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32 pp.
| Candlewick
| October, 2019
|
TradeISBN 978-0-7636-8698-7$17.99
(1)
K-3
Illustrated by
Carson Ellis.
"So the shortest day came, and the year died, / And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world / Came people singing, dancing / To drive the dark away." Cooper's powerful celebration-of-the-solstice poem, performed annually at the Christmas Revels, delves into humankind's profound relationship with Earth's cycles, so, too, do Ellis's stunning gouache paintings. An author's note and the poem's full text are appended.
(2)
4-6
Twins Allie and Jay's family needs help from the boggart, his cousin Nessie, and other creatures from Scottish folklore to thwart a real-estate developer's plans for a resort hotel. The juxtaposition of modern science and old magic, the boggart's mischievous humor, and the warm family relationships are big draws for readers. Though this new adventure stands on its own, it will surely send readers looking for The Boggart and The Boggart and the Monster.
Reviewer: Jonathan Hunt
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
March, 2018
328 pp.
| McElderry
| August, 2013
|
TradeISBN 978-1-4424-8141-1$16.99
(2)
4-6
When Little Hawk returns to his village after a three-month test of solitude, he finds it virtually eradicated by disease. Another tragedy befalls him, one that also haunts his colonial settler friend, John Wakeley, the story's second protagonist. The novel maintains an admirable sense of historical empathy as it chronicles the demise of the native way of life in the face of hostile invaders.
Reviewer: Jonathan Hunt
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
September, 2013
196 pp.
| McElderry
| July, 2006
|
TradeISBN 1-4169-1477-3$16.95
(2)
4-6
In this work set alternately now and in 1803–06, Cooper tells parallel stories of eleven-year-old Londoner Molly Jennings, who moves to Connecticut, and young Sam Robbins, a "powder monkey" on Lord Nelson's ship HMS Victory. Cooper's deep, organic interweaving of themes of memory and heritage, dream and bereavement, and her imagery of the sea and sailing make this a powerful novel.
Reviewer: Deirdre F. Baker
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
July, 2006
32 pp.
| McElderry
| June, 2002
|
TradeISBN 0-689-84302-X$$17.00
(2)
PS
Illustrated by
Jane Browne.
"Little Joe couldn't swim....[He] just didn't get it." The boy finds the inspiration and gentle encouragement he needs when he rescues a frog trapped in his family's swimming pool. Little Joe's involvement in Frog's small drama shifts the boy's focus off of himself and his imagined limitations. Both text and art are stripped down to the essentials, with short, simple sentences and uncomplicated, expressive paintings telling the story.
Reviewer: Kitty Flynn
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
July, 2002
197 pp.
| McElderry
| March, 2002
|
TradeISBN 0-689-84751-3$$16.00
(4)
4-6
First-person narrator Trey (who could be a boy or a girl) and Trey's silent brother Lou travel back and forth between their Bahamian island home, threatened by developers, and Pangaia, an overdeveloped otherworld where Lou is the answer to a prophecy that will save both worlds. Cooper's skill as a writer is evident, but the connection between the worlds is tenuous, Lou's role remains vague for too long, and the climax is too abrupt.
Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
May, 2002
186 pp.
| McElderry
| October, 1999
|
TradeISBN 0-689-82817-9$$16.00
(1)
4-6
A young actor travels back in time to 1599 and performs at the Globe Theatre alongside Shakespeare himself. Nat and Will form an intense attachment, and when Nat wakes again in 1999 he's devastated--even after he learns that his time-traveling saved the playwright's life. Ultimately, Nat learns that love is stronger than death in this powerfully rendered historical novel/fantasy/love story.