I'm A Sucker for a School Bus

I saw the cover of Gordon Korman's Schooled and knew I had to pick it up. I'm a sucker for a yellow school bus. I've always been that way; it's not just these last weeks of kids home on summer vacation talking. I've bought yellow school bus shaped cookies, PostIt notes, pencil boxes, and rulers in my day. This past weekend while my kids were oohing and ahhing over funky Habitrail type cages for their pet gerbil, I was trying to convince them that a little yellow school bus shaped one with a handle would be perfect for Mario, our family pet. They nixed my suggestion, but I bought the Korman book. I'm glad I did. It's a funny and satisfying read for tweens, telling the story of Capricorn (Cap) Anderson who was raised on a farm commune and home schooled by his grandmother named Rain. When Rain has to stay in a hospital after falling out of a tree picking plums, Cap ends up living with a social worker and her teenage daughter and attending a public middle school. There is a great deal of fish out of water humor. Can you imagine a teenaged, sandal wearing, tye died hippie who's never watched television in your local eighth grade? It's not just outsider gags though. There is a lot for young readers to think about in terms of what makes someone popular and how they respond to teasing and unkindness. I'm glad the cover sucked me in. It worked its charm on my nine year old daughter too. She saw the book on my night table and uttered "Ooooh. Can I read this after you?" However, she might also have been attracted by the author's name. She's a big Gordon Korman fan.

The Storm In The Barn

I've just had the good fortune to read an advance reading copy of Matt Phelan's soon to be released graphic novel The Storm In The Barn. I believe I've mentioned here before that I'm not a huge fan of graphic novels, but this one really drew me in with its subject matter, pacing, and high level of suspense. Set in Kansas in 1937, The Storm In The Barn tells the story of eleven year old Jack Clark who hasn't known rain in years as his family is struggling with the effects of the Dust Bowl. With a clumsy nature and no family farm to contribute to, Jack feels he is a failure to his father. Tensions run high in his town, and Jack is often the victim of bullies. Is he also a victim of "dust dementia" when he sees a sinister rain-like figure in a neighbor's abandoned barn? The historical details, from the clothing and cars in the illustrations, to the references to the Oz books popular in the 1930s give The Storm in the Barn a feeling of authenticity.
While it is a strong book to be read on its own by 9 to 13 year olds, I think it would be a great resource to accompany study of the Dust Bowl Days or a reading of Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. It is a timely topic of study as reckless, market-driven farming practices were in large part responsible for the devastation. For readers thirsty for more on the topic after reading The Storm In The Barn, I recommend Timothy Egan's The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Sherman Alexie's young adult novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, has been out and winning awards for several years now, but I just finally got around to reading it this week. On the one hand, I feel badly about that. I have loved Sherman Alexie's writing ever since reading The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven (for my money, the best book title ever crafted) back in the early 1990s. I really should have gotten to this semi autobiographical book, his first for young adults, sooner. On the other hand, I'm glad I waited. It made several long waits I had this week go much more enjoyably, and it will be fresh in my head when the sequel, The Magic and Tragic Year of My Broken Thumb, soon comes out.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian tells the story of Arnold "Junior" Spirit, a Spokane Indian living on a reservation in Washington State. Arnold wants to be a cartoonist and escape the alcoholism, poverty, and hopelessness on the reservation. His first step is to leave the reservation high school and enroll at an all-white high school in a nearby farming town, joining the school's mascot as the only other Indian. Alexie, through Arnold's diary, broke my heart and made me laugh several times over in this fantastic book. Ellen Forney provides artwork in the form of Arnold's cartoons which add to the humor of the book. This is really a great one for teenagers.

Max Quigley: Technically Not a Bully

I first picked up James Roy's middle grade book Max Quigley: Technically Not a Bully for my son because the cover reminded me of the The Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. I'm a marketing departments dream come true. I read Max Quigley and it it reminds me of The Diary of a Wimpy Kid inside the covers in a few ways. It too has a highly unreliable and unsympathetic protagonist telling his own story. Both books are funny. Both books make use of sketches my the narrator. The actual stories, however, are quite different.
Max Quigley is a sixth grader at an elementary school in Australia. James Roy had me at the first use of "Mum," and kept me with his "cheeky," "mate," "posh," and "crosses." I think I clapped my hands when he referred to a school field trip as an "excursion." Back to Max. He's a bully even though he rationalizes that he isn't because "Bullies wait behind lunch sheds and steal kids' Twinkies. I've never stolen anything in my life. Bullies beat people up. I've never actually punched anyone in my entire life." Nevertheless, Max is a bully and his parents are at the end of their rope when he turns his attention on an extremely shy and awkward classmate named Triffin Nordstrom, "Nerdstrom" to Max. When the boys' parents arrange that Triffin will tutor Max and Max will spend time playing with Triffin on the weekends, it is interesting and funny to watch Max take baby steps towards compassion and reformation. The ending reminds me a great deal of the film version of Nick Hornby's About A Boy when Hugh Grant's (rather cheeky)character accompanies the very awkward Simon onstage at a school talent show to sing "Killing Me Softly."
I'm sure my ten year old son will enjoy Max Quigley: Technically Not a Bully as it is a good choice for third through sixth grade readers.

In Praise of Standardized Testing

No, I'm just kidding with that title. I'm not going to sing the praises of standardized testing. I've studied all the arguments including, but not limited to, distortion of the curriculum and teaching to the test, stress, cultural bias, and impeding critical thinking. I believe Oprah recently had a guest on her show who connects standardized testing with bullying in schools. That said, there was something wonderful about last week, the week when my third and fourth graders took the NJASK (New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge) test. Do you know why? Because the teachers sent home no homework. Oprah's expert could have come to my house to observe the drop in bullying or at least the drop in stress in my kitchen every day last week. My ten year old son frequently spends ninety minutes on homework, but not those five days of testing. Instead, he played with his brother and friends outside, he built Lego masterpieces, rode his bike, and read Kate DiCamillo's beautiful book The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. One day during testing when he was finished, his teacher helped him select it from the classroom library. He enjoyed it so much that he read his sister's copy at home in the evenings. He never would have done that after more than an hour of homework. He went with Edward from Egypt Street to the bottom of the ocean to a garbage heap to learning to love others. I'm not really singing the praises of testing but rather the benefits of less homework. It was a great week of pleasant afternoons. By the way, my daughter used the free time to read The Penderwicks, More About Paddington, and The Secret of Platform 13. She didn't create any Lego wonders, but she didn't mind. Her discovery of the Penderwick sisters will probably inspire her to compose her own ode to testing week.

Black Swan Green

Who said New Year's Resolutions are difficult? I resolved to read and blog more about books appropriate for teenagers, and boy, did I strike gold with this one. David Mitchell's Black Swan Green is a gorgeously written, truly funny and achingly sad coming of age story. It follows one year, 1982, in the life of thirteen-year old Jason Taylor. Jason is an eloquent tour guide of his English village. Although only us lucky readers get to appreciate his hilarious and often profound observations about his family, neighbors, and classmates. Actually, readers of the poems he sends in to the local parish paper, under the pen name of Eliot Bolivar, get to appreciate his way with words as well. In daily life, Jason struggles from a stammer and has to constantly check what he says aloud in order to avoid the very bottom of the social pecking order. His depictions of the cruelty of adolescents to one another are painful to read. At the same time, it is a pleasure to peek in on his relationship with his brilliant older sister Julia. Unfortunately, Julia heads off to university, leaving Jason alone with his parents and their disintegrating marriage. Mitchell's recreation of Margaret Thatcher's England and of an anxious, thoughtful boy's struggles and joys growing up is a real treat. Although I finished Black Swan Green several weeks ago, I cannot get sweet, courageous Jason Taylor out of my mind.

The Thanksgiving Visitor

If you read just one story this Thanksgiving, it should be Truman Capote's "The Thanksgiving Visitor." No, you won't learn much about the Pilgrims, the Indians, or how to bake a pumpkin pie, but you will be moved by the writing and events in this poignant tale. Perhaps you are familiar with Capote's "A Christmas Memory" and its protagonists, the young Buddy and his eccentric, elderly best friend and aunt Miss Sook. They are the center of this story as well. Buddy narrates, and with wonderful Southern turns of phrase describes their Thanksgiving preparations. He also describes the bullying he receives at the hands of Odd Henderson for being a sissy. It is almost unimaginable that Miss Sook invites Odd to Thanksgiving dinner. The conflict and disappointment that unfold are powerful. Miss Sook counsels Buddy that Odd "... can't help acting ugly; he doesn't know any different." Often at Thanksgiving, we focus on gratitude.This Thanksgiving tale also gets readers thinking about compassion and graciousness. It's a provocative and well written holiday read for children from eight up, especially if you can find the picture book illustrated with wistful paintings by Beth Peck.