Read This Book!

We are in the midst of the 35th annual Banned Books Week which began on September 24th.
I read banned books. Do you?

BAN THIS BOOK by Alan Gratz, Tor/Starscape, 2017

"How can you put into words how a book slips inside of you and becomes a part of you so much that your life feels empty without it?" These are the words of 4th grader Amy Anne Ollinger when she finds out her favorite book, From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, has been removed from her school library book shelves. Note: "not banned, but removed" is the explanation when Amy Anne asks. To Amy Anne it's all the same.

How did this happen? An influential parent has protested the book -- and several others  -- as inappropriate.

Amy Anne does a lot of protesting inside her head until the injustice of it all empowers her. A leader, an organizer, an advocate, a champion. All of these are unleashed as one little girl digs in and learns what our country and our rights are all about.

This is a PPR book. Parents, Please Read! You need to know what is going on inside your child's head that isn't being said out loud.  Thanks to Alan Gratz for making this topic accessible to all ages.

A Reader's Guide is included in the book. All curriculum guidelines are met.

Any mistakes in this review are mine. The book was due at my library and had to be returned because there is a waiting list. I could not double check and re-read and write more as I usually do. The copies I buy will probably not stay in my house long because I will give them away to someone who gets as energized by the topic as I do.

Every title mentioned in BAN THIS BOOK has been banned somewhere sometime. Can you find your favorites? I discovered I've been reading banned books my whole life --  I just didn't know it.

Keep the New in Newbery

For months after a book wins the Newbery, it enjoys great attention. Publishers print more copies. Sales increase. The title is issued in paperback. Maybe a movie is optioned. Then the book goes to a special shelf marked “Newbery Winners.”  It has a permanent home. A Newbery winner will always be a part of that great honorable body of literature. I usually don’t blog a Newbery winner, after the fact, because that year it has found its audience. But after that? Just in case you didn’t have time for this one the year it first appeared…  

 MOON OVER MANIFEST by Clare Vanderpool, Delecorte Press, 2010

This Newbery winner, a debut novel, came from the author’s family roots.  Drawing on stories she heard as a child, she followed leads in town newspapers, yearbooks, and graveyards, and based Manifest, a fictional town, on the real southeastern Kansas town of Frontenac, home of both her maternal grandparents.  It’s a subtle blend of fact with fiction.

The year is 1936. Family money problems then and now have an eerie similarity.  Abilene is 12 and wishes she knew more about her father, a quiet “drifter.”  Abilene’s voice is sweet and pure, but plenty strong. She has a code of ethics and is nobody’s pushover.  When her father sends her to stay with an old friend in Manifest, Kansas, where he grew up, part of her is reluctant but her quest for information is off and running.

Manifest may seem tired and frayed at the edges, but Abilene and her new friends, Ruthanne and Lettie, uncover secrets and investigate with all the determination of a detective agency for girls only. They find mysterious letters, go on a spy hunt, and meet reclusive Miss Sadie, a diviner whose stories are rich with tales of the past.  As the narrative alternates between stories about a couple of boys Abilene and her friends discover and the adventures of the girls themselves, Abilene finds the thread that weaves her life into the town’s fabric.

Start your own mother/daughter summer book club with this one. Make it new to you.   

Rescuing Halloween

You may not know Halloween needs rescuing. Contrast your own Trick or Treat days with today. Did you spend hours pondering, deciding, and creating your own costume? Did you and your friends scurry the length and breadth of your neighborhood loading down your decorated grocery bags with all sorts of chocolate and caramel rewards for your scavenging?

You might miss the creativity or the freedom, or maybe your own childhood. It’s enough to make a person put up posters: Missing! Halloween!

CALLIE’S RULES by Naomi Zucker, Egmont, 2009.

“Only Callie can save Halloween...if she can figure out the rules.” shouts the blurb on the cover of this introspective middle grade novel. Callie (Calliope Jones)is in 6th grade. Although the cover leads the reader to think this is a Halloween book, and it is, it is really about middle school relationships and conformity and thinking for one’s self

Callie’s mother is a free spirit, an artist who welds metal sculptures. Her dad is a lawyer. There are 7 kids in the lively household. Callie is beyond bright and is exempt from the pre-tests the other students must take. She has extra time to read and her current choice is Jane Eyre, a novel which provides Callie with a few well timed references. At the end of each chapter Callie summarizes her observations as rules. She grows, the plot advances, and the conclusion is both chaotic and warm hearted.

Did Callie save Halloween? Your 4th-6th grade readers have time to find out before the 31st.

Memo to parents and kids: This is a treat.

The Magic of Wisdom

Written in language authentic for the time and a voice made pitch perfect by the author’s attention to how struggling mill town inhabitants would express themselves, this story pushes each chapter to a cliff hanger and dares the reader to put it down.

FINDER’S MAGIC by C. M. Fleming (Onstage Publishing) 2008

An 11 year old boy witnesses the murder of his best friend and he’s soon on the run to save his own life. Set in an Atlanta mill town in 1911, the story of Hank McCord’s life is already harsh. He thinks it’s his fault his Papa is dead and it’s now his job to take care of Mama–tough to do when you can’t go home. He needs an ally and one arrives in the nick of time. Of course! Meet Calvin who is no stranger to hiding out and escaping bullies. Calvin takes Hank to the Finder who can work all kinds of magic. The murderers hunt for Hank and the KKK goes looking for Calvin. It’s only two weeks until Hank turns 12. Will he make it?

The finder’s magic may seem elusive, but it’s a wisdom Hank and Calvin discover on their own. Readers will, too.

Quote from book: page 20: Calvin said, “Don’t look down.”
Too late! My eyes focused on the muddy river a long way below. Little dots of light winked here and there on the surface while the dark water whispered threats as it tumbled downstream.

Would you keep reading?

This is a good choice for a reluctant reader boy–but don’t be surprised if his sister reads it, too.