Children's Books

1 A Year Down Yonder Richard Peck

GIST Everyone is afraid of Grandma Dowdel, including her grand-daughter. As Mary Alice watches her grandmother's shenanigans, she learns that a kind heart beats under Grandma's gruff exterior. From one chapter to the next, Grandma rights wrongs-and teaches Mary Alice some of her tricks-in this warm, funny look at small-town life.

MESSAGE Judeo-Christian.

GIST Winn-Dixie, named after the grocery where Opal finds him, is a life saver. With the dog's help Opal makes friends with all sorts of odd characters, including the librarian Miss Franny, whose great-grandfather invented a candy that tastes like life: "sweet and sad at the same time." Reads like a kid's version of the Mitford stories.

MESSAGE Judeo-Christian.

GIST In a rural Wisconsin town the mayor is a bad guy, and it takes G.T. Stoop, a diner owner recently diagnosed with leukemia, to take him on. Aunt Addie and Hope come to run the diner, but they get pulled into politics in this bittersweet novel pitting good versus evil. (The politics are predictable: The bad guy is the businessman and the good guys want to spend more money on day care.)

MESSAGE Moralism.

GIST Meds are good. When Joey has his patch his life becomes focused, and he can function. But when his dad tells him he doesn't need the medicine and flushes it down the toilet, Joey begins to fall apart. Meanwhile, his father, who had stopped drinking cold turkey, begins to drink again. A frantic story that's supposed to be funny but isn't.

MESSAGE Materialism.

GIST The book begins as a straightforward adventure tale as Sophie and her cousins, Cody and Brian, and her uncles prepare and set off on their Atlantic crossing. Both Sophie and Cody keep journals, and through the alternating entries, it becomes clear that there's a mystery associated with Sophie, which is revealed bit by bit. It's a voyage of discovery for the others as well.

MESSAGE Naturalism.

The Newbery Medal is the best known award for children's books, but the National Book Award is also given for Young People's Literature. Forgotten Fire by Adam Bagdasarian was one of the finalists for the year 2000 award. Set in Armenia in 1915, the novel takes its young protagonist from his privileged world, which he can't imagine ever changing, and moves him through the hellish nightmare of the Armenian Holocaust, an almost forgotten event in a long litany of 20th-century horrors. One after another, Vahan's relatives are killed. His Armenian neighborhood is taken over by Turkish butchers, and he has to confront the reality of evil. For all its horror, the book ends on a note of hope: A wise man tells Vahan, "'Time takes everything, Vahan. But your heart, your character, your faith, do not belong to time. So build your home here,' he said, touching his chest. 'And make that home strong, make that home beautiful. Then you will always be safe, and you will never be alone.'" This book is not for young children. Its violence is sometimes graphic, but older teens will find a sensitive portrayal of a gruesome chapter in world history.