Amazing Young Adult Fiction

Holes  Louis Sachar 2000
Maniac Magee  Jerry Spinelli 1990
Weight: 12 oz
Method of Disposal: Leaving at Joe's in EAV

Maniac Magee was one of my favorite books growing up, and I do not think it was only because it was also one of my brother's favorites at the time, though that is why I read it to begin with.  It is about a homeless teenager who becomes a legend.  He is amazing and also mysterious.  He has no home, but he has many talents and one of them is finding the good in people and making friends in spite of societal pressures.  This book deals with what family is and how it is not always just the people you are born to, race relations, and what "home" entails.  It has been a very long time since I have read this book so I cannot tell you how well done it is, but I do remember being quite moved as a child.  Maniac Magee was someone you wish you knew, someone you would like to be like, and he is an outlier.

Holes was written almost a decade later and was turned into a movie.  It is about a boy who is forced to dig holes, among other demeaning things, in an all boys detention center.  This is another book that is written about an outcast who is also a hero and someone to look up to, despite his troubled past. 

Have I mentioned that I love Young Adult fiction?  I am happy to think of these books being on summer reading lists and hopeful that they will encourage kids to enjoy reading.