Book Review: Elijah of Buxton

Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis. Grades 5 and up.

Elijah of Buxton is one of the books that has gotten heavy, heavy Newbery buzz this year. It's already won the 2008 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction. Mr. Curtis has won a Newbery and a Coretta Scott King Award for Bud, Not Buddy and a Newbery Honor and a Coretta Scott King Honor for The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963. Elijah's been on many a Mock Newbery list and gotten tons of good reviews. To be honest, when a book or a movie has gotten that much buzz, I ready myself for disappointment. Everyone's raving about it and I can just tell that I'm going to be the one person in all of creation who didn't like it.

Not so with Elijah of Buxton. I loved it. Loved it.

From the first chapter, this book had me laughing out loud. Elijah's voice is real and instantly likeable. Told in the first person by Elijah Freeman, the first freeborn person in the settlement of Buxton in Canada West, this story begins with stories about everyday life in Buxton. Elijah is 11 years old and what his mama calls "fra-gile". He's skittish and sensitive and likely to run off if something scares him or cry if something sad or emotional is happening. The story is set in 1859, so slavery is still going on down in America. The people of Buxton are freed or escaped slaves and kids like Elijah who were born into freedom in Canada.

The first half of the book is mostly light-hearted - tales of Elijah fishing, going to school, getting duped by a dubious characters he calls "the Preacher". I found it laugh-out-loud funny. The second half of the book takes a darker turn. Elijah (and the audience) must confront some realities about slavery. Realities that were easy to deny when he was a freeborn boy safe in Canada. And Elijah must face his fears - his "fra-gility"- when he's called on to help some people who really need it. It's a powerful story with memorable characters.

One of the things that impressed me most when I was reading was language. The story is written in dialect, which in itself shows the important of language to the author. I didn't find it cumbersome and, in fact, I found it rather beautiful. I constantly found myself reading passages out loud to hear how they sounded. Throughout the book, Elijah talks about "growned-up talk", about how adults don't seem to say what they actually mean, but instead have a secret code that only they seem to understand. This culminates at the end of the book when Elijah realizes that maybe he actually can understand some of this adult-speak.

Misunderstandings about language also show how important it is. At one point near the beginning, Elijah and his best friend misunderstand the phrase "Familiarity breeds contempt", with hilarious results at their school house. Later, Elijah really learns a lesson about familiarity breeding contempt when he uses the n word in front of an adult in the community. Reading and writing are important tools that Elijah has. They are especially important because many of the adults in the community of Buxton are not able to read or write.

This emphasis on language even takes me back to Tasting the Sky, which I recently read. It's amazing and awesome how two such different books (and cultures) can have something in common...

Elijah of Buxton... I laughed, I cried, I went home happy (and recommended it to pretty much everyone). If you've been meaning to read this one, do yourself a favor and wait no longer!

(OH, and this is also one of my books for the Expanding Horizons challenge... wahoo!)

Book Review: Tasting the Sky

Tasting the Sky by Ibtisam Barakat. Grades 4 and up.

I read Ms. Barakat's gorgeous memoir as part of the Expanding Horizons Challenge. The bulk of this poetic book details her childhood in Israel, starting with the Six-Day War in 1967 when she was three and a half and ending in 1971. As a young girl, the author endured some horrifying events, such as being forced to flee her home and being separated from her family. I would venture to say that the majority of American children have not had to endure such things.

However, one of the things that really struck me about this book is that not all the memories are horrifying or even sad. Certainly life was not easy for the Barakats, living as refugees with soldiers marching by their house. But throughout it all, the family stuck together. There is a strong sense of family, even when they are forced from the place that they call home. Although Ibtisam endured hardships, she also was delighted to go to school and loved learning and writing. She played with her brothers and sister. There is a lot here that kids can relate to.

I think that's what makes this book such a strong starting-off point for discussions about the Israel-Palestine conflict. Ibtisam grew up in a world much different from one that many American children know, yet in many ways she was just the same as any other child.

In the historical note (I love authors' notes... and there is also a map... I love maps), Ms. Barakat says:

To learn more about the Middle East, and to deepen our understanding of both Palestinians and Israelis, it helps to share stories. Mine is one of many. Together, these stories can show us how all people are interdependent and have the same basic needs. Together, these stories may inspire us to join hearts and minds so that, with our collective wisdom, a solution for this conflict - and any other - is possible. (pg. x)

I cannot agree with these words more and I think Ms. Barakat has done an excellent job of sharing her story in an accessible way. (On a personal note, I identified with her from the beginning because she had pen pals... I had a great number of pen pals when I was a teenager, although I did not get detained by soldiers coming home from the mailbox...)

Tons of other bloggers have reviewed this title and rather than reinvent the wheel, I'm going to point you to the Fuse #8 review (part 1, part 2), which collects many of the reviews as well as information about the author, etc.

A couple new storytime favorites

Today was my first storytime in a couple of weeks and (to be completely honest) I was dreading it a little bit. Don't get me wrong. I love storytime, I do. But after having a couple of weeks off, I was afraid I'd be rusty. I was afraid I wouldn't pick good books. Heavens, I might even have forgotten some of the words to Shake Your Sillies Out! Luckily, none of those situations came to pass and we actually had quite a good time. In fact, I think I might have some new favorite storytime books and I just had to share them.

First is one that my coworker read. I'd never heard of it before, but it was a delightful story that kids and parents (and librarians) all enjoyed. Sadly, it looks like The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr is out of print, but I highly recommend it if you can get your hands on it. It was originally published in England and it tells the story of that fateful day when a tiger came to tea. Not only did he eat up all the sandwiches and all the buns, but he ate all the food in the fridge and the pantry as well! When Mum and Dad discover that there's no food left, the family goes to eat at a cafe and then buys some groceries, including a giant can of tiger food in case the tiger ever stops by again.

Next is a sequel to one of my favorites. Llama Llama Mad at Mama by Ann Dewdney is the sequel to Llama Llama Red Pajama. Both books have great rhymes and vocabulary. In Llama Llama Mad at Mama, Llama is forced to abandon his toys and go on a boring shopping trip with Mama. He can only take so much of trying on clothes and deciding which cereal to buy before he has a massive meltdown in the store (sure to be a familiar scenario to many a family). Mama understands, calms him down, and makes the rest of the shopping trip into a game, which results in a much happier trip for both of them. Great rhymes (my favorite is "llama drama") and a situation to which all kids can relate makes this one a surefire hit. (And hopefully if there are more Llama books, we can get the dad in there somewhere...)

And finally, we just got in a big book version of A Splendid Friend Indeed by Suzanne Bloom. This is a great, great book to have as a big book because the illustrations are so important to the story. A polar bear is sitting alone, trying to concentrate on reading, writing, and then thinking while his friend the goose insists on interrupting him. The polar bear's expressions are priceless. Although the text of the story doesn't mention anything, you can see the bear getting more and more annoyed. But in the end, the bear realizes that goose wasn't trying to be annoying, he was just trying to talk to his friend. All is forgiven and bear and goose remember that they are splendid friends indeed. Funny and sweet, this book has great opportunities for dialogic reading. Ask kids how they think bear is feeling or how goose is feeling. Have they ever felt the same way? Maybe with a brother or sister?

We always include songs or action rhymes in our storytimes and today we ended with a rousing rendition of Old MacDonald Had a Farm. My fellow librarian B accompanied us on the ukulele and I stood behind our giant felt board with a hidden stash of puppets. When we came to each animal, I held it up above the felt board, dancing around with it. We did the typical animals... pig, cow, cat, dog... and then threw in a HUGE tiger at the end just for fun. My library is lucky enough to have a giant closet full of puppets and we try to use them at every opportunity because the kids love them so.

So, there you have it. My first storytime of 2008 was a hit and I'm just hoping it's indicative of what's to come throughout the year.

(Incidentally, yesterday was my one-year anniversary with my library, so... happy anniversary to me!)

Book Review: Squirrel's World

Squirrel's World by Lisa Moser, illustrated by Valeri Gorbachev. Grades 1-3.

Squirrel, an adorably ADD woodland creature, only wants to help his friends. The problem is he always seems to be trying a little too hard. The episodic chapters in this beginning reader book detail Squirrel's interactions with Mouse, Turtle, and Rabbit. He collects food with Mouse, plays a game with Turtle, and helps Rabbit get a lily pad from the pond, each with varying degrees of success. In the end, though, all Squirrel's friends realize that his heart's in the right place.

I really enjoyed this beginning reader by the author of The Monster in the Backpack. It's funny and it has heart. One of the things that made it so enjoyable is the kooky, excitable main character. You can tell right from the start that he's on the move, he's got places to go and things to do. Take the very beginning of the book:

Squirrel was busy, busy busy. He had to help his tree. "Grow, grow, grow!" cheered Squirrel. He had to help the river. "Flow, flow, flow!" said Squirrel. He had to help his friends. "Got to go, got to go, got to go, go, go!" (pg. 1)

All he wants to do is help and his gestures turn out larger than life. By the end of the book, he's even helping his friends go to sleep. Valeri Gorbachev (illustrator of All for Pie, Pie for All and The Giant Hug, among others) adds perfectly cheery illustrations. They're cute without being cutesy. Hand this one to fans of Frog & Toad or anyone looking for a super cute first chapter book. I'm hoping we'll see more of Squirrel and his friends.

Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award

ETA (Jan. 28): If you're looking for the list of the 2009 Rebecca Caudill nominees, you can find it here! Happy Caudill reading!

Ahhh... Award season. The Cybils shortlists have been announced. Best-of lists are bouncing all over the web. We're right around the corner from the Newbery, Caldecott, Printz, Coretta Scott King, Odyssey, etc. But the award I want to write about is one that is near and dear to my heart (at least for the past year since I moved to Illinois): the Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award.

Now, sometimes we get parents coming in to the library looking for a list of good books for their middle-grade readers. Nothing seems to satisfy quite like a list of award-winners and often parents ask for a list of the Newbery winners. I love the Newberys as much as the next librarian, but you have to admit that not all of them have great child-appeal. One option is to hand them a list of your local kids' choice award books. In Illinois, this is the Caudill.

The Caudill award is a state book award in Illinois for kids in grades 4-8. Every year there is a list of 20 nominated titles. These can be fiction or non-fiction (incidentally, the 2008 nominees are all fiction). The books are nominated by students, teachers, and librarians, and a committee made up of teachers and librarians from all over Illinois whittles the list down to 20 nominees. Any student that has read or heard at least 3 titles from the list is eligible to vote and the votes are tallied at the end of February. (You can read more about official rules and all that jazz here if you're interested.)

The Caudills were big in my library this year. Over the summer, teachers in our school district could earn a Continuing Education credit if they read a certain number of nominated books. We've also had various schools offering extra credit for reading Caudill books or assigning Caudill books.

(It struck me as funny that kids from one of our middle schools were coming in and telling us that if they read all 20 Caudill nominees, they would be exempt from one assignment in their English class... I love that they want to read Caudills, but don't they realize that it's probably a lot more work to read 20 books than it would be to do the one assignment??)

ANYhoo. The great thing about the Caudill is that it gives you a great list of 20 books that kids will probably like. They are books that are nominated by kids and people who love kids. Unlike the Newbery, which is based on "distinguished contributions", the Caudill is simply about books that kids LIKE. Books they want to read. Books that are awesome.

The list of 2008 nominees has some great books on it. I didn't read all of them this year. I read 15 of the 20. Some of my favorites were Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick; East by Edith Pattou; Shakespeare's Secret by Elise Broach; Princess Academy by Shannon Hale; and Adam Canfield of the Slash by Michael Winerip. If I had to guess which book would win based on our circs at my library, I would have to say Princess Academy or The Ruins of Gorlan. We absolutely could not keep those titles on the shelves. You can see a list of previous winners here. Previous winners include such notable titles as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, The Giver, Matilda, Eragon, and Stormbreaker. (See? Awesome books...!)

One of my favorite games of late is to think about which books might be on the nominated list for 2009. We won't know for a couple of months yet, but I've got a couple of guesses: Whittington by Alan Armstrong, Firegirl by Tony Abbot, Larger-Than-Life Lara by Dandi Daley Mackall, Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer, Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Lawson.... I could go on and on...

The moral of this post is that I think the Caudill award rocks. Even if schools in your area don't participate in a kids' choice award or a state book award, the nominated lists can be really useful in finding recommendations for kids and for parents. There's a nifty list of state book awards on Cynthia Leitich Smith's site. Check out the lists of current nominees for some top-notch recommendations.

Happy reading... and I'll be back in late February or early March to report the results of this year's Caudill voting!

Book Review: What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know

What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones. Grades 7 and up.

Geeky, artsy Robin Murphy doesn't have any friends at school and he knows that the girl of his dreams would never stoop to being with a loser like him. But the thing is, Sophie actually does love him back. It's almost too good to be true. In fact, it's really too good to be true. At first Robin's afraid that their winter-break romance will be over once school starts again, but to his surprise, Sophie doesn't seem afraid to show her feelings for him. Unfortunately, there is some backlash. Sophie's friends ditch her and overnight she's as much of a social pariah as Robin has always been. And it's all Robin's fault.

This novel in verse is a great depiction of adolescent romance and it's so neat to see it from a guy's perspective. Sones really gets that need that comes with a first love. That need to be with your significant other and the heartbreak that happens just spending a weekend apart. Just as interesting as the romance is Robin's experience taking a college art class and making some friends.

Robin's a realistic narrator. He knows that Sophie's catching a lot of flack because of him and as much as she tells him she loves him, it hurts him that he could be causing her pain. Here's part of a poem just after Robin's overheard Sophie's friend insulting her:

I want to run after her.
I want to wrap my arms around her.
I want to tell her that everything will be okay.
But if I do,
she'll know I've been eavesdropping.
And, besides -

maybe everything isn't gonna be okay.
Maybe everything's
gonna totally suck.

(pp 52-53)

Although What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know is a sequel, it can definitely stand alone. However, do yourself a favor and check out What My Mother Doesn't Know because it's also totally awesome. WMMDK, another novel in verse, is told from Sophie's point of view and it's another great book for first romances. Sophie starts out dating the smokin' hot Dylan, moves on to a cyber crush on Chaz from the internet, and then realizes that she has feelings for the most unlikely of boys, the loserly Murphy.

In both books I think Sones has really captured the feelings of first loves and of adolescent crushes and friendships. Two thumbs up.

You can find other reviews of WMGDK at Becky's Book Reviews and at Young Adult Book Reviews.

2007 Reading Stats

Inspired by Biblio File, I've compiled my 2007 reading statistics.

In 2007 I read 222 books total.

I read:

28 adult books
30 graphic novels
37 YA books and
127 juvenile/middle grade books (up to approx. 7th grade level, not counting fiction picture books)

Of these 222 books, 22 were non-fiction and 24 were audiobooks. My highest month was December with 34 books. I credit this to preparing for booktalks, having some time off work, and being obsessed with reviewing books on this blog. My lowest month was September with 10 books. I blame this on Second Grade Safari.

I read more adult books than I thought I had, less YA books than I thought I had, and actually more non-fiction than I thought I had. Except for my non-fiction resolution, I expect my breakdowns to stay pretty similar. I do love YA, but my department serves kids through 8th grade, so that's what I'm more likely to read for booktalks and general readers' advisory knowledge.

Interesting, interesting... Well, to me, at least. :)

Under the Radar: Lee Weatherly

Author Lee Weatherly has flown under my radar until, well, about 2 weeks ago. I picked up Kat Got Your Tongue on a recommendation at the ILA conference and sat with it on Christmas Day and devoured it. I would have reviewed it then and there except that I discovered that two of Weatherly's other books have these cute matching covers. And I thought it would be delightful to review all three at once.

Now, before I start, I'll tell you that these books are not a series. Though the covers match, they are about completely different characters. There are a few things that they have in common, though. They are about strong girls. Girls who may not be the most popular or the smartest, but who grow and change and figure out ways to better themselves. They are all about girls who have to stand on their own at some point and who figure out who their true friends are and who their true self is. If you're looking for some spunky young women, look no further. (Also, they're all set in England, so if you're looking for some cool Brit slang, you're in the right place.)

Missing Abby starts with a missing persons report. Emma is shocked to read about her former best friend in the newspaper and she's even more shocked to realize that she was the last one to see her and speak with her. Emma and Abby were best friends until bullies started attacking Emma at school and Emma decided that it was best to leave her old life behind and turn over a new leaf. Now she feels guilty that she shunned her best friend, but she's also terrified that her new friends will find out what a loser she used to be. Chapters count the days that Abby has been missing and as Emma searches for her friend, readers slowly uncover what happened at her old school and why she ditched Abby. Weatherly is great at letting a story build and letting the reader uncover the characters bit by bit until you get the full picture. (There's another review at Miss Print.)

Sadie is an underachieving cut-up in Breakfast at Sadie's. Her mom is always bugging her to get her grades up, telling her she'd do better if she just worked harder. Her friends automatically hand over their homework for her to copy and make cracks about how dumb she is. When Sadie's mom is diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder and has to spend several months in the hospital, unable to move, Sadie is left in the care of her young aunt. When Aunt Leona flits off on vacation, leaving Sadie by herself, Sadie takes over the bed & breakfast and quickly learns that she's hard-working and creative. She knows she can handle it, but she's afraid of what might happen if the authorities find out she's on her own, so she has to keep it a secret that she's the one running things. It's a fast-paced story and I kept turning the pages to find out if Sadie could really pull it off. Recommend this one to young entrepreneurs and for further reading about take-charge girls, hand them Joan Bauer's Hope Was Here and Catherine Murdock's Dairy Queen.

In Kat Got Your Tongue, Kathy runs out in front of a car and is hit. When she comes to, she doesn't remember anything. She doesn't know who she is. She doesn't know why she was running. She doesn't recognize her mom or her friends. Kathy has amnesia. Chapters alternate between post-accident Kat and pre-accident diary entries from Kathy. As Kat tries to find out more about her life and to figure out why she was running away from her friends, readers follow Kathy's diary entries, which start three months before the accident. It all builds to a fever pitch when everything finally comes out in the open and people can start to make amends. I love that Kat and Kathy are completely different characters in the book, even though they're the same person. Kathy gets a clean slate and we see what Kat feels differently about. For another great teen amnesia book, check out Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin.

Don't let Lee Weatherly fly under your radar! I really enjoyed all three of these books and I'll certainly be checking out Child X and looking for more.

KidLit Loot

2008 has gotten off to somewhat of a rocky start for me, but when I feel blue I just look at my new kidlit gear and it cheers me right up.

For Christmas, a friend and coworker got me this fantabulous Babymouse t-shirt. I don't know if I've expressed my love for Babymouse on this blog, but I really do love her. And now I can show the world!! Mua ha ha! (Wondering where you can get your own Babymouse gear? Cafepress has got you covered.)

Front:
Back:


And I went out shopping today with a couple of friends and found me a Knuffle Bunny at Borders. I had to have it. I'm so happy he's mine. He'll have a place of honor in my cubicle tomorrow when I go back to the grind...

(He's made by YoTToy, but I don't see the small one on their site... they do have a bigger KB, a Pigeon, a Leonardo, and tons of other great book characters, though...)

Cybils shortlists and various other things

Head on over to the Cybils site to see shortlists for Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Picture Books, Poetry, and Middle Grade Novels. The rest will be up January 7. I don't know about you, but my to-read list just got longer... ;)

Also, be sure to head over to A Fuse #8 Production for the Golden Fuse Awards.

Here's to reading lists and to new LJ feeds (I hope... if it is working properly...)! Happy New Year!