Out of the Dust

Out of the Dust is a Newberry Award winner written by Karen Hesse. I had never heard of it but was assigned to read it for class. I was really impressed with the writing style. It is written entirely in free verse as opposed to the standard chapter by chapter narration. I didn't know if I would like a book written all in poetry, but it works well here. The poetry isn't fancy or pretentious, as I thought it might be. It's simple, descriptive and easy-to-follow.
The story follows a young girl born in Oklahoma during the great Dust Bowl of the thirties. From a young age, she is faced with challenges foreign to most Americans now. Her mother dies while she is still young and she spends months blaming herself for it. Her dad is quiet and withdrawn, always worrying about their farm on which he can't grow anything.
The girl dreams of moving away to a better life. Her ticket to this new life is her above-average piano playing skills. She has the potential to go somewhere with her talent and is somewhat famous locally. But that all changes when she accidentally burns her hands with boiling oil. For the rest of the book, she has to overcome the pain in her hands and learn to play again.

Holes

This Louis Sachar novel is one of my favorite books of all time. If you've only seen the movie, don't compare or judge the book by it--the book is way better. (You probably knew I was going to say that.)
The creative plot of this easy read centers around an overweight boy named Stanley Yelnats. Stanley, after having been convicted of a crime that he did not commit, believes himself to be a part of curse that was long ago put on his family. He is sent to Camp Green Lake in Texas to dig a hole every day, which he is told builds character. As the plot unwinds the camp warden's ulterior motives for digging are revealed.
I love the way this book is written. Sachar tells several stories at once, which at first seem to jump around from one to another. But by the end of the book they all come together and we see that they are all part of the same grand story. I really like this aspect of the writing and the way that Sachar is not only able to jump from character to character, but from time period to time period. I wish more books were written this way.
This book won the Newberry Medal in 1999. I think this was a well-deserved award. Holes combines several issues smoothly; things like justice, racism and teenage interaction are just a few.
Like with all of Sachar's books, Holes is written in simple, easy-to-understand language. There are a lot of jokes and most of them are quite dry. I think simplicity this well done is the sign of a great writer.
I try to read this book every so often and I highly recommend it to anyone else. Like I said, it is easily one of my favorite books ever. I think its writing style is creative and unique, its jokes hilarious and its themes important. I hope Sachar continues to put out quality literature like this because this is what the world needs.

Is He a Girl?

I love reading kids' books and Louis Sachar is one of my favorite all-time authors. His books are funny, insightful and have great stories. There are a lot of times where I would choose his books over an 'adult book.'
This book is number three of eight in the Marvin Redpost series. The series follows a young redhead boy on his various adventures.
Is He a Girl? tells the story of the time when Marvin, after talking to a girl in his class about how to turn into a girl, thinks that he accidentally did it and has turned into a girl. For the rest of the story he is confused with his identity and ends up not really sure who or what he is. Sachar has several books where people's thoughts or beliefs about themselves are what cause those things to be true. Its a pretty interesting idea and he does it well here in a humorous and light-hearted way. This one gets a big thumbs-up.