Read It, Don’t Eat It by Ian Schoenherr
You are holding a book. What should you do with it? Open it, and you will find out.
Ideal for introducing per-schoolers to book etiquette with humor. “Borrow, don’t steal. Try not to squeal.” Crisp illustrations and text that covers it all! This will make outreach to the local pre-K’s that much easier.
If I Were a Jungle Animal by Tom and Amanda Ellery
Poor little Morton is stuck way out in the outfield. No one hits the ball all the way out there! Like any little boy stuck in the outfield with only the gnats for company, he begins to daydream.
He images he would have more fun as a variety of different jungle animals only to realize there are dangers inthe jungle for each of those animals… until he is called back to reality by a fly ball.
Fun and silly with great illustrations, I can’t wait to use this one for storytime.
Wings by Aprilynne Pike
What to say about Wings? I’m not motivated to write a summary so you can get the low down at Miss Print. I picked this book up because Meyer promoted it… so it will get into the hands of teens just as The Girl Who Could Fly did. The difference between these two books is that I enjoyed The Girl Who Could Fly while Wings was absolutely ordinary and suffered from the same poor writing as Meyer’s Twilight series. From the opening page (“If she had to be indoors, she wanted at least to see outside.”) to “Tamani’s eyes a deep well of something she couldn’t quite place (p 282), this novel suffered from the same poor sentence structure and daffy descriptions that constricted Meyer’s series.
The cover art is beautiful and the story unfolds like a slow-blooming flower (this is a plus) but the ending was remarkably predictable. And what’s up with every teen Googling to find answers? It’s like they’ve never heard of books, archives or databases. Google has all the answers apparently. Ug. This also mirrored Bella’s actions.
This book has all the markings of a series in the making, except for a number on the book. Then again, the Twilight series has no number or series title. Which means it could go on and on and on and on…
Update: Also a Printz nominee. I hope it goes no further.
Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell in Love by Lauren Tarshis
Emma-Jean Lazarus approaches reality with her feet grounded firmly in rationality, logic. When the boys in her class engage in a boisterous game of table hockey involving plastic knives and a chicken nugget, Emma-Jean observes, “Adolescent males engage in conspicuous displays to attract the attention of females” (p 4).
Like its predecessor, Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell in Love is eloquent yet simple, endearing yet quirky. The characters are wholesome without being stereotypical. Even the minor adult characters have dimension when seen through Emma-Jean’s keen perspective.
It was a pleasure to see Colleen (Collcakes) mature into a more confident young woman while retaining her optimism and sweetness. Even bad boy Brandon Mahoney seems to be reforming. I had no idea Tarshis was working on a sequel so I was delighted to see this on the children’s cart … I hope she isn’t stopping at two.
Up and Coming
The teen volunteers are putting together a display of books that staff members dub “up and coming.” Here is a picture of me with my pick, Graceling by Kristin Cashore. I think the Harry Potter / Twilight fans will fawn all over this once they learn of it!
![Graceling_NicolePoliti[1]](http://nicolepoliti.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/graceling_nicolepoliti1.jpg "Graceling_NicolePoliti[1]")
Pendragon: The Merchant of Death (Book One) by D.J. MacHale
After learning many of the library teens enjoyed this series, I decided it was time to pick it up. Young, handsome, popular Bobby finds himself ‘flumed’ to an alternate world. He learns that he is a Traveler, someone who can travel between worlds to promote peace and balance. The only problem is that Bobby wants nothing to do with being a Traveler. If Bobby’s Uncle (also a Traveler) weren’t in mortal danger, Bobby would return home immediately. Instead, he is stuck in Denduron, a rustic, medievil land with a social order reminiscent of The Time Machine’s Eloi and Morlocks. Here, the Eloi are Milago, a mining society that provides for the more advanced Bedoowan (Morlocks). The Bedoowan are cruel masters who feed the Milago people to lion-like beasts called quigs in colosseum style games.
The story is told through letters Bobby sends across the void to his best friend, Mark. In return, Mark sends Bobby some everyday toys (CD player, boom box, etc.) that are later used as magical props to help Bobby achieve his goals (think A Kid in King Arthur’s Court).
Nothing out of the ordinary here. A good beginner fantasy read, but not much in the way of character development or originality.
Mugglefest: A Celebration of the World of Harry Potter
“The best Harry Potter party we’ve ever been to.” That was the praise the OCL Children’s services staff received upon completion of our first ever Mugglefest!
Over 20 children between the ages of 5 and 10 participated. We began with a true sorting. The Sorting Hat was placed in the front (with a cell phone set to speaker placed underneath). Prof. McGonagall read aloud each child who was promptly sorted, “William… yes… you are ambitious. A leader. You belong in SLYTHERINE!”
Once sorted, the students received a class schedule. It was off to Potions, Divination, and Wand Making. Here are some pictures.
The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare
The Mortal Instruments series is comprised of City of Bones (Book One), City of Ashes (Book Two), and City of Glass (Book Three). It follows fifteen-year-old Clary Fray as she is introduced to the demon-slaying world of the Shadowhunters and glamour-hidden world of Downworlders comprised of warlocks, werewolves, vampires and fey. Along for the ride is her best friend Simon.
When Clary witnesses three Shadowhunters murder a human-looking demon while at a club, the Shadowhunters take an interest in her. She shouldn’t have been able to see them: Isabelle, beautiful, graceful and wielding a wipe more effectively then Indiana Jones, Alec, overprotective and thoughtful , and lion-like Jace, aggressive and confident.
It is soon discovered that Clary has Shadowhunter blood but that her memories have been forcefully repressed. What follows is enough drama, plot twists, and scandals to rival a soap opera. And yet, it was riveting. When Clare takes her time in laying out the scene, allowing the characters to develop and respond to situations, the story is gripping, with shots wit and humor.
The exposition (mostly delivered though dialog with Jace) was often overly wordy (p 44) and alternately a little confusing and too explanatory (p 132). I would have preferred a less abrupt introduction to this fascinating world. But I caught up. There is a nice explanation at The Mortal Instruments.
There are some good metaphors (among many overused ones): As Clary works to pierce the magical glamour hiding objects and people, “[the glyphs] tantalized her sight the way half-heard words in a foreign language sometimes tantalized her hearing, as if just by concentrating harder, she could force some meaning out of them” (p 134).
And some humorous passages, like when Clary asks Simon about the ‘hey’ thing (p 340).
“The ‘hey’ thing that you guys always do. Like when you saw Jace and Alec, you said ‘hey,’ and they said ‘hey’ back. What’s wrong with ‘hello’?”
She thought she saw a muscle twitch in his cheek. “‘Hello’ is girly,” he informed her. “Real men are terse. Laconic.”
“So the more manly you are, the less you say?”
“Right.” Simon nodded. … “That’s why when major badassesgreet each other in movies, they don’t say anything, they just nod. The nod means, ‘I am a badass, and I recognize that you, too, are badass,’ but they don’t say anything because they’re Wolverine and Magneto and it would mess up their vibe to explain.”
What I enjoyed most, was learning that Cassandra Clare was responsible for the hilarous The Very Secret Diaries (Still not King) of the Lord of the Rings. Any fan of Tolkien’s world should read these! Clare dropped a reference in Book One to the Diaries as well as references to anime (so near and dear to my heart). It’s clear Cassandra is familiar with animeseries like Angel Sanctuary, which features avenging angels and an incestuous relationship between the two main characters. I’d love to see this series animated in Japanese style.
I highly recommend this to fantasy and anime fanatics alike, ages 14 and up.
Bird by Rita Murphy
This is a review of the advance reader copy I received at ALA 2008.
A touch of fantasy, a hint of horror, and a sprinkling of mystery, Bird has the rather formal tone reminescent of classics like The Little White Horse and Anne of Green Gables. It is enchanting, if rather mellow. The house has a sinister quality that lurks throughout and kept me on edge. I read it in one sitting.
The whimsical cover grabbed my attention and I was hooked by the idea of a girl slight enough to be carried away by the wind. It reminded me of Miyazaki’s Laputa (Castle in the Sky) and Howl’s Moving Castle.
The Right Way To Celebrate a Marriage
July 25, 2009 at 8:01 am (Commentary)
My sister’s wedding is coming up… maybe she can choreograph something similar
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