Jinx by Sage Blackwood

Jinx by Sage Blackwood, 2013.

In Blackwood's engrossing fantasy, orphan Jinx has grown up near the forest Urwald, a place filled with trolls, werewolves and witches. When his cruel stepfather intends to abandon him in the woods, Jinx is purchased and sheltered by a potentially dangerous wizard, Simon Magus. At first Jinx is merely a well-fed servant, encountering Simon's 27 cats, his witch cronies and his kind but often absent wife, Sophie. Then Simon teaches him to read and begins to give him magic lessons. By the time he is eleven, he has taught himself many languages, can  read people’s feelings by seeing the colors of their thoughts and knows how to understand the talk of trees. He has a decent relationship with the impatient, difficult Simon. He does not believe that Simon is evil, but then the wizard takes Jinx’s magic. Without his ability and believing himself cursed, Jinx sets off on a quest to get his magic back, hoping for help from the amoral witch Dame Glammer. As it happens, he will have much worse people to worry about than Simon. He will meet a different wizard, a powerful one called the Bonemaster. Then he will need the help of two new friends, Elfwyn and Reven, and maybe the aid of an old friend to escape, because the Bonemaster's intentions are clearly wicked and Jinx may be in over his head.

This was my choice for my last book for Camp Read-a-Lot, and a greatly enjoyable book it is. Simon breaks the stereotype of the kindly white-bearded wizard mentor who is married to the craft. Jinx is likable, spunky and rebellious, and his friends are resourceful and interesting, carrying curses of their own. Fans like I am will be pleased to know that Blackwood's second book, Jinx's Magic will be released in January of 2014.

Same Sun Here

Same Sun Here by Silas House & Neela Vaswani, 2012.

This is the story of two best friends who have never met. Meena and River get to know each other through an old fashioned snail mail pen pal program through their schools. They decide to always be their true selves with each other, and in the 10 months of shared letters before they meet, they help each other through tragedy and celebrate their small and grand triumphs. They fight and make up and share books and songs that they love, as well as feelings that they won't tell anyone else.

Meena is an immigrant girl from India who lives in Chinatown in New York with her parents and sassy older brother. She enjoys city life but misses her grandmother, Dadi, in Mussoorie and has worries that she and her family will be denied U.S, citizenship or may lose their home in a neighbor's rent controlled apartment. River lives in Appalachian Kentucky with his activist grandmother, Mamaw, and his sick mother and coal miner father. He loves the beautiful eastern Kentucky country and playing basketball with his friends, but also has worries when the government begins mining his hometown through mountaintop removal, which destroys the natural world and proves dangerous to the people living there. Despite their obvious differences, Meena and River find that they both love and admire their grandmothers, have fathers who must be absent a lot due to work, and love dogs. Significantly, each young teen also has a passion for justice.

The authors House and Vaswani have created strong and memorable, admirable characters in Meena and River. Meena is intelligent, feisty and straightforward. River is loyal, brave and goodhearted. Although at times I felt that they were a bit wise beyond their years, I think that kids will be able to relate to them and will enjoy how they bond and encourage each other to grow. In Meena and River's stories, they will see the way immigrants and the financially poor can be disregarded and endangered by greedy and careless people. Readers will also receive a strong social message about standing up for what they believe is right. So, please pick up the book and meet River and Meena!

The Case of the Deadly Desperados by Caroline Lawrence

The Case of the Deadly Desperados by Caroline Lawrence, 2011.

This fun western mystery set in 1862 has more to it than you might expect! For starters, there is an exciting story. P. K. Pinkerton  is the child of a Native American mom and railroad detective dad, both deceased. Unfortunately, on his 12th birthday, this pattern continues when Pinky arrives home to find his loving foster father and mother murdered and dying. From his mother's final words, he learns that the killers are after something in his medicine bag. He has become the target of the dangerous Whittlin' Walt and his gang.

 To get as far away from these crazy villains as possible, Pinky hops a stage to Virginia City, where he learns that the piece of paper in his bag may in fact be a letter claiming a stake in this mining town. In the unfamiliar city, he makes the acquaintance of a number of local characters, including the Soiled Dove Belle Donne, young Chinese launderer Ping, reporter Sam Clemens (yes, that Samuel Clemens) and gambler Poker Face Jace, among others. Who is friend or foe? What will happen to Pinky in a place that his preacher foster dad described as "the vilest place on earth, even worse than San Francisco"?

Pinky is a fascinating character, for many reasons. Clearly, this heroic child has behavior that fits the autism spectrum, although of course because of time period and setting this is never explicitly stated. Pinky himself is aware that he is not like everyone else, and refers to his more negative differences as "my Thorn." He can't identify emotions in other people and he can't read their faces. He cannot necessarily recognize someone he has met before if they make changes, not even his own foster mom, Ma Evangeline, when she is in a new bonnet. To help him, Ma Evangeline teaches him five expressions to watch for and what they mean.He is also non-expressive himself and dislikes being touched. Because Pinky is inscrutable, and because he is also very smart, with a photographic memory and genius for math, he is attractive to gambler Poker Face Jace, who uses Pinky's talents for his own ends and continues his education in reading people.

Another interesting aspect of  The Case of the Deadly Desperados, is that the author raises doubt about Pinky's gender. I have used male  pronouns when referring to Pinky, and so does Lawrence, but in the story she points out that if Pinky was female, she'd certainly be safer in Virginia City by passing as a boy. Pinky certainly takes up disguises to make his way in the mining town.  Early in the book, Walt's gang members quibble over the Pinky's name, each claiming that it could belong to either gender. And at a crucial point in the plot, Pinky himself throws his gender into question in order to protect himself. Although he is never revealed to be female, Lawrence makes her readers reconsider Pinky's character and circumstances very cleverly.

The second (P.K. Pinkerton and the Petrified Man) book in the Western Mysteries series is out, and third (P. K. Pinkerton and the Pistol-Packing Widows) is expected in March 2014  and you can bet that I'll be reading them. I  strongly suggest that you or someone you love should also give them a try!

Small Pets Storytime

Small Pets Storytime Book Possibilities:

• Swim! Swim! by Lerch (James Proimos)
• Princess Penelope's Parrot by Helen Lester, Illus.by Lynn Munsinger
• Happy Birthday Hamster by Cynthia Lord, Illus. by Derek Anderson
• John Willy and Freddy McGee by Holly Meade
• Chicken, Pig, Cow and the Class Pet by Ruth Ohi
• A Fish Out of Water by Helen Palmer, Illus. by P.D. Eastman
• Cinnamon's Day Out: a Gerbil Adventure by Susan L. Roth
• Guinea Pig Party by Holly Surplice

Songs and Rhymes:

Gertie the Goldfish

 

Gertie the Goldfish goes
smack, smack, smack
She looks at me and goes like
smack, smack, smack,
She doesn't laugh, doesn't sing
doesn't do anything
Just blows big kisses like this
Smack, smack, smack, smack

Head, Whiskers, Knees and Tail

Head, whiskers, knees and tail, knees and tail,
Head, whiskers, knees and tail, knees and tail,
And eyes and ears and mouth and nails,
Head, whiskers, knees and tail,
knees and tail!

I'm a Little Guinea Pig
(Tune of "I'm a Little Teapot")

I'm a little guinea pig, furry & sweet,
Here is my nose & here are my feet,
When I'm feeling hungry, greens are neat!
Wiggle your whiskers to the beat.

All the Fish

All the fish are swimming in the water,
swimming in the water,
swimming in the water,
All the fish are swimming in the water,
Bubble, bubble, bubble, bubble,
Pop!

Hamster in the Cage (tune of Wheels on the Bus)

 

The hamster on her wheel goes round and round

Round and round

Round and round

The hamster on her wheel goes round and round

All night long.

The hamster in the cage goes munch, munch, munch

Munch, munch, munch,

Munch, munch, munch

The hamster in the cage goes munch, munch, munch

All night long.

The hamster in the cage goes snore, snore, snore

Snore, snore, snore

Snore, snore, snore

The hamster in the cage goes snore, snore, snore

All day long.

Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage

Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage, 2012.

Out of all the good books on the Camp Read-a-Lot book list this year, this was the happiest surprise for me. I really liked this book, and I didn't expect to enjoy it so much. The eccentric characters are funny, the heroine feisty, the plot satisfying and the action exciting. Also, Sheila Turnage has a pleasing way with metaphor. For example, when Mo LoBeau describes her singing ability she says:"My voice is like a turkey gobble crammed in a corset, but nobody's told me to stop singing, and I ain't shy." Mo is an eleven year old living in small town North Carolina with her adoptive parents, the Colonel and Miss Lana. This unusual family arrangement began when baby Mo(ses) was found by the amnesiatic colonel, as she was floating down the river post-hurricane. Now, Mo hunts for her "Upstream Mother" by identifying everywhere that she is not, and by regularly launching message bottles for her to find.

In addition to "researching her autobiography", Mo helps the dramatic, wig-wearing Miss Lana and the lawyer-hating Colonel run a town cafe. One day a policeman shows up investigating an out of town murder, and things get much worse when one of the town's own, the cranky skinflint Mr. Jesse, is also found dead of unnatural causes. Mo and her best friend Dale turn detective and try to get things sorted, but they need all the help possible with upcoming disappearances, kidnapping and treachery. Fortunately, these townsfolk are resourceful, and the mystery unravels with help from everyone from Dale's dreamy race car driving older brother to Mo's arch enemy Anna (aka Attila) Celeste to Detective Starr, himself.

Three Times Lucky is on the reading list for 4th and 5th graders, but would be enjoyed by young people up to 8th grade, as well as middle -aged librarians.

Just Behave, Pablo Picasso!

Just Behave Pablo Picasso! by Jonah Winter. Illus. by Kevin Hawkes. 2012.

Although this picture book about Picasso is not nearly as detailed as Electric Ben , it provides a great introduction to the artist and his work. As a young man, painting came to him naturally, and although he was poor, he was satisfied making different styles of pictures according to his feelings. After he found a style that pleased the public, he became rich and famous. There was a price for this though, because everyone wanted him to continue to create his art in the exact same way. This bored Picasso! He found inspiration in African masks and wanted to paint in a new way. He did, and everyone hated the results. They were judged terrible and ugly and his critics, art dealers, fellow artists and even his wife, wanted him to return to his former methods. But, Picasso would not. He expressed his creativity as it came to him and modern art was born.

Some elements of the plot are expressed playfully, such as when Picasso answers his detractors by growing to the height of 100 feet and shouting them down and when all of Paris at once replies that he should behave himself. The book's art matches this playfulness. Hawkes' acrylic paintings provide a bold and dynamic depiction of Picasso and his world. He shows the artist literally floating above the Parisian streets admiring the African masks. Picasso's critics have faces similar to the very works that they are protesting. Additionally, twenty one of Picasso's paintings are shown within the context of the story. A complete list of titles and details are included afterward.

Electric Ben by Robert Byrd

Electric Ben: The Amazing Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin by Robert Byrd, 2012.

This Sibert Honor winning over sized biography may be only 30+ pages, but it packs in information about the hardworking Ben Franklin. He was quite an amazing man: a philanthropist, scientist, inventor, politician and diplomat. He began America's first lending library and started what would become the University of Pennsylvania. He invented streetlights, the lightning rod and bifocals, among other things. Franklin founded America's first hospital and created our original fire-fighting force. Yet, he considered himself first a printer. He published a popular newspaper and became a bestselling author with Poor Richard's Almanac.  The list of his achievements goes on and on. Because of his extreme importance in government events before, during and following the Revolutionary war, readers also get a snapshot of the struggle for independence. Byrd sums up Franklin thusly: "Of all his accomplishments and gifts,Franklin's greatest may have been his untiring effort as a mediator and guiding spirit in the development of the law-making process that governs the United States."

 After Franklin's story, Byrd tells about the challenge of writing about him and Byrd's own aim to give kids a feel for life in the 18th century as they meet this amazing citizen. Byrd also discusses his illustrations and the efforts that he made to be historically accurate. A timeline and bibliography are included.

This is a wonderfully well designed book, from the exciting cover to its endpapers covered with Ben Franklin's quotes. Every page is decorated with colorful watercolor art, nearly always creatively portraying a moment of action in Franklin's fascinating life. Panels of brief, interesting information are accompanied by pictures, some arranged similar to a comic strip.

Unnecessary aside:

My favorite quote of Franklin's many quotes is: "Everything puts me in mind of a story."