Moon Over Manifest

Moon Over Manifest
by Clare Vanderpool
Delacorte Press, 2010. 351 pgs
Reading Level: ages 9-12
Hardcover: $16.99

Annotation: Abilene searches for traces of her father in the rich history of the town of Manifest.

Summary: It's been just the two of them since Abilene can remember. Her mother left her father, Gideon, and her when she was just a toddler. But when Gideon gets a job on a railroad as she nears her twelfth birthday, he declares it unfit for a girl and sends her off to spend the summer in Manifest, Kansas--the town he grew up in. Abilene's to stay with Shady, the town preacher and an old friend of her father's. When she arrives, she's forced to attend the last day of school, although Abilene can't see the point as she won't be here come fall, but the teacher gives her an assignment anyway--an essay exploring the meaning of the town's name and it's significance. Thrusting that chore to the back of her mind, throughout the summer Abilene finds adventure and friendship in Manifest and visits Miss Sadie, the town's occultist, nearly everyday. Piece by piece Miss Sadie unravels Manifest's glorious, complicated history, focusing on the antics of Ned and Jinks, who were two of the town's most engaging, spirited boys. However, the town seems to hold lots of secrets and Abilene yearns to learn more about her father, but no one seems to want to talk about him and Miss Sadie's stories hold no mention of Gideon. Even though she's perplexed by her father's absence from history, Abilene comes to love Manifest and slowly starts to understand the town's nuances and eventually discovers the truth of her father's past. So when summer ends Abilene has more than enough material to write her essay, because she's learned all of Manifest's secrets and can now tell them from the perspective of someone who belongs.

Evaluation: As a debut author, Vanderpool has written the loveliest of books. Set in the great depression the book alternates between present day 1936 and the town's past in 1918. The backstory is revealed through old newspaper clippings and Miss Sadie's reminiscences until the two eras gracefully intertwine and their secrets made "manifest". An intriguing plot provides lots of pent up curiousity and keeps the story moving, but the real treasure is Vanderpool's characters. Abilene is naive and spunky, dignified and endearing. The rest of Manifest's population is ripe with a well-fleshed supporting cast, from Miss Sadie the occultist and Shady the preacher and saloon keeper to Sister Redempta the schoolteacher and Hattie Mae, the town reporter. All have their place and contribute to the book's full-bodied charm. It's delicious and funny with an excellent voice. The historical setting is spot on and it's not difficult to imagine the place nor the time period because Vanderpool has evoked it so naturally. However poor economically, Manifest is rich in relationships and you'd count yourself lucky to live in such a close knit community.

Significance: Moon over Manifest explores the complicated history of small town life, how living so closely produces a necessary interdependence that provides an opportunity for love and the possibility of hurt. Even when an entire town offers holds no blame, it's often hard to forgive oneself.

Personal Choice: I can never resist the allure of alliteration.

Awards: Newbery Award Winner, 2011 / Spur Award for Best Western Juvenile Fiction from the Western Writers of America, 2011 / Top Ten Historical Fiction Novels (ALA), 2011

Turtle in Paradise

Turtle in Paradise
by Jennifer L. Holm
Random House, 2010. 208 pgs.
Reading Level: ages 9-12
Hardcover: $16.99

Annotation: Promising her a bit of paradise, Turtle's mama sends her down to Key West during the depression.

Summary: When Turtle's mama finds a job as a housekeeper to a woman who doesn't like children, the only solution is to ship Turtle and her cat, Smokey down to Key West to her sister's family. But when Turtle arrives, she learns the letter heralding her coming hadn't made it and that she's an unwelcome surprise. Unwelcome to her three nasty boy cousins that is. Turtle's known a lot of mean kids in her day so she's prepared. But she's not prepared for the shabby strangeness that greets her, completely different than her mother's glowing accounts of a picture-perfect paradise. The island is full of run-down buildings and people with strange nicknames, there's scorpions to contend with, new foods like alligator pears and "cut-ups" and her cousins won't even allow her into the diaper gang--a trio of boys who babysit the "bad" babies on the island in return for candy. The island has it's good points though, Slow Poke lets her come sponging with him, there are new flavors of ice-cream to try and Turtle finds out her grandma's still alive, contrary to what her mama told her. And when Turtle finds a treasure map in her grandma's piano, it might just be the break she's been looking for and a way out of this so called paradise.

Evaluation: Blending a prodigious array of historical research and the lure of a charasmatic orphan, Turtle in Paradise is an indubitable success. Superb characters and local color mingle easily and the story relies equally on both. Turtle is one spunky little girl and her approach to life is just like her name, she's got a hard shell, but there's a softness to her underbelly that years of hardship can't quite erase. And through the grace of good writing, Turtle eventually learns that not all kids are terrible and not all adults are sweet.

Holm's is a superb visualist and her similies and metaphors spice the writing with flavorful ingenuity. Some of my favorites were, "It's so hot that the backs of my legs feel like melted gym, only stickier." And, "Mama keeps hers(hair) long as a good dream, cuz that's the way Archie likes it." Also, "Truth is, the place(Key West) looks like a broken chair that's been left out in the sun to rot." The result is just as fresh as the ripe alligator pears found on the island. It's a must-read for everyone and comes with a high recommendation from yours truly.

Significance: Turtle's vision of paradise shifts as she learns that living on Easy Street in a Sear's house called The Bellewood is really no contest for the true paradise that comes from living with your family in a tiny ramshackle house on a poor island in the Keys.

Awards: The Golden Kite Award Winner, 2011 / Newbery Honor Award, 2011

26 Fairmount Avenue

26 Fairmount Avenue
written and illustrated by Tomie De Paola
G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1999. 57 pgs.
Reading Level: ages 9-12
Hardcover: $13.99

Annotation: Tomie can't wait for his new house on 26 Fairmount Avenue to be built, but will the big hurricane of '38 make his family's dreams disappear?

Summary: Tomie is 4 years old and his life is full of interesting adventures. It all begins with the big hurricane of 1938. Tomie and his family are living in an apartment and are hoping the big twister doesn't take their new house with it when it goes. Luckily, it's still standing and each chapter in the rest of the book details the interesting, funny adventures that little Tomie experiences as a boy. His mother takes him to see the first ever animated Walt Disney movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (at which he is disappointed that Walt hadn't read the book correctly). Tomie goes to kindergarten only to find out they don't teach you to read until first grade and thus immediately leaves in order to wait for next year. He visits with his Great-grandma nana (who is incidentally tied to a chair so she doesn't fall out) and they both happily consume chocolates only to find out later they just ate an entire package of laxatives. There are several other adventures, just as delightful as those, and it all ends with Tomie and his brother moving into their new home on 26 Fairmount Avenue.

Evaluation: In this splendid chapter book by De Paolo, the author creates a humorous and perfectly charming rendition of his own boyhood. He has wonderful stories to tell: the hurricane of 1938, watching the first Disney animation at the movies, his family's adventures building a new house and watching the year 1940 come in. It's gentle, engaging and a real treat that children today can exclaim over and make comparisons between their childhood and De Paolo's.

Significance: De Paolo grew up in a different era, but he takes some interesting experiences he had as a child and manages to make them appealing, verbally and visually, to children in the present day.

Personal Choice: I loved the idea of De Paolo naming the book after the house he lived in as a child. I think it's so much fun and so delightful when people name their houses (confession--my house is named Briar Rose Cottage).

Awards: Newbery Honor, 2000 / Wilder Winner, 2011

One Crazy Summer

One Crazy Summer
by Rita Williams-Garcia
Amistad, 2010. 224 pgs.
Reading Level: ages 9-12
Hardcover: $15.99

Annotation: As three young sisters set off to visit a mother they barely remember, they can’t imagine the craziness that awaits them.

Summary: Delphine (11), Vonetta (9), and Fern (4) are going to visit Cecile in Oakland, California this summer. Cecile is the woman who gave birth to them, but they never refer to her as their mother because what kind of mother leaves her toddlers and newborn child to fend for themselves? However, their Pa insists they meet her and so they leave the familiarity of New York for the glamour they feel sure is waiting for them in California, home to movie stars, Disneyland and all sorts of amazing adventures. But when Cecile barely acknowledges them at the airport, won’t cook them dinner and never allows them into her kitchen, they know this summer is not going to be what they expected. With no warmth and lots of crazy talk, Cecile sends them to the Center each morning for breakfast, angrily reminding them not to return until dark. At the Center the three black sisters encounter “The Panthers”, a black power movement formed to ignite a revolution and give power back to the people. Charged with the care of her younger sisters, Delphine is wary of becoming involved in such a dangerous cause, but somehow they are pulled into it anyway. But it is through this experience that Delphine and her sisters will finally come to know and understand the woman who is their mother.

Evaluation: One Crazy Summer is a smashing success. Told from the perspective of 11-year-old Delphine, who is equal parts naiveté and wisdom and robust enough a character to ensure that she’ll make a permanent home in your heart. It’s beautifully written with a prodigious sprinkling of humor and the prose will knock you out of your seat. Jacqueline Woodson writes, it “absolutely blew me away.” Williams-Grace presents real characters, real problems and real resolutions. Fantastic research, coupled with engaging characters and a intriguing plot make this book an important addition to the civil rights literature and a must read for everyone.

Significance: Set during the civil rights movement, One Crazy Summer highlights “The Black Panthers” organization and their operations during this tumultuous time period. The book emphasizes an important era in history and highlights the significant contribution that children made and can make in changing our world for the better

Personal Choice: Not only had this book won the Coretta Scott King, but it was also a Newbery Honor and so I knew it had to be something special. I wasn't disappointed in the list and this is now one of my top 5 recommendations for children.

Awards: Coretta Scott King Winner, 2011 / Scott O'Dell for Historical Fiction Winner, 2011/ Newbery Honor Award, 2011 / National Book Award for Young People's Literature Finalist, 2010

The Graveyard Book

The Graveyard Book
by Neil Gaiman
Illustrated by Dave McKean
HarperCollins, 2008. 320 pgs
Reading Level: ages 9-12
Hardcover: $17.99

Annotation: When your parents are ghosts and you're raised in a graveyard, life is both a fascinating and frightening adventure.

Summary: Nobody Owens is the only living boy to make his home in an English village graveyard. After his parents and sister are killed by the man Jack, the littlest child toddles off to a nearby graveyard and at the insistence of his newly dead mother, a ghostly couple agree to adopt the child and raise him as their own. Christened Nobody, "Bod" is reared by his guardian, Silas, and the spirits whose bodies have been layed to rest in the graveyard. He makes friends amongst graveyard dead and leads a peaceful, fascinating life. The graveyard folk raise him as their own, with various spirits giving him lessons of sorts, not always useful to his current time-period, but superbly interesting nonetheless. The graveyard can be a dangerous place though, and after his encounter with a pack of hellhounds and night-gaunts, Bod barely escapes with his life. But one day a live girl enters the graveyard and the two become fast friends. However, it isn't until the girl finds herself back in Bod's life many years later that trouble begins and the man Jack manages to find Bod--setting out to finish the job he started on that long ago night.

Evaluation: Gaiman's work is an outstanding piece of literature and a pure delight of fanastical fiction with lovable characters. Macabre and humorous, the darkness of this ghost story is made light by the delicate touch Gaiman gives his ghostly souls. Humor abounds and the story is appealing to readers of all ages. Listening to the audio version only enhanced the experience, as Gaiman reads his story himself in a delicious English accent with all the right touches of ghostly delight and wry humor. An immenently bittersweet read and a real treasure to enjoy.

Significance: Gaiman tackles the complex world of the orphan and manages to create an enriching experience, teaching us the diffcult truth that sometimes friendships must end and that we must eventually make our own way in the world.

Personal Choice: I've been wanting to read this book ever since my friends and colleagues raved about it and I wasn't disappointed.

Awards: Newbery Winner, 2009 / ABA - Indies Choice - Best Indie YA Book Buzz, 2009

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
by Jacqueline Kelly
Henry Holt & Co, 2009. 340 pgs
Reading Level: ages 9-12
Hardcover: $16.99

Annotation: Calpurnia and her grandfather begin a scientific journey to discover a new species and end up building a lasting friendship.

Summary: Calpurnia Virginia Tate, known as Cally V to family and friends, is unconcerned with the normal feminine pursuits of her time. Growing up on a Texas cotton farm at the turn of the century means she should be baking pies, knitting and tatting, practicing the piano and generally learning how to comport herself as a young lady. But the great wide, outdoor world holds more wonder for Calpurnia than the promise of a "coming out" and so when brother Harry gives her a notebook to record her many observations, thus begins her career as a naturalist. Calpurnia's grandfather is scientist himself, always puttering about his laboratory at the back of the house and collecting specimens down by the river. When Calpurnia shyly reveals her interest in the great Darwin, a surprised Colonel Tate begins to take notice of his only granddaughter and the two begin practicing science together. They spend long, magical hours of exciting exploration, trying to create a recipe for distilled pecans, nurturing a caterpiller into a beautiful butterfly (which regretfully turns out to be a mammoth moth) and hoping that they really have discovered a new species of vetch. While the two naturalists patiently wait to hear back from the experts in Washington, Calpurnia and her six brothers romp and sweat in the magnificent Texas heat, experiencing all the glories and trials that a large family on the edge of the frontier were wont to have.

Evaluation: The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate is one of those rare treats that warms your heart and gladdens your soul. With prodigious research that creates a well-fleshed novel, Kelly explores the precocious character of Calpurnia Tate. Calpurnia is eminently lovable and your fondness for her will grow like the weeds she and grandfather are always documenting. Kelly nails the dialect and Calpurnia's voice is true. You'll delight in her first taste of coca-cola, her 3rd place ribbon at the town fair and each entry in her scientific journal. Excerpts from Darwin's Origin of Species grace the beginning of each chapter, encapsulating the events to come. Every encounter with her brothers, best friend Lula, her mother or Viola the cook add vibrant color and another enjoyable moment in Calpurnia's rich and varied Texas life. But it is the growing relationship between grandfather and granddaughter which tops off this solid read with a sweetness that mimics the apple pies Calpurnia is learning to bake. Deeply satisfying, Kelly's novel is a downright charmer and you'll want to rush out and buy your own copy. Highly recommended, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate is destined for the classics list.

Significance: Ever the budding feminist, Calpurnia proves that girls can do more than just pursue housewifery skills, they can actually become scientists.

Personal Choice: A good friend, whose reading tastes I trust and admire, highly recommended the book and I'll be forever grateful.

Awards: Newbery Honor, 2010 / IRA Children's Book Award / IRA Teachers' Choices / CPL: Chicago Public Library Best of the Best / Illinois Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Choice Award Master List / North Carolina Young Adult Book Award / Texas Lone Star Reading List / TN YA Volunteer State Book Award ML / Vermont Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award Master List

The Wednesday Wars

The Wednesday Wars
by Gary D. Schmidt
Clarion Books, 2007. 264 pgs.
Reading Level: ages ages 9-12
Hardcover: $17.00

Annotation: Because Mrs. Baker hates his guts, Holling Hoodhood is being forced to study Shakespeare with her every Wednesday.

Summary: It's the turbulent 60's on Long Island and Holling Hoodhood is an average presbyterian in a town full of Catholics and Jews. He's in Mrs. Baker's class this year and while the rest of the students are off at Catechism or studying for their Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, Holling must stay indoors with Mrs. Baker. The problem is that Mrs. Baker hates his guts and forces him to read Shakespeare plays with her to pass the time.  As the town struggles with the Vietnam War, Holling struggles with his family, his dislike of Shakespeare and his feelings about Mrs. Baker. But, there might be more to Mrs. Baker than meets the eye as she gets him a part in a Shakespeare play, introduces him to some Yankee baseball players and serves as his running coach--having been an Olympic athlete herself. Holling finds that afterall, Shakespeare might have something to say about life and comes to understand and even like the guy, afterall he seems to understand what love and life are all about.

Evaluation: It's a brilliant coming-of-age story set during a difficult time in America's history and a book that everyone, and I mean everyone, should read. Each month of Holling's seventh grade year is a successive chapter in the book and so the reader moves along with Holling as he encounters a new adventure in his confusing life. Mrs. Baker is an absolute gem and teachers everywhere will delight in the fact that Schmidt presents her/them in such a glorious light. She is a friend, mentor, confidant and coach and the relationship between the two is genuinely touching. The book is engaging, inspiring and Holling is a character to love and commiserate with as he manuevers through what is often a very complicated time of life. The book tackles real life with equal parts humor and wisdom and I'm convinced Schmidt is a genius.

Significance: Schmidt deals with a multitude of real life situations. He discusses the difficulties inherent in the hatred and misunderstanding of the Vietnam War, real conflict between family members, a teacher who seems out to get you and the travails of middle school--when all you want to do is get through it unnoticed and without incidence.

Personal Choice: I'd heard rave reviews from friends and colleagues and being a Shakespeare fan myself, was extremely curious too see how the author would make the great man paletable to a younger audience.
Awards: Newbery Honor, 2008