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| Scout at Sunset, photo by my husband on Thanksgiving |
Literary Fiction
The Tiger’s Wife by Tea Obreht
The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa
Commercial Fiction
An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin
Classic
A Room with a View by E. M. Forster
Dystopia
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Award winning Young Adult Fiction (ages 14 and up)
Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
Looking for Alaska by John Green (my 17-year-old son recommends)
Tween Girls and Reluctant Teen Readers (ages 10 and up)
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray (my 14-year-old daughter recommends)
Stealing Bases by Keri Mikulski (reviewed below)
Kylie is trying very hard to control her legendary temper, but her parents’ divorce and the loss of her starting spot on the varsity softball team push her over the edge. Her hardships explain her behavior without excusing it. Our unreliable narrator spins out of control, but we can’t help feeling sympathetic. It’s also bad fun seeing the world from a snarky girl’s point of view. The one disappointment was Kylie’s complete transformation; it seemed out of character. The lesson of good sportsmanship is, nonetheless, an important one.
Keri writes so well about sports and speaks to teens in their own language. Her girls play hard and get dolled up for prom. In the Pretty Tough series being athletic is both feminine and attractive. It’s wonderful to have easy-to-read books for girls in which sports and friendship take precedence over romance. Keri Mikulski hits a home run with Stealing Bases. The next two books in the series, Making Waves and Fifteen Love, are due to be published in 2012.
Do you have more gift book suggestions? List them in a comment or blog about them in the next 2 weeks, and I'll link to you from this updated post. Also check out my links below. The Book Review Club always has great suggestions. Read on!
1. From The House of Edward listed Christmas classics, old and new.
2. The Education of a Pulp Writer listed Patti Abbott from our book review club.
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book review blogs
@Barrie Summy
book review blogs
@Barrie Summy
I don't have anyone in this age group to buy a gift for this year, but once my younger granddaughter gets a little older, I will definitely recommend Keri's books. As you say, it's nice to see a series for tween girls that doesn't focus on boys!
ReplyDeleteLove the photo of Scout--simply beautiful!
The Tiger's Wife was wonderful. I still think about that one.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link, Sarah!
Hello Sarah
ReplyDeleteThe sunset picture is unreal! Thanks for the booklist--I see a few I would like to read.
Take Care.
Best
Tracy :)
I let Keri know you reviewed Stealing Bases. As usual, thanks for joining in. Always interesting to read your reviews. I love the gift lists!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my blog, Sarah. This sounds well done though I don't have anyone in that age range to buy for this year either.
ReplyDeleteThe sunset picture is gorgeous, and Scout is adorable.
Happy Holidays!
Linda
Gosh, I will now have to rummage round in my brain and come up with my 'good reads' of 2011....... I will try soon.
ReplyDeleteI loved the photo of Miss Scout at the top of the page.
Sending you and your family warm wishes for ALL the upcoming celebrations and hoping perhaps that we might meet again in the flesh in
2012
ps Yes, I think we are going to use the berry photo as our Christmas card!
I love your idea, Sarah. Here're my recommendations in no particular order, these are just the titles off the top of my head. The Long Song by Andrea Levy, The White Tiger (reading it now and haven't finished it yet but it's superb), The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime, The Road, Interpreter of Maladies, Too Much Happiness by Alice Munro, Ulysses by James Joyce (I know its pretty long but it's worth a read, believe me) and The Ground Beneath Her Feet by Salman Rushdie. Outside the Anglophone literary canon, Virgilio Piñera's complete works (both plays and short stories). For non-fiction I nominate Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine. There are so many more...
ReplyDeleteLoved your review today. You really get under the book's metaphorical skin.:-)
Greetings from London.
Lovely picture of Scout. What a fantastic contrast between the fiery sun and the icy snow.
ReplyDeleteI am looking forward to reading The Tiger's Wife over the holidays. I haven't read a single adult novel since July!
Fantastic senset photo! Scout is lovely!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the list. I'd love to read The Tiger's Wife. Do you remember you recommended the Pern series to me? It was fun to read. 2012 is the year of the dragon so probably in January I'll write a little about it in my post.
Thanks so much for the STEALING BASES love, Sarah!! xoxo
ReplyDeleteGorgeous photo of Scout. :)
First off, that photo is amazing--so cool!
ReplyDeleteSecondly, thanks for a great list of gift book ideas!
And third, I agree about it being nice to have sports books for girls. And this one looks spot-on!
I would recommend The Spellmans series by Lisa Lutz for anyone looking for a fast-paced, funny PI mystery series.
And possibly my favorite book of the year: Let’s Bring Back: An Encyclopedia of Forgotten-Yet-Delightful, Chic, Useful, Curious, and Otherwise Commendable Things from Times Gone By.
Happy Holidays, Sarah!
I love everything I've heard about this series and look forward to my daughters discovering it one day. (We're still in The Magic Treehouse years.)
ReplyDeleteThank you for the review, the rest of your suggestions, and, especially, that amazing photo. I could look at it all night.
Thanks for reminding me about the Obreht and Ogawa books. I had forgotten about them and really want to read them during the holidays.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad there are so many good books out there for young teens. This series sounds like a winner.
I know its pretty long but it's worth a read, believe me) and The Ground Beneath Her Feet by Salman Rushdie. Outside the Anglophone literary canon, Virgilio Piñera's complete works.
ReplyDeleteBritish Food
From your list, I'd really like to read The Tiger's Wife as it sounds interesting and I've already downloaded a free version of A Room With A View, by E. M. Forster! Reading is fun, isn't it? :-)
ReplyDeleteI so appreciate book reviews. I'm too busy to read these days, crash once my head hits the pillow. This retirement isn't for chumps!
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting my book review!
Cheers from Cottage Country!