The Bad Guys (#1)

The Bad Guys by Aaron Blabey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Mr. Wolf is tired of being thought of as a Bad Guy just because he's a wolf, so he rounds up some other folks (Mr. Snake, Mr. Shark, and Mr. Piranha) who have faced the same prejudice, cajoling and convincing them to join his new Good Guys Club to seek out opportunities to do Good Deeds and change their reputations. They aren't at all certain this plan will work or whether they even want it to, but Wolf sweeps them along through sheer force of personality and enthusiasm. The team starts with rescuing a cat in a tree and moves on to liberating a dog pound.

My kids screeched with laughter as we read this fast-paced graphic novel, and I was quite glad I'd bought the full set. The series is a strong incentive for them to get ready for bed on time for a change so as to maximize bedtime story time.

For readers' advisors: story doorway is primary, language (humorous banter) is secondary. Target audience is elementary school children. Piranha gets swallowed temporarily, and both Piranha and Snake get smacked against the side of a building a few times, but no realistic violence.

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Front Desk

Front Desk by Kelly Yang
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This #OwnVoices story of a 10-year-old immigrant from China who wants to be a writer and helps her family manage a motel for a racist owner who cheats them and intimidates them into accepting below-poverty wages grabbed me from the start and made me wish I could leap into the pages and rescue all the immigrants from those who take advantage of them. Finding out that many of the events in the book are based on real-life experiences of the author just made that impulse all the stronger. Sadly, I do not have the ability to protect fictional people. Now I need to focus my attention on ways to help their real-life counterparts. The story is set in the 1990s, but as we've seen in the recent days, weeks, months, and years, many people's racist attitudes towards Asians, Latinx, and African Americans haven't improved.

The extra sections at the end of this book, especially the author's background and the discussion questions, make this an excellent book club selection. Because so much of the story is based on the author's life, I am categorizing the book as "biographical fiction" as well as "realistic fiction."

For readers' advisors: Character doorway is primary, but story is also very strong. No sex or swearing. Mia's mother is beaten up, as is a friend they aid early in the story, but the violence is all off-screen. Strong themes of friendship, respect, care for others, hard work, and persistence in following your dreams.

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Chill of the Ice Dragon

Chill of the Ice Dragon: A Branches Book by Tracey West
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Five stars for kids, 3 stars for adults.

My children LOVE these books, and they are very fast-paced and exciting (even to me). I have a hard time not commenting on some logical fallacies & oversimplifications, not to mention the absurdity of 8-year-olds being dragon "masters" or being sent to a far-away country to battle an ice giant that bested a powerful adult wizard and save a whole kingdom that has been frozen in magical ice with zero adult supervision. BUT...as I said, this book was very fast-paced and exciting and not only kept my 7-year-old and 3 1/2-year-old riveted, but also conned me into reading the entire book in one sitting, resulting in an absurdly late bedtime. So I will go with a 4-star rating for the enthusiasm it engendered in my kids and for the attempt to have a couple of non-white secondary characters.

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Waking the Rainbow Dragon

Waking the Rainbow Dragon: A Branches Book by Tracey West
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Five stars for kids, 3 stars for adults.

My children LOVE these books, and they are very fast-paced and exciting (even to me). I have a hard time not commenting on some logical fallacies & oversimplifications, not to mention the absurdity of 8-year-olds being dragon "masters" or being sent to a far-away country to battle a trickster giant spider's spell and save a whole country from drought with zero adult supervision. BUT...as I said, this book was very fast-paced and exciting and kept my 7-year-old and 3 1/2-year-old riveted and really mad when I only read 4 chapters at bedtime, then begging me to read the rest the next afternoon. So I will go with a 4-star rating for the enthusiasm it engendered in my kids and for the attempt to have a couple of non-white main characters, although the series clearly isn't OwnVoices.

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Amelia Bedelia Unleashed

Amelia Bedelia Unleashed by Herman Parish
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Amelia Bedelia is back and anxious to adopt a dog, but she has no idea what kind she wants. Her attempts to figure out the answer to that question are full of hilarious mishaps, but in the end, she finds exactly the right kind of dog for her.

This second installment in the Amelia Bedelia chapter book series was just as entertaining as the first. My 6-year-old loved having me read it to her at bedtime. It's fun and silly and engaging.

My biggest quibble is that all the characters are white/presumed white. Seriously, would it have killed the illustrator to have drawn some of the characters with darker skin? There are so many illustrations, I'd almost characterize the book as an illustrated novel, yet not a one looked anything but white. That's what is keeping my rating at 3 stars instead of 4.

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The Hundred Dresses

The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Nobody really pays much attention to Wanda Petronski other than to tease the shy, silent girl about the hundred dresses she claims to have, so no one even notices at first when she stops showing up to school. When her classmates do think of her, it's often to wonder why she would lie about something so obvious--she clearly has only the one dress, which she wears every single day.

Maddie's best friend Peggy instigated the daily teasing sessions, and Maddie has always felt guilty about that, but she's been afraid to speak up for fear the girls' attention would turn to her next. After all, she's poor, too, although not quite so poor as Wanda. When Wanda stops coming to school, Maddie wants to do something to make up for hurting her, especially after they all learn the truth of the hundred dresses. But are they too late?

This classic story highlights not only the emotional pain inflicted by bullies but also the trauma caused by bystanders who privately object yet publicly do nothing to stop the abuse. Like Mean Girls, but for an older elementary school crowd. It would be a great choice for a classroom read-aloud and discussion (or role-playing session), as well as an excellent book for parents and grandparents to read (aloud or silently) and discuss with their children/grandchildren. Even though it was first published in 1944, it's still relevant today, other than the sexist design/coloring competition and the fact that girls only wear dresses to school.

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Kenny and the Dragon

Kenny and the Dragon by Tony DiTerlizzi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Kenny Rabbit is a bookish sort of a boy. He lives on a farm with his parents, and his best friend is the town's bookseller. Then Kenny's dad spies a dragon on their farm, and Kenny learns that not everything you read in books is true, certainly not when it comes to dragons. THIS dragon loves creme brulée and hasn't ever eaten a princess. Unfortunately, the townsfolk are fearful of having a dragon in their midst, and Kenny must come up with a daring plan to save his new friend.

I absolutely fell in love with this sweet story of friendship, loyalty, bravery, and ingenuity! I can see why it won Switzerland's Prix Chronos award, which, according to Tony DiTerlizzi's website is "an inter-generational book award with the ambition to encourage people to read and to bring together generations: children at the age of 10 to 12 and elderly people together read and review five nominated books."

For readers' advisors: It's got some great vocabulary words, so it might be a bit of a stretch for some 3rd and 4th graders, but it would make a great choice for reading with an adult at bedtime.

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Bad Kitty School Daze

Bad Kitty School Daze by Nick Bruel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Kitty and Puppy fight like, well, cats and dogs! All that hissing and chasing has gotten them in trouble, though, so it's off to obedience school to learn how to play well with others. Can Puppy learn to control his drool? Can Kitty learn how to improve her attitude? The teacher, Miss Dee, sure has her work cut out for her.

The illustrations in this book are just superb! It's practically a graphic novel because so much of the story is conveyed wordlessly through the animals' expressions and body language. I'd not heard of this series before, but they were on a face-out display at Powell's Books and caught my eye, so I picked this one up and right away started cracking up. It's such a fast read, I almost read the whole thing while standing in the aisle, but eventually I decided to go ahead and purchase it for my nephew and read the rest when I got home. A couple of weeks later, a little girl I know had it with her, and we started talking about it--she loved it as much as I did, although for slightly different reasons, given our age & experience differences. We sure agreed about how funny it was, though!

For readers' advisors: fast-paced read, perhaps good for reluctant readers due to the prevalence of visual clues and relative lack of written words (for a chapter book). Perhaps a read-alike for the Captain Underpants series?? I haven't read those in a while, so please feel free to comment if you agree or disagree!

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Nancy Clancy, Super Sleuth

Fancy Nancy: Nancy Clancy, Super Sleuth by Jane O'Connor
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It was cute. Nancy is rather more mature for her age than is quite believable, but fans who have outgrown the Fancy Nancy picture books will probably like this new series of short chapter books. The vocabulary is pretty advanced for easy chapter books, but O'Connor does continue the pattern of Nancy using big words and then explaining their meanings, which helps.

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Nancy Clancy, Secret Admirer

Nancy Clancy, Secret Admirer by Jane O'Connor
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The second book in the series is just as cute as the first. This time, love in is the air, and Nancy and her best friend, Bree, decide they simply MUST play matchmaker, pairing the babysitter with the guitar teacher. How can they pull it off? By playing Secret Admirer, of course! Many hijinks and big words later, their plan is about to come to fruition (a fancy word for getting to the end). Will it work?

For readers' advisors: early chapter book series aimed at grades 1-3. Fun for Fancy Nancy fans who've outgrown the picture books. Similar audience to Junie B Jones, although I personally like these much better, since Nancy & Bree are more like how I hope my daughter is in a few years. Junie B drives me nuts!

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Violet Mackerel's Brilliant Plot

Violet Mackerel's Brilliant Plot by Anna Branford
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Violet is a sweet little girl who wants a blue china bird and needs to think of a BRILLIANT plot to earn enough money to buy it. It takes her a few tries and a generous gift before she succeeds.

It's a very short chapter book. Easily read in a few bedtimes. Large font and frequent illustrations. I'm not sure how old Violet is supposed to be. 5 or 6? Perhaps a little older, since she writes her ideas down in notebooks. The level of the language makes me think it's aimed at older elementary students, however.

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The Great Gilly Hopkins

The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Have you ever made a decision that had consequences you never could have imagined?

Eleven-year-old Gilly is an angry child. She has bounced from foster home to foster home since she was three. Unloved, she does everything possible to make herself unloveable, proud of her power and status as the county’s most unmanageable brat. This latest placement is the worst yet. Forced to live with the gigantic Maime Trotter and the bizarrely timid little William Ernest in the filthiest house she’s ever seen, she hatches a plan to get her mother to come rescue her. You know what they say about plans, though: they oft go awry, and this one sends shockwaves through the lives of the family she never thought she’d have.

The theme of this book is timeless, although some of the details are now a bit dated, such as Gilly's shock at having a black neighbor and a black teacher. No, the book isn't racist, despite Gilly's early prejudices, and modern children will probably be confused by her reactions, since the world is quite different today than it was thirty-plus years ago.

Katherine Paterson doesn't pull any punches or sugar-coat her stories. They are real--bad things happen, and actions have logical repercussions. I love that about her books!

For readers' advisors: character doorway. Some swearing, as you might expect from a wounded, out-of-control preteen.

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Melonhead and the Vegalicious Disaster

Melonhead and the Vegalicious Disaster by Katy Kelly
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The best-laid plans oft go awry, and so do the impromptu ones. No one knows this better than Adam Melon and his best friend Sam. When Adam's mom invites the new girl in school, Pip, over for dinner, disaster is waiting around the corner. Or in this case, inside the duct-work. Adam's mom has resolved to provide healthier meals this year, and thanks to a new Vegalicious cookbook promising recipes kids will love, she is on a creative roll. The kids are awed by the work that has gone into her masterpieces...and horrified at the prospect of eating the bizarre concoctions. Their efforts to spare her feelings have unforeseen consequences when combined with the heat and humidity of September in Washington, D.C., though, and Adam and Sam learn some valuable lessons about honesty (and mold).

I started off thinking this book was silly and cute; I never expected to be laughing out loud by the end. Adam's antics put a grin on my face primarily because he was so earnest and full of "boy logic." Katy Kelly must have (or have had) boys in her household. She does a great job capturing the thought processes of ten-year-old males--or at least it seems so to me, seeing as how I have never actually been a boy myself but do have one in my home every other weekend.

I also appreciated that this story was so positive: all characters meant well and respected each other. This held true across all generations, genders, ethnicities, religions, and physical abilities. I loved the subplot wherein Pip worked to get the teacher to treat her the same as she did all the other students instead of focusing on Pip's wheelchair and cutting her too much slack.

My one quibble was that I can't imagine any parents allowing two ten-year-old boys to visit the Washington Monument and the Air and Space Museum by themselves. Maybe if they were in their mid to late teens, but definitely not fifth graders. It's just a bad idea on so many levels!

For readers' advisors: story and character doorways. Girls will probably like reading this story, but it's targeted toward upper grade elementary school boys. Plus there are a few jokes in there aimed at adults, which makes it a good choice to read with your kids.

My thanks to the folks at NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read the pre-publication egalley!

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Cat O'Nine Tails

Cat O'Nine Tails by Julia Golding

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Cat Royal's friend Syd has disappeared, so she and her friends go to London to find out what happened to him and along the way get press-ganged into becoming part of the crew of a British naval vessel in late 1791. Turns out someone paid the press gang to ambush them specifically, and getting home will be harder than they thought.

I accidentally read this one before #3, and maybe that makes a bit of a difference? The story is enjoyable, if somewhat improbable. What makes it three stars instead of four is that I immediately figured out the mystery of who paid off the press gang, and there wasn't much in the way of character development.

There was a little more violence in this one than in the first two, although it was certainly realistic and not graphic. There was also a smidgen more teen angst.

For readers' advisors: story and setting doorways.



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Room One: A Mystery or Two

Room One: A Mystery or Two by Andrew Clements

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Sixth grader Ted Hammond loves mysteries. So the day he spies a girl in the upstairs window of an abandoned house in his tiny town in rural Nebraska, he knows it's his chance to solve a real-life mystery.

For readers' advisors: story and character doorways


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Extra Credit

Extra Credit by Andrew Clements

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Abby Carson is failing the sixth grade because she hates doing homework. Faced with the threat of being held back, she decides to not only starting doing ALL of her homework but also take on a big extra credit project: write letters to a pen pal halfway around the world, post them on a bulletin board, and do a class presentation at the end of the year.

Sadeed Bayat is the best student in his village in Afghanistan, but it's not proper for a boy to write to a girl, so his little sister is chosen to be Abby's pen pal...with Sadeed's help. She dictates letters in Dari; he translates them into English. But he's dissatisfied with what his sister writes and composes a letter of his own, which he mails in secret. And pretty soon, Sadeed realizes that he knows Abby better than he knows anyone else, and Abby realizes that kids are pretty much the same no matter where they live. But not everyone is happy with this culture-bridging assignment.

Andrew Clements does a fantastic job of bringing these characters and cultures to life. I wanted to climb into Abby's tree fort and thank Sadeed's teacher for his dedication. Excellent book.

For readers' advisors: character and story doorways, with setting as a secondary doorway



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Magic Steps

Magic Steps by Tamora Pierce

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


Four stars for the book. Minus 10 stars for the audiobook. AUGH!!! I was so excited when I put the first CD into my car stereo this morning. A full-cast audiobook of book one of a series I've read and loved by one of my all-time favorite authors--what's not to love??

This audiobook, that's what. Oh. My. Goodness. Tamora Pierce may be an outstanding author, but she simply cannot read out loud! It was like listening to a female Forrest Gump. Every syllable was given equal emphasis, even the articles and prepositions. Every word was overly enunciated. AUGH!!!

Then the rest of the cast started speaking, and it was as though I'd been transported to the worst amateur theatre production EVER. The language didn't flow like natural language, and everything was exaggerated and--like Pierce's narration--overly enunciated.

Awful awful awful. I couldn't even listen to the whole first CD. I tried to make myself, but I just couldn't stand it any more and ejected it as soon as I got to the parking lot.

Next time, I'll find an audiobook read by professional actors. Oy.



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True (...sort of)

True... Sort of by Katherine Hannigan

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Delly Pattison is constantly in trouble. Her exuberance leads her on "Dellyventures" that only her little brother RB seems to really understand. To Delly's stunned amazement, she gets into so much trouble, in fact, that she's about to be sent away to a special school for troubled kids. But how can Delly stop being Delly?

One day there is a new kid in school, Ferris Boyd, who doesn't talk and is never, ever to be touched. Ferris is a "mysturiosity" to Delly and must therefore be investigated. Their unlikely friendship saves both of them.

This is a book for all those children who are labeled "bad" by adults who fail to understand them or recognize a lack of impulse control transforming into depression. I wanted to crawl inside the pages and scoop these children up and rescue them, save them from the pain of being misfits.

For readers' advisors: character and story doorways, Delly's language of invented words is another doorway, and be aware that the book deals with child abuse


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Page

Page by Tamora Pierce

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Volume #2 in the quartet is as entertaining as volume one. In fact, at one point I stopped at a flashing red light at a 3-way intersection and was so absorbed in listening to the story, I forgot to go when it was my turn (waiting for the light to turn green??). Oops!

Page covers the final three years of Kel's page training--i.e. puberty. Pierce does a great job addressing Kel's dismay at growing breasts and starting her "monthlies," but this may be a deterrent for boys reading/listening to the story. (Or possibly an education??) Most of the story, however, is about Kel's leadership and growth over the course of three years and her sense of responsibility for her skittish new maid. Kel has a very strong sense of right and wrong and is incensed to learn how Lalasa has been abused, so she teaches the reluctant older girl to fight back. Kel's quick thinking and cool head also save the day when the group of pages she's with is attacked by bandits.

For readers' advisors: character and story doorways, and it's fantasy so also setting doorway



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First Test

First Test by Tamora Pierce

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


It was interesting to listen to a book I'd previously read in graduate school. Bernadette Dunne occasionally placed emphasis on different words or read sentences differently than I would have. She did a good job, but it was just...odd. Still, listening to the story made me actually wish my commute were longer (!!), and I sometimes sat in my car for a few minutes after I arrived so I could hear just a little bit more.

This is a book about a 10-year-old girl who wants to become the second female knight (see: the Alanna the Lioness quartet by Pierce) even though most all the boys and the training master do not want her at the school and don't think she can succeed.



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