Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
Going Bovine by Libba Bray
North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley
Everything is Fine by Ann Dee Ellis
The Devil’d Paintbox by Victoria Mckernan
SLOB by Ellen Potter
Flygirl by Sherri Smith
When you Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork

We are meeting on January 3, 2010.

I thought I was excited to see Percy Jackson…. but after the teaser trailer for Clash of the Titans, it’s a distant second. How freaking cool is this trailer?! I am a huge fan of the original. I grew up with this film. With a cast including Liam Neeson (Zeus), Ralph Fiennes (Hades – not in the original), Pete Postlewaite, and Nicholas Hoult (a grown up and incredibly cute Marcus from About a Boy), I’m very excited to the remake.

I thought the packaging for this book was very misleading. I did not anticipate a fantasy. It is the story of twelve-year-old Oscar, an adopted child of mixed racial parentage, whose adopted father turns out to be an elven descendant of the enraged Red Sox fan who originally cursed the team in 1919. There turns out to be many Cursed Creatures living under Fenway Park: a Banshee, Weasel-man, three odd aunts and even a Pooka. When Oscar arrives, he becomes tied to them, and must break the curse or it will forever endure.

I would not have stuck with this book if it wasn’t on OCL Mock Newbery list. As it is, I merely glanced over the last few chapters. It wasn’t the subject matter; I could see what Baggot was going for. I’m a baseball fan. I got it.

It wasn’t for lack of a few interesting characters. The potential was great.

It wasn’t the commentary on race, though it was a lot in your face in the beginning. Or race in professional baseball. I really like what she was saying about parents failing to address race with their kids. They think it doesn’t matter and so doesn’t warrant discussion. How wrong they are.

It was the writing.

It never drew me in. It was too long.

I thought the Door to the Past played its role when Oscar first visited Babe Ruth circa 1919… but no! When Oscar repeatedly tried to get the red thread from an even younger Babe, the concept was abused. I thought the Pooka ride was the climax. But no, there was a ridiculously drawn out conclusion involving a Field of Dreams baseball game.

I almost threw the book from my bed several times in frustration. This is the first book on the list I wanted to renig on.

So how to explain Leviathan? It is set during 1914 in an alternate world in which Charles Darwin discovered biotechnology. So the British Empire was built on the backs of strange, fabricated beasties while the Germans and the Austro-Hungarian Empire bulked at such blasphemy and relied on machines instead, earning them the title of Clankers. 

Reading it on the heels of Howl’s Moving Castle, I couldn’t help but imagine the book coming to life in the hands of Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. The was an element of mecha anime – the “clanker” machines used by that walk around like AT Imperial Walkers (think of Howl’s Castle). Then imagining the blend of machine and animal employed by the British; what the creators of Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke could do with that! 

It is the first in a series of three books (published October 2009, 2010, and 2011) and one full-color guidebook, The Manual of Aeronautics. It includes illustrations by Keith Thompson “because back in 1914, almost all books were illustrated, and I wanted it to look and feel like a book from that period. Plus, there are so many weird animals and machines in the world of Leviathan that I wanted to show them” (Scott Westerfeld).

According to the Akron-Summit County Public Library, “Steampunk is a genre with a huge underground following… but it has yet to become mainstream. Scott Westerfeld may help to change that. His newest title, Leviathan, takes history, fantasy, adventure, animals, Star Wars and the women’s movement, tosses them in a pot, swirls them around, and creates an absolutely delicious feast of a story.”

Read the great review at A Chair, A Teacozy and a Fireplace that made me pick this one up.

Sophie, the eldest of three girls, believes herself destined to fail in the fairy tale world she lives in, for isn’t that always the way in fairy tale stories. When Sophie insults the Witch of the Waste, she is turned into an old woman and cursed. So she sets out from home (a Hat Shop) to make her fortune and lands in Howl’s moving castle. The Wizard Howl has the reputation as the eater of young woman’s souls, thanks to Howl’s apprentice Michael. Sophie is soon at home with Michael, Calcifer the fire demon whom powers the magical castle, and Howl whom has created many different names and reputations in order to avoid the Witch of the Waste.

So goes this intricate, humorous and puzzling tale of fantasy and adventure which should both challenge and involve readers. Jones has created an engaging set of characters and found a new use for many of the appurtenances of fairy tales: seven league boots and invisible cloaks, among others. Sara Miller, “School Library Journal”

I was afraid I wouldn’t enjoy Diana Wynne Jones but I was wrong. I adore this book. It poked fun, had an intricate plot line with a most satisfying ending, and great writing. I fell in love with Howl right along with Sophie.

I am going to pop Miyazaki’s anime adaptation into my DVD player and make sense of the film! This is a great fantasy read for 7th graders and up.

SLOB is the story of twelve-year-old Owen Birnbaum, the fattest kid in school. The reasons behind Owen’s eating disorder are revealed as Owen: attempts to build Nemesis (a device that will capture the events of the past), suffers through humiliation after humiliation at the hands of a cruel gym teacher, and as Owen tracks down a thief who takes his lunch time Oreo snack.

The prose often struck me as insightful. This passage, on page 29, jolted me:

Everyone thinks they know the fat kid. We’re so obvious. Our embarrassing secret is out there for everyone to see, spilling over our belts, flapping under our chins, stretching the seams of our jeans.

That doesn’t mean we don’t have other secrets that you can’t see.

I also enjoyed the occasional clever metaphor: “She may not be supersmart, but if you stick her in a crowd of people, she just pops, like a zebra-stripped jeep in a shopping mall parking lot” (p 80).

The ending kept me guessing. It’s not often you read about a boy with an eating disorder but this is an exception read. I’m sure it will be in the run for a Printz (though I’m pulling for The Devil’s Paintbox). I believe it also qualifies for the Newbery.

This is a great series for middle grade readers. Clean content. It will appeal to boys but includes female roles, one especially strong female. The dialog is humorous and the characters well-developed if not a little stereotypical. Tamora Pierce’s Protector of the Small series comes to mind as a strong pairing. Kids who have enjoyed the Pendragon series or The Books of Umber as well.

With a story line that keeps things moving, kids will be eager to read on. I have finished the first four volumes and checked out the website. Lots of fans already and maybe a movie from United Artists (funding, of course, is the road block).

This story was a lot of telling without much substance, a lot of build up without a climax. The premise is alluring enough for a fantasy fan: Eff is a thirteenth child and the twin sister to a seventh born son. Potentially powerful and destined to turn evil according to Magical numerology, Eff is taunted by others, including family members, and staunchly protected by her twin, Lan.

I don’t know what Wrede was going for. The book took a long time to plod through but I felt I had gotten nowhere when I finished. There were some interesting characters (but the title character was not among their number) and it seemed like a great story was lurking below the surface, but it never emerged.  As Sonderbooks states, the focus “is more on building an intriguing magical world than on the plot.” Well, I wanted both!

I really disliked Robin McKinnley’s Dragonhaven so it comes as no surprise that I’m not a Wrede fan. Both authors are long-winded and lost in the complexities of their own worlds. So, I’m currently rereading Fire by Cashore. She weaves a totally unique world around a delicious plot.

A lukewarm review at Fuse #8.

“You can’t get uglier than the kids you have now.”
~Maurice Sendack

I decided I couldn’t wait and saw Where the Wild Things Are today. I’m so glad I didn’t wait. Now I can go see it again.

I could pick apart the movie (read a glowing review from the New York Times for a more complete depiction) but I don’t need to. The intro was fantastic, Max Records (as Max) was amazing, and the pacing (while it lulls in some middle sections) was excellent. Huge praise for the voice actors.

I went with two other Librarians and they both liked it, one absolutely loved it. I was so afraid it was going to be corny but I should have known better. It’s Spike Jonze.

A note to parents, take your kids (ages 6 and up I’d say). It might scare them, but so what. I was scared!

Listen to an interview with Sendeck from NPR’s “All Things Considered“.

If you read this Newsweek interview with Sendack, you’ll discover he is what most would consider, rough around the edges… blunt. I love it. I wish I could bottle his in-your-face realism and prescribe it to some parents I know.