Countdown (Sixties Trilogy #1)

 I know some readers aren't overly fond of historical fiction, but I really do enjoy the genre as I learn details of history while reading an enjoyable story. For instance, I've heard about the Cuban Missile Crisis in school, but I didn't under the crisis part exactly until I read the first book in the planned Sixties trilogy, Countdown by Deborah Wiles.

Description (from the Publisher): Franny Chapman just wants some peace. But that's hard to get when her best friend is feuding with her, her sister has disappeared, and her uncle is fighting an old war in his head. Her saintly younger brother is no help, and the cute boy across the street only complicates things. Worst of all, everyone is walking around just waiting for a bomb to fall. It's 1962, and it seems the whole country is living in fear.

Review: Franny lives with her family in suburban Maryland just outside Andrews Air Force Base, circa summer of 1962. President Kennedy and Soviet Union leader Khrushchev duel on the possibility of a nuclear war. The world crisis continues in the background while Franny worries about her best friend's betrayal; adores her college-age sister, Jo Ellen; and fights with her saintly little brother, Drew. When not riding the tumultuous ride of early adolescence, she writes letters to Khrushchev, advising him to drop his threats and think rationally, prepares for air-raid drills, and investigates her sister's coded letters from someone named "Ebenezer."
  Countdown is a straightforward historical fiction that at times reads like a memoir. Unlike other historical fiction reads that I've read, it has a unique format. In a successful effort to give readers a sense of the country's total preoccupation with all things nuclear and Communist during the height of the Cold War, Franny's narrative is punctuated by newspaper clippings, advertisements for bomb-shelter materials, news broadcasts, brief vignettes about famous figures, ephemera, and more. All of these snippets of time period would make me anxious and feel bombarded with confusion and fear, which is similar to what Franny is feeling at the moment. I can definitely see how this format may not work with some readers, but if the time period and the events draw your interest I would highly recommend listening to the audiobook which was done very well. With the audiobook, you don't have to be afraid of the 'textbook' feel because the documentary format comes alive and Franny's coming of age is much more personal. Countdown is a great historical fiction read and I am looking forward to the other books in this Sixties trilogy.

Curriculum Connection: Social Studies

Rating: 4 stars

Words of Caution: Violence such as the race riots of the 1960s are in the back drop of the book. It is hinted at several times but not described in details. Recommended for Grades 5 and  up.

If you like this book try: The Fire-Eaters by David Almond, Shooting the Moon by Frances O'Roark Dowell

Anything But Typical

  I've read a few books that feature characters who have autism and for the most part really enjoyed them. It helps me look at the world with a different lens. Anything But Typical is a middle grade novel that successfully tells a story about autism with heart and universal appeal.

Description: Jason, a twelve-year-old autistic boy who wants to become a writer, relates what his life is like as he tries to make sense of his world.

Review: Baskin tells an enlightening story entirely from the point of view of Jason, an autistic boy who is a gifted creative writer, but is mainly viewed as the odd ball by the neurotypicals (i.e. normal people) both at school and at home because he can't comprehend human emotions and social interactions. He is most comfortable in an online writing forum called Storyboard, where his stories explore his rich imagination and eventually kindles an e-mail-based friendship with a girl. His excitement over having a real friend (and maybe even girlfriend) turns to terror when he learns that his parents want to take him on a trip to the Storyboard conference, where he'll no doubt have to meet her in person.
  With short chapters and precise word usage, Baskin describes Jason's attempts to interpret body language and social expectations, revealing the extreme disconnect created by his internalization of the world around him. Jason is an empathetic character and quite witty. He moves through his failures and triumphs with the same depth of courage and confusion of any boy his age. His story, neither overly heartbreaking nor saturated with saccharine sweetness, shows that the distinction between normal and not normal is hard to distinguish yet we ironically have no problems to label things as "different" and "defective". Since I have no personal experience with autism, I can't atest to the authenicity of Jason's voice, but I do appreciate Baskin for making Jason's story universal.

Rating: 4 stars

Words of Caution: None. Recommended for Grades 4 and up.

If you like this book try: Rules by Cynthia Lord, Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine, for a YA read try Marcelo in the Real World by Franciso X. Stork

Mini Childrens Reviews: Strange Case of Origami Yoda, Familiars, and Dark Life

  School registration is currently in full force. Thankfully, I survived the first day.  I've read and finished quite a number of children's books. My reviews of these books are starting to pile up so I thought I would do a few pithy mini-reviews for you. All of these books are found on this year's Illinois School Library Media Association's (ISLMA) Bluestem Reading Award and Rebecca Caudill. For the full list of books nominated by school librarians, teachers, and students, click here for Bluestem Awards and click here for Rebecca Caudill Awards. Today I'll be reviewing The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger, Familiars by Adam Jay Epstein, and Dark Life by Kat Falls.

Description (from the Publisher): Sixth-grader Tommy and his friends describe their interactions with a paper finger puppet of Yoda, worn by their weird classmate Dwight, as they try to figure out whether or not the puppet can really predict the future. Includes instructions for making Origami Yoda.

Review:  Tommy and his friends think that Dwight is a weirdo who's always talking about robots or spiders or something. In true Dwight fashion, he shows up at school one day with his latest creation, a little origami Yoda finger puppet. Origami Yoda is not like Dwight at all as it doles out bits of wisdom to Tommy and his friends. The mystery of the book is whether the Yoda is just Dwight talking in a funny voice or if it actually has mystical powers. Told from a collection of stories gathered by Tommy and told by kids who either believe or don't in Origami Yoda. The Strange Case of Origami Yoda is a quirky, fast paced book that sure to please many Star War fans.

Rating: 3 stars

Words of Caution: Mild boy humor, but otherwise relatively clean. Recommended for Grades 3-6.

If you like this book try: Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney, Darth Paper Strikes Back by Tom Angleberger


Description (from the Publisher): When a scrappy alley cat named Aldwyn passes himself off as a magical animal companion to Jack, a young wizard in training, Aldwyn and his fellow "familiars," a know-it-all blue jay and bumbling tree frog, must save the kingdom after the evil queen of Vastia kidnaps Jack and two other wizards.

Review: The Familiars is a great choice for young readers who may be too young for Harry Potter. Just imagine Harry Potter and other popular fantasy series where the animals or familiars take center stage. The book contains your usual trope of a children's fantasy book. Characters who are trying to prove themselves and gaining self confidence as well as coming together to fit a big evil.  The consistently suspenseful narrative moves quickly and is full of twists and turns. The great combination of action and humor will keep readers' attention. For me, I don't really take an interest in animal driven stories, but I do several kids who would eagerly line up and read this one.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Words of Caution: None. Recommended for Grades 3 to 7.

If you like this book try: Secrets of the Crown (Familiars #2) by Adam Jay Epstein, Warriors series by Erin Hunter


Description (from the Publisher): When fifteen-year-old Ty, who has always lived on the ocean floor, joins Topside girl Gemma in the frontier's underworld to seek and stop outlaws who threaten his home, they learn that the government may pose an even greater threat.

Review: Dark Life is essentially your typical western that takes place in the ocean. Sixteen-year-old Ty is the first child born to the pioneers who live in the depths of the ocean. He has little to no patience for topsiders (aka land dwellers) until he meets feisty Gemma, who immediately enlists his help to locate her missing older brother. The heroes and villains are fairly easy to detect and the plot was too predictable for me, but those who are interested in marine life and what would it be like living under the sea would find this book worthwhile.

Words of Caution: PG violence otherwise pretty clean. Recommended for strong Grade 5 readers and up.  

If you like this book try: Riptide by Kat Falls, Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi, Drowned Cities by Paolo Bacigalupi, Stuck on Earth by David Klass

Graphic Novel Reviews: Smile, The Last Dragon, and Alia's Mission

  I'm taking a mini-break from manga as I realized that I haven't put up any graphic novel reviews lately. Today I'll be reviewing three graphic novels, two of which I read last year and one I read this year, that can be enjoyed by a wide range of ages. The three graphic novels that I'll be reviewing are Smile by Raina Telgemeier, The Last Dragon by Jane Yolen, and Alia's Mission: Saving the Books of Iraq by Mark Alan Stamaty.

Description (from the publisher): From the artist of BSC Graphix comes this humorous coming-of-age true story about the dental drama that ensues after a trip-and-fall mishap. Raina just wants to be a normal sixth grader. But one night after Girl Scouts she trips and falls, severely injuring her two front teeth. What follows is a long and frustrating journey with on-again, off-again braces, surgery, embarrassing headgear, and even a retainer with fake teeth attached. And on top of all that, there's still more to deal with: a major earthquake, boy confusion, and friends who turn out to be not so friendly.

Review: I think we all have gone through a big event in our childhood that defined our lives. For author Raina Telgemeier that moment is when she randomly fell and lost her front tooth at the tender age of 12. Her recovery included painful surgery, implants, headgear, false teeth, and a rearrangement of her remaining incisors. As you can image, being a young kid who is already struggling with the roller coaster ride we all call puberty where boy confusion, changing bodies as well as expectations from family and friends isn't easy to deal with one its own. Telgemeir's storytelling is straight forward and honest, expertly portraying her mercurial moods. The full color illustrations transport you into the author's shoes allowing you to play through her emotions, insecurities, and self depreciating humor. What I loved about this graphic novel is that both adults and kids that surround the author's life are vividly and rapidly portrayed, giving its reader a quick reminder that things do turn around with perseverance and self confidence. Though the book may be about a girl, I've seen boys and adults pick up this graphic novel and enjoy it. It gets two big thumps from me.  

Rating: 4.5 stars

Words of Caution: There's a bit gush of blood after the accident, but other than that it's pretty clean. Recommended for Grades 5 and up.

 If you like this book try: Drama by Raina Telgemeier (available in Sept 2012), How to Survive Middle School by Donna Gephart, Popularity Papers series by Amy Ignatow, Dork Diaries series by Rachel Renee Russell


Description (from the publisher): Master storyteller Jane Yolen ("Owl Moon" and "Sword of the Rightful King") and celebrated fantasy artist Rebecca Guay ("Swamp Thing" and "Magic: The Gathering") weave a textured and lyrical tale of adventure, homelands, and heroism the hard way. Two hundred years ago, humans drove the dragons from the islands of May. Now, the last of the dragons rises to wreak havoc anew - with only a healer's daughter and a kite-flying would-be hero standing in its way.

Review: Jane Yolen's The Last Dragon is a beautiful graphic novel that bring us back to the fairy tales we were drawn to as children where there was a hero that saved the day by killing a terrorizing dragon.  The book uses the tropes of a traditional hero's journey, where a man who claims to be heroic is put to the test. While it's true that the male hero succeeds in slaying the dragon, the star of the story, however belongs to the real heroine, the hard headed, unique, and talented girl named Tansy. 
  The narrative is told well through great description that brings the illustrations to life. The serious overtones of the story may be a bit much, but there are few bits of humor that lighten up the mood. Since I read the e-galley of the graphic novel courtesy of Netgalley, the pictures were big and the text was a bit hard to read but I think that was fixed in the print version of the book.  I'd definitely recommend this graphic novel to those who like fairy tales and dragons.


Rating: 4 stars

Words of Caution: Some tongue and cheek humor, which would give it a PG rating. Recommended for Grades 7 and up.

If you like this book try: Dragon Heart series by Jane Yolen, Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George, The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia Wrede

Description (from the publisher): The inspiring story of an Iraqi librarian's courageous fight to save books from the Basra Central Library before it was destroyed in the war. It is 2003 and Alia Muhammad Baker, the chief librarian of the Central Library in Basra, Iraq, has grown worried given the increased likelihood of war in her country. Determined to preserve the irreplaceable records of the culture and history of the land on which she lives from the destruction of the war, Alia undertakes a courageous and extremely dangerous task of spiriting away 30,000 books from the library to a safe place. Told in dramatic graphic-novel panels by acclaimed cartoonist Mark Alan Stamaty, Alia's Mission celebrates the importance of books and the freedom to read, while examining the impact of war on a country and its people.

Review: Alia's Mission is one of those rare graphic novels where I like the narrative much more than the actual drawings. We are narrated a story of a civilian heroine by an anthropomorphic book as it dramatically recreate Alia Baker's efforts to save the books of the Basra library in Iraq. Alia Muhammad Baker, chief librarian at the Basra Central Library, always had a lifelong passion for books and her country's history. Events in the 13th-century in when the Mongols invaded and a fire destroyed the Baghdad library have played a sense of foreboding and foreshadowing as to what could happen to her own precious library as her country is once again at war. We witness Baker requesting the government's permission to remove the collection from the building but gets denied. Refusing to quit, she begins to sneak books out of the library herself. Baker manages, with help from friends, to remove 30,000 volumes from the library, transporting them to private homes for safekeeping. With explosions in the background, Stamaty effectively captures the danger of the moment. We feel deeply saddened when the library is engulfed in flames and Baker's resulting. The author ends his graphic novel with a hopeful note that a new library is in developments. We are once again reminded that heroes can be everyday people and their work is just as important and inspiring.
  As I mentioned a bit earlier, I wasn't a fan of the illustrations in this book. All the panels were created in what seems to be in pen and are black and white. I didn't think they matched the intensity and passion of Baker's work. I would have liked to see little bits of color to show the various emotions that were well described by the text. Overall though a good story that is important to learn.

Rating: 3 stars

Words of Caution: Few depictions of war including bombs, depictions of guns, etc. Recommended for Grades 6 and up.

If you like this book try: The Librarian of Basra by Jeanette Winter, Nasreen's Secret School by Jeanette Winter