Book Review - Stay Where You are and Then Leave

Title: Stay Where You are and Then Leave
Author: John Boyne
Genre: Historical Fiction
Similar books: Navigating Early  by Clare Vanderpool
                     Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster boy  by Gary D Schmidt
Rating:

Quietly thoughtful

 Summary: When Alfie was five, his father went off to fight in World War 1. Now Alfie is nine and his father has stopped even writing to the family. His mother works night and day as a nurse and taking in laundry. Secretly, Alfie does what he can to help out, skipping school several days a week to shine shoes at the train station. Then Alfie finds out that his father is a patient at a hospital for soldiers with shell shock.
My Opinion: I was thrilled to see a book for young readers about World War 1, a part of our history that our schools don't teach much about. Much as he did with The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (a book that you definitely should read, if you have not already), Boyne treats the topic of shell shock with sensitivity, while staying realistic. The scenes in the hospital are almost frightening, even for the adult reader. The scenery and situations are deftly described as seen through a child's eyes. Add in the attitudes and atmospheres unique to the early 1900's, and you have a must read book.
Other Information: Stay Where You are and Then Leave releases March 25.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley  

Divergent

Have you read the Divergent trilogy yet? It is one of my current favorite teen series. With the movie coming out tomorrow, we held a Divergent program last night. We had one activity for each faction, designed in such a way that those unfamiliar with the books could still enjoy the program.

Candor - the truthful
Would you rather/...

Erudite - the intelligent
trivia challenge

Amity - the peaceful
friendship bracelets

Abnegation - the selfless
cards for the troops

Dauntless - the fearless
fireballs and henna tattoos
 

This is the design we created to represent the divergent. It's own faction symbol, if you will.

Graphic Novel Spotlight: Jellaby

Jellaby: the Lost Monster   and   Jellaby: Monster in the City
by Kean Soo

Jellaby has a very simple visual style, especially the people. In some books this can be problematic, but Soo really makes it work in his favor. The simple style with it's purple/pink color palette draws in the eye. Jellaby in particular is amazing. He is the sweetest, most expressive, big-eyed monster you've ever seen. Plot-wise, the second book is more action heavy than the first, but both books have a lot going on emotionally. These are an entertaining read both for the surface reader and the person who is willing to look a little deeper. 

 

Ninja Librarians Recon Team

I am super excited about the upcoming release of Jen Swann Downey's The Ninja Librarians: the Accidental Keyhand. 
 

This book!

I'll be posting my review of the book next week. In the meantime, I've been tasked with helping to promote the book.  Once a week until the release of the book I'll be posting my answers to prompts provided by the publisher, Sourcebooks.

This week's prompt is: Which characters would you like to meet from a book?
I have kind of a lengthy list.
Aslan from the Chronicles of Narnia
Mole and Rat from The Wind in the Willows
Professor Lupin from the Harry Potter series
The BFG from the book of the same name
Kathy and Tommy from Never Let Me Go
Jeeves from Wodehouse's series
Father Tim from the Mitford series
Junie B. Jones from the series of the same name (that kid is a riot)

As a bonus, Sourcebooks has also made the book trailer for The Ninja Librarians available this week. You can find it here.

Zippety's Birthday Bash

Saturday was the Zippety party and as far as I could tell it was a resounding success. Activities included making a birthday crown

pin the bow tie on Zippety

 balloon races

 a Zippety story

 and, of course, cake.

 

Book review - Kung Pow Chicken

Title: Kung Pow Chicken #2 Bok Bok Boom
Author: Cyndi Marko
Genre: Humor/Superheroes
Similar books: Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey
                     Claude series by Alex T. Smith
Rating:

Epic Superhero humor

Summary: Gordon and his brother Benny fell into a vat of toxic sludge at their Uncle Quack's science lab. Now they fight crime as Kung Pow Chicken and Egg  Drop, while trying to keep their super hero lives a secret, especially from their mother. At the opera, they must rescue beloved singer Honey Comb from an evil scientist.
My opinion: This series is a great introduction to superheroes and chapter books for young readers. The stories are clever, funny, and well supported by the illustrations. We've had book #1 in our collection for more than a month now and it never stays on the shelf for long. I thoroughly enjoy giving Kung Pow Chicken to young readers.
More information: Bok Bok Boom releases March 25, 2014.

Advance Reader Copy provided by NetGalley
 

Zippety's own story

The book is complete. It took a solid week of hard work, but Zippety's story is finished in time for his party on Saturday and I'm pretty pleased with the end result. The book itself came in a kit of three book blanks, saving us from having to figure out a way to get our story bound. Here are a few images of the book and it's interior.