Staff Picks: Books
Staff-recommended reading from the
KPL catalog.
This is the time of year when folks in the book business start thinking about "Best of . .. " lists. What are the best novels? Best cookbooks? Best graphic novels? Best books to share with your dad?
Here's one from my list of Best Picture Books . .. it's called All the World, written by Elizabeth Garton Scanlon and illustrated by Marla Frazee. From morning to night, we follow a group of related people in their neighborhood. Spare, poetic language leaves room for the detailed, softly-colored illustrations.
Take a look and see if it deserves a place on your "Best of 2009" list.
book
All the World
9781416985808
It’s amazing how many hot topics Paula Danziger brings up in It’s an Aardvark-eat-turtle World! This 132 paged easy-to-read teen book is full of social issues such as divorce, remarriage, step-sisterhood/step-parenting, interracial marriage and more. Rosie tells the story of how her mother married her best friend’s dad. Exciting, huh? Well, no! From then on Rosie’s and Phoebe’s life is never the same. The two best friends could no longer stand each other. What was cute before becomes a big pain. Rosie sees now when she finally has her “real family” that it’s not her “dream family”. She and Phoebe went from “best friends, best sisters and best roommates” to thinking family and friendship takes too much work. But they later decide that it’s all worth it.
Some of Paula Danziger’s other books at KPL are The Cat Ate My Gymsuit, The Divorce Express, and This Place Has No Atmosphere.
It’s an Aardvark-eat-turtle World
0440940281
book
When You Reach Me has it all: great characters, a wonderful puzzle at its core, a great ending, and tons of heart. Twelve-year-old New Yorker Miranda is a latchkey child; a term that Miranda’s mom says “reminds her of dungeons and must have been invited by someone strict and awful with an unlimited childcare budget”. In the evening, Miranda’s mom is practicing to be a contestant on The $20,000 Pyramid. Miranda and her friend Sal have been friends since daycare. Sal stops hanging out with her after he is randomly punched in the gut by a bigger kid on the way home from school. Miranda knows from the mysterious notes she begins to receive that her friend may be in danger.
In kind of the same kind of way that The Higher Power of Lucky references Are You My Mother?, When You Reach Me references A Wrinkle in Time. Both of the books in the books are a bit like characters and are, for a time, like security blankets for the characters that carry them around. And speaking of the Newbery, I wouldn’t be surprised if When You Reach Me walks the hall and snatches the trophy. It’s the story of friendship and much more.
Book
When You Reach Me
9780385906647
Sometimes, when I’m reading one of the hilarious Horrid Henry books to my daughter and Horrid Henry does something particularly horrid, I just have to exclaim, “Horrid Henry is so Horrid!” And then my daughter says, “I like him.” She was also captivated by Rotten Ralph. Rotten Ralph and Horrid Henry have a lot in common. They’ve both done their part to foil weddings, for instance. There’s something compelling for children in stories about kids (or cats) who are really really bad. Sometimes it’s the way they compare to "normal" kids. Horrid Henry has a brother named Perfect Peter. Peter is sort of the straight man for Henry’s practical jokes and is himself an exaggeration of a goodie two shoes character. When Perfect Peter, who subscribes to Best Boy magazine, tries to get back at Henry, hilarity ensues. Henry really is horrid and his horridness leads him to do things that are way beyond what most kids would do. And kids love it. With illustrations by Tony Ross, you can’t go wrong. These “blue dot” books are a transition from easy reader style books to chapter books for kids who are reading. Many of the books with the blue dot on the spine at KPL also make great read-alouds.
Book
Horrid Henry
9781402217753
As a children’s librarian, I like to read the new award winners. So when “The Graveyard Book” by Neil Gaiman was announced as the Newbery Award winner for 2009, I was curious to read it, since I’d read his “Coraline”. (which was made into a film in 2009).
Set in modern day Britain, “The Graveyard Book” begins with the murder of a toddler’s parents and sister by a methodical killer. Strong stuff for a children’s book, for certain. The baby manages to escape, and wanders into a graveyard, where he is taken in by a loving couple named the Owenses, who have no children. They are ghosts, and long dead, as are the other inhabitants of the graveyard who help to raise the child over the years. It turns out that Bod (short for “Nobody”) was the killer Jack’s real target, and Jack is still out there, searching.
For older children grades 5 and up, or tween readers, this is an suspense and action filled story with ghosts, ghouls, and hints of vampires.
book
The Graveyard Book
9780060530921
If you like math mysteries, you might like The Unknowns. The kids in The Unknowns are not from Hyde Park. Diaphanta Smith, known as Lady Di, lives right next to a nuclear power plant in a town named only for its location: Adjacent. “Think of hundreds of beat-up mobile homes next to a power plant. A nothing kind of place…” But Lady Di and her best friend Tom Jones dread going off-island to Tri County Middle School in the fall. Kids from Adjacent get teased a lot. They hope something will happen to end the boredom of summer and to take their minds off starting at a new school. Then they discover that their friend, Ms. Clarke, is missing. But Ms. Clarke, who always helped Lady Di and Tom with their math homework, has left behind some clues in her trailer. The clues lead to other clues as the two solve problems along the way. Corrupt power plant operators, a little geometry, some really capable and interesting characters, and lots of action in the hidden tunnels beneath the surface of the island equal a thrilling good read.
Book
The Unknowns
9780810979918
Author Paul Haven’s second novel for young readers is titled The Seven Keys of Balabad. Balabad is a middle-eastern, war-torn nation that is said to have been the birthplace of an international secret society known as the Brotherhood of Arachosia. Balabad is also the rumored hiding place of the grandest riches in the world; grander ones have never been known, heard of, or seen.
Enter Oliver Finch, a New York City kid whose dad is a journalist for a newspaper; whose mom is an art historian/curator; and whose friends are all back in the Big Apple, while Oliver is stuck in this unfamiliar, odd-customed place with no TV, video games, or pizza.
Oliver does make a couple of friends, and they get involved in an international intrigue that involves the seven keys of Balabad, which originally belonged to the good King Agamon, and each of which was given to one of Agamon’s sons. The sons were long-ago scattered to all corners of the world, where their descendents remain to this day. The theft of a 500-year-old carpet, the Secret Carpet of Agamon, begins a recall of each of these seven keys. Agamon’s relatives are not the generous sort, it seems, and they all want whatever the keys unlock for themselves.
A native carpet-seller, Mr. Hagi, and a couple of other people are kidnapped; Oliver and his friends get involved; and the fun begins!
The Seven Keys of Balabad is a quick read with lots of excitement on each page. Enjoy!
Book
The Seven Keys of Balabad
9780375833502
Learning to Swim: a memoir pulled at my heart strings! All of us would prefer not to have to talk about child abuse. But it is something that is eating away at our society and we can not ignore it.
The reality is that child abuse is a prevailing monster that grows with silence. Ann Turner does an excellent job of conveying a child’s anxiety of wanting to tell and the fear of telling.
This memoir might help a child speak the unspoken words.
Find more info at the Child Molestation Research & Prevention Institute and Childhelp.
Book
Learning to Swim: a memoir
0439153093
I’m not sure if Mr. Steve has blogged about these Doll family books before, but I’m going to ladder up on his comments if he has, and if he hasn’t, okey dokey!
There are three books about the Doll family (their last name is Doll) that have lived and still live, in a 100-year old Victorian doll house in Kate’s room at the Palmer’s house in “Anytown USA”. By this, I mean that their story could happen anywhere and at any time. The Dolls (father, mother, aunt, uncle, nanny, sister, brother, and baby) all are porcelain with cloth bodies. They are dressed in 100-year old clothes, which are beginning to show wear, as are the Doll family themselves. Titles in the trilogy by author Ann M Martin include The Doll People, The Meanest Doll in the World, and The Runaway Dolls.
To begin at the beginning, these dolls have all taken the “Oath” which requires them to always be on the watch for humans and to avoid PDS (permanent doll state) at all costs. As you might expect, the dolls all talk, think, and walk around; after hours, of course. Annabelle Doll makes friends with the daughter of the Funcraft family that move in to Kate Palmer’s messy little sister’s room (her name is Nora).
The adventures that follow the Funcrafts’ arrival are exciting, realistic in a fantastical sort of way, funny, and sad all at the same time. Such extraneous characters as Mrs. Robertson, Mean Mimi, The Captain (a lecherous cat that loves to play with dolls), and a couple of human-type children all add in to this mix of wonder for anyone who has dolls/played with dolls or who loves a good fantasy with just the right ingredients mixed together to make a real treat! Especially enjoyable are illustrations by Caldecott Medal winner Brian Selznick.
I couldn’t put the books down once I had started them!
Book
The Runaway Dolls
9780786855841
May Erlewine’s great song “Rise Up Singing” celebrates the restorative power of singing. Rise Up Singing: The Group Singing Songbook collects words, chords and sources for 1200 songs from many folk traditions as well as the commercial music industry. This venerable print resource is organized by topic from America to Work. My favorite topical section is Play. That’s where you’ll find so many of the songs you’ll remember from childhood. But this songbook isn’t only for kids. There are protest songs as well as sacred rounds and chants from a variety of traditions. Rise Up Singing is easy to use. The songs are indexed by artist, by culture, by holiday, and by subject. The title index includes first lines and alternate titles. And Pete Seeger’s introduction is worth reading even if you go no further. One thing that makes Rise Up Singing different from many other vocal fake books is that, except for the Sacred Rounds and Chants section, there is no musical notation to express the melodies of the songs. That leaves more room for lyrics in this portable book from Sing Out. Because the book is meant for group singing environments, there’s usually someone in the group who knows the tune. If you’re thinking of a popular or folk song, a show tune or kids’ song, it may very well be here.
Book
Rise Up Singing
1881322122