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Teenreads.com and Kidsreads.com Name the Best Books of 2000 for Young People
Children's list includes something for every taste, while teen list covers several intense and difficult adolescent issues.
Kidsreads.comand Teenreads.com recently announced their picks for the Best Books of the year for young people. The websites' editors weighed in, selecting their favorites from among the vast array of titles they read and reviewed in 2000. The many fine offerings this year suggest that a new millennium of writing and publishing for children and teens is off to a great start.The list for children includes something for every taste. Among the top picture books are Olivia by debut author Ian Falconer, chronicling the adventures of a perky piglet; and the warm father-son story Fishing in the Air by Newbery Medalist Sharon Creech, illustrated by Caldecott Honor winner Chris Raschka. For slightly older readers, Kidsreads.com praises the gripping novel Silent to the Bone by Newbery Medalist E.L. Konigsburg; Because of Winn-Dixie, a first novel about a girl and her dog by Kate DiCamillo; and the fascinating historical novel Stowaway by Karen Hesse, based on the story of a real teenage stowaway on Captain Cook's ship. And in the classics-getting-a-new-look category, Aesop's Fables, illustrated by the Caldecott Honor artist Jerry Pinkney, and Fairy Tales, retold by Berlie Doherty and illustrated by Jane Ray, are considered the cream of the crop.
The teen list includes several complex and powerful novels that deal with intense and difficult adolescent issues --- The Beet Fields by Newbery Honor winner Gary Paulsen, an autobiographical coming-of-age account; Iain Lawrence's Ghost Boy, about an albino boy's quest for acceptance; Philip Pullman's thought-provoking, heart-pounding fantasy The Amber Spyglass; and Francesca Lia Block's The Rose and the Beast: Fairy Tales Retold. But the Teenreads.com list also captures the lighter side of teen life with the comic Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison, as well as the elements of magic in first-time author Rita Murphy's Night Flying.
"What's most striking about our Best of 2000 lists is the range of wonderful books they encompass," said Carol Fitzgerald, co-founder and president of The Book Report Network, producer of Teenreads.com and Kidsreads.com. "The variety and depth of these books reflect the richness of imagination and experience of young people today, and of the authors writing for them."
Kidsreads.com's Top 10 Books of 2000:
Aesop's Fables retold and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
Fairy Tales by Berlie Doherty, illustrated by Jane Ray
Fishing in the Air by Sharon Creech, Illustrated by Chris Raschka
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
Little Lit: Folklore and Fairy Tale Funnies edited by Art Spiegelman and Francoise Mouly
Madlenka by Peter Sis
Olivia by Ian Falconer
Silent to the Bone by E.L. Konigsburg
Stowaway by Karen Hesse
Teenreads.com's Top 10 Books of 2000:
The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison
The Beet Fields by Gary Paulsen
Ghost Boy by Iain Lawrence
Harley Like a Person by Cat Bauer
Many Stones by Carolyn Coman
Night Flying by Rita Murphy
The Rose and the Beast by Francesca Lia Block
Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
When Kambia Elaine Flew in From Neptune by Lori Aurelia Williams