December 2001

Book of the month: Zazoo, by Richard Mosher.

--YA set in France. Zazoo is a 14-year-old Vietnamese orphan adopted by a French soldier, Grand-Pierre. They run a canal lock from their home in an old mill. Who is the enigmatic boy-on-a-bicycle, and how is he connected with the village pharmacist and Grand-Pierre? A coming-of-age/first love/mystery/war story that lyrically evokes the French countryside-- what more could you want in a book?

· The Secret of Platform 13, by Eva Ibbotson. MG fantasy. Many of the titles recommended for readers who 'loved Harry Potter' are off-kilter, in my opinion; Philip Pullman's trilogy and even Susan Cooper's Dark is Rising series are older and very different in tone. Instead, try this one--Ibbotson is well loved in her native England and deserves to be better known here.

Platform 13 is a light witty story with a fairy-tale feel, complete with a Dursley-esque family and an appealing heroine. Also recommended for the 'if you loved Harry' crowd: Diana Wynne-Jones Chrestomanci quartet, and Bruce Coville's Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher.

· Three Days, by Donna Jo Napoli. MG suspense. A fascinating premise: A girl on vacation is kidnapped and held by a family in the remote hills of Italy. But all is definitely not what it seems here... My first Napoli read, but it won't be my last.

A pretty measly list for this month, partly because of the holiday madness, but also because I'm luxuriating in a huge adult read: Anna Karenina, the Russian classic by Leo Tolstoy. Unlike my usual m.o., I'm reading this one slowly...savoring is the word. I absolutely love it. Those classics you've never gotten around to reading? It's never too late!