Middle-Grade/Teen Review – The Carpet People

I wasn’t sure how to classify Terry Pratchett’s charming fantasy The Carpet People. It was originally written for a general audience, published as a serial in the newspaper, by the now-famous writer when he was only 17 years old. I think it will appeal to all ages, from middle-grade readers all the way up to adults, especially those who like whimsy and clever, fanciful adventure.

As the name suggests, The Carpet People is about a whole population of tiny beings who live unseen among the carpet fibers. In fact, there are different races and tribes of people and even animals living in the wilds of the carpet. This story focuses on a tribe called the Munrungs, which is part of the Dumii Empire. Specifically, the story is about two brothers. Glurk, a physical and slow-thinking man, took over as Chieftan when his father, old Grimm Orkson, died. Glurk’s younger brother, Snibril, is more of a cerebral young man who was taught to read and write by Pismire, the tribe’s shaman.

When danger threatens their village, the nomadic Munrungs set off on a journey across the carpet. It’s a dangerous journey, and along the way, they meet other people whose customs and habits are much different than the Munrungs. Eventually, they must overcome their fears of each other and band together to defeat their common enemy.

To be honest, I’m not normally a fan of classic fantasy stories with made-up people and beasts and worlds, but Pratchett’s unique story is very clever, filled with humorous word play and lots of action. It easily kept me entertained while I listened to it on audio, read by a talented narrator who conveyed Pratchett’s sense of whimsy. The audio also included a note from the author at the beginning, explaining how he first wrote The Carpet People and then recently revised it for this reprinting, and the unedited version of the original serial story included at the end.

Later, I found out that the paper version is actually filled with Pratchett’s own illustrations, amusing line drawings that bring the Munrungs to life on the page, so this might be a case where the book has an advantage over the audio. I also suspect that I may have missed some of the clever word play in listening rather than reading, though the audio was very entertaining. You can take a peek at some of the illustrations or listen to a sample of the audio at the Amazon link included at the bottom of this post.

Overall, I enjoyed this clever and thoughtful story about tribes of tiny people living in the carpet.  Believe it or not, this was my very first Terry Pratchett novel (his books have sold over 80 million copies!), so I think I will be reading more of his work.

Listening Library

 

Middle-Grade Review: Flora & Ulysses

I recently listened to Kate DiCamillo’s latest middle-grade novel, Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures on audio. Like DiCamillo’s other well-known middle-grade novels, this one was warm and original, with a great sense of humor, and I enjoyed listening to it.

Ten-year old Flora is a self-described cynic who loves comic books and superheroes. Her summer begins with a bang when a squirrel in her yard gets sucked up into her family’s new super-powered vacuum cleaner (the Ulysses 2000X). Like so many other mild-mannered citizens in the comic books that Flora reads, that trauma results in the squirrel developing super-powers: he can talk, he has super-strength, and he can write poetry. Flora names him Ulysses, and their adventures begin!

Flora’s parents are divorced, her mother seems interested only in writing romance novels (which Flora hates!), and her neighbor’s great-nephew, William, seems intent on hanging around with Flora all summer. In the midst of all of this, Flora is trying to protect her new superhero friend, whom her mother seems bent on destroying. All of this is great fodder for a young girl with an avid imagination, a love of comic books, and a rodent friend with superpowers!

Flora and Ulysses have all kinds of adventures together and close calls, in the spirit of superhero comic books, and maybe learn some life lessons along the way. I listened to this unique and humorous novel on audio, which I now see was a mistake. I had no idea as I listened, but it turns out that this fun novel is actually written partly in text and partly comic-book style. I took a look on amazon (click on the amazon link below and click on the “Look Inside” pic of the cover) and loved the graphic novel style and fun illustrations that really add to the overall attraction of this novel.  While the audio was enjoyable, I can see now that I missed out on a lot without the visuals, so this is one book that is better in paper format.

Overall, Flora & Ulysses is a fun romp, filled with DiCamillo’s trademark warmth and tenderness, as well as a great sense of humor.

Although my sons have outgrown most DiCamillo novels by now (they are 16 and 19), we all have very fond memories of listening to The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (still one of the most amazing middle-grade novels I have ever read) on audio in the car and reading The Tiger Rising together out loud.

Listening Library



Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures

Middle-Grade Review: Charlie Bumpers vs. The Teacher of the Year

We are big fans of Grammy Award-winning Bill Harley in our family; he is a singer, storyteller, author, and all-around entertainer. Even though my sons are now in their mid to late teens, listening to a Bill Harley story can still make them laugh out loud – and he has the same effect on my husband and I!  I previously reviewed another Bill Harley middle-grade novel, Night of the Spadefoot Toads, and his Dear Santa picture book remains among our favorite holiday books. So, I was thrilled to hear he’d written a new middle-grade novel, Charlie Bumpers vs. The Teacher of the Year, which is also the start of new series. I loved this novel; reading it is like listening to Bill Harley tell his stories in my head!

Charlie Bumpers is a normal kid, getting ready to start fourth grade. As the novel opens, he is frantically trying to clean his room before his mom comes home (he ends up clearing the mess out from the closet and moving it under the bed). His big brother, Matt, is always on his back and loves to tease him. His little sister, Mabel, can be cute sometimes, but she’s also very loud and can not keep a secret! Charlie’s room-cleaning comes to an abrupt stop when his mom gets home and announces that she found out who Charlie’s teacher will be this year: Mrs. Burke.

Charlie’s mom is excited because Mrs. Burke was named Teacher of the Year last year, but Charlie knows he is doomed. What his mom doesn’t know is that there was an “incident” last year when Charlie ended up throwing a sneaker that hit Mrs. Burke in the head (it’s a long story). Now, he knows she hates him, and fourth grade is ruined. Even worse, his best friend, Tommy, is in a different class.

Charlie does his best to make a good impression on Mrs. Burke and start the year off right, but things never turn out the way he intended. Somehow, Charlie always ends up in trouble – with Mrs. Burke, with his classmates, and even with the new gym teacher, Mr. Shuler, aka General Shuler, Intergalatic Supreme Commander of Soccer Balls. How will Charlie ever survive the whole year when he can barely get through the first week?

The writing and story in this novel are pitch-perfect for younger middle-grade readers. Charlie and his friends feel like real kids, struggling with real problems. As always, Harley captures childhood perfectly, with a nice dose of his trademark humor and plenty of warmth. This series is sure to be a hit with kids who like reading about real-life kids like themselves and fans of the Horrible Harry series who are a little older now.

138 pages, Peachtree Publishers

Check out Bill Harley's Charlie Bumpers website, including a book trailer. 

If you have never heard Bill Harley perform before, listen to him tell one of his classic kid stories, Zanzibar:



 

Happy Anniversary, Waldo!

Today marks the 25th Anniversary of Where's Waldo, that iconic, bespectacled guy in the red and white stripes who's been hiding in plain sight for a quarter of a century!

My kids LOVED the Where's Waldo books.  Well, actually, we all loved them and spent many happy hours searching for Waldo and his companions, Wenda, Odlaw, and the Wizard.  We even dressed up like them for Halloween one year!

There are all sorts of events and special honors to commemorate this milestone, so you can expect to see a lot of Waldo (if you can find him!) over the next few months.  Read about all the fun celebrations in this article, including the Empire State Building lighting up in red and white stripes today!

Or visit the official Where's Waldo website to play games, get travel tips, and buy all sorts of Waldo merchandise.

Have fun searching for Waldo with your favorite kid today!

Yes, that's me, as Wenda!

Teen/YA Review: An Abundance of Katherines

I have been meaning to read a John Green novel for a very long time; I keep hearing people rave about what a wonderful writer he is and how he is one of the best YA authors out there.  So, even though I have stacks and stacks of teen/YA books here at my house, waiting to be read, I detoured to the Teen section of our library last week to search for John Green.  None of his better-known award-winners were on the shelf (I have a feeling they rarely are!), but I found one book, An Abundance of Katherines, that I brought home and read.  I enjoyed this heartfelt, humorous novel very much.

Colin Singleton has just graduated from high school, but he is not celebrating.  He has just been dumped by his girlfriend, Katherine, one in a long string of break-ups with Katherines – nineteen to be exact.  Colin is a child prodigy who started to read at age two.  The problem is that he feels like everyone else has caught up to him now, and what is a child prodigy who is no longer a child?  He fears he is no longer special and will never do anything that really matters in life.

To cheer him up – and amuse himself – Colin’s best friend, Hassan, suggests a road trip to get Colin’s mind off the latest Katherine.  Hassan is an overweight Muslim who was as much of an outcast as Colin when the two met in middle school and became each other’s first – and only – best friend.  So, the two set off in Satan’s Hearse, their name for Colin’s enormous Oldsmobile, and leave Chicago.

They encounter new friends, a town in the middle of nowhere Tennessee, a dead archduke’s grave, and a feral hog, but Colin is still obsessing over the break-up and his long, bleak history with Katherines.  He decides to approach the problem mathematically, coming up with a Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability that he hopes will allow anyone to predict the course (and eventual demise) of any relationship.  Then, maybe, he will have done something that matters.

This novel has a great sense of humor, and the witty repartee between Colin and Hassan is endlessly amusing.  But there are also plenty of solid, real-life emotions here, as both boys grapple with their insecurities and grow emotionally during the summer.  The issues here are those that every young person deals with – the meaning of friendship, the quest for love, and battles with self-doubt.  Overall, it was a very entertaining and satisfying novel.  I look forward to reading more John Green books!

215 pages, Dutton Books

 

Picture Book Review: M.O.M. – Mom Operating Manual

I rarely review picture books anymore – after all, my owns sons are both teens now – but I just couldn’t resist taking a look at M.O.M: Mom Operating Manual.  It was written by picture book superstar Doreen Cronin, author of such fun classics as Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type, with illustrations by Laura Cornell, who has illustrated many #1 New York Times bestsellers.  The combination is a book that appeals as much to parents as to kids!

Right from the first pages, you know this book will be a winner:

Introduction:

It is widely accepted that mothers are the most advanced human models on the planet.  They are capable of superhuman energy, strength, patience, and creativity.

They come in many shapes and sizes.

They have various talents and skills, like cooking, singing, sewing, Olympic athleticism, and neurosurgery.

Years of research, observation, and time-outs have given science some very important guidance on the necessary maintenance and care of mothers for optimal performance.  If you handle them correctly, tend to their basic needs (which are minimal), and refer to the care manual with regularity, your mom should be operating at peak performance for years to come.

Of course, this tongue-in-cheek text is accompanied by Cornell’s fabulous illustrations.  That last paragraph is illustrated with a mom picture ala Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man, complete with multiple limbs, various multi-tasking accompaniments, and kids hanging on.  I really enjoyed this book, even though my kids are way beyond the picture book age.  The text is incredibly clever and funny, and every time I pick it up, I catch new little details in the illustrations that I missed the first time.

I was looking for some sample illustrations I could share with you, but instead I found a video that I think is even better.  This will give you an idea of the tone and quality of the book:

This book is sure to be a hit, with both kids and overworked moms in need of some good laughs!  It would make a great gift.

P.S. After perusing the illustrations, I am afraid I probably alternate between the Pleasant Yet Fried Around the Edges Mom and the Barely Upright But Still Functioning Mom!

54 pages, Atheneum (Simon & Schuster)

Teen/YA Review: The Deathday Letter

The Deathday Letter by Shaun David Hutchinson is a teen/YA novel with more depth and warmth  than first appears.  It grew on me the longer I read, and, as I finished it, I was surprised to realize that I had actually liked it quite a bit.

The premise of the book is quite simple: it’s a society where people receive a Deathday Letter the day before they will die.  Fifteen-year old Ollie receives his Deathday Letter at the start of the novel and has only 24 hours left to live.  He wants to make the best of his last day.

I expected the novel to delve deeper into the concept of the Deathday Letter itself – why this happens, how it happens – but it didn’t.  It just assumed this was the way things were and moved onto Ollie’s own story, which turned out to be just fine with me.

Since the novel is told from the point of view of a teenage boy, it is filled with all sorts of lewd observations and actions – sex, drugs, and roll ‘n roll, right?  At first, this nonstop barrage of jokes and sex talk was irritating to me, but then it occurred to me that maybe this is really how a teen boy would react to his impending death, covering his real feelings with humor.  Here, he has just told his best friend about his letter:

Shane claps me on the back.  “Listen, I’ve known you since you were a baby, man.  You’re like a brother.  I know everything there is to know about you, and lots of stuff I wish I didn’t.  It’s not just my job to tell you the truth, it’s my obligation.”

We stand in silence until finally I say, “What do we do about my letter?” because standing around not talking about our feelings feels way gayer than actually talking about our feelings.

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not going back to class.  I already know how the war ends.  We won.  And I don’t want to stand around and cry about my letter.”

So, Ollie and Shane skip school and bring along Ronnie, their childhood friend and Ollie’s recent girlfriend (who broke up with him).  They embark on the kinds of things you would expect teenagers with nothing to lose to embark on.  Filled with dark humor, The Deathday Letter explores life and death, love and sex, and the meaning of friendship.  Though crude at times, the novel redeems itself with a tender, thoughtful, and thought-provoking ending.  I’m glad I read it.

240 pages, Simon Pulse

For more information, check out the author's website and blog. 

Middle-Grade Review: Brixton Brothers and the Case of the Case of the Mistaken Identity

Brixton Brothers: The Case of the Case of the Mistaken Identity by Mac Barnett is the first in a series of new mystery novels for middle-grade readers.  This book is different from most kids’ mysteries because it is firmly a tongue-in-cheek look at the popular genre.  Filled with humor and irony, Brixton Brothers is an obvious send-up of the Hardy Boys.

Steve Brixton is obsessed with The Bailey Brothers and especially with The Bailey Brothers Detective Handbook:

The Bailey Brothers, of course, were the sons of world-famous detective Harris Bailey.  They helped their dad solve his toughest cases, and they had all sorts of dangerous adventures, and these adventures were the subject of the fifty-eight shiny red volumes that made up the Bailey Brothers Mysteries, also by MacArthur Bart.  Numbers two through fifty-nine on Steve Brixton’s list of the Fifty-Nine Greatest Books of All Time were taken up by the Bailey Brothers Mysteries.

Sound familiar?  Like so many kids through the past decades have wanted to be just like the Hardy Boys, Steve Brixton wants to solve mysteries like the Bailey Brothers, and he has even sent away for his own Bailey Brothers Detective License.  This weekend, though, Steve has a much duller assignment: to write a report for English class.  He’s at the library, checking out a boring book on American quilting, when he’s suddenly pulled into the middle of a top-secret case of treason against the US government.  Unbelievably, Steve finds himself being chased by secret agents, crooks, and even the police who somehow think he is some sort of criminal mastermind.

The book is filled with the action and adventure expected in kids’ mysteries while also gently poking fun at them.  It includes excerpts from Bailey Brothers books as Steve applies his extensive knowledge of the series to his current predicament.  Several plot twists are a bit far-fetched but that’s all part of the fun, too.  Illustrations by Adam Rex, reminiscent of those in the original Hardy Boys’ books, add another element of humor.

I enjoyed the book very much, and I think that kids who maybe have outgrown the Hardy Boys will enjoy it, too.  It will appeal to those who like both mysteries and humor and who have an appreciation for irony.

179 pages, Simon & Schuster

Middle-Grade Review: The Graveyard Book

Neil Gaiman won the Newberry Medal for his unusual novel, The Graveyard Book.   I read it recently (am I the last person on earth to do so?) based on a recommendation from my older son.  Though the book is officially targeted toward middle-grade readers, I think it is equally enjoyable for teens (my son was 15 when he read it)…and, of course, adults!

The book begins with a rather gruesome double murder by a sinister man named Jack.  The two victims happen to be the parents of a little boy toddler, who manages to slip out of the house unnoticed while Jack is busy with his parents.  The baby walks up the hill to a nearby cemetery and slips between the bars bypassing the locked gates.

From there, things get a little strange.  When implored by the brand-new ghosts of the boy’s parents, a married couple in the cemetery, dead for hundreds of years, decides to adopt the little boy to keep him safe.  For reasons that aren’t immediately clear, Jack still wants to kill the boy, and the only place he is safe is within the confines of the cemetery, explains Silas, a mysterious character who is neither alive nor dead and stays in the cemetery’s ancient chapel.  Here, he addresses the varied inhabitants of the graveyard, representing a wide range of time periods:

“…For good or for evil – and I firmly believe that it is for good – Mrs. Owens and her husband have taken this child under their protection.  It is going to take more than a couple of good-hearted souls to raise this child.  It will,” said Silas, “take a graveyard.”

And that should give you some hint of the wonderful sense of humor in this odd book that is both sweet and spooky, filled with supernatural adventures and tender coming-of-age moments.  The graveyard inhabitants name the boy Nobody – Nobody Owens, Bod for short – and he grows up there, among all the ghosts.  Silas brings him food and books from the real world outside their gates, he is tutored in various subjects by cemetery residents who were teachers in a former life, and he generally has a very happy childhood.

It’s not all sweetness, though, as the likable Bod discovers some of the darker secrets of the dead and encounters evil through some scary supernatural experiences (plus, Jack is still out there looking for him).  As he gets older, he occasionally meets some real people and becomes more curious about what is outside the gates.  The whole book is a wonderfully odd, witty mix of magic, adventure, and growing up.  It’s all thoroughly delightful.

307 pages, HarperCollins Children’s Books

Younger kids will enjoy Gaiman’s enchanting Norse folk tale, Odd and the Frost Giants, with his trademark wit and whimsy but less fright.

Read more about Neil Gaiman and his books at his website. 

Middle-Grade Review: Boom!

On our way back from a camping weekend in the Catskills recently, we got stuck in traffic that turned our 4-hour drive into a 9-hour drive.  Fortunately, I had brought along a new audio book, Boom! by Mark Haddon, that kept all four of us captivated and laughing the whole way home.  Mark Haddon is the author of the award-winning adult novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

Jim, aka Jimbo, lives in London with his parents and sister.  When his older sister tells him he’s about to be expelled from school and sent away to military school, Jimbo knows she might be just teasing him…but he’s not sure.  He confers with his best friend, Charlie, who is always looking for some excitement in his life.  Charlie comes up with a brilliant plan to bug the teacher’s lounge at school, so they can hear for themselves what the teachers are (or are not) saying about Jimbo’s future.

They follow through with their plan and hear a bunch of boring teacher talk, until everyone else has left except for Mr. Kidd and Ms. Pearce.  They don’t know what to think of what they hear next:  their two teachers speaking in a strange language to each other.  When they speak one of the strange words to Mr. Kidd later and his eyes glow with a radiant blue light, they know that something very strange is going on at their school.  The two friends begin to investigate their teachers’ bizarre behavior, but soon they are in the midst of an adventure they never could have imagined.

Our whole family – including 12-year old Craig and 16-year old Jamie – loved this audio book.  It’s full of suspense and adventure, but it is also hilarious.  We were all laughing out loud at the odd cast of characters, frantic antics of Jimbo and Charlie, and the out-of-this-world plot.  If you enjoy the British style of humor, this book is for you!  Some (perhaps younger kids) may find the British accent of the reader and the British slang hard to understand, but we loved every minute of it and felt that its British-ness was a definite plus.  Great fun for middle-grade readers or for a family road trip!

Listening Library

Download an audio clip to listen to a sample of Boom!

BOOK:      AUDIO: 

Middle-Grade Review: Freaky Monday

My two sons and I are big fans of both Freaky Friday movies, so we were excited to hear that a long-awaited sequel was recently published, Freaky Monday. Written by the original author, Mary Rodgers, and the screenwriter for the second Freaky Friday movie, Heather Hach, the new book is just as much fun as the original! We listened to the audio book on a recent car trip, and the whole family enjoyed it.

Hadley is an over-achieving eighth-grader who is so worried about her grades that she hardly has time in her life for anything else, even her two best friends. Her freewheeling English teacher, Ms. Pitt, drives Hadley crazy because she’s not focused on grades; she’s more likely to have her students sit in a circle and talk about the meaning of a book than assign extra credit projects.

During a conflict between the two in the school hallway, they suddenly trade places, and then the fun really begins! They go through all kinds of crises while trapped in each other’s bodies, including a job interview, a family emergency, and even a little romance. The result is funny, engaging, and eventually heartwarming.

The audio book is perfectly read by Jennifer Stone, whose voice kids will recognize as Harper from Disney’s Wizards of Waverly Place TV show. Stone did a great job narrating as slightly neurotic Hadley, and we were hooked from beginning to end. This one is sure to be a big hit with tweens, especially girls (though my boys enjoyed it, too).

Listen to a sample audio clip.

Harper-Collins, 192 pages.
HarperChildren’s Audio
Accelerated Reader (AR) Level 4.7

Middle-Grade Review: Flipped

I recently enjoyed a wonderful audio book of Flipped, a fun and funny middle-grade novel by Wendelin Van Draanen. Flipped is a unique book because it’s almost like two books in one. Alternating chapters are told from the viewpoint of two different characters, Bryce and Juli, who are seventh-graders. They’ve known each other since Bryce moved in across the street from Juli five years before.

What makes this novel so much fun and adds a large dose of humor is that Bryce and Juli see everything completely differently, even when they are each recounting the exact same events. For instance, here are two excerpts about the day they first met, when a mud-splattered Juli came over to the moving truck, excited to have someone her own age in the neighborhood, and introduced herself. Bryce was a bit overwhelmed by Juli and tried to escape into the house. First, Bryce’s perspective:

I heard her coming after me but I couldn’t believe it. Maybe it just sounded like she was chasing me; maybe she was really going the other way. But before I got up the nerve to look, she blasted right past me, grabbing my arm and yanking me along.

This was too much. I planted myself and was about to tell her to get lost when the weirdest thing happened. I was making this big windmill motion to break away from her, but somehow on the downswing my hand wound up tangling into hers. I couldn’t believe it. There I was, holding the mud monkey’s hand!

I tried to shake her off, but she just clamped on tight and yanked me along, saying, “C’mon!”

And here is how Juli remembers the exact same incident, where she thought Bryce had to go in house the to help but would much rather stay out and play:

I chased Bryce up the walkway, and that’s when everything changed. You see, I caught up to him and grabbed his arm, trying to stop him so maybe we could play a little before he got trapped inside, and the next thing I know he’s holding my hand, looking right into my eyes.

My heart stopped. It just stopped beating. And for the first time in my life, I had that feeling. You know, like the world is moving all around you, all beneath you, all inside you, and you’re floating. Floating in midair. And the only thing keeping you from drifting away is the other person’s eyes. They’re connected to yours by some invisible physical force, and they hold you fast while the rest of the world swirls and twirls and falls completely away.

I almost got my first kiss that day. I’m sure of it.

As you can see, Bryce and Juli see things very differently, and this continues through the five years that they know each other, with each of them assuming things about the other one. In eighth grade, a lot of things happen – involving chickens, a sycamore tree, and several family secrets – that change both their views, and things get flipped once again.

The audio version of this book was a lot of fun to listen to, with excellent reading by both of the young actors voicing the parts of Bryce and Juli. There are plenty of twists in the plot to keep you guessing and laughing.

Alfred A. Knopf, 212 pages

Accelerated Reader (AR) Level 4.8; 8 points

Middle-Grade Review: Books To Tickle Your Funny Bone

Sorry for the lack of posts recently - we took a 3-week road trip vacation. While we were away, I was reminded of some of our favorite funny books from the past several years...

Even though our sons, Jamie, 14, and Craig, 11, are avid readers on their own, we still enjoy reading aloud with them at bedtime (though sometimes they take a turn now!). The books listed below have all been favorite read-alouds over the past several years because we all enjoy a good sense of humor. Besides being fun to read together, any of these would be excellent choices for a middle-grade reader to read alone, especially a reluctant reader who doesn’t want to take his or her books too seriously!

In Airball: My Life in Briefs by L.D. Harkrader, Kirby loves everything about basketball but has few skills to help his struggling seventh-grade team prepare for an exhibition game against a hometown NBA star. The coach devises a plan to help the boys focus on their game by playing in their underwear, while Kirby works to unravel the mystery of his biological father. Comical and touching, the fast-paced plot keeps you rooting for Kirby, on the court and off. This one is such a favorite of ours that we’ve read it aloud twice! Ages 8 and up. Roaring Brook Press.

The Extraordinary Adventures of Ordinary Boy, Book 1: The Hero Revealed by William Boniface takes place in Superopolis where everyone is a superhero with special powers…everyone except Ordinary Boy. In this first book, O Boy and his friends, Stench (super strong and super gassy), Plasma Girl (can turn herself into jelly), and others, go up against the biggest villain of all time, Professor Brain Drain. Your kids will laugh as they cheer on the city’s littlest superheroes. During our recent vacation, we read Book 2: The Return of Meteor Boy? and are happy to report that it’s just as amusing as the first one! Ages 8 and up. Harper-Collins.

Do you ever wish you could go back in time and correct your mistakes? In 15 Minutes by Steve Young, seventh-grader Casey discovers an invention of his Grandpop’s that allows him to do just that. There’s one catch, though. It only takes him back 15 minutes. Hilarious consequences ensue, as Casey grapples with a test he didn’t study for, a bully, and his middle school football game. Ages 8 and up, Harper-Collins.

Teen Review: Nothing But the Truth

A wonderful teen blogger, Miss Erin, recommended North of Beautiful by her favorite author, Justina Chen Headley. My library didn’t have that book yet, so I picked up another of Headley’s novels, Nothing But the Truth (and a few white lies). I wasn’t disappointed.

Patty Ho is dealing with all the typical problems of a freshman in high school – trying to fit in, wanting the school’s soccer star to notice her, and worrying about seeming too smart to be cool. But Patty also feels torn between two worlds: her mother’s Taiwanese world and the mostly-white world of her high school. In these excerpts from her English assignment to write the Truth about herself, Patty describes herself:

Truth: I am a fourteen-year-old stick-thin giant who is imprisoned in the house of midgets. My mother barely squeaks over five feet tall, and calling my big brother Abe “big” is a misnomer when I’m a good five inches taller than him. I have to assume that my height comes from my father, but he’s a short story in our home. It goes something like this: Once upon a time, Stanley Peter Johnson transferred from Berkeley to study at the University of Taipei for a year. He conquered, he came, and he left with a couple of made-in-Taiwan souvenirs: my mom and Abe. Apparently, his American dream didn’t include a mixed-race family of four. So for my second birthday, he gave me a good-bye kiss and vanished. End of story.

…But it is also true that I can pass. I can pass biology (miraculously), notes in class (well), and plates of food (perfectly). I cannot pass out (Why be out of control when I’m never in control in my prison cell of a home?) or pass a basketball (which bombs the theory that all tall kids can be basketball stars).

But I cannot pass for white or Asian.

At the end of the school year, Patty’s mother makes unexpected – and unwanted – plans for her summer: math camp. To make matters worse, Patty’s English teacher correctly assumes that Patty wrote her yearlong Truth project in only one night and reassigns it to her for the summer. Patty heads off for camp, certain it’s going to be torture, and uncertain of how she’ll write the truth about herself when she isn’t sure what that is. But unexpected opportunities arise at camp, and Patty begins to open her mind to new possibilities about herself.

I wondered at first whether I would relate to Patty’s mixed-race difficulties, but her struggles to find her identity and fit in are universal insecurities that every teen (and adult!) deals with. Headley is a wonderful writer, and Patty is a very likable narrator, telling her story with honesty and humor. I had trouble putting this book down and cheered for Patty through her tragedies and triumphs. I look forward to reading more of Headley’s novels.

Middle-Grade Fiction: Peter and the Starcatchers

I just finished reading PETER AND THE STARCATCHERS by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. I had finished my last book and was searching the house for my next conquest. I have a stack of books I want to read on the bookcase in my bedroom but none seemed to fit my mood. I wandered into my son's room to check his bookcase. We receive a lot of middle-grade books to review, so he always has a stack of new arrivals. Actually, he usually plows through each book as soon as it arrives, and I'm usually lagging behind. I ended up ignoring some of the review possibilities to read this one just for fun.

PETER AND THE STARCATCHERS is a prequel to J.M. Barrie's PETER PAN. As the story goes, Ridley Pearson (a popular fiction writer) was reading PETER PAN to his daughter one night, and she asked him how Peter got to be Peter Pan. That got him thinking, and he ended up teaming up with Dave Barry to create their version of how Peter Pan came to be.

The book was just what I was looking for: an enjoyable escape. I loved how the book filled in the gaps of the well-known tale of Peter Pan, explaining why he can fly, how he got to the island, and how he made an enemy of the famed pirate. I thought that Ridley and Barry's imaginative pre-story was just right and fit J.M. Barrie's famous tale well. In fact, reading this book made me want to read the original PETER PAN, as I'm embarrassed to admit I'm only familiar with the Disney and Hollywood versions.

PETER AND THE STARCATCHERS is an excellent book for middle-grade readers (and grown-ups, too!), building on a well-loved character and filled with adventure, magic, and a touch of Dave Barry's signature humor. It was a pleasant and satisfying read.

(NOTE: Since this review was written, Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson have written 2 sequels: Peter and the Shadow Thief and Peter and the Secrets of Rundoon).