Middle School

Book Review: Hurricane Dancers by Margarita Engle

| Tasha

HurricaneDancers

Hurricane Dancers by Margarita Engle

Engle’s latest historical novel in verse explores piracy in the Caribbean Sea in the 1500s.  It is the story of Quebrado, a fictionalized character, who is a slave aboard a pirate ship.  Also on the ship is Alonso de Ojeda who has been captured.  That ship, owned by real historical figure Bernardino de Talavera, becomes shipwrecked.  The story is populated by people from history, but told primarily through the voice of Quebrado.  It is a pirate story that removes the swashbuckling glamour and tells the bitter truth about what piracy was.

Engle captures such emotion in her verse, creating moments of pain, wonder and even delight in this brutal story.  The book is immensely engaging, thanks to its brisk pace and lively subject matter.  There is adventure and even a touch of romance in this story, giving light in the darkness of slavery and piracy. 

Engle pays close attention to the native people of the islands, allowing glimpses into their lives and their beliefs.  They make a great foil to the lying, manipulations of the pirates.  It is a story that is elegantly crafted and vividly written.

A great choice for late elementary and middle school students who are interested in history and pirates.  This is a book that is fast, fascinating and fabulous.  Appropriate for ages 11-14.

Reviewed from library copy.

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Book Review: Small Acts of Amazing Courage by Gloria Whelan

| Tasha

smallacts

Small Acts of Amazing Courage by Gloria Whelan

Rosalind is not a normal British child living in India in 1918.  The other girls her age are shipped back to England for boarding school or spend their days at the club flirting covertly with young English soldiers and swimming in the pool.  Rosalind has never been to England, her mother refused to send her to boarding school because her older brother died in England while at school.  Rosalind doesn’t identify with the other English girls.  Instead her best friend is the daughter of one of the Indian servants and together they make illicit visits to the bazaar.  When Rosalind’s father returns from World War I, he brings with him stricter rules than Rosalind has been living under.  He disapproves of her friendships, forbids her going to the bazaar, and objects to her interest in Gandhi and his politics.  Rosalind’s world changes just as India begins to seek its independence from the British in this fascinating historical novel.

Rosalind is a great protagonist.  She is at odds with her English world, yet it is never pushed so far that her reactions and attitude loses touch with the historical setting.  She is strong, vibrant and a great lens to see India through because she is a bridge between modern readers and World War I.

Whelan creates her world with tiny touches, drawing India for readers in the details.  Her imagery is lovely, emphasizing the impermanence, the beauty, and the restlessness of the story. Yet the story does not drag at all.  This is historical fiction that is relevant, vital and interesting.  The pacing is beautifully done, offering the languid pace of an India heat wave, the time it took to travel at that time, and the desperation of a people.

I am hopeful that we will read more of Rosalind’s story in an upcoming book.  I look forward to seeing where Whelan will take readers next.  Perfect for middle school readers who will enjoy the engaging heroine and the touch of romance.  Appropriate for readers age 10-13.

Reviewed from copy received from Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

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Harris and Me by Gary Paulsen–A Family Favorite

| Tasha

harrisandme

Harris and Me by Gary Paulsen

When I first read Harris and Me, I had it along with me on a family trip with my husband and parents.  I ended up reading entire portions of it aloud to a room of adults who all hooted and laughed and begged for me to continue.  Then when my older son was around the right age, I read it aloud to him.  He loved it.  This week, I finished reading it aloud to my younger son, who loves to be read to but doesn’t care to read to himself much.  He asked for his own copy so he could read it whenever he liked.

Some lines from the book have entered our vocabulary in our family.  If I get grumpy, my husband (far too often) says “Now, Buzzer…”  Whenever a little car revs past our house, I say “the engine starved for oxygen its entire life.”  And perhaps even worse, we all get the joke and laugh, immediately thinking of the scenes from Harris and Me.

Paulsen has created a book that is so funny.  It reads aloud like a dream, and having read it aloud cover-to-cover at least 3 times by now, I should know.  The humor is often naughty, involving things like peeing on an electric fence, being kicked in the groin by a cow, and attempting to kill a very evil rooster.  At the same time, it is belly-laugh funny, quoting lines great, and will linger with you after you finish it.

And the ending, well.  Let’s just say it’s the most challenging part to read aloud because no matter how many times I read it, I will always cry.

So if you are looking for a book to hook a kid with its humor, with its inappropriateness, with its pure appeal, look no further!  This one is a winner with every person I have ever shared it with.  It’s a definite family favorite for three generations of our family.

Book Review – Lost & Found: A Graphic Novel Wonderland

| Tasha

lostfoundtan

Lost & Found by Shaun Tan

This collection of three stories by Tan which were previously published in Australia as separate stories combine to create an incredible experience.  Tan wrote two of the stories himself and did the art for all three.  The three stories are unique and different, though they are all about loneliness, discovering what is right in front of us, and unexpected beauty. 

The Red Tree tells the story of a woman trapped in darkness, though if you look closely you will see a sign of hope that continues through the images.  The illustrations are filled with large urban buildings, strange mechanical beings, and empty curving landscapes.  Until finally, the red tree is found where you least expect it. 

The Lost Thing is the story of a man who discovers something strange on the beach.  It was something odd, unusual and completely out of place.  The man searches for where the lost thing belongs, eventually taking it home with him and figuring out what it eats.  But this is not a story of a lost and new pet.  It is a story of secret places, unusual beings, and discovering what you were once blind to.

The Rabbits is a story written by John Marsden, who is also from Australia.  The story takes a look at the colonization of Australia through the story of the rabbits entering and taking over the continent.  Marsden and Tan create a story that tells the tale of take over, theft and oppression through animals, at once making it a story that can be told clearly and coolly but also one that echoes with tragedy on a larger scale.  For me, this was the story in the book that resonated and continues to linger.

Tan pays close attention to details throughout the book.  The transitional pages between the stories create a unified feel to the book, tying the stories together as if they are hand-in-hand.  The effect of the three stories is one of uniqueness and universal themes. 

Beautifully created, these stories are a treasure for graphic novel fans who will find out that graphic novels can be artistic, deep, compassionate and amazing.  Appropriate for ages 12-15.

Reviewed from copy received from Scholastic.

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Okay for Now: A Brilliant, Amazing Read

| Tasha

okayfornow

Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt

Released April 18, 2011.

Let me make this simple – READ THIS BOOK!  If you are a fan of the book this is a companion book to The Wednesday Wars, you will fall head-over-heels for this one.  If you never read that book, it doesn’t matter, still read this one.  It stands on its own fantastically well.  In this book, a small character from The Wednesday Wars is given his own book.  Doug Swieteck is a boy who has just moved to a new town with a brother who gets into plenty of trouble, a mother who smiles far too rarely, and a father whose hands are fast when he is angry, which is most of the time.  But Doug is more than the “skinny thug” that people assume he is, much more.  This coming of age story set in 1968 is about how a entire town can be wrong and how that same town can help raise a boy to be the man he is capable of being. 

This is my favorite Schmidt book yet, and that is saying something!  The characterizations here are so well rendered.  The people are real, tangible and each and every person in the book is human and complex.  Yet the book remains fresh, easily read, easily related to, and vibrant.  It is a book with space inside it for the reader to make realizations, come to conclusions, and bring their own perspective. 

Told in first person by Doug, the voice of the book is entirely his own.  It never stumbles, never becomes an adult looking at the situation, never lectures.  Instead it learns as it speaks, realizes as it voices and sometimes doesn’t figure out what the reader has come to understand.  It is raw, beautiful and heartrending.  

I’m afraid I cannot capture in my review what this book is.  To say that it should be a contender for an award this year is to lessen it.  Instead, this book is one that can honestly change the way a child sees themselves.  Not through anything didactic, but instead just allowing an honesty to pervade the book, a realization to happen, art and words to flow and reveal.

An unforgettable book that is sure to be a classic in years to come, this is a book that defies categorization and summary.  Appropriate for ages 11-14.

Reviewed from NetGalley digital galley.

 

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Small Persons with Wings: Fantastic Fairy Fiction

| Tasha

smallpersons

Small Persons with Wings by Ellen Booream

Mellie grew up with a fairy living in her bedroom.  He was her best friend for years.  But when she told her kindergarten class about him, he disappeared before she could prove he existed.  Now at age 13, she is still called “Fairy Fat” by her classmates.  Even her parents who had agreed that the fairy existed and treated him as real, declare in front of the school counselor that it is all Mellie’s imagination.  So Mellie decides to turn off her imagination and become practical.  When her parents inherit a decrepit inn in another town, it is Mellie’s chance to leave her nickname and the fairy behind for good.  But that’s before Mellie discovers that the inn is inhabited by lots and lots of fairies. 

Booream’s writing is so very readable, inviting readers into a world where fairies are real and plenty of trouble.  The dialogue in the book works well, reading very naturally.  The setting of the old inn is nicely rendered, giving readers just enough detail to visualize the inn clearly, but not too much to get bogged down.

Booream excels at creating interesting characters.  Mellie is a wonderful young protagonist who displays an intriguing combination of prickliness, self-doubt and courage.  She is a girl who has been bullied for years, but has not been broken by it.  I also appreciate that Mellie is a heavier young lady who has heavier parents who love her and don’t mind her weight.  It is the other children who have issues with it. 

The cover with its zinging blue, sparkly letters is very appealing.  I do wish that there was some even small hint off Mellie being a larger teen.  Plus I am getting very tired of the feet on covers as a way to not show problematic protagonists in great detail. 

A very friendly and fun fairy fantasy, this book will be popular with fans of the Rainbow Fairy books who are aging out of that series.  Appropriate for ages 10-14.

Reviewed from copy received from Dial Books.

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Lemonade and Other Poems Squeezed from a Single Word

| Tasha

lemonade

Lemonade and Other Poems Squeezed from a Single Word by Bob Raczka, illustrated by Nancy Doniger

Poetry combines with puzzles and playfulness in this book.  Raczka takes the letters from one word and creates a poem that relates to that word.  Interestingly, the letters are always shown in the order that they appear in the original word, which makes for a fun time unraveling the words in the poem.  If you don’t want to puzzle or wonder if you got the poem right, you can always turn the page and see it written in a more traditional format.

Doniger’s illustrations are simple, modern and offer just the right amount of visual interest without detracting at all from the poems themselves.  The color palette is limited to reds, blacks and grays that make for subtle and friendly support for the text.

Highly recommended, this book will encourage children to try this format for themselves and look at words in a playful way.  Appropriate for ages 8-12.

Reviewed from copy received from Roaring Brook Press.

Tall Story: A Magical Giant of a Book

| Tasha

tallstory

Tall Story by Candy Gourlay

Andi is a very petite 13 year old and has just found out that she won’t be able to play point guard on her school basketball team, because her family is moving.  The move from their small apartment to a larger home will hopefully allow her older brother, Bernardo, to join their family at last.   But there is no basketball team for girls at Andi’s new school and when her brother does arrive, he is a giant!  Bernado feels very guilty leaving the Philippines and his small village behind.  Over the years, he has become an almost folk hero for his village, where he is credited with stopping the daily earthquakes.  Now he and Andi have to figure out how to be siblings to one another, what family means, and how basketball plays into it all.  This is a funny, touching and heartwarming story that has a great depth to it as well.

The novel is written from both Bernardo’s and Andi’s points of view, allowing readers to relate to both protagonists.  This also underscores their different attitudes about family and their relationship with one another.  The book weaves magic into a realistic story in a way that will have readers convinced that there is magic at work, yet able to also think it may simply be coincidence.  It is very subtly crafted.

This book deals with deep subjects of culture, family and belonging.  At the same time, it remains upbeat and celebratory of our diversity.  This is a book that would work well as a classroom discussion thanks to its natural depth and its positive attitudes.  There is plenty here to discuss that is timely and relevant to any community.

Highly recommended, this is a book that will put a smile on your face and warm your heart.  Appropriate for ages 10-13.

Reviewed from copy received from Random House.

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Grounded: Family, Funerals and Forgiveness

| Tasha

groundedklise

Grounded by Kate Klise

For a girl who never liked dolls, Daralynn sure had a lot of them.  She had gotten over 200 dolls after her father, brother and sister were killed in a plane crash.  She had also gotten her nickname, Dolly, because of them.   Dolly lived with her mother and next door to her grandmother.  After the funeral for her family, Dolly’s mother became the hairdresser for the local funeral home.  Later, she branched out to owning her own salon and doing hair on the living.  It was Dolly who had the big idea to start doing living funerals at the funeral home to make more money.  But then a crematorium was built in town and started taking business from the funeral home, and even worse, started doing living funerals themselves!  Dolly thought there was something strange about Clem, the man who owned the crematorium, and it was up to her to figure out what was really going on.  A mystery with small-town charm, this book is about family, funerals and forgiveness.

Klise’s writing has a folksy cadence to it here that echoes the sounds and feeling of a small town.  There are wonderful transcendent moments where the main character realizes something and Klise writes it with such clarity and perfect pitch.  The conversations between characters feel real and true, giving the book a strong foundation to put a mystery upon.  It is also a very funny book, thanks to Dolly’s wry humor.

Klise has created a small town in this novel that makes the perfect setting for a mystery.  The town and the people who live there are more than a backdrop for the story, they are a real community.  The most fascinating characters are those related to Dolly.  Each of them shows how to deal with life and tragedy in a different way.  They are subtle and tangible reminders of what grief can become.

Dolly is a marvelous character who strives to be good, but is still alive because she was grounded for going fishing without permission.  She is a girl who fishes, does hair, hates dolls, and never quite manages to obey the rules.  In other words, she’s a delight.

Highly recommended, this book would make a wonderful class read-a-loud.  Where it sings is in the relationships it shows, the laughter it provides, and the recovery from loss it allows us to witness.  Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from copy received from Feiwel & Friends.

Also reviewed by Kids Reads.