The Pocket and the Pendant

This is a review of the podiobook.

Author: Mark Jeffrey

Reader: Mark Jeffrey

Producers: Mark Jeffrey and Dragon Page

Production Year: 2005

Most of the listeners will be: Middle and high school boys and girls.

Listener's Advisory: In Pullman's His Dark Materials series tween age children also act older than their age and save the world.

Summary:
Max Quick, who has to punch himself in the face every morning in order to ride the bus, is an unlikely hero. But when he finds himself, and a few other children, alone in a time-frozen world, he has to step up to the challenge. First he rescues Casey who has fallen into a mirror. Then the two of them run super-fast (a power they have developed because of time being frozen) to a nearby city, only to be captured by a gang of children calling themselves the "Serpents and Mermaids." One of the "Serp" VPs, Ian, has had enough and helps them escape into a magical book. Into and out of books and across the country the children travel until they arrive in New York. An alien queen, Jadeth, and her followers, have landed there and stopped time so they can look for something called "The Pendant." Using yet another book, Max, Casey, Ian, and Sasha (a former "Serp" gone alien slave gone run-away slave) find the much talked about Mr. E who explains to them exactly what is going on, and gives them the tools (if not all the instructions) on how to stop it. Can the four children keep Jadeth from acquiring The Pendant, or will they fall victim to "the tyrrany of the page"?

My favorite passage:
When Ian comes to bust Max and Casey out of Serpant and Mermaid prison he explains to them how he has come by the magical book he intends to use to escape. The story he tells is rather gruesom as it invovles an overweight kid becoming so addicted to magical food from the book that he withers away and dies. But the reason I like this passage is because the overweight kid is named "Sweet Lid." The first time the leader of the Serpants and Mermaids meets him he is wearing a cool hat and the leader says, "sweet lid." That becomes the kid's name.

What I really think:
The author himself compares this book to the Narnia series and to His Dark Materials. Both of these series are fantasy/sci-fi and put forth a specific religious (albeit one of the religions is atheism) view of the world. The Pocket and the Pendant does give an explanation of how our world came to be (i.e. how humans became intelligent), but I don't think Jeffrey is trying to defend an "aliens are gods" religion. This is more of an exercise in "what if" than "this is what I think happened."
Being a classics junky I loved all the talk of ancient civilizations and how the aliens influenced them. But, being a classics junky I was also too smart for Jeffrey. The aliens use magical stones which Jeffrey calls "omphalos." The problem is that "omphalos" is a real word from ancient Greek that is still used in English as a medical term. The singular form is "omphalos" but the plural is "omphali." Jeffry uses "omphalos" for the singular and plural, and it kind of bothered me. He also uses the word "chthonic" a few times and pronounces it with a "ch" sound like in "choo choo" instead of a "ch" sound that is more like an aspiration before the "th" sound. Also slightly bothersome.
Jeffrey has included music in the backround of most of the podiobook. I think it adds to the feel of the story. Sometimes it is ironic (cheerful and serene while we hear about Max having to punch himself), other times exactly what the listener is feeling (intense when bad guys show up).
Aside from my nitpicky language complaints, this is a smart and well researched combination of history, legend, fantasy, and science fiction. The characters are unique (and uniquely voiced). They are complex, most neither all good nor all bad. I was pleased to learn, upon looking up the website, that this is the first of a series.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that the podiobook is free!

Kiki Strike Inside the Shadow City

Author: Kirsten Miller

Publisher (In Great Britain): Bloomsbury

Publication Year (In Great Britain): 2008

Most of the readers will be: Middle school girls.

Reader's Advisory: For another book with a strong female protagonist try The Secret Scroll by Lynne Ewing.

Summary:
Ananka Fishbein wakes up one morning to see a giant sink hole in the park across the street. Being chronically curious, she jumps in the hole to investigate. She sees a troll, a room, and a book. Ananka escapes with the book before the authorities come to fix the hole, and from it learns that there is a secret collection of tunnels and rooms beneath New York called the Shadow City. She would love to explore the Shadow City, but how will she get in?
Then Ananka meets Kiki Strike, the girl who wants to grow up to be "dangerous." Kiki recruits Ananka and a collection of delinquent girl scouts to join her on a journey into the Shadow City. What's more, she has found a way in through a crypt in a private cemetary. The girls call themselves the "Irregulars" and with their combined talents, almost nothing can stop them.
Ananka knows why she wants to explore the Shadow City, but she isn't so sure about Kiki's intentions. Then an accident floods Shadow City (and some of the streets of New York) and Kiki disappears. When the Irregulars find her again, should they trust her? Is she a villian they need to stop, or does she need their help to stop someone else?

My favorite passage:

"Did you hear about the rats?" I heard the woman ask. My stomach flip-flopped.
"What rats?" replied the man in a bored voice.
"It was on the news this morning. They said that a ship in the middle of the Hudson River was attacked by thousands of rats last night."
"Rats can swim?"
"Apparently," said the woman.
I had to bite my tongue to avoide offering the bit of trivia that sprang to mind. According to The Devil's Army rats are champion swimmers. During the plagues that laid waste to old New York, the dead were often buried in mass gravs on islands in the East RIver. Whenever the graves were left unfilled, the city's rat population would swim across to picnic on the exposed corpses.
"But what were a bunch of rats doing in the Hudson River?" asked the man.
"Nobody knows," the woman answered. "The reporter said they might have been swimming to New Jersey."
"That makes sense. New Jersey's a good place for them."
"They said the boat just got in the way."
"What happened to it?"
"Well from what I could gather, the crew abandoned the ship and escaped in life boats."
"That bad?" At last he was intrigued.
"I guess. The reporter said they ate the crew's dog."
"Rats eat dogs?"
"They eat anything, don't they?" said the woman.
The light changed, and the happy couple strolled off, arm in arm. I reached in my pocket for my Reverse Pied Piper. I had never imagined it could be quite so powerful, and I suddenly felt a little guilty. I wondered how my grandfather would have felt about what we had done. He probably would have packed up his bags and followed the rats to New Jersey. (pg 134-135)

What I really think:
The theory goes that girls will read books that have a male or female protagonist but boys will only read books with a male protagonist. But even if girls will read about boy heroes, why shouldn't they sink their teeth into a novel filled with girl power once in a while?
What makes this book even more empowering is that the Irregulars don't have super powers, they just have things they are really good at, like chemistry and forging documents. Most of the chapters end with advice, like the kind you would find in a guide book. So the reader can try her hand at spying and crime solving, too!
I found the passage of two years in the middle of the book to be a little weird. I'm not sure why Kiki couldn't have turned up again a month or two after she disappeared. But I suppose growing the girls up helped the storyline in some ways.
Over all, I love Kiki Strike and I love that there are books like this for girls.

Just Henry

Author: Michelle Magorian

Publisher: Egmont

Publication Year: 2008

Most of the readers will be: Late middle school to early high school boys and girls.

Reader's Advisory: This year's unusual Caldecott winner, The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick, is also a historical fiction novel that talks about old movies.

Summary:
Henry's neighborhood and family were torn apart by World War II. His father died a hero and Henry walks by piles of rubble on his way to the cinema every week. His mother has remarried and had a daughter, Molly. And his father's mother has moved in with them. Henry knows a few things at the beginning of the novel: His stepfather (Uncle Bill) is stuck up for wanting to go back to school and be something other than a railway man. The Jeffries family is no good because Mr. Jeffries is a deserter. He hasn't been seen since the war and Henry's father died saving Mr. Jeffries's life. Being divorced or having a child out of wedlock is scandalous, and Herny should not associate with people like that.
But there is a new teacher at Henry's school this year, and he sees people a little differently. He has the class work on group projects all year and he puts Henry in a group with the young Jeffries, and Pip, who was born on the "wrong side of the sheets." After weeks of desperately trying to avoid his groupmates, Henry finally gives in to his teacher's wishes and discovers he likes Jeffries and Pip! What else in his life had Henry been wrong about?

My favorite passage:

'You look browned off,' said his mother. 'The films weren't that bad, were they?'
Henry had just returned from the cinema. One of the films he had seen had left him feeling a bit low.
'There was this James Mason film called Caught and it was supposed to have a happy ending. And it sort of did.' And he paused. 'And it didn't.'
'What do you mean?'
'It was about a woman who was married to a man who didn't love her, only she didn't find out till after she'd married him. And he treaterd her like he owned her. Then she found out that she was goin' to have a baby, so she was sort of trapped, 'cos he said that if she divorced him, he'd pay people to say terrible things about her so he could take the baby away from her and then she'd never see it again. And he was really nasty to her. He wouldn't let her sleep when she wanted. And he made her cook meals for him and his friends in the middle of the night. He was a bully.'
She sat down quickly and flung a hand across her face.
'What a horrible story,' she said shakily. 'Why do thy want to make films like that?' and she burst into tears.
'Mum!' He was shocked. 'It was all right, Mum. She lost the baby and ended up with this nice doctor.'
'So if she hadn't lost the baby, she would have had to stay with the nasty one?'
'Yeah. He was a very powerful man. That's what I meant about the ending. It was good because she ended up with the nice doctor, but it was bad because she lost the baby.' (pg 106-107)

What I really think:
It is worth mentioning that this book is over 700 pages long and is divided into four parts. When I reached the end of part one I thought to myself, "This could be a book all on it's own." But after reading the whole thing I do think all the parts work together to make one unified story.
My only complaint is that it is a little too perfect that Henry is forced to walk in the shoes of the people he used to look down on towards the end of the book, especially since he has already learned his lesson by then.
Other than that, I really enjoyed Just Henry. I learned about cinema from 1900 to 1950, about post World War II Briton, and some things about British culture in general.

Twisted

This is a review of the audio book.

Author: Laurie Halse Anderson

Reader: Mike Chamberlain

Producer: Listening Library

Production Year: 2007

Lexile: 680L

Most of the listeners will be: High school boys.

Listener's Advisory: If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period by Gennifer Choldenko is another audio book in which the characters face family problems.

Summary:
Tyler's punishment for the "foul deed" (spray painting graffiti on the school building) is to work for the school janitors over the summer. He has been the scrawny nerd all his life, but all of the sudden, Tyler is a little bit cooler because of the "foul deed," and not so scrawny on account of all the manual labor. The girl of his dreams, Bethany, is actually flirting with him, much to the annoyance of her twin brother, Chip. But after a crazy post-football game party Tyler isn't so cool anymore. Everyone thinks he is the one who took the pictures of Bethany passed out and naked, including his father. Tyler doesn't want to live like this, ostracized at school and at home. He has to decide whether he should kill himself, or find a way to turn his life around.

My favorite passage:
Early on in the novel, Tyler and his family attend a cookout at the home of his father's boss, who also happens to be the father of Bethany and Chip. Chip's father notes how muscular Tyler has become over the summer and compares him to Chip. This leads to Tyler and Chip arm wrestling as their fathers observe. Tyler plays with Chip for a while but knows he can take him. When he is just about to claim his victory, Tyler looks over at his dad and sees him shake his head. His father doesn't want him to win. Tyler obliges and lets Chip win. He takes some pleasure in knowing he could have beat Chip, but gets none of the public glory. (Disc 1)

What I really think:
I almost cried during parts of this book. (The only reason I didn't was because I usually listen to audio books while running.) Parents can really hurt their kids in ways that aren't obvious like physical abuse or neglect. Anderson demonstrates how devastating verbal and emotional abuse (even if it is not always intentional) can be. I love that Tyler pulls himself out of a bad situation and finally tells his father how his behavior affects him. Ultimately, Tyler's dad doesn't promise to be different, only to try. I would caution that in real life, there are some parents who wouldn't even do that. But that doesn't mean their kids shouldn't say anything to them.

I mostly liked Chamberlain's reading. Although, I found his female voices to be a little frantic sounding at times, when the characters weren't necessarily supposed to be frantic.

The True Meaning of Smekday

Author: Adam Rex

Publisher: Hyperion Books for Children

Publication Year: 2007

Lexile: 730L (This book is not in the Lexile Book Database. I used the Lexile Analyzer to get this value.)

Most of the readers will be: Late elementary and middle school girls and some boys. (Some high schoolers might even get into it, Gratuity acts much older than her age.)

Reader's Advisory: For a book from the alien's point of view, read Dude, Where's my Spaceship? by Dan Greenburg.

Summary:
Gratuity "Tip" Tucci starts out writing about Smekday for a competition to have her essay included in a time capsule. Smekday is the day the Boov invaded Earth (now named Smekland). Tip has a special take on the events surrounding Smekday and the days that follow. Her mother was abducted before Smekday and the Boov implanted a glowing mole on her back to help them learn English and Italian from her. On Smekday, they take Tip's mother away in a ship and Tip is not sure if she will see her again. On Moving Day (the day the Boov tell all the Americans they have to move to Florida) Tip decides to drive herself instead of taking one of the Boov's pods. In the course of her journey, she meets J.Lo., a Boov hiding from his own people because of a terrible mistake he has made. Tip and J.Lo. arrive in Florida only to find that the humans have been relocated again, this time to Arizona. And the Boov are no longer the only aliens interested in taking over Earth (or Smekland).

My favorite passage:

"Fhf. Boovworld had once five million channels beforeto the Purging."
"The what?"
"The Purging."
"Purging."
"Yes. In the Purging, all channels but one were eliminatited, to prevents death of society."
"Oh. Yeah. People are always going on about how TV is going to ruin Earth, too."
"Is well proven. Let us say, after televisions are invented, that there is only then a few channels. Three or four. We will call them A, G, Semicolon, and Pointy."
"How about we call them A, B, C . . . and ABC."
"Whatevers. Let us now think of these channels as like four cups filled with eggs. Cup A holds inside News eggs, and Sport eggs, and Variety Show eggs. Cup B has News and Animated Story eggs and Situationally Comedic eggs. So on. More big cups are added because peoples want More Choices."
"Uh-huh."
"Soon it is noticed that between the cups there is room for smaller cups.
"These cannot hold much. Maybies there is one with only News eggs all the time. Maybies one with only Funny. But maybies Funny is your favorite sort of egg, so you like this cup.
"Then even smaller cups are made for inbetween the small cups and even smaller between those. The more cups, the more new gaps to fill. Every kind of show is invented. Shows like Pillowbusters! And What Are People Willing to Put in Their Mouths? Or The Week in Balancing, or Watch Out, Baby Animals! Cavalcade, Big Celebrity Poomps, Guy on a Table . . . lots of shows."
"So what was the problem?" I asked.
"It went out of control," said J.Lo. "Shows had to be recorded whilst even more shows were watched. Not enough time for seeing everything a Boov wanted to see, so some had to quit their jobs, or hires someone to watch for them,"
"Um . . ."
"Televisional scientists theorized a point into the future when each and everys Boov has his own show, and this show only shows him watching shows. So HighBoov decree: no more television but what the HighBoov say. And the HighBoov mostly say cooking shows." (pg 243-245)

What I really think:
This is one of those books where the main character (Gratuity) is supposed to be 11, but she acts a lot older most of the time. She drives, she looks out for her mother, she looks out for J.Lo., she saves the world from aliens, etc. I don't see a problem with this. Some 11 year olds do have to take care of their parents. And, most 11 year olds probably think they could drive or save the world from aliens given the chance.

In addition to being really entertaining, this book contains some smart social commentary. The Boov rename Christmas "Smekday," just like Christians renamed the holidays that existed before Christmas. The Boov designate small areas of land for humans and believe they are being generous. Sound like the early Americans and the American Indians?

If you read the book and want more Boov, check out this website: The National Time Capsule Project

Firegirl

This is a review of the audio book.

Author: Tony Abbott

Reader: Sean Kenin

Producer: Listening Library

Production Year: 2007

Lexile: 670L

Most of the listeners will be: Late elementary to early middle school boys and girls.

Listener's Advisory: Laurie Myers's book Surviving Brick Johnson is also about a new kid who seems scarier than he is, and can be found in audio format.

Summary:
On the first day of seventh grade, Tom's teacher announces that a new girl, Jessica, will be joining their class. She has been badly burned and has moved to the area to get special treatments at the local hospital. Tom is horrified by her appearance, but not as horrified as he is by the behavior of some of his classmates. When his teacher asks him to take Jessica some homework she has missed he gets to know her and her story. Suddenly the things that used to be so important to Tom aren't so important after all: riding in Jeff's uncle's cobra, nominating Courtney for class president so that she will notice him. Now all he can think about is how awful it is for Jessica. She does not stay at St. Catherine's for long, but it is long enough to change Tom's life.

My favorite passage:
When Tom goes to Jessica's house to bring her her homework, he ends up telling her about his theory that small super powers are better than big ones. He thinks it would be good to have one indestructible finger or to be able to whistle really loudly. When you don't ask for too much, you are grateful for that little super power you have, and you can think of really amazing things you can do with it. (Disc 2)

What I really think:
This book was full of surprises. I'll admit it. Since the title is Firegirl I expected the main character to be a girl. (Tom is not a girl.) Then I was surprised by how much I can relate to Tom. That thing he does where he daydreams in class, making up stories in which he has weird super powers? I did that! All this time I thought I was a freak. And isn't that what young adult literature is all about - letting teens know they are not alone? Fortunately for Tom, he learns something from Jessica that I learned from the long, slow process of growing up - you can be happy with what you have.

Sean Kenin did a good job of giving the characters that have the biggest roles distinct voices. Most of the general class members sound the same, but you can always pick out Tom, Jeff, and Jessica. Jeff's voice is my favorite. He really sounds like a middle schooler who just doesn't care about most things.

Red Moon at Sharpsburg

Author: Rosemary Wells

Publisher: Penguin Group

Publication Year: 2007

Lexile: 870L (This book is not in the Lexile Book Database. I used the Lexile Analyzer to get this value.)

Most of the readers will be: Middle school girls and some boys.

Reader's Advisory: For a non-fiction book on the Civil War, try You Wouldn't Want to be a Civil War Soldier! A War You'd Rather Not Fight by Thomas M. Ratliff.

Summary: India Moody is a young woman, coming of age in Virginia during the Civil War. Although she comes from a poor family, India is the god-daughter of the well off Geneva Trimble thanks to her father saving the life of Calvin Trimble. When the Civil War starts, India's best friend Julia moves away to Ohio. First the Trimbles's younger sons join the Confederate army, then India's father and India's tutor, Emory Trimble join, too. India witnesses the battlefield at Sharpsburg trying to bring medicine to her father. She sees many other terrible things before the end of the war is in sight, but throughout it all she holds on to her goal of finding her way to Ohio to attend Oberlin College. Juila has written to her that Oberlin accepts women and allows students to work off their tuition. India has heard that the world will be different after the war, and she hopes that means there will be a place for educated women.

My favorite passage:

Then he slaps down a notebook in front of me and takes on a churchy voice. "India, I am a tutor of physical philosophy at the University of Virginia. Until the war ends and school starts I am to be your teacher." he announces to me.
I feel my legs dangling from my chair like a little girl's.
"The following are our subjects." On a slate is written in my mother's hand, Scriptures, household economics, handwriting, declamation.
"We'll start on chapter one of Makey's Moral Behavior for American Girls," Emory says.
On the table next to me is a brass tube with an eyepiece up top, eight inches long. It shines and sits aslant a black basalt stand.
"What's that?" I ask.
"It's called a microscope," says Emory. "I brought it back from the university. Now repeat after me," he says. "'A Godly life is a swift river which runs through the garden of temptation.'"
"A Godly life is a swift river through the garden of temptation," I reel off.
"Which runs through," says Emory.
"What is the microscope for?" I ask.
"You can see tiny bacteria that are invisible to the naked eye," Emory answers. "'A Godly life is a swift river which runs through the garden of temptation."
"Can you show me? Can I look through it?"
"Let's get the prism out. It needs a prism to refract enough light for you to see." He turns the scope around, catches a ray of sunlight in the prism, and inserts a glass slide. "That is hog's blood," he says. (pg 36-37)

What I really think:
This book would be great to accompany a lesson in school about the American Civil War. I have always had a hard time with history myself, yet Wells has certainly drawn me into the story and taught me a great deal throughout her novel. I was especially surprised to read about how poor the medical field was at this time. Fiction books can educate and they can be a great resource for kids who turn their noses up at the text book.

The Garden of Eve

This is a review of the audio book.

Author: K. L. Going

Reader: Allyson Ryan

Producer: Random House

Production Year: 2007

Lexile: Unavailable

Most of the listeners will be: Late elementary age girls.

Listener's Advisory: For another audio book on death and strange places, listen to Jodi Lynn Anderson's May Bird and the Ever After (reviewed on March 25, 2008).

Summary: After Evie's mom dies, she and her dad move to a dead apple orchard in Beaumont, New York. While her father tries to bring the trees back to life, Evie plays with Alex, a young boy about her age who died of cancer a week before she moved to town. Evie does and doesn't believe that Alex is a ghost, but they become friends anyway. On her birthday, Evie gets a strange present from Maggie, the sister of the old man who previously owned their house and orchard. It is a seed. Evie comes to believe that this seed is from the Garden of Eden, and has the power to take her to another place. On a cold Beaumont afternoon, she and Alex find out exactly what the seed can do.

My favorite passage:
When Evie first meets Alex she thinks to herself that when her mom was alive she could have believed in ghosts (she could have believed in a lot of things), but now, she just can't. (Disc 1)

What I really think:
This is a great book for a child dealing with loss. Evie wants so badly to be with her mother that it takes almost getting stuck in the magical garden forever to make her realize all the wonderful things she still has in her life, including her father. Adam struggles with the loss of his brother. He would rather be the ghost of Alex, than be Adam and live without Alex.

Not all of Alyson Ryan's voices are super distinct. But her voice for Alex/Adam is amazing. He really sounds like a bratty little New York boy.

The Linden Tree

Author: Ellie Mathews

Publisher: Milkweed Editions

Publication Year: 2007

Lexile: 1040L (This book is not in the Lexile Book Database. I used the Lexile Analyzer to get this value.)

Most of the readers will be: Middle school girls.

Reader's Advisory: This book would be great to read before going back a little further in American history with the Laura Ingalls Wilder Little House books.

Summary:
Katy Sue's mother has just died of meningitis and is buried under the old linden tree up on the hill. Katy Sue, her sister Ingrid, her brother Ben, and their Papa do their best to carry on "now Edna's gone." They live on a farm in Iowa in 1948 and life is hard. Katy Sue cares for the chickens. Ben raises the pigs. Papa works in the field. And Ingrid does the house work. It isn't long before they realize they need help, and Papa asks Mama's sister Aunt Katherine to move in with them. Aunt Katherine makes life both easier and harder. She helps Ingrid in the kitchen, but she can be very critical of Katy Sue. As the year passes the family works together to keep the farm going, and keep each other going whenever they miss Mama.

My favorite passage:

"There's something I didn't tell my mama. When she was sick, I mean." Mrs. Breton leaned forward. I bunched my fingers into the splotches in my skirt. "Mama said I was her special treasure and I didn't answer." I twisted my fingers in my skirt as if to make the wet spots disappear. "I should have. But I didn't know what to say." I had nowhere to look but into my own lap. "I mean - I didn't think - I didn't think she would really - that she'd really die." My hands stopped moving. "I thought I had time to say it, you know, later."
"And now there is no later, is there? That's the heartbreak." Mrs. Breton touched my wrist and said in a voice that made me think of the warmest, deepest, clearest pool imaginable, "You wanted to say how much you loved her, didn't you?"
I snapped my eyes to Mrs. Breton's. "How did you know?"
"But hadn't you ever told her that?"
"Oh, yes ma'am. Lots of times. All the time. Every day. She was the best mama anyone ever had."
"Then you didn't have to tell her again. She already knew. You have nothing to worry about. Nothing at all. There's more to loving someone than what you say to them, you know."
"Yes, ma'am," I said. "But still, I wish I'd said it."
"I'll tell you what. Why don't you find something around your farm to draw some pictures of. Then you can put her in the pictures. Just the way you want to see her. You have milk cows out at your place, don't you?"
"Some days it seems we're raising nothing but crows out in the field."
"Then draw me some crows."
"I don't like crows."
"Well, okay."
I couldn't have said why, but that made me laugh on top of my crying, thinking of crows at a time like that and because people sort of teased Mrs. Breton about how serious she could be about drawing pictures all the time, and there we were talking about crows. (pg 31-32)

What I really think:
Mathews skillfully takes us through the grieving process. Katy Sue doesn't want to celebrate her birthday without her mother. She doesn't want to celebrate Christmas. She is afraid of people being nice to her because it makes her cry, but when she cries with her teacher, it helps her. On top of all these emotions, Katy Sue doesn't know what to do with Aunt Katherine. Her aunt hurts her feelings by correcting her grammar, but then Katy Sue learns that it was this same aunt who held her through the colic when she was a baby. Everything the family goes through is difficult, but they do get through it. This book could be helpful to a young person dealing with loss, or even to someone getting a step parent. Aunt Katherine has to be a mother figure without trying to take their mother's place. This is also a good read just for learning more about early America.

Cassie Was Here

Author: Caroline Hickey

Publisher: Roaring Brook Press

Publication Year: 2007

Lexile: 610L (This book is not in the Lexile Book Database. I used the Lexile Analyzer to get this value.)

Most of the readers will be: Middle to late elementary school girls.

Reader's Advisory: For another book on a girl a little too old for an imaginary friend, read Still There, Clare by Yvonne Prinz.

Summary: Bree's family has just moved to a new house and suddenly Bree's imaginary friend, Joey, has returned to keep her company. Bree's brother Reid and her parents don't like Joey. They think she is too old for an imaginary friend. They are all really angry when Joey tells Bree to tell Reid to jump out of a tree, and he breaks his arm. Then, while Bree and Joey are playing Nancy Drew, they see a girl getting out of a taxi with a suitcase and going into one of the houses. Bree's mother encourages her to make friends with the new girl, so Bree introduces herself to Cassie. It turns out that Cassie isn't new. She has left her boarding school to come stay with her grandmother. Cassie is a couple years older than Bree and invites her to smoke the day that they meet! A few days later, Cassie cuts off Bree's long hair and gives her highlights that make her look just like Cassie. She may be a little bit of a trouble maker, but Bree thinks she is fun and exciting. Joey doesn't like Cassie at all and she stops talking to Bree. Bree is pretty upset about losing Joey, but not as upset as she is when she and another neighborhood girl, Anna find Cassie and Reid making out in the school! Things go from bad to worse when Reid tells Cassie and Anna about Joey. Bree can't figure out if Cassie has just been using her to get close to Reid or if maybe Cassie really does like her. By the time Cassie leaves her grandmother's house later in the summer, the two girls finally start to understand each other.

My favorite passage:

We each grab a glass and sit back. Anna starts telling me stories about things Cassie did the last time she visited, like painting her grandmother's metal trashcans hot pink and stealing the stop sign from the corner. Anna doesn't sound impressed, just matter of fact, and I start to wonder how close they are. They don't seem like good friends, but they've obviously hung out together a lot.
Exactly twenty minutes later, a voice comes booming over the intercom again.
"ANNA, PLEASE TELL YOUR GUESTS IT'S TIME TO GO. THEY'RE WELCOME TO COME BACK ANYTIME."
Anna makes a noise like she has gum stuck in her throat. Remembering my manners, I thank her for having us and tell her I'll be back to see her soon.
"I'll be here," she says dismally. "I'm always here."
As we go down the stairs and yell good-bye to Mrs. Randall, a very furry gray cat passes through the living room in front of us and yowls at Cassie. It obviously remembers her.
"So that's the cat," I say.
She nods. That's the cat. And see? His hair grew back just fine." (pg 80)

What I really think:
When I first started reading I thought to myself, "Did she really write the whole book in present tense?" And yeah, she did, and I never noticed it again because it flows so naturally.

I love this book because every character is complex. In some ways Bree wants to stop talking to Joey to please her family, but she is sad when Joey leaves because she is her oldest and most loyal friend. Then there is Cassie. Even the reader can't understand her until the end. Does she like Bree or doesn't she? It turns out that Cassie is still struggling with her mother's death. At first she hangs out with Bree to stay out of trouble, but in spite of her sometimes vicious behavior, she really does like Bree and envies her relationship with her mother.

There are so many issues here a young reader could latch on to: getting along with siblings, making new friends, coping with loss.

Maddigan's Fantasia

Author: Margaret Mahy

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Publication Year: 2007

Lexile: 880L (This book is not in the Lexile Book Database. I used the Lexile Analyzer to get this value.)

Most of the readers will be: Late elementary to early middle school girls.

Reader's Advisory: For another epic in which the hero travels to many strange places try Robin Lister's retelling of The Odyssey.

Summary: Garland Maddigan is a performer in a traveling circus. She lives in a time called the Remaking. The world is mending itself after the Destruction and the Chaos. Strange things are happening in the Fantasia. First Garland's father, Ferdy, the Ringmaster, is killed by Road Rats. Then three children join up with the Fantasia: Timon, Eden, and their baby sister Jewel. As they all try to decide what to do next, Garland's mother Maddie announces that the Fantasia has been given a mission by the great city of Solis. Solis needs a solar converter that has been created by the brilliant minds in the city of Newton. The Fantasia wants to do their part in remaking the world, but Timon and Eden assure Garland that getting the solar converter to Solis is more important than she could have imagined. They have traveled to her time from the future, and in that future, Solis is run by an evil creature called the Nennog. Only getting the converter to Solis by the summer solstice can keep the Nennog from coming into power.

My favorite passage:

"Hey!" cried Boomer, softly at first. "Hey! Wake up!" Something about their sleep was intimidating, and he dared not speak very loudly. Then, with relief, he saw movement. Timon! Timon was sitting up...sitting up and blinking...rubbing his hands down over his face...standing up...staring around...then moving across the room toward Eden.
"Timon!" Boomer exclaimed, grateful that he was no longer alone.
But Timon did not turn. It seemed he had not heard him. Boomer slipped around Garland's feet and ran toward Timon, planning to grab his arm and show him (triumphantly) the stolen key. But Timon walked past one of the lamps, and the lamplight, though soft and dim, briefly lit up his face. Boomer stopped abruptly, for Timon's expression frightened him. They eyes, open but narrowed, flickered with a greenish light. Timon's mouth had thinned into a rigid line, and its corners were not so much turned down as dragged down, as if by some strange muscular spasm. There in the shadows of that cold, straw-filled room, Timon had become and evil alien, reaching out to his brother's throat as if he might strangle him.
"Don't," said Boomer, reaching out too...reaching out, though he was terrified again, to drag at those taut, crooked fingers. Timon half turned, swinging out his right arm as he did so, striking Boomer's side just below his waist. It was as if he had been hit with a plank of wood. Boomer toppled sideways as Timon struck again, but this time he thumped not Boomer but Boomer's drum, which sounded a single beat...a curious signal...an announcement of some kind. At the sound of that single beat, the dreadful, set expression on Timon's face seemed to melt away. (pg 220-221)

What I really think:
This could have been a really great book if there were no time traveling.

I like Garland's character development. She isn't so bratty that the reader doesn't like her, but bratty enough that we feel uncomfortable with her when she realizes how she has been acting.

I also like that each town has their own unique problems. Hopefully we can learn from their mistakes. Gramth has a dark secret: children are being stolen away and forced to work in underground mines. The people of Greentown live in a mind-weed induced fantasy, and are being eaten by the servants handing out the mind-weed! Newton's children have organized and the adults don't reign them in because they are so grateful to have children at all.

But this time travel business... I admit that my main problem is that I have my own ideas about how time travel works and when it is written differently, I don't believe in it and find it frustrating. Perhaps this is simply a personal problem. But I struggled through time travel books when I was twelve for the same reason, so maybe some other young readers feel the same way I do.

Ivy + Bean Break the Fossil Record

Author: Annie Barrows

Illustrator: Sophie Blackall

Publisher: Chronicle Books

Publication Year: 2007

Lexile: 600L (This book is not in the Lexile Book Database. I used the Lexile Analyzer to get this value.)

Most of the readers will be: Early elementary school girls.

Reader's Advisory: For a chapter book series about boys who are friends, try Jon Scieszka's Time Warp Trio books.

Summary:
When Bean gets board with the cat book she has picked out for Drop Everything and Read, Ms. Aruba-Tate lends her The Amazing Book of World Records. By recess, Bean has the whole class looking over her shoulder at the strange things people have done. Bean and several of her classmates go home that day intending to break records from the book. Bean tries for most straws stuffed in her mouth and breaking glass with her voice before Ivy talks her into looking for dinosaur bones in the back yard. They actually find bones, and declare themselves the youngest paleontologists. Their classmates do not believe Ivy and Bean have dug up a dinosaur so the girls invite them over for an exhibition. Right before their gusts arrive, Bean's older sister Nancy tells the girls that those are bones a dog buried and not a dinosaur. Bean's father and Ivy salvage the day as Bean thinks of new records to break.

My favorite passage:

"Hey!" said Bean.
Ivy looked at her.
"I've got a great idea!" said Bean. This is going to be easy. "I'm good at screaming, and I'm good at breaking things, right?"
"I guess so."
"I'll break a glass by screaming," said Bean. "I'll be the youngest person ever to do it."
"What? You scream and throw a glass?" Ivy looked confused. "You already did that with a plate."
"No - the scream breaks the glass. This lady in the book did it.She screamed so loud that a wine glass shattered. But she was old. I could probably scream louder because I'm young. I'll be a record breaker."
"That's a good record," said Ivy. "That'll be fun." She bounced a little on Bean's bed.
"Okay," said Bean, "I'll need a wine glass. I'll go get it." She jumped up. And then she sat down again. Her dad was still sweeping up little pieces of plate. He probably wouldn't be very happy to find out that she was planning to break something else. Maybe she could find something made of glass upstairs where he wouldn't need to know about it. Not a mirror. That was bad luck. But there had to be something she could use. "I've got it!" she yelled.
"Got what?"
"Nancy's glass animals. I'll shatter one of them. It'll be even better than a wine glass."
"Won't Nancy get mad?"
Bean pictured Nancy's face and then quickly put it out of her mind. "No. She has gazillions of them, and besides, I'll glue the animal back together when I'm done. She won't even notice." I hope, she added silently. (pg 44-47)

What I really think:
I am indebted to one of our young patrons for introducing me to Ivy and Bean. Children often ask for chapter book series and the ones with which I am most familiar are more appealing to boys. So now, I have a series to recommend to girls!

Ivy and Bean are a wonderful example of a healthy friendship. Although they are very different, each girl supports the other and respects her interests. Ivy tries to help Bean break records even when her attempts are messy and will probably get them in trouble. And Bean agrees to help Ivy dig up dinosaur bones like Ivy's idle, Mary Anning.

I think the way that Ms. Aruba-Tate deals with Bean's lack of interest in reading is also noteworthy. It can be difficult to get kids to enjoy reading, but she knows that all it takes is the right book. This is a good message to parents that kids don't have to read story books all the time. Some children are more interested in reading non-fiction books, like a book of world records. And why not encourage them to do so? They can learn fun facts and read at the same time!

The Middle of Somewhere

Author: J. B. Cheaney

Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf

Publication Year: 2007

Lexile: 1030L (This book is not in the Lexile Book Database. I used the Lexile Analyzer to get this value.)

Most of the readers will be: Late elementary and early middle school girls.

Reader's Advisory: Veronica reminded me of Lucky from The Higher Power of Lucky, by Susan Patron, the 2007 Newberry winner.

Summary:
Veronica Sparks's summer begins inauspiciously when her hyperactive brother lets a squirrel into the house and during the ensuing chaos, their mother breaks her knee. When Ronnie's grandfather happens to stop by for a visit in his brand new camper van, her mother suggests he take Ronnie and Gee (the brother) with him for a week as he travels across Kansas wind prospecting. Gee doesn't behave much better on this trip than he did at home. He causes many near disasters before finally stowing away in the trailer owned by his idle, Cannonball Paul. Family, friends, and strangers come together to look for Gee, and Veronica learns about the things in life that are truly important.

My favorite passage:

But Leo was a lot more than his latest special thing. That dog, I realized, was the only living creature on this earth who could take Gee exactly as he was, without getting frustrated or sending him to the principal's office or lecturing him about thinking before acting.
I turned back to Pop. "How about we play cards for the dog?"
That startled him out of his stubborn expression." How's that?"
I took a deep breath, making up the deal as it came to me. "Suppose we play a hand of...five-card draw. No, three hands. Best two out of three. If I win, we keep the dog. If you win, we try to find him a good home with somebody else."
"That's the spirit!" our neighbor exclaimed. "I like it. Whaddaya say, Jack?"
Mrs. Mac spoke almost too soft to hear. "Give it a chance, Jack."
He tightened up his lips, but his eyes shifted to Gee, then back to me. After a few seconds, he untightened enough to say, "Okay."
The audience cheered. Seriously.

What I really think:
I love Ronnie's voice. This is a story that needs to be told in first person, and quite skillfully is. Ronnie's attachment to Kent Clark's Seize the Way is something many middle schoolers could relate to. Young people in this age group are often looking for guidance and rules to follow, and these don't always come from a religion. And like other children her age do, Ronnie struggles with the rules she tries to live by, realizing that they don't always work. She also deals with difficult family relationships. She has a younger brother who is so needy, his needs not only overshadow hers, they also take up most of her time. Her grandfather doesn't help her, but actually creates more work for her. Ronnie fears that if Gee annoys Pop too much he will take them back home prematurely, so she actually tries extra hard to keep Gee under control around him. There are certainly many middle schoolers who have demanding younger siblings and/or parental figures they try overly hard to please. I do think this book will speak to the young people who read it.

Leap of Faith

Author: Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers

Publication Year: 2007

Lexile: 650L (This book is not in the Lexile Book Database. I used the Lexile Analyzer to get this value.)

Most of the readers will be: Late elementary school girls.

Reader's Advisory: Tony Abbott's Fire Girl is directed at an older audience, but also has a character who goes to Catholic school after a traumatic event in her life.

Summary:
Shortly after starting the sixth grade, Abby stabs the boy who has been tormenting her for the past few years. She is expelled from public school and her parents enroll her in the local Catholic private school. Abby decides to be invisible in class, but tries very hard to get the attention of her parents. She signs up for drama as her elective because her parents would rather she take something more academic. They are not religious, so she decides to convert to Catholicism to upset them. But Abby discovers that her elective and religion both suit her better than she could have imagined.

My favorite passage:

This thing about God on a cell phone stuck with me. On the day before Christmas break, I asked Rachel at lunch, "What would you do if God called you?"
She gave me a funny look. "He has."
"Really?" Rachel was not what you'd call an active participant at Mass.
"Yes, you dope. I'm Jewish."
"Oh." I thought about that for a minute, then laughed. So God was phoning Rachel, but Jesus wasn't. Then I said, "What do you think God's ring tone is?"
Jenna wrinkled her nose. "Something churchy," she said.
"No," said Rachel, "I bet not. How about - what's that song? 'What a Wonderful World.' you know - " She started singing.
"Nah," said Jenna. "Maybe not church music, but I bet there'd at least be violins."
Before elective period we had a class party, and then we had another party at drama, which got pretty rowdy since Mrs. Sumner didn't even try to keep order. I asked Chris what he thought God's ring tone would be. "'We Will Rock You,'" Chris guessed, and then he went around the room playing an air guitar and chanting, "We will, we will rock you. UNH. Rock you. UNH." so he was completely useless for the rest of the hour. I wanted to tell him Merry Christmas, but I didn't get the chance. (pg 102-103)

What I really think:
If we expect the Christians (Catholics included therein) to put up with authors like Phillip Pullman, then I suppose those of us who are only marginally religious should put up with authors who feel the need to have Jesus save the day.

Now that I've gotten that out of my system, I can talk about the book. Leap of Faith deals with some tough issues: bullying, distant parents, finding one's self. Young people who are going through the transition from elementary to middle school can certainly relate. I like that Abby is able to work through her problems in a healthy way. She makes new friends, gets involved in drama, and she confides in adults who are more attentive than her parents. We all (whether or not we have stabbed someone, and whether or not we are Catholic) need to find a way to live with the bad things we have done to others, and the bad things others have done to us. Abby shows us one way to do this.

Just one more thing. The play Abby's drama class puts on in the spring is based on a book. It is based on a book by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley called Ruthie's Gift. After George's Secret Key to the Universe I think we all know how I feel about authors tooting their own horns. But worse than that, Bradley uses the play as an opportunity to talk about the inner workings of Ruthie's mind. Not having read Ruthie's Gift, I can not predict whether it will someday be published in an elementary or middle school literary anthology. However, if it is, the questions at the end of the novel will not include, "What does Ruthie want?" This question is not up for discussion, because in her most recent book, the author answers it herself.

May Bird and the Ever After

This is a review of the audio book.

Author: Jodi Lynn Anderson

Reader: Bernadette Dunne

Producer: Random House

Production Year: 2005

Lexile: 810L

Most of the listeners will be: Late elementary to middle school boys and girls.

Listeners Advisory: For another well read book with a female protagonist, listen to Cornelia Funke's Inkheart.

Summary:
May Bird lives in Briery Swamp, West Virginia with her mother and cat, Somber Kitty. She doesn't quite fit in with the kids at school and prefers wandering the woods to spending time with other children. After May and Somber Kitty find a letter to May buried in the ruins of the old post office, strange things start to happen. A map in the letter guides May to a lake hidden behind a wall of brambles. One night May falls in the lake and wakes up in the Ever After. It is where people go when they die, but May isn't dead! She has been rescued by her house ghost, Pumpkin. May finds herself in great danger because most ghosts and specters in the Ever After are deathly afraid of "live ones" and are under strict instructions from the ruler, Bo Cleevil, to call the Bogey on any "live one" they see. May has to make a difficult decision. Should she try to get home to Briery Swamp, or travel North to find the lady who wrote the letter requesting her help? In this first book (of the trilogy) May makes it as far as the city of Ether to ask the Book of the Dead what she should do. And although May doesn't know it for most of the book, her loyal cat, Somber Kitty, is never too far off her trail.

My favorite passage:
Shortly after May arrives in the Ever After she sees the word "help" graffitied on a wall. She wonders to herself how she can help anyone when she needs so much help herself. (Disc 2)

What I really think:
Bernadette Dunne brings the characters to life with her wonderful voices and is definitely in touch with her inner child. This story is truly beautiful. We feel for May as she struggles to gain the self confidence to help both herself and others. Somber Kitty is a real hero and a perfect example of unconditional love. This is a book for all the misfits out there and everyone who has ever said "I can't."

George's Secret Key to the Universe

Authors: Lucy and Stephen Hawking with Christophe Galfard

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Publication Year: 2007

Lexile: 1020L (This book is not in the Lexile Book Database. I used the Lexile Analyzer to get this value.)

Most of the readers will be: Advanced elementary and middle school readers who are interested in space.

Reader's Advisory: This book reminds me of Jostein Gaarder's Sophie's World, which also uses the novel format to deliver factual information. Sophie's World is for an older audience than George's Secret Key to the Universe, but is not out of reach for a bright middle schooler.

Summary:
When George's pet pig Freddy wanders onto the forbidden lot next door, George meets his new neighbors, Eric and Annie. Eric is a scientist who uses his computer, Cosmos, to travel the universe searching for another planet like Earth. Annie is his daughter. George is in awe of Eric and his computer because his own parents are very distrusting of technology, growing their own food and preferring candles to electricity. Then disaster strikes when George's evil teacher, Dr. Reaper, tricks Eric into falling into a black hole and steals Cosmos. It is up to George and Annie to learn about Eric's recent discoveries about black holes and get Cosmos back to save him.

My favorite passage:

"Now," continued Eric, "the question we all came to answer is a question of fundamental interest for everyone who is involved in science. We all know far too well how it can be used for evil purposes, and that is why we have all taken the Oath of the Scientist, so that science is used only for the good of humanity. But we are now facing a dilemma. As you heard in the news and saw at the environmental march on Saturday, more and more people are concerned about the state of the Earth. So, the question we now have to answer is: Should we concentrate on finding ways to improve life on Earth and face its problems, or should we try to find another planet for humanity to inhabit?"
All the scientists in the room were silent and looked very serious. George watched them as they wrote an answer on a little piece of paper. Eric then collected the papers in a hat. In total, including Eric and the red-haired speaker, eight scientists had voted. Eric then started to open up the papers one by one.
"The Earth."
"The Earth."
"Another planet."
"Another planet."
"Another planet."
"The Earth."
"The Earth."
"Another planet."
"Well, well," said Eric. "It seems we have a split vote."
The red-haired Professor Crzkzak put up her hand. "May I make a suggestion?" she asked. Everyone else nodded. She got to her feet. "George," she said, addressing the boy directly, "we may lack a bit of perspective on this matter, because we are all specialists in our fields. So you could maybe tell us what you think about it."
All the scientists were looking at him now. George felt very shy and stayed silent for a few seconds.
"Say what you really think," whispered Professor Crzkzak.
Twisting his fingers in his lap, George thought about his parents and the green campaigners. He then thought about the excitement of traveling in space and trying to find another home out there. And then he heard himself say to the scientists, "Why can't you do both?" (pg 190-192)

What I really think:
This book can do two great things: It can teach young people about the benefits of scientific research, and it can also teach them that they are not too young to understand difficult scientific concepts. That said, I think Hawking is a little full of himself. The cover of the book proclaims, "Includes the Latest Ideas about Black Holes!" In the book we read that particles actually leak from black holes. These particles are called "Hawking Radiation." I commend the man for sharing this information with children, but perhaps he could be a little more modest about it.

Hauntings And Other Tales of Danger, Love, And Sometimes Loss

Author: Betsy Hearne

Publisher: Greenwillow Books

Publication Year: 2007

Lexile: 1300L (This book is not in the Lexile Book Database. I used the Lexile Analyzer to get this value.)

Most of the readers will be: Middle and High Schoolers who like folk tales or scary stories. Boys and girls.

Readers Advisory: For those interested in more stories from Ireland, try Nory Ryan's Song, an historical fiction novel by Patricia Reilly Giff.

Summary:
This is a book of short stories divided into three sections. The stories in the first section take place in the past and are mostly set in Ireland. The stories in the second section take place in the present and are set mostly in the United States. The stories in the third section are set in heaven and hell and are timeless. Not all of the stories are about hauntings but those that aren't fall into one of the other categories indicated in the title: danger, love, and/or loss.

My favorite passage:

By this time I was back at the table not listening to Mom and Dad and Julie plan the future, but thinking about the baby-sitter. And I got this creepy feeling, like who was she and why did she volunteer at the last minute? Anybody could say they were a baby-sitter and walk off with my little sister. She'd follow them in a minute if it meant having an adventure like her beloved hobbits. And anybody who had hold of my little sister wouldn't have to worry about my identifying anybody at any time ever. Mom told me to stop squirming, but I couldn't. I practically dragged them out of the restaurant, and they were laughing, trying to keep up with me back to the hotel. When we unlocked the hotel room door, everything was dark except for the TV flickering. The sitter was there, waiting with her coat on to go home, and Megan was a little heap asleep in the bed. I kind of slumped onto my cot, feeling like a fool, but also feeling like the world would never be safe again. (pg 88-89)

What I really think:
The title (Hauntings) and cover of this book make it seem like a "scary story" book. This is what I was expecting when I picked it up. As a scary story book it is a disappointment. Kids who actually want shivers should read Alvin Schwartz's Scary Stories series.
The Irish stories would work better told aloud. They have more plot than characterization. This is very typical of the oral tradition but if the stories are to be moved into the realm of writing, they need to be fleshed out. Or they could be presented as stories the reader can learn to tell, complete with instructions. These are also the least scary stories in the book.
The American section is my favorite. These stories really deal with issues, like death, and have characters we can sympathize with. These are the scariest stories, and it isn't because of the supernatural, it is because of things like terrorist bombings.
The stories from Heaven and Hell are charming. They leave you with something to think about.

Thank You, Lucky Stars

Author: Beverly Donofrio

Publisher: Schwartz & Wade Books

Publication Year: 2008

Lexile: 950L (This book is not in the Lexile Book Database. I used the Lexile Analyzer to get this value.)

Most of the readers will be: Mid to late elementary school girls.

Reader's Advisory: For a non-fiction book on friendship check out The Best Friends' Handbook by Erica Orloff.

Summary:
Ally Miller is super excited about starting fifth grade. She and her best friend Betsy are in the same class and they are going to be in the fifth grade talent show together. But when Ally arrives at the bus stop on the first day she is met with disappointment. She and Betsy were supposed to dress alike, but Betsy is dressed like Mona (their sworn enemy) instead. Things go downhill from there as Ally realizes she has Betsy replaced her, but she is now the school reject. The only person who wants to be her friend is even weirder than she is: the new kid Tina. Tina wears pants that are too short and looks like she could own a pet snake. But as the weeks go on, Ally learns to appreciate Tina's friendship and even teachers her how to disco so they can dance together in the talent show. After Tina and Ally have a disastrous run through in front of the other talent show participants, Betsy and Mona tell Ally that their band needs a go-go dancer. Will Ally ditch Tina to join the group that has been ostracizing her all year?

My favorite passage:

You know those lines in the wedding vows, "For better or for worse, in sickness and in health"? When I thought about it, I saw how that was kind of how it would feel being friends with Tina - except for the "till death do us part" part. Here was the "worse" part: she really did look like she had a pet snake, and she did sometimes wear weird Princess Leia hair. She talked All The Time, and kept right on waving her arm like a rusty fan in class even though Mrs. No Joy hardly ever called on her. And Tina was a reject.
Then again, so was I.
Here was the "better" part: she was funny in her strange Tina way. She was really smart and knew a lot about a whole lot of things, even if she did make some of it up. And she liked me, even though she could plainly see that just about nobody else did. Plus, she'd stuck up for me. She was a loyal friend. And I had to admit, lunchtime was the most fun part of every day.
And so when Tina invited me to her house after school to cut out pictures for the talent show bulletin boards, I accepted. (pg 77-78)

What I really think:
Parts of this book are touching and parts are painful, and in both cases it is because of how real these friendship issues are. Kids first start to think about popularity in the fourth and fifth grade. They have to worry about their own status as "cool" or "uncool" and also have to decide how they are going to treat people who are less "cool" than they are. This book is so, so important to children at this time in their lives. They will certainly relate to one character or another and begin to understand how fifth graders can be cruel to one another, but can choose not to be. Hopefully they will also see that being uncool isn't the end of the world, and there are still great friendships to be had.

Rules of the Universe by Austin W. Hale

Author: Robin Vaupel

Publisher: Holiday House

Publication Year: 2007

Lexile: 850L (This book is not in the Lexile Book Database. I used the Lexile Analyzer to get this value.)

Most of the readers will be: Boys in late elementary to middle school who like science fiction (and science fact!).

Reader's Advisory: For a science fiction book with a female protagonist try Madeline L'Engle's An Acceptable Time.

Summary:
Austin is a 13 year old boy who likes looking at microorganisms under his microscope. He has learned everything he knows about science from his grandfather Walter. Now Walter is coming to stay with Austin's family because he is dying of cancer. Austin is excited to see his grandfather, but having trouble coping with the fact that he is dying.
Walter brings Austin an exciting gift - a miniature star. This star starts making Austin's wishes come true! Even wishes he doesn't know he has.
The star transforms his two clownfish into lungfish, his lizard into a pterosaur, and his old dog into a puppy. But that is only the beginning of the "enhancements" Austin either purposely or accidentally performs using Spark (the star).
Austin gets into trouble when he starts enhancing humans. He causes both his friend Rey, and his angsty 14 year old sister, Garland, to regress to younger versions of themselves. After several close calls at Camp Quantum (a two week summer science camp), Austin is forced to be more careful when wielding his star power.
His greatest and last enhancement is supposed to be saving the life of his grandfather and he wants to get it just right.

My favorite passage:

"What's happened to you, child?" Walter asked, and reached out to a tendril of hair that protruded from her temple like an orange antenna.
Austin flinched. To comment, even offhandedly, about Garland's appearance was beyond insulting; it was to confess your own ignorance about art, culture, and creativity.
Garland sighed and gave her eyes a half roll. "Okay, so nothing has happened to me. It's called Tainted Sunset."
Walter was straining to see past the heavy eyeliner and mascara to find the granddaughter he remembered. He wasn't the only one who'd lost sight of her; Austin knew there had once been another Garland, before the transformation of her eighth-grade year, when she had disappeared under a shroud of black clothes, but the shadow of this present sister had eclipsed the memory of her.
"My hair color, Granddad, do you like it?"
"No," he said, "I don't. You look like something from a Parisian back alley."
She tossed her head back, smiling slightly, and Austin thought there was a terrible glory about Garland as the sun lit up her hair and glinted off her facial jewelry.
"That is so amazing you said that, Granddad, because I'm going to Paris someday."
"For college?"
"No!" she said disdainfully. "For something real. I'm going there to live and write poetry."(pg 11-12)

What I really think:
I like the way this book deals with death and dying. Austin can get almost anything he wants with his wish giving star, but he can't force a life upon his grandfather that his grandfather doesn't want. Vaupel also illustrates in many ways the hard lesson: be careful what you wish for. She skillfully delivers these points in the unusual context of a boy who has more unicellular friends than multicellular ones and reflects on the occurrences in his life using lab notes. I am a little disappointed that Garland isn't restored to her 14 year old self at the end. Older sisters should be accepted for who they are during all the difficult phases of their adolescence.