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Children’s Fiction of 2007: Three for Another Reader

Nov25

I read the following three books because they were nominated for the Cybil Award for Middle Grade Fiction. As my mom would say, if these books come in parts, you can leave mine out.

Runaround by Helen Hemphill.
From the inside cover blurb: “Everything eleven year old Sassy knows about love comes from romance magazines. But now that she has her eye on her handsome neighbor, Boon, she wants more details.”
Yuck. I will admit to reading my grandmother’s copies of True Romance in secret when I was a kid of a girl, and like Sassy, I had lots of questions about what went on in those magazines. But in Runaround Sassy has no other source of information. Her mother is gone, and her dad is uncommunicative. Her sister, Lula, is only thirteeen and already has boyfriends galore. And Sassy flirts outrageously with Boon who’s a year older than Lula, until Sassy finally gets Boon to kiss her. Again, yuck. They might as well be reading True Romance magazine, not a practice I would recommend for eleven year olds or twelve year olds or teens or even adults.

Other views:
Kidslit: “This is a well-crafted novel that is perfect for tween readers. It has just the right amount of romance, including french kissing, but doesn’t go so far that it would make it more appropriate for older readers.”
Camille at BookMoot: “There are some wonderfully funny and painful moments as Sassy and Lula learn about guys and life. You do not want to get into a haircut fight with these sisters.”

Penina Levine Is a Hard-Boiled Egg by Rebecca O’Connell.
“I’m Jewish, and I shouldn’t have to write a pretend letter from the Easter bunny because the word “Easter” offends me. And my teacher is a jerk because she gives me a zero for not completing the assignment. Oh, and by the way, I’m jealous of my little sister because she gets more attention than I do.”
That’s my summary of the book. I think Penina is a brat, and the teacher really is a jerk or at least unbelievably dense. Any teacher I know of would have given an alternate assignment when Penina started yelping, even though I agree with the teacher that her complaints were unjustified and overblown. (A bid for attention?) There are an interesting couple of chapters about the celebration of Seder in a large Jewish family. That part might be worth reading aloud to kids, but the rest of the story is forgettable.

Other views:
JessMonster at BookPyramid: “At any rate, while part of me sympathized with Penina for being the religious outsider (rebelling against attending mass in honor of the Immaculate Conception, anyone?) I also found her profoundly irritating on some level.”
Behind the Stove: “Penina herself is a winner – I liked the kind and intelligent way in which she ultimately makes her point to her teacher, and I loved Penina’s stubbornness, her enthusiasm for her heritage, and her refusal to be untrue to her nature. I found Penina downright endearing, the sort of little girl I would have liked to be friends with.”

Bird Springs by Carolyn Marsden.
Ten year old Gregory and his mother and baby sister have to move from their Navajo reservation home in Bird Springs to a homeless shelter in Tucson when Gregory’s father skips out and the rains don’t come. The blurb says the story has a “sense of hope,” but I thought it mostly had a dearth of action. Gregory wanders around the shelter, worries, makes a new friend, worries some more, gets a haircut, worries, and goes into a sewer tunnel with his new friend Matt. And Gregory talks like a six year old: “My dad is a warrior. He gots a horse called Blackie, and one day when he gets Blackie back he’s gonna ride on down and get me.”

I couldn’t find any other blog reviews of Bird Springs. If you’ve read the book and have a second opinion, please leave a comment and a link.

Children’s Fiction of 2007: Perch, Mrs. Sackets, and Crow’s Nest by Karen Pavlicin

Nov25

I liked the quiet, natural references to God and prayer and spiritual solace. I liked the family vignettes and country cozy details. I liked this conversation between Andy and his mom. Andy’s father is dead, and his mother is trying to answer some of Andy’s questions about the future:

“Mom set down the bag of mulch and sat back on her heels. ‘Andy,’ she said, ‘Our lives are like novels. The first book didn’t end the way we thought it would, but it was still a really good book.’

She brushed her hands on her jeans. ‘Now we begin the second book,’ she said. ‘There will be some of the same people in this book, but some new characters, too. We don’t know what will happen next or how the story will end up, but what fun would it be to read the last chapter first?’

She picked up a few stray pieces of mulch from the grass.

‘The best part of reading a good book,’ she added, ‘is seeing the story unfold, page by page, chapter by chapter, even with all its surprises.’ She leaned over, kissed my forehead, and smiled. ‘We can still suggest edits to God along the way.’

I nudged her back and swallowed hard. Our next book sounded sad and hopeful at the same time.”

However, the short, episodic chapters made the story choppy and disjointed. It almost felt as if I were reading photo blurbs for a summer vacation, vignettes that attempted to encapsulate the story of Andy’s “summer of courage.” And Andy himself, the fourth grade protagonist who’s lost his father, is a bit too good to be believable. I’m tired of reading about bratty, out-of-control kids, but there is a happy medium. Andy’s father has died, and his best friend has moved to Colorado. As the story begins, his mom has decided to spend the summer in the country at Andy’s grandma’s house. While they’re at grandma’s Mom reconnects with an old flame, and Andy isn’t sure where the relationship will lead. Still, the worst feeling that Andy experiences is a “knot in my stomach.” He never acts out or questions, and his worst fault is a bit of laziness which is cleared up with the help of a five dollar bill.

Mrs. Sackets is a neighbor, and I’m not sure what her place in the story is. She’s eccentric, which is OK, but in this instance she’s unbeleivably eccentric and serves no purpose in moving the story along. And Andy thinks the things Mrs. Sackets says and does are odd, but he just plays along and never criticizes even in his mind. My kids would be much more taken aback by Mrs. Sackets dancing around catching moonbeam messages from heaven.

Show, don’t tell. Tie the narrative together in smoothly connected whole. And most of all, give me believable characters with flaws even if everything does turn out all right in the end.

Children’s Fiction of 2007: Tall Tales by Karen Day

Nov17

First lines: “I want to make a friend.

But as I stand in the entrance of the lunchroom, panic ringing in my ears, all I think is Here we go again. New town. New school. Same old feeling.”

That’s a fairly conventional beginning for a children’s book. And the conventionality continues. Meg decides to deal with her new kid jitters by making up stories that make her life before moving to Indiana sound exotic and adventurous and interesting. The real story of Meg’s family history and the real reason for their move to a new town is not so exciting: Meg’s father is an alcoholic. He’s promised that this time he’ll quit drinking for good, stay in his new job, and help his family make a new start.

Meg’s famlly, her mom, her older brother Teddy, her younger sister Abby and Meg herself, all live life on the edge of Dad’s alcoholism. They’re all afraid of doing something or saying something that will set Dad off, make him start drinking again, make him continue drinking, make him abusive and drunk. Dad has them all convinced, or else they’ve convinced themselves, that his alcoholism is their fault. The family’s actions and reactions are scripted like something out of a book on families of alcoholics. Meg’s family keeps Dad’s drinking a secret, covers up for him, makes excuses for his abusive behavior.

Alcoholism is a very real problem, and for a child of an alcoholic who’s trapped in a family dynamic like that of Meg’s family, this book could be a godsend, sort of bibliotherapy. However, I’m not sure other children will understand, identify or take much away from this ABC afterschool special of a novel. It’s well written, with good engaging characters, and a decent, believable ending. Maybe not for everyone, but it’s definitely a keeper for some.

Tall Tales is Ms. Day’s first published novel for children. She has another book coming out next year called No Cream Puffs about a girl who “becomes the first girl in Michigan to play baseball on an all-boys’ little league team in the 1970s.” I’m looking forward to reading it.

This bit of writerly insight is from Ms. Day’s website: “Originally TALL TALES was written in past tense, journal form. Several editors told me that this style put too much distance between the story and the reader. So I rewrote it first person, present tense, and the story was much more immediate. And much better.”

Question: I understand how the change to first person draws the reader in, makes us identify with the narrator. But how does writing in present tense do that? Does it make me feel as if I’m living the stroy as I read, instead of looking back on something that happened in the past? Is this a good thing if you want your reader to gain some perspective and grow in understanding over the course of the novel?

Other bloggers review Tall Tales:

A Fuse #8 Production: “The fact that this book acknowledges the truly slow nature of change can either be seen as the story’s strength or weakness. Nothing here happens too quickly. Make of that what you will.”

Granny Sue: “the immediacy of Meg’s predicaments ring with truth, pain, and hope. A fine story, well told.”

Little Willow: “Meg is fully aware of her exaggerations and big lies. She is likable and vulnerable without being naive. Readers will want someone to find out the truth and help her family. Hopefully, those who relate to her story will be inspired to confide in trustworthy friends and adults so that they can get the help they need as well.”

Little Willow interviews Karen Day.

Children’s Fiction of 2007: Celeste’s Harlem Renaissance by Eleanora E. Tate

Nov16

I like historical fiction. I liked this book set partly in Harlem, New York City, 1921 and also in Raleigh, N.C. But I must say that the author is a namedropper. Every single famous or semi-famous black American who could have been expected to show up for a cameo appearance in Harlem in 1921 is in this book: Caterina Jarboro, Duke Ellington, Bert Williams, Marcus Garvey, James Weldon Johnson, even Madame C.J. Walker, who was dead by the time of the story, but living on in her prosperous business of providing hair care products for “Colored folks’ hair.” Then, too, the author uses historical events and places to lend authenticity to her story: the lynching of two black men in North Carolina in 1921, the North Carolina Negro State Fair, the first musical produced on Broadway starring black entertainers called Shuffle Along, and many historical markers and occasions.

I did feel as if I were in a Black history class every once in a while when I read the book, but then the story would come along and pick me back up and deposit me inside a narrative about family and friendship and forgiveness that was absorbing and universal in its themes. Celeste, the main character, lives in Raleigh with her father and her Aunt Society. Celeste’s mother died four years before the beginning of the story. In the first part of the book we spend some time getting to know Celeste (shy and quiet, but talented at playing the violin), Aunt Society (grouchy and strict), Celeste’s Poppa (hard-working and indulgent toward his only daughter), and Celeste’s almost mythical Aunt Valentina who lives in a mansion in Harlem, an actress who drives a big car and wears fancy clothes.

Then, everything changes for Celeste when her beloved Poppa must go to a sanatorium to rest and recover from tuberculosis. Aunt Society can’t take care of Celeste, and the only option left is for Celeste to go to Harlem and live with Aunt Val. Harlem life isn’t anything like what Celeste expected, and later the book changes course once again when Celeste must leave all the friends she’s made in Harlem to go back to North Carolina. The characters in the novel are complicated and multi-dimensional, and Celeste must learn, as she grows up physically, to grow in her assessments of other people, to forgive, and to understand, even as she becomes more confident in her own decisions and abilities.

I think I’ll give this book to my sixteen year old daughter who’s studying twentieth century history this year. We’re covering the decade of the twenties, and even though my dear daughter is a little older than the target audience for this book, she could learn something and enjoy reading it.

Other views:

Celebrate With Books: “This is a delightful book, rich with a strong female character, who is witty and very self reliant. The author (Tate) makes the reader feel as though you are there in 1921 Harlem, New York.”

A Fuse #8 Production: “It’s so frustrating that I liked this book. I liked it so much. I thought the story of Celeste was fascinating and that the arc of the story said some wonderful things. But there were at least 75 pages that could and should have been taken out right from the start.”

Eleanora Tate’s website (including a study guide for Celeste’s Harlem Renaissance)

Children’s Fiction of 2007: Bearwalker by Joseph Bruchac

Nov15

Possible taglines for the movie version:
Class camping trip turns to horror story when the mythical Bearwalker comes to life.
OR A young Mohawk boy faces his fears and becomes an unlikely hero.
OR Bears and humans shouldn’t mix; see what happens when they do.
OR Dances With Wolves meets Friday the Thirteenth. Only this time it’s bears.

OK, so I’m not going to be hired as a movie publicist anytime soon. Bearwalker was actually a great story; it would be especially appealing to guys who like adventure mixed with nature mixed with a little bit of horror and violence. The plot device of “greedy relatives try to buy up the wilderness in order to turn it into a parking lot or a housing development” is a little thin, and naming the villain Jason seems to be a rather-too-obvious nod to Friday the Thriteenth and its sequels. Nevertheless, it’s an entertaining story with some lessons on the appreciation of Native American culture embedded not too deeply for junior school readers to pick up and take to heart.

In fact, there’s nothing too deep about this one. It’s straightforward adventure with some Native American traditions and customs and love of nature, especially bears, thrown in for spice. Boy Scouts, campers, bear lovers, and red-blooded boys and girls should love it. The Mohawk Indian mysticism is not carried too far, but it is there if that sort of thing bothers you. Baron, the Mohawk protagonist and hero, is a member of the Bear Clan, and he carries a wooden carved talisman in the shape of a bear with him wherever he goes. This bear charm either inspires him or actually helps him, whichever way you want to read the story, and he also gets help and/or inspiration from the ancient stories and customs of his people, who have respected and even revered the Bear for many centuries.

Like I said, I wouldn’t try to read too much into the Native American philosophy or the back-to-nature message; it’s mostly a horror/adventure story with a happy ending.

More reviews:

BookLoons: “Joseph Bruchac’s Prologue sets the tone of Bearwalker with a Mohawk folktale about an otgont. Half-human and half-animal, it leaves large bear tracks that switch to human tracks en route, and is considered responsible for disappearances of village people. Lore tells that the otgont was once a human who lusted for the power of a bear, and that the transformation requires the sacrifice of a relative’s life.”

Becky’s Book Reviews: “Baron’s heritage of stories with strong and brave heroes and scary monsters may just save the day. If you are in the mood for a thrilling adventure–a wilderness adventure–then this is the book for you.”

I wrote this last year about Mr. Bruchac’s WW II story, Code Talker: Code Talker by Joseph Bruchac. A Navaho boy, Ned Begay, hears about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, disguises his age, and joins the Marines. Because of his ethnic background and fluency in the Navaho language, Ned is given a special assignment that tests his commitment, patriotism, and endurance.

If you read either Code Talker or Bearwalker and like it, Mr. Bruchac is a prolific writer who’s written many books, picture books, fiction, nonfiction and even plays, mostly with a Native American flavor and theme. Here’s a link to his website where you can get more information.

Children’s Fiction of 2007: Reaching for Sun by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer

Nov15

Another free verse novel. I liked the story, again, and this time I was able to get used to the line breaks much more quickly. (See my review of Home of the Brave for thoughts on my preference for prose in a novel.) Reaching for Sun is sort of one long metaphor in whch the main character, Josie, is a flower (a wisteria vine?) that’s been trapped in darkness, but is now reaching for the sun. Josie’s “darkness” is a set of rather formidable challenges: cerebral palsy, a mom who’s too busy with school and work, absent-tee dad who deserted the family long ago, total rejection from the kids at school who think she’s stupid, too much therapy and not enough downtime. Then there are Josie’s mom’s expections; she wants Josie to become a lawyer or an astronaut, but Josie’s not really interested in any of the high-powered careers that her mom has picked out for her.

But Mom’s dreams for me
are a heavy wool coat I
wear, even in summer.”

The entire book reads like that little word picture. As I noted in my interview with author J.B. Cheaney the other day, I wish I could write metaphors and similes like that one. I tend to think in cliches.

Josie makes a mistake in the course of the story by dealing with some of her problems by lying. She and her mom become estranged because in order to do what she wants to do and start to grow up, Josie lies to her mom instead of confronting the disagreement between the two of them and discussing it. The author does a very good job of showing how destructive lies can be, and still she also demonstrates that forgiveness and reconciliation are possible.

She pulls me to her
and I feel that old kudzu vine
ripped away between us
and the truth
like sun on my face.”

There are lots of little things to like about this little book. There’s a little flip-book picture of a flower bud turning into a fullgrown flower drawn in gray pencil-like sketches in the lower right hand corner of the pages. Josie’s grandma and her friend, Jordan, are both great characters, slightly eccentric, but not so odd that readers would reject them. Good use of language. Good story of a girl’s thirteenth year of growing and becoming a young lady under less than optimal circumstances.

Tracie Vaughn Zimmer’s website.

Other bloggers weigh in:

Little Willow: “Reaching for Sun is a verse novel told from Josie’s point of view. Though Josie sometimes has difficulties expressing herself and speaking her thoughts, her voice on the page is full of strength.”

Cynsations interview with Tracey Vaughn Zimmer: Ms. Zimmer says: “I’d like to be a Poetry Preacher–I truly believe it can transform children’s reading skills (fluency, vocabulary and comprehension) but even better than all that it grabs the hand of its reader and changes the way we see the world.”

MotherReader: “So today I sat outside in the sun, to read it surrounded by the daffodils, the crocuses, and that yellow flowering bush… thing. And if you can, that’s the way you want to read this book, with beauty all around you and beauty on the pages in front of you.”

A Fuse #8 Production: “The verse novel still has to justify its own existence with every book that uses its style. When you pick up a work of fiction written in verse you have to ask yourself, ‘Would this title be stronger or weaker if it were just straight prose?’ Zimmer’s advantage is that Josie lives a life that’s best suited for poetry.”

OMS Book Blog: “This brand new book written in free verse tells about the growing and blossoming of a seventh grade girl named Josie.”

I think that last sentence about sums it up. If you like “growing and blossoming” books written in free verse, this one is for you.

Young Adult Fiction of 2007: If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period by Gennifer Choldenko

Nov14

Brown Bear’s Review:
This book has two main characters.

First, there’s Kirsten McKenna, a slightly plump girl with a genius younger sister named Kippy, two parents who fight all the time, and a giggle that Kirsten insists, to use it, you have to be “…size three and named Barbie.” She also has a best friend named Rory. But suddenly, Rory doesn’t seem like the best friend she had been. She’s been hanging around with Brianna, the queen bee of Mountain School, whom Kirsten hates. Her mom keeps giving her unwanted advice, and Kirsten dislikes the way her father calls her a genius when everyone knows that’s Kippy, not her.

Then, there’s Walker Jones, who’s being sent to a private school and is trying his best to stay out of trouble, somewhat aided and abetted by his cousin, Jamal, with whom he went to school before switching. Even though Walk has better friends now, like Matteo, his mother, Sylvia, is still afraid he’ll wind up in juvie hall. Walk says, “Don’t have to worry, Momma. Before I go bad I’ll let you know, send a Hallmark card ready-made for the occasion…’On the Eve Your Son Messes Up’,” but Sylvia doesn’t think it’s funny.

Kirsten and Walker are similar to each other. They go to the the same school, they are in the same grade, and they are friends. But there is one, seemingly important, difference: One is white and the other is black.

I enjoyed this book. It was a very good story and it was funny. I love a book that can make me laugh out loud.

There were, however a couple of things that bothered me. For one thing, the two main characters, who were supposed to be in seventh grade, seemed to act much older than that. Maybe it was just me…?

Also, the book starts out involving, mostly, Kirsten and Walk’s problems at school and how they deal with them there and at home, and for about two thirds of the book, this is most of what the story is about. However, the key part of the story, which takes place in about the last third of the book, doesn’t really involve the school at all. There is very, very little foreshadowing of what happens at this point.

But despite this, it was a good book, funny and interesting.

Sherry’s thoughts:

The two main characters alternate chapters; one chapter is told from Kirsten’s point of view, in first person, and then the next is told from Walk’s point of view, but in third person. I found this switch in persons, especially, somewhat confusing, and I couldn’t really discern the author’s purpose in organizing the book this way. Also, Brown Bear’s right: the kids in the story do act more like ninth or tenth graders. The mom in the story is disturbing. Her emphasis on popularity at any cost is not doing her daughter any good at all, and mom’s problems seem to overwhelm her parenting abilities and make her into Monster Mom.

This book may be more appropriate for older kids, young adult rather than middle grade. I certainly wouldn’t recommend it for children who are still in elementary school. There are plot developments, the ones Brown Bear refers to at the end of her review, that would confuse many younger children.

If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period has been nominated for the Cybil Award for Middle Grade Fiction.

More reviews:

Becky’s Book Reviews: “Anyway, the book is well written. And it’s a fast, enjoyable read. While not all the characters are likable, all are well-developed.”

In the Pages: “I absolutley HAD to read this one as I loved her book, Al Capone Does My Shirts. I will preface by saying it didn’t hit me AS HARD as Al Capone, but I did like it, and I think teens will enjoy it as well.”

Books4Ever: “This is a great story with a major surprise that really looks at what it means to be a family. The book switched off perspectives between Walk and Kirsten which gives you many sides to what life is like for these two middle schoolers.”

Children’s Fiction of 2007: The Talented Clementine by Sara Pennypacker

Nov13

Betsy-Bee’s review (Betsy-Bee is also eight years old, just like Clementine):

Clementine is a eight year old girl in third grade. When her teacher announces that they will have a talent show, Clementine thinks that she does not have a talent. But she must not know what talent it is. Her friend, Margaret, who has lots and lots of talents tries to help her, but it was no use (she did them all wrong!). Sometimes I think I do not have a talent, but I really do. (I just do not think hard enough!)

The day before the talent show she tells her mom and dad that she has a big surprise on the talent show, but she could not do what she was going to do. When she gets to the talent show she tells the directors of the show, that she does not have a talent for the show. So when one of the directors has to go, the other one says to Clementine, “Will you help me with the show?”

Clementine refused, but the director insisted. So she did. At the end of the show they clapped for the people in the talent show, then the director came on stage and told everybody who was there that if Clementine was not here there would be no show. And it was Clementine. They gave her a round of applause! When she got home her mom and dad decided to take her with them to a restaurant. You should really read The Talented Clementine today.

The End!

Children’s Fiction of 2007: Not Yet Nominated

Nov12

cybilsI’m on the nominating panel for the Cybil Award for Middle Grade Fiction. The Cybil Awards are blogger-nominated and blogger-chosen awards for children’s and young adult literature. This year is the second year for the Cybil Awards (2006 winners), and we’ve had a lot of books nominated in seven categories: Picture Books; Non-fiction Picture Books; Middle Grade fiction; Poetry; Young Adult fiction; Non-fiction (YA/MG); and Graphic Novels.

Anyone with an e-mail address may nominate one book per category. Then groups of bloggers get to work. First, a nominating committee reads ALL the titles in a given category. After nearly two arduous months, this committee winnows the nominees to five finalists. A second committee of bloggers considers the shortlist and, after much debate, chooses the best of the best for 2007. The nominations close on November 21. So if your favorite middle grade fiction book, published in 2007, is on this list go over to the Cybils blog and nominate it. Or if you have a another favorite 2007 book, check to see if it’s been nominated.

Here’s my list of books that are nominated so far for the Cybil Award for Middle Grade Fiction. And the books in the list below are eligible and have not been nominated, as far as I can tell:

The Story of Jonas by Maurine Dahlberg. Semicolon review here.

Do Not Pass Go by Kirkpatrick Hill. Semicolon review here.

The Lacemaker and the Princess by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. Semicolon review here.

Spelldown by Karen Luddy. Semicolon review here.

The Theft and the Miracle by Rebecca Wade. Semicolon review here.

Ellie McDoodle: Have Pen, Will Travel by Ruth McNally Barshaw. NOMINATED.

Hunted by Christopher Russell. I read this book, published in the U.S. in 2007, and so eligible for the Cybil Award, a couple of months ago. I forgot to review it here, and now I don’t remember enough details to do so. I thought it was good historical (medieval) fiction, and I enjoyed reading it.

The Dog Who Thought He Was Santa by Bill Wallace. I haven’t read this one, but I saw it at the library and thought it looked like fun.

LawnBoy by Gary Paulsen.

Brendan Buckley’s Universe and Everything In It by Sundee Frazier

Summer Ball by Mike Lupica.

Toby Wheeler, Eighth Grade Benchwarmer by Thatcher Heldring.

Edward’s Eyes by Patricia Maclachlan.

First Light by Rebecca Stead.

The Mother-Daughter Book Club by Heather Vogel Frederick.

Leap of Faith by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley.