Month: March 2008

What I Read on Spring Break

| Tasha

I meant to do a full review of all of these, and they do deserve it, but right now I am completely swamped and want to get these back to the library shelves so others can enjoy them.  So I’ll do a brief (even briefer than normal) snapshot of each title.  I consider them all must-reads.

One Whole and Perfect Day by Judith Clarke.

I had heard wonderful things about this book for months and months, but no local library purchased it until it was a Printz Honor Book.  It is the intimate but inherently funny story of a family with all of their ups and downs, strained relationships, new-found friends and lovers, and the meeting of strangers who then become part of your life.  Written with grace and beauty by Clarke, the book dips and dives through lives, allowing us to laugh at our own and see beauty where we may not have seen it before.  It also demonstrates without preaching or bullying that we are all interconnected beyond our small lives.  Simply wonderful and definitely a book that is purely teen but is not bleak or dark.  Lovely.

The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd.

Salim boards the London Eye and goes up but never comes down.  Now his cousins Ted and Kat must figure out how and why Salim never came back down to earth.  A great mystery for middle-graders, this book has what seems to be an impossible situation, a moment where all of the evidence clicks into place neatly, and two great detectives in the young siblings who each have their own strengths.  Great characterization is the real center of the book here, despite the wonderful mystery.  Ted is a unique boy who has features of autism but is highly functioning.  His quirks make him the detective he is and allow his brain to see things from a different perspective.  What is best about the book is that Ted is never pitied or looked down upon, rather he is seen as special and interesting.  What a treat of a character!  Highly recommended for pre-teens, this would make a stellar book talk.

Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin.

From the author of Elsewhere, comes another winning teen novel.  Naomi falls down a set of stairs and hits her head at the bottom, losing her memory.  As she wakes up into a life she no longer remembers, she has to piece together why she is dating a tennis jock, why she has the friends she does, and what she wants to do with her life now.  It is a wonderful journey of self-discovery encapsulated by her lost memory.  Beautifully written and effortlessly plotted, the book is fresh and fast.  Zevin manages with both of her novels to create complex situations that envelope a truth.  This book is one that teens will flock to read, enjoy entirely, and pass on to their friends.

PLA Arm Strain

| Tasha

Well, I’m home after dragging back bags and bags of ARCs, pounds of candy and a boatload of pens and pencils from the exhibits.  PLA was wonderful with lots of sessions that really inspired me, but they weren’t about children’s librarianship or books.  I got to go to the great sessions on library management, and really they were great. 

But when I hit the exhibits, I was all about the children’s and teen books.  The last time I went to a national conference it was ALA a few years ago.  At that time, if you mentioned you blogged it was met with confusion if not disdain by the people at the booths.   That has completely changed, and now if you say you are a blogger you get the ARCs from behind the curtains, the business cards to contact them further, and the small presses are thrilled to see you.  Of course there were a few publishers who still don’t get it.  Harcourt is one of those, though it may have just been the person running the booth.  She informed me that they don’t do ARCs though they had some at their table and I pointed out that I get ARCs and review copies from some of their subsidiaries already.  But she insisted that it was too expensive to send ARCs out to just anyone.  I have to admit I got steamed at that and started to cite my number of hits per day and such.  No effect.  She was done with me.  And frankly, I don’t expect a copy of the one ARC I got her to write my name down for to appear anytime soon.

But I came away from the exhibits and from most booths with an incredible number of books.  Here are the ones I am looking forward to most:

  

Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr (I’ve already started this and if the writing holds through the book this may be better than the amazing Wicked Lovely.)

Playing with Fire by Derek Landy (the sequel to Skulduggery Pleasant)

Looks by Madeleine George.

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow.

Smiles to Go by Jerry Spinelli

Lamplighter by D. M. Cornish

Generation Dead by Daniel Waters

Peeled by Joan Bauer

Away

| Tasha

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I am on vacation with my boys for the next couple of days and then will spend the bulk of next week at PLA in Minneapolis.  I’m looking forward to seeing some of the new children’s books, begging for ARCs, and chatting with vendors and librarians alike. 

Hope you have a wonderful Easter and a great spring break!

A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever

| Tasha

A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever by Marla Frazee.

James and Eamon head to Eamon’s grandparents house at the beach to go to nature camp nearby during the day.  The book follows the boys not as they go to camp, but as they return to the house each evening.  They play video games, each lots of banana waffles, and spend most of their time indoors even though the beach is right at their doorstep.  It isn’t until their final night there that they spend some time outside and discover that it is the best part of their week.

This book is such a treat.  Frazee has a great sense of humor that children will immediately appreciate.  Often the text says one thing while the pictures tell the truth of the situation, which is great fun.  But what makes this book so stellar is that it perfectly captures modern boys, video games, and friendship.  The tone is exactly right, the characterizations are spot on, and there is a joyous skip to the entire book.

Additionally, the grandparents are a welcome pair in children’s books.  Not relegated to the background, these grandparents are unique individuals who simply allow the boys to have the week they want to have rather than pushing them to do more constructive things. 

Highly, highly recommended for boys, girls, parents and grandparents.  This goes in my top ten picture books of the year.  Recommended for a wide range of ages because of the humor: ages 6-10.  (Actually, my 11-year-old laughed even louder than the rest of us!)

What's So Bad About Being an Only Child?

| Tasha

What’s So Bad About Being an Only Child? by Cari Best, illustrated by Sophie Blackall.

Rosemary Emma Angela Lynette Isabelle Iris Malone knows what it feels like to be an only child.  And to her, it feels horrible!  Smothering and lonely at the same time.  She begs for a sibling, sulks for a sibling, but her parents don’t understand what’s wrong with being an only child.  Rosemary struggles with her lack of brother or sisterhood until she meets a turtle at the pond and brings it home.  Soon other animals follow as well and she has a menagerie at home who play with her, argue, share secrets and generally are the family she never had.

Rosemary is a character written and illustrated with such verve and vinegar.  She’s a refreshing change from other little girls in picture books who can be a bit too pink and frilly to read as real.  Rosemary is a true child from her pigtails to her crooked teeth to the glint of frustration in her eye.  The illustrations and the text work well together, creating the pitch-perfect tone here.

While reading the book, I feared that this little girl was going to find a way to have a baby enter her family in one way or another.  So I was happily surprised when she started collecting animals to be her family. 

Immensely fun to read aloud and a joy to share, this book will be loved by children with many brothers and sisters or those with none.  Recommended for ages 5-7.

Looking for Loons

| Tasha

Looking for Loons by Jennifer Lloyd, illustrated by Kirsti Anne Wakelin.

Woken by the first morning sun, Patrick heads to the porch to watch for loons on the lake.  One by one, his family members join him, each awoken by a sound or smell to the beauty of the fall day.  It takes patience and willpower (to not succumb to the smell of a pancake breakfast) to watch for the loons.  By the end of the book, Patrick’s patience is rewarded.

The prose in this book is poetic and beautiful.  It perfectly captures the stillness of a morning broken only by the slightest of noises like slippers flopping, kettles whistling and skillets being placed on the stove.  The interludes where the text breaks away from the cabin and looks towards other creatures around the lake are wonderful as well, allowing readers to “see” birds, frogs, and beavers.

As you can see from the cover, the art of this book is done with realism and softness.  It dances between almost photographic realism and a blurriness of sunshine and dappling of leaves.  As the text moves to outside glimpses, so do the illustrations, revealing even more creatures than the text itself. 

Perfect reading for anyone who heads north to a cabin or wishes they could.  This book is not only about loons, but also about wilderness and patience and family.  It has a cozy warmth about it, perfectly capturing a sunny autumn morning.  Recommended for ages 5-8.

Twilight the Movie

| Tasha

MTV has an interview with Ashley Greene, star of the film version of Stephanie Meyer’s popular vampire books.  She tells of her own love of the novels, and talks about fan concerns about her height and the length of her hair.

Stephanie Meyer has a whole page on her website dedicated to the movie.  You’ll find more pictures of the cast there.

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

| Tasha

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart.

Released March 25th, 2008.

Frankie is a sophomore at a private boarding school, Alabaster.  As a freshman she was invisible to the popular crowd, although her older sister had introduced her to everyone multiple times.  But now with a fuller figure, she gains the attention of Matthew, a very cute senior.  Frankie starts going out with Matthew but becomes more and more worried about what exactly he sees in her beyond her body.  When she discovers that Matthew and his friends are part of a secret all-male society on campus, she waits and waits for him to tell her about it.  But when he doesn’t, Frankie takes matters into her own hands and makes the Loyal Order her own with a blend of modern technology and classic pranks.

Lockhart pays homage to Wodehouse with her writing style and delivery, offering a classic feel to the prose but also a broad sweep of caustic humor.  It is this humor and the sharp tongues and wit of the characters that bring the book to life.  The cleverness of the dialogue is marvelous to see as is Frankie’s pride in her own intelligence.  Frankie is one of the brightest and unexpected of heroines.  Her inability to play by the rules is refreshing as is her refusal to be simply a girlfriend while the boys have all of the intrigue and fun.

Recommended for other smart teens who will enjoy the wordplay, humor and wit of the book.  You may see a run on Wodehouse after they read this!

Visit E. Lockhart’s website and blog for information on her books, appearances and more.

A Visitor for Bear

| Tasha

A Visitor for Bear by Bonny Becker, illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton.

Bear never has visitors, in fact he even has a sign on his door that says “NO visitors allowed.”  When a small determined Mouse comes to the door, Bear turns him away.  But Mouse appears all over inside Bear’s house as he prepares for breakfast.  After trying and trying to keep Mouse out of his house, Bear gives up and allows him to stay for tea.  And with that one snack together, Bear discovers that maybe, just maybe, he doesn’t hate having visitors so very much.

This book is simply charming.  The soft-hued illustrations don’t shy away from some great slapstick comedy routines.  They will delight young readers.  The repetition and rhythm in text makes this a perfect read-aloud and children will enjoy chorusing some of the repetition along with the reader.  Under all of this runs a story that is warm and filled with friendliness. 

A great choice for reading aloud to preschoolers and Kindergarten classes.