2011+February

This is one of the best Newbery winners in recent history (OK, that's not saying much…). Abilene Tucker finds herself in Manifest, Kansas, boyhood home of her father. Over the summer she finds more and more details about what happened during the summer of 1918. Now it's 1939 and the town is in the midst of the Depression and drought. This is well-done historical fiction, mystery, and love story. The experience of WWI, the Influenza Plague, and later the Depression is presented so vividly and yet personally. This pulled you in from the beginning to the end. Excellent. 4th+ **The Fashion Disaster that Changed my Life by Lauren Myracle** Pretty stereotypical middle school mean girl interactions. Oh to be popular. But wait, it's not all it's supposed to be. Who are the real friends? And what about boys? YA for a sleep over scene involving Playgirl and honey roasted p*s. This will be a popular read no matter what I say. **The Dreamer by Pam Munoz Ryan and Peter Sis** A fictionalized account of the youth of Pablo Neruda, poet. Part poetry, part daydream, part narrative. This is a unique story meant to make the reader pause and contemplate words. The select drawings are surrealistic and also cause to pause. Very good. 4th+ **Brixton Brothers: The Ghostwriter Secret by Mac Barnett, illus by Adam Rex** This is something of a spoof on Hardy Brothers, but a fun read. Steve Brixton loves the Bailey Brothers mysteries and starts his own Private Investigation agency. In this volume Steve helps solve the theft of a valuable diamond, and then discovers his author-mentor has been kidnapped! Funny but also quite an adventure with "baddies" shooting at Steven and his friend Dana, getting tied up in a cave, and an annoying boyfriend for Steve's mom. Very Good. 4th+ **My Rotten Life: Nathan Abercrombie, Accidental Zombie by David Lubar** Suitably gross. In an experiment with "Hurt B Gone", Nathan ends up with creeping zombieism. Lots of icky bodily issues, and also regular mean kid issues. The plot is nicely complicated with a surprise ending allowing for sequels. Too gross for a read aloud for me, but will be popular. 4th+ **The Clockwork Three by Matthew J Kirby** Giuseppe is a busker under the dictatorship of his Patrone until he finds a mysterious green violin. Frederick is an orphan apprentice clockmaker whose dream is to build the perfect automaton. Hannah is a maid who holds her family together since her father is stricken with a paralyzing stroke. Their paths cross with a cast of of intriguing characters who all have their own story. Excellent story that never gets so complicated as to lose focus, but stays in a state of continuous tension. And I'm a sucker for Golem stories. 5th+ **The Search for WondLa by Tony DiTerlizzi** Almost 500 pages, but not a difficult read. I expected fantasy (a la Spiderwick) but this is SciFi. Eva Nine has been raised underground in a Sanctuary for 12 years, but is suddenly attacked by an evil hunter, Besteel. Her introduction to the world of Orbona is pretty scary. She makes two friends in Rovender and Otto, but everything else is threatening. After rescuing Muthr, her robot nanny, they proceed to look for other evidence of human life. This is not deep like Orson Scott Card, but the creatures are creative, and the search is compelling. I expected Disney to be involved somehow, but thankfully no. There is true grief at the loss of one of the characters, and satisfying conclusions even though this is first in a series. I enjoyed the read, but it's not one of the best ever. 4th+ **Take Me With You by Carolyn Marsden** Pina and Susanna are 11 year olds in the Instituto run by Sisters in Naples after WWII. As they find more about who left them at the orphanage and dream of real families, things are not as they imagined. The story is a little slow, but all about the emotions. Good 4th+ historical fiction. **Pirate's Guide to First Grade by James Preller and Greg Ruth** Usually I don't write about picture books, but I don't want to forget this one. It's entirely in pirate talk. Outstanding. **Snook Alone by Marilyn Nelson and Timothy Basil Ering** Another picture book worthy of comment. Snook is the faithful companion of Abba Jacob on a quiet island. They live a quiet disciplined life until Snook is left behind as a storm strikes a deserted island. The story is simple but the language and illustrations are breathtaking. I don't think I could read it out loud--too sad. Even with a happy ending. Excellent **Ruth and the Green Book by Calvin Alexander Ramsey and Floyd Cooper** Based on the true Green Book that was created to help African Americans find places to eat, stay overnight and service stations during the 1950s. Beautiful brown-toned illustrations. **Mr. Stink by David Walliams illus by Quentin Blake** In the line of Raold Dahl, this is the story of sad, isolated Chloe who makes the aquantance ofMr. Stink, a homeless man who sits on the park bench everyday with his dog Duchess. The characters are overdrawn beautifully-Chloe's mother is ridiculously self centered and political. Mr. Stink smells so bad you can see it. Chloe's little sister is a snivelling tattler. Very funny scenes but also quite touching. 4th+ **My mommy is in American and she met Buffalo Bill by Jean Regnaud and Emile Bravo** Graphic novel depicting a young boy who doesn't understand what has happened to his mother. Quite touching.
 * Moon over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool**

**The Kneebone Boy by Ellen Potter** Another missing mommy book. This is pure British mystery ending in a hidden tunnel in the Kneebone Castle. Three children, Max, Lucia, and Otto who never speaks, leave home because their father is traveling again. After a scary day and night in London where their sitter is missing, they head for Snoring by the Sea to stay with their great aunt. The details here all fall together to a surprising and moving ending. 5th + compare to Gaiman's Graveyard Book. **The Sherlock files: the 100-year-old Secret by Tracy Barrett** Xander and Xena find out that they are descendents of Sherlock Holmes and are given a notebook of his unsolved mysteries. They start with the missing Girl in the Purple Hat. Nice mystery for good third grade readers and up. **Confessions of the Sullivan Sisters by Natalie Standiford** Imperious Almighty, the matriarch of the Sulivans, has informed the family that she needs an apology from someone who has offended her before New year's Day or they will be disowned. Each of three sisters writes her a long letter. Funny, romantic, and growing selfawareness in every character. The story keeps growing right up to the end. Excellent. Some language, sexuality. YA **Evermore : the immortals #1 by alyson noel** Ever Bloom has lost her family in a terrible crash, but now can read minds and see auras. It's overwhelming. Then mysterious Damen shows up with a strange past and the offer of peace. Drina also shows up with only evil following. And there is the ghost of Riley, Ever's little sister. Lots of romance, mystery, and weirdness. YA for language and sexuality. **Girl Parts by John Cusick** What was I thinking? The reviews even say 9th+ but did I notice? This is something of an I, Robot take on boy-girl relationships. Rose is a "Companion" created for David, a selfcentered rich kid with disassociative disorder according to the school shrink. He is supposed to learn to relate better, but ends up dumping Rose for a lack of girl parts. He then rebounds with sex (vividly described) with the local skank. Rose connects with Charlie, the poor kid with disassociative disorder according to the school shrink. But he just wants to save her from being decommissioned. The story line is pretty good, with lots of thought to what makes us sentient. But lordy, the sex is a little much. Donate this to a high school. **Museum of thieves by Lian Tanner** Goldie Roth was so close to Separation and her chain of protection being removed when the town of Jewel is threatened by a bombing. The evil Fugleman has his own evil plans and it's the children that must stop him. Goldie teams up with Toadspit and other Keepers of the Museum to balance the forces of evil and good. A little complicated, but OK, movement. Nice character in the Brizzlehound, Broo. 4th+ **Pemba's Song, a Ghost Story by Marilyn Nelson and Tonya C Hegamin** This was difficult for me to finish. It just didn't "grab" me. Pemba has moved from Brooklyn to Colchester, Conn with her mother. She misses her friends and the neighborhood, and at the same time is experiencing paranormal encounters with a slave who inhabited their house. I guess the story didn't hold enough tension for me, and the characters never were quite real. The poetry is terrific though. The history was interesting. 4th+ **Trash by andy mulligan** Raphael, Gardo and Rat are trash pickers in an unnamed third world country. Their find of a mysterious bag brings them unimaginable trouble and opportunity. This is one of the most unusual stories I have read in a long time. The description of the life of the world's poorest is moving but sympathetic. The action is heart-pounding. And the boys' decision making is satisfyingly moral. I loved the final chapter. YA for disturbing violence by the police. Excellent **Chicken Big by Keith Graves** A very funny retelling of Chicken Little. The other chicken's don't know what to make of the ginormous egg and its hatchling. Is it an elephant? A squirrel? An umbrella? So funny. **Jasper Dash and the Flame-Pits of Delaware by M. T. Anderson** Just as weird as Whales on Stilts and the Linoleaum Lederhosen. Jasper and his buddies, Lily and Katie, have to rescue his monk friends, the monks of Vbngoom in the mountains of Delaware. The whole story is surreal, but the descriptions of the trek through the wilderness jungles and mountains battling monsters, cannibals on kangaroos, and Jersey mobsters is pretty exciting. There are even a couple of moving moments--when Jasper thinks he is going to die so he focuses on the good parts of his life, for instance. I'm not sure who will read this. It's very funny, but also very quirky. The battle of the monks vs the mobsters was awesome. "Weasel Chops O'Reilly goes to smack a monk on the head--raises his hand--and the monk blocks his blow with a sincere hope for universal friendship andkindness! " etc. Good. **The Milo and Jazz Mysteries: The case of the Stinky Socks. #1 by Lewis B Montgomery** Milo has to find a case to report back to Dash Marlowe. Jazz joins him as she finds out her brother's lucky socks are missing and he can't concentrate on his baseball game. Includes some brain teasers at the end. Third grade RL Good. **Aggie the Brave by Lori Ries** Easy reader with just a few word on each page. In this story Aggie goes to the vet to get spayed and Ben has to wait alone at home for a day. Then Aggie has a cone head--but Ben makes it a lion's mane. Good for a 1.5RL **Bink and Gollie by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee illus by Tony Fucile** Two extremely different friends but willing to make compromises. The situations are unique enough to be interesting and the illustrations are remarkable. 2.5 RL