Shakespeare Bats Cleanup by Ron Koertge. 128 p. Candlewick Press, February, 2003. 9780763621162.
#tbt features Shakespeare Bats Cleanup by Ron Koertge. Eighth grader Kevin Bolland lives and breathes baseball. When he is benched for months thanks to mono, he needs something to do so he writes a poem in his journal. This leads him to look for a book about writing poetry in his dad's study and suddenly Kevin can't write fast enough. He writes about middle school, girls and grief over his mother's recent death. This brief verse novel was published in 2003 and has a sequel called Shakespeare Makes the Playoffs.
Spy School Goes South by Stuart Gibbs. Spy School series. 352 p. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, October 2, 2018. 9781481477857.
Publisher synopsis: Ben is taken to Mexico by his nemesis in the hopes that he’ll finally be able to take down SPYDER in this latest addition to the New York Times bestselling Spy School series.
Thirteen-year-old Ben Ripley has been caught in the snares of SPYDER more than once and knows well enough to be suspicious of anything that seems too good to be true—despite needing special tutoring in advanced survival techniques. So when Murray Hill finally breaks his silence with an offer to hand over the SPYDER elite, Ben knows that there must be something going on. But his hesitation doesn’t stop the assignment.
The Mission: Follow Murray Hill to an undisclosed location with no one else but Erica Hale to identify SPYDER leadership. Once found, contact the CIA to sweep in and finish the job. DO NOT CONTACT SPYDER DIRECTLY.
However, as Ben suspected, nothing goes as planned, and what should be an easy mission quickly turns deadly. Now, Ben and Erica will have to face rogue agents, trained killers, and even very hungry crocodiles in a race against the clock to find out what SPYDER is up to this time—and thwart their evil plans.
I learned of this the first week of February from Gibbs' FB page but had February WoW posts scheduled and March's reserved for Women's History Month. My students are going to flip over this! The shelf housing Gibbs' books in my library is usually fairly empty from the start of the school year to the end.
So I gave up my yoga class today to attend an author signing about 25 miles away from my home. Yeah. That's big. I practice daily and don't like to miss a single class. But I did -for Kwame Alexander. I am a huge fan of his work. Just today I read Animal Ark and just last weekend I read Solo with my ears.
He was appearing (with his bus) at Words Books in Maplewood. I was very happy to learn that this signing was at five instead of the usual four. Four o'clock signings during the week are impossible for me to leave school and arrive on time. Five o'clock is doable. But what with the rain and the usual Garden State Parkway traffic, a 35 minute ride was close to an hour. Believe me, I almost turned around. But it was Kwame Alexander and all I could think about was the two students who are his biggest fans at my school and how happy getting to read Rebound would make them.
I did arrive late, but didn't miss anything. It started a bit late. Didn't get a seat either, but I'm used to standing. Here's what I learned about Rebound:
While it took him five years to write The Crossover, it took two years to write Rebound.
He had never intended on writing more/ a sequel to The Crossover, but as he traveled and visit with kids, they kept asking for a sequel. If you haven't read The Crossover, I won't spoil why a sequel would've been hard. Once he nailed down the possible plot, he wrote. He wrote in planes and hotel rooms and at his mom's hospital bedside. Rebound is dedicated to his mother.
He brought along a friend with a guitar. His name, Randy Preston, rang a bell. Once he started singing, I recognized him as the singer in Solo. More about that book in a Teen Tuesday blog post later this month.
There were about twenty-five kids sitting on the floor at his feet so eager to hear what he had to say. It was so obvious that they all read his books - closely. They finished his rhymes. They laughed at the in-jokes and even made some. They had inhaled and assimilated his books. There was even a young beat boxer in the audience who provided beats for part of the reading.
Here are some photos:
A Skinful of Shadows by Frances Hardinge. Unabridged audiobook on one MP3 CD. 12 hours, 4 minutes. Read by Hallie Ricardo. Audible Studios on Brilliance Audio, January 2018. 978154368924. (Own)
In 17th century England, class lines are firmly entrenched but that does not stop the aristocracy from dalliances with the help. The bastard children of these trysts are usually discarded without a second thought, but in the case of the Fellmottes, if the bastard child possesses a certain gift, a family trait not as obvious as the Fellmotte cleft chin, then that child has value.
It is a time of civil unrest in England as Parliament and the king are at odds. The Fellmottes have allied with the king. It is in their best interests for him to stay in power. Makepeace knows she is a bastard child but has no idea who her father is. She has grown up among Puritans with her strict and secretive mother. When she shows signs of having what we learn to be the Fellmotte trait, her mother takes to locking her in a graveyard at night to "toughen her up." Her birth father is a mystery to her until her mother is killed during a riot and an agent from the Fellmotte family comes to claim her when her aunt no longer wants responsibility for her.
First she is imprisoned in a third story room and subjected to inhumane "treatment" for her ills. Then, she's made to work in the kitchen where she forms bonds with the dogs and her half-brother James. James and Symmond, the eventual heir of the estate are close but Symmond harbors a secret.
While I am not quite satisfied with my synopsis of A Skinful of Shadows, it'll have to do. Hardinge creates such complex, nuanced, unpredictable, original plots that they are difficult to wrap up in a tidy little summary. I don't have too many readers sophisticated enough for her books in my library but I am so glad to have them for that special middle school reader.
The sights, sounds and smells of 17th century England come alive in Hardinge's hands. The writing is lovely; the large cast of characters are intriguing and the suspense builds slowly.
I will admit to some bemusement over a narrator using an American accent to narrate a British novel that takes place in England. New-to-me narrator Haillie Ricardo has an arsenal of voices and accents from Scottish to lower and upper class British accents to depict the many characters and make them stand out.
The Journey of Little Charlie by Christopher Paul Curtis. 248 p. Scholastic Press/ Scholastic Inc., January, 2018. 9780545156660. (Review of finished copy courtesy of publisher.)
Ain't nothin' little about Little Charlie Bobo. He's only twelve but is the size of a full-grown man and he sure does have a heap of heartache and troubles for one so young. It is 1858 and he subsists with his sharecropper parents on the Tanner plantation. When his father is killed in a freak accident while felling trees, he and his mother aren't sure what they'll do to survive. Then, Cap'n Buck, the plantation overseer comes to their door and claims that Little Charlie's father owes Mr. Tanner a heap of money. Seems that means that Little Charlie has to work it off by helping Cap'n recover some stolen property up north.
Don't like to read dialect, eh? Get over it. Little Charlie's first-person narrative is short, compelling, suspenseful and not to be missed. Christopher Paul Curtis is a masterful storyteller and The Journey of Little Charlie might be his best yet. Moments of suspense and, yes, utter terror are leavened with humor. Charlie may be uneducated but he is a keen observer, has heart and is quick to learn. He may have accepted slavery as a way of life, but he doesn't like cruelty. When he observes the ease with which blacks and whites live in Canada, Little Charlie grows to understand the injustice but feels helpless to act.
Cap'n Buck is truly, terrifyingly evil. His acts of brutality are not easy to read. Some care should be given to whom this book might be recommended. Give it to a thoughtful reader who likes to be challenged. Highly recommended!
Total posts this month: 29
Total books read this month: 41
Total books read this year: 98
Challenges:
Audio: 8/19
Debut: 1/2
Picture Book: 17/ 39
The Good: I reviewed 11 books! Not all were read this month. I got ahead of my GR goal because my book order came in at school and I had a bunch of picture book biographies for my sixth grade unit in the order I needed to read before adding them.
The Bad: It's all good.
The List:
58. Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi (3/3)**
59. Marley Dias Gets It Done: and so can you by Marley Dias (3/3)
60. Lucy and the String by Vanessa Roeder (3/6)*
61. Scar Island by Dan Gemeinhart (3/6)
62. Ever by Gail Carson Levine (3/7)
63. Sparks! by Ian Boothby & Nina Matsumoto (3/7)
64. Kung Pow Chicken: let's get cracking! by Cyndi Marko (3/7)
65. Mega Robo Bros by Neill Cameron (3/8)
66. Foods with Moods by Saxton Freymann and Joost Elffers (3/8)*
67. Cucumber Quest Vol. 1: The Doughnut Kingdom by Gigi D.G. (3/8)
68. Paperboy by Vince Vawter (3/9)
69. The Jigsaw Jungle by Kristin Levine (3/13)
70. Cry, Heart, But Never Break by Glenn Ringtved (3/13)
71. The Word Collector by Peter H. Reynolds (3/14)*
72. Tiny and the Big Dig by Sherri Duskey Rinker (3/14)
73. When Sophie Thinks She Can't by Molly Bang (3/14)
74. Marcus Vega Doesn't Speak Spanish by Pablo Cartaya (3/14)
75. Ducks Away by Mem Fox and Judy Horacek (3/15)
76. Little Choo by Stephen Shaskan (3/15)
77. Be Brave, Little Penguin by Giles Andreae (3/15)
78. Hoodoo by Ronald L. Smith (3/15)
79. Snowy Owl Invasion by Sandra Markle (3/17)*
80. The Great Penguin Rescue by Sandra Markle (3/17)*
81. Listening for Lucca by Suzanne LaFleur (3/21)
82. Hawk Mother: the story of a red-tailed hawk who hatched chickens by Kara Hagedorn (3/23)
83. The Pink Hat by Andrew Joyner (3/24)
84. Unplugged by Steve Antony (3/24)
85. Thank You, Mr. Panda/ Gracias, Senor Panda (3/24)
86. The Journey of Little Charlie by Christopher Paul Curtis (3/25)**
87. Beautiful Blue World by Suzanne LaFleur (3/25)
88. The Star Wars Cookbook: BB-Ate: awaken to the force of breakfast and brunch by Lara Starr (3/26)
89. Breathe and Be: a book of mindfulness poems by Kate Coombs (3/26)
90. The Girl Who Thought in Pictures: the story of Dr. Temple Grandin by Julia Finley Mosca (3/26)
91. Grace Hopper: Queen of Computer Code by Laurie Wallmark (3/26)
92. A Skinful of Shadows by Frances Hardinge (3/27)*
93. The Shape of the World: a portrait of Frank Lloyd Wright by K.L. Going (3/28)
94. Muddy: the story of Blues legend Muddy Waters by Michael Mahin (3/28)
95. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba (3/28)
96. The Youngest Marcher by Cynthia Levinson (3/29)
97. Keith Haring: the boy who just kept drawing by Kay A. Haring (3/29)
98. Solo by Kwame Alexander and Mary Rand Hess (3/30)
The Boo-Boos That Changed the World: the true story about an accidental invention (really) by Barry Wittenstein. Illustrated by Chris Hsu. unpgd. Charlesbridge, February, 2018. 9781580897457. (Review from finished copy courtesy of Blue Slip Media.)
Everybody loves a bandaid. There's something about it that evokes a feeling of comfort (at least for me). Maybe because the sight of one brings memories of running to mommy with a boo-boo and having her fuss and gently clean and dry it while cooing soothingly. I must admit, I love to smell bandaids. I also must admit that I have never wondered about the origin of the bandaid. This book is the answer to anyone who has.
Early in the twentieth century, a newlywed couple began their lives together in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Not all was wedded bliss, however because the wife, Josephine was a klutz. She was constantly cutting herself and using kitchen rags to clean her many wounds. Her husband, Earle, being the son of a physician, and a cotton buyer for the Johnson & Johnson company, worried about infection in his accident-prone bride. So he wondered, and wondered and wondered about a solution until he had a "Eureka!" moment and set about putting his idea to use.
Wittenstein tells his story in a jaunty humorous tone, constantly "fooling" the reader with false exclamations of, "the end!" This should cause endless giggling at story-time. When the end finally, "really" comes, an author's note, and two timelines follow - one of Earle Dickson's life and the other of other inventions from the 1920s and 1930s. The author also provides the urls for six websites that interested readers can might find interesting.
The design is pleasing, with bandaid tan the predominant color. The cartoonish art is expressive, especially the interactions between Earle and Josephine. Period details include jalopies, a milk man and the fashion of the time. This is the illustrator's debut and a fine one it is.
The Boo-Boos That Changes the World is a picture book for any age. Add it to a unit on inventors or just read it aloud for the fun of it. Fun, fun, fun!
ETA: Almost forgot to post this link to resources from the author's website.
