Monday - Book Favorites

Visit Kellee and Ricki at UnleashingReaders and Jen at Teach Mentor Texts to see what they've been reading, along with everyone else who post their favorites. 

While weaving text and art in a way that shows the hodgepodge of that part of history to tell Bonhoeffer's story, John Hendrix has managed a story of persistence in the face of known danger, never giving up when he is sure that he and his co-conspirators must proceed. As he chronicles the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, of course, he must detail the rise of Hitler and Germany's Nazi part. Here is one quote: "Dietrich's conception of the nature of evil had changed. In the form of the Nazi ideology, evil could no longer be a theological tool. The rigid concepts of simple "right" and "wrong" had proved too simple for defeating Hitler. Those stark boxes were all too easy for Hitler to escape. Evil had totally surrounded Dietrich and the conspirators. On all sides were ethical booby traps. Yet he had come to believe he must step into one, if he was to act at all." He is a pastor who makes the ultimate sacrifice in order to free the German people from oppression during World War II.

         I spent a good deal reading this book angry at the mother. Then I realized that I had no way to empathize with her, no way to understand that some have so much heartbreak in their lives that it plays out in their choices even as a parent. But this is really about the parent Astrid's son, twelve-year-old Felix Knutsson. Underlying the story is Felix's knack for trivia. His favorite game show is Who What Where When; he even named his gerbil after the host. Felix’s mom, Astrid, is loving but cannot hold on to a job. Her "knack" appears to be words that alienate. She has a bitter tongue that will not stop. When they are evicted from their latest shabby apartment, they have to move into a van. Astrid swears him to secrecy; he can’t tell anyone about their living arrangement, not even Dylan and Winnie, his best friends at his new school. If he does, she warns him, he’ll be taken away from her and put in foster care.

        Life for these two does not improve, then Felix gets a chance to audition for a junior edition of Who What Where When, and he’s hopeful when he is accepted. The time surrounding these days are harrowing. I couldn't stop turning the pages, wishing someone would help. I felt it wasn't a twelve-year-olds' responsibility to save the family. He thought winning the cash prize could make everything okay again. But things don’t turn out the way he expects. . . .  I loved this boy, so full of what are the right things to do, sometimes helpless to change his mother, but continuing to make his own life right while caring for her, too. 
       I am grateful for what I learned: that friends (allies) make a huge difference in kids' and adults' lives, but sometimes it's even hard to accept that friendship. That adults' childhoods keep them from change for better. Turning away in defense seems easier. And when one opens up to trust, things do get better, but it's hard, so, so hard. This story about the hidden homeless is one I would recommend to middle school and up, but also to adults, especially teachers. There is a teacher that steps up to help Felix, too! 

           Anne Ursu has set up a book for tweens about survival, a theme that her earlier novels shared. This time it's fifth-grade twins who are going to be in different classrooms for the first time. While that's going to be hard, this time there's also an underlying tone of creepiness, first read when the third-person narrator adds one personal line: "And so I followed." This happens after a strange encounter at a new local antique store with the proprietor. It is a bit unnerving and Lark and Iris, the twins, laugh, albeit nervously. As Ursu writes so beautifully, it follows that she writes that laugh "seemed to release something into the air, like a flock of birds bursting up from the ground and filling the sky." We begin even then to wonder who is this narrator and wander into the story of the new challenge for Lark and Iris.
            Iris has taken on the role of taking care of Lark since Lark was very ill when they were four. She's become her protector and the tangle of this responsibility becomes more complex as mysteries appear. There are other new ideas that both girls not only will have different classes but go to different after-school activities. In between their alarmed feelings and challenges in interactions with other kids, art thefts happen in the city, crows become close to Lark, things keep going missing, and Iris learns her after-school group knows things she had never considered before, especially about fairy tales. The relationship between the girls is like no other. They are twins, after all. One time they are nestled in bed together, Iris making up with Lark for a late arrival home.  Their closeness shown by Ursu might be envied: "And here, again, was a place where time did not seem to matter, a pocket in the world to crawl into." 
         Seemingly much and then not much happened in nearly the first half of the book. I felt as if the real stuff might never arrive. But then the monster appeared and the ending came in quite a rush. The underlying message could connect to females banding together. I am not sure about this being for younger mid-grade readers. I loved Ursu's writing, but must admit it was not my favorite of her books.

       Don't miss reading this wordless adventure. There is a surprise and it's wonderful! I adored the illustrations!

             It's hard to read this story and yet then I feel guilty because I feel I'm stealing those feelings, will not ever have this kind of experience of saying goodbye unless one counts the passing of a family member. Through the week, a young slave girl in a family relates her day, same thing every day, until it isn't. "Monday, "The bell rings, and no sun in the sky. Daddy gathers wood. Mama cooks. We eat." James Ransome's illustration shows a family, though slaves, enjoying their meal before the fireplace. I imagine they're happy even with their hard days. The tension tightens as the days go by, and the older brother, Ben, does not return on Thursday after "the bell rings". The feelings that they may never know if Ben will fly free, make it through the woods are shown with quiet sorrow. They cry and pray, they don't speak, they hope. The briefest of text is all that's needed. The faces in the illustrations show this event that surely occurred many times during slavery, another sadness made very real.



          I checked this book out because my younger granddaughter loves insects, especially spiders. And we loved reading (mostly looking at) it together. Isabelle Simler, author and illustrator, has allowed the spider to create its own masterpiece. With poetic text, it travels from wonder to wonder doing art, sometimes camouflage. On one page, with catkins and seeds, it hangs while drawing in its legs, hiding in plain sight! There are pages of seeds and sticks, beetles and flying insects, flies and thorns. The illustrations are extraordinary in their details. It is a fabulous book.

        Celebrating a different look at this phrase is a black girl in all her activities.  She holds hands up for a hug, hands up in class, hands up for a high five--before culminating in a moment of resistance at a protest march. It is a young black girl who lifts her baby hands up to greet the sun, reaches her hands up for a glass of juice, and her hands up for help after a bike accident. In ballet and in basketball--"Hands up!" and raises her hands up in praise at a church service. Shane W. Evans knows how to show the joy on every page. On one, even the cat leaping, yes, has hands (paws) up! And, it's wonderful as we readers see her growing up, living through daily moments of joy, love, and sadness. 

       I adore Sergio Ruzzier's wit, just perfect for young readers, maybe for all of us to sit back and enjoy a brief story, a happy one. This is about a boy and his dog, he writes, or about a dog and his boy! From simple tasks to complex adventures, it's terrific, with details to discover! I think I like the "pedal" page best. Now you have to find the book so you can see it, too!

Now Reading: a book I saw recommended at my local Indie, a YA survival book - I Am Still Alive by Kate Alice Marshall. Next: Blood, Water, Paint by Joy McCullough on my #MustRead list.