Walk Two Moons by Creech, Sharon

“Walk Two Moons” is a Newbery award winning book that tells the reader a story of a Native American girl, whose name is Salamanca Tree Hiddle. Her parents named her after the tribe to which her Gramp (grandfather) supposedly belonged. Everybody called her Sal though. Sal used to live in a small town in Kentucky until her mother left them. As it turned out the reason why mother left them so abruptly, was because she suffered a miscarriage and was told that she would never have kids again. She became extremely depressed, and one day left to Idaho to get away, promising to return “before the tulips bloomed”.  Sal’s dad waited for his wife for a long time, but eventually decided that it was very hard to live in a place where everything reminded him of her. So, one day Sal’s father packed up all of their belongings and moved the family to Ohio to start a new life. Sal hated the fact that they had to move; she loved her home where everything reminded her of her mother. But in Ohio things were different and foreign. So, to trace the path of her missing mother, Sal decided to travel to Idaho with her grandparents; she was convinced that that she would find her right before her mom’s birthday. Since the trip to Idaho was very long, Sal entertained her grandparents with the stories of her friend, Phoebe Winterbottom (whom her grandma called Peeby). Phoebe’s story was a lot like Sal’s; her mom disappeared one day and left a note that she would return. So, Phoebe and Sal were determined to find her. Acting like little detectives they were able to locate Mrs. Winterbottoms and bring her back home, but what about Sal's mother? Did she find her mother too? Read to find out.

The Giver By Lois Lowry

I discovered “The Giver” for the first time just a week ago. I absolutely loved the book and I wish I read it earlier. The main character of the story, Jonas, lives in a perfectly peaceful futuristic world called the “Sameness”. Jonas lives with his mom, dad a little sister, Lily, who is 8 years old. Jonas’s mom works as an employee at the Department of Justice while his dad’s occupation is called “the Nurturer”. In Jonas society, everything is seemingly perfect: there is no pain, no war, no fear, no justice, no hunger, no color, and no choice. Everything in people’s lives is regulated by the community: the weather, the names, the clothes, even the dreams.
At the age of 12 every person in the community is assigned a special role that he or she is going to perform for the rest of their lives. Therefore, after 12, age in the world of sameness is not considered important anymore, because the kids start training for their future roles. Some of the roles or assignments include: Assistant Director of Recreation, Birth Giver, Nurturer, Lawyer, Caretaker, etc.  But one of the most important roles in the community is the job of the Giver. The Giver holds the memories of the whole world before the world turned to “Sameness” and he passes his memories to the Receiver, who is chosen by the community for being special and having extraordinary abilities. At the Ceremony of Twelve Jonas becomes a Receiver. He is warned that receiving memories would be a very painful process and he would have to prepare himself for loneliness and challenges of the life that lies ahead. But nothing could prepare Jonas for what he is about to discover. When Jonas starts receiving the memories, he begins to experience colors; he learns the feelings of excitement, joy, warmth and love. But he also experiences the most difficult memories such as pain, hunger, suffering, war and despair.  The most disturbing event of his life happens when he witnesses his father “releasing” unwanted twin baby to “Elsewhere”. He realizes that “releasing” means simply killing a human being by giving a lethal injection. That is when he learns that everything he was taught up until this point of his life is a lie.

Number The Stars

“Number the Stars” is another Newbery Medal Award winning book by Lois Lowry in the genre of historical fiction. This historical fiction novel helps the children experience the past and enter the world if despair of those people who lived through the suffering, pain and uncertainty during WWII and the Nazis regime. The story takes place in Denmark, occupied by Nazis during WWII.  The Germans invaded the country and are persecuting the Jews. The main characters of the story Annemarie Johansen and Ellen Rosen are best friends. Since Ellen and her family are is Jewish, they become the victims of German persecution. To protect the Rosen's family, the Johansen's take Ellen into their family and plan their escape. Since it is not safe to hide all of them in their house, they temporarily hide only Ellen and pretend that she is Annemarie’s older sister, Lisa (who died a few years ago). When things become more and more dangerous, Mrs. Johansen takes the girls back to where she used to live when she was little. There, her brother Henrik and other brave Danes from the Resistance movement help the Rosens and other Jewish families flee to Sweden. Before they are able to complete their mission of smuggling their Jewish friends, a chain of complicated events takes place and Annemarie comes face-to-face with danger and fears not only for her own life but the lives of her loved ones. Can she conquer her fears and overcome her horror when facing the Nazis? You will have to read to find out.