Mazer

Ahhh ... Harry Mazer. No other author could write such a heart-warming, hilarious story about a boy who keeps a dead dog in the freezer. Here, Mazer collects three very different tales about dogs--stories about a dog and a boy who switch places, about puppy love (both kinds), and about a boy who can't part with his neighbor's dead dog because he's confused about death and endings of a different sort. An award-winning author of many books for teens (and preteens), Mazer is always able to shine his verbal flashlight on the naked, strange underbelly of our lives. This collection, true to form, aches and sparkles like good angst should. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

wisdom

'A lovely and touching family reading experience. Here is a delightful and poignant opportunity for parent and child to bond in love and wisdom.'

African

Grade 1-4-Altman uses a folksy, third-person voice to describe a fictional episode set in California during the Gold Rush. The story concerns the friendship between outsiders Rosabel, an African American, and Sophie, a Jewish girl. The tale turns on the fact that Rosabel has her 'freedom papers,' but her mother does not. When the woman is captured under the Fugitive Slave Act, the girls hatch a plan to free her. Conveniently, they find gold in a nearby cave that is worth enough to buy freedom for Rosabel's mother and the five other prisoners on the slave wagon. The ending stretches credibility a bit, but the book is competently painted and has curricular possibilities for a topic not typically treated in picture books. The watercolors are rendered in a muted palette; the main characters appear in sharper focus and slightly brighter colors. Consider where period picture books are popular.Wendy Lukehart, Dauphin County Library, Harrisburg, PA Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.