The View from Saturday

As a middle school librarian, I take pride in the number of books I have read. Having just finished The View from Sunday, I will no longer have to hear the incredulous exclamation from others, “You haven’t read E.L. Konigsburg’s The View from Saturday?”. Now I see why others are so surprised that this clever novel was missing from my collection of have-read books. What appeals to me the most about Konigsburg’s books is the way she develops her characters…they stay with you long after the book has ended. The View from Saturday begins with Mrs. Olinski, the quiz bowl sponsor and sixth-grade teacher, reflecting on how she chose her quiz bowl team members. Injured in an accident, Mrs. Olinski is a paraplegic who teaches her class from her wheelchair. Her quiz bowl team has made it to the championship round, surprisingly beating out older middle school teams. The complex story then contains four reflective short stories that share each team member’s background; separated by quiz bowl activity and Mrs. Olinski’s own story. I love how Konigsburg slowly reveals her characters in this story. Quiz bowl members – Noah, Nadia, Ethan, and Julian – are linked in more ways than one despite having different personalities. Another treat is how each member is able to answer a quiz bowl question and the reader understands how he or she knows the answer. The story gives us affirmation that goodness triumphs and that friends give us what we need. Other books by this Newbery Medal winning author include From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, Silent to the Bone, The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place, and The Mysterious Edge of the Heroic World.

The Summer Before Boys

Nora Raleigh Baskin’s The Summer Before Boys is a reflective novel about growing up and the difficulties military kids have in the absence of their parent during wartime. Julia, the narrator of the story, is Eliza’s aunt although they are both twelve-years-old. It is summer and Julia’s mother, a member of the National Guard, has been deployed to Iraq for the past ten months. Julia spends weekdays with Eliza, anxiously anticipating her mother’s return from war. The storyline bounces back and forth between Julia and Eliza’s summer expeditions, the statistics of military women and the loss of lives during the different United States conflicts, and the time Julia spent in counseling with Peter (a boy whose father also served in Iraq). Although Julia wants a normal summer and hopes to get to know a boy named Michael better, her mother’s welfare is always on her mind. When Julia chooses meeting Michael over spending time with Eliza, Eliza’s safety is in jeopardy and their friendship may never be the same. My niece has had to live with the fear of her father’s well-being while he served two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. She is currently in 7th grade and she probably cannot talk about that time without getting emotional. Thank you to Nora Raleigh Baskin for sharing the stories of our military children – they fight a different battle on the home front, but it is no less of a fight. Thanks for also dedicating this book to the brave men and women in our armed forces and their children. This is going on my sixth grade reading list next year. Other great books by Baskin include Anything But Typical, Basketball (or Something like It), and The Truth About my Bat Mitzvah.

The Unforgotten Coat

The Unforgotten Coat is Frank Cottrell Boyce’s most recent novel. Readers will be drawn to this book, because of the appealing format – the story is told in a notebook with lined pages and photographs. The narrator, Julie, now a grown up, starts off by telling the readers about the picture that was taken when she was in sixth grade. It was the day she was asked to play an important role in the lives of two new boys (Chingis & Nergui), brothers from Mongolia. Being new to England, Chingis asks Julie to be the boys’ Good Guide. The story flashes forward to Julie visiting her school once more before they tear it down. She spots Chingis’s coat in the Lost Property box and in it are the pictures that help tell the story. From the very first day, Julie takes her new responsibility as their Good Guide seriously. She learns as much as she can about Mongolia and tries to infuse the others at her school with stories about Mongolian culture. Chingis claims that they are nomads and that an evil demon is following his brother around. Chingis, wise beyond his years, adds so much to the school and soaks in all that he can learn about British culture. When Julie tries to learn more about the boys like where they live and what their home life is like, the boys remain elusive. They are carrying a heavy burden, a family secret. This book made me reflect on other children who are in the same situation as Chingis and Nergui and how tough it must be when things in their lives are beyond their control. Popular books by Frank Cottrell Boyce include Cosmic and Framed.

Hidden

Hidden by Helen Frost is told in poetry format (novel in verse – a popular genre in my library) by the alternating voices of Wren and Darra. Wren and Darra first saw each other when they were eight-years-old in the most unusual of circumstances. Wren’s mother left her in the backseat of her car while she quickly paid for gas. Darra’s father stole the car and parked it in his garage, not knowing that Wren was hiding in the backseat. Darra knows that Wren is hiding in the garage. That fateful night changed both girls forever. The story continues when the girls are fourteen-years-old and meet once again at an elite summer camp. Before long, the girls must face each other and the burdens of their last meeting. Will Wren blame Darra for who her father is? Can Darra forgive Wren for taking her father away? I love that Helen Frost also gives her readers more of Darra’s feelings by including her thoughts – readers only need to read the last word of each long line down the page (in Darra’s narrative) to understand how she feels about her father and what she went through that horrible night. Other outstanding novels in verse by Helen Frost include Crossing Stones and Diamond Willow.

Take Me to the River

Will Hobbs knows how to take his readers into the harshest elements of nature and keep them on the edge of their seats. His most recent novel, Take Me to the River, is about cousins who decide to go ahead and travel down the Rio Grande by canoe and raft even though there is not an adult available to go on the adventure with them. Dylan and Rio are experienced paddlers, but do not anticipate the obstacles that will be in their way. Seeing six Black Hawk helicopters flying into Mexico should have been an indication that they needed to turn back. They are soon warned that Hurricane Dolly could be headed straight for them. The inclement weather is the least of their worries. Tensions between the drug cartel and peacekeepers of Mexico are at an all-time high and Americans have been warned to stay away from the Texas-Mexico border. What will happen when the boys, not wanting to miss an opportunity of a lifetime, stick with their original plans and head down the Rio Grande on a ten day boating adventure? Take Me to the River is on the Texas Lone Star Reading List 2012-13. Other great books by Will Hobbs include Go Big or Go Home, Crossing the Wire, Leaving Protection, Wild Man Island, Down the Yukon, Jason’s Gold, The Maze, Ghost Canoe, River Thunder, Far North, Kokopelli’s Flute, The Big Wander, Beardance, and Downriver. Click on the video below to hear from Will Hobbs.

Just Curious

I am currently reading Teri S. Lesesne's Reading Ladders. She has some awesome ideas. I thought I would ask a question I found in the book. Hope you have time to share your answers. If I get some feedback, I will post more questions in the future.

What is the best book you ever read?

The Cheshire Cheese Cat: A Dickens of a Tale

Curious about what life was like in Victorian London? Want to be introduced to some famous authors of that time like Charles Dickens? You need to read The Cheshire Cheese Cat: A Dickens of a Tale by Carmen Agra Deedy and Randall Wright and illustrated by Barry Moser. This amusing story transports the reader to Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese inn where the story is told through the relationships of its characters: a mouse named Pip who has learned to read and uses an enriched vocabulary, a friendly cat named Skilley who agrees to protect the mice in the inn while they protect his big secret, an injured raven named Maldwyn who once perched on the White Hill and would like nothing more than to return to his home, and a mean cat named Pinch who may ruin them all. Famous writers of that time frequent the inn. Charles Dickens intermittently chimes in and expresses the difficulty he has in writing the now famous first sentence in his Tale of Two Cities. It is evident that Deedy, Wright, and Moser put so much research into this story. I loved how the characters are named for characters in Dickens’ works and symbols of that time were used to enhance the storyline. A glossary of the challenging vocabulary words used in the story is included. A great supplement to this book is their amazing website which encourages participants to read more about old England and play games to see how much they have learned. This novel is on the Texas Bluebonnet Reading List 2012-13.