The Underneath by Kathi Appelt with illustrations by David Small. (Grades... 4-7?)I'm not going to review this one. Nope. Uh-uh. Pretty much everyone and their mother has already reviewed it, so I'm going to point you to their reviews and just tell you that I LOVED IT. It's sad and violent and lyrical and hopeful... Truly, I think it's the best book I've read in a long time.
If it's on your TBR list, bump it up.
Or if you'd like, y'know, more information than some random librarian in Illinois loved it, you could check out the following reviews:
A Fuse #8 Production
Sarah Miller: Reading, Writing, Musing
The Reading Zone
educating alice
A Year of Reading - Franki
AYear of Reading - Mary Lee
Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
Becky's Book Reviews
The Goddess of YA Literature
(Do you SEE why I cannot possibly review this book? What could I possibly say that is different from all these heavy-hitting reviewers?)
The Underneath is also in the running for the ACPL Mock Newbery (so if you've read it, feel free to add your comments).