Monthly Archives: December 2017

YA FIC – Sparrow; Far from the Tree; They Both Die at the End

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Moon, Sarah. Sparrow. Arthur A. Levine Books, 2017. 978-1-338-03258-1 264p. $18.99.  Gr. 6 and up.

Sparrow is super shy and doesn’t really like people.  She “checks out” of uncomfortable situations by watching birds and imagining she can fly.  Her refuge at school is the school library, but her librarian dies suddenly, leaving Sparrow adrift.  The book begins when she wakes up in the psych ward of the hospital after she is found on the school roof and everyone assumes she was going to jump.  Sparrow ends up in therapy, which is really helpful, eventually. She is exposed to music that really speaks to her.  Music becomes a new obsession.   She even ends up at a great summer camp where she learns to play the bass guitar.  The story ends with great hope for Sparrow’s continued growth.  THOUGHTS:  This is a painful story to read, but an important one.  It is for all of our super shy kids.  It is for all of our black girl nerds.  It is for music lovers.  It is for all of us to build empathy for people in similar situations to Sparrow.

Realistic Fiction       Toni Vahlsing, Abington Friends School

 

Moon, Sarah. Sparrow. Arthur A. Levine Books, 2017. 978-1-338-02358-1. 272 p. $18.99. Gr. 7 and up.

For introvert and only child Sparrow, navigating her peers and the halls of her school has never been easy. She found “her place” in the library with Mrs. Wexler, the school librarian who knew just the right books to give Sparrow. In the quiet comforting space, Sparrow ate her lunch in the library with other book people but not really with them. The book opens as Sparrow wakes up in a white hospital room, after being found on her school’s roof, apparently attempting suicide. No one believes that she really wasn’t trying to kill herself. Sparrow isolates herself from her mom, the one person who used to understand her, and finds herself meeting with a therapist. Resentful of this invasion of privacy because she really wasn’t trying to kill herself, Sparrow sits quietly through her therapy sessions. Oddly, Dr. Katz is perfectly willing to let Sparrow sit and be with her thoughts and some intriguing music. Eventually, Sparrow begins to trust Dr. Katz, and she pushes herself out of her comfort zone in an attempt to find an outlet for all that she is feeling.  THOUGHTS: This book really gets into the head of a girl dealing with mental health and anxiety issues. I’m not sure how much teens will like Sparrow’s bird fascination, but the way she is able to connect with music on an intense emotional level will resonate. Sparrow’s journey seems like a stretch, since she is initially found isolated on the school’s rooftop and at the end she is healing and able to go so far out of her comfort zone.

Realistic Fiction   Maryalice Bond, South Middleton School District

 

Benway, Robin. Far from the Tree. HarperTeen, 2017. 978-0-06-233062-8 374p. $17.99.  Gr. 9 and up.

Grace has had a tough year.  She became pregnant and chose an adoptive family for her baby.  Attending school during the pregnancy is tough, as she loses friends and is mocked in the hallways.  After the birth and seeing her daughter being taken home by someone else, Grace is adrift and wants to know more about her own birth family.  Grace’s adoptive parents are supportive as Grace meets Maya and Joaquin, her biological brother and sister.  Maya has her own secrets as her adoptive parents fight all of the time and her mother drinks.  Joaquin has spent seventeen years in the foster care system and keeps all of his secrets as to not hurt anyone else.  This fast-paced story kept me turning pages to find out how the three of them would treat each other and handle all of the other things happening in their lives. All three siblings have romantic relationships that need some work.  THOUGHTS: This is a great read.   It explores the meaning of family, the complexities of secret-keeping, and the importance of letting other people in. A great purchase for a high school collection.

Realistic Fiction      Toni Vahlsing, Abington Friends School

 

Silvera. Adam. They Both Die at the End. HarperCollins, 2017. 9780062457790. $17.99. 384p.

Gr. 8-12.

What would you do if you knew you only had 24 hours left to live? This story follows two teenaged boys, Mateo and Rufus, who are Puerto Rican and Cuban-American respectively, on their End Day. In the future, you will receive a phone call from specially trained “Deckers” whose job it is to tell you that you will be dying soon. Fortunately, there is an app called Last Friend that allows people to connect with someone that will also die, which is how Mateo and Rufus finally meet after having to deal with a few believable trolling incidents from people using the Last Friend app. The reader follows along as the two teens try to make the most of their last few hours while also coming to terms with their impending death. Chapter titles countdown the time and include additional characters thoughts. THOUGHTS: I enjoyed the premise of this book – that one day you will find out that it is your last day on Earth. It’s something that most people have thought about and can be a great way to focus on what is important in life. Silvera did away with pesky families so that the characters didn’t want to just sit around with them on their last day. This sets the teens up to go out and have experiences together, which included developing a romantic relationship with each other. This will be another great book to add to your LGBT collection.

Dystopian     Bridget Fox, Central Bucks SD

Upper Elem/MS FIC – Dawn & the Impossible Three; Dirt; Insignificant Events…

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Galligan, Gale. Dawn and the Impossible Three. Scholastic, 2017. 978-1-338-06730-9. $24.99. 160p. Gr. 3-7.

This is a full-color graphic novel that is sure to delight readers. The best friends have many obstacles throughout the book. From friendship disagreements, parents remarrying, parents dating, and babysitting parents with divorce visitation difficulties, there’s a lot of conflicts to overcome. Friendship prevails.  THOUGHTS: While the fifth book in the graphic novel series, the books do not read to be read in order. Gale Galligan is picking up with the artwork just where Raina Telgemeier left off.

Graphic Novel, Realistic Fiction    Beth McGuire, Hempfield Area School District

 

Orenstein, Denise Gosliner. Dirt. Scholastic, 2017. 978-0-545-92587-7. $16.99. 224p. Gr. 3-7.

Yonder is now in fifth grade and does not talk at school or confront the bullies. She hasn’t talked since the traumatic loss of her mother. Her father hasn’t healed from this loss and seldom leaves his room. After getting in trouble at school, Yonder tries to avoid school by playing hookey. Eventually, the truancy officer gets Yonder to go back to school. Yonder looks forward to taking care of the neighbor’s pony even if it does overeat, so long as the pony does not become horsemeat to others. After skipping school and finding the unhabitable state of the house, Yonder is removed to foster parents. When coping with the stress, Yonder’s father has a stroke. How will everything work out for Yonder and her family?  THOUGHTS: Readers that like horses or Black Beauty might also enjoy this novel. Classmates of Yonder in the novel are extremely unkind and their actions can be a point of discussion with students.

Realistic Fiction    Beth McGuire, Hempfield Area School District

 

Bowling, Dusti. Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus. Sterling Children’s Books, 2017. 978-1-45492345-9. 262 p. $14.95. Gr. 6 and up.

Wonder meets Stargirl in Dusti Bowling’s charming new novel, Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus. Meet Aven, a thirteen-year-old girl, forced to move from her home in Kansas to Arizona, where her parents are managing a slightly decrepit wild-west theme park called Stagecoach Pass. Also, Aven has no arms. While she likes to entertain people with wild stories about how she lost her arms, Aven was in fact, just born without them. While her friends back in Kansas were completely used to Aven, her new classmates in Arizona are not. Although Aven has moments of self-consciousness and embarrassment when she has to do things with her feet, for the most part, she is a supremely upbeat, hilarious kid, and, as she says over and over again, doesn’t mind when people are curious; what she does mind is when people don’t treat her like an actual human being, or treat her like an invalid. While avoiding the school cafeteria (Aven feels unprepared for everyone to watch her eat with her feet), she meets Connor and Zion, two boys who also avoid the cafeteria;  Connor, because he has Tourette’s, which manifests as barking and ticking; Zion, because he’s overweight, and doesn’t want to be stared at. In short order, the three become fast friends, and all of them get caught up in the mystery of the Cavanaughs, the owners of Stagecoach Pass who haven’t been seen in years, and end up discovering a big secret about Aven’s past. THOUGHTS:  Aven’s zeal to make Connor feel “normal” can get a little overbearing at times, and Zion takes a pretty large backseat to Aven and Connor’s friendship, but otherwise, this is a delightful, heartwarming story with a positive message. Hand this to readers who are looking for Out of my Mind and Wonder read-alikes.

Realistic Fiction      Lauren Friedman-Way, The Baldwin School

MS Fiction – Guitarist Wanted; Snow & Rose; Well That Was Awkward; Rosemarked

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Brezenoff, Steve. Guitarist Wanted (Boy Seeking Band Series) Capstone Press, 2017.  978-1-4965-4448-3. 96 p. $19.54. Gr 5-8.

Finding just the correct members for a band is challenging for Terence Kato. Moving is difficult enough, but now he needs to add members to the band that have different skills or backgrounds. The book concludes with trivia regarding music terms to see if you would make the band.  THOUGHTS: Students will appreciate the fast pace story and look forward to  reading the Boy Seeking Band series.

Realistic     Beth McGuire, Hempfield Area School District

 

Martin, Emily Winfield. Snow and Red. Random House, 2017. 978-0-533-53818-2. $17.99. 224 p. Gr. 4-7

Life drastically changes when their father never returns from the woods. Their mother is distraught, and their lavish lifestyle is exchanged for a little dwelling in the woods. While in the woods the sisters come across a goblin. Snow’s birthday wish is for everything to go back to the way it was before. Shortly after, Snow and Rose save a bear stuck in a hunting trap. Also in the woods, they meet The Librarian of unique objects and Ivo, an underground dwelling boy. What objects will they find and what happens to their new friends?  THOUGHTS: The illustrations and enchanting chapter artwork are sure to draw in the most reluctant reader and add additional excitement to the readers that are naturally drawn to fairy tales.

Fantasy, Fairy Tale    Beth McGuire, Hempfield Area School District

 

Vail, Rachel. Well That Was Awkward. Viking, 2017. 9780670013081. $16.99. 314p. Gr. 5-8.

Gracie and Sienna are best friends. Gracie realizes she has feelings for a classmate, AJ, and is upset to find out through their good friend, Emmett, that AJ likes Sienna. Emmett and Gracie have known each other since they were young, and Gracie doesn’t realize that Emmett has a crush on her. All she knows is that her friend, Sienna, needs her help crafting the perfect witty texts to AJ. It breaks Gracie’s heart to help her friend build a relationship with the boy she has a crush on, but she does it because she is a good friend. It makes her feel even worse when AJ’s return texts are romantically funny. Unbeknownst to them, Emmett is the one writing AJ’s return texts because AJ doesn’t know what to say. To complicate matters, Gracie is living in the shadow of a sister, Bret, that passed away before Gracie was born. She feels tremendous pressure to be the perfect daughter and keep her parents happy.  THOUGHTS: This is a great middle-grade retelling of Cyrano de Bergerac. I’m always looking for good books for my 7th graders, and I was happy to have found this one that has realistic banter and situations.

Realistic Fiction            Bridget Fox, Central Bucks SD

 

Blackburne, Livia. Rosemarked. Hyperion, 2017. 978-148478855-4 390p. $17.99.  Gr. 6 and up.

Zivah is the youngest healer her village has ever seen.  When an outbreak of the Rose Plague breaks out among the soldiers stationed in her village, of course, she has to help.  When she becomes infected, she survives but is “Rose Marked,” meaning she will live for only a short time longer and is contagious.  Dineas is a soldier who was captured by the Amparans and tortured.  He also gets the plague, but survives as “Umber Marked.” He is immune to the Rose Plague.  Zivah and Dineas meet under stressful circumstances and do not like each other, yet they take on a mission to go to the capital city to try to help overthrow the Amparans.  There is much intrigue and deception involved.  THOUGHTS: This is a very smart book that made me marvel at its cleverness at how quickly I was involved in this world.  Fans of The Ember in the Ashes will enjoy this one.

Fantasy      Toni Vahlsing, Abington Friends School

 

Blackburne, Livia. Rosemarked.  Hyperion. 2017. 978-1-48478-855-4. 390 p.  $17.99. Gr. 6 and up.

A tale of political intrigue and espionage told in the alternating voices of two teens living under an oppressive regime.  Zivah is a gifted healer who has trained her entire life to reach the level of a master.   As she celebrates her achievement, a battalion of the occupying Amparan Army falls ill with rose plague, the contagious disease that kills most who contract it within a few days.  A lucky few survive for a few more years, but they are “rosemarked“ with red blotches,  contagious and forced to live apart from the general population.  The luckiest few survive the disease and become “umbertouched”, covered with dark spots that indicate the person is completely cured and immune to further infection.  Zivah herself falls to the disease, rosemarked and destined for a lonely and uncertain future. But she is remembered by the Amparan general whose life she saved; he rewards her with an offer to live in the capital and train with the medical experts there.  As she ponders that offer, she meets Dineas, a young warrior from the rebel Shihadi tribe, who has escaped from the Amparan prisons.  Umbertouched after his bout with rose plague, he is now on a quest for vengeance against the Amparan leaders. The two teens, so different in temperament and outlook are brought together by their tribal leaders to fight against the empire. Together, they travel to the capital to spy on and sabotage the rulers. They come to rely heavily on each other and a strong attraction begins to form as they work on their dangerous mission. Rosemarked is the first book in a new political fantasy/adventure series.  The novel is slow to start but builds in intensity as the teens go deep undercover to strike against the oppressive regime. The novel explores such themes as social and racial prejudices, medical ethics and the fight of a conquered people against oppression.  There is solid character development with heroes and villains who are nuanced and fully fleshed out individuals, each with positive and negative traits that humanize them and make them believable.  THOUGHTS: Recommended for fans of tales such as The False Prince or Ember in the Ashes. The cliffhanger ending will leave readers waiting eagerly for the next volume.  

Fantasy; Adventure           Nancy Summers, Abington  School District

MS NF – Jackie Robinson; Newsmakers; Beauty Hacks; Captured Science History

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Rappaport, Doreen. 42 is Just Not a Number. Candlewick Press, 2017. 978-0-7636-7624-7. $15.99. 119 p. Gr. 4-8.

This reading experience brings to life Jackie Robinson, the Hall-of-Fame athlete who donned the famous baseball jersey number 42. Readers will learn more about Jackie Robinson’s childhood, and his success at UCLA where he became the first student-athlete to letter in four sports. After college, readers may be shocked to learn that Jackie was drafted into the war. The segregation and racism that Jackie experienced as a child, a college student, a serviceman, and a negro league baseball player is detailed in the book. Jackie did not allow the cruelty he received to dash his dreams or those individuals that would follow. It was the moral integrity on top of his athletic skills that drew interest from manager Branch Rickey. The legacy of Robinson is clearly presented. A timeline at the end organizes the important dates and events.  Thoughts: The writing and research are solid. The addition of illustrations or photographs could have added to the reading experience for students.

Biography     Beth McGuire, Hempfield Area School District

 

Moritz, Rachel.  Julian Assange: Founder of Wikileaks (Newsmakers series). ABDO, 2018. 9781680789645  $23.00.  48 p.  Gr. 3-6.

This book is divided into five chapters. Supplemental information includes dates, glossary, and index. Captions are in blue font. Primary source information is included. In this book, background information about the history of computer hacking is included in a fact box as readers learn about Assange’s computer interests when growing up. Following the online link, there are common core activities that can be used in the classroom along with web links including additional information.  Additional titles in the second edition of the Newsmaker series include Fidel Castro, Hillary Clinton, Ellen DeGeneres, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Elon Musk, Donald Trump, and Ivanka Trump.  THOUGHTS: These books are contemporary biographies to add to your collection. The additional features in the book can be helpful for class research or individual curiosity.

Biography      Beth McGuire, Hempfield Area School District

 

Rissman, Rebecca. Beauty Hacks. Capstone, 2018.  978-1-5157-6835-7. 40 p. $93.36 set of 4. Gr. 4-8.

Books in this series include Makeup & Skin Hacks , Fashion Hacks, Hair Hacks and Nail, Hand, and Feet Hacks. A recipe for body scrubs is one of the many hands-on activities included in Makeup and Skin. The directions provide pictures and detailed steps. Directions for ombre dye and tie-dye leggings can be found in Fashion Hacks. Each section has clearly identified headings and engaging magazine-like layout.  THOUGHTS:  The book will appeal to students that enjoy fashion magazines like Teen Vogue or Seventeen. With the wide topics and strong binding, these books will have staying power.

600s, Fashion      Beth McGuire, Hempfield Area School District

 

Captured Science History. Compass Point, 2018.  978-0-7565-5660-0.  $103.96 set of four. 64 p. Gr. 5-9.

Double Helix: How an image sparked the discovery of the secret of Life by Danielle Smith-Llera contains four chapters, a timeline, glossary, additional resources and an index. The other books in this set are Hubble Deep Field, Finding the Titanic, and Mars Rover. The layout of the book includes effective use of whitespace. The engaging writing style generates the excitement that the deoxyribonucleic acid discovery generated. Background information and contemporary questions regarding DNA are detailed. Featured individuals include biophysicist Rosalind Franklin and her important photograph “Photo 51”, and one of the first molecular biologists, Oswald Avery, The timeline includes pictures to reinforce the facts. The book concludes with a glossary, additional resources, critical thinking questions, and an index.  THOUGHTS: This is a wonderful series to add to a collection to engage students and enhance science research projects. Other Captured series from Capstone include Captured Sports History and Captured World History. All series have the same exquisite layout.

Science, Technology     Beth McGuire, Hempfield Area School District