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Slam! by Walter Dean Myers
On the basketball court, a player has a clear objective and several people who are seriously in the way. In a young person’s life, there is the goal of reaching adulthood with style and what can seem like shark-infested waters in the way. For Greg, who likes to be known as Slam for his finesse on the basketball court, the obstructions on the court are no threat to his confidence. Off the court is another story. As he makes his way through one successful basketball season, he struggles to transfer some of his basketball skill to his life.

Told solely through Slam’s voice, this story also reveals what goes on inside the head of an African-American youth growing up the inner city, where drive-by shootings are commonplace and drug-dealing is a prevalent career choice. Yet his only real obstacle to realizing his dreams is himself. Slam has grit and heart and a family that he values; if he overcomes his sensitivity to what he sees as disrespect, he will have a clear shot at his dreams.

As a story with a lot of basketball action, this book will mostly be enjoyed by kids in upper middle and high school, boys and girls, who like to play basketball. But the basketball should not be a reason to avoid this book. It is a great story of tackling growing up with both mind and heart.

Gaby

Number the Stars

That Lois Lowry could write Gooney Bird Greene, The Willoughby’s and Number the Stars is amazing. The first two are fun and silly. Number the Stars is neither. However, it is an excellent book that brings to life the story of how Danes supported their Jewish neighbors and helped them escape the Nazi’s. According to the afterword, almost the entire Jewish population in Denmark was smuggled into Sweden. Wow.

I recommend this book to any child that read and enjoyed the Diary of Ann Frank. It is a suspenseful story, but there is no graphic violence. It does contain mature concepts associated with war and the persecution of the Jewish people. It also addresses the concept of when it is okay to lie, and how sometimes not knowing something is a way to keep people safe. This is a great book to read with a slightly older child as it could foster good discussions. -Jessica

Under the Blood-Red Sun by Graham Salisbury

In this story, author Graham Salisbury captures the panic, confusion, and terror during the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese in 1941, told from the perspective of Tomi, a young Japanese boy. Tomi’s father and then his grandfather are arrested out of a mistaken fear that they may be collaborators. Tomi struggles first to make sense of the situation, and then to gather his inner strength. It is  a story that contrasts fear-inspired cruelty with the compassion and loyalty of true friendship.

Under the Blood-Red Sun is well-liked by middle school boys.  There is plenty of dramatic action and a significant event in American history is brought vividly to life with realistic descriptions and highly believable characters.

Gaby

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt

Fiction tends to follows certain rules, particularly fiction for kids. The reader is satisfied when the bad guys get their due, and when true friendship endures. But fiction based on a real event cannot necessarily follow those rules, because in real life, often good guys lose really badly and friendships get lost forever. In 1911, the lives and homes of the people of Malaga Island off the coast of Maine did get destroyed by some greedy, powerful men from the neighboring mainland. Nothing good came of it; the powerful men never got the tourist attraction they wanted and the people who lived there never came back.

Author Gary D. Schmidt populates this story with the new minister’s son who lives on the mainland and an orphaned girl, the youngest of several generations of African-Americans to call Malaga home. Turner finds his starched white shirts and the scrutiny due to the new minister’s son suffocating. He meets Lizzie, who rows over from her island to dig for clams on the mainland beach. Their instant liking for each other deepens into a solid friendship. He believes he can save her. She tells him he isn’t thinking straight. She is the wiser of the two.

This is a tale of the war between two human instincts: the desire to be generous and kind to others and the coexisting capacity to treat fellow humans cruelly and without conscience. It is told with a cast of colorful characters on a backdrop of  natural beauty by a  sensitive and lyrical writer. Written for middle school and older elementary school kids, it is also a joy to read for an adult.

Gaby

The Endless Steppe by Esther Hautzig

Exiled to Siberia. After several weeks on a train, “enemies” of the Russian state have been dropped off to be forgotten in this nearly empty five million square miles for four hundred years. Ten-year old Esther Rudomin’s parents and grandparents are accused of being capitalists by the occupying Russians in 1941. They are yanked from their life of luxury and privilege in Vilna, Poland one morning and thrown into cattle cars with nothing but what they can carry. They end up being “lucky” for they are Jewish and the Germans who invade soon after did not practice the art of exile.

Esther spends the next five years in Rubtsvosk, Siberia. Extreme cold, constant hunger, filth, and fear are her constant companions. Yet she can still fret, like any young adolescent, about fitting in with her peers to the point that she will sacrifice food if it means she will belong. She creates, through pure force of will, the early teen years that she desires and when it is time to leave, she experiences the separation anxiety any teen feels when they must leave the first world they have created for themselves.

This is a story of resilience, pride, and determination, an intimate portrait of one slice of a significant time in relatively recent history. Girls from about fifth grade up to early high school will appreciate this story.

Gaby

Bloody Jack by L.A. Meyer

It is 1797 in London and a young girl has just been put out on the street. All of her family has died of the pestilence and she has nothing but the clothes on her back. Oh, wait! Soon she is robbed of even those by a gang of orphans in need of new clothes. The girl who has her new clothes looks back at her and says, “Well, come on then. And quit your sniveling.” The girl, who narrates this story, writes, “I snuffles and gets up.”

She weeps, she fears, she loses, but she keeps getting up throughout this highly entertaining story of a girl who disguises herself as a boy so she can become a ship’s boy, avoid being hung for thievery, and get enough to eat. I usually demand more than pure entertainment from the books I read–I want to be able to see the world in a new way or learn something thrilling–and I usually don’t like series books, but I finished this book with a single thought: I wanted the next book in the series.

The character of Mary who becomes Jacky leaps from the pages. The endless series of riotous adventurous never seem contrived. All resolutions feel perfectly apt. Danger never disappears, but evil always gets its satisfyingly just desserts.

Bloody Jack will be enjoyed by kids who liked The Unfortunate Series of Events in their younger years, middle school and younger experienced readers who will not be confused by the occasional “guttersnipe” dialect of the narrator (“prolly” for probably; me mum and me dad, etc), high school readers who need a break from fantasy, teen-age angst, and vampire genres, and adults who just like to have fun reading. Attitudes towards the innate differences between the genders are of course amply explored and the romance is tender and true and not excessively graphic. I recommend not trying to find out if the author is male or female until you have read at least one book in the series.

Gaby Chapman

Over and Under by Todd Tucker

Paradise is being a fourteen-year-old boy and having a true friend to share complete freedom with–the forest is unspoiled and filled with wildlife and unexlored caves; the town is small and suitable for unsupervised explorations, and the bedroom windows are easy to climb out of at night. Though the summer of 1979 has more fodder for adventure than usual–a divisive labor strike, a deadly bombing, and a murderous drunk–it all serves as backdrop for the real story: the value and the power of a solid childhood friendship.

This authentic-feeling story is not represented as young adult fiction though it is written entirely from the perspective of one of the fourteen-year-old boys, essentially because it is about nostalgia–ah, the irretrievable days of youthful freedom! However, middle school boys and younger high school boys who like the outdoors and the freedom to roam and explore will enjoy this book. The adventure and excitement never ebb, and all the characters are richly drawn. The description of one of the boys in a drain pipe with a copper head snake by itself makes the book worth reading. It’s a great book for parents who like to read and enjoy the books their kids also read.

Gaby Chapman

A Curse As Dark As Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce

In a tight spot, in an end of the road absolutely everything will be lost tight spot, who among us would not turn to the supernatural for help, even at an extreme cost? And if it works, would we not turn to it again if misfortune pushed us again to the wall? This is such a common experience it is no wonder it is a theme of stories in many cultures over the centuries. In the story of Rumplestiltskin, a miller’s daughter must spin straw into gold or her father will die. Talk about a tight spot. But a little man appears and spins the straw into gold for her. He asks for a necklace at first but eventually it is her child he wants. She saves the child by finding out the little man’s true name.

Elizabeth Bunce has taken the hapless miller’s daughter and made her into a real force. Strong, sensible Charlotte takes over the mill when her father dies and throws herself into the impossible challenge of overcoming adversity on every side. When all her options vanish, she turns to the mysterious little man who can spin straw into gold. But it is not only his name she must discover to save everything she holds dear; she must use all her courage to discover where her forebearers went wrong and she must make it right.

This is storytelling at its best and a wonderfully rich version of a very old tale. The spells, the magic, and the curse from the dead are skillfully woven into a warmly realistic tale of millers of cloth in the years before the Industrial transformation. As I was reading this book, I heard mysterious noises in my house differently and experienced fleeting moments where I thought I might be in the presence of spirits. No wonder I liked fairy tales so much when I was a child. They break open thin windows onto alternate worlds.

Girls from age ten to ninetly will love this book. It is an advanced read for younger girls and though fairly scarey, has nothing that would be inappropriate for younger readers.

Gaby Chapman

The Naming,  by Alison Croggon

Presented as a translation of an ancient legend, The Naming is epic fantasy at its most classic.  The Dark (working for what someone else forces you to do) threatens to extinguish the Light (working for what you hope for and believe in the depths of your heart) in the ancient civilization of Edil-Amarandh. Cadvan, a magically gifted Bard, believes that sixteen-year-old Maedra is the One who is Foretold to defeat the Dark. He finds her living wretchedly as a slave nine years after she survived the destruction of her home of Pellinor.

Eager to leave her  life of slavery, Maedra and Cadvan embark on a long and dangerous journey during which she confronts enemies and realizes her special gifts. On this journey, Maedra finds her little brother, Hem, who she thought had been killed. They must separate at the end of The Naming, as Maedra continues her quest in The Riddle. Hem’s story is taken up again  in the third book, The Crow. In the last book, The Singing, brother and sister are reunited for a final effort against the growing power of the Dark.

The edge of danger never lags in this series and the evil ones are plenty scary. The characters are complex and the line between the Light and the Dark is often blurred. Maedra is strong-willed, intelligent, kind, and brave. Because of the strength of her character, this series has been well-liked by the middle and high school girls in my classes, but boys who are avid fans of fantasy have also liked it.  The protagonist is a teenager and as such there are some themes of romance and maturing development, but these are more implicit than explicit.  Though this series has been compared to The Lord of the Rings, I think it is a slightly easier read and could be appreciated by younger, experienced readers also.

Gaby Chapman

The Georges and the Jewels

This book was so perfectly right for me, that I originally felt I couldn’t judge it objectively. So, first I gave it to my daughter who is just starting to ride. And, then I gave it to my mother who was never bitten by the horse bug. We all absolutely loved it. It is a wonderful book that while just right for a nine year old, has the ability to appeal to children and adults alike. I would recommend it to people of any age and with varying degrees of interest in horses. It is that good.

It is the story of a 7th grade girl named Abby growing up in 1960’s California horse country. She helps her father train horses so that he can claim, “Kid’s Horse for Sale.” There are several great story lines that come together in this fast read to make us truly feel for Abby. A central theme is Abby’s evolving relationship with a particularly difficult horse, that continues to throw her off. Through the course of the book we see various adults interact with the horse with mixed success, and eventually are able to witness a coming around thanks to a horse whisperer. The horse training details are simultaneously specific, graphic and enlightening. Most of all, it is particularly nice to witness it through the frank eyes of a young girl.

At the same time, Abby is growing up in a born-again Christian household where she is faced with the challenges of having her family’s beliefs conflict with the things she is learning at school as well as the estrangement of her brother. This element of the book is important to the development of Abby’s character, but is not overly described and is consistently presented without judgment. I wondered if Violet would ask questions about this religious component, but she didn’t. She took it at face value, and was much more interested in the social dynamic in Abby’s school. As Jane Smiley so adeptly puts it, “The best thing that can happen to you in seventh grade, really, is that you float from one classroom to another like a ghost or spirit, undetected by the humans.” Ms. Smiley is a master of the human dynamic, and perfectly brings her skills to bear in helping us experience a little bit of that dreaded 7th grade one more time. Fortunately, it is not too painful to re-live, while there is at least one character in there that each of us can relate to. There is nothing remotely inappropriate in this book for children. Most of all it has a fairly just ending, which I really do like in books – especially children’s books.

There are many accomplished children’s authors out there. And, then there are great adult authors such as Ursula Lequin (Catwings) and Alexander McCall Smith (Max & Maddy, Akimbo) who do us a kindness by writing books for children. We can now add Jane Smiley to the list of fantastic authors that we can be grateful to for writing exceptional literature for our kids. Thank you, Jane. I also want to add a special shout out to the illustrator, Elaine Clayton. She graces the beginning of each chapter with illustrations of various horse accessories, and they are delightful. While I was sad to finish this book, it is nice to be able to go back and look at the illustrations from time to time.

- Jessica Wheeler

Trouble, by Gary D. Schmidt

In Trouble, award-winning award author Gary D. Scmidt has given us a book that reminds us what a gift reading is. Not just beautifully written with exquisite imagery, a tightly woven plot, and myth-like symbolism, it is a story that nourishes the spirit. Enacted in the person of a fourteen-year-old boy, innate inhumanity and innate grace battle for hegemony.

Trouble brings sorrow. It strikes Henry’s family even though they may have every reason to believe they should have been able to avoid it. With his parents and sister engulfed in grief, Henry embarks on a quest with a good friend, a faithful dog, and a misunderstood enemy. Together, they overcome those who wish to do them harm, stumble upon one island of refuge, and battle their own demons.

This book is such a joy to read, I want to give absolutely nothing away. I would not recommend it for the reluctant reader, although experienced readers from middle school on up, both boys and girls, will most likely enjoy this book.Trouble is literature for kids at its finest.

Gaby Chapman

Sacred Scars, by Kathleen Duey

The second book in this trilogy continues the story of wizardry and time warp begun in the first book Skin Hunger (see March 17 review). This is a woven story with the warp being told from the perspective of a girl and the weft being told from the perspective of a boy. In Skin Hunger,their stories are separated by a great span of time, but they both are under the power of the same sadistic, twisted wizard, Soumiss.  Soumiss exists in both stories since he has the secret of long life. In Sacred Scars,  the time span between the two stories narrows. The book ends with an implicit promise that the two strands will merge in the third book.

Mystery and the constant threat of danger propel this story along at a pleasing pace. In this second volume, the conflict  between the abuse of power and the capacity for kindness solidifies. While suffering permeates almost every chapter, it is  continually tempered by slivers of tenderness and loyalty. Romance exists but remains  primarily on a spiritual plane.

Fans of the first book will be pleased with this one. However, being the second in a trilogy, there is a sense of inertia: the first volume developed the characters but  resolution can not come to them until the final book. The anticipation set up in Skin Hunger will have to wait one more volume for satisfaction.

Gaby Chapman

Carpe Diem, by Autumn Cornwell 

Being a high school girl is about finding your way from your childhood self to your adult self. At close view, that can look like making the right friends, snagging the “right” boyfriend, keeping ahead of the pack, and keeping a grasp of your appearance and dignity, while striving all the time to end up on top. If you’re lucky, as Vassar Spore is in this novel by Autumn Cornwell, you will get a chance to get sidetracked. Off the beaten track and at the mercy of fate, you may get a chance to find out who you really are and to realize that you like what you find.

Autumn Cornwell has written a story about an American high school girl who is just that close to having it all. When this fully Americanized teenager suddenly and unwillingly finds herself travelling through Laos, Cambodia and Malaysia, we expect her horror at germs, unfamiliar food, lack of shower facilities, and large bugs.  We even expect that she will change and find wisdom in her new surroundings because it seems the plot is directed  towards this. But since the author was an avid traveller in her own youth,  her descriptions of these countries are weighted with a profound fondness. What could have been a trite plot ends up being convincing and lovely.

Narrated  in the voice of sixteen-year-old Vassar Spore, Carpe Diem (seize the day) reads like a teenager talking to other teenagers. I found it quite funny and I found the two main teenage characters very real and in the end, very appealing. Not a difficult read at all, there are still quite a few good vocabulary words thrown in. And, it is an entirely appropriate novel for the youngest of teenagers.

Gaby Chapman