Reading a mile a minute for class

I can't possibly list all the books I've read for my Children's Literature class, so I'm going to hit the highlights of the past two weeks:

No More Dead Dogs by Gordon Korman - some funny pokes at award winning novels for children (love the part where Wallace points out that in any book with a medal and a dog on the cover, the dog is definitely going to die - yes, I know Shiloh doesn't die, but he's an exception), a middle school play, a character named Wallace Wallace who will not tell a lie... This book is LOL funny.

Sammy Keys and the Hotel Thief by Wendy Van Draanen - definitely a much more contemporary mystery series than the hoary old Nancy Drew books I grew up with. I'd give this book to the mystery readers who are looking for something a bit more "hip" to read.

Wait Till Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn - some of the cultural surroundings in this book might feel a little dated to adults, but I don't think kids will notice it at all as they read this creepy ghost story. A very well-done thriller for the older elementary school reader.

On the Wings of Heroes by Richard Peck - I remember reading Richard Peck when I myself was a teen, and I had forgotten how compulsively readable he is. This is a slim little book that reads like a memoir of life as a child during WWII. The way the story skips forward in time from tale to tale really feels like how we remember childhood, as a series of the "highpoints" of memory. I liked this book immensely. My favorite line comes when Earl Bowman (dad) asks Davy (son): "When you're taller than I am, are you still going to stick this close to me?" and Davy answers, "Sure," I said. "Why not?" Beautiful.

Last Shot: A Final Four Mystery by John Feinstein - this is one of those books that I personally didn't think that much of for myself, but that I could see a 4-6 grade reader snarfing down whole. Whip-smart kids, nefarious adults, a super-cool, friendly teen/young adult for the 8th grade protagonists to help.... This book has it all for the young reader.

Out Standing In My Field by Patrick Jennings

This is a funny-sad baseball book for upper elementary school readers. Continuing in my quest to find good baseball themed books to pass on to my son, I picked this one off the shelf at work. The book tells the story of Tyrus Cobb Cutter, a boy whose father played one day in the majors and never got over it. The unique angle this book takes versus other baseball books is that our hero really stinks at the game. Ty's looking to tie the league record for highest number of errors in a season, and his batting average hovers somewhere below .100. Everyone knows Ty stinks but his dad just won't let Ty be the bench warmer he was born to be. Meanwhile sister Daisy has all the talent in the world, but steadfastly refuses to play for her father. Told wryly and memorably in the first person by the funny, baseball loving Ty, this book captures both the magic and the heartache of baseball, and the sheer awfulness that can come from being the son of a monster of a children's sports coach. I would probably not offer this book to under 11 or 10 year olds, as there is some reference to Ty's father having a drinking problem, but for boys who like baseball and who are sick of reading books about miracle kids, this could be a real winner.

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

A 13 year old boy reeling from the divorce of his parents manages to crash land the plane he is taking to visit his father in the far northern Canadian oil fields into a small lake in the wilderness after the pilot dies of a heart attack. The boy proceeds to survive in the wilderness for 55 days on his ingenuity and using the small belt hatchet his mother gave him before he climbed on the plane. A well-executed survival story long on action and self-reliance and self-actualization, this book would likely have enormous appeal for boys from about age 10 to 14. Younger readers with strong skills could also probably tackle the book, but references to the family breaking up over possible infidelity on the part of the mother may give some parents pause, but the book as a whole is definitely recommended strongly for school and public libraries. This was a Newbery Honor book in 1988.

Rules by Cynthia Lord

A book about a girl whose brother is autistic, this story about coping with life in a family that revolves around a child with special needs is funny and touching. Catherine lives her life making rules for David to help him cope with life. Some are practical, like "No toys in the fish tank" but others mean a little more, like "Some people think they know who you are, when really they don't." This story of one summer when Catherine does some growing up is deceptively simple, but emotionally complex. When Catherine tells her father that just because David needs him more, doesn't mean she doesn't need him at all, it's a real heartbreaker of a moment. As an aside, how can you not like a book that quotes so extensively from Frog and Toad?

http://www.cynthialord.com/rules.htm

School Really Messes with Blogging

It's not that I haven't read any books, its just who has time to reflect or write about good books when you're cramming text books?

A partial list of the books I've read over the past couple of months:
Penina Levine is a Hard-Boiled Egg (Yay!)
Rex Zero and the End of the World (Boo)
Team Moon (Yay)
The Heart (Ehhh)
Outstanding In My Field (Yay)

I will try to review the YAY books in the next weeks, after my two undergraduate classes are over....

Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick

This is a 2008 Caudill book, and was recommended highly to me by a person whose judgement in books I trust completely. It tells the story of an 8th grader who sees his whole life turned upside down when his 5 year old brother gets terribly ill. Steven is a caustic, intelligent boy who lives to play the drums, and not look like a dork in the eyes of the hottest girl in school, until this family crisis pushes him to grow.

This book sounds like a typically award-winning, depress you downer of a book, and in many places, it is certainly a tear-jerker, but it is also sometimes laugh out loud funny. The author has crafted a very interesting narrator in Steven. Steven is a wiseass, but he's the kind of wiseass that you can't help but like, because his view on the world is so very clear. Sonnenblick also manages to create a pathetic and sympathetic little brother who at the same time is sometimes bratty and annoying - and that is a feat for a five year old in a novel who is in danger of dying from leukemia. In the materials at the back of the book, we learn that Sonnenblick is a teacher, and his familiarity and frequent contact with children shows. The children in his book feel real - they have faults and strengths and depth. That said, I did have a hard time accepting Steven as an 8th grader. He seemed just a little too emotionally smart and self aware for an 8th grade boy. Then again my own children have not reached that age yet, and my only extensive contact with 8th grade boys pretty much happened about 27 years ago as an 8th grade girl, when I thought they were all stupid and irritating..... so maybe I am not giving them enough credit. That aside, this is a funny, touching, engaging book. I would not probably give it to anyone under 6th grade, but I think it would appeal to both boys and girls, and would probably make an excellent choice for a realistic fiction selection for children in middle school or junior high.
http://www.amazon.com/Drums-Girls-Dangerous-Jordan-Sonnenblick/dp/096689409X

Millicent Min, Girl Genius/ Stanford Wong Flunks Big Time / So Totally Emily Ebers by Lisa Yee

These three books by Lisa Yee chronicle the same summer as seen by three children whose lives interconnect. Stanford Wong is a basketball star who just might lose his spot as the first 7th grader ever to make the A-team if he doesn't pass 6th grade English in summer school. Millicent Min is the child-prodigy who at 11 is poised to enter her senior year of high school, and who is forced to tutor "Stan-turd." Millie thinks Stanford is a hopeless stupid airhead, and Stanford hates Millie because as he thinks - it is kids like Millie who make everyone expect Chinese kids to be geniuses. Emily is a new kid in town who is having a hard time adjusting to life as a child of divorce who manages to become Millie's first best friend, and Stanford's first crush. All 3 children figure prominently in each book, but each book takes the same summer and looks at it from the perspective of each child. These books are funny and insightful, and it is almost brilliant the way they show how the same events can look so different from different perspectives. But the best thing is, they teach that lesson without being boring, or preachy, or depressing, and each book stands on its own as a self-contained novel. They cover serious issues - fear of failure, fear of not fitting in, fear of what others will think, the dissolution of your family - without being a giant drag. The kids think like kids and talk like kids, and worry about kid things, and sometimes they're really funny.

I think these 3 books are perfect for about 5th grade to 7th or 8th grade, boys or girls. Boys might resist reading "Millicent Min" or "Emily Ebers," but Stanford will certainly appeal to them. If I were a teacher trying to show point-of-view, I might teach these books, or if I didn't have time to require all 3, I'd pull out passages that describe the same event from each book to show how things can look different depending on how you see them. Fun books - worth your while - all around highly recommended.

Link: http://www.arthuralevinebooks.com/author.asp?authorid=33