Review – Crossing Stones by Helen Frost

Crossing Stones
Helen Frost
Francis Foster Books/FSG
184 pgs. (author notes, library book)

Summary
Muriel, Ollie and Emma relay the events leading up to WWI when two of their number decide to join the army. We also get a glimpse into the women’s civil rights movement as it relates to Muriel’s family.

Format
This verse novel alternates between the voices of Muriel, whose words are shaped like a river, and Emma/Ollie, whose words are shaped like crossing stones. The “stones” also have a special rhyme scheme that the author explains in her notes. Each chapter is made up of several poems and covers a month from April 1917 to January 1918.

My Thoughts
My first thoughts on picking up this book were “not another war novel”. This year’s Newbery hopefuls are replete with them. Helen Frost writes about WWI but I’ve read about WWII, 9/11, and the War in Kosovo.

Crossing Stones alternates voices but in a way that’s not disruptive to the book’s overall tone. I found myself understanding both Muriel and Ollie’s viewpoint because their characters are well drawn. You understand why they make the choices they do. Muriel is “plucky” but not overbearing and she’s also thoughtful.

Mother: I have no intention of becoming the Mrs. Norman of your imaginary future. Who I am remains to be seen – and I alone intend to see it. (p. 15)

Ollie’s young but tenderhearted.

To tell the truth, I don’t care as much about their lofty goals as I do about
seeing my family again- there’s a man on a bike, pedaling into the morning, bringing bread home to his family, I bet. (p. 60)

Through their eyes we also get a sense of the other characters.

The plot had just enough history to make it interesting but not boring. Each poem was like it’s own little story within a story. The writing was so vivid and the story moved quickly. Frost didn’t just focus on the homefront, what happened to the people left behind, but also gave us a little taste of the warfront as well as the suffragist’s movement.

I really enjoyed Crossing Stones and can’t wait to find Diamond Willow. I give it 4 copies. Bonus: Helen Frost lives in Fort Wayne, IN! Maybe we can do an author visit – if only I could find a curriculum use for this one…

Other Newbery hopefuls on War
Born to Fly by Michael Ferrari – rvw
Day of the Pelican by Katherine Paterson
Heart of a Shepherd by Rosanne Parry
Tropical Secrets by Margarita Engle – rvw

Review – The Rock and The River by Kekla Magoon

The Rock and The River
Kekla Magoon
Aladdin
283 p. (HC, author notes)

Summary
13 year-old Sam is caught between his father, a nonviolent Martin Luther King, Jr. supporter and his brother Stick, and 18 year-old member of the Black Panthers.

Sam relays events that lead up to and follow the death of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the beating of Stick’s friend, Bucky. He tells how these events affected someone who was connected to diametric factions that ultimately really wanted the same things.

My Thoughts
In the beginning, I had a little trouble getting into The Rock and The River. The voice was uneven, wavering between an adolescent and an adult sound. But as I continued reading, I realized that a 13 year-old IS wavering between those worlds. Just like Sam. As Sam learns more about the Civil Rights Movement, the voice starts settling and I “hear” more of him. The pace of the story moves quickly. We are instantly into the action and then pulled back and then back into the action. Sam wants a girlfriend and he wants his dad and his brother to stop fighting. He wants to stop having to choose between them.

Sam’s brother Stick’s voice was harder to get into. Of course, we only know of him through Sam. We know what Sam knows about Stick. And that’s the part of Stick’s life that affects him. Stick wants change, he wants his dad to take him seriously, he wants to make his own choices.

“It’s the rock and the river, you know? They serve each other, but they’re not the same thing.” (233)

The Rock and The River was all about choices: how they affect everything – whether you choose to do something or do nothing. Choose to demonstrate, ride the bus, drink from that fountain, go down that particular street, sit at that store’s counter, say yes sir or yes ma’am, answer to girl or boy – no matter your age, fight, resist, sing, cry…these are just a few of the choices that had to be made. Some are still being made.

The Rock and The River will grab you. I liked how Magoon showed the nonviolent movement as well as the Black Panther movement without too much romanticizing of either. I thought the emotions were true and the characters, especially Sam, believable. I look forward to sharing this one. 4 copies.

Other Reviews
Fuse 8s rvw of The Rock and The River
Color Online’s rvw of The Rock and The River
TheHappyNappyBookseller’s rvw of The Rock and The River

Review – Born to Fly by Michael Ferrari

Born To Fly
Michael Ferrari
Delacorte Press
224 p. (lib)

Summary
All of her life, Bird has wanted to fly. Her dad has been very encouraging and teaches her quite a lot about flying. He gets called as a fighter pilot during the war (WWII) and Bird is left to try and fit in with the other town children, who all think she is weird.

My Thoughts
Although Born to Fly is a WWII novel it focuses on another aspect of the war. Shortly after Pearl Harbor, Kenji, a displaced Japanese American, joins Bird’s school where he is immediately the outcast. The two loners don’t get along until they are forced to evade the town bully. They hang out and discover that evil forces are at work in the town. Kenji and his uncle are put on trial and only Bird can save him. But if she saves Kenji she puts her family in danger. What choice does she have?

Michael Ferrari captures the voice of a young girl and makes her sound believable. I thought the story moved quickly and the ending wrapped things up nicely but it wasn’t too overdone. 4 copies.

Review – Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugees in Cuba by Margarita Engle

Tropical Secrets
Margarita Engle
Henry Holt Books For Young Readers
198 pgs (Author notes included)

Summary
Daniel’s parents get enough money together to send him to America to escape the Holocaust. His ship gets turned away from New York and he ends up in Cuba. In Cuba, he meets Paloma and David, two people who help him keep hope alive that one day he will be re-united with his parents.

My Thoughts
Tropical Secrets is a verse novel told in alternating voices. We hear from Daniel, the main character, David, an older refugee, Paloma, a Cuban who tries to help the refugees, and El Gordo, Paloma’s father.

Tropical Secrets is historical fiction that takes place over almost three years. We arrive in Cuba with Daniel in June of 1939. He slowly learns to fit in: accepting clothing and food from David and Paloma. David has been in Cuba a long time and sells ice cream while Paloma’s father is a crooked official who takes money to let the ships land in Cuba.

The alternating voices were jarring to me. I felt that once I was “into” a character and hearing their voice, the story shifted to someone else and I would have to work my way back into that voice. It was helpful that the speaker’s names were listed when they spoke but it was also intrusive because even if the next page was the same speaker, the name was listed again.

The story itself was fascinating. I hadn’t realized how many people were turned away from the USA and Canada during the war. Can you imagine if your boat was sent back? Margarita Engle was able to extract some beauty from this tragedy. Here are some lines that resonated with me:

“…there are always the drums of passing footsteps…”

“Joy and truth both have a way of peeking through any dark curtain.”

“…the boy lost somewhere between the torment of memory and a few fragile shards of hope.”

Overall I found this short tale engaging. It offers another view of the Holocaust which I believe students will want to read. Eighth graders will read Night by Elie Wiesel and The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I’ll offer this one through book talks. I give it four copies.

Review – Fire by Kristin Cashore

Readin’
Fire
Kristin Cashore
Dial Books
461 pg (ARC)
Rdg time: 6 1/2 hrs. (almost straight through)
October 2009

Writin’
Fire is a human monster, born of a human mom and a monster dad. She never met her mom and she’s trying to live down her dad’s reputation. She lives with Archer and Brocker. Brocker is her substitute dad while Archer is her sometimes boyfriend. Monsters can read minds. They can change the mindsof others. They can also send their thoughts into others head. This ability earns Fire a call to the King’s City. King Nash, Prince Brigan, Prince Garan, and Princess Clara want her to come and help them as they prepare for war. They want to use Fire’s talents to spy on their enemies.

Rithmetic’
Although this is a prequel to Graceling, it is really nothing like it! Both books have Leck – here we see him as a child – but that’s where the similarities end. Fire and company know nothing of these Gracelings and though Fire and Leck have similar sounding powers – Leck’s power is really basic.

Brigan is my favorite male character so far this year – move over Mr. Darcy. The book is so engaging, I had a hard time putting it down, and when I did, I kept thinking about it. The last 100 or so pages found me crying off and on – they were so beautiful and well-written. Fire reads more like a love story than an action book. Yes, it had action and intrigue. Brigan was always going off to some battle front. Fire was always guarded by 6 0r 7 soldiers. Someone may have been killed in every chapter. There was also revenge and double crossing. But ultimately we follow Fire as she learns to love herself, learns to separate love from lust, learns what it means to love someone else.

I have some concerns with some of the subject matter – rape, sleeping around, unwanted pregnancy, morning after herbs, herbs to prevent pregnancy – seemed to have been more of that in this book than Graceling. Seemed a little preachy on Cashore’s part – we got her views on marriage in Graceling and Fire seemed to promote her views on sex.

Those concerns give me pause when it comes to rating this book. If it was an adult book – no hesitation – but it’s for young adults – 14 and above – at least that’s how it’s marketed. I’m gonna give it 4 copies with hesitation. I loved this book. I actually kept going back and re-reading parts of it. I had to read something else, at 2 in the morning, bcuz I couldn’t get my mind off of it. AARRGGH! BN a school librarian iz hard.

Review and Giveaway – When The Whistle Blows by Fran Cannon Slayton

When The Whistle Blows
Fran Cannon Slayton
Philomel/Penguin
159 pgs. (ARC)

Summary
Jimmy tells the history of his family. His father’s work with the railroads and how his dad, WP, never wanted any of the children to follow in his footsteps. But that’s what each boy dreamed of, it was in his blood. Another thing each boy wants is to belong to The Society – just like their fathers before them…

Format
Each chapter, with the exception of the first, starts on Halloween. It just so happens that All Hallow’s Eve is old WP’s birthday. Each year, Jimmy recounts the events of that day: focusing mostly on the tricks and the doings of “The Society”. It serves to move the story quickly but at the same time allows us to focus on the growing and changing relationship between Jimmy, his dad, and his brothers.

My Thoughts
I’ve read this book twice in as many months. The story rings true and the tales are honest, open and sometimes, heartbreaking. We meet Jimmy when he’s around 11 or 12. His brother Mike gets him outta bed and takes him on a secret adventure to see The Society in action. They see their dad, their brother Bill and some other townsmen. They’re in a circle around Uncle Dick who died just two days ago…

“I remember Dick…the day he met Aunt Mary…I never heard half of this stuff before. I knew he was a really great uncle, but…how come I never really knew?” (16)

We follow Jimmy through grade school. Laughing at the Halloween prank they barely survive on until he gets to the high school football team. Each year we see them grow older, Jimmy and WP.

“I cut my eyes back towards him and see just about the orneriest grin I’ve ever seen on a person. And even though I don’t really want to, I can’t help but crack a half smile myself. Because I know I’ll never understand that man.” (106)

Throughout the story, Jimmy continues his love affair with the railroad. He wants to be just like dad, and Mike and Bill. But his dad is just as adamant that he cannot do that.

“Promise me Jimmy…promise me you’ll…(122)

When the Whistle Blows is beautiful. We are reading this at school as part of our teacher’s book club. Look for thoughts from the teachers!

When The Whistle Blows book trailer with Fran Cannon Slayton

SIGNED ARC GIVEAWAY!

Fran Cannon Slayton is giving away a SIGNED ARC of When The Whistle Blows!
If you want to see for yourself what it’s all about – please enter!
Just leave a comment with your email address.
I would appreciate if you let me know if you review the book! One entry per person. US ONLY!

Review – Amulet: The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi

Amulet: The Stonekeeper
Kazu Kibuishi
Scholastic
186 pg, Graphic Novel

Summary
Emily and Navin move from their house of new things to an old house with nothing. The house is run-down and dirty and the neighbors swear it is haunted. The man who used to live there, disappeared one day. He just happens to be Emily and Navin’s great-grandfather. As they are trying to make the house livable, Emily finds this cool necklace that talks to her. She keeps it and the next day, their mother disappears. When they are looking for their mother, they go deep into the house where the stairs disappear behind them and they have nothing else to do but keep going – so they do.

My Thoughts
The Stonekeeper moves quickly through the story with lots of action. Emily and Navin have to make decisions on the spot under pressure. They make them the best they can and then move on. The drawings are AMAZING. They are detailed and colorful and you must look at each one because they help to move the story forward. I was thrilled by the way Kibuishi illustrated how the amulet “talked” to Emily. I give Amulet: The Stonekeeper, book 1 4 copies! Read it if you like fantasy, action, and great art!

About the Author
Kazu Kibuishi is the founder and editor of the Flight Anthologies, a critically acclaimed comics series, as well as the creator of Daisy Kutter: The Last Train, a winner of the YALSA Best Books for Young Adults Award.

Born in Tokyo, Japan, Kazu moved to the U.S. with his mother and brother when he was a child. He graduated from Film Studies at the University of California Santa Barbara, and then moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. He currently works as a full-time comic book artist.

Meet The Artist!
Kazu Kabuishi just released Amulet: The Stonekeeper’s Curse, book 2 and I’m excited about reading it. I wish I lived in San Francisco because he’s doing a signing at Nucleus Gallery at 1pm Saturday, September 12, 2009. That’s today! How cool is that? He is going sign his books and talk about his art! Kabuishi will be putting on a workshop on creating comics and when you’re done – you will have 10 pages done! I want to go !

Review – When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

Readin’
When You Reach Me
Rebecca Stead
Wendy Lamb Books
197 pgs.

2.5 hrs.

Writin’

We meet Miranda who is trying to figure things out: what’s going on between her and Sal? What’s going on between Richard and Mom? Does she need to get new friends? Where did this note come from and how did they know? That’s the main thing Miranda wants to unravel – who sent the note and how did they know these things would happen? She doesn’t want to think about the implications though and, of course, the more you don’t want to think about something, the more you do!

‘Rithmetic

Miranda is trying to help her mom get on The $20,000 Pyramid game show. Her mom is a para-legal for a small office and she dreams of being a lawyer. She holds monthly tenant meeting and writes letters to the proper people about all the problems “But nothing ever changes.” (13)

She pushes away her veil when she’s trying to focus and “can see the world as it really is, just for those few seconds before it settles down again…see all the beauty, and cruelty and sadness, and love.” (71)

Sal and Miranda are best friends, until one day they aren’t. And Miranda thinks she knows why but she doesn’t understand it.

“Do you even want to be friends at all?…he glared at his feet and said no…” (33)

Marcus is an enigma. Is he smarter than “genius kids like Jay Stringer…” (48) or is he a bully? Can he be both? Why does he notice Miranda sometimes but act like he doesn’t at other times? Common sense says stay away from him but Marcus quotes “common sense is just habit of thought. It’s how we’re used to thinking about things…” (51)

When Sal left Miranda, she found Annemarie, who was left by Julia. Miranda likes hanging with Annemarie but Miranda might like someone who might like Annemarie and that makes Miranda a little mad. “…sitting…in that puddle of meanness….Maybe I couldn’t stand for her to have so many people, and to be able to draw and to cut bread on top of that.” (112)

And through all this meeting and breaking apart the notes keep coming. Little tiny bits of paper. Little tiny writing. How did they know? How could they know? And how did it all fit together?

The writing in this book was quietly beautiful. Little things that made me pause and think.

“…it’s simple to love someone…it’s hard to know when you need to say it out loud.” (149)

I have so many pages turned down. So many sentences surrounded by little dots (that’s how I mark quotes).

The ending comes at just the right moment. Not too slow with you thinking it should already be over…not too fast and you wondering what you missed. I especially loved the last chapter: Parting Gifts. It makes you go back and look and speculate and wonder and go hmm.

I enjoyed this book. It was awesome. It’s a realistic sci-fi type book. Stead (pronounced like dead, fed) wove elements from A Wrinkle in Time into the book so while you are reading and thinking about Miranda, other parts of your brain are trying to tie the pieces of that book into this book. Course, her sentences don’t run-on like mine! I enjoyed getting to know the characters and understanding why they acted the way they did – except for Louisa, Sal’s mom, still don’t know her. But all in all, this is definitely 4 copies good. Book club good even. It’s a must read. And read again!

Reviews

The Reading Zone – When You Reach Me

Literate Lives – When You Reach Me

A Year Of Reading – When You Reach Me

Rebecca Stead at Random House – Author Spotlight – great first line!

Review – When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

Readin’
When You Reach Me
Rebecca Stead
Wendy Lamb Books
197 pgs.

2.5 hrs.

Writin’

We meet Miranda who is trying to figure things out: what’s going on between her and Sal? What’s going on between Richard and Mom? Does she need to get new friends? Where did this note come from and how did they know? That’s the main thing Miranda wants to unravel – who sent the note and how did they know these things would happen? She doesn’t want to think about the implications though and, of course, the more you don’t want to think about something, the more you do!

‘Rithmetic

Miranda is trying to help her mom get on The $20,000 Pyramid game show. Her mom is a para-legal for a small office and she dreams of being a lawyer. She holds monthly tenant meeting and writes letters to the proper people about all the problems “But nothing ever changes.” (13)

She pushes away her veil when she’s trying to focus and “can see the world as it really is, just for those few seconds before it settles down again…see all the beauty, and cruelty and sadness, and love.” (71)

Sal and Miranda are best friends, until one day they aren’t. And Miranda thinks she knows why but she doesn’t understand it.

“Do you even want to be friends at all?…he glared at his feet and said no…” (33)

Marcus is an enigma. Is he smarter than “genius kids like Jay Stringer…” (48) or is he a bully? Can he be both? Why does he notice Miranda sometimes but act like he doesn’t at other times? Common sense says stay away from him but Marcus quotes “common sense is just habit of thought. It’s how we’re used to thinking about things…” (51)

When Sal left Miranda, she found Annemarie, who was left by Julia. Miranda likes hanging with Annemarie but Miranda might like someone who might like Annemarie and that makes Miranda a little mad. “…sitting…in that puddle of meanness….Maybe I couldn’t stand for her to have so many people, and to be able to draw and to cut bread on top of that.” (112)

And through all this meeting and breaking apart the notes keep coming. Little tiny bits of paper. Little tiny writing. How did they know? How could they know? And how did it all fit together?

The writing in this book was quietly beautiful. Little things that made me pause and think.

“…it’s simple to love someone…it’s hard to know when you need to say it out loud.” (149)

I have so many pages turned down. So many sentences surrounded by little dots (that’s how I mark quotes).

The ending comes at just the right moment. Not too slow with you thinking it should already be over…not too fast and you wondering what you missed. I especially loved the last chapter: Parting Gifts. It makes you go back and look and speculate and wonder and go hmm.

I enjoyed this book. It was awesome. It’s a realistic sci-fi type book. Stead (pronounced like dead, fed) wove elements from A Wrinkle in Time into the book so while you are reading and thinking about Miranda, other parts of your brain are trying to tie the pieces of that book into this book. Course, her sentences don’t run-on like mine! I enjoyed getting to know the characters and understanding why they acted the way they did – except for Louisa, Sal’s mom, still don’t know her. But all in all, this is definitely 4 copies good. Book club good even. It’s a must read. And read again!

Reviews

The Reading Zone – When You Reach Me

Literate Lives – When You Reach Me

A Year Of Reading – When You Reach Me

Rebecca Stead at Random House – Author Spotlight – great first line!

Review – Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

Readin’

Wintergirls

Laurie Halse Anderson

Viking/Penguin

278 pgs.

3 1/2 hrs. (not one you can speed through)

Writin’

Lia lives with her dad, stepmom Jennifer, and little sister Emma. She chose to live with them after being released from the clinic. For anexorics. She’s still struggling with her emotions and her weight. Then she finds out that her former best friend is dead. This sends Lia into a downward spiral as she tries to find answers to who she is supposed to be now.

Rithmetic’

I gave this book to the counselors at our school and all the Language Arts teachers because of some articles I had read which I link to at the bottom of this post. We were supposed to meet and talk about it. I received one email from a staff member mentioning that she didn’t like this book and that she would never let her daughter read it.

Three of the 7 LA teachers showed up to discuss Wintergirls. Overall, we liked the book but we thought it might be too intense for most of our middle grade students. Two of us had read and enjoyed Speak and was expecting a similar sense of humor/sarcasm to run through Wintergirls and were disappointed in its bleakness. Although Elijah introduced a comic element to Wintergirls, it wasn’t enough.

T1 – Dr. Nancy talks too much, never actually listens, everyone seems to be looking out for themselves which left Lia trying to lookout for herself because no one else was. Not sure what triggered disorder, seems as if nothing ever happened to her. Anderson didn’t describe the body as much as I thought and it was missing her sense of humor.

T1’s daughter – Lia seems pessimistic, depressed and self-absorbed (after hearing part of book read aloud)

T2 – Made me think of what I was eating. Lia was not a sympathetic character and the parents never seem to know what’s going on, they are so out of touch.

T1 – Makes you wonder if imperfect parents can have normal children. Are my kids going to grow up with a lot of problems because of mistakes I made or things I said?

T3 – I thought Elijah would prove to be more trustworthy. Lia seems to need someone to trust. I didn’t really like the characters. Emma was the only non-whiny person. She might have issues later though because Jennifer told Lia not to let her have chips and then Lia gave them to her but told her not to tell.

All – I think some of the more mature 8th graders could handle this. Not really sure if this would push them towards disorder or away. It would be great to discuss with them. They may like the drama surrounding Lia.

Me – I can’t really say I “liked” this book or I “enjoyed” reading it because I didn’t. It was good. The emotions seemed dead-on. The cross-outs added to Lia’s trying to be in control of herself. Elijah added a much needed counter-balance to Lia. Anderson is the best I’ve found at writing sarcasm. I thought the book could serve as a lesson to grown-ups – when we push children, they will often tell us what we want to hear. They know when we are looking for a particular answer. Our hidden agendas…are not hidden at all.

The formatting in this book was fantastic. I felt it told it’s on story: the small font when Lia was thinking of Cassie’s last night, the numbering of the chapters with either a double zero or just a zero, the italics when Lia was looking back, when Lia is reading the pro-aneroxia websites, and the cross-outs…

“I’m hungry I need to eat
I hate eating
I need to eat
I love not-eating.” 145

This book really packed a wallop. Like we mentioned, there was some humor but not enough.

“What a bitch, it’s like she thinks she’s your mother or something.” 140

Which is Elijah talking to Lia about Chloe, Lia’s mother. T2 wondered about Halse Anderson’s choice for the name Elijah. We looked it up and Elijah was a prophet he wanted people to choose, to stop wavering. Elijah tells Lia to choose her family not him…We don’t know if it meant anything though. I tweeted her the question, we’ll see if she answers.

I will put this book in our library, probably four copies cause I think it should be a discussion book. I don’t think I’ll class booktalk it though. I may just give it to readers who I think will appreciate it. It’s a hard book to evaluate. I really think it would do well to give this to parents. At Anderson’s Bookshop signing Laurie Halse Anderson said a girl thanked her for writing the book because she was able to give it to her mom. It could open a lot of eyes.

Have you read this book? What do you think?

Articles

New York Times – The Troubling Allure of Eating Disorders

Jezebel – Wintergirls: Possibly Triggering, Definitely Thought-Provoking

New York Times – Skin and Bones

Jezebel – Are Teen Girls Really That Fragile?

Fearless: An Interview With Laurie Halse Anderson

Reviews

Maw Books Blog

Reading Rants

YPulse – In Defense of Wintergirls

Laurie Halse Anderson talks about why she wrote Wintergirls (second video)

I’m not sure if I’ve said all I want to say about this book. It’s still floating around my head. Little pieces making themselves known, causing me to stop and think about them.