Binny for Short

On Tuesday, not an hour before we left for our nearly three week trip out west, the UPS man arrived. I started dancing as I saw that brown truck, and my children thought I was crazy as I beamed and kissed their cheeks and rejoiced in the glorious day ahead.

I was afraid we would have to leave for the airport before this arrived, and yet, here it was, ready to help me get lost on the seven hour trip across the world:


Binny for Short by my beloved Hilary McKay

Hilary McKay is not for everyone. I get that. I really do know some people who don't love her books, and we are even still friends. 

But I think she's magic. This is a story about a girl whose father has passed away, who's now very poor, who's had to give up her dog, and who has to move to an entirely new place. 

Not very original, right? Where's the hook? What could be interesting about that? 

Hilary McKay makes it interesting. Not only does she make it interesting, she makes it fresh and delightful and funny and meaningful all at once. Binny is so real to me now. Her friends, her siblings—each of them so real. The events in this story are inevitable—there is no formula for plot here. It winds and it twists around her characters who do what they need to do to get what they want and make their lives whole. And she always manages to create a riveting climax. 

I've tried to write like Hilary McKay before and failed. There is no imitating her, there is only relishing every word she writes and continually hoping for more. 

I cannot recommend this book enough, and if you're the least bit bored as you give this book a try, please keep going. This is a book that grows on you, that soaks into you as you read it. This is a book you walk away from with a heart full. 

That horrible age between six and nine...

...where too much of what's out there is way too easy, but the leap up to novels without pictures is too far for most kids to jump.

I constantly hear people bemoan the lack of good chapter books for kids ages 6-9. They wonder what they will do when their child finally finishes A-Z mysteries and Magic Tree House.

The good news is, there is plenty for them to do. Truly. Not that there isn't room for more and better literature for this age group, there definitely is, there always will be, but there are lots of choices out there already.

And for girls there are TONS! Granted, these books definitely fall into patterns and they are very repetitious, and many of them are too similar to one another (spunky white girl that has adventures—seriously, look at this list! They are all spunky white girls having adventures.) But get them for your daughter anyway. Stick them around the house, at the kitchen table, in the bathroom, in her bedroom, and see what sticks.

Here are some of our favorites, and I'll continue this next week with some that are not our favorites, but that are probably just as good.

Lucy and Mary really liked these series:

Ivy and Bean by Annie Barrows


Only Emmy by Sally Warner (there are now six or seven in the series)


Katie Kazoo by Nancy Krulik



The Mallory Series by Laura Friedman


The Cupcake Diaries by Coco Simon


And of course, Clementine by Sara Pennypacker

Some new, promising series now a little too young for my girls, but might be great for yours...

Princess Posey by Stephanie Greene (this is for younger readers, 5-7)

Sophie the Awesome (and so forth) by Lara Bergen


Penelope Crumb by Shawn Stout (This one is for older readers—Penelope is in 4th grade)


I'd love to hear any suggestions from anyone else for this genre—thinner novels with lots of pictures for younger middle grade readers. Hands down, this is the area I get the most requests for suggestions! We all need help in this area—I certainly do for Shaemus!

Have your girls read...

Sharon Creech?

These are our favorite Sharon Creech books, though she has many others to love.


Heartbeat by Sharon Creech


Granny Torrelli Makes Soup


Replay

And her newest:

The Great Unexpected

She has some other books, much more famous than these: Ruby Holler, Walk Two Moons, Love that Dog, Hate that Cat, but we like these even better. Good, girly, realistic fiction—some with a little, wee bit of romance. Easy reads. Good for weekends and vacations!