The Journey of Little Charlie by Christopher Paul Curtis

The Journey of Little Charlie
Christopher Paul Curtis
Scholastic Press
Release Date: Jan. 30, 2018
order it from the Tattered Cover here

My favorite book of all time is The Book Thief by Markus Zusak because it was the first book I'd ever read that gave the German perspective of the Nazis during WWII .  It opened my eyes and I connected very quickly with the idea that not everyone who lived in Germany (in fact a very small number of Germans) actually sympathized with the ideals of the Third Reich.

I know, it's a weird way to start a book review by talking about how much I loved another book...but stick with me.  Christopher Paul Curtis has done the same thing with The Journey of Little Charlie.  Told from the point of view of the not-so-little Little Charlie Bobo, this is the story of slave catchers in the 1850s who would travel north to try and recover escaped slaves.  The story opens with the sudden death of Little Charlie's father and the discovery that his father apparently owed money to a man named Cap'n Buck.  Cap'n Buck says that the only way Charlie can pay off his father's debt is by helping him recover "stolen property".  Little Charlie has never left his home of Possom Moan, South Carolina and though he's tall and looks like a full grown man, he's only 13. Along the way Little Charlie discovers the true character of Cap'n Buck and though he doubts he should be helping the Cap'n at all, he sees no other way proceed.
This would be a great book to use when teaching character evolution - the changes in Little Charlie are both obvious and inferred, which is perfect for upper elementary literary analysis.
I also learned to love the way the book was written.  Curtis writes it the way that Little Charlie would say it (much like the Aibileen Clark chapters from The Help). I struggled at first because I was reading it from a teacher's point of view and I wasn't sure how well students would be able to read it and understand what he was saying.  However, by the middle of the book, I was used to it and loved Little Charlie's voice, and I think students will too.  It would make a great read aloud if the reader was willing to get completely into it.
I would highly recommend this book to teachers and students and plan to give it to a student who loved Elijah of Buxton on Monday and see what she thinks of it.

Once again, thank you to Kristen Gilligan of the Tattered Cover for providing me with awesome ARCs to read and review.

Just Like Jackie by Lindsey Stoddard

Just Like Jackie
Lindsey Stoddard
HarperCollins Children's Books
Release Date: Jan 2, 2018

It's been awhile....
Like four years. Whoops. It's not like I stopped reading or anything - in fact, I'd say the opposite.  And just recently I was given the opportunity to read and review some ARC (advanced reader copies) from a local book store.  The one condition to getting the free ARCs is that I must review the ones I particularly like.  So I figured why not review them here as well.  You know, dust off the ol' blog and get back at it!

Cover art courtesy of HarperCollins

Just Like Jackie is an amazing story. If you enjoyed Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt, or Counting By 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan, you will love this book.
Robbie Hart was named after baseball great Jackie Robinson, even though she's nothing like him.  Robbie wishes she could stay calm under pressure, but usually it just boils up and right out of her - like the time Alex Carter called her a motherless bird and she punched him in the face.  He may have deserved it, but when the principal calls Robbie's grandpa into school, she knows there will be trouble.  Robbie's grandpa is having trouble remembering things lately and she's afraid people at the school will find out and blame her.  She knows that if she would just be a better student, then grandpa's memory could rest and his word's wouldn't get confused.
This is an amazing story that, like Counting by 7s and Fish in a Tree is told from Robbie's point of view.  I really love these books because it gives kids a chance to hear their own voice in a novel.  In fact, while I was reading it, I couldn't help but think of a couple of kids at our school who would benefit from reading this book.
I can't help but wonder though, how much of the inferred meaning do kids get out of books like this?  When I read it as an adult, I know that grandpa's memory issues have nothing to do with Robbie's behavior at school...but will a 10-year-old know that when they're reading? And then I wonder - does it really matter? And the answer is no, not really.  I believe deep in my core that if a reader gets lost in a story, then the story has served its purpose, and it is not our place to decide whether or not the reader inferred enough depth of meaning from the story.  I've read the same book (The Book Thief by Markus Zusak) countless times, and each time I read it, I find something new to love and cherish about the story.  That's what makes a book great - one that you'll read multiple times and continue to lose yourself in it, love it, and learn from it. Just Like Jackie has the potential to be that kind of book for kids and adults alike.

Very LeFreak

Very LeFreak
Rachel Cohn

Well, it's finally happened.  I'm going to review a book I didn't like.  Really didn't like.  I didn't hate it, but I have a strong, soul-felt dislike for this book.  But we'll get to that in just a minute.

Very LeFreak is about a girl named Veronica - self nicknamed Very - who was raised by a nomadic mother who passed away before she graduated high school.  Now in her freshman year at Columbia, Very is quickly spiraling out of control, and is forced to go to 'technology detox' - no IPhone, computer or MP3 players allowed.  Similar to alcohol or drug detox, hopefully Very will be able to shed her layers of technological bull and find her true self.

It's possible - very possible in fact - that this book is much more compelling to younger people than it is to me.  However, I don't have cable (I rarely watch TV), I don't own an IPod or MP3 player, and I pretty much stick to calls and texting on my cell phone.  And I am one of those people who can go for an entire day (gasp) without my phone and be just fine.  While I think that the premise of the story is compelling - especially when I have students asking to use the bathroom pass just so they can text "I luv u" to their gf or bf - I found Very to be...uh...very selfish.  She has no regard for those around her, and yet everyone still wants to be her friend.  And I hated the ending.  Hated hated hated it.  I could see it coming from a mile away, hoped that it wouldn't actually happen - thought for a split second "ooh, it's not going to happen" and then whamo-blamo, it happened.  Not that I have anything against Very's choice, I just think it was too...predictable?  Trendy?  Predictably trendy?  And I really hated that her name was Very.  Where do we go with character names from there?  Kinda?  Mostly?  Extremely?

Anyway, I didn't like this book.  Sorry Ms. Cohn.  Like I said, it might be because I have very little in common with a person like Very, and if I met someone like her, I'd move away very quickly.  Now can you see why I hated that name?  Read those last few sentences aloud and it gets very confusing...VERY quickly.

In a Heartbeat

In a Heartbeat
Loretta Ellsworth

I know I love tons of books - in fact, most of the books I blog about are 'favorites', but this one really is top of the line.  It's so good, I've already ordered it for the library where I'm working - it's on my very first book order! (Exciting!!!!)

In a Heartbeat follows two girls:  Eagan and Amelia as their lives change forever.  Eagan is a sixteen year old figure skating phenom who dies in a tragic skating accident.  Amelia is the fourteen year old recipient of Eagan's heart.  The book follows Eagan as she makes sense of the afterlife, and follows Amelia as she deals with the guilt and joy associated with her new heart.  When Ameila starts to crave grape lollipops and wants to learn to skate, she feels inexplicably compelled to find her donor's family.  But the question remains, will Eagan's family want to meet her?  What was Eagan like?  And can Amelia help with the sorrow they feel at their sudden loss, or will her presence in their lives bring back difficult memories?

One of the things I loved about this book were its many great lines.  So many thought provoking ideas coming from teenagers - and they were things only a teenager could think of.  One of my favorites:  "But the fact remained that someone had to die for me to live...and every night at dinner, when my family prayed for a new heart for me, we were praying for that to happen."  Though the book is intended for middle to high school readers, it isn't fluffy.  It deals with big issues.  Amelia really struggles with her 'gift' and Eagan is forced to look back on her life and realize there is more to it than what she could see as a teenager - something we all tend to do as adults (hopefully) - you know, realizing that our parents aren't just 'being mean', seeing their struggles and understanding the sacrifice they made for us.    Unfortunately, Eagan didn't get the chance to make amends before she died, and that's a tough lesson that kids (and adults) need to learn or at least think about.  Hopefully, after reading this book, more people will consider becoming organ donors.  Though there is tragedy involved with it, it is an amazing gift that so many people benefit from.

For more information on organ donation, please visit http://organdonor.gov/

I Now Pronounce You Someone Else

I Now Pronounce You Someone Else

Erin McCahan

To say this is a great book is to do it an injustice.  I think all crazy-in-love teenage girls should read this book - especially if they're dating someone older.  A) Teenage girls shouldn't date men more than two years older than they are, and B) any teenage girl considering marriage before college, should be forced to read this book.

Ok, I understand that sometimes we find our soul-mate early on in life, and it's quite possible that I, as a 32-year-old single woman, might be a little judgmental of people who get married right out of college.  However, the story of Bronwen Oliver, aka Phoebe Lillywhite, is a great story/example of someone who is about to get married and become an "us" before she knows who she is.  She struggles with the idea of  "we" because she isn't sure she's fully developed her sense of "me" in the first place.  And Bronwen has a litany of life issues - many of which are made less painful when her fiance, Jared Sondervan, becomes an integral part of her life.  But one of the main questions of this book remains - can finding your soul mate fix your life problems, or do you have to fix your life problems in order to really enjoy a relationship with your soul mate?  I don't think that Erin McCahan attempts to answer this question, I think she simply wants to present a scenario where someone has to consider this idea.

I love how real Bronwen is.  I love the fact that she has created an alternate persona for herself - Phoebe Lillywhite - because she is nearly 100% certain that she does not actually belong to her family.  She's sure that her 'real' parents will show up any day and whisk her away.  Why? Because her mom really doesn't get her.  Every teenage girl feels like her parents don't get her, as I'm sure every mother feels like she doesn't get her teenage daughter.  And Bronwen really struggles with not only her relationship with her mother, but figuring out who she is and what she wants in general.  And the best part is, it's not completely cookie-cutter.  Throughout the book, Bronwen (and Jared) approach their life decisions an their relationship in a very mature manner*, and the best part is - even though they're being very mature about the decisions they make, life is still hard.  We all need to read books where life is rough for the 'perfect' people.  I think that sometimes we get this idea that if you do the right things and have the right friends and believe the right things, that life will be easy - I know I thought that when I was a teenager (and, I won't lie, I still think that sometimes now).  But regardless of what you look like or who your friends are or what you do with your Friday evenings, life is messy and icky and difficult.  And with books like this one - where someone who should have a perfect life doesn't - remind us that it's not always greener on the other side.

*Thank you, Erin McCahan, for keeping their relationship sex-free and sacred.  I think even though many teens ares sexually active, it's good to have an example of someone who isn't every once and awhile.

My only disappointment with the book was the ending.  I won't spoil anything, but I will say that I think in real life, it would have ended differently.

Princess For Hire

Princess For Hire

Lindsey Leavitt

 Based solely on the title, what teenage girl wouldn't want to read this book?  It's flippin' fantastic!  I wasn't terribly excited when I started it - though my dear friend and mentor Di Herald recommended it highly.  Though the book has been out since March in the US, I read the ARC, and LOVED it.  What a creative storyline!

The premise of the story is that Desi - an average, if not slightly dorky, teenage girl - lives a fairly boring life in Idaho.  One day she stumbles upon a job as a princess for hire.  A princess stand-in if you will.  When a princess wants a vacation from her life, she calls on a substitute princess.  Desi accepts the job just to bring a little glamor into her life.  Though the job is pretty awesome in theory, in practice Desi gets stuck in some amazingly awkward situations.  She also finds herself wanting to not just 'stand in' but to stand up for the princesses she works for - her gut tells her that these girls would like their lives to be different, but just can't find the strength to make changes.  When her actions become controversial, Desi finds herself caught in the middle of some pretty powerful magical people - one of which is her mentor and coach, the distant yet driven Meredith.

I loved that the author paired a very fantastic idea (substitute princess) with some very real life, down to earth problems that everyone - even princesses - have to deal with.  Things like overbearing siblings and arguments with parents.  Through Desi, the reader comes to realize that being a princess isn't necessarily all it's cracked up to be. Desi realizes that life is complicated no matter where you live or what you have to live through, and she is such a realistic teenager that it's easy to identify with her (even though I haven't been a teenager for a very long time...).

I would highly recommend this book, and you'll probably find it in the GMMS Library collection very soon.  Thanks for the suggestion Di!

A Dog's Purpose - W. Bruce Cameron

A Dog's Purpose

W. Bruce Cameron

First of all, I'd like to thank Di Herald and the kids who keep the Bistro Book Club in Grand Junction going throughout the summer.

For those of you who are not librarians or deeply involved in the world of books and publication, there are these AWESOME things called Advanced Reading Copies ( ARCs)  or Advanced Reading Editions (AREs).  Often times publishers will send out ARCs to booksellers, reviewers, etc.  That's how those great reviews like "Thrilling!" end up on the jackets.  Anyway, because our local book club is under the umbrella that allows students to vote on the Teen's Top Ten finalists, we get lots and lots of ARCs.  And it's because of all these ARCs that the treasure that is A Dog's Purpose ended up in my hands.

A Dog's Purpose is the story that follows one dog throughout his lives.  Yes, that's right, lives.  After his first life is cut short, he comes back again as another puppy.  And throughout the story, he tries very hard to figure out what his purpose is.  As he lives his various lives, he strives to be a 'good dog', and he also realizes that his purpose is much more complex than he thought.  The book is laugh-out-loud funny and a complete tear-jerker.  I will never look at a dog the same, and even today, when I was walking my cute doggies at the park, I couldn't help but wonder, "is that W. Bruce Cameron on to something?"

The themes in the book are seamlessly interwoven with the simple yet engaging and intriguing storyline.  I got so caught up in Bailey's thoughts and experiences I couldn't stop reading.  While reading the book, I'd stop every 45 minutes or so and just get down on the floor and play with my dogs.  I had no idea it would end the way it did (don't worry, no spoiler alert here), and I am so glad it did.

To say that I highly recommend this book is an understatement.  I adored this book and recommend it to anyone who has ever loved a dog.

It will be available for purchase on July 6th.  You can buy advanced copies, and on the website A Dog's Purpose, there is an opportunity to donate 10% of the cover price to animal charities all over the country.

And just because I can and they're cute:  here are my doggies ready for a hike: