The Trouble Begins

by Linda Himelblau
Hennepin County Library hardcover 200 pages
genre: YA realistic fiction, immigrant

A student told me about this book and I'm really glad I followed through on getting a copy to read! Du has just come to the United States with his grandmother after eight years in the Philippines, where they were refugees. The rest of the family (Dad, Mom, two sisters, and a brother) have all been in the U.S. for many years and are very achievement-oriented. Du hates it in the U.S. and he hates school and there is so much he doesn't understand.

The author died in 2005 (same year this was published) and that makes me wonder about her . . . did she know she was dying? Did she know her book was being published? I may need to do a little research to find out more! She taught for 13 years in San Diego with many children with many different languages. I hope I can find some copies of this book for PRMS!

The Outcast

subtitled "A modern retelling of The Scarlet Letter"
by Jolina Petersheim
Hennepin County Library paperback 384 pages
genre: Christian fiction

We had a great discussion of this Monday night at book club! Secrets, sibling relationships, cancer, . . . this book has so much more going on than just the adultery issue. "Who was the father" is a question easily answered. The deeper layers of why Rachel won't identify him (to protect her sister Leah) and how the tryst came about take us into people's motivations and vanities.

I liked Ida Mae and Russell and that storyline a lot. I also liked Judah!

page 158 - Leah and Rachel talking about their dad. Each of them thought that the other had a close, special bond while in reality, neither one of them felt a true connection to their father.

page 184 - Rachel is thinking that maybe she should have accepted Judah's offer of marriage. "But would it be out of convenience - simply to make hardships like this one easier to bear - rather than out of love?"

page 220 - Leah sees the scene in the kitchen with the broken beet jar. Why can't these people just talk to one another!?

page 350 - Amos talking to Tobias. Loved this scene! My favorite in the whole book!

Some people didn't like Amos' role (Tobias and Judah's dad, talking from eternity.) I thought that was a wonderful element and brought a depth to the story.

The Loser List

By H.N. Kowitt
PRMS paperback 213 pages
genre: YA humor, realistic fiction

Kind of a goofy little book, but with a good sense of middle school peer pressure, friendship, identity issues. Danny Shine is put on the "loser list" in the girls' bathroom by nasty bully Chantal. He and his best friend (major geek) Jasper try to remove it, but Danny ends up in detention with the hardened middle school crowd. One bad choice leads to another and Danny has to figure out how to make it end. I'll use this for sixth grade book club. (Danny is a seventh grader, but a lot of the issues are elementary-school mature.) Lots of comics, graphic novels, and other geek themes.

The Burgess Boys

by Elizabeth Strout
PRMS hardcover 320 pages
genre: realistic fiction, relationships

I read this book a few weeks ago and we discussed it at book club on 2/18/14. Sadly, I pulled out some of my post-it notes while we discussed and I'm too lazy to figure out what I tagged. I'm tired, too, so these are random notes and observations.

Characters:
Jim Burgess - high profile lawyer, a jerk
Helen - his wife, loves her kids, a bit of a snob
Bob Burgess - also a lawyer, but does pro bono work and has a different life philosophy than Jim
Susan - Bob's twin, kind of a sad sack

Zach - Susan's son, threw a pig's head into a Muslim place of worship
Abdikarim - Somali elder who is angry, frightened, and then compassionate
Bob's ex-wife who is still his friend

Some of the people in Litwits 2013 panned this book, saying it was too slow. It definitely wouldn't be called "fast-paced," but there's enough going on to keep it interesting. Strout is known for her characters and she delivers! These characters are well-developed and interesting. New York City and Maine are important characters, too.

page 283 - Margaret Estaver (Episcopalian ? pastor) is talking with Haweeya (Abdi's niece?) and the sense of entitlement that American kids feel. Haweeya is concerned about her own children becoming this way - rude to their elders, saying what they think, and the adults allowing it as self-expression. Interesting, too, that Margaret says that this isn't entirely true of American families.

page 290 - Bob is thinking about Jim's rejection of him. "But Bob was not a young man, and he knew about loss." This scene is poignant; to me, it signifies a shift in Bob's character from being pathetic and needy to standing up for himself.

page 311 - Jim has finally broken down and is sharing his fears with Bob. When he says he has no family, Bob replies, "You have a family. You have a wife who hates you. Kids who are furious with you. A brother and sister who make you insane. And a nephew who used to be kind of a drip but apparently is not so much of a drip now. That's called family."

page 318 - The siblings have just sent Jim to apologize to Helen. "He understood they would probably never again discuss the death of their father. The facts didn't matter. Their stories mattered, and each of their stories belonged to each of them alone."

Another part I noted earlier was when Susan told Bob that Zach was mad at him for not being more of a part of his life. Bob asked how Zach felt about his own dad removing himself from Zach's life for so many years. Good for you, Bob!

Worthwhile book to read and discuss. The family relationships are haunting and believable.

Wintergirls

by Laurie Halse Anderson
PRMS hardcover 278 pages
genre: realistic fiction, dealing with eating disorders

There is so much I'd like to say about this book! It stunned me with its beauty and pain. Lia is a believable character, struggling with so many different things. Already hospitalized twice, she finds ways to deflect her dad's and stepmom's concern about her weight. Her love for her stepsister is powerful. This is an amazing book. I have already shared it with a student and have it on hold for a counselor. Meeting the author last month "sold" me on this book! She has angered the pro-ani and pro-mia groups who want women to believe that anorexia and bulimia are merely lifestyle choices.

Witch & Wizard: Battle for Shadowland

by James Patterson & Dara Naraghi
Victor Santos, artist
PRMS hardcover unpaged
genre: YA graphic novel, fantasy

I read this to see if I should use it with 6th grade book club. I was also curious about the novel & the graphic novel . . . since I've heard rave reviews about the book. A student wanted the book, so I just read the first 40 pages (after reading this graphic novel). Here's what I found: this graphic is definitely NOT the same as the first book in the series. (In fact, it says, "An original graphic novel adventure" on the front cover.) I wish I had had time to read the entire novel to see how it fits . . . but I'd rather get it to the student and read it later.

In this book, siblings Wisteria (Wisty) and Whitlock (Whit) are part of a group of kids who live in "Freeland" - a kind of wasted futuristic landscape. They are fighting against the "One who is the One." Sigh. I'm out of time to blog. Interesting graphic novel, but I don't think I'll use it for book club.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children: the graphic novel

story by Ransom Riggs, art by Cassandra Bean
PRMS hardcover unpaged
genre: YA fantasy

I'm still somewhat torn about buying graphic novels of really good books, but in this case I'm glad I did! The story renders well in visual form, mixing Bean's artwork with the eerie photos from the original novel. Jacob is a relatable (though somewhat dark) teenager grappling with his grandfather's stories, reality, and mental health.

One of my readers loved this book a lot! She's going to try tackling the novel now. I love it when kids are engaged in what they're reading!

Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Riordan
PRMS
genre: YA mythology, fantasy fiction

I'm re-reading while on the elliptical at work. Don't want to blog each one . . . but making a note. Finished The Titan's Curse (book 3 - Artemis & the Hunters / appearance of Bianca & Nico DeAngelo / San Francisco / The General = Atlas). These are just plain fun books. Started The Battle of the Labyrinth . . . not sure why I didn't do a re-read of #1 and #2.

The Big, Bad Book of Beasts

by Michael Largo
Hennepin County Library paperback 427 pages
genre: non-fiction and fantasy creatures

I got this book based on a review in the BookPages magazine. I was curious to see if I should buy it for PRMS . . .

It is a very interesting and well-written book, but I don't think I'll buy it. The illustrations are black & white and the alphabetical entries are written in such a way that it's almost difficult to know which creatures are real, historical, or mythical. Some of my students would be absolutely baffled by this book. If my boys were younger or I had grandchildren in elementary school, I would definitely buy it.

I've already returned it to the library, but I'll quote part of the review that initially piqued my interest:

"Michael Largo puts the 'best' into this 'bestiary' - the medieval bookish art of gathering encyclopedic information about unusual animals into a beautifully illustrated volume. The Big, Bad Book of Beasts: The World's Most Curious Creatures remains faithful to its alliterative title through its fun alphabetical juxtapositions of creatures as diverse in their size and actual existence as the badger, the bagworm and the banshee, or the caladrius, the camel, and the capybara. You've never heard of a caladrius or a capybara? Well, once you've seen the gloriously old-fashioned illustrations of these critters - from sources ranging from ancient Egyptian sculpture to a Victorian science manual - and once you've read the delightfully definitive descriptions, you'll never forget them, nor will it matter to you that the capybara is real (it's the world's largest rodent!), while teh caladrius is a creature of Roman myth (a bird who could tell you how close to dying a person was by the way it would sit on that person's deathbed)."

Lovely!

Orwell's Luck

by Richard Jennings
PRMS paperback 146 pages
genre: YA fantasy

I meant to blog about this before my sixth grade book club discussed it, but that didn't happen . . . and as we were discussing, I realized that we never learn the protagonist's name! In fact, some of the readers assumed it was a guy and others (including me) assumed it was a girl. We decided that there are NO named characters other than the rabbit Orwell. (Stubborn me wants to re-read it and make SURE no other humans are named. There is grandma, mom, dad, the tousle-haired boy, the people across the street, etc. And there is Orwell.

Orwell is a special rabbit who shows up on top of the morning paper one day. Unable to move his hind quarters, our protagonist brings him indoors and tends to him. Unusual messages start showing up in the horoscope . . . is Orwell trying to tell her something? Is he bringing her luck?

My favorite passage is on pages 89-92 titled "The meaning of money." The protagonist is trying to see things in a "different light" per instructions from Orwell. She thinks about what she has rather than just what she wishes she had. My book club liked this book, so we'll probably keep it in the 6th grade rotation.

Chasing Lincoln's Killer

by James L. Swanson
PRMS hardcover 194 pages & PRMS audioCDs 4 discs
read by Will Patton
genre: non-fiction, history

I have heard raves about this book, but I think I would have enjoyed it more had I read the book rather than listened to the audio version. Patton over-dramatized the telling, making it seem almost silly. It was informative and interesting, but not as gripping a tale as the narrator's inflection implied. The book also had great photographs and reprints of broadsides. I learned about John Wilkes Booth and his co-conspirators. I was pretty shocked at the lack of security for a president.

Fatherless

by James Dobson and Kurt Bruner
Hennepin County Library hardcover 431 pages
genre: Christian fiction, dystopian future

I am not a huge fan of Dr. Dobson (gasp! What kind of Christian doesn't *adore* him?) so I wasn't really eager to read this book club title. But when I heard a couple of people talking about it and got the gist of the idea (oh? Dystopian fiction? That seems to be all I read these days.), I was ready to tackle this. So much to dig into here!

From the front flap: "The year is 2042, and the long-predicted tipping point has arrived. For the first time in human history, the economic pyramid has flipped: The feeble old now outnumber the vigorous young, and this untenable situation is intensifying a battle between competing cultural agendas. Reporter Julia Davidson - a formerly award-wining journalist seeking to revive a flagging career - is investigating the growing crisis, unaware that her activity makes her a pawn in an ominous conspiracy. Plagued by nightmares about her absent father, Julia finds herself drawn to the quiet strength of a man she meets at a friend's church. . . . Julia faces choices that pit professional success against personal survival in an increasingly uncertain and dangerous world."

One interesting thread of our book club conversation dealt with how likely it is that this future could happen. What parts of it are already happening? Certainly, we have already read reports about the falling birth rate in America and Europe (except among immigrant and hispanic populations). And the aging baby boomers and crisis in the cost of medical care are already issues. It will be very interesting to see what the future brings and how our politicians deal with it.

Chapter 29 and its discussion of changes in worship interested me. What is "normal" to us now that will seem passe' in the future? Are we changing for the sake of change? Would the new testament church even recognize what we do as worship?

On page 155, how interesting that Julia observes that "1. Angie embodied everything Julia scorned. 2. Angie had everything Julia wanted." Isn't it true that the grass is always greener . . . 

On page 205, I found it interesting that Matthew thought "He should not have sought the advice of Father Richard Tomberlin." It's so true that we only "seek advice" from people we are confident will tell us what we want to hear. In his case, Matthew wanted confirmation that it was okay to encourage his mother to "volunteer" to "transition" so that he could have any remaining money to go to college.

On page 237, Julia is reciting the feminist perspective that she has so thoroughly recited. "The days of patriarchal dominance are dead. Our generation of women can see an endless horizon because we stand on the shoulders of our courageous grandmothers. Show me a home with more than two kids and I'll show you an oppressed woman." It never seems to end well when people adopt an extremist perspective, no matter which end of the spectrum (of any issue) they're on.

I love it (next page) when Troy says "Imagine a world of people trying to out-serve, out-love, out-sacrifice, and out-honor one another. Sure beats a world of people trying to outdo and outsmart one another."

And a little later when Julia is trying to challenge Kevin on his perspective (in regard to Angie squandering her potential by raising children), he replies, "A lot of people consider bearing and rearing children a noble and highly meaningful calling." I love that! A noble calling. I wish more parents felt that way.

I didn't like page 314 when Matthew was so deceptive in talking to his mom about "transitioning" (aka volunteering to suicide) not being a sin and having talked to Father Tomberline about it.

I was so glad that Julia quit her job! After that nasty stunt her boss did, publishing her story with the other reporter's edits and hatchet job (and sleezy photos) . . . that was the only good choice for her.

I enjoyed this book enough to want to read the second one, Childless. I just have so many books piled up already! I need to kick through more of them more quickly.

Water

an Eyewitness Book
by John Woodward
PRMS hardcover 71 pages
genre: non-fiction

I always thought of these Eyewitness books as "easy" high-interest reads. It has taken me a long time to read through this book! I think part of it for me was the way the factoids had my brain going in so many different directions. Although the theme (water) was unifying, there was information from scientific, historical, and geographical perspectives. A lot of it was information I already knew, but I struggled to keep my brain focused. The layout of paragraphs, pictures, captions, etc. isn't conducive to prolonged, focused reading. Interesting info, but not what I would highly recommend for nonfiction reading. A good reminder for me as I work with middle school students!

It was fascinating to look at in light of the current severe drought in California as well as the historic flooding in other areas. We are spoiled in Minnesota to have an abundance of fresh water.