Swindle

I finally read this book! When Scholastic highlighted this book on their DVD last year for the book fair, I was a little turned off by their sales pitch (and the cover of the book, too I hate to admit). But so many of my students read the book and really liked it, I thought I would give it a try. I totally enjoyed it! It would make a good movie.
This adventure story starts out with Griffin's family about to lose their house. When Griffin finds a baseball card worth a ton of money, he figures his family will be rich and not have to move. BUT not when the antagonist, S. Wendell aka Swindle acquires the card. Griffin's home is at stake here and he is so desperate that he comes up with an awesome plan to get the card back. Retrieving the card made me really nervous but I admired the way all the characters had a unique talent to contribute to the scheme.

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy

They do things differently in Phippsburg, Maine as Turner Buckminster is finding out. Turner's family just moved to Maine where his father has taken a new position as the minister. The story takes place in 1911 and the people in this little town have no respect for the community of former slaves living on an island very close to the coast, visible to the town of Phippsburg. In fact the young people in town seem to have no respect for Turner either. He doesn't feel welcome and the kids make fun of him while playing baseball and even swimming. Turner discovers Lizzie (an islander) one day when he has isolated himself from the others. Turner and Lizzie secretly become friends. As the story moves along I was amazed how steady Turner is in his resolve to do what is right. I highly recommend this book for older readers such as 5th grade and up because of the emotional content and a devastating part of our nation's history. This Newbery Honor and Michael Prinz Honor Book Award winner is based on a true event.

Julia Gillian (and the Art of Knowing)

This is a very enjoyable little big book. I say little big because this 281 page book is almost square and has double spaces between the sentences and lots of delightful drawings illustrating the pages. So it has the feel of a big book but not the length. Minneapolis author, Alison McGhee takes us into the thoughts of Julia Gillian, a ten year old girl living near Lake Harriet in Minneapolis. She is a very quirky child who communicates with her very big dog telepathically. You will enjoy her papier-maché masks and her neighbors. You may empathize with her reluctance to finish a book she fears may have a bad ending. She has a route she walks with her St Bernard everyday but first she stops at Enzo's apartment where her 18 year old neighbor occasionally dispenses advice disguised in a story. I think younger readers, particularly 3rd or 4th graders will like this book.

RULES -Where you stand determines what you see.

I have the above saying on my library wall next to the word perspective. I usually think of people from other countries or cultures when I explore this concept. But this novel, Rules offers another viewpoint. It allows a peek in the window of someone living with an autistic sibling. The author, Cynthia Lord does a wonderful job allowing us into the frustration, complication, and ever-present situation of living with someone with special needs. The main character, twelve year old Catherine, is telling the story and through the voices of her parents and a boy in a wheelchair using cards to talk, she presents an amazing pull of emotions through the people in her life. Catherine grapples with appearances and worries about what others think, so she writes rules for her younger brother, David. She is quite clever and the rules add humor to a sometimes tense situation. Many of the rules are very useful not only to David but to Catherine. One of my favorites is: If you don't have the words you need, borrow someone else's. David likes to use words from Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad stories to communicate. There is so much to appreciate about Cynthia Lord's book, I wholeheartedly recommend reading it.