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