Plot Summary: In 1958 Little Rock, 12 year old Marlee becomes friends with new girl Liz.  Brave and never at a lack for words, she helps Marlee overcome her fear of speaking in class.  But when Liz is gone from school, rumors swirl that she was a Negro passing for white.  Marlee realizes that isn’t what is important, true friendship is.  To stay friends, Marlee and Liz must defy their families and face integration head on.

Critical Analysis:  I want to tell everyone to read this book because it is important.  It covers in a very personal and intimate way a piece of recent history that is little known.  Everyone studies the Little Rock Nine, but there is little discussion about what happened the next school year–the governor closed local high schools to prevent integration.  Neighbors took sides on the issue, tensions were high or higher than ever before.  And the kids and teens lost out.

I want you to read this book because it is important, but you will love this book for the stories and the characters.  For the nuanced portrayal of all involved, families, neighbors, friends, teachers, leaders.  For the growth of many across the pages, for the beauty of friendship and mutual respect and the horror of hate.  From the mundane details of everyday life, and the painful shyness of Marlee to the important meetings and canvassing for votes and support and the scariness of retaliation.

Even in this supposed post racial world, there are still incidents that remind us all too well how little we have changed and how far we need to go.  What Lions of Little Rock tells us is that loving and respecting people for who they are not the color of their skin matters, and once we believe that, we have to work for change.

Review Excerpts:  ”Readers will root for a painfully shy girl to discover the depths of her own courage and find hope in the notion that even in tumultuous times, standing up for the people you love can’t be wrong. Satisfying, gratifying, touching, weighty — this authentic piece of work has got soul.” –The New York Times Book Review

“Levine’s characters fall on both sides of the integration issue, but she avoids painting them too broadly, and many of their views evolve over the course of the book. The best evolution, though, belongs to Marlee, who starts off almost pathologically shy and gradually learns to face her fears, find her voice, and speak up for what’s right.”–Publisher’s Weekly

“This engaging story, with its emphasis on the impact of friendship and on finding one’s voice when it is most important to be heard, will no doubt appeal to a broad range of readers and inspire many interesting conversations.”–Kirkus Reviews

Reviewed from publisher provided advanced copy.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase

Bibliography

Plot Summary:  Goose is ready for all things winter: snowflakes, sledding, snow angels, snowballs, snowmen (geese), skating and snow forts.  Duck doesn’t have time for these activities, he knows what time it really is.

Critical Analysis:  So much packed into this little book.  The text is simple and repetitive but the pictures are delightful.  Lots of color, expression and personality.  Goose throws himself into each activity while Duck stands off watching, looking at times worried and at others reproachful.  It all works out in the end when Goose helps Duck decorate the Christmas tree.  Perfect for little ones as both a read aloud and to explore on their own.  There is a whole series featuring Duck and Goose.

Review Excerpts: “A cute story with nice repetition of the phrase “It is not time for…” makes this a child pleaser. The expressions on Duck and Goose’s faces add to the story’s charm.”–Children’s Literature

“It seems a little sad that Duck is such a killjoy, stopping Goose from enjoying his winter fun, but that’s a minor quibble. And the cover glitters! Cheery holiday fare for pre-readers.”–School Library Journal

Reviewed from public library e-book copy.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

Bibliography: Offill, Jenny and Nancy Carpenter. (2006).  17 Things I’m Not Allowed to Do Any More. New York: Schwartz and Wade.  ISBN: 9780375835964 (hc) 9780375866012 (pbk)

Plot Summary:  A mischievous little girl has a lot of seemingly good ideas but they all seem to get her in trouble.

Critical Analysis:  Books like this one make me miss being a children’s librarian and seeing new picture books and reading them at story time.  This one is so much fun, and such a marriage between the text and the artwork to tell the story, communicate the emotion to the reader.  The pictures, a combination of pen and ink drawings and digitally manipulated images on crumpled paper not only fill in some of the details, but also are the kind that children will want to examine even after the story is finished.  In addition, the text leaves room for the reader or listener to come up with their own ideas about what happens.  Or in my case, to think about other great ideas that might not turn out so well.  ”I had an idea…”

Review Excerpts:  ”Ingenious artwork–a flawless marriage of digital imagery and pen-and-ink–is indisputably the focus of this winning title….striking and subtle–real wood grain, blades of grass, the chrome-plated details on classroom furniture–all are seamlessly integrated around a winsome cast of well-drawn characters….just about picture-perfect”–School Library Journal

“The title is terrifically cheeky, and Carpenter…outdoes herself in these mixed-media illustrations….Kids will be intrigued by the pictures’ playful sense of composition as well as the heroine’s brazenness….”–Publisher’s Weekly

“Our mischievous but delightful heroine is the kind of kid who makes parents and teachers old before their time, but still makes us laugh….Carpenter combines a lively pen and ink black line with naturalistic colors and digital media….The mottled look of the paper is achieved by crumpling it and filing with an emery board; Adobe Photoshop is used to rescan and manipulate the type; bits of photo collage are added for a fresh visual look. The glue she is smilingly squeezing from the bottle on the jacket has an attractive three-dimensional quality.”–Children’s Literature

Reviewed from public library copy.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

How did I not know about this special week?  According to Chase’s Annual Events, “[m]ystery series week is a celebration of continuing characters in mystery fiction.”  I have always said I was a mystery junkie.  But really, I LOVE mystery series.  The best series deliver great characters, settings and an excellent mystery, volume after volume.  Even better is the growth of the characters and the glimpses the reader has into their lives.

Again from Chase’s: “Two-thirds of all new mysteries each year feature a series detective. The series tradition has been alive and well for more than 100 years.  Series readers today can choose from more than 20,000 adult mysteries featuring more than 4,000 continuing characters from living writers.  Mystery Series Week celebrates fictional cops, private eyes and amateur sleuths from all walks of life—solving crimes from 55 BC to the 22nd century.”

I am now and have almost always been a mystery junkie and most of those in series.  I started with the Bobbsey Twins, and then moved on to Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden and even a few Hardy Boys for good luck.  I think it was the summer after 8th grade that I read every Agatha Christie from the public library down the street.  In 10th grade my wonderful English teacher allowed us to explore adult mysteries as part of our free reading.  Thanks to her recommendations, I discovered Sue Grafton, Anne Perry, Martha Grimes, Lilian Jackson Braun, Nancy Pickard and I am sure several more I am forgetting.  I babysat for several ladies in the neighborhood, one had almost all the Jeeves and Wooster books.  Another had more contemporary series.

Nowadays, I spend a lot of time reading the newest titles, but I am always happy to discover a new series and welcome the return of an old.  Here are some that I have enjoyed recently:

Myron Bolitar series by Harlan Coben: One False Move

Hannah Swensen series by Joanne Fluke: Devil’s Food Cake Murder

Maise Dobbs series by Jacquline Winspear: Pardonable Lies

Lena Jones series by Betty Webb: Desert Run

Detective Sargeant Emmanuel Cooper series by Malla Nunn: Let the Dead Lie

Baker Street series by Michael Robertson: The Baker Street Letters

The Abbott Agency series by Veronica Heley: False Charity

Curriculum Connection:  When I was searching for more information on this week, I found this excellent lesson plan for introducing students to the mystery genre on the Scholastic website:  Exploring the Mystery Genre

The same teacher provides a great list of recommended mysteries.

Bibliography

Plot Summary:  The summer before eighth grade, and Drew is working in her mother’s cheese shop where she hangs out with surf bum Nick (who she also has a crush on.)  When she isn’t working, she plays with her pet rat and ponders her dead father’s Book of Lists.  When she met Emmett in the alley behind the shop after closing one night, she never expected the friendship and adventure that would follow.

Critical Analysis:  This quiet unassuming book is almost perfect.  A perfect picture of what it is like to have your everyday existence interrupted, to allow a stranger to become a friend, to widen the circle of your life.  It is about small events that change us and how we have to take a chance to grow and become the person we are going to be.  At least partially autobiographical in nature, Reinhardt’s mother also owned a gourmet cheese shop, it is also a perfect snapshot of atmosphere, time, and place.  I hope that librarians are preparing their booktalks using the details of rats, cheese and the Book of Lists to entice readers to pick this up.  They won’t be disappointed.

Review Excerpts: “Laced with mystery and fascinating details about Drew’s chief interests—rats and cheese—this quiet novel invites readers to share in its heroine’s deepest yearnings, changing moods, and difficult realizations. Strong imagery…will stay with readers.”–Publisher’s Weekly

“Reinhardt has written another book that will resonate with any readers learning to spread their wings and fly.”–School Library Journal

“[A]  lucid voice that is thoughtful and entertaining without being showy….There is a hint throughout of being a step removed that balances the immediacy of the events being related and the power of hindsight….Quiet yet immensely appealing.”–Kirkus Reviews

Reviewed from publisher provided advanced copy.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

I don’t usually write posts like this one, but I think this line of books is genius!  Specially designed mailable paperback versions of backlist titles.  Kids love to get mail, and these could also be sent instead of greeting cards in some cases or just because.  The current list price for the line is $4.99.  So for that plus the cost of three postage stamps, one of these little books could be on its way to a child in your life.  Each book has a mailing label for writing the address and a sticker to seal the book closed.  There is a place on the inside cover to write a message.  This fall Christmas, Hanukkah and winter stories are being released in this format.

More details in this Publisher’s Weekly article.

Current titles:  Everywhere Babies by Marla Frazee, Won’t You Be My Kissaroo by Joanne Ryder, I Like You by Sandol Stoddard, No Matter What by Debi Gliori.

Coming October 2011: Santa Claus the World’s Number One Toy Expert by Marla Frazee, Annie and the Wild Animals by Jan Brett, Latkes, Latkes, Good to Eat by Naomi Howland and T’was the Night Before Christmas by Clement Clark Moore.

Reviewed from publisher provided copy.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

Bibliography

Plot Summary:  Leaving a destroyed Paris behind them, Nicholas takes the twins Josh and Sophie (and the pages of the codex) to London, dangerous territory of Dr. John Dee, in hopes of finding Gilgamesh the King to awaken the twins’ elemental magic of water.  With Pernelle trapped on Alcatraz and Scatty missing, the group will need all the help they can get.  Thank goodness London is also the home of Francis’ friend Palamedes and Shakespeare.  The twins and Nicholas will need all the help they can get to fight their way out of London to the location of the ley lines that will hopefully take them to California and Pernelle.

Critical Analysis:  Usually I don’t have patience for long books that are part of longer series that seem to go on and on.  For some reason,  The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel is a rare exception.  I think it is partly because of its basis in legend and mythology.  There is something so elemental in these creatures and their powers that speaks to Jung’s archtypes and collective unconscious.  It takes a real skill in crafting a plot to make these ideas and creatures both new and familiar.  Secondly, I love the historical figures.  If Nicholas and Pernelle can be immortal, then it makes sense that others might be as well.  And I like the fact that people become immortal for different reasons in different ways.

I find the twins to be perhaps the least interesting part of the story–they exist to drive the plot and to be acted upon.  For me, the characters that interest me most are Nicholas and Pernerlle.  I like that we get even more glimpses of who they are, their past in this entry in the series.  I would like even more of that, or perhaps a prequel.  I think this book has great appeal to both boys and girls, and while a bit violent in places, I think could go down into upper elementary.  I highly recommend the audio version, as it makes the action seem even more realistic.

Review Excerpts:  ”This book is a must-read for fans of the series, but even they will tire if the author doesn’t get to the point with reasonable dispatch.”–School Library Journal

“The intricacy of weaving so many legends into one complicated contemporary conglomerate is a fascinating juggling act, though plot is sometimes sacrificed for simply piling on new characters—which leads to some narrative bloat. Immersively imagined, this series remains a great choice to fill the post-Potter vacuum.”–Booklist

“Master yarnspinner that he is, Scott expertly cranks up the suspense while keeping his now-large cast in quick motion…this page-turner promises plenty of action to come.”–Kirkus Reviews

“Teens familiar with the previous two books or fans of adventure fantasies like Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians series will eat this one up.”–VOYA

Reviewed from public library audiobook.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

Cleary, Beverly. (1977). Ramona and Her Father. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN: 978-0688221140 (hc) 978-0380709168 (pbk)

I read ALL of Beverly Cleary’s books when I was younger, and I loved them.  I still remember the scene in one book where Ramona is sitting next to the curly haired girl and just had to pull one of the curls to see if it made a boing sound…and in another the time Ramona squeezed out a whole tube of toothpaste and…I watched the Wonderworks version of the books on PBS.  I had my mother cut my hair like the picture of Ellen Tebbits on the cover of the book.

This time I picked up the audiobook read by Stockard Channing, and her performance added another layer to the book.   I knew the books were funny, but I didn’t realize how funny.  I am sure as a little girl I identified with both Ramona and Beezus (being an older sister myself), but what I realized as an adult is that Beverly Cleary got everything right–the characters, their dynamics, actions are all pitch perfect.

Reviewed from public library audio book.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

Levine, Gail Carson. (1997). Ella Enchanted. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN: 978-0060275105 (hc) 978-0064407052 (pbk)

It is funny to me how some books stick out in my mind.  I associate this book with when I was starting out as a librarian.  I remember how it and other books by Levine were very popular and we couldn’t keep them on the shelves.  But even though I had read it, I couldn’t recall much about the book itself.  Listening to it on audio, it was like reading it again for the first time.  So charming, so witty, so well plotted.  And Eden Riegel did such an excellent job in reading it.  Levine was not the first to retell or reimagine a fairy tale, but she was so successful I believe it led to many others we have today that otherwise may not have been published, and for that we should all be thankful!

Reviewed from public library audio book.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

Plot Summary:  They should all be dead.  But when a mysterious man offered them a chance to live, they took it.  Maddy escaped a plane crash, Liam the sinking of the Titanic, and Sal a horrible fire.  From different times, they come together in New York to relive the events of 9/11 over and over;  learning about time travel and looking for time shifts that mean someone else has altered history for their own gain.  When just such a shift is detected, they realize they must stop whoever has unleashed the power of the Nazis on the present Earth or the world itself may be destroyed.

Critical Analysis:  I really like the hook of this book, the first in a series, young people rescued from death for a bigger purpose of saving the world.  And the author does a nice job of setting up this world, where time travel is possible and the characters live in a loop that repeats over and over again.  I thought having the loop be 9/11 was an insightful choice, imagine having to live that series of events again and again.  The details of the machines, the computers, the clone, the travel are fun.  The characters themselves are interesting with clear-cut personalities.

But I didn’t find myself loving this book.  First of all, I find Nazis a very obvious choice.  Yes, they are evil, yes, there are parallels between events then and events today.  But it isn’t very subtle, is it?  Second, most of the events were outside the characters’ control.  They spent a lot of time reacting to circumstances and not much time changing those circumstances.

Finally, I found the whole book to be very somber and serious.  I realize almost dying and then saving the world is not all sunshine and light, but especially the second half of the book was unrelenting in its dreariness.  The question is, though, what do readers in the target audience think?  I would love to know what kind of kid/teen appeal this title has.

Review Excerpts: “Time travel produces plenty of fodder for reader education and introspection….The villain even has his own internal demons; nothing is too black or white and victory is hard-won in Scarrow’s world. Despite some unevenness, this series is off to a promising start with plenty of potential and gusto.”–VOYA

“This is an interesting premise populated by engaging, well-developed characters….While the ending brings closure, there are still plenty of opportunities for a sequel, possibly multiples, to follow.”–Kirkus Reviews

Reviewed from publisher provided advanced copy.  Amazon Affiliate: If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.