Middle School

Under a Red Sky

| Tasha

Under a Red Sky by Haya Leah Molnar

A memoir of childhood under Communism, this book offers a real window into that world.  Growing up in postwar Bucharest, Romania, Eva lives with her extended family in one house.  This includes her grandparents, her parents, two uncles and one aunt.  Eva is surprised at age 8 to discover that her family is Jewish, though readers will know it from the start.  All of her relatives are unique and interesting.  Her father, a filmmaker, survived the Nazi concentration camps.  Her mother is a former ballerina who teachers dance to children.  Her Aunt Puica spends most of her time in her bedroom reading romance novels while her husband, Uncle Max is running into trouble at work for joking too much about the Communists.  Uncle Natan is a bachelor who still lives at home.  Her grandmother is prickly and her grandfather is doting.  The mix of all of these strong characters forms the background of Eva’s life.  They quarrel, fight, make up, love, and joke.  It is a family of very human people who are trapped behind the iron curtain, living lives so similar to our own and yet so very different and frightening.

Molnar has set just the right tone with this book.  Its universal qualities of family and childhood are played out against the repressiveness of Romanian Communism, yet it is not grim.  Moments of humor and humanity shine against the darkness, incandescent against the horrors of Communism.  As the book moves on, Eva begins to understand the dangers of her life, creating a tension that makes for intense reading.

Molnar’s depiction of her relatives is told with great relish and delight.  They are the sort of family members who shape who you are, and readers can see them shaping Eva as we watch.  Each person has their own distinct style and reactions, they are vividly depicted and as the pressures of Communism grow around them, become more and more themselves.  The characters are what make this book a pleasure to read, their colorful lives more than enough relief from what could have been a very grim tale.

Highly recommended, this book offers a memoir that reads like good historical fiction.  Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from copy received from Farrar Straus Giroux.

Also reviewed by Killin’ Time Reading.

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The Boneshaker

| Tasha

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The Boneshaker by Kate Milford

Natalie Minks grew up surrounded by strange tales about her town near the crossroads, and everyone knows that odd things happen at crossroads.  Natalie’s father was the bicycle mechanic in town and he also worked on the new cars like the one for the town’s doctor.  Natalie too loved machines, especially automatons.  She was also trying to master riding a strange bicycle that her father rebuilt for her, but embarrassingly enough, she simply couldn’t ride the thing at all.  The town too was used to weird things happening, but no one was prepared for the day when Dr. Jake Limberleg’s Nostrum Fair and Technological Medicine Show came to town bringing all manner of weird medicinal remedies and even machines that never stopped running, even though Natalie knew that was impossible.  As Natalie slowly discovers the mystery of the Medicine Show, readers will be drawn into this book that is just as intricate and mesmerizing as the show itself.

Milford has created a unique book here with its amazing mixture of historical fiction, fantasy and horror.  The steampunk elements of the book keep it current and hip, but there is far more going on here than automaton.  It is a story filled with the horror of demons on the Devil himself.  The book’s pacing adds to the dynamic nature with leisurely sections leading into almost frantic pacing.  It is a book that lures one in, offers one book and then changes, amazingly into another sort of book instead.  It is a book that blazes and burns against the setting of a small town in 1913.

Natalie is a great heroine, who really solves the mystery on her own without the help of the grown ups and also saves the town all on her own.  It is a celebration of girls who are smart, savvy and who question authority. 

This gripping tale offers so many twists that one is never sure exactly where the book is headed.  Guaranteed to thrill, it is one great flying ride of a read.  Appropriate for ages 12-15.

Reviewed from library copy.

Also reviewed by:

Trickster

| Tasha

Trickster: Native American Tales, a Graphic Collection edited by Matt Dembicki

21 trickster tales are given the graphic treatment in this spectacular graphic novel.  With great attention to authenticity, Dembicki paired Native American storytellers with graphic artists to create this collection.  Readers will enjoy the diverse types of art within the book, moving from more painterly to cartoony and everything in between.  The text of each story is also quite individual, reflecting that storyteller’s cadence and style.  The collection as a whole is a celebration of Native American culture but also of tricksters and the great stories that revolve around them. 

Turning pages in this book is rather like an exploration.  One never knows what is behind the next page.  Dembicki has created a book that works as a collection but also allows each story to stand on its own with its own distinct feel.  There is an art at work in the selection, placement and creation of the book itself and of each and every story.  I love the sense one gets of an entire community of people creating this book, this celebration of story.

Use this to introduce children to Native American stories or to the idea of the trickster in folklore.  It is a powerful example of modern media meeting timeless tales that will resonate with children and adults alike.

Highly recommended, this graphic novel should find a place in most public libraries.  I would hesitate to catalog it as folktale, and allow the graphic novel reader to realize the depth of what a graphic novel can truly be.  Appropriate for ages 7-12.

Reviewed from library copy.

The Water Seeker

| Tasha

The Water Seeker by Kimberly Willis Holt

I am struggling with the summary of this book.  I could list all of the things that happen, but that doesn’t capture the wonder of this book, the tiny touches that make it so very special and the overlying theme of water and family that tie it all together.  I could talk about the special moments but at its heart this book is the story of a boy who becomes a man before our eyes and builds his own sort of family out of the people he loves.  It is the story of Amos, a boy who loses his mother the moment he is born, is loved by his father who cannot settle down and stay with him but makes sure he is cared for.  It is the story of a mother’s love that continues to guide, embodied in birds and reflections.  It is the story of the Oregon Trail, of homesteading, of hardship and pain.  It is the story of humanity captured in one boy’s life.  And I apologize that that is the best I can do for a summary, because it only grazes the top of this deep book.

I am amazed that Holt was able to put so much love, soul and power into a book that reads like an adventure story.  It is a book that can be enjoyed on different levels, but is wonderful to plunge into and be carried away by like a strong river current.  It is a book that celebrates all sorts of loves, doesn’t turn away from pain and loss, and shows how life continues after devastation meets us.  It is a story filled with strong women and men.  Men who are both physically strong but also emotionally there.  Women who shoulder the burden of entire families, survive horrific abuse, and continue to life and love. 

Holt has created great characters here who are a joy to spend time with.  Amos is a humble protagonist who grows into greatness.  He is complicated, a wonderful amalgam of all who cared for him in his life.  And yet at the same time he is simple and always himself.  Holt manages to do both in this boy.  And through it all runs a current of water.  Water as life.  Water as death. 

Get this book.  I am afraid I can’t capture it any more clearly, because my words don’t seem to be able to match the depth and power of this novel.  It is amazing, wondrous and special.  My Newbery pick so far. 

Appropriate for ages 12-15.

Reviewed from copy received from Henry Holt.

Mercury

| Tasha

Mercury by Hope Larson

A fascinating combination of history and fantasy, this graphic novel tells two parallel stories, both set in Nova Scotia.  Different generations of the same family, one modern and one from 1859, are played against one another.  Tara is the modern girl who is dealing with her family home burning to the ground.  Her mother has had to leave and find work elsewhere while Tara stays with a friend.  Tara has been homeschooled the last two years, and is returning to the school district that she used to attend.  She soon finds romance and magic.  Josey’s story takes place 150 years earlier.  Josey is the sheltered daughter of a farmer who is besotted when she finds herself the focus of a stranger’s attention.  The man has found gold on her father’s farm and soon the two of them enter into business together mining the gold.  Tara finds her own modern world connected to that of Josey in unexpected ways.

Larson has created an intriguing and winning book.  While the two stories are vaguely parallel in romance, they diverge quickly into very different stories.  The book is beautifully designed.  Readers will immediately understand that the historical story is bordered in black while the modern is bordered in white.  Larson’s art is welcoming and great fun to read.  She has created a story with the best of graphic novels, romance and fantasy woven seamlessly together.  The two heroines are very different people, but both romantics and both tied together in intriguing ways.  There were some characters that I wish had been more fully developed such as Tara’s mother and the family she is living with.  I think it would have made it easier to enter her world.

Highly recommended, this graphic novel is one that will easily cross borders between teens who enjoy graphic novels and those who read romance or historical fiction.  This is a great entry book into the world of graphic novels for new readers.  Appropriate for ages 13-15.

Reviewed from copy received from Atheneum.

Also reviewed by:

Three Rivers Rising

| Tasha

Three Rivers Rising: A Novel of The Johnstown Flood by Jame Richards

Celestia has always been the daughter who obeys her father, preferring books over boys.  But when she meets Peter, a boy who works at the hotel she is staying at with her family, she falls in love.  The two of them spend secret hours together swimming in Lake Conemaugh, talking and stealing kisses.  Distracted by her budding relationship, Celestia is not aware that her sister is also in love, but Estrella has gone much farther and ends up pregnant.  Celestia must now give up her love and attend to her family.  When she returns a year later, Peter no longer works at the hotel, and Celestia must make a fateful choice – to be disowned by her wealthy family and follow her heart or to obey and marry a man she doesn’t care for.  Her choice, made in 1889, comes just before the historical disaster of the Johnstown Flood.  Far more is about to be at stake than being disowned.

Tautly written in verse, this book immerses the reader into the culture of the day.  It is a world where class is protected, where wealth is new or old, where hotel boys do not mingle with guests, where children are disowned, where love flourishes despite it all.  Richards has cleverly taken different voices and told their stories here.  The reader knows that disaster is about to happen, keeping you on the edge of your seat throughout the story.  As each voice speaks, there is another character to care about, another perspective to view the flood and the society from. 

Though this is the story of the flood, it is also the story of love that transcends barriers.  It is at heart a romance set in a terrible time.  Richards’ poetry is by turns sweet and bitter.  As the flood occurs, readers will find themselves amazed, saddened and devastated.  We are in Richards’ hands here and what great hands they are.  It is hard to believe this is a debut novel given the confidence and ability that she demonstrates.

Highly recommended, this book is historical fiction at its best combined with the best of a verse novel.  Prepare to be mesmerized.  Appropriate for ages 12-15.

Reviewed from library copy.

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Boom!

| Tasha

Boom! by Mark Haddon

Jim is a magnet for trouble, which is why he thinks his older sister might be telling the truth when she says that the teachers at his school are talking about sending him to reform school.  So he and his best friend Charlie come up with a plan to bug the teacher’s lounge.  While listening, they discover that two of their teachers are speaking in an unknown language.  Jim and Charlie set out to discover what exactly is going on in their school and stumble onto a plot that is much larger than they had ever dreamed. 

Haddon has written a book with a fabulous blend of action, adventure and humor.  The book has a break-neck pace at times that young readers will find great fun, combined with a sense of humor that will have them laughing out loud.  The relationship between Jim and Charlie is so well done.  It completely captures the tension of two best friends, the fights, and the immense connection they have.  I also particularly enjoyed Jim’s father as a character who is losing himself in model aircraft and then discovers cooking as a passion.  There are character who will surprise readers too, but I’ll let you discover that for yourself.  Let’s just say that Haddon excels at creating characters with real dimension.

Teachers and parents looking for a book to hand to reluctant readers over the summer need look no further.  It will also work well as a classroom read aloud thanks to its great pacing and writing. 

This fun blend of intrigue and science fiction will win readers over easily.  Perfect for lifting your summer vacation into orbit.  Appropriate for ages 10-13.

Reviewed from copy received from Knopt Delacorte Dell.

Life, After

| Tasha

Life, After by Sarah Darer Littman

Released July 2010.

Dani’s life is changed forever when a terrorist attack in her country of Argentina kills her aunt and the baby she is carrying.  Adding to the misery, the country of Argentina is in the middle of economic collapse.  Her father has lost his job and his sister and is now unable to cope.  Dani and her mother keep the family going with Dani fixing meals and caring for her younger sister.  Many people are fleeing Argentina, heading to Israel and the United States.  When Dani’s uncle makes an offer to get them visas, there is little choice but to move to the United States.  Dani must now cope with going to a large American high school, speaking and learning in English, and her father’s continued anger and depression.  In a world changed by the effects of terrorism, Dani finds understanding in the most unlikely of people and realizes that there is life afterwards.

This novel is one of many branches that twine throughout.  There are many things happening here, many things for the main character to deal with.  It is down to the skill of Littman that the book remains so cohesive and powerful.  These many branches are what make this book special and interesting.  They help tell the tale of immigration but also terrorism and economic collapse.  It is a timely story for American teens to read, one that will resound in their lives.

Dani is a great protagonist to see this experience through.  She is bright, helpful, giving, and yet can be angry, sad and confused as well.  The novel spends time in Argentina in the beginning, setting the stage to show just how much the family gave up in their move to America.  Often immigration stories start with the family already in the United States.  This time spent in Argentina really makes Dani and her family understandable and relatable.

Highly recommended, this book will reach its braches towards you and hold you tight.  Appropriate for ages 13-17.

Reviewed from Advanced Reader Copy received from Scholastic.

Also reviewed by The Reading Zone and nomadreader.

The Suburb Beyond the Stars

| Tasha

The Suburb Beyond the Stars by M. T. Anderson

Released June 1st, 2010.

This is the sequel to The Game of Sunken Places.  If you haven’t read the first, you really must.  Not only will you understand and enjoy this second one more, but they are both worth the time.

Brian and Gregory are hard at work designing Brian’s Game, but then Brian is attacked on the subway by a strange man and a monster.  When the boys try to reach Gregory’s cousin Prudence there is no answer.  The boys head out to find Prudence but they find much more than they or the reader ever expected: suburbia.  Now the two friends must battle their way past strange singing children, perfectly manicured lawns, and roads that lead nowhere at all in order to find out what happened to Prudence and what is threatening the existence of our entire world.

I was all set to read the second book in the series, knowing that it would be Brian’s turn to create his version of the Game.  Just as I was settling in with that as the main storyline of the book, Anderson took an unexpected swerve.  I was suddenly reading a book I had not expected, much to my great delight.  Anderson mixes humor with horror to jarring effect.  The running gags had me giggling aloud while at the same time the tension and eeriness of the novel was mesmerizing.  Anderson uses imagery to warn, shock and jab.  In suburbia, Anderson has found the perfect setting for both his humor and his horror.

Get this in the hands of the readers of the first book, but make sure that new readers find this series.  It is a marvelous mix of fantasy, science fiction, horror and humor that will appeal to middle school kids effortlessly.  Appropriate for ages 12-15.

Reviewed from Advanced Reader Copy received from Scholastic.

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