Friday, November 13, 2009

Thirteen

 Rather than indulge in Triskaidekaphobia, we should embrace thirteen.

We've got several great books about 13-year-olds (try just typing "thirteen" as a search). Here are two:



The Master Puppeteer by Katherine Paterson  (PZ7 .P273 Mas 1989)
Paterson is a Newbery Award winning author.
Who is the man called Sabura, the mysterious bandit who robs the rich and helps the poor? And what is his connection with Yosida, the harsh and ill- tempered master of feudal Japan's most famous puppet theater? Young Jiro, an apprentice to Yosida, is determined to find out, even at risk to his own life.
Meamwhile, Jiro devotes himself to learning puppetry. Kinshi, the puppet master's son, tutors him. When his sheltered life at the theater is shattered by mobs of hungry, rioting peasants, Jiro becomes aware of responsibilities greater that his craft. As he schemes to help his friend Kinshi and to find his own parent, Jiro stumbles onto a dangerous and powerful secret....




A Long Way Gone:  Memoirs of a  Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah (DT516.828 .B43 A3 2007)
This is how wars are fought now: by children, hopped-up on drugs and wielding AK-47s. Children have become soldiers of choice. In the more than fifty conflicts going on worldwide, it is estimated that there are some 300,000 child soldiers. Child soldiers have been profiled by journalists, and novelists have struggled to imagine their lives. But until now, there has not been a first-person account from someone who came through this hell and survived. Ishmael Beah, now 25 years old, tells how at the age of twelve, he fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he'd been picked up by the government army, and Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts.--From publisher


I look out of the window of the library and see so many wonderful things!  Birds, butterflies, the occasionaly stalking cat.  Last Friday it was a phoebe. (Photo by Jim Bailey). 

Bookishly yours,

Ingrid

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