"Grade Level" for Books - Yay or Nay?

It never ceases to amaze me how many parents come into the library looking for a book that's good "for a fifth grader" or "for a second grader" or "for my child's grade level". This is always incredibly frustrating for me because not all kids of the same age or in the same grade will react the same to a given book. And not every kid in a given grade will read at the same level. There is no single "perfect book" that's good for a kid just because they're in a certain grade. It's really much more important that we know what sorts of things your kid is interested in and what kinds of books they have read recently. Do they like sports? Adventure stories? Fantasy? Mystery? It really doesn't do your child any good if they aren't reading something they'll enjoy, even if it is at their reading level, because if they don't enjoy it they won't want to keep reading!

The moral of my story and my message to parents is: Take your kids to the library with you and help them pick out books. Help your child think about what type of book they want to read, and don't stress out about "grade level" material. Reading of any sort is beneficial. While it is certainly a good guideline to know what grade your child is in and how voracious of a reader he or she is, it is certainly not the only factor that is important when looking for the perfect book.

Breaking Dawn

Has anyone else read Breaking Dawn yet? I won't post a specific review of the book here since I don't want to give anything away for those who haven't read it yet since I know some people are very passionate about this sort of thing. But I will list a few general comments/questions that I would love to discuss with anyone who has gotten their hands on the book:

1) Where did all of the Cullen's funky nicknames (Em and Jazz?) come from? Will we start calling Edward "Eddie" next?

2) What did you think of Jacob's narrating in Book 2? Personally, I'm not a fan; I felt like we lost a lot more than we gained when we lost Bella's perspective - we didn't get to see her and Edward work through some really tough stuff.

3) How was the quality of writing? I didn't think it was quite as strong as the previous books in the series. They say that in writing you're supposed to "show" rather than "tell." While I don't think that was a problem in this book, I think that we were "shown" an awful lot of things that didn't necessarily need to be dwelled on and missed a few things that might have made more impact. Anyone want to argue with me?

4) Did anyone else think that Edward's character wasn't really there? He seemed more like a placeholder for the character that needed to be there than like the actual, interesting, perfect character we've all grown to love.

5) Did everything end too neatly, or was the resolution just right? What about everything that happens to Bella? Did she get off to easily? Personally, I'm somewhere between the two...

I have additional things I wouldn't mind discussing if someone wants to bring them up in the comments, but I won't put anything else here for fear of giving anything away. Generally I'm actually happy with the book and many of the events make sense in the context of the rest of the series - I'm just not completely satisfied with the way it was presented.

Overall grade: B/B-

Savvy

Savvy - written by new author Ingrid Law - tells the story of Mibbs Beaumont and her remarkable family. Whenever one of the Beaumonts turns thirteen, they become blessed with some sort of extraordinary gift known as a savvy. Mibbs' oldest brother Rocket creates electricity. Her grandfather moves mountains. And her brother Fish can control the weather - the entire family has recently relocated to the Kansas/Nebraska boarder so that he could not cause another destructive hurricane. As Mibbs' own thirteenth birthday approaches, she dreams of what her own savvy will be. When her father is in a terrible car accident just before the big day, however, Mibbs' world is turned upside down. Convinced that her new savvy will be enough to save him, Mibbs sneaks aboard a buss with a few stowaways in the hopes that it will take her to see her father in the hospital, only to have the bus turn the wrong way! The journey is made even more dangerous as she desperately tries to hide her savvy from her companions - a challenge since even she is not entirely sure how her savvy works.

This book reads quite a bit like Sharron Creech's Newbery Medal winner Walk Two Moons. Fans of this beloved book should take note! Mibbs' voice resonates throughout the book, and I am eager to hear an audio version of this book.

Overall Grade: A+



Edit 1/26/09: Today it was announced that Savvy won one of this year's Newbery Honor Awards. Congratulations to Ingrid Law on a job well done!