BOOK REVIEWS
2007
January 2007 Reviews
Oregon Coast Preview Book Center for Young ReadersReviews by N.W. Retired Librarian
Nonfiction
Desnoettes, Caroline.Look Closer: Art Masterpieces through the Ages. Walker, 2006. $18.95. 0-8027-9614-2. Unp. Ages 5+: Foldouts and thick paper make this interactive book highly useful and fascinating for adults working with younger children or older children examining the book on their own. Each “masterpiece includes a reproduction of the entire work, four inserts from each painting, the basic four colors in the artist’s palette, brief information about the work’s place in history, and a set of questions requiring careful examination of the work. Each work is given one full page in the back of the book with a brief bio of the artist, a discussion of the type of work, and an description of the painting included in the book. The masterpieces go from gothic style in the 14th and 15th centuries to figurative and abstract art in the 20th century. Although all the artists are men, a variety of European countries are represented with the majority from France. The concept in this book could be replicated by teachers who wanted to include art from other countries and genders. P8Q8
Ebadi, Shirin.Iran Awakening: A Memoir of Revolution and Hope. With Azadeh Moaveni. Random House, 2006. $24.95. 1-4000-6470-8. 232p. Ages 16+: The life of this dedicated human rights advocate and winner of the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize is filled with danger and courage as she tries to maintain the traditional women’s role in an Arab country while defending, as a lawyer, women and children in politically charged cases that most in her profession refuse to touch. From her girlhood in a modest Tehran household to her demotion to clerk when the religious authorities declared women unfit to serve as judges, she describes her deep disillusionment with the direction Iran has taken since the 1979 Islamic Revolution under the guidance of hard-line clerics. In the book she also speaks out against the oppressive patriarchy of Iran, where conservative rulers have stripped women of their basic rights and all citizens of their political freedom. Although not always easy reading, this book is important for young people because of our increasing relationship with Iran and the resolute bravery of a woman who refuses to give up. P4Q9
Gold, Rozanne.Kids Cook 1-2-3: Recipes for Young Chefs Using Only 3 Ingredients. Il. Sara Pinto. Bloomsbury, 2006. $17.95. 1-58234-735-2. 144p. Ages 9+: As a lover of cookbooks, I was really excited about this book. I was disappointed. The premise is excellent and the layout fun. Some of the directions are helpful, such as washing your hands before cooking and cleaning up after yourself as you cook. But while the audience for the book is young readers, the vocabulary is sometimes sophisticated (such as “autonomic nervous system”). The list of equipment required is also extensive, making this book more for middle and upper class children. The first recipe, Hot Chocolate, requires chopping “7 ounces best-quality semi-sweet chocolate,” a fairly daunting task for a “simple” three-recipe cookbook. Another recipe calls for scallions but doesn’t explain what these are. And essential items in the pantry of refrigerator include Nutella, pesto sauce, and puff pastry. There are other, better, simpler cookbooks for children on the market. P4Q6
Jarrow, Gail.The Printer’s Trial: The Case of John Peter Zenger and the Fight for a Free Press. Calkins Creek Books/Boyds Mills, 2006. $18.95. 1-59-78-432-4. 102p. Ages 12+: The relative freedom of the press in the United States dates back to 1734 when a recently-appointed New York governor arrested a printer for printing papers that said negative things about the governor’s actions. This book chronicles the events that led up to the arrest, the trial, and the results of the trial. Such an episode could be very exciting; the book is not. It begins at the beginning, rather than a journalistic approach that would begin with the event itself, drawing the reader into the book. In addition, the book is largely gray with dull print, fuzzy pictures, and large areas of hand-written text that cannot be easily read. The format puts the narrative of the book on the right page and supporting material on the left. Sometimes the material has no relationship, indicating that perhaps there was not enough for the left side. The author also shows bias in some of her statements. I would not recommend this book for purchase. P3Q4
Murphy, Claire Rudolf.Children of Alcatraz: Growing Up on the Rock. Walker, 2006. $17.95. 0-8027-9577-3. 64p. Ages 8+: Although people think of “The Rock,” an island off San Francisco, as only a maximum-security prison and later as a place for Native American protest, it has been home to children for the past 200 years. In her chronicle of this famous place, Murphy highlights those children with a wide selection of photographs beginning with pictures of children of army officers who moved to the Army post in 1859 to protect San Francisco and house such criminals as the Hopi Indians imprisoned there in 1894 who refused to allow their children to be sent to a government boarding school. The juxtaposition of the innocent young children and the criminals, some of them quite hardened, is fascinating. Those consigned to Alcatraz for refusal to serve in the army cut the children’s hair, baby-sat them, or went to movie screenings with the children. Children would sneak messages to the prisoners’ friends on the mainland. During the Native American occupation from 1969 through 1971, children were back, again exploring the island and this time wandering through the dank prison cells. One interesting picture is of actor Benjamin Bratt as a child. This provides not only interesting information about the children but also shows some of the injustices of the U.S. government through the last century. P9Q8
Reef, Catherine.E.E. Cummings: A Poet’s Life. Clarion, 2006. $21.00. 0-618-56849-2. 149p. Ages 12+: Cummings’ life seems to have happened in a different world. Born in 1894, his family had two live-in servants and a daily handyman; as an adult, Cummings never seemed to have a job, depending on help from friends and family at first and later making some money from readings and being a visiting lecturer at schools of higher education. Because of these freedoms, he was able to spend his time writing, breaking away from the traditional poetic form, using capitalization, punctuation, and spacing in ways never seen before. The book reads like a “who’s who” of famous writers during his lifetime. This makes it almost more appropriate for adults or young readers who want to study literature. With its complete information, young readers may find this a bit boring, difficult to get through. P3Q7
Roth, Susan L.Do Re Mi: If You Can Read Music, Thank Guido d’Arezzo. Ass. Angelo Mafucci. Houghton, 2006. $17.00. 0-618-46572-3. Unp. Ages 5-8: “A thousand years ago. . .There was no written music at all.” Thus begins this remarkable biography of the Italian monk who devoted his time to developing a system that would depict music so that a song would not be lost forever if someone forgot it. Lyric writing matches the subject as well as do the flowing collages of torn papers collected from around the world. Roth tells of how d’Arezzo’s work led to so much skepticism that he had to leave a monastery to return to his native Tuscan village. This is a story of a person who followed his heart no matter what anyone told him thus creating a language that crosses all ethnic backgrounds. P8Q9
Picture Books
McLimans, David.Gone Wild: An Endangered Animal Alphabet. Walker, 2006. $17.85. 0-8027-9564-1. Unp. Ages 5+: Although the letters graphically rendered with animal characteristics from these endangered species (from Chinese Alligator through Grevy’s Zebra) may sometimes be difficult to decipher, the actual letters, both upper and lower case, are clearly delineated in the upper outside corner . The information about the creatures is fascinating: the alphabet pages provide class, habitat, range, threats, and status, and five pages in the back provide more information. Also included are websites and bibliography for further reading. White pages with bold black and red printing for different kinds of information make every piece stand out. Both a striking work of art and a zoological adventure, Gone Wild can be used for all ages and a variety of purposes. P8Q8
Satrapi, Marjane.Monsters Are Afraid of the Moon. Bloomsbury, 2006. $15.95. 1-58234-744-1. Unp. Ages 3-6: Bold cartoon illustrations outlined in bold black help tell the story of Marie, a girl who tries to protect herself from monsters by cutting the moon out of the sky and hanging it in her room. This is a tale that shows how what seems like an easy fix can lead to a bigger problem when cats cannot see at night and the rats take over the town’s streets. It’s also a good way to negotiate rather than ordering someone to give something back that they have taken. The author, born in Persia, also wrote the award-winning Persepolis and its sequels which detail her life growing up in Iran (formerly Persia). P9Q8
Fiction
Winterson, Jeanette.Tanglewreck. Bloomsbury, 2006. $16.95. 1-58234-919-3. 415p. Ages 10-14: When “time tornadoes” begin picking up school buses and depositing wooly mammoths on the banks of the Thames, 11-year-old Silver becomes the one person who can make time predictable again. The story is full of wonderful characters: selfish, bad-tempered Mrs. Rokabye who takes over “caring” for Silver when the girl’s parents disappear; evil Abel Darkwater who wants the mysterious timekeeper; Fisty and Thugger who are sent to find the timekeeper; wicked Regalia Mason who runs a corporation; Gabriel, a strange boy from a clan that has made its home beneath London for more than a century; and all the children that surround Gabriel. The author, winner of the coveted Whitbread Prize, combines rousing adventure with time warps and quantum physics, in a book reminiscent of Madeline L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time. Also for lovers of Lemony Snicket’s books. P7Q9
January Book Reviews
D.G.H. Media Specialist
Wallington, Aury, Pop. Razorbill, 2006, $8.99, 1-59514-092-1, 248p., Grades 9-12
The pretext here is that virginity is something that needs to be gotten out of the way. Readers that buy into that pretext should enjoy this book. Marit, along with her best friends Carolyn and Jamie want their senior year to be perfect. Because she keeps dumping her boyfriends when things start to get physical, Marit decides to ask her guy friend Jamie (who is also a 17 year old virgin) to do the mutual honor with no strings attached. The interesting twist is that it is the guy who gets emotionally hurt and the three way friendship bottoms out.
The book examines the typical cliques and trust issues faced by teens, and it also highlights a pregnant girl with a smeared reputation as the worst consequence of sex. Unfortunately the book just ends with the friends all getting back together as if nothing happened and the pregnant girl’s character is just dropped with no resolution. The book does a decent job dealing with a topic that is on a lot of teen minds. P8 Q7
St. Stephens Community House, The Little Black Book For Girlz, annick press, 2006, $8.95, 978-1-55037-954-9, 208p, Grades 8-12
Coming out of Toronto, Canada this book is “by youth, for youth”. It was written by ten young women through an independent community-based agency subtitled, “A Book on Healthy Sexuality”. The chapters cover the gamete: relationships, periods, sex, birth control, pregnancy/miscarriage, abortion, STIs, AIDS, and sexual assault. Poems, drawings, essays, Q&As, written in black and white with frank, and sometimes graphic depictions, will appeal to girls (and boys) seeking straight answers about human sexuality issues.
My family members thought it might be “too much information”, but in reviewing this book with a high school counselor, the thought was that this is dead-on much needed information that many students will benefit from as young as eighth grade.
P9 Q8
Tullson, Diane, Red Sea, Orca Books, 2005, $7.95, 1-55143-331-1, 169p., Grades 8-12
A troubled 14 year-old Libby is made to travel for a year on her mother and step-father’s sailboat. Because she was dragging her feet to leave port with the flotilla for passage through the Red Sea, her family was forced to go alone facing a potential storm and the ever-present threat of pirates.
This story written in first person allows the reader into the world of modern day sailing and growing up in a divorce situation. The pirates and storm do hit, and Libby has to rely on her wits and knowledge that she learned from her step-father to survive the Red Sea. P8 Q8
Lyga, Barry, The Astonishing Adventures of Fan Boy and Goth Girl, Houghton Mifflin Co, 2006, $16.95, 978-0-618-72392-8, 311p., Grades 8-12
Written in the first person, this novel is about an angry youth high school sophomore who constantly carries a bullet in his pocket as a talisman against the world. The product of a divorce, move, bullying, and mother’s re-marriage to “the step-fascist” Donnie is adding enemies to The List and fantasizing about the school being taken over by shooters who kill and maim. He is incredibly smart and a talented artist who is writing a graphic novel (“it’s not a comic book”) that he is sure will attract the eye of his favorite author Michael Bendis at the up-coming comic book convention and will be his ticket to college and out of the situation that he is in. He has told no one about his efforts because he has only one friend, Cal, who happens to be a black jock (and a comic book fan as well!); no one that is until he meets Kyra (aka “Goth Girl” who dubs Donnie “Fan Boy”). Through her Fan Boy begins to realize that he needs to be self-confident, and that others have problems in their lives that are at least equal to his.
Throughout the book there is a tension building regarding the bullet and what Fan Boy (and later Goth Girl) will do with it. The book resolves nicely with all the characters growing through the experiences that unfold. Alienated youth or kids that are bullied will especially relate, but the book is a good vicarious experience for all that want to explore those feelings. P9Q8
February 2007 Reviews
Book Reviews – January 2007
L.F., Newport Middle School/Isaac Newton Magnet School
Fiction Selections:
Smith, Jeff.Bone: Eyes of the Storm. Scholastic, New York, 200. $18.99 ISBN: 0-439-70625-4 174 p. Gr. 5-8. The third of a 9-volume series, this story is a quick romp though Stony Gulch with the celebrated Bone family and their friends, Thorn and Gran’ma Ben. Though it follows the action of the previous installments, it works OK as a stand-alone, but the ending leaves the reader wanting more. The classic comic book illustrations by Smith are lively and well executed, a bit redolent of Walt Kelly’s Pogo. Coloring in this edition (previous editions are black and white) is very well done and makes the book worth the heftier price tag. Most of the Bone books have reached collector status, with price tags anywhere from $15 to $30 each. Many of the volumes are not in print currently, so it might be difficult to establish a complete collection in a school library. There is a paperback compilation of all 9 books available as well, for $39.95, but it isn’t in color, and, at 1341 pages thick it’s doubtful the binding is durable enough to withstand heavy circulation. Bone may not be the first graphic novel, but it’s one of the most widely read and well-accepted, and is sure to engage and inspire reluctant readers/comic book artists. P10 Q8
Forest, Heather.The Little Red Hen: an old fable. Illustrated by Susan Gaber. August House Little Folk, Little Rock, Arkansas, 2006. $16.95 ISBN: 978-0-87483-795-7 p. Gr. Preschool -1. Lively prose, memnonic verse, and a new and inspiring ending to the fable make this exquisite book a must-have for any elementary or preschool library. The ending is prefaced by the little red hen’s admonishment, “I will share my cake with those of you who help when there is work to do. For after all is said and done, working together makes working fun.” This takes the story beyond the usual self-sacrificing hen and her thankless, indolent friends and puts a teamwork spin on the tale that fable fans will enjoy. In addition, Gaber’s richly layered acrylic, pastel, and cut paper illustrations lend depth and humor that audiences of all ages will appreciate. P7Q9
Pinkney, Jerry. The Little Red Hen. Penguin Group., 2006. $16.99 ISBN: 0-8037-2935 p. Gr. Preschool -1. Pinkney’s book is basically an enlargement on the original fable, with the various barnyard animals playing a bigger role than usual, as the hen tries to enlist their help by calling on each animal’s special talents. Another departure from the usual L.R.H. venue is that the miller – a human – actually grinds the wheat and gives the hen a bonus jar of jam. Otherwise, there are no surprises in this retelling. Pinkney’s lively, meticulously-executed illustrations fill the page, which makes this a good choice for classroom read-alouds. P6 Q7