Weekend Reading

Johnson, Maureen. The Name of the Star. 

Rory's parents move to England from Louisiana, and she attends a boarding school. Shortly after she gets there, a Jack the Ripper style murder occurs very near the school, so everyone panics and Rippermania take hold of the area. Having snuck out on the night of the murder, Rory is questioned by the police, especially since she saw one man that no one else saw. It turns out that Rory has the ability to see ghosts. Is the murderer really Jack the Ripper? Rory gets involved with paranormal "police" to help solve the crimes.

Strengths: Really can't do this book justice without spoiling the suspense. I'm not a fan of gory books, and this one is not especially so, but given the nature of the murders described, this is not for the faint of stomach. Johnson always does an excellent job of realistic fiction, but her foray into the paranormal is fantastic as well. 

Weaknesses: Not quite sure where the sequel to this will go; I'm sure it will be good but I would have preferred a stand alone title.

Grimes, Nikki. Planet Middle School. 

Joylin is a self-proclaimed tomboy who disdains all of the fripperies that girly-girls employ, but when she starts to be interested in several boys that she knows, she finds herself wearing makeup and uncomfortable clothing in order to attract them. She has many typical issues-- buying a bra, arguing with friends, feeling akward. 

Strengths: I'm always hypercritical of novels in verse, and this one is not bad. While the poetry doesn't have as much meter or rhyme as I would prefer, each poem is at least thematic, and the progression of them makes a fine story. I do have a lot of girls who play basketball, and it was great that the story was about an African American girl and NOT about her being African American! Weaknesses: Joylin approaches her problems with an overwrought sort of energy that I found tiring but which is true to life. 

Alvarez, Julia. How Tia Lola Ended Up Starting Over. 

Nominated for the Cybils by Gina Ruiz. 

Victor and his three daughters have moved to Vermont from New York City and share a house with the elderly Colonel Charlebois. The family loves the area, as well as being near Victor's girlfriend Linda and her children, who are living out in the country with Tia Lola, but everyone is concerned that Victor is not going back to his job as a lawyer. In order to make money, the family decides to turn Colonel Charlebois' house into a bed and breakfast. This angers the owner of another such establishment in town, and when Tia Lola gets the B&B up and running, a string of bad luck causes many disturbances. The children investigate and find out who is behind these, and the families all formulate plans to get their lives organized. Strengths: This is a nice multicultural story with a strong family support system, and is funny as well. Weaknesses: This is the fourth book in a series, and somewhat confusing because I hadn't read the others.

Sternberg, Julie. Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie. 

Nominated for the Cybils by Janelle. 

Eleanor's babysitter, Bibi, moves to Florida to take care of her sick father, and Eleanor is inconsolable. She misses Bibi and doesn't want to like her new babysitter, Natalie. Everything reminds her of Bibi, and she is frequently mean to Natalie just because she is not Bibi. Ellie is also somewhat concerned about starting third grade, and spends the summer working through all of her issues. She plays with children she doesn't like, sets up a lemonade stand, and finally comes to an acceptance of the new reality of her life with the help of her parents, Natalie, and a letter from Bibi. 

Strengths: This might be helpful for a very young child who has lost someone dear to him. The pictures and easy text would make this an accessible book for that. 

Weaknesses: I was halfway through before I realized it was meant to be a novel in verse-- the short lines seemed more like an I Can Read book than poetry.

Where are the BOYS?

Help! Question of the day: where are the boy book bloggers? Sure, we have our friends at SMS Guys Read, Boys Read! Boys Rule!, Guys Lit Wire, the Mr. K. Reads, Mike Sullivan's lists at Boy Meets Book, and Max Elliot Anderson's Books for Boys. There are lots of blogs and sites put up by male writers, but where are the blogs by fathers, teen boys, and male librarians? There are a ton of blogs by teenaged girls, but no boy book bloggers that I can find.

Has anyone found any?

Here's what I would like to do: I'd like to separate my Book Reviews and Blogs list so that there is a separate list for sites that highlight a good quantity of books for middle school boys. Funny, scary, adventure, mystery-- any kind of books that middle school boys would pick up and enjoy. The blogger doesn't have to be male (newsflash: I'm not!), but has to be especially concerned with finding books for middle school boys. It helps if reviews for books of interest to boys are posted fairly frequently.

Let me know, and we'll get a list going. If we want boys to read, we need to make it easy for them to find books, and also for their (often female) librarians and teachers to find them books.

Please help me out!

The Strange Case of the Origami Yoda

It was weird. First, I saw a review of Tom Angleberger's The Strange Case of the Origami Yoda, and then when I was looking for Read poster generators, I came across his blog. THEN at the book look, there was an ARC of the book. Obviously, Origami Yoda was telling me "Read you must"!

Dwight's that kid that's not quite...right. His hair's uncombed, he has stains on his shirt, and he doesn't always make a lot of sense, but when he crafts the aforementioned Yoda and uses it to give out cryptic advice, people wonder if maybe there is more to Dwight after all. Or maybe to the Yoda.

Tommy isn't sure, so he compiles a selection of anecdotes about Yoda's exploits, which is then edited by Harvey. The pages have a Wimpy Kid feel to them because of the different typefaces and drawings, but the story is so much more amusing. Set mostly in school, Yoda gives advice to students in a variety of settings: Should I ask a girl to dance? What word will appear on the spelling bee? How should I repair my reputation as a Cheeto Hog? (Intrigued? Good! Now read the book!) The children have to interpret the sibylline advice, with often comical results.

I loved this one, and I haven't even seen any Star Wars movies. Well, except the one with the teddy bears on flying mopeds. The nervous, budding romances were true to life, the writing was very clever (I measure this by how much of the book I feel compelled to read aloud to my children-- this was close to Sonnenblick levels), and while the book looked goofy enough to attract Captain Underpants fans, it had some deeper messages, too. Plus an orgami Yoda. Good stuff. Teen Boy liked, but I could tell it was slightly young for him.

I haven't bought any "pink" books for a long time, so I was glad to read Lisa Schroeder's It's Raining Cupcakes. It was similar to My Life in Pink and Green and The Teashop Girls in that it dealt with a family run business having some difficulties; in this book, a new cupcake shop that is facing competition from a brownie chain store. Isabel, whose nervous and unhappy mother is starting the store, longs to travel beyond the confines of her small Oregon town. She reads travel books and keeps notes to herself in a passport protector. She is supportive of her mother, who has trouble dealing with the vagaries of life in general; has predictable problems with her best friend; gets to know her new neighbors. She also enters a baking contest in order to win a trip to New York City. This is what I was expecting from several other cupcake-covered books that have come out recently-- something sweet and fun to eat...er, read. My girls will love this. (Thanks to Ronni for info about the contest Ms. Schoeder is having at her blog:
http://lisa-schroeder.blogspot.com/2010/03/its-raining-cupcakes-contest-for.html)

Two of my best patrons are 6th grade twin girls, so when I saw Take Two, written by twins Julia DeVillers and Jennifer Roy, I had to pick it up. Unfortunately it is the second in the series, and there were just enough references to the first book that I wished I had read Trading Faces first. Payton and Emma look alike but are very different; Payton cares more about what she wears and has some trouble in school, whereas Emma is just the opposite. The two have to do community service as the result of a prank pulled in the first book. Payton gets stuck helping with the school play, and Emma has to tutor one of her guidance conselour's twin boys. Typical middle school attitudes, friendships and situations occur. As I said, reading the first book would have helped, but I am definitely ordering that one.

Also, after my whining post yesterday, I appreciated this exchange on page 129.

"I didn't know you were BFF with the librarians."
"Of course I am," Emma replied. "Library media specialists are a backbone of the school as well as a fount of knowledge."

Thank you, Ms. DeVillers and Ms. Roy, for the support!