Rosetown by Cynthia Rylant

It's 1972 and Flora Smallwood, age 9, has been living in Rosetown, Indiana her whole life. Her mother always said that Indiana had balance and Flora couldn't agree more when she thought about Rosetown. And although Flora loves everything about her hometown, her very favorite place is reading vintage books in the purple velveteen chair in the window of the Wing and a Chair Used Book Shop. Luckily, she can do that three days a week while her mom works, helping shop owner, Miss  Meriwether.

Now, however, as fourth grade begins, Flora is feeling rather off balance. She and her parents are still getting over the death of their beloved dog Laurence, the kids returning to school seem to have found a new sense of confidence over the summer that has escaped Flora, and her parents have just told her that they would be separating.

Flora does have a best friend Nessy, short for Vanessa. The girls have been friends since the day they met at the Rosetown Free Library, when Flora was 5 and Nessy was 4, and they often play together on weekends. Now, though, Flora has made another friend. Yury sits behind her in school and come from the Ukraine. All three get along just fine.

Rosetown may be one of the gentlest, slowest moving books I've ever read and I couldn't put it down. Watching Flora's year and the quiet, ordinary events that unfold in her life is reality fiction at its finest, feeling like a breath of fresh air. Ordinary things make up Flora's life (as they do for most of us), like when she and Nessy begin piano lessons at the Four Part Harmony Music School, and Flora is only an adequate piano player, while Nessy seems to be a talented natural. Or deciding what to name the stray cat she and Yury find, finally settling on Serenity. She's a cat who lives up to her name, providing quiet companionship and some balance to Flora. And, after Yury is given a puppy he names Friday, Flora accompanies them to the Good Manners For Good Dogs dog school every Saturday just because she is his friend.

There are not ugly fights between her parents before or after they separate. For and while, Flora finds herself a little at odds to have two rooms of her own in different houses, but her parents work together at providing her with some sense of security, and no matter what, Flora is always sure that they both love her.

Is Flora's view of everything about her life and hometown too unrealistic? I kept waiting for irony to show up, and it just didn't. But this is a story about Flora, not the adults around her and, for all the reader knows, they may be very aware of that is happening in the world outside of Rosetown. After all, Rylant hasn't forgotten life outside Rosetown. There are mentions of Vietnam and the war is lingering in the background, and Flora's parents had actually met because of anti-war protests.

And Rosetown did get me thinking about my world and childhood home at Flora's age - Flatbush in Brooklyn, NY, with wonderful summer trips to Coney Island and Sunset Pool, evening family picnics in Prospect Park and adventures with a best friend I still have. These were the kinds of things that kept me balanced, even though I know that Brooklyn in the 1970s was anything but idyllic, and I can remember sometimes my sense of balance was pulled out from under me.

So, as I read, I asked myself just who is this book for and by the end, I realized it is perfect for young readers who have difficulty dealing with change in their lives. Rosetown shows that with love and support Flora (and all of us) is able find the confidence and certainty that she lacked at the beginning of the book, restoring a now-more-mature sense of balance to her life. Rylant's beautiful lyrical language reads like a textual lullaby, calming and reassuring, stressing the importance of home, a supportive family and friends in life, a message that which will hopefully stay with sensitive readers long after they finish the book.

This book is recommended for readers age 8+
This book was sent to me by the publisher, Beach Lane Books

Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics by Chris Grabenstein

Splendiferous Greetings and Salutations!

Well, Mr. Lemoncello's wonderful library has been open for a while now and is a big success.  You may remember that in Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library, kids were invited to play his Library Lock-In game just prior to the opening of the town's first library in 12 years.  The lucky winners of this challenge were then featured on all of the Christmas advertisements for Mr. Lemoncello's games - video and board.

Now, due to popular demand, there's a new challenge at the Alexandriaville, Ohio's only library.  This time it's a duodecimalthon, consisting of 12 games all of which relate to the Dewey Decimal system.   Kids from all over the country are invited to compete for a place on regional teams, who then arrive in Alexandriaville to compete with the original winning team - Kyle Keeley, Miguel Fernandez, Akimi Hughes Sierra Russell and Haley Daley.  Sore loser Charles Chiltington and his officious mother are also back doing their best to sabotage the Olympics, and so is Andrew Peckleman.  Andrew is still angry over the first challenge and now so totally anti-library, he is content to just clean up and fill bird feeders in his spare time at the motel his newly-met -great-uncle-twice-removed had recently purchased.

Kyle, who has been rather cocky about his win and his subsequent fame, is a little worried about being able to defend his teams title, especially after meeting Marjory Muldauer, who main goal is to take Kyle down.  Marjory seems to know everything there is about the Dewey Decimal system, as opposed to Kyle, who seems to know nothing about.   But there a full scholarship for the wining team at stake and that is something that Marjory really desperately needs.  And she shares the belief with Mrs. Chiltington and Charles that a library should be just a library and it  and not a place for games, videos, holograms of famous scholars, as well as books.

So desperate, in fact, that when she is approached by Mrs. Chiltington to remove just one book from the library, with the promise of ending Mr. Lemoncello's antics and inappropriate library games, and a Go to College Free card, the offer just may be too much for Marjory to resist.

But when more and more books turn out to be missing from the library's shelves, it looks like someone is trying to censor what people may read.  Or maybe it's just another sinister plot to oust Mr. Lemoncello and turn to library into a traditional library.  Or maybe it's all of those things.  But will Kyle and Marjory and the other kids be able to override their competitive spirits and band together to solve the mystery of the missing books.

I found myself reluctant to pick up Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics when I first got it.  So often sequels are such let-downs.  Not this one.  It is every bit as much fun as the first novel.  Once again, Grabenstein showcases a large variety of books throughout the course of the novel (and there is a list of all the books mentioned at the back of the book, too).

For those readers already familiar with Escape from Mr. Lemomcello's Library, you'll slip right into this sequel; for those who haven't read the first book, no problem.  There's enough background given to let you know what is going on.

And would that Mr. Lemoncello's library really existed!  Oh well, at least, we have the next best thing - a book set in that splendiferous place.  And it is a fun, action-packed novel filled with games and even a couple of rebus puzzles readers can try to solve along with the characters.  And in true Grabenstein form, and in light of the banned books and censorship theme (one among many) in the novel, the last chapter is a challenge to the reader - to find the 20 things Mr. Lemoncello said in this volume that come from books once banned.

This is a book sure to please middle grade readers whether they like games or not and always remember that

KNOWLEDGE NOT SHARED REMAINS UNKNOWN 

This book is recommended for readers age 9+

This book was received from the publisher

#Cybils 2015 Finatist Reviw: Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman, illustrated by Sarah Watts

Emily Crane, 12, lives an unusual life.  Every year, her family moves to a different state.  Her parents are writing about their dream to lives in every state in a blog called 50 Homes in 50 States.  Life is a somewhat lonely affair for Emily, who has learned to not make friends only to have to say good-bye after a year.  To keep herself anchored, and because she is a reader and book lover, Emily plays Book Scavenger, a game developed by Garrison Griswold, publisher and fellow book lover.  It's a book trading game where players must solve coded clues to find the book they are seeking.

 The Crane's arrive at their newest address in San Francisco on Friday, and right off the bat she meets neighbor James Lee, also 12, a Chinese American boy whose family has lived in the same place for generations.  James is a code/puzzle/cipher lover, who doesn't play Book Scavenger and has a cowlick named Steve.  And he is the one to break to news to her that Garrison Griswold had been shot in a robbery attempt.

Worried about the future of Book Scavenger, Emily, Matthew, and James head to the Ferry Building on Saturday, to find the latest book Emily has been playing for.  On the way, they stop at the BART station where Griswold was shot, and discover a hidden copy of The Gold Bug by Edgar Allen Poe.  Reading it back home, Emily is annoyed that there are so many typos, but then begins to think The Gold Bug is part of the new game Griswold was about to announce.

Emily becomes obsessed with trying to figure out the game, while the two men who mugged and shot Griswold are desperately looking the the copy of The Gold Bug that Emily found.  What follows is lots of excitement, lots of information about puzzles and ciphers, and so many turns and twist it makes San Francisco's famous Lombard Street look like a straight road.  And during all this, Emily learns a few important lessons on what it means to be a best friend.

Jennifer Chambliss Bertman has written a novel that is a fun, fast-paced adventure/mystery to read.  Emily, James and Matthew are all likable characters, well-developed and realistic, though the other characters feel more plot devices that anything else.  Emily's feelings of  loneliness and her desire to have a real friend, especially now that Matthew has discovered music and a group called Flush and has no time for her, can really be strongly felt, the more so after she and James have a falling out.  Being a real friend is a give and take and Emily needs to find that out and Bertman explores this nicely.

Book Scavenger is a great book for introducing problem solving to kids.  There are so many different kinds of codes, puzzles and ciphers that kids can easily learn to do.  And in fact, there are actually enough clues given to figure out the solution the unofficial Book Scavenger hunt for the grand prize, so kids can have some additional fun, all they need is a good tourist map of San Francisco.  There is also the rather weak mystery of who wants the particular copy of The Gold Bug, since clearly the two ding-dongs who attacked Mr. Griswold aren't the interested parties.

James and Emily have a Social Studies teacher who is also into codes/puzzles/ciphers and I expected a lot from a character named Mr. Quisling.  Quisling is a World War II name given to Norwegians who corroborated with the Nazis while they were occupying Norway.  It's only with a long stretch of the imagination that I could see him corroborated with the people involved in Mr. Griswold's attack, but I didn't feel Bertman really tied up that loose end.

I went out to San Francisco not that long ago to visit my Kiddos, and do some sightseeing, so many of the landmarks and streets included in this novel were still fresh in my mind as I read it.  And besides Edgar Allen Poe, Bertman has cleverly worked in the names of a bunch of other writers that young readers may not know about, but might be curious to discover, such as Dashiell Hammett and The Maltese Falcon, Jack Kerouac, Amy Tan and Allen Ginsberg.  Even the game levels are named for famous detectives - Encyclopedia Brown, Nancy Drew, Sam Spade, Miss Marple, Auguste Dupin and Sherlock Holmes.

Be sure to read the Author's Note for information on many of the factual elements she included in Book Scavenger.

The 11-year-old reader that I once was would have loved this boo (so does the adult I am now).

You can become a book scavenger, too, with these fun book-related activities HERE 

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was borrowed from the NYPL

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein

Imagine a town that hasn't had a public library in 12 years.   Well, that is exactly what happened in Alexandriaville, Ohio.  But now, a new state-of-the-art library is about to open.  Not something that interested 12 year old Kyle Keeley until he learned that the library was built by none other than Mr. Luigi Lemoncello, his favorite game maker and Kyle loves to play games.

Now Mr. Lemoncello will host 12 kids, all age 12 to experience the library in all its technological, holographic glory in what amounts to an overnight library sleepover complete with games.   But the next day, Mr. Lemoncello makes them an offer (with parental permission, of course) no true blue game player could resist - A 24 hour Library Lock-In game in which the kids are challenged to figure out how to exit the library other that the way they came in or by using any of the emergency exits.  Naturally, there are hints scattered throughout the library, but first they must figure out how to find the hints.  And during the Lock-In, there is not contact with the outside world but there are additional Extreme Challenges for the hale and hearty where they either complete the challenge or are automatically sent home with some "lovely parting gifts."

The story is narrated by Kyle, a class clown and a crack game player and a pretty nice kid.  Along with him at the Library Lock-In are a diverse group, most of whom are out of the game almost before it begins.  Those left are Kyle's best friend Akimi Hughes, another ace game player; Haley Daley, the pretty cheerleader whose family is having financial problems; Miguel Fernandez, a nice kid and library geek who says "bro" a little too frequently; shy, bookish Sierra Russell and Charles Chiltington, rich, confident and suck up par excellence.  Akimi suggests that she and Kyle work together a la Survivor to solve the puzzle of how to exit the library until it is just the two of them left and they must compete with each other.  The other remaining players join them and soon it is Kyle's team against Charles Chiltington.

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library is a fun book to read and there are enough clues, if you read carefully, to solve the puzzle along with the characters.  And if you really pay attention, maybe you can solve the puzzle that wasn't in the story but there is a clue about how to find it somewhere in the story.  I would read the Author's Note carefully for that one.

I liked the way a group of kids who didn't really know each other well could come together and work towards a goal.  Teamwork tells and it certainly does here.  I also like that a sense of responsibility and acts of kindness count in Mr. Lemoncello's library, as does treating people, even if they are only a holograph, with respect.  Score one for moral fiber!

Another nice touch - the number of favorite books that are mentioned throughout the novel and are the basis for some of Mr. Lemoncello's excellent puns.  Here is a book about a library and it truly celebrates books and reading.

Even if you don't like games (me!) or puzzles or ciphers (I love both), this is still a totally enjoyable book.  Think Survivor meets Charlie and the Chocolate Factory meets Night at the Museum meets Mr. Lemoncello.  You can't go wrong.

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was received from the publisher.

There is a downloadable PDF study guide complete with Common Core Standards available HERE

Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday is a weekly event hosted by Shannon Messenger at Books, Ramblings and Other Shenegans

The Children Who Loved Books by Peter Carnavas

We all want our kids to love books and reading.  Here is a delightful story about a family that loves reading so much, that even though they don't have a TV or a car or even a house (they live in a small old fashioned trailer), they do have books, lots and lots of books, piled here, there and everywhere.  But when the day comes that there are so many books they don't fit in the house anymore, the family realizes it is time to do something.

The books had to go.  But once they were gone, things change.  The table wobbles, there's nothing for Angus to stand on to look out the window, then Mom and Dad and Angus and Lucy notice there is a lot more space between them and they are growing apart.  Until...Lucy brings home a library book and the space between everyone grows smaller and smaller as they read the book.

Carnavas says there are two themes in this book.  First, the theme that we don't need a lot of material things to be happy.   This is very true.  The second theme is that books can bring people together and that make you happy.  Think about reading to your Kiddos before bedtime.  It is a close, somewhat intimate moment between you both.  Maybe you talk for a minute about the story or maybe about the day, they may even open up and talk about something that is bothering them.  Either way, if you were brought closer together by the daily bedtime story routine.  And that can be just the beginning, thanks to books.

And Carnavas reminds us, we don't have to buy and own books to be happy, we can just go to the library like Lucy and Angus and Mom and Dad end up doing.

The boldly colored, whimsical illustrations, also done by Carnavas, are done in watercolor and ink, and are rather fun.  Somewhere in almost all of the illustration there is the family's calico cat and roosters.

The Children Who Loved Books is a wonderful, charming homage to books, reading, book lovers and libraries!  And it is sure to become a favorite with all like-minded folks, young and old.

The book is recommended for readers of all ages.
This book was purchased for my personal library

Summer Reading

My friend Angela over at AJ Arndt Books Blog a Young Adult Summer Reading Flowchart that was too good not to repost.  After all, the dog days of summer are just ahead and what would be nicer that curling up with a good book or two before school begins?  Here is a chart that has something for everyone, depending on what you are in the mood for.  So, take a look and maybe, find a good book.


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