Sonderbooks Stand-outs 2010!

I promised to announce my list of Sonderbooks Stand-outs before the Newbery, Caldecott, and Printz Award winners are announced, so I only have about seven more hours.

Not that I am trying to predict those winners. I am not making claims that these are the most distinguished books of the year, or even the highest literary quality. I choose Sonderbooks Stand-outs simply based on which books I enjoyed the most. After a year of reading, these are the books that stand out in my mind and make me smile. I chose these from all the books I read in 2009. (I decided in 2007 to do like the Newbery Medal and give the year as the year when the books were chosen, not when they were first read.)

I will divide the books into categories, so I don’t have to compare dissimilar books. Within each category, I’ve ranked the books by how much I enjoyed them. Each category except Rereads, that is. This year I revisited some of my all-time favorite books, some on audiobooks, and I don’t have the heart to rank any of them as less than Number One. But I want to call them Stand-outs, because they do stand out. So I’m listing them in alphabetical order by author.

Here are my favorite reads from 2009, the 2010 Sonderbooks Stand-outs:

Fantasy for Teens
1. Rampant, by Diana Peterfreund
2. Fire, by Kristin Cashore
3. Forest Born, by Shannon Hale
4. A Curse Dark as Gold, by Elizabeth C. Bunce
5. Graceling, by Kristin Cashore
6. Dreamdark: Silksinger, by Laini Taylor
7. Once a Princess, by Sherwood Smith
8. Lips Touch: Three Times, by Laini Taylor
9. Princess of the Midnight Ball, by Jessica Day George

Other Teen Fiction
1. Marcelo in the Real World, by Francisco X. Stork
2. Project Sweet Life, by Brent Hartinger
3. Stealing Heaven, by Elizabeth Scott
4. Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy, by Gary D. Schmidt
5. The London Eye Mystery, by Siobhan Dowd

Children’s Fantasy and Science Fiction
1. When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead
2. The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman
3. Any Which Wall, by Laurel Snyder
4. Odd and the Frost Giants, by Neil Gaiman
5. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin

Other Children’s Fiction
1. Home of the Brave, by Katherine Applegate
2. Walk Two Moons, by Sharon Creech
3. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred D. Taylor
4. Lucky Breaks, by Susan Patron
5. The Case of the Missing Marquess, by Nancy Springer

Fiction
1. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Anne Shaffer and Annie Barrows
2. The Help, by Kathryn Stockett
3. The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbery
4. Heart and Soul, by Maeve Binchy
5. His Majesty’s Dragon, by Naomi Novik
6. Still Life, by Joy Fielding
7. The Marriage Bureau for Rich People, by Farahad Zama

Picture Books
1. Jeremy Draws a Monster, by Peter McCarty
2. Orangutan Tongs, by Jon Agee
3. Pigs Make Me Sneeze! by Mo Willems
4. A Birthday for Bear, by Bonny Becker, illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton
5. Bubble Trouble, by Margaret Mahy and Polly Dunbar
6. The Lion and the Mouse, by Jerry Pinkney
7. Little Panda, by Renata Liwska

Nonfiction: True Stories
1. Left to Tell, by Immacule Ilibagiza
2. Led by Faith, by Immacule Ilibagiza
3. I Do Again, by Cheryl and Jeff Scruggs
4. French by Heart, by Rebecca Ramsey

Other Nonfiction
1. The Trance of Scarcity, by Victoria Castle
2. Change Your Mind and Your Life Will Follow, by Karen Casey
3. The Sacred Romance, by Brent Curtis and John Eldredge
4. Loving What Is, by Byron Katie
5. I Need Your Love — Is That True? by Byron Katie
6. The Language of Letting Go, by Melody Beattie

Children’s Nonfiction
1. Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice, by Philip Hoose
2. The Lincolns, by Candace Fleming
3. 14 Cows for America, by Carmen Agra Deedy
4. Never Smile at a Monkey, by Steve Jenkins

Wonderful Rereads
in Alphabetical Order

A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle
The Last Battle, by C. S. Lewis
The Blue Sword, by Robin McKinley
The Hero and the Crown, by Robin McKinley
Winnie-the-Pooh, by A. A. Milne
Crown Duel, by Sherwood Smith
The Witch of Blackbird Pond, by Elizabeth George Speare
The Thief, by Megan Whalen Turner
The Queen of Attolia, by Megan Whalen Turner
The King of Attolia, by Megan Whalen Turner

Review of Choosing Brilliant Health, by Rick Foster & Greg Hicks

Choosing Brilliant Health

9 Choices That Redefine What It Takes to Create Lifelong Vitality and Well-Being

by Rick Foster and Greg Hicks
with Jen Seda, MD

A Perigee Book (Penguin), 2008. 258 pages.
Starred Review.

I was so impressed by the authors’ earlier book, How We Choose to Be Happy, I ordered this one from Amazon rather than waiting for the library to purchase it.

Like the book on happiness, the authors interview healthy individuals and show nine choices those people have made that led to their good health. They also tie this information in with medical studies that show the physical benefits of these concepts. The book is full of these healthy people’s stories, illustrating the choices that lead to health.

And the choices that lead to happiness are the same ones that lead to health. The chapter headings in Part Two give you the idea:

1. Intention: Change the pathways of your brain with your thoughts.

2. Accountability: Take control of your health by triumphing over the “Victim Brain.”

3. Identification: Envision your joys and passions and tell vibrant stories about them.

4. Centrality: Do the things you love to alter your biochemistry.

5. Recasting: Convert the sadness, fear, anger, and despair of trauma and illness into meaning, opportunity, and action.

6. Options: Create hope and resilience by uncovering hidden possibilities.

7. Appreciation: Value your life and your body, and express appreciation to others.

8. Giving: Build a thriving Marketplace of Giving.

9. Truth: Tell the truth to your body, yourself, and others.

The authors say of these ideas:

“Brilliant Health doesn’t promise a disease-free, pain-free, un-aging life. Let’s face it; sooner or later health and age-related issues will visit all of us. But whether we’re in mint physical condition or facing a disability or a significant, even terminal health issue, Brilliant Health brings us the highest possible emotional and physical quality of life.”

With a promise like that, these ideas are definitely worth listening to.

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Review of I Do Again, by Cheryl & Jeff Scruggs

I Do Again

How We Found a Second Chance at Our Marriage — and You Can Too

by Cheryl & Jeff Scruggs

Waterbrook Press, 2008. 193 pages.
Starred Review

This book tells the story of a marriage that seemed hopelessly broken. Cheryl had an affair and divorced Jeff. But by a miracle of God, their marriage was restored seven years later, better than ever before.

The authors put it this way:

“This book is about the end of a marriage — about betrayal, disappointment, anger, and wrestling with God. But it’s also about how we found a new definition of happily ever after.

The book is intended as a message of hope, that God can do amazing things, and heal seemingly impossible breaches.

The authors now counsel married couples having difficulties, and I found their words encouraging. They say,

“We want people to be healed, and we want marriages to be healed. That’s what we pray for all the time. But we don’t know God’s plans for every couple. Our experience has taught us that God can redeem anything, so we never give up on anyone. But regardless of which direction they go, we let them know that we love them and support them and that God loves them no matter what. If you are in this circumstance, we’d advise you to keep yourself and your children safe, diligently seek the Lord through prayer and Scripture study, obtain godly counsel, and do your best to follow God’s leading based on your understanding of him. Never forget that God loves you and he will never withhold his love even if you make a mistake.”

It’s so nice to hear this kind of story, for a change.

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Review of The Witch of Blackbird Pond

The Witch of Blackbird Pond

by Elizabeth George Speare

Laurel-Leaf Books, 1993. First published in 1958. 224 pages.
Winner of the 1959 Newbery Medal.
Starred Review.
Sonderbooks Stand-out 2010: Wonderful Rereads

When I took a class on the Newbery Medal, some of my classmates got to talking about The Witch of Blackbird Pond, and I found I simply couldn’t resist rereading it, even though for the class I was reading winners that I’d never read before.

Kit grew up in the West Indies, on her grandfather’s plantation. She wore fashionable clothes in bright colors, went swimming in the warm water, and took slaves for granted.

Her grandfather dies, leaving debts that an old widower will help her clear up, if she marries him. So Kit flees to the Massachusetts colony, to her mother’s sister, who married a Puritan long ago.

To say that Kit doesn’t fit in among the Puritans is an understatement. She tries to help in her aunt’s household, but it takes her time to get used to the tasks. She finds a friend in Hannah, an old woman living out by Blackbird Pond, a Quaker who’s rumored to be a witch, but whom Kit finds to be loving and kind.

There’s all kinds of drama in this story. It’s a testament to its power that most of us in the Newbery class were most enthusiastic about the romance, but one participant, who had read the book when she was younger, in elementary school, hadn’t even noticed the romance. She loved the book because of the drama of Kit trying to fit in and being accused of witchcraft.

The book takes place shortly before the American Revolution, so you also have good historical background. Of course, that’s more conflict for Kit, since she and her grandfather were Royalists, but the Massachusetts colony is talking about rebellion.

This is truly a wonderful book worth reading over and over again. It stands the test of time and spans almost all age levels.

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Review of The Language of Letting Go, by Melody Beattie

The Language of Letting Go

by Melody Beattie

Hazelden, 1990. 393 pages.
Starred Review
Sonderbooks Stand-out 2010: #6 Other Nonfiction

The Language of Letting Go is a collection of 365 daily meditations about letting go and giving up codependency. There’s all kinds of wisdom and good thoughts here. You can tell how powerfully it spoke to me because selections from it appear over and over again on my Sonderquotes blog.

I bought this book in May 2008. I started on the date when I bought it and read through the whole year, then started at the beginning and finished out 2009. Now that I’m in 2010, I’ve bought two other books of meditations by Melody Beattie, More Language of Letting Go and Journey of the Heart. So I decided to give this book a rest, but I hope that shows how much I liked it, how often I’d find just the bit of wisdom I needed for that particular day.

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Review of The Sacred Romance, by Brent Curtis and John Eldredge

The Sacred Romance

Drawing Closer to the Heart of God

by Brent Curtis and John Eldredge

Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, 1997. 229 pages.
Starred Review
Sonderbooks Stand-out 2010: #3 Other Nonfiction

This powerful book explains life as a Sacred Romance. From the first chapter:

“The inner life, the story of our heart, is the life of the deep places within us, our passions and dreams, our fears and our deepest wounds. It is the unseen life, the mystery within — what Buechner calls our “shimmering self.” It cannot be managed like a corporation. The heart does not respond to principles and programs; it seeks not efficiency, but passion. Art, poetry, beauty, mystery, ecstasy: These are what rouse the heart. Indeed, they are the language that must be spoken if one wishes to communicate with the heart. It is why Jesus so often taught and related to people by telling stories and asking questions. His desire was not just to engage their intellects but to capture their hearts.

“Indeed, if we will listen, a Sacred Romance calls to us through our heart every moment of our lives. It whispers to us on the wind, invites us through the laughter of good friends, reaches out to us through the touch of someone we love. We’ve heard it in our favorite music, sensed it at the birth of our first child, been drawn to it while watching the shimmer of a sunset on the ocean. The Romance is even present in times of great personal suffering: the illness of a child, the loss of a marriage, the death of a friend. Something calls to us through experiences like these and rouses an inconsolable longing deep within our heart, wakening in us a yearning for intimacy, beauty, and adventure.

“This longing is the most powerful part of any human personality. It fuels our search for meaning, for wholeness, for a sense of being truly alive. However we may describe this deep desire, it is the most important thing about us, our heart of hearts, the passion of our life. And the voice that calls to us in this place is none other than the voice of God.”

The authors present life as a grand Story:

“Life is not a list of propositions, it is a series of dramatic scenes. As Eugene Peterson said, “We live in narrative, we live in story. Existence has a story shape to it. We have a beginning and an end, we have a plot, we have characters.” Story is the language of the heart. Our souls speak not in the naked facts of mathematics or the abstract propositions of systematic theology; they speak the images and emotions of story. Contrast your enthusiasm for studying a textbook with the offer to go to a movie, read a novel, or listen to the stories of someone else’s life. Elie Wiesel suggests that ‘God created man because he loves stories.’ So if we’re going to find the answer to the riddle of the earth — and of our own existence — we’ll find it in story.”

But the authors also talk about “Arrows” that pierce our hearts and tell us that life is meaningless, that there is no Romance.

“This is the story of all our lives, in one way or another. The haunting of the Romance and the Message of the Arrows are so radically different and they seem so mutually exclusive they split our hearts in two. In every way that the Romance is full of beauty and wonder, the Arrows are equally powerful in their ugliness and devastation. The Romance seems to promise a life of wholeness through a deep connection with the great heart behind the universe. The Arrows deny it, telling us, ‘You are on your own. There is no Romance, no one strong and kind who is calling you to an exotic adventure.’ The Romance says, ‘This world is a benevolent place.’ The Arrows mock such naivete, warning us, ‘Just watch yourself — disaster is a moment away.’ The Romance invites us to trust. The Arrows intimidate us into self-reliance.”

This book is about the adventure of living out the Romance. It encourages you to think about your higher calling, to listen to your heart. It reminds you that your life does have meaning.

I like this sentence, which puts perspective on hard times:

“God is so confident in the good that he is willing to allow our adversary latitude in carrying out his evil intentions for the purpose of deepening our communion with himself.”

The overarching message of the book is this:

“We are the sons and daughters of God, even more, the Beloved, pursued by God himself.”

What an amazing calling!

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Review of Walk Two Moons, by Sharon Creech

Walk Two Moons

by Sharon Creech

Scholastic, 1994. 280 pages.
1995 Newbery Medal Winner.
Starred Review.
Sonderbooks Stand-out 2010: #2 Other Children’s Fiction

I read this book as part of a class on the Newbery Medal, and I got to participate in a discussion with the author.

The book begins:

“Gramps says that I am a country girl at heart, and that is true. I have lived most of my thirteen years in Bybanks, Kentucky, which is not much more than a caboodle of houses roosting in a green spot alongside the Ohio River. Just over a year ago, my father plucked me up like a weed and took me and all our belongings (no, that is not true — he did not bring the chestnut tree, the willow, the maple, the hayloft, or the swimming hole, which all belonged to me) and we drove three hundred miles straight north and stopped in front of a house in Euclid, Ohio.”

Now Sal is driving across the country with her grandparents, from Ohio to the last place where they heard from Sal’s mother, in Idaho. While they are driving, Sal tells the story of a girl she met in Ohio, Phoebe Winterbottom.

Phoebe has a vivid imagination, and is convinced the boy hanging around their house is a lunatic. Then they discover mysterious messages, and then Phoebe’s mother goes away.

The power of this book is that there’s a story within a story. When Sal tells about Phoebe’s story, she gets insights into her own story and her own mother’s disappearance. And with the story within the story, if you have your own story of loss, you will hear echoes of it in this book.

The book is funny and entertaining, but also poignant and powerful. I found myself taken by surprise by how hard I was sobbing at the end. A beautiful book.

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Review of Change Your Mind and Your Life Will Follow, by Karen Casey

Change Your Mind and Your Life Will Follow

12 Simple Principles

by Karen Casey

Conari Press, 2005. 149 pages.
Starred Review
Sonderbooks Stand-out 2010: #2 Other Nonfiction

This is a simple book about living a more peaceful and loving life. I found the thoughts presented to be profound, as you can tell by the twenty-two times I chose selections from this book for Sonderquotes.

The 12 simple principles make up the first twelve chapters, with a summary chapter at the end. Here are the principles as they are listed in the chapter titles:

1. Tend your own garden.
2. Stop focusing on problems so their solutions can emerge.
3. Let go of outcomes.
4. Change your mind.
5. Choose to act rather than react.
6. Give up your judgments.
7. Remember that you are not in control.
8. Discover your own lessons.
9. Do no harm.
10. Quiet your mind.
11. Every encounter is a holy encounter — respond accordingly.
12. There are two voices in your mind — one is always wrong.

I told you they were simple! You’ve probably heard most of these ideas before, but she helps you see how you can actually do these things, and convinces you how much it will help.

Here’s a passage I enjoyed from “Tend Your Own Garden”:

“Let’s celebrate the fact that we are in charge of no one but ourselves. It relieves us of a heavy burden, and a thankless job, one that never blesses us. Taking control of every thought we have and every action we take, and being willing to relinquish the past while savoring the present, will assuredly keep us as busy as we need to be. Doing these things, and only these things is why we are here. It’s only when we live our own lives and manage our own affairs, freeing others to do the same, that we will find the peace we seek and so deserve.”

She gives similar advice in the chapter “Choose to Act Rather Than React”:

“Minding other people’s business simply isn’t the work we are here to do, regardless of how seductive the idea may be. We each must make our own journey, and even when it appears that someone we love is making a poor decision about an important matter, unless we are asked for advice, it’s not our place to offer it. Besides, minding your own business will keep you as busy as you would ever need to be.”

In the chapter “Give Up Your Judgments,” she says:

“When I embrace the practice of unconditional love — seldom an easy exercise, I might add — I am able to see how similar I am to those around me, and my habit of judgment lessens. Please note the word ‘habit.’ Judgment does become a habit, and so can unconditional love, though it is more difficult to perfect. A tool that has worked for me (when I remember to use it) is to express a statement of unconditional love out loud every time a judgmental thought crosses my mind. Try it next time you find yourself gripped by judgment. As soon as you catch it, state your unconditional love. It works.”

Another theme of focusing on yourself, not others comes in “Remember That You Are Not In Control”:

“What we discover when we give up trying to control everybody and everything is that we suddenly have the time and opportunity to learn and change and grow within ourselves, so that we can progress to the next level of spiritual awareness that awaits us.

“A surprise benefit, too, is that by letting go, moving on, and living our own lives peacefully and with intention, we often inspire others to change in the very ways we want them to change. Ironic, isn’t it?”

From “Every Encounter Is a Holy Encounter,” we find this wise advice:

“We can never know who we really are unless we have others to interact with. Perhaps most difficult to understand, in all this, is that the people with whom we have the most difficult relationships are the ones from whom we learn the most. It is in these more fraught interactions that our minds are healed the most.

“That’s why it’s so important to choose to be grateful for every relationship. We simply cannot know what God has intended for each of them to mean in our lives. We can only be sure that they are present to help us heal.”

In the final chapter, she gives us encouragement to go out there and begin:

“How we acquire better lives is not very mysterious. It comes back to making better choices, beginning with the most important choice of all: Whom will we listen to, the aggressive boss ego or the quiet, wise voice that’s always there to guide us to a higher place? You don’t have to make huge changes all at once. I wouldn’t even suggest trying. Just commit, one day at a time, to changing your mind, and you will begin to experience that peaceful life you deserve. The power of one mind changing cannot be overstated. Are you willing to be an example?”

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Review of The Rebel Princess, by Judith Koll Healey

The Rebel Princess

A Novel of Suspense

by Judith Koll Healey

William Morrow (HarperCollins), 2009. 365 pages.

I enjoyed Judith Koll Healey’s earlier novel, The Canterbury Papers, so much, I made sure to preorder this one on Amazon so I could read it as soon as it was published. Although I did enjoy it, I wasn’t as thoroughly captivated as with the earlier book.

In The Canterbury Papers Princess Alaïs, daughter of Louis VII, gets in deadly peril and falls in love. In The Rebel Princess, she has a disagreement with her beloved. He wants her to stay safe while he rescues her son, who doesn’t yet know he is her son. But Alaïs gets new information and is convinced her son’s life is in danger, and she must go save him.

Thus, the story isn’t such lovely romance as the earlier book. Alaïs again gets in deadly peril with court intrigue, but I felt that some of her conclusions fell into her lap, following her intuition rather than cleverness.

Still, this is another gripping adventure tale, and fans of medieval historical fiction will enjoy it.

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Review of The Sharing Knife: Beguilement, by Lois McMaster Bujold

The Sharing Knife

Volume One

Beguilement

by Lois McMaster Bujold

eos (HarperCollins), 2006. 372 pages.
Starred Review.

A big thank you to my siblings who gave me this book last year for Christmas. When I was on my way to see them this year for Christmas, I thought it was high time I read it, so I brought it along. It was another that I was very sorry I didn’t have the second volume with me, but remedied that as soon as I got home.

Fawn Bluefield has run away from home after she learns she’s pregnant and the father spurns her. She’ll find work in the city, and won’t have to face her brothers on the farm with this.

Along the way, she sees a group of Lakewalkers, including a man with only one hand. There are fearsome tales among the farmers about Lakewalkers, so Fawn hides until they go, not realizing that her spark of life is bright and clear to the one-handed man.

But the Lakewalkers are on the trail of a Malice, a fearsome creature that can enslave animals and humans and destroy their souls. Some of the Malice’s servants are on the road to town, and they find Fawn. The tall Lakewalker saves Fawn, twice, but then she has a chance to save him. His magic knife, bespelled to kill a Malice, has a strange reaction to Fawn’s unborn child.

Their frightening adventures plus the magic knife, create a bond between this unlikely pair. But few things are more forbidden, on both sides, than a romance between a farmer girl and a Lakewalker.

Lois McMaster Bujold creates a fascinating world where the Lakewalkers use powerful and mysterious magic, at great cost to themselves, to protect the farmers. Yet both sides neither trust nor understand one another. Can Fawn bridge that gap?

This is fantasy for adults, with plenty of talk about sex, as Fawn learns from the more experienced Lakewalker. There is more detailed world-building than you usually find in Young Adult fantasy, but I found myself so interested in the pair, I wasn’t as distracted by it as I often am. I definitely plan to read more of the series to find out what happens next.

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