Sharon @ Maple Valley Archive.

And last but most definitely not least in our celebration of the 2010 Sasquatch Award Nominees is Yellow Star by Jennifer Roy.  This is the fictionalized story of the author's aunt Syvia who was one of 12 children to survive the Lodz ghetto during the holocaust.  This is

Roy's way of preserving the story her aunt didn't talk about until well into her old age.  It's written in beautiful, intense, free verse through the eyes of young Syvia who is 4 years old when the nightmare begins.  She is 10 when she and the other "children of the cellar" are released with the few remaining survivors at the end of the war.  About a quarter of a million Jews were forced into the Lodz ghetto but only 800 walked out.  This is the story of Syvia's survival in a powerful little book.

Obviously this is a heavy one but even with such a tragic and horrific topic the author does, in fact, write a story for children.  Many times these deeply disturbing subjects about children are written for adults even though it is through a child's eyes.  Jennifer Roy has masterfully presented an incredibly tough topic in a way that children will understand but not be overwhelmed by.  Talk about a tough assignment.  But this was a labor of love for Roy and the result is masterful.

Reading and content levels are 4th grade through adult.  Adults will appreciate the beautiful simplicity of the writing along with the amazing story it brings to life.  Young readers will get the most out of this book if they share it with an understanding, caring adult.  Parents, teachers and caregivers can answer any questions that arise.

Powerful, beautiful, heart wrenching and written for children.  It can be done.

Ah, Lawn Boy.  Number 11 on our list of 2010 Sasquatch Award Nominees.  Seldom have I seen one small book generate such widely ranging responses.  People either love this book as the funniest thing they ever read or they hated it as the most tedious piece of economic blather ever written.  Read it and see which camp you will run screaming for afterwards.

When a 12-year-old boy's eccentric grandma gives him an ancient (but still working) riding mower for his birthday the adventure begins.  Well, kind of.  The unnamed narrator's lawn is so tiny that it only takes a couple of minutes to mow it and it never really seems to grow anyway.  So begins his summer job of mowing neighborhood lawns in hopes of getting enough money to buy a new innertube for his bike.  But once he becomes involved with a local accountant his business takes off and he ends up with a lot more money than he ever thought possible... a lot more.  It's every kids dream of becoming a millionaire by selling lemonade or mowing lawns.

Adults seem to enjoy the joke of the complex, economics text book chapter headings and some of the free market interpretations from the creative accountant.  But kids will most likely enjoy the rags to riches story in this little book.  The language is high in many places putting this firmly in the 5,6,7,8 range but 4th graders will also be able to handle most of the vocabulary. 

So, now it's your turn.  Love it?  Hate it?  Read it and see! 

Number 10 on our hit parade of 2010 Sasquatch Nominees is How to Steal a Dog by Barbara O'Connor.  "The day I decided to steal a dog is the same day my best friend, Luanne Godfrey, found out I lived in a car."  That's the first line from this book with a deceptively perky cover and title.  The reality is that it is a heartbreaking yet gentle story about childhood helplessness in the face of great loss. 

When Georgina's dad abandons the family she and her brother and mom end up being evicted from their apartment and living in their car.  Her mom works two minimum wage jobs trying to save enough money to rent an apartment.  Georgina is desperate to find a way to help her mom make enough money to have a real home again.  A reward poster for a lost dog gives Gerogina the seriously unfortunate idea to steal a dog and then return it for the reward.  The plan doesn't work quite like she planned though because her conscience makes itself heard loud and clear.

The seriously heavy topic is handled very well and the characters are all realistic.  Georgina is a sympathetic character that will capture the hearts of readers.  Grades 4 - 6 are more likely to be ready to handle the tough topics in this story but I would recommend that adults be available for discussion.  Kids may need to talk about what they experience through Georgina's eyes particularly in today's economy where homelessness is something they hear about on a daily basis.

The Sasquatch Award often highlights an outstanding non-fiction title along with the chapter books and the 2010 list is no exception.  This year Patrick O'Brien's The Mutiny on the Bounty came out on top.  It's graphic novel approach to a complex historical event combined with O'Brien's excellent writing style results in an informative and interesting book.  In order to make this story work for children O'Brien focused on events rather than on the larger than life personality clashes between captain and crew.  Readers will learn about life on a British military ship where the captain was king including lovely details like what hardtack is and the weevils that eventually infest it.  When food runs low the crew stops picking out the weevils and starts eating them for the protein.  Such detail will simultaneously gross out and educate which is an excellent combination sometimes. 

The artwork includes sweeping double page spreads with lots of detail that readers will enjoy picking through.  Between the well written text and the well done artwork this book is an engaging historical treat.  Plus kids get introduced to one of the most interesting mutiny stories floating around out there!  Kids in grades 4-6 will get the most out of the story but 3rd graders will also enjoy this book.

Our eighth entry in the 2010 Sasquatch Award Nominee excursion is Ten Ways to Make My Sister Disappear by Norma Fox Mazer.  What sibling hasn't thought about this every once in awhile?  I know I wanted to sell my older brother to the farmer down the road but my mom said no.  Oh, well.

10 year old Sprig is so, so tired of living in her older sister's shadow.  Dakota has everything worth having, does everything better, and teases Sprig whenever she complains.  It's just no fun having a perfect older sister.  But when things begin to go really wrong in Sprig's life it comes as a huge surprise to her that sometimes big sister's are kind of useful to have around.

This story is a light, fun read with a few heavy bits mixed in to give it some depth.  Sprig's dad has gone to Afghanistan to build schools and she deeply misses his presence.  She's also dealing with being a tween and a tiny bit of romance blooming in her life.  It's all very confusing for her but she is naturally a bright and happy person and that helps her face the difficulties and confusion pretty well.  There is humor, friendship, disappointment and the joys and pains of family life all wrapped up in this little book.  Kids in 4 - 6 grade will most likely understand Sprig's world but 3rd graders will enjoy the funny story of friendship.

 

Today's entry in the 2010 Sasquatch Nominee tour of books is Heat by Mike Lupica.  Baseball fans will thoroughly enjoy this story of baseball wonder kid Michael Arroyo who pitches his team into a chance at the Little League World Series.  His dad always told him that was the most amazing thing Michael could do as a kid and then he would be on his way to the big leagues.  But there are a few things standing between Michael and his dream.  First of all he's good.  Very good.  Too good.  The other coaches think he's too good to be just twelve years old.  They want proof that he's not a 15 year old cheating to help his team win.  So all Michael has to do is prove he's 12.  Unfortunately his parents are dead and his birth certificate is in Cuba and beyond his reach.  And if anyone finds out that he's living with his 17 year old brother Carlos he'll be taken away and he'll lose his family and all his dreams will be crushed.  It's a mess and all Michael wants to do is play ball.

This is a book that deals with the high level topics of illegal aliens, the deaths of both parents, being removed from home by child protective services and many more tough issues.  The baseball makes it accessible to the 5th, 6th grade crowd but the larger topics may require some parental support to help kids understand. 

Our next selection in the tour of titles for the 2010 Sasquatch Award Nominees is a show stoppingly unique and exciting book...really!  Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy is one of those amazing and fresh stories that come along just every once in awhile to make us believe that creativity is still alive and well in the world.  Kids who like the Artemis Fowl books will really enjoy Skulduggery Pleasant.  And the best news is that there is already an excellent sequel!  Life is good.

When twelve year old Stephanie's eccentric uncle dies and leaves her his estate she doesn't just end up with money and a mansion.  She also inherits her uncle's enemies.  And they aren't just your regular, every day kind of enemies either.  Stephanie's uncle wrote magical,

horror stories that everyone thought were made up... turns out they were all true.  Now Stephanie is the proud and freaked out owner of a very dangerous, magical (and unfortunately hidden) weapon.   The only thing standing between her and the evil sorcerer who really, really wants it is her uncle's best friend and kind of super spy Skulduggery Pleasant, a "living" skeleton with an excellent sense of humor, and some of his questionable "friends" who might be helping them but it's kind of hard to tell sometimes.  With Skulduggery Pleasant in the lead Stephanie's life quickly spirals out of control but what a ride it is. 

New and interesting bad guys abound and the good guys are just as interesting!  The action is non-stop and so are the laughs.  This is definitely a 4 - 6 grade title because the action, like the Artemis Fowl books, can be intense and the reading level is definitely upper elementary and beyond.  This is a not-to-be-missed fantasy thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

And the tour of titles continues with 2010 Sasquatch Award Nominee Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat by Lynne Jonell.  If you like Roald Dahl you're going to love Emmy!  Many Roald Dahl-esque elements can be found in this book.  Over the top baddies in the form of the grown ups in charge, extremely

odd and sometimes scary situations that the main character finds herself in and the lovely, quirky humor.  Emmy has it all!

When we first meet Emmy her life has taken a rather exciting and oddly depressing turn.  Her family has inherited a huge amount of money which should be a good thing.  But her parents have changed and become stuck on the idea of being cool and rich while Emmy seems to be slipping from their minds.  Her teachers and classmates all ignore her like she doesn't exist and she's left lonely and pretty much alone in a big mansion with a very creepy nanny who doesn't ignore her (unfortunately) but instead watches her constantly like a jail warden.  Life is definitely unpleasant.  And then it gets weird.  Emmy starts hearing the classroom rat talking to itself and then to her.  She thinks she's going crazy but then she's dumped head first into the underground world of talking rodents with extraordinary powers who try to help her escape from what turns out to be a dangerous plot to get rid of her and take all her money.

This story has twists and turns aplenty and is filled with wonderfully quirky characters.  The villains are a mix of funny and creepy and will keep you laughing and covering your eyes throughout the whole story.  The old fashioned (dare I say retro) cover may not have big appeal but the story will capture 4 - 6 graders and not let them go until the end.  Plus there's a cool flip-it along the edge of the pages that I found endlessly entertaining.  I'm not sure what that says about me but I think kids will like it too. 

This is the fourth entry in our 2010 Sasquatch Nominee discovery tour.  For this one we are going into the dark and shivery world of the ghost story with Mary Downing Hahn's Deep and Dark and Dangerous.

Thirteen year old Ali loves her mom but has always wondered why she is so strange sometimes.  She cries easily and spends days in bed if she gets upset by the littlest thing.  When Ali's wild Aunt Dulcie asks her to spend the summer at the family cabin in Maine and help care for her four year old cousin, Ali is thrilled to get away from her mom for awhile.  But the cabin is filled with dark family secrets and Ali and her young cousin Emma are drawn in before they even get settled.

The story is fast paced with a creepy ghost that will send shivers down the reader's back plus it has a wonderfully creepy cover!  Kids in grades 4-6 will particularly enjoy this chilling story.  Mary Downing Hahn has written many books for children and has some particularly wonderful ghost stories in the mix.  Her very best ghost story is Wait Till Helen Comes.  But she also writes funny stories, westerns, stories about friends and more.  She's a talented author who knows how to capture the interest of her readers.

April is National Poetry Month and to help set the proper tone for this annual celebration of

words I would like to share some of my favorite laugh-out-loud poetry books.  Poems that make me laugh are the ones that are really close to my heart (and funny bone). 

Author and editor Bruce Lansky is an avid collector (and writer) of children's literature including some of my absolute favorite collections of poetry.  Check out Kids Pick the Funniest Poems:  Poems to Make Kids Laugh.  It includes poems by Jack Prelutsky (My Mother Says I'm Sickening), Shel Silverstein (Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out), and Judith Viorst (Learning) to name just a few!  Bruce also includes some of his own poems for good measure.  All of them are worth a laugh out loud... even if people are watching you.

He has collections of poetry about a variety of topics that are all worth a look.  No More Homework!  No More Tests!  Kids' Favorite, Funny School Poems and Happy Birthday to Me:  Kids Pick the Funniest Birthday Poems.  He's even got something for the sports fans out

there with I Hope I Don't Strike Out!  And Other Funny Sports Poems.

Bruce Lansky has also developed one of the best poetry websites around with Gigglepoetry.com.  There are fill-in-the-blank poems, writing workshops, contests, original poetry by kids and much more.  It is colorful and inviting and definitely something to use in the classroom whenever poetry is the topic of the day.  Check out some poetry books, get inspired and then jump onto Gigglepoetry.com and see where it takes you!