Staff Reviews
Guest Reviewer: Taylor, age 12
Title: The Christmas Puppy
Author: Roberta Grobel Intrater
Review: This is a heartwarming story about a small puppy named Tina. She is adopted by a young boy and his mother, when they went to the animal shelter “just to look”. Tina is a loving and mischievous puppy who is constantly causing trouble. Ger favorite thing to do is to escape from the yard. She will either jump over the fence or dig under it, whatever they do she is always trying to figure out another way to escape. You will find that this book has an exciting, but yet sad twist. This book is the kind of book where you cannot wait to read the next page, and at times, it keeps you on the edge of your seat. In the end you will see that the young boy makes a very big decision. he makes the right choice, a choice that will surprise you. Overall, this book is very heartwarming, exciting, and it gives a great definition of how to use the Christmas spirit.
Reviewer: Christi
Title: All Shook Up (2011 Rebecca Caudill nominee)
Author: Shelley Pearsall
Rating (out of 5 stars): 4
Summary: When thirteen-year-old Josh goes to stay with his father in Chicago for a few months, he discovers–to his horror–that his dad has become an Elvis impersonator.
Review: This book begins with Josh being told he’s going to have to go stay with his Dad for a while because Mom has to take of Grandma while she heals from her broken hip. He’s not that happy about it, but, being a kid of divorce he’s used to spending time with Dad in Chicago during the summer. This time though he’ll have to enroll in school while he’s there. Things start to get a little crazy for Josh when he realizes Dad’s become Elvis impersonator. Dad’s had a job for 30yrs. with a shoe company and he was laid off when the place had to close down and he’s decided to do something he enjoys. Of course, Josh’s biggest fear is that someone at school will find out about his Dad. When he starts receiving notes on his locker he knows someone else knows. But then he finds out it’s his Dad’s girlfriend’s eccentric daughter who seems to be embarrassed by nothing. Eventually Josh starts to realize how much his Dad is really enjoying himself being Elvis and maybe that’s more important than who knows what his Dad does. The Elvis references in this book were a lot of fun. I think the author did a very realistic job of describing the life of a divorced kid. This book had no dragons, nobody had to save the world, and nobody gets ill or dies, and that’s why I enjoyed it. I think kids can relate to this story about a teenage kid and his Dad and how hard it is to understand each other.
Reviewer: Roberta
Title: Brand-New Baby Blues
Author/Artist: Kathi Appelt
Rating (out of five stars): *****
Summary: This is a story about a little girl who has a new baby brother. She used to be number one but now, sadly, she has been replaced by this baby who gets all of the time and attention. She shares her anger and sadness about this. She breaks a crayon and says “It makes me sad. It makes me mad. It makes me want to roar! It makes me want to stomp my feet across the kitchen floor.” She laments about how much better things were when it was only her, and how now the baby is wearing her old pajamas, sleeps in her old bed and has her favorite teddy bear by his head! But she philosophizes that he is cute and blows great bubbles. She thinks about how much better it will be when he is big enough to play. Then she can even teach him to spit. But as for now she still has the brand-new baby blues.
Review: This is a book that deals with the feelings of a child who just has a new baby in the family. It is told from the view of the little girl protagonist, who is never named. She doesn’t hold back on her ambivalent feeling toward the new baby. This is good because it reassures a young reader that their feelings aren’t unusual or bad. She reminds readers that the baby won’t be a baby forever, something that may seem far away for some readers, and that the baby will be fun when he is a brother. This is a good book for children where new-borns have just been introduced because of its expression of true feelings and emotions about the new intruder and will resonate with new sister/brother readers.
Reviewer: Helen
Title: Strega Nona: her story
Author: Tomie de Paola
Grades: K-2
Rating: 5++ stars
Summary: This book is a prequel to the original Strega Nona story. It begins with the birth of Strega Nona on a dark and stormy night in the town of Calabria and on that day, Nona’s Grandma Concetta, a “witch”, predicts that Nona will also be a witch/strega. The book goes on to show the wonderful relationship that grew between grandmother and granddaughter. We get to meet Nona’s best friend Amelia, who also wants to become a strega; however, she wants to attend the Strega University. Amelia persuades Nona to attend with her, but Nona realizes she misses her Grandma and she is not happy learning the new modern way of magic. She wants to be a strega like Grandma Concetta, giving advice, helping her friends and neighbors, and preparing home medications made from herbs for all the villagers ailments. We also get to find out the secret ingredient of the pasta pot. At the end of the story there is a knock on Strega Nona’s door and who should be standing there, but Big Anthony.
Review: This book is sweet, charming and has a wonderful sense of humor. The watercolor artwork is delightful, in spite of the characters not necessarily portrayed in a traditional way. This is a great book as a follow up to the earlier books.
Reviewer: Deb
Title: The Graveyard (Audiobook)
Author: Neil Gaiman
Ages: 11 and up
Rating: 5 Stars
Summary: The story of a young boy who is raised by ghosts.
Review: One of the best books I’ve ever listened to this year. The author, Neil Gaiman, does a remarkable job in reading his own work. Bod, a young boy, becomes part of a nearby graveyard community when he stumbles into it as a young toddler when his parents are murdered. He is raised and educated by the ghosts in this English neighborhood graveyard, and rarely leaves because someone who killed his family, is also after him. As Bod gets older, he no longer wants to hide. He enters the real world, discovers the truth about his family and confronts his enemies.
This is a smart, touching and wonderful story. I really enjoyed listening to Neil Gaiman tell this story.
Reviewer: Ana
Title: A Difficult Boy
Author: M. P. Barker
Review: This story is set in Farmington, Massachusetts, in 1839. A Difficult Boy tells us the story of a nine year old boy called Ethan. He is sent to work at that age by his father. The day his father asked him to work for Mr. Lyman he was very sad he wished he could stay in his father’s barn forever. He started working for Mr. Lyman., a wealthy shopkeeper. This is not something that he wants to do but it was necessary by the debts his father had with Mr. Lyman.
Once he started working, he met Daniel, an Irish Immigrant, who has been labeled as a difficult boy. Ethan soon realizes that Daniel is the victim of both racism and violent abuse. Mr. Lyman often beats him. Ethan and Daniel become friends. They both are suffering Mr. Lyman’s abuse. They discover a dark secret about the past; their lives may be changed forever.
My son is almost nine years old. I can’t imagine him working so hard and being mistreated by his boss. This is sad. I will recommend this story as historical fiction. I’m pretty sure any person that reads this book will get involved with these characters and will learn a lot from this drama.
Reviewer: Briana
Title: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Author: J. R. R. Tolkien
Rating (out of 5 stars): 3
Summary: Frodo and his Companions of the Ring have been beset by danger during their quest to prevent the Ruling Ring from falling into the hands of the Dark Lord by destroying it in the Cracks of Doom. They lost the wizard Gandalf in a battle in the Mines of Moria, and Boromir, seduced by the power of the Ring, tried to seize it by force. While Frodo and Sam made their escape, the rest of the company was attacked by Orcs. Now they continue the journey alone down the great River Anduin … alone, that is, save for the mysterious creeping figure that follows wherever they go.
Review: This book was very long to read. It dragged a bit in some parts, but in others was a lot of fun. The movie differs greatly from it and definitely added action and emotional depth that didn’t really happen in the book. Some scenes were made up in the movie altogether! In the book, though, the Ents were extremely amusing, but they only had one chapter! The rest dealt with Rohan and the Battle at Helm’s Deep which was neat, but not as powerful as portrayed in the film. The second half of the book was about Sam and Frodo which was great because Sam is so adorable and also we get to meet Faramir who is one of my favorite characters. I look forward to The Return of the King, but I do hope that it has more excitement. I spaced out reading parts of the Two Towers and some chapters I had to push myself to get through. I even felt at times that Tolkien was just writing to get this or that done so he could move on to what he really wanted to write. But, it is still a neat story.
Reviewer: Jennilyn
Title: The Hundred Dresses
Author/Artist: Eleanor Estes
Rating (out of five stars): 5
Summary: Wanda wore the same faded blue dress to school every day. It was always clean but sometimes it looked as though it had been washed and never ironed. Peggy started the game of the dresses when suddenly one day Wanda said, “I have a hundred dresses at home–all lined up in my closet.” After that it was fun to stop Wanda on the way to school and ask, “How many dresses did you say you have?” “A hundred,” she would answer. Then everyone laughed and Wanda’s lips would tighten as she walked off with one shoulder hunched up in a way none of the girls understood. Wanda did have the hundred dresses, and this is the story of how Peggy and Maddie came to understand them and about what their game meant to Wanda.
Review: I really enjoyed this book. I had read it once before in elementary school and rereading it made me appreciate it even more. The main character Wanda is someone I think everyone can relate to because we all sometimes feel like we don’t belong. One of the main characters, Maddie is inspirational because she decides she doesn’t like that the other girls are indirectly picking on Wanda and wants to stick up and be Wanda’s friend. The descriptions and drawing in this book are really pretty also.
