RICBA Nominees 2016

Kinda Like Brothers by Coe Booth
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow. We need more books like this in my schools. So real, so fresh, so true ... Coe Booth doesn't sugar-coat anything. I appreciate that Jarrett makes bad decisions and then has to deal with the consequences. His emotions are spot-on.




El Deafo by Cece Bell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So well done. Also reminded me that I'd never want to be a kid again.






Neighborhood Sharks: Hunting with the Great Whites of California's Farallon Islands by Katherine Roy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This should be a model for how to write nonficton for lower grades! Super interesting, fantastic illustrations, not too much information, but definitely a lot of facts to absorb. Can't wait to share with my kids.


Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Oh, Albie.

Newbery criteria mentions "distinguished" a lot, which I know is not the same as "distinctive," but Graff has created a unique character here in that he is in fact NOT distinctive. He's just kind of stumping along in a below average way. And by the end, he's kind of ok with that (although disappointed to not be diagnosed with a reading disorder, because that would have made his parents feel better).

In a society where the pressure is on to not only keep up but edge out, and in a literary landscape full of precocity and amazing talents, this book stands apart.

It reminded me of an article a friend sent me last week, titled "You Don't Have a Purpose." She said it made her feel relieved - it encourages the reader to find a career or life they love, but tells them to stop wasting energy looking for a Purpose with a capital P. Kind of like how Donut Man doesn't HAVE to have superpowers. He can just be a nice guy who likes donuts. Be nice. Choose kind. That's enough.


Death by Toilet Paper by Donna Gephart
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book deals with a lot more serious issues than you'd think from the cover - death, eviction, dementia. But they're handled pretty well by the author, and the main character's optimism avoids being Pollyanna-ish. I also really liked all of the toilet paper facts at the beginning of each short chapter ... but does the average person REALLY go 6-8 times a day? (Actually, my boyfriend just said he thinks he goes 10 times, so I guess we average out to the stat ... )


Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is one of those books on the list that I picked up reluctantly ... a girl with Aperger's and her dog? Not my favorite topics. But I really really really liked it. Rose's narration was matter-of-fact yet sweet, and I loved that she tried to find solutions to her problems.



The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm still kind of confused as to how the tree came to be, but I enjoyed the storytelling. Speaking of which:

p. 207: "Stories come in all different kinds. ... There's tales, which are light and fluffy. Good for a smile on a sad day. Then you got yarns, which are showy - yarns reveal more about the teller than the story. After that there's myths, which are stories made up by whole groups of people. And last of all, there's legends." She raised a mysterious eyebrow. "Legends are different from the rest on account noone knows where they start. Folks don't tell legends; they repeat them. Over and again through history."

p. 214: "You asked me for a story; now you call it a lie." She folded her arms. "So tell me, then: what marks the difference between the two?" ... "A lie hurts people," she finally answered. "A story helps 'em."


Kate Walden Directs: Night of the Zombie Chickens by Julie Mata
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Realistic portrayal of middle-school friendship woes. Alas, I'm not sure if any of my kids will read it; in going over the RICBA titles, they're getting all excited about the zombie part of the title ... once they realize it's not about zombies, I fear they will abandon it.



Joltin' Joe DiMaggio by Jonah Winter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Winter's style is going to make for an easy readaloud. Lively and informative.





Star Stuff: Carl Sagan and the Mysteries of the Cosmos by Stephanie Roth Sisson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is going to make for some fantastic lessons next year.


Loot by Jude Watson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A decent addition to the middle-grade heist genre, but I felt like it started getting sloppy near the end. I would buy for the collection, though, for those kids who like adventure.




The Red Pencil by Andrea Davis Pinkney
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A children's novel in poems that are actually "poetic" is a rare thing these days. Unfortunately, the very quality I appreciate may be a turnoff to my students.





Little Green Men at the Mercury Inn by Greg Leitich Smith
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was totally on board - even with wonky science "explanations" - until the big reveal on page 157. Then things got bonkers.





Another Day as Emily by Eileen Spinelli
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I greatly enjoyed Suzy's attempts to go recluse. I did not, however, enjoy "the verse" ... another occurrence, to me, of an author just sticking returns throughout their sentences.



Winter Bees & Other Poems of the Cold by Joyce Sidman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I preferred the factual information to the poems.


Life of Zarf: The Trouble with Weasels by Rob Harrell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

For me as a reader, this was just ok. But my kids are going to LOVE it. Adventure, bad jokes, cartoon illustrations ... they will eat it up.

I did appreciate this description on p. 11: "If there were a Stress Olympics, he'd take the gold all day long - but then he'd probably drop dead from a panic attack on the winners' podium."


Mr. Ferris and His Wheel by Kathryn Gibbs Davis
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I was distracted by the separate background information, which was presented in a different font in a corner of the double-page spreads. I wish it had been woven into the main text.


The Map Trap by Andrew Clements
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I was looking forward to doing this as a RICBA readaloud and tying in lots of maps and data visualization ... and then came the (kind of) reveal of the thief/blackmailer. Ew. Ruined it.




The Swift Boys & Me by Kody Keplinger
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Pretty realistic look at the ebbs and flows of friendships.

Issue: Why is a character self-described as "chubby" portrayed by a tall skinny girl on the cover?



The Vanishing Coin by Kate Egan
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Lackluster. But fills a void - easy illustrated chapter books for kids older than age 7.

What's the Most Important Thing?

It's a question I ask myself every morning when I walk into one of my libraries and am overwhelmed by the crazy amount of work in front of me for the day: What's the most important thing?

And lately I've been asking it not just in the context of my daily to-do list, but my entire mission as a school librarian.

Reality bites

After I left the corporate world, library grad school led me to believe that I would spend my time working with classroom teachers to devise high-order-thinking research projects with tech-heavy final products. Not so much.

source: pixgood.com

There's just no time for this kind of collaboration - I'm split between two schools, have 31 classes to keep track of at 9 grade levels with students who range in age from 3-12, lack access to enough computers for a full class (up to 28 students), and only see the kids for 30 minutes a week. (On top of that, because of the short periods, week 1 is a lesson week and week 2 is a checkout week.) Even trying to coordinate library time with classroom projects already in progress doesn't work very well if kids' notes are due on Thursday and I only see them on Fridays.

I've tried library-time-only sustained research projects, but they were a disaster. Even if kids were working together and sharing laptops, by the time they had reviewed their work from the last time, gotten online, and managed to find a trustworthy web site (many couldn't even get this far), class was just about over. Gathering a couple of facts a week - even during those checkout weeks - does not make for momentum.

Seeing what other librarians post on Twitter or share via articles was making me depressed, until a colleague in another district revealed that the amazing projects she was tweeting out were the result of enrichment "boost blocks": three 45-minute periods a week for six weeks. 810 minutes. I have 600 instructional minutes A YEAR with my kids.

source: popsugar.com

So it would take AN ENTIRE YEAR PLUS SUMMER SCHOOL for me to do what I feel my job should really be. Leaving no time for reader's advisory, digital citizenship, or just reteaching the kids (AGAIN) how the catalog works and where to find call numbers on the shelf.

Ok. Reality check. Until changes are made to the system, I cannot achieve the ideal. So what value CAN I bring to my students, with the time and resources we're given, that will have a lasting impact?

Read me a story

As Common Core standards have been put into practice, I've become concerned about my students being able to just ENJOY a text without having to parse it for theme, author's purpose, evidence, etc. Yesterday I read the cover story of the most recent issue of American Educator - "For the Love of Reading: Engaging Students in a Lifelong Pursuit" by Daniel T. Willingham - and I share Willingham's concern "that children might confuse academic reading with reading for pleasure. If they do, they will come to think of reading as work, plain and simple."

source: randomhouse.com

When I heard that I would be thrown out of my libraries at both schools for three weeks in March because they were needed for PARCC testing, I let my principals and classroom teachers know that I would be throwing out my planned lessons and doing readalouds instead. The reaction was pretty universal: "Oh, my kids love readalouds. It's one of their favorite parts of the day."

I was relieved to have no pushback and set about choosing the books I would read.

At one school, author Mark Tyler Nobleman is coming to speak during Reading Week, so I am sharing his Boys of Steel and Bill the Boy Wonder with grades 3-6. They spurred some great discussions about intellectual property - a topic in my curriculum.

source: amazon.com

For 6th grade at my other school, I went with Newbery-winner The Crossover by Kwame Alexander. The students had played the annual basketball game against another elementary school the prior week, so I thought it would hold their attention. About 10 minutes into the book, a student (who has read nothing but Sports Illustrated for Kids all year) asked me if he could check the book out.

On a colleague's recommendation, I chose Jon Sciezska's Knucklehead for 5th grade. Noisy and rambunctious themselves, they loved hearing his crazy stories about growing up. It only took 5 minutes for me to hear a student tell his friend, "I am so getting this book out of the library."

Obviously, these readalouds were a success.

Checking it out 

source: blogs.slj.com

But here's the thing. I've put Knucklehead out on display before. When I pointed out to the 5th graders who wanted to borrow it that it's been in the library their entire elementary school lives, one student said, "Oh, yeah, I saw it, but I never picked it up."

How do I get kids to pick up the books?

On checkout weeks, I'm overwhelmed. Especially on a day where I see 8 classes - more than 200 kids - it's all I can do to keep up with the returns, the holds, the ILLs, and the circulation desk traffic. I make personalized suggestions when I can, especially if someone turns in their library card without taking anything out. But that's usually in the last 30 seconds, as their class is trailing out the door, and the next group is coming down the hall. The response is usually, "Maybe next time," and then two weeks later we have the same exchange.

So I'm starting to think ... why not give over more of our "lesson" time to booktalking? To exploring resources for figuring out what to read next? To creating reading plans?*

source: nationalpost.com

Kids are going to be taught the research process in middle school and high school. They will receive training in web searching, note taking, and paraphrasing, among a plethora of other skills. But will they receive training in choosing a book for recreational reading?

I know some teachers might assign pleasure reading in the upper grades, but as Willingham notes, "If a teacher makes pleasure reading a requirement (10 minutes per night, say) or demands accountability (by keeping a reading log, for example), she risks sending the message that reading is nothing students would do of their own accord." He also states that tracking the number of books or pages a student has read "puts too much emphasis on having read rather than on reading."

So what if my goal for each student next year is this:

source: one-story.com

Find a book you love.

And I mean LOVE - a book you want to marry, a book you think everyone you know should read, a book you could dance about.

Is this a goal that can be made into a Student Learning Objective for my evaluation? I'm not sure.

But is it the most important thing? Maybe.


* Idea from my colleague Melanie Colangelo Roy

RI Mock Newbery 2015 - Final Voting List

My favorites are at the top.

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Strong voice, lots of true emotions. After discussion and reflection, I upped my rating to a 5.





Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am highly critical of novels in verse ... this one passes the test. Woodson delineates her childhood - and her struggle with her family's North v. South identity - through more than 300 pages of often searing poetry.

Choice lines:

p. 69
"As the switch raises dark welts on my brother's legs / Dell and I look on / afraid to open our mouths. Fearing the South / will slip out or / into them."

p. 129
"But are hearts aren't bigger than that. / Our hearts are tiny and mad."

p.176
"It's hard to understand / the way my brain works - so different / from everybody around me. How each new story / I'm told becomes a thing / that happens, / in some other way / to me ...!

Keep making up stories, my uncle says.
You're lying, my mother says.

Maybe the truth is somewhere in between / all that I'm told / and memory."

p. 226
"But I don't want to read faster or older or / any way else that might / make the story disappear too quickly from where it's settling / inside my brain, / slowly becoming / a part of me."


The Riverman by Aaron Starmer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

First off, I have to say that the writing was brilliant. Wow. A plus to Starmer for his command of language.

And the plot was sophisticated and fascinating; I was full of delicious dread for a lot of it. Perfect for middle schoolers - eerie and hints of illicit activity.

But the ending. Meh. I don't want to have to read two more books to have explained. So 4 stars in terms of Mock Newbery consideration.

But 5 stars for the reading experience. Please don't let me down with the sequel.


Upside Down in the Middle of Nowhere by Julie T. Lamana
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Powerful stuff. Talk about delineation of setting ...






Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Oh, Albie.

Newbery criteria mentions "distinguished" a lot, which I know is not the same as "distinctive," but Graff has created a unique character here in that he is in fact NOT distinctive. He's just kind of stumping along in a below average way. And by the end, he's kind of ok with that (although disappointed to not be diagnosed with a reading disorder, because that would have made his parents feel better).

In a society where the pressure is on to not only keep up but edge out, and in a literary landscape full of precocity and amazing talents, this book stands apart.

It reminded me of an article a friend sent me last week, titled "You Don't Have a Purpose." She said it made her feel relieved - it encourages the reader to find a career or life they love, but tells them to stop wasting energy looking for a Purpose with a capital P. Kind of like how Donut Man doesn't HAVE to have superpowers. He can just be a nice guy who likes donuts. Be nice. Choose kind. That's enough.


Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is one of those books on the list that I picked up reluctantly ... a girl with Aperger's and her dog? Not my favorite topics. But I really really really liked it. Rose's narration was matter-of-fact yet sweet, and I loved that she tried to find solutions to her problems.



Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker by Patricia Hruby Powell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Too long for a Mock Caldecott readaloud, but I will be purchasing for the collection. Months later: Yay, it made the RI Mock Newbery list! Lively, entertaining, and interesting ... like Ms. Baker herself.



The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing by Sheila Turnage
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I didn't think there would REALLY be a ghost! That may help get some of my students to read it. Turnage writes about her kooky characters with verve:

p. 85 - Nobody knows for sure if Sal actually files taxes. Dale and me suspect she fills out the forms for fun, same as Miss Lana does Sudoku.

p. 186 - "I hope he ain't run over by ghosts," Dale whispered, slapping at a mosquito. "That would be hard to explain at the emergency room."

p. 286 - "I'd love to stay and enchant you further" ...

p. 334 - "I only ask because I hate change unless it's my idea. I need time to overprepare."

Also LOVE the references to social skills.

Dory Fantasmagory by Abby Hanlon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Adorable.





View all my reviews The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm still kind of confused as to how the tree came to be, but I enjoyed the storytelling. Speaking of which:

p. 207: "Stories come in all different kinds. ... There's tales, which are light and fluffy. Good for a smile on a sad day. Then you got yarns, which are showy - yarns reveal more about the teller than the story. After that there's myths, which are stories made up by whole groups of people. And last of all, there's legends." She raised a mysterious eyebrow. "Legends are different from the rest on account noone knows where they start. Folks don't tell legends; they repeat them. Over and again through history."

p. 214: "You asked me for a story; now you call it a lie." She folded her arms. "So tell me, then: what marks the difference between the two?" ... "A lie hurts people," she finally answered. "A story helps 'em."


Zane and the Hurricane: A Story of Katrina by Rodman Philbrick
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

History classes need to ease up on the details of every explorer and colonial governor, and start jumping ahead to more recent and relevant events.

I don't think I really understood just how horrendous conditions were in the first few days after Katrina until I read this and "Upside Down in the Middle of Nowhere." It is unconscionable that initial relief efforts were so piss poor in a country of wealth and weather warnings.

Will be adding this one to the collection.

The Mark of the Dragonfly by Jaleigh Johnson
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

At our Mock Newbery discussion, some people praised the world-building, but I thought it was lacking. For example, the mention at the end of the special coating on the objects that fell from the sky didn't make any sense.




Nest by Esther Ehrlich
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

So much in this book was too subtle for kid readers. I feel like there are two types of children's books being published these days: books to actually entertain children, and books to impress adult Newbery voters. This falls into the latter.




Revolution by Deborah Wiles
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I really wanted to like it, but it draaaaaaaaaagged. To the point that with 100 pages to go, I'm returning it to the library.





The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher by Dana Alison Levy
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Just because a family has two dads and four adopted kids doesn't make them all that interesting. I didn't get a true sense of anyone's personality; the omniscient narration seemed all over the place, and I didn't really care about any of the characters. I did, however, like the short notes that started each chapter. That was a nice touch. Maybe if the entire book had been epistolary, I would have liked it more.

RI Mock Newbery 2015 - December Reads

I will be adding to the list as I make my way through the nominees ... favorites closest to the top.


Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is one of those books on the list that I picked up reluctantly ... a girl with Aperger's and her dog? Not my favorite topics. But I really really really liked it. Rose's narration was matter-of-fact yet sweet, and I loved that she tried to find solutions to her problems.



Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker by Patricia Hruby Powell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Too long for a Mock Caldecott readaloud, but I will be purchasing for the collection. Months later: Yay, it made the RI Mock Newbery list! Lively, entertaining, and interesting ... like Ms. Baker herself.


Caminar by Skila Brown
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I read this over the summer and didn't put any comments at the time. I'm hard-pressed to think of any now ... I remember that it was in "verse," and it involved guerillas. It wasn't bad, it wasn't great.




How I Discovered Poetry by Marilyn Nelson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

When I ordered this from the library, I noticed that it was catalogued in a ton of different places at different buildings - children's, YA, adult, poetry, memoir ... it definitely doesn't belong in a children's room. The subject matter will go flying over their heads. We agreed at our Mock Newbery meeting, though, that many of the poems could be used in high school history classes.


Egg and Spoon by Gregory Maguire
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

At first, I loved this book. I found Maguire's writing delightful, and wanted to know what would happen. And then Baba Yaga showed up. Ugh. And then everybody met up again and the egg went missing and I was bored. Returned to the library after making it through 400 pages.


Nest by Esther Ehrlich
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

So much in this book was too subtle for kid readers. I feel like there are two types of children's books being published these days: books to actually entertain children, and books to impress adult Newbery voters. This falls into the latter.




View all my reviews Revolution by Deborah Wiles
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I really wanted to like it, but it draaaaaaaaaagged. To the point that with 100 pages to go, I'm returning it to the library.





The Key That Swallowed Joey Pigza by Jack Gantos
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

It was just way too dark for me. Why did nobody from school come to check on Joey? I never read book 4, so I had no idea about 1. What is the deal with his dad's face surgery? or 2. Who is this Olivia? Her speechifying seemed forced. Overall, the book kind of stressed me out.

RI Mock Newbery 2015 - November Reads

I will be adding to the list as I make my way through the nominees ... favorites closest to the top.


Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am highly critical of novels in verse ... this one passes the test. Woodson delineates her childhood - and her struggle with her family's North v. South identity - through more than 300 pages of often searing poetry.

Choice lines:

p. 69
"As the switch raises dark welts on my brother's legs / Dell and I look on / afraid to open our mouths. Fearing the South / will slip out or / into them."

p. 129
"But are hearts aren't bigger than that. / Our hearts are tiny and mad."

p.176
"It's hard to understand / the way my brain works - so different / from everybody around me. How each new story / I'm told becomes a thing / that happens, / in some other way / to me ...!

Keep making up stories, my uncle says.
You're lying, my mother says.

Maybe the truth is somewhere in between / all that I'm told / and memory."

p. 226
"But I don't want to read faster or older or / any way else that might / make the story disappear too quickly from where it's settling / inside my brain, / slowly becoming / a part of me."


Somebody on This Bus Is Going to Be Famous! by J.B. Cheaney
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Different viewpoints, interlocking stories, a sort-of mystery ... I really enjoyed reading this book. Be warned, though, as other reviewers pointed out: The kids on the cover may be smiling, but their stories are not the happiest. However, I like when the reader is reminded that all is not what it might seem from the outside; it fosters empathy.



The Riverman by Aaron Starmer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

First off, I have to say that the writing was brilliant. Wow. A plus to Starmer for his command of language.

And the plot was sophisticated and fascinating; I was full of delicious dread for a lot of it. Perfect for middle schoolers - eerie and hints of illicit activity.

But the ending. Meh. I don't want to have to read two more books to have explained. So 4 stars in terms of Mock Newbery consideration.

But 5 stars for the reading experience. Please don't let me down with the sequel.


Upside Down in the Middle of Nowhere by Julie T. Lamana
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Powerful stuff. Talk about delineation of setting ... will definitely recommend for RI Mock Newbery.





The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Strong voice, lots of true emotions.






A Hitch at the Fairmont by Jim Averbeck
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Interesting and fun, with lots of clues and twists (several of which I figured out, but then I've been reading mysteries for decades ... the story was structured in a way that could teach kid readers a thing or two about plotting). Naming each chapter after a Hitchcock film was a nice touch.



West of the Moon by Margi Preus
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The first two parts had an Angela Carter-esque feel to them. Squalor! Rapaciousness! Lost-in-the-woodedness! But then they got on the ship and the tone changed and I was disappointed.




View all my reviews Boys of Blur by N.D. Wilson
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I really really really liked the first 100 pages. Unsettling setting lyrically evoked, spookiness, and strong characters. But then Charlie woke up at Mrs. Wisdom's, and she started talking about "the swirling Charlie-shaped dance that is your body," and I started rolling my eyes.

"Boys of Blur" does fill a nearly vacant niche - literary zombie fiction for middle-grade boys. But I felt there were some plot holes that also needed filling.

RI Mock Newbery 2015 - October Reads

I will be adding to the list as I make my way through the nominees ... favorites closest to the top.

The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing by Sheila Turnage
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I didn't think there would REALLY be a ghost! That may help get some of my students to read it. Turnage writes about her kooky characters with verve:

p. 85 - Nobody knows for sure if Sal actually files taxes. Dale and me suspect she fills out the forms for fun, same as Miss Lana does Sudoku.

p. 186 - "I hope he ain't run over by ghosts," Dale whispered, slapping at a mosquito. "That would be hard to explain at the emergency room."

p. 286 - "I'd love to stay and enchant you further" ...

p. 334 - "I only ask because I hate change unless it's my idea. I need time to overprepare."

Also LOVE the references to social skills.


Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Oh, Albie.

Newbery criteria mentions "distinguished" a lot, which I know is not the same as "distinctive," but Graff has created a unique character here in that he is in fact NOT distinctive. He's just kind of stumping along in a below average way. And by the end, he's kind of ok with that (although disappointed to not be diagnosed with a reading disorder, because that would have made his parents feel better).

In a society where the pressure is on to not only keep up but edge out, and in a literary landscape full of precocity and amazing talents, this book stands apart.

It reminded me of an article a friend sent me last week, titled "You Don't Have a Purpose." She said it made her feel relieved - it encourages the reader to find a career or life they love, but tells them to stop wasting energy looking for a Purpose with a capital P. Kind of like how Donut Man doesn't HAVE to have superpowers. He can just be a nice guy who likes donuts. Be nice. Choose kind. That's enough.


Hope Is a Ferris Wheel by Robin Herrera
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What can I say, I'm a sucker for any book that includes lists ... and I LOVED Star's vocabulary sentences. I'm glad that there are still coming-of-age novels coming out that present fresh characters and true voices.

And while I was confused about why Denny kept showing up to the club, I did like the way the group evolved. The minute-taking made me smile.


The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm still kind of confused as to how the tree came to be, but I enjoyed the storytelling. Speaking of which:

p. 207: "Stories come in all different kinds. ... There's tales, which are light and fluffy. Good for a smile on a sad day. Then you got yarns, which are showy - yarns reveal more about the teller than the story. After that there's myths, which are stories made up by whole groups of people. And last of all, there's legends." She raised a mysterious eyebrow. "Legends are different from the rest on account noone knows where they start. Folks don't tell legends; they repeat them. Over and again through history."

p. 214: "You asked me for a story; now you call it a lie." She folded her arms. "So tell me, then: what marks the difference between the two?" ... "A lie hurts people," she finally answered. "A story helps 'em."


Half a Chance by Cynthia Lord
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Quiet and introspective, this novel snuck up on me and left me in tears. I really liked the photo contest as a way to structure the chapters, and for the final realization that sometimes it's enough to just look and enjoy rather than having to capture and analyze.




Zane and the Hurricane: A Story of Katrina by Rodman Philbrick
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

History classes need to ease up on the details of every explorer and colonial governor, and start jumping ahead to more recent and relevant events.

I don't think I really understood just how horrendous conditions were in the first few days after Katrina until I read this and "Upside Down in the Middle of Nowhere." It is unconscionable that initial relief efforts were so piss poor in a country of wealth and weather warnings.

Will be adding this one to the collection.


Under the Egg by Laura Marx Fitzgerald
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I did like the art history and WWII ... but not sure if my kids would. I think I will bring this in the fall as a "preview" from the public library and see what pilot readers think. Sadly, I haven't been able to get anyone to read The Mixed-Up Files.



The Meaning of Maggie by Megan Jean Sovern
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Didn't love the voice ... it felt like the author was trying too hard.* Also found the father kind of annoying.** But one star for including a character with MS and one for making me smile a few times.

p. 24: I'd always thought that all the answers to life's questions were in books. I'd thought knowing where the sidewalk ended and where the red fern grew and where the wild things were could help me figure out LIFE. But maybe Dad was right. What if I needed to write my own story?

p. 139: Most kids only use encyclopedias for their science projects but I've discovered they only give very top-line information. If you sleuth out more specific references, the information gets better and better and you look smarter and smarter.


*Which is weird because it's based on her as a kid, right?
**I feel a little bad saying that, but this is fiction, not a memoir.