Cute Dogs Make Everything Better

Macomber, Debbie and Mary Lou Carney. Pictures by Sally Lambert.
The Yippy, Yappy Yorkie in the Green Doggy Sweater.

Yup. Checked it out of the library just so I could read it to Sylvie. She licked my face the whole time I was reading to her.

And really, I came across this title when looking up something that was actually related to my job as a middle school librarian. Sometimes the public library must wonder about me.

But a cute dog DOES make everything better. Happy Weekend!

Preston, Caroline. The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt: A Novel in Pictures

From the Publisher: "In her scrapbook full of typed notes and a variety of vintage ads, photos, postcards, fabric swatches, and much more, Frankie Pratt describes her life from her graduation in high school in 1920 through her education at Vassar College, her travels around the world, and her efforts to find love and to achieve her dream of becoming a novelist."

This was a very fun, light read, and the scrapbook art is very fun. I checked it out because it reminded me of Jennifer Holms' Middle School is Worse Than Meatloaf, so the one thing that struck me is that there IS a lot of connecting text, albeit in typed bubbles. Middle School is more "A Year Told Through Stuff", and this relies more heavily on the text to get the story across. I still enjoyed the 1920s setting, the inclusion of Edna St. Vincent Millay, the expat story... very fun.

Saturday Cartoons

Torres, J. and Elbert Or. Lola: A Ghost Story.

Jesse has to go to the Philippines for his grandmother's funeral. He doesn't like being there-- he's not used to the crowd of relatives, the heat, the bugs, or the horrible feeling that his cousin and former playmate is haunting him from beyond the grave. Jesse is afraid that he has inherited his grandmother's abilities to see ghosts, which is especially frightening when he thinks about all of the scary stories that she told him. His aunt and uncle are not doing well after the death of their son, and Jesse being there upsets them further until he is able to find a toy that his cousin lost before his death, and put his cousin's ghost to rest.

Strengths: This was an intriguing look at Philippine culture and folklore, and these elements were incorporated into the story of a family's loss very well. The illustrations complement the story in the graphic novel.
Weaknesses: There were some aspects of life in the Philippines that could have been explained a bit more.

Himaruya, Hidekaz. Hetalia: Axis Powers 1

My exchange student is a huge fan of manga and loaned me this one. She was pleased to have gotten a Hetalia bookmark of the Iceland character from this series. I tried valiantly to read this, but was so put off by the stereotypes of the characters that it was very hard to follow. This is a Japanese publication; I can't believe a US author would get away with this many ethnic slurs and jokes. Also, it's nice that TokyoPop rates these books by age, since manga frequently include bad language and naked women.

From the publisher:" During World War I, gruff Germany finds Italy hiding in a wooden box of tomatoes. Germany takes Italy as prisoner, but instead of war-like interrogation, Italy becomes more of the nuisance and unwanted guest. World War I quickly comes to an end, but World War II is right on its heels!"

Guy Friday-- Wild West Guys

McKissack, Patricia C. and Frederick L. McKissack, Jr. Illustrated by Randay Duburke. Best Shot in the West: The Story of Nat Love.
ARC from Baker and Taylor: Pictures in black and white.

This graphic novel follows the rise of Nat Love, who was born into a life of slavery and poverty in 1954 but managed to become a well-regarded cowboy and sharpshooter better known as Deadwood Dick. After the Civil War, Nat’s family tried to farm until sickness took several family members and made it necessary for Nat to seek employment to support his nieces. He became a cowboy, breaking horses that others couldn’t and delivering horses and cattle across the plains. He braved stampedes, outlaws, and capture by an Native Americans, who were so impressed with his abilities that they wanted him to stay and marry one of their own. Eventually, Nat ended up as a train porter, but wrote his memoir in the early 1900s.
Strengths: The story and print were very clear and easy to follow. I didn’t know anything about Love but was able to follow the story. This is a very enjoyable book to use to introduce students to the Wild West.
Weaknesses: This is a dramatization of what Nat Love claimed his life was like; the McKissack’s point this out, but students may not understand that this is not necessarily what really happened. Doesn’t get in the way of a good story, though!


Lawrence, Caroline. The Case of the Deadly Desperado.
P.K. Pinkerton, who is half Native American, sees his foster parents killed in a small western town in 1862. The criminals are masquerading as Indians, but are in fact the deadly outlaw Whittlin’ Walt and his partners who are looking for a deed that P.K. got from his birth parents. P.K. manages to escape to the next town, where he encounters Belle, an “actress”, who helps him escape Walt but steals the deed. Assisted by a Chinese laundry boy, Ping, and two newspaper reporters, P.K. manages to elude Walt even though he keeps running into him. When he finds out that the deed may be to a huge holding that will get him a lot of money, P.K. tries to get the deed back from Belle and take it to the proper authorities… without getting himself killed by Walt or anyone else in the lawless country. Virginia City is a place where it’s every man… and boy… for himself, but P.K. manages to use his smarts to survive and prosper.
Strengths: Lots of action and adventure with a strong dash of humor makes this a book about the wild west that will be easy for students to pick up. I have a lot of older titles on this period of history but haven’t seen anything for a long time. Fans of Paulsen’s Mr. Tucket series will adore this one. Fans of Lawrence’s Thieves of Ostia should pick this up for a window into a completely different world.
Weaknesses: This felt politically incorrect from time to time, but the world was not politically correct in 1862! I also didn’t understand why P.K. was portrayed as being unable to read people’s moods and emotions, which came up multiple times.

Perhaps if these books introduce students to the Wild West, someone will pick up Jack Schaefer's Shane. I did weed the Louis L'Amour novel I had because it smelled bad and no one had read that, but I hold on to Shane for reasons I can't even explain.

The Lions of Little Rock

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

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

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

Back Lists Gems

Looking at the books I have arranged for Black History Month, I am a little frustrated by how many of them are historical, and mainly concerned with civil rights. While these books certainly are valuable, what I really want to find is contemporary books with main characters of color dealing with issues that go above and beyond their racial identities. I include the following previously reviewed books because they are ones that my students really like.
Allen, Crystal. How Lamar's Bad Prank Won a Bubba-Sized Trophy.Reviewed 11 April 2011Lamar loves to bowl, but his father only cares about his brother, who is a star basketball player. Things are tough in the household because Lamar's mother passed away when he was younger, and his father is having work cuts that limit the family's money. When the Billy Jenks, who is constantly in trouble, offers Lamar a chance to make a lot of money by playing with him in games people bet on, Lamar thinks he has something good going, until he realizes that his bowling idol, Bubba Sanders, would not approve.
Strengths: Fun language, snappy scenes, bowling, and an African American main character in the Heartland. I debated whether a picture of Lamar would be good-- could not decide. This cover is good. I also liked the realistic consequences and the supportive adults in this.
Weaknesses: While Lamar's funny style of speaking is appealing, I got a little tired of some of his catch phrases. ("Crackers and cream cheese")

Boles, Philiana Marie. Little Divas.
Reviewed 22 Feburary 2006
Little Divas is for a slightly younger crowd, with a great, bright cover, and a nice story about a girl adjusting to her parents' divorce and having a fun summer hanging out with her cousin. Okay, they spend a lot of time lying to a very strict aunt and uncle about where they are going, but since they are going to the mall with an older sister or to watch the boys play basketball in the park, I was okay with it.
My students seem to be especially drawn to the cover with the different complexions of the girls and have often remarked on it.




Rhuday-Perkovitch, Olugbemisola. 8th Grade Super Zero.
Reviewed 18 March 2010
Reginald has all kinds of problems. He's called Pukey by a former friend. His father is out of work. He has a crush on Ruthie and isn't sure what to do about it. Reggie also writes comic books and is a big buddy for a disadvantaged boy. To top it all off, he is volunteering with his church at a homeless shelter and starts to feel that his school isn't doing enough to give back to the community, so instead of helping the shallow Vicky win the election for class president, he decides to run himself.

This book was a refreshing change from inner-city, African American children with problems of drug abuse and gang wars, and the positive role models in Reggie's life, as well as his earnest volunteerism, will be good for students to read. My only problem-- this is a bit long (324 pages) . It's good to see volunteerism portrayed in an interesting way.

Smith, Sherri L. Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet.
Reviewed 11 March 2008
I was a little leery of a book that takes place all in one somewhat ill-fated afternoon, but this turned out to be a very humorous story of a multicultural family event. Ana Shen's father is Chinese-American, and her mother is African-American. For her 8th grade graduation, both sets of grandparents show up, and circumstances find them all in the kitchen working to put together a meal. The personalities and cultural differences are explored in an amusing and yet thought-provoking way. I will look for more from this author.



And I am now officially old. Our new crop of student teachers/observers came in yesterday, and they look like they should be hanging out with my daughter. Which makes sense, since she is a high school senior, and they are college freshman. Still, this means I am very close to being able to tell the faculty to fix their hair and pull up their socks. I already have a cane waiting for me so I can shake it at people!

Happy Valentine's Day

Whittenberg, Allison. Tutored.
Wendy's father is a well-to-do, educated black man who is vehemently opposed to black people who have not made something of themselves, so he is not happy that Wendy is volunteering with a tutoring center in an economically disadvantaged part of town. While there, she meets Hakiam, whose mother got tired of raising him and put him into foster care. Having had enough of that, he moves from Cincinnati to Philadelphia to help his cousin Leesa raise her premature baby, Malikia. He doesn't really have a plan. Wendy does-- it includes going to college at Howard University in order to reconnect with her ethnic heritage, a plan that her father does not embrace. Wendy and Hakiam are strangely drawn to each other, and start to date. Wendy helps Hakiam take care of little Malikia, and tries to get him to secure a job and continue his education, but when things go wrong with the baby, he's not sure if he can hang on.
Strengths:I don't know that I have read anything that covers black-on-black prejudice, so this was interesting and will be a good addition to my romance books.
Weaknesses: The pictures of Wendy and Hakiam appear only on the back cover! There are a
few instances where this verges into more high school territory-- Hakiam smokes marijuana, and there is a party or two-- but these events are not glamorized. I also didn't feel what attraction these two had to each other, but they apparently did.

Meyer, Marissa. Cinder.
Cinder is the best mechanic in New Beijing, so when Prince Kai brings her his android to repair, she is not overly surprise, but is very flattered. She knows that she will not get to the big ball because her stepmother Adri is putting all of her resources into sending Cinder's stepsisters, Peony and Pearl. When Peony is struck down with letumosis, the plague that is going around and which also kills the king, Adri volunteers Cinder to participate in research to try to find a cure for the disease. During this research, Cinder finds out that she is actually immune to the disease. In the meantime, the Lunar Queen Levana comes to earth to console Kai about the death of his father and to try to set up an alliance with Earth... by marrying Kai. Cinder realizes that she can see through Levana's glamor, and her continued work with the doctor in the research facility leads to some startling truths about herself. Can Cinder save Earth from Queen Levana, save her sister from the plague, believe that Kai likes her more than Levana, and make it to the ball?
Strengths: This is one of those books that didn't appeal to me but which everyone is reading, but I was drawn in from the first page and really enjoyed it. There are so many good twists on the Cinderella story, plus intergalactic intrigue. I also liked that it was science fiction without being completely dystopian. Really a "wow" of a book!
Weaknesses: There was a lot going on, and since this is a fairly long book (390 pages), a bit more tightening would have strengthened the story for me.

CYBILS!!!

I know it says entire encyclopedia sets about how I need to get a life, but I sat bolt upright in bed at 11:50 p.m. last night and couldn't get back to sleep! I finally got up and checked the Cybils web site, only to find out they posted at 2:00 a.m. my time. I did go back to sleep but was up earlier than usual!

Here are the wonderful winners for middle grade divisions. See more over at Cybils.com.

Poetry
Requiem: Poems of the Terezin Ghetto by Paul B. Janeczko
Candlewick Press
Nominated by: Tricia Stohr-Hunt

Middle Grade Sci Fi/Fantasy
The Cheshire Cheese Cat: A Dickens of a Tale
by Carmen Agra Deedy and Randall Wright; illustrations by Barry Moser
Peachtree
Nominated by: Monica Edinger

Middle Grade Fiction
Nerd Camp by Elissa Brent Weissman
Atheneum
Nominated by: Jennifer Donovan

Nonfiction
Amelia Lost: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart by Candace Fleming
Schwartz and Wade Books
Nominated by: Monica Edinger

And one Young Adult Fiction...
Young Adult Fiction
Stupid Fast by Geoff Herbach
Sourcebooks Fire
Nominated by: Karen Yingling (me!)

Nonfiction Monday-- We've Got a Job

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

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

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

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

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

This review is also posted at YA Books Central.

Gephart, Donna. Olivia Bean, Trivia Queen
Publication Date 13 March 2012 , E ARC from Netgalley.com

Olivia and her little brother Charlie ADORE trivia, and grew up watching Jeopardy with their father. Things have changed for the worse in Olivia's world, though-- her father married her best friend Nikki's mother and moved to California, her mother has moved in Neil, and her best friend Tucker is being a jerk to her. When Olivia finds out that there are auditions for Jeopardy, she wants to take the online test and try out... but her mother loses her job as a newspaper reporter and is too depressed to register her, and her father is too busy keeping up with his gambling addiction to do it either. Luckily, Neil comes through, and Olivia does well enough on the test to go to try outs in D.C. The family situation worsens, however, and when she finally gets to visit her father in California, she finds out why her friend Nikki won't talk to her, and learns that Neil is more reliable than her own father.

Strengths: Gephart is a smooth writer who gets many things about middle grade fiction pitch perfect. Olivia's hopes are all too real, and while things work out for her, there is an undercurrent of painful reality.
Weaknesses: This was a rather sad book, and the cover made it look happy, so there was a cognitive disconnect for a bit. It still was very good, so I will buy it, even though I need more humorous than sad books.

Sunday Brunch

Diggs, Taye and Shane W. Evans. Chocolate Me.

Johnny, Timmy and Mark make fun of young Taye because he does not look like them, nor does he have a similar name. His hair is curly, his skin is dark, and his nose is wide. These comments make Taye doubt his own worth, but his supportive mother points out to him that he has many fine qualities, and is the same color as chocolate. She makes him cupcakes to share with his friends, who also agree that chocolate can be a good thing.

My favorite part of this book was the t shirts that Taye is wearing, all of which bear supportive messages like "Number 1 Son" and "Be Super". The pictures are colorful and appealing.

Pinkwater, Daniel. Mrs. Noodlekugel.

ARC from Netgalley.com

Nick and Maxine move into a tall apartment building and accidentally get a glimpse of a small house with a garden in the center of their block. They are told not to go there, but once they find that they can get to the area through the boiler room of their building, they go and meet Mrs. Noodlekugel, her talking cat, and her four nearsighted mice. It turns out that she will be their babysitter, but their parents told them not to visit her so that they would be more intrigued and get to meet her. (Is this a good lesson? Hmmm.) They bake some magical cookies with her, and get to find out a little about her world.

Strengths: The pictures are adorable, even in rough draft, and the premise is an intriguing ones.

Weaknesses: I was expecting something like Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, and while the set up is there, the follow through is not. In fact, when I got to the end of the book, I strongly suspected that half the pages were missing. Maybe this will be a series, so the book ended abruptly to entice children to pick up the next one, but I did have the distinct feeling that this was unfinished.

Eight Days: A Story of Haiti

Danticat, Edwidge. Eight Days: A Story of Haiti
The earthquake in Haiti in 2010 was devastating, and the country is still having immense problems. This picture book tries to recapture some of the beauty of life in Haiti that is hard to find. Junior is trapped under a building after the earthquake with his friend Oscar, and manages to survive for 8 days, thinking each day of activities he liked to do with his friends. While he survives, Oscar does not. There is a helpful afterword that explains more about the earthquake and Danticat's motivation for writing a book about Haiti so that her young daughters would be able to know something about the country as it was before the earthquake.

Danticat is also the author of Anacaona: Golden Flower, Haiti, 1490, one of the Scholastic Royal Diaries books, as well as many other books.

Guy Friday-- Baseball

Smith, Charles. Stars in the Shadows: The Negro League All-Star Game

Well illustrated by Frank Morrison, this is an interesting combination of poetry and pictures, although not quite a graphic novel. The play by plays of the game are interspersed with advertisements that give a window into black culture at the time. The players in the game are described, and comments from fans in the stands add to the narrative with input from a woman just starting to work for the NAACP, a young boy who is following Jesse Owens’ career with interest, and others who just like the baseball. End notes tell a little more about how the All-Star game was put together, and the effect that it had on the black community.

Strengths: This will appeal to elementary students as well as struggling middle school readers who like baseball, and will sneak a bit of poetry into their reading!
Weaknesses: I’m not quite sure where to put this-- regular fiction? Baseball nonfiction? Graphic novels? It is an unusual piece of work.

Fitzmaurice, Kathryn. A Diamond in the Desert.
Tetsu, his mother, and sister Kimi have been moved from their home in California to the Gila River Relocation camp in Arizona after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. His father is imprisioned because he was very active in the Japanese community and therefore considered a threat by the US government. Tetsu is worried about his dog, Lucky, who was given to a farmer but ran away, and might have been sighted back at his old house by a neighbor. Tetsu is also unhappy about having to give up baseball, but one of the other prisoners was a baseball coach, and he has the boys working on constructing a diamond. Tetsu’s mother gets a job in the kitchen, the wait to hear from his father, and do their best to survive the horrible conditions at the camp. His little sister gathers small animals to be her pets, but doesn’t like the open latrines-- she always brings a pillowcase to put over her head when using them. When Tetsu forgets the pillowcase and gets angry at his sister for being so needy, she runs away and gets lost in the desert overnight, and gets very ill. As she slowly improves, Tetsu works with the baseball coach and soon their team is playing other internment camps. Eventually, the war ends, they are reunited with their father, and the family prepares to go on with their life after the internment camp.
Strengths: Details of every day life in the camp are well presented, and the inclusion of baseball will add more readers.
Weaknesses: This seemed a little unfocused; I prefer Dean Hughes’ Missing in Action for similar coverage of both the Japanese camps and baseball.

Action Covers! Run!

Wright, Barbara. Crow.

Moses has a good life in Wilmington, North Carolina in 1898. His father is an alderman and a reporter for the African American newspaper, his mother does cleaning work to earn extra money for the family, and his grandmother, Boo Nanny, takes good care of him. He has friends, and enjoys his life of freedom, knowing that his mother was born into slavery but freed when she was very young. When the newspaper publishes an op ed piece stating that if it is okay for white men to father children with black women, it should be okay for black men to have white wives, the community is in an uproar. Wilmington had a large community of middle class black citizens, with representation in the local government, but an all white board of citizens decides that this should end and try to pressure Moses’ father to step down from his office and also try to shut down the newspaper. When the men refuse to give in, the newspaper first loses its offices, and then is torched by an angry mob. Things get worse and worse until there is widespread violence and destruction in the town, and Moses finds that while it is important to stick by one’s principles, it can be very hard to do so.
Strengths: Based on a historical event, this was a very vivid picture of what life was like during that time. I was drawn in my Moses’ concerns and attitudes toward his life and his father. The family dynamic was very interesting, and there was enough action that many readers will enjoy this.
Weaknesses: It might be hard to get readers to pick this one up, but I will definitely try.



Prineas, Sarah. Winterling.

Fer (short for Jennifer) is being raised her grandmother because her parents have both died. Grand-Jane is a homeopathic healer with a still room who is constantly afraid for Fer, who feels restless at the overseeing and just wants to be outside. One night, however, she is involved in a wolf attack and brings the boy who is attacked home to get help. Grand-Jane is very displeased, because the boy is really a puck, and the story of why Fer's parents were killed, and why Fer herself is a halfling is revealed. She tries to stay away, but Fer is drawn into the Way, and eventually leaves her grandmother to try to deal with the Lady of the Land, who is causing spring not to come... in both worlds. The lady has done something evil and has the creatures under her spell. Fer finds out that her mother was the true Lady, and feels it is up to her to find out what the Lady has done and restore both worlds to their proper states while figuring out where her own place is.
Strengths: Facile middle grade fantasy with enough adventure, a nice twist on the Ice Queen legend, present but not overbearing grandmother, competent world building.
Weaknesses: Seems to be rockin' everyone else's socks more than mine. I think it was Fer. Because she is a halfling, she didn't fit in, but my first impression of her was that she was kind of whiny. I finished the book quickly and enjoyed it, but didn't love Fer. 

Notes on Weeding: It went much better yesterday after I filled up a rounder I that I usually stock with Accelerated Reader recommendations with AR books I was considering pulling. This rounder is my most frequent stop, and as I looked at it again and again, and pulled books off it to show students, the number of nose wrinkles I got was enough to make me think "These are just past their prime."

The books I pulled weren't anything fabulous-- they were okay. But the also had appallingly bad cover art, they were dull and dusty, and very, very few students picked them up. When they did, they brought them back later in the day.

It's like the beautiful gray wool Talbot's slacks I paid an entire $5 for that were really comfortable and made me look slim(mer). They also were side buttoned and had very short, narrow ankles. Every time I pulled them out of the closet I put them back, and if I did wear them to school, I felt funny in them. Some things just don't work any longer. I'm not doing my students any favors if I keep books that aren't working for anyone cluttering up the shelves.

*Sigh*

Weeding, or things that make me very sad

One of my parent volunteers was in yesterday and asked what she should do. I said "It's that time of year again. We need to look at weeding." "No, we don't," she scoffed. "There can't possibly be anything LEFT. I've been weeding here for six years!"

I turned and pulled a suspiciously faded book on Hinduism off the shelf. 1979. Is there anything that was published in 1979 that is still current?

Well, except for Cross Country Runner (1975). And My Robot Buddy (1977), which I just bought a copy of on Half.com because our library copy is always out and quickly being reduced to glue and tape.

The point being is that I am absolutely not opposed to old titles. Some old titles I adore. They circulate all the time. Students love them. That Cross Country Runner still has reserves on it.

What I had to look at yesterday was books that have NOT been circulating. Books that are taking up valuable room on the shelves. That are dusty. That smell. Yes, since we had a sculptor in the library (more later) and it was a weirdly busy-then-not-busy day, I spent a lot of the day SMELLING BOOKS. The ones that appear at the top of this post? Ponging. Or, as one of my students said "Not a bad smell exactly, just like my grandmother's house."

I love Up a Road Slowly, but no one has checked it out since 1997. Not only that, but the back cover is barely attached. It just looks sad. I tried to get children to check them out, but the only luck I had was with Alias Madame Doubtfire and the saddest copy of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang you have ever seen. I only got someone to check that out because I told them the book was older than I am!

If only for hygienic reasons, these books need to go. But it's hard. It's like ripping little bits off of my soul. I can weed nonfiction fairly easily, but fiction requires the help of understanding volunteers to hold my hand... after they have ripped books from it. It helps if they then hand me a tissue.

Do I need to get out more, or is this a fairly common reaction to weeding?

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.

Mysteries!

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jewish Civil Rights Activists

Greenberg, David T. A Tugging String.
Based on the real-life experiences of the author, whose father was a Civil Rights attorney who worked with Thurgood Marshall and Martin Luther King, this novel offered a different perspective to the Civil Rights movement. Duvy lives in New York City, but know that his father travels to the South to help the black citizens. When Dorothy Milton, a college educated woman living in Selma, Alabama in 1960 finds it impossible to register to vote, Jack Greenburg gets involved with the case. His life is in danger during several points in this process, and eventually the entire black community decides that something must be done, which results in a huge march from Selma to Montgomery to protest the hoops that blacks are made to jump through in order to be able to vote. There is a brief section of photographs in the middle, and plentiful footnotes describe real events and people and how the book has dealt with them for the purposes of the story.
Strengths: It was very interesting to read about David’s perceptions of his father’s work at the time, and helpful that he occasionally quotes from his father’s writing about the events. A different and intriguing perspective.
Weaknesses: This fell somewhere between fiction and nonfiction, and while at times I wanted it to be either one or the other, in the end this was probably an effective way to write the book. The title could have been a bit better-- this one is rather nondescript.


Brandeis, Gayle. My Life with the Lincolns.
Mina has a good life in Downer’s Grove, Illinois in 1966. Her parents run Honest ABE’s furniture store, and she and her two sisters attend a nice school, but Mina is convinces that her family all are members of Lincoln’s family reincarnated, and this gives her some worries. She doesn’t want to die (she’s Will), doesn’t want her mother to go crazy, and doesn’t want her father to be shot. There’s not much chance of that at the beginning, but as her father becomes more involved in the Civil Rights movement and starts attending rallies in Chicago. Things often become violent as people protest living conditions and differences in treatment. Her father, perhaps more motivated when he sees the synagogue he attended growing up converted into a Baptist church, starts to neglect the business a bit, and this causes stress in the family.
Strengths: Lots of vivid detail about life at the time-- Quisp cereal and medical encyclopedias at the grocery, family photos in prarie garb-- adds to the immediacy of the story.
Weaknesses: Could have done without Mina thinking she had angina because her breasts were growing-- she is so concerned about this that she takes someone else’s nitroglycerin tablets and ends up in the hospital! There are other descriptions that also made me uncomfortable and really didn’t add to the story.

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday is the brainchild of Shannon Whitney Messenger, who hosts it on her blog. There are always lots of good posts, so visit Shannon's post for a great list of blogs to visit today.

Nonfiction Monday-- You Need a Schoolhouse

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

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

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

These Hands

Mason, Margaret H. These Hands.
Illustrated by Floyd Cooper.
Joseph's grandfather tells him about all of the things that he can do with his hands, from shuffling cards to playing piano. One of the things his hands were not allowed to do was to touch the bread at a Wonder Bread factory. African-American workers were only allowed to do cleaning and maintenance, NOT touch the bread because then white customers wouldn't want to eat it. The book then details how people worked to change this and other rules and laws so that today Joseph's hands are allowed to do everything of which they are capable. Nicely illustrated and written, this showcases how unfair rules filter down to even the smallest tasks that children today might not consider.

Historical Picture Books

Evans, Shane. Underground: Finding the Light to Freedom.
This picture book portrays an escape from slavery with extremely simple text and rough-hewn drawings. This would be something the most beginning readers could read, but they might need to talk through the pictures to make sense of the story, and have someone read the explanations at the back of the book to them. Not being a picture book aficionado, especially if there are few or no words, I didn't care much for this personally, but I could see it being used in the elementary school as an introduction to a unit on the Underground Railroad.


De La Pena, Matt. A Nation's Hope: The Story of boxing Legend Joe Louis.
Illustrated by Kadir Nelson.
The Joe Louis-Max Schmeling rivalry in 1938 was of huge concern to the African-American community, and to the US in general. Louis's triumph meant that somehow the Nazis and Nazi ideals were inferior, and Schmeling's triumph dejected the entire country. In easy-to-understand but elegant and descriptive language, this book describes both the fights and their impact on African- Americans during a time when Civil Rights issues were starting to come to the foreground. This would be useful even in a middle school. Perhaps because I had a dear friend who was forced to fight for the Wehrmacht or be killed, even though his views were as far from sympathetic to the Nazis as could be, I am curious to read about Max Schmeling's life-- in Sharenow's The Berlin Boxing Club, he is portrayed as a somewhat sympathetic character despite his vilification in the US.

Guy Friday-- Football

Barber, Ronde and Tiki. Goal Line.
Primarily written, as pointed out by Mr. Winchell in comments, by Paul Mantell, who should be allowed to write books under his own name!

Twins Ronde and Tiki are starting 8th grade and are very excited to start playing football again, but Ronde is disconcerted to find that his identical twin is 3 inches and many pounds heavier than he is. Suddenly, the team is not rooting for “the Barber twins” but just Tiki. Tiki also writes an essay for a contest and wins, forcing him to read the essay at an assembly. He is approached by the school newspaper to write an advice column, and keeping up with football, class work, and the column prove stressful. Another set of twin players from Haiti help the team, but make the Barbers worry about their worth. The Eagles have a chance to have an undefeated season with the return of Coach Wheeler, and might have a chance to go to the playoffs again, but not unless Tiki can get his priorites in order.
Strengths: I wish there were more sports series for boys. These are the perfect length and have just the right mix of sports and school problems. They do need a little more romance, though!Weaknesses: For some reason, even though these are based off the Barbers’ real lives, there’s always something I can’t quite believe. In this one, it is Tiki having to read his essay at assembly, and the sudden popularity of his advice column. Are there any middle school that even have school newspapers?


Tunis, John. All American. (Nota Bene: Published in 1942)
E ARC from Netgalley.com from Open Road Media.

Ronald is a student at a the private Academy and a star on the football team when an attempt to stop Meyer Goldman from making a touchdown results in Goldman being in the hospital with severe back injuries. Wracked by guilt, and increasingly irritated by the attitudes of the students and staff at Academy, Ronald transfers to Abraham Lincoln High School. The transition is tough-- people call him a “pretty boy” and cause him problems until he gets in a fist fight with the nasty Stacey and ends up in the hospital himself. After this, everyone is nicer and Ron plays on both the baseball and football teams. When the football team is invited to an intersectional game in the South, one of the players will not be able to go because the school does not allow Negroes to play. Ronald wants the team to refuse to go, and he has the support of his fellow players, but local businesmen who will lose money if the team does not go put pressure on his father and the fathers of the other players to encourage the team to play. In the end, the team does not bow to this pressure, but end up being uninvited in the South but invited to an intersectional in the North, so everyone is happy.
Strengths: Tunis (1889-1975) always does excellent sports descriptions, and we get football and baseball in this one. The cover alone makes the book worth buying. This is also a good historical description of the plight of African-Americans during this time period. It was fun to read about the fathers talking about the “big game of ‘16” and about Ronald’s lunch: scrambled eggs, potato chips, a piece of pie, bottle of milk and bread and butter, all for 27 cents. Probably considered well balanced, too!
Weaknesses: It was jarring to read “Negro” again and again, and I worry that this will offend readers who don’t know the historical background. Also, since this is from Open Road Media, it is only available as an E Book.

It's funny how small print is an indicator that a book is meant for older audiences. I looked at Caludia Gray's new Fateful, and just couldn't get into it because the print was too small AND it was about werewolves on the Titanic. Lots of people out there need two copies for their libraries, but I don't have the audience for this book this year. Will get this author's Balthazar, however, which comes out March 6. Another one was Hautman's What Boys Really Want, which is usually the kind of realistic fiction I adore, but again, small font (along with more mature subject matter) doomed it.

Another one I really wanted to like was House and Vaswani's Same Sun Here. From the Publisher: " A twelve-year-old Indian immigrant in New York City and a Kentucky coal miner's son become pen pals, and eventually best friends, through a series of revealing letters exploring such topics as environmental activism, immigration, and racism." Again, libraries where Naylor's Faith, Hope and Ivy June is popular will want to have this, but the letter format seemed anachronistic, and I see this being a hard sell at my library. Marjoleine Book Blog and Middle Grade Reads both adored this.

For the past week, I've been longing to reread books. Cleary's Fifteen. Edwards' Mandy. Most recently, Paige Dixon's May I Cross Your Golden River (1975). Someone mentioned it, I remember reading it, and there is not a copy to be found anywhere. This made me think about all of the books I have in my library that are rather aged-- the copy of Mandy (1974) that I have is a first edition. How long will it last? When will all of my copies of Stormbreaker fall to pieces and be irreplacable? I need to teach for 25 more years, so I will not be able to recommend the same books forever.

Second morning this week that gently sobbing seems required.

For younger readers

Patrick, Denise Lewis. Meet Cecile.
Cecile lives in New Orleans in 1853. Her father is a sculptor, her brother is off studying in France, and her aunt and cousin live with the family after the death of Cecile’s uncle. Cecile takes music lessons and enjoys her neighborhood, but it is slowly changing. Ceccile and her family are gens de coleur libres, free people of color, and are just starting to feel the influence of the Americans who are coming to New Orleans and think of people of color as slaves. She meets an American girl, Marie-Grace, who shares many of her interests, and the two become friends. The big social event of the season is the costumed Children’s Ball, and this takes Cecile’s mind off missing her brother.
Strengths: As with many American Girl titles, this covers a specific and little known period of American History and is easy to read. The characters are engaging, and the sense of place is strong.
Weaknesses: I took a class once on race relations, and the situation in New Orleans at this time was not portrayed as quite as idyllic as this. (Although some problems are definitely addressed in this book.)Now I am curious!

Read an interview today with author Denise Patrick Lewis at The Brown Bookshelf.


Goldberg, Whoopi and Marilyn Roos.
Perfectly Prima (Sugar Plum Ballerinas #3)

Jerzey Mae loves ballet, but taking lessons with her sisters Jessica and JoAnn doesn't work all that well. Jerzey is a perfectionist, and while she loves ballet, she isn't good at it and doesn't find it to be fun. When she and her sisters are chosen to do a dance about three princesses, she's very excited and does everything in her power to improve her dance skills-- lots of practice, taping the teacher's remarks, studying all the steps. Nothing helps. When she is playing basketball with her annoying younger brother Mason, she realizes that what she is lacking IS the fun of it all. It's helpful that she realizes this, because when her sister breaks her leg and isn't able to be in the ballet, Jerzey needs to use her newfound confidence to find a way that the dance can still be performed.
Strengths: This is an easy to read book that would be great for 1st through 3rd graders who are interested in dancing. Jerzey's lawyer mother and professor father are very supportive and the interactions between Jerzey and her family and friends are very realistic.
Weaknesses: Jerzey's severe perfectionism makes me want to have her identified as being on the Autisum spectrum-- in fact, most of the characters are so extreme that I wondered about many of them! The proliferation of one-note characters took away from an otherwise good story.

Black History Month-- The Mighty Miss Malone

It’s Black History Month, so I’m going to try to post a book about a person of color every day. There are arguments back and forth about whether there should be a month that focuses on the achievement of black Americans, and even what term to use. I have decided to use black instead of African Americans, because not all black people come from Africa. It does feel a little funny using the term “black”, although using “people of color” doesn’t seem right either. As for the argument that there shouldn’t be a special month because all cultures in America should be given equal treatment all the time-- well, while this is true, we still have to deal with the problem of only 2% of the fiction books being published having people of color on the cover. My focus is to have all of my students be able to find people similar to themselves portrayed in books.

Curtis, Christopher Paul. The Mighty Miss Malone.
E ARC provided by Edelweiss’ Above The Treeline
What better way to start the month than to highlight a new book that features the bright and curious Deza Malone, who has this to say about the books that are given to her: “Some of the time I’d get snapped out of the book when I read things that I couldn’t pretend were about me, even if I had the imagination of Mr. William Shakespeare. Words like “her pale, luminescent skin: or her flowing mane of golden hair” or her lovely, cornflower-blue eyes” or “the maiden fair”. I would stop and think, No, Deza, none of these books are about you.” Deza is the best student in her school despite the fact that her family has fallen on hard times during the Great Depression. She keeps herself occupied by hanging out with her brother Jimmie, going to baseball games, and following the rise of Joe Louis. When her father is gravely injured in a fishing accident that kills several of their neighbors, times get even tougher for the family. After the father moves from Gary, Indiana to Flint, Michigan for a job, the family tries to follow him. Jimmie arranges a ride with a criminal type who runs a betting scheme, but the family decides it’s better to ride the rails and end up in a Hooverville type camp. When they are booted from that by the authorities, they manage to get settled in a small apartment. The mother works, Deza attends a school with white students where the teachers are prejudiced and black students are lucky to get C’s, and Jimmie starts to work in a speakeasy. After a while, they get letters and money from the father, but suspect that he is not the one writing them.
Strengths: Vivid picture of what it was like to live through the Great Depression, as well as what it was like to live with every day prejudice. Deza is a strong character, and her family tries their best to survive and prosper during a difficult time.
Weaknesses: Deza is a little full of herself at times, and the first few chapters of the book are anecdotal, which made me wonder if a plot would ever emerge. Once it did, the book picked up tremendously.
I was feeling uncharacteristically organized when I came across Doret's announcement at The Happy Nappy Bookseller for the Black History Blog Hop. There are all sorts of events going on, including Bookaholic's Africa Reading Challenge. The Brown Bookshelf is also showcasing African American authors. As I find more events and postings, I'll try to share them.

Now I'm going to go sob quietly into some nonfiction shelving. Or glue some books back together. I'm behind no matter how early I start!

ARCs, a Discussion

I have a love-hate relationship with Advanced Readers' Copies. I love getting titles that I need to read; I hate getting random sequels to high school paranormal romances. Since I read any book I purchase before spending tax payer money on it, I rely heavily on the public library. Here's the beautiful thing about that-- the public library doesn't care if I review the book. They just want it back when I'm done.

Recently, my Baker and Taylor representative enrolled me in their ARC group. The students are SO excited when they see what I have. The problem is that the books I want to read-- sports books or humor for boys-- are not heavily promoted. Half the box consists of books with girls in fancy dresses spread languidly across the cover.

I love Netgalley. com. If I request a book and don't like it, no trees have died, and considerably less money has been spent to provide me with a copy.

The wonderful Gail Gauthier, who blogs at Original Content, addresses the issue of "What to DO with ARCs when the reviewer has read them". ARCs are meant to generate buzz for a book and help it sell. ARCs are NEVER to be included in library collections or, obviously, sold. One author on the list serve where Ms. Gauthier brought this up was worried about ARCs getting into students' hands, because frequently there are a lot of changes made, and there can be spelling and grammar errors that are later fixed. I thought about this a lot.

I would like to tell publishers and authors everywhere that ARCs ending up in students' hands is not going to impact their sales. I give away all of mine to students, and try to pick students who would otherwise not own any books of their own. Right now, I am stock piling ARCs to give away in May, when all of the library books are due but students will still have Sustained Silent Reading. We have a book fair, I push hard for students to get public library cards, and I have stocked classrooms with a variety of reading materials, but there are still some students who have NO books at all of their own.

When I got a copy of Heather Brewers' First Kill, I had a contest in the library. Fifty students entered letters explaining why they should win the copy, and the boy who did was thrilled. I would encourage bloggers, reviewers, authors and publicists to give ARCs to schools where there are a lot of economically disadvantaged students. Unfortunately, one needs not travel far to find one of these.

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!