From the list!

Found, by Margaret Peterson Haddix--This book came in the other day and no one was waiting on it. Well, that probably changed about thirty seconds after I checked it out, so I read it like lightning, and then my 13-year-old said, "Hey! I've been wanting to read that." So the requestor had to wait another two days. Sorry!

I would like to say, I'm sorry I put off reading this until after school got out. I would have loved to have talked about this when I went on my school visits. It has suspense, mysterious appearances and disappearances, lurking strangers, and main characters who are adopted. What makes this adoptee story special is that Jonah Skidmore has always known he was adopted and he's okay with that. His parents are great, his younger sister is tolerable, and he has never felt out of place. Until the day he goes to the mailbox and finds a letter addressed to him which says nothing more than, "You are one of the missing." He dismisses it as a prank until a second letter arrives, "Beware! They're coming back to get you."

In a far-reaching story which involves an airplane which appears out of nowhere and vanishes again, the FBI, and grown-ups with hidden agendas, Jonah must actively strive to solve the mystery of who he is and where he comes from. Instead, he finds himself stuck in the middle of two groups who each want him for their own purposes, and he must decide which to follow without fully understanding what exactly either choice means for him.

The story paced really well. The action moves along at a great clip without leaving you breathless, and the downtimes don't make you grumble, "Get on with it already!" The characters are believable in their uncertainty and their determination. Jonah's sister, Katherine, provides a more objective perspective in helping Jonah and his friend, Chip, as they try to solve the mystery.

This book is the first in a new series. The second title, available now, is Sent, and the third, out in late August, is Sabotaged.

A hitch in my plan

I am unable to review the SCBAN books with any regularity from this point forward, as they are in high demand from the students who are actually required to read them. I will continue to post reviews of other books in the Lexington County Public Library System. But not today.

Spinelli Forever! (or not, 'cause even protons die)

Smiles to Go, by Jerry Spinelli--Will Tuppence has every thing planned. He will accomplish his goals, then die, and live on forever as the protons that make up his body spread around the universe. Then he learns that protons, the one constant in the universe, do in fact die. They flash out of existence. Suddenly, life is full of uncertainty.

His faith shaken, Will begins to see every thing and everyone around him in a different light. Even his life-long friendship with BT and Mi-Su is changing.

Jerry Spinelli has drawn his characters to be memorable, not entirely predictable. This means there are times you don't like them, even Will. There are times you find their actions and motivations questionable and the results and consequences either lacking or unrealistic. If you think about real life, though, you don't always like everything your friends do, and there are not always appropriate results and consequences. Good decisions do not always produce happy outcomes. Bad decisions do not always produce negative outcomes.

I really enjoyed this book, and it is prompting me to want to read Mr. Spinelli's other works, such as Stargirl.

Snowboarding Suspense

The White Gates, by Bonnie Ramthun--Torin Sinclair moves from California to the snow-covered mountains of Colorado as his doctor mom starts a new job. The very first night, his mom is called to her clinic to treat a member of the high school snowboarding team. Other members of the team are there, and they make reference to a "curse" as they stare hatefully at Tor and his mom. They walk out without telling him what they mean. As Tor goes through his first days in town, he is met with unexplained hostility and pity in equal measure. When he goes to pick out snowboarding equipment, he finally makes some friends who reveal to him the tale of a long-gone Ute Indian determined to keep her land safe. With the help of Drake and Raine, Tor navigates the uncertainties of a new school, a new sport, and an old curse.

A fast-moving mystery story, The White Gates is interspersed with lessons on snowboarding technique and Ute history. These bits are handled deftly and with a light touch so that the reader is not distracted or made to feel as if he or she is sitting in a classroom. I was really impressed with Ms. Ramthun's ability to draw her characters to make them more than stereotypes. Drake and Raine are in some ways more fully fleshed-out than Tor, which is unusual in secondary characters. Which is not to say we don't come to know Tor. The author is exceedingly good at showing us the heart of her characters without using an excess of words to do it. I really enjoyed my trip through The White Gates, and I highly recommend it.

Non-Fiction: Colonial

Colonial Voices: Hear Them Speak, by Kay Winters, illustrated by Larry Day--The near universal opinion in my household (or at any rate, the independent readers therein) was that this is a beautiful book about the Boston Tea Party. Beautiful and boring. The illustrations by Larry Day are very nice, but the text assumes too much knowledge on the part of the reader, and is too spare. Generally speaking, I appreciate authors who use as few words as possible to get their points across, especially in children's books. In this case, however, Kay Winters was downright miserly in her use of language. The text is set in irregular columns, as though it is trying to look like poetry. But it doesn't read like poetry. Ms. Winters uses a different character point of view on each two-page spread and focuses mostly on how the characters are feeling as opposed to why. The whole book--text and illustration alike--fails to convey the urgent energy which must have accompanied the build up to this cathartic event in Colonial America. For a historical non-fiction book, remarkably little history is imparted.

Paralyzed by fear

The Leanin' Dog, by K. A. Nuzum--Dessa Dean is eleven years old. She and her father live in the woods, trapping, hunting, and fishing for their food. As the book opens, Dessa Dean is trying to work up the courage to step off the porch, into the snow. Fear holds her back. We learn that a while back her mother, a diabetic, fell into a coma and froze in the snowy woods while Dessa Dean looked on helplessly. Her own ear-tips were deadened by frost-bite by the time her father discovered her sitting by Josie's body. Since he brought her home, Dessa Dean has been unable to leave the house, not even to go to the outhouse. She stays inside, cooking, cleaning, and doing all the things her mother used to do, in addition to her schoolwork. One day, while her father is out hunting and checking his traps, there comes a scratching at the cabin door.

Dessa Dean opens the door to discover a dog, a beautiful fudge-colored dog, favoring one leg as she runs off the porch and back to the woods. The book chronicles Dessa Dean's efforts to befriend the dog and the dog's efforts to protect Dessa Dean. It is beautifully written, although I think younger readers will be a bit put off by the lengthy descriptions of Dessa Dean's meal preparations. These things are important, though, as they show us how little Dessa Dean and her father have and how hard they have to work for everything they do have. When disaster strikes, we have a deeper understanding of the devastation. This book is on the Children's list, but older children and teens will have a better appreciation for the details and themes.

Suspense cycle

Shift, by Jennifer Bradbury--Have you ever had a friendship that seemed so close and so important, you knew it would last forever? And then you slowly realized it had faded away? Or, maybe you could pinpoint the exact moment of falling-out: a major argument, a long-distance move. What if your friend simply disappeared?

Chris Collins and Win Coggans have been best friends since grade school. After graduating high school, they bicycle across the country from West Virginia to the state of Washington. They plan to spend a day or two with Win's uncle in Seattle before catching a bus back home to get ready for college. Only, a day before they reach Seattle, Win keeps going while Chris stops to change a flat tire. He vanishes, leaving Chris to finish the journey to an unfamiliar city and without the name of Win's uncle. Circumstances during the trip have been such that Chris does not tell either family that Win left him. When he gets back home, he tells the families what happened and answers a bunch of questions. He believes Win abandoned him deliberately and is by turns hurt, angry, and worried.

Shortly after Chris begins college classes, an off-duty FBI agent comes to see him. Win's father has hired him to investigate Win's disappearance. Mr. Ward tells Chris there is no uncle in Seattle, and the mystery really takes off.

The story moves along at a good clip, although the alternating past/present of the chapters was a tad frustrating sometimes. I developed a lot of sympathy for Chris and, against my better judgment, Win. He seems to be all jerk, but there are moments when he really comes through for Chris and for them as a team. Solving his disappearance becomes critical, and in the end, conscience-searing.

A Taste of the Middle East

Beneath My Mother's Feet, by Amjed Qamar--Set in Pakistan and told through the eyes of fourteen-year-old Nazia, this story explores the relationships between parents and children, especially mothers and daughters. Nazia attends school and awaits the day when she will be married to her cousin, Salman. When her father is injured and unable to work, her mother, Naseem, must go outside the home to find employment. She takes Nazia out of school to care for her two younger siblings. They all go along with Naseem on her housekeeping jobs, and Nazia helps her mother in addition to watching her brother and sister.

As time goes on, Nazia realizes she has dreams beyond marriage, beyond what is expected of her. Her struggle to come to terms with her dreams and her reality bring her into conflict with her mother, her father, her siblings, even her mother's employers. I was hard pressed not to yell out loud at Nazia's family (especially her father) as they continuously crushed her emotionally and mentally. Their own hopelessness made them blind to her possibilities. She is so smart and so determined, that you can't help cheering for her as she strives to make her place in the world fit her instead of the other way around.

Warning: Audio Book Ahead!

A Dog on His Own, by Mary Jane Auch--I downloaded this book from the library's website (www.lex.lib.sc.us). It's not very long, and I listened to it over the course of three hours in the car today. The narrator is lively without being annoying, and it was a very pleasant accompaniment to my errands.

K-10 (so named by his mother, who believed he was "a step above other dogs") is a stray who likes to think he enjoys being on his own. His life experiences have led him to believe that humans cannot be trusted, they will always leave you in one way or another. The action kicks off as he is being brought to yet another shelter from which he hopes to either escape or be adopted so he can then escape from the new family. As he waits to be noticed by adoptive families, he coaches another dog on how to get attention, and that dog is placed. K-10 finds that for the first time in his life, he is spending a second night in a shelter. The next day, he meets Pearl and Peppy. The new friends plot their escape.

Once out in the open, K-10 slowly comes to realize that he has never been entirely on his own for any real length of time, and he is unsure how to proceed. Through the help of Pearl and even tiny Peppy, he figures out his place in the world.

The story is very engaging, but do be prepared for a certain amount of gore. There are descriptions of roadkill and a pair of dog bullies take down a rabbit and eat it. Otherwise, it is appropriate (and even of interest) to elementary and younger middle-school students.

Non-Fiction: Triumphant

When the Wolves Returned: Restoring Nature's Balance in Yellowstone, by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent, photographs by Dan Hartman and Cassie Hartman--This beautiful photo-essay depicts Yellowstone National Park, past and present, as its caretakers struggle to keep the park healthy and appealing to tourists. In the early days, the few tourists had free rein of the park. Before the mass-production of automobiles, Yellowstone was difficult to get to, so the effect of people hunting bears and feeding the wildlife was slight. People enjoyed interacting with the elk and deer, so park officials hired hunters to get rid of the wolves which also liked to, ahem, interact with the elk and deer.

The author does a marvelous job explaining the effects the elimination of the wolves caused. The elk and deer populations grew larger and larger, but bad winters caused many to starve to death. The pronghorn population fell as more coyotes moved in and killed pronghorn fawns. Foxes and other small predators lost ground to the coyotes. Trees and shrubs were endangered by the growing elk and deer populations. Losing trees caused the beavers to fail. Since the beavers were no longer building dams to create small ponds, animals who relied on the ponds for their homes were displaced and began struggling to survive.

After sudying this startling chain of events, scientists decided to bring the wolves back to Yellowstone. In 1995 and 1996, wolves were brought in from Canada. They were released in seven groups, which have now increased to about twelve. Nature's balance seems to be restoring itself as the elks have stabilized, the coyotes have been reduced to a manageable level, and the trees and shrubs are growing again. Hooray for the wolves!

Non-Fiction: Incredible

Chasing Lincoln's Killer, by James L. Swanson--This young adult book is a distillation of Swanson's adult non-fiction book, Manhunt: The Twelve-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer. Liberally illustrated with newspaper clippings, woodcuts, and photographs, Chasing Lincoln's Killer is a wild ride through twelve days in history. I learned more about Lincoln's assassination in the two or three hours it took me to read this book than I recall ever learning in all my school years.

John Wilkes Booth and three others plotted to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln, Vice President Andrew Johnson, and Secretary of State William H. Seward. His aim? The restoration of the Confederate States of America. He was convinced that, with Lincoln gone, the South could regroup and defeat the North.

Swanson leaves no room for the squeamish as he details the gruesome happenings of the night of April 14, 1865. From the doctors' probing of the bullet wound in Lincoln's skull to the knife attack on William H. Seward and his family, readers are treated to a complete, but not sensational, recounting of the atrocities.

Very well done.

Battle to the death

The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins--I must admit I was not prepared for the level of violence in this book. Ms. Collins does not stint on the graphic descriptions of how her characters meet their various ends in this post-apocalyptic dystopia. In short, the Hunger Games are a way for the government country of Panem to control the residents of its twelve districts. There used to be thirteen, but after an uprising by the districts:

Twelve were defeated, the thirteenth obliterated. The Treaty of Treason gave us the new laws to guarantee peace and as our yearly reminder that the Dark Days must never be repeated, it gave us the Hunger Games.

 The rules of the Hunger Games are simple. In punishment for the uprising, each of the twelve districts must provide one girl and one boy, called tributes, to participate. The twenty-four tributes will be imprisoned in a vast outdoor arena that could hold anything from a burning desert to a frozen wasteland. Over a period of several weeks, the competitors must fight to the death. The last tribute standing wins.

  Yes. It says "fight to the death." Girls and boys, ages twelve to eighteen, are randomly selected--or, in some cases, volunteer--to kill each other. The games, a lethal form of "Survivor", are televised to the entire country, and everyone must watch. The winner gets riches and recognition, both of which are untold luxuries in most of the districts, where hunger is the everyday norm.

Enter sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen. When her sister, Prim, is called to participate in the Games at age twelve, Katniss rushes to take her place. She knows that her hunter's skills, illicitly perfected in the wilds just beyond the District Twelve fence, will give her a chance to survive. Gentle Prim, a healer, has no such advantage.

The dangers Katniss faces are not just external. In addition to the other tributes and the conniving Gamemakers, she must re-evaluate her own view of who she is. Because this is the first book of a trilogy, we only see the beginning of Katniss's self-discovery. We do see how she wins the Games (which is never in doubt, or it would be a very short trilogy), but are left hanging in the aftermath. Katniss is a believable character, and we care how she will handle life after the Games.

This book is on both the Junior and the Young Adult lists, a singular distinction.

I don't think I'm gonna make it.

I just realized I have 20 books to read to finish everything on the middle school reading lists (Children's and Junior) and 18 books on the Young Adult list (which is applicable to nothing, except readers' advisory). And there are only 23 days until school is out for the summer. I have been so slack. Now I am so embarrassed.

Non-Fiction: Eye-Opening

Farmer George Plants a Nation, by Peggy Thomas, paintings by Layne Johnson--What comes to mind when you think of George Washington? Dollar bills? First president of the United States? Statue of a big guy on a big horse? Commander in Chief of the Continental Army in the American Revolution? He is most famous for these things but, as Peggy Thomas states, "...he was a general only for eight and a half years and held the office of president for eight years." That accounts for sixteen and a half years. But he died at the age of 67. What was he doing the rest of the time?

He was a farmer. And not just your run-of-the-mill, eking-out-a-living, farmer. He was successful. More than that, he was curious. What made which crops grow best? How could one increase the efficiency of one's farm operation? He experimented with crop rotation and with building machines. His home plantation, Mount Vernon thrived under his care, and over the years he increased its acreage from two thousand to more than eight thousand. Even as general and president, "No matter where he was, George's thoughts were never far from home. ...General George found time to write lengthy letters to his farm managers back home. The longest was sixteen pages!"

Peggy Thomas uses quotes from many of Washington's letters and farm records to supplement her own text. The quotes are well-chosen to highlight the beautiful paintings of Layne Johnson. All in all, a wonderful book.

Non-Fiction: Breathtaking

Breakfast in the Rainforest: A Visit With Mountain Gorillas, by Richard Sobol, is a beautiful photo-essay of a journey through Uganda. Mr. Sobol starts in Kampala, Uganda's capital, and makes his way southwest to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. His photographs of the people and the land are stunning. His text shows a real respect and appreciation for the Ugandan people who are the sole defense of the extremely endangered mountain gorilla population. Rangers estimate there are only about 650 mountain gorillas left in the forests of Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. These three countries in eastern Africa converge at the edge of Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, only about 30 miles from the Bwindi Park. There are two different tribes of gorillas, one in each park. The story of Mr. Sobol's excursion to visit the gorilla's is told in the first person, present tense, lending a sense of immediacy and intimacy to the book. I recommend students to pick this one up and read it carefully and study the photos, as the world they portray is far enough from our own as to seem completely alien.

Courage and confusion

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie--The first thing you have to know when you read this book is that the author, Sherman Alexie, really is a Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian from the Spokane Indian Reservation in Washington State. If you don't know that, the novel might seem absolutely incredible instead of absolutely true. As a matter of fact, many of the afflictions Sherman Alexie suffered as a child are used as the basis for Junior, the novel's main character. Born hydrocephalic (having "water on the brain") he undergoes surgery, which it is not certain he will survive. If he does survive, he is expected to be little more than a vegetable, given the potential brain damage.

Instead, Sherman not only survived, he thrived, as does Junior. I don't know if Sherman suffered the torments of his fellow Indians the way Junior does, but the same incident (in fact and fiction) catapults them off the reservation. In the novel, Junior goes to the first day of geometry class at the reservation school and is issued a textbook. When he opens the book, he sees his mother's maiden name as one of the students who has used that book. The realization that he and his fellow students are in a situation so poor that they are using thirty-year-old textbooks first crushes, then galvanizes Junior.

He transfers to the school in Reardan, the town outside the reservation. Until then, the only Indian at the school has been the mascot. Junior is received with about as much enthusiasm as he expects...none plus animosity. Events lead him to acceptance and even triumph as a student and basketball player.

Let me state for the record that there is more than a little rude and crude language, and that some subjects introduced are probably not appropriate for middle school. High schoolers, though, especially boys, will really appreciate The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.

edited to add: This book is NOT on the SC Book Award Nominees list. I just like it.

Non-Fiction: Thrilling

Women Daredevils: Thrills, Chills, and Frills, by Julie Cummins and illustrated by Cheryl Harness--We've all heard of the daredevils. Those crazy, thrill-addicted people who will do anything for an adreneline rush, even at the potential cost of their own lives. Over one hundred years ago, those people were almost exclusively male. Almost. Women Daredevils introduces us to fourteen performers who didn't let long skirts and petticoats hamper their adventuresome spirits. From a human cannonball to a pair of biplane wing-walkers, these women chose risk instead of sure safety. They flew through the air, went over Niagara Falls, trained tigers, and did stunts on bicycles which would have made Evel Knievel flinch. This book uses bright illustrations, some of which seem to be painted/drawn from portrait photographs, lending a historical feeling which would not have been evident with strictly action pictures. Those action pictures are more cartoony, but with a depth of emotion which leaves the reader in no doubt about the danger these women were in. The text doesn't shy away from the danger, either, pointing out the various injuries sustained by many of the women. None of them let injury or fear stop her. As Georgia "Tiny" Broadwick said, "Ha! I don't call it pluck. I call it joy. There's no real fun except far up in the air."

Non-Fiction: Awesome

Lady Liberty: A Biography, by Doreen Rappaport, illustrated by Matt Tavares--The history of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor is told in ten distinct voices, from the French law professor who dreamed of giving a gift to the American people to the sculptor who created the gift; from the American newspaper man instrumental in funding the gift's construction to the workers who built it. The dream was so long in being fulfilled and took the vision and labor of so many to be realized, it is amazing the Statue of Liberty was ever completed. The French law professor was Edouard-Rene Lefebvre de Laboulaye, and in the summer of 1865 he first voiced his desire to gift a monument to the United States to celebrate their Centenniel. Auguste Bartholdi was the sculptor who heard Laboulaye's idea. Bartholdi was immediately captivated by the idea and worked for ten years to create a design while France waited for the rule of Napoleon III to end and for the opportunity to begin raising funds to finance the project. The Statue would not be completed and dedicated until 1886, more than twenty years after Laboulaye and Bartholdi began their quest. Laboulaye died in 1883, and so did not live to see his dream realized.

All of this, and the story of the construction, are compressed into a scant fifteen or so pages of text. The formatting is almost poetic, and the vocabulary appropriate for elementary and middle-school children alike. The illustrations are soft and clear, showing the dream of each individual associated with the production of the Statue of Liberty. I am not ashamed to admit I got teary more than once as I read Lady Liberty.

Non-Fiction: Inspiring

I, Matthew Henson: Polar Explorer, by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Eric Velasquez--When I was in school and learned about the discovery of the North Pole and the conflicting stories of Admiral Peary and Doctor Cook, I never once heard the name of Matthew Henson. I first heard of him two or three years ago as I pulled biographies of African-Americans for Black History Month. He was given a chapter in a book about several African-Americans who had made great achievements. Sooooo, I was overjoyed to see I, Matthew Henson on the SCBAN list.

If you are not familiar with him, Matthew Henson was a black man born in 1866. After his parents died, he ran away to sea at the age of 13 and became a cabin boy. He sailed to five continents, learned numerous languages, and many trades. When his captain died, he had trouble finding work with white crews who would treat him as an equal. He quit the sea to become a stock boy (man?) in a men's store. This is where he met Robert Peary and changed the course of his life. For the next twenty years, Henson sailed with Peary, first as Peary's personal valet, then as trusted fellow explorer. They took seven trips to the Arctic before finally reaching the North Pole.

I, Matthew Henson stops on that triumphant note. The text leading up to that moment is driving and determined, and the illustrations, while in seemingly fuzzy pastels, reflect that determination with strong lines and colors. I was positively inspired by the whole package, and will be pushing it most heartily into the hands of readers, eager and otherwise.

Ghostly adventures

All the Lovely Bad Ones, by Mary Downing Hahn, is (if you'll forgive the expression) a haunting story. Travis and Corey are a brother and sister sent to spend the summer with their grandmother at her Vermont inn. Upon learning that the inn is supposedly haunted, they pester their grandmother for information and she states that in the three years she has run the place, she has never had a ghostly encounter of any kind. When some guests indicate they would be thrilled to witness otherworldly activity, Travis and Corey set out to give it to them. Their pranks attract the attention of visitors both earthly and not. The Inn at Fox Hill is flooded with guests and ghost hunters who find themselves under attack by ghostly pranksters.

Travis and Corey are frightened at what they have begun, but when the spirits approach them directly, they learn just what went on at Fox Hill to cause the dead to be restless. Determined to set things to rights, brother and sister begin bringing to light the horrors visited on the children who occupied Fox Hill in the mid-nineteenth century. As the truth comes out, the search for a solution takes on more urgency.

I spook easily, so I am not a fan of ghost or horror stories, either in print or on screen, and I am glad I read this one during daylight. I am, however, unequivocally glad I read it. Travis and Corey are believable, and the history of the fictional Fox Hill is credible. There is nothing in it I would feel uncomfortable letting a third-grader read, but it will also appeal to older children who simply like a good ghost story.

An award-winner

Return to Sender, by Julia Alvarez, is a moving, thought-provoking exploration of freedom, patriotism, and friendship. Tyler's family hires Mexican workers to help out on their Vermont farm after his dad is severely injured in a tractor accident. Three young girls are part of the Mexican family, and one of them, Mari, is placed in Tyler's class. In constant fear of la migra, the immigration police, the girls' father and uncles restrict themselves to the farm. Their mother is missing. As Tyler learns more about their family, he is by turns grateful, resentful, confused, and sympathetic. When one of the uncles is arrested after leaving the farm with Tyler's brother, Tyler goes with an interpreter to visit him in jail so he can deliver messages from the family. As the family's troubles escalate, Tyler's support becomes more and more tangible and meaningful.


This book won the 2010 Pura Belpre' Author Award, and its fully developed characters and tightly woven plot are a joy to read.

At last, a Young Adult selection!

Princess Ben, by Catherine Gilbert Murdock, is, at first, hard on a reader looking for a fully sympathetic heroine. Benevolence is the niece of a childless king and his queen. When she is fifteen, Ben's parents and uncle become the victims of tragedy, and she is forced to leave her family home to live in the castle with Queen Sophia. While Sophia's handling of the formerly much-indulged Ben is clumsy at best and abusive at worst, Ben's reaction to even the most sensible of Sophia's commands and requests is met with defiance and sullenness. Her refusal to acknowledge the fact that she would one day be queen pointed a sharp finger at her parents, who had apparently shown no interest in preparing her for the throne. I was hard-pressed to be charitably inclined toward parents who were so indifferent to their daughter's and their country's future. It's not like it was a secret that the king and queen had no children and that Ben would one day rule.

Things come to a head between Sophia and Ben, and the queen takes the agonizing step of locking Ben in a tower every night, away from all comfort. One night, Ben discovers a secret staircase in the tower. It leads to a long-hidden wizard room containing an unbelievable amount of dust and dirt as well as a spell book. Ben begins to teach herself magic, and learns a few other lessons in the process. Events conspire to cause her to flee the castle in disguise and she finds herself captured by her country's sworn enemies, who do not recognize her. As a slave, Ben works harder than she has ever worked in her life and learns self-control she never dreamed she possessed.

I found myself cheering for Ben in her struggles. For the first time, she takes to heart the safety of her country and all that it means to be a ruler. She escapes from captivity with the determination to put that hard-won lesson to good use. How she does so is a breathless, roller-coaster of a ride.

The pain of parental separation

The Totally Made-up Civil War Diary of Amanda MacLeish, by Claudia Mills, opens with the line, "Only in our house, thought Amanda MacLeish, could a Friday night family Monopoly game turn into the Civil War." The scene is painful, and any child who has ever suffered through watching his or her family disintegrate in front of them will identify with Amanda and her older sister. Her parents' separation isn't the only thing which goes wrong in Amanda's life. Her sister becomes more sulky than ever, her best friend seems to pull back from her, and she fails to stand up for another friend who suffers the insults of a racist. The only thing which seems to be going right is the Civil War diary assignment from her fifth-grade teacher. Amanda finds ways to weave the contemplation of her personal life into the diary entries for her fictional counterpart, a Maryland girl whose two brothers have chosen opposite sides in the Civil War. Writing the entries helps her to work through the emotions stirred up by her parents' separation and the other events in her life.

Ms. Mills has definitely made Amanda's mother the heavy in the piece, using her less-than-sunny nature as a reason for Mr. MacLeish's lack of effort to put his family back together and his quick turn to another woman. Obviously the speed with which his affections are maneuvered is evidence of his own weakness, but most kids, especially daddy's girls, won't necessarily catch that. Amanda is ten years old, and I wouldn't recommend this book to any child less than that age. And as a parent, if I knew my child was reading or had read the book, I would definitely take the opportunity to discuss the frailties of both adult MacLeishes.

Divorce from the child's point of view

42 Miles, by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer, is the story of Ellen/Joey/JoEllen. At twelve years old, the only life she has ever really known consists of shuttling between her mom's house during the week and her dad's house on the weekends. She's had big changes in her life in the last year: her grandfather died, her grandmother moved to Florida, her dad moved from his old house just four blocks away to his parents' old farmhouse in the country, she has started middle school, she has had to begin wearing glasses. Her story, told in free-verse, highlights the differences of her split lives. Her parents named her after themselves, Joseph and Eleanor, but have never agreed what to call her. Her mother calls her Ellen, her dad calls her Joey. Ellen lives in the city, going to school, playing the saxophone, listening to street music, working in the second-hand shop owned by her best friend's mother. Joey lives in the country, wandering the woods with her cousin, going to church with her father's family, listening to bluegrass, mucking out stables.

Just before her thirteenth birthday, she decides that she will do her best to combine her two lives. She insists on having one birthday party instead of two. She makes the decision to be called JoEllen by everyone. She invites her city friends to sleepover in the country and invites her cousin to visit her in the city. She cuts her long hair and donates it for cancer patients. She even stands up to the school bully.

I enjoyed this peek into the life of a child of divorce. JoEllen doesn't seem whiny about her separate lives, merely a bit frustrated and uncertain. The catalyst for change comes about in the form of a Language Arts assignment--an autobiography project.

But I don't know which life to describe,
Joey's or Ellen's,
and it's not as if Mom and Dad
share stories of my childhood
over the birthday candles each spring
or even
inhale the same air
if they can avoid it.

This assignment
makes running the seven-minute mile
in gym class
seem painless by comparison.

As she researches, though, she realizes:

...they don't see in me
the mirror image of their mistakes--
or even what they hated in each other--
but the best that
each of them had to offer.

Finally, another novel!

The Juvie Three, by Gordon Korman, is a piece of fiction which reached out and grabbed me. So much so, that when I finished it, I reached out and grabbed my thirteen-year-old son, thrust the book into his hands, and said, "Read this." I left no options.

Was it because of a strong anti-crime message? No. Was it because of a strong anti-gang message? No. I made my kid read it because it is a GOOD book. The characters are well-written and their stories as individuals and their story as a trio are all compelling.

Gecko, Arjay, and Terence are all juvenile offenders. Gecko drove the get-away car for his brother's gang, Arjay accidentally killed another boy--the eyewitness testimony of biased others said it was intentional--and Terence is a gangsta wannabe who planned a heist perpetrated by others. They are sprung from their various places of incarceration to live in a sort of half-way house run by Douglas Healy. He understands them in ways they never thought possible, and is determined to show them that they can have a better life than the one they were bound for. There is a fly in the ointment in the form of a nasty social worker riding herd on this special project, and if one boy messes up, all three will have to go back to jail.

Gecko and Arjay are happy for the opportunity to escape lock-up and they are determined to play by the rules. Terence has no such ambition. He immediately begins trying to ingratiate himself in a local gang. On his way to the fire escape late one night to meet his new contact, he is set upon by Gecko and Arjay. Douglas hears the commotion and comes to investigate. He is accidentally knocked off the fire escape and hits his head. The boys manage to drop the unconscious man off anonymously at a hospital emergency room.

Terence is all for cutting and running, but Gecko and Arjay prevail upon him to stick around. They all continue going to school and their community-service job. Gecko finds a way to volunteer at the hospital to keep tabs on the comatose Douglas. When Douglas awakes, the boys' situation turns from precarious to imperiled. Their guardian has amnesia and the social worker is coming for an inspection in seven days.

Gordon Korman excels at writing books that kids, especially boys, love to read. This one is no exception.

A Picture Book for Bigger People

Help Me, Mr. Mutt!: Expert Answers for Dogs with People Problems, by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel--Mr. Mutt is a "Canine Counselor" for dogs with issues. From the dog on a diet to the dog in costume to the incessantly barking dog, this book covers all manner of dog troubles and Mr. Mutt's uniquely canine way of dealing with them. To the dog on a diet, he offers this advice: "Dogs require at least eight servings per day of scrumptious food. Your People do not understand this, so you have to take matters into your own paws." He then goes on to describe various methods of doing so.

The constant barker is confused. Every time he barks, his people yell, "Don't bark!" But "Then they tell me, 'Do a trick! Speak! Speak! For a treat!' Doesn't speak mean bark?" Mr. Mutt's advice? "Have some fun. the next time your people say 'Speak!' look them in the eye and let out a big 'MOOOOO.'"

The text and the illustrations contain subleties only appreciated by the older reader. Jokes abound, but one needs a certain frame of reference (i.e. experience as a pet owner) to fully understand everything. Definitely a fun book!

"Read All About It!"

Read All About It!--Tyrone Brown is a pale, freckle-faced boy with unruly hair in this charmingly illustrated offering from Laura Bush and Jenna Bush. Tyrone is not a fan of reading. When his teacher reads aloud from various books, he finds other things to do, such as drawing on his shoe or making paper airplanes. One day, Tyrone sends a paper airplane flying into the chalkboard and realizes none of the other students have even noticed, so enthralled are they by the book in Ms. Libro's hands. He narrates, "So I listened. And the strangest thing happened: I actually liked story hour. And then my whole world turned upside down..." (emphasis Tyrone's). During further storytimes, as he begins to pay more attention, characters begin to appear in the classroom, drawing the attention of the students. This device culminates in the pig from Charlotte's Web taking up residence in the classroom. When Ms. Libro finishes the book, the pig disappears. Tyrone and his friends go looking for him all over the school.

I liked the look of the illustrations by Denise Brunkus, but I had an issue with certain of the details. Ms. Libro has a book list on her board. The list is different on every page, which is great. What is not great is the age-inappropriateness of the titles, given the apparent age Ms. Libro's class. They appear to be in about third or fourth grade, and Tyrone is shown doing basic Algebra in math class. So why do "Clifford the Big Red Dog," Curious George," "Frog and Toad Together," "The Cat in the Hat," "If You Give a Pig a Pancake," and "Olivia" appear on the lists? They are all fine, fine books. Classics even. Don't get me wrong. But what are they doing on a book list for third-graders?

Other than that nit-picking detail, I thought the book was a very nice read and fun to look at.

Manners and Math

Two picture books on the list are The Lion's Share, by Matthew McElligott, and Nobunny's Perfect, by Anna Dewdney.

The Lion's Share takes place at a dinner party given by Lion. Ant is invited for the first time and she is certain to be on her best manners. She is shocked at the behavior of the other guests, as each proves to be more rude and uncouth than the last. When it is time for dessert, the other animals' greed in each taking half of what's left after the others have gone before leaves her with nothing but a crumb to share with her host. Not wishing to appear ungrateful or rude, she offers to bake the Lion a cake of his own for the morrow. He graciously accepts, and the other animals decide that Ant is trying to make them look bad, so they each offer to make twice as many cakes as the animal before them. They wind up looking very foolish. The illustrations in this book are softly drawn and boldly colored. The expressions on the animals' faces clearly express their discontent and greed. A good book for sparking discussions of manners (and math!)

Nobunny's Perfect is a rhyming book in which gently drawn, round-faced bunnies are shown playing and eating. They begin nicely, but their behavior breaks down as one after the other is made sad or mad by circumstance or other bunnies. The text points out each bad behavior and in the middle of the book says, "Nobunny's perfect,/that is true--/but aren't you glad/this isn't YOU?" The author then goes on to show how one should behave with others. A cute book, but not very subtle. Definitely for pre-schoolers.

"Into the woods, it's time to go..."

For those of you who don't get the reference, Into the Woods is a really fun stage musical by Stephen Sondheim. It melds together several different fairy tales, and the main theme is: go out to face your problems (giants), don't sit around and wait.

Scat, by Carl Hiaasen, epitomizes this philosophy. Nick Waters is a student at the Truman School. His biology teacher, Bunny Starch, stays behind at the end of a field trip to Black Vine Swamp to search for a student's asthma inhaler. She doesn't return. Nick and his friend, Marta, have reason to doubt the headmaster's assertion that Mrs. Starch has been called away on a family emergency. They actively investigate, bringing themselves into contact with a mysterious man named Twilly, who claims to be Mrs. Starch's nephew. He warns them off of looking for her, but something about the situation doesn't sit right with Nick and Marta. They continue their search.

The situation they uncover is bigger than either one of them could have possibly imagined. As the book jacket states:

Nick and Marta will have to reckon with an eccentric eco-avenger, a stuffed rat named Chelsea, a wannabe Texas oilman, a singing substitute teacher, and a ticked-off Florida panther before they really begin to see the big picture.

I really enjoyed this book. The only other Hiaasen I've read was Hoot, and that was a while back. My sixth- and seventh-grade kids had recommended this one to me previously, but it wasn't until it popped up on the SCBAN list that I made time to read it. I'm glad I did! The characters are well drawn, and the action is well paced.

Non-Fiction Picture Books?

Why, yes! There is such a thing! This morning I read Seabiscuit the Wonder Horse, by Meghan McCarthy, and Two Bobbies: a True Story of Hurricane Katrina, Friendship, and Survival, by Kirby Larson and Mary Nethery, illustrated by Jean Cassels.

Seabiscuit tells the story of an ugly, unappreciated horse. He is wild, lazy, angry and stubborn. A racehorse who hated to run, he seemed doomed to a life of losing. But Charles Howard, a millionaire with an eye for potential, thought Seabiscuit just might be more than he seemed. He also thought that about "Silent Tom" Smith, the horse trainer he hired for his stables and he thought that about John "Red" Pollard, the jockey he hired to ride Seabiscuit.

Up until Mr. Howard bought Seabiscuit, the horse had lost every race he'd ever run. After training with Silent Tom and Red Pollard, he began winning. Mr. Howard wanted there to be no doubt that Seabiscuit was the fastest horse ever, so he challenged the most famous horse in the world, War Admiral, to race against Seabiscuit.

Meghan McCarthy's cartoon-like illustrations are a fun counterpoint to her text. The horses are all a little pop-eyed, with Seabiscuit the worst. He also has a nervous grin in almost every picture, showing he knows how unattractive he is and hoping you'll forgive him for it and like him anyway. I promise, you will. Especially after you read the Author's Note in the back.

Two Bobbies is much less fun, and more moving, given that we are all familiar with Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. Jean Cassels illustrations are realistic, and beautifully rendered. A dog and a cat survive the hurricane together, and show up at a construction site four months later, hungry and tired. The dog has a long length of chain attached to her collar. One of the construction workers, Rich, trims the chain, but leaves enough to drag the ground because the cat seems to like following the jingle. After a week, the construction boss shows up an demands the animals be removed from the site. Rich takes them to the Best Friends Animal Society, where the two are split up. They are named Bobbi and Bob Cat for their bobbed tails. Bobbi howls and barks all night, and Bob Cat paces his cage. Eventually, the shelter volunteers put the two in a larger cage where they touch noses and seem very happy to be reunited.

The volunteers soon realize that Bob Cat is very special, and Bobbi even more so. A search for their families turns up nothing, so the Best Friends Animal Society arranges to have their story told on national television. Hundreds of people contact Best Friends wanting to adopt the two. They find a home. The authors' note in the back gives a few more details which very young children will probably not understand, but grown-ups and older children will have much to think about.

Golllllly!

At first glance, The Gollywhopper Games, by Jody Feldman, is strictly an homage to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl. The basic plot is certainly similar: boy competes with less-deserving children for a prize which will set his family on the path to prosperity. There are other similarities, but the main device used in Gollywhopper is puzzle-solving.

Gil Goodson's father was fired from his position at Golly Games for suspected embezzlement. When the verdict of "not-guilty" was handed down at the trial, many of the people in town thought Mr. Goodson had merely gotten away with the crime. Eighteen months after his father was fired and a year after he was acquitted, Gil is still suffering slights and bullying at school and around town. Some still consider him the son of a thief and a cheater. The real embezzler has never been identified.

When Golly Games announces a major contest to celebrate its 50-year anniversary, Gil is determined to compete. The rules state contestants may not be the children of Golly employees or of someone who has worked for Golly in the last year. Gil's father was fired over a year ago, so Gil is eligible. He prepares himself for the games by compiling a file of Golly trivia covering its entire history. He studies it until he has it practically memorized.

The day of the games, Gil lines up with thousands of others outside the local stadium hoping for a place in the competition. Of course, he gets in. Then, he has to answer multiple trivia questions to earn a spot as a semi-finalist, then as a finalist. Of course, he makes it to the final ten, then the final five. His team-mates in the final ten competition includes the son of another former Golly employee who left the company at about the same time as Gil's father; the son of a wealthy man who "bought" an instant-win ticket so his son didn't have to stand in line; the daughter of an over-protective mother; and a seemingly dim-witted girl who is using the Games as her opportunity to get noticed on television.

They compete against another five-member team for the chance to be the final five. Each of Gil's team-mates contributes their own special talents, skills, and knowledge to solving the five puzzles which will propel them to the final round. Once there, they are eliminated one by one until there are only two players left. A spectacular twist recalls the other three for an unexpected, "do-over", winner-take-all round.

Readers are invited to solve the puzzles along with the contestants, although we don't have all information for some of them. I saw the answer to the BIG puzzle long before the mystery was solved by the characters, but did not feel cheated or otherwise let down by the foreknowledge.

I found myself leaning forward, urging Gil and his team-mate/competitors on as they figured their way to the end in a battle of wits which could end in the exoneration of Gil's father and certainly in untold riches for his family. And that's the difference between The Gollywhopper Games and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Charlie just kind of sat back and waited to see what would happen. Charlie got lucky. Gil pursues, solves, and takes an active approach toward resolving his family's dilemma. Gil doesn't just finish first; he wins.

The USPS has gone to the dogs

In October of 1888, it actually did. A stray terrier-mix dog found his way into the Post Office at Albany, New York one rainy night. The postal workers found him the next morning and never did call the pound to take him away. Dog and workers adopted each other and a mascot was created.

Owney, the Mail-Pouch Pooch, by Mona Kerby, is a fictionalized account of a true story. Ms. Kerby's picture book includes an Author's Note and Bibliography at the end of the book to highlight the origins of the story. There are also two photographs of Owney.

I am not ashamed to say, reading Owney's story aloud to my children made me weepy. I managed not to crack, only allowing the faintest sheen of tears in my eyes and the barest tremor in my voice. The care and attention lavished on this stray dog was certainly noteworthy and, as Ms. Kerby points out, newsworthy. Newspapers of the time followed Owney's exploits.

Yes, a dog can have exploits. After he had been with the post office for a while, Owney hopped a mail train and vanished for weeks. Upon his return, he was unable to tell his human friends where he had been, so (in case he decided to wander again) they attached a note to his collar asking the Railway Postmen to attach their depot tags to his collar so they could track his wanderings.

It wasn't long before Owney hopped another train. The next time Owney showed up in Albany, he had so many tags hanging from his collar that he could barely lift his head.

He rejected efforts to remove any of them, though. The postal workers bought a harness which wrapped around his back and chest in order to distribute the weight of the tags. Owney enjoyed the jingle of all his tags! Ms. Kerby doesn't say how many tags Owney collected in the course of his life, but on his round-the-world trip (sponsored by his human friends) in 1895, he collected over 200 new tags in 132 days.

Ms. Kerby tells Owney's story with obvious affection, and my children were spell-bound. Need I say more? Oh yes, I'd better mention the pictures, seeing as Owney is a picture book! The pen-and-watercolor illustrations by Lynne Barsch are bright and happy and uncluttered.

An outstanding book.

Chapter Book, ahoy!

Regardless of the title of this post, this book is not about ships, pirates, or the Navy. It is, instead, about a girl whose father is in the Army. He gets sent on a Tour of Duty for 100 Days and 99 Nights. Written by Alan Madison, 100 Days is in the first person, and tries hard to sound like the language and thoughts of a seven or eight year old girl. Think a more intelligent Junie B. Jones.

Unfortunately, the voice used by Mr. Madison didn't ring true for me. I have known many seven and eight year old girls (and boys, for that matter), and none of them would have used the words "possessions" or "Southern drawl", nor would they have made observations about their mothers' "weak smile." There were many of these grown-up sounding turns of phrase and use of vocabulary which interrupted my suspension of disbelief.

Esmerelda Swishback McCarther, Esme to everyone, is our protagonist. In addition to her Army-sergeant father, she has a reporter mother and a little brother, Ike. In her travels around the world with her family, Esme has acquired an extensive "bedzoo" of stuffed animals covering the alphabet from A to Z.

--except for X because there is no animal I have found that begins with that troublesome letter. The only words I know that even start that way are xylophone, x-ray, and x-actly.

  When her father gets his orders to go away for three months, Esme and her family are saddened. Her mother...

...must have been crying and looked like she was going to start to cry again, but she didn't. It was her duty not to cry in front of us. So I did my duty and I didn't cry in front of Ike, and since I didn't--Ike didn't.

 Without Daddy there to guide the family through its daily routine, the family feels out of sorts. Ike gets into a fight at school with his best friend, and the principal calls Esme into her office along with Ike. Ms. Pershing "would prefer not to worry your mom about this. Is this something you two can solve?" (Honestly, can you imagine a principal saying this to an eight-year-old and her five-year-old brother?) At any rate, during their walk home from school, Ike admits he "broke his duty" when he broke the rules. This leads both children to confess to each other how much they miss their dad.

At school, Esme learns about the "Home Front" of WW II, and wishes there was something she and her classmates could do to help. They discuss and discard many ideas before settling on a few that they feel will make a difference to help the troops fighting overseas. The kids and their families accomplish quite a few of their goals, thanks to Esme's inspiration and persistence.

However, even when she has a bad dream and can't go back to sleep, Esme still cannot voice her feelings to her mother. Her mother tells her she's a hero for all she's done and for how brave she's been and that she deserves a medal. Esme says,

"I don't want a medal. I just want..." And I stopped, barely letting "want" dribble out. I figured that saying what I wanted wasn't necessary and wouldn't be at all brave.

Her mother doesn't prompt her to finish, instead saying, "Before you know it he'll be the one tucking you in." Eleven pages later, he is.

On the whole? A nice book. But, with all its flaws, not one which deserves the South Carolina Book Award, in any category.

Betrayal Most Foul

I neglected to mention in my mini-review of The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod: Eighth Grade Bites, by Heather Brewer, that Vlad is being hunted. He's a vampire. Of course he's being hunted. Be that as it may, he lives (remains undead?) to fight, avoid bullies, and continue having a crush on a girl.

In Ninth Grade Slays, Vladimir's uncle teaches him the secret vampire code for translating vampire writing. He also encourages Vlad to develop his mind-reading and mind-control skills. Over the winter break, Vlad's uncle takes him to Siberia for more training with the boisterous Russian vampire, Vikas. Before they leave for their trip, they learn a vampire slayer has been sent to Vlad's little town of Bathory in order to kill him. There are no encounters with the slayer before the Siberia trip, and Vlad is feeling pretty safe. After returning home, he is attacked by another vampire for no apparent reason. He survives, only to suffer a crushing betrayal by one he considered a friend.

The first book definitely had the feeling of a set-up for the series. Ninth Grade Slays doesn't feel so intermediate. There is forward motion, so fast sometimes that the plot nearly trips over itself. There were a couple of instances in which it seemed as though chapters or scenes had been shifted out of place, and these brought me to a grinding halt. Not good for an action-filled novel. On the other hand, I stayed up late and got up early to finish it!

Four Picture Books

Wangari's Trees of Peace: A True Story From Africa, by Jeanette Winter--Wangari Maathai is a real woman, born in Kenya in 1940. She earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in the biological sciences while studying in the United States. Upon returning to Kenya, she discovered that her beloved country had been deforested and was sadly lacking the means to keep itself healthy. This simply and beautifully illustrated picture book chronicles her efforts to re-forest Kenya, beginning by planting nine tree seedlings in her own yard. The text is spare and suitable for kindergartners, although some word choices will require explanation (scholarship, barren, and forester are among them). Ms Winter does not spare the truth for the sake of young ears and eyes. She tells of Wangari's beating at the hands of police, and the accompanying illustration shows Wangari bleeding from a small wound to her head as a policeman threatens her further with a club. It is not gory or grusome or gratuitous. The illustration is as spare and beautiful as the rest; it is simply unflinching. This book will provoke discussion of conservation and fair vs. unfair among even the youngest audience.

Ron's Big Mission, by Rose Blue and Corinne J. Naden--A fictionalized account of an incident in astronaut Ron McNair's childhood, this book has a special place on the SCBAN list as it takes place in Lake City, SC, in Florence County. The year is 1959. Ron, an avid reader, dreams of being a pilot. On this particular day, he has a goal closer to home. He wants to check out books from the Lake City Library. One problem: he is black. The Lake City Library has a policy preventing black people from checking out books. Some white patrons, familiar with Ron, offer to check out his books for him. He declines. In a show of peaceful resistance, he politely asks the circulation clerk to check to books out to him. She pretends not to hear. He jumps up on her desk and politely repeats his request. After the police and his mother are called to the library, the librarian has a choice to make. The story is told in language appropriate even for kindergartners, but like Wangari's story above, the authors are unflinching in their portrayal of segregation in small-town South Carolina. My five-year old cheered when Ron was handed his library card.

Mail Harry to the Moon!, by Robie H. Harris--On a MUCH lighter note... Anyone who's ever felt jealous of a younger sibling will appreciate this tale of a boy who feels his place in the family has been usurped by his baby brother. The unnamed older brother has perpetually drawn-together eyebrows as he contemplates all the recent changes in his life. Harry is in all the pictures; Harry eats big brother's banana; Harry spits up; Harry chews on big brother's toy gorilla. Each disaster is met by a plea from big brother to get rid of Harry somehow. Fed up with Harry screaming in the night, big brother screams back, "Mail Harry to the moon!" the next morning, no Harry. Big brother looks everywhere, but instead of doing a happy dance that his problems are solved, big brother goes looking for Harry. Where he finds him and how he brings him back are two delightful resolutions.

Turtle's Penguin Day, by Valeri Gorbachev--Youngsters love pretending and playing dress-up, and little Turtle is no exception. After his father reads a book about penguins to him at bedtime, Turtle dreams of being a penguin. The next day, Turtle finds an old black jacket and puts it on over his white pajamas and decides he is a penguin for the day. He brings the penguin book to school, and the teacher decides to have a penguin day. She reads the book to the class and they all play at being penguins. Mr. Gorbachev has given us a fun book with a variety of animal characters to accompany Turtle at school. The expressions on all the creature's faes are reminiscent of Richard Scarry, although the actual drawings are very different. A fun exploration of play-acting. Teachers will wish for the freedom to depart from lesson plans with the ease of Ms. Dog!

Just two quick ones...

Picture book:  Bandit, by Karen Rostoker-Gruber--Bandit is a cat with a comfortable life. He has sunshine, carpeted floors, a fuzzy mouse, tuna. Suddenly, people come along and pick up the couch. They box up the books. Michelle grabs Bandit and puts him in the cat carrier and takes him for a much longer ride than just a trip to the vet. What's going on? Puns abound as Bandit contemplates the changes. The illustrations by Vincent Nguyen look as though they were lifted out of a large-scale comic book. By which I mean the pictures are line drawings colored in fine dots. Mr. Nguyen gives Bandit wonderful expression as the cat realizes his life is altering forever.

Juvenile book: The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod: Eighth Grade Bites, by Heather Brewer--This one is not on the SCBAN list for 2010-2011. I include it in the reviews because its sequel Ninth Grade Slays is on the list. I wanted to read them in order (I'm funny that way). Living quietly in upstate New York, Vlad has always known he is a vampire. The son of a vampire father and a human mother, he has never fed on the blood of a human (well, not counting the one bite of his best friend when they were eight). His mother's best friend made sure he and his father had a sufficient supply of expired or nearly-expired blood from the local hospital where she works. When Vlad's mother and father die in a mysterious flash-fire three years before the book opens, Nelly takes Vlad in to raise. Now in eighth grade, Vlad goes to school wearing lots of sunscreen, tussles with bullies, has a crush on a girl, and is still best friends with Henry --who, when Vlad apologizes for that bite when they were eight, simply says, "No problem. Just stay away from the cat or Mom will throw a fit."

Vlad's adventures begin when his English teacher disappears. The substitute, Mr. Otis, seems a little off. His behavior toward Vlad is suspicious at best, and our hero wonders if Mr. Otis knows his secret. More importantly--what does Mr. Otis intend to do with it?

Ms. Brewer tells Vlad's story with wit and style. There's not so much blood as to be off-putting, but readers who don't mind gore will not find it lacking. I am eagerly anticipating Ninth Grade Slays.

But Wait! There's More!

In addition to the books discussed in the other two posts today, I have also read:

from the Picture Book list--Bark Park, by Karen Gray Ruelle; Big Bad Bunny, by Franny Billingsley; and What Bluebirds Do, by Pamela Kirby.

from the Juvenile Book list--Chains, by Laurie Halse Anderson; and Flygirl, by Sherri L. Smith.

Bark Park, by Karen Gray Ruelle--This picture book is reminiscent of One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, by Dr. Seuss. However, the text and illustrations do not have the whimsical, fanciful lilt of Seuss. The text is instead funny by its very real characterizations of different types of dogs ("Hot dog, dot dog, in the park." is accompanied by an illustration of a Dachshund and a Dalmatian walking on a path toward a dog park.). The illustrations are almost, but not quite, child-like. Ms Ruelle has created a book appealing to children which will make adults smile, as well.

Big Bad Bunny, by Franny Billingsley--Illustrated by G. Brian Karas, the story opens like a horror show. "Big Bad Bunny has long sharp claws. Scritch! Scritch! Scritch! But over in the Mouse House, everything is quiet. It's naptime, and Mama Mouse tucks her babies into bed." You just know BBB is on his way to the Mouse House to wreak destruction. Then you turn the page. You notice BBB is wearing yellow pants with pink polka-dots and what appear to be fuzzy slippers. Huh? Keep turning the pages. Back at the Mouse House... "But wait! Where is Baby Boo-Boo? Mama Mouse races into the forest." Grown-ups know what is coming, as do some of the more perceptive children readers. Do you?

What Bluebirds Do, by Pamela Kirby--This picture book is a departure from the other picture books I've reviewed, as it is non-fiction. It is not the only non-fiction on the list, but it is the first here on this blog! A photo-essay in book form, this is the story of how a family of bluebirds came to make their home in Ms Kirby's yard. The photos are beautiful and the text is clear and concise. My children were enthralled with the tale of the bluebirds, and the most memorable moment for them was learning how bluebirds clean out their nests. Be prepared for a happy chorus of "Ewww!" from your young listeners and readers. As the hatchlings learn to fly, we got the sense that we, too, were on the brink of something marvelous.

Moving along to the Juvenile list:

Chains, by Laurie Halse Anderson--One tends to forget that slavery in the United States was not isolated to the 19th century South. The year is 1776. Isabel and her sister, Ruth, are slaves in Manhattan, sold there from Rhode Island when the nephew of their former owner disregards his aunt's will to have the girls set free upon her death. Purchased by the Locktons, Loyalist supporters who play at being Patriots in order to keep their own fortunes afloat, the girls are mightily abused. While running errands one day, Isabel is approached by another slave with an offer of assistance if she will spy on the Locktons and report to the Patriot leaders. She is unwilling at first to risk anything for fear of losing what precious little she has, but events conspire to force her decision. Driven by her own dreams of freedom, she aids the Patriots, only to discover that not all of them dream of freedom for her and her fellow slaves. Her loyalties become divided and she finds herself caught in the maelstrom that becomes the American Revolution--completely against her will and for no personal benefit whatsoever. The book ends with a cliffhanger and a promise of another volume to follow.

Flygirl, by Sherri L. Smith--I was disappointed in this novel. Ida Mae Jones is a girl living in Louisiana as the world is on the brink of the Second World War. She is the product of a black mother and father, although her father's heritage has given her skin so light, she could pass for white. Her father taught her to fly his crop-dusting airplane when she was much younger, and her grandfather takes her to Tuskeegee to test for her license, since they heard the administration there will give licenses to coloreds.

But when we climbed out of that plane, Mr. Anderson looked at me and said, "You can fly, no doubt about it. But no woman's gonna get a license out of me. Go home, Miss Jones. You've failed."

Now Ida Mae's dream is to save enough to go to the colored-owned Coffey School of Aeronautics in Chicago, where they teach both men and women. Working as a maid for a local family, her savings is growing slowly. After the news of the bombing of Pearl Harbor is announced, her brother leaves medical school to join the Army so he can be a medic to colored units fighting overseas. Ida Mae can't stand to stay home and do nothing, so as soon as she hears about the Women's Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), she determines to sign up. There are two problems with her plan. One, she has no license (thanks a lot, Mr. Anderson); and, two, she's colored. With the help of her friend, Jolene, Ida Mae determines to "pass" for the first time in her life. She succeeds in getting into the WASP training program.

My problem with the book is that Ms Smith builds the tension of Ida Mae's fear of being discovered as a colored woman, but never takes that tension anywhere. There is no defining moment, no real climax to the story which will make her choose. Even at the end, when she writes a letter revealing her secret to a white man who had shown interest in her, she doesn't seem to have a whole lot of emotion riding on his response. Real life doesn't always call for us to define ourselves in a momentous way, but a good author WILL ask that of his or her characters. I don't believe Ms Smith asked that of Ida Mae.

Whoops!

I realized this morning that I had a post I started about two weeks ago and never finished. I have finished it now, and it is up on the blog. Here is the next entry:


In addition to the five picture books I talked about in the previous post, I had also read two novels from the Juvenile list. They are The Amaranth Enchantment, by Julie Berry, and Brooklyn Bridge: A Novel, by Karen Hesse.


The Amaranth Enchantment, by Julie Berry--A Cinderella tale, this novel follows the adventures of Lucinda Chapdelaine, orphaned at a young age and sent to live with her uncle and his wife. When the uncle dies, Auntie turns fifteen-year-old Lucinda out without a penny. Throughout, I was struck by certain similarities to Ella Enchanted, by Gail Carson Levine. At least, there are similarities to the movie version of that book. There were other elements that seemed familiar from other sources, as well. I enjoyed the book, but was disappointed overall by the obvious use of fairy-tale conventions. The one true departure from convention, the revelation of the origin of the "fairy godmother," seemed too contrived, too fantastical and out of place. I would have been happier, I think, if this part of the story had been based strictly in the magical, not in the other-worldly. There were also several plot holes and unanswered questions left hanging at the end. A fun, fast read, but largely unsatisfying.


Brooklyn Bridge: A Novel, by Karen Hesse--This one tied up all its loose ends. Throughout the story of Joseph Michtom, a fourteen-year-old boy living in 1903 Brooklyn, there are plenty of threads. There are these many threads in all our lives. Ms Hesse doesn't overwhelm us with too many of them, but there are enough to give Joseph depth. He has the agony of a first crush, the joy of friendship, the loss of a beloved family member, the pride in seeing his sister succeed, and the amazement at seeing a mystery solved right in front of him. There is an under-story, a ghost story, placed in between the chapters. It is a story Joseph knows nothing about. Or does he? I plowed right through Brooklyn Bridge, eager to see it through. Well worth it.

The first few

Okay, it's been a month since I decided to do this, and I have been reading a variety from the Picture Book and Juvenile lists.

First, the Picture Books:
The Dog Who Belonged to No One, by Amy Hest--This book is utterly charming. From the gentle illustrations by Amy Bates to the easy rhythms and rhymes of Ms. Hest's text, the book moved quickly without feeling rushed. The lonely little dog with crooked ears and the lonely little girl with the time-consuming task of delivering her family's baked goods to the town are in desperately in need of each other. My 5-year-old and my 7-year old both enjoyed this. But I think I liked it more.

The Pout-Pout Fish, by Deborah Diesen--My kids ask for this one over and over. Something about it really strikes a chord with them. Whether it's the repetitive text or the funny illustrations by Dan Hanna, I'm not sure. It definitely has the kid stamp of approval! The Pout-Pout Fish is grumpy and his face is permanently pouting. Through a series of encounters with other sea creatures who try to encourage him to smile, his frown remains. He does finally learn to smile, but I'm not going to give away the whole ending!

Skunkdog, by Emily Jenkins--The story of a dog with no sense of smell. Ms Jenkins made me think about how this particular "disability" really would be a disability for a dog. It would completely rob them of their social skills, considering how much dogs rely on their sense of smell for identifying features and creatures of the world around them. Dumpling is a dog clueless to her predicament. When her family moves to the country, she is left to explore new territory without the use of her nose. Of course, she encounters...a skunk. She immediately tries to make friends. The skunk is understandably wary and sprays Dumpling. Dumpling's family tries a variety of ways to get rid of the smell, but no sooner are they successful than Dumpling and the skunk meet again.

Bats at the Library, by Brian Lies--This book held little charm for me. I'm not sure why. Maybe because as a librarian, I find the idea of flying rodents invading my space to be a little too creepy-crummy. The illustrations are meant to be cute, and they are, but the text feels forced to me, and there's no real storyline to follow.

A Whiff of Pine, A Hint of Skunk: A Forest of Poems--I thoroughly enjoyed this collection of poems. My five-year-old sat still for it, but didn't seem particularly engaged. The illustrations held more attraction for her than did the poems. On the other hand, she doesn't have much experience with wandering through the woods, so her frame of reference for the material is limited.

I'll do mini-reviews of the two Juvenile novels I read in the next post.

What is "noshing?"

Nosh is a Yiddish word meaning "snack" or "nibble." It is both a noun and a verb. "We are having a nosh." "I was noshing on a bagel yesterday."

Going by that particular definition, I am not really going to be noshing, more like aynshlingen, which means "devour or gobble."

What am I going to be devouring? My goal is to read every single one of the South Carolina Book Award Nominees for 2010-2011. That list is posted here. I intend to read every book in each of the four categories before June 3, 2010, which is the last day of school. 

Why? Because the JBA and YABA portions of the list will comprise the summer reading list for the Middle School grades, and I felt really dorky last summer not being able to talk about any of the books when asked by students. I was unable to recommend individual books because of my complete ignorance of everything about them.

Not this year.