LARS'S LIBRARY: RECENTLY READ

Onion John by Joseph Krumgold--The Newbery Award winner from 1960, Onion John is an extraordinary book, ostensibly about twelve-year-old Andy Rusch's friendship with the town eccentric and how that helps Andy and his father to work out the problems fathers and sons have with expectations. But it's really about the listening and looking—really listening and looking—that children like Andy do. Although we adults often criticize children for lacking focus, this is something they are often much better at than their elders. We can learn as much from their open eyes and ears, as they can from our experienced ones. Middle schoolers will appreciate this.

The Savage by David Almond and Dave McKean--Ooooo...it's dark, but delectable. Like its protagonist, Blue Baker, don't a lot of boys (including this rather old one)--and for that matter a lot of girls--desire the truly wild? As Blue puts it, "I've never been one for stories. I couldn't stand all that stuff about wizards and fairies and 'once upon a time' and 'they all lived happily ever after.' That's not what life's like. Me, I wanted blood and guts and adventures...." That's what Blue gives us as he comes to terms with the death of his father and a class bully. Maybe not for the very gentle or genteel, but there are a lot of middle schoolers with inner savages I've run into. And they're going to love the nearly graphic novel format with art by the stellar Dave McKean.