humor – Page 13 – Mom Read It

Fantasy, Fiction, Middle Grade, Tween Reads

Woundabout debates the pros and cons of change

Posted on June 10, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Woundabout, by Lev Rosen/Illus. by Ellis Rosen (June 2015, Little, Brown), $17, ISBN: 978-0-316-37078-3

Recommended for ages 9-13

When their dads are killed during a bomb explosion at their capybara training camp, siblings Connor and Cordelia are sent to live with their Aunt Marigold and her driver, Gray, in the odd town of Woundabout. There are no kids in Woundabout – they all go to boarding school. They’re told that asking questions is frowned upon, there’s no Internet service, and they’re told to develop and stick to a daily routine. They meet a boy from a neighboring town and together, they start unraveling – or unwinding – some of the secrets kept by the Mayor of Woundabout.

This is a good read for so many reasons. It addresses grief and loss sensitively and with a touch of humor. Every one of the main characters is dealing with a loss of some sort, which propels not only the narrative, but the town of Woundabout itself. Sickness, injury, death, relationships: all of these areas are explored in terms of loss and moving on, and the book can lead to a great discussion about the pros and cons of change in our lives. There are no absolutes, and that’s the message here: there shouldn’t be. For good or bad, change happens and we have to move along with it.

I love that Connor and Cordelia’s parentage is so sweetly addressed. They’re the kids’ parents. That’s it. The illustrations and text show readers that there is “Dad” and “Pop”, and that they adored their children as much as they adored each other. Its very ubiquity makes it stand out as an important facet of the story.

Ellis Rosen’s black and white illustrations add a fun, quirky feel to this unconventional adventure, giving a slightly moody, unbalanced feel to the town of Woundabout.

Woundabout is fun fantasy with some very realistic fiction issues. It’s a great Summer Reading pick. It’s on sale on June 23, so make sure to get your orders in now!

Fiction, Fiction, Humor, Intermediate, Middle Grade, Middle School

Diary of a Wimpy Kid #10 Cover Reveal!

Posted on May 27, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The 10th book in Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid series has been revealed!

Hitting stores in November, publisher Abrams says that Jeff Kinney “brings the series back to its roots, as Greg starts a new school year and faces a challenge he never could’ve imagined”. I’m so behind on my Wimpy Kid reading, I should probably start all over again; these books crack me up. You can pre-order now, and since my all of my libraries clear these books out the second they hit the shelves (and my son expects a copy waiting on the table when he gets home from school), I should probably get my order in now.

DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: OLD SCHOOL, by Jeff Kinney
ISBN: 978-1-4197-1701-7
Hardcover
Published: November 2015
$13.95

Early Reader, Preschool Reads

Snow White and the 77 Dwarfs is a laugh-out-loud retelling (that every mom will love)!

Posted on February 19, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Snow White and the 77 Dwarfs, by Davide Cali (April 2015, Tundra Books) $17.99, ISBN: 9781770497634

Recommended for ages 3-8

In this hilarious retelling of the classic fairy tale, Snow White escapes the Evil Queen, and ends up at a house that belongs to 77 dwarfs. They let her stay on the proviso that she helps with the chores. For 77 little men. Not only does she have to remember everyone’s name, but she’s got to do their laundry, help with their grooming, tell every single one of them their own, personal bedtime story, referee all the quibbling – is being on the run really worth this, Snow?

Every mother will appreciate this, whether she’s wrangling multiple children, hosting a playdate, or acting as class mom. I’ve got three kids, and on some days, I swear there are 77. Snow White, I’m right there with you.

This book is adorable, with bright, cartoony illustrations that kids and grownups alike will enjoy. Snow White’s expressions are priceless (and oh, so recognizable), and the multitude of dwarfs, with all their word balloons, will strike a chord with any parent whose found themselves surrounded by children.

Look at me, I’m reviewing this book for parents. But we’re the ones who read them first, so why not? Kids will love this book because it’s flat-out funny, with eye-catching art. They’re most likely already familiar with the story of Snow White, so they’ll have a good frame of reference for Snow White and the 77 Dwarfs. And if you read this book as dramatically as I plan to? You’re going to have a lot of giggles and cries of, “Again! Again!” This is going into my bedtime rotation and my storytime rotation. Don’t miss this book.

Fiction, Graphic Novels, Middle Grade

The Lunch Witch will have you looking at your lunch ladies in a whole new light.

Posted on February 5, 2015August 29, 2020 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Lunch Witch, by Deb Lucke (PaperCutz, 2014) $14.99 ISBN: 978-1-62991-162-5

Recommended for ages 8-13

Remember those lunch ladies when you were in elementary school? Remember how so many of them would slop that unidentifiable morass of…something onto your plate, almost gleeful at your confused or terrified expression. Meet Grunhilda, everyone. With fewer and fewer people believing in magic, she’s out of a job and down on her luck. So what’s a poor witch, with generations of experience stirring up cauldrons of trouble (and possibly, children) to do? You guessed it: she puts on a hairnet and an apron, and goes to work as a lunch lady in a school cafeteria. You’re seeing things from your childhood a lot more clearly now, aren’t you?

Being a cafeteria lady is awesome. Grunhilda cooks up awful pots full of foulness that turn kids’ stomachs upside down, and almost no one seems the wiser. Except for Madison, a quirky kid that kind of sees Grunhilda for who she really is, and attempts to blackmail Grunhilda into helping her. When things go awry for Madison, will Grunhilda actually help a kid? And if she does, how will the witch community feel about that?

The Lunch Witch is one of those graphic novels that works great for readers of all ages. It would go so well with a unit on fairy tales, as a kind of epilogue – what happens to the wicked witch when everyone else lives happily ever after? Fairy tales, and re-tellings of fairy tales, are experiencing a renaissance in media and in the classroom these days, so teachers and parents, jump on this!

I loved the look of this book. The book itself looks like an old tale, with stained-looking pages and black, white, and grey/olive artwork. The occasional use of color is impactful, whether it’s to draw attention to a frog or show the jarring blue of a cafeteria door.

There is some delightfully morbid humor, too. After all, witches aren’t known for being sunshine and flowers, unless you’re talking about Glinda the Good Witch. Any original Grimm’s fairy tale will tell you that these ladies were formidable in their own right. Ms. Lucke uses these awful characteristics to make Gruhhilda’s plight even more desperate in this day and age. You really can’t get away with grave robbery, and how many kids are getting left in the forest to happen upon a candy house these days?

I’d love to see some more Lunch Witch adventures! In the meantime, give this book to your younger readers, and get ready for some laughs when they start looking at the lunch lady differently.

The Lunch Witch is on sale in stores now.

Fiction, Graphic Novels, Humor, Intermediate, Science Fiction

The Glorkian Warrior returns, and he’s eating adventure pie!

Posted on January 22, 2015January 22, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Glorkian Warrior Eats Adventure Pie, by James Kochalka (March 2015, :01First Second), $12.99, ISBN: 9781626720213

Recommended for ages 5+

The Glorkian Warrior is back! When we last encountered him, he was on a quest to deliver a pizza; this time, he’s at odds with his rival, Buster Glark. As usual, Warrior’s trusty backpack is the brains of the operation, and the Warrior’s buddy, Gonk, is along for the ride.

The Glorkian Warrior Eats Adventure Pie is even more surreal and random than The Glorkian Warrior Orders a Pizza. Kids are going to love it – it’s just goofy, cartoony fun with a lot of moments where you’re giggling and can’t really explain why. There are space snakes, genius elbows, a lovable, brain-sucking alien, and some pretty hilarious fart-related humor. There’s even a bonus comic after the story ends.

Steer some of your reluctant readers and your younger readers toward the Glorkian Warrior books. The cartoony art will catch their attention, and the silly storytelling and goofy characters will appeal to everyone’s sense of humor.

Fantasy, Fiction, Middle Grade, Tween Reads

Niles Wormwort, Accidental Supervillain – Supervillains go to summer camp?!

Posted on November 25, 2014 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Niles Wormwort, Accidental Supervillain, by D.M. Cunningham (Nov. 2014, Spencer Hill Middle Grade), $7.95, ISBN:9781939392374

Recommended for ages 9-12

Niles Wormwort is determined to win the science fair this year – but he blew up the school instead. His father has packed him off to Camp Mayhem – a role-playing superhero camp – much against Niles’ wishes. Things only get worse when Niles discovers he’s actually at a training camp for supervillains. What could get worse than that? Oh, just the sinister plot he uncovers while at the camp – a faction working within the camp has plans to take over the world! Will Niles go full supervillain, or will he be wiped out?

I enjoyed this book so much more than I expected to. I’m usually a sucker for a good superhero story, it’s true, and Niles Wormwart, Accidental Supervillain gave me a good laugh while drawing me in. Told in the first person, Niles’ voice is spot-on for the put-upon teen. He can’t believe what’s going on around him, and that his father just dumped him at this camp, refusing to take his calls. He’s got hero-worship issues for the local bad boy, who ends up at the same camp. He learns how to stand on his own feet and take care of himself, and I just wanted to cheer because the kid finally got it.

Middle graders will get a kick out of this book, and parents, librarians, and teachers may want to handsell this to their reluctant readers – it’s worth it.

Read an interview with author DM Cunningham here. For a bio and links to his social media, click on over here.

Fiction, Middle Grade

Cybils Middle Grade At-a-Glance: The Meaning of Maggie & All Four Stars

Posted on November 18, 2014 by Rosemary Kiladitis

I’ve been quiet lately, because I’ve been plowing through my Cybils middle grade fiction nominees. Here are some thoughts.

The Meaning of Maggie, by Megan Jean Sovern (2014, Chronicle Books) $16.99, ISBN: 978-1452110219

Recommended for ages 9-12

Set in the 1980s, Maggie’s an 11 year-old girl who wants to be president one day. She’s funny, quirky, and seemingly always at odds with her two older sisters. Her family is coping with her father’s increasingly worsening multiple sclerosis, the severity of which they try to shield from Maggie.

I enjoyed this book, in part because one of my childhood friends lost her mom to MS. Reading this book helped me, in a way, understand what my friend went through all those years ago, when we were all far too young to understand it. The author drew upon her own life to write this book, and for that, I’m thankful. Maggie is engaging and quirky, and as frustrating as I found her dad, in his ultimate quest to “be cool”, I saw his struggle to hang on when everything was falling apart around him.

All Four Stars, by Tara Dairman (2014, Putnam Juvenile), $16.99, ISBN: 978-0399162527

Recommended for ages 9-12

An 11 year-old foodie raised by junk food junkies has to be one of the best story plots I’ve come across in a while!

Gladys LOVES cooking. It’s her passion. She has a cookbook collection, watches cooking shows with a passion her classmates reserve for video games… and her parents just don’t get it. They microwave everything that they don’t bring home in a greasy bag. How can a foodie live like this?

When Gladys enters an essay contest for the New York Standard newspaper, her essay ends up in the hands of the food editor – who thinks it’s a cover letter. Gladys finds herself with a freelance assignment – to test out a new dessert restaurant in Manhattan! How can she visit the restaurant and write her review without her parents catching on?

This book just made me happy. It’s a fun story, with an instantly likable main character. Even her antagonists are likable, if a bit clueless. The plot moves along at a great pace, and I found myself chuckling out loud at some of the situations Gladys found herself in while trying to keep her secret. This is a great book to put into kids’ hands, a welcome lift from the heaviness that seems to permeate middle grade realistic fiction these days. I can’t wait to read the sequel, The Stars of Summer, when it hits shelves this summer.

Fiction, Middle Grade, Tween Reads

The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place – A Hilarious Whodunit!

Posted on September 21, 2014September 20, 2014 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place, by Julie Berry (Roaring Brook Press, Sept 2013) $15.99, ISBN: 9781596439566

Recommended for ages 10+

In Victorian England, seven girls are students at St. Etheldreda’s School for Girls when their headmistress, Mrs. Plackett, and her brother, Mr. Godding, drop dead at the dinner table, poisoned. Once the girls are sure that the poisoner isn’t among them, they figure out their next steps – namely, how to get Mrs. Plackett and her brother out of sight, and creating a cover story that will allow them to continue on at St. Etheldreda’s, unchaperoned, mistresses of their own destiny! The only problem – the poisoner REALLY wants the targets out of the picture. And if everyone thinks the headmistress and her brother are still alive, then the girls may still be in danger.

The seven girls are often identified with an adjective that gives readers a background on their personality: Disgraceful Mary Jane, who’s more concerned with the attention of the opposite sex than she is about keeping to their cover story; Stout Alice, who’s stout of heart as well as body; Dour Elinor, who could be the mother of the goth movement; Dull Martha, who’s… well… not that bright; Dear Robert, a kind soul with nothing bad to say about anyone; Pocked Louise, the burgeoning scientist with a bit of a blemish condition, and Smooth Kitty, daughter of a businessman, who seems to have inherited his smooth talking business acumen. Their personalities clash and meld according to the situation as they work together to keep up their façade and solve the mysteries that continue to pop up around them.

The book is darkly funny – think the Gashlycrumb Tinies in finishing school. It’s a comedy of manners meets a Victorian crime drama, and Julie Berry – a noted middle grade and YA novelist – embraces the genres. I enjoyed every second I read this book. If I were to find out that somehow, some way, we’d get to go on more adventures with the Sisterhood, I’d be thrilled!

The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place hits stores on September 23rd. I’ve already got my order in for my library – this will make for fun Fall reading! Treat yourself and your middle graders/tweens to this hilarious whodunit.

Julie Berry’s author page provides links to social media and information about author visits, plus book info.

Take a look at The Scandalous Sisterhood’s book trailer – then get your order in!

Fantasy, Fiction, Humor, Tween Reads, Uncategorized

Oliver and the Seawigs – Fun, Adventure, and… Seawigs!

Posted on July 20, 2014July 20, 2014 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Oliver and the Seawigs, by Philip Reeve/illustrated by Sarah McIntyre (Random House Children’s Books, July 2014). $12.99, ISBN: 9780385387880

Recommended for ages 8-12

I’ve been a fan of Philip Reeve since I read the Larklight series; when I saw his name on the cover of Oliver and the Seawigs, it was a no-brainer for me – I had to read it. And I’m so glad I did!

Oliver Crisp is a young boy whose parents are world explorers. He’s climbed every mountain, waded through rivers, wandered through jungles – all he really wants to do is have a real home, with a real bed, and be a normal kid with normal parents. When his parents finally decide that they’ve seen all there is to see, and head to their family home, Oliver is thrilled. Until his parents spot a cluster of islands right by their home that they swear they’ve never seen before.

Oliver decides to sit this adventure out, enjoying the experiencing of unpacking and settling into his home, but when he discovers that not only have his parents disappeared – the islands have, too! – he sets out to find them and find what happened. On his journey, he meets a nearsighted mermaid, a grumpy albatross, some very sarcastic seaweed, and a living island that he names Cliff. This is a whole new world for Oliver, who learns that home isn’t merely a place, but who you surround yourself with. The story also addresses bullying in a very discreet way, making this a great teaching tool.

Philip Reeve writes great character-driven stories. He has a real talent for bringing unconventional families to life, and he creates fun, new characters, whether it’s a grumpy albatross, a crazy sea monkey army, or a sad, living island. Sarah McIntyre’s fun two-color illustrations enhance the fun of reading the story – I think I need a Sea Monkey plush for my desk at work! – and bring a real sense of life to the characters.

I had a great time with Oliver and the Seawigs, and I think middle graders looking for a fun adventure book will, too. This one publishes next week, so put it on your back-to-school reading lists!

Fiction, Humor, Middle School, Tween Reads, Uncategorized

28 Tricks for a Fearless Grade 6: One Kid’s Survival Guide

Posted on July 16, 2014July 16, 2014 by Rosemary Kiladitis

28 Tricks for a Fearless Grade 6, by Catherine Austen (James Lorimer & Company, Sept. 2014). $8.95, ISBN: 9781459406193

Recommended for ages 8-12

Dave Davidson is a good kid who just wants to help his friends. He wants to cure his friends of different phobias, whether it’s about dancing in public or of dogs. He’s positive he has the knowledge to get the job done, and somehow, it kind of does – with a little bit of mess along the way.

This is a book in a vein similar to the Wimpy Kid series, albeit told in the third person. The chapters are set up similar to journal entries (it reminded me of the Nickelodeon show, Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide), the tips give readers an idea of what the upcoming chapter covers (for example: “Tip #3: Friends Don’t Let Friends Break Their Ankles”). Kids who roll their eyes at the thought of sitting down and reading may find this book easier to jump into; the characters are fun and welcoming to a reader, and the amusing situations that come up for the group will appeal to middle grade readers.

For girls who want to read a more female-oriented version of the story, Ms. Austen has a companion book, 26 Tips for Surviving Grade 6, which received both the 2012 Quebec Writers’ Foundation Prize for Children’s and Young Adult Literature and the 2012-2013 Hackmatack Children’s Choice Book Award in English Fiction. The author’s website also has some fun tips for surviving everything from tornadoes to zombie attacks, and information on different phobias. (For all those fledgling Dave Davidsons out there!)

The book will be released on September 1, but you can pre-order it on Amazon right now.