Extra Credit, by Andrew Clements
Abby Carson won't be promoted from the sixth grade in her farm town in Illinois unless she completes all her homework, aces all her exams, and finishes an extra credit project. The project: write letters to a pen pal in Afghanistan. Sounds easy enough. But the growing friendship between the letter writers cause numerous problems for both communities.
-Deirdre
July 2011 Archives
The Lemonade War, by Jacqueline Davies
One brother. One sister. One bet. Winner take all.
-Deirdre
The Gollywhopper Games, by Jody Feldman
Gil is one of ten children picked out of thousands to compete in the Gollywhopper Games, a contest sponsored by a toy company, with fabulous prizes to win. But Gil has more at stake -- the year before, his father, who worked for the company, was fired and arrested, falsely accused of embezzlement. Though acquitted, he and his family are still treated like criminals, and Gil wants to get enough money for them to move out of town. Winning won't be easy.
-Deirdre
Goya's Ghosts
Released in 2006, Goya's Ghosts may not have enjoyed wide-spread popularity, but it is an interesting and visually satisfying film. Directed by Milos Forman, who also co-wrote the script with Jean-Claude Carriere, Goya's Ghosts begins by following the Spanish painter Francisco Goya in late Eighteenth Century Spain during the Inquisition conducted by the Spanish Catholic Church. Famed for his portraits as well as his satirical paintings of aspects of Spanish society, a young daughter from a wealthy merchant family becomes the subject of one of Goya's paintings. She later is suspected of being Jewish by the church authorities, arrested, tortured and imprisoned. One priest in particular, Brother Lorenzo, played by Javier Bardem, becomes involved with the family of this girl and their efforts to seek her release. The characters are involved in the turbulent times of the Inquisition and the subsequent invasion of Spain by Napoleon's French troops and then the arrival of the British, who defeat and expel the French. Well-acted and beautifully filmed, Goya's Ghosts is a film to enjoy.
-Roy
