Twerp by Mark Goldblatt

I kind of dawdled around about reading this book, always putting it on the bottom of the pile, but then one day I realized I just needed to bite the bullet.  And I am really glad I did.

After being suspended from school for a week, sixth grader Julian Twerski returns to school in January 1969.  His English teacher, Mr. Selkirk, has assigned the class a term paper on Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, not something Julian wants to do.  So Mr. Selkirk strikes a deal with him - instead of doing the Julius Caesar paper, Julian is to write about the incident that he and his friends were involved in against a handicapped boy nicknamed Danley Dimmel and that caused his suspension.

Thus begins a six months period of recounting his day to day life.  Julian writes about the five friends he  hangs out with him in an empty lot the call Ponzini, after a boy who lives there and a different incident that involved them all.  And he writes about his best friend Lonnie, who seems to have so much influence over Julian that he can get him to do anything he wants him to do, from throwing a rock at a pigeon to writing a love letter to a girl he has a crush on - a letter that backfires for both Lonnie and Julian and, of course, the most serious incident that Julian continues to put off writing about.

Twerp is a compelling coming of age story set in Queens, New York in 1969 and Goldblatt has really captured the essence of what it was like in NYC and in 6th grade at that time.  Julian is an engaging narrator, thoughtful, sensitive, but a follower.  And unfortunately, the person he follows, Lonnie, is a rather mean-spirited kid - remember the pigeon.  Lonnie even makes fun of the way his own mother speaks.  She is a concentration camp survivor whose tongue what cut by the Nazis and who endured many surgeries to have it somewhat repaired.  But his charisma blinds Julian until..

As he writes his journal entries (9 composition books by the end of the year), the reader can clearly see how things between Lonnie and Julian can go from peer pressure (the pigeon entry is one example) to full scale bullying  - the incident with Danley Dimmel.

I particularly liked the novel because of its setting - 6th grade in 1969 Queens wasn't so different than 6th grade in 1969 Brooklyn.  And though the use of journal entries may be seen as formulaic to some, I felt it was an excellent method for the kind of soul-searching Julian needed to do.

I also like the positive image of the teacher in Twerp even though we never meet him directly, only when Julian addresses him in his journal, which he does often.  Recognizing that there was something about Julian that made him think he would benefit more from his journal assignment than doing the Julius Caesar paper (guilt? knowing right from wrong? a need to confess?), Mr. Selkirk did the right thing.

All in all, Twerp is an excellent novel and one that addresses the always important issue of bullying.

This novel is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was received as an E-ARC from Netgalley.com

In Andal's House by Gloria Whelan, Illustrated by Amanda Hall

It is Duwali, India's 5-day Festival of Light symbolizing the inner light within us that protects us from spiritual darkness.  It is a time for family, friends, food and of course, light - strung lights, lights in little clay pots lighting the way to one's house and fireworks, among other lights.  And young Kumar couldn't be more excited.

Kumar is the smartest kid in his class and can even speak three languages.  Now, he has been invited to his schoolmate Andal's house to watch the Duwali fireworks.   Kumar feels it is quite an honor to be invited, after all, Andal's family are high-born Brahmin and Kumar's family had once been lowly outcasts.  Not that they are well off now.  Kumar's father doesn't make much money and his older sister Anika must work to help pay for Kumar's education, even though she would also like to go to school.   Still, Kumar's mother bought him new clothes for his visit to Andal's house.  But at least the caste-system has been done away with.

As Kumar happily walks through the streets on his way to Andal's house, he experiences all the sights, sounds and excitement of Duwali - street vendors with sweets, lights everywhere, happy people being so friendly to each other.  At last, he arrives at his destination.

But just as he is about to walk into the room where Andal and his other classmates are hanging out, Kumar is stopped by Andal's grandmother who tells him he, a boy of no caste, may not enter the house of a high born Brahmin family and sends Kumar away.

Hurt and disappointed, Kumar heads home where he finds only his grandfather still there, everyone else is off watching the public fireworks.  Kumar tells his grandfather what happened at Andal's house, but can what his grandfather tells him next about his own life as a young man sweeping the streets help Kumar remember that he is living in a different India than the one his grandfather and Andal's grandmother lived in?

There is just so much material to be found in this 32 page picture book.  First of all, it introduces the customs and culture of the very important Duwali Festival of Light to kids who may not be familiar with it.  And then it gives them a short history review about the caste-system that had always existed in India until reformers like Mahatma Gandhi and B.R. Ambecker help to eliminate the discriminatory system.  Great men, his grandfather tells Kumar.

Gloria Whelan is a prolific writer of books for young readers and once again, she has written a sensitive, informative book that is sure to become a classroom/home school favorite.  As Whelan shows, the themes of civil rights, discrimination and identity still resonate in today's world and not just in India.  The book's back matter contains a nice glossary to help the reader with unfamiliar words and Author's Note explaining how she came to write In Andal's House.

Amanda Hall's lovely folk art illustrations done with a combination of crayon and watercolor ink are perfect for In Andal's House, creating the bright, smooth look that Hall likes, and is an approach to illustration that she developed herself.  The result reflects the color and vibrancy of not just the Duwali festival but of everyday life in India as well.

This book is recommended for readers age 6+
This book was borrowed from the NYPL

Kumar is from an area on the western side of India called Gujarat, as you can see here:

Cameron and the Girls by Edward Averett

Cameron and the Girls is one of those rare books I chose to read without knowing anything at all about it - I was simply attracted to the cover and the title.  I expected the story to be about a boy torn between two girls - and it is, but not in the way you would think.

Cameron Galloway is a 14 year old boy in the Emotionally Disturbed Program at the local junior high school.  He has been living with schizophreiform for a while now, which is an acute form of schizophrenia that cause temporary breaks with reality rather than the constant break that occurs with chronic schizophrenia.  When a psychotic episode does occur, Cameron hears the voice of the 'educated and knowledgeable' Professor.  But Cam is supposed to take his meds everyday and as long as does that he has, no problems but he also has no feelings, no emotions, no voices.

So Cam stops taking his meds and now it has been 5 or 6 days and the comforting, familiar voice of the Professor has returned, but now so has another voice - the young, flattering voice that Cam calls the Girl.  No girl has ever paid attention to Cam before and the Girl makes him feel good.  But no sooner does the Girl come into his life, then another girl, Nina, does too.  Nina is a new girl in his EDP (Emotionally Disturbed Program) class who suffers from depression and her mother's neglect.

Nina talks Cam in skipping school and going to the convenience store near her home.  They begins talking and he finds himself oddly drawn to Nina.  But as they get to know each other better, another voice comes along - the Other Guy.  The Other Guy is dangerous, he taunts Cameron to be more of a man, to take what he wants, to take risks and behave in cruel ways.  And the Other Guy begins to drown out the voice of the Professor and the Girl.

As Cam sinks into his hallucinations, Nina sinks into her depression, finally attempting suicide.  Cam is the one who knows her the best, but will he be able to help the real girl in his life?

Cameron and the Girls is told from the first person point of view.  This is refreshing because most novels about a young person with a mental illness are written from the point of view of a narrator on the outside looking in.  But Edward Averett is a skillful clinical psychologist who knows how to take his readers into the mind of this young boy and really let them experience his life from the inside of Cam's head.  Sometimes it is hard to understand that a person who hears voices in their head doesn't experience them as imaginary, but to people like Cam the voices they hear are real and so they respond to them as though they are a real presence.  And yet, Cam knows his has schizophreniform.

Cam's story is at time funny, sad, disturbing heartbreaking and hopeful but it is always compelling.  It is a coming of age story with a twist.  Cam is not trying to find out who he is but he rather trying to make his own decisions about leading his life instead of having those decisions made from him by someone else.  For most kids, making decisions about their lives is a maturation step that just comes naturally.

Cameron and the Girls is wonderful novel for that will leave a strong impression on all readers.

This book is recommended for readers age 14+
This book was purchased for my personal library

It's Monday! What are you reading? #4

 

It's Monday! What are you reading? is the original weekly meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.  It's Monday! What are you reading? - from Picture Books to YA is a kidlit focused meme just like the original and is hosted weekly by Teach Mentor Texts.  The purpose is the same: to recap what you have read and/or reviewed and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week.

Last week, was not my best reading week.  I had lots of company and it was the 6 month anniversary of the Sandy Hook School shooting in which my cousins 7 year old son Daniel was killed.  It was a hard day Friday, but I went to a gun safety rally at city hall in NYC.  

Bookwise, i read the following:

I loved Etched in Clay: The Life of Dave, Enslaved Potter and Poet by Andrea Cheng as well as What's in the Garden by Marianne Berkes

Sadly, I was not quite as enamored with Hero on a Bicycle by Shirley Hughes, her first novel, or by An Elephant in the Garden by Michael Morpurgo, who has written over 100 novels.  Both are reviewed at my other blog, The Children's War.

This week, I have a whole bunch of books to read and they all look good (and I hope they are).

Picture books include:

1- Spin to Sea by Izra Fitch
2- Bye-Bye Baby Brother! by Sheena Dempsey
3- Grandma and the Great Gourd retold by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
4- The Matchbox Diary by Paul Fleischman
5- The Mystery of Darwin's Frog by Marty Crump

Middle Grade books include (well, except for that one picture book that snuck in with the MGs):

1- A Big Guy Took My Ball! by Mo Willems
2- Every Day After by Laura Golden
3- Beholding Bee by Kimberly Newton Fusco
4- Paperboy by Vince Vawter

What are you reading this week?

What's in the Garden? by Marianne Berkes, illustrated by Cris Arbo

What could be better than the bounties of a summer garden, whether it is from your own backyard garden or fresh fruits and veg from the farmer's market?   OK, I know, that's the grownup who loves vegetables in me talking, but what about kids?

I know from experience with my own Kiddo that it is often hard to get kids to eat and enjoy fruits and vegetables.  But now, there is an engaging book for parents and kids to share and it is all about gardens full of tempting fruits and vegetables.  And it is a fun book, too.  Each fruit or vegetable is presented with a short, four line rhyme on one page that shows what it looks like in the garden.  Before turning the page, kids get to guess which veg the rhyme is about.

On the next page, is the answer and a simple, child friendly recipe them to make, with parental guidance, of course.

For example:

Can you get what the vegetable is? You can click to enlarge.

At the end of the book are four pages full of more information about gardens and and fruits and vegetables along with online resources.  Food for Thought has lots of interesting facts about the fruits and vegetables included in this book and kids can even learn facts about gardening and the different parts of a plant.

Each page is illustrated with a lovely, realistic painting, so well done, you can sense the wonderful smells of a garden - the soil, the air, the veg.  It makes my mouth water just looking at all the illustrations.  On the rhyme page, not only is the fruit or vegetable shown, but there is a common garden animal or bird included, adding to the richness of the book and a potential learning moment about these lovely, sometimes pesty creatures.  And best of all, and this really really pleased me in this oh-so-kid friendly book was the diverse cross section of kids that the artist, Cris Arbo, included.

Even if you don't have a garden, or even if you just have a window box full of herbs, like I do, this is a wonderful book to share with the kids in your life.  And be sure to take the kids to the farmer's market after going over the book for more good talk about fruits and veg as you purchase the ingredients for trying the recipes that are included.

Do you get it right?  You can click to enlarge

This book is recommended for kids age 4+
This book was purchased for my personal library

This is book 5 of my 2012 Nonfiction Picture Book Reading  Challenge hosted by Kid Lit Frenzy

Etched in Clay: The Life of Dave, Enslaved Potter and Poet by Andrea Cheng

A few years ago, we met Dave in Labab Carrick Hill's wonderful picture book Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave, illustrated by Bryan Collier.  This year, we meet Dave again in Andrea Cheng's new verse novel for middle graders.

In Etched in Clay, Cheng imagines Dave's life from the day he was bought for $500. at auction as a strong, intelligent young man approximately 17 years old.  He was bought in 1815 by Harvey Drake as a slave to help dig up clay for the Potterville Stoneware Manufactory, a business founded by relatives Abner and Amos Landrum.   Drake, now a partner in the business, gives the new slave the name Dave.

One day, while watching Master Drake turning a pot, Dave is asked if he would like to learn how to do it.  Dave turns out to be a quick learner and an imaginative artisan, displaying more talent than most in throwing, shaping and glazing good looking saleable clay pots and jars.   And he enjoys creating different kinds in various sizes for different uses.

One day, Drake's wife Sarah, a religious woman, tells her husband to give Dave a spelling book to help in learn to read, so he may read the Scriptures and be saved.  Defying the law against it, Dave does learn to read as well as write and soon he is etching his name on the pots and jars he creates.  Later, he begins to write short verses on them.  Even when he is told to stop do this, Dave defies the order and continues to express himself.

Dave's own life isn't quite as satisfying as his life as a potter.  Because he is property, he has no freedom.  He is bought and sold several times to various members of the Drake and Landrum family.  His first wife Eliza is sold despite his begging to spare her.  His second wife is taken away to live elsewhere, and even the young stepsons he has grown to love are sold.  And one night, Dave got so drunk, he laid on the railroad tracks to rest and lost a leg when the train ran over it, saving him from being moved to Louisiana, but making other things more difficult to do.

Etched in Clay is the story of Dave's life as Cheng imagined it to be like based on what little known facts there are about this gifted potter and his exquisite pottery, often using the very words Dave etched in clay to piece it together.  It is written in a series of spare free verse poems from the perspective of not only Dave but of every important person in his life, creating not just Dave's biography but giving the reader a more rounded sense of what his life really might have been like:

Someday the world will read
my word etched in clay
on the side of this jar
and know about the shackles
around out legs
and the whips
upon our backs.
I am not afraid
to write on a jar
and fire it hot
so my word.
can never be erased (pg 63-64)

Dave and Eliza

Not only did Cheng write the poems in Etched in Clay, but she has also created brilliant woodcuts to illustrate them.  The simple black and white woodcuts, a common form of graphic illustration in the 19th century, have a rather primitive folk art feel to them reflecting the crude conditions in which the slaves were forced to live.

Cheng has included a map of South Carolina showing places relevant to Dave's life and a short who's who of the different narrators used in the book as well as an afterward, history of Edgefield Pottery (one of the places Dave made pots and jars), some of Dave's poems and a list of sources used.

Etched in Clay is an unforgettable, inspiring story of a quiet rebel and artisan that is not to be missed.

This book is recommended for readers age 10+
This book was borrowed from the NYPL

You can download a Classroom Guide for Etched in Clay HERE

You can see how Andrea Cheng made the woodcuts for Etched in Clay HERE

You can see a wonderful example of a Jar made by Dave HERE 

Puppies and Kittens by Penelope Arlon and Tory Gordon-Harris

Parental confession: once when my Kiddo was a little girl, she asked me how many time a cat takes a bath everyday.  Not knowing the answer, and not having learned to say I don't know yet, I told they bathed 67 times a day, whether they needed to or not.

Well, not my proudest moment, but if that happened today, I would have simply given my Kiddo this lovely picture book that tells you all about kittens and puppies.  Puppies and Kittens is part of the Scholastic Discover More series of nonfiction information books for kids to explore the world around them.

In Puppies and Kittens, kids are introduced to these adorable baby animals from birth, giving all kinds of information about what they can do, what they need, how they grow up and play.  For each animal, there is a little cycle of development up to the point when they can leave their mothers.  For instance, did you know that dogs don't bark until the are 2-3 weeks old, but kittens can purr at 2 days old?

These is also a section for understanding what your dog or cat is trying to tell you by behavior - things like a puppy wags its tail when it is happy while a kitten purrs for the same reason.

The most important section is on caring for a new puppy and the important of good training with emphasis on the use of a leash to keep a puppy safe.

The book is loaded with photographs of the cutest puppies and kittens of all different breeds, and is printed on heavy paper, perfect for the young readers who are to want to read this book over and over.  And as with all of the Discover More series, there is a 27 page free digital book that can be downloaded, which not only gives more information and vocabulary words, but also includes games, activities and all kinds of learning fun using puppies and kittens.

This is a great book for young kids, whether you already have a pet, are thinking about giving a rescue puppy or kitten a forever home or even if you have no pets, but you do have a child who likes them.  And, with its large text and simple words, it is a wonderful beginner book for new readers.

This book is recommended for readers age 4+
This book was obtained from the publisher

This is book 3 of my 2013 Nonfiction Picture Book Reading Challenge hosted by Kid Lit Frenzy

An Appeal

This is Daniel Barden.  He was the 7 year old son of my cousin Mark.  Daniel was one of the 20 children killed on December 14, 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School.  Daniel was a sweet, kind, life-loving little boy.  Our last very in-depth conversation, two weeks before the shooting, was about those two missing front teeth and what a kid can do if the tooth fairy might forget to drop by when a kid has just lost a tooth or two (I am experienced in this matter, thanks to my own Kiddo).

It has been 6 months since the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.  And now the crime scene information, including graphic photographs of the victims, is due to be released.  But I want to remember Daniel as he was before December 14, 2012.  And so do the families of the other children and adults who lost their lives that terrible day.

A petition to the Governor of Connecticut has been started to not make the crime scene information available to the public by the families, including Mark and Jackie Barden, Daniel's parents.   About 1,000 signatures are still needed and so I am appealing to the blogging community for support.  The petition, Keep Sandy Hook crime scene information private: Urge the CT legislature to pass HB 6426, can be found at HERE

I hope you can find it in your hearts to sign this petition to support the Sandy Hook families.  You do not have to have you name displayed when you sign.  And this petition has nothing to do with gun control issues, nor with any political party or agenda.

I want to remember Daniel as the happy little boy he was in the photo I took last summer laughing with his brother James, sister Natalie, cousin L'naya and my Kiddo watching Happy Chinese around one tiny IPad.

This appeal was also posted on my other blog The Children's War

Cowboy Up! Ride the Navajo Rodeo by Nancy Bo Flood, photographs by Jan Sonnenmair

 I once lived in Phoenix, Arizona for about 4 years and while I was there, I did a lot of things I never thought this NYC girl would do.  Like, I went tubing down the ice cold Salt River with friends, I rode a horse through the Superstition Mountains and I ate more Navajo Fry Bread than any human should (because it was so good).  And I marveled at the beauty of the Arizona desert every single day.

But one of the other things I did was go to the rodeo - the annual rodeo in Prescott, AZ, and the Navajo County Fair rodeo in Holbrook, Arizona.  So naturally when I saw Nancy Bo Flood's new book Cowboy Up! Ride the Navajo Rodeo, I knew this was a book I was going to have to read.

In poetry, prose and wonderful color photographs all working together in tandem, Cowboy Up! tells the story of going to the rodeo from the point of view of the children going to and participating in the rodeo events for youngsters.  The book begins with a poem called Tomorrow capturing perfectly the night before excitement that always makes sleeping almost impossible.  The story continues through the next day and all the events of a rodeo, including the very moving Grand Entry and ever the Midway Walk, which was always my favorite part of any rodeo:

A young buckaroo with fry bread

"Hey, what's this?

I sashay back,
nose sniffing,
stomach growling.
Going to buy me some
crisp hot fry bread,
grease still popping, sweet honey
oozing..."




Cowboy Up! ends with the trip home, but does our narrator come home with a champion?

Though the poetry can be a little uneven in places, the expressive snappy lines should still have a great deal of appeal to young readers.  And Sonnenmair's photography is just breathing taking at time, just look at the cover photo or the one about of the Grand Entry with that beautiful rainbow in the background.

It really is just this grand

I especially liked the implication of the title of this book.  Simply put, even if you go home without a winner's ribbon, the lesson carried in this book is a most important one: Cowboy Up! means when things are tough and don't go your way, you have to pick yourself up and dust yourself off, and keep on trying.  And a rodeo is the perfect place for understanding the meaning of Cowboy Up.

There isn't much to choose from in the world of books about Native Americans, which make this particularly welcome book.  Even if you don't care much for rodeos, it will give you a window into one exciting part of life for Navajo children.  Luckily for us, Award winning storyteller Nancy Bo Flood has spent time living on the Navajo Nation Reservation and has already written several books about the Navajo people.  Cowboy Up! is her latest contribution about the very interesting, very family oriented culture of the Navajo Nation.

Cowboy Up! is definitely a book that should be on your reading list.

This book is recommended for readers age 8+
This book was borrowed from the NYPL

Cowboy Up! has an excellent PDF activity guide created with the Common Core in mind by Donna Gonzales

Nonfiction Monday is hosted this week by Jennifer at the Jean Little Library

This is book 4 of my 2013 Nonfiction Picture Book Reading Challenge hosted by Kit Lit Frenzy