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I always prefer the "best of" lists that come out at the end of the year over the various awards. The awards often provoke one reaction: "How did they get it so wrong? Again?" But lists, after all, are more generous, with room for some of those brilliant but off-beat titles no committee could ever reach consensus on. Best of all, lists fill a real function: they can alert you to titles you may have missed but will want to add to your collection. So get checking!
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| The Best Books of 2006 |
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Fiction reigned in 2006. On this list of 67 titles, you will find contemporary issues wrapped in emotionally charged, power-packed plots; fresh, original fantasy; unusual coming-of-age novels; gripping historical fiction; and downright funny family stories. Nonfiction included some fascinating introductions to the natural world, unusual treatments of standard topics, and a compelling account of a topic that in less competent hands would be a dust-collecting shelf sitter.
The arts made a strong showing, with dazzling introductions to Dizzy Gillespie, Robert Johnson, and Langston Hughes and a stunning graphic novel from a classically trained ballerina. There are fewer picture books on the list this year, but we love the ones that are here. They all have memorable protagonists starring in stories brimming with child appeal.
We think this is a really terrific list of titles. We hope you will read them, recommend them to the young people you serve, booktalk them, and share them with your colleagues and teachers.—Trev Jones, Book Review Editor
Click here for the complete list |
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| Blues Brother |
 Poet J. Patrick Lewis examines the life of legendary blues guitarist Robert Johnson in his latest picture book, Black Cat Bone (Creative Editions), one of this year’s Best Books.
A lot of people are convinced that Robert Johnson invented the blues.
No, he didn’t invent the blues, but he’s associated with it. I suppose there are all sorts of questions as to why he is the only pre-World War II blues artist whose records are still widely owned and heard today. I mean, there were other Mississippi masters: Charley Patton, Son House, Skip James, Ike Zinnerman. In fact, all of those people were his mentors, but they are appreciated today only by blues aficionados.
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| The Buzz about Dizzy: Jonah Winter |
 It's impossible to pick up Jonah Winter's Dizzy (Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine Bks.), with illustrations by Sean Qualls, and not start reading aloud. Back in September, Winter explained to us how you get bebop into a book.
What drew you to Dizzy?
Ever since I was a kid, I've always loved bebop-Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis. As a picture book biographer, I was amazed that no one had done a book on Dizzy Gillespie. It seems like such a no-brainer! Of that whole crowd, his life could be told most easily to a young child. He led a more or less spotless life, never did drugs, was a faithful husband, and was an inspirational figure to others throughout his life. Voila! Picture book biography!
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 Preschool to Grade 4
Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom by Carole Boston Weatherford
Gr 2-5–As she flees north, Harriet’s prayers for strength and reassurance are answered by the resounding voice of God, who inspires her, comforts her, and never leaves her side. Illustrated with breathtakingly realistic, emotion-packed paintings, this lyrically told story proclaims Tubman’s determination, spirituality, and rock-solid faith.
 Grades 5 & Up
Escape!: The Story of the Great Houdini by Sid Fleischman
Gr 4-8–Erstwhile magician Fleischman delves into the who, what, and why of the fabulous early-20th-century trickster whose name is still a household word. Contemporary photos and the author’s commentary round out an enthralling, “you-are-there” experience.
 Young Adult
The Rules of Survival by Nancy Werlin
Gr 9 Up–Matt and his younger sisters are terrorized by their mother’s volatile temperament while the other adults in their lives look the other way–until a sympathetic stranger becomes the impetus for change. Terse, tense, and terrifying, this psychological drama shows how one victim of abuse comes to terms with his childhood. |
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| Punt, Pass, Moo |
 Rick Margolis, SLJ’s executive editor, picked up a galley of Catherine Gilbert Murdock’s Dairy Queen at the Public Library Association conference last spring and immediately fell in love with the story of a withdrawn Wisconsin teen who finds her voice. We caught up with the first-time novelist in our June issue.
Your first novel is a humorous look at D. J. Schwenk, a shy, socially awkward 15-year-old who tries out for her high school’s football team. Are you a big football fan?
Before I started working on the story, I knew virtually nothing about football. I mean, I knew what a quarterback was, but I didn’t know anything else about the game.
How is that possible? You grew up in New England and you live near Philadelphia—two football-crazed regions.
My high school didn’t have football. My college [Bryn Mawr] didn’t have football. My dad, when I was a kid, didn’t follow football. I didn’t really know anything about the game except that it was dangerous and complicated. I never knew what was going on when I was watching a football game. Now, I just love the strategy of it. It’s this combination of very cerebral plotting and brute strength and incredible speed. So I really like the game a lot more now. But as someone who had never really followed sports much, I have very mixed feelings about the role of sports in schools today.
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| American Born Chinese |
 Late this summer—before his graphic novel was the talk-of-the-town—Gene Yang explained to us how his own experiences growing up helped to shape American Born Chinese (Roaring Brook/First Second).
American Born Chinese features three story lines—one about the Monkey King, a traditional Chinese folk hero; another about Jin Wang, an Asian-American boy who attends an all-white school; and the third about Chin-Kee, the embodiment of negative Chinese stereotypes. How did you come up with the idea?
Originally, I was going to do it as three separate books, and I was trying to decide which one I wanted to tackle first. Eventually, I saw that there were a lot of common thematic elements across the three stories: there’s one about transformation, another about what it means to be an Asian American, and another theme about prejudice and acceptance.
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| And Don't Forget.... |
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As luck would have it, we've spoken with many of the authors on our Best Books list throughout the year. Way back in March, Kathleen Krull talked about her biography of one of the world's greatest, and creepiest, scientists: Isaac Newton. Last month, Siena Cherson Siegel explained how she relived her own ballet career to write To Dance: A Ballerina's Graphic Novel (S & S), with illustrations by Mark Siegel. More recently, M. T. Anderson—who just won the National Book Award last
week—revealed what led him to write The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing: The Pox Party (Candlewick). Finally, we filmed three of the authors on our list as part of our SLJ Under Cover series: Kate DiCamillo, Peter Sís, and Markus Zusak. View them here.
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