friday book review: children of the dust bowl

better late than never...

Stanley, J. (1993). Children of the Dust Bowl: The True Story of the School at Weedpatch Camp. New York: Random House.

I taught this book this term upon recommendation of a colleague. She'd used it in the course before, and since I completely trust her judgment, I went ahead and included it. I loved it. The story of the resilient Okies (the inspiration for The Grapes of Wrath) is inspiring. And it has some really amazing photographs, including that one Dorthea Lange pic of the mother and her three children. You know the one.

One of my classes loved the book, stating that they learned a great deal and that it piqued their interest enough to go out and read other nonfiction books about the Dust Bowl, and one had already started reading The Grapes of Wrath, which is high praise from a bunch of grad students with no free time.

My other class did not like it. They are my undergrads, and generally a harder group to please. They had a hard time with every book we read together after The Hunger Games, and thought this was just boring. I get it - it's not like THG. But it makes me worried, though, that this well-written book was "so boring" to a bunch of teachers who will spend far more of their time working with nonfiction texts with children in math, social studies, science, and in language arts too, now that most publishers have wised up and are about 60% nonfiction. We've talked about this, but I'm worried about it.

But I loved the book. It's a keeper.

friday book review: the penderwicks

Birdsall, J. (2007). The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy. New York, NY: Yearling.

This is a very sweet story. Very nostalgic for a simpler time; the kind of book you could read to your children and not worry about anything objectionable. There is a little bit of wicked mother and stepfather issues, but it all works out in the end. Not much happens, but it was witty and compelling all the way through. I'd also recommend as a read aloud, since the voices are clear in the story.

friday book review: the graveyard book

Gaiman, N. (2008). The graveyard book. New York: HarperCollins.

This book won a ton of awards, including the 2009 Newbery Medal. It's been on my to-read list for a long time. I made a deal with my students that I would read as many books as they were required to read in my intermediate reading methods course, and this one fulfills a requirement in the 15 books we have to read outside of our course texts. So, I finally got to it.

The book opens with the murder of a mother, father, and sister. The baby had toddled out of the house and escaped the knife of the assassin. Baby wanders into a graveyard and, when the ghosts realize that the parents of this young boy had been murdered, they agree to raise the baby themselves. Nobody Owens, Bod for short, grows up in the graveyard, learning all sorts of ghosty things and ghost-like behaviors. But the assassin is still out there, looking for Bod. While he's in the graveyard, he's safe. But he's growing up and can't stay in the graveyard forever.

It was ok. I didn't fall in love with Bod as a character, and though there are some really clever things Gaiman does in his writing and with some of the characters, I just didn't love this one.

friday book review: ghostopolis

TenNapel, D. (2010). Ghostopolis. New York, NY: Scholastic.

I admit that I have not given graphic novels much respect. I always encouraged my students to read them, but beyond Persepolis and Maus, which everyone has read, I haven't spent much of my literary time on graphica.

However, this term I'm requiring my students to read two, and I need to teach them about this genre, so I'm setting on reading a bunch. I realized something about myself as a reader while reading this one: I don't look at pictures. This is a problem with reading graphic novels since a lot has to be inferred through the pictures. This is good to know about myself, and something I will work on as I continue to get into graphica.

As for the book, it was interesting. The main character, Garth, is a boy who we find out is dying from some incurable disease. Through an unfortunate series of events, he ends up being transported to the ghost world before his time. Turns out he has some impressive powers, and the (evil) ruler of Ghostopolis wants to use his powers to make him even more invincible. Frank Gallows, a ghost wrangler, who usually sends rogue ghosts back to the ghost world instead of humans back to the real world, is sent to Ghostopolis to save Garth.

I liked that the female character didn't have gigantic boobs and next to no clothing like most graphic novels I've taken a look at. Also, it wasn't crazy violent. All in all, a good way to continue to ease into this genre.

friday book review: moon over manifest

Vanderpool, C. (2010). Moon over Manifest. NY: Random House.


This book came out of nowhere. It hadn't been on any of the lists I (the nerdy children's lit professor) was pouring over in the weeks leading up to the ALSC awards in mid-January. I hadn't heard any buzz about it whatsoever and then, boom, it wins the Newbery.

Obviously, I had to read it to see what all the buzz was about. Read it on my kindle, and missed having the cover. I like it. It's a good one for the book.

I have to say, I'm a little tired of coming of age stories of orphan(ish) girls. Almost as tired as I am of dystopian novels. But in terms of orphan girls and self-discovery, this is a good one. Takes place during the Depression, with flahsbacks to WWI. The sense of place (Manifest) and the characters are richly developed. Even for a young adult/children's novel it was a little too neatly wrapped up in the end, but it does deal with loss along the way.

Good job, Clare Vanderpool, on this first novel of yours. Tough act to follow for novel #2!

friday book review: the odious ogre

Juster, N. (2010). The odious ogre. Scholastic.

The townfolk are all afraid of the ogre, and rightfully so. The ogre has enjoyed years of easy pickings as the frightened townspeople cower whenever he comes near. Until...

the ogre meets his match, in an unlikely package.

The storyline is a bit tired, but Jules Feiffer's illustrations are the real jewel in this book. The pictures of the angry ogre are really great.

friday book review: children make terrible pets

Brown, P. (2010). Children make terrible pets. New York: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

A young bear comes across a little boy in the woods and asks to keep him as a pet. Mother warns him that children make terrible pets, but the bear keeps him anyway. And mother was right.

I really liked this very cute and clever twist of a tale. Great for kids of all ages.

friday book review: and tango makes three

Richardson, J., & Parnell, P. (2005). and tango makes three. New York: Simon & Schuster.

This sweet story of loving families begins in the Central Park Zoo. The zoo has animal families of all kinds: red panda bear families, monkey families, and penguin families. At the penguin house, there are two boy penguins, Roy and Silo, who do everything together but could not have a baby penguin.

The zookeeper, Mr. Gramzay, found an egg that needed to be cared for but could not by its own mama and papa penguin. So he gave it to Roy and Silo to care for and after weeks of sitting on the egg keeping it warm, Tango joined Roy and Silo to make a family. All of the events in this story are true, and you can still visit Tango at the Central Park Zoo.

This book has been the most challenged and frequently banned book since it was published. Conservative groups rail against the book for promoting gay relationships. Coauthor Justin Richardson, interviewed in The New York Times in 2005 stated:

We wrote the book to help parents teach children about same-sex parent families. It's no more an argument in favor of human gay relationships than it is a call for children to swallow their fish whole or sleep on rocks.

I think this is a wonderful book to open the conversation about the reality of the diverse family structures to which our chidlren belong. And Tango is just so darn cute.

friday book review: I am the messenger

Zusak, M. (2002). I am the messenger. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

I really loved The Book Thief - it was hands-down the best book I had read in ages. So I was excited to give another Zusak a try. This book was completely different, but equally engaging.

The book opens with Ed Kennedy, an average joe with little in the way of direction or motivation, inadvertently stopping a bank robbery. A few days later, he receives a playing card in the mail, an ace of diamonds. On it are three names and addresses. After some time, Ed decides to find out what these names and addresses mean, and discovers that he has some jobs to do.

The characters are well-developed and complex. Though I had an inkling of the ending as soon as I started, and I wasn't completely satisfied with the job Zusak does explaining the way he ties up the ending, I was compelled by this novel. Not as fantastic as The Book Thief, but a great novel nonetheless.

friday book review: stand tall, molly lou melon

Lovell, P. (2001). Stand tall, Molly Lou Melon. New York: G. P. Putnum & Sons.

I don't know how I missed this book for almost a decade. I fell in love with Molly Lou last week. She is short and has buck teeth and a terrible bullfrog voice and a grandma that fiercely loves and supports her.

When she moves to a new town and a big bad bully tries to get her down, Molly Lou takes the lessons she learns from her grandma and stays confident in herself and steels all the bully's thunder.

Adorable story and funny pictures. Molly Lou Melon won me over, for sure.

friday book review: the lion and the mouse

Pinkney, J. (2009). The Lion and the Mouse. New York: Little, Brown and Company.

This (mostly) wordless picture book is a beautiful translation of Aesop's fable of the same name. Pinkney's paintings are absolutely stunning, and it well deserves the Caldecott it won.

My students really loved this when I shared it with them in class yesterday, and we had a great discussion about all the ways you could use this wordless book (and others) with children in classrooms.

Definitely a keeper.

suzanne collins

Seriously disappointing. I guess I'm spoiled by good author talks through Talking Volumes. And every time I've ever seen an author, they've always engaged the audience in some way. A talk, some questions, something. But this was so lame-o.

There were so many cute elementary, middle, and high school students there. I got there an hour early and there was already a considerable crowd. Some were even wearing Hunger Games t-shirts or a Mockingjay necklace. One girl wore a t-shirt that said, "Katniss could whip Bella any day." Clearly a very excited crowd.


I'm standing against the bookshelves in a green sweater next to a guy in a gray/blue sweater.

Suzanne came out to her table, and said she was going to do a reading in the voice she hears Katniss using in her head, what she called, "futuristic Appalachian." Then she read a few paragraphs from Catching Fire and then a couple pages from Mockingjay. And that was it. No talk about the books, no questions from the audience. We were then herded outside to wait for our ticket number to be called to get our book stamped (she has a hand injury, so wasn't even signing the books).

I still love the books, but not as much a fan of her. Give us something.

friday book review: catching fire, mockingjay

Collins, S. (2009). Catching fire. New York: Scholastic Press.
Collins, S. (2010). Mockingjay. New York: Scholastic Press.

There is little need to actually review these books, as near everyone I know has been devouring them like me. But, I get to see her at The Red Balloon Bookshop tomorrow, and I'm really excited about that.

I saved Mockingjay for the plane ride last weekend to visit family in Massachusetts. I finished all but the last 40 pages, which I saved to read that Friday night before bed. It was beautiful. Dark and troubling, but beautiful. My colleague had finished it earlier that week, and when she told her 13 year old son (another Hunger Games addict) that she had finished, he opened up his arms to give her a big hug.

I loved the bittersweet ending, and I'm sad to be done with the series. I've had some really interesting conversations with my students about the merits of using such a violent book with students. And there are more to come - since they are planning lessons around using this book for the end of the semester. I can't wait to see what they come up with.

I was on the fence on the whole Team Edward/Team Jacob, er... Team Gale/Team Peeta drama. Be with Gale, with whom she struggled to provide daily for her family, or be with Peeta, with whom she fought to stay alive? Both seemed perfect and yet just as unlikely to work.

Sigh. What's next?

friday book review: uglies

Westerfeld, S. (2005). Uglies. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Another YA series, this one with 4 books in the series. What does that make it, a quartet?

I heard a lot of buzz about this one, but never anything tangible about the plot. The storyline wasn't particularly original, but it was a somewhat engaging story. Another post-apocalyptic society. This one puts all sixteen-year-olds under the knife to make them "pretty," after which they get to move to a new town and party 24 hours a day. A few rogue citizens decide this isn't for them, and they have created a new place to live, called The Smoke. But the goverment doesn't like this, and are going to great leangths to find this hidden society, with the help of the main character, an almost 16-year old Tally.

I couldn't help but compare this one to The Hunger Games and Katniss, the main character in that trilogy. The main character in Uglies, Tally, is pretty one-dimensional, especially when compared to Katniss. I just wasn't really rooting for anyone in this book, and ultimately didn't care what happened in the end. It is doubtful that I'll read the other three. Maybe I'll get really bored at some point. We'll see.

friday book review: city dog, country frog

Willems, M. (2010). City dog, country frog. New York: Hyperion.

Really, this picture book should be credited to the illustrator: Jon Muth, best known for Zen Shorts. The watercolor illustrations are just beautiful and add to the charm of this picture book. And I do love Mo Willems and everything he's written. Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed is my current fave.

The delightful book is the story of an unlikely friendship over the course of a year. The theme of friendship is simple and clear, though the end (loss and heartbreak) may be lost on the youngest of readers. However, it is certain to be enjoyed by readers of all ages, and ends in a touching way.

Definitely a keeper for my shelves.

friday book review: the hunger games

Collins, S. (2008). The Hunger Games. New York: Scholastic.

Wow. This book was horrifying and engaging and raw and violent and suspenseful.

And I get to teach it in one of my classes.

A post-apocalyptic novel set on the ruins of what was once the US, life is now bleak. There is fairly rigid caste system, and most of society works very hard and is still deeply poor.

The main character (one of the poor ones), sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, is a competitor in the Hunger Games, a yearly ritual to remind the members of society what happens when you revolt against the Capitol.

The twenty-four chosen tributes, aged 12-18, fight to the death until one is left standing, with the entire society watching on TV, Olympics-style. The arena is different every year, and the competitors don't know what they're in for until they are released into the landscape of the arena. And as much as you despise what is happening, you can't stop watching. Or reading, as the case is.

Lord of the Flies meets The Road meets The Goblet of Fire. And a little love story thrown in for good measure.

I can't wait to talk about it with my students. And read the rest of the trilogy. And see the author at Wild Rumpus this fall. So much to look forward to.

friday book review: when you reach me

I've decided I need a little more structure to my blogging. I spend far too much time whining about grad school, and since that will be done soon, I need something else to occupy my writing. In accordance with my new job, I will be reading lots of children's books and adolescent lit, and think this will be fun to write about. Each Friday, I'll share one of the new books I've discovered, whether it's actually new or just new to me.

Here goes.

Stead, R. (2009). When you reach me. New York: Wendy Lamb Books.

This book was described to me as The Time Traveler's Wife for kids, which is pretty accurate, except that it isn't really a love story but a story about saving lives. It opens in the middle the story, which I usually like in a book. It's smart and the narrator's voice is clear and true. The main character and narrator, Miranda, is a middle schooler in 1978 and her favorite book is A Wrinkle in Time, which actually plays an important character in the book as a parallel plotline.

This book won the Newbery Award this year, and is on the reading list for one of the classes I'm teaching in the fall, which is why I needed to read it. It was fast and enjoyable, and though there seem to be too many loose threads to this plot by the middle, they converge beautifully in the end.