Old Favorite: Romeo and Juliet Together (and alive!) At Last

It’s the rare book that will make a variety of readers unexpectedly laugh out loud.  But when you do find one, it’s a book to treasure.  The Vicar of Nibbleswicke and The BFG always make me laugh, (especially the chapter called Frobscotters and Whizzpoppers in The BFG.  I challenge anyone to read that aloud without completely cracking up.)  Actually, most Roald Dahl books have a few LOL chapters!  There are moments with Beverly Cleary’s Ramona Quimby and Henry Huggins that make me chuckle, and Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and Fudge-a-Mania always make me grin foolishly.  But nothing has ever caught me off guard and made me laugh out loud (in my dentist’s office, no less!) than Romeo and Juliet Together (and alive!) At Last, by Avi.

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Peter Saltz likes Anabell Stackpoole. It’s a new thing (only two days old, in fact) but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s in love.  Ed Sitrow has been Peter’s best friend for forever, and when Peter confesses his love to Ed, Ed knows he has to do something to get them together.  The idea hits him in English class, where they’re studying Shakespeare.

Have Peter and Anabell act out the greatest love story of all time: Romeo and Juliet.

Ed gets together his friends Hays, Radosh and Lucy, then asks Priscilla Black to join them because she’s Anabell’s best friend. Hamilton, the kind of obnoxious kid every class has, overhears their “secret meeting” and manages to butt his way into the group.  Together, Ed and his friends decide that the best way to get Saltz and Stackpoole together is to put on a play of Romeo and Juliet, with Peter and Anabell in the starring roles. It will be a lot of work, but for Saltz, they’re willing to do it.  They figure they can get costumes, build some sets, write an abridged script and have enough after school rehearsals in to present a polished performance in, well…two weeks.  Their teachers seem a little doubtful that they can pull it off, but the kids know they can do it. Of course, they still have to talk Peter and Anabell into the lead roles.  And come up with the costumes.  And the script and sets.  And find time for rehearsals.

Easy, peasy!  Er…maybe?

Between sets that feature ice-covered log cabins, fight scenes between mortal (for middle school, anyway) enemies, wobbly balconies and extremely shy lead actors (who know they’ll have to, eventually, kiss) the production is soon underway.  Nobody quite knows what is going to happen, but it will definitely be THE most memorable production of Romeo and Juliet ever put on by an eighth grade class!

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Romeo and Juliet Together (and alive!) At Last is the sequel to S.O.R. Losers, which is also about Ed and Peter…and their not-so-winning soccer team.  You don’t need to read that book to enjoy this one, but  S.O.R. Losers is another Old Favorite  which is definitely worth reading.

I loved Romeo and Juliet Together (and alive!) At Last when I first read it (and laughed in the dentist’s office) and each and every time I’ve read it again since then.  Avi has the voice of his eighth-grade characters down pat, as well as their well-meant but bumbling efforts as matchmakers, playwrights, actors and stuntmen.  If you know Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, it adds an extra element of fun to the book, but it’s not necessary.  I guarantee you’ll laugh out loud at least one time, and probably throughout the whole performance of the play.

When I read this book, it made me wish that I had friends like Ed and Lucy and even Hamilton when I was in middle school.  Even if their efforts didn’t produce exactly the result they were intending, they certainly made an impression on everyone involved.

I often wish Avi had written a few more books featuring the kids at the S.O.R Middle School, but instead he went on to win several notable children’s literature prizes with other books instead, like Newbery Honors for The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle and Nothing But the Truth, as well as a Newbery Medal for Crispin: The Cross of Lead.  I guess he can’t be faulted for that!  Still, if he’d like to revisit Saltz, Sitrow, Stackpoole and the other kids of S.O.R. Middle School, I’d be cheering!

Romeo and Juliet Together (and alive!) At Last is a short book…only 123 pages. It features eighth graders, but the story is accessible to kids in fifth grade and up. And anyone who has ever loved Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet seriously owes it to themselves to read this book.

(and let me know if you laughed out loud too.)

::Kelly::

LOL!

Booklist: Museums!

With April Vacation week coming up, families are going to be looking for things to do!  If you’re still around, you should consider visiting one of our local museums.  Boston is one of the best places in the world for museum-hopping!  And get a good deal by borrowing one of the Weston Library’s Museum Passes…they offer discounted prices for visits.  Call the Reference and Information Desk for details.

If you do go to a museum, or if you just like visiting museums, try one of these books during vacation week.  Each of them features a museum as a key part of the plot!

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Dive into a story about
MUSEUMS

Allison, Jennifer. Gilda Joyce: the Dead Drop
When Gilda lands a summer internship at Washington, D.C.’s International Spy Museum, she finds herself embroiled in both a museum haunting and a real case of espionage. While investigating a cemetery where Abraham Lincoln’s son was once buried, Gilda stumbles upon a spy’s dead drop of classified information. Gilda’s efforts to decode the cryptic message lead to further intrigues: Is she on the trail of a mole operating inside the U.S. intelligence community? Aware that nothing is what it seems when it comes to spies in Washington, D.C., Gilda faces the most serious challenge yet in her career as a psychic spy.  Read the entire Gilda Joyce series!

Balliett, Blue. Chasing Vermeer
When a book of unexplainable occurrences brings Petra Andalee and Calder Pillay together, strange things start to happen. Seemingly unrelated events connect, an eccentric old woman seeks their company, and an invaluable Vermeer painting disappears. Before they know it, the two find themselves at the center of an international art scandal, where no one — neighbors, parents, teachers — is spared from suspicion. As Petra and Calder are drawn clue by clue into a mysterious labyrinth, they must draw on their powers of intuition, their problem-solving skills, and their knowledge of Vermeer. Can they decipher a crime that has left even the FBI baffled? If you enjoy this, check out the sequels The Wright 3 and The Calder Game.

Bosch, Pseudonymous. The Name of This Book is Secret
This is the story about a secret, but it also contains a secret story. When adventurous detectives Cass, an ever-vigilant survivalist, and Max-Ernest, a boy driven by logic, discover the Symphony of Smells, a box filled with smelly vials of colorful ingredients, they accidentally stumble upon a mystery surrounding a dead magician’s diary and the hunt for immortality. Filled with word games, anagrams, and featuring a mysterious narrator, this is a book that won’t stay secret for long. The first book in the Secret Series.

Broach, Elise. Masterpiece
Marvin lives with his family under the kitchen sink in the Pompadays’ apartment. He is very much a beetle. James Pompaday lives with his family in New York City. He is very much an eleven-year-old boy. After James gets a pen-and-ink set for his birthday, Marvin surprises him by creating an elaborate miniature drawing. James gets all the credit for the picture and before these unlikely friends know it they are caught up in a staged art heist at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that could help recover a famous drawing by Albrecht Dürer. But James can’t go through with the plan without Marvin’s help. And that’s where things get really complicated (and interesting!).

Estes, Eleanor. The Moffat Museum
There has never been a museum in Cranbury… until now. Among its treasures are the first bike each of the Moffat kids rode, stardust from a meteor that fell to earth, a beautiful painting made by Sylvie, and — most spectacularly — Rufus, the Waxworks Boy, who is as funny as he is waxy. The museum is so interesting that Mr. Pennypepper even brings tourists to visit. But the museum is really for Jane, Joey, and Rufus themselves, so they can remember all the good times they’ve had. Because life is changing for the Moffats. Yet even if Sylvie gets married, or Joey goes off to work, or Rufus grows up, one thing will never change: The Moffats are still the sort to hilariously fill even the most ordinary day with extraordinary fun.  Read the entire Moffat series!

Flavin, Teresa. The Blackhope Enigma
An ancient painting, a magical labyrinth, and skeletons found in a locked room… For centuries, Blackhope Tower has been shrouded in intrigue, centering on a labyrinth and painting in the Mariner’s Chamber. When Sunni Forrest visits the tower and sees her stepbrother, Dean, disappear, seemingly into the painting itself, she must find him and risk being drawn into the heart of the Blackhope enigma. This action-packed debut follows Dean, Sunni, and her friend Blaise on a journey to the heart of an age-old mystery. Check out the sequels The Crimson Shard and The Shadow Lantern.

Golds, Cassandra. The Museum of Mary Child
Heloise lives with her strict and forbidding godmother in an isolated cottage where the emphasis is on doing one’s duty and avoiding all things which could be considered a waste of time. Next door is a sinister museum dedicated to the memory of Mary Child. Visitors enter the museum with a smile, but depart with fear in their eyes. Heloise has never been in the museum. When she finds a mysterious doll, she’s forced to run away, ending up in an orphanage. But one day she must return to the house where the devastating secret of her past awaits.

Johnston, Tony. The Mummy’s Mother
A young mummy boy named Ramose is awakened one day by the sound of grave-robbers invading his home — the pharaoh’s tomb. They’ve stolen his mother (who’s also a mummy) and now it’s up to Ramose to find her. With the help of a cranky talking camel and some young American tourists, Ramose finds himself en route to New York City, home of an important museum and its famous collection of mummies.

Konigsburg, E. L. From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
When suburban Claudia Kincaid decides to run away, she chooses the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Knowing that her younger brother, Jamie, has money and thus can help her with the serious cash flow problem she invites him along. Once settled into the museum, Claudia and Jamie find themselves caught up in the mystery of an angel statue that the museum purchased at an auction for a bargain price of $250. The statue is possibly an early work of the Renaissance master Michelangelo, and therefore worth millions. Is it? Or isn’t it? Claudia is determined to find out. This quest leads Claudia to Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, the remarkable old woman who sold the statue, and to some equally remarkable discoveries about herself.

LaFevers, R. L. Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos
Theodosia Throckmorton has her hands full at the Museum of Legends and Antiquities in London. Her father may be head curator, but it is Theo, and only Theo, who is able to see all the black magic and ancient curses that still cling to the artifacts in the museum. When Theo’s mother returns from her latest archaeological dig bearing the Heart of Egypt, a legendary amulet belonging to an ancient tomb, Theo learns that it comes inscribed with a curse so black and vile that it threatens to crumble the British Empire from within and start a war too terrible to imagine. Intent on returning the malevolent artifact to its rightful place, Theo devises a daring plan to put things right. But even with the help of her younger brother, a wily street urchin, and the secret society known as the Brotherhood of the Chosen Keepers, it won’t be easy… The first in the Theodosia series.

Malone, Marianne. The Sixty-Eight Rooms
Almost everybody who has grown up in Chicago knows about the Thorne Rooms. Housed in the Children’s Galleries of the Chicago Art Institute, they are a collection of 68 exquisitely crafted miniature rooms made in the 1930s by Mrs. James Ward Thorne. Each of the 68 rooms is designed in the style of a different historic period, and every detail is perfect, from the knobs on the doors to the candles in the candlesticks. Some might even say, the rooms are magic. Imagine — what if you discovered a key that allowed you to shrink so that you were small enough to sneak inside and explore the rooms’ secrets? What if you discovered that others had done so before you? And that someone had left something important behind? Also read the other Sixty-Eight Room Adventures: Stealing Magic and The Pirate’s Coin.

Newsome, Richard. The Billionaire’s Curse
Gerald Wilkins never considered himself a particularly exceptional thirteen-year-old. But that was before he inherited twenty billion pounds, a Caribbean island, a yacht, and three estates from a great-aunt he never knew. With this fortune, however, comes a letter. One from his great-aunt Geraldine. One that tells Gerald that she was murdered, and that it’s up to him to find out why. Along with his friends Ruby and Sam, Gerald embarks on a journey that will lead him from the British Museum to dodgy social clubs for the disgustingly rich to mansions in the English countryside to secret places far underground. Who was Geraldine Archer? And what secrets was she hiding? Unless Gerald, Sam, and Ruby can find out before the killer does, they may be next.  The first book in The Archer Legacy trilogy.

Riordan, Rick. The Red Pyramid
Since their mother’s death, Carter and Sadie have become near strangers. While Sadie has lived with her grandparents in London, her brother has traveled the world with their father, the brilliant Egyptologist, Dr. Julius Kane. One night, Dr. Kane brings the siblings together for a “research experiment” at the British Museum, where he hopes to set things right for his family. Instead, he unleashes the Egyptian god Set, who banishes him to oblivion and forces the children to flee for their lives. Soon, Sadie and Carter discover that the gods of Egypt are waking, and the worst of them–Set–has his sights on the Kanes. To stop him, the siblings embark on a dangerous journey across the globe — a quest that brings them ever closer to the truth about their family, and their links to a secret order that has existed since the time of the pharaohs.  (I don’t even have to say this is the first in the Kane Chronicles, do I?)

Santopolo, Jill. The Niña, the Pinta, and the Vanishing Treasure
Alec Flint is practicing to be a super sleuth. He’s even got a pair of super sleuth pants with lots of pockets to hide his detective tools, and a sidekick Gina, who’s a little bit bossy, but a really great detective and friend. When his dad, a local police officer, tells Alec the Christopher Columbus exhibit has gone missing from the town museum, Alec is on the case!  You can read his second case too: The Ransom Note Blues.  And more adventures should be on the way!

Selznick, Brian. Wonderstruck
Ben and Rose secretly wish their lives were different. Ben longs for the father he has never known. Rose dreams of a mysterious actress whose life she chronicles in a scrapbook. When Ben discovers a puzzling clue in his mother’s room and Rose reads an enticing heading in the newspaper, both children set out alone on desperate quests to find what they are missing. Set fifty years apart, these independent stories — Ben’s told in words, Rose’s in picture — weave back and forth with mesmerizing symmetry. How they unfold and ultimately intertwine will surprise you, challenge you, and leave you breathless with wonder.

Stout, Shawn. Penelope Crumb Never Forgets
Penelope Crumb’s best friend Patsy Cline Roberta Watson is becoming best friends with another girl in class, so Penelope decides she needs to win her back.  Compliments and presents fail, and Penelope is afraid she’ll lose Patsy Cline forever, so she decides to swipe Patsy’s necklace and start a secret museum to remember all the people she cares about, in case they leave her too.  But stealing turns out not to be the best plan when Grandpa Felix calls the police about his missing camera, forcing Penelope to confess. Now she’s lost both Patsy Cline AND her museum.  But in the end she makes a huge personal sacrifice to repair her friendship with Patsy and finds out that drawing pictures—what she likes to do best!—is a way to make a personal museum that doesn’t involve any sort of stealing.

Tanner, Lian. Museum of Thieves
Welcome to the tyrannical city of Jewel, where impatience is a sin and boldness is a crime. Goldie Roth has lived in Jewel all her life. Like every child in the city, she wears a silver guardchain and is forced to obey the dreaded Blessed Guardians. She has never done anything by herself and won’t be allowed out on the streets unchained until Separation Day. When Separation Day is canceled, Goldie, who has always been both impatient and bold, runs away, risking not only her own life but also the lives of those she has left behind. In the chaos that follows, she is lured to the mysterious Museum of Dunt, where she meets the boy Toadspit and discovers terrible secrets. Only the cunning mind of a thief can understand the museum’s strange, shifting rooms. Fortunately, Goldie has a talent for thieving. Which is just as well, because the leader of the Blessed Guardians has his own plans for the museum, plans that threaten the lives of everyone Goldie loves. And it will take a daring thief to stop him…   The first in the Keepers Trilogy.

Van Eekhout, Greg. Kid vs. Squid
Thatcher Hill is bored stiff of his summer job dusting the fake mermaids and shrunken heads at his uncle’s seaside Museum of Curiosities. But when a mysterious girl steals an artifact from the museum, Thatcher’s summer becomes an adventure that takes him from the top of the ferris wheel to the depths of the sea. Following the thief, he learns that she is a princess of the lost Atlantis. Her people have been cursed by an evil witch to drift at sea all winter and wash up on shore each summer to an even more terrible fate—working the midway games and food stands on the boardwalk. Can Thatcher help save them before he, too, succumbs to the witch’s curse?

Van Leeuwen, Jean. The Great Googlestein Museum Mystery
Tired of their comfortable digs in Macy’s department store, Marvin, Fats, and Raymond are three mice searching for adventure. Following a hair-raising ride in a shopping bag, they find themselves disembarking in front of the famous Guggenheim Museum of Modern Art. There they discover many interesting things about the world of humans. Fats discovers that blobs of jam on canvas isn’t food, it’s art! But will his newfound artistic talent go to his head? Meanwhile, will Marvin be able to pull off the most daring skating stunt of the century? And will poor Raymond run out of brilliant ways to save his friends from sticky situations-or worse, the exterminator?

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AND FOR TEENS:

Bray, Libba. The Diviners
Evie O’Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City — and she is pos-i-toot-ly thrilled. New York is the city of speakeasies, shopping, and movie palaces! Soon enough, Evie is running with glamorous Ziegfield girls and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is Evie has to live with her Uncle Will, curator of The Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult — also known as “The Museum of the Creepy Crawlies.” When a rash of occult-based murders comes to light, Evie and her uncle are right in the thick of the investigation. And through it all, Evie has a secret: a mysterious power that could help catch the killer — if he doesn’t catch her first.

Bryant, Jennifer. Pieces of Georgia
Like her mother, Georgia McCoy is an artist, but her dad looks away whenever he sees her with a sketchbook. Sometimes it’s hard to remember what it was like when her mother was still alive . . . when they were a family . . . when they were happy. But then a few days after her 13th birthday, Georgia receives an unexpected gift — a strange, formal letter, all typed up and signed anonymous — granting her free admission to the Brandywine River Museum for a whole year. And things begin to change.

Hayes, Daniel. The Eye of the Beholder
Tyler and Lymie are sick in bed and bored out of their minds. But while their hometown plans a festival for a famous local artist, and folks scramble to find his last known works of art, the boys hatch a clever plot. Tyler and Limy create their own sculptures as a joke and discard them near the artist’s studio. But when the sculptures are found and determined to be authentic, the art world is suddenly abuzz with news of the amazing discovery — and two boys with great imaginations are in a hilarious heap of trouble. . . .

Richards, Justin. The Death Collector
What starts as an ordinary picket-pocketing incident in Victorian London unites three teens against a madman. Eddie is the pickpocket; George is an assistant at the British Museum; Elizabeth has a nose for trouble — and all of them are being hunted by Augustus Lorimore. Lorimore is a sinister factory owner, a villain bent on reanimating the dead, both humans and dinosaurs – -and one of each is already terrorizing the streets of London. It’s up to Eddie, George, and Elizabeth to stop Lorimore’s monsters . . . or die trying.

Booklist prepared by Casey S.

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If you want an informative book about museums and how they work, try How the Sphinx got to the Museum or The Museum Book, both in our non-fiction collection.  These books are two of my favorites, which make museum visits fun and exciting, but we have many more!  The Dewey Numbers for Museums range from J 700 (for general art) to J 709 (for more specific collections.)  Come in and get some ideas for your next museum visit about what to look at and to look for to enhance your visit.

And as always, come into the Library for any suggestions about what to read!

::Kelly::

Booklist: Cooking Up Some Magic!

There are several new books just out this spring that deal with magic by way of cooking.  It’s a delicious thought, isn’t it?  Find a recipe that you can follow to get some magical results!  It made me think about what other cookbook magic is out there…I remember reading a couple when I was a kid;  I think my favorites were Mrs. Coverlet’s Magicians, by Mary Nash and a bunch of different books by Ruth Chew.  Sadly, they’re no longer in print and our library doesn’t own them. (If you’re interested though, you can find used copies online.)

So if you’re a fan of cooking shows, or you’d like to have a little magic spicing up your kitchen, try one of the books on this list.  I think you’ll find them to your taste!

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Magical Cooking!

 A booklist of some magical recipes and extraordinary cooks!

Ames, Mildred.  Is There Life on a Plastic Planet?
Hollis is miserable with her life.  She hates her name, her mother keeps bugging her to eat healthy food, her cousin Addison makes her life miserable.  Then Hollis meets Ms. Eudora, who manages a shop that sells dolls, and serves Hollis yummy éclairs while she listens to her problems. It’s Ms. Eudora who comes up with the plan…substitute one of her dolls for Hollis, and Hollis can spend her days at the shop with Ms. Eudora and her magical éclairs.  But is it all too perfect to be real..?

Bosch, Pseudonymous.  This Book is Not Good for You
Between the pages of this book lies the secret to the best-tasting chocolate in all the world. I promise, your taste buds will tingle. Your palette will sing! Oh no, have I accidentally tempted you to read this book? I will warn you, however, the most delicious things are never good for you…and this story is particularly scrumptious! In this tooth-rotting adventure, Cass’s mom has been kidnapped by the evil dessert chef and chocolatier, Señor Hugo! The ransom…the legendary tuning fork. Can Cass and Max-Ernest find the magical instrument before it’s too late? Will they discover the evil secret ingredient to Señor Hugo’s chocolate success?  If you’re tempted, take a taste, but just remember…this book is not good for you.

Callaghan, Cindy.  Just Add Magic
Take three friends. Add an old cookbook. Combine with cute boys and a pinch of magic…and see what kind of chaos ensues! When Kelly Quinn and her two BFFs discover a dusty old cookbook while cleaning out the attic, the girls decide to try a few of the mysterious and supposedly magical recipes that are inside. To their surprise, the Keep ’Em Quiet Cobbler actually silences Kelly’s pesky little brother and the Hexberry Tart puts a curse on mean girl Charlotte. Is it possible that the recipes really are magic? Who wrote them and where did they come from? And most importantly of all, when boys get involved, what kind of trouble are the girls stirring up for themselves?

Catling, Robert.  The Chocolate Touch
John Midas loves chocolate. He thinks chocolate is better than any other food! But when John finds an odd coin, he buys a tiny piece of chocolate at an odd little shop.  It’s the most chocolaty chocolate he has ever tasted. The next morning, John discovers that everything that touches his lips turns into chocolate—rich, sweet, smooth chocolate. Toothpaste tubes squirt chocolate. Water fountains at school spout streams of chocolate. This is a dream come true! But even greedy John finds that too much of a good thing can quickly turn from a dream into a nightmare—especially when he kisses his mother and turns her into a chocolate statue. Is there anything John can do to reverse this horror?

Connor, Lexi.  The Chocolate Meltdown 
Eleven year-old Beatrix, B for short, is a witch with a quirky talent. When she spells out words, magic spells take shape!  B’s dad’s job at Enchanted Chocolates has always been a great thing — who doesn’t like free candy and special tours of a chocolate factory? But when something goes wrong with the new batch of treats, there’s nothing sweet about it! Everyone seems to be losing their magic touch — can B whip up a solution, or could this spell the E-N-D of witches?

Corbalis, Judy.  The Ice Cream Heroes
Oskar’s mother is a famous mountaineer, off on a trip to explore the Himalayas.  When he discovers that she’s forgotten her favorite ice pick, Oskar and his new friend Henrietta (a girl who wears a gorilla costume because of her job delivering gorillagrams) set off  to deliver it to her in person. Along the way they meet a tribe of abominable snowmen; are held captive in a palace made of magically flavored ice cream by the henchmen of The Controller, a demonic thief with a cohort of mad scientists; and meet the Great Khone, an ice cream maker searching for the world’s stolen ice cream supply.

Corbett, Scott.  The Great Custard Pie Panic
On a walk through the fog Nick and his dog discover a wonderful bakery that makes magical pies.  Unfortunately, the owner turns out to be his archenemy, the evil magician Dr. Merlin! (Early Chapter Book)

Corbett, Scoll.  The Lemonade Trick
A mysterious potion mixed by Kerby with his chemistry set has a beneficial effect on the neighborhood bully but also wreaks havoc at the Sunday School pageant.  Try the rest of the series too…Kerby’s chemistry set has quite a few magical recipes in it!

Dahl, Roald.  Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Willy Wonka’s famous chocolate factory is opening at last!  But only five lucky children will be allowed inside.  All they have to do is find the golden ticket.  And the winners are: Augustus Gloop, an enormously fat boy whose hobby is eating; Veruca Salt, a spoiled-rotten brat whose parents are wrapped around her little finger; Violet Beauregarde, a dim-witted gum-chewer with the fastest jaws around; Mike Teavee, a toy pistol-toting gangster-in-training who is obsessed with television; and Charlie Bucket, Our Hero, a boy who is honest and kind, brave and true, and good and ready for the wildest time of his life!  As he tours the magical candy factory, what will Charlie find there?

Dahl, Roald.  George’s Marvelous Medicine
George is alone in the house with Grandma. The most horrid, grizzly old grunion of a grandma ever. She needs something stronger than her usual medicine to cure her grouchiness. A special grandma medicine, a remedy for everything. And George knows just what to put into it. Grandma’s in for the surprise of her life—and so is George, when he sees the results of his mixture! George decides that his grumpy, selfish old grandmother must be a witch and cooks up some marvelous medicine to take care of her.  (Early Chapter Book)

Dunbar, Fiona.  The Truth Cookie
Lulu Baker’s dad is getting ready to marry his new girlfriend, world-famous model Varaminta le Bone. Everyone thinks Varaminta is fabulous. Everyone, that is, except Lulu. She knows that her stepmother-to-be, not to mention her awful son Torquil, is cruel, deceitful, and just using her father. But how can she make her dad see Varaminta and Torquil for who they really are? When a magical recipe book called The Apple Star finds its way into Lulu’s hands, she finds that some very unusual ingredients and some help from her friends just might do the trick.

Graff, Lisa.  A Tangle of Knots
In a slightly magical world where everyone has a Talent, eleven-year-old Cady is an orphan with a phenomenal Talent for cake baking. But little does she know that fate has set her on a journey from the moment she was born.  And her destiny leads her to a mysterious address that houses a lost luggage emporium, an old recipe, a family of children searching for their own Talents, and a Talent Thief who will alter her life forever.  However, these encounters hold the key to Cady’s past and how she became an orphan.  If she’s lucky, fate may reunite her with her long-lost parent!

Hashimoto, Meika.  The Magic Cake Shop
Emma Burblee couldn’t be more different from her parents if she tried. She’d rather dig for treasure in a park than try the latest fashions or discuss their favorite subject: themselves. When Emma mortifies her parents, her punishment is to spend the summer with her Uncle Simon—a loathsome man with a huge appetite for food and get-rich-quick schemes.  Although Emma’s days revolve around cooking and cleaning, there is one bright spot. Her uncle’s sweet tooth means she gets to visit the town bakery, Mr. Crackle’s Cake Shop, all the time. Mr. Crackle is as charming and kind as Uncle Simon is vile. But then Emma discovers a plot by Uncle Simon; he has set his sights on ruining Mr. Crackle and the entire dessert making industry!  Can Emma stop their evil plan?

Kennemore, Tim. Circle of Doom
One day, Lizzie Sharp decides to concoct a potion to cast a spell on her family’s only neighbors, the unbearable, ancient Potwards. The very next day, Mrs. Potward breaks her hip and the couple disappear forever. It could be just a coincidence, but Lizzie is convinced of her own magical powers, and the temptation to involve both her younger brothers in her ambitious spellmaking plans is irresistible. As one potion leads to another, all three Sharp children become ridiculously entangled in a web of secrets, conspiracies, and misunderstandings.

Konigsburg, E. L.  Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth
Elizabeth is an only child, new in town, and the shortest kid in her class. She’s also pretty lonely, until she meets Jennifer. Jennifer is… different. She’s read Macbeth. She never wears jeans or shorts. She never says “please” or “thank you.” And she says she is a witch. It’s not always easy being friends with a witch, but it’s never boring. At first an apprentice and then a journeyman witch, Elizabeth learns to eat raw ends and how to cast small spells. And she and Jennifer collaborate on cooking up an ointment that will enable them to fly. That’s when a marvelous toad, Hilary Ezra, enters their lives. And that’s when trouble starts to brew.

Kramer, Stacy.  Karma Bites
Life seems to have it in for Franny Flanders. Her best friends aren’t speaking, her parents just divorced, and her hippie grandmother has moved in. The only karma Franny’s got is bad karma. Then Franny gets her hands on a box of magic recipes that could fix all of her problems. It could even change the world! Finally, life is looking up. But Franny is about to learn that magic and karma aren’t to be played with. When you mess with the universe, it can bite back in unexpected ways. Ouch!

Lindsay, Norman.  The Magic Pudding
The Magic Pudding is a pie, except when it’s something else, like a steak, or a jam donut, or an apple dumpling, or whatever its owner wants it to be. And it never runs out. It’s magic!  No matter how many slices you cut, there’s always something left over.  But the Magic Pudding is also alive. It walks and it talks and it has a personality like no other. A meaner, sulkier, snider, snarlinger Pudding you’ve never met. So Bunyip Bluegum (the koala bear) finds out when he joins Barnacle Bill (the sailor) and Sam Sawnoff (the penguin bold) as members of the Noble Society of Pudding Owners .  This madcap childhood classic recounts the adventures of the three friends as they defend the pudding from thieves.

Littlewood, Kathryn.  Bliss
Rosemary Bliss’s family has a secret. It’s the Bliss Cookery Booke—an ancient, leather-bound volume of enchanted recipes like Stone Sleep Snickerdoodles and Singing Gingersnaps. Rose and her siblings are supposed to keep the Cookery Booke under lock and whisk-shaped key while their parents are out of town, but then a mysterious stranger shows up. Aunt Lily rides a motorcycle, wears purple sequins, and whips up exotic (but delicious) dishes for dinner. Soon boring, non-magical recipes feel like life before Aunt Lily—a lot less fun.  So Rose and her siblings experiment with just a couple of recipes from the forbidden Cookery Booke.  A few Love Muffins and  Cookies of Truth couldn’t cause too much trouble . . . could they?

Littlewood, Kathryn.  A Dash of Magic
Rosemary will do anything to get back her family’s magical Cookery Booke, even challenging Aunt Lily to an international baking competition in Paris.  If Rose wins, Lily will return the Cookery Booke that she stole. If Rose loses . . . well, the consequences are too ugly to think about. But Lily isn’t playing fair—she’s using a magical ingredient to cheat. The only way for Rose to compete is for her to find magical ingredients of her own.  Together with her long-lost grandpa, his sarcastic talking cat, and a turncoat French mouse, Rose and her brothers race around Paris to find the magical ingredients that will help her outbake—and outmagic—her conniving aunt.  She has to win or the Bliss Cookery Booke will be lost to her family forever.

Loftin, Nikki.  The Sinister Sweetness of Splendid Academy
Lorelei is bowled over by Splendid Academy—Principal Trapp encourages the students to run in the hallways, the classrooms are stocked with candy dishes, and the cafeteria serves lavish meals featuring all Lorelei’s favorite foods. But the more time she spends at school, the more suspicious she becomes. Why are her classmates growing so chubby? And why do the teachers seem so sinister?  It’s up to Lorelei and her new friend Andrew to figure out what secret this supposedly splendid school is hiding. What they discover chills their bones—and might even pick them clean!  Mix one part magic, one part mystery, and just a dash of Grimm, and you’ve got the recipe for a cozy-creepy read that kids will gobble up like candy.

Lowe, Natasha.  The Power of Poppy Pendle
Ten-year-old Poppy, born to ordinary parents, inherits her famous Great Aunt Mabel’s genes—GAM was a famous witch. In Poppy’s world, witches work for good and are much valued, with powers both coveted and praised. But Poppy does not want to be a witch—she wants to be a baker, and she is extremely good at baking. Her parents insist Poppy follow in the footsteps of her great aunt, but Poppy has plans of her own.  Part magic, part adventure, and wholly delicious, this spirited story includes more than a dozen recipes readers—and budding bakers—can try at home.

Magnin, Joyce.  Cake:  Love, Chickens and a Taste of Peculiar
Wilma Sue seems destined to go from one foster home to the next—until she is sent to live with sisters and missionaries, Ruth and Naomi. Do they really care about Wilma Sue, or are they just looking for someone to help raise chickens and bake cakes?  As Wilma Sue adjusts to her new surroundings and helps deliver ‘special’ cakes, she realizes there’s something strange going on.  On her search  for secret ingredients, she makes a new friend, Penny.  When Penny and her mother hit a rough patch, Naomi decides to make her own version of cake—with disastrous results. Then tragedy strikes the chickens, and all fingers point to Wilma Sue—just when she was starting to believe she could at last find a permanent home with Ruth and Naomi. Will the sisters turn her out, or will she discover what it feels like to be truly loved?

McGowan, Keith.  The Witch’s Guide to Cooking with Children
When Sol and Connie Blink move to Grand Creek, one of the first people to welcome them is an odd older woman, Fay Holaderry, and her friendly dog, Swift, who carries a very strange bone in his mouth. Sol knows a lot more than the average eleven-year-old, so when he identifies the bone as a human femur, he and Connie begin to wonder if their new neighbor is up to no good.  In a spine-tingling adventure that makes them think twice about who they can trust, Sol and Connie discover that dangerous secrets lurk in even the most pleasant neighborhoods.

McGowan, Keith.  The Witch’s Curse
A shadowy witch, a cursed hunter—it’s tricky business for Sol and Connie as they face off against this awful pair. The kids narrowly averted being eaten by the last witch after them, and this time it doesn’t look any better. It’s a long way through the accursed valley, they’re running out of food and water, and that lodge on the mountain side with the collection of animals inside isn’t exactly comforting. Who can save them? The All Creatures Manager? A heroic woodthrush? The Camper Lady? The Know-It-All Cube? Or will they have to save themselves? And here’s the worst of it: little do Sol and Connie know that the ancient child hunter is about to wake up—thanks to the witch’s curse.

Mull, Brandon.  The Candy Shop War
Welcome to the Sweet Tooth Ice Cream and Candy Shoppe, where the confections are bit on the . . . unusual side. Rock candy that makes you weightless. Jawbreakers that make you unbreakable. Chocolate balls that make you a master of disguise.  Nate, Summer, Trevor, and Pigeon meet the grandmotherly Mrs. White, owner of the Sweet Tooth, and soon learn about the magical side effects of her candies. Then the ice cream truck driver, Mr. Stott, arrives with a few enchanted sweets of his own. The danger unfolds as the kids discover that the magical strangers have all come to town in search of a legendary treasure—one that could be used for great evil if it fell into the wrong hands. The kids, now in over their heads, must try to retrieve the treasure first. And so, the war begins . . .

Mull, Brandon.  Arcade Catastrophe
In the sequel to The Candy Shop War, Nate and his friends meet Mrs. White’s brother Mr. White, who owns Arcadeland, a local amusement center. At Arcadeland, kids can play games and earn thousands of tickets, which are redeemable for one of four kinds of stamps jets, tanks, subs, and race cars. Could it be true that these stamps allow kids to fly through the air? Or breathe underwater? Or run faster than a car? But Mr. White is hiding a secret: when all four clubs are filled, he will be able to retrieve perhaps the most powerful talisman ever. For Nate and his friends, it will take more than candy to fight and win this war!

Ryan, Margaret.  Magic Mistakes!
It’s the start of the autumn school semester and the fairies are learning a new subject—cooking! Who can make the best pudding? Airy Fairy is determined to do well in cooking class, but with Scary Fairy around to stir up trouble, things are bound to go wrong once again.  Airy Fairy might be the clumsiest, most messy little fairy in town. Her wand is bent, her wings are patched with bandages, and her magic spells have a way of going wrong. Even so, she’s a lovable little fairy whose adventures have quickly become favorites among young readers.

Parker, Richard.  M for Mischief
When they move into a new house, Andrew, Milly and Peg find a little round structure in the garden, complete with a stove inside.  The stove looks like a normal one, except for the strange “M” on the dial.  And then there’s the “Magical Cook Book” they find with the stove.  Could it really be true?  Andrew and his sisters can hardly wait to try it. Carefully, they set the stove dial to M. Then Andrew cooks an egg and eats it, following the directions.  He can see himself perfectly fine though.  But his sisters can’t.  Andrew has disappeared!  Now they have a magic stove and a whole book of spells to try.  Can they keep their stove secret and keep out of trouble?

Rylant, Cynthia.  The Van Gogh Café
At the Van Gogh Cafe, anything can happen. Clara’s dad owns the cafe, and she’s seen it all—from food that cooks by itself to poems that foretell the future. This award-winning collection of vignettes by Newbery medalist Cynthia Rylant is a treat to be relished. So bring your appetite for the unexpected, because at the Van Gogh Cafe, your order of tea and toast comes with a side of magic!  The Van Gogh Cafe, located in Flowers, Kansas, has magic in its walls, causing strange and mysterious events to occur there.

Saunders, Kate.  The Whizz Pop Chocolate Shop
Welcome to the most magical house in London.   The family of eleven-year-old twins Oz and Lily have inherited it, together with the mysterious shop downstairs. Long ago, the shop’s famous chocolate-makers, who also happen to be Oz and Lily’s great uncles, were clever sorcerers. Now evil villains are hunting for the secret of their greatest recipe. The terrifying powers of this magic chocolate have the ability to destroy the world.   Soon, Oz and Lily are swept into a thrilling battle, helped by an invisible cat, a talking rat, and the ghost of an elephant. It’s up to them to stop the villians and keep the magical chocolate recipe out of harm’s way. Their family and the world depends on it.

Smith, Robert Kimmel.  Chocolate Fever
Henry Green is a boy who loves chocolate. He likes it bitter, sweet, dark, light, and daily; for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks; in cakes, candy bars, milk, and every other form you can possibly imagine. Henry probably loves chocolate more than any boy in the history of the world. One day, Henry finds that strange things are happening to him. First he makes medical history with the only case of Chocolate Fever ever–Henry breaks out in brown bumps which cause a series of events ending in a hijacking and a realization about chocolate and family.

Travers, P. L.  Mary Poppins in the Kitchen
Get a unique glimpse at the famous Poppins cast as the spit-spot English nanny and the Banks children take over the kitchen for a week. With the help of familiar visitors like the Bird Woman, Admiral Boom, and Mr. and Mrs. Turvy, Mary Poppins teaches her irrepressible young charges the basics of cooking, from A to Z. And young readers can re-create the week’s menus by following the thirty different recipes. Kitchen adventures were never so much fun!

Weeks, Sarah.  Pie
When Alice’s Aunt Polly, the Pie Queen of Ipswitch, passes away, she takes with her the secret to her world-famous pie-crust recipe. Or does she? In her will, Polly leaves the recipe to her extraordinarily fat, remarkably disagreeable cat, Lardo . . . and then leaves Lardo in the care of Alice.  Suddenly, the whole town is wondering how you leave a recipe to a cat. Everyone wants to be the next big pie-contest winner, and it’s making them pie-crazy. It’s up to Alice and her friend Charlie to put the pieces together and discover the not-so-secret recipe for happiness: Friendship. Family. And the pleasure of donig something for the right reason.

Wrede, Particia.  Sorcery & Cecelia: Or the Enchanted Chocolate Pot
Cousins Kate and Cecelia have always been inseparable. But in 1817, as they approach adulthood, they are forced to spend a summer apart. As Cecelia fights boredom in her small country town, Kate visits London to mingle with English society. At the initiation of a magician into the Royal College of Wizards, Kate finds herself alone with a mysterious witch who offers her a sip from a chocolate pot. Kate refuses the drink and the witch disappears as chocolate burns through her dress. Strange forces convene to destroy a beloved wizard, and only Kate and Cecelia can stop the plot. But for two girls who have to contend with the pressures of choosing dresses and beaux for their debuts, deadly magic is only one of their concerns.

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As it turns out, magical cookery books seem to be very popular!  Most of these titles were out when I made this post.  If you’d like to place a book on hold in the Minuteman system, simply click on the title link and you’ll find yourself on that page of our catalog.  Just place a Hold Request from there!

Enjoy!  And if YOU find a mysterious magical cookbook, please bring it in and share with our staff!  Everyone here would like a turn at some cooking magic! 

::Kelly::

Three Audio Reviews: Kids in Trouble

Time for three new audio reviews!  I haven’t been driving much, so this has taken a little longer than expected.  Although it wasn’t planned, these three books do have something in common: Kids in trouble, trying to find their way home…even though they’re already there.

So, here we go!

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The Wolves of Willoughby Chase
by Joan Aiken, read by Lizza Aiken
4 CDs, 4 hours, 49 minutes

Sylvia is leaving the only home she’s known with frail, elderly Aunt Jane. She’s off to live with her cousin Bonnie and Bonnie’s parents, Lord Willoughby and Lady Green at Willoughby Chase, an estate deep in the wilds of Britain.  It’s the middle of winter, and there are wolves on the prowl…and not only the furry kind.

When Bonnie’s parents leave for a year-long journey abroad to  improve Lady Green’s health, Sylvia and Bonnie are left in the care of a distant cousin.  Miss Slighcarp was recommended to Lord Willoughby, but neither girl likes her. She soon proves she’s not to be trusted, as Sylvia and Bonnie are locked in the attics, the servants are dismissed, and all Bonnie’s toys and books and belongings are sold.  Miss Slighcarp tells the girls that Bonnie’s parents have been lost at sea, and they soon end up in a workhouse run by the evil Mrs. Brisket.  Bonnie is determined to get Sylvia out of there and back to Willoughby Chase.

Will Miss Slighcarp succeed in her evil activities, or will Bonnie and Sylvia manage to escape and stop her?  And if they do escape, will they even have a home to return to?

We featured The Wolves of Willoughby Chase earlier as one of our Old Favorites.  It’s a very exciting story, full of adventures and daring escapes.  It is considered a modern classic by most children’s literature sources. Lizza Aiken, the reader, is Joan Aiken’s daughter. Her reading is well done; her cadence and accent vary for most characters.

The audio recording of The Wolves of Willoughby Chase starts with a wonderful foreword, where Lizza shares details about her own childhood and memories of her mother writing the book.  I feel these details help create an immediate connection between the listener and the reader.  The little tidbits about the background of the book are interesting and memorable.  My only reservation is that I’m not sure that a new reader appreciates the foreward as much as someone who has already read the book and is listening to it as a “re-reading”.  Some of the information depends on knowledge of the story.

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase is a fairly short book; only 150 pages.  Because it’s sort of an “alternate history” book of Britain though, it might confuse younger readers…and even adults not familiar with British history. It is chock-full of adventure and emotions though, and would be enjoyed by listeners as young as third grade, and probably up to middle school.  It’s an excellent choice for a family car trip!

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What Came From the Stars
By Gary D. Schmidt, Narrated by Graham Winton
6 CDs, 6.5 hours

The Valorim are under attack, and their way of life is at an end.  Young Waeglim, of The Ethelim, manages to pull all the strength of the Valorim  into one small package, which he casts out into the galaxy.  Traveling at the speed of thought, the Art of the Valorim makes it through multiple universes until it comes to a small, single-sun planet on the remote edges of a tiny galaxy…

Tommy Pepper lives in Plymouth, Massachusetts.  His family lives in a ramshackle old house on the seashore.  Every morning, Tommy, his dad and his little sister Patty greet the morning out on the beach, watching the sun come up.   After that, Tommy and Patty walk or take the bus to school. Both of them prefer walking; then they don’t have to deal with Cheryl Lynn Lumpkin and her bullying about how her mother’s new development is going to take over the stretch of beach in front of their house.

The morning of Tommy’s twelfth birthday starts out with nothing going right. Tommy’s father makes him take the lunchbox his grandmother sent him to school–the lunchbox for a show Tommy hasn’t watched since he was eight.  Afraid that the other kids will laugh at him, Tommy hides the lunchbox under the picnic table.  Tommy doesn’t notice when a mysterious glowing green chain falls from the sky and lands in his lunchbox.  He just thinks it’s part of the birthday present from his grandmother, and puts it on.

Suddenly, Tommy is using words his classmates have never heard before. The town of Plymouth is under attack from something that breaks into houses when no one is home and leaves them strewn with stinky seaweed. Tommy can draw things that move, hear music that no one else can hear, and his head is full of information about life on a double-sun world. Plymouth Police are at the Peppers’ door and Tommy spends more time in the principal’s office than he ever has before.

Does all this have something to do with the glowing necklace Tommy is now wearing?  Tommy and his friends are going to try to figure it out. But when Tommy draws a figure in the sand, it comes to life, and suddenly Tommy isn’t only dealing with his odd new memories and abilities, but an O’Mandim, the enemy of the Valorim, come to life on Earth.

The audio recording of What Came From the Stars is excellent–I love the narrator’s voice.  His take on Tommy, his family and his friends (and enemies) are all slightly varied.  He does a wonderful job with integrating the foreign words Tommy starts using, making them sound completely commonplace.

I enjoyed the descriptions of the Valorim as well, their planet and their way of life.  In the book, the chapters based on the Valorim are in italics.  I did find it a little more confusing to hear the names rather than read them.  There are a lot of vowels and “th” sounds in the names of the O’Mondim, Valorim and Ethelim, and I had a hard time distinguishing who belonged to which group.  But that’s probably just me.

What Came From the Stars is probably best for fifth through eighth grade readers. It would make a wonderful audio book for a family car trip.  The book balances well between science fiction and a realistic school story.  Tommy Pepper has some problems, and his friends rally around him to help him deal with them.  Yes, he is dealing with inter-galactic technology and aliens, but at heart, this is a story about love and life and loss.

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Liar & Spy
by Rebecca Stead, Read by Jesse Bernstein
4 CDs, 4 hours, 41 minutes

Georges (the s is silent) is not happy to be leaving the house he grew up in, but his father has lost his job and is still looking for a new one.  In order to save money, they had to sell the house and move into a small apartment.  They’re in an entirely different neighborhood, but still close enough so that Georges can go to the same school.  Not that that’s a huge benefit, since Georges best friend dumped him the year before to sit with the cool crowd, and Georges hasn’t really made too many other friends.  Georges tends to end up at the table with the other outcasts, like Bob English Who Draws.

Living in a apartment building is very different from living in a house. There are people coming and going on the time, and your neighbors are a lot closer.  When Georges and his father go down into the basement to look over their new shared laundry room and garbage cans, Georges’ dad sees a sign for an upcoming Spy Club meeting.  Georges’ dad writes “what time?” on the announcement.  When the reply is penciled in the next day, Georges decides to go.  (Or maybe his father pushed him into it.)  At any rate, Georges meets Safer and his little sister Candy.

The Spy Club turns out to be an excuse for Safer to get Georges to be his second in command and spy on Mr. X, another tenant in the building. Safer is convinced that Mr. X is up to no good, and has something to hide.  Georges goes along with it, learning techniques of observation and spying skills. He also starts to spend some time with Safer’s eccentric family when his father is away or visiting his mother at work.

At school, Georges is spending more time with Bob English Who Draws, and finds that maybe being picked on by the popular kids isn’t something he has to just take.  As time goes by, Georges finds that living in an apartment is still something to get used to though, even though he and his father are taking it one day at a time.

The audio for Liar & Spy is excellent.  I really enjoyed listening to the recording.  This is a book where things unfold very slowly, and although the clues are there, it’s not until later that you see them. The narrator’s voice fits the story well.

I did have one problem though…although I wanted to, I really didn’t like Safer.  Because I listened to the book rather than read it, I don’t know if it was the character’s actions or the voice the narrator chose to use for him. Since I had a pretty quick reaction to the voice though, I think it was that.  I’m not sure if my take on the book might have been different if I had read it rather than listened.

Liar & Spy is an interesting book about a boy who is trying to figure out what friendship really means. He’s also dealing with quite a few changes in his life, and some issues that he doesn’t even want to acknowledge.  It’s probably best for readers in fifth through eighth grades, but a mature fourth grade reader would probably enjoy it too.

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So, there you have it.  Three VERY long reviews of three very different books.  I think I’m going to go for humor next time!

::Kelly::

 

Booklist: Twins in SciFi, Time Travel and Humor!

And now, the last of our Double Trouble booklists.  Humor, Time Travel and Science Fiction featuring twins.  (And there is one set of triplets in one of these series…I guess they’re not  all in the Realistic category.)  Ready?  Let’s go!

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Double (or Triple!) the Trouble Family Stories:
Twins, Triplets, Quadruplets…

HUMOROUS STORIES

The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry

Abandoned by their ill-humored parents to the care of an odious nanny, Tim, the twins, Barnaby A and Barnaby B, and their sister, Jane, attempt to fulfill their roles as good oldfashioned children. Following the models set in lauded tales from A Christmas Carol to Mary Poppins, the four Willoughbys hope to attain their proscribed happy ending too, or at least a satisfyingly maudlin one. However, it is an unquestionably ruthless act that sets in motion the transformations that lead to their salvation and to happy endings for not only the four children, but their nanny, an abandoned baby, a candy magnate, and his long-lost son too. Replete with a tongue-in-cheek glossary and bibliography, this hilarious and decidedly old-fashioned parody pays playful homage to classic works of children’s literature.

 

 The Boy Who Howled by Timothy Power

As far back as he can remember, Callum has been living in the wild as the furless mascot of a wolf pack. But when his pack sends him back to live with his own kind, fitting in is quite a challenge. He doesn’t remember English well and introduces himself as “Clam.” Then when he tries to impress an Alpha boy in school by stealing his food, people seem offended! Can Callum find a way to make humans his pack? This hilarious and inventive story will have readers rooting for Callum.

 

Seriously, Norman! by Chris Raschka

Now that the whole thing is over (and we all survived!), I can tell you what happened. Picture this for a second. Rock wall six inches on my left. Sheer cliff hundreds of feet down on my right, my best friend Norman in front of me, mumbling something, and my mom behind me saying, “Step, step, step.” EEEEEEYAAAAAH! Next time my mom bugs me about sitting in front of the computer too much, I’m going to say, “Thanks, I prefer it where the near-death experiences are virtual!” No, seriously, this story is about Norman and about how he grows and learns stuff. Uses his imagination. Observes things. Like his dad, who is so devoted to money! Like how his dad is mixed up with weird creeps of the underworld. All over the world! Why, why are grown-ups so insane? That’s exactly the question that Norman, Anna and Emma (the twins), and I, Leonard, try to answer. And with the help of Norman’s new tutor, Balthazar Birdsong (also fairly nuts), we nearly do!

 

Unlucky Charms by Adam Rex

Last sighted with twins Erno and Emily en route to England, Scott is reportedly searching for a rift in the space-time continuum so that he might save the queen and convince the fairy court to stop their so-called invasion.
Kids today, right? Too many wizard books, not enough fresh air, if you want Goodco Cereal Company’s opinion.  But  Goodco execs are not angry. They only to see Scott get the help he needs before he hurts himself. Or gets hurt.  Sightings of Scott with a two-foot-tall leprechaun named Mick are of course ridiculous and should be reported immediately to Goodco.
Scott, Erno and Emily must save the world from the diabolical schemes of the evil breakfast cereal company which has been luring magical creatures to our world through a rift in the space-time continuum.  Also read Cold Cereal, the first book about Scott’s quest to save the world!

 

The Butler Gets a Break: a Bellweather Tale by Kristin Clark Venuti

All is (temporarily) peaceful in the village of Eel-Smack-by-the-Bay. An art heist has been averted, an albino alligator refuge established, and a family of refugee circus performers, gainfully employed. After much thought (and a tell-all memoir) Tristan Benway has decided to remain in the employ of the Bellweather family, and the children, especially, have tried to mend their ways. But old habits die hard, and when the triplets – Brick, Spike, and Sassy – experiment in negative space on the lighthouse stairs, Benway ends up in the hospital with a broken leg, and the Bellweathers are left without a butler. The family’s efforts to find an interim servant fail miserably. Their troubles mount as they become mixed-up with a band of roving Gypsies, paleontological discoveries gone awry, and encounters with rare attack squirrels.  But letting the recuperating Benway know of their plight is not an option. As the Bellweathers spin increasingly amazing stories of their “new servant” at Benway’s bedside, the poor butler starts to wonder if he was ever needed…
Also try Leaving the Bellweathers!

 

The Templeton Twins Have an Idea by Ellis Weiner

Suppose there were 12-year-old twins, a boy and girl named John and Abigail Templeton. Let’s say John was pragmatic and played the drums, and Abigail was theoretical and solved cryptic crosswords. Now suppose their father was a brilliant, if sometimes confused, inventor. And suppose that another set of twins—adults—named Dean D. Dean and Dan D. Dean, kidnapped the Templeton twins and their ridiculous dog in order to get their father to turn over one of his genius (sort of) inventions. Yes, I said kidnapped. Wouldn’t it be fun to read about that? Oh please. It would so. Luckily for you, this is just the first in a series perfect for boys and girls who are smart, clever, and funny (just like the twins), and enjoy reading adventurous stories (who doesn’t?!). Coming Soon book 2: The Templeton Twins Make a Scene!

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Double (or Triple!) the Trouble Family Stories:
Twins, Triplets, Quadruplets…

SCIENCE FICTION and TIME TRAVEL

 

The Magic Half by Annie Barrows

Miri is the non-twin child in a family with two sets of them–older brothers and younger sisters. The family has just moved to an old farmhouse in a new town, where the only good thing seems to be Miri’s ten-sided attic bedroom. But when Miri gets sent to her room after accidentally bashing her big brother on the head with a shovel, she finds herself in the same room . . . only not quite. Without meaning to, she has found a way to travel back in time to 1935 where she discovers Molly, a girl her own age very much in need of a loving family. A highly satisfying classic-in-the-making full of spine-tingling moments, this is a delightful time-travel novel for the whole family.

 

The Roar by Emma Clayton

Mika lives in future London, behind The Wall: Solid concrete topped with high-voltage razor wire and guarded by a battalion of Ghengis Borgs, it was built to keep out the animals, because animals carry the plague. Or so Mika’s been told. But ever since Ellie vanished a year ago, Mika’s suspected his world may be built on secrets–and lies. When a mysterious organization starts recruiting mutant kids to compete in violent virtual reality games, Mika takes the chance to search for his twin sister–and the truth. Check out the sequel The Whisper!

 

Angel of the Battlefield by Ann Hood

While exploring The Treasure Chest, Felix and Maisie are transported to a Massachusetts farm in 1836. Disappointed that they have not landed in their beloved New York City, they wonder why they were brought to Massachusetts to meet a young girl named Clara Barton. Perhaps Clara has a message for the twins? Or maybe they have one for her? Read the entire The Treasure Chest series!

 

 

Many Waters by Madeleine L’Engle

Sandy and Dennys have always been the normal, run-of-the-mill ones in the extraodinary Murry family. They garden, make an occasional A in school, and play baseball. Nothing especially interesting has happened to the twins until they accidentally interrupt their father’s experiment. Then the two boys are thrown across time and space. They find themselves alone in the desert, where, if they believe in unicorns, they can find unicorns, and whether they believe or not, mammoths and manticores will find them. The twins are rescued by Japheth, a man from the nearby oasis, but before he can bring them to safety, Dennys gets lost. Each boy is quickly embroiled in the conflicts of this time and place, whose populations includes winged seraphim, a few stray mythic beasts, perilous and beautiful nephilim, and small, long lived humans who consider Sandy and Dennys giants. The boys find they have more to do in the oasis than simply getting themselves home–they have to reunite an estranged father and son, but it won’t be easy, especially when the son is named Noah and he’s about to start building a boat in the desert. This is book four in the series; read the whole Time Quintet series, which starts with the award-winning A Wrinkle in Time!

 

The Chronal Engine by Greg Leitich Smith

When Max, Kyle, and Emma are sent to live with their reclusive grandfather, they think he’s crazy, especially when he tells them about his time machine. But after Emma is kidnapped at the exact time that her grandfather predicted, Max and Kyle are forced to believe his eccentric stories—even the one about the Chronal Engine in the basement. Now, to save Emma, Max, Kyle, and their new friend Petra must pile into a VW Bug, and use the Chronal Engine to take the road trip of a lifetime—right back to the Cretaceous period. With dangers all around, the teens find themselves dodging car-crushing herbivores in addition to the terrifying T. rex. In this ancient environment, can three contemporary teens hunt down a kidnapper, forage for food, and survive long enough to return home?

 

The Secret of ROVER by Rachel Wildavsky

The Secret of Rover follows the clever and resourceful twins Katie and David as they race across country in their attempt to outwit an international team of insurgents who hold their parents and baby sister captive in a foreign land. Held hostage because they invented a spy technology called Rover that can locate anyone in the world, Katie and David’s parents are in grave danger. Now, it’s up to Katie and David to rescue them. But first they must find their reclusive uncle, whom they have never met—the only person they know who can help them.

Booklist by Julie G!

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And we’ve now reached the end of our multiples madness!  If you enjoyed this booklist, let us know!  And if you have any ideas for future booklists, let us know that too!

::Kelly::

Booklist: Double Trouble–More Twin fiction

Sorry for the delay.  That’s what happens when weekends get in the way of a good, long booklist.  So here we are, back again with some more triple trouble.  This time, we’re splitting the focus between Historical Fiction, Mystery and Horror stories featuring a double dose of siblings!

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Double (or Triple!) the Trouble Family Stories:
Twins, Triplets, Quadruplets…

HISTORICAL FICTION

 

January 1905 by Katharine Boling

The winter has been a tough one for Pauline and Arlene’s family. Though only eleven, the twin girls are old in too many ways: They know what it is to work to exhaustion, to be hamstrung by longing, and to be blind with hate. Pauline labors from dawn to dusk alongside the other members of her family at the local cotton mill, and she wishes she could stay home like her twin. Meanwhile, crippled Arlene tends to all the housework while dreaming of one day working at the mill and earning money and respect. Each is certain the other has the easy life–but each discovers how wrong she is as this extraordinary debut novel unfolds.

 

Children of the Longhouse by Joseph Bruchac

Told from the alternating points of view of Native American Ohkwa’ri and his twin sister Otsi:stia, this historic novel shows a Mohawk village during the best of times: after the Great League of Peace is formed and before European settlers rob the tribe of its land. The story revolves around 11-year-old Ohkwa’ri’s conflicts with a pompous bully, but the plot is less essential than the painstakingly wrought details about the tribe’s daily rituals, legends and annual celebrations. Besides learning the origins of modern-day lacrosse and certain kinds of tool-making, readers will come away from this novel with a broadened awareness of a nearly vanished culture.

 

The Adventures of Vin Fiz by Clive Cussler

Ten-year-old twins Lacey and Casey Nicefolk have always wanted to fly, but kids can’t fly . . . or can they? They can if they know the mysterious Sucoh Sucop, a man who claims to have an enchanted box that can transform any toy into the real thing! Before you know it, the twins, along with their droopy-eared basset hound, Floopy, are soaring cross-country in a real-live Wright brothers biplane, which they name Vin Fiz (after Casey’s favorite grape soda). But dangers lurk everywhere, and if the twins are to make it all the way to New York, their courage will have to make heroes of them many times over. Thank goodness they have the magical Vin Fiz on their side! Check out book #2: The Adventures of Hotsy Totsy.

 

Horseback on the Boston Post Road, 1704 by Laurie Lawlor

As the winter of 1704 approaches, New Englanders are reeling from the news of war with the French and Indians. Meanwhile a mysterious letter has arrived for the widow Madame Sarah Kemble Knight, instructing her to bring the twin servants, twelve-year-olds Hester and Philena, on an unfamiliar journey from Boston toward New Haven, Connecticut. But Madame Knight decides to take only one of the sisters, who have been bound in servitude since infancy. However Philena soon risks her life to follow Hester and the widow. When they meet up, the trip turns perilous. The travelers face drowning, starvation, and exhaustion as they make their way through menacing woods, hazardous swamps, and wild rivers. But neither girl can imagine the real reason for the journey that will end in New York and change their lives forever. Read all of the stories in the American Sisters series!

 

Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson

Louise has had enough of her twin sister. Caroline is beautiful. Caroline is talented. Caroline is better. Growing up on the small island of Rass in Chesapeake Bay, Caroline seems to do nothing but take from Louise: their parents’ love, Louise’s chances for an education, her dreams for the future. They have spent their lives entwined — sleeping in the same room, eating at the same table, learning in the same classroom — and yet somehow nothing can bring them together. Louise’s only hope lies in seeking a place for herself beyond the stretch of Rass’s shores and her sister’s shadow. What will it take for her to break free?

 

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Double (or Triple!) the Trouble Family Stories:
Twins, Triplets, Quadruplets…

MYSTERY and HORROR

 

13 Hangmen by Art Corriveau

“Some people won’t believe any of this story. You might be one of them. But every single word is true. Tony DiMarco does catch a murderer, solve a mystery, and find a treasure—all in the first few days after he moves, unexpectedly, to 13 Hangmen’s Court in Boston. The fact that he also turns thirteen at the same time is not a coincidence.” So begins the story of Tony and his friends—five 13-year-old boys, all of whom are living in the same house in the same attic bedroom but at different times in history! None are ghosts, all are flesh and blood, and somehow all have come together in the attic room, visible only to one another. And all are somehow linked to a murder, a mystery, and a treasure.

 

The Midnight Curse by L.M. Falcone

A deep, raspy voice whispered, “The midnight curse has been passed on to you!” Thus begins a frightfully wacky adventure that will have young readers turning every page in spine-tingling anticipation. Lacey and her twin brother, Charlie, are visiting England to find out if they inherited anything from their reclusive uncle Jonathan, but before long, Charlie realizes he might not have inherited anything but the family curse. It s a bad one he’ll shrivel up and die unless someone ventures to the attic to face a malevolent spirit. Curse removal is a complicated game involving a gothic cast of shifty characters. The twins sure have stirred things up, and the clock is ticking on Charlie s curse. Can they finish what they started.

 

Hunter Moran Saves the Universe by Patricia Reilly Giff

Twins Hunter and Zack have a small problem to solve: they must save their town from a diabolical dentist who is planning to blow it to smithereens. But first they have to hold a funeral for an incriminating report card before it breaks their mother’s heart, hide a cello that has been demolished, and keep their father from finding out what they did to his laptop. None of this is going to be easy with their busybody older sister, Linny, watching their every move; older brother, William, just waiting to get them in trouble; five-year-old brother, Steadman, tailing them; and baby Mary banging her spoon like a maniac so no one can think. Before the book is over, a vintage airplane, a hot air balloon, and a borrowed fire engine will all play parts in the unfolding mystery.

 

The Girl Behind the Glass by Jane Kelley

Eleven-year-old twins Hannah and Anna agree about everything—especially that they don’t want to move to the creepy old house on Hemlock Road. But as soon as they move into the house, the twins start disagreeing for the first time in their lives. In fact, it’s almost as though something or someone is trying to drive them apart. While Anna settles in, Hannah can’t ignore the strange things that keep happening on Hemlock Road. Why does she sense things that no one else in the family does?  It’s almost as though someone is trying to talk to her. Someone no one else can hear. Someone angry enough to want revenge. Hannah, are you listening? Is the house haunted? Is Hannah crazy? Or does something in the house want her as a best friend—forever?

 

Double Spell by Janet Lunn

Twins Jane and Elizabeth are twelve years old and have outgrown dolls. Nevertheless, on a cold wet spring Saturday they find themselves in an antique store, inexplicably drawn to a small, tattered old fashioned doll. Even the owner of the store seems to understand that the doll somehow belongs to the girls. Once the twins buy the doll, stranger and stranger things begin to happen, and a young girl from the past seems to be calling out to them. The search to discover the history of the little doll brings the twins terrifyingly close to the world of the supernatural as they finally solve a tantalizing mystery.

 

Vanishing Acts: a Maggie Brooklyn Mystery by Leslie Margolis

When a movie starring tween heartthrob Seth Ryan starts filming in Park Slope, everyone gets movie mania-including Maggie Brooklyn Sinclair. Though her plans to become a movie extra don’t quite work out, Maggie manages to capture Seth’s attention and he seeks her out at the Pizza Den to talk. But just when Maggie’s life is feeling like a romantic comedy, Seth disappears! Everyone thinks he’s been kidnapped, but Maggie knows better! This young Nancy Drew is back, along with her twin brother and dog-walking business, in a second mystery that shines a spotlight on her super-sleuth skills. Leslie Margolis’s pitch-perfect tween voice will leave fans begging for more of this loveable heroine. Read book #1: Girl’s Best Friend.

 

The Twin In the Tavern by Barbara Brooks Wallace

Orphaned twice and all alone in the world, Taddy watches as Neezer and Lucky, two sinister thieves, steal his family’s possessions, and then make him a virtual prisoner. With only table scraps and dry crusts of bread to eat, Taddy and another boy named Beetle are forced to work long, cruel hours carrying freezing, heavy blocks of ice for delivery in Lucky’s ice wagon. Then a neighbor, Mrs. Mainyard, tells lucky she’d like to hire Taddy during the day as a servant boy. His wages go to Lucky, but he’s better fed. And once inside the sumptuous Mainyard mansion, Taddy sees the impossible – a boy who looks just like him. Can this be the mysterious twin he’d been told about?

Booklist by Julie Goldman!

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Not quite as many books as our last multiples booklist, and all of them twins!  I think we’ve discovered an area where authors need to write some historical fiction, mystery and horror stories.   Any future authors out there listening?

Next time: our last twin booklist: two final topics that don’t really fit together. Science Fiction and Humor.  Oh well.    See you then!

::Kelly::

Booklist: Double (or Triple!) the Trouble – Fantasy stories!

Continuing our booklist on twins, triplets and other multiples…this time with a Fantasy twist!

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Double (or Triple!) the Trouble Family Stories:
Twins, Triplets, Quadruplets…

FANTASY STYLE

Hollow Earth by John Barrowman and Carole E. Barrowman

Lots of twins have a special connection, but twelve-year-old Matt and Emily Calder can do way more than finish each other’s sentences. Together, they are able to bring art to life and enter paintings at will. Their extraordinary abilities are highly sought after, particularly by a secret group who want to access the terrors called Hollow Earth. All the demons, devils, and evil creatures ever imagined are trapped for eternity in the world of Hollow Earth—trapped unless special powers release them. The twins flee from London to a remote island off the west coast of Scotland in hopes of escaping their pursuers and gaining the protection of their grandfather, who has powers of his own. But the villains will stop at nothing to find Hollow Earth and harness the powers within. With so much at stake, nowhere is safe—and survival might be a fantasy.

First Hero by Adam Blade

At the age of seven, Tanner’s father was killed in front of him by the evil warlord Derthsin. But his father’s death was not in vain and Derthsin was carried away to his doom by a good Beast, Firepos the Flame Bird. Now, eight years later, another evil army is wreaking havoc across Avantia. But Tanner has been training with Firepos, waiting to avenge his father’s death. There is something familiar about this new menace, who rides with a Beast of his own. The evil army is after the pieces of the Mask of Death–which allows whoever wears it to control all Beasts. Tanner sets off on a journey to stop them. Along the way, he encounters twins Gwen and Geffen, who hold the map to finding the remaining pieces. Check out #2 (Chasing Evil) and #3 (Call to War) in the series!

Doctor Illuminatus by Martin Booth

When a family moves to an old English country estate, Sebastian, the son of an alchemist, is accidentally awakened from a centuries-long sleep. The evil enemy of Sebastian’s father has also been awakened and continues to pursue his sinister plan.
Check out Part II: Soul stealer.

 

The Land of Stories: the Wishing Spell by Chris Colfer

Alex and Conner Bailey’s world is about to change, in this fast-paced adventure that uniquely combines our modern day world with the enchanting realm of classic fairy tales. The Land of Stories tells the tale of twins Alex and Conner. Through the mysterious powers of a cherished book of stories, they leave their world behind and find themselves in a foreign land full of wonder and magic where they come face-to-face with the fairy tale characters they grew up reading about. But after a series of encounters with witches, wolves, goblins, and trolls, getting back home is going to be harder than they thought.

Witch Twins and the Ghost of Glenn Bly by Adele Griffin

Claire and Luna are thrilled to visit an ancient castle in Scotland with their five-star-witch grandmother, Grandy. But this is no ordinary vacation. The three witches are on a mission: to rid Glenn Bly castle of the terrifying ghost that haunts it. The situation at Glenn Bly is more complicated than the twins had imagined. There’s prickly Daphne, who lives with her grandfather in the castle and seems to be hiding something. There are the awful Shrillingbirds, the absentee landlords who now want to make Glenn Bly their permanent home. Finally, there is the ghost himself. And when Claire and Luna meet him, the real mystery begins. The twins turn ghost-busters in this fourth magically funny book in the Witch Twins series about these novice witches.

 

Otto and the Flying Twins by Charlotte Haptie

It is the spring following the events in Otto and the Flying Twins, and Otto’s world is still strangely unpredictable: the Karmidee still an underclass of ‘magicos’, his parents at odds, and the twins still unable to fly free. And the City of Trees is in the grip of something strange – with the approach of spring, when there should be warmer weather, carnivals and celebration, there is instead increasing cold, snow, bitter blizzards, a frightening upside-down world of ice. Once again, the Karmidee are blamed. But if they ever knew how to control the weather, they have long ago forgotten. Otto and Mab must help to find the answer. Otto encounters the legendary Wool Bandits, helps a miniature family with a dangerous secret and, together with new and extraordinary friends, must challenge the ancient powers of the sinister Bird Charmers. Read the next books in the series: Otto and the Bird Charmers and Otto in the Time of the Warrior.

The Akhenaten Adventure by P.B. Kerr

Meet John and Philippa Gaunt, twelve-year-old twins who one day discover themselves to be descended from a long line of djinn. All of a sudden, they have the power to grant wishes, travel to extraordinary places, and make people and objects disappear. Luckily, the twins are introduced to their eccentric djinn-uncle Nimrod, who will teach them how to harness their newly found power. And not a moment too soon . . . since John and Philippa are about to embark on a search to locate a monstrous pharaoh named Akhenaten and his eerie tomb. Read all seven books in the Children of the Lamp series!

Flip by David Lubar

If you could become anyone in the world, who would you be? Did you ever wish you could be anyone else but who you are? Twins Ryan and Taylor do it all the time. Now their dream is about to come true. They’ve discovered mysterious alien disks that allow they to “flip”–to become legendary heroes from the past. But who?

 

 

The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann

When Alex finds out he is Unwanted, he expects to die. That is the way of the people of Quill. Each year, all the thirteen-year-olds are labeled as Wanted, Necessary, or Unwanted. Wanteds get more schooling and train to join the Quillitary. Necessaries keep the farms running. Unwanteds are set for elimination. It’s hard for Alex to leave behind his twin, Aaron, a Wanted, but he makes peace with his fate—until he discovers that instead of a “death farm,” what awaits him is a magical place called Artimé. There, Alex and his fellow Unwanteds are encouraged to cultivate their creative abilities and use them magically. Everything Alex has ever known changes before his eyes, and it’s a wondrous transformation. But it’s a rare, unique occurrence for twins to be divided between Wanted and Unwanted, and as Alex and Aaron’s bond stretches across their separation, a threat arises for the survival of Artimé that will pit brother against brother in an ultimate magical battle. Check out book #2: Island of Silence.

Facing the hunchback of Notre Dame by L. L. Samson

A hidden attic. A classic story. A very unexpected twist. Twin twelve-year-old bookworms Ophelia and Linus Easterday discover a hidden attic that once belonged to a mad scientist. While relaxing in the attic and enjoying her latest book, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Ophelia dozes off, and within moments finds herself facing a fully alive and completely bewildered Quasimodo. Ophelia and Linus team up with a clever neighbor, a hippy priest, and a college custodian, learning Quasimodo’s story while searching for some way to get him back home—if he can survive long enough in the modern world. Read the next two books in the series: Saving Moby Dick and Dueling with the Three Musketeers.

The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott

The legend: Nicholas Flamel lives. But only because he has been making the elixir of life for centuries. The secret of eternal life is hidden within the book he protects—the Book of Abraham the Mage. It’s the most powerful book that has ever existed. In the wrong hands, it will destroy the world. That’s exactly what Dr. John Dee plans to do when he steals it. Humankind won’t know what’s happening until it’s too late. And if the prophecy is right, Sophie and Josh Newman are the only ones with the power to save the world as we know it. Sometimes legends are true. And Sophie and Josh Newman are about to find themselves in the middle of the greatest legend of all time. Read all of the books in The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series!

The Storm Makers by Jennifer E. Smith

What starts as an ordinary summer turns exciting and perilous for twins Ruby and Simon when strange occurrences begin happening on their farm — sudden gusts of wind, rainstorms, and even tornado warnings — that seem eerily timed to Simon’s emotions. Then a stranger arrives and tells the twins that Simon is a Storm Maker — part of a clandestine group of people entrusted with controlling and taming the weather — and that he is in great danger. Soon Simon and Ruby must race against the clock as they try to master Simon’s powers in time to stop a rogue Storm Maker’s treacherous — and potentially deadly — plans.

Troubletwisters by Garth Nix and Sean Williams

Jaide and Jack Shield’s lives are changing in a very, very strange way. The weather is turning against them. Magical disasters occur when they’re around. And a mysterious explosion has just destroyed their house…from the inside. Without knowing why, the twins are stolen away to live with Grandma X–a relative they’ve never, ever met. At Grandma X’s house, things are even stranger. Weather vanes point in the opposite direction of the wind. Doors appear and disappear. Cats talk. Read book 2: The Monster!

Thirteenth Child by Patricia C. Wrede

Eff was born a thirteenth child. Her twin brother, Lan, is the seventh son of a seventh son. This means he’s supposed to possess amazing talent — and she’s supposed to bring only bad things to her family and her town. Undeterred, her family moves to the frontier, where her father will be a professor of magic at a school perilously close to the magical divide that separates settlers from the beasts of the wild. Read #2 (Across the Great Barrier) and #3 (The Far West) in the series!

 Booklist by Julie G!

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Hmm.  In Fantasy stories, multiples always seem to be twins. There’s not a triplet or quadruplet in the bunch!  Maybe that’s a book that someone should write…

Next up: Twins, triplets and more in Science Fiction.  (I’m thinking that’s going to be doubles too.)

::Kelly::

Old Favorite: The View from the Cherry Tree

Mayhem, mystery and…murder!  Everyone enjoys a good mystery, especially one with a character that’s believable, a dangerous situation, and a setting that’s realistic.  And that’s what you will find in today’s Old Favorite, The View from the Cherry Tree, by Willo Davis Roberts.

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Rob is stuck at his house this summer, “helping” his older sister Darcy get ready for her wedding. Most of his help seems to involve staying out of the way, not making any noise, and being ignored by everyone.  It’s not a happy experience, no matter what the blushing bride and his bustling parents say.

Rob takes to hanging out in the middle of the backyard cherry tree, high above the chaos below, spying on all the comings and goings of Darcy, her fiance, their parents and all of Darcy’s friends and ex-boyfriends. He’s heard a lot of secrets as he sits up in the tree, hidden from sight, eating the cherries and spitting out the pits out toward the people walking below.  When he “borrows” his father’s binoculars, he can even see further, into the surrounding yards and houses.

Including the house of Mrs. Calloway, the cranky old lady next door.  When Rob was young, he believed the stories about how she caught children and ate them, just like the witch in Hansel and Gretel.  Now, however, he knows that she’s just a mean old lady who lives alone and doesn’t like anyone. She calls his parents frequently to complain about Rob, their guests, the cat, and any perceived issues with her property.

She hates Rob’s cat S.O.B.  Of course S.O.B. isn’t exactly the nicest cat in the world, and the hate seems to be mutual.  Sometimes, S.O.B. seems to try to anger the elderly neighbor, like the day he jumped into her house through an open window and scratched her when she threw him out.  His defense of S.O.B. leads to a confrontation with Mrs. Calloway and her broom, and a black eye for Rob.  His family is disappointed in his behavior and Darcy starts wailing about wedding photos.  Rob is grounded.

Rob keeps his cool, but decides to keep an eye on Mrs. Calloway, either to catch her doing something mean or to get an idea for getting even.  He tries a few tricks, but it only gets him in more trouble.  Rob develops the habit of peeking into Mrs. Calloway’s house through her windows whenever he’s in the cherry tree, just in case.  He never expects to hear Mrs. Calloway arguing with a tall man, nor to see the man push her out the window.  And then, she’s dead. He runs into the house and gets his family, and they call the police about her “accidental” death.

Rob tries to tell his family that he saw her murdered, but no one believes him.  Rob is on his own.  He tries talking to his family one on one and in groups, trying to convince them of the truth, but people just get mad at him, and think he’s trying to distract them from Darcy’s wedding.  And then it gets worse.  Because it seems like the murderer knows he was seen, and is trying to kill him too…

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Willo Davis Roberts actually wrote The View from the Cherry Tree with an older audience in mind; by 1974 she was an established adult mystery author with 35 books published in twenty years.  However, when her editor read the manuscript she urged Mrs. Roberts to submit it as a mystery for younger readers. She recognized that Rob and his point of view made it more accessible to  a younger audience. It was also good timing because younger readers were ready for more realistic situations in their books.

After a year of stamping her feet (by her own admission!), Mrs. Roberts submitted it as a book for young readers. It was published in 1975, and won a Children’s Book of the Year Award from the Library of Congress.  Her career took an unexpected turn after The View from the Cherry Tree was published, and she became a highly praised, award-winning and popular author of mysteries and adventures for middle grade and teen readers.  She was working on her 100th book when she died in 2004; more than half of those books were for teens and middle grade readers.

The View from the Cherry Tree is my favorite of her books, and one of my all-time favorite mysteries. I read it when it was first released–I remember there was a waiting list for it in our library system.  It’s a thrilling mystery, and it was one of the first that I read that didn’t seem to talk down to the reader.  Other books written by Willo Davis Roberts that I loved include The Girl with the Silver Eyes, Twisted Summer, Jo and the Bandit and Baby-sitting is a Dangerous Job.  Hmm…maybe some future Old Favorites!

The View from the Cherry Tree is appropriate for fourth through sixth grade readers.  It does deal with a murder, so readers of a sensitive nature will want to remember that. (I’ve also been told that I should give a warning for spiders, because of something that happens later in the book. It didn’t bother me, but I can see the reason!)  It would be a fun book to share with a class or to read for a mystery genre assignment.  It is a fast read, and very suspenseful.  So read The View From the Cherry Tree and see what you think.  I think you’ll like it.

::Kelly::

*I apologize for the weirdness with the posting. WordPress somehow lost the post and reverted back to the first draft.  I had to rewrite most of it, so if you got a mailed copy, the original post was a little different.*

Booklist: Unlock a Secret…

A few days ago, I was putting away books and three in a row had keys on the cover.  Attractive keys, which I’d wear as jewelry!  Anyway, I started thinking about keys, and locks, and how they play into book titles and designs.   And a booklist was born!

So unlock the secret of these books.  Some are mysteries, some are romance, some are coming of age. But every single one of these books features locks or keys or secrets…and some have all three.  Check it out!

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Unlock a Secret…            
               Keys & Locks Booklist

Benz, Derek.  The Brimstone Key  -  Juvenile collection
A year ago, the Grey Griffins were just regular kids—but now they are monster-hunters, celebrated heroes, and allies to the legendary Templar knights.  But even heroes have to go to school. When the Griffins enroll at a school to train young recruits in the fight against the forces of evil, they find themselves at the center of a whole new adventure. The Clockwork King, a Templar foe from days past, has returned to finish the plan he set in motion decades ago.  Can the Griffins figure out a way to save their world…again?

Berkeley, Jon.  The Lightning Key  - Juvenile collection
Now that Miles Wednesday has discovered his link to a magical Tiger’s Egg, he’s suddenly at the wheel of a great voyage. Determined to recover the stolen stone and free the trapped soul within, Miles sets off to release the Egg’s true power.  But along the way, his travels are quickly riddled with thrills and near catastrophes—from soaring across the sky in an airborne schooner to run-ins with the twisted circus ringmaster to a dark Sleep Angel. Will Miles crack the secrets of the Egg and stand up to the Realm in the face of grave danger?

Brennan, Sarah Rees.  Unspoken  - Teen collection
Kami Glass is in love with someone she’s never met—a boy she’s talked to in her head since she was born. This has made her an outsider in her sleepy English town, but she has learned ways to turn that to her advantage. When members of the Lynburn family, who ruled the town a generation ago, return, suddenly there’s screaming in the woods and other mysterious problems. Now Kami can see that the town is hiding a multitude of dangerous secrets. The key to it all just might be the boy in her head. The boy she thought was imaginary is definitely real, and deliciously dangerous.

Cashore, Kirstin.  Bitterblue  - Teen collection
Eight years after Graceling, Bitterblue is queen. But the influence of her psychopathic  father Leuck lives on. Her advisorswant to pardon all and forget anything bad ever happened. But when Bitterblue begins sneaking outside the castle in disguise to see her city, she realizes that the kingdom has been under the thirty-five-year spell of a madman, and the only way to move forward is to revisit the past. Two thieves hold a key to the truth of Leck’s reign. And one of them, with an extreme skill called a Grace that he hasn’t yet identified, holds a key to her heart.

Clements, Andrew.  Janitor’s Boy  - Juvenile collection
When Jack Rankin gets busted for defacing a school desk with a huge wad of disgusting watermelon bubble gum, the principal sentences him to three weeks of after-school gum cleanup for the chief custodian. The problem is, Jack’s anger at the chief custodian was the reason for his gum project in the first place. The chief custodian happens to be Jack’s dad. But doing time in the school basement after hours reveals some pretty surprising things: about the school, about Jack’s father, and about Jack himself.

Clements, Andrew.  The Keepers of the School -  Juvenile collection
Benjamin Pratt’s school is about to become the site of a new amusement park. But Ben thinks it would be better if it  just stayed as is. It is over 200 years old and sits right on the harbor, with ocean breezes and million dollar views.  After a chance—and final—run-in with the school janitor, Ben starts to discover that these views have a lot to do with the deal to sell the property. As much as the town wants to believe it, the school does not belong to the local government. It belongs to the CHILDREN and they have the right to defend it! With Ben in charge, they will!

Cooper, Susan.  The Dark is Rising -  Juvenile  & Teen collections
On the Midwinter Day that is his eleventh birthday, Will Stanton discovers a special gift;  he is the last of the Old Ones, immortals dedicated to keeping the world from domination by the forces of evil, the Dark. At once, he is plunged into a quest to find the six magical Signs that will one day aid the Old Ones in the final battle between the Dark and the Light. And for the twelve days of Christmas, while the Dark is rising, life for Will is full of wonder, terror, and delight.

Dessen, Sarah.  Lock and Key – Teen collection 
Ruby is used to taking care of herself. But now she’s living in a fancy new house with the sister she hasn’t seen in ten years. She’s attending private school, wearing new clothes, and for the first time, looking forward to a future that includes college and her family. So why is she so wary? And what is her adorable neighbor Nate hiding behind his genial nature? As Ruby starts to see, there’s a big difference between being given help, and being able to accept it. And sometimes, in order to save yourself, you’ve got to reach out to someone else.

Fisher, Catherine.  Incarceron  - Teen collection
Incarceron is a prison so vast that it contains cells and corridors, metal forests, dilapidated cities, and wildernesses. Sealed for centuries, only one man has ever escaped. Finn is a prisoner there. Although he has no memory of his childhood, he is sure he came from Outside. His link to the Outside, his chance to break free, is Claudia, the warden’s daughter, herself determined to escape an arranged marriage. They are up against impossible odds, but one thing looms above all: Incarceron is alive.

French, Simon.  Change the Locks –  Juvenile collection
Steven has vague and disturbing memories of being left alone on a road in the middle of nowhere when he was young, but his mother continually avoids answering his questions about their earlier life in an Australian city. Hoping to piece together the fragmented pictures of his childhood, Steven discovers an old newspaper clipping and photograph that forces him to confront the truth about his father’s abandonment, his mother’s struggles, and his own feelings.

Gantos, Jack.  Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key -  Juvenile & Teen collections
Joey Pigza’s got heart, he’s got a mom who loves him, and he’s got “dud meds,”–the pills that are supposed to even out his mood swings. Sometimes Joey makes bad choices. He learns the hard way that he shouldn’t stick his finger in the pencil sharpener, or swallow his house key, or run with scissors. Joey ends up bouncing around a lot – and eventually he bounces himself all the way downtown, into the district special-ed program, which could be the end of the line. As Joey knows, if he keeps making bad choices, he could just fall between the cracks for good. But he is determined not to let that happen.

Grant, Michael.  Magnificent 12: The Key  -  Juvenile collection
Mack hates doing homework (that’s what golems are for), but it seems that the only way to defeat the Pale Queen and her evil daughter is to learn the magical language of Vargran. Mack and his friends travel to Europe to find the Key, an engraved stone that unlocks the power of Vargran. Can they locate the invisible castle of William “Blisterthöng” MacGuffin, who guards the Key? Mack has less than thirty days to master Vargran and defeat the evil queen. Will the Key be enough? Or is there something else Mack must find in order to save the world?

Haddix, Margaret Peterson.  Into the Gauntlet – Juvenile collection
Throughout the hunt for the 39 Clues, Amy and Dan Cahill have uncovered history’s greatest mysteries and their family’s deadliest secrets. But are they ready to face the truth about the Cahills and the key to their unmatched power? After a whirlwind race that has taken them across five continents, Amy and Dan face the most the difficult challenge yet.  When faced with a choice that could change the future of the world, can two kids succeed where 500 years worth of famous ancestors failed?

Hardinge, Frances. Fly By Night – Juvenile collection
Taught to read by her father, orphaned book lover Mosca Mye lives in a realm where books are considered dangerous . When a traveling poet-spy passes through her village, Mosca becomes his traveling companion, serving as his uneasy accomplice in a mission that exposes the cutthroat intrigues of her troubled kingdom.  While she tries to judge right from wrong within the complex plots that ensnare her, Mosca discovers that few of the people she meets are as simple as they first seem.

Haven, Paul.  The Seven Keys of Balabad –  Juvenile collection
Balabad, the birthplace of the Brotherhood of Arachosia, an international secret society, is rumored to be the secret hiding place of the grand. It’s also the boring country Oliver Finch calls home. When a sacred carpet is stolen and one of the few friends he has disappears, Oliver is determined to figure out what exactly is going on. In order to do that he’ll have consult with a one-eyed warrior, track down the far-flung members of the Brotherhood, and unlock a centuries-old secret! Suddenly, life in Balabad for Oliver has become a whole lot more interesting . . . and dangerous.

Hawking, Lucy.  George’s Secret Key to the Universe –  Juvenile collection
When George’s new neighbor, Eric, turns out to be a brilliant scientist with a supercomputer, the boy takes an educational journey through the solar system and discovers how interesting outer space can be. A rival scientist, who also happens to be George’s teacher, steals the computer and sends Eric into a black hole, leaving George to save the day.

Hurst, Carol Otis.  Through the Lock  – Juvenile collection
Etta and her brother and sister, wards of the state of Massachusetts in 1840, have been parceled off to separate foster homes. Determined to gather her family back together and create a secure home for them, Etta has run away to find a place where they can live as a family. She encounters Walter, another runaway hiding in a cabin on the New Haven and Northampton Canal. Before she can get her own family together, Etta is caught up in Walter’s problems, which include the bringing a body up a mountain at night, convincing the canal company to hire them as a security team, and catching the vandals who are determined to sabotage the canal.

Johnson, Maureen.  Suite Scarlett – Teen collection
Scarlett Martin’s family owns a small hotel in the heart of New York City, and Scarlett lives there with her four siblings. For Scarlett’s fifteenth birthday, she gets the responsibility of caring for the Empire Suite and permanent guest Mrs. Amberson.  Scarlett doesn’t quite know what to make of the C-list starlet, world traveler, and aspiring autobiographer who wants to take over her life. Her summer takes a second unexpected turn when she meets a handsome aspiring actor. Before the summer is over, Scarlett will have to survive a whirlwind of thievery, Broadway glamour, romantic missteps, and theatrical deceptions.  Also read the sequel: Scarlett Fever.

Key, Alexander.  The Forgotten Door –  Juvenile collection
A boy falls through a mysterious door and finds himself alone in a forest.  Although he is able to talk to animals and read minds, he finds himself in trouble when he cannot communicate with the people surrounding him. Will he ever recover his memory and find a way to unlock the secrets of his life?

LaFleur, Suzanne.  Eight Keys –  Juvenile collection
Elise and Franklin have always been best friends. Since her parents died when she was young, Elise lives with her loving Uncle and Aunt.  Behind their big house is a barn with eight locked doors on the second floor.  When Elise and Franklin start middle school, things feel all wrong. Bullying. Not fitting in. Franklin suddenly seems babyish.  Then, soon after her twelfth birthday, Elise receives a mysterious key left for her by her father. A key that unlocks one of the eight doors upstairs in the barn . . .

Lanthier, Jennifer.  The Mystery of the Martello Tower  - Juvenile collection
Hazel and Ned are home for summer vacation and looking forward to long, lazy days that include spending time with their father. But when he disappears, their summer plunges into chaos. The babysitter leaves, their apartment is burgled, and two menacing thugs start turning up everywhere. Ned and Hazel try escaping to an island castle belonging to long-lost relatives. As they work to untangle the threads that ensnare their father, they learn of a second secret surrounding their mother’s death years ago. Only by solving both mysteries can they bring their father home.

Lisle, Holly.  The Ruby Key – Juvenile collection
Genna and her brother Dan live in the primitive village, surrounded by danger. Like other humans, they can go out only in daylight, and they have an uneasy truce with the nightlings, creatures of the nearby forest who only come out after dark. All are ruled by Letrin, an arrogant and powerful being who lives underground. But when Genna and Dan venture into the old forest one night, they encounter a Nightling slave who reveals a terrifying secret: their village chief has made a dangerous deal with Letrin, offering the lives of his people in exchange for his own immortality.

Malone, Marianne.  The Sixty-Eight Rooms – Juvenile collection
Almost everybody who has grown up in Chicago knows about the Thorne Rooms. Housed deep inside the Chicago Art Institute they are a collection of 68 exquisitely crafted miniature rooms. Each room is set in a different historic period, and every detail is perfect. Some might even say, the rooms are magic. Imagine—what if on a field trip, you discovered a key that allowed you to shrink so that you could sneak inside and explore the rooms’ secrets? What if you discovered that others had done so before you? And that someone had left something important behind..?

Mass, Wendy.  Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life –  Juvenile and Teen collections
Jeremy’s summer takes an unexpected turn when a mysterious wooden box with a note that says it holds the meaning of life arrives in the mail. He’s supposed to open it on his birthday, but the keys are missing, and the box is made so that what’s inside will be destroyed without the keys. Jeremy and his friend Lizzy set off to find them, and they  soon discover that there might be other ways of finding out the meaning of life.

Nation, Kaleb.  Bran Hambric: The Specter Key  - Juvenile collection
Bran Hambric believes that the Farfield Curse is over. But when he discovers a safe-deposit box in his dead mother’s name, Bran’s past comes rushing back. Now he’s on a frightening path that puts everyone he cares about in danger.  When his best friend Astara is kidnapped, Bran will do whatever it takes to save her and prevent the evil mage on his trail from claiming the power of the curse for herself. But will the magic destroy him the way it destroyed his mother?

Nix, Garth.  The Keys to the Kingdom  – Juvenile & Teen collections
Seven days. Seven keys. Seven virtues. Seven sins. One mysterious house is the doorway to a very mysterious world — where one boy is about to venture and unlock a number of fantastical secrets.  During a running exercise at school, Arthur Penhaligon collapses from an asthma attack. Upon awakening, he meets a stranger, Mister Monday, who hands Arthur an unusual key which begins a wild adventure. Using the powers of the key, Arthur travels to another realm and battles many evil creatures in a struggle to save his world from a mysterious disease.

Pearce, Jackson.  Sweetly –  Juvenile & Teen collections
Years ago, Ansel, Gretchen, and Gretchen’s twin ventured into the woods near their home in search of a witch. After being chased by a monster, only Ansel and Gretchen come out; their sister is never seen again. Their mother dies of grief and their father remarries. And when their father dies, Ansel and Gretchen’s stepmother kicks them out. They find a home with a beautiful chocolatier, but Gretchen’s childhood fears come back to haunt her. With new friend Samuel, she must figure out how to stop this monster and uncover the mystery behind the way it chooses its victims.

Perro, Bryan.  Amos Daragon; The Key of Braha -  Juvenile collection
Amos survived his first mission, but an encounter with a mysterious girl sends him on his way to Braha, the City of the Dead, where souls await judgment. Amos, now a spirit himself, meets Jerik, a decapitated criminal who carries his head. Jerik says that Braha is overcrowded with spirits; the gods have shut the doors. A key will unlock them, but its missing. Only someone who dies and comes back to life can find it. Will Amos be that someone? Will his ingenuity and intelligence be enough to restore order? And even if Amos finds the key, will he ever return to the land of the living?

Roberts, Laura Peyton.  Green  - Juvenile collection
Turning thirteen starts off with a bang for Lily when a present explodes! Soon after, a trio of leprechauns  appear and whisk her away to a land of clover, piskies, a new friend, a cute boy, and lots of glimmering, glittering gold. A world of Green. It turns out that Lily, like her grandmother before her, is next in line to be keeper for the Clan of Green,in charge of all their gold. IF she passes three tests. And she has to pass them. Because if she doesn’t she may never get to go home again…

Rodda, Emily.  The Key to Rondo –  Juvenile collection
There are three rules to the old, painted music box: Wind the box three times only. Never shut the box when the music is playing. Never move the box before the music stops.  Leo wouldn’t dream of breaking these rules, but does his stubborn cousin Mimi listen? She winds the box four times–and suddenly the paintings on its side come to life and a powerful witch is released. Now it’s up to Leo and Mimi to stop the witch, if only they can find the key to the music box–and the magical world it controls.

Sage, Angie.  Magyk –  Juvenile collection
Septimus Heap, the seventh son of a seventh son, disappears the night he is born, and is pronounced dead by the midwife. That same night, the baby’s father, Silas Heap, comes across an abandoned child in the snow — a newborn girl with violet eyes. The Heaps take her into their home, name her Jenna, and raise her as their own. But who is this mysterious baby girl, and what really happened to their beloved son Septimus?

Selznick, Brian.  The Invention of Hugo Cabret  -  Juvenile & Teen collections
Orphan, clock keeper, and thief, Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. But when his world suddenly interlocks with an eccentric, bookish girl and a bitter old man who runs a toy booth in the station, Hugo’s undercover life, and his most precious secret, are put in jeopardy. A cryptic drawing, a treasured notebook, a stolen key, a mechanical man, and a hidden message from Hugo’s dead father form the backbone of this intricate, tender, and spellbinding mystery.

Tubb, Kristin O’Donnel.  The 13^th Sign  – Juvenile collection
What if there was a 13th zodiac sign?  What if you’re no longer Sagittarius, but Ophiuchus, the healer, the 13th sign. Your personality has changed. So has your mom’s and your best friend’s.  What about the rest of the world?  What if you were the one who accidentally unlocked the 13th sign, causing this world-altering change, and infuriating the other 12 signs?  Jalen did it, and now she must use every ounce of her strength and cunning to send the signs back where they belong. Lives–including her own–depend upon it.

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Everyone I know has at least one key that they can’t identify. These books take into account the questions you might have if you find a mysterious key. Where did it come from? What does it unlock?  What is on the other side of that lock?  If you like keys for the sake of their history, beauty and mystery, try one of these books and imagine what you could unlock with a secret key…

::Kelly::

Old Favorite: Flaming Arrows

When I was a kid, historical fiction was my favorite genre for quite a few years.  The more danger the characters were in, the more I liked the book.  My favorites were books on frontier and pioneer life…the kids in those books seemed to be more self-sufficient and danger-prone than they were at any other time in history!  Plus there was the whole survival thing added on to the danger.  As I read,  shivering in anticipation, I thought how I would manage to deal with being in the same situation…  Of course, being in the safety of my own house, it was easy to second-guess or plan better.

My own frontier survival skills were honed by reading William O. Steele’s books–The Buffalo Knife, Winter Danger,  The Lone Hunt, Trail Though Danger.  My real favorites were Tomahawks and Trouble and The Year of the Bloody Sevens, but Minuteman Library Network doesn’t own a copy of either.  So this week’s Old Favorite is my third favorite of Mr. Steele’s titles: Flaming Arrows.

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It’s 1785, and Chad Radburn and his family live in one of the Tennessee Cumberland wilderness settlements.  Pappy is a fine hunter and farmer, and Mammy an excellent homemaker. The family’s little cabin is secure and homey for Chad, his sister Sarah and his brother Amos.  All the kids help with chores, but as the oldest, Chad has extra responsibilities.  He even has a musket now, to hunt with and to help his father protect his mother and the younger ones from the Chickamauga raiding parties that sometimes attack the settlements.

Chad’s family learns that all the settlers are in danger when one of their neighbors comes to tell them the Chickamaugas are raiding. Mr. and Mrs. Radburn and Chad load up everything they can carry, and take themselves, the younger children and their livestock to the fort. The fort is small and crowded, but it’s safe and welcoming. Or is it?

When the Logan family tries to enter, most of the men in the fort want to turn away the mother and her three young sons.  Her husband is Traitor Logan, who sometimes trades with the Indian tribes and is known to have lived with them.  Though the family is skinny and weary-looking and they’re sure to be killed if they’re left outside, the frightened settlers don’t want anything to do with a traitor, even if he’s not with them. But Chad’s father convinces the rest of the families in the fort to bring the Logan family inside.  He promises to take responsibility for them.

When the siege continues for days with no signs of stopping, Chad starts to feel the weight of his father’s responsibility on his own shoulders.  It seems like the Indians know right where to go, and rumblings start about the Logan family.  Is all the danger outside the fort, or is someone from inside helping the enemy?  If peace is to be kept and the settlers are to survive, Chad has to take action.

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William O. Steele was born in 1917.  When he died in 1979, he had written 39 books for children and young adults.  He won several awards for his titles, including a Newbery Honor  for The Perilous Road.  Almost all his books take place along the frontier and feature young pioneers (real and fictional) dealing with the conflicts of making their way in the wilderness.

Flaming Arrows was originally published 1n 1957, when awareness of cultural differences between the native tribes and the settlers wasn’t often acknowledged, let alone recognized.  Indians are portrayed as the “bad guys” with no explanation about why they might be unhappy about being invaded by strangers taking over their land. We know now that there are better explanations for the violence that erupted on the frontier, but people living in those times didn’t have the benefit of our current knowledge and sensitivity.

There is a very good foreword by Jean Fritz  in the modern editions, republished in the 1990s.  She mentions that the history reflects the feelings, the worries and the dangers of the time.  Jean Fritz is a well-known author of historical fiction and non-fiction who was also a contemporary of William Steele.  Anyone reading these titles should definitely read the foreword.  It would be a good jumping-off point for a discussion on historical fiction and the way points of view and “known” history change over the years.

Flaming Arrows, like most of Mr. Steele’s books, is most appropriate for fourth and fifth graders, or for readers interested in or studying frontier life.  They are adventures and survival stories, and can be a little violent, like the times which they reflect.  They’re definitely good for historical fiction book reports!

So pick up any one of William O. Steele’s books if you’re interested in a good adventure story.  And let us know what you think!

::Kelly::