Sahara Special (by Esme Raji Codell)

There she meets the new teacher, Madame Poitier, called Miss Pointy, who's not like any teacher she's ever met. She behaves outrageously, is contemptuous of school rules and bureaucracy, and teaches subjects such as Puzzling and Time Travel. And when she finds out that Sahara wants to be a writer, she has only one thing to say: "A writer writes."

Esmé 'aji Codell's first novel for children is not a new story: Unconventional Teacher Bucks Authority, Changes Students' Lives. But Codell's lyrical take on it is sharply observed and poignantly funny. This is a lovely, moving book.

Miss Pointy is front and center here, but Sahara's sharp voice crackles across the page as compellingly as Miss Pointy's antics. Sahara is one of those children who doesn't say much but who thinks a lot, and who notices everything. Her sometimes caustic observations are penetrating, and her writing talent is powerful, as revealed in a climax as satisfying as the end of one of Andrew Clements' books. Codell knows children and teachers, and the little graces of writing -- the rhythms, metaphors, insights, and turns of phrase that turn a story into a song.