A Soldier's Secret

Moss, Marissa. A Soldier's Secret: The Incredible True Story of Sarah Edmonds, a Civil War Hero. 
1 September 2012, Amulet Books, E ARC from Netgalley.com
Reviewed at Young Adult Books Central

Sarah is tired of living in an abusive household, so when her father not only sells her horse, but arranges for her to marry the man who bought the horse, she takes her brother's clothes and runs away from home, disguising herself as a young man. She gets a job selling books as Frank Thompson and does quite well, but the Civil War is heating up, and she feels called to serve. At first, she is turned away because the recruiters think she is too young, but when the demand for soldiers increases, she gets in as a nurse. She tends to the ill and wounded, delivers mail, writes letters, and occasionally goes on missions as a spy. Only one man, Jerome, knows that she is actually a woman. She has romantic feelings for him, which is awkward, but he keeps her secret. Sarah's adventures are many, and she is glad to be in the army, but when she becomes ill, she must leave, go back to being a woman, and seek medical attention. Frank Thompson is wanted for desertion, so Sarah tries to earn a living by doing one thing she does well-- writing. She writes a memoir of her time in the army, and it is published. Years after the war, she finds several of her comrades to write letters of recommendation for her so that she can apply for a discharge and pension. Based on the true story.
Strengths: Tons of detail about ordinary life in the military, plus a lot of coverage of fighting and action. Biographies and resources at the end of the book. Illustrations. Extraordinarily well researched!
Weaknesses: This was very long (400 pages) and didn't have as much of a plot as I would have liked to move the story along. I prefered Durrant's My Last Skirt. I want to take a look at the print version of this before I buy it.

Splendors and Glooms

Schlitz, Amy Laura. Splendors and Glooms.
28 August 2012, Candlewick Press (ARC from Baker and Taylor)
Reivewed at Young Adult Books Central

Clara is entranced by the puppetry of Grisini when she sees a street show in 1860, so she asks if he can entertain at her birthday party. She is also interested in his "children", who are really orphans who work for him, and would like to have them to tea before the party. Lizzie Rose's father was an actor, and she is fairly well brought up, but Parsefall is entrenched in being a street urchin and can only think about what he can steal from Clara's house. Clara is glad to talk to the children because her mother has never recovered from the death, from cholera, of four of Clara's siblings. Every birthday and holiday is spent visiting their tomb and looking at pictures. After Grisini leaves Clara's, Clara disappears. It is thought that she has run away, but when a new puppet shows up looking suspiciously like Clara, Lizzie Rose thinks something more sinister has occurred. Shortly after being questioned by the police, Grisini leaves the house and does not return. Thinking he is injured and not in his right mind, his wards fear for their survival, but are kindly taken care of by their landlady, Mrs. Pinchbeck. After a while of trying to continue the shows to earn a small amount of money, Lizzie Rose finds a letter to Grisini in Parsefalls pocket, and the two set out to the estate of the sender, a Cassandra Sargredo who lives at Strachan's Ghyll. Cassandra worked with Grisini years ago and needs his help, but doesn't want to ask for it. There is more evil at work than the fact that Clara is a puppet, and if Lizzie Rose and Parsefall aren't careful, they will fall under the curse of the fire store amulet that has enslaved Cassandra for so many years. Can they manage to elude this magic and return Clara to her grieving family?
Strengths: This was an enthralling book-- like watching a really good Masterpiece Theater. Schlitz does an excellent job at depicting this time period (or a bit later-- think A Drowned Maiden's Hair), and the wealth of details really made the plight of all the children that much more harrowing.
Weaknesses: As much as I would LIKE Dickens to be the new Dystopia, I have not been able to convince my students of this. I will probably buy a copy, especially if my picky reader daughter likes it, but it may take a bit of selling for students to pick it up.

Lu, Marie. Legend.
29 November 2012

Day has been an annoying criminal to the Republic (the government on the west coast of what was once the United States; the east is called the Colonies), since he is stealing money to help the poor and try to make sure that his family stays safe from the Plague, but when he is accused of killing June Iparis's brother while trying to get a Plague cure from the hospital, he becomes Enemy Number One. June is the only person to get a perfect score on her Trial test; Day failed it. June goes undercover and manages to work her way into Day's graces. She hopes to bring him in and make his pay for the death of her brother, but instead finds out alarming things about the Plague, her compatriots in the Republic, and the role that the Republic has in both the Plague and in her parents' death. When she is accused of crimes against the Republic, she has to decide how she will save Day as well as herself.
Strengths: Dystopia is the new Dystopia. The media has done an awesome job at swaying what kids want to read-- all of my 6th graders want to read The Hunger Games. This certainly would be fine for fans of that-- we've got some violence (Day's mother and brother are both violently shot), evil government using the people as guinea pigs and pawns in their plans, and bright youngsters working to overthrow them. There is also a budding romance between Day and June.
Weaknesses: Well written enough, but felt formulaic (see above, checklist for dystopic book), and I didn't really connect to any of the characters. There were also some scenes with elaborate descriptions of June's wardrobe that seem written expressly for the movie, which is supposed to come out in 2013.

Prodigy comes out in January of 2013.

Middle Grade Monday-- Local Legends

Poblocki, Dan. The Ghost of Graylock.

1 August 2012
Reviewed at Young Adult Books Central

Neil and Bree are living in a small town with their aunts while their father is off finding himself as an actor and their mother is in a hospital recuperating from depression. Things are not much fun until Neil meets Wesley and finds out about the abandoned asylum near town, Graylock Hall. There are all sorts of horrible local tales about it; three children died horrible deaths by drowning in a pond near the facility. Local children all have hear tales about Nurse Janet, who is implicated in these. Neil and Bree have a weird experience when they venture into the hospital with Wesley and his older brother (whom Bree rather likes); in one of the rooms, they feel unable to move, the flashlight batteries die, and they are scared and injured. A friend of their aunts', Andy, picks them up and takes them to the local doctor, warning them never to go near the hospital again. They don't need to be at the hospital to be haunted by the ghost of Rebecca, however-- she invades their dreams, showing them how she died and insisting on help. Neil and Bree find out some things about her-- she was a good student until her mother was killed in an accident, and then she descended into mental illness. Soon, they uncover the real circumstances, which put them in peril.

Strengths: Creepy stuff! Poblocki does such excellent horror, and the covers are just right. Should have ordered two copies! This will never be on the shelf.

Weaknesses: The print is somewhat small, and I knew about halfway through the book who the killer was. I wonder if students will guess so quickly.

Broach, Elise. Missing on Superstition Mountain.

21 June 2011

When you move, you've got to be careful about local creepy legends! Simon, Henry and Jack move to Arizona to take over their eccentric uncle's home and business, and are rather bored. Their cat Josie escapes and runs up into Superstition Mountain, and when they follow, they find three skulls! Josie eventually shows up at Delilah's house, and the four start investigating. They uncover years and years of accidental deaths in the mountains, including three teeage boys who disappeared in the 1950s. With the help of a local library (and a creepy-for-no-good-reason librarian; maybe the next book will have more), they find out some information about the Lost Dutchman's Mine, get in trouble for lying to their parents, and get ready for another adventure-- Treasure on Superstition Mountain comes out 5 February 2013.

Strengths: Good local color, wilderness adventure as well as mystery, engagin characters, capable writing-- a solid middle grade novel.

Weaknesses: There seemed to be a lot of loose ends, and sometimes the inclusion of Delilah, as well as the youngest brother (who was in first grade) seemed forced.

It's Marvelous Middle Grade Monday at Ramblings of a Wannabe Scribe and What Are You Reading? day at Teach Mentor Texts. Both sites have lots of links to reviews about books that are great for the 4th through 8th grade range.

Nonfiction Monday

Jones, Steven L. The Red Tails: World War II's Tuskegee Airmen.

1 Septemeber 2000

I had a student, who had read everything in my whole library about World War II, ask for a book on this famous unit last year, and it was hard to find books that weren't really long. At 64 pages, this Perfection Learning title did a good job of covering the basic information not only of the group, but of the historical context. Period photographs, many of the fighting machinery, help illustrate life at the time. The inclusion of information about what happened after the war in regards to the members of the Red Tails, as well as the state of military integration, was interesting as well. This will be popular with my war mongering boys. My only complaint is that the prose was VERY simple, almost annoyingly so at points. Here's an example from page 6: "Many young men wanted to become Army Air Corps pilots. It was a glamorous job. And people looked up to them. Pilots proudly wore their wings on their uniforms." What is it about high interest/low level books that makes the authors so frequently start sentences with and, but or so? Raises my hackles, although I'm sure the students don't mind.

Head over to Simply Science Blog, which is hosting Nonfiction Monday. This meme was started by Anastasia Suen.

Ask Amy Green-- Love and Other Drama-Ramas

Webb, Sarah. Ask Amy Green: Love and Other Drama-Ramas.
28 August 2012, Candlewick Press

Amy and her aunt Clover are busy trying to plan Amy's mother's wedding, but her mother is busy writing a memoir with the "Irish Surfing Chef", Finn Hunter, which worries Dave, the mother's fiance. Clover is dating a musician and trying to get on the newspaper staff at Trinity College, but doesn't want to have to deal with one of the other girls on the paper staff who stole her boyfriend. Amy has her own problems-- mostly that her friend Mills is devastated when Bailey, her boyfriend cheats on her. Bailey has a ton of problems, and when Amy accidentally discovers a connection between him and Finn, she tries to help put him on the right path.
Strengths: I love this series, and so do the girls in my school. The covers are appealing and bright, the realistic fiction has a bit of a twist because it is set in Ireland, and the problems are interesting. Love the characters as well.
Weaknesses: This was a little darker than the other books, so seemed a bit overwrought at times. Also, what's the deal with book three only being available in paperback? Not fair!

Morris, Taylor. Hello, Gorgeous: Blowout (#1)
14 April 2011 Grosset and Dunlap

Mickey loves to hang out at her mother's upscale salon, Hello, Gorgeous, so is very excited when she is old enough to be hired as a sweeper. She likes the work, but has a lot of mishaps and feels she isn't doing her job well. Mickey is also having a hard time adjusting to middle school and making friends there. When Lizbeth and Kristen, popular girls in her class, come to the salon, Mickey tries to become friends with them by promising them bottles of their new favorite nail polish, and by sharing gossip that she has heard through listening to other customers. She runs afoul of a new stylist, Devon, this way-- she hears Devon saying she made a customer bald, and spreads this rumor, which results in Devon almost losing her position in the salon. Mickey finally realizes, after she digs herself deep enough, that she needs to come clean to her mother about the theft and the gossip. Luckily, she comes up with an entire that brings positive publicity to Devon and the salon... AND she gets a haircut that makes her hair look like less of a disaster area!
Strengths: This is the first book in a five book series, and will be very popular with girls who like The Cupcake Diaries and the Candy Apple books. I have to admit that this sort of thing is what I like to read best.
Weaknesses: Only available in paperback or prebind. Not great literature, but I thought it was a fairly realistic portrayal of having a difficult experience settling in to middle school.

The Longest Fall

Krinsky, Lee. The Longest Fall.

1 April 2009, iUniverse

Julian, John, and other members of the Atlantic cross country team are under a lot of pressure from their legendary coach (who has coached for a very long time) to be as great as his other teams. While they do fairly well, they all have their own personal issues to deal with. When Julian is killed in a car crash, John, who is the most promising runner, falls apart. He starts drinking, missing runs, and generally wallowing in his grief instead of concentrating on running, as Julian had done. Eventually, John realizes that Julian would want his to try to win the championship, and steps up to help his teammates win in Julian's honor.

Strengths: Fabulous cover and title. This review is so brief because I checked out the book to one of my runners on the first day-- he was going to wait, but when he saw this, wanted it immediately. Lots of good descriptions of the areas where the team runs, the weather (which I realized is crucial to a cross country book!), and running.

Weaknesses: While some of the writing is really good and descriptive, some is very flat. I never connected with any of the children, and John's grief was never palpable. This is based on the author's own high school experience, so I expected something more gut wrenchingly effective.

Loughead, Deb. Just Run.

1 September 2011, James Lorimer and Company

Daisy loves to run track, but her everyday life keeps getting in the way. Her father has lost his job and spends all day on the computer. Her mother is working double shifts as a nurse, so Daisy has to take care of her younger brother after school. She wants to focus on getting her relay team ready for the city championship meet, but the boys' team is a victim of sabotage, and she starts to think that some of the girls' team might be responsible. When Daisy finds out that her father is doing a lot of online gambling, and she sees her mother having coffee with another man, she worries that her family is falling apart. Can Daisy figure out what's going on with the team, and put aside her worries about her family long enough to run a good race?
Strengths: Canada puts out a lot of good high interest/low level books about sports, and this is another one. It did not feel as Canadian as other titles (such as Swan's Mud Run), and I think it will appeal to many of my readers. I love how the cover say Track &Field right at the top.

Weaknesses: Again, I'd love this to be a bigger book with larger print and more white space. Good cover photo, though, whic really helps.

Our cross country team runs its first race today at an invitational at Mt. Vernon! Wish us luck! So far, we have 48 students out for the team, which is just about capacity!

Guy Friday-- Alex Van Helsing

Henderson, Jason. Alex Van Helsing: The Triumph of Death
24 July 2012, Harper Collins
Reviewed at Young Adult Books Central

Still reeling from finding out that his mother is a witch, Alex is on his way back to school from studying different creatures in Italy when the plane he is on is attacked by zombie vampires! Luckily, he keeps his wits about him and survives his plummet to earth with a parachute, but the training computer is stolen. No time to worry about that-- the town of Secheron is dark at noon, and the skeleton painted vampires are awaiting the arrival of Claire, the vampire queen. Sangster is on hand to help Alex, and the arrival of Astrid, a new student from the Netherlands at the school helps. She is a witch and representative of Hexen, and her spell manages to shut Claire down. Research finds that the vampires are recreating a Bruegel painting called The Triumph of Death, and Claire has sent Alex a message that he has about a week before this comes to pass. Astrid and Alex travel to see the painting and uncover more mysteries, which lead them to Harrow, England to try to find the body of Claire and Lord Byron's daughter. When the coffin turns up empty, they end up on an island off of Scotland, where they find out lots of things about Alex's past, solve the mystery of Byron's daughter, fend off Claire, and leave the door open for (hooray!) yet another adventure!
Strengths: John Wilson said it best: things have to blow up in the first chapter, and Mr. Henderson never forgets this. So many strengths in his writing-- good action, lots of travel to exotic places, a tiny bit of romance, good friends, supportive but not intrusive adults, and in this case, a fairly thought provoking mystery. Excellent stuff. This series is a must have for my middle schoolers who love the Cirque du Freak series.
Weaknesses: While I love all of the literary references, this is the one part of the book that my readers have trouble with. High schoolers probably have fewer problems with it.


Moskovitz, Hannah. Zombie Tag.

20 December 2011. Roaring Brook Press

There's nothing Wil likes more than a rousing game of Zombie Tag with his friends. They run around with spatulas, pretending to bite each other and to hunger after brains. Everyone's parents are uncomfortable with this, given the Unfortunate Incident with zombies thirty odd years ago, but Wil's parents are expecially concerned because the entire family is still reeling from the death of Wil's older brother, Graham, from an asthma attack. When Wil finds out that one of his friend's fathers has a bell that will bring back all the dead within a five mile radius, he steals it, rings it, and brings back 70 people, including Graham. Graham doesn't want to chase people and eat their brains, but there's not much else he is interested in doing, either. Wil wants the old Graham back, but zombie Graham is too detached and morose. Most of the other zombies feel the same way and are trying to find a way to return to being dead. Wil uncovers a lot of startling information about zombies, but is never able to find anything to restore Wil to the way he was.
Strengths: The first chapter, with the zombie tag game, gave me great hope. The cover is good as well.
Weaknesses: Most boys who want to read about zombies don't really want to read about a boy pining for his brother and dealing with a clinically depressed zombie. They want blood and guts and body parts dropping off, which this lacks. (Think Kloepfer's Zombie Chasers.) This one is the sort of zombie book that could be considered for a Newbery Award.

Since You Left Me

Zadoff, Allen. Since You Left Me.
28 August 2012 (E-ARC from Netgalley.com)
Reviewed at Young Adult Books Central.

Sanskrit's family is a mess, and it all hits the fan when his flighty mother doesn't show up for a required parent-professor conference at Brentwood Jewish Academy. The family is already running afoul of the school; Sanskrit's divorced parents are not involved enough, and Sanskrit himself doesn't believe in God, much less in the tenants of the Jewish faith. His friend Herschel, who became very religious after a school trip to Israel, tries to keep him from completely blowing things, but can't stop Sanskrit from telling the administration, in a moment of desperation, that his mother has been in a car accident and is in the hospital in a neighboring community, in very bad health. While the Jewish community rallies around them, Sanskrit tries to keep the rest of his life from spiraling out of control. His father is too disorganized to really have much impact on the lives of Sanskrit and his sister, Sweet Caroline, and his yoga teacher mother is more concerned with her own spiritual journey than feeding her children, especially when a guru she has met on line comes from India to meet her. Sanskrit begins to realize how angry he is with the inattention from his mother, questions his beliefs even more, and works out old problems with his best friend in the second grade whom he loved, and by whom he felt dumped at a critical point in his life.
Strengths: I love Zadoff's writing. His Food, Girls and Other Things I Can't Have is very popular in my library. He's sort of like Sonnenblick on the sad parts, but not quite as funny. Very engaging, and his books are rich with details. Reminded me a bit of Paul Zindel's The Amazing and Death Defying Diary of Eugene Dingman, for no particularly good reason.
Weaknesses: Several details make this inappropriate for middle school. It is more introspective and will appeal more to high school students anyway, but there are several scenes where the guru is caught in flagrante with another woman, and Herschel's religious conversion is the result of an indiscretion his freshman year that ended up with his girlfriend getting pregnant and having an abortion.

And appropriately enough, today is the day I take my elder daughter to Kent State to study nursing. Feel free to hum another round of Sunrise, Sunset.

The Wild Queen

Meyer, Carolyn. The Wild Queen: The Days and Nights of Mary, Queen of Scots.
19 June 2012

Since Mary's father, King James V of Scotland, died when she was six days old (reportedly of a broken heart because she was a girl!), all she can remember is being queen. Her mother, who was French, decides that Mary should marry the French dauphin, Francois, and Mary is sent to France to be raised with the young heir apparent. She sees much of life in the court, and knows from a young age that political motives are more important than personal ones in her world. She is fond of Francois, and perfectly happy to marry him, although she begins to realize that not even being queen of France may help her to retain her rule of Scotland, since Elizabeth I is against her. Eventually, Mary and Francois marry, but because he is sickly, they do not have a child, and the dauphin dies while still young. Mary decides that the best thing to do is to return to Scotland and try to regain her kingdom. She enters into a disastrous marriage with Henry Stuart, whom she loves at first, but who is too fond of power and is eventually killed. She has a son by him, James. In addition to being under constant threat of attack by England, Mary is also struggling to keep the protestant John Knox from asserting too much influence on the Scottish people and having her removed. She is forced into marriage with the older Lord Bothwell, hoping that he could help her retain the throne, but even his help could not keep her from being imprisoned  by those who wanted her fourteen-month-old son to take the throne, and eventually beheaded.
Strengths: Even at 420 pages, the rich historical details and event filled life of this ill-fated queen kept me reading. It's hard to explain how good Meyer's Young Royals books are-- they are filled with historical facts and events, but these are all set against how the young girl feels about them, so they are very interesting as well. Mary certainly had quite a frenetic life!
Weaknesses: Being true to the historical setting and events, there is a fair amount of violence in this, as well as mentions of sex. Nothing graphic, but there is a lot of talk about Mary being a virgin even after being married to Francois for a while, and her third husband forces himself upon her to convince her to marry him. Still, Meyer does an excellent job at couching her language in vague terms; my favorite being "I knew at last the transports of love." (page 290) Sixth graders might have some questions; older students will guess whats going on, but I might give this a skip for elementary school.

What are the Cybils, and why do I care?

Just in case you are a little unsure about what the Cybils awards are and how they work, here is a brief refresher. The Children's and Young Adult Bloggers' Literary Awards have been around since 2006 (a good year-- I started blogging then!), and strives for a balance between literary excellence and appeal to actual children and young adults. I've been a big fan.

I'm the Middle Grade Fiction organizer this year, so I will find out how that works as we go along. I have spent the past two years as a first round judge, in Middle Grade Science Fiction and Fantasy in 2012, and in Middle Grade Fiction last year. Being a first round judge means reading about 150 middle grade books and deciding with the other five judges which seven or so should go on to the next round. I know that both groups I was in tried for some variety in our finalists-- some boy books, a little multicultural, not all history, etc., but mainly, the books stood on their own merits. The deadline for this is usually about 1 January. Then, the round two judges have more discussions, hopefully without bloodshed, and give one book the award, which is announced on Valentine's Day.

There are a TON of people who have volunteered to be judges, which is great. That said, I can only pick 11 people. Deciding will be hard! I will be a first round judge. It felt weird to be an organizer and not have any say. I could have applied for nonfiction (which had been my plan), but I wanted to make sure I read all the middle grade fiction books.

Make sense? Great. Now I'm off to wrestle with Renaissance Place. We just got online Accelerated Reader testing, so the teachers and I know how nothing works. I'm glad for the students that we have access to more tests, but I've never been wild about AR, so resent the huge amount of work it's taken to get the system up and running. Ah, the joys of being old and bitter.

See Cybils Judging Info at http://www.cybils.com/judging-info.html

See Cybils facts at http://www.cybils.com/basic-contest-info.html.

Time Slip Tuesday

Pilkey, Dav. Captain Underpants and the Terrifying Return of Tippy Tinkletrousers: Captain Underpants #9
28 August 2012, Scholastic, Inc.
Reviewed at Young Adults Books Central

At the end of Captain Underpants And The Preposterous Plight Of The Purple Potty People (2006), Mr. Krupp (aka Capt. Underpants) was imprisoned for robbing a bank, and George and Harold were in the Piqua Juvenile Detention Center for the same crime. We find, however, that thiswas supposed to happen but did not. When Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) invented a time machine, his interference changed the course of world events. To understand how this happened, we see Tippy create his giant robotic pants and free all three of our protagonists before fleeing to the past to avoid destrution. We then go back even further to when Harold and George started kindergarten. They had to deal with Mr. Krupp's evil nephew, Kipper, who with his gang was bullying kindergartners, taking their money and giving them wedgies. George and Harold deal with this in extremely clever and funny ways (I'll have to check now to make sure no one has replaced my deodorant with jalapeno cream cheese!), culminating in  a terrifyingly effective plot involving haunted lockers and a power outage that would have ended well... if Tippy Tinkletrousers and his giant robotic pants didn't come from the future and result in Mr. Krupp being dismissed from being principal, and thus never becoming Captain Underpants. Tippy is faced with the horrible understanding that in order to save the world from a horrific fate, he must save Captain Underpants! Is it too late? We'll have to wait until 15 January 2013 and read Captain Underpants and the Revolting Revenge of the Radioactive Robo-Boxers to find out! As always, Pilkey's writing and illustrations are full of laugh-out-loud, goofy episodes that can't be considered great literature but do include awesome Flip-o-Rama scenes. 

THere's one problem-- the first book was published in 1997, and assuming the book takes place contemporaneously, this would put George and Harold in kindergarten in about 1992. Cell phones that text and take video would not have been available to many elementary school students at that point in time, but they are depicted as being widely used. Hmmm. 

Levy, Joanne. Small Medium at Large.
3 July 2012, Bloomsbury

At her mother's wedding, Delilah is struck by lightning. When she wakes up in the hospital, she can hear the voice of her father's mother, Bubby Dora. The problem? Bubby has been dead for four years. Lilah is very concerned about starting junior high and has a huge crush on Andrew, but her grandmother is more concerned with getting Lilah's father back into the dating scene. Lilah soon finds out that other dead people beside her grandmother can talk to her, and she encourages her music teacher, at the behest of his dead girlfirend, to get his band back together, and is able to give Andrew some messages from his father. All of Lilah's friends believe in her powers, but she doesn't tell her father about Bubby. Her father gets back into dating (he likes Andrew's mother best-- not awkward at all), Lilah survives school, and things go fairly well despite Lilah's new powers. Feels like there could be a sequel.
Strengths: Love the title, and the cover is good. There has been a resurgence in girls asking for magical realism books, and this fits that bill. A pleasant, light read. 
Weaknesses: I have a strong, personal revulsion for books that talk about the "trauma" getting ones first bra, or period, or shaving one's legs. I always have, even when I was eleven. I don't really ask my readers if they like this or not, because again, awkward. Really? Lilah's mother wouldn't have gotten her a bra before the wedding? She has to go shopping with her dad (and her dead grandmother)? Oh, well. Maybe the girls like it. They like Lauren Myracle. 

Middle Grade Monday

Kimmel, Eric A. Hiss-s-s-s
1 August 2012, Holiday House (ARC)
Reviewed at Young Adults Books Central.

Omar would very much like a snake. He has read all sorts of information about them and knows just how to take care of one, from feeding to the habitat the snake will need. The only problem-- his mother is very afraid of snakes and she doesn't want one in the house. Omar's father is okay with the idea, as long as Omar will be responsible for the snake. Omar is. He finds a friend of a friend who parts with all the equipment that he needs for $5. He finds a reputable snake breeder and educates himself on what to look for in a healthy snake. He has a little trouble with food sources, and that becomes a moment of contention when he first brings Arrow home. If his mom freaks out about him thawing out a frozen baby mouse in a drinking glass, how will she react when she finds out that Arrow has gotten out of his habitat and is loose in the house. As it happens, not well, but after a family emergency precipitated by Arrow's wanderings, Omar's mother realizes that Arrow is safe and it is her own fears that she needs to conquer.
Strengths: Excellent way to incorporate a multicultural character without having the book be about the multiculturalism. Omar's father is from Pakistan and his mother is from Lebanaon. Details from their cultures add interesting dimension to a simple story about a boy wanting a pet.
Weaknesses: I have a paper ARC, and the print is very tiny and the cover is not especially appealing. I am hoping, since I can't find an image of the cover online anywhere, that perhaps a better cover is in the works. I am not sure how appealing this title will be to middle schoolers, who have usually moved beyond the desperate need for pets, but certainly a lot of third graders would use this to try to convince their parents to let them get a snake!

West, Jacqueline. The Books of Elsewhere: The Second Spy
5 July 2012, Dial
Reviewed at Young Adult Books Central

Olive is still VERY wary of her house, and concerned that the evil Annabel will return. She has a system of keeping the house safe from the McMartin influence with the help of her cats, and Morton helps from inside the pictures, but she is still stressed, especially since she also is starting junior high and finds out that her one friend, Rutherford, may be moving to Europe. When a huge hole appears in the back year, and the secret recipes for the paint that allows the pictures to come to life surface, Olive springs in to action to find out who is plotting to get into the house. Rutherford's grandmother has a protective spell on the house, but someone has gotten inside. The only person invited into her house was... her new art teacher. Is she working with Annabel? Will Morton ever be happy in Elsewhere? Are the cats turning against her? Can Olive survive middle school?
Strengths: This is a fantastic magical realism book, and I checked out both copies of The Shadows on the first day of school to 6th graders who seem to be enjoying it. The cover and interior art are good, and the story moves along at a nice clip. Great stuff.
Weaknesses: Think this is not the last book. I don't have as much patience with series of more than three books, so I was kind of hoping that Olive's story would wrap up and we'd see something new from Ms. West. I was kind of hoping that Rutherford would go to a fancy school in Europe and have adventures there!

It's Monday, so visit Marvelous Middle Grade Monday at Ramblings of a Wannabe Scribe and What Are You Reading at Teach Mentor Texts.

And.... hop over to the Cybils web site, where you will see that the 2012 Middle Grade Fiction organizer is Karen, who is.... ME!

Stressing out a little right now, but once I get all of the paperwork done, I'm sure it will be a fabulous experience! You have got to adore an organization that has an Overlord instead of an organizer or something else.

Nonfiction Monday-- Invicible Microbes

Murphy, Jim. Invincible Microbe: Tuberculosis and the Never-Ending Search for a Cure
10 July 2012, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Also reviewed at Young Adult Books Central

As a teacher, one of the things I have to do to keep my certification current is to make sure I don't have tuberculosis. In the back of my mind, I always thought this was a tiny bit silly, until I remember that in 1972, the art teacher in my elementary school was diagnosed with TB and the ENTIRE school population had to stand in line to get a tine test, around which the nurse drew a bunny rabbit that was not supposed to be washed off. I also knew from literature like Montgomery and Alcott that "consumption" was a problem in the 1800s. Little did I know the vast history of the disease that Murphy ably shares in this book, which I enjoyed and quoted vast sections of to my long suffering (remaining) children.

Crowded living conditions and poverty have always played a role in the spread of tuberculosis, but in the early days of the disease, its cause was not known, and the methods of treatment caused the sufferers to get worse rather than better. The industrial revolution added more cases due to crowded living conditions in tenements. Around the turn of the century, spurious research indicated that mountain air was a cure, and many sanitariums were built. The success of these was due mainly to the fact that people's health in general was improved by diet, fresh air, and exercise, NOT by the mountain air. Science came up with a vaccine, and more knowledge curtailed the spread of the disease, so many of these institutions were closed down in the 1960s, but there are recurrences from time to time, such as the one in the early 1990s when Multidrug Resistant strains started to appear.

March 24 is Tuberculosis Awareness Day.

Nonfiction Monday is hosted this week at
Jean Little Library

by the amazing Jennifer!

Princess Academy: Palace of Stone

Hale, Shannon. Princess Academy: Palace of Stone
21 August 2012, Bloomsbury USA, ARC from Baker and Taylor
Reviewed at Young Adult Books Central

This sequel to Princess Academy (2007) shows Miri waiting for the traders to take her away from Eskel to stay with Britta in Aslan and study at the Queen's Acadmey. While Miri doesn't want to leave her father and sister, much less her mountain home, she desperately wants to learn. She convinces Peder's father to let him come to the city as well, and apprentice himself to a stone cutter. Miri is glad to be reunited with several of the girls from the Princess Academy, and is glad that Britta will soon be marrying Stefan. It's hard to adjust to living in the palace, but Miri soon meets Timon, another scholar, and he helps her understand life in the city. He also introduces her to Lady Sisela, who is running a group who are oppsed to Britta marrying Stefan, since the prophecy stated that he should marry someone from Mount Eskel and she merely pretended to be because she was already in love with him. Politically, Aslan is in great turmoil, and Miri gets caught between two causes: supporting Britta, whom she really believes should help rule the country, and Lady Sisela's group, which is fighting against the injustice of the crippling tributes that the king is imposing upon the working class. She is also torn between Peder and Timon, both of whom she likes. When Sisela's group puts Britta and the entire royal family in grave danger, Miri must use all of the skills and knowledge she has acquired to make all sides of the issue happy without war occurring.
Strengths: While Princess Academy left me kind of cold, I really liked the sequel! The politics of the less fortunate are finely drawn, and Mirir's personal involvement made me interested. The life in court was intriguing, and the world building was top notch. The updated covers are also a great improvement.
Weaknesses: Since this is a sequel, I'll have to push the first book before readers will be able to understand this one fully.

Saturday Morning Cartoons-- Funky Winkerbean

Batiuk, Tom. The Complete Funky Winkerbean, Volume I, 1972-1974.


I was a hall monitor. Because I was a good student, I got the most out of the way post-- third floor past the cafeteria, third floor at the top of the stairs by Mr. Morlock's room. I was always kind of sad, however, that I didn't have a machine gun mounted on my desk, the way that Les Moore did. In recent years, Funky has become much less funny and more Mary Worth-like, but I still read it because, well, I guess the whole gang was kind of like the cool, older kids. Plus, rumor has it that Mr. Dinkle was based on the band director at my high school!

It was great to be able to revisit the original strips and find out more about their genesis. Batiuk went to Kent, where my daughter will be living in just a few days! I don't know that middle school students would understand all of the strips-- there are some political items, some outdated technology, etc., but they are still FUNNY strips. Plus, I love how well the clothing and hair of the time is captured. Yeah, Les and his daughter climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro recently, but it was more fun to read about Les and Funky in high school. *Sigh*

Lookee!

Had interesting first day of school. When I announced at the faculty meeting that I was going to have "Be your own super hero" as my slogan this year, I did not mean to imply I had ACTUAL super powers. But apparently I do. The study hall with 80 6th graders was... invigorating.

When I got home, I had an ENORMOUS box of Goodness from MG at Young Adults Books Central. What a nice thing to have when I got home! I'm especially looking forward to Couglin's One Shot Away, and am interested in the R.L. Salvatore YA books.

A mini reading marathon might be in order this weekend. Who needs groceries and clean clothes, right?

And... the Cybils are taking applications for volunteers for 2012. They are due by August 31, so hop over if you want to be part of this awesome experience!

Guy Friday-- Ungifted

Korman, Gordon. Ungifted.
21 August 2012, Balzar & Bray (ARC from Baker and Taylor)
Reviewed at Young Adults Book Central

Donovan is one of those kids with no impulse control. Hitting the statue of Atlas with a branch wouldn't have been that bad of an idea... if the one bolt holding the world on Atlas' shoulders hadn't given way, sending the 400 pound globe careening right through the glass doors of the gym and into the middle of a basketball game. While the superintendent is there. Donovan is used to being in trouble, so cooperates when the superintendent writes down his name, and waits for the fateful call that gets him in major trouble. It never comes, and a series of mistakes lands Donovan instead at the Academy for Scholastic Distinction, an able and talented magnet school that is far nicer than the regular middle school he had been attending. Realizing that this is the best place to avoid detection, Donovan tries to keep up with the school work, but it's hard. Even his classmates know that he's not gifted in the traditional academic success, although he brings a new view point to their projects. He names the robot they are building for a competition, and has sophisticated joy stick skills the others lack. When the students need credits for Human Growth and Development or face summer school, Donovan talks his heavily pregnant sister into being their "hands on experience". He introduces Noah, the class genius who is not interested in anything, to YouTube, which finally engages him in his classes. The teachers compare notes, however, and are not fooled. Donovan has to take the online, secure test again, and knows that he can't pass it. When he gets unauthorized help from an unknown classmate, he does, and is able to stay at the academy and compete in the robotics competition. But Donovan still struggles with impulse control, and his antics cause just as much hilarity as problems for him.
Strengths: Middle school students are often just like Donovan; they are not bad kids, but they make poor decisions. Korman is great at portraying these students to excellent effect. Even though Donovan feels out of place socially and academically, his resilience and ingenuity are heartening as well as fun to watch. An abundance of laugh-out-loud lines and comical situations makes this book about fitting in and working hard one that students will enjoy tremendously.
Weaknesses: The gifted students span the range of stereotypes-- skinny Noah, who is a math genius; awkward, lumber jack shirted Chloe, who has a small crush on Donovan; driven Abigail, who refuses to get anything lower than an A+. While these stereotypes are based in a lot of truth, it would have been interesting if Donovan had met a gifted student who had less impulse control than he did!

Apparently, this book has been optioned for a FILM! I'll definitely go see that one! Do worry a little about the depiction of the gifted students, but seeing the school would be awesome!

The Amazing Adventures of John Smith, Jr. AKA Houdini

Johnson, Peter. The Amazing Adventures of John Smith, Jr. AKA Houdini
24 January 2012, HarperCollins

It's annoying having such a common name and being an average guy, which is why John doesn't mind that his friends call him Houdini, even if people like bully Angel call him Weenie. Houdini's family situation is a little precarious-- his mother works at the dry cleaning store that Angel's mother runs, his father is afraid of lay offs, and his older brother Franklin is stationed in Iraq. When an author comes to his school, Houdini decides to write a book about himself so he can earn money for his family. He chronicles his problems with Angel, his work in the neighborhood raking leaves, his encounters with Old Man Jackson, a "scary" Vietnam vet whom local entrepreneur Gregory Gregory is trying to evict, and his families struggles when Franklin is missing in action.
Strengths: I  liked Houdini, and this is a great book for middle school boys in many ways. Short length, good cover, realistic supporting characters, good sense of community, very nice. I wish I had put it in my book order yesterday! Bonus: the Accelerated Reader level is 5.7; of course, now no one in my school can read anything under 6.0. Look at an AR book list sometime. It's War and Peace for everyone! Sigh.
Weaknesses: I didn't like the construct of Houdini writing a book. His inclusion of various lists and discussion of what makes a good book slowed the story down and gave this a weird 1970s feel.

Kizzy Ann Stamps

Watts, Jeri. Kizzy Ann Stamps.
14 August 2012, Candlewick Press (ARC from Netgalley.com)

In 1963, Kizzy is very concerned about starting a new school in the fall, especially since her class is being transferred to a predominately white school. Her teacher, Miss Anderson, has the children write letters to her to ease this transition, and since Kizzy loves to write, she sends huge epistles about her dog, Shag, how she got the sizable scar on her face, her difficult relationship with neighbor and schoolmate Frank, and her older brother's growing dissatisfaction with the lot of blacks during this time. Once school starts, Kizzy keeps a journal that Miss Anderson reads from time to time. Shag is a border collie, and Kizzy would very much like to train him for AKC competition, but it is hard to find books on the topic. The librarian puts her in contact with a Scottish man who helps train him. While this is going on, Kizzy also writes about the challenges of being in a white school, including an episode where she wins the school spelling bee but is prevented from competing on the next level because she is black. Problems also arise when she tries to show Shag, but things are changing slowly, and Kizzy hopes that she will be able to have more opportunities to shine in the future.
Strengths: It is great to have a book set during this time about a black student rather than a white one. The range of experiences that Kizzy has sheds a lot of light on the treatment of blacks at this time, and the inclusion of her interest in dogs will give this a wider audience.
Weaknesses: The letter and journal format of this book made it less effective for me. It made the plot difficult to discern because of the anecdotal quality of Kizzy's narration and seemed oddly omniscient for a first person narrator. What I really wanted to know more about was Kizzy's brother's experience. A book about an increasingly unhappy black teenage boy during this time would be great.

Library Notes: The students have their first day today! I was thrilled that both my Follett and Baker and Taylor orders came in early enough that I could process the books. All of the 6th graders will be in today-- I have parent back up and have put as many new books up around the library as I can, including tables full of different genres. Hopefully this will make it slightly easier for kids to grab and go!

False Memory

Krokos, Dan. False Memory.
14 August 2012, Hyperion (ARC from Baker and Taylor)

Miranda finds herself in a mall in Cleveland with her name being her only memory. She asks a security guard for help, but he thinks she's just causing him problems. She gets angry and releases a power that causes a huge panic... and results in the death of several people. She is rescued by Peter, who claims he knows her and that she will continue to incapacitate people unless they get her back on her "memory shots". It turns out that she is in a group of four young people who all have this power to send out brain waves that make people panic. They have been under the care of Dr. Tycast in a hidden lab, and when they return there, Miranda gets a few memories back, especially about Noah, whom she liked but who helped her escape. There is a greater conspiracy going on-- Dr. Tycast's superiors want to take the four children and use them to incite panic in large cities so that they can gain control. Once they figure out that they are not the only ones with these powers, that there are clones of them running around, Peter, Noah, Miranda and Olive decide that they must escape so they are not used for evil-- yet they need the "memory shots" or will lose all of their memory. With the help of Rhys, they learn many secrets about themselves and get settled in a new life... but for how long? There feels like there may be a sequel.
Strengths: There is lots of action in this, and the premise is fresh. The characters are engaging, and I kept reading because I really wanted to find out what was happening with Miranda.
Weaknesses: This is a very violent book. Obviously, the children are being trained to be assassins. While this bothered me, my students will probably love it. This isn't quite dystopia, but it is science fiction in a contemporary setting with dystopian elements, so it will circulate well.