Author: Janet Dawson

Secret Coders by Gene Luen Yang and Mike Holmes

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Published by First Second 

Summary:  It’s the first day of a new school for Hopper (think Grace Hopper), and she’s trying to figure out why what’s supposed to be the best school in town looks like a haunted house.  She has an unfortunate run-in with three boys before she’s even gotten in the front door, but much to her surprise, one of the boys, Eni, seems like he wants to be her friend.  She eventually learns that he’s trying to figure out the mystery of their weird school.  Together they unlock the secrets of binary and coding to learn how to operate a mysterious turtle robot they find in the creepy janitor’s closet.  Another boy, Josh, joins them for their final descent into an underground room.  There they’re met by the janitor, who gives them a challenge which will either unlock the secrets of their school or banish them from the campus forever.  Grades 3-7.

Pros:  A quick read for reluctant readers and computer geeks alike, this graphic novel has endearing characters and a lot of action.  The introduction to binary, coding, and robotics could generate interest in those topics.  The cliff-hanger ending all but guarantees a sequel.

Cons:  I didn’t care for the green and black color combination of the illustrations.

The Friendship Riddle by Megan Frazer Blakemore

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Published by Bloomsbury USA 

Summary:  Ruth considers herself a lone wolf as she starts middle school minus her former best friend Charlotte.  Charlotte’s still around, but she’s hanging out with the popular Melinda these days.  When Ruth finds a mysterious origami envelope with a riddle inside it tucked into a library book, she wishes she could work on the mystery with Charlotte.  Instead, she tries to solve the first puzzle, and the subsequent ones it leads her to, by herself.  Slowly, reluctantly, she finds herself connecting with some of the other smart quirky kids in her class, and revealing the mystery she is working on to them.  A subplot about a school spelling bee pits Ruth against some of her new and former friends, with an exciting spelling showdown near the end.  By the time the mystery is solved and the spelling bee concluded, Ruth finds herself in the center of a close-knit group of new friends.  Grades 4-7.

Pros:  More of a middle school friendship story than a mystery, this story provides a good dose of sixth-grade angst liberally laced with humor, interesting characters, and some fun riddles to solve.

Cons:  Not so much of a con as a heads-up that both Ruth and Charlotte have same-sex parents; Ruth mentions her sperm-donor father.  There’s a funny, but lengthy, bra-shopping scene, and a few other middle school topics to be aware of if recommending this book to an elementary school student.

The Nutcracker Comes to America: How Three Ballet-Loving Brothers Created a Holiday Tradition by Chris Barton, illustrated by Cathy Gendron.

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Published by Millbrook Press 

Summary:  Although the Nutcracker ballet seems like a timeless holiday tradition, it’s only been around since the second half of the twentieth century.  Three brothers from Utah, Willam, Harold, and Lew Christensen, were responsible for bringing the Russian ballet to the U.S.  The Christensens came from a dancing family and grew up to become dancers, vaudevillians, and, eventually, teachers and producers.  During World War II, money and dancers were both in short supply.  The brothers were working in San Francisco and needed a hit to keep ballet alive in that city. When Willam heard someone whistling Tschaikovsky on a city street, he was reminded of a production of the Nutcracker he had been involved with years before.  The brothers’ low-budget production premiered on Christmas Eve and was a huge hit.  Over the next several years, the show spread to other cities across the country, so that by the 1960’s, the Nutcracker tradition had taken hold.  Back matter includes notes from the author and illustrator about their research, a timeline, a summary of the story of the Nutrcracker, and suggestions for further reading.  Grades 2-5.

Pros:  I was surprised to learn how recently the Nutcracker came to America.  The history was interesting, and the illustrations, inspired by Edgar Degas, capture the grace and beauty of ballet.  The conversational tone of the text keeps the story moving along.

Cons:  Some of the details of the brothers’ lives seemed extraneous to the main story.  A little editing might have made this a better read-aloud for younger readers.

Time for Cranberries by Lisl H. Detlefsen, illustrated by Jed Henry

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Published by Roaring Brook Press 

Summary:  This year, Sam is old enough to help his parents with the cranberries.  He enjoys driving with them to the marsh, then participating in each step of the process that gets the berries from their vines to the delivery truck.  After the harvest, the whole family enjoys cranberry pies for Thanksgiving.  Back matter includes recipes for cranberry sauce and cranberry pie, a glossary, and an author’s note that describes her family’s Wisconsin home in a cranberry marsh.  Grades K-3.

Pros:  Lively illustrations of the family and the various trucks and machines involved in harvesting match Sam’s enthusiasm as he describes the process.  Perfect for Thanksgiving story times.

Cons:  I didn’t quite follow all the steps of harvesting.

The Boys in the Boat: The True Story of an American Team’s Epic Journey to Win Gold at the 1936 Olympics (Young Readers’ Edition) by Daniel James Brown, adapted for young readers by Gregory Mone

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Published by Viking 

Summary:  How did a state university rowing team composed of the sons of poor farmers and lumberjacks beat not only the elite Ivy League, but every team at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin?  Here’s the story, beginning with their first day of freshman year.  For Joe Rantz, one of the team members, the story goes back even further, to his impoverished childhood and repeated abandonment by his father and stepmother.  Left completely on his own at the age of 15, he had to overcome deep-seated fears to learn to trust his teammates and work together with the seven other boys in the boat.  A timeline and a description of “the art of rowing” are included at the end.  Grades 4-8.

Pros:  Joe’s story is inspiring, as is the gold-medal race, in which the U.S. team was given a disadvantageous placement by the Germans, and had to row with one of their key members gravely ill.  Sports fans will enjoy learning what it took for this ragtag team to become champions.

Cons:  It would have been nice to get a little more background on some of Joe’s teammates.

Merlin (Shelter Pet Squad) by Cynthia Lord

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Published by Scholastic Press 

Summary:  Second-grader Suzannah and her friends are back for the second installment of the Shelter Pet Squad series.  This time, they are captivated by Merlin, a lively ferret who loves to hide, steal shiny objects, and play.  Wanting to make sure he finds a perfect home, the kids decide to make up a ferret quiz for any potential adopter.  As the youngest member of the group, Suzannah sometimes struggles to keep up with the other kids, so she decides to do her research from the biggest book she can find.  But she’s not quite ready to tackle such a weighty reading assignment, and her sketchy reading causes her to give Merlin a toy that almost proves disastrous.  Fortunately, she’s surrounded by friends who are glad to help, and a happy ending is in store for all, including Merlin.  Grades 2-4.

Pros:  Newbery honoree Cynthia Lord has created an early chapter book series that has a bit more depth and character development than many books of this level.  Kids will love reading about animals and the children who get to help them.

Cons:  Readers may be disappointed to learn that seven-year-olds working with animals in a shelter is, in general, purely fictional.

This Is My Home, This Is My School by Jonathan Bean

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Published by Farrar Straus Giroux 

Summary:  A boy explains how his home is his school, too.  His three sisters are his classmates, his mom is his teacher, and his dad is the substitute who takes over at the end of the day. They have many classrooms, including all the rooms in their house, the telescope on the back deck, and the public library.  Recess and gym are spent in the backyard, hanging out in the tree house and playing soccer with friends.  Sometimes there are field trips to do art or explore nature.  There are opportunities for learning all day long, right up to the final bedtime story.  Endpapers show the real Jonathan and his three sisters during their own homeschooling days.  Ages 4-8.

Pros:  Homeschooling is presented in a positive light, with a loving family supporting each other in all their educational endeavors.  The illustrations are appropriately childlike and busy, showing the chaos of four curious, active children pursuing learning.

Cons:  It looks pretty exhausting.

We Rock! (Music Lab): A Fun Family Guide for Exploring Rock Music History by Jason Hanley

~ Janet Dawson ~ 4 Comments

Published by Quarry Books

Summary:  Billed as a book to help families enjoy rock and roll music together, each two-page spread of this book features a single hit by a famous artist.  There’s a “Historical Fact/Social Connections” paragraph, “Song Facts”, “Try This at Home”, and a sidebar that tells what to listen to in each verse of the song, broken down by time.  Chapters include Rock and Roll Basics, Rocking Out, Deep Soul, Punk Rock, Dance Music, New Rock Sounds, and New Wave.  An appendix includes additional singers and bands related to each of the 52 artists profiled.  Ages 10-110.

Pros:  Written by the director of education at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, this is a pretty definitive guide to rock music.  Any fan will find it a difficult book to put down, and it would make sharing your favorite oldies with the kids a great deal of fun.

Cons:  No Grateful Dead?

The Doldrums by Nicholas Gannon

~ Janet Dawson ~ 3 Comments

Published by Greenwillow Books 

Summary:  Archer B. Helmsley has spent his whole life in Helmsley House, surrounded by stuffed animals and other artifacts collected by his grandparents, the famous explorers Ralph and Rachel Helmsley.  Ever since Ralph and Rachel went missing on an iceberg in Antarctica, Archer’s mother has kept him at home in an attempt to keep him safe from any exploring instincts he may have inherited.  But as Archer gets older, he becomes restless, and eventually decides it’s up to him to head for the South Pole and rescue his grandparents.  He enlists the help of two neighbors, the cautious Oliver Glub, who is good at worrying over details, and the mysterious Parisian, Adelaide L. Belmont, whose wooden leg is a testimony to an adventurous past.  The whole rescue plan comes to an uproarious climax on a museum field trip complete with an evil teacher, a gazelle mask, a glass eye, and a pack of hungry tigers.  Grades 3-7.

Pros:  Fans of Roald Dahl and Lemony Snicket will appreciate the quirky characters and settings of this debut novel.  The author is also an artist who created over 20 gorgeous color illustrations, as well as many smaller black-and-white ones throughout the book.

Cons:  The whole story seemed to build toward a grand final adventure that never actually happens.

The Whisper written and illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski

~ Janet Dawson ~ 2 Comments

Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing 

Summary:  A little girl in a red hood gets to borrow a book her teacher promises is full of wonderful stories.  As she races home with the book, the words leak out the bottom and drift away, until a clever fox catches them in his net.  Arriving at home, the girl is disappointed that the book has only pictures, no stories.  She’s about to abandon it when she hears a whispered voice telling her to use her imagination.  Back she goes to the first illustration, trying to imagine what the story would be.  Her stories grow more creative and complex with each page, until she falls asleep.  In the morning, she rushes back to tell her teacher how much she loved the book, helping the clever fox reach some grapes along the way.  Grades K-3.

Pros:  This book reminded me of one of my favorite elementary school creative writing exercises, where the teacher would post a picture and we’d have to write a story about it.  The sumptuous illustrations could inspire endless stories.  This would also make a great introduction to wordless picture books and how to make up your own stories.  Look for the fox’s appearance on every page.

Cons:  Kids may need some help appreciating this book, which doesn’t have the conventional story arc.