Anderson, M.T. Whales On Stilts Sending up many genres at once, including wholesome Hardy-Boys style action books of bygone days (character Jasper Dash, Boy Technonaut) and the remarkable daily lives of people in Goosebumps type series (Katie Mulligan, who lives in the subdivision Horror Hollow). Sort of a Lemony Snicket coyness to the author. Much of it quite funny.
Barry & Pearson Peter and the Starcatchers The back story on how Peter Pan gained his friends and his powers and first encountered Captain Hook
Burch, Christian The Manny Files Narrated by astute and fey 8 year old Keats Dalinger. He tells of the 4 kids’ new nanny, who’s a man—one who’s irreverent, fun, caring, and (as older readers will eventually figure out) gay. A heart-warming, realistic family tale.
Codell Sahara Special Excellent. Sahara’s parents divorced and when the school caught her writing countless letters to her dad, pleading for him to come home, they stuck them in her file and recommended Special Ed. After this betrayal Sahara doesn’t write anything for school anymore, but then she’s held back a year and is put in the class of the iconoclastic, tough-loving Mrs. Pointy, who is just what Sahara (and several other kids) need/s.
Codell Vive La Paris Companion novel to Sahara Special. Paris takes piano lessons from ancient, eccentric but excellent Mrs. Cohen, and misunderstands Mrs. Cohen’s arm tattoo, thinking she was in a gang and then learning to her horror about WWII. Moving, funny.
Colfer Half-Moon Investigations “12-year-old private investigator Fletcher Moon, nicknamed "Half Moon" because of his shortness, must track down a conspiracy or be framed for a crime he did not committ.” Wry, a bit detached (b/c of being a nerd) from his peers, smart but dorky. A good voice and a good read.
DiCamillo The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane j DICAMILLO Excellent. A new velveteen rabbit, only this one’s made of jointed china parts. Through a series of misadventures spanning decades, Edward has several owners including a wealthy little girl, and fisherman and his wife, a hobo and his dog, a poor boy and his dying little sister, and finally the daughter of his original owner. He ceases being vain and self-involved, opens his heart to love, has it broken (along with his head, actually) several times, and magically returns to his first owner at last able to love her (& her daughter). Moving without being sappy.
Dowell Chicken Boy j DOWELL “Since the death of his mother, Tobin's family life and school life have been in disarray, but after he starts raising chickens with his seventh-grade classmate, Henry, everything starts to fall into place.”
Fine The Diary of a Killer Cat “Okay, okay. So hang me. I killed the bird.” An unrepentant cat (Tuffy) narrates this tale of dead birds and mice that freak out the family—and a mysterious rabbit.
Hardinge, Frances Fly By Night j HARDINGE Smart, whimsical, sometimes dark picaresque novel with an elaborate and convincing world of politics, religion and insurrection loosely based in an England of the early 18th century. “12-year-old orphan, Mosca Mye, and her homicidal goose, Saracen, travel to the city of Mandelion on the heels of smooth-talking con-man Eponymous Clent, driven by her love of language to find a better life.”
Herge Tintin Vol. 1 (Tintin in America; Cigars of the Pharoah; The Blue Lotus Read the first two.
Hiaasen Flush Good mystery. Narrator Noah’s dad sinks the local casino boat b/c he says it’s flushing it’s waste directly into the bay. As dad is in jail, Noah and sister Abbey try to solve the mystery and bust the guy. A bunch of hardscrabble characters, and a family for whom everything is not going smoothly, but they are nice folks.
Levine, Gail Carson The Fairy’s Return Fun, silly, warm fairy tale retellings set in the kingdom of Biddle (6 stories).
Lowry Gossamer
McKay, Hilary Caddy Ever After Excellent, as always! Told from all four kids’ points of view.
Pinkwater, Daniel Mush’s Jazz Adventure Silly tale of Mush the mushamute alien dog frightening robbers with saxophone music.
Pullman, Philip The Scarecrow and His Servant The daffy, quixotic Scarecrow and his sensible boy servant, Jack, set off on a variety of adventures and eventually outwit the crooked Buffaloni family to stake their claim to the Scarecrow’s home, Spring Valley.
Shulevitz, Uri The Travels of Benjamin of Tudela: through three continents in the twelfth century Fascinating and gorgeous. Benjamin wrote about his travels, and Shulevitz recreated some of them and set them in their medieval context to write this book.
Singh, Vandana Younguncle Comes to Town
Stanley, Diane Bella at Midnight A quite good Cinderella retelling, with some Joan of Arc thrown in. Bella’ widowed father can’t abide the sight of his infant daughter and sends her to be raised by peasants, where she happily befriends everyone, including the young prince squiring up at the rustic castle. When her father reclaims her, she “finds herself caught up in a terrible plot that will change her life and the kingdom forever.” Told from several points of view.
Stauffacher Harry Sue j STAUFFACH Excellent, if gritty. “Although tough-talking Harry Sue would like to start a life of crime in order to be "sent up" and find her incarcerated mother, she must first protect the children at her [awful], neglectful grandmother's home day care center” and figure out how to do right by her best friend, Homer, who basically lives in his tree house after being paralyzed in a diving accident. Friendship with Homer’s wacko home health aide, Anna, and with the substitute art teacher, a Sudanese “Lost Boy” she calls Baba, also helps.
White, E.B. The Trumpet of the Swan By turns funny, absorbing and painfully dated, with a casual attitude toward plot inconsistencies. Still a good read-aloud.
Wolfson, Jill What I Call Life Cal Lavender’s mother had an episode in a library and now she finds herself in a group foster Home – a temporary interruption in what she calls life. Mainly features the allegorical tale told by the Home’s old, stuttering, wise patrona, the Knitting Lady, about her own mother’s journey on an orphan train. Rather clunky.
From Rags to Riches: a history of girls’ clothing in America (Leslie Sills, j391)
Painters of the Caves (Patricia Lauber) Lovely photos and good exploration of the Ice Age peoples who painted pictures of bison, mammoths, etc. in caves.
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