McNally Jackson Kids

Young Reviewer

Stick Dog

Tom Watson

Pub 1-2013, HarperCollins

Tom Watson started writing books for his kids. Everyone liked them, so he started writing them online. Then he was discovered by a publishing company, HarperCollins, and recently published Stick Dog, a good book with kind of bad drawings. Tom Watson lives in Chicago with his wife, daughter, and son.

Stick Dog is a dog that loves food. He has dog friends, including Mutt, Poo-Poo, Stripes, and Karen. They love food also. The story takes place near Picasso Park. It’s summer, in the afternoon. The dogs can smell the hamburgers grilling on the barbeque, so they make it their mission to steal hamburgers from the humans. They make a plan, but soon discover they didn’t need to.

I enjoyed Stick Dog because it is hilarious! The whole book is about getting hamburgers, and the characters all have funny names! Stripes has dots, not stripes. Stick Dog isn’t called Stick because he likes sticks; it’s because a stick dog is the only kind of dog that Watson can draw. Watson’s illustrations are like kids’ drawings. At the beginning of the book, he demonstrates how he draws trees and broccoli, and they look very, very similar. I like his pictures because it makes the book sillier.

During their mission to get hamburgers, a lot funny things happen. Stripes thinks a fork is a sword and walking is the same as charging. It shows what Stripes thinks of the world. When the other dogs are thinking of plans for how to get the hamburgers, Mutt has a funny idea: he would first get the car keys from the humans and then drive the car and stick his head out of the window while the other dogs get the hamburgers. I liked the character Poo-poo because he makes an enormous deal about a squirrel dropping an acorn on his head. Why make a big fuss over a squirrel dropping a teeny-tiny acorn on someone’s head?

If you like Diary of a Wimpy Kid or Big Nate, then Stick Dog is for you! Tom Watson wrote it like a kid would: off the lines with terrible pictures. If you like funny books, Stick Dog should be number one on your list. Tom Watson’s Stick Dog is a big must-read!

- Krish G., 8

Kid Reviewer

Written in Stone

Rosanne Parry

Pub 6-2013, Random House

Written in Stone is the story of a determined young Makah girl named Pearl who lives on a Native American reservation in Alaska.  It is set in a time when Native Americans were mistreated by our nation.  Award-winning author Rosanne Parry takes us on Pearl’s journey to preserve her parents’ spirits, thoughts, and traditions.

When Pearl’s father dies in a fatal accident on a whaling trip, Pearl is devastated and longs to have him back.  She thinks that the closest she will ever be to him is to keep something from his Regalia (belongings). Typically these items would go to other Native Americans on the reservation. As if being lonely isn’t enough, Pearl is constantly worried because her extended family, with whom she is left to live, struggles to earn enough money for food.   When an art collector comes to the reservation, Pearl’s family thinks about selling items from Pearl’s father’s Regalia.  Although it seems like the perfect solution, Pearl is immediately suspicious of him and sees him as another obstacle to having a connection to her parents.  Persistent and determined, she is sure there is another way to feed her family without selling her only connection to her parents.

Rosanne Parry captures Pearl’s emotions so well that the reader can’t help but share her sadness.  Pearl’s heart aches when she thinks of her mom and baby sister, who died from the flu. She longs for her family even more after her father passes away. Pearl holds back her tears, and I found myself doing the same while reading her story.

Although this book is emotionally difficult to read, it reminds me of how lucky I am. For example, Pearl is excited when she receives a pencil with which to write in her diary. Normally, I would take having a pencil for granted, but now I realize that it is a luxury for some. In addition, Pearl’s aunt, who weaves baskets, is always telling her that basket weaving is the perfect profession because it pays more than blanket weaving.  Pearl resents her advice because she would rather be a blanket weaver like her mother. I am lucky that the career advice I receive is to do what I love: writing. I would feel trapped if I were Pearl. I am grateful that I do not have the same struggles as her.

Written in Stonemay be a little heavy, but it is a perfect book for discussion. While there are many differences between Pearl’s life and modern childhood, Parry shows us that the emotions caused by circumstances are often universal. In addition, she shows a side of American history that many people overlook. With a book like this, who knows where a discussion could go?

Written for today’s reader, but set in a completely different time and place, this book opens the door to Makah life in the 1920s. Written in Stone is the perfect addition to a young reader’s collection of literature!  

- Mira M., 9

Young Reviewer

The Ability

M.M. Vaughan

Pub 4-2013, Margaret K. McElderry Books

I think that The Ability by M.M. Vaughan was really about teamwork, which makes it different from other books like it. It reminded me, for example, of The Mysterious Benedict Society, because in both books children go to a special school to learn specific things that other children don’t learn. In this book, the London school, Myers Holt, teaches students how to use their “ability.” An “ability” is not really easy to define, but it has to do with using your mind to do different things: enter other people’s minds and move objects, or put a thought in other people’s minds that is not really true, but can make those people believe it is.

Chris is the main character of The Ability. The beginning is very funny because everyone in Chris’s old school thought he was a bad kid, and they were all surprised when he was chosen to attend Myers Holt. Chris is my favorite character. His mother watched TV all day long, and she made Chris take care of her, and that made me feel sad for Chris. Even then, Chris is very enthusiastic and cheerful, and friendly to the other students.

One of reasons I really liked this book was because it was a bit scary, and I like that. The bad guys seem extremely bad and powerful. There were screens on the walls and fake moons and stars at night, and a blue fake sky in the morning that made the school seem special. I also like the characters. Rex is funny, and Daisy, I think, likes Chris. I don’t know if it is a love story, but it is definitely about strong friendships. Everything these kids do is very interesting, and I wish all twelve-year old kids would be able to do these things as well. Only six students go to the school, even though all twelve-year olds have the “ability.” Once you turn twelve, you can use the “ability,” but when you turn thirteen the “ability” will go away automatically. These six kids had to do a special test to go to the school, and they all passed it using the “ability” even though they still didn’t know they had it.

I definitely recommend The Ability to everyone. Kids and adults that like stories about unusual powers will really enjoy this book. I am looking forward to reading the next book by M.M. Vaughan.

- Lucas B., 9

Young Reviewer

The Sasquatch Escape

Suzanne Selfors

Pub 4-2013, Little, Brown for Young Readers

Suzanne Selfors is known for writing books with magic—just a little, though. The Sasquatch Escape is the first book of a new series: “The Imaginary Veterinary”. Selfors takes her readers on a magical journey through Buttonville, and what seems to be a boring town at first is not boring anymore.

Ben is a ten year-old California kid who visits his grandpa in Buttonville for the summer. Soon enough, he makes friends with a girl named Pearl. Ben and Pearl find an injured dragon that Ben’s grandpa’s cat had bitten. It is not everyday that you find an injured dragon! They take it to the hospital, but once there, they find it’s no ordinary hospital. It’s a hospital for worms! But not just worms—magical creatures. They are scattered around the hospital. Meanwhile, Ben and Pearl get into trouble because a sasquatch—a big, brown hairy beast—escapes from the WORM hospital. And it’s Ben’s fault! He didn’t lock the door.

I like the setting because Buttonville is a boring town but soon comes to feel like a very suspenseful Olympic Final. Ben is a city boy from Los Angeles, where there is a lot more things to do than in Buttonville. Compared to L.A., Buttonville is a speck of dust! This setting affects Ben because, where at first, he predicted it would be the most boring summer, now he discovers it is the best summer ever!  

My favorite character in the book was the Sasquatch because he is a very funny magical creature. The Sasquatch is my favorite because it is not a normal creature, but is a very important character in the book. My favorite part was when Ben accidentally trapped Ms. Mulbery and her daughter, Victoria in a net! The net was from the “Sasquatch catching kit”. I like this scene because it is very funny and unusual. It’s not every day that people get trapped in a net by a ten-year-old boy!

At first, when I read the beginning of The Sasquatch Escape, it seemed like it would be uneventful because nothing happens in a place where nothing happens. But progressing through the story, I became more and more interested. This book is one that everyone should read. And if you read this book and like it, you can get the second book! Read the whole series! Soon you will read a lot of Suzanne Selfors’ books!

By Krish G., 8

Guest Reviewer

The Giver

Lois Lowry

Laurel Leaf

“It was almost December, and Jonas was beginning to be frightened.”

Thus opens Lois Lowry’s haunting novel The Giver, in which a boy inhabits a seemingly ideal world: a world without conflict, poverty, unemployment, divorce, injustice, or inequality. It is a time in which family values are paramount, teenage rebellion is unheard of, and even good manners are a way of life.

December is the time of the annual Ceremony at which each twelve year old receives a life assignment determined by the Elders. Jonas watches his friend Fiona named Caretaker of the Old and his cheerful pal Asher labeled the Assistant Director of Recreation. But Jonas has been chosen for something special. When his selection leads him to an unnamed man—the man called only the Giver--he begins to sense the dark secrets that underlie the fragile perfection of his world.

Told with deceptive simplicity, this is the provocative story of a boy who experiences something incredible and undertakes something impossible. In the telling, it questions every value we have taken for granted and reexamines our most deeply held beliefs.

I first read this book in my grade 6 English class at the choosing of one of my favorite English teachers. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I think she was quite influential in developing my appreciation and need for books. The Giver was not my introduction to Lois Lowry, however. I had read Number the Stars the year before, and loved it as well. Since, I have read Messenger and Gathering Blue multiple times and am beyond excited to read her fourth installment, Son. The Giver has remained my favorite of Lowry’s novels to date. 

I ripped through the book, finishing it in about a day during a very busy Christmas season. It had been a while since I read fiction geared towards as young an audience as The Giver is, but I enjoyed the story and the story telling all the same. Lowry is excellent at dropping readers into the midst of a world they know nothing about and revealing key details just in time to allow you to understand what’s happening, but keep you guessing about what could possibly come next. 

I remember the book seeming much longer the first time I read it, perhaps because many of the ideas and concepts of dystopian fiction were entirely new to me at the time. My eyes were certainly opened to many new concepts of government, choice, rights, and responsibility the first time I read The Giver. My most recent read found me particularly focused on the idea of truth: what qualifies as truth, when it should be told, when it should be with held, and the power and responsibility that comes with the truth. 

One of my favorite things about rereading books is the experience of going back and finding a new detail that hadn’t stood out to me before. The Giver was a comfortable and familiar book that was still able to challenge my opinions. Jonas’s story is easy to read and his experiences allow one to see aspects of our lives that are taken for granted, through a fresh pair of eyes. 

It is always a pleasure to read Lois Lowry’s work and I recommend this book for anyone as young as grade 5, and any and every age older. 

Reviewed by Diana at Project:Read 

http://project-read.tumblr.com/

Staff Pick

A Tale Dark and Grimm

By Adam Gidwitz

“Once upon a time, fairy tales were awesome.” And gory, and irreverent, andhilarious, and completely original in the hands of debut author Adam
Gidwitz. Great as a solo read or read-aloud for ages 10 and up, or for
anyone who likes their fairy tales with an abundance of death and
dismemberment.

- By Cristin

It’s here.

Adam Gidwitz’s long-awaited sequel to A Tale Dark and Grimm has arrived!

BEHOLD: IN A GLASS GRIMMLY.

Take caution ahead—
Oversize plant life, eerie amphibious royalty, and fear-inducing creatures abound.

Lest you enter with dread.
Follow Jack and Jill as they enter startling new landscapes that may (or may not) be scary, bloody, terrifying, and altogether true.

Step lively, dear reader …
Happily ever after isn’t cutting it anymore.

Congratulations, Gidwitz, Old Boy. You’ve brought the harrowing, magical world of fairy tales, beyond the comfortable world of Grimm, into the vast, fantastical world of alternative lores in deep, dark woods.

GET IT HERE.

Teen Review

When You Wish Upon a Rat

Maureen McCarthy

Pub 9-2012, Amulet, $16.95

Author Maureen McCarthy is known for her bestselling books in Australia, which include Cross My Heart and Chain of Hearts. When You Wish Upon a Rat is Maureen McCarthy’s first book for middle school readers.

In When You Wish Upon a Rat, eleven-year-old Ruth Craze visits her aunt Mary Ellen in New York, and Mary Ellen gives Ruth a rat named Rodney. Rodney can grant Ruth three wishes that can change the way Ruth lives. She could wish to be an only child, or her parents could care more about Ruth than about her brother. After living her wish for a little while, Ruth can leave that life by finding a red door before six o’clock. If Ruth doesn’t leave the life she wished for, she will be stuck in her wishful life forever.

Rodney the rat is one key feature that really worked in the book. I would have left this book on the shelf if Rodney weren’t in it. Without Rodney in the story, it just wouldn’t be as good or exciting. The reason Rodney worked so well in the book is because Rodney wasn’t always perfect about granting wishes; Ruth’s wish would not turn out exactly as what she wished. Other than the rat, there were no other key features.

The beginning of the book was slow going but after a while it got better. I really think I should have left the book for someone younger than 15 years old to read,  but I didn’t because it was one of the only books that had an animal as one of the main characters.  The most important thing this book wants you to remember is that it can be hard to change your life, especially if a rat is the one that changes it for you, and he has all the magic.

- Kyra N.,15

Teen Review

Ungifted

Gordon Korman

Pub 8-2012, Balzer & Bray, $16.99

Hello Reader! The book you are about to read about is Ungifted by Gordon Korman. This book is realistic fiction. I chose this book because I had read one of his other books in the 39 Clues series and I liked it a lot. I hope you will like Ungifted, too.

Dovan is the main character in this book. He is one of those kids who will let other people convince him to do things even if they are not the best idea. This gets him in lots of trouble, which you will notice throughout this book (if you read it). One day, he knocks a large globe off of a statue during a school dance (the statue is of a man holding a globe). Dovan knocks it off with a stick because he is really mad at his friends, but he never meant to break it. The globe goes through the gym that the school dance is hosted in. He gets in trouble. The man who gets him in trouble puts his name on a list that he thinks is for kids who are being punished, but it is really for kids who are going to go to a special school. Dovan goes to the school and learns it is a school for very intelligent people.

One thing I liked about this book was that Dovan has trouble blending in. The reason I liked this book is because a lot of kids including me (sometimes) have trouble blending in. But somehow Gordon Korman makes this a really important part of the book. I find Dovan’s attempts to blend in quite pathetic and funny, because though he could meet the standards in his old school, in his new school, it is so much harder that he basically fails at everything but robotics, which you will later learn. At first, he is bad at robotics, but he likes the class, so he prints out pictures and pastes them on the class robot. I can tell that Dovan likes robotics because it is the class that is focused on most in the book and it is the only class where Dovan makes friends.

Dovan learns that the robot is going to be in a contest and needs to be driven with a joystick. No one knows how to drive the robot but Dovan, so he drives it. I think this is a special moment for Dovan because he was feeling like he didn’t fit in for a long time, and now he’s finally found something he is good at. 

Soon, people notice he does not belong at the school, so they make him take a test to see if he really is smart. Someone in the school hacks into the computer and does the test for him. Dovan doubts that this plan will work. He even doubts that the person who helped him is really a friend to him because they might just want Dovan to stay in the school so he can steer the robot. I am not sure what Gordon Korman was trying to say about friendship, but he is surely not saying that friends always help. Sometimes people only do things for themselves, even if it seems like they are doing it for a friend.  

I liked this book because the characters had real-to-life feelings. When Dovan starts at the gifted school, he feels nervous like a real kid would feel. Just like you might feel on your first day at a new school.

Want to find out if Dovan gets to stay in the school or he doesn’t? Then read this book. I hope you’ll like it!

- Luisa P., 8