cape Cod in 1972, Chirp survives a difficult year through the healing power of family, the natural world, and her growing friendship with the irresistible Joey. Nest is real, touching, true, and wise.
All the Bright Places. YA fiction by Jennifer Niven. This beautifully written book allows us into the worlds of the smart, dark Violet and the boy who teaches her to live while he plans to die. A gorgeous book with fascinating characters.
Tiger Queens. Historical fiction by Stephanie Thornton. Lengthy, detailed saga of the women who supported Genghis Khan and strengthened his kingdom. I was immersed in his world for days and loved it.
The Goblin Emperor. Fantasy by Katherine Addison. After a tragedy strikes, the half-goblin youngest son of an emperor has to learn whom to trust, how to rule, and how to survive, in a hurry. I loved the world building and Maia, the goblin emperor, who is much smarter and more lovable than he thinks he is.
The Secret Wisdom of the Earth. Fiction by Christopher Scotton. A boy grows in courage, understanding, and forgiveness during a summer he spends in a small Kentucky coal town with his grieving mother and beloved grandfather. The end is riveting and life affirming but I hated to see the book end.
Here’s Karen’s advice for today: stop whatever you’re doing and read Esther Ehrlich’s Nest, middle-grade fiction from Random House Children’s Books. It is quite simply splendid. Salt Marsh Lane on Cape Cod in 1972 is home to eleven-year-old Naomi “Chirp” Orenstein and her family. The year brings terrible changes to the Orensteins. Chirp survives through the healing power of family, her relationship to the natural world, and her growing friendship with the irresistible Joey Morell (Joey is a terrific character—I hope he gets his own book so we can be sure everything turns out okay for him). I challenge you to get through the book without laughing, mopping up a few tears, and scolding a few hurtful adults. Nest is real and true, touching and wise. The prose is lyrical, the characters lovable, the tragedy heartbreaking. I recommend it highly and plan to read it again right away.
For years I have said that Catherine, Called Birdy is the love child of Rosemary Sutcliffe and Adrian Mole. Now Adrian is getting his own musical. I suggest you read or reread the book and then lobby to bring the show here. We could get Adrian Mole T-shirts!
“Next year the Curve Theatre in Leicester will premiere The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4—The Musical, with the intention of taking it to London’s West End. The Guardian reported that the late Sue Townsend, who created one of the most popular characters in British fiction in Mole, “advised and encouraged the musical on its near three-year journey.”
“Sue was an absolute dream, she was so supportive and went through everything with us,” said Pippa Cleary, half of the writing team with Jake Brunger. “She gave us all the time in the world to get it right.” (from Shelf Awareness, July 15)
Curses and Smoke by Vicky Alvear Schecter introduces us to Lucia, the daughter of the owner of a gladiatorial school in Pompeii, and her childhood friend, Tag, a slave who tends to the wounds of injured gladiators. Lucia is unwillingly betrothed to an older man who will invest in her father’s school, and Tag hopes to become a gladiator and buy his freedom. Mount Etna however has other plans for them. The historical setting is compelling and the story suspenseful. I’d especially recommend it for young readers not familiar with the tragedy of Pompeii.