M.C. Higgins the Great by Virginia Hamilton

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Synopsis

Set in Appalachia of northern Kentucky along the Ohio River,  M.C. Higgins is the oldest son in an African American family, proud of his great grandmother’s mountain and proud of his skills as a swimmer, a hunter-tracker, and how he can shimmy up his forty-foot steel pole to view the hills.… Read the rest

Onion John by Joseph Krumgold

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Twelve-year-old Andy Rusch walks to school and walks home for lunch. He’s    free to roam the countryside surrounding his small town of Serenity the whole day long, and his parents have no trouble with him befriending the village’s odd-man character, Onion John.… Read the rest

The Story Peddler

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What If You Had to lie for a living?

Tanwen is gifted at telling stories and weaves colorful tales about the godesses and King Gareth, crown-approved stories. In the end, her tales produce pretty crystal trinkets, which she sells.… Read the rest

Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell

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I read this Newbery winner when I was in junior high school. Ordinarily, I didn’t go for man-against-nature type of stories. I didn’t go for a novel told in first person present tense. But Island of the Blue Dolphins featured a girl who had to survive totally alone on her island.Read the rest