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Blog: Children's Book Reviews and Then Some (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Reading Level 4, Real Life Boy Stories, School Story, aauthor: Anderson, BRL4, Friendship, Add a tag
Blog: Children's Book Reviews and Then Some (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Reading Level 4, Real Life Boy Stories, School Story, Real Life Girl Stories, GNRL4, aauthor: Chmakova, Graphic Novel, Add a tag
Blog: Children's Book Reviews and Then Some (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Reading Level 4, Real Life Boy Stories, School Story, Real Life Girl Stories, short books - BIG IDEAS, Armchair Traveling, aauthor: Morgentstern, GRL4, BRL4, Add a tag
First reviewed on 11/16/08, Secret Letters from 0 + 10 left a great impression on me. A wonderful, quiet story, Morgenstern's writing is superlative. Your children will remember this book long into adulthood. Secret Letters from 0 to 10 by Susie Morgenstern is a gem of a book. It turned up on the shelves of the bookstore one day and I was drawn to the cover, its length and the fact that is
Blog: Children's Book Reviews and Then Some (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Graphic Novel, Series, New in Hardcover, Reading Level 5, School Story, Real Life Girl Stories, aauthor: Moss, MIDDLE GRADE: School Story, GRL5, Add a tag
Wow! It's hard to believe that Marissa Moss's creation, Amelia and her composition book/diary, first hit the shelves 20 years ago! Amelia was not new to me, having just started as a children's bookseller, and having a daughter and a collection of American Girl dolls. Amelia and her notebooks have had a variety of publishers, starting with Tricycle Press. After publishing an excerpt from
Blog: Children's Book Reviews and Then Some (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: New in Hardcover, Reading Level 4, School Story, aauthor: Primavera, FantasyRL4, Add a tag
Ms. Rapscott's Girls is the newest novel from Elise Primavera, author of one of my favorite books, Libby of High Hopes and I love it to bits! Ms. Rapscott's Girls, both the book and the titular character, call to mind classics from my childhood like Mary Poppins, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and my absolute favorite, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle. Set firmly in the real world, there are generous
Blog: Children's Book Reviews and Then Some (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: New in Hardcover, Reading Level 4, School Story, Real Life Girl Stories, aauthor: Hunt, Add a tag
Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt will (and has in many advance reviews) be compared to RJ Palacio's Wonder for her portrayal of an outsider on the edges of mainstream education, an increasingly popular theme in middle grade literature. Palacio's main character Auggie, who struggles with a physical deformity, shares narrative duties with a few other characters, but his voice is
Blog: Children's Book Reviews and Then Some (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Picture Books, School Story, Add a tag
Dog Days of School is a very funny flip-flop-school-story written by Kelly DiPucchio and illustrated by Brian Biggs. Charlie does not like going to school and is tired of everything about it. In fact, Charlie is "tired of being tired." Norman, Charlie's dog, seems like he has it all - a soft bed to sleep on and nothing to do. As he falls asleep in Sunday night, Charlie wishes he was a dog.
Blog: Children's Book Reviews and Then Some (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Picture Books, aauthor: Rex, School Story, aauthor: Gaiman, Add a tag
Earlier this year in a Literary Celebrity Guest Review, Elissa Brent Weissman reviewed the charming Chu's Day, written by Neil Gaiman and brilliantly illustrated by Adam Rex. Now, just in time for fall, Chu is back and headed to school in Chu's First Day of School! Chu is nervous. School is starting and he worries whether the other students will like him and what will happen. His
Blog: Children's Book Reviews and Then Some (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Picture Books, School Story, Add a tag
Last year I reviewed Mike Austin's Monsters Love Colors. Austin took a pretty standard concept book and turned it into an energy-filled-outing with some scribbly-but-sweet monsters who are very fun to spend time with. In Monsters Love School, Austin and his monsters work their magic again, this time taking a pretty standard starting school story and making it special. Monsters Love
Blog: Children's Book Reviews and Then Some (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Science Fiction, Picture Books, School Story, Add a tag
PLANET KINDERGARTEN is a brilliant idea for a picture book - the kind that makes you wonder why no one thought of it sooner! PLANET KINDERGARTEN is written by Sue Ganz-Schmitt with a great attention to details when is comes to comparing the first day of kindergarten with a NASA mission. But what really puts PLANET KINDERGARTEN over the top and into orbit are the brilliant illustrations by
Blog: Children's Book Reviews and Then Some (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: aauthor: Carriger, Mystery, Series, Steampunk, School Story, MIDDLE GRADE: Fantasy, Reading Level MIDDLE GRADE, Add a tag
Etiquette and Espionage is the first book in Gail Carriger's Finishing School Series, which marks her first foray into the world of YA. Carriger's first series, The Parasol Protectorate, is set in an alternate-historyVictorian England that combines steampunk (quick definition: a sub-genre of science fiction set in an industrialized England and featuring steam-powered machinery, for Carriger's
Blog: Children's Book Reviews and Then Some (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Fantasy, Superheroes, Series, School Story, Reading Level 1.5, Bridge Chapter Books, aauthor: Kirby, Add a tag
<!-- START INTERCHANGE - CAPTAIN AWESOME TO THE RESCUE -->if(!window.igic__){window.igic__={};var d=document;var s=d.createElement("script");s.src="http://iangilman.com/interchange/js/widget.js";d.body.appendChild(s);} <!-- END INTERCHANGE --> Captain Awesome vs. the Spooky, Scary House is the eighth book in this super series that debuted early in 2012. With his cry of MI-TEE!, Captain
Blog: Children's Book Reviews and Then Some (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Real Life Boy Stories, Reading Level 5, School Story, aauthor: Dowd, Survival Story, Books About Worries, aauthor: Ness, Add a tag
A Monster Calls is now in paperback! I don't know how or where to begin writing about this breathtaking, heartbreaking, perfect new book. The start would be the best place, I suppose. As Patrick Ness says in his Author's Note from the beginning of A Monster Calls, I never got to meet Siobhan Dowd. I only know her the way that most of you will - through her superb books. Four
Blog: Children's Book Reviews and Then Some (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Series, Reading Level 4, Real Life Boy Stories, School Story, aauthor: Fitztgerald, Historical Fiction, Add a tag
First reviewed on 8/26/11, this series of books left a huge impression on me as a child. Especially since, for some odd reason, I didn't read the Little House on the Prairie books until I had a child of my own. I'm sure I was drawn to this series since I was raised on Mercer Mayer's picture books, and his art is perfectly paired with Fitzgerald's autobiographical tales of his childhood. Read at
Blog: Children's Book Reviews and Then Some (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Graphic Novel, Science, Author Interview, Inventions, books for boys, Books About Books, School Story, aauthor: Davis, Add a tag
I first reviewed The Secret Science Alliance on 12/16/09 when I was just delving into the world of graphic novels. In the years since, I have read and loved many graphic novels (mostly for kids) but Davis' book remains at the top of my list for story, art and complexity. A must read! The Secret Science Alliance, by Geisel Award winner (for her excellent beginning reader comic book, Stinky)
Blog: Children's Book Reviews and Then Some (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Reading Level 4, Real Life Boy Stories, School Story, Real Life Girl Stories, short books - BIG IDEAS, aauthor: Morgentstern, Add a tag
First reviewed on 11/16/08, Secret Letters from 0 + 10 left a great impression on me. A wonderful, quiet story, Morgenstern's writing is superlative. Your children will remember this book long into adulthood. Secret Letters from 0 to 10 by Susie Morgenstern is a gem of a book. It turned up on the shelves of the bookstore one day and I was drawn to the cover, its length and the fact that is
Blog: Children's Book Reviews and Then Some (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: School Story, Real Life Girl Stories, Reading Level 3, aauthor: Bowe, Friendship, Series, Add a tag
My Forever Friends is now in paperback! With My Forever Friends, the fourth book in her Forver Friends series, Julie Bowe brings (almost) to a close the eventful fourth grade year of Ida May. When we first met Ida May at the start of the school year in My Last Best Friend, she was mourning the loss of her best friend, Elizabeth, who moved away. Ida resolves not to make any friends at all in
Blog: Jen Robinson (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Reviews, teaching, middle grade fiction, Middle School, Newsletter, sixth grade, Late Elementary School, school story, rob buyea, classroom dynamics, Add a tag
Book: Mr. Terupt Falls Again
Author: Rob Buyea
Pages: 368
Age Range: 9-12
Mr. Terupt Falls Again is billed as a "companion" to Rob Buyea's Because of Mr. Terupt. I suppose this is because Buyea wrapped things up pretty thoroughly in Because of Mr. Terupt. You don't need to read this as a sequel in the sense of having to find out how things play out. However, for all practical purposes, Mr. Terupt Falls Again looks like a sequel to me. It features the same teacher and the same kids, albeit in a physically different classroom. Yes, the seven kids from Because of Mr. Terupt are back with their teacher, Mr. Terupt, as sixth graders (and yes, just knowing that is a spoiler for the first book - it can't be helped). If you haven't read Because of Mr. Terupt, and you like realistic fiction set in and around schools, you'll want to rectify the situation immediately.
Like it's predecessor, Mr. Terupt Falls Again centers on a subset of the kids in a classroom, a classroom led by a risk-taking, energetic teacher. The perspective shifts from kid to kid, from chapter to chapter. All of the chapters are quite short, helping to move things along quickly. The book is divided into months across the school year.
As in the first book, Buyea's understanding of kids, and of classroom dynamics, is evident on every page. This kids are as real as it gets. The problems that they face as sixth graders reflect their growing up. There are plotlines dealing with a girl trying to grow up too quickly (stuffing her bra, hanging out with older kids), a girl getting her first period (and not knowing what to do), and a boy resisting going off to boarding school next year. There are also the first inklings of boys and girls "liking" each other, though in a completely PG way.
There's a scene that takes place with the kids at a town carnival, forming into tentative couples, with the boys trying to win prizes for the girls. This SO took me back to the Fourth of July weekend carnivals in my own home town (though I didn't personally have any boys trying to win me prizes when I was in sixth grade). Buyea gets the feel of the carnival, and mix of the excited and insecure thoughts of the various kids, just right. I could practically smell the fried dough.
There is a bit of suspense in Mr. Terupt Falls Again. Observant Luke notices that Mr. Terupt (who suffered a brain injury in the first book) is displaying some physical weakness. We don't know while reading along (and I won't say), what the "falls again" of the title refers to. There's also an abandoned baby, discovered by Jeffrey, lending pathos more than suspense, I suppose. As an adult reader, I worried the potential consequences of Lexie getting in with the wrong crowd. But I also appreciate very much the way that Buyea, in a non-didactic way, opens up paths by which parents and/or teachers can initiate discussions with kids.
Some of the resolutions in Mr. Terupt Falls Again may be a tiny bit idealized, but I personally don't think that there's anything wrong with showing the upsides of:
- Talking openly with your parents;
- Being loyal to your friends;
- Finding the right sport or hobby; and
- Trusting your teacher
Rob Buyea is the real deal, creating authentic kids, and throwing realistic and age-appropriate problems at them. The Mr. Terupt books belong on the shelves of school and classroom libraries everywhere that fourth to seventh graders are to be found. While the "getting your period" and "stuffing your bra" plotline in Mr. Terupt Falls Again may make boys uncomfortable (even Mr. Terupt is a little uncomfortable), there is so much else here that will resonate with boys that I hope they'll read it, and talk about it, anyway. Highly recommended for kids, and their parents. Mr. Terupt Falls Again is a satisfying conclusion to this short series. I hope to see other books from Rob Buyea in the future.
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers (@RandomHouseKids)
Publication Date: October 9, 2012
Source of Book: Review copy from the publisher
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© 2013 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved. You can also follow me @JensBookPage or at my Growing Bookworms page on Facebook.
Blog: Children's Book Reviews and Then Some (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: School Story, Real Life Girl Stories, Reading Level 3, aauthor: Cheng, Add a tag
THE YEAR OF THE BOOK is now in paperback! AND the sequel, THE YEAR OF THE BABY is out! (scroll down for more info!) <!-- START INTERCHANGE - THE YEAR OF THE BOOK -->if(!window.igic__){window.igic__={};var d=document;var s=d.createElement("script");s.src="http://iangilman.com/interchange/js/widget.js";d.body.appendChild(s);} <!-- END INTERCHANGE --> What better way to start the
Blog: Children's Book Reviews and Then Some (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Reading Level 4, Real Life Boy Stories, School Story, Real Life Girl Stories, aauthor: Feiffer, Mystery, New York City, Add a tag
SIGNED BY ZELDA is now in paperback! Kate Feiffer's Signed by: Zelda (with wonderful cover art by Kelly Murphy) is her second novel for young readers and comes on the heels of nine pictures books, four of which are illustrated by her father, the great Jules Feiffer. Besides her own great track record as a children's book author and her wonderful lineage, I was intrigued by Signed by:
Blog: Children's Book Reviews and Then Some (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Series, Reading Level 4, Real Life Girl Stories, New in Hardcover, Friendship, Graphic Novel, School Story, aauthor: Ignatow, Notebook Novel, Add a tag
<!-- START INTERCHANGE - THE POPULARITY PAPER 5 -->if(!window.igic__){window.igic__={};var d=document;var s=d.createElement("script");s.src="http://iangilman.com/interchange/js/widget.js";d.body.appendChild(s);} <!-- END INTERCHANGE --> The Popularity Papers: The Awesomely Awful Melodies of Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang by Amy Ignatow marks the fifth book in the series since it
Blog: Children's Book Reviews and Then Some (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: New in Hardcover, Reading Level 4, Real Life Boy Stories, School Story, aauthor: Hasak-Lowy, Add a tag
33 Minutes (subtitle: . . . Until Morgan Sturtz kicks my butt) by Todd Hasak-Lowy caught my eye with the title alone. The cover is quite striking as well. And the interior artwork by bethany bARTon that includes some very funny charts, lists and graphs, is great too. But what I really love about 33 Minutes is that Hasak-Lowy covers a province normally dominated by girls in middle
Blog: Children's Book Reviews and Then Some (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Mystery, New York City, Reading Level 4, Real Life Boy Stories, School Story, Real Life Girl Stories, aauthor: Feiffer, Add a tag
Kate Feiffer's Signed by: Zelda (with wonderful cover art by Kelly Murphy) is her second novel for young readers and comes on the heels of nine pictures books, four of which are illustrated by her father, the great Jules Feiffer. Besides her own great track record as a children's book author and her wonderful lineage, I was intrigued by Signed by: Zelda because one of the main characters is
Blog: Children's Book Reviews and Then Some (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: New in Hardcover, School Story, Real Life Girl Stories, Reading Level 3, aauthor: Cheng, Add a tag
<!-- START INTERCHANGE - THE YEAR OF THE BOOK -->if(!window.igic__){window.igic__={};var d=document;var s=d.createElement("script");s.src="http://iangilman.com/interchange/js/widget.js";d.body.appendChild(s);} <!-- END INTERCHANGE --> What better way to start the new year than with The Year of the Book byAndrea Cheng and illustrated by Abigail Halpin? If I ever wrote a book, The Year
Blog: Children's Book Reviews and Then Some (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Diary Stories, Friendship, New in Hardcover, Reading Level 4, School Story, Real Life Girl Stories, aauthor: Ignatow, Add a tag
I have to start by saying just how much I LOVE, love, love Amy Ignatow's Popularity Papers Series. I was drawn to her illustrations at first, but came away with a deep appreciation for her story telling abilities. Reading one of the books in her series is like having a great meal, an excellent talk with a very good friend, and a really nice walk on the beach all in one. Her wonderful
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Looks excellent...ordered it right away! Thanks.
I thought this might be a good one for your family! It is different from the Penderwicks, but there are similarities as well. While Jeffrey's mother is not really given the chance to redeem herself in the Penderwicks, Precious has a very nice turn of temperament by the end of the book. I am curious to know if your library has it!
Yes, they did have it. It's 10 years old already...I've been meaning to thank you for not focusing solely on books that are so new that only advanced copies are floating around.
I'm so glad to hear that! You have an excellent library (better than mine...) It was my goal when I started the blog to review books that are available in paperback only for a few reasons - 1) books are expensive, and if you are reading my blog you probably have at least one avid reader at home who goes through books like water. 2) While I admire, respect and value the work of other kidlit
Ivy gave this one one-and-a-half thumbs up -- very much enjoyed it, but not on the same level as her current holy trinity of Savvy, Penderwicks and Mysterious Benedict Society.<BR/>: )<BR/><BR/>Speaking of MBS, I recommended it to a friend last week as a read-aloud. Sam is just turning 7, but is extremely bright and I thought it might be just the thing. Turns out, his dad says they've never had
Glad Ivy enjoyed it. It could easily be 200 pages longer and just as enjoyable. I wonder if, in this post Harry Potter-books-as-doorstops-world we/our kids need to re-learn how to love and enjoy the little things/books? I still wish it was longer, though...<BR/><BR/>Ok - I have GOT TO finish MBS this weekend! Just recommended it to a mom while at work today (her 7 year old just read "The
I guess it's why we all love a good series...a chance to live in those stories a bit longer. <BR/><BR/>So cool that you love your work. Not everyone says that!
Oh, I wish it had been longer somehow! It's definitely complete as a story, but it was over too soon. I enjoyed finding out what the secret letters really were and seeing his grandmother become more human.
I agree. Not sure what or how I would have made it longer, though...