The Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer

Life couldn’t be more boring for Jack. He helps his father, Giles Crookleg, tend to the farm, wishing his hard work and dedication would be acknowledged, all while listening to his father’s never ending sing-song for his younger sister, Lucy, lost princess of a faraway land.

Right. Jack works his tail off for nary a thank you, while Lucy does exactly the opposite of what father asks with no consequences. Jack’s fortunes turn when the local Bard asks Jack to be his apprentice. After initially refusing, Giles Crookleg grudgingly agrees, encouraged by the Bard’s promise that Jack will have no fun, that he will “work like a donkey in a lead mine,” and that other village boys will come to aid with the farm.

Jack learns from the Bard to see the world differently, the beginning of his study of the life force, and the ability to call upon it for magic. His studies are unfortunately cut short by the attacks of vicious Northmen – Vikings – who kidnap him and Lucy. Jack is to be sold as a thrall (slave) and Lucy is to be a gift for Queen Frith, a half-troll, from Thorgil, a shield maiden seeking the queen’s approval.

Olaf One-Brow, the leader of this band of Northmen, decides to keep Jack as his own when he learns of Jack’s bard training. His own personal skald, a bard to create songs praising his abilities, ensuring his fame will never die.

Eventually, Olaf and his crew, Thorgil the shield maiden, Jack, and the crow Bold Heart are sent on a quest to drink from Mimir’s Well. Drinking the song-mead from the well is the only thing that will help Jack save Lucy. They travel to Jotunheim, land of the trolls, and face giant spiders, dragons, a troll-bear, and a deadly, frozen landscape. Oh yeah. And trolls.

I was astounded at how many times the actions of Olaf One-Brow and his band of berserkers disgusted me, only to find myself liking Olaf, sometimes even feeling sympathetic toward him, and sometimes even in the very next chapter. Then, when once again reminded of Olaf’s true nature, I found myself surprised! At least I shared these feelings with Jack, who, despite his growing abilities as a bard, hasn’t completely grown accustomed to this way of life, seemingly the opposite of that on his sheltered family farm.

Nancy Farmer has created an entire new world, complete with history and politics, all based on real history and legend. In fact, three pages of sources are listed about Norse myths, legends, and history. Readers will be quickly drawn into this historical fantasy world inhabited by characters with names like Ivar the Boneless, Gizur Thumb-Crusher, Einar the Ear-Hoarder, and Sven the Vengeful and creatures like jotuns (trolls), monstors, and various unclassifiables like half-ogres and shapeshifters.

I've had fourth graders read The Sea of Trolls with success, albeit strong readers, and know young adult readers eagerly antipating the release of The Islands of the Blessed, the conclusion of the trilogy. The Sea of Trolls is a remarkable book, with a wide interest level, that should be recommended to fans of the Inheritance Trilogy, the Percy Jackson series, the Wingfeather Saga, and The Lord of the Rings or readers ready to move on from series like the Spiderwick Chronicles and The Chronicles of Narnia.

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.

Mudshark by Gary Paulsen

When each chapter begins with an all-school intercom announcement asking the custodian to report to the faculty restroom, you know the book is going to catch readers' attention.

When each chapter's custodial call gets progressively worse, from asking the custodian to bring "a shovel and a plunger" to "a rag, a strainer, and a set of tongs" to "a plastic shield, a hazardous waste suit and a large container of pepper spray" to finally "a Geiger counter, lead-lined gloves and smoked-lens goggles," all to the faculty restroom, well, who wouldn't want to discover the menacing cause of impending disaster?

What is somewhat confusing, however, is that the chapters themselves have nothing to do with the announcements, at least at first glance. The chapters tell the story of a young detective named Mudshark, so named for his quickness in Death Ball, a local sport that combines various aspects of soccer, football, rugby, wrestling, and mudfighting.

Mudshark is always thinking and always observing. So if you lost your homework, as Markie McCorkin once did, Mudshark could direct you to the bushes at the front of school to find the lost assignments, as he did for Markie. Because Mudshark sees things - Markie on the step, two small kids, a yellow ball, an orange folder, a red paper clip - and he puts them all together to solve the problems he’s presented. It's not rocket science. Just observation and memory.

But then the library's new parrot begins solving problems quicker than Mudshark. Sure, the parrot emits naughty noises and objectionable odors, recites off-color limericks in several languages, and says, "Hey, babe, what's happening?" but that doesn't stop the students from believing he's psychic. Mudshark knows better. It's not rocket science. Just observation and memory.

Mudshark is called in by the principal to help solve a mystery involving missing erasers in the school. Mudshark soon discovers the problem includes the custodian, the faculty restroom, a couple classmates, and a missing hamster. As he seeks to unravel the knots in this yarn, Mudshark must also keep the precocious parrot from getting in the way.

In the end Gary Paulsen brings everything together, including the cause of faculty restroom dilemma. The plot gets a bit confusing at times – I had to reread parts during my initial read – but it made much more sense as I reread it aloud to my class. My class wanted more description of the faculty restroom, but I think their imaginations actually drew more vivid and dangerous scenarios than would have been offered. We all wanted more Death Ball, more than the occasional mention of the playoffs or resulting injuries.

There’s still plenty of silliness to keep readers’ attention, with laughs on nearly every page, and an ending that elicits major groans and a great “Now what?!?”

Recognition Again?

Any sort of confirmation that someone is actually reading your stuff is cool. It really is.

But to receive an award from a reader, to have someone personally sift through the gazillions of websites on the Internet and select yours as worthy of recognition, now that's something different.

Even if it's pink.

Now, I'm not against pink in general. It's a legitimate color, worthy of roses, pencil erasers, and raspberry sherbet. I'll even allow for it's migration into baseball, but only with good reason. But as an award, I must take issue. Awards should be shiny - gold or silver preferably - and tastefully named. Awards should not, to the best of my understanding, contain either flowers or teacups, unless said award is for an individual's talent or achievements in gardening and/or tea consumption. (Neither of which I am especially adept at.)

The links above reference actual trophies. Since it is difficult to email trophies, and impractical for blog award winners to display three dimensional objects on their websites, I'd like to display something else. Something that says, "Yes! That's what I'm talking about!" And yes, I'm allowing attitude to trump shininess in this situation. So if it's alright with Ms. Houghton's Class, who awarded me this distinction, I'd like to display the following picture to represent a more "me" feel.

So whaddya think? Will that work?

The last time I received an award I admittedly bent the rules of acceptance, choosing to look backward at worthy recipients rather than forward the award, so to speak. This time, well, "bending" the rules would be a generous description. I'm giving great thanks and a tip o' the hat (or a pump o' the fist, considering the above picture) to Shannon from Ms. Houghton's Class ... and that's it. I'm using books to read and posts to write as (hopefully) worthy excuses. So I tentatively accept the One Lovely Blog Award, recognizing that in order to do so one should follow the rules and probably not disrespect said award's pinky icon, and I pray that some sort of e-karma doesn't come back to get me.

Scaredy-Cat Catcher by Betty Hicks

Rocky gets his turn in the spotlight in Scaredy-Cat Catcher, the fourth book in the Gym Shorts series by Betty Hicks. Rocky has always been the best catcher in the league, no question, but on a routine play at the plate, his arm gets broken. End of season.

But that was a year ago. The new season has started, and Rocky is back at his starting position behind the plate. On the first play similar to when the injury happened, Rocky has the guy dead at home. All he has to do is make the tag. But at the last second he pulls his arm away to avoid reinjuring it.

The run scores.

After that disastrous game, Goose, Jazz, Rita, and Henry convince Rocky that it's all in his head. "Bugs on the brain," explains Jazz. They reassure him that it won't happen again. And they're right. The next game Rocky is confident. He won't even flinch! He knows it! When the winning run heads toward home, the ball arrives in Rocky's glove in plenty of time. All he has to do is tag him and the game is over, but . . .

The run scores.

Time for action! Rocky’s friends do all they can to retrain his brain and break his bad habit. They practice in the backyard, Goose sliding toward Rocky as he makes tag after tag. Rocky’s coach gives him words of confidence. Even Chops, Rocky’s skateboard riding bulldog, gets a lesson in.

Rocky has never quit in his life – that’s even how he got his name. His nickname comes from Rocky Balboa, another famous non-quitter. But can he get through this? At times, he doesn’t think he can.

And I have to mention one favorite scene. Rocky is planning to quit, hiding behind “I don’t want to quit. I have to. For the team.” His friends won’t let him. Goose and Rocky make a bet. If Goose can spit in a tulip ten feet away, Rocky plays one more game. What follows is one of the best demonstrations of expectorating in children’s literature, illustrations included. Goose hocks a loogie dead center. Plop!

Once again in the Gym Shorts series, friendship and teamwork win out. Four friends (and a bulldog) come to the aid of the fifth, helping him accomplish a goal he wouldn’t have been able to do on his own. Great sports scenes, great friends, and another great addition to the series.

Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

I read this one by myself as soon as I got it and thought, “Oooo-kaaaay. Maybe on the second time through…”

Then I called over the resident 7-year-old. “Hey, Bud! Read this with me?”

Magic. Giggles. “Again, again!” Here’s how it went:

The Boy [reading]: “Hey, look! A duck!”

Me [reading]: “That’s not a duck. That’s a rabbit!”

The Boy [not reading]: Huh, huh, huh-huh, huh.

Later…

The Boy [reading]: “Wait. Listen. Did you hear that? I heard duck sounds. Quack.”

Me [reading]: “That’s funny. I distinctly heard rabbit sounds. Sniff, sniff.”

The Boy [not reading]: Huh, huh, huh-huh, huh.

And that’s how it went. He read the duck arguments, then I read the rabbit arguments, then he giggled. (Then I giggled.) Grown-ups are … we’re just so … grown up! Grown-ups don’t get it, or so my unscientific observations seem to indicate, but kids do, and that’s what matters. We’ve read it numerous times now, he keeps laughing, and his reading keeps getting more and more expressive. When he reads, “There, see? It’s flying!” he means it.

Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld have created another winner for the classroom. Duck! Rabbit! will work great as a partner read (just like Elephant and Piggie books). It also could lead into some great art projects centered on optical illusions or even entirely new books. Imagine this:

Kid One [reading]: “Hey, look! A vase!”

Kid Two [reading]: “That’s not a vase. That’s two kids lookin’ at each other!”

Kids One and Two [not reading]: Huh, huh, huh-huh, huh.

And finally, to wrap it all up (and really, would you expect anything less from me?), the all-time, greatest ever, classic Duck! Rabbit! debate:

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.

Happy Father's Day

It's a little early for Father's Day, but when the newspaper says your column appears on the second Friday of the month, you roll with it.

Fathers belong in a special category, one kids reserve for the greatest and the strongest, for those who know everything and can do anything. God. Superman. Dad.

My latest newspaper column appears today. Here's the regular version and the printable version.

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.

Beyond the Grave (The 39 Clues) by Jude Watson

After Dan and Amy successfully send Ian and Natalie Kabra clue hunting in Kyrgyzstan and witness the "death" of a rival, they learned the location of their next clue. Egypt.

Cairo is where author Jude Watson picks up the Cahills' story. Amy and Dan's au pair, Nellie, is bargaining for spices in the marketplace, Dan is distracted by King Tut pencil sharpeners and mummy shaped flashlights, and Amy is trying desperately not to lose either person. But what are spices and kitschy souvenirs compared with an ancient Sakhet, the clue that led them to Cairo, in a shop window and an old nemesis nearly killing Dan on page two?

Yes, the action starts immediately and continues right up to the destruction described on the last page. The nonstop action takes them to an Ekaterina stronghold and an alligator infested island on the Nile. There are more museums - to Amy's delight and Dan's chagrin - and even the darkest depths of an ancient tomb. They run into Irina Spasky and Jonah Wizard again and meet an old friend of Grace named Hilary Vale. And the mysterious Madrigals finally make an appearance.

Dan is as funny as ever. When a salesman in a room filled with spangled belly dancing outfits asks, "You are looking for lovely costume?" Dan responds, "Not my color! But thanks!" Later he says they should check Queen Neferfarty's tomb for a clue. Amy is troubled by her inability to judge character. She's been hurt by Ian and Alistair and wonders if she'll ever stop being taken in and used by selfish people who act friendly.

Characters are beginning to grow and change too. Nellie is becoming more adept at tracking Cahills, namely Amy and Dan. Saladin enjoys more than red snapper. (Hummus anyone?) Irina Spasky has ... wait for it ... feelings?!? And tragedy in her past? (Oh sorry, not everyone is growing. Jonah Wizard, frustrated that he's unknown in northern Africa, comments in an international airport, "They don't know that I'm da bomb?" If anything he shows he's even whinier than we all originally thought.)

Amy and Dan are changing too. They had been told to trust no one. Now they are beginning to wonder, does that include Grace herself? The more the siblings learn about the Cahill clan, the more disgusted they become. What's more, Amy and Dan find themselves resembling their extended family more each day. Lying, cheating, stealing, double-crossing … is this what Grace prepared them to be? Is this who Grace really was?

Eventually Grace shows them her true colors, and leaves no doubt. She communicates with them from beyond the grave. OK, not really. But they do receive a personal letter and plenty of hidden/secret/coded messages that Grace had prepared for them before her death. Grace also shows them that the only way they can possibly win the Cahill quest for The 39 Clues is with her help.

But only if they can find it within themselves to trust her.

Little Oink by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Just like eating vegetables (Little Pea) and bedtimes (Little Hoot), cleaning the bedroom can be a major point of contention between parents and children.  As Little Oink grumbles, “When I grow up, I’m going to let my kids clean up their rooms as much as they want."

His friends are allowed to clean their rooms.  Socks neatly folded and organized by color.  Blocks alphabetized.  But not so in his house.  Proper pigs know how to make a proper mess.  His father can paint a picture and leave paint all over the floor.  His mother can water the plants and manage to spill water and potting soil.  There are half eaten sandwiches and piles of dirty laundry on the floor in Little Oink’s house.

He’d better get after it before his parents get angry.  Bed?  Unmade.  Clothes?  Unfolded.  T-Shirt?  Stained.  He even dragged in some mud for good measure.

Good enough?  “I still see toys in their bin, mister,” says his dad, “Please – Not another word until this room’s a total pigsty.”

Finally, finally, Little Oink manages to make a complete mess of things – to the great delight of his piggy parents.  And finally, finally, he’s able to do what every little piggy wants to do:

Get out the broom.  Get out the scrub brush.  Don’t forget the wash basin.  It’s time to play house.

While Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Jen Corace’s latest book probably won’t have kids organizing their sock drawers or scrubbing the floor, they will certainly get them (and their parents) giggling as they read the antics of Little Oink and his parents.  And really, which one’s more important?

Swimming with Sharks by Betty Hicks

After the first two Gym Shorts books featured Henry and Goose, Rita is now the main character in Swimming with Sharks. Four of the five friends – Rita, Henry, Jazz, and Rocky – are on the swim team. (Goose is still busy becoming the greatest soccer goalie ever.) When Rita reaches the end of the pool, Miss York, the swim coach, checks her watch and announces that Rita has earned a place on the Dolphins team. Yes! Dolphins are very cool fish. Sleek, smart, friendly, and fast. Perfect for Rita.

But when Rocky, Henry, and Jazz all become Sharks and Rita realizes that their meets are on different days, her opinion changes. Dolphins are stupid.

Rita knows it’s her inability to do a flip turn that keeps her off the Sharks. Flip turns are so much faster…for those that can do them without getting water up their nose. Rita, unfortunately, is not one of them. When Jazz offers her a simple solution, a swimmer’s nose plug, Rita decides that quitting the team is easier. “I’m not a wimp. I’m just quitting,” Rita explains to her Shark friends. “When something isn’t you, it’s okay to quit.”

After a frustrating afternoon at home, wallowing in her quitting-ness, things are getting no better. When her younger sister comes home from a friend’s house riding her bike without training wheels, Rita realizes that help from a friend is just what she needs.

Jazz works with Rita on her flip turns until the pool transforms their fingertips to raisins. Her practice makes her much faster, but is this new-found ability enough to make her a Shark? Or could an ability she’s had all along be the one that gives her teeth?

The third Gym Shorts book again features friends helping friends, but the end of Swimming with Sharks is a bit different. Yes, Rita improves. Yes, her friends help her. But it turns out to be something Rita does all on her own that brings about her biggest chance for success.

Happy Mother's Day

A mother is defined simply as a female parent, but no holiday has been created to honor female parents.  Mothers, on the other hand, are infinitely more.  Mothers get their own holiday.

So what's the difference?

That's answered in my latest newspaper column.  Here's the printable version.

Goof-Off Goalie by Betty Hicks

Goof-Off Goalie is the second title in the Gym Shorts series by Betty Hicks. After getting to know Henry in Basketball Bats, Goose is now the featured friend followed by readers. Goose fears he may be a wizard. On his tenth birthday he closed his eyes, made his wish, and extinguished ten of ten candles. One week later Alex Winkler vanished. Just like Goose wished.

OK, he didn’t actually vanish, but Alex and his family did move to Vermont.

Vanish/Vermont. Either way, the soccer team’s starting goalie now lives out of state. It’s the perfect opportunity for Goose. “Look at me. I’m tall. My arms are long. I can fill up more goal space than anybody.” All of this might be true, but as Henry says, Goose is a goof-off.

His tryout doesn’t go well with the coach. GOALIE = DIVE, that’s what Goose thinks. Coach points out there are other, better ways to keep the ball from the back of the net.

Henry decides to help his friend out. He develops a practice schedule. Every evening, rain or shine, it’s goalie practice. It works great! Goose’s skills improve, but unfortunately, Henry’s grades start to drop. Henry, Goose’s personal goalkeeper coach, receives a temporary parental suspension from athletics.

That’s when Rita, Rocky, and Jazz come to the rescue. They take over Henry’s practice plan, and Goose’s improvement continues. Goose finally gets the chance he’s been wishing for. He also faces a difficult choice. Henry needs help, but if Goose does what he can for Henry, he may lose his golden goalie opportunity. What should a friend do?

Here’s the best part of the Gym Shorts series. Goose, Henry, Rita, Rocky, and Jazz are true friends. They do whatever they can, whenever they can, for one another. Despite the difficulty of Goose’s choice, the correct choice is made. In the end readers will enjoy the fast-paced game action featuring Goose’s – and Henry’s – big day.

Stormy's Hat: Just Right for a Railroad Man by Eric A. Kimmel

This past Christmas, Grandpa found a new hat under the tree. Boy was he proud. A genuine Stormy Kromer he told us. “Men everywhere put these on when they leave the house and forget to take them off when they return. They’re that comfortable.” He gave me a bit of the hat’s history – Stormy was a railroad man whose hat continuously flew off in the wind until his wife created this one. The perfect hat.

Something was familiar about that story. I knew it. I’d read it. But where? I couldn’t remember the title, but I distinctly remembered reading a picture book about it. It took a few months, but I finally tracked down Stormy’s Hat: Just Right for a Railroad Man by Eric A. Kimmel.

Stormy was an engineer. He drove the Red Stack line from St. Paul to Chicago. Stormy loved everything about being an engineer except one thing. Losing hats. No hat would stay on his head in the wind. No hat was just right for a railroad man.

He complained to his wife, Ida. He’d lost his new derby hat, and that was the third one in a month! He tried a cowboy hat, but the brim got in the way and the white hat quickly turned black from the coal dust. He tried a pressman’s hat like the men who ran the Chicago newspapers, but a spark set it on fire! He tried a fireman’s helmet, but it was too heavy and too hot.

Ida had finally had enough. She had tried offering suggestions, but Stormy wouldn’t listen. He would now – she’d make sure of that. She sits him down and tells him to describe what he needs in a hat. Ida sketches and erases, sketches and erases, and together they create the perfect hat. Ida modifies one of Stormy’s old baseball hats, and when Stormy wears it, it’s the perfect hat for a railroad man. All the other railroad men want one just like his. “Would she make hats for us?” they ask.

“She might. Why don’t you ask her?” And the rest is history.

Stormy’s Hat is a great story, and Stormy’s hat is, well, a great hat. My only question is why the book shows the traditional striped engineer’s hat, but the Stormy Kromer hat of today is considered a cold weather hat. The official story is the same as the book, but the hat is different. Hmmm… I’ll have to do some more digging. In the meantime, don’t let my cap confusion keep you from enjoying a great book. (Don't let Stormy scare you either.)

Basketball Bats by Betty Hicks

Henry is an athlete. To him, playing sports is better than ice cream and the circus and probably ice cream at the circus. When a basketball challenge comes from a kid dubbed Tough Guy, Henry can’t back down. This kid, this Tough Guy, thinks he can squash me like a bug? And he thinks he and his friends can beat me and my friends in a basketball game?

“We challenge you. Tomorrow. Right here – three o’clock,” challenges Henry.

“Your funeral,” responds Tough Guy.

When the Tigers, Tough Guy’s team, show up the next day, they’re wearing matching uniforms. They’re growling. And they are prepared to do all they can to win. Even cheat. That’s evident immediately when the Tiger who insists on tossing up the jump ball throws it directly to Tough Guy. In the end, however, the cheating doesn’t work. Henry and his team win, prompting cries from the Tigers of “Unfair!” and “We want a rematch! On our turf!”

When the rematch rolls around, Tough Guy’s mom comes…to be the referee. Tough Guy’s cousin is subbing for a missing player. The new player is…eh-hem…a fifth grader. A six-foot tall fifth grader who needs a shave. The rematch doesn’t go very well for Henry. His team, the Basketball Bats, do all they can to compete, and unfortunately, Henry even tries to do it himself, ignoring his teammates.

Not wanting to out-cheat the cheaters, Henry comes up with a way to outsmart them. But will his plan work? Can the Basketball Bats win the tiebreaker? Will his teammates even want to play with him anymore? All is nicely resolved and without telling exactly how, I will say that young readers will be satisfied.

Gym Shorts is a new series by Betty Hicks. Basketball Bats, the first book, introduces readers to the five main characters – Henry, Goose, Jazz, Rita, and Rocky. These five athletes all live on the same street, all have their own individual talents, and always encourage and help one another find success. Three other Gym Shorts books have been released (reviews to come) and more titles are on the way.

Calvin Coconut: Trouble Magnet by Graham Salisbury

Fourth graders don’t waste time with their book reviews. Peter, one of my wife’s students (with remarkable taste in literature, I might add), got right to the point when he wrote simply, “Calvin Coconut was an awesome book because it was funny. On the first day of school there was a food fight.” Later he wrote, “In the beginning, with the kiteboarding guy, I thought that was amazing too.”

How can anyone argue with funny, food fight, and kiteboarding?

Calvin lives with his first grade sister, Darci, and his mom in a town called Kailua on the island of Oahu. Soon, however, Stella is coming to live with them. Stella is fifteen, from Texas, and the daughter of Mrs. Coconut’s best friend from high school. She’ll be sort of a big sister, says Mom, a babysitter. Calvin has to move into the garage storage area with the giant centipedes (which are kind of cool, he admits) to give Stella her own room.

That can only mean more trouble for Calvin. He’s a kid who accidentally goes kiteboarding with a kite and no board. He draws the attention of Tito, the school bully. His captured centipede (I told you they were cool) escapes in the fourth grade classroom. Mr. Purdy makes him the classroom greeter for the month which means shaking hands with everyone…even girls! And his forgetfulness locks Stella in her room on her first morning in Hawaii.

See? Calvin Coconut: Trouble Magnet.

Reading realistic fiction invariably brings to mind two questions. One: Could I live there? Two: Could I teach there? Calvin lives a couple blocks from the beach, across from his house is a jungle, and “high above the jungle, green mountains sat under hats of white clouds.” Yep. I could get used to that. Culturally, however, would be another story. Willy, a new kid and the only haole, or white kid, in the class, doesn’t know what cuttlefish is, but he bravely tastes it. He doesn’t know what kimchee is, but he tries that too, with shocking results. Kimchee flies. Macaroni flies. More kimchee flies. Something gooey hits Calvin. Chaos ensues, all because the new kid didn’t know that kimchee is pickled cabbage and chili peppers.

The setting would be great, but culturally? I’m sure I’d learn (as readers do), but let’s just say that, as the new guy in town and in class, I’d probably cause my share of food fights.

Calvin Coconut and author Graham Salisbury bring the Hawaiian Islands’ culture and setting to kids on the mainland. But despite any differences, readers will quickly realize that kids are kids, school is school, funny is funny, and maybe most importantly, trouble is trouble.

Gooney Bird Is So Absurd by Lois Lowry

If a girl’s gotta think – and this girl, Gooney Bird Greene, certainly does some thinking – then she’s gotta keep her brain warm. And if that girl wears two pony tails, then that girl needs a two-ponytail hat. Of course. Perfectly logical.

So what has a circular elastic band, two holes perfect for ponytails, and sometimes comes in pale green with ruffles?

Underpants. (And my apologies to Gooney Bird who reminded her classmates and me that while the word underpants, like armpit and bellybutton, will get a laugh, it’s a cheap laugh.)

Soon enough, the talented Mrs. Pidgeon leads the discussion away from Gooney Bird’s brain warming hat and on to poetry, using a possible snow day as its subject.

SNOW DAY!
NO WAY!

When students realize that short poems are perfectly acceptable, they soon write:

SNOW DAY!
LET’S PLAY!

and

SNOW DAY!
HOORAY!

At the end of the first chapter, Gooney Bird admits that yes, her two-ponytail hat was once underpants, but just like poetry, “it can be whatever you want it to be.” When she removes it, claiming the elastic hurts her forehead, Mrs. Pidgeon is moved to verse herself:

GOONEY BIRD,
YOU’RE SO ABSURD!

The anticipated snow day does not come, but more lessons in poetry do. (As do a variety of brain warming hats throughout the class.) Students learn about haiku, couplets, and limericks. The once-mysterious Mrs. X also returns, but not in person. Mrs. Pidgeon shares her mother’s poetry. She also shares stories of her mother’s failing health with Gooney Bird and her classmates. In the end it’s Mrs. X’s health and the class’s love for their teacher that inspires Gooney Bird and the rest of the second graders to create their biggest masterpiece: A poem for many voices written, performed, and videotaped by the class.

Lois Lowry's fourth book featuring Gooney Bird is another winner. Sometimes these second graders appear to have wisdom and education well beyond average students their age, but these well-crafted characters are enjoyable nevertheless. Gooney Bird is So Absurd joins Gooney Bird Green, Gooney Bird and the Room Mother, and Gooney The Fabulous as another excellent book to put in the hands of second, third, and fourth graders.

Tadpole by Ruth White

Carolina Collins is the youngest of the four Collins children, or “them loud-mouthed Collins gals” as the locals sometimes say. Fourteen year old Kentucky is the popular one. Twelve year old Virginia is the pretty one. Eleven year old Georgia is the smart one. But ten year old Carolina? She says she’s nobody at all. Sometimes with all the praising and bragging on her sisters, it can be hard to have many compliments left over.

Whatever they do, they do it loud, and readers understand right from the start. The girls and their mother, Serilda, are off to get permanent waves in their hair – one $ each Sat morn come early – and despite the five dollars already spent on their perms, the girls persuade Mom to go see Rebel Without a Cause. When they return home, favorite cousin Tadpole is on the porch with his guitar singing with some neighbors, waiting.

“Well here we are!” he exclaims. Tadpole (now simply Tad since he’s getting older), who has bounced around between family members after his parents died, has come for a visit. At thirteen he’s been adopted by his Uncle Matthew and Aunt Lucy Birch. Serilda believes it’s simply because he’s now old enough to work. Turns out she’s right, and soon more truth is revealed. Uncle Matthew beats Tad when the boy doesn’t meet his standards. Which is often.

Tad’s not just there for a visit. He’s there to escape.

But while he’s visiting, everyone is going to enjoy it. Tad acts in ways foreign to those Collins gals. He weeds the garden and picks vegetables without being asked. Then he cans them! Without Mama! He organizes a Fourth of July picnic for everyone. He gets small jobs in Polly’s Fork to help with the bills. He also sings and gets Carolina to sing with him. She can hear the layers in music – harmony, he explains – and tries her best to join him.

But the good times don’t last forever. After writing letters to family members asking them to help (none come forward) and a couple close calls when Uncle Matthew showed up at the house, Tad can’t hide anymore. Uncle Matthew Birch takes him back.

But will Tad stay? Will he return for his guitar which he left in Carolina’s care? Will Uncle Matthew change? After all, Tad’s influence on the Collins family lasts long after he leaves. Can he affect Uncle Matthew?

Normally, I don’t recommend books featuring abused children, but for some reason, this one is different. Maybe it’s all the colorful characters. Maybe it’s just Tad, a boy mature for his age, full of hope and spirit and determination. Maybe it’s the opportunity to introduce bluegrass music and Bill Monroe to 21st Century kids or Ruth White's ability to write in a distinctly Appalachian dialect. Whatever it is, it works. Tadpole has never failed as read aloud in my class, and it was voted a mock-Newbery Honor book at our school in 2004.

Amulet Book One: The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi

Emily and Navin are moving. Unable to afford their home after her husband’s death, Karen has decided to move the family to a house that has been in the family for years. Unused and filthy, but paid for. In their cleaning attack, the kids end up in Great-Grandpa Silas’s library. Emily and Navin discover books and portraits and all variety of gadgets and inventions. Most importantly, Emily discovers an amulet necklace that attaches itself around her neck.

Someone…or something…in the library, however, also discovers them. A ghostly phantom escapes a heating duct. A shadowy creature observes the family’s activities.

That night, their first in the new house, the amulet awakens Emily and gives her a message. “Emily. Listen carefully. Your family is in danger. Stay with them. Keep them safe.” Safe from what, Emily wonders, but the amulet is silent once again. Later that night, mysterious noises draw the family’s attention. Mom is quick to investigate the origin in the basement, ordering the kids to stay upstairs. Emily obeys her mother, disregarding the amulet’s warning.

And Mom disappears.

Following her screams through a basement door, Emily and Navin find themselves in an alternate Earth, a world of odd creatures, and odd family secrets, including what happened to Great-Grandpa Silas. They meet Miskit, Ruby, Cogsley, and Morrie – a pink rabbit, vacuum cleaner (I think), and two robots, respectively. They also discover that Great-Grandpa Silas had somehow selected Emily to continue his work. She must choose: accept the amulet/stone and it’s power/risks/abilities/dangers, the chance to rescue her mother, and even the possibility of turning back time or simply turn it away.

The Stonekeeper begins with a prologue of the night Emily’s father died two years earlier. It is a brief account, but readers immediately feel the power of Kazu Kibuishi’s art. As the family drives to pick up Navin, there is an accident. The car crashes through a guard rail, flips, and slides down a steep, snowy embankment. It comes to rest against a tree on the edge of a cliff. Emily and her mother get out, but David’s legs are trapped under the dashboard. The car begins to slide, the tree gives way, and a husband and father is lost.

Immediately the prologue illustrates so clearly how graphic novels can quickly show what takes pages to describe in a traditional novel. Seeing David’s hand slowly slip out of Karen’s as the car shifts. Seeing Emily’s feet rise off the ground as she tries unsuccessfully to hold the tipping car down by its front bumper. Readers immediately know the desperation and heartbreak felt by the family. Kibuishi’s art continues to hold readers’ attention throughout this action packed book.

Spring Break, a GPS, and a New Newspaper Column

Spring Break for the family included items and events that are wonderfully non-Wisconsin, at least at the end of March. Milwaukee Brewers baseball games (without a roof!), palm trees (under which I sat reading books and stirring fruity drinks with a toothpick umbrella), sunshine (and sunscreen...most of the time), and outdoor seating at a restaurant (under an orange tree, no less).

It also included a GPS device. "Just in case," my wife said as she put it in the suitcase. We ended up not needing it - our antiquated maps and handwritten directions worked fine - but that GPS did provide some welcome breaks to the monotony of desert driving.

NEW COLUMN: Sometimes, old 'technology' trumps new. Here's a link to the printable version.

After reading, come back here for the conclusion that was cut due to space limitations:

We made it. We're at the hotel. My wife and I are proud to say our maps and handwritten directions – we’re so twentieth century – did the trick. We experienced the desert: the rocks, the canyons, the sagebrush, the cactuses…

“It’s cacti, Dad.”

“Quit looking over my shoulder!”

“Hey, I got you here, didn’t I?”

Yeah. Something like that.

Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Luke lives in the attic. Mostly, anyways. He’s an illegal third child. After having Matthew and Mark, his older brothers, his parents decided they wanted another child. This “no third child” foolishness the government recently enacted surely won’t last, they thought. A baby could be hidden for a short time until more logical minds prevailed and the law was repealed.

Now, twelve years later, the law is still in place, and Luke remains Among the Hidden. He eats meals with his family, but he doesn’t attend school, go to town, or visit the neighbors. Nothing. The remoteness of the family farm allows him some outdoor freedom – fields, barn, backyard – but that’s it.

Now the government has cleared the forest behind the house to make room for new housing. Unfortunately for Luke, the shelter given him by the forest has now disappeared along with the trees.

Most days are spent in the attic. Someone could see him through the windows. The government could monitor the phone, computer, or the family’s daytime electricity consumption and send the Population Police to investigate. Anything might give him away.

Luke’s only break from the monotony is his view of the new houses through an attic vent. One boring day blends with the next for Luke as he watches the comings and goings of the neighboring Barons, the rich upper class residents of his community.

Then Luke sees the last thing he expects – a face peering out of the neighbor’s window. From an empty house. Empty just like his.

Daring to venture out, despite the danger of discovery and his parents’ constant warnings, Luke goes next door. He meets Jen, another third child, daughter of a Baron, with a dream of being a great reformer. She is convinced the government’s stories of overpopulation are all lies. Through Internet chat rooms she is organizing a rally of shadow children, a rally to bring attention to the thousands of children that live in secret without the freedom other children enjoy. She believes the laws banning third children will be eliminated due to her efforts, and she wants Luke to help.

Will he? Can he? Should he? All are questions Luke must weigh, knowing the consequences could be severe. Jen’s decision is made, and Luke makes his.

The end of the book – after the rally of shadow children – finds Luke assuming a new identity and leaving to live Among the Imposters, the title of the second book in the seven book Shadow Children series by Margaret Peterson Haddix.

The Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night: An Old Song by Peter Spier

Question: Is it possible to get 1. Randolph Caldecott, 2. Burl Ives, and 3. Bob Dylan to all fit cohesively into one book review?

Answer: Certainly, if you choose the right book.

Every father needs to provide for his family - the wife and young 'uns, so to speak. Even a fox. So when the fox goes out on a chilly night he goes where many foxes would. A farm.

The sly fox sneaks his way into the farmer's bin, swipes a duck and the grey goose, and swiftly heads back to his den. "And he didn't mind the quack, quack, quack, or their legs all dangling down-o, down-o, down-o."

Old Mother Giggle-Gaggle realizes what's happening, however, and declares, "John! John! Our grey goose is gone, and the fox is on the town-o, town-o, town-o!" Farmer John rushes out in pursuit, blowing his horn as a warning, his rifle in tow. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on who you're cheering for) the fox makes it back to his wife and ten little ones. "They never ate such a dinner in their life and the little ones chewed on the bones-o, bones-o, bones-o."

The illustrations alternate between color and black and white and there are tons of tiny details to notice with each reading. There is a Civil War monument with Giggle-Gaggle, the farmer's family name, listed on the side. Several pages later readers see a framed photograph of a Civil War soldier on the farmer's bedroom wall. There are Giggle-Gaggles on tombstones in the cemetery. As the fox makes his way to town-o, careful readers will see hints of where his quest will take him by looking at locations in the distance.

The Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night by Peter Spier was awarded a Caldecott Honor in 1962. Young readers will like it well enough, especially the fox racing back home while carrying his plunder and the farmer throwing on his britches over his nightclothes, but it's an absolute riot trying to follow along as the song plays. (Not the Burl Ives version, mind you. The Nickel Creek version. See below.) As with most traditional folk songs, lyrics change and verses get dropped, but the song I first heard, the song my kids loved singing “town-o, town-o, town-ooooooo,” matches the book pretty well.

So that’s it. 1. The book won a Randolph Caldecott Honor. 2. The story is a traditional folk song once recorded by Burl Ives. 3. The song was also recorded by Nickel Creek who, when performing the song live, often include the first verse of Subterranean Homesick Blues by…Bob Dylan.

The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick

"It's a bit over the top, don't you think?" my wife asked after we'd both read The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg.

"Yeah, it is, but don't you think kids will love it? It's just one adventure into the next," I responded.

We both thought for a moment, then realized at nearly the same moment, of course it's over the top. This is Homer P. Figg telling the story here, and if readers learn anything, it's that lying comes to Homer like buzzing comes to bees. This is the boy who warns readers at the beginning of chapter one, "Telling the truth don't come easy to me, but I will try, even if old Truth ain't nearly as useful as a fib sometimes."

Homer and his brother, Harold, live with their uncle, Squinton Leach, who believes the boys are to him as Boils and Pestilence are to Job in the Bible. Simply put, old Squint ain't happy unless he ain't happy, and by simply living, the boys do plenty to make sure Squint ain't happy.

When Squint catches Homer eating a bread crust intended for the pigs, Harold stands up for his brother. Enraged, Squint leaves the farm and returns with local officials. He swears that Harold is 20 (he's really 17) and sells him into service in the Union Army for $200. Homer can't stand the prospect of losing his brother so he runs away, a fibber trying to find his brother and convince others of the truth.

Harold meets a cast of characters, each more dastardly or noble or pious than the next. There's Stink Mullins and Ebenezer Smelt, slave catchers willing to return free men for the reward. Next Homer meets Jebediah Brewster, a big, bold Quaker aiding runaway slaves on the Underground Railroad. There's bumbling preacher-to-be Webster B. Willow, swindling shysters Kate and Frank Nibbly, and the proprietor of a traveling medicine show, Fenton J. Fleabottom, Professor.

Homer's quest leads him from his home in Pine Swamp, Maine to New York, into New Jersey, and finally to Pennsylvania. He eventually does catch up with Harold, but the truth he discovers about war is different from what he expects. Author Rodman Philbrick brings Homer's mostly true adventures to a close by showing how Homer and Harold played a role in one of the most famous battles of the Civil War and, quite possibly, changed the course of United States history.

And that's the truth. Mostly, anyway.