Sydney MacKenzie Knocks ‘Em Dead, by Cindy Callaghan, (March 2017, Aladdin Books), $17.99, ISBN: 978-1481465694
Recommended for readers 9-13
California almost-in crowder Sydney MacKenzie just got the worst news: her father sold his failing sporting goods retail business, and they’re moving to Buttermilk River Cove, Delaware: population 800. Her dad’s inherited the Lay to Rest cemetery, and they’ll be living in a Victorian house on the cemetery grounds. As if! Desperate to be the cool girl, Sydney tries putting on her best California Girl airs, but the Delaware kids are remarkably unimpressed – but they are impressed by her new digs. Movie-obsessed Sydney starts out making up a creepy history of the house, but quickly discovers that her house has some real history of its own, and sets out, with the help of her new friends, to investigate.
I just didn’t love this one. I’ve liked Cindy Callaghan’s “Lost in…” series, which is light and fun, but that vibe didn’t translate as well for me here. Sydney comes off as a largely vapid social climber, even as the kids around her try to teach her that it’s not about what’s on the surface. An Underground Railroad subplot feels awkwardly attached to the book to give it more depth. It’s a quick, easy read that tween girls will likely check out for the fun cover and title, but for me, this one’s an additional purchase. I’d rather add another “Lost in…” set to my collection.
Sheldon’s friend is moving – possibly, to Jupiter! What’s a kid to do? Why, build a rocketship and blast off to visit!
Faraway Friends is a great blending of realistic and fantasy for young kids. You’ve got the story of loss, when Sheldon’s friend moves away, as the frame. Within that frame, you have Sheldon and his first-mate, Jet the Dog, building a rocketship to head out to the stars, explore, and go for a visit. Finally, you have the beginning of a new friendship – with an alien?!
This book is adorable. Russ Cox’s artwork is exciting and fun, with action and movement. Jet the Dog’s facial expressions and thought bubbles make him the best part of this story for me. Sheldon’s decision to take action as part of his dealing with his friend moving away is a great way to illustrate the concept of moving on and forming new friendships. The basic text is unintrusive and perfect for a read-aloud, and the countdowns to blastoff provide fun opportunities to get little listeners involved in the book.
I read this story to my three preschool classes, who loved the book and wanted me to read it again and again. What a home run! This one’s going on the shelves for Summer Reading, no question about it.
Enjoy the book trailer for Faraway Friends, and then go get your own copy – it’s on shelves now!
Book Scavenger, by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman (June 2015, Henry Holt), $16.99, ISBN: 9781627791151
Twelve year-old Emily is on the move again. Her unconventional parents are on a quest to live in all 50 states, so she and her brother don’t get a chance to put roots down anywhere. This move takes them to San Francisco, where Emily’s idol-Garrison Griswold, book publisher and creator of the game Book Scavenger-lives. Shortly after arriving, she and her new friend James discover a strangely new copy of the classic Edgar Allan Poe story, The Gold Bug; they learn that Griswold has been viciously attacked and is in the hospital, and people start showing an unusual interest in her copy of The Gold Bug. Could there be a connection?
This is a new spin on the middle grade mystery, with a real-life tie in that’s interesting and brings kids into the world of The Book Scavenger. Influenced by the online site Book Crossing, where you leave books for people and record where you’ve left and discovered books, Book Scavenger creates a game where you can attain levels of detective-dom by finding books and hiding books using clues to lead your fellow players to them. Chambliss and publisher Henry Holt have brought Book Scavenger to life, hiding advance review copies of Book Scavenger all over the country and inviting readers to locate them – go to http://bookscavenger.com/ to get on board and join the fun!
There is some great discussion on cryptography and hidden codes used in the book – James and Emily are fans that bring the practice into their school after being caught passing notes – and the book becomes a true whodunit, with readers trying to figure out who could have been behind the attack on Garrison Griswold, and more importantly, what is the secret of The Gold Bug? The characters are likable, even if Emily does become frustrating in her single-mindedness over solving the mystery at points, and Book Scavenger makes for exciting summer reading.
Check out Jennifer Chambliss Bertman’s author page for updates on what she’s working on.
My Life in Dioramas, by Tara Altebrando (Apr 2015, Running Press) $14.95, ISBN: 9780762456826
Recommended for ages 9-14
Kate Marino has spent her life in Big Red, her wonderfully large, rambling house. But her parents are having financial trouble, and have to put Big Red up for sale and move in with her grandparents – just as Kate’s dancing class is about to compete for the very first time! Kate’s world coming feels like it’s coming to an end, and begins crafting dioramas of her life at Big Red as she and her friends try to think of ways to turn potential buyers off of a sale.
I loved this story. Ms. Altebrando takes a sobering look at life for many families today and finds the spark of hope, the humor, and ultimately, the ability to move on. Kate is a wonderful main character that middle graders will love. The ideas she and her friends come up with to discourage potential buyers are hilarious and innocent rather than mean-spirited. We see the stress of the family’s financial situation affecting Kate, but also, her family, particularly through her mother’s fight with depression. Using a popular school project – the diorama – as a vehicle to advance the plot and take readers through Big Red’s story – as much a character in this book as anyone else – immediately invests the reader.
Tara Altebrando’s author page offers more information about her other books, including Roomies, a YALSA 2015 Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers selection,co-authored with Sara Zarr. My Life in Dioramas hit shelves this week, so please check with your local bookseller and pick up a copy. You’ll be glad you did, and so will your kids/students/and so on.
Check out this great book trailer for My Life in Dioramas, made by Teeny Tiny Filmworks, a group of young filmmakers.
Butterfly Park, by Elly MacKay (2015, Running Press), $16.95, ISBN: 978-0762453399
Recommended for ages 3-8
A young girl moves from her home, surrounded by green and butterflies, to a new house, where she hears horns and sirens, and everything looks the same. Until she finds the gates to a park next door, that read “Butterfly Park”. Thrilled, she drops in – but there are no butterflies to be found in the park! She sets to work with her neighbors to create a place that the butterflies will return to again and again.
This book delivers such positive messages in a beautiful setting. Created with collage and diorama, the art seemingly takes on an extra dimension, inviting the reader to join in the quest to bring the butterflies to Butterfly Park. The characters, known only as The Girl and The Boy, facilitate this by easily allowing any child reading the book to become The Girl or The Boy, chasing butterflies and planting flowers with nectar that the butterflies will love. The entire neighborhood comes together to help The Girl create the garden, illustrating the value and the fun in teamwork. The girl’s determination to make the best of her move and her new surroundings will resonate with anyone who’s had to move and start over.
The book’s cover folds out into a poster featuring plants that attract butterflies, and the final pages fold out into a beautiful panorama of a community butterfly garden. Kids will likely want to get some seeds and tools and plant their own gardens after reading this book – and they should! It’s springtime! Show kids they can create a garden anywhere – container gardens and houseplants are just as much fun to work with as outdoor gardens.
Join #TheButterflyTrail at Running Press’ Butterfly Park site and learn more about the book and the author.
Trucks come in all shapes and sizes. Readers learn about different types of trucks – what they carry, what sounds they make, what colors they can be – as a family of three gets ready to move into a new house.
A Truck Goes Rattley-Bumpa’s gouache artwork and brief, rhyming text will appeal to young readers and would work well for storytime. Truck and car books are always popular, and there are many storytime songs, fingerplays and crafts that can work with this book. The author, Jonathan London, is also the author of the popular Froggy book series.
Ellie McDoodle is the nickname for sixth grader Eleanor McDougal, who fills her notebooks with doodles, journaling the people around her, her family, and her own daily happenings.
When Ellie’s parents announce that they’re moving, Ellie is crushed. She doesn’t want to leave her friends, her school, or her home. She creates a journal to document the move, insisting that “there won’t be much to keep track of… because this is the END of everything good.”
Or is it? Despite some rough patches, like discovering the “New Kid Bingo” card some of her classmates circulate at school or teachers not remembering her name, Ellie learns that being the new kid may not be so bad. Through her own actions, she makes friends, convinces her parents to give her a room of her own in the attic, and organizes her fellow classmates in a peaceful against long lunch lines in the cafeteria. Being the new kid may end up being sort of fun after all.
Ruth McNally Barshaw’s Ellie McDoodle series has been described by Student Library Journal as “reminiscent of Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid“, and it is to some degree: both stories have a vibrant narrator who tells his tale in the first person, accompanied by line drawings. To dismiss Ellie McDoodle as merely a feminine Wimpy Kid is selling the book short. Ellie McDoodle is not a Wimpy Kid clone; it is a smart, sensitive book featuring a character to whom both boys and girls can relate.
Ellie’s family is as realistic and provides a positive family model. The family eats meals together at the same table; they play friendly pranks on one another, like hiding a spooky-looking Mrs. Santa Claus figure all around the house to take family members off guard; even Ellie’s cranky older sister Risa is never outright abusive, but is more of an angsty teen. Her older brother Jonathan is a friendly clown who makes punny jokes, and her toddler brother, Ben-Ben, is a happy baby who gets into everything.
Readers will see Ellie as a positive role model who affects her own change rather than waiting for it to come to her. Rather than succumb to her sadness, Ellie seeks ways to make the best of her situation. She befriends a librarian at the local library; meets neighborhood children and accepts their invitiations to play, a move that helps her cope with insensitive schoolmates. Using her talent in art to help make a difference in her school, her peaceful protest gets not only the notice of the principal, but of the local television station.
Ruth McNally Barshaw’s website offers information on all of the Ellie McDoodle books and links to more of McNally Barshaw’s art. Readers can find out where she’ll be appearing and read her blog, and create Ellie mini-books and stationery. She offers teens advice on writing their own graphic novels, and has teaching guides available for educators.
The Ilsley Public Library in Vermont created a book trailer for New Kid in School, viewable below.
Book Review: Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie, by Julie Sternberg (illustrations by Matthew Cordell) (Amulet Books, 2011)
Recommended for ages 8-10
“I had a bad August. A very bad August. As bad as pickle juice on a cookie. I hope your August was better. I really do.”
Thus begins eight-year old Eleanor’s story. She learns that her beloved babysitter, Bibi, will be leaving her family’s employ and their Brooklyn home and moving to Florida in order to care for her sick father. To make things worse, her best friend, Pearl, is away on vacation with her family. Heartbroken, she doesn’t want to do anything that will remind her of Bibi and she certainly doesn’t want another babysitter. But her parents have to work, and a new babysitter shows up. Eleanor learns that it’s okay to miss Bibi and still make space in her heart for Natalie.
Pickle Juice teaches kids about loss and how to work through it. Told in free verse and accompanied by line drawings, it presents an easy transition for middle graders ready to move on from beginner chapter books. The story presents many areas for discussion for both parents and teachers having read-alouds with their children.
Julie Sternberg’s author website offers a curriculum guide for Pickle Juice, as well as an interesting author biography told through her favorite books. Readers can click through to her blog and contact her regarding author visits.
Sydney MacKenzie Knocks ‘Em Dead, by Cindy Callaghan, (March 2017, Aladdin Books), $17.99, ISBN: 978-1481465694
Mom Read It 