Fall is in the air, so here are some new books to peruse as the weather changes:
Please don't miss COUNTING BY 7S, by Holly
Goldberg Sloan. I absolutely loved this mid-grade
featuring Willow Chance, a highly gifted
twelve-year-old who has always been an outsider.
When her beloved adoptive parents are killed in a
car crash, she must reinvent her world. Rather
than being a depressing book, this is an
uplifting, hopeful, not-sappy story about remaking
your world. Willow's voice is spot-on, and it
alternates with the voices of other characters to
tell a complete and wonderful story.
THE THING ABOUT
LUCK, by Cynthia Kadohata, is a
thoughtful mid-grade about growing up and taking
responsibility. When Summer's parents need to take
care of relatives in Japan, Summer and her brother
Jaz stay behind in Kansas, in the care of their
grandparents. Obaachan and Jiichan come out of
retirement during harvest season, driving a huge
combine machine and cooking for the rest of the
crew. Money is tight and they don't want to lose
the house. Obaachan is very strict, and Summer has
her hands full dealing with all the changes in her
family, as well as finding "temporary love" with a
boy from the harvesting company.
FALLOUT, by Todd Strasser, reimagines the Cuban
Missile Crisis with a very different ending. As
the threat of nuclear war looms, Scott's dad
builds a bomb shelter. He packs enough food to
last the family of four for two weeks, which is
supposedly how long they need for the radiation to
recede to a safe level. But when the sirens sound,
signaling an actual attack, most of Scott's
neighbors try to shove their way in. Fallout is
based on actual experiences of the author growing
up and having his dad build the only bomb shelter
on the block. This one is older mid-grade/young
YA.
YAQUI DELGADO WANTS TO KICK YOUR ASS, by Meg
Medina, deals with the subject of bullying. When
Piddy Sanchez moves to a new high school in
Queens, a girl announces that Yaqui Delgado has it
in for her. At first Piddy laughs it off, not even
knowing who Yaqui is, but as time goes on, tension
builds and she gets more and more afraid. When the
attack comes, its effects are devastating to
Piddy, who must figure out whether to let the
incident derail all of her plans, or to somehow
pick up the pieces and move on. A strong YA that's
full of grit and hope.
LULU AND THE CAT IN THE BAG, by the always
fabulous Hilary McKay, is a warm and wonderful
chapter book. When Lulu's and Mellie's parents go
on vacation, they leave the girls safely in the
care of their grandmother, Nan. All is well until
a large, mysterious bag appears on Lulu's
doorstep, and begins to snore! Hilary McKay is a
genius at creating fun-loving, caring, original
families who take their pets seriously. With
age-appropriate sentence structure and vocabulary,
McKay tells a thoroughly appealing story.
Disclaimer: I would read ANYTHING by this
author!!!!
JOURNEY, a
picture book
written and illustrated by Aaron Becker (no
relation to me) is a gorgeous, wordless adventure
story. When a girl's family has no time to play,
she uses her red crayon/chalk/marker?? to draw her
way into an exciting world where she saves the day
and finds a like-minded friend. Reminiscent of
Harold and the Purple Crayon, Journey offers
another take on a timeless theme. The artwork here
is colorful and elaborate, where Harold and the
Purple Crayon was spare. (My first Caldecott pick
of the year!)
SOPHIE'S SQUASH, by Pat Zietlow Miller and Anne
Wilsdorf, has an appealing premise: when Sophie's
parents purchase a squash from the farmer's
market, Sophie names it and adopts it as her best
friend. Of course, being a squash, it has a
limited shelf life. (This story makes sense to me,
since when I was a kid I had a walking stick named
Beatrice who wore a wig and sat with me while I
read books on the couch. And when my son was two,
he began wheeling around a roll of paper towels in
a doll stroller.) The illustrations are appealing,
and the solution works, although I sure hope
Sophie doesn't try to bury her cat if it gets
sick!!
--Lynn
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