Book Review: Twerp, by Mark Goldblatt (Random House, 2013)

Recommended for ages 10-14.

Release date:  May 28, 2013

In recent years, with the great attention paid to the problem of bullying both in schools and on-line, many new children's novels have come out dealing with this topic.  Mark Goldblatt's Twerp is a worthy addition to any library looking for books addressing this subject. 

Julian Twerski (aka Twerp) doesn't think of himself as a bully. But after he's suspended for his involvement in a bullying incident, his English teacher asks him to keep a journal, hoping he'll open up on paper about what really happened (and also giving a framework for this book). Julian sees the journal as a great way to get out of writing a paper on Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, since he HATES Shakespeare with a passion. The journal turns into a diary of Julian's sixth grade life in 1969 Queens, in which he examines his friendships with neighborhood boys, has crushes on girls, worries about whether he's still the fastest kid in the 6th grade, and muses on all the terrible things he's ever done--all except what happened to Danley Dimmel, the victim of his bullying that's at the root of the journal--and the novel. There's plenty of comedy in this story, including a subplot where Julian writes a love letter for his tongue-tied best friend (shades of Cyrano de Bergerac) with predictably disastrous and hilarious results.  But there's also a serious thread, with the book's examination of bullying, why it happens and what Julian does to try to deal with his guilt over the situation. 

Author Goldblatt describes himself on his website as a "theologian, novelist, columnist and book reviewer as well as a professor at Fashion Institute of Technology of the State University of New York."  This is his first novel for young people, and was inspired by his own childhood growing up in Queens.  The author's authentic middle-school voice reminded me of Gary Schmidt's The Wednesday Wars novel, which takes place around the same time. 

Twerp is well worth reading, particularly for middle school aged kids. Although the novel is set in 1969, Julian and his friends are definitely characters that young readers will identify with, and the story could just as easily take place now (except there's an absence of cell phones, texting, computers, and other high-tech facets of modern life). 

Book Review: Out of the Easy, by Ruta Sepetys (Philomel, 2013)

Recommended for ages 12 and up.

The prostitute with the heart of gold is a popular trope in fiction--although not one that we see often in YA novels, particularly with their focus these days on the supernatural and the dystopian.  Ruta Sepetys, who won so many honors with her first novel, Between Shades of Gray, (no connection with the even bigger best-seller, Fifty Shades of Gray!) transports us to 1950 and the seedy world of New Orleans' brothels and gangsters in her new just-released novel, Out of the Easy.

The book, narrated by the protagonist, 17-year old Josie, begins:  "My mother's a prostitute.  Not the filthy, streetwalking kind...But she sleeps with men for money or gifts, and according to the dictionary, that makes her a prostitute."  Her mother works for Willie, based on an actual New Orleans madam of the time, and her on and off boyfriend is a nefarious gangster, Cincinnati.  Josie hates Cincinnati and has a difficult relationship with her mother as well.  Willie, the generous madam with the proverbial heart of gold but a tough exterior, takes on the role of mother-figure for Josie, while her own mother seems to have little patience for raising her.  Josie's made good grades in school, and lives above a bookshop where she works part-time.  She also works part-time cleaning the brothel.  She's hoping to go away, leaving the Big Easy.  Her heart is set on college--not in New Orleans, where everyone knows who she is--and who her mother is--but at Smith College, where she hopes to make a fresh start.

Josie's carefully made plans and all her savings might come to nothing when she becomes mixed up in the police investigation of a a murder of a handsome tourist--one who happened to come into the bookstore shortly before his death and who afterwards had drinks with her mother.  As Josie becomes entangled in a web of lies, will she be able to escape her fate in New Orleans?  Will she become just like her own mother in the end?

I found this new work by Sepetys to be engaging from the get-go; Josie is a strong, smart, character with lots of "moxie."  Many of the more minor characters, especially her friend who is a closeted homosexual, are also appealing.  Sepetys portrays the 1950's as a world of secrets, where everyone is part of the New Orleans Mardi Gras, wearing a mask that disguises who they really are.  One aspect of the novel which did bother me is that the world of the prostitutes at the whorehouse seemed to be somewhat prettified; although Josie's mother is an extremely unlikeable character, the other girls at the house who play more minor roles seem to be more stereotyped.  The gangsters, also, seem like stock characters.  However, I enjoyed the fact that the story is not predictable, a fault I often find with teen novels.

This novel, despite its setting in the underworld of New Orleans, does not have gratuitous sex or violence, and could be read by middle school students as well as high school.  While Out of the Easy did not engage me emotionally in the same way that Sepetys' earlier novel, Between Shades of Gray, did, it is a skillfully crafted novel that is well worth reading for its compelling main character and its well realized setting.

Best Picture Books about Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dr. King has been on my mind of late.  Now that I am working as a full-time children's librarian, I was excited to organize a program for our family storytime in his honor.  Since it happened that the program fell on his actual birthday, February 15, rather than the federal holiday, we read--and acted out--picture books about him, and sang Happy Birthday and instead of having cake, tasted his favorite dessert, pecan pie (served up in very small servings in cupcake liners!).  The program turned into a family occasion, as my banjo-playing mother-in-law and my teenaged son came to teach the children and adults some of the iconic civil rights protest songs:  We Shall Overcome, We Shall Not be Moved, and This Little Light of Mine.

There's a rich variety of books available on Dr. King, aimed at all ages, yet it was not difficult to choose which books I wanted to highlight.  Here are some of my favorites, although I was not able to read them all at the storytime.

I Have a Dream, by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., illustrated by Kadir Nelson (Schwartz & Wade, 2012).  Kadir Nelson has outdone himself with the magnificent oil paintings he produced to illustrate some of the most iconic excerpts from Dr. King's most famous speech (the complete text is included in the back of the book, as is a CD with Dr. King delivering the address).  This is a book that should be in every American classroom and library.  The dignified and statuesque artwork, combined with Dr. King's inspirational language, cannot fail to move anyone who sees and reads this book.

Martin's Big Words:  The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., by Doreen Rappaport, illustrated by Bryan Collier (Hyperion, 2001).  In a book suitable for kindergartners on up, Rappaport brings Dr. King's career to life using simple but eloquent language and Dr. King's own powerful words, taken from various speeches and letters from throughout his lifetime.  Combined with outstanding artwork by Bryan Collier, her text is perfect for reader's theatre; at my own program, three children read the words of Dr. King and I read the narrator part, making a very moving small piece of drama perfect for the classroom or library storytime.

My Uncle Martin's Big Heart, by Angela Farris, illustrated by Eric Velasquez (Abrams, 2010).  This warm-hearted picture book tells Dr. King's life told from the perspective of his young niece.  Dr. King comes through as a family man, Uncle M.L. who loved to laugh, not just an icon of the Civil Rights movement.

My Brother Martin:  A Sister Remembers Growing Up with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., by Christine King Farris (Simon & Schuster, 2003).  In this outstanding book written by King's older sister, we see Martin Luther King as a mischievous young boy, not wanting to practice the piano, surrounded by a warm and loving well-educated family who tried to shield their children from the worst of segregation.  Dr. King's father, stood up to the worst of the bigotry of that time, and the young King learns the importance of standing up for justice and equality.  A powerful book that can be easily understood by elementary school-aged children.

Book Review: The Marble Queen, by Stephanie J. Blake (Amazon Children's Publishing, 2012)

Recommended for ages 8-12.

Debut author Stephanie J. Blake has written an appealing middle-grade novel about a heroine with an unusual name:  Freedom Jane McKenzie.  It's 1959, and Freedom is a tomboy through and through.  She'd rather be playing marbles with the boys than engaging in more lady-like pursuits like tea parties and playing with Barbies.  She dreams of winning the annual marble competition at the Autumn Jubilee, but it's not clear her mother will even let her enter, since her mom thinks marbles aren't proper for young girls.  It's not easy growing up, particularly when your best friend (a boy, of course) doesn't want to have anything to do with you anymore, since he's getting teased for being friends with a girl.  And on top of everything, your parents are constantly arguing over your dad's drinking.  With her mother pregnant, Freedom has to take on plenty of chores at home, but still finds time to befriend the scary old lady who's their neighbor.  Mrs. Zierk soon turns out to be the one person who has time to listen to Freedom, and soon is teaching her piano and jam-making.

Will Freedom become the Marble Queen, or will she have to give up her marbles and become a different person now that she's growing older?

This is a well-written story for 8-12 year olds; told with a humorous voice in the first person, the novel offers us an engaging heroine, a girl with plenty of spunk who we'd like living in our neighborhood.  The author provides plenty of historical details about the era, including the building of bomb shelters, the novelty of television, having sundaes at the dime store, and the introduction of Barbie, among others, to give the book an authentic feel for the era.  She also recreates effectively the pace of life at that period, when children roamed around their neighborhoods during the summer and after school without their parents fearing for their safety.

Freedom is a character I'd like to hear more from in the future.

Book Review: mister death's blue-eyed girls, by Mary Downing Hahn (Clarion Books, 2012) (

Recommended for ages 12 and up.


Release date:  April 17, 2012

It's June, 1956, and school's just about out for the summer. Teenage Nora and her friends have a party with a few boys, dance, hang out and drink too many beers. But none of them can imagine that their lives are about to change forever because of a shocking murder. 

The next day, the bodies of two of the girls from Nora's group, Cheryl and Bobbi Jo, are found shot to death in the woods near their house. Everyone thinks that Buddy, Cheryl's ex-boyfriend, who looks like an imitation of James Dean, must be guilty of the brutal crime. But when no conclusive evidence is uncovered, he's released by the police, although everyone in the town still assumes he did it, and worse yet, that he got away with it. 

This excellent mystery, written from the point of view of Nora, her friend Ellie, Buddy, and the actual guilty murderer, takes place in a time that seems so innocent now--a time of listening to Elvis records with your girlfriends, worrying what would happen if a boy touched your knee, and having ice cream sodas at the neighborhood drugstore.  But with the murders life changed for all the teens in the story. 

What would it be like to have your friends murdered, begin to question not only your Catholic faith, but your very belief in God, and not know how to go on living? And what if everyone in town thought you were a murderer? This is different from other Mary Downing Hahn books I've read--not a ghost story, but a story nonetheless of how the dead can haunt us in other ways. It's a coming-of-age story as well as a mystery and a real page turner.  Highly recommended. 

Note: the novel is inspired by a similar crime which took place when the author was a teen; the author knew both girls who were the victims and remembers vividly being at a friend's house when the bodies were discovered.  She writes in an afterword that the event has haunted her for years.

Book Review: In Trouble, by Ellen Levine (Carolrhoda Lab, 2011)

Recommended for ages 14 and up.

Abortion is a topic few YA authors dare to broach in their books, and this reality alone would be enough reason for me to applaud award-winning author Ellen Levine's 2011 young adult novel In Trouble.  But the book has plenty of merit as an unsentimental look at the hard choices (or lack thereof) teens confronted when they became pregnant in the 1950's.

The film noir style cover, portraying a lonely teenaged girl waiting late at night on a deserted street, sets the stage for this dark novel set in 1956 New York, when choices for young girls who got themselves "in trouble" were limited indeed.  The author tells the story of best friends Jamie and Elaine, who both find themselves with unwanted pregnancies while in high school.  However, the pregnancies are ultimately dealt with in very different ways, with a sensitive portrayal of how two different families dealt with this difficult situation.

Note:  some spoilers....

Elaine has a steady boyfriend already in college, and is sure that he will marry her when she tells him about the pregnancy.  Jamie's circumstances, on the other hand, are slowly unveiled by the author through a series of nightmares as the reader realizes that she was date-raped by a friend of her sophisticated Manhattan cousin.  Jamie's family is already under plenty of stress, since her dad has just been released from prison, having been convicted for refusing to answer questions during the McCarthy hearings.  But when they discover her circumstances, her family steps up, even helping her find a doctor who will do an abortion, despite abortions being illegal at the time.  Elaine, on the other hand, is sent to a home for unwed Catholic girls, where she is pressured to give up her baby for adoption despite her wishes.

In Trouble is based on dozens of interviews Levine conducted, and although the characters are fictional, each event in the book actually happened to someone.  In an author's note, Levine explains why she felt compelled to tell Elaine and Jamie's stories.  "If we don't know what has happened, we can't appreciate our choices today and what we might lose if laws are changed," she writes.  She explains that although we might think things are totally different today, with the availability of legal abortion, in 87% of U.S. counties you can't get a legal abortion, because there's no doctor who will do it.

I believe this is an important novel for young people, particularly girls to read; unfortunately, I'm not sure it will be widely purchased by school and public libraries.  Despite the fact that Levine has won many awards for her work, including a Caldecott Honor for Henry's Freedom Box, few of the library systems in my area (Southern California) have purchased it, although the novel came out in September.  Whether this is because of the controversial subject matter or limited budgets, I can't say, but I hope librarians will not be reluctant to add this to their collections because the book deals with abortion.  It is a gripping story that deserves to be on the shelves.

Book Review: The Lions of Little Rock, by Kristin Levine (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2012)

Recommended for ages 10-14.


Check back tomorrow (Friday) for an interview with The Lions of Little Rock author, Kristin Levine!


Some books introduce you to a really special character.  Kristin Levine has done that with the protagonist of her new novel, The Lions of Little Rock, twelve-year old Marlee.  Marlee is a brilliant math student, who dreams of becoming a rocket scientist (although she wonders if it's only boys who can have careers in math).  But at school, Marlee is painfully shy, and is so nervous she's scared of saying anything in class.  Not surprisingly, it's difficult for her to make friends.  It's 1958 in Little Rock, and Marlee's starting middle school.  Her older sister, Judy, should be attending high school, but the governor has closed the schools rather than have them be integrated, even though nine African-American students had enrolled the year before (the famous Little Rock Nine).

Things seem to be improving for Marlee when, much to her surprise, a new girl at school, Liz, comes to eat lunch with her and soon becomes her friend.  Liz and Marlee are even working together on an oral presentation for school, and Liz is helping Marlee gather the courage to speak in front of the entire class. But when the big day comes, Marlee is devestated to find out that Liz is not returning to West Side Junior High--and it's for a shocking reason.  It turns out that Liz is African-American, but has been "passing" for white.  When her identity is discovered, she must withdraw from school.

Although Marlee's mother is shocked by what she sees as Liz' betrayal, Marlee can't help missing her friend.  Can Liz and Marlee still be friends even though it's become dangerous for them to even be seen together?

This novel is an excellent pick for tweens and middle school students, exploring serious issues of prejudice within the context of a story of two girls' friendship that students that age will easily identify with.  The lions of the title live in the zoo not far from Marlee's house, and she hears them roaring sometimes at night.  But the title also refers to the courage that Marlee and Liz demonstrate by fighting the prejudice that was so much a part of their milieu in 1958 Little Rock.  Marlee even lies to her family to meet Liz secretly, not thinking that it might be dangerous for Liz and her family for the girls to see each other.  The secondary characters in this novel, including Marlee's sister, parents, and their African-American maid Betty Jean are just as skillfully drawn as the two protagonists, and enrich the story as well.  I would particularly recommend the book for mother-daughter or library book clubs, since the subject matter and the characters' response to their situations would make excellent material for discussion.


The Lions of Little Rock is also being released in audiobook.  Check out an excerpt here.

Disclosure:  Review copy provided by publisher.

Book Review: Something to Hold, by Katherine Schlick Noe (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011)

Recommended for ages 8-12.


In this new novel, debut author Katherine Schlick Noe tells a fresh and compelling story, based on her own childhood experiences of growing up on an Indian reservation as one of the only white families in the community.

When our eleven-year old heroine, Kitty, arrives at the Warm Springs Reservation in Oregon in 1962, she's used to being the new kid--her dad works for the government as a forest manager and they're always moving around.  But it's hard to fit in at the reservation school where she's one of the only non-Indians.  She doesn't feel comfortable with the white girls dressed in their fancy dresses and stiff petticoats whom she meets at church on Sundays either.  They dismiss all Indians as drunks, and their prejudice bothers Kitty deeply.  Even her teacher tells her that none of the Indian students are going anywhere, and that "they will drag you down if you let them."

The story, narrated by Kitty herself, takes Kitty through her first year living on the reservation, a year of growth and change for this sympathetic character.  As Kitty gets to know her classmates, she begins to appreciate them and their culture, as well as striving to understand the "dark shadows" in their lives, which are so much more complicated than her own happy two-parent family.  She even becomes friends with Jewel, the powerful and angry girl who once intimidated her, and is faced with the difficulties of keeping Jewel's secrets.  Should she speak out to help Jewel and her brother? 

Something to Hold was recognized by Amazon as one of its best books for December for children.  Although the book discusses sensitive subjects, particularly prejudice and an abusive father, these difficult topics are always handled in an age-appropriate way, and in the end the novel is an uplifting coming-of-age story with appealing characters and an unusual setting. 

Tomorrow, I am pleased to feature a guest post from author Katherine Schlick Noe about her new book!

Disclosure:  Review copy provided by publisher.

Book Review: Vietnam Book One: I Pledge Allegiance, by Chris Lynch (Scholastic, 2011)

Recommended for ages 10 to 14


The first in a new series on the Vietnam War for young readers, I Pledge Allegiance introduces us to four ordinary guys who are best friends:  Rudi, Ivan, Beck, and Morris, our narrator.   Morris is haunted by nightmares about Vietnam, visions of "torn flesh and burned flesh and the end of everything we know, all dying there in the scorching jungle of Vietnam."  The friends have a sacred pledge--if one of them gets drafted, they would all be drafted, even if they weren't serving together.  And when Rudi is drafted, each of them enlists in a different branch of the service.  Morris picks the Navy, where he thinks he can somehow watch over his friends and keep them safe.  But can he stop his nightmares of death and destruction from coming true?

This short, action-packed novel (under 200 pages) is perfect for reluctant readers, even those in high school.  Told in the first person, we can easily identify with Morris and his fears and insecurities.  Lynch does a great job evoking the close bonds between the four friends, as well as the atmosphere of serving on a Navy missile cruiser:  the day to day routines, and the terror of actually seeing action in Vietnam.  Boys will be particularly attracted to this new series.  I was not able to find any information on the rest of the series, but I'm betting that there will be three more volumes, each concentrating on a different one of the four friends, thus profiling a different branch of the service.  This new series is an excellent addition for school or public libraries.


Disclosure:  Review copy provided by publisher.

Book Review: Dear America: With the Might of Angels: The Diary of Dawnie Rae Johnson, Hadley Virginia, 1954 (Scholastic, 2011)

Recommended for ages 8-12.


Release date:  September 1, 2011

The newest in Scholastic's relaunch of its beloved Dear America series, this book by award-winning author Andrea Davis Pinkney tells the story of Dawnie Rae Johnson, a fictional twelve-year old Virginia girl who's the first to desegregate an all white school in the wake of Brown vs. Board of Education.

Dawnie tells us she's always been blessed with the gift of gab, so a diary is a perfect birthday gift, especially prized since it was made by her little brother, Goober.  It seems her dream is coming true when she finds out she's going to attend Prettyman Colburn, Hadley's white school, instead of the "colored" school, Bethune, where everything is broken, from the books to the toilets to the clocks.  Dawnie's especially bright, and dreams of becoming a doctor one day, although she's never seen a colored doctor or nurse either.  After passing an especially difficult test with flying colors, she's one of the students tapped by the NAACP to start the school integration process in their town.

Dawnie will need every bit of her courage and resolve, as she is confronted by demonstrations, small children spitting at her, adults calling her names, and police escorts needed just to get her into the school building.  No one will talk to her, and she spends the first day in the principal's office.  Dawnie writes in her diary, "By most counts, I'm a normal girl.  But with the way those kids were staring at me today, you'da thought I was a bearded lady at the Lee County Carnival."  But that's not her only problem, as her daddy loses her job when locals don't want to support a business that employs someone whose daughter is desegregating their schools.  About the only people nice to her at school are the colored custodian and the lunch ladies, and Gertie Feldman, a Jewish student at the school.  Will Dawnie be able to triumph in this hostile environment?

While both Andrea Davis Pinkney's heroine and the setting of Hadley, Virginia, are fictional, the narrative was inspired by several different integration stories, including one involving the author's own cousin.  Pinkney herself was the only black student at her very first grade school, although her experience was not as harsh as Dawnie's.  Pinkney incorporates many real historical events into her story, including the Montgomery bus protest of Claudette Colvin, the debut of Sports Illustrated magazine, and Jackie Robinson's integration of baseball.  Dawnie Rae's distinctive and colorful voice and personality help bring this important period in our history to life for young people today.  It's a must for school and public libraries, as well as all fans of the Dear America series.

Like the other Dear America volumes, back matter includes a historical note on American in 1954, as well as brief biographies of real people mentioned in Dawnie Rae's diary, a Civil Rights timeline, and an "about the author" note describing her background and her research on this topic.

Pinkney remarks in the author's note:  "I wrote this book to remind young readers of the great privilege they enjoy--that of attending any school they wish, with classmates of all races--and to show them that even in the harshest situations, hope can shine through the darkest days."

Disclosure:  Review copy provided by publisher.

Book Review: Your Friend in Fashion, Abby Shapiro, by Amy Axelrod (Holiday House, 2011)

Recommended for ages 8 to 12.


It's 1959, and eleven year old Abby Shapiro knows that dolls are not just for babies.  She wants nothing more than one of those brand new Barbie dolls to add to her doll collection and a bra, which her mother insists she doesn't need yet.  In order to earn the money for these purchases, she begins to write to glamorous political wife and fashion plate Jackie Kennedy, sending her hand-drawn paper-doll fashion designs, with the goal of becoming her personal fashion designer.  The fact that she doesn't hear back from Jackie doesn't stop her from continuing to write, filling in the letters with details from her life along with her ongoing fashion tips.

It's no wonder that Abby is interested in fashion; her family owns the best women's shoe store in town, and she's been designing paper doll outfits since third grade.  The novel can be seen as a coming-of-age story in which Abby lives through a challenging year in which her abusive father moves out of the house, her gangster Uncle Max falls in love, and Abby struggles with her relationship with her mother, but the author also weaves in a great deal of humor, some of which may make you laugh out loud.

I was charmed by the heroine of this new novel by debut novelist Amy Axelrod.  Abby narrates her own story with age appropriate humor, interspersed with her lengthy letters to Jackie, which are written in script.  Abby lives in a traditional Jewish family, and the story is enriched by many Yiddish words and expressions (a glossary and pronunciation guide is provided in the back).  The book, appropriately enough, is abundantly illustrated with paper doll fashions which were actually made by the author as a girl.  I felt the character of the father was a bit one-dimensional, but all in all, this is a good pick for tween girls who like humorous realism combined with some family drama.

Book Review: Karma: A Verse Novel, by Cathy Ostlere (Razorbill, 2011)

Recommended for ages 12 and up.


I was immediately drawn into Cathy Ostlere's stunning debut novel, Karma, written in free verse and set in India during the turbulent period immediately after the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984.  Her 15-year old heroine, Maya, a Canadian teenager who’s half-Hindu, and half-Sikh, is traveling with her grief-stricken father to India with the ashes of her mother and a new diary to record her thoughts.  On the night they arrive, the prime minister is killed in her own garden by her Sikh guards, and In the turmoil and harrowing violence that erupt immediately after the assassination, Maya and her father are separated.  With no time to think, Maya cuts off her hair and disguises herself as a boy, running to the train station to try to find her father.  When he doesn’t arrive, she gets on a train anyway, not knowing exactly where she is headed in the chaos.  On the train journey, she witnesses unimaginable horrors, and is so traumatized she is unable to speak.  


Taken in by a kind doctor’s family, where no one knows who she is or where she comes from, Maya struggles to come back to life, with the help of Sandeep, an orphan boy who she’s just met.  She has lost everything--but she will find love, open her heart, and recover her voice with Sandeep, who eventually takes her back to Dehli to try to find her father.  While Maya is mute, Sandeep takes over the narration in the second half of the novel, giving the book two distinct voices.  Toward the end of the novel, Maya resumes the narration.  


This is a deeply romantic story of young love, passion, family, and trauma, where the evocative poetry serves to heighten the drama and suspense of the story.  Because of the suspense of the story line, you will want to hurry along to find out what happens, but don’t forget to take the time to admire Ostlere’s elegant poetry, sometimes written in two columns.  Asked often why the novel is written in free verse, she eloquently replies:  “The best answer I have to this question is that Karma’s poetic form suits the emotional lives of Maya and Sandeep. Their feelings are intense, their insights into the world are sharp and critical, and their understanding of what it means to be human is fresh, ragged, not yet smoothed by maturity, not yet smoothed by conventional narrative. Poetry is the perfect medium for their age. The short sentence. The precise image. The outbursts of feeling. Maya and Sandeep invite the reader to look inside their diaries where they reveal an intimate world of secrets, confessions and longings, and where poetry is a fire.”


Although this book looks imposing at over 500 pages, it is actually a relatively quick read because of the free verse format, and like the books of YA authors Ellen Hopkins and Sonya Sones, would be a good recommendation for reluctant readers.  With its exotic setting, it’s also a great fit with this year’s One World, Many Stories summer reading theme.  


Ostlere’s website gives additional background on the genesis of this novel, which took root during her own travels in India in 1984, and the origin of the character of Maya, who is inspired by a young Indian girl she knew growing up in Canada, as well as some stunning photographs evoking the brilliant colors of India.

Book Review: Inside Out and Back Again, by Thanhha Lai (Harper, 2011)

Recommended for ages 8-14.


In this story written in a series of free verse poems, debut novelist Thanhha Lai spins a moving and compelling tale of a young Vietnamese girl who moves with her family from war-torn Saigon to Alabama in 1975, at the end of the Vietnam war.  When the book opens, Hà and her family are celebrating Tet, the Vietnamese New Year.  She lives with her three older brothers and her mother; she can't remember her father, a navy officer, who was captured by the enemy years before, and no one knows if he is even still alive.

As the war approaches Saigon, Hà and her family must prepare to leave, packing just a few belongings with them.  A particularly poignant poem itemizes what they must leave behind, including "Brother Quang's/report cards,/each ranking him first in class,/beginning in kindergarten..."  Hà must leave her beloved papaya tree, where the fruit is still not ripe.  Author Lai does a wonderful job of evoking the sights, smells and sounds of Vietnam for the American reader.

Their voyage by ship is dangerous and miserable, with not enough food, water, lights, or bathroom facilities.  When they finally reach the open sea, they are rescued by an American ship, which tows them to a refugee camp in Guam.  Where will they go from there?  They choose America, where Hà 's mother believes there will be opportunities for her children to go to college.  But first they must be sponsored by an American family.  Finally a "cowboy" rescues them, and they go off to Alabama.

It's almost impossible to imagine how foreign Alabama must have been for these Vietnamese immigrants, until we read "American Chicken."  In this poem, Hà explains how their cowboy brings them "a paper bucket of chicken/skin crispy and golden,/smelling of perfection/..."  But when they taste the meat, her mother spits it out, and her brother gags; "Brother Quang forces/a swallow/before explaining/we are used to/fresh-killed chicken/that roamed the yard/snacking on/grains and worms/...I bite down on a thigh;/might as well bite down on/bread soaked in water./ Still,/I force yum-yum sounds."

For Hà , it's a world of "clean, quiet loneliness."  And living on the charity of others isn't easy for Hà and her family, who were used to a nice standard of living in Saigon.  Hà is befuddled by the idiosyncrasies of the English language, remarking that "whoever invented English should be bitten by a snake."  Her classmates make fun of her, and she hates feeling dumb, having to learn ABC's and numbers when in her own country she knew fractions and was the smartest in her class.  It's hard not to wish to be invisible in this strange new place.

However, some Americans are kind to Hà and her family; a neighbor tutors them all in English, their "cowboy" brings them gifts of chips and chocolate, and her teacher lets her eat lunch in her classroom to avoid the misery of the cafeteria and the tyranny of bullies.  Will Hà succeed in building a new life for herself in this new country?

Although she comes from a background foreign to most of us, readers will nonetheless identify with Hà's spunky character, her squabbles with her brothers, and her difficulties fitting into her new life.  This novel is already getting some early Newbery buzz, and it's definitely one to put on your to-read list.  

Some other blog reviews include:

Madigan Reads

Fuse #8

Dog Ear

GreenBeanTeenQueen

Book Review: Okay for Now, by Gary D. Schmidt (Clarion Books, 2011)

Recommended for ages 10-14.  


Release date:  April 18, 2011


In a companion to his acclaimed novel, The Wednesday Wars, award-winning writer Gary D. Schmidt revisits the Vietnam era in Okay for Now.  Doug Swietech, a secondary character in the Wednesday Wars, becomes the focus of this story; it's close to the end of the summer, and Doug and his very dysfunctional family have just moved to a "dump" of a town in upstate New York when the book opens.  Doug idolizes Joe Pepitone of the Yankees, and his most treasured possession is a jacket signed given by his idol.  His home life is dominated by his abusive father and his bullying older brother, while another brother is off fighting in Vietnam.

The library and the town's kind librarian, Mr. Powell, play a key role in the story, as Doug discovers that although "maybe stupid Marysville was a dump,...this place wasn't."  At the second floor of the library, he finds a special room, with a huge book--a book displayed under glass, with only one picture showing.  It's a gigantic picture of a bird, and Doug can't take his eyes off it.  "It was the most terrifying picture I had ever seen.  The most beautiful."  It's an original Audubon, and it haunts Doug's imagination.  Although Doug doesn't draw (since, as he quips in the book, only girls with pink bicycle chains draw), the kind librarian is soon leaving drawing supplies near the Audubon display that Doug is drawn to by some powerful magnetic force.  When he finally picks up a pencil to copy Audubon's drawing, it felt "spectacular, " and Mr. Powell is soon giving him drawing lessons (was that in Mr. Powell's librarian job description?)

As much as Doug hates "stupid Marysville", he is quickly befriended not only by Mr. Powell, but also by Lil, a girl whose family owns the town's deli, and gets Doug a job delivering groceries on Saturdays for some of the more eccentric citizens of Marysville.  Things aren't going too bad for Doug, until his older brother is suspected of some local robberies, his father's physical abuse is revealed to all his classmates, his brother comes back from Vietnam maimed physically and emotionally, and to top it off, pages of the precious Audubon manuscript are being sold off to pay the town's bills.  Can Doug stop the cycle of abuse in his family and perhaps even put the town's Audubon book back together?

Schmidt is a masterful writer, managing to incorporate pathos, humor, loss, the power of art, friendship and more into this memorable novel.  Doug's voice and his journey is one that the reader will not soon forget.  The novel is pulled together by the Audubon prints, which serve as titles for each chapter and are pictured in the novel as well, and often seem to mirror what is happening in Doug's own life.  As Doug comes up with ways to reconstruct the precious book, he is also making sense of his own life and future.

Okay for Now is already getting some pre-Newbery buzz, and perhaps Schmidt will be adding a Newbery to his two Newbery honor awards (for The Wednesday Wars and Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy.  Schmidt, who is a professor of English at Calvin College with six children of his own, is working on the third volume of The Wednesday Wars trilogy.  That's a book that will definitely be on my "to read" pile.

Disclosure:  ARC received from publisher

Note:  A live webcast of Gary Schmidt from the New York Public Library will take place on May 9, 2011.  See Fuse #8's announcement of the event for further details.

Book Review: mister death's blue-eyed girls, by Mary Downing Hahn (Clarion Books, 2012)

Release date:  April 17, 2012


Recommended:  Ages 12 and up


It's June, 1956, and school's just about out for the summer.  Teenage Nora and her friends have a party with a few boys, dance, hang out and drink too many beers.  But none of them can imagine that their lives are about to change forever.

The next day, the bodies of two of the girls, Cheryl and Bobbi Jo, are found shot to death in the woods near their house.  Everyone thinks that Buddy, Cheryl's ex-boyfriend, who's looks like an imitation of James Dean, must be guilty.  But when no evidence is uncovered, he's released, although everyone in the town still assumes he did it.  Nora is the only one who seems to think someone else is guilty--and the murderer is still out there.  Who's to blame for this brutal crime...and will he wind up going unpunished?

This excellent mystery, written from varying points of view, including Nora, her friend Ellie, Buddy, and the actual guilty murderer, takes place in a time that seems so innocent now--a time of listening to Elvis records, worrying what would happen if a boy touched your knee, having ice cream sodas at the neighborhood drugstore.  But we see how one event makes everything change for all the teens in the story.  What would it be like to have your friends murdered, begin to question your Catholic faith, and not know how to go on living?  And what if everyone in town thought you were a murderer?  This is different from other Mary Downing Hahn books I've read--not a ghost story, but a story nonetheless of how the dead can haunt us in other ways.  Highly recommended.  Note:  the novel is inspired by a real crime which took place when the author was a teen, and has haunted her for years.

Book Review: In Trouble, by Ellen Levine (Carolrhoda Lab, 2011)

Recommended for ages 14 and up.


Abortion is a topic few YA authors dare to broach in their books, and this reality alone would be enough reason for me to applaud award-winning author Ellen Levine's 2011 young adult novel In Trouble.  But the book has plenty of merit as an unsentimental look at the hard choices (or lack thereof) teens confronted when they became pregnant in the 1950's.

The film noir style cover, portraying a lonely teenaged girl waiting late at night on a deserted street, sets the stage for this dark novel set in 1956 New York, when choices for young girls who got themselves "in trouble" were limited indeed.  The author tells the story of best friends Jamie and Elaine, who both find themselves with unwanted pregnancies while in high school.  However, the pregnancies are ultimately dealt with in very different ways, with a sensitive portrayal of how two different families dealt with this difficult situation.

Note:  some spoilers....


Elaine has a steady boyfriend already in college, and is sure that he will marry her when she tells him about the pregnancy.  Jamie's circumstances, on the other hand, are slowly unveiled by the author through a series of nightmares as the reader realizes that she was date-raped by a friend of her sophisticated Manhattan cousin.  Jamie's family is already under plenty of stress, since her dad has just been released from prison, having been convicted for refusing to answer questions during the McCarthy hearings.  But when they discover her circumstances, her family steps up, even helping her find a doctor who will do an abortion, despite abortions being illegal at the time.  Elaine, on the other hand, is sent to a home for unwed Catholic girls, where she is pressured to give up her baby for adoption despite her wishes.

In Trouble is based on dozens of interviews Levine conducted, and although the characters are fictional, each event in the book actually happened to someone.  In an author's note, Levine explains why she felt compelled to tell Elaine and Jamie's stories.  "If we don't know what has happened, we can't appreciate our choices today and what we might lose if laws are changed," she writes.  She explains that although we might think things are totally different today, with the availability of legal abortion, in 87% of U.S. counties you can't get a legal abortion, because there's no doctor who will do it.

I believe this is an important novel for young people, particularly girls to read; unfortunately, I'm not sure it will be widely purchased by school and public libraries.  Despite the fact that Levine has won many awards for her work, including a Caldecott Honor for Henry's Freedom Box, few of the library systems in my area (Southern California) have purchased it, although the novel came out in September.  Whether this is because of the controversial subject matter or limited budgets, I can't say, but I hope librarians will not be reluctant to add this to their collections because the book deals with abortion.  It is a gripping story that deserves to be on the shelves.

Book Review: Rose Sees Red, by Cecil Castellucci (Scholastic, 2010)

Recommended for ages 12 and up.

When I saw the cover of this novel by YA author/diva Cecil Castellucci, I thought it was a contemporary fairy-tale retelling, a la Beastly.  Instead, it's a novel set in the early 1980's about the last years of the Cold War,  dance, friendship, and freedom.  The main characters are two teenage girls:  Rose, a talented dancer who attends the New York High School for the Performing Arts, and her neighbor Yrena, a 16-year old ballet dancer who lives right next door in a Soviet compound.

Rose has given up on friendship after being dumped by her so-called best friend Daisy when Rose keeps taking ballet even though Daisy decides "ballet is stupid."  The other kids from school are not her friends either; she closes herself off to the different "galaxies of friends" that orbit around her, since she is so afraid of being hurt again.

But things begin to change for Rose when her Russian neighbor, Yrena, unexpectedly climbs through her window one night.  What starts out as a simple trip in the neighborhood to get an ice cream cone while evading the KGB agents that follow Yrena everywhere turns out to be an all-night adventure that neither girl planned but neither one will ever forget--an innocent adventure that becomes "an unspecified international incident."

When I first picked up this book, I asked myself if a book set in the 1980's can be classified as historical fiction.  But then I realized that for today's teens, the Soviet Union, the arms race, and the anti-nuclear rallies of the early '80's are a whole generation ago--times they never experienced.  A world without texting, I-pods, the Internet, and even DVD's--practically as foreign as the Middle Ages or ancient Rome.  Told in the first person by Rose, Rose Sees Red manages to keep a delicate balance of being entertaining while still putting forward a message about the universality of friendship, even in the face of nations' hating each other.  It's a slim book (197 pages) that should appeal to many teens--no need to have a particular interest in U.S. Soviet relations to appreciate this book.

Some other blog reviews (not a comprehensive list) can be found at Librarian by Day, Reading Nook, Youth Services Corner, Pure Imagination, Emily's Reading Room, and Teenreads. 

Disclosure:  Review copy provided by publisher.

Book Review: The Way It Is, by Donalda Reid (Second Story Press, 2010) ISBN 978-1-897187-80-7

Recommended for ages 12 and up.  

Ellen Manery is a brilliant, science nerd who's most comfortable with her books and in the lab, not socializing with other kids her age.  "Socially isolated," her teachers call her on her permanent school records.  It's 1967, and when her parents decide to give up the rat race and move from Vancouver to Salmon Arm, where they have bought a resort on a lake in the middle of nowhere, she's convinced they've ruined her life.  Sure enough, when she starts her senior  year at the local high school, nothing about her fits in, from her height (she towers over everyone) to her dowdy clothes (the other girls are dressed in colorful mini-skirts) to her haircut and lack of make-up.  And especially her academic interests--the counselor tries to dissuade her from taking advanced science and math courses, saying that they are too hard for girls and she should enroll in home economics and art instead.  

The only person at school who seems willing to talk to her is a dark haired young man, Tony, who like Ellen, is an outsider--he's the only Indian student in an all-white school.  Slowly and carefully, Tony and Ellen develop a friendship, even though Ellen finds herself putting her foot into her mouth from time to time because of her ignorance of Indian culture.  She helps Tony with his math, and he in turn teaches her to dance.  They share their dreams--Ellen wants to be a medical doctor, and Tony wants to go to college and pursue a technical degree.  Ellen soon realizes that she's attracted to Tony as more than a friend, and dreams of what his kisses would be like.  But they are from different worlds--can they really be more than friends?


I found this book by debut Canadian novelist Donalda Reid highly engrossing--in fact I read the entire book in one evening.  The main characters of Ellen and Tony were well-drawn and convincing, and I was drawn into their story.  In the U.S. we don't read or learn enough about our neighbors to the north, and I was happy to learn about the differences and parallels between how native populations were treated in Canada vs. the U.S.  Ellen realizes that the Indians in Canada are not the teepee-living stereotypes portrayed in her history textbooks, and Tony realizes that not all white people believe all Indians are drunkards and lazy bums.  The author also uses events happening in the civil rights movement in the U.S. at the time to highlight the similar injustices faced by the Canadian Indians.  Sexism and the Vietnam War also play roles in the narrative.   


I also enjoyed how Reid uses Frances Hodgson Burnett's Secret Garden as a kind of framework for the novel.  As the year passes, Ellen grows to love the beauty of Salmon Arm:  

"This place is my Secret Garden, she thought.  When I came here, I was as bitter and reclusive as Mary Lennox.  I found my Dickon in Tony and I've changed."

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, with the exception of the very graphic scene in which Ellen helps to skin a moose calf (OK, I'm a squeamish urban girl!)  The character of Ellen grows and changes during the course of the book, but in a believable way, and as the reader we can appreciate how she comes out of her shell, much like Mary Lennox. 

Check out other blog reviews at Simply Stacie , CM Magazine, Things She Read, The Allure of Books.

Review copy provided by Star Book Tours.

Book Review: 90 Miles to Havana, by Enrique Flores-Galbis (Roaring Brook Press, 2010)

Recommended for ages 8-12.

Author and artist  Enrique Flores-Galbis has written an exciting coming of age story based on his own experiences as one of the 14,000 Cuban children sent from Cuba to the U.S. without their parents in 1961 in Operation Pedro Pan, the largest exodus ever in the Western hemisphere of unaccompanied children.

The book opens with Julian, his two older brothers, their father and their family cook, Bebo, on their annual New Year's Eve fishing trip.  Julian's main concern is his embarrassment over losing the enormous fish he had hooked, since he desperately wants to impress his older brothers with his heroism.  But more serious problems will soon be facing Julian and his family.  Revolution has come to the streets of Havana, and their affluent neighborhood begins to turn into a ghost town, as families leave the country.  Soon Julian and his brothers board a plane to Miami, with the hope that their parents will soon be joining them.

But the refugee camp where they are sent is nothing like the summer camp that they expect; the overcrowded facility is ruled by a nasty bully, Caballo.  Because there are not enough adults to properly supervise the facility, the adults rely on Caballo to keep order.  But when Caballo takes Julian's prized drawing-pad, which is one of his only precious objects from home, Julian has had enough.  Dolores, the kind camp cook, suggests that Julian use the democratic way to organize a resistance movement to get back at Caballo--their own revolution against the bully dictator.  When Julian plays his last trick on Caballo, he knows he has to leave the camp--or else. 

Luckily for Julian, he is taken in by Tomas, who's fixing up a boat that he intends to use to illegally transport people from Cuba.  Julian desperately wants his parents to be included, so his family can finally be reunited.  When he sails to Cuba with Tomas to pick up the refugees, he's in for the adventure of his life.  Will Julian finally become a hero?

Flores-Galbis does an excellent job in this novel of showing us the Cuban revolution from a young child's point of view.  While Julian doesn't understand everything that's going on, he has to deal in his own way with the trauma of being separated from his parents and everything he has ever known.  Julian has to grow up in ways he never expected and fight against bullies, loneliness, and loss.  This is a book that is likely to appeal equally to boys and girls, who will identify with the very sympathetically portrayed main character.

This mass exodus of children from Cuba immediately called to mind for me the Kindertransport of Jewish children to England during World War II.  However, unlike the Jewish children who were sent away to escape death at the hands of the Nazis, these children were sent away by parents who feared that their children would be taken from them by the new revolutionary governments and sent away to be "re-educated," or indoctrinated with Communist beliefs.  Many also believed that their teenage sons would be forced to become soldiers in the military, and sent them to the U.S. to escape that fate. While about half of the minors were immediately reunited with relatives or friends at the airport, the rest were placed in temporary shelters in Miami, and eventually relocated to orphanages and foster families in 30 states.

Children arriving through Pedro Pan

For more on the history of Operation Pedro Pan, see the website for alumni of the program.

This is the second novel for young readers to be published on this previously little-known topic this year, the other being the critically acclaimed novel The Red Umbrella by debut novelist Christina Gonzalez.  

An excerpt from 90 Miles to Havana can be read here.

Book Review: Finding My Place by Traci L. Jones (Farrar Straus Giroux, 2010)

Recommended for ages 10 and up

In 1975, Tiphanie (pronounced Tiffany!) has more to worry about than what to wear on the first day of school. Tiphanie's family has just moved from a largely minority neighborhood in Denver to an expensive suburb, where she is the only black girl at her new high school. Tiphanie narrates the story, and her chapters are interspersed with lectures from her upper-middle class parents, such as "The Talented Tenth Lecture," where they remind her that she has to work twice as hard as her white classmates, or "The company you keep lecture," where they remind her that her friends are a reflection on her. When no one wants to talk to Tiphanie at school except another social outcast, Jackie Sue, who grandly refers to herself as "walking talking trailer trash," the two of them decide to form the Oreo squad, a new group among the high school cliques.

But when Jackie Sue won't defend Tiphanie against racial slurs by another classmate, Tiphanie's not sure what kind of friend Jackie Sue really is. Jackie Sue seems to have a lot of secrets, ones that she can't or won't share with Tiphanie. Moreover, Tiphanie's not sure how she fits in anymore-- her friends from the old neighborhood warn her not to start turning her back on her people by hanging around too many white kids. Her parents, on the other hand, are anxious for her to make friends with "young ladies from better circumstances," such as the black kids from Booker and Breeze, a social and civic organization for well-to-do black families.

In this novel, Traci Jones examines serious issues of prejudice with a terrific sense of humor--I laughed out loud at numerous places in the novel. She explores overt prejudice against blacks--such as the biased math teacher who doesn't believe that black children belong in her honors math class, or Tiphanie's classmate Clay, who makes blatantly racist remarks, but also more subtle types of prejudice, such as Jackie Sue thinking that Tiphanie will want to date the only black boy at their high school, just because they're the same race. She also incorporates prejudice of an economic type; for example, Tiphanie's parents don't want her to socialize with Jackie Sue because she comes from "trailer trash."

I found Finding My Place to be a very enjoyable story. While it is likely to appeal more to girls than boys, it's a story that can appeal to kids of any ethnic background, since its exploration of friendship, adapting to a new environment, and overcoming various forms of prejudice should be of interest to any teen or tween. This would be an excellent novel to purchase for school and public libraries, as well as for summer reading.