48 Hour Book Challenge 2009: Really Go!

Okay, I am back in town, relatively unpacked, and ready to START READING!

(And just in case anyone questions my dedication to the 48HBC and the blogging community in general, I turned down going to this place with my best friend and her husband tonight so that I could come back here and read "with" all of you!)

Official start time was 7:00am this morning, but unofficial start time is 4:37pm. And I promise I'll take a reading break later and catch up on everyone's posts and tweets.

OH. And the ceremony was very beautiful and I'm so, so happy I could be with my friend on the day she's ordained as a rabbi. As a side note, I heard from one of the other guests that at this ceremony, the very first female African-American rabbi was ordained! Historic!

Okay... reading... now!

48 Hour Book Challenge 2009: GO!

So, officially my time is starting at 7:00am (EDT) Saturday morning. Um... and I'm currently in Cincinnati watching my college roommate become a rabbi! So I should be back home some time this afternoon, which is when I'll start reading. And I'll read my little eyes out until I can't keep my eyes open anymore on Sunday.

I have a sizeable TBR pile, including these books:


This year, I'm not making a goal of number of books read (although, okay, in the back of my mind I'm hoping to read at least 5). I do have the goal of reading for at least 20 hours.

So, good luck, everyone! Have fun! I am seriously jealous of anyone reading Catching Fire or Fire this weekend! Annnd I'll have another post when I'm actually back in town and ready to start.

Ready... set........ GO!!!

Around the interwebs

Are you doing the 48 Hour Book Challenge this weekend? Pam's posted the starting line, so don't forget to sign in! Still thinking about it? Check out the rules and the prizes (and yes, Pam is giving away not one but TWO ARCs of Catching Fire - one to the winner and one to a random participant). Also, if you're tweeting about the challenge, don't forget to tag using #48hbc.

Speaking of Twitter, follow Sarah Ockler to join in the tweet party for her book Twenty Boy Summer. It's tonight (Friday) from 7pm-11pm Eastern. And I'll be reviewing the book next week (along with a special surprise...), so keep a look out for that.

Ready to dive into summer reading? Check out what some of your favorite authors have on their summer reading lists. (Link via Mo.)

The ALSC has posted more sites to their list of Great Web Sites for Kids. Kiera has a post up about doing programming for kids with autism. Definitely something public children's librarians should read. And if you're promoting early literacy (and who isn't?!) you should check out this post about Follow the CAR.

Ever wanted to have a cat at your library? Meet 8 of them in 8 Library Cats (my favorite is Nyx). J, are you falling over with the adorableness? ;)

And a plea for Pixar to include some (non-princess) girls among their protagonists. YES, PLEASE.

Okay, that's all I've got for you and it's time for me to start my errands. I'm starting the 48HBC tomorrow morning, but good luck and go-go-go! to everyone who's already started or is starting tomorrow. My cheerleading will be back in full force tomorrow afternoon.

Book Review: Anything But Typical

Anything But Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin. (Grades 4-7.)
Copy provided by my local library.

(This is a 2009 Cybils nominee and this review reflects only my personal opinion of the book, not necessarily the opinion of the panel!)

Twelve-year-old Jason has autism, so the world looks different to him. He doesn't really have any friends because most kids can't see past his disability. They think that if they can't understand you, you must not have anything to say and if you don't express your feelings like they do, you must not have any feelings. All that changes when he meets PhoenixBird on an online writing website. Emails from her are the highlight of Jason's day, but when he gets the chance to meet her at a conference, he must decide if he's brave enough to show her who he really is.

Protagonists with autism, I can name a few. Ted from The London Eye Mystery. Christopher from The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Maybe you even want to count Emma Jean who Fell Out of a Tree.

While I enjoyed all the above mentioned books*, none of them put me into the heart of someone with autism quite like Anything But Typical. Jason knows he's different - he processes things differently, he thinks differently, he sees the world differently. But underneath all that, underneath perception and thought processes and what everyone thinks about him, is a twelve-year-old boy who wonders if he'll ever have a girlfriend. A boy who wants to have friends and who loves his family.

I was drawn in quickly by Jason's voice, but it was the following passage that really made me sit up and take notice (and it's really not a novel in verse, it's just that this particular passage happens to look a little like verse):

...Why do people want everyone to act just like they do? Talk like they do. Look like they do. Act like they do.
And if you don't -
If you don't, people make the assumption that you do not feel what they feel.
And then they make the assumption -
That you must not feel anything at all. (pg. 14)

Jason's struggle with himself as to whether he's going to meet his online "girlfriend" was interesting, but what I really loved was Jason's relationship with his family. His younger brother looks up to him so much that he requires one of those divided plates because Jason couldn't stand it when his foods touched on the plate. When no one can figure out what's bugging Jason, Jeremy can figure it out.

If you liked The London Eye Mystery or The Curious Incident..., pick up Anything But Typical.

Read more reviews at Ms. Yingling Reads and Readingjunky's Reading Roost. Check out this Guys Lit Wire post on books about autism spectrum disorders and you might also want to read this Q&A with Nora Raleigh Baskin.

*And before you ask, I do have Marcelo in the Real World on my TBR pile! ;)

Contest winner

The random number gods have spoken and the winner of an ARC of Love You, Hate You, Miss You is Ashley from Books Obsession!

Thanks, everyone, for entering, and stay tuned because I'll have another giveaway next week after all the 48 Hour Book Challenge madness has passed (you DID sign up, didn't you???).

Book Review: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin. (Grades 4-7.)

Young child Minli lives in a village at the foot of Fruitless Mountain. Everything there is brown.

Nothing grows on the mountain and the people are forced to toil long and hard in the mud to raise barely enough rice to live on. Although Minli is content hearing fantastic stories from her loving father, Minli's mother is not happy. So Minli sets out to find the Old Man of the Moon on the Never-Ending Mountain and ask him how to change their fortune.

As soon as they find out she's gone, Minli's parents become crazy with worry, but it's too late - Minli is gone. And as her parents try to pass the time until Minli comes home (oh, how they hope she will make it home), Minli is off having adventures and learning new stories from everyone she meets.

This is a magical book about the power of hoping for impossible things and the importance of story. Since the whole novel reads like a fable, it's fitting that some of the stories within the book are based on Chinese folktales the author read when she was a child.

This was really a feel-good book for me. The ending was just perfect! Short chapters make the text fly by and it has a good amount of adventure. You'll find dragons, evil tigers, kings, trickery, and plenty of magic within the pages of Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. This will be a big hit with any kid who enjoys fairy tales, folktales, and mythology.

I loved Grace Lin's Year of the Dog and Year of the Rat, but this book is completely different. It's a powerful story that will stay with me for a long, long time.

I'm reviewing from an ARC, so I don't have the full-color illustrations, but you can get a preview of this beautiful artwork here:



Check out another blog review at BookDragon.

Due out July 1.

Book Review: Ash

Ash by Malinda Lo. (Grades 8+)

Aisling has lived all her life on the edge of the Wood, a dark and magical place where fairies roam, or so the stories say. When her mother and father die and she's forced to work for her stepfamily, Aisling longs for the fairies to take her away. She sneaks away as often as she can to walk in the woods with the fairy Sidhean, beautiful and brooding. But when Ash meets the king's huntress Kaisa, everything begins to change. This retelling of Cinderella features a lush fantasy world where the old magic still flourishes, even if most people deny its existence, and a thrilling new love story - one where the prince doesn't get the girl... the huntress does.

The first thing that really struck me about Ash was its atmospheric setting. It's dark. It's brooding. The forest is alive with magic that can be beautiful and dangerous at the same time. People are warned not to tarry with the fairies, not to eat any of their fairy foods, not to join the fairy hunt. If they do, they might never come back. Or they might come back but waste away, longing to return to the fairy lands.

And how are people warned? Through the stories that are told throughout the novel. Stories have a prominent place in this world. They warn children not to stray too far into the woods. They celebrate heroes of the past. They hold power because they hold the knowledge of the old world, of the magic that still runs through the trees. Ash loves hearing and reading fairy tales and one of her prized possessions is a book of tales her father brought her. To Ash, the stories have an extra dimension because she believes in fairies and treats the stories like they're truth.

The book reminded me of A Curse Dark as Gold for its detailed, dark setting and atmosphere. This is a book that's not all about the plot, but more about descriptions and world-building. This isn't a bad thing, but it started a little bit slow. Also, I felt a bit removed from the characters, like I could see what was happening to them but it wasn't like I was right there with them. The huntress Kaisa, in particular, was a closed book. I'd love to see another tale from her point of view.

That said, I love, love, love that Aisling fell in love with the female huntress instead of the prince. And I also love that it wasn't "OMG Ash is in love with a girl!" with the townspeople freaking out. An issue book this is not. (Yay!) It's a refreshing new look at the Cinderella story and one that is sure to please fans of fairy tale retellings.

Add it to your TBR list because it's due out September 1.

PS: How much do I love this cover? It's different and dark and I feel like it perfectly reflects the story within.

Book Review: The Dragon of Trelian

The Dragon of Trelian by Michelle Knudsen (also, Michelle has a blog). (Grades 5-8.)

Being a mage's apprentice is not at all what Calen thought it would be. He was picturing a life of adventure! Daring feats of magic! Saving kingdoms and transporting people through portals and lots of other cool stuff.

But instead... well, it's kind of boring. All Mage Serek wants him to do is gather plants and study trees and practice the same boring spells endlessly. Calen doesn't see the point.

But then Serek asks him to read the divination cards. And even though Serek is quick to say that divination is hardly a precise art, he can't hide his reaction when Calen easily reads the cards. And the cards are predicting bad things for the Kingdom of Trelian.

And then there's Princess Meglynne. The first time they meet, Meg almost kills him. (It won't be the last time she almost kills him.) Meg takes an instant liking to Calen. She feels drawn to him. She trusts him. Which is good because Meg has a secret.

A secret she can't tell anyone else.

Together, Meg and Calen will be responsible for Trelian's future, and, as evil gathers in the kingdom, the future has never looked more uncertain.

To be completely honest, I wasn't at all sure I would like this book. I thought to myself, Dragons, eh? Dragons have been done. Magic, eh? Magic has been done. And while I think it's likely that the book's widest following will come from fans of other fantasy novels (Eragon, Septimus Heap, etc.), it definitely had enough surprises to keep me on my toes. I ended up enjoying it quite a bit.

The first thing that struck me was the tone of the book. It's got its serious moments and there's plenty of adventure, but I enjoyed the lighter moments a lot. Here's an example from when Meg's describing the man her sister's going to marry:

..."She thinks he's quite handsome, but of course she's only ever seen his portrait, and honestly, if I were painting a portrait of a prince I'd probably make certain he looked handsome in it, too..." (pp 9-10)

The characters of Meg and Calen are complimentary to each other. Meg's feisty and impulsive. Having always gotten her own way, she demands immediate satisfaction (but not in a bratty way... well, only occasionally in a bratty way). Calen is more thoughtful. He takes his time and proceeds with caution. They sometimes drive each other crazy, but really they're the perfect adventuring duo.

Like I said, I'd hand this to any fan of Eragon, Septimus Heap, or Dealing with Dragons. It's got enough comfortable fantasy elements to keep them happy, but it's got enough twists on the familiar to keep things interesting. The ending is an obvious setup for a sequel, but it wraps things up very satisfactorily.

I reviewed this book as part of the Kidz Book Buzz blog tour and you should definitely check out the rest of the stops on these lovely blogs:

A Christian Worldview of Fiction, All About Children's Books, Becky's Book Reviews, Cafe of Dreams, Dolce Bellezza, Homeschool Book Buzz, KidzBookBuzz.com, Novel Teen, Reading is My Superpower, Reading to Know, Small World Reads, The 160 Acre Woods, Through a Child's Eyes, and Through the Looking Glass Reviews.

Help Me Help You: Teacher Edition

By popular demand: What do librarians wish teachers knew about the (public) library? If you've been tuning in lately you know that I've done several posts about what librarians wish people knew about the library. Teachers and librarians working together can accomplish great things and we have a lot of the same goals. How can teachers' interactions with the library go even more smoothly? Here's what we want you to know:

We would love to know about your assignments ahead of time. Believe me, by the time the third kid in a row has asked for a biography on a famous woman, we know someone has assigned a biography report. We can usually figure out what school and grade it's for and we do pass the information around our department. It would be wonderful to get a quick email from you giving us a head's up about an upcoming assignment, especially if the assignment contains multiple parts or asks for certain kinds of books. Sometimes kids lose their assignment sheets. Sometimes it's the parents coming in to pick up books and they don't know exactly what they need. We would love to find the right book or resource for every child, but it's not always easy when we don't know what, exactly, teachers are looking for.

We appreciate when you make sure there are resources available before giving your students an assignment. Yeah, I won't forget that spring we had students doing reports on endangered animals that were so rare that nothing was written about them! Or maybe you're asking your students to find historic newspaper articles, but the local library only has current newspapers. It's a frustrating experience for students and librarians. Please make sure there are resources available before you give out an assignment. If you're not sure, ask a librarian! We're happy to help.

Other teachers in your school (and in other schools) might be doing the same units that you are. Okay, this seems like a total no-brainer, but we often get requests for the same materials at the same time. I understand that sometimes teachers follow the same curricula and therefore the assignments might be the same, but please understand that we have limited resources. The library only has so many books on hibernation or butterflies and often we don't have the resources to purchase more. We'll all have to share what we've got.

There are lots of different book-leveling systems. Accelerated Reader, Lexile, Fountas & Pinnell... those are just a few of the different systems schools use to determine a book's reading level. If you require students to read books that are "at their level", please consider talking to one of your local librarians. We can better help your students if we know what leveling system you're using. Also, please talk to your parents. I can't tell you how many parents I've seen who are looking for a "Level F" book but have no idea what that means. We're happy to help educate parents about book levels, but an informational handout from a teacher might make the process easier. Or, better yet, invite a librarian to come to your open house or back-to-school night to talk about reading levels and booktalk a few books.

We are happy to have your class visit, and your visit will be better if we know you are coming (and when and for what purpose). Different libraries have different rules about class visits, but I can tell you one thing - your visit will be smoother for all involved if we know you're coming. We can make sure that we are adequately staffed. We can pull books for you. We can put together a program if you'd like. We can suggest a time when the library is generally quieter and your students will have plenty of room to browse and work. I'm going to say that, generally, at least a week's notice is preferable (and more notice is even better).

We need your help to promote our programs over the summer and during the school year. A good word from a trusted teacher goes a lot farther than a paper (or online) schedule from the library. We'd love to be invited to your school or class to promote the summer reading club, talk about upcoming programs, show kids & teachers our online resources, and do booktalks and/or storytime. You want your kids to read and we do, too!

We'd love a copy of your summer reading list. Whether you're assigning summer reading or just offering a list of suggested titles, we'd love to have a copy before kids come in looking for the books. That way we can make sure we have enough copies on the shelves. Also, please remember that books sometimes go out of print (and if they're out of print, we can't get more copies!). If you're not sure about a book's availability, contact your local library and we are happy to help you find out. Using in-print books on your reading list will make it much more convenient for kids and parents to find and read these books.

The public library may have more freedom to buy materials that aren't approved by the school board. While school libraries must meet the needs of their students, public libraries aim to meet the needs of all patrons. If you're looking for a book that your school library doesn't own (for whatever reason), check the public library!

Many libraries offer teacher cards or school loan programs. If you want books to use for your classroom, ask your local public library if they have a special loan program for teachers. Benefits may include longer check-out times, no overdue fees, delivery to your school, and/or professional guidance in selecting books for your classroom. If you do take part in a school loan program, please remember that other teachers and patrons may want the same books you do, so it's important to get those books back on time.

So, readers, what else would we like teachers to know about the library? Teachers, what would you like librarians to know about schools? Any school media folk have something to add?

Be sure and check out Help Me Help You Parts 1: Research and Reference, 2: Storytime, and 3: Library Logistics. And I got so many great suggestions in the comments, that I'll wrap it all up with Part 5 later this week.

Magickeepers: The Eternal Hourglass

Magickeepers: The Eternal Hourglass by Erica Kirov. (Grades 4-7.)

Moving from hotel to hotel with his Las Vegas magician dad, Nick is used to making new friends and losing them as soon as their vacations are over. And he's used to having a tiny room and not much money (his dad is not a very talented magician). But on Nick's thirteenth birthday, everything changes as he learns that he comes from a line of very powerful magicians called the Magickeepers. Nick learns that he has the gift of sight and he's whisked away to train in magic and learn about the Magickeepers' glorious history. There he meets Isabella and her intimidating trained tiger Sascha and he learns about the Shadowkeepers, evil magicians who will stop at nothing to collect the most powerful relics in the world. And they seem to be after Nick...

The action is very fast-paced and I'd definitely try this on Harry Potter or Percy Jackson fans who just can't get enough magic. I love that Erica Kirov wove strands of Russian culture and history into the story. That definitely makes it stand out.

But to be honest the book didn't completely grab me. I'll be the first to admit that I've got a lot on my mind at the moment with the start of the Summer Reading Club and all that goes with it. It's very possible that it's just my state of mind that's keeping me from getting hooked.

Anymore, any good or middling children's fantasy novel gets compared to Harry Potter and this one has a lot of the same elements. True, the Russian elements do add to the story, but I didn't really feel connected to the characters enough to really enjoy the novel. Again, maybe that's my state of mind, but 80 pages in I sat up and realized that the only thing I really knew about Nick was that he loved cheeseburgers...

So, it wasn't totally my thing, but many other bloggers have liked it quite a bit. Check out the other blogs participating in the Magickeepers' blog tour*:

YA Books Central

Books For Your Kids

The Reading Tub

Book Loons

Dolce Bellezza

The Written World

Blog Critics

Booking Mama (5/28)

A Childhood of Dreams (5/29)

Eva’s Book Addiction (5/29)

Word Candy (5/29)

Book Views (6/1)

Looking Glass Review (6/5)

Alea Pop Culture (6/18)

Beth Fish Reads (6/23)

One more thing... I've heard several compliments on the cover of Magickeepers: The Eternal Hourglass, but whenever I look at it I can't help but think of the cover of Larklight. What do you think? Am I stretching?

*And yes, I was supposed to post on May 28, but a ridiculously slow FedEx delivery nipped that in the bud... Apologies for the delay!