A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban

Category: Juvenile Fiction

Published: 2007, 224 pgs.

Review: 5/5

What a charming, sweet book! I picked it up this morning just to read a little something before I started on other pressing matters and before I knew it I was completely drawn in by this funny, sweet 10 year old girl. I couldn't put this book down. I loved getting to know Zoe Elias and her family and friends. Linda Urban has perfectly captured the voice of a young girl with dreams and frustrations. I love the way Zoe deals with life and I'm so excited to give this to my 10 year old daughter to read.

Rating 1.1.1 A "perfect"ly clean read!

Savvy by Ingrid Law

Category: Juvenile fiction, Newbery Honor

Published: May 2008, 342 pgs.

Review: 4/5 stars

Savvy by Ingrid Law is a sweet book about a girl and her journey to discover her own special gifts. I enjoyed this book but I'm afraid it didn't quite live up to the hype that I had read about it. It has a good message with a lot of interesting and likable characters and the story is original. I'm not sure what was missing for me but I still recommend reading it. I think I was expecting a 5 star book and for me it just didn't quite make it there.

Rating: 1.1.1 It's been a while since I read it but I don't think there was anything at all offensive in this book. My 9 year-old daughter really liked it.

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

Rating: 1.2.2

Recommended audience: Pre-teen and up

Category: Juvenile, Newbery, Realistic fiction

Rating: 4.5/5

I really enjoyed this Newbery Honor book. This is the story of 13 year old, Brian, who gets stranded in the Canadian wilderness. He fortunately has a hatchet that his mother had given to him and it proves to be crucial to his survival. I loved the way he learned through experience what he needed to do to survive, but I loved even more the progression of his emotional and mental survival tactics. My 3rd grader's teacher read this book to her class and I get the impression from my daughter that it kept them on the edge of their seats. I can believe it. Great book! Highly recommended.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

Content Rating: 1.1.1

Recommended audience: 8 to adult

Category: Historical, juvenile or YA fiction

Review: 4.5/5

I don't want to tell too much about this book because it unfolds so beautifully as you read it. I will say that it is the story of an orphan boy, an amazing machine, and secrets. This is a hefty book but it is filled with illustrations and actual photographs that bring the story to life. It is a quick, easy read that I think would be fun to read with children but is also very entertaining for adults. It's unlike any book that I've read before and I really enjoyed both the visual aspect as well as the story. Highly recommended.

Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis

Rating: 1.3.2

Recommended audience: 10 years and up

Category: Historical fiction, juvenile, YA

Review: 5/5

Sometimes I think I rate all of my books too high but I can't help it that I love so many of them! This is another that I really enjoyed. Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis won a Newbery Honor Medal and the Coretta Scott King Award and it is well deserving of both awards. I listened to this one on cd's and it was a delight. The reader was amazing and I thoroughly enjoyed it. In this story, Elijah is 11 years old and was the first free-born child born in the settlement of Buxton in Canada. The book first starts out introducing us to this interesting, funny, and insightful boy as he talks about his life in Buxton. We get to know his family, friends, and community through the first part of the book and then in the second part, the story takes off. I laughed and I cried while listening to this wonderful book. It is written in just the way a boy of 11 living in Buxton in 1857 would talk. There are lots of "ain'ts" and other examples of poor grammar and just a different dialect. It takes a little getting used to but I think it adds to the charm of the book. This is another one that I highly recommend.

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

Rating: 1.1.1

Recommende audience: 8 and up

Category: Juvenile Fiction, Fantasy, YA Fiction

Review: 4/5 stars

I listened to the audio version of this book and I kind of wish that I hadn't. The narrator read in a little girl voice that distracted me. I'm sure it was intended to be listened to by children and the voice may have been appealing to children, but it wasn't to me. That being said, I thought it was a good book with a wonderful story. As I had been told, it is quite a bit different than the movie and I enjoyed both as separate, though similar stories. In the story, Ella is given a "gift" as a newborn by the completely clueless fairy, Lucinda. Lucinda gives her the gift of obedience so whatever Ella is told to do, she must obey. This turns out to be a curse rather than a gift as evidenced by the many difficult situations Ella finds herself in. Despite this curse and maybe because of it, Ella is a strong-willed, independent character who just wants to be able to do what she wants to do, instead of others dictating to her. I recommend this Newbery Honor book but I would suggest reading it rather than listening to it.

Rules by Cynthia Lord

Rating: 1.1.1

Recommended audience: 8 and up

Category: Juvenile, YA fiction

Review: 4.5/5

This is a wonderful book about 12 year-old Catherine who struggles to live a "normal" life with an autistic brother, 8 year-old David. Catherine is a protective big sister who loves her brother but also feels frustrated that their family seems to revolve around David and his needs. I really enjoyed this book but it did hit a little close to home. My two-year-old son does not have autism but is developmentally delayed and sees a speech therapist and occupational therapist like those talked about in the book. The sign language and the picture cards that are mentioned in the book are very familiar to me. I found myself getting a little depressed when the struggles of this family became very difficult, and I envisioned us in a similar position someday. I don't think we actually will have the same struggles but I did identify with them to some degree, so Rules was a little hard to read at times. Even so, I highly recommend this Newbery Honor book. My 8 year-old daughter read it before I got a chance to read it, and she really liked it too.

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt

Rating: 1.1.2

Recommended audience: 10 to adult

Category: YA or juvenile fiction, historical

Review:

I am falling in love with this author. After reading The Wednesday Wars I knew I had to read some more by Gary Schmidt. The cover of this book did not entice me very much and even though it had won a Newbery Honor (as had The Wednesday Wars) it did take me a long time to finally dig in and read it. I was richly rewarded for my efforts. This book is based on true events which took place in Maine in 1911. The small island of Malaga was home to about 50 people, mostly black, who lived in very poor conditions. The people of Phippsburg felt that the little homes and shacks on the island were an eyesore and were hurting Phippsburg's prospects for a thriving tourism business. They wanted the people of Malaga Island evicted. This book tells that story through the eyes of Lizzie Bright and Turner Buckminster (fictional characters), a black girl and white boy who become friends. Both funny and heartbreaking, I think this book could be a good book club selection because of its many themes including racism, religion, friendship, and family relationships.

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry

Rating: 2.2.1 (PG)
Recommended audience: 10+
Category: Fantasy, juvenile and YA fiction
Review:


This book is set in the same time period as Lowry's The Giver but in a different part of the land. It is the story of Kira who is the only crippled person in the whole village, because usually when a baby is born with a defect, it is taken to "the Field" and left for dead. The village is very primitive and the people just barely eke out a living; everyone is required to work every day but most people live in poverty. Kira was saved from being left in the "Field" because her mother fought to keep her and Kira's grandfather was on the Council of Guardians and had great influence. Now Kira's mother is dead and she is threatened again to be taken to the "Field". She is saved however because of a special gift that she has. I really like the way Lowry writes. In this book and The Giver I could feel that something is not quite right and she slowly gives more information so it keeps me turning the pages. The characters are interesting and so is this society that lives in the distant future.

This is a stand alone book. Though it is connected to The Giver it is not necessary to read The Giver first.