Because of Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea

Book Jacket

It's the start of fifth grade for seven kids at Snow Hill School.  There's Jessica, the new girl, smart and perceptive, who's having a hard time fitting in; Alexia, a bully, your friend one second, your enemy the next; Peter, class prankster and troublemaker; Luke, the brain; Danielle, who never stands up for herself; shy Anna, whose home situation makes her an outcast; and Jeffrey, who hates school.

Only Mr. Terupt, their new and energetic teacher, seems to know how to deal with them all.  He makes the classroom a fun place, even if he doesn't let them get away with much...until the snowy winter day when an accident changes everything--and everyone.

Rob Buyea's engaging first novel features seven narrators, each with a unique story, and each with a different perspective on what makes their teacher so special.

Review

I have a feeling this is a book that will inspire teachers to be more like Mr. Terupt and makes the rest of us wish we'd had a Mr. Terupt at some point in our schooling.

The set up of this book, with each chapter narrated by a different kid, took some getting used to (seven different voices is a lot!).  Buyea nails some of the kids' voices, while others seem like a stereotype rather than authentic.  However, as the book goes on, the chapters flow more easily, and Buyea does a great job of characterizing the kids differently and quickly.

The real magic of this book is how so many lessons are crammed in, and quite believably, too.  These fifth graders learn that everyone has their own secrets and hurts; they learn to love and learn from special needs kids; they learn forgiveness and tough love; they learn how to cope with guilt and how to learn from mistakes; they learn that prayer can make tough times a little easier; they learn that when someone in your life is special, you should make sure that person knows how you feel.

I loved these kids, especially Danielle, Jeffrey, and Jessica.  I kind of hope there's a sequel, detailing their sixth grade year, though I hope it is less dramatic than this one.  For their sakes.

Five out of five free days.

Release Date:  October 2010
Reading Level: Grade 3+
Where In Dunlap Public Library's Collection: BLUESTEM

Emma by Kaoru Mori

Book Jacket

An upstairs gentleman and a downstairs servant share a secret love.

The saga begins.  In Victorian England, a young girl named Emma is rescued from a life of destitution and raised to become a proper British maid.  When she meets William, the eldest son of a wealthy family, their love seems destined.  But in this world, even matters of the heart are ruled by class distinctions.

Review

I'm a big fan of star-crossed lovers.  Especially when they are star-crossed across class lines (which is why I shipped Cybil/Branson so hard in Downton Abbey, though sadly, they didn't get the development or screen time that I thought they deserved). 

I should have loved Emma.  But it was simply too unbelievable for me to appreciate. 

Let's start with the good:  the artwork!  I adore Mori's artistry.  I could have ignored the words and simply looked at the pictures and been quite happy.  I also liked Emma's boss, William's old governess.  She was sparky and great, with hints at a very sad backstory.

However, this was not enough to make me fall in love.  I just can't get over the fact that tons of guys--high born and low born--are falling all over themselves in order to win the hand of Emma.  I'm sorry, but isn't this 19th-century England?  Wouldn't most men ignore a maid?  And if they thought she was beautiful, wouldn't they either be disgusted with themselves or just take advantage of her in a thouroughly non-romantic way? 

Why was it so easy for them to fall in love?  And also, was that love?  I mean, they had a conversation, and kept running into each other around town.  But I saw no sparkage.  Maybe this is developed further in later volumes, but I don't think I'll stick around to find out.

Three out of five elephants.

Release Date:  September 2006
Reading Level: Grade 5+
Where In Dunlap Public Library's Collection: Not currently part of Dunlap's collection.

Countdown by Deborah Wiles

Book Jacket

A time that changed the world.  A time that changed Franny's life.

Franny Chapman just wants some peace.  But that's hard to get when her best friend is feuding with her, her sister has disappeared, and her uncle is fighting an old war in his head.  Her saintly younger brother is no help, and the cute boy across the street only complicates things.  Worst of all, everyone is walking around just waiting for a bomb to fall.

It's 1962, and it seems that the whole country is living in fear.  When President Kennedy goes on television to say that Russia is sending nuclear missiles to Cuba, it only gets worse.  Franny doesn't know how to deal with what's going on in the world--no more than she knows how to deal with what's going on with her family and friends.  But somehow she's got to make it through.

Featuring a captivating story interspersed with footage from 1962, award-winning author Deborah Wiles has created a documentary novel that will put you right alongside Franny as she navigates a dangerous time in both her history and our history.  It is an experience you will never forget.

Review

Throughout my school experience, every World or American History class I took inevitably ran out of time somewhere around the end of WWII.  I therefore have very little knowledge about the 1950s-1980s.  Wiles has accomplished what so many history teachers strive to create: an exciting, immersive look at a pivotal time in world history.

The Cuban Missile Crisis.  Previously, I learned more about this stressful time in X-Men: First Class than anywhere else.  I now have a much fuller, and less mutant-centric, understanding of what went down.  Wiles intercuts her story of a young girl's coming-of-age with lots and lots of interviews, speeches, advertisements, sports announcements, quotes, pictures of celebrities, and Duck and Cover atomic bomb warnings.  As a result, I felt like I sank into the time period very easily.

Franny is a great character, embarrassed by her family, worried about her friendships, unsure of her cute neighbor, and terrified that an atomic bomb might drop on her school at any moment.  I was impressed with how Wiles wrote a very personal story about a little girl while world-building the 1960s so easily at the same time.  This was a very informative, very entertaining read.

Five out of five Bert the Turtles.

Release Date: May 2010
Reading Level: Grade 4+
Where In Dunlap Public Library's Collection: CAUDILL

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo

Book Jacket

Once, in a house on Egypt Street, there lived a china rabbit named Edward Tulane.  The rabbit was very pleased with himself, and for good reason: he was owned by a girl named Abilene, who treated him with the utmost care and adored him completely.

And then, one day, he was lost.

Kate DiCamillo takes us on an extraordinary journey, from the depths of the ocean to the net of a fisherman, from the top of a garbage heap to the fireside of a hoboes' camp, from the bedside of an ailing child to the streets of Memphis.  And along the way, we are shown a true miracle--that even a heart of the most breakable kind can learn to love, to lose, and to love again.

Review

DiCamillo has written a truly beautiful story.  I don't know how she managed to make Edward fully a china rabbit with a believably human soul.  She doesn't anthromorphize him--he cannot move or blink or talk.  But he is an old soul, one which can teach us a lot about life and love.

There's a very fairy tale feeling to this story, with the winding adventures and various people Edward runs into.  And of course the whole theme of the book is set in motion with Grandma Pellegrina's story about a princess who does not love anyone, and is subsequently turned into a warthog. 

Edward begins in much the same way, selfish and vain.  It is only when he loses the person he loves, endures awful circumstances, and finds new people to love, that he understands what the story is really about.  But I really like that the story doesn't end with Edward realizing he can love.  He also loses person after person who takes him in and cares for him.  Eventually, he shuts down, unwilling to open his heart to anyone else.  Which is just, well, so accurate.  Though of course that is not how the story ends.

DiCamillo's writing is gorgeous, as are the pictures that appear every few chapters.  This book is a treat.

Five out of five patchwork dolls.

Release Date:  February 2006
Reading Level: Grade 3+
Where In Dunlap Public Library's Collection: BLUESTEM

The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz

Book Jacket

Meet Isabel "Izzy" Spellman, private investigator.  This twenty-eight-year-old may have a checkered past littered with romantic mistakes, excessive drinking, and creative vandalism; she may be addicted to Get Smart reruns and prefer entering homes through windows rather than doors--but the upshot is she's good at her job as a licensed private investigator with her family's firm, Spellman Investigations.  Invading people's privacy comes naturally to Izzy.  In fact, it comes naturally to all the Spellmans.  If only they could leave their work at the office.  To be a Spellman is to snoop on a Spellman; tail a Spellman; dig up dirt on, blackmail, and wiretap a Spellman.

Part Nancy Drew, part Dirty Harry, Izzy walks an indistiguishable line between Spellman family member and Spellman employee.  Duties include: completing assignments from the bosses, aka Mom and Dad (preferably without scrutiny); appeasing her chronically perfect lawyer brother (often under duress); setting an example for her fourteen-year-old sister, Rae (who's become addicted to "recreational surveillance"); and tracking down her uncle (who randomly disappears on benders dubbed "Lost Weekends").  But when Izzy's parents hire Rae to follow her (for the purpose of ascertaining the identity of Izzy's new boyfriend), Izzy snaps and decides that the only way she will ever be normal is if she gets out of the family business.  But there's a hitch: she must take one last job before they'll let her go--a fifteen-year-old, ice-cold missing person case.  She accepts, only to experience a disappearance far closer to home, which becomes the most important case of her life.

Review

This is one of the most entertaining books I've read in long time!  The pace is cracking, the writing is witty and unexpected and hilarious.  I enjoyed every single page written about this delightfully dysfunctional family.

I have long been a bit in love with private investigators, though mostly that love was expressed through my adoration of Veronica Mars.  There's something so intriguing about PIs, who work above and below and through the law in order to find and unveil people's secrets.  It is maybe the most morally grey job that I can think of?  At the moment.

Each member of the Spellman family is well-developed, made awesome and annoying in their own unique ways.  I have a special fondness for Rae, and especially her relationship with Isabel.  They are so brutally honest with each other, and every time Izzy handily throws Rae across the room, you know they love each other.  This is that kind of book.

I highly recommend The Spellman Files to anyone who enjoys humor.  Yeah, I'm being that broad.  Read it!

Five out of five smashed headlights.

Release Date: March 2007
Reading Level: Grade 10+
Where In Dunlap Public Library's Collection: Not currently part of Dunlap's collection.

Saturn Apartments by Hisae Iwaoka

Book Jacket

A touching, character-rich vision of an intriguing new world.

Far in the future, humankind has evacuated the earth in order to preserve it.  Humans now reside in a gigantic structure that forms a ring around the earth, 35 kilometers up in the sky.  The society of the ring is highly stratified: the higher the floor, the greater the status.  Mitsu, the lowly son of a window washer, has just graduated junior high.  When his father disappears and is assumed dead, Mitsu must take on his father's occupation.  As he struggles with the transition to working life, Mitsu's job treats him to an outsider's view into the living-room dioramas of the Saturn Apartments.

Review

I love the idea and setting of this graphic novel series.  It makes sense to me that in a future where Earth is uninhabitable, we would build something nearby rather than risk everything by shooting off into space.  And having the hero of our story be a spacesuit window washer?  Genius.  Even in the fancy future, mundane chores still have to be done.

Except window washing in space is anything but mundane.  Nevermind the occasional high winds that might try to kill you.  The real interest comes from looking down into the apartments of the windows you are watching.  Each chapter roughly focuses on one person in the Saturn Apartments, and reveals a bit about their story.

My favorite was undoubtedly the girl who lives on the surface of the ring, repairing holes with her spacesuited cat.  There are other touching stories of love, loss, and faith in humanity. 

Despite the sweetness of the stories, and the humor often portrayed through illustrations, I didn't love this book.  I never felt like I connected to Mitsu, and a lot of the time there just wasn't enough action for my personal preference.  Maybe when I'm in the mood for a slower paced story, I'll come back to the adventures in the Saturn Apartments.

Three out of five last whales.

Release Date: May 2010
Reading Level: Grade 7+
Where In Dunlap Public Library's Collection: Not currently part of Dunlap's collection.

In Too Deep by Jude Watson

Book Jacket

Fourteen-year-old Amy Cahill and her younger brother, Dan, head to the Land Down Under to discover what their own mother and father knew about the hunt for the 39 Clues.  But following in their parents' footsteps brings up lost memories for Amy so awful that she can't share then...even with Dan.  Haunted by the ghosts of their past, chased by deadly competitors, Dan and Amy can't see who is an enemy and who is a friend.  Their blindness leads to a terrible mistake...and the death of a hidden ally.

Review

In the 6th book of the 39 Clues series, we get a lot of information!  The Cahill parents are fleshed out, and their cause of death is mostly revealed.  Irena gets a lot of page time, and the hints of her humanity take root in a very real way in this book.  AND we get more of Nellie, who has always been a little too good to be true.

Australia was fun to visit, but it wasn't my favorite location.  I mostly loved the descriptions of Aussies themselves, perpetually sunny and laidback.

We are also introduced to Isabel Kabra, possibly the most evil mother I've ever read about.  YIKES.  I would not want to cross her path, which is not great for Amy and Dan. 
The series is becoming far more wide-reaching, encompassing more than a simple "discover one clue per book" formula.  I like it!

Four out of five airplane pilots.

Release Date:  November 2009
Reading Level: Grade 3+
Where In Dunlap Public Library's Collection: J39C