Review of The Secret of Terror Castle, by Robert Arthur

Adventure, Children's Fiction Review, Historical, Mystery, Old Favorites 0

Alfred Hitchcock and The Three Investigators in

The Secret of Terror Castle

by Robert Arthur

Random House, New York, 1964. 179 pages.

This isn’t going to be a review so much as an appreciation.

A few weeks ago, I was talking with a co-worker about series mysteries. We both had read the Bobbsey Twins and Nancy Drew, but I never read the Hardy Boys. I said that the really good series was The Three Investigators, and he said he agreed — he hadn’t brought them up because most people haven’t heard of them. So then we got to talking about Jupiter Jones and all the cool things about the Three Investigators. I said that my brother had all of them, but he didn’t let anyone else read them, so I had to borrow them from my friend Georgette.

Well, the library has recently gotten a new system for ordering Interlibrary Loans, and administration had asked staff to try it out by making some requests. So my co-worker decided to request the first three Three Investigators mysteries. Naturally, I asked if I could read them after him. When he said there might not be enough time in the loan, I said it would be funny if he behaved exactly like my brother. Anyway, when the first book did come in, he finished it well ahead of the due date, and I got to read it, too.

We’re both trying to figure out what it is about The Three Investigators that made them so completely cool. The writing is not stellar, though there is a nice habit of closing chapters on a cliff-hanger (or rock slide). But you’ve got to love a group of kids independently traveling around in a gold-plated Rolls-Royce (which Jupiter won the use of) with an English chauffeur. Jupiter is super smart and outsmarts adults routinely. Their headquarters is fantastic — an old mobile home hidden in a junkyard, completely surrounded by trash. The entrances are all secret, and involve things like crawling through a tunnel.

Yes, the books are dated. I laughed when the boys discovered the “mobile telephone” in the Rolls-Royce. “One pushes the button and gives the desired number to the operator.” They also make their own business cards by fixing an old printing press that came into the junk yard. And the book isn’t at all politically correct. Various ethnic groups are represented stereotypically. And there are no girls in the book whatsoever. (But it’s true, I loved the books anyway.)

I hadn’t remembered that Bob Andrews — at 13 or 14 years old — worked in a library. This paragraph on the very first page made me laugh aloud:

“How was the library?” [his mother] asked.

“It was okay,” Bob told her. After all, there was never any excitement at the library.

Later on, “Bob had been swamped with work at the library, re-cataloguing all the books. One other helper was out sick, so Bob had been working days and evenings too.” My goodness, such responsibility to give a kid!

I like some of the exclamations Pete comes up with: Gleeps! Whiskers! Golly!

I’m not crazy about Skinny Norris, the obligatory bully of the books. Solving mysteries wasn’t enough — there has to be a rival gang, taunting them.

But overall, this book holds up. You’ve got a spooky setting and clever kids, acting on their own, who get into danger and solve the mystery. Rereading it made me feel like I was twelve years old again.

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/terror_castle.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 borrowed via Interlibrary Loan.

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 All the Truth That’s in Me, by Julie Berry

Historical, Mystery, Romance, Starred Review, Suspense, Teen Fiction Review 0

All the Truth That’s in Me

by Julie Berry

Viking, 2013. 288 pages.
Starred Review

I read this book simply because it’s in School Library Journal’s Battle of the Books, which commences March 10. I’m not sure what I expected, since I hadn’t heard much about it, but I was blown away and kept reading well into the night.

This is a rare book that’s written in second person voice, addressed to “you.” But the speaker is not addressing the reader. It soon becomes clear that she’s addressing the young man she loves.

Here’s how the book begins, with the heading “Before”:

We came here by ship, you and I.

I was a baby on my mother’s knee, and you were a lisping, curly-headed boy playing at your mother’s feet all through that weary voyage.

Watching us, our mothers got on so well together that our fathers chose adjacent farm plots a mile from town, on the western fringe of a Roswell Station that was much smaller then.

I remember my mother telling tales of the trip when I was young. Now she never speaks of it at all.

She said I spent the whole trip wide-eyed, watching you.

She still watches him. She remembers when he smiled at her, gave her posies. But something terrible happened, and now the whole village barely notices she is there.

We get bits of what happened, all along the way. We find out why she doesn’t speak. She was gone for two years. When she came back, she was out of her head, left for dead, with half her tongue cut out.

Then ships are sighted off the shore, coming toward the town. The Homelanders are bringing war to them, wanting their fertile farms. All the men of the town must fight, even though their arsenal was destroyed, even though they are doomed.

But Judith knows where to find help – only she must confront her own nightmares.

And after she does so, everything changes.

This book is marvelously constructed, revealing bits of the past at a natural pace, as it comes up in the present, finally with mysteries solved at the very end. I find myself wanting to read it all over again, knowing now how it all fits together.

And ultimately, it’s a love story. And a story of healing. And a story of courage. And a story of a wounded girl finding her voice.

julieberrybooks.com
penguin.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.

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

Review of Africa Is My Home, by Monica Edinger, illustrated by Robert Byrd

Children's Fiction Review, Historical, Starred Review 0

Africa Is My Home

A Child of the Amistad

by Monica Edinger

illustrated by Robert Byrd

Candlewick Press, 2013. 60 pages.
Starred Review

I should mention right up front that I’ve met Monica Edinger on a few occasions and had a chance to talk with her and enjoyed the conversation tremendously. She is one of School Library Journal’s Battle Commanders in the Battle of the Books! So I was definitely predisposed to like this book.

But there’s a whole lot to like! This book is based on a true story of Margru, a girl who was on the ship Amistad, where the slaves fought back. She ended up gaining her freedom and going back to Africa in her adulthood as a missionary.

The book is presented as fiction, but the author explains in a note at the back that she researched the book intending to write nonfiction, but because of a lack of material about when Margru was a child, she was able to present the story more effectively writing as fiction, from Margru’s point of view, “giving Margru a voice of her own.” The author says, “The story is still true; those instances where I have imagined her feelings, invented dialogue, or created scenes are based on my research and on firsthand experiences in Sierra Leone.”

And the story is a dramatic one. It covers Margru being sold into slavery, the dramatic revolt on the ship (after they had already landed in Cuba and been sold), and then the long process where the mutineers were put on trial and their fate was decided. During this process, it also describes Margru’s feelings about America (All those clothes! And snow!) and how she went to school, became a Christian, and decided to train to be a teacher to teach her people at home in Africa.

The book is not long, and there are illustrations on every set of pages, so it’s accessible to children who are as young as Margru, nine years old when she was sold into slavery. A powerful story that really happened, this will capture children’s imaginations.

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/africa_is_my_home.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 Rose, by Holly Webb

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

Rose

by Holly Webb

Sourcebooks, 2013. 234 pages. Originally published in Great Britain.
Starred Review
2013 Cybils Finalist

Rose lives in an orphanage. She wants nothing more than to get out of the orphanage and go into service some day. She wants to do a good job as a maid, and have nobody notice her.

So when she’s selected to be underhousemaid at a grand house, the home of an important alchemist, she thinks her dreams have come true. But why does it feel like the walls and stairs are moving, like she can talk to the plants, and how can she hear the cat talk to her?

Strange things happen around Rose, and she’s terribly afraid she’s not the ordinary person she wants to be. But then some children in the neighborhood mysteriously disappear, including Rose’s best friend from the orphanage. She’s determined to find her friend, even if it means using magic to do so.

This is a warm and sparkling story, with a lot of heart. You can’t help but like Rose, with her humble aspirations, excitement at living in a grand house, and loving desire to help her friend.

My one quibble is that the rules of magic in that world aren’t clear. (Though they aren’t for Rose either.) At her level, it seems like she can do anything she wishes for hard enough. I hope as the series goes on, those things will become more clear. But even with that quibble, I enjoyed every bit of this book.

We’ve got the below-stairs look at a grand English house — with magic thrown in. The result is a lot of fun.

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/rose.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 copy I received as a judge for the Cybils Awards.

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 Locomotive, by Brian Floca

Award Winners, Children's Nonfiction Review, Historical, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

Locomotive

by Brian Floca

Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2013. 64 pages.
Starred Review
2014 Caldecott Medal
2014 Sibert Honor Book

Our library is shelving this with nonfiction, and I think I’m going to list it there. Technically, this is a fictional story, but the book is more about facts than the story of the travelers featured. The story merely provides a frame for telling about steam travel across the country as it would have been in 1869, when the transcontinental railroad went all the way through.

The charm of this book lies in the magnificent artwork. The book is a large square shape, with lots of room for details. Small train lovers as well as big train lovers will be delighted to pore over each page.

The basic text tells a fairly simple story of a family traveling to meet their father and husband in California, addressing the reader, telling you what it would have been like.

Now comes the locomotive!
The iron horse, the great machine!
Fifty feet and forty tons,
wheels spinning, rods swinging,
motion within motion, running down the track!
She’s bright in her paint and her polish —
the pride of her company and crew.
She pulls her tender and train behind her,
she rolls up close to where you wait,
all heat and smoke and noise:

Hear the clear, hard call of her bell:
Clang-clang! Clang-clang! Clang-clang!

Hear the Hisssssssss and the Spit of the steam!

Hear the engine breathe like a beast:
Huff Huff Huff!

Brian Floca uses font, size, and position on the page to make the words themselves part of the story, especially the sound effects. On this page, the words come closer and push the family back, as they gaze at the giant locomotive.

The journey goes all the way across the country, and so many details are given. Pictures of landmarks decorate the pages, and we see the different kinds of terrain, what the passengers are doing, and what the train workers are doing, from the boy who sells newspapers to the engineer.

The extra large pages give the reader both panoramic vistas and extreme close-ups to things like the engine and the mighty wheels. The inside front cover tells about building the Transcontinental Railroad and the inside back cover tells about how steam power works in the locomotive. No space is wasted.

This book is a train-loving kid’s dream come true. And it may create some train lovers as well.

brianfloca.com
KIDS.SimonandSchuster.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Nonfiction/locomotive.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 A Christmas Garland, by Anne Perry

Christmas, Fiction Review, Historical, Mystery 0

A Christmas Garland

by Anne Perry

Ballantine Books, New York, 2012. 194 pages.

There’s nothing like a nice murder mystery for Christmas! Reading Anne Perry’s Christmas mystery has gotten be a tradition with me. I was sorry to miss last year’s, since I was judging the Cybils Awards. This year, I’m a second-round judge, so I was able to make up for lost time and read last year’s.

This one is historical, which Anne Perry does so well. We’re with British soldiers in India in 1857, during a large mutiny, shortly before Christmas. Lieutenant Victor Narraway has just arrived in Cawnpore, and he’s given an assignment:

Latimer smiled bleakly. There was no light in his face, no warmth of approval. “You will be aware of the recent escape of the prisoner Dhuleep Singh,” he went on. “And that his guard, Chuttur Singh, was hacked to death in the course of Dhuleep’s escape?”

Narraway’s mouth was dry. Of course he knew it. Everyone in the Cawnpore station knew it.

“Yes, sir,” he said obediently, forcing the words out.

“It has been investigated,” Latimer’s jaw was tight, and a small muscle jumped in his temple. “We know Dhuleep Singh had privileged information regarding troop movements, specifically regarding the recent patrol that was massacred. We also know the man could not have escaped without assistance.” His voice was growing quieter, as if he found the words more and more difficult to say. He cleared his throat with an effort. “Our inquiries have excluded every possibility except that he was helped by Corporal John Tallis, the medical orderly.” He met Narraway’s eyes. “We will try him the day after tomorrow. I require you to speak in his defense.”

Everyone is sure Tallis is guilty. As the Colonel said, the matter was investigated. But they want to uphold the rule of law and be sure he gets a fair trial. So Narraway is to defend him. A daunting task for Narraway, and one which he can’t win, and which no one wants him to win.

When he talks with Tallis, the man claims he is innocent. He was sorting medical supplies and no one saw him, but he did not kill the guard. Narraway likes him and wants to help, but it certainly looks like he will hang.

Out of this situation, Anne Perry creates a riveting mystery which ends with nice warm Christmasy feelings. Perfect for the season.

AnnePerry.net
ballantinebooks.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Fiction/christmas_garland.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 Boxers & Saints, by Gene Luen Yang

Award Winners, Graphic Novel, Historical, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 2

Boxers & Saints

by Gene Luen Yang

First Second, New York, 2013. 2 volumes, 328 pages and 170 pages.
Starred Review
2013 National Book Award Shortlist

Boxers & Saints is a two-volume graphic novel about the Boxer Rebellion that took place in China in 1899-1900.

The first volume, Boxers, follows Bao, the third brother in his family and shows his encounter with “foreign devils” and how he becomes an enthusiastic leader of the Society of the Righteous and Harmonious Fist.

Bao receives training from a traveling kung fu master and learns a ritual which enables him and his brother-disciples to transform into the ancient gods of China when they fight. They travel to cleanse and heal China of the foreign devils and the secondary devils — Chinese who have converted to Christianity.

The second volume, Saints, looks at Four-Girl, a Chinese girl who does convert to Christianity, even though she barely understands it. She receives a name (which her family never gave her), Vibiana, when she is baptized.

Though Vibiana doesn’t really understand Christianity, she receives visions of Joan of Arc, and decides to become a maiden warrior, defending against the Society of the Righteous and Harmonious Fist.

The caption on the back reads, “Every war has two faces.” That is the strength of this work. It brings you into the emotions and passions of people on both sides of the conflict. The perspective, in both cases, is from the native Chinese people, and I enjoyed the way when English is spoken, foreign-looking characters are used, since our heroes don’t understand English.

This is a book about war. It is violent and brutal. Our heroes are training to fight and kill. There is much blood, and there are many senseless deaths. It’s not a very cheery book, and no, you can’t call the ending happy.

I like the way both stories had elements of magic realism. Bao had the visions of Chinese gods, and Vibiana the visions of Joan of Arc. The author walks a fine line of letting us see both sides without condemning either side. We see the wild tales each side told about the other — and we can see that, in both cases, they are extreme, designed to stir people up against an enemy. The two stories do intersect, and I don’t think you would ever want to read one without reading the other, which is why I’m reviewing the two together.

This is a powerful look at two sides of a war I knew nothing about.

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Teens/boxers_and_saints.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 library books 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 Bluffton, by Matt Phelan

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

Bluffton

by Matt Phelan

Candlewick Press, 2013. 223 pages.
Starred Review

Bluffton is a graphic novel about a fictional friend of Buster Keaton. When Buster Keaton was young, and already a vaudeville star, his family really did vacation at Bluffton, in Muskegon, Michigan, along with a whole group of vaudevillians, complete with an elephant and a zebra.

The book shows what it might have been like for an ordinary kid living in Muskegon, getting to play with Buster Keaton during the summers.

This graphic novel catches the lazy fun of summer, as well as Buster Keaton’s tendency to pranks and tricks. And it imagines what he would have been like to play with. Henry, the ordinary boy in the story, dreams of having an act like Buster.

This book has a lot of heart, and a nice factual foundation. Matt Phelan writes that he has been a Buster Keaton fan since he was a small boy, and his affection comes out in his work.

candlewick.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/bluffton.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 The Blessing Cup, by Patricia Polacco

Historical, Picture Book Review, Starred Review, True Stories 0

The Blessing Cup

by Patricia Polacco

A Paula Wiseman Book (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers), New York, 2013. 42 pages.
Starred Review

Patricia Polacco knows how to tell true stories with punch. This is a picture book for school age kids, with lots of text on each page. The story told is powerful, and will mesmerize readers and listeners.

The story begins when Patricia’s great-grandmother, Anna, was a little girl in Russia. Anna’s mother was given a beautiful china tea set for her wedding. The tea set had a blessing with it:

This tea set is magic. Anyone who drinks from it has a blessing from God. They will never know a day of hunger. Their lives will always have flavor. They will know love and joy . . . and they will never be poor.

I like when they explain that the blessings work:

And even though their lives were humble because there was never enough money, Anna’s papa would say to her, “Oh, there is rich and there is rich. We are richer than kings, and do you know why?” Then he and Anna chanted together, “Because we have each other!” Anna felt that in Roynovka everyone was rich. They had one another!

But then the Tsar’s soldiers come to Roynovka and they’re told they must leave Russia, along with all the Jews. On the long, hard journey, they bring the tea set. But Anna’s papa falls ill and almost dies.

However, a kind widowed doctor takes the family in and brought their father back to health. They called him Uncle Genya. But when Uncle Genya is told he cannot keep Jews in his house, he buys them tickets to America.

In gratitude, they leave the tea set with Uncle Genya – all except one cup. And that cup is handed down through the family, all the way to Patricia Polacco, with the blessing always recited along with it.

I can summarize the story, but of course you need to read it, in full, with the repeated blessing, in Patricia Polacco’s words, with Patricia Polacco’s illustrations. Again and again, she writes a story that packs an emotional punch.

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Picture_Books/blessing_cup.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 Knit Your Bit, by Deborah Hopkinson and Steven Guarnaccia

Historical, History, Picture Book Review 0

Knit Your Bit

A World War I Story

by Deborah Hopkinson
illustrated by Steven Guarnaccia

G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 2013. 32 pages.

Knit Your Bit is a historical fiction picture book. It’s based on the effort made by the American Red Cross during World War I to have people across the country “knit your bit” to provide soldiers in the trenches with warm clothes to get through the winter.

The picture book looks at a boy named Mikey and his sister Ellie. Their father has gone to war. Ellie decides right away to learn to knit for Pop, but Mikey thinks knitting is for girls. However, with the announcement of a Knitting Bee in Central Park and the girls saying that the boys are scared to learn, Mikey and two friends form a Boys’ Knitting Brigade to try to beat the girls.

The historical aspect of this picture book makes it extra interesting. I love the photos on the endpapers from actual World War I knitting groups, and the sheep that President Wilson kept on the White House lawn. An Author’s Note at the end gives more details, including a song that ends like this:

We are knitting for the boys over there;
It’s a sock or a sweater, or even better,
To do your bit and knit a square.

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Picture_Books/knit_your_bit.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.