Monthly Archives: August 2023

MG – Falling Out of Time

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Haddix, Margaret Peterson. Falling Out of Time. Katherine Tegen Books, 2023. 978-0-063-25161-8. 341 p. $19.99. Grades 3-7.

Zola wakes up to a different scene projected on her Picture Wall each morning: Tahiti one day, Bora Bora the next. Her school friends attend from all over the world through advanced virtual reality technology. One morning, Zola asks her AI assistant, Sirilexagoogle, to change the wall to “normal”…but, what does Zola know about normal? Zola lives in the year 2193, a time with wondrous technology and no more fear. Just like Haddix’s debut novel, Running Out of Time, not everything is as it seems in Zola’s world. Zola discovers the truth after finding a mysterious book, The Jessie Keiser Story, detailing Jessie’s daring escape during the 1990s from a fake frontier town. After she stumbles across a hidden staircase in her house, Zola realizes there is very real danger in her not-so-real world. Zola is really living in the year 2023, and she’s being unknowingly watched by hundreds of people each day. Like Haddix’s original novel, this is the story of a daring escape to the outside world.

THOUGHTS: Falling Out of Time is the long-awaited sequel to Haddix’s first novel, Running Out of Time. It certainly lives up to expectations and offers readers relevant 2023 social and environmental commentary while evoking 90s nostalgia for fans of the original story (that’s me!). Although the first few chapters start with detailed world-building and description, the rest of the novel’s plot builds with nonstop action. Some of the twists are quick and a little outlandish, but all elements in this story contribute to the adventurous tone. Readers who are unfamiliar with Running Out of Time (1995) will still be able to enjoy this fresh story on its own. Haddix builds necessary background and context directly into Falling Out of Time.

Science Fiction

MG – Good Different

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Kuyatt, Meg Eden. Good Different. Scholastic Press, 2023. 978-1-338-81610-5. 346 p. $18.99. Grades 4-7.

Selah, a seventh grader at Pebblecreek Academy, is on sensory overload. All her life, Selah’s mother has encouraged her to hold in her feelings—to be ‘Normal’—in public settings, but everything begins to crumble after Selah begins to feel her inner ‘dragon’ trying to escape. In a moment of desperation, Selah hits a classmate who keeps touching Selah’s hair. This impulsive action puts her status as a Pebblecreek student into question. With the help of a teacher, a friend, and her Pop, Selah works to learn more about herself and express feelings through poetry. Unfortunately, not everyone is empathetic or kind along the way. Selah is neurodivergent; throughout the verse novel, she begins to discover her triggers and how to navigate (rather than hide) her feelings and emotions in this moving coming-of-age story.

THOUGHTS: Written in verse format, this story has powerful emotional depth and offers readers a realistic window into growing up on the autism spectrum. Fans of stories like Forget Me Not, Real, Can You See Me?, and Counting by 7s will love Good Different by Meg Eden Kuyatt, a neurodivergent author. Because Selah goes undiagnosed for a large part of the story, the book sheds light particularly well on struggles that girls on the autism spectrum often face as they feel they must mask their sensory feelings, passions, and emotions. This title is highly recommended for all middle grade literature collections.

Realistic Fiction

MG – You Are Here: Connecting Flights

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Oh, Ellen, editor. You Are Here: Connecting Flights. Allida, 2023. 978-0-063-23908-1. $19.99. 272 p. Grades 4-8.

Linda Sue Park, Erin Entrada Kelly, Grace Lin, Traci Chee, Mike Chen, Meredith Ireland, Mike Jung, Minh Lê, Ellen Oh, Randy Ribay, Christina Soontornvat, and Susan Tan have joined together to bring us one of the most creative stories I have seen in a long time. You are Here: Connecting Flights takes place in O’Hare International Airport. Each chapter is written by a different author. Each chapter tells the story of a young East or Southeast Asian-American tween stuck in the international terminal during a weather-related flight suspension. The story begins with Paul who is helping to guide his grandmother and his two year old sister through security. Paul’s family is traveling to Thailand. Grandma speaks very little English and is stopped when the TSA officers discover she has her husband’s ashes in a coffee can inside her carry-on bag. The language barrier, the confusion, and the unexpected discovery of the ashes leads to a delay in the security line. Fellow travelers – most of whom do not understand what is actually happening – make angry, racist comments. When the weather-delay is announced, many travelers blame Paul’s family, incorrectly assuming “those people” were doing something illegal. In the chaos Paul’s sister wanders off… she is found and returned to her family in the second story by the son of an airport employee who is stuck in O’Hare for the day when his babysitter cancels at the last minute and his mother is unable to take the day off. Lee Chang is traveling on his own with his electric guitar. Armed with only the legal knowledge that instruments can be carried-on if a seat has been purchased to store the guitar during flight, Lee is challenged by Security who don’t believe he is carrying a guitar. Security claims Lee doesn’t look like someone who would play rock music. In one story a young basketball player endures relentless micro-aggressions from his teammates but doesn’t feel he can say anything. In another, Natalie finds the courage to confront her best friend who is designing an elaborate Japanese inspired cos-play costume that is not at all appropriate. A brother and sister traveling with an airline representative encounter criticism when the young boy gets his finger stuck in the mesh of a metal airport seat. Two sisters find understanding when one reveals she wears a hat and face mask to hide her Asian identity. Each story carries a brief encounter with a character or situation depicted in another story. In the final chapter American born Soojin and her mother are moving to Korea after their family business is destroyed by vandals. When a boy shouting racial slurs dumps her popcorn, Soojin and her mother are surprised by the kindness of strangers who witnessed the confrontation and try to make amends.

THOUGHTS: In a recent interview Ellen Oh described the style of this book as being an “episodic novel.” The connections between the stories are intricate and intriguing and make for a fascinating plot study. Though each chapter is fairly short, the amount of micro-aggressions, negative backlash and racist comments depicted over the course of all 12 chapters borders on feeling heavy – and yet, that is the point. In the span of a few hours each character only encounters a momentary comment or confrontation, but strung together we are able to see the relentlessness of the racism endured by Asian-Americans on a daily basis. We also see the immense courage of tweens as they navigate each separate situation. Importantly, we feel the immense pride each young character expresses in being an American. In the end Soojin and her mother come to the realization that there are more good people in the world than there are bad. An important book with a unique structure that will encourage Asian-American tweens, while hopefully bringing the challenges they face to light for their non-Asian peers.

MG – The Labors of Hercules Beal

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Schmidt, Gary D. The Labors of Hercules Beal. Clarion Books, 2023. 978-0-358-65963-1. $19.99. 347 p. Grades 5-8.

Hercules Beal is 12 years old and entering seventh grade. Hercules loves his small town of Truro on Cape Cod. Every morning he rises before dawn to walk to the dunes to watch the sun rise. As the first light of day emerges, Hercules whispers his love to his parents who died a year ago in a horrific car crash. Hercules lives with his older brother Achilles, in a home built by his great-grandparents. Achilles had been pursuing a career in journalism when the accident changed the Beal family forever. He returned to Truro to care for Hercules and run the family business. Hercules was the smallest kid in his sixth grade class and is full of all of the trepidation that goes with entering middle school. He is hoping that he will hit the much anticipated Beal growth-spurt soon so that he can avoid bullying in middle school. At the last minute Achilles announces that Hercules will not be attending the local public school, but will begin middle school at The Cape Cod Academy for Environmental Sciences. Disappointed he won’t be attending school with his best friend Elly, Hercules is nervous to meet his new homeroom teacher who introduces himself in a terse and unfriendly welcome letter. Lieutenant Colonel Hupfer is a retired Marine. He is a no-nonsense teacher with exceedingly high expectations. The first assignment he gives is a year-long project based on ancient texts. Each student is challenged with an individual project that would make a college student sweat. Hercules Beal is assigned to examine his namesake’s 12 labors from ancient Greek mythology and to reflect on each labor as it pertains to his own life and the lessons he learns in 7th grade. Hercules (the kid) is somewhat perplexed as he dives into researching Hercules (the myth) and his journey of self-discovery. In the ensuing school year, Hercules (the kid) is met with many challenges of his own. Achilles and Hercules are so busy trying to survive, they have not yet learned to live with their immense grief. As he contemplates his classical namesake, Hercules (the kid) begins a journey of self-discovery that takes him to the very depths of his own version of hell. With the love of his brother, his friends, his teachers, his community, and the Greek mythological stories, Hercules (the kid) finds himself.

THOUGHTS: One of the best books I have read this year. This book is very much in the style of Gary D. Schmidt’s 2008 Newbery Honor, The Wednesday Wars. Fans of that story will be thrilled to delve into another coming of age journey that is not ever simply what it appears to be on the surface. Lieutenant Colonel Hupfer is a complicated character with many demons of his own to overcome. The community of classmates, neighbors, and middle school faculty is wonderfully rendered. A stunning story about moving forward with grief. Many applications for further inquiry into classical mythology.

Realistic Fiction

Twelve-year-old Hercules Beal is entering seventh grade with a lot of baggage. His parents, owners of Beal Brothers Farm and Nursery, have died in a tragic car accident while on a rushed delivery run. Now his twenty-something brother Achilles has put his travels as a writer for National Geographic  on hold to take care of Hercules and run the family business on the coast of Cape Cod. Hercules is not looking forward to starting seventh grade at the Cape Cod Academy for Environmental Science and would prefer to start middle school with his neighbor and lifelong best friend, Elly Rigby. He winds up in the homeroom of retired marine, Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Hupfer (Holling Hoodhood’s best buddy from Gary Schmidt’s The Wednesday Wars), who distributes a yearlong assignment on the first days of school: to relate Greek mythology to the students’ own lives. Of course, because of his moniker, Hercules receives The Labors of Hercules. Thus begins a coming-of-age tale that integrates mythology into the seemingly mundane goings-on of a close-knit New England community and the silently grieving siblings. Hercules Beal speaks to the reader in a conversational tone, relating his struggles to complete each of the twelve tasks throughout the school year. Circumstances determine how the labors are accomplished: the town is plagued by a pack of feral cats; the Cape Cod Academy for Environmental Science is condemned after a severe nor’easter; Hercules’s dog gets hurt and needs assistance during a blizzard, and so on. After each “labor,” Hercules must write a reflective essay. Each is brief yet meaningful and hopefully cathartic; following each essay is Lieutenant Colonel Hupfer’s professional but sensitive response. As Hercules navigates this critical year coping with his guilt and grief, neighbors, friends, and teachers support him, especially when the unthinkable happens. By story’s end, a more secure Hercules recognizes he is not left to carry his burdens alone. And the reader is left with a host of memorable characters and a renewed conviction in the importance of helping each other. Most characters appear to be white; some have Asian-sounding names.

THOUGHTS: This book can be used well in several ways: character study–the development and arc are easy to trace; for a similar assignment involving myths; comparative stories, classic to modern; writing tips from the essays; minimally, plant identification and environmental impact; relationship building; social and emotional health discussions. I don’t know if this is the best book I read all summer, but it is the one that touched my heart the most. Although set in the present day (cell phones, laptops, etc.), it is not slick or trendy. Typical Gary Schmidt, he alludes to the hard stuff–the pain, the anxiety–with a few phrases and ellipsis rather than a lengthy description, but the meaning is taken. Schmidt brings in Hupfer and his now-wife, Mai Thi, from The Wednesday Wars, and makes a reference to Doug Sweiteck (The Wednesday Wars and Okay for Now) and the Joe Pepitone jacket, which may lead students to seek out these titles if they cotton to this book. I say this because The Labors of Hercules Beal may appeal only to readers who are into reading or interested in mythology (though Hercules Beal gives them a very different take on the mythical Hercules) or like books that challenge their thinking or make them feel deeply. Not all middle schoolers are open to the raw but basic feelings this book touches on, but I wish they were. Also, there are some possible glitches. First, the diversity aspect and the lack of differences. The main characters, Hercules, Achilles, Viola (Achilles’s girlfriend), Hupfer, Elly are white, but some of the other characters are not described. The book doesn’t go into gender identity or people with disabilities. Aside from this, the story projects an authentic picture of flawed people–the surprises behind a stern facade, the generous spirit expressed in little kindnesses, the courage that bursts through in time of need, the ability to get mad and get over it. If this sounds too saccharine, it is not. Mean things are said, punches are hurled, students slack off and act goofy. In a review of Okay for Now, Jonathan Hunt who writes the column, “Heavy Medal,” praised Schmidt’s book, but pointed out the parts where the reader had to exercise “suspension of disbelief.” So next, these questions arise: why would anyone leave a twelve-year-old essentially in charge of a business for two weeks? Why aren’t Hercules and his brother in grief therapy? How does one get any seventh grader to work that hard? Maybe I am under the Gary D. Schmidt spell for even with these criticisms, I still think this book is a winner.

Realistic Fiction

Elem. – Our Incredible Library Book and the Wonderful Journeys it Took

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Crowe, Caroline. Our Incredible Library Book and the Wonderful Journeys it Took. Illustrated by John Joseph. Floris Books, 2023. 978-1-782-50741-3. $17.95. 32 p. Grades K-3.

Every book has a story. Every library book has two stories – one depicted on the pages and another that tells the book’s circulation journey. Well loved picture books from the library often have amazing adventures as they are read to pets and babies, in the bathtub, under the covers, and on vacations. Told in rhyming verse this delightful selection chronicles its own journey in the hands of dozens of young readers. Nia was the first patron to ever check the book out. Nia read the book while eating, and got a few smudges and an unfortunate hot chocolate ring on one page. More importantly though, Nia loved the book. In fact, she had a hard time returning it to the library. Luis found the book next and discovered for the very first time that he could read the book on his own… so he read it to his sister who was splashing in the tub. Hanna couldn’t find the book anywhere and discovered her cat had been sitting on it, crumpling the pages. As the story continues we see child after child thoroughly enjoying the book. Crayon marks; marshmallow smudges; and various tears, stains, and other signs of wear appear in the illustrations. Every reader is changed by the book, and the book in turn, is changed by every reader. Adorable illustrations by John Joseph.

THOUGHTS: Book care is often one of the first lessons of the year in elementary school libraries. This book provides a wonderful opportunity to discuss handling library books with young students. A timely and delightful read aloud with text that emphasizes book-joy and illustrations that show the wear and tear a well-loved library book can accumulate. Illustrations depict a multitude of families, races, sizes and abilities. Highly recommended for elementary libraries.

Picture Book

Elem. – Wonder Dogs!

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Ashman, Linda.  Wonder Dogs! Illustrated by Karen Obuhanych. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2023.  978-1-534-49453-4. Unpaged. $18.99. Grades K-1.

Written in simple rhyming text, this picture book is a celebration of dogs. Told from the point of view of a young girl’s pet, a little dog describes what makes canines so wonderful as the pair goes for a walk. He sees dogs that fetch, chase and catch, as well as serve and protect. He watches them run agility courses and sees others use their sense of smell for search and rescue. After observing these animals in action, the small pooch feels that he is coming up short, because he cannot do any of these things. Thinking over his relationship with his guardian, the puppy begins to realize that he has some wonderful talents also. He can comfort the girl during a storm and encourages her to keep fit by taking him on walks. Most of all, his “superpower” is the love he gives to her. Obuhanych uses a variety of media to create whimsical illustrations of many different dog breeds. Her images of the dog narrator are simply darling.

THOUGHTS: This book is sure to be a hit for dog lovers, who will be eager to talk about the talents of their own pets. A worthwhile purchase for elementary collections.

Picture Book