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Children’s Fiction of 2007: The Thing About Georgie by Lisa Graff

Oct8

The thing about Georgie Bishop is: he’s a dwarf. Well, that’s one thing about Georgie. The point of the book is that there’s a lot more to Georgie than just his being a dwarf, even though that’s definitely part of who he is. Georgie is also a dog walker, an actor, a song writer, Andy’s best friend, and he’s about to become a big brother.

If I were pairing books, something I have a tendency to do, I would pair this first novel by NYC author Lisa Graff with The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies, a book I wrote about a few days ago. Both books feature a fight between best friends and business partners, sibling ribalry, and an emphasis on capitalizing on your own gifts and talents. Add a good plot and interesting characters in both books and just the right tone and vocabulary for upper elementary grade readers, and you have a couple of winning stories.

I liked the little notes at the beginning of chapters in The Thing About Georgie about what Georgie can and can’t do. I liked the surprise at the end of the book when it’s revealed just who is narrating at least part of the story. I liked the fact that Georgie’s parents are involved in the story and in his life, unusual for children’s fiction. (I suppose it’s easier to get rid of the adults and just write about kids) I also liked Georgie, a normal kid, who still knows that he has special challenges and is determined to just get on with it.

One part of the book was a little odd. Georgie’s friend’s grandmother, who speaks only Italian, takes Georgie and another kid out into the country, and they get lost. I was never sure where the grandmother thought she was driving them in the first place, nor why an Italian grandmother who spoke no English would have a driver’s license. Or maybe she didn’t have one. Anyway, that section was strange, but designed to show that Georgie was resourceful and good at solving problems in spite of his physical limitations.

Lisa Graff has written a fine book for all children who are curious and who are thinking about what it means to grow up. The dwarfism thing, if you’re interested in that, is a bonus.

From Lisa Graff’s website:

Q: Are you a dwarf?
A: Nope

Q: Do you know any dwarfs?
A: I do now, but I didn’t when I began writing about Georgie.

Q: Why did you decide to write about a dwarf?
A: I wanted to write about someone who was different from everyone around him, in an obvious, physical way. Dwarfism is a particularly unsusual condition in that many dwarfs are born to parent of average height, which meant that Georgie would be unique not only within his community but within his family as well.

Lisa Graff’s blog.

Other reviews of The Thing About Georgie:

Shelf Elf

MotherReader

Kelly at Big A little a

Children’s Fiction of 2007: Miss Spitfire by Sarah Miller

Oct4

What is it about Annie Sullivan and Helen Keller that is so fascinating to children, especially, but also to many adults? I remember being intrigued with the idea of a girl who could neither hear nor see, who was completely cut off from communication with even the members of her own family. I suppose the whole area of communication and perception is compelling since so much of what it means to be human is bound up in the ability to communicate and to make connections with other people. (It’s the same reason that I’m always interested in reading about the lives and experiences of those who are caught in the world of autism.)

Miss Spitfire is the fictionalized story of how Annie Sullivan taught Helen Keller to communicate, to understand words through finger-spelling and then to understand meaning. Annie, whose background with an alcoholic father and a tubercular brother has made her stubborn and resilient if nothing else, needs all her strength and tenacity to teach Helen, a child who has been indulged and babied and taught nothing. When Annie comes to teach her, Helen doesn’t even understand that there is a world of words and ideas to which she has been denied access. The story moves slowly, as Helen’s awakening came slowly, but inexorably toward the climactic scene where Helen finally understands that the motions of her teacher’s fingers in her hand have meaning, that she can ask questions and give answers and relate to others through the magic of words.

The book is based on primary documents, Annie Sullivan’s letters, Helen’s autobiography, a biography of Annie Sulllivan written by a friend three years before her death. Although the author, Sarah Miller, has added thoughts and feelings to the story that are not recorded, the book remains true to the factual events and to the personalities of the two protagonists. Annie Sullivan was a spitfire, and her pupil was a spoiled and wild hellion of a child. The methods that Annie Sullivan used to reach Helen Keller and give her the gift of communication were not exactly violent, but would never be countenanced nowadays. Miss Sullivan’s goal for Helen was first obedience so that she could then begin to learn, and since teacher and student could not communicate through words or even pictures, the only way to make Helen obedient was to physically force her to behave. As I said, Miss Sullivan’s methods wouldn’t go over too well in our love-means-permissiveness culture.

I think kids might be disturbed by how angry and passionate Annie Sullivan became with her pupil, Helen Keller, but they might also learn that anger can sometimes be channeled and controlled and its energy used to bring about change. The book uses a rich vocabulary, and it isn’t written with slow readers in mind. But for those children, girls especially, who become enthralled with the story of Helen Keller and want to read all there is to read about her, Miss Spitfire: Reaching Helen Keller is a fine choice.

Miss Spitfire has been nominated for the Cybil Award for Middle Grade Fiction.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid, by Jeff Kinney

Oct2

I have read this book, and I think it rocks! It starts out with him (the wimpy kid) saying that it is a journal and that he told his mom not to get one with the word “diary” mentioned anywhere in it. The book is about a boy named Greg Hefley. He loves video games and whenever he is grounded from them he sneaks a game to his friend Rowley’s house and plays it there. I guess that you could call this guy a… how should I put it… well he is very… moronic. Of course, I can’t really say that because he doesn’t do much that would make him a moron and he usually is the one, in his journal of course, calling other people morons. He has a brother named Rodrick. Rodrick has a band called “Loded Diper”. Of course, that isn’t how you spell it, and if you told Rodrick that, it would be news to him! Later in the book, he gets a job as a school paper cartoon writer. He and Rowley were going to use a comic called “Zoo-Wee Mama!”. They gave up on that one and used a comic called “Creightin the Cretin”. This book is very funny, and I hope that everyone else who reads it loves it as much as I did!

Note from Mom: This review was written by ten year old Karate Kid. The management is not responsible for the use of the word “moron” in the review. In fact, I told someone that it is not polite or kind to call anyone a moron or a cretin, even a fictional character.

Children’s Fiction of 2007: The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies

Oct2

Jessie and Evan Treski are brother and sister. Evan is good at making friends, talking to people, and understanding feelings. Jessie is good at math and planning and organizing. When their normally close and supportive sibling relationship turns sour, they take their dispute and make . . . lemonade.

Math and marketing combine in The Lemonade Warto produce a story that teaches many lessons. But it’s never didactic. The book is successful on so many levels. It can be a story about a brother and sister who learn that they need each other. Or it can be a story about a brother and a sister who learn that they can do things for which they’ve always depended on each other for help. Or it can be a story about how to succeed in business, and about what mistakes to avoid. Or it can be a story about misunderstanding and envy and unkindness and love and reconciliation.

This book presents a great picture of a brother and sister working through jealousy and pride issues in their relationship. It’s also a good book to recommend to math teachers who want to incorporate literature across the curriculum. Or to math nerds who need to realize that there are other important skills that they might need to hone. Or to kids who are not so good at math who need to know that their talents are valuable, too. Or to kids or adults who are interested in kids going into business for themselves. I can think of lots of people who might like this book.

The Lemonade War has its own website with games, news, author information, and teacher helps.

Some other classic books that combine business, mathematics, and story:

The Toothpaste Millionaire by Jean Merrill.

The Seventeenth Swap by Eloise Jarvis McGraw.

Any other suggestions?

The Cybils Are Here: Press Release

Sep28

Will Harry Potter triumph among critical bloggers? Will novels banned in some school districts find favor online?
With 90 volunteers poised to sift through hundreds of new books, the second annual Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards launches on Oct. 1 at The Cybils blog. Known as the Cybils, it’s the only literary contest that combines both the spontaneity of the Web with the thoughtful debate of a book club.
The public’s invited to nominate books in eight categories, from picture books up to young adult fiction, so long as the book was first published in 2007 in English (bilingual books are okay too). Once nominations close on Nov. 21, the books go through two rounds of judging, first to select the finalists and then the winners, to be announced on Valentine’s Day 2008.
Judges come from the burgeoning ranks of book bloggers in the cozy corner of the Internet called the kidlitosphere. They represent parents, homeschoolers, authors, illustrators, librarians and even teens.
The contest began last year after blogger Kelly Herold expressed dismay that while some literary awards were too snooty, rewarding books kids would seldom read, others were too populist and didn’t acknowledge the breadth and depth of what’s being published today.
“It didn’t have to be brussel sprouts versus gummy bears,” said Anne Boles Levy, who started Cybils with Herold. “There are books that fill both needs, to be fun and profound.”
Last year’s awards prompted more than 480 nominations, and this year’s contest will likely dwarf that. As with last year’s awards, visitors to the Cybils blog can leave their nominations as comments. There is no nomination form, only the blog, to keep in the spirit of the blogosphere that started it all.
See you Oct. 1!

And I get to be on the panel that winnows down the Middle Grade Fiction nominees to five finalists. So head over to the Cybils blog and make your nominations.

Rickshaw Girl by Mitali Perkins

Jun8

I don’t know if this book really qualifies for MotherReader’s 48 Hour Book Challenge; the books were supposed to be about fifth grade level or above. I’d estimate that the reading and interest level for this book woud be about second or third grade. Nevertheless, I don’t care. I read it, and I loved it. Your little girls (and boys) need to read this book. I’m going to add it to Betsy-Bee’s (age eight) summer reading list. Rickshaw Girl is a great book.

Naima is a ten year old village girl in Bangladesh, and she’s a talented artist. She’s already won one prize for her alpanas, decorative rock paintings. But Naima sees how hard her father works as a rickshaw driver because he has no sons to help him drive the rickshaw. Naima wants to do something to help out, but her ideas are sometimes counter-productive. How can a girl help the family financially when girls are only allowed to “stay home and help their mothers”?

The themes of making mistakes, and being forgiven, and trying to fix your mistakes are universal ones, and at the same time the sense of place in this simple story is strong. Children will get an understanding of what life is like in a small village in another part of the world. And they’ll appreciate the story of how Naima perseveres in her goals even after she has a near-disastrous accident.

The illustrations in the book by artist Jamie Hogan are wonderful, to, and certified as authentic by Mitali’s Bengali mother, Madhusree Bose. It would be fun to read this book aloud and then have the little girls create some of their own alpanas, or an approximation thereof.
48hbc
For those of you who homeschool and use Sonlight, this book needs to be part of the Kindergarten level emphasis on world cultures. It would make a great read aloud book at that level, or it would be perfectly suited as a reader for second or third graders. In fact, I need to email the people at Sonlight and tell them about Rickshaw Girl. I think they’ll love it.

Cybils

Feb14

The Cybil Award winners will be announced this afternoon (2/14/07) at 2 p.m., CST. Watch this space for more information, or go directly to the Cybils website.

So, they couldn’t wait and announced early. Here they are —the 2006 Cybil Award Books. Check them out.

Fantasy and Science Fiction:
Ptolemy’s Gate (The Bartimaeus Trilogy, Book 3)
Jonathan Stroud
Hyperion: Miramax
Ptolemy’s Gate receives the first Cybils for Fantasy and Science Fiction for its richly imagined fantasy world, strongly realized and unique characters, delightful language and well-honed plot. As a concluding volume of a trilogy, it delivers everything a final volume should do, taking the story arc to its peak with a climax that is both action-packed and emotionally charged. At the same time, Ptolemy’s Gate stands alone as a story and will inspire readers, children and adults alike, to seek out the previous installments and revisit the world of Bartimaeus over and over again.


Fiction Picture Books:
Scaredy Squirrel
by Melanie Watt
Kid’s Can Press
This eponymous squirrel hits little kids and big alike right where they live: in the numbing comfort of routine and abject fear of The Unknown. This is a tiny book with a big lesson about bravery. Watt makes the most of each page, using repetition and exaggeration to hilariously dissect Scaredy Squirrel’s paranoia, from the minutiae of his daily habits to a tour of his emergency kit. When the unexpected finally occurs, the joke’s on all of us. Field-tested in libraries and living rooms and at bedsides by the judges, Scaredy Squirrel elicited the most giggles per page and requests for re-reads among a variety of age groups, including parents.


Graphic Novels:
Ages 12 and Under:
Amelia Rules! Volume 3: Superheroes
by Jim Gownley
Renaissance Press
Amelia Rules celebrates the power of imagination when school lets out for summer vacation. There’s plenty of time for dressing up in capes, fighting a gang of evil ninjas, and investigating the evil conspiracy known as the Legion of Steves. Amelia McBride’s adventures are portrayed with warm-hearted good humor. There’s plenty of slapstick comedy, which combines with an exploration of some of the serious issues of childhood – moving, growing up, and the secret a new friend tries to hide. Jimmy Gownley’s art shifts styles based on his character’s vivid inner worlds, portraying superhero space battles and silent movie romances with ease. Amelia Rules can be easily be enjoyed by readers of all ages.


Ages 13 and Up:
American Born Chinese
Gene Yang
First Second
American Born Chinese skillfully explores the idea of identity by weaving together three distinct stories – the traditional tale of the Monkey King, Jin Wang’s longing for acceptance by his classmates, and popular Danny being plagued by his cousin Chin-Kee who embodies the worst Chinese ethnic stereotypes. Gene Yang uses humor when portraying the perils of adolescence, and his colorful art easily adapts to the tonal shifts of the three stories.


Middle Grade Fiction: This is the one I helped choose, and I’m rather proud of it. I feel as if I helped write the book or publish it or dotted an i or something. Anyway, read it; it’s a good book.
A Drowned Maiden’s Hair: A Melodrama
by Laura Amy Schlitz
Candlewick Press
It’s a mystery story, it’s a ghost story, it’s delightully gothic and eerie. In A Drowned Maiden’s Hair we have a protagonist with a very authentic child voice, and her motivations and feelings are described in clean, nuanced lines. Maud is also a person of her time and place; she never comes off as anachronistic. The story, too, is something of a time and place–the darkness of the Hawthorne estate was like an L.M. Montgomery novel gone delightfully to seed.The adoption of the plucky orphan by the wealthy lady is a trope of the Victorian novel, and yet does not come off as trite or formulaic. It is as if Schlitz had taken familiar characters and plotlines from Victorian fiction and injected them with a realism and emotional force that transcends its familiarity, making it seem new again. Truth–be it in the cries of a widower, or in a tearful confession–is what lets Maude see her true role and path, and ultimately brings redemption.


Non-Fiction, Middle Grade and Young Adult:
Freedom Walkers: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott
by Russell Freedman
Holiday House
The story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott has been told many times by many different people and has almost become legend, but in Freedom Walkers, Russell Freedman is not sharing folklore or the iconic stories of civil rights heroes like Martin Luther King Jr. or Rosa Parks. This book tells how ordinary men, women and children planned and worked together to peaceably stand up against the injustice of the segregated transportation system–and won. Their heroism makes the reader ask, “Could I do this? Could I stand up to the threats? Could I walk to school every day for almost a year to make justice happen in my hometown?” Well-chosen historic photographs bring to life the American South of the 1950’s. The true story is gripping and well documented. This is a read-in-one- sitting kind of book, which will appeal to young teens up through adults.


Non-Fiction Picture Books:
An Egg Is Quiet
written by Dianna Aston; illustrated by Sylvia Long
Chronicle Books
Don’t be surprised if some future master birder cites this book as an early influence. Multiple layers of thoughtful, poetic text–about not only birds but also insects, reptiles and sea creatures–make An Egg Is Quiet a book that readers can enjoy quickly or in depth, depending upon their level of interest. The handwriting font gives the feeling of a scientific field journal, and the artwork is of the first class, with outstanding visual variety and clarity. The endpapers alone are breathtaking.


Poetry:
Butterfly Eyes and Other Secrets of the Meadow
written by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Beth Krommes
Houghton Mifflin
Three cheers for Butterfly Eyes and Other Secrets of the Meadow! Each poem is a nature riddle–guessing the answers will keep children hopping. Joyce Sidman’s rich, rhythmic language and Beth Krommes’ intricate scratchboard illustrations make the Cybils poetry winner a book to return to again and again.

You can purchase any one (or all) of these books via Amazon by clicking on the cover picture. Or take a trip to the bookstore and purchase your Cybil Award books there. Either way, you have some good reading in store for you. (The blurbs were written by the judges in the various categories, not by me.)

Kiki Strike by Kirsten Miller

Feb11


Reviewed by Brown Bear Daughter, age 12:

I’ve been reading the five finalists for the Middle Grade Fiction Cybil award (Kiki Strike by Kirsten Miller, Drowned Maiden’s Hair by Laura Amy Schlitz, Framed by Frank Cottrell Boyce, Heat by Mike Lupica, Weedflower by Cynthia Kadohata), and Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City has, so far, been my favorite.

What I really loved about Kiki Strike was that I could imagine myself as many of the different characters, and I would be content with who I was. I would think, “If I was Kiki Strike, would I be happy?” And the answer was yes. This made me love the book. Because simply imagining something can make me so happy.

Of course, it was terribly sad in the end, and yet happy too. I really enjoy sadness in a book. This one, sadly, didn’t make me cry, but it was very pathetic nevertheless. I can’t reveal the ending, but I wish I could because then I could explain why it made me so sad. But now you’ll probably want to find out why it is so sad, and you’ll read it.

The book is about a girl named Ananka Fishbein. Kiki Strike is a girl who goes to her school. Kiki Strike, with her deathly pale features and mysterious actions, arouses Ananka’s curiousity. Kiki Strike chooses Ananka and few other girls to form the Irregulars, a group which discovers one of the greatest secrets of underground Manhattan.

Sidonia Galatzina, or The “Princess,” as Ananka calls her, and Sidonia’s mother are the villains of the story. Sidonia is rich and snobbish, and becomes very interested in Kiki Strike, when Sidonia’s precious ring is stolen at school and Kiki reveals the real thief when Ananka is blamed. Sidonia’s suspicions are aroused, and not until the end of the book do you find out why Sidonia is so interested in Kiki.

Now I hope I’ve gotten you so interested in Kiki’s fate that you’ll read the entire book.

Note from the blog owner:
The winners of the 2007 Cybil Awards for Children’s and Young Adult Literature will be announced in just two days, on Valentine’s Day. I am one of the judges for the Middle Grade Fiction category, so I haven’t posted my reviews of the the finalists that I hadn’t read or reviewed before the judging started. The Middle Grade Fiction committee has chosen a winner, and you’ll see the announcement, as I said, on the 14th. Now you know which book was Brown Bear Daughter’s favorite, although she’s enjoyed all of the books she’s read for the award.

Semicolon review of Framed by Frank Cottrell Boyce.

Semicolon review of Weedflower by Cynthia Kadohata.

Semicolon review of Heat by Mike Lupica.

A list of the books nominated in the Middle Grade Fiction category for the Cybil Award.

Desperate Journey by Jim Murphy

Jan22

That’s what she felt like, Maggie realized. A boiler filled with steam, wanting to go and go fast, but held in place, steam pressure building and building.

Nice description. I’ve felt that way.

Author Jim Murphy is well-known for his nonfiction titles about historical events, including The Great Fire about the Chicago fire of 1871, Blizzard: The Storm That Changed America, and An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793. He’s won the Newbery Honor twice and other awards.

Desperate Journey is different, however, since it’s a fictional account set in 1848 of the life of a twelve year girl, Maggie Haggerty, and her family, living on a canal boat on the Erie Canal. In historical fiction the author must tell a made-up story with all the drama and details of history, but that comes across as both plausible and interesting. Mr. Murphy does a fine job of creating characters and a story that draw the reader in and keep us invested in the outcome of the story. Maggie and her family have lots of obstacles to overcome, and they do what needs to be done in spite of the difficulties. I guess you could say they’re examples of inspiring characters in historical fiction.

I’m working on a post on “God talk” in children’s literature, a continuation of some thoughts I had after reading MotherReader’s post on Hattie Big Sky. Desperate Journey is certainly another example of a book in which God and talk about God play a role. Maggie and her mother and brother are caught in desperate race to get a load of cargo down the canal, and God sends help in the form of a strange character who sees visions and hears God speaking to him in dreams. It’s a sort of a “touched by an angel” situation, but there is little indication that the visionary character, Billy Black, is anyone other than a man with a troubled past, redeemed and sent to help Maggie and her family in their desperate journey. The God talk is an integral part of the story, and Maggie reacts to all this talk of visions and messages from God as one would expect a normal twelve year girl to react—with skepticism and a bit of curiosity. Billy Black remains a mysterious character all the way through the novel, and I enjoyed that bit of ambiguity.

Desperate Journey would make a fine addition to the American history curriculum. I would recommend it to homeschoolers who use Sonlight or Tapestry of Grace, curricula that make heavy use of historical fiction to teach history. I think I’ll add it to our read-aloud list for the next time we cycle through U.S. history.

Newbery Predictions

Jan10

Franki at A Year of Reading invites readers and bloggers to predict the winner(s) of the Newbery Award and Newbery Honor books. I’m sure that, like Franki and Mary Lee, I will have no success at reading the minds of the Newbery committee members, but I’m probably more prepared to make a guess this year than I ever have been. Thanks to the Cybil awards process, I have actually read several books that were published in 2007. So here are my predictions:


1. Clementine by Sara Pennypacker. I thought this book was the best of all of the books I read that were nominated for the Cybil Award for Middle Grade Fiction. Unfortunately, it didn’t make the final cut for the Cybil award, so maybe I can send good vibes about it to the Newbery folks. I’ve only read about 17 of the Cybil nominees and dipped into 3 or 4 that I didn’t like enough to finish them. I did fall in love with Clementine. Oh my darling, oh my darling . . .


2. Alabama Moon by Watt Key. Even though I thought Alabama Moon was more appropriate for young adults (high school age and up) than for middle graders, I did like the book itself very much. Well-written story, interesting subject, good characterization —a good candidate for some award somewhere. Why not the Newbery?


3. Weedflower by Cynthia Kadohata. I liked this book even though it wasn’t my favorite. I think the elite of the children’s literature world will love it. It’s multi-cultural; it’s anti-war; and it’s a good story. I suppose the only problem is that Cynthia Kadohata has already won the Newbery Award once, but it’s been awarded twice to the same author before. They could do it again.

4. Yellow Star by Jennifer Roy. If funny books like Clementine don’t win the Newbery, if we have to have a Serious Subject, then Yellow Star is my personal favorite for the award. It’s deep, disturbing, with an interesting twist at the end that ties into the title, and it’s still accessible to children. My then-eleven year old read it and liked it and learned from it.


5. Rules by Cynthia Lord. This one’s a dark horse, first children’s book published by Ms. Lord, possible winner, IF the committee members appreciate the story of a girl growing up with an autistic brother and making friends with a severely handicapped young man in a wheelchair.

If The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak wins, I will resign myself to the idea that I just don’t get contemporary children’s literature and go back to my pet project of reading all the Newbery Award and Newbery Honor books of the twentieth century. If all the world proclaims that The Book Thief is the best book ever written, I will still say, “I just don’t get what all the fuss is about!” Death narrates a book about the Holocaust, indeed! Give me Yellow Star, a real Holocaust story sans the bizarre narrator.

OK, I just figured out that Marcus Zusak is an Australian and lives in Sydney, and the Newbery Award is only awarded to American citizens. Oh, well, I needed to get that rant off my chest anyway after seeing Death Takes a Holiday, aka The Book Thief on every blogger’s year-end list of favorites from here to Kalamazoo.