Synopses & Reviews
This lovely library of stellar Newbery Honor-winning novels features four favorite adventures: Scott ODells
The Black Pearl (1968), Marion Dane Bauers
On My Honor (1987), Karen Cushmans
Catherine, Called Birdy (1995), and Gary D. Schmidts
Wednesday Wars (2008). All four are the latest paperback editions with updated covers, and the set makes a wonderful gift for the voracious reader. Pair with the Newbery Collection boxed set!
Praise for The Black Pearl:
“Reverberates with . . . proud admiration of the courage of the human spirit.” -Publishers Weekly
Praise for On My Honor:
“A powerful, soul-stirring novel told simply and well.” -Booklist, starred review
Praise for Catherine, Called Birdy:
“Superb historical fiction.” -School Library Journal, starred review
Praise for The Wednesday Wars:
“Schmidt...makes the implausible believable and the everyday momentous...a gentle, hopeful, moving story.” -Booklist, starred review
Review
'\"This unusual book provides an insider's look at the life of Birdy, 14,
the daughter of a minor English nobleman. The year is 1290 and the
vehicle for storytelling is the girl's witty, irreverent diary. . . .
Superb historical fiction.\"—'
Review
(1995, both Clarion) will not be disappointed
"Writing with admirable economy and a lively ability to re-create the past believably, Cushman creates a memorable portrayal of a troubled, rather mulish girl who begins to use her strong will in positive ways."--Booklist, starred review
"Queen Elizabeth I is on the throne. London is a sprawling, chaotic city that teems with all manner of humanity. Meggy has come to London ostensibly to serve her alchemist father, a man she has never met. When he rejects her because she is not male and because she is unable to walk normally, she needs all her pluck and determination to rise above her plight...Cushman has the uncanny ability to take a time and place so remote and make it live. Readers can hear and see and smell it all as if they are right beside Meggy. She employs the syntax and vocabulary of the period so easily that it is understood as if its the most contemporary modern slang. A gem."--Kirkus, starred review
"Cushman adds another intrepid, resourceful, courageous girl to her repertoire in this tale set in 16th-century London...Her courage and confidence grow with each obstacle overcome. Cushman fans who loved Catherine, Called Birdy (1994) and The Midwife's Apprentice (1995, both Clarion) will not be disappointed"--School Library Journal, starred review
"Cushman's (Catherine, Called Birdy) newest novel has all the elements that have made her earlier books so beloved. With flawless historical prose, Cushman introduces Meggy Swann....There is no unequivocally happy ending for Meggy, but a better life awaits her, and readers will gladly accompany her on the journey."--Publishers Weekly
Review
"This unusual book provides an insiders look at the life of Birdy, 14, the daughter of a minor English nobleman. The year is 1290 and the vehicle for storytelling is the girls witty, irreverent diary. . . . Superb historical fiction." —School Library Journal, Starred
"The period has rarely been presented for young people with such authenticity; the exotic details will intrigue readers while they relate more closely to Birdys yen for independence and her sensibilities toward the downtrodden. Her tenacity and ebullient naiveté are extraordinary; at once comic and thought-provoking, this first novel is a delight." —Kirkus Reviews with Pointers
Review
A Kirkus Best Teen Book of 2012 "I am gobsmacked by this astonishing story. This is a remarkable achievement, full of truth and compassion."—Karen Cushman, Newbery Medal-winning author of The Midwife's Apprentice * "Brilliant: a vision of history before the victors wrote it."--Kirkus Reviews, starred review * "[An] unusually honest portrait of the effects of power...[Coats] offers us a potent historical novel."--Horn Book, starred review * "This debut novel reverberates with detail, drama, and compassion."--SLJ, starred review "Coats's debut shifts gracefully between the two girls' perspectives, finding empathy for both."--Publishers Weekly "A rich historical novel that challenges readers to think about universal ideas, such as true justice."—VOYA "[An] intriguing first novel...Coats' considerable research provides details of everyday life that ground this dark and sometimes brutal historical novel."--Booklist
Synopsis
Catherine, a spirited and inquisitive young woman of good family, narrates in diary form the story of her fourteenth year--the year 1290. A Newbery Honor Book.
Synopsis
Fans of Karen Cushman's witty, satisfying novels will welcome Meggy Swann, newly come to London with her only friend, a goose named Louise. Meggy's mother was glad to be rid of her; her father, who sent for her, doesn't want her after all. Meggy is appalled by London,dirty and noisy, full of rogues and thieves, and difficult to get around innot that getting around is ever easy for someone who walks with the help of two sticks.Just as her alchemist father pursues his Great Work of transforming base metal into gold, Meggy finds herself pursuing her own transformation. Earthy and colorful, Elizabethan London has its dark side, but it also has gifts in store for Meggy Swann.
Synopsis
Catherine one day hopes to become a painter, a Crusader, a peddler, a minstrel, a
monk, a wart charmer . . . anything besides being sold like a cheese to the highest
bidder. Winner of the Newbery Honor, this richly entertaining story with an utterly
unforgettable heroine now features a new introduction by Linda Sue Park.
Synopsis
An essential library of four classic Newbery Honor-winning books: The Black Pearl by Scott O'Dell; On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer; Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman; and The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt.
Synopsis
This powerful historical fiction debut, set in medieval Wales, follows Cecily whose family is lured by cheap land and the duty of all Englishman to help keep down the "vicious" Welshmen, and Gwenhwyfar, a Welsh girl who must wait hand and foot on her new English mistress. As issues of prejudice, heritage, and occupation come to a head, both girls have to find a way to survive.
Synopsis
Cecilys father has ruined her life. Hes moving them to occupied Wales, where the
king needs good strong Englishmen to keep down the vicious Welshmen. At least
Cecily will finally be the lady of the house.
Gwenhwyfar knows all about that house. Once she dreamed of being the lady there
herself, until the English destroyed the lives of everyone she knows. Now she must
wait hand and foot on this bratty English girl.
While Cecily struggles to find her place amongst the snobby English landowners,
Gwenhwyfar struggles just to survive. And outside the city walls, tensions are rising
ever higher—until finally they must reach the breaking point.
About the Author
Scott O'Dell was born in Los Angeles in 1898, wrote twenty-six books for children before his death at the age of ninety-one. Among his many literary awards were the Newbery Medal (for Island of the Blue Dolphins), the Newbery Honor (for The Black Pearl), and the Hans Christian Anderson Award for his body of work, the highest international award given to an author of children's books. Marion Dane Bauer is an award-winning author who also teaches in the Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults program at Vermont College. She lives with her partner, Ann Goddard, in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. Karen Cushman has had a lifelong interest in history and "wanted to know what ordinary life was like for ordinary young people in other times." Her research led to the writing of Catherine, Called Birdy, a Newbery Honor book, and The Midwife's Apprentice, a Newbery Medal winner. She lives on Vashon Island, Washington. Visit her website at www.karencushmanbooks.com Gary Schmidt is a professor of English at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He received both a Newbery Honor and a Printz Honor for Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy and a Newbery Honor for The Wednesday Wars. He lives with his family on a one-hundred-fifty-year-old farm in Alto, Michigan, where he splits wood, plants gardens, writes, and feeds the wild cats that drop by.