When the Whistle Blows

Author: Fran Slayton¡
Rating:
Reading Level: 5th to 8th

Pages: 160
Publisher: Philomel, Penguin Young Readers
Edition: Hardcover, 2009 (from galley)

Judging by the somewhat muted and sleepy cover, I thought I was going to read a "pensive, quiet" coming-of-age, historical fiction. It turned out that the story is NOT all that quiet: every episode falls on an All Hallow's Eve from early-40s to late-40s. You get the thrill of the secret Society's weird, slightly off and scary way to honor a recently deceased member; you get the Halloween prank gone awry; you get the blood-pumping, almost heart-stopping football game actions; and you get the death and danger working on the steam-engined trains. But then, you also get so much HEART between the main character and his father. It is an entirely "male" book, glaringly so -- you hardly see a female character and they hardly have even a speaking turn. It's all... very, macho, but oddly also very tender. And so much humor and humorous wisdom. I am not ashamed to say that I cried hard at the end of the tale... mourning the passing of a man and of an era so lovingly and convincingly portrayed by the author.

View all my goodreads reviews >>

Al Capone Shines My Shoes

Author: Gennifer Choldenko
Rating:
Reading Level: 4th to 7th Grade

Publisher: Dial
Edition: Hardcover, 2009 (galley)

I am completely delighted by this book. I really enjoyed the first one and this one holds up, well and strong, and I think it works even better. Maybe because I thought, "What can she come up with that can top the first book?" before starting to read this one.. and Choldenko absolutely pulled it off. There is humor and tension all throughout the book, not to mention some hard-to-sort-out moral dilemmas. Over the years, my students have loved the first book -- from really strong readers to really reluctant ones - and both girls and boys do, too. I can see this one achieves the same effects: not a book that gets everyone super-excited, but one that gets talked up by young peers and gets passed around without making too big a wave. Its "beloved-ness" will last quite a while, I believe.

I also really appreciate the author's notes. This will make for a good historical-fiction writing assignment starter book. (I can see a whole class reading the book, discussing the facts and fiction aspects of the story, and doing some sort of historical research and writing a short story. <-- with my librarian's hat on, of course.)

View all my goodreads reviews.

The Burning Bridge

Author: Flanagan, John
Rating:
Reading Level: 4th to 7th

Pages: 262
Publisher: Philomel
Edition: Hardcover, 2006


A solid follow-up to the really fun first Ranger's Apprentice title. Although the world is quite fantastic with monsters and some magical elements, most of the plot evolves around military tactics and your basic adventures (sword fights, archery, etc.) The main characters do not possess magical abilities. The pacing is tight and there are some surprises that will keep even a seasoned fantasy reader focused.

View all my goodreads reviews.

The Last Olympian

Author: Rick Riordan
Rating:
Reading Level: 3rd to 7th

Pages: 381
Publisher: Hyperion
Edition:Hardcover, 2009

Pure adrenaline inducing 381 pages of fun. I'm so glad that the level of action and humor is maintained throughout the entire series -- that the last book did not suddenly become some deep philosophical revelation. (I definitely did not get into these books for their messages or meanings.) It's been quite a craze here at the school and the waiting list of eager readers is mighty long, deservingly so.

View all my good reads reviews.

Scat

Author: Carl Hiaasen
Rating:
Reading Level:

Pages: 304
Publisher: Knopf (Random House)
Edition: Hardcover, 2009

This is definitely a fun book and many of my young readers already told me that they enjoyed reading the third offering from Hiaasen. Everything does hang together nicely and the punishment of the evil doers satisfying. Hiaasen did not shy away from super contemporary things: facebook, CNN/Anderson Cooper, and of course, the father who is injured in Iraq. This makes the volume a "timely" book for current readers and only time will tell if in a decade or two, young readers still will appreciate the story, despite the references to matters that can easily date the book.

Scat, however, does not offer much more than either Hoot, or Flush -- much of the same thing to young readers who like mysteries, who like to read stories about older kids (High School students as protagonists) but who do not necessarily wish to decipher complex sentence structures or figures of speech and who still enjoy jokes on fairly basic/bodily function levels.


View all my goodreads reviews.

Bloodhound: Beka Cooper II

Author: Tamora Pierce
Rating:
Reading Level: 6th grade and up

Publisher: Random House
Edition: Galley, 2009



I really liked the first one and have been waiting for the second installment for a long long time. The second book still works. My initial quibble of not believing Beka able to write all of the stuff down in her journal still stands -- even with the explanation of ciphers and reports and how events are chopped down into several installments. Still seems a bit far-fetched. However, I guess if one believes in ghost-carrying pigeons and a young woman talking to street dust winds, one has to somewhat allow her to be able to write dialogs and descriptions in such minute details when recording her own exploits.

That's another thing: the pacing is a bit draggy at moments because it seems a bit too much of JUST Beka -- just her thoughts, just her experiences, and just her achievements. All the secondary characters (POUNCE, for example, who is absent for most of the story) take a real Secondary position here. Achoo the hound, although very important to the plot, is not satisfying as a strong supporting character because she is too much of a hound, no human traits at all. I love her, but she cannot replace Pounce whose wry humor adds so much to the flavor of the story.

Dale, as a secondary character at the beginning of the story, never got his chance to even remain in that position. By mid-book, he's already just a bit of thoughts in Beka's mind. This shows Beka's dedication to her work and how incredibly sensible she is, but I feel slightly let down by Dale's demotion. He definitely could have played a larger part in the story (either helping or hindering Beka's tasks) because he was positioned to do so from the get go (but peters out...)

Having Hanse explain all the rhymes and reasons seems a bit of an easy and very basic mystery device (for that is what this series is... Law and Order meets Tortall Fantasy.) I was hoping for huge surprises and unexpected villains and deeper plots.

Oh, I sound too critical, I do believe. Going to end by saying that I definitely enjoyed following Beka through the streets, watching her eat sea food, seeing her fight various villains -- above ground and underground. It's great to be back in the land of such cool magic. Am I now again eagerly waiting for the next book? You betcha!






View all my reviews.

Ranger's Apprentice: The Ruins of Gorlan

Author: John Flannagan
Rating:
Reading Level: 4th to 6th grade

Pages: 249
Publisher: HarperCollins
Edition: Hardcover, 2006

I finally got around to read this first book in the ever-more popular series that my students have loved for the last few years. I know now why they like the stories and characters so much. The world is easy to understand -- since in this first book, the young people are "in schools." They are being trained in their various trades with cool skills like tracking, archery, sword play, and cooking. One of the main characters gets bullied and eventually those bullies get their just deserts! I can hear the cheering from the young readers! I will from now on describe the book (or the series) as Fantasy Spy Story, a blend of Alex Rider and Lord of the Rings. (Prob. a bit exaggerated but I think that will help interest the next reader!)

View all my goodreads reviews.

The Bartimaeus Trilogy

Author: Jonathan Stroud

Reading Level: 6th grade and up

This is a guest blogger post. Josh is 16 years old and just finished the trilogy. (I feel remiss here -- since I neglected to recommend this series to him when he was in middle school!) He sent me a long email with his reviews of the three books and we subsequently exchanged a couple more emails, especially about the endings of this trilogy and the His Dark Materials trilogy. There are plot spoilers.



ABOUT The Amulet of Samarkand

Bartimaeus is hilarious. I simply love the djinn. Nathaniel is interesting to follow as well, a fun character with a couple flaws. There really isn't much to speak of in this book other than plot: it's fun, but Bartimaeus is the real winner of this one.

ABOUT The Golem's Eye

Here we see Nathaniel turn into the pompous, arrogant named John Mandrake. He falls into the very trap Bartimaeus told him to avoid: letting the corrupting influence of magicians twist him into something horrible. The things he does and says are unbelievable, and the effect is doubled by how he behaved in the 1st book. We get introduced to Kitty, who's a good person at heart, and then gets caught up in the whole Honorius affair. Mandrake shows his bastardness with his perpetual breaking of vows, many only hours or less after having made them. Bartimaeus is fun as ever: was sad about Queezle, that she got introduced and then snuffed out, but oh well. So goes the storyline.

ABOUT Ptolemy's Gate

By far the most interesting, most powerful, most moving, most climactic of the three (well, for that last one I suppose there's a reason, being the end and all). We see Mandrake turn from arrogant into the marginally better (or worse, depending on your POV) "top magician". Bartimaeus evokes a lot of sympathy with his sorry state, and Kitty becomes my favorite character for the majority of the book.

And then Mandrake slowly crumbles, leaving a mature Nathaniel. He still has flaws, but then, so does everyone but Bartimaeus. As Kitty and Nathaniel work together, with each other (and slowly begin to admire each other: my guess is given a couple years, they'd end up as very good friends or more, provided Nathaniel doesn't relapse, which I don't think he would), it's my favorite part. To see Kitty put the same trust in Bartimaeus that Ptolemy did, showing greater understanding of him than perhaps even the Egyptian boy (though Ptolemy did not have someone's notes or previous history as guides, admittedly).

And then, when Nathaniel accepts Bartimaeus into his own body...this is where N/B takes over as my favorite character(s). The fact that, working together, they manage to destroy far more powerful spirits than they. The fact that, working together, they are the culmination of Ptolemy's hopes and dreams, the ultimate climax of Nathaniel and Bartimaeus' relationship, the fulfilling of the purpose of Kitty's visit to the Other Place...once they become both two souls and one, a single 2-part mind in a single body, I could not put it down even for work. I was breathless as they turned the staff on Nouda...

AM. Nathaniel hit by the Detonation. Coming from Barti's POV, it is even more effective. And then when Nathaniel realizes the seriousness of the wound, his acceptance of his fate and determination to do selfless good is such strong writing. The last meeting with Kitty, where N/B both know what has to be done, and the whole concealing it from K thing...I really felt it. Comparable, at least for me in my after-reading-state, to when Lyra and Will realize they must separate in Amber Spyglass.

True to form, he breaks his final promise, having finally made one beyond his power to keep. This was where I was sad that the "item" could never happen (Kitty's picking through the wreckage at the end made me think she was feeling the loss of a possible future, one containing more happiness, or at least more possibility, than her current one, a future with a united djinn/human in it).

I thought that writing N and B's end at the very end was the best move of the whole trilogy. We already know what happens: we know that the great evil is destroyed by the heroic death of N/B. Now we get to see the heart of darkness, the center of the inferno, as N/B march to their death. The connection between them in this scene is so powerful I thought they might actually survive. This isn't the usual master-servant relationship; this isn't even Ptolemy's relationship. Ptolemy was a trusting, kind, benevolent, freedom-giving master, yes, but he was a master, as evidenced by his final dismissal of Barti. N and B banter as friends, they speak as equals, as 2 halves of the whole. Nathaniel's character at the end here practically radiates goodness off the page. And then, the way he dismisses Bartimaeus, I feel, is from an equal to an equal. The delivery of the dismissal is not that of a master dismissing a slave, but of a friend releasing a friend.

My throat was seized up the whole final scene, but it was the 2nd-to-last paragraph, where the Staff breaks, that the tears almost fell (almost, because I usually manage to keep them in while reading, though I failed during Amber Spyglass several years ago). The simplicity of the writing there - "Nouda did this. Nathaniel finished the Dismissal. I went. The Staff broke." had so much raw POWER in the way it was written. Stroud simply couldn't have written that end any better (except maybe Nathaniel surviving: just as he turns good, he turns so good that he must make up for the magicians' sins and evildoing. He dies for a better world, and I do rather prefer when they get to actually see that world).

I'd discuss the last paragraph but I need breakfast. Barti's final words in the trilogy, starting with "typical master", given that Nathaniel was anything but, either give the paragraph a tone of affection or a tone of disgust. Choice of the reader, so I chose affection :)

*** (Another email discussing the endings of Amber Spyglass and Ptolemy's Gate is omitted.) ***

Amber Spyglass had a Tough ending...but I think that, for me, Ptolemy's Gate takes the cake. To see what Nathaniel becomes by the end of the trilogy...in book 1 he was bumbling but likable, in book 2 I nearly burned the pages with him, in book 3 first couple parts I was a little put out with him (especially given his treatment of Barti), in last 150ish pages I thought, "This is what he should have become from book 1." The opposition of him + Barti and him from the previous books was so pronounced, and the tentative friendship springing up between him and K...it all made his death doubly sad and twice as noble.

Still tugs at the hearstrings, reading it. It's his Redemption, and yet he goes so much farther than he "needed" to, to redeem himself. For once, a magician of the old generation does what people of such power are supposed to do (at least in our society): use it for the people, sacrifice himself for the commoners.

FAIRROSA:

I cannot really honestly say which one affected me more at the moment of reading -- but I do think that Lyra and Will's final parting has a much stronger lingering effect. I read that scene, what, 8 - 9 years ago and I can still feel the sorrow now; whereas I do recall Nathaniel's final sacrifice (and you described it so well below) and how much I sobbed over it, it does not give my heart a blow whenever I think of it.

JOSH:

It's something about the way the two are written, I think. Something about them makes Bartimaeus stronger than HDM for me. I can't place it...my first guess would be that in Barti, the whole experience comes from 1st person, and their unity is such a 180 from everything before it, but I'm not sure if that's it.

Maybe it's the fact that N/B was 4 days ago, and L/W was 4 years ago...but there's no way to either prove or disprove that.

Argh.

Given the time difference between reading the two (not too much for an adult, but for me it's my entire emotional maturation to date), I don't think I can honestly say either one. L/W affected me more, but I hadn't read many books before then in which the heroes either die or must sacrifice something HUGE to win. I'm more used to it by now, and being a fan of happy endings, anything with such sacrifice will .

Here Lies Arthur

Author: Philip Reeve
Rating:
Reading Level: 5th to 8th grade

Pages: 352
Publisher: Scholastic
Edition:Hardcover, 2008

This is a book for the Arthurian Legends enthusiasts, and I happen to be one. Having read many re-imagined Arthurian tales, I was completely delighted by this fresh take on the “true story” behind the legends. Reeve’s conceit is a fabulous one: it is all about the power of stories, storytelling, and story tellers. The title alone is worthy of much examination, with its double meanings of "lying dead" and "telling lies."

At the beginning, I was perplexed by the switches between past tense and present tenses. Slowly, I realized the why and when of such passages. This is a meta-fiction in a slightly different form and it really works for me.

I imagine that, though, this might not be as much fun for some others. If you don’t find piecing together pieces of a complex story puzzle (who’s who and which event eventually “became” which well known tale,) then, you won’t be having as much fun as I do. If you are not usually a sucker for stories that “discuss” the underlying philosophical elements of story-telling or humans’ needs for such elaboration, then, you probably won’t like this book as much as I do. And if you are not totally loving the meta-fiction genre, then you definitely will not enjoy it as I do. Also, if you only want a story with magic and valor, (that’s what I expected, before reading the actual text) then, you definitely will be disappointed. This is one Arthurian tale, featuring heavily the prototype character or Merlin (Myrddin) that definitely has NO magic whatsoever!

What’s even more impressive with this tale is Reeve’s ability to actually tell a cohesive story, with a highly believable and admirable main character, set against a convincing backdrop. (Although one might say that the language of the telling is fairly contemporary 21st century, it is to be excused because the teller could be anyone in any time – everything is apparently made-up anyway.)

To say that I am highly impressed is to put it lightly. I hope many others (especially middle school readers) will find this an intelligent and satisfying read!

View all my goodreads reviews.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Through the Gates and Beyond

Author: Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan
Rating:
Reading Level: 4th to 6th grade

Pages: 50
Publisher: Roaring Brook/Neal Porter
Edition: Hardcover, 2008

I am speechless and teary-eyed, reading and having finished reading this thrilling little biography of Christo and Jeanne Claude and of their art. Greenberg and Jordan did not disappoint -- as always, their words are as vivacious and artistic as the artists they chronicle. One cannot help but being completely infected by the passion from all of those involved: the artists and the biographers.

And to this one, since it is something I deeply experienced, with friends, students, and family, my emotional reaction is even stronger. Between me and my husband, we took about 500 photos -- both under a bright blue sky and in the snow, with the gates winding around and the fabric flapping wildly in the wind. In fact, when it was time for my then-kindergarten daughter to do her "hundred day" project, she chose to draw a tree with branches and then glue 100 miniature pictures from our collection as leaves -- a Fall Tree, as she called it, because these were orange leaves. The artwork is still hung next to my desk at work.

(Hmm... I was slightly perturbed why there have not been more pictures of the Gates in this book, especially of the Gates when they were "in action and in motion"?)

The meticulous and artistic design of the book itself also echoes the free and playful spirit of Christo and Jeanne Claude. I applaud all who worked on this book! Thank you for a precious gift.

And I simply cannot help but posting a couple of the snowy pictures (the blue sky ones are on a DVD somewhere else...) -- to commemorate a fabulous time in New York City:






And of course, my friend Monica Edinger had her class document the process on a web page. Go HERE to see!

And here's a link to many more Central Park Gates Pictures by searching google images of simple: Central Park Gates.

View all my goodreads reviews.

The Unnameables

Author: Ellen Booraem
Rating:
Reading Level: 4th to 6th

Pages: 318
Publisher: Harcourt
Edition: Hardcover, 2008

This is an allegory that works on many levels, made rich with well-portrayed and multi-faceted characters. Which, I guess, renders it not a true allegory since the characters are not all confined to single traits or symbolic equivalents. At the very beginning, I was dubious: thinking that the symbolism and "names" are all too transparent and too easy to predict. And yet, with the blusterous arrival of the Goatman and then all the tangential but significant side trails and events, the story drew me in and kept me highly interested and entertained. I bated my breath, hoping for a satisfying and well paced ending, and was not let down.

I very much appreciate the rich imagery, the successful world-building, and the economy of the text -- also its gentle humor in the friendly way these simple folks behave. I'm also so pleased that the Unnameable acts (what one might easily interpret as "art" or "craft") are given a made-up name of "runyuin" (which has the word "ruin" embedded -- I wonder if this is even intentional) so that the interpretations can be surprising from minds not as set as mine. I can see how this book might be of great use in a 4th-6th grade classroom since it is both well-crafted and can generate good conversations!

View all my goodreads reviews.

Swords: An Artist's Devotion

Author: Ben Boos
Rating:
Reading Level: for all readers

Pages: 96
Publisher: Candlewick
Edition: Hardcover, 2008


I couldn't believe my eyes, flipping through page after page of beautifully rendered swords from many time periods and many cultures, how visually perfect this book is! No matter whom I showed this book to (HS students, MS kids, other adults) - the reaction was the same: an astounded delight at this Feast of the Artistry of Beautiful and Elegant Swords. I'm glad the inclusion of Asian and African swords and their histories (although would have like a more balanced proportion in treatment...)

This makes a great holiday gift for any child who enjoys this topic. The general and specific notes on various types, their usages, their histories, and those who used such and such swords are easy to read and absorb. But one definitely doesn't need to read all the text to enjoy the book.

I am so happy of this book's existence!

View all my reviews on Goodreads.

The Graveyard Book

Author: Neil Gaiman
Rating:
Reading Level: 4th grade and up

Pages: 320
Publisher: HarperCollins
Edition: Hardcover, 2008

This one definitely reached deeply into my heart. Love the world building. The Graveyard became a "residence" for my soul for the duration of reading/listening to the book -- a real place where my mind can wander. I could picture the sights, the light, the details, both described in the book and not described, undefined. My mind filled in all the corners and expanses and turned that world into a tangible space. Even after the storytelling is over, The Graveyard remains in my heart. Now it's as real and as cozy (if a cold graveyard can be cozy) a place as my Library' Reading Room.

I think the short story format works really well. Each "story" has a satisfying conclusion. Each advances the larger tale forward, too. Bod's maturation is expertly handled. And then, the conclusion of the entire tale is bittersweet, and yet not disappointing. (Oh, I guess I was sad that Bod might lose all the ghostly skills he possessed as a child and slightly mad of Gaiman for that -- why can't he still straddle the two worlds, even when he chooses to venture out into the world? My mind does not wish to accept that conclusion so I am making up other adventures for Bod that requires him to go into the other realms, to fade, and to haunt!)

I was shocked but really appreciated how Gaiman handles Bod and Scarlet's necessary parting. Keeping us readers on our toes, always. (And that little scene where Scarlet hugs Bod... so achingly revealing: since the age of two, he has not really been hugged, by real flesh and bone.)

And there is the rich imagination, the host of distinctive and adoring characters, a most chilling villain, and all that witty humor. How could I not love the book to pieces?

View all my Goodreads reviews.

Thoreau at Walden

Author: John Porcellino (illus.)
Rating:
Reading Level: 4th and up

Pages: 112
Publisher: Hyperion
Edition: Paperback, 2008

To say the least, this book is "interesting" -- presenting some of Thoreau's writing and ideas in cartoon format -- there is not much innovative panel design but the color scheme, the panel progression, the choices of images all work harmoniously together -- which fit very nicely with Thoreau's sentiments. I especially appreciate those wordless panels -- the one that he and the owl looked at each other and then went back to do their "own businesses" without further disturbance. So peaceful and effectively illustrating the essence of his existence at the time.

The extensive back matter will make this deceptively simple book "useful" for an older audience (middle school? early high school?)

View all my reviews on Goodreads.

Brooklyn Bridge

Author: Karen Hesse
Rating:
Reading Level: 6th and up

Pages: 240
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Edition: Hardcover, 2008

I did not know that this would have been so good. I did not expect that I would have loved it so much and that I could not stop reading it and pretty much finishing it in one "fell swoop." It seems Dickensian, but that might not be a fair comparison because it is actually quite sparing and except for the intentional repetitive phrasing in those dream-like segments about the children "under the bridge" (and so effective, those poetic passages.. *sigh*), there is not that much repeated sentiment. I was drawn in, felt like I lived side by side with Joseph, and often was surprised at the richness and the vividness of the world I "saw" through the text. It doesn't hurt that I (and my family) adore the sense of place and history and the bustling life of Coney Island.

I wasn't sure at first about the vignettes of the children under the bridge but found them so mesmerizing and expanding of the experience of the turn-of-century Brooklyn - not only those who "made it" but of those who struggled and failed... I imagine that I'll remember Joseph's story for a long time, but I will never forget the Radiant Boy's, or Mattie's, or Otto's, or the story of May who almost died from eating the poisonous meal, twice.

It's an intricate tapestry and an "important tale" that is beautifully woven in the hand of artisan.


View all my reviews on Goodreads.

The Diamond of Drury Lane

Author: Julia Golding
Rating:
Reading Level: 4th to 7th grade

Pages: 424
Publisher: Roaring Brook
Edition: Hardcover, 2008

This is a winner! (Literally, too, since it did win the Smarties prize.)

Cat (Catherine) Royal is a charming, vivid, endearing, and plucky heroine. Readers really care about what happens to her and her friends. The host of friends are also drawn with details and depth. One can practically hear them speak and see them act and react to Cat's adventures. The clever device of having Cat being immersed and specially educated in the backstage of a theater gives credit to Cat's deft hand at recounting events and using words above her station in life. For example, on p. 89: (I cast around for some suitably Shakespearean language to impress them, not having in truth a clue what I was talking about) "the wickedness of treason, the sting of revenge, and the noble disinterestedness of love, all set behind the scenes."

The fast pace, the string of new obstacles, the many friendships between the characters, the gradual and satisfying unraveling of the truth about the Diamond, the breezy and energetic prose -- all contribute to make a completely enjoyable reading experience. I especially appreciate how Cat got into bigger and bigger trouble and deeper and deeper danger as the story moves along so that toward the end of the tale, you are really anxious to see how she gets out of this last huge scrape.

View all my reviews.

Rapunzel's Revenge

Author: Shannon and Dean Hale; illus. by Nathan Hale

Rating:
Reading Level: 4th - 7th

Pages: 144
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Edition: Paperback/Graphic Novel, 2008

It did not disappoint! Yeah! I had so much fun reading and looking at this book and its illustrations. Shannon Hale's telling, even with reduced amount of text due to the graphic novel nature of the book, is crisp and humorous, and with certain subtlety that amuses me, the adult reader, and yet not difficult to appreciate for young readers. (I had a 10-year-old girl today reading it and she absolutely loved the book -- then she found out that this is by the same author who gave her the pleasure of GOOSE GIRL and PRINCESS ACADEMY. She was thrilled!) The wild wild west setting is cleverly executed. I wonder how others react to the the references to the Native American cultures and characters -- personally I thought it's done very sensitively and much of it is conveyed visually -- so I also wonder how all that was communicated between the authors and the artist. What a fun tall tale we've got us here. I am so pleased!


View all my reviews.

Bird Lake Moon

Author: Kevin Henkes
Rating:
Reading Level: 4th, 5th, 6th

Pages: 179
Publisher: Greenwillow
Edition: Hardcover, 2008

Henkes is such a craftsman. I can appreciate all the skills and thoughts and wonderful passages that he puts into this and many other titles: all of them high quality works! But my realization today is that I don't particularly love the Impressionistic artworks. I have seen and "understood" the "Water Lilies" of Manet, for example -- hey, I even visited and was thrilled by Monet's garden at Giverny. And I understand how impressive the techniques are to combine Just Right those small patches of colors to capture light and mood and impressions. But, when you stand back and take a look at a painting of a bridge or a pond of water lilies -- they are a bridge and a pond of water lilies: it does not excite me. Bird Lake Moon is sparkling at many points, mysterious as well, and a young coming-of-age story done poetically. Many "patches" of beautiful language and revelation are combined just right to capture this significant summer in two little boys' lives. But, this is not a story that took me to another plane. I am never a lover of representations of objects in art. Maybe because I want someone to surprise me, to make me laugh or to awe me, or to perplex me (can perplex be used this way?): so, give me Cubism, Surrealism, or even Post-modernism, and I am thrilled -- finally, I understand myself and how I can categorize a bunch of books as impressionistic and explain why I am not entirely taken by them!


View all my reviews.

Sunrise Over Fallujah

Author: Walter Dean Myers
Rating:
Reading Level: 6th, 7th, 8th, YA

Pages: 290
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Edition: Hardcover, 2008

It took me a while to read this one -- in between, I finished quite a few other books -- my opinions of the story and the telling wavered like a pendulum: sometimes I felt detached, bored and other times my heart almost stopped and I did not want to read on for fear of what was to come in the story, to the soldiers, to the "enemies." It was at times, predictable, like the last death of the story -- you did see it coming, somewhat. However, it did not diminish its impact and the manner of the soldier's death elevated the book for me -- the last letter was so real. So my final "verdict"? This book feels "real" -- the mundane parts are mundane, because that is what an ordinary life is and we are seeing just an ordinary young person's life, in an unusual setting. It is also real when things get to be so surreal that not the character, nor the reader can really absorb or interpret what's going on. The emotion is true and raw and the manner of telling matches the character. So, all in all, an excellent book about a timely and important topic.

View all my reviews.

Keeping Score

Author: Linda Sue Park
Rating:
Reading Level: 5th to 7th grade

Pages: 202
Publisher: Clarion
Edition: Hardcover, 2008
Keeping Score by Linda Sue Park

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
It does not take much for me to cry over characters and events in books. However, often I feel manipulated and eventually resentful because the author did something to "make" me cry for the wrong reasons. Not this one. My tears (they came toward the end in several places) were well worth the shedding. I got to really admire Maggie and completely believed in all her feelings: the indignation of how her prayers and sacrifices did not work out the way she had hoped for; the anger fits; the holding on to the hope; her compassion... Thank goodness that she is not perfect! But, so admirable and a character that readers might feel being able to emulate. I enjoyed reading the whole art of baseball score keeping and how Park weaves the baseball stories with the Korean War stories and the personal growth stories all into one neatly wrapped package. The fervor for the game is definitely palpable and contagious.


View all my reviews.