Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos

When I picked up Dead End in Norvelt, I knew nothing about towns like Norvelt, Pennsylvania. What I did know about were books by Jack Gantos, especially his Joey Pigza series, a personal favorite. And after the first few chapters, I became more familiar with what I already knew. In the first six chapters alone there’s an accidentally fired Japanese WWII rifle, blood all over the place, an old lady cooking her hands and taking a bite, and a great fart scene*.

What’s not to like?

Then I started to learn about Norvelt, a town created to give disadvantaged people and families a chance for a new life during the Great Depression as part of the National Industrial Recovery Act. These homestead communities were championed by Eleanor Roosevelt and were built on the idea of cooperation between residents. The town’s name itself honors Mrs. Roosevelt, eleaNOR rooseVELT.

Don’t worry. Dead End in Norvelt did win the Newbery Medal and the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction, but it’s no history book.

Jack gets grounded during the summer of 1962. (His grounding has to do with the Japanese WWII rifle, among other transgressions.) His only escape is helping his neighbor, Miss Volker, an original Norvelter, write obituaries for the town’s original residents. Most of the men have died, victims of black lung disease, but now the ladies are dying, and dying rather quickly. When the town starts getting suspicious, readers quickly start to see numerous suspects.

What’s the motive? Could it be jealousy? Love? Greed? Could all the deaths be accidental? And what will Jack do now that he’s found himself in the middle of it?

I see three main parts of the book. The first third is all about Jack, his parents, and Miss Volker. The middle expands to include more about the other community members. The last third turns murder mystery. Now that you know, pay close attention as your read the first two-thirds, knowing there’s a mystery to solve. It makes everyone more suspicious and the book that much more enjoyable.

When you get your copy of Dead End in Norvelt, make sure to locate a copy of the sequel, From Norvelt to Nowhere, as well. This is one of those books that you won’t want to end, and one of the rare times that the sequel lives up to its award-winning predecessor.

*Ha! When I went back to edit what I wrote, I found that I had mistakenly typed scene as scent. This doesn’t affect my review in the slightest, but considering the context . . . Well, I thought it was funny. Thought I'd share.

The Fourth Stall Part III by Chris Rylander

This sample journal entry is actually three entries in one. After the introduction paragraph, the following paragraphs were written to meet different expectations. Sixth grade is to explain how the author shows a character's perspective. Fifth grade explains how a character's perspective affects how story events are told. Finally, fourth grade is to tell how a story would change if it is told from a different character's perspective. Rather than post three sample journal entries on the library wall, which is getting quite full, this one entry includes all three, and each seems to naturally lead into the next.

Dear Mr. W,

I just finished The Fourth Stall Part III by Chris Rylander. It is the final book in the series. The main character is Mac. He and his partner Vince are now seventh graders. The problem-solving business they started in kindergarten is now closed, and life is simple. Mac talks about how awesome the word simple is. He loves it.

6th - The author helps readers understand a character’s perspective by showing the character’s words and actions. The Fourth Stall Part I is all about Mac trying to shut down a business like his own, run by an older kid named Staples. Mac and Staples have disagreements and arguments, threats are made, and some violence even occurs. In the end Mac thinks he won’t have to deal with Staples again. In the prologue of Part III, Mac explains how happy he is to not be running his business. He says, “School was a piece of cake when that was all that was on your plate and you didn't also run a huge business operation with multiple employees and a healthy cash flow.” But then Staples returns and wants to hire Mac, and Mac is not happy. First, he doesn't ever want to get involved with Staples again for any reason. Second, if Staples hires him, that means he’s back in the business. Staples wanting to hire Mac makes the two things he doesn't want - dealing with Staples and the business - to come back.

5th - Since we know how Mac feels, it’s easy to see how it influences how events are told. He is and always has been scared of Staples, and he describes Staples’ shadow as cold and enormous and says it engulfs him. He says that Staples “was so legendary that someone would have seen him lurking about and said something. Right? Right?!” That shows Mac’s panic at seeing Staples again. When Staples smiles, it’s a “smirk” and it’s “evil.” Staples’ eyes are dark, but Mac says they are “so black that even nighttime was afraid of them.” Mac even says that Staples eyebrows are mean. Finally, Mac gives a hint of what is to come. He says, “If I’d seen the warning lights right then, maybe I could have avoided some of the insanity that followed. Stuff like swimming pools full of blood, guts, and body parts, crazy third-grade Japanese assassins with precise, near-deadly hit man skills. . . Maybe I would have stolen a car, swung by Vince’s place, and gotten us both the heck out of town.” It’s easy to see that Mac is freaked out by the visit from Staples, and his feelings for Staples show up in Mac’s telling of the story.

4th - If Staples was telling this story, he would probably mention how he doesn’t want Mac to be scared of him. If Mac is scared of him, then Mac probably won’t help him. Staples thinks he needs to be nice and get on Mac’s good side so he’ll help him. In the scene where Staples puts his hand on his forehead, Mac thinks how scared he is of getting punched. Staples, on the other hand, is likely thinking, “Must stay under control! Don’t punch this punk! If I hurt him he won’t help me! I need Mac to see that I have changed.” If Staples narrated this scene, readers would see how much he cares for his sister and wants to help her, even though his past actions might not look like a helpful person. Staples said that he learned his lesson about behavior. He knows that punching Mac will land him in jail where he can’t do anything for his sister.

Sincerely,
Brian 4/5/6 Grader

Melvin Beederman: The Curse of the Bologna Sandwich by Greg Trine

Dear Mr. W,

Melvin Beederman is a superhero. The first book in the Melvin Beederman series is The Curse of the Bologna Sandwich. Melvin graduated from the Superhero Academy at the top of his class. He beat out Superhero Carl who is stronger than him because Melvin uses his brain. “Your brain is your greatest weapon,” Headmaster Spinner tells him. That’s also in the Superhero’s Code.

The world in the Melvin Beederman book is the same as ours. Superhero Carl goes to the Fiji Islands while Melvin goes to Los Angeles. But even though the author doesn’t say so, I can infer that in the book superheroes are considered normal. People just accept that there is such a thing.

First, there is a superhero academy that recruits children who then are allowed to attend. When Melvin has to fly 3,000 miles to Los Angeles, he flies next to a jet window and asks the pilot if he can catch a ride. Instead of being like, “Ah! There’s a little dude flying outside the plane!” he calmly asks, “Are you the new superhero?” and then says, “Have a seat on the wing. We’ll be there in a jiffy.” Flying superheroes must be something normal to him.

When Melvin stops his first crime by picking up a car and shaking the bad guys and the stolen money out of the window, people celebrate what he’s done. They don’t freak out. Melvin says he is the new superhero. New means that there must have been an old one sometime. Then a man asks, “Los Angeles has a superhero?” and another says, “We haven’t had a superhero since . . .” That shows that people know about and accept superheroes as normal.

Finally, word spreads quickly in the media. Melvin was on TV and in the newspapers. Headlines say “There’s a superhero in town. Welcome!” They don’t say, “Tiny kid picks up huge car! That’s impossible!” Everyone is glad that he’s in town and they aren’t amazed at what he does. They must know what superheroes do and aren’t surprised to see it happen. They’re happy to see it.

Sincerely,
Brian Fourth Grader

The Melvin Beederman series currently has eight books. Other titles in the series include The Revenge of the McNasty Brothers, The Grateful Fred, and Terror in Tights. The books will serve as a great introduction to superheros for early chapter book readers. Melvin can fly, has super strength, and x-ray vision. (Although the x-ray vision makes him rather uncomfortable. He sees too much underwear.) Melvin also has a weakness. His kryptonite is bologna. Put the Melvin Beederman books in your young readers' hands. Let them exercise their own superpower: reading.

Guys Read: Thriller edited by Jon Scieszka

Jon Scieszka, children’s book author and the nation’s first National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, founded Guys Read to “to motivate boys to read by connecting them with materials they will want to read, in ways they like to read.” The Guys Read mission lists six points, the first of which is “Make some noise for boys.”

Despite the fact that boys tend to need no help making noise, I wholeheartedly concur.

Guys Read: Thriller is the second volume of the Guys Read Library, following the excellent Guys Read: Funny Business. These books (sports and nonfiction are upcoming subjects) are compilations of short stories from a variety of authors who all share one common trait: Boys read what these authors write.

Scieszka writes in the introduction to Thriller,

“Why is that shady-looking character lurking in the dark alley? What’s he doing with that crowbar? Is that something in his other hand? What is he doing? What has he done?  

That is the mystery.”

Guys Read: Thriller is full of the mysterious. There are ghosts and haunted houses. There are wishes that come true and a bumbling detective. There are pukwudgies, pirates, a missing copperhead snake, and a body on the train tracks. In other words, there’s everything a guy might want in a thrilling book.

At the end of the introduction, Scieszka leaves readers with these words. “What happens next? You read to find out. And don’t look now, but the guy in the alley is turning your way.”

It’s good advice. Get the book. Get reading. And move quickly, before the guy in the alley sees you.

The first book in the Guys Read Library had a great video introduction featuring all of the book’s authors. No such luck this time, but I did find this little gem on YouTube. Enjoy!

Darth Paper Strikes Back by Tom Angleberger

By the title of the book, you can probably guess the featured Star Wars character in Tom Angleberger’s sequel to The Strange Case of Origami Yoda. If not (and because I think it’s awesome) here’s a clue. Cue the music!

On the first day of seventh grade, Harvey, the one person who maintains a deep-seeded, Dark Side hatred of Dwight’s Origami Yoda, arrives at school and announces, “Sorry, this isn’t the year for Paperwad Yoda.” Then as he sings “Bom bom bom bom-ba-bomb bom-ba-bomb” (see movie, above), he pulls out an origami Darth Vader from his pocket.

Darth Paper challenges Origami Yoda at every turn during the first month of school. But things take a turn for the worse when Origami Yoda says, “Zero hour comes. Prepare to meet your doom!” to a seventh grade girl. Dwight, of course, insists he didn’t say it. Origami Yoda did.

Unfortunately, those words make their way to the principal, and before the end of the day, Dwight is kicked out of school. On his way out of the building Dwight meets Tommy and holds up Origami Yoda who says, “The truth for the school board you must write. Another case file is needed.” So Tommy once again compiles stories and artifacts into a case file, this time meant to prove Dwight and Origami Yoda haven’t gone over to the Dark Side and to get them back into school.

Readers (and the school board) learn how Origami Yoda helped Kellen deal with an annoying brat at the skate park over the summer. They learn about Origami Yoda’s perfect non-video game solution to the stricter computer policy in the library. My favorite bit of wisdom comes when the class is supposed to sell cans of popcorn as a fundraiser. “Sell nothing you must,” says Origami Yoda. When Quavando offers to sell his grandmother nothing for $5 - half the price of a $10 tin of popcorn - she’s so happy to not get stuck with crappy popcorn that she buys $25 worth of nothing!

After the evidence is presented and the case file ends, Tommy and Kellen explain the rest of the story, including what happens at the school board meeting. Of course I’m not giving away the ending, but I will say the final chapter of Darth Paper Strikes Back is titled “A New Hope” and that Origami Yoda’s last quote, to delight of readers, is:

“The End... …This is not!”

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger

Imagine a typical middle school. It’s morning, before classes, in the library. Sixth graders congregate to finish homework and play on computers, but mostly they gather to talk. Boys tables, girls tables. Okay, now find the tables with the kids that don’t really fit any typical middle school stereotypes. Got it?

Now add an Origami Yoda, perched atop the index finger of one of the boys, offering sage advice to those who seek the wisdom of a Jedi master.

Yeah, I know. I had you until that last part. But trust me. It works.

Origami Yoda makes his first appearance at the April PTA Fun Night school dance when his advice, “Rush in fools do,” apparently saves Tommy from mortal embarrassment. (It involves a girl.) Origami Yoda’s next words of wisdom, “All of pants you must wet,” help Kellen make it to class on time without looking like he has an unfortunate stain on his khakis.

And that’s only the beginning. Origami Yoda also offers the students of McQuarrie Middle School the following tidbits:

• “Let go of your feelings. Hate and revenge to the dark side only lead.” 
• “The Twist you must learn.” 
• “Stinks movie does.” 
• “Mulked learn to spell you must. Forget not the T.”

There’s more, all of them equally cryptic yet amazingly accurate. And Tommy, Kellen, Lance, Mike, Quavando (but not Kellen) and even some of the girls are eager to believe in Origami Yoda’s power. Except for one thing. Origami Yoda sits on Dwight’s finger, and his advice comes from Dwight’s mouth, albeit in a mediocre impression of Yoda’s actual voice.

Dwight is the guy who wipes up juice spills at the PTA Fun Night with his shirt - while he’s wearing it. He gets stuck in the P.E. closet and blames squirrels, wears the same shirt for a month, and once wore a cape and insisted everyone call him Captain Dwight. As Tommy, the boy compiling everyone’s Origami Yoda stories, says, 

“You can never decide if [Dwight] does these things to be funny or if he’s just totally nuts. Nobody ever laughs WITH him, so how can he think he’s funny? But if he’s totally nuts, then how come he can have a normal conversation some days or fold origami or get straight A’s in math (but nothing else)?”

Author Tom Angleberger begins The Strange Case of Origami Yoda with a question: “Is Origami Yoda real?” Tommy and the rest of the friends each share their encounters as part of this case file and leave the final decision to the reader. Even Tommy isn’t completely convinced at the end, despite what may seem to be overwhelming evidence. You’ll have to make up your own mind, but let Origami Yoda’s words help.

“The Force - always may it be with you.”

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.

The Fourth Stall by Chris Rylander

All the kids in school know, first graders through eighth graders, that if you need something or if you have a problem that needs solving, the only place to go is the boys bathroom in the East Wing. Wait your turn in line, then head to the fourth stall from the high window.

Mac’s office.

For a nominal fee or in exchange for a future favor, Mac will take care of it. Test answers, hall passes, doctor’s notes, video games your parents won’t let you play - you know, normal elementary school stuff - Mac and his business manager Vince can help.

But when Fred, a student no more than a third grader, enters the fourth stall, Mac and Vince know the times are changing. Fred requests protection from Staples. THE Staples. Thought to be only a legend, Staples is apparently real and so is his web of connections that infiltrates every school in the city. Staples has an intermural gambling ring that has entered Mac’s school, and Fred was one of the bookies. When Fred told Staples he wanted out, Staples said nobody quits. When Fred threatened to go to the principal, Staples said that would make him a rat, and rats get the worst punishments.

So Mac agrees to protect Fred and in doing so begins a war between underground school powers. Can Mac, with help from his school’s nine biggest bullies, rid his school of Staples illegal gambling ring and thereby protect his own business? Or will Staples squash Mac’s business and extend his control in Mac’s school?

Overall The Fourth Stall is a funny story inspired by The Godfather. “Hits” are ordered (although no one is killed). There’s plenty of hidden cash. Nicknames abound (Mac’s real name is Christian, plus there are characters named Kitten, Nubby, the Hutt, Great White, and Little Paul).There are also several subplots woven throughout the story. Who is the mole that has infiltrated Mac’s business? Can his best friend and business associate, Vince, be trusted? Can Mac keep his business and family life separate, especially after the attack on his house?

Author Chris Rylander also includes a look at poverty and how it affects students. This more serious side of the story explores the differences between the Haves and the Have-Nots and how family circumstances influence a child’s life and decisions. It’s not overblown, not preachy, but does play a role in the story and readers’ will need to take it into account in how they understand and appreciate the story.

So get yourself a copy of THE FOURTH STALL and read. I know you will. How do I know? Well...

Trackers by Patrick Carman

Trackers is a story many middle grade readers will engage with immediately. At first readers’ interest may be more curious - There’s movies? Online? With the story? - but the story itself will quickly surpass the curiosity. Kids who have read Patrick Carman’s Skeleton Creek books will be familiar with the format, but Trackers is less spooky, more tech-y, with equal amounts of tension and anticipation.

Trackers is told in a conversation - an interrogation, really - between an apparent government official and Adam Henderson. Adam explains that he and his friends Finn, Emily, and Lewis are trackers in the same way as old-time mountain men who could track lost hikers in the forest. They just do it digitally.

What, exactly, Adam is being interrogated about is not immediately revealed. Adam takes control of the interrogation, offering his story at his own pace and in his own manner. He explains some things himself and lets video recordings explain others. Videos are given to the interrogator and readers by passwords included in the book at Trackers Interface. Eventually readers learn that billions of dollars are missing for banks around the world, and the Trackers are the main suspects.

How did a bunch of sixth graders get so technologically savvy? Adam’s father owns a computer store in Seattle. On Adam’s ninth birthday his father gave him the Vault, a backroom in the store and permission to use anything that gets left behind. Adam started to tinker, create, and learn. He was a technological prodigy: “Mozart with a mouse.” By fifth grade the vault had become a network of monitors, keyboards, and computers running complex software and hidden surveillance cameras, and helping Adam make tons of virtual money which he in turn used to purchase more complex equipment. In sixth grade Adam met Finn, Emily, and Lewis, and the rest is history.

Trackers is heavy on technology which will attract kids who spend a lot of time online but won’t scare away kids who don’t know an IP address from a PO box. Everything is explained sufficiently without sounding like a computer programmer’s textbook. Readers will be fascinated by how Adam and the Trackers use cameras and computers to monitor the world around them and interact with one another, and readers will become more interested when they realize that the Trackers could possibly be “out-tracked” by mysterious adversaries.

Once again readers become participants with another multimedia series from Patrick Carman. With Skeleton Creek it was videos recorded by main character Sarah and an online message board debating reality vs. fiction. The 3:15 iPhone/iPod app has readers listening to audio, reading text, and watching movies. Another book/app, Dark Eden, is scheduled for release this fall. The covers of the Trackers books say, “Read the book. Watch the Videos. Break the Codes.” Trackers includes video recordings of important events, given to readers one by one as Adam makes them available to the authorities. Readers can see additional videos, participate in online discussions, and complete missions to reveal even more information about the characters and gadgets at the Trackers Book Website.

Trackers is a great series for upper elementary and middle school students. Just make sure there’s a computer available to readers (although transcripts of each video are included in the book). The Trackers Interface site also has a mobile version, so students with iPods and wi-fi access can also view the movies.

The Monster in the Hollows by Andrew Peterson

I tend to like series books, much like many young readers. A new book in a favorite series is like a blanky fresh out of the drier: it’s still comfortable and familiar but there’s a new warmth and freshness inviting you to snuggle on the couch.

But I don’t generally reread the previous books before curling up with the latest title. The Kane Chronicles, The 39 Clues, the Penderwicks, Alex Rider, Diary of a Wimpy Kid - I love them all, but I didn’t reread them to prepare for the next installment.

There are exceptions, however, and the exceptions are exceptional. The Hunger Games is the most recent. Harry Potter before that. The Giver and Gathering Blue before the release of Messenger.

And now The Wingfeather Saga.

Readers met Janner, Tink, and Leeli Igiby in On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness. Their adventures both fighting and fleeing the Fang minions of Gnag the Nameless continued in North! Or Be Eaten! Now comes The Monster in the Hollows. The Igiby children and their grandfather, Podo, are headed with their mother to her homeland. The Green Hollows is where Nia grew up, and just off the coast is the Shining Isle of Anniera, the ancient kingdom still smoldering nine years after its destruction.

In the Green Hollows the Igiby children find the closest thing to a home since leaving their cottage in Glipwood. There’s a home, a school, classmates, and neighbors. And peace … sort of. While the Igibys are no longer running for their lives, they still can’t find peace. There are suspicious looks from curious Hollish people, difficult lessons learned in school and life, and the mysterious cloven - beasts of the forest - boldly entering the towns of the Green Hollows in ways they never have before.

But what is the monster in the Hollows? The possibilities grow in number along with the pages. Is the monster one of the new residents of the Green Hollows, the Igibys? Is it the cloven leaving the safety of the forest to seemingly terrorize the Hollish folk? Is the monster unseen, like jealousy or greed or hatred or fear? One could make an argument for all of them, but it’s the unexpected monsters that leave readers waiting (im)patiently for the final installment, The Warden and the Wolf King.

I know I’m placing The Wingfeather Saga in rarefied air, and I know many will question my judgement. How can someone put Andrew Peterson’s books in the same company as Hollywood buzz and celebrity casting (The Hunger Games), bajillion copy sellers (Harry Potter), and Newbery Medals and the canonical works of children’s literature (The Giver)?

It’s a fair question. But even though Mr. Peterson is a relative unknown in the world of children’s literature, he has pulled me into Aerwiar just like I was pulled into Panem, Hogwarts, and Jonas’s Utopian society. And that’s sayin’ something.

Movies, sales figures, and awards aren’t hugely important to readers. It’s the books that stay fresh in your mind long after you’ve finished reading that truly make a difference, and The Monster in the Hollows and the entire Wingfeather Saga have a lasting impact indeed.

And I can't wait to reread them again.

Silly Lilly by Agnes Rosenstiehl

Silly Lilly is back with her second Toon Book, Silly Lilly in What Will I Be Today?. This time Lilly takes readers through the days of the week as she tells all the things she can be each day. After all, “Every day is a new day to play!”

“So, on Monday Silly Lilly is a cook.” Lilly makes soup and comments on how her fingers change color as she adds beets, carrots, and spinach. As all those colors go from her fingers to her face to her white apron, Lilly realizes, “Now I can be an artist!”

On Tuesday Silly Lilly take a shot at being a city planner. She moves cement blocks and discovers bugs. The blocks become bug houses, and several houses together become a bug city.

On Wednesday she’s a singer, but her backup band (Teddy and a doll) are not very cooperative. The rest of the week is filled with athletics (as an acrobat), terror (as a vampire), and education (as a teacher).

What four- or five-year-old hasn’t imagined themselves as a cook or singer or vampire or teacher? As Lilly says right on the book’s cover, “I can be anything!” and readers will immediately agree.

Agnes Rosenstiehl introduced Silly Lilly to readers in Silly Lilly and the Four Seasons. In her first book Lilly shares activities she enjoys in all the seasons, starting with a trip to the park in spring. “There is so much to do at the park,” Lilly says. She likes to dance and jump … and nap. Her lovable Teddy, however, just sits. In summer Lilly discovers a shell at the beach. Fall includes apples of all colors, and winter includes snowballs and a messy game of snowball catch with Teddy. Then it’s spring again, and Lilly, probably back at the park, plays on the swing.

Both books feature only one or two frames per page. The frames in each story are numbered, and pages are numbered too. Lilly’s silly activities are the same as most emergent readers. If you reader fits nicely on a grown-up’s lap, he or she will relate to all of Lilly’s imaginary careers as well as playing in the park, the beach, and the snow. Silly Lilly, whether she’s enjoying the four seasons or the days of the week, is an excellent introduction to comics for emergent readers filled with simple text and engaging, age-appropriate activities.

We Are in a Book! by Mo Willems

Elephant and Piggie have shared the spotlight in twelve books prior to the release of We Are in a Book! (and more to come). Twelve stories featuring birds on heads and party invitations, dancing and throwing and sneezing and flying, and new toys, new friends, and new surprises. Now finally, in lucky book number thirteen, Gerald and Piggie realize that the spotlight is on them.

Piggie: Someone is looking at us.

Gerald: Who is looking at us? A monster?

Piggie: No. It is … a reader! A reader is reading us!

Piggie explains how books and speech bubbles and words work, and the two friends revel in the incomparable coolness of being in a book. Then Piggie wants to have a little fun with the reader - and with Gerald. Piggie decides that the ultimate in hilarity would be to make the reader say a word.  That word?

“Banana.”

See? You’re giggling already. Piggie was right. But when Gerald learns that books have endings, he panics. He doesn’t want the book to end. Thankfully, Piggie has the perfect solution, a solution satisfying to Gerald, Piggie, and readers. One that causes Piggie to say:

Once again Mo Willems has created a laugh-out-loud funny book featuring two beloved characters. (I hope they’re tight with Pigeon, or he might be getting jealous.) Young readers will enjoy seeing how characters react - and interact - with the person holding the book.

If Elephant and Piggie books have been a hit in your home or classroom, We Are in a Book! will be equally welcomed and eagerly read by all their fans. If Elephant and Piggie books have NOT been a hit in your home or classroom, what are you waiting for? That can only mean you don’t have them yet!

The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan

The Red Pyramid introduces readers to Carter and Sadie Kane.  Fourteen-year-old Carter is home-schooled by his professor father as they travel the world studying ancient Egypt.  His sister, twelve-year-old Sadie, lives in London with her maternal grandparents.  Carter and Sadie see each other two days a year, one visitation day in both winter and summer.  The book begins on Christmas Eve, winter visitation day, as Carter and his father arrive late to see Sadie.  Dr. Julius Kane has arranged a Christmas visit to the Egyptian Collection at the British Museum.

Readers, and the Kane siblings, quickly realize that there’s more to Julius Kane than an advanced Egyptian education when their visit to the museum ends with an explosion, magical appearances, a fiery man making threats, and their father trapped inside a sarcophagus.  Later they learn that their father’s actions at the museum have released five ancient gods, two of which have taken up temporary residence inside Carter and Sadie.

The next 500 pages are mostly a sprint from death-defying explosions to attacks by mythical creatures to trips to the land of the dead to a run-in with an evil Elvis jumpsuit.  (Really, no kidding.)  Along the way are numerous lessons on ancient Egypt.  There are pharaohs and gods, legends and rules, and magical methods transportation.  Carter knows bits and pieces from traveling with his father, but Sadie learns at the same pace as readers do - only as other characters explain the details to the Kane siblings.

I’m torn on which direction this review should go, so rather than pick a side (while relaxing on Christmas vacation, no less), I’m going to stay right here comfortably riding the fence, give both sides, and let readers decide.

I have three (and a half) concerns with the first book of Rick Riordan’s new Kane Chronicles series:

1. At 516 pages, it is unnecessarily long.
2. My lack of background knowledge on ancient Egypt had me trying to keep all the gods and legends and rules straight rather than focus on the main characters’ and plot’s development.  At least with The Lightning Thief I had some knowledge of Greek mythology to draw from.
3. It was easy to miss the changes in narrators between Carter and Sadie every couple chapters.
4. (only half a concern) It requires readers to suspend their disbelief more than the average fantasy novel, but that’s less of a problem with young readers who are generally more eager to do so than grown-ups.

Now, a number of my students have read The Red Pyramid, and based on my observations and conferences with them, here’s how my concerns have translated to young readers:

1. Doesn't matter.  More of a good thing.
2. Doesn't matter.  Most kids have little knowledge of Greek mythology, too.
3. Doesn't matter.  Kids apparently pay more attention to chapter headings.
4. Doesn't matter.  Suspension of disbelief.  Not a problem.

I’m pretty sure I would have recommended this book to students regardless of my personal feelings.  The Red Pyramid moves at an incredible pace with each chapter offering readers another hair-raising adventure and there’s magic and battles galore.  Rick Riordan knows the formula to keep readers reading.  High action, flying-fast pace, amazing escapes, brave battles, and a sequel to come.