Clayton Byrd Goes Underground by Rita Williams-Garcia

Nothing makes Clayton Bryd happier than sneaking off to Washington Square Park and playing his blues harp (a/k/a harmonica) with his beloved grandfather Cool Papa Byrd and his friends the Bluesmen, except possibly playing a twelve-bar solo. But all Cool Papa keeps telling his not yet. Then, the unthinkable happens and Cool Papa is gone from Clayton's life.

No sooner is Cool Papa's funeral over than his daughter, Juanita, Clayton's mom, decides to sell all his belongings - records, guitars, clothing, everything. All Clayton manages to salvage is Cool Papa's porkpie hat. Sad and angry, Clayton just doesn't understand why his mom is so bitter towards her father.

To make matters worse, Cool Papa always read to Clayton at bedtime, and no sooner does he return to school, when the teacher announces a new book for the class to read together - the very same book Cool Papa read to help Clayton fall asleep, the one he was reading when he passed away. When Clayton tells the teacher he has already read the book, could he please read another, she insists he read what the class is reading. But Clayton associates that book,  The Four Corners of the World with going to sleep and that's just what happens everything time the class begins reading it.

After finally getting suspended for constantly falling asleep when he should be reading, Clayton's mother takes his precious blues harp away. Angry and hurt, and still missing his grandfather, Clayton hatches a plan. The next day, instead of going to school, Clayton finds his blues harp, his grandfather's porkpie hat, and his money - all $17.00 of it - and heads to Washington Square Park to find and join the Bluesman. And that is just the beginning of Clayton's coming of age journey, thanks to the ragtag group of buskers he meets on the subway, and who are just trying to make some money performing hip hop underground.

There is so much going on in Clayton Byrd Goes Underground, I almost don't know where to begin. On the one hand, there is Clayton's story, the loss of the most stable person in his life, followed by  his anger and frustration at his mother and teacher for not understanding how profoundly his grandfather's death has impacted his young life. Then, there is his desire to recapture what he had with his grandfather by finding and joining the Bluesmen. But there is also Clayton's mother and her anger and frustration at her father for being gone most of her childhood, coupled with feelings of jealousy as she watches Clayton get the love and attention she had once wished to have, while she is now forced to work long shifts at the hospital to make ends meet.

Cool Papa had always said that "a bluesman ain't a bluesman without that deep-down cry" (pg 6) and that is just what Clayton's underground education helps him understand. Now, I've been riding the NYC subways my whole life and even I had a few breath-holding moments reading Clayton's experiences with those hip hop buskers he meets. And yet, kudos to Williams-Garcia for letting Clayton make wrong decisions and have those scary experiences.

The blues and hip hop, both African American musical and cultural genres. are the perfect musical accompaniment for Clayton Orpheus-like journey to the depth of the underworld to find a way to release his "deep-down cry." To his credit, it is his father who ultimately hears Clayton's cry, the father whose access to Clayton has always been limited by the angry Juanita but whose desire to be part of his son's life never flagged.

Clayton Byrd Goes Underground is an achingly realistic novel, and a brilliant coming of age tale for today young readers.

You can find a detailed, useful downloadable Discussion Guide for this book HERE

This book is recommended for readers age 10+
This book was an EARC received from Edelweiss Plus

Gone Camping: A Novel in Verse by Tamera Will Wissinger, illustrated by Matthew Cordell

In Gone Fishing, Sam and his younger sister Lucy has some sibling issues to work out on a fishing trip with dad. Now, they're back. This time they are going on a camping trip with dad, and while both kids are really look forward to this, as the trip gets closer, Lucy is feeling some apprehension - after all, she doesn't like the dark, and there are all those night critters that could crawl into their tent.

Then, all packed and ready to go, dad wakes up sick on the morning of the trip and has to stay home with mom. But rather than cancelling the trip, much to Sam and Lucy's disappointment, Grandpa has agreed to take over, adding to Lucy's anxiety. After all, he be a little absent minded, on the other hand

"...Grandpa's funny, shares his candy, drives, can barbecue
Maybe we'll still have fun without Mom, Dad, or the canoe."

But Grandpa actually turns out to be lots of fun, as the three campers do all the usual camping things like pitching the tent, building a campfire and cooking weenies and bean over it, and enjoying that favorite campsite dessert - S'mores.

But as bedtime draws closer, Lucy's fears begin to worry her again:

"Twinkle, Twinkle, Mighty Mars
In the sky among the stars. Ruby planet, bold and bright
Here's my wish this camping night. Let me be alert and strong
And keep the bears where they belong."

But leave it to Grandpa to provide just the right thing to help Lucy with her fears - a gumdrop that will keep away the bears. Little did Lucy or Sam expect that the thing that would keep them both awake would be neither excitement nor fear, but their Grandpa. Luckily, however, sleep catches up with the kids and next thing they know, it's early morning. Lucy has (sort of) conquered her nighttime fears and they are ready to enjoy a whole day of camping fun before heading home.

Using a variety of poetic forms, Wissinger has certainly captured the excitement, fun and fears of camping in the forest, where it can feel too dark and scary. Just as she did in Gone Fishing, Wissinger traces each aspect of the camping trip with its own poem in the voice of either Lucy, Sam, or Grandpa, beginning with packing up the equipment to returning home, safe and sound.

Gone Camping explores a nice range of emotions and themes from disappointment, anger, and fear to excitement, realizing that Grandpa can be lots of fun given the chance, and most importantly, facing and overcoming childhood fears. For Lucy, the camping trip is a real milestone.

At the back of the book, Wissinger has included a section called Provisioning for Poetry where she discusses rhyme and rhythm, and how rhythm patters come from syllable combinations, and how line lengths come from rhythm pattern combinations. There is also a section called Poetry Techniques which includes a variety of literary terms, and a section on Poetic Forms and Stanza Patterns.

Mathew Cordell's lively colorful pen, ink, and watercolor illustrations go far in capturing just what each poem is saying, using facial expression and bodily gestures, as well as Lucy's fears - did you catch that red fox running along side Grandpa's car as they enter the woods?

Looking at the poems in both Gone Fishing and Gone Camping, I can see where they are a wonderful resource for teachers teaching their students about poetry in a fun, lighthearted, yet relatable way.

This book is recommended for readers age 6+
This book was an EARC received from NetGalley

Here is a fun craft project that kids can do in connection with Gone Camping. It's a camping scene kids can cut and paste onto a piece of construction paper or card stock and put a picture of themselves into the middle of the campsite. You can find the free printable color template at Simply Learning

Used with permission of Kaitlyn at Simply Learning

Ice Cream Summer by Peter Sís

Today, June 19, 2015, is National Ice Cream Day and what better way to honor it than with a book about ice cream.  And leave it to Peter Sís to create just such a delectable summer treat.

A young boy named Joe has just received a letter from his grandpa, asking how his summer is going and hoping his grandson will tell him all about what he has learned over the summer.  Joe immediately writes back, telling his grandpa he is very busy.  At the bottom of the page, Joe writes in simple declarative sentences what he has been up to so far this summer: he reads, he writes, he's making his own book, he does math, including word problems, he's learned to make a map in camp, he goes on field trips, and he's even doing so world history.

But this is a Peter Sís book, and in true Peter Sís style, it is a multilayered picture book,  And so the reader's eyes must up from the words on the bottom of the page and look at the illustrations above the.  Yes, Joe is reading - the names of the  different flavors of hanging on the wall in the ice cream shop while he decides what flavor cone he wants. and yes, he is practicing math - 10 scoops of ice cream + 3 scoops = ?, and yes he has made a map, and the names of all the places on his map are ice cream flavors.  His research - the history of ice cream beginning 8,000 years ago in China and working his way through the to the Founding Father, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, and including the invention of the cone and ice cream on a stick.

This is a fun book book for ice cream-loving kids, who will enjoy learning some history of this favorite treat.  The pastel palette used for the watercolor illustrations will remind you of those big tubs of different ice cream flavors found in shops. And kids will no doubt have some fun combing the illustrations to see how many ice cream related images there are in each illustration.  This is done so cleverly that it almost becomes a kind of Find-the-Hidden Object game.  And kids are certain to love how Joe tells his grandpa the absolute truth about his summer, but leaves out the ice cream details (and yet, given the ending, perhaps grandpa knows more than Joe thinks).

Because there are some interesting facts to learn in Ice Cream Summer, Sís has included an A Note from the Author along with a short list of book about the history of ice cream for anyone who wants to know more about this delicious sweet summer treat.

Whether you like one scoop or two, a hot fudge sundae or a banana split, this is a book that is sure to give young (and old) readers some ice cream fun.

This book is recommended for readers age 4+
This book was borrowed from the NYPL

I scream

You scream

We all scream 

for ice cream!

I love ice cream and my very favorite ice cream comes from Springer's in Stone Harbor, NJ.  My favorite flavor is Springer Chip (coffee ice cream with chocolate chips).  

What's your favorite ice cream?

And to celebrate National Ice Cream day, you can get free ice cream at some pretty good places, click HERE to find out who is participating.