Turtle in Paradise

Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm

All right. Going to try something new. Please be patient as I try to add a new habit… I would recommend this book for girls in grades 4th through 6th grade. If you have an eager-reader 3rd grader or a reluctant-reader older child, this a safe, non-demanding book. I read it in a day, by which I mean it is not overly complex and yet I still was captivated. It is a work of historical fiction, set during the Great Depression in the Florida Keys. It is also a 2011 Newbery Honor book. This is the author’s 3rd Newbery Honor. Her other recognized works are Penny From Heaven, and Our Only May Amelia.

This is the kind of book that no one will remember a year from now. It stands alone. There will be no sequels. It won’t be turned into a movie – not even a Hallmark made for TV movie. It’s not flashy – it doesn’t scream “READ ME!” No one will imagine that they are Turtle. She is not the kind of heroine girls dream of being.

But the book is quiet, relaxing and even funny. Turtle, named such for her hard exterior, is spending the summer with her aunt and cousins on a small island in the Keys because Turtle’s mother, who works as a live-in housekeeper, is currently employed by a woman who doesn’t like children. Turtle has never been to her mother’s hometown and has never met her relatives. She is a New Jersey girl and a city girl her likes her shoes on her feet.

Turtle’s cousins, Beans, Kermit and Buddy, and their best friend Pork Chop are shoeless islanders. They roam free from sunup to sundown and try to keep out of their mother’s way lest she puts them to work. The boys, yes, all boys, are related to nearly everyone on the island and everyone knows everyone’s business.

The boys’ business? They call themselves the Diaper Gang. Every morning the boys take to the streets with their wagon and some blankets and their very own, secret formula, diaper rash ointment. You read that right. The boys go door to door to pick up bad babies. They tend to the babies while their mothers do their house work. Their theory is that all babies are bad and women don’t know how to handle them, always picking them up and rocking them and never setting them down. Why you gotta let the little buggers scream it out. But really, these boys have it figured out. AND they work for candy.

Now, Turtle’s a girl and she’s not allowed in the gang, but that doesn’t mean she can’t tag along. And Turtle has her own theories. She thinks all kids are bad, not just the babies. For that matter, grownups are a pretty sorry bunch as well. Her mother is a dreamer who keeps getting hurt by the men in her life. Turtle has one dream. She wants her mother to get a good job and settle down so they can buy their own house. She’s hoping that her mother’s new boyfriend will be “the one” and Turtle will be on her way to having a normal family.

While she waits, Turtle's summer is full of adventure. She hunts for pirate treasure. She gets stranded on an island during a hurricane. And she makes connections with relatives she didn’t know she had.

No, this isn’t the next Lightning Thief, and it won’t make my top 100 books, but it was a nice break. When we are looking for the extraordinary in our surroundings, we fail to see the average and every day. Average and every day people are FULL of surprises! And so is this book.

Forge

Forge by Laurie Halse Anderson

Forge is the sequel to Chains one of 2011’s Rebecca Caudill Award Nominees which I reviewed last spring. Although Chains’ main character, Isabel, is still present in this novel, this book is the story about Curzon Smith. Curzon is the boy Isabel fought to save and eventually escaped with. I would call Chains a book for girls and I will call Forge a book for boys. Can the two meet for a third book that will please both sexes?


In the beginning, Curzon and Isabel have split ways. Isabel is adamant that she must go, find and save her younger sister Ruth. Curzon believes this to be an impossible task that will result in their captivity. Curzon works to prevent Isabel from going south, but Isabel beats him to the punch and leaves for the south before he can put his plan into action.

Alone, Curzon is uncertain of where to go and how to survive with his freedom, and he is still trapped between the Patriot and British lines. Hiding, Curzon witnesses two young boys, one a rebel and the other a lobsterback, facing off to see who can kill the other first. Curzon, having fought on the patriot side himself, changes the odds in the rebel boy’s favor by throwing a stone at the Brit. In a story where kindness continues to be rewarded with kindness, Curzon finds himself an enlisted soldier once again.

Winter is approaching and General George Washington has called the troops to Valley Forge to, well, winter. Curzon and his new friend, Eben, the Patriot whose life he saved, are among the foot soldiers. If you know your American history, you know the hardship that was suffered at Valley Forge.

There is very little food, if any, available for the common, enlisted men. Most meals consist of firebread and water and sometimes, only water. Those soldiers who were issued uniforms are down to their last one and it is already threadbare and holey. As many as one in four soldiers are without shoes. As they walk they leave a trail of blood from their feet behind them. The soldiers sleep in tents at night and build their log huts by day. The soldiers have very few tools to work with, but are required to chop their own trees, debranch and debark them, transport them and notch and stack them. The finished hut needs to be sealed with mud and include a chimney.

All of the enlisted men suffer, but the men and boys of African descent suffer more. Curzon is without free papers from his former owner. He cannot prove that he is NOT a runaway slave. He is picked upon and bullied and never comfortable in his safety. He relies, though uncomfortably, on the protection of his closest brother soldiers.

The book would have been monotonous if it hadn’t been for Curzon’s former master showing up at the camp. And you’ll never guess who he has acquired …

My complaints are a scene involving the master being shaved by one of his slaves who is dangerously close to killing him – I’ve seen this same scene before … in Roots? And the other complaint is all the talk of farts and pissing. I cannot believe I wrote that. But then, they are boys.

Thirteenth Child

Thirteenth Child by Patricia C. Wrede

Patricia C. Wrede is an author that I am “aware of,” but had not actually read before. When I hear her name, I think “dragon” books. I have done her the disservice of confusing her with Tamora Pierce and I do not know why. Another author that I am aware of and have not read, but have become familiar with patron/parent requests asking for her books’ removal from our juvenile shelves. Both authors have books on my list that I intend to read when their time on the list arrives. Where am I going with this?


I was reading new books waiting to go out on the new book shelves and came across Thirteenth Child, Book 1 of Frontier Magic. I read the inside jacket and promptly stuck a note saying “Alissa, Please” within the pages. We only own one copy and this was a request that I would get it first after everyone else had the opportunity to glance at it.

And then it sat on my shelf for far too long while I labored through my books on “the list.” Why do I punish myself so?

This is a Librarian’s Choice novel - one that I chose because I was instantly interested in it without having read a review or having heard a recommendation. And I was pleasantly surprised. I did not want this book to end.

So what captured me? The thirteenth child is Eff. She has six older sisters and six older brothers. She has one younger brother, her twin, Lan. Lan is not only the seventh son, but he is the seventh son of a seventh son. Such a man is born with luck on his side and if he happens to be a magician, he is not only a natural, but he is also extremely powerful. He is both feared and followed.

Being related to Lan might have been difficult enough for a sibling. Lan will get all of the attention and most likely will be the favored child. It is harder for Eff. As much as Lan is revered, she will be shunned because of her ill-favored position of being the thirteenth born. Thirteenth children are considered to be unlucky and worse. They have a tendency to go bad. It might be better off to do away with them.

What captivated me? The language. Definitely the language. I found it lovely and lilting and nostalgic. Why can’t we speak this way? This is the kind of language I would aspire to myself. Think old world with a hint of frontier …

The world. Think parallel universe. We are no longer Americans, but Columbians. The Great Mammoth River empties into the Gulf of Amerigo near New Orleans. And the Great Barrier is the only thing holding the wild, and sometimes magical, beasts out of civilization. Magicians are required to hold the wilderness out and keep the settlers safe within.

The characters. One of the most influential people in Eff’s life is her magic teacher, a black woman. She is described as having black skin and that is it. She teaches Eff more than just the required Avrupan (European) magic, but also Aphrikan and Hijero-Cathayan. The woman is well-rounded and balanced and a welcome change.

Finally, the life. Everything is included here – life, death, illness, friendships, trials and triumphs. It is not “dumbed-down” or purified/sterilized for children. For instance, one of the sisters runs off and elopes when she discovers she is pregnant. The reader does not get all of the information, nor does the reader need it. It’s very much like real life. The reader witnesses how it affects the family and its various members, but it is a small, although integral, part of the story.

Highly anticipating Book 2.

The Perilous Road

The Perilous Road by William O. Steele

The perilous road is the road we walk when we choose to hate others because they are different. Here, the difference is in our beliefs and the sides we take. Chris is a boy born and bred in the Tennessee mountains. He loves his family, his mountain and his way of life. He hates Yankees.

It is not that Chris believes in slavery. His family is too poor to own slaves. In fact, he probably doesn't know of anyone who does. No, he hates the Yanks because the soldiers have invaded his mountain and forcibly taken what Chris and his family have worked hard for.

Chris had spent a season hunting deer for their skins in order to have a magnificent deerskin jacket. He had to acquire 5 deer in order to use only the choicest portions of their hides. Then he had to skin and scrape and pluck and cure and cut the hides. A neighborman knew of someone who could sew and pledged to bring the finished product back. Unfortunately, he ran into some Yankees who demanded that he hand it over.

Chris came home from watching the Yankee wagons drive through the valley only to discover that the cavalry were visiting his home. They were riding throughout the neighborhood comandeering the horses, mules and any food already harvested. His family as well as other mountain families depended upon their horses to haul lumber for firewood among other things. And without their harvest, food would be meager and they would have to rely more on the bounty of the land.

You can imagine how much Chris hated the Yanks. And then his older brother, Jethro, joins the Federal army. And his father won't do a thing about it.

The majority of the Tennessee mountain families side with the Confederates especially after the Yankees establish their authority. They don't approve of Jethro joining the Federals, and make their stance known through arson and insults. In an attempt to set himself apart from his family, Chris sets out first to be a thorn in the Federals side and second to be a Confederate spy.

Chris discovers that the Federal wagons are camped out in the valley. Chris notifies someone he believes has contacts and then waits for the Confederates to arrive and wipe the Yankees out. But then he finds out that his brother could very well be among the wagoneers …

It is only when Chris is forced to actually interact with the Yankees in order to find his brother, that he realizes they all have more in common than he expected. Heck, the Yanks even like to hunt!

Not a book I would choose to read or even recommend unless I knew I had a Civil War buff!

Little House on Rocky Ridge

Little House on Rocky Ridge by Roger Lea MacBride

I remember when I first started reading chapter books. 101 Dalmatians by Dodie Smith when I was in 3rd grade with Mr. Hinz was the first, and I bought it through Scholastic. I read it more than any other book after Alice in Wonderland. And I had trouble finding something to follow …

Many other girls were reading the Little House series. I know it was recommended to me by librarians, teachers and mothers. The Little House on the Prairie TV show was one of my favorites anyway. My mom would visit the Book Emporium for cards or gifts and I would wander to the back of the store and gaze up at the series. I was enthralled by the number of books about the same family. I wanted more than anything to own all of them – right here, right now. Of course, I was very lucky to receive the first one, Little House in the Big Wood.

I could count on two hands the number of times I started that book. I probably never got passed the first chapter. I simply didn’t find it interesting in any way. There was ever only one other set of books that I couldn’t get through. I attempted The Lord of the Rings in 4th grade. The Hobbit cartoon was one of my favorites. I could not believe the two came from the mind of the same man. (I read them eventually in their entirety after watching the movies first. WOW)

I finally read the Little House book sometime last year or the year before. I read it to the girls, one chapter every night. We never checked out the next in the series. I will get to them, but I am in no hurry. They are just not compatible with “me”.

I tell you this because Little House on Rocky Ridge had been sitting my shelf for months. I really had no desire to pick it up. I kept pushing it back further down the list. I renewed it. I returned it. I retrieved it. I renewed it. I was only going to read it, eventually, because it was a Caudill Nominee some time ago. And then it was time. I couldn’t put it off any longer.

Was I ever surprised!

It is not my favorite book. It’s not in my top 100. I don’t know if I’ll pick up more in the series, but I enjoyed it. I read it quickly. Perhaps the television series ruined the first generation for me, but here was a new story I had never heard before about a woman I felt was a close friend growing up. I always thought I was Laura. Just the TV Laura, and not the book Laura.

If you’ve gotten this far, but are confused … Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote the popular first generation of Little House books. This book is the first of the new generation written by the “adopted” grandson of Laura’s daughter, Rose, who was a storyteller herself.

Frightful's Mountain

Frightful's Mountain by Jean Craighead George

I do not consider books with blatantly clear agendas to be quality literature. I don’t care for them even if I find the agenda to be for a worthy cause.


I enjoyed the first book in the series. The second was fair, but no comparison to the first. I don’t think the third needed to be written. The beauty of the first book was in its protagonist, Sam Gribley, an extraordinarily different young man. There just wasn’t enough of him in the second book and he only had a bit part in the third.

As the title suggests, this book belongs to the bird/birds. The book follows Frightful from when she was first taken from Sam by the poacher in disguise through two migration attempts and finally back home to the hemlock tree. The author explains her behavior, or lack of true Peregrine Falcon behavior along the way. “If Frightful had been raised in the true wild, she would have done this, but since she was raised and trained by Sam and didn’t know what she was supposed to do, she did that instead.”

Birds simply do not have the emotions to gain my sympathies. Luckily, the omniscient author element was still present and we could feel Sam’s joy at Frightful’s return. And a falconer’s awe at her beauty. And the children’s frustration at the lack of support for endangered species. And finally the construction workers growing affection for the little family.

Then the lectures set in. Power lines are a hazard for the falcons … DDT is poisonous to the migrating falcons … disruption of a brooding falcon drastically reduces their numbers. Write letters to your congressman to protect the birds. Here are some example letters … Protest. I would be reading along, enjoying the narrative and then there would be this mini segue that bumped me back into reality. Very disconcerting.

I think this book couldn’t decide if it was going to be fact or fiction. Okay, fine. It’s contemporary realistic fiction, yes. But it wasn’t sure if was going to be informational or recreational.

My answer would be the latter. More Sam! More Sam! More Sam! And the rest would follow …

What I loved … The recurring poetic words, “The one mountain among thousands, the one tree among millions, the one boy – Sam.” It’s all about Sam.

Along Came a Dog

Along Came a Dog by Meindert DeJong

A couple of blogs ago I brought up the topic of “quiet books”. This is the book that started the discussion - quiet Newbery Honor winner from the 50's.

It was sitting next to me at the desk at work and my boss noticed it. She of all people would know it – recognize it – remember it. And it brought back a memory from forever ago. There had been a little boy, who might have been 9 or 12, who knows, but he LOVED this book. She had wondered what had captured his heart. Did he have a thing for chickens?

I felt bad. Here was a book that I should be able to read in a couple of days. Simple rather than complex. Few characters rather than a symphony. Short rather than bulky. But it just didn’t capture me … Maybe I don’t have a thing for chickens? But I love dogs.

Even though the title is Along Came a Dog, this book is really about a chicken and even a farmer. Let’s call it a love triangle. The farmer loves the chicken. The dog loves the chicken. The dog wants a home. The farmer doesn’t want the dog. That pretty much sums it up. Who doesn’t own a farm and have at least one dog?

The chicken is special to the farmer. She is a little red hen in a flock of white ones. She is the only survivor of his reds so she holds a special place in his heart. Unfortunately, his hen house wasn’t adequately protected from the cold and the little red hen’s toes froze. I kid you not; she takes a step into some squelchy mud and the toes come right off!

Here’s where the dog comes in. The dog loves the chicken because she needs him. He becomes her protector and she becomes his boss. The dog now has a purpose even if the farmer keeps trying to get rid of him.

The dog senses that the farmer has a soft heart and it is true. The farmer likes the dog well enough, he just doesn’t have a use for him to his knowledge. But because the dog knows that the farmer is a good man, he keeps coming back even if he continues to hide from him.

Now here is what I like about the book … There is a moment where the white hens and the single white rooster gang up on one of the white hens who has gotten herself into a silly situation. It is all about pecking order. The farmer comes to the rescue and scolds the others for their cannibalistic behavior. Then he goes and kicks the rooster for his stupidity. (I forgot to mention that the toeless red hen sits on the farmer’s shoulder.) The red hen pecks the farmer’s cheeks and he comes to his senses. He is no better than the rooster by resorting to kicking him. Perhaps the chickens aren’t acting so much chicken as they are acting human. OUCH! Hen House = Life Boat. We're all just trying to establish our importance. All that is except the dog who is humble enough to take the lowliest job and even do it in secret ...

Uglies

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Somehow I missed out when the tweens started requesting Uglies a few years ago. Or maybe they didn't request it and I didn't miss anything. But I remember when they started requesting Pretties. I might have mistakenly linked it with the Cliques series in my mind. My judgemental mind automatically discounted it as Chick-Lit.

It won the Abraham Lincoln Award in 2007 and I trudged down to Young Adult to check it out – physically. Was I ever in for a surprise. Dystopian Literature! Definitely up my alley and anyone else's who likes Hunger Games, City of Ember, Gregor the Overlander,and The Giver. I could name more!

It still seemed like a guilty pleasure and the concept is not new. In order to make society more equitable, we must make everyone more alike. In this case, the plastic surgeons will make everyone pretty at the age of sixteen. And it's mandatory.

Don't think we make everyone pretty in order to feel good about ourselves and promote higher self-esteem. Oh no! It is scientifically proven through genetics and evolution that large eyes, full lips, average height and a healthy body weight are necessary to survival. Want proof? Take a look at a New Pretty … gaze into their large eyes … see their vulnerability … don't you want to protect them?

So who are the Uglies? Kids ages twelve to fifteen. Those hormones – I tell you! They make you all arms and legs and gangley, not too mention awkward. Don't even get me started on the pimples. Hideous! No one is called by their given name. You are made to feel ugly through your nickname … Squint, Skinny, Nose. And you are all housed together in dorms away from your Pretty parents and New Pretties.

While the Uglies are playing tricks on each other, their teachers, their elders and the New Uglies; while the Uglies are dreaming about what they will look like when they are Pretty too, new New Pretties are partying hard without a care in the world and not a backward thought for their old ugly friends. Life is good. Life is easy. Life is pretty.

Heroine Tally misses her best friend and newly made Pretty. She expected him to visit or call or something. She is a young sixteen and the last of her class. She is lonely until she meets Shay who shares her birthday. Shay is different. A rebel, like Tally, she doesn't sneak into Pretty Town to watch the New Pretties. Shay sneaks into the Rusty ruins. Shay doesn't want to be Pretty. Shay wants to join fabled Rebel Uglies in "The Smoke". And Shay wants Tally to join her.

Tally wants to be Pretty more than she wants follow her new best friend, but when Shay disappears, Special Circumstances steps in and offers her an ultimatum – lead them to Shay or stay Ugly forever.

The cliffhanger ROCKS!

On the Far Side of the Mountain

On the Far Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George

A quiet book, although not as quiet as its predecessor. That is what my boss calls books like these. Quiet books. I like that. I just finished another quiet book last night.


We don't get a lot of quiet books anymore. Kids expect action and drama and cliff hangers. So how do you introduce a quiet book to a modern child?

If your child likes to cook and experiment in the kitchen and watches the Food Network, (s)he might enjoy this book. If you have a garden and/or a compost heap, or your child has told you that you need one, (s)he might appreciate this book. If your child has taken an interest in the organic produce at your supermarket, this book might attract his or her attention. If your child has a desire to hunt or doesn't flinch at the suggestion of rabbit or squirrel for dinner, this book might open up new possibilities.

Some children are natural engineers and inventors and Sam Gribley could be their new best friend. There are children who must take things apart to see how they work and then try to reproduce the machine. Sam might be their new hero. And don't forget the kids who like to make things from scratch like compasses and sundials. Sam introduces a few different designs including some blueprints for much larger machines.

My children LOVE animals whether they are wild, domestic or livestock. They enjoy bird watching whether predator, prey or poultry. There is nothing we enjoy more than a surprise visit from a neighbor's dog, a trip to the zoo, or a library animal program. When my oldest saw that I was reading this series, she was quick to share which parts I would love and which parts would surprise me. She was reading a portion in class!

In this particular book, we have a new heroine to add to the mix – Sam's sister Alice! She doesn't play a large role (although without her there would be no book) but I appreciate her style. When she gets something into her head, she doesn't let it go until she follows the idea through to its fruition. And she doesn't rely on her brother. She is not a guest. She has her own home built to her specifications. Alice is every bit the adventurer that Sam is. If anything, she is more adventurous. She is not quiet or peaceful.

There is one other element of this book that I think the kids might enjoy. Sam and Alice have made up a game to play and part of this book revolves around that game even though Sam doesn't realize it at first. When I was little, I spent a portion of my summers on the family farms and I had my own little kingdoms. Of course, I was always alone, but if I would have had someone to play with … I would definitely have wanted a game like this!