Posted by: csatta | February 2, 2010 | No Comment |
Eleven-year-old Lonnie Collins Motion (a.k.a. Lo Co Motion) tells his story in a series of school poetry journal entries. Lonnie remembers happy times spent with his family before his parents die in a housefire as well as the cruel memories of that tragic night. He also expresses his feelings, thoughts, and hopes about his life now in a foster home, separated from his younger sister.
This is a very tender story which, although obviously sad at times, includes enough love and friendship to make it hopeful, too. It’s a nice alternative to the standard foster child story that portrays direlect natural parents and a succession of miserable foster homes.
Lonnie lives with an older woman who has raised two boys of her own . She provides a humble home, but she takes Lonnie to church, prays, and provides a safe, predictable place for Lonnie to adjust and heal. When one of her sons returns home from living elsewhere, he spends time with Lonnie , calling Lonnie “Little Brother.”
Lonnie’s younger sister, Lili, has been placed in a separate home, but the siblings are allowed to visit each other occasionally. During one of those visits, Lili asks, “ You found God yet, Lonnie?” Then she gives Lonnie a Bible and says, “God is everywhere . . . . He comes in your heart if you let Him . . . . You find God, Lonnnie . . . then maybe me and you can be together again.” In one of his poetry journal entries, Lonnie writes a prayer to God and talks to Him about starting to read the Bible in Genesis and reading “a little bit every night.”
Lonnie enjoys close friendships at school including the attentions of a special girl, too. Lonnie’s school teacher recognizes Lonnie’s talent for writing poetry and encourages him. This book would be excellent to use for a poetry unit, perhaps coupled with Sharon Creech’s Love That Dog and Hate That Cat, Karen Hesse’s Out of the Dust, and Nikki Grimes’ Dark Sons.
Posted by: csatta | January 12, 2010 | No Comment |
Eighth-grader Tomikazu Najaki is playing catch with his best friend, Billy, when suddenly Japanese planes thunder overhead and drop bombs on the warships in nearby Pearl Harbor. Although Tomi is an American-born Japanese, Tomi’s father and grandfather are suspected as spies and taken away to internment camps.
The author, Graham Salisbury, grew up in Hawaii. He writes an authentic, satisfying, even-handed story about what life was like for Japanese Americans in Hawaii following the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
Highly recommended for grades 5-8.
Awards/Lists: Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction; Notable/Best Books (American Library Association); Books for the Teen Age (New York Public Library)
Posted by: csatta | January 12, 2010 | No Comment |
With most of his memory erased, sixteen-year-old Thomas is transported into ”The Glade,” a mysterious place already inhabited by other teenage boys. Apparently the boys are trapped inside The Glade–a walled fortress that is surrounded by an exitless maze and lethal half animal/half mechanical beasts.
The boys have organized themselves with leaders and teams of workers each intent on helping the boys survive and– even more importantly–escape . Thomas becomes a “maze runner,” one of the boys who venture outside the wall of The Glade to look for clues, all the while evading the bloodthirsty Grievers.
Posted by: csatta | January 12, 2010 | No Comment |
It’s 1914, and the flames of World War I are ignited by the assassination of Prince Alek’s parents. Fifteen-year-old Alek flees for his life in a walking military machine along with a few trusted men. While trying to evade his enemies, Alex befriends Derwyn , a girl who pretends to be a boy so that she can sail aboard an airship that is set upon destroying Alek’s kingdom.
In this alternate reality, World War I is being fought between the Clankers (Germans and Austrians) who use fantastical war machines, and the Darwinists (Russia, France and Britain) who have created fighting beasts by cross-breeding creatures.
I found the story a little confusing at the the beginning, but once I got a clearer idea of what Clankers and Darwinists were, I became engrossed in the plot. Fans of Kenneth Oppel’s Airborn/Skybreaker/Starclimber alternate-past trilogy should like this new series.
Scott Westerfeld (author of the popular Uglies series) has combined into one book all the things that boys crave–military machines, fighting beasts, war, action and adventure. But he hasn’t forgotten potential girl readers who will appreciate the plucky girl co-protagonist, Dylan (a.k.a. Derwyn), and the hint of romance between Alek and her.
This is the first book in a planned four-part series. The sequel will find Alek in Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire.
The book’s shelf appeal is off the charts. The lavishly embossed cover, brilliantly white, thick paper, large type and generous white space all shout. “Read me! Savor the experience!” The frequent black-and-white illustrations match the setting perfectly and help the reader visualize the imaginary creatures and machines as they are described. The book is heavy but inviting, and holding it reminded me of the first time I opened the pages of The Invention of Hugo Cabret.
Westerfeld’s treatment of the evolution debate in this book is subtle. On the surface it would seem that he presents both sides of the debate evenly as he has the Clankers and Darwinists equally disliking and distrusting the other group.
By describing the Clankers as those who “were afraid of fabricated species, and worshipped their mechanical engines” (p. 115) and Darwinists as those who “worshipped science” (p. 263) , Westerfeld casts the debate in religious terms. Clankers called the fabricated beasts “godless things” and the work of the fabricators “ungodly science” (p. 262).
Unfortunately, the Clankers come off as superstitious and fearful of evolution as well as other advances in science. Dr. Barlow, one of the scientists who fabricates the beasts, was described by Alex as “the incarnation of everything he’d been taught to fear” (p. 433).
A flight captain and Derwyn had the following conversation about the fabricated beasts (pp.30-31):
“Not bad, not bad,” the flight captain said. “I’m glad to see so few of our young men succumbing to common superstition.
Deryn snorted. A few people–Monkey Luddites, they were called–were afraid of Darwinist beasties on principle. They thought that crossbreeding natural creatures was more blasphemy than science . . . .
Another time Alek accuses the Darwinists of healing “people with . . . leeches or something.” Dylan laughs and answers, “Not that I know of . . . .Of course, we do use bread mold to stop infections” to which Alek replies, “I certainly hope you’re kidding.” (p. 278)
Of course, this is an allusion to the antibiotic, penicillin, which can be extracted from a species of bread mold. Alek’s mistrust of the Darwinists and Dylan’s blythe acceptance of his scorn coupled with her matter-of-fact attribution of this pivotal true-to-life scientific discovery of penicillin to the Darwinists paints the Clankers as ignorant and fearful of true science, the Darwinists as confident in their science.
Westerfeld’s own opinion of Darwin is a high one. He has Alek describe Darwin as “the man who fathomed the very threads of life” (p. 433). And in his afterword, Westerfeld states that ”Darwin . . . made the discoveries that are at the core of modern biology” (p.438).
Westerfeld even dips his pen into the genetic engineering debate by mentioning that “human life chains were off-limits for fabricaiton” by the Darwinists.
So does this book belong in a Christian school collection? I plan to buy a copy for our library. The book is about a lot of other things besides evolution. And I think that our students need to be exposed to opposing viewpoints; reading this book might sharpen their critical thinking skills. Parents may want to read it with their child and discuss it. I would love to use it in a reading club, to help the students pinpoint and think critically about the subtle messages concerning the evolution/creation debate woven into the plot.
When thirteen-year-old Branwell’s baby half-sister is abused and seriously injured, Branwell is accused of the crime and locked up in the juvenile behavioral center.
Something in Branwell snaps when the baby gets injured, and he is not able to talk to defend himself or explain what really happened on that fateful day. The only witness is the baby’s caretaker, Vivan, an au pair from England.
Branwell’s best friend, Connor Kane, faithfully visits Branwell at the behavioral center and develops a special form of communication with Branwell whereby Connor pieces together what really happend.
Caution: This book contains mature content. Although Publisher’s Weekly lists this book as appropriate for ages 10 and up, I wouldn’t expose my ten-year-old to this book.
Also according to the Publishers Weekly book review, this story is loosely based on a true event. As the reader suspects from the beginning, the au pair is truly the one responsible for injuring the baby, but with Branwell struck dumb, it takes the help of others to uncover the truth.
Vivian, the au pair, is a lewd, manipulative seductress who makes my skin crawl. Because of Branwell’s guilt about his shameful relationship with the au pair, he does not tell anyone about Vivian’s neglectful care of Nikki.
I don’t know why the author wrote this book. Perhaps, like Laurie Halse Anderson with her book Speak, Konigsburg felt that this story needed to be told so that children who experience such atrocities might be emboldened to speak out. Sadly, children are scarred by such evil behavior far more frequently than we want to acknowledge.
“The cruelest of lies are often told in silence.” Two of the main characters discuss this quote by Robert Louis Stevenson to drive home the point that those who witness such evil and do not speak out against it are guilty, too.
Lists: Notable/Best Books (American Library Association), 2001; Books for the Teen Awards Age (New York Public Library), 2002
Posted by: csatta | December 21, 2009 | No Comment |
It’s 1958, and twelve-year-old Bobby Barnhard and his family are the new neighbors of Grandma Dowdel.
Always the consummate story-teller, Richard Peck has put together another rollicking tale with gun-toting Grandma Dowdel as one of the main characters. Set 20 years later, this book is a companion novel to “A long way from Chicago” and “A year down yonder.”
Anyone who enjoyed the companion volumes will savor this one, but this story can stand alone.
As sixteen-year-old Jeeta watches her two older sisters enter arranged marriages in Mambai, India, she determines to set her own course despite the highly-revered traditions followed by her mother.
The author, Kashmira Sheth, grew up in India and came to the United States to attend college at the age of 17. As a result, her authentic story pulsates with vivid details. The cover, which shows hands painted in intricate patterns displayed against the backdrop of richly-woven material, grabs the reader’s attention and accurately reflects the setting of the book.
Perhaps most wonderful of all is Sheth’s ability to tell a good story. Her characters learn and change, and the plot resolution is not perfect but hopeful. The thread of Jeeta’s romance with a non-approved suitor that is woven throughout the story will keep girls reading to the end. This book is a delightful way to learn about another culture.
When their Guatemalan village is burned and all their family members are killed by soldiers, twelve-year-old Santiago Cruz and his four-year-old sister take their uncle’s kayak and try to sail to the United States for refuge.
This is a well-written survival story that raises the reader’s awareness of the hardships and atrocities suffered by many people, especially children, around the world, and gives us an appreciation for the privileges and rights enjoyed my Americans.
It’s 1911, and Turner Buckminster has moved with his parents to Phippsburg, Maine. As the new preacher’s son and living under the constant scrutiny of the townspeople, Turner has a hard time enjoying himself until he makes friends with a girl living on a nearby island.
Unfortunately, Lizzie’s island is populated by poor former slaves, and some of the influential folks in Phippsburg are determined to rid the island of Lizzie and all the other inhabitants (and their tumble-down houses) so that Phippsburg can become a tourist attraction.
Turner’s father is just settling into his new position and wants to please the town leaders, but Turner thinks for himself and doesn’t do what is expected of him.
There were several things I loved about this book. First, I enjoyed the witty dialogue and crisp repartee between the memorable characters.
Another thing I appreciated was the way the author put the reader inside Turner’s mind as he grappled with reasoning and acting independently–doing what he thought was right despite other people’s expectations of him. That’s a great moral for everyone of all ages, but especially for the intended audience–middle school readers who live for the approval of their peers.
I will say that Schmidt gave religion a black eye with his depiction of a stodgy, empty faith as embodied in Turner’s politically-appointed father.
One way Turner (and his father) showed rebellion against expectations was in reading and openly displaying a copy of Darwin’s The Origin of Species. Within the historical setting of this book, it was very appropriate for the author to tie in several of Darwin’s books because the creation-evolution controversy was very much at the center of theological debate at that time.
However, I was frustrated by how the author portrayed Turner as liberated by his study of evolution. Just as Turner shed his too-heavily-starched minister’s son’s shirts, the unrealistic expectations of the townspeople, and the strict demands of his father, Turner shed his belief in the biblical account of creation.
I resent the implication that the concept of evolution will resonate with independent thinkers who throw off the shackles of blind faith. The fact that the most bigoted character in the book calls Darwin’s writings ”tripe” further reinforces the impression that people who still believe in the biblical account of creation are narrow-minded.
I am an independent thinker who still believes (almost a century later than the setting of this book) that God created the heavens and the earth in 6 literal days. I do not believe in a literal creation because I have mindlessly swallowed outdated drivel passed down from previous generations, but because I believe every word of the Bible is literally true–and will be forever.
And then the climactic scene when Turner touched a whale and had an ephiphany left me cold.
Sure, I read the point the author was trying to make: “. . . there is nothing in the world more beautiful and more wonderful in all its evolved forms than two souls who look at each other straight on. And there is nothing more woeful and soul-saddening than when they are parted. Turner knew that everything in the world rejoices in the touch, and everything in the world laments in the losing” (p. 216).
That’s a fine sentiment, and I understand it in relation to his friendship with Lizzie as well as his relationship with his father. But animals and people are different. Animals don’t have souls, and making the tie-in with the whale is environmentalist bilge.
Grades 5-8.
Awards/Lists: Newbery honor Book; Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature; Notable/Best Books (American Library Association)
Eleven-year-old Angel Morgan tries to take care of her younger brother and hold her family together despite her parents’ troubled past and dysfunctional behavior.
When she meets a strange man who teaches her about the night sky, she is comforted by the fact that despite the vastness of the universe, the Creator is “mindful of man” and “has crowned him with glory and honor” (Ps. 8).
Sadly, many children are dependent on irresponsible, troubled adults who make their children’s lives very scarey, difficult, and even dangerous. Such is the case with Angel Morgan and her younger brother, Bernie.
For a child who knows what it’s like to live with an unpredictable, dysfunctional adult, this book will ring true and perhaps bring a measure of comfort by letting that child know that he or she is not the only one having these experiences and feelings.
Children who come from whole, loving homes should read this book so that they can understand and perhaps even reach out to those children around them who don’t seem to fit in.
