ARGH!

Everytime I feel like I'm finally back in the swing of things I fall flat on my face! :(
I'm resolving to post every Friday from now on. It shall be so. Knowing that I have an obligation of sorts to fulfill might help me... consider this post my notice.

The Year of Billy Miller, Newbery Honor 2014

Yup, you read that correctly Honor. Certainly not the first Newbery Honor book I've read (see post one) but the first I'll break down and review. Why? Because it is brand new!!! Yes, the night of the announcement I happened to get the news and ordered all of my copies before they were put into backorder! They arrived this week and I decided to read the honors first to see how they compare before hitting up the winner. Savvy?
Anyway The Year of Billy Miller is a great read, though I felt like the characters spoke in a manner that seemed slightly more verbose than your average seven year olds... and I KNOW that the little sister was more expressive than most three year olds. But I still liked the characters and felt that they fairly accurately captured the essence of childhood.
I was even more surprised to see that the author is someone I recognized the works of, Kevin Henkes. He has written several picture books including the very popular Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse and several other stories with the same kind of mouse characters.
I think that this book skews towards the younger end of the Newbery crowd simply because the age of the main character lends itself to a sort of simplicity, though I think it would be too difficult for 2nd graders to read on their own. It would make an excellent read aloud though!

A word of caution:
I am what might be considered a squeamish adult, and heaven only knows that I've read plenty of books with creepier details (Harry Potter, anything by Roald Dahl....) but there is one scene that seems out of place in the simple, youthful text that surrounds it. I'm reprinting it here for review purposes so you can know ahead of time for any reading aloud what might need to be curbed.
Billy Miller tries to stay up all night, but as he starts falling asleep, he imagines things to keep himself awake. Eventually imagining monsters, including one described thusly: "The something had white melted flesh with oozing clusters of pimples for eyes. Its nose was a wet hole that made a whistling noise with each breath. It had long, stringy gray hair and thin, knobby fingers and bloody sores all over its naked body. It creaked and rattled and groaned. The thing ate children. Its teeth were sharp as needles. It was stretching and reaching, reaching and stretching. Creeping. Right under him." ... Holy cow, I am a grown adult and I recoiled at the image of this creature. Pretty sure is would have haunted my nightmares if I read this as child. Sometimes less is more. But in this case more is more terrifying. I would likely edit that down a lot if I were to read this to my Kindergarteners next year.

2014 Reading Challenges

I've been working on my personal challenge of reading the Newbery Award Winners for two years now. I've done so much in those two years that it is rather frightening really! But I'm not getting to share the other brilliant books I'm reading so I've decided to add a couple of other challenges to this blog.

2014 TBR Pile Reading Challenge
Here is a Challenge that was made for me! I have an embarrassingly large TBR (to be read) pile, I'm the person who buys three new books and then goes home and REREADS something. I'm hopeless, so this challenge might keep me on top of that massive TBR pile, or at least help me crawl out from underneath the pile.

2014 Prequel and Sequel Challenge
Conveniently overlapping in the TBR Challenge is this challenge, I have picked up so many prequels and sequels fully intending to read them but, alas, I have not.

But don't fret! I'll continue with the Newbery Challenge I issued myself and always keep that as my priority!

A Note on Re-Reading...

I re-read. I know some of you do too, raise your hands. Now bear with me... I don't choose literature because 'it's popular' nor do I hate it for that reason. But Harry Potter, oh Harry... One cannot re-read Harry Potter and try to have an earnest in-depth look at it without some bit of scorn from the literature snobs about cultural mobs or what-not. But at a certain point you've visited the stories so much that you begin to pick at the details. And when you pick details expect to find scads of questions. Or, as often as not while I've been revisiting Sorcerer's Stone - witty remarks. You really begin to know the characters as friends and can comment on everything they've done. I believe that everyone has read and loved a series should read it at least twice. Unless someone out there can truly tell me that you were just as invested in Harry in The Boy Who Lived as you were in the epilogue.
It is like having a best friend and trying to pinpoint that moment... the beginning, usually there is a vague idea of what happened, where you met, what interests brought you together... But in literature we have the gift of being able to go back and reconstruct the first moments, but with a fuller view. One that, I believe only gets more developed each re-read.

The Twenty-One Balloons, Newbery Winner 1948

This book seemed one that I would not enjoy, I put it of again and again. But finding myself in a very motivated mood I picked it up and... Oh my goodness! This book is so good! I found it to be a charming tale with ingenious inventions. Professor Sherman Williams finds himself on the island of Krakatoa in 1883 after a failed attempt at living in a balloon house for a year.

For those of you unfamiliar with history let me show you an artist's interpretation of Krakatoa's claim to fame.

BOOM!

Alright, maybe the explosion wasn't THAT big. But it was enormous. Pompei? Child's play. Mount Saint Helens? Puh-leze. This was a volcanic explosion everyone knew about, mostly because you could hear it 1,930 miles away. That is like Old Faithful exploding and people in New York City hearing it - plus another 40 miles into the ocean!

So you can see that this story has an exciting climax, am-I-right? 

Oh, there is also a diamond mine filled to overflowing, lots of gourmet food, a system of government unlike anything you've ever seen, and (do I even need to mention it?) lots of balloons.

The Graveyard Book, Newbery Winner 2009

I'm not a big fan of horror, or horror-lite even. I am put off by most dark humor. But I do love The Jungle Book, and this book is heavily inspired by Rudyard Kipling's classic tale. I knew that going into the work and was able to draw several comparisons myself. As for which I prefer The Jungle Book will always win, though this isn't a bad send up.
There are several things that I wish were more fleshed out. The Jacks of All Trade for Instance. I don't quite understand what that was all about even now. I don't think that the sleer was ever properly fleshed out either.... Okay so there were a few plot holes, but they didn't detract enough from the story to keep me going. If I was really going to nitpick this story I would say that the problem was that the chapters were long. At a certain point, 10:45 PM, I wasn't quite ready to go to sleep so I started another chapter. I am among the most stubborn people ever and hate stopping in the middle of a chapter... Chapter 7 was around 90 pages long.

Seriously, Neil Gaiman, was that really necessary?

By the point I finished that chapter it was super late but there were only a few pages left. So I finished the book. But ultimately a great read and one that I plan to read with one of my tutoring students after we finish Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Fourth Round-Up

In one of the longest breaks between round-ups so much has happened! I graduated college and got a job! What followed was the long, arduous task of packing for my move to Alaska! Now that I have settled into my job as a preschool teacher/ reading intervention specialist (oooh big title), I have a little time to read again. And so, without further ado, is the fourth round-up, containing both the newest and oldest of my titles reviewed so far.

When You Reach Me - Part of the joy that a reader can glean from this text definitely stems from reading A Wrinkle in Time first. It was a cleverly written book that, while solidly founded in what we know as the 'real world' wasn't afraid to let mysterious fantasy and science fiction ooze in. For kids who might wonder more about physics than dragons this is the perfect book. Realistic, with just a dash of time travel.

The Door in the Wall - A lovely little tale with characters that I truly cared about. It is perhaps not the most accurate of the medieval England books that have been awarded, but it is among the most human. I loved Robin and felt his struggles, a struggle that provided a rich lesson many children will be able to appreciate.

Holes - A reread that held up well over the years. One note is that if you have seen the movie, you are never getting that out of your head because Sachar wrote the screenplay making it one of the most faithful adaptations you can hope to encounter. Probably tops the list of award winners I would recommend to boys that are reluctant readers.

The Giver - I'm generally not into dystopian fiction. But this book turns it around by making it seem utopian at first. You enter the society feeling like it is a model of good community and you grow gradually wary alongside the protagonist. There are sequels, but a part of me likes the maddening ending as it is.

The One and Only Ivan - A book that I expected to be okay and instead turned out to be really good. One of the most unique narrators to be found amongst the award winners, with a unique style to match.

The Midwife's Apprentice - A book that can be appreciated for placing a common occurrence (childbirth) into a historical framework and examining the process around it. Although the story is arguably about Alyce's growth, I think the true gift of this book is in it's honest portrayal of midwifery.

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH - Perhaps I was spoiled by the cartoon but this book was nothing like I expected. It is however, a great book that makes you ask big questions about intelligence and compassion.

Tales from Silver Lands - This was a great read due to the location. But it definitely shows its age and not every story was totally readable.  But most of the book was an interesting look into the folk lore of South America.

Strawberry Girl - I liked the fact that this book delved into one of the many cultures found across our large and varied country. I also like pioneer fiction, though this is the one I'd feel least inclined to return to if faced with Little House, Caddie Woodlawn, and Strawberry Girl.

It's Like This, Cat - Hands down the worst of the batch. I simply didn't care for much of the book, and when the author finally mustered up some interest the story was over.

1. Number the Stars
2. Crispin: Cross of Lead
3. Island of the Blue Dolphins
4. Julie of the Wolves
5. Maniac Magee 
6. Bud, Not Buddy
7. King of the Wind
8. Out of the Dust
9. When You Reach Me
10. The Tale of Despereaux
11. The Door in the Wall
12. Holes
13. Caddie Woodlawn
14. Kira-Kira
15. Sounder
16. Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village
17. The Giver
18. The Westing Game
19. Bridge to Terabithia
20. The View from Saturday
21. Sarah, Plain and Tall
22. Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices
23. Call It Courage
24. The Cat Who Went to Heaven
25. The One and Only Ivan
26. The Midwife's Apprentice
27. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
28. Onion John
29. Dear Mr. Henshaw
30. Missing May
31. Tales from Silver Lands
32. A Gathering of Days
33. The Whipping Boy
34. Rabbit Hill
35. Strawberry Girl
36. The Matchlock Gun
37. A Visit to William Blake's Inn
38. It's Like This, Cat
39. Johnny Tremain
40. Dobry
41. Daniel Boone