Book to Screen Readalikes

If you got your Winter 2018 School Library Journal this month (or last month?), you may have seen my face smiling out at you!

If not, hop on over to SLJ.com to read my readalikes for a handful of recent and upcoming book-to-screen film and TV adaptations. Connecting media to books can be a GREAT gateway to reader's advisory, especially for kids who might not consider themselves "readers". I always, always think that a kid who self-describes as "not a reader" just hasn't met the right book yet.

As I read back over this article, I do notice a problem with it... TOO FEW DIVERSE AND INCLUSIVE CHOICES. I promise I've noticed, I'm calling myself out on it, and I'm working on it: the next one will be better.

Tween Readers' Advisory and Programming at #PLA2014

Renata Sancken and I before presenting at PLA 2014!

Yesterday, at the PLA Conference in Indianapolis, my teen librarian Renata Sancken and I presented a session on tween readers' advisory and programming. It was a lot to cram into one session, but we had a great crowd with lots of great questions and it was all amazing and fun!

If you were there or if you were not there, you can access our handouts on the PLA Conference website: http://2014.placonference.org/programs/ Our session is titled Betwixt and Be-Tween and was presented on Thursday, March 13 at 4:15 (that should help you find it).

I live in massive fear that people will not actually go and download the handouts, which you SHOULD because our behind-the-scenes (i.e. home with tiny babies!) presenters, Kate Conklin and Sarah Bean Thompson (of GreenBeanTeenQueen), put together a MASSIVE readalikes handout with readalikes for tons of the series and books that are super popular with tweens right now. Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Warriors, 39 Clues, I Survived... it's all there.

Thanks to everyone who came out! And please feel free to contact us (contact info..... on the handouts!!) any time. We'd love to hear from you!

A Soldier's Secret

A Soldier's Secret: The Incredible True Story of Sarah Edmonds, a Civil War Hero by Marissa Moss. Grades 5 and up. Amulet Books, 2012. 387 pages. Review copy provided by publisher for Young Hoosier Book Award consideration. This review reflects only my own opinion, not necessarily the opinion of the committee!

Plot summary from book jacket:

Frank Thompson isn't your ordinary Union Army soldier. He's also a nurse, tending to wounded soldiers on the battlefield... a spy, crossing Rebel lines and risking his life to find out what the enemy has planned... a mail carrier, delivering letters, foodstuffs, and news from home to his fellow soldiers. But Frank has a secret that could cost him his place in his beloved army. And maybe even his life. 

Frank Thompson is actually Sarah Emma Edmonds.

So, are you a reader who likes a historical novel that you can really sink your teeth into? Or maybe you're a reader who loves action-packed battle scenes that keep you on the edge of your seat? If you're either or both, you should definitely pick up this book.

Based on the life of Sarah Emma Edmonds, A Soldier's Secret is a great blend of historical detail and war action wrapped up in a character that you'll be rooting for throughout. The pacing varies to great effect as the reader is given meaty bits rich with historical detail interspersed with faster-paced war action.

This is a great choice for Women's History Month or for tweens who are looking for books with a kick-butt heroine!

Readalikes:

For a nonfiction take on the same subject matter, hand 'em I'll Pass for Your Comrade: Women Soldiers in the Civil War by Anita Silvey. This book features the true stories of many women who disguised themselves as men to fight in the Civil War.

If readers like the action and kick-butt heroine in a historical setting, try Bloody Jack by L.A. Meyer or Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein.

If it's the rich Civil War setting that they like, I'd try The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick or Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis.

A Soldier's Secret is on shelves now!

The False Princess

The False Princess by Eilis O'Neal. Grades 6 and up. Egmont USA, 2011. 320 pages. Review copy provided by my local library. 

Princess Nalia's days are spent in study and reading, occasionally exploring the castle grounds with her best friend Kiernan. Until suddenly Nalia's life is turned upside-down. She is informed that she's not actually the real princess, but a stand-in, chosen to thwart a dooming prophecy made about the princess on her birth. Nalia's real name is Sinda. She must leave the castle and start a new life with her only living relative, an oddball aunt in a tiny backwater town. 

Sinda is crushed by the loss of the only life she's ever known, but soon more important issues arise. And Sinda finds herself caught up in a deadly mission to protect the true heir to the throne.

First of all, Sinda is a character you'll love to love. She's caring and very much imperfect, and when her life is turned completely upside down (which happens more than once), she perseveres. Sinda finds a way. She may not be the most coordinated. She may even be timid and shy, but Sinda's not giving up. And she grows so much throughout the book that it was really a pleasure to see her coming in to her own. It's not necessarily a story that's focused on character development (there's a lot going on, plot-wise), but when you reach the end you can really see how much Sinda grew and changed throughout the course of the novel.

The plot is twisty-turny, but never in a way that felt implausible. And I actually never saw anything coming (I maybe thought I did, but I never actually did!). Everything fit together and threads started in the beginning of the book come back around at the end of the book. The intricate plot makes for a very rich story and plot points were tight, making it a satisfying story, too. 

There's definitely a bit of romance, and kind of a swoony one, too. You'll definitely be rooting for those two crazy kids to get together, but it's all very PG. This is a great choice for tween fantasy fans, particularly those who enjoy an adventure story and some romance. 

Readalikes: The first series that came to mind as I was reading was the Song of the Lioness Quartet (starting with Alanna: The First Adventure) by Tamora Pierce. The political details of Tortall and the strong female narrator may appeal to readers of The False Princess. 

I'd also recommend Graceling, Fire, and Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore for their intricate political details. Particularly Bitterblue, which is a story about a young queen coming into her own. Bitterblue's journey is similar to what Sinda goes through and the volume can stand alone, although readers won't want to miss Cashore's other titles and Bitterblue is probably richer for having read the first two books. 

Silhouetted by the Blue

Silhouetted by the Blue by Traci L. Jones. Grades 5-8. Farrar, Strauss, & Giroux, 2011. 200 pages.

"Take care of my boys, baby girl. Take care of them till I get home." That's what Serena's mom told her before she left on a business trip... but she was in a car accident and never came home. Now Serena's trying to deal with her grief while she keeps up with everything else. Memories of her mother lurk everywhere, but Serena doesn't have the luxury of wallowing in her sadness. Instead, she has to pick up her little brother from school, do laundry, attempt to finish her mound of homework, and memorize lines for the school play. She wishes more than anything that her dad would get out of bed and take charge, but her father's sleeping and crying all the time these days.

Serena's dad has "had the blue" (as her little brother would say) from time to time, but before, her mom was always around to take care of him. Can Serena see them through until her dad feels better or will her dad's blue swallow them all this time?

This is a beautiful story about a likeable middle schooler who's feeling very lost. It's fitting that the play Serena is starring in is The Wiz, a story about a girl who's lost in a very strange place, just wanting to go home. Serena wants to go home, but the home she knew - where she had happy Friday night dinners with mom, dad, and brother Henry - doesn't exist anymore and no one in her family knows how to move on. Art plays a big part in this story, and it's not just Serena's singing and acting. Her father is a children's book illustrator and Serena's friend Elijah is an artist, as well. The "blue" of depression is saturating Serena's life as she realizes that she can't count on her dad to pick up Henry from school or even to buy toilet paper.

Periodically lightening the mood is Serena's blossoming friendship with Elijah, an artistic boy in her Spanish class who keeps telling her sweet things in Spanish. It's obvious he cares for her, and as their friendship grows into an innocent something-more, moments talking to Elijah become bright spots in her gray, dreary days. I wasn't entirely convinced by the dialog - the occasional slang felt a bit forced - but I really enjoyed knowing the characters. Traci L. Jones ratchets up the tension as Serena's dad continues a downward spiral and Serena begins to search desperately for help.

When I was in middle school, I loved tearjerkers. Give me any Lurlene MacDaniel book, the more melodrama the better. Silhouetted by Blue is a beautiful book that's tween-appropriate but a little on the edgy side. I'd hand it to tweens who are wanting sad stories or edgy books but who aren't ready for some of the more mature content found in many edgy YA books.

Silhouetted in Blue is on shelves now!

Audiobook Review: The Other Half of My Heart

The Other Half of My Heart by Sundee Frazier, read by Bahni Turpin. Grades 4-6. Listening Library, 2011. 7 hours and 55 minutes. Review copy provided by my local library.

Biracial twin sisters Keira and Minerva don't look anything alike. Keira is dark-skinned like her African-American mother and Minnie has blue eyes and light skin like her white father. Growing up in a small Washington State town, Keira is the one who always feels different and sometimes wrong. But when their grandmother insists on entering both girls in the Miss Black Pearl Preteen of America program in her hometown of Raleigh, NC, Minni will discover what it's like to be the one who doesn't fit in. And seeing the world from Keira's eyes will help her find the voice she so desperately wants to shout down injustice.

I love the premise, but the story fell a little flat for me. I felt like it was slow going at the beginning without many opportunities for Bahni Turpin's excellent narration to shine. When the twins arrived in Raleigh, Turpin's voice for Grandmother Johnson brought me back into the story and that's what I liked best about the whole book. It slowed down for me again at the end when Grandmother Johnson wasn't as prevalent. And I think that shows you what I thought of the book overall, that even with this fabulous premise, the most interesting character was an adult.

There were things about the book that I liked. I liked that it explores issues of race in our supposedly "post-racial" society. The book clearly shows that racism still exists. It's great to see biracial protagonists and the book really did make me think about race and ethnicity as something that's deeper than appearances. Even though Minnie looked white, she was just as much black as she was white. And even though Keira looked black, she was just as much white as she was black. My community's home to a large number of biracial kids and they need books that reflect their experiences, so keep 'em coming!

I think where the book fell flat was in the character of Minni. The book was about her struggle to find her voice, to know and claim her own black heritage and to feel and understand racism. However, even with all that development going on, Minni was still the most boring character in the book. I never connected with her, never felt her frustration at not being able to speak out for what she believed (even though Martin Luther King, Jr. is her hero). Sundee Frazier tells us that Minni is all about social justice, but I never felt like that was shown to me.

Like I said, Grandmother Johnson (a no-nonsense, retired Southern teacher) was the most interesting character to me. I, like Minni, was fascinated with her stories of being the first black teacher in a white school in the South. Keira was also interesting to me with her passion for fashion and her exuberant, outgoing personality. I feel like some plot threads were dropped with Keira, though. It's mentioned that she has dyslexia and struggles with reading, but nothing more is said about it after the middle of the book.

Bahni Turpin's excellent narration saved this book for me. I would have put it down right about the spot where Grandmother Johnson comes in, but Turpin so brought Grandmother Johnson to life for me that I was intrigued and kept listening. However, there's not much opportunity elsewhere for Turpin to do what she does best and use voiced narration to bring characters to life.

I'd recommend this book to tweens with a special interest in the subject matter. It's a nice, clean read for a true tween audience - upper elementary and younger middle school. The book also has tie-ins to the Civil Rights movement and would make for interesting discussions about race and racism in today's society. Especially consider purchasing this one where you've got an audience demanding books with biracial protagonists.

Lee at Reading with my Ears has another review of the audiobook.

The Other Half of My Heart is on shelves now!

Same Sun Here

Same Sun Here by Silas House and Neela Vaswani. Grades 5-8. Candlewick, February 2012. 297 pages. Reviewed from ARC received at ALA Midwinter.


When New Yorker Meena and Kentucky boy River sign up for a pen pal program, they have no idea that they're each finding a kindred spirit. Who would have thought that two 12-year-olds from such different backgrounds could have so much in common? Meena was born in India and moved to New York City to be with her family when she was nine. River has lived in a tiny town in Eastern Kentucky his entire life. As the two write letters back and forth, they discover that they share a love of mountains, they both have a special relationship with their grandmothers, and there are political issues in their hometowns that could have disastrous effects on both of them.

Neela Vaswani and Silas House create two characters that have strong, identifiable voices. I loved getting to know these kids as they wrote back and forth to each other. As Meena and River write letters, they promise to be their own true selves with each other. This leads to the sort of frank discussion about cultural differences and gender differences that might never happen with a face-to-face friendship. The reader can see both Meena and River growing as they learn from each other and as they teach each other. And since they're each being open and honest, they quickly form a strong bond. Even though they're very different, both Meena and River face discrimination because of the way they look and talk.

I found it really interesting that the book explores political issues affecting each of the protagonists, and the issues are dealt with in a very kid-friendly way. We see River dealing with mountaintop removal (a form of coal mining that completely decimates mountains and the communities that sit on top of them). His grandmother is an activist and River gets involved in some of the protests. Meena is dealing with the threat of eviction because her family illegally sublets a rent-controlled apartment. The landlord lets the apartments fall into disrepair in hopes of getting rid of those with rent-control, so he can get new tenants and charge them more. Although Meena is frank about her family living in a not-quite-legal situation, we also see that although her family works very hard, it's still a struggle for them to survive in New York.

This is a story with a lot of heart and two characters that kids will identify with and learn from. As far as audience, I think it straddles the gap between Andrew Clements's Extra Credit (about an American girl sharing letters with a boy from Afghanistan) and Valerie Zenatti's A Bottle in the Gaza Sea (about an Israeli girl sharing letters with a Palestinian boy).

Same Sun Here will be on shelves February 14!

The Lions of Little Rock

The Lions of Little Rock by Kristin Levine. Grades 5-8. Putnam Juvenile, January 2012. 297 pages. Reviewed from ARC provided by publisher.

Twelve year old Marlee doesn't really speak. Oh, she's fine talking to her family, especially her older sister who has always looked out for her, but when it comes to people outside the family... Marlee tends to freeze up, certain she's going to say something stupid. Maybe that's why she's been stuck with such a snotty best friend for all these years. But all that changes when Marlee meets a new girl in her class. Liz is unlike any girl Marlee's met and she even helps Marlee find the courage to talk in front of the whole class. But when Liz suddenly disappears from school and rumors circulate that Liz is colored and was passing for white in order to go to a better school, Marlee must figure out where she stands.

And in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1958 (the year the high schools were closed because of the controversy over integration), there doesn't seem to be much solid ground.

Many people probably know about the Little Rock Nine - nine African American students who were the first to integrate white schools in Little Rock, Arkansas. You can even read firsthand accounts of that tumultuous year in books like Warriors Don't Cry by Melba Patillo Beals and A Mighty Long Way by Carlotta Walls LaNier. But what happened after that? Little Rock was a town divided. Schools were shut down. The state government disagreed with the federal government. How did it feel to live in such an uncertain place at such an uncertain time?

Kristin Levine dives in and shows us that world through Marlee's eyes. I'm always one for a historical book that shows me times and events with which I was previously unfamiliar. In the case of The Lions of Little Rock, it was the character of Marlee who drew me in first. She's painfully shy, and although she has a lot of thoughts, she has trouble expressing them. She loves math and dreams of being a rocket scientist someday, an aspiration that's not exactly typical for girls of her age at the time. And she loves her family, which can make things all the more confusing since her father is in favor of integration and her mother is against it.

For Marlee, Liz is a saving grace. She's a good and loyal friend. She doesn't mind that Marlee finds it hard to speak at first, and Liz helps her to find her voice. Marlee can't bear the thought of losing her friend after Liz stops coming to school, but she must also realize that to continue to see Liz is to put Liz's life in danger.

The Lions of Little Rock is about Marlee finding her voice, but it's just as much about an entire town, an entire people finding their voices and speaking up for what is right.

Kristin Levine includes an author's note telling how she came to write about this "lost year" and suggesting resources for further reading. This book definitely has classroom applications and would make a great readaloud when discussing civil rights or black history. Readalikes include Yankee Girl by Mary Ann Rodman and A Friendship for Today by Patricia McKissack.

Read more reviews at Book Nut, Everyday Reading, and The Fourth Musketeer. Also check out Margo's interview with Kristin Levine at The Fourth Musketeer.

The Lions of Little Rock is on shelves now!

Happenstance Found

Happenstance Found (The Books of Umber #1) by P.W. Catanese. Grades 4-8. Aladdin (S&S), 2009. 342 pages. Review copy provided by my local library.

Happenstance has no memory of his life when he's found by Lord Umber in an underground chamber. He has mysterious powers and he knows he's to play some part in a series of important events, but he doesn't know his own real name or where his mother is or why he's deathly afraid of water. All he knows is that an evil man is after him. And if Hap can escape, it might mean saving the world.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book! I was all ready to write it off as Not My Thing, but then I opened it and started reading and... found myself devouring 100 pages in a single sitting. The action starts off right away with a giant killer worm attacking Hap and his new friends and it pretty much doesn't let up until the end. At first, it's a little disconcerting to be plunged into a story with no background (since Hap can't even remember what his real name is). But the reader's going through what Hap's going through - discovering new things about Hap as he himself is discovering them and Lord Umber is explaining the world to him.

I found Hap to be an intriguing character. I wanted to know more about him and his special powers and where he came from and what role he was to play. And then, as I got to know Lord Umber, I wanted to know more about Lord Umber and where he came from, as well. Because Lord Umber knows things... In this magical world, Lord Umber knows Beatles songs and pizza. What's that all about? It's intriguing, is what I'm saying.*

Also, it's obviously the first in a trilogy, but the story is resolved nicely while still nudging kids to look for the next book.

So:

Action that starts right away and ebbs & flows naturally throughout the book +
Intriguing characters that I loved getting to know =
A fantastic read in a genre that I didn't really think I liked (shows what I know)

I would hand this in a heartbeat to kids who loved fantasy-adventure series like Fablehaven or Pendragon. And I'm putting the entire series on my next order because I can already think of a handful of boys (and one staff member) who are going to eat these books up. It's a good, solid tween read. I'm ordering it for my Children's Department, but the Lord Umber character (who's older - an adult, but a young one) extends the appeal into the YA range, as well.

Happenstance Found is on shelves now, as are Dragon Games (Books of Umber #2) and The End of Time (Books of Umber #3/conclusion of the trilogy).

*Also, in my head, Lord Umber's a total hottie...

Tweens Night @ the Library

Ah, the tweens.

Not really children anymore, but not quite teenagers... What do we do with the tweens?

Well, my library just hosted our first Tweens Night at the Library!

At my library, the Children's Room serves birth through roughly fifth grade and it's located downstairs. Books for 6th-12th grade are housed upstairs in the Teen Scene. Where it gets a little sticky is that transition period from the Children's Department to the Teen Scene. Middle grade readers may start venturing into the teen section on their own because they see a series they like is shelved there. Sometimes this makes mom and dad a little uncomfortable, thinking that their ten-year-old may be exposed to some subject matter he or she is not ready for. And sometimes the kids are reluctant to leave what they know and start looking in a new area.

To help ease the transition for both parents and kids, our teen librarian R and I hosted Tweens Night at the Library. Here's what we did:

First of all, we publicized at all the middle schools as we were doing our Summer Reading Club visits last week. We also sent out publicity through all of our normal channels. I definitely want to do more Tweens Nights, so I'm thinking we may create a list that parents can sign up to be notified when we'll be having our next one. We ended up having 13 tweens, along with their parents, which is a nice turnout for us.

We started up in the Teen Scene and R gave a tour of the area, pointing out the series, graphic novels, fiction, nonfiction, new books, and booklists that are there. Kids who have been using the Children's Room for so long that they know where all their favorite books are shelved now have a better understanding of how the Teen Scene is laid out.

R also talked about the Teen Scene Initiative (TSI), our teen advisory board. We emphasized that this is an easy and fun way for kids to earn service hours and to help us make the library a more awesome place for teens. And also, we always have food. Kids can join TSI starting in 6th grade, so we want to encourage them to get involved.

After the tour and the spiel about TSI, I talked a little bit about how to pick out good books in the teen section. I reminded everyone that we collect books for 6th-12th graders here, so not every book is going to be appropriate for every age. There is some edgier stuff in there, BUT there are also a lot of books that are just right for their age, too.

We shared with them my list of Great Tween Reads as a starting point to some of the great tween books available. I also mentioned the Young Hoosier Book Award nominees, which are different each year. We have some of those in the teen area and some of them in the children's room and they make great choices for kids in 5th-6th grade.

Of course, you practically have to pay me NOT to booktalk, so I shared brief booktalks of some of my favorite tween reads:

Heat by Mike Lupica
Gimme a Call by Sarah Mlynowski
Airborn by Kenneth Oppel
The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman
Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon & Dean Hale, illustrated by Nathan Hale
Chasing Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson
Written in Bone by Sally M. Walker
Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

All of them were snatched up after I finished, which is the best compliment a booktalking librarian can receive. I actually received a wonderful compliment from one of the moms, too. She said, "You picked out good books!" And when I told the parents that there's nothing wrong with adults reading teen books, this mom pointed out that reading the books your kids are reading might entice them to actually talk to you!

That is exactly what I wanted our parents to get out of this program - to be reassured that there were appropriate books for their kids in the teen section and that they should be involved in their kids' reading. Of course, throughout the evening, R and I both emphasized over and over that librarians are always here to help parents and kids pick out books that will be appropriate and enjoyable for them. I always tell them that if nobody asked us any questions, we'd be out of a job and that would be very sad for me, so please come ask me questions!

After the book talks, we led the kids downstairs to the Small Meeting Room where we had board games, a make-a-book craft, snacks, and our Wii set up. We let the kids chow down and go to town with the games and crafts. We also did sign-ups for the teen Summer Reading Club. The entire program took about 30-40 minutes and then we let the kids hang out for about 30 more minutes before closing down shop.

All in all, it was a very enjoyable evening with some great kids and parents. It was gratifying to me to see some of the kids I knew from the Children's Room being interested in "moving up" and I hope that everyone left with an idea of some good books to check out. I also hope they will all join TSI and come back for our programs this summer. ;)

Tweens Night is definitely something I'd like to repeat. I'm thinking I'd like to offer it two or three times a year, maybe just after school starts, during Winter Break, and right before school lets out for the summer. I think these are kind of "transition-y" times when kids might be looking for something to read. It was not a difficult program to put together and I think it really served its purpose.

What are you doing to serve tweens at your library?

A Long Walk to Water

A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park. Grades 5-8. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010. 115 pages. Reviewed from ARC snagged at BEA. **This review reflects only my own opinion, not necessarily the opinion of the YHBA Committee!!**


Salva was only eleven years old when rebel soldiers marched into his Sudanese village and he had to run away from them into the bush. Alone, without friends or family, Salva faced starvation, exhaustion, and hungry predators as he walked with other refugees to a refugee camp in Ethiopia. After living in the camp for several years, the camp was closed and Salva was forced to face crocodiles and gunfire as he and other refugees crossed the river back into Sudan. Then Salva led 1500 "lost boys" south in hopes of finding shelter at refugee camps in Kenya. It took them a year and a half to arrive and Salva's journey did not stop there.

Based on a true story, A Long Walk to Water is a moving and fast-paced story of war, determination, and hope.

I am now kicking myself for waiting so long to pick up this book. I absolutely loved it.

Linda Sue Park weaves two stories together - the story of Salva's journey (starting in 1983) and the story of a modern-day Sudanese girl named Nya who spends eight hours every day walking back and forth from the pond fetching water for her family. (And that's just the rainy season - it's even worse in the dry season.) These two stories are interconnected in ways that are revealed to the reader near the end of the book.

But more than that, each story is about a life-or-death journey. It's the kind of life that few American kids can imagine, but Linda Sue Park weaves a spell and brings the reader right into the story. Salva is walking to escape being forced into fighting on either side of the war. Nya is walking because there is no other way to get water. Salva's walking towards the metaphorical water and Nya's journey is more literal, but just as important.

The characters drew me in, the action drew me in, and knowing that the book was based on actual events made me that much more interested in the story and in Salva's plight.

This is a book that will raise childrens' consciousness and start some great discussions. While some parts of the book were fictionalized, the story is closely based on the real life of Salva Dut and he includes a note in the back of the book. Linda Sue Park also includes an author's note about her research for the story and she includes information about Salva's organization, Water for Sudan.

Obviously since this is a book about war, there is some violence that happens, but the overall feel of the book is hopeful and inspiring, rather than edgy. Pair this one with Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate or even something like Wangari's Trees of Peace by Jeanette Winter. And use it for your book discussions, buy it for your classroom... You'd better believe that I will be booktalking this one every chance I get!!

Check out more reviews at Libri Dilectio, The Fourth Musketeer, The Happy Nappy Bookseller, and Presenting Lenore. 

A Long Walk to Water is on shelves now!

The Dreamer

The Dreamer by Pam Munoz Ryan, illustrated by Peter Sis.  Grades 4-8.  Scholastic Press, 2010.  372 pages.  Review copy provided by publisher.

Neftali is a boy who sees beauty and intrigue in ordinary things.
Raindrops become music, plinking on the zinc roof.
A beetle on a tree is a jewel of the forest.
An abandoned boot carries with it infinite stories of where it might have walked.

But although Neftali has a gift of putting words down on paper, his father will not tolerate this "foolishness".  Can he, who is sometimes too weak and sickly to get out of bed, stand up to his father?  Stand up for his dreams?

The Dreamer is a story about a boy who couldn't give up his way of seeing the world.  A boy who became one of the most well-known and influential writers of his generation.  A boy who became the poet Pablo Neruda.

Everything in this book comes together to create something that's much bigger than the sum of its parts.  Pam Munoz Ryan's prose is fittingly poetic.  She describes Neftali's Chilean home so that not only did I feel like I was there, but I felt like I was seeing everything through Neftali's eyes.  I could see the beauty that he saw all around him.  Ms. Ryan has obviously done her research and this book was crafted with care, right down to the green ink in which it was printed (Pablo Neruda wrote in green ink, which he felt was the color of esperanza - hope).

Pair that expressive writing with Peter Sis's evocative illustrations and you've really got something special.  Whether illustrating Neftali's flights of imagination or the overwhelming emotions he's feeling throughout the book, Mr. Sis's illustrations add greatly to the overall feel of the book.

This is a fictionalized account of Neruda's childhood and Ms. Ryan includes an author's note with biographical information about the poet.  She also includes several pages of Neruda's poetry to give readers a taste of the man's writing.

This is an excellent choice for units on poetry.  Not only does it lend itself to a study of Pablo Neruda, the vibrant imagery will inspire young writers to pen their own verses.  I also think this would make an excellent classroom readaloud (but be sure not to miss the illustrations!).  Some kids will need scaffolding with this one, but bright young writers prone to flights of fancy will devour this and be inspired.

Oh, Newbery Committee, I'm so disappointed that this one didn't make the cut (although it The Dreamer did win the Pura Belpre Medal and was named an ALA Notable Children's Book).

Read more reviews at Biblio File, Literate Lives, and Reading in Color.

The Dreamer is on shelves now!

Audiobook Review: Princess Diaries

The Princess Diaries
Princess in the Spotlight
Princess in Love
written by Meg Cabot, read by Anne Hathaway.  Listening Library, 2003.  The first two reviewed from library copies, the third purchased on audible.com.

February 25
9:15am

I just finished listening to one of the great audiobooks of our time.

Are you...

1.  In the mood to laugh out loud?
2.  Looking for a truly great audiobook experience?
3.  A tween girl (or about to be in the car with a tween girl for any amount of time)?

If any of the above apply, I urge you to procure the first three Princess Diaries audiobooks, narrated by Anne Hathaway, and listen to them right this moment.  You can thank me later.

Mia Thermopolis is your average New York high school freshman, or that's what she'd want you to think, anyway.  Truly Mia's smart (though you wouldn't know it from her algebra grade) and caring and stands up for her principles.  She's got a crushes on boys, she has sleepovers with her best friend, she takes care of her cat, Fat Louie.  Oh, and, as she finds out in the first book, she is the heir to the throne of a small (fictional) European principality called Genovia.

Suddenly, in addition to all the normal freshman girl stuff, Mia's dealing with princess lessons with her strict Genovian grandmother, press conferences, and paparazzi.  Not to mention the knowledge that someday she might actually have to RULE GENOVIA.

The books are funny and sweet and hit just the right notes with tween girls.  Anne Hathaway's expert narration takes them to another level.

Anne Hathaway, star of the Princess Diaries movies, narrates the first three audiobooks in the series and she is FANTASTIC!!!  She's already known as Mia's voice (due to the aforementioned movies) and she absolutely brings the character to life.  I could practically see the events in the book unfolding before my eyes.

And she's so funny!  Hathaway varies her voice in pitch from whispers to impassioned wails as she navigates Mia's drama-filled diary entries.  She also uses different voices for different characters, tackling the French-Genovian accent with ease (as well as other accents and voices for many different characters).

I seriously can't recommend these enough.  If you're looking for some titles to get you hooked on audiobooks, these three recordings will do it.

Anne Hathaway, sadly, does not read the rest of the audiobooks in the series, but that won't stop me from giving them a try.

All three titles are available now!

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Ten Miles Past Normal

Ten Miles Past Normal by Frances O'Roarke Dowell.  (Grades 7-10.)  Atheneum, March 2011.  211 pages.  Reviewed from ARC provided by publisher.

Goat poop.  This is the only reason people know who Janie is at her high school:  she's the girl who stepped in goat poop and stank up the whole school bus.  And it's entirely her own fault because she's the one who suggested that the family move to a farm in the first place (she was only nine!  Who takes a nine-year-old seriously?!).  Janie didn't think that's how high school would be.  She pictured herself surrounded by a group of close friends, laughing and flirting with cute boys, running for student council.  Instead, she's eating lunch by herself in the library and trying to remain anonymous (it's that or be called Skunk Girl... urgh).  As things slowly begin to change for Janie, will it mean hooking up with her major crush Jeremy Fitch?  Will it mean losing her best friend Sarah?  Will it mean having to sing at a hootenanny thrown by her farm-embracing blogger mom?

Ten Miles Past Normal is a story about a girl embracing her originality, allowing herself to be weird, and navigating the tricky landscape of freshman year.  Everything's so different from middle school and suddenly she's reevaluating everything.  Sure it's pretty out on the farm, but why can't she live in a suburb like everyone else?  Her best friend Sarah is her lifeline at school, but lately Sarah's been annoyingly controlling and fake... is it maybe time for Janie to branch out?  And how does she do that, exactly?

What captured me first about Ten Miles Past Normal is the humor.  From one mortifying incident to another, Janie's self-deprecating humor carries throughout the book.  And while I loved the character of Janie, I also really dug the supporting characters, particularly Sarah's older sister Emma.  Emma is someone the girls have looked up to for years and she's always been something of a wild card.  She's brilliant, but skips school, gets in trouble, and dates a motorcycle-riding punk.  But as the story moves forward, Janie discovers that there's much more to Emma than meets the eye.  (Which is exactly the same thing she's discovering about herself, if only she'd have the confidence to accept it!)

I loved the layers of the story. There's the farm thing, dealing with her best friend, making new friends, learning how to play the bass, a boy named Monster, an embarrassing blogger mom, and a research project on two octogenarian civil rights activists.  Where it could have easily spun off into Too-Much-To-Handle Land, instead each layer enriched the story and made it a more complete and satisfying read.

Teen girls venturing off into the unknowns of high school will identify with Janie's struggles.  This is a story with many laughs, a good dose of quirkiness, and a whole lotta heart.

I'd recommend Ten Miles Past Normal to fans of Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock for teens who liked DJ Schwenk's determination to do something different with her life (even though she did not feel particularly special).  I also think fans of Dowell's previous books The Secret Language of Girls and The Kind of Friends We Used To Be will dig this newest novel for its realistic depictions of high school life.

Ten Miles Past Normal will be on shelves March 22.

Great Tween Reads

The teen area of the library can be overwhelming for newcomers.  In my library, the Children's Department serves birth through 5th grade (or so) and book for kids in grades 6-12 (or so) are shelved upstairs in the Teen Scene.  This can be an intimidating jump for new sixth graders (and their parents) to make!  And I've found that our adult services staff is not always familiar enough with teen lit to recommend books that are appropriate for tweens and younger teens.

So, to help them out (because we're all in this together!), I came up with a list of Great Tween Reads, and, since I received several requests to share the list, here is it:

Great Tween Reads!!

These are books that are shelved in our Teen Scene area that I would recommend for tweens (roughly grades 5-7).  I solicited help from my lovely Twitter friends, checked out the books recommended on GreenBean TeenQueen's Tween Tuesday feature, and perused the Rebecca Caudill nominee lists to get ideas.  (Other state book award lists are good resources for this age group, too.  I just happen to think that the Caudill committees consistently combine popularity and literary merit to come up with excellent lists.)

It's long to (hopefully) ensure that there's something for everyone on it.  My hope is to make the teen area less intimidating by showing parents that there *are* books appropriate for middle-grade readers in our teen area.  And we are happy to help parents find them. 

This list is *not* all-inclusive.  It does not include tween books that are shelved in my library's Children's department, for instance.  Also, it does not include many excellent tween books that my library doesn't own (yet).  I copied the brief summaries from our library catalog and included them in the list.  I also included a genre in bold at the end of each entry to facilitate readers' advisory.

Please take this list and use it in whatever way is helpful to you.  Feel free to edit, share, etc.

And, please, if you have suggestions for additions, I'd be happy to have them!  I'm particularly looking for titles that have more of a teen/YA "feel" but with content that's appropriate for younger readers.

Audiobook Review: The Secret Language of Girls

The Secret Language of Girls by Frances O'Roark Dowell, narrated by Michele Santopietro.  Grades 4-6.  Random House/Listening Library, 2004.  3 hours, 52 minutes (4 discs).  Reviewed from library copy. 

Kate and Marilyn have been best friends since they were little kids, but now they're starting 6th grade and things are changing.  Kate wonders when Marilyn started getting so interested in makeup and cheerleading.  Marilyn wonders when Kate will start to grow up.  Told in vignettes throughout their sixth grade year, The Secret Language of Girls alternates points of view between Kate and Marilyn (with a little bit of Marilyn's brother Petey thrown in for good measure).

In 2009, I read The Kind of Friends We Used to Be, which is actually the sequel to The Secret Language of Girls.  I loved Friends and I'm kicking myself for waiting so long to pick up this book.  If Friends is "a story about girls beginning to become the people they want to become", then The Secret Language of Girls is a story about girls starting to realize that things can't stay they same, that they can't stay the same, even if they want to.

This is a coming-of-age story reminiscent of the Judy Blume books I read and loved as a tween.  These are the kind of stories that will always be written because they're always needed by girls who are starting think about growing up.  The story is told alternately from both Kate's and Marilyn's points of view (with a little bit of Marilyn's younger brother Petey thrown in there, too).

One thing that stuck out to me about this book was the strength of the supporting characters.  As I listened to the story, I found myself wanting to know the story from Petey's point of view or from Flannery's point of view, and so on.  To me, that speaks to the development of even minor characters.  They're interesting enough that I wondered what the events would look like through their eyes.

The main characters of Kate and Marilyn are well-developed, too, and they're nice reflections of best friends who suddenly realize that they don't have as much in common as they thought.  I got a comment from a tween reader on my review of The Kind of Friends We Used to Be and she said that she felt that she was like Marilyn and her best friend was like Kate.  Certainly not all tweens will identify with either Marilyn or Kate, but I'm betting many will.

I listened to the audio recording, narrated by Michele Santopietro.  She has a strong, clear reading voice and though she does slightly different voices for the characters, hers is a narration that lets the story speak for itself.  She does the story justice by not over-voicing or over-acting.  It's a quiet kind of story and the simple narration really works for it.  Santopietro gives the characters just enough variation that you can tell them apart.

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Audiobook Review: Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie

Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenbllick, read by Joel Johnstone.  (Grades 4-8.)  Scholastic 2004, Scholastic Audiobooks 2006.  4 hours, 30 minutes.  Review copy provided by my local library.

I love books that make me laugh and make me cry.

Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie certainly fits the bill.
It also gets a prize for being a book about cancer that is not depressing.
It ALSO gets a prize for being the book that kept me entertained during my hours-long wait at the DMV when I got my Illinois license plates in 2007.

Ahem.

Steven is your average eighth-grade boy.  He has a crush on the beautiful cheerleader Renee Albert, he plays drums in the jazz band, he doesn't particularly care for math, he avoids his annoying five-year-old brother Jeffrey whenever possible... But everything changes for Steven when Jeffrey gets a nosebleed that won't stop.  And it turns out that Jeffrey has leukemia.

Suddenly, Steven's parents are constantly fussing over Jeffrey, taking him to Philadelphia for treatment, and Steven's even banished from his own home when he gets the stomach flu.  It's enough to bum anyone out, but on top of it all is the possibility that Jeffrey could die.

Jordan Sonnenblick approaches the subject with care and grace, ending up with a funny, uplifting book about family, music, middle school, crushes, and brotherly love.  (Oh, and cancer.)

If you haven't read any of Jordan Sonnenblick's books, I implore you to start.  Start with this one.  This is a great funny book about a serious subject.  Believable characters bring middle school to life.  Reading this book (and "rereading" it by listening to the audiobook) instantly brought me back to the middle school band room.

Hand this one to tween boys looking for something funny and realistic.  Hand this one to tween girls looking for more of those tearjerker books.  (Or boys looking for tearjerkers or girls looking for something funny.)  Not only is this an awesome book, but it's a crowd-pleaser, as evidenced by its Rebecca Caudill (kids' choice) Award (2008).

Joel Johnstone does a nice job with the narration, giving characters voices that fit them and delivering the humor nicely.  I especially like his raspy five-year-old voice for Jeffrey (I find many actors' "little kid voices" annoying, but not this one).  Music introduces the book and plays at the end, which sets a nice tone for a book about a kid in All-City Jazz Band.  I was laughing along and tearing up at all the right places.

If you like Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie, be sure to check out the sequel, After Ever After, a story told from Jeffrey's point of view.  Both books are on shelves now!

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Book Review: Rose Sees Red

Rose Sees Red by Cecil Castellucci. Grades 7-10. Scholastic Press, August 2010. Reviewed from ARC provided by publisher.

It's 1982 and the Cold War is raging. Rose, a freshman at a performing arts high school, has been in a bad mood for weeks. Burned by her best "frenemy" in grade school, she's shy to make friends and now it's the middle of October and everyone is all cliqued up but her. She feels frozen and shy until a Russian girl, Yrena. who lives next door sneaks into Rose's room one evening and the two girls decide to head out for a night on the town. The story takes place over that one crazy night when everything changes and Rose finally begins to come into her own. 

This is a one-fateful-night story. You know. The one fateful night when the teens stayed out until morning and everyone realized their true feelings and people stopped being afraid and started saying what they felt. And everything changed and they'll never forget it. It's life changing, that first political issue that stirs you. And it's interesting to think that American teens today are thinking about war (or realizing about war), just as teens in 1982, just as teens in 1968, just as teens in 1942, just as teens in 1862, etc. etc. 

The story started a bit slowly for me because I was trying to piece together the setting, but once I got into it, it wouldn't let me go. I still find myself thinking about it weeks later. I'm totally intrigued by the idea of compounds of Russians living within the United States during the Cold War. I had no idea about that - that during such a time of tension, there were Russians living in the United States, followed around by CIA agents and KGB agents. Can you imagine what it would feel like to grow up like that? 


I do have to say that there was an element of "after-school special" that I didn't care for (and the title, to me, sounds just like an after-school special). The kids getting together and putting their differences aside and finding out that, golly gee, we're all people and war is stupid! But the main thing is that it's a story that's stuck with me. It's kind of an odd little story and an homage to New York City. I liked it. 

Rose Sees Red will be on shelves August 1.