Review of Guys Read: Other Worlds, edited by Jon Scieszka

Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Short Stories, Starred Review 0

Guys Read

Other Worlds

Edited and with an Introduction by Jon Scieszka
Stories by Tom Angleberger, Ray Bradbury, Shannon Hale, D. J. MacHale, Eric Nylund, Kenneth Oppel, Rick Riordan, Neal Shusterman, Rebecca Stead, and Shaun Tan

with illustrations by Greg Ruth

Walden Pond Press, September 2013. 331 pages.
Starred Review

It’s no surprise that I particularly like this entry in the Guys Read series of stories written for guys. After all, Speculative Fiction is my favorite genre. You can tell from the title page that they got some distinguished talent to write for this book.

I was surprised to find one of my favorite authors, Shannon Hale, represented in the Guys Read series, with a story featuring a girl, no less. Maybe they’re making a point that an adventure story that happens to have a girl protagonist is good reading for guys, too? I like the way they slipped it in there, with no apology whatsoever. It’s about how she becomes a bouncer in a disreputable inn in a fantasy kingdom.

Most of the stories tend more toward science fiction than fantasy, though the lead-off story is a Percy Jackson story from Rick Riordan. Here’s hoping it might entice some kids into reading the whole book. The science fiction includes some silly (“Rise of the Roboshoes,” by Tom Angleberger) and some with that nice kicker ending with implications about earth (“The Scout,” by D. J. MacHale).

To be honest, the story I liked the least was the classic Ray Bradbury story included, “Frost and Fire.” But I wouldn’t argue for a moment with its inclusion. Including Ray Bradbury in a Science Fiction and Fantasy collection is absolutely right. And the story did remind me of ones my brothers liked when I was a kid. This book is intended for guys, after all. And I will happily try to find guys to hand it to.

I like what Jon Scieszka says in the Introduction:

All fiction and storytelling is answering that “What if . . .” question. But science fiction and fantasy go a step further: They bend the rules of reality. They get to imagine the “What if” in completely other worlds.

And that is why good science fiction and fantasy stories can be mind-expandingly fun.

There you have it. Pick up this book if you want some mind-expanding fun.

guysread.com
harpercollinschildrens.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/other_worlds.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on an advance review copy sent to me by the publisher.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Review of Boris on the Move, by Andrew Joyner

Beginning Chapter Books, Children's Fiction Review, Easy Readers 0

Boris on the Move

By Andrew Joyner

Branches (Scholastic), 2013. Originally published in Australia in 2011. 74 pages.

I don’t like it, but parents always expect us to keep our books organized by grade level. They come to the desk and ask, “Where are your books for second graders?” We have to explain that second graders fit a wide range of interests and reading abilities, and we give them some tips on how to look for books for their child (like bring the child with them).

However, I find I do appreciate the reading level information clearly stated on the cover of these new “Branches” books published by Scholastic. This one says on the back, “Appeals to K-2nd Graders” and “Reading Level Grade 2.”

Now, it does mean that you won’t ever catch a 3rd grader reading these books, which is a shame. But for a good book, full of pictures, to get a beginning reader used to chapters, this fills the bill.

In this first story about Boris, we’re introduced to Boris, his Mom and Dad, and his friends at school. Boris lives with his parents in an old bus, but the bus never goes anywhere. Boris dreams of adventure and complains to his parents. Then, one day, the bus moves!

But they don’t go to the jungle or on an African safari. Instead, they stop at Greater Hogg Bay Conservation Park. Not what Boris had in mind! But Boris manages to have an adventure anyway.

This is kid-sized fun that children can read to themselves. The book is not a graphic novel, but there are lots of pictures, and all the dialogue is written with speech bubbles instead of “he said” “she said.” Boris is a warthog, though like a child in every way. But pictures of warthogs acting like people are far more entertaining than pictures of people would be.

A quality addition to beginning chapter books.

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/boris_on_the_move.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Review of Dodsworth in Tokyo, by Tim Egan

Animal Characters, Beginning Chapter Books, Children's Fiction Review, Starred Review 0

Dodsworth in Tokyo

by Tim Egan

HMH Books for Young Readers, 2013. 48 pages.
Starred Review

Dodsworth and the Duck have been in New York, Paris, London, and Rome. Now they take on Tokyo.

This fabulous series of chapter books for beginning readers introduces a few customs and places from the host cities, while leaving the readers wondering, What will the Duck mess up in this place?

In Tokyo, the duck gets along amazingly well. He finds a kendama, and he is remarkably good at playing with it. But can he really stay out of trouble?

Pictures go along with the story. The characters are animals rather than people, and it’s all done in Tim Egan’s understated cartoon style, but with a Japanese setting.

The duck ran across a row of taiko drums.
The patter of his feet fit the music perfectly.
The crowd cheered.
“Don’t encourage him!” yelled Dodsworth.
The duck grabbed a rope and swung over the festival.
The crowd cheered again.
“This won’t end well,” said Dodsworth.

Hmhbooks.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/dodsworth_in_tokyo.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Review of Silver on the Tree, by Susan Cooper

Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy, Old Favorites 0

Silver on the Tree

by Susan Cooper
read by Alex Jennings

Random House, 2002. Originally published in 1977. 9 hours, 26 minutes on 8 compact discs.
2012 Margaret Edwards Award Winner

Silver on the Tree is a classic. It’s the fifth and final book of The Dark Is Rising sequence, which collectively won the Margaret Edwards Award for lasting contribution to Young Adult Literature. I love the way this book brings together characters from all the previous books — the three Drew children, Will and Merriman, and Bran Davis.

Like with the other books, this one is strong on atmosphere and not so strong on plot. It feels like everything they do has been prophesied, and Will and the other characters trust their “feelings,” and just “know” what they should do next at each step. Okay, there’s a few places where other characters give them the word they need that they’re supposed to remember, and then we know they’d better pay attention to that word.

But we never doubt for a moment that they will succeed in their quest and do just the right thing at just the right time. The only question is what, exactly, the prophecy will look like when it happens. We’re told that each step of the quest — found in each previous book — is crucial for the Light to have when the Dark finally rises. But we don’t really believe the Light won’t have each piece.

Now, I did like the way some Arthurian legend is woven into the sequence. And Susan Cooper is still strong on atmosphere and mood.

There was one thing, though, that I simply hated in this book. All of the mortals involved in the quest are forced to forget the whole thing, to remember only “as in a dream.” WHAT!?! They’re strong enough to save the world, but not strong enough to remember the part they played?!? No.

Related to that, I hated the choice forced on Bran Davis. So much for destiny! And now he doesn’t even get to remember? (I’m meaning that to be vague enough to not really be a spoiler.)

Listening to this book was a good choice, as Alex Jennings does a magnificent job with the different voices and accents. However, I should admit that I listened to part of the book when I was driving to an unfamiliar place, so I missed some of the nuances and was perhaps less captured by the narrative than I might have been otherwise. I also have a feeling this book would have a stronger place in my heart if I’d first read it as a kid. I don’t think then I cared quite as much if the characters have a plan or just follow their gut (and the “High Magic”) again and again.

Anyway, I’m glad I read the series again. It is a classic fantasy good-against-evil series, one of the pillars of the genre. The Dark finally rises, and the Light must prevent it, using all the tools they’ve amassed to this point.

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/silver_on_the_tree.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library audiobook from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Review of Bink & Gollie: Best Friends Forever

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

Bink & Gollie

Best Friends Forever

by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee
illustrated by Tony Fucile

Candlewick Press, 2013. 84 pages.
Starred Review

Hooray! Another book about two unlikely friends, Bink (short and wild) and Gollie (tall and organized).

In this installment, the two friends’ adventures get even more bizarre than before. Believable? I’m not so sure. Fun? Absolutely!

There are again three stories. In “Empire of Enchantment,” Gollie discovers proof that she has royal blood. It goes to her head. In “Why Should You Be Shorter Than Your Friends?” Bink orders an Acme Stretch-o-Matic with rather disastrous results. In “Kudos, Bink and Gollie,” the two friends decide to collect something so they can get their picture in Flicker’s Arcana of the Extraordinary. But what should they collect?

As always, the varied and exuberant illustrations make this book so much more than your typical early chapter book. Why should an early chapter book be boring? Tony Fucile consistently mixes things up with close-ups and faraway or slanted shots, with varied expressions that reveal so much, and even with varied shapes to the panels.

Much as I love Frog and Toad, this book does not go for universal friendship situations that every child will recognize. No, these authors celebrate the particular! Here are two unique individuals unlike anyone else. And the result will be universally loved.

binkandgollie.com
candlewick.com

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Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Review of The Grey King, by Susan Cooper

Award Winners, Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy, Old Favorites, Starred Review 0

The Grey King

by Susan Cooper
Performance by Richard Mitchley

2001, Listening Library. Book originally published in 1975. 5 compact discs; 5 hours, 40 minutes.
Starred Review
1976 Newbery Medal Winner
2012 Margaret Edwards Award Winner

I’m slowly rereading the Margaret Edwards-winning Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper. I never discovered them as a child, so I’m afraid they don’t have the magic to me I think they would have had if I had read them at a younger age. And I’d only read them once before, but that was enough to know they’d be worth reading again.

In general, I’m not crazy about the plot of these books. In this one, Will is pretty much led by the nose. He senses what he’s supposed to do as he’s supposed to do it. There’s a rhyme that he has forgotten at the start of the book, but it comes back when he needs it, which doesn’t surprise us. In fact, as an Old One, Will has what amounts to superpowers, and that makes it hard to worry much about him. The kid he joins up with, Bran Davis, is far more interesting, and we do wonder at times if he will make it through.

What these books are strong on is atmosphere. The Grey King is set in Wales, and Susan Cooper makes you feel like you’re there, with the mountain like a presence. The surprising plot development (which I’d completely forgotten) adds to the sense of magic and the weight of history. Maybe you don’t expect the Light to fail, but Susan Cooper spins a yarn that keeps you interested in the quest and keeps you feeling that there’s magic in the air.

Of course, listening to this volume added much to the experience. The Welsh and English accents were delightful to listen to, and it only added to the strong sense of place. A classic worth enjoying again.

listeninglibrary.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/grey_king.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library audiobook from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Review of The Thing About Luck, by Cynthia Kadohata

Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary 0

The Thing About Luck

by Cynthia Kadohata

Atheneum Books for Young Readers, June 2013. 271 pages.

Here’s how The Thing About Luck starts:

Kouun is “good luck” in Japanese, and one year my family had none of it. We were cursed with bad luck. Bad luck chased us around, pointing her bony finger. We got seven flat tires in six weeks. I got malaria, one of fifteen hundred cases in the United States that year. And my grandmother’s spine started causing her excruciating pain.

This book opens after that string of bad luck, or does it? Summer’s parents got a call from Japan, and three elderly relatives expect them to come take care of them in their last weeks and months. Summer and her brother Jaz are staying with their grandparents, Obaachan and Jiichan. They are going to be the ones working the harvest this year, so it will be up to them to get the money for the year to pay the mortgage. Summer and Jaz have to go along, so they’ll be hanging around the harvesters all summer, and it will be up to Summer to step in and help with the cooking when Obaachan’s back puts her in too much pain.

The family works for a custom harvesting company. Mr. Parker owns the $350,000 combines that the workers must use for long hours to get the farmers’ crops in before rain comes. The information about harvesting the wheat crop and how the whole procedure works is fascinating. The portrayal of Obaachan and Jiichan, with their constant crazy bickering, but underlying love for their grandchildren, made them come to life. We fully understand Summer’s frustration but love for them.

This is a quiet book. It feels a little bit unfinished, just stopping a little way into the harvest, though a book about the whole summer would have gone on too long. Summer has lots of reasons to worry about her grandparents and whether they can keep the job, and has to step up to help in much bigger ways than anticipated. There’s a cute boy on the harvest team, too, and then there are worries about her brother, who is not much like most other boys, and is having trouble making friends after his best friend moved away.

This book isn’t for people who want an action-packed plot. But it is for readers who are interested in rich, quirky characters, a kid caught up in big events, and a detailed setting based on what happens every year in America.

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/thing_about_luck.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on an Advance Reader’s Copy I got at KidLitCon 2012.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Review of Lulu and the Duck in the Park, by Hilary McKay

Beginning Chapter Books, Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary 0

Lulu and the Duck in the Park

By Hilary McKay
Illustrated by Priscilla Lamont

Albert Whitman & Company, Chicago, Illinois, 2012. First published in the United Kingdom in 2011. 104 pages.

Good beginning chapter books aren’t easy to find. There’s an art to writing an interesting story while keeping the language simple. The situations need to be recognizable in a child’s life, yet the characters need to be unusual enough to feel true-to-life.

Lulu and the Duck in the Park walks that balance, which is no surprise coming from Hilary McKay, the author of the brilliant books about the quirky Casson family.

Lulu was famous for animals. Her famousness for animals was known throughout the whole neighborhood.

Animals mattered more to Lulu than anything else in the world. All animals, from the sponsored polar bear family that had been her best Christmas present, to the hairiest unwanted spider in the school coat room.

Lulu’s teacher is not as big an animal lover as she is, so when Lulu lets her dog follow her to school, Mrs. Holiday is not pleased. When Lulu prompts the class to think of all the animals their class guinea pig might like to have visit, Mrs. Holiday makes it very clear that if any more animals visit, the guinea pig is likely to be traded for the stick insects in the next classroom.

So – when the class goes to the park and sees two dogs disturb all the duck nests, the reader is not surprised when Lulu rescues an egg about to roll onto the sidewalk. We also aren’t surprised that Lulu doesn’t want to tell her teacher about it. But Lulu and that egg do have some surprises in store for us!

This excellent transitional chapter book manages to reflect a child’s world, while achieving a story that is anything but trite.

Albertwhitman.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/lulu_and_the_duck_in_the_park.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Review of Wednesdays in the Tower, by Jessica Day George

Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy 0

Wednesdays in the Tower

by Jessica Day George

Bloomsbury, New York, 2013. 229 pages.

I’m a huge fan of Tuesdays at the Castle, so when I saw a sequel was coming out, I didn’t wait for the library to get a copy, but ordered my own copy. And I used that purchase as an excuse to enjoy rereading Tuesdays at the Castle first. In a way, I’m sorry I did. Although I thoroughly enjoyed experiencing Tuesdays again, there were some logical inconsistencies between the books that I might not have noticed if the first book weren’t fresh in my mind.

Let me say right from the beginning that the second book is not a complete story in itself. Not at all. The book ends with half the story not told. Tuesdays at the Castle was a complete and satisfying story that didn’t cry out for a sequel. Wednesdays in the Tower doesn’t need a sequel — it needs the other half of the story. So in a way, I feel like it’s not quite fair to review it when the story isn’t complete. But the book came out without the story complete, so I am going to go ahead.

Now, there are still wonderful things about this book. I love the family that lives in Glower Castle. Princess Celie’s a delight, and she still knows the castle better than anyone. In Wednesdays in the Tower, Celie discovers a tower that she’s never seen before (yes, it happens on a Wednesday), and in the tower is a large, orange, burning hot egg. When the egg hatches, Celie witnesses the birth of a griffin.

The castle doesn’t let anyone but Celie find out about the griffin, and makes it very clear she’s not to tell anyone, by slamming doors if she even thinks about telling her parents. So she has to try to raise a griffin on her own.

This is never explained at all. The castle does let two other people find out about it. Why those two? And later, further into the book, suddenly the castle lets everyone find out. Why then? It’s not made clear. Maybe later in the story it will be?

But a bigger inconsistency is in Castle Glower itself. In the first book, we had a portrait of a castle that changes shape, adding or taking away rooms, if it gets bored, usually on Tuesdays. These changes included making the rooms of the ambassador it didn’t like much smaller and more uncomfortable, and the rooms of the ambassador it did like much larger and nicer. That doesn’t seem to fit well with what we’re told about the castle in this book. Now we learn that the castle exists in two places and is bringing rooms from its other location. So how would it then change their shape? To me, it doesn’t quite fit.

And why is Lulath still here? I love Lulath. He’s a fun character. But didn’t he come for the king and queen’s funeral? Why is he still there? And why isn’t he getting any better at using the language if he’s been hanging around for months?

And what’s with the wizard? I can’t figure out — even by the end of the book — if he’s good or bad. And his motivation for suddenly telling everything but keeping back one thing (I’m trying to be vague here to not give anything away.) — well, it left me pretty confused.

However, a baby griffin? Totally fun. Celie and her family back? Delightful. Castle Glower showing Celie a griffin egg? That I can believe.

And will I want to read the next book? Absolutely. I have to find out how the story ends. And I admit I want to spend more time with Celie and her family and the griffin.

JessicaDayGeorge.com
bloomsbury.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/wednesdays_in_the_tower.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on my own copy, purchased through Amazon.com.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Review of The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, by Joan Aiken, read by Lizza Aiken

Alternate History, Audiobooks, Children's Fiction Review, Historical, Starred Review 0

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase

by Joan Aiken
read by Lizza Aiken

Listening Library, 2012. The book was written in 1962. 5 hours on 4 compact discs.
Starred Review

Why had I never read The Wolves of Willoughby Chase before? I remember seeing it as a child, and I think I may have even checked it out once, but it looked far too dark for me. (I never have really liked dark books.) This time reading it, I was completely enchanted. Yes, the girls triumph over adversity, but I wouldn’t even call this book “dark” now that I’m an adult. I guess the Edward Gorey illustrations were too much for me.

And this 50th anniversary production is especially delightful in that it’s read by the author’s daughter. And she talks at the beginning about the writing of the book and the adversity her mother faced in her own life. Her mother had a gap of ten years in writing, and read the chapters to her children when she finally took it up again. For me, this inside information made me enjoy the story all the more.

The story is wonderful. As they point out in the introduction, we’ve got orphan girls with everyone set against them. They must figure out a way to escape and somehow set things to rights, and they do so on their own power. The sinister wolves add atmosphere and drama and probably too much darkness for the little girl I once was. But this audio production would make marvelous family listening. (If it gets too scary, you can comfort any little ones listening.)

The story is old-fashioned and melodramatic, but there’s so much to love. This classic was #57 in Betsy Bird’s Top 100 Children’s Novels Poll. I’m so glad I’ve finally read it.

listeninglibrary.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/wolves_of_willoughby_chase.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library audiobook from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!