Shelly's Book Blog

This is a sweet, slice-of-life story about a smart, observant little girl who seems to easily roll with whatever life serves up for her. I found the characters original and charming, and the story Horvath builds around them pulled me in from the first page. I loved it!

Lunchbox and the Aliens, by Bryan W. Fields, caught my eye because of the cover art. That dog is just so cute. In the story, though, Lunchbox would probably not like being called "that dog," because he was abducted by aliens and came back to Earth as a very smart hound. Lunchbox and his boy, Nate, build a froonga-making machine using parts from Nate's father's inventions. Froonga is a food the aliens who educated Lunchbox just love, and it just so happens that it can be made from garbage (which is, of course, plentiful on Earth). It's a good thing the aliens, Grunfloz and Frazz, have Lunchbox to help them, because they have run out of food and are a long way from home.

In Don't You Know There's a War On?, by Avi, 11-year-old Howie Crispers lives in Brooklyn, New York, in 1943. It seems to him that everyone uses that phrase, "Don't you know there's a war on?" to explain away anything unpleasant or inconvenient that he has to suffer through or cope with. His father is away at the war, and his mother spends most days doing her part in the war effort by working in an airplane factory. Then Howie learns that his favorite teacher, Miss Gossim, is going to be fired, and he simply cannot accept that wartime necessity explains away this injustice. He therefore decides to try to help her by convincing the principal that she should be allowed to stay. Eventually, he gets most of the kids in his class to help.

I suppose the humor in R. A. Spratt's The Adventures of Nanny Piggins is not for everyone, but I loved it. Nanny Piggins is (surprise!) a pig whose former job was being shot out of a cannon at a circus. She applies for the job of nanny to Derrick, Samantha, and Michael Green, whose father, Mr. Green, is so miserly he won't even pay for a proper advertisement in the newspaper when he finds himself in need of child care. He therefore hammers a sign on his front lawn that says, "Nanny Wanted: Enquire Within" and waits for someone to show up and take his children off his hands so he can spend more time at the office. Nanny Piggins is the only one who applies, and although Mr. Green would prefer a human, he hires her because she is willing to work for only ten cents per hour.

Nanny Piggins is no Mary Poppins. She allows the children to eat junk food, stay home from school, and generally do anything else traditional, human nannies would find appalling. The children, therefore, love her and greatly enjoy the adventures they experience with her.

One Crazy Summer, by Rita Williams-Garcia, has had some buzz about a possible Newbery Medal in its future, and now that I have read this book I agree that it is a strong contender. Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern live with their father and grandmother in Brooklyn, N.Y., but in 1968 they fly to Oakland, Ca. to spend the summer with their mother, who abandoned them several years before. When they arrive, their mother, Cecile, makes it clear they are not wanted. She shows them no affection, forbids them from entering her kitchen, where she spends time writing poetry and printing flyers for the local Black Panthers, and feeds them only take-out food. During the day, Cecile sends the girls to a day camp run by the Black Panthers, where they eat free breakfast and participate in organized activities to learn about their rights and do their part for the cause. From the start of this visit, 11-year-old Delphine, as the eldest, is forced to take charge of caring for her sisters, but her responsibilities grow when Cecile is arrested, along with two men who are Black Panthers.

Book 1 of The Missing series by Margaret Peterson Haddix, Found is a quick, exciting read.  The story involves Jonah Skidmore, his sister, Katherine, and Jonah's friend, Chip, in solving the mystery of some mysterious letters mailed to Jonah and Chip. The first letter says, "You are one of the missing," and the second leter says, "Beware! They're coming back to get you." Neither letter gives a return address or any other indication of where it came from or who sent it. As the kids learn more, they become more and more convinced that they are in real danger. I wanted to immediately start book 2, Sent, because Found ends in a serious cliffhanger!

I have been reading books about Sherlock Holmes recently, so I decided to try Tracy Barrett's The 100-Year-Old Secret, which is Book 1 of a series called The Sherlock Files. This is a shorter book than others I have read recently, such as Shane Peacock's Eye of the Crow, or Nancy Springer's The Case of the Missing Marquess, and it is meant for a younger audiece. Whereas Eye of the Crow is about Sherlock Holmes as a young boy, and The Case of the Missing Marquess is about Holmes's younger sister, The 100-Year-Old Secret is about twins Xena and Xander Holmes, who are modern day decendants of Sherlock Holmes. The twins are given their famous relative's unsolved casebook, and they decide to try solving the mystery of a missing painting called Girl in a Purple Hat. The twins are likeable, resourceful sleuths, and they solve the mystery without too much danger to themselves, so I think this is a good mystery series to recommend to 3rd and 4th graders.

I really enjoyed Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism, by Georgia Byng. This is the first book in a series about an orphan named Molly Moon who has an incredible gift for hypnosis. She discovers this gift when she reads a book she finds in the library. Her first subject is the dog who lives in the orphanage (this is the dog on the cover), and she ends up flying from her home in England to New York, where she uses her ability to become rich and famous. In the beginning of her adventure she is pretty selfish and manipulative. However, in the end she realizes this and makes good by helping many people, including the children in her orphanage. You really need to suspend disbelief when reading this book, because she truly does live out a fantasy life of being able to make just about everyone around her cater to her every whim. Also, some of the plot twists that get her out of trouble are pretty far fetched. Still, it's a fun story with a happy ending, and I would like to read more about this little girl and her dog.

The Tiger Rising, by Kate DiCamillo was one I listened to in the car on the way to work and back. This is a short, sad book. The main character, Rob Horton, and his dad have moved to Florida after Rob's mother's death. Rob is plagued with a perisitent rash on his legs, and he is bullied at school. Both Rob and his dad are still grieving over their recent loss, and Rob's dad refuses to talk about it. He goes so far as to not allow Rob to say his mother's name. One day Rob discovers a caged tiger behind the hotel where he and his dad are living. Rob and his new friend, Sistine, decide they want to free the tiger from its cage. The caged tiger clearly represents the unexpressed emotions that are eating away at Rob and his father. I wonder whether the 4th graders for whom this book was written will understand this, though.

I understand that this book takes on a difficult subject, and I think it does so beautifully. Some kids will relate and appreciate being able to read about characters who have problems similar to their own.  However, it was not one of my favorites.