Navigating Early

Vanderpool, Clare. Navigating Early. Delacorte Press, New York, 2013. 256 pages.  Tr. $16.99 ISBN 9780385742092

Plot Description:

At the end of World War II Jack Baker’s father sends him to an all boys boarding school in Marine after his mother’s death.  Jack feels lost in a new place and still very much grieving for his mother, but finds himself drawn to another boy named Early Auden.  Early is a strange boy who rarely comes to class, refuses to believe the obvious, and sees numbers in colors and shapes.  Early is particularly fascinated with the number pi, which he reads as a great adventure story starring Pi.

When the two friends find themselves alone at school over the fall break, they take off on an adventure of their own into the wilderness of Maine in search of the great Appalachian black bear.  The boy adventure mirrors that of the story of Pi.  Along the way they encounter challenges that will test their friendship and discover a great deal about themselves and human nature. 

Review:

Clare Vanderpool’s second novel is a beautifully written adventure story.  Vanderpool’s characters are alive and believable.  The character of Early is particularly interesting.  Early is clearly an autistic savant, but in the 1940’s autism has yet to be recognized and his peers, including Jack simply find Early strange.  At first Jack has a difficult time understanding Early, but as the boys become closer, Jack starts to recognize how Early expresses emotions and why some facts are so hard for him to accept.  Jack realizes that Early might be a little bit strange, but he is a stalwart friend and an incredible person.  Both Jack and Early are grieving for what the people they have lost.  Jack is grieving for his mother and wondering if he could have prevented her death somehow.  Early is grieving for his brother who was lost in the war, or so everyone except Early believes.  By the end of the book Jack has learned that grief is a strange and overwhelming emotion that everyone experiences differently, but it is necessary to move on to the next stage in life.

Genre:

Adventure

Historical Fiction

Reading Level/Interest Level:

Grades 4-7

Similar Books:

Moon Over Manifest Clare Vanderpool

Awards/Honors:
ALA Notable Book 2014
Printz Honor Book 2014

Author’s Website:

http://www.clarevanderpool.com/

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret

Blume, Judy. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. Bradbury Press, New York, 1970. 149 pages.  Tr. ISBN 0027109917

Plot Description:

Margaret Simon and her family have just moved to the suburbs of New Jersey from Manhattan.  In New York no one ever asked Margaret what religion she was, but her new friends all want to know what church or temple her family attends.  Margaret has her own relationship with God without having a religion, but Margaret starts to wonder if it would be easier to have a religion. 

Besides worrying about not having a religion, Margaret and her friends are concerned that they are not maturing fast enough.  Each of the girls is concerned that they will be the last to develop breasts and get their periods.  For Margaret many of her conversations with God are about her apprehension at not growing up fast enough. 

Review:

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret is Judy Blume’s classic novel about growing up and going through puberty.  This is a great book for tween girls experiencing puberty or tween girls who are concerned they are not maturing fast enough.  Blume assures her readers that everyone matures and develops at their own rate.  Blume perfectly captures the concerns of an eleven year old girl who is starting to grow up and develop an interest in boys and sex. 

Genre:

Realistic Fiction

Humorous Fiction

Reading Level/Interest Level:

Grades 4-6

Similar Books:

The Amazing Life of Birds (the Twenty Day Puberty Journal of Duane Homer Leech) by Gary Paulsen

Author’s Website:

http://www.judyblume.com/

Three Times Lucky

Turnage, Sheila. Three Times Lucky. Dial Books for Young Readers, New York, 2012. 312 pages.  Tr. $16.99 ISBN 9780803736702

Plot Description:

Mo LoBeau lives in the Small town of Tupelo Landing, North Carolina, where she washed ashore eleven years earlier in the wake of a hurricane.  Mo’s summer is all set, fishing and karate with her best friend Dale, timing Lavender (Dale’s brother and Mo’s future husband) at the racetrack, and helping Miss Lana and the Colonel run the café.  Mo’s plans change when Mr. Jesse, a regular at the café, turns up murder and more surprising Dale is the prime suspect.  Mr. Jesse’s murder brings a big city detective, Joe Starr, to town to investigate.  Mo and Dale also set out to find the killer and clear Dale’s name and in the process uncover old secrets and a mystery that runs deeper than Mr. Jesse’s murder.

Review:

Three Times Lucky is a stunning debut to children’s literate for author Shelia Turnage.  Turnage weaves an entertaining and intriguing mystery.  She brings the small town of Tupelo Landing to life with well-developed and original characters that readers will find themselves caring for.  As the plot thickens readers will find Three Times Lucky difficult to put down.  This is truly a gem of a book and hopefully is just the first of money more great books to come from Turnage.

Genre:

Realistic Fiction

Mystery

Reading Level/Interest Level:

Grades 4-7

Similar Books:

The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron

Awards/Honors:

ALA Notable Book 2012

Newberry Honor Book 2012

Author’s Website:

http://www.sheilaturnage.com/SheilaTurnage/Sheila_Turnage,_Author.html

Book Talk:
https://soundcloud.com/jennifer-renz-1/three-times-lucky

Harriet the Spy

Fitzhugh, Louise. Harriet the Spy. Yearling Books, New York, 1964. 300 pages.  Tr. Pbk. $6.50 ISBN 0440416795

Plot Description:

Eleven year old Harriet likes routine, playing with her best friends Janie and Sport, spying on her neighbors, and writing in her notebook.  The only person who understands about Harriet’s notebook is her nurse Ole Golly who told Harriet that if she wants to be a writer she should start now by writing as much as she can.  Harriet is blatantly honest in what she writes in her notebook, but when her friends and classmates read what she has written about them they are not appreciative of Harriet’s honesty.  Besides having her friends angry with her, Harriet also has to deal with the fact that Ole Golly has left to go get married and is no longer there to help guide and advise Harriet.  With a little help from her parents, her teacher, and a strongly worded letter from Ole Golly, Harriet turns her situation around and learns a valuable lesson about friendship.

Review:

Harriet is a honest, spunky, and intelligent character.  Tweens will relate to Harriets struggles to communicate and get along with her parents.  They will also sympathize with her friendship troubles, being at an age when friend are particularly important support as tween are beginning to develop their own identities.  Harriet is blatantly honest and a keen observer of those around her, however she learns the hard way that not everyone appreciates brutal honesty.  At first I didn’t think Harriet learned a lesson, but after further thought I think Harriet learned that sometimes she has to apologize and choose her words carefully, but at the same time she refused to give into peer pressure and change herself to be accepted.  

Genre:

Classic

Realistic Contemporary

Reading Level/Interest Level:

Grades 4-6

Similar Books:

Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead

"Who Could That Be at This Hour?"

Snicket, Lemony. “Who Could That Be at This Hour?”. Little, Brown, and Company, New York, 2012. 258 pages.  Tr. $15.99 ISBN 9780316123082

Plot Description:

Thirteen year old Lemony Snicket has had an “unusual education” and has a penchant for asking all the wrong questions according to his chaperone, S. Theodora Markson.  Snicket and Markson are in the peculiar town of Stain’d-by-the-Sea to retrieve an allegedly stolen statue of a strange mythical creature known as the Bombinating Beast.  Markson continues looking down all the wrong paths, while Snicket follows the real clues to uncover the unusual characters who live in Stain’d-by-the-Sea and the real and greater mystery haunting the small town.

Review:

Lemony Snicket, aka Daniel Handler’s, latest novel “Who Could That Be at This Hour?”, is the first installment in his new series All the Wrong Questions.  Reader’s will appreciate the inventive setting and characters, as well as Snicket’s sly sense of humor.  Snicket pays tribute to the public library, visiting it often during his time in Stain’d-by-the-Sea and mentioning a few books readers might recognize or ask their librarian for.  Overall, Snicket’s “Who Could That Be at This Hour?”, is a fast-paced and humorous mystery that will leave readers in anticipation of the sequel and the conclusion of the mystery.

Genre:

Mystery

Humor

Reading Level/Interest Level:

Grades 4-7

Author’s Website:
http://www.lemonysnicketlibrary.com/

http://www.lemonysnicket.com/

Link to Book Trailer:
"Who Could That Be at This Hour?"

Hatchet

Paulsen, Gary. Hatchet. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, New York, 1987. 186 pages.  Tr. Pbk. $6.99 ISBN 416936473

Plot Description:

13 year old Brian Robeson is the only passenger in a bush plane headed for the Northern Canadian oil fields, where his father works, when the pilot of the small plane suffers a massive heart attack and dies.  With some quick thinking, Brian is able to control the plane’s crash, guiding it into a lake in the middle of the Canadian wilderness.  After miraculously surviving the crash, Brian realizes that he has very few resources available to him.  The hatchet his mother gave him as a parting gift is by far his most valuable tool.  With his hatchet Brian manages to build a shelter, build tools, find food and make fire.  Brian needs to survive long enough to be rescued and the key to his survival.

Review:

Hatchet’s intense, heart-pounding beginning that leaves Brian the sole survivor or a plane crash in the wilderness hooks readers immediately.  Brian uses cunning and determination to survive and readers will find themselves mesmerized by the obstacles Brian Encounters.  Readers who are fans of adventure and survival stories will love Gary Paulsen’s Hatchet.

Genre:

Adventure

Realistic Contemporary

Reading Level/Interest Level:

Grade 8/Grades 5-9

Similar Books:

My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George

Awards/Honors:

Newberry Honor 1988

Author’s Website:

http://www.randomhouse.com/features/garypaulsen/