Saving a school, killing a mockingbird, and a dystopian book that is more dys than topia.

Clements, Andrew (2011) Keepers of the School:  We The Children.  New York: Atheneum.



There was a student in my Children's Literature class a couple of years ago who would raise her hand every time I asked if anyone had read a particular book.  All of my students are amazing, but this student, Nicole, seemed to have read everything.  When she told me, at the end of the year, that I had to read Andrew Clement's Keepers of the School series, I ordered it immediately.  And it came as no shock to me to learn that she was right.  It is an excellent book -- particularly for upper elementary and middle school.

Benjamin Pratt' attends a strange school.  It was built over two centuries ago by a sea captain who wanted to give the kids of the town an educational institution that would last.  The school almost seems to be as much of a boat as it is a school. with decks instead of floors and a ship's bell to signal the end of class.  When Ben starts school for the year, still reeling from his parents' separation, he finds out the school is scheduled to be torn down to make way for a huge amusement park that could revitalize the area's economy.  He also has an odd encounter with the school's head janitor, a man who has served at the school for as long as anyone can remember.  He presses into Ben's hand a golden coin, which sets in motion the story that follows (including intrigue, mischief, new friends, sailboat races, rescue, secret compartments, hidden messages, and the chance to save the school).  Almost from the star, Ben's friend Jill is a part of the story as well, but as the series develops, Jill's role expands.

Fair warning, though, the story is not complete in this book, it leads right into the next book in this series.

The book is well-written, exciting, requires student-readers to do some thinking as they go, and connects with both male and female readers.  There is nothing in the books that would cause them to be challenged, though the kids do sometimes go against school rules.  This is not a book to choose if you want to engage students in discovering new cultures -- it is very much about white, middle class people -- but it is a good story and I can think of no reason for you not to get ahold of it for your classroom library.




Acampora, Paul (2014) I Kill the Mockingbird.  New York:  Roaring Brook.



Opening lines:  "My mother's wheelchair does not fit through the bathroom door and
I don't know what to do about it."

Lucy, Elena, and Michael had this amazing teacher who they called Fat Bob.  Fat Bob died at the end of the previous school year and they have been trying to figure out how to do right by him.  When they read Harper Lee's  To Kill a Mockingbird they decide that everybody should read it.  Further, they believe the best way to make people want to read it is to make it scarce and hard to find.  So they visit bookstores throughout their area and take all the copies of To Kill and Mockingbird and hide them elsewhere in the store.  Their scheme starts to pick up momentum and soon grows out of control.  But how they solve that problem is only a part of the book.  Lucy, the narrator also has to figure out how to convince her mother to eat better so she will recover from her chemotherapy, and she has to figure out what to do about her friend Elena who think is that Lucy likes their other friend Michael as more than a friend.  Especially because what Elena says might be true.  Along the way the story includes a horror Santa with an axe, major home runs, Uncle Mort's bookstore, graveyard talks, and a movement that sweeps the country.  Fat Bob would be proud.

It is a fine book.

There is some mischief in the book, but nothing that would get it challenged.  This one would be best for fifth graders and up -- but would work really well for middle school.  I can't be sure, but I think it might make a good read aloud too. And chapter 17 might make a nice little dramatic reading for somebody.

Get it.




Terrell, Heather (2013) The Relic.  New York: Soho Teen.

 

Opening lines:  "Eamon throws his axe into the ice above his head.  He hits a perfect depression in the wall.  Pulling up hard, he kicks the bear claw toes of his climbing boots into the wall.   He repeats this practiced motion over and over.  Like some kind of arctic cat, he scales the frozen Ring."

I was really excited about this book.  It is such a cool idea for a dystopian novel.  In the near future, after an ice age, a medieval style community sends its adolescents on a rite of passage to plumb the crevasses of a frozen sea and bring back artifacts of the previous civilization.  Especially valuable artifacts (e.g. the ones that make refrence to the false god Apple) mean that the finder will win a seat on the ruling council.  So it is both a trial and a contest.    Eva, the daughter of the chief, decides after the apparently accidental death of her brother Eamon that she is going to compete in the Testing.  Maidens are allowed to do so, but it is very rare.  The book also features an interesting love triangle, and Eva proves to be a remarkably capable competitor and anyway, as I say, when I first heard about it, I as pretty excited.

But I ended up being disappointed in the book iself, mostly because the actual writing is pretty bad in places.  Eva, whose voice the book is written in, tends to spend most of her time thinking about her motivation to do something and asking questions about why she should or shouldn't do it.  I can imagine books in which such an approach would lead me to be very interested in the main character and share in that character's difficulty in making certain decisions -- but this book is supposed to be, to some extent, an action book.  In the moments when things get really exciting -- when Eva is scaling an ice wall or dogsled racing against the other competitors or helping a competitor in clear violation of the rules -- she begins this lengthy and tiresome internal monologue.  It made me want to scream at the book sometimes.

Maybe you like that sort of thing -- maybe it just isn't my kind of book.  If so, you might want to pick it up and read a chapter or two and see what you think.  There is nothing particularly offensive here -- though I suspect some readers could see parts of the book as an indictment against religion -- and I doubt it would be challenged.   I'll leave the choice to read it up to you, though.

Three Classic Adolescent Novels about violins, horses, and a kid named Hubbo.

Classic novels are interesting.  Sometimes even though a book might be forty or fifty or a hundred years old, the storytelling is so spellbinding that the dated references and anachronisms fade so far into the background that you don't even notice them.  Other times it becomes clear that tthe way we view the world has changed so much that even a good story can get bogged down my moments of cultural disconnection for the modern reader.  Here are three adolescent novels I read this summer.  Some of them would be excellent for a contemporary classroom.  Others might be more of a stretch.

Wolff, Virginia Euwer (1991) The Mozart Season.  New York: Scholastic.



Opening lines:  "In Mr. Kaplan's studio is a needlepoint pillow, on a chair.  On one side of it is a violin.  The other side says, 'A teacher is someone who makes you believe you can do it.'"

Allegra Shapiro is going into eighth grade.  She loves playing the violin and is pretty good at it.  Toward the beginning of the summer, just after her softball team fails to make the playoffs, she finds out that on the strength of her audition tape, she has been accepted into the prestigious Oregon Bloch Competition.  She will compete at the end of the summer, if she decides to go for it.  Over a summer that includes subbing for an injured violinist at a community orchestra concert, a visit from her rather odd aunt, family mysteries, and a quest to find the tune that a dancing homeless man has been looking for for decades, Allegra practices and focuses, and finally makes a decision.

This is not an action book, but it doesn't move slowly either.  Allegra's first person narrative voice, her interesting life, and a plot with some twists and turns will keep students interested.  Obviously, this will be an easy book to convince violin-playing students to read, but I think it might be worth suggesting that thoughtful non-musicians give it a shot as well.  i would recommend it for strong fourth-grade readers and up.

There is nothing in this book that I noticed that would be offensive to parents or cause it to be challenged.  I would probably work as a decent read-aloud, though it doesn't strike me as one that would grab all the students. This would be a great book for your classroom library, though.




Doyle, Brian (1988) Easy Avenue.  Toronto:  Groundwood.

 

Opening lines:  "My last name is O'Driscoll and my first name is Hulbert.  When I was little I couldn't say the word Hulbert very well.  The word Hulbert came out something like Hubbo and everybody started calling me that.  They still call me that.  Hubbo.  Hubbo O'Driscoll."

One of the reasons to read classic adolescent literature is to get a sense for how much it has changed over the last three or four decades.  Easy Avenue is a funny and interesting book, but it isn't in any kind of a hurry to get to the plot of the book.  When  I was six chapters in, I almost gave up on it.  There was no real plot development at that point and I wasn't sure I even liked the main character, Hubbo yet, and the period wasn't always described in a way kids can relate to.  Also, in the first half of the book, there are cruel pranks that go unpunished.  In fact, I am not sure why I kept reading.

But I did.  And here is the thing.  At the end of this book Hubbo shows himself to be a truly Nobel young man in a way that is very uplifting, and believe it or not, made the first half of the book worthwhile.

I am not sure what kind of kid would like this book.  It is short (only 118 pages) and so it might make a good read aloud if you can hold students attention for the first half.  There is a girl in the story whose reputation is unfairly damaged.  The language is not explicit, but I suppose could cause very sensitive parents to object (though I would find that highly unlikely).  The vocabulary is at a level that a fifth-grader could understand it, but it might be better for middle school (especially for the kid who always picks the shortest book).  I wouldn't call this one a must-have, but if you stumble across it, it would not be a bad addition to your classroom library.




Seredy, Kate (1935) The Good Master.  New York:  Scholastic.



Opening Lines;  "Jancsi was up bright and early that morning and at work milking the cows.  He was so excited that he couldn't stay in bed.  For today Cousin Kate was coming."

One of the things books should do is give readers a good into other cultures, times, and worlds.  This book brings the reader into Hungary around the turn of the 20th century.  The question, however, is what we do with a culture that has values that may be at odds with the values of 21st century America.  On the one hand, this is a heartwarming story about a rather difficult city girl  who is sent by her parents to live with her Uncle and Aunt and cousin and through kindness and strictness, learns to behave correctly and becomes a delightful person to be around (and along the way we learn about Hungarian Easter Egg art and some other cultural details).  On the other hand, it is a story that describes corporal punishment as being a good thing, moves from breaking gender stereotypes to reinforcing them, and is particularly harsh in generalizing "gypsy" children as "swarms of dirty little wretches..." who "...steal like magpies."  There are some parallels between this book and Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew particularly in the way that Kate is tamed.  There are some negative depictions of the city as an exclusively unhealthy place.  There are also truly wonderful moments, such as when Kate is reunited with her dad. So this book is kind of all over the place.

I would have a hard time imagining this book being used in a straightforward way in a classroom, but I could see it as an excellent subject of a critical response by fifth graders and up.  If it is used in that way, it would be less likely to be objected to by parents.  Read it yourself and see what you think.

Three Excellent Graphic Novels -- with three amazing female protagonists

Stevenson, Noelle (2015) Nimona.  New York:HarperCollins.



Opening lines;  Lord Ballister Blackheart:  "What?  Who are you?  How did you get in here?"
Nimona:  "Hey, Boss!  The name's Nimona."
Clanking sound as he extends his metal arm.
Nimona:  "Oh. huh.  The agency sent me.  I'm your new sidekick."
Lord Balckheart:  "That makes no sense.  Why would they send some kid to be my sidekick?"

Thus begins the story of Nimona and Lord Blackheart.  Nimona thinks of Blackheart as the most accomplished villain ever and wants to learn to be just like him.  She is disappointed when she finds out that Lord Blackheart has rules -- he doesn't kill people indiscriminately, least of all his arch nemesis, Sir Goldenloin.  When, with Nimona's help, Blackheart discovers corruption in the kingdom, he needs to seek out his hated enemy Goldenloin to help.  And somewhere along the way Nimona realizes that Blackheart is close to uncovering her secret, that she is not just a shapeshifting kid sidekick, but far more.

Stevenson draws here characters right on the edge of cartoony and realistic and is remarkably good with using the panel divisions to tell the story in a way that is funny and gripping at the same time.

This is a fun and funny story that would be great for middle school and older readers who have read some comic books or fantasy (doing so will help them to get more of the jokes.)  It is remarkable story about loyalty, friendship, and, strangely (for a book with the villain as the main character) about doing the right thing.

There is nothing particularly controversial about this book.  Though in the interest of thoroughness, I should mention that some adult readers might wonder if the book is implying a relationship that is more than friendship between Blackheart and Goldenloin, but any such implications are speculative at best (and no student-reader shy of high school is likely to consider them. )  Bottom line, it is a wonderful book.  Buy it.





Bell, Cece (2014) El Deafo.  New York: Abrams.



Opening Lines:  "I was a regular little kid.  I played with my mom's stuff.  I watched tv with my big brother, Ashley and my big sister, Sarah.  I rode on the back of my father's bicycle.  I found caterpillars with my friend Emma.  And I sang."

On page 2, however, Cece gets very sick.  She is rushed to the hospital where she is diagnosed with Spinal Meningitis.  Eight pages later, she is out of the hospital but eventually realizes that she is deaf.

And what happens next is amazing.  the best books in the world let you get inside the mind, body, emotions, and life of another person.  Bell's drawings and writing take you inside Cece's life.  You see her triumphs and loses and struggles to fit in while wearing a clunky hearing aid around her neck.  Bell draws all her characters as rabbits.  While I have no idea why she chooses to do this, I can tell you that it works.

The bottom line is that this is a story of a little kid trying to fit in and having a hard time of it.  So yea, it is valuable as a way to live inside the shoes of a deaf person for a while, but it might be even more important as a story about how schoolmates can be jerks, but also how eventually things get better.

Fourth graders and up would enjoy this one.  Cece discovers at one point in the story that she can listen in when her teacher leaves the room but forgets to take off the mic that hangs around her neck, and as a result, Cece becomes invaluable to the class as a lookout when they are engaging in mischief of one sort or another.  I suppose some parents might object to the rule-breaking but it serves to make a point about the difficulties of fitting in socially with a difference when you are in late elementary school.  Buy this one too.




Cliff, Tony ((2013) Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant.  New York: First Second.



Opening lines:  Constantinople (Istanbul) 1807.
 Lieutenant Erdemoglu Selim:  "Tell ne friend, who is this?"
Cafe Owner:  Hm?  Ah.  Halukoglu Bahadir.  Freshly returned from Siam I hear."
Selim:  "Mm, yes.  He's been telling stories of it."
Owner:  "Sound's very exotic."
Selim:  "Very."

Selim leads an uneventful life working in the court as part of the Janissary Corps.  He likes cafes, hates fighting, loves a good cup of tea, and avoids stress at all costs.  Unfortunately, he is sent to interrogate a recently caught thief who seems to be a combination of Indiana Jones, Wonder Woman, and maybe that sword-wielding elf who unaccountably appeared in the second Hobbit movie.  She loves the tea he brews for her and tells him her whole story.  As Selim is reporting to his superiors, Delilah Dirk escapes and soon Selim finds himself branded a traitor and, along with Delilah, on the run from his own fellow troops.

And there begins a romp through the middle east that is the sort of non-top action and wisecracks that would make Indiana Jones proud.  The illustrations are reminiscent of the best comic books -- they move the action along and make the story magically bombastic.

This one is good for fourth grade and up as well.  There is a bit of violence, but really more property damage than lives lost.  This, too, is one you need for your classroom library.

Weapons of Math Destruction, Kid versus Captain, and the Incarnation of War looks for Love

I got lost in some excellent science fiction and fantasy novels the last couple of week.  I have got some excellent graphic novels on deck, but first, some good old fashioned SF/F stuff.

Sanderson, Brandon (2013) The Rithmatist  New York: Tom Doherty.



Opening lines:  Lilly's lamp blew out as she bolted down the hallway.  She threw the lamp aside, smashing oil across the painted wall and fine rug.  The liquid glistened in the moonlight.
      The house was empty.  Silent, save for her panicked breathing.  She had given up on screaming.  Nobody seemed to hear.

This book is by far the best book I have read so far this year.  The story takes place on a world very similar to ours, only the United States is a grouping of islands and the main focus of society is fighting the wild chalklings who are ravenously destructive neasts that are confined to the isle of Nebrask.  The human army keeping them at bay are Rithmatists, who can use a kind of geometry-based magic (yes, you read that right) to keep the chalklings under control.  Joel is a remarkably smart boy who does poorly at school and is really interested in the Rithmatists, even though he is not one.  When he gets a position working as the assistant to a kindly Rithmatist professor for the summer, Joel meets Melody, herself a failing Rithmatist and soon all three of them become involved in a murder mystery with serious implications for the continued survival of humans.

This book keeps you guessing about who the bad guy is (and the ending is satisfying in that you might be able to guess part of it, but by and large, you won't see it coming)  Joel is an excellent protagonist as is Melody, once you get to know her.  And it turns out that geometry is actually pretty fascinating when it is a matter of life and death.  This is a book where there are clear divisions (and some fuzzy ones too) between the forces of good and evil and you will find yourself rooting hard for the good guys.  It has a hint that something romantic might develop between Joel and Melody -- just enough to be intriguing but not to distract from the story.

I know some smart fourth and fifth grade readers who would enjoy this, but it is really ideal for sixth grade and up.  And for math teachers looking to build up their classroom library -- run to your local independent bookstore and buy it today.  Your students will love it (but you will love it even more).  In fact, you might consider using it as a read aloud.  There is nothing particularly offensive int he book, though it is scar in some portions and occasionally the violence is pretty graphic.  Nothing compared to prime time television, though.

Get it.  Read it. Have your students read it.  Good stuff.




Card, Orson Scott (2008) Ender in Exile.  New York: Tor.




Opening Lines:
Dear John Paul and Theresa Wiggin,
You understand that during the most recent attempt by the Warsaw Pact to take over the International Fleet, our sole concern at EducAdmin was the safety of the children.  Now we are finally able to begin working out the logistics of sending the children home.
      We assure you that Andrew will be provided with continuous surveillance and an active bodyguard throughout his transfer from the IF to American governmental control.

I am assuming you have read Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game.  You haven't?  Seriously?  Look, there is no sense even talking about Ender in Exile until you have read Ender's Game.  Go read it now.  I'll wait.

Okay.  You read it?  Good.  It is an amazing book isn't it.  I remember reading it when it first came out.  There were a lot of people ravenously waiting for the next book in the series to come out.  Before long, Card released Xenocide and Speaker for the Dead and they were good -- but they didn't have the same kind of gripping story that Ender' Game did.  Then, in 2008 (apparently -- I just discovered it last month in an awesome independent bookstore in Moab, Utah) Card came out with Ender in Exile.  I'll tell you what -- Ender in Exile is a much better sequel than the Speaker for the Dead or Xenocide.  Ender in Exile takes place just after the triumphant end of the Formic War.  The nations of earth are starting to fight over who will control the genius children who helped win the war.  Ender and his sister Valentine make the decision to leave in a ship that is carrying colonists to inhabit one of the dead Formic worlds.  The journey will take two years on board the ship, but while they are travelling, forty years will pass on Earth.  When they arrive, Ender is to serve as governor.  Unfortunately, the captain of the starship they are on has his own designs on that position.  How can Ender, a twelve year old boy, possibly outwit the man who has all the control (and also avoid an assassin who awaits him at the colony and negotiate his first romantic relationship.)

This book isn't' as good as the Rithmatist, and  it isn;t as good as Ender's Game -- but that still leaves plenty of room for it to be honking good.  This book is perhaps best for anyone who has already read and loved Ender's Game.  Nothing particularly objectionable here besides a couple of very occasional  vulgar words.  Too long for a read aloud, but excellent for a sixth grade and up classroom library.




Anthony, Piers (1986) Wielding a Red Sword.  New York: Del Rey.



Opening lines:  It was a travelling show, the kid that drifted from village to village, performing for thrown rupees.  There was a chained dragon who would snort smoke and sometimes fire when its keeper signaled.

When I was in high school I think I read very book Piers Anthony had written.  I started with the gripping and hilarious Xanth series, then read several other books before I discovered his incarnations of immortality series.  I devoured those too.  But somehow the whole lot of them got lost in a move somewhere and it wasn't until I recently encountered this book in a bookstore that I remembered how much I liked it and re-read it thinking about its appropriateness for the classroom.

And that is where things get difficult.  It is an interesting book.  Mym, the main character is a prince who runs away.  He falls in love with a circus performer, but then ends up agreeing to take the mantle of the incarnation of War.  Soon he has a pale horse that can move astonishingly fast and a red sword that can stop time.  However, he finds it difficult to maintain relationships.  He also finds out that the incarnation of Evil is trying to manipulate him.

It is an interesting and fun premise and makes for a good fantasy novel, but i had forgotten the enthusiasm with which Piers Anthony descries the physical nature of War's interaction with several women who he becomes involved in.  I don't remember that affecting me much as a high school kid, and there are some interesting themes that work themselves out as War tries to figure out how physical attractiveness, intellectual interaction, and deep caring are parts of what makes love work.  The female characters in the book tend to be pretty passive and certainly couldn't stand up to Katniss, Triss, or Hermione Granger.  In fact is was somewhat startling to me to remember that just a few short decades ago there was a clearer divide between boy books and girl books.

I am not sure this one is suited for a high school classroom.  It is a good story, but perhaps best left for readers to discover on thier own.

Weird Words, Genius Clusters, and the Ghost Army of World War Two

My apologies.  It has been a couple of weeks since I have last posted.  I have been hiking five national parks out west with my family.  But that gave me a lot of time to get some reading done too -- so here we go.  Today I want to highlight three excellent non-fiction books that you might not normally think of for use with middle school and high school students.

Beyer, Rick; Sayles, Elizabeth (2015)  The Ghost Army of World War Two:  How One Top-Secret Unit Deceived the Enemy with Inflatable Tanks, Sound Effects, and Other Audacious Fakery.  New York:  Princeton Architectural Press.





During World War Two, the United States army gathered artists, sound engineers, architects, and others who could think outside the box to form a top secret unit whose job was to fool the enemy.  using rubber inflatable tanks, bogus uniforms, and recordings of tanks, trucks, and men, the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops traveled throughout Europe on a moment's notice to plug holes in the allied line by impersonating units that were not there, to convince the Nazi army that the Allies were planning an offensive where in a different place than they actually were, and to generally cause confusion.  The 23rd had to be able to alter their uniforms quickly, give the impression there that they were a force hundreds of times bigger than they actually were, imitate the styles of each radio operator in the units they were imitating, and also fool allied troops enough to maintain secrecy.  The unit included several men who sent on to e notable artists, sculptors, and included Private Bill Blass, who went on to be a famous fashion designer.

This book's intended audience is adults, but the language is fully accessable to high school students.  There are a couple of elements in it, however, that could cause the book to be challenged.  Because there are some excerpts from diaries and letters home, the book does contain some vulgar language.  There is one reference, during the description of a particularly hard winter in 1944-45, when the troops attempted to decorate a Christmas tree with radar-jamming tin foil and balloons made from condoms.  There is also mention on two different occasions to  the men of the 23rd going to brothels, though in both occasions it was primarily to do life drawings (some of which are included in the book -- women in their underwear -- which also could be problematic for many schools).

This book covers history, strategy, and the difficulty or war for those who fought in it.  In spite of the potentially objectionable parts, I would encourage high school history teachers and reading teachers to check it out.  It is an excited narrative of an aspect of World War Two that most people don't know about.




Bierma, Nathan (2009) The Eclectic Encyclopedia of English.  Sherwood:  William, James and Company.



Opening Lines:  "I used to be picky -- really picky -- about English grammar and usage.  By the time I was in high school, at the dinner table I was correcting sentences that ended in a preposition.  I was shaking my head scornfully when someone confused "lay" and "lie".  I was trying to right the coruse of the English language one error at a time."

Nathan Bierma goes on to explain how, after a course taught by legendary English professor James VandenBosch, he came to realize that English has morphed in so many directions over its long history, and has incorporated words form so many other languages, that it is more important to celebrate its flexibility and diversity than it is to try to freeze it in time and get everyone to standardize how they use it.

And so what Bierma has written is a celebration of the quirkiness of our language.  Here you will find an explanation of the history of the pronunciation of the word Arkansas, a list of Australian idioms (like "He's got a few kangaroos loose in the top paddock"), he truth about how many words Eskimos have for snow, the history of the word meh, and a definition of the word snollygoster.  Students who love words and where they came from (and i acknowledge that such students might be in the minority) wll get a kick out of this book.  Middle school and high school English teachers should especially consider this one.




Weiner, Eric (2016)  The Geography of Genius.  New York:  Simon and Shuster.



Eric Weiner set out to answer what seems at first like it might be a simple quesiton.  What makes a place a haven for geniuses?  Athens, Greece during the time of Plato, Socrates, Aescalus, Aristotle, and Alexander; Florence, Italy during the Renaissance; Edinburgh, Scotland during the scientific revolution; and Silicon Valley in contemporary California -- are all examples of such pockets of genius.

The further Weiner digs into the question, though, the more complicated the answer becomes.  Ancient Greece had a strong community ethic, consumed large amounts of diluted wine, and was a place where there was a lot of walking and talking.  Were these important variables?  Florence was a place of civil unrest and political uncertainty, vast wealth, ready cheap labor, and a lot of artistic competition within its walls and from other cities.  In each place Weiner visits, he seems to expand the number of variables and the complexity of his questions.  But it isn't frustrating, because with each new city and time period considered, the reader gets a more complete picture of what genius is.  This is a book that won't necessarily be a crowd-pleaser, but at the same time could grab student-readers who have an interest in history, science, math, art, or solving mysteries.

It might also be interesting summer reading for teachers who want to read something a little different.

Is friendship between a math nerd and an athlete even possible?

Hasak-Lowy, Todd (2013) 33 Minutes until Morgan Sturtz Kicks my Butt.  New York: Aladdin..



Opening lines:  11:41 AM "Think about this:  Had the British not won the French and Indian War," Mr Griegs says, "We'd all be speaking French right now."
Fact: I am in Social Studies.
My hand goes up.  I'm not sure I want my hand to be up, but too late.  It's up.

Sam Lewis is a seventh-grader.  A year ago, he and his best friend Morgan were an inseparable video-game playing team.  In spite of the fact that Sam was on the Math team and liked to do physics experiments for fun, and Morgan is more of an athlete, their friendship was strong.   Since then, things have gone downhill.  Chris, a new kid, showed up.  At first it was like the three musketeers, but gradually Chris and Morgan's friendship strengthened and Sam and Morgan's friendship waned.  But how is it that Sam now finds himself in a position where an accidental slip caused Morgan to think that Sam insulted him (which Sam kind of did, but he didn't mean it) and now everyone in school has heard that at the end of the day, Morgan is going to kick Sam's butt.  Sam's um,.. friend Amy thinks Sam should talk to Morgan and work things out, but Sam is reluctant.  On the other hand, the end of the school day is coming soon. What is going to happen.

This book is not the greatest middle school novel ever, but it isn't bad.  Sam is in a position that many middle school kids find themselves in.  He is struggling to figure out how this whole social life thing works, and finds that every time he thinks he understands social dynamics, he is wrong.  It is easy to root for Sam. His self-deprecating humor makes him a very sympathetic narrator, and the relationship between him and Amy is a developing middle school relationship that stays full of romantic tension without going anywhere.

The book jacket blurbs tell me that it is laugh-out-loud funny, and maybe it is, but the story his a little close to home for me, and I found it hard to laugh at Sam, even in the midst of a food fight.  My guess, though, is that most middle school kids will not have the problem I did and will find the story quite funny at times.  And I did enjoy the ending very much.

This book is ideal for middle school -- though it may not have enough action for some middle school boys and may not have enough romance for some middle school girls.  This book would be a nice one to round out a middle school classroom library nonetheless.  It could be a pretty good read-aloud book.  I don't see it working for a class to study.  It has some themes, but they don't run too deep.

I found nothing here that I thought would prompt parents to object (though I have been surprised before).

Three Fun Graphic Novels (that will not answer any existential questions).

Luke, Deb (2015)  The Lunch Witch  New York:  Papercutz.  



Opening lines:  Grunhilda the Black Heart:  "For generations and generations, the women in my family have stirred up trouble in a big, black pot.  / Needs more eye of newt./  Still bland.  /  My great-great-great-great-great-great- great-great / -great grandmother.../ invented the.../ recipe for;;;/ Haansel-and Gretel pie. "

This graphic novel is about the unlikely friends that develops between a witch who gets a job as a cafeteria lady and a girl named Madison who is in danger of flunking out of school.  When a spell goes awry and Madison gets turned into a toad, it is up the the witch to save her, over the protests of her dead ancestors who are angry that the witch is trying to help someone.  This book might contain a theme or two, but mostly it is just a fun story.

The illustrations are grey and angular and no one in the story is pleasant to look at.  It is a funny book at times, and the caricature nature of the illustrations might contribute a bit to that, but generally it seems to ma the at the words and images are not always supporting each other the way I might hope they would.

This book is probably best for third grade and up.  There is nothing particularly offensive in it.  The book does use the word "turd" once and the illustrations are creepy and grey.  The Witch character is neither admirable nor the sort of person readers would want to emulate.  She gets fired in the first five pages, then accepts the job as lunch lady only because she needs to be able to feed her pet bats.  Her spellcasting is often incompetent.  It is hard to imagine someone arguing that reading this book would lead any students in the direction of witchcraft -- it seems far more likely it would convince students of the value of getting a good job.  There is nothing truly problematic here.




Stevenson, Noelle; Ellis, Grace; Brooke; Allen (2015)  Lumberjanes:  Beware the Kitten Holy.  Los Angeles:  Boom Box.



Opening Lines:  Gasp/ Rustle, Rustle / Aaaahhhhh  Aaaaahhhhh.  Aaaa.  / Mal, Molly, What in the Joan Jett are you doing?


The Lumberjanes are kind of like girl scouts -- except that the Lumberjanes are friends that fight three-eyed saber-toothed foxes, river monsters, evil eagles, yetis, and possessed boy scouts.  There is usually a mystery to be solved, and each of the girls contributes toward solving it.

This graphic novels was originally released as a regular run comic book, but the issues are here recast as chapters (each of which begins with a parodic page from the Lumberjanes' Handbook.) and it works better than most rebound regular run collections.

This is not a story that is going to have deep themes, character development, or one that will contribute to a profound understanding of our purpose in the world.  Themes of friendship and cooperation are present, but not really developed in a serious way.  I loved that there was some cryptography in the book and a few references to things like the Fibonacci sequence -- but these are not exactly common.

As you can see from the cover, the illustrations are cartoony and fun.  The story can be a little hard to follow, though, and at first it is kind of difficult to identify each character's uniquenesses in the midst of the frenetic fight scenes.  Eventually though, readers will catch on.

 This one is perhaps best for fourth grade and up (I know some high school students who are fans) and probably more interesting to females than males.  They are unlikely to be challenged, partly because Stevenson and Ellis use the time honored comic book tradition of substituting made up oaths for more vulgar terms.  In this case, the girls tend to say things like "What the Mae Jamison is going on?' -- substituting famous females for oaths.

This is a fun series and may be just the thing for getting some reluctant readers who liked Babymouse and the like when they were younger to pick up a book again.



Stevenson, Noelle; Ellis, Grace; Brooke; Allen (2015)  Lumberjanes:  Friendship to the Max.  Los Angeles:  Boom Box.



Opening lines:  huff huff huff huff///  Jo!  Where are you? / I'm over here.  Where are you? // Jo, hurry! / I'm coming!  Hold on!

In the second book of the series, the Lumberjanes fight insane dinosaurs, befriend a were bear, and deal with the fact that one of their number may be magical, evil, and or a Greek goddess.

As with the previous book, this one contains a lot of adventure and action, and would be a good addition to a classroom library, but there isn't enough here to focus on as a reading circle book or a book to study in class.