Dreamland Social Club by Tara Altebrando

Dreamland Social Club by Tara Altebrando 
(Dutton, 2011)

Summary from publisher:
When Jane and her brother inherit a house on Coney Island, they move with their dad to the famous but run-down beachfront neighborhood - and their late mother's birthplace.  The move triggers memories of the games Jane's mother used to invent - about trips to the moon and living under roller coasters and swimming with mermaids to the North Pole.  Games all inspired by actual rides at glorious old amusement parks called Luna Park and Dreamland.  Wondrous places that are, sadly, long gone.  
But, in Coney, the past endures.  Jane is sure that figuring out the secrets of her school's elusive Dreamland Social Club and finding the right locks to open with a mysterious set of keys her mother left behind will answer her burning questions. Like, what as her mother like?  Why is there a carousel horse chained to the radiator in the living room?  And why are the tattoos on that beautiful boy Leo's arms so eerily familiar? 
The sordid and colorful history of Coney Island, and its tumultuous political future, become entwined in Jane's journey to discover how to hold tight to the past while embracing infinite possibility.

From the very first page of this contemporary realistic-fiction novel, I was completely hooked.  Jane's story is one most any teen can relate to:  Where do I fit in?  As Jane's story (and, slowly, that of her mother) unfolds, she finds more questions than answers, but eventually finds a way to be at peace with who here mother WAS and who she IS.  Throw in a little romance, and you've got a great book!

I thought at first that the "sideshow characters" would bother me.  They're all here:  little people, "giants", a boy with no legs, a bearded girl, a heavily tattooed girl.  However, the way Altebrando writes their characters, the reader soon forgets they are any different from Jane in terms of looks.  She incorporates the side show history of Coney Island into the story, and you realize that OF COURSE kids such as these would be a part of a Coney Island high school.

I just can't say how much I loved this story.  While I think it's main audience is definitely teen girls, this isn't exclusively a "girly book."  Definitely worth a read.

It's Monday... What Are You Reading?

Welcome to another installment of It's Monday!  What Are You Reading!  After you finish reading my entry, be sure to head over to Teach Mentor Texts to check out some more great blogs!


Here's what I read this week:

17.  The Mysterious Howling:  The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, Book 1 by Maryrose Wood (finished 1/22) Fun read, but not my favorite.

18.  Blink & Caution by Tim Wynne-Jones (finished 1/25) Better than I thought it would be. Story turned out to be very different from what I expected.

19.  Dreamland Social Club by  Tara Altebrando (finished 1/28) Love, love, love. Read this one!

Only three books this week, but I'm okay with that, especially since it was the end of the grading period, and I had grades due this week.  In addition to that, I had the meeting of the state book award committee I'm on.  We had to narrow our list of 50 finalists down to the list of 20 that would go out to schools and libraries for the kids of Illinois to vote on.  It was an interesting process, and I think we came up with a great list with some super reads for the older kids as well as the younger ones.

I also started The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler.  I think I'll probably finish this one tonight or tomorrow.  It's a fun read, and there have been places where I have laughed out loud at some of the mid-nineties slang terms.

This week I plan to:

finish The Future of Us

read The Implosion of Aggie Winchester and Brother/Sister.  Perhaps I'll get a fourth one squeezed in there somehow!

Have a great reading week!

Blink & Caution by Tim Wynne-Jones

Blink & Caution by Tim Wynne-Jones 
(Candlewick, 2011)


Summary from publisher:
Blink, man, what were you thinking?  Sneaking into the hotel for a hot breakfast - hot scraps of someone else's breakfast, really.  Couldn't you just feel that it was a wrong place/wrong time scenario?  Even before you heard the banging and saw those dudes in suits jet it out of room 1616?  Now you're not only witness to a crime, you're linked to it, thanks to the smartphone you were stupid enough to jack from the room.
And then there's Caution.  As in "Caution:  Contents Under Pressure."  She's also on the run, from a skeezy drug-dealer boyfriend and from a nightmare in her past that won't let her go.  The last thing she needs right now is some skinny-ass street punk spouting crazy conspiracy theories, but something about Blink tugs at her heart - a heart he thought deserved not to feel.


Charged with suspense and intrigue, this taut novel follows two compelling characters as they forge a fated, tender partnership.

I first tried to read this book last summer when a friend passed an ARC on to me.  I got about two chapters in, decided it wasn't for me, and then passed the book along to someone else.  When another copy found its way onto my bookshelves, I decided I'd give it another try.  I'm so glad I did.  The first couple of chapters still turned me off; they just seemed so violent.  But as I got farther into Blink and Caution's stories, I found myself really wanting to know how everything was going to pan out.  I was worried for these two street kids and the decisions they made, and I was glad that in the end there was hope for both of them.

This is not a book for younger kids; in fact, I'm going to pass this copy along to a high school teacher.  It's gritty and edgy and fairly violent; just a bit too much for most of my seventh graders.  For a high school reader, though, it's a great example of how to write a suspense novel with just-right pacing and tension.  I had a hard time putting this book down; the pages seemed to turn themselves - and keep turning and turning.

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place:  The Mysterious Howling (book 1) by Maryrose Wood (Balzer & Bray, 2010)

Summary from publisher:
Of especially naughty children, it is sometimes said:  "The must have been raised by wolves."  The Incorrigible children actually were.
Discovered in the forests of Ashton Place, the Incorrigibles are no ordinary children:  Alexander keeps his siblings in line with gentle nips; Cassiopeia has a bark that is (usually) worse than her bite; and Beowulf is alarmingly adept at chasing squirrels.
Luckily, Miss Penelope Lumley is no ordinary governess. Only fifteen years old and a graduate of the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females, Penelope embraces the challenge of her new position.  Though she is eager to instruct the children in Latin verbs and the proper use of globes, first she must eliminate their canine tendencies.
But mysteries abound at Ashton Place:  Who are these three wild creatures?  Why does Old Timothy, the coachman, lurk around every corner? Will Penelope be able to civilize the Incorrigibles in time for Lady Constance's holiday ball?  And what on earth is a schottische?
Penelope is no stranger to mystery, as her own origins are also cloaked in secrecy.  But as Agatha Swanburne herself once said, "Things may happen for a readon, but that doesn't mean we know what the reason is - at least not yet."

I've been meaning to read this book since it first came out, and I finally got around to it last week.  I'm glad I read it; it was quite fun.  Written in a Victorian style, The Mysterious Howling keeps the reader wondering just where these raised-by-wolves children came from.  I also had fun watching Penelope try to teach these children how to be children, rather than wolves.  What bothered me, though, was that none of the mysteries presented in the book were solved.  When I got to the end, I realized the whole book was just a set up for the rest of the series.  Of course, now I have to read book 2!

Middle grade and junior high age kids will enjoy The Mysterious Howling and its Incorrigible children.

It's Monday... What Are You Reading?

Hard to believe it's Monday already, and not only that, for my students and me, it is the first Monday of the third quarter. That means the school year is officially half-way over.  Holy cow, time flies!


So here's what I read last week:

11.  Burn My Heart by Beverly Naidoo (finished 1/16)  Interesting story; liked it, didn't love it.

12.  The Redheaded Princess by Ann Rinaldi (finished 1/18)  Rinaldi is a long-time favorite author, 

13.  Requeim:  Poems of the Terezin Ghetto by Paul B. Janeczko (finished 1/18) Haunting volume of poetry

14.  Straw House, Wood House, Brick House, BLOW by Daniel Nayeri (finished 1/20) Four weird novellas.

15.  Angel Burn by LA Weatherly (finished 1/21) Paranormal romance. Evil angels.  Good read.

16.  Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus (finished 1/21) Thrilling adventure story.

17.  The Mysterious Howling:  The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, Book 1 by Maryrose Wood (finished 1/22) Need to read the second book to figure out what's going on here!

This week is going to be incredibly busy. I have no idea how much time I'll have to read, but here's my plan:

• Finish Blink & Caution
• Read The Future of Us
• Perhaps get to one of  the "lighthearted" contemporary fiction books I picked up to offer as suggestions to the YA book club made up of a group of teachers  from my school.

On Saturday, I drive to Bloomington, Illinois, for my first meeting of the Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Award evaluator's meeting.  Over the course of the day, we'll hash out the list of nominees for the 2013 Award.  I'm looking forward to seeing which of the 50 finalists makes it to the final list of 20.

Have a great week, and don't forget to head over to Teach Mentor Texts to see what everyone else is reading!

Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus

Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus (Abrams, 2010)

Summary from publisher:
In 1841, fourteen-year-old Manjiro and his four friends find themselves stranded on a deserted island after a storm at sea.  Beyond the island is the unknown, filled with monsters, demons, and barbarians. Or so they've been told.  They know they cannot return to their homes in Japan -- the country's borders are closed both to foreigners and to citizens who have strayed.  No one may enter, under penalty of imprisonment and even death!
One day an American ship passes near the island and takes the castaways aboard.  Manjiro's curiousity overcomes his fear of the "barbarians."  He joins in the work of the whaling vessel, eager to learn everything he can about this new culture.  Over the next ten years, Manjiro travels the high seas, visiting places he never dreamed existed, including America.  It is a time filled with new experiences and adventure, as well as a friendship and treachery.  Manjiro sustains himself on a dream of returning home and somehow -- though he knows it is impossible for a simple fisherman -- becoming a samurai.
Will he ever be able to go back to his native land?  And if he does, will he be welcomed or condemned?

I wasn't quite sure what to expect based on the jacket blurb for this book.   I felt like this book could go one of two ways, either it would be adventure-filled and fascinating or it would be BORING, with tedious descriptions of whaling a la Moby Dick.  I am happy to report this book was AWESOME!  I found myself completely captivated by Manjiro and his adventures, wondering what would happen to him next and how could he possibly get back to Japan.  There were times when I thought things in his life lined up just a bit too neatly, but then I would remember the novel was based on the life of a real person.  Most of these things really did happen to Manjiro!

Heart of a Samurai is not only a peek into Japanese culture, but also a window to 19th century whaling culture and 19th century America.  It teaches lessons about hard work, dreams, and acceptance without being preachy.  I've had several students read this book this year, and each of them raved about how exciting Manjiro's story was and how determined he was to reach his dream of returning to Japan.  To me, that speaks volumes.

Boys and girls who love adventure stories are sure to enjoy Manjiro's struggles and celebrations as he travels the world on a whaling ship!

Angel Burn by L.A. Weatherly

Angel Burn by L.A. Weatherly (Candlewick, 2011)

Summary from publisher:
Willow knows she's different from other girls, and not just because she loves tinkering with cars.  Willow has a gift.  She can look into the future and know people's dreams and hopes, their sorrows and regrets, just by touching them.  She has no idea where this power comes from. But the assassin, Alex, does.  Gorgeous, mysterious alex knows more about Willow than Willow herself does.  He knows that her powers link to dark and dangerous forces and that he's one of the few humans left who can fight them.  When Alex finds himself falling in love with his sworn enemy, he discovers that nothing is as it seems, least of all good and evil.

Paranormal romance seems to be a lasting trend in YA literature.  First we had vampires, then werewolves, then faeries, now angels.  The angels in Angel Burn, however, aren't the angels you might imagine:  benevolent, helpful, guarding creatures on missions from God.  These angels feed (yes, feed) on human energy and then send their prey into a spiral of mental and physical illness.  I have to give Weatherly credit for taking the idea of angels and twisting it.

I stayed up far too late one night reading this book.  While I found it to be very predictable, I did enjoy the story of Willow and Alex and their desperate flight to save Willow's life.  I think teen girls will find hte story just as fascinating.  One of the interesting things about this particular YA book is how relatively chaste it is.  Yes, there's some fairly passionate kissing, and at one point Alex sleeps next to Willow without his shirt on, but that's as racy as it gets.  I can easily put this book in my classroom library!  Whew!

I received the sequel to this book a week or two ago, and I look forward to reading it.  Of course, that means I'll have to wait until 2013 to read the conclusion!

Requiem: Voices of the Terezin Ghetto by Paul B. Janeczko

Requiem:  Voices of the Terezin Ghetto by Paul B. Janeczko (Candlewick, 2011)

Summary from publisher:
A boy known as "Professor" keeps a notebook hidden in his shoe.  A girl revels in a few hours of freedome playing a cat in the opera Brundibar.  The Danish Red Cross, invited for an official visit, is satisfied that nothing is untoward in the ghetto of Terezin. Yet in reality the Czech concentration camp was little more than a way station to the gas chambers, run with chilling efficiency by Nazi guards.
Requiem gives voice to Terezin's inmates and honors their commitment to art and music in the face of horrific conditions.  Accented with historic illustrations by the inmates, found after the war ended, Paul B. Janeczko's spae and powerful poems convey Terezin's tragic legacy on an intimate, profoundly moving scale.


I read this slim volume of haunting poetry in about a half an hour.  Once I started, I couldn't put it down.  Each poem is told from a different voice, yet they all tell the story of Terezin from its beginnings as a Czech village to the concentration camp it became.  It is powerful without being over-the-top graphic.

I did not know the story of Terezin until I visited the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center for the first time on a field trip with my students.  I thought I knew a lot about this time period because I am required to teach a unit on the Holocaust by the state.  Seeing the photographs taken as part of the visit by the Red Cross and then reading the real stories behind them was chilling.  Janeczko captures this as well.

 I will be adding poems from this collection to my Holocaust unit when I teach it this spring.  They deserve a second look.

The Redheaded Princess by Ann Rinaldi

The Redheaded Princess by Ann Rinaldi (HarperCollins, 2008)


Summary from publisher:
Growing up, Elizabeth fears she can never be Queen.  Although she is the King's daughter, no woman can ever hope to rule over men in England, especially when her mother has been executed for treason.
For all her royal blood, Elizabeth's life is fraught with danger and uncertainty.  Sometimes she is welcome in the royal court; other times she is cast out into the countryside.  With her position constantly changing, the Princess must navigate a sea of shifting loyalties and dangerous affections.  At stake is her life -- for beheading is not uncommon among the factions that war for the Crown.

Time was, I bought and devoured every book Ann Rinaldi wrote.  Then I did a reality check on my classroom library and discovered it was quite historical-fiction heavy.  I made it a point to read a wider variety of books, and Ann Rinaldi slipped off of my radar.  I'm SO GLAD I picked up this book.  Rinaldi is still as wonderful as I remember, and the life of Queen Elizabeth I has always intrigued me.

In The Redheaded Princess, Rinaldi focuses on Elizabeth's life as a young girl and teen. While this is a story that has been told over and over again, Rinaldi brings her own special touch to the story.  Written in first person, the reader is quickly drawn into the intrigues and conflicts of Tudor England.  Young readers who might not know as much about this time period will not get lost in the story, as Rinaldi gives enough detail to make sure the reader understands what is going on.

One of the things I love about Ann Rinaldi is that her protagonists are strong young women who make a difference.  That is certainly the case here.  I can't wait to hand this book to my fifth grade daughter and then talk to her about what she might learn from Princess Elizabeth.  I'm sure she'll come up with a thing or two.

Girls who love historical fiction will certainly love The Redheaded Princess!

Burn My Heart by Beverly Naidoo

Burn My Heart by Beverly Naidoo (Amistad, 2007)


Summary from publisher:
Mathew and Mugo, two boys -- one white, one black -- share an uneasy friendship in Kenya in the 1950s.  They're friends even though Mathew's dad owns the land and everything on it.  They're friends despite the difference in their skin color.  And they're friends in the face of the growing Mau Mau rebellion, which threatens British settlers with violence as black Kenyans struggle to win back their land and freedom.  But suspicions and accusations are escalating, and an act of betrayal could change everything.

Burn My Heart, along with a few other books I've read recently, are working together to remind me how US-centered most of my reading is.  I know incredibly little about life in Africa, either present-day or in the past.  Through the reading I'm doing for both the Rebecca Caudill Young Reader's Award and the Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award, I'm learning more than I ever thought I would.  I'm picking up books I would have walked past not so very long ago.  My students and I are richer for it.

It's not that I purposely avoided books about Africa (or India or China, for that matter).  It's just that the subjects I like to read about tend to be American and European history and contemporary romantic fiction.  I understand I need to read broadly in order to talk to my students about books, and I honestly thought I DID read broadly, until this year.  NOW I understand what that means.

Burn My Heart is a story of friendship, betrayal, and rebellion.  In many ways, I wish it were a YA book instead of a middle grade one.  I wanted to know more about Mugo and the struggle for Kenyan independence.  I appreciated how Naidoo wrote about complex issues in a way fifth or sixth graders could understand, and perhaps even decide they want to learn more about.

Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King

Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King 
(Little,Brown, 2011)


Summary from publisher:
Lucky Linderman didn't ask for his life.  He didn't ask his grandfather not to come home from the Vietnam War  he didn't ask for a father who never got over it.  he didn't ask for a mother who keeps pretending their dysfunctional family is fine.  And hi didn't ask to be the target of Nader McMillan's relentless bullying, which has finally gone too far.
But Lucky has a secret -- one that helps him wade through the daily mundane torture of his life.  In his dreams, Lucky escapes to the war-ridden jungles of Laos -- the prison his grandfather couldn't escape -- where Lucky can be a real man, an adventurer, and a hero.  It's dangerous and wild, and it's a place where his life just might be worth living.  But how long can Lucky keep hiding in his dreams before reality forces its way inside?

I've been wanting to read this book for quite a while.  When it came out many fellow members of the Nerdy Book Club were reading and talking about how powerful the story was.  I finally got the opportunity to read it this past weekend, and, holy cow!  what a ride it was.

This is not a story for the faint of heart.  The bullying Lucky suffers is horrible, and his parents' inability to help him cope is heartbreaking.  It is not until Lucky is assaulted at the public pool and is visibly injured that his mother finally gets herself out of the pool and whisks Lucky away for a while.  Turns out, she's escaping her own problems as much as helping Lucky escape his.

Lucky, though, has another method of escape, to the jungle of Laos where he plans grand attempts to rescue his grandfather.  At first, the reader thinks these are simply fantasies, but Lucky always wakes from these dreams with a tangible souvenir of where he's been.  Makes for some interesting reading.

This is definitely a book for older kids.  In fact, I am not going to put it in my 7th grade classroom library due to the graphic descriptions of the bullying.  I will, however, pass it on to a friend who teaches high school.  Teens will definitely be able to relate to Lucky and his problems.

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green (Dutton, 2012)


Summary from publisher:
Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis.  But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.

Honest to Pete, I have no idea how to write a blog post about this book without getting all spoiler-y.  Suffice it to say, this book is brilliant.  A masterpiece.  One of the best books I've read in a really, really, long time.  Just going by the blurb, you know this book is about a kid with cancer.  One would not think a book about a kid with cancer could be funny, but there were times when I was laughing out loud at something Hazel, Augustus, or their friend Isaac would say.  Yes, they joked about their disease, about "Cancer Perks" kids receive because they're sick, and about various side effects.  Green manages to take the dark humor and crack open the silence that often surrounds sick kids.

This is a book about love on many levels:  love for your friends, your children, your parents, yourself.  This is also a love letter to books.  Hazel and Augustus's friendship is built on a foundation of books, and it is a pilgrimage to meet Hazel's favorite author that drives much of the plot.  I can't wait to reread this book with a notebook and pen nearby so I can write down my favorite quotes to post in my classroom.

This book is definitely for older readers, junior high and up.  There is some language and sexual situations, but nothing is explicit.  There is definite emotional toll, too, as one would expect from a book about a kid with cancer.

Get this book.  Now.  Read it.  You'll love it!

It's Monday... What Are You Reading?

It's hard to believe it's Monday again!  Here we go with another round of It's Monday!  What are you reading?  If you'd like to play along, head on over to visit Kellee and Jen and add your link!

What I read this week:

7.  A Plague Year by Edward Bloor (finished 1/11/12) (Ugh......)

8.  Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon and Dean Hale (finished 1/12/12) (Fun graphic novel retelling of Rapunzel)

9.  The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (finished 1/13/12) (OMG, read it.  Just read it!)

10.  Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King (finished 1/14) (Powerful story of bullying and dealing with it - or not)

This week I read three great books and one dog.  I also abandoned a book, something I almost NEVER do!  I just couldn't keep reading past about page 80 and put it aside.  Maybe it's just that I wasn't in the mood, maybe it was the subject matter, I'm not sure.

This week I'll continue reading for the Caudill committee.  I HAVE to get those last 10 books read before January 28, but I also REALLY, REALLY want to read A Million Suns by Beth Revis, the sequel to Across the Universe.  I also have several students lining up to read it when I'm finished.  I guess I'd better get on that!

A Plague Year by Edward Bloor

A Plague Year by Edward Bloor (Knopf, 2011)

Summary from publisher:
Progression of a Plague
Stage one:  It starts small.  Grocery carts from the supermarket where you work go missing.  People start shoplifting weird combinations of things -- cleaning products and cold remedies.  But your life is mostly the same old ninth-grade grind.  You dream about ditching this cold coal town and going to college in Florida -- but that is years away.
Stage two:  Suddenly the plague has a name:  meth.  You never heard of it before, but now it's on everyone's lips.  The cute new girl seems to know a lot about it -- and so you are intrigued.
Stage three:  Zombies appear.  They have sunken red eyes, cracked lips, pale skin, rotting teeth, and outstretched hands.  Other people disappear.  People you know -- or knew.  Some get arrested for using or selling or cooking.  Some lose their jobs for stealing.  Some die.
Stage four:  Epidemic.  This drug that you haven't even tried has seeped into every aspect of your life.  Your definitions of friend, family, romance, and normal have all changed.
Cure:  Is there one?  No one seems to know.  Part of you just wants to escape.  But another part -- the better part -- is determined to stay, and fight.

Reading this summary on the book jacket, I thought this book had real promise.  I thought it was an interesting way to approach a story about a town afflicted by meth addicts.  This was not a story I had read before, and I eagerly dove in.

Then I started reading.

The basic plot of the story IS good.  It's just that the characters are static and the school scenes feel incredibly fake. The teenagers in this school don't talk like the teenagers I know, and the teachers in the book are stereotypes.  The tone of this book is also very preachy.  I think it would turn most teens off.

I wish I had more positive things to say about this book.  It had such potential to be GOOD!

Rapunzel's Revenge

Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon and Dean Hale, Illustrated by Nathan Hale (Bloomsbury, 2008)

Summary from publisher:
Once upon a time, in a land you only think you know, lived a little girl and her mother... or the person she thought was her mother.
Every day, when the girl played in her grand villa and lush garden, she grew more curious about what lay on the other side of the ridiculously huge garden wall.  Year after year, things just seemed weirder and weirder, until the day she finally managed to sneak over the top of the wall and was horrified to see what lay beyond...

What a fun ride this beautifully illustrated graphic novel is!  I loved the Wild West adaptation and how Rapunzel teams up with Jack (from Jack and the Beanstalk, of course). There's enough of the original story to keep readers interested but with twists to make it interesting.

When I had my book out today to read during silent reading, several kids told me how much they loved it.  It was great to see how excited they were to talk about a book they loved.  I think their excitement definitely rubbed off on me, because I loved it, too!

Rapunzel's Revenge would be a great book to use when introducing elements of a graphic novel. The familiar story with a twist makes it an approachable book for many different kinds of readers.

The Queen of Water by Laura Resau

The Queen of Water by Laura Resau (Delacorte, 2011)

Summary from publisher:
Born in an Andean village in Ecuador, Virginia lives with her large family in a small, earthen-walled dwelling.  In her village of indigenas, it is not uncommon to work in the fields all day, even as a child, or to be called a longa tonta --stupid Indian -- by members of the ruling class of mestizos, or Spanish descendants. When seven-year-old Virginia is taken from her village to be a servant to a mestizo couple, she has no idea what the future holds.
Virginia quickly grows accustomed to the conveniences and luxuries of mestizo life.  But promised pay and visits to her family are quickly forgotten, as is her bosses' pledge to send her to school.  Beaten and told that the sole purpose of indigenous girls is to serve, Virginia must fight to hold on to her spirit and humor.  She teaches herself to read and write and performs science experiments in secret.
When Virginia's only friend betrays her, she must gather her courage and escape.  But once she's found her freedom, will Virginia -- now a teenager caught between cultures -- also find a place where she belongs?

This book was a real eye-opener for me, as it will be for the teens who pick it up.  It is a reminder that not all children have lives as easy as most of those in the US.  The crippling poverty shown in the first few chapters of this book was heartbreaking.  Virginia describes the lice in her hair and flea bites on her legs so nonchalantly that you realize this is her normal.  No one cares she has lice since everyone in her family also has it.  She doesn't go to school, so there's no reason to try to get it out.  Add to that the description of the hut she shares with her parents and siblings, the backbreaking field work, and the almost-non-existant food, and you begin to wonder how these people survive.

And then you read about Virginia being taken from her parents at age 7 to serve as a nanny and housekeeper for a white family who lives hours away.  I got the feeling that Virginia's parents couldn't say no, because the man arranging this was the landowner on whose land they lived and sharecropped.  According to the author's note in the back of the book, these arrangements were often shady, with the parents not understanding exactly what they would get in return for their daughters' service, and often resulting in the parents and the children never seeing each other again.

It's so important for kids to read about other cultures.  It helps them to develop empathy for those who have harder lives, and can help to teach them resilience in the fact of problems.  I was amazed at how resilient Virginia was as a young child.  She could teach my own daughters a thing or two.

This is definitely a book for older readers.  The text is dense and small, and the ideas within are complex and at times disturbing.  I will be putting this book in my seventh grade classroom library, and I will be handing it directly to a few girls who I think will eat up this novel based on a true story.  It's definitely worth a read.

It's Monday... What Are You Reading?

It's Monday! What Are you Reading? is a meme sponsored by Kellee & Jen over at TeachMentorTexts.  Several of my online cohorts participate, and it's great to see what everyone's been reading AND what their reading plans for the week are.


Here's what I read last week:

2.  Turtle in Paradise by Jenni Holm (finished 1/2/12) (Loved this one!)

3.  Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey (finished 1/5/12) (Not so much....)

4.  Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai (finished 1/6/12) (Great free verse novel)

5.  Bumped by Megan McCafferty (finished 1/7/12) (Um.... weird.)

5.  Queen of Water by Laura Resau (finished 1/7/12) (Whoa... amazing for older readers)

6.  The Scent of Jasmine by Jude Deveraux (finished 1/8) (Steamy.  Not for kids!)

Going back to school on Tuesday really slowed down my reading.  I only averaged a book a day this week (I know... not bad, but still!)

This week I need to power through as many books as I can before I go to the Evaluator's meeting for the Rebecca Caudill Young Reader's Award on January 28.  At that meeting, we'll choose the list of 20 finalists for the 2013 award.  This is my first year on the committee, so I'm eager to see what it's like!

Have a great reading week!

Inside Out and Back Again by Thahha Lai

Inside out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai
(Harper, 2011)


Summary from publisher:
For all the ten years of her life, Ha has only known Saigon:  the thrills of its markets, the joy of its traditions, the warmth of her friends close by ... and the beauty of her very own papaya tree.
But now the Vietnam War has reached her home.  Ha and her family are forced to flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope.  In America, Ha discovers the foreign world of Alabama: the coldness of its strangers, the dullness of its food, the strange shape of its landscape ... and the strength of her very own family.
This is the moving story of one girl's year of change, dreams, grief, and healing as she journeys from one country to another, one life to the next.

I'm late coming on the bandwagon for this beautiful novel in verse.  The story of Ha and her family as they begin a new life in America is at times heartbreaking and heart warming.  I loved that Lai gave me a look at what life was like in Vietnam for families as contrasted by their lives here in America as refugees.  I was a young child in the mid-1970s, and I honestly don't remember what America was like then; I was more concerned with when I would lose my first tooth!

I can see why this book won the National Book Award.  It will be interesting to see if it wins any more.

Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey

Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey (Knopf, 2011)

Summary from publisher:
Charlie Bucktin, a bookish thirteen-year-old, is startled one summer night by an urgent knock on his bedroom window.  His visitor is Jasper Jones, an outcast in their small mining town, and he has come to ask for Charlie's help.  Terribly afraid but desperate to impress, Charlie follows him into the night.
Jasper takes him to his secret glade, where Charlie witnesses Jasper's horrible discovery.  With his secret sitting like a brick in his belly, Charlie is pushed and pulled by a town closing in on itself in fear and suspicion.  He locks horns with his tempestuous mother, falls nervously in love, and battles to keep a lid on his zealous best friend.  In the simmering summer when everything changes, Charlie learns why the truth of things is so hard to know, and even harder to hold in his heart.

This book got off to a slow start for me.  I'm not sure if it was the subject matter (dead girl hanging from a tree; did Jasper do it?) or the Australian dialect.  It took me quite a while to immerse myself in Charlie's world.  Silvey lets this mystery unfold slowly, almost too slowly for my taste, and then when you add in all of the cricket terms which I did not understand AT ALL, it's easy to see why I gave serious thought to abandoning this one.

By the end, however, the skeletons in the closet of Charlie's small Australian town start to make themselves known, and the story gets more and more interesting.  I was eventually satisfied with the story and the ending.

This is not a book for young readers.  The mystery in the book centers around the death of a teenager, and there's much abuse:  emotional, physical, and sexual.  Teens who like dark, realistic fiction might enjoy this book much more than I did.

Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm

Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm 
(Yearling, 2010)


Summary from publisher:
Life isn't like the movies, and eleven-year-old Turtle is no Shirley Temple.  She's smart and tough and has seen enough of the world not to expect a Hollywood ending. After all, it's 1935, and jobs and money and sometimes even dreams are scarce.  So when Turtle's mama gets a job housekeeping for a lady who doesn't like kids, Turtle says goodbye without a tear and heads off to Key West, Florida, to stay with relatives she's never met.  Florida's like nothing Turtle has ever seen.  It's hot and strange, full of ragtag boy cousins, family secrets, and even buried treasure!  Before she knows what's happened, Turtle finds herself coming out of the shell she's spent her life building, and as she does, her world opens up in the must unexpected ways.

Having read (and loved) several other Jenny Holm books, I've been looking forward to reading this one for a while.  Many of Holm's books are based on family stories, and they are usually gentle and heartwarming. This was the perfect book to wrap up my winter break reading spree.

My favorite character in this book was definitely Turtle.  She is one tough cookie, and I loved that she could hold her own with both her boy cousins and her cantankerous grandmother.  She's feisty and smart, and she doesn't want anyone but her to have the upperhand.  Deep inside, though, is a tender heart that misses her mother and wonders about the father she's never met.  It's a good thing I like Turtle, though, because most of the other characters in the book are somewhat undeveloped and play supporting roles.

This book definitely read more realistic fiction rather than historical fiction, but this story could really only have been set on Key West during the Great Depression.  Had Holm tried to set the book in the Keys in modern day, it wouldn't have been the same story at all, given the development and push for tourism that has taken place in the past 70 years.

I can see this book appealing more to girls than to boys, though the boys in this book, members of the notorious Diaper Gang, are hilarious.  It's a sweet story of finding family and finding your place in the world, and yes, happy endings (though perhaps not the ending you thought)

The Year Money Grew On Trees by Aaron Hawkins

The Year Money Grew on Trees by Aaron Hawkins (Sandpiper, 2010)


Summary from publisher:
Jackson Jones is surrounded by three hundred wild apple trees, and he needs to make them grow apples -- thousands and thousands of apples.  But what do he and his sisters and cousins know about pruning, irrigating, and fertilizing?  To say nothing of driving a tractor that no one understands how to operate?  And even assuming they can make the apples grow how can they pick and sell enough of them in time?
With frostbitten fingers, stinking shoes, and sore muscles, Jackson and his crew unexpectedly discover the lost art of winging it -- and have the time of their lives.

This is the first book in a long time that had was set during the years I was in middle school.  The pop-culture references took me right back to the early 80s and helped to bring me into the world of this book.  The story, however, is not really dependent on the time period in which it is set, other than the easy acces Jackson and his cousins had to powerful pesticides to spray on the apples.

The premise for this book is an interesting one.  Jackson works in a neighbor's orchard, and at the end of the season the neighbor will get $8,000 and Jackson gets the orchard.  I'll admit; I was rooting for Jackson and his cousins to succeed even though the book felt fairly predictable.  I wasn't really worried that Jackson wouldn't get those apples to grow.

There were many parts of this book that felt a little too good to be true.  The author's note explains that Mr. Hawkins based the book on his experiences working in an orchard as a child, but the story is completely made up.  I certainly learned a thing or two about growing apples!

Winterdance by Gary Paulsen

Winterdance by Gary Paulsen (Harcourt, 1994)



Gary Paulsen is a prolific writer of novels for kids and young adults.  Many of his most popular books are survival stories or stories about the bond between humans and animals.  In Winterdance, Paulsen recounts his experiences of training for his first Iditerod.

This is actually the second time I've read Winterdance.  The first was shortly after its publication.  I'm glad I revisited it.  I'm getting ready to do a genre study of memoir with my seventh graders upon our return from winter break, and I am planning to use this book with my students in book clubs.  While there is some salty language in the book, I think Paulsen's learning through trial and error and his misadventures with his dogs will appeal to many of my students.

This is definitely a book for older readers.  I wouldn't hand it to a fourth or fifth grader who has just finished Hatchet.  There are some scenes of human-to-dog violence that could be upsetting to more sensitive readers, but I think older kids can read those scenes and see that Paulsen includes those scenes as part of his commentary on human nature.

Teens who love adventure books and nature stories will definitely find things to love in Winterdance.

Miracleville by Monique Polak

Miracleville by Monique Polak (Orca, 2011)


Summary from publisher:
Sixteen-year-old Ani lives in the tiny Quebec town of Saite-Anne-de-Beupre, where her family runs Saintly Souvenirs, a tourist shop catering to the many pilgrims who come to the town seeking a miracle.  Ani is a good girl:  devout, virginal, and obedient.  Her younger sister Colette is exactly the opposite:  irreverent, over-sexed, and hyperactive.  When Ani's faith is tested, and she is confronted with something shocking in her mother's past, she has to rethink her whole existence and decide what direction she wants her life to take.

On the front cover of this book is a blurb from Louis Sachar, author of Holes:  "Wonderful characters...a simple joy just to spend time with them."  I have to agree whole-heartedly with Mr. Sachar.  I fell in love with Ani almost from the beginning of this book.  Yes, she's a stereotypical "good girl," but she's also struggling with her goodness and the desire for more.  Ani becomes even more human after her mother has a tragic accident and is left paralyzed from the waist down.  Ani is repulsed by her mother's disability and has to learn that her mother is still the same person, even if she now has to use a wheelchair to get around.

Miracleville is not an action-packed adventure story.  Rather, it is a quiet, character-driven novel about a teenage girl trying to find her place in the world.  As such, I can't see many boys being drawn to the story or the characters.  I do think, though, this book will find an audience with the many girls I know who love contemporary realistic fiction stories.

All Good Children by Catherine Austen

All Good Children by Catherine Austen (Orca, 2011)


Summary from publisher:
Quick-witted, prank-pulling graffiti artist Maxwell Connors is more observant than the average New Middletown teenager.  And he doesn't like what he sees.  New Middletown's children are becoming frighteningly obedient, and their parents and teachers couldn't be happier.  As Max and his friend Dallas watch their classmates transform into model citizens, Max wonders if their only hope of freedom lies in the unknown world beyond New Middletown's walls, where creativity might be a gift instead of a liability.

All Good Children is another in a long line of dystopian novels published in 2011.  It's interesting to see how today's YA authors bring in elements of classic dystopian/science fiction novels into their books, adding special twists to plot elements to make the story new.  As I read this one, I couldn't help but think of 1984 and The Stepford Wives.  Austen must have been aware of the strong similarities to those two books since she made direct reference to both in the course of the story.  Of course, most young readers haven't read these classic books, and I wonder how many of them realize the rich history of social commentary through dystopian novels.

Overall, I enjoyed All Good Children.  The story is well-paced and has some interesting twists and turns.  It's hard to tell who Max's allies and enemies are among the adults in the story, which adds to the level of suspense. The idea of mass-medicating children to make them compliant is abhorrent to me as a parent, but as a teacher I see so many kids on various behavioral meds, that I wonder if that future is really all that far away.

This book has definite teen-appeal for both boys and girls, and I look forward to sharing it with my students.

It's Monday... What Are You Reading?

It's Monday!  What Are You Reading? Is a meme sponsored by Jen and Kellee over at TeachMentorTexts.  I've really enjoyed reading the other blogs that link up to Jen and Kellee's and looking back over my own reading each week.  One of the most helpful parts of these posts are the reading plans for the next week.  Making a reading plan helps me focus on what I HAVE to read for my two book award committees and what I WANT to read from my ever-growing TBR pile.

Here's what I read last week:

189.  Black Radishes by Susan Lynn Meyer (finished 12/26)

190.  Down the Mysterly River by Bill Willingham (finished 12/27)

191.  Winterdance by Gary Paulsen (finished 12/28)

192.  All Good Children by Catherine Austen (finished 12/29)

193.  Miracleville by Monique Polak (finished 12/29)

194.  The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater (finished 12/30)

1.  The Year Money Grew on Trees by Aaron Hawkins (finished 1/1)

My favorite this week was definitely Scorpio Races.  The fantasy/romance was just what I needed to wrap up a great reading year.  You can read my review of the book here.

My reading goal for this week:

I definitely won't have as much time this week since school starts back up TOMORROW!

1.  Finish 10 Things Every Writer Needs to Know by Jeff Anderson

2.  Finish Turtle in Paradise by Jenny Holm

3.  Read Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai

4.  Read Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey

Happy reading, everyone!

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater 
(Scholastic, 2011)


Summary from publisher:
Some race to win.  Others race to survive.
It happens at the start of every November:  the Scorpio Races.  Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line.
Some riders life.
Others die.
At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion.  He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them.
Puck Connoly is different.  She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races.  But fate hasn't given her much of a choice.  So she enters the competition -- the first girl ever to do so.  She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen.

I loved, loved, loved this book!  It has suspense, adventure, fantasy, and yes, a bit of romance all rolled into one.  I'll admit the book started out a bit slow.  It was hard to figure out how to pronounce the name of the water horses, but as I kept reading, the beautiful writing, great world-building, and strong characters kept me reading.  I just couldn't figure out how this book would end well, and I'm not going to spoil anything by telling you how it ends.  Just know that it is GOOD.

One of the things I really liked about this book was the sense of place Stiefvater creates.  The island setting is not directly identified, but it feels Irish.  The descriptions of the towns and farms, along with the celtic feel to the faerie horses also lend themselves to this feeling.  As I read, having those pictures of small Irish villages and the rugged Irish coast in mind helped me to really lose myself in the story and put myself in the races with Sean and Puck.

I also enjoyed having the story told in two voices.  Puck and Sean alternated chapters, and seeing both perspectives added a depth to the story that wouldn't have been attained otherwise.  The two characters are so different in their outlook on life, and their personalities are almost opposites.  Being able to see both perspectives made it difficult to root for one or the other to win the races, which added a higher feeling of tension to the experience.

I can't wait to talk to my students about this book.  Even though there is some romance, I believe the elements of danger and adventure that are inherent in the story will appeal to both boys and girls.  I'm dying to know if seventh graders love this book as much as I did.

Down the Mysterly River by Bill Willingham

Down the Mysterly River by Bill Willingham (Starscape, 2011)


Summary from publisher:
Max "the Wolf" is a top-notch Boy Scout, an expert at orienteering, and a master of being prepared. So it is a little odd that he sudenly finds himself, with no recollection of his immediate past, lost in an unfamiliar wood.  Even odder till, he encounters a badger named Banderbrock, a black bear named Walden, and McTavish the Monster (who might also be an old barn cat)--all of whom talk-- and who are as clueless as Max.
Before long, Max and his friends are on the run from a relentless group of hunters and their deadly hounds.  Armed with powerful blue swords and known as the Blue Cutters, these hunters capture and change the very essence of their prey.  For what purpose, Max can't guess.  But unless he can solve the mystery of the strange forested world he's landed in, Max may find himself and his friends changed beyond recognition, lost in a lost world...

I didn't love this book.  I'm not a fan of books with talking animals (Charlotte's Web excepted, of course).  This story of a boy and a group of animals lost in the wood felt as if it were trying too hard.  I read it in the car on the way to visit my brother, and I kept having to put it down, then I'd pick it up, read a few pages, and put it back down.  Even my husband noticed my reading was not going smoothly.

I can see, however, how KIDS would like this book.  It is full of adventure and sword fights, and trips through deadly rapids.  There is a twist at the end that I don't think kids would see coming, so I think they would find the ending to be satisfying.  If there's anything I've learned over the past few years of reading WAY MORE middle grade and YA books than I used to, it's that there is an audience for every book.  It just might not be me.

I'm going to sound enthusiastic when I booktalk this book to my students upon our return to school, because I truly feel it is the right book for some readers.  It just wasn't the right book for me.