48 Hour Book Challenge!

The time has arrived for the 48 Hour Book Challenge! It takes place June 3--5, and I plan to read/listen to as much as possible within these 48 hours. I participated last year and was only able to get up to 11.25 hours! AND I'm working again this weekend,so it's going to be tricky. I suppose all I can do is try!

Here's what I hope to tackle:

The Search for Wondla by Tony DiTerlizzi in audio book format

Living in isolation with a robot on what appears to be an alien world populated with bizarre life forms, a twelve-year-old human girl called Eva Nine sets out on a journey to find others like her. Features "augmented reality" pages, in which readers with a webcam can access additional information about Eva Nine's world.

Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus in audio book format

In 1841, rescued by an American whaler after a terrible shipwreck leaves him and his four companions castaways on a remote island, fourteen-year-old Manjiro, who dreams of becoming a samurai, learns new laws and customs as he becomes the first Japanese person to set foot in the United States.

Aliens on Vacation by Clete Barrett Smith

Unhappy at being sent to stay with his grandmother at the inn she operates, The Intergalactic Bed & Breakfast, Scrub discovers that each room is actually a portal to space and the inn's visitors are aliens who are vacationing on Earth.

Seven Sorcerers by Caro King

When eleven-year-old Nin Redfern wakes up one rainy Wednesday morning to discover that her younger brother has ceased to exist, she must venture into a magical land called the Drift where she grapples with bogeymen, tombfolk, mudmen, and the spirits of sorcerers to try and rescue him.

The Secret Zoo by Bryan Chick

Noah and his friends follow a trail of mysterious clues to uncover a secret behind the walls of the Clarksville City Zoo--a secret that must be protected at all costs.

Wish me luck--and good luck to anyone else reading for these 48 hours!

Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls: Moving Day by Meg Cabot

Moving Day by Meg Cabot

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


In order to create some sense in her life, 9-year-old Allie Finkle decides to create a list of rules to live by, including such rules as: ‘Don’t stick a spatula down your best friend’s throat’, ‘Never eat anything red’, and ‘You can’t take your rocks with you.’



This list is even more helpful to Allie when she finds out that her family is moving to a huge, old house across town. She doesn’t want to move!...even though a Dairy Queen is right around the corner, she’ll be allowed to get a new pet kitten, the girl next door is her own age and awesome (unlike her current best friend that she doesn’t like very much and who is known to cry over everything), and her new teacher is very nice. Allie thinks this new house is haunted and has no desire to move in there, despite all of the cool things that promise to be a part of that new life. She’s going to do everything in her power to sabotage the sale of her current house using her new book of rules!



This is a great book and I liked Allie right away. She’s funny, honest, and has a good heart. Moving Day is the first book in this series; read more about Allie in The New Girl . Those who enjoyed this book might also enjoy the Just Grace series (Harper) or the Clarice Bean novels (Child).





View all my reviews

Pick a Pup by Marsha Chall

Pick a Pup by Marsha Chall




This book was on the new book cart and a coworker noticed it and had me read it. It's cute; it's about a boy who is going to adopt a dog but is worried about how he'll pick the right dog for him. His grandma, though, assures him that he'll know the right dog when he sees it.



On the way to the place where they'll adopt a dog, the boy pays close attention to all of the dogs they pass.



Sure enough, when they see of the the dogs up for adoption, a dog chooses the boy--problem solved! A happy ending.



This book would make a cute storycards story--or maybe even a prop story.



View all my reviews

Memoirs of a Goldfish by Devin Scillian

Memoirs of a Goldfish by Devin Scillian

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I came across this on our 'new books' cart and it caught my eye. It's cute! It's about a goldfish who does his thing in a fishbowl (describing his days in a journal/diary format), but then his bowl gets more and more crowded--stuff, other fish, and other creatures are added to it and he isn't happy. But before he knows it, he's taken out of the bowl and put into a tiny bowl.



While there, he realizes that he misses how crowded his bowl was and starts to wonder about how everyone/everything is doing. Luckily, he finds himself scooped up again and placed in a new, big place--with everyone and everything he left behind! A happy ending...and he meets a new girl fish, too!



View all my reviews

Picture books for mock Caldecott

Some recent posts here are going to include picture books that are on the mock Caldecott book list that I'm trying to read before there's an actual winner. The winner will be announced on January 10, 2011. More information about this and the books involved can be found here.

Sir Charlie Chaplin, the Funniest Man in the World

Sir Charlie Chaplin by Sid Fleischman

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Charlie Chaplin dreamed of living a better life while he was stuck in the slums of London with his mother and older brother. He did odd jobs around town to help his family get by; as a teen, one of the jobs he

had was as a slapstick comedy performer in vaudeville acts (variety shows). When his small group was touring America, a director saw his act and signed him to do movies (which were silent and only a few

minutes long at that time).



Charlie soon gained enough confidence in his comedic acting ability—and earned enough money—to leave the production company he had originally signed with in order to not only build his own studio, but direct and star in his own films. The public loved these films and couldn’t get enough of him, making him a multi-millionaire—and making his boyhood dreams come true.



This is a very interesting book about a man that, when in costume, nearly anyone today can identify—but whose personal life isn’t as universally well known. His rags-to-riches rise from poor boy to Hollywood legend is a great and inspiring story. Those who enjoyed this book might also enjoy other biographies by Sid Fleischman, such as Escape! The Story of the Great Houdini (Harry Houdini) or The Trouble Begins at 8: a Life of Mark Twain in the Wild, Wild West (Mark Twain).





View all my reviews

Always with You by Ruth Vander Zee

Always With You by Ruth Vander Zee

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I came across this book while working on my library's weeding project. (I didn't weed it!) The book grabbed me because it looked like it would be very sad; I knew that a death was somehow involved, but I didn't know who or what the circumstances were.



It's a very quick read; it's a longer picture book that has a subject not so acceptable for browsing children/parents in the picture book section. I was right about my first impression though; it is indeed about a death.



This story is about a girl named Kim whose village is bombed during the Vietnam War. Her loving mother is killed and her dying words to Kim are: "I will always be with you."



An enemy soldier hits Kim with his gun, which ends up hurting her sight for the rest of her life. She is, however, eventually found by United States soldiers and taken someplace safe. Because she needed special surgeries for her eyes, she was sent to the United States for medical help and ended up staying in an orphanage there.



She ends up living a happy life overall, but she always remembers her mother's last words to her.



The story was so sad! But I think it's important to have pieces of literature like this so that we will always remember that events like this happened in our history.



View all my reviews

The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott

The Alchemyst by Michael Scott

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


I did not enjoy this book very much. I felt as though it wasn't very well written, although it's very popular with the kids; in fact, book four, _The Necromancer_, came out recently and kids are asking for it. Because of this, I decided to listen to, at the very least, book one...and now I know that this series isn't for me.

Before I discuss the plot, I also want to mention that my dislike of the book also has to do with the reader on the audio book; I had a huge problem with him. His 'voices' for each character are a bit annoying and his mispronunciation of words is simply unacceptable; "disoriented" is NOT pronounced "dis-or-ee-en-TATE-ted" ; "allied" is NOT pronounced "a-lied"...those were the ones that stuck out to me the most. I mean, come on!

Josh and Sophie are fifteen-year-old twins who get mixed up, completely by accident, with magical beings. It all starts when Josh, who works for a man named Nick Fleming, is in the store when a man comes in and attacks Nick; he forcibly takes a book from him, but Josh manages to save the last few pages. The fight between the men involve things Josh has never seen before--magical things. Josh and Nick are able to safely escape with Sophie (who saw the fight from across the street and joined them).

It turns out that Nick and his wife--who was kidnapped during the fight--are magical beings who are hundreds of years old. The book that the evil man took from Nick (whose real name is Nicholas Flamel) is a codex that is thousands of years old and holds all sorts of magical information. He tells the twins that they are in danger now that the evil man (whose name is Dr. John Dee) knows who they are; and now that he has most of the book, he will allow dark magic to rule the world.

Nicholas and his friend Scathach (who is also hundreds of years old) learn that Josh and Sophie could very well be the twins foretold in a prophecy. They all need to work together to fight the evil Dr. John Dee and his plan for a world controlled by dark magic.

This plot sounds pretty interesting, doesn't it? I mean, this is the type of book I reach for when reading children's literature; I enjoy these types of fantastical elements in a book. However, this book is just so poorly written that I couldn't get into it. I felt like it could have been shorter had it been edited some; because the omniscient narrator oscillates between Josh and Sophie depending on whether or not they are together in a particular scene, there is a repeating of facts that weren't even necessarily to understand the plot; for example, they each say a number of times that they have always had to stick together because their parents work a lot and they move a lot. Okay--after hearing one of them say it, let's move on!

Nonetheless, kids seem to like it; maybe the writing gets better in the later books; however, this reader isn't going to find out.



View all my reviews

The Floods: Good Neighbors by Colin Thompson

The Floods #1 by Colin Thompson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


The Flood family isn’t what you’d call totally normal—Nerlin and Mordonna, the parents, are a wizard and a witch, respectively; Valla, the oldest of the seven children, works at a blood bank (and brings his work home with him!); Satanella was once a cute little girl, but after a terrible magic accident involving a shrimp and a faulty wand, she turned into small dog; Merlinmary is completely covered in hair, so nobody knows if it’s a boy or a girl; Winchflat is the family genius—except that he looks like he’s already dead; the twins Morbid and Silent only speak to each other telepathically; and Betty, the youngest, is the only “normal-looking” child in the family—but she still possesses magical powers. The Flood family thinks that everything in their lives is perfect—except for their next door neighbors, the Dents.

The Dents are as obnoxious as can be! Their lawn is littered with garbage and old cars, their dog Rambo attacks anyone who comes near the house, the television stays on at full volume all day and night, the family communicates with one another by yelling, and the children are bullies. It comes to a point where the Floods decide that they aren’t going to stand for this anymore and take measures to change the Dent family’s ways.

This story is hilarious! The Flood family brings to mind those in The Addams Family and The Munsters—spooky and weird, but in a funny way. The author’s tone is humorous throughout the entire book, which is sure to make readers snicker. Continue reading about the Flood family in the rest of The Floods series!



View all my reviews

Paintings: A First Discovery Book by Claude Delafosse

Paintings by Claude Delafosse

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I came across this book when I was assisting a patron in the art section. She didn't end up needing this book, so I took it!

This book is very basic, but what drew me to it was the cool pages; it's one of those books that have clear pages with only a bit of text/picture on them, so when you turn the page you get a whole new picture!

I know nothing about art, so it was nice seeing a handful of famous paintings with only a few facts and cool pictures!



View all my reviews

The Boy Who Looked Like Lincoln by Mike Reiss

The Boy Who Looked Like Lincoln by Mike Reiss

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


I picked this book up at the library because the illustrator David Catrow was a speaker at the Youth Services Author Breakfast at ILA 2010. Someone in the audience mentioned that Scholastic refuses to sell this book based on some readers' complaints. It was a long morning and I was sort of spacing out and didn't catch what exactly about the book made it so undesirable to Scholastic...which is why I read it yesterday.

The story is straight-forward enough; a boy tells about how people have thought that he looks like Abraham Lincoln ever since he was born, and how he's given stove pipe hats and Lincoln Logs as presents, etc. He realizes that he's happy to be the way he is after he attends a camp that specializes in kids who look like things/people.

As I read the story, I kept watch for something offensive and didn't see it. Yeah, the pictures aren't cute at all (or, rather, what I consider cute) and the child, quite honestly, is ugly!!

Then I arrive at the final page, where he states, "Now I just have to figure out how to help my baby brother, Dickie." ...Dickie is portrayed as Richard Nixon--"Tricky Dick"--with a very phallic-looking nose. BINGO! Of course, a child wouldn't recognize this, but adults surely will--and have!

I'm not for pulling this book from the shelves or banning it or whatever, and I think Scholastic is being a bit dramatic about it. When it comes down to it, the story isn't anything special and the pictures are yucky! Just pass this book on by when cruising the picture book section for a good read.



View all my reviews

The Sound of Colors: A Journey of the Imagination by Jimmy Liao

The Sound of Colors: A Journey of the Imagination by Jimmy Liao

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I came across this book while weeding the fiction section at work and I just had to put it aside to look at it more. This story is about a nearly blind lady who describes what she "sees" in her imagination as she walks through life.

The pictures are amazing; they are all interesting, if not what one would picture while on an acid trip--not disturbing...just sort of strange.

I got a feeling of wistfulness at some parts of the story; in fact, I felt it right at the beginning: "A year ago / I began to notice / that my sight was slipping away. / I sat at home alone / and felt the darkness settle around me. / But today I walked outside..."

And this part near the middle of the story: "Home is the place / where everything I've lost / is waiting patiently / for me / to find my way back..."

And also this part in the middle: "There must be someone / who'll sit beside me / sip tea, / tell me her hopes for the future, / and listen to mine..." (Aww! *wipes away a tear*)

There's an author's note in the back; I was curious to learn whether he is blind or losing his sight himself. It doesn't mention that, though it does state that he is a cancer survivor.

I don't know that I'd recommend this book to kids, though I'm sure they'd enjoy the pictures. Maybe if a child read it along with an adult...? Regardless, this book warmed my heart.



View all my reviews

The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I began this series due to a recommendation from a friend. I dutifully read it but, admittedly, I didn't find it super-wonderful.



This story is about a young teen named Gen who is locked in a prison cell when the reader is introduced to him; he had been arrested in a wine shop after gloating about something he stole. He is approached by someone who works for the king who is interested in using Gen to help capture a very elusive item. Having nothing better to do, Gen agrees to help the man get the item for the king.



Gen accompanies not only the man who approached him, but also two other boys around his age who are apprentices--more or less--to the man, and also a royal guard.



This book is mostly about the group's travels to get to the location of the elusive item. It reminded me of book one of _The Lord of the Rings_ trilogy--walking and walking and sleeping and eating and walking and walking. I didn't particularly love all of the traveling in the LOTR series, and I didn't particularly enjoy it here, either.



The reader grows to dislike Gen due to his snotty, smart-mouthed personality. I began to feel a bit of sympathy for him when he is in the place where the item is because it is so scary in there, but on their trek back, my sympathy would ebb and flow for him.



Once they reach their destination after the adventure, we learn that there is much more to Gen than we originally thought, setting us up for book two of the series, _The Queen of Attolia_.





View all my reviews

The Ink Garden of Brother Theophane by C. Millen

The Ink Garden of Brother Theophane by C. Millen

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


When I read the review of this book in a literary journal, I was really excited! I have a love of anything Medieval (my MA is in Early English Literature) and I thought this story would be right up my alley. But, as it turns out, not really...



This story is about a monk named Brother Theophane whose job is to copy text (along with other monks). However, Theophane isn't that great at his job because he daydreams all the time and feeds birds crumbs on the nearby windowsill. He eventually gets demoted.



His new job is awful; he must crush bark in a cauldron to make the ink used by the other brothers. One day, while out to retrieve more bark, he trips and falls on some blackberries and realizes that the juice stains...so he figures he can use this for ink. He goes on to discover other colors of ink in the nature around him.



Eventually, he no longer stirs bark in the cauldron, but grows a garden full of things he can get colors from.



In reality, it was early chemists who experimented with creating ink from things in nature (minerals, herbs, shrubs, etc.)...not necessarily a dreamy monk.



The pictures are nice, and the story is told in a poetic form, but those two things are really the only things I liked about the book.



View all my reviews

Making the Moose Out of Life by Nicholas Oldland

Making the Moose Out of Life by Nicholas Oldland

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I admit that the pictures in this book are really cute, but that's where my praise ends.

The story is about a moose who is unfulfilled in life, so he decides to go on a boat trip to see if he can find what he's missing in life. He runs into bad weather and ends up on a deserted island.

However, it's not as deserted as he first thought, as he meets a turtle named Tuesday and they have all sorts of fun adventures together. One day, they spot a cruise ship, so they build a large fire to get its attention and the moose is rescued.

The cruise ship isn't heading home for a few weeks yet, so the moose enjoys all sorts of activities while on board. When he finally gets home, he decides that he's found what was missing in his life and invites his friends to go cliff jumping.

This story seems more geared towards adults stuck in a rut than small children wanting to hear a story. I just wasn't that impressed with it, but, like I said, the pictures are really cute.




View all my reviews

More Life-Size Zoo by Teruyuki Komiya

More Life-Size Zoo: An All-New Actual-Size Animal Encyclopedia by Teruyuki Komiya

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I found out about this book from one of the journals the library subscribes to. I interlibrary loaned it because the library doesn't own it, and I discovered that I'd really like to add this to the collection!



It is a book of photos of animals one might see at the zoo, which is always cute, but what makes this book special is that all of the pictures are the actual size of the animals! Noteworthy photos include the polar bear and the lion...but my personal favorite is the lion cub and the baby gibbon. (I was kind of grossed out by the hippo and the bison).



Kids will love this book! It's taller than most books, so it'll be a pain to shelve...but hopefully it'll be checked out more than not.



View all my reviews

Gideon the Cutpurse by Linda Buckley-Archer

Gideon the Cutpurse: Being the First Part of the Gideon Trilogy by Linda Buckley-Archer

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


_Gideon the Cutpurse_ is the first book in this trilogy. I had wanted to read this story for a while, and I’m glad I finally got around to it! I enjoyed it and am looking forward to reading (or listening to) the second one.



The story begins normal enough—in present-day England—with a young teen named Peter. His parents are very focused on working, so his birthday gets pushed to the side. He ends up having to spend the day with his nanny (?) and accompanies her to her friend’s farm. There, he meets the Dyer family and gets to see the special area where Mr Dyer works on science experiments. During a tour, the family dog gets spooked so Peter and Kate (the oldest daughter and Peter’s age) chase it and suddenly find themselves in a totally different place.



After a while, Peter and Kate learn that they are no longer in the 21st Century; rather, it is 1763! They are at a total loss as to what to do until a kind man named Gideon helps them find “proper” clothing, somewhere to stay, and plan how to locate the man who took the machine they appeared in 1763 with before he sells it.



This is story has likable characters and is told at a good pace. It ends on a cliffhanger, and I’m very interested to see what will happen next! Suggest the Ulysses Moore series to those who enjoyed this.





View all my reviews

The Boy Who Drew Cats adapted by Margaret Hodges

The Boy Who Drew Cats by Margaret Hodges

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I learned about this Japanese folktale from the book Wild Things by Clay Carmichael. This is a story about a Japanese boy who is the youngest boy in his large family. Because he isn’t physically built for farm work like the rest of his family, his parents decide to have him apprentice to the town’s priest so that he might become a priest one day.

However, the boy has an odd desire to draw cats all of the time. When he’s at the temple, he draws cats everywhere—enough to make the priest tell him that he would be better off as an artist—so he gets sent away. Before the boy leaves, the priest tells him to remember to not sleep in big spaces—to only sleep in small spaces. The boy doesn’t understand, but doesn’t ask the priest to clarify.

Rather than go home and shame his family, the boy decides to go to the temple in the next town. When he arrives, it appears as though no one is there. While waiting for someone to arrive so that he could ask to be apprenticed to one of them, he finds some ink and draws cats all over. When it gets late and the boy grows tired, he remembers the priest’s words and decides to sleep in a small cabinet.

During the night, the boy wakes to the awful sounds of screaming and fighting. Terrified, he stays still in his cabinet and doesn’t even peek through the crack until daytime. When finally does, he sees the dead and mutilated body of some sort of huge goblin. The boy wonders who could have killed this evil being until he looks around and sees that all of the mouths of the cats he had drawn are red with blood.

He then understood the priest’s advice…and was able to grow up to be a famous artist!

View all my reviews >>

How to Clean a Hippopotamus: a Look at Unusual Animal Partnerships by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page

How to Clean a Hippopotamus: A Look at Unusual Animal Partnerships by Steve Jenkins

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This is a cute book! Not only are the pictures adorable, but the information provided is interesting.

The information is presented in an almost comic book format, which is different for a nonfiction book. We learn about animal symbiosis--how certain wild animals/insects/fish/etc. work together to eat, get clean, hunt, and more.

Only 32 pages, it is a quick read!

View all my reviews >>

Alchemy and Meggy Swann by Karen Cushman

Alchemy and Meggy Swann by Karen Cushman


My rating: 2 of 5 stars
When Meggy’s mother unexpectedly sends her to live with her father, a man she’s never even met, Meggy accepts this without much hesitation because her mother has never loved her. Her father wants an apprentice in his alchemy lab, although he decides that he does not, in fact, want her to assist him once he sees that: 1) she’s a girl, and 2) she needs sticks to help her walk.

Having lived in a small town up until now, Meggy immediately hates London; it’s too loud, crowded, and confusing to her. She relies on her bitterness about her disability to help her get through each day. However, once she’s there awhile, she gets used to the city and begins making friends...and becomes less bitter. And when she learns about her father’s involvement in a sinister plot, she does all she can to protect him—although he barely acknowledges her existence.

This story is interesting because it follows the life of a sort of girl not typically written about in historic London—she’s not a princess (or rich) and she has a disability. Readers might also enjoy Avi’s The Book without Words: a Tale of Medieval Magic—another book about girls in long-ago England dealing with alchemy.

View all my reviews >>