Deborah Hopkinson

If you're reluctant to say goodbye to summer, try reaching for this sun – soaked treasure for young readers by National Book Award-winning author Polly Horvath. "All summers take me back to the sea," begins Jane Fielding, who is part of a quirky, jam – loving family consisting of her mother, a poet, and three younger siblings. They live year-round at the beach, where little Max is always imagining he sees whales, and where Felicity Fielding feeds her four children strawberries, oysters, blackberries, blueberries and clams.

But this summer, when Jane is 12, she wants something more than the usual wading and reading and castle-building. And so when their preacher, Nellie Phipps, advises prayer, Jane prays for adventure: for 100 adventures to be exact. To Jane's surprise, adventures begin to come her way – events that will change her, her family and her neighbors. Some of Jane's adventures are as simple as an evening at a beachside fair, or listening to poetry in the shade while sipping lemonade. But there are also other, more dramatic events: a rescue at sea, secrets of all kinds, a disappearance, an elopement, and the surprising consequences that arise from dropping Bibles from a hot air balloon. Jane embraces and learns from her adventures, and survives even the hardest ones. At the end of the summer she is still looking forward, eager to embrace her life.

In lyrical, lilting language, Horvath reels out a captivating tale of one girl's unforgettable summer. So don't let the days of warmth and sunshine slip away without grabbing My One Hundred Adventures and whiling away one last, magical afternoon.

Deborah Hopkinson's latest book for young readers is Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek, published this month by Schwartz & Wade.

Nancy Farmer is a master storyteller. She has won three Newbery Honor awards for books such as The Eye, the Ear, and the Arm; A Girl Named Disaster and The House of the Scorpion, which also garnered the National Book Award. Farmer's fans probably each have a personal favorite. Mine is Farmer's lyrical, astounding adventure, The Sea of Trolls, which introduced readers to 11-year-old Jack and his little sister, Lucy, who live in eighth-century Britain. After the children are captured by Northmen, Jack finds himself on a dangerous quest, battling dragons and giant spiders to save his sister. Farmer, who mined Viking history and Norse legends for The Sea of Trolls, explores the worlds of elves and hobgoblins in its sequel, The Land of the Silver Apples. The story is set two years later, and opens on the longest, darkest day of the year. As events unfold, Jack is thrust into a different kind of quest: one that brings him not to the ice-clad lands of the North, but into dark, dangerous caves and the enchanted, shimmering world of the elves.

Based on Farmer's usual meticulous research, The Land of the Silver Apples brings to life a time when belief in magic and the old gods conflicts with Christianity. Jack is an engaging hero brave and compassionate, but not without a temper and his share of human faults. Fans of the first book will be especially delighted with the reappearance of several old friends, including the wise Bard and Thorgill, the feisty shield maiden who became Jack's unlikely ally in his first quest. The third book in the Sea of Trolls trilogy, The Islands of the Blessed, is due out in 2009. If you and your family have finished the last Harry Potter book and are eager for new worlds to explore, you won't be disappointed by Nancy Farmer's masterful and imaginative storytelling.

Deborah Hopkinson's latest book for young readers is Sweet Land of Liberty (Peachtree).

For readers who want to know more about poetry itself, poet and teacher Paul B. Janeczko has teamed with Caldecott Honor illustrator Chris Raschka to create A Kick in the Head: An Everyday Guide to Poetic Forms. What a fun, informative collection (and perfect to have around when it comes time to help with poetry-related homework assignments!). In his introduction, Janeczko addresses the question young writers often ask: why do some poems have to have rules, anyway? The book includes 29 different poetry forms, from haiku to quatrain, elegy to epitaph. There are also a few that I never knew: Villanelle and Clerihew! (Forgive me, but even a non-poet can’t resist finding her poetic side in April.) As usual, Raschka’s illustrations are bold, witty and clever. And while there’s a lot of information here, the book design is deceptively simple and clean, with lots of white space setting off the poems. A separate section at the end of the book describes the forms in more detail. The poets included range from classic masters like William Blake to contemporary newcomers.

Deborah Hopkinson is a writer (though not a poet.

History also plays a role in Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-Ins, Carole Boston Weatherford's poignant picture book on the Greensboro lunch counter sit-ins that began on February 1, 1960. Graced by the art of award-winning illustrator Jerome Lagarrique, the story is told from the point of view of a fictitious young girl who sees these events through the actions of her older brother and sister. More than anything, Connie wants to sit at the lunch counter, swivel on the stool and dig into a luscious banana split. But she learns from her mother the boundaries set up in her North Carolina world: rules that proclaim whites only at water fountains, swimming pools, movie theaters, bathrooms and restaurants. Through Connie's eyes, we see the role that young people played in breaking down these barriers, beginning when four college students sat at Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro and asked to be served. Thanks to this and similar student-led sit-ins, on July 25, 1960, blacks were finally allowed to eat at the lunch counter. With its evocative art, child's-eye perspective and an informative author's note that includes a photo of the sit-in, Freedom on the Menu is an outstanding example of the kind of historical fiction that helps children better understand the past.

Deborah Hopkinson's newest book is Billy and the Rebel, a story for young readers inspired by a true incident at the Battle of Gettysburg.