Smile, by Raina Telgemeier

I love working with colleagues who love books as much as I do! Without them, I might not have gotten my hands on a little gem of a autobiographical graphic novel like Smile, by Raina Telgemier. So thanks to Jesse and Jen!

Raina is coming home from Girl Scouts one night and is running to her front door with her friends Kelli and Melissa when she trips and goes down hard! She lands on her face, and when she comes up, her front two teeth are no longer where they should be. They find one on the sidewalk, but the other is not to be found (it will be discovered later jammed up into her gums). One emergency dentist office later, a tooth is replace, the other pulled back down, Raina has a cast on her teeth and is hoping for the best.

The treatment doesn’t work out quite as planned, and Raina is left with front teeth that don’t fit her mouth, and braces on top of that!

But this story isn’t all about Raina’s smile problems. Readers watch her go through growing pains including a first crush on a 6th grader when she’s in 7th grade, and all of the grief that her “friends” give her about it -- forays into the scary world of the school dance, and the realization that true friends accept a person for who she is.

Tweens will eat up this real life story of growing up. Readers will be able to relate to the aches and pains of middle school, even if they’ve never sat in an orthodontist’s chair. If Raina’s art seems familiar to readers it’s most likely because she is behind the graphic novel adaptations of The Babysitter’s Club. Smile will appeal to the reader’s of that series, but will be enjoyed by a whole new audience as well.

The Small Adventures of Popeye and Elvis

Popeye is ready to spend yet another day in his regular life, with his bedroom ceiling dripping rusty water and listening to his grandmother Velma recite British royalty in order of reign to prevent herself from cracking up. It's been raining for a week, and Popeye feels like he is the one who is going to crack up!

Once the rain finally stops, Popeye takes the opportunity to get out of the house. He is walking down the road, pitching stones into the ditch when he sees it – a big motor home that is “tilted precariously to the side, one of its giant wheels sunk deep down into the gloppy red mud of the road”. (p.12)

Popeye’s summer, and his life, are about to change.

The owners of the motor home are a family with a passel of rag tag kids who quickly induct Popeye into their Spit and Swear club. The eldest, named Elvis, takes an interest in Popeye and soon the two are inseparable -- having small adventures for at least as long as the motor home is stuck in the mud. They spit and swear, discover Yoo-Hoo boats filled mysterious notes and soon Popeye has dreams of hopping on the motor-home and finding adventures that are even bigger. Each day Popeye hopes that his Uncle Dooley, who is supposed to dig the motor home out, will stay true to his nature and not get it done!

On the surface, this book penned by Barbara O'Connor seems to be simply about a summertime adventure that happens to blow into town, but dig a little deeper. Popeye, who has always listened to Velma before, tries on defiance for the first time, not just for the sake of making trouble either. In the name of adventure, he is willing to risk Velma’s wrath. After Popeye and Elvis meet Starletta (a girl who lives through the woods and down the creek) readers can feel Popeye’s inhibitions and apathy peeling away. Dreams start to seed, and readers will believe that Popeye will not end up like his Uncle Dooley…he’s made of bigger stuff.

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place

Penelope Lumley has just graduated from Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females, where she was dropped off when she was four years old. At the Academy she was a bright student, fond of quoting the sayings of Miss Agatha Swanburne, and is now en route to interview for a job as a governess at Ashton Place. Her head mistress Miss Charlotte Mortimer penned Penny a glowing recommendation, and Penny is hoping for the best.

When she meets Lady Constance, Penny is a bit surprised when she ends up asking the lady of the house questions rather than the other way around. And for some reason Lady Constance really doesn’t want to talk about the children. In fact, she states that children are not very “interesting” to discuss.

But the real surprise comes when Penny does meet the children. Raggedy and kept wrapped in blankets in the barn, the three children howl away and act like animals. Penny soon learns that Lord Ashton found the children in his woods while out hunting, and instead of sending the children to a work house or an orphanage, he applied his “finders keepers” philosophy and decided to advertise for a governess instead.

Penny is soon knee deep in the task of re-education Alexander, Beowulf, and Cassiopeia (names chosen by the master of the house). She is sure that poetry, Latin and some etiquette will change their lives. The children and their governess are mostly left to themselves, until Lady Constance lets them know that she is planning her first Christmas fete as the lady of the house and that the children must be presentable by that time.

Penny is sure that she can have the children ready, but it seems that someone doesn’t want her to succeed. Who could it be?

Maryrose Wood has written an incredibly smart and engaging start to a series that has left me wanting more. The pacing is perfect, the voice of the narrator is polished and so much fun! All of the pearls of wisdom from Agatha Swanburne will have readers thinking, and no doubt quoting as well. My friends know that I usually bemoan the fact that so many titles develop into series…I hanker for the stand alone. The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, however, does it right. The characters are interesting, the setting is clear and the writing is strong. Simply put, I cannot wait for the next installment!

...and the winner is...

Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson!

Follow this link to find out which books won in all categories!

Amelia Earhart: This Broad Ocean

In this graphic novel style biographical look at Amelia Earhart, readers are treated to the marriage of fact and story. The story starts in a small Newfoundland town. Amelia Earhart, Bill Stultz, and Slim Gordon have arrived in the hopes to make Amelia the first woman to cross the Atlantic by air.

Grace, a girl in town who fancies herself a reporter and publishes her own paper, is shocked and intrigued by Amelia's goal. Grace takes to following Amelia around town, hoping for a scoop and some insight. Once attempt, after attempt to take off fail, many people lose interest in the flight...but not Grace! She actually gets a tête à tête with Earhart and has her questions answered - including why she wants to fly airplanes, how she was chosen for the Atlantic crossing, and what her husband thinks about her flying.

Readers see Grace grow up and follow her own dreams, apparently inspired by Amelia's successes.

The introduction by Eileen Collins (the first female pilot of a space shuttle) sets the tone. Readers are introduced to Earhart through the eyes of someone inspired by her, and Collins lays out the facts of Earhart's life. Ben Towle's illustrations are filled with emotion and give a real sense of time period. The tri-color panels (black, white and blue) instantly pull the reader in and are evocative not only of the triumph of the skies, but the tragedy of the seas. The panel discussions int he back matter deepen the factual content of Earhart's life through quotes, information on women pilots, as well as society in the 1920s and 30s.

Overall, this is a stunning and interesting look into the life and times of Amelia Earhart.

The Popularity Papers: Research for the Social Improvement and General Betterment of Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang

Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang have been friends forever. They are in their last year before middle school, and they know it’s time to take action regarding their popularity. Better stated, their lack of popularity is the real problem. They have watched Lydia’s sister make the transition to middle school and somewhere along the lines she went from a tanned, cute, musical girl to a pale, black-haired, pierced being. To tell the truth, Lydia and Julie are a bit scared of her, and want to make sure that nothing like that happens to them along the way.

But how to get popular? They decide their best course of action is to do some good old-fashioned research by studying the girls who are now popular, and recording their findings in a journal. They divide the work up by having Julie do most of the writing and drawing (since she’s better at both), and having Lydia dictate.

They study the 4 main popular girls: Gretchen (who has the cool blonde streak in her hair), Lisa (who has the expensive cell phone), Jane (the fashionista, theater girl) and Sukie (who they can’t really figure out). Should they dye their hair like Gretchen? Learn to knit or play field hockey like Sukie? Start to like boys?

The girls end up trying various hobbies and interests of the other girls on for size. Is the result popularity? What do you think?

Amy Ignatow has created a super cute scrapbook-style book, that tween readers will eat up. Not only is the format fun, by Ignatow is able to go beyond the format to get at the meaty issues of girl-friendships. There are bossy moments, backstabbing moments and she brings the ebbs and flows of girl-friendship alive on the pages. And Julia's parents just happen to be two dads, which is always a good thing. Ignatow does this with panache, without Julie's family being a big deal, simply a fact.

I read this in arc format (due out 4/10) and I cannot wait to see the final copy. The details even in the arc are stupendous with scotch taped bits, school notes, and hilarious illustrations. I hand sold it to a big reader of mine, and it’s safe to say that The Popularity Papers won’t cross my desk again until every girl (and some of the boys) in her class have read it

Blogger Swap

I have been totally remiss in letting everyone know about the wonderful holiday swap gift I got by taking part in this year's swap. My partner sent me this gem:





How GORG is this? I had it sent to my workplace, so it sat in my mailbox til school was back in. I have the perfect place for it in a little cabin by a lake!

Big thanks!

On the Clip Board this Week...

Goose Girl, by Hale


















Mortal Engines, by Reeve






















101 Things You Wish You'd Invented, by Horne and Turner























Gods of Manhattan, by Mebus





















Queen's Own Fool, by Yolen

ALA Youth Media Awards

There is nothing quite as exciting as attending the ALA’s Youth Media Awards. When I woke up this morning, I considered staying in bed an hour longer, and then heading down to the hotel lobby to watch it on the webcast. Thankfully, my roommate Karyn rallied me, and we made our way across Boston to the BCEC and got in line to enter into the ballroom.

There’s always a buzz in the room, and I found myself getting nervous about the lists. I decided not to watch my twitter feed the whole time, but enough folks around me had their phones out that I could look over a shoulder and read the comments from around the country as the awards were announced.

In case you haven’t heard, you can follow this link and find the official press release from ALA.

On the tween-y front, this year’s Newbery lists does not disappoint. Personally, I was quite happy to see The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate on the Honor List, and while seeing When You Reach Me wasn’t too much of a surprise when announced, it’s a very fine winner.

So congratulations to Rebecca Stead, Philip Hoose, Jacqueline Kelly, Grace Lin, and Rodman Philbrick!

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

Here is a title that has been sitting on my tbr pile for quite some time. After all of the Mock Newbery results started pouring in, it was obvious that it was time to move this to the top of the pile! On my way to Boston for ALA’s Midwinter Conference, I had just the time I needed to get reading.

Minli’s family is very poor. In fact, everyone in her village is very poor. They live in the shadow of the Fruitless Mountain, where crops do not grow, and the land is barren and tough. It is all her family can do to work daily on their land and try to harvest enough rice to eat that day. Minli’s parents have very different outlooks on the their existence with Ma spending her time sighing bitterly over their fortune while her Ba fills their empty hours with colourful stories filled with mythical creatures, magic and far off lands. Ma scoffs at the stories, but Minli simply comes alive and seems to glow while she listens.

One day a goldfish seller comes into their little village declaring that a goldfish in the house will bring fortune into one’s home. Minli, with her faith in story, believes the goldfish seller and rushes into her home to get the 2 coins that are hers alone from when she was born. The fish costs her one of her coins and even though others in the village warn her not to believe the man, she happily brings her new fish home.

When her parents return from the fields, her mother is shocked and disappointed that Minli wasted her coin. Ba, however, reminds her that the money is Minli’s to do with what she pleases. Ma only sees the fish as another mouth to feed…something that Minli had not thought about when she first spotted the fish.

Minli decides in the dark of night to free the fish, so that her parents will not have to worry about feeding it. When she releases it in the river, something amazing happens. The fish speaks to her, and tells her how she can change the fortune of her family.

Soon Minli is off on her own, chasing her dream of helping her parents change their fortune. What follows is an adventure of discovery involving a flightless dragon, a boy with one friend, and the Old Man of the Moon.

Grace Lin has written an enchanting story that mixes a rich cultural landscape with a magical quest. Minli has such a pure spirit, that readers can’t help but root for her to overcome all of the odds and help her family. Between the “outside” stories, the pacing is perfect, and while I wondered at first if I would be able to keep momentum during the telling of the “outside” stories, it is managed with ease. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon has all of the qualities of a book with staying power. It will be interesting to see if this appears on some of the lists this year!

Off to Boston!

I am off to Boston to attend ALA's midwinter conference, where I am a member of 2 ALSC Grant Committees. I am looking forward to doing some good work, seeing some long lost colleagues, and checking out this fine city for the first time.

Hopefully there will be some intriguing ARCs to pick up along the way.

See you there?

My Self: A Guide to Me

Advice guides for tweens are always tricky. They can't talk down to readers, and they can't sound too much like your mom. Every girl wants to see herself somewhere within the pages, and when she recognizes herself, she wants to feel good about the changes that she can make.

Marlene Wallach, the President of Wilhelmina Kids & Teens Modeling Agency, along with Grace Norwich, has put together a lifestyle guide that gets it right.

Using a magazine style format, girls can easily read through sections of advice about confidence, fitness and friendship. From the "Ten Commandments of a Better Body Image" (involving advice such as surrounding yourself with supportive friends, the importance of wearing clothes that are comfortable to you, and respecting your body) to fun activities for boosting self esteem (talking positively to yourself in the mirror, doing improv with your friends, and finding activities to do on your own), readers are bound to find something that speaks to them. Quizzes and lists round out the chapters, and I can picture friends breaking this book out during a sleepover and discussing their answers. There are also real girl stories, dealing with an assortment of topics such as being biracial, starting a business, and moving to a new country.

This spiral bound book mixes photographs of girls, with tween friendly cartoons and graphics. Inspiring quotes from famous people ranging from Oprah to Confucius pepper the text.

While the girls shown are of differing races and ethnic groups, it would be nice to see girls of varying body types and sizes in the pages. Since Wallach is the head of a modeling agency, I am assuming most girls featured are models. It is nice to see many smiling faces with braces, since so many tweens are going through the same thing, but a few more differences might be nice!

Overall, this is exactly the kind of book that I recommend to parents when they want to help their daughters out with self esteem and the tween/early teen years. There are 3 additional titles in the series: My Beauty: A Guide to Looking & Feeling Great, My Life: A Guide to Health and Fitness, and My Look: A Guide to Fashion & Style.

Comment Challenge

Lee and Pam have organized another comment challenge, and for the first time I am taking part.

The idea behind this is to get all of us out from lurkdom and let folks know that we appreciate all of their hard work blogging. It also allows us to explore new blogs and get out of the same old reading habits.

I did miss one entire day due to birthday party madness, but am back on the wagon today finding some new (to me) blogs to check out!

Rhymes with Fresca!

Today marks the end of Jon Scieska's two year term as the Ambassador of Children's Literature. I would like to offer up a big thanks to him, not only for his work as ambassador, but for providing so many fun books for us to read to kids!

Some folks might wonder why here at Tweendom, I would be taking time out since most of Mr. Scieszka's work (Knucklehead aside) is for the younger set. Well, because books like The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, are laugh-out-loud funny, and help get boys (and girls) to look at reading as fun, and not just something to sit still for!

His MC-ing skills are unparalleled, and he has made the National Book Award press conference for youth a fun and sly experience for the teens and the adults in the room.

So here's to you, Jon Scieszka!

Cybils Short List

So the Cybils Short Lists have been posted! In the Middle Grade arena, the survivors are:

Chains, by Laurie Halse Anderson

Captain Nobody, by Dean Pitchford

Anything but Typical, by Nora Raleigh Baskin

Heart of a Shepard, by Rosanne Parry

All the Broken Pieces, by Ann Burg

Operation Yes, by Sara Lewis Holmes

The Small Adventures of Popeye and Elvis, by Barbara O'Connor

I've read 4 of the 7, so I have to get on it! There are some titles that I thought were sure fired short list contenders that didn't make the cut. I am genuinely surprised. But this is the thing about the Cybils: you never know what is going to happen!

Do you have a favourite on this list?

See ya later!

Hey there!

I am taking a bit of a family holiday break here! Come on back post January 1st.

Happy reading!

The Best of the Year

Well, the best that I read this year, anyway! As you can tell from the last posts, I love the lists. Some readers may know that I used to hold down 2 blogs...this here Tweendom, and the now defunct Booktopia. Booktopia was the place that I discussed picture books, young adult books and the occasional adult title. Last year I decided to break down my favs of the year into several top 5s, and this year I am adding another category. So without further ado, here are my favorite 5 picture books, tween titles, young adult titles, and graphic novels of 2009!

Picture Books

The Lion and the Mouse, by Jerry Pinkney
Birdie's Big Girl Shoes, by Suejean Rim
Let's Do Nothing!, by Tony Fucile
Billy Twitters and His Blue Whale Problem, by Mac Barnett, ill by Adam Rex
Yes Day!, by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, ill by Tom Lichtenheld

Tween Titles

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, by Jacqueline Kelly
Newsgirl, by Liza Ketchum
Al Capone Shines My Shoes, by Gennifer Choldenko
Peace Locomotion, by Jacqueline Woodson
11 Birthdays, by Wendy Mass

Graphic Novels

Secret Science Alliance and the Copy Cat Crook, by Eleanor Davis
The Storm in the Barn, by Matt Phelan
Stitches, by David Small
Lunch Lady, by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
(okay...so 4 of these!)

Young Adult Titles

Lips Touch, by Laini Taylor, ill by Jim DiBartolo
Going Bovine, by Libba Bray
We Were Here, by Matt de la Pena
The Silver Blade, by Sally Gardner
Peace, Love and Baby Ducks, by Lauren Myracle


So, there you have it. Of course these are my opinions of the best that I read this year. Best is an idea that is quite personal, and for my purposes here these are the ones that made me smile, flip pages desperately, and made me want to share the titles with the kids, tweens, and teens in my life.

What made your list?

More List-y Goodness

I am constantly looking for LGBT books to share with our kids and families. I am very lucky to work in a school that celebrates all kinds of families. Generally speaking, picture books and young adult books dealing with LGBT themes are pretty easy to find. It's the middle grade area that gets sticky.

Luckily for us, Lee Wind over at I'm Here, I'm Queer. What The Hell Do I Read? has put together a Middle Grade Bookshelf featuring titles where the tweens/teens are LGBT or questioning, and another list that features titles with family members or people in a tween's/teen's life are LGBT.

Head on over to check it out!

Dear Pen Pal

It's 8th grade year for the girls and changes are afoot. Jess is surprised to learn that she has just received a scholarship to snooty Colonial Academy. Jess could care less about the scholarship...she just wants to stay at Walden Middle School with her friends. Her parents, however, keep talking about opportunities, and college, and want to reach a compromise of having Jess board at the school during the week and come home to help at Half Moon farm on the weekends.

Without Jess at Walden, Emma is a bit sad. She misses Jess, and even though things are warming up with Stewart and she is editor of the paper, she still feels like something is missing. If only her parents would finally say yes to a dog...

Megan's grandmother has moved into the house and Megan finally feels like someone understands her. Gigi is totally into fashion and travel. She is an amazing cook who even uses meat (gasp!) in her dishes. But the closer Megan gets to Gigi, the more annoyed her own mother seems to get.

Among all of the changes, Becca and Cassidy actually have something common. Their mothers seem to be going a bit crazy. Mrs. Chadwick has discovered a whole new her, complete with outrageous outfits, spiky hair, and animal print glasses. Mrs. Sloane-Kincaid is always tired. She's nauseous and napping.

The book club is changing too. The club is reading Daddy-Long-Legs, by Jean Webster, but what is new to the club are the pen-pals. Mrs. Hawthorne has been in touch with her old college friend who has her own mother-daughter book club, and they thought it would be great for the girls to write to each other while reading the same book. Some of the girls aren't too pleased about this...after all, who even writes letters anymore. Texting or emailing would be so much easier. But the moms stand firm. Old fashioned letters with stamps will be sent!

What follows is a story complete with nasty room-mates, sleep-over pranks, road trips, first kisses and secrets kept from friends and mothers alike. Heather Vogel Frederick's latest installment in the series will not disappoint fans of the first two books. The girls are growing in real time, and their 8th grade problems are different form their 6th grade ones. Each character, though somewhat typed, brings something fresh to the table in Dear Pen Pal. Cassidy's growing away from her jock persona and Emma's geek is ascending the social ladder with the help of her girlfriend status. But the characters never lose their souls over it. The changes simply feel true to the tumultuous times of middle schoolers.

I can't wait to see what the book club reads next!

Lists

I am a list girl. I love lists. This is one of the main reasons that I love this time of year. I get to reflect upon what I have read, and to figure out whether it has stuck with me, what I still like about it, or if it has faded away. I no longer mourn for those titles that I didn't get to. I have faith that the good ones will draw me in some day.

Before I go on to make my own top 5 lists, I like to browse the others that are floating around. Luckily, the talented Chicken Spaghetti has gone and pulled many of the lists together on her page. Head on over to check them out.

Are any of your favourites there?

Calamity Jack

So I was part of the judging panel that awarded Rapunzel's Revenge the Cybils Award. Imagine my pleasure when Calamity Jack showed up on my doorstep months ago. Imagine my excitement at reading it. Imagine my dismay at realizing the pub date of 01/10! But now, I feel like we're close enough to said date to blog it, so yay!

Jack has always been somewhat of a trickster, though often to unfortunate ends. He considers himself a criminal mastermind with a bit of bad luck. He is a born scammer, and he remembers all of his schemes fondly enough to have named them! "The Sugarbowl Gambit", "The Great Sandwich Caper", "The Grocery Job", "The Purloined Pig", "The Cane Mutiny", "The Ice Cream Con"...and the list goes on. Picking the right target and having the right partner are key elements of pulling off a scheme. Jack soon fancies himself a Robin Hood of sorts, when he sees his jobs as righting wrongs and helping less fortunate folks. But Jack doesn't always get away with it, and his mother is beside herself. Jack promises himself he won't make his mother cry again. It's time to go straight. After one last caper...

Jack is taking on the big boss Blunderboar this time. Jack should have known better, but his luck truly takes a turn for the worse and he soon high tails it out of town where he meets Rapunzel. They have their adventures and Jack decides it's safe to head home, and he takes Rapunzel along with him.

Of course the trip home is anything but dull and the wanted posters featuring Jack's mug complicate matters even more.

Chock filled with action, beasties, and steam punk sensibility Calamity Jack takes readers to a far flung world where fairy tales do come true in unexpected ways. Perfectly paced, fans of the first book will happily devour this installment, and first time readers will no doubt go back and read about Rapunzel after they finish Jack's story. The only time that Rapunzel's Revenge is in our library is for somebody to check it in so that a friend can check it out, and I am sure that Calamity Jack is in for the same fate. Appealing across genders and ages, this is no doubt a graphic novel series that will stand the test of time.

On the Clipboard This Week

Artemis Fowl, by Colfer





Redwall, by Jacques







The Lightning Thief, by Riordan








The Supernaturalist, by Colfer





Amelia Rules, by Gownley

On the Clipboard This Week

Here's what our tweens are checking out!

Remember Me to Harold Square, by Danzinger.




Flyte, by Heap




Unclaimed Treasures, by MacLachlan (even with the same cover!)




Green Lantern Chronicles, by Broome





Flipped by VanDraanen

Picture Books for Tweens

I have been reading many, many picture books lately. Both for review and for a presentation that I am giving later this week. As a result, I have been thinking about picture books and tweens. There are many picture books that are perfectly suited for tweens...especially those with out of the ordinary non-fiction themes. Cromwell Dixon's Sky-Cycle is just one of those books.

Cromwell Dixon was a kid who loved to invent things. From a rowboat with extra oars, to a mechanical fish made out of clocks, Cromwell's imagination ran wild. He read all that he could about the inventions of the day, but he was especially captivated with the flying machines. Cromwell had been up in a hot air balloon in 1904 and by 1907, fourteen year old Cromwell decided that he wanted to be an aeronaut and began to build his own flying machine.

Now, many inventors have parents who do not support their passion, but Cromwell was very lucky. His mother supported him 100%. His design was based around his bicycle. He rebuilt it so that pedaling meant that propellers would turn and turning the handlebars would make the rudder in the back go left or right. Cromwell's mother sewed up a grand silk balloon that would support the bicycle and its rider!

A tragic set back would probably have made many teens give up, but Cromwell and his mother started sewing again, and he was convinced that his new design would be even better than the last.

Tweens will be captivated with this story about the original "balloon boy". Cromwell is an example of resilience embodied and his stick with it attitude is inspiring to us all. John Abbott Nez's illustrations perfectly set the tone of the time, and readers will pour over the details of the air ships and the blueprints. At the end, there is a mini-biography titled, "This is a True Story" that gives readers a bit more detail.

Why not consider some picture books for the tweens in your life?

Closed for the Season, by Mary Downing Hahn

New kids are used to hearing stories about the places they move into from the local kids. Almost immediately upon driving up to their place, Logan meets the kid next door, Arthur. It doesn’t take long for Arthur to tell Logan that he was surprised anyone bought the place, considering what happened there. It’s not called the murder house for nothing.

Logan cannot believe that his mom and dad bought their new house knowing that someone was killed there. Logan’s folks think that Arthur is exaggerating, and while they agree that Mrs. Donaldson did die in the house, they doubt she was murdered.

Ever helpful Arthur takes Logan to the local library to check out the old newspapers from the time of Mrs. Donaldson’s death. Turns out that there is a lot more to the situation with Logan’s house than he even heard about from Arthur. There is missing money from Mrs. Donaldson’s job at a now abandoned theme park, and tremendous amounts of family drama, including the fact that Mrs. Donaldson’s son-in-law might have somehow been involved in this whole situation.

Now Arthur is the kind of kid who marches to his own drummer, and really doesn’t care what other kids think. Logan is fine with that although he is a little worried about what might happen once school starts. But they do have a long summer ahead of them, with unscripted days. Arthur is soon leading the charge for him and Logan to solve this old mystery. Logan’s a bit unsure about the whole thing, since it includes lots of bike riding up many hills and skulking around a creepy abandoned theme park.

Mary Downing Hahn has written an atmospheric and just creepy enough story. Don’t be fooled, there are issues of spousal abuse that make this a read for the older tween, but all of the details are appropriate to the story. Arthur, while unlikable, is believable and his story gives insight into the way that many children live. It’s a powerful thing to see a character shunned from his own mother, to the other kids at school, just keep moving on and be strong enough to believe in himself. The juxtaposition of Arthur and Logan’s families will definitely give readers something to think about.

Clipboard Thursdays - What Our Tweens Are Reading

Enola Holmes, by Springer

Warriors, by Hunter

The Name of this Book is Secret, by Bosch

Pippi Longstocking, by Lindgren

The Supernaturalist, by Colfer

The Sisters Club: Rule of Three

Middle sister Stevie Reel knows that there really is a rule of three. Everything seems to come in threes. There are three sisters in her family, and that’s not all. As she says, “Think about it: Red, white, blue. Snap, crackle, pop. Bacon, lettuce, tomato.” (p.1) Sometimes Stevie is a bit jealous of her friend Olivia who doesn’t have to live in the midst of a three sister family, since she is an only. She doesn’t have to worry about living up to the idea of herself just because that’s who people think she’s supposed to be.

For example, Stevie’s older sister Alex is the actor of the family. The Reel’s are all dramatic in their own ways, but Alex typically gets the lead in every school play. Her whole existence seems so scripted that she even acts out dialogue with her Sock Monkey in order to work through her personal drama.

Little sister Joey is a bit of an instigator as well as a list maker, a girl with a cause (Locks for Love), and currently is obsessed with the book Little Women. She is also in the unique position as the secret keeper, since both older sisters come to her to complain about each other!

Stevie is the baker. Her frustrations and worries get channeled through the creation of such recipes as “Don’t-Bug-Me-I’m-Baking” cupcakes, or “I-Hate-My-Sister” cupcakes. She likes baking so much that she is hoping to enter her local cake off, and maybe even win a prize.

So there they are: three sisters, with three roles to play.

But identities have a way of shifting, and when the new school play is decided to be Once Upon a Mattress, Alex decides she is sick of musicals, and Stevie, who loves to sing, thinks that this might be the time that she wants to stick her toes in the waters of acting. After all, she does have the voice, if she doesn’t have the acting skills. When Stevie decides to go out for the play, and Alex decides that she wants to audition after all, the family will be facing sibling rivalry like never before!

Megan McDonald has written a fun and breezy read for tweens. Chapters alternate and highlight each sister’s unique voice. Alex’s voice is shown in script form, Joey’s is lists, diagrams and statistics, and Stevie is given the voice of straight prose. There are all kinds of magazine style fun facts throughout (like the fact that a bunch of gnus are called an implausibility), and Little Women related quizzes. It’s a quick read, and the age range of the sisters mean that readers will most likely find somebody to identify/sympathize with.

Diary of A Wimpy Kid 4: Dog Days

Greg is back and this time he has to survive summer. He has no real problem with summer since he is a self-described “indoor person”. He’s ready to spend his days with the curtains closed playing video games. Unfortunately, his mom has other ideas.

Greg has already spent part of the summer with Rowley at the country club, talking to the ladies and ordering up fruit smoothies. But he got uninvited as soon as he let Rowley’s dad know just what was wrong with the place (like the time the waiter forgot his little umbrella in his smoothie!). Now his mom is trying to convince him to come to the town pool with her and Manny. The problem with the town pool is the showers. You have to walk through them to get to the pool. And they tend to be filled with naked old guys. Greg would rather pass.

Mom’s next big idea is a reading club with all of the neighbourhood guys. When she asks them to bring books they would like to discuss, some of the titles that arrive are: SUDOKU INSANITY, ULTIMATE VIDEO GAME CHEATS, GREEN WASP, AND XTREME POP-UP SHARKS! Greg’s mom deems all of these too violent and suggests some classic titles, like Little Women, The Yearling, Old Yeller, and Anne of Green Gables! Guess how many guys make it to the second meeting?

Jeff Kinney has once again written a laugh-out-loud funny book that appeals to such a broad spectrum of readers. My adult self was laughing out loud as are the tweens that I see reading this. We all have had endless summers that include chores, car trips, and family drama. The vignette style keeps reluctant readers going and voracious ones satisfied. The illustration to text ratio is perfect, and Kinney’s illustrations are spot on as always with my favourites being of Greg in the beauty shop!

Fun, fun, fun.

Clipboard Thursdays - What Our Tweens Are Reading

Checked out on the clipboard this week:


The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z, by Messner


Jemma Hartman, Camper Extraordinaire, by Ferber


NERDS: National Espionage Rescue and Defense Society, by Buckley and Beavers



The Twilight Zone: The After Hours, by Sterling


Twelve, by Lauren Myracle

Cybils 2009

I am happy to once again be a part of the Cybils Awards! This year I am going to be judging middle grade fiction, along with the folks from Shelf Elf, Educating Alice, The Excelsior File and Wagging Tales! I've been keeping track of the nominations, and I have to say, I am very excited!

If you haven't nominated any titles yet, head on over now!

Dani Noir

"What would Rita Hayworth do?" is a question that Dani often asks herself. She is spending the summer in her upstate New York town where she often has no bars on her cell phone and is dealing with her own family drama which is including her parent's recent divorce.

Dani loves immersing herself in the noir movies that are being shown all summer at the Little Art theater. She adores Rita Hayworth's ways, and loves the predictability of the shadow laden stories up on the screen. As soon as the credits roll and Dani is back to reality she finds a certain amount of dissatisfaction with her life, until a bit of a real life mystery presents itself. Dani's friend and former babysitter Elissa is dating the projectionist at the Little Art, so why is there a girl with polka-dotted tights who is definitely NOT Elissa, hanging around?

Dani clings to this new real life mystery as a way of escaping her weepy mother, and the reality of her cheating father. Her focus zooms in so tightly on figuring out the polka-dotted tights girl's identity that she doesn't think about who might get hurt along the way.

Nova Ren Suma has written an interesting and thoughtful novel that is character driven in the best way. Dani is very much 13 years old, and her resentment of her father is real and raw. As a reader, I found myself hoping that she wouldn't make some of the choices that she did, but they were the choices that a 13 year old would make. The integration of today's social networking technology fit the story and does not feel forced at all. I read this book in arc format a month or so ago, and it has been on my mind. Nova Ren Suma has managed a certain authenticity with Dani, and while this isn't a title that I found myself gushing about, it has been simmering and simmering. Certainly a sign that it will stand the test of time.