Horror at the Haunted House

I am going to start by saying that the picture on the left is much better and more modern than the copy I have in my possession loaned from the library. So if you choose to check it out yourself, don't be disappointed, but they will not look the same. Horror at the Haunted House by Peg Kehret was a Caudill Nominee in 1996 and the quickest book I've read in a while.

I'm going to call it a beginning ghost story. In fact, I think the word "horror" in the title is a bit strong. In the Children's Department, we have a sticker for ghost stories. Either it is white with a red outline of a ghost - floating sheet with eyes, or it is purple with a multi-hued ghost - floating sheet with eyes. But you won't see all of the sticker on the spine of a juvenile book. That is because those stickers arrive with the word "horror" beneath the ghost and we carefully snip it off first.

This book stars two siblings, Ellen and Corey Streater, and they have appeared in another Kehret book before called Terror at the Zoo. Decatur Public doesn't own it so you'll have to request it and it is NOT about ghosts. Apparently, the kids get the chance to spend the night at a zoo, but get locked inside with an escaped convict instead. Kehret does like to go for thrills and chills!

Ellen and Corey's grandmother has a best friend who works for the town's Historical Society. The town has received, as a donation, a magnificent mansion along with its contents. The mansion is in a state of disrepair and the town would like to raise money for new wiring and plumbing and such. The Society is turning the mansion into a haunted house for Halloween and selling tickets to those who wish to walk through it. In every room, a murder or execution out of history is being reenacted and local celebrities are participating.

The best friend asks the kids if they would like to participate as well. Corey is to be a child king who is beheaded at the guillotine. Ellen will be Joan of Arc who was burned at the stake. Every night, Ellen is loosely tied to a stake where she pretends to be calm and pray while flames leap around her. The fire isn't real, but the sound effects and the smell effects all aid to make the illusion work.

There is also something special housed in the mansion. A grand collection of Wedgwood pottery can be found in the dining room. The collection was started by Lydia Clayton, the first mistress of the house. When her husband was forced to travel for business, he would always bring a new piece back with him for her as a gift. The donor provided that the collection would stay in the house, intact and untouched, on the shelves where it always resided.

Ellen is intrigued with a portion of the collection called Fairylustre. She is even allowed to hold a piece, a little octagonal bowl, but when she is asked to let her little brother, Corey, hold it, her hands turn to ice. Ellen is repeatedly drawn into the dining room to look at the Fairylustre pottery, and nearly every time she has a strange encounter. From cold winds, to disembodied hands, and a face in the mirror, Ellen is scared by what she sees, but she can't keep away from the Wedgwood collection.

Ellen must search for clues, read up on the history of the mansion, and seek out help in answering the questions that arise. Why is a ghost intent on protecting the Wedgwood pottery? Who is putting the pottery in jeopardy? Why is Ellen the only one who sees her? Why can the ghost follow her to her home? Will she ever be able to sleep peacefully in her bed again? Kehret wraps it up neatly and quickly with a dose of danger.

Darkwood

What kind of book would Miss Alissa pick entirely on her own without guidance from a nominating committee or the suggestion of a trusted colleague? I present Darkwood by M. E. Breen.

The cover alone attracted me. It is dark and ominous. A dark-haired girl looks intensely out from the cover. There are two cats by her side. I'm not officially a cat person. I've been programmed to love dogs - big dogs. But really, any animal, any animal at all, will suffice. And if you pay close attention to the background, you might notice, what could be dogs, sinisterly peeking from around the the trees.

From the inside cover:

"Darkness falls so quickly in Howland, its people have no word for evening. One minute the sky is light, the next minute it is black - an impenetrable, suffocating black, unlit by moon or stars. Then good people bar their doors, for fearsome kinderstalk leave the forest to prowl among the houses, looking for children to steal. Yet when Annie Trewitt overhears her uncle making terrible plans for her, she flees to the only place she's sure he will not follow: the forest. Annie never expects to survive the night, but soon she finds neither the kinderstalk nor the people of Howland are what they first appear to be. Her journey will take her from the depths of the forest to the glittering halls of the palace - and ever closer to an evil that's darker and more vast than the night itself."

Several things struck me. Kinderstalk - Kinder is German for children and to stalk is to prey stealthily. Right away I had a feeling for what lurked in the forest and how the humans felt about it. Darkness - not just no streetlight, but no moon or stars. Whether or not you shut your eyes, you still cannot see your hand in front of your face DARK. Palace - a bit of a fairytale here ... what lurks in forests? Witches and Wolves. What lives in a castle? Kings and princesses. Finally, an evil worse than the night itself. The night is already bleakly painted.

All this to say, that I checked the book in from processing and immediately checked it out to myself. It was my special treat after all of those Caudill Nominees. And it only took a month for me to let myself read it. I'm much too hard on myself.

Now, not to say that I was disappointed by this book, but it was nothing like I expected it to be. I've become too accustomed to the Harry Potters, Lightning Thiefs, Alchemysts, 39 Clues ... all seemingly tailor-made to transfer to the big screen. I have become used to the expectation of reading at least a trilogy. There is more action and less thought in today's popular children's novels. And when I find one with an iota of "uffish" thought, it takes a little while to cozy up to it and become one with a new world so unlike ours.

There is so much more to this book than the cover suggests. For instance, the moon has been gone for centuries. The kinderstalk are not really stealing children. The adults are selling their children. And they are selling them to a man who is not a man. Not all of your questions will be answered. Not every loose end will be neatly tied. Even the ending is open. Yes, it could be open to continue the story later, but I think it best to leave well enough alone. None of us can know everyone's story in its entirety.

Within the last year, I've read one other book like this one - Chalice by Robin McKinley. Prior to that, I had devoured The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Pope. And before that, I fell in love with Shannon Hale's Newbery Honor book Princess Academy. These are the books that I look forward to. They seem too far and few.

The Magician

The Magician: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott is the second in The Alchemyst series. It is nearly 500 pages long and still only covers barely three days. That makes almost 1,000 pages covering not even a week's worth of time. I'm guessing that is what time is like when you are an immortal.

I am relatively sure that the Alchemyst is Nicholas Flamel, but I'm not so sure about the Magician. I suppose it could be Dr. John Dee, but we are introduced to two more magician-immortals in this book. They are Niccolo Machiavelli and the Comte de Saint-Germain, otherwise known as Francis, who also practices alchemy. The fourth book in the series is called The Necromancer and we know Dr. Dee is one. For the title to be The Magician, I wouldn't expect to still be uncertain.

Another fact to be put out there ... for a children's book, there are few children. There are still only two 15-year-olds, twins, Sophie and Josh. Everyone else old or new is not only an adult, but is also an immortal. The rest of the major characters are not even human and are older than the ancients. Every important character aside from the twins is extremely powerful if not all-powerful. Most of the action is driven by the adults. The kids are pulled along for the ride. For the right or the wrong purposes, the adults tend to manipulate the children. Their plans are quite simple - to save the world or destroy it.

In the first book, Sophie was awakened by the goddess Hekate and was taught to Master the Element of Air by the Witch of Endor. This book opens up where the last left off. The crew has traveled from Ojai to Paris via ancient ley line. Nicholas seeks to add another Elemental Mastery to Sophie's resume while seeking a reasonably safe Elder to awaken Josh. This tells me to expect a total of five books with the five elementals, possibly six if you include the Awakening. You would really think more could be accomplished within 500 pages. But that is because there is so much carnage and destruction wrought in between. Paris is basically terrorized by a primordial demon monster from the depths. Think Godzilla unleashed in the treasure-filled city.

While the majority of the crew are trying to hide out in Paris, Perenelle Flamel is still a prisoner of Dr. Dee on the Island of Alcatraz under the watchful eyes of a sphinx. So a third of the action and adventure is still on this side of the ocean. In fact my favorite part of the book, and my favorite new character are on Alcatraz. Dr. Dee has imprisoned another immortal, but no one on the island knows who or what it is. Perenelle seeks to find out and discovers one of the oldest and most powerful Elders still living - Areop-Enap. What a cool name! And what a cool creature! And what a strange and tentative relationship!

I enjoyed this book enough. I have The Sorceress waiting on my shelf. But I'm not rushing to it. You see, I really don't care enough about the hero and heroine. They're boring and whiney. They're wishy-washy. They are not nearly as cool as the immortal characters that frequent the pages like Joan de Arc, Mars, the Valkyries, Nidhogg and Areop-Enap. Even the ghosts of Alcatraz are more exciting. Think Luke from Star Wars begging to go to the Academy. When he finally gets the chance to leave the rock farthest from the center of the Universe, he again whines and complains. Furthermore, they just aren't sure who they should believe or follow. Flamel or Dee. It seems quite obvious to the reader. It's hard to believe their lack of trust in Flamel.

I would love to talk to a kid who has read these books to see what they think. Maybe it works.

Joseph Had a Little Overcoat

Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback was the 2000 Caldecott Medal Winner and is worthy of the title. Remember the Caldecott Medal is awarded for the best ILLUSTRATIONS in a picture book. In this case the author is also the illustrator and I always find that preferable. To be the author of a book that wins for illustrations ... well, at least the royalties will skyrocket.

I'm not generally a fan of Taback's use of mixed media because there is always so much going on. There's the story and then all of the extra messages going on not to mention a completely filled page. But I'm talking as the reader of the book and not the listener. I dislike storylines that are interrupted by added bubbles or miniature newspaper headlines.

But I genuinely appropriate this book because the storyline is so simple that my mind can appreciate the extras. There are few lines to each page and much repetition. It looks less like a complicated mess and more like a whole and complete work.

The story is based upon a Yiddish folk song. Joseph had a little coat which got old and worn and so he made a little jacket out of it which got old and worn and so made a little vest out of it and so on until he is left with a button that he loses. The moral of the story is that you can always make something out of nothing and the ending of the book proves that you can make a GREAT something out of nothing.

The kids like the die cut holes that transform the overcoat into its next reincarnation. Excellent book to bring home to read to kids of all ages. Mine are 4.5 years apart and both equally enjoy it. (And my husband is looking over my shoulder at it.) Now they've taken it from me. The Yiddish folk song is provided at the end and they're trying to bang it out on the mini piano.

There were four books that received Caldecott Honors in 2000. When Sophie Gets Angry - Really, Really Angry ... by Molly Bang is one and is also another example of a book where the author is also the illustrator. Although it is not one of my favorites, it is brilliant in its simplicity.

If you have a child who succumbs to temper tantrums on occasion, and who doesn't, this book could help both the child and the adult find a better way to deal with them. Everyone gets angry, really really angry, sometimes. And that is all right. It is human. It is how we deal with that anger or direct it that gets us in trouble.

When Sophie gets angry she kicks and screams and wants to smash things. Then she runs until she is tired enough to cry. She runs outside in nature and the sights and sounds comfort her and calm her until she is all better. When she is no longer angry, she is able to rejoin the family and pick up where she left off.

It may not be possible for your child to run off into the forest and watch the ocean ... but if you can make a plan for you and your child for when they/you are this angry that includes the elements that help calm them/you ... you have a recipe for success. Music, art, water, books ...

I say this book is brilliant because it so easily conveys through the artwork the steps that anyone goes through when they are angry. At first glance, the pictures seem childlike and simple rather than professional. This is also part of the genius. Characters are outlined in thick lines of color rather than the usual thin, black lines. When Sophie's anger appears, all of those lines turn a vicious red. As she explodes like a volcano, red, orange and yellow are used heavily and the reader feels the agitation. Those colors are carried into the outdoors, but as Sophie calms down, the colors change with her to a soothing blue and finally green. The pages become relaxing to the reader. Thumbs up from the Crayola Girl.

The next book is more along the lines of what people consider gorgeous artwork - The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Andersen, adapted and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney, J398.209489/A. Pinkney is a talented artist extraordinaire. He just won the Caldecott Medal this year for The Lion and the Mouse.

Pinkney's art is recognizable and never disappoints. He illustrates often for other authors and always provides an excellent backdrop for the story without distracting from it.

This is the classic story of The Ugly Duckling. Here is the case where you have multiple copies of a book with multiple renditions and you have the ability to choose your favorite. As with most folktales and fairy tales, the story is somewhat lengthy and may not hold the attention of every child, particularly the younger ones.

Let me start by saying that Trina Schart Hyman is one of my all time favorite illustrators. I chose her for my illustrator study when I was in library school. If I wanted to emulate anyone's artwork, it would probably be hers. It is very similar to David Smalls - think The Library. She won the Caldecott Medal in 1985 for Saint George and the Dragon. A Child's Calendar with poems by John Updike and illustrations by Hyman, J811/U - a waste of talent in the opinion of the poetry hater.

This book is a collection of twelve poems, one for each month of the year and titled accordingly. Each poem is four or five stanzas long except for December which warrants six. Second and fourth lines rhyme. Short and sweet enough for the youngest listeners. I'll take it for a spin with my two as I confess, I've yet to read it in its entirety short as it is.

And now, presenting, my kind of book - Sector 7 by David Wiesner. Save the best for last. Wiesner has won the Caldecott Medal three times with Flotsam, the most recent in 2007, Three Pigs in 2002, and my personal favorite, Tuesday, in 1992. Wiesner makes wordless picture books for the older reader and they are DELIGHTFUL!!

Sector 7 is about a school field trip to the Empire State Building. One artistic child gets separated from the rest of the group and meets a cloud child who takes him to Sector 7. Consider it a Union Station for clouds with arrivals and departures for cirrostratus, cumulonimbus and fog on the boards.

The clouds show the boy all of the different shapes that they are capable of. The boy gets and idea and draws his own pictures, of a lion fish, an octopus ... And the clouds, in great detail, mimic the pictures and go out into the world for all to see and enjoy. Enter the angry adults to run Sector 7, surprised to see the amazing pictures in the sky, they leave their offices to find the culprit and escort him off the premises.

The boy is returned via cloud to the Empire State Building and his class with is cloud friend stuffed under his coat. But the damage has already been done. The skies of New York City are filled with the creatures of the deep much to the enjoyment of cats and fish alike. Some of Sector 7's management are still disgruntled, but upon closer inspection, you can see the childlike wonder and even appreciation in some of the adults. Did I say DELIGHTFUL? FABULOUS! EXTRAORDINARY! For the young at heart. Stick it to the man!

Orphan Train Rider

There were two non-fiction titles on the Caudill list in 2000. One was Leon's Story by Leon Walter Tillage which is an autobiography, JB T461. Leon was born in the 1930's and was raised in a Jim Crow town in North Carolina. It seems to me to be an excellent pairing with a book like Francie.

In later life, Mr. Tillage moved to Baltimore, Maryland and found a long term job as custodian at The Park School of Baltimore. Every year, he was asked to tell his story to the seventh-grade class. One student who heard his story, was so moved by it that she went home and talked about his story with her mother - for two whole hours!

The student's mother is Susan L. Roth, a children's book illustrator. Upon hearing Leon's Story second hand, she determined to meet the man himself. She convinced him to give his story a wider audience by writing a book. This is the book and Ms. Roth provided the collage art.

While I don't read non-fiction, I did sit and read the first couple of chapters of this book. They are short and very personable. You can hear Leon talking. This would be a quick read to give greater insight into the South from an African American perspective. For instance, Leon had to walk 4 miles home after school. While he and his friends and family walked, a school bus full of white children would pass them by leaving them in the dust. Mr. Tillage joined Martin Luther King Jr. in peaceful protest and this is included as well.

The other non-fiction nominee was Orphan Train Rider: One Boy's True Story by Andrea Warren, J362.734/W. I am going to admit that I've read through the book a couple of times now. I've always been interested in the orphan trains. Historical fiction was my favorite when I was in middle school.

This book actually contains two stories. In alternating chapters we get to hear the story of a boy, Lee Naillings, who road the orphan trains. The other chapters give us the background on how the orphan trains came to be and why there were so many orphans in the first place.

Lee's story is my favorite part. He was one of seven children when his mother died in childbirth at 35. His father attempted to care for the children, but either he wasn't capable or he simply couldn't make enough money to sustain them all. The older children were forced to leave and find lives for themselves. The baby was given to relatives to raise. Someone else took the 1-year-old Gerald. Lee and is younger brother Leo were dropped off at an orphanage. Before the orphans were taken to the train station, Lee's father brought Gerald to join them. The three brothers set off for Texas where they were eventually separated.

This book has drawn me in each time I have held it. It is well-written and interesting. It tells of a very sad phenomenon in our history. Too many children and not enough parents. Truth is, the children were not always true orphans. Sometimes they had one or both parents still living. There just wasn't enough food, shelter or time to care for the children. Families relied on the orphanages to care for their children instead. Some of the children weren't even that lucky. They lived on the streets. Starts to sound a little like how we live today ... everyone has to work to put food on the table and to provide shelter. And the kids end up raised by someone else other than their parents.

Alphabet City Ballet

The last 2000 Caudill nominee that is a work of fiction is Alphabet City Ballet by Erika Tamar. I remember looking at the cover and title and thinking "all righty then". Not only was it the last book on my list alphabetically, but it was also the last book on my list because it really didn't entice me. The title alone turned me off. Alphabet City? But I'd give it a chance because of the ballet.

The story is set in the poor, working-class dominant, lower east side of New York City. And apparently, it is sometimes called Alphabet City because all of its streets are titled Avenue A and Avenue C and so on. When outsiders think of Alphabet City, they think of drugs and violence and prostitution. And that is true at night when the streets become sinister, but it is a whole different world, filled with music in the daytime.

Marisol is a Puerto Rican American living in Alphabet City with her father and her older brother. She has always loved to dance, especially to the salsa rhythms heard on the street. Then one day at school, she is invited to try out for a dance scholarship to a prestigious dance academy in the City. She and another girl, a Haitian immigrant named Desiree, both win! But just because you win, doesn't necessarily mean that you can make it happen. Marisol has to find a way to get to the academy and she also has to purchase her dance clothes and shoes. Fortunately, Desiree and her mother are able to help with transportation, at least for a while.

Marisol discovers dance in a whole new way. A very structured type of dance that requires a dancer to develop her muscles in very special ways. It requires hard work and commitment and Marisol realizes that she lives to dance. But at the same time, things are not going so well at home. Her older brother, Luis, is being pressured to earn more money for the struggling family. And Luis sees an easy way to earn big money, working for Tito who happens to be in the business of selling drugs.

Desiree and her mother live in a shelter, but are finally able to move into a new home. When they move, Marisol is faced with new problems. Her best friend transfers to a new school and now her transportation is gone. It is not safe for a young girl to be on the streets at night. But this book is all about family and community and sacrifice and problems are solved. Not without a bit of danger and suspense, but the family realizes what is most important to them. They ask for help from their friends and are willingly supported in their endeavors.

Any girl who loves ballet, will recognize the weekly exercises that Marisol and Desiree must practice. They will know what it is like to want to please a strict teacher, and yearn for her praise, while shying from the "no, no, no's". And they will know the hard work that is required to be a really good dancer. They will long for a break or a rest, but when they are prevented from attending class, they will be wilted with longing.

Of course, I enjoyed the book like I usually do. It's great, short, summer reading.

Monster

There are some books at first glance that you might decide to stay away from. Monster by Walter Dean Myers might be one. It is only in Young Adult, but I read it because it was one of the 2000 Coretta Scott King author honorees. And I like Walter Dean Myers as an author. He writes, and writes well, about a world that I know very little about nor do I understand it.

The book is about a sixteen-year-old African American boy who is on trial for felony murder. He is in a film club at his school so he has decided to document his trial in the form of a film that he would direct. It helps him to pass the time in his jail cell. It gives him an opportunity to escape in his mind. It also helps him to survive. In the end it will help him to discover who he is and what he has become. And we get to read the script.

Steve Harmon was asked by James King to be a sort of look out for the robbery of a drugstore. He was supposed to case the joint and give the all clear signal. Then King and another man, known as Bobo, would enter and rob the place. There was another youth involved who was to delay anyone who might try to enter during the robbery or give chase afterwards. Unfortunately, the owner pulled a gun to protect himself and ended up being shot and left mortally wounded.

Here's where it gets confusing. See there is this prisoner who hears that Bobo sold stolen cigarettes and was involved in the drugstore robbery. He calls the authorities and uses the information in order to lessen his jail time. Then the authorities arrest Bobo on entirely different charges - selling drugs to an undercover officer. Bobo agrees to give the names of the other parties involved in the robbery and testify against them in order to get a lesser sentence for himself.

And this is where we find Steve and King, separate defendents, each with their own lawyer, facing a prosecutor arguing on behalf of the State of New York and its citizens and the family of the deceased.

I say that the book is graphic. The language is actually clean, but there are references to some of things that go on in prison. The prisoner who ratted on Bobo wants protection from other prisoners who are or who want to sexually molest him. There are many references to the rape of men by men in prison although not in any detail. There are a couple of beatings that are provided in detail.

What I find interesting, is that even after finishing the book, I'm not entirely sure if Steve was involved in the crime. Is he innocent? Does he believe he is innocent? On what level of innocence is it based? Did he agree to do it, but changed his mind. Was he even at the scene? And I think that is part of the beauty of the book. Some people can lie to your face and call it the truth and believe it's the truth. I know several.

What I find disheartening is that I think there are more and more boys and maybe even girls that need to read this book despite its content. And I'm thinking that they are of a much younger age than that of the main character. Reading it at 16 might be too late. Reading it at 10 might be too late.

I really loved this book for its truth. The boy has been called a monster for what he may have done or thought to do. Even his defense attorney sees a monster in the end. And so does Steve. He will struggle with that for a very long time. What is promising is that he doesn't want to be a monster. Most of the men in this book are ok with being a monster. That's life that is given out to them.

Treasures in the Dust

Treasures in the Dust by Tracey Porter is a work of historical fiction. It is set right in the middle of the Oklahoma Dust Bowl during the Great Depression. This tells the potential reader right away that times are tough. But imagine if the dust storms are all you have ever known. You don't remember a time without dust and poverty. Suppose you see the sadness of the adults around you who remember a better time. Suppose you hear the amazing stories of the elderly who remember a time of plenty. But since you have known no different, you make your own kind of good.

Sometimes friendships are built upon mutual circumstances and not on similar interests. Meet eleven-year-old Annie. Her mother remembers the first day that Annie walked. It was the same day as the first dust storm. They have experienced dozens of them together since. Annie lives on a farm with her parents and her older brother. The farm is barely making it, but the family is determined to survive until the rains come to clear out the dust and drown the drought.

Meet eleven-year old Violet. She lives with her parents, twin siblings, baby brother and an elderly, blind aunt. They also have a farm, but it is even closer to ruin. The only thing keeping them on the farm is Aunt Miracle who suffers from Dust Pneumonia and is too weak to make the trip to the land of milk and honey - California. Violet is afraid that she will be made to stay at home and watch the twins instead of go to school.

Both girls have grown up in the middle of the Dust Bowl, however, they deal with their circumstances in very different ways. Annie has intelligence and common sense. Violet is a dramatic dreamer full of fairy dust and stories. Annie searches the dust for treasures like arrowheads from the Plains Indians. Violet pretends to be a princess of the Arabian Nights. Annie plans on becoming an archeologist while Violet wants to be a Hollywood actress.

This book is another epistolary like P.S. Longer Letter Later. At the beginning of the book, while both girls are still in Oklahoma, the chapters alternate between the poetic voices of the two girls. When Violet moves away with her family to find work in California, the girls write to each other and the chapters become alternating letters.

I will admit that this 2000 Caudill nominee was less memorable than others. But it depicts life during the Dust Bowl accurately as well as graphically. The only white spot left on your pillow in the morning was the space where your head was. Wires or ropes connected buildings so that during a dust storm you wouldn't get lost on your way to the barn or outhouse and back. Rags were stuffed into cracks to keep the dust out of the house. Families huddled under kitchen tables covered in blankets to ride out a storm. The roof and attics needed to be swept or shoveled lest they sag under the weight of the dust and collapse.

If you are interested in the Great Depression or the devastation left by the dust storms, this is a quick and easy read. I'm sure you will identify with one of the two girls or a combination of both. I happen to like the spunk of Aunt Miracle who has her own stories to tell!

Francie

What happens when I'm disappointed in a book? Well, let's find out. Francie by Karen English was a Coretta Scott King Honoree in 2000. I am way behind on my Coretta's, but, wanting to be able to complete a full list of 2000's notable books, I checked out the two honor books from that year and brought them home. I actually finished this book last night rather than several years ago in the case of most of the books I've been writing about.

I finished the first half of this book while in a doctor's waiting room. Captive audience. I really have no idea what people who don't read do when they are faced with an hour and a half wait in a sterile doctor's room. I always have a book or two or four just in case of a train. The rest of the book took a couple of days and I just wasn't driven to devour it.

There is a part of me that says I'm just a white girl and I have no right to judge this book that deals with the African American experience. However, I've read a plenty of books by and for African American children and there are many that I love that are so well written that I can gush over them for most anybody. And I very easily identify with characters in books. It's kind of crazy to find yourself thinking "us versus them" and the "them" are the whites in the book.

This book is about Francie, a twelve-year-old girl in rural Alabama sometime in the 1950s or prior. You really don't know. We do know that she lives with her mom and her little brother. We also know that she attends a one-room schoolhouse and excels there. Her teacher encourages her love of books. Her father went to Chicago to find a better job for himself and a better life for his family. They haven't seen him for a long time and look forward to joining him when he has raised the money to move them. Francie's mother works seven days a week for various white families to earn enough to get the family by. Money from Chicago does not come often or consistently. When the kids aren't in school, they work too. Francie alongside her mother and young Franklin, known as Prez (think FDR), at a local chicken farm.

The rest of the book isn't as solid. Like I said earlier, we kind of have 3 decades to choose from. The only indication of time period is the reference to Prez being named after FDR. Part of the book takes place at school and you feel like this is a school type book where most of the important stuff will occur in the classroom. But it doesn't. The second half of the book is during summer vacation. In fact, most of the contact we see between Francie and her teacher is in the teacher's boarding house room when Francie comes to pick up laundry. To make things stranger, her teacher is rarely present even in the classroom. She's gone somewhere for two weeks. We aren't told where or why, but the Principal of the school is her substitute.

Another thing that I find extremely odd for the good or bad is lack of clearly defined whites and blacks. Can I please say blacks without offense? I had no clue if Francie's teacher was white, black or colored or if it made a difference. There were plenty of characters for whom I couldn't determine what they were, but surmised it by their actions. They do something wrong, then they are white. They are kind and they are black. But that doesn't always work because I think one character may have been white 'cause he drives a car, but he gives Francie a lift home ... hmmmm. Very confusing.

There is an entire subplot that could make for interesting, but it doesn't carry through the entire book. A sixteen-year-old boy attends Francie's school briefly. It is his first time ever in the classroom and he cannot read. Francie is assigned to tutor him after school everyday and she finds fulfillment in it. But then he leaves and never comes back to school. The next time we hear of him, he is accused of assaulting his white boss and he is in hiding. Francie goes out of her way to help him at great risk to herself and her family.

Another subplot that is implied is that Francie's father may very well have another family in Chicago and this is the reason he hasn't moved them North yet. It is also why he has chosen not to visit them anymore. Francie's mother is obviously saddened by it. Francie and Prez are brokenhearted by it. And everyone gossips about it. The family resolutely maintains that they will be joining him in the fall, while all of the townspeople deride them for such faith and hope.

There are so many good things here. But the delivery is where it failed. I can see that we are trying to save this book from the chopping block. We have one copy left and we like to keep starred reviews and honorees. There is a review pasted in the front cover which tells me that someone wanted to give the book another chance despite its low circulation. Having read it, I have no problem withdrawing it from the collection. If you want to save it ... put a request on it, otherwise I might snag it to deliberate a bit longer ...

Silverwing

If I were to choose my favorite book from the 2000 Caudill Nominees, my winner would be Silverwing by Kenneth Oppel. It is one of three companion novels. I do not know why they are called companion novels because there is an obvious order to them and the main character stays the same, but grows older and wiser. I would call them a trilogy and I've heard them called the Silverwing Saga.

I recommend this series and this author on a monthly if not weekly basis. Primarily, I suggest it to boys who love to read and have run out of their favorite series. Fans of Brian Jacques might very well fall in love with these bats. Girls who are well-read and looking for something new ought to try them unless they have an aversion to these flying rodents, and even then, it might help them grow to appreciate this unique mammal.

Silverwing is the story of a newborn, silverwing bat named Shade who is the runt of the litter. His family and friends leave to migrate to their winter colony. Shade gets lost in the shuffle. Shade is determined to rejoin them at all costs, even navigating uncharted and dangerous territory. Along the way, he meets up with some new friends including a brightwing bat called Marina who has been abandoned by her colony. She and Shade have something in common. They both have been tagged by humans. In Shade's colony of silverwings, there are many bats who have been tagged. In Marina's colony of brightwings, it is a sign of certain death.

Silverwing is an adventure story as well as a mystery. Part of the mystery is why do the humans tag the bats and for what purpose. In Marina's experience, tagged bats disappear or fall ill. It is different for Shade, he has been told and he believes that the tags are a part of a Promise to be fulfilled. The bats were banished from the daylight, but hope one day to return to the sun. In searching for this Promise, or any sort of an answer, the bats must face encroaching humans, arrogant owls, and cannibal bats with imposing wingspans.

I got lost in the beauty of Oppel's writing. I would call him a young author to watch. He writes of a world that is seen through echo vision and in black and white. The bats become almost human. The reader cheers for them and fears with them. I find it amazing that I can get wrapped up in a bat's first flight; a bat's first hunt; a bat's first triumph in catching his dinner, an elusive and fast moth.


Sunwing is the second book and Shade and Marina are still friends. Shade's father, Cassiel has disappeared. Searching for his father, Shade discovers an enclosed forest run by humans. It appears to be a paradise for bats, free from owls and cannibal bats. There is plenty of food and sunshine even. He wonders if it is part of the Promise, except that he discovers the bats are being drugged and then removed while they sleep.

Shade and his friends wind up in Latin America where the leader of the cannibal bats seeks to bring darkness to the world. Just think ancient Aztec or Mayan myth and legend. Shade and his friends must bring their enemies the owls along with some rats together to fight against the vampire bats and their plans to rule the night.

The last book in the trilogy is Firewing. Shade is full-grown and has a newborn child himself - Griffin. Male bats leave the nest before the newborns arrive so when the book opens, he has never met his son. Although they have never met, Griffin knows all about his brave and heroic father. The older bats tell the newborns stories. However, Griffin is not really like his father. He is cautious and nervous. But he wants to prove his worth. He wants to prove that he is his father's son.

Griffin will do just that and follow in his father's footsteps. There is an earthquake of sorts and Griffin is sucked down into a fissure. Shade determines he must follow to rescue his son. They both think that they are in a battle against nature and time. It is believed that once one falls into the Land of the Dead, one has little time to escape before death comes. But there are greater problems awaiting in the dark - a former, deadly foe.

Now you get four for the price of three. Oppel wrote a fourth bat book called Darkwing. It does not necessarily belong with the trilogy, but I like to think of it as a prequel. Not in the sense that Shade's parents or grandparents are the main characters. No, the setting is at the end of the dinosaur age when the mammals begin to thrive - 65 million years ago. Darkwing is about prehistoric chiropters and the world's first bat, Dusk. Chiropters couldn't fly; they could only glide from tree to tree and then climb back up when they reached the bottom. Dusk, who is built differently from the other chiropters, goes the extra distance and takes to the air.

This book is twice as long as any in the Silverwing Saga, but it was every bit as enjoyable all things evolution aside. It was a nice surprise from the author. I daresay it was my favorite though it seems to have escaped the attention of the awards' committees. It did receive starred reviews though.

Saving Shiloh

I would like to apologize for my absence. My oldest daughter's birthday was Memorial Day and we took her to Chicago for a portion of the weekend to have some fun. I confess, I had books with me and even a laptop, but I finally let myself off the hook. Then, when we returned, I was just plain exhausted and had plenty to catch up with around the house. Then, the 2010 Summer Reading Program - Book a Trip: READ! started and I'm lucky if I can remember where I'm supposed to be when. To top it off, we decided to throw in a dance recital at the end of this week along with dress rehearsal and the requisite extra practices. I've been writing on a daily basis to get into the habit. Maybe now, I can slow down and write on a more reasonable basis ...

Here are a trilogy of books that I love to hate. Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor won the Newbery Medal in 1992 and won the 1994 Rebecca Caudill Award so there was no way that I was getting out of reading it. I'm surprised I didn't read it twice. I'm more of a Gordon Korman's No More Dead Dogs kind of girl. That is not to say that Shiloh dies ... he lives on to star in two more books. But I've never enjoyed reading books or watching movies where an animal suffers.

I was thrown for a loop the evening my then 2nd-grader came home from school and announced that her teacher was reading Shiloh out loud to the class. The teacher went on to read all three books. I had found the book to be too graphic for myself and my daughter has a tender heart. But librarians can learn too. Gabi loved the book and I give the author new respect.

The Decatur Public Schools received a grant to use iPod Nanos for listening to audio books. One of our Children's librarians lead a group of boys from the Phoenix Academy in listening to and discussing the novel. They also loved it. I find it amazing that two very different groups of kids (my 7-year-old, sheltered, white girl and 10-year-old, troubled African-American boys) could find pleasure in the same book.

My guess is that you have already read this book. If you are among the few who haven't, it is a modern classic. The title character is an abused beagle. Eleven-year-old Marty finds the beagle and wants to keep it, but his parents require that he returns it to the owner, Judd Travers, where more abuse is certain to follow. The beagle runs away from Judd and returns to Marty. Marty decides to hide the dog he calls Shiloh. The moral dilemma is whether he should do the right thing and return the dog to a wrong situation or do the wrong thing and keep the dog in safety. This book would not be so well-loved if did not have the compassionate ending.

The second book in the trilogy is Shiloh Season and it was a 1999 Caudill Nominee. I'll mention here that a convincing West Virginia rural dialect is used in these books. You can practically hear Marty. I know that the librarian leading the iPod Nano group was concerned that it was so believable it wasn't necessarily a good influence on her kids. But I think it was decided that it was more important that they were enjoying the book.

The second book isn't as good as the first, but anyone who loved Shiloh the beagle will want to know what happened to him. Marty earned Shiloh by working for Judd Travers, but now Judd is teasing Marty about taking him back. It doesn't help that Judd is drinking more heavily than usual and when he drinks, he is more abusive.

Marty is his same old self, struggling between doing what is right and protecting the dog he loves. In the end, he aims to help Judd because the compassion might transfer to the beagle.

Finally, Saving Shiloh was a 2000 Caudill Nominee and the reason why I bring the three of them up today. The trilogy began with a boy, Marty, trying to save the life of a dog, Shiloh. A dog that did not know love or kindness, but only abuse. Now, it is obvious that the books are about a man who is in much need of saving. Judd Travers has never known love or kindness, but only the violence that the men in his family were known for. As Shiloh needed to be reconditioned to trust the hand of a human, Judd needs to learn to trust the compassion that is shown to him little by little by Marty and his family.

The town of Friendly, West Virginia does not trust Judd. They don't believe there is a good bone in his body. They do not see that he could be redeemed. With multiple reported robberies and a vanishing followed by a body, all eyes look to Judd. Marty tries to stand up for Judd and his newfound ways, but even Marty begins to doubt as the evidence piles up. Perhaps it is up to Shiloh the beagle to redeem Judd.

Shiloh has the joined the ranks of classic stories of a boy and his dog. We have Lassie and Old Yeller. Sounder and Where the Wild Fern Grows. If you have the heart to give to these books or are willing to use a box of tissues, they are more than worth the heartache and tears. But I will always side with No More Dead Dogs!