Three Excellent but Very Different Books

The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes (Greenwillow Books). This story is about a seven-year-old boy who is worried about starting second grade. The Year of Billy Miller is a Newbery Honor book and I admit, I usually think of the Newbery books as being for older readers. However, this book is charming in many ways and would certainly be enjoyed by children slightly older. What I loved besides the heart-warming, feel-good story is the characterization. All of Henkes's characters jump off the page and the reader finds herself caring and rooting for all of them: Billy, his little sister Sal, his teacher mom, and his struggling artist and stay-at-home dad, lovingly called "Papa."

Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner (Candlewick Press). Maggot Moon is a Printz Honor book, brilliantly written, fantastically creative, and possibly the saddest story I've ever read. That said, I am glad I did. Set in a dystopian world reminiscent of Nazi Germany, Standish Treadwell lives with his grandpa in extreme fear and constant hunger. The story moves quickly spinning out a tale of bravery and love. Standish is fifteen, dyslexic and has different-colored eyes. His parents have disappeared. Standish and his grandpa think it is just a matter of time until both of them are taken to a maggot farm. It appears there is nothing they can do until Standish and his only friend Hector discover the moon man.

Prisoner of Night and Fog by Anne Blankman (Balzer & Bray). Readers who loved Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein will enjoy this historical fiction novel set in Munich in the 1930s. Gretchen Muller, age 18, is described as a "pet" of Adolph Hitler whom she calls Uncle Dolf. The story details the early days of the National Socialist Party and its rise to power. Gretchen is nagged by a mystery: was her father a Nazi hero who jumped in front of bullets meant for Hitler or was he murdered by someone he trusted? When Gretchen sees her brother cruelly beat an old Jewish man and then meets Daniel Cohen, a young Jewish reporter, she starts to question all she has been taught. One by one the lies are revealed until nothing but danger remains. Anne Blankman carefully delineates in her closing which parts of her story were added fiction and which were researched historical facts. This is an excellent, important book.