The Message? by Allison

Dear Starla,

It was a dark peaceful night.  I was walking into Dunlap while texting, and I heard music.  It was VERY close.  I could feel the vibrations from it.  I look to the right, and I see the library, and all the windows had green, blue, purple, and pink lights glowing out of them.  I walked to the front door and opened it.  The music was great.  I ran to the food table after my three second tour of the place.

There was junk food of all kinds.  I started to dance.  I don't know ho wlong I danced, but I went for more food when my phone rang.  I went into the bathroom.  To my surprise it was quiet.  I answered my phone, and it was my mom.  She asked where I was and that is was 3:00 a.m.  I said I was at a friend's house and lost track of time.  I walked home with a text message from someone named Darlene...

The Bike by Madeline

Dear Diary,

Today is my birthday!  My mother took me first to Baker's Square for some chocolate chip pancakes.  Soooo yummy!  Then afterwards I went to Walmart to get my new bike which is sooo awesome.  It is neon green.  How PERFECT.  Then something happens!  Mr. Peters, my crazy old neighbor, took my bike and ran into the library.  I ran in after him, still dazed from when he came out of nowhere and nearly knocked me over as he pedaled off with it.

"Mr. Peters!" I yelled as I entered the library.

"SHHH!" the lady from behind the counter called.

Mr. Peters was out of sight completely.  In the distance I heard a deep voice calling my name.  "NORA!"  It seemed as though it was coming form the story room.  I ran in the room and twisted and turned, trying to find him.  Then suddenly the door slammed, the lights turned off, and the shades closed!  I saw a pair of eyes coming towards me.  I tried to scream but nothing came out.  I backed up against the wall, terribly frightened.

Suddenly, a hole opened up and I fell thousands of miles before I hit the bottom with a ginormous clash, and I awoke to the soft crying of my mother.  My eyes slowly opened to the bright world around me.

"Oh honey!"

"Mom?  What happened?"

"You fell off your new bike while we were riding and you fell six feet down a ravine before you stopped."

Fourth Comings by Megan McCafferty

Book Jacket

At first it seems that she's living the elusive New York City dream.  She's subletting an apartment with her best friend, Hope, working for a magazine that actually utilizes her psychology degree, and still deeply in love with Marcus Flutie, the charismatic addict-turned-Buddhist who first captivated her at sixteen.

Of course, reality is more complicated than dreamy cliches.  She and Hope share bunk beds in the "Cupcake"--the girlie pastel bedroom normally occupied by twelve-year-old twins.  Their Brooklyn neighborhood is better suited to "breeders," and she and Hope split the rent with their promiscuous high school pal, Manda, and her "genderqueer boifriend."  Freelancing for an obscure journal can't put a dent in Jessica's student loans, so she's eking out a living by babysitting her young niece and lamenting that she, unlike most of her friends, can't postpone adulthood by going back to school.

Yet it's the ever-changing relationship with Marcus that leaves her most unsettled.  At the ripe age of twenty-three, he's just starting his freshman year at Princeton University.  Is she ready to give up her imperfect yet invigorating post-college life just because her on-again/off-again soul mate asks her to...marry him?

Jessica has one week to respond to Marcus's perplexing marriage proposal.  During this time, she gains surprising wisdom from unexpected sources, including a popular talk show shrink, a drag queen named Royalle G. Biv, and yes, even her parents.  But the most shocking confession concerns two people she thought had nothing to hide: Hope and Marcus. 

Will this knowledge inspire Jessica to give up a world of late-night literary soirees, art openings, and downtown drunken karaoke to move back to New Jersey and be with the one man who's gripped her heart for years?  Jessica ponders this and other life choices with her signature snark and hyper-intense insight, making it the most tumultuous and memorable week of her twenty-something like.

Review

Let's start with the good, shall we?  I am incredibly impressed that McCafferty can cover Jessica's entire three-and-a-half year college experience in one book (Charmed Thirds), then turn around and spend the fourth book in the series detailing just one week.  I liked seeing Jessica bond with her family, learning to relate to them as adults instead of seeing them only from a child's perspective.  And I loved getting to know Hope as an actual character instead of merely a pen pal.

But.  I think I have lost my infatuation with Jessica Darling.  She is still funny.  But I get so frustrated with her!  She is too snarky for her own good, I think.  Her pessimism and cynicism got to be too much for me.  I'd rather look at the world with hope, and Jessica is just a downer. 

The other thing I had a problem with was Marcus.  He is rarely in these books, yet we are supposed to love him and think him perfect.  Why?  He is not dependable or mature or willing to sacrifice his desires for hers.  But because we are in Jessica's head, all we see is infatuation.  And yet...I'm not even sure if we're supposed to root for them?  I don't even know.  There were so many romantic mixed signals, and maybe that is supposed to be realistic, but it was too unfocused for me to really get behind either opinion--wanting them to be together or wanting them to break up.

Since I had problems with both the protagonist and her love interest...I'm going to have to rate this one pretty low.  Although I'll admit right now that I have every intention of finishing this series and seeing how Jessica's story finishes.

Two out of five dysfunctional relationships.

Release Date:  August 2007
Reading Level:  Grade 10+
Where In Dunlap Public Library's Collection:  YPL MCC


Don't believe me?  Check out these reviews of Fourth Comings:

Popgurls (spoilers)
Juiciliciousss

Night of the Howling Dogs by Graham Salisbury

Book Jacket

Dylan's Scout troop goes camping in Halape, a remote spot below the volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii.  The only thing wrong with the weekend on a beautiful , peaceful beach, is the presence of Louie, a tough older boy.  Louie and Dylan have corssed paths before and they just can't get along.

That night an earthquake rocks the camp, generating a giant wave that rushes in, sweeping away everyone and everything in its path.  Dylan and Louis must team up on a dangerous resuce mission.  The next hours are an amazing story of survival and the true meaning of leadership.  More amazing still is that this story actually happened!

Review

I'm not one of those people whose dream vacation spot is Hawaii.  It all seems too picturesque to me.  Night of the Howling Dogs brings the reality of Hawaii into sharp focus, even before the earthquake literally shakes things up.  I really enjoyed reading about cultural differences and barriers between native Hawaiians and the white families who moved to the island.  Salisbury also does a remarkable job bringing the feel of Hawaii to life--the heat, the bugs, the look of the landscape.  He brought some Hawaiian folklore and legends into the story as well, which was fascinating.

Once this background has been established, the story's adventure begins.  A severe earthquake hits the Boy Scouts' remote campground, trapping some under rocks, and the ocean sweeps inland, nearly drowning our protagonist.  With Japan's recent natural disaster in mind, this book takes on deeper meaning.  Which I guess it shouldn't need, because it is based on a real event.  I cannot imagine surviving such a horrible disaster, let alone being responsible for finding and saving everyone else.  Yet that's just what Dylan does, setting aside his rivalry with Louie to do so.

Four out of five eyeglasses on fishwire.

Release Date:  August 2007
Reading Level:  Grade 3+
Where In Dunlap Public Library's Collection: Not yet part of Dunlap's collection.


Don't believe me?  Check out these reviews of Night of the Howling Dogs:

Worducopia
Reading Review

Skype with Author Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich

After reviewing 8th Grade Superzero, I got in touch with author Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich.  Her emails were always incredibly friendly, and she offered to skype with a book group if I wanted.  Of course I wanted to!  Together with my friend Jenna, who is a 5th grade teacher at Wilder Waite, we discussed the novel yesterday.  Four kids met at the library today to skype with Olugbemisola.  She was just as friendly in person as in her writing.

We had a list of questions prepared, and each of us took turns asking.  I was most interested to learn how 8th Grade Superzero was written.  She wrote three pages for an application, then left it alone for years.  She picked it back up and added two chapters, then once again left it alone for years.  Finally she finished the book in a whirlwind week.  I can't imagine!  That is dedication.
I had a blast talking to an author, and Olugbemisola herself was wonderfully enlightening and delightful.  If she lived closer to Dunlap, I would definitely want to be her friend.

Love is the Higher Law by David Levithan

Book Jacket

Claire is sitting in homeroom.  Jasper is fast asleep.  Peter is waiting for Tower Records to open.

They don't really know each other.  Claire goes to school with Peter.  Peter met Jasper at a party, and they made plans to go out.

This is the everyday.  This is the before.

And then.

The world gets turned upside down.  Life gets turned inside out.  There is fear and there is grief and there is confusion and doubt.  It's a dark time, a tragic time. 

But there's more to it than that.

There's also love.  And kindness.  And a desire to make it through.

On 9/11, thousands of people died...but millions upon millions came together in ways they never would have imagined.

For Claire, Jasper, and Peter, life has been reshaped just when it was starting to take shape.  As their lives intersect and their feelings and experiences crystallize, there are new understandings, new friendships, and a new awareness of what really matters.

David Levithan has written a novel of loss and hope, grief and redemption.  Because even when tragedy occurs, love is indeed the higher law.

Review

This is a book that will restart those "Where were you?" conversations.  I was in 8th grade on September 11, 2001.  I remember being in the locker room, hearing that people were dying in New York City.  A girl said Peoria was going to be bombed, because we were #5 on a terrorist's hit list due to Caterpillar.  I was too young to fully understand what had happened, but the moment was important, and it is a permanent memory.

However, this book spoke to me more as a story of any disaster, so if you don't remember 9/11, there is still plenty to learn from and share experiences with.  My sophomore year of college, a tornado hit my school, wiping out the majority of the dorms.  I was in a bathroom with 16 other girls when the wall beside us was ripped away, and I saw whole buildings lying in piles of rubble.  By the grace of God, no one was killed, but that experience affected me the way 9/11 affected Claire, Jasper, and Peter.

I appreciated and understood their differing reactions:  wanting to talk about it all the time, never wanting to hear about it ever again.  Realizing with a shock that a whole day had gone by without thinking about the event.  Trying to find meaning in the catastrophe, to move on to something better instead of wallowing in the pain. 

Love is the Higher Law covers their emotions and actions from 9/11 to its first anniversary.  I loved seeing these three characters grow, both individually and together.  I loved seeing them find joy in the love and compassion that was so prevalent for a while after.  And mostly I loved that these characters chose to learn to love all of humanity rather than take the easy way out full of hatred and revenge.

Five out of five U2 lyrics.

Release Date:  August 2009
Reading Level:  Grade 8+
Where In Dunlap Public Library's Collection: LINCOLN


Don't believe me?  Check out these reviews of Love is the Higher Law:

College Candy
Frenetic Reader

K-1 LEGO Club

Since 26 kids showed up for the LEGO club last month, I divided the ages into K-1 and 2-3 next Wednesday.  With only the youngest kids, I was a lot more lenient about this month's theme.  Some made animals, some made piles of blood (to go with the shark), and some made machines that make animals.  Everyone was very chatty and often hilarious, and I had a blast listening to them and talking with them.

Pictures through the link!