Perfect Fifths - Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon

So here I am, about two hours later, and I've finished another book from my To Be Read pile. 

This is my second time reading through the Jessica Darling series, which ends with Perfect Fifths.  While I wasn't totally satisfied with the story - much of it recreates Jessica and Marcus' first conversation after breaking up three years before - I was ultimately satisfied with this book as an ending to the series.  And now that I am thinking about it, maybe it was an accurate recreation of that first awkward conversation - where you don't want to say too much, but are trying to summarize what's gone on in your life while the other person has been absent.

Now that I've finished two books from my To Be Read pile, I am wondering if I'll be able to read beyond what I had originally planned.  I still feel pretty fresh, and am loving the feeling of checking books off my list.  We'll see how the rest of the day goes.  The girls will be home at some point this afternoon, but will be pretty worn out, so they may be willing to lay low tonight and watch a movie. 

Now off to the library to pick up some holds and return these overdue books!

The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher

I love a good family story.  And by good, I don't mean that everything has to be perfect, or end happily, although that's nice when it happens.  I mean the type of family story that feels real, honest and satisfying.  In the last few years, I've come to realize that although families may be shaped differently, there is a love there that should be celebrated.  Families are magic when they work, and I love watching those moments unfold, whether in real life or on paper.

When I checked out The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher, I was just expecting it to be a fun read.  But I ended up loving it so much that I've read it twice this spring, and have kept it out from the library way too long.  I am so happy to be able to share it with you!

There are four boys in the Fletcher family - Sam, the oldest, is starting sixth grade; Jax and Eli are both in fourth grade (but at different schools), and Frog (whose real name is Jeremiah) is just beginning Kindergarten.  When the book begins, it is the first day of school..  The first day of school is filled with Fletcher family traditions, including a picture on the front steps before school starts, and a celebratory dinner when they all get home.  I love celebrating the little moments, and this first day of school dinner (there is a last day of school dinner too) is a special ritual I'll be stealing.  Each child gets served all their favorite foods at the first/last day of school dinner.  Eli always chooses Chinese dumplings and spareribs.  Sam wants spaghetti and meatballs (with homemade sauce).  Frog asks for macaroni and cheese from "'the purple box, not the blue box...That blue box is disgusting!'" (p. 22).  The boys' dad is a teacher, so he gets to have a special meal too: rare grilled steak with mushrooms and peppers.  And finally, "Papa had a small portion of everyone's meal, making, he said, a most fascinating study in how something can be less than the sum of its parts." (p. 22).  Whew - that is a lot of cooking - and eating!

Yes, there is a Papa and a Dad in this story and the matter of fact way this is treated by Levy gives me hope for more books where the emphasis is on the family structure, not who is within it.  While the Fletchers are all used to their family and how it operates, though, that isn't true of all of their community.  In the novel, Eli starts at a new school (more on that later), and as they arrive at a open house, Eli realizes that his family is a little overwhelming.  "Eli had been so worried about what his family would think of his school that he hadn't really though about how the school would react to his family. But as they trooped in, Eli couldn't help seeing them through new eyes... 'These are my dads' - he gestured behind him - 'and my brothers.'  Hoping desperately that was enough of an introduction, Eli swooped into his seat." (p.30-31).  Of course, people have questions, but the Fletchers mostly seem to attract attention because they are loud, rowdy boys, not so much because they have two dads. All four boys are adopted and are a mix of races, which can lead to more enquiries.  Eli thinks "He wasn't embarrassed about his family - it wasn't that.  It was just...there were so many of them.  And so many boys.  He knew the questions were coming." (p. 32)  The boys answer questions from Eli's new classmates as a family, united and secure in their story, although slightly defensive when kids get a bit too nosy.

But this novel is about the family at this time, not really how they became a family.  Each boy has their own story during the book as they navigate the school year.  We'll start with the youngest, Frog.  Frog is just beginning Kindergarten, and at dinner on the first day of school, Frog announces that he's met a new friend.  Her name is Ladybug Li, and she has three sisters and two moms.  This is all too much of a coincidence for anyone to believe.  They are already primed to be suspicious of Frog's information.  "Frog had what his preschool teacher had called an engaging and encompassing imaginary world, which Sam figured pretty much meant he was nuts.  Papa and Dad, of course, thought an imaginary cheetah under the bed was perfectly normal. " (p. 23)  Frog continues to insist throughout the year that Ladybug Li is real, but no one believes him.  And she is never at the birthday parties Frog attends, and she isn't in the phone directory...you can understand why everyone questions Frog's integrity.

Sam, who is entering sixth grade, has a great group of friends and plays soccer competitively.  Jax describes his brother this way: "Sam was royalty, kind of like a carnivore with a bunch of gazelles and zebras and wildebeests around him." (p. 7)  Sam's plan for the year involves preparing for the Elite team tryouts in the spring.  Getting on that team really requires plenty of practices, workouts, and an incredible amount of focus and determination.  But then Sam tells stories at the Fletcher Halloween party, and then kids ask him to tell stories during lunch period.  This leads to the director of the school play asking Sam to audition.  "She must have been joking - he'd never acted in his life.  Not that there was anything wrong with it, but he wasn't the type of kid.  He was the play-sports-every-recess type, the make-the-A-team-in-soccer type, the can't-wait-for-the-high-school-ski-team type.  Not the sing-and-dance-onstage type.  Obviously." (p. 93)  And suddenly Sam finds himself taking a risk, trying something unexpected, and possibly putting his soccer dreams on hold.

Then there is Eli.  At the start of the year, Eli is thrilled to be starting at a different school than his brothers.  He's been accepted at the Pinnacle School.  "A school where everyone was the smart kid sounded awesome.  A school where he didn't get 'rewarded' for already knowing the work by being allowed to sit and read quietly in the corner." (p. 15)  The school is expensive, and a huge shift for Eli.  "His parents hadn't been sure it was the right choice, but he knew it was." (p. 16)  This school has a lot of rigor, and doesn't believe in distractions like recess.  As the year continues on, Eli wonders if this is really the place for him.  This is the first big decision he's made for himself.  What if this was the wrong choice? 

Finally, Jax's story involves the whole family.  On the very first day of school, his fourth grade teacher announces a year-long Veteran's Project.  The students find a veteran and interview them about their experiences.  They will also research the war that veteran fought in.  The family realizes that their new next door neighbor, Mr. Nelson, is a Vietnam veteran.  The problem is that Mr. Nelson doesn't seem to like the Fletchers very much.  The boys always seem to be doing something wrong in Mr. Nelson's eyes.  After a contest to see who can hit the car horn harder gets the horn stuck, "Mr. Nelson had roared, threatening to call the police.  Eli had thought it was ridiculous.  It wasn't like they'd enjoyed the forty-five minutes it had taken to find the right fuse to turn the thing off any more than he had." (p. 14)  Diplomacy with Mr. Nelson will require effort from each of the Fletchers in order to get Jax's project completed.

There is so much life going on in this book.  Like any family, they have their ups and downs, but they work through things together.  The characters are dynamic and human.  Papa's sister, Lucy, lives in New York City and is a famous baker.  Frog loves to visit her because "best of all, when they were with her, she told them that, unless it endangered their health or well-being, the answer to any question would be yes." (p. 97)  Best aunt ever!  Every person in the book is full of personality and humor, even the cranky Mr. Nelson.  It keeps the book lively and chaotic, just like family life.

And that is what I love most about The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher.  It is full of family life.  Levy includes the snapshots of everyday rituals as well as the traditions that matter to this family.  In the nine months that elapse during this novel, there are bound to be some of both.  But there is also the family magic - the support, love, listening and guidance that make a family work successfully.  At the beginning of the book, Papa says that the meal he ate is less than the sum of its parts.  Once you've met the family Fletcher, you realize that their strength is the sum of all of them.  I'd like to read another book about the Fletcher family - they've won my heart.

The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher.  Dana Alison Levy.  Delacorte Press, 2014.

borrowed from the Lewis & Clark Library

Outrageously Alice - 48 Hour Book Challenge

So, if you've read my blog for long, you'll know that I am a big fan of the Alice series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.  It had taken me a long time to get to Outrageously Alice and I had been looking forward to reading it.  This is another book that I will blog about sooner or later, so I won't spend too much time talking about it now.

But here are the things that stood out for me in this reading.  Alice lives with her father and her older brother.  There is such a remarkable relationship between the three of them - one that is so rare and fun.  They are good to each other, and both her father and her brother have roles in raising Alice.  Alice is curious, and there are lots of questions that she asks each of them (or both of them together!).
Also, in this book in the series, Alice is struggling with who she will be, both now and as a grown-up.  She wants to be "not boring", which can sometimes cross the line into outrageous.  She's also learning how to interact with boys, which is interesting too.  As always with these books, there is lots to think and write about.  I am looking forward to writing about this one on the blog too!!

Current Reading Time: 10.5 hours reading + 1 hour blogging - 11.5 hours total!!
Books Finished: 5

Outrageously Alice.  Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.  Simon and Schuster, 1997.

Now off to keep reading and I have a blog post to write for today!

The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher - 48 Hour Book Challenge

I just finished another book - yay!  I'm feeling pretty accomplished today.  I just finished The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher, and I am actually not going to say too much about it, because this was a re-read before writing a blog post.  I have two books that I'd like to post about in the next few days around Father's Day, and this is one of them.  So I'll keep my thoughts to myself for now. 

With chapter books, I tend to read them twice, at least, before I blog about them - the first time I might just be identifying that this a book I'd like to write about, so the second time I re-read looking for themes or quotes I'd like to write about.  Sometimes this second read takes longer, because I am making connections.  Sometimes it takes longer because while I have a feeling about the book, I can't exactly figure out what I'd like to say.  Sometimes it takes longer because I just don't have the time to sit down and work it all out.  I'm happy that I had had some time to think about the themes I wanted to use already, and that I had the time to re-read all at once.  Now on to writing about it...actually, I think I'll keep reading first!

Current Reading Time: 6 hours reading + 1 hour blogging = 7 hours total so far
Books Finished: 3


The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher.  Dana Allison Levy.  Delacorte, 2014.

borrowed from the Lewis & Clark Library

Brimsby's Hats

Most times, when I fall in love with a book, I first fall in love with the text.  It's not that I don't love illustrations, but it is always the text that draws me in.  Then, I can see how the illustrations complement or add to the text, and love the illustrations too.  But with Brimsby's Hats, I had the total opposite experience.  I also have mostly thought enough about the text and illustrations by the time I start writing that I have my own theories about the pieces I've wondered about.  I fell in love first with the illustrations and then later realized all of the spaces where I could be curious about the text.  And I didn't need to have all the answers this time.  I'll just give you all my questions.

 



The story begins with two friends - a hat maker and his friend, who would sit with the hat maker while he worked.  The hat maker's friend would make them the most perfect tea and they would tell stories while the hat maker created.  But then the hat maker's friend announces that he is leaving to follow his own dream to become a sea captain.  After they say goodbye, the hat maker's quiet life becomes very lonely.  Finally he realizes he must find a new friend.  He discovers a tree full of birds that look promising, but the birds are too busy shoveling snow out of their nests and keeping their fires lit to engage with the hat maker.  Brimsby comes up with a solution that involves his talents, and it ultimately gains him a larger community of friends.

 

One of the things I find most powerful is the tension between the quiet, simple text and the highly detailed illustrations.  For example, there is a brief line of text about the hat maker and his friend.  While the hat maker works the text reads "Together they would have the most wonderful conversations."  Most of us could imagine the dialogue between friends, what is said and perhaps unsaid.  But Prahin shows the hat maker and his badger best friend at the table, talking.  Above their heads are multiple balloons, showing the many things they talk about, the things they imagine together.  The two friends are royalty, pirates, slay a dragon, defeat a pirate octopus and fly away on a golden bird.  Each "story" is no bigger than a quarter, yet it contains an exciting narrative for the two friends.  It is interesting because although the pair's described activities are quiet and deliberate (sitting at a table, creating hats and sipping tea), their imagined activities are full of daring and valor.  But in both sets of activities, they are a pair.  In this book, the text takes a back seat to the vivid illustrations.

 

It isn't that the text isn't great, it's just that the illustrations give life to the words in this book.  When the hat maker sends hats to his customers, the illustrations show the customers trying on the hats he created.  My favorite is a buffalo, with his oversized torso tucked into a western-style shirt and perched on the tiniest chair.  He is holding up a hand mirror in which it is apparent that he cannot see the new bowler perched on his head.  He is trying hard, however, to admire it.  It is funny and charming all at once.

 

Another thing I love about this book is Prahin's choice of colors.  In the beginning of the book, there are bright, lively colors splashed on the pages.  The hats the hat maker creates are depicted in traditional hat colors - grays, browns and blacks, but with colorful trim.  And there is color all over his house and studio.  But when his best friend leaves to become a sea captain, things become sadder, lonelier, and more gray.  The gray palette continues until the hat maker takes a chance and tries to make friends.  The colors then become celebratory and bright again.

 

I said at the beginning of my blog that I had some things I was wondering about in the text.  One of those things is the title.  In case you missed it, the title is Brimsby's Hats.  But only once in the text is the hat maker referred to as Brimsby.  Mostly he is called the hat maker.  Only the third sentence of the story includes his name: "Brimsby would make the most wonderful hats and his friend would make the most wonderful tea."  I'm not sure why he is primarily described by his occupation, except, of course, it isn't just his occupation.  It's a talent and a gift.  He uses his gift to help the birds survive the winter snow, and his gift earns him more friends.

 

One of the other things that struck me about this book was the friendship between the hat maker and his friend (who is also unnamed).Their friendship is a cozy routine of tea and talk.  The text tells us that their friendship went on in the same manner "for many years" until the friend tells the hat maker that he is leaving to become a sea captain.  I was amazed at how brave this leavetaking was for both of them.  They have been bound together as a pair, partners in their adventures day in and day out.  Yet it takes bravery for the sea captain to take the risk and try a new adventure.  And it also takes bravery for the hat maker to gracefully say goodbye.  They are true friends, and their friendship can expand to include others as time goes on.  The last sentence is one of perfect completion: "And the large group of friends would drink tea and talk about hats and shovels and ships and how wonderful it was that they had all been lucky enough to meet one another."

 

Brimsby's Hats. Andrew Prahin.  Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2014.

borrowed from Lewis & Clark Library

Alice in Lace

It has been a long, long time since I wrote about Alice.  My last post was here, two years ago!  I feel like I should apologize to Alice - I had a new book read and ready to blog right after that.  It just took a really, really long time for it to make its way to the top of the pile!  I am really looking forward to continuing in this series, particularly since while I was taking that break, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor published the final book in the series, Now I'll Tell You Everything  . I can't wait to see how Alice grows up.

How could Alice be old enough to get married?  It hasn't been that long!!  She isn't, really... but their eighth grade calls is doing a unit in health class called Critical Choices.  As part of that unit, students are given hypothetical situations to learn about.  They have a new teacher, Mr. Everett, and he tells them "' Your grade will depend not necessarily on how you deal with your problem, but on the larger view you take.  I'll want to know how your solution affects you, the people around you, society, the works.'" (p. 2)  It's interesting that even though Mr. Everett explains that they'll be assigned hypothetical issues, everyone is worried about how they'll handle it, or how this hypothetical situation will be judged by others.  Alice's best friends, Elizabeth and Pamela, are total opposites - Elizabeth is more conservative, a little pious, and uncomfortable with the way things change as they grow up.  Pamela is free-spirited and slightly devil-may-care.  The two girls are both thinking about the same potential assignment, and their responses couldn't be more different.  Pamela jokes about the possibility of pregnancy being assigned to her.  "But Elizabeth worried that if she got the assignment for teenage pregnancy, she might have to go to the doctor for her first pelvic exam just so she could write it up for her report.  She's hopeless." (p. 3)

When the assignments are passed out, Alice and Patrick (who is Alice's boyfriend) are assigned to be married.  Mr. Everett's assignment asks them to plan a wedding, honeymoon, rent an apartment, find furniture and create a realistic budget.  Alice thinks this is an exciting idea, but Patrick isn't quite so thrilled.  Their friend Pamela is supposed to be pregnant, just the situation she joked about, and luckily Elizabeth is only buying a car.  Pamela asks Mr. Everett what she could possibly have to decide if she's already pregnant, and he chides her "'There are 'what ifs' all over the place.  That's what this class is about.  Thinking thinks through before they happen.  Planning your life instead of letting events decide things for you. '" (p. 7)

Alice's ongoing story throughout the series (if you haven't been reading the series from the beginning like I have) has the added theme of grief.  Her mother died of cancer when Alice was five.  Alice barely remembers her, but her older brother Lester (who is seven years older) remembers her much more vividly.  In Alice in Lace, Lester turns 21, and Alice and her father celebrate with him.  Lester asks them: "' Do you remember the way she always brought a Kleenex to the table when she carried in a birthday cake with candles?' Dad looked puzzled for a moment. 'Now that you mention it, I guess I do.' 'I always thought that it was because she was emotional about our growing up and had a tissue ready in case she cried', Lester said. 'I didn't find out till much later that the smoke from the candles always set off her allergies, and that's why she blew her nose.'" (p. 39).  They all laugh at this idea, and the story brings back warm memories.  But Alice can't help wishing she remembered more about her mother, so she can participate in these conversations too.

With Alice planning her hypothetical wedding and Lester turning 21, their mother is never far from all of their hearts.  At the end of the unit, the class decides to throw a wedding for Patrick and Alice.  While trying on dresses at Pamela's house, Alice thinks of how this might have been different.  "I was thinking how, when the big day really came, if it did ever come, my mother wouldn't be a part of it.  She couldn't help me choose the dress, couldn't help with the flowers or invitations, wouldn't be there smiling at me in the first row.  I reached up and wiped my eyes before anyone could notice, but I felt a big hole in my chest, an empty place that nothing could fill." (p. 134).  What I like about Naylor's depiction of the family's grief is that it is very natural.  The waves of their sadness come and go, and it's at "big" moments where she is particularly missed.

One very poignant moment happens late in the book.  Alice is trying to grasp a little of the realities of a wedding and a honeymoon, and late one night she goes in to her dad's room to talk about it.  "I was just about to knock and go in when I saw him standing by his closet, his back to me. ...And he had his face buried in it, like he was, well, drinking in the scent.  I couldn't move.  I couldn't go backward or forward.  It was Mom's robe.  I don't know how I knew, but I knew.  And after a long moment, I saw his shoulders rise, as though he were taking a deep breath, and then he slowly hung it on a hanger again, and put it at one end of his closet." (p. 143-4)  This scene helps readers understand that the cycles of grief continue on, and that sometimes you need the support of that person, even after they're gone.

There is one other component to Alice in Lace.  Naylor quite often weaves social issues into her plots.  I mentioned earlier that Mr. Everett is a new teacher at their school, but not how young and cute he seems to his students.  "Mr. Everett was probably about thirty and really tall, maybe six foot five, wore Dockers, and rolled his shirtsleeves up above his elbows.  A younger version of Brad Pitt, Pamela described him.  His smile was what got to us.  It was warm.  Friendly.  You couldn't call it flirtatious.  He just gave the impression of really loving his job." (p. 1-2).  A cute teacher, talking about hypothetical life situations including marriage and pregnancy...is this setting off alarm bells yet?  One of the female students, Jill, decides she doesn't like the assignment she is given (to plan a funeral for her grandmother) and asks to have it switched.  Mr. Everett very diplomatically refuses.  She goes to see him after school to ask again, and he again refuses.  Alice is in the room when it happens, but Jill doesn't see her.  Alice, however, describes what happened.  "He tucked his papers under one arm, and gave her a quick hug  with the other as he headed for the door. 'Come on now, Jill. You can do it.' he said, and he was gone." (p. 93).  Jill wants to punish Mr. Everett for not allowing her to change her assignment, and she tells the other students that Mr. Everett made comments about her body in the conversation Alice observed.  Then Mr. Everett is suspended for the alleged actions, and Alice realizes that she has to speak up about what she saw that day.

All of these plots, which sound very disparate and isolated, actually come together in a very realistic way.  I continue to love Alice' growing-up journey.  Even as an adult, many of the things Alice and her family go through resonate with me.  Does that mean I've never grown up?  On the contrary, I prefer to think that Naylor's books just continue to be relevant.  Looking forward to Alice's next experiences.

Alice in Lace.  Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.  Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 1996.

from my own collection.

Doll Bones

I'm going to start this blog post with a confession.  I couldn't read this book for more than six months.  It was sent to me by the publisher way back last June, and I was so excited to read it.  I do love Holly Black, and there had already been enough pre-publication buzz that I knew I wouldn't want to miss it.  But when I received it, the cover...well, it really freaked me out.  And I am a wimp about scary stuff.  So every time I would pick it up to read it, I would be afraid that I'd be up all night with nightmares, or...yeah, the cover really did it to me.

But that buzz I mentioned didn't go away, and it was quite often associated with the word "Newbery".  I knew I needed to get past my fear and dive in, because I would be sorry if I hadn't read it by the end of January.  Lo and behold, I finished it at the beginning of January and could grin when it won a well-deserved Newbery Honor.

The story begins with three friends - Zach, Alice and Poppy.  They've been friends for a long, long time, and one of the things they like to do best is play the game.  It's an ongoing, perpetually changing story that they tell and act out with a ragtag bunch of characters.  There are pirates, thieves, women raised by bands of carnivorous horses, and the Great Queen.  Most of the characters are action figures, bought at yard sales or thrift stores - the thief, Lady Jaye, is a repurposed GI Joe figure.  But the Great Queen is different.  The Great Queen lives in a glass-fronted display cabinet at Poppy's house.  She is a china doll who sits perched on the shelf. "Zach couldn't remember when exactly they'd decided that she was the Great Queen, only that they'd all felt like she was watching them, even though her eyes were closed..." (p. 8).  So they incorporated that creepy observation into their game.  The Great Queen had the ultimate power over the game - if a character displeases her, then they are cursed until they regain her favor.

This game has gone on and on, morphing in different directions over time.  But as the three friends turn twelve, things are changing.  Alice, who lives with her grandmother, is being noticed by boys.  Her grandmother is getting more controlling about what Alice wears and does.  Zach's father, who is back living with Zach's mom after having moved out three years ago, is focusing on Zach's basketball skill.  He doesn't approve of anything else.  "' You're growing up,' he said, which seemed to be one of those weird things adults would say sometimes, stuff that was really obvious and to which there was no reply." (p. 23).  And Poppy feels lost and left out more often - she has been growing up in a family with very little parental supervision, and she just doesn't seem to know where to go next.

Then Poppy and Alice come to Zach's house in the middle of the night and tell him an incredibly creepy story about the Great Queen.  Poppy has taken her out of the cabinet - "The Queen's dull black eyes were open, her gaze boring into his own.  He'd always thought she was creepy-looking, but in the reflected beam of the flashlight, she seemed demonic." (p. 62).  Then Poppy explains that she had a dream where she had seen a dead girl, who sat at the edge of Poppy's bed.  The dead girl told Poppy that she couldn't rest until her body was buried and that Poppy had to help her.  Even worse, it turns out that the dead girl is really the doll.  Her ashes have been made into the china doll.

There is a mystery surrounding this doll, of course, but there is also a quest.  The doll (and the girl) need to be buried in Liverpool, Ohio, which isn't far from where the three friends are.  So they set off to get her to Liverpool.  It's partly fear, sure.  The Queen (whose real name is Eleanor) told Poppy if she didn't help Eleanor, she'd get her.  It sounds ominous and no one wants to find out exactly what she means.  But even though they don't name it, they all know that this may be their last chance to play the game.

There is so much to talk about in this book.  One of Black's gifts is wiring a middle grade book that is scary, but not too scary.  There are definitely some creepy things going on.  At one point, Zach wakes up after they've spent the night outside, at a makeshift campsite.  "Turning, he saw the Queen resting in the dirt right behind his head, far from where she'd been the night before. ...Zach sprang up and scuttled away from her, his heart racing." (p. 113).  The campsite is trashed, with food scattered and a ripped sleeping bag.  There is never a real explanation for what happened - was it bears or other animals?  Was it the doll? The lack of a concrete explanation only ratchets up the suspense.  It doesn't help that just before he wakes to the mess, Zach has been dreaming about Eleanor as a little girl.  The fact that a china doll is seemingly controlling their trip through their dreams is also a little unnerving.  It's the sort of delicious discomfort and readers might enjoy without getting too scared.

One of the most interesting things about this book from my point of view is Black's choice of Zach as the narrator.  It's definitely not what a reader would expect, especially from the title and cover illustration.  They do indicate that the book will be scary (there are bones in the title and the doll on the cover looks very unsettling).  And yet the book is told from a boy's point of view.  As I continued to read and dwell on Zach as narrator, I realized he is actually a perfect narrator.  To the outside world, he is beginning to look like a jock.  He has grown very tall, and is playing basketball.  Poppy condemns him by saying "'You're going to be one of those guys who hangs out with their teammates and dates cheerleaders and doesn't remember what it was like to make up stuff.'" (p. 199)  But while Zach may appear that way to the outside world, we know that isn't the way he really is.  We know "That was why Zach loved playing: those moments where it seemed like he was accessing some other world, one that felt as real as anything.  It was something he never wanted to give up." (p. 3) So Zach isn't what he seems.  It makes him a really interesting character to me.

Another thing that struck me about the journey the three friends go on is how ingenious and creative they have to be to get anywhere.  They all pack quickly, and pack what they can get without alerting anyone to what they are doing.  It's the middle of the night, and they are trying to make the scheduled bus to Liverpool.  "When he finally went to the cabinets, he felt as though he was provisioning himself for one of those epic fantasy quests... " (p. 71).  And no matter how carefully they've planned (which isn't really very carefully at all), they are soon alone, out of money and supplies, and very far from home.  But the three friends believe in the quest, and each other.  They each have different reasons for agreeing to take this journey, but they are all determined to succeed.

This book was creepy, of course.  But it's also a great book about friendship, growing up, imagination, and creativity.  I would also note that there is a really awesome librarian in this book too!  Now I'll shelve this book with the cover facing the wall so I don't have to look at that doll.  But every once in a while, I'll want to check to see if it's moved.

Doll Bones.  Holly Black; with illustrations by Eliza Wheeler.  Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2013.

sent for review by the publisher

The Night Before First Grade

I was invited to take part in Natasha Wing's Back-to-School blog tour this year.  It was a perfect fit for us, since Frances just started first grade last Wednesday.  We were lucky enough to receive The Night Before First Grade from Natasha (and you can too! - details at the end of the post).  I was amazed at how many of the details of the book felt like they came right  from Frances' experiences, and I can't wait to tell you about her review of the story.  But first, a summary of the plot so you can see why it fits Frances so well.

The night before school starts, Penny is so excited she can hardly stand it.  She is packing school supplies and her lunch and planning her outfit.  Penny and her best friend Jenny have matching outfits already picked out, and neither of them can wait to start the new year.  But when the day dawns, and the girls scurry off to school, there's a problem.  "The principal told us that some changes were made. 'We have some new students.  So we split the first grade.'"  You might predict the outcome - the best friends have been split up.  This sudden, unexpected change might make the day terrible for some first graders.  But Penny realizes "I had to be brave because I'm a first-grader."  And it turns out her new class isn't all that bad - she knows most of the other students already, and her teacher, Mr. Barr, is great.  Penny plucks up her courage and goes to say hello to someone she doesn't already know.  It turns out that the new girl and Penny have things in common - favorite colors and pet turtles.  When Penny and her new friend, Nina, join the crowd going to the lunchroom, looking for Jenny, there is one more surprise in store for Penny.

There are seventeen books in The Night Before series.  We read The Night Before Kindergarten last year too.  So many of the books in this series have to deal with everyday worries and events that I could have requested any title, and they would have all resonated with Frances and Gloria.  Wing really knows what this age child is interested in.  There's The Night Before the 100th Day of School, The Night Before the Tooth Fairy, and we even could have read The Night Before Preschool since Gloria's preschool started last week too.  Since all the books are based on Clement Moore's "Twas the Night Before Christmas", the poetry is familiar.  Wing does a great job of adapting it to her themes without making it wholly unrecognizable.  There is the twinkling and wondering of eyes, just like in the poem.  Impressively, the rhymes also never seem forced into this artificial structure, which is very tricky to do.

Now for our personal experience reading this story with Frances (I feel obligated to say that Gloria was there too, even though her opinion doesn't matter as much this time).  Frances was very surprised at how much Penny's experience on the first day of school echoed her own.  Some of this is because many first grade experiences are alike - for instance, the classroom routines or the bus ride.  Then there were some things that were just luck - the fact that Frances, too, has a male teacher.  But there were a couple of things that really spoke to Frances.

This year, Frances' school, unlike many of the other district schools, didn't tell students who their teacher would be next year at the end of the previous school year.  Many of our friends spent time in the classrooms and knew what they were in for, and we spent the summer jealous of them.  Frances wondered all summer who her teacher would be.  There was a perfectly reasonable explanation for the school's decision not to announce teachers, and it very much like what happens to Penny.  There is quite a bit of mobility in Frances' school, and the school could not be sure how many students there would be or in which first grade classroom children would end up.  When the teaching assignments were made, and the letter came in the mail, Frances had gotten the teacher she wanted.  On the downside, much like Penny, only a few of her friends were in her class.

Frances handled this change in much the same way Penny did.  She has become closer with other friends during the school day, and looks forward to spending recesses with a whole large group of  girl friends.  The Night Before First Grade definitely helped with this transition, as Frances realized that there were opportunities in her new class, and that she didn't have to be nervous about meeting new friends.  Just like the Girl Scout song, she can "Make new friends, and keep the old."

One of the other things that I liked about this book was the bus ride.  Frances took the bus last year, but didn't love it.  The district rule is that kindergarteners and first graders sit in seats with five-point harnesses for safety.  Frances felt that this was babyish, and she was frustrated with the amount of time it took her to get buckled and unbuckled.  Even in the last few days before school started, Frances didn't want to take the bus again this year.  But her bus experience has improved - maybe it's because a close friend is now riding the bus with her, maybe she's figured out how to buckle faster.  Regardless, she has adopted the attitude that Penny's dad celebrates in the book "What a big girl you are to be taking the bus."  Frances is enjoying the bus now.

I loved the book because it also recognizes the strange gap between kindergarten and first grade.  There is only one year's difference between them, but first graders seem so much older.  Penny sees kindergarteners in the hall and wonders "They all looked so young, were we ever that small?"  Frances is still my little girl, but this book celebrates how first graders have become older and wiser.  Our transition to school went so much more smoothly this year because Frances knew the ropes.  She knew where the bathroom was, the gym teacher's name, and where the library is.  Just like The Night Before First Grade, her night before school started was full of anticipation, not nerves.  Thank you, Natasha Wing, for sharing this with us.  I think the surest sign of the popularity of this book is that both Frances and Gloria continue to read it on a daily basis.

We are lucky enough to be hosting a giveaway for an autographed copy of The Night Before First Grade.   a Rafflecopter giveaway
But you should also go to Natasha's website for more titles in the series.  I also want to point out a reading of this book on YouTube here .  

Happy back to school to all of you whether you are a parent or a teacher, librarian or school employee.  Enjoy this book and the giveaway!  Good luck!  The giveaway closes next Friday night, September 13th.

The Night Before First Grade.  Natasha Wing; illustrated by Deborah Zemke.  Grosset & Dunlap, 2005.

The author sent this book to me as part of an organized blog tour for review.

Flight of the Maidens

I don't usually review my grown-up reads on this blog, but since it's for the 48 Hour Book Challenge, I will.  I finished this book last night.  It was recommended in the May/June 2010 Horn Book by someone who has loved it, and it sounded interesting to me, so I thought I would give it a try.  It is about three young women, who are friends in England after WWII.  They are all on their way to college, and this book takes place in the summer before they leave Yorkshire.  Each of the girls - Una, Hetty and Liselotte - have a very different experience.  One finds love, one finds herself, and one solves the mystery of her family.  While they each have different experiences, there is a lot for them to learn about life outside their sheltered village.  I didn't love this book, but then I don't love books about World War II anyways.  There is a lot of pain in this book,and angst, and while I think Gardam handles it well, it just didn't connect with me very much.  It took me an abnormally long time to read (maybe it's been in my To Be Read pile for more than a year?) which definitely says something.

The Flight of the Maidens - Jane Gardam.  Penguin, 2000.

from my personal collection

One COOL Friend

Friendship is a tricky thing - I think we'd all agree.  Sometimes you meet someone and instantly connect.  Sometimes in my life I have met someone who I long to have as my friend, and it takes time to develop that connection.  But sometimes you just know it's right.  I see the same routines happen with my girls - they have made friends with the children of my adult friends, because they are so often together.  Frances has recently become closer friends with a girl in her preschool class who she didn't like at all last fall.  And Gloria, as is typical of Gloria's personality, has one true-blue friend, and he's a boy.

Elliot doesn't seem to have any human friends.  At the beginning of the book, he appears, looking older than he is, surrounded by a circle of stuffed animals.  His father, whose green plaid suit contrasts sharply with Elliot's refined tuxedo, asks Elliot if he would like to go to Family Fun Day at the aquarium.  With an almost audible sigh, Elliot agrees, even though he knows that there will be a horde of noisy kids there.  As soon as they arrive, Elliot's father plops on a bench to read National Geographic.  Elliot roams on his own, steering clear of the crowds.  And then Elliot discovers...the penguins!  He identifies with their style and their posture.  He feels that connection to a true friend.  When he asks to take one home, his absorbed father agrees, thinking Elliot's buying one in the nearby gift shop.  But of course, that's not what Elliot had in mind.  The miscommunication between Elliot and his father (or is it willful misrepresentation?) continues after Elliot absconds with the penguin, who he names Magellan.  This ongoing miscommunication ends in a delightful, surprising clarification at the end, a twist that is unexpected and marvelous.

Buzzeo's text is crisp and stark.  Just like Elliot, it can be refined.  When the father is speaking, you can feel his attempts to find something to connect with his son.  Both Elliot and his father are self-contained fellows - the father pores over his journals, maps and diagrams.  Elliot putters away making his penguin comfortable.  They are both speaking English, but don't seem to be speaking the same language.

One of the nifty design elements in this book ties together Buzzeo's text with Small's illustrations.  Dialogue is entered in balloons, adding to this book's retro, graphic feel.  If there are multiple lines of dialogue, the balloons are stacked.  This is helpful for new readers, to indicate who is saying what on the page.  It also helps indicate the order of the conversation.  There is also a distinction between thought bubbles (more scalloped in shape) and dialogue balloons (smooth and oval) to guide readers.  It's very clever.
Buzzeo's text is pared down and sophisticated, although it isn't too sophisticated for young readers to get a sense of Elliot's isolation and loneliness.  As Elliot winds a garden hose through the house (making an ice rink for the penguin), he tells his father "Forgive the inconvenience."  But the text and illustrations work perfectly together - where Buzzeo is short and sweet, Small;s illustrations are grandiose - in a good way! - filling double-page spreads.  They are over the top, with Elliot's father's crazy colored suit, tufts of orange hair and eyes rolling wildly with excitement.

But while the text draws me into the story, I have to spend some time focusing on David Small's amazing illustrations.  First of all, the palette for the illustrations are cool tones - an icy blue, white, grey, and black.  Other colors are used, but these choices set the tone right from the cover.  The word "COOL" is icy blue, along with a tiled square motif along the spine, echoing the tiles in the aquarium.  The rest of the cover (Elliot and the penguin back to back) is sharply black and white.  And this continues throughout.

This book, after all, is about a penguin and you can almost see Magellan revel in the icy pages.  One of my favorite illustrations shows Elliot and Magellan whirling on a makeshift ice rink.  The focus of the page is Elliot, dressed in uncharacteristically bright colors, eyes closed with contentment.  He is happy.  But there are other details which make this page worth poring over - all of the stuffed animals are wearing scarves and earmuffs because the air conditioner is on full-blast.  Mobiles and globes drip icicles.  The details say just as much about the situation as the main picture does.

The illustrations remind of the matter-of-fact silliness of The Christmas Crocodile - one of my favorite Small-illustrated books.  In both books the wackiness of the core situation (in The Christmas Crocodile, a family receives a large package delivered to them - bet you can't guess what's inside!) is in sharp relief against the ordinariness of the setting.  But in One Cool Friend, once you read to the end, and discover the father's secret, you'll want to go back and re-read the book.  There are many clever indications of the father's secret embedded in the pages - another level of humor for readers to enjoy.

This book fits readers on so many levels - those readers who might long for a penguin, those who might long for the understanding of a perfect friend, those who are looking for a place to fit in.  Oh!  I can't believe I didn't mention it before, but there is also a cool librarian featured in these pages - one more thing to love about this book.  All in all, this is a surefire hit, and not to be missed!

One Cool Friend.  Toni Buzzeo; pictures by David Small.  Dial Books, 2012.
The Christmas Crocodile.  Bonny Becker and David Small.  Simon & Schuster, 2012.

One Cool Friend borrowed from Lewis & Clark library, The Christmas Crocodile is my personal copy.

Thomas Jefferson and John Adams

There is something many of my blog readers may not know about me, and I need to confess it now.  I used to work for Colonial Williamsburg.  If you don't know about Colonial Williamsburg, go check out the website - among other things, it is one of the biggest living history museums and it is an amazing place.  This was a time of my life where I wore a colonial costume to work every day.  I told visitors about colonial times, both in my daytime job as a visitor's aide and in my evening job as an interpreter, where I told ghost stories from that time period and gave tours.  I loved that job!  And for a girl from San Diego, who had been raised on the history of the California missions, it was fascinating to learn more about that time period.

So you might understand why I continue to read books about the time around the Revolutionary War.  History came alive for me during my time in Williamsburg, and I like to recognize events I already know something about, and fit that information into the bigger timeline.  After working for Colonial Williamsburg, I went on to write my library school master's thesis on Thomas Jefferson's personal library.  Am I an expert on Thomas Jefferson?  Not even close.  In fact, while I knew many of the facts about Thomas Jefferson contained in these two books, I knew very little about his relationship with John Adams.  That's where both of these books came in handy.

My first pick is Those Rebels, John & Tom.  This book begins with both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams as babies.  Kerley sets out to show their differences (and there are many).  Sometimes each man has his own page with a few sentences on it (John quite often skipped school, but Tom loved learning and reading).  Sometimes, though, the book design features both presidents on one large double-page spread.  Then one man takes precedence over the other.  For instance, Adams is a debater who loves to argue, and is featured on most of the spread, shouting in the courtroom, while Tom meekly scribbles his ideas at a desk in the far corner of the spread.  Both of them have firmly held ideas, but those ideas could not be more different.

Until the time comes to protest against King George's tyranny, that is.  At this crucial time in history, both men's differing life experiences bring them to the same breaking point.  The American colonies cannot continue on under King George's rule.  And from this starting point, the two Founding Fathers begin to come to a mutual understanding and appreciation that eventually helps to create the Declaration of Independence.

Kerley has an infectious way of writing that makes history very readable.  She includes the details that make these men interesting to young readers, such as Tom drinking punch in the taverns of Philadelphia.  Kerley shows the readers the big picture of this moment in American history without bogging them down.  She has a talent for distilling this enormous history into the points that are best told through these men's two contradictory characters.  Kerley uses quotes from each man's writing to support her viewpoint of their lives.  It helps young readers feel like they are getting to know these historical figures in a very real way.  Their lives are so different from ours, but still very human.

I really like this book, and one of the many things I like best about it are the illustrations.  Edwin Fotheringham works so well with Kerley's text to depict and expand what's written.  Because Kerley has really simplified the text, Fotheringham uses his illustrations to show more of the detail surrounding these men.  For instance, Kerley talks about how Thomas Jefferson "lunged, parried, and skewered the policies of King George and his government.".  Fotheringham draws Jefferson lunging towards King George, with a bayonet that is really a quill splattering ink all over George.  His style is that of an editorial cartoonist, and that brings humor to this story too.  As readers mature and learn more sophisticated information about the American Revolution, they will appreciate even more of the detail of these illustrations.

One choice that helps this book feel fresh and modern is the color palette.  While other colors are used to highlight or supplement, the primary colors are a sky blue, a rusty red, and a yellow that is almost the color of mustard (I'd love to know what this color is really called!).  There is also a deep navy used where you would traditionally see black.  These colors are powerful and rich, and even though they feel modern, this book doesn't scrimp on historical accuracy either.  Its design, illustrations and text are first-rate.

After I had decided to write about Those Rebels John & Tom, I came across Worst of Friends in our library's catalog, and decided I'd better look at that one, too.  What is so interesting is how well these books complement each other.  Jurmain looks at some of these men's contradictory personality traits, but she looks at them primarily as adults.  She spends very little time talking about the time before the Revolutionary War, where Kerley's book ends with the Declaration of Independence.  She moves forward, beginning in 1790.  At that time John & Tom had very strong, opposing ideas about how to run the country.  John was a Federalist, who believed that the President should have ultimate power to protect the laws and people of the United States.  Tom became a Republican who believed that one person should never wield all the power - that the Federalist theory dangerously resembled the British monarchy.  But when John became president, Tom was vice president, no matter what they thought of each other's ideas.

In 1800, their feud began when they ran against each other for the office of President, and Jefferson won.  They stopped speaking for many years, but finally Adams reached out and mended their rift.  The two men agreed to disagree about politics, and instead wrote of many other things in their lives.  Their friendship endured until they died on the same day (July 4th) in 1826.  This ongoing friendship was truly remarkable.

I think these books work so well together.  They both fall squarely in the nonfiction picture book camp.  While they both have a lot of information contained within their pages, the text is fairly concise and neither book feels too long.  They are both short enough to consider reading aloud, most likely in a classroom setting.  While Fotheringham's illustrations are more striking, Day's are traditional, very historically accurate, and with humor in the details.  Readers will laugh at Thomas Jefferson, before becoming President, emerging from a women's shop with boxes of corsets for Adams' daughter.  Or at Jefferson holding Adams back from fighting with King George after George snubs them both.

But I can't close a post on nonfiction picture books without commenting on their back matter.  In Worst of Friends, the "back matter" is actually in the front of the book, where a selected bibliography sits opposite a paragraph entitled "Can Presidents Be Pals?".  Those Rebels, John & Tom has much more extensive back matter.  Kerley ends the main text with the Declaration of Independence, but she summarizes their lives with a page-long Author's Note.  There is a facsimile of the Declaration of Independence across from the Note.  Then there is a page full of citations and sources for all of the quotations within the text.  This is the kind of back matter I've come to expect in my nonfiction, even for the youngest readers.
Both books gave me a new view of men I had come to know through their contributions to Colonial-era history.  I loved getting to know more about their lives and opinions.

Those Rebels, John & Tom.  Barbara Kerley; illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham.  Scholastic, 2012.
Worst of Friends: Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and the True Story of an American Feud.  Suzanne Tripp Jurmain; illustrated by Larry Day.  Dutton, 2011.

both books borrowed from Lewis & Clark Library

Frances Books

I have had people ask me why I refer to my daughters as Frances and Gloria on my blog.  This is especially confusing to people who know my children in real life, as these are not their real names.  So I had pulled the Frances books by Russell Hoban to create a blog post on these beloved books, but it was far down on the pile of potential bog posts.  After all, I am still posting  on Cybils titles.  Then I heard that Russell Hoban (the author of the Frances books) had died, and this post moved up.  Not only did he write these books, but he wrote some of my other favorites, too - The Mouse and His Child, Emmett Otter's Jug-Band Christmas, and one of my particular favorites,  Harvey's Hideout. 

But I'm here to celebrate the Frances books in particular.  There are six books about Frances, the badger, published between 1960 and 1970.  There is also a companion books of Frances' "songs" called Egg Thoughts and other Frances Songs (1972).  These books continue to resonate with children today.  As I gathered information to write this post, the pile of books kept moving as my girls took them off to their room to read.  I think there are several things about these stories that are universal and makes the books still enjoyable today.  The delicious food, the poetic songs Frances creates and most of all the comforting dynamic are all strong themes throughout the series.

The first book Hoban wrote about Frances was Bedtime for Frances (1960).  This book is about the universal problem for preschoolers - falling asleep.  Frances can't fall asleep, and she keeps coming out to pester her parents.  In this first book, Frances is already exhibiting some of her constant personality traits.  She insists on having all her stuffed animals, a tricycle and a sled piled up next to her bed.  She sings herself an alphabet song to soothe herself "A is for apple pie/B is for bear/C is for crocodile, combing his hair."  And like any other child in this situation, her imagination runs wild - a crack on the ceiling has spiders climbing out of it, a robe hanging over a chair is a giant.  Through it all, her parents display admirable calm, restraint and patience.  That is, until Frances wakes up her father by standing next to his bed, staring at him very quietly (I'd be grumpy too!).  He tells Frances that everyone has a job, and that hers is to go to sleep.  If he doesn't go to work, he tells Frances, he will be out of a job.  "'And if you do not go to sleep now, do you know what will happen to you?' 'I will be out of a job?' said Frances.  'No,' said Father. 'I will get a spanking?' said Frances.  'Right!' said Father.  'Good night!' said Frances, and she went back to her room."  Sometimes clear consequences do the trick, and their matter of fact way of handling even this situation is one of my favorite things about this series.  We read this book every couple of months when there are sleep problems in our household, and with all the Christmas excitement, it's time for a re-reading.

A Baby Sister for Frances (1964) is the next book chronologically.  And as is evident from the title, there is someone else sharing her parents' attention.  After some perceived slights (a dress isn't ironed, Frances is asked to be quiet), Frances decides to run away from home...under the dining room table.  While she sits and eats prunes, her parents mention aloud how much they miss Frances.  They particularly miss her songs, but they also note how sad Gloria is without her older sister.  Mother says "a girl looks up to an older sister.  You know that."  This is all said in their trademark gentle style.  Frances' parents never get too angry, but just deal with things as they come along.  Mother says later "Babies are very nice.  Goodness knows I like babies, but a baby is not a family."  Father chimes in "A family is everybody all together."  Frances does indeed return home to everyone's relief.  And the issue of change in the family is dealt with in a reassuring way.  Frances is still important to her parents and her place as older sister is defined.  This book is the one my particular Frances requests most often.  I'm not sure what she likes best about it, but I suspect it is not the prunes!

While there has been food sprinkled throughout the first two books, Hoban really ups the ante in Bread and Jam for Frances (1964).  Gloria is now a toddler, and Frances has decided that what she would prefer to eat at every meal is bread and jam.  So her mother, calmly and without a lot of fanfare, begins to serve Frances bread and jam exclusively.  Her friend Albert, making his first appearance, has a lunch that puts Frances' bread and jam to shame.  Indeed, the description of Albert's lunch takes up almost an entire page of text.  It is lovingly described, and you can feel Frances' envy growing as he relates the contents.  When he begins to eat, Frances watches as "He took a bite of sandwich, a bite of pickle, a bite of hard-boiled egg, and a drink of milk.  Then he sprinkledmore salt on the egg and went around again."  When Frances begins to cry in desperation after being served bread and jam again, she wails to her mother "How doyou know what I'll like if you won't even try me?"  All's well that ends well, though - the next day at lunch Frances unpacks an entire picnic basket of food, including a thermos of soup, a lobster-salad sandwich and vanilla pudding with chocolate sprinkles, among other things. Yum!

Sadly, it isn't Frances' birthday in A Birthday for Frances (1968).  It's Gloria's birthday.  And that makes life a lot harder for Frances.  After all, it's very difficult to celebrate a sibling's birthday.  Frances feels guilty about not wantng to give Gloria a present, and finally decides to spend some of her allowance on Gloria.  It's the right thing to do, but that doesn't make it any easier to give up the candy she's purchased.  Once again, this book shows off some of the hallmarks of this series.  Her parents handle Frances' struggles with calm demeanor.  They affirm her feelings without much comment on them.  They love Frances no matter what, but encourage her to come to the right decision.  There are perfect moments in this book, such as when Frances is walking home from the candy store, she puts two of the four gumballs into her mouth and starts chewing "without noticing it".  Later, Father asks her "'Is there something in your mouth?' 'I think maybe there is bubble gum,' said Frances, 'but I don't remember how it got there.'"  Or when Frances insists on singing Happy Birthday to Gloria again, since she didn't really mean it the first time.  Gloria is more of a little sister in this volume.  She has her own friend, but clearly adores Frances.  This is a popular choice in our house - after all, it is hard to celebrate a birthday that isn't yours.

Gloria really comes into her own in Best Friends for Frances (1969).  Albert, who is Frances' best friend, doesn't want to play with Frances, and would rather do stuff alone or with other boys.  He takes an impressive picnic lunch with him on his wanderings, the first discussion of food in this one.  Frances goes home feeling dejected, and it is Gloria who steps in.  She asks Frances if she can be her friend.  She and Frances plan their own outing, complete with a sign that reads "BEST FRIENDS OUTING NO BOYS".  So of course Albert wants to come.  He is especially intrigued by the picnic hamper, which is so laden with food it requires a wagon.  I couldn't possibly quote the page and a half description of what's inside the hamper, but I will tell you that Frances ends that description with "And there are salt and pepper shakers and napkins and a checked tablecloth, which is the way girls do it."  It turns out that Gloria forms a bridge between Frances' hurt feelings and Albert so that they can become friends again.  And in turn, when Gloria feels left out, Albert and Frances come together to include Gloria.  It is particularly in this book that my Gloria reminds me of Hoban's Gloria.  She loves doing things with her sister, but is a little more rough and tumble than her sister (in the book, Gloria wants Albert to teach her to catch snakes).  She doesn't want to be left out, but wants to be included on her own terms.

Now we come to the last (but my favorite) of the Frances books, A Bargain for Frances (1970).  In this book, Frances has a new friend, Thelma (I suspect Hoban had a fondness for Albert and didn't want him to be the bad guy, but that's just a guess).  Frances' mother warns Frances to be careful and says "Because when you play with Thelma, you always get the worst of it."  But Frances blithely goes to Thelma's house where she announces she's saving her allowances for a real china tea set.  Thelma quietly schemes to get Frances to buy her cheap plastic set, and hurries off to buy the china set for herself.  When Frances discovers what Thelma has done, she manipulates Thelma right back, tricking her into taking back the tea set (and after Thelma had told Frances 'no backsies' too!).  It is a genius move, and shows some real spunk on Frances' part.  My girls are just beginning to experience other children trying to get what they want at all costs.  A Bargain for Frances has opened their eyes to the ways you can get your own back when you think the bargain wasn't made equally.  I'll always remember the description of the real china tea set, with paintings on each piece in blue.

I've waxed on and on about these books, but there's still more to be said.  I haven't even touched on Lillian Hoban and Garth Williams' illustrations, or Egg Thoughts and other Frances songs or the ubiquitious cardboard salt shakers, or the fact that all the titles start with a B, or...well, you get the idea.  These are classics, well worth visiting again and again.  Russell Hoban lives on in these stories.

Bedtime for Frances.  Russell Hoban; pictures by Garth Williams. Scholastic, 1960.
A Baby Sister for Frances.  Russell Hoban; pictures by Lillian Hoban.  HarperCollins, 1964, 1993.
Bread and Jam for Frances.  Russell Hoban; pictures by Lillian Hoban.  HarperCollins, 1964, 1993.
A Birthday for Frances.  Russell Hoban; pictures by Lillian Hoban.  HarperCollins, 1968, 1995.
Best Friends for Frances.  Russell Hoban; pictures by Lillian Hoban.  HarperCollins, 1969, 1994.
A Bargain for Frances.  Russell Hoban; pictures by Lillian Hoban.  Harper & Row, 1970.

All books borrowed from Lewis & Clark Library, except Bargain which I borrowed from Helena School District.

Anna and the French Kiss

First of all, I know it's been a few weeks since my last post.  If you are wondering what I am reading in between posts, I am participating in two challenges this year.  I am reading in the YA Reading Challenge and, on my other blog, Picture Book Reading Challenge (for which the girls and I are trying to read 200 picture books/board books/readers).  I update those on a regular basis, even if I don't actively review them.

For some of you who know me and my reading tastes in real life, there will be no surprises when I tell you how much I loved Anna and the French Kiss.  After all, it has many of my favorite teen book elements in it - romance, friendship, and most important of all, boarding school!  In fact, when a librarian friend wrote to me about this book, she told me "This is a very Susan book!".  And it is - but it is so much more!
Anna Oliphant has been sent off to Paris for her senior year of high school .  Who wouldn't want to go to Paris?  Well, Anna for one.  She loves her life in Atlanta, with a potential new boyfriend, great friends, and a cool little brother.  Not to mention that she took Spanish the other three years of high school.  But her father, a Lurlene McDaniel-like author with a pen name, feels she must go there, and so she does.  She spends her first night at the School of America in Paris homesick and worried. 
The girl next door, Meredith, ends up taking Anna under her wing and introducing her to her friends.  Her group of friends are diverse and cool, including Etienne St. Clair.  One of the first things she learns about Etienne is that he has a girlfriend, so instead of falling in love with him (Anna tells herself) she'll just become his friend.

St. Clair (as the friends call him) and Anna have really strong chemistry.  I believe one of Perkins' strengths as an author is that she creates a believable, strong friendship between Anna and Etienne.  Because they have feelings for each other, they take time to get to know each other.  They spend time visiting all the landmarks of Paris, sitting together in class and learning about each other and their families and friends.  We learn about them, but also get to vicariously enjoy the sidelong glances, hands touching and all of the other signs that this friendship is headed towards romance.

Another thing that makes this novel work is its characters.  While the story revolves around Anna and Etienne, there are many strong characters surrounding them.  For instance, Anna's father is laughable - if he isn't your father.  He specializes in sappy novels, much like Nicholas Sparks or James Patterson.  Anna is embarassed by his novels, the movies made out of his novels and the way he talks to her.  Her father sends her an email telling her he will give her younger brother "her best" when he sees him.  He has arranged this year for the cachet it will give him as well.  Just imagine the author blurb on the back of his next novel, stating that his daughter is "studying in Paris".  Well...I've gotten a little off track here, but I really did love him in his awkwardness and awfulness.

While there is a romantic love story at the heart of this book, this is also a story of friendship.  When Meredith brings Anna into her group of friends, Anna has no idea how much they will shape her year in Paris.  With no French language skills, and coming into a senior class of 25, Anna could have spent the year very lost.  Her friends support her and help her learn her way around the city.  They translate breakfast menus, ticket orders - they help her without judging her or making her feel helpless.  But Meredith has had a crush on Etienne for a long time, and when Anna falls in love with him too, she has to work to maintain her friendship with Meredith.  The friends will all move in different directions as they (mostly) head off to college, but you don't get the sense that they will slip away from each other.  I like that Anna (and Perkins) doesn't emphasize the romance over her friendships.

At the end of the novel, you get the feeling that Anna and Etienne might actually make it - that their romance will last beyond high school and even as they grow and change in college.  To me, that is the mark of a great romance - you can believe in and envision these characters remaining in love as their lives develop.  This is Perkins' first novel, but I am excited to hear that she already has two companion novels in the works - one coming out later this year.  Who doesn't love a great love story?

Anna and the French Kiss.  Stephanie Perkins.  Dutton, 2010.
borrowed from Lewis & Clark Library

Miss Lina's Ballerinas

I chose this book at our local library because I knew it would interest Frances.  Frances and her group of girl friends saw The Nutcracker in December, and are going to see a ballet production of Cinderella in May.  And while Frances would usually prefer to select her own books on our library trips, she agreed to this one right away.  It's easy to see why just from the cover - eight little ballerinas gesture gracefully at the framed title, all rendered in appealing shades of pink.

The plot and interior illustrations are equally appealing.  This is the story of the eight young ballerinas who spend their days at Miss Lina's school - Christina, Edwina, Sabrina, Justina, Katrina, Bettina, Marina and Nina (whew!).  They dance in four groups of two and spend the rest of their day in the same way.  From the zoo to the beach to their local grocery store, the girls dance joyfully through their day.  But then Miss Lina welcomes a new student (named of course, Regina) to their school, and the rest of the ballerinas are thrown off-kilter.  How will they solve the problem and continue to dance in step with nine ballerinas?

Maccarone has combined two important themes for young girls in this story - friendship and ballet.  Ballet language is used naturally within the text, and the girls are also shown executing the named steps.  At the end of the story there is a short list of the ballet terms with pronunciations (for unsure parents) and a one-word definition.  The natural combination of the terms within the text and the illustrations of those steps may spur interested readers to continue exploring ballet.  The friendship theme is also crucial to the young child - the eight original ballerinas are thrown off by the change and are not welcoming to Regina.  It takes a little guidance from Miss Lina to solve the problem and make the dance troupe successful.  There is also a hint of math for astute readers as the girls struggle to divide themselves into even lines.

One of the things I like best about this book is that it is a natural, infectious read-aloud.  The bouncy rhythm suits the characters perfectly.  Even just saying all the ballerinas' names (Christina, Edwina, Sabrina, Justina, Katrina, Bettina, Marina and Nina) starts you dancing along.  If I wasn't already reading it aloud, I would have grabbed my girls within the first few pages just so I could say the words aloud.  The lilting prose has strong end-rhymes, something I find important for a successful read-aloud.  It is hard to read a book aloud when the words either don't fit the rhyme scheme or the author has to use words that might not be the best choice because it rhymes.  None of that happens in this story.

The color choices in the book are also superb.  The pages' creamy color makes the ballerinas' pink tutus pop.  The color palette is striking and rich.  In one illustration, the dancers are shown at the zoo, and while the prevalent color is the green of the trees surrounding the elephant enclosure.  However, the ballerinas use the railing as a barre in the foreground, and your eyes are drawn to their bubble-gum pink dresses as they dance.  My only complaint is that the artist's medium isn't identified in the prefatory material, so I'm not exactly sure what she used to create these energetic illustrations.

One of the other things that I enjoyed about the picture book is its resemblance to Madeline.  After all, there are the young girls, dressed identically, dancing in straight lines.  There is the willowy dance teacher, guiding them much like Miss Clavel.  And the easy to read rhymes sing along, just like when you read Madeline.  It is a pleasant connection, subtle, but leaving a smile on your face.

We all loved this book in our family, and the girls' names have been a constant refrain in my head all week long.  Well-done, fun and perfect for any little girl in your life.

Miss Lina's Ballerinas.  Grace Maccarone; illustrated by Christine Davenier.  Feiwel and Friends, 2010.

borrowed from Lewis & Clark Library