Frozen by Mary Casanova

 Frozen is a  young adult novel is about a teenager named Sadie Rose who can’t speak because of a traumatic event in her childhood. Her foster parents are a wealthy couple who summer on Rainy Lake in Northern Minnesota near the Canadian border. The setting is around the 1920’s and Casanova has woven Minnesota historical events and issues into her story line. Sadie’s speech comes back as she begins to uncover the mystery to her past. She begins to piece together the story of why her prostitute mother was found frozen dead in the woods, taken to the town hall and propped up in the corner with a bottle of booze for all to see.  Sadie is driven to find answers to her past.

Woven throughout the story are historical issues dealing with prohibition, women’s rights, corrupt politicians and the fight to preserve wilderness areas in Minnesota.  Yet despite all of these social problems, the story has an easy to read nature which makes it accessible to middle school and teenage readers.  I wouldn’t recommend this to elementary students since there are mature themes dealt with in the novel.

The book trailer is beautiful and photographed in Rainy Lake. Also, this month the Minnesota Conservation Volunteer magazine ran an article about the historical preservation of Rainy Lake from the 1920’s.  As I skimmed through the magazine when it came to the library, I realized how closely this related to the book Frozen.  In the magazine you will discover the real names of some of the characters described by the author.  You can read the issue online:  http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/volunteer/novdec12/toc.html

I think this is a very good addition to historical books about Minnesota history for young adults and gladly recommend it as a good read.

Book Trailer:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uc0XITt0fms

Old MacDonald Had Her Farm

In this new picture book by JonArno Lawson, kids experience a fun romp through the vowels.  Each section adopts a vowel and then embraces words with the vowels sounds of A-E-I-O-U and sometimes Y as Farmer MacDonald does her chores around the farm.  There is a lot to notice and look at and although not really a story, it is a fun day of practicing vowel sounds on the farm in a tongue twisting nonsensical manner.
A good purchase.

Girls Take Charge

As Simple As It Seems by Sarah Weeks

During the summer after 5^th grade, Verbie is in a slump and can’t even bring herself to get dressed and instead hangs out in a white nightie all day. Her best friend has gone to camp with a new friend and she finds out that she is adopted.  A new family moves next door and hears about a drowning that took place at their lake house. When Verbie goes down to snoop, the neighbor boy believes she is the ghost of the girl who had drowned because she is wearing a white dress.   Verbie plays her hand and pretends she is in fact a ghost. This turns into a new relationship that Verbie needs to find her way back to herself. 

I loved this story. I laughed aloud during the scene when Verbie pretends that she is a ghost. This story reminds me of Because of Winn-Dixie mixed with Bridge to Terabithia. Even though the cover is girly looking, I think boys could also make connections.

Calli Be Gold by Michele Weber Hurwitz

Calli’s family is super busy and is driven to succeed and squeeze everything out of the day.  Calli doesn’t seem to have the talents or the energy to keep pace with her family and feels left out. When her fifth grade class pairs up with a second grade class in a mentorship program, Calli is drawn to a strange little boy. She finds this relationship very satisfying and gets a glimpse at finding out what she is very good at doing. Showing her family the importance of slowing down may be her job as discovers that she has her own abilities that are also “golden”.

I liked this story. It will appeal to girls but has an important message to share about making people important in your life. The Golds are so busy and yet I think I know people just like them!

The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman

This story was fabulous.  Think Harry Potter and combine it with the TV show Once Upon a Time and set it in a Library in New York City which lends out objects instead of books.  One of the floors in the library lends out the magical elements from fairy tales. The high school pages who work at the library discover that some of these magical objects are being borrowed and replaced with fakes. They begin a dangerous adventure as they try and recover the stolen items.  There are a couple of romances in this book and some kissing scenes so it leans more towards the middle school collection.

A Couple of Book Reviews

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson

This is a science fiction futuristic medical thriller with a lot of teenage angst. Jenna Fox is seventeen years old and awakes after a year-long coma knowing very little of her past and the terrible accident that happened to her.  She begins to gradually remember and has lots of questions that her parents seem reluctant to answer. She is driven to find out the truth.  This book is a great high school selection and may also interest middle school students who also like to think deeply about ethics and values.

 Belly Up by Stuart Gibbs

Imagine being twelve years old and living at the biggest zoo in the United States. Teddy is the first one to discover that the zoo hippo mascot has died and in fact was murdered! This murder mystery is very funny and full of grossness that will appeal to many kids. The other character that helps Teddy investigate the mystery is the glamorous Summer, who is the owner’s daughter.  This mystery reminded me of the Carl Hiaason ecological mysteries like Hoot and Scat. I think it is a winner.

Let's Hear it for the Boys!

      
This week I read four of the books on the 2012-13 Maud Hart Lovelace list and all of them featured male main characters written by talented male authors! Let's hear it for the boys!

Top of the Order by John Coy 

John Coy is a Minnesota author from Minneapolis and I always have a special spot for the authors from our state.  Top of the Order is a sports story about baseball and teamwork. The story features four friends in 5th grade who are ready to go to middle school and play on sports teams together. Of course they encounter problems along the way.  One problem happens to be a girl who joins their baseball team and shows up to play with a pink glove! So embarrassing.

 As I was nearing the end of this book, I realized that I had read it before! The story has a lot of baseball scenes and I think I may have tuned some of that out. So, despite the fact that the book was forgettable to me, I think sports fan will enjoy the book.  This is beginning of a series of four books and the following will be about basketball, football, and soccer as the boys play together at different sports all year long. A great read for the boys!


Go Big or Go Home by Will Hobbs

Will Hobbs is usually the author I look for when a boy is looking for an outdoor adventure story.  Go Big or Go Home is set in the Badlands of South Dakota. I have visited the area several times and so it was fun to picture the places he writes about in the book.

 In the story, Brady is watching a meteorite storm from his rooftop when a meteor hits his house and goes through his bed.  Turns out the meteorite is from Mars and is very rare and  it gives Brady some extra super athletic powers through the bacteria it contains. However, there are some side affects that put Brady in jeopardy for his life. Brady and his cousin are wild about adventure and doing things to the extreme. For some reason the parents in this book leave the boys alone and as a result they do things that perhaps most kids would never be able to accomplish under parental watch. It is a great outdoor adventure and science fiction read!


After Ever After by Jordan Sonnenblick

This book is a sequel to Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie, but could stand alone. Drums was about 8th grader Steven and how he dealt with his four year old brother Jeffrey, who had cancer. In After Ever After, Jeffrey is in 8th grade and in remission. He has to deal with the side effects of his treatments which includes limping and learning difficulties. In this story, he encounters first love, state testing problems, and a best friend who has some secrets he is not willing to share. Another wonderful story by Sonnenblick about the not so typical lives of young teens. I also recommend Notes from a Midnight Rider. I haven't read Zen and the Art of Faking It yet, but it will be on my list.


The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity (Brixton Brothers) by Mac Barnett

This mystery is the first in a series called Brixton Brothers. The main character is Steve Brixton and he loves a series of mysteries called the Bailey Brothers. (Think "Hardy Boys")  He is given an assignment by his teacher to do a research paper on needlework over the weekend.  When he checks out a book on quilts at the public library, he is mistaken for a detective and and gets wrapped up in a madcap adventure/mystery/detective case. There is kidnapping, car chases, running from cops, avoiding thugs, secret passages, and everything you expect from a detective story.  Steve eventually solves this mystery which revolves around librarians and their secret identities and what they protect. Although he doesn't have a brother, he and his best friend become "The Brixton Brothers" because it sounds good and go on to solve more mysteries in the next books in the series.  It is a fun read and hopefully lots of boys will get hooked on the mystery genre and keep reading!

Diamond Willow by Helen Frost

Maud Hart Lovelace Nominee 2012-13

     

I just finished reading Diamond Willow which is one of the nominees  for the Maud Hart Lovelace book award this year.  Since I read with the Rochester group who nominees the nominees, I had already taken a peek at this book and alas, had abandoned it after reading a few pages a year or so ago.  So, back to reading the book in its entirety since it is now on the reading list.

The book is a short story written in poetic form. The shape of each page is in a type of diamond shape, similar to the look you would find on a diamond willow branch once you rub the bark off.  The author also bold faced a few words on the page to form a secret message...a type of short summary...or message between the lines of the story.   The reason I abandoned the book was because it was so frustrating for me to stop on each page and read the message. So I just ignored the message this time and I was able to hook into the book.

The story is about a family in Alaska and their sled dogs and a family secret. Willow, the main character is 13 years old and feels lonely and sad. An accident with her sled dog causes the family secret to be told as Willow struggles with the injury of her dog Roxy. Throughout the book, Frost changes the character to an animal which is the spirit of a relative. These pages are not written in the diamond shape.  I'm not sure if this is part of  Native American spirituality teachings, however, it was interesting to see how she shows that family is always watching out from our past.

Lots of extra teaching material at the end of the book with questions and ideas for writing your own unusual poem with special rules.  I found that once I was hooked and ignored the bold print, I enjoyed reading the book.
I give the book 3 out of 4 stars.