 First edition | |
| Illustrator | David Diaz |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Children novel |
| Publisher | Joanna Cotler |
Publication date | 2000 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 305 |
| ISBN | 9780439316293 [1] |
| OCLC | 48069938 |
The Wanderer is a children's novel by Sharon Creech, published in 2000. It was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal and named a Newbery Honor book. [2]
Sophie, a 13-year-old girl with two non-biological parents, is the only girl amongst a crew of her three uncles (Dock, Mo, & Stew) and her two cousins (Brian & Cody) sailing across the Atlantic Ocean to visit their grandpa, Bompie, who lives in England. [3] [4] The story is told from her point-of-view and also from Cody's. The family sails from Virginia to Ireland on Dock's sailboat, the Wanderer. During the first part of the trip, the Wanderer stops at Block Island, Martha's Vineyard, and Grand Manan, and then makes the long and treacherous journey to Ireland. Through the journey, Sophie learns to accept who she is and gets to know a lot about her relatives, which creates bonds among them all, especially Cody and Uncle Dock. Cody, who often jokes around and is perceived as unserious, learns he is capable of more than he thought, and heals his relationship with his father. Having previously suppressed memories of her traumatic childhood and the death of her biological parents, Sophie eventually comes to understand that she is allowed to express her feelings, integrate her memories into her life, and rely on her adoptive family. When they land in England, Sophie meets Bompie for the first time.
The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contributions to American literature for children". The Newbery and the Caldecott Medal are considered the two most prestigious awards for children's literature in the United States. Books selected are widely carried by bookstores and libraries, the authors are interviewed on television, and master's and doctoral theses are written on them. Named for John Newbery, an 18th-century English publisher of juvenile books, the winner of the Newbery is selected at the ALA's Midwinter Conference by a fifteen-person committee. The Newbery was proposed by Frederic G. Melcher in 1921, making it the first children's book award in the world. The physical bronze medal was designed by Rene Paul Chambellan and is given to the winning author at the next ALA annual conference. Since its founding there have been several changes to the composition of the selection committee, while the physical medal remains the same.
Elizabeth George Speare was an American writer of children's books, best known for historical novels including two Newbery Medal winners. She has been called one of America's 100 most popular writers for children and some of her work has become mandatory reading in many schools throughout the nation. Indeed, because her books have sold so well she is also cited as one of the Educational Paperback Association's top 100 authors.
Ruth Sawyer was an American storyteller and a writer of fiction and non-fiction for children and adults. She may be best known as the author of Roller Skates, which won the 1937 Newbery Medal. She received the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award in 1965 for her lifetime achievement in children's literature.
Elaine Lobl Konigsburg was an American writer and illustrator of children's books and young adult fiction. She is one of six writers to win two Newbery Medals, the venerable American Library Association award for the year's "most distinguished contribution to American children's literature."
Cynthia Voigt is an American writer of books for young adults dealing with various topics such as adventure, mystery, racism and child abuse. Her first book in the Tillerman family series, Homecoming, was nominated for several international prizes and adapted as a 1996 film. Her novel Dicey's Song won the 1983 Newbery Medal.
Cynthia Rylant is an American author and librarian. She has written more than 100 children's books, including works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Several of her books have won awards, including her novel Missing May, which won the 1993 Newbery Medal, and A Fine White Dust, which was a 1987 Newbery Honor book. Two of her books are Caldecott Honor Books.
Hatchet is a 1986 Newbery Honor-winning young-adult wilderness survival novel written by American writer Gary Paulsen. It is the first novel of five in the Hatchet series. Other novels in the series include The River (1991), Brian's Winter (1996), Brian's Return (1999) and Brian's Hunt (2003).
Number the Stars is a work of historical fiction by the a American author Lois Lowry about the escape of a family of Jews from Copenhagen, Denmark, during World War II.
Nancy Farmer is an American author of children's and young adult books and science fiction. She has written three Newbery Honor Books and won the U.S. National Book Award for Young People's Literature for The House of the Scorpion, published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers in 2002.
Sharon Creech is an American writer of children's novels. She was the first American winner of the Carnegie Medal for British children's books and the first person to win both the American Newbery Medal and the British Carnegie.
The Midwife's Apprentice is a children's novel by Karen Cushman. It tells of how a homeless girl becomes a midwife's apprentice—and establishes a name and a place in the world, and learns to hope and overcome failure. This novel won the John Newbery Medal in 1996.
Joan Baehler Bauer is an American writer of young adult literature currently residing with her husband Evan Bauer in Brooklyn. Bauer was born in River Forest, Illinois. They are the parents of one daughter, Jean. Before becoming a famous author Joan spent years working for McGraw-Hill and the Chicago Tribune. She also did some work in advertising, marketing, and screenwriting.
Catherine, Called Birdy is the first children's novel by Karen Cushman. It is a historical novel in diary format, set in 13th-century England. It was published in 1994, and won a Newbery Honor and Golden Kite Award in 1995.
Elizabeth Wright Enright Gillham was an American writer of children's books, an illustrator, writer of short stories for adults, literary critic and teacher of creative writing. Perhaps best known as the Newbery Medal-winning author of Thimble Summer (1938) and the Newbery runner-up Gone-Away Lake (1957), she also wrote the popular Melendy quartet. A Newbery Medal laureate and a multiple winner of the O. Henry Award, her short stories and articles for adults appeared in many popular magazines and have been reprinted in anthologies and textbooks.
Figgs & Phantoms is a comic young adult novel written and illustrated by Ellen Raskin and published by Dutton in 1974. It was a Newbery Honor Book.
On the Banks of Plum Creek is an autobiographical children's novel written by Laura Ingalls Wilder and published in 1937, the fourth of nine books in her Little House series. It is based on a few years of her childhood when the Ingalls lived at Plum Creek near Walnut Grove, Minnesota, during the 1870s. The original dust jacket proclaimed, "The true story of an American pioneer family by the author of Little House in the Big Woods".
Hattie Big Sky is a children's historical novel by Kirby Larson, published in 2006. In 2007 the book was named a Newbery Honor book and an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults. Hattie Big Sky was also an Illinois Rebecca Caudill Award nominee.
Dear Mr. Henshaw is a juvenile epistolary novel by Beverly Cleary and illustrator Paul O. Zelinsky that was awarded the Newbery Medal in 1984. Based on a 2007 online poll, the National Education Association listed the book as one of its "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children".
The Giver Quartet is a series of four books about a dystopian world by Lois Lowry. The quartet consists of The Giver (1993), Gathering Blue (2000), Messenger (2004), and Son (2012). The first book won the 1994 Newbery Medal and has sold more than 10 million copies. The story takes place in the world of The Giver. Each book has a different protagonist, but is set in the same futuristic era.
Kelly Barnhill is an American author of children's literature, fantasy, and science fiction. Her novel The Girl Who Drank the Moon was awarded the 2017 Newbery Medal.
