New favorite author for kids

I happened to accidently read two books in a row by the same author, and after reading the first, Fish In a Tree, I didn't think the second, One for the Murphys, could possibly be as great as the first.  Well, I was so wrong.  Both books by Lynda Mullaly Hunt have been added to my go-to list of books to suggest when students, or adults, for that matter, are looking for something good to read.  

Fish in a Tree is about a smart girl that has made it to fifth grade while hiding a terrible secret from everyone.  She hides behind disruptive behavior and joking.  Her exasperated teacher has given up on her, often just sending her to the principal's office.  She suffers through the unwanted attention of bullies as well.  Then, she gets a new teacher, a kind man, who recognizes what she is doing and why.  Turns out, she can't read.  He draws her out, finds her gifts, and helps her begin to overcome her problem.  In One for the Murphys, the main character finds herself in foster care after her new step-father beats her and her mother, landing them both in the hospital.  She has had a rough life and finds the loving home she joined alien to her.  She honestly doesn't trust love and kindness when it is offered.  She is angry and resentful at first, then begins to hope for her own future.  It is about unconditional love.  If you think, however, you can guess how these books end, guess again.  They both end hopefully, but not with a fairytale happy ending.  This it what makes them so satisfying.

She has an amazing way of writing about complex feelings in a very relatable way.  Also, as a teacher, she really made me understand why children sometimes act out.  Why they act anti-social, aloof, or crack jokes at inappropriate times.  Both books make me want to be a better person.

Two books in one

Like the main characters, Jake and Lily, by Jerry Spinelli, is two books, both literally, and figuratively.  It is told in two, alternating voices, those of twins Jake and Lily.  In my opinion, though, there is the annoying part and the part I liked.

Since six years old, Jake and Lily have shared "goombla," the ability twins sometimes have to know each other's thoughts.  If one was in trouble, the other knew, and, it was impossible for them to play hide and seek.  Then they turned 11.  Suddenly, Jake is hanging out with a bunch of guys, leaving Lily adrift.  Lily has to learn to be Lily-without-Jake.  At the same time, Jake faces his own challenges as his new friends begin to bully a new kid.  Both Jake and Lily must come to terms with their lives separately and together.

As the book started, I did not like it.  I found the constant shift in voice distracting, and the initial problem introduction uncomfortable.  Having said that, as the problem resolution began, I was used to the changing perspective and was invested in how it finished.  If you start this book, be sure to finish; it is worth it.

Funny and insightful

I had no idea what to expect from Better Nate Than Ever by Tim Federle.  I found this book funny, touching, interesting, and insightful.  Quite a bit more to it than I would have guessed from the cover.

Nate has been ridiculed his whole life in his small Pennsylviana town.  He doesn't fit in.  His older brother is everything a son should be: handsome, athletic, well-liked.  Unfortunately, Nate is nothing like him.  Short, "husky," un-athletic, and a lover of show tunes, he has been called many names, none of which are cool.  His chance to escape his small town come when his best friend, Libby, lets him know that there is an open call in New York City for "ET," the musical.  He sneaks on a bus to make his dream of becoming a star on Broadway come true.  Of course, things never go quite as planned.

His trip to New York shows him how there is so much more to the world than his small town.  In a world where a guy must be gay if they don't like sports and girls, he learns not only that being gay isn't hated everywhere,  but also that it's OK to not be sure who you are quite yet.

More to it than meets the eye

Looking at the title and cover of Cinderella Smith by Stephanie Barden, I was expecting a silly little read for third and fourth grade girls about a girl that can't keep track of her shoes.  I was pleasantly surprised, however, that there was more to it.

The title character, actually named Josephine-Kathryn, is called Cinderella because she manages to lose one shoe.....regularly.  As she enters third grade she faces a best friend that is suddenly not treating her so kindly.  Then, there's a new girl.  The new girl mistakenly believes that Cinderella has insight on evil step-sisters and approaches her to help determine if her soon-to-be step-sisters might be evil.  While a bit naive, they manage to approach very real fears of a blended family.  This book also takes on the sneaky ways in which young girls can bully, when Cinderella is competing with her former best friend over a coveted role in the upcoming dance recital.  And, of course, Cinderella has lost her brand-new tap shoe.

I appreciate Cinderella's optimism, and that there are friends who respond in a supportive way to help their friends through the troubles of growing up.

Disappointed

BeforeI started Ninth Ward, by Jewell Parker Rhodes, I had high hopes.  It is a Coretta Scott King Award honor book, it is about hurricane Katrina, and I was told the main character could see dead people.  Sounds compelling and exciting.....unfortunately, it was neither.

It is about twelve-year-old Lanesha, who has been raised by Mama Ya-Ya in New Orlean's Ninth Ward.    Mama Ya-Ya is a local healer, but not her birth mother .  Lanesha's mother died giving birth to her.  In fact, that is one of the dead people she sees....her mother, on the birthing bed.  What should be creepy, soon became a bit dreary.  Because Lanesha was born with a cowl covering her, she has always been held as different.  The part of the story that deals with her isolation and response to it is the one uplifting part of this book.  Unfortunately, even riding out Katrina in one of the worst-hit parts of New Orleans is sort of anti-climatic.  

I can't say I hated this book.  It was well-written, and I liked Mama Ya-Ya and Lanesha, it just was a bit dull.....disappointing.

I identified....not sure if everyone will

I read Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature by Robin Brande as an e-book using Overdrive, and I was drawn to it simply because of the title.  Without drawing out my life growing up, I was raised in an Evangelical Christian Church.  I am quite familiar with both the comfort of being "right" and the realization that right isn't so black and white.   Mena's journey spoke to me.

Mena's whole life has changed because she did the right thing.  Now her former friends, including the boy she liked, have ostracized her and started a campaign to humiliate her.  To make it worse, her parents are mad as well because her actions impacted their business.  Mena was raised in an Evangelical Church and this all started when she spoke up about bullying behavior their youth group started against a junior high student that was gay.  Now, her whole view on the world has been opened, but, can she survive being the outcast?  And, does she have the courage to support a teacher that is the newest target of the church for teaching evolution in science?  Of course, she can't even think about liking her lab partner....or, can she?

Before you think this is a faith-bashing book, and part of what makes it more thought-provoking is that the teacher who teaches evolution turns out to also be a person of faith.  There is respect for religion in this story.

 

Because I was raised in an Evangelical Church, I understand the culture and the pressure.  I wonder if it would be as meaningful to someone without that background.  If you read it, let me know!

 

Surprising!

I read Liar and Spy by Rebecca Stead, Newbery Award winning author of When You Reach Me.  I LOVED When You Reach Me and First Light and wasn't sure I would like Liar and Spy as it seems a different genre.  Without going into too much detail about other books, they fit in with my first love which is of  Sci Fi/Fantasy.  This book does not...no lost civilizations or time travel or wizards.  Boring......

...and yet.  

This book was absolutely compelling!  Rebecca Stead has a talent for taking the ordinary and making it extraordinary, and for adding surprising twists.

Georges (the S is silent) is not having the best year.  His best friend has simply abandoned him for the cool table, his dad was laid off, his mom is working way too many doubles, and they have to leave the house he loves to move to an apartment.  Then he meets Safer, a home-schooled boy that lives in his new building.  Safer is sure the mysterious Mr X is up to something terrible and needs Georges's help to prove it.  In an understated way this book tackles huge issues such as trust, bullying, and belonging.  Just as there is more to Mr X, there is more than meets the eye with everyone in this story.  

I found it funny, touching, and entertaining, even for this lover of all things fantasy!