Oh, yes!

I spent many free hours this spring reading fiction intended for young adults and juveniles, much of it very fine, and some of it very maudlin, worthy only of a Brady Bunch episode. Accident, a clever title, or a colorful cover led me to some of my choices as I browsed shelves at the public library, but I also relied on lists, particularly the lists of Newbery Medal winners and the honor books, and that of the William Allen White Children's Book Award honorees.

I smell another list ahead and here it is.

These were my favorites:

• Maniac Magee, Jerry Spinelli. Maniac just soars, and it remains my favorite after several readings. (A Newbery Medal winner)
• Stargirl, Spinelli. Spinelli takes a look at conformity in this very, very fine story. (WAW)
• Because of Winn-Dixie, Kate DiCamillo. The stuff of Hallmark Hall of Fame specials. Okay, some might regard that as faint praise. So, let's say instead that it charms. (WAW)
• Stick and Whittle, Sid Hite. Louis L'Amour with magic and spirits--or just Owen Meany-style convergence. (WAW)
• Hope Was Here, Joan Bauer. Belongs among the best. Hello, Hallmark? (WAW)
• The Tiger Rising, Kate DiCamillo
• Benno's Bear, N.F. Zucker
• Esperanza Rising, Pam Munoz Ryan (WAW)

Though not among my favorites, these entertained:

• Knots in My Yo-yo String, Spinelli. The author's tale of his own childhood.
• John Steinbeck, Richard O'Connor. A biography. I thought I'd take a look at some non-fiction, then returned to the fiction.
• Space Station Seventh Grade, Spinelli.
• Wringer, Spinelli.
• Who Put That Hair in My Toothbrush, Spinelli.
• The View from Saturday, E.L. Konigsburg. Oh yeah, it belongs here, but didn't draw me in as some of the others did.
• Bud, not Buddy, Christopher Paul Curtis. This year's William Allen White Award winner, but not among my favorites.
• A Year Down Yonder, Richard Peck (WAW)
• The Graduation of Jake Moon, Barbara Park (WAW)
• Friends and Enemies, Louann Gaeddert (WAW)
• Walking to the Bus-Rider Blues, Harriette Gillem Robinet. Very well done. (WAW)
• Jesse, Gary Soto.
• Dovey Coe, Frances O'Roark Dowell (WAW)
• Coyote Autumn, Bill Wallace (WAW)
• The Earth Kitchen, Sharon Bryant
• Lizzie at Last, Claudia Mills
• Lucy the Giant, Sherri L. Smith
• Jason and Marceline, Jerry Spinelli

I'll omit to list the ones that disappointed (another twenty-five volumes).

Generally, I'm cautious in my regard for magical realism. It can be a bit slippery and manipulative, obviously, but when done well, magical realism forces lazy readers (such as myself) to heed and untangle character, theme, and symbol when they might prefer to breeze through plot and plot and plot to resolution. Many of my favorites up there rely on hints of magical realism for their charm (Maniac and Winn-Dixie especially). In fact, the improbability of some feats and outcomes in Maniac probably accounts for the attraction the tale holds for me. So, disbelief, be gone. I'm sold.

Most of these books are one-night reads. They reward the time of anyone--child or adult--willing to suspend some disbelief, and (in the case of those stories with a touch of magical realism) they invite a reader to partake of a metaphysic which, though altered, becomes plausible, familiar, and comfortable for a few hours.