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The premise of David Cali and Benjamin Chaud's trilogy is simple, circular and deeply satisfying. Beginning in 2014 with I Didn't Do My Homework Because . . ., Cali and Chaud have taken readers on one detail packed adventure after another, starring our young hero in his pinstriped suit, red necktie and red socks, and his faithful, bug-eyed dachshund and his bespectacled, clever teacher.
The Truth About My Unbelievable Summer begins with the inevitable question upon returning to school, "So, what did you do this summer?" Our hero responds, "Well, you may not believe this, but . . . " On a visit to the beach, he finds a message in a bottle and inside it is a treasure map! But, a magpie swoops in and pecks it out of his hands and the adventure begins. There are pirates, submarines and time travel that finds our hero floating down the Seine in his submarine as a bucket of slop is tossed on his head as he passes under the bridge in front of Notre Dame. Turns out he didn't time travel - he just happened onto a movie set.
There are libraries, hot air balloons, the Taj Mahal, mummies, pyramids and the Great Wall. And Yetis. But I don't want to give the whole story away. The final page ends, circling back to the start of the story, with a nice little reveal that brings the teacher back into the story. Three is a nice number, but I wouldn't mind one or two more books featuring our imaginative, well dressed hero and his dog . . .
The first two books in the trilogy and . . .
A Doodle Book of Excuses!! How cool is that?
By: Tanya,
on 8/19/2016
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Children's Book Reviews and Then Some
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Honor Girl is Maggie Thrash's graphic memoir that was released last year and garnered awards and attention. Thrash chronicles the summer at an all girls camp where, having just turned fifteen, she falls in love for the first time. 
Maggie's mom and her grandma went to Camp Bellflower, set deep in the Kentucky Appalachians. Every summer, on the first night of camp, the Honor Girl, chosen on the last night of camp the summer before, is serenaded. At the end of the song, the Honor Girl's candle is used to light the candles of all the other campers. Thrash writes, "the criteria for Honor Girl were vague, with no particular definition. It was just the one who seemed, in an unmistakable way, to represent the best of us." Maggie is reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, her favorite Backstreet Boy is Kevin Richardson and she wears a leash at night that tethers her to her bed and keeps her from sleepwalking. The details of 15-year-old Maggie's life are mundane yet so genuinely real. Thrash is a gifted writer, making the quiet, everyday minutiae interesting and engaging. It's easy to get inside Maggie's head, feel what she feels, be fifteen.
Thrash tells the story of her first crush in all its thwarted, unconsummated, painful truth and it happens the way that I am sure most first loves happen, not the way they play out in fiction, especially YA fiction. Her crush, Erin, a 19-year-old counselor and astronomy major at college in Colorado, is not unknown to Maggie. But, she begins to feel differently about Erin after she gives her a routine lice check, running her fingers through Maggie's hair. Thrash uses wordless panels to illustrate this seen and as you scan you can feel something turning on, waking up, or beginning to slowly burn inside of Maggie. Thrash's skill as a visual story teller deepens the story immensely. Her illustration style is markedly different and less polished than many other graphic novels I have read. I'm still learning how to write about the art work in graphic novels and often look to other reviewers to help me shape my thoughts. I turned to Monica Johnson's review for The Comics Journal and found that her words describe Thrash's style (and the unique abilities that graphic novels have over other forms of writing) better than any I could find. Of Honor Girl Johnson writes,
Thrash certainly has drawing skills, but they're her own, and they're specifically savvy for the story she is telling. Her bare-bones line drawings colored with watercolor pencils seem to be channeled directly from her 15-year-old self. The drawings have the rawness and bright-eyed directness of the teenager depicted in them, who can't hide behind a catalog of romantic experience and mastery. This is part of the brilliance of the comic medium itself - the way images work in concert with the literal to tell a deeper, much richer story - and Thrash really hits the mark with it. The drawings are so believably vulnerable, which is maybe why her story feels so devastating.
Johnson's use of the word vulnerable is well placed, both in describing the illustrations, Maggie and Erin. Maggie and Erin have moments of vulnerability and missed opportunities. Erin is a counselor for the junior girls and Maggie is a senior girl, so they don't have many chances to run into each other alone. Then there is the fact that, in the eyes of the law, Erin is an adult and Maggie is a child, not to mention that, even though it's 2000, this is the South and a Christian girl's camp and being openly gay is not accepted. Maggie shares her feelings about Erin with friends and finds sympathy and support. They keep Maggie's secret and also nudge - or shove, in the way that teenage girls do - her toward Erin. In a meeting alone between Erin and Maggie, Maggie knows that Erin has made a move, and now it's up to her to make the kiss happen. But, filled with self doubt, she can't make it happen. She can't be that vulnerable.
While Honor Girl is a memoir about first love, it is also, if peripherally about being gay. Maggie is pulled aside by the head counselor who starts wide, telling her that her parents could sue the camp for statutory rape if her relationship with Erin goes any farther. Circling in for her target, she tells Maggie that it's, "her job to make sure everyone feels safe" because camp is a place where "girls can be totally innocent and free, maybe for the last time in their lives." Maggie assures her that she does feel safe, to which the response is, "Everyone else needs to feel safe, too. From you. . . Don't ruin it for everyone." The brutality of that moment is hard to read, especially because I think most of us, most women, experienced a time in our adolescence when an adult betrayed, disappointed or backhandedly told us not to be ourselves and those words go deep.
Thrash bookends Honor Girl with an event that takes place two years after her summer with Erin, but seems to play itself out the same as it did at Camp Bellflower. As Johnson says wisely in her review, "If you don't let people know that they are wanted, they will go away. Love relationships are fragile opportunities. They need care and attention. They need those moments to happen." Honor Girl is a powerful, bittersweet reminder of this.
Source: Review Copy
Chu's Day at the Beach is the third in a series of picture books about a little panda with big a sneeze written by Neil Gaiman and magnificently illustrated by as master author in his own right, Adam Rex. Sometimes Gaiman's story doesn't get beyond the gag of the explosive sneeze, but Rex's illustrations are always a treat. Painterly and packed with out of the ordinary (for picture
I am embarrassed to admit that this is the first Peter Sís book I have reviewed here in the seven years since I started this blog. Peter Sís is a picture book author who's work ranges from playful to serious, always with a unique sensibility, an out of the ordinary perspective and a magical vibe. Above all else, imagination and seeing something no one else does are themes that appear over
Confession: Even though he has been around for a long time and his books take up a lot of shelf space, even though I have heard him speak at a conference and was entertained, enthralled and excited by what he had to say about kids, books and reading, I have not read a book by Dan Gutman until now. His Baseball Card Series is a staple for me as a bookseller and librarian - a sports story
The Freedom Maze by Delia Sherman combines time-travel fantasy and historical fiction in an different way that makes for an interesting read. Sherman begins her novel introducing us to the thirteen-year-old Sophie Martineau and the very different world of 1960s Louisiana. Sophie's mama is a Fairchild of Oak River, which was once a great sugar cane plantation. Now, the remains of the
Thanks to a fellow bookseller for introducing me to The Savage Fortress by Sarwat Chadda! I love a good fantasy story that employs fairy tale or mythological characters, creatures and plots, but don't always love what authors do with them. I read The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan and didn't quite click with his writing style. I gave The Red Pyramid a shot because I wanted to give Riordan
Along with Adam Gidwitz's phenomenal trilogy that begins with A Tale Dark and Grimm, Suzanne Selfors's Imaginary Veterinary series are very special in my house because they are the first full-fledged novels that my son read on his own, with great enthusiasm AND voraciousness, proving that he has the stamina and drive to move into a new realm of reading. I read and reviewed A Tale Dark and
On the hunt for a good book to take to the beach? NPR assembled a group of writers, librarians, and book critics to create 12 summer reading lists.
The team established a theme called "Book Your Trip: Because Reading Is About The Journey." Books were categorized depending on how well the stories fit the different modes of transportation: train, plane, car, bike, boat, foot, city transit, horse, balloon, rocketship, time, dragons, drugs, and giant peaches. Bibliophiles can help to add on to these lists by sharing titles on social media with the hashtag #bookyourtrip.
Here's more from NPR's "Morning Edition" introductory story: "Our favorite thing about these lists is the surprising and funny combinations you get when you decide to look at a very specific slice of something. We love that Anna Karenina and The Little Engine That Could are side by side. On the car list, you'll find Go, Dog. Go! and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. And — perhaps for the first time ever — Che Guevara and Beverly Cleary are hanging out together with The Motorcycle Diaries and The Mouse and the Motorcycle." What do you think?
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
In 2002, Candace Fleming, along with the superb illustrations of G. Brian Karas, created a story of hungry bunnies and a determined farmer that call to mind Farmer MacGregor and Peter Rabbit. While the competition can be fierce, Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! is ultimately a story where everyone wins. In Tippy-Tippy-Tippy, Hide!, the rabbits are back and looking for a warm place to spend the winter
Whether your kids are staying where they are or traveling by plane, train or automobile, I have a raft of reviews ready to go and fully stocked with fantastic books that are sure to entertain, engage and best of all, keep kids busy!
As always, you can find great summer themed fiction for kids of all ages and abilities under the labels Summer Stories or Summer Camp Stories. You can also
THE GREAT UNEXPECTED
is now in paperback!
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When you get right down to it, The Great Unexpected by Sharon Creech is a story that's been told many times
Closed for the Season by Mary Downing Hahn, best known for her ghost stories, is a fantastic (and rare) mystery for young readers. Winner of the Edgar Award for juvenile mystery in 2010, Hahn maps out a realistic mystery that could (for the most part) believably be solved by kids, making for an exciting read. The foundation of Hahn's mystery is the friendship that grows by fits and starts
The Doll in the Garden: A Ghost Story by Mary Downing Hahn is a great book for a young reader who is looking for a good ghost story but needs a gentle start. The ghosts in this story are not malevolent, although there is a very cranky, mean old lady who hates cats. Approximately the same reading level as a Goosebumps book, Hahn's story offers a genuine ghost story without the
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There was some really great pre-publication raves about This One Summer by cousins Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki. The most interesting thing about the buzz,
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Nerd Camp 2.0 is the follow-up to Elissa Brent Weissman's Nerd Camp, with fantastic cover art, once again, by Harry Campbell. This is Weissman's fifth book for young readers as well as
Just in time for summer, Nerd Camp.
And coming May 5th -
NERD CAMP 2.0!
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Nerd Camp is the third novel from Elissa Brent Weissman, author of Standing For Socks and The
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I love reading a really good summer vacation story during the summer months because it almost makes me feel like I am getting a summer vacation again. In
Jake and Lily is now in paperback!
Jake and Lily is the newest book from Newbery Winner (Maniac McGee) and Newbery Honor Winner (Wringer) Jerry Spinelli, author of one of my favorite books for teens, Stargirl, which I really need to review here. With Jake and Lily, Spinelli brings us the story of the titular twins and the summer of their twelfth birthday when they go through changes deeper
My Extra Best Friend is now in paperback!
With My Extra Best Friend, Julie Bowe wraps up her Friends For Keeps Series that began in 2007 with My Last Best Friend. As always, the wonderful Jana Christy provides the colorful cover art and the fantastic illustration of the whole gang at camp on the inside.
With this, the fifth book in the series, Bowe brings the eventful fourth grade year
NOW IN PAPERBACK: Sara Pennypacker's Summer of the Gypsy Moths, a stunningly superb story of family, friendship, survival and summer on Cape Cod arrives just in time for vacation reading!
I was not excited about Summer of the Gypsy Moths, the new book from Sara Pennypacker (with superb cover art from the wonderful Julia Denos) when I read the blurb on the back. If you read my review
On the off chance that there are still a few readers out there who have not heard of this fantastic book, the first in a wonderful series, I am reposting my review from a few years ago with an updated list of similar titles kids will love.
When I started this blog in 2008 the first books I reviewed were favorites of mine and books that I recommend over and over while at work at the
I snapped up Rebecca Wade's The Whispering House and devoured it for two very pertinent reasons. First, as a bookseller, I have noticed over the last year or so that ghost stories have become very popular with readers of middle grade fiction. Also, I loved ghost stories when I was a kid. The two that left the greatest impression on me were Jane-Emily by Patricia Clapp and the Newbery Honor
Catherine Jinks' newest book, The Paradise Trap, is a surprise for two big reasons - the continual presence of adults in the story and the fact that the villain at the heart of the story is a character from Greek mythology. The Paradise Trap also stands out among the recent crop of fantasy novels for being set squarely in the United States. Even the fantasy world that is created, the
With My Extra Best Friend, Julie Bowe wraps up her Friends For Keeps Series that began in 2007 with My Last Best Friend. As always, the wonderful Jana Christy provides the colorful cover art and the fantastic illustration of the whole gang at camp on the inside.
With this, the fifth book in the series, Bowe brings the eventful fourth grade year of Ida May to a close and brings her series
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Ivy LOVED this book, and plowed through it in about three days, reporting happily on the plot development, even though the rest of us had no idea what she was talking about. I didn't return it when she was done, thinking I should read it myself...sounds like you're recommending it strongly!
Jeremy - You should read it, and no wonder Ivy loved it. You have such a great background knowledge of kid's books already, I think "Penderwicks" can serve as an example of what quality, realistic writing for children sounds like. Also, I know you and Ivy will enjoy the books Birdsall mentions within the text. I suggest you start with "Half Magic," by Eager. Enjoy!
Ok, you're so right on this one -- I started it the other night and it's already eaten up a couple of happy hours for me. Folksy, retro vibe, but just sharp enough to keep things moving along nicely.
I recently listened to this book & the sequel. Goodness - what a fantastic book. I couldn't listen fast enough. Susan Denaker does a fabulous job giving each character its voice. It would be a great book for the family to listen together. Hooray for Jeanne Birdsall.
Glad to hear that! I love audio books and I can see how the "Penderwick's" would lend itself to a great reading. I agree - Jeanne Birdsall is a wonderful, old school, welcome change to the wizards and dragons trend that has been dominating children's literature for so many years now.
We took this camping with us this summer and it was a great success as a nightly readaloud ..bliss
Perfect adjective for this book - BLISS. Just wish there were more like it...