#tbt: Notes from a Liar and Her Dog by Gennifer Choldenko

Image of ppb: Penguin Random House 

Notes from a Liar and Her Dog by Gennifer Choldenko. 240 p. Puffin Books/ Penguin Young Readers, 2001. (Own)

Happy Thursday! I get to see my students two weeks from today! So far, it looks like I will be back in the library teaching my sixth grade cycle class and seeing the other grades as a "special." Fingers crossed.

#tbt features Notes from a Liar and Her Dog by Gennifer Choldenko. Twelve-year-old Antonia, "Ant," McPherson is a middle child stuck between two perfect sisters in a family that moves a lot with parents who do not understand her. Ant comforts herself with her elderly dog, Pistachio, her chicken-loving best friend, Harrison and by pretending she's adopted. She even writes notes to her "real" parents. And she lies. There's a lot of humor in this first-person narrative. Ant is bright and prickly and difficult to like even though she yearns to be loved and accepted.

Notes from a Liar and Her Dog was published in May of 2001 and was Ms. Choldenko's middle grade debut. It was named a School Library Journal Best Book of 2001 and was nominated for a number of state awards. Its audiobook was named an ALA Notable Recording.

Middle Grade Monday: Once by Morris Gleitzman

Image: Penguin Random House UK

Once by Morris Gleitzman. Once/ Then/ Now/ After series. 160 p. Puffin/ Penguin Random House, February, 2006. (Own)

In honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Middle Grade Monday features Once by Australian author Morris Gleitzman. Felix is our naive, young and unreliable narrator. He believes he has been living in a Catholic orphanage, though he is Jewish, while his parents are away at a bookseller's convention. He runs away to try and find them just as the Nazis arrive to round up the occupants. Suspense builds as he encounters the horrors of Nazi occupation and slowly comes to realize the danger he is in. Each chapter begins with the word, "Once." They are short and pack an emotion wallop.

Once was published in 2006. It was followed by Then in 2009. In Now, published in 2010, Felix is a grandfather living in Australia, but Gleitzman returned to the 1940s in After (2012) and Soon (2015). While researching information for this post, I discovered that in 2018, Felix's story was continued in Maybe and that a final volume, Always, is in the works. Every students who reads Once, continues the series. I have some ordering and reading to do!

#tbt: Demonkeeper by Royce Buckingham

Demonkeeper by Royce Buckingham. 216 p. Puffin Books/ Penguin Young Reader's Group, 9780142411667. (Own)

#tbt features Demonkeeper by Royce Buckingham. Nat is an apprentice demonkeeper who is left in charge of the house while his mentor is away. When Nat leaves for a break in the monotony of caring for the demons imprisoned there, a clueless burgler breaks in and accidentally lets loose the most dangerous demon. Additionally, the thin man is heading Nat's way. This page turner is as humorous as it is suspenseful. Demonkeeper was Buckingham's debut novel and published in 2007. It is the first of a trilogy.