Middle Grade Monday and Audiobook Review: The Labors of Hercules Beal by Gary D. Schmidt

Image: HarperCollins Publishers

The Labors of Hercules Beal by Gary D. Schmidt. Unabridged audiobook, ~8 hours. Read by Fred Berman. Clarion Books, May, 2023. 

Happy Juneteenth and happy first Monday of summer break. Middle Grade Monday features The Labors of Hercules Beal by Gary D. Schmidt. Hercules Beal lives on Cape Cod with his much older brother, Achilles. Achilles returned home from Washington, D.C. to run the family nursery and to care for Herc when their parents were killed in a car crash a year earlier. Herc has to start seventh grade in a new school thanks to bussing redistricting and he's not too happy about that. He's especially leery of his language arts teacher, retired Marine Lieutenant Colonel Hupfer. Lieutenant Colonel Hupfer has assigned a long-term project based on world mythology and Hercules' project is to recreate the twelve labors of his namesake and write a reflection for each.

This first-person narrative grabbed me from the start. Hercules is such an endearing character. He hikes up the dune each morning to watch the sun rise and to say hello to his parents; is convinced that Achilles' girlfriend, Viola is a vampire, and is maybe, just maybe developing a crush on his best friend. This hero's journey is filled with wonderful supporting characters. It is often laugh-out-loud funny, but there will be tears as well. Herc's reflections and Lieutenant Colonel Hupfer's scathing responses are especially funny.

Gary D. Schmidt is a favorite of mine, but I can rarely get students to try his books. He's definitely a reader's writer. His books beg to be taught for they have depth and his writing is lyrical and lovely. ELA teachers can have a field day teaching literary devices. He is prone to using repetition and he seems to poke fun at himself through Lieutenant Colonel Hupfer's criticism of Hercules' reflections.

New-to-me narrator Fred Berman doesn't sound particularly youthful, but his soft, thoughtful delivery reflected Hercules perfectly. I think this might have been a book I should've read with my eyes because Herc's reflections seemed to have crossouts and such that probably added visual humor. Still Mr. Berman did a nice job with those areas as well.

#tbt: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin

Image: LBYR

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin. 288 p. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, July, 2009. 97800316114271. (Own)

#tbt features Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin. Astute observers will recall that I featured Grace Lin is a Friday Focus post a few weeks ago. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is an illustrated story-within-a-story that was published in 2009 and won a 2010 Newbery Honor. 

It is the story of Minli, who lives in a hut with her parents on Fruitless Mountain. They are very poor, but rich in stories. Each night, her father tells her stories about Jade Dragon and Old Man Moon, who is very wise. Minli decides to set off in search of Old Man Moon to help her family and village. This story-within-a-story weaves traditional Chinese folk tales with Minli's adventure. Each chapter opens with a stunning full-color illustration. LIn's art style is intricate and elegant.

#tbt: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo. Illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline. 200 p. Candlewick Press, 2006. 0763625892. (Own)

#tbt features The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo. This gorgeously illustrated story of a vain toy rabbit who was lost at sea, then found only to be passed between a series of owners before finding a forever home was published in 2006. It was DiCamillo's fourth book. It won the 2006 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award and in 2012, was named to the National Education Association's Top 100 Books by teachers. 

Fire and Ice (Spirit Animals Book 4) by Shannon Hale

Fire and Ice (Spirit Animals Book 4) by Shannon Hale. 185 p. Scholastic Inc., June, 2014. 9780545522465. (Finished copy courtesy of publisher for review)

Confession time: I must own up to reacting with a bit of yawn upon receiving an arc of Wild Born, book one of this new multi-platform, multi-author series from Scholastic. I did not rush to read it. I found the 39 Clues series to be a bit over-the-top and never read any of its spin-offs as my patrons (middle school) really never asked for them. I read and enjoyed the first book or two of the Infinity Ring series, but they don't circulate either. For some reason, my kids don't find time travel books appealing. I have a few faves that are a really hard sell. When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead seems to be the lone exception.

It wasn't until the second and third books came my way for review about the same time a fifth grader came into the library looking for the series that I settled in to read book one. Click here for my review of books 1 - 3.

In Fire and Ice, the four young heroes and their adult companions journey to Arctica in the frozen north in search of the talisman of Suka, the polar bear. I mentioned in my review of the earlier installments that the action got a bit repetitive. 
Not so in Fire and Ice. This one's the best one yet. It's layered, a bit more introspective and, um, obscure. There's a fair amount of description of the seemingly barren, frigid land and the people who inhabit it are rather unique, a bit unfriendly and very difficult to read. Rollin, whose strength is reading people and situations has difficulty sussing out these folks. Some young readers may miss the violent clashes between the Greencloaks and the Devourers but I kind of enjoyed the break. In each book, one of the four seems to confront difficult choices and it's Rollin's turn to keep some secrets here.

If readers up till this point are wondering, as I was, how the Devourers seem to know or anticipate their every move, answers might be due in book five, Against the Tide by Tui T. Sutherland, due out September 30. It seems there is a traitor in the midst. I also discovered that a "special edition," Tales of the Great Beast by Brandon Mull and others is due out in October.  

 

Spirit Animals Series

Scholastic rules the roost with multi-author, multi-platform series. The newest one to come down the pipes is Spirit Animals. Seven books are planned, each written by a different author. Click here to read the line-up of authors. I read the first three pretty much in a row and am reviewing them together.

Wild Born (Spirit Animals #1) by Brandon Mull. 224 p. Scholastic Inc., September, 2013. 9780545522434. (Purchased).

Wild Born (Spirit Animals #1) by Brandon Mull. Unabridged audiobook on 5 compact discs. Read by Nicola Barber. Scholastic Inc., September, 2013. 9780545600385.

Hunted (Spirit Animals #2) by Maggie Stiefvater. 185 p. Scholastic Inc., January, 2104. 9780545522441. (Finished copy courtesy of publisher for review.)

Blood Ties (Spirit Animals #3) by Garth Nix & Sean Williams. 186 p. Scholastic Inc., March, 2014. 9780545522458. (Finished copy courtesy of publisher for review.)


In the world of Erdas, there is a rite of passage for every child, regardless of class, around their eleventh birthday. They must drink the Nectar provided by a Greencloak in a public ceremony to determine whether the child will summon and bond with a spirit animal. Four different children, two girls and two boys, in four different parts of Erdas summon the Four Fallen, the four animals who sacrificed their lives defending Erdas against the Devourer and his followers many years before. It seems that the followers of the Devourer are rising in power again and the Four Fallen have returned to assist the Greencloaks in a new battle. 

Conor, servant to Devon, the son of the earl, summons Briggan, a wolf. Devon is furious and embarrassed because he did not summon a spirit animal as he expected. Rollin is a jailed orphan and totally uninterested in the Nectar ceremony or becoming a Greencloak, yet he summons Essix, a hawk when the Greencloak insists. Meilin, disciplined warrior-daughter of a general, is disappointed to have Jhi, a peaceful panda as her spirit animal. Abeke, thought she would become her tribe's rainmaker. Instead, she summons Uraza, the leopard and unknowingly spends time training with some minions of the Devourer before being rescued by the Greencloaks.

I listened to books one and two. The narration by Nicola Barber was measured. The pace was almost leisurely despite the increasing conflict and number of battle scenes. 

In book 2, each of the four have inner conflict added to their quest to obtain some talismans before the Devourers. They also have to improve the bond between themselves and their spirit animal as well as learn to trust each other. Unfortunately, they need to do this without the guidance of their adult mentors for the most part. Conor and Meilin make crucial decisions that put the needs of their family before the needs of Erdas

In book 3, there is some dissension in the group as Meilin has left to aide her father and Abeke and Rollin's trust in Conor is gone. The four are at their most vulnerable just as The Devourers seem to be strengthening.

While some of the action seems a bit predictable and slightly repetitive, there has been enough character development and interesting twists to ensure that readers (at least this old fogey) stay invested in continuing the story. Readers who visit the series website can create their own spirit animal, play games and join forums. Book 4, Fire and Ice by Shannon Hale is due out June 24.