They grow up so fast. Sixth grade girls want to read about dolls and princesses, and 8th grade girls want to read about drug use and domestic abuse. My own 5th grader is so enamoured of Ann M. Martin's Doll People books that she purchased copies with her own money and made sure I read them all this weekend.
As a fan of Rumer Godden's doll books, I found them very enjoyable. Brian Selznik's pictures add a lot, and the characters and situations are fun. For an elementary library, these are essential, but they have a place in a middle school library as well. Even 8th graders get nostalgic for titles that they read "as children".
These descriptions from Follett:
The Doll People: A family of porcelain dolls that has lived in the same house for one hundred years is taken aback when a new family of plastic dolls arrives and doesn't follow The Doll Code of Honor.
The Meanest Doll in the World: Annabelle and Tiffany, dolls who are best friends living in the Palmer house, have an adventure when they hide in Kate Palmer's backpack, are carried to school, mistakenly go to another house, and try to stop Princess Mimi, a doll who threatens all dollkind.
The Runaway Dolls: Best friends Annabelle and Tiffany risk placing all of dollkind in danger when they run away while trying to prevent Tilly from being sent back to London before they can determine if she is Annabelle's long-lost baby sister.
Thanks for the tip - I hadn't heard about this series yet.
ReplyDeleteOh, and regarding the 6th versus 8th, I agree with your description. Except this year, sooo many of my 6th graders want to read about abuse (A Child Called It) that it really makes me concerned. They are hearing about it from their 6th grade friends. :(
I loved this series when I was in fourth and fifth grade and now I'm in eighth grade and I see what you mean about books being not so innocent anymore, but I still like to stick with my fluffy novels. (:
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