Hansel & Gretel by Neil Gaiman

My fairy tale history is a little fuzzy. Here’s what I remember about Hansel & Gretel: A boy and a girl are lost in the forest. They find a candy house and try to eat it. The witch gets mad and wants to eat them instead. Kids escape. An oven is involved.

But I knew something must be missing from the version I remembered, especially if Neil Gaiman had put pen to paper to record his version. The author of Coraline and The Graveyard Book certainly wouldn’t publish a saccharine story of lost kids and candy houses.

So I read and learned about the woodcutter and his wife and their two children. How their life was good until war came and food, once plentiful, became scarce. How a mother logically concluded that they will all die unless there were fewer mouths to feed. How a mother could convince her husband to abandon their children in the forest. Twice.

In other words, I finally got to know the real story of Hansel & Gretel.

Readers familiar with Toon Books may be expecting a comic version similar to other Toon Books titles, but Hansel & Gretel is told as a short story like the original Grimm story. The text is broken by fourteen two-page illustrations that alternate pages with the text. The illustrations by Lorenzo Mattotti are done in black ink and reveal more and more each time they are viewed.

No, this is not the story I was told or remember or the one I just chose to remember. It’s better - way better - and thankfully so. It’s a story begging to be read aloud, slowly and quietly in a room dimly lit, to be heard by listeners contemplating abandoned children, sinister old ladies, scorching ovens, and finding a way home. Listeners lost in a tale well told.

Hold Fast by Blue Balliett

After reading an ARC of Hold Fast, I immediately changed my read aloud schedule, moving the book to the top of the list for sixth grade. As I post this, we are about three-quarters finished, and it has been a powerful experience for both students and teacher. This is a sample journal entry we wrote together about how words, phrases, and smaller pieces of text add meaning to the whole

Dear Mr. W,

I just started reading Hold Fast by Blue Balliett. It is opening my eyes to the issue of homelessness, something I did not know much about before reading. I can’t imagine being put into a situation like the Pearl family, with my father disappearing and then losing my home and almost everything I own. I wouldn’t know what to do.

The author has a unique way of organizing chapters or sections of the book. (I’m reading an advanced readers copy on a Kindle, so I’m not sure exactly how this will appear in the final book.) Each section is titled with one word. Most, but not all, of them begin with C. The first time the word appears it has a definition and origin. Then each word is repeated at section breaks. It’s almost like there are 5 or 6 chapters in a row with the same one word title.

It seems like the C words give clues as to what is in that section. Like Cling and Clutch refer to how the family is trying to stay together and how they hold on to their hopes. Crash is where the bad guys came and trashed their apartment after the crash when the dad, Dash, disappeared. Looking back at what has been read, you can see why words were chosen. Today I started Chase. As I read it feels like Early has decided to do something, to chase down a solution, to find her father. I hope the next part, Catch, means she finds answers.

When I started the section for the word Crimp, I guessed that something unwanted would come into the story or that some new addition to the story would make the conflict larger. That totally happened. Early went to her new school but things didn’t go well. She was treated badly because she was a “shelter kid.” Even more important, and an even bigger crimp for the Pearl family, is that the police issued a warrant for Dash’s arrest. They think he’s connected to an eight-year-old diamond heist! What? No way! Not Dash!

Finally, there are many mentions of homes. The Pearl family has an apartment at the beginning and a dream of one day owning their own home. Then they lost the apartment and live in a homeless shelter. Early notices homes that are empty and homes come up in a school writing assignment. It’s sad that a family that dreams of moving on to a better home actually moves farther away from that dream and into a homeless shelter.

Sincerely, 

Brian Sixth Grader

Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool

The latest novel from Clare Vanderpool, Navigating Early, arrives in stores today. Had I known about her Newbery-winning debut novel, Moon Over Manifest, before its publication, I’d have recommended you get your hands on it as soon as it was available. This time, thankfully, I have that opportunity.

At the end of World War II, Jack Baker, Kansas born and raised, son of Colonel John Baker, Sr., is suddenly dropped at a boarding school in Maine after his mother’s death. Used to the steady flatness of Kansas, the roiling ocean makes Jack sick the first time he lays eyes on it.

It’s the perfect analogy of Jack’s new life. What once was steady and firm is now constantly moving and unstable. Everything is different. Well, except for the fact that his father is still absent due to his military obligations.

At Morton Hill Academy, Jack meets Early Auden, a unique student who shows up to class sporadically, who lives in a custodian’s workroom rather than the dorm, and sees a story in the infinite, non-repeating decimals of pi. Like Jack, Early has also lost a parent. His father.

And both boys are lost, or in danger of getting lost, as they seek solid reassurances to hold onto in life. Early holds to the belief, irrationally, it seems, that his brother made it home safely from the war and is only lost himself, despite what the military has informed the family. Early looks for comfort in Pi’s story revealed to him in the numbers of 3.141592653589793238...  Jack looks to Early for guidance, first as his coxswain when rowing, and then as they journey together. As Early seeks stability in his quest, Jack seeks stability with Early.

Navigating Early has many layers. Readers get Jack’s and Early’s stories, obviously. Then there’s Pi’s story, as told by Early, about how Pi journeyed away from home. When Jack is drawn along on Early’s own journey, parallels between both begin to appear. There are great bears, colorful characters both dastardly and kind, both lost and found, and hoped-for yet elusive answers to difficult questions.

The best way to discover Jack and Early’s story is journey with them. Leave the comfort of your couch and journey the Appalachian Trail with them searching for a great bear, difficult answers, and stability. At the very least, you’ll find a great story.

The Dragon's Tooth by N. D. Wilson

I was recently given the honor of reviewing The Dragon's Tooth by N. D. Wilson for The Rabbit Room, a website started by musician and author Andrew Peterson. The Rabbit Room is described as "a place for stories. For artists who believe in the power of old tales, tales as old as the earth itself, who find hope in them and beauty in the shadows and in the light and in the source of the light." Additional information about The Rabbit Room can be found here, and my reviews of Andrew Peterson's books can be found here.

Below is my original review of The Dragon's Tooth. It's longer than most of my reviews, but I thought I'd post it in its entirety anyway. The Rabbit Room version is slightly different, includes an extended conclusion, and if you are interested, can be read here.

Fantasy novels are sneaky. At first they whisk readers away to a foreign land with an honorable family determined to rule justly or where hard-working folk live under a tyrannical ruler. Next come fantastical creatures, great flying beasts and smaller beings with mystical powers. Then there’s the tension-filled build up to an epic battle where good triumphs over evil.

Readers know what to expect… Or rather I know what to expect... Okay, honestly, I think I know what to expect when it comes to fantasy novels. But just as I’m prepared to escape into a world where dragons breathe fire or fairies cast spells or inexperienced youngsters unexpectedly save the kingdom, that’s when fantasy novels get sneaky. Suddenly, amidst all the fires and spells and savings, I find characters facing the same issues I thought I was escaping.

And I never see it coming.

Cyrus, Antigone, and Dan Smith live in and run the Archer Motel in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, and it’s not much to look at. Paint peels, walkways rust, and thistles fill courtyard cracks. Twelve-year-old Cyrus filled the pool with tires. Thirteen-year-old Antigone avoids the Archer’s cigarette graveyard / mold farm smelling reception area. Twenty-going-on-thirty-year-old Dan runs the Archer’s restaurant - one table, a toaster, and a waffle iron. Even the motel’s neon namesake, a once proud lady archer on a pole out front, now aims her bow carelessly towards the sky away from her motel.

For two years the Smith kids have run the Archer by themselves. Ever since their father died and their mother went into a coma. Two years away from their home in California. Two years in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin of all places.

Until the evening William Skelton - Billy Bones - arrives, demanding room 111, Cyrus’s room. Before the night is over, the walls have been torn off Dan’s room revealing mounds of important yellowed papers, the Archer is torched, Dan disappears, Billy Bones is dead, and Cyrus and Antigone are left with a pot-bellied lawyer talking about Acolytes, godchildren, heirs to an estate, and the Order of Brendan.

None of which makes any sense to Cy or Antigone. What is clear, however, is simple. Their brother has been added to the list of missing loved ones. The Archer has been added to the list of homes where they no longer live. People wanting to kill them are close. And all they have left is each other.

Which leads us back to the sneaky part. Just when I’m prepared to learn what an Acolyte is, the amount of the inheritance, the purpose of the Order of Brendan, and to continue this explosion filled adventure, in sneaks family, choices, and the very real possibility dying. Soon.

Cyrus, Antigone, and Dan’s father was killed in a storm, lost at sea and drowned off the coast of California where they used to live. Their mom swam into the freezing sea to find their father. Dan pulled her out. She never woke up and continues to lie in a coma. When Dan disappears, Cyrus and Antigone face losing another loved one and must rely each other - for strength, support, encouragement, and love - to face the oncoming challenges without losing sight of saving their mother and brother. But is the challenge worth it? Is the struggle to remain strong, to keep focused, and to stay alive worth the risk of losing another family member? Each knows the risks they take could cost them their last sibling. Wouldn’t it be easier to say no? To turn and run away from the Order of Brendan and Ashtown? To accept their losses in order to prevent further harm?

Which brings us to choices. Cyrus and Antigone face the age-old choice of doing what is easy vs. doing what is right. Turning away from the Order of Brendan would allow them to grieve for their family, remain safe, and stay together. But Dan has been given the Dragon’s Tooth, the Reaper’s Blade, with the power of death. Immortals can die and the dead can be raised with the tooth’s power. Enemies want it and will kill to get it. At one point Cyrus is offered his family in return for the tooth. Give the tooth (and all personal risk and responsibility) and save his family. Or keep the tooth (and the risk and responsibility toward a greater good) and possibly lose his loved ones. Easy? Or right?

And death. Dying. Billy Bones asks Cyrus, “How do you feel about Death?” (and can that question ever be asked, whether in real life or fanciful fiction, without personally contemplating the answer?) to which Cyrus responds, “How do you think I feel about it? Death sucks. I don’t like it. How do you feel about it?”

But William Skelton’s reply is the opposite of Cy’s. “People say you can’t run from Death. People lie. Running’s all you can do, kid. Run like Hell’s on your heels, because it is. And if you’re still running, well, then you’re still alive.” Later he continues, “You know what happens when you run too long? Death becomes . . . a friend, a companion on the road, a destination. Home. Your own bed. The place where your friends are waiting. You stop being afraid. You stop running.” That night Billy Bones stops running, giving the Dragon’s Tooth to Cyrus.

Now Cyrus and Antigone are the ones running.

N. D. Wilson draws on mythology (Jason used the Dragon’s Tooth to fetch the Golden Fleece) like author Rick Riordan in the Percy Jackson series. He also weaves in history (Amelia Earhart, Theodore Roosevelt, and Ponce de León were all apparently members of the Order of Brendan) like The 39 Clues. In The Dragon’s Tooth Wilson has built a solid base for the five book Ashtown Burials series. The book has its share of action, but it isn’t nonstop. Wilson takes the time necessary to properly flesh out Ashtown, the Order of Brendan, and its history. Readers will get frustrated along with Cyrus and Antigone every time they hear “I’ll explain more later,” but significant gaps are filled by the end, and sufficient gaps are left open for subsequent books.

And if you’ve made it this far, hopefully you won’t be surprised when the choices and issues faced by Cyrus and Antigone hit so close to home.

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

An alternate history.  A possible future.  Regardless of how you look at Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld, the conclusion is this: Whoa, cool book!

Let’s take a look at all three:

An alternate history – In 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated.  Their deaths, coupled with other circumstances in Europe, brought about the beginning of World War I.  Instead of three children, Leviathan gives Franz Ferdinand and his wife only one son, Aleksandar.  Whisked away in the night after his parents’ deaths, Alek dodges the pursuing Germans in an attempt to reach neutral Switzerland.

A possible future – Alek escapes in a Cyclop Stormwalker, a two-legged machine created by Austro-Hungarians and Germans.  Clankers, as they are known, have created all kinds of machinery including aeroplanes and fortified walkers, one an eight-legged, thousand ton frigate called the Herkules. 

Deryn Sharp, called Dylan, works for the British Empire who, allied with France, are called Darwinists.  They have harnessed and mixed different creatures’ DNA to create new “beasties” designed for specific roles.  Bats that fire ammunition, bees that provide food, and a whale that flies thanks to hydrogen filled sacs like jellyfish.  (Or something like that.)  This creation is Leviathan. 

Whoa, cool book! – From Alek’s late night escape (Is it a kidnapping?  A daring escape?) to Deryn Sharp’s transformation from fifteen-year-old girl to a sixteen year old boy enlisted in the British Service named Dylan Sharp, Leviathan is a fast paced adventure on two fronts.  Readers follow Alek’s dash for the Switzerland border, his crew’s thievery of necessities, and Alek’s own mistakes that nearly give him away as the son of the assassinated Archduke.  At the same time readers read about Deryn/Dylan’s enlistment, how she nearly sailed solo across the English Channel on her first day, and came to be a valued middy on the Leviathan. 

Eventually Alek and Deryn’s paths cross.  Just as Alek and his companions think they’ve reached safety from the war, the war comes to them.  Darwinists and Clankers are all around, each thinking their creations are superior and neither trusting the other.  Even more important is that Alek and Deryn must trust each other in order to survive and escape.

There’s a lot of reading here, and as the end of the book got closer, the end of the war got further and further away.  This bugs the heck out of me – thinking that a story simply cannot reach its resolution in the pages that are left while I’m still reading.  Turns out I didn’t know that Leviathan is the first book in a trilogy – Whoa, cool trilogy! – with Behemoth coming out in October 2010 and Goliath in October 2011.

Funny Business edited by Jon Scieszka

In the introduction to Funny Business, the first genre-specific volume from the Guys Read Library, Jon Scieszka quotes E. B. White.  “Humor can be dissected, as a frog can, but the thing dies in the process.”  So I’m not going to try to explain why this book is funny.  Funny is funny.  Trust me.

Ladies, I’m taking to you here.  It’s from the Guys Read Library.  Guys.  Read.  We don’t expect you to get it.  Yes, some of you will claim you get it, and some of you may indeed, but many of you will simply realize that the boys in your classrooms and homes get it.  And that should be enough.

You’ll nod and smile, but do you really understand the hilarity in a dropped hot dog (Best of Friends by Mac Barnett) or shrinkage (Will by Adam Rex)?  Do any of you actually eat raw hot dogs, let alone make fake nipples out of them (What? You Think You Got It Rough? by Christopher Paul Curtis)?  Ever perform self-surgery on a wart (The Bloody Souvenir by Jack Gantos)?

Do any of you think the black and white alternate cover from Adam Rex is funnier than the final cover?

Well that gives you a taste, anyway, of what’s in the book.  And it’s funny.  Ten short stories from the authors above as well as Eoin Colfer, Jeff Kinney, Kate DiCamillo, David Yoo, David Lubar, and Paul Feig, all meant to tickle a guy’s funny bone, and all successfully jamming that funny bone squarely into arm-numbing merriment.

How about we let the authors themselves give a short introduction?

Spaceheadz Book One by Jon Scieszka

When you’re the new kid in fifth grade, the last thing you want is to draw any negative sort of attention on the first day of school. So when new kid Michael K. is befriended by Spaceheadz from another planet masquerading as fifth graders on day one, his prospects ain’t good. Now consider that Bob and Jennifer, two of the disguised Spaceheadz, have learned everything they know about Earth from monitoring our TV and radio waves – and behave accordingly – and you start to recognize the direness of Michael K.’s situation.

And one more thing: The third Spaceheadz is the class hamster, Major Fluffy.

Yeah, Micheal K.’s fifth grade year is off to a memorable (forgettable?) start.

Eventually Michael K. learns that SPHDZ, despite their odd appearance and propensity to quote American TV commercials, are actually on a mission to save Earth. They may be somewhat misguided, but they are well intentioned. Part of their plan is to give Charmin to Earth persons to make them happy and want to be SPHDZ. After all, “It is ultrastrong. And it also makes bears very happy.” It’s the sort of logic you’d expect from beings who’ve learned all they know about Earth from our TV and advertisements.

“It doesn’t have anything to do with bears,” explains Michael K. “It’s toilet paper, you know?”

Ultimately, their plan involves recruiting 3.14 million and one Earth persons to create one gigantic SPHDZ Brain Wave or Earth gets turned off. Click.

Working against SPHDZ, and all alien activity, is Agent Umber and the Anti-Alien Agency. Constantly on the lookout for aliens, Agent Umber is alerted to a possible AEW (Alien Energy Wave) in his sector at coordinates D-7, which just happens to be room 501B, Brooklyn P.S. 858. Mrs. Halley’s fifth grade. Agent Umber sees his opportunity to catch a real alien, earn a promotion, and save the Earth.

I tell you about this book not because I recommend it, although I do. I do so because it is my pledged duty to BE A SPHDZ, and odd things happen when you are SPHDZ. I have promised to grow the SPHDZ network and to add my brainwaves to the 3.14 million SPHDZ G Group Brainwave needed to save the planet Earth.  I share this book with you because:

I am Automatic Shampoo-SPHDZ.BW.

Do the same. Read Jon Scieszka's Spaceheadz Book One. BE SPHDZ.

Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman doesn't waste time - or words, more accurately - getting to the story of Odd and the Frost Giants, but readers won't miss the missing. Everything needed is there. Only the most talented authors are able to sift through the endless possibilities and present readers with no more than what's necessary. Gaiman fits the description.

In Chapter One readers learn of the boy, Odd. He is not unusual, as his name might suggest. Rather, it is a lucky name, Odd, meaning the tip of a blade. His life, however, has not been lucky. His Viking father had been killed in a sea raid. His mother, herself obtained in a Scottish sea raid, remarries a man named Fat Elfred. Odd permanently cripples his leg in a forest accident, and Fat Elfred has little use for a crippled stepson. That year, as winter hung on longer than usual and people’s dispositions changed for the worse, Odd left. He took his warmest clothes, food, and coals from the fire, and left for his father’s old woodcutting hut. Through it all and despite everything, Odd smiles.

I think that summary is nearly the length of the first chapter.

By the end of the next day, Odd has followed a fox, freed a trapped bear, realized he’s lost, feared his death by bear consumption, met an eagle, and returned to the woodcutter’s hut on the back of the bear. Oh, and he ends up with overnight guests.

It’s during the overnight stay when Odd learns there is more to his guests’ story. The bear, eagle, and fox are actually Thor, Lord Odin, and Loki, respectively. Gods. Inhabitants of Asgard who now find themselves exiles in Midgard, Odd’s world, thanks to the Frost Giants.

Thus the four begin a quest, traveling back to Asgard to free it from the hold of the Frost Giants. But Odd must travel alone to the Gates of Asgard, alone so the Frost Giants won’t learn of the gods’ return. Odd proves that a person’s circumstances in life are not just due to luck, and that gods returning to Asgard aren’t the only ones with a desire to return home.

Odd and the Frost Giants is a short book – the advanced reading copy is 117 pages – but what the story lacks in length is more than made up for in strength. Readers who enjoyed Coraline’s victory over her other mother and Bod’s survival against the man Jack will get similar satisfaction from Odd and his encounters with the Frost Giants.

Watch for Odd and the Frost Giants in September, 2009.

Calvin Coconut: The Zippy Fix by Graham Salisbury

Calvin Coconut is a Trouble Magnet, that much we know, but in The Zippy Fix author Graham Salisbury shows us that while Calvin not only attracts trouble, he can cause his share too.

Sixteen-year-old Stella has arrived from Texas, and she’s starting to fit in. Calvin’s mom and sister surprise Stella with a new green dress. She’s been invited to a dance at the high school. She puts it on and…

Well, here’s Calvin’s reaction: “She looked pretty good, all right. The silky smooth dress was the deep color of a ripe watermelon. It somehow made Stella look like a nice person. ‘You look like … like … like a watermelon.’”

See? Trouble finds him. He meant to be nice! He recognized how nice Stella looked in her new dress and wanted to compliment her. He did! But unfortunately sixteen-year-old girls don’t appreciate comparisons to oblong-shaped over-sized fruit, and she too can play the insult game. “Stump. Peewee. Pygmy. Pip-squeak. Squirt. Half-pint. Elfie. Rump. Shrimp. Shorty. Midget. Which one works for you?” Stella asks.

Now is where Calvin creates trouble. Stella is allergic to cats. Cats? Calvin comes up with a plan, a way to fix Stella with help from Maya’s cat, Zippy. The Zippy Fix.

The results are extraordinary, way beyond Calvin’s expectations. And this is where readers learn even more about Calvin. He has a heart. Compassion. He wants to make things right with Stella by getting her the perfect birthday gift, but it’s going to take a little more than the $1.31 he has.

Calvin goes through great lengths to make up the difference including loans, recycling, odd jobs, Uncle Scoop, trouble with Tito, help from Ledward, and a lot of determination.

All for Stella. The girl who stole his bedroom. Who teases him endlessly. Who made him live in the garage. Who looks beautiful in a new green dress. That Stella.

Look for The Zippy Fix this September.

The Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Treasure Hunt by Megan McDonald

Judy and Stink Moody's last book, The Holly Joliday, featured Christmas vacation. Now they are on vacation again, and it's definitely not winter. The Moodys are on their way to Vegetable Island! Or is it Artichoke Island? Judy knows. "You mean Ocracoke Island."

Stink doesn't care. "I just want to meet pirates and look at shipwrecks and see real gold and find treasure." When the ferry docks, Scurvy Stink and Mad Molly O'Maggot meet a real life pirate who informs them that Third Annual Pirate Island Treasure Hunt starts first thing in the morning. X marks the spot on their map. Unfortunately, X only marks the start of their hunt, not their desired destination.

Working their way around the island, Judy and Stink must solve clues to collect sixteen pieces o’ eight. The clues include rhymes, puzzles, codes, talking birds, and hidden signs. Judy and Stink also need to watch out for spies in the form of another brother and sister team they nickname Tall Boy and Smart Girl.

(There’s also a trip to the Crab’s Claw, a seafood restaurant on Ocean View Road, which incidentally, would have been my downfall. “Maybe the next clue is inside this crab cake!” [Chomp] “Nope.”)

The best part of the book is the interaction between Judy and Stink. Despite their light-hearted teasing and sibling name-calling, they really do work together. It’s pretty obvious that neither of them could succeed on their own, but together, they just might have a chance.

In the end the Moody’s hunt leads to more than treasure. They learn the truth about their closest competition and the value of teamwork and good friends.

Look for this latest Judy and Stink Moody adventure from Megan McDonald in August.

Lincoln and His Boys by Rosemary Wells

I don't think Lincoln and His Boys offers too much new or relatively unknown information about Abraham Lincoln, but it does offer a perspective I haven't seen before. Readers meet President Lincoln through the eyes of his youngest sons, Willie and Tad. The book is divided into three sections: Willie 1859, Willie and Tad 1861, and Tad 1862-1865.

Willie, the older of the two brothers, relates the events leading up to his father's election. There's not a lot of historical facts - it's not a history book disguised as a children's book. Yes, it's the events before the election, but not debates and politics. It's a trip to the tailor and a special trip to Chicago with his father. It's keeping a promise to mother to go see Miss Jenny Lind, the best lady singer in the world, for Willie's edification. But it's also about a father who makes time to take his son to see the Chinese acrobats and jugglers at Metropolitan Hall.

The second section is again narrated by Willie, but tells of the family's travels to Washington on the train after Lincoln is elected and the events of their first year in Washington. The kids build a fort on the White House roof, complete with log artillery, mostly pointed south. The boys bust into Cabinet meetings and are the only cause of laughter for the president.

Tad picks up the narration after the fever that struck both he and Willie leaves his brother dead. His part continues to the end of the war, closing with the two most powerful events - a trip to Richmond immediately after the war's end and the president's command that the army band play Dixie in Washington.

Take time to look at the pictures. Study them. Look at the joy on Lincoln's face when he is with his boys. Notice the glares on the faces of Lincoln's Cabinet members at the same time. P. J. Lynch's illustrations deserve recognition in any review of Rosemary Wells' wonderful book.