Season of Secrets by Sally Nicholls

I couldn’t wait to read this new book by the author of one of my favorite books, Ways To Live Forever (see bookbits January 25, 2009).  Things are tough for Molly and her older sister Hannah.  Since their mother died, their father hasn’t been able to take care of them, so they’ve come to live with their grandparents in the tiny apartment over their poky little country store in a small town outside of London.  Their dad comes to see them, but Hannah is so angry she usually drives him away.  She does her best to drive everyone away, including Molly.  There’s not much solace at their new school either, which is so tiny that all ages of kids are together in one room, and there’s only one other girl Molly’s age. I guess Molly has told tales at home before, because when she tries to tell everyone about the man she saw being hunted on the lane on the dark, rainy night Hannah tries to get her to run away from their grandparents’, no one believes her.  Then she sees a statue at the church that looks just like her man, “…face made of stone.  A man.  He’s got big eyes and a long, thick nose.  There are leaves sticking out of his face and his hair.  He looks bright and wild, like an old god or a goblin in a fairy tale.  He doesn’t look like he ought to be allowed in a church.  It’s the hunted man.”  It’s hard to know what’s real in this book, but Hannah does finally see him, too, and another kind of hunt ensues to try to save him.  Later Molly realizes that things aren’t always so clear-cut, when she sees her hunted man become the hunter.  This book is beautifully written, and I love the blurring of realistic fiction with fantasy.  Review by Stacy Church

A Tale Dark & Grimm by Adam Gidwitz

If you aren’t yet in fifth grade –DO NOT OPEN THIS BOOK!  If you have never read any of the grim “Grimm’s Folk Tales,” maybe you should not read this book.  The author of A Tale Dark & Grimm warns repeatedly that this book is bloody, scary, and not for the faint of heart.  The main characters, Hansel and Gretel, weave in and out of the most gruesome of the Grimm’s folk tales.  Mr. Gidwitz describes unbelievable places and scenes of horror in detail, and warns you continuously that worse is yet to come, while he dares you to read on.  Some of the things that happen to Hansel and Gretel are so gross you know right away that they couldn’t possibly have happened.  Sometimes the author lets you in on the secret that what is happening to Hansel and Gretel is all an illusion, but, is it?  To find out, you have to read this book!  Review by Trudy Walsh

Truth with a Capital T by Bethany Hegedus

Two things I don’t like about this book:

The cover, which almost kept me from picking it up.

The Little-Known Facts at the beginning of each chapter, which then lead to corny statements from Maebelle about her life as it relates to the little-known fact.

Things I do like about the book:

Great characters, great story, great historical background

The writing is a little clunky, and a little too folksy for my taste, but it’s definitely worth reading.  Maebelle gets to travel to Tweedle, GA (if the cutsey name puts you off, this book is not for you) to spend the summer with her beloved grandparents, newly retired from the country music circuit, while her parents go on a tour to promote their new book.  What she didn’t know is that she has to share them with her newly adopted cousin Isaac.  She takes things out on him a bit (including throwing a dirty, stinky diarrhea diaper into his clothes hamper in the middle of the night), but of course teams up with him to solve the mystery of the locked wing of the family home, which may hide secrets from the slave era. Review by Stacy Church

The Dreamer by Pam Munoz Ryan, Drawings by Peter Sis

I don’t know how I missed this book when it first came out, but when I saw it on Horn Book’s list of Best of 2010, I grabbed it.  Pablo Neruda is one of my favorite poets, so it was fascinating to read this fictionalized account of his childhood.  It’s amazing that so dreamy and introspective a child could withstand the relentless bullying of his father and grow up to be one of the most sensitive poets the world has ever known.

 

 

Shyness

I scarcely knew, by myself, that I existed,

that I’d be able to be, and go on being.

I was afraid of that, of life itself.

I didn’t want to be seen,

I didn’t want my existence to be known.

I became pallid, thin, and absentminded.

I didn’t want to speak so that nobody

would recognize my voice.  I didn’t want

to see so that nobody would see me.

Walking, I pressed myself against the wall

like a shadow slipping away.

Neftali Reyes grew up in the small town of Temuco, Chile.  His father was an important man who completely dominated his family.  Neftali was weak and sickly, and always collecting things –oddly shaped stones, twigs, and even words he liked the sound of, which he wrote on scraps of paper and kept in a drawer.  Neftali’s older brother Rodolfo wanted to be a singer, but their father considered any occupation other than businessman or doctor to be a waste of time.  He forbid Rodolfo to sing, and even though Rodolfo wasn’t able to stand up for himself, he did try to help Neftali pursue his interests and avoid their father’s wrath.  His stepmother and younger sister Laurita provided some much-needed love and affection in Neftali’s life. When his father discovered something Neftali had written and published in the university newspaper, he threw all of the notebooks containing Neftali’s life writings out his bedroom window and then set them on fire. Neftali knew that if he were going to keep writing, he would have to write under another name so his father wouldn’t find out.  So he became Pablo Neruda.  Ryan’s The Dreamer shows how Neftali’s wonder at the natural world, and his reverence for the beauty of the land and creatures of Chile sustain him through a bleak childhood, and save him from despair.  Review by Stacy Church

Winner of the 2011 Pura Belpré Author Award

The Secret Life of Ms. Finkleman by Ben H. Winters

It all started with the special project in Mr. Melville’s class.  Everyone liked his special projects –they were always so totally random.  The latest special assignment is to find a mystery (any mystery) and solve it.  Bethesda Fielding knows right away that the mystery she wants to solve is Ms. Finkleman, the music teacher.  Well, not Ms. Finkleman exactly –the mystery of who Ms. Finkleman is outside of Mary Todd Lincoln Middle School.  When Bethesda starts asking questions, she finds out that mousy, non-descript Ms. Finkleman is more mysterious than ever.  No one knows anything about her.  That’s why Bethesda decides she has to snoop in Ms. Finkleman’s desk.  She doesn’t find anything helpful, but there is a scrap of paper with some sort of code on it, so Bethesda takes it home.  As she ponders the possible meaning, something about it seems familiar.  She figures out that the initials stand for titles of songs on an old record of her dad’s, a record of a punk band called Little Miss Mystery and the Red Herrings.  Ms. Finkleman must be Miss Mystery!  Poor Ms. Finkleman, who has always thought of herself as an agouti (a small shy nervous creature, living in habitats with larger creatures who are always trying to eat them), is about to be outed.  This is a hilarious book, with a lot of funny side stories, including the principal’s bets with a rival school’s principal, which always end up with her having to wear something ridiculous like a giant foam sombrero that reads, “Go Grover Cleveland.”  When the principal gets wind that her music teacher is really a rock star, she decides this is her one chance to win a competition against Grover Cleveland –the upcoming Choral Corral.  She blackmails Ms. Finkleman into putting on a rock concert instead of her planned program of traditional English folk ballads, and mayhem ensues.  This book is so well written that I couldn’t stop reading until I finished it!  Review by Stacy Church

Sugar and Ice by Kate Messner

I really enjoyed this new book by the author of another book I liked, The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z. Snow and Ice tells the story of 7th grader Claire Boucher, who spends her time skating on the frozen pond, teaching skating to younger children and helping her family on their maple farm.  Claire loves skating more than anything, and when a talent scout sees her stellar performance in the annual Maple Show, she’s offered a full scholarship to the summer program at Lake Placid, under the tutelage of an intense Russian skating coach.  She hates competing –the only time she tried, she missed her performance because she was in the bathroom being sick –and she doesn’t think there’s any way her family can manage getting her there, but when her parents find out about the offer, they’re determined to make it happen for her.  What an intense world she finds herself dropped into!  Her own coach has always been encouraging, even when Claire makes mistakes, and she’s never been subjected to mean girls who are willing to sabotage their “friends” so they can shine brighter.  Claire also didn’t realize how much she would have to give up in order to participate in the program, including her beloved coaching job, and (almost) her friendship with her best friend, Natalie, who she never has time for anymore.  This book is a great glimpse into the choices talented kids have to make, whether they’re skaters, soccer players, or musicians. Review by Stacy Church

The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman

What a fantastic idea for a book!  Wouldn’t it be great if you could go to a library and check out Snow White’s stepmother’s magic mirror or the Pied Piper’s pipes?  Elizabeth has no idea what she’s getting herself into when she accepts a job at the New-York Circulating Material Repository, but she can really use something good in her life.  In the opening scene of the book, Elizabeth gives her gym shoes to a homeless woman outside of her school.  Now, I don’t know about you, but this is sort of a fairy tale, and it seems to me that good things happen to people in fairy tales who give away their belongings to help someone less fortunate.  So when the homeless woman gives her what looks like an ordinary number 2 pencil, I was kind of wondering if there would be more to it than that. Soon after starting work at her new job, Elizabeth starts to hear about a special collection called the Grimm Collection, but no one seems to want to talk about it.  And no wonder.  It turns out that everything isn’t on the up and up in the Grimm Collection (which you’ve probably guessed contains magical objects from the Grimm brothers’ fairy tales), and some of Elizabeth’s new friends are part of the problem.  Eventually Elizabeth finds herself in the middle of a complicated situation involving objects that aren’t as magical as they’re supposed to be, and some that have just plain disappeared.  When her coworker Anjali is kidnapped, it’s up to Elizabeth and the other pages to find her and set her free from a magic spell.  There are trips on a magic carpet, tea parties with magically refilling dishes, attacks by a giant menacing bird, and rescues by an equally giant dog.  Review by Stacy Church

Dear Anjali by Melissa Glenn Haber

This is the story of 12-year-old Meredith, whose best friend Anjali died suddenly from encephalitis. At Anjali’s funeral, Meredith is really irritated that people keep talking about what Anjali could have done with her life if she hadn’t died so young, when what they really should be doing is appreciating Anjali for who she was, but of course when she tries to put this into words, it just comes out sounding lame. The story is told in the form of letters that Meredith writes to Anjali, one every day, mostly written on her dad’s old typewriter, because “I really have to bludgeon my fingers to pound out the letters and that seems right because it DOES hurt and it SHOULD hurt to have to write the words…”  Meredith has a funny way of writing, even when she’s sad, and it really seems like she’s talking to her best friend. I like the way Meredith makes phrases she uses into trademarked sayings by typing ^TM after them: Normal Human Being ^TM, Expert-Ease^TM, Katie “I am a Princess of Perfection^TM” Beals (speaking of her sister).  When invited to go to the movies with her crush, Noah Spivak, and her worst enemy, Wendy Mathinson, Meredith writes, “that’s when I told him I had more intriguing plans like being ripped to shreds by dobermans while having rusty spikes nailed into my head.” I was so happy that Meredith hated Wendy as much at the end of the book as she did at the beginning; she was still just as mean as ever. The story takes an interesting turn when Meredith finds out that Anjali wasn’t honest with her about her feelings for Noah Spivak, who Meredith has had a crush on since 5th grade.  Anjali always told her Noah was out of her league, and then confessed that she liked him, too, but she never told Meredith that she and Noah actually went to a party together (and at Wendy Mathinson’s house, no less!) and even kissed.  Meredith has to somehow reconcile this info with her own growing relationship with Noah.   Review by Stacy Church

Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine

“…Devon says you can’t moan or scream or shake your hands up and down or rock or get under a table or spin around over and over in public.  Actually you can’t do most things over and over in public because that’s not normal unless it’s something like clapping or laughing but you have to do it only at the right times and places and Devon always tells me. Now I don’t know anymore.”  Caitlyn is in fifth grade and she has Asperger’s syndrome.  That makes it hard for her to read other people’s emotions (she uses a chart to memorize how a person’s face looks when they’re feeling a certain emotion) or to understand idioms (like “putting herself in someone else’s shoes”).  What she’s really good at is drawing, reading, doing things exactly the same way every time (Thursday is pizza night), and remembering rules (“You shouldn’t get in someone’s personal space”).  Caitlyn and her dad are trying to find a way to go on after losing her older brother, Devon, in a tragic event.  Caitlyn’s mother died years earlier, so it’s just the two of them.  The school counselor, Mrs. Brook, becomes Caitlyn’s main source of information about human behavior, advice on how to make friends, and most importantly, how to get closure about Devon’s death.  There are many light moments in the book when Caitlyn’s inability to see past the literal meaning of something causes misunderstandings, even with Mrs. Brook. Her many eccentricities are also charming, like her habit of naming gummy worms before eating them.  Her descriptions of others’ behavior can be quite funny –“We are at recess and I think Mrs. Brook might have Asperger’s too because she is very persistent which is one of my skills.  She is stuck on her Let’s Make Friends idea even though I am making it very clear with my eyes that I am no longer interested in this conversation.” Mockingbird has joined the fairly short list of books I love featuring characters on the autism spectrum: Rules by Cynthia Lord, The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd, and Blue like Friday by Siobhan Parkinson.  Review by Stacy Church

Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus

In 1841, while on a fishing trip to earn food for his family, 14-year-old Manjiro and his crew become stranded on an island off the coast of their home, Japan. With very little to eat and the remaining crew hurt or sick, Manjiro, who has always dreamed of becoming a Samurai, decides to be brave and search the island for help. While on the other side of the island, he spots a giant ship sailing close by, and summoning all his courage, Manjiro swims out to the ship. He is shocked to find that the captain and crew are “blue-eyed barbarians,” the “devils” his countrymen have feared and banned from their shores for the past 250 years. Although the captain is kind, the ship is a whaling ship and the voyage is dangerous and long. Manjiro learns much from the captain and the crew, but he is always torn between the excitement of adventure and the dream of going home. This book is based on the true story of a boy named Manjiro, who had the heart of a Samurai, and who is said to be the first Japanese person to visit the new world. Review by Loretta Eysie

The Lost Children by Carolyn Cohagan

Josephine’s life with her rich father is very lonely and quiet since her mother died. Her father doesn’t pay any attention to her at all –he doesn’t even speak to her! And to make matters worse, he is responsible for a new town law that says everyone must wear gloves all the time. At school the kids hate Josephine because they hate wearing gloves, so she doesn’t have any friends either. One day while searching the old shed in the back of her huge house, Josephine meets a boy from a different time, but before she can ask him anything, he disappears. Josephine decides to investigate the old shed to see if she can find any clues, and while she is searching, she falls through the shed wall into a dark, scary basement. When she lands on the basement floor, the first thing she hears is someone barking, “No, no that’s all wrong!.....I’m going to throw you down those cellar stairs,” and “you ant brained speck of fly dung! Into the cellar!” Josephine doesn’t know yet that she has landed in a different time zone and a different world –a dangerous world filled with horrible creatures and a more horrible master. Review by Loretta Eysie

Smile by Raina Telgemeier

Raina was not looking forward to getting braces, but before she could even get started, she fell and badly damaged her front teeth. Middle school isn’t a very supportive place to live through the experience of having her teeth fixed. It’s embarrassing, humiliating, and maddening, not to mention painful. Her “friends” aren’t helpful; in fact they probably hurt her feelings more than help her. This graphic novel, based on the author’s real life experience, is about teeth and friendship –both sometimes painful! Review by Loretta Eysie

A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park

This is a story in two voices. First we hear Nya’s voice as she is trudging in the broiling hot African sun to fetch water for her family. The water jug is light going the three hours to the water supply, but very heavy on the way back. Nya does this everyday, twice a day. Water in the Sudan is very hard to find and carry, but without it, no one could live. This isn’t taking place 100 years ago; this is happening in 2008. Next, we hear Salva’s voice. It is 1985 and he’s in school, and like most students, he is waiting for the end of the day so he can go home. Shots ring out, and the teacher tells everyone to run, run into the bush and don’t look back. Soldiers have come to kill the villagers, so Salva runs. He doesn’t know where he is going or if his family is alive, but he runs. Salva’s run takes him far, far from home for many years. In alternating chapters we hear Nya and Salva tell their stories, neither of them knowing that one day they will actually speak to each other, brought together by something we take for granted every day: water. Review by Loretta Eysie

Boom! By Mark Haddon

This is a story about Jim and Charlie, two curious friends who decide to spy on their teachers by bugging the teachers’ lounge. They unknowingly stumble upon a much bigger mystery than just which student is the biggest troublemaker –they hear Mrs. Pearce and Mr. Kidd speak in a strange secret language! But what does “spudvetch” mean, and why do Mr. Kidd's eyes flicker with fluorescent blue light when Charlie says it to him? Are they bank robbers speaking in code? Perhaps they are aliens, or maybe spies? Whatever they are, Jim and Charlie are determined to find out. So from the moment Jim and Charlie hear their teachers speaking in this strange language and see strange violet lights flash from their eyes and finger tips, things start to go downhill. When Charlie goes missing and an attack is made on Jim and his sister, Jim must use all his wits to save not only his best friend, but the whole world. This is a fun and funny adventure that, as it gathers speed and begins to spin out of control, can only end in one way…. with a boom! Review by Lizzy Healy

The Reinvention of Moxie Roosevelt by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel

SIDE NOTE: “Moxie” used to be a soda beverage that was known for having a powerful kick along with its sweet and bitter taste. The word moxie today derives from the soda name, and refers to someone with energy, pep, courage, determination, or know-how.

Moxie Roosevelt Kipper has one unique name –a name that conjures up a person full of spunk, energy, and zip. But to Moxie, her name is burden and a constant taunt. Moxie doesn’t think she’s spunky, or full of energy and zip; rather, she feels like an ordinary boring thirteen-year-old. But Moxie realizes she may still have time to transform or reinvent herself into an un-ordinary lively girl when she transfers to the all-girls’ boarding school Eaton Academy. Before starting at the new school, she has narrowed down her personality choices to the following:

• DUCKI= a Detached, Unique, Coolly Knowing Individual
• MEG= Mysterious Earth Goddess
• HHSE= Hale and Hearty Sports Enthusiast
• ARA= Assertive Revolutionary Activist

Instead of picking one new personality, Moxie opts to mold herself to her audience, adopting a different personality with each of the many different groups of girls at the new academy. She has to keep a logbook just to remember which personality she's been using with whom! But as the story progresses, she finds it increasingly difficult to remember what she has said to whom and which role she needs to fill. It becomes exhausting, and she’s just barely holding it together until she realizes that her journal is missing. She's terrified it might land in the wrong hands. You can probably relate to Moxie –at one time or another we all tend to believe that other people's lives are more exciting than our own, and we want to make ourselves special, too. This book is filled with hilarious misadventures as Moxie embarks on her quest for identity. In the end, she realizes that true friends like you for who you are, and enjoy differences as well as similarities. Review by Lizzy Healy

The Tilting House by Tom Llewellyn

Josh isn’t happy about his family’s move into a new house, where life becomes strangely unbalanced. First of all, the floors all tilt at precisely 3 degrees, and scribbled notes of mad science cover the walls, ceiling, and floors. But those aren’t the only mysteries: rats talk, pocket knives grow to the size of swords, and walls disappear with the flick of the light switch. Brothers Josh and Aaron and their neighbor Lola try to unlock the secrets of this uneven house, starting with the diary of its original owner, a brilliant but deranged inventor F.T. Tilton. Join the kids as they struggle to solve riddles of mad science, love lost, and bodies buried in this tale full of strange occurrences and crazy hi-jinks, all ultimately connected with the titling house. This story is similar to Neil Gaimen‘s The Graveyard Book –it’s filled with episodic stories that converge in the end. At first Josh and Aaron are none too pleased with their tilting house, but over time, begin to love its strange quirks and its mystery. The episodes involving the talking rats, oversized pocket knives and dogs, and a buried secret treasure make for amusing anecdotes. Who wouldn’t want to have an adventure while solving the mysteries of your strange, but pretty cool, house? Review by Lizzy Healy

Seaglass Summer by Anjali Banarjee

For as long as Poppy can remember, her parents have taken her to India each summer to visit her grandparents, but this year, Poppy has convinced them to let her spend the summer with her uncle on an island off the Washington coast instead. This vacation will be different.  Poppy wants to become a veterinarian, so she has saved up enough money to buy her own professional veterinarian’s kit, which includes a stethoscope and a bendable thermometer. Poppy’s Uncle Sanjay owns “Furry Friends Animal Clinic, and as she rides the ferry to visit him on Nisqually Island, she can imagine herself assisting him in savings animals’ lives.  With Poppy, we gain insight into the challenges and joys of working with animals.  Yes, there are the tender moments of attending newborn puppies at the clinic, but there also are the tough moments when medical emergencies arise.  Sometimes it’s hard to deal with irrational pet owners who don’t want to cooperate.  This is a delightful, fast-moving summer story.  Anjali Banerjee has us laughing and crying with Poppy as she struggles to follow her dream of becoming a veterinarian to save the animals of the world.  Review by Trudy Walsh

We the Children by Andrew Clements

This is the first book in Andrew Clements’s funny, engaging new series, Benjamin Pratt and the Keepers of the School.  When the school custodian has a heart attack, he begs Ben to take his special golden coin and use it to make sure nothing happens to their school, The Seaside Oaks Middle School.  The school, which was donated in 1793 by an old sea captain, is in danger of being torn down to make way for an amusement park.  How can Ben, who is just a kid, save a school that has just been sold in a 30 million dollar real estate deal?  You can always count on Andrew Clements to deliver a terrific story, and We the Children doesn’t disappoint.  Review by Joyce Levine

Bulu: African Wonder Dog by Dick Houston

Have you ever longed for an exciting adventure in your life?  Steve and Anna Tolan are police officers in England who dream of a life filled with adventure in the African bush.  Since they are both intelligent and practical people, they fear this dream will never be fulfilled, so every year they save their money to vacation in Africa.  When Steve has an accident and can’t work for the police force any more, the couple sells all their belongings and moves to Zambia.  Anna has to leave her 15-year-old dog, Marly, behind with her parents.  She is determined to get a dog again, even though everybody tells her that pets don’t survive in the African bush because of all the wild animals running free.  A friend brings news that there are puppies for sale at the old Crocodile farm. The only one left is the runt of the litter.  Anna makes up her mind to give the very small, quiet puppy a home, and names him Bulu, meaning “Wild Dog.”  Much to the surprise of everyone, Bulu develops into an amazing dog.  He not only finds his voice and bravely protects his family, but he is also very gentle.  He becomes a loving foster parent to the orphaned baby animals rescued by the Tolans.  This is a beautifully-written exciting adventure story set in the African bush –a true story about Bulu, a special dog with unique spirit and gifts of love, compassion and bravery.  Review by Trudy Walsh

Shug by Jenny Han

Annemarie Wilcox is twelve years old.  Her family has called her “Shug” ever since she was a baby.  Her Mama used to say to her, “You’re my sweet Shug, my little bowl of sugar.”  Annemarie doesn’t feel “sweet” anymore. Now that she has started junior high school, everything is changing around her, and she doesn’t like it one bit.  It upsets her that Mark, her best friend since they were five years old, would rather spend his time with the boys in her class.  Shug is noticing that all of a sudden she has feelings for Mark that she didn’t have before.  How can she get Mark to look at her, really “look” at her and notice her?  This is a wonderful book about a young girl growing up and dealing with the changes in her body and in her emotions.  As the story unfolds, we experience with Shug the passions and the pain of first love.  Annemarie Wilcox is a delightful twelve year old to get to know, in Shug by Jenny Han.  Review by Trudy Walsh