Author: Tasha

Skulduggery Pleasant

| Tasha

Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy.

Stephanie’s beloved uncle has died and left his old house to her.  While she is there alone one night, someone tries to break in and kill her for a key.  The strange man she noticed at the funeral and at the reading of the will shows up and rescues her by shooting fire from his hands.  When his disguise slips off, she realizes he is a living skeleton.  (See cover image.)  Stephanie is drawn into a hidden world of magic, fantasy and a mystery that could destroy everything, and finds it impossible to return to her normal life of a 12-year-old girl. 

Landy has reinvented fantasy, turned it on its head, and created something entirely engaging, unique and marvelous.  Skulduggery Pleasant is a complex hero, filled with caustic wit, who is the perfect lens through which the readers and Stephanie can discover the fantasy world.  Stephanie is a protagonist with real guts and bravery, who doesn’t consider herself anything special.  She is a refreshing female character, who is not overly girly or overly tomboy, but a regular girl who is thrilled to be on an adventure.  

The fantasy world that Landy has created is inventive and original, but still hearkens back to more traditional stories.  One good example of this are the vampires who are night security guards.  Landy has taken their original details, kept what he needed and discarded the rest.  In essence, he has reinvented vampires, shifting even the most embedded facts of their legends.  This demonstrates his skill as an author, because nothing is sacred or unchangeable in this novel.

Recommend this to middle schoolers who enjoy a book with a good amount of violence.  And remember, despite the fantasy setting, this violence reads as dramatically real.  This is not cartoon violence that younger good readers should be reading.  I would also recommend it to preteens and teens looking for a good, original fantasy novel.  Any kids who enjoyed The Last Apprentice Series by Joseph Delaney or Monster Blood Tattoo by DM Cornish will enjoy this one.

Battle Over Gay Children's Books

| Tasha

AfterElton, a blog that offers news and information for gay men, has a very nice article on the battle about children’s books with gay themes.  The article mentions And Tango Makes Three, King & King, and The Trouble with Babies.  As a public librarian, I especially appreciated the following quote from Arthur Levine:

“Ten percent of the children’s book readership, at least, will grow
up to be gay or lesbian,” he said to AfterElton.com. “Wouldn’t it be
nice if their first exposure to the idea that there are gay people in
the world isn’t when they’re teenagers — so when little Johnny falls in
love with that really cute, brainy boy in his computer class, he’s
grown up with the idea that it’s not unusual and there’s nothing wrong
with that.

“And an even higher percentage of picture book
readership will grow up to know and love somebody who’s gay or lesbian.
So when you think about it that way, a large percentage of your picture
book audience can really benefit from naturalizing the idea that there
are gay and lesbian people in the world. When you think about it that
way, it’s even more of a mystery why there aren’t more of these books.”

Hurrah!  I know that many librarians think they are serving only the straight in their community, but gay families, children who will realize they are gay, or families with gay loved ones all need to have a haven in their public library where their lives are mirrored and acceptable.

Great Opening Lines

| Tasha

Nancy Pearl is back on NPR with a list of books with Great Opening Lines to Hook Young Readers. 

The books included are

Tanglewreck by Jeanette Winterson.

Millicent Min, Girl Genius by Lisa Lee.

Ragweed by Avi.

Fear by M.T. Anderson

Wemberly Worried by Kevin Henkes

Make sure you listen to the clip, because Nancy’s enthusiasm will completely sell you on the titles.

Digby Takes Charge

| Tasha

Digby Takes Charge by Caroline Jayne Church.

Digby is a new sheep dog who has never herded sheep before.  But how hard can it be?  There are only six of them.  But the sheep don’t like Digby’s style.  He tries growling at them, and they ignore him.  Then he tries using force.  Nothing, in fact the sheep are beginning to smile.  More force?  Still nothing.  It isn’t until the other farm animals tell Digby the secret of how things work on this farm that he is able to get the sheep to listen to him.  Anyone know the magic word?

Adults will see the ending coming from the start, but I guarantee even adults will be shocked enough to laugh out loud at the force that Digby uses on the sheep.  My sons were in hysterics at how funny it was.  The illustrations are very accessible to children with their cartoon-like, friendly style.  In fact, the cover alone sells this book.

I highly recommend this book for reading to active preschool classes.  The illustrations will shout clearly across the room and the surprises in the middle of the story will have even the most restless little ones listening in no time.  Great for that final book of a storytime that much catch their attention.  It is also a good one for adding to dog or sheep storytimes.

20 Hungry Piggies

| Tasha

20 Hungry Piggies: a number book by Trudy Harris, illustrated by Andrew N. Harris.

This picture book begins with the comforting words of the This Little Piggy rhyme.  But that’s just how it begins.  From there we have skydiving piggies, ones that play music, and several who cook.  It is great fun.  Adding to the fun are the illustrations where children can find the wolf hidden in each picture until he decides to pounce. 

More than just a basic counting book to 20, this book talks in terms of first, second, third little piggies, offering preschoolers new terms for numbers.  I appreciated the way it started with the traditional rhyme and then went on from there.

Share this in a counting unit with preschoolers or kindergarteners.  You could also share it in a piggy story time.  But it will be best on someone’s lap or in a small group where children can see the pictures closely enough to find the hidden wolf.

Why Should We Believe the Blogger?

| Tasha

Hurrah for Adele Geras, who writes the article, “The literary universe is bigger in the blogosphere.”  This part is a real gem:

“But why should we believe the blogger?” comes the cry. “Who are they
and how are they qualified to tell us what to read?” The answer is: you
should believe them and trust them in exactly the same way you would a
critic in a newspaper or literary journal. There will be some you
admire and some you think are stupid. Some bloggers write well and some
badly and so do some literary critics.

That’s right!  We blog reviewers can be trusted just as much as print reviewers, in fact many of us are print reviewers too.  And bloggers just like print reviewers have varying tastes to take into account.  There are reviewers (both print and online) who I listen to no matter what.  There are others that I read, but with a large salt shaker at hand.

Pullman Is Carnegie Champ

| Tasha

Philip Pullman has won the Carnegie of Carnegies where people had the chance to vote for their favorite Carnegie winner.  This was done in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Carnegie Awards.  Pullman’s Northern Lights (known in the US as The Golden Compass) got 40% of the total votes. 

Here are the titles that were in contention:

Skellig by David Almond (1998)
Junk by Melvin Burgess (1996)
Storm by Kevin Crossley-Holland (1985)
A Gathering Light by Jennifer Donnelly (2003)
The Owl Service by Alan Garner (1967)
The Family From One End Street by Eve Garnett (1937)
The Borrowers by Mary Norton (1952)
Tom’s Midnight Garden Philiby ppa Pearce (1958)
Northern Lights by Philip Pullman (1995)

Elissa's Quest

| Tasha

Elissa’s Quest by Erica Verrillo.

Elissa is a thirteen-year-old who has lived with her Nana in a small village.  She doesn’t know anything about her parents and Nana refuses to tell her anything.  Elissa has a gift of talking with animals, and one of her best friends is Gertrude, a donkey.  Then one fateful day, Elissa’s father, a royal prince, comes and takes her away.  They travel to the Khan’s fortress, where Elissa is to be used as a bargaining chip between the Khan and her father.  It is only through her own gifts and newfound courage that Elissa finds her way free of the web she is trapped in.  This is the first book in a new series.

Yes, I know the paragraph above is short on details, but one of the joys of this novel is slowly discovering its twists and turns.  Elissa is a well-drawn protagonist, a girl who would never think she was brave but finds it deep within herself.  Her young companion, Maya, is also charmingly rendered.  The adult characters are not as fully imagined as the child characters, but young readers shouldn’t mind that.  There is a strong sense of mysticism in the novel, creating a deeper experience than many fantasy novels for youth.

This is the perfect book for tweens.  With a protagonist who’s a teenager, tweens should really enjoy reading this.  Yet it doesn’t have the sexuality or dark violence of a fully teen novel. 

Share this book with tweens who enjoy Tamora Pierce.  This is a new female warrior of a different type that they will enjoy rooting for.

Poetry Friday: This Is a Poem that Heals Fish

| Tasha

This Is a Poem that Heals Fish by Jean-Pierre Simeon, illustrated by Olivier Tallec.

Arthur’s fish is not looking well, in fact Arthur is quite worried that the fish could die of boredom.  His mother suggests giving the fish a poem.  First, Arthur searches the house for a poem and doesn’t find anything.  Then he heads out into the community to ask people what a poem is.  He gets answers like this one from the lady who works in the bakery: “it is hot like fresh bread.  When you eat it, a little is always left over.”  But even with this advice, he really doesn’t understand what a poem is until he is forced to try to revive his fish all on his own.  And the fish has a poem for him too.

This rather strange picture book doesn’t hit its stride until page 14.  The beginning sets the stage, but also has a rather odd part where noodles and a rag talk.  Anyway, once the story gets moving, it is lovely.  I truly enjoyed the different definitions of what a poem is and how they all weave together into Arthur’s.  The illustrations are filled with deep colors and interesting perspectives.  They suit the story perfectly.

This is a great book to use when working with children and poems.  It will give children the confidence to create their own poetry and to find it in their own worlds.  What more could you ask for?