Catherine, Called Birdy, by Karen Cushman

This Newbery Honor Book was intriguing to me. I am usually a big fan of historical fiction, and, this being an account of a girl from Medieval England should have pulled me right in. However, the last several books that I have read that have been in "diary" form from the perspective of an adolescent girl have been difficult for me to persist through to the end, Catherine, Called Birdy was no exception. I find the self-absorbed adolescent female mind to be quite tedious and the pace of life in the medieval ages doesn't help to kick up the action. I did finish, and was happy I did, there was something about the story that was interesting enough to pull me through, although, I'm not sure what it was. I checked on Amazon and found many who loved the book, and some who found it too lacking in action/plot to appreciate it. I also would be surprised to find many boys who would be interested in reading this one as the main character's major focus was on how to avoid the marriage that her father was attempting to arrange for her. There were also several reviews on Amazon that questioned the historical accuracy of such a female character as is portrayed by Catherine.

All this said, toward the very end, Catherine becomes more enlightened and mature, I found the author handled this quite simply and clearly and I enjoyed that and think that many adolescent girls would too.

My recommendation is to carefully choose readers who might enjoy this book - a middle school girl who loves history, or diaries, or medieval times. Those are the readers who will enjoy this book the most.

A Beginning, A Muddle, And An End, by Avi

A wonderful little book full of word play that can be enjoyed at so many levels. Grades 4 - adult! Great for elementary and middle school TAG students to discover all the double entendres. A thoroughly fun and quick read. Thanks, Avi!

"Don't try to confuse me with logic," said the tree frog. "The only things I hate more than logic are facts that tell me I'm wrong."

"What about facts that tell you you're right?"

"This being a free country," said the tree frog, "I don't care what you say as long as I get to decide which facts are right and which are wrong." ...

And where do you get your facts?" asked Edward.

"I make them at a factory."

Peter and the Starcatchers

Peter and the Starcatchers is a book that will make you laugh and keep you turning pages. This is Dave Barry's story of Peter Pan, prior to the classic story. How did Peter get to Never Land anyway? On the ship, The Never Land, of course! Peter is brave, but not quite so confident as he is in the original book - more genuine here. We also meet a strong, smart girl, named Molly, who is an apprentice star-catcher - she also is learning how to speak to porpoises. The author gently weaves in more modern beliefs - the Indians on the island have a strong anti-immigration policy - they feed all foreigners to the crocodile because they know that no matter how much the intruders promise that they won't hurt the Indians, they always do. To find out more about what happened to Peter before he became Peter Pan, you MUST read Peter and the Starcatchers. (5th grade and up).

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

This is a funny, touching, fabulous book that I enjoyed listening to immensely. The audio version is read by the author, Sherman Alexie, who is also a stand-up comic as well as a poet. I laughed and smiled and felt for the main character, Arnold Spirit, also called Junior. Junior is a very smart kid trapped on the Indian reservation until a teacher encourages him to leave - and he does so. He attends the school 20 miles away in an upper-middle class white community. To see a more thorough description, click on the link below to Bruce Barcott's NYT's review. Alexie proves with this young adult fictionalized memoir that he is an outstanding author for this age group.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/11/books/review/Barcott3-t.html

Airborn by Kenneth Oppel

I enjoyed Airborn, a story about an ordinary boy doing extraordinary things in a semi-sci-fi world where air ships successfully circumnavigated the globe. The story kept me interested and there was a lot of action and suspense. The character development could have been better, however. But, overall, a fun read that both boys and girls would enjoy from middle school on up.

The Book Thief

Besides the fact that I'm the worst blogger in the world (note the 6+ week time lapse since my last post) I am still interested in trying to use this blog to make note of what I'm reading, which leads to...

One of the best books I have EVER read! The Book Thief by Markus Zuzak is beautifully written, a powerful story with incredibly likable characters, and written using the character of Death as the narrator. How original can you get. Does anyone know any other books written from Death's point of view? Death is even gentle and sensitive! The time period is WWII, set in Germany, in a small town outside of Munich on Himmel (heaven) street. Death has a wonderful sense of humor as does the author ;^). Somehow Death shows us that even in the face of a living hell, humans can be kind, can grow and be nurtured, and children can be resilient and come out ok.

Read this book... I give it 5 Big BOLD stars!

Happy May Day!

Springtime in the Rockies comes true again today as I look out my window to the big white flakes that have now covered the ground, the garden and the trampoline. Tomorrow more of the same, they say. The goldfinches perch on the Aspen tree, waiting for their turn at the feeder. The two closest Aspen's have their leaves fully out, the farthest one is still mostly bare. The oak has no leaves. The apple tree is just beginning to bring forth it's flowers. Hopefully, the snow won't steal the apple crop. Cocoa, our dog, is in apple heaven in the fall when she gets to pick the apples off the ground, AND the tree! whenever she wants a snack.