Fablehaven

Kendra and Seth have to spend two weeks with their grandparents, who are a complete mystery since they almost never leave their home. When they arrive, Kendra and Seth discover that their grandparents' home is far from normal - it's a vast estate, with a huge mansion for a home, a housekeeper, a vast forest, and a swimming pool. Grandpa Sorenson has some rather strict rules in place, however, and some of these rules are just asking to be broken by the mischievous Seth. The more cautious Kendra, however, follows the set of clues left by her grandfather and makes a discovery. This is no ordinary estate. Grandpa Sorenson is the caretaker of a preserve for magical creatures. Kendra and Seth slowly learn more about the magical fairies and ingenious brownies who enhabit the preserve. Unfortunately, not all of the creatures found in Fablehaven are good, and on Midsummer's Eve Grandpa Sorenson is kidnapped by some imps looking for vengeance. It is up to Kendra and Seth to discover what happened to their grandfather and save Fablehaven from certain doom.

There is an awful lot of fantasy out there for kids to read, and this is one of my favorites. The story unfolds slowly and gently, and it takes quite a bit of time for Kendra and Seth to discover what Fablehaven really is. Yet this story's smooth pacing really reflects the way that children might actually make this sort of discovery - in stages with plenty of questions, rather than all at once with perfect understanding. The description found in this book is excellent and there are plenty of examples of vivid word choices that would make this book a lot of fun to read out loud.

Now that the story has been set up, it will be interesting to see where Kendra and Seth's adventures will take them next. Look for the next volumes in author Brandon Mull's delightful series, Rise of the Evening Star, Grip of the Shadow Plague, and Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary.

Overall Grade: A

Twelve Terrible Things

Yesterday while I was working, I got to handle what might be one of the scariest things that a librarian might ever encounter: A book challenge. A patron came into the library with a picture book she had read to her three-year-old son, Twelve Terrible Things by Marty Kelley. She explained that she felt that the book should be shelved with the adults materials because it was inappropriate for young children.

This book features twelve two-page spreads, each showing vivid illustrations demonstrating some sort of childhood trauma. These incidents range from a scoop of ice cream falling off of a cone to a visit to the dentist to an incredibly mean-looking birthday clown. All of the illustrations are done as if from the perspective of the child, making some of these terrible things incredibly large and dramatic and - if you put yourself in the shoes of the child - kind of scary or intimidating at times. The number of words on each page is very sparse, allowing the illustrations to do most of the talking.

This book is a work of dark humor. It uses exaggeration to poke fun at the childhood traumas - older kids and even adults will likely be able to look at these "terrible things" with humor and even nostalgia. The book is perfectly arranged and blends words and pictures in such a way as to make these incidents truly creepy and scary at the same time though, and the humor is very dark.

So why did this mother object to this book? Well, very young children like her three-year-old son lack the life experience and the mental repertoire to appreciate this book. In order for this book to be funny, one has to be somewhat past the stage where these events are traumatic so that they can be looked back upon. To really "get" this book, the reader needs to be able to recognize that yes, these events are horrible in the eyes of children, but in the grand scheme of things it's not necessarily all that bad. Preschoolers just can't do that yet. A very young child like this woman's son wants to know why, for example, the goldfish is being flushed down the toilet. This invites darkness and trauma into the life of a child who perhaps has yet to experience these sorts of emotions. The woman who objected to Twelve Terrible Things wanted the book removed from the children's collection to save other children - and their parents - from this sort of trauma.

And I completely understand this woman's concerns. Often when we talk about book challenges, we think of closed-minded people who object to sex or violence and feel (often wrongly) that these elements are inappropriate for children of the age that the book is being used with. But in this case, the mother admitted to me that she herself thought the book was great. The book just wasn't appropriate for her son's age group, which I completely agree with. But does that mean that the picture book should be removed from the collection? After all, I'm sure that an older, school-age child would have the mental capacity to appreciate and find humor in this book. Should we have a separate collection of picture books for older readers? Or should parents simply do a better job of previewing materials before they use them with their children? These are all very relevant questions that this challenge has brought up, and I am interested to see what comes of it.

Overall Grade: A-

The House of the Scorpion

Nearly 200 years in the future, a strip of land between the United States and Mexico has become its own nation known as Opium, ruled over by the powerful drug lord Matteo Alacrán. Alacrán is nearly 150 years old, having taken advantage of a number of elaborate medical treatments to prolong his life. One this old man's most powerful allies can be found in his clone, the young Matt. As a clone, Matt is despised by almost everyone else, treated like a piece of livestock and completely avoided by all but a few members of the elder Matteo Alacrán's household. Matt is unsure why he is treated this way, but over time he slowly comes to realize that clones are simply tools from which body parts are harvested, and with the elder Alacrán's failing health Matt's turn to be harvested may be coming soon. With the help of his few friends, 14-year-old Matt must make his escape and try to make his own way in a dangerous world of corruption and hardship.

This engaging piece of science fiction, written by renowned author Nancy Farmer, looks at the issue of cloning and the ethics surrounding this practice. Matt's naivete allows the mystery surronding what he is to unfold slowly, and while the reader is likely to put the pieces together long before Matt does, his own journey and growth in understanding is brilliantly paced. This book is a well-conceived and perfectly executed dramatic adventure which has won numerous awards for its excellence, including the National Book Award, the Newbery Honor, and the Printz Honor.

Overall Grade: A

"Real" Books

Today while I was working, I observed a parent tell her children to go and pick "real books" to check out. The kids had already selected a reasonable stack of books, largely selections of paperback series, but mom told them in no uncertain terms that their choices were, "junk...like cartoons." The word I would use to describe Mom's tone of voice as she expressed this view is "condescending."

This sort of attitude is disturbing to me for several reasons:

• There is absolutely nothing wrong with paperback series. Kids of this age (these two were ages 8-10 or so) often find comfort in the formula often found in these series, and enjoy being able to follow the adventures of familiar characters. Reading a paperback "Secrets of Droon" or even a "Rainbow Magic" or "Pokemon" book isn't going to kill a kid's brain. At lest they're reading - any exposure to the written word is always better than no exposure.
• If you want your kids to be readers, you first need to teach them to love reading. If reading becomes a chore, or if kids don't enjoy what they read, they won't want to keep doing it. And if they don't want to read, even if they're forced to they won't get nearly as much out of it. Telling your kids that they made poor choices in their reading, especially in a critical, condescending tone, and forcing them to read books they aren't interested in are both sure-fire way to turn kids off to reading.

Yes, there are plenty of amazing stand-alone novels that I really hope that kids will read and enjoy them. And I'll agree with this mother that many of these novels have higher-quality writing than paperback series. And I don't even think that there necessarily anything wrong with encouraging your kids to expand their horizons and explore these great novels. But there's no reason to have this sort of derogatory attitude toward paperbacks. Just because they're somewhat formulaic doesn't mean that they're not "real" books - don't rule them out just yet.

Winchell Mink

It's always hard to write about books that I just didn't care for. After all, just because I didn't like it doesn't necessarily mean that you won't, and it certainly doesn't mean that it's a bad book and that no one should read it. So I hope that if I ever say that I didn't like something, you'll take that with a grain of salt.

That said, here's what I have to say about a book that I really just didn't care for. The book has its good points too, so I'll try to highlight those instead of its bad points:

Winchell Mink: The Misadventure Begins is a wacky story about a boy who is constantly being tormented by a bully. As Winchell's birthday draws near, he decides to take matters into his own hands and experience life it its fullest. Winchell, along with his pet turtle Hannibal, heads toward the forbidden cliff near his home and finds himself stuck on a ledge. The only person (or turtle) around to help Winchell is Hannibal, who's idea of a solution is to switch bodies with him. And so beings Winchell Mink's crazy adventures in time travel and body-snatching. The good news about this is that Winchell gets to play baseball as a dinosaur. The bad news is that Clayton, the bully who is cruelest to Winchell, seems to be following him during these adventures. How will Winchell get home? Will he ever find his body again? Will Clayton dissect Winchell in his turtle form during science class?

This book is filled with lots of zany humor that is truly laugh-out-loud funny. Sarcasm and puns abound, and several of the scenes in this book are really enjoyable. The one problem is that there isn't really much of an actual plot to tie all of these zany adventures together. The body-snatching seems completely random, and jumping from one adventure to another without transitions is just as exhausting for the reader as it is for Winchell. I'd really suggest that readers perhaps not sit down and read large chunks of this book in one sitting. Taking a break between segments of the story might make the lack of transitions easier to handle.

Overall Grade: C-

Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little

The end of summer is approaching. Before school starts again, Moxy Maxwell needs to do her summer reading and finish Stuart Little. Unfortunately, by the time August 23 rolls around, Moxy hasn't even started! And it's not that she hasn't tried to read this book; she and Stuart Little have been practically inseparable all summer. But she keeps finding other very important things to do instead, such as training her dog Mudd or planting a peach orchard that will finance her college education. But if Moxy doesn't get moving there will be "consequences" and Mom might not let her perform in her Daisy Petal Water Ballet. What's a girl to do?

Written by Peggy Gifford, this is a very sweet story about procrastination. Moxy is a very endearing character with a head full of clever ideas, and her antics kept me laughing. The story is very simple and will prove to be an easy read, but its presentation might complicate matters for those who have just learned to read and are moving into chapter books. Sometimes transitions are rather abrupt, and some of the artistry found in the story's format (chapters told in photos or with only a single sentence) may be lost on these new readers who often seek something more straightforward. However, for a reader who is ready to handle these challenges will likely find this to be a quick, breezy, enjoyable read.

Overall Grade: B+



If you're looking for more of Moxy Maxwell's adventures, you may also want to check out Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Writing Thank-You Notes. This is another tale of procrastination and zany ideas well in the same spirit as the first book.

Rapunzel's Revenge

I adore fractured fairy tales. "But what is a fractured fairy tale?" you may be wondering. Well, this is when an author takes a well-known story or fairy tale and does something to change it. Maybe the author changes the setting, so that Cinderella now takes place on the African savanna. Or maybe instead of telling the story from the three pigs' point of view, we get the Big Bad Wolf's story. Or maybe we even get to see exactly what happens after Sleeping Beauty marries Prince Charming. Often, the normally weak female characters found in fairy tales become strong and take control of their own destinites. But whatever happens, a fractured fairy tale turns the story that we know on its head, making it unique in some way.

Rapunzel's Revenge is an absolutely brilliant fractured fairy tale in the form of a graphic novel, written by the excellent Shannon Hale (author of Princess Academy) and her husband Dean Hale, and illustrated by Nathan Hale (no relation to the writers). In this story, Rapunzel grows up happily inside Mother Gothel's villa behind a tall wall, but with every luxury she could ask for. But when she climbs over the wall on her twelfth birthday, Rapunzel discovers that Gothel is a terrible slave master and that her real mother is working in her mines. Gothel, who controls some powerful growth magic that can make plants either grow tall and beautiful of shrivel up and die, punishes Rapunzel by locking her inside the trunk of a very tall tree. After many years, Rapunzel escapes this prison on her own with the help of her 20-foot long braids, which she uses like a lasso. Now that she is free, Rapunzel vows to return home and rescue her mother from the mines and free the rest of the world from Mother Gothel's selfish cruelty.

I was very impressed with this graphic novel. The illustrations are excellent and really go a long way in helping to tell the story. Rapunzel's sidekick Jack, who readers will soon recognize as a character from another beloved fairy tale, is incredibly hilarious and his fairly complicated character is lovable. I also loved the magical Wild West setting that this story was placed in, and Rapunzel's whip/lasso tricks with her hair are pretty awesome. If you're looking for a great story with some familiar characters, but with a very strong heroine, this is definitely the book for you.

Overall Grade: A+

And, best of all, I hear that a sequel is in the works! Currently using the working title of Calamity Jack, this book should be available next year, and I absolutely can't wait.

Gifts

Ursula Le Guin is an author who's been around the block a few times. Her famous and continuously-popular A Wizard from Earthsea was first published in 1968, and she has been writing for readers of all ages ever since. Le Guin is especially well-known for her science fiction and fantasy novels, and for the fact that many of her characters are people of color - a major break from the conventions of these very Caucasian genres.

In Gifts, every family line in the Uplands carries with it a special gift. Sometimes these gifts are wondrous, such as the ability to call animals to you or the ability to instantly diagnose disease. But many of these gifts are frightening, such as the ability to twist other people's limbs in unnatural directions. These gifts are seen as invaluable by the feuding families of the Uplands, who often use their gifts as a way of gaining power over other weaker families. Orrec comes from a family with one of these frightening gifts: The ability to "unmake" anything simply with a glance and a breath. When Orrec beings to finally manifest his gift at the age of twelve his gift seems to be wild and uncontrollable, so he chooses a life under a blindfold rather than run the risk of accidentally destroying those he loves. But over time, Orrec beings to realize that even if his gift is masked, he can still be a weapon in the feuding families' war for power simply by being positioned as a threat to other families.

This book is maybe a little slow to start as we gain a lot of background information about this fantasy world in the opening chapters. However, readers who don't mind easing into the story will find that Orrec's situation is a fascinating one. His voluntary blindness is at once noble and sorrowful, and the discovery that he can still be used as a tool for power unfolds smoothly and steadily as he gradually gains thins knowledge over time. This book is a brilliant fantasy because it really makes you think about how Orrec's situation translates into our own lives. What can you do with the gifts that you have been given? How can these gifts be abused? And if your gifts are frightening, what will you do to prevent its misuse?

Overall Grade: A-/B+

Gifts is the first book in Ursula Le Guin's "Annals of the Western Shore." The following books in the series are Voices and Powers, both of which are also definitely worth picking up!

An Abundance of Katherines

John Green is kind of a big deal in the world of teen lit. In his Printz Honor-winning novel An Abundance of Katherines we are introduced to Colin Singleton, recent high school graduate and former child prodigy, who has just been dumped for the 19th time by a girl named Katherine. To help him get over this latest dating disaster, Colin's friend Hassan takes him on a road trip. The two end up in the tiny town of Gutshot, Tennessee where they meet and become friends with Lindsey Lee Wells, a girl who tries her hardest to become what other people expect in order to remain popular. Colin and Hassan stay with Lindsey and her mother for the summer, taking jobs collecting local oral history samples. During this time, Colin tries to come up with a mathematical formula to explain his terrible luck with girls and predict the outcome of any other future relationship, desperately hoping that this formula will finally allow him to truly matter to the world.

Yes, the premise of this story is a little wacky. But if you can get past the unlikelihood of a boy having dated so many girls all with the same name, the novel is absolutely amazing. Laugh-aloud hilarious at parts, but full of coming-of-age sincerity at others. This is really a story about love, heartbreak and how we all strive to make a difference and "matter" to the rest of the world.

I actually listened to this as an audiobook. Jeff Woodman narrates the story, and he does a great job to providing each of the main characters with different voices and narrating with honest enthusiasm. The final chapters of this book are particularly philosophical, however, and I do kind of wish that I had been able to read the end of the book to better absorb some of this philosophy instead of listening to it straight though. But overall, a highly enjoyable book to hear aloud.

Overall Grade: A+

Fever, 1793

I've been terribly inundated with my reading for this semester's classes, so I sadly haven't had much time to read anything just for my own amusement. But I have been reading some good things in my classes! Here's one of my favorites so far:

Laurie Halse Anderson is a great name to know in the realm of YA lit. Her novel Fever, 1793 tells the story of 14-year-old Mattie Cook. She, her mother, and grandfather live in Philadelphia where they run a thriving coffeeshop. Mattie has great plans to someday expand the shop and eventually travel to Paris, but spends much of her time disagreeing with her more practical mother. Tragedy strikes in the title year, however, when yellow fever spreads throughout the city. Mattie's mother falls ill early on, and Mattie and her grandfather are sent to the countryside to stay with friends in the hopes that they will be able to avoid the epidemic. The two fall sick along the way, however, and are left to rely on the kindness of strangers to nurse them back to health. When Mattie recovers and returns to Philadelphia, she finds her beloved city greatly changed. The fever rages on, many have fled and only the poorest and worst of society remain, her home has been ransacked by looters, and her mother is nowhere to be found. Now it is up to Mattie to find strength within herself to find what she needs to survive.

This is a great historical adventure. Anderson has clearly done her research about this time period and about the yellow fever epidemic in particular, and many historical notes can be found at the end of the book for those interested in learning more. The supporting characters are engaging and are certainly key for helping Mattie get back on her feet, but it is definitely her own strength that sees her though. The supporting characters are also an incredibly diverse bunch, which helps to show readers how people of different social classes and situations were affected by this terrible epidemic. I'd definitely recommend this book for anyone in the middle school crowd and up interested in historical fiction and/or survival and adventure stories.

Overall Grade: A+