Social Issues – Page 4

The Last Boy at St. Edith’s wants OUT!

Posted on March 17, 2016 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Last Boy at St. Edith’s, by Lee Gjersten Malone (Feb. 2016, Aladdin), $16.99, ISBN: 9781481444354

Recommended for ages 8-12

Seventh-grader, Jeremy, is not thrilled. His school, St. Edith’s, was formerly an all-girls’ school that briefly admitted boys, but it never quite caught on. He’s been counting down the number of boys leaving the school, until Andrew – #2 on his list – announced he was leaving, making Jeremy the last boy at St. Edith’s. It’s embarrassing and it’s really annoying, but his mom, who works at the school so he and his sisters can go for free, will not even consider letting him go to the local public school. Desperate, Jeremy decides to take matters into his own hands: he’s going to get expelled.

Turning to his best friend, Claudia, the two come up with a series of pranks that should do the trick. Jeremy has rules: no one gets embarrassed or hurt, and no permanent damage gets done. But the mysterious prankster’s first gag gets huge laughs, and Jeremy finds himself caught in the snowballing effect of pranking; he’s got to up the ante, but things start getting out of control. How far will Jeremy go to get thrown out?

I LOVED this book. Jeremy has a distinct voice that comes through loud and clear, and he’s got some valid arguments: he’s the butt of other school’s jokes; his own school’s teachers refer to the student body as “ladies”, so he feels humiliated in his own environment; his mother, however valid her reasons are for keeping him at St. Edith’s, is too stressed out to really listen and understand Jeremy; and his flaky tree-hugging dad is not there for him at all. He still manages to keep a sense of humor about him, and he’s a likable kid. He’s a good kid from a good family who just wants one thing to go his way, and he’s got a conscience – whether he always listens to it remains to be seen.

There are plenty of social and family issues addressed in this seemingly light read: family relationships; divorce; social classes; gender roles; friendship, and consequences. The Last Boy at St. Edith’s deserves a spot on summer reading lists, for sure. I’ll be putting together some discussion questions and a booktalk to generate interest in this great debut.

The Last Boy at St. Edith’s has received a starred review from Kirkus Reviews. You can visit Ms. Malone’s author website for more information about her, including links to social media and information on school and library visits.

Fantasy, Fiction, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

The Vault of Dreamers continues with The Rule of Mirrors

Posted on March 8, 2016March 8, 2016 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Rule of Mirrors, by Caragh O’Brien (Feb. 2016, Roaring Brook Press), $17.99, ISBN: 9781596439405

Recommended for ages 12+

About a year and a half ago, The Vault of Mirrors had me on the edge of my seat with its mindgame narrative and cliffhanger ending, so when I saw that its sequel, The Rule of Mirrors was finally available through Edelweiss, I was all over it. I was not disappointed.

Rosie is back, but she’s not at Forge School anymore. She’s not in the vault of dreamers anymore. Actually, Rosie’s not in just one place anymore: she’s been mined, and one of her dream seeds has taken root in a coma patient: a pregnant Latina girl named Althea.

Told in first person narratives, we get Thea’s and Rosie’s stories. While Rosie’s consciousness lives on in Thea’s body, Thea appears to be gone, and she struggles to make sense of everything around her. Rosie is desperate to escape her circumstances and get revenge on Dr. Berg, the Forge School dean who imprisoned her.

This second book in the Vault of Dreamers trilogy is just as gripping and plays just as many mindgames as the first. If you thought there were moral quandaries in the first book, you haven’t read anything yet. O’Brien presents a host of new dilemmas in Rule of Mirrors, including pregnancy, keeping a coma patient alive, and what happens when one person’s consciousness is transferred into another person’s body?

This is a brilliant trilogy that shouldn’t be missed. Great for teens, great for adults, great for dark fantasy fans. Don’t miss!

Uncategorized

Women’s History Month: Ten Days a Madwoman

Posted on March 2, 2016 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Ten Days a Madwoman: The Daring Life and Turbulent Times of the Original “Girl” Reporter, Nellie Bly, by Deborah Noyes (Feb. 2016, Viking Books for Young Readers), $18.99, ISBN: 9780803740174

Recommended for ages 12+

In 1887, a 23 year-old woman decided to show her newspaper editor that she had the chops to write more captivating stories than the latest hat and dress styles of the season. Elizabeth Jane “Pink” Cochran, who went by the pen name Nellie Bly, managed to convince a battery of bystanders, doctors, and nurses that she needed to be admitted to Blackwell’s Island, home of an infamous insane asylum, so that she could write an exposé. Sure enough, she was admitted and spent 10 horrific days in the asylum, where she later wrote about the mistreatment she received and witnessed other patients endure. Her career, so she thought, was made.

Ten Days a Madwoman is a biography on Cochran and her investigative journalism. The Blackwell’s Island piece inspired other women to pursue “stunt journalism”, where they would take on often outrageous stunts like boxing the famed Gentleman Jim Corbett, rescuing a child from a burning building, or jumping in front of a trolley car. Bly worked hard at her journalism and championing women and children in particular, but struggled throughout her career with the idea of women being taken seriously as journalists. When she decided to travel around the world in 80 Days, hoping to beat the fictional record set by Jules Verne’s Around the World in 80 Days character, Phileas Fogg, a rival newspaper sent their female reporter on the same trip, setting up a race between the two. (Bly beat her rival and Fogg: she completed her trip in 72 days.)

Noyes explores Bly’s professional and personal life, focusing on her desire to care for her family and attain financial security in addition to gaining professional respect. Pictures and reprinted documents, with additional profiles of people, places, and events influencing or influenced by Bly, round out this must-read biography on a woman whose career may be overlooked in this age of Twitter and 24-hour news, when hard-hitting journalism tends to take a back seat to pop culture.

Ten Days a Madwoman has already received a starred School Library Journal review and includes a rich bibliography, source notes, and index. An important addition to any collection, and a great Women’s History Month spotlight.

Deborah Noyes is an award-winning author of fiction and non-fiction for children and adults. Her author webpage offers more information about her books and links to her social media. Check out an excerpt here!

Fiction, Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Tween Reads

Playing Juliet is perfect for middle grade drama fans!

Posted on November 27, 2015November 27, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Playing Juliet, by JoAnne Stewart Wetzel (Nov. 2015, Sky Pony Press), $15.99, ISBN: 9781634501835

Recommended for ages 9-14

Twelve year-old Beth wants nothing more than to be an actress. She participates in her local children’s theatre productions and gets great reactions, but her parents think this is just “kid stuff” and push her toward being a lawyer, just like her dad. When the announcement that the children’s theatre is going to close, though, Beth and her best friend, Zandy, are crushed. The theatre director announces that the last play the company will put on will be the first play that opened the theatre 50 years ago – Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet – and Beth is beside herself. She’s desperately wanted to play Juliet, but she’s grounded and can’t even audition. How is she going to be part of this production? Even more important, how can she make her parents understand that acting, not law, is her true passion?

Playing Juliet is loaded with theatre fan terms and inside secrets. Every chapter begins with a quote from Shakespeare, and the text itself is full of superstition (did you know that wearing real jewels or the color blue can be considered bad luck?) and behind-the-scenes action. Beth is a likable heroine with a likable best friend and strong support group around her. She’s also got the relatable frustration of having her parents choose her career path for her (my dad always told me I was going to be a doctor), and the dual dread of disappointing them or having them trivialize her desire to be an actress. Her parents aren’t the bad guys here, either – they just want what’s best for their daughter, and are supportive of her in every other way, including fair discipline, as you’ll see in the story.

Tweens – particularly girls – are going to enjoy this book for the strong female characters and the bravery they display in fighting for what they believe in. It’s a solid story about friendship, family, taking chances, and pursuing your goals. Author’s notes about the theatre and quotes from Shakespeare round out this novel. Pair this with Raina Telgemeier’s Drama for middle schoolers!

Fiction, Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Tween Reads, Uncategorized

A Blind Guide to Stinkville is a must-read!

Posted on November 25, 2015November 25, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

A Blind Guide to Stinkville, by Beth Vrabel (October 2015, Sky Pony Press), $16.99, ISBN: 9781634501576

Recommended for ages 8-12

Twelve year-old Alice’s family has moved her from Seattle, across the country, to Stinkville – that is, Sinkville, South Carolina. It’s a paper mill town, her dad’s the new paper mill manager, and he seems to be the only one settling into their new life. Her mother is depressed, her brother is angry, and Alice sticks out like a sore thumb. Alice is an albino who needs to slather on the sunblock and wear hats so her sensitive skin doesn’t burn, and she’s legally blind – but she’ll be the first to tell you that she’s not that blind. She can see, but things have to be really close for her to see them.

Alice’s parents start talking about sending her to a school for the blind when school starts in the Fall, and Alice is furious – she’s always been in public school! She’s determined to start doing things for herself, whether it’s finding her way to the library or doing the laundry at home. She even enters the Sinkville essay contest and decides to tell the stories of some of the locals she’s met; and that’s when she learns that Stinkville may not stink so much after all.

This is a little book that tackles some pretty big issues: the Civil Rights movement, depression, special needs, for starters. Told in the first person from Alice’s perspective, A Blind Guide to Stinkville tells the story of a family and a town with humor and sensitivity. Alice is a normal tween: she wants to fit in, but she’s got something that makes her stand out. She wants to be independent, and her family drives her nuts. Most of all, she’s a new kid in a new town and she missed her friends – her best friend, who is moving forward with her life. It’s a lot for any kid to handle, and Alice’s sense of humor is her best defense – that, and her determination to advocate for herself.

Importantly, for me at least, it also provides a glimpse into parental depression and the effect it has on the rest of the family, and how the fight to “get better” is not that easy. Alice’s mom has good days, then a bad day will hit. It happens, and Alice’s brother James doesn’t always understand. It’s a realistic portrayal of the helplessness felt by parent and child, and there are no answers, just getting through as best as possible while sticking together as a family unit.

Readers will appreciate this book for its good story and likable characters. Parents and educators will appreciate how it promotes deeper understanding of different special needs – and how a kid is a kid is a kid at heart, really – and the subplot telling the story of the Civil Rights movement in the South. Great for discussion groups.

Beth Vrabel is the author of the 2015 Cybils-nominated book, Pack of Dorks, also from Sky Pony. The sequel, Camp Dork, will be coming in May 2016. Her author website offers a study guide for Pack of Dorks, an FAQ, and links to her blog and published writing.

Animal Fiction

Quackers – A story about fitting in and standing out

Posted on November 3, 2015August 24, 2019 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Quackers, by Liz Wong (Mar. 2016, Knopf Books for Young Readers) $15.99, ISBN: 978-0-553-51155-0

Recommended for ages 3-7

“Quackers is a duck. He knows he is a duck because he lives at the duck pond with all the other ducks.”

Quackers is the story of a cat who’s grown up with ducks. He doesn’t see himself as anything other than a duck, and neither do the ducks around him. But sometimes, Quackers doesn’t feel like he quite fits in. He has trouble making himself understood, he’s not in love with the food, and he really, really hates getting wet! One day, when Quackers meets Mittens, he learns that he’s what others call a cat – he’s not a duck at all! He tries to fully embrace his feline side, but he ends up missing the duck life. And that’s when Quackers learns that bringing all the parts of your different backgrounds together makes for a wonderful feeling. .

Quackers is a great book to have on hand for read-alouds and libraries with multicultural populations. It’s a great book to give to an adoptive family as a welcome home gift for baby, too! Quackers is a duck – no one thinks any differently. Once he learns that he’s a cat, though, he tries to throw himself into being a cat – but when you’ve been raised lovingly by one group, why walk away? This is the heart of the story, and it’s when Quackers realizes that he can be a cat and be a duck, he’s happiest. Kids from different backgrounds will learn that they can embrace more than one culture, whether it’s a culture they’re adopting, like moving to a new city/state/country, or a culture that they’ve been adopted into.

On a different note, Quackers works for all kids who may feel like they don’t fit in, for whatever reason. I’d pair this with Harvey Fierstein’s The Sissy Duckling to reach LGBT kids and kids being raised by LGBT families. Quackers teaches kids (and their caregivers!) to embrace themselves first and foremost – you can’t ask for a better message than that.

The art, created digitally and with watercolor, is adorable and soft, with soothing greens and teals for the water and grass. The text is set off almost like an old photo album, placed in small text boxes with a font that looks almost handwritten. Kids will love reading this book and adults will love reading it to them. Take a look at some of the art, below.

You can find more of Liz Wong’s illustrations at her website.

Realistic Fiction, Teen, Uncategorized, Young Adult/New Adult

Blog Tour: Jeannie Waudby’s One of Us

Posted on October 28, 2015October 28, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

In the midst of political and ideological conflict, things are rarely as black and white as they appear to be. This is especially true now, in our post 9/11-society – a society that Jeannie Waudby’s One of Us taps into for her story.

“…how can you face a danger you can’t see? A person who looks like any other person, but who secretly wants to kill you and everyone like you?”

After a terrorist attack during uprising called The Strife orphaned her at the age of two, K has been alone. She was raised by her grandmother until she, too, died when K was 10, and now, at 15, is a ward of the state, living in a halfway house and flunking out of school. She survives a bomb blast – another terrorist attack, like the one that killed her parents – and is saved by Oskar, whom she thinks is a cop. She learns that The Brotherhood, an insurgent group that lives and moves among her society, is behind the blast. Oskar recruits K as an informant. Her mission is to infiltrate The Brotherhood and report back to Oskar and his people. It should be that easy.

It’s never that easy. As K lives among a group of Brotherhood students, she begins to question everything she’s been brought up to believe and discovers that every side has its own secrets. What is she willing to do to keep her new friends safe?

One of Us isn’t afraid to show readers that things aren’t always what they seem. The good guys aren’t always good, the bad guys aren’t always bad, and people will use other people as pawns in a game to get what they want, no matter who gets hurt in the process. In a day and age where we tend to make snap judgements about groups of people based on ideology, religion, or appearance, One of Us is essential reading that reminds us – demands, in fact – that we think before we act.

The characters are solidly constructed and likable, the situations they’re put in tense and real. It’s a gripping read from start to finish, and the plot twists left me with clenched fists and jaw until I finished the book. This one’s going on the shelves at my library, and I’m giving my copy to my teenage son tonight. Don’t miss this book – it’s an opportunity to open up some incredible conversations with the teens and young adults in your life.

Don’t miss your chance to win your own copy of One of Us! Enter a Rafflecopter giveaway from Running Press now!

Book Info: One of Us, by Jeannie Waudby (Oct. 2015, Running Press Teens), $16.95, ISBN: 978-0-7624-5799-1

Recommended for ages 13+

Animal Fiction, Fiction, Fiction, Intermediate, Middle Grade, Uncategorized

Mutt’s Promise- Animal Fiction about family, journeys, and finding your home

Posted on October 15, 2015September 17, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Mutt’s Promise, by Julie Salamon/Illus. by Jill Weber (March 2016, Dial Books), $16.99, ISBN: 9780525427780

Recommended for ages 8-12

A tired dog wanders the woods and saves a cat from a weasel attack. She’s taken in by the cat’s human, an older man living on his own, and he christens the dog, “Mutt”. The son of the migrant family working for the man bonds with the dog, who gives birth to a little of four puppies. He names them, cares for them, but when the family has to move on and tells their employer that they won’t be back, he gives the puppies away, saying they’re too much to take care for. Two puppies are adopted by one loving family, but the other two – a female named Luna and a boy named Chief – end up living a nightmare in a horrific puppy mill. Will they be able to keep their spirits and their bodies healthy enough to survive and escape?

Mutt’s Promise is an unexpected book. It starts in a most idyllic setting, only to move pretty quickly into some heavy social issues. While the idea of migrant worker families is lightly touched on, it’s there, showing that this is not something that died out with The Grapes of Wrath. The heavier topic here is animal cruelty, most notably the kind of cruelty that takes place in puppy mills. Luna, a spunky little female pup, also deals with crushing depression and post-traumatic stress disorder from her time in the puppy mill. All of these topics are handled in an age-appropriate manner, framed within the animals’ story and using vocabulary that doesn’t try to sugar-coat what happens in these places, but makes the situation comprehensible to younger readers.

The writing and illustrations made me think of the animal fiction I read as a child; books like Margery Sharp’s The Rescuers series, and one of my all-time favorites, Rosemary Weir’s Pyewacket. Kids who love animal fiction will enjoy this book, and it provides a gentle introduction to hot-button social issues today. For kids who have experienced trauma in their own lives, reading a book like this may help facilitate a discussion; guidance counselors and therapists should give this a read and have available to talk over with parents and children.

Author has written nine books for both adults and children, including Cat in the City (also illustrated by Jill Weber). Jill Weber is a children’s book illustrator and designer, and has worked on two other books by Julie Salamon.

Enjoy a glimpse at some of the art from the pages of Mutt’s Promise.

Realistic Fiction, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

Spotlight On: The Upstate Boys

Posted on October 2, 2015September 27, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Upstate Boys
by Ofer Aronskind

Release Date: 8/31/15

Summary from Goodreads:
John Shepherd (Shep) is a kid of the streets. An orphan bounced around from one foster family to another until he winds up in a juvenile detention center in upstate New Y ork. While incarcerated, Shep and his fellow inmates are subjected to regular beatings and forced hard labor
by the corrupt warden who runs the facility, along with his squadron of armed guards. But Shep is no ordinary minor and has no intention of spending the rest of his youth behind bars. Shep and a handful of other inmates hatch a bold plan, culminating in a spectacular turn of events and changing the lives of the young prisoners and their captors forever.

The Upstate Boys is a tale of adventure, redemption and the unbreakable will of the human spirit. A must read for young and old alike, for anyone who ever dreamed of freedom, especially for those who made it happen.

Add to Goodreads

Buy Links:

Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Book Depository

About the Author
Ofer Aronskind was born in Tel Aviv, Israel and came to the United States at the age of six. He grew up in Little Neck, Queens, on the outskirts of New York City. He attended SUNY Albany, then took a year off after college where he spent the year in Los Angeles writing screenplays. The following year, he came back to NY to attend St. John’s University School of Law and graduated in 1989. He went to work at the law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges as a real estate attorney and worked there until 1997. He now lives in Short Hills, New Jersey with his three sons and is a real estate investor.

Ofer, a father of 3 boys, has had a lifelong passion for reading and writing. He began writing his first book, Summer Sleep Away, the summer he sent his own sons off to camp for their first time. Ofer spent endless nights sitting at the edge of their beds, telling his children stories from his own years in camp. As the boys embarked on their journey, they encouraged Ofer to turn his stories into a book… so became Mattie Kleinfeld and the beginning of Ofer’s prolific career.

New Jersey resident Ofer Aronskind remembers what it was like to be 12 years old: the challenges of middle school, making new friends, attending summer camp for the first time, having your first crush. By drawing on events from his life, as well as those of his three teenage
sons, he has been able to vividly recreate some of life’s most memorable experiences in his young-adult novels.

To find more about Ofer and his books for young adults, please visit www.oferaronskind.com.

Quotes from The Upstate Boys

“We were gettin out or we were gonna die tryin.”

“We dug and clawed for the freedom that awaited us on the other side of that barbed wire fence.”

“Shep was running for his life, for the life of every one of those boys.”

“There was no turning back now…nowhere to go but forward.”

“They were the poor, the orphaned, the dispossessed. They were the boys that had been sent

upstate and came back as heroes.”

Author’s Writing Inspiration

My inspiration for The Upstate Boys came when I read an article in the New York Times about the Arthur G. Dozier school for boys. The stories of the abuse, neglect and murder struck a chord and I wanted to change the story.

Author Links:
Website: http://oferaronskind.com/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/736391.Ofer_Aronskind

Twitter: @oferaronskind

Make sure to enter this Rafflecopter giveaway for a chance to win your own copy of The Upstate Boys!
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