#tbt: Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to (Not) Reading by Tommy Greenwald

Image: Macmillan Publishers

Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to (Not) Reading by Tommy Greenwald. Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to... #1. 224 p. Roaring Brook Press/ Macmillan Publishers, July, 2011. 9781596436916. (Own.)

If authors ever wonder about whether the grind of keeping a social media presence is worth it, let me assure you that it is. Earlier this week, I scanned my "Daily Book Talk" spreadsheet and realized that I hadn't chosen a book for this week's #tbt. Sometimes, I have #tbt and "Waiting on Wednesday" titles scheduled for weeks or even months and other times, I'm furiously searching that morning for inspiration. So, thank you, Tommy Greenwald for posting about the ten-year anniversary of a book that continues to be my go-to.

Charlie Joe Jackson made it to sixth grade without ever reading a book from beginning to end and he's ready to share his secrets with the world. He does so in short chapters featuring practical advice.

Mr. Greenwald made a splash with his debut, which also happened to be a series starter. The combo of winning, unreliable narrator, realistic middle school drama and hilarious illustrations hits the tween reader sweet spot.

Blog Tour: That's (Not) Mine by Anna Kang

That's (Not) Mine by Anna Kang. Illustrated by Christopher Weyant. Unpgd. Two Lions/ Amazon Children's Publishing, September 1, 2015. 9781477826393. (Finished copy courtesy of Blue Slip Media for review.)

One of the hardest, most fundamental of early childhood lessons to learn is the concept of sharing. This hilariously simple book conveys this lesson ingeniously and humorously. The same adorable pair of creatures that starred in the author/ illustrator team's Geisel Award-winning debut, You are (Not) Small, return. Big bear is settled into a comfy chair knitting when little bear announces that the chair is "Mine!" 

Little bear asserts that he had been sitting in the chair before as proof of ownership. Big bear blithely announces, "I'm sitting in it now." Little Bear comes up with creative but ultimately disastrous solution and the situation escalates until they apologize to each other and decide to play outside together, whereupon a third creature announces, "That's mine!"

This familiar argument is humorously and energetically illustrated with minimal yet expressive body language and facial expressions. It's sure to be a story-time/ bed-time hit with repeated requests for rereads. It's ingenious in its beautiful simplicity, which perfectly captures the drama but gently imparts the message. Perfectly relatable to all age groups and a valuable addition to elementary and public libraries. Don't miss this gem!

Jack Strong Takes a Stand by Tommy Greenwald

226 p. Roaring Brook Press, September, 2013. 9781596438361. (Purchased) 

Middle schooler Jack Strong is one busy fellow. He works hard to get decent grades, but that's not enough for his dad or his college resume. So his after-school and weekend hours are filled with activities that are meant to "round" Jack out and make him more interesting until he finds his "thing." He likes cello and baseball enough but can do without Chinese school, swimming and karate. After a week in which he's unable to attend a party, get free ice cream with the most popular girl in school and grab pizza with his team after hitting the game-winning RBI, Jack decides to go on strike. He sits down on the couch and refuses to get up, except to eat and go to the bathroom, until his parents allow him to drop the activities he doesn't enjoy. His grandmother is supportive, his dad refuses to negotiate and his mom is stuck in the middle. After a piece about his strike hits the high school newspaper, a local t.v. host picks it up and events begin to spiral out of control.

While this very well could've been an "issue" book, in Tommy Greenwald's able hands, it's thoughtfully humorous. And, after three wonderful books featuring my favorite non-reader, it's nice to see Greenwald explore other characters and themes. So spread your author-wings Tommy Greenwald, we librarians need more of your books to make our young patrons happy!

Jack Strong is just about as far away from Charlie Joe Jackson as the north pole is from the south pole. Jack enjoys school, he attends all of the activities his father arranges rather agreeably until he gets tired and wants some time to chill out and do nothing once in a while. Indeed, during his time on the couch, he quickly learns that even video games can become boring. But he and his father share a stubborn streak and the two become entrenched.

Greenwald maintains a light touch with all this drama and there are quite a few laugh-out-loud moments. His characters sound like middle school students. Plentiful spot art enliven the action. Jack's dilemma will resonate with over-scheduled readers and reluctant readers alike. 

Jack Strong Takes a Stand is a must-purchase for school and public libraries and is a 2013 favorite of mine.

Blog Tour: Texting the Underworld by Ellen Booraem

319 p. Dial Books for Young Readers/ Penguin Group (USA) Inc., August 15, 2013. 9780803737044. (Review from arc obtained courtesy of the author/ publisher)

Conor, aka Pixie, O'Neill is a worrier. Okay, he's a scaredy cat. He's scared about everything but especially scared of spiders. He's also a rule follower. He chews his food fifteen times before swallowing not to decrease male flatulance, which is why his mother made the rule, but because he's terrified of choking to death. He lives in a duplex in "Southie," the Irish neighborhood in south Boston with his parents and ten-year-old sister Glennie, who is fearless. Grump, his grandfather lives next door. 

Grump appreciates Conor, says he has the "O'Neill spark. He also loves Conor's hand-drawn maps, especially the Land of Shanaya.  Conor loves his grandfather and enjoys his knowledge of Irish folklore. Mostly. Even though after hearing Grump's story of the kelpie, a man-eating water horse, he stayed out of the water for an entire month.

Conor's dad has no patience with Conor's worries nor with his father's stories, especially regarding banshees. So when a car alarm goes off during dinner one night and Grump announces that it's a banshee, Conor's dad is dismissive. Conor? Not so much. Later that night, while stalking a particularly gruesome spider the size of a pencil eraser, Conor  hears a sudden wail, the likes of which he never heard before right outside his bedroom window. 

     "It was as if all the sorrows of the universe had erupted
     at once. It was a car alarm from just north of hell, a jet 
     screaming into Boston Harbor, all sould lost. Subway 
     wheels shrieking on a track known only to rats and 
     zombies." (p. 18)

Conor finds himself flat on his back from the shock of it all. He looks up to see the spider scurry across the ceiling unharmed. He looks toward his bedroom window and watches a red-blond head poke through his window. She apologizes as she floats through the window, makes herself at home in Conor's Celtics bean bag, solidifies, except for her right foot and introduces herself to Conor. 

Her name is Ashling and she's a brand new banshee. She has been dead for hundreds of years thanks to a well-placed ax to the head and the Lady has given her a chance to move on. She's not about to mess this death up. Someone in the O'Neill house is going to die. It's only a matter of time. But first Ashling is intensely curious about this modern world of electric appliances, video games, Trivial Pursuit cards and middle school.

Conor needs to protect his family. Conor needs to find a loophole. Even if it kills him.

Oh, I have never laughed so hard! This is one of the funniest books I have read in a while. But while I laughed so hard that I cried, I warn you, there will be real tears shed. Someone is going to die, but what an inventive, surprising and satisfying journey this was!

As usual, Ellen Booraem (The Unnameables and Small Persons with Wings) has constructed a unique, complex story featuring fully realized and flawed characters. I loved each and every one. Grump, Glennie, Javier, even the bickering denizens of the Underworld. Even now, weeks after first reading the story, I can open the book randomly, start reading and feel like I never left. 

Ms. Booraem also weaves the death mythology of a variety of cultures, as well as Irish myth/ folklore in such a way that I would not be surprised if I met up with a banshee. I would love to meet Ashling. Lord was she a hoot! 

This is middle grade fiction at its very best. I can't wait to get it into my student's hands come September. It's definitely one for the reread pile and I'm hoping there are plans for an audiobook, maybe read by Nathaniel Parker?

Other stops on the tour:
Ellen's web site

Ellen's web page for full listing of blog stops

Charlotte's Library

Giveaway at YA Book Central
Interview at Literary Rambles

Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to Summer Vacation by Tommy Greenwald

Illustrated by J.P. Coovert. 231 p. Roaring Brook Press, May 7, 2013. 9781596437579. (Purchased.)

My favorite reluctant reader is back and I'm happy to report that momentum is not faltering. In author Greenwald's capable hands, Charlie Joe is fresher and funnier than ever. (And, he may be maturing, just a teensy bit, sh-h!)

Charlie Joe pleads temporary insanity when, on the last day of school, he decided to make his parents happy and attend Camp Rituhbukkee (pronounced, read-a-bookie). "Books were everywhere. And cell phones and video games were nowhere." (p. 2) 

What has Charlie Joe gotten himself into? One look at the camp schedule confirmed Charlie Joe's worst fears, that camp was school in disguise and that he risks turning into a reader, writer and quite possibly, nerd, unless he does some quick thinking. 

Luckily for Charlie Joe, he is not alone. Katie Friedman decided to attend camp and Nareem Ramdal, is a returning camper. But there are 75 other kids, many of them sporting tee shirts to Ivy League colleges, that think reading is fun, fun, fun. There is some time to swim and play basketball built into this schedule to achieve a "perfect balance of studies and recreation." In this environment, where it's cool to be nerdy, Charlie Joe is definitely the odd man out.

Unfortunately for Charlie Joe, there's a basketball rivalry between Camp Rituhbukkee and Camp Wockajocka. Charlie Joe learns that his arch-nemisis Teddy Spivero is on the team. Just great. He manages to make the best of it in his inimitable Charlie Joe style. 

Instead of Charlie Joe's tips, letters to and from camp are interspersed throughout to keep the reader up-to-date about news from the home front. Coovert's clever cartoons break up the text nicely as well. 

CJJ3 is a must purchase, preferably in multiple copies. I'm donating my copy to my school library, where there is a waiting list already and it's not even cataloged. 

I am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to be Your Class President by Josh Lieb

I pulled this one from deep within TOM, my tbr mountain.

303 p. Razorbill/ Penguin Group (USA) Inc., October, 2009. 9781595142405. Purchased.

It's not enough that twelve-year-old Oliver Watson, is secretly a billionaire. The overweight tween from Omaha, Nebraska has been happily hiding behind the persona of the village idiot  while running his global empire. Happily, until the day a classmate nominates him to run for class president as a joke. He turns down the nomination, but when he learns at dinner that night that his "daddy" was class president, he wants a do-over. 

Oliver has had daddy issues since he was a day old (he remembers being born) and overheard his father express disappointment over him already. "It's interesting, on your second day of existence, to realize that your father is going to blame all the future failures of his life on you. Not an experience I recommend." (p. 62)

So he brings all his many resources, from bodyguards to his secret lair deep beneath the school, to first convincing the principal to allow him to run, and then running his campaign, which is fraught with a variety of hilarious snafus. 

The cover blurb, which is clearly aimed at adults purchasing the book for their tween offspring, declares, "If War and Peace had a baby with The Breakfast Club and then left the baby to be raised by wolves..."-Jon Stewart. Hm-m, I've been around middle school children for 15 years, more than a few of whom were incredibly smart, and I don't think any would get those cultural references. This led me to wonder why on Earth would Stewart be blurbing a book for children?

Ah, a quick peek at the back flap reveals the answer. Okay. That explains it. The blurb mildly annoyed me throughout the reading of the book and continues to do so 11 days after finishing the book. Nothing against the hilarious Stewart per se, or the brilliantly snarky humor of the story, I kept wondering whom the audience was, especially as the humor became increasingly, uncomfortably cynical. I'm all for layering in humor aimed at adults in children's books, but a balance must be struck.

When I booktalk this in Reader's Advisory, I will tell my students, "Think Stewie as a twelve-year-old." That's the voice I read the book with. And, that's the pitch made in the overview online, "Family Guy meets Election...". That's a blurb that kids will relate to although I still wonder if they will hang in and, if they will be as disappointed in the ending as I was. 

Some final thoughts: I noted some cover changes when I searched online to see if the book was still in print. It's no longer available new, but is available as a paperback, sporting a new-ish look. 

Then, I noticed it was available as an audiobook. Am I intrigued enough to plunk down $18 to listen? But, wait. I do a double take at the cover on this page. Has Oliver been slimmed down a bit? Seems to me he has. I hadn't noticed it as much in the ppb edition because of the addition of the graffiti, but he's slightly slimmer in that one as well.

Clementine and the Spring Trip by Sara Pennypacker

150 p. Hyperion Books for Children, March, 2013. 9781423123576. (purchased)

It's spring in Boston. And that means that Clementine's friend, Margaret is going crazy with spring cleaning, including scrubbing Mrs. Mallard and her eight ducklings (the bronze sculptures in Boston Public Gardens). Her mom's belly is getting bigger with baby number 3 and she and her dad have a secret. They are building a five-sided table to accommodate their growing family. Her spring trip to Plimoth Plantation is looming as well. The big question in everyone's mind is whether the class will be stuck on bus #7. That, and what kind of lunch to bring on the trip due to the eating rules imposed by the fourth graders. Oh, and what to do about Olive, the new girl.

Ah, Clementine, Clementine, one of my favorite literary characters is back! Woo-hoo! Need I tell you that I absolutely adore Clementine? I first met Clementine way back in 2006, I was in a K - 8 school and read the first chapter to all my classes. For the younger ones because she was just perfect and for the older ones for the same reason and to hammer home the concept of voice. I have to say the older students were as interested in reading the rest of the book as the younger.

I was very happy to see that Clementine books were part of the collection when I made the move to a 5 - 8th grade middle school in 2008. I read the last two Clementine books with my ears and while Jessica Almasy did a great job of bringing Clementine to life, I really missed the spot art by Marla Frazee. 

Clementine's voice remains hysterical, but she is beginning to show some insight and some self-restraint. I continue to adore Mrs. Rice, Clementine's principal, as well as Margaret. And, I would really love to know what Clementine's little brother's name is.

My only criticism of this one is the timeline of the the class trip. Clementine goes to Plymouth Rock, Plimoth Plantation and, the Mayflower. In that order. Then, they seem to go back to Pimoth Plantation for lunch. Hm-m. 

Our seventh grade goes to Boston each year. We spend one jam-packed day in Boston, sleep in a hotel just outside of Boston, then we head down to Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower before hitting Plimoth Plantation the next day. There is no way any self-respecting class trip planner would go to Plymouth Rock, head to Plimoth Plantation, then go to the Mayflower and back to Plimoth Plantation for lunch. It doesn't make sense.

And, while I'm nit-picking, there's no way any student, let alone a third grader would be allowed to trek back, unaccompanied, to the village during the lunch break even if there were direct line of sight between the lunch area and the village, which there is not. Okay fine. It's the teacher in me. Most kids would probably not pick that up. 

I can't wait till Clementine becomes a big sister.

! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal & Tom Lichtenheld

56 p. Scholastic Inc., March 13, 2013. 9780545436793. Reviewed from arc obtained at ALAMW.

Poor exlamation mark, hm-m, should that be capitalized? It is, after all his name. Sadly, this isn't the punctuation dealt with in this darling new collaboration brought to us by the genius team that created Duck! Rabbit! (A book I somehow never reviewed but which I feature frequently in my "never too old for picture books" display. I even had a poster for the book. Come to think of it, I wonder where it got to after my library renovation? I digress yet again.)

Exclamation mark stands out everywhere he goes, except when he's asleep. No matter what he tries to do to fit in, "he just wasn't like everyone else........Period." 

He felt a myriad of emotions and thought about running away (hysterical illustration for this one btw) until he meets...

Question mark! Oops, ?

Question mark peppers him with, wait for it,... lots of questions! So many questions, as a matter of fact, that exclamation mark loses it and yells, "STOP!"

"He didn't know he had it in him."

Question mark helped exclamation mark find himself! The possibilities were endless!! He shared his news with his friends, period. Question mark asks them, "Isn't he something?"

They replied, "There was never any question in our minds."

Aw-w-w!

This is a must purchase folks! It's a no-brainer for elementary school libraries, but middle school libraries would do well to purchase it and school librarians should hand it over to LA teachers to spice up a lesson on punctuation. (They should also take a gander at Lichtenheld's E-Mergency!) Personally, I'm getting one for my home library as well. It's just ingenious from its design, short and wide, with, oh, what's that paper called when it's ruled with the dotted line? Ack! Can't come up with it. It's funny. It's punny. It's endearing. It's a must purchase!!!! Do the extra exclamation marks help?



I fell in love with the book when I viewed the Scholastic Librarian preview. Click on the link at right to the Picture book preview. It's the first book featured, but listen to the entire preview anyway. There are some great books in the pipeline from Scholastic. 

I found an arc at the Scholastic booth and grabbed it. Then, I was thrilled to learn that the Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld were going to speak at the preview that I was invited to attend. There were amazing snacks and terrific original art arranged on easels all around the room to view while munching. 

Then, we listened to Sharon Dennis Wyeth read from her touching book, The Granddaughter Necklace, followed by Stephen Savage's hysterical take on the perils of sequels while describing his own sequel, with Lauren Thomson, to  Polar Bear Night, Polar Bear Morning. 

Amy and Tom finished the presentation with a wonderfully choreographed presentation about the evolution of the book. Near the end, Tom showed a slide of a cool bulletin board created by an elementary school principal who read an arc and loved it. I was just thinking, "Isn't that clever," when he added the name of this principal and I realized that I knew the guy! He was vice-principal at the elementary school in the district where I work. He was about to switch schools and come to mine, when he was offered a principal position in a nearby school, where, ironically, all the librarians were let go. He is heroically trying to fill the void.

I just had to share this "six degrees of separation" moment with the authors, so I made my way to the front of the room to share this excitement. Unfortunately, by the time I went to claim one of Scholastic's famous red gift bags, They. Were. All. Gone! I was told to email my woes to them. Fingers crossed because the bag contained finished copies of the speakers' books. Squee! I can't wait to share these gems. I will most likely send the Polar Bear book to the elementary school, but the other two fit in quite nicely into my middle school library. There was a rumor that I, Too, am America was in the bag as well.

I am a bit perplexed as to how they ran out though... crashers or greedy folks? Let it go, bk. Don't let it spoil all the excitement about the entire event, which was da bomb.

This is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen

Unpgd. Candlewick Press, October, 2012. 9780763655990. (Borrowed from the public library.)

A small fish (a minnow?), absconds  with a small derby, which fits him perfectly, but is clearly not his. He even admits it but he has the perfect hiding place and is making haste to get to it. Oh, how I wish I had a group of first graders to read this aloud to. They would be wiggling with delight and eager anticipation when they realize that the thief is not going to get away with his crime.

Just as in I Want My Hat Back, spare is the operative word here, in the art as well as the text. For some reason, I did not feel the love others felt for I Want My Hat Back. I liked it well enough. This one, I love. I borrowed it from the library, but may need to get a copy for myself and my middle school library, just because.