Worth by A. LaFaye

Title:   Worth

Author:  A. La Faye

Publisher: Scholastic             Year:  2006 c2004

ISBN:  978-0439-91342-3

Genre: Historical Fiction

This book is for Ages: 9-12

Awards: Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction

 AR Points:     4.0

 Subjects/Themes: Family Life/Orphans/Frontier Life

Plot Summary:  11-year-old Nate is hurrying to help his father bring in the hay as a violent storm hits their farm.  A flash of lightning as bright as the sun changes Nate’s life forever.  Unable to help on the family farm Nate feels bad.  His Pa won’t even look at him.  When Pa adopts an orphan boy named John Worth, Nate feels unloved and useless.  What role can Nate have on the farm?  Worth is a city boy with no experience working a farm.  He is treated like a servant, and can’t seem to do anything right.  When the ranchers and farmers start feuding, tensions are high as sabotage damages the family farm.  Can the boys work together to save their farm and create a family where they both belong? 

Review:  Nate and his family have trouble accepting his replacement and new brother.  Worth is an interesting and exciting story about life on the frontier in the late 1800’s including: immigrants, and range feuds.  The book has an exciting climax.  That will leave you wanting more. 

If you like this book you may also like:  The Storm in the Barn by Matt Phelan.

Odd and the Frost Giants, by Neil Gaiman

Title:   Odd and the Frost Giants

Author:  Neil Gaiman

Publisher: Harper Collins Audio       Year: 2009 c2008

ISBN:  9780061962622

Genre: Fiction/Adventure/Fantasy/Folklore

This book is for Ages: 8-12

AR Points:     2.0

Subjects/Themes: Norse Mythology, Norway, Heroes, Giants, Gods

Plot Summary:  Odd is a 12-year-old who always has had some very bad luck,  His father was killed on a Viking expedition, A tree fell on his leg and crushed it, so now he walks with a crutch.  Despite the cold winter weather Odd runs away to live in his father’s hunting cabin.  Odd saves a bear that is trapped by a tree.  The bear, a fox and an eagle follow him to the cabin and tell him a wondrous tale.  Together they go on adventure to the land of Asgard where Odd must defeat the Frost Giants so that spring can return to the land.  

Review: This novella is wonderful.  Written and performed by Neil Gaiman, author of The Graveyard Book.  Gaiman shares a wondrous tale that left me dreaming of Thor, Odin and Loki, and hoping for more.  I have seen the illustrations from the print version of this book.  They are beautiful and imaginative.  Print or Audio this book is a winner.

If you like this book you may also like:  The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman;

Dr. Seuss' The Lorax - Universal Pictures

Title:   Dr.Seuss’ The Lorax

Publisher: Universal Pictures Year: 2012

Media: Film    Rating: PG

Genre:  Fantasy

Subjects/Themes:  Environment

Plot Summary:  Ted has a crush on Audrey.  She loves trees.  At least she thinks she does.  She has never actually seen a tree.  In fact, no one in Thneedville has seen a real tree.  Thneedville is full or plastic replicas of nature, from the beach to the ski slopes.  Thneedville is a manufactured environment where fresh air must be purchased.  Determined to win Audrey’s heart, Ted must travel outside the city walls to the house of the once-ler to discover what happened to all the trees and find a way to bring nature back to Thneedville.

Review: Dr. Seuss’ Lorax is an adaptation of Dr. Seuss' 1971 book the Lorax.  The film is a riot of color.  Thneedville, the Truffula Trees, and creatures are true to the imaginative style of the book.  Zach Efron and Taylor Swift provide the voices for Ted and Audrey.  Zach is a quick-witted, fast talking boy, like some of the middle school boys you know.  His partner-in-crime is his Grandmother, voiced by Betty White.  As loving grandmothers are known to do, she craftily helps him escape family game day and other tricky spots throughout his adventure.  The tale of the Once-ler and the Lorax has more than the book.  The screen writers added an additional villain, but, they took out the quiet reflection that Dr. Seuss’ book inspired. While this version of the Lorax is created for audiences who are used to processing information at breakneck speed and it shows, It is a fun rendition of the beloved children’s book, it introduces this generation to a marvelous story with a responsible theme.

If you like this movie you may also like:  Fern Gully – the Last Rainforest (1992), The Road to El Dorado (2000),  The Lorax (1972)

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 Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman

Title:   The Whipping Boy

Author:  Sid Fleischman

Illustrator: Peter Sis

Publisher: Greenwillow Books          Year:  1986

ISBN:  0-688-06216-4

Genre: Fiction/Adventure

This book is for Ages: 8-12

Awards:  Newbery Medal; SLJ Best Book; ALA Notable Book

AR Points:     2.0

Subjects/Themes: Adventure/Robbers and Outlaws/Family Life/Orphans

Plot Summary:  A young orphan boy named Jemmy used to live in the sewers catching rats until he became the Whipping Boy.  Whenever Prince Brat, I mean, Prince Horace is bad Jemmy is whipped.  Jemmy can’t understand why Prince Brat is such a rotten kid.  Prince Brat forces Jemmy to run away with him.  The boys are captured by cutthroat bandits, encounter gigantic roaring bears and seek shelter in the sewer filled with rats. 

Review:   This book is fun and full of adventure.  Prince Brat is a horrible child.   Jemmy doesn’t realize how lucky he is.  They both learn about who they are in this wonderful and wild story.  Sid Fleishman melds humor, adventure and understanding into his story.  The black and white illustrations created by Peter Sis are captivating.

If you like this book you may also like:  Shield of Stars by Hilari Bell, The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by W.R. Philbrick, or   The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Sleznick,

A Tale of Two Castles by Gail Carson Levine

Title:   A Tale of Two Castles

Author:  Gail Carson Levine

Publisher: Harper       Year:  2011

ISBN:  978-0-06-122965-7  

Genre: Fantasy Fiction

This book is for Ages: 10-14

AR Points:     9.0

Subjects/Themes: Dragons/Royalty/Identity

Plot Summary:  12-year-old Elodie is leaving her family to seek a weaving apprenticeship in the Town of Two Castles.  Her parents warn her about dragons, ogres, and white sepulchers.  Elodie arrives in town to find there are no weaving apprenticeships available, unless she can pay for one.  She is not too disappointed because she really wants to be a mansioner- an actress.  But when the head of the acting troupe rejects her because she cannot pay, and her only copper is stolen, Elodie has no place to go.  When the beautiful dragon Menoree offers Elodie food and a warm, safe place to sleep, Elodie accepts.  Even if it means she must act like a servant in the ogre’s castle to help Menoree solve a mystery.

Review:  Gail Carson Levine stays true to her style with this sweet new tale that reminds us not to judge a dragon, ogre, princess or apprentice by how they look.  

If you like this book you may also like:  Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine.

The Schwa was Here by Neal Shusterman

Title:   The Schwa was Here

Author:  Neal Shusterman

Publisher: Puffin Books        Year:  2004

ISBN:  0-525-47182-0

Genre: Realistic Fiction

This book is for Ages: 12-adult

Awards: Horn Book Award; ALA Best Book for Young Adults; ALA Notable Book

 AR Points:     9.0

 Subjects/Themes: Family Life/Friendships/Blindness/Identity

Plot Summary:  Brooklyn Eight-grader Antsy (Anthony Bonano) meets the Schwa, the invisible boy that sits next to him in science class.  The Schwa is real but nobody seems to notice him.   Antsy decides to help the Schwa use his invisibility to their financial benefit.  They charge a fee for feats of invisibility like sneaking papers into the teacher’s correction pile and stealing a dog bowl from the town’s most powerful recluse.  But both boys are looking for something more neither wants to be invisible anymore.

Review:  Do you ever feel invisible?  Shusterman provides insight into the mischievous and sometimes heartbreaking invisible lives of young people.  This book is a quick read that my son and I really enjoyed.  It is a great story with insights about the young person’s search for recognition.

If you like this book you may also like:  Antsy Does Time by Neal Schusterman