Friday, May 7, 2010

A Single Shard

I think it is amazing how an orphan’s life can be changed so much by a mentor. When Tree-ear is apprenticed by a potter, he finds that love from his new father could change his life forever. I loved this book because a., I LOVE pottery, and b., it is very well written without being written in the exact same way as other Newberys. A Single Shard is still a growing up story, like almost all of the other great Newberys, but it was different and not boring because there were interesting twist and a focus what careful, slow, hard work can achieve. This book made it to my top 15 Newberys, although I haven’t written the whole list out. Three cheers for Tree-ear!!!

Rating:  *****

4 comments:

  1. Hi Laura! I would love to hear what your top 15 are! I haven't read A Single Shard yet, but it sounds like I should check it out.

    Best,
    Megan

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  2. Oh, yes, this is a great book. And I met Linda Sue Parks briefly at a library conference and she is lovely too!

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  3. Laura, coming to you through Deborah Wiles's blog.
    I, too, loved this winner. It is on my own short list of "Best of the Best". It did make me look at pottery in a whole different light.

    Don't you sometimes wonder just "how did that book win?"

    I am a middle school librarian so I am here to say how proud of you I am. I wish more students would set goals and then work on them. AND READ! :)

    Oh, and now you have added to my list of "books to read" with your Mock Newbery 2001. Thanks for the heads up.

    Jeane Campbell
    Sacramento, CA

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  4. We just finished read this book together (my boys and I). It was an amazing read! I confess that we were a bit taken aback by the twists at the end. But we all really loved it!

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