Clipboard Thursdays - What Our Tweens Are Reading

A few titles from this week's clipboard!

Rapunzel's Revenge, by Hale

The Thief Lord, by Funke




The Transall Sagg, by Paulsen







If We Kiss, by Vail


Huge, by Paley

Luv Ya Bunches

On the surface, Violet, Katie-Rose, Camilla and Yasaman seem to have little in common outside of the fact that they all are in fifth grade at Rivendell Elementary School. Katie-Rose is a film buff who if truth-be-told, tries a little too hard. Violet in the quintessential new girl with a bit of a secret. Yasaman is the only fifth grader who wears a hijab. And Camilla is just on the edge of the queen bee crew next to Modessa and Quin. But school life has a way of throwing people together, and soon their lives are indeed intertwined.

Katie-Rose went to pioneer camp over the summer with Camilla (Milla for short), and is hoping that they can be friends inside school as well. She knows that Milla hangs out with queen bees Modessa and Quin, but Katie-Rose is sure that Milla doesn't really belong with them. After all, Milla is the nice one of the bunch.

Yasaman is the kind of girl who keeps to her self and stays out of trouble. Over the summer, she went to a computer camp and actually came up with her own social network. Kind of like facebook, but private to those who join. Too bad she doesn't have anyone to join. And too bad she can't come up with a better name for it than blahblahsomethingsomething.com!

Katie-Rose meets new girl Violet the very first day. As she is directing Violet to her next class, she accidentally causes a big collision between Milla and Yasaman. Violet gets a taste for the school hierarchy as Modessa and Quin come by calling Yasaman Spazaman while they help Milla gather up the contents of her spilled knapsack. Violet is surprised when Katie-Rose disappears instead of helping Yasaman out.

Milla soon discovers that something from her knapsack is missing. Her favorite toy turtle named Tally is gone! He's a bit of a security blanket for Milla and she's devastated by the discovery. Will she ever get him back? Or a better question to ask is whether or not Tally is actually "lost".

Soon all four girls are tangled up in the push-pull of fifth grade friendships. Milla isn't really happy with Modessa and Quin's nasty ways, but she's not sure she's ready to be friends with Katie-Rose and Yasaman, who by now have found each other. Violet is playing it cool with Modessa and Quin while she tries to figure out what to do about the predicaments that she is in at home and at school. Will these four manage to get together to shield each other from the mean girls?

Told as only Lauren Myracle can, Luv Ya Bunches is a pitch perfect tween read. Told in alternating chapters and using screen play and IM format as well as traditional prose, readers get a bird's eye view of each of the girls as they muddle their way towards one another. I sat down and thought to my adult self if four such diverse characters were a little too convenient, if you know what I mean, and I decided that convenience was not a factor. These girls are all geeked out in their own way, whether it be over computer code, film, pioneer camp, bobble headed toys or just being the new girl. There's a definite connection between the characters that shines through. Myracle will also have her audience in fits of giggles over things such as bewitching girdles and dingleberries.

In stores 10/09.

Surviving the Applewhites, by Stephanie S. Tolan

Jake is the textbook juvenile delinquent. He has been kicked out of every public school in Rhode Island, and was shipped down to Traybridge North Carolina and his grandfather. Jake managed about 3 weeks at Traybridge Middle School before he was asked to leave as well. Lucille Applewhite had been conducting a poetry workshop at the school when Jake got kicked out and she suggested that Jake attend the Creative Academy: a home school that the Applewhites ran out of their home.

E.D. can’t imagine why Aunt Lucille thinks that their home school can help Jake when so many others had failed before. Then again, Aunt Lucille tends to see the good in everyone. Jake doesn’t exactly want to move into the Applewhite’s place either, but his social worker told him in no uncertain terms that it was this or Juvenile Hall.

When Jake arrives with his scarlet liberty spikes, piercings, foul mouth and cigarette habit, he doesn’t get much of the reaction that he is hoping for. Aside from the smoking, nobody seems to care. In fact, the family parrot swears more than he does.

The Applewhites are a family of artists with a capital “A”. The kind where the grown ups are too busy creating to go grocery shopping, forget to check in on the kids home school lessons, and can even forget what day it is. So Jake is left up to E.D. who is the lone organized, structure-loving member of the family. Neither of them are pleased and they manage to pretty much ignore each other.

It’s not until E.D.’s director dad gets asked to direct a community theatre production of the Sound of Music that everyone’s talents (even E.D.’s) get put to good use. Jake comes to see that he can separate himself from what his parents have made him.

With a cast of kooky characters, an angry goat, a scene stealing 4 year old, and a common goal, Stephanie S. Tolan has written a charming and thought-provoking story about family and self. How we define ourselves doesn’t have to mirror our parents and siblings, but each of us does have some definition of place within the idea of family. A Newbery Honor book for 2002.

Clipboard Thursdays - aka What Our Tweens Are Reading

Last school year, following on the coat tails of The Well Read Child , I started a bit on this blog noting what our tweens are checking out on our clip board. During the week, if Jen, Jesse or I aren't at the desk, we have an honor system clip board on which students write down the library bar code of the book that they check out. Here are some of the highlights from this week.

So B. It, by Weeks

Return of the King, by Tolkien



Confessions of a Hollywood Star, by Sheldon



Raven's Gate, by Horowitz





Gorgeous, by Vail








There you have it!

Itch

Here is a perfect example of the reason why I love going to the public library to browse books. Yes I get invited to a few previews every year, and yes I try to keep up with the professional journals, but nothing will ever replace browsing a shelf. I am taken with titles and covers and upon reading the blurbs I decide what to check out. On my last trip, I picked up this gem of a novel and am eager to share it with you.

Delores, or Itch as she's known to her family, has been living with her Gram and Gramps since her mom decided to leave. She's a girl who collects favourite words, does some serious thinking on her swing in the backyard, loves hanging out with her best friend Bailey, and is a bit of a kindred spirit with her Gramps. When Gramps dies, Itch is upset that Gram wants to move up to Ohio and leave every single memory of him behind.

Once in Ohio, Itch gets a bit of sunshine when she sees that the county fair starts that night. When she goes to check out the grounds on the way to the local Woolworth's, she is beckoned over by a girl in a sequins outfit and Shirley Temple hair who needs help with a zipper. Little does she know that this is the beginning of a complicated friendship between the two.

Once school starts, Itch is eager to be Gwendolyn's (or Wendy as she's known at school) official friend, which is hard since she is friends with popular girls Anna Marie and Connie and she attends lots of dance classes. But once Itch gets her mind to something, she stays true to it, and soon Itch and Gwendolyn are hanging out. Gwendolyn's other friends are surprised when Itch says she's been up to Wendy's room...most of her friends aren't allowed over. Itch wonders why that is, but soon she begins noticing some things about Wendy that just don't seem right. Will Itch have to courage to ask the hard questions and expose what is going on?

Michelle D. Kwasney has written a poignant story that packs a punch. Family structures, friendship boundaries, the realities of abuse are all explored with aplomb. The dialogue between the middle schoolers of the 1960s rings true, and Itch's relationship with her Grams grows so nicely throughout the book, readers will feel privileged to get to witness it. Gwendolyn and her mother's relationship is harder to look at, but Kwasney does it right. The frightening aspects of the abuse are not overdone, but they do not all appear off page either. The amazing thing is that this doesn't feel like a message book...it simply is a great story about two families.

My Rotten Life (Nathan Abercrombie Accidental Zombie)

Nathan is tired of being picked on. All in one day, he had his heart stomped on by Shawna Lanchester, got picked last in gym class, and then couldn’t even get past the easy level on the zombie video game while everyone was watching him. Nathan isn’t even at the bottom of the 5th grade totem pole, but school is still pretty much torturous. He is walking home with his friend Mookie when Abigail, who is at the bottom of the totem pole, comes up to him and offers to help. She says that her uncle is a scientist who is working on a formula to mask unhappiness. Although it doesn’t seem like a very good idea, Nathan and Mookie go anyway. There’s a bit of an accident, and Nathan gets an overdose of the formula. He seems to suffer no ill effects and heads home. Soon, however, the effects creep in. His food isn’t digesting, he doesn’t sleep, he feels no pain and he isn’t even breathing. It may seem really cool on the surface, but Nathan’s not ready to be fully zombified yet. Can Nathan get back to his normal 5th grade self before it’s too late?

This is the first in a series about Nathan and his friends. David Lubar gets kids, and this book is gross and funny and perfectly paced. The quality of life for many middle schoolers is exposed with the mean kids reigning supreme in places like the cafeteria and the track. No matter what side of the popularity fence readers falls on, readers will recognize themselves in the students of Belgosi Upper Elementary.

Plus…zombies! Doesn’t get better than that!

Cameron and His Dinosaurs

Professor Poindexter P. Poppycock has done the impossible. He has created 4 dinosaurs from DNA and 30 million dollars in backing funds via the Brotherhood of Universal Revolution for Political Subterfuge (or B.U.R.P.S. for short). The plan is to use the dinos for some serious hostage action. What the Professor doesn't count on, however, is dissention in the ranks. The dinos have been granted brain power and free will, and they tell the professor that they will not do evil!

Meanwhile, Cameron and his classmates are going to an archaeological dig at Pinkerton Park. Cameron has been asked by his teacher to go around and take pictures, and guess who is hiding behind a bunch of bushes at the dig? You guessed it!

After the humans get over the fact that the dinosaurs talk and have names (Lizzy, DeeDee, Charlie, and Vinnie), things settle down surprisingly quickly. Television crews catch the action, and the Professor is not too pleased. His financial backers aren't so happy either. So PPP gets right on building some robotic replacements so that the political hostage taking can get back on track.

There is an inevitable clash of the titans with Cameron being an unlikely young hero.

Scott Christian Sava has penned an action packed graphic novel that is perfect for your boy readers. It has dinosaurs, robots, battles, tanks, and flying wheelchairs! The fact that Cameron is in a chair is never discussed, simply presented, which works beautifully. There is a manga-ness to Andres Silva Blanco's illustrations which provides for lots of movement, including "RUMBLE"s, "BOOM"s, "SLOOSH"es, and "ZZZRT"s!

A fast, fun read.

I wonder if Cameron and his Dinosaurs will have some more adventures!

The Joy of Spooking: Fiendish Deeds

Spooking is the perfect place for Joy Wells. She is as easily creepy as the old neighborhood, obsessed as she is with the stories of E.A. Peugeot and forever sneaking out to walk through the cemetery and the bog dragging her brother Byron along with her. It’s too bad that the Spooking area is considered obsolete by the mayor of Darlington --the newer part of town. The Darlings as they’re called, like things clean, neat and in rows, and Spooking does not fit the mould.

One day when Joy and Byron are out exploring the Spooking bog in search of the bog fiend, they come upon an old woman foraging. She says her name is Madame Portia and she tells the children that she lives in the bog. Her late husband was a naturalist who studied the unique ecosystem. When she invites them home Byron has visions of child sized ovens, but Joy has no fear…even when Madame Portia’s house turns out to be a rat filled submarine shaped building on stilts.

Not everyone enjoys the bog like Madame Portia and Joy, however. There is a plan in Darlington to turn the bog into “The Misty Mermaid Water Park”, which means that Darlington would be creeping even closer into Spooking territory.

P.J. Bracegirdle has written a deliciously dark story filled with mystery, murder and fiendish characters. From the embittered Mayor’s assistant Mr. Phipps, to the dark hearted Guy Smiley character of the Mayor, adults are clearly not to be trusted. Teachers play popular favorites, and children are cruel. There is bloodshed in this title of the ends justifying the means variety. Bracegirdle takes on the sanitized version of life that suburbia has to offer with scathing results. After Mr. Phipps spends time in Kiddie Kastle (a themed birthday party place) he muses, “What a pathetic operation. A case of chicken pox would have been a more authentic medieval experience, and arguably more fun…” (p. 98).

Others have said that this series will appeal to fans of the Addams Family, Edward Scissorhands and the like. The Joy of Spooking has hit that rare place of appealing to tweens and teens both because of the smart writing, societal commentary and the fact that it’s creepy without straying into silly.

Fans of Basye’s (Heck) and of Bellairs (The House with A Clock in Its Walls, etc.) should be intrigued.

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

The second that I saw this cover at ALA in Denver, I knew I wanted to read this book. The title, the illustrations, everything called out to me. Unfortunately, there were no arcs left while I was on the floor, but I kept thinking about it. Now, loving a cover and title has backfired on me before, but I was hoping that this time would be different. A few reviews popped up in the blogs and I knew for sure that I wanted to read it, so I ordered my copy and waited for it to arrive!

It’s 1899 and Calpurnia is wilting away in rural Texas. She is eleven years old and the only girl in a family with 7 children. When her oldest, and favorite brother Harry hears about Callie’s inventive way to find earthworms in the packed Texas earth, he gives her a red leather notebook to record her findings and Callie’s summer as a naturalist truly begins.

One of the first things that she notices is that there is a new kind of grasshopper around. There were the quick emerald green ones that Callie has seen every summer, but there are also big, bright yellow ones. Callie asks everyone in her house (except for her formidable grandfather who lives with them, but tends to keep to himself studying in his laboratory) about the yellow hoppers, but nobody else has any knowledge of them at all. So Callie screws up her courage and goes to grandfather’s laboratory in order to ask him if in all his years he has seen the yellow grasshoppers before. His answer? “I suspect that a smart young whip like you can figure it out. Come back and tell me when you have.” (p.11) Callie figures that if her grandfather cannot help her, maybe Mr. Charles Darwin can, so she begs a ride into town from her brother for a trip to the library.

The librarian, however, is quite offended over Callie’s request. Without any help from grandfather or Mr. Darwin, Callie has only her own wits to help her out. After spending more time thinking about it, Callie does figure it out. Once she gets the nerve up to speak with her grandfather again, she tells him about her discovery. Her grandfather is quite impressed that Callie has figured this out on her own, and has her follow him into his library, where the children are never allowed. He hands Calpurnia his copy of The Origin of Species and at that moment, Calpurnia and her grandfather are bonded together as scientists.

Grandfather starts taking Calpurnia on his daily outings to gather specimens, brings her in on his experiments trying to distill drinkable spirits from pecans, and he begins to tell her about the World. Over time, Callie really feels like she is a scientist. She can’t help but be disinterested in the handicrafts and cooking in which her best friend Lula seems to excel. But while her grandfather believes that Calpurnia can be a scientist, her mother has other ideas, and is soon imposing cooking and knitting lessons, and letting Calpurnia know that she will be expected to “come out” as the only girl in the Tate family. Callie feels so confused; will she have to put aside all of her aspirations in order to be a wife someday? Will she have to be like her mother, with a passel of children, taking doses of Lydia Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound just to get by?

Jacqueline Kelly has written a piece of historical fiction with depth, detail and characters that leap off the page. From the first telephone coming to town, to Callie’s grandfather’s first time sitting in an automobile, to the kerosene powered “wind machine”, readers will find themselves immersed in the sweeping changes that were happening at the dawn of the 20th century. Social commentary on class and slavery are worked in naturally, and the bold idea of evolution is front and center in the story. The heartbreaking aspect of Callie’s position of being a girl is perfectly placed and I hope that young readers will ponder their own privilege and position, or even the lack thereof upon reading this book. I slowed down at the end, simply because I wasn’t ready to let go of Calpurnia.

Simply wonderful.

Fablehaven: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary

Now that alliances have been exposed, Kendra and her Fablehaven bunch are deciding whether or not to try to find the remaining artifacts that are needed to open the dreaded prison before the Sphinx and his followers do, or whether they should just leave everything be.

The decision is made when Kendra is taken and her sting bulb doppelganger is left in her place. She is being held by the Sphinx's minions and finds out that they have stolen the Oculus; the artifact from the Brazilian preserve that allows users to see everything at once. Kendra knows that the Sphinx can use this to find all of the artifacts needed to open the dreaded prison Zzyxz. She needs to escape and try to get to the artifact that Patton told her about in his journal before the Sphinx figures out how the Oculus works.

Once she is reunited with her grandparents and her Fablehaven family, it is quickly decided that they must venture to Wyrmroost, the dragon sanctuary where humans are NOT welcome, in order to get the artifact. The team is assembled and includes Kendra, Coulter, Tanu, Gavin, Warren, Trask, Mora, and Dougan. All have gifts that will help with the mission, but Kendra is still scared. She is happy that Gavin is coming, and not only for his dragon taming abilities. They have been exchanging letters, and Kendra is still harboring a bit of a crush.

All feelings have to be pushed aside once they reach Wyrmroost. It is a very dangerous place, and everyone has to be on his/her game to survive, let alone succeed.

Brandon Mull has written another fast paced, twist and turn filled adventure, where people aren't who they seem, and death lurks around every corner. The pacing is perfect and will keep readers on they edge of their seats as they expect the worst but hope for the best. In this installment, Seth is exploring his dark side, and is developing a depth that he didn't have before. He is quickly becoming a favorite character of mine.

I have always thought that Fablehaven would translate well to screen, and it is about to! It has been optioned, and I for one, can't wait to see the film version. Head on over to Brandon's site to find more information.

Dear Julia

So a quick internet search yields over 43 million hits for "Julia Child". In these times of celebrity chefs and reality food shows, you may think that Julia wouldn't catch hold with the younger set, but you'd be wrong. With films like Julie & Julia opening to the tune of $20 million, Julia Child is as much of a pop culture phenom as she's ever been.

Elaine Hamilton has been writing letters to Julia Child since before she could spell. Elaine is the eye in the hurricane of her family, calmly waking before her 4 brothers and parents and preparing filling breakfasts, packing delicious lunches, and serving Friday dinners that could rival the local French Restaurant. Elaine is obsessed with Julia Child and haute cuisine.

Lucida Sans (aka Isadora Wilhelminetta Fischburger), on the other hand, wants to be FAMOUS! For what, she's not sure, but with her costumed existence, two mom headed family, and penchant for over-the-top solos during theater auditions, she certainly gets noticed.

Elaine and Lucida cross paths at the New Paltz Festival on the Green, when Elaine is handing out fliers for her feminist/politician mother, and Lucida's interpretation of Juliet brings about a chain of events of epic proportions resulting in some serious flames. Lucida takes a liking to Elaine, and being a girl with few friends herself, Elaine accepts an invitation to Lucida's for dinner.

Thus begins an opposites-attract friendship that brings Elaine out of her shell, and helps to tone down Lucida. The pages are filled with amazing foodie moments, characters that are bigger than life, and wacky revenge plots. Amy Bronwen Zemser has written a fun-filled book examining what it means to be a family, a friend, and oneself. Elaine's brothers are hilarious with cross-dressing Chris taking the cake, and Lucida herself is a delight. As Cindy Dobrez of Bookends puts it, "the whole book was so over the top that those crazy elements work."

While the setting is high school, this is the perfect book for a more sophisticated tween reader. There is a dash of romance, lots of ups and downs about friendship, and two odd-girl-out characters who are totally endearing and independent.

A laugh-out-loud read for girls...finally.

The Blue Shoe: A Tale of Thievery, Villainy, Sorcery, and Shoes

How can you not love this title? And this gorg cover?

Aplanap is one heck of a place to live. Seemingly quaint, it’s known for its “tilted streets, cuckoo clocks, and Finster cheese…” (arc p.3) yet it harbors a bit of a dark secret. Okay, not so much a secret, but a mayor who is slightly certifiable in his disdain for beggars (who are instantly banished to the working jail of Mount Xexnax) and his love for his greedy wife Ludmilla.

Ludmilla is quite fond of gems, and since she is the mayor’s wife, she need not pay for anything that she wants. When the mayor hears about an exquisite shoe that local shoemaker Grel has fashioned out of all sorts of blue gemstones, he insists on seeing it. Not surprisingly, he then wants it wrapped and delivered to his sweet Luddy. Grel refuses and the mayor reminds him of the agreement he made prior. Grel had saved the life of a pickpocket boy named Hap by promising to apprentice him on the agreement that he would in turn give Luddy any shoes that she wants. Grel stands his ground, however, since the stranger who commissioned this one shoe paid for it in full – he asks the mayor if he really would like to steal it (thievery being frowned upon in Aplanap by way of Mound Xexnax as well).

Before long a curse seems to fall on the sleepy little village. The weather turns making tourists scarce, and soon there are actually beggars on the street. Hap feels a kinship with a beggar girl who he spies, and tries to help her several times before she gets caught by the mayor’s police for begging. Hap remembers Grel’s kindness to him, and decides that taking a gem from the shoe that has never been picked up to pay the girl’s fine is worth the risk. What Hap doesn’t count on is all of the gems fading into regular river pebbles on the removal of the single stone. Hap again is charged as a thief, this time with the disastrous sentence of Mount Xexnax.

Roderick Townley has written a fantastical adventure that is filled with action, close calls, magic and a dash of romance. Truly a rollicking read, The Blue Shoe has equal appeal to boys and girls, and is a fun single volume (shocking!) fantasy. I found myself reading well into the night wanting to see what Hap and his friends were going to do next. Illustrations by Mary Grand Pre bring this book to the next level. While I read the arc version, the first edition will be printed in blue ink and have a cover worthy of the shoe. Good versus Evil hasn’t been so rich in a while!

Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, thieves, socio economic class, race struggles, fantasy, Goddess, greed, cobblers, politics, arc 10/09

The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z.

Gianna is just about as scattered as the autumn leaves that she is supposed to be collecting for her science project. Deadlines are just so hard! The only time that her head is clear is when she is out running. Unfortunately, her next track meet could be in jeopardy because of her science project. Her coach lets Gianna know that if she doesn’t turn in her leaf project on time, she will not be running in the sectional meet!

Thankfully Gianna does have some help. Her best friend Zig is pretty much the opposite of Gianna. Organized to a fault, he tries to get Gianna back on track by taking her out on a bike ride and hike that should have Gianna all set.

But Gianna’s dreamy nature, a back stabbing classmate, and some serious troubles at home with her Nonna may just be too much for Gee to handle.

Kate Messner has written a poignant novel about family, friendship, and change. Gianna is so close to her Nonna, and the possible onset of Alzheimer’s is a reality that many families face, but not many kids get to read about in a relevant way. Messner handles this weighty topic with grace. Gianna is a lovely mix of a dreamer, an artist, and an advocate. Messner also excels in her descriptions of Gianna’s Vermont town as well as the market in Montreal. I lived in Montreal for a couple of years during grad school, and the pages describing it had me yearning to go back! Gianna is a girl who readers would like to meet again.

A Long Way From Chicago

Call me old fashioned, but this is the kind of story telling that I love. Filled with larger than life characters and slices of Americana, Richard Peck’s stories of Grandma Dowdel are ripe for reading aloud and reading again!

Joey and Mary Alice were shipped off from Chicago to their Grandmother’s house every August starting when Joey was 9 years old. As Joey said, “Being Chicago people, Mother and Dad didn’t have a car. And Grandma wasn’t on the telephone.” (p. 4) so Joey and Mary Alice would be put on the train and sent on to Grandma’s place.

Grandma Dowdel is a big woman who is incredibly self-sufficient. It’s 1929 when the stories start, and Joey and Mary Alice are mad that their folks wouldn’t let them parade past Al Capone’s bullet ridden corpse in Chicago. Little did they know that they’d be sitting in a room with a corpse when they hit Grandma Dowdel’s place. Turns out that Shotgun Cheatham died, and because of his name, some of the bigger newspapers took a liking to his obituary and wanted to find out just exactly who this fellow was. Grandma is the type of woman who likes to keep to herself, but when she hears that folks have been making up all kinds of stories about Shotgun, she lets Joey and Mary Alice in on the kind of man that Shotgun really was.

Then the reporter shows up at her door, and Joey and Mary Alice get a taste of the adventures in store living with Grandma. No sooner does she discount the story that folks in town have told the reporter, but she is spinning a yarn so deep that the kids simply can’t believe it. And the kicker is that they are now sitting in Grandma’s front room, with Shotgun’s corpse laid out for the town and the reporter to see.

This first story gets readers ready and on the edge of their seats for the rest. From make-shift wakes, to out pranking the Halloween pranksters, to beating the law at every turn, Grandma Dowdel will have readers chuckling and gasping out loud. Old fashioned everyday gardening, canning, hunting, community events, and life without the distraction of media pepper the text along with the realities of the Depression era. Wonderfully written, these stories beg to be read aloud. I can’t wait to read the next installment about the family that moves on in next to Grandma!

Gifted: Out of Sight, Out of Mind

In Out of Sight, Out of Mind, readers are introduced to Queen Bee meanie Amanda Beeson. Amanda is the stereotypical you-know-what. She is obsessed with labels, clothing and tearing other kids down. She has her own little posse of wannabes, but she makes sure that her position is always in tact. She tries so hard to be who she is that she has little time for pathetic kids like Tracey Devon. She is way too skinny, her plain Jane clothes barely fit her, and she doesn’t even stand up for herself when Amanda ridicules her to her face! Amanda has no idea why Tracey is in the gifted class at school…she’s not even that smart.

What nobody knows, however, is just why Amanda is so mean. If she does allow herself to feel any empathy or sympathy for anyone, she loses herself. She actually slips into the other person for a little while, and she hates how that feels. Thus the armor.

What she doesn’t count on is feeling sorry for Tracey Devon of all people. And then waking up in her body. Amanda feels trapped. She has never totally overtaken somebody before. What is she going to do, and more importantly, how is she going to reclaim herself? This is no Freaky Friday switch…Amanda is still existing as Amanda, she’s simply also existing as Tracey.

When she gets to school in her loser body, Amanda follows Tracey’s schedule and finds that it’s pretty easy to blend in. In fact nobody even seems to see her. When she ends up in the gifted class, she is surprised by the mish mash of kids who are there. What could they possible have in common?

After a clunky start, the story gets going. The haphazard background of Amanda’s prior out of body experiences could probably be left out all together. After that is out of the way, readers will enjoy a slightly supernatural mean girl story. Once introduced to the other kids in the gifted class, readers will wonder what all of the powers are. The ominous warnings of their teacher Madame, will keep them guessing as to who will show up next to try to exploit some of the kids powers. A fun series that will hook tween girls who want something scary and romantic that isn’t too much of either of those things.

Newsgirl

It’s 1851, and Amelia her mother Sophie, and her mother’s companion Estelle have just made the journey from Boston to San Francisco. The journey was most difficult for Estelle, who suffered from seasickness the entire time. Amelia, however, had befriended some of the sailors and learned a thing or two about tying knots.

As their ship, the Unicorn, makes its way into the harbor, Amelia’s sailor friend Jim asks her to make herself useful. She helps Jim by tying up the bundles of newspapers he has with him. Amelia is surprised to find that the newspapers are from the east and are 3 months old. She soon learns that folks in California are hungry for news back east and will pay a pretty penny for it.

Once Amelia and her family are on dry land, Amelia’s mother reveals that the journey over was much more expensive than she had planned for. When Amelia goes to find a cart to help them haul their belongings, she has a brainstorm. She unpacks her dress shoes that are wrapped in a newspaper. A newspaper that is indeed newer than the ones that she bundled up and the newsboys were currently selling. When Amelia takes up on a street corner to sell her lone paper, she soon finds out that one kid, especially a girl, can’t sell in Julius’ turf. She is quickly and physically taken out of the game.

Amelia finds it difficult to be one of only a handful of women around. Yes it’s nice that all of the women gravitate toward each other and help each other out, but how is Amelia to help her family if all of the jobs from newsboy to printer’s devil are for boys?

Maybe Amelia would be better off as a boy.

Liza Ketchum has written a rip-roaring piece of historical fiction that will captivate all readers. Amelia’s intrepid nature and the vast chaos of San Francisco in the 1850s are fascinating. Sophie and Estelle are obviously partners, though Ketchum’s treatment of the relationship is simply matter of fact, and the book never strays into lesson territory. It is more of a scandal that Sophie never married. The action is non-stop, and readers will delight in Amelia’s adventures, whether they be up in the sky, down in the streets, or along the journey.

Hands down my favorite read so far this year.

Rapacia: The Second Circle of Heck

Milton has successfully managed to get back to the “Stage” leaving Marlo and his friends down there. He is racked with guilt, and isn’t quite sure that Heck really even existed. Since Heck is ultimately a purgatory, Milton decides to go visit Damian in the hospital to figure out if everything that he thinks happened after the fateful marshmallow explosion actually did happen!

Meanwhile, Marlo has been moved to Rapacia – the second circle of Heck which is overseen by the Grabbit; a rhyming, mechanical bunny of sorts. The kicker is that the Grabbit’s warren is located just beneath the best mall ever. Mallvana has everything that a greedy little shoplifter like Marlo could ever want. If only she could convince her demon teachers to let her go there.

Well Marlo is Marlo, and who better to deal with demons and double crossers than she? Along with her passel of frenemies (Lyon, Bordeaux, Norm, and Jordie) Marlo is forced to wear the latest in retirement fashion, and take classes in heckonomics. Marlo isn’t surprised by much in Heck, but she soon finds herself under the Grabbit’s spell. She is jonesing to shoplift in a big way, and only to bring the spoils to her new Vice Principal. When she is approached to make the biggest heist in Heck history (the hopeless diamonds), how can she refuse? Will Marlo be able to break free of the Grabbit, or will she simply become another minion in the race to get more, more, more?

Daly E. Basye has written a darker follow up to the initial installment in the Heck series. Instead of poop and ping-pong balls, readers are exploring cultish religions, the idea of Greed with a capital “G”, as well as pondering the difference between want and need. Don’t get me wrong…it is still pun central here in Heck with references that run the sublime to the absurd, it just seems that the audience for the second book needs a maturity level a bit higher than required for Heck: Where the Bad Kids Go. Marlo has the seeds of a crush going, and even though Heck is a place where time stands still, Marlo, Milton and the other kids are growing world weary from trying to “survive”. I am interested in seeing where this series goes, since there are, after all, 7 circles you know where.

Freaky Monday

Mary Rodgers and screen writer Heather Hach team up for this loose companion to Freaky Friday with hilarious results. Hadley is a stressed out middle schooler living in the shadow of her picture perfect sister. Tatum looks like a goddess, is super nice, and seems to have everyone under her spell. Hadley on the other hand, lives for good grades, has her path to the Ivy Leagues all mapped out, and has hair that just hangs there.

Hadley just switched planners to the Super Student Planner Plus and somehow managed to space out and not write in the fact that her oral presentation on To Kill a Mockingbird is due TODAY. Hadley is freaking out so badly that her two best friends Soup and Nan can’t even sympathize. Hadley’s only hope is appealing to her hippie dippy teacher Ms. Pitt’s (call me Carol) granola like nature. Maybe she’ll cut Hadley a break.

Not.

From the title we all knew what was coming, we just didn’t know who. Well this time it’s Hadley and Ms. Pitt who are presto-chango existing in each other’s bodies and desperately trying to find out how to switch back before a) Miss Pitt has her English Chair interview with the School Board and b) Hadley goes to the I Hate Monday dance and hopefully talks to dreamy Zane.

This author combination really works. The dialogue is spot on and laugh-out-loud funny. Even though Hadley is an intense girl and her constant comparing herself with her sister borders on annoying, she never crosses into that territory. Hadley learns that maybe Tatum isn’t quite as perfect as she seems, and perhaps she herself needs to lighten up a bit, and see herself as others do. Ms. Pitt, on the other hand, could take a lesson in time management and realizing that she can’t be the best teacher for everyone.

Fun.

When You Reach Me

Here is the buzz book of the year (so far, anyway). The arc sat around in my library closet for a long time. I’m not sure why I didn’t pick it up right away; it could have been the quiet cover or the time setting of 1978. What I realized was that I needed to read this book all in one sitting.

Miranda is at that 6th grade period in her life where all of the shifting seems to happen. Her best-friend Sal doesn’t want to hang out anymore, she’s noticing the shabbiness of her apartment for the first time, and the fact that her mother named her after a criminal is really bugging her. The two constants in her life are the laughing man hanging out under her mailbox, and the battered copy of Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time that Miranda carries around everywhere that she goes.

Once Sal has ditched her, Miranda fortunately notices that two girls in her class Julia and Annemarie seem to be in a fight. Miranda sagely notes that “…The girls at school had been hurting each other’s feeling for years…I had watched them trade best friends, start wars, cry, trade back, make treaties, squeal and grab each other’s arms in this fake excited way, et cetera, et cetera…”(arc p.33). Miranda decides to capitalize on the girl’s fight and ask Annemarie to lunch. She accepts and Miranda’s 6th grade year takes on a decidedly different feel. Annemarie, Miranda and Colin get a job at the local sub shop, Miranda and Annemarie have sleep overs, and Miranda develops her first crush.

This all sounds very realistic fiction, right? Wrong. At the same time is running a subplot that involves mysterious notes and time travel. I know, right? Interestingly enough, I have recently read a YA book dealing with parallel universes (Bray’s Going Bovine), and watched a documentary (Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives) about eels frontman Mark Oliver Everette’s father’s work in quantum physics. It’s sometimes fascinating how these things all seem to come together at once.

Looking this over, I realize that this isn’t much of an informative blurb. Many before me have noted the difficulty in summing up this book. I am going to be interested to see which kids take to When You Reach Me. There have been many adults who have finished the last page and uttered a “hmm”, and immediately flipped back to the start. I would particularly like to see the reaction from young people who are recent readers of L’Engle’s work.

Refreshingly different and filled with insight, Rebecca Stead’s When You Reach Me is part mystery, part slice-of-life, and part science fiction. It has the feel of the kind of book that is going to stand the test of time. (I wonder if my 67 year old self will agree!)

Happy Belated Blogiversary to Me!

So 3 years ago on June 19th I started Welcome to my Tweendom as a companion to the now defunct Booktopia in order to highlight titles for the tweeners in your lives. I forgot my own blogiversary, but I am not being too hard on myself as June 19th was the last day of Kindergarten for my little one.

I have just packed an entire suitcase of books to read this summer, and will hopefully be adding to this blog as frequently as life without a school schedule will allow!

(Photo from pinkcakebox.com)

Emma Jean Lazarus Fell in Love - Audio Edition

I am a bit of a late-comer when it comes to audio books. Audio is a way of consuming that just seemed too passive to me. After all, I can read more quickly than I can listen. Frequent, long car rides with young children changed my mind, and I found myself listening to some classic children's titles with my girls. When I received my copy of Emma Jean Lazarus Fell in Love at a Random House preview a while back, I tucked it into my purse to bring home.

I read the first title of Emma Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree when I was on the middle grade Cybils judging committee a couple of years ago. I liked Emma Jean just fine, but I certainly wasn't enamoured with her. She was just a bit too quirky for me. Don't get me wrong, we put it in the collection and actively hand sell it to many of our readers, it just wasn't the book for me.

So imagine my surprise and delight upon listening to the second title of Emma Jean Lazarus Fell in Love. This was the secret for me. Emma Jean simply must be read aloud.

The Spring Fling dance is right around the corner, and hormones are all a flutter in Emma Jean's school. This is the dance where the girls ask the boys, and this has Emma Jean looking specifically at Will Keeler like never before. She is pleased when she sees him, and is considering asking him to the dance. Colleen, however, is worried that Will (or more specifically Laura Gilroy who has a huge and obvious crush on Will) is going to laugh at her.

Colleen finds herself over-the-moon when she gets a note from a secret admirer in her locker. She wonders about who it could be, and she actually asks Emma Jean to help her solve the riddle. Colleen is happier than she has been in a long time and if finding joy in the little things, and just feels so much more "Colleen-er".

Can Colleen's and Emma Jean's friendship survive another round of Emma Jean's helping? Who actually wrote that note that ended up in Colleen's locker.

Lauren Tarshis has written a not-too-sweet story about changing friendships, shifting family, crushes and the 7th grade. Mamie Gummer is a suburb reader, and her slight changes in voice when it comes to Emma Jean and Colleen are perfect. Her reading made me like Emma Jean as a girl. This shift has me thinking about the power of audio books and the reader.

If anyone has any audio editions to recommend of tween titles that changed their mind about a book, I'd love to hear them!

Around the Blogs

Jen Robinson has a really interesting post up at the Booklights blog all about reading levels. One of my favourite bits is as follows: "The short-term problem is that children can miss books that they would enjoy reading. Books about kids their own age, having relatable experiences. Fun books. Books with pictures! Instead, they can end up reading books before they are ready for them, which often leads to not appreciating the books, and never going back"." As a school librarian it is a constant struggle to try and find the good fits for the strong readers who are convinced that they are above reading kids books.

There are 2 books that have quickly made it to the top of my "to read" pile. You can find a great review of Jemma Hartman Camper Extrodinaire over at Planet Esme, and a review of The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate (which I have wanted to get my hands on since ALA in Devner) over at Scholastic's Kid Lit.

The Storm in the Barn

Have you ever just been stopped cold by imagery? Matt Phelan has written and illustrated a graphic novel that even in arc form has risen to my list of all time favourites.

Jack is a child of the dust bowl. The rain stopped coming when he was just 7 years old, and since then he hasn't been much of a help. There is no farm work to do and his clumsy nature means that when he does try to help his dad, he usually just ends up knocking things over.

Many families are leaving town. There's nothing left but dust and sickness. Some are even being diagnosed with something called "dust dementia" which occurs when folks seem to see things in the dust that aren't there. Things like bright bursts of light from empty barns, and storm kings.

What is Jack seeing, and will he ever be able to help out and not be a burden?

I don't want to say too much about this extraordinary book since it is not due out until September, however, I could not help but share a bit since I have not seen a graphic novel that has pulled me in so quickly and so fully since Blankets, by Craig Thompson. This is a completely different book, but Phelan has raw emotion on every page from the atmospheric storms, to the drawn and wan faces of the people living through this incredible time in American History. The Dust Bowl has always been a fascinating subject matter, and The Storm in the Barn will most likely have readers looking for other information about the time period and the people who survived it. The book itself is chock full of historical detail from the popular Oz books, to rabbit drives, and snake superstitions. This is a title that I will happily buy in its finished form and pass on.

Thanks so much to Jesse for sharing this with me.

What the Tweens are Reading

A day late, but what the heck.

Yesterday our tweens were being interviewed by NYPL's Jack Martin about what books they have been loving lately. No real big surprises, but I thought I would share the findings with you!

Percy Jackson series


Diary of a Wimpy Kid

The Clique

Twilight

What Our Tweens Are Reading

Over at The Well-Read Child, Jill has started a Thursday "What My Children Are Reading" meme. She invites us to extend the title and apply it to our readers, so I decided to check out our clipboard.

On our reference desk we have a clipboard where students write down the bar codes of the books that they check out when Jen, Jesse, or myself are not in the room. So in the spirit of sharing what tweens in my school are reading, I am hoping to make this a regular feature of this blog (at least during the school year!)

So without further ado, here is what my tweens are currently reading.

Young Warriors, by Tamora Pierce











Harry Sue, by Sue Stauffacher









The Titan's Curse, by Rick Riordan











Magyk, by Angie Sage












Blister, by Susan Shreve

Al Capone Shines My Shoes

Have you ever read the first couple of pages of a sequel, smiled to yourself and felt like you had come home again? Well, when I cracked open Al Capone Shines My Shoes I was immediately transported back to Choldenko's world of Alcatraz and into the Flannagan's apartment.

We pick up right where we last let off. Natalie is getting ready to head into San Fransisco to go to the Esther P. Marinoff School. Moose knows that one of the only reasons that she is going is that he asks inmate #85 (also known as Al Capone) to help him get her in. Moose is still confused as to why #85 would help him. Moose has been thinking about this when he heads over to Annie's place. When he gets there, Annie is looking peculiar, and she tells Moose that she got his laundry...and that there was a note in the pocket of his shirt. The note simply says, Your turn. By the way, the con who does the Flannagan's laundry is #85. What can Capone mean?

As if Moose didn't have enough to worry about, Piper is acting out, Mr. Flannagan gets put on probation, Scout seems to be eyeing up Piper, Jimmy is mad at Moose, and staying out of Darby's way is getting harder and harder. Even baseball, which used to make Moose feel better, is getting all political with Annie refusing to play with Moose until he tells about the note in his laundry. Moose is so stressed he is breaking out in hives and itching to beat the band.

Gennifer Choldenko is in her element in this story. It's so masterfully told that it seems effortless and completely believable. The cast of characters from children to adults are spot on and coexist in such a way that readers will feel like they know each and every one of them. Moose's growing pains are palpable, and his need to please will have you reading through your fingers, after-school-special-style. Simply delightful, fans of Al Capone Does My Shirt will be pleased, and new readers can easily pick up the plot and will enjoy this story as well.

Slob

Owen Birnbaum is the fat kid. In fact he's 57% fatter than most kids. He's also 1 point shy of genius...a fact that doesn't give him much cred from the other kids in his school. The days when Owen has gym class are worst of all.

Mr. Wooly is the sadistic gym teacher of which nightmares are made. Unless you're a jock, you don't have a chance, and what better target than the fat kid? In his mind, Owen stands up to the attacks and the humiliation, but in reality, classes usually end up in shame faced tears. The three Oreos that his mom puts in his lunch sack are sometimes the only thing that make the day bearable.

One day, his cookies disappear. Everything else in his lunch sack is left behind, and the container that the Oreos were in is actually sealed back up. Owen is beside himself. Now the little bright spot in his day is gone. Right away he starts theorizing about who could have taken his cookies. That new kid Mason left the room before lunch...maybe it's him. After all, Mason is a psychopath with no friends and Owen figures it wouldn't be beyond Mason to take the fat kid's cookies.

When Owen goes home he tries to come up with an invention to catch the thief. Inventing is Owen's thing. He and his sister Jeremy comb the demolition lots of Manhattan looking for parts that they can use. Owen is currently working on a project he calls Nemesis, but figures taking a break to booby trap his lunch sack is worth it.

But what if Owen is wrong? And wrong about more than just the thief.

Ellen Potter has penned an intriguing middle grade novel. Owen is a sympathetic character for sure, but his little sister Jeremy and neighbor Nima are richly written and I can picture spin off stories for each of them. Mr. Wooly, I am sorry to say, reminds me very much of a gym teacher from my own junior high days, and he is sure to elicit strong reader response.

Equally appealing to boys and girls, Slob, is tricky in that it is more than a fat kid story. There are many layers, and readers will most likely take different stories away from it. For some, it will be the story of bullies. For others, the story of a family who has lost so much. It could be a story about the shifting nature of friendship, or a glimmer into the idea of gender identity. Or perhaps all of the above.

Herbert's Wormhole Redux

You may remember, way back when I reviewed Herbert's Wormhole.

Well, just as a reminder, the book is officially out! Check out the website, or head on out to the store / library and get your hands on it.

Teen Titans Year One

Adolescent angst doesn't get much better than this!

5 young versions of super recognizable JLA heroes are doing what teens do best. Obsessing about their own lives. Kid Flash is wasting away waiting for Robin to IM him back. Aqua Lad is trying to get over his fear of, well...everything. Wonder girl is wandering around the big city crushing on boys and boy bands. Kid Arrow is just trying to prove himself to the Green Arrow. And Robin is wondering what the heck is going on with Batman.

In fact, Batman is not the only one with a problem. All of the adult mentors are intensely wicked. They are mean to their young counterparts and violent in a way that is out of character. Can these teens figure out what is wrong and restore the balance
between good and evil? Can they work things out among themselves once fame hits, or will ego get in the way?

A fun, fast read for both the superhero fan and those who aren't so into the capes and tights set. Lots of action, a blossoming romance, and characters to fit every psyche, this collection of issues 1-6 is certain to be passed hand to hand, from both boys and girls.

Tweens and Reading

Over at Y-Pulse, there's an interesting little article on tweens and their reading habits. Likes and dislikes, opinions on e-readers, genre affinity and other topics.

Head on over!

Gilda Joyce: The Dead Drop

Oh, Gilda Joyce. How I love you and your wonky ways.

It's summertime and Gilda has moved to Washington, D.C. for a summer job at the National Spy Museum. How perfect is that? She is sharing an apartment with Caitlin Merrill ( a recent college graduate) who is more than a bit surprised when she takes in Gilda's appearance. She is decked out in her 60s spy chic outfit complete with flipped hair and Jackie O pink suit.

Once Gilda gets to the spy museum, she is in heaven. After getting settled in Gilda gets to go on a field trip with the museum's historian to acquire some new spy paraphernalia from an Russian former spy. On meeting Boris, Gilda immediately notices some of his left over spy habits...like gazing over her shoulder to see who is coming down the street and she notices that her psychic abilities kick in when she is around him.

Soon after the museum acquires Boris' lipstick gun and red glass brooch, Gilda starts having dreams. Dreams that she is certain are a message. And these dreams are peppered with D.C. locations, and well as a blond woman and Abraham Lincoln! Gilda wonders what is going on. Funny things also start happening in the museum...things that cannot be explained or blamed on faulty technology. Is Boris really and ex-spy? Is the Spy Museum haunted? Will Gilda be able to solve any of these mysteries in her new role as spy camp counselor?

Jennifer Allison keeps this series going strong with the familiar (yet growing) character of Gilda in a new location. She is on her own, but Wendy is present in Gilda's letters to her, and Gilda's mom comes in with phone calls. The Washington contingent is fun, and the appearance of a certain author is well placed. D.C. itself becomes a character, as readers see it through Gilda's eyes. Descriptions are rich and detailed, yet don't go on too long. A personal favourite is the description of the crazy hotel where spies and celebrities go when they don't want to be bothered! Though Gilda is 14, she is a young 14. I feel like she gets a bad rep in some circles as unbelievable, but trust me...working in a MS shows that there is certainly a range when it comes to maturity levels and young teens.

For fans of the series, of mysteries and of quirky characters! On shelves May 09.

Dork Diaries

"Sometimes I wonder if my mom is BRAIN DEAD. Then there are days when I know she is. Like today." So begins the diary of Nikki Maxwell, 8th grade, Westchester Country Day School.

Nikki's mom just doesn't understand that Nikki needs an iPhone, and entry into the CCP (Cute, Cool & Popular) group...not a diary. Unfortunately, the closest Nikki is getting to entry into the CCP, is having her locker next to uber popular Mackenzie Hollister. Mackenzie is a classic mean girl who wields her lip-gloss, and shoots off zingers about everyone else's fashion faux pas. School is a bit tortuous for Nikki, who cannot afford designer duds, techie gadgets, and fab vacations.

So Nikki is excited when she sees signs for the Random Acts of Avant-Garde Art contest. She is an artist, and the $500 prize could be used for her phone! But when Nikki hears that Mackenzie is entering the contest, she freaks out and ends up signing up to be a LSA (library shelving assistant) instead. Why bother competing against Mackenzie? She always wins.

What Nikki doesn't expect, is to make 2 great friends in the LSA program. Chloe and Zoey are book fiends who are geeked about having the chance to get to NYC to attend National Library Week. Maybe Nikki's artistic talent can help her new friends out.

Readers will *love* Nikki's illustrations in this diary format book. With a slight manga style, pictures of everyday school life are hilarious and engaging. Nikki has a fresh voice, and while I was reading Dork Diaries, I couldn't help but hear the voice of Six from the show Blossom! There is plenty of current slang, name dropping of celebs, and techno speak. It will be interesting to see if there are any changes in the final product especially in regards to a certain celebrity who is in a bit of legal trouble!

Today's tweens will eat this one up! The combo of illustrations and diary format is sure to please . In this age of Wimpy Kid, the format is a winner, and Nikki is so entertaining. A perfect beach read.

Hummingbird

I am happily getting into a ritual of biweekly visits to the public library with my daughters. While they are off perusing the picture book shelves, I head on over to fiction to find some more tweeny titles. Hummingbird, by Kimberly Green Angle ended up in my pile this week.

March Anne lives on her family's watermelon farm with her dad, brother Kevin and Grenna. March Anne's mom died when she was quite young, so Grenna has been like a mom to her ever since. Daily pieces of March Anne's life are taken up soaking in Grenna's advice and particular sayings.

Then right in the middle of the watermelon harvest, Grenna collapses in the field. March Anne knows that her life is about to change forever. Even though Grenna comes home, the doctor's words of "irreparable damage" stay with her.

March Anne tries to keep on. She has her friends Meg and Laverne, of course, and there is the daily grind of school to follow. Her Daddy tells her that cooking is now up to her, and with disastrous results, March Anne is feeling a bit more useless than she would like.

Hummingbird is a slow, simmering family story. To be honest, the pace at first made me consider putting this one aside, but I am glad that I kept on. The characters are refreshingly honest and humble, and when the inevitable happens at the end, tears are sure to come. Give this to thoughtful readers who like quiet stories.

11 Birthdays

Imagine getting the opportunity to relive one of the days of your life. A do-over, if you will. You could right wrongs, do something less embarrassing, or simply enjoy something for a second time. Would you do it if you could? Think about it.

For Amanda, it's her 11th birthday. A birthday should be fun, but there are somethings that are conspiring against Amanda. Firstly, she hasn't spoken to Leo since her last birthday. Amanda and Leo were born on the same day, were best friends and celebrated every birthday together...until this year. Secondly, her mom has planned a movie themed party for Amanda, and she is stuck in an itchy Dorothy dress complete with ill-fitting ruby slippers. And lastly, Amanda is trying out for cheer leading instead of marching band in an effort to appease her friend Stephanie and to try and up her cool quotient. Not surprisingly, Amanda is happy to see the back of her 11th birthday.

So, imagine her surprise when the Saturday after her birthday turns back into Friday again. Amanda is certain that her family is playing a joke on her ... convincing her to get dressed, have breakfast and even go outside and wait for the bus with her sister. But it's not a joke. The bus comes, she's forgotten her lunch again, and is sitting in her desk when the same pop quiz she took "yesterday" appears. Amanda is desperately trying to keep it together. Could "yesterday" have been an incredibly detailed dream? Could she be psychic?

Imagine her horror when the "next" day is her birthday AGAIN! Everybody around Amanda seems absolutely clueless that this day is repeating over and over. At least almost everybody is clueless...

Wendy Mass has written an interesting friendship and family story with a pinch of magical realism. Once readers really take a moment to think about it, reliving a day might seem empowering on the surface, but dig a little deeper and it's quite terrifying. 11 Birthdays is the kind of book that begs re-reading and discussion. I think that this is a perfect title for a book-club read.

Faith, Hope, and Ivy June

Ivy June and Catherine are quite different from one another. Catherine lives over in Lexington with her family in a home with 4 bathrooms. She attends a private school where she wears a uniform. And she is certain that she is loved by her parents. Ivy June lives up in the hills of Thunder Creek at her Mammaw's and Papaw's house since her own house is just too crowded with kids. She goes to public school via a long bus ride. And it's hard to tell from her folks if she is really loved.

What both girls have in common, however, is that they are part of an exchange program between their two schools. Ivy June will first be going to Catherine's house to stay and go to school for 2 weeks. After a week break, Catherine will be joining Ivy June at Mammaw's and Papaw's place. The exchange is part of their social studies program and is aimed at the disintegration of stereotypes.

But can two girls who are seemingly so different find common ground when it's really important? More importantly, can they overlook the prejudices of their friends and families?

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor has written a story about family and class that is authentic rather than didactic. At the hands of a lesser author this story could have easily turned into a lesson. Catherine and Ivy Jean are both flawed, but are at the point in their lives that they truly believe that they can change and move beyond or despite their family stations. Naylor brings in tension and family drama on both sides, and perfectly paces the ending so that readers are holding their breath and hoping for the best.

Filled with the scenery of the Kentucky hills and hollers, Faith, Hope and Ivy June was obviously a labor of love for Naylor. A perfect friendship story with something deeper for tweens to enjoy.

The Twilight Zone Graphic Novels

My dad always wanted me to watch the Twilight Zone on television with him. I wouldn't. I had a thing about black and white TV when I was younger, and I am sorry to say that I have as yet never seen an episode. When I received the arc for The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street, and The Odyssey of Flight 33 I was intrigued, and I figured that they would make fun reading. I was right.

The Odyssey of Flight 33 caught my attention first. I am always a bit nervous when I fly, and these days of ditching in the Hudson have taken the every day feeling out of boarding a plane. Everything is going according to schedule on the Trans Ocean flight. The stewardesses don't have the kind of tea that a customer wants, others are making annoying small talk. (If you've ever been on a plane, chances are you've experienced these things!) Then all of a sudden, the crew and some passengers feel acceleration. Lots of acceleration. So much so that the instruments aren't even reading the speed anymore, and there is absolutely no contact with the ground.

All of a sudden there is a flash of white light, and things seem to even out. The pilot is eager to see land and brings the plane lower to take a look. Things do not look as they should. They get in touch with Laguardia Airport and ask for permission to land at JFK. The problem is that the folks at Laguardia have not heard of JFK. It hasn't been built yet.

Will Flight 33 ever find its way back to the present?

The Monsters are Due on Maple Street is a much uglier story that encompasses some of the paranoia present in 1950s America as well as the human condition.

The neighbors on Maple Street see what they think is a meteor late on a Saturday afternoon. Shortly thereafter all power is knocked out. Batteries included. Naturally, the folks on the street are confused and a little bit frightened as well. A couple of the men decide that they should go downtown and check out what is going on when young Tommy tells them that they shouldn't go. When questioned, Tommy sites the monster movies that he has seen...aliens never want people to know what is going on.

That's all it takes...a seed of an idea. Soon neighbors are turning on one another, and in true witch hunt fashion, nobody is safe. (This also makes an excellent curriculum connection to our 7th grade study of McCarthyism).

Each of these graphic novels begins with an explanation of the television series as well as a taste Cold War America. The back matter includes information from that particular episode of The Twilight Zone as well as a background about the adaptation of the stories from screen to page.

I have to say, at first I wasn't so sure about today's kids being interested in these books. My worries were completely unfounded. Out of all of our graphic novels, these are the ones that the 6th grade boys are passing from hand to hand. As soon as Jen got them into the hands of one boy, word spread. A few of them even sat SILENTLY during an indoor recess and just read them and passed them round robin style. I know that anytime a new title in the Twilight Zone series comes in, we will no longer even have to try to sell them. Simply put them on display and they take care of themselves.

Madame Pamplemousse and her Incredible Edibles

Madeleine is a talented little cook, but her gifts are squashed every summer when she goes to work for her restaurateur Uncle Lard while her parents are off jet setting. Uncle Lard's establishment, The Squealing Pig does have some talented people working within, but the problem is with Lard himself. He insists on having specialties of the house that he concocts. Dishes like Pig's Ear Pizza, Kidney Burger with Double Cream, and Crab Ravioli in Warm White Chocolate Sauce! (p. 9)

One day Madeleine is away from the kitchen searching out her Uncle's favourite pate, when she follows a cat and stumbles upon a peculiar shop simply called Edibles. As soon as she steps through the door, Madeline knows that this is a special place. When Madam Pamplemousse (and her cat Camembert) suddenly appears and asks Madeleine what she wants, Madeleine feels a bit frightened but ends up asking for pate. But instead of the mixed innards pate that her Uncle loves, Mme. Pamplemousse hands Madeleine a jar of green pate, labeled "Pate of North Atlantic Sea Serpent with Green Peppercorn Mustard" (p. 21) Even though it is not what she needs, Madeleine takes it back to the restaurant and convinces the Head Chef to simply replace the mixed innards variety with the sea serpent variety for that evening.

The pate, however, has quite an effect on those who consume it, and soon Uncle Lard is thundering into the kitchen and demanding to know where it came from. When the jar falls out of Madeleine's pocket, Uncle Lard has the answer he needs.

What follows is a game of cat and mouse between Uncle Lard, Mme. Pamplemousse, Camembert, and Madeleine. Villainous Uncle Lard is over-the-top bad, and readers will delight in his ineptitude. Sue Hellard's illustrations perfectly compliment the text with Uncle Lard looking as piggish as can be, and there are simple no words for the food critic!

This story is a bit of a flight of fancy, and I think that it is perfectly suited for reading aloud. The sense of humour is sophisticated, and the young foodies in the audience will find themselves imagining just what kinds of dishes, are indeed, possible!