Response to NPR 100 Must Reads for Ages 9 – 14 — Part 1

I don’t know whether I’ll have time to finish this since we’re getting ready to travel and I have too many chores (including shopping.. ugh! my least favorite thing to do.) But, some initial reactions:

1st Reaction: I wish that they had indicated ages for each title — a 9-year-old probably should wait a few years to read An Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian; and a 14-year-old probably will not be the ideal reader to be introduced to Bunnicula for the first time.

2nd Reaction: WHAT? No, Nonfiction???? Really? Are we saying that there are no worthy, must reads for kids ages 9 to 14? Or are we saying that they do not have to read Nonfiction. Period? Actually.. there is a Biography, Memoir, and History section — just no general knowledge or science. So they go on my short wish list here IF they had included a Nonfiction section:

Swords: An Artist’s Devotion (9-14)

Scientists in the Field series (9-12)

The Race to Save the Lord God Bird (10-14)

Fossil Fish: Found Alive (10-14)

3rd Reaction: WHAT? Only ONE book in POETRY???? And Linda Sue has that amazing Soji poetry collection that’s so worth reading by EVERY school child! So, her book gets on this wish list:

Agreeing:

Inside Out and Back Again (9, 10, 11)

FAIRROSA’S WISH LIST:

Tap Dancing on the Roof: Sijo (Poems): (8-12)

Blue Lipstick (12-14)

Diamond Willow (9-12)

Keeping the Night Watch (11-14)

God Went to Beauty School (11-14)

Peace, Locomotion (10, 11, 12)

4th Reaction: WHERE ARE THE FUNNY BOOKS? Doesn’t it deserve its own category? Oh, well.. probably not — but that’s what the kids constantly ask for by APPEAL TERM. There are enough humor sprinkled throughout the list I guess… (It is pointed out to me that there IS a Good for a Laugh Section. My bad!)

I also went through the first few sections and marked down which ones I strongly agree that they belong on MY list of top 100, tagged them with recommended ages, and added my own WISH LISTS:

American Stories

Agreeing:

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian — (14+)

Caddie Woodlawn — (8, 9, 10)

The House on Mango Street — (12, 13, 14)

The Birchbark House — (11, 12, 13)

To Kill a Mockingbird — (13, 14, +)

The Witch of Blackbird Pond — (10, 11, 12)

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry — (11, 12, 13)

FAIRROSA’S WISH LIST:

Weedflower (11, 12, 13)

Out of the Dust (11, 12, 13)

Count Down (11, 12, 13)

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy (12, 13, 14)

 

Animal Kingdom

Agreeing:

The One And Only Ivan (8, 9, 10)

Poppy (8, 9, 10)

Because of Winn-dixie (8 , 9, 10)

Redwall (9, 10, 11, 12)

The Complete Tales of Winnie-The-Pooh (10, 11)

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (9, 10, 11, 12 — should be in SciFi)

Charlotte’s Web (8, 9, 10)

FAIRROSA’S WISH LIST:

Little Gentleman (10, 11, 12)

The Tale of Despereaux (9, 10, 11)

Babe, the Gallant Pig (9, 10, 11)

I Was a Rat (9, 10, 11)

 

Biography, Memoir And History

Agreeing

Anne Frank the Diary of a Young Girl (13, 14)

Eleanor Roosevelt (11, 12, 13)

Bomb (11, 12, 13, 14)

FAIRROSA’S WISH LIST

This Land Was Made for You and Me (12, 13, 14)

Bill Peet (9, 10, 11)

Guts: The True Story Behind Hatchet and the Brian Books (9, 10, 11, 12)

True Notebooks: A Writer’s Year at Juvenile Hall (13, 14, older)

Maus (13, 14, older)

Horrible Histories series (9, 10, 11)

We Are the Ship (11, 12, 13)

Good Masters, Sweet Ladies (10, 11, 12, 13)

 

Everyday Magic

Agreeing

Tuck Everlasting (10, 11, 12)

James and the Giant Peach (8, 9, 10)

Half Magic (8, 9, 10)

The Graveyard Book (10, 11, 12, 13)

Harry Potter series (9, 10, 11, 12)

A Series of Unfortunate Events books (9, 10, 11, 12)

FAIRROSA’S WISH LIST

The Spiderwick Chronicles (9, 10)

Savvy (9, 10, 11, 12)

Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat (9, 10, 11)