5. The Midwife's Apprentice

Cushman, Karen. The Midwife's Apprentice. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1995.

Annotation: On a cold winter's evening, in medieval England, a girl with no parents, no name, and no age is found by the neighborhood midwife.

Justification for nomination: Beetle, as she is soon called, is found in a dung heap in a farmer's barn by Jane, the local midwife on a cold winter's night. Instead of the story turning into a feel good novel about how the midwife takes her under her wings and teaches Beetle the trade, it is much more realistic. Beetle begins the book with nothing, just her scrubby clothes on her back and the cat she befriends in the barn. The midwife takes her in because she needs her help fetching stuff for her, not to teach her the trade.

Beetle must fend for herself and learn not to rely on anyone helping her. During the births the midwife attends, Beetle is instructed to not enter the house, so she develops very little first hand knowledge. She does sneak in to watch and observe and try to learn how the birth process works. Beetle eventually helps deliver a cow and then a baby, but her confidence is shaken when she's not able to deliver a different baby.

Karen Cushman does a great job in not sugarcoating life for her characters. The reader is able to feel how tough it is for Beetle, the midwife, and the townspeople in medieval England. She also doesn't gloss over details, portraying the birth process, relationships, extramarital affairs in a realistic manner than the reader will appreciate. The novel will appeal to those interested in medieval England and those who love stories about characters who have a lot of odds to overcome.

Genre: historical fiction

4. Jack London: A Biography

Dyer, Daniel. Jack London: A Biography. New York: Scholastic Press, 1997.

Annotation: Jack London, the early 20th century popular adventurer and author, is masterfully displayed as not only a popular author, but as someone who traveled down every road in his path.

Reason for Nomination: Although the book does have a few boring moments, most of it is so interesting that it is hard for your mind to wander. Dyer does an excellent job of showing that Jack London's personal life was just as interesting as his fictional characters'. The book is arranged chronologically, and weaves through London's exceptionally complex life.

As a child, London always wanted to be a writer, but just like today, life gets in the way. London leaves school at age 11 to go to work to earn money for his family. He eventually returns to school again at age 19, but again needs to leave to earn money. He continues this struggle between needing to support his family and wanting to be a writer for a very long period of time. His writing finally begins to earn him money, but London never loses his love for adventure.

Dyer discusses London's love of sailing, his menial jobs working on the docks in Oakland, his involvement with the Socialist party, and his love of writing. We learn that London wrote profusely, as did many people who were close to him, so much of his life has been recorded. Dyer's skill in weeding through the thousands of letters, journals, and other artifacts about London and presenting London's colorful life in a clear way is not lost on the reader.

The younger reader, who may or may not know who Jack London is, will find that regardless of life's circumstances, adventure can be found and choices can be made. London clearly did not find his family's struggles as a barrier to becoming a popular and wealthy author. The reader will also learn how it is possible to balance wealth, family obligations, and the obligation to the poor as London did by fully supporting his entire extended family with his writing salary and by remaining a supporter of the rights of working people.

Genre: Nonfiction biography

3. A Dance for Three

Plummer, Louise. A Dance for Three. New York: Delacorte Press, 2000.

Annotation: When 15 year old Hannah Ziebarth finds herself pregnant with a boyfriend who rejects her, Hannah's mental state is challenged and her world is turned upside down.

Reason for Rejection: The premise of Louise Plummer's book is the pregnancy of Hannah Ziebarth. Hannah is 15 years old and lives with her mother. Her father died from a freak burp two years ago. Hannah's boyfriend, Milo, is Hannah's first love. Milo is from a wealthy family and Hannah believes that when Milo finds out she's pregnant with his child that he will ask her to marry him and move into his family's estate. What happens instead is that Milo beats her, which sends Hannah into a free fall and eventually lands her in the mental ward of the hospital.

While I believe that the topics of the novel are all timely (pregnancy, death, mental illness, relationships with parents, boyfriends, and friends), I think that Ms. Plummer tackled too much and fell short. Even from the cover, the book felt like it was clouded over and that the character experiences were not as realistic as they could be. When Hannah tells Milo that she's pregnant, Milo immediately shoves and hits her. Although this reaction may be realistic, the language Milo uses is awkward and therefore the reader finds it unbelievable.

Hannah's mother is portrayed as a widow who is unable to care for anything except her plants. Hannah does everything for her, including fixing meals, shopping, and lying to acquaintances that everything is ok. Although an interesting portrayal of a widow who has a mental illness, I don't think she is fully developed and the reader doesn't ever have a firm grasp on who she is.

The book also falls short in other ways. Hannah's mother is annoyingly not disturbed by her daughter's pregnancy. While the reader knows that Hannah's mother has some mental issues, she is not shown as somebody who is incapable of communicating. So the fact that she is so nonchalant about the pregnancy is not believable and unrealistic.

When Hannah tells Milo about the pregnancy and he proceeds to hit her and deny he's the father, I think it's questionable that Hannah does nothing about it. Maybe there are some girls who would just accept this, but I don't think that shows her in a very good light. Ms. Plummer's job is certainly not to preach what a teenage girl should do when she gets pregnant, but when she shows Hannah as weak and not able to confront Milo, it is depressing to the reader. Hannah not only does not report the assault, but she also doesn't pursue legal action against him. There was no dialogue regarding struggling about keeping the baby, abortion, or adoption or any other deep internal conflict that she must have been going through.

Books such as Prozac Nation and The Bell Jar deal with mental illness and realistic experiences in a way that is much more believable to the reader as they are full of raw emotions. The author of A Dance for Three spends too much time tippy-toeing over important subject and packs in too many problems for the novel to be believable.

Genre: realistic fiction

2. Out of the Dust

Hesse, Karen. Out of the Dust. New York: Scholastic, 1997.

Annotation: Two years of the Oklahoma dust bowl are brilliantly represented by 14 year old Billie Jo and her small family and their endless struggles. Through personal and ecologic tragedy, readers are sent through a whirlwind of emotions.

Justification for Nomination:

Written in verse novel form, Out of the Dust is an exceptional historical book about living in Oklahoma during the dust bowl and the Great Depression. 14 year old Billie Jo lives with her father, a hopelessly optimistic farmer, and her mother, a pianist trapped in the never ending cycle of dust and poverty.

The format of the novel follows Billie Jo and her courageous experiences for two years, each verse poem only about a page in length and dated with the month and year of when it was written. The young adult reader will appreciate the simple language and short stanzas, but will be moved to tears by the tragedy that envelopes the family.

The language is sparse, but is intense in what the narrator can portray in just a few lines. When Billie Jo's mother and baby brother die a tragic death, Billie Jo has the urge to run, something any young adult will relate to. Her father becomes a stranger to her and spots of skin cancer begin to show on him. Billie Jo hops a train going west to escape the dust and poverty of her life in Oklahoma. But, she realizes that her home is with her father:

When I rode the train west,

I went looking for something,

but I didn't see anything wonderful.

I didn't see anything better than what I already had.

Home.

This verse novel is a wonderful way to incorporate poetry and history into a young adult's repertoire. Hesse's brilliant choice of words, placement of characters and timing will easily keep a reader's attention with an authentic and approachable subject.

Genre Category: Verse novel