Ramona and Her Father (Newbery Honor book)

  Cleary, Beverly. (1977). Ramona and Her Father. New York: HarperCollins Children’s Books.

  Ramona and Her Father is a Newbery Award Honor book for 1978.

  Ramona’s dad loses his job and this leads to all sorts of changes in the Quimby household. Ramona tries to make a million dollars starring in commericals but it doesn’t work out the way she wants it to.  In the end, of course, her dad says he wouldn’t trade her for a million dollars! The “Ramona” books are wonderful books that kids can relate to. I remember reading them in the 70’s and loving them. So many years later, they have now made a movie, “Ramona and Beezus.” I think they have lasting power because kids see their own lives in these books and they see a girl with courage and they are encouraged to go after things for themselves.

 

Hatchet (Newbery Honor book)

  Paulsen, Gary. (1987). Hatchet. New York: Simon & Schuster for Young Readers.

  Hatchet is a Newbery Honor book 1988.

  The story takes place in New York and in the forests of Canada. 13 year old Brian Robeson is on his way to visit his father.

  The single engine plane Brian is in crashes when the pilot has a heart attack while at the controls.

  Brian is now alone in the wilderness with just the hatchet his mother gave him as a gift. His thoughts have been preoccupied with his parents divorce and the “secret” that he knows about his mom, which is that she is seeing another man.

  Brian must put that secret aside and focus on survival. He is sickened by wild berries, is struck by a porcupine needle, and sees a bear. When a plane fails to spot him, Brian tries to kill himself but survives.

   He uses that experience as a sign to embrace his life and becomes better at surviving in the wild. Unfortunately, a storm destroys his shelter and he drops his hatchet into the lake. It seems as if the wilderness will get the best of him.

   Brian finds a way to be resourceful. He dives for his hatchet and he also recovers the survival pack from the wreckage of the plane.  He finds an emergency transmitter and plays around with it but doesn’t put much thought into it.

   While Brian is sitting at his camp eating dinner, a plane lands. The pilot had heard the emergency transmission and comes to rescue the boy who has been in the woods for nearly two months.

   When he is back with his father, Brian never does tell him the “secret.”

    There is some music in language used in Hatchet. For example, as he falls asleep one night by his campfire he thinks: “I wonder what they’re doing now. I wonder what my father is doing now. I wonder what my mother is doing now. I wonder if she is with him.”

   There is not a lot of diaglogue in this book.  However, that works because the majority of the story is one person alone in the wilderness. So there are some thoughts, but it is mostly action.

  Foreshadowing is used quite a bit in Hatchet. The pilot teaches him how to control the plane when landing. The pilot has pain in his shoulder. The hatchet Brian’s mother gave him.

 

The Underneath (Newbery Honor book)

   Appelt, Kathi. (2008). The Underneath. (D. Small. Illus.).  New York; Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

  The Underneath is a Newbery Honor book for 2009.

   There are several things going on in this book, but it starts with an abandoned calico cat, who has kittens in her belly. She goes into the bayou, lured by a barking dog, Ranger, who stays chained up under the porch by his abusive owner, Gar Face. The dog and cat become friends. There is also a subplot with a snake, Grandmother Moccasin, who has lived in a jar for 1000 years and is a shapeshifter.

  Gar Face is mean and abusive. His goal is to kill a huge alligator. Ranger and the cat stay in “the underneath” of the porch to stay out of his way. The cat has two kittens, Puck and Sabine. When Puck strays from the safety of the “underneath”, Gar Face catches him. The mother cat tries to rescue her baby but Gar Face ties she and Puck into a bag and throws them in the river. Mother cat drowns but Puck escapes with his mother’s words in her ears, to unchain Ranger and help his sister.

     Puck must find his way back so he can keep his promise to his mother. Sabine must become the hunter to find food. Gar Face is continually abusive to Ranger. He tries to capture Sabine to use her as bait for the gator but Ranger attacks him so he takes the dog to the water and chains him there as bait.

    Puck finally finds his sister and their dog-friend, as they wait by the water. He jumps of Gar Face as the man is about to shoot the kitten. Gar Face ends up in the mouth of the giant gator he was hunting and dies.

     Before the alligator can return and eat the animals, with Ranger stilled chained to a tree, Grandmother Moccasin, breaks the chain because she knows she has seen pure love among the two kittens and the dog.

    Unknown to all but herself, Grandmother has been shot by Gar Face. After setting Ranger free, she dies.

   The Underneath contains many unexpected insights, for instance, how a bitter, poisonous snake can do something in the name of love.   It is also full of figurative language, as would be expected in a book where the main characters are animals.

(note: I would never discourage anyone from reading anything, as we all have our individual tastes. I DESPISED this book. I am a pet owner and even though the overall message is love, I had such a hard time reading about all of the abuses the dog went through.  Also, it is targeted toward 4th through 7th graders and I think too many 4th and 5th graders would be too sensitive to enjoy it.)