grandmother and grandchild

Little Voice (In The Same Boat Series, 4)

A young Ojibway girl, struggling over the fact that her father has died, spends a summer in the bush with her grandmother and finds her own identity and voice. Things have been hard for her family since her father’s accidental death in a logging accident, and Ray has been unable to express her grief. In school, the green eyes she inherited from her father are unusual for a child from an Ojibway background in a northern Ontario town and get her noticed in ways she doesn’t enjoy. At home, Ray believes that her mother, grieving herself and busy with Ray’s younger brother and sister, no longer needs her. Ray becomes so withdrawn that at times she hardly speaks. At the end of this beautiful and empowering story, which begins in 1978, the withdrawn green-eyed girl has found her voice and is not afraid to use it.

Yo, Naomi Leon

Naomi Soledad Leon Outlaw has had a lot to contend with in her young life, her name for a start. Then, there are her clothes (sewn in polyester by Gram), her difficulty speaking up, and her status at school as “nobody special.” But according to Gram, most problems can be overcome with positive thinking. And with Gram and her little brother, Owen, life at Avocado Acres Trailer Rancho in California is happy and peaceful…until their mother reappears after seven years, stirring up all sorts of questions and challenging Naomi to discover who she really is.

Spanish title: Yo, Naomi Leon

Naomi Soledad Leon Outlaw ha tenido que enfrentarse a mucho en su corta vida, empezando por su nombre. Tambien esta el problema de su ropa (hechas por su abuela en tela de poliester), su timidez y la fama que tiene en la escuela de no ser nadie especial. Pero segun su abuela, la mayoria de los problemas se solucionan con mentalidad positiva. Y su vida, junto a su abuela y su pequeno hermano, Owen, en el parque de casas moviles Avocado Acres, es tranquila y feliz… hasta que su mama aparece luego de siete anos, creando confusion y retando a Naomi a que averigue quien es.

A Year Down Yonder (Newbery Medal Book)

It was within the pages of Richard Peck’s Newbery Honor-winning A Long Way from Chicago that Mary Alice and Grandma Dowdel first made their captivating debut. Now they’re back for more astonishing, laugh-out-loud adventures when fifteen-year-old Mary Alice moves in with her spicy grandmother for the year. Expect moonlit schemes, romances both foiled and founded, and a whole parade of fools made to suffer in unusual (and always hilarious) ways.

Wise, exuberant, and slyly heartwarming, Mary Alice’s story is a fully satisfying companion to the celebrated A Long Way from Chicago, which, in addition to receiving the Newbery Honor, was a National Book Award finalist, an ALA Notable Book, and an ALA Best Book for Young Adults.

Mice and Beans

In this tale Rosa Maria spends the week getting ready for her granddaughter’s birthday party and trying to avoid attracting mice–unaware that the mice in her walls are preparing for a party of their own.

The Little Word Catcher

Elise wonders why her grandmother’s words keep escaping her — do they fly off to play tricks on her? Elise’s grandmother used to know many marvelous words, but now she seems to be losing them all the time. Can Elise help her by catching them, like butterflies in a net? This award-winning picture book offers a gentle exploration of the effects of Alzheimer’s on the relationships in a family, and the special bond it creates between a grandmother and her granddaughter. Eventually, Elise comes to believe that her grandmother has used up all her words and has passed them on to her, as a gift. Winner of the 2007 Governor General’s Award for Children’s Literature Illustration (French language).

Hiroshima Dreams

Lin can’t explain the knowledge she has of the future, of what people will say or what will happen. It’s a gift she shares with Obaasan, her grandmother, who has recently come from Japan to live with Lin’s family. But seeing the future is more than knowing whether or not a boy will call. What is Lin to make of the visions she has of a day long ago, when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima? Acclaimed author Kelly Easton’s poignant coming-of-age novel about a girl with psychic abilities is rich in imagery and memorable characters.