Pictures of Hollis Woods, by Patricia Reilly Giff

Side note- this wasn't supposed to be my next book! But the weather was so nice that I took a break outside this week and grabbed the slimmest Newbery book I could find on the shelf to keep me company. But I'll be resuming my trek through the 1930's very soon!

Hollis Woods was named for the forest in Queens where she was found abandoned. Now twelve years old, she's been in and out of more foster homes than she can count. She's always in and out of trouble, skipping school and not getting along.

She is finally placed with Josie. Josie is quirky and kind and easygoing, and Hollis loves living with her. But she can never feel completely at home with Josie. A talented artist, Hollis draws the things and people she sees in her new environment. But her memory keeps drawing her back to the Regans, a family she spent a summer with. She fit in well with the parents and their son, and was very happy with them. She had thought that she was the missing piece in their family, and that all of them together would complete the picture of a perfect family she'd always carried in her mind. But like she'd done with every family before, Hollis ran away from them and refused to return.

For the first time, Hollis finds that she may also be forced to leave involuntarily. Josie is aging and becoming forgetful. Hollis decides that she needs to run one more time, and take Josie with her, to keep her new fragile family together.

The book is written in alternating chapters- one in the present, one in the past, helping you gradually understand who Hollis is. Patricia Reilly Giff very skilfully portrayed Hollis as a girl who has been toughened by her years in foster care, but who is also very vulnerable and sensitive (and sensitive to what she sees around her). The emotions she feels are described clearly, making Hollis accessible to a wide range of readers. We also find out why she left the Regans when she felt so at home with them; I just didn't want to be a plot spoiler!

I discovered while searching for an image of the book cover that this was made into a movie in 2007! Has anyone seen it? Was it any good? The cast looks like it has lots of potential.

Crispin: The Cross of Lead, by Avi

This is the story of a 13-year-old peasant boy who never knew his name. When his mother dies, though, his priest hints that there is more to the story of the boy's life than he ever knew, and that he does have a name: Crispin. Crispin, now an orphan, must leave the only village he's ever known, as he has been accused of a crime he didn't commit, and declared a "wolf's head", meaning he is no longer considered human and can be killed on sight for a sizable reward. Lonely, confused, and destitute, he leaves town... and encounters a traveling juggler called Bear, who takes Crispin on and helps him discover that besides having a name, he also has a soul. Set in medieval England, the story has undertones of discontent with feudal life, the idea of freedom - both from harsh rulers and from one's past, and generally being one's own person.

It's a good read - quickly engaging the reader, and hard to put down! The reader is left wanting to examine their inner self, and decide if they're living the life they want to live, or merely accepting the "lot in life" they've been dealt. That said, I was a little disappointed by this book when compared to what I remember of another of Avi's books, Newbery Honor The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle. To be fair, I read Charlotte Doyle when I was more in line with target audience, and as Crispin hardly knows himself, it's unsurprising that the reader doesn't get to know him very well. But even so, I felt that there was plenty of room for more depth of character in both Crispin and Bear. There are in fact two sequels: Crispin: At the Edge of the World (2006), and Crispin: The End of Time (available June 2010), and it's probable that we will get to know both of them better with these books. I'd happily read the sequel(s), but don't find myself wanting to go out of my way to acquire them.

I give Crispin: The Cross of Lead an 8 on its own.