COUNTING ON GRACE (FICTION)

FICTION
COUNTING ON GRACE by Elizabeth Winthrop (Random House)

If you are into American history at all, you know the photograph: a weary young girl standing in front of rows of bobbins, a smock askew, hair pulled up, leaning on one elbow, a child pausing from her twelve hour workday. This moment captured in black and white by artist, social reformer and advocate Lewis Hine was the inspiration for Elizabeth Winthrop's latest historical novel.

Grace and her best friend Arthur are forced to leave school to work in a mill, replacing full bobbins with empty ones. Grace is glad to have the chance to earn some extra pennies for her family, who depend on this contribution for their very survival. When a teacher encourages the children to write a letter of complaint to the National Labor Committee, Grace understands that outcomes of such an action could put her family in terrible jeopardy. Arthur, however, cannot bear the conditions in the mill. He sees opportunity in education and he is willing to do anything to get it, even if it means purposely mangling his hand in a machine. It seems the work of Lewis Hine has come too late for some. The experiences of the people around her, however painful, lead Grace to make a stunning choice about the path of her own life.

There are so many strong points about this novel. One is the tension. We care about all the characters, and every one of their choices reverberates in the lives of those they love. It is a powerful thing to read, as a child, the impact of decisions upon others in ways we don't expect. The situations, though painful, are done realistically, and convey the conflict of child labor so very powerfully in the context of the character's place and time. Which brings us to the research, which lends both believability and flavor to the prose and does just what good historical fiction should do: carry us away, make us feel as if we are there. The inclusion of Lewis Hine as a character in the story will lead children to delve deeper, in books like KIDS AT WORK: LEWIS HINE AND THE HISTORY OF CHILD LABOR by Russell Freedman (Clarion), KIDS ON STRIKE! by Susan Campbell Bartoletti (Houghton Mifflin), and the wonderful picture book KID BLINK BEATS THE WORLD by Don Brown (Roaring Brook). And the last great feat of this book is voice, which she has given to this Vermont farmgirl faced with the need to do the right thing in the face of contradictions. If you enjoyed the bold candor of the period writing in Jennifer Holm's OUR ONLY MAY AMELIA, you will love Grace's genial, colloquial point of view as well.

I'm very excited for author Elizabeth Winthrop, who gained acclaim for her unique mix of fantasy and historical fiction, CASTLE IN THE ATTIC, and has over fifty books under her belt. It just goes to show that the writer's mind is indeed a muscle, because her work is stronger than ever. This is a special contribution to the shelves of children's literature, and offers children a first-person view into their own history. A book deserving of Newbery consideration. (10 and up)


Also of interest:
Read an article in Smithsonian about the real "Grace," Addie Card! (Photo from the Smithsonian collection)

On a personal note:
Book-A-Day will be back Tuesday, October 1st! Have a good weekend.

Links are provided for informational use. Don't forget to support your local bookseller.

BE WATER, MY FRIEND (NONFICTION)

PICTURE BOOK
BE WATER, MY FRIEND: THE EARLY YEARS OF BRUCE LEE by Ken Mochizuki, illustrated by Dom Lee (Lee & Low)

In every passionate pursuit, the pursuit counts more than the object pursued.
--Bruce Lee

Young Bruce Lee doesn't like to sit still at school. But at the school of the martial arts master, he doesn't have to. When Bruce uses his new skills to fight others, his sage teacher ignores him, then advises him. "Big branches of a tree snap under the weight of snow, while weaker and suppler reeds bend and survive." What lessons are there in this master's riddles? How can Bruce learn to be calm while exchanging blows and kicks, how can he learn to be gentle in his world where so many blows were thrown? It is not until he tries to lay his fist on water that he realizes his own power to break through anything in the world. The enlightenment of this wild child is gradual and believable, and so hopeful, as children often make mistakes and need chances at a fresh start. Older children will be inspired by this book as well as younger children, so share it in high school classrooms along with the third grade! Sepia-colored renderings from acrylic/wax scratchboard are unusual, and evocative of the time period. This beautiful multicultural biography with universal appeal packs a real one-two punch. (7 and up)

Also of interest:
More martial arts translate into the literary arts! Give reluctant reading a karate chop with these black-belt books.
LEGEND OF HONG KU DONG by Anne Sibley O'Brien (Charlesbridge) A graphic novel/picture book chronicles the reversals of fortune of the 17th century Korean hero who fought for the rights of peasants in an unfair feudal system. A great entrée for kids into what was the first novel written in the Korean language! Unique! (8 and up)
THE MASTER SWORDSMAN AND THE MAGIC DOORWAY: TWO TALES FROM CHINA by Alice Provensen (Simon and Schuster) A young apprentice learns the hard way how to be the master, and a masterful artist uses his craft to protect his people. The virtues of a job done well are exalted in this hard-to-find but worthwhile gem. Two for one! (6 and up)
BEAUTIFUL WARRIOR: THE LEGEND OF THE NUN'S KUNG FU by Emily Arnold McCully (Scholastic) Wu Mei helps Mingyi escape a forced marriage to a bullying bandit with the help of mastery in "qi," or vital energy. McCully's stunning illustrations are inspired by her study of traditional Chinese art. You go, girls! (7 and up)
BLUE FINGERS: A NINJA'S TALE by Cheryl Aylward Whitesel (Clarion) 16th Century Japan is the backdrop of this smart story in which twins exchange fates. Great information on the real, non-movie ninja culture is woven throughout this adventure. (10 and up)
THE TIGER part of the FIVE ANCESTORS series by Jeff Stone (Random House), a crazily exciting series in which children trained in martial arts and named for animals who possess their inherent skills kick butt in honor of their foster brothers and the monks who care for them. Adventure with a major manga feel! (11 and up)

Links are provided for informational use. Don't forget to support your local bookseller.

THE LOUDS MOVE IN (PICTURE BOOK)

PICTURE BOOK
THE LOUDS MOVE IN! by Carolyn Crimi, illustrated by Regan Dunnick (Mashall Cavendish)
The Loud Family laughs loud. HA HA HA! They dance loud. CHA CHA CHA! They sing loud. LA LA LA! They are living large. Unfortunately, the neighbors do not share their joie de vie. "They are upsetting my fish," complained Miss Shushermush. "My china is always shaking," said Mr. Pitterpatter. "They're disturbing the plants," worried Miss Meekerton. How can such different personalities learn to live together in peace, with or without quiet? Perhaps distance will make the heart grow fonder. Get your throat lozenges out, because there's no holding back when you deliver this as a keystone in a literally screamingly funny storytime. Chummy, chuckly cartoon illustrations accent the deadpan, pot-and-pan humor; I love how the family's mouths take up most of the their faces. (5 and up)

Carolyn Crimi is one of my all time favorite authors of humorous books (and one of my favorite live presenters as well), and she, along with other children's book comics Andrea Beaty and Julia Durango have newly constructed my favorite laugh shack in the blogosphere: Three Silly Chicks. All silliness aside, it is an amazing, regularly updated resource for finding humorous children's books, and who could ever have enough of those? This week, they are hosting an easy-to-enter contest you won't want to miss! Don't be chicken, cross that road and check it out!

Also of interest:
More difficult neighbors! You can hold a storytime at your next condo association meeting.
OKIE DOKIE ARTICHOKIE by Grace Lin (Viking) A monkey kindly tells his giraffe neighbor to knock on the ceiling whenever he's being too noisy, but when the antlers keep sending the wrong message, it's monkey who hits the ceiling. When monkey decides to retaliate with the silent treatment, how can this misunderstanding be resolved? (6 and up)
NOSEY MRS. RAT by Jeffrey Allen, illustrated by James Marshall (Viking) For the good of the neighborhood, Mrs. Rat likes to keep tabs on things, until Brewster Blackstone decides it's time for the tattletale to get some payback. (5 and up)

Ummm, hi, Viking, why are these book out of print? Do we have too many books about conflict resolution out there? Am I going to have to come down and get tough?! Just kidding. Luckily, I read these books before they went under, so I know how to play nice with others. Anyway, these are worth a trip to the library.

Links are provided for informational use. Don't forget to support your local bookseller.

JOHNNY APPLESEED'S ANNIVERSARY

In honor of Johnny "Appleseed" Chapman's birthday, I am going to direct you to my Johnny Appleseed Anniversary page, http://www.planetesme.com/seasons.html#johnny. Pictured is one of my staple storytime stars on this day, an oldie but a goodie: THE STORY OF JOHNNY APPLESEED by Aliki.

Johnny Appleseed is my American hero. I talk about him all year long. His birthday is a very holy day on my calendar, because he was a remarkable and singular man, a visionary and an inspiration. Though the details of his life are sometimes mixed with legend, there is one thing I feel in true: every day, he planted at least one seed, and by doing one small thing every day consistently, he changed the landscape of our nation. I believe that read-aloud is one small "seed" we can plant, and by sharing a book with a child every day, we, too, can change the landscape of our nation. I hope we can all pause for just a moment on this special day and think of what we can commit to doing consistently, in his memory and in the interest of our wonderful country. Every year, my family makes a resolution of one small thing we can do every day. You are invited to join in this tradition! What can we do? Read aloud? Recycle something? Do some small kind act anonymously? Feed someone? The saying goes, "Anyone can count the seeds in an apple. Who can count the apples in a seed?" Plant your seed and watch what grows and grows and grows.

One of my friends, in a moment of faltered patience with my long-winded adoration, nicknamed me "Jappy Appleseed." I wear that moniker with pride (even if I don't drink Tab or have a credit card, Sheila!).

Links are provided for informational use. Don't forget to support your local bookseller.

FLETCHER AND THE FALLING LEAVES (PICTURE BOOK)

PICTURE BOOK

FLETCHER AND THE FALLING LEAVES by Julia Rawlinson, illustrated by Tiphanie Beeke (Greenwillow) Fletcher the Fox is distressed to discover that his favorite tree is losing its precious leaves. He tries tying leaves to the tree, catching them as they blow in the breeze, even assisting the tree in holding on to its last leaf as long as it can. But when nature takes it course, Fletcher feels like he has failed, until he sees the glittery garb in whichthe tree is adorned after the first frost. The transformation of the seasons is fully celebrated in this gentle picture book, featuring dear and unpretentious watercolors and a story full of the sincerity and eagerness of one friend trying to help another. I was already a fan of Tiphanie Beeke after her storytime charmer BOOK! BOOK! BOOK! by Deborah Bruss (Scholastic), but this latest seasonal surprise had me "falling" for her all over again. (4 and up)

Also of interest:
FALL IS NOT EASY by Marty Kelley (Zino Press) In this book, a tree tries to change color, and ends up looking like a rainbow, a hamburger, a smiley face and more! Children will love drawing their own trees in the midst of changes! One of my fall favorites, this book is by smaller publisher so the book is perhaps a little bit more obscure, but don't give up, it's as wonderful to find as a leaf with five colors.(5 and up)
A LITTLE BIT OF WINTERby Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell (HarperCollins) A rabbit is asked by a hibernating hedgehog to preserve for him a little bit of the season. The profound characterization of the animals in this book evokes a comparison to the great Warner Brothers animator Chuck Jones; just as funny and expressive.
BLUE BURT AND WIGGLES by Derek Anderson (Simon and Schuster) Two friends try to stop summer fun from fading by using colorful art supplies to disguise autumn's approach.

On a personal note:
Advance review copies of VIVE LA PARIS are now officially all gone, so I cannot honor any further requests. To those who participated, your books are en route, and thank you for your enthusiasm and also your willingness to get the word out about this book, it is very important to me. I wanted to write a book that would introduce children of all colors and creeds to some of the background knowledge of WWII in a way that preserves optimism and hope. You'll let me know if I managed! I am so excited for you to meet Paris, her family of four brothers, her worst enemy Tanaeja, and her unexpected ally, Mrs. Rosen. Of course, our friends Sahara, Darrell and Miss Pointy that some may remember from SAHARA SPECIAL are back as well!

Even if you did not get an advance review copy, you will still have an opportunity to don your rose-colored glasses...it is now available in bookstores! Hooray!!!

Happy fall, everyone!

Links are provided for informational use. Don't forget to support your local bookseller.

BEST SHORTS (FICTION)

FICTION
BEST SHORTS: FAVORITE SHORT STORIES FOR SHARING selected by Avi and Carolyn Shute, afterword by Katherine Paterson, illustrated by Chris Raschka (Houghton Mifflin)

A middle school teacher recently asked me if there was something he could read to a class he might only have for about twenty minutes once a week. What perfect timing for such a question...here's a book that's solid platinum for anyone with not a lot of time but with a true booklover's heart! Great short story collections for children are few and far between, but just released is a title that's like a box of the most delicious chocolates, two layer's worth, so you just wont be able to help yourself from sitting back like a reclining maja and squishing each and every delicious one.

The collection is just brilliant, pulse-perfect and page-turning, from Louis Untemeyer's "Dog of Pompeii" about a pet who gives his all to save a blind boy during a volcanic eruption, the opening story "Rogue Wave" by Theodore Taylor which will leave readers as breathless as if they were watching any movie on the big screen, the time-travel brain-boggler "Lafff" by Lensey Nokoma, and ghostly stories to tickle both your funny bone and skeleton bone such as Andrew Benedict's "To Starch a Spook" or "The Caller" by Robert D. San Souci, in which a spoiled girl gets her come-uppance from the great beyond (who doesn't love a story like that?). I will not even describe the story by Megan Whalen Turner called "The Baby in the Night Deposit Box" because with a title like that, don't you want to read it and find out for yourself? You and your class or your family will not! Be able! To resist!

There are classics, too, like Washington Irving's "Rip Van Winkle," excerpts from The Peterkin Papers by Lucretia Hale and The Town Cats by Lloyd Alexander and the memorable and hard-to-find "The Lady or the Tiger?" by Frank Stockton. There is thoughtful multicultural representation, such as Issac Bashevis Singers' snowy adventure in a Jewish shtetl "Zlateh the Goat," and Francisco Jiminez account of being a young migrant worker excerpted from The Circuit. As a short story collection for intermediate and upper grade readers, I would have to say it is perfect. And why wouldn't it be? If you ever heard Newbery-winning author and reader's theater proponent Avi read aloud (which you will if you request a free cassette from the teacher section of his website), you would trust that you are in the hands of a master, one who really knows the worth of every word. In the meantime, these two dozen selections of humor, adventure, survival, historical fiction, science fiction and fantasy will make you the master. It's one of those rare books that makes anyone who reads it a better person, and anyone who reads it aloud a better teacher. (9 and up)

Also of interest:
EVERY LIVING THING by Cynthia Rylant (Aladdin) Short stories about people whose lives are changed through their contact with animals. (9 and up)
SING A SONG OF TUNA FISH by yours truly, Esme Raji Codell (Hyperion)Funny vignettes from 1970's Chicago that will inspire children to value and write their own real-life stories. (9 and up)

Links are provided for informational use. Don't forget to support your local bookseller.

WOLVES (PICTURE BOOK)

PICTURE BOOK
WOLVES by Emily Gravett (Simon and Schuster) When you need information, what should you do? Look it up in a book, of course! So when a rabbit wants to wise up to the ways of wolves, he checks out a volume from the West Bucks Public Burrowing Library and we have the pleasure of knowing what he knows, page by page. But is he aware that a real wolf is just footsteps away, or will he find out too late? Don’t worry, there is an alternative vegetarian ending for sensitive readers, and the author assures us: no rabbits were eaten during the making of this book. Droll and subversive and with all sorts of clever items mixed into the collage illustrations (please mind rabbit’s overdue notice on the last page), this artful look at the importance of the power of information will arch an eyebrow. (6 and up)

Also of interest:
WHO'S AFRAID OF THE BIG BAD BOOK? by Lauren Child (Hyperion)Wild and wonderful fantasy of a boy who bests the big bad wolves when they escape their storybook bindings. (7 and up)
WOLF! by Becky Bloom, illustrated by Pascal Biet (Scholastic) A wolf learns the hard way from a unruffled and literate barnyard that there's more to reading than sounding out the words. As a teacher, this is pretty much my favorite picture book. (5 and up)

Links are provided for informational use. Don't forget to support your local bookseller.

DIVING TO A DEEP-SEA VOLCANO (NONFICTION)

NONFICTION
DIVING TO A DEEP-SEA VOLCANO by Kenneth Mallory (Houghton Mifflin)

We probably know less about the bottom of the ocean than the surface of the moon, but this book is a trip ticket into a research submarine traveling a murky mile below the surface, where no light can reach...but when the lights do go on, they reveal a colorful and dynamic "underwater universe." This book joins pioneer marine biologist Rich Lutz as he explores what we know about the mid-ocean ridge, where most volcanic activity on earth occurs, and where creatures withstand poisonous hydrothermal vent fluids and thrive under water pressure so intense that it would crush an army tank. Unrelenting detail, surreal, full-color photos, sidelines, websites, a complete glossary, and language that never talks down to the young enthusiast make this a markedly excellent addition to the already important SCIENTISTS IN THE FIELD series, allowing readers to vicariously accompany renowned scientists as they do their work. These books put science in an exciting real-world context and are sure to ignite interest. (9 and up)

Links are provided for informational use. Don't forget to support your local bookseller.