AMERICAN BORN CHINESE by Gene Luen Yang
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The monkey king masters the disciplines of kung-fu but cannot earn the respect of the gods because he wears no shoes. Jin Wang moves from China to America and tries to adjust to the new culture while dealing with the prejudices–not all of them ill-intentioned–of his classmates. Danny lives in a world similar to a sitcom where his Chinese cousin Chin-Kee constantly embarrasses him with his unusual behavior.
Yang weaves these three stories together to highlight the challenges of moving to a new culture and struggling to develop one’s identity as an individual. The graphic novel earned him the Printz Award in 2007. It may seem disjointed at first, but it comes together in the end. It will probably appeal most to teenagers, especially high schoolers.
THE EVOLUTION OF CALPURNIA TATE by Jacqueline Kelly
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Callie Vee Tate has never felt close to her grandfather. He spends many hours locked away in his study and doesn’t even seem to know the names of all of his grandsons–or at least which boy is which. But when he notices Callie observing the natural world and the great interest she takes in it, he decides to share his hobbies as naturalist with his granddaughter–even though it is unusual for a girl in the late nineteenth century to study such things. Together they read the works of Darwin, observe the beautiful world around them in their Texas backyard, and explore their environment as scientists. Unfortunately, Calpurnia’s parents have plans for her that conflict with her passions.
At its heart, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate is a story of family relationships and of a girl trying to find her identity and place in society. It is a sweet story with some great humorous moments, and a spunky narrator that you have to love. It will probably appeal most to girls in upper elementary and middle school, although I read it with my adult book group, and we all enjoyed it as well!
LOOKING FOR ALASKA by John Green
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In sixteen years of life, nothing interesting has ever happened to Miles Halter. When he leaves his home in Florida to attend boarding school in Alabama, he hopes that something remarkable will happen. But he never could have imagined anything as remarkable as Alaska Young. Alaska is beautiful, funny, reckless, and charismatic; Miles is drawn to her instantly, and finds himself in awe of the girl-goddess. But through their friendship, adventures, and late-night pranks, Miles begins to discover that there is more to Alaska than meets the eye. When tragedy strikes their lives, Miles will be forced to question everything he has assumed about Alaska, the world, and his own life as he tries to come to terms with his grief.
I have extolled the virtues of John Green’s YA novels in the past, and I will continue to do so here. He approaches realistic and difficult subject matter with a snarky sense of humor and a touch of philosophy that makes his characters believable and enjoyable to read about. Looking for Alaska won the Printz Award, and fully deserved it. I highly recommend this book, especially to high school and college-age readers. Audiobook narrated by Wil Wheaton!
THE LOVELY BONES by Alice Sebold
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Fourteen-year-old Susie Salmon takes a shortcut home from school through a cornfield where her middle-aged neighbor, George Harvey, is waiting. When she accepts his offer to show her his cool underground den, he rapes and murders her, disposing of her dismembered remains in a sinkhole. The story unfolds as Susie’s ghost watches her father, mother, sister and friends deal with the tragedy of her death and search for answers and justice.
This book wasn’t quite what I expected when I first read it. I thought the main thrust of the plot would be devoted to tracking down her killer and bringing him to justice. But it was much more subtle and complicated than that. It’s an upsetting story, but having Susie’s ghost as narrator lends a sort of peace to the story that it wouldn’t have had being told by the father or the detective. The reader knows from the start what happened, so the pressure for justice and the need for the characters to learn the killer’s identity isn’t quite the same as it would be if we needed that information as well. Also, while Susie is dead to the characters, she is very much alive to the reader. It is upsetting, to be sure, but it is not just another serial killer book.
SAVVY by Ingrid Law
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Thirteenth birthdays are a big deal in the Beaumont house, because that is the age when every Beaumont child receives their “savvy”–the unique special power that everyone in the family inherits. Fish has the power to create storms. Rocket has power over electricity. But a few days before Mibs reaches her savvy birthday, her father is in a horrible car accident and slips into a coma. As Momma and Rocket rush off to see him in the hospital in Salina, Mibs, Fish, and their younger siblings get left under the care of the preacher and his wife, Miss Rosemary, who know nothing of savvy birthdays.
Miss Rosemary is intent on throwing Mibs a party to keep her mind off of the family tragedy, but Mibs just wants to be left alone to figure out what her savvy is. A newborn, uncontrolled savvy can be a dangerous thing. But in the middle of the night on her savvy birthday, strange things begin to happen. First Mibs seems to wake her sister, Gypsy, from a deep sleep, using her mind. Then she brings her brother Samson’s dead pet turtle back to life. Realizing that her savvy must be the ability to wake things, Mibs decides to run away to Salina to wake her father from his coma. Under cover of birthday party chaos, Mibs makes her escape. It is not as subtle as she planned, however, and she winds up with a motley crew of traveling companions: Fish, Samson, and Miss Rosemary’s children, sixteen year old Bobbi and fourteen year old Will Junior. The children stow away in the back of a Bible delivery bus, and their road-trip adventure begins.
Although Savvy definitely falls within the genre of fantasy, its focus is grounded in reality–dealing with themes of family and relationships, growing up, individuality, and dealing with tragedy. Yet the tone of the book is not too dark. It has its serious moments and its funny moments. I greatly enjoyed this Newbery Honor book, and would recommend it to middle grade readers!
If you liked Savvy, you might like Chasing Redbird by Sharon Creech.
FOUND by Margaret Peterson Haddix
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The letter only had six words, and though they didn’t mean anything to Jonah, he found them somehow disturbing: “You are one of the missing.” When he learns that his friend Chip received the same letter, they realize that something strange is definitely going on. As more mysterious letters arrive, the two friends and Jonah’s sister, Katherine, begin to investigate the situation, which seems to have some connection to the FBI, and the fact that Jonah was adopted. But if things weren’t strange enough, level-headed Katherine claims she’s seen a ghost, and Jonah may have seen a mysterious intruder vanish from his bedroom. As matters get increasingly complicated, the teens begin to suspect that they are caught up in something much bigger than they realized, and perhaps beyond anything they ever imagined to see in this world.
Found is a suspenseful sci-fi mystery that starts off Haddix’s “The Missing” series. It is followed by Sent and Sabotaged, and four more books are likely to join the series in the coming years. It’s a fast, fun read for teens!
THE STAR OF KAZAN by Eva Ibbotson
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While on holiday in the Austrian mountains, Ellie and Sigrid find baby Annika abandoned in a church and bring her back to Vienna. The three Professors for whom Ellie and Sigrid work as a cook and housekeeper are upset at first by the introduction of a noisy, messy baby to their home. But within a few weeks, Annika becomes a beloved part of the household. Although she works hard around the house helping Ellie and Sigrid, Annika loves her life in Vienna. She loves the Emperor Franz Josef and his dancing Lipizzano horses. She loves her friends Pauline and Stefan and the games of make-believe they play in the abandoned garden. In fact, the only thing about life in Vienna that Annika does not love is Loremarie Egghart, the snobby, rich girl who lives across the street and who turns her nose up at Annika, the “kitchen girl.” But when Loremarie hires Annika to read books to the bed-ridden great-aunt whom none of the Eggharts can stand, Annika finds a new friend, a friend with exciting and exotic stories of a glamorous past life, stories that will live with Annika long after the old lady herself passes on.
Everything in Annika’s world changes, however, when her real mother arrives in Vienna. Annika had always dreamed hopefully of a day when her mother would arrive to claim her long-lost daughter. What Annika never expected was that her mother would be a “von”–a German noblewoman–Frau Edeltraut von Tannenberg. She also never dreamed of what would come after her mother’s arrival–the part where she would take her away from Vienna and everyone she knows. Annika’s new life in Germany is wonderful in some ways. For one thing, there is Zed the stable boy, with whom Annika immediately forms a strong friendship. And of course she is with her mother! But Annika quickly learns that there are secrets in her noble family, and not all of them are good.
This novel is simply superb historical fiction–one of my favorite children’s books. I highly recommend it to middle grade readers, and any adults who enjoy children’s fiction. It has an engaging plot, wonderfully drawn characters, and clean, evocative writing.
The audiobook (narrated by Patricia Connolly) is also excellent!
THE CASE OF THE MISSING MARQUESS by Nancy Springer
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On her fourteenth birthday, Enola Holmes discovers that her eccentric mother has vanished. Even her older brother Sherlock cannot find the marquess. As her eldest brother, Mycroft, makes plans to send her away to boarding school, Enola discovers a series of clues that her mother left specifically for her, and she begins to realize that the mystery may not be quite what it seems. Her investigation and her desire to avoid boarding school at all costs prompt Enola to flee from her brothers and seek refuge in the city of London. With the help of her analytical mind and her gift for disguise–traits which she shares with her brother Sherlock–Enola is determined to solve the mystery of her mother’s disappearance and any other mysteries she stumbles across along the way. And nothing–especially not her being a girl–will stand in her way.
Springer builds a vivid and detailed picture of life in Victorian London, the poverty of the East End, and the challenges of being a woman in the nineteenth century. Add a brilliant, snarky narrator, hilarious disguises, codes to crack, clues to unravel, and the indomitable Sherlock Holmes as a rival and adversary and you have one of my favorite children’s mystery books! The only down side to this wonderful mystery series is that its reading level is a bit more difficult than its interest level. It is best for advanced upper elementary readers, (possibly also middle school readers) and will probably be of most interest to girls. I highly recommend it!
Five books follow The Case of the Missing Marquess in the Enola Holmes series:
2. The Case of the Left-Handed Lady
3. The Case of the Bizarre Bouquet
4. The Case of the Peculiar Pink Fan
5. The Case of the Cryptic Crinoline
6. The Case of the Gypsy Goodbye
THE EYRE AFFAIR by Jasper Fforde
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Literary detective Thursday Next lives in the strictly regulated police state of England and spends much of her life struggling under the shadow of crimes of her relatives–her fugitive time-traveling father and her dead brother who allegedly led an ill-fated charge of the Light Brigade that left England and Russia locked in the Crimean War for over a century. But when the manuscript of Dickens’ Martin Chuzzlewit is stolen by the elusive, murderous, and perhaps insane Acheron Hades, Thursday finds that her own work is almost more than she can handle. After killing several of Thursday’s comrades–and nearly Thursday herself–Hades kidnaps the detective’s uncle and steals his Prose Portal, a unique invention that allows a human to travel into a work of literature. The villain uses it as a means of extortion, kidnapping characters from the original manuscripts of classic works of literature and threatening to murder them–forever altering the literary work–if his monetary demands are not met. For Thursday, this case is beyond personal.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I found the literary allusions hilarious and loved the way they were woven into the plot and this sci-fi world. I also really liked the premise of her father’s work with the ChronoGuard of government time-travelers and wish we had gotten to see more of that. The rest of my book group had more ambivalent feelings about the book. Most enjoyed the literary allusions, but many disliked the sci-fi elements. I don’t think they were fans of sci-fi in general. It is worth noting, however–for any hard sci-fi fans out there–that there is not much description of the “sci” behind the “fi” in this one. Still, I would personally recommend it to anyone who likes quirky mysteries and classic literature. It’s a lot of fun!
RAPUNZEL’S REVENGE by Dean, Shannon, & Nathan Hale
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Rapunzel’s mother, Gothel, raised her in a beautiful home surrounded by luscious gardens–the product of Gothel’s growth magic–and a high stone wall which separated them from the outside world. When Rapunzel grows old enough to wonder what lies beyond the wall, she disobeys her mother’s orders and climbs to the top. There she sees the barren wasteland outside her mother’s protected garden, land stripped of all fertility by the witch’s powers and peopled by laboring peasants, Gothel’s slaves. Rapunzel also learns that one of the peasants is her true mother, from whom Gothel stole her in infancy. When Rapunzel confronts the witch with her new knowledge, Gothel takes her to a far off forest and imprisons her in the hollow of a tall, tall tree. Gothel expects that her “daughter” will eventually come to her senses and choose to support the system of slavery that keeps them living in luxury. Instead, Rapunzel grows increasingly bitter in her isolation. Gothel’s growth magic that made the tree tall also makes Rapunzel’s hair grow quickly and soon she has enough to create a lasso to help her in her escape. Teaming up with a young thief named Jack, Rapunzel adventures across the desert countryside, trying to devise a plan to destroy Gothel’s empire and using her hair to bring vigilante justice to the lawless towns she passes through.
This adventurous Wild West retelling of Rapunzel is tons of fun. The graphic novel format is perfect for the story’s fantastic action sequences. Plus, it is very, very funny! I highly recommend this book to middle grade and teen readers.
The sequel Calamity Jack came out recently and I am very excited to read it!
Susan the Librarian 