Review - Rules

Rules - Cynthia Lord, author

Summary (from Goodreads):
This Newbery Honor Book is a heartfelt and witty story about feeling different and finding acceptance--beyond the rules.

Twelve-year-old Catherine just wants a normal life. Which is near impossible when you have a brother with autism and a family that revolves around his disability. She's spent years trying to teach David the rules-from "a peach is not a funny-looking apple" to "keep your pants on in public"-in order to stop his embarrassing behaviors. But the summer Catherine meets Jason, a paraplegic boy, and Kristi, the next-door friend she's always wished for, it's her own shocking behavior that turns everything upside down and forces her to ask: What is normal?

My Review:
As a parent of two children with autism, I found this book to be both compelling and difficult to read.  I can absolutely relate to Catherine's struggles - I myself have wished at times that my children could think and behave the way their typically-developing peers do, not because I think there's anything wrong with them as they are, but just to make their lives easier.  This is a really good choice for a novel study or unit on tolerance and acceptance, and it would work equally well as a read-aloud or as a group book club book..  Struggling readers may have difficulty with the language used in the book, and students without any understanding of autism or disabilities may find the characters of David and Jason difficult to comprehend, so additional reference material may be necessary to help build schema.

Read: March 2022

Review - The Day the Goose Got Loose

 The Day the Goose Got Loose - Reeve Lindbergh, author.  Steven Kellogg, illustrator

Summary (from Goodreads):
Just how much havoc can one goose cause? Take a gander at the chaos that results when a long-necked mischief-maker flies the coop. Soon the bull's broken through the fence, and cows and horses are galloping all over town. The stampede will go on until dawn--and the laughter will last even longer.

My Review:
I adore this book.  The illustrations are big and bold and colorful, and the poetry is rollicking and humorous.  It's a great story, and also a really excellent introduction to rhyme schemes and poetic meter.  I used to read this to one of my preschool students, and the enormous smiles he would give me were so beautiful that I bought him a copy of it for himself when he graduated.  It's an excellent read-aloud just for fun and relaxation, or it could be a great addition to a poetry study for all levels.

Read: March 2022

Review - Rechenka's Eggs

 

Rechenka's Eggs - Patricia Polacco, author

Summary (from Goodreads):
A warm tale of love and and the unexpected from the bestselling author of The Keeping Quilt. Old Babushka is preparing her eggs for the Easter festival when she takes in Rechenka, an injured goose, who shows her that miracles really can happen.

My Review:
This is a beautifully-illustrated story, and a lovely introduction to Russian culture. It's a short read, but it tells a story of kindness and generosity. Excellent for use as a read-aloud in class, or as part of a text set about Russia, art, and sharing with others.

Read: March 2022

Review - Missing May

 

Missing May - Cynthia Rylant, author

Summary (from Goodreads):
Ever since May, Summer's aunt and good-as-a-mother for the past six years, died in the garden among her pole beans and carrots, life for Summer and her Uncle Ob has been as bleak as winter. Ob doesn't want to create his beautiful whirligigs anymore, and he and Summer have slipped into a sadness that they can't shake off. They need May in whatever form they can have her -- a message, a whisper, a sign that will tell them what to do next. When that sign comes, Summer will discover that she and Ob can keep missing May but still go on with their lives.

My Review:
I thought this book was excellent on several levels.  It's a respectful look at life in rural West Virginia, an area that is generally looked upon as backwards or "redneck."  The story is relatable, especially for readers who have lost a parent or parent-figure, and who are processing that loss.  The characters are interesting, especially Ob (the protagonist's uncle), and the novel has a cinematic quality to it - one could easily see a film adaptation of the story.

Read: March 2022

Review - The Last Human

 

The Last Human - Lee Bacon, author

Summary (from Goodreads):
In the future, robots have eliminated humans, and 12-year-old robot XR_935 is just fine with that. Without humans around, there is no war, no pollution, no crime. Every member of society has a purpose. Everything runs smoothly and efficiently. Until the day XR discovers something impossible: a human girl named Emma. Now, Emma must embark on a dangerous voyage with XR and two other robots in search of a mysterious point on a map. But how will they survive in a place where rules are never broken and humans aren’t supposed to exist? And what will they find at the end of their journey? 

My Review:
I'm not sure what drew me to pick this book off the shelf at the bookstore.  I don't like sci-fi, and robot stories are an instant turn-off for me usually.  Sometimes books just demand to be read, and this was one of them.  I couldn't put it down!  The story is told through the eyes of the  XR_935 robot, which isn't a point of view I've experienced before (especially given my limited experience with science fiction stories), and seeing how XR learns and grows throughout the story - with the help of its coworker robots - was compelling and heartwarming.  The story has a rather Fallout-esque feel to it, so readers who are familiar with the post-apocalyptic will be able to envision the setting quite easily.  The story is hopeful and charming, even though it could probably be considered dystopian.

Read: March 2022

Review - A Long Walk to Water: Based on a True Story

 

A Long Walk to Water: Based on a True Story - Linda Sue Park, author

Summary (from Goodreads):
A Long Walk to Water begins as two stories, told in alternating sections, about a girl in Sudan in 2008 and a boy in Sudan in 1985. The girl, Nya, is fetching water from a pond that is two hours’ walk from her home: she makes two trips to the pond every day. The boy, Salva, becomes one of the "lost boys" of Sudan, refugees who cover the African continent on foot as they search for their families and for a safe place to stay. Enduring every hardship from loneliness to attack by armed rebels to contact with killer lions and crocodiles, Salva is a survivor, and his story goes on to intersect with Nya’s in an astonishing and moving way.

My Review:
This book was one of the most moving and impressive pieces I've read in a long time.  The intersecting stories was a unique way of telling both Nya's and Salva's tales, and both are compelling in their own rights.  The hardships both go through are heartbreaking, but the strength and resilience both children show is truly inspiring.

Read: March 2022

Review - Elly: My True Story of the Holocaust

 

Elly: My True Story of the Holocaust - Elly Berkovits Gross, author

Summary (from Goodreads):
When Elly was just 15 years old, she, her mother and brother were deported by cattle car to the Auschwitz II / Birkenau concentration camp. On the day they arrived at Auschwitz, a soldier directed Elly to the right; her mother and brother were sent to the left. She never saw her family alive again. Elly later learned that her father also had been killed in a forced-labor camp.

My Review:
This book was riveting and tragic, but with a strong theme of resilience and survival.  Elly's story of how she persisted through the horrifying events of the Holocaust is an inspiring lesson for anyone who struggles with challenges they feel they can't face.  The addition of several of Elly's poems at the end of the book provide an interesting insight into this brave lady.

Read: March 2022

Review - The Time Machine (A Stepping Stone Book)

 

The Time Machine (A Stepping Stone Book) - H.G. Wells, author.  Adapted by Les Martin.  John Edens, illustrator.

Summary (from Goodreads):
When a turn-of-the-century scientist travels into the distant future in his time machine, he expects to find progress and superior people. But instead he discovers a world in decay.

My Review:
I found this to be a solid introduction to The Time Machine.  The reading level is appropriate for 4-5th graders, and it is a good entrance into science fiction without forcing the reader to slog through complex Victorian language.  I've never actually read the original, but I will have a much easier time chewing through it now that I know the basic plot.  I usually gain schema for older novels from watching film adaptations, but this version of The Time Machine will suffice for giving me just enough background information to navigate the original text.

Read: March 2022

Review - The Orange Trees of Versailles (Les Orangers de Versailles, #1)

 

The Orange Trees of Versailles (Les Orangers de Versailles, #1) - Annie Pietry, author.  Catherine Temerson, translator

Summary (from Goodreads):
When Marion Dutilleul enters the service of the Marquise de Montespan, she never imagines that her ability to recognize scents and to blend them into perfumes will win her the favor of Louis XIV's mistress. But the marquise quickly has the young girl creating new perfumes for her. Eager to please and hopeful that her olfactory gifts will win her recognition, Marion concocts memorable fragrances. Then, to her horror, credit is bestowed on someone else. Marion feels betrayed.
Now Marion opens her eyes and ears (in addition to her nose!) and realizes that beneath the splendor of palace life is a place teeming with deceit. To survive, she must use her keen sense of smell not to create perfumes, but to thwart those who would do her--and one of France's beloved monarchs--great harm.

My Review:
I thought this was a very well-constructed story overall.  Marion, the main character, is a young girl in the court of the French King Louis XIV, and she is fairly believable as a character.  The biggest problem readers will have with this story is lack of background information about the time period.  Life in 1600s France is a fairly specific knowledge set, and many readers will have to do significant research to understand the grandeur and excesses of the setting.  Without that background knowledge, the story will seem hyperbolic and unbelievable in certain places.  Granted, there is some explanatory material at the end of the book, but it would be more helpful to come into the story knowing more about the time period, the perfume-making process, and the context of court behaviors and intrigues.

Read: January-March 2022

Review - The Time Hackers

 

The Time Hackers - Gary Paulsen, author


Summary (from Goodreads):
You ever open your locker and find that some joker has left something really weird inside?

Seventh-grader Dorso Clayman opens his locker door to find a dead body.

Thirty seconds later it disappears.

It’s not the first bizarre thing that has appeared in his locker and then vanished.

Something’s going on.

Somebody has decided to make Dorso and his buddy Frank the target of some strange techno-practical jokes. The ultimate gamesters have hacked into the time line, and things from the past are appearing in the present. Soon, the jokes aren’t funny anymore—they’re dangerous. Dorso and Frank have got to beat the time hackers at their own game by breaking the code, before they get lost in the past themselves.


My Review:
This was the first Paulsen book I've ever read, and overall, I wasn't terribly impressed with the ending.  The story had a good amount of suspense and intrigue, but the resolution was a bit flat and unsatisfying overall.  The story could be a good jumping-off point to learn more about the infancy of cybersecurity (the book was published in 2005, so it's quite out of date in some ways), and it would be entertaining for those readers who like time paradox stories.  The book is not hard science-fiction, so there are a lot of relatable aspects that readers will be able to envision without much difficulty, and the story may be a good entrance into science-fiction for readers who have not explored the genre.

Read: March 2022

Review - Esperanza Rising

 

Esperanza Rising - Pam Munoz Ryan, author

Summary (from Goodreads):
Esperanza thought she'd always live with her family on their ranch in Mexico--she'd always have fancy dresses, a beautiful home, and servants. But a sudden tragedy forces Esperanza and Mama to flee to California during the Great Depression, and to settle in a camp for Mexican farm workers. Esperanza isn't ready for the hard labor, financial struggles, or lack of acceptance she now faces. When their new life is threatened, Esperanza must find a way to rise above her difficult circumstances--Mama's life, and her own, depend on it. 

My Review:
This story was beautifully crafted, and the character development was excellent.  Esperanza begins as a rich, coddled plantation owner's daughter, but grows into a strong, inspirational young woman.  The contrasts of settings (Esperanza's plantation and then a Mexican migrant camp in southern California) is well-realized, and the story is an informative peek into the resilient and spirited lives of the brave men and women who migrated to the US for work during the 1930s.

Read: March 2022