Book Notes

Well, I am finally done with all the historical fiction reading that I had. It became really hard to get through some of them at the end. It’s sort of like how you like cake, but if you had to eat nothing but cake for weeks, you’d begin to think it was disgusting.

Despite the fact that this is one of the last historical fiction books that I read, I wanted to post it here because I really enjoyed it. It starts off so quickly, and the action doesn’t slow down until the last page. Astas’s son’s (Crispin’s) mother dies, he sees the Lord of their land meet with someone in the forest at night, is seen by them and pursued. He comes to find that he has a price on his head, his house in torn down, and the one person who knew a little about his past and was willing to help him is murdered. So begins Crispin’s life on the road. He meets Bear. A minstrel and performer who takes Crispin in. But can Bear be trusted? And if he can’t, is there anyone who can?

This was yet another re-read. I really should start reading new stuff! But this was so good, and each time you read a book you find new things in it, or a new passage catches your eye.

In this story, Nat Field, a Shakespearean actor, is transported back in time to 1599 London. No one knows that he from the future, and he is to perform in A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream at the new Globe theatre with Shakespeare as director and performer. It’s a magical book, and if you like plays, or acting, literature or history you will love this.

This was our pick for this month’s 6th-8th grade book club. I’d never read it before, but became interested after I heard Jeanne DuPrau speaking about her writing. So when the group chose this title, I was very excited.

Lina and Doon are twelve and have just received their work assignments. Lina will be a Messenger, and Doon will be a pipeworker. Everyone works together to keep Ember running. However, things aren’t going smoothly. The lights have been flickering a lot lately. And without lights and a working generator, the entire city will be permanently plunged into darkness. Night and day. Things are looking pretty grim until Lina finds a box with partial instructions on it. It looks like a way out of Ember. If only she and Doon can figure it out before it’s too late.

The author wrote this book based on an true story. There was a real dog who did in fact save the lives of a hundred people by swimming out to their sinking ship in a storm with a rope line.

The fictionalized dog in this story, Sirius, is perfectly amazing. He is sweet, and incredibly smart, and his life is in danger. A new law has been passed forbidding all dogs except for sheepherding dogs from the island. If Sirius is found, he will be killed. Maggie has been hiding him for some time, but when the ship flounders off the coast, and Sirius is the only one who can help, what will she do? Risk her dog’s life to save the people on board, or keep Sirius hidden and let everyone drown?

It’s a very sweet story filled with Newfoundland language and stories. And one amazing dog.

What a fabulous book! This should have won at least a Newbery honor this year. I was rooting for it to win the Newbery, but alas, it went to Good Masters, Sweet Ladies.

Georgina, her mother and her brother are living in their car. After her father left, they were forced to leave their apartment. The car is temporary, until their mother can earn enough money for them to move into a new home. “Temporary” is taking too long for Georgina, and after seeing a Lost Dog, Reward Offered sign, she decides to take matters into her own hands. She steals a dog to hold on to until a reward is offered. The problem is that she feels like she is doing the wrong thing. And she meets to owner, who loves her dog more than anything. And the dog is a super cutie who misses his house and yard.

This was such a lovely book filled with nice characters and built around a great story. Wonderful for sharing.

I don’t often say this, but every kid should read this book! I’ve been meaning to read Molly Moon for years. I’ve heard so many kids talk about it and how much they liked it. Well, now I have read it and think everyone else should too!

Molly Moon lives in an orphange in England. It’s a horrible orphanage with a mean owner and nasty food. A place where you have to do awful chores like clean the whole bathroom floor with your toothbrush and the food is nasty, rotten fish and yucky, slimy vegetables. The kind of place that you need some kind of escape from.

Molly Moon finds that escape one day in the library. She finds a book on hypnotism. It was written a long time ago by a very famous hypnotist. It turns out that Molly has a knack for it. She is able to hypnotise a way for herself out of the orphanage and over to New York City and then onto Broadway. It’s super fun and full of lots of twists and turns. This is the first of many Molly Moon adventures so get started!

This was another re-read. And a wonderful piece of historic fiction. Set in Scotland in 1306, during the reign of Longshanks of England and Robert de Brus  of Scotland, this book focuses on Robert’s daughter Marjorie and her captivity by Longshanks. She is taken and put in a cage in a town square in England on the Scottish border. This book picks up where the movie, Braveheart, left off, if that helps with setting.

I love the sense of place and time that this book provides. The people are dirty, and they are constantly hungry and cold. Yolen and Harris do a really good job of putting you in the character’s place. And what a great story. A fantastic afterword of what is true and what they had to fill in to make the story is provided.

This was another re-read. And what a fantastic book to re-read. I have so enjoyed this each time that I’ve read it. Hope and her Aunt are on their way to a new town, and a new life in Mulhoney, Wisconsin. Her Aunt Addie is a restaurant manager and is going to be taking over the care of the popular Welcome Diner.

For a small town there sure is a lot happening. There’s a man who is fighting lukemia and corrupt politicians; Braverman who is working as a short order cook and trying to save enough for college; a young mom struggling to make ends meet and care for baby daughter who might have a development problem. And there’s Hope. Who lost a lot of her faith in human beings, but may just be able to find it here at the Welcome Diner in Mulhoney, Wisconsin.

This is the sequel to Spinelli’s wildly popular Stargirl. This book is from Stargirl’s point of view, from her new home in Pennsylvania. She is writing “the world’s longest letter” to Leo, the boyfriend who broke her heart in Arizona.

This book is filled with quirky characters who make Stargirl seem quite average. And I didn’t like that about this one. I want Stargirl to be the sweetest and the most unusual. I also wanted her to not be so broken up about Leo. Sure he broke her heart, but isn’t the essence of Stargirl to be satisfied with who you are? Still, a good read if you miss Stargirl and want to check in on what she is doing now.

I’m starting to really like Jennifer Holm. This book has become one of my favorites. It’s a novel that is told not by the typical paragraphs and chapters, but through stuff. Her report cards, notes left on the refrigerator by her mother, receipts from her purchases at the drugstore, and the occasional clipped out horoscope. Put it all together and you get a great story.

You’ll just have to trust me and dive in. It’s hilarious and sweet. A perfect book to just curl up with for an afternoon.

This was our 6th-8th grade book club pick for November. One of my perennial favorites, I enjoy ever opportunity to re-read this. It’s the story of 11 going on 12-year-old Hattie Owen who discovers one summer that she has an uncle she has never heard of. Adam has been in an institution for mentally disabled adults, and with the advent of that school’s closing, he is returning to live with his parents. The characters and the situation are so beautifully drawn. Adam’s parents have always prided themselves on living a perfect, socially approved existence. Hattie is often at odds with how to treat Adam, he is an adult, and her uncle, but he often seems and acts more like a child.

The book is so beautifully written, and the personalities of the characters are so perfectly drawn. I recommend this to anyone who wants a quiet, sweet, and thoughtful story. Have tissues near by at the end.

This is our second pick for 4th and 5th grade book club. I love Cynthia Rylant’s books, and this one in particular.

Ob and Summer are grieving from the loss of May, Ob’s wife and Summer’s foster mother. They neither one want to get out of bed in the  morning or go on and live their happy lives without her. Enter Cletus Underwood, the Bat Woman, and an owl flying through on silent wings. Life just may go on after all. Different, but just as precious as it was before.

It’s a small book, but has such a big story in it with lovely writing with a folksy narrative. A great book for sharing.

This is book one of the Percy Jackson and the Olympian series. I wish I had read it months ago. I was reluctant, but once I started I found a great fantasy.

Percy has been shuffled from school to school. He can’t seem to stay out of trouble. He’s dyslexic, so his grades aren’t so hot, and he has ADHD, so none of his teachers ever give him much of a chance. It turns out that there is a reason for this. He’s a demigod.

In this fantasy the myths of the Greek Gods are not just myths. They are real and very much alive today. And one of them is Percy’s dad. His Greek god roots are what make him dyslexic–he’s hard wired to read ancient Greek–and the ADHD is because his body is hard wired for battle.

After finding out that he is a demigod, Percy has to undertake a quest. Zeus’s master bolt has been stolen and if it is not returned by the summer solstice world war three will begin. It’s up to Percy and his friends to travel to the underworld, get it, and get back to Mount Olympus (located on the 600th floor of the Empire State Building). This is non-stop adventure chock full of ancient monsters and ancient curses. A fun, fun book.

This is the first book that we are reading for our 4th and 5th grade book club. I enjoyed re-reading this. It’s been just long enough that I was starting to forget some of the details.

Do you believe in witches? Could you spot a witch if she were walking past you on the street? Our character’s grandmother can. She knows all about witches and tries to protect her grandson from them by giving him all the facts. However, the facts aren’t quite enough and when the boy is turned into a mouse, he needs his grandmother’s help to stop the witches from turning all the children of England into mice! Will they be able to stop them? Tell us what you think.

Vegetarian vampires living in New York City? You bet. Lexy, Hudson, and Maddie live in Manhattan with their parents. They are not your average school kids either. They are fruit-bat vampires, or they used to be in the Old World. As if being a kid isn’t hard enough, you should try being a kid who’s a vampire!

Hudson is trying to save the planet. Lexy is trying to get Dylan to notice her, and Maddie is convinced that the people across the street are blood-sucking vampires in disguise and must be stopped. And she will stop at nothing to prove it! All this while trying to look and act like a normal human being.

It’s funny and vampire-y and a perfect fall read. Hurry and check it out before Halloween–it may give you a few ideas.