Published in 2011 by HarperCollins Children's Books. 262 pages.
2011 National Book Award for Young People's Literature.
2012 Newbery Honor Book.
Published in 2010. 235 pages.
2010 National Book Award.
(This is the cover of the paperback version, which I own.)
(This is the original cover.)In Caitlin's world, everything is black or white. Things are good or bad. Anything in between is confusing. That's the stuff Caitlin's older brother, Devon, has always explained. But now Devon's dead and Dad
is no help at all. Caitlin wants to get over it,
but as an eleven-year-old girl with Asperger's,
she doesn't know how. When she reads the definition
of closure, she realizes that is what she needs.
In her search for it, Caitlin discovers that not
everything is black and white. The world is full of colors - messy and beautiful.
Published in 2009. 133 pages (including Author's Note, Bibliography, Notes, and Index).
Claudette Colvin received the 2009 National Book Award for Young People's Literature and was also designated a Newbery Honor Book in 2010.
Phillip Hoose wrote in the "Author's Note" at the end of the book:
More than any other story I know, Claudette Colvin's life story shows how history is made up of objective facts and personal truths, braided together. In her case, a girl raised in poverty by a strong, loving family twice risked her life to gain a measure of justice for her people. Hers is the story of a wise and brave woman who, when she was a smart, angry teenager in Jim Crow Alabama, made contributions to human rights far too important to be forgotten.
Published in 2002. 380 pages.
2002 National Book Award for Young People's Literature.
2003 Printz Honor Book.
2003 Newbery Honor Book.
What it is about (according to the description on the Newbery site): Farmer tackles the provocative topics of cloning, the value of life, illegal immigration, and the drug trade in a coming-of-age novel set in a desolate futuristic desert.
Why I read it: I'd been eyeing this book for quite a while, so when it was thrown out as a possible read for my church women's group book club, I enthusiastically agreed. I also included it on my Book Awards Reading Challenge list.
What I thought (and what the book club thought): I found this to be a thought-provoking read. I believe that the best science-fiction is commentary on current society - and The House of the Scorpion has a lot of say about many current "hot" topics. Of those who attended our book club meeting, two seemed to have liked it but the other two really disliked it. I hadn't finished the book at that point; I did find it to be a much slower read than I had expected. But in the end, I thought it was worth my time!
Other book bloggers' reviews of The House of the Scorpion: If you have read and reviewed this book, I would love to link your review here. Please leave me a comment or email me your link!
