Sitti's Secrets

     Sitti's Secrets is a picture book by Naomi Shihab Nye about a little girl's visit with her grandmother in Palestine. From the little girl, Mona's perspective, we are are told of the tremendous distance between the two. Sitti, we learn, is Arabic for Grandma. Mona does not speak Arabic but describes the sound of her Sitti's voice as whooshing "like wind going around corners." She loves the time she spends with her grandmother and they find ways to communicate despite speaking different languages.
     This story does a beautiful job of teaching that people are more the same than different, despite differences in language and style of dress. Grandmother's still love grandchildren and vice-versa even when half a world is between them. Mona writes to the President and tells him about her grandmother and her wish for peace. This story makes me hope he read it.

A Maze Me

     A Maze Me: Poems for Girls by Naomi Shihab Nye contains over one hundred pages of poems divided into five sections. The blue-green shade of the front cover has the look and feel of chalk. The sky-blue end papers compliment the yellow of the dust jacket and give the feel of a sunny, summer day. The title page illustration has features a keyhole to give the feel of a girls diary. Interior illustrations continue the chalk/crayon style.

     The primary audience for the poems is middle school girls. One poem I believe they would appreciate and relate to is "In the School Cafeteria."  Nye's sense of humor is evident in two of my favorite poems, "Having Forgotten to Bring a Book" and "If the Shoe Doesn't fit". Native Texans will enjoy "Abandoned Post Office, Big Bend", "Meteor Watch", and "Little Blanco River".

19 Varieties of Gazelle

     19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East, by Naomi Shihab Nye, is a National Book Award Finalist. When I first looked at the cover of this book, and read the title, I didn't know what to expect from this book. After reading the first poem I knew, whatever I expected, this isn't it. I found myself unable to pass the book to someone with the instructions to "read this" and then "now read this" so we could talk about it.
      In "Flinn, On the Bus" on September 11, a convict is described as having secluded himself in his cell to avoid any possible problems before his release from prison and then stares at his "free hands" while he rides the bus. How did Nye ever conceive of the idea of writing from the perspective of an ex-con?
     In "Postscript" Nye responds to a prompt to "Think of something you said. Now write what you wish you had said." We then experience the writers regret of speaking words that cannot be taken back. She expresses a desire to use words, "That nobody would get a splinter from." Naomi's poems aren't read so much as they are felt.

Never in a Hurry

Never in a Hurry: Essays on People and Places by Naomi Shihab Nye is like window shopping through interesting moments in the life of the author. Places she's been, people she's spoken too, and little bits of her past are interwoven in moments that are common and yet somehow uncommon at the same time. In "Favorite Cleaners" for example, she recounts her experience of using the same dry cleaners over many years, of watching the shop prosper, of business declining, of the proprietors death, and of her feelings about that loss. I think the essay that impacted me the most was "Bread." Before she left her family in the Middle East, her aunt baked bread for her to carry home. The bread represented home and family. She had difficulty in the airport because of her background but felt a momentary connection with an airport employee as he gently handed the bread back to her after searching her belongings. It felt like little bit of humanity in the midst of a  trying time. Nye has a way of taking something ordinary and making it somehow more, of painting a picture that has more than just 3 dimensions, of letting you feel and experience along with her. 

The Penderwicks at Point Mouette

    In The Penderwicks at Point Mouette by Jeanne Birdsall the girls are off on a summer vacation at the beach. Rosalind heads to Maine leaving Skye OAP (oldest available Penderwick) in charge of her sisters. Skye feels the pressure when her aunt takes a tumble and sprains her ankle, Jane falls head over heels for a boy, and she fears that Batty will blow up while under her care. Not only does Batty not blow up, she discovers she shares Jeffrey's talent for the piano. Jeffrey meanwhile, discovers that he shares not only his love for music but also an uncanny resemblance to a vacationing neighbor.

     Another delightful Penderwicks adventure filled with fun and mystery. I'm looking forward to finding out how Batty's piano playing will progress and what will become of Jeffrey's relationship with his father.  Birdsall does a wonderful job of portraying characters so realistic you feel like you know them.  

The Penderwicks on Gardam Street

     The Penderwicks on Gardam Street is Jeanne Birdsall's second Penderwicks book. Mr. Penderwick is starting to date and the girls, none too keen on the idea, hatch the Save Daddy Plan. They set up a series of disaster-dates designed to convince him to give up the idea of dating entirely. In the mean time, they develop a friendship with a lovely new neighbor who just happens to be a widowed mother. In time they come to realize that perhaps having a step-mother wouldn't be so horrid after all.

     The Penderwick girls are endearing characters, each unique and gifted in her own way. I really like that they are positive role models for young girls. Education in a priority in the Penderwick family. Mr. Penderwick is a Latin-quoting botany professor, Rosalind studies Latin in school, Skye enjoys math, Jane is an aspiring writer, and Iantha is a professor of astronomy. Thoroughly enjoyable and highly recommended.