A Monster Calls

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness and inspired by the late Siobhan Dowd is a moving novel that will take you on a boy’s emotional journey. It is on the Texas Lone Star Reading List 2012-13. Thirteen-year-old Conor keeps having the same nightmare. At 12:07 a.m. he awakens to see a monster calling to him outside his window. The monster is none other than the great yew tree in his backyard that his mother frequently commented on. Although the monster is large, frightening, and forceful; Conor isn’t afraid. His mother is battling cancer. His father has started a new life in America with a new wife and baby. To make matters worse his grandmother is making him stay at her house while his mother undergoes another ravaging cancer treatment. Conor feels as though others do not see him and feel sorry for him because of his mother’s illness. He just wants to be like the other kids. The monster says that he will continue to visit Conor until he has shared three stories with him and that Conor will tell him the fourth story. The stories are disturbing and unlike any that Conor has heard before. What is Conor’s story? Life is tough and I cannot imagine a tougher situation than the one Conor is experiencing. You need a box of Kleenex to read this one. All I can say is when I was finished…I was speechless.

No Passengers Beyond This Point

No Passengers Beyond This Point by Gennifer Choldenko is a fantasy novel that keeps the reader guessing as to what outrageous thing could possibly happen next. Siblings – Finn, India, and Mouse – find out that their mother has lost their home due to financial problems and is sending them to live with their Uncle Red until she can finish her job and meet up with them. Unhappily, the kids get on the plane to their new destination. Each kid has unique characteristics that cause conflict between them. Finn is the man of the house since their father died when Mouse was being born. He is the conscientious one who worries about his mother and their situation. India is the social one who lets her friends get their way no matter the cost. Mouse is the scientific type that has to analyze each situation. The trio soon find themselves in a strange welcoming place that appreciates all the things they each value. Why would they ever want to leave a place like that? When things spiral downward, they each realize they only have a certain amount of time to come together and get back to the place they belong. I love that the book is told from each sibling’s point of view. Other great books by Choldenko include Al Capone Does my Shirts, Al Capone Shines my Shoes, A Tree Falls at Lunch Period, and Notes from a Liar and her Dog.

A Dog's Purpose

A Dog's Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron will appeal to readers of all ages. I was encouraged to read this book by one of my advanced sixth grade readers in my school’s book club. It is also the book club selection for February for my adult book club. The story is narrated by a dog that keeps being reincarnated and wonders if this is happening because he still hasn’t found his purpose in life. The story started off a little slow for me as the newborn puppy is describing his life in his litter and the interactions of the other dogs around him…not as much human contact or people-storyline at first. After he is reborn a second time, the story quickly picked up for me. The dog is reincarnated into a different breed of dog each time and draws on his experiences from past lives to make wise choices and help others in need. Near the end of the book, the dog is a little disgruntled that he has to live again when he feels like he has already served his purpose and is tired and not excited about having to make new attachments once again. He has already loved a boy and served in a special canine unit to save lives. What more could there be? I am recommending this book to all dog lovers. When you finish this book, you will not look at your pet the same way.

Wonderstruck

I am absolutely wonderstruck, amazed, blown away (you get the point) by Brian Selznick’s latest novel, Wonderstruck. I see this getting either the Caldecott or Newbery award. I am a huge fan of Selznick’s The Invention of Hugo Cabret; this one is even better! Selznick creatively tells two stories set fifty years apart. Rose’s story begins in New Jersey in 1927 and is told through remarkable illustrations. Ben’s story begins in Minnesota in 1977 and is told through text. Rose, a deaf girl tired of being locked away from the world, heads to New York City in hopes of finding the one person who can save her. Ben, a boy who recently lost his mother and loves to collect things, finds clues that may help him find the father he has never known. His search leads him to New York and the American Museum of Natural History. You must read this book to see how Selznick magically brings the two characters together and takes his readers to the must-see sites of New York City during that time. You will be wonderstruck as well!

The Seventh Level

The Seventh Level by Jody Feldman is a mystery with a secret middle school society and challenging puzzles that must be solved along the way. Travis Raines is surprised to receive a coveted blue envelope from The Legends, a secret society that performs various stunts at his middle school. He has been chosen to complete various tasks along the way to become part of this highly secretive group. While trying to figure out his first task, a large bully named Randall throws Kip’s hat (with the letter inside) out the school’s second floor window. When it gets stuck just under the roof, Travis is determined to climb outside to get it. His plan backfires when he is caught by Mrs. Pinchon, the strict assistant principal. His punishment is to ride to school with her each morning for detention before school and after-school detention. As the blue envelopes and puzzles keep coming, Travis finds it even more difficult to accomplish the tasks given to him under Mrs. Pinchon’s scrutiny. Even worse, someone is setting him up for other pranks that are occurring at school. Will Travis be able to complete all levels required? Is it even The Legend that is sending him these tasks? Read The Seventh Level to find out. Another great book by Jody Feldman is The Gollywhopper Games (I gave that one 5 stars).

What Child is This? A Christmas Story

Looking for a special book to read to get you in the Christmas spirit? If you can get your hands on a copy, you need to read What Child is This? A Christmas Story(c1997) by Caroline B. Cooney. My middle school book club is reading this sentimental tale about the true meaning of Christmas. This quick read reveals the emotions and experiences of three different teens and an eight-year-old foster child named Katie. Liz, raised by parents who have it all and are not willing to help those in need, wants to experience the true meaning of Christmas and cannot understand her parents’ selfish ways. Smart, handsome Tack Knight helps his father run his family’s upscale restaurant. The Knights are involved with their church and like to give back to the community, especially at Christmas time. Matt, a foster kid and temporary big brother to Katie, has so much rage inside from years of bouncing back and forth between homes. When Katie and Matt are offered the opportunity to write their Christmas wish on bell ornaments which will hang on the Knights’ restaurant Christmas tree in hopes that someone will fulfill the request, Katie asks for a family for Christmas. Their social worker tells Katie that the ornaments are for small gifts, not big ones. Matt, who also works at the Knights’ restaurant, decides to hang Katie’s ornament on the tree anyway. Katie truly believes she will get her wish. How will Matt tell Katie that he was wrong to ever believe that miracles could happen at Christmas? When tragedy strikes, will the community come together to save a little girl and her extraordinary Christmas wish? The students that finished before me warned me to have Kleenex ready, even the tough guys. What a great story for the holidays!

Wish

Joseph Monninger’s Wish, a poignant book about how much we are willing to risk to make someone we love happy, is on the Texas Lone Star Reading List 2012. The story is narrated by Bee, the older, caring sister of Tommy, a young boy with cystic fibrosis. Cystic fibrosis is a serious disease that causes Tommy’s lungs to fill up with mucus which makes it hard for him to breathe. Tommy is infatuated with sharks – he knows all the facts about sharks and their attacks on humans. Bee, Tommy, and their single mother (as interested in men as Tommy is in sharks) are on a trip from their home in New Hampshire to California because Tommy has been given an all expense trip to see sharks by the Blue Moon foundation. Unfortunately, his wish to actually swim with the sharks isn’t fulfilled and his mother decides to go on a date that evening. When their mother still hasn’t returned from her date the next morning, Bee and Tommy decide to visit Ty, a young man that Tommy befriended through e-mail after Ty was attacked by a great white shark and lived to tell about his ordeal. Ty and his younger brother offer to take the two surfing in the dangerous waves. Bee knows this is really something Tommy wants to do despite the threat to his health. Although this is Tommy’s wish, the ocean and her inhabitants are unforgiving…