Published by Putnam Juvenile, 2008. 208 pages.

3Q (Readable, without serious defects), 4P (Broad general YA appeal), J-S (Junior-senior high).

Try reading this book out loud, and you’ll be a star in the eastern European accent arena. The book is narrated by 15-year-old Vospop Vsklzwczdztwczky (Voss, for short), an illegal immigrant from the fictional eastern European country of Slobovia. Voss comes to America in a shipping container full of Chiss Poffs (cheese puffs) with his crazy uncle and depressed father in search of a better life. As soon as they enter the country, Voss’ family becomes entangled in crazy adventures as they rub elbows with the rich and famous and run from Slobovian mobster Bilias Upchuck, who vows to kill Voss. Yet even against extraordinary odds, Voss manages to become a hero time and time again.

The story is written in a series of letters that Voss sends home to his best friend. Although the various spellings can sometimes take a minute to figure out, this book makes a great read aloud because Voss’ pronunciations are clearly understood when spoken. The humorous plot is similar to a fairy tale–while wacky things happen and force our valiant hero into seemingly impossible situations, he always manages to figure out a way to triumph. And while the majority of the book focuses on the funny, there are deeper messages in Voss’ interpretations of American life.

I recommend this book for students in junior high to high school because of the language. Younger students would enjoy the book as a read-aloud. It is a quick read, and doesn’t require a lot of deep thought.

Published by Harper Teen, 2008. 432 pages.

5Q (Hard to imagine it being better written), 3P (Will appeal with pushing), S (senior high)

I never wanted to read this book. I had no good reason except that I thought I wouldn’t like it. I resisted for months, despite knowing that it was an award winner and had good reviews. But I have to say, it was worth taking the time to read 432 pages of Marchetta’s intricate story.

Taylor Markham has lived at the Jellicoe Road School for the past six years. Taylor’s mother left her at a 7-Eleven on Jellicoe Road when she was eleven. Unlike many of the other students, Jellicoe Road is Taylor’s only home. When everyone else leaves for the holidays, Taylor stays. Her only parental figure is Hannah, a woman who lives by the school and helps care for the students. Now Taylor is a twelfth year student in a newly elected leadership role that thrusts her in the middle of the unusual territory wars going on between military Cadets camping in the area, Townies, and the students at her school. To make things worse, Hannah disappears without explanation and Taylor is left wondering whether she’s been abandoned again. As Taylor digs deeper into the reasons behind the territory wars, she discovers secrets that connect events in her past and help her discover the truth about herself.

Although Taylor’s story is the framework for the book, readers will find other stories written in italics throughout the text. While this can make the book confusing to read at first, never fear! There is a point to the stories and as the larger plot unravels, readers will discover connections in seemingly random pieces of information. The intricacy of these connections makes the story all the more addicting.

Struggling readers may have difficulty with the multiple story lines. While this book is not technically a mystery nor a fantasy, mystery and fantasy fans may enjoy the book because of the intricate plot, dream sequences, and character development. Although I’ve seen the book recommended for middle school readers, I would recommend it only for more advanced middle school students.

Published by Candlewick Press, 2002, 236 pages.

4P, 4Q, Senior high

I’ve read many books by M.T. Anderson but they’ve all been historical fiction so I was looking forward to exploring his works of a different genre. Feed is the story of a future where handheld computers and desktop devices are thought of as prehistoric. Why hold a computer or type when it can be hooked up to your brain and the information you need is there the second you think it? Forget televisions and Mp3 players- the feed will broadcast whatever you like right in your head. You can talk to your friends without words on mchat, even though they may be right in front of you (which makes talking behind someone’s back take on a whole new level of meaning). And if you want buy something, the feed is happy to suggest items you might enjoy, deduct the price from your credits, and ship the items directly to your house.

When Titus and his friends visit the moon, Titus meets a girl unlike anyone he’s known before. Violet is beautiful, yet somehow very different in the way she lives her life. Before Titus and Violet really get a chance to know each other, an encounter with a hacker at a nightclub changes what they know about the feed and changes their lives forever.

Forget any notion of information literacy – the information sent to people’s heads comes directly from corporations without a filter or a choice. Corporations even run the schools. Violet’s experience on the moon motivates her to fight the feed and Titus is caught between the desire to be normal and the knowledge that there is more to life than what he thought he knew.

Anderson’s writing slips with ease into a newer type of language, which he claims he crafted by listening in on cell phone conversations in public places. Titus’ narrative is interspersed with the voices and advertisements of the feed, which are differentiated by italics. Anderson does a good job of depicting the constant extra noise of the feed, as it punctures Titus’ daily life.

I recommend this book for high school readers or for younger readers on a higher reading level because it does take some time to get used to the language.

Criss-Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins

Still reading: The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing: Kingdom on the Waves

More reviews to come!

Audiobook narrated by Gerard Doyle.

Published by Listening Library, 2008.

2Q (Better writing or editing by the author might have warranted a 3Q), 2P (For the YA with a special interest in this subject)

The third book in teen author Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance series was supposed to be the last book, but the story was left unfinished in order to close the series with a final fourth installation. The 763 pages of the book are translated into 23 lengthy audio CD’s so instead of listing what happens in this story, it might be better to describe what doesn’t happen. While teen Dragon Rider Eragon continues to battle the evil with his dragon Saphira, he doesn’t triumph over all just yet. Roran, Eragon’s cousin rescues his fiance, Katrina, yet doesn’t resolve the difficulties he encounters as the unexpected new leader of his townspeople. And while Eragon continues his training as a Dragon Rider and learns many new secrets, there are still many to go.

I generally enjoy fantasy, but this book dragged on a bit longer than I can handle. The plot fits traditional fantasy storylines without much original thought. While I enjoyed the first and even second books in the series, the third installment left much to be desired.

Thanks for the patience!

Published by Farrar Straus Girroux, 2006. 294 pages.

5Q (Hard to imagine it being better written), 2P (For the YA reader with a special interest in the subject), M-S (middle school- senior high)

What’s like to live out in the wilderness? Moon Blake doesn’t know anything else. Since the time he was a baby, Moon has lived in a shelter in the woods with his Pap and his mother, who died when Moon was young. Pap taught Moon everything he needs to know–how to make his own deerskin cap, how to trap and skin game, and which plants can be eaten. He even taught Moon how to read, because “everyone needs some readin’ and writin’”. In case of war, the Blakes could be self-sufficient while others around them depended on the government. And the biggest thing Pap taught Moon was to never trust the government.

When Pap dies, 10-year-old Moon is left alone. Even though his father instructed him to find his way to Alaska where there were others like them, Moon soon finds that it’s not quite that simple. Even though he can whip someone three times his size and get free from just about anything, he’s not quite sure how the outside world runs. He soon finds himself in a boy’s home with friends his own age. Moon is still determined to find his way to Alaska and along with his new friends, he sets out on the adventure of their lives. As they travel, Moon starts to realize there is more than one understanding of the word “family”.

When the story begins, it’s easy to feel as if this is historical fiction. Watt paints the picture of a family living out in the wilderness and you easily feel it’s in the past. But when Moon buries his father under a rock that says “1980″, you realize that this is, in fact, a modern story. Seeing the world through Moon’s eyes is interesting– he’s unfamiliar with things like television and riding in a car, yet he’s unafraid and unashamed to face the world as himself. Watt does a wonderful job writing in the Southern voice and the dialogue flows in a way that is accurately Alabaman.

The cover of the book actually makes me think more of a horror novel, with red flames and words disappearing into darkness. The words are actually Moon’s letter to his father which he burns and sends up to his father in the smoke, but before reading the book, I would not have assumed the book was a wilderness adventure story.

Boys will love this book–it has some elements reminiscent of “The Hatchet” as the boys catch their own food and Kit and Hal learn how to survive. Although the book is geared towards younger readers, older readers will also enjoy the story. It’s an exciting tale of friendship you’re sure to enjoy.

Published by the Center for Cartoon Studies, 2007. 96 pages.

3Q (Readable, without serious defects), 2P (For the YA reader with a special interest in the topic), M-J (middle school-junior high), G (graphic novel)

Almost everyone has heard of Houdini, the famous escape artist. This graphic novel explores one morning in his life as he prepares to jump off of the Harvard bridge in Cambridge, Massachusetts with a pair of regulation police department handcuffs on his wrists and chains on his ankles. At this point in his life, reporters are hounding him and other are doubting him. His wife loves him endlessly and supports his every move (in more ways than one–some people think she hid a pin in her mouth that she passed on to her husband as she kissed him before the show). As Houdini goes crashing into the water, the thousands gathered to see him watch anxiously to see if he’ll come out alive.

This story was very brief–I thought it would span more than just one morning. Still, it’s an interesting glimpse into the preparation before the actual act. Within this brief narrative, the authors explore bigger themes (Anti-Semitism, fashions of the day, Houdini’s rivalries) that they include as discussion points in the back of the book with a lot more information. These are helpful additions to the brief story.

The illustrations are black, white, and gray, which do add an old-fashioned sense to the book. The colors are fitting of the fact that in 1908, color photography didn’t yet exist. I tend to like colorful illustrations, but the drawings are simple enough that my eye wasn’t overwhelmed by black and gray lines.

Male readers will enjoy this book. I recommend it for a younger audience still interested in the theme of magic.

Published by Marshall Cavendish Children, 2007. 64 pages.

5P (Hard to imagine it being better written), 2P (for the YA reader with a special interest in the topic), J-A/YA (junior high- adult)

“I suffered two grave accidents in my life. One the streetcar, the other Diego.”

To those who don’t know her, Frida is the Mexican artist with the unibrow and mostache. (You know, Salma Hayek played her in a movie.) She is not an artist you just learn about…she is an artist you know. And if you didn’t know her before starting this book, you will be intimately aware of her most painful memories by the end. From her bought with polio to her bus accident to her repeatedly broken heart, Frida’s voice explains everything.  Bernier-Grand takes us on a journey of Frida’s life through biographical poetry paired with reproductions of her paintings.

The author speaks so eloquently in the voice of Frida, I had to go back and check to make sure the poems weren’t actually written by her. I’ve studied Frida for many years and have read many biographies and this book manages to slip in so many little details that are not only historically accurate, but get to the essence of Frida herself.  Her feelings become real as Bernier-Grand writes them on the page. The book also includes a multitude of reference resources in the back. There are quotes from Frida’s diary, a chronology of her life, a short biography, a glossary, related websites, and even related movies.

The cover features a self-portrait of Frida and there is no better image for a book about this subject. Who could communicate the Frida experience better than Frida herself? It’s a recognizable image that will attract art lovers.

This book has appeal for a broad age range–I would recommend it to readers from junior high all the way up to adult. People not interested in art may want to pass this book by but in addition to being a great art history source, Frida’s story draws people in. The lyrical words certainly warrant a place on the Outstanding Books for the College-Bound list.