Amanda's picks

Amanda MacNaughton
Amanda grew up in Eastern Oregon without electricity or running water and had an outhouse, too. She may look young, but she’s older than you think (but she’s a lady, so don’t ask her age). She’s fond of ancient languages and has studied Biblical Hebrew and Old English. She’s our resident reviewer of Christian literature and also reviews children and young adult books. Amanda enjoys hiking and camping and she and her husband have a big garden where they raise a lot of the food they eat.

Wildflower Hill (Paperback)

By Kimberley Freeman

$12.80

ISBN-13: 9781451623499
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Touchstone, 8/2011

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Who could not like a book called Wildflower Hill? Furthermore, how could you not get attached to a place called Wildflower Hill? One could argue that Wildflower Hill itself is one of the main characters in this book. The story revolves around two women: Beattie, a young woman during the 1920's, and her granddaughter Emma, a modern-day ballet dancer. Beattie is a struggling single mother who has just left her married lover when she gets a job at Wildflower Hill. Tired of poverty and servitude, Beattie resorts to a daring and dangerous way of gaining Wildflower Hill for herself. She doesn't stop there, but goes on to have a forbidden love affair with her half-Aboriginal farm manager, Charlie. By the time Beattie has grandchildren, she's known great hardship, great love, great heartbreak, and great wealth. When we meet Emma, she's risen to the top of the dance world and is turning a deaf ear to warnings that at 32, she doesn't have many years left. Emma's world shatters when she injures her knee so badly that she can never dance again. After hearing she's inherited Wildflower Hill, she flies to Australia intending to clean up the place and sell it. But as she stays, it develops a hold on her, and she begins to piece together the many secrets of her grandmother's life. She also becomes involved in mentoring a disabled girl who dances. Among the many love stories in this book, the story of these women's love for this place is a powerful one.  I was pulled along by the very realistic tales of both women's struggles as they dealt with hardships, enormous struggles, and true tragedy. Building strength isn't easy, and this book shows that clearly.

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What Happened to Goodbye (Hardcover)

By Sarah Dessen

$15.99

ISBN-13: 9780670012947
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Viking Juvenile, 5/2011

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Mclean has taken a new name and a new identity in every place she moves to with her dad ever since her parents got divorced. She figures she'll never stay in one place long enough for anyone to get to know her real self, and by now she's not sure who that is anyway. When she and her dad move to Lakeview, though, her plans get foiled. Some people at her new school find out her real name, and they seem to want to be her real friends. Mclean finds this scary, just like she finds it scary to spend time with her mom and her mom's new little ones. She avoids that at all costs. Her mom keeps trying, though, and these new friends won't let up either, especially a boy named Dave. I really like Sarah Dessen's books because they're realistic; the girls are always dealing with real-kid issues like divorced parents, jobs, and friendships, as well as romance. They fit a great niche in the young adult genre because they're sophisticated enough for older teens to enjoy but clean enough for the younger set and even those pre-teens who always want to read about high school.

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The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making (Hardcover)

By Catherynne M. Valente, Ana Juan

$13.59

ISBN-13: 9780312649616
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Square Fish, 5/2011

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A strange and wondrous tale for children and adults alike; a fantasy the likes of which I don't run across every day. The main character is a twelve-year-old girl from Omaha (because kids who get swept off to another land have to be from a flat Midwestern state, wink wink--one of many literary allusions) named September. She has a dull life until the Green Wind comes in her window and invites her to travel to Fairyland. Fairyland is marvelous, but also dangerous, especially when September accepts a Quest to retrieve a magic spoon from the tyrannical Marquess who rules the land. Like all good heroes, she's not alone. She has help from a loyal Wyverary (a cross between a wyvern and a library) and a blue Marid (a sea person). On her way she must enter the Worsted Wood and meet her Death, but she also gets to feast with faery folk. She  encounters many delightful and perilous creatures, and yes, she does eventually circumnavigate Fairyland in a ship of her own making. Like the truly great children's stories, this one can be read by children who will simply become absorbed in the adventures and characters, or by mature readers who will pick up the poetry, the literary and mythic allusions, and the in-woven truths. It's a sophisticated story, but kids who can handle Harry Potter will be able to read it.

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Close to Famous (Hardcover)

By Joan Bauer

$13.59

ISBN-13: 9780670012824
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Viking Juvenile, 2/2011

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I love reading Joan Bauer's books because her heroines are so realistic, and because they deal with real-life issues other than just getting the cute guy. Her newest heroine, Foster, is only thirteen, but she's already a professional baker. She invents her own recipes and sells her goods to local restaurants. Foster's big secret, though, is that she can't read. That's why she invents recipes instead of following a cookbook. When Foster and her mama move to the little town of Culpepper to escape Mama's abusive boyfriend, Foster meets Miss Charleena, a former movie star who quickly learns Foster's secret and determines to teach her to read. This book shows that everyone has a dream, everyone has gifts, and everyone, from movie star to child, needs the help of their friends to achieve their goals. Bauer's heroines have backbone and are willing to stand up for what is right. I always appreciate those qualities in young people's literature.

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One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are (Hardcover)

By Ann Voskamp

$13.59

ISBN-13: 9780310321910
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Zondervan, 1/2011

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This book was recommended to me by a friend at just the right time: a time when I was feeling anxious, tired, and not particularly uplifted or joyful. Ann Voskamp is a farm wife and mother of six children who was going along through life just kind of "dull," as we can all easily get. She had a wake-up call that made her realize she wanted more time on earth--"but more time for more what?" Voskamp wisely saw that she didn't have to DO anything differently to open up to beauty and grace. Instead, she had to SEE differently. A friend challenged her to make a list of one thousand things she loved. Voskamp said she'd always been encouraged to give gratitude at all times, but when it was so general, it meant nothing. Once she delved into the specifics, she began to see the world through God's lenses. She learned that the word "eucharist," used for Communion, is related to the Greek root word for "thanksgiving."  Her gratitude list includes such simple things as the rainbow color of soap bubbles. Her study of Scripture convinced her that "eucharisteo always precedes the miracle." That brought me a new way to look at things. In prayer, I've always waited until I "get" good results to give thanks. This book turned that practice upside down, encouraging me to give thanks before I know the results. I've also begun keeping my own gratitude list. It sounds simple, but it's a radical practice. Voskamp's writing is poetic and at times unorthodox in a way that forces you to pay more attention than you normally would, which is what the book is all about.

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The Sky Is Everywhere (Paperback)

By Jandy Nelson

$7.19

ISBN-13: 9780142417805
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Speak, 3/2011

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This book is absolutely bursting with life. It's filled with poetry, dizzy with first love, buzzing with eccentric characters, and stuffed with glowing moments of joy. Why is this surprising? Because on the face of it, this book is focused around a death. Lennon, the main character, is 16. Her older sister Bailey has just died, and Lennon and her Gram and Uncle Big are heartbroken. Lennon tells us her story in two ways: through straight prose, and in a series of poems that she scatters all over the town and forest where she lives. The poems are written on various materials such as napkins and to-go cups, and the reproductions of the poetry in the book are delightful. Lennon misses her sister horribly and is deeply concerned that she's not grieving appropriately. Part of her response to grief is developing crushes on two boys: the amazing new musician in her school band, and her sister's boyfriend. This makes her feel very guilty. At the same time, it's part of her new appreciation of life and feeling of extra-aliveness. I won't tell you more about the "plot," because there are lots of wonderful surprises to savor. I will tell you this book has a marvelous sense of place, and the natural world is definitely a big player in the story. I'll also tell you that Nelson can use very modern prose and somehow make it much more poetic than your average teen novel. She isn't shy of using big words, either, or unusual phraseology. I can't say strongly enough: read this book! You will gobble it up. I don't care what age you are. The things in here: love, responsibility, death, life-are ageless and timeless.

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