Benold Book Blog

I’ve read a lot of great sci-fi, fantasy, beyond the present reality books lately. I’ve loved May-Bird and the Mysterious Benedict Society and Percy Jackson and the Olympians. I will make time to read the upcoming offerings for the last two and still hope to have time to read all of the 2008 Lone Stars while I wonder if Maximum Ride will have a book #5.

However, when I discovered Joan Bauer’s new book, I just dropped everything to read it. I have been one of her fans since I discovered her first book Squashed almost fifteen years ago. The heroine, Ellie is so real. Yes, she has the unusual hobby of raising giant pumpkins but she’s just a teen trying to deal with her widowed dad and her lack of a boyfriend. Rules of the Road, Best Foor Forward, Hope Was Here are all stories with strong young women trying to be true to themselves and to a highly held sense of right and wrong.

Lest you think she only has female protagonists, I also enjoyed Sticks, whose male lead plays championship pool to honor his dead father and Stand Tall  with Tree the six foot three middle-schooler who can’t play basketball but is bonding with his grandfather a Vietnam vet.

Yep, I’m a Joan Bauer loyalist and when I read her new book Peeled I was not disappointed. Hildy is a writer for the high school paper attempting to live up to her deceased father’s journalistic ideals. The new  owner/editor of the town paper has dumped every rule of solid, ethical reporting in favor of some pretty shady dealing in this tiny, rural community whose livelihood is in the apple orchards. Can the school paper be heard over the sensationalistic voice of the local news source? Can a team of teens triumph over the growing group of fearful and gullible adults?

And don’t forget the romance…Bauer almost always has one. Nothing dramatic, traumatic, or immoral, these books always leave me with a bit of a smile and a lot of hope that this generation will be true to themselves and their ideals and maybe even live happily ever after. If that is fantasy, so be it. I call it “normal.”

The library aides have been selecting themes and choosing book titles to make shelf top displays. While they may not have professional pizzazz, I find them eye-catching and feel that they help students narrow their choices for reading material.

I wonder what students actually think. Do you find small groupings of books helpful? Why does the display catch your eye? If you have ever constructed a display, why did you do what you did (other than the librarian told me to do it)? What was it that made you think that someone might choose to read a book from your creation?

Do you think that, in general, libraries ought to look more like book stores with books organized by genres like mystery, sports, romance, etc.? Or do you think that the current Dewey system works and should be left alone? Why? 

I needed to pick a theme to tie a selection of recent reads together and realized that each one had a “mad scientist” character as the antagonist. Bwaa–ha-ha!

I just finished Atherton: the House of Power by Patrick Carman which is on the 2008 Lone Star list.  Edgar toils away in the fig groves to feed the privileged ones who live above him and control the water supply. His special gift is climbing which takes him into forbidden territory and leads him to the discovery of the manipulating mind who created his world. Atherton has its greedy dictators but who compares to the evil genius who designed this place to collapse into itself and leave all vulnerable to an ecological monster?? Check this book out at www.unlockdrhardingsbrain.com

Something truly creepy, not to mention gruesome, is happening in Victorian London why else would Albert Wilkes who was buried last week appear at teatime and scare his wife and dog! How can a fifteen-year old pickpocket, a museum clock expert, the curator of the Department of Unclassified Artefacts, and the daughter of a clergyman outwit a millionaire collector specializing in death? Augustus Lorimore can bring the dead back to life and that is not a good thing. Who can escape?…The Death Collector by Justin Richards.

In The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart, four children each chosen because of a unique gift are sent by Mr. Benedict to infiltrate the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened. It is a strange school indeed where the goal is to pass enough quizzes to be chosen a Messenger, maybe even an Executive. However, it is the Whisperer that is important. What is this device, so secret that only the select ever encounter it? How does the madman who created it mean to take over the world?

Tell me about some books that you are “mad” about. What is on your “read this” list?

Whoever heard of anyone asking for a recommendation for a “terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad” book? (Thanks to Judith Viorst for her superb picture book with this title.) Students and teachers always ask me for the name of a “good” book. I wish it were that easy.

“Easy” is the individual who is a confident enough reader that s/he will try almost anything even if the book is not a preferred author or genre. For most folks recommendations are offered only after a dialogue narrows the considerations by topic, length, difficulty, etc. I find these opportunities always challenging, sometimes frustrating, and downright uplifting when, on rare occasions, students return to let me know that a book was a perfect fit.

To this end, I read as many books as I can fit into my on-going commitments. Sometimes they get all jumbled up and my lasting impressions don’t do justice to what the author deserves.

Over the holiday I read Revolution is not a Dinner Party  Ying Chang Compestine, an eye-opener if you are not familiar with the Peoples’ Revolution in China. This is a fictionalized account based on the author’s experience of the devastating effect of the Communist ideology on Chinese culture.

I also read Toby Wheeler, Eighth-Grade Benchwarmer by Thatcher Heldring. I’m not much of an athlete and I don’t “speak” fluent basketball but this was still a great story about a kid who plays a lot of ball at the rec and decides to take up the challenge to be part of the school team even if it means he is the “twelfth man,” the benchwarmer.

Don’t Call me Ishmael by Michael Gerard Bauer is for every kid whose name has made them the focus of unwanted, unkind, and down-right bullying attention. how exactly do you ignore, turn-the-other-cheek, get even with the clowns who make your life miserable? You hope you find the perfect friend, the one who is not afraid of anything. Be sure that you know at least a little bit about Herman Melville’s book Moby Dick so that the references don’t leave you wondering.

Last, I want to mention The Golden Dream of Carlo Chuchio by the late Lloyd Alexander. This book was published in August of 2007 and the author died the same year. I wish the book cover were more inspiring because the story is a wonderful blend of Arabian Nights glamour, mystique, and blood-shed with a fabulous array of characters. There is the hero Carlo Chuchio whose name means donkey and who in his search for treasure, does have the knack for making unfortunate decisions. There is the rib-tickling side-kick Baksheesh whose smooth-talking gets his master out of trouble and himself out of work. There is the beautiful and capable damsel Shira who joins Carlo in his adventure in order to to complete her own quest. And, of course, there are the villains who do unspeakable things and add just the right amount of heart-stopping moments.

My hope has always been that students will share their favorite titles and thoughts on what they have read on this blog. Until I come up with another format I’ll keep extending the invitation. Please share…how do you choose a good book or help others to choose? What “good books” have you read lately?

Children’s Book Week is coming up the week of November 12-18. This event always awakens memories of favorite books that I read when I was in school.

One of these was Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll. A fantasy before there were many of this genre, it was less a fast paced adventure than a phenomenal cast of characters and filled with a fascinating array of allusions. There was the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat and Humpty Dumpty, a particular favorite. I identify more and more with the Red Queen who having just run Alice off her feet says that “If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!”

Now I am reading Frank Beddor’s The Looking Glass Wars. I haven’t gotten far but the main character Alyce insists that Lewis Carroll, that horrible man got everything wrong. I plan to keep my copy of the original Alice close by so that I don’t miss any of these new allusions.

Another of my middle school favorites is The Sherwood Ring by Elizabeth Pope. Part historical fiction (flashbacks to the American Revolution), part ghost story, part mystery, part humor, and part romance, this book is one that I recommend to students who are willing to take a chance on an “old” book. Many of them have returned to say how much they enjoyed reading it. I highly encourage you to give it a try. I might just have to read it again soon myself.

I read so many new books now that it is hard to choose a favorite. However, I recently read a wonderful story called the Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt. On Wednesday afternoons when the rest of his class is either at catechism or Hebrew school, Holling Hoodhood is left behind with his teacher Mrs. Baker who makes him read Shakespeare. He tries telling his busy father, timid mother, and bossy sister that Mrs. Baker hates him but no one listens. The year is 1967. Vietnam is changing many people’s lives. Sometimes you just happen to find somebody special who changes yours. Oh, and don’t forget the rats in the classroom ceiling!

I just finished The Garden of Eve by K. L. Going. “Forced” by her father to move from the town where her mother died, Eve is transplanted to a farm with an orchard filled with withered apple trees that the locals say is cursed. She meets a boy who claims he is dead and is given a magical seed. If she plants the seed will she solve the mystery of the orchard? Find her beloved mother again? Can she overcome her grief and trust in the power of love?

Here is your chance to tell me about your absolutely favorite book memory. Is it a story someone read to you before you could read yourself? a read-aloud that you shared in school? A book a friend recommended? Something that you just finished? Don’t keep it to yourself. Someone else will want to read it too.

One of the reasons that I love literature geared to middle-school students is the fantastic array of protagonists, the main characters, the heroes. Authors who bring out the possibilities, the opportunities, the crossroads, the good and bad decisions, and give readers a chance to walk in someone else’s shoes without being preachy, that is the best!

I read a great book on the Lone Star list called Runaway by Wendelin Van Draanen. Holly is a 12-year old orphan who is fed up with her foster home nightmare. Her bid for freedom is unexpectedly successful and she records her thoughts in a journal that is her sole companion as she tries to make a new life. Street-smart though she is her daily struggles keep anyone from envying her “independence.” Fortunately, she meets someone she can trust before she does become a statistic.

Only after reading the author note did I realize that Holly’s friend is another of Van Draanen’s quirky female characters, Sammy Keyes. Its been a number of years since I read one of these delightful mysteries (Sammy Keyes and the Runaway Elf) but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Sammy also is a survivor and original thinker and I think that readers of mysteries should give her a chance.

Firegirl by Tony Abbott also expands the concept of hero. A “new” girl enrolls in Tom’s ordinary seventh grade class creating fear and revulsion. Jessica has endured countless procedures because she was trapped in a burning vehicle. No one can see past her disfigurement until Tom is “guilted” into dropping off her school work after an absence. Slowly he begins to know the “real” Jessica. Each is a model of courage.

Comment on these books or tell me about other characters who are heroes. What are their heroic traits?

I did find time over Easter weekend to read Pure Dead Magic by Gliori. This series is part Addams family, part Series of Unfortunate Events, and Harry Potter. This family lives is a house with a giant crocodile in the moat and a Yeti in the dungeon. Terrible things happen to them–their father has been kidnapped by his own nefarious brother. The baby has vanished into cyberspace  via the computer modem and a giant tarantula is searching the World Wide “Web” for her. Mother is a witch in training and daughter steals her multi-pack of spell wands to try to make things right with semi-disasterous results. I plan to read at least one more (Pure Dead Wicked) just to see what mischief happens next.

Also managed one of the Chet Gecko books, a quick read with the “trench coat and fedora” detective motif transferred to public school. This was a fun book especially if you enjoy animal characters. Pair it with another animal detective story, The case of the cat with the missing ear : from the notebooks of Edward R. Smithfield, D.V.M. by Scott Emerson. This one was a Sherlock Holmes take off, especially fun if you are acquainted with Conan-Doyle’s characters.

My other weekend read was Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie by David Lubar. Surviving freshman year is Scott’s goal and maybe attracting the attention of a certain female. His life fills with extra-curricular activities and unexpected friendships in pursuit of the elusive and oblivious Julie. Scott records his many observations on family and school life in a journal addressed to the baby brother that his mom is expecting. Not part of a series but I loved this book…funny and fulfilling. Lubar has written some other books that I have read. Dunk is more serious, a look at the life of young man who aspires to become the clown in the dunk tank on the boardwalk. Flip is about total opposite twins who discover some disks with the power to transform them into historical and literary characters. When you are not sure of who you really are, does it help to become someone else?

I managed to read a couple of new books over the weekend that got me to thinking of others that I had read or reviewed in the past. The topics were similar but of course each story is unique.

Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of the Tree  by Lauren Tarshis is the story of a seventh grade girl who is close to genius level, extremely neat, organized, and methodical. She observes her peers’ messy, noisy existence with tolerance but no desire to become a part of the turmoil. Then one day a classmate in distress appeals to Emma-Jean for help. No one has ever asked for her help before and she feels that she cannot decline. Can she become one of the group? Does she even want to? What becomes of her nice, neat life?

Paired with this, I remembered reading Millicent Min, Girl Genius by Lisa Yee. Millicent, also a certified genius, is a bit more concerned with trying to fit in with her peer group. Volleyball is the challenge she undertakes to see if she can make friends with her classmates. How much does Millicant’s cultural background influence her attempts to connect?

Another book I just finished is called Sender Unknown by Sallie Lowenstein. A strange little, futuristic story, I found it hard to decide if this is really a “middle-school” book or an adult read because the main character is twenty-five years old. Another genius-type, he was a happy putterer until a high school reunion pushes him into the “most-likely to succeed,” technology whiz-kid, corporate role. In this new mode, he purchases an old house with a peculiarity. Every day a stack of catalogs for various “dolls” based on the fairy tales and nursery rhymes that have become relics of the past is delivered to the house. When he orders, what he receives are not dolls at all but he doesn’t know exactly what they are. All the boxes are marked “No Returns.”

The book I chose to pair with this is one that I have not read. House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer does share a common element with the book above. How closely do they parallel? Maybe someone out there will comment.

Last, I want to pair a book with Louis Sachar’s book, the incomparable Holes. I loved this story with its incredible cast of characters, the historical flashback, and the curse. Students often ask for another book just like Holes. Now I suggest that they read Out of Patience by Brain Meehl. The town of Patience is somewhat like Camp Green Lake, dried up and desolate, it has been cursed. Jake’s dad, a plumber from a long line of plumbers, believes that salvation for Patience lies in his plan to start …The American Toilet Museum. Jake is waiting for the final blow, the return of the Plunger of Destiny. I don’t think that you can help but chuckle and wonder how a toilet plunger can be the bad guy.

Have you ever read a couple of books that pair well because of themes, characters, or plots? Tell me something about them.

The Benold Literacy was the Friday before spring break. We had a gorgeous day. I appreciated all of the students that walked or ran laps. My observaton is that there were fewer students who chose just to sit and many who were on the track.

All those who cheered also helped me to stay focused on my own lap goal. I hoped to at last tie my 48 laps from last year. However, with so many onlookers I finished two more for a total of 5o–12.5 miles. I have to say thought that even with cold shower and pain relief medication, I hurt for two more days. My daily 3-4 miles just is not enough training for a one day half marathon!

Thanks to the concesion stand and those who collected pledges, we slightly exceeded our total from last year. The funds will provide many new books for the library. I know that sometimes the 8th graders who are moving up feel like they will not benefit from the Walk but thanks to an extremely active inter-library loan system within the district we can share our new title with those who helped to buy them. All you have to do is ask!

Does anyone have a title request? How about a series that you would like to see completed? Is there a genre (such as mysteries, romance, sports, biographies) that you would like to see more books? Be as specific as you can be. Schools do have selection policies but I am always ready to evaluate your recommendations.

What’s up when pretty and popular Alecia claims she was attacked and beaten by a stranger and then suddenly disappears? Brian, the freshman science nerd, and Roni, a reporter for the school paper, team their skills to find the answer….and get in soooooo much trouble. They are pretty sure they will be grounded for life.

Pete Hautman who wrote Snatched provides lots of suspects for the kidnapping and introduces two totally opposite protagonists to keep things from getting too serious.  The book is labeled “The Bloodwater Mysteries,” so it could be the start of a delightful series.

Tell me about some of your favorite characters. Do you like them because they are just like you? Because they are someone you think that you would like to be? Because they are exaggerated or so real?