Review of Unidentified Suburban Object, by Mike Jung

Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary, Science Fiction 0

unidentified_suburban_object_largeUnidentified Suburban Object

by Mike Jung

Arthur A. Levine Books (Scholastic), 2016. 265 pages.

Chloe Cho has always felt different. She’s the only Korean student in her entire school in her town of Primrose Heights. And her parents won’t tell her anything about their background. When she tries to research her roots, they react strangely and change the subject.

So Chloe’s excited about the new social studies teacher at their school – Ms. Lee, who’s Korean. Maybe Chloe can finally talk with someone about her heritage.

But when Ms. Lee’s first assignment is to write down a family story, Chloe’s parents simply won’t cooperate. They buy Chloe the new violin she’s wanted for years – could it just be a distraction?

Eventually, Chloe learns that she is even more of an outsider than she had thought. Then she has to figure out what to tell her best friend, who couldn’t possibly believe her, could she?

This is a middle school story about friendships and family and fitting in. Along the way, it asks some thought-provoking questions and makes you wonder about some things our society takes for granted.

mikejung.com
scholastic.com

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Review of School’s First Day of School, by Adam Rex, pictures by Christian Robinson

Contemporary, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

schools_first_day_of_school_largeSchool’s First Day of School

by Adam Rex
pictures by Christian Robinson

A Neal Porter Book, Roaring Brook Press, New York, 2016. 36 pages.
Starred Review

Okay, I wouldn’t have thought it possible, but here is a new twist on the First Day of School theme.

On the title page, you see construction workers and the school being built. Our story begins:

That summer, they dug up the big field, and poured the foundation, and set brick on top of brick until they’d built a school.

At first, the school doesn’t know what’s in store for it.

Most days a man named Janitor came to mop the school, and buff his floors, and wash his windows. “This is nice,” the school said to Janitor. “Just the two of us.”

“Won’t be just us for long,” said Janitor. “Soon the teachers will come, and then you’ll be filled with children.”

The school creaked. “Children?”
“All kinds of children. They’ll come to play games and to learn.”
“Oh,” said the school, “will you be here?”
“You’ll see me after the school day is over,” said Janitor. “Don’t worry – you’ll like the children.”
But the school thought that Janitor was probably wrong about that.

When the children come, there are more of them than the school could possibly have imagined. The school’s feelings are hurt, though, when some kids cry and don’t want to come in. And others say they hate school.

Later he squirted the puffy-haired kid in the face, then felt bad about it afterward.

(Now kids who get squirted by a drinking fountain may think about what they’ve said about their school!)

The school listens in on classroom lessons and is embarrassed when its fire alarm goes off. During lunch, a boy tells a funny joke, and another boy laughs so hard that milk comes out of his nose.

“Now I’m covered with nose milk,” thought the school. He had to admit that it was a pretty funny joke, though. Even the girl with freckles liked it.

This book is a perfect match for Christian Robinson’s childlike illustrations. It’s easy to talk about what anxieties a school might have as compared with anxieties a child might have.

I will go so far as to say that this lovely book is destined to be a classic for kids anticipating going to school. Maybe the school is anticipating their arrival, too!

adamrex.com
mackids.com

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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.

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Review of Don’t Throw It to Mo! by David A. Adler

Award Winners, Contemporary, Easy Readers, Picture Book Review 0

dont_throw_it_to_mo_largeDon’t Throw It to Mo!

by David A. Adler
illustrated by Sam Ricks

Penguin Young Readers, 2015. 32 pages.
2016 Geisel Award Winner

The publisher labels this book “Level 2” for the “Progressing Reader.” It uses simple sentences and lots of pictures – but tells a story with a plot and a twist.

Mo loves football, but he’s the smallest and youngest player on his team. He doesn’t play often. Then Coach Steve carries out a plan to get the other team undervaluing Mo. He puts Mo in and tells him to go deep – but tells the team, “Don’t throw it to Mo!”

After a few plays like this, the other team’s not worried about Mo – setting him up to catch a long pass and win the game.

That summary, of course, doesn’t do the book justice. The author uses the simple sentences of an early reader as an asset, building the suspense and making the result believable. I told you what happened. Readers will see and understand what’s happening. And when they read the words themselves, they’ll get a big pay-off when Mo wins the game.

Mo’s not the only winner from this book.

davidaadler.com
samricks.com

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

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Review of Before Morning, by Joyce Sidman and Beth Krommes

Contemporary, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

before_morning_largeBefore Morning

by Joyce Sidman
illustrated by Beth Krommes

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, October 4, 2016. 44 pages.
Starred Review

Here’s a beautiful book for children who wish for snow. I’m not absolutely sure parents will want to encourage this kind of wishing, but the book is so gorgeous – with award-winning Beth Krommes’ art more beautiful than ever – and gives such a sense of peace and well-being, I think it’s worth it.

The author has a note at the back that explains what this book does. (There are more words here than the entire main text of the book, which I counted at 66 words.)

How powerful are words? Can they make things happen? Stop them from happening? Can they protect us? Comfort us? Enchant us? This book is written in the form of an invocation — a poem that invites something to happen, often asking for help or support. Humans have been using invocations for thousands of years, to soothe the body and strengthen the soul. Do they work? Maybe. Maybe speaking something out loud is the first step toward making it happen.

What is it you wish for? Find the best words for that wish and speak them aloud. Maybe, in the deep woolen dark, snowflakes will begin to fall . . .

The wish expressed in this book is for snow to fall before morning. But oh, the beautiful words used in the invocation! And the lovely pictures!

The pictures tell the story of a mother who’s a pilot. Since her plane is grounded, she gets to come back to her family, and mother, father, and child go sledding together in the delightful white world.

As I said, there are only 66 words in the main text, and they are slowly distributed through the pages. They are well-chosen words, coming from a poet.

After a set-up over several pages of a cold, brown world and bedtime goodbyes, the text begins:

In the deep woolen dark,
as we slumber unknowing,
let the sky fill with flurry and flight.

Let the air turn to feathers,
the earth turn to sugar,
and all that is heavy
turn light….

I’m tempted to quote the entire text – it’s so lovely – but I don’t want to give the impression that you now know what’s in the book.

This book is an opportunity to talk about wishes as well as a chance to treasure the beauty that snow brings.

And who knows? Maybe the wishing will work.

joycesidman.com
bethkrommes.com
hmhco.com

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Source: This review is based on a book sent by the publisher to my co-worker.

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Review of Two White Rabbits, by Jairo Buitrago and Rafael Yockteng

Contemporary, Picture Book Review 0

2_white_rabbits_largeTwo White Rabbits

by Jairo Buitrago
pictures by Rafael Yockteng
translated by Elisa Amado

Groundwood Books, Toronto, 2015. 48 pages.

I’ll admit that this is a message book. But the message is in the background, which makes it palatable. The story is of a little girl who is traveling with her dad.

When we travel,
I count what I see.

At first the things she sees are normal barnyard things. I thought it was a counting book for a little while.

Then we see them cross a river and we see people camping out.

When we travel, I count the people
who live by the train tracks.

“There are people,” says my dad,
“who live by the tracks.”

The next spread shows people climbing onto a train. On the spread after that, the girl is calmly and happily leaning back against her dad, pointing into the sky. She says:

And if I get tired, I look up and count the clouds. I learned to count to one hundred.

It’s not until the spread after that that we realize she and her dad are on top of an old rusty train car themselves.

Their journey continues. Off the train. They meet some people and her dad makes plans to go further. But the story is told firmly from the girl’s perspective. Here’s what she says later on, when lying in her dad’s lap in the back of a pickup truck:

Sometimes, when I’m not sleeping, I count the stars. There are thousands, like people. And I count the moon. It is alone. Sometimes I see soldiers, but I don’t count them anymore. There are about a hundred.

There is lots of symbolism in the pictures, including in toys and in animals along the way – notably a coyote and two white rabbits. There are many spreads without words, including the final pages.

The story of their journey doesn’t really finish. We see a long fence, a desert, and two white rabbits.

There is a note at the end about refugees from the President of the International Board on Books for Young People. You may or may not wish to read it to your children. I think the letter gives a nice taste of the tone in this book (though it’s much more subtle in the book, not explicitly stated), so I will repeat the letter in full:

The father and daughter in this book are leaving their home and the world they know and love to go to a different country. Maybe it is because the father cannot find work and a way to support his daughter at home. Maybe because the world they live in has been destroyed by violence, war and danger. We don’t know.

What we do know is that millions of people around the world become refugees every year. In North America, close to a hundred thousand children from Central America make the very dangerous trip you see here to try to find safety and a way to survive in the United States. Coyotes, people whom they pay to “help” them make the trip, often betray and abandon them. And when they finally make it to the border, they might be turned back or arrested. Many of the children who come to the United States alone are sitting in American detention centers along the Mexican border waiting to hear their fate.

What do those of us who have safe comfortable lives owe to people who do not?

Patricia Aldana
President, IBBY Foundation

groundwoodbooks.com

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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.

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Review of I Wish You More, by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld

Contemporary, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

i_wish_you_more_largeI Wish You More

by Amy Krouse Rosenthal & Tom Lichtenheld

Chronicle Books, 2015. 36 pages.
Starred Review

Aw, shucks. This is one of those sweet books to tell someone how much you love them – but it’s written with creativity and a light touch that keeps it from being saccharine. This one will work so well to read to a beloved toddler sitting cozily on your lap.

The book begins:

I wish you more ups than downs.

[Two kids are happily running with a kite high in the air.]

I wish you more give than take.

[A boy is sharing an orange with a girl. They’re sitting on a big rock, with a soccer ball at its base.]

I wish you more tippy-toes than deep.

[We see a pool with a boy’s head poking out of the water – just at the level of his wide grin.]

I like some of the more fanciful ones:

I wish you more pause than fast-forward.

I wish you more umbrella than rain.
I wish you more bubbles than bath.

That’s it. That’s the book. There are more lines than what I’ve quoted, and the pictures add tremendous charm, but that gives you the idea.

And it’s beautiful.

Of course the finish brings it home to one you love:

I wish all of this for you,

because you are everything
I could wish for . . .

and more.

chroniclekids.com

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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.

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Review of The Story I’ll Tell, by Nancy Tupper Ling and Jessica Lanan

Contemporary, Picture Book Review 0

story_ill_tell_largeThe Story I’ll Tell

by Nancy Tupper Ling
illustrations by Jessica Lanan

Lee & Low Books, New York, 2015. 32 pages.

You couldn’t ask for a more beautiful book for families who have adopted children to provide a context for telling their own adoption story.

This book, with lovely watercolor illustrations, is about a brown mother and white father who have adopted a baby from China.

As the book begins, the mother, sitting cozy with her son next to her and a large book open, says:

Someday when you ask where you came from,
I’ll tell you a story.

What follows are several fanciful scenarios, which all slip in how loved this child is.

“No, not a horseman,” I’ll say. “An angel. That’s who brought you.”

Wrapped in her arms, you followed a trail of lanterns around the world until you reached our doorstep.

I’ll always wonder how she picked our home. We don’t have fancy gates or marble stairs, but she found the perfect place for you.

How your eyes sparkled when I first saw you.

Sometimes the stories are quite simple, and sometimes very imaginative.

Perhaps we were walking on the beach at night, and you floated in on a wave.

No, not a wave! I’d say there was a dragon queen who kept you by the sea to raise you as her own. I heard cooing sounds calling to me.

I waited until the dragon queen fell asleep. Then I tiptoed inside and rescued you from her dark cave.

But she finally gets to the real story.

“Not true!” you’ll say when I tell these tales. And I’ll smile, because it will be hard to fool the brightest child in the world.

She keeps the real story as lovely as the imaginative ones, involving a flight through the sky and a picture of the baby looking out a plane window. On the ground, they are greeted by loving relatives and friends. Though the baby cries “for things lost and new,” the mother knows “you were the best gift we ever received.”

This is simply a lovely choice, especially for adoptive families.

nancytupperling.com
jessicalanan.com
leeandlow.com

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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.

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Review of To Catch a Cheat, by Varian Johnson

Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary, Starred Review 0

to_catch_a_cheat_largeTo Catch a Cheat

by Varian Johnson

Arthur A. Levine Books, Scholastic, 2016. 241 pages.
Starred Review

This sequel to The Great Greene Heist can be enjoyed on its own, though why limit the fun? The first book explains how Jackson Greene’s team was assembled, but other than that, you can go on with the story in To Catch a Cheat.

Jackson Greene keeps trying to give up running cons. But someone has hacked the new security cameras at school, backed up the toilets and flooded the school — and faked footage of Jackson and his team doing the deed. Their terms: Steal the key to Mrs. Clark’s legendary end-of-term exam, or the fake video footage will be turned over to the principal.

The principal doesn’t trust Jackson, so he won’t wait for them to prove the video was faked.

What’s more, they have to include two of their opponents in the exam heist. But Jackson and his team are pretty sure those two aren’t the real mastermind behind the plot. Who has it in for Jackson? And how can they get the fake video without letting anyone get away with cheating?

I’ll be honest — I’m not sure I followed every step of the elaborate plan Jackson and his friends worked out. But I definitely enjoyed the journey.

Again, To Catch a Cheat has a multicultural cast and realistic middle school students — smart and tech-savvy, but definitely still kids. Jackson has patched things up with Gaby de la Cruz and is spending a lot of time with her, but now the caper he’s having trouble planning is when to kiss her.

More good-natured fun and cleverness. What could be better? Elaborate plans for a team to break into school and steal a test — but also work it out that the cheats are the ones who get caught. Can they pull it off? Who better than Jackson Greene? He’s trying to stay retired, but what can a con artist do when he gets framed?

varianjohnson.com
arthuralevinebooks.com
scholastic.com

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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.

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Review of Waylon! One Awesome Thing, by Sara Pennypacker

Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary, Starred Review 0

waylon_largeWaylon!

One Awesome Thing

by Sara Pennypacker
pictures by Marla Frazee

Disney Hyperion, 2016. 198 pages.
Starred Review

Here is some consolation that the series of books about Clementine has finished. We don’t have to totally say good-by to Clementine, because now we can get to know Waylon. Waylon is Clementine’s classmate, and now they are in fourth grade.

Sara Pennypacker is a genius at dramatizing child-sized concerns. Waylon is a budding scientist now navigating things like a leader in his class dividing everyone in the class into teams. And his teenage sister Charlotte has changed her name to Neon and wears nothing but black. Then a kid from last year is back – and he looks like trouble. Which team will they put him on?

Waylon doesn’t like the idea of teams, but he still finds he wants to be put on a team. He’s got a problem with blurting out scientific facts that seem exciting to him.

Waylon gets a journal where he can write down his awesome ideas. Soon a cause comes up that seems worth all his energy. Will it bring the class together?

I just don’t find it in me to be quite as big a fan of Waylon as I am of Clementine, but I strongly suspect he’ll grow on me. And I’m glad that there’s something more, but a little bit different, for fans of Clementine.

I like Waylon’s family almost as much as I like Clementine’s family. His mom is a scientist with a lab. His dad is a writer who often does acting in the park on Saturdays. On the Saturday we see, he’s posing as a living statue of Ben Franklin who moves suddenly and surprises people. Waylon learns useful things from watching him.

Here’s what Waylon does in the park after spending some time watching his dad:

Waylon . . . took off to find a good place to play Want This Dog?

Waylon stretched out on an empty bench with a view of the park. He would never have a dog – ever – because his mother was deathly allergic. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t pretend. Whenever a dog went by, he imagined that its owner was trying to give it away. No thanks, he imagined himself saying to a woman with a poodle. Too fluffy.

No, he thought when a teenager tugged a Saint Bernard past his bench. Too slobbery.

Playing Want This Dog? Made him both sad and happy at the same time. It hurt to see all those dogs he could never have. The truth was, he would have loved to take any of them. Still, it made him feel strangely happy that in all the times he’d played, he had never imagined himself answering Yes.

If he didn’t know better, he could believe that the perfect dog – the one meant just for him – was waiting out there. But waiting for what, he couldn’t imagine.

Once again, I like the way Sara Pennypacker brings all the disparate threads in Waylon’s life together, in a completely satisfying, but realistic, climax.

sarapennypacker.com
marlafrazee.com
DisneyBooks.com

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Review of Booked, by Kwame Alexander

Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary, Poetry, Starred Review 0

booked_largeBooked

by Kwame Alexander

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston, 2016. 314 pages.
Starred Review

A sports novel in verse is pretty much the last sort of book I’d pick up on my own. But this one is nominated for Capitol Choices, and I did love Newbery-winning The Crossover, so I picked up this book last night and ended up reading it in one sitting. I’d forgotten just how good Kwame Alexander’s poetry is.

The story revolves around Nick Hall, a kid who loves soccer. His Dad is a professor of linguistics and he requires Nick to read from his dictionary called Weird and Wonderful Words. Nick hates this task – but his writing – the poems in this book – is peppered with weird and wonderful words, defined in the footnotes. The words include things like limerence, sweven, cachinnate, and logorrhea.

Nick’s got some conflict going on. His best friend’s on an opposing soccer team. There’s a girl he likes. Issues with teachers. He wants to compete in the Dallas Cup, but first his parents, then his own health gets in the way. But the big overarching problem is conflict between his parents.

The story is good, and compelling (I didn’t, after all, put it down until I’d finished.), but what makes the book truly wonderful is Kwame Alexander’s poetry.

He varies the formats so beautifully. There are poems that rhyme. There are acrostic poems. There are poems in two voices. There are long poems and short poems. There are poems made by blacking out all but a few words on the pages of a book. There are poems in two voices to show conversations.

Here’s a short one:

Problemo
The girls
let down
their ponytails,
high-five
their coach,
then walk over
to shake
our sweaty palms
after beating us
five to three.

Here’s another:

Thought

It does not take
a math genius
to understand that
when you subtract
a mother
from the equation
what remains
is negative.

One of my favorites rhymes, but gives away what happens, so I won’t include that one.

And I must confess – all the white space of a verse novel did make it easier to keep going until I finished. I’m sure it will act on kids the same way, too. A verse novel and a sports novel is a great combination. It’s also a novel about words and about issues important to eighth-graders. A win all around.

hmhco.com

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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.

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