OMG!!!! Major Squee-age!

The Sea of Monsters is being made into a movie! It comes out in August!! 

I know that the first one wasn't particularly true to the book, but it was good on its own as a movie. I am looking forward to this one, even though Anthony Head is replacing Pierce Brosnan as Chiron.

Mostly, I am happy because Rick Riordan is an AWESOME writer and person and deserves every good thing that happens to him. Here's my quote of the day from him:  “I still kind of feel like I’m a teacher,” he says. “I just have several million students in my classroom.”

Middle Grade Monday -- Dumpling Days

Lin, Grace. Dumpling Days.
2 January 2012, Little, Brown
Nominated for the Cybils by Jama Rattigan

Pacy Lin sets off with her family to Taiwan for an entire month. Her grandmother is turning 60, a very lucky birthday, so the family goes to stay. Her mother and father are glad to be back home, but Pacy feels out of place and would rather be back in the US. She looks Taiwanese, but she doesn't speak the language, and everything seems odd and uncomfortable to her. She does enjoy the food, and manages to eat dumplings at almost every meal. She is enrolled in a traditional painting class, but her usual artistic ability deserts her, and she has a lot of trouble. It doesn't help that there is another girl in the class who gives her a hard time for not embracing traditional Asian values. The family travels a bit to visit more relatives and sees a lot of Taiwan. In the end, Pacy is glad to have visited and is sad when she has to return. Sequel to The Year of the Dog(2005) and The Year of the Rat (2008).
Strengths: This has got to be the best travel book I've see for a while-- such detail about Taiwan! This also doesn't seem as young as the other titles in this series. I'm tempted to buy this one, since it stands alone well.
Weaknesses: While I understand Pacy's use of "American", and the use of this phrase in Taiwan, we have enough students who heritage is from SOUTH America that I try to refer to "US" culture instead of "American" culture, so that bugged me a little.

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 grader. It's also Nonfiction Monday, hosted this week at Booktalking.

I have been reading so many fiction books for the Cybils that I don't have a Nonfiction Monday title today, but Dumpling Days absolutely begs to be pared with something like Abdo's Cool Chinese and Japanese Cooking by Lisa Wagner. I see that Lerner has updated Cooking the Chinese way revised and expanded to include new low-fat and vegetarian recipes by Ling Yu, as well.

That said, as much as I love Abdo and Daughters, I'm half tempted to boycott them because of the new Disney Princess Chapter Books. Looking through the Christmas ads this weekend, I noticed that even though my daughter is nearly 20 and SHE wore blue overalls and red shirts and had a work bench with tools AND a kitchen set and my son had a doll named Bob, the ads are still showing pink glittery dolls for boys and aggressive weaponry for boys. Sigh. I always feel a bit odd and hypocritical recommending books for boys, so maybe I'm weirdly hypersensitive to this.

Latasha and the Little Red Tornado

Scotto, Michael. Latasha and the Little Red Tornado
15 November 2011, Midlandia Press
Nominated for the Cybils by Andi Sibley

***SPOILER ALERT***Latasha and her mother live upstairs from their elderly landlady, Mrs. Okocho, who very kindly watches Latasha when her mother has to work. Her mother is a nurses' aide, and gets a new job, which means she is gone until 7:30 at night. This is a problem, because Latasha's dog, Ella, is still young and rambunctious, racing around the apartment and making a fair amount of noise... right on top of Mrs. Okocho's apartment! Latasha tries to train Ella, and finally comes up with a good plan. While she is not allowed to go to the park by herself (since she is 8), she may go with a neighbor boy, Ricky, and they can help Ella expend some of her energy. Latasha has other things to worry about-- she tries to help her mother around the house, and there is a reading competition at school that she's excited about. When she and Ricky have a fight, Latasha takes Ella to the park by herself, with disastrous consequences. Things work out in the end, and Latasha makes great strides in being more independent and responsible.
Strengths: This book was engaging and moved along at a good pace. The dynamics between Latasha, her mother, and Mrs. Okocho were realistic and interesting. This was a great dog story and included a lot of helpful information for dealing with dogs.
Weaknesses: I wish that Latasha had been 11 or 12. She wants her independence, but children can't really be left alone at the age of 8, and I wouldn't even have allowed mine to go to the park alone. The tension would have been understandable if Latasha were older. Also, Ella losing a leg might be too much for 8 year olds, although Ella recovers very nicely.

Most school libraries will have any number of books about dog care or training, so it is very easy to find a nonfiction title to go along with this book!

Ten Good and Bad Things About My Life

Martin, Ann M. Ten Good and Bad Things About My Life.
2 October 2012, Feiwel and Friends
Nominated for the Cybils by Jennifer P.

In this sequel to Ten Rules for Living With My Sister, Pearl Littlefield has to write an essay on her summer for fifth grade, but it's complicated. Her father has lost his job as a professor, which has made life difficult for her family. The family vacation out west has been canceled, the family sells their car, takes the subway to bargain stores, and has cut back on just about everything. Her author mother is working all the time. Pearl and her sister both get to go to summer camp, but Lexie takes a job as a Counselor in Training to help pay for her tuition... and ends up with Pearl's group. Camp is fraught with the same social perils as school, and Pearl manages to get on the bad side of her best friend, JBIII, which makes things even worse. When the girls return home for the rest of the summer, Lexie gets several jobs to help out the family, but Pearl feels she has no skills... until she makes up with JMIII and the two come up with a business plan. In the end, Pearl decides that while the summer wasn't perfect, there were still some things to recommend it.
Strengths: This is a good, realistic series for older elementary school students. The sense of place (New York City) and characters are strong, and the depiction of a family struggling with unemployment is one that will resonate with many students.
Weaknesses: Something about this book made me want to see some more character development, which is not something I am usually looking for. Pearl is kind of annoying throughout, and I never felt that she really got the larger implications of what her family was going through. Again, not usually something I worry about, since students never come to me and say "There was a lot of action, but I didn't feel that the characters really grew at all." Maybe this was just for a younger audience than I am used to. I enjoyed the book, but was left wanting something.

Stewart, Sheila. When My Dad Lost His Job
1 September 2010, Mason Crest Publishers

 "Includes bibliographical references (p. 45-46) and index. Contains a fictional story in which a young girl describes how she was affected by her father losing his job; and includes information and guided counseling facts and exercises aimed at helping readers cope with a similar situation."

Guy Friday-- The Universe of Fair

Burton, Leslie. The Universe of Fair.
Peachtree, 1 August 2012.
Nominated for the Cybils by Deborah Freedman

Miller is looking forward to Fair Friday, which is a huge deal in his east coast town. He's saved up his money and is hoping that his parents will let him wander about a bit with just his friend Lewis. When the day of the fair arrives, however, there is disappointment after disappointment. He has accidentally served his father's pie entry to his little sister and her friends, so there are only two slices left for him to deliver. The mother who is supposed to watch him, his six year old sister Penny and her two friends is at home with a migraine, and his mother has to work the entire day, so his dad is pulling double shifts at various charity booths. Undaunted, Miller sets off for the fair with the three youngsters in tow, buys them ride bands, and tries his best to both enjoy himself and take care of the children. Lewis is somewhat helpful (and is also documenting everything with his video camera), but things go awry-- children and fair entries go missing, there are possibly ghosts on the loose, and the frenetic pace of trying to enjoy the fair but also be responsible.
Strengths: Miller is just the age (sixth grade) when children start wanting independence, so his struggles are very realistic. There is some suspense and a good deal of humor. Pacing is good, and the characters are engaging.
Weaknesses: The pictures strike me as making the book look a bit young, and this could have been better with more action.

Found this historical artifact in the Language Arts Office. I'm not really removing anything, just organizing, but think this may be able to go: Classroom Practices in Teaching English, 1979-1980: How to Handle the Paper Load by Gene Stanford. One chapter begins "In 1964 I left college a certified English teacher..." Didn't think this would be relevant, but there are still copies available for sale at Amazon!

Okay. I'll give it to the newest language arts teacher. Did find the teachers' manuals for the text books yesterday, and have made some decent progress in removing outdated tech stuff from the library. To be clear-- I am HOARDING typewriters. I use mine every day, and if it goes belly up, that would be bad!

Library Crap Wrangling

There's just no other phrase that really does justice to this portion of my job. I don't know the square footage of my library, but it's a good size. Could fit eight regular classrooms into it. The main part, with all the shelves, tables, and circ desk, is beautifully clean and organized. Even the circ desk. While they didn't build in a desk drawer for pencils, there are plenty of shelves and deeper drawers to keep clutter at a minimum.

Before the library was renovated, there were several back aisles where things could be stored. That's where all the overheads lived. Now, I have one back aisle that the fire marshall thinks is an essential 14th exit from the space, and a back room dominated by a circa 1998 Media Retrieval System that no longer works. No one is using televisions on carts or overheads, and not even three tiered carts, so I have a Significant Storage Problem.

Tomorrow I don't have classes, so I'll only check out about 200 books. My evil plan is to slip into the back of the library and assess overheads and televisions and send them to the great Warehouse in the Sky our district runs. I am also trying to be brave and getting rid of some tape recorders (I still have about 20!), but those will probably go en masse to music teachers.

To my shame, I still have a filmstrip projector, 8 mm projector, opaque projector from 1969 that is so dusty it smells like burning if we use it (even though it has the original turquoise plastic cover!), and a slide projector and three carousels. And, um, four typewriters. 'Cause you never know. Have to provide some amusement for the person who replaces me when I retire in (if all goes well) 2038!

The Legend of Ghost Dog

Kimmel, Elizabeth Cody. Legend of Ghost Dog.
1 November 2012, Scholastic 

Anita moves to a cabin near Nome, Alaska with her brother Jack and her dog Henry because her mother is off in Japan on business and her father is conducting research on human/dog relationships and how they are being destroyed by the snowmobile. Since there aren't many children around, Anita meets the daughter of another researcher, Quin, and the two, though quiet and bookish, take to each other. Anita and Quin also like hiking, but there is something in the woods that is spooking Henry. On one hike, the girls see a dog in the doorway of an abandoned cabin, and know that the dog (whom they call Shadow) is a ghost. When they meet Clay, an older resident who knows a lot about the history of sled dogs in the area, they find out about a family that bred dogs but after several family tragedies, abandons the area, including the cabin. Despite knowing how to be safe when hiking, the girls decide to investigate the cabin when their fathers are off researching, and the three children get caught in a horrible snow storm while they are on the mountain. They take refuge in the cabin but soon begin to get very cold. Shadow rescues them and takes them to the house of an elderly woman who is the daughter of the dog breeders. Shadow is the ghost of her "heart dog", Caspian, who was accused of a horrible role in the family tragedy. Can the girls' investigations shed light on these past events and help the people (and dogs)involved move on?
Strengths: Nice sense of place-- almost want to go hiking in Alaska now! The friendship between the girls is a nice touch, and ghost dogs seem to be a hot new theme. Enough adventure and action.
Weaknesses: Kind of saw how the whole story would play out early on, and didn't quite buy that both girls liked reading Jane Austen. Can't say I've had one student in fifteen years really even read her! 

Happy Halloween! The Lure of the Dead

Happy Halloween! Here's a question for school librarians out there: I deliver a three minute lesson to most of the language arts classes during their weekly visits. I've covered plagiarism, internet safety, genre, book care, the newspaper, blogs, reference resources, and several other topics this year, but want something new and exciting, especially  since I give the same lesson to all three grades. Any ideas for something fun that I can cover in no more than five minutes without an LCD projector?

Delaney, Joseph. The Lure of the Dead. (Last Apprentice #10)
21 August 2012, HarperCollins

Tom Ward and the John Gregory, the Spook, are back after Grimalkin: The Witch Assassin, trying to repair the damage to their house while making sure the Fiend's head stays hidden so he can't come back and give them trouble. Tom finds out that he is essential to doing away with the Fiend permanently; it will just take getting possession of three powerful knives, one of which Alice must retrieve from the dark. The problem? Tom will then be required to sacrifice Alice with the very knife she brings back. He wants to avoid telling anyone this, however, so he and the Spook concentrate on rebuilding their library. They have been given the name of a Romanian woman, Cosmina Fresque, who is willing to sell some of her books in order to fix up the house she inherited. The two travel there and look at the books, finding the dangerous grimoire Doomdryte as well as a book by a former apprentice. But, as it often is in this world, Madame Fresque is not all that she seems, and danger is lurking around every corner. It will take Tom, the Spook, Judd, Alice, Grimalkin and many other characters, alive and dead, from the past to keep the Fiend at bay. And this isn't the last book! Slither's Tale, book eleven, comes out in January of 2013!
Strengths: I do not like violent, gory books, but I love these! In between the action and killing monsters with pikes through their hearts, they are deeply philosophical about the nature of good and evil, and I just can't stop reading them! The relationships are always intriguing-- the Spook and Tom, Tom and Alice, even Alice and his mother, the Lamia-- all have such depth and interest. Then there is always the question of whether the Fiend will escape, and more importantly, will characters go to the Dark. It takes a really good series to hold my attention for ten books and keep me wanting more!
Weaknesses: I don't think book 11 will be the last, and any series over 12 books really tries my patience, even if it is awesome. I do want to see the movie when it comes out, although it's probably too scary for my tastes!

Science Fiction on Tuesday

Grant, Michael and Applegate, Katherine. Eve and Adam
2 October 2012, Feiwel and Friends
ARC from Baker and Taylor

Eve is in a terrible car accident and is transferred from the hospital to her mother's medical lab, Spiker Biopharmeceuticals, to recuperate. There, she meets Solo, who is being raised at the lab after the death of his parents. She also has her friend, Aislin, in to visit a lot. Eve's mother is very controlling and not happy at all about Aislin, who has a drug dealing boyfriend who puts her in danger. To keep her occupied while recuperating, Eve's mother lets her "play" with software that is being developed to engineer a perfect human being. Eve spends a lot of time designing Adam to her specifications, but also gets to know Solo pretty well. When Aislin arrives back at Spiker after her boyfriend has been beaten up by thugs to whom he owes money, Eve's protected world starts to disintegrate. She realizes that she is a product of her mother's experimentation, runs away, and her mother "decants" Adam to lure her back. While the living, breathing Adam is everything that Eve wants in theory, she begins to realize that perfect isn't always what we want. A sequel is planned.
Strengths: I'm usually confused by chapters in alternating voices, but this was well delineated and made sense. I liked the biotechnology element, and this was an amusing and well paced science fiction thriller. The MOST impressive thing was that Picky Reader loved it. Since she also liked Price's Starters and is deep into Cohn's Beta, we decided that she might actually like science fiction. Maybe she'll read the autographed Animorphs book that Ms. Applegate was kind enough to send me for my older children!
Weaknesses: This is more YA, but okay for upper middle grades. There are some jokes and allusions to sex, and "slut" and "bitch" thrown around a bit, but it wasn't too bad. I thought the ending was a bit abrupt, especially since some of the issues could have been worked out in the sequel. I know the mother had to be evil, but it's never my favorite thing.

D'Lacey, Chris and Jay. Rain and Fire: A Companion to the Last Dragon Chronicles.
1 October 2012, Scholastic
Hardcover copy from YABC and reviewed there.

This companion to the series that begins with The Fire Within and goes for seven books is an odd assortment of recaps of the different books, explanations of the mythology used, lists of characters and terms used, and biographical information written by the author's wife about how he came to write the books. This struck me, as The Fire Within did, as a particularly English book, much like the Jacqueline Wilson autobiography/memoir that I brought back from Ireland for Picky Reader. I am not entirely sure that US students want to know this much information about the authors of books, but there has been an odd resurgence in the popularity of these titles in my library, so we'll see. I did find that I need to purchase two more volumes of the series which I have somehow missed, and that I was absolutely correct that the first book is really about squirrels and that the US edition was very wrongly reset in Boston!

Hope that everyone is staying safe and warm-- the worst we have gotten in Ohio is a lot of high winds and some light dusting of snow. Got book fair wrapped up, have the library lesson on the newspaper this week. Feel oddly caught up, although I am sure that that will end quickly!

NB: If you are a language arts teacher and for years have assigned students to create a newspaper based on a book, you might want to think about showing them an actual newspaper first. About 3% of my students admit to reading the paper regularly. 

Middle Grade Monday-- The War in Afghanistan

Ellis, Deborah. Kids of Kabul: Living Bravely Through a Never-Ending War
15 May 2012, Groundwood Books
Hardcover copy from YABC and reviewed there.

Since 2000, Deborah Ellis has spent a lot of time trying to help the children in the war torn country of Afghanistan. Royalty money from her wonderful The Breadwinner goes to the Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan and Street Kids International funds, and she has continued her research into the plight of these children in this new nonfiction book.In short chapters, a number of preteens and teens are interviewed about their lives. Each chapter starts with a bit of information about one facet of life in Afghanistan. Many of the children are fatherless, and some are homeless, but all want to improve their lives by working hard. This is an important message for children in the US, who do not fully understand how fortunate they are to have educational opportunities.
Strengths: Ellis has a very good eye for what interests young people. Our sixth grade students have a unit study of The Breadwinner, and this is an excellent companion volume. In fact, I may start reading one of the stories aloud every day to my study hall students!
Weaknesses: Many of the pictures of the children interviewed head shots; while there are some photos of the places where they live and study, I think it would have been more powerful to get pictures of them where they live. There are a few, but US children don't really have any frame of reference for what things are like in Afghanistan.

Ellis, Deborah. The Breadwinner Trilogy.
25 August 2009, Groundwood Books.

This series is used in our 6th grade language arts classes, and the copies we have of The Breadwinner are from Scholastic. I didn't know that Groundwood put out this collection, but the books are so short that it is nice to see them all together. If, for some reason, you have missed this series, take a look at this collection. From the publisher:
The Breadwinner is set in Afghanistan, where 11-year-old Parvana lives with her family in a bombed-out apartment building in Kabul. When her father is arrested for the crime of having a foreign education, the family is left with no money or resources. Forbidden to earn money as a girl, Parvana must transform herself into a boy and become the breadwinner. In Parvana's Journey, her father has died and the family has scattered. Parvana, now 13 years old, is determined to find them. Again masquerading as a boy, she joins a group of wandering children, all refugees from war, who exist mainly on courage. In Mud City, the focus shifts to 14-year-old Shauzia, who lives in the Widows' Compound in Pakistan and dreams of escaping to a new life in France. 

Ellis, Deborah. My Name is Parvana.
1 September 2012, Groundwood Books
ARC from YA Books Central

Parvana has been taken in by the US military police under suspicion of bombing a school. She refuses to talk to them, even though her English is very good, because she no longer trusts anyone. In flashbacks alternating with the present day, we learn what has happened to Parvana since the events of The Breadwinner. Her mother has been running a school for girls that is under constant threat, her older sister is sent to college in the US, and she has hope for the future that things will get better in her country. The soldiers are not overly cruel, but clearly want to find out what happened to her school, and why Parvana was in the wrong place and the wrong time.
Strengths: It was good to visit with Parvana again, even though her life is still very much affected by the war. She and her mother have been trying to make things better in the only way they know how, and Ellis very ably and touchingly describes their struggle. I always thought that this was a great book for 6th graders to read together, and they actually LIKE the assignment! It's good to see that the book has had a more wide-ranging effect than I knew!
Weaknesses: I found the alternating chapters to be a bit distracting, and thought it made the story harder to follow even though I could see that Ellis was doing this to build more suspense. . Obviously, we need to start with Parvana in custody, but a flashback and more linear trip to the present would make it easier to follow. Small quibble for such a good book.

Sullivan, Mary. Dear Blue Sky.
2 August 2012, Nancy Paulsen Books
Nominated for the Cybils by Amy.

In 2006, Cassie's brother Sef is going to Afghanistan, despite her mother's objections to the war. Cassie's father is all for the fighting, her sister Van is too caught up in her own teenage drama to care much, and her brother Jack doesn't quite understand all of the details of Sef's deployment because he is nine and has Down's Syndrome. When Cassie has a school project to follow a blog about current events, she happens upon one written by an Afghani girl her age who goes by the name Blue Sky. Cassies finds out how bad things are for the people of that country, and starts to realize that the US military is not always thought to be the good guy... or behaving that way. She then worries about her brother's safety AND whether or not he is doing the right thing by being there, as well as worrying about her father's job, her mother's drinking, her parents' relationship, Jack, and the social dynamics of middle school. Of course, all the while, Cassie realizes that while things may be tough in her world, they are even tougher in Blue Sky's Afghanistan.
Strengths: This was very well done both in dealing with how Cassie feel's about everything going on in her life, but also in how Sef's deployment is not black and white. Blue Sky's posts seem very realistic, and the correspondence between Cassie and Blue Sky is thought provoking.
Weaknesses: One of Cassie's classes is studying The Giver, and a lot of references are made to this. While this book is frequently studied in classes, references to it slowed down the story for me and would be confusing to someone who has not read that book.

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 grader. It's also Nonfiction Monday, hosted this week at Practically Paradise.

One Year in Coal Harbor

Horvath, Polly. One Year in Coal Harbor.
11 September 2012, Schawartz and Wade.
Nominated for the Cybils by Lackywanna

Primrose Squarp is back, and so are her parents, after being missing for a while during Everything on a Waffle (2001). She is settling back in with her parents, trying to arrange her Uncle Jack's romance for him, and hanging out with her former foster parents, Bert and Evie, whose dog Quincehead just passed away. Feeling lonely, they agree to take in another foster child, Ked, with whom Primrose gets along famously. When nearby Mendolay Mountain is in danger of being strip mined, the community rallies to try to stop it, and even Miss Bowzer helps the "hippies" who show up to protest. Ked runs into some troubles, and his father comes to get him at one point. In the end, Primrose manages to get everything in her small town squared away to her satisfaction.
Strengths: Even though her parents are back, Primrose is given a lot of freedom, and both the sense of community and place in the book is strong.
Weaknesses: The first book hasn't left the shelf in my library for four years, so I'm wondering about the interest in a sequel. It doesn't help that the cover art on the new book doesn't look anything like the first.

Letters to Leo

Hest, Amy and Julia Denos. Letters to Leo.
27 March 2012, Candlewick
Nominated for the Cybils by Linda Baie

Annie is glad that she has a new puppy, and she's bound and determined that he will be a good dog for her father, who is a bit less than thrilled. Since Annie likes to write a lot, she writes advice, poems, etc. to Leo in order to make sense of her fourth grade year. Her teacher is a little mean (and expecting a baby) and not nearly as nice as her teacher last year, Ms. Meadows, whom she hopes will be interested in her father, since her mother has passed away. Her friend Jean-Marie moves to New Jersey, she gets to meet a famous author, and she is worried that her father is lonely despite her and Leo. Annie makes is through the fourth grade and is ready for a summer at the family's cottage... and a visit from Ms. Meadows.
Strengths: Loved the illustrations of Leo-- super cute! Amy's voice is authentic and her concerns will speak to younger students. This is sort of a modern day B is for Betsy.
Weaknesses: The artifice of writing to the dog wears thin.

Guy Friday-- A Boy and His Dog

DeFelice, Cynthia. Wild Life.
10 May 2011, Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Copy From Scholastic Book Fairs

Just when Erik has gotten his hunting license and is planning an outing with his best friend, his parents (who are in the reserves) are called up for active duty. Their parenting plan is to send Erik to his mother's parents in North Dakota, so before he can blink, Erik is on a plane to stay with Oma and Big Darrell. They live very far out in the country and don't even have a computer or cell phone service! His grandmother is nice, but Big Darrell is gruff and strict. When Erik rescues a dog who was attacked by a porcupine, his grandfather forbids him from keeping it. This probably has something to do with his mother's brother, who died in Vietnam, but Erik is upset enough that he decides to take the dog, whom he names Quill, and live off the land instead of staying with his grandparents. This is not as successful as he thinks it will be, but when he comes home three days later, he finds his grandfather a changed man.
Strengths: Decent survival story that a lot of boys will like. I'll definitely be suggesting this to students at the book fair, which is delivered today!
Weaknesses: The book is set in 2011, Erik is 12, his uncle died 34 years ago when his mother was 14. This math distracted me because it only barely worked. Were soldiers still being killed in Vietnam in 1977? The mother would have been born in 1963 and had Erik at 36-- okay. I liked the survival part but could have done without the grandparents still not being over their son's death.

Key, Watt. Fourmile.
18 September 2012, Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Nominated for the Cybils by DLacks

Foster is still struggling with the death of his father, and is irritated that his mother is dating the volatile and unpleasant Dax. Dax is cruel to his dog Joe, rude to Foster, and controlling with his mother. The farm needs to be sold because they can no longer keep up with the work, and Dax is no help at all. One day, Foster meets Gary, who is walking across the US to get to Texas. He stays the night in the barn and starts to help out around the farm in exchange for being able to sleep in the barn. He won't tell Foster why he is walking to Texas, only that he was in the special forces in Iraq, but he is a huge help with the work around the farm, and also with helping Foster work through his grief about his father. When Foster's mother breaks up with Dax and Dax starts to threaten the family, Gary is an even bigger help. Foster knows that he and his mother will eventually have to move to the city to be with his grandfather, and that Gary will leave, but for a while, he needs to be at Fourmile Farm to work through things.
Strengths: Boys hit a developmental stage about half way through 8th grade when they LOVE to read problem novels. Rottman's Stetson, Alex Flinn's work, anything with boys facing challenges. This was absolutely perfect. Problems, but a ton of suspense, and nothing sappy. It reminded me a lot of Shane, which I still love.  I can see this being a great book to hand to boys who have read Green's Unstoppable, which really is more problems than football. I am definitely ordering this one and checking out Alabama Moon.
Weaknesses: There are some words at the beginning of the book that made me pause (pansy-ass), but these didn't continue. There is the death of a dog and some violence, so I think 5th graders and below would have trouble with this.

Mystery Thursday: The Homemade Stuffing Caper

Madormo, John V. The Homemade Stuffing Caper: Charlie Collier, Snoop for Hire
10 May 2012, Philomel

Charlie is a huge fan of fictional detective Sam Solomon, and prizes his collection of dusty novels about his cases. He tries to emulate him by setting up a detective business in his garage with his friend Henry, and advertises himself as a "snoop for hire" . When birds around his neighborhood start to go missing, a classmate contacts him, but things quickly get much bigger than that. It turns out that Charlie's grandmother was a cryptologist for the government during WWII, and she lets him in on a secret about the mild mannered library volunteer Eugene-- he also worked in the secret service and now runs a detective agency. He realizes that the bird kidnapping is more signifigant than Charlie suspects, and helps him out when things get a bit dicey. Is Charlie up to a real case?
Strengths: Quite honestly, I was expecting a film noir train wreck with this, and was pleasantly surprised. Solid mystery, and while there isn't the death and dismemberment that middle graders seem to want these days, there is some danger and suspense. Charlie is described as overweight, but this doesn't come into play in the story very much.
Weaknesses: My mother, who is 78, was ten when WWII started, so I'm thinking the grandmother and Eugene have to be about 90. Had they been portrayed as part of the Cold War secret service, that might have been better.  It's great that Charlie is inspired by a book, but since this is like Encyclopedia Brown in middle school, it would have been fun to at least mention Donald Sobol's work.

In the middle of book fair, but it's not as much fun to have it only during conferences. 

Dork Diaries

Russell, Rachel Renee. Dork Diaries: Tales From A Not-So-Graceful Ice Princess.
5 June 2012, Aladdin.
Nominated for the Cybils by Gwendolyn Hooks

Nikki's school, Westchester Country Day,  is studying ice skating in gym so that students can participate in the Holiday on Ice charity show. Nikki signs up with her friends Chloe and Zoey in hopes that they can beat the awful MacKenzie. The only problem? Nikki can't skate. This is an even bigger problem when she chooses Fuzzy Friends as her charity-- and her crush Brandon has a big stake in that, because it is run by his grandparents, and if the animal shelter has to close, he might have to move. Nikki has other problems, like her goofy parents and annoying sister, having to read Moby Dick in school and do a project on it, and of course, figuring out whether or not Brandon really likes her. When MacKenzie sabotages Nikki's act for the ice show, will she be able to survive? Apparently, because Tales from a Not-So-Smart Miss Know-It-All came out on October 2nd.
Strengths: This is what 6th grade girls mean when they want to read about romance, and reluctant readers zip through these because the pictures delude them into thinking that there isn't as much text. Very popular.
Weaknesses: Strained my credulity on several counts-- ice skating for gym? Moby Dick? I also wanted to slap Nikki just a tiny bit for being shallow. At least she's not as annoying as Wimpy Kid.

And, of course, we can all Dork ourselves.

Tales from a Not-So-Smart Miss Know-It-All came out on 2 October. I had to read it super quickly because there was a huge line of girls waiting for it, so description below from the publisher.
"Nikki Maxwell develops a sudden interest in student journalism that may or may not (okay, definitely does) have to do with the fact that mean girl Mackenzie has started writing a gossip column. And there just might be some juicy info involving Nikki’s crush, Brandon, that Nikki doesn’t want Mackenzie reporting to the world. So Nikki joins the school newspaper staff—and ends up as an advice columnist! It’s fun at first, answering other kids’ letters. But when Miss Know-It-All’s inbox is suddenly overflowing with pleas for guidance, Nikki feels in need of some help herself. Fortunately she has BFFs Chloe and Zoey on her side—and at her keyboard!"

Please report in if your school has 1.) a school newspaper and 2.) the newspaper has a gossip column. I know longer believe that this happens anywhere except in middle grade fiction books!

Awesome Boy Science Fiction/Fantasy Books!!!

Kraatz, Jeramey. The Cloak Society.

2 October 2012, Harper Collins.

Alex is a junior member of the villainous Cloak society, so for his 12th birthday, he and the other Betas (young members) participate in robbing a bank. Alex is supposed to use his telekinesis to open a bank vault door, but fellow team members Mallory and Titan have to take over when he can't. He also makes the super villain faux pas of saving a member of the Junior Rangers, Kirbie, when she is almost killed by a flying fire hydrant.  He doesn't know why he would do such a thing, other than it seemed like the right thing to do.  Cloak is ramping up their activity and have plans to attack Sterling City and take down the Rangers, but Alex isn't really sure what the plan is after they are successful, and starts to doubt the motives of his group, which means doubting even his mother. He arranges to meet Kirbie, and discusses his doubts with her. He rather likes her, and can see her in color instead of in the constant blue glow that his super powers give him, so he is angry when Cloak kidnaps her and his mother reads Kirbie's minds in order to use her knowledge to give Cloak the advantage. This knowledge does give the group an advantage, but Alex and the other Betas realize that the plan they have is truly evil... and maybe they aren't. Things end badly for everyone, which in this case hopefully means A SEQUEL!!!

Strengths: When I get something really fabulous, I frequently have a hard time explaining it. This was awesome. I loved the snarky tone (the first paragraph is the funniest one I've seen since Sonnenblick's Notes from the Midnight Driver), the brilliantly reasoned explanation for the Cloak's powers, and Alex's struggle to do what is right despite the way he had been raised. The cover promises action and the book delivers that and so much more. Really, really liked!

Weaknesses: The logo on Alex's shirt looks like Darth Vader. And we have another really evil mother, which always distresses me.

Kincaid, S. J. Insignia

10 July 2012, Katherine Tegen Books.

In a future where wars are fought off-planet by gamers funded by corporations, Tom has lived near casinos with his gambling and alcohol addicted father for years, rarely checking into his virtual school, but spending lots of time playing VR games. He comes to the attention of the military and is given the opportunity to go into military training. Eager to escape life with his father, he agrees, only to find out that a condition of his acceptance is having a neural processor implanted in his brain. He's a little leery of the device, as well as of how he has been manipulated, but agrees and becomes part computer. With the help of fellow students Vik and Wyatt, he is able to get used to his new skills and put up with the inevitable bullies. Things get a bit dicey when his quasi step-father appears on the scene and infects his system with a virus that makes him like the man and his corporation, but Wyatt eventually puts that right. Even trickier is Tom's virtual relationship with Medusa, the top fighter from the other side to whom Tom is inexplicably drawn. There are (virtual) battle scenes aplenty, and a second book on the way.

Strengths: Another really great book! Fans of Ender's Game or Falkner's Brain Jack (or even Divergent) will adore this. First off, Sammy Yuen should be hired to design just about every middle grade SFF cover.

Weaknesses: While I really liked the beginning where Tom was in the casinos, this might not speak as well to boys who like SFF. It will, however, draw in more high schoolers, so it's okay. This took me a LONG time to read, but that was probably because I was really enjoying it and wasn't willing to rush through.

Middle Grade Monday-- Military Service Dogs

London, C. Alexander. Semper Fido (Dog Tags #1)
Publication date given as May 2013; paperbacks available in Scholastic Book Fairs now! (With the book listed below, for $9.99)

Gus has enlisted in the Marines against the wishes of his mother, since his father abandoned the family after a tour in the military. He ends up training dogs at Lackland Air Force base and is assigned Loki, a a dog who has already been in Afghanistan but whose handler was killed.Because Gus works so hard with Loki, they are sent back very quickly, since there is a shortage of dogs who can detect bombs, and many of the units are being sabotaged by these during their patrols. Gus wants to do a good job, stay alive, and be a hero in his younger brother's eyes, so he works hard and tries to distance himself emotionally a bit from Loki.The pair do a good job, saving the unit a couple of times, but it is war, and there are deaths and injuries. Luckily, their training keeps them working and alive, and keeping most of the Marines they are attached to safe.
Strengths: This is exactly what my students want. There is a good balance between the philosophical difficulties of war and the action, and the addition of the dog units is nothing short of brilliant. Very realistic, too-- when the 8th grade went to D.C. last spring, we saw a dog demonstration at Quantico that was exactly as described. Brilliant.
Weaknesses: Agh! Not available in hardcover or prebind!!! No! I need two copies right now. Drat.

London, C. Alexander. Strays (Dog Tags #2)

Chuck keeps reupping to stay in Vietnam to be with Ajax, the dog who saved his life. During the 1960s, there was concern that dogs would bring back diseases from the jungle, so the dogs were either given to the Vietnamese or put down when they were done serving, and Gus has promised Ajax he won't leave him. He moves from unit to unit, but at the end of the war, he is with a group of guys with whom he is especially close. Double O is from New York City, and is worried about going back to prejudice against blacks in the states. Billy and Doc just want to survive their tours. When Chuck finds out that the canine unit is going to be disbanded and Ajax will most likely be put down, he hears of a dog sanctuary run by a French farmer and decides to go AWOL in order to deliver Ajax there. Despite the dangers, the three men decide to go with him. They face many dangers, including a town full of wounded Vietnamese dissenters under the care of a school teacher who are attacked by the ARNV. Ajax saves the day, and Gus makes the difficult decision to leave the dog with the teacher and her son.
Strengths: Again, awesome books that my boys will adore. Good friendships, close bond with dog, action. The history of the dog unit during this era was something I had never heard. I cried at the end. Cried.
Weaknesses: Starting the book with a ping pong game didn't quite work for me. I felt that there was something about the importance of ping pong to soldiers during Vietnam that I wasn't getting, especially since it seemed to be a motif. Nit picky, though.

Patent, Dorothy Hinshaw. Dogs on Duty: Soldier's Best Friends on the Battle and Beyond.
4 September 2012, Walker
Copy received from Young Adult Books Central and reviewed there.

This short (48 page) book is as complete a coverage of Military Working Dogs (MWDs) as I have seen. It goes back as far as WWI in its history of military dogs, talking about how families donated their dogs during WWII and does address how dogs during Vietnam were considered "equipment" and were left behind or euthanized. Noteworthy dogs from many eras are highlighted, and the book is well illustrated with photographs throughout. For the modern era, the training that dogs receive from puppyhood onward is described in great detail, as is the training of their handlers. Specialized Search Dog training is addressed (for dogs who can locate bombs), and the equipment that dogs wear is described. Further resources, a glossary, and index are included. This is an excellent resource, as well as an interesting book that many readers interested in either the military or in dogs will find very informative.

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 grader. It's also Nonfiction Monday, hosted this week at Hope is the Word.

Dysfunctional U.S. Families

Tolan, Stephanie. The Applewhites at Wit's End.
8 May 2012, HarperCollins
Nominated for the Cybils by Melissa at One Librarian's Book Reviews

This sequel to Surviving the Applewhites (2002) focuses more on the eccentric family living at Wit's End rather than on Jake, the boy who ends up being fostered by them. The family is having monetary problems, and decides to solve them by having a summer camp for creative children. They manage to get a few children to come, but they turn out to be spoiled, demanding, and interested in following their own programs. E.D. and Jake end up in charge as the parents and various relatives are conspicuously absent for most of the book. There are problems galore, but the major one is a state inspector who threatens to shut down the camp for code violations, which is no surprise, since nothing seems to be organized. Eventually, the adults pull together to save the farm, after the children avert the most pressing danger.
Strengths: This is "kids saving the day" mixed with "quirky dysfunctional" at its finest. Readers who like Southern fiction and artistic characters will be satisfied with this series, which leaves room for a third book.
Weaknesses: This has not been a title that circulated well at my library. At one point, I think Tolan lived in the Columbus area and may even have done an author visit, because we have quite a collection of her work.

Rocklin, Joanne. The Five Lives of Our Cat Zook
1 April 2012, Harry Abrams
Nominated for the Cybils by Laura Purdie Salas

***SPOILER ALERT***
Oona and her brother Fred are still coping with the death of their father from cancer a few years ago when their cat, Zook (short for zucchini) starts to have problems with kidney failure. In order to help Fred, Oona starts to tell him stories about the different lives the cat has had, just like their father used to tell stories to them. The two are also dealing with the fact that their mother is dating a man they don't like. Dylan is a male nurse, and ends up being very helpful in dealing with Zook's treatment, and Oona and Fred get a lot of support from their  close-knit, multicultural Californian neighborhood. Unfortunately, Zook is not going to make it, and the family has to put the cat down. Oona deals with many problems surrounding how she got Zook (she lies quite a bit), problems with friends who become estranged, and with her mother moving on after her father's death.
Strengths: This was a very compelling book, even though I knew that Zook would not have a happy ending. Readers of Rocklin's first book, One Day and One Amazing Morning on Orange Street will enjoy this story as well.
Weaknesses: While this could be used as bibliotherapy for those who have to have a pet put to sleep, not all children will be able to deal with the detailed description of the cat being taken to the vet and euthanized. Rocklin does a very good job of this, and makes it sound like a good thing for Zook, but it is still hard to read. I had a bit of trouble believing that the two children were allowed to roam unaccompanied around their urban neighboorhood and to work dancing in food costumes in front of the local pizza shop. (They are about ten and five.)

Books by the Banks

Man, so bummed. How did I miss this? I guess this is what I get for not paying that much attention to Twitter. Well, if Books by the Banks is held every fall in Cincinnati, my old stomping grounds, I will definitely have to go next year. Anyone else planning on going?

Dysfunctional English Familes

McKay, Hilary. Caddy's World.
20 March 2012, Margaret K. McElderry Books
Nominated for the Cybils by Jessalynn Gale

In this prequel to the Casson family books, Caddy's family has an even harder time when their mother, Eve, has a baby very early and has to spend time with her in the hospital. Saffy and Indigo are still rather small, and Bill comes home from London to take care of the children. Caddy is having a lot of trouble with her three very best friends as they approach adolescent-- Alison keeps getting in trouble in school, Ruby is approached to take a rigorous academic program because she is very bright, and Beth is concerned that she is outgrowing her pony, so she stops eating. Caddy's father can barely take care of them, and the baby is very ill and requires heart surgery, which prompts Saffy and Indigo to think that the baby will die and need to be buried in the back garden. The friends try to stay together, but change is part of the preteen years, and the girls have to learn to face their problems on their own.
Strengths: The new covers are rather attractive and might reignite interest in this older series (the first book came out in 2001), and long time readers who like problem novels will find the back story of favorite characters enjoyable.
Weaknesses: This is British enough that middle school students unfamiliar with some of the vocabulary and habits might get confused. (Cooking cheese sandwiches on top of beans?)

Pitcher, Annabel. My Sister Lives on the Mantlepiece.
14 August 2012, Little, Brown
Nominated for the Cybils by Kara Schaff Dean

Jamie's sister, Rose, was killed in a terrorist bombing in London five years ago. While Jamie and Rose's twin, Jasmine, are doing okay, their parents have fallen apart. Their father has taken up drinking, and due to the lack of building work in London, has moved the family to the Lake District where there is work (and also fewer "foreign" people, whom he holds responsible for Rose's death). The mother has chosen not to go with them, since she started having an affair with a man whose wife was killed in the same bombing, and ten-year-old Jamie believes that if he constantly wears the Spider Man shirt she got him, she might come back. When Jamie starts a new school, most of the students are mean to him. Sunya is not, but he can't be friends with her because she is Muslim and wears a hijab. When a minor tragedy strikes the family and the father sees how supportive Sunya is, he starts to come to terms both with his prejudice and with the loss of his daughter.
Strengths: This is one of the few things I have read dealing with the round of terrorist bombings in London that started in 2005. I'm a little surprised there haven't been more middle grade novels dealing with the US bombings on 9/11. This is a good novel for dealing with the aftermath of events that cause racial problems in society.
Weaknesses: VERY depressing. Having read a lot of Jacqueline Wilson books, this one makes me wonder whether British parents are really this dysfunctional, or whether they are very good parents, so their children like to read about problems!