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Wonder by R.J. Palacio

A boy born with an extreme facial deformity is going to school for the first time in his life, middle school to boot.  August Pullman knows 5th grade is going to be tough, but his parents promise he can quit anytime. In order to live a normal life outside of his sheltered home environment, he needs his teachers and peers to view him as the normal kid he is.  But it won't be easy.

This is a book that stays with you long after you've read the last page.  The characters are real, vulnerable, and honest.  No one admits to being perfect, and Palacio shows that we all make bad decisions sometimes.  Auggie is a sweet kid who could be or belong to any of us.  I often forgot while reading that he has a facial deformity until he and I were both reminded when he would encounter strangers' stares and masked horror upon meeting him.  Being a kid in school is hard enough, but Auggie's challenges are magnified due to his appearance.

The story is told from several of the characters' perspectives, allowing the reader to place himself in diverse roles and view the same situation from different sides in order to understand motivations and actions.  There are an equal number of male and female viewpoints (though they could be interchangeable), and the chapters are short allowing for appeal to a wide range of readers.  Palacio chooses to focus on her characters' acts of kindness and courage despite fear instead of the many acts of bullying.  Julian, the ringleader who refused to accept Auggie as a friend, is the only main character whom the reader does not get to understand his motivations as Palacio never writes from his point-of-view.  I was curious about this decision and how she chose to deal with his character at the end.   Perhaps she is showing that there are people out there who are just mean for no reason other than that is their character (and in this case, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree).

This book is highly recommended.  I first read about it in a blog review and immediately wanted to read it, but there was a waiting list at my library.  Then I went on vacation with my in-laws, and my SIL was reading it with my niece for their book club.  My MIL and I both read it that week after my SIL was finished with it.  MIL was in tears at certain points, and my niece kept checking on me to see where I was at in the book.  Every time she would say, "Oh, that's a good part!"  I recommend this book exchange hands with all in your household as well.

#thewonderofwonder

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Mother-Daughter Fiction for "Tween" Girls

For my Information Needs of Children class, I had to create a bibliography of 20 books of outstanding quality on the topic of mother-daughter fiction for girls around the around the ages of 10-12.  I did a LOT of reading for this assignment and found some great books.  Today, however, I'm going to provide just five of my personal most favorites from that list.

#5 - Pieces of Georgia by Jennifer Fisher Bryant (2006) NY: Alfred A. Knopf.

Georgia, 13, is on Mrs. Yocum’s “At-Risk” list ever since her mother died from pneumonia six years earlier. Mrs. Yocum provides Georgia a notebook, suggesting she write down any thoughts, feelings, or questions she would ask her mother if she were alive. In journal entries to her mother, written in verse, Georgia tells of the anonymous gift she received for a free membership to the local museum, her and her father’s struggle dealing with the death of her mother, her friend Tiffany’s struggle with trying to do it all, and her own journey to becoming an artist like her mother.


I was rooting out loud for Georgia. She's a quiet, reserved girl and slightly odd (like most great artists), but she deserves the world. This book evokes happy tears.


Check it out on Goodreads.

#4 - Ida B...and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World by Katherine Hannigan (2004) NY: HarperCollins Publishers

Ida B. Applewood (not to be confused with her mother’s name - Ida Applewood) lives on an orchard with her parents and is friends with the trees. Life is swell for this fourth grader, until one day Mama has some bad news, and the repercussions of that news Ida B.’s not going to like one bit. Ida B. is mad and soon feels her heart turning into a hard stone, leaving her to wonder if she will ever be happy again.

I first read this back in the summer of 2009 and fell in love with Ida B. Although it sounds selfish for her to be mad at her mother for having cancer, I was sympathetic to her feelings. I remember being a little girl and being so angry at the world I could explode. It was touching to go through the experience with her.

Check it out on Goodreads.


#3 - Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech (1994) NY: HarperCollins Publishers

Thirteen-year-old Salamanca Tree Hiddle (Sal) takes a cross-country road trip with her grandparents to visit her mother in Idaho, who had earlier left Sal and her father behind in Kentucky. Along the way, Gram and Gramps ask Sal to entertain them with a story, so she tells one of her best friend, Phoebe, whose mother also had gone missing. Through telling Phoebe’s story, she ultimately tells her own.

This is another old favorite, read in the summer of 2009 as well. (2009 was a good year for me - reading wise!) For the longest time before reading this book, I assumed it was a Native American tale from the looks of the cover and the title. Very misleading. This is a great story, entertaining and touching. Just like the movie "Titanic," you know how it's all going to end, but you keep hoping and crossing your fingers that it'll miss the iceberg.

Check it out on Goodreads.


#2 - The Summer Before Boys by Nora Raleigh Baskin (2011) NY: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers


Twelve-year-old Julia spends the summer before seventh grade with her “cousin” (who is actually her niece) of the same age. Julia’s mother is serving as a nurse with the National Guard in Iraq, and her father (Eliza’s grandfather) works long hours. She and Eliza have been best friends all their lives, spending hours playing dolls and pretend, but this summer things are different for Julia. Worrying about her mother and the next chance she will have to see that cute boy, Michael, begins to take up more of her attention, straining her friendship with Eliza.

Of all the books on my list, this is the one I really wish had been written when I was a girl and one that I think all girls will love. I remember that age so well when one week we're playing with Barbies and the next we're talking about boys!

Check it out on Goodreads.


#1 - My Name is Mina by David Almond (2011) NY: Delacorte Press

Mina is strange. Mina is weird. Mina is different. She does not fit in at her school, exasperates her teachers and principal, and is teased by her classmates. Her mother consequently decides to home school her. Mina spends her days sitting in her tree, writing in her journal, playing with words, and dreaming she can fly. Sooner or later though, Mina realizes she is going to have to come down from her tree and find her place in the “real” world.


This is one of those books that is inspires great teaching. After reading this, I want so badly to go back to the classroom so I can tell my students we're throwing out homework and replacing it with "Extraordinary Activities!"  David Almond uses nine-year-old Mina to exude his immense wisdom, and I'm glad I got schooled.  This book is a prequel to Skellig, which means you don't have to have read that to appreciate this book.  I haven't read it yet, but after this was so phenomenal, I think I have to.

          Check it out on Goodreads.

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Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt
          This book is on the top of about every mock Newbery 2012 award list, and I can see why. Doug Swieteck is about the most real and well-written character I've read in a long time in young fiction. The entire story spans Doug's 1968-69 school year beginning with him and his family moving to stupid Marysville, as he deems it.
          Doug has a meekly sweet mother and not-so-loving father, as well as two older brothers.  The oldest, Lucas, is away fighting in the Vietnam war, but we get an idea of his character when Doug does or says something "jerky" and compares it to his brother. Now I sound like Lucas.  That's something Lucas would say.  Christopher, the second oldest brother, seems to be another chip off the old block.  He is ruthlessly mean to Doug, stealing his Joe Pepitone-signed hat, and making fun of all he does.  Doug has to hide anything valuable or special to him from his brother.  The boys' poor attitudes are a result of their father's character.  He is negative, abusive physically and through his words.  Doug's mother is the only saving grace of Doug, but she does not stand up to her husband.
          Doug's story has its ups and downs - things look up and then something happens to dampen his spirit.  His teachers and principal think the worst of him for crimes his brother allegedly committed.  People in town question his nature as well.  And, of course, there is the crotchety librarian who scolds Doug for waiting on the steps of the library to open.  What librarian would do that?
          There is so much addressed in this book that one could spend days discussing - John James Audubon's Birds of America and how Doug can associate what's happening in each painting with what's happening in his life, domestic violence, the controversies of the Vietnam War, Jane Eyre!, baseball and the New York Yankess, NASA's space program and landing on the moon, as well as other significant events of the 60's, etc.  Doug is such a dynamic character, as well, that the story almost reads as a memoir.  A nice surprise at the end of the book is a teaching guide full of discussion questions and activities, along with the first chapter of The Wednesday Wars, a companion to Okay for Now.

Add to your to-read list.

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The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan

While I enjoyed last year's The Lost Hero starring Jason Grace as the Roman demigod and amnesiac, I felt there was something missing.  Leo is the only character who sticks out in my memory from my reading of the first installation of the new Heroes of Olympus series.  Maybe because he *SPOILER* appears in book two.  I didn't feel as invested with the characters as I had with Percy, Annabeth, and Grover from the first Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. 

The first two books are a set up for the new fight.  In PJatO, the fight was with Kronos, in HoO, the fight is with big, bad mamma Gaea.  The Greek and Roman camps are unaware of each other, but will now be forced to work with one another in order to fight the mother of creation. 

In Son of Neptune we find out where Percy's been the whole time Jason and his new gang were fighting wind gods and flying around on mechanical dragons on a quest to free Hera/Juno.  Percy wakes up from a long nap and finds himself at a camp for Roman demigods, Camp Jupiter.  He meets two campers, Hazel and Frank, who helped save his life but are of course not highly respected by the other campers.  I thought these characters were more richly drawn than the characters in the previous book, and so I cared more about their stories.  Hazel gets flashbacks that render her unconscious, and Frank, though big and beefy, doesn't think much of himself.  Percy is his usual self, even with losing his memory, full of wit, humor, and courage only a true hero possesses.  Their quest is to free the god of death, Thanatos (imprisoned somewhere in Alaska), defeat the king of giants, Alcyoneus and rush back to help defend Camp Jupiter from attack by the Feast of Fortuna.  No problem, right?  Actually, that's my only quip with these stories.  It seems too easy for these half-bloods to defeat these ancient (and usually stupid) monsters.  I would think the gods have to be on their sides for them to always be so victorious.

What I love about this new series is that (and I said this with the first book) it introduces the reader to Roman mythology.  The reader sees that not only do the names change of the gods, but that their personalities are altered as well.  We see this mainly with the character of Ares/Mars in book two. 

Riordan gives us more of what we love:  good battles, a tiny sliver of puppy love, lots of humor, and a world where fantasy and reality collide.  If you haven't read The Lost Hero, you could probably skip it and read The Son of Neptune without missing a beat. 

Oh, yes.  My only other problem with the book was that I bought it as a Nook book, and the spacing was jacked up throughout.  Slightly annoying.

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The Summer of the Swans by Betsy Byars

time spent reading: 1.5 hours

pages read: 129

I grabbed this book off the shelf because it was short, and I wanted to feel a sense of accomplishment first thing this morning. It turns out I really enjoyed this short children's story. Sara lives with her Aunt Willie along with her 19-year-old sister, Wanda, and her mentally handicapped brother, Charlie, after her mother passed away. Sara's father works in another town and visits occasionally on the weekends. One summer morning, Sara wakes up and finds her brother has disappeared. He got up in the middle of night wanting to see the swans at the lake Sara had taken him to the day before, but he couldn't remember the way and got himself lost in the woods.

I liked this story because it reminds me of my grandmother, and how she probably grew up. The characters are real people and funny to listen to. They all share the same names as my grandmother's family and friends: Midge, Frank, Wanda, etc. It reminds me of the "good ole' days" when there was only one television program to choose from, and people got excited about the little things. Everyone knew each other, and everyone was cordial.

Sara is an adolescent who is discontent with life. She thinks she's ugly and has clown feet made all the worse by her "Donald Duck" orange-dyed tennis shoes.

Up until this year, it seemed, her life had flowed along with rhythmic evenness. The first fourteen years of her life all seemed the same. She had loved her sister without envy, her aunt without finding her coarse, her brother without pity. Now all that was changed. She was filled with discontent, and anger about herself, her family, that made her think she would never be content again. p.35

Really, this is nothing more than what every 14 year old girl feels at one point or time.

"I feel like I want to start screaming and kicking and I want to jump up and tear down the curtains and rip up the sheets [...] I want to yank my clothes out of the clsoet and burn them and -"

"Well, why don't you try it if it would make you feel better?"

"Because it wouldn't." [...] "I just feel like nothing."

"Oh, everybody does at times, Sara."

"Not like me. I'm not anything. I'm not cute, and I'm not pretty, and I'm not a good dancer, and I'm not smart, and I'm not popular. I'm not anything." p. 39

The story only covers a 24 hour period, from one evening to the next. That's not enough time for a character to actually grow and change a whole lot. Sara is still Sara, but she finds that she had misjudged a boy from her school and maybe her father, too.

The humor in the characters' conversations is also what makes the story so enjoyable. As Sara and her friend Mary are tryin to figure out where Charlie went, Mary suggests they go back to the house as he may be there. Sara knows that won't be the case, and she repeats this again and again.

"I know he won't be."

"Well, don't get discouraged until we see." [...] "You know who you sound like? Remember when Mary Louise was up for class president and she kept saying, 'I know won't get it.' For three days that was all she said."

"And she didn't get it."

"Well, I just meant you sounded like her, your voice or something," Mary explained quickly. p. 61

My vote goes to...

The 2011 John Newbery medal will be awarded tomorrow morning, as well as a plethora of other awards. I tried my best this fall to read many of the contenders for the award. Here they are with a short summary and review.

1. One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

I'm not sure what the hype was over this novel except that its subject centers around the Black Panther movement in Oakland, California. Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern are sisters from Brooklyn whose mother left them when Fern was still nursing. Delphine is now eleven, and her father thinks it's a great idea for the girls to spend the summer with the mother who abandoned them and wants nothing to do with them even when they get there.

The sisters spend their days at the local People's Center, where they eat breakfast and lunch and attend a children's class to learn about the "people's revolution." The reader hopes for the tender moment when the mom will begin to see the error of her ways, look at her girls, and realize she loves them and needs them in her life. It doesn't quite happen that way. This isn't enough of a historical fiction novel that you'll learn anything new, and it wasn't a story that I could put in my students' hands and they would love me for it. It was okay.

2. Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm

This is another story set in the past (1935) that doesn't really doesn't have anything to do with the history of the time. This time the daughter, Turtle, is being sent to live with her aunt and cousins in Key West because her mother's new employer doesn't like children. There is a bit of adventure and a bit of self-discovery. I purchased this for the classroom, and while it was enjoyed by a few, the book fell apart too quickly, and who wants to read a book with its pages falling out? Overall, not the winner, but still a light-hearted read.

3. The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger

Whoa! Searched this on Amazon just using "strange case," and this title appeared before Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Crazy. While this strange case isn't as classic as the latter, it was still a good read. I knew the kids would love it because the book, from its cover to its pages, are set up similar to the Wimpy Kid books, it has an origami Yoda on the front, and directions for how to make one it the back. That was really the best of this book for my students, the how-to directions.

Many students used this book for their reading response journals, and I was surprised to find many of them were unimpressed with the story. The biggest complaint? The story lacked character development because each chapter was merely a "case file" with a new character's personal account of his or her interaction with Dwight/OY. They felt the book was a bit gimmicky and that the sixth graders weren't relatable. Did I mention my reading students ARE sixth graders? I was pretty impressed with their observations, and I think author's should take note to remember whom they are writing for. Don't get me wrong; they will still pick this up because it is a quick and easy read. They call this kind of book (just like the Wimpy Kid books) a "break" from real reading.

4. Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper

This is the story of a girl with cerebral palsey. Melody is highly intelligent with a photographic memory, however she is unable to speak and is confined to a wheel chair because she is unable to control her body in the least. As she gets older, she becomes more and more frustrated that no one understands her. The only way to try to get her point across is by throwing a fit, and that doesn't always lead the recipient to guess correctly why Melody is upset.

Melody eventually gets a medi-talker and is finally able to communicate with those around her. However, it doesn't solve all her problems. People still view her as "retarded" because of the way she looks and acts, including a teacher at her school. (That ticked me off.)

Again, I was hoping for a Rudy moment, where underdog Melody can show everyone up, but the end takes a surprising turn that I didn't much enjoy.

5. My pick for this year's Newbery medal goes to Countdown by Deborah Wiles. The only reason I think it may not win is because it is very similar to last year's winner, When You Reach Me, sans time travel. This is a fun story of a fifth grader named Franny who has to deal with her best friend hating her for no good reason in the midst of the Cuban missile crisis.

This book has to be read, not listened to on audiobook, because it is part documentary, part fiction. I read this aloud to my students, and I knew, even with scanning the pictures, showing actual footage from YouTube of Bert the Turtle and JFK's speech, as well as playing the music Franny listens to in the story, that they still needed to see the words on the page. In almost every chapter there are historical quotes and lyrics to songs interspersed in the story. It sounds confusing to the students when I go from reading the narrative to reading the lines for "It was an itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow polka dot bikini that she wore for the first time..." I just began skipping reading those parts because my kids kept asking, "Huh?" Also, Franny's thoughts can be random and strung together, having nothing to do with the current situation, so I would sometimes skip over her rambles.

Fall Into Reading Fail

Well, I had the best of intentions, but... this reading challenge didn't pan out for me, once again. I believe there is only a week or two left before the end of the fall season, so unless I'm getting a lot of reading done in the three days I have between the last day of school and heading north for family time, this will more than likely be my only update.

Since the beginning of FIR'10, I have completed only three books. Pathetic, I know, but work often leaves me in a zombified state by the end of the day. I pick up a book, and I'm out like a light within the first ten pages.

1. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortensen (The Young Readers Edition) -

I can't say I was terribly touched by this one. It was an interesting enough read that I was curious about this man everyone seemed to be talking about. The writing and sentence structure was very simple, making for an easy read. While I was interested enough to keep reading, I don't feel changed in anyway by having read this story. It did, however, make me upset with my own students for not realizing how valuable their education is. Sigh. Oh well.

2. The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan -

Last spring, I read The Maze of Bones and tried to read The Red Pyramid, both by Riordan. I wasn't impressed with the first installment of the 39 Clues, and so had no intention to read any more. The dialogue and narrative of The Red Pyramid was just too wacky for me. I couldn't find defining voices for Sadie and Carter and would often forget whose point of view I was reading, as they both sounded the same. Yes, even though one is a boy and the other a girl; one an American accent, and the other English. The characters also felt entirely too similar to the brother and sister from the 39 Clues. But what really turned me off was the albino alligator and baboon that only eats things ending in "O."

But I'm here to talk about Riordan's next series: The Heroes of Olympus. The Lost Hero is the first in this new series set in Percy Jackson's world. I read the first two chapters online when it was still just a sneak-peek, and I loved it. I will say the wind gods, the monsters, and the minor characters did not impress me as much as the more well-known gods and creatures of the first series did. What I did enjoy was that Riordan incorporated Roman mythology with the already placed Greek, which makes it that more appropriate to share with my students as they study both aspects of mythology. The final revelation of who Jason is was a bit obvious as soon as the first mention of the purple t-shirt in the cyclopes factory, but it took 500+ pages for all to understand. All in all, kids will like this one.

3. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster -

I think someone may have been hitting the you-know-what a little too much when they came up with this story. I felt like I was in someone's cracked-out dream, going from one crazy character to the next. It reminded me of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, crazy. I get that Juster was playing with puns and idioms, words and sayings, and as an English teacher, you think I would have enjoyed it. But it was all a little too creepy of a world for me, and the illustrations didn't ease my consternation. Fortunately for me, the book is a glorified picture book, and required no time to complete. I raced through it to say I did it and can now return it to its rightful owner on Monday. It was a student's recommendation.

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The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare
Let's discuss this cover, shall we?
First off, in reading workshop we've been studying the characteristics of different reading genres. While one of my students was reading this book, I asked him what genre he thought his book was. He told me, "Uh, fantasy, I think." Now, mind you, he was comprehending the story and having no trouble summarizing his reading, however this particular cover that he had threw him. This student is visual and was using the cover to help with his comprehension. So in his mind, the bear that the two boys encounter really was larger than the forest. Not only that, but do you see the two "boys?" They look like grown, strapping men. Sometimes, I wonder.
Okay, so I finished this book last weekend and it's already back on the library shelf, but I have a 50 hour work week so my posts are going to be a little slow coming.
While reading this book, I had an odd sensation that I've read this before, kind of like book deja vu, I'm guessing in my 6th grade reading class. No matter, it was still fresh enough that it felt like a first read.
I recommended this book to my fifth graders because they are studying American Indians and soon early colonial days and this book is a perfect tie in. Two of my students had just finished reading it and recommended it to me. That's the great thing about my class. I get just as many recommendations as I give, mainly from my fifth graders. My sixth grade class is still attitudinally (did I just make up a word?) challenged.
I'm currently reading/listening to Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko. I ordered Al Capone Shines My Shoes for my classroom library so I figured I should at least read the first first.

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48 HBC #3

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

time spent reading... 4 hours and 15 min

time spent blogging... 15 min

Hmm... this book was interesting.  A great beginning hooked me from the start.  Parts of the story reminded me of The Labyrinth... especially the ghoul world, and others reminded me of a freaky Tim Burton movie, or characters from a Roald Dahl story.  It all begins with a sharp knife.  One that kills a mother, a father, and a young girl.  Somehow, the baby boy of the family, eludes the killer and crawls his way up the hill to a graveyard that has overtime been turned into a "nature reserve."  The ghosts in the graveyard agree to care for the child and protect him from the dangers of the outside world.  However, as the boy grows up, his curiosity and desire to know about the world of the living brings Nobody Owens into the face of danger on many occasions.  And then he learns the truth about where he came from and that his family's killer might still be alive and looking to finish the job...

The Graveyard Book is this year's Newbery champ.  The story was dark, fun, entertaining but I'm not sure I'd rate it up there with my all-time, life changing, mind altering favorites.

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48 HBC #2


Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli

time spent reading... 3 hours

time spent blogging... 20 minutes

I love this book!  A boy, given the nickname of Maniac, is in search of a place to call home after his parents died in a tragic accident when he was 3 and he was sent to live with an aunt and uncle who share a house separately but refuse to divorce because of their Catholic faith.  Jeffrey has had enough with them and during a choral concert, takes off running and doesn't look back.  He arrives in Two Mills - which is split into West End and East End, whites and blacks.  Here, in his new town, he makes friends, enemies, and fans, but will he find an address to claim as his?

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48 HBC #1


Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson

reading time... 3 hours

review... 12 minutes

Historical fiction about the yellow fever epidemic that took the lives of thousands of Philadelphia's inhabitants. Mattie Cook, 14, lives with her mother and grandfather helping with chores in running Cooks Coffehouse. Shocking news comes one morning when the servant girl does not show for duty. Mattie learns she has died and each day more and more are falling ill with pestilence. Mattie has to grow up fast in order to survive as well as care for others.

The further I read, the more queasy I felt myself. I finally took my book over to the fridge and made some toast. Almost miraculously as the food was in my stomach, the first frost fell on Philadelphia and things began to take a turn for the better in the story.

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The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

I read this book over the weekend, but have been busy (and out of town) and have not had a chance to write about it. I am not usually savvy enough to figure out whodunnit before the characters do and mystery is not a genre I read often, but this is a perfect book to introduce the mystery genre to students. There are many characters and many clues to keep track of and plenty of opportunities for skillful predictions. I had difficulty myself keeping track of who is who (16 main characters are a lot to follow) and so I want to read this again and spot all the clues the author slyly put in that I never caught. I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads. Will use this with my 6th graders.

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The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi.

I might be a little hard on this novel, but the main character and especially the ending really did itself in. I loved the language Avi used, his knowledge of sailing, and the helpful diagram included in the back. There were many action and suspense-filled moments that kept the story moving at a brisk pace. However, (the dreaded however) I couldn't fathom how her father would arrange for her take passage across the Atlantic on the Seahawk, especially given the stiff and "punctilious" nature of her parents -their reaction after hearing of her travails. They look down on her like somehow she chose to board that ship. And these other passengers that were supposed to have traveled with her? She was given a closet to sleep in. Where would they have put any extra bodies? There were too many improbabilities and Charlotte herself was a dense and feebleminded girl for whom I cared none.

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Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli

A homeless orphan boy thinks his name is Stopthief. He doesn't know who his parents are or where he comes from, but finds himself in Warsaw, Poland snatching bread loaves from women in fox furs. The year is 1939 and he is rolling in food, treats, and prizes lifted from people off the streets. The people don't chase him because there are bombs going off in the distance that distract them. Then one day a parade of Jackboots comes to town and peculiar things begin to happen - the boy sees a man using his beard to wash the sidewalk, Jews paint the outside of their shops to "deter" customers, Jackboots start inhabiting homes that didn't use to belong to them. And then the Jews are paraded into a walled in ghetto; their homes the size of closets. It doesn't take long before they begin to starve, contract typhus, and become further degraded and abused by lice, Jackboots, and Flops (Jews who policed other Jews inside the ghetto).

Milkweed does not portray the Holocaust in the melancholy way Anne Frank or Number the Stars do. It's the literary equivalent of ghastly photos, videos, and documentation of the horrors of this time in our history. I'm recommending to my principal that this book be included the 7th grade Holocaust study; it's that potent. Thank you to Donalyn Miller who mentioned it in The Book Whisperer or her blog; I can't remember. I had never heard of this book before and that's a shame!

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Running Out of Tme by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Haddix's first novel... a bit dated but interesting concept all the same. A young girl named Jessie is living in a small town of Clifton in 1840, when diphtheria begins to prey on the village children. Jessie soon learns from her mother that Clifton is a tourist attraction and the year is actually 1996. The men responsible for beginning the town have stopped supplying modern medicine that could save the children's lives. Even more terrifying, they are refusing to let anyone leave the town - and they are being watched day and night by hidden cameras throughout the village. Her mother sends Jessie on a dangerous mission - to escape Clifton and find a man named Mr. Neely who can help. Jessie must not only make a sneaky escape, but she must quickly learn to adapt to a strange new world without drawing attention to herself. Cautious that any stranger could be one of Clifton's men, she starts out. Will she be able to reach Mr. Neely in time?

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Tunnels by Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams.

I gave this book 3 stars on Goodreads. I wanted to like it but it was such a drudge to read for a good part of the story. Many complaints take away from those few adventurous, heart-pounding scenes. The book starts out slow and follows mainly Dr. Burrows, who has been investigating a mysterious orb, air shafts, and curious-looking men in sunglasses who seem to be following him. In the next moment (okay, so this part drags on for some time), dad goes missing and son Will soon begins his own investigation with the help of his friend Chester, to find his missing father. Will and Chester eventually find themselves miles underground, in a dark subterranean colony, and become the recipients of harsh and terrifying treatment by the Styx, an odd, menacing group of underdwellers with some serious animosity for topsoilers. While things are bad for Will, Chester's luck is even worse. This poor boy only meant to help his friend and now he might die at the hands of the Styx, all thanks to Will. Does Will ever find his father? Uh no, you're supposed to read the next installment called Deeper and perhaps the third installment Freefall, to find that out.

My complaints for this book are far ranging. First off, the pacing is terrible. We are with Will for most of the story with one chapter devoted to Dr. Burrows after he's gone missing. The only purpose in the chapter, I'm assuming, is to let us know he's not dead, and not the least bit worried about the crumbled family he's left behind. Why is Will trying to find him again?

SPOILER ALERT***

Additionally, there is no real explanation as to what these powder white residents are doing underground. A trip by Will to their church is a thin attempt. And what really bugged me about the plot, a member of Will's family appears out of nowhere to reveal she has been living topsoil as a spy for the Styx and now wants no more pleasure than to kill Will. Why? Beats me. How does she remember her brethren from down under when she's been topsoil since a toddler? Another good question not explained. Especially since Will has no recollection of ever living underground. The authors also leave the whereabouts of Will's real mother in the dark.

Spoiler Alert Averted - All Clear

This book was made obviously for the intention of mass marketing, a movie in production, and to have a taste of what other successful authors, such as JK Rowling and Rick Riordan, are experiencing. I don't believe the actual story was their priority.

Final word: Some of my more patient boys will enjoy this book and I will recommend it to them when they've run out of adventure/fantasy series to read. Otherwise, it's not going on my list of suggested reading.

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The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan is the author's first novel for young readers. Riordan is, or was, a middle grade teacher and that makes his books even more exciting to read. This first book in the Percy Jackson series is in some ways similar to the mythical land of Harry Potter. Percy has two good friends Annabeth and Grover, a wise old mentor Chiron, an impossible home life with step dad Smelly Gabe, MIA parents (one a god and the other a mortal who's been taken), a home-away-from-reality called Camp Half-Blood, a nemesis or two, as well as deceitful confidants. The cool thing about this story is that it's set in urban America, and instead of witches and warlocks, we are surrounded by a world of gods, goddesses, and mythical monsters. Knowing a thing or two from studying Greek mythology in school, it was fun to see how Riordan brought these legends to life in a modern form. Ares, god of war, is a biker. Dionysus is banned from Mount Olympus and confined to drinking non-alcoholic beverages. The gates to Mount Olympus are located on the 600th floor of the Empire State Building. The entrance to the Underworld? Los Angeles, of course!

This book is a page-turner every step of the way. The mythology has been updated and students will want to know what's going to happen to Percy and who is the real thief of Zeus's lightning bolt. I've read the first book in the Harry Potter series but I've found this book much more enjoyable that I plan on reading the rest of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series

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Zach's Lie by Roland Smith

Jack, his mother, and sister are awoken and roughed-up in the middle of the night. The intruders threaten to kill them if they go to the police. The DEA, however, is investigating the boy's father and make an appearance in the morning, leaving them suspicious that something may have happened the previous night. It turns out Dad was piloting for a drug cartel; his knowledge could help to put away Alonzo, the drug lord.

Jack and his family are put into the Witness Protection Program, while his father sits behind bars hoping to make a deal with the DEA. The family moves to Elko and Jack becomes Zach - you know, in case he slips us. He befriends the school's custodian and charms the daughter of the local Basque hotel. Things begin to go well for Zach in his new life, and of course, that's the perfect time for everything to fall apart.

I can see why this book is popular amongst the middle readers - boys and girls alike. There is action, adventure, suspense, and romance. The story moves quickly. Almost too quickly for me. I felt like I was reading Cliff's Notes, but again I understand the aim is to entice middle grade readers who don't always liked to be bogged down by details, nor do they have the greatest attention spans. My edition also had a slew of typos, as well.

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Flipped by Wendelin VanDraanen

This story is told from two perspectives: Bryce Loski's, a boy who worries more about his image than what is the right thing to do, and Juli Baker's, a passionate, who-cares-what-others-think, spirited girl. Right from the beginning, Juli is enamored with Bryce's dazzling blue eyes, while Bryce thinks so much of Juli that he prefers to lock himself in his bathroom until he's positive she's gone. This story really begins to take heart when Juli's beloved Sycamore tree is in danger of being sawed down.

"Then I had an idea. They'd never cut it down if all of us were in the tree. They'd have to listen!" [...]"They just stood there, staring up at me." [...] "'Oh, Dad, it's okay. I'll get over it.' 'No, Julianna. No, you won't.' I started crying. 'It was just a tree....' 'I never want you to convince yourself of that. You and I both know it isn't true.'"

It is interesting to see the shifts in these characters as the story moves along. Both children learn to see what's underneath another person. And Grandpa Chet plays a significant role in this. Adults are an important of this story which I think is what makes this story stand out from other pre-teen "romance" novels. There is some real truth submerged in all the butterfly-in-the-stomach, infatuations. The ending is slightly hoaky in a She's All That (my generation) sort of way, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. This story would be great for compare/contrast, as well as studies in character, and character development.

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