Friendship

Can a Dog Save The Day? Immortal Max by Lutricia Clifton

IMMORTAL MAX by Lutricia Clifton is reviewed by MaryAnne Locher.

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Immortal Max by Lutricia Clifton, Holiday House, 2014.

Middle school can be such a tumultuous time. The difficulties are only compounded when your dad dies, your mom is trying to make ends meet with three children, (one of whom is about to go to college), and wealthy city kids are infiltrating your world and turning your town into the haves and have nots. Thank goodness it’s summer, right?

In Immortal Max by Lutricia Clifton, (Holiday House, 2014, $16.95, Ages 8-12), Sam, a twelve-year-old boy, gets a summer job walking dogs in a gated community so he can save money and buy a purebred, sable colored German Shepherd puppy – the dog of his dreams. The only problem is that Sam already has a dog. Max is a drooling, smelly, supposedly on his last legs mutt, who Sam’s mother thinks will not survive a playful puppy. To top things off, the school bully and Sam’s arch enemy, Justin, will stop at nothing to foil Sam’s plan, including trying to get him fired. It doesn’t help matters that he lives in the wealthy community where Sam will be walking the dogs.

Clifton captures the emotions of the reader with her ability to bring to life, not only the main characters, but the minor players in this tender, though sometimes intense, middle grade novel. Watching Sam grow and develop from a boy with a goal to a young man who has his priorities straight -well, let’s just say, I teared up more than once.

If you’re looking for a book with diverse characters, (Lee, Patel, Wysocki, and Pierce. cheerleaders, geeks, etc.) look no further. This book has them all. As in real life, none of the characters are all good or all bad, they’re perfectly imperfect humans trying to make it through life while having a little fun in the process.

Oh, and then there’s Max. Old, faithful, not-so-scruffy after all, Immortal Max. Before you even open the book, notice how Chris Sheban’s muted gray, green, and gold jacket art focuses on Max’s perspective. In this middle grade story told from the aging dog’s point of view, Sam has always been and always will be the boy of Max’s dreams, but will Sam get the dog of his dreams? You’ll have to read the book to find out.

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The Secret Hum of a Daisy Blog Tour

Good Reads With Ronna is delighted to join in The Secret Hum of a Daisy (G. P. Putnam’s Sons, $16.99, Ages 9-12) blog tour sharing insights into Tracy Holczer’s new middle grade novel.

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Praise for The Secret Hum of a Daisy

“Tracy Holczer’s story is a lyric about love and loss and not being able to find your future until you’ve uncovered your past.”
— Richard Peck, author of Newbery winning A Year Down Yonder

Read it all!

As part of the tour, bloggers are posting Tracy Holczer’s answers to questions about her novel this week. After your appetite is whet, please scroll down to check out my review of  The Secret Hum of a Daisy.

 

The Guest Post by Tracy Holczer:

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Photo of Tracy Holczer by Lisa Williams Photography ©2012.

Is there a playlist for The Secret Hum of a Daisy? Any books, movies, or TV shows that inspired it? Tell us about them.

I had a playlist ages ago that I don’t remember all that well. There was probably some Enya, some Sarah McLachlan, some Beethoven. Soothing. Mostly though, I don’t listen to music when I’m writing because there’s so much going on in my head, and lyrics compete. Weirdly, I don’t even listen to music in my car for the same reason. I’m not always in my chair with my laptop, typing a story. But I’m not sure my head ever stops. The characters are in there, the ideas for plot, memories that tie in to themes and how to navigate all that in a linear way so it makes sense to other people. Throw music on top of that and my head might just explode!

So while music wasn’t a big help in writing The Secret Hum of a Daisy, there is a book that inspired me – The Great Gilly Hopkins, by Katherine Paterson. I don’t know how many times I read that story before, during, and since I wrote about Grace. I just love Gilly. She is tough and smart. Smarter than anyone in the room, but doesn’t know how to use her big brain for good. It’s such a great example of a story that chips away at a character, smoothing their edges, and making them shine. Partly this inspired me because I wondered what might have happened if Gilly came to her grandmother before meeting Trotter. That idea was part of a jumble of ideas that brought Grace to life.

The other blog tour participants include:

6/23 – Nerdy Book Club
6/24 – Word Spelunking
6/26 – We Are Word Nerds
6/27 – Icey Books

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The Great Greene Heist by Varian Johnson

Wanted: A Smart, Cool & Capable Con Artist –
The Great Greene Heist by Varian Johnson,
reviewed today by Hilary Taber.

Saving the school — one con at a time.

A Publishers Weekly Best Summer Book of 2014.

– ☆ Kirkus, Starred Review

 

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The Great Greene Heist by Varian Johnson, Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic Books, 2014.

At the bookstore where I work, every so often I get a book request that goes like this, “Do you know a book that’s like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, only it’s for kids?” Evidently, mom or dad is a fan of the movie, and the whole family just watched it together for the first time. It’s usually this family’s son (now a fan of Ferris as well) who is looking for a book with a character like Ferris; someone who is young, smart, capable, and cool. For this reason alone, I am so grateful that Varian Johnson wrote The Great Greene Heist (Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic,  $16.99, Ages 10-15) because only now do I finally have a book that I can recommend to them!

Jackson Greene is not your average middle schooler. Despite being the son of a police officer, he’s been well trained by his grandfather to be (allegedly) a con artist. Now, let me be very clear that Jackson’s cons are Robin Hood in nature. He’s on the side of the angels. Well, more specifically there’s one main angel, and that would be Gaby.

Gaby is Jackson’s friend and possible girl friend. There’s one problem though, and that is that Gaby is not anything close to being Jackson’s friend when the book begins. Let’s just say they have had a bit of a falling out. Just goes to show you that life is tough because not only did Jackson Greene have to turn over a new leaf after the last con he pulled for a good cause, he also now begins to see that Gaby’s run for student council president isn’t going well.

Gaby is running against her classmate, Keith. Keith is the kind of person who will pull any strings he can (such as paying off the school principal with a little help from his dad) to win against Gaby. Jackson Greene may have tried to reform, but he can’t just stand by and watch Gaby lose to Keith. Jackson has to think of the best con he could ever pull to ensure that Keith will be defeated. If there’s one thing that Jackson knows it’s that he has to be Gaby’s friend once again, and if he has to con on the side of justice he will! He’ll definitely need a lot of help along the way, and it’s a good thing that one of the most important things that Jackson knows how to do well is how to be a good friend. He’ll need all his friends now more than ever before if he’s going to successfully pull off the Great Greene Heist.

The real draw of the book, as many other reviewers have noted, is that here we have the dream of independence in the familiar setting of middle school. Only this time that dream has come true to a great extent because of the character of Jackson Greene. Here’s a kid who is in middle school, who is definitely a leader, but he never uses that against other kids. Jackson is the kind of leader who knows when to pass the ball, so to speak, to another kid if that’s what it takes to get the job done. He also knows how to get what he wants with a little help from his friends even if bending the rules is what it takes.

What I love about this book is that the array of characters is so diverse. Just look at that cover! Could you ask for more diversity than that? I have to admit I teared up a bit at just the mention of Jackson’s friend, Gaby, going to Mass because I am Roman Catholic. Going to Mass is just not something that gets mentioned much in children’s literature. Plus, in this book, it’s more than okay to be something of a geek, especially if you’re at all inclined towards the tech side of geekdom because you will be needed in any con Jackson Greene has going. I was so happy to see that! Perhaps the biggest surprise for me came when I read about Megan, cheerleader and proud geek. Yes! I almost cheered myself! I know girls who are like Megan, and I’m proud of them. No, they usually aren’t cheerleaders as well, but they do know their way around a computer. They watch Star Wars, Star Trek, they love gaming, and they often feel left out in this usually male geek dominated world. In The Great Greene Heist we will have no more of that thanks to Varian Johnson! There’s something here for just about everyone. Are you the sports type? No problem, Jackson and Gaby are, too. How about student government type? Student government was never so interesting as in this book. Do you tend to associate with the art crowd? Again, you’re represented. Thanks so much to Varian Johnson who shows us that, for the cause of justice, we are all needed, appreciated, and finally very close to being totally represented.

Buy the book today at your favorite indie bookstore and take the Great Greene challenge. Click here for more details.

 

 

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Five, Six, Seven, Nate! by Tim Federle

Five, Six, Seven, Nate! by Tim Federle is reviewed by MaryAnne Locher.

– ⭐︎ Starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Kirkus

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Five, Six, Seven, Nate! by Tim Federle, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2014.

I had the privlidge of hearing Tim Federle speak at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books a little over a year ago. Taken by his personal story as well as his charm and sense of humor, I bought his then newly released debut novel, Better Nate Than Ever, and, of course, had him sign it. Little did I know that his book would become one of my favorite middle grade novels in addition to being the most talked about middle grade book of 2013!

Fast forward a year plus later. I’ve now been given the opportunity to review Federle’s fabulous follow-up called Five, Six, Seven, Nate! (Simon & Schuster 2014; $16.99, Ages 10-14).

Nate Foster is your not-so-average kid from Jankburg, Pennsylvania. He’s never really fit in with the other boys. He prefers practicing his singing and acting with his best friend and self-appointed acting coach, Libby. Much to his family’s chagrin, Nate’s landed the role of second understudy for E.T. in E.T.: The Broadway Musical. The only reasons his parents let him chase his dream of becoming an actor are his Aunt Heidi, an aspiring actor herself who lives in New York City, and because Nate is drawing an income from the production.

Nate finds out that Broadway is not all glitz and glamour, people and situations are not always as they first appear to be, and hard work sometimes pays off, despite a lack of formal training. Federle addresses difficult topics and feelings encountered by this late tween/early teen age group with both honesty and sensitivity. This heartfelt coming of age book with its diverse cast of characters is truly inspiring and takes the reader through a gamut of emotions. Bravo! I look forward to future Federle performances.

See Tim Federle discuss writing for kids in this New York Times video.

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Wanderville by Wendy McClure

Today’s guest reviewer, author Sara Kras, weighs in on Wendy McClure’s Wanderville.

Doesn’t every child dream of living on their own, away from pesky adults? Wanderville, written by Wendy McClure (Razorbill, $16.99, ages 8-12), lets kids do just that. This story starts with a bang introducing the reader to two of the main characters, Jack and Frances. Even though they are from two completely different backgrounds, they both wind up on an orphan train.

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Wanderville by Wendy McClure, Razorbill, 2014.

This little-known fascinating slice of American history is brought to life through Wendy McClure’s descriptive writing. (She’s also a senior editor at Albert Whitman and Company.) Her extensive research transports the reader back to the era of the late 19th and early 20th century when orphan trains were used. The orphan train program gathered over 200,000 East Coast orphaned or homeless children and transported them into rural Midwest areas.

Terrified of being “adopted” to work on a farm with inhumane conditions; Jack, Frances, and her seven-year-old brother, Harold, escape from the train just before coming into town.

They soon stumble across Alexander – an orphan child who had escaped the local farm. Alexander had started his own “town” called Wanderville. The town is comprised of a fountain or creek, a hotel or a soft place to sleep under the trees, and even a courthouse or rock with a log. Food and supplies are gotten from the real local town through “donations” or stealing.

The children soon find themselves in lots of trouble when Harold is captured and taken to the inhumane farm to work. Jack, Frances, and Alexander have to figure out how to save Harold as well as the other children. This books shows how clever and resourceful children can be without adult supervision. I’m sure any child would love to read this book where children are in control. It looks like there will be a book two of Wanderville coming out in Fall 2014. So the story continues…

Click here for lots of Wanderville extras, too!

Read a Publisher’s Weekly interview with Wendy McClure by clicking here.

– Reviewed by Sara Louise Kras, www.saralouisekras.com, author of 32 books including her latest chapter book titled The Hunted: Polar Prey (Speeding Star, $14.95, ages 8-9).

 

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SMASHER by Scott Bly

Twenty Days to Stop The Future!

Today Ronna Mandel reviews Scott Bly’s debut middle grade novel, SMASHER (Scholastic/Blue Sky Press, $16.99, Ages 10-14).

I met Scott Bly at the L.A. Times Festival of Books several weekends ago. There I had a chance to watch a video of his book launch at Skylight Books in March. He played guitar and sang. Yes, sang, and what a terrific voice! And speaking of voice, middle graders are going to really enjoy the voice in Bly’s sci-fi page turner, SMASHER.

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Scott Bly at L.A. Times Festival of Books April 2014, © 2014 Ronna Mandel

Set in the not too distant future of a city called LAanges (Los Angeles), SMASHER is full of plot twists, dark secrets, inventions, good versus evil and most of all, loads of high-tech talk tweens and teens love, along with a mix of magic thrown in. The book is divided into five parts and each short chapter keeps moving the story forward at a fast, action-filled pace that is certain to pull in even the most reluctant of readers.

In this sci-fi adventure, a robotic girl named Geneva travels back to the year 1542 in an attempt to recruit a bullied and friendless 12-year-old boy named Charles to join her on an urgent mission. If Geneva can convince Charles to return with her via time travel (SMASHER) to a futuristic city called LAanges, together they might be able to thwart a world takeover by an egotistical and cunning villain named Gramercy Foxx. Despite living in a remote mountain village near the town of Eamsford, Charles, or Charlie as Geneva calls him, has a penchant for puzzle-solving and is also gifted. Somehow Geneva also knows that Charlie can perform feats of magic and I’m not talking pulling rabbits out of a hat. This ability will serve the kids well when they try to outwit and out-tech the wily Foxx.

smasher-smallOnce back in LAanges, Charlie and Geneva must move quickly to solve the mind-control menace that Gramercy Foxx plans to unleash via computer software called The Future. As the team tackle obstacle upon obstacle to breach the multi-layers of security Foxx has installed to keep enemies at bay while keeping his devious plan on track, they soon realize there is something much more sinister behind Foxx’s efforts to takeover the planet. Promising a world of peaceful coexistence and well-being, Foxx’s goal is anything but harmonious. Time, however, is not on Charlie and Geneva’s side as they use every means possible to stop Foxx. It’s not until Charlie, with the help of his new trusted canine companion, confronts some long hidden secrets that he’s able to face some startling facts and go head to head with Foxx.

With SMASHER, Bly’s created a couple of characters kids will care about and a wicked nemesis they’ll want to see made powerless. So now you may wonder, does The Future look bright for Foxx anymore? Can humanity be saved? Travel through time courtesy of SMASHER to find out who will ultimately win control of our world and enjoy your journey!

Parents – if you want to find out more about SMASHER, visit SMASHEROnline.com for a peak into The Future!

 

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