Remember how much I liked Coraline?
Well, turns out they are drawing a graphic novel adaptation, in addition to making a movie. I'm torn between frothing at the mouth with excitement and being a little disappointed that it isn't being drawn by Dave McKean, who did those great illustrations in the original. Still, it's Coraline, and it's a graphic novel. Plus, that movie looks really really cool. Merry Christmas to me!
And part of my New Year's resolution is to write a book review. Set the attainable goals, that's what I say.
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Friday, December 22, 2006
Apparently I have Been Living Under a Rock
That's the only explanation I can come with for the fact that I've been scooped by approximately 95% of the blogosphere on the title for Harry Potter Seven: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows.
But . . . seriously? Deathly Hollows? Or maybe I've just read so much Harry Potter fanfiction in my time that just about any title sounds a little wacky.
Okay, now let's have a release date please!
Thanks to most of the people on my Blogroll for cluing me in.
But . . . seriously? Deathly Hollows? Or maybe I've just read so much Harry Potter fanfiction in my time that just about any title sounds a little wacky.
Okay, now let's have a release date please!
Thanks to most of the people on my Blogroll for cluing me in.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Meme for Book Bloggers
Okay, this is for all you fellow YA and kidlit book bloggers out there. This is my attempt at starting a meme. I'll go first.
How many other kidlit blogs do you read?
Erm . . . a lot. Check out the ones on my blogroll off to the side, and even that's shamefully out-of-date. Whenever I find a new one, I add it to my Bloglines, which I check in with multiple times per day.
What's the most recent add?
Interactive Reader. She does a lot of YA books . . . 100% so far.
How often do you post a book review to your blog?
I try to do it every Monday and except for a few times when life intervened, I think I've been doing all right.
Do you post about anything else?
I used to post tidbits that came my way, (mostly from Blog of a Bookslut) but I've been very lazy/busy since about October and haven't really done much of that.
Do you only blog books you like, or the stinkers too?
I try to blog only books that score an 8 or higher on my personal scale. Usually I will pick up a book and within a few chapters, I'll know I have to blog this book. Though I admit to having blogged the occasional 7.5, which isn't so much gottablog-gottablog as, well, it was a pretty good read and I'd give it to a kid who asked for this type of book.
How do you keep track of what you want to read?
I actually do it non-digitally . . . the horror!! I have a blue cloth-covered journal that I bought at Target and keep on hand most of the time. I list the title and author when I initially hear about the book, then I take it to work and see if my system has it. When I find it and check it out, I cross it off. I just sent in a full page, typed, single-spaced, to the central purchasing department of books I'd heard about and been VERY PATIENT, I think, waiting for them to just buy it already. Clearly they needed a kick in the pants . . . um, I mean, a gentle reminder of the existence of this book.
How do you keep track of what you've read?
I used to keep it all in my head *gales of laughter*. Then I got into LibraryThing and started recording and tagging everything obsessively. I have to say, what the tag list reveals about my reading matter is . . . interesting. Some are predictable (love) and some aren't (apocalypse?!)
Do you work with kids?
Yup.
In the age group of the books you mostly blog about?
I'm a children's librarian but I mostly blog YA books. That being said, I routinely find fabulous picture books and run after co-workers going, "You have to read this!" To which they say, "I'm on lunch! Go away or I'll set you on fire!"
Do you read grown-up books?
The occasional mystery or romance, but 99.9% of my reading matter is kidlit.
Okay, that's it. I tag whoever's reading this.
How many other kidlit blogs do you read?
Erm . . . a lot. Check out the ones on my blogroll off to the side, and even that's shamefully out-of-date. Whenever I find a new one, I add it to my Bloglines, which I check in with multiple times per day.
What's the most recent add?
Interactive Reader. She does a lot of YA books . . . 100% so far.
How often do you post a book review to your blog?
I try to do it every Monday and except for a few times when life intervened, I think I've been doing all right.
Do you post about anything else?
I used to post tidbits that came my way, (mostly from Blog of a Bookslut) but I've been very lazy/busy since about October and haven't really done much of that.
Do you only blog books you like, or the stinkers too?
I try to blog only books that score an 8 or higher on my personal scale. Usually I will pick up a book and within a few chapters, I'll know I have to blog this book. Though I admit to having blogged the occasional 7.5, which isn't so much gottablog-gottablog as, well, it was a pretty good read and I'd give it to a kid who asked for this type of book.
How do you keep track of what you want to read?
I actually do it non-digitally . . . the horror!! I have a blue cloth-covered journal that I bought at Target and keep on hand most of the time. I list the title and author when I initially hear about the book, then I take it to work and see if my system has it. When I find it and check it out, I cross it off. I just sent in a full page, typed, single-spaced, to the central purchasing department of books I'd heard about and been VERY PATIENT, I think, waiting for them to just buy it already. Clearly they needed a kick in the pants . . . um, I mean, a gentle reminder of the existence of this book.
How do you keep track of what you've read?
I used to keep it all in my head *gales of laughter*. Then I got into LibraryThing and started recording and tagging everything obsessively. I have to say, what the tag list reveals about my reading matter is . . . interesting. Some are predictable (love) and some aren't (apocalypse?!)
Do you work with kids?
Yup.
In the age group of the books you mostly blog about?
I'm a children's librarian but I mostly blog YA books. That being said, I routinely find fabulous picture books and run after co-workers going, "You have to read this!" To which they say, "I'm on lunch! Go away or I'll set you on fire!"
Do you read grown-up books?
The occasional mystery or romance, but 99.9% of my reading matter is kidlit.
Okay, that's it. I tag whoever's reading this.
The Amazon Papers
Book: The Amazon Papers
Author: Beverly Keller
Published: 1996
16-year-old Iris wishes her mom and aunt would lay off. So what if she prefers reading philosophy and fixing cars to going out on dates and having adventures? She’s happy the way she is. Even if she does wish that gorgeous pizza deliveryman would pay her a little more attention. Let other girls drink the cup of life; Iris is happy the way she is. Her staid reputation backfires, however, when her mother takes off on vacation and not only leaves her home alone, but saddles her with a pair of demonic under-five cousins. Nothing can happen with Iris around, can it?
Iris didn’t think so either, until she gets her foot smashed by a stiletto heel, her mom’s car gets stripped in the parking lot of a bowling alley, and she winds up at the airport at midnight to pick up an incontinent dog. If this is the cup of life, she wishes the damn waiter would come back.
It probably took me about an hour and a half to read, but I grinned all the way through. The whole thing has the feel of a Marx Brothers comedy, and Iris’s realization that she may not be the sensible girl everyone takes her for increases with each new disaster, until she finally takes control of her own destiny. Keller’s dry, literate humor and her sense of a heroine in thoroughly over her head makes this a quick little read that you’ll enjoy.
Author: Beverly Keller
Published: 1996
16-year-old Iris wishes her mom and aunt would lay off. So what if she prefers reading philosophy and fixing cars to going out on dates and having adventures? She’s happy the way she is. Even if she does wish that gorgeous pizza deliveryman would pay her a little more attention. Let other girls drink the cup of life; Iris is happy the way she is. Her staid reputation backfires, however, when her mother takes off on vacation and not only leaves her home alone, but saddles her with a pair of demonic under-five cousins. Nothing can happen with Iris around, can it?
Iris didn’t think so either, until she gets her foot smashed by a stiletto heel, her mom’s car gets stripped in the parking lot of a bowling alley, and she winds up at the airport at midnight to pick up an incontinent dog. If this is the cup of life, she wishes the damn waiter would come back.
It probably took me about an hour and a half to read, but I grinned all the way through. The whole thing has the feel of a Marx Brothers comedy, and Iris’s realization that she may not be the sensible girl everyone takes her for increases with each new disaster, until she finally takes control of her own destiny. Keller’s dry, literate humor and her sense of a heroine in thoroughly over her head makes this a quick little read that you’ll enjoy.
Monday, December 11, 2006
Ninjas, Piranhas, and Galileo
Book: Ninjas, Piranhas, and Galileo
Author: Greg Leitich Smith
Published: 2003
Elias loves Honoria. But Honoria, alas, loves Shohei. And Shohei?
Would love it if his parents just gave the whole Japanese thing a rest.
Welcome to the slightly off-kilter world of the Peshtigo School, a place where science fairs spur animal-rights protests and Galileo-esque trials. At the center is this triad: Elias, Honoria, and Shohei, whose longtime friendship is being sorely tested by oncoming adolescence and the aforementioned science fair. They have a million questions: is it possible for piranhas to prefer bananas over bloody meat? Do plants really grow better on baroque chamber music? Can you get away with making your little brother do all your science-fair project? Can Elias ever live up to his genius brothers and sisters? Is Shohei ever going to convince his adoptive parents that really, he’s doing just fine without being immersed day and night in Japanese culture? Who is Honoria’s secret admirer, who by the way, writes really corny love e-mails? Will that snobby, condescending science teacher to admit Elias’s project might be valid, in spite of getting contrary results to the ones expected?
And the big one . . . is their friendship going to survive?
I had fun with this book. Smith intertwines the three stories in multiple-POV format, throwing in just enough lunacy to keep things interesting, but retaining the heart of these likeable middle-schoolers. While a lot of kids’ books assume that their readers have no interest in science, history, or law, Smith assumes all three and mixes them in like chocolate chips, without overloading readers with dull information. He’s written a companion/sequel called Tofu and T. Rex, which returns to the Peshtigo school if not these characters, and I hope he’ll continue. It’s a place where I want to return.
Author: Greg Leitich Smith
Published: 2003
Elias loves Honoria. But Honoria, alas, loves Shohei. And Shohei?
Would love it if his parents just gave the whole Japanese thing a rest.
Welcome to the slightly off-kilter world of the Peshtigo School, a place where science fairs spur animal-rights protests and Galileo-esque trials. At the center is this triad: Elias, Honoria, and Shohei, whose longtime friendship is being sorely tested by oncoming adolescence and the aforementioned science fair. They have a million questions: is it possible for piranhas to prefer bananas over bloody meat? Do plants really grow better on baroque chamber music? Can you get away with making your little brother do all your science-fair project? Can Elias ever live up to his genius brothers and sisters? Is Shohei ever going to convince his adoptive parents that really, he’s doing just fine without being immersed day and night in Japanese culture? Who is Honoria’s secret admirer, who by the way, writes really corny love e-mails? Will that snobby, condescending science teacher to admit Elias’s project might be valid, in spite of getting contrary results to the ones expected?
And the big one . . . is their friendship going to survive?
I had fun with this book. Smith intertwines the three stories in multiple-POV format, throwing in just enough lunacy to keep things interesting, but retaining the heart of these likeable middle-schoolers. While a lot of kids’ books assume that their readers have no interest in science, history, or law, Smith assumes all three and mixes them in like chocolate chips, without overloading readers with dull information. He’s written a companion/sequel called Tofu and T. Rex, which returns to the Peshtigo school if not these characters, and I hope he’ll continue. It’s a place where I want to return.
Monday, December 04, 2006
Not the End of the World
Book: Not the End of the World
Author: Geraldine McCaughrean
Published: 2006
“The end of the world is a busy time if you intend to live through it.”
And Timna’s family does. While their neighbors mock and taunt, they have been preparing for an apocalypse--packing their things, gathering animals, and building an ark. Because this is most definitely the end of the world . . . at least for anyone who’s not in Noah’s family.
Then the flood comes, and Timna’s confidence in her family’s choices is shaken as she watches the terrible deaths of all those neighbors who mocked them. When she involuntarily rescues a young boy and his baby sister, she tries to tell herself that they are demons and her fervent father is right. But she keeps protecting them, until it all comes to the point where the world ends . . . again.
I knew the story of Noah and the ark so well, growing up, that after reading this book, I realized I didn’t know it at all. McCaughrean has actually sat down and thought about the effect of a mass flood on a population, and on a single human being. Thanks to this preparation, Not the End of the World is a shocking and thought-provoking book. She portrays the interpersonal relationships, strained and warped by claustrophobic shipboard life, in a way that the calm and sonorous tones of Genesis never evoked. While it’s mostly Timna’s story, McCaughrean also narrates through other characters (although only one Biblical character and never Noah), and she also gives distinct and fascinating voices to the animals aboard.
Timna herself, instead of being an idealistic rebel from the start, comes around to an understanding of her father, of God, and of moral choices gradually. It’s probably a good idea to know the story of the Ark before diving into this book, but when you do, be prepared to have the familiar story turned inside out.
Author: Geraldine McCaughrean
Published: 2006
“The end of the world is a busy time if you intend to live through it.”
And Timna’s family does. While their neighbors mock and taunt, they have been preparing for an apocalypse--packing their things, gathering animals, and building an ark. Because this is most definitely the end of the world . . . at least for anyone who’s not in Noah’s family.
Then the flood comes, and Timna’s confidence in her family’s choices is shaken as she watches the terrible deaths of all those neighbors who mocked them. When she involuntarily rescues a young boy and his baby sister, she tries to tell herself that they are demons and her fervent father is right. But she keeps protecting them, until it all comes to the point where the world ends . . . again.
I knew the story of Noah and the ark so well, growing up, that after reading this book, I realized I didn’t know it at all. McCaughrean has actually sat down and thought about the effect of a mass flood on a population, and on a single human being. Thanks to this preparation, Not the End of the World is a shocking and thought-provoking book. She portrays the interpersonal relationships, strained and warped by claustrophobic shipboard life, in a way that the calm and sonorous tones of Genesis never evoked. While it’s mostly Timna’s story, McCaughrean also narrates through other characters (although only one Biblical character and never Noah), and she also gives distinct and fascinating voices to the animals aboard.
Timna herself, instead of being an idealistic rebel from the start, comes around to an understanding of her father, of God, and of moral choices gradually. It’s probably a good idea to know the story of the Ark before diving into this book, but when you do, be prepared to have the familiar story turned inside out.
Monday, November 27, 2006
Heavy Metal and You
Book: Heavy Metal and You
Author: Christopher Kovatin
Published: 2005
Metalhead Sam and preppy Melissa are this year’s Least Likely Couple. But try telling them that. To the doubts and concerns of their respective groups of friends, they fall deeper and deeper in love. And while Sam’s friends aren’t thrilled at the way Melissa is making him go straightedge, he doesn’t care, telling himself that love is worth it.
But as their romance progresses, Sam finds himself making more and more changes for her and feeling less and less good about it. He loves Melissa, of course he does . . . but is it enough?
I surprised myself by picking up this book. I’m probably the last person on Earth to enjoy heavy metal, but this book, and Sam’s genuine and passionate obsession with the music, gives me a window into that world. It was also nice for me that Sam is no metalhead stereotype (probably because Kovatin himself is a heavy-metal fan and therefore knows there’s more to the group than spiked wristbands). Sure, he drinks, drugs, and moshes, but Sam also discusses literature and participates in a local drama club.
It’s a quick read, but one that will stay with you because of the questions that Sam faces about friendship, love, and identity. In the end, it’s not even necessary to understand who Deicide or Slayer are to understand Sam (well, okay, give me credit, I have at least heard of Slayer). This is a story about how much we change ourselves for love . . . and how much we should.
Author: Christopher Kovatin
Published: 2005
Metalhead Sam and preppy Melissa are this year’s Least Likely Couple. But try telling them that. To the doubts and concerns of their respective groups of friends, they fall deeper and deeper in love. And while Sam’s friends aren’t thrilled at the way Melissa is making him go straightedge, he doesn’t care, telling himself that love is worth it.
But as their romance progresses, Sam finds himself making more and more changes for her and feeling less and less good about it. He loves Melissa, of course he does . . . but is it enough?
I surprised myself by picking up this book. I’m probably the last person on Earth to enjoy heavy metal, but this book, and Sam’s genuine and passionate obsession with the music, gives me a window into that world. It was also nice for me that Sam is no metalhead stereotype (probably because Kovatin himself is a heavy-metal fan and therefore knows there’s more to the group than spiked wristbands). Sure, he drinks, drugs, and moshes, but Sam also discusses literature and participates in a local drama club.
It’s a quick read, but one that will stay with you because of the questions that Sam faces about friendship, love, and identity. In the end, it’s not even necessary to understand who Deicide or Slayer are to understand Sam (well, okay, give me credit, I have at least heard of Slayer). This is a story about how much we change ourselves for love . . . and how much we should.
Monday, November 20, 2006
Hidden Talents
Book: Hidden Talents
Author: David Lubar
Published: 1999
Edgeview Alternative School is where they send the dregs: the bullies, the misfits, and the hopeless. It’s filled with students and teachers who have nowhere else to go. Edgeview is Martin Anderson’s last chance to fix his life. But he just can’t help himself, and soon he’s fallen back into the habits of a lifetime, mouthing off to all the teachers, somehow managing to say the one thing that will make them angriest. So much for that.
Watching the other students, Martin slowly comes to realize that some of them aren’t just square pegs in a world of round holes, they’re lightning bolts. From Flinch, who always seems to know just what’s coming up, to Torchie, who manages to start fires without match or lighter, to Lucky, who is just that, his new friends each have a hidden talent that finds its way out in surprising and often destructive ways. Martin pushes them to refine and control their talents, because it may be the only thing that will ever get them out of Edgeview. He also tries not to resent their special gifts, knowing that he’s just your run-of-the-mill punk kid who’s already halfway down the drain.
But what if some talents are way more hidden than others?
Just like Holes, this tale of kids at the bottom and heading further down doesn’t make the mistake of valorizing or demonizing, but instead humanizes them. They’re likable, if flawed (there were a few times I was surprised Martin didn’t get smacked), and their reluctance to believe in their own gifts until they need them rings true. This story about discovering value in the valueless is something a lot of kids need to hear.
For some reason, I was expecting a lighter, goofier story than I got, maybe because of the cartoony cover of the edition I read. That’s okay; I loved what I got, and will definitely pick up the sequel (True Talents).
Author: David Lubar
Published: 1999
Edgeview Alternative School is where they send the dregs: the bullies, the misfits, and the hopeless. It’s filled with students and teachers who have nowhere else to go. Edgeview is Martin Anderson’s last chance to fix his life. But he just can’t help himself, and soon he’s fallen back into the habits of a lifetime, mouthing off to all the teachers, somehow managing to say the one thing that will make them angriest. So much for that.
Watching the other students, Martin slowly comes to realize that some of them aren’t just square pegs in a world of round holes, they’re lightning bolts. From Flinch, who always seems to know just what’s coming up, to Torchie, who manages to start fires without match or lighter, to Lucky, who is just that, his new friends each have a hidden talent that finds its way out in surprising and often destructive ways. Martin pushes them to refine and control their talents, because it may be the only thing that will ever get them out of Edgeview. He also tries not to resent their special gifts, knowing that he’s just your run-of-the-mill punk kid who’s already halfway down the drain.
But what if some talents are way more hidden than others?
Just like Holes, this tale of kids at the bottom and heading further down doesn’t make the mistake of valorizing or demonizing, but instead humanizes them. They’re likable, if flawed (there were a few times I was surprised Martin didn’t get smacked), and their reluctance to believe in their own gifts until they need them rings true. This story about discovering value in the valueless is something a lot of kids need to hear.
For some reason, I was expecting a lighter, goofier story than I got, maybe because of the cartoony cover of the edition I read. That’s okay; I loved what I got, and will definitely pick up the sequel (True Talents).
Monday, November 13, 2006
Chicken Boy
Book: Chicken Boy
Author: Frances O’Roark Dowell
Published: 2005
Tobin McCauley has a lot to live down to. From his granny, who gets taken off by the police for driving on the sidewalk while dropping him off on his first day of school, to his hell-raising older brothers, to his father, who works and watches NASCAR, nobody expects anything of him. Then he meets Henry, who is on a mission to prove chickens have souls, and recruits Tobin as a co-researcher. Before he knows it, his entire life is changing, and all because of those chickens.
Who knew?
There have been a lot of books about grief, about parent death, about friendship, about broken families, about changing your life, and maybe even a few about chickens. But Frances O’Roark Dowell reassembles all these elements in a fresh new way, through the voice of world-weary Tobin. Through his matter-of-fact observances of his world, you see the wreckage left behind by his mother’s death due to cancer five years before, and the way that sheer inertia has the entire family in a stranglehold. That is, until Tobin makes a few tiny changes.
Perhaps one of the most interesting elements of this book is Dowell’s portrayal of these changes. While most authors write life-changes as a domino effect--one leading directly to the next--Dowell writes more as if they are jackstraws. One “straw” gets shifted, and all the others are subtly affected until suddenly the whole pile collapses and changes position. In other words, it’s not only Tobin’s life he’s changing; it’s everyone else’s, and their reactions to the changes in turn affect Tobin. By the end, his old world is left behind, but he doesn’t miss it.
And anyway, the chickens are still around.
Author: Frances O’Roark Dowell
Published: 2005
Tobin McCauley has a lot to live down to. From his granny, who gets taken off by the police for driving on the sidewalk while dropping him off on his first day of school, to his hell-raising older brothers, to his father, who works and watches NASCAR, nobody expects anything of him. Then he meets Henry, who is on a mission to prove chickens have souls, and recruits Tobin as a co-researcher. Before he knows it, his entire life is changing, and all because of those chickens.
Who knew?
There have been a lot of books about grief, about parent death, about friendship, about broken families, about changing your life, and maybe even a few about chickens. But Frances O’Roark Dowell reassembles all these elements in a fresh new way, through the voice of world-weary Tobin. Through his matter-of-fact observances of his world, you see the wreckage left behind by his mother’s death due to cancer five years before, and the way that sheer inertia has the entire family in a stranglehold. That is, until Tobin makes a few tiny changes.
Perhaps one of the most interesting elements of this book is Dowell’s portrayal of these changes. While most authors write life-changes as a domino effect--one leading directly to the next--Dowell writes more as if they are jackstraws. One “straw” gets shifted, and all the others are subtly affected until suddenly the whole pile collapses and changes position. In other words, it’s not only Tobin’s life he’s changing; it’s everyone else’s, and their reactions to the changes in turn affect Tobin. By the end, his old world is left behind, but he doesn’t miss it.
And anyway, the chickens are still around.
Friday, November 10, 2006
Better Late Than Never
This article from the Guardian on celebrity children's books was actually published a week ago. Shows you how up to date I am. Still, if you haven't checked it out already, have a look.
Monday, November 06, 2006
Utterly Me, Clarice Bean
Book: Utterly Me, Clarice Bean
Author: Lauren Child
Published: 2003
Clarice Bean’s life has gotten Utterly Odd lately. Her best friend took off for parts unknown, and now she has to do a class project with the Loathsome Karl, for the hideous dragon-teacher. Not to mention the Evil Grace, her Utterly Arch-Enemy and Nemesis, is sure to win the prize cup for best project.
Woe is Clarice! At least she’s got her stellar collection of books about Ruby Redfort, girl super-detective, to keep her afloat. And when the prize cup suddenly disappears, Clarice gets the chance to put the really very quite useful skills she’s learned from Ruby to good use.
In the hands of another author, you might discover that the hideous dragon-teacher, the loathsome Karl, and the Evil Grace are really not that bad. Child only gives us one out of three (Karl, in case you’re interested; turns out the ability to make a volcano is really very useful when you’re doing a project on girl-spy novels). The real joy of this novel is Clarice’s Utterly Quite Individual Voice. With all the angst and drama of your everyday nine-year-old who’s just discovered adjectives, you just can’t imagine Clarice being anyone but herself--just like the title promises.
Not only does Lauren Child’s narrative sparkle with energy, so does the actual text. Playing with enlarged or shrunken font that will sometimes twine around the page, even integrating them into the lively illustrations, Child shows off the approach to visuals that make her picture books must-reads. Fans of those will adore this as they move into middle elementary years.
Author: Lauren Child
Published: 2003
Clarice Bean’s life has gotten Utterly Odd lately. Her best friend took off for parts unknown, and now she has to do a class project with the Loathsome Karl, for the hideous dragon-teacher. Not to mention the Evil Grace, her Utterly Arch-Enemy and Nemesis, is sure to win the prize cup for best project.
Woe is Clarice! At least she’s got her stellar collection of books about Ruby Redfort, girl super-detective, to keep her afloat. And when the prize cup suddenly disappears, Clarice gets the chance to put the really very quite useful skills she’s learned from Ruby to good use.
In the hands of another author, you might discover that the hideous dragon-teacher, the loathsome Karl, and the Evil Grace are really not that bad. Child only gives us one out of three (Karl, in case you’re interested; turns out the ability to make a volcano is really very useful when you’re doing a project on girl-spy novels). The real joy of this novel is Clarice’s Utterly Quite Individual Voice. With all the angst and drama of your everyday nine-year-old who’s just discovered adjectives, you just can’t imagine Clarice being anyone but herself--just like the title promises.
Not only does Lauren Child’s narrative sparkle with energy, so does the actual text. Playing with enlarged or shrunken font that will sometimes twine around the page, even integrating them into the lively illustrations, Child shows off the approach to visuals that make her picture books must-reads. Fans of those will adore this as they move into middle elementary years.
Monday, October 30, 2006
A Brief Chapter in My Impossible Life
Book: A Brief Chapter in My Impossible Life
Author: Dana Reinhardt
Published: 2006
Simone has always known that she’s adopted. It’s kind of hard to miss. But it’s not something she dwells on. Her parents are great, and even her brother isn’t that annoying. She bumps along just fine until the day her parents announce at the dinner table that Rivka called, and wants her to call back.
Rivka is her birth mother, who wants to meet her daughter before she dies.
In spite of her doubts and hesitation, Simone finally agrees to call Rivka back. Over a period of months (and in between other life events) she cautiously gets to know her birth mother. In the process, she starts to learn how her mother’s faith as a Jewish woman informs her life, and begins to work out how she herself, raised by atheists, might feel about God.
This has to be the gentlest adoptive mother renunion story I’ve ever read. The parents are great. The birth mom is great. Heck, except for some initial internal conflict, even sixteen-year-old Simone is great. There’s none of the angst and drama of many other adoption/reunion stories, where there are horrible scenes of whyyyyyyyy did you give me up, and you’re not my real mother and if I love you I betray my real parents. Reinhardt takes a different path. There's not even the drawn-out hideous angst of a mother dying of cancer. Sure, it's sad (I definitely cried at the end), but Reinhardt instead chooses to show the quiet bravery and acceptance with which Rivka faces her coming death, and how Simone absorbs some of that strength.
The real question of this book is not, will Simone ever come to accept her birth mother? She does. She has. It’s, will Simone ever work out how God is going to fit into her life? And nothing distracts from that. Wonderful, thoughtful, sad, lovely.
Author: Dana Reinhardt
Published: 2006
Simone has always known that she’s adopted. It’s kind of hard to miss. But it’s not something she dwells on. Her parents are great, and even her brother isn’t that annoying. She bumps along just fine until the day her parents announce at the dinner table that Rivka called, and wants her to call back.
Rivka is her birth mother, who wants to meet her daughter before she dies.
In spite of her doubts and hesitation, Simone finally agrees to call Rivka back. Over a period of months (and in between other life events) she cautiously gets to know her birth mother. In the process, she starts to learn how her mother’s faith as a Jewish woman informs her life, and begins to work out how she herself, raised by atheists, might feel about God.
This has to be the gentlest adoptive mother renunion story I’ve ever read. The parents are great. The birth mom is great. Heck, except for some initial internal conflict, even sixteen-year-old Simone is great. There’s none of the angst and drama of many other adoption/reunion stories, where there are horrible scenes of whyyyyyyyy did you give me up, and you’re not my real mother and if I love you I betray my real parents. Reinhardt takes a different path. There's not even the drawn-out hideous angst of a mother dying of cancer. Sure, it's sad (I definitely cried at the end), but Reinhardt instead chooses to show the quiet bravery and acceptance with which Rivka faces her coming death, and how Simone absorbs some of that strength.
The real question of this book is not, will Simone ever come to accept her birth mother? She does. She has. It’s, will Simone ever work out how God is going to fit into her life? And nothing distracts from that. Wonderful, thoughtful, sad, lovely.
Monday, October 23, 2006
I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You
Book: I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You
Author: Ally Carter
Published: 2006
Cammie Morgan’s got a pretty normal life. She lives with her mom and attends the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, and she’s got good friends. Except that she speaks fourteen languages, can kill a man in seven different ways (three of which involve uncooked spaghetti), and the Gallagher Academy is a training school for future superspies. Sooooo . . . normal is a pretty relative term here.
At the start of her sophomore year, on a completely routine mission--um, assignment--for Covert Ops class, Cammie meets Josh. Like most other townies, Josh has never met a Gallagher girl and hasn’t the foggiest notion that they consider Mata Hari an amateur. He thinks she’s a normal teenage girl. She knows from the start that she has to let him go on thinking that. For Cammie, this may be the most dangerous undercover mission she’ll ever undertake. Because national security isn’t the only thing on the line here . . . so is her heart.
This is a lovely bit of fluff, a book to make you smile on a rainy Thursday. It’s kind of like James Bond on estrogen and Cover Girl. Sweet, warm, and very, very funny, Carter’s writing makes you feel for this future superspy who’s as lost as any normal teenage girl when it comes to boys. One of Carter’s real gifts is dropping in off-handed one-liners that are both laugh-out-loud hilarious and highlight how truly strange Cammie’s life is.
With its open-ended epilogue, Carter leaves the door wide open for sequels (the first of which is in the works). Word is, she’s also signed a deal with Disney for a TV movie. Here’s hoping they don’t mess up this great book.
Author: Ally Carter
Published: 2006
Cammie Morgan’s got a pretty normal life. She lives with her mom and attends the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, and she’s got good friends. Except that she speaks fourteen languages, can kill a man in seven different ways (three of which involve uncooked spaghetti), and the Gallagher Academy is a training school for future superspies. Sooooo . . . normal is a pretty relative term here.
At the start of her sophomore year, on a completely routine mission--um, assignment--for Covert Ops class, Cammie meets Josh. Like most other townies, Josh has never met a Gallagher girl and hasn’t the foggiest notion that they consider Mata Hari an amateur. He thinks she’s a normal teenage girl. She knows from the start that she has to let him go on thinking that. For Cammie, this may be the most dangerous undercover mission she’ll ever undertake. Because national security isn’t the only thing on the line here . . . so is her heart.
This is a lovely bit of fluff, a book to make you smile on a rainy Thursday. It’s kind of like James Bond on estrogen and Cover Girl. Sweet, warm, and very, very funny, Carter’s writing makes you feel for this future superspy who’s as lost as any normal teenage girl when it comes to boys. One of Carter’s real gifts is dropping in off-handed one-liners that are both laugh-out-loud hilarious and highlight how truly strange Cammie’s life is.
With its open-ended epilogue, Carter leaves the door wide open for sequels (the first of which is in the works). Word is, she’s also signed a deal with Disney for a TV movie. Here’s hoping they don’t mess up this great book.
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Cybils!
It was really only a matter of time before the kidlit bloggers banded together to create their own awards for the stuff they read and blog about.
The Cybils
The 2006 Children's and YA Bloggers' Literary Awards
The rules, quoted from the Cybils blog:
For me, the hardest part is gonna be the whole nominating just one book per category. Gaaaaaah! There's so . . . many . . . good ones!! *falls over*
Anyway, didja see that part 'bout how anyone can nominate? Didja? Whatcha waitin' fer???
P.S. Yes, I am extremely hopped up on caffeine and being back home again. Did read some good books on my travels, so if you're very lucky I may do a double post tomorrow.
The Cybils
The 2006 Children's and YA Bloggers' Literary Awards
The rules, quoted from the Cybils blog:
1. The book must be published in 2006 in English. Translations and bilingual books are okay too.
2. You can be anybody. You don't have to be a blogger to nominate a book. You can even be the author, the editor, the publicist, the next-door neighbor or best friend or just a random Googler.
3. If a book you love has already been nominated by someone else, you don't need to second it. We're pretty smart. We'll see it. Promise.
4. Please, pretty please, only nominate one book per category.
For me, the hardest part is gonna be the whole nominating just one book per category. Gaaaaaah! There's so . . . many . . . good ones!! *falls over*
Anyway, didja see that part 'bout how anyone can nominate? Didja? Whatcha waitin' fer???
P.S. Yes, I am extremely hopped up on caffeine and being back home again. Did read some good books on my travels, so if you're very lucky I may do a double post tomorrow.
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Back soon!
Just wanted to let you all know that I'm at a training this week across the country. Of course, this doesn't mean that I've stopped reading, but it does mean I have less time to actually blog. Seriously, though, next Monday I'll be back. I may be really really jet lagged, but I'll be back!
Monday, October 09, 2006
Fly on the Wall
You people are sooooooo lucky I had yesterday off and read all those books. Instead of turning this blog into another silly-links record (today's would have been Flight of the Hamster, in case you're interested), I have something bloggable! I make no promises for next week, though . . .
Book: Fly on the Wall
Author: E. Lockhart
Published: 2006
Gretchen Yee's got it rough these days. Her parents are getting a divorce, her best friend never has time to hang out, her drawing teacher thinks she's a derivitive hack, and the boy she adores doesn't seem to know she exists. (Do they ever?) All she's got are her Spidey comics and her fantasies of being someone who can change the world. Unfortunately, she's just boring ol' Gretchen, invisible in spite of her dyed red hair. Frustrated with trying to understand any members of the human race (including herself), she focuses on the most mysterious segment and wishes to be a fly on the wall of the boys' locker room.
Now she's about to find out why "Be careful what you wish for" is such a cliche.
This extremely fast little read is written in a mix of first-person and stream-of-consciousness that somehow makes it perfectly logical that a sixteen-year-old girl would turn into a fly (or if not logical, at least acceptable). Lockhart never attempts to explain the transformation and that's good, because she can concentrate on Gretchen's discoveries about the boys in the locker room. Some are obvious for the situation (she makes a hilariously frank and impartial catalogue of male attributes), and others are less so. As the no-longer-proverbial fly on the wall, Gretchen stands silent witness to the petty cruelties, raging insecurities, and terribly human flaws that drive the boys in her school.
Like the artwork that features near the end, Lockhart draws a merciless, warts-and-all portrait of teenage boys that turns out strangely beautiful. Armed with the knowledge that the Teenage Boy is no mysterious creature, but as human as herself, Gretchen is able to return to her own body with the courage to reach out across chasms she never would have braved before.
The debt to Kafka's Metamorphosis is obvious--Lockhart even makes a point of having Gretchen read it in lit class. Having never read it myself, I can't make a comparison. But don't worry about that--Gretchen's and Lockhart's story stands on its own.
Book: Fly on the Wall
Author: E. Lockhart
Published: 2006
Gretchen Yee's got it rough these days. Her parents are getting a divorce, her best friend never has time to hang out, her drawing teacher thinks she's a derivitive hack, and the boy she adores doesn't seem to know she exists. (Do they ever?) All she's got are her Spidey comics and her fantasies of being someone who can change the world. Unfortunately, she's just boring ol' Gretchen, invisible in spite of her dyed red hair. Frustrated with trying to understand any members of the human race (including herself), she focuses on the most mysterious segment and wishes to be a fly on the wall of the boys' locker room.
Now she's about to find out why "Be careful what you wish for" is such a cliche.
This extremely fast little read is written in a mix of first-person and stream-of-consciousness that somehow makes it perfectly logical that a sixteen-year-old girl would turn into a fly (or if not logical, at least acceptable). Lockhart never attempts to explain the transformation and that's good, because she can concentrate on Gretchen's discoveries about the boys in the locker room. Some are obvious for the situation (she makes a hilariously frank and impartial catalogue of male attributes), and others are less so. As the no-longer-proverbial fly on the wall, Gretchen stands silent witness to the petty cruelties, raging insecurities, and terribly human flaws that drive the boys in her school.
Like the artwork that features near the end, Lockhart draws a merciless, warts-and-all portrait of teenage boys that turns out strangely beautiful. Armed with the knowledge that the Teenage Boy is no mysterious creature, but as human as herself, Gretchen is able to return to her own body with the courage to reach out across chasms she never would have braved before.
The debt to Kafka's Metamorphosis is obvious--Lockhart even makes a point of having Gretchen read it in lit class. Having never read it myself, I can't make a comparison. But don't worry about that--Gretchen's and Lockhart's story stands on its own.
Monday, October 02, 2006
Seven Daughters and Seven Sons
Okay, I'm down to almost the last of my backlog. Unbelievable as it seems, I'm running out of really fabulous books. I've read a lot of good ones, but there's not many that have that special spark that make me want to talk them up to the world (or at least, as much of it as reads this blog).
Any suggestions? Leave them in the comments!
Fortunately, I do have this one. . .
Book: Seven Sons and Seven Daughters
Author: Barbara Cohen and Bahaji Lovejoy
Published: 1982
Malik, known as Abu al-Banat because he has no sons, does have seven daughters. In the city of Baghdad, this is a terrible misfortune, made worse because he has no money to give them dowries. To make things worse, Malik’s brother (who has the massive fortune of seven sons and a thriving business), refuses to help out by either providing dowries or allowing his sons to marry their cousins, and mocks Malik’s misfortune. It looks as if the seven sisters are doomed to a life of poverty and/or unhappy marriages. Unwilling to accept this fate, the fourth daughter, Buran, comes up with a plan that might save them all. But to do it, she has to leave home, travel as a boy, and make her way as a merchant in eleventh-century Iraq.
On her journey, Buran discovers a real head for business and a flair for making money. She also meets and befriends Mahmud, the prince of Tyre. But when he finds his feelings deepening into more than friendship, he begins to put poor Buran through a series of tests to see if she is a man or woman, and even he’s not sure which outcome he wants. Is happily-ever-after in the cards?
This book sucked me in right from the start. It retains enough of the storyteller’s flavor about it (it claims to be based on an Iraqi folktale) to make it feel like a fairy tale, but I found myself caring very much for clever, pragmatic Buran, her beleaugered family, and even the spoiled prince Mahmud, who shows promise under the influence of Buran. Divided into three parts, each with its own distinct storyline, it still follows a nice narrative line. Check out the final part for the most glee-inducing (and fairy-taleish) elements, when Buran gets her revenge on the seven male cousins who rejected herself and her sisters at the very beginning. It also shines a light on a culture very little understood in the west. I found this at the library, but I've just gotta get my own copy of this great tale of a girl who makes her own happy ending. Where’s the fairy godmother? Who knows? Who cares?
Any suggestions? Leave them in the comments!
Fortunately, I do have this one. . .
Book: Seven Sons and Seven Daughters
Author: Barbara Cohen and Bahaji Lovejoy
Published: 1982
Malik, known as Abu al-Banat because he has no sons, does have seven daughters. In the city of Baghdad, this is a terrible misfortune, made worse because he has no money to give them dowries. To make things worse, Malik’s brother (who has the massive fortune of seven sons and a thriving business), refuses to help out by either providing dowries or allowing his sons to marry their cousins, and mocks Malik’s misfortune. It looks as if the seven sisters are doomed to a life of poverty and/or unhappy marriages. Unwilling to accept this fate, the fourth daughter, Buran, comes up with a plan that might save them all. But to do it, she has to leave home, travel as a boy, and make her way as a merchant in eleventh-century Iraq.
On her journey, Buran discovers a real head for business and a flair for making money. She also meets and befriends Mahmud, the prince of Tyre. But when he finds his feelings deepening into more than friendship, he begins to put poor Buran through a series of tests to see if she is a man or woman, and even he’s not sure which outcome he wants. Is happily-ever-after in the cards?
This book sucked me in right from the start. It retains enough of the storyteller’s flavor about it (it claims to be based on an Iraqi folktale) to make it feel like a fairy tale, but I found myself caring very much for clever, pragmatic Buran, her beleaugered family, and even the spoiled prince Mahmud, who shows promise under the influence of Buran. Divided into three parts, each with its own distinct storyline, it still follows a nice narrative line. Check out the final part for the most glee-inducing (and fairy-taleish) elements, when Buran gets her revenge on the seven male cousins who rejected herself and her sisters at the very beginning. It also shines a light on a culture very little understood in the west. I found this at the library, but I've just gotta get my own copy of this great tale of a girl who makes her own happy ending. Where’s the fairy godmother? Who knows? Who cares?
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Are You Kidding Me?!
After reading this, I think I need to go lie down until the blinding rage subsides.
*sputters on the way out*
*sputters on the way out*
News!
As a children's librarian and someone who enjoys children's lit on its own terms, I feel highly qualified to say: Dude! Coooooooooooooool!!!
Not only a new Sendak, but a pop-up Sendak?
See above.
Not only a new Sendak, but a pop-up Sendak?
See above.
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Synchronicity
Just as I'm in the middle of The Queen of Attolia and have just turned in its sequel, The King of Attolia , this gets posted at the "Unshelved" Sunday Book Club. Kewl. Eugenides may well be one of the coolest trickster characters in YA lit. *greedily* Miz Turner, do we get another?
And yes, I'm fully aware that I'm reading the series backwards. I've read it before, nothing will spoil the ending.
And yes, I'm fully aware that I'm reading the series backwards. I've read it before, nothing will spoil the ending.
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