It's Elementary: Bamboozled on Beaver Island

Wow, I haven't written a book review since Banned Books Week, back in September.  Color me sheepish - especially since I'd promised a few authors reviews of their books.

It's spring break around here this week, so I'm only working one of my jobs this week.  (Still 40 hours over five days, but I get to sleep in most days and leave early a couple times.)  And I am actually making good on promises.

Today, let me tell you about the first book in the Holly Wild series by Michigan author Lori Taylor.

Statistics
Checkouts: Just talked a student into it last week!
Typical reader: Michigan middle elementary children
Source: The author, at the Outback Art Fair last summer

Synopsis: Holly Wild wants to do something heroic.  Will she have the opportunity to do so with her friends on a trip to Beaver Island?

My Goodreads rating: 5 stars

This is an illustrated novel in the vein of the ever-popular Diary of a Wimpy Kid or Dork Diaries, but significantly less "woe am I" than your average contemporary kids' fiction diary.  Sure, Holly is not necessarily popular, but she doesn't wallow in it.  This is a strong female character, with a healthy interest in adventure and science!  Holly likes squishy, icky, gross things, and can use the scientific method to figure things out.  Rejoice.

I am not big on mysteries, and I will say that I winced when I realized that there was a mystery to solve.  However, this won me over with how fun and adventurous the escapades of Holly, her grandmother, and her friends Sierra and Tierra (twins, obviously) are.  It also encourages the reader to get out and explore the natural world.

This is the first book in a series of at least three novels, all set in Michigan.  It's perfect for children in second through fourth grades.

It's Elementary: In Our Mothers' House

It's been a while since I've written a review of a children's picture book!  What I have chosen to talk about today is interesting on many levels.  It's by a Michigan author.  And it's been challenged and banned in several school libraries in various places across the country.  That always makes for an attention-getting topic.

Let me tell you about In Our Mothers' House by Patricia Polacco, and why it's caused a fuss.

Statistics
Checkouts: Not owned by charter school library; own, but not yet checked out at the public/school library
Typical reader: People interested in banned books; fans of Ms. Polacco's works; families that are different
Source: I read it while I was cataloging it at the public/school library.  I admit that I've polished off a few picture books that way, while waiting for files to load or whatnot.  Guilty as charged!

Synopsis: Two women adopt three children and raise them in what seems to the children to be a perfectly normal, happy household.  Some neighbors don't accept them for some reason, but in this house, different does not mean wrong.

My Goodreads rating: 4 stars

This is a pleasant story about a family that adopts three ethnically diverse children and raises them in a warm, fun, loving home.  It follows the family from when the first daughter (the narrator) is adopted, through to the mothers' passing and how the son's family now lives in the house.  It's a very feel-good tale.

The real world, before and after the book, has not been so kind.  Ms. Polacco wrote this book after visiting a class and being inspired by the children she met.  That might sound sweet, but this story was pretty reactionary.  The children in the class she was visiting was reading essays to her, about their families.  One girl got up to read her essay, but was immediately asked by an aide to sit down.

"No dear...you don't come from a real family...sit down!" said the aide.

The girl came from a family of two mothers and two adopted siblings.

Ms. Polacco went back to her hotel room and wrote In Our Mothers' House that night.  (The account is taken from a guest post by Ms. Polacco on the American Civil Liberties Union's "Blog of Rights."  Read the full article here.)

There are apparently plenty of people who feel the same way the aide does.  The book has been pulled from library shelves in Texas and Utah.  The Davis School District in Utah kept the book behind the circulation counter and required parental permission for checkout; there has been a news-making lawsuit filed against the school district.  Parents there had complained that the book normalizes a lifestyle that they don't agree with.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and parents have every right to say what their underage children can and cannot read.  But they should not infringe upon others' rights to read what they please.  The librarians in the district had bought the book for the collection because there are students that come from homes with two mommies or two daddies.  Yet the community continues to treat the children as if they do not have the right to feel normal or happy.

Does your local library offer books to make everyone feel like they are a welcome part of society?  Or do you have a tale of a locally banned book, that could have possibly helped someone feel better about themselves?

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Don't forget to enter my drawing for a $25 Biblio gift card!  You'll find the entry form here.  The giveaway ends January 31.

Marvelous Michigan Month: Calumet Copper Creatures

The book I'd like to share with you today is a good one for the Halloween season.  It's Calumet Copper Creatures, part of the Michigan Chillers series by Johnathan Rand.

Statistics
Michigan connection: Johnathan Rand is a Michigan author.  All Michigan Chillers are set in Michigan, and Calumet Copper Creatures is set in, go figure, Calumet.

Once again, "A" marks Calumet.
Screenshot of Google Maps.

Checkouts: Coming soon to the charter school library.
Series checkouts: 131 checkouts over 14 books!
Typical reader: Upper elementary students, often those who have outgrown Goosebumps.
Source: Snowbound Books

Synopsis: Mikayla and her brother, Calvin, accidentally fall into an abandoned copper mine near Calumet.  There, they encounter horrific monsters made of copper.  Will they escape?

My Goodreads rating: 3 stars

I haven't read other books in this series before, but my students love them.  Without asking them for an explanation, I would wager that they like the thrill of the action and creepiness.  And I did find the action in this book pretty thrilling.  It was a page-turner, in those parts of the book.

The foreshadowing, on the other hand, needs work.  There's hinting at what's to come, and then there's how this book hits the reader over the head with a clue-by-four at the end of every chapter.  It's especially bad before the monster is revealed.  Michigan Chillers are written for a fourth grade reading level.  Upper elementary students don't need to be insulted with this sort of ham-fisted delivery.

This really isn't a character-driven novel.  There's not much to say about the two siblings that go looking for a ghost town one afternoon and fall down a mine shaft.  If you're looking for character development beyond "Wow, we won't do that again," you're looking in the wrong place.  It's definitely more driven by the adventure and scariness.

Marvelous Michigan Month: Prairie Evers

I am particularly excited about today's review for Marvelous Michigan Month.  This is one of the books that inspired putting together this feature, along with Haylee's Treasure (among others).  This author is actually one of my patrons!  I have not had the opportunity to meet her yet, as her local library is one of our rural branches/outposts.  I do look forward to doing so sometime, though, be it at a library or at the cafe she and her husband operate.

Let me tell you about Prairie Evers by Ellen Airgood.

Statistics
Michigan connection: Ms. Airgood is a Michigan author.
Checkouts: Coming soon to both libraries
Typical reader: Farm-raised, home-schooled, and previously home-schooled children would likely get the most enjoyment out of this novel.  It's also great for kids who have had to, or will have to, move to a new town and school.
Source: Snowbound Books

Synopsis: This is the story of a tumultuous year in the life of young Prairie Evers, who moved to a farm in upstate New York and will no longer be home-schooled by her beloved grandmother, a former school teacher.  She feels like her chickens: cooped up and subject to the pecking order of the school her parents send her to.  But she will make a friend, and learn much about life.

My Goodreads rating: 5 stars

This is such a nice, sweet book.  If you're looking for a feel-good book that still does have problems for the characters to face, this is a good choice.

The eponymous protagonist of the novel is smart, kind, thoughtful, and spunky.  She's pretty resistant to change, though.  This provides the conflict of the novel, when her grandmother, who has been her teacher and closest friend, decides that life on the farm in New York isn't for her, and moves back to North Carolina.  Her parents are willing to finish out the school year at home before sending Prairie to school, but between needing to make ends meet and some wicked town gossip, Prairie must face the music and go to the dreaded public school instead of staying home all day with her new flock of chickens.

This is a good book for both sides of the argument on homeschooling versus conventional schooling.  There are pros and cons to each, and even young Prairie can see and contemplate that.  She had a good case for homeschooling in North Carolina, being far from the school and having a trained teacher available to educate her.  But in New York, she will learn that going to school has such benefits as being part of society and making friends.

The friendship with Ivy is the real adventure.  Prairie never really had an opportunity to make friends her own age before, so this is totally new to her.  There are ups and downs, and Ivy certainly has problems of her own to deal with, but Prairie is a determined optimist who wants everything to turn out right.

This is a great book for upper elementary students.


UPDATE: A few hours after I posted this review, I cataloged and processes two copies of this book for the school/public library.  When I said it was coming soon, I didn't think I meant today!  :)

Marvelous Michigan Month: The Disappearance of Dinosaur Sue

Wow, this month is just flying by!  I hope I'll get through all the books I have planned for Marvelous Michigan Month.  Whether I do or not, I think I'll make this a regular feature once a month.  It's good to be familiar with Michigan books for my jobs, and it's fun to share these books with a broader audience who might not otherwise find these wonderful works.

Today, I would like to tell you about the first in a series of mysteries for children, written by a very knowledgeable person.  This book is The Disappearance of Dinosaur Sue, the premiere book in PaleoJoe's Dinosaur Detective Club series by PaleoJoe (Paleontologist Joe Kchodl) and Wendy Caszatt-Allen.

Statistics
Michigan connection: PaleoJoe is a Michigan author.
Checkouts: Coming soon to the charter school library
Typical reader: Elementary students interested in dinosaurs
Source: The author, when he visited the school/public library!

PaleoJoe holds a replica tooth of a Tyrannosaurus rex.
Photo credit: the school/public library where I work.

Synopsis: Junior paleontologist Shelly Brooks, a lively, enthusiastic eleven-year-old, helps PaleoJoe investigate the disappearance of Dinosaur Sue from the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.  Dinosaur Sue is the most complete skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus Rex ever found.

My Goodreads rating: 5 stars

This is a work of fiction, though PaleoJoe is a real paleontologist, and Dinosaur Sue really is the most complete skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus Rex ever found, and is really on display in the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.  A lot of the facts about her in the book are true.  But she has never been stolen.

I had initially given this book a 4-star rating, but upon reflection, bumped it up to five stars.  This is a very readable, fun, informational story.  I'm happy that the protagonist is a girl interested in paleontology, even if she is a bit annoying.  And for a mystery, I liked it.  This, and the other four books in the series, will be great additions to the library collection.

PaleoJoe has been traveling across the state and the Midwest to schools and libraries, offering educational programs about paleontology and dinosaurs.  If you have the opportunity to take in one of his programs - or book one, if you work for a school or library - do so!  He is very informative, if fast-paced.  I learned a lot, ranging from how small a Tyrannosaurus rex's brain really was, to how "dinosaurs" are really only the ones that walked on land; pterodactyls were flying lizards, and plesiosaurs were aquatic lizards.  For more information about PaleoJoe, his work, and his programs, please visit his web site.

Marvelous Michigan Month: Haylee's Treasure

Welcome to my Marvelous Michigan Month, where I'll discuss books of all sorts dealing with my home state!  There will be books about Michigan, books set in Michigan, and books by Michigan authors.  Some will be for little kids, others will be for older kids or teens, and some will even be for adults.  I might even treat you to a movie - at least, a review of one.

Let's start with a book for upper elementary students.  It's called Haylee's Treasure, written by Mara MacKay.  It recently won a State History Award from the Historical Society of Michigan for its informative and engaging story based on the history of the Upper Peninsula’s Munising area.

Statistics
Michigan connections: Ms. MacKay lives in Michigan, as does illustrator Stephanie Bajema.  Haylee's Treasure takes place mainly in Munising, Michigan.

"A" points to Munising. Screenshot of Google Maps.

Checkouts: Coming next spring to the charter school library, when the second edition comes out!
Typical reader: Upper elementary students looking for a Michigan story
Source: The author!

Synopsis: Haylee and her dad take a summer trip north to visit his parents (her grandparents) in rural Upper Michigan.  Despite her early trepidation, Haylee enjoys finding treasures of all kinds in the small town of Munising.

My Goodreads rating: 4 stars (5 when the second edition comes out!)

As you'll read more about in the upcoming interview with Ms. MacKay, there is a really great idea behind this book, and the sequels to come.  Haylee's Treasure focuses on parts of the history, art, culture, scenery, and artifacts of Munising.  Inspired by an heirloom Munising bowl from her grandmother, Ms. MacKay researched the bowl and found herself wanting to write about the bowl factory and the surrounding area.  Creating the book was also a collaborative effort, with many people contributing to the art, knowledge, and much more.

This novel is a gentle read, very much a slice-of-life exploration of what a remote Michigan town offers.  Haylee learns a lot, and readers of all ages can as well.  It is written for about a 3rd or 4th grade reading level, but would appeal to a wide audience.  The art is beautiful and realistic.  There are even historical photos included.

Let me explain my rating, and why it will change when the second edition comes out (expected Spring 2013).  When I read the first edition, I came across a bit of a stumbling block in trying to read it.  The writing was a bit unpolished and needed proofreading.  For example, verb tenses would change in the middle of a paragraph, or even in a sentence.  But I knew this had a great story and idea at its base, and deserved to be improved.  Having met Ms. MacKay this summer at a summer reading event, I dropped her a line, offering to help edit.  I received a "Yes!" and then my boyfriend and I took on the task of proofreading and editing.  He deserves the credit on editing the book for the second printing.  :)  I'm looking forward to seeing the revised edition in a few months, and sharing it with my students.  See what a collaborative effort this is?

Haylee's Treasure is independently published.  There are places all over Michigan where you can find this book for sale, as well as in a couple of Minnesotan stores.  For a store carrying the book, click here.  Otherwise, the book can be ordered directly from Old Wood Press at the web site.

No-nonsense Nonfiction: Sky High review

This week was "Young Authors," where area students get to meet a children's author and do all sorts of fun stuff.  Marissa Moss was the featured author, and I got to meet her at a book signing one evening.  She signed all of her books we have in the school collection, plus the one I bought at the event.  The newest book is the one I'd like to tell you about today: Sky High: The True Story of Maggie Gee.

Statistics
Checkouts: New to the library
Typical reader: Early elementary children who like airplanes and/or pilots, or those in need of a biography
Source: Personally purchased from Snowbound Books

Synopsis: Maggie Gee tells her life story, of how she became a pilot for the WASP during World War II.

My Goodreads rating: 4 stars

This is one of those books I had to buy after hearing the author talk about writing it.  Ms. Moss heard about Maggie Gee and contacted her, since the two lived in the same general vicinity.  Ms. Gee agreed to tell her story, and the author created this book.  It took several years to get it published, but the timing when it was published was perfect - the WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots) were finally being recognized in 2009 by Congress with the Congressional Gold Medal.

Maggie Gee's story is very inspirational.  The narrative speaks of her dreams of becoming a pilot and of reaching that goal.  She made her not-yet-true-stories become real.  That's beautiful.  The illustrations of this biographical picture book are lovely, but the most gorgeous thing is how it encourages children to pursue their ambitions.

This book can be tied nicely to many lesson plans.  Maggie Gee was one of only two Asian-American women in the WASP, and part of the book touches briefly on that, when she meets a male pilot who clearly worries that she's a spy or something for the Japanese.  Discuss race relations during World War II with the students, as appropriate to their age.  Talk about what services the WASP provided during the war.  Did you know that these women were shot at with live ammunition during in-air fight exercises, and some died due to friendly fire?  Or, take a more general approach and teach students about women's efforts during the war.  There's a lot of material out there, and this is a good place to start.

It's Elementary: The Hop review

Today is Earth Day, and I feel like reviewing The Hop by Sharelle Byars Moranville is a great way to honor it.

Statistics
Checkouts: Not owned by the library.
Source: I found an Advance Reader's Copy (ARC) at Snowbound Books.  The ARC was free and I am not paid for this review.

Synopsis: Tad is a toad whose home, Toadville-by-Tumbledown, is in grave danger of being destroyed by a monstrous earth-eating machine.  Taylor is a girl whose grandmother lives by a beautiful pond that is going to be filled in to make room for a strip mall.  Tad and Taylor's paths cross as they both try to save what they love.

My Goodreads rating: 4 stars

Usually with ARCs, you miss out on the illustrations, pictures, maps, and other visual aids of a book.  Not so with the ARC of The Hop, and I'm so glad.  The illustrations by Niki Daly are perfect.  They not only complement, they complete the story written by Ms. Moranville.  The drawings add a lot of charm to the book, too.

The narrative itself is great.  Most of the chapters alternate between focusing on Tad and Taylor, in third-person limited.  Each has a distinct feel, and Tad's thoughts are toad-like without being insultingly simple (for an example of oversimplified animal narrative, try The Case of the Library Monster, reviewed earlier this month).  It's fun reading about how close the two are to meeting up several times, yet missing each other, until everything comes together.

This is a retelling of the folktale "The Frog Prince," but it's different and unique enough to be interesting.  And that goes beyond the fact that Tad is a toad, not a frog!  Taylor wins her royal title in a competition.  Tad doesn't want to be a human for the long run, and in fact doesn't know that this will be a side-effect of kissing a queen to save his home.  Also, there's some wonderful conservation leanings to the tale.

If there's one issue I have with the book, it's the pacing.  There are plenty of red herrings, twists of fate, and near-misses.  I think a child could easily get frustrated, and tire of the book.  Know your child or student's attention span before recommending this one.

Reading to the students: Tonight on the Titanic review

A couple months ago, I started visiting the elementary classrooms during non-library time to read to the students.  Since I'm only at the school in my role as librarian one day a week, most of this is voluntary.  But, it's important to read to kids, and I hope to get them interested in other books they might not otherwise read.  I started off with something everyone could love, James Herriot's Treasury for Children, and moved on to reading books that complement the teachers' lesson plans.  Sometimes, it's a bit of a losing battle, like when teaching Kindergartners about transportation and attempting to give the "princesses" positive female role models by reading a book about Amelia Earhart - they were quite nonplussed - but other times, I find winners.

In December, I reviewed the first in the Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne.  I'm currently revisiting the series in honor of the tragedy that struck in the North Atlantic Ocean 100 years ago today.  Last week I read it to the Kindergartners and third graders; I'll read it to most of the other classes in the next few days.

Statistics
Checkouts: 3
Series checkouts (30 books owned): 125
Source: Local library sale

Synopsis: One rainy night, Jack and Annie visit the tree house and find a little bewitched terrier.  To break the spell, they need four gifts.  The first is from a ship lost at sea.  This brings them to the R.M.S. Titanic on the night it sank.

My Goodreads rating: 5 stars

I've said it before and I'll say it again: this is a great series.  It's a great mix of adventure and history.  And the kids love the books.  To paraphrase the Kix cereal commercials, "Kid tested, librarian approved."

In reading this story to the students, I was impressed by their knowledge of the Titanic disaster.  Kindergartners knew that most of a glacier is below water.  A third grader knew that other ships nearby had ignored the Titanic's distress flares because the ship often had parties with fireworks.  I'm looking forward to what the other classes will already know.

There's a funny coincidence between this book and pop culture.  One of our protagonists here is named Jack - just like the character played by Leonardo DiCaprio in the 1990s movie about the famous disaster by James Cameron.  It's hard to keep from laughing when you're half-expecting little Annie to tell her big brother, "I'll never let you go, Jack!"

I had a glacier from the local ice cream stand on April 14, in honor of the Titanic.

It's Elementary: The Case of the Library Monster

It's spring break, and time to play catch-up!  My apologies for being an inconsistent blogger.  Today's review is of The Case of the Library Monster, part of The Buddy Files series by Dori Hillestad Butler.

Statistics
Checkouts: Coming soon to the library
Typical reader: Middle-grade elementary students who like dogs
Source: Personally purchased from the Scholastic Book Fair

Synopsis: Buddy is a therapy dog at a school library.  One day he hears a noise in the bookshelves and finds himself face to face with a strange monster.  What is it?  Where did it come from?

My Goodreads rating: 3 stars

This is actually book 5 in the series, but the story stands alone very well without prior knowledge of Buddy's adventures.  It's episodic, and I like that quality in a kid's book, especially in a library with a tiny book budget.  I don't have to track down the first four to make it worthwhile.

Buddy is the narrator of the story.  On the one hand, this should really appeal to many kids.  I know that I liked that sort of book when I was young and related better to animals than to people.  But on the other hand, it's a really annoying voice.  My sympathies to parents that read this to/with their young ones.  Imagine Dug from the movie Up narrating an entire story.  It's not pretty.

My name is Dug. I have just met you, and I love you.

Despite the narration, this is fairly realistic fiction.  The humans cannot understand Buddy, and he behaves likes a dog.  There's information about what the monster is from a book that a student reads to Buddy.  He can't solve everything about the mystery, but through his doggy actions he can bring about some resolution to the mystery.

Most Disappointing Books of 2011

Life's too short to read bad books.  They're sometimes unavoidable; we've all had to read a book for a class at some point that we absolutely couldn't stand.  But once you get past the requirements, there's no reason to waste your time on books that aren't worth reading.

Here are the books I simply could not finish in 2011.

It's Elementary: When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

This book won the Newbery Medal in 2010.  Normally, that's a sure sign of quality.  You can typically rely on books that win the medal, or honor (runners-up), to be excellent.  When You Reach Me just bored me, though.  I put it down at about page 39.

No-Nonsense Nonfiction: In the Company of Cheetahs by S. K. Niel

Oh, I wanted to like this book!  I love cheetahs, and practically did a happy dance in the public library when I found this on the shelves.  Unfortunately, I couldn't get even ten pages into this book.  I really wanted to read about the Cheetah Conservation Fund and its work.  This is badly in need of proofreading!  I could not get past the horrible writing or the overuse/misuse of italics.

Guilty Pleasures: Hit List by Laurell K. Hamilton

(Sorry, this one gets a little long and rant-y.)

I put up with the Anita Blake series as long as I could.  (Granted, I started reading the series only a couple years ago, but I read 19 and a half books.)  The first several books, written before 2000, were really good.  Anita was an interesting character - a strong heroine that could really kick butt, and had high morals.  Back then, she was a good necromancer who had a lot of plots surrounding her job for a company that helps settles wills and the like by raising zombies to answer questions and such.  She was a love interest to a powerful vampire in her hometown of St. Louis, Jean-Claude, who she inadvertently helped into power in the excellent first book, Guilty Pleasures.  A few books in, a hot new guy by the name of Richard Zeeman entered the picture.  He was not only hot, but also a closeted werewolf who was powerful enough that Anita didn't realize for most of the book that he was a werewolf.  A love triangle emerges, then a power triangle, bonding the necromancer, werewolf, and vampire together.

Then around 2000, Laurell K. Hamilton went nuts.  There's an interesting obsession with rape that crops up in both this series (despite the author's insistence to the contrary, we fans know that when Micah didn't take "no" for an answer in Narcissus in Chains, it was rape) and in the first book of the Meredith Gentry series.  The series took a turn from good plots and enjoyable writing to erotica with a dash of plot.  One or two books after this were okay to good, such as Skin Trade.

I kept holding out hope for the series because I liked Anita Blake so much as a character, despite how much I hated what the author was doing to her.  After the nineteenth book (Bullet), I was fed up with the lack of plot - or in that book, the recycling of old plot - and the lack of proofreading/fact-checking against previous novels.  But then I read good reviews of this year's release, Hit List.  It features Edward, the all-human, mostly-psychopath, bounty hunter that trained Anita and would love nothing more than to have a fight to the death with her someday.  I gave it a shot.

Really, I got two-thirds of the way through this before I gave up.  I was probably being far too generous with my time on this one.  But then the book introduces a character for a second time, and when a mixed-color weretiger up and loses one of his established colors, 100 pages after he's been established, I just can't take anymore.  Plus, Edward's been pretty much neutered.  But hey, that's what this series has gone and done with every flipping male in the series.


Don't worry.  Laurell K. Hamilton hates her fans as much as we hate her.  I'm glad I never bought one of her books.  She has nothing but contempt for her readers, and there's proof on her web site.

Reading what the students read: The Magic Tree House

OMG, it's a post on a Wednesday!  Today was the last day of school before winter vacation, and I survived not only the library times with wired students and a few class parties, but also got done checking in and cataloging books in a timely enough manner to read a book, get home, and write this review before 9 p.m.  Be amazed.

My elementary students adore the Magic Tree House series.  It's written for about a second grade reading level, but the Kindergarten teacher introduced her class to them and her students just love to check these books out and bring them home to read with a parent.  Bless her heart, she got a bunch of the series from Scholastic, let the students choose one book for Christmas, and gave me the rest for the library!  What an awesome present.

With all that in mind, I decided to take ten minutes and read the first in the series.  Here's my review before I end up typing more words than are in the book!

Statistics
Checkouts, Dinosaurs Before Dark: 7
Series checkouts: 49 (over ten books, before the new additions)
Typical reader: Any elementary student, especially K-3
Sources: Various

Synopsis: Jack and his little sister Annie discover a tree house full of books.  When they point to a picture in a book, they find themselves in a new place!  Good thing there's a book with a picture of their hometown, so they can return.  In the first adventure, they go back to the Cretaceous Era.

My Goodreads rating: 5 stars

This series really is cute, and appropriate for all elementary students!  Jack and Annie are curious adventurers, with distinct personalities that I could get a feel for in just the first book.  The use of a brother and sister helps to appeal to both boys and girls, which is great.

There are two awesome things about these books.  First, they're educational.  Jack and Annie learn about what they encounter, with both their experiences and the books from the tree house.  Second, the books don't pander like some at this reading level do.  You're not going to have an explanation in every story about how Jack and Annie found the tree house, and what it does, blah blah blah.  There's a simple page or so in every subsequent volume with a quick explanation about what happens in this series.  The Magic Tree House series lacks the boring repetition I've found in series like Junie B. Jones or the Baby-Sitters Club: Little Sister.  You're not wasting any of the story itself on a recap of "last week's episode," or whatever.

There are even Magic Tree House Research Guide volumes that complement many of the chapter books, full of facts about the topics mentioned in the matching novel.  Fabulous.

It's Elementary: The Wizard of Dark Street review

My little naming scheme for books suitable for children is quite appropriate for this review.  The Wizard of Dark Street by Shawn Thomas Odyssey is a mystery novel.

Statistics
Checkouts: New to the library
Typical reader: Children who enjoy the Harry Potter series, or like mysteries
Source: Superiorland Preview Center

Synopsis: Oona Crate is a Natural Magician, born with the rare gift of being able to cast magic at will, rather than having to learn to do so.  But due to some unfortunate past events surrounding her magic use, she wants to give up being her uncle's apprentice and become a detective like her father was.  The evening she signs the paperwork to give up her apprenticeship and meets the candidates for the position, however, her uncle is stabbed by a magical dagger and disappears.  Whodunit?  Is her uncle, the Wizard of Dark Street, still alive?

My Goodreads rating: 4 stars

I must say, I love this cover.  It actually completely fits the story!  You have Oona and her magical pet raven, Deacon, on her shoulder, in front of the Wizard's house.  The house is pretty much just as the prose describes it, complete with all its eccentricities.

The pace of the book is a bit slow, particularly for the first third of the book, and some young readers may be put off by that.  In place of a fast-paced read is some great world-building.  I'm almost hesitant to describe it, because so much of the effort is put toward the setting that to do so seems like a bit of a spoiler.  The gist of it is that Dark Street is a magical location that for one minute every night, when the clock strikes midnight, a huge set of gates opens to connect Dark Street to the mundane world.

Once you do get into the meat of the plot, it's a pretty good mystery.  Or rather, it's a pretty good set of mysteries, possibly intertwined.  I'm not much of a reader of this sort of novel, but the twists and added information kept me guessing until the caper was solved.

It's Elementary: Zombie Winter review

Yesterday was the first library day of the new school year.  Wow, was it busy!  There were scheduling mishaps, library etiquette to teach, shelves to straighten throughout the day, and a Scholastic order to catalog and shelve.  What happens on the shelf with R. L. Stine's Goosebumps series is usually a good indicator of my day, and at one point, it was a complete mess, with the series going every which way and partially in a heap.  Yup, the new 2nd graders were excited to be able to check those previously taboo (by teacher ruling) spooky books that have remained popular since my youth.

A new book is also on that shelf as of yesterday.  I read it before the big day, and now that I have some breathing room, here's my review!  This is Zombie Winter, by Jason Strange.

Statistics
Checkouts: New to the library, courtesy of the Superiorland Preview Center
Typical reader: Elementary students who also like Goosebumps

Synopsis: Kane goes to school one winter's day, and ends up being the sole human in a zombie-infested town.

My Goodreads rating: 4 stars

I was never a reader of scary stories as a child.  I can recognize their lasting popularity, though, and not just by how messy the shelf with all the Goosebumps novels is by the end of a library day.  Kids like things that spook them.  This is such a book.  It's a quick read, aimed at children aged 8-11.  The sentences are simple, and the plot is pretty easy to follow.  It's a chapter book with illustrations scattered throughout; the artist behind these did a good, realistic job.

I enjoyed it for its different zombie background.  These zombies were chocolate zombies, of all things!  Kane is allergic to chocolate and doesn't partake of the lunch lady's hot cocoa, unlike the rest of his friends and classmates.  This saves him from becoming a mind-controlled zombie, and the burden of curing the town falls on his shoulders.  The zombies were not undead, but more along the classic Haitian voodoo zombies - alive but under a spell that saps their free will.  I liked that.

It's Elementary: Valley Cats review

In late July, there are several annual art fairs that draw tourists, locals and artisans of all sorts to the city of Marquette.  It was at one of these that I ran into Gretchen Preston, who was selling copies of her book, Valley Cats: The Adventures of Boonie and River.  I introduced myself as a school librarian, and the next thing I knew, she was signing a book to my students and giving it to the school for free!  That was a really magical experience, and "magical" could also describe this book.

Statistics
Checkouts: New to the library
Typical reader: Aimed at upper elementary students but great as a bedtime reader for younger students; cat-lovers are going to enjoy this too.

Synopsis: Boonie and River are two cats that live on Valley Road.  They meet one summer day when their mistresses enter them in a pet parade, become friends, and have all sorts of adventures together.

My Goodreads rating: 5 stars

This book is positively saccharine.  The illustrations by Karin Neumann are lovely, and made me chuckle at times.  They go very well with the stories of the two cats and their adventures.  My favorite might be the one where River falls out of an apple tree onto the dog he was hiding from, as Boonie cowers and covers his eyes in another tree.

The book is broken into chapters, each with a different tale of the mischief Boonie and River get into.  It's a bit reminiscent of books like Frog and Toad.  This format is great, especially if you're looking for a short story to read.  I can easily see this book as one for a young elementary student to take home and have his or her parent read a chapter every evening before bed.  There's also a glossary for words the child might not know.

Some of the adventures are a bit of a stretch of the imagination when one considers these are house-cats - I don't know any cat who would go swimming - but that's okay.  The intended audience is going to love these stories because kids have similar experiences as they explore the world around them.

I would like to note that this is the first book in a planned series of four.  According to the web site for Preston Hill Press, the second is currently going to print.

President Barack Obama visited Marquette in February, and he bought this book for his daughters when he stopped for lunch at Donckers Restaurant.  Valley Cats is available throughout the Upper Peninsula and as far south as Traverse City, but anyone can buy it through the online store.


Thank you for the book, Ms. Preston!

It's Elementary: A review of Wildfire Run

I'm getting back on task!  Here is a review of Dee Garretson's debut novel, Wildfire Run.

Statistics
Checkouts: Not owned by the library
Typical reader: Adventurous boys, mid- to upper-elementary

Synopsis: Luke Brockett, the son of the president of the United States of America, is on vacation at Camp David with a friend and his entourage of Secret Service agents when a wildfire spreads, threatening their very lives.  Luke, Theo, and interloper Callie must use their wits to escape after the agents are incapacitated or are on the other side of the security fences.

My Goodreads rating: 3 stars

What brought me to read this book was social networking at its best.  I entered a Goodreads drawing for Dee Garretson's second book, Wolf Storm, which will be published next month.  I haven't won anything yet, but I enter the drawings in hopes of getting books to review and to add to the school library.  My Goodreads account is connected to Twitter (jdholmangldl), and when I added the book to my "to-read" list, this was shared on Twitter.  Ms. Garretson tweeted to me, hoping that I enjoy the book!  So, happily shocked that an author was so personable (Jonathan Maberry is as well), I went and found her first book, Wildfire Run.

There are elements of this book that are really strong.  First, it has a lot of appeal to the target audience.  There's adventure, suspense, science, robots, presidential children, and kids using their wits in a situation where there are no adults to help.  That's all great for the average reluctant reader, or even the average boy.  Second, the pacing is very good, especially in the beginning.  I felt like the lead-up to when the people at Camp David discovered the approaching fire was as good as any adult suspense novel (though definitely aimed at a younger audience).  Third, Luke and his former pal Callie are well-rounded, believable characters.  Fourth, as one can find out from the book jacket and the author's note, Ms. Garretson did her research on everything.  The details of Camp David are fictional, of course, but she and her children actually tested the solutions to obstacles Luke and his companions faced.  Mega kudos!

Unfortunately, there are also parts that fell flat.  The strengths outweigh them, but there was a point in the book where I felt the suspension of disbelief shatter.  There are some things in this novel that just ... no.  I don't want to spoil anything, but some events leading up to Luke's separation from his agents and/or their incapacitation were a bit shaky, and then there's this part where the "perfect storm" just seemed too out there.  The level of incompetence in the adults versus the problem-solving skills is unreal.  And speaking of unreal, Luke's friend Theo is out of this world.  His knowledge is too vast, and too adult.  If you take the different parts of his repertoire separately, it's believable; I have some students obsessed with some of his interests like ancient warfare and robotics.  Taken all together, with a knowledge of Latin phrases and who the heck Virgil was and what can be attributed to him ... no.

The negatives could possibly be chalked up to the fact that I'm roughly 20 years older than the intended audience.  I'm sure at least some kids would think it's cool that Luke and his friends can do so much on their own, and tweens will be approaching that age where adults don't know anything, anyway.  But for me, some of it was just beyond what I could believe.

Would I recommend this book?  To certain audiences, sure.  The writing is solid, the main characters real, and the research put into the book admirable.

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Next up: On the subject of Presidential kids, I have a book for the school library that was selected by President Obama for his daughters when he visited this city last winter!  The author generously signed and donated a copy for the library, so I simply must share this book with the world.  Stay tuned for Valley Cats: The Adventures of Boonie and River by Gretchen Preston!

It's Elementary: Athena the Brain

I tend to read a lot of teen/young adult literature.  However, over half the school population is in the K-6 wing, and the youngsters check out far more books than the older students.  So, welcome to the inaugural segment of my new feature, "It's Elementary," where I will review books aimed at young to middle readers.  First up, I'd like to talk about the premiere book in the Goddess Girls series by Joan Holub, Athena the Brain.

Statistics
Checkouts: Not owned by the school
Typical reader: Aimed at girls, ages 8-12

Synopsis: Greek middle school student Athena is invited by the father she's never known, Zeus, to be a student at Mount Olympus Academy, where she can learn to be a goddess.

My Goodreads rating: Undetermined; probably a 3 or 4

I picked up this book on a mythology kick, in search of more novels in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians vein.  Also, I've got a bunch of girls moving up from Kindergarten that really need to expand their horizons from just reading princess and Barbie books - what better way than with goddesses, right?

Okay, so I may have fallen flat with both intentions.  Despite claiming to be for ages 8-12, I highly doubt the students that are reading Percy Jackson would stoop to this reading level.  On the other hand, it's probably above what my little princesses can handle on their own.  It might work when they're a bit older, or maybe this series would be a good one to share with their moms and dads at bedtime.  I'll try steering them toward the easier American Girls series first.

The story itself has me baffled as to how to rate it.  If you're a purist when it comes to Greek mythology, stay away!  Zeus is principal at the school, yet his classically older brother Poseidon is a hunky student who most of the "goddessgirls" swoon over.  But if you're looking for some clever rewriting and don't mind playing fast and loose with the Greek myths, this really isn't bad.  Athena the Brain features stories about how the gods influenced the Trojan war (in the "Hero-ology" class) and why Athena has a city named after her (her invention fair debut of olives bested Poseidon's water park).  There's also a nice story of making friends and dealing with mean girls.  And the cover art is fantastic.

I'll keep this series in mind for if the budget allows, but it's not a must-have.