An Open Book

The Witch of Blackbird Pond . Elizabeth George Spear. New York: Yearling, April 1987. 249 pp. Katherine Tyler, who left Barbados to stay with her relatives in New England, realizes that her dream was not to live in the stern Puritan community. All she understood about life, that her late grandfather had taught her back in the isles, was a wonderful world with books, flowers, and servants. Now, in this new land, she had to adapt and found new friends who share the same longing that she had. However, because of her befriending the old woman known as the Witch of Blackbird Pond, she was accused of witchcraft. Who could guess that the love she is waiting for is all the way on a ship that had brought her to this land of her mother's sister? This book has got a Newberry Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Literature for Children. It tells about love, belief and friendship. Taking place in the setting of the 1600s in a Puritan community, this story is really a distinguish...

Maniac Magee . Jerry Spinelli. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 1990. 184 pp. Jeffrey Lionel Magee's life becomes legendary, as he accomplishes athletic and other feats which awe his friends. Moving from one place to another, he experiences that living as an orphan he could not run all the time from the tumult in his heart. He even could change a racially divided small town. For the timebeing, "Maniac Magee" realized that he longs for something called home.  It's a story full of humanity wrapped with humor and enthusiasm. Lessons that today's teenagers should learn about life. Written by Jerry Spinelli, the Newberry Award-Winning Author, this book has tied the reader to read up to the end and continue with the author's other works.