#WNDB Wednesday- Genesis Begins Again

Williams, Alicia D. Genesis Begins Again
January 15th 2019 by Simon and Schuster/Atheneum
E ARC from Edelweiss Plus

Genesis' family often falls on hard times. Her father has an industrial job, her mother cares for the elderly, and they have  been evicted from four different homes in the Detroit area. During the last eviction, Genesis had brought home girls from school whom she hoped to impress, but this of course backfires. Her father, who is an extremely problematic alcoholic who is not very kind to Genesis, surprises her and her mother with a fancy house he has rented in the wealthy suburb of Farmington Hills. While she likes the new place, Genesis worries that they can't possibly make the rent, and she also worries about going to the new school with predominately white students. Genesis is very dark complected, and is self-conscious in the extreme about this, especially when other students call her names such as "Charcoal" and "Eggplant". She also doesn't like her hair. Her mother is very light, and her grandmother seems to blame all of the father's problems on his dark complexion, and makes it very clear to Genesis that her mother would have done better for herself had she married a man with a skin tone closer to her own light one. As a result, Genesis tries a lot of dangerous ways to lighten her skin-- scrubbing it raw, using lemon juice, and even pouring bleach in her bath. Luckily, at her new school she is able to make friends with Sophia, who has trouble with other students because of the way her OCD manifests itself. She is also glad to find a friend in Troy, a self-proclaimed "black nerd" who is as dark as she is and is tutoring her in math. Genesis thinks she has a friend in Yvette, who invites her to sing with her group in the talent show and who relaxes Genesis' hair, but in the end, Yvette is not as supportive as she seems. The family is in danger of losing their house yet again, and there are destructive secrets being kept, but in the end, the family is able to work together to get back on the right track.
Strengths: There are very few books dealing with perceptions of black complexion (I can only think of Flake's The Skin I'm In (2007) and Magoon's Camo Girl (2011)), and it's good to see a new one. The feeling of Detroit and its environs is very strong and well done. Genesis' attempts to solve her family's difficult problems are heartbreaking, but also very realistic. It's nice that she has a supportive teacher at school. While the conversation about complexion with her grandmother is cringeworthy, it's also historically accurate and very interesting. It's good that Genesis' mother has a more modern approach to the question.
Weaknesses: Skin color prejudice within ethnic populations is something I know nothing about. It did seem a bit odd, however, to have Genesis' father, who was a very, very poor example of a father, be the one with the very dark skin. It would have been much more interesting to have him have the lighter complexion, and the opinionated grandmother to be the one who was darker!
What I really think: Definitely purchasing a copy, although I wish it were a little shorter. It's definitely a middle school book, but 400 pages is about twice the length that the average middle school reader is apt to pick up willingly!

Dragon Pearl

Lee, Yoon Ha. Dragon Pearl
January 15th 2019 by Rick Riordan Presents
E ARC from Netgalley

Min lives on Jinju, a rather run down planet. Her family are shapeshifting fox spirits, so they keep to themselves, since humans are not overly friendly to them. Other supernatural creatures seem to be afforded more patience for their magic, but Min has not taken her fox form for many years because her mother is so afraid of their magic going wrong. Her fears are realized when an inspector comes to their house with the news that Min's brother, Jun, who is in an elite space academy, has deserted his post, possibly in an attempt to locate the coveted Dragon Pearl, which could immediately terraform planets and help civilization. Min upsets both the inspector and her mother when she shapeshifts, and fearing both for her brother and for herself, she runs off to try to find him. In the biggest city on her planet, she runs into a relative who runs a gambling parlor, and is able to make some crafty bargains to get her onto a space ship. She gets on the Red Azalea ship, but it is involved in an accident that kills a young crew member, Jang. Min uses a charm to make the crew of the ship that picks them up, the Pale Lightning, think that she has died, but that Jang has not, and assumes his shape in exchange for promising to find out more about who caused his death. The Pale Lightning was the ship on which her brother served, so Min starts her investigation into where he might be. The captain of the ship is a lion shape shifter who seems a bit suspicious, and Min finds out some important information about her brother. With some of the other crew members. she devises a plot to get to the Ghost Planet where the Dragon Pearl reportedly has been hidden, and while in the process, finds out the answers to many of her questions.
Strengths: This had a definite Star Trek vibe, with its space adventure and exploring new worlds, which is fantastic! Yes, Min had a sad impetus to set her on her journey, but I loved her take charge attitude and her fearlessness in the face of all of her obstacles. There are enough details about the space travel and being on a ship to delight the readers who want such details, and this is woven in nicely with the fox shape shifters and other elements of Korean mythology. Wasn't sure these two would mesh, but they do! Great for readers who liked Fry's Hunt for the Hydra (2014) or McDougall's Mars Evacuees (2015).
Weaknesses: There could have been a bit more explanation about the Korean mythology, especially the way that ghosts interact with living creatures.
What I really think: Definitely purchasing, but it would be nice if this were a stand alone and not a series. More of my students would read speculative fiction occasionally if they didn't have to commit to a five book series of 400 page books!

MMGM- The Friendship War

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.

Clements, Andrew. The Friendship War
January 8th 2019 by Random House Books for Young Readers
E ARC from Edelweiss Plus

When Grace visits her grandfather in Massachusetts, they tour an old clothing factory that he has bought to renovate and turn into shops. Grace is allowed to take items she finds home with her, and when she finds boxes of buttons, she asks to have them all... all 24 cases of them! Her grandfather agrees and ships them to her house. When school starts, Grace is a little apprehensive because she hasn't seen her best friend, Ellie, all summer. Ellie is very enthusiastic and talkative, and wants to tell Grace all about her fabulous summer and all of the great new clothes she has gotten. Grace is a bit weary of always having to support Ellie, especially since she never seems to care about what Grace has done, so she decides to bring in some buttons to school. Ellie, of course, tries to upstage her. To her surprise, her fellow classmates seem very interested, and soon a huge button fad has started. Ellie starts making the buttons into bracelets, and trading them for fancier buttons. Another classmate has a very cool button, and Grace gets into the middle of the trade... and makes a better offer so that Ellie loses the button. This sets off a fight between the two girls. Luckily, Hank is very interested in the buttons, and he and Grace start hanging out together, research buttons and having fun together. Grace goes through her own family's buttons, and even asked her grandfather is she can have whatever buttons her grandmother, who recently passed away, might have had. Hoping to calm the fad down, Grace takes a lot of buttons to school and spreads them on the lawn, with the thought that an oversupply of buttons will lessen demand. This backfires, but Grace owns up to her actions. Will she be able to put things right with Ellie?
Strengths: This was a clever way to address fads in school. There always seems to be one around, doesn't there? As someone who has three glass jars of buttons, some dating back quite some time, this seemed completely realistic to me! The fight with Ellie, the budding romance with Hank, and the problems the grandfather is facing are all very realistic. Clements is a master of the school story, and The Friendship War is another great book.
Weaknesses: While I liked the way all of the characters eventually acted, I didn't much care for Grace. There is something half a bubble off about her personality that wasn't very pleasant.
What I really think: I'll probably purchase, since Clements fans come in fairly reliable waves. This is a must purchase for elementary libraries, and will certainly see enough use in a middle school as well.

The Owls Have Come to Take Us Away

Smith, Ronald. The Owls Have Come to Take Us Away
February 19th 2019 by Clarion Books
E ARC from Netgalley.com

Simon lives with his family on an Air Force base in Delaware. His dad is white and his mom is black, but he wishes that everyone just thought of people as humans. After all, the big threat (as everyone knows) is ALIENS. Simon is obsessed with the fact that aliens, particularly the Grays, are going to land on Earth and wreak havoc on the planet. Simon is probably worried about this because he doesn't feel like there is a lot else he can do about his life. His older brother, Edwin, got all the sports genes, and Simon feels his father is disappointed in him. He'd much rather play MMORPGs with his friend Tony, but Tony is in Mexico. Simon also has significant asthma, still wets the bed, and doesn't get along with people at school too well. He is also working on his own epic novel, called Max Hollyoak and the Tree of Everwyn. After a family camping trip, however, Simon is sure that he aliens, in the shape of owls, have attacked him and implanted a chip in his stomach. His parents, concerned about his talk of aliens and his general level of oddness, take him to a psychiatrist who puts Simon on several different kinds of medication. These make Simon feel odd, so he stops taking them without telling his parents. Edwin's girlfriend, Miranda, fans the flames of his alien obsession by taking him to her father's group of people interested in alien abductions, and Simon spends a lot of time obsessing further about the aliens who are supposedly speaking to him. Finally, in a drastic bid to get away from the aliens, he tries to remove the implant from his stomach with scissors. He injures himself badly, and his family is convinced he tried to kill himself. Is Simon hallucinating, or does he have a valid concern about the aliens attacking Earth?
Strengths: I liked that Simon lived on an Air Force base; there should be more books about students from military families. It's also good to see a character who identifies as a "black nerd"; again, not many of these in middle grade literature. There are still some students who believe in aliens, and this was an interesting example of realistic science fiction-- are the aliens real or not?
Weaknesses: Simon is not an attractive character, with his negative attitudes and bed wetting. The whole beginning of the book concentrates on these negative attributes, which make the story start a bit slowly. I also wasn't a fan of Simon's novel being interpolated into the book.
What I really think: I generally like Smith's work, but books about alien invasion (with the exception of the action-packed Falkner's Recon Team Angel books (The Assault, etc.) or Walden's Earthfall trilogy) move very slowly in my library, so I may pass.

Cartoon Saturday- Max and the Midknights

Peirce, Lincoln. Max and the Midnights
January 8th 2019 by Crown Books for Young Readers
Copy provided by the publisher

Can't quite review this without a spoiler, so if you don't want to know, stop reading right now! Close the browser window! We'll wait.

Okay. Continue at your own peril. You've been warned.

Max must be an apprentice to Uncle Budrick, who travels the country singing and telling tales. Max would rather be a knight, but the customs of Byjovia indicate that family traditions must be honored. When a highwayman attacks the two, they are left without their horse and cart, although Max picks up a dagger their attacker leaves behind. They make it to the town of Byjovia, where Budrick grew up, but things have changed since his time. Instead of Conrad the Kind, the kingdom is ruled by Ghastley, and the people have changed for the worse. When Max is almost thrown into the dungeon as a vagrant, Budrick comes to the rescue but is conscripted to be the king's fool. Luckily, Max is taken aside by Kevyn, whose father is an ostler. Kevyn would rather make books, so he understands Max's desire to become a knight. Kevyn's father, Nolan, summons the retired wizard Mumblin, whose magic has not weathered well. Together, the group tries to fend off attacks from Ghastley and his cohort in crime, the witch Fendra, who were the two behind the death of King Conrad. They are also poisoning the people of Byjovia. Armed with Conrad's dagger and in the company of daring and wily street urchins, can Max uncover the truth and safe the kingdom?
Strengths: Pictures. Fart jokes. Dragons. It's like Monty Python produced a middle grade notebook novel. I...I...I'm not quite sure why I love this so much. Probably because my own personal children would have loved this when they were in first grade, but it will be just as popular in middle school. It was just silly fun. And the twist! The twist is brilliant! (And I managed to write the review without revealing that Max is a GIRL!)(Highlight to read.)
Weaknesses: Paper over board. ARGH! If I were writing this book, I might well have named Ghastley that. Every bit as horrible. Sure, put the most read books in the crappiest binding!
What I really think: I love that Peirce writes books that he wishes he could have read as a child. His artwork in crisp, engaging and happy, and the ratio of text to pictures is just perfect. The stories are goofy on a kid level, but also amusing to adults. Definitely would not mind more titles about Max.

The Unteachables

Korman, Gordon. The Unteachables 
January 8th 2019 by Balzer + Bray
E ARC from Edelweiss Plus

Mr. Kermit is entering his 30th year of teaching, and he's already put in for early retirement. He started his career full of grand ideals and enthusiasm, but a testing scandal over 25 years ago sucked the life out of him, and he spends his days handing out worksheets and doing the crossword while drinking coffee from a huge cup called "the toilet bowl". In order to push him to quit even earlier, the evil superintendent assigns him to a special class with a handful of students who are "unteachable". These include Elaine and Aldo, who both have anger management issues, Parker, who has severe dyslexia, and Rahim, who is artistically inclined but often sleeps in school because his father has band practice in the garage until late. Enter Kiana, who is staying with her father and his new family while her mother works on a movie, and who blunders into the class by accident and stays because she is intrigued. Next door, a perky new teacher, Emma Fountain, alarms Mr. Kermit because she is the daughter of his former fiancé, and she is filled with all sorts of warm and fuzzy classroom plans. She brings in Jake Terranova, who started the cheating scandal but who is now a successful car salesman. He invites the class to visit his dealership and repair shop, and the class starts to take off and actually learn things. Some of Mr. Kermit's old fire returns, but when the superintendent makes the numbers look like he is ineffective, his job is on the line. The students try to rally and enter a project for the science fair hoping to save their now beloved teacher, but they are not successful. Will something happen to save the day?
Strengths: This had a nice ensemble cast, and portrayed students struggling with different issues realistically. Kiana was an especially fun character. I really did adore Mr. Kermit, and could completely sympathize with his burnout (I'm only in year 20, but I can still understand), and the backstory with him and Ms. Fountain's mother was sweet. The use of Mr. Kermit's car was particularly intriguing. Parker and his ability to drive on a provisional license to help with his grandmother and the family farm will be interesting to students. A solid, funny novel with deeper issues.
Weaknesses: I love Korman's work, but the tone and topic of this seemed like it was from the 1990s and strained my credulity. I can't believe a teacher would get away with such classroom behavior today, and if he was that ineffectual, the superintendent could have built a case and fired him long ago. I was glad that the principal was a decent human being. Also, the incident with the vuvuzelas (plastic party horns) was okay, but the word was overused. It sounded to me more like a climbing vine and distracted me!
What I really think: I will buy this anyway, as it will appeal to readers who like school stories from multiple perspectives, like Wonder and Because of Mr. Terupt.

This is what I pictured the Coco Nerd (Chrysler Concorde) as looking like!

Clash of Beasts (Going Wild #3)

McMann, Lisa. Clash of Beasts (Going Wild #3)
October 2nd 2018 by HarperCollins
Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central

Charlie, Mac, and Maria are back, having defeated Dr. Gray's army in Predator Vs. Prey. Kelly and Miko, however, remain in Gray's clutches, not wanting to give up their powers and believing the scientist is trying to save the world. Using their powers and suits, the group is trying to get more animal DNA from zoos to further improve the animal qualities of the army, but when they go to Mexico to visit a zoo there, they run into trouble and the Wildes find out where they are. Maria's grandmother in Puerto Rico asks her and her friends to come to help clean up after the hurricane, and the group's animal powers come in handy there. Eventually, Kelly and Miko realize that Gray is actually completely demented and wants to turn everyone in the world into an animal hybrid, so they look into ways to escape. It's not an easy task, so they are glad when Charlie et al. show up to help them. An epic battle ensues, and Gray has two major plans; a mist machine filled with the chimera formula that he hopes will turn everyone into chimerae, and a final, last ditch attempt to turn into one himself. Will this be enough for him to win the battle, or will the good guys prevail?

The Going Wild series is jam-paced with two things; scenes of fighting and action, and lots of details about the capabilities of animals. The children are part howler monkey, alligator, cuttlefish, etc. and have all kinds of amazing powers, including the power to hypnotize groups of people. These powers, especially the water and strength ones, are best put to use in Puerto Rico, but the children seem to enjoy playing with changing shapes. Of course, it's a good thing that the bracelets that control the changes stay in the control of the Wildes and not Dr. Gray, so that the children can eventually be turned back.

Even though the reason for visiting zoos is evil (snatching bits of the animals to get their DNA; you'd think scientists would have a more elaborate method!), it's fun to go to a variety of venues and read descriptions of the animals' environments and the qualities that Dr. Gray hopes their DNA will bring to the characters. I'm just glad I'm not Miko, with her fuzzy face that she has to hide under a hoodie!

McMann's The Unwanteds is a hugely popular series in my library, so this final Going Wild volume will be appreciated by fans of those books as well as those who enjoyed stories like Patterson's The Angel Experiment (2005) and Applegate's enormously long Animorphs series (1996).

Have to say that this series has not circulated very well. It's a bit on the didactic side, and the information about animals ventures into infodump territory from time to time, slowing down the action. I never quite connected with any of the characters, although I did enjoy the parents most of the time. (Had trouble believing they would have sent the children to Puerto Rico alone, though.) A good choice where fantasy books are popular, but a bit of a hard sell with my students.

The Unsung Hero of Birdsong, USA

Here's a fun fact: Our sixth graders, in the absence of Accelerated Reader this year, are doing book projects to reinforce their RACES writing skills. Since I don't like to ask students to do things I am not willing to do (E.G. One nine weeks, I managed to accumulate 500 AR points. I've also been Philo T. Farnsworth and Ruth Wakefield for biography wax museums and completed countless other projects for a variety of subjects), I asked one teacher for the assignment. Having read the following book the night before, I used my lunch time to answer eight questions on this book according to the rubric. I need to see if it's been graded yet!

The point being: if you read enough and WRITE enough, it is very easy to complete assignments. And if you have no idea what RACES writing is, it's okay to ask 8th graders to give you some hints.

Are you finding school tough, O Middle School Students? It's okay to practice writing on your own even if you have no assignments! When I was in 8th grade, I wrote an entire, horrible 320 page novel! On a 1958 Smith-Corona electric typewriter, no less.

My favorite example of training kicking in is when I wrote a perfect five paragraph essay on Sci Fi Junior High.

And yes, I did indeed read six books yesterday. And I ran two miles towards a 100 mile challenge. Well begun is half done!

Woods, Brenda. The Unsung Hero of Birdsong, USA
January 8th 2019 by Nancy Paulsen Books
E ARC from Edelweiss Plus

For his twelfth birthday, Gabriel gets a brand new Schwinn bicycle, but almost comes to grief after running a red light. Luckily, a man pushes him out of the way of the oncoming car and saves him. Meriwether Hunter also helps fix the bike, and since he does such a good job and Gabriel's father is in need of a mechanic at his auto repair shop, Gabriel offers to talk to his father. The one snag? It's 1946 in South Carolina, and Mr. Hunter is black. Both of Gabriel's parents went to Oberlin college and are considered progressive in their beliefs about race, but the other mechanic, Lucas, is very mean and rumored to be a member of the KKK. It is arranged that Mr. Hunter will work at the garage, but his shift will start after Lucas' ends. Since Gabriel is grounded from riding his bike for two weeks, he offers to help out at his father's garage. His father agrees, knowing that Gabriel wants to watch out for Mr. Hunter. In their talks, Gabriel finds out about the man's past. During World War II, Mr. Hunter was in the army, but returning black soldiers have been warned that letting whites know about their service and medals could put them in danger. When a poisonous snake is left on the Hunter's porch and nearly kills his daughter, other members of the community help him arrange to go to Detroit to work in the auto industry there.
Strengths: This has a lot of good details about what daily life was like in the South at this time. I especially enjoyed Gabriel's cousin, Tink, who uses lots of amusing slang. Gabriel's family are good people trying to make the best of an unpleasant social construct, and make change when they can. The mentions of the Green Book, the guide blacks used to navigate restaurants, service stations and motels in the South, was especially interesting. This was a good balance for middle school readers who don't know much about race relations in the South at this time-- it doesn't hide the bad things, but it isn't as dire as it could be.
Weaknesses: There are a large number of books about this time period that are told from the point of view of white children, and I would like to see more from the point of view of black ones.
What I really think: Definitely purchasing, although the cover looks a bit too cheery for the content.

Lost in the Antarctic: The Doomed Voyage of the Endurance

Happy New Year! Nothing like starting off a new year by taking a look at the worst possible things that can happen to people! Lost in the Antarctic makes that blown radiator, torn ACL, or leak in the attic seem like small potatoes. Here's to an excitement free 2019!

Olson, Tod. Lost in the Antarctic: The Doomed Voyage of the Endurance
January 1st 2019 by Scholastic Inc.
E ARC from Edelweiss Plus

Ernest Shackleton was both fortunate and unfortunate-- he wasn't able to be the first explorer to set records on either pole, but he was on three very harrowing expeditions where he could easily have died, but didn't. After losing the race to the South Pole to Roald Amundsen, Shackleton decided he would cross Antarctica from sea to sea. Unfortunately, the Endurance became trapped in the ice and had to be abandoned. Far from civilization, the men took their provisions and survived on the ice, eventually got into life boats and headed toward Elephant Island when the water was clear enough. Olson does a fantastic job writing engaging, narrative nonfiction, and readers who enjoy survival stories will love this one.
Strengths: This was a page-turner. Olson knows just what details to include to keep readers on the edge of their seats, and his narrative moves along so smoothly. If students got their hands on more nonfiction like this, I think they would like it more. There are occasional pictures and maps, but this reads very much like a novel. Olson's Lost in the Amazon: A Battle for Survival in the Heart of the Rainforest is on our 6th grade Battle of the Books list, and readers seem to be enjoying it.
Weaknesses: This whole series is so well-researched that I would love to have nice, hard bound copies for the library. They don't circulate a lot, but will be mildly popular for years. With paperbacks, evern prebinds, the paper begins to be very unpleasant after about 15 years. I know, I know. Publishing is about making money, not about making me happy!
What I really think: Definitely purchasing, and recommending to students who loved the Wallaces' Bound by Ice.

MMGM-1919: The Year that Changed America

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.

Sandler, Martin W. 1919: The Year the Changed America
January 8th 2019 by Bloomsbury Children's Books
E ARC from Edelweiss Plus

While I knew a little about the events of 1919, I hadn't really put them together in the way that this informative book does. Yes, I knew about the Great Molasses Flood thanks to Joan Hiatt Harlow's 2002 Joshua's Song, but I had never tied it in to companies wanting to hoard molasses in order to make as much run as possible before Prohibition! It's good to see coverage of women's suffrage at this particular moment, right before 1920, and in the wake of the war. The Red Scare chapter helped lay the ground for all the fears about Communism after WWII, and the descriptions of the large number of strikes occurring made sense given the general air of social changes and concern for working conditions.  The chapter on Prohibition was a nice overview.

What blew me away was the chapter on the Red Summer. I'd never heard of it. The history teachers in my building had never heard of it. Everyone should have. It was a HUGE deal, and involved more than riots in just Chicago, although the racial incidents came to a head there with a young African-American man being killed by a rock thrown by a white man because of a segregated beach. Sandler does a great job at tying many of these century old issues into topics of concern today, well illustrating the fact that if we don't remember history, it's going to be repeated.

I think that schools tend to teach history in isolation-- I only had World History for one year in school, so never had a good feel for how US history fit into that much larger picture. Of course, our textbooks ended with the Korean conflict, so we never studied anything about civil rights at all.

History that is not main line is definitely ignored, even today. If the US history teachers have not heard of the Red Summer, who else would? It's difficult to align EVERYTHING that happened in the world, but I do think history books need to get better about giving a more complete picture and incorporating history about all people.

I have one African-American student who loves to read about civil rights history, because his grandmother was born in Alabama in 1954 and has some stories that alarm him. He is reading about Medgar Evers right now, and his comment was "I thought it was just Martin Luther King. But there are a whole lot of people who worked for civil rights." Yes. Yes there were. His class is now reading about WWII, and I made sure he got Sheinkin's Port Chicago 50 so that he can chime in with another view point during class discussions.

When I looked up "Red Summer" at my public library catalog, there were very few books. The Westerville Public Library has an absolutely excellent collection, so I was a bit surprised. I was pleased, however, to see the book below.

Hartfield, Claire. A Few Red Drops" The Chicago Race Riots of 1919
January 2nd 2018 by Clarion Books
Public Library Copy

There's a good deal of information about the events of the Red Summer, but the best part of this book is the extensive background of Chicago's Packingtown and Black Belt neighborhoods, starting in the 1850s and continuing on. It discusses living conditions in both the north and the south for African-Americans, and describes the black middle and upper class in a way that is very hard to find. For students who may only ever have read about blacks in slavery or being denied rights in the south, this is a refreshing change! Ida Wells Barnett is discussed quite a bit, and there are other historical figures, such as John Jones, about whom I would love to have biographies!

There's also a lot of discussion about the Irish immigrants in Chicago, and the prejudices that they faced. I think it's important to read these accounts, because most students have NO idea that the Irish were ever considered an important "minority" group that were not particularly welcome in the country. It is a somewhat hopeful note that opinions, in some circumstances, can change, enough so that a generation or two later, no one remembers. There was also a lot of information about the Chicago meat packing industry, but I would bet that this larger history of Chicago was NOT covered in my daughter's class when they read Upton Sinclair's The Jungle. (Which, for some weird reason, she absolutely loved. It made her a vegetarian six years ago!)

This book was beautifully formatted, with comfortable text size and white space, a fair number of period political cartoons and photographs, and was very engaging and easy to read.

This is a great book to use to set the stage for Shabazz and Watson's  Betty Before X.

I'll definitely be purchasing both of these titles!

Find Your Rainbow: Color and Create Your Way to a Calm and Happy Life

Lyn, Jenipher. Find Your Rainbow: Color and Create Your Way to a Calm and Happy Life
December 31st 2018 by Crown Books for Young Readers
Copy provided by the publisher

This combination self help/ coloring book offers a lot of brightly colored, on-trend advice to help tween girls process this difficult stage of life. Divided into seven chapters, it covers topics such as being yourself, making friends, and being comfortable with your body, all big concerns as this age. There are feel-good, poster-like pages with positive sentiments (such as "Be your own kind of beautiful") alternating with questions and activities for readers to complete, such as lists of goals, a plan to cheer up friends during the day, and a grid to fill out of "what makes you awesome". There are lots of activities, but not all that many pictures to actually color, if you are looking for more of a coloring book. (Is this still a trend?)
Strengths: This would be great fun to give to a self conscious tween who is introspective and artistic. There's lots of good, current information on how to survive the tween years, although none of it is very specific.
Weaknesses: The reality is that most tweens would fill out the first ten pages and then lose the book under their bed. Still, if you need a gift, this is quite nice.
What I really think: Since this is an activity book, and I don't circulate these in the library, I will give this to a teacher who has four daughters.

I was a tragically weird middle school student, and even my best friend at the time agrees that if I were told "Be yourself, always, unique quirks and all," there is no way this would have ended well for me!

Tom Gates is Absolutely Fantastic [at Some Things] (Tom Gates #5)

Pichon, L. Tom Gates is Absolutely Fantastic [at Some Things] (Tom Gates #5)
October 16th 2018 by Candlewick Press
Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central

The big event in Tom's world is the upcoming School Activity Trip, but he might not be going! He forgot to turn in the permission slip, and even when he gets another one, it is lost in the morass of his room. Luckily, his mother saves the day and sends him off with substandard wooly jumpers and way too many bananas instead of decent snacks! He has an odd assortment of roommates, including Marcus, who shoots his mouth off about how great and brave he isn't, but is really just whiny and annoying instead. There are lots of fun activities like raft building, and competitions with another school. Of course, the best activities are the forbidden ones, like snacking after lights out and being silly. Still, the trip is a success and Tom is glad that he finally got organized enough to go... even if he loses his teddy bear and everyone on his bus finds out he brought one.

Like Peirce's Big Nate, Tom is an imminently likable and tremendously typical middle school student. He means well, but still can't remember to pack his own pajamas! He's obsessed with snacks, but in a world where you can buy caramel wafers at the corner Tesco, who wouldn't be? Tom is also very British, with his gym kit, rubbish bins, and even the whole concept of the School Activity Trip! The last time I took middle school students on a trip that stayed even one night away was 1989!

The other characters in the book are slightly one-dimensional; Tom's father is always claiming to want to stay fit but sneaking biscuits, his sister Delia is often mean and snarky to him but ends up saving the day when he forgets to mail in an entry to a t shirt design contest, and his teachers a bit waffly and ineffectual. I do appreciate that even with Marcus, Tom is understanding and not mean. This makes a big difference between this and the US Wimpy Kid series.

The hand-lettered font and copious pictures will appeal to fans of Stick Dog and Charlie Joe Jackson, and many readers will use this book as an arguing point to get a wall of their room painted in black board paint just like Tom, so they can doodle all over a wall. All of Tom's exploits are amusing, humorous, and pure fun to read. I am not overly sad that this series is fourteen books long in the UK!

The Red Ribbon

Adlington, Lucy. The Red Ribbon
September 11th 2018 by Candlewick Press (MA)
E Book from Ohio E Book Project

Ella is in Birchwood (Birkenau), fully believing that her grandparents are still at home and that she will soon be able to leave and resume planning her career as a seamstress. She's thrilled when she gets chosen to work in the Upper Tailoring Studio, where seamstresses rework dresses for the commandant's fashion savvy wife as well as other officers and people of importance in the camp. One of these is Carla, a guard who is oddly friendly to Ella when there is no one to witness, but doesn't hesitate for a second to remind her that she is one of "those people" who is beneath her contempt. In the studio, Ella meets Rose, who seems more refined and less able to take care of herself. The two eventually become friends and help each other through the complicated give-and-take systems at the camp. Unfortunately, much more is taken from the girls, and when Rose swipes a red ribbon for the storehouse of clothing and objects taken from the incoming campers, both girls suffer tremendously for it. Ella has to take harder, more demeaning work with fewer perks, and Rose eventually becomes ill. When the camp is liberated, Ella wants to try to find her grandparents as well as Rose, and is fortunate enough to eventually find her friend.
Strengths: This had a lot of really good details about what it was like to have a somewhat privileged position in a concentration camp. Survival was a precarious proposition, and both Rose and Ella have a lot of close calls before everything falls apart. Carla's behavior was especially interesting. It was also helpful to see what happened to the girls after Liberation; many books stop short of that, and I think students assume everyone in the camps died.
Weaknesses: It seemed odd to call the camp Birchwood, and I also wondered if the residents would have been clueless about the number of deaths occurring.
What I really think: Definitely purchasing. Our 8th grade does a unit on the Holocaust, and this was an easy-to-understand, quick read that also clearly explained what when on in the camps.

Dodger Boy

Ellis, Sarah. Dodger Boy
September 1st 2018 by Groundwood Books
JLG Selection

Charlotte and Dawn (who prefers to be called that rather than her Polish name) are fast friends who have adopted an UnTeen pact to make sure that they don't succumb to the social pressures of 1970 Vancouver. Dawn's family is more conventional, so they might expect her to marry young so she can have a matching dinette set, but Charlotte's family runs a flower shop and don't go for a lot of interior decorating. The girls embrace some parts of the modern culture and are a bit fascinated by "hippies", even hitting the thrift store, scoring a Laura Ashley dress and belled skirt and tie-dying them in order to attend a Human Be-In at a local park. There, they meet American draft dodger Tom Ed, from Texas, and he ends up staying with Charlotte's family, even though they are Quakers and Tom Ed is not avoiding the war because of pacifism. At the girls' school, they have a forward thinking teacher who is in her last year, and is allowing the students to read anything they want, since she will be retiring. On girl, who is reading the Bible, becomes upset by Catcher in the Rye, and her mother tries to get the book banned and the teacher fired. One night, Charlotte finds Tom Ed and her brother James kissing, and the next thing they know, Tom Ed has moved out to go join a commune. Charlotte examines her feelings about the situation and is not upset, her teacher remains employed, and she and Dawn continue on their junior high experience during an interesting and pivotal time of history.
Strengths: There are lots of good details about daily life in the 1970s, and the topic of draft dodgers is one for which I really needed a book! It's a nice length, and moves along quickly. Good feeling of the time in both details and larger issues.
Weaknesses: The cover is not a good one. Even a similar photo would have been better. While the book challenge scenes and Tom Ed's sexual orientation are vaguely interesting and well done, I wish more description of the Vietnam conflict and its effect on people like Tom Ed would have been given. There would have been more than enough background information to round out a story without the other issues.
What I really think: This will be perfect for the Decades Unit the 7th grade does. It's not perfectly written (I bought it without reading it because I was thinking it was by Deborah Ellis, author of The Breadwinner), but it's the only one I've ever seen about draft dodgers living in Canada, although there is Kurlansky's Battle Fatigue that covers a young man before he heads to Canada.

Emmi in the City

Alikhan, Salima. Emmi in the City: A Great Chicago Fire (Girls Survive)
January 1st 2019 by Stone Arch Books
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Emmi and her toymaker father have come to the US from Germany, hoping to make a better life for themselves in the 1870s. Emmi still misses home, and has some trouble getting along with Irish children in the neighborhood, particularly twins Seamus and Cara. When a fire starts nearby, Emmi and her father are separated, and Emmi tries to make her way to the river. Along the way, she runs into the twins, and the three work together to escape the flames. They are worried about their families, but also about whether they will survive themselves. Eventually, they make it to safety, where they are reconnected with their parents. Emmi's father has helped a wealthy businessman to safety, so it given the use of his summer cottage and a stone shop back in Chicago when the city is put back together.
Strengths: This is one of those historical events that shows up from time to time, and the book reads very much like a Lauren Tarshis I Survived volume. Lots of good details about daily life at the time, and about how the fire unfolded and Emmi managed to survive it. Glossary of terms at the back.
Weaknesses: This seemed slightly odd. There was a lot of pining for her father, and a lot of discussion of the difficulties of the Irish. Given the dire circumstances of surviving the fire, I'm not sure these topics would have been foremost in Emmi's mind.
What I really think: I'm really interested to see what else Girls Survive! However, since I already have Hilmo's Cinnamon Moon, which covers this event nicely, but if you need another book on the Great Chicago Fire, have a look at this one, and at this great list:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/99246.Great_Chicago_Fire_in_YA_Middle_Grade_Fiction

The Secrets of Winterhouse (#2)

Guterson, Ben. The Secrets of Winterhouse (#2)
December 31st 2018 by Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
E ARC from Edelweiss Plus

Elizabeth is so relieved to get back to Winterhouse and be with her grandfather Norbridge again that she doesn't think too much about why her somewhat evil aunt and uncle appear sad at her leaving. She's very glad to find out that her grandfather has finally take care of all the legal details, and she will finally be living with him permanently. She is introduced to nearby Haventown, which has delightful shops, including a fantastic book store! Freddy, Leona, and the other people at Winterhouse are also glad to have her back, but there are some troublesome guests. She had a run in on the train with the Powter family, including nasty teenager Rodney, and is wary of Elana Vesper and her creepy grandmother. Something is up, and after a worker is attacked in the candy kitchen, Elizabeth and Freddy put their puzzle solving skills to work. There is a mysterious verse that shows up in different places around the hotel, put there by Riley Granger, a guest long ago, and Elizabeth expects it is somehow tied to Gracella, whom she doesn't think is completely dead. While she's glad to finally be home for Christmas, Elizabeth wants to keep her new home safe from dangerous family magic.
Strengths: The hotel is such a wonderful, appealing place, and Norbridge is a great adult-- makes sure Elizabeth is safe and well cared for, but gives her space to roam! The illustrations are very appealing, and bring all of the fantastic meals and intriguing spaces to life. I enjoyed this one even more than the first!
Weaknesses: Not personally a fan of anagrams or puzzles, so found myself skipping over those bits.
What I really think: This is one of those series with some staying power, rather than a quick, popular appeal, and those books make me happiest of all. Yeah, students have worn out several copies of The Hunger Games, but it's the well-written, classic feeling books that stay on the shelves for thirty years or more that feel like old friends. Definitely purchasing, and will have to take a look at the finished interior illustrations.

MMGM- Gamer Army

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.

Reedy, Trent. Gamer Army
November 27th 2018 by Arthur A. Levine Books
Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central

In a futuristic society where almost everything has gone online, Rogan spends a lot of his time playing the game Laser Viper, a virtual reality war-type Mutliplayer Online Role Playing Game. He doesn't like to have to rely on the group, and wants to always be the best, even if it means not giving others an equal chance. His parents are both very busy online as well, with his father involved in another MORPG and his mother the founder of an online forum about technology. He spends a lot of time in Virtual City, where he even has his own apartment where he doesn't feel quite as alone, especially when he puts a VR headset on his dog, Wiggles, so the dog can accompany him! When the creator of Virtual City, William J. Calum, shows up at his door, Rogan doesn't believe it's really him, but believes him when he is invited to participate in a Laser Viper Final Challenge, since her's one of the best young gamers. His parents approve, even though it will mean having limited contact with him while the competition is going on, and soon he is off to meet the other combatants in the reality show. He knows Shay online, and the two frequently spar about who is the better player. There is also Takashi, who takes the role of the Healer and works well with other, Beckett, who is an egocentric jerk, and Jacqueline, who is the engineer and hopes to use her winnings to fund her college studies. The group, except for Beckett, works well together, and complete several training missions, getting used to the virtual reality suits that make the game more life like. After Beckett is voted off, the missions get more involved and more potentially deadly. By the time it is just Rogan and Shay, things look suspicious, and the former players get in contact with the current ones to let them know that their virtual battles are actually taking place in reality. Calum and his Atomic Frontier corporation has designs on detroying the important Sun Station One, and a rival organization, Scorpion, is trying to save the children as well as the world. Is it even possible to do this, or are Calum's plans too far gone?

Readers who think that they can grow up to be professional video game players and who enjoyed books like Schrieber's Game Over, Pete Watson, Dashner's Eye of Minds or Anderson's Insert Coin to Continue will love this action-packed book. The descriptions of the "games" the children play reflect several of the commonly popular online shoot-em-ups and will be the closest thing readers can get to a video game while reading a book!

Rogan starts off as kind of a jerk, which is not all that surprising considering how preoccupied his parents are. He attends Steve Jobs Middle School, which is also online, so has had very little actual social interaction in his life that is not virtual. Dealing with actual people is much harder! He does learn to work with his teammates and starts to realize the benefits of collaboration.

Calum and his Atomic Frontier corporation seem legitimate at the beginning, but the slowly emerging Ender's Game quality of his organization is chillingly revealed. Of course, only twelve-year-olds can save the world, and the five best candidates are those who excel at video games. Makes complete sense, right? This is the best kind of escapist fantasy for tween readers who believe that if the video game plan doesn't work out, surely their back up of playing professional basketball will!

There is room for a sequel, and I would love to see Mr. Reedy (Stealing Air, Words in the Dust) put his writing talents to work on more of Rogan's adventures.

Cotton Candy Wishes

Springer, Kristina. Cotton Candy Wishes
January 8th 2019 by Sky Pony
E ARC from Edelweiss Plus

Taylor throws an exquisitely planned, cotton candy themed birthday party, invites all of the students in her grade... and no one but her best friend comes. Crushed, especially after she overhears other girls calling her attempts lame and desperate, Taylor isn't even comforted by her small group of three friends. When she gets home, she finds out that her family has to move two hours away for her father's job. She doesn't want to leave, but feels she has little to lose. She and her friends research the latest fashions and best way to act to be popular, and Taylor heads off to her new school determined to make things different. Luckily, they are, and she attracts the attention of the popular Elle, as well as a boy whom Elle thinks would be good for Taylor. Soon, Taylor is surrounded by other popular students, makes the cheerleading team, and is exhausted by the effort it takes to stay in the social whirl. To complicate matters, she has a lot in common with kind, math-minded Colin, but he has run afoul of Elle and is a persona non grata. Taylor has to decide if she wants to continue to be popular or stay true to the person she really is.
Strengths: Why popularity is so important to middle school students, I don't know, but it is definitely a thing. And yes, I tried out for the cheerleading squad in middle school. Again, no explanation. Certainly didn't make it! Taylor's angst is all completely true to life, and her friendship with Colin is sweet. Bonus points for her being a mathlete- both my daughters ended up in math related fields!
Weaknesses: This is my favorite sort of book to read, and after going through thousands of titles spanning seven decades, I still live in hope of a twist. Elle has a secret crush on Colin. Anything other than mean girl, being true to yourself, etc. Not Springer's fault; just the way of the world. Middle school readers on their tenth book like this will not notice!
What I really think: Definitely purchasing. These are wildly popular, if possibly a passing trend. (I'm still bitter the Simon Pulse Romantic Comedies don't circulate quite as well as they did... ten years ago!) Still, they'll see heavy use.

Sic Transit Gloria Mundi

Books date. Sometimes very badly. I had fond memories of Deenie from my own middle school days (which is why I have the 1978 paperback cover, which is the one I remember), and we've used it for our Decades project, in which case the horrible attitudes of the mother are very illustrative. (Deenie is "the pretty one", Helen is "the smart one". I can't imagine a mother in 2018 using that distinction. It's also weird how the father is always the one to drive to important appointments and is generally portrayed as being the parent in charge, which is not entirely bad because the mother seems unstable.) Still, I think I'm going to weed (eyes downcast with shame) BOTH copies that I have.

So passes the glory of the world, indeed.


Blume, Judy. Deenie
January 1st 1973 by Bradbury Press
School library copy

Deenie's mother really wants her to be a model, because she's always been pretty and even won a contest as a baby. Since they live in New Jersey, they go to meet with modeling agents in New York City. They think that Deenie is pretty enough, but her posture isn't good. When Deenie tries out for the cheerleading squad and doesn't make it, her gym teacher calls home and mentions that Deenie really should see a doctor about her posture. When the diagnosis is scoliosis, Deenie convinces herself that she will have surgery to fix her back, recover glamorously in the polyester negligee her friends buy her, and go on with her life. Her mother engages in some whining hand-wringing. When it turns out that Deenie has to wear a Milwaukee brace, complete with boy's undershirt to keep the brace from chafing her skin, she does not react well. Her mother screams and cries, and when Deenie gets home, she chops off her hair. She has to wear Helen's old clothes, and is afraid that the boy on whom she has a crush, Bud, won't like her if she has on the brace. Eventually she settles in (this is a short book, just 159 pages), and tries to go to a party without wearing her brace. Her father insists, and it's okay because Bud likes her and kisses her even though she is wearing it.
Strengths: There are a lot of good details about the medical side of the brace, although I'm sure that some of these have changed. Still, visiting with doctors and the basic explanations are top notch. I wore a Boston brace that was all metal rods and canvas strapping, and today they are all plastic. Deenie's reaction is a bit extreme, but not unusual. Deenie's slight romance with Bud has its moments.
Weaknesses: Wow, 1973, how did any of us survive you? Deenie's mother comes across as being an absolute nut, and Deenie's obsession with cheerleading and boys was very true to life. Even I tried out for cheerleading, believe it or not. The part of this book that I really disliked was what Blume was particularly lauded for at the time-- introducing taboo topics like masturbation. At the time, they were revolutionary, but today they seem just randomly stuck in the book, and they are sort of like a slap in the face-- appearing with no explanation and then not really addressed again. The "rap sessions" with the teacher were particularly awkward.
What I really think: Because this deals with a medical issue for which the treatment has changed, I'm going to have to weed this one. It's just too far out of the understanding of most children (whose grandmothers would be Deenie's age) for this to be in any way helpful.

Below, original cover and a Milwaukee brace.

The Last Battle

I was a fan of C.S. Lewis in middle school. In the summer of 1978, right before 8th grade, I saved up my babysitting money and bought a paperback boxed set, and sat out on the front porch drinking lemonade, reading the books. I was not a fantasy reader, so I can only imagine that I was encourage to look into these titles by my group of friends, who were HUGE Tolkien geeks.

The funny thing is that I had just gone through confirmation class at my church, but I don't think I ever made the connection that this was Christian allegory. I also purchased The Screwtape Letters and Mere Christianity before I saw the light during my sophomore year of high school and became a confirmed nonbeliever-- reading these titles as an adult, I felt that Lewis was reactionarily mean about people who didn't believe just what he believed.

This is why I reread this title. I had a student who was reading through some heavy duty classics-- Twain, Poe, E.B. White, you name it. He read a book a day from this series, but when he checked out The Last Battle, it came right back. He couldn't do it, he said, because he was Muslim, and Lewis had a very negative portrayal of people who were very Muslim-like. 

Of course, I apologized. We had a conversation about the fact that C.S. Lewis wrote a long time ago, when things were (sadly, not much) different. He was very polite and understanding, but clearly hurt. Since children never ASK for Lewis and only check his books out when I recommend them, I felt like a jerk. I don't know that I'll pull the books from the shelf, but I also don't know just how long they will stay. 

Lewis, C.S. The Last Battle
Published September 1st 2006 by HarperCollins Publishers
(first published September 4th 1956)
Library copy

Things are not pleasant in Narnia. Ape and his assistant Puzzle the donkey have found a lion's skin, and have taken to wearing it around making proclamations about what Aslan wants, which includes the enslavement of talking animals. There are also a lot of Calormenes, who worship Tash instead of Aslan, who are helping Ape with his evil plan. Enter Tirian, the king in this particular age, and Eustace and Jill, who have been to Narnia before and are back, but hundreds of years later in Narnian time. When Tirian and Jewell the unicorn see a talking horse being abused, they immediately kill the Calormenes in charge. They turn themselves in, but since Ape is so corrupt and things don't look like they will end well, Jill and Eustace rescue him. There proceeds to be a lot of very unpleasant fighting, the horrifying appearance of Tash, Ape's using the term Tashlan and telling everyone the gods are the one and the same, a reappearance by most of the form queens and kings, Aslan arrviing, and a very Dallas, Bobby-in-the-Shower moment involving a train wreck.
Strengths: This concludes many of the threads from the other books, and evokes a very particular world in the same way that The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe does.
Weaknesses: Unfortunately, the world is horrible. Aside from the depiction of the Calormenes, there is a fair amount of the use of "Darkie" as an address which is quite grating today. Eustace and the other humans seem a bit disconnected from the complete devastation of Narnia. The writing is preachy, with lots of info dumps. I did not enjoy it at all.
What I really think: Just from the perspective of reading an interesting, well-written tale, this was disappointing. It was overly fraught, super heavy on message, and despite all of the fighting, fairly boring. I really think that Lewis had a huge inferiority complex, and he wanted to outdo Tolkien's books (which are still riveting and do still have fans), but didn't have the natural talent to do so. Also, I do think that Lewis, as an adult convert to Christianity, felt that he had to justify his choice at every turn even if it meant being condescending about other's beliefs. Interestingly enough, this book has more one star ratings on Goodreads than I think I've ever seen a book have.