MARCH 31, 2008
Trouble by Gary D. Schmidt
“If you build your house far enough from Trouble, then Trouble will never find you.”
Fourteen-year-old Henry Smith lives with his hero, football playing brother Franklin, sister Louisa, and parents in Blythbury-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts, where his family has lived for generations. The nearby town of Merton, an old mill town is now almost completely inhabited by Cambodians, refugees from a horrific life of war and slavery.
Enter Trouble. Franklin is hit by a truck while running. Not just any truck. One belonging to a Cambodian family. Chay Chouan, who attends school with Franklin, although gallant in his efforts to save Franklin, is the final straw for the out-of-work white men who don’t think Cambodians are worthy of citizenship in America. Racial tension is at an all-time high at the high school and around town. The fact that Chay gets off with only the loss of his license doesn’t help matters. Or is that all?
When the school year ends, Henry heads out to climb Mt. Katahdin with his best friend Sanborn. It was something he was supposed to do with Franklin and the last words out of Franklin’s mouth before he died. Katahdin. They head out with Black Dog, the dog Henry finds drowning in the sea next to his house. But who’s going to pick up two boys and a dog and drive them to Maine? Maybe Chay who has been disowned by his father and is driving without a license? Only more Trouble could be on the way.
The well-rounded characters offer so much to this story. Sanborn and Henry, who pummel each other into the ground on more than one occasion and continually throw insults back and forth.
“Can you press your own weight?” asked Henry.
“With you on top of it.”
“Liar.”
“Fool.”
“Big butt.”
“Skinny runt.”
It almost becomes comical. Louisa, who lives in the shadow of her brothers although she is probably more athletic than either of them. Their father, who questions if Franklin would have grown into a good man, because he’s not sure he has the courage to hear a true answer.
Schmidt also manages to throw in a side story about an old ship that shows up on shore following a storm providing some family history that they might rather have stayed in the sea. It turns out that their house wasn’t built far away from Trouble at all.
This latest book by one of my favorite authors comes out in April. No two of Schmidt’s books are the same, and this one may be intended for the most mature audience yet. Teens in grades 7 and up will not be disappointed.
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MARCH 20, 2008
One Whole and Perfect Day by Judith Clarke
Set in contemporary Australia, this story of a "nearly freakish" family is something of a modern day fairy tale. Except for sensible Lily, each member of the Samson family is dysfunctional to say the least. Dad disappeared before Lily was born, Mum brings home needy folks from the adult day-care where she works. Brother Lonnie is irresponsible to the point that Pop, Lily's grandfather, threatens him with an ax if he changes majors at university again and Nan, Lily's grandmother, is often deep in conversation with an imaginary friend. As plans develop for Pop's eightieth birthday party, other characters are introduced, each one rather improbably providing notable lessening of the freakishness of the Samson family - Pop becomes more rational and less of a racist; Nan's imaginary friend is found to be a "real" person after all (one of Mum's take-homes from day-care); Lonnie becomes a more focused student when he falls in love with Clara; and most surprisingly, Lily's crush, Daniel Steadman, actually asks her out. By having the action narrated by the central character of each chapter, the author develops each in such a way that the reader finds the many coincidences and chance meetings enjoyable if not believable. A light read suitable for young teens.
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MARCH 17, 2008
One Good Punch by Rich Wallace
Mike dreams of being a college track star. He is captain of the High School track team, an editorial assistant at the local newspaper, the Scranton Observer, and all around good guy. Mike asks his friend Joey to get him a few joints so he and Shelly, his long time friend and possible girlfriend, can get high. Joey leaves four joints in Mike’s locker on a Friday night. Unfortunately for Mike, there is a drug sweep over the weekend at school and the drugs are found in his locker. If he tells who put the joints in his locker, he will destroy the trust between the two friends and ruin Joey’s life. If he doesn’t, he will be expelled from school and will ruin his life. If he is expelled, he can’t be on the track team, can’t graduate, and can’t go to college in the fall. Mike is faced with a dilemma; should he tell the truth or lie. And what is the truth?
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MARCH 16, 2008
Bone by Bone by Bone by Tony Johnston
David and Malcolm are best of buddies. They share many adventures outdoors including a quest to find the rumored stuffed confederate soldier’s arm hidden in Miss Grace’s house. Playing together inside isn’t an option as David and Malcolm live in Tennessee in the 1950’s when segregation was the social and legal law in the south. David begins to believe that his father is part of the Klan and will kill his black friend, Malcolm. As David discovers the nastiness of racism, he finds he does not agree with his father’s or great grandmother’s hateful behavior. David had always wanted to be a doctor like his daddy, but now he doesn’t want to be anything like him. This is a story of two boy’s friendship, family, segregation, and racism. There are no easy answers for David as he grows from boy to teen.
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MARCH 4, 2008
True Love, The Sphinx, and Other Unsolvable Riddles: A Comedy in Four Voices by Tyne O'Connell
What do you get when you take some high school boys from Manhattan and some high school girls from London and you send them a school vacation trip to Egypt? You get a romantic comedy, with a lot of mistaken identities and mixed-up romances of who likes whom. Octavia and Rosie, two of the British girls on the trip, are best friends, and the only thing on Octavia's mind is to "pull," or get really close to the boys. Rosie, on the other hand, actually wants to learn about Egypt, and although she likes boys, it isn't as much of a game with her as it is with Octavia. Those are the girls. The boys, Salah and Sam, are the American boys who have no trouble with girls, until they meet Octavia and Rosie. Salah, who is actually Egyptian born and is delighted to return to his homeland, is actually learning something along the way. Even though he likes girls, it was never really a game to him, the way it is with Sam. So, we have Octavia, Rosie, Sam and Salah. They all like each other, but each one secretly likes a different person. Confused? This is how it is, "Sam likes Octavia, Octavia likes Salah, Salah likes Rosie, and Rosie is pretending to like Sam, even though she really likes Salah. There are a lot of misunderstandings and some comedy of errors but eventually the right people get together with the right people This is a quick read, told from the point of view, of each of the four main characters. The readers gets to know each character and you realize there is more to Octavia than just "pulling" boys, that Rosie is a great composer, Salah is a real gentleman, and Sam does some growing up. Along with the four main characters, we also have the teachers, who are not always doing the teaching, and are often getting in trouble with the Egyptian security. Again, a fun book that will keep you laughing. Recommended for students in grades 7-10.
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