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Somewhere in the Darkness

10 best books like Somewhere in the Darkness (Walter Dean Myers): The Blue Cat of Castle Town, All Sail Set: A Romance of the Flying Cloud, The Silver Pencil, What Hearts, After the Rain, When Shlemiel Went to Warsaw and Other Stories, Frontier Living: An Illustrated Guide to Pioneer Life in America, Belling the Tiger, All Alone, Black Fox of Lorne

The Blue Cat of Castle Town
AuthorCatherine Cate Coblentz
ISBN0914378058
You're probably wondering why this book was awarded the Newbery Honor. It's obviously not very popular at all - less than 100 people have rated it! That should tell you something, right?

Wrong. I thought so, too, until I actually tried it for myself.

This is the story of a blue cat who...
All Sail Set: A Romance of the Flying Cloud
AuthorArmstrong Sperry
ISBN0879235233
I found this title in an used bookstore in the little town of Columbia Falls, Montana, and paid $10 for it thinking it was a non-fiction account of the legendary sailing ship Flying Cloud. My copy is a 1935 edition and includes a very large number of superb woodcut illustrations. Instead of the factual...
The Silver Pencil
AuthorAlice Dalgliesh
ISBN0140347925
I bought this book, used, when I was on my Little Women rereading kick last year, as I'd heard the latter was its inspiration.

Janet, a young British girl living an idyllic life in Trinidad, gets her first idea of America through the lives of the March sisters. After Janet's father dies and she...
What Hearts
AuthorBruce Brooks
ISBN0064471276
Recipient of a 1993 Newbery Honor, this novel is an achingly beautiful, powerfully rendered journey through childhood that is not to be missed, now available in a new edition with a striking new cover.

“From an outstandingly perceptive writer, a moving portrait of a boy, observed at four...
After the Rain
AuthorNorma Fox Mazer
ISBN0380750252
At fifteen, Rachel is a worrier. She worries about whether her family understands her, whether her friends like her, and whether she'll get her first kiss before she turns sixteen. And she worries about whether she can handle having a real boyfriend if he does come along.

But it takes a dying...
When Shlemiel Went to Warsaw and Other Stories
AuthorIsaac Bashevis Singer
ISBN0374383162
"In our time, when literature is losing its address and the telling of stories is becoming a forgotten art, children are the best readers."

—When Shlemiel Went to Warsaw & Other Stories, from the Foreward

I have to admit, Isaac Bashevis Singer really has a way with folk tale humor....
Frontier Living: An Illustrated Guide to Pioneer Life in America
AuthorEdwin Tunis
I did not read every word. It is very readable, but there was too much history (compared to the Guide as promised in the title) in it for me. The illustrations were great, esp. of the actually tools and gear. Now, I wouldn't necessarily object to all that text of Westward Ho, but too much of it was written in...
Belling the Tiger
AuthorMary Stolz
ISBN0762418893
At last, Mary Stolz's 1962 Newbery Honor-winning book is back. And now, for the first time, the classic story is brought to life with colorful illustrations in a picture book format. Award-winning illustrator Pierre Pratt adds whimsical new art to this charming tale about two little mice assigned...
All Alone
AuthorClaire Huchet Bishop
ISBN0590457071
Oloo!-Oo-oo-oop!-ooooo! All alone, high on the slope of the Little Giant in the French Alps of Saucie, ten-year-old Marcel yodeled to keep himself company. Like other boys in his village, Marcel would have to look over the family's cows during the summer; and the flexible, age-old rule was, "Don't...
Black Fox of Lorne
AuthorMarguerite de Angeli
ISBN0856860824
Vikings & Scotland in the 10th century.

"Now we shall go a-Viking," Harald Redbeard announced, and so it was that Kan and Brus, Harald's twin sons, found themselves on the dragon-prowed Raven of the Wind, its striped sails set for England. But storms, ancient enemies of the sea-faring...
The Winged Girl of Knossos
AuthorErick Berry
ISBN1589881206
Inas leaps at adventure. She dives to the bottom of the Aegean Sea to harvest sponges and somersaults over charging bulls in front of thousands of people. Best of all, she soars from cliffs wearing the glider-wings her father builds in secret, safe from the prying eyes of their neighbors, who think flying...
The Horsecatcher
AuthorMari Sandoz
ISBN0803291604
Praised for swift action and beauty of language, The Horsecatcher is Mari Sandoz's first novel about the Indians she knew so well. Without ever leaving the world of a Cheyenne tribe in the 1830s, she creates a youthful protagonist many readers will recognize in themselves. Young Elk is expected to be...
The Avion My Uncle Flew
AuthorCyrus Fisher
ISBN0802776930
As read from OpenLibrary, I found this surprisingly charming.

It's mostly about the boy, John (Jean when he's in France) as he faces the challenges of growing from a pampered boy to a stronger and wiser young man. He's sort of forced to 'man up' in just a few weeks, as he's left to live with his 'oncle'...
The Cow-Tail Switch: And Other West African Stories
AuthorHarold Courlander
ISBN0805002987
Read for Newbery, would not have picked it up otherwise, would have missed a fun & enlightening read.

Concise, a fast and enjoyable read, with lovely pictures. The notes and the vibe make it feel authentic and respectful, and I have seen some of the stories in more modern books, so I trust...
Sugaring Time
AuthorKathryn Lasky
Prolific children's author Kathryn Lasky tells the story of sugaring season - that "time between the seasons... when winter seems tired and spring is only a hoped for thing" - in this beautifully-written work of picture-book non-fiction. Her lyrical but informative text is paired with her husband...
Pecos Bill: The Greatest Cowboy of All Time
AuthorJames Cloyd Bowman
ISBN1590172248
“Pecos Bill had the strangest and most exciting experience any boy ever had. He became a member of a pack of wild Coyotes, and until he was a grown man, believed that his name was Cropear, and that he was a full-blooded Coyote. Later he discovered that he was a human being and very shortly thereafter became...
In the Beginning: Creation Stories from Around the World
AuthorVirginia Hamilton
ISBN0152387420
I read this book of creation stories and cosmogonies from around the world out-loud to my 8-year-old daughter to try and balance out the Christian stories that she is deluged by in American culture. Many children have no idea that predominant western religions did not develop in a vacuum, but are threads...
A Fine White Dust
AuthorCynthia Rylant
ISBN1416948287
How much do you have to give up to find yourself?When Pete first sets eyes on the Man, he's convinced he's an ax murderer. But at the revival meeting, Pete discovers that the Man is actually a savior of souls, and Pete has been waiting all his life to be saved.

It's not something Pete's parents can...
Figgs & Phantoms
AuthorEllen Raskin
ISBN0844671533
Mona was miserable. You would be too if your family consisted of: Sister Figg Newton (Tap Dancer, Baton Twirler, and also your mother); Truman, the human pretzel (your uncle); Aunt Gracie Jo, the dog catcher, and her son, Fido the Second. To name a few. The only person Mona really gets along with is Uncle...
What Jamie Saw
AuthorCarolyn Coman
ISBN0140383352
This 1996 Newbery Honor book was also a finalist for the National Book Award. It packs a punch in a mere 126 pages and it addresses a social issue that is compelling and necessary to discuss, ie the impact that adult decisions have upon their small children. Jamie's mother chose to subject her children...
Thistle and Thyme: Tales and Legends from Scotland
AuthorSorche Nic Leodhas
ISBN0370010663
A collection of ten Scottish legends passed down through the ages Scottish culture is rich with mythology. There are tales of monks and saints, fairies and witches, kings, nobles, and ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Some stories were never written down, shared instead through retellings...
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