The Red Necklace by Sally Gardner

Gardner, Sally. 2007. The red necklace. New York: The Penguin Group. Photo Source: Barnes and Noble. 2007. http://www.barnesandnoble.com/ (accessed March 18, 2009).

This award winning novel is set in Paris at the beginning of the French Revolution. A time when the aristocracy was about to be under attack by the common man. The main characters in this novel are Yann Margoza, a young gypsy boy; Tetu, the dwarf who raised him after his mother's death; the Marquis de Villeduval, the over the top aristocrat; Count Kalliovski, the villian of the story; and Sido, the young girl who Yann helps save from the guillotin.

Throughout the story, the reader discovers how these characters are connected with each other. The back story of how the aristocracy lived in comparison to the common man at the time of the French Revolution is interesting, although one wonders how much of an exaggeration some of it is. For example, did the aristocracy really build tunnels underneath gardens so that that gardeners could change out plants from below ground daily to match the buckles of the aristocrats shoes? I don't know how much is true and how much is exaggerated but the novel gives a clear understanding that the reason behind the French Revolution was the discrepancy of living standards between the rich and the poor.

I think 7th and 8th grade students will enjoy this book. Boys might also enjoy this book because it is written from the male perspective, although a young girl appears on the cover. While a modern day teenager cannot relate to the events of a gypsy boy at the time of the French Revolution, the general topics of family ties, friendships, and the need to feel safe and secure will resonate with young readers. I do wonder if a sequel to this novel will be written. The ending of the books leaves the story wide open for a sequel.

Waiting for Normal by Leslie Connor

Connor, Leslie. 2008. Waiting for normal. New York: Harper Collins.
Photo Source: Harper Collins Publishers Website. http://www.harpercollins.com/books/9780060890889/Waiting_for_Normal/index.aspx
Awards: Lone Star 2009; Schneider Family Book Award 2009 (main character deals with issue of dyslexia).

Waiting for normal is the story of 12 year old Addie, told in her own words. Addie and her mom live in Schenectady, New York on a street corner that most people have forgotten; in a yellow trailer most people wouldn't want to live in. There are many characters in this book that children will identify with. There is Addie, her mom, her step-dad, Dwight, her two younger sisters known as "The Littles", two neighbors, a grandfather and numerous friends and acquaintances. As the title suggests, Addie is waiting for things to be normal in her life.

In reading this book, the reader gets a sense of how hard life might be for some kids. For children who may be think they are also waiting for normal, they may find things they can relate to in this book. For children who believe they lead a pretty normal life, they may realize how wonderful their life is when they read about the turmoil of Addie's life. This is a wonderful book because no matter what obstacles Addie faces, she does it with a happiness most adults can not imagine. Her positive attitude is a lesson for all. Ultimately, this book has a happy ending that readers will applaud.

The dead & the gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Pfeffer, Susan Beth. 2008. The dead & the gone. New York: Harcourt, Inc. Cover Photo Source: Barnes & Noble Online, http://www.barnesandnoble.com/ (accessed February 26, 2009).

This book is a 2009-2010 Lone Star Award Winner. It is a companion volume to the author's book Life as we knew it. The protagonist in The dead & the gone is 17-year old Alex who is a Puerto Rican-American living in New York City. He and his two younger sisters all attend private catholic school. Their parents are hard working immigrants who are hoping for a better life for their children. When the moon is knocked out of its orbit by an asteroid and begins to orbit closer to the earth, life as we know it changes. Life as Alex and his sisters know it drastically changes. Things they took for granted change and they must fight to stay alive.

This is a riveting book that is hard to put down. It is not for the faint of heart as it portrays a life that is unthinkable yet it is not unimaginable. That is what makes it disturbing. The reader can envision the possibility of an asteroid hitting the moon and the events that occur when the moon is out of orbit is something that would be scientifically reasonable. It leaves the reader with an eerie feeling of doom and the hope that this fictional story never occurs.

This would be a good book for boys, particularly, as they can identify with the main character. Girls who like science fiction will also enjoy this book.

A quick note

Well, my class is over but I would like to continue this blog. I know I won't have the time to do the formal reviews that I did for class but I would like to keep track of the books I have read.

I am currently reading the Twilight series books by Stephanie Meyer. I finished Twilight. It was a wonderful book with characters that young adults can relate to. That sounds very odd to say when a good number of the characters end up being vampires but it is true. It is so well written that the story flows from one chapter to the next. I have moved on to New Moon which is the next book in the series. It starts out where Twilight left off but it gets a bit boring after a few chapters, in my opinion. I worried that the book would not be as good as its predecessor but only until about half-way through the book. Starting there, the book turns the corner to be the fabulous, can't put down story, that Twilight was. It is no wonder that these books are a hit with young adults.

AMONG THE IMPOSTORS by Margaret Peterson Haddix

(Source: Haddix, Margaret P. 2001. New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. Photo source: Barnes and Noble. http://www.barnesandnoble.com/, accessed November 13, 2008)

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Haddix, Margaret P. 2001. Among the impostors. New York: Simon & schuster Books for Young Readers. ISBN: 0-689-83904-9.

2. PLOT SUMMARY: This is the second story in the Shadow Children series. A fantasy novel about a world where children who are the third born in a family are illegal. Luke Garner is one of these children and has been in hiding for all of his twelve years of life. He has now taken the identity of a dead “legal” boy and is out in the world for the first time, living under the pseudonym Lee Grant. He is attending Hendricks School for Boys and lives with the constant fear that he will be discovered by the population police. He is never quite sure who he can trust. The school is filled with students who appear to be autistic or agoraphobic. Luke has to figure out who he can be friends with and who might betray his secret.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS: This book does what all good fantasy novels do; it “celebrates the power of intuition, imagination and intellect” (Vardell 2002, 206). Luke Garner must use all of his powers of intuition and intellect to stay alive in this book. It is the story of his courage and his willingness to take risks. I would categorize this book as low fantasy as it does not include a large number of fantasy motifs. Its primary motif is good versus evil with a bit of heroism involved. It is set in a world much like our own, with the exception that families may only have two children and other children, if found, are put to death. This is the part that the reader sees as pure fantasy; something that could never happen in our world. Ms. Haddix is very consistent when it comes to maintaining this altered reality throughout the book. Never once, when reading the book, will the reader think that such a world might not exist.

The protagonist is a very believable character. He has feelings of homesickness when he has to leave his mom, dad and two brothers. He is afraid of being caught by the Population Police. Most young readers can relate to the fear of being caught doing something they aren’t supposed to do. This allows them to relate to Luke even if their fear is not anywhere as intense as Luke’s fear. There are also other students at the school readers will relate to. For example, the first person Luke meets is Rolly Sturgeon. He’s not very nice to Luke; something readers can identify with. Luke meets other students as he sneaks outside to the forest at night and must decide which of these students are really friends and which may have intentions to harm him. Again, this is something that teenagers struggle with on a regular basis, even if to a lesser extent. The one character that Ms. Haddix adds who aids in the believability of this story is Mr. Talbot. Mr. Talbot worked for the Population Police but he was a good person and didn’t believe in the law against third children. He was helping hide Luke within the school and came to Luke’s rescue when Luke was discovered by an undercover policeman who was pretending to be a student. Without the character of Mr. Talbot, the reader would have a hard time believing that a twelve year old boy, who had lived his life in hiding, was suddenly enrolling in a private school and saving himself from undercover police officers.

The story is set primarily within the confines of the Hendricks School for Boys and its surrounding grounds. In the first few chapters, Ms. Haddix describes the massive school as having no windows, large brass doorknobs and row, upon row, upon row of students seated in the classrooms. When Luke finally gets the courage to sneak outside the school building, the surrounding grounds are described in great detail. The garden Luke plants and the way it grows is also described in great detail. These details provide the reader a clear vision of the setting of this book.

I found the theme of the book to be quite subtle. It involves the universal idea that every individual is worth something. The reason there is a law in this story against families having more than two children is because of overpopulation and lack of food. Luke knows how to grow food and was doing so when he would sneak out of the school building. At the end of the story, Luke wants to stay and teach the other students how to grow food. I think this part of the plot sets forth the theme that we humans must care for our planet and learn how to sustain ourselves by growing food so that our society really doesn’t end up in a situation where laws are passed to limit family size.

The author combines narrative passages with the appropriate amount of dialogue to move the story along in a realistic manner. She has coined a few phrases that are unique to this series such as “fonrols” which mean third children, hiding or not; “exnays” which are third children who have come out of hiding with fake ID cards (Luke is an exnay); and “leckers” which are country bumpkins. The author also gives a unique characterization to the third children of the world. She gives them traits that most children in our society do not have. They are traits similar to autistic or agoraphobic (fear of going outside) children. She explains their behaviors in the end by saying: “Who can tell if a child rocks because he has autism or because he is terrified out of his wits? Who can tell if agoraphobia is caused by oddities in the mind or lifelong warnings, ‘going outdoors is suicide’?” These words and portrayal of the characters was consistent throughout the story. It is a style that stays with the reader after the final chapter.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S):

BULLETIN OF THE CENTER FOR CHILDREN’S BOOKS, 55, no. 1, (September 2001) 17: “Haddix once again hits the mark with her ability to ask intriguing questions . . . and successfully weaves them into a believable, plot-driven, edge-of-your-seat tale.” (Source: Book Review Digest Plus, WilsonWeb database, accessed via TWU Library Online).

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL, (July 1, 2001): “This compelling read can be enjoyed alone but it's sure to leave readers wanting to know the whole story.” (Source: Book Index with Reviews, EBSCO Host database, accessed via TWU Library Online).

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, (June 11, 2001): “The descriptions of the school, windowless and built like a labyrinth, combined with accounts of obtuse school staff, give Haddix's story the appropriate nightmarish quality, and readers will understand Luke's constant feelings of anxiety.” (Source: Book Index with Reviews, EBSCO Host database, accessed via TWU Library Online).

5. CONNECTIONS TO SCHOOL LIBRARY SETTING:

* This book could be displayed along with all of the others in the series as a way to promote the series in the library.

* High school students could read this book and follow up with research on world population and food production. They could debate the issue of whether population control is something that is a possibility or is it totally unrealistic. A lively debate would surely occur. They could look into the rules that China has about population control and discuss this issue. I would not do this at a grade level below high school as it is too frightening of a possibility for young children to handle.

* Create a display of books involving “impostors”. Here are a few I found in WorldCat:

Singleton, Linda J. 2000. Regeneration: The impostor. New York : Berkley Jam Books.
Holmes, Victoria. 2006. Heart of fire. New York : HarperCollins.
Jenkins, Jerry B. 2002. Secrets of New Babylon. Illinois: Tyndale Kids

Other Related Items – The Shadow Children series by Margaret Peterson Haddix:
Among the hidden
Among the betrayed
Among the barons
Among the brave
Among the enemy
Among the free

Reference List:
Vardell, Sylvia M. 2008. Children’s literature in action: A librarian’s guide. Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited.

RULES by Cynthia Lord

(Source: Lord, Cynthia. 2006. New York: Scholastic Press. Photo Source: Barnes and Noble, http://www.barnesandnoble.com/, accessed November 13, 2008)

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Lord, Cynthia. 2006. Rules. New York: Scholastic Press. ISBN: 0-439-44382-2. Lord, Cynthia. 2006. Rules. Audio CD. Prince Frederick, MD : Recorded Books. ISBN: 9781428152113.

2. PLOT SUMMARY: Catherine is a twelve year old girl with a lot to deal with. She is coping with the usual adolescent issues related to friends and boys while at the same time dealing with having a sibling who is autistic and parents who expect a lot from her. She sometimes thinks that her parents don’t even realize she exists. It is a poignant story of a sister who patiently watches over her brother while feeling the frustration and stigma of his disability. She makes “rules” for him to follow to help him be more “normal”. Thanks to her first hand experience with persons having disabilities, she is able to befriend a peer, Jason, who is physically disabled. She comes to understand better the feelings of the disabled peer and how others treat him.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS: The characters in Rules are ones that every young child can relate to or learn from. Catherine is a twelve-year old girl who misses her best friend because she has gone away for the summer; who is hopeful about a new friendship with a neighbor moving in next door; and who gets frustrated by the school bully who picks on her brother. Catherine is a bit unusual in the fact that she has an eight-year old brother with autism. Her brother, David, is a character that children may or may not relate to. With the rise in the rate of autism in this country, it may be that most children have met at least one autistic child in their lives and, therefore, will be able to relate to David better than we might think. If the reader cannot relate directly to David, they can certainly learn about autism from this character. Christy is the self-centered twelve-year old girl who moves in next door and who has little compassion for the disabled characters in the book. Most readers will be familiar with this type of character. Catherine’s mom and dad are portrayed in a manner familiar to most children. Mom is busy and asks Catherine to babysit David a lot or tells David to “go see what Catherine is doing”. Dad is always late and never home when he says he will be. The final major character is Jason, a teen-age, paraplegic boy who is wheelchair bound and communicates through a communication word book located on a tray on the wheelchair. This character may be totally unfamiliar to most readers.

The title of the book comes from all of the rules Catherine writes for her brother. The rules are social rules that most of us take for granted. Things like “say ‘thank you’ when someone gives you a present (even if you don’t like it)” and “a boy can take off his shirt to swim, but not his shorts”. The cover of the book is explained when you read that one of the rules is "no toys in the fish tank". These types of rules are exactly what one would teach an autistic person. Another thing that is typical of autistic persons is the recitation of words from books. In Rules, Catherine and David often speak using lines from Arnold Lobel’s Frog and Toad are friends. The realistic portrayal of life with an autistic individual will be appreciated by many readers who know something about autism. For those who do not know much about autism, these issues are a subtle part of the book that could be elaborated on in a book discussion.

The setting for this story is modern day America. It could be in any town, on any street and in any neighborhood. The reader can envision his or her own neighborhood or house. The van Catherine’s mom drives is typical of modern day transportation for families. The shops, the parks, the therapist’s office and more are all typical of today’s society. Since these locations and items will not change anytime soon, the setting makes this book rather timeless. I anticipate that it will be as relevant in ten years as it is today.

The theme of this book is primarily about compassion and understanding toward people with disabilities. It is important to note the many underlying, sub-themes that Catherine struggles with. These are items that any teenager would struggle with if they were in Catherine’s shoes. These sub-themes include:

1. Desire to be compassionate to people with disabilities v. desire to be popular (unfortunately, the two are sometimes mutually exclusive, especially at the middle school age)

2. Willingness to help mom/dad babysit David because she knows they need help v. wanting mom/dad to take care of David themselves because David is not her responsibility;

3. Understanding David’s need for more parent attention v. desire for parents to pay more attention to her;

4. Befriending Jason, the disabled teen, in private v. publicly acknowledging her friendship with Jason;

5. Getting mad at David because of his behavior v. getting mad at the girl next door for do something that makes David look stupid;

6. Wishing David would stop his autistic behaviors in public v. sometimes wishing David would exhibit his autistic behaviors in public to satisfy her own personal needs; and

7. Wishing David would stop his autistic behaviors so she wouldn’t be embarrassed and could have a normal life v. wishing David would stop his autistic behaviors so he could have a normal life.

The only negative comment I can make about this story is concerning Catherine’s lack of anger toward her parents. There were instances in the book that most children would have become very angry at their parents. This anger was never acknowledged or explored. It is not realistic to think that a child Catherine’s age would be totally understanding of parents who focused so much attention on David. Overall, however, this book is a wonderful read and should be recommended with gusto in middle school libraries everywhere.

ANALYSIS OF AUDIO BOOK: I chose to listen to this book on audio. The unabridged audio version is a four hour, four compact disc set. The cover of the audiobook is slightly different than the book shown at the beginning of this review. The audiobook cover has a toy car that has been plopped into the fish tank (as evidenced by the water splashing above the water line) instead of a rubber duck. A similar goldfish is on the cover of the audiobook to indicate the fish tank. The back side of the audiobook cover contains a brief synopsis of the book along with information about Cynthia Lord and about the publisher of the recorded book, Recorded Books, LLC. The book is read by Jessica Almasy. Ms. Almasy did a marvelous job reading this story. It is difficult to describe her voice; but I would say that it is childlike, without being high pitched. This story is told from Catherine’s perspective. Ms. Almasy sounded like a twelve year old girl would sound which added a sense of authenticity to the reading. She changed her voice slightly for each of the different characters and maintained the dialect for each one throughout the entirety of the reading. There are no other readers of the book on the CD. The sound quality is very good, the volume is acceptable and the pronunciation is clear. There are no sound effects or music on the CD. There is no other background noise of any type.

It was a joy to listen to this book on CD. I tried to read some of the book after listening to the entire CD and I cannot read the book without hearing the voice of Ms. Almasy as Catherine as well as the other characters. The CD was a totally absorbing experience. I found myself being lost in the world of the book as I drove down the highway. I know that this book would be equally interesting to read but I found the audio to be very enjoyable, informative and entertaining.

4. BOOK REVIEW EXCERPT(S):

BULLETIN OF THE CENTER FOR CHILDREN'S BOOKS , 59, no. 9 (May 2006) 411: “Readers will sympathize with Catherine's struggle to explain the world to David through his beloved rules and her frustration at his demanding, embarrassing behaviors and his garnering the majority of parental attention.” (Source: Book Review Digest Plus, WilsonWeb database, accessed via TWU Library Online).

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL, (April 1, 2006) 142: “Lord has candidly captured the delicate dynamics in a family that revolves around a child's disability.” (Source: Book Index with Reviews, EBSCO Host database, accessed via TWU Library Online).

KIRKUS REVIEWS, (March 1, 2006): “Middle-grade readers will recognize [Catherine’s] longing for acceptance and be intrigued by this exploration of dealing with differences.” (Source: Book Index with Reviews, EBSCO Host database, accessed via TWU Library Online).

5. CONNECTIONS IN A SCHOOL LIBRARY SETTING:

* This would be a good book to recommend as reading to mainstream teachers who has students who are disabled in their classroom.
* This would be a good book to recommend to counselors who may, in turn, have opportunities to recommend to students who struggle with some of the same issues Catherine struggled with or perhaps for those students who are having trouble showing compassion to disabled individuals.
* In a library display of this book, the librarian could write down on poster board the rules set forth in the book and ask students to suggest additional rules to add to the list.
* Children who have read the book could discuss what words they would want in a communication book, if they could only speak with such a device.

Other related items:

Different Like Me by Jennifer Elder, Illustrated by Marc Thomas and Jennifer Elder
My thirteenth winter: A memoir by Samantha Abeel
Embracing the sky: Poems beyond disability by Craig Romkema

HOW I LIVE NOW by Meg Rosoff

(Source: Rosoff, Meg. 2004. New York: Random House. Photo Source: Random House, Inc., http://www.randomhouse.com/author/results.pperl?authorid=58449, accessed November 13, 2008)

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Rosoff, Meg. 2004. How I live now. New York: Random House. ISBN: 0-385-74677-6.

2. PLOT SUMMARY: Elizabeth, a.k.a. Daisy, a 15-year old native New Yorker, is sent by her father to live with her deceased mother’s sister, Aunt Penn, in England. Daisy is not very happy about living in the English countryside with her aunt and four cousins, ages nine through sixteen. While there, a terroristic war breaks out in Europe and the United States. England is occupied and, as circumstances would have it, the children are left on their own to survive through the war. This is the story of their relationships and their survival.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS: This book was Ms. Rosoff’s first book and I believe it to be a wonderful, well written book, although several reviewers have disagreed. It seems that others agree with me, however, because this book won the Michael Printz Award as well as several other awards. Regardless of what critics say, I thinkg young reader will be entranced by the characters in this book. The language and style of writing is so typical of a teenager that the reader will feel like s/he is reading a friend's personal diary. For example, capital letters are inserted in odd places. They are used when new sentences would normally start or when quotation marks would typically be used. Run on sentences are the norm for this book and justifiably so because most teenagers talk in this run on fashion. Exaggeration and uncertainty of fact is also a big element in this book and something that is typical for teenagers. For example, when the war broke out, Daisy states that “something like seven or seventy thousand people got killed”.

In addition to the language of teenagers, the author writes about some major issues facing teenagers, some of which are taboo. For example, early in the book, and probably as a way to interest the young reader, Ms. Rosoff includes a passage relating to the issues of boys pressuring girls to have sex and masturbation. The issue of having sexual feelings toward a cousin is a major factor in this book and runs throughout its entirety. Another topic, of lesser importance but a major one for teenagers, is the lack of cell phones or text messaging. Ms. Rosoff also touches on the subject of the “wicked step mother”, the suicide of a friend’s parent, and the less talked about issue of eating disorders. The eating disorder issue was handled extremely well in this book. It is not a major topic of the story but rather an underlying message. Early in the book, Daisy describes how starving makes her feel good and gives her a good feeling of pushing herself beyond her physical limits. During the story, Daisy begins to realize what starvation really is and begins to appreciate what food does for the body. It is a subtle lesson for teenagers with eating disorder issues.

The setting for this story is in the countryside of England. A place most children will not be familiar with but it can be visualized as any location that is not a major city. This story is so captivating that it takes the reader to a whole different time and place. When reading the book, I envisioned the European countrysides of World War II as I have seen it in movies; perhaps young readers will do the same. While the setting might be reminiscent of World War II, the details of the war are not. The war described in the book is related to the terrorist threat that exists today. It is a war where it is hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys and where suicide bombers run rampant. It is a war during the time of e-mails, cell phones and Amana refrigerator freezers. The ending of the story is very unique, totally unexpected and a bit confusing at first. It seems that suddenly Daisy is back in New York City. It takes six years for her to return “home” to the farm in England and explain why she suddenly left the countryside home. When she does return, as a young adult woman, she is finally able to bring a conclusion to the story, deal with her feelings for her cousin and tell the reader “how i live now”.

The underlying theme of this story is independence. It is a story of survival through a war without adult assistance. It is also a story about believing in your own abilities and inner feelings. There is no moralizing in this story. The theme unfolds naturally as do the lessons about love, family and survival. It really is a most amazing story that I would recommend to high school age students, although some reviewers claim that it is for ages 12 and up. One final note about the reviews. One of the reviews suggested that this novel is fantasy. I don't see this book as fantasy. I would say that it is contemporary realistic fiction because of the issues it deals with. I don't think that it is appropriate to catagorize something as fantasy simply because we are not currently in a war. The war that is described is similar to wars of the past and realistic as to what a war might be like today.


4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S):

KNOWLEDGE QUEST, 34, no. 2 (November/December 2005) 56-8: “The combination of a first-person narrative, run-on sentences, and an absence of quotation marks successfully brings to life a modern teenage girl writing about her own experience.” (Source: Book Review Digest Plus, WilsonWeb database, accessed via TWU Library Online).

KIRKUS REVIEWS, (July 14, 2004): “The story of Daisy and her three exceptional cousins, one of whom becomes her first lover, offers a keen perspective on human courage and resilience.” (Source: Book Index with Reviews, EBSCO Host database, accessed via TWU Library Online).

BOOKLIST, (September 1, 2004): “More central to the potency of Rosoff's debut, though, is the ominous prognostication of what a third world war might look like, and the opportunity it provides for teens to imagine themselves, like Daisy, exhibiting courage and resilience in roles traditionally occupied by earlier generations.” (Source: Book Index with Reviews, EBSCO Host database, accessed via TWU Library Online).

5. CONNECTIONS TO SCHOOL LIBRARY SETTING:

* High school students could be involved in creating a video and placing it on YouTube. There are several YouTube examples to show students. One is similar to a movie trailer that was done by Random House for the 1996 Teen Book Video Awards and can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrIMYpyYX7A&feature=related (accessed November 18, 2008). Another is a booktalk format that can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEE98xuuc9w&feature=related (accessed November 18, 2008). A final example is a PowerPoint type presentation with nice music included and this can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wrZ0S8NpMU&feature=related (accessed November 18, 2008). The librarian could make a contest for the entire school to create videos. A voting system might be set up so that the student body can watch and vote for their favorite videos.

* Poetry related to war would be a good fit with this book. I found a website that provides poetry specifically about the war on terror: http://uk.geocities.com/p_rance/WaronTerror.htm (accessed November 18, 2008).

Other Items by Meg Rosoff:

What I was: A novel
Just in case
The bride’s farewell: A novel (to be released August 2009)