When was the last time your children caught you reading a good book? When was the last time you read to them? If you want your children to read, you've got to set a good example. If you don't and you rail on them to read more, they will think, "Why should I? You don't!"
We read books out loud together, such as James and the Giant Peach, as a family well into our kids' teen years. Of course, our kids also grew up in our bookstore, instilling in them the love of reading and knowing the business of books. This experience held them in good stead getting them into their colleges and getting them their careers after college. Was it worth it? Oh yeah! My grandchildren think new books are the best presents ever. . .and the beat goes on.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Thursday, October 25, 2007
A First Book for Elementary Students
Title: Pirates Eat Porridge
Author: Christopher Morgan
Illustrator: Neil Curtis
Publisher and/or Distributor: Roaring Brook Press
Publisher Website: www.roaringbrookpress.com
Pages: 80
ISBN: 978-1-59643-304-5
Price: $12.95
Publishing Date: Oct 2007
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 4 hearts
This fun book is written as an elementary child’s first novel. It’s filled with fun illustrations that spark the imagination. The story line centers around a pirate who comes to visit a girl and her brother, insisting they feed him porridge. He is accompanied by a pig who the pirate insists is a parrot. The kids’ house suddenly becomes a pirate ship and they learn how to sail it into several adventures featuring such excellent things as cabbage and treasure. We rated this enjoyable first book four hearts.
Author: Christopher Morgan
Illustrator: Neil Curtis
Publisher and/or Distributor: Roaring Brook Press
Publisher Website: www.roaringbrookpress.com
Pages: 80
ISBN: 978-1-59643-304-5
Price: $12.95
Publishing Date: Oct 2007
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 4 hearts
This fun book is written as an elementary child’s first novel. It’s filled with fun illustrations that spark the imagination. The story line centers around a pirate who comes to visit a girl and her brother, insisting they feed him porridge. He is accompanied by a pig who the pirate insists is a parrot. The kids’ house suddenly becomes a pirate ship and they learn how to sail it into several adventures featuring such excellent things as cabbage and treasure. We rated this enjoyable first book four hearts.
Mature Young Adult Coming of Age Book
Title: Last Dance at the Frosty Queen
Author: Richard Uhlig
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Knopf
Publisher Website: www.randomhouse.com
Pages: 358
ISBN: 978-0-375-83967-2
Price: $15.99
Publishing Date: 2007
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 5 hearts
This “R” rated young adult book (explicit sex scenes) is a superbly written coming of age story centered in a small Kansas town in the 1980s. Arthur M. Flood is a member of a dysfunctional family: the widower-remarried funeral director father who escapes his melancholy by watching TV constantly; the older brother who mourns the loss of his high school sweetheart to the “world” and deals with it with booze, pot, and junk food; and Arthur, who deals with the confines of his small community and high school through frequent sex with a variety of inappropriate partners, including a teacher. Suddenly mysterious, wild, and crazy Vanessa comes into his life from urbane California and great wealth. Sent to stay with an uncle while she undergoes treatment at Mennigers in Topeka, Vanessa takes on Arthur as an interesting project.
The characters and the settings make this an especially strong, realistic commentary on small town Midwestern life and the need for its youth to escape to the opportunities of large, urban environments. We rated this well-crafted story five hearts.
Author: Richard Uhlig
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Knopf
Publisher Website: www.randomhouse.com
Pages: 358
ISBN: 978-0-375-83967-2
Price: $15.99
Publishing Date: 2007
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 5 hearts
This “R” rated young adult book (explicit sex scenes) is a superbly written coming of age story centered in a small Kansas town in the 1980s. Arthur M. Flood is a member of a dysfunctional family: the widower-remarried funeral director father who escapes his melancholy by watching TV constantly; the older brother who mourns the loss of his high school sweetheart to the “world” and deals with it with booze, pot, and junk food; and Arthur, who deals with the confines of his small community and high school through frequent sex with a variety of inappropriate partners, including a teacher. Suddenly mysterious, wild, and crazy Vanessa comes into his life from urbane California and great wealth. Sent to stay with an uncle while she undergoes treatment at Mennigers in Topeka, Vanessa takes on Arthur as an interesting project.
The characters and the settings make this an especially strong, realistic commentary on small town Midwestern life and the need for its youth to escape to the opportunities of large, urban environments. We rated this well-crafted story five hearts.
Another Grreat Book for Lady Reluctant Readers
Title: Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy
Author: Ally Carter
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Hyperion
Publisher Website: www.hyperionteens.com
Pages: 236
ISBN: 978-142310005-8
Price: $16.99
Publishing Date: 2007
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 5 hearts
This is the second novel in a young adult series that focuses on a girls’ private school dedicated to training young women for careers in espionage—Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women. Protagonist Cameron “Cammie” Morgan had to deal with a short-lived romance with Josh, a townie boy in the first series novel. In this story, Cammie and her friends return for their sophomore year of school to learn that the east wing of their mansion has been mysteriously closed off. Of course the young spies immediately begin obsessing over the mystery. Their curiosity is satisfied when a group of young men spies are inserted into a field exercise. Enter a contingent from the hitherto unknown Blackthorn Institute who has moved into the east wing.
The author has an almost magical ability to portray teenaged female angst issues with the complication of the natural instinct toward paranoia instilled in the girls by their training. The inner dialogue is hilarious and the story development pulls the reader along with the constant curiosity of what comes next in this shadow world’s dilemma. We rated this fun read five hearts.
Author: Ally Carter
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Hyperion
Publisher Website: www.hyperionteens.com
Pages: 236
ISBN: 978-142310005-8
Price: $16.99
Publishing Date: 2007
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 5 hearts
This is the second novel in a young adult series that focuses on a girls’ private school dedicated to training young women for careers in espionage—Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women. Protagonist Cameron “Cammie” Morgan had to deal with a short-lived romance with Josh, a townie boy in the first series novel. In this story, Cammie and her friends return for their sophomore year of school to learn that the east wing of their mansion has been mysteriously closed off. Of course the young spies immediately begin obsessing over the mystery. Their curiosity is satisfied when a group of young men spies are inserted into a field exercise. Enter a contingent from the hitherto unknown Blackthorn Institute who has moved into the east wing.
The author has an almost magical ability to portray teenaged female angst issues with the complication of the natural instinct toward paranoia instilled in the girls by their training. The inner dialogue is hilarious and the story development pulls the reader along with the constant curiosity of what comes next in this shadow world’s dilemma. We rated this fun read five hearts.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Teens, Jazz, and the 1950s
Title: Sky
Author: Roderick Townley
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Publisher Website: www.simonsayskids.com
Pages: 266
ISBN: 0-689-85712-8
Price: $16.95
Publishing Date: 2004
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 5 hearts
This superb young adult book takes on several age appropriate conflict themes. Alec “Sky” Schuyler is fifteen going on thirty. Attending high school in New York City in the 1950s is a challenge, especially when one is seeking to become a competent jazz musician, keep a low profile at school, win the heart of a cute girl, support an incompetent father while putting up with his unreasonable demands, and figure out which life path to take. Sky and his father escalate their conflict to the level where Sky runs away from home while continuing to complete school assignments. Life is further complicated by a male teacher’s inappropriate advances on Sky’s girl friend. Fortunately, help comes from a reluctant mentor in the form of a genius blind jazz pianist who takes on Sky as a special project.
The author has brought to life the core emotions of all these conflicts and manages to bring them to resolution with the artistry of a symphony conductor. For those of us who lived this timeframe and had an interest in the jazz scene of those years, this story is especially poignant. For the young target audience, it opens a window onto another reality. This is an ideal book for reluctant readers and for gifted readers. We rated it five hearts.
Author: Roderick Townley
Illustrator:
Publisher and/or Distributor: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Publisher Website: www.simonsayskids.com
Pages: 266
ISBN: 0-689-85712-8
Price: $16.95
Publishing Date: 2004
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 5 hearts
This superb young adult book takes on several age appropriate conflict themes. Alec “Sky” Schuyler is fifteen going on thirty. Attending high school in New York City in the 1950s is a challenge, especially when one is seeking to become a competent jazz musician, keep a low profile at school, win the heart of a cute girl, support an incompetent father while putting up with his unreasonable demands, and figure out which life path to take. Sky and his father escalate their conflict to the level where Sky runs away from home while continuing to complete school assignments. Life is further complicated by a male teacher’s inappropriate advances on Sky’s girl friend. Fortunately, help comes from a reluctant mentor in the form of a genius blind jazz pianist who takes on Sky as a special project.
The author has brought to life the core emotions of all these conflicts and manages to bring them to resolution with the artistry of a symphony conductor. For those of us who lived this timeframe and had an interest in the jazz scene of those years, this story is especially poignant. For the young target audience, it opens a window onto another reality. This is an ideal book for reluctant readers and for gifted readers. We rated it five hearts.
Monday, October 22, 2007
New Edgar Font's Book
Title: Edgar Font’s Fakersville Power Station
Author: Patrick H.T. Doyle
Illustrator: Patrick H.T. Doyle
Publisher and/or Distributor: Armadillo Books
Publisher Website: www.armadillo-books.com
Pages: 303ISBN: 978-0-9786132-1-1
Price: $7.99
Publishing Date: 2007
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 5 hearts
This is the second midgrade fantasy in the Edgar Font’s Search for A House to Haunt series. As the first novel, this one encourages communications between children and their grandparents. Audrey and Garrett accompany their grandfather to Northern California where drawings left by great grandfather Leo Font lead them to a most unusual deserted community powered by hydroelectric power. All is not as it seems, however; the community isn’t deserted, just hidden.
These first two books have been delightful. We love seeing the teamwork between grandparent and grandchildren. The stretching of the reader’s imagination is always foremost—“This really could happen, right?” The story line is rarely predictable and the characters and settings are memorable. We rated this book five hearts.
Author: Patrick H.T. Doyle
Illustrator: Patrick H.T. Doyle
Publisher and/or Distributor: Armadillo Books
Publisher Website: www.armadillo-books.com
Pages: 303ISBN: 978-0-9786132-1-1
Price: $7.99
Publishing Date: 2007
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 5 hearts
This is the second midgrade fantasy in the Edgar Font’s Search for A House to Haunt series. As the first novel, this one encourages communications between children and their grandparents. Audrey and Garrett accompany their grandfather to Northern California where drawings left by great grandfather Leo Font lead them to a most unusual deserted community powered by hydroelectric power. All is not as it seems, however; the community isn’t deserted, just hidden.
These first two books have been delightful. We love seeing the teamwork between grandparent and grandchildren. The stretching of the reader’s imagination is always foremost—“This really could happen, right?” The story line is rarely predictable and the characters and settings are memorable. We rated this book five hearts.
Monday, October 1, 2007
A GRREAT Young Midgrade Spy Novel
Title: Spy Mice: Goldwhiskers
Author: Heather Vogel Frederick
Illustrator: Sally Wern Comport
Publisher and/or Distributor: Aladin Paperbacks / Simon Schuster
Publisher Website: www.simonsayskids.com
Pages: 250
ISBN: 978-1-4169-1442-6
Price: $5.99
Publishing Date: 2007
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 5 hearts
This young midgrade spy novel reminds me of Oliver Twist. A robbery ring, run by an older rat named “Master,” (aka “Goldwhiskers”) is made up of orphan mice who are taught to steal. They have to please the Master with their efforts if they want to eat and be sheltered. A piece of the Crown Jewels of England is stolen and three American mice investigators (Oz, D.B., and Glory Goldenleaf) team up with mice from Scotland-Yard to find the missing piece and to expose to the world this nefarious plot.
It is a very cute, exciting story with short chapters, great settings, and wonderful characters. This is a stand-alone third in a series which is ideally suited for reluctant readers. We rated it five hearts.
Author: Heather Vogel Frederick
Illustrator: Sally Wern Comport
Publisher and/or Distributor: Aladin Paperbacks / Simon Schuster
Publisher Website: www.simonsayskids.com
Pages: 250
ISBN: 978-1-4169-1442-6
Price: $5.99
Publishing Date: 2007
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 5 hearts
This young midgrade spy novel reminds me of Oliver Twist. A robbery ring, run by an older rat named “Master,” (aka “Goldwhiskers”) is made up of orphan mice who are taught to steal. They have to please the Master with their efforts if they want to eat and be sheltered. A piece of the Crown Jewels of England is stolen and three American mice investigators (Oz, D.B., and Glory Goldenleaf) team up with mice from Scotland-Yard to find the missing piece and to expose to the world this nefarious plot.
It is a very cute, exciting story with short chapters, great settings, and wonderful characters. This is a stand-alone third in a series which is ideally suited for reluctant readers. We rated it five hearts.
Midgrade Angst Is Essential to Interest Reluctant Readers in Reading
Title: Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Author: Jeff Kinney
Illustrator: Jeff Kinney
Publisher and/or Distributor: Amulet Books / Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
Publisher Website: http://www.amuletbooks.com/
Pages: 217
ISBN: 978-0-8109-9313-6
Price: $12.95
Publishing Date: 2007
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 5 hearts
This hilarious midgrade graphic novel about a professional nerd’s childhood in middle school is wonderfully realistic. Written in a journal format with self illustrations, we learn about the stresses and ironies that are ever present in a bright but non-athletic young man. This is not a perfect kid. He is just as likely to take advantage of other people given the chance to get ahead or to escape a painful experience. He’s particularly hard on those who are closest to him—especially his best friend.
The author shows us ourselves with uncanny accuracy. All of us have warts and pimples and painful memories. He portrays life in school and the cruelty of children in a manner that is all too familiar to many of us. We rated this book five hearts.
Author: Jeff Kinney
Illustrator: Jeff Kinney
Publisher and/or Distributor: Amulet Books / Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
Publisher Website: http://www.amuletbooks.com/
Pages: 217
ISBN: 978-0-8109-9313-6
Price: $12.95
Publishing Date: 2007
Reader: Bob Spear
Rating: 5 hearts
This hilarious midgrade graphic novel about a professional nerd’s childhood in middle school is wonderfully realistic. Written in a journal format with self illustrations, we learn about the stresses and ironies that are ever present in a bright but non-athletic young man. This is not a perfect kid. He is just as likely to take advantage of other people given the chance to get ahead or to escape a painful experience. He’s particularly hard on those who are closest to him—especially his best friend.
The author shows us ourselves with uncanny accuracy. All of us have warts and pimples and painful memories. He portrays life in school and the cruelty of children in a manner that is all too familiar to many of us. We rated this book five hearts.
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