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TESTING MY NERVES
By
Gregory K.

Shake.
Quake.
Dry mouth.
Sweaty hands.
Can’t relax, can’t rest --
It must be time for my math test.

Yep, that's another Fib (this one fitting in for both National Poetry Month and Math Awareness Month).

I'm posting an original poem each day in April in celebration of National Poetry Month. Links to this and other poems here on GottaBook (and I post all year round, because poetry is NOT just for April!) are collected over on the right of the blog under the headline "The Poems".

If you want to get all my new poems (and only the poems) emailed to you for freeee as they hit the blog, enter your email address in the box below then click subscribe!

It's another concrete poem, but this time I think layout won't be an issue....


A DOUBLEHEADER SWEEP
by
Gregory K.

won + won = too much fun.


I'm posting an original poem each day in April in celebration of National Poetry Month. Links to this and other poems here on GottaBook (and I post all year round, because poetry is NOT just for April!) are collected over on the right of the blog under the headline "The Poems".

If you want to get all my new poems (and only the poems) emailed to you for freeee as they hit the blog, enter your email address in the box below then click subscribe!

Title: Griffin’s Castle
Written by: Jenny Nimmo
Hardback: 278 pages
Ages: 12 and up
Publisher: Orchard Books
ISBN: 978-0-439-02554-6
Publication: November 2007

Twelve-year old Dinah is desperate to find a place to call her own home. Even though her mother Rosalie loves her, taking care of a child is beyond Rosalie’s capabilities. Dinah, wise beyond her years, attempts to make their latest dwelling, a run down mansion, much more than a dump.

While longing to belong and to be taken care of, Dinah finds herself magically thrown into the midst of stone animals that come to life to protect her. Before it’s too late Dinah must realize the stone animals want to entrap her.

“Dinah knew then that she was their prisoner and would never reach the gate where the vulture waited. There was only one way out. ‘I shall fly,’ she announced. ‘You’ll see.’”

Award-winning author, Jenny Nimmo combines the here and now with a fantasy aspect that will surely draw the reader in from the onset. Visit Jenny Nimmo at www.jennynimmo.com to learn more about her and her acclaimed Charlie Bone Series.

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Reviewed by Donna M. McDine, middle grade novel reviewer for the National Writing for Children Center

Title: Remembering Raquel
Written by: Vivian Vande Velde
Hardback: 137 pages
Ages: 12 & up
Publisher: Harcourt, Inc.
ISBN: 978—0-15-205976-7
Publication: November 2007

There are times when a person drifts through everyday life without being noticed all that much by those around them. Fifteen-year-old Raquel Falcone is that person in Remembering Raquel. Her life appears to be quite mundane and her story is told through the eyes of her best friend, family, classmates, and the woman who accidentally struck Raquel with her car.

Raquel’s death shakes the community to its core and proves how we all affect one another’s lives even if for only a brief moment. At first it appears that Raquel would have no lasting impact on her town. As one classmate put it, “”Oh crap. That makes me the class fat girl.” But through the eyes of the people Raquel came in contact with, we learn of Raquel’s gentle kindness, the traumatic impact her mother’s death from cancer had on Raquel, the way Raquel’s classmates perceived her, and the heartwarming frustration of her best friend. Even through cyber-space, it is shown how Raquel connected with others in her own way.

Vivian Vande Velde is an Edgar Award winning author and tackles the array of emotions all age levels go through when a death occurs.Remembering Raquel will tug at your heart. Visit Velde at: http://www.vivianvandevelde.com

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Reviewed by Donna McDine for the National Writing for Children Center

Title: A Crooked Kind of Perfect
Written by: Linda Urban
Hardback: 211 pages
Ages: 8 to 12
Publisher: Harcourt, Inc.
ISBN: 978-0-15-206007-7
Release Date: 2007

Zoe Elias aspires to be a prodigy piano player and holds onto her dreams of Carnegie Hall. She believes that if she can only get a baby grand piano her wishes will come true. She is dismayed that her father buys a Perfectone D-60 electric organ instead of a beautiful piano. Not only does Zoe have to deal with her disappointment, but she is dumped by her best friend Emma. Before she knows it, Zoe accepts an invitation to play in the Perform-O-Rama organ contest. Determined to do well in the contest, Zoe practices after school every day.

Zoe’s family consists of herself, her mom, and her dad. Mom is always at work and Dad is a recluse. His favorite pastime is taking mail diploma courses from Living Room University. The times he does venture out result in chaos. He always gets lost and has to call Eastside Wreck and Tow for directions every time. What’s a girl to do?

Friendship is found in the most unexpected person, Wheeler Diggs. Wheeler is from school and his family life is not exactly what you would call “perfect” either and he develops an endearing friendship with Zoe and her father.

Linda Urban creatively brings Zoe and company alive through their quirks and responsiveness to their circumstances. You will be intrigued from the first words to keep reading this fine novel about perception of families and how everything is not what it seems.

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Reviewed by Donna McDine, Middle Grade Book Reviewer for the National Writing for Children Center