Review of Al Capone Does My Shirts, by Gennifer Choldenko

Children's Fiction Review, Historical, Starred Review 0

al_capone_does_my_shirtsAl Capone Does My Shirts,

by Gennifer Choldenko

G. P. Putnam’s Sons, New York, 2004. 225 pages.
2005 Newbery Honor Book
Starred Review

I had meant to read this book for a very long time, since my sister was working as a park ranger at Alcatraz when the book was published, so I have an extra fondness and interest in the island. I still haven’t ever been there myself, but superimposed her stories of camping out on the island with what was in this book, and, well, I have to visit some time! (Wendy, have you read this book yet? What do you think of it? Please comment!)

I finally got Al Capone Does My Shirts read when I took an online class on the Newbery Medal and had to read two Honor books from the same year as one of the Medal winners I read. I chose to read Al Capone Does My Shirts, and Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy, having already read The Voice That Challenged a Nation, all from 2005, the year that Kira-Kira won the Medal. Now, I might have chosen the Medal differently, but I do have to agree that all four of those books are truly distinguished contributions to American literature for children. (And one of the things we learned in the class is that you may not agree that the Medal winner is the one best book of the year, but you can be pretty darn sure that the set of books honored is going to be a collection of excellent books.)

In Al Capone Does My Shirts, Moose Flanagan has just had to move with his family to Alcatraz Island. It’s 1935 and jobs are scarce, and his father got a good job offer as an electrician there (with some time as guard on the side), so they have to move so they can afford to have his sister Natalie go to the Esther P. Marinoff School, where his mother is convinced Natalie will learn to go on to live a normal life.

Moose is not happy about moving to Alcatraz. He’s not happy about his new school, he’s not happy to watch his sister while his mother takes on extra work, and he’s especially not happy about the warden’s daughter who looks sweet on the outside but seems bent on breaking all the rules and getting everyone else in trouble.

You can tell Moose is a great brother. He knows what Natalie needs and he’s extra considerate of what’s going to upset her (like losing her box of buttons or letting them get messed up). But he’s just a kid himself. Somehow, he’s the one people want to blame when other people’s schemes go awry.

Watching Moose cope with a new home — on a prison island, no less — new routines with his parents’ jobs, making new friends and trying to fit in, and even finding a way to help his parents get his sister to the desired school, all gives us lots to root for and sympathize with. This is an interesting, humorous and inspiring story about a quirky fact of American history — that families actually lived on Alcatraz Island, in a separate compound from the prisoners.

Gennifer Choldenko has recently written a sequel, Al Capone Shines My Shoes. I assure you that I will NOT wait so long to read it!

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Review of The Storm in the Barn, by Matt Phelan

Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy, Graphic Novel, Historical, Starred Review 0

storm_in_the_barnThe Storm in the Barn

by Matt Phelan

Candlewick Press, 2009. 201 pages.
Starred Review.

The Storm in the Barn, like L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz, is a uniquely American fairy tale, but this one is written in the form of a graphic novel.

Given the setting of the Dust Bowl, this book shows us poor dejected Jack Clark, a kid who’s eleven years old and hasn’t ever seen rain since he was seven. The doctor thinks he may have dust dementia, as his sister has dust pneumonia.

Jack isn’t sure himself. Is it dust dementia, or is he really seeing an evil man made out of a thunderstorm, with lightning in his bag, a man who is hiding in the old abandoned barn and causing all their troubles? If Jack can release the lightning, can he save the country?

The images in this book are haunting and surreal. They will leave the reader wanting to know more about this bit of American history. I like the way the author weaves in Jack’s sister reading from Baum’s Oz books, since telling American fairy tales was exactly what Baum also tried to do, along with Jack tales from Europe that fit right in with Jack’s own story.

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Review of Shiloh, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Children's Fiction Review, Historical, Starred Review 0

shilohShiloh

by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Yearling (Bantam Doubleday Dell), 1992. First published in 1991. 144 pages.
Winner of the 1992 Newbery Medal
Starred Review

Here’s another book I read as one of my assignments for a class I took on the Newbery Medal. It seems like the ultimate Newbery Medal winner — suitable for third or fourth graders, this is a heart-warming story about a boy and a dog. Look at that — a book with a dog on the cover and an award sticker, and the dog doesn’t even die! (See No More Dead Dogs, by Gordon Korman, to get a feel for how rare that is.)

Marty finds a beagle who’s run away from his owner, and the beagle is clearly afraid of getting hit. Marty names him Shiloh, after the place where he found him. But the dog belongs to Judd Travers, and his father makes Marty give him back. When Marty hears how Judd plans to punish Shiloh for running away, his heart is sickened.

Then Shiloh runs away again. Marty simply cannot bear to bring Shiloh back. But how long can he keep a secret from his family, his best friend, and, most of all, Judd Travers?

I like Marty’s reflections on his moral dilemma:

Thinking about an earlier incident where he lied, he says:

When Ma asked me again about that rabbit, I gulped and said yes, and she made me get down on my knees and ask God’s forgiveness, which wasn’t so bad. I honestly felt better afterward. But then she said that Jesus wanted me to go in the next room and tell Dara Lynn what I’d done, and Dara Lynn threw a fit all over again. Threw a box of Crayolas at me and could have broke my nose. Called me a rotten, greedy pig. If that made Jesus sad, Ma never said.

About Shiloh:

“Jesus,” I whisper finally, “which you want me to do? Be one hundred percent honest and carry that dog back to Judd so that one of your creatures can be kicked and starved all over again, or keep him here and fatten him up to glorify your creation?”

The question seemed to answer itself, and I’m pretty proud of that prayer. Repeat it to myself so’s to remember it in case I need to use it again. If Jesus is anything like the story cards from Sunday school make him out to be, he ain’t the kind to want a thin, little beagle to be hurt.

Even as short as it is, this book has surprising depth. Marty comes to see another side even to Judd Travers. But mostly it’s a heart-warming story about a boy who loves a dog.

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Review of Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred D. Taylor

Children's Fiction Review, Historical, Stand-outs, Starred Review 0

roll_of_thunderRoll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

by Mildred D. Taylor

Puffin Books, 1997. First published in 1976. 276 pages.
Newbery Medal Winner 1977
Starred Review
Sonderbooks Stand-out 2010: #3 Other Children’s Fiction

I’ve been taking a class offered by ALSC, the Association for Library Service to Children, called The Newbery Medal: Past, Present and Future. It’s a wonderful class, and one of the assignments was to read a Medal-winning book from each decade that the award was offered. For my 1970s selection, I chose Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, because that’s on the Fairfax County Public Schools list for 7th-8th graders, and is checked out frequently.

The book is truly warm and wonderful. I’m going to list it as children’s fiction, because the characters are children, the oldest of whom is twelve. But the book is on the long side and the subject matter is serious, so I do think the schools are right to recommend it to middle schoolers or upper elementary.

Cassie and her three brothers live in Mississippi in 1933. Their family owns its farm, and has since their Grandpa bought the land in 1887. But times are hard, and their Papa had to go work on the railroad in Louisiana in order to pay the taxes on the land.

The book opens as the Logan family makes the long walk to school, with Little Man especially proud of his new school clothes. When the bus for the white children passes, they have to run down the bank, getting all covered with red dust, just the beginning of a series of encounters with that bus, over which the Logans eventually get a delightful revenge.

The book is about prejudice, but the story is told with humor and dignity. There’s a scene at the beginning with old textbooks that reminds me strongly of a similar scene in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.

Eventually, the stakes get much higher than a school bus getting them dirty or Cassie having to apologize to a white girl she bumped.

This is a wonderful story that teaches history along the way and gives you lots of food for thought.

As Mama says to Cassie:
“Baby, we have no choice of what color we’re born or who our parents are or whether we’re rich or poor. What we do have is some choice over what we make of our lives once we’re here.”

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Review of Mothstorm, by Philip Reeve

Adventure, Alternate History, Children's Fiction Review, Science Fiction 0

mothstormMothstorm

The Horror from Beyond Uranus Georgium Sidus!

by Philip Reeve

narrated by Greg Steinbruner

Recorded Books, 2009. Unabridged. 7 CDs, 8.25 hours.

Here’s a third rollicking tale of the adventures of the Mumby family, subjects of Queen Victoria in an alternate reality where Britannia rules outer space.

As with the others, this book is full of narrow escapes and deadly peril. Now Art and Myrtle go beyond Uranus (which they know as Georgium Sidus) and encounter a powerful Shaper. This Shaper has created a world of giant space moths, intent on making a new home in our solar system. Jack Havock and his crew are back, and we even find out the surprising story of Cilissa’s origins.

I’m still hooked on Greg Steinbruner’s narration, clearly delineating the voices of the different characters coming from such a wide variety of species.

These books will be much more fun when read in order. They’re full of humor, adventure, wild imagination, and wondrous doses of British pluck. This series would be fantastic listening for an entire family, and definitely provided diverting listening for my daily commute. Huzzah for another adventure!

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Review of Any Which Wall, by Laurel Snyder

Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy, Stand-outs, Starred Review 0

any_which_wallAny Which Wall

by Laurel Snyder
drawings by LeUyen Pham

Random House, New York, 2009. 242 pages.
Starred Review
Sonderbooks Stand-out 2010: #3 Children’s Fantasy and Science Fiction

The caption at the front of this book is a quotation from Seven Day Magic, by Edward Eager. As it happens, Seven Day Magic is one of my favorite books from childhood, and one of my favorite quotations is the first line of that book:

“The best kind of book,” said Barnaby, “is a magic book.”

A little further along comes the part Laurel Snyder quoted:

“The best kind of magic book,” Barnaby was saying, “is the kind where the magic has rules. And you have to deal with it and thwart it before it thwarts you. Only sometimes you forget and get thwarted.”

When I read that, I instantly hoped that here I would find a magic book in the style of the Edward Eager books I loved so much. I was not disappointed.

Further warming me up to be delighted, I was captivated by the note at the front of the book — “A Brief Note on the Existence and True Nature of Magic.” Here’s an excerpt:

Some magic (the kind you hear about most often) is loud and full of dragons. But that magic is rare, generally reserved for scrappy orphans and misplaced princes. Some magic is mysterious, beginning with the somber tolling of a clock at midnight in the darkest corner of a graveyard. However, that magic is unlikely to include you if you don’t visit cemeteries late at night (which I don’t think you’re supposed to do). There is also magic especially for very tiny children, full of kindly rabbits and friendly old ladies with comfortable laps. It smells like sugar cookies and takes place mostly in gardens or bedrooms the pale colors of spring. But you outgrow it about the time you learn to read.

So perhaps the very best magic is the kind of magic that happens to kids just like you (and maybe even the occasional grown-up) when they’re paying careful attention. It’s the most common magic there is, which is why (sensibly) it’s called Common Magic. Common Magic exists in the very unmagical world you yourself inhabit. It’s full of regular-looking people, stop signs, and seemingly boring buildings. Common Magic happens to kids who have curious friends, busy parents, and vivid imaginations, and it frequently takes place during summer vacations or on rainy weekends when you aren’t allowed to leave the house. Most important, it always starts with something that seems ordinary.

The story that follows concerns four children (like Edward Eager’s books!) who encounter Common Magic, must learn its rules, enjoy it, thwart it, but also get a bit thwarted themselves. When the children in the story had read Edward Eager’s books, just like the children in Edward Eager’s books had read the books of E. Nesbit, I knew that indeed Laurel Snyder must be setting out to write a book in the style of Edward Eager. Hooray! Much to my delight, she pulls it off.

The magic these children encounter is a wall. And a magical key. When they turn the key, the wall transports them to any other wall where they wish to be — from Merlin’s castle to a pirate’s home to the wild West.

The complete package is a delightful, fun, wholesome, and magical adventure for kids. The kids interact with each other and do some growing and thinking as they interact with the magic.

Reading this book will put you on the alert, hoping to run across Common Magic in your own life. And you will feel you’ve already had a taste of it.

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Review of The Case of the Missing Marquess, by Nancy Springer

Children's Fiction Review, Historical, Mystery, Stand-outs, Starred Review 0

missing_marquessThe Case of the Missing Marquess

An Enola Holmes Mystery

by Nancy Springer

Philomel Books, 2006. 216 pages.
Starred Review
Sonderbooks Stand-out 2010: #5 Other Children’s Fiction

I’ve long heard about the Enola Holmes Mysteries. I’m so glad I finally got around to reading one!

This is the first story of Sherlock Holmes’ little sister, Enola. She’s something of an embarrassment to the family. She’s much younger than Sherlock and Mycroft and doesn’t act like a proper young lady at all.

When Enola’s mother disappears on her fourteenth birthday, Sherlock and Mycroft arrive to take the estate in hand, and of course get Enola settled in a nice boarding school to become a proper young lady. Enola has other ideas.

Enola is resourceful, and her mother has even left clues to help her. Setting out on her own, in disguise, can Enola elude her brother, the world’s greatest detective? Along the way, Enola encounters a case of her own to solve, and she has insights that even great detectives don’t have access to.

I’ll definitely be reading more Enola Holmes stories. She’s feisty, smart, and resourceful. Her perspective on the mysteries around her is refreshingly clear-sighted. And she can outwit Sherlock Holmes!

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Review of When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead

Award Winners, Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary, Stand-outs, Starred Review 0

when_you_reach_meWhen You Reach Me

by Rebecca Stead

Wendy Lamb Books (Random House), 2009. 199 pages.
Starred Review
Sonderbooks Stand-out 2010: #1 Children’s Fantasy and Science Fiction

When You Reach Me is hard to categorize. Technically, you might call it Historical, since it is set in 1978 and 1979. But the focus is not the time period or issues of the time period, so I don’t think it really fits that category. There’s a touch of science fiction, a touch of mystery, and a touch of adventure. Mostly, I feel like this is a school story, a story of a sixth-grade girl who loses her best friend and must learn how to cope — while strange events are going on around her.

Also interesting, the day before I picked up this book, I read a chapter from Reading Like a Writer, by Francine Prose, on point of view. She talks about the rarity of good fiction written in the second person.

Francine Prose says,
“The truth is that marvelous fiction has been written in the second person, though in these cases, the ‘you’ is less likely to be the reader in general than someone in particular, an individual to whom the story (often metaphorically or imaginatively) is being addressed.”

In When You Reach Me, part of the puzzle is to whom exactly Miranda is telling her story. Who is the “you”?

She’s telling the story to someone, someone who has sent her mysterious letters that seem to be able to foretell the future. How did the letter writer know, for example, that Miranda’s Mom would appear on The 20,000 Pyramid on April 27?

They live in an apartment in New York City, and Miranda must walk past some alarming characters on her way home, but she has her friend Sal to walk with. Until the day that Sal got punched. That’s the day that Miranda thinks it all started.

I admit I can’t help but fall for a character who carries around Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time everywhere she goes. Miranda faces a lot in this book. Trouble with friends. Scary situations. A stressed-out mother. Things going missing.

Miranda comes through. She figures out how to be a better friend, navigates some tricky situations, and ultimately solves the mystery of the letters.

I like Miranda’s way of dealing with someone she’s afraid of:

“I have my own trick. If I’m afraid of someone on the street, I’ll turn to him (it’s always a boy) and say, ‘Excuse me, do you happen to know what time it is?’ This is my way of saying to the person, ‘I see you as a friend, and there is no need to hurt me or take my stuff. Also, I don’t even have a watch and I am probably not worth mugging.’

“So far, it’s worked like gangbusters, as Richard would say. And I’ve discovered that most people I’m afraid of are actually very friendly.”

This story is surprisingly simple for something with a complicated idea behind it. It will leave your mind spinning in a small, pleasant way, and your heart warmed.

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Review of Grandfather’s Dance, by Patricia MacLachlan

Beginning Chapter Books, Children's Fiction Review, Historical, Starred Review 0

grandfathers_danceGrandfather’s Dance

by Patricia MacLachlan

Joanna Cotler Books (HarperCollins), 2006. 84 pages.
Starred Review

I love Patricia MacLachlan’s gentle stories of the Witting family. With simple language, easy for a child first starting chapter books to read, she conveys worlds of emotion and describes the complex bonds of a family.

Anna, who was once the child narrator telling the story of Sarah, Plain and Tall, is now grown up and getting married. Her young half-sister Cassie tells the story of the family coming together to celebrate.

Her little brother Jack is full of toddler quirks and funny expressions and has a special relationship with Grandfather, who is feeling old these days. Cassie wonders about weddings and watches the family come together, with the Aunts arriving from Maine. Papa buys a car, which delights them.

Hmm. When I describe the simple events that happen, it doesn’t begin to convey the worlds of emotion that Patricia MacLachlan pours into them.

This is another beautiful installment in a delightful series of historical chapter books. If you haven’t read them yet, begin with Sarah, Plain and Tall, and go on to Skylark, Caleb’s Story, and More Perfect Than the Moon. If you have read any of the earlier books, you won’t need me to persuade you to pick up this newest installment. Although they are simple enough for children beginning to read chapter books on their own, they are profound enough for adults.

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Review of the Audiobook The Last Battle, by C. S. Lewis, performed by Patrick Stewart

Audiobooks, Children's Fiction Review, Christian, Fantasy, Fiction Review, Stand-outs, Starred Review 0

last_battle_audioThe Last Battle

by C. S. Lewis

performed by Patrick Stewart

Harper Audio, 2004. 5 hours, 5 compact discs.
Starred review.
Sonderbooks Stand-out 2010: Wonderful Rereads

When I saw the library had The Last Battle on audio CD, performed by Patrick Stewart, I snapped it up without a moment’s hesitation. Patrick Stewart could make the phone book sound entertaining!

This is the last book of The Chronicles of Narnia, which I’ve read so often I’ve lost track of how many times. It struck me on this listening that this one isn’t so much about the story as it is about describing the wonders of what heaven may be like. After all, the main characters don’t win the last battle — they are defeated, but then Aslan makes all wonderfully right.

So I’m not sure you could really enjoy this book if you don’t believe in heaven. If you do, however, here’s a chance to glory in the magnificent voice of Patrick Stewart marvelling over the wonders of what may be in store for us. Definitely an uplifting treat!

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Review of the print version.