Della's Words Win the Fight for Me!

The voice of Kimberly Brubaker Bradley's protagonist reached out and grabbed me. I was hooked from the first page and I could not get Della out of my mind. What a character! What a story! What powerful storytelling. 

It wasn't a knockout. The other two put up a good battle, especially When the Ground is Hard. Malla Nunn used my knowledge of school stories and my knowledge of mean girls to help me understand a world I'd previously known nothing about. She introduced so much new information without overwhelming the reader or being didactic; she made me connect. And it was good, it really was, but I love Della.