I started off with The Underneath by Kathi Appelt. I will admit that I picked it up because it had animals as they main characters and I often like that perspective (i.e. Redwall, Watership Down, etc.) but the story was nothing like I thought it would be. The book follows the unlikely friendship between a calico cat and a hound dog. It also tells the tail of Grandmother Moccasin, an ancient-shape shifter, whose smothering love of her daughter ends a tragic event. The two stories come together in a final exciting (if somewhat predictable) scene. If you are a fan of gothic or mythical novels, this is the book for you. Here a brief desription, and the book is available in the library for checkout:
A calico cat, about to have kittens, hears the lonely howl of a chained-up hound deep in the backwaters of the bayou. She dares to find him in the forest, and the hound dares to befriend this cat, this feline, this creature he is supposed to hate. They are an unlikely pair, about to become an unlikely family. Ranger urges the cat to hide underneath the porch, to raise her kittens there because Gar-Face, the man living inside the house, will surely use them as alligator bait should he find them. But they are safe in the Underneath...as long as they stay in the Underneath.
Kittens, however, are notoriously curious creatures. And one kitten's one moment of curiosity sets off a chain of events that is astonishing, remarkable, and enormous in its meaning.
The second is a book that I would recommend for grades 7 and up. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. This is Alexie's first novel for young adults, and some of you may have read his novels for adults (all though they are pretty heavy). This is such a great story, and you really feel that Alexie has captured the real thoughts and experiences of Junior, the main character of the novel. Here is a brief description of the book. It is available in the library if you would like to check it out:
Arnold Spirit, a goofy-looking dork with a decent jumpshot, spends his time lamenting life on the "poor-a**" Spokane Indian reservation, drawing cartoons (which accompany, and often provide more insight than, the narrative), and, along with his aptly named pal Rowdy, laughing those laughs over anything and nothing that affix best friends so intricately together. When a teacher pleads with Arnold to want more, to escape the hopelessness of the rez, Arnold switches to a rich white school and immediately becomes as much an outcast in his own community as he is a curiosity in his new one. He weathers the typical teenage indignations and triumphs like a champ but soon faces far more trying ordeals as his home life begins to crumble and decay amidst the suffocating mire of alcoholism on the reservation. (From Book List)
