McAnulty, Stacy. The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl. Random House, 2018. 978-1-524-76757-0. 287 p. $16.00. Gr. 4-7.
Lucy Callahan is a 12-year-old math savant with a loving Nana, OCD, and a plan to begin college in the fall–after all, she earned her GED thanks to cyber schooling. Nana has other plans. She enrolls Lucy at East Hamlin Middle School in the 7th grade with the stipulations that Lucy must give it 1 year, make 1 friend, do 1 activity, and read 1 book (Lucy’s love for numbers is noted throughout the book with the constant use of 1 instead of “one”). The new friend part is rather easy when outgoing Windy sits down next to Lucy on the bus. Windy doesn’t mind Lucy’s constant requests to use hand sanitizer and odd sit-stand-sit-stand-sit routine, but Lucy’s OCD tendencies and need for clean quickly earn her a reputation as the “cleaning lady” among the other 7th graders. Lucy just wants to blend in, and goes so far as to strategically hide her math genius (and the fact that she was struck by lightning at age 8, which rewires her brain and results in the math smarts and OCD) in order to seem average. With the help of a few new friends, an encouraging teacher, and a dog named Pi, Lucy learns that her calculations about being average don’t always end up giving the correct answer.
THOUGHTS: My favorite kids read of the summer! A solid choice for classroom read alouds and kid book clubs because there are so many excellent discussion points within this book. Hand it to any reader, especially those who would use an extra look at acceptance of others and ourselves.
Realistic Fiction Lindsey Long, Lower Dauphin SD
Shurtliff, Liesl. Grump: The (Fairly) True Tale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Alfred A. Knopf, 2018. 978-1-524-71701-8. 292 p. $16.99. Gr. 3-7.
Borlen is a rather unusual dwarf. In a world where depth is everything, Borlen gets dizzier and dizzier the deeper he travels in the dwarf world and he dreams of visiting The Surface, the mostly unknown realm of humans and lots of danger. His worried parents push him into an early mining career in an attempt to keep him underground, and he mines a rare Fate Stone, a reflecting mirror, which he carries into the depths as he becomes a lowly seventh for an established crew where he earns the nickname Grump. When the crew comes dangerously close to The Surface, Grump can’t resist the temptation and finally breaches The Surface. Almost immediately, he meets the Queen who is kind to him and gives him delicious snacks like rubies and diamonds. Grump gets in over his head, however, when the Queen convinces him to clone his Fate Stone and make her a magic mirror and then witnesses the intended execution of Snow White. He must learn to play both sides and help both women, to whom he is magically bound, if he is going to stay alive above The Surface. Liesl Shurtliff’s genius blows my mind. There are so many fairy tale chapter books today but this one is unlike any other that I’ve read. I’m dying to read her other titles!
THOUGHTS: You’ll never view the Snow White fairy tale in the same way. Hand this to any fantasy lover or a reader who wants a great adventure story with a few rough edges.
Fantasy Lindsey Long, Lower Dauphin SD
Roy, Jennifer, and Ali Fadhil. Playing Atari with Saddam Hussein. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018. 978-0544785076 165 p. $16.99 Gr. 5-8.
11-year-old Ali, who lives in Basra, Iraq, is a huge fan of American television, movies, and video games. The son of a math professor and a dentist, he lives a relatively luxurious lifestyle, but for the second time in his life, war is coming. Ali and his family despise their despotic leader, Saddam Hussein, and believe that his invasion of Kuwait was foolish and egoistic: “You can’t just go and take over someone else’s country” (5). They also know that the coalition of countries led by the U.S. “will crush us like a bug” (5). Ali’s family hunkers down into survival mode, staying in a “safe room” (which is really just a bedroom) during the planned nighttime airstrikes, hoping the U.S. Desert Storm smart bombs are really as smart as advertised. Electricity and access to running water disappear almost immediately, and soon their batteries are depleted, too. During the day, Ali and his friends play soccer and hunt for cool bits of shrapnel. As time wears on, Ali’s family fears for the safe return of his father, now an army medic. When his mother uses one of his beloved comic books for kindling, Ali is inconsolable–until he tastes the meal that Superman cooks for him. The satisfying ending is set 14 years later when a grown-up Ali serves as a translator in Saddam Hussein’s trial.
THOUGHTS: The writing is clear, often vivid, age-appropriate, and easily accessible even to reluctant readers. This based-on-a-true-story, featuring a protagonist who is half Kurdish, provides a perspective rarely available in children’s literature. This book belongs in all middle school libraries seeking to diversify their collections. As Ali says, “The world may only see Saddam Hussein. But we Iraqis are so much more than that” (157).
Historical Fiction (Persian Gulf War) Maggie Bokelman, Cumberland Valley SD