LS 5623.20 Fall 2008

Tyrell by Coe Booth

Booth, Coe.  2006.  Tyrell.  New York, NY:  Scholastic, Inc.  ISBN-13:  9780439838795.

From the first paragraph fifteen-year-old Tyrell's voice shines through, etching his image in your mind so clearly you will feel like he's walking on the street next to you.  He is real and his world is real.  As a high school dropout, his life consists of a girlfriend, a father in jail, a seven-year old brother, Troy, a mother hardly worthy of the title, and responsibilities beyond his years or his choosing.  Living out of a garbage bag and depending on the NYC Emergency Assistance Unit for a place to sleep, as they often do, Tyrell is frustrated with his mom.  She won't look for a job, doesn't watch out for Troy, and complains about everything.  Tyrell brings home food, gets Troy to finish his homework, and chastises his mom for her irresponsible behaviors.  Even though Tyrell resents his role as a parent to Troy and his mother, he continues to take on the weight of their troubles.  Girlfriend issues remind us that Troy is only fifteen, when it is so easy to think of him as seventeen or eighteen.  In a quest to earn enough money to get them out of the shelter, Tyrell hooks up with a few guys from the old neighborhood and manages to plan a big money making party, the kind his dad used to throw - only without the illegal substances.  But there is a breaking point.  When the Administration for Children's Services takes custody of Troy, Tyrell can no longer find the strength or the heart to cover for his mom.  Devastated about Troy, Tyrell takes his money and his garbage back with him back to the projects, yet relief floods through Tyrell on his first night of freedom.  "She gonna hafta work out her own problems while I work out mines."  With plans to attend a new school, an understanding girl to confide in, and responsibility for no one except himself, Tyrell's life is back in his own hands.  The story is powerful, the struggle is valid, and the language is true.  One minor negative aspect of the story is that it tends to drag out, though that characteristic ultimately parallels the life of a teen who's worst days never seem to stop repeating themselves.  Be sure to read this one.

"After his DJ father is incarcerated for drug dealing, 15 year-old Tyrell, his brother and his mother are rendered homeless and move to a slummy city shelter in the Bronx.  His mom's ineffectual attempts at keeping the family afloat financially and emotionally soon fall flat, and Tyrell is forced to take the family's situation into his own hands.  Inspired by his father, he decides to throw a secret dance party in an abandoned bus garage with a steep admission charge guaranteed to boost his family's income.  Booth, a writing consultant for the NYC Housing Authority, clearly understands how teens living on the edge -- in shelters, in projects, on the street -- live, talk and survive.  It's the slick street language of these tough but lovable characters and her gritty landscapes that will capture the interests of urban fiction fans.  While the complex party-planning plotline doesn't exactly cut a straight path, its convoluted-ness undoubtedly illustrates the kinds of obstacles these teens must overcome and the connections they need to make in order to survive--inside or outside the law."

Kirkus Reviews; September 1, 2006, Vol. 74 Issue 17.

"Fifteen-year-old Tyrell has a lot on his plate in this kitchen-sink drama of African-American life in the hardscrabble Bronx:  his father is in jail; he, his little brother Troy, and their feckless mother are parked in a sordid motel for the homeless in Hunts Point; and bad-girl Jasmine is tempting him away from good-girl Novisha ('She don't even let me put my hand in her panties or anything.  But she do like blowing me').  It all might be a bit much for one novel, Booth's first, but the author so convincingly grounds her story in Tyrell's tough-talking but vulnerable voice that we are won over to his side.  Despite the grim setting evoked by the sensory prose, this isn't a story of street violence and drugs; rather, it concerns the more intimate deprivations (and moments of connection, like Tyrell's play in the snow with little Troy) of living poor.  What plot there is comes from Tyrell's effort to put together an underground dance party to raise much-needed cash, and while this is successful in some small measure, the real happy ending comes when Tyrell get to move back into the projects, "where I belong," a conclusion readers should greet with both relief and unease."

The Horn Book; January/February 2007, v. 83 no. 1.

LS 5623.20 Fall 2008

An American Plague:  The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 by Jim Murphy

Murphy, Jim.  2003.  An American Plague:  The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793.  Boston, MA:  Houghton Mifflin.  ISBN-13:  9780395776087.

Terrifying is right.  To read this book is to be transported back in time to see first-hand the misery that befell Philadelphia in 1793.  Fear and widespread panic, worthless remedies, and wretched suffering affected every corner of the city.  Doctors battled it out - arguing in defense of their own countermeasures.  The death toll increased on a daily basis and prominent government officials, namely President Washington, along with much of the city's well-to-do-population, exiled themselves to the countryside.  With the city government barely able to function, others found themselves obligated to step up and take care of the gravely ill.  One grandiose home was even transformed into a makeshift hospital for the shocking number of ailing patients - while the owner himself was away and unaware.  Though the medical community was facing a stalemate, important experiments involving the mosquito were just beginning.  Important correlations were drawn between the filth of the city, standing water, dead animals, and extreme summer temperatures.  Not only does this book capture the essence of a crippled city, it continues beyond the plague so readers can follow the city's return to the familiar hustle and bustle.  Attention grabbing, well documented, and related to the modern era's struggle with yellow fever, this story is intriguing and certainly eye-opening.             

"In marked contrast to the clipped, suspenseful pace of his Inside the Alamo, Murphy here adopts a leisurely, lyrical tone to chronicle the invisible spread of the deadly disease that not only crippled Philadelphia (then temporary capital of the U.S.) but also set off a constitutional crisis.  The author evokes the stifling August heat as well as the boiling controversy surrounding President Washington's decision not to support the French in the war against Britain.  The residents, so distracted by the controversy, did not take note of the rising numbers of dead animals lying in open "sinks," or sewers; swarms of insects festering, and a growing population of ill citizens climbing until the church bells tolled grim news of death almost constantly.  Murphy injects the events with immediacy through his profiles of key players, such as local doctors who engaged in fierce debates as to the cause, treatment and nature of the "unmerciful enemy"--among them the famous Benjamin Rush.  The text documents many acts of heroism, including the Free African Society's contributions of food, medicine and home care:  the Society was rewarded afterwards only with injustice.  Archival photographs and facsimiles of documents bring the story to life, and a list of further reading points those interested in learning more in the right direction.  This comprehensive history of the outbreak and its aftermath lays out the disputes within the medical community and, as there is still no cure, offers a cautionary note."

Publishers Weekly; March 10, 2003, Vol. 250 Issue 10.

In this superbly written work, Murphy thoroughly examines the yellow fever plague of 1793 that paralyzed the city of Philadelphia for several months. Every aspect of the epidemic is brought to life, from the overall living conditions in Philadelphia just prior to the outbreak to the Constitutional crisis that seemed imminent because of President Washington's inability to convene Congress in a plague-ridden city. The disease itself is covered from symptoms to cause, as are the eighteenth-century treatments for yellow fever: bleeding and isolation. Murphy ends with bringing the reader up to date on the state of this terrible disease, including the chilling revelation that there is still no cure for yellow fever. This book represents nonfiction at its best. Although the subject matter does not cover typical teen reading choices, Murphy's book is extremely accessible and readable. The story is captivating, and the writing is straightforward. Readers come away with a sense of the era as a whole and a keen picture of the overall devastation brought by yellow fever. The text is followed by an outstanding annotated bibliography, which includes ample primary source material, including diaries, newspapers, and numerous manuscripts and pamphlets written during and just after the outbreak. Murphy provides an excellent choice for most school and public libraries.

-Sarah Dornback. 

Voice of Youth Advocates; December 01, 2003.

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Six Days in October:  The Stock Market Crash of 1929 by Karen Blumenthal

Blumenthal, Karen.  2002.  Six Days in October:  The Stock Market Crash of 1929.  New York, NY:  Atheneum Books for Young Readers.  ISBN:  0-689-84276-7.

The cover of this book captures attention with newspaper clippings of slumping stock prices, hand-written documents, a photo of the crowds filling Wall Street, and a well-suited young man selling off his fancy automobile.  Blumenthal successfully integrates well-researched documentation, modern interpretations of an American stock market in its infancy, accounts of naive investors, crooked investors, and sidebars with mini-lessons on financial terminology and methodology.  It is fascinating to learn of the history behind the modern-day stock market and its traditions.  Familiar names like Groucho Marx, J.P. Morgan, Walter Chrysler and Charles Swab litter the book, drawing in readers from generations removed.  Several factors attributing to the fall of the stock market are discussed, including unethical methods of investing and greedy, emotionally driven investors.  Cartoons, photos, and news clippings keep the reader moving and the format engaging.  Outstanding in clarity, Blumenthal has produced a book that is highly educational and rather entertaining.

"This fast-paced, gripping (and all-too-timely) account of the market crash of October 1929 puts a human face on the crisis.  Blumenthal, the Dallas bureau chief of the Wall Street Journal, sets the scene in the affluent post--Great War society:  she reproduces the famous January 1929 cartoon from Forbes magazine (a frenetic crowd grasping at a ticker tape) and her statement 'Executives who had spent their lives building solid reputations cut secret deals in pursuit of their own stock-market reiches' may send a shiver down the spines of older readers aware of recent corporate scandals.  The author deciphers market terms such as bull and bear, stock and bond in lucidly worded sidebars and describes the convergence of speculation, optimism, and greed that primed the market for failure.  Throughout, Blumenthal relates the impact of historical developments on everyday citizends.  Supported by archival photographs, cartoons, and documents, the text is rife with atmospheric detail about the customs of the stock exchange (from buttonhole flowers to the opening and closing gongs).  Other asides, such as the first appearance of women on the exchange floor, or the rise (and fall) of immigrant Michael J. Meehan, who championed the stock of Radio Corporation, continue to keep the focus on the human element.  Blumenthal ably chronicles the six-day descent and exposes the personalities, backroom machinations and scandals while debunking several popular myths about the crash (e.g., that it caused mass suicide and the Great Depression).  A compelling portrait of a defining moment in American history."

Publishers Weekly; October 2, 2002, Vol. 249 Issue 35.

"Blumenthal, the Dallas bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal, reviews the dramatic market plunge that, significantly, pulled the fiscal rug out from under Mom and Pop investors as well as Wall Street high rollers.  Economic terms and concepts needed to digest the complex forces at play are admirably presented in timely, cogent sidebars.  Carefully selected case studies of nonfinanciers who lost it all (an unnamed care dealer and the famous Groucho Marx) demonstrate the precipitous slide from paper wealth to destitution, and in-depth examination of the careers of RCA specialist Michael Meehan and GM president William Durant disclose the unregulated machinations that paved the way for disaster.  The day-by-day account not only allows Blumenthal to break down issues for a teen audience but also to examine the administrative decisions that steered the six-day course of the crash.  While the author makes no avert comparisons to the dotcom bubble of recent memory, to Americans' love affair with overextended credit, or to CEOs whose financial parachutes open just before their corporations crash, readers with a driving interest in the stock market can hardly fail to draw their own parallels.  Black-and-white photos, document reproductions, and period cartoons are included; source notes and an index are appended."

Bulletin for the Center of Children's Books; December 2002, v. 56 no. 4.

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Point Blank by Anthony Horowitz

Horowitz, Anthony.  2006.  Point Blank.  New York, NY:  Penguin Young Readers Group.  ISBN-13:  9780142406120.

Alex Rider, spy extraordinaire.  Not many 14-year-old boys can claim that title.  A promise of secrecy concerning his last mission is a little hard to take, yet which school kids would he tell?  Finding school a little boring after his last assignment, Alex creates his own flurry of excitement involving a drug dealer, a houseboat, and a crane.  Whisked away from the aftermath by M16, Alex finds himself being solicited for another mission - find out what's going on at Point Blanc - a private school for uber rich delinquent boys.  Strange things are taking place and with Alex working on the inside, M16 hopes to find out exactly what sort of wrongdoing Dr. Grief is up to.  With action comparable to that of superheroes and comic books, some of Alex's feats are a stretch of the imagination, but if you can suspend belief for even a moment you will find yourself on a whirlwind of action and quick-thinking.  The age-old showdown of good and evil guarantees an enthralling plot and lots of fans.    

"Fasten your seat belts for the second installment in Anthony Horowitz' spy-thriller series starring 14-year-old British schoolboy and ace agent from M16, Alex Rider.  James Bond has nothing on this crafty kid, and it's lucky Alex is on the job.  It seems that mad scientists still infest the planet and still want to rule the world.  When readers first met Alex in Stormbreaker (2001), M16 had sent him to spy school.  This time they send him to an exclusive school for the recalcitrant sons of the super-rich.  Disguised as the son of a British supermarket magnate, Alex learns that something extraordinarily odd is going on at the school.  Yes indeed, the school's owner, the creepy South African apartheid supporter Dr. Grief, intends to take over the world by controlling his wealthy students.  But who are his students?  Is Dr. Grief using brainwashing, fear, or something more sinister on the boys?  Can Alex escape from the fortress-like school before that sinister something happens to him?  Horowitz devises a string of miraculous circumstances that keeps Alex alive and spying throughout.  Spy thrillers appear too seldom in YA literature.  With plenty of cliffhanger action, the Alex Rider adventures might help get young readers hooked.  The unabashed fantasy imitates the James bond movies more closely than the books, but it's all plenty of fun."

Kirkus Reviews; February 15, 2002.

"There are times when a grade-B adventure is just the ticket for a bored teenager--especially if it offers plenty of slam-bang action, spying, and high-tech gadgets. Point Blank, the second in the Alex Rider Adventure series, is a nonstop thriller of just that sort, which features a 14-year-old orphan who is a reluctant spy for the British government. Trained by his uncle, a topnotch spy who died with his boots on, Alex is a bright, tough, daredevil athlete. No wonder M16 wants him to investigate a mysterious Swiss school dedicated to "reforming" delinquent sons of wealthy industrialists and important officials. Using a false identity, Alex enters the school and soon finds himself surrounded by curiously docile students, teachers who support the fascism, and a renegade doctor interested in cloning. With secret rooms, sullen sentries, mysterious disappearances, and wild rides galore, this is a great choice for reluctant readers." 

--Jean Franklin 

Booklist; April 01, 2002.

LS 5623.20 Fall 2008

Behind the Curtain by Peter Abrahams

Abrahams, Peter.  2007.  Behind the Curtain.  New York, NY:  HarperCollins Publishers.  ISBN-13:  9780060737061.

Mysteries abound in Echo Falls and Ingrid is caught in the middle!  Her brother Ty is up to something strange - the clues?  He's hanging out with unexpected people, lifting much more weight than normal, and back acne?  Yuck!  But that's the least of her troubles - Dad is upset about work, his new co-worker is a little too sly, and someone is trying to force Grampy off his property.  With Sherlock Holmes as her guide in all such mysterious matters, Ingrid tries to make sense of the unending questions, but answers seem to evade her every step of the way.  Between being kidnapped, no one believing her story, a visit with a shrink, and the sting-operation she plans, Ingrid's determination to get to the truth finds her in almost over her head.  Saved by two allies, Chief Strade and Grampy, the three are finally able to fit together the pieces of the puzzle for a surprising resolution.  Ingrid's energy is contagious and delightful.  Some of the mystery is easier to catch on to than others, so readers are constantly engaged in the book - solving right alongside Ingrid (and Sherlock Holmes!)  Fast-paced and well-written, this book was especially entertaining.  

"Ingrid Levin-Hill, the eighth-grade Sherlock Holmes lover introduced in Down the Rabbit Hole (HarperCollins, 2005), is back for another adventure.  She quotes her hero quite often as she tries to sort out details that she observes around her.  In trying to figure out why her brother is so moody, why her dad is in jeopardy of losing his job, and why her grandfather's property is so valuable, the teen stumbles upon some of her town's secrets.  Then, when she is kidnapped but is able to escape, she can't get anyone to believe her.  The is a fast-paced mystery with well-defined characters and a plausible plotline and ending.  Although a few references are made to the earlier book, this enjoyable story stands on its own." 

School Library Journal; April 2006, Vol. 52 Issue 4.

"After her involvement in the Cracked-Up Katie case (Down the Rabbit Hole, BCCB 4/05), Ingrid knows that things are often more complicated that they seem.  The pimples that showed up on her brother Ty's newly muscled back at the end of the last book are getting worse, as is his attitude, and Ingrid suspects that something is amiss.  As a detective, though, she is thoughtful rather than aggressive, almost reluctant to draw conclusions that would shake up her world.  The same reluctance applies to her probing of her father's and her grandfather's situations--she understands vaguely that her dad's job is being threatened by a newly hired vice president in charge of development and that someone is again trying to force Grampy to sell his farm, but she doesn't push or dig other than to ask a few questions that they aren't willing to answer.  As in the previous book, Ingrid has some close shaves with some very violent people; the two mysteries--Ty's steroid use and her father's new rival--touch Ingrid without touching each other, complicating the ability of Chief Strade, Ingrid's police ally, to solve either case.  Ingrid's wry wit and precise reasoning once again draw readers into close connection with an active and engaging mind, reinforcing her solid appeal as a character.  Abrahams is bravely wise in drawing his adults as well:  Ingrid's father is allowed to be as snappish, sullen, and bullheaded as a man with stress at work and teenagers starting to cause trouble is likely to be--no platitudes or heroic patience and understanding here.  Chief Strade continues as an able partner for Ingrid, shrewd yet circumspect, trusting her veracity even when evidence points away from it, all the while giving Joey, his son who's crushing on Ingrid, subtle instruction in gentlemanly behavior and courtship.  Fans will relish the continued adventure while readers new to Echo Falls will find the substantial appeal here reason enough to go back for the first time in the series." 

Bulletin for the Center for Children's  Books; September 2006, v. 60 no. 1.

LS 5623.20 Fall 2008

Being Dead by Vivian Vande Velde

Vande Velde, Vivian.  2003.  Being Dead.  Orlando, FL:  Harcourt Children's Books.  ISBN-13:  9780152049126.

Seven completely different tales of creepiness, strange happenings, and eerie auras are collected together in one book of mysterious ghost stories.  The ghosts appear in the form of a child, a teenage soldier, an old woman, a married couple, and a boy from colonial times.  The last story is even told from the ghost's point of view.  Some of the accounts are just a few short pages, while others are more developed - up to sixty pages.  After devouring the first story, "Drop by Drop," the shorter stories in the middle are over much too quickly - with little time to develop an attachment to the characters.  But, if you're looking for great after-dark, candlelight read-alouds - these disturbing stories will certainly send a tingle down even the bravest spines.  

"Horror fans will love these seven deliciously creepy tales featuring ghosts, cemeteries, suicides, murders, and other death-related themes.  Most of the selections deal with everyday teens in seemingly ordinary situations; readers will settle in, confident that they know what to expect, only to receive a spine-tingling jolt as they hit one of the collection's many gruesome twists and turns.  The first story, "Drop by Drop," shows the author's macabre imagination at its best.  Sixteen-year-old Brenda is understandably disgruntled when her parents whisk her away from her friends and her life in the city.  Worse, their new house in a small town appears to be haunted.  In one shivery scene, a disembodied hand touches her through her waterbed mattress, and Brenda spends the night on the couch.  Clues turn up:  a missing little girl, a foul smell from the woods, a dripping ghost.  But just when it seems that Brenda will solve the mystery, the truth comes out--and most readers will be reeling with shock.  In another story, a boy killed in Vietnam returns to haunt the father who forced him to enlist--or does he?  In "October Chill," a terminally ill girl falls for the ghost of a teen from Colonial times.  None of the stories are gory, but they are all quite dark.  Recommend this title to teens who don't want happy-ever-after endings."

School Library Journal; September 2001, Vol. 47 Issue 9.

"Long known for stories that leaven supernatural elements with comedy, Vande Velde here forgoes the humor to present a set of ghost stories for readers who enjoy being really scared.  All seven short stories concern one of the unquiet dead, back to finish off important business with the living.  Some of the ghosts are lighthearted and matter-of-fact about their demise, including the Depression-era paperboy of the title story, killed when a suicidal businessman leaped from a window and landed on him.  He sticks around to make sure his mother gets the windfall twenty-dollar tip he received just before he died.  "Dancing with Marjorie's Ghost" delivers mild chills when an archetypal tale of a man who reaps grim consequences when, after his mistreated wife dies, he wishes three times:  "If only Marjorie could come back for even one night, I swear I'd dance with her to her heart's content."  The collection ranges over an intriguing variety of characters, from the brother who went to fight in Vietnam and never came back (or did he?) in "Shadow Brother" to a Boy Scout drawn to cemetary-tending in "For Love of Him" to a historical re-enactor dying of a brain tumor in "October Chill."  Vande Velde turns the scream factor highest for "Drop by Drop" and "The Ghost," each of which employs a hair-raising twist at the end.  In "Drop by Drop," Brenda has just moved to the country with her family when she starts being haunted by a dripping-wet girl in a bicycle helmet.  Clues as to why the dead girl is following Brenda are expertly placed throughout, building tension to the final horrifying revelation.  And once you've read the brief but oh-so clever "The Ghost," you'll immediately want to go back and read it again--but not right before bedtime."

The Horn Book; November/December 2001, v. 77 no. 6.

LS 5623.20 Fall 2008

The Misfits by James Howe

Howe, James.  2001.  The Misfits.  New York, NY:  Atheneum Books for Young Readers.  ISBN:  0-689-83955-3.

The Forum meets every Friday afternoon at the local Candy Kitchen for ice-cream and serious discussions.  The back booth with the torn leatherette upholstery is the only place where "The Gang of Five" (even though there are only four) can talk and act freely without ridicule.  It is a safe haven for an eclectic bunch:  quiet, overweight Bobby, jokester Skeezie Tookis, shy, gay, Joe, and unabashed Addie.  When Addie decides the group should campaign for student council office, in hopes that principles will upset popularity, she doesn't find many takers.  After much debate and maneuvering, the candidates and platform for the No-Name Party are finally chosen.  While several more serious themes (death of a parent, alcoholism, sexuality, racism, adulthood) provide breadth and depth to the story, the day to day accounts of the four friends' enterprises remain interesting and amusing.  Before the last pages, each of the characters experiences an important first in some way and emerges from the story a little more confident and a lot more empowered.  The last chapter wraps up nicely by giving a small glimpse of the successful careers in store for the four friends - a message of hope to anyone that has ever felt like a misfit just trying to get by.  

"What do a 12-year-old student who moonlights as a tie salesman, a tall, outspoken girl, a gay middle schooler and a kid branded as a hooligan have in common?  Best friends for years, they've all been the target of cruel name-calling and now that they're in seventh grade, they're not about to take it any more.  In this hilarious and poignant novel, Howe (Bunnicula; the Watcher) focuses on the quietest of the bunch, overweight Bobby Goodspeed (the tie salesman), showing how he evolves from nerd to hero when he starts speaking his mind.  Addie (the outspoken girl) decides that the four of them should run against more popular peers in the upcoming student council election.  But her classmates, but her lofty ideals and rabble-rousing speeches make the wrong kind kind of waves, offending fellow classmates, teachers and the principal.  It is not until softer-spoken Bobby says what's in his heart about nicknames and taunts that people begin to listen and take notice, granting their respect for the boy they used to call "Lardo" and "Fluff."  The four "misfits" are slightly larger than life-wiser than their years, worldlier that the smalltown setting would suggest, and remarkably well-adjusted- but there remains much authenticity in the story's message about preadolescent stereotyping and the devastating effects of degrading labels.  An upbeat, reassuring novel that encourages preteens and teens to celebrate their individuality."

Publishers Weekly; October 29, 2001, Vol. 248 Issue 44.

"Twelve-year-old Bobby isn't what you'd call popular, having endured insults for years on account of his weight, but he's close to his three friends--bossy, idealistic Addie, campy Joe, and tough Skeezie--with whom he meets periodically "to discuss important issues and to eat ice cream."  Addie's important issue of late is the school system's restrictions of her rights, especially with the upcoming student election; she therefore decides to challenge those restrictions by putting together a third-party ticket, with Bobby as treasurer.  The effort only really takes off, however, when the group finds their identity and their platform; they're the No-Name party, and they're campaigning against the hurtful names they and other kids have endured over the years.  How touches on some interesting issues here, especially in his underlying emphasis on understanding other people ("This business of really knowing people, deep down, including your own self, it is not something you can learn in school or from a book"), which expresses itself particularly in the subplots about Bobby's relationship with his father and with his boss at work.  Unfortunately, Bobby's narration is sometimes slow going, and there's a lot of contrivance to the book, from the crudely functional characterizations to the popularity of the No-Name Party's campaign to the extraordinarily convenient way the kids' relationships work out (the girl Bobby likes reciprocates, the boy Joe likes comes out and reciprocates, and even the prickly Addie is happy with the boy who likes her).  Still, this is a topic that's near to many kids' hearts, and they may be bolstered by the possibility of resolution."

Bulletin for the Center for Children's Books; January 2002, v. 55 no. 5.

LS 5623.20 Fall 2008

Poems From Homeroom by Kathi Appelt

Appelt, Kathi.  2002.  Poems From Homeroom.  New York, NY:  Henry Holt and Co, LLC.  ISBN:  0-8050-6978-X.

A very nice preface follows the table of contents as sort of a warm-up for poetry readers, priming them to think of poetry as one of the most available and flexible forms of expression - written about inconsequential things like a pair of shoes or major things like terrorism.  Appelt also explains the purpose of her book, which is separated into two sections - this first being poetry ("Homeroom:  The Poems") and the second being the inspiration behind each of the poems (Study Hall:  "Writing What We Long For").  She intends for it to serve as enjoyment for the reader but has also created a stepping stone for aspiring poetry writers.  She discusses characters, motivations, contradictions, and ideas for reader's own work.  What stands out the most about this unusual combination of poetry and inspirations is the personal element that is first exposed in the preface and then again in the section.  This is so encouraging and beneficial for writers who struggle with "where do I begin?"

Appelt neatly presents diversity in style by interspersing free verse, acrostics, sestina, and haiku.  She has fashioned the perfect writer's manuel - with plenty of meaningful content and relevant material for teen readers (tattoos, science fairs, note passing, and driver's licenses, for starters).   

"Appelt, best known for her books for younger readers (Bubba and Beau, Best Friends, p. 328, etc.), has also taught poetry to children and adults. Her own poems here describe the lives and longings of high-school students. From the boy who secretly washes the name of the girl he has a crush on from the boy's bathroom room stall to the girl who can't get over getting her driver's license, Appelt focuses on the large and minute dramas of teenage life, giving readers a springboard for their own writing. The 26 poems in the first section are followed by a page about each poem - describing Appelt's inspiration and techniques, and suggesting starting points for poems about a similar longing.  Though most of the poems are free verse, there are a few in standard forms, or which employ some device. There is a villanelle, a sestina, and haiku, as well as a series of acrostics, and a "poem in five acts," with a voice and imagery evocative of Shakespeare, about the two teenagers who are playing Romeo and Juliet in the school play. Occasionally, Appelt's adult sensibility comes through too strongly (in a poem about what a boy takes with him when he leaves home, in which the nostalgia feels like the mother's, or in a series of elegies for "those we lost too soon": Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain . . . , but most of her poems will speak directly to her readers, who will also appreciate her suggestions, and her excellent bibliography of adult books on writing."

Kirkus Reviews; August 15, 2002 Vol 70 Issue 16.

"In the title entry of this collection, Appelt writes, "Poetry is a home for all my yearnings / each poem a separate room."  She demonstrates what she means in her combination of original poetry and a prose section that explains her motivation for writing each poem and offers exercises to help young poets get started. The poems range in style from villanelles to acrostics to free verse, and almost every one features a character who yearns for something: Jimmy, lost in the blues of his air guitar; a clerk at a late-night food mart pining for a customer; the "twirling queen of Dogwood, Texas" who quietly leaves town because "it's hard to be a twirling queen and a person too." The poems frequently shine with humor and tender, memorable images: "the cream colored cat, wild in her loneliness," that's left behind when a boy leaves his childhood home. But it will be Appelt's prose encouragements to young writers that will draw readers most.  Clear, thoughtful ideas for creating original work mix with a contagious, what-is-there-to-lose approach: "At the very least you'll write a really, really bad poem.  I write lots of those."  A warm, instructive resource for teens and teachers alike."

 --Gillian Engberg 

Booklist; November 15, 2002.

LS 5623.20 Fall 2008

It's Not About the Bike:  My Journey Back to Life by Lance Armstrong with Sally Jenkins

Armstrong, Lance, and Sally Jenkins.  2001.  It's Not About the Bike:  My Journey Back to Life.  New York, NY:  Penguin Group (USA).  ISBN-13:  9780425179611.  

For a story that is solid, brutally honest, and tough, Lance Armstrong partnered with Sally Jenkins to write an autobiography of his youth, battle with advanced testicular cancer as a 25-year-old athlete, and the innumberable changes he endured physically and mentally.  Beginning in chapter one, Lance's refreshingly blunt voice sets the tone for the book, "My illness was humbling and starkly revealing, and if forced me to survey my life with an unforgiving eye...I had to ask myself, 'If I live, who is it that I intend to be?'"  Plan to come away from this incredible journey of strength, weakness, fear, and insight with a deep appreciation for the roles cycling and cancer played in focusing Lance's often misplaced energies.  A strong team of family and associates stand behind him every step of the way, providing support and the tough love that a determined young man often requires.  The tenacious Lance Armstrong of the Tour de France reveals the human element that we rarely see in television glimpses.  His depth of character and the will to press on are the meat of this unmatched story of perseverance.  You will find yourself questioning your own values and determination in light of what Lance proves is humanly possible.  Follow the five time Tour de France winner through professional and personal triumphs and failures in Every Second Counts - as Lance again pairs with Sally Jenkins to recount the next phase of his life and career (Bantam Books, 2004).

"Armstrong is a champion American cyclist who was stricken with cancer in his twenties and given little chance to live.  However, he not only survived but won the rigorous Tour de France two years later.  As the title indicates, this book is much less about Armstrong's triumphs on two wheels than about his successful struggle with cancer and its aftermath.  Armstrong sees cancer as part of life that is meant to improve us by making us focus on our difficulties with courage and indominability of spirit.  His writing style is vibrant and immediate whether he is detailing events from childhood, racing challenges, the demands of cancer treatment, the in vitro fertilization process, or the joy of becoming a father.  This should appeal to more than just cycling fans.  Highly recommended."

Library Journal; June 15, 2000, Vol. 125 Issue 11.

"It is such an all-American story. A lanky kid from Plano, Texas, is raised by a feisty, single parent who sacrifices for her son, who becomes one of our country's greatest athletes. Given that background, it is understandable why Armstrong was able to channel his boundless energy toward athletic endeavors. By his senior year in high school, he was already a professional triathlete and was training with the U.S. Olympic cycling developmental team. In 1993, Armstrong secured a position in the ranks of world-class cyclists by winning the World Championship and a Tour de France stage, but in 1996, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. Armstrong entered an unknown battlefield and challenged it as if climbing through the Alps: aggressive yet tactical. He beat the cancer and proceeded to stun all the pundits by winning the 1999 Tour de France. In this memoir, Armstrong covers his early years swiftly with a blunt matter-of-factness, but the main focus is on his battle with cancer. Readers will respond to the inspirational recovery story, and they will appreciate the behind-the-scenes cycling information. After he won the Tour, his mother was quoted as saying that her son's whole life has been a fight against the odds; we see here that she was not exaggerating."

 --Brenda Barrera

Booklist; May 15, 2000.

LS 5623.20 Fall 2008

How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff

Rosoff, Meg.  2004.  How I Live Now.  New York, NY:  Random House Children's Books.  ISBN-13:  9780641960147.  

Expect to be drawn in so quickly by Daisy's unassuming personality and frank storytelling style that you will have finished the book before you get up from your chair.  With little punctuation hindering 15-year-old Daisy's voice, images and impressions move fluidly from words to ideas.  Rosoff's quick and succinct characterizations have you feeling as Daisy, that you have known each of the cousins your whole life and shared their ambling farm home from day one.  Quite the contrary.  Escaping from an unhappy home life, Daisy leaves the confines of New York behind for the peaceful English countryside and welcoming strangers - Aunt Penn, cousins Osbert, Isaac, Edmond, Piper, two dogs, a goat, sheep, cats, and chickens.  Daisy is pleasantly surprised by the freedoms enjoyed by the cousins.  Aunt Penn is rarely home, the only homeschooling that takes places is reading for pleasure, 14-year-olds can drive jeeps without seatbelts, and fishing is an all-day affair.  In the few weeks before the war starts, life is bliss.  Page by page, though, the war comes closer and closer to the cousins.  With Aunt Penn stranded in Oslo after a bombing, changes start taking place.  The cousins move into the lambing barn, so as to be less visible to The Enemy, and start collecting provisions - including a Boy Scout Survival Guide.  Officially-dressed people begin to knock on the door and ask questions, food lines open, quarantines are issued, and 16-year-old Osbert joins the War Effort.  In the unique position of understanding, and yet not understanding, Daisy is often perceptive and at times very naive.  Through candid narration, we experience a love affair, a powerfully symbiotic friendship with 9-year-old Piper, the atrocities of war, and human survival.  'We couldn't go on.  We went on.'  The last section of the book is startling and somber.  In a voice changed by age and circumstance, Daisy's 21-year-old words are no longer melodious.  Instead they are weighed down with grief, unknowing, sadness, and punctuation.  Closure comes painfully for Daisy and her readers as she reunites with the most important people in her life after six years of anguishing post-war separation.  Rosoff is remarkable in her ability to fashion stylistically moving narration and capture the essence of so many human sensibilities.  A modern classic...

"Manhattanite Daisy, 15, moves to London to stay with an aunt and cousins she's never met.  Without preamble or fanfare, an unidentified enemy attacks and war ensues.  Her aunt is abroad on a peace mission, meaning that Daisy and her three cousins, with whom she forges a remarkable relationship, must survive almost entirely on their own.  This is a very relatable contemporary story, told in honest, raw first-person and filled with humor, love, pathos, and carnage.  War, as it will, changes these young people irrevocably, not necessarily for the worse.  They and readers know that no one will ever be the same.  The story of Daisy and her three exceptional cousins, one of whom becomes her first lover, offers a keen perspective on human courage and resilience.  An epilogue, set six years after the conclusion, while war still lingers, ends Daisy's story on a bittersweet, hopeful note."

Kirkus Reviews; July 15, 2004, Vol. 72 Issue 14.

"Rosoff's debut novel, set in a war-torn, alternate modern-day England, is an incredible tale of two teens and the intensity of their forbidden bond. When fifteen-year-old Daisy arrives in England, her fourteen-year-old cousin Edmond picks her up from the airport. A connection immediately forms, with Edmond seeming to hear Daisy's very thoughts. Daisy's other cousins include Isaac, who speaks only to animals; nine-year-old Piper, who views the world through solemn adult eyes; and Osbert, the older son often in charge of the family. When world war erupts, England is invaded and the British Army commandeers the family farm, placing the boys on another farm and Daisy and Piper with a military family. The emotional bond between Daisy and Edmond is so strong that Daisy can sense him lying beside her at night although they are apart. Tragedy ensues, but eventually Daisy and Piper find their way to the boys' farm where they discover a field of decaying bodies. Not knowing the boys' fate, Daisy and Piper return to the deserted family farm. Startled by the telephone ringing, Daisy answers and hears her father's voice. Against her will, Daisy is taken back to New York. Six years later Daisy returns to an angry Edmond, both physically and emotionally scarred by her desertion. The depth and starkness of Rosoff's writing is beautiful yet painful to read. This book about the emotional devastation of war raises the hair on a reader's arms and brings tears to one's eyes. Suggest this one to readers who loved Alice Hoffmann's Green Angel (Scholastic, 2003/VOYA April 2003)."

-Ruth E. Cox. 

Voice of Youth Advocates; December 01, 2004.