Annal:2007 Batchelder Award
From AwardAnnals
Results of the Batchelder Award in the year 2007. For a ranked list of books, try an honor roll:
- 2007 Batchelder winner
- Score: 10.57
On a stormy night, little Yann Doutreleau wakes up his six older brothers, all twins. He lets them know that they must flee their home — or risk being killed by their violent father. Without question, the siblings follow Yann into the wet darkness. And so begins their remarkable odyssey toward the ocean — as well as an unforgettable story of brotherhood.
The social worker investigating the Doutreleau family, the truck driver who gives the boys a lift, the police officer who believes they’ve run away, the baker who gives them bread — each of the many people the seven boys encounter gives a stirring account of what he or she witnesses. The twins themselves add their voices, as do the Doutreleau parents; but not until the end of the journey does little Yann express his reasons for his galvanizing actions.
- 2007 Batchelder honor
- Score: 6.57
On the afternoon when Angel Allegria arrives at the Poloverdos’ farmhouse, he kills the farmer and his wife. But he spares their child, Paolo–a young boy who will claim this as the day on which he was born. Together the killer and the boy begin a new life on this remote and rugged stretch of land in Chile.
Then Luis Secunda, a well-to-do and educated fellow from the city descends upon them. Paolo is caught in the paternal rivalry between the two men. But life resumes its course... until circumstances force the three to leave the farm. In doing so, Angel and Luis confront their pasts as well as their inevitable destinies–destinies that profoundly shape Paolo's own future.
- 2007 Batchelder honor
- Score: 6.57
In a post-apocalyptic world, shrouded in darkness and continually lashed by rain, a young elf named Yorsh struggles to survive. When his village is destroyed by the torrential waters, Yorsh finds himself suddenly orphaned and alone - the earth's last elf.
But soon Yorsh discovers he is part of a powerful prophecy: when the last dragon and the last elf break the circle, the past and the future will meet, and the sun of a new summer will shine in the sky. Now Yorsh must decipher the prophecy and find the last dragon — it is the only way to end the rains and to save the world from the Dark Age that has begun. Full of great tenderness and humor, this magical journey tells the story of a world now plagued by intolerance and wickedness, and the elf and the dragon who will fight for its redemption.
