SEPTEMBER 26, 2011
The Janitor's Boy by Andrew Clements
5th grader Jack Rankin is a good kid who hardly ever causes trouble. So why does he plan the ultimate crime? To get back at his dad, that’s why! Who is Jack’s dad? The school janitor! Jack decides to put a huge wad of chewed up gum under a desk in the music room and thinks he won’t get caught. Unfortunately for Jack, he does get caught, and the punishment is made to fit the crime. For the next 3 weeks, Jack has to scrape all of the dried up gum from underneath the desks. Jack grumbles, but accepts the work. In time, Jack grows to appreciate his dad as he realizes how much work a janitor does in one school. He even learns to stand up to the bullies who tease him about his dad being a janitor. Jack learns how to clean off desks, and one day, as he is putting away the cleaning supplies, he discovers some old keys. One key goes to a bell tower, and the other to a steam tunnel. Jack sets out an adventure to find the steam tunnel. Will he find it? Will Jack come to understand his dad even more? Read this book to find out! Recommended for students in grades 3-5.
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SEPTEMBER 20, 2011
Aliens on Vacation by Clete Barrett Smith
12 year old Scrub is 2,000 miles away from Florida, in the state of Washington, in the middle of nowhere. He has to spend the summer with a grandmother he has never met, and her house is awfully strange. It looks like it has stepped out of a scene from a Star Wars movie. Grandma is a good lady, although a little odd.
Grandma runs The Intergalatic Bed and Breakfast, a vacation resort for aliens from outer space. Grandma refers to them as "tourists." Scrub is very busy helping Grandma with the "tourists." He assists them with their human disguises, buys odd groceries (such as tin foil and bleach) to satisfy the tourists' appetites, and plays with the alien children. Scrub does a good job, but often gets lonely for other human children his age.
Scrub befriends Amy, a sci-fi fan. There is even a little bit of romance between the two youngsters. Unfortunately, Amy's dad is the town sheriff and wants to shut down the inn.
Scrub does a good job of trying to hide the "tourists," identity, but due to a camp-out with alien children, Scrub inadvertently puts his grandma's business in jeopardy. Will Scrub save the day?
Well-written with so much humor and pathos, this was hard to put down. Many themes, such as prejudice, acceptance, and intergalatic peace are examined in this story. I am looking forward to the next installment in this new series. Recommended for grades 4-8.
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SEPTEMBER 20, 2011
Sylvia & Aki by Winifred Conkling
In a fictionalized blending of two real-life stories, author Winifred Conkling recounts the unique circumstances of the intertwined lives of Sylvia Mendez and Aki Munemitsu. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese in 1941, when west coast people of Japanese ancestry were sent to internment camps, Sylvia's family leased the truck farm which belonged to the Munemitsus. When Sylvia and her brothers tried to register at and attend the neighborhood school, they were told that being "Mexican" they had to go to the school close to the barrio. Sylvia's father hired a lawyer and spent years fighting this unfair decision. His determination contributed to the eventual striking down of school segregation. In the meantime, Sylvia's father allowed her to accompany him when he took the rent money to the Munemitsus at the camp. Aki and Sylvia thus became letter-writing friends. Through most of the war, the Japanese-Americans endured their separated, interrupted lives in the camps. Despite the facts that no Japanese citizen ever spied on the United States and even though many served honorably in the armed forces, not until 1945 were they released and allowed to return home. When Aki and her parents came back to resume farming, the friendship between Aki and Sylvia became the basis for a life-long relationship. Young persons in grades 4 - 6 will be introduced to two examples of citizens who worked within the system to change unfair governmental practices and to a friendship that endured for many years despite difficulties.
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SEPTEMBER 20, 2011
The Friendship Doll by Kirby Larson
In the early 1920's, American children sent 10,000 dolls to Japanese children for their doll festival. In gratitude, in 1927, Japan sent 58 nearly life-size dolls as ambassadors of friendship to the children of the United States. With this historical happening as background, author Larson creates the story of one doll's adventuresome journey across America. Miss Kanagawa begins as a somewhat stand-offish doll. but becomes warmer and more caring through her interactions with a succession of young ladies who affected her during the 1920's and '30's. Using five short stories to follow her development, readers are allowed to peek into the lives of girls of all social classes and backgrounds. Each character is well-drawn with behaviors and challenges that effectively mirror the years in which she is maturing. This book will appeal most strongly to third through fifth grade girls who are intrigued by a touch of magic as well as stories of long ago.
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SEPTEMBER 13, 2011
Small as an Elephant by Jennifer Richard Jacobson
10-year-old Jack from Boston is left alone at a campsite in Acadia National Park in Maine, when his mother abandons him, taking her tent, car, and food with her. They had argued the night before about stopping to see Lydia, the one elephant that lives in Maine. But mentioning the elephant throws his mother into a rage, causing one of the on-going spiraling episodes of her manic behavior. Since she has left him alone for days in the past, he keeps the secret so they won’t be separated by child services. He begins to search for her but gives up hope after a bar tender mentions that she told him she planned to board a sailing ship headed south, as in the Caribbean south. Jack begins to think about his survival, and how to avoid the obvious questions from adults about his mother's whereabouts and why he hadn't returned to school after Labor Day. Jack meets interesting people as the days pass, and has to resort to some activities that he wishes he didn't have to, such as stealing and hiding out overnight in stores. But he doesn't trust anyone as he attempts to walk home to Boston. The resolution at the end may be exactly what Jack does not want, and yet he does. Each chapter begins with a tidbit of information or a quote about elephants. This fast-paced survival story will appeal to readers in grades 5-8.
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SEPTEMBER 4, 2011
Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Secret UFOs by Donald J. Sobol
This is a new addition to the intriguing series of Encyclopedia Brown. True to the series style, ten year old Encyclopedia is the boy detective of the Brown family and the town of Idaville. His dad is chief of police in Idaville. Encyclopedia Brown charges 25 cents a day plus expenses for his professional services. In each of the ten chapters, Encyclopedia solves a mystery that gives you, the reader, the chance to follow along and play detective yourself. At the end of the chapter the reader is instructed to turn to a page number for the final thoughts and solution of Encyclopedia Brown's "wrap up" of the case. "Crooks are no match," including Bugs Meany's attempt to sell UFO photos as authentic Air Force photos, for this boy detective. Have fun reading and playing detective yourself. Let us know your thoughts about this book which is most suitable for readers in grades 1-3.
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SEPTEMBER 4, 2011
Adventures of the Mice of Brambly Hedge by Jill Barklem
This book depicts two delightful tales of the Lord and Lady Woodmouse family which includes their young, daughter mouse known as Primrose. As all the little mice of Brambly Hedge are preparing for winter by collecting from the delicious seeds, nuts and berries in the autumn woods of Brambly Hedge, Primrose gets separated from her parents. A big storm is approaching. Primrose is brave and her survival skills help her take care of herself until the mouse search party can locate Primrose.
In the second adventure, Primrose sets sail with another mouse family to visit the mice that live by the sea. The mice from Brambly Hedge need sea salt to preserve their harvest for winter. Primrose has never seen the sea. She is captivated by the life of the mice families that live by the sea and thoroughly enjoys her adventures. The vivid illustrations put the reader into the fantasy life of the mice families and their castles. This book is most suitable reading as a read aloud for preschool children and for those readers in Kindergarten through second grade.
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