Entries categorized as ‘Children's Fiction’
Today’s post is from Annie at Parr Library:
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
It’s 1978 and Miranda’s life in the Upper West Side of New York City is ticking along nicely. She has her best friend Sal, a close relationship with her mother, and she knows most of her neighbors. Everything seems to change when Sal gets punched for no apparent reason by Marcus, a very intelligent boy from their school. Sal withdraws from Miranda into his own world, which is bad enough. But then Miranda starts receiving strange notes. The first reads:
I am coming to save your friend’s life, and my own.
I must ask two favors. First, you must write me a letter.
The subsequent notes foretell future events to prove to Miranda that the writer is sincere in his need for the letter detailing her life. The book is Miranda’s “letter” to the unknown writer wherein she describes her 6th-grade friends, her job at Jimmy’s deli, Sal’s withdrawal, the strange Laughing Man on her street corner, and so on.
The story is a mystery puzzle and once it’s solved, readers will want to go back to the beginning to see how the clues fit. An entertaining story for 9 to 12 year olds.
Categories: Children's Fiction · Staff Favorites
Tagged: Mystery, space and time
October 16, 2009 · 1 Comment
Today’s post is from Ellen at Parr Library:
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly
No one calls Callie Vee Calpurnia except her grandfather and of course her mother, when the girl’s in trouble. The year is 1899, and the “almost 12″ year old wonders why dogs have eyebrows and why some grasshoppers are small and green and others are large and yellow. When she asks her grandfather, an amateur naturalist, about the grasshoppers, his reply is that “a smart young whip like you can figure it out.” Callie thinks perhaps she’s discovered a new species, but with further reflection and some serious note taking, she does figure it out. Her grandfather is quite impressed that she’s done it without help from anyone, and the two spend the summer studying everything from pond life to the habits of badgers. After school starts, Callie spends every possible minute with the elderly man and the seed of a dream is planted. Her mother, though, has other ideas and insists that Callie take piano lessons and learn to cook in preparation for her “coming out.”
The story takes place in the fictional town of Fentress, Texas just before the turn of the century. The telephone comes to town, an automobile is on display at the county fair, and a young girl finds that a whole other world is waiting to be discovered.
I found this book to be a real charmer – one that can be read and enjoyed by all ages.
Categories: Children's Fiction · Staff Favorites
September 14, 2009 · 2 Comments
Today’s post is from Erik at Schimelpfenig Library:
Gilda Joyce, Psychic Investigator by Jennifer Allison
There seem to be several series lately that feature plucky young girls who try their luck at solving mysteries; the Gilda Joyce series has become one of my favorites and I look forward to new ones when they come out. Psychic Investigator is the first and lays the groundwork for Gilda’s story. After her father’s death two years aearlier, thirteen year old Gilda is convinced she has gained psychic abilities and decided “psychic investigator” is the career for her. So she does what any girl would do; she invites herself to her spooky Uncle’s house for a summer visit to track down the ghost of her Aunt who committed suicide.
This story is good and the subsequent stories seem to just get better. Gilda is full of energy and resourcefullness as well as bearing a deep sense of grief over the loss of her father; whose typewriter she uses to compose letters to him and ask for advice. This may sound maudlin but thats far from the case. The stories are light, funny, whimsical and sometimes a little over the top but Gilda is such an engaging character it seems just fine.
These books are perfect for fans of Harriet the Spy or just anyone looking for a good middle-school book. AND, if you want something a little meatier when you are done I would suggest Down the Rabbit Hole by Peter Abrahams, it’s not quite as light but a very good mystery and an equally enjoyable heroine. There you go internet people, two good books (and both of them series at that!) in one post! SHA-BAM!!
Categories: Children's Fiction · Staff Favorites · Teen Fiction · Uncategorized
Today’s post is from Erik at Schimelpfenig Library:
The Great Brain by John D. Fitzgerald
It’s summer and we are all in full swing with the Summer Reading Club here at the library. In the spirit of that event I thought I would share one of my favorite books from when I was a kid. The Great Brain was the first novel-length book I remember reading all the way through and I enjoyed it very much. I enjoyed it so much I quickly read all the books in the series and enjoyed them as well. I never saw it but I remember the cover of my paperback copy loudly proclaiming that it was now a “MAJOR” motion picture starring Donny and Marie’s irrepressible younger brother, Jimmy Osmond. I think now I would actually like to see that movie…but I’m old these days and tend to reminisce more than is probably healthy.
The story follows the adventures of Tom Fitzgerald as seen through the eyes of his younger brother J.D.. Tom’s great brain runs rampant in Adenville, Utah, whether he is bilking kids out of their money by showing off his father’s brand new water closet or using it (his brain, not the water closet) to rescue two lost children. The stories paint a wonderful picture of turn-of-the-century Utah and the mischief is softened with just the right amount of poignancy. On a lark and mostly for the sheer symmetry of the thing I re-read the book last year on a library trip to Utah and it held up just as enjoyable as the first two or three times I read it.
If you haven’t read these junior novels yourself (or even if you have), take a break from the David Baldaccis and the Mary Higgins Clarksof the world and give this children’s classic a shot. And when you’re done, lend it to your own kids, see if they don’t enjoy it just as much as you.
Categories: Children's Fiction · Staff Favorites · Uncategorized
Today’s post is from Erik at Schimelfenig Library:
Whenever a writer creates an alternate persona to write his books it’s hard to tell where, or even if, they differentiate themselves. I guess it would be doubly hard for that writer when his alter-ego is more succesful than he is; however, it worked just dandy for Sam Clemens. I don’t think I’m destroying anyone’s childhood idealism by saying that Lemony Snicket is not a real person but just in case I’ll leave the discovery of the real writer to your various Wikipedia skills and stick with what I thought of his most recent book.
I liked
The Series of Unfortunate Events although the series bogged down in the middle and tended to repeat itself; and I liked
The Composer is Dead even though it suffered from the same characteristics.
The Composer is Dead introduces the various elements and sounds that make up an orchestra while making them all suspects in a death of the composer. It’s a good tool to expose kids to the idea of orchestral music and some historic composers but it does, at times, seem to flitter off-course into language that may be incomprehensible to it’s target audience. It is probably a book better read by a parent to a child so they are able to ferry the children across some of the murkier waters.
There is also an accompanying CD with the author reading the text and the instruments being played. This would have been an excellent companion piece if it hadn’t go on way too long. The material as a whole is extremely passable but passable isn’t what I’ve come to expect from Lemony Snicket who may have, in this instance, fallen victim to his own creation.
Categories: Audio Books · Children's Fiction · Music · Staff Favorites
Tagged: audio book, picture books
Today’s post is from Cecily at Haggard:
The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester
Only child Piper McCloud, hasn’t left her parents’ farm much in all of her young years - they’re afraid that her unusual “deformity” might cause problems and invite questions. Trips to the market and to church are the only chances she has to see other people, but even at home she is told to hide how unusual she is, how different. How not-right. Piper McCloud can fly.
When Piper’s ability is exposed and people start to ask questions, Piper is contacted by the beautiful and confident Dr. Hellion who extends Piper an irresistable invitation to attend a special institute for gifted children like her. Deep underneath the snow of the polar region, Piper finds a world of unusal creatures – such as a rose with teeth and a glowing silver giraffe - and a few other talented kids. Among them are those who are super strong, super fast, super smart, and can control the weather. But, as it usually happens in these stories, the institute is not the wonderland it first appears to be, and Piper has to decide what flying really means to her.
Piper brings a country girl’s charm to the excitement and danger of a scifi world and makes this a real page-turner.
Categories: Children's Fiction · Staff Favorites · Teen Fiction
Today’s post is from Erik at Schimelpfenig Library:
I remember the sixth grade very well. I remember how my idea of what was cool somehow didn’t jive with the more widely accepted definition. I got my first pair of glasses in the sixth grade and to this day I wonder if seeing was worth enduring the future “joys” of junior high and high school. You see, unbeknownst to me when I got them, the glasses I picked had
Superman’s logo on the earpiece. I was just thrilled thinking what actually seeing the chalkboard was going to do for my grades. So there I was walking the halls trying to figure out who all the other kids were talking about when I heard them singing the
Superman theme or asking me where my cape was. And so it went…for six more years. The upshot of all this being that after years of hallway incidents, I am completely unable to be tripped by a human being; low-hanging tree branches however still pose a significant threat since I have never learned not to read and walk at the same time. Oh yeah, and I am totally able to accept criticism, so fire away with the comments!
All of which brings us to today’s post. I don’t know if you, or possibly your kids, have gone through any similar experiences to those of Greg Heffley but take it from those of us that have; the book hits a home-run and I would recommend it to child and parent alike. Sequels are coming fast and furious and I hear tell there is even a movie on the horizon for next year so jump on board with the rest of us
nerds,
geeks and
wimps and enjoy the ride.
And hey, if you happen to catch me in the hallways, I’ll be happy to tell you my own junior high talent show experience. Let’s just say it falls slightly short of
Susan Boyle’s.
Categories: Children's Fiction · Graphic Literature · Staff Favorites · Teen Fiction
Today’s post is from Carole at Haggard Library:
My One Hundred Adventures by Polly Horvath
Twelve-year-old Jane loves living by the beach with her single mother and three younger siblings. Jane and her best friend, Ginny, are restless. Jane wishes vaguely for adventures, while Ginny knows exactly what she wants to do: go to New York and be a fashion designer.
Jane’s adventures are unusual. She helps her pastor deliver Bibles in rural areas and takes a ride in a hot air balloon. A mishap results in Jane and Ginny being forced to babysit a family of unruly children for most of the summer. Jane prays for ill church members, with mixed results. Meanwhile, former boyfriends of Jane’s mother, a poet, come and go, leaving Jane perplexed. By the end of the summer, Jane has learned a lot and has a more realistic outlook on life.
Full of funny and implausible events, this beautifully-written book will appeal to girls in grades 5-8.
Categories: Children's Fiction
