Evil Government Conspiracies, Take Two

So when Suzanne Collins sequel to The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, comes out on September 1st you will undoubtedly be standing in line to get your copy. As you should. You're probably wondering, "Is it as good?" and, of course, it is, almost. In The Hunger Games almost every step of the story reveals yet another surprise and, while Katniss and crew continue to develop as characters and the government is revealed as even more despicable than you could have believed in Catching Fire, once you've been amazed by the original story it's hard to be that amazed ever again. CF is more about the bigger picture, the world outside of Katniss, where THG is more about Katniss's internal struggles and changes. I don't want to talk too much about the story itself because the biggest part of the fun is seeing where Collins takes it. And she takes it in some surprising directions.

Good for 10 and up. Give it to all your adult friends too.

Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins, 978-0-439-02349-8

Comic Love

This is not about funny love affairs but instead love of the art form known as comics. I love them. I read the comics page in the paper every day. Why start your day with just the bad news? So when I found out about graphic novels, of course I was interested. And there are a lot of serious graphic novels that are wonderful. But what I really love are the goofy ones.

Just this week I discovered Jarrett J. Krosoczka's Lunch Lady, specifically Lunch Lady and the League of Librarians. Apparently this is the second in the series. Rest assured that I will be searching out all the rest of them. I didn't even notice there were others on the shelf. How could I look any further than a League of Librarians? Evil Librarians, at that. The idea was too delicious to pass up. Not that I have anything against librarians. I wanted to BE my elementary school librarian when I grew up. But librarians are always beatified in books for young readers and so how fun is it to have that turned on its head?

The Lunch Lady, her assistant, Betty, and a gang of three kids called The Breakfast Bunch solve mysteries around the school, foil evil plots, thwart criminals and use really cool gadgets made from things you'd find in a lunchroom. I really liked the spork communicator, for example. In this installment, they foil a plot by librarians to take over the world, starting by destroying a new video game system. Do I think the world would be a better place without video games? Possibly. But that's not really the point. Clearly we can't let librarians run amok.

Highly recommended for elementary school. Even middle school. Both my kids couldn't wait to get their hands on it.

Lunch Lady and the League of Librarians, by Jarrett J. Krosoczka, 978-0-375-84684-7

Science Fairs

Was Robin Brande a science geek (or maybe nerd is the right word?) when she was in school? Both her books have a strong science focus and science fairs come into play in both. Not that I have anything against geeks or nerds of any persuasion. After all, I blog about children's books that I read.

In Fat Cat, Cat is working on a science fair project for a very special science class. It is a class that focuses on creating interesting work for the fair, always engenders the winner of the fair and is a great thing to have on your college application. But instead of choosing a topic that interests the student herself, at the start of the year everyone is given a picture at random. That picture is to inspire a choice of topic for the fair project. Cat gets a picture of early humans and, at first, is totally uninspired. Then it hits her. This can be a vehicle for revenge against the boy who was once her best friend but has been her nemesis for many years. She will emulate the hominid life style--altering her diet and eschewing modern conveniences like cars--she will BE the science experiment. And she will end the year stronger, healthier, extremely fit (possibly thin for once in her life) and, most important of all, the winner of the science fair due to her unusual field of study.

Of course, nothing works exactly as planned but along the way Cat learns a lot about nutrition and exercise, a lot about the life of early humans, and a lot about human relationships in the here and now.

Highly recommended.

Fat Cat by Robin Brande, 9780375844492.

Football for the Non Sport Enthusiast

A while ago I read Chris Crutcher's book Deadline, a fabulous book about a dying boy who decides to go out for football. After all, what does he have to lose? I am not and never have been a football fan but when Gordon Korman's Pop came my way, I decided to give it a chance. After all, I liked Deadline so what did I have to lose? And once again the football was an important part of the story but not the whole story by a long shot. Marcus is new to town and really really wants to play football. But the team has been really successful and they don't want a new player. Hanging out in the park, Marcus meets an unusual man who is happy to throw the ball around with Marcus. In fact, he is happy to tackle Marcus the hardest he's ever been tackled, throw the ball almost harder than Marcus can catch and catch just about anything Marcus can throw. Soon Marcus has discovered that his new football playing friend is a former NFL player and the father of one of the guys who really doesn't want Marcus on the high school team. Full of surprising depths about dealing with long term illness, being true to your friends and taking the consequences of your actions. Recommended for upper elementary and middle school.

Pop, by Gordon Korman, 978-0-06-174230-9, coming out 8/25/2009

Old Friends

Browsing at Powell's, I looked as I always do for short stories by Joan Aiken. A small, forlorn hope still lives that I will find one of the two collections I checked out from our public library over and over again as a child. One was Not What You Expected and the other was The Faithless Lollybird (who could resist that title?) Even though I have looked repeatedly and never ever found a copy of anything remotely resembling those two books, I still look every time I am there. And this time--success! Of a sort. It's not either of those two but a new compilation of her stories from all across her career. I opened up Shadows & Moonshine and what story was in there? A Harp of Fishbones, that's what. One of the few stories I remembered very clearly. There are only five stories from my (as I like to think of them) books and two of the stories I especially remember are not there but those five are enough to make me very happy. And all the other stories have the same fairy tale quality I remember where almost anything could happen. Strange. Wonderful. Satisfying. Go on out there and read some short stories. Visit your library if you can't find any in a store.

Shadows & Moonshine, by Joan Aiken, 978-1-56792-346-9

Punk Fairies

Actually the fairies in Eyes Like Stars are not the same punk fairies as those in The Good Fairies of New York but reading that first will definitely get you in the right mood. Bertie lives in a theater with the fairies from Midsummer's Night Dream as friends. The stage manager, wardrobe mistress, props master and other important theater figures live there too as well as all the actors who only come out when a notice is left for them on the call board. As you can see, Eyes Like Stars takes place in a world much like the ones in plays--it looks familiar but it's not quite reality. Bertie is an orphan and although the theater is home it is a home where she doesn't really have a role. After causing one disaster too many, Bertie is told to prove that she is useful to the theater or she will have to leave forever. She decides to direct a new version of Hamlet proving herself useful as a director. But it is really as a playwright that she is able to solve the mystery of where she came from and save the theater from falling apart. For middle school, advanced readers in elementary school and anyone who likes Shakespeare.

Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev, 978-0-312-38096-0, July 2009.

Made me think of:
The Good Fairies of New York by Martin Millar (fairies)
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (watching a story unfold before you)

This just in--cake wrecking contest!!! Lisa Mantchev is holding a contest and you can win fabulous prizes. See here for details: http://www.theatre-illuminata.com/contest2.html

UnExpected

Paisley Hanover Acts Out came as a surprise. It was, in Paisley speak, UnExpected. The book comes packaged in a cute box with a hot pink and orange cover with a cartoony picture on front. Inside is the book and then a little notebook that I thought was blank but was really a copy of Paisley's notebook. Judging by the cover, it was going to be a cute, fun story about middle school with little cartoony drawings. It was a fun story. But it was more than that. First off, Paisley is a high school sophomore. Secondly, there were not cute little illustrations throughout the book (totally fine by me). And lastly, Paisley is struggling to be who she really is, not just who she thinks the world wants her to be. But now that she's invested a lot of herself in becoming popular suddenly deciding to make a shift is not so easy. This could have been just one of many stories about a girl deciding to think for herself but stands out from the herd because of Paisley's completely believable snarky voice--occasionally anguished, usually funny, always heartfelt.

Paisley Hanover Acts Out by Cameron Tuttle, 978-978-0-8037-3586-5

Stand Up for Something

Mena, the main character in Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature by Robin Brande, is starting high school. Instead of anticipation, she is feeling dread. After a letter she writes leads to everyone she has ever known and cared about, including her church, being sued, she is left without friends or a church. Even her parents aren't very cordial to her. Things start to look up when she gets to her biology class where her assigned lab partner is someone she's never met before--a chance to start fresh. Plus the teacher makes biology fun and compelling. But when the members of her former church youth group decide to take a stand against the teaching of evolution, Mena has to decide whether or not to take sides publicly.

I really liked this young adult book and would recommend it for middle and high school. It would be a great discussion book about standing up for what you believe in, thinking for yourself and telling the truth no matter what the cost.

Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature, by Robin Brande, 978-0-440-24030-3

Made me think of:
What Would Emma Do? by Eileen Cook

Special Kids

Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork is about a boy with Asperger's Syndrome. An extremely high functioning boy with autism who goes to work at his father's law office over the summer. Marcelo had hoped to work with the ponies at his private school for kids with special needs but his father wants him to face the "real world" before his last year of high school so it's off to the mail room for Marcelo. Forced to leave the sheltered world of school and home, Marcelo finds himself confronted with more than just navigating the public transportation system and learning how the copy machine works. Instead he finds himself embroiled in moral dilemmas and personal relationships.

Marcelo is an extremely compelling character and his story is an unusual one in the world of teen literature. He may not be able to comfortably look people in the eye but his special interest in theology has given him a way to analyze situations that would be unusual for any teen but one that seems especially remarkable for a person who is unused to interacting with people. Recommended for mature middle school, high school and adults who work with children.

Made me think of:
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time--another story about a boy on the autism spectrum

Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork, 978-0-545-05474-4

Mental Abuse, but Funny

Liam is Mr. Popularity. To his father, that is an insult. Because why be popular when you could be smart and successful? So even though Liam is good looking, friendly, a snappy dresser and a big help with his mother's retail business, he thinks of himself as a screwup. Hence the book's title: King of the Screwups by K. L. Going. After screwing up one too many times for his father, Liam is about to be shipped off to live with his repressive grandparents in Arizona. But then fate in the form of his cross-dressing, glam band rocker, radio dj uncle comes to the rescue. At first Liam doesn't feel very rescued. His uncle lives in an unkempt trailer in a small town. He doesn't like vegetables--a problem since Liam's a vegetarian. And he's not thrilled to have his nephew foisted on him. Even though this is a story about Liam gaining self-respect and understanding, it never feels formulaic. Liam has a unique voice and all the supporting characters are well drawn and interesting. As the reader, you know why Liam is Mr. Popularity and you never stop hoping he'll figure it out too.

King of the Screwups, a novel by K. L. Going, 978-0-15-206258-3

Riding Along

Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen is the story of Auden's summer after high school graduation. Auden has always been a very focused student and she comes to spend some time with her father and his new wife and baby at the beach with college text books in tow, planning to do a lot of prep work for the coming year. Slowly Auden finds herself being tugged into town life in this small beach community and starts on a quest to live all the experiences she missed in a childhood devoted to scholarship. At first she is just along for the ride but soon she is planning her own new route into adulthood. A Sarah Dessen book that I would recommend to adults as well as teens.

Couldn't Put It Down

Blade: Playing Dead by Tim Bowler, that is. Blade is a street kid with a history that is slowly but not completely revealed as the story moves along. Some time in his past, he did something that has caused him to lay low and not call attention to himself. But now his past is catching up to him. As he narrates his tale, you are drawn to him even when he refuses to paint himself in a flattering light. And even if he were completely unappealing the nonstop action would propel you through the story. I don't think I've ever finished a book feeling quite so breathless. Or with quite so many questions. I hear there will be a sequel. That is a very good thing.
Blade: Playing Dead, by Tim Bowler, 978-0-399-52186-3, coming May 2009

Reminded me of:
Alex Rider books by Anthony Horowitz somewhat but I can't think of another book off the top of my head with the same gritty, urban feel to it.

Sister Love

Lauren Myracle's Peace, Love & Baby Ducks is all about sisters, specifically sisters Carly and Anna. Almost all of their interactions are dependent on Carly being the big sister and Anna the younger. But then Carly comes back from a summer work study project to discover that not only is Anna about to start high school, but she's developed in a way that Carly never has. And suddenly she's getting attention at school because of Anna, instead of the other way around. As they redefine their relationship, both girls do some growing up and learn to see from the other's perspective. But this is really Carly's story. It's Carly whose friendships grow and develop during the story and Carly who has the aha! moments about her relationship with her parents. Although there is a little romance and a lot about friendship, this is ultimately a story about family. Recommended for middle and high school.
Peace, Love & Baby Ducks, by Lauren Myacle, 978-0-525-47743-3, available May 2009
Made me think of:
Mare's War by Tanita Davis (another sister story)
Let It Snow by Lauren Myracle, John Green and Maureen Johnson (this one is more about the romances but friendship and family are important too)
books by Sarah Dessen

Fairy Tales

Who doesn't like fairy tales? I can't think of anyone who does so it's no wonder there are lots of updated fairy tales out there. But it's fun to read a totally new fairy tale too. And that's what Patricia Wrede's Thirteenth Child is. As any reader of fairy tales can tell you, the seventh son of a seventh son is born to be a powerful magician. But did you know that the thirteenth child is supposed to be bad luck, a bringer of misery, someone to be avoided? At least that's the case in the world Eff and Lan are born into--Eff, the unlucky thirteenth, and Lan, her twin, the seventh son of a seventh son. But in Wrede's western style fairy tale, there is more than one kind of magic. When Eff's family moves out to the edge of the frontier, she meets a few people who challenge her ideas about the working of magic and mainstream magical traditions. She also learns to believe in herself and saves a whole community while she's at it. It looks like the beginning of a new series called Frontier Magic. I can't wait for more!
Thirteenth Child by Patricia C. Wrede, 978-0-545-03342-8, on sale in April 2009

Made me think of:
Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon Hale--a graphic novel that also features the melding of fairy tales and cowboy westerns
Dealing with Dragons by Patricia Wrede--another girl trying to make a place for herself outside the conventions of fairy tale world

Moral Dilemmas Come in All Sizes

Emma lives in a small town. Everyone knows not only who she is but it seems like they even know what she ate for dinner last night. She hopes a track scholarship will get her out of there by way of Northwestern University but in the meantime she has to navigate the stormy waters of her evangelical high school. Things weren't too bad until she made the mistake of kissing her best friend's boyfriend. True, she and Colin have been friends since they were both two giving Emma longer friendship rights with Colin than with Joann. But kissing Colin, even by accident, totally breaks the best friend code.

Then things get complicated. Colin and Emma witness a popular girl from school getting sick from drinks and drugs. They can't tell anyone because it would make Joann unhappy to know that Colin and Emma were out together, even if it was innocent, and because Emma could be kicked off the track team for being anywhere near where people were drinking. So they don't tell anyone. And that's where the complications really start. Girls start to faint at school and somehow the town becomes convinced that terrorists are poisoning them. Fingers are pointed at everyone who seems a little different or unconventional. Should Emma come clean with what she knows?

Recommended for middle and high school.

Made me think of:
North of Beauty by Justina Chen Headley--another story about a girl runner among other things
Converting Kate by Beckie Weinheimer--another story about a girl struggling with religious choices

What Would Emma Do? by Eileen Cook 9781416974321

Memories

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford is all about memories. Mostly Henry Lee's memories of coming of age during WWII in Seattle's International District. But also the packed up belongs of Japanese families who left to be interned. These turn up in the basement of the Panama Hotel in 1986--memories lost and not recalled until the day they start to renovate. Some of those belongings are still there and you can go have tea and look down at them through plexiglas sections in the floor. ( http://www.panamahotelseattle.com/)

The story is told in alternating times--the 1940's and 1986. In 1986, Henry is a lonely widower but the discovery of what was left behind in 1942 renews his interest in the world around him. In the 1940's, Henry is the lone Chinese face at exclusive Rainier Elementary and all his white classmates persist in thinking that he is Japanese and the enemy. Even his father's insistence that Henry wear a button saying "I am Chinese" does nothing to dissuade the school's bully to pick on Henry. When Keiko Okabe comes to Rainier as well, at first he wants nothing to do with her--she is the enemy after all. But then they come to be friends and eventually, first sweethearts.

Beautiful, heartbreaking and ultimately hopeful.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, by Jamie Ford, 978-0-345-50533-0, on sale in February. Recommended for high school and adults.

Reminded me of
Nisei Daughter by Monica Sone--a Japanese American woman recalls growing up in Seattle and leaving to be interned

A Book Through the Ages

Geraldine Brooks' The People of the Book is the story of a modern book conservator and the people who made and used a particular book through many ages. But truly it is the story of a particular book, a haggadah made in the middle ages and discovered in Sarajevo in 1986. It's story includes a Moorish slave in fifteenth century Spain who painted the pictures, a Jewish partisan in world war II Serbia, the museum curator in modern Sarajevo who saved it from burning and the Australian who comes to Sarajevo to inspect the book and help maintain it. The people live on in my mind weeks after I've finished the book. I think it would be of interest to high school students as well as adults.
It reminded me of:
The Birth of Venus, by Sarah Dunant
The Book Thief, by Marcus Zusak

Eager Magic

Today we will be talking about magic. Books about magic. Especially books about a group of ordinary children discovering magic. Remember Edward Eager? Half Magic, The Well-Wishers, The Time Garden? Old fashioned even when I read them as a kid, but they are still charming today. And then there's Any Which Wall by Laurel Snyder coming out in May this year. It's an homage to Eager in every possible way and made me eager (har) to do some re-reading. But Any Which Wall has plenty of charm of its own. Four kids--two from one family and two from another are on their own over the summer while parents are at work. Susan, the oldest is in middle school, and too cool to play any more, she only hangs out. Emma, the youngest, has just learned to ride her bike and is really trying to keep up with the big kids. Roy and Henry are in the middle--one more serious and the other more accident prone. And then they find the wall. At first they don't know how it works but they soon discover that it's magic and that's when their adventures begin. As they travel through space and time, they learn some lessons about themselves and in the end they have to say good bye to magic. And even if it's not the most thought provoking book I've read lately, it was a lot of fun and one I could recommend to any 2nd to 6th grader capable of reading it. Every book doesn't have to be War and Peace.
Made me think of:
All of Edward Eager's books
The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall
Any Which Wall by Laurel Snyder, 978-0-375-95560-3, on sale May 26, 2009

Wagons Ho!

Actually, Alvin Ho Allergic to Camping, Hiking and Other Natural Disasters by Lenore Look with pictures by LeUyen Pham is what I want to talk about. Alvin Ho, perpetual worrier, verbally precocious and member of the all around wonderful Ho family, is back. And this time his dad is going to take him camping. Now Alvin has a whole new slew of things to worry about: bears, getting lost, rain, spider bites, and how to explain all the emergency gear Alvin and his brother buy online using the emergency credit card. Pham's lively illustrations are a true enhancement to the story, not just an extra. Alvin, his friends, and family are fully realized characters. And the jokes are funny. What's not to love? Coming in June. 978-0-375-85705-8
Made me think of:
Junie B. Jones series, by Barbara Park
Marvin Redpost series, by Louis Sachar
Yang the Youngest and his Terrible Ear, by Lensey Namioka

This is Your Brain Reading

Proust and the Squid doesn't sound like it's going to be about reading and brain research but Maryanne Wolf's book is just that. It is a fascinating look at the history of reading--the development of written language, I should say; how we learn to read; what happens when the brain can't learn to read and what can be done about it. Does this sound dry? It isn't. I read it in only a couple of days and it's very rare for me to read nonfiction that fast. Did you know that Socrates thought that written language was a mistake? That it would interfere with our ability to truly understand a subject and make us all lazy learners. Did you know that when you first read a word your brain instantly thinks of all the meanings of that word before it picks the one that makes sense in context? And that preschoolers who are exposed systematically to rhyme and rhythm find it easier to learn to read? This is a book for anyone passionate about reading, how our brains work and the teaching of reading.
It made me think of:
Steven Pinkner's work