TWO BOOKS ABOUT KIDS WHOSE FATHERS WISHED THEY HAD DIFFERENT KIDS

Nick Hall is an eighth grader. A really smart eighth grader who loves soccer and hates school. Unfortunately, he has a father who is a linguistics professor afflicted with chronic verbomania* (he loves words so much that he has written a dictionary, Weird and Wonderful Words, which he is forcing Nick to read, one letter at a time). Of course, Nick's father is much more interested in developing his son's cognitive abilities than in supporting Nick's passion for soccer. 

Most of Nick's problems are typical middle school problems-- a budding interest in a girl, the school bullies, Don and Dean Eggleston, twins who steal Nick's bike, preparing for an upcoming soccer tournament.  At least most of his problems are typical until his parents inform him they are separating and his mother is leaving the state to return to her first love, training horses. And of course the book has a couple of caring adults- one of whom happens to be a former Grammy-winning rapper turned school librarian, Mr. MacDonald. 

What's not typical about this book are Kwame Alexander's poems. Alexander uses a zillion different poetic forms- including free verse, acrostics, found poems, and lots of others. Alexander also uses tons of  interesting and unusual vocabulary- codswalloped, limerence, cacchinate.

This book has been a huge hit at school. I read this in October, then put it out in the fifth grade classroom where I was substituting. I haven't seen it since- I had to check it out of the library because I wanted to reread it to write my review. 

*a love of words

GARVEY'S CHOICE, by Nikki Grimes, is another book that features a main character who doesn't live up to his father's expectations. Garvey's father dreams of having a football playing athlete of a son, but Garvey is a slightly overweight, space-loving guy whose older sister often steps in to protect her brother from her father's sports mania.

Garvey feels less than adequate, until a friend tells him to "Choose the name you answer to. No one can do that but you." Garvey finds his "name" in the school choir, and ultimately earns his father's respect. 

Another terrific novel in verse, done all in tanka, syllable pattern of 5-7-5-7-7. 

DEAR BLUE SKY- MARY SULLIVAN

DEAR BLUE SKY, by Mary Sullivan

Cassie's world is falling apart.

Her beloved older brother and running partner, Sef, 

has enlisted in the Army, and is headed to Iraq.

Her mother is drinking.  A lot. 

Her mother and father are fighting about Iraq.

Her older sister, Van, is dating a boy no one else likes.

Her little brother, Jack, who has Down's syndrome, has stopped talking.

Her best friend, Sonia, has stopped talking to Cassie.

Cassie's world is falling apart.

In her seventh grade social studies class, Cassie is assigned to connect with someone from another country. She decides to connect with someone from Iraq. On the internet, she meets Blue Sky, a thirteen-year-old girl from Baghdad. Blue Sky's life has been torn apart by the war- her home has been destroyed, she can no longer attend school, and a neighbor is blown apart right in front of her eyes. Blue Sky and her family want the Americans to go home, so that Iraqi people can begin to rebuild their lives. Through Blue Sky, Cassie discovers that war is much more complicated than it seems.

I loved this book. Mary Sullivan does a terrific job capturing how war impacted so many different people- Cassie, her siblings, and her mom and dad. Then she uses blog entries and email to capture Blue Sky's reality. This one is sure to bring up lots of conversations about the realities of war.  

WARNING: Have kleenex ready before you pick up this book!

MIDDLE SCHOOL- THE WORST YEARS OF MY LIFE by James Patterson and Chris Tebbits

On Friday I ran to the grocery store to buy dog food. And for some reason, there is a book display on the end of the dog food rack. And of course I had to stop and look. Which is, of course, very dangerous for someone who is not supposed to be spending any money on books. Anyway, there was this book by James Patterson. And even though it specifically said MIDDLE SCHOOL in the title, and even though am not going to be teaching middle school in the fall, and even though I have read way too much YA this summer, I picked it up. And about fifteen minutes later I remembered that I had run to the store to buy dog food because we were completely out. So then I had to buy the book because I didn't want the dogs to starve to death.

Rafe Khatchadorian is a sixth grader at Hills Village Middle School. During the principal's back to school read aloud of the HVMS Code of Conduct, Rafe decides he will make history by attempting to break every. single. one. He determines that there are 112 rules in the handbook. He assigns points to each one. Some, such as talking in class or chewing gum, are categorized as easy, and are worth less points. Others, such as pulling the fire alarm (which Rafe does the first day) fall into the advanced category, and are worth lots more points. He calls his project "Operation R.A.F.E." (Rules. Aren't. For. Everyone.) and keeps track of his points in a notebook illustrated by his best friend, Leonardo the Silent.

This book belongs in a basket with WIMPY KID and ORIGAMI YODA. There's plenty to draw the attention of the "not yet thrilled with reading set." The plot is a little bit racy, and has lots and lots of black line, humorously labeled illustrations. At the same time, there is some complexity to the characters and plot. Rafe is not a typical flat "bad kid." He cares about other people-- in fact one of the first rules of OPERATION R.A.F.E. is that none of his pranks can injure anyone. He also cares about disappointing his mom, and tries several times throughout the book to reform.

There are a couple of things about this book that I think might be a little confusing to kids, especially kids who are not particularly good readers. First, there are several twists involving Rafe's friend, Leonardo. I'm not sure that struggling readers would totally get these twists without a little extra support. Also, when Rafe gets in trouble and has to face an authority figure, he imagines himself meeting with a kind of alter ego, e.g. "The Dragon Lady" or "The Lizard King." Those chapters might be a little confusing, unless someone kind of walked them through the first one. Kids who aren't especially strong readers might benefit from just a little support in these areas.

A few years ago, I heard James Patterson speak at a conference, right after MAXIMUM RIDE had come out. He talked about how his interests as an author had shifted when his son got to middle school and stopped reading. He was trying to find books and write books that would be interesting to kids like his son, who didn't like to read. I think he has definitely done that with MIDDLE SCHOOL: THE WORST YEARS OF MY LIFE. It's definitely going to make the rounds in middle school, and maybe even some intermediate grade classrooms!

SUGAR AND ICE- Kate Messner

For years, I have dreamed of writing a novel. I even have a plot, kind of, in my head. Every summer, I say, "This is the year I'm going to do it." But, like most people who dream of writing novels, I never quite get around to actually sitting down and writing.

I've followed with fascination and huge admiration, then, the writing career of Kate Messner. I first became aware of Kate through her writings on Twitter. Kate is a middle school teacher in New York. And she is a working mom. But somehow, she also manages to write. Looking at her website, it looks like she has published two novels, with two more on the way. The first book in her new series, MARTY MCGUIRE, came out to rave reviews this spring. She has a new professional book, REAL REVISIONS, that has also gotten really good reviews. Messner has a couple of more books set on Lake Champlain, where she lives. And she has a couple of picture books coming out. Oh, and she is a poet. (One of her recent poems, "The Book in My Head," was about people like me, who never actually get to the writing).

Yesterday, for bookaday I read Messner's SUGAR AND ICE. Claire Boucher is a busy middle schooler, who divides her time between school, friends, working on her family's maple sugar farm, and pursuing her passion for figure skating. During a figure skating show, she is "discovered" by a scout, and invited to train at Lake Placid. While she is thrilled by this opportunity, it's also a huge commitment. Long, hard practices, three to five days a week, and the 90 minute drive each way mean that Claire has to make sacrifices in other areas of her life- time with family and friends, and school interests and clubs. Plus, the world of ice skating is super competitive and many of the kids in Claire's new world are not all that nice. Ultimately, Claire has to make some really hard choices…

A great read for the intermediate grade and middle school athletes in your life!

A COUPLE OF "NONTRADITIONAL" NOVELS

I watched Twitter in fascination this weekend, as everyone's 48 hour reading challenge tweets rolled in. This weekend I helped at a football camp, and drove to Colorado Springs to see my mom, and went to a friend's birthday barbecue. I did, however, manage to squeeze in a couple of "nontraditional" novels.

THE DEFENSE OF THADDEUS LEDBETTER by John Gosselink is told entirely through a series of artifacts- letters, emails, detention slips, diagrams, cartoons. At the beginning of the book, it's January, and Thaddeus has been sentenced to in-school suspension for the rest of the year. It seems he's staged the all time largest, most comprehensive emergency drill, which involves being prepared not only for tornadoes, but also killer bees and old people driving down the school halls in cars. Thaddeus is a quirky guy- brilliant, passionate about words, the creator of unique clubs, and with a helpful plan/suggestion for every dilemma that confronts the school principal. Throughout the book, Thaddeus attempts to convince the principal, his teachers, and his Uncle Pete (who has somehow been pressed into the role of defense lawyer) why he should not be in a semester of in school suspension. The book is clever and oh so funny, perfect for strong fifth grade readers or for the middle school set.

DOODLEBUG, by Karen Romano Young, is another book told in a very unique style. At the beginning of the book, Dodo Bussey, aka Doodlebug, and her family are in the car, moving from Los Angeles to San Francisco, because her father has taken a new job. Her parents give Dodo a journal, which she fills with doodles, sketches, cartoons, conversations, and lists, that chronicle her adjustment to her new school. This is another book perfect for fifth grade and/or middle schoolers.

GREAT PEACEMAKERS

GREAT PEACEMAKERS: TRUE STORIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD by Ken Beller and Heather Chase

GREAT PEACEMAKERS is a collection of twenty 6-8 page biographies of great peacemakers from around the world. The book is divided into five sections: Choosing Nonviolence, Living Peace, Honoring Diversity, Valuing All Life, and Caring for the Planet. It contains biographies of some people you would expect to see, e.g. Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, Desmond Tutu, Albert Schweitzer, and Rachel Carson. It also contains biographies, however, of people I had never heard of, or at least had never heard of in this context:

• Astrid Lindgren- author of the much-loved PIPPI LONGSTOCKING, but also a children's and animal rights activist
• Anderson Sá- founder of a band and musical movement that has gotten Brazilian kids out of street gangs and into music and the arts
• Colman McCarthy- a former Washington Post journalist who has taught courses in peace making to more than 6,000 prison inmates, and high school and university students
• Bruno Hussar- a Catholic priest who created a village on a hilltop between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, where Jews and Arabs live, learn, and work together

Each biography starts with a large black and white photo, and a brief summary of the peacemaker's accomplishments. Each chapter ends with a page of four or five quotes from the peacemaker. There is also a website (www.greatpeacemakers.com).

There is much to love about this book. I love that readers are exposed to such a wide range of peacemakers-- male and female, old and young, rich and poor, from all over the world. I love that this book might provoke kids into considering their own lives in light of the greater good. I love that the biographies are short enough that you could pick the book up and expose kids to an amazing individual in fifteen minutes (or less). 

If I had one wish for this book, it would have to do with formatting. The book is just not as visually appealing as it could be. Everything inside the book is black and white, there is absolutely no color. There are no subtitles, or pull quotes, or anything else to break up the pages and make them more visually appealing. The margins are narrow, and the print goes to within a half an inch of the edge of each page. If there are sequels, and I definitely think there should be, I'd love to see the authors and publishers work a little on the formatting of the book.