5/18/2023 0 Comments Zazoo by richard mosherSwirling, twisting, moving in and out and about, Appelt’s mastery in creating atmosphere is what makes this book to my mind a serious contender. Zazoo Richard Mosher Published b圜larion Books, 2001 ISBN 10: 0618135340ISBN 13: 9780618135349 Seller: OwlsBooks, Toledo, OH, U.S.A. The story is engrossing, but it is the sense of place the author gives to us, that bayou, ancient and current, that is absolutely central to the book. And the more I think about it and read other reviews, it strikes me that it is the atmospheric writing that elevates it to award contender for me. What brought the term to mind is Kathi Appelt’s The Underneath, a book that I like more and more as I think about it. Books like Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast series where the place is so weird, so unique, so part of the story. It has been years since I read it, but I remember being drawn in by the atmosphere of that life, that home where Zazoo and her grandfather lived. Now I may be using completely the wrong word, but by atmosphere I’m thinking about books in which the setting is alive and a vibrant part of the story, books in which you just smell, feel, and taste the heat or the wind or something else. Well, because I’m now thinking about possible books for this year’s award and my current favorite is absolutely neck-deep in atmosphere. We made our decision and now it is the 2009 Committee‘s turn. Huh? Why Newbery, you asked? After all, I’m done. When he was fifteen, he spent the year attending a French boarding school and hitchhiking around Europe during vacations.
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