Middle Grade Monday-- The Traitor and the Tunnel

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday was started and is hosted by the (now wildly famous!) Shannon Whitney Messnger at her blog. Hop over there THIS WEEK to see a list of links to other bloggers posting on middle grade books.

Lee, Y.S. The Agency: The Traitor and the Tunnel
Publication date: 28 February 2012
Mary Quinn is still working with the Agency, and her newest assignment is to work as a parlor maid in Buckingham Palace, where Queen Victoria has been plagued with petty thefts of expensive ornaments. There are bigger problems, though-- Price Bertie and a friend are attacked in an opium den and the friend is killed. The opium fiend responsible for the death is a Lascar named Lang, whom Mary determines is her long lost father. Also in the works are sewage changes to the palace, and who is working on those but James Easton! Also around is reporter Octavius Jones, who is wooing one of Mary's coworkers to get information. Mary suspects the queen's lady in waiting of either the thievery or a bigger plot, but is caught up in trying to save her father. She is also a bit overwhelmed by the confidence of Bertie and the attentions of James. When all of the problems swirling around her finally make sense and come to a head, she is able to avert a national disaster with the help of James and a spunky Queen Victoria. What will the future hold for Mary? Maybe this series will go beyond the trilogy, or Ms. Lee will write some other appealing books!
Strengths: ***SWOON*** The more of these books I read, the more I lurve them! I'm becoming more fond of Victorian England, and like A Spy in the House and The Body in the Tower these are very well researched. The spying believable, the back stairs scenes illuminating to middle grade readers, and the romance brilliant.
Weaknesses: The sexual content of this one is approaching borderline-- Mary is attacked and her skirts fumbled with, Octavius Jones "beds" the maids, and the kisses between Mary and James are hot and heavy. While younger readers might not quite get what is going on, this one makes me a tiny bit nervous.

Scattergood, Augusta. Glory Be.

Glory is looking forward to enjoying the hot Mississippi summer at the pool and is not happy when the pool is closed down for "repairs", especially since the pool seems to be in good shape. When she meets Laura at the public library, Glory finds out that the pool is closed because civil rights workers from the north are trying to get the town to integrate the pool. Laura's mother is working in a clinic for black citizens who don't have better access to health care. Glory's father is a prominent minister in town, her sister Jessalyn is sympathetic to the civil rights workers, and the family's black cook, Emma, is trying not to comment too much on what is going on. While a good deal of the town is against integration, there are also a lot of citizens who are trying to do things like insure equal access to the library for everyone. Glory is caught in the middle and trying to do what she thinks is right.
Strengths: This short novel drew me in right away with Glory's concerns about her OWN summer. Once she figured out what was impacting her, she tried to make a larger change to society. This is how the middle grade mind often works, so I found this to be a more engaging book than I thought it would be.
Weaknesses: Again, the civil rights story is told from the point of view of a middle class, white girl. While engaging, this had even fewer characters of color than many such stories.


And remember, this voting is not really for any sort of prestigious award, it's just directing traffic to this web site so they can get more hits and do better on search engines. Still, the prize is a $250 restaurant gift card, and there are four teenagers in my house who have this nasty habit of eating. Just want people to be aware of what happens when they click through. Up to you. I already KNOW that I am fascinating.

http://www.accelerated-degree.com/2012-fascination-awards-librarian-blogs/

The Lions of Little Rock

Levine, Kristin. The Lions of Little Rock.Marlee is a bit shy, but exciting about starting a new year of junior high. Things are tense in Little Rock in the fall of 1958, and her older sister Judy is not starting high school because of the problems with school integration. Marlee’s father is a teacher in the district, and he thinks that Negroes should be allowed in the school; Marlee’s mother is less sure, and as time goes on, takes a job teaching in a new private school being set up to circumvent the integration law. Marlee is excited to make a good, new friend, Liz. They get along famously, working on a school project, but one day the teacher tells Marlee that Liz is ill and won’t be back. The obnoxious Sally tells Marlee that this is not the case; Liz is actually black and was caught trying to pass as white. Marlee confirms this with Betty Jean, the family’s new maid and the wife of the pastor of Liz’s church. Marlee is warned that trying to remain friends with Liz could put them both in peril, but she doesn’t listen. The two try to remain friends even as events in Little Rock escalate.
Strengths: This does a good job at portraying many different perspectives of this event-- Marlee’s brother is in college and thinking of working with the Civil Rights movement, but neighbors and friends are in the KKK. We have Liz, Betty Jean, and other black characters who come at the events from different view points, giving this a well-rounded feel.
Weaknesses: My very first book review was for Rodman’s Yankee Girl (2004)http://msyinglingreads.blogspot.com/2006/02/yankee-girl.html, and I’m still wondering why so many Civil Rights books are from the point of view of white, middle class girls!

It's a low key celebration here. Little did I know back in 2006 how much time I would spend on reading and blogging! Definitely would have come up with a better blog name, but at least now I have a cool blog design.

Hopefully, I can continue reading and blogging far into the future!

Nonfiction Monday-- We've Got a Job

Nonfiction Monday was started by Anastasia Suen and is hosted this week at Wrapped in Foil.

Levinson, Cynthia. We've Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children's March
March 28th 2012 by Peachtree Publishers
EARC provided by Netgalley.com

This is exactly why Black History Month was started; so much history involving the Civil Rights Movement never makes it to school curriculums. Certainly in the 1970s, we could have learned about school integration in the South, but I don’t think we even got as far as the Cold War! While I knew about Little Rock, and the bombings in Birmingham, I had never heard of the Children’s March that occurred in May of 1963. Children and teens learned about nonviolent protest, and even signed an agreement that they would remain nonviolent, then left school in order to march. They were arrested in droves and had fire hoses turned on them and dogs set on them. Some Civil Rights leaders, including Malcolm X, felt that this was an improper thing to do. This book is told from the points of view of four children from various backgrounds who were involved in the March, and so has good details about what it was like to live through this. Combined with the other activities at the time, this march helped to bring about the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Strengths: The set up of this book is great for middle school students—pictures are interspersed with text, and including the experiences of real people instead of just a general overview is something that will appeal to students.
Weaknesses: Before I purchase e books, nonfiction is going to have to be better formatted for this platform. I read an EARC of this, and had to reduce the print size to small so that the pictures would appear. Maybe my eye sight is getting worse than I imagine, because it was very difficult to read this way.

Mysteries!

Bond, Victoria and T.R.Simon. Zora and Me.
Zora and her friends Carrie and Teddy get into all sorts of trouble in their small Florida community in the early 1900s. Zora has a flair for the dramatic and is always making up one story or another. After a local man is mauled to death trying to wrestle an alligator, Zora comes up with two stories-- one about Mr. Pendir having the snout of an alligator, and one about what might have happened to a man found murdered beside the railroad tracks. Her stories make it hard for anyone to believe her, but Zora is convinced that she knows what happened to the murdered man, and tries to make her parents believe her to make sure that justice is done.
Strengths: Many students would not know who Zora Neale Hurston is, and this is a good introduction to the author combined with a mystery.
Weaknesses: This is a small book with a somewhat cartoonish cover, but the contents are not necessarily for very young children. There is a lot of heavy duty coverage of prejudice and discrimination, as well as romantic intrigue. The language is also very rich, especially when Zora is spinning her yarns.

Margolis, Leslie. Vanishing Acts. (Maggie Brooklyn #2)

Maggie is still walking dogs, and this time the problem is that someone is hiding in the park and throwing eggs at the dogs. Not only that, but when Maggie spends some time being an extra in a film, she meets the star, Seth Ryan. He then goes missing, and Maggie thinks she can find out what happened to him. Maggie's friends and neighbors play a big part in this plot, as does the neighborhood itself. Maggie learns that stardom isn't all it seems to be, and in the end, solves both mysteries.

Strengths: While light on plot, the characters in this series are so fun that the book is very engaging. The small size and appealing cover art by Tuesday Mourning (as well as the inclusion of dogs!) will make this a bit hit with girls in 3rd through 7th grade.

Weaknesses: Again, light on plot, and somewhat transparent mystery.

Thanks for Erik over at This Kid Reviews Books for awarding me a Liebster Award. If you want book reviews from an actual middle grade boy, head over and check out his great blog. Since I posted the answers to all the questions back in the fall, I won't bore people again-- instead, spend your time visiting Erik!

Nonfiction Monday-- You Need a Schoolhouse

Deutsch, Stephanie. You Need a Schoolhouse: Booker T. Washington, Julius Rosenwald, and the Building of Schools for the Segregated South

This book definitely comes under the heading of “Who knew?” Washington and Rosenwald, a well-to-do Jewish businessman who ran Sears, Roebuck for many years, built around 5,000 schools in the rural South for black students in the rural South. Their friendship in the early part of the 1900s was unusual for the time but extremely productive. Washington frequently approached businessmen who might help him with his various projects, and Rosenwald felt that black children were not being treated fairly and kept up with the school project even after Washington’s death in 1915.
Strengths: This book is incredibly well-researched and gives minute details on so many facets of this fascinating project. Pictures are included.
Weaknesses: This is a bit too much information for middle school. I would love to see a version done with more pictures, information on the times in general done in sidebars, and not quite as much detail. This would be excellent for high school collections where research projects are done on this topic.

Nonfiction Monday is administered by Anastasia Suen and is hosted today by Capstone Connect.

Sad books

Pinkney, Andrea Davis. Dear America: With the Might of Angels
Nominated for the Cybils by Tanita

In 1954, Dawnie Rae doesn't like the school she goes to because everything is worn out and old. The schools that the white students attend, however, are much different, which is why when the NAACP is looking for students to enroll in Prettyman High, Dawnie's parents sign her up. it takes a long time for her even to be allowed to go to school, and when she finally does, the town com pains. Her father loses his job at the town dairy, which starts a boycott of the company by the blacks in town. Some of Dawnie's teachers are supportive, but some are not. Going to an all white school is difficult, but with the help of family and friends, Dawnie is able to persevere.
Strengths: Better written than some books in this series, in that they tend to have a lot of whining and details about daily life that don't necessarily strengthen the plot. The redesigned covers are attractive, and the historical information at the back of the books is always helpful.
Weaknesses: Horrible binding. I didn't care much for some of the overly Southern turns of phrase (" I worry Bethune will melt right into the ground, like syrup on a pancake.") because they seemed out of place with the general writing style.

Russell, Krista. Chasing the Nightbird.
Nominated for the Cybils by Lesley.

Lucky is Happy with his job on a whaling ship in 1851, but when he is docked in New Bedford, Massachusetts, he is shanghaied... by his long lost brother who thinks that their father owes him money. Fortuna, the brother, deposits Lucky at a boarding house, where a sympathetic woman who knew him as a baby takes good care of him, but also makes him work in a mill. There, he meets Daniel, a runaway slave, whose fortunes entwine with his own when Lucky (who is from Cape Verde and therefore free) is targeted by slave runners. Fortunately, he has also meets Emmeline, a young Quaker girl whose father is a sea captain. She tries to help Lucky, and is instrumental in freeing him not only from the slavers but also his evil brother.
Strengths: Lots of action and adventure, and a topic that is always in demand for our 8th grade curriculum.
Weaknesses: Despite the number of really evil characters opposing him, I never particularly liked Lucky.

Yep, Lawrence. Dragons of Silk.
Nominated for the Cybils by Natasha Maw.

Following four generations of a Chinese family, two of whom live in China and two in the US, Yep tells the story of how the silk industry ties them all together. In 1835, a family oaf two daughters and a mother struggle to keep their silk worm business alive after the father returns after having been addicted to opium. Despite their efforts, things do not end well. In 1881, the family is involved with a local realigns factory that is suffering the effects of the war, and the daughter meets young man who was born in the US and decides to escape her life in China for one with the young man, even though things are very difficult for the Chinese there as well. In 1932, it is again the women in the family who have been abandoned by the patriarchs when there is a reversal of financial fortune. While the mother proves unsuited for a difficult life the grandmother and granddaughters take in piece work, tighten their belts, and do what they can to stay safe and happy. Later, in 1962, one young woman tries to get into the designing end of fashion work; the end of the book follows her success and also ties her family in with the family of the sister who did not leave China.
Strengths: Interesting use of the myth of the Weaving Maid and her festival to set all of the stories,and good details about what daily life would have been like during each of the eras.
Weaknesses: There is more discussion of the silk making process than will interest many students; Parks's Project Mulberry is one that I can't get students to read. I was hoping for something more like Dragon Road.

Christopher, Lucy. Flyaway.
nominated for the Cybils by Kelly Jensen. (Who, by the way, is sort of like the person running directly in front of me in a 5 k. Every time I read three books, she reads four. I know, I know; the Cybils is not a contest to see who can read the most, but Kelly is reading way more than I am!)

Isla and her father love to watch the swans near their home, but are very disturbed when new power towers cause the death of three swans and the grave injury of another. Isle wants to nurse the other back to health, but runs into trouble because her father is suffering from a heart condition that is becoming more and more serious. Beset by dreams about the plight of the swan, Isla decides that for a school project she will try to get the lone swan to try to migrate, going so far as to take apart a stuffed swan and try to fly with it's wings. Her family is brought closer together as her father's condition worsens, even though her grandfather hates hospitals because her grandmother died in hospital, and tries to take hope from the progress of the swan.
Strengths: Lyrical writing is very effective and sad.
Weaknesses: Again, probably more about swans than the average reader cares to know.

Divergent, etc.

Roth, Veronica. Divergent.
Beatrice has been raised in a future dystopian society where personality influenced factions are more important than one's relations. When, on her 16th birthday, she must choose to remain in Abnegation (which requires a life of self-sacrifice with which she has never felt comfortable) or follow her heart to the very different life of the Dauntless, she chooses to become Dauntless. Further complicating matters is that her personality test indicated that she was really Divergent, which is very dangerous since such people don't fit one particular mold, and she is told to keep this secret. Once in the Dauntless compound, she embarks on an initiation course which includes weapons, fighting, and evil cohorts who think that she should fail. Despite the difficulties, Tris (as she now calls herself) triumphs, using her Abnegation ways to her advantage, and drawing on her inner strength to change her views on the world. Helping her is Four, a trainer with whom she develops a romantic bond and with whom she has more in common than she could imagine. When things go wrong in the larger world and the Dauntless are manipulated to attack the Abnegation, Tris and Four manage to survive when many of both groups are destroyed. The next book, Insurgent, due in May, promises even more Hunger Game style violence and adventure.
Strengths: Wow. At 487 pages, this kept me reading past my bedtime. I was enthralled with Tris' search for identity and the lengths to which she was willing to go to change who she was. In a way, the larger conflict that results in Tris' parents being killed got in the way. I would rather have seen the world as envisioned by Roth be a fairly happy place, and read more about how Tris worked within that world. But what fun would that have been? I also really like the romance between Tris and Four, especially this exchange (pg. 337): "Fine. So you're not pretty. So?" He kisses my cheek. "I like how you look. You're deadly smart. You're brave." That's way better than all the vampire stuff out there.
Weaknesses: Violence. Lots of violence. A boy getting a knife in his eye while he sleeps. People jumping to their death. People being shot. At close range. Sex is also mentioned, and this is the hard part. There is nothing more than kissing and hugging going on, but Tris and Four talk about someday perhaps having sex. Four appears in Tris' "fear landscape", and she is afraid of intimacy with him. While I don't have a problem with this, some 6th graders will freak out over this, so I will have to see if the other middle schools buy this before purchasing it for my school. That said, I am encouraging both my own daughters read this because it was really good.

Watson, Geoff. Edison's Gold.

Tom Edison, a descendant of the inventor, is happy with his friends and his New York life, even though he is frequently in trouble when his own inventions go bad. This life is imperiled when his father gets a job offer in Kansas. When trying to clean up his workshop, Tom and his friends come across a clue that may help him find Edison's formula for creating gold and indicate that his great great grandfather and other famous men of the time were involved in a secret alchemical society. To complicate the search, a descendent of Nicola Tesla, Curtis Keller, is bound to avenge the wrongs done to Tesla.

Strengths: Lots of action and adventure, nice historical tie-ins, and a main character that students should like. Always need more mysteries, and I think this will be popular.

Weaknesses: Bad cover, and a vague feeling of being a twist on National Treasure, complete with aroom full of gold that the children decide to abandon for the greater good.

Abbott, Tony. Lunch-Box Dream.

Bobby and his family are driving their grandmother from Cleveland to Florida after the death of their grandfather in 1959. They are supposed to see Civil War battlefields along the way. The trip is not an easy one, and when the car is damaged, the family has to ride back on the bus. This story is interspersed with the story of Jacob, a young black boy who is sent to stay with relatives. When Jacob goes missing, his family also tries to get on the bus but runs into an overcrowding situation, and the fact that they are black does not override their need to get to find Jacob. Bobby, who is not used to seeing "chocolate people" is moved by their plight.

Strengths: This has a Watson's Go To Birmingham feel to it, and collections where books about Civil Rights are in high demand will want to consider this title.

Weaknesses: The alternating viewpoints made this somewhat confusing, and the overwrought emotions of everyone involved make this a difficult read. I agree with Publishers Weekly that this is beautifully crafted but "challenging for the target audience".