Amen!

The great thing about children's books is that, even though they live on a shelf, they don't have a shelf life. An author I am crazy about and who will never go out of style is Newberry Award winning author Betsy Byars.

Writing about this author is like dessert to me. I absolutely can't put into words how much I love her work. Betsy was born in 1928 so she's over 80 years old and she has been published in every genre since 1962. That 48 years and 60 wonderful picture books, mysteries, and young adult novels. Not a bad track record.

The Betsy Byars book on the top of my "Love It!" list is:

Keeper of the Doves
Published 2002 by Viking Press

The year is 1891 and Amen is the unexpected, not particularly wanted fifth girl in the McBee clan. From the git-go she is a sensitive, voracious reader and an incredible wordsmith. When Amen is eight her grandmother comes to visit and brings the latest Kodak camera which infuses excitement into the air of the McBee family. There is the reclusive neighbor and dove trainer, Mr. Tominski, who Amen's sisters, "the Bellas" swear is dangerous, but Papa says is harmless. Amen, with the help of the camera, will have to find out for herself. Keeper of the Doves is a most touching story about "nothing is ever what it seems". This book reads aloud beautifully and, in fact, is worth multiple reads. I dare anyone to not shed a tear or two during the last few pages of this glorious book.

FYI - Betsy Byars reads her manuscripts aloud as she writes to make sure all of the dialogue rings true, so her books are easy to read aloud to children no matter what their ages. I have read her books to the 6-9 crowd and 10-12 year olds.

Check these out. . .

The Herculeah Jones Mystery Series
Betsy Byars, Published by Puffin
There are 7 books in the Herculeah Jones series. I've read three of them and they are too much fun! Every single chapter in these books is a cliff hanger. Thirteen year old Herculeah Jones is the only child of a divorced Private Investigator Mom and Police Detective Dad, so, of course, she has access to tricks of the trade, never mind her expertise in eavesdropping. Fearless Herculeah, along with her reluctant, hysterical, best friend, Meat (how great is that for a name?), get themselves into major pickles as they go about solving crimes that the grownups don't even know exist of just can't seem to figure out. For my time, and this is big, these are way more fun than the Nancy Drew series. For those who love mysteries, Herculeah Jones is the ticket!

Herculeah Jones Tantalizing Titles:

The Dark Stairs
Tarot Beware
Dead Letter
Death's Door
Disappearing Acts
King of Murder
The Black Tower

To be continued. . .