Oh, Rats!; If the World Were a Village; Skyscraper; Girl's Like Spaghetti; Chasing Vermeer

Oh, Rats! The Story of Rats and People by Albert Marrin, ill. by C. B. Mordan, 2006 (599.35 MAR)
A 2-3 class period read, this book is a history and trivia book about rats. The illustrations are red and black line drawings. It contains information about the myths of rats, encounters with humans through the ages, and modern partnerships between rats and humans. This is a high-interest read.


If the World Were a Village: A Book About the World’s People by David J. Smith, ill. by Shelagh Armstrong, 2002 (304.6 SMI)
This book is a very engaging and informative analysis of the world, reduced down to a comprehensible size – a village of 100 people. It presents facts about nationalities, languages, ages, religions, food, air and water, schooling and literacy, money and possessions, electricity, the past, and the future. There are two pages full of activities to do with children to help them develop a sense of their world. You can read the entire book in one class period, or use one of the analyses as a lesson starter. It could be used in geography, social studies, or math classes.


Skyscraper by Lynn Curlee, 2007 (720 CUR)
One side text, one side illustration, this book goes through the history of skyscrapers and describes the tallest ones. There are many facts that could be compared and contrasted. Most of the history is in the U.S, but by the end, the tallest buildings are being built elsewhere. It could be mostly, if not all, read within a class period.


Girl’s Like Spaghetti: Why You Can’t Manage Without Apostrophes! by Lynne Truss, ill. by Bonnie Timmons, 2007 (428.2 TRU)
Fun and fast illustration of the effects of using or not using an apostrophe. It could be used as a lesson opener, or for a pattern for students to make their own pages for a class book.


Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett, 2004. Read by Ellen Reilly in a Listening Library production.
Caulder and Petra want to discover who stole a priceless Vermeer painting, but they are not sure what are clues and what are coincidences. Set in Chicago at the end of their 12th year, Caulder gains insights from his set of pentaminoes and Petra discovers clues from dreams and impressions to help solve an international art scandal. The playaway devise was very convenient, and the reader OK. I liked the story at first, but by the end it seemed too contrived, though I think MS students will enjoy the seemingly random connections.

Some memory-jogging tags: A Lady Writing. twelves. coincidences. University School. Families. Mystery

MS Rating: OK. It’s a little young (characters are 11).

Wildwood Dancing; and Merchant of Death

Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier, 2007
Jenica, 15-year-old girl living in the middle ages, wants to keep the family business going and her four sisters safe while their father is away trying to regain his health in a milder climate, but her older sister has fallen for Sorrow, who looks like one of those dangerous Night People, and her cousin Cezar is becoming more and more controlling and abusive. She finds comfort in the friendship she enjoys with her pet frog and seeks advice from the sorceress Draguta as well as the elf queen Ileana. Nothing comes without a price, and she almost loses her great opportunity for true love. From the book: Five sisters who live with their merchant father in Transylvania use a hidden portal in their home to cross over into a magical world, the Wildwood.

I found it a little hard to get into, but once into the story, thoroughly liked it. Jenica’s character is trying hard to hold things together, but is frustrated at every step by her chauvinistic cousin and her own insecurities.

Some memory-jogging tags: Dwarfs. Night people (vampires). True love. Dancing. Oppression. Magical kingdoms. Prejudices. Sisters.

MS Rating: Great.


Merchant of Death (Pendragon, bk 1) by D. J MacHale, 2002
Bobby Pendragon, a 14-yr-old basketball player who just has had his first kiss, only wants to return home but his uncle is sentenced to die and the Milagos are being brutally treated and indiscriminately killed. So, summoning bravery and wits he didn’t know he had, he proves Loor, a warrior teen, wrong by staying. The danger goes beyond the conflict between these two tribes, threatening the entire fabric of the universe if Saint Dane, the evil traveler with pet quigs, has his way. From the book: Bobby Pendragon is slowly starting to realize that life in the cosmos isn't quite what he thought it was. Before he can object, he is swept off to an alternate dimension known as Denduron, a territory inhabited by strange beings, ruled by a magical tyrant, and plagued by dangerous revolution. If Bobby wants to see his family again, he's going to have to accept his role as savior, and accept it wholeheartedly.

Fun read, written as a journal from Bobby on the other end of the flume to his friends back on Second Earth. This is the first of several in the series where Bobby, his Uncle Press, and Loor go traveling throughout the universe, encountering civilizations in crisis and trying to prevent Saint Dane from sending the universe crashing into total chaos.

Some memory-jogging tags: Trust. Courage. Explosives (tak). Exploitation of one society by another. Mining. Medieval society. Travel through time and space. Relying on others.

MS Ratings: Great.

Notes from the Midnight Driver

Notes from the Midnight Driver by Jordan Sonnenblick, 2006
After being assigned to perform community service at a nursing home, sixteen-year-old Alex befriends a cantankerous old man who has some lessons to impart about jazz guitar playing, love, and forgiveness.

“It seemed like a good idea at the time. I was fully convinced that this was a brilliant plan. Not brilliant as in, ‘That was a brilliant answer you give in Spanish yesterday’ but more like, ‘Wow, Einstein, when you came up with that relativity thing, and it revolutionized our entire concept of space and time while also leading all of humankind into the nuclear age, that was brilliant!”

Some memory-jogging tags: Funny voice. Alex’s best friend is Laurie. Old man is Sol. Judge Judy. Lawn gnome. Drunk driving. Public performance. Benefit concert. Estrangement from child. Divorce. Reconciliation. Retribution.

MS Rating: Great

White Darkness; Red Badge of Courage; Friend at Midnight; How to Steal a Dog; Blue Noon; and Chaos King

The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean, 2005

Summary from inverso: Fourteen-year-old Symone’s vacation to Antarctica turns into a dangerous adventure because of her uncle’s obsession with seeking Symme’s Hole, an opening that may lead to the center of the Earth. The book is wonderfully flavored with several unique situations. Symone is very knowledgeable of the Antarctica and is fascinated with the explorer Captain Scott, known as Titus, to the point that she hears his voice in her head. Two of her fellow explorers are conmon, one of them her age and giving her much more attention than she is used to from boys. The extent of her uncle’s obsession and criminal insanity are slowly revealed as they travel to the ice pole. Symone’s only hope to survive is to use her knowledge of the frozen landscape as resourcefully as possible.

Wonderfully effective at capturing the magic of growth that is so often a part of a teen’s life.

Some memory-jogging tags: Deception. Survival.

MS Rating: Great.

The Red Badge of Courage by Stephan Crane, 1890s. Read by Frank Muller in a Recorded Books production.

Classic war story, originally published in monthly installments by an author who knew of war only through his brother’s experience in the Battle of Chancellorsville during the Civil War. Reading was very dramatic, especially the voices. Story was much slower than I expected. Most of it is the young soldier’s musings about his bravery, or lack thereof, and the alternating boredom and anxiety of the war. Language was at times very arcane and difficult to understand.

It was helpful to read this one in conjuncture with Red Moon at Sharpsburg to get a fuller picture of the era.

MS Rating: OK.

A Friend at Midnight by Caroline B. Cooney, 2006

Summary from inverso: After rescuing her younger brother abandoned at a busy airport by their divorced father, fifteen-year-old Lily finds her faith in God sorely tested as she struggles to rescue herself from the bitterness and anger she feels.

Reb goes to college and isn’t home to learn to love Nathanial (their half-brother) nor Kells (their step dad). But Michael and Lily truly do. When Reb comes home to announce her wedding, Lily’s refusal to attend if their dad is there threatens the family unity to breaking. Worrying about a missing Nathanial brings them all back from the brink and finally infuses Michael with enough courage to honestly and openly face what really happened a year earlier.

The story is gripping and moves along. It has a church-going and God-thinking element that will resonate with church-attending teens and that I found not too overbearing. Great message of friendship and forgiveness and giving someone time and space to make their own decisions.

Some memory-jogging tags: Church attendance. Families. Divorce. Remarriage and step-parents. Abandonment. School psychologist. Anger management. Friendship. Keeping a promise. Parent responsibility. Realistic fiction.

MS Rating: Great.

How to Steal a Dog by Barbara O’Connor, 2007

Summary from inverso: Living in the family car in their small N. Carolina town after their father leaves them virtually penniless, Georgina, desperate to improve their situation and unwilling to accept her overworked mother’s calls for patience, persuades her younger brother to help her in an elaborate scheme to get money by stealing a dog and then claiming the reward that the owners are bound to offer.

The squatter that Georgina meets lives by the motto, “Sometimes the trail you leave behind you is more important than the path ahead of you.” And he has another one, “Sometimes, the more you stir it, the worse it stinks.”

The story was a little slow. It felt a bit predictable, but by the end, the poignancy of the message struck me hard.

Some memory-jogging tags: Homelessness. Brothers and sisters. Conduct of life. Squatters. Journal keeping. Family problems. Dogs. Making a plan. Feeling guilty. Misleading appearances. School teachers. Previous best friends. Shame and embarrassment. Economic disparity. Realistic fiction.

MS Rating: Advisable.

Blue Noon (Midnighters, book 3) by Scott Westerfeld, 2005

Summary from inverso: The five midnighters from Bixby discover that the secret hour is starting to invade the daylight world, and if they cannot stop it, the darklings will soon be free to hunt again.

Rex has much more beast than any human ever had before, and more than the other midnighters understand. He and Melissa become closer than ever. Jessica and Jonathon are closer. Jessica’s sister gets very curious about what her sister is up to and inadvertently ends up right in the beasts’ path on the most dangerous midnight in centuries. The secrets of the previous generation of midnights shame the current midnighters and motivate them to make different choices. When the time warp threatens to entrap whole cities, the midnighters must work together with their unique talents to stop the danger.

Great ending to the trilogy.

Some memory-jogging tags: Supernatural. Alternative reality. Flying humans. Mind reading. Little sisters. Boyfriend / girlfriend relationships. Obscurity of the past. Ethical conduct.

MS Rating: Great.

The Chaos King by Laura Ruby, 2007

Georgie Bloomington is not finding life as the Richest Girl in the Universe very easy, even compared to her years in the orphanage. The Second Richest Girl in the Universe, Roma Radisson, and her two friends Bethany Tiffany and London England poke her and tease her every chance they get. She is also having a hard time talking to Bug (Sylvester). She meets a girl she thinks she can be friends with, but not before taking to turning invisible again, even though she promised her worried parents she wouldn’t. Now she has been “invited” to the punk’s art show and she must come or the vampires will bite her parents.

As I was reading, I kept thinking that this book has a very rich back story. After I was completely done with it, I discovered why. It was a sequel. No wonder. And it ends as if another book may be following, though I couldn’t find anything about that on the author’s site. Even so, the read was very enjoyable with quirky humor throughout.

Some memory-jogging tags: Invisibility. Flying humans. Magic pen. Bringing things to life. Snobbery. Cliques. New York Public Library. Library basement. Giant octopus. Giant sloth. Vampires. Visual art and art gallery. Pet birds. Weirdly cognoscente cat. Cryptic house cook. Mr. Fuss.

MS Rating: Great