Rules by Cynthia Lord

 Rules

Author:  Cynthia Lord

Publisher:  Scholastic, Inc.    Year:  2006

ISBN:  978-0-439-44383-8

Genre: Fiction/ Realistic

This book is for Ages: 8 up

Awards: Skipping Stones Honor Award; Newbery Honor; Schneider Family Award; ALA Notable/Best Books;

AR Points:      4.0

Subjects/Themes: Friendship, Family Life Growing Up, Disabilities

Plot Summary:  12-year-old Catherine is frustrated with having am 8-year-old brother with autism.  She just wants to have normal friends and do normal things.  Her dad is always at work.  Her mom asks her to watch her brother a lot.  Catherine has rules to help David interact in the world.  When Katherine meets a new friend names Jason, she has to question her rules and her idea of normal. 

Review: Cynthia Lord’s book is about acceptance.  Still it was hard for me to accept that Catherine is as compassionate as she is written.  I liked Jason and David.  The Rules are great.  I especially liked the Davids escapades with the fish tank.  Good book, with a nice story.  

If you like this book you may also like:  Anything but Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin. 

Everyting On A Waffle by Polly Horvath

Title:   Everything on a Waffle

Author:  Polly Horvath

Publisher: Scholastic Year: 2001

ISBN:  0439-44309-4

Genre: Fiction Realistic

This book is for Ages: 9-12

Awards: Newbery Honor Book

AR Points:      5.0

Subjects/Themes: Family Life/ Hope/Death/ Courage/Food/Foster Care

Plot Summary:  11-year-old Primrose lives on an island in British Columbia.  When a terrible storm strikes her mother goes searching for her father who is out on his fishing boat.  Both parents disappear and are presumed dead.  But Primrose refuses to believe that her parents are not coming back.  Primrose is sent to live with the neighbor who is around 104, until her uncle comes to take care of her.  Can Primrose and Uncle Jack stick together in the hope that her parents will return,  Even when no one else believes?

Review: Polly Horvath creates a great character with Primrose.  Despite her troubles Primrose keeps you laughing.  Her descriptions are unique.  “Uncle Jack looked like a pig, albeit a lean good-looking pig.  Miss Honeycut looked like a turtle.  It was hard to imagine a pig and a turtle together but it gave me something to do the rest of the meeting.”  Horvath includes recipes in the book including one for Carrots in Apricot Glaze which are the exact color of Primrose’s hair.

If you like this book you may also like:  Trolls, by Polly Horvath

The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson

Title:   The Great Gilly Hopkins

Author:  Katherine Paterson

Publisher: Scholastic             Year:  1995 c1978

ISBN:  0-590-61389-8

Genre: Realistic Fiction

This book is for Ages: 9-13

Awards: Newbery Honor Book

 AR Points:     5.0

 Subjects/Themes: Family Life/Orphans 

Plot Summary:  11-year-old Gilly Hopkins is on her way to her third foster home.  She knows the social worker must be telling her mother all kinds of lies to keep her mother from coming to get her.  Gilly is determined to contact her mother so she can escape from this ugly dirty foster home.  Her new foster mother Mamie Trotter is a huge hippopotamus woman and William Earnest is a freaky kid who is afraid of everything.  Gilly plans her escape but is slowly drawn into this strange family.  When rescue finally comes, it’s not quite what Gilly expected.  

Review:  Did you ever feel like life was unfair.  So does Gilly.  Sometimes she handles things well and sometimes not.  But she does her best to take care of herself.  This is a moving story about family, love, and the hardships of real life. 

If you like this book you may also like:  Holes, by Louis Sachar The Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

The Higher Power of Lucky, by Susan Patron

Title:   The Higher Power of Lucky

Author:  Susan Patron

Reader:  Cassandra Campbell

Publisher:  Listening Library (Audio unabridged)  Year: 2007

ISBN:  978-0739338797

Media:  Digital Download

Genre: Fiction/Realistic

This book is for Ages: 8-12

Awards:  ALA Notable, Newbery Medal

AR Points: 5.0          

Subjects/Themes: Family Life, Adoption, Death, Hope, Addiction

Plot Summary:  10-year-old Lucky lives in Hard Pan California where the population is 43.  Two years ago, Lucky’s mother died in an accident.  Since then Lucky has learned to carry a survival kit. Brigitte her father’s first wife is Lucky’s guardian.  Bridgitte is homesick for Paris.   Lucky listens in to the Anonymous meetings at the center where she works.  She understands the need for a higher power but just can’t seem to find hers.   Lucky learns secrets about her friends and neighbors, secrets that can hurt people if she tells.  Sometimes Lucky’s meanness gland goes into overdrive.   Lucky is too wrapped up in her own pain to recognize the hurt in others and leads her to rock bottom.

Review:  This is a good book.  It deals with adult issues that many children have to face: the death of a parent, abandonment by a parent, feelings of isolation, and the need to find a reason for hardships of life.  Susan Patron’s characters are well developed.  Miles is a foil for Lucky, a version of her that is slowly being left behind.  He goes through the same changes she does.  Lucky searches for meaning, prayer, and tries to evaluate herself and her morals.  This is a good story.  I am not sure the major themes can be appreciated by all of  the audience for which it was written.

If you like this book you may also like: Lucky Breaks and Lucky for Good also by Susan Patron.

Egypt Game, By Zilpha Keatly Snyder

Title:   Egypt Game

Author:  Zilpha Keatley Snyder

Publisher: Antheneum Books for Young Readers    Year: 2009, c 1967, 1995

ISBN:  978-1-4169-9051-2

Genre: Fiction/Realistic

This book is for Ages: 8-12

Awards:  Newbery Honor, ALA Notable Book

AR Points: 7.0          

Subjects/Themes: Egypt/Mystery/Make Believe

Plot Summary:  11-year-old April Hall has just moved from Hollywood to Northern California to live with her grandmother while her mother and singer Dorthea Dawn is on tour.  She meets Melanie and her younger brother, Marshall who live downstairs.  Together they start the Egypt Game, an intricate game with rituals to honor ancient Egyptian gods, in the back lot of the Professor’s A-Z Antique Shop.   Soon they are joined in the game by Elizabeth, Toby and Ken.  When a young girl is murderer from their neighborhood, April and the other children must be on guard.  Lots of people are wondering who the murderer is.  Could it be the Professor?  Soon strange things are happening in the game.  Will the police capture the murderer before another child is killed?

Review:  This book is especially good for sixth graders in California studying ancient Egypt.   April has a hard time trusting the new people in her life.  She desperately wants to believe that her mother is going to bring her back to Hollywood. But she is able to escape those concerns in the Egypt game.  The Egypt game reminds me that imagination, books, movies, television and games are all quick escapes for our daily worries.

If you like this book you may also like: Beyond the Grave by Jude Watson

Old Yeller by Fred Gipson

Title:   Old Yeller

Author:  Fred Gipson

Publisher: Scholastic Year:  c1956

ISBN:  0-38-439-15963-6

Genre: Fiction/Historical

This book is for Ages: 8-14

Awards: Newbery Honor Book        

 Subjects/Themes: Frontier-life/Dogs

Plot Summary:   14-year-old Travis is in charge of taking care of his family farm while Papa is on a 600-mile cattle drive to Abilene.  The day after Papa leaves a “big yeller dog” shows up at the family farm. The dog had eaten the last of the family’s meat.  Travis cannot stand the dog, but when Travis’ five-year-old brother Little Arliss meets old yeller they have an instant bond.  Travis must put up with Arliss and old yeller into mischief and making his work around the farm harder.  Travis soon learns that Old Yeller is a good hunting dog.  When Old Yeller saves Arliss from an angry mama bear Travis realizes Old Yeller will do anything to protect the family.

Review:  Old Yeller is a good story with lots of action.   Gipson describes the busy life on the farm in the Texas frontier including, hunting and chores in a captivating book you won’t want to put down.  Travis is a strong character who takes his role as provider seriously.  Old Yeller is a lovable rascal and an excellent story for dog lovers everywhere.

If you like this book you may also like:  Where the Red Fern Grows, Wilson Rawls; Old Yeller (VHS or DVD) Disney; Hatchet, Gary Paulsen

My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George

Title:   My Side of the Mountain

Author:  Jean Craighead George

Publisher: Puffin Books        Year:  2004  c1959

ISBN:  0-14-240111-0

Genre: Fiction/Adventure/Survival

This book is for Ages: 8 and up

Awards: Newbery Honor Book

AR Points:  6.0         

Subjects/Themes: Survival/Adventure/Wilderness/Self-reliance

Plot Summary:   Sam Gribley runs away from his crowded New York apartment to live on his grandfather’s land in the Catskill Mountains.  He makes his home in a tree and becomes friends with a weasel, raccoon and other animals.  His best friend Frightful, a pet falcon becomes his hunting partner.  Sam lives an exciting life in the wilderness, fishing hunting and gathering food and firewood to prepare for the cold winter.  Will Sam survive the winter?  Will the rumors of the “Wild Boy” bring the city to Sam’s mountain?

Review:  This is a great story.  Sam is a wonderful kid who just wants to live away from the crowds and the city.  He is smart and learns new things from the animals about how to survive in his new environment.  The language is beautifully descriptive.  Sam teaches us so many wonderful things about living in the forest, raising a falcon, and the value of community.

If you like this book you may also like:  The Hatchet, By Gary Paulsen, 

The Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

Title:  The Bridge to Terabithia

Author: Katherine Paterson

Publisher: Scholastic, New York Year: 1977

ISBN: 0-590-13200-8

Genre: Fiction/Realistic

This book is for children in grades: 4-8

Subjects/Themes: 

Awards:  Newbery Medal; School Library Journal Best Book

AR Points: 5

Plot Summary:  Jess Abrams is going to be the fastest boy in the fifth grade, at least until Leslie Burke, from Arlington, moves in next door and beats him and all the other boys in the first race of the year.  Jess who loves to draw doesn’t really like Leslie but somehow they become best friends.  Leslie and Jess create a magical world which can only be reached by swinging across the gully on a magical rope.  They call it Teribithia, and they rule there together as Queen and King.  In Teribithia Jess and Leslie discover ways of defeating giants and real problems like bullies and fears.  Jess becomes more courageous and teaches Leslie that everyone deserves kindness.  One rainy day Miss Edmunds the music teacher invites Jess to the National Gallery in Washington D.C.  Jess has the best day of his life but it soon turns to the worst as tragedy strikes Jess the Burkes and Teribithia. 

Review:  This is an excellent book.  Jess and Leslie’s families and lives are just as interesting as the adventures they create in Teribithia. I would enjoy being the Queen of a magical land where I could always be safe and could sometimes be a hero.  Peterson creates wonderful characters and reveals their humanity in small bits.  May Belle, Jess’ younger sister is a beautiful young girl who idolizes and pesters her brother.  You will love her as much as Jess does.   This book is a quick read that you will remember for a very long time. 

If you like this book you may also like: The Bridge to Terabithia (Film, 2007), Tuck Everlasting, The Chronicles of Narnia.

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

Title: Hatchet

Author: Gary Paulsen

Pub.: Aladdin Paperbacks, New York; 1996 ISBN: 0027701301

Brian’s Saga Series also includes: The River, Brian’s Winter, Brian’s Return

Genre: Fiction/Adventure

Themes: Survival, Divorce

Rating: Ages 11 and up

Awards:  1988 Newbery Honor Book, ALA Best Book for Young Adults, ALA Notable Book, Booklist Editor's Choice, Publisher's Weekly Best Book.
AR Points: 7.0

Plot Summary:  13-year-old Brian parents have recently divorced.  He is having a hard time accepting and understanding the adult emotions in his new life. Brian is going to spend the summer with his father in the Canadian oil fields.  When the pilot of the two-man plane suffers a heart attack, Brian must try to land the plane in an area surrounded by trees and lakes.  After surviving the plane crash, Brian’s rescue and survival is still uncertain.  Brian must endure in the wilderness using only his wits and the hatchet his mom gave him as a going away present.  Finding shelter, food and creating a new home is difficult.  Brian must compete with wild animals when looking for food.  As Brian works for survival, he discovers his inner strength and becomes a tough and thoughtful young man able to survive the harsh Canadian wilderness and the divorce of his parents.  

Review:  This 1988 Newbery Honor novel is an excellent coming of age story.  Paulsen effectively reveals the struggles teens face as they swing on the pendulum of time between childhood and adulthood.  Brian is struggling to understand and accept adult emotional behavior because of his mother’s affair and parents’ divorce.  As he struggles to survive, he experiences periods competency and emotional control and as well as feelings of hopelessness and emotional breakdown.  Although the journey to adulthood is a difficult one, Brian survives his ordeal and even brings about his own rescue.   Paulsen develops a character that is thankful, thoughtful and strong at the novel’s completion providing hope to the young people that they too are strong enough to overcome their own challenges.

If you like this story you may also like:  Far North by Will Hobbs.

Here is a short video to get you interested.