Sharon Creech has won a number of awards for her novels for upper elementary and middle school kids. These include a Newbery Medal and a Carnegie Award for her children's books. I have not had the opportunity to read all of her fiction yet, so this list will probably expand over time. I highly recommend these books for tweens and young teens by Sharon Creech.
Love That Dog, a boy's free verse journal, is both funny and poignant. At the start of a class poetry unit, Jack recounts his negative feelings about boys writing poetry. But with his teacher's help, he comes to not only appreciate the power of poetry but to create his own poem about the death of his dog. I recommend this for 8-13 year olds. (Joanna Cotler Books/HarperCollins, 2001. ISBN: 9780064409599)
Walk Two Moons, a Newbery Medal winner, is for older children (10-14). Two stories are interwoven in the 288-page book: thirteen-year-old Sal's story of her trip with her grandparents in search of her mother and the story Sal tells about a girl named Phoebe and her mother. As Sal recounts both stories, the reader becomes engrossed in this novel about family, loss and love. (HarperTrophy, 1996. ISBN: 9780064405171)
This book is briefer than most of Creech's novels but full of insight and heart. It also has several drawings by Chris Raschka. The book is 140 pages and has numerous, very brief, chapters, in which twelve year old Rosie recounts her discussions with Granny Torrelli. With stories and affection, her grandmother helps her to understand why she and her best friend aren't getting along and how important friendship is. (Joanna Cotler Books, An Imprint of HarperCollins, 2003. ISBN: 9780439649315)
Ohioan Mary Lou Finney's summer journal, an assignment for school, is the thirteen year old's account of her life in "a normally strange family" with five children. In her free ranging journal, Mary Lou discusses all the surprises and changes summer brings: her first boyfriend, the death of a neighbor, and her growing appreciation for her visiting cousin. Creech based the family in the book on her own family. (HarperCollins Publishers, First American Edition, 1995; 1990. ISBN: 9780064406321)
Thirteen year old Zinny Taylor lives in Bybanks, Kentucky with so many brothers and sisters that she often feels lost in the choas and escapes next door to the quiet of her aunt and uncle's home. The death of her aunt, family mysteries, a boy who is more interested in her than in her older sister, and a mysterious trail that Zinny claims as her own all lead to a summer of growth and new understanding. (HarperCollins Publishers, First American Edition, 1995; 1990. ISBN: 9780064406963)
Twins Dallas and Florida have had some bad experiences in foster homes. Now they live in a badly run orphanage where they frequently get in trouble. When 13-year-old Dallas and Florida are sent to spend the summer in Ruby Holler with an eccentric elderly couple, the “trouble twins†are very wary of Tiller and Sairy’s motives. It’s a summer of learning, love, and the beginnings of trust. Creech’s novel for 8-12-year-olds is both moving and funny. (HarperCollins, 2002. ISBN: 9780060560157)
Part of growing up is beginning to see your parents and siblings as individuals in their own right, as 12 year old Leo discovers when he finds a diary written by his father when he was 13. With a moody older sister and two younger brothers, Leo feels like a “sardine, squashed in a tin.†His fantasies are an escape. When Leo becomes involved in a family mystery while preparing for a school play, he gains insight about his family and his feelings. (Joanna Colter Books, 2005. ISBN: 0060540192)
Have your 8-12-year-olds read any of Sharon Creech's books? Share your opinions and recommendations.
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