Lion’s Lair

What a delightful, beautiful, simple and focused book.  I did not know what Dim Sum was before reading this even though I have eaten in many Chinese restaurants here and in China.  I learned that Dim Sum was a practice that grew out of the custom of tea times.  They serve little plates of many different kinds of food.  You pick which of the little plates of food you want to try.  Families can share the food and taste many different dishes.  I know the students I shared this book with will enjoy the experience if they have the opportunity to have Dim Sum with their family.

In the following link, you can hear reviews of the Awards which were announced this week. 

Girl, 15, Charming But Insane

by Sue Limb

Publishers Weekly (August 16, 2004)

An account of a British girl’s mishaps and humiliations follows a protagonist who resembles a teenage Bridget Jones. The novel, told in a third-person narrative, gets into the psyche of Jess Jordan, who describes herself as “girl, fifteen, charming, but insane, huge bum, massive ears” and compares herself to her all-too-perfect best friend, Flora Barclay (”Somehow the birds never pooed on Flora’s house. It was a sign that the Barclay family were the Chosen Ones”). While good luck comes as easily to Flora as good looks, Jess thinks of herself as hopelessly flawed (especially her chest, which she describes as “the kind of featureless plain upon which airports are constructed”). Her attempt to enhance her bust line-by fashioning silicone-like bags from minestrone soup-fails miserably when a lecherous schoolmate causes one of the bags to explode at a party. Jess flees to the bathroom where, she later learns, a hidden video camera captures her clean-up efforts. On the bright side, Jess has a kind of guardian angel in Fred Parsons, a scraggly-haired classmate whom Jess takes for granted. Unfortunately, by the time Jess realizes her true feelings for Fred, she may have lost him to Flora. In this fast-paced slice-of-life novel, Jess emerges as “everyteen,” jealous of her best friend’s virtues, critical of her own shortcomings and seeking goals that often turn out not to be what she wanted.

Lake of
Secrets

by Iail Littke

Publishers Weekly (February 18, 2002)

Fifteen-year-old Carlene’s brother went missing three years before she was born, and although he is presumed dead, their mother has never abandoned hope of finding him. When a piece of evidence surfaces in

Lake
Isadora, something strange happens: Carlene experiences weird flashes of memory, even though she’s never been there before, and soon learns that the memories belong to a woman who drowned in the lake the day Keith disappeared. Now Carlene, previously impatient with her mother’s unreasonable hope, is the one who may be able to solve the mystery.

Gifts

by Ursula K. Le Guin

School Library Journal (September 1, 2004)

In this fantasy, the people of the Uplands have unusual and potentially dangerous abilities that can involve the killing or maiming of others. Gry can communicate with animals, but she refuses to use her gift to call creatures to the hunt, a stance her mother doesn’t understand. The males in Orrec’s line have the power of unmaking-or destroying-other living things. However, because his mother is a Lowlander, there is concern that this ability will not run true to him. When his gift finally manifests itself, it seems to be uncontrollable. His father blindfolds him so that he will not mistakenly hurt someone, and everyone fears him. Meanwhile, Ogge Drum, a greedy and cruel landowner, causes heartache for Orrec and his family. There is a strong sense of foreboding throughout the novel

Three Lives to Live

by Anne Lindbergh

From Publishers Weekly
When a girl in an old-fashioned dress tumbles out of an unused laundry chute, Garet is understandably surprised. Her grandmother, Gratkins, on the other hand, accepts the newcomer as a matter of course, calls her Daisy and enrolls her in school, claiming that she is Garet’s long-lost twin. After this promising and mysterious opening, Lindbergh’s tale becomes a whiny account of the children’s sibling rivalry, and the predictable discovery that Daisy and Garet are both actually younger versions of Gratkins, having journeyed forward in time via the magical laundry chute.

Watchers Last Stop

by Peter Lerangis

Book Description
David Moore lives in the city. Six months ago, his father disappeared. Now David has seem him again … in an abandoned subway station, surrounded by a mysterious crowd of ghostlike people. No one else sees this. No one else can. Is David’s father dead? Or is he … elsewhere?  In order to find out, David Moore must enter the world of the WATCHERS.

A Ring of Endless Light

by Madeleine L’Engle

Book Description
Vicky Austin is filled with strong feelings as she stands near Commander Rodney’s grave while her grandfather, who himself is dying of cancer, recites the funeral service. Watching his condition deteriorate as the summer passes on beautiful

Seven
Bay
Island is almost more than Vicky can bear. To complicate things, she finds herself the center of attention for three very different boys: Leo is an old friend wanting comfort and longing for romance; Zachary, whose attempted suicide inadvertently caused the Commander’s death, is attractive and sophisticated but desperately troubled; and Adam, her older brother’s friend, offers her a wonderful chance to assist in his experiments with dolphins but treats her as a young girl just when she’s ready to feel most grown-up.
Called upon to be dependable, stable, and wise, Vicky is exhilarated but often overwhelmed. Forces of darkness and light, tragedy and joy, hover about her, and at times she doesn’t know which will prevail.

Baby-sitters’ Summer Vacation

by Ann M. Martin

Notes: During summer vacation, the Baby-sitters and many of the kids they sit for are going to

Camp
Mohawk. The girls soon discover that camp isn’t just nature walks and making lanyards.

Secret of the Porcelain Cats

by Lilas McGinnis

Notes: Two cousins camping with a disabled veteran on an island in
Lake Erie discover mysterious activities next to their campsite.

The Toothpaste Millionaire

by Jean Merrill

Notes: Kate MacKinstrey explains how her friend went from being a poor sixth-grader to an eighth-grade millionaire by making a cheaper, better toothpaste–with her help.

Notes are from Titlewave site of Follett

Judy Moody Gets Famous

by Megan McDonald

School Library Journal (October 1, 2001)

Third-grader Judy Moody is back in her second adventure for the young chapter-book crowd. She has a mood for all seasons, and this time it is jealousy. She thinks everyone else is famous except for her-even her parents and brother all have claims to fame. Sure that she’ll be a winner when her cat makes toast for the “Famous Pet Contest,” she loses to a boy whose chicken plays “Three Blind Mice” on a toy piano. In the end, Judy becomes famous anonymously after she steals some broken dolls from the hospital, fixes and cleans them, and mails them back, and the local newspaper picks up the story. To her surprise, she finds her secret even more satisfying than having everyone know who did the good deed. Funny black-and-white cartoons appear throughout. Dialogue is right on target for the character’s age and feelings. The child’s self-centered attitude may be tiresome to some adult readers, but kids will relate to her every concern. Look for future adventures of this feisty heroine, and don’t miss her time in the spotlight.

Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days!

by Stephen Manes

Notes:
Milo, tired of problems with his sister, parents, and classmates, finds a book in the library which promises to make him perfect in just three days

No Boys Allowed

by Marilyn Levinson

From Publishers Weekly
Cassie is devastated when her lawyer-father leaves his family to embark on a new future in
Kansas with a “twenty-six-year-old lawyerette.” While Cassie’s disorganized mother tries her hand at a job for the first time and Cassie’s sister Corinne obsesses over her looks and a boy at school, Cassie attempts to eliminate any and all males from her life. But when Uncle Harry comes to stay with the family, Cassie is drawn to him. With her uncle’s help, Cassie discovers a path that allows her to move on from her anger and disappointment. Sensitive storytelling makes this story stand out from the many problem novels dealing with divorce.

Chocolate Covered Ants

by Stephen Manes

From School Library Journal
Second grader Adam receives an ant colony for his birthday–without the ants. As he waits impatiently for them to arrive, he bones up on ant facts at the library, his mother worrying all the while about the insects getting loose in the house. When they finally arrive, older brother Max informs a disbelieving Adam that people eat chocolate-covered ants. If Max can prove that he is right, he’ll win a bet with his brother. Disaster ensues; Mom calls off the bet, but Adam gets the last laugh.

A Dog’s Life

by Ann M. Martin

Kirkus Review (September 1, 2005)

This moving account of a stray dog’s life experiences is told from the canine perspective. Born in a garden shed, Squirrel and her brother Bone are raised by their mother, who teaches them to hunt and avoid humans. Life is good for the puppies until their mother disappears and doesn’t return. When the adventurous Bone sets out into the world, Squirrel follows, afraid to be on her own. But along a busy highway, the puppies are soon separated forever and Squirrel is alone. She manages to survive winter and finds Moon, another stray. The two travel together, raiding garbage cans, eluding dogcatchers and fighting off a band of hungry dogs until Moon is killed by a truck. Alone again, Squirrel stoically moves from town to town, encountering both kind and cruel humans, and aging as the seasons pass. Speaking matter-of-factly, Squirrel accepts life bravely and in the end, finds the loving home she deserves. Heart-wrenching as well as heart- warming.

Tornado

by Hilary Milton

Notes: Stranded on the road by a flood and tornadoes, his mother wounded and his seven-year-old sister in desperate need of medical attention as a result of a snakebite, fourteen-year-old Paul exhibits heroism and resourcefulness.

Students-readers.  If you are a fan of Maximum Ride by James Patterson, go to the web site www.maximumride.com    Lots of fun ahead.

The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi

            While a picture book by classification, I found this short but intense story an igniter of thought.  We are known by the name that our parents gave us.  Did they have special reasons for giving us that name?  Our name helps define who we are.  What an important factor of the definition is our name and how we think about it.  This is probably deeper thinking than intended by the author, Yangsook Choi, but I sense this book could become an adult discussion starter as well as a thought provoker for children.

            Unhei enters a new school year with anxiety.  New from Korea, how will she fit into the new school in
America?  Classmates also have their anxieties about a new person entering their community.  They choose to handle their anxieties with humor and teasing at the expense of the new student.  How often does this reaction happen as children have new members enter their established groups?  Unhei exhibits a very mature, patient look at the problem and with the help of a friend and family comes to realize that her name is a part of what makes her unique and special. 

             When I read this title, I was puzzled, I had never heard the phrase “Baseball Moon” before.  So I ordered a copy for the grandchildren and it arrived with a cover showing the silhouette of a boy playing a trumpet on a pier under a moon drawn as a baseball.   Now I am intrigued. 

            This is a delightful story of  Andy, the horn player, Glory, a softball pitcher and assorted friends and family through a summer of exploration, “fusion,” music and softball.  It is a time of growing in relationships and skills.  Enters the man in black.  He has promises to give.  How much should Andy rely on this person? 

            There is the element of commitment between friends, the following of one’s dreams, and the respect for the advice and experience of parents. Under the arm of the young people is the ever present sign of young adulthood, the skateboard. 

            If you are a young woman into sports or a young man into music, I highly recommend this book as a way to explore feelings and relationships that are not too far removed from what I hear young people may actually be experiencing right now.