Archive by Author | Sherry

The Wonder of Charlie Anne by Kimberly Newton Fusco

Nov23

This novel takes place during the Great Depression, and Charlie Anne’s family is desperately poor. They’re so poor that Papa has to leave home to get work on the roads in one of President Roosevelt’s WPA projects. Charlie Anne’s mama is dead, and Cousin Mirabel has come to help Papa take care of Ivy, Chalrie Anne, Pete and Birdie. Mirabel is determined to teach Charlie Anne to work hard and to use good manners and to act like a lady. To teach Charlie Anne to behave properly, Mirabel reads aloud maxims from The Charm of Fine Manners by Helen Ekin Starrett. Charlie Anne, of course, hates the advice and the admonitions of The Charm of Fine Manners.

Charlie Anne’s favorite phrase and response to unwanted events in her life is, “Well, we’ll just see about that!” Ms. Fusco does a good job of telling the story from Charlie Anne’s point of view. As far as Charlie Anne is concerned, Cousin Mirabel is a cruel tyrant who makes Charlie Anne work too hard and do all of the nasty, strenuous, and horrid jobs. And Charlie Anne’s older sister, Ivy, is a lazy, vain, and deceitful teenager. The reader suspects that Charlie Anne may not be quite fair in her assessments of Mirabel and Ivy, but this story is Charlie Anne’s story, and it’s her voice we hear as we read.

And Charlie has a fine voice, feisty and determined and full of spitfire. When Rosalyn and her adopted daughter, Phoebe, move in next door, Charlie Anne is excited to have a new friend. But Phoebe is “colored,” and some people, including Mirabel, can’t get used to the idea of associating on equal terms with a colored girl. As the story continues, questions are raised and answered. Will Charlie Anne’s mama continue to give her advice and counsel from her grave down by the river? Will Mirabel break Charlie Anne’s spirit with her book of rules and her seemingly endless chores? Will Rosalyn and Phoebe be accepted in the small Massachusetts where Charlie Anne lives? Will there be a school where Charlie Anne can finally learn to read?

Well, we’ll just see about that!

Other takes:
Bookish Blather: “Charlie Anne has a wonderfully earnest voice. She’s young enough to still believe in magic in the world, but the rapid succession of her mother’s death, her father leaving to build roads, and the ugly face of racism in her family and community, are forcing her to grow up.”
The Fourth Musketeer: “Charlie Anne’s charismatic voice narrates not only scenes of every day drama, such as bee stings, falls off swings, peeling potatoes, harvesting tomatoes, Christmas pageants, and kittens born in the barn, but also more profound problems, such as broken families and racism.”

Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine

Nov22

I’ve been trying to figure out why it’s so satisfying, even illuminating, to read about people who approach life and relationships from a place outside our normal expectations. In this book, Caitlin’s world is drawn in black and white, very literal, no shades of colors, no confusing faces, and no conflicting emotions. Caitlin can read quite well, even though she’s only ten years old, and she likes definitions, words pinned down in a dictionary with definite, specific meanings.

Caitlin’s brother, Devon, used to explain the messy stuff to her–the colors and the feelings and the rules for right behavior in different situations. But now Devon is gone, killed in a school shooting, and Caitlin has to Work At It all by herself and try to find Closure for not only herself but also her father and her classmates and maybe her entire community. That’s a big job for a girl with Asperger’s who has trouble even Looking At the Person who’s speaking to her.

Caitlin is an engaging character. Her brother’s nickname for Caitlin was “Scout” from the movie/book To Kill a Mockingbird. He likened Caitlin’s direct, no nonsense approach to life to Scout’s disingenuous approach to members of the lynch mob in this scene from To Kill a Mockingbird:

“I’m back in Devon’s room staring up at SCOUT carved into the wood and seeing my special name makes me feel good. Devon said his favorite part in To Kill a Mockingbird is where Scout talks to the crowd of angry men and makes them go away. All she says is hi and that she knows their kids from school. Then all the angry men leave. I don’t Get It. But Devon says that’s exactly what I’m like because I say stuff that’s obvious and people go, Oh, and it makes them think.”

Scout looks into the forest of men who have come to lynch Tom Robbins, and she sees individuals, men from her community with names and families and the ability to feel ashamed of themselves. Caitlin must Work At It, but she, too, has the ability to approach individual children in the mob scene that is her school’s playground and begin to make friends and bring healing to those around her.

I liked this book so much, just as I enjoyed reading Marcelo in the Real World and Anything But Typical and The Speed of Dark and other books featuring autistic and Aspergers children and young adults. Autistic people, at least in literature, have a way of cutting through the bull to the heart of the matter and showing me ideas and relationships between things that I am unable to see by myself. “Simplify, simplify,” said Henry David Thoreau. Through these books and others, I’m learning to simplify a complex world and still enjoy all the colors.

Ooooh, I just learned that Mockingbird won the 2010 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. I am delighted because I think the book deserves lots of praise and attention, although Ms. Betsy at Fuse #8 (and apparently others) holds a contrary opinion. To each his own, but I’ll take Mockingbird and books like it any day.

Moral Opposition Is Not the Same as Bullying or Hating

Nov22

. . . there is a profound difference between moral objection to the behavior of homosexuality and the physical intimidation or abuse of those tempted by same-sex attraction. Warning against and opposing the societal embrace of certain sexual behaviors is not bullying.

If it is, Ms. Behar, I look forward to your upcoming show in which you will chastise First Lady Michelle Obama for being a willing accomplice of the brutal bullying of obese children. After all, the most bullied group of young people in our country remains the overweight children. Mrs. Obama’s warning against the societal embrace of unhealthy eating habits is only ostracizing and stigmatizing the fat kids, thus inviting more bullying. And her opposition to overeating couldn’t be born out of love and concern for those kids’ well being, could it, Ms. Behar?

‘The View’ of Incoherence by Peter Heck

Great analogy. I am so tired of people being called “haters” (and worse) whenever they say anything in opposition to homosexual behavior. I believe that homosexual behavior is harmful to society, to the family, and to the person who chooses, yes, chooses, to engage in such behavior. I don’t believe that being attracted to a person of your same sex is a sin or is morally repugnant. I do believe that acting on that attraction is wrong and harmful. I am no more hateful for expressing that opinion than I am for saying that overeating is wrong and harmful whenever I engage in that behavior, a choice I make too often and repent of frequently.

‘

Lost in Middle Earth

Nov18

A friend of mine, S., wrote these words in her Facebook status a few days ago:

Ever since i started reading The Lord of the Rings I don’t want to work. I don’t want to cook. I don’t want to fold laundry. I don’t want to run. I don’t want to hang out. I don’t want to do my bible study. Don’t want to talk, don’t want phone calls, don’t get the mail(well I never did that actually) What’s the deal Tolkien?! I like your world better sometimes;-)

I’m jealous. I wish I could get lost in Middle Earth for the first time again. In fact, I wrote a poem, back in the day when I thought I could write poetry, about the fascination of Tolkien’s Middle Earth:

She doesn’t hear the blur of noise
That marks our busy world—
Rhythm of footsteps in the hall,
Insistent radio two doors down,
Rushing of the cars outside,
Clatter of pans in the kitchen sink.
Her ears are tuned to other sounds:
To elvish songs and goblin shrieks,
Hobbit voices, horns and swords,
She’s lost in Middle Earth.

What book(s) do you wish you could read again for the first time?

Fostering Understanding

Nov18

Two of the books nominated for the Cybils Middle Grade Fiction award focus on foster children and their adjustment to living in a family not their own.

In Touch Blue by Cynthia Lord, eleven year old Tess Brooks and her five year old sister Libby are excited about welcoming a foster brother into their family’s life on a small island off the coast of Maine. (Don’t you just love that cover with the Monopoly pieces against the blue Maine-ish background?) As her family prepares to welcome Aaron, their new foster child, Tess says,

“I’ve never met a foster child before. But I’ve read books about them. There’s Gilly in The Great Gilly Hopkins, Bud in Bud, Not Buddy, and Anne Shirley in Anne of Green Gables. I hope Aaron’s the most like Anne: full of stories and eager to meet us. Of course, he won’t be exactly like Anne, because he’s not eleven years old.
Or a girl.
Or Canadian.”

It turns out that Aaron isn’t much like any of those kids in the books. He’s a thirteen year old trumpet player who still misses the mom who deserted him and still hopes to be reunited with her. Tess must deal with her disappointment and with her inability to control events as she tries to find a way to help Aaron become part of the family and comfortable with island life.

Dream of Night by Heather Henson reads at first like just another horse book, and I’m not too fond of horse books. However, it’s really about abuse and adoption and learning to trust. Shiloh, a twelve year old foster child and Dream of Night, a retired Thoroughbred racehorse who’s been abused and neglected by his owner, both come to live with Jess DiLima, a middle aged rescuer of both horses and children who’s not sure she still has the strength and energy to foster yet another child and a nearly starved horse. Shiloh and Dream of Night, of course, have a lot in common; both have been abused and both have trust issues. And eventually the horse and the child bond, but the inevitable friendship that grows between is not forced or sentimental. I’m not sure how, but author Heather Henson takes a formula plot and makes it seem real and emotionally engaging.

“Shiloh looks up at the black horse. He’s so big. She doesn’t understand how he got his scars. How he would let anyone hurt him like that. With his hooves and his screaming and his legs kicking out. It makes her angry. She can’t explain it, but she’s angry at the black horse for letting himself get those scars. She turns abruptly away. She walks toward the house. Without looking back.
If she were big, like Night, if she were big and fierce and strong, she would never let anyone near. She would never let anyone touch her ever again.”

Told from three different points of view, that of Shiloh, of Jess, and of the horse, Dream of Night, the novel’s strength is it’s characterization. I felt the hardness and fear in Shiloh and in Dream, and I understood Jess’s apprehensiveness about her ability to get through and earn the trust of either the girl or the horse. In fact, as I compared the two books, Touch Blue and Dream of Night, I thought that maybe Touch Blue could have benefitted from a change in viewpoint. Tess talks a little too much and understands too little, and I could have used some more insight into what Aaron was thinking and feeling.

But that’s really a small complaint. Both books give insight into the experience of foster children and into the feelings and difficulties of those who do the fostering. Both certainly deserve to be placed on the list alongside The Great Gilly Hopkins, Bud, Not Buddy and Anne of Green Gables as books for children who want to understand foster children and foster families.

Other titles about foster children and adoption:
The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron. Semicolon review here.
The Road to Paris by Nikki Grimes. Semicolon review here.
The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson. I read this book a l-o-n-g time ago. As I remember it, it’s about a wise-cracking foster kid and the foster mom who loves her anyway.
Homecoming and Dicey’s Song by Cynthia Voigt. These two books are about homelessness and being abandoned by a parent who can’t cope, and about four resilient children who bring as much to their new home with their grandmther as she gives them.
Heat by Mike Lupica. I read this baseball-themed book for the Cybil Awards, and I really liked it. It’s bout two boys, brothers, who’ve lost both parents, and are trying NOT to get caught up into the foster care system. Semicolon review here.
Alabama Moon by Watt Key. A boy raised in the wilderness by a survivalist father runs away from a foster care facility. Semicolon review here.
Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis. I’ve got to read this Newbery Award book soon. It’s about “Bud–“not Buddy”–Caldwell, an orphan on the run from abusive foster homes and Hoovervilles in 1930s Michigan,” according to Amazon.
The Pinballs by Betsy Byars. Three children in a foster home grow and learn to care about each other.
The Orphan Train series by Joan Lowery Nixon.
In The Face of Danger (Orphan Train Adventures)
A Place to Belong (Orphan Train Adventures)
A Dangerous Promise (Orphan Train Adventures)
A Family Apart (Orphan Train Adventures)
Keeping Secrets (Orphan Train Adventures)
Where the River Begins by Patricia St. John.
Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff.
Gossamer by Lois Lowry. Semicolon review here.
The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Carlson Savage. This title is written for younger children, and it’s not as contemporary as the other books on this list, but definitely worthwhile. It’s the story of three children and their mother who must live under a bridge in Paris after they’re evicted from their apartment. It’s also about the old tramp who becomes their adoptive grandfather in spite of his determination not to get involved with any “little birds.” (children who steal your heart)

More book suggestions on this same topic at Fuse 8.

Can you suggest any other children’s titles that have to do with foster children and adoption?

Cybils in Brief

Nov17

Here’s a brief note on several of Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominees that I’ve read this week:

The Fantastic Secret of Owen Jester by Barbara O’Connor. Owen and his friends Travis and Stumpy reminded me for some reason of the Little Rascals, and they even have a pesky girl next door named Viola. When Owen and company find something very special next to the train tracks, Viola is the only one who knows how to take advantage of the find. It’s sort of a slow, little story with no great thrills or emotional highs and lows, just some kids having a summer adventure.

The Archaeolojesters by Andreas Oertel. Cody, Eric, and Eric’s twin sister, Rachel try to save their town’s economy by perpetrating a hoax to bring in visitors. The ending is a bit unbelievable, but the the book is supposed to be the first in a series. So either the kids will reap what they sowed in the next installment, or the series will segue into a fantastical adventure that requires lots of suspension of disbelief.

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood is also the first in a series about three children who were raised by wolves. The story, which features governess Penelope Lumley, a fifteen year old graduate of the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females, is rather cute and fun, but it ends practically in mid-sentence with most of its questions unanswered. The next book in the series, The Hidden Gallery, will be in stores Feb 22, 2011. You may want to wait for it and then sneak a peek at the ending to see if the words “to be continued” are again the (non)ending, if that sort of thing bothers you as it does me. These books look to be similar in tone and attitude to Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events.

Mary Mae and the Gospel Truth by Sandra Dutton. This book attempts to reconcile a straw man version of creationism with the fossil record. Young earth creationists are presumed to be ignorant, abusive hillbillies with sort of good hearts but very, very little brain. Oh, and the “Christian” mother threatens Mary Mae with homeschooling her if Mary doesn’t forget about fossils and quit asking so many questions about the Bible. Then Mama slaps Mary Mae for being sassy. That was the last straw for me. Mary Mae’s mama believes that fossils are tricks that God put in the earth to test our faith. Blech. I’m not a believer in a young earth myself, but those who do hold that view deserve more respect than this piece of didactic stereotyping gives them.

Historical Fiction Picks for 2011

Nov15

From this list of forthcoming historical fiction titles, I pick the following that I would very much like to read next year:

Dale Cramer, Paradise Valley, Bethany House (in 1921, a new Ohio law forces the Amish to attend public schools), January 2011. I’ve read several other novels by Mr. Cramer, and I think he’s quite a good writer. Here’s my review of Levi’s Will, another Amish-themed novel by Cramer.

J.J. Murphy, Murder Your Darlings, Signet (an Algonquin Round Table mystery featuring Dorothy Parker), January 2011. Although Dorothy parker would have been an uncomfortable person to know, she remains fascinating to look at from a distance. Her acerbic wit engages my own sense of humor, but again I’m glad to escape the exercise of that wit upon my foibles.

Jill Paton Walsh, The Attenbury Emeralds, Minotaur (new Dorothy Sayers-inspired mystery, which revisits Lord Peter Wimsey’s first case; set in 1951), January 2011. I’ve read at least one of Jill Paton Walsh’s Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries, the first called Thrones, Dominations, and I thought she did a good job of following in the footsteps of a master mystery writer, Dorothy Sayers.

Anne Perry, Treason at Lisson Grove, Ballantine (first Thomas and Charlotte Pitt mystery in three years; set in Victorian London), April 2011. I like Anne Perry’s Victorian mysteries, although the author’s personal story is rather bizarre, especially for a writer of murder mysteries.

Mary Doria Russell, Doc, Random House (chronicles of the lives of Doc Holliday and his girlfriend Kate in Dodge City, Kansas, during one memorable summer), May 2011. Ms. Russell’s The Sparrow was one of the very best books I read in 2009, so I’m willing to try out anything she writes, even a novel with a western setting.

Nicola Upson, Two for Sorrow, Harper Paperbacks (third installment of Josephine Tey mystery series), July 2011. I’ll only read this one if I can manage to find and read the first two in the series and if I like them. I’m quite fond of Josephine Tey’s novels, so I hope this fictional version of the author does her justice.

It’s Raining Cupcakes by Lisa Schroeder

Nov15

Several of the Cybils books nominated in the Middle Grade Fiction category focus on entrepreneurship or family businesses. In Rocky Road by Rose Kent, already reviewed here, the Dobsons start an ice cream shop in Schenectady. In Crunch by Leslie Connor, also reviewed previously, three siblings run a thriving bicycle repair shop while their parents are stranded up north. Emma Freke’s mom in I, Emma Freke by Elizabeth Atkinson, leaves Emma to tend the bead shop while mom gallivants. In The Dancing Pancake by Ellen Spinelli, Bindi’s mom and aunt team up to open a restaurant called, what else, The Dancing Pancake.

And now I’ve just finished It’s Raining Cupcakes by Lisa Schroeder in which twelve year old Isabel’s family opens a cupcake shop. I don’t know who was channeling whom, but the experience of reading It’s Raining Cupcakes really reminded me of reading Rocky Road a couple of weeks ago:

Opening a food business. Check.
Twelve year old not totally on board. Check.
Mom with depression or borderline depression issues. Check.
Family pitches in to help. Check.
Neighbors and friends also pitch in. Check.
Competition threatens. Check.
Mompreneur despairs. Check.
Daughter saves the day. Check.
All’s well that ends well. The business is a success!

It’s Raining Cupcakes was a cute story, and the cupcake recipes included in the back of the book look like winners. However, I’m left to wonder what’s next? Beads, bicycles, ice cream, pancakes, cupcakes. . . Maybe a nice old-fashioned bookstore?

Other takes:
Brimful Curiosities: “I just finished a cute middle grade novel titled It’s Raining Cupcakes by Lisa Schroeder, a perfect girly diversion for a rainy summer day. From the scrumptious pink cupcake laden cover to a well-written plot with chapter titles named after different cupcakes, the book is a treat to read.”

Jama Rattigan’s Alphabet Soup: “Lisa used only the finest ingredients: a likeable, true-to-life main character, an appetizing premise, a cozy small town setting, and interesting secondary characters, all flavored with equal parts charm, humor, and suspense.”

Kim Bacciella at YA Books Central: “This is a sweet, fun tale of a young girl who wants nothing more than to travel outside her little town of Willow.”

It’s Raining Cupcakes has been nominated for the 2010 Cybils Awards in the Middle Grade Fiction category.

So, what’s your favorite cupcake or cupcake recipe?

Two Mysteries, Two Theme Parks, Two Winners

Nov11

Closed for the Season: A Mystery Story by Mary Downing Hahn.
Belly Up by Stuart Gibbs.

The mystery:
Who killed old Mrs. Donaldson?
Who murdered Henry Hippo?

The setting:
Magic Forest, Virginia’s defunct, kudzu-covered theme park.
FunJungle, America’s newest theme park/zoo located in the Texas Hill Country.

The detectives:
Logan Forbes, who just moved into the murdered woman’s house, and his sidekick, rude, bookish, misfit Arthur Jenkins, who lives next door.
Teddy Roosevelt Fitzroy, the son of a gorilla expert and a wildlife photographer, and his new friend, Samantha MacCracken, daughter of the millionaire owner of FunJungle, JJ MacCracken.

The suspects: Too many to count. In both books, I was kept guessing till the very end. Thrills and chills. Danger and creepiness. Recommended reading for mystery fans of all ages.

The authors:
Mary Dowling Hahn has been writing children’s books for over thirty years, and she’s published almost thirty books. Her books run the gamut from mysteries to ghost stories to historical fiction to fantasy. I know I’ve read her books before, but I don’t actually recognize any of the titles. Hahn’s 1991 book Stepping on the Cracks won the Scot O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction.
Stuart Gibbs has written screenplays, but Belly Up is his first published novel. He has another novel, The Last Musketeer, due out next fall.

I was quite absorbed by both of these mystery thrillers, but I would give the edge to Belly Up. I’m sure neither author expected anyone to compare the two books in the first place, but they do have a lot in common. Kudos to Stuart Gibbs for such a fast and funny debut novel, and the same to Ms. Hahn for the latest entry in a body of work that’s kept kids entertained for many years.

You can’t go wrong by picking up either of these, but if you have to choose which one to read first, check out Belly Up. After all, an exploding hippo trumps almost anything!

Other takes on Belly Up:
Jennifer at 5 Minutes for Books: “Animal lovers, and zoo or theme park afficianados will appreciate the insider info given about these industries. As a former Texan, I also enjoyed the accurate portrayal of that area.”

Debbie Winkler: “Because of the setting and the workers, I got to learn all kinds of things that I never knew about animals and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Due to Stuart Gibbs’ engaging writing style, I never felt like I was getting an info dump on animals that I didn’t care about.”

Mark Carstairs: ” It’s hard in a kids’ mystery to balance the need for the main character to investigate without making the adults seem like bad parents. That was handled here perfectly. And it changed as the book progressed, although keeping things realistic.”

Other takes on Closed for the Season:
Jen Robinson’s Book Page: “This combination of realistic interpersonal dynamics with atmospheric, suspenseful mystery is sure to please kids. Especially those kids who aren’t athletes, and have been known to spend an afternoon or two in the local library.”

ReadingJunky’s Reading Roost: “The murder, the possibility of the killer’s involvement in embezzlement, and the bulldozing of a local, historic amusement park all combine for some great adventure.”

Both Closed for the Season and Belly Up have been nominated for the 2010 Cybils Awards in the Middle Grade Fiction category.