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 Kira
lives in a society where she should have been abandoned at birth
because of a deformed leg. This is also a community where age and
wisdom are noted by the number of syllables in your name, such as
Matt, Kira, Thomas, Jamison and Annabella. After Kira’s mother
dies, she is homeless because society rules demand people’s
cotts, or homes, be burned after an illness.
Kira
is alone after her mother’s death except for Matt, a young tyke
who befriends her. Her neighbors resent her and want her mother’s
land for themselves.
Soon
Kira is summoned to appear before the Council of the Guardians,
who will decide her fate. The Guardians recognize that Kira has a
special skill of embroidery, and so they have chosen her to repair
and complete the robe worn by the singer during the annual
Gathering that tells the community’s history. Not only must she
complete the embroidery of the historical pictures, she must dye
and match the threads.
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Along
the way Kira meets Thomas, who has been chosen for his woodcarving
skills, and Jo, who has been chosen for singing ability. These three
are fed and taken care of in a large Council building. All of the
supplies for their jobs are provided.
The
suspense starts to build when Kira must find blue threads for the
sewing of the robe and in the process discovers her father may still
be alive. Kira must work through the untruths of the Guardians and
still learn how to dye the threads from Annabella and keep up with
her sewing. This is a real page-turner, as Kira and Thomas do some
investigating on their own, and Kira must make a decision about
going to be with her father or staying to create a wonderful,
peaceful future for her community on the unfinished part of the
robe. The characters and struggles created will live in your memory
long after this book is read.
Lois
Lowry has created a book full of drama, suspense and humor. She has
written many memorable books, including "The Giver,"
"Number the Stars" and the Anastasia books.
[Pat
Schlough, Lincoln Public Library]
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 Richard
Peck has written this book as a sequel to his Newberry
Honor-winning book, "A Long Way From Chicago." Mary
Alice and her older brother used to spend summers with Grandma,
but this time she must live a whole year with her unpredictable
grandmother because of the financial difficulties of her Chicago
family.
Fifteen-year-old
Mary Alice arrived by train in Grandma’s "hick town"
with a small trunk, a radio ("more noise," said
Grandma), and Bootsie the cat ("another mouth to feed,"
said Grandma). Before Mary Alice even got to Grandma’s house,
she was enrolled in the one-room school and warned about the
Burdicks.
This
book is laugh-out-loud fun, starting with Grandma’s encounter
with Mildred Burdick in Chapter 1. Mildred had come home with Mary
Alice to collect one dollar Mildred said was owed to her. Grandma
saw right through the hoax, and Mildred ended up walking five
miles home in her socks because her horse had been mysteriously
untied, with Mildred’s boots around its neck, and headed for
home.
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Mary
Alice watches her grandmother deal with the boys’ Halloween
tricks, collect money for a family in need, bring her brother, Joey,
home for the Christmas program and help others in the community
after a big storm.
Richard
Peck has created another story full of wit and humor, a book in
which Mary Alice spends a year learning how to cook and deal
honestly and fairly with people. He spent the first 18 years of his
life in Decatur, and many of his stories take place in central
Illinois.
[Pat
Schlough, Lincoln Public Library]
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