Tag: Elementary Fiction

The Year the Swallows Came Early

by Kathryn Fitzmaurice
(2009)

Sadly, this lovely little book was left languishing on my bookshelf all year.  I finally pulled it off, finished it and now can return it back to my school library shelf.  Next year I’ll be able to talk many students into reading this book. 

Eleanor “Groovy” Robinson is a precocious, eleven-year-old girl living near a California beach.  She loves to cook, keeps a journal of her cooking ideas and recipes and her best friend is a boy, Frankie.  The description from the very first page is striking: 

“We lived in a perfect stucco house, just off the sparkly Pacific, with a lime tree in the backyard and pink and yellow roses gone wild around a picket fence.”

     There is chaos among this “perfect” setting, of course, and  Groovy’s dad is soon picked up by the local police officer as they are walking out of a shop.  The rest of the story unfolds as Groovy comes to accept the reasons behind her father’s arrest, her anger and eventually her understanding and forgiveness.  Weaved throughout are Groovy’s dreams to go to cooking school and her great-grandmother, Eleanor’s gift, which has something to do with everything. 

     There are many things to love about this story including her mother’s faith in the daily horoscopes and that a good makeover can change everything.  Frankie’s story has a touch of crisis as well and it is interesting to watch the friends help and hold back; counting on each other to know the right thing to do.  The characters are very well done and the setting does seem so picture perfect. 

My favorite quote introduces Groovy’s great-grandmother:

You see, your great-grandmother was very smart.  She had so many books stacked up along the walls of her apartment that it was hard to walk without accidententally kicking over a pile of them.  Some of the piles were as high as my head.  She always said that good writers are even better readers, and she was a great reader.  She probably liked reading better than talking to most people. (81)

This wonderful character description could describe me or my friends!!

And my second favorite quote reminds me of my own childhood in a small town:

Here’s the good thing about living in a small town: You get to know most everyone.  Here’s the bad thing about living in a small town: You get to know most everyone. (154)

I know many students who will enjoy this book and its connection to family and dealing with a family  member’s arrest and jail time.

Highly Recommended for elementary-middle grades
5/5 peaceful stars

Stroll over to April’s Cafe of Dreams and find all kinds of great stories about author Kathryn Fitzmaurice.
At books are my thing, Tina says this about The Year the Swallows Came Early!
Click for the author’s website.

Peaceful Reading…

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!
 Just do the following:
1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a random page
3. Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
4. Do not include any spoilers-don’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!
5. Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
Here’s mine:

As soon as I got close to Alvin’s field, I strained my ears for Mystery Boy’s violin.  All I heard was a distant lawn mower.  Even so, I could feel my spirits lifting.  p. 71 The Homeschool Liberation League by Lucy Frank.
I’m about half way through this book and am hoping Katya calms down a little.  I’m anxious to see the relationship between Milo (Mystery Boy) and Katya. 
What words are teasing you this week?
Peaceful Reading…

Any Which Wall

by Laurel Snyder

(2009)

This book is a real treasure.  I received it in my last order from Titlewave and the synopsis appealed to me so much I took it home to read it even before Rebecca Stead’s When You Reach Me, which was the one I had been anxious to read.  I still look forward to reading the Newberry winner but Any Which Wall was so well-written I’m glad I took a chance on it!

Snyopsis:
If you had a magic wall
that could take you to any place
and any time, where would you go?
Would you want to visit castles
and desert islands?
Would you want to meet  famous wizards,
terrible pirates,  beautiful queens, and dastardly outlaws?
If so, then you  are just like Henry and Emma 
and Roy and Susan-and you will probably
 like this story a lot.
In fact, you might even wish
something similar would happen to you!
(inside front cover)
The adventure is fun, the characters are believable and the illustrations by Leuyen Pham are reminiscent of Ramona in their adorable simplicity.  It’s Snyder’s writing that really drew me in though. 
A sampling:
At first, when her mother announded that she’d be spending the summer watching Henry, Emma, and Roy, Susan complained loudly and bitterly, but when she realized that her new best friend, Alexandria, was going to be spending July and August in Chicago, Susan became instantly less miserable at the prospect of babysitting.  She didn’t have much else to do, so she dug her bike out from under a pile of garden hose in the garage and dusted it off. (p. 9)
It’s one long, interesting sentence!! The four neighborhood kids bike one night through a cornfield (in Iowa, naturally) and discover this wall right in the middle of the field.  Each time they visit the wall they learn new things about it’s ability to transport them.  It’s magical, really!  I enjoyed how Snyder, often very subtly, talks to the reader.  I enjoyed how smoothly her writing flows over me.  I loved reading this book and, after exploring her website, need to seek out other books by Snyder! 

Snyder’s blog

Highly Recommended-Elementary Fiction
5/5 peaceful stars
Read this book!!
Peaceful Reading…

Operation Yes

(2009)

     I picked this gem up from our fall Scholastic Book Fair and let it sit on a pile forever at home.  Spring Break rolled around and I thought to myself…perhaps I should read it before the next book fair is here.  Well, our book fair is here and I’ve finished the book.  I don’t know why it takes me so long sometimes because this book was so much fun and easy to read.  It takes place at a military base school.  This isn’t a topic I’ve given a lot of thought to but it makes you stop and ponder the stress level military kids must go through on a daily basis.  Parents missing for long stretches, moving frequently and constant activitity on the base and this book deals with all these issues in a very normal manner.  Planes fly overhead as kids plan activities around their parents hectic schedules-all part of daily life.

     Add in one incredible teacher though and life goes topsy-turvy. Ms. Loupe is an alumni of this particular base and has come back to teach instead of taking her place in the military as the rest of her entire family has done.  She’s found her passion though as these kids love her and her magical lessons.  I started reading some of it to my sweet husband and his ears perked up “hey, she’s teaching them the important points of improvisation!”  He was pretty excited.  Then later he gave it as a suggestion for teachers to use in teaching drama.  Ms. Loupe is all about the drama and she gets this otherwise bored kids to be exciting about school and learning again.  Suddenly kids don’t want to be transferred out! 

     When Ms. Loupe’s brother disappears in combat the students learn to work together, forming a createve and unique protest, with very positive results! 

Now that I have my book fair set up I’ve already found a few more gems like this one to add to my piles!

4/5 peaceful stars
Recommended for elementary fiction
and all drama teachers
Peaceful Reading…

An Unfinished Angel

Sharon Creech
(2009)
Synopsis:  In the ancient stone tower of the Casa Rosa, in a tiny village high in the Swiss Alps, life for one angel has been the same, well, for as long as she (or he?) can remember.  Until Zola arrives, a determined American girl who wears three different skirts all at once.  For neighbors who have been longtime enemies, children who have been lost, and villagers who have been sleepily living their lives: hold on.  Zola and the angel are about to collide.  Figs start flying, dogs start arfing, and the whole village begins to WAKE UP.  Zola is a girl with a mission.  And our angel has been without one- till now. (from jacket flap) 
My thoughts:  It took about a chapter to let yourself get into the mind of the angel as she is the narrator and talks in an unusual speech pattern but the tale is wonderful.  Through Zola, the angel learns of a band of children, all living in an abandoned shack.  Zola’s constant refrain of “you have to do something” is one to be reiterated over and over in our own lives.  Slowly the village wakes up long enough to see the common good.  Like Anything but Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin this book would make a great read-aloud for elementary students to show empathy.  How can we each help the world, whether in our own neighborhood or on a larger scale to DO SOMETHING!  Creech demonstrates how, within each one of us, lives an unfinished angel that bears listening to.
A quote:
“Angel!” Zola says.  “We’ve got to get busy!”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“Are we telling anyone about the children? And then what? What if someone takes them away to an orphanage? That’s where they were, Paolo says. A bad orphanage.  But not in this country.  And then they lived in ditches.  Ditches! What’s the plan?
“Plan?” She is expecting me to have a plan?
“What’s next?”
“Next?”
“Angel! Are you having a hearing problem?”
And she goes on, “When should…” and “What time will…” and myself is woozy sleepy and I want to go lie down  in the pasture of the goats.  p. 86
The angel and Zola are enduring characters and I easily related to both sides (what is the plan?) and the pastoral setting of the Swiss Alps are lovely.  I could easily list quote after quote because once you get adjusted to angel-speak:
First, I tell you that I am in peace with the birdies and the froggies and the toads and the kittens and the puppies and the lizards, all of those creatures, just like I am in peace with the mountains and the trees and the flowers, but let’s not get too mushy.  I tell you that so you know that I am not like the peoples who hate everything and complain all day short or long.  Those peoples are sad.  p. 39
You can’t help but love this exquisitely crafted tale of getting out of our own comfort zone!
5/5 peaceful stars
Highly Recommended for all living beasts
Peaceful Reading…

Anything but Typical

Nora Raleigh Baskin
(2009)

This little book is not an easy, lyrically-written bit of prose, but in this case, that doesn’t mean it isn’t good. 
Jason Blake is an autistic 12-year-old living in a neurotypical world.  Through Jason’s narration experiences are relayed, both past and present, giving a very real look at how difficult it is to be “different” in our world. 

This is a perfect quote to understand a day in Jason’s life:

     School doesn’t always go very well.  It is pretty much a matter of time before the first thing of the day will go wrong. 
     But today I’ve gotten far.  It is already third period.  Mrs. Hawthorne is absent and so we are going to the library instead of art class.  This is a good sign.  You’d think art class would be one of the easiest classes, but it’s not.  I mean, it’s not that it’s hard like math, but it’s hard like PE.  A lot of space and time that is not organized.
     Anything can go wrong in that kind of space.
     But  not in the library.  There are computers in the library.  And books. And computers. Keyboards and screens and desks that are built inside little compartments so you don’t have to look at the person sitting next to you.  And they can’t look at me.
     When we get into the library, somebody is already sitting in my seat, at my computer.  At the one I want.  Now I can’t breathe.  I want to log on to my Storyboard website.  I was thinking about it all the way here.  I have already had to wait so long.  I don’t know.  (p. 3-4)

His discomfort is palpable, his anxiety rising as the librarian tries to direct him to another computer, which does not work.  Eventually the young girl using the computer is talked into giving up the computer but only after she has made Jason feel horrible.  It continues:

     I feel off balance, like I am going to fall.  I need to shift my weight back and forth, back and forth, rock to stabilize myself.  I can feel my chance to use my computer getting further and further away from me.  There isn’t even enough time left in the period.  I might not get to log on at all, even if this girl does get up.  A hundred little pieces threaten to come apart. (p. 8)

Lucky for Jason his parents are supportive and understanding and he has one friend, Aaron, who is nice to him at school.  I loved this book because it gave me true insight into what it is like for an autistic child to live in for one moment, one day, every day, weeks rolling into months and years and the answer is its not easy.  I put this on my last order for the year, switching out a Babymouse, to purchase this one instead because I believe it will make a great read aloud for 3-5 grade students to hear and open up to the idea that, while Jason is different, many of his feelings are ones they have as well.
Another great review here at Abby (the) Librarian. and another from Tina at Books are my thing.  Nora Baskin’s site-click here.  I will definetely look for more from this author.

5/5 peaceful stars
Recommended for elementary / middle grade fiction
Peaceful Reading…

Ruby Lu; Empress of Everything

(2006)

     Peaceful Girl and I read this together and we love Ruby Lu.  If you haven’t yet met Ruby Lu, think Ramona with an Asian-American background.  Ruby Lu; Brave and True is the first in the series and I really hope there will be more (ahemm,  Lenore Look, are you listening) because they are so much fun to read.  In this adventure several important events  occur.  Ruby Lu’s cousin, Flying Duck emigrates from China and stays with Ruby Lu’s family.  Everyone speaks Chinese now at home and Ruby Lu has to share her room.  Because Ruby Lu spends time helping her cousin in school, Ruby Lu falls behind and the two have to spend part of the summer in (dreaded) summer school!!  The two take an eye test together(Ruby Lu hopes to fail so she can get glasses) and because Flying Duck is deaf, Ruby Lu learns (and we do too) some sign language. Ruby Lu makes a list of things she wants to accomplish over the summer and crosses them off as she goes-as a fellow list maker I loved her little notes.

   This is one of those easy-to-read chapter books meant to bridge the gap between easy readers and more difficult chapter books. The Ivy and Bean series by Annie Barrows fits nicely into this category as does Jeremy Bean.  I think this is a fast growing market and I’m glad-we are having a great time reading them at home.  Peaceful Girl is reading another one to me, Mimmy and Sophie; all around the town by
Miriam Cohen. 
5/5 peaceful stars, highly recommended for elementary fiction
Mitali Perkins talks about Ruby Lu right here.
Peaceful Reading…

I miss picture books!!

My little peaceful girl has moved herself away from reading picture books and into early chapter books.  As a parent I’m happy her reading goals have expanded but sad that our nightly reading ritual does not include a pile of picture books!!
We did just finish this great little chapter book, Ava Tree and the Wishes Three by Jeanne Betancourt, illustrated by Angela Dominguez.  Ava lives with her older brother, Jack and a pet rabbit, Tibbar.  As per Annie or Oliver Twist, Ava’s parents have died and she is left with just Jack.  Jack is old enough to act as Ava’s parent and he loves the alphabet (“Happy B-day, A,” Jack said)!  The language in the book made it such an entertaining read-aloud!

In the first section Ava and Jack are preparing for Ava’s Backward, Upside-Down, Inside-Out Birthday Party. While cleaning up, Ava makes a wish about her rabbit and it comes true, then she makes a second wish about her best friend,  Priscilla Purhfect. Young readers will love dreaming up their three wishes!  All my little one could think about was what she would wish for…oh, if only she could tap her foot just the same way as Ava!! 
We nabbed this book off our public library shelf and I’ve now ordered it for my school library as well.  My wish would be for more Ava Tree books, if your listening J.B. and A.D.

Highly Recommend-Elementary Fiction
4/5 peaceful stars
Peaceful Reading…

11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass

11 Years Ago-Willow Falls Birthing Center

The oddest thing about Angelina D’Angelo was that no one could remember a time when she didn’t live in Willow Falls.  The oldest man in town, Bucky Whitehead, swears Angelina was an old lady when HE was a boy.  But when questioned, Angelina just smiled.  The person asking would get so distracted by watching the duck-shaped birthmark wiggle on her cheek, they would forget their question altogether. 

Rereading that first paragraph  made me rethink how we meet these two odd and interesting characters over again.  This is a fun story which begins with a mysterious encounter between Angelina and two sets of parents at the Willow Falls Birthing Center.  Two babies, Leo and Amanda, born on the same day fall under an enchantment given to their great-great grandfathers, bickering men, who owned adjoining apple orchards.  Amanda and Leo have celebrated every birthday together since the very first and have a comfortable and close relationship until Amanda overhears Leo say mean things at their 10th birthday.  Amanda storms out and the two do not speak for a year. 

Interesting that I should finish this book today because what happens to Amanda and Leo is they keep reliving their 11th birthday until they get it right…12 days later.  This little twist will delight students and create all kinds of great classroom conversation if used as a read-aloud.   They are witness to how their actions affect many around them and learn slowly how to patch it back together as well as how important it is to stay true to yourself.  I loved it when Amanda decides to head to band try-outs instead of the gymnastics audition she keeps flubbing. Of course, it reminded me of the great and wonderful, Groundhog Day, starring Bill Murray-where he is forced to relive this day over and over!!
This is a very easy read, great for the intended audience and should lend itself to easy discussion. 

Highly Recommended
Elementary Fiction
4/5 peaceful stars
***Sadly, I had this book in my book bag and somehow on the way home from work, in the back seat of my car, my water bottle leaked its remaining 1/3 all over four books, including this one.  While I made dinner for my children this evening I used the microwave to slowly eek the water out of the pages and the cover…it is not back to normal but it isn’t fat and crinkly either!!!   
Minor damp spot in an otherwise beautiful Feb. 2nd!
Happy Reading…
This one has been on my mental to-read list, since I found out Mass will be coming here to speak with students for our annual Cedar Valley Youth Reads.
Peaceful Reading…

Running Out of Time by Margaret Peterson Haddix

After enjoying Haddix’s new Missing series I was determined to read more of her collection.  The Shadow Children was a great series but after that I didn’t pick up anything else this prolific writer had written. 

Running Out Of Time (1995) is  her first book and proved to me Haddix’s early ability to craft other worlds.  In this instance, the “other” world is Clifton, Indiana, a historical village set in 1840 as a tourist attraction, except the children living there don’t know their being watched.  The parents do as they signed up just because they liked the idea of living in a simplier time.   What they didn’t sign up for is being lab rats in a large research experiment. 

When Jessie’s mother realizes too many children have diptheria within the village she has to trust her middle daughter with the secret of the century.  Jessie learns from her mother, a nurse at one time, that the year is not 1840 but 1996 and her  mother expects her to travel outside the confines of the village, through an underground tunnel system, past guards who may kill her to find one man who might be able to save the sick children.   Jessie’s journey, her confusion and delight of the world we take for granted is exciting to read.  If you are a fan of Margaret Peterson Haddix or haven’t discovered her yet then begin your journey with this book.  Personally, I’m not a fan of reality tv but this book reminded me of that general idea-being watched in your world.  I’m amazed how she created this concept before reality television became such a hit!  Click here for Haddix’s website.
Reading this book means I have now read 2 books for Reading from my own shelves challenge.  (cheer from massive crowd…)
I look forward to reading other Haddix books, filling in the years between her two major series titles.
Click here for my thoughts on Haddix’s Found and Sent.
P.S. Since this is from Reading from my shelves challenge hosted by Diane @ Bibliophile by the Sea I must tell you how I passed this book on…happily, I put it back in my school library shelves.  I plan to book talk it to 4th and 5th grade students next week!  Yeah, it is off my shelf!!!

Happy Reading!!

Peaceful Reading…