Textbook Reflections 1 (LSSL 5385)

Chapter 1

Why Do We Share Literature with Children?

"As librarians, we must share our love of reading with others. Otherwise, why are we in this profession?" Dr. Lesesne included this statement in the Chapter 1 video along with six reasons that literature should be shared with children.

Here are the six reasons to share literature with children:

1. It is fun! Reading is a form of play and is important for educational success. In
addition, “sharing what you love is magical.”

2. It aids in the acquisition of language and language development. Between birth
and age five, the greatest amount of vocabulary development occurs. When books are
used and read repeatedly, this happens naturally. It is wise to set a goal of reading
1000 books with a child before they reach kindergarten. The more minutes a child is
read to daily, the higher the percentile they fall into on standardized tests.

3. It develops empathy. Empathy is stronger than sympathy. We develop empathetic
bonds with books and their characters when we read. We learn how characters in
certain situations feel. This creates kindness and politeness in people.
4. Reading supports the development of lifelong readers:
        * Unconscious delight [series (story continues) and serial (same author/genre) readers]
        * Reading autobiographically (mirror into yourself)
        * Reading for vicarious experiences (mirror into the lives of others; helps reader to

          experience the consequences of choices through a character rather than having to

          personally go through the situation)
        * Reading for philosophical speculation (helps reader to form opinions on ethical and

          religious issues; helps to answer big questions such as “Who am I?”)

        * Provides aesthetic experiences (read for joy, beauty, and pleasure)
5. Literature develops the imagination. Without utilizing the imagination, invention and
creativity are decreased.

6. Reading transmits culture. Many cultures can be experienced and learned about
year-round.

I previously completed this chapter in my LSSL 5360 course, so I was familiar with the information, but I enjoyed watching the video and reviewing the information again. This time, I tuned more into Dr. Lesesne’s and Dr. Perry’s delight and passion for books. I hope that my love of literature will be as obvious to the children and adults that I interact with in my own library as theirs was to me. In addition, it really struck me when Dr. Lesesne said that books which allowed for autobiographical reading did not show up in a broad sense until the 1980’s. When I completed my reading autobiography assignment for LSSL 5385, I noticed that the books which I generally read growing up were not books that related to me other than those with redheaded characters. This explains why...since I grew up in the 1970’s. It also stood out to me that there is a direct correlation between minutes spent reading as a child and standardized test scores, as well as how vocabulary development is linked to the number of books read. I can see the impact of my mother reading with me and taking me to the library throughout my childhood, and I can see the positive effects of early reading in my own children as well. This shows me how important it will be to read with the children in my school, to motivate them to read on their own, and to hold community events to educate parents, as well as to read with preschool-aged children. Lastly, I thought that the video by John Green with charming facts about 47 children’s books was extremely fun. I watched it with my 14-year-old daughter. She smiled through the entire video and so did I. It surprised me, though, when he said that it was pretty common for children’s book writers to not like children. How sad!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 2

Divisions of Young People’s Literature

In this chapter, Dr. Perry discussed four categories of literature. They are:

1. Children’s Literature (ages 0 - 8). Includes wordless picture books, picture books, easy readers, illustrated chapter books, early chapter books, and simple novels that are mostly text such as Ramona.
2. Middle Grade/Tween (ages 8 - 12). Includes graphic novels and novels. Some example titles are Roller Girl, Raymie Nightingale, The Thing About Jellyfish, and George.
3. Young Adult (ages 13 - 18). The books may include language, sexual material, foster care, gangs, or rough/gritty subjects. Some example titles are Grasshopper Jungle, Firsts, Pushing the Limits, and Nimona.
4. New Adult (ages 18 - 30). This is a relatively new category that appeared in 2009 when St. Martin’s Press held a writing contest in search of cutting-edge fiction containing protagonists who were older than 18 dealing with more adult subject matter such as attending college, first major relationships, or sexual relationships. Some example titles are Sweet Home, This is Falling, and November 9.

In addition, I learned that middle schoolers (6th - 8th graders) from about 11 to 13 years old are a special group of students that must be treated carefully. They fall partly in the Middle Grade/Tween category and partly in the Young Adult category. Books that are generally appropriate for them are romance, LGBTQ, and some tougher topic books such as those containing abusive parents. However, YA subject matter may be too mature for this group since the top and bottom ages of the YA category are quite different maturity-wise.

I found this chapter extremely helpful. I wish that I had learned these categories long ago. As a parent, I feel like I’ve made good judgement calls with my own children regarding what I would allow them to read during the various stages of their lives. But, as a library assistant in a junior high (7th - 8th grade), I am surprised that a number of the books that we carry are actually YA books. After reading some of them, I felt like the subject matter was too mature for most of the kids in the school. But I assumed that I was just being overly conservative. After listening to this video presentation, I feel like I was actually right-on-target. I am now better equipped to build an appropriate collection for various age groups. I also think that some of the confusion in my mind and possibly in the minds of others has come in understanding censorship -vs- age-appropriateness. I think sometimes books are allowed into school libraries because librarians are afraid that they will be accused of censorship, when they are actually just providing age-appropriate books for students according to the divisions within young people’s literature.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 3

Anatomy of a Book

In the “Anatomy of a Book” chapter, the above diagram was displayed and explained on the Chronicle Books blog. The parts included were:

1. Endpapers - the two long sheets of paper that are folded and glued onto the front and back covers of a book. Half of the paper is attached to the cover and the other half is kind of like a page of the book. The endpapers are often patterned or colored. When they are not, if you look carefully, the paper used might be a different weight than that used for the actual pages of the book.
2. Casewrap - When looking at a book with no book jacket/dust cover, the casewrap is the part that wraps around the actual cover. It may be made from leather, cloth, or even laminated paper. Its purpose is to protect the book.
3. Book Block - When you open up the cover of a book, the book block is the part that remains (minus the end papers). It contains the main text of a book.
4. Gutter - When you open up a book and can view a page of text on the left and on the right, the gutter is the blank space (no text) in the middle.
5. Headband - the small, decorative textile strip at the top and bottom of a hardcover book. Sometimes it is colorful.
6. Backbone - another word for the spine of a book. When a book is sitting on a library shelf, the backbone is the part that you see which usually displays the title and the author. It is the back of a bound book and connects the front and back covers.

Other book terms mentioned were mock-up, format, proof, saddle stitch, and F&G.

This was an important chapter for me to read. It equipped me to use the correct terms when talking about the different parts of a book and to more effectively communicate with other librarians. As in the field of science, it is helpful to have a shared vocabulary. I was already familiar with the endpapers and backbone of a book, but I did not know the other terms. After reading this chapter, I searched for additional images on the internet to insure that I truly understood what the book parts were. In addition, I examined a few books within the library in order to be sure that I could identify the parts. I am curious to know who named the parts and if other terms are sometimes used. I suspect that they are because I’ve heard the term “spine” used more frequently than “backbone.” I think that knowing the terms for various parts of a book will cause me to pay more attention to them when I handle books. For example, I suspect that I will be intentional about examining the endpapers because I am curious to know how often they are colored/patterned.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 4

Genres and Formats

Genre is a term that is often used improperly. There are actually only two genres: fiction and nonfiction. Within those genres are many sub-genres. Fiction sub-genres are realism (realistic: modern contemporary, historical) and fantasy [modern (hard science fiction, soft science fiction, high fantasy, low fantasy) and traditional (fairy tale, folktale, ballad, fable, legend, myth)]. Nonfiction sub-genres are informational and are broken out into biography (autobiography: whole lifespan, memoir: portion of life), narrative: written more like a story, and expository: information/facts. Genres can be written in different formats such as poetry, drama, novel, chapter book, short story, picture book, or graphic novel. Sometimes people classify books by subject or category such as chick lit, mystery, guy reads, horror, sports fiction, action/adventure, paranormal, war, classics, humor, or dystopia. But these are not genres. There are pros and cons to genrefying books within a library. Librarians need to think carefully when deciding whether or not to genrefy their collections.

I think it is important for librarians, teachers, and students to use common vocabulary when talking about the classification of books. Unfortunately, I have not seen them doing so. When my children were in elementary and intermediate school, they were taught that poems were a type of genre. But this lesson taught me that poems are not a genre, they are a format. So, there is definitely confusion within this area. I was even a bit confused at the end of the video. Although the beginning of the video said that there were only two genres, fiction and nonfiction, and that everything else was a sub-genre, when examples of actual books were given at the end of the video, this was contradicted. For example, Drowned City by Don Brown was said to be narrative nonfiction genre in a graphic novel format. I thought it would be classified as nonfiction (genre), narrative nonfiction (sub-genre), and graphic novel (format). In addition, I think it is funny that separating books into different groups within a library is known as genrefying even though the books are actually being separated by subject, category, or format...not by genre.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 5

What is YA Literature?

According to Mertz & England (1983), Young Adult literature contains specific characteristics. These characteristics are:

• The protagonist is youthful and highly independent.
• The main character(s) goes through a significant change, reaps the consequences of decisions made and actions taken, and experiences gradual/incremental change, as well as incomplete growth.
• The story is told from a point of view which presents an adolescent’s interpretation and includes an essence of how they develop.
• There is a directness of exposition and direct confrontation, and it mirrors concerns regarding contemporary issues.
• The time in which the story takes place is brief, the setting is limited, and the structural convention may contain few fully developed characters.

I was unable to locate the specific article by Mertz & England which contained their interpretation of YA literature. However, the list included in our course textbook was pretty detailed. As I thought through the information, I found myself reflecting on various YA fiction books that I have previously read. I tried to identify each of the characteristics of YA literature within them. For example, in Looking for Alaska by John Green, the protagonist is Miles (Pudge) Halter. The main characters are Pudge, The Colonel, and Alaska. Each of them meets the conditions in the above list. The story is told from Pudge’s point of view and definitely includes how adolescents develop. The issues within the novel are contemporary, the story takes place in less than a year, and the setting is limited to the boarding school campus and a few areas nearby. I believe that the characteristics identified by Mertz & England will help me to determine whether a book is a middle grade/tween piece of literature (intended for 8 - 12 year olds) or young adult (intended for 13 - 18 year olds). Because I work in a junior high library (7th - 8th grade), this will help me to better direct students to books that may be of interest to them since the ages within these grade levels (12 - 14) fall within different divisions.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 6

How Do Adolescents Develop?

In order to match kids and books, we must understand readers and their developmental characteristics. In this video, Dr. Lesesne discussed four developmental characteristics to consider:

1. Physical: When children go through puberty, it is a time of change for them, which is not easy. They wonder if they are normal and need to understand that everyone matures physically at different rates. When helping kids choose books, we should look for those which are encouraging and that communicate to them that they will survive and that they are normal.
2. Intellectual: According to Piaget, progression occurs from the sensorimotor stage to a concrete-operational stage, and finally to the formal-operational stage. Initially, it was believed that at about age 10, children began transitioning from the concrete to the abstract stage. But later, this age was pushed back to about 14 years. When helping kids choose books, it is important to frame questions appropriately in order to account for this. For younger kids, we should provide scaffolding, if necessary, in order to help them understand the abstract. Certainly, books that are more concrete should be selected until they are ready for the abstract.
3. Moral: According to Kohlberg, there are 3 moral stages: preconventional (decisions are based on reward and punishment), conventional (rules are followed), and post-conventional (laws are recognized, but humanity is deemed as more important).
4. Developmental: According to Havighurst, the developmental stages for young adults include:

• Learning to get along with peers
• Having easy relationships with the opposite sex
• Working for pay, which is tied to independence
• Changing relationships with parents
• Finding a vocation or calling
• Developing morals and values
• Adapting to changing physical bodies
• Defining appropriate sex roles (these are sometimes determined by society)

Knowing these characteristics of development, we should look for books that speak to where kids are and possibly those that can incrementally move them to higher levels. In addition, we should pay attention to kids’ needs (Maslow’s hierarchy: physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem, self-actualization), while understanding that base needs must be met before those that are higher on the pyramid can be.

In undergraduate school, I learned Piaget’s theories and considered them frequently while teaching my math students, but this was a wonderful refresher. I did not recall Kohlberg’s Moral Development theory, but it makes a lot of sense. When I think through the development of my own children (now 14 and 19 years old), I can see their progression through Kohlberg’s stages. I think my son spent quite a bit of time in the preconventional stage, a little time in the conventional stage, and then he leapt to the post-conventional stage. Whereas, my daughter did not spend as much time in the preconventional stage as she did in the conventional stage. I believe she is on the cusp of the post-conventional stage. I suppose she could already be in it, but just be a “rule follower” like me. I don’t recall previously learning about Havighurst’s research, but I agree that young adults do go through the developmental phases that he notes. Since I currently work in a junior high library, I will begin to incorporate all of these aspects (physical, intellectual, moral, developmental) as I help match students with books. In addition, I plan to consider them when I develop a collection in my own library soon.

Brown Girl Dreaming

by Jacqueline Woodson

Woodson, J. (2014). Brown girl dreaming. New York: Penguin.

Jacqueline Woodson and her family live in Ohio, but her mother's love for Greenville, South Carolina, lulls her back. The three children make the move, but, sadly, their father remains in the north. Growing up in the south has its pros and cons. Extended family is a pro. Segregation and prejudices are cons. Becoming a Jehovah's Witness falls somewhere in the middle. Eventually, the family moves to New York. Through it all, Jacqueline learns the value of family and finds her gifts of storytelling and writing.

This autobiography is written by Jacqueline Woodson in free verse. Because it spans the 1960s and 1970s, it is a fantastic historical account of what it was like to grow up in both the North and South during the civil rights movement. It was interesting to read since I was born in the late 1960s in the South, but also spent some of my childhood living in the North. The world that we live in today is quite different than it was then. I think that  Brown Girl Dreaming will help those who read it to learn about the past and help to preserve pieces of our nation's history, some good and some bad, that we need to remember. In addition, this book does an excellent job in conveying that every person is designed for a purpose and in encouraging each to seek it out.

🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮

Author, Jacqueline Woodson's website: http://www.jacquelinewoodson.com/

Book trailer:

Hear from the author:

The Three Pigs

by David Wiesner

Wiesner, D. (2001). The three pigs. New York: Clarion Books.

The big bad wolf huffs and puffs and blows down a little pig's house of straw, but...his gust of air also blows the pig out of the story! When he moves on to the house of sticks, the first pig calls the second off of the page to safety. The third pig joins them, and together they go on an adventure through other stories. When the pigs return back to the story with some new friends, the wolf receives a surprise he never expected.

This picture book starts out in the expected tradition of The Three Little Pigs, but then suddenly changes in an unexpected way. Wiesner's active imagination comes to life when his characters literally step off of the page. This unique point-of-view creates an interesting story. His illustrations are necessary to understand what is happening. They are particularly creative in how they display the animals one way when they are inside the story and differently when they are outside the story. I especially loved the black and white dragon story compared to the colorful, scaly dragon after he crawled off the page. I also think that the speech bubbles helped distinguish between the "real" animals versus the animals as characters within the various stories. Oh, and the way the letters scattered near the end of the book...clever!

🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮

Author, David Wiesner's website: http://www.hmhbooks.com/wiesner/

Book trailer:

Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade

by Melissa Sweet

Sweet, M. (2011). Balloons over Broadway: the true story of the puppeteer of Macy's parade. New York: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children.

Tony Sarg was born in 1880. As a creative and inventive child, he made contraptions that would accomplish his early morning chores while allowing him to remain in bed. When he became an adult, he fashioned such incredible marionettes in London that Macy's department store in New York sought him out to design their holiday window displays. This led to another job: creating a Thanksgiving day parade. That first parade in 1924 was so successful that it continued every year, becoming more spectacular as Sparg's balloons evolved over time.

This biography of Anthony "Tony" Frederick Sarg is written and illustrated by Melissa Sweet in a way that is interesting. I love the way she used varied mediums throughout the book. For example, before the title page, she included a picture of an actual page from The Tony Sarg Marionette Book which highlights Sarg's toy collection. The title page is also intriguing with the book title hooked up to a pully and pictures of replicas of some of Tony's toys. A photograph of Tony working with his art supplies reminds the reader that this is a biography, but then the story of his life is presented as a narrative with drawn illustrations. Overall, this is an informative and interesting story designed in a thoughtful and effective format. It was neat to hear how the Thanksgiving Day parade I see every year came into being.

🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮

An interview with Melissa Sweet: http://www.artofthepicturebook.com/-check-in-with/2014/10/6/an-interview-with-melissa-sweet

Book trailer:

A little about Tony Sarg: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-puppeteer-who-brought-balloons-to-the-thanksgiving-day-parade-180947863/

Pictures from the 2017 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade: http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/23/us/gallery/macys-thanksgiving-day-parade-2017/index.html

It's a Book

by Lane Smith

Smith, L. (2010). It's a book. New York: Roaring Brook Press.

A "donkey" with a laptop continuously questions a monkey about what he is holding. Unfamiliar with books, the "donkey" cannot comprehend what it is or how it works. Regardless, he becomes engrossed, once he begins reading it. When he refuses to return the book, monkey decides to go to the library...but only after mouse makes a snarky comment.

Smith's illustrations are expressive of the emotions of each character, especially the eyes. They really support the text. I think this picture book is hilarious. It is such a reflection of our current society. I wonder if there will soon be people who truly don't know what a book is because everything has gone electronic. I hope not. Clearly, so does Lane Smith, the author. The only part I wish were different in the book is the tech-savvy character's name. Although it does convey Smith's attitude, it might cause parents to withhold the book from their young children, which would be unfortunate because it conveys a relevant message for young and old alike.

🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮

Author, Lane Smith's website: http://www.lanesmithbooks.com/LaneSmithBooks/Lane_Smith_Books.html

Book trailer:

Mirror Mirror

by Marilyn Singer

Singer, M. (2010). Mirror mirror. New York: Dutton Children's Books.

Fourteen poems spotlight multiple fairy tales and then are reversed to provide a different perspective. Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Rapunzel are a few of those which are included.

Writing poems that are reversible is an incredible talent. Marilyn Singer's attempt in Mirror, Mirror is quite successful! I've never read anything quite like it. The fact that she writes about familiar fairy tale characters makes the poems even more enjoyable since background knowledge already exists. The colorful illustrations provided by Josée Masse serve to enhance the poems and their reverse meaning when they are penned with lines in opposite order and only changes in punctuation. Young readers will be enchanted and motivated to try their hand at writing this interesting form of poetry themselves.

🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮

Author, Marilyn Singer's website: http://marilynsinger.net/

Marilyn Singer reads three of her poems:

Where the Wild Things Are

by Maurice Sendak

Sendak, M. (1963). Where the wild things are. New York: HarperCollins.

When a young boy named Max gets a little too rowdy one night, his mother sends him to bed without dinner. While there, his dreams transform his room into a fantasy world full of wild things. They make him king and submit to his authority. Smells of yummy things to eat draw him back to reality and he awakes to a lovely surprise.

This picture book has truly stood the test of time. It won the Caldecott medal in 1964, was turned into a feature film in 2009, and was voted the top picture book by School Library Journal readers in 2012. I think one of the reasons that it has remained so popular throughout the decades is because children will always act like children and moms will always be moms. The topic is easy to identify with, and readers of all ages relate to the book based on which phase of life they are in. The most endearing part of the story to me is when Sendak writes, "And Max the king of all wild things was lonely and wanted to be where someone loved him best of all." No matter how wild we get, and how much we might want to escape our situation, deep inside we all need to be loved...and know those who love us unconditionally, like Max's mom loves him.

🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮

Maurice Sendak's biography: https://www.biography.com/people/maurice-sendak-9478893

Book trailer:

Official movie trailer:

Wonderstruck

by Brian Selznick

Selznick, B. (2011). Wonderstruck. New York: Scholastic Press.

Ben recently lost his beloved mother in a car wreck and now lives with his aunt, uncle and cousins. After surviving a lightning strike which causes him to lose his hearing, he sneaks out of the hospital and travels alone to New York in search of the father he's never met. Fifty years earlier, Rose, a young deaf girl, runs away to New York to see an actress by whom she is enamored. As Ben and Rose search to fill an emptiness in their hearts, their lives converge in an unexpected way.

This novel is appropriately titled, as it truly struck me with wonder. Ben's story is told in words, while Rose's is told in pictures. Brian Selznick alternates between these forms as he reveals bits of each character's story in a harmonious rhythm. While reading it, my mind  followed both story-lines, but was constantly working on another level to discover the commonality between the two. This book is a creative thinker. Don't let the thickness of it scare you away; it's over 600 pages long! However, I was able to read it and process the amazingly detailed sketches in about 3 hours. Beautifully done, unique, and worth the time!

🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮

Wonderstruck website: http://www.wonderstruckthebook.com/

Author, Brian Selznick talks about Wonderstruck: https://vimeo.com/25236357

Book trailer:

Official movie trailer:

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!

by Laura Amy Schlitz

Schlitz, L. A. (2007). Good masters! Sweet ladies. Cambridge: Candlewick Press.

Set in an English medieval manor in the year 1255, the Lord's nephew, Hugo, hunts a wild boar. The blacksmith's daughter dreams about a beau when she meets Hugo. Stories of the plowboy, shepherdess, falconer's son, and even the mud slinger are included, along with background information on the three-field system, medieval pilgrimage, crusades, falconry, Jews in medieval society, and towns and freedom.

Want to become engrossed in medieval life and not realize that you are learning history? Then this is a great book for you! Out of the four core subjects, history, is my least favorite; but I really enjoyed this book. In Good Masters, Sweet Ladies, Laura Amy Schlitz plunked me down in the middle of a medieval village. The setting was creatively displayed in a 1255 map at the very beginning of the book and then a glimpse into the life of various community members was given. The glimpse was fun...especially how Schlitz wove the lives of the people together. On top of that, she wrote in poetic form! The background sections throughout provided a bit more history, but kept my attention because they were kept brief. In the Foreword section, Schlitz explained how she, the school librarian, wrote the book for for a group of students at her school. What a great role model she is for me and other aspiring librarians!

🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮

About the author: http://inkwellmanagement.com/client/laura-amy-schlitz

Real Housewives of Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!

The Nest

by Kenneth Oppel

Oppel, K. (2015). The nest. New York: Simon & Schuster.

When Steve is stung by an unusual looking wasp which begins to build a nest in the eaves of his home and an angel-like creature starts visiting him in his dreams, he becomes consumed. The visitor has told him that the wasps can help make his baby brother, who has a congenital genetic disorder, whole. Steve says "yes" when asked if he will help, but begins to have doubts as the details are unveiled.

I'm not going to lie. This book creeped me out. The thought of a baby growing inside a wasp's nest and a child being recruited to switch it out with his real baby brother, whom the wasps are planning to eat, was quite disturbing on various levels. However, if I look past that, I can honestly say that Kenneth Oppel did an excellent job knitting this story together. I was guessing until the very end as to whether or not Steve was psychotic versus experiencing reality and whether the queen or Mr. Nobody was the good guy. It explores the spiritual realm, genetic anomalies, right vs wrong, and mental illness. The suggested age group for this fiction novel is ten and up. I definitely agree that the subject matter is too mature for children younger than this and that there is no age cap for this book. However, in my opinion, not all ten-year-olds will be ready for this thriller. Seventh grade might be a better starting age.

🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮

Author, Kenneth Oppel's website: http://www.kennethoppel.ca/

Book trailer:

A word from the author:

We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball

by Kadir Nelson

Nelson, K. (2008). We are the ship: the story of Negro League baseball. New York: Hyperion.

Rube Foster founded the Negro National League in 1920. These baseball teams played with zest, which drew in spectators. As the teams pushed through the challenges of segregation and prejudice, they thrived with amazing players, many of whom were inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. In 1947, Jackie Robinson was accepted into the major league, paving the way for others to follow. The NNL then began to decline as more and more negro players made it to the major leagues until its end in 1960.

Anyone who loves baseball will enjoy this book. Kadir Nelson tells this nonfiction story from the point of view of a league player, so I felt like I was there, experiencing all of the authentic ups and downs along the way. It was neat to read how many of the players who I have heard of got their start before joining the majors. But, the most amazing part of this book to me were Kadir's gorgeous paintings. The detail in the faces, gentle folds in the uniforms, grain of the wood in a baseball bat, and sweat glistening off a player's skin are truly breathtaking. In addition, the heartfelt foreword by Hank Aaron and the closing appreciative words by the narrator were especially touching. This book commemorates the Negro National League and honors those who were involved in this phase of history.

🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮

Author, Kadir Nelson's website: http://www.kadirnelson.com/

BBC World News Report on We Are the Ship, the Negro National League, and hear from the author:

More about the Negro National League: https://baseballhall.org/discover/inside-pitch/negro-national-league-is-founded

Rules

by Cynthia Lord

Lord, C. (2006). Rules. New York: Scholastic Press.

Catherine's younger brother, David, has autism. Although she's only twelve years old, Catherine takes on much of the responsibility for David, helping him navigate social situations by creating rules for him. When she makes friends with her new next door neighbor, Kristi, and a boy from David's occupational therapy office, Jason, things get complicated. Catherine must decide if she's going to abide by her rules or take a chance by moving past them.

In this realistic fiction novel, Cynthia Lord provides a peek into the world of autism and cerebral palsy. Written from the perspective of Catherine, Rules helps the reader to understand what life is like for the sibling of an autistic child. As readers empathize with Catherine, David, and Jason, they will likely begin to examine their own prejudices and fears, resulting in acts of kindness and a new understanding and acceptance of those who are different from themselves. We are all different; yet, we are all the same...this would be a good rule for Catherine's list.

🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮

Author, Cynthia Lord's website: http://www.cynthialord.com/

Information about autism: https://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism

Book trailer:

Skulduggery Pleasant

by Derek Landy

Landy, D. (2007). Skulduggery Pleasant. New York: HarperCollins.

Stephanie Edgley is living a relatively normal life as a twelve-year-old until her uncle Gordon dies unexpectedly. When she inherits his property and possessions and meets Skulduggery Pleasant at the reading of the will, she is plunged into a dangerous world of magic and sorcery. Through her adventures and quest to defeat evil, she discovers her true self and makes some unique friends.

I do not tend to read books containing evil magic and sorcery...the ideas seep into my dreams and freak me out. However, I really enjoyed this book and haven't had a single nightmare after reading it. Derek Landy interjects bits of humor throughout his book, especially in Skulduggery's comments, in a brilliant fashion. This takes the edge off of the evil slant. I wish that the cover art fit the initial description of Skulduggery in a tan overcoat with sunglasses and wild fuzzy hair. But, I suppose it was better for me to form my own mental picture of him. The book is recommended for ages ten and up. My daughter would not have been ready for this book at age ten; but, hopefully, readers will be self-aware and choose what they are able to handle. The book ends in a way that would easily transition to a sequel...which there is!  

🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮

Author, Derek Landy's blog: http://dereklandy.blogspot.com/

Book series trailer:

Other Skulduggery Pleasant books:

It's So Amazing!

by Robie H. Harris

Harris, R. H. (1999). It's so amazing. Cambridge: Candlewick Press.

A narrator explains to a bird and a bee the facts of life. Popular myths are dispelled, the differences between males and females are explained, pictures of genders as they progress from baby to older grownup are shown, eggs and sperm are described, and the term "sex" is defined. The book then moves on to a discussion of love, how a baby grows in the womb, the way multiple births happen, chromosomes, families, and even sexual abuse.

Even as an adult, I was not looking forward to reading a book about eggs, sperm, birth, babies, and families. But I have to say that this one was done in a way that will appeal to children. All the facts are certainly in the text and drawings, but the presence of the two animal "mascots," the bird and the bee (tee-hee) make it fun, especially since readers will likely fall into one of the two categories that they represent. As vocalized on the cover by the bird, "Every single thing about where babies come from is SO-OOO A-MAZING to me!" and the bee, "Can we talk about something else? ANYTHING else?" Robie Harris and Michael Emberley really nailed it with their balance between comic-style anecdotes, anatomically correct drawings, and text. I think to a child, tween, or teen, this balance will help the book feel less embarrassing and possibly even fun. "The Amazing Egg Trip" was my favorite chapter due to the illustrations. Ultimately, I hope that parents will use this book as a tool to work in tandem with discussions they will have already had with their child rather than let the book do the educating on its own.

🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮

Author, Robie Harris's website: http://robieharris.com/

Rapunzel's Revenge

by Shannon and Dean Hale

Hale, S. & Hale, D. (2008). Rapunzel's revenge. New York: Bloomsbury.

Rapunzel was stolen from her mother by the evil witch, Gothel, when she was a young girl. After Rapunzel discovers her secret, Gothel uses her growing power to form a tall tree with a chamber near the top. She places Rapunzel there and only visits her once a year. However, Rapunzel uses this time to master the use of her long hair. After escaping, she meets Jack. Together, they defeat Gothel and restore the kingdom, righting wrongs along the way.

By looking at the title alone, I expected Rapunzel to be angry and evil, seeking revenge as an outlaw. In reality, she is kind, innocent, and insists upon honesty when Jack attempts to steal. It was a breath of fresh air compared to other graphic novels I've seen. This graphic novel is adventurous, entertaining, and slips in a happily-ever-after love story. Rapunzel is an unlikely hero who uses her long hair as a lasso to help her defeat the bad guys and right the wrongs of the evil witch who claims to be her mother. Shannon and Dean Hale creatively incorporate the tale of Jack and the Beanstalk and even slip in references to the dwarfs and the Duggars. An informed reader will pick up on these nuances. Others will find the book entertaining nonetheless. The illustrations are well done. Nathan Hale artistically depicts Rapunzel as both lovely and strong. His full color pictures help bring the tale to life.

🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮

A little about Shannon Hale: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/h/shannon-hale/

Co-author, Shannon Hale's official blog: http://www.squeetus.com/

Book trailer:

A short interview:

George

by Alex Gino

Gino, A. (2015). George. New York: Scholastic Press.

George is a fourth grader who was born with boy body parts, but thinks she is a girl. When auditions for the class play, Charlotte's Web, are announced, George decides to audition for the role of Charlotte. She is convinced that playing this part will help everyone, especially her mom, see that she is a girl, not a boy. When Mrs. Udell refuses to let George audition for a "girl's role," Kelly, George's best friend, comes up with a plan.

Transgender and other LBGTQ identities are a current hot topic of our times. Alex Gino is one of the first authors to write a novel for children aged nine-to-twelve related to this topic. Because the story is presented in a simplistic sort-of-way, it works. But, I personally think it would have been more realistic and effective in allowing readers to vicariously experience the struggles of a transgender youth if George had been in seventh grade or above since social identity is of such importance to this age group.

Gino's decision to write from a third-person perspective allows him to utilize pronouns such as "she" and "her" when referring to George. This creates a continuous tension between the pronouns and George's name which helps the reader understand George's identity struggles. In addition, the cover art corresponds well to Gino's description of George.

🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮

Author, Alex Gin's website: http://www.alexgino.com/george/

Book trailer:

The Graveyard Book

by Neil Gaiman

Gaiman, N. (2008). The graveyard book. New York: HarperCollins.

An entire family is brutally murdered, with the exception of the one-year-old baby who, unaware of what is occurring, crawls out of his crib and walks out the open door and over to the local graveyard. The graveyard ghosts and an in-between-life-and-death guardian adopt the child, who they name Nobody (nicknamed Bod) Owens. Bod is in danger whenever he leaves the cemetery until a series of events change the potential for his future.

With the exception of the graphic, murderous opening scene, I enjoyed this book. Neil Gaiman had an extremely unique idea when he wrote this chapter book. In my experience, ghosts are either perceived as something extremely scary or friendly (think Casper the Friendly Ghost). However, Gaiman humanizes the ghosts by knitting them together into a "family" that cares for, teaches, plays with, and protects Bod. Gaiman sprinkles in a bit of history and fantasy as well. This book is rich with complex vocabulary which will stretch the reader's mind. Near the end of this chapter book, it gets a little confusing with all of the Jacks; but other than that, it was a good read.

🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮

Author, Neil Gaiman's website: http://www.neilgaiman.com/

Official book trailer: