Month: April 2008

Stuck in the Mud

| Tasha

Stuck in the Mud by Jane Clarke, illustrated by Garry Parsons.

Early one morning, a hen notices that one of her chicks is stuck in the mud.  She pushes and shoves, but can’t get the chick out and then finds herself stuck too!  One by one, more animals join them stuck all together in the mud.  All push and strain to get unstuck, but all are trapped.  All except one!  The little chick who started the mess!

The art here is so funny and inviting.  Done in a cartoon style that will make small children right at home, it is perfectly paired with the zany text that will have children even more at home.   The text is pitch perfect, reading aloud so easily that it fairly skips along.  This is the perfect book for a toddler story time where children will love to shout out the animal names and join in the straining to push and pull the animals out of the mud.

Highly recommended for ages 3-6.  Have a muddy good time!

Forever Rose

| Tasha

Forever Rose by Hilary McKay.

Return once again to the Casson family as they verge on disaster but always pull together as a family by the end of the story.  Rose is being left alone more and more as her sister Caddy has left, Saffy is busy with friends and school, Indigo is into his music, her father is away living in London, and her mother is in her shed feeling ill.  But maybe it’s worse when one of Indigo’s friends moves his drum set in and ruins her latest painting.  Certainly it is worse when she finally realizes what she has agreed to do with her friends at the zoo!  But it is far too late to back out by then.

McKay has such a deft hand with characters.  They are constantly surprising but true to themselves.  She is particularly wonderful at creating people with true flaws, but also making sure they are not only lovable but loved.  While one doesn’t wish to move in with the family, one would love to know them and be part of their world. 

Once again, a Casson novel that triumphs.  Highly recommended for readers ages 10-14, but only if they have read the rest of the series!

Clementine's Letter

| Tasha

Clementine’s Letter by Sara Pennypacker.

Every time a new Clementine book comes out, my toes wiggle with glee.  I know that between those pages, I will find moments to laugh aloud, discover myself as a small child again, recognize my children, and simply sink into a wonderful book.  They never disappoint.

This third Clementine book has her bonding with her third grade teacher until he is nominated to go on a trip to Egypt.  Now Clementine has to cope with a new teacher who doesn’t seem to have the same rules while desperately trying to keep her old teacher from winning the award and leaving.  Clementine also has to try to do something extra nice for her mother because she is writing a story with her father.  It’s only fair to do things equally according to her friend Margaret. 

Once again I was charmed not only by the effervescent Clementine who walks her own walk and sees the world through her own special lens, but by her parents who love her simply for being herself.  Other adults are equally well drawn and complete as are the children around Clementine.  Add to that Frazee’s line art which constantly shows the field of chaos around Clementine as she moves through life, and you have such a believable and vibrant book that it is hard to put down.  In fact, I recommend having all three at hand, because you are going to want to start the entire series once again just to spend some more time with them.

Highly recommended as a readaloud, or for parents of children who don’t conform to what the world seems to expect, or for children themselves who have a good sense of humor and love to laugh.  Hey, it’s great for everyone.  Enjoy!

Jane Addams Children's Book Awards

| Tasha

I love seeing who has won the Jane Addam’s Children’s Book Awards because the focus of the award is so near and dear to me.   Books on the list “effectively promote the cause of peace, social justice, world community, and the equality of the sexes and all races as well as meeting conventional standards for excellence.”

Here are the 2008 Winners:

 

The Escape of Oney Judge: Martha Washington’s Slave Finds Freedom by Emily Arnold McCully.

We Are One:  The Story of Bayard Rustin by Larry Dane Brimmer.

And the honors:

One Thousand Tracings: Healing the Wounds of World War II by Lita Judge.

Rickshaw Girl by Mitali Perkins.

Eljah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis.

Birmingham, 1963 by Carole Boston Weatherford.

VOYA Best SF, Fantasy and Horror

| Tasha

I always love seeing what VOYA has dubbed the best science fiction, fantasy and horror books.  Will my favorites make it?  How about yours?

Take a look at the list.  It is a pdf file and may require patience to load.

 

Here are ones I am glad to see on the list:

The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray

Igraine the Brave by Cornelia Funke (I wish this had been a Cybil nominee!)

Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale (Yes!  The best of the year!)

Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy (Hurrah!  Love this one!)

The Chaos King by Laura Ruby

 

But there are so many I didn’t read and so many that were never on our list to consider for the Cybils!  Any other must-reads on the list?  Some of my favorites are missing.  Where is Epic?  Where is Wildwood Dancing?  Any others that should be on such a lengthy list?

Carnegie Medal Shortlist

| Tasha

The CILIP Carnegie Medal Shortlist for 2008 has been announced:

 

Gatty’s Tale by Kevin Crossley-Holland

Ruby Red by Linzi Alex Glass

Crusade by Elizabeth Laird

Apache by Tanya Landman

Here Lies Arthur by Philip Reeve

What I Was by Meg Rosoff

Finding Violet Park by Jenny Valentine (published in the U.S. as Me, the Missing and the Dead)

 

Remember, this is a British award, so some of the books aren’t released in the U.S. yet.

Has anyone got any favorites?  I haven’t read any of these!

My Friend the Starfinder

| Tasha

My Friend the Starfinder by George Ella Lyon, illustrated by Stephen Gammell.

Ready yourself for a true story that defies belief.  A girl meets am old man who tells her amazing stories.  He starts by telling her of seeing a star fall and then heading into the fields to where it landed.  He picked up the star and took it home.  Then there was the time he found himself at the end of a rainbow, doused in colors.  Readers at this point will think they are in the middle of a magical picture book story, but in the author’s note, Lyon tells us that she knew this man.  What a perfect way for it all to end.  In truth.

Lyon’s language here is gorgeous and often breathtaking.  She starts out with plain and simple wording that gets caught in the story and expands, filling the book with metaphor and wonder.  And to make it even more wonderful, she does it a second time and readers will feel just as captured and amazed as the first time.

Pair her deft language with Gammell’s art and you get a book that fairly sings with color and story.  Gammell uses his loose art to perfectly capture the connections between people and the singular moments we find ourselves in. 

Highly recommended, this picture book is a welcome addition to any library collection.  It should be shared with children and then they should be given time to hear your stories of wonders that have happened to you and to share their own.  A chance to share and connect is the perfect ending to this book.

Peeled

| Tasha

Peeled by Joan Bauer.

Bauer does it again with this engaging story of a young journalist who faces off against her own hometown paper.  Hildy Biddle knows how to stand up for the truth.  Her father was a newspaperman before he died and she has grown up to be very like him.  When a house in their community is declared one of the most haunted places in the state, all sorts of strange things start happening, all attributed to the ghosts.  Hildy and her friends on the high school paper refuse to accept the tales being told in the local newspaper and continue to ask questions.  But how will she reveal the truth once the high school paper is shut down?  Can the truth be heard?

Hildy is a grand female character, gutsy, funny, smart and determined.  Best of all, she is not the stereotypical smart-girl who lacks romance.  Instead Hildy has a string of ex-boyfriends and a boy she has her eye on.  This adds to her believability and strength as a character.  Additionally, the secondary characters are well-written and complete. 

Bauer also uses her ability as a writer to present readers with tough situations through clear language and a thoughtful approach.  As Hildy grabbles with the ethical dilemmas of revealing truth, so does the reader.  Bauer allows the reader to learn, question and think on their own.

Highly recommended for teens, this book contains no sexual content and could easily be used in classrooms with teens. 

Saga

| Tasha

Saga by Conor Kostick.

This is the sequel to Epic, one of my favorite science fiction novels from last year.  While Erik and his character appear in the story, it is really much more about the cyberpunk world of Saga, a video game that has evolved from being a simple game to really being a world populated with living entities.   Ghost woke up six years ago with no memories of her previous life, now she lives outside of the world of colored cards and status that make up the society of Saga.  She is virtually invisible except that situations keep pushing her to the fore.  When people around her begin arriving and then disappearing, she and her friends begin to realize that they are living in a game.  The Dark Queen, ruler of Saga, begins to use the human visitors to her own ends, working against the changes that Ghost would like to see in the society and worsening the conditions of most of the population.  It may take working together with the unknown humans against her own kind to solve both the problems of Saga and the questions of her own identity.

Another thrilling ride of a book, taking on a genre of video games with the skill of a master.  Just as he captured the spirit of fantasy gaming in Epic, Kostick has created the feel of a vivid cyberpunk world here.  The writing is crisp and accessible, welcoming readers into the world.  The characterizations are multidimensional and fascinating.  The heroes have dark sides and the villains have softness.  Even in his Dark Queen, Kostick has created a true villain but someone with depth and logic. 

Readers who loved Epic will be jumping to read Saga.  It will not disappoint those video game players in your library.  In fact, if you circulate computer games or have gaming programs, I’d advise hand-selling these in those spots.  The kids will thank you.