Richie's Picks: Great Books for Children and Young Adults

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"Some people tell me that love is a feeling
or a possession
Somehow it seems so cold
And when they say love is sweet
does it mean that you eat it?
Maybe you drink it,
does it fill up an empty hole?"
--Todd Rundgren, The Verb 'To Love'

"The sun was shining and Edward felt exhilarated. Who, having known him before, would have thought that he could be so happy now, crusted over with garbage, wearing a dress, held in the slobbery mouth of a dog and being chased by a mad man?
"But he was happy."

There have always been great stories for young people in which characters learn about the world and about themselves as a result of epic journeys. Beginning back with Homer, and flowing through time to Baum and Stevenson to George to Voigt to Paulsen to Curtis to Creech to Philbrick and onward amidst the words and worlds of so many storytellers, we often follow characters on their (and our) paths to discovery.

"I am on a lonely road and I am traveling
Traveling, traveling, traveling
Looking for something, what can it be"
--Joni Mitchell

Among the many stories involving journeys, THE MIRACULOUS JOURNEY OF EDWARD TULANE by Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo is an unusual combination of adventure and searching for the meaning of love.

"He had china arms and china legs, china paws and a china head, a china torso and a china nose. His arms and legs were jointed and joined by wire so that his china elbows and china knees could be bent, giving him much freedom of movement."

For being a character with a total absence of mobility or communication abilities (somewhat reminiscent, in that sense, of Shawn McDaniel from Terry Trueman's STUCK IN NEUTRAL), Edward Tulane sure gets around. Beginning with a comfortable existence in the care of a young girl named Abilene who chooses his dapper outfits with precision, and lavishes him with both love and respect, Edward Tulane suddenly and repeatedly finds himself subject to change, chance, and circumstance. Passing from place to place and year to year, experiencing the world in the hands of a variety of characters, the ceramic rabbit is transformed. Through those adventures Edward discovers what it is to open your heart to someone and then be torn away from that person.

"Martin threw Edward.
"And Edward sailed naked through the air. Only a moment ago, the rabbit had thought that being naked in front of a shipload of strangers was the worst thing that could happen to him. But he was wrong. It was much worse being tossed, in the same naked state, from the hands of one grubby, laughing boy to another.
"Amos caught Edward and held him up, displaying him triumphantly.
" 'Throw him back,' called Martin.
"Amos raised his arm, but just as he was getting ready to throw Edward, Abilene tackled him, shoving her head into his stomach, and upsetting the boy's aim.
"So it was that Edward did not go flying back into the dirty hands of Martin.
"Instead, Edward Tulane went overboard."

"Travel, arrival,
Years of an inch
and a step toward a source
I'm coming to you,
I'll be there in time"
--Suzanne Vega

Each chapter of Kate DiCamillo's text is preceded by one of Bagram Ibatoulline's beautiful, sepia-toned paintings, done in acrylic gouache, each of them hinting at the coming action.

Travel doesn't come cheap in these days of $3 gas. But come next Valentine's Day, it will be well worth the price to journey into town and pick up a copy of THE MIRACULOUS JOURNEY OF EDWARD TULANE for a loved one.

Richie Partington
http://richiespicks.com
BudNotBuddy@aol.com