I checked out the new novel, Hidden by Helen Frost, as I had so enjoyed the book Diamond Willow, another novel in verse by Frost. I was not disappointed.

This new book tells the story of two young teen girls, Wren and Darra, who arrive at the same camp one summer. Although relative strangers, they quickly realize that they are connected through the worst event in each of their own lives: Wren was unintentionally kidnapped as a 8 year old girl when Darra's father stole their family car after a botched robbery attempt.

Written in poetry form, the first half of the book tells about this childhood incident...Wren hiding in the back of the car, and later a boat in the garage, while Darra and her mother tried to grasp what was happening. When the girls connect at camp in the second half of the book, there are unresolved feelings--Wren is grateful as she knows that years earlier Darra brought her food and water, Darra is angry and sad about the loss of her father, in spite of his crime and abusive nature. Throught the summer, the girls work out this bond that neither of them chose, while keeping the secret from the other campers.

Both girls are likeable characters, and show strength in their own individual ways. Because of the poetry format...and somewhat suspenseful storyline, this is a fast read. I highly recommend this to tween, teen and adult readers.

This extremely well-written novel stars Marcelo Sandoval, a character who has a lot of Asperger-like proclivities, but who does not consider these indications of any kind of disability. The story follows his experience leaving the comfortable setting of his private school to work as an intern in his father's law office so he can experience (in the words of his father) the "real world."

A lot of what he learns about the "real world" is disheartening, but the beauty of this book is the privilege of following Marcelo's thought processes as he decides how to cope and adapt without losing himself.

This book leaves you committed to the idea that the opposite of normal is not necessarily abnormal, that sometimes what some call a "symptom" another may call a "gift," and that the "real world" needs more people like Marcelo.  

This book received a starred review in nearly every library journal where it was reviewed, as well as multiple awards. It is also on the 2011-12 Iowa Highschool Battle of the Books list, and will be a book discussion choice at the local book club,  LOL @ MHS, in November, 2011.

I just finished reading Wild Girl by Patricia Reilly Giff, which is on this year's Battle of the Books list for Lenihan/MACS and thought it was really a great book.

The novel tells the story of a spirited girl, Lidie, who is finally moving to the United States from a small farm in Brazil, to join her father and her older brother. Lidie was left behind to live with her aunt and uncle, while her father worked in the horse training and racing industry to build a life after Lidie's mother died.

Lidie is so excited to finally be united with Pai (her father), and her brother Rafael, but the transition is harder than she imagined. Much like the filly, Wild Girl, Lidie has been taken away from everything she'd ever known and thrust into a strange world.

While there is a horse on the cover of this book, and life on a horse ranch is part of the plotline, the real story here is how Lidie begins to know her father and brother again and find her place in her new world. I think people of all ages would enjoy this story.

I recommend Word After Word After Word by Patricia MacLachlan. It is a very short chapter book, but I think people of all ages would enjoy it (elementary through adult.) It is pretty much about how everybody has something unique to say...and has a story inside them to write.

MacLachlan, who wrote the Sarah Plain and Tall series, among other books, is a very poetic writer. Her sparse words always have a powerful impact. I also love her two picture books: All the Places to Love and What You Know First.

I think Word After Word After Word would also make a good read-aloud for a family, or a classroom, especially tied in with a creative writing unit or activity.

There are very few negative reviews on this blog because I rarely keep reading a book that I don't like, after I feel I have given it a fair shot. Recently, though, I read Burned by Ellen Hopkins, a teen novel written in verse. Since I had to write questions for the Iowa Battle of the Books competition, I had to finish reading it.

I was surprised that I found so little to appreciate with this title, because I have heard such great things about the author, and especially her most famous book, Crank. I expected an edgy, angsty, instense read. Instead, I felt offended by the narrow and cliched portrayal of the Mormon community and especially of an abusive household and domestic violence victims. I felt like the author's messages about nuclear waste disposal (while an important issue) was out of place and overtly didactic. I also thought the romance and sexuality felt pretty false. With the exception of Pattyn, the main character, the characters felt two dimensional.

I'd say pass on this one.

This short but simply profound book reminds me how much I love Sharon Creech. Narrated by an angel who lives in a tower in Casa Rosa, Italy, the story is not only funny, but really poignant.

The angel speaks in a really endearing way--with confused words and grammar telling of all kinds of observations about "peoples." A favorite quote of mine would be the angel's comment on people's obsession with time: "Listen. You hear any ticking? No. You hear the world just being the world . You see any clocks in the sky? You see calendars on the trees?" (p. 84)

The angel--who is a little unsure of purpose or mission--is befriended by Zola, a girl who, for some reason, can see the angel when others can't and is often imploring, "Do something, angel." Together, Angel and Zola help the "hungry childrens" and revitalize and bond the aging community they live in.

This would make a great read-aloud--as would probably every book Sharon Creech has written. What great storyteller for all ages.

I just read an excellent book by writer and poet Benjamin Alire Saenz: He Forgot to Say Goodbye. This novel alternately tells the story of Jake and Ramiro, two teenage boys whose fathers had each abandoned their families years earlier.

The guys have a lot of differences between them: Jake is rich, Ramiro is poor; Jake is white, Ramiro is Latino; Jake is an only child, Ramiro has a very troubled brother, Tito. However, the loss each of these narrators feels in having fathers who walked out is very similar, and later on in the book when both are dealing with new family problems, their paths intersect and they become friends. They also share a friendship with Alejandra, an outspoken girl who Ramiro has grown up with.

I think that readers who liked Looking for Alaska or I Am the Messenger (two of my favorites!) would really like this book..I can picture Miles (Alaska), Ed (Messenger), and the guys from He Forgot to Say Goodbye sitting around hanging out.

My only complaint about this otherwise excellent book is that the cover art is really misleading...there is no young child in the story....and from the recollections by Jake and Ramiro of their own absent fathers....the picture doesn't seem to fit at all.

I recently Behind You, by Jacqueline Woodson. I guess it is a sequel to If You Come Softly....but I didn't even know that until after I read it.

Woodson is such a poetic writer. I have loved every book I have read by her (including Newbery winner Feathers, Miracle's Boys, I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This, and her picture books, Show Way and Coming On Home Soon). She has many more published books, as well. 

Behind You takes place after Jeremiah (who goes by Miah), was shot and killed by a police officer. Each chapter is a different voice those who love him: his girlfriend, Ellie, his mom Nelia, his father, his best friend, his basketball teammate, and even his grandmother, who he has joined in the afterlife.

This is a very short, but very moving, read, highly recommended to kids, teens, and adult. It is a book about death that says a lot about life.

After so many people, adults and students, recommended this title, I finally read Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen. The story of angry and violent Cole, the book begins right after he has beaten a fellow student unconscious, leaving his victim hospitalized with permanent damage. As an alternative to jail time, Cole's probation officer proposes "Circle Justice," which results in Cole's banishment to a remote Alaskan island.

This story is a suspenseful survival tale that fans of Hatchet would enjoy. While the portrayal of Peter, the victim, was a little two-dimensional, this book held my attention, as well as contained valuable messages about the cycle of violence, the power of forgivemess, and the meaning of justice.

For those who have already read this book, a fairly new sequel is available, Ghost of Spirit Bear. And thanks to the students in the 2008-09 reading class of Leah Mattox at Lenihan who chose a book to collect donation money for, the library has an extra copy of this title.

I recommend the novel, The Nine Lives of Travis Keating by Jill MacLean. Summary from our online catalog: "After his mother's death, Travis Keating and his father move to Ratchet, Newfoundland, to start a new life. Things are tough for Travis (Hud, the school bully, being the toughest) until, putting aside his own problems, he starts to care for a colony of feral (wild) cats."

This book reminded me of Because of Winn Dixie, since Travis' involvement with the cats serves as a catalyst to his friendships with grumpy old guy, Abe Murphy, and classmate, Prinny, who has a difficult homelife.

This is a great story about friendship, dealing with loss, as well as a good read for animal lovers. I could really put myself in Travis' place in the bond he feels with the cats, and the passion he feels in protecting them.

I just finished reading Do You Know the Monkey Man? by Dori Hillestad Butler. I wanted to read it after hearing from so many Battle of the Books readers that it was a favorite, plus the author lives in Coralville, Iowa.

It was an interesting story about a Sam, a girl who is determined to track down her father, who she hadn't seen or heard from since she was three years old. Her parents divorced shortly after her twin sister, Sarah, drowned in a boating accident. But evidence starts piling up suggesting that maybe her sister is still alive....and Sam wants to find out, no matter what. She especially wants to see her father before her mother and Bob, her fiancee get married.

This story is suspenseful, and you will get caught up in Sam's search.

 

I just finished reading Iowa author Carol Gorman's newest book, Games: A Tale of Two Bullies, and I would recommend this to kids and as a class read-aloud, especially to highlight the issues of conflict and bullying.

Games tells the story (alternating between the first person perspectives) of Mick and Boot, two middle school boys who keep getting in trouble for fighting. The new school principal decides to make the boys meet daily to play games, in the hopes that this will force them to get along.

This book was a good read...you are really rooting individually for the boys, and are able to watch them as they begin to learn to understand each other. The story is also suspenseful...both because of the aftermath of some misguided "dares" they undertake, mostly to "save face" in front of a manipulative popular girl....as well as because of each boy's difficult home life situation.

Overall, the resolution is uplifting, and reminds me of a favorite Plato quote of mine: "Be kind, for everyone is having a hard battle."

 

For a light, quick, and funny read, I recommend this new book by Peggy Gifford, Moxy Maxwell does NOT love Stuart Little.

The whole book takes place the last day of summer--a summer during which Moxy was supposed to read Stuart Little by E.B. White. Her twin brother, Mark already finished this assignment the very FIRST day of summer, but Moxy has procrastinated, and continues to do so on this last day, even though her Mom has said she won't be able to go to the synchronized swimming party after their recital.

Moxy goes to great lengths to do everything BUT read this book, including a room cleaning that involves shoving everything under her bed, and an ill-advised plan to start her own peach orchard.

One of the best thing about this book are the funny chapter titles (like "Chapter 23: In Which Moxie's Mother slams the door behind her, which is very unlike her) and the great photographs of all the activity that her brother Mark documents along the way.

Moxy is just that kind of protagonist that is very loveable, if a little crazy...the perfect kind!

In preparation for our Judy Moody Party and DEAR Day (mascot, Ramona Quimby) party in April, I read a few chapter books for younger readers. I read Judy Moody, who is in a bad mood, a really, really bad mood; Ramona, Quimby, Age 8, and Stink, the Incredible Shrinking Kid.

I wanted to recommend, above all, Ramona Quimby, Age 8, because it was really funny...including when Ramona smashes a raw egg on her forehead in the middle of the lunchroom at school (you'll understand the confusion when you read the book!) Judy Moody and Stink books are also fun reads, about third grader Judy Moody--who wants to be a doctor when she grows up, and has a best friend named Rocky, a boy who lives by her--and her younger brother Stink, who tries his best to keep up with his sister, but is also worried about his short stature.

Also, check out a special list of recommended first chapter books with series characters, available on a bookmark at the library. Also, we have a few Judy Moody backpack dolls, and Stink moon rock packs and I will give them away to local kids who let me know they have seen this blog, by emailing me, Joa, at mtownlibrary@yahoo.com by June 1, 2008.

Send me a message and I will email you back and let you know you can come an pick up your prize!

 

I would really recommend the novel Red Kayak by Priscilla Cummings for all kinds of readers. This title, which is on the Iowa Teen Choice Award list for 2008-09, tells the story of Brady Parks, who gets a lot of attention when he rescues a young neighbor boy after a kayak capsizes in rough waters. Events turn tragic and suspenseful when Brady realizes that the sinking of the kayak was not accidental. He is faced with some really hard decisions about right and wrong, as well as the meaning of friendship.

This is one of those books that pulls you in from the very beginning and you just want to keep reading. I gave it to my husband Terry, who likes to read exciting adventure kinds of books, and he read it nearly straight through. My only complaint about this book is that the cover art and title don't convey what a great story is inside.

I really enjoyed reading Barbara O'Connor's How to Steal a Dog, a chapter book geared toward  middle to upper elementary - middle school readers about a girl named Georgina Hayes.

I love great first lines in novels and O'Connor doesn't disappoint: "The day I decided to steal a dog was the same day my best friend, Luanne Godfrey, found out I lived in a car." 

Georgina doesn't want to steal a dog, which she knows is wrong, but after seeing a $500 reward poster that gave her the idea, she figures it might be the only way she can come up with enough money to enable her mother find them somewhere to live.

Georgina, her mother, and her little brother Toby lost their apartment after their father left without a good-bye. Georgina's mother is working two jobs and the kids are trying their best to manage: eating out of a cooler in the car and using gas station and restaurant restrooms for washing up before school. Georgina begins her plan of stealing a dog by writing down step-by-step instructions. She lets her brother in on the plan and they find the perfect dog to steal: Willy, a little mutt terrier whose owner adores him.

After they befriend the owner, Camilla, the kids learn she isn't rich (like they thought), they undertake the uncomfortable role of helping her find her dog. Georgina then has to figure out how to resolve this mess she has created.

This book deals with some serious issues....but is written in a very relatable and light-hearted way. You will be rooting for Georgina, just as much as you will be wanting little Willy home again.  

Colibrí is a fiction novel about Rosa, who was taken from her parents in Guatemala City at the age of four, and has been living with "Uncle" who makes his living by running scams ever since.

Rosa, whose real name is Tzunún--and whose mother used to call her the nickname "Colibrí" which means "hummingbird" in Spanish--hates participating in the dishonest schemes of Uncle, but knows no other way to survive.

When she meets Doña Celestina, who tells Uncle's fortune, Rosa begins to think that it might be possible to choose a different path for her life...a path that leads her back to her true name and her own true nature.

When Uncle makes a plan with his opportunist friend Raimundo, Rosa makes a harrowing decision to be true to herself and what she knows is right.

This book has some great writing, and gives a taste of the culture of Guatemala. The theme of this book is summed up by the symbology of the Colibrí --a beautiful fragile hummingbird, but a species known as a fierce fighter for survival.

I was excited to see that Pictures of Hollis Woods, a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, starring Sissy Spacek and Alfrie Woodard, aired Sunday, December 2. Patricia Reilly Giff wrote the Newbery award winning novel, Picture of Hollis Woods, a favorite book of mine.

I highly recommend this book to all ages--including adults--for the great story and Giff's poetic writing style that makes it particiularly powerful.

Hollis is named after the Woods where she was found abandoned as a baby. Shuffled from foster home to foster home, she ends up feeling needed for the first time in her life by her most recent caretaker, Josie, an artist who is showing signs of dementia. Hollis, who is very artistic herself, feels a bond with Josie, even as she mourns the loss of the other home she thought would become her forever family. The reason why she left the other home is a mystery that unfolds throughout the book.

This book is available for check-out at the library, and is also available on both audio CD and audiocassette.

I just re-read Are You There, God? It's Me Margaret by Judy Blume, which was a favorite book of mine, by my favorite elementary through middle school author, Judy Blume. I probably read it 50 times as a kid. I still really enjoyed it and would really recommend it, especially to a girl who is going through some of the same kinds of "growing up" things that Margaret deals with.

There are details that seem a little old-fashioned, but the same kinds of feelings will always be experienced by "tweens"  (older kids who are not quite "children" but not quite teen-agers..they are in be-"tween")...things like worrying if you are normal or if you are growing up (or growing in the right places!) faster or slower than other kids your age, worrying about getting along with friends, etc. Also Margaret's parents were different religions when they were married...Jewish and Christian...and she doesn't know where she fits into all that....whether she's one or the other, both or none.  

For a book about the same kinds of things, but from a boy's perspective...try Then Again, Maybe I Won't (another favorite of mine by Judy Blume.)