True Rescue Series

These are chapter book adaptations of the young readers' edition of the adult nonfiction book, aimed at readers 6-9, so is very different from this author's Into the Blizzard . The chapters are all very short (one page on my e reader), have pictures that remind me a bit of the ones in the Illustrated Classics books, and embrace R.L. Stine style cliff-hanger chapter endings (But what was hiding behind the closed door?) I can see these books beign hugely popular with readers who like Lauren Tarshis' I Survived books. These have a bit more action, and a little less character development. 

Tarshis' books are very popular, and the upper  middle grade books by Tougias do well, so I will probably purchase for my emerging readers who want action and adventure along the lines of Spradlin's Pararescue Jumpers. 

 

Tougias, Michael J. and Sherman, Casey. True Rescue: The Finest Hours: The True Story of a Heroic Sea Rescue

December 8th 2020 by Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)

E ARC Provided by Edelweiss Plus

From Goodreads: 

"On the night of February 18th, 1952, during one of the worst winter storms that New England has even seen, two oil tankers off the shore of Cape Cod are torn in half by the force of the seas. For the men on board, survival seemed impossible. What follows is a harrowing Coast Guard rescue in a tiny lifeboat, where four young heroes beat the odds and bring more than thirty stranded sailors to safety.

This first book in the True Rescue chapter book series is a fast-paced, uplifting story that puts newly independent readers in the middle of the action."

Tougias, Michael J. and Sherman, Casey. True Rescue: A Storm Too Soon

December 8th 2020 by Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)

E ARC Provided by Edelweiss Plus

From Goodreads:

"On May 2, 2007, three expert sailors embark on an epic voyage from Florida to France. But the trip of a lifetime soon turns into a nightmare when their sailboat disappears along the Gulf Stream in the throes of a relentless storm. From this point onward, their fate lies in the hands of four courageous coast guardsmen who must navigate brutal conditions in their Search and Rescue mission.

This second book in the True Rescue chapter book series is a suspenseful, incredible story that puts newly independent readers in the middle of the action."

Dystopias-- Real and Fictional

Lake, Nick. In Darkness.
From the Publisher: "In the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake, Shorty, a poor, fifteen-year-old gang member from the slums of Site Soleil, is trapped in the rubble of a hospital and as he grows weaker, he has visions and memories of his life of violence, his lost twin sister, and of Toussaint L'Ouverture, who liberated Haiti from French rule in 1804."

While this is certainly good coverage of how horrendous the results of this natural disaster were, and the extra historical perspective was interesting, this was not abook for the middle grades. The language is "gritty", and the narrative a bit confusing. A glossary of unfamiliar words would have helped.

Read a more complete review of this title at YA Books Central , The Happy Nappy Bookseller, The Fourth Musketeer, or Totally Bookalicious.


Walker, Brian F. Black Boy, White School.
From the Publisher: " When 14-year-old Anthony "Ant" Jones from the ghetto of East Cleveland, Ohio, gets a scholarship to a prep school in Maine, he finds that he must change his image and adapt to a world that never fully accepts him. But when he goes home he discovers that he no longer truly belongs there either. "

I had high hopes for this book, but the language and drug use make it one that I am not comfortable handing to students. I saw that one of my students was reading Ellen Hopkins' Crank, and when I asked her about it, she said that she really liked it, but SHE didn't think it was appropriate for a middle school library. She also admitted it would have been weird if I had handed it to her. More in-depth reviews at Bloggin' 'Bout Books, Good Books and Good Wine, Whatchamacallit Reviews, and A Book and a Hug.

Simmons, Kristen. Article 5.
Ember and her mother are just trying to survive in a futuristic society where the Bill of Rights is no longer and the law of the land is the Moral Statues. A terrible war has destroyed most of the major cities, and people are cramped together in the surviving areas, so to cut down on the fighting and lawlessness, the Federal Bureau of Reformation (known as the Moral Militia) has taken over, randomly arresting people, who never come back. When the Moral Militia shows up at Ember’s house, they haul her mother off because she had Ember without being married, and Ember is sent to a reform school as well. To make matters worse, one of the arresting officers is Chase, a former neighbor with a difficult past. Ember loved him. He eventually helps her break out of the school, after she is nearly killed for exposing guards’ misbehavior, and the two take off on an erratic cross country quest to find her mother. They hope that they can find someone to transport Ember to a safe house in an abandoned part of the country so that Chase can get back to his position before being considered AWOL, but they run into all sorts of problems. Chase has promised Ember’s mother that he will take care of her and get her to safety, so even when she runs from him, he finds her and helps her. Post apocalyptic problems constantly arise-- can the two get along well enough to save themselves? I feel a second book in the offing.
Strengths: For futuristic dystopia, this is very strong, plus has a touch of romance. Plausible reason for the change in government, reasonable portrayal of the groups and individuals Ember is fighting, enough bad things happening to people that students will be intrigued.
Weaknesses: All I could think was “Man, I’m too tired to live in a dystopia. Let me be killed in the first strike, because otherwise I’d just be hiding in my house/hovel/cardboard box.” All of the running just made me tired! Students will not have this problem.

Nonfiction Monday

Dau, John Bul and Akech, Martha Arual. Lost Boy, Lost Girl: Escaping Civil War in the Sudan.
John and Martha were young children in Southern Sudan when civil war broke out. Told in alternating chapters, we find that John’s family ran from his village in the opposite way he did when it was attacked, and Martha’s family was at church. Thanks to members of their Dinka tribe, both were marginally cared for and made their way from refugee camp to refugee camp. Living conditions were abysmal, and there was always the threat of violence and attack, as well as frequent actual attacks. Due to perserverance and a bit of luck, both managed to survive, and Martha managed to stay with her younger sister Tabitha, who was only three when the two were separated from their family. John was older, and became one of the leaders of the Lost Boys, some of whom were
able to come to the United States after a filmmaker took interest in their plight. Martha argued that there were Lost Girls as well, and fought for a way to get her and Tabitha to the United States so that she would not be forced into a marriage, at 16, with a much older man. Martha and John knew each other in Sudan, and liked each other, but were separated in the US. They reconnected years later, married, and are trying to help their native country.
Strengths: I liked especially the way the book was structured—Peace, War, Refuge, War, Refuge, Peace. The details were horrific without being overly graphic, so this could be read even by elementary students. This is a very compelling book.
Weaknesses: The print is very small. Since this is a thin book, the print could have been a bit bigger.

Nonfiction Monday was started by Anastasia Suen and is hosted this week at Lori Calabrese Writes. Stop by to see a great list of nonfiction reviews.

Quilting

Latham, Irene. Leaving Gee’s Bend.
Gee’s Bend, Alabama was an impoverished place in 1932. When Ludelphia’s mother has a premature baby and becomes ill with pneumonia afterwards, there is not much to be done, especially since the family refuses the help of a neighbor, Etta Mae, because they fear she is a witch. Ludelphia decides that she will go to Camden, forty miles away, and get a doctor for her mother. She sets off, runs into trouble with the ferry, and is found in the barn of Mrs. Cobb, whose husband ran a general store and helped many of the black citizens. Unfortunately, Mrs. Cobb is a bit undone by her husband’s recent death, and has a grudge against the people of Gee’s Bend. When she finds out that Ludelphia’s family owed her husband money, she vows to go to their house and take everything of value. Ludelphia manages to get to the local doctor, and his wife is somewhat helpful, but tells her that the only cure for her mother is rest and good food. Mrs. Cobb’s raid on Gee’s Bend is awful, but luckily Ludelphia had written to the Red Cross, and supplies soon come to help out the community.
Strengths: Ludelphia is a spunky character who takes her fate into her own hands and does her best to help everyone around her despite her own disability. This is a vivid portrait of a community under stress.
Weaknesses: I love quilting, but didn’t feel that Ludelphia’s sewing fit in with the story.

Nolen, Jerdine. Eliza’s Freedom Road.
Eliza’s master in 1854 has some money problems, and ends up selling Eliza’s mother. When the mistress becomes very sick, she goes from Virginia to Maryland to stay with her sister, and takes several slaves, including Eliza, along. Eliza knows how to read, and tells a lot of stories using the quilt that her mother left her, but dreams of her freedom. When a group of slaves at the Maryland estate find out about Harriet Tubman’s plans to go north to freedom on the Underground Railroad, Eliza also makes her own plans. When the mistress dies, she runs away and manages to make her way to Canada.
Strengths: This would be a good book to read with an elementary class covering this topic. The inclusion of various stories of importance in African American slave culture, as well as explanations of them in the back of the book, are a nice touch.
Weaknesses: Other than the stories, this is not that much different from similar stories that I have read.

All the Earth, Thrown to the Sky

Lansdale, Joe R. All the Earth, Thrown to the Sky.

You think the present economy is making your life tough? Jack's mother has died of dirty pneumonia, and his father hung himself hours after his death. Jack has to bury them both after an enormous dust storm. About this time, Jane and Tony come to his farm; their mother ran off with a Bible salesman, and their father has been killed by his tractor overturning on him. Jane has a plan to drive away from their doomed Oklahoma community by taking Old Man Turpin's car, since he died in the storm sitting on his front porch. Once the trio take off, they run into one trouble after another-- they get caught up with some thieves, get shanghaied into picking peas, have to ride the rails, and generally live from one meal to the next until they accept some help from kind people.
Strengths: Reminiscent of Hunt's No Promises in the Wind, it is a good reminder of how absolutely dire the Great Depression was. When people complain today's situation to that time, I want to slap them. I don't think that things have gotten bad enough now that parents are sending their children away from home because they have no food for them. This was an excellent depiction of this point in history, packed with action and adventure. Definitely buying for my students who want more books on this era after reading A Long Way From Chicago.
Weaknesses: I wished this had a period photo on the cover. Good try, but the boy's jeans and shirt look brand new.

Food, in one way or another

McClain, Lee. Sizzle.
Linda has a good life with her Aunt Elba, who runs a small diner in Arizona, but her aunt's health is bad enough to send Linda off to live with her Aunt Pat in Pittsburgh. Pat also cooking, but instead of the flavorful, fresh Mexican food that Linda likes to cook, Pat favors carb-heavy casseroles from cans, recipes for which she shares on her local cooking show, Cooking From Cans. This is in part because there are a lot of children in the family, including foster child Angel, who is having a hard time but takes to Linda because of their shared cultural heritage. Linda misses Arizona and cooking, and tries to "help" Pat out by teaching her that Linda's way of cooking is better, which imperils the show, which is a much needed source of income. She also needs to learn to get along with the other girls in the family, even though she has a crush on the same boy that one of her new sisters does.
Strengths: Very nice treatment of fitting in at school and with a new family, good cooking details, and a sweet budding romance. This is definitely one to add to the list of middle grade cooking novels!
Weaknesses: What happened to Linda's parents is never addressed and I kept waiting for it. Also, there is a web site listed for Pat's show, but it doesn't really exist. For some reason, this irks me, because some books do have real web sites.


Kent, Trilby. Stones for My Father
Nominated for the Cybils by Ivette deBruyn

Corlie's life on a South African farm in the early 1900s is difficult not only because her father has passed away, but because of the fighting between the Khakis (the British) and the Boers. The British frequently find small farm communities and burn them to the ground if they suspect that they are aiding the other side. This happens to Corlie's family, so they set off with a family of friends who are African to find a larger community of people banding together trying to survive. Food is especially scarce. This group is unwilling to take in the African family, fearing that they are on the side of the British, but Corlie's family is able to survive until the British come and force them all into a refugee camp. Things go from bad to worse, with Corlie's brother becoming ill and her mother refusing to care for her any longer. Luckily, a Canadian soldier who knows her helps Corlie get medical treatment and arrange for her care.
Strengths: This is a period of time about which I knew little, and was a harrowing tale of survival under military turmoil.
Weaknesses: This would have been easier to understand if it had started with a preface that included a brief overview of the historical situation, and a list of foreign phrases. Also, this is a small book with a young girl on the cover, but is really more suited for older readers due to violence and situations such as Corlie almost being molested by an old man and the fact that her father was really a British soldier and that's why her mother disliked her.

Alden Carter's Walkaway

This book is an absolute must for middle school and possibly high school libraries. Equal parts problem novel and adventure story, it will appeal to boys on many levels.

Andy's father, a successful lawyer, cannot control his drinking. From time to time, the family stays in the backwoods of Wisconsin, where the father's drinking is supposed to get better, but it doesn't. It falls to Andy to try to rein in the drinking, drive his father places, and cover up for accidents. This does not help Andy's state of mind, which is already fragile, since he is reluctant to take the medications he uses to control his mental illness. At one point, the pressure at home is too much, and Andy takes off into the woods to get away.

Just read the official reviews of this, which included thoughts that it was plodding, dated, overly descriptive, and lacked character development. I just didn't see this. What I liked was Andy, despite his problems, and his perserverance. Even running away is something that he does because he somehow thinks this will help him cope. The father's actions are rather interestingly drawn, and there were friends, acquaintances, and other characters that I thought helped make the whole picture of Andy's struggles clear. Carter's Between a Rock and a Hard Place is almost worn out, and I just requested his Up Country, which I have somehow missed. Worth looking at, but I'm going to process this one right away.