Saxton Reads! & Reviews

Each year since 2002,  a committee of the Feminist Task Force of the Social Responsibilities Round Table, The American Library Association, compiles the Amelia Bloomer List. The books chosen are well-written, well-illustrated books featuring significant feminist content and would appeal to readers ages birth to eighteen.

If you've never seen the list take a moment to see what's this year. The 2010 list has 54 choices, both fiction and non-fiction, is varied and has some excellent selections. Let me give you a sampling of just a few:

Fleming, Candace. Imogene’s last stand. Illustrated by Nancy Carpenter. 2009. 40 p. Schwartz & Wade Books, $16.99. (978-0-3758-3607-7). Grades K-2. When her local historical society building is scheduled for demolition, Imogene takes dramatic action, mobilizing the townspeople to save the building and preserve the history of their town.

Pennypacker, Sarah. Sparrow Girl. Illustrated by Yoko Tanaka. 2009. Unpaged. Disney/Hyperion, $16.99. (978-142311187-0). Grades K-3. When Mao Tse-Tung orders Chinese farmers to kill sparrows to increase the wheat crop, Ming-Li rescues a few of the frightened birds, releasing them when the locusts come to eat the crops and saving the village from famine.

Springer, Nancy. The case of the cryptic crinoline. 2009. 162 p. Philomel, $14.99. (978-0-399-24781-1). Grades 4-6. When her landlady is kidnapped, Enola Holmes takes the case only to learn that the kidnappers have mistaken Mrs. Tuppet for one of Florence Nightingale's spy birds. Enola must enlist the help of the famous nurse/spy in order to effect a a rescue while avoiding her brother Sherlock who wishes to send her to finishing school.

Nelson, Marilyn. Sweethearts of rhythm: the story of the greatest all-girl swing band in the world. Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. 2009. 80 p. Dial Books, $21.99. (9780803731875). Grades 4-up. Connected through their passion for music, the all-girl African-American swing band laid down a rhythm that overcame sexism and racism to swing the hearts and tap the toes of those who heard them.

Anderson, Laurie Halse. Wintergirls. 2009. 278 p. Viking. $17.99. (978-0-670-01110-0). Grades 9-12. Once friends, Lia and Cassie become the wintergirls, locked in a contest to see who can be skinniest, but Cassie is dead and Lia did not pick up her calls the night she died. Will Lia continue the contest or are there other choices for her?

You can read what one of our own community members had to say about Wintergirls by finding the April 22, 2009 post on our blog http://www.engagedpatrons.org/Blogs.cfm?SiteID=9336&BlogID=183

You can bet we'll be adding several of The 2010 Amelia Bloomer List to our selections at Saxton B.

You can view all the Amelia Bloomer lists since 2002 at
http://libr.org/ftf/bloomer.html