Belle Teal

Belle Teal
by Ann M. Martin

From the publisher:
"Newbery Honor author Ann M. Martin's gripping, widely acclaimed novel of a girl confronting the perils of friendship and the conflicts of community.  Belle Teal's life isn't easy, but she gets by. She lives with her mother and grandmother far out in the country. They don't have much money, but Belle Teal feels rich with their love. As school begins, Belle Teal faces unexpected challenges. Her best friends are up against some big problems. And there are two new students in Belle Teal's class: a shy boy caught in the town's furor over desegregation, and a snob who has problems of her own. As her world falls apart, Belle Teal discovers the importance of sticking together."

This is another great book for our 7th grade Civil Rights unit. The setting is a little different from the others we have used ( The Lions of Little Rock , Warriors Don't Cry , The Help ...), in that it is set in the rural South instead of in a big city. The small town of Coker Creek, in an undetermined state in the South, is experiencing it's first year of integration in the elementary school. I really enjoyed this different look at that period of time. But this book is not just about integration, it is about family, friends, standing up for what you believe in, and taking care of those you love. When I first started reading the book, I was afraid that the mother in the story was going to be kind of a dead-beat, but I was wrong. She is hard-working, loving, supportive, and teaches her daughter important things. They are a strong family unit that takes care of each other. I really appreciated that. This was a good, uplifting book about a period of time when hate and anger were widespread, but there were good people who overcame those things and stayed true to themselves.

Areas of concern:
The *n* word is used a handful of times.
Child abuse is alluded to.

Suggested Ages:
Publisher's Weekly - Ages 10-14
School Library Journal - Grades 4-6

The Blood Guard

The Blood Guard
by Carter Roy

From the publisher:
"When thirteen-year-old Ronan Truelove's seemingly ordinary mom snatches him from school, then sets off on a high speed car chase, Ronan is shocked. His quiet, nerdy dad has been kidnapped? And the kidnappers are after him, too? His mom, he quickly learns, is anything but ordinary. In fact, she's a member of an ancient order of knights, the Blood Guard, a sword-wielding secret society sworn to protect the Pure—thirty-six noble souls whose safety is crucial if the world as we know it is to survive. Now all those after-school activities—gymnastics, judo, survival training—she made him take, make sense. For suddenly Ronan is swept up in a sometimes funny, sometimes scary, but always thrilling adventure—dashing from one danger to the next, using his wits to escape the Bend Sinister, a posse of evil doers with strange powers. Falling in with two unlikely companions, Greta, a scrappy, strong-willed girl he's never much liked and Jack, a devil-may-care teenage pickpocket, Ronan is left with only his wits and his mom's last words of advice: Trust no one. That's a lot for an ordinary kid to deal with. But then again, maybe Ronan's not ordinary at all."

I read an article online called Your Paper Brain and Your Kindle Brain Aren't the Same Thing . Here is a quote from that article:

" Neuroscience, in fact, has revealed that humans use different parts of the brain when reading from a piece of paper or from a screen. So the more you read on screens, the more your mind shifts towards "non-linear" reading — a practice that involves things like skimming a screen or having your eyes dart around a web page.

“They call it a ‘bi-literate’ brain,” Zoromodi says. “The problem is that many of us have adapted to reading online just too well. And if you don’t use the deep reading part of your brain, you lose the deep reading part of your brain. ”

What does this have to do with my review of The Blood Guard ? I read this on my Kindle, and I have found that I don't seem to enjoy the books I read on screen as much as "real" books. Even books that I originally rated very high, if I re-read them on the Kindle I tend to wonder why I rated them so highly. So I'm going to guess that if I had read the paper copy of this particular book, I think I would have enjoyed it more. As it was, I liked it, but I didn't find it as spectacular as others seem to. And that is weird because it did tick all the boxes of a great middle grade fantasy/adventure. There was a lot of action, lots of humor, a really interesting and creative plot, awesome characters, and evil villains. So I guess I'm saying, read it for yourself and hopefully you will love it. Unfortunately, the paper copy of this book disappeared from my library shelves right after I put it out. I sure hope it gets returned or found soon.

Suggested Ages:
Publisher's Weekly - Ages 10+
School Library Journal - Grades 4-8

Defining Dulcie

Defining Dulcie
by Paul Acampora

From the publisher:
"From a debut author comes a story of finding oneself in a place all too familiar. After Dulcie Morrigan Jones's dad dies, her mom decides they need to find a new life in California. But Dulcie doesn't understand what?s wrong with her old life back in Newbury, Connecticut. So she heads across country and back home in her father's red 1968 Chevy pickup truck. When she arrives, she meets Roxanne, a girl whose home life makes Dulcie see that her own situation may not be all that bad after all. And as the summer comes to an end, Dulcie realizes that maybe it's necessary to leave a place in order to come back and find out who you really are."

First off, I didn't realize this was Paul Acampora's first book when I read it.  I had read and loved I Kill the Mockingbird , so I wanted to read some more by this author.  I enjoyed this little book. It was a quick, sweet read. The ending wasn't quite what I was wanting, but overall I liked the book. What I love about Paul Acampora are the little bits of wisdom he puts all over the place in his books. Here was one of my favorites:

"For the first time since Dad died, I felt a bright stab of unexpected happiness. Maybe it was the laughter. Maybe it was the fact that I was worried about somebody other than myself for a change."

I love that! When my kids left home to go to college and they would call and be sad or depressed or homesick, I would tell them to go out and find someone to serve. That always takes you out of yourself and helps you to see your own problems with another perspective. I love how this author puts little tidbits like that in his books, and I hope that the kids who read these books pick up on some of those things. So even though I didn't love this book quite like I loved I Kill the Mockingbird , I definitely recommend it as a good story with a good moral.

Areas of concern:
I don't remember any bad language. 
A teenager takes her mother's (well, her dead father's) truck and drives across country from California to Connecticut.  She won't call her mother and just sends her postcards every now and then from random places along the road. 

Suggested Ages:
School Library Journal - Grades 7-10

Doon

Doon
by Carey Corp &
Lorie Langdon

From the publisher:
"DOON…

Veronica doesn't think she's going crazy. But why can't anyone else see the mysterious blond boy who keeps popping up wherever she goes? When her best friend, Mackenna, invites her to spend the summer in Scotland, Veronica jumps at the opportunity to leave her complicated life behind for a few months.

But the Scottish countryside holds other plans.

Not only has the imaginary kilted boy followed her to Alloway, she and Mackenna uncover a strange set of rings and a very unnerving letter from Mackenna's great aunt—and when the girls test the instructions Aunt Gracie left behind, they find themselves transported to a land that defies explanation. Doon seems like a real-life fairy tale, complete with one prince who has eyes for Mackenna and another who looks suspiciously like the boy from Veronica's daydreams. But Doon has a dark underbelly as well. The two girls could have everything they've longed for...or they could end up breaking an enchantment and find themselves trapped in a world that has become a nightmare.

DOON is loosely based on the premise of the musical Brigadoon, with permission from the Alan Jay Lerner Estate and the Frederick Loewe Foundation. Follow the journey at http://www.DoonSeries.com

~Destiny awaits!"

I think this book may have the most beautiful cover of any book I have ever seen. And it is set in Scotland and based on a Broadway musical, so really, what's not to like? I had really high hopes for this one. In some part, those hopes were realized. There was a lot of action and adventure, romance, princes, a castle, a romantic village, beautiful dresses, bad villains... All the right pieces were there, but it was a little too cheesy and corny for me a lot of the time. There aren't many people I think this book may have the most beautiful cover of any book I have ever seen. And it is set in Scotland and based on a Broadway musical, so really, what's not to like? I had really high hopes for this one. In some part, those hopes were realized. There was a lot of action and adventure, romance, princes, a castle, a romantic village, beautiful dresses, bad villains... All the right pieces were there, but it was a little too cheesy and corny for me a lot of the time. There aren't many people in the world who love Broadway musicals as much as I do, but I don't go around saying things like, "Sacred Stephen Schwartz!", "Holy Hammerstein!", or "Sweet Baby Sondheim!". I found that hugely annoying. However, all the other musical references brought pretty awesome visuals to my mind:  "Like doing a mash-up of Spring Awakening and Spamalot ." "I always imagined I'd be like Betty Buckley, performing way into the sunset of my life."   But that's just me. I can't imagine there are very many teenagers who would understand those quotes, but maybe it would inspire them to research and become interested in The Great White Way and that business we call show (I totally could have written Makenna's chapters in this book!). Another annoying thing was that the book was told from the POV of 2 best friends, and it seemed like every chapter one of the girls would be thinking or talking about how beautiful her bestie was and how she felt so plain next to her, and then the other one would say the exact same thing. So apparently they were both drop-dead gorgeous and didn't know it. But I read that the 2 authors voiced the different girls and I thought that was a good idea because you could definitely hear the different voice come through and there was no confusion as to which girl was talking. Even though things annoyed me at times, once I got into it I had to keep reading. It was exciting and romantic, the setting was gorgeous, there was a lot of humor, the secondary characters were interesting, and the whole premise was very unique. I think the target audience will love this book. As for me - on to the sequel! Areas of concern: 3 or 4 mild cuss words ("It hurts like hell"...) Some pretty serious kissing going on, but stopped before anything else happened. Suggested Ages: School Library Journal - Grades 7-10

The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing

The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing
by Sheila Turnage

From the publisher:
"The eagerly anticipated follow-up to the Newbery honor winner and New York Times bestseller, Three Times Lucky

Small towns have rules. One is, you got to stay who you are – no matter how many murders you solve.

When Miss Lana makes an Accidental Bid at the Tupelo auction and winds up the mortified owner of an old inn, she doesn't realize there's a ghost in the fine print. Naturally, Desperado Detective Agency (aka Mo and Dale) opens a paranormal division to solve the mystery of the ghost's identity. They've got to figure out who the ghost is so they can interview it for their history assignment (extra credit). But Mo and Dale start to realize that the Inn isn't the only haunted place in Tupelo Landing. People can also be haunted by their own past. As Mo and Dale handily track down the truth about the ghost (with some help from the new kid in town), they discover the truth about a great many other people, too.

A laugh out loud, ghostly, Southern mystery that can be enjoyed by readers visiting Tupelo Landing for the first time, as well as those who are old friends of Mo and Dale."

How I love Miss Mo LoBeau and her companion in all things, Dale Earnhardt Johnson III! This is the second book about the charming, quirky town of Tupelo Landing, the first being the Newbery Honor book, Three Times Lucky .   If the author doesn't continue writing books about Tupelo Landing, my one request is that she at least fast-forward 7 years so we can see what happens when Mo can finally date her beloved Lavender (if Lavender hasn't been snatched up by one of the big-haired twins or Miss Retzyl's sister!).

I have decided that all that is really necessary in a review of a Sheila Turnage book is to put in quotes from the book. How can you not want to read a book with these quotes?!

"If I'm not mistaken, Buddha's a family name," Miss Lana said in a voice shaved from ice. It was quasi-true.  Bubba is a family name. Buddha's mama is dyslexic.

"I'm Jake Exum," he said. "This is my brother Jimmy. Until now we been homeschooled."
"Mama expelled us," Jimmy added.

"Stress focuses you right up until it sucks your brain dry. Standardized testing taught me that."

"It's Friday," I reminded her. "We prefer our homework to age over the weekend, making it tender."

"Nice posture. I'm more of a slumpist myself."

Is there a more quotable author than Sheila Turnage? I doubt it. I just know I will continue to read whatever books she writes and hope they live up to the Tupelo Landing books.

Suggested Ages:
Publisher's Weekly - Ages 10+
School Library Journal - Grades 4-6
*Once again, Ms. Turnage has written a book that is for everyone!

Illusive

Illusive
by Emily Lloyd-Jones

From the publisher:
"The X-Men meets Ocean's Eleven in this edge-of-your-seat sci-fi adventure about a band of "super" criminals.

When the MK virus swept across the planet, a vaccine was created to stop the epidemic, but it came with some unexpected side effects. A small percentage of the population developed superhero-like powers. Seventeen-year-old Ciere Giba has the handy ability to change her appearance at will. She's what's known as an illusionist...She's also a thief.

After a robbery goes awry, Ciere must team up with a group of fellow super-powered criminals on another job that most would consider too reckless. The formula for the vaccine that gave them their abilities was supposedly destroyed years ago. But what if it wasn't?

The lines between good and bad, us and them, and freedom and entrapment are blurred as Ciere and the rest of her crew become embroiled in a deadly race against the government that could cost them their lives."

I'm really conflicted about this book. There were some things I disliked intensely, but other things were enjoyable.

Things I disliked:
~ The main characters name - Ciere Giba. Personally, I like to be able to pronounce the names of the characters I'm reading about, so I found that name incredibly annoying. We find out later the name has some sort of meaning that totally confused me and it is pronounced like Sierra without the a on the end.
~ The book starts out with an incredibly hung-over teenager naked in a hotel bed with a boy passed out on the floor next to her clutching a bottle of tequila.
~ Bad language with the *f* word jarringly thrown in 5 or more times. I say "jarringly" because there really wasn't any bad language at all until suddenly the *f* word pops out of a character's mouth. Later in the book there was a handful of uses of the *s* and the *a* words.
~ The main character did incredibly stupid things over and over again that affected all the people around her. I like my heroines to have a little bit of commonsense.
~ One of the main crew members is a male prostitute. That fact is referenced several times and not explained.
~ The author mixed tenses in the same paragraph several times. Now, I tend to do that all the time, but I expect better in published authors.

Things I liked:
~ I thought it was a really unique premise.
~ It was exciting
~ There was a twist at the end that completely surprised me

Bad things outweigh good things for me on this one and I very much doubt I will read a sequel.   

Areas of concern:
I addressed a lot of concerns above.  One other major concern is massive law-breaking, including murder.   Quite a bit of violence, as well.

Suggested Ages:
Kirkus Reviews - Ages 12+
School Library Journal - Grades 7-10
*Mrs. Duke disagrees and thinks this should be for older readers.