Cookie Monsters

Kendrick, Erika J. Cookie Monsters

January 17th 2023 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

In this sequel to Squad Goals, we shift attention from Magic to her friend Brooklyn. Brookyln is a World Scout whose  mother has recently passed away. She lives with her father and her grandmother Betty Jean, and is determined to keep up her mother's interest in the annual cookie sale going. Last year, with her mother's help, she came in second. Now that the high schooler who came in first has graduated, Brooklyn has great hopes for winning the Santa Monica district title, but is thwarted by newcomer Piper Parker who employs underhanded tactics like poaching Brooklyn's traditional customers in her own neighborhood. Armed with her mother's binder of procedures and phone numbers of previous customers, as well as the help of the HoneyBee cheerleaders, Brooklyn works hard to see cookies while also processing her grief about her mother, for which she is seeing a therapist. Will it be enough for her to outsell the nasty Parker and contine her mother's legacy?

Strengths: Brooklyn is an outspoken character who has a firm grasp on her goals. Her grief over her mother is handled well; she's connecting with her grandmother, getting therapy, and has a supportive group of friends who are helping her to have goals and activities to help her move forward. Piper is a standard villain from whom Brooklyn could learn some tactics, and there's just enough cheerleading to keep fans of the first book interested. 
Weaknesses: Like books about school elections, this didn't resonate with me personally because I can't image my school ever holding assemblies for a scouting group's cookie sales. It's not even something I've ever heard of, although it is an interesting concept, like the Cadet Corps in Varian Johnson's Twins, or the dance and etiquette classes that come up from time to time. 
What I really think: This is a good purchase if Squad Goals has done well in your library or there is a culture of cookie sales. There's plenty of friend drama, and this could stand alone as a title without the first book. The cover is great!

Farewell Friday- The Party's Over

The main character, would have been born in 1972. It's shocking to see how different life was thirty years ago; I lived it, so you'd think I'd remember. Aside from the fact that the outfit she's wearing on the cover looks like something that a fifty year old might wear today, the story just doesn't reflect the experience of modern kids. Interesting that this is solidly Young Adult, yet barely 200 pages. Young Adult literature has changed SO much. Can't say I enjoy the changes, but also can't say that I'll keep this book around. 

Cooney, Caroline B. The Party's Over

1991 by Scholastic (first published 1989)

Ex-library copy

Hallie is the top mover and shaker in her small, East Coast high school. She organizes the spirit club, and as senior year wraps up, is deeply involved in all of the banquets and celebrations. She's awarded for being such a good worker and given a huge bouquet of flowers. Because of her fondness for high school, despite the fact that she does not excel academically, she's trying hard not to think about what the future brings. All of her friends are going off to college and want to distance themselves from being "townies", and worry that if Hallie stays, that's what she will become. After a summer of partying and lazing about on the beach, despite her mother's nagging that she needs to go get a job, it's crushing when her friends all leave, especially the love of her life, Jaz, who gives her a roll of stamps in a ring box hoping she will write him letters. Her parents want to go on a cruise but don't want to leave her home alone with no job, so try to pack her off to her older brother's house, but she just isn't making any progress on "getting a life". By happenstance, she falls into a job at the marina as an office manager, using her rusty typing skills and love of organization. She enjoys the job, and is even offered a place to live in exchange for taking care of it while the owner is away. She feels good about her choices, but her friends aren't nice about them when they are home for Thanksgiving. Will Hallie be able to reconcile the reality of her adulthood with the glory of her high school past. 

Strengths: This is certainly reflective of the time when I grew up; I graduated six years before Hallie. In my circle, it was assumed that you would go to college. I don't really know what everyone else did. I do know that several of my friends dropped out and went to a local college, and even that seemed pretty scandalous. Considering that only about 25% of the population graduates from college, this is very narrow thinking. There should be a lot more YA books about students in vocational schools or who are looking at technical schools or jobs right out of high school. Cooney is a great writer; Driver's Ed was a book I remember reading in graduate school. She captures a particular place and moment in time brilliantly. Parts of this do feel timeless to me, and Hallie's parents are particularly well drawn. Alarming, but well drawn. I enjoyed this.
Weaknesses: The world is such a different place now that it isn't very relevant any more. 
What I really think: I feel like this should have been made into a television movie with Kristy McNichol. I could see it all unfolding in my mind. Meredith Baxter Birney would have played the fitness obsessed mother who wants Hallie out of the house so she can go on her cruise. 

What Happened to Rachel Riley

Swinarski,Claire. What Happened to Rachel Riley?

January 10th 2023 by Quill Tree Books

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

When Anna moves from Chicago to Wisconsin so that her mother can teach law at a university, she hopes that the transition to a new middle school won't be too hard. Her older sister, Nik, throws herself into the new environment, joining a coding club in high school and getting involved in school work, but the only thing really speaking to Anna is her current events class. She loves podcasts, and is hoping to apply to a summer podcast program, so when her teacher assigns an "un-essay" about a topic of the students' choosing, Anna is excited. She's noticed that one fellow student, Rachel Riley, often sits alone, although there are pictures in school showcases and on social media showing her looking to be very popular. Anna decides to do her project on Rachel's apparent fall from grace, but her teacher won't allow it, even after Anna's mother throws around some lawyer language in an e mail. Anna starts investigating, but no one will talk to her. Riley, who seems very nice, answers a few questions, but tells Anna that if she really wants to know what happened, she'll have to find out herself. There are some issues that crop up in school while Anna is on the trail that tell her a good deal about the culture of the school and what might have gone on, but people remain tight lipped. Is what happened to Rachel something that happened to lots of other girls as well? Told in interviews, e mails, and straight text this novel takes a deep dive into problematic school culture. 

Strengths: This was a great take on moving to a new school, and didn't involve haunted houses or trauma at fitting in. All of the girls in the book were really nice and went out of their way to make Anna feel welcome, even though they weren't thrilled with her investigative efforts. The boys were realistically jerky, and while I don't want to spoil too much of the mystery, there was a satisfying conclusion where people learned how to treat others. Like this author's The Kate In-Between, it takes a good, hard look at how social media shapes students' lives. 
Weaknesses: The e mails and shifts of view point made this a little harder to follow, but I can see why Swinarski wanted to show multiple perspectives. 
What I really think: Like books about dress code, this doesn't seem to be very applicable to my students. If a student came to me about harrassment, I would follow through to the highest levels. I know many people would argue that there is sexual harrassment everywhere, and that it's probably going on with my students as well, but it just seemed like if boys were snapping bras or grabbing girls in the hallway, our teachers would do something. Makes for a better story if they don't. Hand this to readers who enjoyed Dee's Maybe He Just Likes You, Carter's How to Be a Girl in the World, Messner's Chirp, or Mathieu's Moxie.

For Lamb and We Are Your Children Too

Cline-Ransom, Lesa. For Lamb
January 10th 2023 by Holiday House
E ARC Provided by Edelweiss Plus

Lamb lives in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1940s with her mother and her older brother Simeon. Her mother struggles to make ends meet working as a seamstress doing piece work for a woman who owns a business, and occasionally has so much work to do that she makes Lamb stay home from school to help her. Both teens do well academically, and Simeon wants both of them to go to college. He's gotten a scholarship to Wilberforce College in Ohioand while their mother begrudgingly thinks about him going, she seems to put obstacles into Lamb's way. After Simeon breaks his glasses at the hotel where he is working (in an unfortunate incident), Lamb meets Marney Tremper, the eye doctor's daughter. The two are reading the same book, Buck's The Good Earth, which Lamb's teacher had loaned her. The two meet again by chance, and Marney wants to strike up a friendship. She loans Lamb the sequel, and the two meet occasionally. Marney has no clue about what Lamb's life is like as a Black teen, but at least apologizes when she makes insensitive remarks. Lamb knows that it is an ill-advised friendship, but the two connect on many levels. They both feel that they are too heavy and don't connect with their peers, and Marney's mother has passed away; Lamb's father left years ago. Lamb finds out from her uncle that her father is still in town, and after talking to Marney, reconnects with him. Things seem to be going well in Lamb's life despite the community turmoil around her, but then issues come too close to home, and Lamb has to deal with difficult issues. 

Strengths: The writing in this was phenomenal. It felt a lot like the teen literature written mid century (I've read an alarming amount of it, so I know!), because of the strong grasp of the social mores of the time and the use of language from the period, but also felt fresh in its pacing and modern examination of serious issues. The length and introspection make this lean a little more toward the young adult spectrum, and the content places it squarely there. High schools who are stuck in time and still read To Kill a Mockingbird would be well advised to pick this up instead if they want students to have an excellent picture of how people's actions, even innocent ones, can put them on paths they would have liked to avoid. Simeon's desire to leave town and become a doctor deserves a book on its own, and his experiences working at the hotel to earn money are harrowing. Lamb's mother has a sad story of her own, and its heart wrenching to think about how few options there were for her during this time period. Readers who have read Finding Langston books will see glimpses of issues that are brought up briefly in that middle grade series explored in their entirety in this difficult but compelling exploration of Lamb's life. 

Weaknesses: Books written from multiple perspectives are always harder for me to understand, although many people are fine with them. The fact that some of the chapters took place when Lamb's mother was younger made this even harder for me to follow, but others will have no problem. 
What I Really Think: I just wanted to sit on the porch with a glass of lemonade and bask in Lamb's world for a while. It wasn't perfect, and there were lots of challenges, but there was something about her hope for the future and her realistic way of facing it that I enjoyed in the same way I enjoyed books like du Jardin's Dinny Gordon books. I would definitely buy this for a high school library.

Pearson, P. O'Connell. We Are Your Children Too: Black Students, White Supremacists, and the Battle for America's Schools in Prince Edward County, Virginia

January 10, 2023 by Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers 

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

The Prince Edward County, Virginia schools were very troubled when Barbara Johns was a student at R.R. Moton High School. Blacks and whites attended separate and FAR from equal schools. Tired of the inequities, Johns organized a student strike in 1951 that garnered a lot of community support and lead to a landmark 1954 Supreme Court decision that decided that segregation in schools was unconstitutional. Sadly, this was just the beginning. The county decided not to fund schools, and the white citizens of Farmville and the surrounding area set up a private academy that would not admit Black students. This meant that there was no free education for Black students, or for poor white students. Some families sent children to live with relatives, drove to attend nearby schools, and even bought houses in other towns so that children could attend school. Still, many children were not able to attend. Black citizens organized and helped students find placements, but also tried to get national support and funding for the Prince Edward County Free Schools. For one year, they managed to hire good teachers and educate children who had been out of school for four years or more in an inclusive and supportive environment. After the year was up, it was hard to keep the same quality, and the struggle continued. It took years before the schools in the area were meeting the educational needs of the entire community. People didn't discuss these difficult years, and in 1995, the former Moton school was going to be torn down. The community rallied to have it preserved as a Civil Rights Museum, and started talking about the injustices of the past. 

I've read Kanefield's 2014 The Girl from the Tar Paper School: Barbara Rose Johns and the Advent of the Civil Rights Movement and have a copy in my library, but had forgotten how long the children of Farmville were without a school. I'd also forgotten that many of the children involved were only 5-15 years older than I am! It seems unreal that such different treatment of people existed, and this is a great reminder about how things were a very short time ago. Pearson does a great job of including recent events like the pandemic and Black Lives Matter movement to show that things have not changed as much as they need to. 

There are a lot more details about the students' strike and the ensuing legal battles and community struggles that are extremely valuable for middle grade students AND teachers to read! We've seen a lot of problems with students in the wake of the pandemic, so I can't imagine the struggles faced after such a long time out of school. Any child who thinks that going to school is a punishment could learn a LOT by reading this book. 

Pearson gives a lot of good background information about the treatment of Blacks in Virginia starting from 1607, and this certainly helps to understand the feelings at the time. Young readers won't fully understand that schools in the first half of the 20th century weren't quite the way they are now even in white communities-- while it is horrible that Black students didn't have proper transportation, there were a lot of students who didn't; I had relatives who had to live with families in town and work as "mother's helpers" for their room and board in order to attend high school because that was the only way they could get to school. The elementary school near my first home in Michigan didn't have a cafeteria; all of the students were expected to walk home for lunch! It was also fairly common to have classes of 40 students before the 1980s. Certainly, southern Black students had to deal with a horrible and unfair system on top of these questionable but widespread practices. 

This is a must purchase for middle schools and high schools who want a great resource for informational reading as well as research into educational practices, Civil Rights, and social activism. 

Princess of the Wild Sea

Blakemore, Megan Frazer. Princess of the Wild Sea
January 24th 2023 by Bloomsbury Children's Books

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
 

Harbor Rose is a princess who was cursed by a fairy, so to prevent the prophecy of war and death from coming true, her mother and aunts have taken her from the main part of the Lands of Lapistyr and hidden on Small Island with the eccentric residents, none of whom are children. It's an interesting but somewhat lonely life, and when a small boy is washed ashore, she is enthralled with Peter. He is only six, and sent back by the aunts, but remerges a short time later. He's now twelve, Harbor Rose's age, so she knows that there is something odd with her situation. Small Island seems like something out of the late 1800s, with pinafores over calico vests, and men in woolen vests. The aunts have magical powers, and Harbor wants to learn some of them, but is told she is too young. When things start to go wrong, and the danger that they have all feared seems to have found them on the island, Harbor isn't interested in trying to avoid pricking her finger. She tries to embrace her fate and fight it on her own terms. Will it be enough to fight the Frost and the other problems endangering Lapistyr?

Strengths: Like Wolk's Beyond the Bright Sea, Princess of the Wild Sea drops the readers right into a quirky and magical world. We accept that Harbor Rose is an exiled princess and enjoy seeing her interact with the townspeople and her family. We know that something bad is coming, but don't know exactly how it will arrive. There's a lot of feminine knowledge and power in Harbor's family, and I felt right away that no matter what occurred, they would be able to handle it. The twists on the classic tale were interesting, and I don't want to say too much about how the issues are resolved and spoil things! Blakemore knows her way around fantasy, with titles like The Water Castle (2013), The Firefly Code (2016) and The Story Web (2019). 
Weaknesses: I started this not knowing that it was a take on Sleeping Beauty, but quickly figured it out when the aunts starting having magical tea in scenes that reminded me Disney's Flora, Fauna, and Merriweather. 

What I really think: This is a perfect book for readers who like Barnhill's The Ogress and the Orphans, Ursu's The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy, Colman's The Gilded Girl, or other reimaging of classic stories with modern sensibilities and fantastical twists. 

MMGM: Roll for Initiative

It's

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
 at 

Always in the Middle 

and #IMWAYR day 

at 

Teach Mentor Texts 

and 

Unleashing Readers

I REALLY thought that I had posted this when it came out, but when I was adding my records back to Goodreads, I couldn't find this anywhere. It was a great book, and I have students who are going to be so excited for it. Sorry it took so long to post the review!

Formato, Jaime. Roll for Initiative
September 27, 2022 by Running Press Kids

E ARC provided by Netgalley

Middle school is hard enough, but when her older brother Devin goes off to college in California to learn to design video games, Riley is left in Florida with her mother to navigate things without his support. Her mother works long hours, since her father is not always reliable with his child support, and Devin has always driven her to school and helped her with homework. After a disastrous first day riding the school bus, Riley does manage to meet another girl who lives in the same apartment building she does, and despite her mortification, starts up a friendship with Lucy. Devin and Riley often played Dungeons and Dragons, and Riley and Lucy are soon developing a game. They also include Hannah, who also lives in the building and finds them playing in the creepy basement laundry room, and Jen, who is devoted to her schoolwork and thoroughly researches the game and her character. The campaigns are fun, but when Riley tells Devin about them, he scoffs at their relaxed attitude towards the rules and canon of D&D. Riley, who has learned to do laundry, make snacks, and help out her mother with the assistance of her friends, doesn't appreciate his comments, and also worries about his progress in college. The other girls have problems of their own; Lucy lives with her father and uncle, and her mother is too busy with her new boyfriend to make much time for her; Hannah struggles academically, and her parents feel she is taking too much time playing D&D; Jen's parents are also worried she's spending too much time away from her school work, but their concern is that she isn't spending her time working on activities that will look good on college applications. When Devin comes home at Thanksgiving and surprises Riley and her mother with the fact that he is staying home and applying to community college, Riley begins to realize that she has flourished without her brother and that they both need to be more independent. She secretly releases a video game Devin is working on so that he can see how good it is and have the confidence to return to college, but will he be able to get over the anger at her betrayal to move on?
Strengths: Even though students will be drawn to this because of the D&D details (and there are many), I loved the depiction of family life. Riley has to come home by herself once Devin goes to college, get her own snacks, and even do laundry. There's not enough of this kind of activity in middle grade books, and it's a time in real students' lives when they have more and more responsibilities. The fact that Riley's father isn't in the picture is also reflective of what life if like for many students. I appreciated that she was understanding of her mother's struggles and tried to help out. Devin's reaction is a bit more extreme, but also understable considering his struggles in college, which is also not often something that is depicted. Her new friendships are supportive but not without a touch of drama, and Riley navigates them well. D&D players will love the creation of characters (including Lucy's father's cupcakes for their "birthdays"), the designing of campaigns, and the details about following the rules or deciding to break them in order for the game to be more fun. I probably should buy two copies, because I forsee high demand for this new title.
Weaknesses: The last third of the book was a little slower; it concentrated more on Devin and his return home because of his own issues and his worries for Riley and his mother when what I really wanted to read was more about Riley and her group of friends.
What I really think: As someone who is D&D adjacent (I've had friends who play, as does my daughter), I can appreciate all of the creative work that goes into a D&D campaign, as well as the friendship that it engenders. There has been quite an uptick in the number of students who voice an interest in the game, and they will adore this book. This is a geat addition to D&D related books like Mancusi's 2008 Gamer Girl, Anderson's The Dungeoneers, O'Donnell's Homerooms and Hallpasses, and Markell's The Gamemasters of Garden Place.

The Cupcake Diaries Graphic Novel

Simon, Coco and Glass House Graphics (Illustrator) 

Katie and the Cupcake Cure: The Graphic Novel 

Published September 13, 2022 by Simon Spotlight

Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central

When Katie's best friend grows apart from her, Katie is not quite sure how to navigate middle school alone. Callie has a new group of friends called the Popular Girls Club who go out of their way to be mean to people. Katie is fortunate that she finds several girls to hang out with lunch, and they bond over the cupcakes that Katie's mom makes. She goes to Mia's house, and play with her dogs and look at the Teen Style website, since Mia is into fashion. She's dealing with a new step dad and house. Alexis and Emma join them at lunch. The girls get together for a cupcake lesson, stand up for each other at school, and eventually get a catering gig for which they need to make cupcakes. Katie is still struggling with middle school and dealing with Callie, but her new friends help her acclimate. 

The original series of these books has a whopping 34 books and came out in 2011. They've been fairly popular, but this graphic adaptation will check out faster than chocolate cupcakes get eaten! The colors are bright and cheerful-- who doesn't like illustrations that include rainbow sprinkles? It's easy to tell the characters apart because they are all different, and I thought that the pictures were somehow particularly clear and easy to interpret, while the text was a little larger than some graphic novels, but not so large that the book looks too young. 

From Schroeder's It's Raining Cupcakes to Hannigan's Cupcake Cousins, books about baking are always a huge hit. There are a few graphic novels that embrace cooking, like Mannaert's Chef Yasmina and the Potato Panic and LaMotte and Xu's Measuring Up, but the Cupcake Diaries adaptation is so appealing that it's a great addition to a middle grade graphic novel collection. Who knows? Maybe it will even encourage readers to turn their attention to the chapter book series. 

Aphrodite the Beauty Graphic Novel

Holub, Joan and Williams, Suzanne. Aphrodite the Beauty Graphic Novel 

(Goddess Girls #3)
August 23, 2022 by Aladdin
Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central

Mount Olympus Academy is full of plenty of drama, which makes sense, since the Greek gods and goddesses often found themselves immersed in intrigue and emotional chaos. Medusa has finally been returned to the school, with a warning that she is not supposed to unleash her powers on anyone. Aphrodite is getting a bit tired of the constant attention of all the God Boys, so she turns her beauty know-how to Athena, who doesn't seem to care as much about her appearance. Aphrodite thinks that everyone should fall in love and get married, and thinks that Athena could use a push in that direction, although she doesn't plan on pushing her in the way of Ares, who is insufferable, kind of cute, and someone in whom Aphrodite is interested. Instead of having her attention returned by Ares, the lame Hephaestus seems interested in her, sending her roses and even making her a gorgeous golden bracelet. He's nicer that the other boys, but she just doesn't feel "that way" about him. He is helpful, though; she's trying to help out a suitor of Atalanta, whose father is allowing men to race for her affections. Sadly, if they lose, they are put to death. Hippomenes wants to win Atalanta's hand, but would prefer not to die in the attempt, so asks for Aphrodite's help. It is Hephaestus who makes the golden apples that Hippomenes is able to use to win the race. Aphrodite is glad when Athena warms to her new look, but the two have some difficult moments when Aphrodite is jealous. Luckily, Artemis, Persephone, and other friends help them understand how they can work together toward common goals. 

Mount Olympus Academy, much like the school in Cooke's Oh My Gods! is filled with fun twists on classic mythological deities. These don't stray much from the canon; Artemis is more interested in her dogs, Ares is kind of a blowhard, and Medusa takes offense at every little thing and is always prepared to unleash the power of her serpentine locks on anyone who crosses her. Aphrodite's interest in love and beauty will resonate with fans on Tessier's Chloe books or Simonson's Junior High Drama.

Not only are the illustrations colored in lots of pinks, teals, and purples, but the goddesses have a glittery, sparkly effect all around them. There are plenty of fun details in the pictures, although I thought that Athena looked pretty much the same both before and after her makeover! 

This is one of the latest series to be turned in to graphic novels. Some of the first were, of course, Martin's The Baby-Sitters Club books, and lately we've seen Simon's Cupcake Diaries, several of Mary Down Hahn's books, Howe's Bunnicula, and Night's You're Invited to a Creepover series get a similar treatment. 

The original Goddess Girls series is 27 books long, so there is a lot of opportunity to turn these into graphic novels. Hand these to readers who enjoyed McMullan's Have a Hot Time Hades or Holub and Williams' Grimmtastic Girls or Thunder Girls series. 

As a former Latin teacher who spent many quality hours with my own personal children watching Disney's Young Hercules series, I can't say that I personally like these very much. All mortal maidens should be wed? That just about made my mind explode. The subplot with Aphrodite not liking Hephaestus was slightly disturbing. Clearly, I read way more into these than I should. The target demographic will like these, but they are just not my personal favorites. 

Guy Friday

Twenty years doesn't seem that long to me, but...it is. I had a student tell me that I had her mother in 2004. We also have a health teacher at my school who graduated from high school in 2014, and he was one of my library helpers! He's a great guy, and was a huge reader, so we often have conversations about books. He was kind enough to loan me a copy of Evan's Michael Vey #8, The Parasite, which he bought because he had read the other books. 

While this made me feel really happy, it also reinforced my feeling that series should be published all at once and not over huge amounts of time. The first Michael Vey book came out in 2011, about the time my students were born, and the seventh in 2017. I didn't post reviews of most of these, since they weren't quite my thing, and I lost any notations I had on Goodreads. Still, I was pretty sure that The Final Spark was the last book, and Mr. Buxton's review confirms that. 

Evans, Richard Paul. The Parasite (Michael Vey #8)

September 27, 2022 by Simon Pulse

Copy loaned to me

Michael is in college at Boise State, studying business management so that he can work with his father at Veytric, Inc. Not that he needs the money, since he's tooling around in a four million dollar car. After saving a woman from her abusive husband in the parking lot of the school, he spends some time with Taylor. It's her birthday, and the two are thinking a lot about the upcoming Electroclan reunion. There are concerns that the Starxource factory has been attacked, perhaps by Shining Path terrorists, and they find that Grace is in a vegetative state. When Taylor's sister Tara is kidnapped, everyone is brought in to help find her. The group spends some time in Texas before heading to the Amazonian jungle in Peru, where they think Tara is being held. Jack is in Peru as well, and not necessarily working on the side of good. How will Michael be able to continue his work with the Electroclan? Can they save Tara?

Strengths: Clearly, some fans were waiting for this, but even my former student who loaned me the copy was a little disappointed. There's a lot of action and adventure, a lot of descriptions of food, and a sweet four million dollar car. Fans of Patterson's Daniel X would definitely like this one, but it never really spoke to me. 
Weaknesses: Perhaps I missed how the woman with the abusive husband figured later in the book? It was a lot of time to spend on someone who didn't seem to show up again, but since I skimmed, maybe I just missed it. I don't normally think too hard about writers' politics, but I'm not sure that I would buy this series today for the first time, knowing that Evans has some opinions with which not everyone agrees.
What I really think: I'm going to stick with just the first seven books and not continue the series, mainly because I think there are going to be more books. A few kids pick up the first one, but the copies are pretty worn. Had this been super good, I might have considered it, but having Michael in college was just a bit strange. This is why I try to read all of the books before I buy them. 

 

You're Invited to a Creepover Graphic Novels

Night, P.J. Truth or Dare 

You're Invited to a Creepover Graphic Novels #1

September 6, 2022 by Simon and Schuster

Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central

Abby Miller likes Jake, and tells her friends, including Leah, at a sleepover. Jake has a tragic past, however; the girl he loved, Sara, was killed about a year ago when a car jumped the curb and killed her right after she said goodbye to Jake. There is a dance coming up at school, and Leah encourages Abby to go out with Jake, who is her neighbor, but strange things are happening to Abby and she fears that they are caused by the ghost of Sara, come back to avenge her death. There are odd power surges, ghostly flickerings outside her window, and even texts from an anonymous number telling her to leave Jake alone. Leah and her other friends think that she is exaggerating, but when the blouse her mother has gotten her for the dance is returned to her closet shredded and ruined, what other explanation is there? It's got to be an evil ghost. Is it safe to go with Jake to the dance? And if that's okay, then clearly going to the cemetery where Sara is buried when a text instructs Abby to do this is perfectly fine. Will Abby and Jake meet a violent, horror movie end, or is there a more realistic explanation for all of the eerie happenings? 

There aren't a lot of horror graphic novels, although Hahn's Took and Wait 'Til Helen Comes have recent graphic novel adaptations, so I was glad to see adaptations of the Creepover series. The novels themselves are fairly short, and I'm hoping that after one or two of the graphic novels, my readers will pick up some of the 22 chapter books that have already been published (2011-2017). 

The illustrations have a shadowy, creepy vibe to them, and I was glad to see that not all of the characters are white, as they seem to read in the originals. There's a lot of use of dark tones, swirling backgrounds, and eerie, glowing lights. The outside is always especially foreboding at night, and Abby's imagination makes everything appear darker and more threatening than it really is. 

There is a good amount of friend drama that will appeal to middle grade readers, and romance is always a big draw as well. I thought it was fun that parents make an appearance in these, since most of the story is set at home rather than at school. Hand these to elementary and middle school readers who want a story that is scary but not TOO scary!

Night, P.J. You Can't Come in Here

You're Invited to a Creepover Graphic Novels #1

September 6, 2022 by Simon and Schuster

Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central

Emily doesn't have a lot of friends, but she enjoys hanging out with neighbors Drew and Vicky. They are home schooled and don't get out much, so haven't visited her home, but she spends a lot of time at their house, although she has never met their parents. The house is run down in the extreme, but they have a great rec room with games where they spend a lot of time. Emily's parents are concerned that they haven't met the parents either, and allow Emily to have a party so that her friends from school can met Drew and Vicky. There are lots of creepy things going on in the neighborhood that seem to center around the siblings, but whenever Emily points them out, her friends are happy to investigate, and what seems like a creepy killer wolf often ends up being racoons or owls. It is a little concerning that when Emily visits the house during the day to try to talk to Drew and Vicky's parents, she finds no one home, a tape recorder with the parents' voices, and three coffins just under the floorboards. Never mind, let's have a sleepover anyway. It goes well, but Emily doesn't feel comfortable inviting Drew and Vicky into her house. Do they manage to come in anyway, and what does this mean for Emily's future?

I don't think that it's too much of a spoiler to say that this is a good twist on a vampire tale, and also the reason that I hesitated to invite my school staff to my house for dinner on open house night-- if I issued a blanket invitation and someone was a vampire, had I just invited them in? Gives one pause, does it not? This is a great vampire book for readers who aren't quite ready for the length or emotional complexity of Twilight or similar weighty vampire tomes, and a rather chilling read even though the series does have a little bit of goofiness to it. 

The illustrations are appropriately dark, and Drew and Vicky's house is so creepy and run down that I just wanted to tell Emily to run away! Her parents want the house to be fixed up, but this is cleary more run down than anything should be in suburbia! 

There is a new R.L. Stine series of Just Beyond horror graphic novels that have some similarities to the Creepover series; I read one of these where 1950s horror movie monsters were set on the loose, and this seems in keeping with the somewhat scary but somewhat cheesy feel to this story. Hand these to readers who enjoyed Terry's Graveyard Shakes, Sedita's Pathfinders, or Steinkellner's The Okay Witch. 

Malcolm and Me

Farmer, Robin. Malcolm and Me
November 17th 2020 by SparkPress
ARC provided by Young Adult Books Central

Roberta Forest is in 8th grade at a Catholic middle school in Philadelphia in 1973. She's bright, motivated, and a gifted writer who has a good friend in Bonnie, who shares her interest in records, junk food, and Soul Train. She is also keenly aware of the social unrest in her community over Civil Rights issues. This is brought home in a horrible way when her history teacher, Sister Elizabeth, asks her why Thomas Jefferson signed the Declaration of Independence even though he had slaves. Even though Roberta is usually careful with her responses, since she is one of the few Black students in the school, she replies "He was a hypocrite". This does not go over well with the sister, and an altercation ensues. Sister Elizabeth makes a racist remark, the two scuffle, and Roberta is sent to the office and eventually suspended, even though her parents agree that the teacher was in the wrong. This results in a host of complications-- Roberta is grounded, her parents have a horrible argument, and it's rumored that Sister Elizabeth is in the hospital with a heart attack! When the dust settles, Roberta's grades suffer, her father moves out, and her teacher is fine... and oddly nice to her. The two have a weird detente, and there are times when Roberta almost likes her teacher. The racist remark is reasoned away by the Sister Elizabeth being stressed about her brother being ill, but Roberta sees other troubling glimpses of racism in the nun's behavior. She has bigger problems to worry about; she wants to write a piece for an essay competition, she has to think about the high school she will attend, and she misses her father dreadfully. She's angry at her mother, and the two frequently quarrel. Roberta's behavior at school is often mouthy, and she is eventually told she can't submit as essay to the contest because of it. She decides to enter an essay contest in Right On! magazine instead. Roberta is very concerned about her future, but as secrets come out about both her teacher and her father, she finds it increasingly difficult to behave in the way adults want her to. Will she be able to find a way forward?

A good historical novel needs good historical details, and since this book is loosely based on Farmer's life, there are a LOT of good details. From school uniforms to television programs, to random phrases of the day, the feel of 1973 is well captured. The social upheaval of the time mirrors the unrest we have today, sadly, and Roberta's emotions are as complicated and messy as the world around her is. Young readers might be enticed to investigate how they can grow their own hair to emulate Roberta's Afro; after all, since it's too big for her classmates to see around, she often gets put in the back of the class.

Sister Elizabeth is a fascinating character, and her actions (as appalling as they will seem to the modern eye) were certainly indicative of the way nuns acted during this time period. My Latin teacher liked to tell the tale of a Sister Benignia who threw a future mob boss across the classroom in his desk because he sassed her! Roberta's parents aren't happy with the school, but they want the best education for her, and know the reality of how parent complaints were taken at the time. Sister Elizabeth has her own reasons for her racist actions, but I couldn't help thinking that many of Roberta's problems were caused by the fact that she attended a Catholic school! (I grew up in a largely Catholic community, and good stories about Catholic schools were pretty rare.)

While the Forest's marital problems are pretty extreme, divorce in the 1970s was very common but somehow more sensational than it is today. The emotions and family dynamic that result from the father leaving seem like they will speak to young readers today, who are perhaps more used to the idea of divorce but suffer just the same. 

While there are a lot of books about the Civil Rights movement that are set in the 1950s and 1960s in the South, I am always looking for ones that are set a bit later, and in other parts of the country. What I would LOVE to see is a book set in Cleveland, Ohio in the 1970s, when busing was a huge issue! There are a few, like Traci Jones' Finding My Place (2010, but set in 1975 Denver), Budhos' The Long Ride (2019, set in 1971 New York), and Frank's Armstrong and Charlie (2017, 1970s California), and I'm glad to be able to add this title to that list. I also know just the student who needs this book, and it's perfect; like Tanita Davis' novels, this is decidedly upper middle grade, and would be perfect for high school readers as well. 

My only quibble is that this isn't as plot driven as many middle grade novels, which makes it drag a tiny bit in the middle. This won't matter too much to my readers who are really interested in Black history, but this does have a more Young Adult level of philosophical introspection. 

Cinderella Speaks Up: An Untraditional Graphic Novel (I Fell Into a Fairy Tale)

Bolte, Mari and Hallett, Braden (illus.)
Cinderella Speaks Up: An Untraditional Graphic Novel (I Fell Into a Fairy Tale)
Stone Arch Books (January 1, 2023)
E ARC provided by Netgalley 

 Kaita is magically swept into a book containing the story of Cinderella. She immediately befriends her, learns some of her backstory, and sticks up for her. She manages to confront Cinderella's family and get to the root of why they treat her poorly. Now that Cinderella can go to the ball, she finds a dress in the attic that belonged to her mother. It's a bit out of style, but the minute they walk into a used clothing store, the owner offers to trade the dress for something more Cinderella's style. Kaita is a little apprehensive about being interested in a prince just because he is a prince, but it turns out that he and Cinderella have a lot in common and spend the night dancing. Feeling good about the way the revamped fairy tale has gone, Kaita returns home.

Strengths: This is an early graphic novel with a good amount of text for third graders, who are just old enough to start appreciating twists on fairy tales, which they hopefully have met at some point. (A lot of my middle school students haven't read these.) The pictures are bright and fun, with quirkily drawn characters. There are discussion questions at the back of the book. Other books in this I Fell Into a Fairy Tale series include Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and Beauty and the Beast.

Weaknesses: I'm not the target demographic for these, and they are a bit young for my students.

 
What I really think: While I didn't enjoy Cinderella's father seeing the error of his family's ways in treating Cinderella and suggesting he make an appointment for family therapy, this will definitely resonate with other readers.

MMGM- Cookbooks

It's

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
 at 

Always in the Middle 

and #IMWAYR day 

at 

Teach Mentor Texts 

and 

Unleashing Readers

Atherton, David and Bowsher, Alice.  

Bake, Make, and Learn to Cook Vegetarian: Healthy and Green Recipes for Young Cooks
November 8, 2022 by Candlewick Press

Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central

It's not important to know who celebrity cook Atherton is to enjoy this vegetarian tome for beginner cooks. Like the earlier Bake, Make and Learn to Cook (2021) (which had fantastic illustrations by Rachel Stubbs), this offers a variety of meals and snacks from a "green" perspective. It would be helpful to the planet if people ate less meat, and these recipes provide an easy and delicious way for children to convince their families to do just that. 

I always like to see cookbooks with more practical meals than baking, and this starts out with some of these, along with a few unusual dishes. Tomato sauce, veggie burgers, and stir fry noodles are standards, but Eye Love Bread (bread with a sunny side up style egg baked on top of it) and corn and potato cakes will be new to most readers, and I may try the green spinach crepes myself, spread with homemade hummus. 

There are also savory snacks, including a guacamole made with green peans, cheesy rabbit crackers with chia seeds, and bread crowns that reminded me of some of the elaborate projects in Harry Potter: The Official Harry Potter Baking Book by Joanna Farrow. Baked goods, such as a strawberry jam tart, sticky flapjack, and apple rock cakes, seem delightfully British, but the inclusion of "freezy grapes" seems a bit forced. I am skeptical that they taste like sorbet! For the truly motivated, there are "Showstoppers" including spring butterfly cupcakes. This has very good instructions for waht I learned a few years ago are "fairy cakes"-- you basically lop off the peak top of a cupcake, cut it in half, and stick it on top of the frosting so it looks like butterfly wings. Sort of. Finding out that this is what a fairy cake was one of the big disillusions of my adult life. 

All in all, the recipes are clear and easy to follow. The beginning of the book has standard safety precautions and information about tools and ingredients. Bowsher's illustrations are fun; different from Stubbs and as particulary 2020ish as those, but in a different color scheme and with heavier, inked lines. For children who loved Washburn's 20 Recipes Kids Should Know, Gerasole's The Spattulata Cookbook, or Gold's Kids Cook 1-2-3, this would make a great gift, along with some oven mitts and a package of chia seeds!

Goldman, Duff. Super Good Cookies for Kids

November 1, 2022 by HarperCollins

Copy provided  by Young Adult Books Central

As far as I can tell, tweens still love to make cookies, judging from the amount of baked goods I receive lovingly bundled in plastic bags by smiling children who seem very proud of themselves! And there are tons of cookie and cupcake books out there, some more useful than others. Not that browsing Alan Richardson's or Karen Tack's cupcake books isn't fun; I just don't want to deal with OR eat that much fondant! 

This was a particularly useful collections of recipes that are impressive and yet imminently doable. The best part? There is a recipe for Cookie Candy. You've probably had it-- oleo, peanut butter, oatmeal and cocoa boiled and then dropped by spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet and left to harden a bit. They aren't pretty to look at (using cupcake papers helps!), but they are delicious, and I've never seen the recipe anywhere but church or grange cookbooks! Since most of these collections I own are 30+ years old and shedding pages the way sprinkles fall off a toddler's cookie, I'm definitely keeping this book for myself! Also included are the tasty but bizarre Chow Mein noodle and butterscotch chip cookies from the 1970s. This was a DEEP dive into cookie culture!

The chapter names are fun and descriptive-- International Cookies, Unclassifiable Cookies, Things with Cookies in Them, Things That are Sort of Cookies, and more! I am getting together with a friend to attempt homemade Stroop Waffles (but I think we're using a pizzelle iron instead of a waffle one), and there are so many other recipes that have just one or two special ingredients that I think I could swing. Many are completely reasonable, and don't require a trip to the store if you have a well stocked pantry. 

Since this is the 2020s, there is a chapter of gluten free cookies as well, and a somewhat inexplicable chapters on macarons, which I have never understood but which seem to be a fad right now! Klutz's Kids Magical Baking, Saltz's The Delish Kids, or the Food Network's Big, Fun Kids' Baking Book have some great recipes, but this one really outshines every kids' cookie book I've seen, and even the preface information on safety and ingredients seems more thoughtful. 

I was a bit obsessive as a child, and had I received this as a gift, I would have wanted to make every recipe, preferably in order, on a schedule that I would have been glad to add to our family calendar, if my mother had been organized enough to have one. This would make for a great, year long project with your favorite tween, and wrapping this book up with some of the more exotic ingredients (crystallized ginger, sliced almonds, gel food coloring) and a promisory note for your favorite young baker would make a great gift!

Happy New Year Blather for 2023

This year marks the eleventh year of posting at least one book review every day. I read 851 in 2022, and also managed to delete all of my Goodreads books, which were close to 10,000 books, so I don't know  how many I've read in that time. 

I am grateful for my lovely friends on social media, because of whom I kept spreadsheet. I was able to complete my Goodreads Challenge, which is tremendously motivating to me. Did the spread sheets work quite how I wanted them to? Well, it was easier to compute the statistics above, but got a bit murky about how many fiction vs. nonfiction books I read, how many were fantasy, etc. In the end, I... didn't care. 

2022 had its challenges, which made me realize that I can no longer do everything I used to. My father died, my daughter Picky Reader is getting married in May, and I've had several unimportant but annoying health issues. I need to focus my purpose so that the most important things get done. 

In my school library, I feel like I spent more time and effort preparing to cover other classes for teacher who were absent than I did teaching research. The pandemic unraveled a carefully knit system; when students aren't in the building or are dissuaded from traveling around in the building, and teachers are struggling to make up for lost time, research isn't the most important focus. I'm not going to push teachers. My bottom line for my job has always been "Get the right book to the right child at the right time." 

My bottom line for life is "Make the world a better place." Right now, that means covering classes,  spending an inordinate amount of time listening to fellow teachers' and students' problems and trying to make them feel better, and standing in the hallway and encouraging students to behave in appropriate ways so that we don't have injuries. I do still get books to kids.

In order to do this I have to carefully manage my budget. I read all the books before I buy them. I bought a fraction of the books I read this year. Getting books free for reviewing, whether from publishers or Young Adult Books Central, is tremendously helpful. I buy books that my students want to read, not necessarily award winners. I may not buy as many graphic novels as they want, because they are expensive and fall apart in an annoying fashion, but concentrate on buying horror stories, sports books, humorous books, more realistic fiction than fantasy, and limited nonfiction. My own preference is to read nonfiction and I do suggest it often, but it's expensive and hard to move. If students or teachers request things, I will buy them, and I have endless conversations with students about what they want to read. 

My job is not to sell books for publishers. It's not even to make authors feel good about themselves. This is why Twitter makes me itchy. I started my blog in order to help other teachers and librarians know what books are out there. I used to be much  more forthright about what books I wasn't buying and why, but with social media, I have to be careful not to offend authors. I read a LOT of books. Most of them get three stars on Goodreads. Something has to knock my socks off to get more. It doesn't mean that the book won't be good for somebody. Maybe just not my students. 

So, 2023. I plan to read all the middle grade books, review them in a helpful but circumspect fashion, and get the ones I buy into the hands of readers while also keeping my school running smoothly. To do this, I need to manage my expectations and understand my limitations. Part of this plan is to spend January through May reading nonstop so that I can quilt and knit in the summer and not feel guilty. Needlework makes me happy, and everyone needs a break from time to time. 

Whew. Enough blather. Wishing everyone a hopeful and helpful New Year, and time to figure out what your priorities are so that you can be both productive AND happy. 

Awesome Orange Birthday Party

Ruths, Mitali Banerjee and Jaleel, Aaliya (illus.)

Awesome Orange Birthday: A Branches Book

January 3, 2023 by Scholastic Inc.

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Priya Chakraborty is a very motivated girl who likes to plan parties. After her Layal Aunty (her mother's friend) sees how well she does, she asks Priya to plan a party for her. Based on her aunt's favorite color, Priya carefully plans and coordinates the food, decorations, invitations, and other details so that she has the best orange themed party. She enlists helpers, like her grandmother, who does the cooking, and her best friend Melissa, who helps with the DIY decorations. While she is very careful and deliberate in her plans, and takes careful notes in her notebook, Priya also worries that she might have forgotten something. She also doesn't like surprises (although she acknowledges that others sometimes do), so is a bit anxious when unexpected things arise, even if it is much needed help in setting up from her mother's other friends. The party goes very well, and her aunt especially like the hand made gift that Priya has crafted for her. Since Priya wanted to be paid in donations to help save the quakkas in Australia, she is glad when the party is succeessful. Will she get to plan more parties? (Yes! In Starry Henna Night on 4-4-23!)

Strengths: Priya is an interesting and complex character for such a short book! She is interested in environmental issues, like protecting quokkas and using eco friendly products. She has a good friend in Melissa, and her family is supportive of her endeavors. The book moves along briskly with the plans for the party, and Priya's emotions are understandable, but her actions show resilience. The formatting of this book will appeal to older readers who like graphic novels, since there aren't that many words on the pages, and there are lots of appealing illustrations. If you've read The Owl Diaries, the format and bright colors will seem familiar. The age level on this is K-2, but I think this would be very successful with elementary school and even early middle school emergent readers. There's even some DIY instructions at the end of the book. 
Weaknesses: There is a lot of adult presence in the book, which is fine, but might not make this quite as popular with older readers. I'm curious to see who the next party will honor!
What I really think: This was a bit shorter than Sheth's Nina Soni books, but a little longer than Butler's Kayla and King series. I would have adored these as a child, and it's nice that they are available in paperback for home purchase. Of course, had I owned this book, I would have wanted to set up my own party planning business and driven my mother to distraction!

Chunky Goes to Camp

Mercado, Yehudi. Chunky Goes to Camp (Chunky #2)
June 14, 2022 by Katherine Tegen Books

Library copy

Hudi, who struggled with a variety of sports at the behest of his father in Chunky, has gotten into a lot of trouble at school with the assistant principal, Mr. Hyatt. Always one to try to make people laugh, Hudi is on all the teachers' radars and starts getting in trouble for inoffensive things, like drawing cartoons that make Mr. Hyatt accuse him of being in a Mexican gang. His parents warn him that he needs to watch himself, but he doesn't quite get it. At the end of the year, they don't feel that he can be trusted at home during the summer while they are working, so give him the choice between a sports camp and one for Jewish kids. He picks Camp Green as the lesser of two evils, especially since he knows some kids who attend. The bus ride in is tough, and he's super sad about misses all of the new movie releases in the theaters (which puts this firmly in the summer of 1986, since Ferris Buehler's Day Off is one of the titles to which he is looking forward), and he has concerns about the preppy Joshes. His cabin mates seem cool, though, and he makes friends with Pepe, another Mexican American Jewish kid who likes to tell jokes; their similarities explain why Pepe can also see Chunky. There are typical camp shenanigans, and characters like a suspicious looking maintenance man, but Hudi manages to have a decent time at camp. 

Strengths: Graphic novel memoirs are a good way to show different points of time, and the experiences of authors and illustrators. I'm a big fan of Tattuli's Short and Skinny and Copeland's Cub, since the pictures make these books more appealing to young readers who might not otherwise want to read historical fiction. The summer camp experience is something kids like to read about even if they don't get to experience it. It's an interesting time to reinvent oneself, and since Hudi's experiences in the first book centered about self identity, this is a perfect chance for him to try other versions of himself. It's also fun that he meets Pepe, who has such a similar background, and there's even a note from the REAL Pepe at the back of the book. A humorous and entertaining read. 
Weaknesses: Still not a huge fan of Chunky, especially since he has such a small role in this book. He is a little more interesting when Pepe can also see him. 
What I really think: The first book has been really popular with my students, so I suspect this second book will be as well. I was surprised to see a picture of Mercado as a tween at the back of the book; he didn't really look very overweight, so the illustrations with the protruding tummy don't seem true-to-life!

Farewell Friday- Light a Single Candle

Butler, Beverly. Light a Single Candle
January 1, 1962 by Dodd Mead & Company

Personal copy, Library copy
 

Kathy celebrates her 14th birthday by going to the eye doctor, hoping that she will get a new pair of glasses that will allow her to continue drawing, and to use the new pastels she has gotten as a gift. Instead, a specialist examines her, and she overhears her doctor suggesting to her father that she learn Braille. Glaucoma has damaged the nerves in her eyes, but the doctors are hopeful that an operation might help. Afterwards, Kathy can't see, and is sent home to rest and see if the blood clots in her eyes clear up. While resting under doctor's orders, she is visited by an administrator from the state school for the blind, Mrs. Creel. Mrs. Creel thinks taht Kathy shouldn't be pampered and "lazing around" and scoffs that she will be able to start her local high school. Kathy's mother is very firm and advocates for Kathy, and sends Mrs. Creel packing. Kathy starts school, but the classes are very basic, and she decides to start at the school for the blind after winter break. There, she rooms with several other girls, and there is a lot of drama. The food isn't good, the education isn't great, and the attitude of the teachers is also lacking. Kathy is lucky enough to be able to go home on weekends, and she and her parents decide to apply for a guide dog and have her return to the local high school. Mrs. Creel sends her with dire warnings, but things go fairly well. She is hampered a bit by a well meaning classmate, Joan, who doesn't want her to bring her guide dog, Trudy, and who is overly involved in helping her with classwork. There are tough moments, like dealing with a strict teacher, but good ones as well, like catching the attention of school announcer and news writer Steve. In the end, Kathy does better than she expects with the support of her family and her school. 

Strengths: This book is based on Butler's own experiences, and I read and loved this when I was in middle school, not realizing that Butler was just my mother's age. I feel like I met this book around the same time I read Killilea's Karen. The details of what it was like to lose one's sight and have to cope were fascinating to me, and I especially loved the fact that Kathy didn't feel sorry for herself for very long, and she was determined to succeed and to prove people like Mrs. Creel wrong. Reading it now, I am glad that there is boarding school drama (and even a little romance), and the books follows the general layout of other 1960s realistic fiction books. Kathy does well in school, her family is supportive, and no one "makes fun" of her for her blindness. Still a very interesting and enjoyable book. 
Weaknesses: Things have changed dramatically in the last 60 years as far as the technology available to help blind students, so modern readers might find the mailing of book records back and forth unusual. There are also a few dated attitudes toward dating and marriage, as well as some spectacular 1960s style dresses. Of course, this just made me love it even more. 
What I really think: I think the time has come for this book to leave my school collection and to be replaced with books like Vrabel's A Blind Guide to Stinkville, but I also think that it will be coming to live at my house now! I am sad to report that Butler passed away in 2007, but glad that she was a prolific author who lead a very successful life. 

Butler, Beverly. The Gift of Gold

September 28, 1972 by Dodd Mead

Library Copy

Kathy is now enrolled in the speech pathology program at St. Chystosome College, and having to deal with a new department hear, Dr. Paulus, who has replaced Sister Bernard. Dr. Paulus doesn't think that Kathy should pursue working with children on their speech, but, because she is blind, should stick to working with blind students. Kathy, who has excelled academically, is rather angry, and determined to prove Dr. Paulus wrong. When one of her students is withdrawn from her caseload because the mother doesn't want him to work with a blind therapist, Leonard, a five year old boy who doesn't speak, is added to her caseload. Kathy is dating Greg, who is a bit self centered, and is asked to be in the wedding of Joan, whom she knew in high school. Joan is no better at dealing with Kathy's blindness than she was in high school, and the wedding planning is one debacle after another. Kathy makes some strides with Leonard's speech, and is able to deal with Dr. Paulus. She is glad to reconnect with Steve, whom she knew in high school and who is also in Joan's wedding. How will things work out as she progresses through college?
Strengths: Kathy continues to make good progress and to stand up to people who think that her blindness is holding her back. I didn't remember a lot of this book except for the Braille watch that Kathy wore, but I was glad to see that she still had a good group of friends and classmates who were supportive. I was also glad to see Steve back. While Kathy's blindness is certainly mentioned frequently, the book is not about her being blind, but more about her progress through school and her struggles with her clients, especially Leonard. Why is it that mid century young adult books often depicted girls getting married but were read by middle school students? Now, when I see characters applying for college, their experiences seem so far off from middle school concerns. 
Weaknesses: Leonard is repeatedly referred to as "retarded", which would have been the terminology at the time but is not used now. This was written ten years after Light a Single Candle, and those ten years saw a lot of change. There was a slight air of the book not completely reflecting 1972, but that might just be me. It's a little alarming to think that I read this when it was fairly new!
What I really think: This one is also being deaccessioned; I'm not sure I will keep it forever because it's not quite as interesting as the first book. 

 

Mr. Lincoln Sits for his Portrait

Marcus, Leonard. Mr. Lincoln Sits for his Portrait

January 3, 2023 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Byr) 

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

In the same way that John F. Kennedy was the first president to harness the power of television to further his political aims (brilliantly depicted in Sandler's 2011 Kennedy Through the Lens), Lincoln was the first politician to fully utilize the power of the relatively new medium of still photography. At a time when most people would have one or two images of themselves, Lincoln had hundreds done, by prominent artists of the time, like Matthew Brady, Anthony Berger, and Francis Bicknell Carpenter. 

Marcus introduces us to Lincoln's career, humor, and self deprecating views of his own attractiveness, or lack thereof, and uses this information to scaffold Lincoln's rise to power. Since there are innumerable treatments of Lincoln, this is a new and innovative way to deliver this information. Of course, the inclusion of photographs not only of Lincoln but of his world make this worth purchasing. 

Interspersed between discussions of what was going on in Lincoln's life, the evolution of photography, and the state of the world in general are helpful timelines that recap things nicely. I found the overview of photgraphic history particulary interesting; it almost makes me want to find a book about the history of photography as it relates to how people curate their own history. If you have enough family photos going back into the late 1890s, you can pretty much tell exactly when a member of your family first obtained a camera and didn't have to rely on a local photographer!

There are many aspects of Lincoln's life covered, from political to family, and the struggles of Mary Lincoln are briefly mentioned. There is a lot of coverage of the cover portrait, which was hugely influential at the time, and reproduced in myriad ways after Lincoln's death to engender pathos and to paint him as a pious family man. I must say that I wouldn't have identified this particular picture as the most pivotal, but Marcus does a good job of making this point. I love that it is often passed off as a Bible or religious text when in fact the actual book was a photographer's catalog. 

Marcus is an excellent scholar of children's literature; in an ideal world, I would have been able to have a similar career, so I am rather jealous of his work! His Golden Legacy: How Golden Books Won Children's Hearts, Changed Publishing Forever, and Became An American Icon Along the Way (2007) is nothing short of genius. It's interesting to see him change gears, and he clearly has some affection for his topic. This is a great title to have for National History Day research or for an updated look at Lincoln's life.