Wild Girls by Pat Murphy (Viking Press, hardcover, $16.99) is a marvelous children’s book about friendship, family, and the craft of writing.
In the early 1970s twelve-year-old Joan moves with her family from Connecticut to California, where she becomes best friends with Sarah. When Joan and Sarah win 1st place in a story contest, they get talked into taking a summer writing class.
The lessons they learn that summer apply to more than just writing and give the girls the tools and maturity they need to cope with their unhappy family situations.
I wish I could singlehandedly convince every 12-year-old girl to read this amazing book. Please buy a copy of Wild Girls for any creative writing teacher, writer-to-be, or children’s librarian that you know.
January 31, 2008 at 12:20 pm
What a great recommendation! I’ve been a fan of young adult fiction since I was a supposedly too young for the genre, and now I’m almost thirty and still browsing my library’s YA section for good books. A year or so ago I was an assistant to a professor at UGA’s gifted & creative education department who was updating his list of “The Right Books for Bright Kids at the Right Time”–that project allowed me to read hundreds of pages of beautiful picture books and well-reviewed, recent young adult fiction and get paid for it. One of the best jobs of my life, I tell you.
Sounds like this book might very well be an addition to his list. Thanks for the information. I’m just two entries into your blog and already writing up a storm. Guess I should read some more now.
April 6, 2008 at 9:00 am
[...] Girls Wins Christoper Award My favorite recent children’s book, Wild Girls by Pat Murphy (Viking Press, hardcover, $16.99), has just won a Christopher Award. For those not [...]