We love books. As a family of readers our weekly trips to the public library are adventures. The lights, the feel and sense of place, the large cushions of dragon and ladybug that have been landing sites for thousands of small and not-so-small children all shape our storyhouse home away from home. I was a reference librarian for some time before taking a break to begin a family, and now I enter the library as a patron, a new experience that quickly became comfortable again. I still corner a librarian here or there to discuss books, but my passion has turned from tracking down obsolete stock certificates, obscure painters, and business complaint numbers (toll free, of course) to discussing the merits of J series books, controversial YA novels, and picture books getting a bad rep as baby books. I love it. I even love being in the library during lunch hour when inevitably someones lunch is warmed up and makes the library smell like soup. Gross. But there it is.
I titled this entry non series books. For kids, they are difficult to come by as publishers seem to want to have a sure thing for their titles. Yes we enjoy the Magic Treehouse, Ivy & Bean, and Geronimo books. However, sometimes a reader wants something new, fresh, and bold and the series are, well...series. They have a form and follow it and that's what you want when you want it. And if they get your child/student reading, well Hooray! But, still...finding a stand alone kid's book. It's not so simple these days, but here are two we loved:
Roxy and the Hooligans
Emily's Fortune
Both by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Two stand alone books by the author of Shiloh, both titles feature young girls who must overcome dangerous times (bullies, deranged uncles) to determine their fate. Each book is exciting, and honestly would be appealing to boys and girls. Roxy is a small kid picked on by a nasty bunch of bullies. And these kids are bullies, complete with innovative name calling and attempts at forcing Roxy to wear the underwear of an older brother. During a showdown in the school lot they all fall into a dumpster that is emptied onto a garbage boat and dumped at sea. They swim to an island where two bank robbers are hiding out and Roxy, with her knowledge of survival tactics gleaned from Lord Thistlebottom's Book of Pitfalls and how to Survive Them, manages to outwit the robbers, save the bullies, and lead them back to safety. Timid Emily, orphaned when her Mother and wealthy boss die in a carriage accident, must take a stagecoach clear across the country to meet up with her beloved Aunt Hilda. Along the way she must dodge the Catchum Child-Catching Services who want the reward for handing her over to her greedy villainous Uncle Victor. Throw an inheritance that she must keep secret, a possible new friend and fellow orphan Jackson, and a pet turtle into the mix and this book truly takes you off of a well-beaten path of westerns. It's fun, exciting, and just long enough for younger readers.
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