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Posts from the ‘Book Reviews’ Category

Aug 1

Books on the Blog: The Wild Robot

by Linda Walker

Robots…what do I know about them?

robots

“Danger, Danger Will Robinson,” the robot in Lost in Space calls out its repetitive warnings. Will was always in trouble. This lumbering mechanical alarm system didn’t even have a name?  Rosie from the Jetsons, a frilly aproned house keeper rolled around on a single leg offering cheery advice. Two of my favorites were Crow T and Tom from Mystery Science Theater. Along with Joel, their creator, they are forced to watch B-rated Sci-Fi movies. Their critiques were always humorous. And then from the first Star Wars movie I fell for R2-D2 and C-3PO. Who wouldn’t? C-3PO was all decorum and procedure speaking millions of languages. On the other hand, there was the mischievous R2-D2, the bleeping rolling vacuum cleaner shaped character everyone wanted to call, friend. Their personalities and actions appealed to me.

R5Peter Brown, author of The Curious Garden, introduced me to a new favorite robot, Roz. She is the main character in his 2016 release, The Wild Robot. A hurricane’s lashing rain and wind sinks a cargo ship loaded with hundreds of crates. One washes up onto a wild rock island. Inside that crate is a robot. By fate, some playful otters discover the broken box. Curious by nature, they paw at the contents and click activate the robot. As you know robots are programmed by their creators to store and compute data. They do not learn or have emotions. When Roz is turned on her survival instinct for which she has been programmed kicks in but so does something else…a new feeling – curiosity.

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Jun 6

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Books on the Blog: The Key to Extraordinary by Natalie Lloyd

by Jen Greene

Natalie Lloyd has a lyrically brilliant writing style that draws readers into an alternate universe where magic does exist and anything is possible.  Her sentences are carefully crafted together to weave a story that leaves you changed upon completion.  Her first book, A Snicker of Magic, is a masterpiece that I try to put in the hands of every student in my classroom.  Her second novel, The Key to Extraordinary is just as magical and transformative, sure to quickly become a favorite among students in the upper elementary grades.  Read more

May 25

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The Monsters and the Writers (Guest Post)

by Donald LaBranche

The first principle is this: when they walk through the door, take them seriously as writers.  Every decision I make will have to grow out of that ground. Purple hair, ukuleles, gothic jewelry and clothing, surly expressions on the face one day and sweet dispositions the next…take them seriously as writers. Whatever it is, writers are just like that.  

I’ve been teaching this Young Writers/Young Readers class (Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror) long enough so that I have a process that more or less stays the same. I ask myself the same questions every year. Whose fiction should I read so I can renew familiarity with classic stories? (Mary Shelley) Whose fiction is on the cutting edge of what is being written say, in the last 3-5 years? (Ann Leckie) Also, whose work about the craft of writing will benefit my students by learning and practicing what they have to say? Finally, I want to look at student work from the last couple of years in some detail to discern what it is they can do well and what I need to help them do better.

That’s it. That’s the plan as it looks in mid-April.  Read more

May 2

Books on the Blog: The Tragedy Paper and Like Any Normal Day

by Molly Leahy

The Tragedy Paper

Leahy Blog 2 LaBanIn her first young adult novel, The Tragedy Paper, Philadelphia’s Elizabeth LeBan invites readers to an elite boarding school for dual story-telling. Readers follow Tim Macbeth, a new student who transfers to Irving School, as well as, Duncan Meade, who inherits Tim’s dorm room and his collection of CDs narrating a personal nightmare the previous school year. Both students are linked by English teacher Mr. Simon’s legendary writing assignment known as the Tragedy Paper.

A sign reading “Enter here to be and find a friend” greets students as they enter the school, and fortunately, Duncan has a core group of friends to help him through senior year, unlike Tim. Readers may recognize a classic love triangle between Tim, his only friend Vanessa Scheller, and her jerk boyfriend Patrick Hopkins. The Irving School Bulldogs read Moby Dick and Hamlet, while their English teacher Mr. Simon challenges them to understand themes such as magnitude, and order from chaos. LaBan creates true order from chaos in her choice of narrative structure, recorded CDs that captivate Duncan who can’t stop listening to Tim’s tale, just as readers can’t stop turning pages.  Read more

Apr 4

Books on the Blog: Maybe a Fox

Another installment of Books on the Blog with middle school librarian and media specialist Gabija Fischer!

maybe a foxMaybe a Fox by Kathi Appelt

Kathi Appelt tells of sisters and best friends, Jules and Sylvie, in her Maybe a Fox. Sylvie spends her days reminiscing about their mother who died long before Jules would even be able to remember her. Not only does Jules long to know their mother like Sylvie does, but she also longs to understand Sylvie’s own cryptic burning wish: to run faster. To Jules, Sylvie seems to run fast everywhere, even to places she is not supposed to like the Slip. Their father recites to them often, “Do not, under any circumstances, go near the Slip.”  Read more

Mar 7

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Books on the Blog: The War that Saved My Life

by Ginny Magill Jervis

Today, middle school teacher Ginny Jervais, a 2015 PAWLP Fellow, brings us a review of the novel, The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley.

The War That Saved My LifeImprisoned by the four walls of the London flat her family shares just before World War II arrives in England, Ada Smith has barely experienced the outside world. Her uneducated and abusive mother refuses to release her from their apartment in order to conceal Ada’s club feet, a sign of the devil according to her mother. In this way Ada lives the first ten years of her life, fearful of her mother’s beatings and lonely for companionship.

When Ada’s brother and other neighborhood children are evacuated into the country before the first bombs hit London, Ada sneaks away with them, and she and her brother are placed with a lonely, grieving woman. In this new life in the country, Ada slowly enters a world where she experiences the joys of open fields, pony rides, caring friends, and loving parent figures. Amidst these new adventures, however, Ada is aware that one day she may return to her old life.  Read more

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