Deep Water

Key, Watt. Deep Water.
April 17th 2018 by Farrar Straus Giroux Deep Water.
E ARC from Edelweiss

Julie is spending the summer with her father, and helping with his dive business. Her parents separated because her mother didn't find the career opportunities she wanted in their small Southern town, but moving to the big city doesn't seem to have made her happy. When Julie's father doesn't feel well, he send Julie with the father and son clients on a dive. Once down, both the father and son disregard Julie's directions, and before long, things start to go really wrong. The anchor wasn't seated correctly, and the trio loses the boat and Julie's father. They manage to survive by floating, but as they are drifting out to sea, sharks attack, and Shane's father slips away from them. Shane and Julie manage to hold on, drinking rain water and trying to cover themselves from the sun, and eventually wind up on an abandoned oil rig. There, they manage to survive by raising the stores and catching fish, but the mold in the rig makes Shane very ill. Julie hopes to flag down help, but no one knows where they are. Will the two be able to survive?
Strengths: The note at the end of this was very fascinating-- Key had an experience as a teenager that could easily have ended the way this adventure did, but he was lucky. Survival stories are always popular, and Key knows just the right details to put into them. There are a couple of other books that detail surviving at sea, but the twist of finding an abandoned oil rig was what set this one apart. This will definitely be popular. The other thing I love about Key's writing is that he will work in some serious family issues as well, but show the children who are affected by them as being resilient and resourceful.
Weaknesses: Reading about damp and mold... *shudder.* Also, I wish that Julie and her father had better safety plans in place, but then the book wouldn't have been able to happen!
What I really think: Definitely purchasing, and this will be popular.

Rewind Blog Tour

O'Doherty, Carolyn. Rewind
April 10th 2018 by Boyds Mills Press
ARC provided by the publisher

Alex has the ability to rewind and freeze time. There are a few children like her, but the public fears them, and they are raised in a group home and trained to help solve crimes. Alex works with Mr. Ross, going to crime scenes and rewinding time until she can see what happened. When the two work on a bomb incident, they manage to get the bombed diffused and identify the bomber... who is found dead soon after. Alex has a bout of time sickness, which worries her. Few spinners live past the age of 18, despite the drugs that are available to manage their chronitin levels, and Alex has see too many deaths to think she will be exempt. Ross thinks that she should try a drug trial, and there are lots of things that are irregular about the treatment she has been receiving and how she feels on the different drugs. There are also some problems within the police force, and these become complicated as well. Can Alec survive long enough to both solve the crimes and save herself?
Strengths: While the sci fi time freezing element of this was interesting to me, the thing that my students will like is the murder mystery aspect of this. Well done, and nothing too gruesome for a 6th grader, which I appreciate. Plenty of action and adventure, and some good relationships as well.
Weaknesses: I kept thinking that at any moment something NOT appropriate for a younger reader would happen, so I was kept on the seat of my chair as much by that as by the suspenseful plot!
What I really think: Definitely purchasing and adding to my list of Ferguson's The Christopher Killer, Giles Fake I.D., Morgenrother's Jude and Sorrels First Shot as good MURDER mysteries that are also appropriate for eleven year olds.

British Mysteries

Hearn, Sam. Sherlock Holmes and the Disappearing Diamond
March 27th 2018 by Scholastic Press
Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central

In this re imagining of Doyle's Sherlock Holmes as a child, we find John Watson newly enrolled at Baker Street Academy. He meets Holmes and is a bit taken aback by his observations, but finds Martha and her dog Baskerville a calming presence. Teachers Ms. DeRossi and Mr. Gapp seem very nice as well. After a class trip to the British Arts and Antiquities Museum, the children get enmeshed in the theft of the Alpine Star. They suspect that their one unkind classmate, the trench coat wearing James Moriarty, might be involved, but there are many clues to follow and proof to be found before Sherlock can determine who is responsible for the theft and recover the jewel.

While you have to look a bit to find the information, the use of the Sherlock Holmes characters has been approved by his estate. I like to see this stated somewhere in the credits, since young readers sometimes aren't aware of the original. Doyle's work is so impressive because of all of the imitative stories it has spawned. Everything from Springer's Enola Holmes to Andy Lane's Death Cloud books pay homage to this fantastic British author.

This book is a completely fresh spin on the tale, however, since it is a heavily illustrated graphic/notebook novel mix! The drawings are not only appealing and engaging, but crisp and clear. I loved how the pages were designed; it's a bit hard to describe, but there is a good variety of framing, panoramic settings, insets, and page decorations that makes this very visually appealing. Usually, I find illustrations a distraction from the text, but these really supported the story well and were fun to look at. I'm assuming that the illustrations are in black and white, but I did look at the Advance Readers' Copy and haven't seen a finished one to compare yet, but the black and white are still stunning.

The characters are all true to their original incarnations, with the addition of much more personality for Martha Hudson, who is given a lot more input into the action of the story. Since it seems to be a boarding school, it's nice that her family home is nearby, and her mother is around to be a parental influence... and provide cookies. Having a cute dog like Baskerville is never a bad idea, either.

  This is a great way to introduce a classic mystery story to students who will read ANY book as long as it has pictures!


Stevens, Robin. Jolly Foul Play (Wells and Wong #4)
April 17th 2018 by Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers
E ARC from Edelweiss Plus

When Head Girl Elizabeth dies of injuries after the school's Guy Fawkes bonfire, Daisy and Hazel suspect that she was murdered. The position of the rake wasn't right, but this doesn't stop the head gardener from being fired. When pages from a notebook Elizabeth kept of everyone's secrets keep cropping up, the Detective Society realizes they have their motive. The five prefects are also suspects, and the girls work on narrowing them down. When Hazel writes to Daisy's cousin Alexander and shares details of the investigations with him (in order to get his help), Daisy is angry and stops speaking to her, which makes investigating difficult. Younger student Binnie goes missing, and it is feared that the murderer has taken her. With time running out, Hazel and Daisy make up, double up on investigating, and figure out who the murderer is before it's too late.
Strengths: Anyone who is a fan of Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers or British boarding school stories will adore this series. The fact that there are actual murders at the school make it easier to get these into the hands of students who might not want to read about England in the 1930s. The mean girl exploits, however, as well as the investigative techniques, make this a series that I wish more of my students would read. The covers are also brilliant.
Weaknesses: There is a romance between two of the girls that is judged more harshly than I think it would have been at the time. After all, in the wake of WWI, there were a lot of highly educated women who lived with female partners, and it was just kind of accepted. It just doesn't seem historically accurate that students would have cared about it.
What I really think: Definitely purchase these for my library. They aren't huge circulators, but I can see them being around for a long time.

 

Krista Kim-Bap

Ahn, Angela. Krista Kim-Bap
April 18th 2018 by Second Story Press
E ACR from Edelweiss Plus

Krista and her friend Jason have to work on a project for school about their country of origin and what makes their culture particularly interesting. Krista thinks it is the food of Korea, and Jason certainly agrees. He loves kimchee and just about everything except a particular kind of soup. Krista's mom cooks a variety of foods, and often buys the Korean delicacies, so Krista asks her grandmother for help with her project. Even though she has a rocky relationship with her grandmother, the two start cooking together and enjoy working with each other. Krista also has to dress up, and her sister helps her restyle a traditional hanbok so that Krista can also wear it to a fancy birthday party. Liking the attention she gets when she makes more effort than wearing her regular jeans and t shirts, Krista takes her sister's hand-me-downs and starts to get the attention of some of the popular girls in her class. Jason is a little irritated, but the two realize that it is possible to develop other interests and still stay friends.
Strengths: This was a good combination of family drama/culture problems and ordinary middle school ones like not knowing what to wear and which friends to hang out with. I especially liked Krista's relationships with her family members-- they were perfectly drawn to show that difficult moment where 12 year olds want to be with their families but also want to be autonomous. The grandmother was interesting because the two didn't have a close relationship but grow closer through a shared interest. The topic of double eye folds is handled by the mother in a very nice way.
Weaknesses: There was a bit too much emphasis on what Krista wore, but that might be because neither of my daughters really cared about clothing even in high school!
What I really think: A great purchase for elementary and middle school libraries, but it is only available in paperback. I'll have to see if there is a prebind, because paperbacks don't last at all.

Wedgie and Gizmo vs. the Toof and The Pompeii Disaster

Selfors, Suzanne. Wedgie and Gizmo vs. the Toof (#2)
April 17th 2018 by Katherine Tegen Books
ARC provided by Young Adult Books Central

Our friends are back after their exploits in Wedgie and Gizmo. Gizmo has settled in to life with his new family, and has established some routines. His nap schedule is hectic, but he makes sure to spend some time with Abuela, watching television and eating cheese puffs. When Jasmine is bound and determined to enter a pet in the school parade, both Gizmo and Wedgie are pressed into service. Wedgie embarassed himself last year, peeing on the principal and running a bit wild, so Jasmine thinks he needs to redeem himself. This is even harder now that Emiliy has moved in next door with a mini pig called Pinky (Gizmo refers to him as the Toof). Pinky wears a crown, goes to the beauty shop, and does lots of tricks. Jasmine is very concerned that Pinky will win the prize that she feels Wedgie deserves. In the meantime, Gizmo is trying to muster a cavy army in order to complete his plan for world domination, and even manages to order a drone on Abuela's charge card. This certainly spices up the pet parade, which is rather spectacular, if not as disastrous as it was the previous year.

Selfors captures both Wedgie's and Gizmo's voices beautifully. Wedgie rhapsodizing about a muffin he runs away with under the sofa sounds exactly the way I imagine my dog sounded after she managed to run off with an oatmeal cookie. Gizmo is a brilliant Evil Genius, and his plans to take over the world are pretty darn sound-- if you are a cavy. I'm a little sad that we don't hear from Pinkie, because I imagine the mini pig has a very distinctive vocal style as well.

Of course, much of this book is over the top. Gizmo wears glasses, orders things off the internet, and manages to get aloft in a drone at the school pet parade. The ordinary life of Jasmine and Elliot's family is a nice foil for the celebration of evil genius, and every day details about meals, school, and family chores makes a good argument that Gizmo's exploits are absolutely possible.

Jasmine's jealousy over Emily and her pet rings absolutely true, and Elliot's reluctance to get involved in her plots is something that older brothers will definitely recognize. My favorite character is Abuela, who is the only one who really seems to understand that Gizmo is actually a threat. She keeps telling the family "Yeah, the guinea pig ordered a drone on my credit card", but they never believe her. Even more endearing is the fact that Abuela LETS Gizmo order the drone and even unpacks it and makes sure it is available to him when he needs it.

Readers who enjoy Birney's Humphrey books, O'Donnell's Hamstersaurus Rex, or Reiche's I, Freddy will appreciate this series' use of a guinea pig rather than the overworked hamster. I can't think of too many books that include mini pigs, either, and Wedgie is in a class with the movie character Bolt in his insistence that his cape makes him a super hero!

Gutman, Dan. The Pompeii Disaster (Flashback Four #3)
April 3rd 2018 by HarperCollins
Public library copy

After being stranded briefly in 1912, the Flashback Four makes it back to Ms. Z for their next assignment. Since she has collected pictures that could have been taken because photography had been invented, she wants to up the stakes and send the children back to 79 a.d. and the eruption of Vesuvius. Of course, things don't ever go well, the children are mistaken for slaves and hauled off from their target-- taking a photo at the moment Vesuvius erupts. In the meantime, they learn a lot about how the Romans lived.
Strengths: I really like that the group has a mission, and the technology of time travel, as well as the gadgets they use once they get there (Ear buddy for translation would be fabulous, wouldn't it?) in order to communicate and fit in. Gutman has read his Pliny the Younger, and the historical details are good (dormice stuffed with dormice would probably not have been fed to prisoners, but how could you not include them?). This is a fun series for readers who have moved beyond Magic Treehouse and Ranger in Time. In fact, you could do a fun unit comparing the Pompeii versions of all of these!
Weaknesses: I like my time travel to be a little less goofy, and I'm not a huge fan of Julia.
What I really think: I definitely purchase these titles. They aren't wildly popular but see steady circulation, and they're great to have on hand for the students who like time travel books. The Baseball Card Adventures still have a special place in my heart!

MMGM- Woodpeckers: Drilling Holes and Bagging Bugs

It's Marvelous Middle Grade Monday at Always in the Middle and #IMWAYR day at Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers. It's also Nonfiction Monday.

Collard, Sneed. Woodpeckers: Drilling Holes and Bagging Bugs
April 15th 2018 by Bucking Horse Books
Copy provided by the publisher

This beautifully photo illustrated book offers an overview of the woodpecker world. Headlined by clever chapter titles (Sapsuckers- Slurping Sap and Taking Names), we learn everything from what qualities make a woodpecker different from other birds, how they communicate, raise families, and eat. There are also chapters on different types of woodpeckers, including endangered ones and how students can help advocate for them. The writing is engaging and funny at points, and shows a real enthusiasm for the topic, which is bound to get readers excited as well. At the end of the book, there are resources for learning more on the topic as well as a glossary and, my favorite, photo bloopers!

The photo credit page is brilliantly complete, and I may use it to show students that yes, you do need to cite all of your sources!

Like Collard's other books,  Hopping Ahead of Climate Change, Insects, and Firebirds: Valuing Natural Wildfires and Burned Forests, this is a perfect length for middle grade and upper elementary readers (48 pages-- just long enough to have enough information, but short enough to be fast paced) and beautifully formatted. The photos, of course, are gorgeous and perfectly illustrate the points the text is making, but the page set up, font choice, and use of colors and inset text boxes all make this an appealing book. Check out his new web site, FatherSonBirding.com.

Partridge, Elizabeth. Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam
April 10th 2018 by Viking Books for Young Readers
ARC provided by the publisher

The conflict in Vietnam was horrible, contentious, and defined the 1960s in many ways. In order to give an all-inclusive look at the many facets of this era, Partridge has arranged interviews with a wide variety of people who were actively involved at the time. There are also chapters relating to people who have since passed away but were essential to what was going on; Nixon, Johnson, Walter Cronkite, and others. This offers a lot of interesting perspectives, from soldiers from a variety of ethnic backgrounds to medics, nurses, protesters, and even Country Joe McDonald.

Flipping perspective from the home front to the battle front we hear how events abroad were received and interpreted by those involved, and those who were witnessing events through television or campus activity. Arranged in chronological order, we are able to see the changes in the political administration, the opinions of citizens, and the conditions for soldiers as well as ordinary people trying to survive in Vietnam. This historical progression continues up until the dedication of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C. in the early 1980s.

I found it particularly interesting that the author was a senior in high school in 1968, and was active in protesting the war while on a college campus... for a while. The most striking part of the entire book for me was the foreword, since her personal reflections are indicative of what I believe the vast majority of the population felt about the conflict. She and friends were traveling and picked up a hitchhiker (people did, then) who turned out to have been returning from Vietnam. Since the group was not particularly supportive of the military, they maintained a polite silence but let the man spend the night with them rather than turn him out in the cold. I recently read a fiction book that talked about the problems faced by a conscientious objector who was vilified by his neighbors. While admittedly very young at the time (I attended kindergarten in Kent, Ohio starting in the fall of 1970 and my father was a graduate student at Kent State), my recollections were more that few people talked about Vietnam, but everyone was sensitive that those who served had a difficult time, and those who lost family members also had a hard time dealing with the situation. The foreword seems to corroborate this feeling.

No one I knew voiced strong opinions because they didn't want to cause people to feel bad. The book did a great job at pointing out that California did have a lot of tension, because the population included both university protesters as well as service men and women shipping out. I was about Partridge's age when the memorial was built, and even though I read the paper every day, I don't remember much about it at all, even though it was quite the ordeal for the organizers to get it approved, designed, and built.

This is an essential purchase for middle school and high school libraries. It is readable enough for students who are interested in military events to read for pleasure, and a wealth of information for research. Along with Russell Freedman's Vietnam: A History of the War, Boots on the Ground is hugely helpful in understanding both the events and the emotional environment of the US during this time.

The one thing that has always stuck with me, for some weird reason, is that it was technically the Vietnam CONFLICT. War was apparently never declared.
https://thevietnamwar.info/was-vietnam-a-war-or-conflict/


Jensen, Cordelia and Morrison, Laurie. Every Shiny Thing
April 17th 2018 by Abrams/Amulet Books
E ARC from Netgalley.com

Lauren is angry with her well-to-do parents because they have sent her brother Ryan, who is on the autism spectrum, off to a residential school. She misses him, and thinks her parents just got tired of dealing with Ryan's problems. She attends a private Quaker school that preaches simplicity even though most of the students are from very rich backgrounds and don't necessarily follow these teachings. Sierra's father is in jail, and her mother is an alcoholic who has finally found herself unable to take care of Sierra. Anne and Carl, neighbors of Lauren's, are fostering Sierra, who goes to the same school that Lauren does. Used to taking care of herself as well as her mother, Sierra is surprised at the level of affluence, but is glad that Lauren befriends her and helps her navigating the different environment. However, Lauren's anger turns into a plan to appropriate unused items from the well-to-do and sell them in order to donate money to a program for autistic teens. Lauren starts not only stealing from friends, but from stores as well. While Sierra doesn't want to help Lauren, she doesn't want to lose her as a friend, either. There are several projects going on at school, and lots of drama as Lauren and her friend Audrey fall out. Sierra's mother struggles with rehab, and Sierra tries to stay in contact with her friend Cassidy, but Lauren's issues imperil her own progress. Eventually, Sierra realizes that in order to help the people you care about, you sometimes have to bring their misdeeds to light.
Strengths: There are not enough books about children in foster care, although we are seeing a number of good updated ones. (Byar's 1977 The Pinballs does not count!) This had a good mix of events, and some added appeal with Lauren stealing. There is something my students like about other children doing things that they ought not to do. I'm not usually a fan of dual perspective, but it worked in this case.
Weaknesses: I had a little bit of trouble believing that Lauren would really miss her brother that much, and the level of affluence (which I definitely saw when I taught at a private school) might be utterly baffling to my students! Could have done without the "verse" style, but it does help to delineate Sierra's story.
What I really think: The shoplifting story alone made this book worth reading-- it's a topic not covered well enough. Add the foster care story, and this is a very readable and timely book.

The Battle of Junk Mountain

Greenburg, Lauren Abby. The Battle of Junk Mountain
April 17th 2018 by Running Press Kids
E ARC from Netgalley.com

Shayne loves to spend summers in Maine with her grandmother, even though it hasn't been quite the same since her grandfather passed away. This summer, things aren't going the way she wants them too-- her mother is staying home to work, and her best friend Poppy has to help out with the family business. Even Shayne's grandmother has gone back to work, waitressing at a local restaurant, and Shayne is supposed to help out there as well. When she proves less than helpful, she returns to her mother's idea of helping her grandmother ready things for a local rummage sale to help supplement her meager income. With Poppy unavailable, Shayne makes friends with the quirky Linc, the grandson of her grandmother's cranky neighbor. Linc is very interseted in war enactments, and may be able to help Shayne find something in her grandmother's "junk mountain" that will be worth money. Even though she really wants to help, Shayne can only do so much, and eventually has to bring in adult reinforcements to help.
Strengths: This is the third book I've seen on hoarding in the last two years (Family Game Night and Other Catastrophes, Smart Cookie), but it is interesting and realistically done. I even bought that Shayne's mother would have sent her on her own. Shayne is hopeful that she can help, and works really hard to try to assist her grandmother. It doesn't hurt that the book is set in the summer in a Maine vacation town.
Weaknesses: I wish the neighbor hadn't been so cranky.
What I really think: This had a good combination of summer, problems, and hopefulness that will make it popular. Definitely will purchase.

The Orphan Band of Springdale

Nesbet, Anne. The Orphan Band of Springdale
April 10th 2018 by Candlewick Press
E ARC from Netgalley

Gusta Neubronner is on a bus from New York City to a small town in Maine in 1941 when her father disappears. He is a union organizer, and has told Gusta a little bit about what to do if men come for him, but she just didn't expect it. At least she is on her way to her grandmother's house, and manages to arrive without other incidents. Her grandmother runs an odd sort of orphanage, so there is plenty of room for Gusta. She settles in to school, gets to know her cousin, and finally gets a much needed pair of eyeglasses. In order to pay for the glasses, she helps a German optometrist who keeps pigeons. As WWII heats up, everyone comes under suspicion, especially the optometrist and Gusta, who is unable to furnish a birth certificate to the school. Gusta plays the French Horn, and is glad to be approached by the high school band, but when her uncle needs an operation to repair damage done by the looms at his work, she sells the instrument to help pay for it. She also writes to a labor organizer in New York who worked with her father, hoping to get some representation for the uncle's case. Long held family secrets emerge, and eventually Gusta is able to make sense of her world.
Strengths: I am constantly fascinated by books involving Germans in the US during WWII, but aside from A Tiny Piece of Sky and Bunting's Spying on Miss Muller (1995), there aren't that many. This Nesbet's own mother's story, and the love that goes into the details is very evident. I would have adored this one as a child.
Weaknesses: A bit long (448 pages) for my students. The biggest reason WWII books circulate is for an 8th grade unit, and this could have had a few more details about life on the home front.
What I really think: May purchase this one if I have the money remaining to do so. This author's Cabinet of Earths and  Cloud and Wallfish don't circulate particularly well. Again, perfectly fine book, and it may be great for your library.

Guy Friday- Trapped in a Video Game

Brady, Dustin. Trapped in a Video Game
April 10th 2018 by Andrews McMeel Publishing
Copy provided by the publisher

Jesse is not a fan of video games, but his best friend Eric is obsessed with Full Blast, an alien invasion game that a classmate's father has provided to some of the boys in his son Chris's class. While looking for Eric, Jesse comes upon the game on the television in Eric's basement, and gets sucked into the game! His right hand is replaced by a blaster, and he and Eric have to play the game. As the game proceeds, they find out that a boy who has gone missing in their neighborhood has also been sucked into the game, and they discover that there is a significant bug in the programming that they have to figure out how to fix the game before they are stuck as well. Of course, since this is the first in a five book series, we know that further adventures await the boys. A short lesson at the back of the book on computer coding and how games are put together is interesting.
Strengths: This was about the length of a Jake Maddox sports book, and shares a similiar font size, amount of illustrations, and level of reading difficulty. The story moves along quickly, and Jake and Eric are sympathetic characters. Readers who enjoy video games but who are not strong enough readers for Anderson's fantastic Insert Coin to Continue will adore these books.
Weaknesses: This title is not year listed on Follett, and is published in paperback. While it would make a great gift for a reluctant reader or an addition to a classroom library, it wouldn't hold up to the circulation it would see in my building without being available in prebind.
What I really think:  This is a great choice for readers who are interested in video games but not terribly interested in reading. My students who pick up Patton's Battle Bugs book would be all over this. I will definitely keep my eye on this title, but if an Accelerated Reader test is not available for it, I won't purchase.

Poetry Friday: A Round of Robins

Hesterman, Katie. Illustrated by Sergio Ruzzier. A Round of Robins
March 27th 2018 by Nancy Paulsen Books
Copy provided by the publisher

This picture book sized poetry book follows Mama and Dad bird as they hatch a clutch of eggs, supervise raising the chicks, and send them off into the world. The rhymed couplets give brief information about how the nest is built, eggs are laid and hatched, and some of the activities of young chicks. Eating worms, splashing in puddles, learning to fly, and eventually being persuaded to leave the nest are all covered, and the final pages indicate that this is a process that will be repeated.

The pastel illustrations have a good portion of red in them, and the backgrounds show a good use of watercolor wash with pen and ink accents. Ruzzier may not have been trying to replicate the bird in Eastman's Are You My Mother, but the young robins certainly brought that fictional bird to mind.

The poems cover the material about bird life cycles very thoroughly, although it might have been nice to have a short section at the end of the book with more information and a few photographs, to reinforce to younger readers that all of the information is real and not a story. The poems are simple but well crafted; I am very particular about rhyme and scansion, and nothing stuck out as awkwardly done.

I normally deal with collections of poetry, or thematic poetry book that tell stories of school, so I haven't read many that teach science facts. There are apparently a number of these, however, such as Andreae's
Bustle in the bushes,  Harrison's Crawly school for bugs : Poems to drive you buggy and A place to start a family : poems about creatures that build and Lin's Our food : a healthy serving of science and poems. Who knew?

The Doughnut Fix

Janowitz, Jessie. The Doughnut Fix
April 1st 2018 by Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
E ARC from Edelweiss Plus

Tristan's family decides to move from New York City to a small town after his father loses his job and his mother decides to open a restaurant. Tristan is so upset that he doesn't even tell his best friend, thinking that his magical thinking will somehow stop the move from happening. It doesn't. Soon, the family is ensconced in a run down house at the outskirts of a small town on the East Coast. Tristan isn't happy, his sister Jeanine is even less happy because she is not in an Able and Talented program, and four year old Zoe just shows her unhappiness by biting people. When the school district suggests that the children don't start school until the new year, the parents decide that Tristan and Jeanine should each have a project to keep them busy. Tristan has visited a small store in town and been intrigued by their chocolate cream doughnuts, which are no longer being made. He eventually earns the recipe, and embarks on a project to produce and sell the doughnuts, aided by Josh, the son of the local librarian. The boys perfect the recipe, source and price the ingredients, come up with a business plan, get a permit, advertise, and manage to produce a batch to sell. When their debut date ends up coinciding with a snow storm, they are afraid The Doughnut Stop is doomed. Is their chocolate cream doughnut really the kind of product that changes lives?
Strengths: This was a fast paced, fun read that had a great mix of middle grade elements. Even though there was a lot of detail about setting up a business, those details were offset by raccoon poop, a younger sister who zip lines in the basement and opens up several bags of flour as "fairy dust", and lots of chocolate! There's the middle grade angst of moving and making new friends as well as some spot on sibling rivalry. I was able to remember the details of this very clearly for several days after I finished this, which means that the writing was organized and strong.
Weaknesses: I found it impossible to believe that the school wouldn't take the children right away, and also that the mother didn't have a better plan for setting up her restaurant. Also, Zoe would hvae constantly been in time out were she my child.
What I really think: Great cover, solid premise, and a very easy to sell topic. Definitely purchasing!

Random comment: For over half the book, I was operating under the assumption that Tristan was a girl. Even with a friend trying out for the boys' basketball team. Maybe it's because we have a female teacher who is named Tristan, or the scene where Tristan doesn't want to take a ride during a rainstorm from a strange man (who turns out to be the mayor), but when I finally noticed the pronoun "he" was used, I was surprised!

You Go First

Kelly, Erin Entrada. You Go First
April 10th 2018 by Greenwillow Books
ARC provided by Young Adult Books Central

Charlotte lives near Philadelphia, and Ben lives in Louisiana. They've never met, although they have played online Scrabble together on many occasions. When they both have particularly bad weeks, Ben calls Charlotte, and they actually talk. Having one good friend is helpful to both of them in getting through their weeks. Charlotte's somewhat older father has had a serious heart attack and is in the hospital, and Ben's parents have told them that they are getting a divorce. Combined with the normal middle school drama both are experiencing, (such as Ben's attempts to run for a school office even though he is regularly bullied) these new additions to their world are almost overwhelming. Despite the distance that separates them, they are able to help each other navigate the tricky waters of adolescent life.

Kelly gives a believable reason for the two to have connected on line, and there is some discussion of online safety, even though Charlotte later makes some bad decisions and sets off for the city on her own. Technology is present in many children's lives today, so it is realistic to include it, but hard to do so in a way that won't become dated very soon. (Myspace or pagers, anyone?)

The problems that both children face are ones that are fairly common. Parents become ill, many parents get divorced, and other children at school are not always kind. It is good to see that both Charlotte and Ben do have some caring adults in their lives, but sometimes a friend can offer much different help from an adult.

Readers who enjoy introspective books that cover serious topics, such as Buyea's Because of Mr. Terupt, Bauer's Almost Home, Palaccio's Wonder and Sonnenblick's Falling Over Sideways will enjoy learning how Charlotte and Ben deal with the difficulties that life hands them.

That said, I've found it difficult to get students to check out Kelly's Blackbird Fly, Hello, Universe and  Land of the Forgotten Girls. I think this is because the books move rather slowly. Puzzle books also don't do well in my library, so I will have to debate purchasing this title, as much as I like Kelly's work.

Bone's Gift Blog Tour

BONE’S GIFT BLOG TOUR!

Monday, April 9 YA Books Central 

Tuesday, April 10 Ms. Yingling Reads

Wednesday, April 11 Unleashing Readers

Thursday, April 12 The Brain Lair AND Genrefluent

Friday, April 13 Always in the Middle

Smibert, Angie. Bone's Gift
March 20th 2018 by Boyd's Mill Press
Copy provided by publisher

Bone is not as ladylike as her Aunt Mattie expects a girl to be in 1945-- she'd rather wear dungarees and play outside with her friend Will than dress up like her cousin Ruby. She still misses her mother, who died in a flu epidemic, especially now that Bone seems to be manifesting a familial "gift" that her cousin has warned her might have killed her mother. When she touches an objects, she gets flashes of what happened to its former owner while in contact with it. Her grandmother might know some answers, but Bone's father has cut off most communication with her. When a professor comes into town collecting stories for a WPA project, Bone uses this as an excuse to touch base with her grandmother and get some answers. Times are hard in the coal mining town, and Bone watches as her friends start working in the mines or going off to war. When both her own father and her uncle choose to go as well, things become even more dire, and Bone is more motivated than ever to figure out what really happened to her mother, and what will happen to her.
Strengths: There were lots of good details about life in this place and time. Coal mining is a brutal way of life that made going off to the war seem like a better idea, and I've not really seen that reflected in any middle grade literature. The family dynamics, with Bone and her father living in a boarding house, Bone living with her aunt when her father went off to war, and the alienation between the aunt and the grandmother are all very realistic. I was glad that Ruby and Bone started to get along a little bit, and that Bone was able to solve some of the mystery of why her aunt was so mean.
Weaknesses: There were some parts of the story that seemed unresolved, but this is the first book in a trilogy. I imagine we will hear more about Will's selective mutism, Bone's gift, and her grandmother's background in further installments.
What I really think: I'm not a huge fan of paranormal books, so it wasn't quite my cup of tea, but I can see this book being a good choice for readers who do like the idea of magic and magical gifts and need to read a book set during World War II.

The Stone Girl's Story

Durst, Sarah Beth. The Stone Girl's Story
April 3rd 2018 by Clarion Books
E ARC from Edelweiss Plus

Mayka was made by Father, a master stone mason who has since died. She lives in the mountain with her family of stone creatures, but as their markings wear off with age, the creatures are in danger of slowing completely down, like Turtle, whom Mayka mourns. In order to restore him and keep the other creatures alive, Mayka decides to travel to the city of Skye, where father lived, in order to find another stone mason. Along with two birds, Risa and Jacklo she gets into the town only to find out there a stone festival in in the works, and everyone she meets acts a bit oddly and tells her to have her "keepers" ask for a stone mason. Jacklo goes missing, and when he is found, he is in the care of a stone mason to whom Garit is apprenticed. Unfortunately, Siorn has carved mark in Jacklo to make him obedient, and Mayka worries that all of the stone creatures are in danger. She finds out several secrets about Father and why he left, and learns more about a stone war that tore the community apart. With the help of her friends, old and new, she learns to trust in her own abilities to care for her family.
Strengths: This is a very solid, fast moving fantasy with good world building and intriguing characters. It's a great length for elementary students who want to read up-- my children would have loved this in about 2nd grade, when Magic Treehouse books became too easy.
Weaknesses: I'm never a fan of epilogues, so I could have down without the scene where Garit and Ilery come to the mountain to visit Mayka once they are grown up. Most readers will be glad to find out what happened later, but I like to make up my own endings!
What I really think: This has some similarities with Durst's The Girl Who Could Not Dream,  but isn't quite as exciting as The Journey Across the Hidden Islands. I'm not sure I have readers for this, but it's definitely a good fantasy book for readers who don't want something too scary.

Lauren, Ruth. Seeker of the Crown.
April 3rd 2018 by Bloomsbury USA Childrens
ARC provided by the publisher

Synopsis from Goodreads.com:
"Valor risks everything to protect her friends in this second book in a thrilling fantasy series that's Percy Jackson meets Frozen.

One month has passed since Valor broke her twin sister Sasha out of jail. But the girl who imprisoned her to begin with—Princess Anastasia—has gone missing. The queen, desperate to find her daughter, asks Valor and Sasha to track Anastasia down and bring her home.

But just as the girls and their friends embark on the search, the queen also vanishes, throwing the realm into utter chaos. If Valor can't restore order, she risks getting sent back to prison . . . and tearing her newly reunited family apart once again. She must rely on people she can't quite trust, as well as her own instincts, to protect the people she holds dear." 

Strengths: Valor and twin Sasha get along better in this book, and Valor is more likable. There are lots of twists and turns, changes in alliances, and lots of good world building and details about what's going on.
Weaknesses: Nothing really fresh. Vaguely Nordic fantasy kingdom, political intrigue, sisters working together against evil. Readers who like this sort of book need a LOT of similar titles, but I'm always looking for something that will have a new twist.
What I really think: I enjoyed Prisoner of Ice and Snow, but just couldn't get into this on the night that I read it. I will definitely buy it because the first one has been popular. 

MMGM- Crash

It's Marvelous Middle Grade Monday at Always in the Middle and #IMWAYR day at Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers. It's also Nonfiction Monday.


Favreau Marc. Crash: The Great Depression and the Fall and Rise of America
April 10th 2018 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
ARC received from publisher at ALA

This nicely formatted book provides an understandable overview of some of the causes of the Great Depression, and the effects that it had on the people of the US. We have reached a point where students in middle school don't have a great understanding of this period of time-- they don't really even understand 9/11! When I was growing up, there was still a lot of talk about how hard things were, from not only my grandparents, but my parents as well. This is important information for students to know.

I especially liked that this included some information I'd not really seen gathered before. There was a nice description of Herbert Hoover's contributions to US politics before he got sucked into the vortex of the Depression and his name was forever tied with "Hoovervilles". The stock market crash and the dust bowl are well explained, but there are also chapters on the African American and Hispanic America experience about which I have not read before. I find the CCC fascinating, and knew several men who were involved in this work, although there could have been a little bit more about other WPA programs. The book ends with a bit of information about Father Coughlin and segues nicely into World War II.

Period photographs, many by Dorothea Lange, as well as reproductions of posters and flyers, give much needed visuals for readers who can't fully comprehend how bad the Depression was. A complete index and sources notes round out this well done book.

The Summer of Broken Things

Haddix, Margaret Peterson. The Summer of Broken Things.
April 10th 2018 by Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers

E ARC from Edelweiss Above the Treeline

Avery is a well-to-do 14-year-old who loves to play soccer. Her father must spend the summer in Spain for work, and her mother is staying to run her decorating business. Something is wrong with this situation, but Avery isn't quite sure what it is. Kayla is two years older and lives in a small town not too far from Avery's posh town. Her father was injured in an accident before he was deployed, leaving Kayla and her mother to live with her mother's folks while her mother tries to make ends meet with her nursing home job. Kayla isn't well liked at school because she is awkward and unattractive. The two girls were friends under odd circumstances when they were young, and Kayla is approached to come to Spain to be a companion for Avery. Neither girl is all that excited about it, but Kayla is glad to see the wider world. Things go wrong from the beginning-- Avery loses her passport, the apartment in Spain isn't great, Avery won't go to the Spanish language class the girls are both enrolled in, and a dark family secret that affects both families emerges. Avery throws herself headlong into passionate self pity, and Kayla cuts off contact with her very supportive family for a while. Even Avery's father is affected. When the three attempt a road trip to do some sight seeing, there is a medical emergency, and the girls have to work together to get through it. Eventually, they both come to the realization that life goes on no matter what has happened in one's life.
Strengths: Haddix is a local author, so there is always great demand for her books. This is definitely more young adult than many of her titles, in that it is more introspective and sad, but doesn't have inappropriate situations or content. It was interesting to see lives in Ohio portrayed from both ends of the economic spectrum.
Weaknesses: Avery was a horrible child, spoiled and self centered, and the situation with the family secret was not handled well by anyone. The descriptions of Kayla seemed half a bubble off (as someone who identifies more strongly with the working poor), especially when she loses weight over the summer. It was good to see her become more confident, though.
What I really think: This is rather lengthy (about 400 pages), and my readers tend to like there travel books to be a little happier. I may wait to purchase this, since I don't think it will have as many readers as Haddix's other work. High school libraries will definitely want to investigate.

How You Ruined My Life

Strand, Jeff. How You Ruined My Life
April 1st 2018 by Sourcebooks Fire
E ARC from Edelweiss Plus

Rodney's father left, so he and his mother struggle to get by. When his well-to-do aunt and uncle decide to take a three months' long cruise, his cousin Blake is sent to go to high school with him. It's bad enough that Rod has to share his tiny room with his cousin, but when Blake finally arrives, it is with a ton of stuff and an attitude that Rod should be his servant. Rod, who is very busy with his band, Fanged Grapefruit as well as his girlfriend, Audrey, isn't pleased. As Blake does more an more sneaky things to Rod, he also tries to ingratiate himself with all of Rod's friends, to the point where Blake throws animals guts in his own face so he can blame it on Rod! On the other hand, he gets some awesome gigs for the band, but he also turns Audrey against Rod. His head spinning, Rod isn't sure what his cousin's evil plan is, only that it is evil, and he must find some way to stop him, even if it is by sort-of kidnapping him and attempting to drive him across the country! Will the cousins ever be able to make peace?
Strengths: This was VERY funny. I was reading it on the plane coming back from ALA Midwinter, and laughed so much that I ended up reading a lot of it to my travel companion! This wins absolute first place for lists of rock band names. The plot was amusing, moved quickly, and was just a lot of fun. I especially appreciated that the main character was a high school junior, but there wasn't anything inappropriate. It's so hard to find books like this for my more mature readers. Very nice balance.
Weaknesses: Younger readers might be a little confused by what Blake is doing. I have had to explain the concept of "gaslighting" to teachers, so students might not understand what Blake is trying to accomplish, other than being annoying.
What I really think: Definitely purchasing a copy, and a bit miffed that it's in paperback! Follett does have a prebind available.

Until Tomorrow, Mr. Marsworth

O'Connor, Sheila. Until Tomorrow, Mr. Marsworth
April 3rd 2018 by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Purchased copy

Reenie, her father, and her brothers Billy and Dare move from Missouri to live with their grandmother in Minnesota in 1968 because their mother's cancer treatments bankrupted the family. Reenie and her brothers all have jobs, and they are saving up to pay for Billy's college tuition at the University of Missouri so that he can be deferred from the draft. It's unusual for a girl to have a paper route, even with her brother, so local thugs Rat and Cutler give her a hard time, but she gives as good as she gets, which only escalates their feud. One of Reenie's customers is Mr. Marsworth, but he will not answer his bell. Reenie starts leaving him lengthy letters, and he returns brief, typewritten letters in response. He encourages Reenie to go to the library, make friends with another new girl on the street, and eventually, to go to the beach near the lake house he owns to give her something to do. She still persists in writing, especially when she finds out that Mr. Marsworth was a conscientious objector during WWI, and she will try anything to keep Billy from going to Vietnam. With the encouragement of her new pen pal, Reenie has her brother write a letter to the newspaper, visit a center to help him with his application, and apply to a Quaker college Mr. Marsworth attended. As the summer wears on, Billy's situation becomes more pressing, the family must make plans for the future, and secrets from the past are revealed.
Strengths: This is an interesting topic, and one which I am very happy to see represented in literature. Aside from Kurlansky's Battle Fatigue, and Qualey's Hometown (M.E. Kerr's Slap Your Sides is WWII) I can't think of another book that does. There are lots of good descriptions of every day life in 1968, and the letter format makes sense within the context. I liked that the plight of the conscientious objector in several other conflicts was addressed. The family secret caught me by surprise, but made sense and was resolved in an interesting way.
Weaknesses: There is a lot going on in this book, which dilutes the central message. I could have done without the mother's death or the bullying from the local thugs, and Reenie would have done well to learn from Mr. Marsworth's brevity. Her "handwriting" was somewhat wearing to read.
What I really think: This will be a popular choice for the 1960s unit our seventh grade does, and will get checked out a bit more frequently than other titles about this time period because of the appealing cover.

Following Baxter

Kerley, Barbara. Following Baxter
(Cover Art by Gilbert Ford)
April 3rd 2018 by HarperCollins
ARC provided by Young Adult Books Central

Jordie, whose father has been living in an apartment over the family garage since her parents have separated, really wants a dog. Her mother always says no, so Jordie is excited when Professor Reese moves next door with a large dog acquired when a friend had to leave the country suddenly. The professor is very busy with her experiments and setting up her lab in her basement, so she's more than happy when Jordie offers to walk the dog, whom they name Baxter. Baxter is everything Jordie could want in a dog, and she's thrilled to be able to spend every day after school with him, accompanied by her younger brother, TJ. The two children eventually find out the nature of Professor Reese's experiments, and even help with some of them, When the professor goes missing, though, they need to find her without letting their parents know what is going on.

Next to jet packs, teleportation is probably the most enthralling way to travel! I can't think of another middle grade books that addresses this, and I appreciated how much detail was given to how objects would have to be broken down and reassembled. At one point, a cockroach is teleported accidentally, and the discussion about how it fares afterwards is very interesting.

While it's a bit of a stretch that Professor Reese would end up with a job, it's a nice thought that she would come to the aid of a friend so quickly. It's also nice to see her becoming friends with the neighbor children so quickly; does anyone take baked goods to welcome new neighbors anymore? The parents certainly check up on Jordie and TJ, but it's refreshing to see children given a bit of freedom and responsibility. The parents' living arrangements give them lots of opportunities to support the children, but also give the children a little wiggle room to sneak out from time to time.

The science is handled nicely; I'd definitely categorize this as science fiction rather than fantasy. Professor Reese has a job at a college that includes meetings and classes, and it's good to see a woman shown in a high level science job. In real life, she would probably have college students serving as her lab assistants, but Jordie and TJ do a good job in that role, as well as with walking Baxter.

This is somewhat reminiscent of Bunker's Felix Yz, Kade's Bot Wars,  Boyce's Cosmic or Scaletta's The Winter of the Robots in that there are adventures with some scientific twists, but the inclusion of a dog as well as Professor Reese sets this off in a category all its own.

I'm debating purchase for my library-- the mystery is a bit week, and I don't think the cover will entice my students to pick this up. It's just not quite the right flavor of either dog book or science fiction. Definitely take a look at it, though.