Dragonborn by Toby Forward

Dragonborn

by Toby Forward

Bloomsbury

2011

In my time as an elementary librarian, I've learned that dragons are awesome*.  Kids LOVE dragons.  Heck, adults love dragons.  At my local library, there are over 277 books about dragons.  And that's just at one branch of the library.  When I search all branches of the library for the entire county, we're talking thousands of books (okay, so just a thousand, but still).  So when I'm shopping for books, any books that are about dragons get put in the cart and read as soon as they come in.

I was pretty excited when Dragonborn finally came in.  It looked perfect for elementary - cool cover, not too thick, but not too thin, etc.  Turns out, looks can be decieving.  I think.  I'm not certain yet.  Lemme 'splain.

First, a summary:  Sam is a wizard apprentice to the great wizard Flaxfield.  At the beginning of the book, Flaxfield dies and Sam must oversee his "finishing".  All the wizards who completed their apprenticeship under Flaxfield begin to return, and they doubt Sam's abilities and they even begin to doubt whether or not he really was an apprentice.  Sam, who has really only ever known life with Flaxfield, fears that these adult wizards plan to send him off to the coal mines to work and decides to run away with his pet dragon Starback. His adventures lead him to a wizard college and to the mines that he is so afraid of.  All the while, an evil...person? being? someone of indeterminate species... named Ash is after Sam...I think.  It seems that Flaxfield trapped her, and her creepy unexplained companion named Bakkmann in a tower somewhere and if they can get Sam, they can get out.  There are also roffles (they seem like dwarfs, but I'm not certain) and memmonts (no idea really - maybe they're cats?) and all kinds of other magical things that inhabit Sam's world that are explained only through excerpts from Sam's apprentice notebook.  Oh yeah, and dragons.  I almost forgot the dragons.

Was that summary odd?  Well, it makes sense because the book is rather odd.  The excerpts from Sam's apprentice notebook are meant to connect things together and to give background information, but often end up confusing the reader.  I went back and re-read the excerpts often, trying to make sense of the story line through the excerpts.  But usually, that didn't help.  The chapters and sections that relate to Ash and Bakkmann are just as confusing, but end up making sense at the end of the novel, even if they don't answer all the questions they raise at the beginning.  The book is clearly written to be part of a series, I'm just not certain its written well enough to encourage readers to read the rest of the series.

However, I'm an adult, and I read books very differently than my students.  There have been books in the past that are similar to Dragonborn that I didn't enjoy and my students LOVE.  Since the book is written for young readers, I think I should reserve my judgement about the book until I can get an expert opinion or two about it.  So I'm going to book talk it this week, hope someone checks it out and then ask their opinion.  I promise I'll report back if I can.

In the meantime, I would recommend this book to any young reader interested in fantasy, mystery and dragons.  The reading level places it at a 4th grade level (at least), and I think students up to 7th grade would enjoy it.

*I couldn't help myself.  That video is so unbelievably random and weird, it's awesome.  Also, I bet that guy is single.

Spy School

Spy School
by Stuart Gibbs
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
 2012

I picked up Spy School for two reasons.  First, it is  a Colorado Children's Book Award Nominee this year, and second, a student checked it out last week and came in two days later saying "Ohmygosh, Mrs.Covington this book is AMAZING howhaveyounotreadityet?!?!"

I didn't have an answer, and I didn't have a book to read that night, so I took it home. And I'm glad I did!  It's a great read - just enough suspense to keep me reading, along with some truly humorous moments.

Ben Ripley is a 12-year-old dork.  There's no two ways about it.  When he comes home from school one day to find out he's being recruited for the undercover CIA spy school, he's overjoyed.  Finally, he'll be able to do something cool.  Unfortunately, it's all top secret - he can't even tell his best friend.  However during his first day at spy school, after being shot at a few times and fighting off an attacker in his dorm room with a tennis racket, he finds out that he actually didn't qualify for spy school - they brought him in to use as a decoy to flush out a mole within the school.  Luckily for the CIA, Ben is actually smarter than he seems and he turns out to be a pretty good agent-in-training, especially since his life is on the line.

While the plot is extremely fantastic, and I was a little annoyed with how absolutely inept every single adult in the book was portrayed, Spy School is a fun read.  And though I'll admit I figured out who the mole was before the book actually revealed it, I will say it took some re-reading and deep thinking for me to actually figure it out.  I would say this book is a great read for anyone between 4th and 7th grade - depending on their reading level, and it's a great read for any kid who likes spy novels.

What We Found in the Sofa and How it Saved the World

What we Found in the Sofa and How it Saved the World
by Henry Clark
Little Brown & Company
2013

I know, you're probably starring wide-eyed at your computer in utter shock that I'm actually writing a book review.  It's shocking to me as well.  Let's see if my old brain* can remember how to compose a thoughtful, coherent book review...here goes!

cover art courtesy of Follett Titlewave.com

Three friends, River, Freak and Fiona, wait together for the bus every morning.  One day they find a sofa at their bus stop.  They can't figure out where it came from, but they're curious.  They decided to search the couch for lost change and they find a few interesting items: a double-six domino, a double headed coin, and a rare zucchini colored crayon.  They discover that the crayon is actually worth quite a bit of money and decided to auction it off online.  And thus begins their adventure, where they discover that their seemingly dying town of Cheshire and the now "dead"area of Hellsboro are actually the center of an evil genius' plot to  take over the world. Along the way they learn about each other - until now their friendship has been somewhat superficial - and themselves and how living on the edge of Hellsboro has shaped their lives and brought them to this exact moment.
The story line is creative, and Clark embeds so much learning in the book - everything from chemistry to history - and he does it seamlessly.  Young readers will learn so much from this book without knowing they're learning.  I can see students wanting to learn more about various subjects because of this book.

I truly enjoyed this book. I stumbled across it thanks to Amazon.  During my first year working in an elementary library, I realized that my library is focused on books for beginning readers (k-2) and intermediate readers (5th & 6th grade).  My poor 3rd & 4th graders have very little they can read in the library.  So this summer I concentrated on trying to find books that fit their needs.  What We Found is almost one of those books.  I'd say this book is about perfect for 4th grade or an advanced 3rd grade reader.  It covers all the difficult topics: being bullied, feeling left out, trying to fit in, and doing the right thing. And it covers all these topics with equal parts of humor and brevity.  I would recommend this book for just about any student 4th through 6th grade, and for their parents - it would be a great dinner conversation piece.

Happy Reading!
S

*Totally typed "brian" there.  Yep, my brian (brain) is officially old.

Paper Covers Rock

Paper Covers Rock

Jenny Hubbard

Delacorte Press

2011

Most people think that I’m super smart because I’m a librarian.  Completely untrue.  I’m really not that smart, and in reading Paper Covers Rock, I realized that I know nothing about classic literature.  Nothing. Zip. The amount in my bank account. Nichts.

Paper Covers Rock is written in diary form, and it is the diary of Alex Stromm, a student at a boarding school in North Carolina.  One afternoon in the fall, he witnesses one of his best friends die in a terrible swimming accident.  In an attempt to deal come to terms with his grief and feelings of guilt, Alex starts keeping a journal; one that is partly reflective in nature and one that tells the story of what happened the day Thomas died.   What keeps the book moving is the fact that Alex isn’t exactly sure what happened that day at the rock – he knows that he, Thomas and their friend Glenn had been drinking, and Thomas had been drinking the most of all of them.  He knows that they decided to jump from the rock into the river, and that he and Thomas played Rock, Paper, Scissors to see who would jump first.  And he knows that when he surfaces from his dive, Thomas is unconscious, and shortly thereafter, he’s dead.  The school has a very strict no alcohol policy, so Glenn and Alex must cover up some of their story in order to stay in school, and Alex quickly begins to suspect that Glenn is trying to cover up more than just the incident on the rock.

So what does all of this have to do with classic literature?  Alex has a bit of a crush on one of his teachers, Miss Dovecott, and in trying to help Alex deal with his loss, she recommends that he read different classics: Moby Dick, the Old Man and the Sea, etc.,  and he weaves lots of literary references into his diary.  For example, he refers to himself as Is-Male (I got that one), and he asks Her-Mann lots of questions (got that one too), and apparently the title to each chapter is a quote from Moby Dick (missed that one).  While I was reading I could tell when the narrator was referencing something, but I rarely had the background knowledge to make the connection.

Regardless of being able to make connections, Hubbard did an amazing job of creating a realistic voice in Alex Stromm.  I don’t know for sure, because, well, I’m not and have never been a teenaged boy, but Alex’s guilt and uncertainty are absolutely real and palpable. And the ending is absolutely true to life.

I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this book for middle school or reluctant readers because of all the literary references (I’d call them obscure, but they probably aren’t).  However, I think that just about any high school student can relate to Alex because everyone, at some point, has to choose between seeing the truth even though it’s painful and difficult, or continue to turn a blind eye because it’s easier.  And everyone, at some point in their lives, goes through an event that will change their existence permanently.

Zombies vs. Unicorns edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier

Zombies vs. Unicorns
Edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier
Margaret K. McElderry Books
2010

Obviously, with a title like Zombies vs. Unicorns I had to read it.  It did not disappoint, though it wasn’t quite what I thought it would be either.  Of course, I went off of the assumption that it would be a scholarly debate based in fact and research (ahem).  It isn’t.  It’s actually a collection of stories by various YA authors who are either “Team Unicorn” or “Team Zombie”.  The banter between editors Black and Larbalestier at the beginning of each story was the only debate throughout the book, and it’s snort-out-loud funny.

The book started because of a twitter war between Black and Larbalestier about which was better: zombies or unicorns.  Larbalestier is Team Zombie and Black is Team Unicorn.  When I first heard about the book, my I’m-too-much-of-a-wussie-to-watch-scary-movies side immediately agreed with Black that unicorns kick undead hiney.  But when I saw the authors’ that made up Team Zombie, I decided I’d have to give the walking dead a chance.  After finishing the book, the debate still has not been settled: there were excellent zombie and unicorn stories, but there were also crappy/weird stories from both teams as well.  Here’s my favs and my least favs.

Scores for Team Unicorn:

The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn by Diana Peterfreund – in a world where unicorns are actually savage beasts, a girl saves a baby unicorn from certain death at the hands of a creeptastic  carnie and raises it in spite of putting herself directly in the path of danger.  And razor sharp unicorn teeth.

Princess Prettypants by Meg Cabot – I swear I didn’t like this book just because of the author.  It’s Liz’s birthday and her aunt sends her the most interesting present ever: a for realsies unicorn.  Little does she realize that unicorns aren’t actually my pretty ponies, and Liz must learn how to take care of Princess Prettypants while also trying to win back her friends, all of whom she ticked off on her birthday.

Scores for Team Zombie:

Cold Hands by Cassandra Clare – Adele and James are a young couple in love in the town Lychgate, aka Zombietown.  But when James dies in a car accident, everyone assumes they will not live happily ever after, since Luke will probably come back as a zombie.  Did I mention Luke was supposed to be the Duke of Lychgate?  Yeah, Adele is out to prove that he was murdered.  It’s an awesome story.

Bougainvillea by Carrie Ryan – the island of little Curaçao is a safe haven against zombie – mudo – infestation, and Iza’s father runs the island with an iron fist.  Iza feels stifled and isn’t sure that the way her father runs things will actually keep them safe.  Then one day a mysterious stranger appears on the dock.  Iza should report him, but for some reason she doesn’t, and…well…all hell breaks loose.

Strikeouts in general, regardless of team:

A Thousand Flowers by Margo Lanagan – princess makes it with a unicorn, gets preggers, goes downhill from there.  Way too weird for me, and I can handle weird.

Inoculata by Scott Westerfield – this kills me to say because I heart Scott Westerfield.  I was so excited to read his story and it totally left me feeling meh. In a zombie infested world, there is a group of people living in isolation beyond a fence.  One kid figures out how to get zombie-fied w/o going crazy and then all the kids want to.

This is definitely a book for anyone who likes short stories and stories that present interesting twists on old topics. Even though there were a few misses within the collection, in general, it was a very fun read, and if you find yourself bored with the stories, spend a few minutes looking at the book cover - it depicts an all out battle between zombies and unicorns and is, well, hilarious.

In the end, I’m totally team Unicorn: I’ll take rainbow farts over rotting flesh any day of the week.

I'm Not Her by Janet Gurtler

I'm Not Her
Janet Gurtler
Sourcebooks
2011


I read a review or two of this book, put it on hold and waited for about two months to get it.  Usually, that's a sign of a really good book.  By the time I got the book, I'd completely forgotten about it.  When I read the description, I almost turned it back in without reading it.  I couldn't remember why people had said it was soooo great.  And now that I've read it, even I can't necessarily put my finger on why it's soooo great.  But it is.
Maybe I love the book so much because I feel like Tess is me and her perfect, athletic sister is my sister Nikki.  Tess likes herself just the way she is, and though Kristina is pretty content lets her be herself, she also encourages Tess to be a bit more social.  I think that's how things were (and probably still are) with Nikki and I.  Granted, my sister never had to encourage me to be social.  But I was (and still am) awkward, especially when you put me next to my tall, stunning sister.  I might not be shy, but when Nikki walks into a room, you can't help but notice her (I just make people notice me by being loud and often somewhat obnoxious.  I prefer the term charming, but whatever).
The twist of the book comes when Kristina is diagnosed with bone cancer.  All of a sudden her popularity weaves its way into Tess' life, and Tess likes it and hates it.  Tess has always been somewhat invisible in her sister’s shadow, and not just to Kristina’s friends, but also to her parents.  Suddenly, Kristina’s friends – who couldn’t be bothered to notice Tess before – are constantly around wondering why Kristina won’t return their calls, and her parents expect Tess to “be strong” even when they refuse to deal with the situation themselves.  Throughout the book Tess is completely torn between being angry that her sister’s situation has upended her life and dealing with the horror and the sadness she feels about her sister having such a devastating form of cancer.
I love that Gurtler made the parents fallible but not self-absorbed.  The parents have faults, and up until their daughter was diagnosed with cancer, they were able to cover those faults with style or academia.  When faced with the dilemma of their daughter’s illness, they don’t know how to cope with the reality of the situation or the emotions that come along with knowing their lives aren’t perfect and their perfect athlete daughter might end up an amputee.  I also love that Tess was not only mature and level headed, able to step in and be the adult when her parents were unable/unwilling, but also a girly teenager, completely controlled by her hormones.  Tess struggles to balance school – she really wants to be one of the freshmen chosen for National Honor Society, her friend(s) – including her former best friend and the multiple boys who now notice she exists and her parents – whose habit of turning a blind eye and acting like all is normal are not only affecting their relationship, but Tess’ grades and Krisina’s recovery.
In the end I know that my life and my relationship with my sister (and my entire family) is very different from Tess’, though I probably felt a lot like she did when I was a freshman in high school. The bond that Tess felt with her sister and the way it grew and evolved throughout the book was pretty close to the relationship I had with my sister:  we were different and we frustrated the heck out of each other, but it was in high school that we learned to talk to each other, confide in each other and value each other for our differences.

Trapped by Michael Northrop

Trapped
Michael Northrop
Scholastic Press
2011

It’s winter, it’s cold, and it snows.  Luckily where I live, it doesn’t snow too much (yes, I live in Colorado, but newsflash, the western side of Colorado is the desert), so we rarely get snow days (darn).  When I lived in Chicago I always hoped for snow days, but in the four years I lived there, it just never happened. As a teacher, I love snow days.  It’s the greatest feeling in the world – wake up, start getting ready for school and ring ring YES no school!  I’ve never thought about the fact that a snow day could be bad.

Then I read Trapped by Michael Northrup and I realized a snow day could be bad. Especially if it meant I’d be stuck at school on a snow day.

Trapped takes place in New England – a place where monster snow storms are more common.  And the storm that takes place in this book is the big one – the perfect snowstorm. The book starts out and it’s a regular day with snow expected.  When the snow starts to fall harder and sooner than expected, school is released a little early so the students can get home.  Of course, a few students and a teacher stay late – grading papers, working on projects, etc.  By the time they decide to leave a few hours later, the snow is so bad, cars are no longer driving on the road and it looks like they’ll be stuck overnight. The next morning they wake up and it’s still snowing and it doesn’t look like it’s going to stop.  They realize that no one is going to be coming for them anytime soon, so they make themselves comfortable – they raid the cafeteria for food and try to make the best of it.  But when day three and four pass and the snow hasn’t stopped, no power and no sign of help coming, things get interesting.

I enjoyed the premise of the book, and I really enjoyed that it was told from a student’s point of view – for the first day or so, they aren’t worried because they’re at the age where they still rely on adults to take care of them.  Once there are no adults to make the decisions, things get a little tricky.  The characters are relatively true to “typical teenagers” – though I must say, they were pretty tame for teenagers.  I liked this book, but it wasn’t really a page turner, and my reliable student reader Anna called it “a little kid-ish”.  It has action, it has suspense, but it’s just a little…vanilla.  Having said that, I liked that it wasn’t over-sensationalized – it’s definitely realistic fiction.

Though it didn’t make my top ten list of greatest books ever written in the history of the world, I would recommend it to some of the readers I have who don’t like fiction because it’s “fake”.  I think those readers who enjoy reading books that are realistic and not dramatized at all would enjoy a book like this.

True (...Sort of) by Katherine Hannigan

True (...Sort of)
Katherine Hannigan
Greenwillow Books
2011

When I started reading Katherine Hannigan’s novel True (Sort of…) my first impression was that it was an elementary level book.  I liked the character Delly Pattison and her made up words – you know, being a word-maker-upper myself – but it was just a little too…cutsie for me.  I couldn’t imagine a super-cool 8^th grader being willing to read about “surpresents” (surprise presents) and “mysturiosities” (very curious mysteries).  In fact, I envisioned the book being read aloud to a class of sixth graders.  Theoretically, a teacher could read this book aloud to a class – it’s a bit long, but it’s a very quick read.  However, in the end, I’m not sure I’d read it aloud to a class.  For a book that starts off being “cutsie” it definitely hits some heavy topics and in the end, is a very deep, meaningful and profoundly touching book.

Clearly, I loved it.

Like I said, it’s the story of Delly (Delaware) Pattison – second youngest in a family with five children.  Delly has been labeled a troublemaker, even though her escapades are always done with the best intentions.  The book starts out explaining how when Delly was younger, she was happier and even though she got in trouble, she always had a smile on her face and would wake up and face the day with excitement.  Somewhere along the line though, Delly lost that smile and that excitement, and now she’s usually just angry.

Then she meets Ferris Boyd, the new girl who doesn’t speak and doesn’t allow anyone to touch her.  She’s sort of a “mysturiosity” to Delly, so Delly starts following her home, telling her stories.  Delly is supposed to go home after school, so their friendship is sort of a secret.  Soon, they are best friends. Throughout the rest of the book, that friendship is tested, and Delly learns about the world around her and slowly starts to understand that she has been rather selfish in life.  As she learns to be self-less, the relationships in her life – with her family, teachers, and even with the local police officers – improve, and her life is profoundly changed.

What I love about this book is Delly’s worldview.  She sees the world in a completely different light than most people.  It’s the perfect blend of innocence, ignorance, wonder and thought.  It’s her worldview that creates, almost ruins, and saves her friendship with Ferris.  I would like to think that there are 6^th graders out there who are like Delly – who are still able to see the wonder in the world, but who realize the importance of being there for those you love.

For a book that started out as a fun, read-aloud book, I cried hard in the end, and my worldview has changed in regards to my students.  I no longer think this would be a good book to read aloud to a class, but I will recommend it to just about any one of my students who enjoys realistic fiction, and I think I might recommend that the Literacy teachers at my school read it.  In fact, I would say this would be an excellent book for any middle school student, or anyone who works with middle school children.  It is a beautifully written book with heart and a sense of humor.

Gemini Bites by Patrick Ryan

Gemini Bites

Patrick Ryan

Scholastic Press

2011

When my guy saw this book sitting on the kitchen table and read the book jacket, his first reaction was “What in the world are you reading?”  Then, as I explained the premise of Gemini Bites to him, his look of confusion and concern just deepened.  I’ll admit, the storyline is one of the things that drew me to the book: fraternal twins Kyle and Judy fall for the same guy.  And said guy is super gorgeous, rather mysterious, and allegedly a vampire.

But the storyline isn’t all there is to this book.  In fact, the love triangle turns out to be rather secondary (at least it was the way I read the book).  It’s more about sibling rivalry and about why teenagers do things that make no sense to them or those around them but they just can’t help themselves.

Case in point: Judy.  If she were my sister, I’d probably hold a pillow over her head to put the family out of their misery.  Über-competitive, fake and cranky is how she comes across in the book – even in the chapters written from her point of view.  She’s attending a church group and claiming to be “born again” all because she wants to date a guy.  She’s rude, selfish, conniving and goes after Garret (aforementioned vampire) just because she can tell Kyle is a little interested in him.  Throughout the book both Kyle and Judy make references to the fact that they were closer before their parents initial divorce (backstory; Kyle and Judy are the middle children in a family of nine.  Their parents separated for just over a year when they were younger and they haven’t been close since.  Kyle doesn’t understand why, and Judy never bothers to tell him. Judy, for some reason, is in constant competition with Kyle, often mouthing “I win” when she gets her way.  The only person to somewhat derail her is Garret – his penetrating stare, great abs and vampiric ways seem to throw her off her normally snarky, aggressive ways.

On the other hand, we have Kyle.  He has recently come out of the closet and is handling life pretty well, other than the fact that he doubts he’ll ever actually date a real live boy.  His family (minus Judy) is very supportive, he has good friends, and he’s finding his way, though he still struggles with self-confidence.  Then along comes Garret Johnson.  He tries to be friendly, but 1) he’s pretty sure Garret is straight (wait…is he sure?  He’s not sure he’s sure) and 2) Garret is, well, a little creepy with the weird lighting in his room and the mysterious calls with his “vampire trainer” (I can’t remember the term Garret uses and I already returned the book…sorry!).  So while Kyle is completely attracted to Garret and thinks maybe Garret is attracted to him, he’s not sure and when Judy starts to show interest in Garret, things get interesting.

Then there’s Garret.  He’s weird and somewhat secondary to the plot until the end.  His dad is transferred mid-school year, so instead of moving with his parents, he lives in the Renneker attic until the end of the school year.  He admits that he’s a vampire when asked, but it’s not something he advertises necessarily.  Too bad for him the school crazy is after him, constantly trying to stake him in the heart or shoot him with a silver bullet.  And I can’t tell you too much about Garret without spoiling the end of the book, but I will say that I really didn’t like him much for the majority of the book (I was Team Kyle all the way!!!) but in the end, regardless of his vampire-ness, he is just a kid trying to figure out who he is, and he is definitely instrumental in helping Judy and Kyle both figure out who they are.

Who would I recommend this book to?  That’s a great question.  I did enjoy the book, but it definitely wouldn’t make any of my favorites list.  The book is definitely not middle grade appropriate because of sexual content, but I think high school students who struggle with their identity (and not just their sexuality, who they are in general) would benefit from reading this book because each of the characters tries to be someone they aren’t and then has to deal with the consequences.

**This is the first book review I've done where I can't find the author's website.  Help please if you can!***

Matched by Allie Condie

Matched
Allie Condie
(Allyson Braithwaite Condie)
Dutton Books
2010

Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl – the women who wrote Beautiful Creatures and Beautiful Darkness – claim that this book is “a brave new world that readers from Twilight to The Hunger Games will claim as their own” (from Matched book jacket).  Now, I’m not sure if the words “a brave new world” are bolded to make reference to Aldus Huxley’s book, but if so, I have to whole heartedly disagree.  This book is pretty darn good, but it is not, in any way, the “new” form of A Brave New World.  However, it is a book that will appeal to both crowds that loved Twilight and The Hunger Games (the movie is on its way people!  Get excited!!).  In fact, I’d go as far as saying that Cassia really is Katniss stuck in Bella’s world…or...maybe the other way around.

Cassia lives in a world where all decisions are determined by “Officials” – where you will live, what job you will have, how much food you get, etc.  The book starts out with Cassia attending her Match banquet – the celebration where she, and many other teens her age, will find out who they are to be “matched” with.  Shockingly, Cassia is not only matched with someone she knows, she’s matched to her best and lifelong friend Xander.  It’s very rare to be matched with someone you know.  The next day when Cassia tries to view all the information about her match (even though she already knows him so well), something strange happens.  She sees someone else.  Someone else she knows.  Ky lives in her neighborhood and she, Ky and Xander have grown up together and spend much of their recreation time together.  Now she must figure out which of the two boys is her “true” match, and as she deals with her feelings for both boys, she learns that her perfect society is far from it.
Cassia is much like Bella in that she must choose between two “matches” that are both good for her – one is safer, one fits her better.  She doesn’t want to hurt either of them, in fact she tries very hard to protect both of them.  She’s also like Bella in that she doesn’t know her own strength (I know there are many people out there who would completely disagree with me that Bella is a very strong female character, but whatever, she is).  The difference is that Cassia is taught and encouraged to be strong – by her society and her grandfather.  Bella just doesn’t think or know how strong she is.  However, the difference between Bella and Cassia is that Bella is drawn to Edward for reasons she doesn’t understand.  The idea of Ky is put into her mind by the mixed up match.
Initially, the correlation between Cassia and Katniss was difficult for me to see.  From the get-go Katniss knows that Panem is massively defective, and Panem is designed to keep people down.  The Society in which Cassia lives tries to convince the citizens of its perfection and goodness.  Katniss is a rebel from day one, whereas in Matched, Cassia fights against her initial feelings of rebellion and consistently tries to be a “good citizen”.  However, as the book goes on, I can totally see the correlation between the two young women.  Both understand that they are, more or less, pawns in their respective societies.  Both are forced to put on “shows”, both are forced to do things in order to keep their loved ones safe, and both make choices that classify them as “rebels” simply because they want to protect others.
And now that I’ve compared the crap out of these three heroines, let’s just talk about Matched for a second.  It really is an excellent YA novel.  It has the action, internal struggle, rebellion and cute boys that are required of any good YA novel.  It’s definitely a girl book – the romance plays too much a part in the story for most male readers to get into it.

I don’t know that it will have the same adult-reader appeal that Hunger Games and Twilight did (though I still scratch my head at the adult appeal of Twilight.  Yes, I’m an adult who loved it, but...hello…I’m a YA Librarian.  It’s kinda my job).  This might stem from my current state of the blahs about YA lit.  However, I also think the romance-strand of the book is a little too teenage girl for adults to be able to identify with.  Or, I might be a complete romantic cynic (probably).  In any case, I look forward to purchasing the book for my school library, but won’t necessarily be passing it on to my adult friends.

Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life by James Patterson

Middle School, the Worst Years of My Life

James Patterson

Little Brown and Company

2011

Being a middle school librarian, I read quite a bit of middle school literature (duh).  For the most part, I enjoy it – not necessarily because the literature “speaks” to me (instert snooty book snob voice), but because when I read it I think of the students I serve who would enjoy, learn from or benefit from reading any given book*.  But I have to admit that I really don’t like reading middle-school-survival books.  As in, I kinda hate it.  Partly because the angst that most middle school students experience didn’t hit me until high school (late bloomer, what can I say), and partly because, to be honest, I’m still getting used to the wee people.  Middle school is a crazy crazy parallel universe where up is down, cool is not and nothing makes sense. Ever.

However I have loved a few middle school books – The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is one of my favorites (Mr. Alexie, feel free to send me the free, autographed copy of your book for that plug).  Since James Patterson is one of the most prolific crossover** authors out there, I figured I should give his book Middle School: the Worst Years of my Life a shot.

And it took me a month and a half to read it.  But I am so glad I did.  I wanted to give up on it multiple times, but as many of you know, once I start a book, it’s nearly impossible for me to not finish it.  I think I expected it to be more like Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Absolutely True Diary, and it’s not.  Regardless, I had to start this book three times before I finally got far enough into it for it to be worthwhile.

And it was.

Wow.

Rafe Khatchadorian is a 6^th grader going through a pretty rough time.  He’s not popular – in fact he only has one friend, Leo the Silent***.  In the beginning, Rafe’s story seems silly and pointless and, well, meh.  He comes across as a kid who just wants to go from a zero to popular for all the wrong reasons and in all the wrong ways.  The book starts out and Rafe hates school so he and Leo create a game – Operation R.A. F.E – that requires Rafe to break every school rule within the school year.  See?  Meh and a little silly. As the book goes along, it’s difficult to see any rhyme or reason to why Rafe keeps doing the things he’s doing – it seems so pointless and juvenile.  And it takes Patterson almost half of the book to show the reader that there is a lot more to the story that Rafe lets on.

In the end, it’s Patterson’s style that made me love the book.  As someone who works with middle school students, I can honestly say that the stuff they do makes no sense whatsoever most of the time.  Having spent the better part of my professional life surrounded by confused, horndog teenagers, I know that ninety percent of the time, their behavior is just as mysterious to them as it is to us. Patterson takes that and shows that though the kids don’t even understand why they do the things they do there’s always a reason, and that reason might not be simple, fixable or pretty.

I would recommend this book to anyone who works (or lives) with middle school students, and any middle school student.  If you’ve ever come across a kid who just doesn’t make sense, Rafe and his adventures (however misguided) and his life story make the confusing world of middle school a bit more clear.  And I beg you, even if you don’t like the beginning of the book, try to stick with it.  Rafe annoyed me to no end for the first, third/half of the book, but in the end, he makes more sense.

*if you haven’t ever tried read a book from someone else’s perspective, I highly recommend it – it gives reading a whole new twist

**Crossover meaning he/she switches between writing books for adults and YA (young adults)

***Without giving anything away, I’ll say that there are many plot twists that include Leo – the first annoyed me and the second about made me cry.

---

Small Town Sinners by Melissa Walker

Small Town Sinners
Melissa Walker
Bloomsbury
2011

Do you remember when exactly you started to realize that your parents didn't know all the answers and weren't always right?  Do you remember when you started to form your own opinions that differed from those of your parents?  I do, and I don't.  I think all parents try to raise their children to the best of their abilities, teaching them what is helpful and what can be harmful (I hate the words "good" and "bad"), and I think that for all parents, the time when their children start making choices of their own - whether helpful or harmful - is extremely difficult (I'm kinda guessing, as I have no children of my own).

Small Town Sinners is an amazingly crafted novel that examines this phenomenon from the point of view of the child.  Lacey Ann has grown up in West River - a small, God fearing community.  Lacey Ann's dad is the youth pastor at the church, and every year the youth put on a production called "Hell House" - a house of sin production aimed at bringing souls to Christ.  The book begins when Lacey is finally old enough to audition for a main role, and Lacey wants to be Abortion Girl.  Lacey knows that her performace will show people the truth as she knows it:  that abortion is wrong and that Christ is the answer.

Enter the mysterious Ty.  Lacey has never met anyone like Ty before - his smile melts her resolve, but more importantly, she can talk to him like she can't talk to her parents or her best friends.  She can talk to him about her doubts and worries when it comes to the church, her friends and the things that happen in West River.  However Lacey's parents don't approve of Ty, and when "bad" things start happening to Lacey's friends, she finds it easier to talk to Ty and more difficult to talk to her parents.  All of a sudden, Lacey finds herself questioning what she believes and how she has been raised and wonders if she'll be able to resolve the two.

I know there was a time that I realized that my parents - and some of their views - were wrong.  I also know that my own personal faith/values journey has been more extreme than that of most.  In my lifetime I've been on the extreme ends of many ethical/religious arguments.  And I think I've come to a pretty happy place in who I am, what my values are and what I believe.  While reading Small Town Sinners I heard my own voice and my own thoughts echoed in what Lacey Ann was going through.  I remember times where I was so angry at my parents because I didn't think they could hear me (and sometimes, honestly, they couldn't) and other times where, in hindsight, they could hear me, but their wisdom was beyond my understanding.

Walker has created a wonderful cast of characters who are more honest than many teens think they can be - with themselves, each other and the adults in their lives - who I think will both speak to and encourage young people struggling with who they are and what they believe.  I also love the way she portrays West River!  It is a christian community that is wholly human - they make mistakes in their pursuit of the Kingdom of God, but for the most part, the people don't forget that they are merely human.  Often times people outside of the christian community don't understand the "zeal" of "believers" and see them, as, well crazy zealots.  And, admittedly, some people - regardless of faith tradition - are crazy zealots.  Walker clearly and plainly brings humanity, respect and dignity to the "zealots" in her book, allowing the reader to disagree with their beliefs, but still respect them for their dedication.  It's amazing.

I would recommend this to anyone who has a friend or family member they consider a "religious zealot".  I would also recommend this to parents whose children are starting to stretch their own wings and figure out who they are, as well as the children (pardon me...I mean teenagers - they HATE being called children) starting to realize their parents don't have all the answers.  It's an excellent book that shows the many perspectives of any given issue and how to love those around you regardless of their perspective.  I will say, I'm not sure it's appropriate for middle grade

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

If I Stay
Gayle Foreman
Narrated by Kirsten Potter

I’ve only read a few of Nicholas Sparks books, and to be honest, I didn’t really like the ones I read.  But I feel like if he wrote books that I actually enjoyed, he would write something like If I Stay.  Imagine that you wake up one morning to a snow day (waHOO) and your family – that you love dearly – decides to go for a drive.  However, tragedy strikes and by the end of the day, you’re the only one left alive.  Mia is a senior in high school who finds herself in this exact situation.  After a horrible car accident, she lies in a coma and her spectral self has the ability to see and hear everyone around her, she can even follow them into other rooms, but she can’t seem to find a way to either re-inhabit her body, or let go and go to Heaven.   And more importantly, she’s not sure she wants to stay behind without her family.  The entire story is her remembering her life before the accident and trying to imagine her life without her family and her struggle to decide whether or not to stay and possibly go to Julliard, or go and abandon her grandparents, her boyfriend and her extended family.

I have been blessed in this life to have a kick ass family.  They are not perfect, but they are mine and I love them all fiercely.  This past winter when my dad had heart surgery my entire family was suddenly and brutally faced with our own mortality - our individual mortality and the mortality of our family, and it scared the pee out of all of us.  Lucky for us, my dad is fine and now has a whole new set of valves to clog with cholesterol.  The way that Foreman wrote this book, the reader is forced to consider tragedy like Mia’s.  What would I do if both my parents and my siblings were killed in a horrible accident?  Would I be able to go on?  Now that I have a special someone in my life (it’s about flippin time!!!) does that change my reaction to the situation?  I don’t know and I hope I never have to find out.  In any case, Foreman has created a beautiful book that is emotional, real and an absolute page turner.  Or in my case, a CD switcher*.  I highly highly recommend it!

*This post is connected to my post about audiobooks.  Feel free to read it!

Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride

Hold Me Closer Necromancer

Lish McBride

Sherman Alexie (on of my favs) is quoted on the cover of this book saying “This is a SCARY funny book OR a FUNNY scary book.  In either case, it is a GREAT book.”  Dude totally nailed it.  I could not put this book down, which, honestly doesn’t say much because I rarely put books down.  In fact, in the future, just know that if I could put the book down, it probably wasn’t that great.

Sam (Samhain) is your typical floundering young man – I think he’s about 20 – working at the local grease pit.  He finds out through a series of extremely confusing events, including being man-handled by a werewolf and having one of his good friends murdered and her head reincarnated (how can a book be bad with a talking un-dead best friend head?), he finds out that he is a Necromancer, or a magical person able to control the dead.  Unfortunately, the head Necromancer in town, Douglas Montgomery, is not a fan of competition.  He kidnaps Sam and forces him to become his apprentice.  Sam has to figure out how to escape and how to help the super hot were-girl Douglas is also keeping captive in his basement.  I could give you more of the storyline (there’s WAY more), but not knowing will make it just as fun to read.  In fact, I picked the book up having been given a completely different description.

This book is perfect for just about anyone – those of us who love fantasy but are really tired of vampire books, anyone who likes scary/paranormal books, or a high school student who likes a laugh-out loud page turner.  Unfortunately for this middle school librarian, it is not appropriate for middle grade students (my favourite line – “So you’re the guy who did the no-no cha-cha with my baby sister”).  So if you are over 15 years old and enjoy books, you should put this book on your reading list!

Heist Society

Heist Society

Ally Carter

Disney/Hyperion 2010

Note:  This is a book review I did for my Adolescent Literature class on Adventure novels.  I thought it was good, so I decided to post it.  That, and the book is darn good!

Heist Society by Ally Carter is the teenage girl version of The Thomas Crowne Affair.  Kat Bishop has had enough of the world of thieves, so she leaves the family business and enrolls in a posh private school.  However, the world of thieves isn’t quite done with her yet.  When her father is framed for stealing some paintings from a very dangerous criminal, Kat and her band of teenage crook friends must recover the paintings and clear her father’s name.  Heist Society is an excellent book about family ties, trust and one of the oldest trades:  stealing.  The plot is ironically over the top and completely believeable, with unexpected twists and turns that keeps the reader enthralled and guessing and leaves them shocked and begging for more.

Heist Society is, in every way, an excellent adventure story.  The protagonist, Kat Bishop, is not only likeable, she and the other characters are excellently developed (Nilsen & Donelson, 184) – their back stories add to both the intrigue and depth of the story – and readers will be able to identify with Kat (Nilsen & Donelson, 184) and her desire to become who she wants, regardless of her family and her history.  Though the setting and the plot are fantastic, the reader is drawn into them like movie goers were drawn into Ocean’s Eleven and National Treasure – even though the main characters are committing crimes and breaking dozens of laws, the reader wants them to succeed, if not just for the fun of the action, but for the deeper reason behind their action.  All in all, this is an excellent book that will appeal to the adventurer in all of us.

Nilsen, A. P., & Donelson, K. L. (2009). Literature for today's young adults: Eighth Edition. Boston: Pearson Education.

Five Flavors of Dumb

Five Flavors of Dumb

Anthony John

As a school librarian, I can’t read every book in my collection.  So usually I rely on reviews – written by people much cooler than me – about the books I want to add to my collection.  Sometimes I have to read the reviews to decide whether or not the book would appeal to the student body I serve, and sometimes I’m looking for clues as to whether or not the content of the book is appropriate for middle grade students.

Recently the ALA released its list of award winners for 2011, and many of the winners are books that, after reading the reviews, I’m still unsure as to their appropriateness.  So when this happens, I simply read the book.  So far, I’ve read two of these ‘cusp’ books.  One shall remain unnamed because it was not middle school appropriate, and to be honest, I don’t see why it won any awards.  The other was Five Flavors of Dumb.  What a great book!  I’m pretty new to the library profession, so I might be wrong here, but I don’t hear about books written for teens about other teens with special needs.  Five Flavors does, and in its own way it reaches out to every teen – “special” or “normal”.  The main character, Piper is moderately severely deaf (a distinction I didn’t know existed) and she survives in the hearing world by reading lips and generally blending into the background.  When an early morning prank lands her a job as a band manager, she is given the opportunity to disprove all kinds of stereotypes about the hearing impaired and she also learns that stereotypes don’t just apply to the deaf.

What makes the books so great is not necessarily Piper’s journey, but everyone’s journey.  John does an amazing job of creating a cast of characters that allows every reader to feel included.  Everyone feels left or invisible at some point, and within the five “flavors” of dumb (which ends up being about ten flavors by the end of the book) every label you find in mainstream schools is represented and dissected to show that regardless of your label, life is hard.  Everyone in this book is portrayed on both a superficial level and a deeper level.  Whenever I read books for my collection, I try to think of kids at my school who might be interested in reading it.  I can’t think of a single kid who wouldn’t get something out of it.  The length might deter some of my non-book lovers, but if I can get them to start the book, I really think any student who starts reading this book will be drawn in by both the story line and the writing style.

The Help

The Help

Katherine Stockett

I’m a pretty busy lady, but I definitely like to find those lazy days when I can just sit and read and forget about the world around me.  Sometimes, I come across a book that is so engrossing that I can’t help but become completely absorbed – so absorbed that I forget about my reality and feel like I live in the reality of the book.

The Help by Katherine Stockett was one of those books for me.  My book club chose to read this book, and I was surprised by the choice because the book is very new.  Normally we stick with book club kits from the public library (in case you didn’t know, public libraries = free books, and that fits well into my tight budget), but some of the girls in our group had heard such great things, we all decided to fork over the cash and read it.

What a wonderful story!  The Help is a book about exactly that – the hired help.  Written from three points of view, The Help takes a look at what it was like to be the hired help in Mississippi during the 60’s.  Skeeter is a twenty-something college graduate whose dream is to work as a journalist, but whose parents want nothing more for her than marriage to an acceptable young southern man.  As she spends more and more time at home, she realizes that she does not share the same views as her now-grown childhood friends – especially when it comes to the African-American women who serve in their homes.  And she realizes that these women – the hired help – do not have a voice at all.  So she hatches a plan to share their voice with the world.  Enter Aibileen and Minny.  Both women have served as the hired help for their entire adult lives – Aibileen has faithfully and lovingly served many families, and Minny’s mouth has gotten her fired from many jobs, but her amazing cooking skills have always helped her find another job.  Though Skeeter’s plan will put all the women at risk, all the women know that the stories they have to tell are absolutely worth it.

The Help is one of those books that really makes you think about the world around you.  Sometimes we get so wrapped up in our own take on things, we fail to see that there are other points of view, other stories to be told, that are just as important as ours, and that can and do have a profound effect on us.  Some of the characters in the book didn’t have the ability to see the world through the eyes of the people who worked for them.  In a way, I felt sorry for them – it has to be difficult to live in a world where people don’t see things your way.  And though the book deals with race relations in the 60’s, I think this lesson still rings true – and it doesn’t have to apply just to race relations.  The Help encourages us to try walking a mile in someone else’s shoes.