Various Reads

Frederick, Heather Vogel. Once Upon a Toad.

Cat is not happy that she has to move in with her father and his new family because her mother will be up in a space station. She likes her stepmother and half brother, Geoffrey, but her stepsister Olivia is evil. They have to share a room and are constantly bickering. After Cat's rather odd Great Aunt Abyssinia comes to visit, the situation gets worse-- every time Cat speaks, toads come out of her mouth, and jewels and flowers fall from Olivia's lips. The girls don't know what to do, but when Geoffrey is kidnapped by thieves who want Olivia's jewels, they realize they have to work together to get him back.

Strengths: This was a funny retelling of a classic fairy tale, and was girly enough that readers who don't want to read fantasy but have to for a class project will like it. I liked the depiction of Cat's stepmother, although wanted to slap both Cat and Olivia a lot of the time.

Weaknesses: The toads on the cover are much too big! While I think my students will like this, it didn't do a whole lot for me. Not sure why.

Fredericks, Mariah. The Girl in the Park.

E ARC from Netgalley. com

When Wendy's mother calls Rain very early in the morning asking if Rain saw her former friend at a party the night before, we know something is wrong. When Wendy's body later shows up traumatized at a playground in Central Park, the girls' entire private school is thrown into chaos. At first, police suspect a vagrant in the killing, but soon Nico, a popular boy whom Wendy was trying to steal away from Sasha, becomes a suspect because of Wendy's interest in him. Rain is very effected by the murder, since she missed her friend and now feels that there is no one really sticking up for Wendy due to her increasingly skanky behavior. Rain tries to follow clues that a reporter gives her, tries to get help from teachers, and above all, tries to help the world understand that Wendy was more than her violent death.

Strengths: It was interesting that Rain has a cleft palate and is uncomfortable with her own speech. I don't know of any other books where a character is facing this issue, although I have had a couple of students with repaired cleft palates.This was an absorbing mystery with a fair amount of plot turns, and the nastiness of the high schoolers will make this popular. This is, however, definitely a high school book.

Weaknesses: Wendy's sexual behavior is alarming, and the inappropriate relationship that lead to her death is one that I could see coming. Again, high school. This could have been middle school with a few tweaks until I found out who the murderer was.

That said, I have one student who is reading V.C. Andrew's Flowers in the Attic(1979) series. Such a totally creepy and inappropriate series, and yet at one time I personally owned all four books, and everyone who is about my age read them!

Middle Grade Monday-- Mudluscious!

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday is the brainchild of Shannon Whitney Messenger, and there are links to a lot of great middle grade reviews at her blog, Ramblings of a Wannabe Scribe.

Paulsen, Gary. Mudshark (2009)
Lyle is known as Mudshark because his speed and agility have been honed by dealing with triplet sisters who have a tendency to make a bee line for dog chewies and electrical outlets. He also has a knack for solving mysteries, and there are a lot of them at his school. Not only is the faculty restroom constantly filled with hazardous materials, but
the chalkboard erasers keep going missing, a gerbil is running loose in the building, and the librarian has a foul-mouthed parrot that may or may not be able to read minds. Can Mudshark single-handedly get things back in control at his school?

Strengths: How did I miss this one? This is the only book that has made me snort through my nose with laughter more than The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. I am going to order two copies, and it won't be enough. I read all of the principal's announcement aloud to my daughter, and we laughed until we cried and gasped for breath. It is hysterically funny. Seriously. Every page had something that made me laugh.

I must also thank Mr. Paulsen for Ms. Underdorf, the "wonderfully unhinged" librarian, who champions the plight of school libraries everywhere with quotes such as these: "It makes me crazy, but the library somehow always comes in last. I mean, really, is it necessary to have an Olympic-size curling rink before the library gets anything? Does the library have to fight for every penny?" (page 73) Since the library budget ten years ago was $12,ooo and it has been reduced to about $4,000 before it was cut off altogether due to district woes, this was apt and appreciated.
Weaknesses: I need an entire Mudshark series! Right this minute! And I must admit that both the title and the cover art are probably what lead me not to pick this up. The same illustrator did Masters of Disaster, and the cover art has not hurt the circulation of that title, but I vastly prefer the style of Liar, Liar and Flat Broke.

Swan, Bill. Mud Run.

James Lorimer and Co., Toronto, 2003

Matt is not happy that his family has moved to a new town right before school starts, especially when he arrives too late to register for hockey. He shows up to investigate the school running club, and while he isn't happy with the hubristic, obnoxious boys who also come, he likes the coach's attitude and decides to join. The group starts out strong, but gets smaller as the training intensifies. Oddly, there are no regular races other than an all school race, but all of the runners are gearing up for the district championships Ganaraska. Matt is besieged by vague problems at home and at school, and right before the big race he is suspended for two days for climbing on the roof of the school. He has done this to save another runner who was dared to climb up and then got scared and stuck; eventually, the other boy comes clean and both are allowed to run. However, another runner is injured in a stupid accident right before the meet, which is a rainy, cold and muddy mess. The runners persevere, and take great joy not only in their victory, but in running itself.

Strengths: There are very few books about running as a sport, and this was a good introduction to this Lorimer series, which has about 65 books on a variety of sports. I was not able to read one before I ordered them, but this and several other titles will circulate well with my boys who only want short sports books. (This was 129 pages.)

Weaknesses: Unattractive cover. I am a great advocate of stock photos if there isn't a lot of money to spend on attractive art. The set up of the team was so different from the US cross-country set up that it might be slightly confusing. Matt was not particularly likable.

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/

Double by Jenny Valentine

Valentine, Jenny. Double.

Chap is brought into a homeless shelter in London where he is mistaken for Cassiel Roadnight, a boy who has been missing for two years. He knows that he doesn't belong with the over medicated mother, Helen, sister Edie or rich but disturbing brother Frank, but the appeal of being with a family to take care of him is so appealing that he goes along with the charade. He remembers being raised by a reclusive and alcoholic grandfather who loved him dearly but was not capable of going out into the real world. After Chap gets settled with his "family", he runs into an old friend, Floyd, who realizes that Chap isn't Cassiel... because he thinks that Frank killed Cassiel! The two try to unravel the mystery which includes embezzling, kidnapping, mistaken identities and murder.

Strengths: Once again, the British do murder mysteries like no one else. This was reminiscent of the Time Bowler Blade books, and Bedford's Flip, and was creepy and highly atmospheric. It took lots of twists and turns, all which seemed creepily believable. SO good! (And the cover is reminiscent of the new Todd Strasses mysteries.)

Weaknesses: Might be a bit of a stretch for students not used to reading British books.

Time Slip Tuesday

Time Slip Tuesday is a recurring feature at Charlotte's Library. This is also a good day to announce that my students and I have managed to figure out HOW to time travel. It involves an old date due stamp, but we have yet to find the right stamp pad to activate it, so we haven't managed to travel anywhere yet. And we can only travel between 1992 and 1997. Oh, well. Perhaps I should ask Verizon about the unlimited Time Travel Plan for my phone!

Bedard, Michael. The Green Man
ARC from Netgalley.com
Ophelia, who prefers to be called “O”, is sent to live with her ailing aunt Emily for the summer while her father is in Italy. In a small English town, Emily runs a dusty old bookshop that is in as bad a condition as she is. The books are dusty and outdated, the shop in disrepair, and the business not bringing in enough money. O tries to get her aunt to eat more healthy food, stop smoking, and make small changes to the bookstore. During this all, she is plagued by horrible dreams of a demonic magic show, and eventually finds out that it is an event from Emily’s memory, and Emily is afraid that something bad will occur on August 8, the anniversary of this event. When a descendant of a local artist offers to sell a rare collection of books about magic to Emily, the two hope that this will be the salvation of the book shop, but it might also be their undoing!
Strengths: Much like the book Flightsend, I enjoyed the English setting of this one. A bookshop! Poets! That part was fabulous. I enjoyed the book very much.
Weaknesses: The demonic magic show was a bit odd. Certainly, it gives more meat to the plot, but it also makes it hard to find an audience for the book. It’s not exactly scary, but readers who want a story about running a bookshop in England might not want the scary parts. It’s rather Gothic, and there’s not as much call for that.


Hood, Ann. Little Lion (The Treasure Chest #2)
Having traveled back and visited Clara Barton in the first book, Felix and Maisie find themselves living with their mother, who is divorcing their father. All the two want to do is go home, and they figure that if they can somehow go back in time again, maybe they can keep their family together. With the help of their great aunt Maisie, they locate a family artifact that helps them go back... to Saint Croix in 1772. There they meet a young Alexander Hamilton and determine that he is the one to whom they should give a silver coin dated 1794, but they need to pick their time wisely in order to be believed. This involves traveling on a ship back to New York. Only when they come to terms with what is going on in the present day are they able to return.
Strengths: This would be a nice introduction to time travel for younger readers. I missed a little by not reading the one about Clara Barton, and I may have to pick that one up, since I researched her in the 4th grade for a Wax Museum!
Weaknesses: A little young for middle school, and fundamentally at odds with my philosophy of time travel. I know, I know-- it doesn't really exist, but if it did, it would be caused by something as simple as a stamp pad! This book takes 47 pages for them to figure out how to go back again. And then they didn't have proper time traveling outfits! If it took that long, they could have cobbled something together.

Apparently, I am reading WAY too many time travel books! Still need to find a shawl for my outfit and post a picture of me ready to hurtle into the past. Or the future! (I can only go as far as 2015 with my current date due stamper!

Murder Mysteries

Mackel, Dandi Daley. The Silence of Murder.
When Hope's brother Jeremy is accused of murdering the high school baseball coach, she doesn't believe he's guilty. Jeremy stopped speaking at the age of 9, has trouble relating to people, and also has an odd fascination with empty jars. Since the coach was always nice to Jeremy, Hope sees no reason that he would have bludgeoned him to death with a ball bat, although all evidence points to the contrary. With the help of T.J., a long time friend, and Chase, the sheriff's son who was on the same ball team as T.J., Hope tries to figure out who the real culprit is. In her search, she uncovers other family and community secrets, which lead her to discover exactly how the crime occurred.
Strengths: Always need more murder mysteries, and this one is well done. Hope is a persistent and strong character who rises above her circumstances to do right by the one person, her brother, in her life who doesn't let her down. Jeremy's diagnosis of being on the autism spectrum is reasonably portrayed.
Weaknesses: Wish this was little shorter (it's 300+ pages), and since the courtroom scenes slow down the plot, I would have cut those a bit. Still definitely buying. Love the cover!


Margolin, Phillip, and Ami Margolin Rome. Vanishing Acts.
Madison Kincaid's father is a defense attorney who tries a lot of murder cases, and Madison has always tagged along to his office, since her mother died when she was young. Her biggest love, however, is soccer, and she hopes to make the team in junior high, which is starting soon. Unfortunately, her best friend, Ann, doesn't show up for tryouts or for school, and Madison starts to worry that something has happened to her, especially when her father gets a case defending Mr. Shelby, who is accused of murdering his wife-- who was Madison's teacher! Evidence is circumstantial, but Madison, with the help of rather cute classmate Jake, decides to investigate on her own. She makes the soccer team as the first alternate, middle school doesn't seem too bad, and she manages to find out about why both Ann and Mrs. Shelby have vanished.
Strengths: Very nice middle grade mystery with engaging characters, intriguing setting, and true to life handling of middle grade issues.
Weaknesses: The murder part of this is week, and I didn't quite buy the reasons for the vanishing acts. Would anyone really think this would work? Still, a little darker than Maggie Brooklyn or some younger mysteries.

Cusick, Richie Tankersley. Trick or Treat.E ARC from Netgalley.com
Martha and Conor's parents have gotten married and moved the family to the old Bedford house at the outskirts of a small town. Martha isn't happy about this, especially when the old house gives off massively creepy vibes that make her suspect that her stepbrother is even creepier than she thought. She settles in fairly well at school, meeting the dashing Blake and his sister Wynn, but the house turns out to have been the scene of the murder of Elizabeth... who was Wynn's best friend and Blake's girlfriend. Martha starts to recieve threatening phone calls and several incidents like a creepy scarecrow hung on their porch and an unexplained fire in the kitchen make Martha even more worried. Is Elizabeth's ex-boyfriend Dennis, who was presumed dead, really alive and threatening Martha? Can all of the friends survive the Halloween dance?
Strengths: Since I just lost Cusick's Fatal Secrets to a juice box in a back pack, I was in mourning and very pleased to see Open Road Media rerelease this 1989 title. It was fast paced, super creepy with moaning trees and secret passages, and I wanted to order two copies!Weaknesses: Imagine my suprise when I logged into Follett's Titlewave and found this listed as "out of print"! I was beyond crushed! Why had I not realized earlier that Open Road Media is only digital content? Since these were originally paperbacks, there is just no way to get a copy to circulate. Back to the mourning!

I try to be laser-like in my focus on books, but given the sheer number of comments on Saturday, maybe I should just start posting a new picture of my dog every day! While wandering around other's blogs for Mother Reader's Comment Challenge, I was greatly amused by Annie's trivia challenge over at The Backstory . For those of you who need a bit of levity in a grim January morning, here's my own challenge. Feel free to make up answers!

1. In Robert McCloskey's Homer Price, what is the color of the dress that Miss Terwilliger wears in the giant ball o' yarn contest?
2. What is the very 1950's name of Henry Reed's best friend?
3. What was the first mainstream audio CD sold in the US?
4. What is appropriate apparel for librarians everywhere this coming January 18?What is the 5. state rock song of Ohio? (Feel free to tell me your state's rock song. What? You don't have one?)

Answers tomorrow on Guy Friday!