Fall Reading 2014 The Missing Pieces of Me

The book was very well written and it was very easy to care for the main character. Unfortunately I cared too much, and the book made me cry several times. Weezie is a child in a situation that happens all too often in real life - her mother has had some hard luck and resents Weezie's father, so it seems to be taken out on Weezie. She has a younger sister, Ruth Ann, that her mom lavishes attention on - taking her to the beauty shop to have her hair done and play with makeup, talking about entering her in beauty pageants, etc. Weezie never gets that sort of attention. If she decides to pick flowers for her mom and Ruth Ann helps a little, Ruth Ann gets thanked and hugged and then Weezie gets fussed at for something or ignored. Her little brother Jackson also gets attention and Weezie has to babysit them both while her mom is at work in the evenings. When she decides to track down the father she has never met, she finds out some surprising things about him, about her mom, about family in general.

It is a good book, but it just made me so sad and frustrated for all those kids out there living that kind of life. It was almost like reading an Oprah's Book Club pick for kids. Crying over the story reminded me of why I prefer fantasy rather than realistic fiction.

If you enjoy realism and want to see a young girl learning to stand up for herself, then you should read this story (but keep the tissues close by, just in case).

I read an e-galley provided by Amazon for review purposes.

Fall Reading 2014 Superstars of History: The Good, the Bad, and the Brainy

I enjoy Basher' s style of illustration. his characters have recognizable features so that we can identify them, but also look enough alike that they form an iconic group like Lego mini figures. The book covers the Ancient World, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Revolution and the Enlightenment, and the Modern Era. Famous figures from each time period are along a timeline so that it is easy compare where they fall in history. Then each individual is shown in a full-page illustration and a full-page infographic. The illustrations are full of symbols that relate to the character - knives in the back for Julius Caesar, the Mona Lisa behind DaVinci, etc. (I can imagine having a class of world history students analyzing each illustration and seeing how many of the elements they could identify.) The information on the facing page includes a brief biographical write-up,  a timeline of major dates and events, names of contemporary rivals or friends, a description of their legacy to the world, and a major question associated with them or their era. A glossary and index are also included.

This would be a wonderful coffee table book (not in the sense that it is a glossy artsy book). Family and friends could flip through it and learn interesting facts about the history celebrities that catch their fancy. It would be equally at home in a library or classroom for students to browse. Perhaps they will find someone that captures their imagination and makes them want to know more. At the very least they will come away from this book knowing that history is not dull and boring!

I read an e-book provided by the publisher through NetGalley. It was published August 26, 2014. We have now added a copy to the library.

Fall Reading 2014 Kinda Like Brothers

Jarrett has plenty of things to deal with in his life. He is the son of a single mother. He's never even met his father. His mom is a foster mother and they are always being awakened in the middle of the night to take in another child that needs a temporary placement. He struggles with school and is attending the summer school session in the hope of passing the standardized test to move from 6th grade up to 7th. If he doesn't pass the test, he will have to repeat 6th grade while all his friends move on without him. His best friend is out of town for three weeks. That should be enough for any kid to handle - especially a kid growing up in a slightly rough area of Newark.

But then his mother gets two new foster kids - a small girl named Treasure and her older brother Kevon. Jarrett is used to his mother taking in babies and toddlers, but Kevon is actually older than Jarrett. He has to share a room with this stranger, giving up the lower half of his bunk bed. Then he has to watch as Kevon does everything better than he does - basketball, stepping (like the show "Stomp"), and being popular with the girls. How can he concentrate on summer school, or the movie trailer that he and his friend Ennis are filming, when he has Kevon in his space all the time? And what really happened that caused the kids to be in foster care? Where is their father? What is Kevon hiding?

If you've never experienced the foster care system with its home visits, paperwork, and sad stories, then this could be an eye-opener for you. Jarrett's mom is one of the foster parents that genuinely wants to help the kids she takes in to her home - and it's tough to let them go back to their families and worry about their safety. Plus, it illustrates the tension of balancing the care of the foster kids with caring for one's own child. The story also gives you a sense of what it is like to be a young African American male reaching his teenage years in a big city. The author's time working with families and children has given her plenty of details that she can work into the story for a very realistic effect. You can hear the author, Coe Booth on NPR or find out more author info on the Scholastic website.

I read an e-book provided by the publisher through NetGalley. Calvin Powell has donated a copy of the book to our library.

Fall Reading 2014 The Yeti Files #1: Meet the Bigfeet

Cryptids seem to be taking over the bookstores lately. There are the Roland Smith books like Chupacabra, The Crypto Keepers,The Abominables, and now The Yeti Files. Luckily for the yetis in question, the "scientist" who is trying to prove their existence isn't very bright. He can't keep up with anything or read a map and he has his dog, Noodles, drive the van. Blizz Richards is our yeti narrator and he explains that the main point of being a cryptid is to "keep magic and mystery in the minds of humans" - they are not supposed to allow themselves to be photographed or give any other proof of their existence. His cousin Brian was unfortunate enough to be caught on film by George Vanquist (the goofy scientist) and soon his photo was everywhere. Brian was so embarrassed that he disappeared and the family hasn't heard from him. Blizz decides it is time to track down Brian and bring him home for a big family reunion. But Vanquist is still out to prove that the yetis are real and he is determined to get more photos and evidence. Can the yeti clan pull off their reunion without becoming an Internet sensation? 

I recommend this for readers who are making their way into chapter books, but don't want something overwhelming. The characters are funny. The illustrations show everything from cool tree forts to caves to crazy maps. And there's a pretty good chance that the good guys (or good yetis) will win.

I read an e-book provided by the publisher through NetGalley. We just added this title to the library through our Scholastic Book Fair.

Fall Reading 2014 Zac and Mia

Where was Zac when I was in high school? Okay, so he's a fictional character, and he lives on the other side of the planet, but still... He's funny, sweet, cares about others, athletic (when he's not having chemo or radiation treatments), works with wood to build furniture, and plays Clue with his mom. What's not to love? I loved the part of the book where he realizes a cute girl is in the hospital room next door and he sends his mom out to buy him a hat, so he can hide his bald, puffy head (treatments caused hair loss, plus steroids caused swelling). He tells her to get a cool hat like something Ryan Reynolds would wear. She comes back with a weird hat and says the guy at the store told her it was something Burt Reynolds would wear. Total generation gap miscommunication - and I could picture the horrified look on his face when he saw that weird hat. The contrast between Zac and Mia is impossible to miss. He's a laid back country fellow, happy to hang out with his mates and help around the family olive grove/petting farm. Mia is rebellious, beautiful, angry, playing loud music and screaming at her mother to go away. She's used to being a "hot" girl with a cool boyfriend (who wears cool hats), shopping and clubbing with her friends, and refuses to see that her cancer treatment is more important than the spring formal.

Over the course of the story you see how Zac and Mia influence each other and how they and their friendship change over time. This is a book for fans of Nicholas Sparks and John Green, or other writers whose books have you going through a box of tissues as you read - because you are alternating with laughing out loud and crying so hard that you can't see the pages. It shows the very true way that teens with cancer react to their situations and cope, or not, with everything that results from their diagnosis. But it also shows how you can find friends in even the most dismal circumstances of your life.

I read an e-book provided by the publisher through NetGalley. It was published September 2, 2014.

Fall Reading 2014 Little Red Quacking Hood

Princess Pink returns to the Land of Fake-Believe for another fractured fairy tale adventure. This time she meets Little Red Quacking Hood. That's right, Hood is a duck in this story. And not just any duck, but a thieving duck! She has been stealing pies from the bakery of Scaredy-Pants Wolf. Wolf has asked Moldylocks for help in stopping the robberies, so Princess Pink joins her friend in trying to trap and confront the devious duck. Princess is surprised to learn the reason why Little Red Quacking Hood is stealing the pies - and readers will probably be just as shocked. Never fear, Princess and Moldylocks are on the case and they won't let their friend down, even if he is a big crybaby.

This second book in the Fake-Believe series brings back some of the characters from <i>Moldylocks and the Three Beards</i>, and introduces more of the land's inhabitants. I think that Princess Pink will be visiting the Land of Fake-Believe much more often now that she has her magical refrigerator magnet (you'll see what I mean), and we will be hearing about even more adventures.

If you enjoy stories that add a new twist to old classics, then you should try out Princess Pink and her friends.

I read an e-book provided by the publisher through NetGalley. It was published August 26, 2014.

Fall Reading 2014 Tales from High Hallack, Volume 3

I first encountered Andre Norton's work when I was in middle school. A friend read one of her books and then passed it on to me. I have been a fan ever since. This collection of short stories covers a wide range of material. You may find Guinevere and Nimue in twentieth century England, explorers searching on alien planets for signs of the Forerunners and other ancient races, traders crossing space to find and deliver cargo, and even Herne the Hunter. Whatever the topic, each story is told in Norton's classic style. No swearing. No lewd behavior. Danger is faced and often overcome with strength of will rather than weapons. The lowly or seemingly helpless are given aid and evil is defeated by good; darkness falls to the light. There is something comforting about each story even though the characters may have been threatened or suffered a loss.

For readers who enjoy classic science fiction and fantasy, this is a wonderful anthology to relax with in your favorite chair.

I read an e-book provided by the publisher through NetGalley. It will be published October 14, 2014.