Book review - Towers Falling

Title: Towers Falling
Author: Jewell Parker Rhodes
Genre: realistic fiction
Similar books: Nine, Ten: a September 11 Story by Nora Raleigh Baskin
                     Hold Fast by Blue Balliett
Rating:

lovely complex story

Summary(provided by publisher): When her fifth-grade teacher hints that a series of lessons about home and community will culminate with one big answer about two tall towers once visible outside their classroom window, Deja can't help but feel confused. She sets off on a journey of discovery, with new friends Ben and Sabeen by her side. But just as she gets closer to answering big questions about who she is, what America means,
and how communities can grow (and heal), she uncovers new questions, too. Like, why does Pop get so angry when she brings up anything about the towers?
Award-winning author Jewell Parker Rhodes tells a powerful story about young people who weren't alive to witness this defining moment in history, but begin to realize how much it colors their every day.

My opinion: Just last week I praised Nora Raleigh Baskin for telling a September 11 story that personalized the tragedy without a great deal of up close emotion. Rhodes' approach is the exact opposite. While the setting is fully modern, we see the ongoing emotional effect of September 11 on a few kids. Struggles continue for a survivor and for a middle-eastern family. This is more than a September 11 story though. It's a story about homelessness, depression, and divided families. Its about finding a place to belong when you're full of anger and fatigue and confusion. It's a beautiful, tough story that resolves with hope rather than with solutions. If you can only choose one book to bring the September 11 tragedy home to middle grader readers, this may well be that book.

Advanced reader copy provided by NetGalley.

Ceramic vegetables beware

This spring our local Dollar Tree store had some small ceramic animals to paint. Not unexpectedly, the selection included rabbits, ducks, and the like. I bought a couple, put them on the table in my craft room, and promptly forgot about them. I remembered them recently when I was looking for a plastic rabbit to repaint as Bunnicula from the James Howe series. I don't think this is exactly what the designers had in mind when they made these kits but then the kit included red, yellow, and blue paint, so who knows what they were thinking.

Book review - Inspector Flytrap

Title: Inspector Flytrap
Author: Tom Angleberger an Cece Bell
Genre: Mystery/beginning chapter book
Similar books: Geronimo Stilton
                     The Ghost and Max Monroe by L.M. Falcone

Rating:

a quirky introduction to the idea of a mystery

Summary(provided by publisher): From husband-and-wife team Tom Angleberger, creator of the New York Times bestselling Origami Yoda series, and Cece Bell, author/illustrator of the Newbery Honor graphic novel El Deafo, comes the start to a funny and clever illustrated chapter-book series about a mystery-solving Venus flytrap. With easy-to-read language and illustrations on almost every page, this early-chapter-book series is a must for beginning readers.
Inspector Flytrap in the Da Vinci Cold introduces kids to the humorous and wacky world of Inspector Flytrap's Detective Agency, home to the world-renowned solver of BIG DEAL mysteries. The plant detective works tirelessly with his assistant Nina the Goat on his community's unsolved cases. There's no case too big, but there are definitely cases too small for this endearingly self-important plant detective.
Celebrating the disabled yet enabled, the character of Inspector Flytrap is wheeled everywhere (on a skateboard, of course) by his goat sidekick as this mystery-solving duo works on cases such as “The Big Deal Mystery of the Stinky Cookies” and “The Big Deal Mystery of the Missing Rose.”
On his first caper, Inspector Flytrap heads to the Art Museum's Secret Lab to discover what important message lies in a mysterious glob on a recently discovered Da Vinci flower painting. The ingenious solution: Da Vinci was allergic to flowers, and the glob is, er, evidence of that ancient sneeze.
Combining wacky humor and a silly cast of characters with adventure, friendship, and mystery, the powerhouse team of Tom Angleberger and Cece Bell have created a uniquely engaging series that is perfect for newly independent readers and fans of Ricky Ricotta, Captain Underpants, and the Galaxy Zack series. Also included in these books are some graphic novel–style pages that will attract reluctant readers.

My opinion: A plant that solves mysteries is, admittedly, an odd concept for a book, especially once you add in the talking-goat assistant. It's an idea that most of us would not come up with in a hundred years. Angleberger and Bell make it work,  though. The plots are simple and surprisingly logical. By breaking the book up into several short mysteries it is easily handled by young readers and would also work well as a read-aloud in the classroom to fill in short amounts of extra time. Most importantly, it's funny and the humor holds up to repeat reads. I look forward to seeing how this series develops.

More information: Inspector Flytrap releases August 2.
Advanced reader copy provided by NetGalley.

Graphic Novel Spotlight: Hotel Strange

Hotel Strange by Katherine and Florian Ferrier

This is a quirky series to be sure, as one might gather from the covers. Characters cover a wide range of types, both in personality and in species. The art style is relatively flat, reminiscent of your standard kids' cartoon. The plot can be a little hard to follow at times as there are events and characters referenced with little to no explanation. For pure entertainment, this is a solid choice for elementary kids. Older readers may recognize some European and manga influence both in art and storytelling. 

Non-fiction book review - Saved By the Boats

Saved by the Boats by Julie Gassman

There are a lot of stories to come out of September 11, tales of tragedy and of bravery. Of kindness and generosity. This is a story I had not heard before. The narrative is simple annd that simplicity is a definite benefit. It lends clarity without the clinical feel that a simple narrative can sometimes have. Instead, Gassman's writing allows the natural emotion, both inherent in the situation and conveyed by quotes, to come through. It is a clear and concise recollection aided by simple line drawings.

Book review - Nine, Ten: a September 11 Story

Title: Nine, Ten: A September 11 Story
Author: Nora Raleigh Baskin
Genre: realistic fiction
Similar books: Somewhere Among by Annie Donwerth-Chikamatsu
                     The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin
Rating:

a tough read for kids

Summary(provided by publisher): From the critically acclaimed author of Anything But Typical comes a touching look at the days leading up to the tragic events of September 11, 2001, and how that day impacted the lives of four middle schoolers.
Ask anyone: September 11, 2001, was serene and lovely, a perfect day—until a plane struck the World Trade Center.
But right now it is a few days earlier, and four kids in different parts of the country are going about their lives. Sergio, who lives in Brooklyn, is struggling to come to terms with the absentee father he hates and the grandmother he loves. Will’s father is gone, too, killed in a car accident that has left the family reeling. Naheed has never before felt uncomfortable about being Muslim, but at her new school she’s getting funny looks because of the head scarf she wears. Aimee is starting a new school in a new city and missing her mom, who has to fly to New York on business.
These four don’t know one another, but their lives are about to intersect in ways they never could have imagined. Award-winning author Nora Raleigh Baskin weaves together their stories into an unforgettable novel about that seemingly perfect September day—the day our world changed forever.

My opinion: I wondered how Baskin would approach such a tragic, world changing event for a middle grade audience. With a topic like this one, so tied up in our cultural identity and shared emotion, it can be difficult to portray it accurately without becoming overwrought. Baskin's approach is brilliant in it's simplicity. She barely talks about it at all. The bulk of the novel focuses on the days prior. We get snapshots of the lives of four very different kids in four different places. We see their every day concerns, the things that complicate their lives. Then we are given four brief scenes, four moments when each of these kids become aware that the world has changed, that this huge tragic event has occurred. And that's it. No dwelling on emotions, on death despair and fear. Just that brief moment and then an epilogue a year later that brings all four kids together and in simple terms describes how their lives have changed. That's the best word for this book. Simple ans surprisingly calm. It's a gentle way to personalize the tragedy of 9/11 for kids who were not yet alive when it happened.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Book review - Dara Palmer's Major Drama

Title: Dara Palmer's Major Drama
Author: Emma Shevah
Genre: realistic fiction
Similar books: Drama by Raina Telgemeier
                     Better Nate Than Ever by Tim Federle

Rating:

Better, and deeper, than I expected

Summary(provided by publisher): From critically acclaimed author Emma Shevah whose debut novel Dream On, Amber received four starred reviews comes a new hilarious and moving story about a girl dealing with being different and finding her own way to rise above.
Dara Palmer knows for a fact that she was meant to be on stage. But when The Sound of Music is selected for the school musical, Dara isn’t cast as Maria—or at all. She can’t help but wonder: is it because she’s different? Maybe it’s because she was adopted from Cambodia and doesn’t look like a typical fraulein…
So irrepressible Dara comes up with a grand scheme to shake the school: write her own play about her own life. Then she’ll have to be the star.

My opinion: Initially I was rather annoyed by this book. It starts out with a rather shallow plot: Dara is outraged that she didn't get a part in the school play even though she is (in her own opinion) the best actor in her class. So it seems, at first, that this is going to be a book focused on humility and being able to take direction. It isn't until Dara begins to explore her roots, her identity as a child adopted from Cambodia, that I began to engage with the plot. This extra complexity makes it more than a simple entertainment. It remains easily understood by upper elementary/early middle school readers but leaves them with something to think about.

Advance reader copy provided by NetGalley.