Author Archives: The Read-e-ologist

Sold

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Sold by Patricia McCormick

Grades 9 and up

Lakshmi tells her story in verse, and it is an ugly, sad story of oppression.  Lakshmi, at 13, is sold by her family in Nepal, and is brought to India’s “red light district.”  When a man shows up for her services, and Lakshmi realizes what she is supposed to do, she tries to fight it.  She understands,  as other girls cope with this life in whatever way they can.  Lakshmi is offered an out by someone she was told not to trust, but she is not really sure who to trust regardless.  She has already seen what happens to a girl who tries to run away, and must choose from a variety of risks.

This excellent story, told in poetry, is eye-opening and based on real accounts of the trafficking that occurs in India.

Typical Teen Topics

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Middle School:  The Worst Years of My Life by James Patterson

Grades 4 through 9

Rafe begins sixth-grade and starts setting goals immediately.  His first goal is to avoid Miller, the school’s biggest bully.  His second goal is to get Jeanne Galletta’s attention, as she is pretty and cool.  His third goal, based on the other two, is to break every rule in the Hills Village Middle school Code of Conduct – yep, that’s right, break EVERY rule.

The book is filled with illustrations that add to the story, as Rafe deals with teachers, students, his family, and himself.

My Rating: 3 Stars

 

 

The Earth, My Butt & Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler

Ages 13 to 19

Virginia always played in the shadows of beautiful, successful, and thin siblings.  The brother she had always looked up to gets in trouble for something abominable, and Virginia has to start re-evaluating some things:  her family, her self-perceptions, her life rules, her social life.  After taking a few risks, things start to change…

My Rating: 4 Stars

 

 

A Couple of Caldecotts

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Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!  by Mo Willems

Ages 3 through adult

This book is simple, and hilarious!  Willems did an excellent job with the consistent drawings, limited colors, and easy to read text.  In spite of its simplicity, the book expresses a range of emotions through tiny color changes, and expressions from the pigeon, as he builds himself up to a tantrum.  Enjoy the book, and enjoy the pigeon’s humorous attempts to convince you to fold, but whatever you do…  “Don’t let the pigeon drive the bus!”

My Rating:  4.5 Stars

Tops & Bottoms by Janet Stevens

Ages 5 to 10

This book is engineered in a unique way!  To go along with the theme of tops and bottoms, Stevens crafted the book so that it has to be rotated to read it.  In other words, the left and right pages, are really the top and bottom, respectively.   The story is about a lazy bear, and a hardworking, sly rabbit who keeping making deals regarding harvest time.

My Rating:  4 Stars

The Ugly Duckling by Jerry Pinkney

Ages 4 to adult

The story is adapted from Hans Christian Anderson tale, and the beautiful watercolor is all Pinkney’s.  Come for the award-winning artwork, and stay for the classic tale.

My Rating:  3.5 Stars

Two Tough Topics

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Almost Perfect by Brian Katcher

Ages 15 and up

Logan, is a regular high school guy who is working on getting over a girl who he dated for three years.  One day, Sage, a new girl, shows up in biology class.  Logan is instantly taken by her, and it seems the she likes him back.  He gets mixed messages from Sage.  Sometimes she seems really attracted to Logan, and other times she says that she is not allowed to date.  She says that she was home-schooled for a few years.  Logan is respectful of all of that, but he wonders why Sage’s younger sister was not home-schooled and is allowed to date.  As he discovers Sage’s secret, Logan is forced to decide how much he cares about Sage, and how much he cares about what others think.

I was expecting a “girl book” because of the cover, but I found a rich, story with a dynamic male protagonist.  Once I got into the story, I could not put the book down.

My Rating:  5 Stars!

Lockdown by Walter Dean Myers

Grades 7 and up

Reese is in a juvenile detention center, serving time for stealing prescription pads.  Regardless of his best efforts to keep his nose clean, Reese gets in several fights, and keeps losing privileges while he is locked up.  Fortunately, he participates in a work program, so he gets to work at a home for Senior Citizens.  Reese is assigned to work with the difficult, angry Mr. Hooft.  At first, Reese finds Mr. Reese as intolerable as everybody else does.  As he continues to work with him, however, they learn a bit from each other.

My Rating: 5 Stars

For the Love of Picture Books

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When Sophie Gets Angry – Really, Really, Angry by Molly Bang

Ages 3 to 8

Sophie gets angry when her sister snatches her toys.  At first, she starts to explode, but then she runs and runs and finds something beautiful to help her calm down.

My Rating:  3 Stars

Vera Rides a Bike by Vera Rosenberry

Ages 3 to 7

When Vera’s bright red tricycle disappears, she get Elaine’s hand-me-down bike.  The riding it part isn;t that difficult, but stopping causes some problems for Vera.

My Rating:  2 Stars

George Shrinks by William Joyce

Ages 3 to 7

While his parents are away, George experiences the day as a teeny-tiny boy.  He accomplishes everything that his parents asked him to do, just from a different perspective.  The fun illustrations add so much to this story.

My Rating:  3.5 Stars

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig

Ages 4 to 10

Sylvester, who has collection of pebbles, comes across a very special pebble.  It has the power to makes Sylvester’s wishes come true.  Unfortunately, Sylvester makes a wish that seems like the right thing for the moment, but its effects are long-lasting.

My Rating:  5 Stars

All in the Family

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Son of the Mob by Gordon Korman

Ages 12+

Vince is trying his hardest to be a regular high-school guy, and to live quietly and honestly.  In spite of his efforts, his family’s business keeps affecting his life.  Because his father is the big boss of the mob, Vince’s house is bugged and the F.B.I. is always keeping tabs on what they are doing.  Life gets even more complicated for Vince when he falls for a girl, and then later discovers that her dad works for the F.B.I.

This book deals with some challenging issues, as Vince confronts his own morals and makes sense out of his beliefs about what makes a “good guy” and a “bad guy.”  I loved this book because it dealt with these issues in a humorous way, and I could relate to Vince.  I really did laugh out loud a few times as I read this book.

My Rating:  5 Stars

Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

Grades 8 and up

Set in the future, along the Gulf Coast, Nailer struggles to survive.  His job is to scavenge copper wire from ships that sunk during “city killer” hurricanes.  While Nailer belongs to a crew, the work is every-man-to-himself, as it is about survival.  Living under poverty conditions, with a drunken, abusive father as his only “family”, Nailer has to make decisions about who to trust and who not to trust.   The considerations about what constitutes family, and how to determine if someone is trustworthy get even more complicated when Nailer rescues Nita from a ship filled with riches.

While I do enjoy a good, futuristic, dystopian novel, I struggled with this one.  Maybe because I went in unfamiliar with ship breaking, which I have since researched.  I also found some of the characters to be somewhat flat, so I was less concerned about what happened to them than I should have been.

My Rating:  3 Stars

The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer

Grades 8 and up

Matt is isolated and abused for the first years of his life.  A clone to El Patrón, the drug lord of the land called Opium (between the U.S. and Mexico, now referred to as Aztlán), Matt realizes that he is different the other clones, as they are all “eejits.”  Matt learns about his purpose (why he was cloned), and confronts his beliefs about family, love, trust, government, power, and fear as he grows up under El Patrón’s “care.”

This book pulled me in, and kept me fascinated throughout its entirety.  Nancy Farmer knows how to develop characters that one is led to care about, while twisting science-fiction, reality and thriller into one amazing masterpiece!

My Rating:  5 Stars!!

Picture Books about Night

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  At Night by Jonathon Bean

Ages 4 to 7

When a little girl can’t get to sleep, she finds a place that works better than er own bed.  (Follow the black cat through the pages of the story too!)

My Rating: 3.5 Stars

Smoky Night by Eve Bunting

Ages 8 to 18

On a night full of rioting and fire, in a city with racism, Daniel learns an important lesson from his cat Jasmine.

My Rating: 4 Stars

Bedtime for Frances By Russell Hoban

Ages 3 to 103

Frances does NOT want to go to bed.  After requesting milk and more goodnight kisses, Frances has to face the things in the dark.  She even made up a song to try to fall asleep, but it only got her thinking about tigers. . . Father has some good ideas about how to help Frances finally get to sleep.

My Rating:  5 Stars

Two More

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Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Ages 10 to 14

Coraline, an only child, lives in a flat with her mother and father, who are usually busy.  Coraline discovers a door that connects to the other flat.  When she figures out how to get over to the other side, she discovers some similarities and some differences compared to her side.  Even the “people” resemble her family.  Making her way back, if she can, will require facing darkness, desires, and fear.

My Rating:  3.5

The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis

Ages 11 to 99

Parvana lives in Afghanistan, with her well-educated family.  Unfortunately, the Taliban have control over the city where Parvana lives.  Her family has had to move out of their nice home, and now live in a small room with barely enough food, and no water.  The Taliban use violence and fear to control everything.  They have even called off school!  As the Taliban hurts Parvana’s family directly, she has to be brave and do some things that she never would have imagined.

My Rating:  5 Stars!!

Picture (Books) Worth a Thousand Words

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Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman

Ages 5 through 105

Grace is an amazing girl, who can do all kinds of things.  She decides that she want s to be Peter Pan in the school play.  Someone tells her that she can’t because Peter is a boy.  Someone else tells her that Peter is not black.  Fortunately, Grace has an amazing Nana who knows just what to do!

My Rating:  4.5 Stars

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr.

Ages 2 to 6

Repetitive patterns and familiar animals make this book a fun way to read, learn about colors, and play with words.

My Rating: 3 Stars

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

Ages 2 through 8

This artistically crafted book tells the tale of a hungry caterpillar who eats his way through many things.  Children have fun counting, and finding out what happens after he ate enough to cause a stomachache.

My Rating:  4 Stars

 No, David! by David Shannon

Ages 2 through 6

Funny pictures fill the pages as David gets in trouble and is told “No.” This book was based on a book that the author wrote when he was young, but he has added a nice ending.

My Rating:  3 Stars

Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback

Ages 4 through 8

Based on an old Yiddish folk song, this book tells the tale of Joseph’s overcoat, and what Joseph does when it wears out.

My Rating:  3 Stars

 

Ages 5 to 105

Beautiful illustrations tell the beautiful tale of a boys love for America (California in particular) and Japan.  The love for both countries was inspired by his grandfather’s travels.

My Rating:  4 Stars

A Few Good Books

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Savvy by Ingrid Law

Grades 6 through 8

Life is challenging enough for anybody who is about to turn 13, but for Mibs Beaumont, turning 13 changes everything.  Every Beaumont has a “savvy” or a special talent that starts on the 13th birthday.  One Beaumont can control electricity, and one can create huge storms and hurricanes.

Mibs convinces herself that her savvy can wake up her dad, who is hospitalized in a coma.  When she gets on a bus to sneak to the hospital, she and her siblings end up on quite the adventure.

My Rating:  4 Stars

Joey Pigza Loses Control by Jack Gantos

Grades 4 through 8

Joey gets to spend the summer with his dad who convinces (forces) Joey to stop taking his ADHD medications.  As Joey loses control of himself, he also has to come to terms with some other difficult issues:  his parents’ divorce, his dad’s alcoholism, and his grandmother’s addiction.

My Rating:  5 Stars

The Tale of Desperaux : Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and   a Spool of Thread by Kate DiCamillo

Ages 5 to 105

This story is a story of a mouse, Desperaux, who is not content with his lot in life.  He is a dreamer, and falls in love with a princess, named Pea.  As Desperaux fights for a life that is more than what he was offered he has to confront rejection, fear, darkness, and the rats in the dungeon.

My Rating:  4.5 Stars (4 the first time I read it; 5 the second time)