Anne Frank's World Re-Visited

Annexed by Sharon Dogar

In Amsterdam in the middle of World War II, two Jewish families--the Franks and the Van Pels--hide away in an annex above an office, praying for survival and the downfall of the Nazis. In Annexed, Dogar has created her vision of what it was like in the annex with Anne Frank from Peter van Pels' point of view. To take a time and character so closely scrutinized by the world and so well documented--by the world renowned diary of Anne Frank--is a challenge, to say the least, but Dogar has done a good job at not over-sensationalizing the material. She also manages to stay true to what she believes might have gone through the mind of a teenage boy in a time of personal and world-wide crisis. Following Peter from the morning before seclusion to his death (potentially, according to records, in a concentration camp sick bay), readers see the hope and the despair, two sides of many moments he experienced as his memories are shared in the book.

Full of hate and fear, love, shame, sexual longing, wavering faith, and all the “why” questions one could ponder, Peter examines life both inside and outside the walls of the annex and tries to make sense of it all, all the while experiencing the morphing relationships inside the hideout as tensions flow between the families and genders. Why, Peter asks, must I hide instead of fight? Why do we have to be the chosen people? Why does being Jewish have to define everything about me? Will I ever experience life beyond this point?

Dogar’s writing is powerful and conveys life in the annex as it probably was: stifling, claustrophobic, lacking in privacy, and frustrating while at times also joyful, grateful, and full of the knowledge that beauty truly is in the small, unnoticed things. As Dogar examines the emotions Peter, the lone adolescent male, might have felt as he matured, readers also get a sense of the other characters through Peter’s descriptions of them. And unlike other narratives, Dogar follows Peter and imagines--with the aid of research--what he must have gone through after capture, both in Auschwitz and on the death march that followed in his final days.

I highly recommend this, whether you're a fan of literary fiction, historical fiction, coming-of-age stories, or just about any other type. It's not a light story, as the premise indicates, but it's worth the journey. This as Dogar's first historical fiction, and she worked hard to get the research right (though she admits in the back to altering minor timeline events for continuity's sake). The whole product is well done, emotional, and absolutely worth the read.

-Jenny

Age 13+ (some mature content)
Copyright October 2010
ISBN: 9780547501956
Available as an eBook
Image from www.goodreads.com

A fun twist on a classic tale...

Cinderella Smith by Stephanie Barden

Meet Josephine-Kathryn Smith, aka Cinderella Smith. She's nothing like the Cinderella from the classic fairy tale. No wicked stepsisters. No wicked stepmother. There's a prince...Charlie Prince, a next door neighbor who likes to tease her. The only thing she has in common with the fairy tale Cinderella is that she's always losing her shoes.

As a new school year starts, her best friend from last year is ignoring her, and she loses the most important shoe of the year...her tap shoe. With the fall dance recital coming up and the starring role of Pumpkin Blossom Fairy up in the air, Cinderella must find that shoe.

Since her former best friend, Rosemary, has moved on to "better" things, Cinderella befriends the new girl, Erin. Now, Erin has a problem that she thinks Cinderella can solve. Erin's about to get two stepsisters when her mother remarries, and Erin is worried that they might be wicked. However, Cinderella has no experience with stepsisters, wicked or otherwise, so Cinderella comes up with a unique and hilarious way to find out.

This is a great new series for fans of Ivy + Bean (Barrows), Clementine (Pennypacker), Just Grace (Harper), and Ramona (Cleary). Each of these series has unique, spunky, fun, intelligent, hilarious girls at their center. Cinderella Smith can join the club. Barden has created a character that is in high demand with my readers. With the unique fairy tale twist (which is a popular genre), she has crafted a story to be read aloud again and again. Each chapter of the book is the featured shoe of the moment. I never had a problem with losing shoes, I just wore them until they fell apart, much to my mum's dismay. She would always buy me new shoes, but I loved the old, holey, comfortable ones.

Stephanie Barden came into my children's department yesterday, which absolutely made my day. I was telling a co-worker about her book not 20 minutes before. I was disappointed that I wasn't able to make it to an event she had at another bookstore. Now, sometime this summer we'll have her for an event at our store! Definitely looking forward to that.

Be on the look out for more shoe-less adventures in Cinderella Smith and the More the Merrier coming out in 2012.

-Ruby

Ages 8+
Publisher: HarperCollins (April 26, 2011)
ISBN: 9780061964237
Available as an eBook.

Something doesn't smell quite right...

Smells Like Dog by Suzanne Selfors

How could I not read a book called Smells Like Dog? This is the sad, surprising, heart-warming, and hilarious journey of 12-year-old Homer Winslow Pudding. Homer is a dreamer who usually has his head stuck in a book (sounds like me) or his mind on the many maps that may or may not be a treasure map. He gets along best with his treasure-hunting uncle, Drake Horatio Pudding, who fills his head with daring feats and dangerous quests. Homer's father, on the other hand, wants his head out of the clouds and on terra firma, ready to work on the family-owned goat farm.

When Homer gets the news that his beloved uncle has died, he is heartbroken. However, Uncle Drake has left Homer his most valuable possession, a gold coin and a basset hound that can't smell anything and has unusual talent (read the book to find out). Homer immediately dismisses the dog and focuses on the coin. It's here that the adventure really begins.

After accidentally burning down the local library, Homer and his older sister, Gwendolyn, decide to run away (both for different reasons) to The City.* On his journey to find out the meaning of the gold coin, he runs into friends and foes alike, but which is which? A treasure hunter trusts no one. With his unusual companion, Dog, they find themselves in one mishap after another.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Homer is a lot like I was at that age; however, my mum always believes that I can do anything I put my mind too, unlike Homer's dad, who doesn't want him to reach too far or dream too big. His mother tries to overcompensate by mothering a little too much, his older sister has her own ambitions (and thinks he's weird), and his little brother Squeek wants to do what everyone else doing. Homer is still an outsider in his family, but he made a promise to his uncle to never give up on his dreams. Funny and unusual secondary characters abound that will have you laughing out loud. Treasure hunting, man-eating tortoises, villainous characters, a dog that will eat anything, and cloud-copters...what more could you ask for?

"Anyone who loves books the way Homer does, loves libraries, too. It doesn't matter if the library has fancy red leather chairs and gold-plated shelves that reach to a vaulted ceiling, of if the library has splintery wooden benches and shelves made of old milk crates. It's the scent that sets the book lover at ease. It's better than grandma's perfume, or freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, or even toast. It's a scent derived from paper, mildew, dust, and human endeavors. The oldest books smell best of all, ripened by time like expensive goat cheese." (pages 98-99)

Book Two, Smells Like Treasure will be out May 2011.

*The City is an ominous place where all kinds of bad things happen to good people, according to Homer's dad.

-Ruby

Ages 9-12
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (May 1, 2010)
ISBN: 9780316043984
Available as an eBook.

A "Rootin' Tootin' Good Time" for Girls!

Emily's Fortune by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

A word of warning: don't let the cover fool you--this book is really fun!

Newbery Award-winning author Naylor sets off on a tale in the untamed west where Emily, a recently orphaned girl who has inherited an unexpected fortune, attempts to escape her greedy, conniving Uncle Victor. Though timid and used to sitting quietly indoors all day, she grits her teeth and sets off in a coach (with her trusty pet turtle in hand), hoping to live with her distant but kind-hearted aunt. Along the way Emily meets Jackson, an orphan and a street urchin, and together they find themselves running for their lives and working together to befuddle Uncle Victor. In Emily’s adventures she learns how to climb tall trees, sleep outdoors, and disguise herself as a boy, all the while growing from meek to self-sufficient, and it’s a fun transition to witness.

Fun illustrations appear throughout the text, as do enlarged captions and Wild West “rootin’ tootin’” phrases (such as "blinkin' bloomers") that lead readers from one chapter to the next. Naylor keeps the action fun and her characters funny, elaborating on genteel ladies as they complain about bumpy wagon rides and overly ambitious child-services agents. With smart, quirky character names like “Miss Catchum” of the Catchum Child-Catching Services and Emily’s helpful neighbors—Mrs. Ready, Mrs. Aim, and Mrs. Fire—Naylor maintains the ride throughout, keeping it entertaining. With the southern dialogue and western “slang”, it would make for a great class read-aloud. It’s a book that shows just how strong and smart a little girl can become without being too girly—and really, anyone who learns to appreciate a good tree climbing while "hootin' and hollerin'" is a-okay by me! 

Like I said before, the cover is a bit murky and unfriendly, and while it does depict some of the scenes in the book, it doesn't do the book justice. Give it a chance, especially with some fun-loving, even quiet, girls and boys. Let the giggling and western twang begin!

Emily's Fortune is currently out in hardcover, and the paperback edition is planned for this November.

-Jenny

Age 8-12

Copyright June 2010

ISBN: 9780385736169

Available as an eBook
Image from www.perma-bound.com

Dear George Clooney...

Dear George Clooney: Please Marry My Mom by Susin Nielsen

It's been two years since twelve-year-old Violet Gustafson's parents were divorced. Her father, a television director, met and later married the star of the show he worked on. They created a new family, one that didn't include Violet or her younger sister, Rosie. Now, their mom, a hair stylist, tries to make ends meet while going on dates with unsuitable (according to Violet) men.

The latest is Dudley Wiener. That's right, Dudley Wiener. His name goes hand in hand with his appearance, and it's up to Violet, Rosie, and her best friend Phoebe to find out if he's Mr. Right. Using sleuthing skills learned from Harriet the Spy, Violet is determined to prove that he's Mr. Wrong no matter what.

Because of an autographed photo of George Clooney, a hilarious journey of the heart ensues to get Violet's mom and George Clooney together. Violet is a character you can sympathize with and get frustrated with, but her actions reflect her hurt and the need to protect her family. Rosie provides enough comic relief without eclipsing Violet's struggle. Always aim for the stars (pun intended). George Clooney is someone's ideal man (mine is Bruce Willis...if I had to name just one), but in the end Violet has to learn that you have to take a leap of faith and trust someone. There will always be bumps in the road, but that's life. (I know, I sound like a Hallmark card.)

-Ruby

Ages 10+
Publisher: Tundra Books (August 10, 2010)
ISBN: 9780887769771
Available as an eBook.

Byron, Keats, and Shelly Re-imagined

So Shelly by Ty Roth

Loosely based on the lives of George Gordon, Lord Byron, John Keats, Mary Shelly, and Percy Shelly, this re-imagining is set in a small town in Ohio, with the main characters in high school. Narrated by Keats, who is both the observer and the minimal participant in the lives of Byron and Shelly, this novel is told in alternating chapters between the present and the past.

In the present, Byron and Keats reminisce about the life of Shelly as they fulfill her last wishes, a "romantic adventure" that is So Shelly. As they both navigate their own memories of Shelly and piece together the reasons for Shelly's tragic death, a tentative friendship is formed.

In the chapters about the past, we discover that both Byron and Shelly have very dysfunctional families. Byron grows into a pathological, egocentric, and sex-obsessed teen. Shelly (an amalgamation of Mary Shelly and her husband Percy) is more than Byron's best friend with no limitations. As they both dabble in combined and separate endeavors, their relationship never turns romantic (despite Shelly wanting otherwise). Keats observes their mutually destructive friendship from the sidelines.

Keats has his own set of problems. He's obsessed with death. As he narrates, he throws out statistics about death. His father and mother are dead, and his older brother Tom is also on his way to death's door. Keats himself will also die young, this he knows.

I picked this book up initially because of the cover, but once I started reading I was both shocked and awed by the contemporary lives of these great writers. Once you pick this book up, it will be hard to put it down. All three characters are flawed, but their flaws are what make them great. I've only read about Percy Shelly, but it's well worth reading about them all.

My favorite passage is the last in the book from Keats: "So, what I said at the beginning, I'll repeat at the end: learn to deal with the truth of dying, and you'll experience the awesomeness of living. Death and love are real. That's all I know on earth, and all I need to know."

-Ruby

Ages 15+ (mature content)
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers (February 8, 2011)
ISBN: 9780385739580
Also available as an eBook.

Chasing Storms

Storm Runners by Roland Smith (Book 1 Storm Runners)

Chase Masters and his father are known as Storm Runners. They chase after extreme weather and help people prepare. However, while they are chasing storms, they are both running from their past. A tragic car accident took Chase's mother and younger sister two years before. Some time later, Chase's father was struck by lightning, and after being in a coma for two days, a new man was born.

Both are heading down to Florida to help prepare people for Hurricane Emily. Chase's father heads for where he thinks the hurricane will make landfall and leaves Chase with "family friends." There Chase meets Nicole Rossi, whose family owns and operates a circus. The Rossi family lives in Florida in the off season with their menagerie of animals.

Momma Rossi, Nicole's grandmother, predicts that the hurricane will actually make landfall where they live. Chase's instincts agree, but he does what he was taught by his father: Be prepared, be smart.

On Chase's first and only day at another school, Hurricane Emily makes landfall, and it's up to Chase, Nicole, and and new acquaintance Rashawn to survive the onslaught with danger all around in one of the deadliest hurricanes on record.

Roland Smith is one of the best writers for young readers, especially for boys. This story may be short, but it is full of energy. Smith has a way of writing that puts you smack dab in the middle of the story.

With the loss of his mother and sister, Chase and his father have held up remarkably well, maintaining their family of two. I get the sense that Chase longs for more. With the job that he and his father do, they are on the move lot, which means many different schools for Chase and no sense of permanence or a chance to make friends his own age.

When the hurricane hits, Chase uses the knowledge taught by his father to help him and his friends survive. This is a great series for fans of Hatchet. Regardless, it's Roland Smith...go out and pick this book up. Then when you're done, read the rest of his books. Peak is my absolute favorite...if you'd like a recommendation.

The Surge, Book Two in this series will be out in September 2011.

-Ruby

Ages 9-12
Publisher: Scholastic Press (March 1, 2011)
ISBN: 9780545081757
Not available as an eBook at this time.

Mystery, Murder, and Espionage

Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool

It's 1936, and the effects of the Great Depression are still being experienced by most. Twelve-year-old Abilene Tucker is sent to Manifest, Kansas, by her father. They've spent their life riding the rails and doing various jobs throughout the United States. Abilene is mystified as to why her father has decided to send her away now. However, the town of Manifest has more meaning to her father. It's where he lived when he was younger. Abilene decides to make the best of it as she settles in with Pastor Shady. Shady is an apropos name for him because he is also the local whisky maker in a time when Prohibition was still in effect.

In trying to find pieces of her father in this town, she discovers a box with letters and mementos underneath her floor that are from 1918. This will lead her on a journey through the memories of the locals. Some want to forget, and others have something to hide. While doing odd jobs for Miss Sadie, a Hungarian woman who is known as the local diviner (gypsy), she is told the story of Manifest in 1918, and in turn Abilene learns her own story.

This year's Newbery Award Winning novel is a fantastic debut from Clare Vanderpool. As I read Abilene's story, I felt like I was right there with her. I could taste the dust and feel the heat of the Kansas sun. Abilene is a likeable character who is feisty and opinionated. Vanderpool wonderfully weaves a narrative that brings together two different stories that connect seamlessly about spies, murder, love, and bootlegging. This has become my favorite Newbery Winner, just knocked From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler down a notch.

-Ruby

2011 Newbery Award Winner

Ages 9-12

Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers (October 2010)

ISBN: 9780385738835

Available as an eBook.

Welcome to Brambly Hedge!

The Complete Brambly Hedge by Jill Barklem

There is a wonderful community of mice that live in a hedgerow called Brambly Hedge. Here, life is peaceful and busy. They spend the spring and summer months collecting nuts, berries, and various fruits and flora for deliciously homemade jams and baked goods. Everything is kept in the Store Stump, an enormous tree stump that has many rooms for everything a mouse might need.

A love of cooking goes hand in hand with the many fun feasts, picnics, and festivals that go on in Brambly Hedge. From birthday picnics to Naming Ceremonies to weddings, the mice of Brambly Hedge eagerly await any opportunity to celebrate.

I read this series when I was growing up, and what I love the most about the stories are the intricate illustrations in each story. The beautifully rendered cross-sections of the houses where the mice live are the perfect place to live. I want to live there!

I consider this collection of stories to be classics that every child should read. However, from what I have found out, they are currently out of print. Even though they may be hard to find, try your local library.

-Ruby

All Ages

Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Dreamer and Explorer...

Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus

Fourteen-year-old Manjiro is full of questions, questions that irritate the elder fishermen. Manjiro must learn his place, but Manjiro dreams of one day becoming a samurai. That dream is impossible though, because he comes from a family of fishermen and that's all he thinks he will ever be.

It is 1841, and Japan is the greatest country in the world, so they say. Stories are told of the horrible beasts that inhabit the West. When Manjiro and his fellow fishermen are swept out to sea in a great storm, they are fearful of not being able to go home and worst of all...meeting the barbarians. They eventually are stranded on Bird Island, so named for the thousands of albatross that nest there. They are stranded on this island for six months, with no hope in sight, until one day a monstrous ship appears on the horizon. The barbarians have come.

Manjiro is more curious than afraid of these strangely dressed and unclean people of the John Howland. They are taken on board, but Manjiro's companions want nothing to do with these people who will corrupt thier ways. Manjiro soon joins the crew and finds out that the John Howland is an American whaling ship. Because he is different and speaks differently, there is prejudice on board; however, most become friends with him. His greatest relationship is with the Captain, who later becomes a father figure to him.

Manjiro travels to America to live with the Captain and his wife. There he meets even greater prejudice, but he has a samurai's spirit and forges ahead, eventually going to school and learning a trade. However, the sea calls to him, as does his homeland. Bound for home on another ship, he makes his way to the growing gold rush in California. From there, he makes his way home after ten years away.

Stepping on the shores of Japan and making his way home to his village is not an easy journey for Manjiro. It will be two more years before he's allowed home because he is a suspected spy. Still regarded suspiciously for the remainder of his life, Manjiro did become a samurai and was instrumental in bringing change to the very isolated Japan.

This is a great adventure from start to finish. The story is based on actual events about a boy named Manjiro, who grew up to be a samurai. He played a huge part in ending Japan's 250-year isolation, with his understanding of the West. His imagination and courage are what caught me the most. You can see the world as he saw it for the first time. Despite what his countrymen thought, he was able to see the world as a bigger, fascinating, beautiful place. My favorite line in the book is what he tells his mother as he gifts her with shells from all the places he's been. "These shells are like the people of the world, Okachan. They come from many different places. They come in many different colors and sizes. But they are all beautiful."

-Ruby

2011 Newbery Honor Award Winner

Ages 10+

Publisher: Amulet Books (August 2010)

ISBN: 9780810989818

Available as an eBook.