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One for the Murphys. by Lynda Mullally Hunt. May 10, 2012. Penguin. 224 pages. ISBN: 978039925615

One for the Murphys is a heartwarming story about a positive foster care experience. A victim of child abuse, Carley is removed from the custody of her mother and stepfather while her mother gets treatment for injuries and makes decisions about her marriage. She is placed with a first time foster care family, the Murphys, who have three boys. Though Carley finds it difficult, at first, to accept the kindness of her foster parents and their kids, she slowly begins to warm to each one, and becomes an integral part of their lives, forming bonds that help her understand what a true family is meant to be.

I’ve heard so many positive things about this book on Goodreads and around the Kidlitosphere, but I don’t think it quite lived up to the hype. While the story is emotionally compelling and the characters well realized, a few contrived instances gave me the feeling that I was reading the transcript of a Lifetime Original Movie. It’s great to use a children’s story as a vehicle for exploring issues that potential readers face in their everyday lives, but the storyline itself brings nothing new to the table. I predicted how things would turn out from the beginning, and was neither surprised nor particularly excited when my predictions came true. Carley’s transformation from the sullen, distrustful abuse victim to the accepting, loving child who wants to call Mrs. Murphy “mom” is touching, but doesn’t ring true. The pacing of the story is off so that the changes in Carley seem rushed, sudden, and forced. I could feel myself being manipulated by the story, and almost conned into crying when the inevitable ending arrives, and I hate that feeling.

It seems that adults really like this book, and I think that makes sense. Mrs. Murphy is an adult who makes a difference in the life of a troubled child, and I think most adults - especially those who work with kids (or have kids) - like to think they can accomplish the same thing. From a kid’s point of view, though, Carley is not that interesting outside of being a foster kid, as this is her defining characteristic throughout the entire story. Kids who live in foster families or who have ever been in foster care might relate to Carley if their experiences were positive, but I can also see the possibility of a child becoming discouraged because Carley’s foster family seems unrealistically perfect.

One of the reviews I read, written by Jen Bigheart, includes a sentence that really stuck with me, “I know there are many Mrs. Murphy's [sic] out there, foster parent or not, and this book is a gift for all of them.” This sentence sums up my problem with the story - the book is focused more on the adult than the child, and the story is more about the Murphys than Carley herself, who should be the central focus. Children’s books should be written for children, and in my opinion, this one will not please the middle grade audience half as well as it will please their parents, guardians, teachers, caregivers, and librarians. It’s a grown-up favorite, but I’m not sure kids will connect with it in the same way.

I borrowed One for the Murphys from my local public library. 

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Stuey Lewis Against All Odds: Stories from the Third Grade. by Jane Schoenberg. May 22, 2012. Macmillan. 144 pages. ISBN: 9780374399016 

Stuey Lewis Against All Odds: Stories from the Third Grade is the follow-up to 2011’s The One and Only Stuey Lewis: Stories from the Second Grade. The new book contains four stories, each about a different episode in Stuey’s third grade year. In "Give Me Space", Stuey and his class organize a virtual field trip to the space science center where his dad works. In "First-Time Fliers", Stuey and his brother Anthony fly to their father’s for Christmas. "Queen for a Day" is about Stuey and Anthony’s attempts to make their mother feel like a queen on mother’s day, and "Best in Show" focuses on the class pet show, for which Stuey does not have an animal to share.

The “against all odds” part of the title implies that this book will see Stuey overcoming a lot of adversity, but I don’t think that is a fair representation of what the stories actually talk about. While Stuey does sometimes have trouble with the challenges of having divorced parents, he is a pretty easygoing, upbeat character, and he never really describes his problems as overwhelming obstacles. “Against all Odds” has a nice ring to it, but I wish the book had a more engaging title, as the stories themselves do.
The writing itself is solid, and heavy on the dialogue, which is nice for kids who are intimidated or simply bored by long, descriptive paragraphs. There are quite a few characters introduced across the four stories, but each one’s personality comes through clearly in just a few spoken words. The best example of this is Lilly Stanley, whose annoying personality is illustrated using statements such as this one, where she corrects the classroom teacher, Ginger.

“You said Friday night when you meant to say Friday morning, Ginger,” Lilly interrupts. “But don’t worry, I get confused sometimes when I’m excited, too.”

It’s not just what she says, but how she says it that really fleshes out her character, even without any description written into the story.

Dialogue also keeps the plot moving forward and provides exposition and context in a straightforward, but not boring, way. I especially like the interactions between Stuey and his friend, Will, and between Stuey and his brother, Anthony.

Stuey is an authentic representation of the mind of an eight-year-old boy. He falls somewhere in the middle of the spectrum, about halfway between troublemaker characters like Calvin Coconut and Horrid Henry and worrywarts like Alvin Ho and Justin Case. Stuey Lewis Against All Odds will appeal to fans of the Stink Books, Marty McGuire, and Freckle Juice.
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Marty McGuire Digs Worms! by Kate Messner. February 1, 2012. Scholastic. 176 pages. ISBN: 9780545142458 

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Sammy Carducci's Guide to Women. by Ronald Kidd. 1991. Penguin. 112 pages. ISBN: 9780140364811

Sammy Carducci’s Guide to Women is a comic novel about the trials and tribulations of dating in the sixth grade. Sammy is the shortest boy in his class, but he makes up for his small size by having a big personality filled with cocky self-confidence. He’s been watching his older brother, and now believes he has all the knowledge necessary to impress the women in his class. The only problem is, the one girl he’s really interested in, Becky Davidson, is the most physically mature girl in the entire school, and he has a lot of competition for her affections.

This book is written by Ronald Kidd, who, nowadays, publishes chapter books like Chasing George Washington and Teddy Roosevelt and the Treasure of Ursa Major, as well as novels like The Year of the Bomb, and On Beale Street. Sammy Carducci was published in the middle of his career so far, back in 1991.

Reading the story felt a lot like watching a 90s sitcom like Saved By the Bell or Boy Meets World, where kids are the main focus and adults play a secondary role. A lot of the “jokes” of this story - Sammy’s height, Becky’s maturity, Becky’s parents’ reactions to Sammy, Sammy’s disagreements with his friend Gus - are common tropes found in a lot of movies, shows, and books from the same time period. Sammy isn’t quite a stereotype, but he does represent a certain type of recognizable character, whose personality is familiar to me based on how much time I spent indulging in 90s pop culture as a kid.

Kidd’s writing reminds me a lot of authors like Gordon Korman, Louis Sachar, and Rachel Vail, who use this same sense of humor to tell stories about early adolescence. Like books by Korman, Sachar, and Vail, Kidd’s story about Sammy Carducci could really appeal to boys or girls, thanks to Sammy’s engaging voice and the high stakes he sets up for himself by wanting to date Becky.

Though Sammy Carducci’s Guide to Women is out of print, a play based on the story can still be purchased from Dramatic Publishing.  I can imagine a play with so many colorful characters would be a lot of fun to perform, and it would be really interesting to see what kind of contemporary spin could be put on the story to bring it up to date.

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The Boy on Cinnamon Street. by Phoebe Stone. February 1, 2012. Scholastic. 240 pages. ISBN: 9780545215121
Thumbelina used to be called Louise, but she gave up that name along with gymnastics, any memories she had of her mother, and her house on Cinnamon Street. Something terrible happened on Cinnamon Street, but Thumbelina really can’t remember much of it. Lately, she’s just been floating through life with her grandparents while her dad dotes on his stepdaughter, making only the occasional phone call. One day, though, after ordering a pizza, a mysterious love note arrives on Thumbelina’s doorstep. She enlists the help of her two best friends, foodie Reni and her charmingly nerdy brother, Henderson, to figure out whether the pizza delivery boy, or some other suitor, is the one who sent the note.

The Boy on Cinnamon Street is one of the most sophisticated middle grade novels I have ever read. It’s a short book - I easily read it in one sitting - but it’s anything but simple. Louise, who has repressed memories of what happened to her mother, is an intriguing and sometimes flat-out unreliable narrator, and her relationships with the people around her - from her grandparents, to Reni and Henderson - are complicated, and at times, utterly heartbreaking. I absolutely love the psychology of this book, how an innocent crush becomes the key to unlocking Louise’s memory, and how love - even just puppy love - is able to overcome great trauma. I am so impressed by the way Stone allows Louise to speak to the reader in the first person, but still keeps so much information from us. We get a real sense of how powerless Louise has become, and we undergo the healing process right along with her, learning the clues to her past only when she does. This slow unfolding of the story really bonds the reader to Louise, and makes the satisfying ending really pay off.

This book is very much about Louise’s internal struggles, so it will appeal most to kids who like character-driven novels. I also think the book is somewhat challenging in the sense that the reader doesn’t always know what to believe, or whether Louise is even trustworthy. The serious subject matter and tone of the story might not appeal to every kid, but I do believe there are plenty of kids who will identify with some aspect of the story, even if they haven’t been in Louise’s exact situation. Though the cover makes the book look like a romance novel, it’s actually less likely to appeal to romance lovers and more likely to engage readers who have enjoyed the novels of authors like Kevin Henkes, Cynthia Voigt, and Lynne Rae Perkins.

This is one of the few novels I’ve read so far this year that I could see as a possible contender for the 2013 Newbery. It might be a long shot, but it’s worth keeping on the radar, as the writing is quite distinguished, and the book as a whole is unlike anything else I have read this year, or even in the last few years.

I borrowed The Boy on Cinnamon Street from my local public library. 
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Flying the Dragon. by Natalie Dias Lorenzi. July 1, 2012. Charlesbridge. 233 pages. ISBN: 9781580894340

Skye and Hiroshi are cousins, but they never meet until their grandfather becomes ill, forcing Hiroshi and his parents to bring him from Japan to the United States for cancer treatment. As Hiroshi learns English and attempts to navigate the American school system, American-born Skye attends Japanese school and struggles to fend off the bullies who don’t understand her cousin’s cultural differences. Though they often find themselves as odds, one thing brings these cousins together - their mutual love for their grandfather and his passion for flying handcrafted kites.

Flying the Dragon is a beautifully written story about identity, family, loss, and hope. From the very first page, the words seem to flow effortlessly, painting a picture of Skye’s family, then Hiroshi’s, in alternating chapters. Even simple, mundane things are described in very specific and poetic language, from the “tightrope of cheese” stretching from a slice of pizza, to the “bamboo bones” of the dragon kite. The plot moves easily from one event to the next, peeling back layers of family history and emotion as the characters develop their connection to each other, and to their grandfather. The story unfolds so naturally, it feels almost like a conversation between the reader and the two sympathetic protagonists. Even historical details and family anecdotes are worked into the text in such a way that the reader never drowns in too much information. Lorenzi writes only what is needed to convey the story’s truth, and the result is close to perfection.

This book speaks to so many relevant issues - immigration, English as a Second Language, cultural identity, family secrets - but at heart, it is a story, not a lesson or a lecture. Kids will learn plenty from reading this book, but it will be because the story talks to them on their level, and not down to them from the point of view of an older, wiser adult. The characters are believable and well-crafted, their experiences relatable and interesting, and the story as a whole, is entertaining, edifying, and at times, really exciting. This would be a great title for a book club discussion, or for a family to read together. It compares well to books like The Great Wall of Lucy Wu, in which a young Chinese-American girl must share a room with her Chinese aunt, or Same Sun Here, where two kids from different cultures form a strong friendship based on their differences as well as their similarities.

Flying the Dragon is one of the best books I’ve read so far this year. It will be available in bookstores and at charlesbridge.com on July 1st. For links to more reviews and status updates from the author, like the book on Facebook, or visit Natalie Dias Lorenzi’s website.

I received a finished review copy of Flying the Dragon from Charlesbridge Publishing. 
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