The majority of the 2014 “Best Books” lists are in (if you want a comprehensive coverage, look at Large Hearted Boy’s lists or Chicken Spaghetti’s children/YA lists). For my last post in 2014, I thought I would ask ALSC blog readers to mention their favorites, especially if you felt like they were overlooked among the lists from the major publications. Brown Girl Dreaming, The Family Romanov, etc were definitely among my favorite reads, but here are some that didn’t make many lists:
(Please forgive the lack of book covers–I had trouble uploading pictures today, for some reason!)
Annika Riz, Math Whiz by Claudia Mills
Claudia Mills’s Franklin School Friends series about a group of friends with passionate interests (Kelsey Green, Reading Queen was the inaugural entry) continues to charm. Annika is a math champion, but her friends don’t share her love of math. Annika’s school year is packed with preparations for the library’s sudoku contest and the school’s carnival. Will Annika’s math skills save the day when her class booth begins to lose money? Lessons are learned in an endearing and funny way without being preachy.
Bookmarks Are People, Too! by Henry Winkler
As a fan of Henry Winkler’s Hank Zipzer series, I was excited when a spinoff series featuring Hank at a younger age was introduced. Hank very much wants to be a part of the school play, but stage fright trips him up at the audition. An understanding teacher creates a part just for him, and the class bully learns an important lesson about teamwork and respecting other people’s feelings.
A Boy and a Jaguar by Alan Rabinowitz
Alan Rabinowitz’s extreme stuttering was only nonapparent when he communicated with animals. The renowned jaguar conservationist and scientist’s picture book biography is a remarkable read about a man who speaks up for those who cannot speak for themselves.
The Lion Who Stole My Arm by Nicola Davies
This book has now become one of my recommendations for reluctant readers. Although it’s fewer than 90 pages long, it’s a powerful story about a young boy who must make difficult life changes and decisions after a lion attack leaves him armless. This unique novel doesn’t paint the threatened status of lions in black-and-white terms; rather, it shows how African citizens and conservationists learn to work together in order to protect both farmland and lions.
Did you have any favorites that you feel were overlooked in 2014? Let us know in the comments!