Amelia Lost by Candace Fleming

Amelia Lost, by Candace Fleming, retraces the life and last flight of Amelia Earhart.  There has been much interest recently in Amelia Earhart, particularly as yesterday, July 2, was the 75th anniversary of her disappearance in the Pacific.  In addition, a well-funded expedition is looking for the remains of her plane off a small island.

Everyone thinks they know about Amelia Earhart, but reading about the details of her life, interspersed with sections chronicling the events of her last day, readers will quickly realize they know the myths, but not the true story of Amelia Earhart.

Candace Fleming's vast research provides information about people and events, both the good and the bad, providing the reader with chances to make his or her own judgment about Amelia. This approach provides a glimpse into the difficulties a woman faced in being taken seriously in a profession dominated by men. Amelia had to make calculated decisions to continue to fly and there were doubts about Amelia's piloting skills at critical times in her career.

There is no question that she was a role model for women, and the feats she achieved taught women they could do something other than get married and be a housewife.  Fleming provides a behind-the-scenes glimpse that reminds us that Amelia was a human being, not a myth, and helps the reader understand the context of the time and culture in which Amelia Earhart lived.

Brixton Brothers: The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity by Mac Barnett

5/5 stars

As a fan of the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew mysteries, I loved this first book in the Brixton Brothers series.  Steve is a big fan of the Bailey Brothers, reading and rereading every book in the series about two brothers who solve crimes just like Frank and Joe Hardy.  Excerpts from the Bailey Brothers books show off their famous roundhouse punch, how to find the best hiding places, and how to reveal the bad guy in front of all the witnesses, all while Steve is solving his first case and trying to answer these questions:

• Why are librarians chasing Steve through the library and all over town?
• When Steve checks out a quilting book from the library, why do the lights go out?
• Why has Steve been assigned a report on quilting over the weekend anyway?
• What is the mystery behind the mysterious Mr. E?
• Why does Steve want his best friend Dana to dress up like a gorilla?

These questions and many others are answered in the first Brixton Brothers mystery, The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity.  Those who enjoy a good mystery, such as the Hardy Boys or Encyclopedia Brown, will have a lot of fun reading this book.

All Hallows Read

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikewebkist/1027779/

Dreamed up by Neil Gaiman, author of Coraline, Odd and the Frost Giants, and The Graveyard Book, All Hallows Read suggests that people give out spooky or Halloween-themed books for Halloween instead of candy.  There are several book lists on the website, for younger and older readers.  If you are looking for a good book to give away, take a look at AllHallowsRead.com.

The Gollywhopper Games by Jody Feldman

5/5 stars


The Gollywhopper Games is a book for those who enjoyed Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and who love doing puzzles.  Gil Goodson is trying to help his father get his reputation back and help his family move, after his father was fired from the Golly Game and Toy Company for something he didn't do.  Gil enters a nationwide contest to be chosen to compete in the Gollywhopper Games, a series of puzzles and events involving words, math, history, and physical tests within the Golly company's factory.

The reader can solve the puzzles along with Gil, and along with the national television audience watching all the players' every move.  Will Gil's encyclopedic knowledge of the Golly company and his devotion to his father win the game?

A View From Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg

5/5 stars

I just love that E.L. Konigsburg won the Newbery Medal for two books, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler in 1968, and A View From Saturday in 1997, 29 years later.  In between, she wrote many other books, full of unusual characters and almost unbelievable links between them.  I reread this book recently, as it is part of the Global Reading Challenge list from our King County Library System children's librarians.

Four students, previously unconnected, find themselves as part of an Academic Bowl team coached by a teacher who recently returned to the classroom after a car accident that left her a widow and in a wheelchair.  Each chapter is told by a different character, with the story tied together by coincidences, connections, friendship, and the team's loyalty to their teacher.  They are an unlikely team, yet they become friends and complement each other.  Each thread of their individual stories is woven together into the fabric of the complete book, as E.L. Konigsburg does so well.

Doodlebug: A Novel in Doodles by Karen Romano Young

5/5 stars

Doodlebug: A Novel in Doodles is written in the format of a sketchbook, and in the voice of a 7th grader, Dodo, telling the story of her family's move to San Francisco and the transitions they all experience. Dodo sketches and tells her story in a notebook, beginning with their drive to San Francisco, highlighting what she already knows about herself, that she is a visual learner and she learns better when she can doodle. 

She has been diagnosed as ADHD, an attention disorder, but has chosen not to take medication so she can deal with it in her own way, if her teachers will allow it. Why do we make rules? And who decides who should follow the rules and why? Should we all be the same person, or should we celebrate and embrace our differences? Doodlebug (Dodo's new name at her new school) faces these questions head-on as she tries to fit in to her new school. She's made new friends, but will she be able to stay at her new school with its rules?

The Boy Who Couldn't Die by William Sleator

4/5 stars


Booktalk: William Sleator has a knack for writing creepy, science fiction stories that draw you in, then leave you with more questions than you had at the beginning of the book. The Boy Who Couldn't Die follows this pattern, with an extra dose of creepiness. Ken's best friend dies in a plane crash, and in the middle of his deep depression, Ken decides that he must never die. He finds a woman who promises him that she can protect him from pain and death forever for only fifty dollars. He takes her up on her offer and finds that he can't be injured or killed, but he starts having nightmares which appear to be coming true. Ken decides that he doesn't want to be immortal any more, but it is not as simple as just reversing the process, and now his friends and family are involved. Is it true that you don't always want what you wish for, after you've gotten it? Creepiness factor and dark subject matter would lead me to recommend this book to older readers (6th grade on up), but there are other William Sleator books which are appropriate for the 4th-5th grade set.

No Passengers Beyond This Point by Gennifer Choldenko

5/5 stars


Booktalk: The author of Al Capone Does My Shirts has created another unusual and character-driven book in No Passengers Beyond This Point. This sci-fi fantasy book follows three siblings, India, Finn and Mouse Tompkins, as they tell their story in their own points of view in alternating chapters. India, Finn and Mouse have just been told by their mother that their house is being taken away by the bank and they will be moving to Colorado to live with their uncle. The three children are shocked, especially when they are told that they are leaving the next day on a plane, without their mother, who needs to finish up her job and the packing. Their adventure begins on this somber note, but when they land in an unusual place called Falling Bird, what awaits them is not their uncle, but some choices about life, family, and what is really important. Mouse is a five-year-old genius, but even she is having trouble figuring out how they are going to find their way home again from the mysterious Falling Bird.

Kingdom Keepers: Disney After Dark by Ridley Pearson

5 stars


Booktalk: Finn and four other kids have been chosen to be the first DHIs at Disney World, they are Disney Host Interactives, holographic versions of themselves who lead tours around the park. What they don't know is that one of the Imagineers has changed the source code for the holograph program so that Finn and his friends appear in the park after they have fallen asleep. Wally needs their help, some of the Disney villains, Maleficent, the pirates from Pirates of the Caribbean, and others, are part of a plot to take over Disney World, and then the world itself. Can Finn and the others stop the Overtakers from ruining the Disney dream? Great read for those who have been or who are planning a trip to Disneyland or Disney World, with many behind-the-scenes peeks at places which may or may not exist in the real Disney World.

Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce

Booktalk version: Liam Digby looks like an adult, but when he decides to act like an adult his adventures begin. He wins a trip on a new rocket ride, and decides to masquerade as a friend's father so he can experience this once-in-a-lifetime ride. However, the ride strands them in space, heading for the moon, unsure of how they will ever get back to Earth. Filled with space exploration facts, readers will learn about space travel both as history shows it, and how it might be for one 12-year-old boy who wishes for adventure and gets more than he bargained for. Is it always best to get what you want?

Full-length version: Cosmic has been on the library's shelves for most of this year, one of the many purchases I made to satisfy my reacquired interest in science fiction, and to support the sixth grade team's inclusion of science fiction in their reading curriculum. One of our public librarians booktalked some titles when she came to talk about summer reading programs, and this was one she highlighted for our sixth graders.

The story revolves around Liam Digby from Liverpool, a twelve-year-old who looks like an adult with his above-average height and facial hair, and is also considered Gifted and Talented. Testing the limits of his appearance leads Liam to adventures, the biggest of which begins with a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory-type contest. The winners of the contest are to experience the newest and most spectacular ride in the world, a rocket trip into space and back again, supposedly. Throughout the experience, the children begin to learn how to be individuals while discovering that they are not as dissimilar as they thought.

I highly recommend this story to fans of science fiction as well as other types of books. The well-balanced mix of character quirks, plot, and scientific information will appeal to readers who appreciate unique plots. The book is sprinkled with real-life facts about the history of space travel, as well as one real-life astronaut as a character, and includes a page with links to NASA resources. I found myself looking up information about the names and events mentioned while I was reading the book.

For readers who enjoy books that make you think about your place in the world, there are moments of introspection and rhetorical questions about who we are as individuals and how our view of ourselves changes as the world around us changes. Or as Liam says:

Maybe everyone's got their own special gravity that lets you go far away, really far away sometimes, but which always brings you back in the end. Because here's the thing. Gravity is variable. Sometimes you float like a feather. Sometimes you're too heavy to move. Sometimes one boy can weigh more than the whole universe. The universe goes on forever, but that doesn't make you small.

This book doesn't make you feel small, but it makes you think about yourself and your relationship to others and the world around us. I highly recommend this book for literature circles or a read-aloud, possibly for an astronomy unit. There are many issues which could be discussed, as well as facts to be learned and researched.

Gamer Girl by Mari Mancusi

Booktalk version: Maddy is forced to leave her friends and school behind when her parents divorce, and she and her mom and sister move in with her grandmother in a small town. Maddy's interests in manga and gaming seem to rub the popular crowd the wrong way, and she feels the only escape she has is through an online multiplayer game, where she meets the knight of her dreams, Sir Leo. As she feels more comfortable at her new school and makes some new friends, she begins to wonder about the true identity of Sir Leo, and could he be her real-life knight in shining armor?

Full-length version: On the recommendation of a 6th grade girl, I began reading Gamer Girl while we were at our 6th grade end-of-the-year outdoor education camp. She had it at camp and loaned it to me to read. I read all the way home on the bus, and reluctantly returned it to her and then promptly checked it out from my local public library so I could finish it.

This is a book for the 12-16-year-old set, so I won't be carrying it in my library, but as a gamer and a bit of an outsider and geek myself, I identified with the main character, Maddy Starr. Maddy is forced to move into her grandmother's house when her parents divorce, and has to leave her friends and interests behind in Boston when she begins school at a new high school. From the first day, when her grandmother insists that she wear a unicorn sweatshirt instead of her goth clothes, Maddy becomes a target for the Haters, her name for the popular group of boys and girls.

Maddy finds solace in an online multiplayer game that her father plays, and though it begins as a way for her to connect with her father who lives hours away, she finds a new gaming friend in "Sir Leo" and begins to have a crush on this online character. Maddy does understand about online safety and follows the rules set by her parents, but somehow gets the idea that Sir Leo is really someone she knows in her new school. They have discussions as their online characters and Maddy begins to feel less alone.

Maddy also finds a sympathetic teacher who helps her realize that her interest in manga might have an impact on her future, and offers to help Maddy start up a manga club at the school. Suddenly Maddy finds a group of people similar to herself and finds out that not everyone at her school is part of the popular group of Haters.

Readers who enjoyed Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli will find a similar sympathy for Maddy, yet in an updated game format, where some conversations between characters take place within the game in an instant message or texting format. I did not find this distracting from the main text, and often the gaming messaging moved the plot forward or brought out specific characteristics of the players.

Those who root for the underdog or who secretly (or not so secretly) wanted the popular group in their school to disappear, will love Gamer Girl. The gaming speak and environment will be familiar to those who play online games, but the social situation will be familiar to all, as these situations are universal to all experiences growing up.

There are a few instances of language that make this book more middle to high school reading, but no adult situations other than a crush and a kiss or two.