VOLUME 1, NUMBER 1 • OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2008 jlgmonthly

Changes Galore at JLG

Fall 2008 brings a number of changes to the Junior Library Guild. As you may have noticed, the document you are reading is one of them. It is the fi rst issue of JLG Monthly, which will come to Susan Marston, you ten times a year, JLG Editorial Director with double issues in October/November and April/May. (Somehow JLG Almost Monthly didn’t sound quite as good.) JLG Monthly replaces the twice yearly Resource Catalog and includes all the same information about each of our selections— but on a monthly basis—and in color! To further whet your appetite for the fabulous books that are coming your way we’ve also added a new section, JLG Review, explaining why we like each of the selected titles. In October and November alone we have so many exciting books for all age levels. Among the picture books, there are the adorably sweet Katie Loves the Kittens and the hilarious Humpty Dumpty Climbs Again. Among the novels, there is adventure for middle grade readers in the playful Masterpiece and for YA readers in the haunting and compelling Th e Hunger Games. Nonfi ction titles include the incredible true story of Angel Girl, the fascinating insights of Our Farm, and the intense No Choirboy, which is the fi rst selection ever in our new HI group, High-Interest Reading High School. Th e three other new groups beginning this season are Biography Elementary (BE), Fantasy/Science Fiction Middle & High School (FM), . . . continued on page 2

Inside this issue:

October Books ...... 3 Special Insert Fall Forthcoming Titles, December–March ...... 31 November Books ...... 35 JLG News & Notes ...... 63 Junior Library Guild 7858 Industrial Parkway www.juniorlibraryguild.com • 866-205-0570 Plain City, OH 43064 Grades 2–6 Grades 10 & up BE Biography Elementary HH History High School

JLG Monthly provides Junior Library Guild members with a detailed and incisive guide to the upcoming month’s selected books.

The Junior Library Guild has provided school and Grades 7–11 Grades 10 & up public libraries with a selection of the very best in children’s Fantasy/Science Fiction High-Interest Reading and young adult literature FM Middle & High School H I High School since 1929. JLG’s collection development service helps thousands of libraries across the country put the very best new-release hard-cover books on their shelves. Each year, JLG’s editors read and review over 3,000 books prior to publication to identify the very best for inclusion in one of Junior Library Guild’s . . . continued from page 1 28 Reading Levels (ranging and History High School (HH). We have found some amazing books (just look from Pre-K through YA). With each season’s books, inside!) for each of these categories and can’t imagine our list without them. we strive to build on a Another change we are eager to introduce is our newly redesigned Web site tradition of editorial (www.juniorlibraryguild.com). Th ere you can do all kinds of useful things: excellence and integrity • Read details about forthcoming books that stretches back to 1929. Over the years, • Research titles in your collection that you’ve received through JLG more than nine out of • Search, browse, and buy backlist titles (at the same crazy-low prices as ever) ten JLG selections have • Manage your account by updating contact information, renewing gone on to win additional subscriptions, and adding levels awards or earn starred or • Use advanced search tools to pull together book ideas for units, events, or favorable reviews from respected review journals. classroom support For more information Dan Josefson, the assistant editor who works on the FM group, said jokingly about JLG’s collection one day that FM stands for “Fun, Man!” Th e fun of reading new books, development service, choosing the best, and sending them out to you really applies to all the levels to become a member, and all the changes. We at JLG hope your fall brings you great fun as well. or for information about how to submit upcoming books for consideration, visit www.juniorlibraryguild.com or call toll free 866-205-0570.

© 2008 Media Source Incorporated. All rights reserved. Contact Information: Neither this publication nor any part of it may be reproduced, Subscriptions/Sales/Service: 866-205-0570 in any form or by any means, without the prior permission of [email protected] Media Source. JLG Monthly is published ten times each year (monthly except September and March) by Media Source JLG Monthly, 7858 Industrial Parkway, Plain City, Ohio 43064 Incorporated, 7858 Industrial Parkway, Plain City, Ohio 43064.

2 jlgmonthly • OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2008 866-205-0570 OCTOBER GRADES K–3 • PRIMARY SPANISH PS

Lots and Lots of Zebra Stripes / Muchas, muchísimas rayas de cebra

written and photographed by Stephen R. Swinburne • translated by Aída E. Marcuse

Boyds Mills • ISBN: 9781590786413 • Dewey: 778.9 • 32 pp • 10” x 8” Scheduled Month: October 2008

“Los diseños son líneas y formas que se repiten. Patterns are lines and shapes that repeat.” From a spider’s web to the spots on a giraff e, a pansy’s colors to a turtle’s shell, this book shows many naturally occurring patterns in plant and animal life. “Encontrar diseños es divertido. Finding patterns is fun.” Illustrated with full-color photographs. Stephen R. Swinburne is the author of several nonfi ction books for JLG REVIEW children. He loves to travel and observe nature and Lots and Lots of Zebra Stripes / Muchas, muchísimas rayas de wildlife, and at one time, was a park ranger for the cebra introduces readers to a variety of naturally occurring National Park Service. “I write to share patterns, for both aesthetic enjoyment and as a way of my enthusiasm for the natural world,” teaching about the world. Originally published in English Mr. Swinburne says. “Through children’s in 1998, Stephen Swinburne’s book, which features books and school visits, I hope to encourage wonder, imagination, and discovery.” wonderful photographs, accessible text, and clear design, Mr. Swinburne lives with his wife and two won wide acclaim. Th is lovely book is now a welcome daughters in South Londonderry, Vermont. addition to bilingual publishing. Visit Stephen R. Swinburne’s Web site at Th e many vivid photographs depict all sorts of www.steveswinburne.com patterns, including those on fl owers and watermelons, in snowfl akes, stones, and clouds, and, of course, on zebras. Th e book ends by challenging readers to fi nd patterns in natural objects they might come across on an average day. Th is book is sure to open children’s eyes to the details of the world around them.

CURRICULUM INDICATIONS Book type: Picture book. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Art. Spanish. Genre: Simple concept. Classroom units: Patterns. Nature. Main characters: Patterns. Topics: Patterns. Nature. Plants. Animals. Shapes. The world around us. Setting: The natural world. Comprehension skills: Recognize patterns. Summary: There are many patterns in nature. Sensitive areas: None.

www.juniorlibraryguild.com OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2008 • jlgmonthly 3 K KINDERGARTEN • GRADES PreK–K OCTOBER

The Little Yellow Leaf

written and illustrated by Carin Berger

Greenwillow • ISBN: 9780061452246 • Dewey: E • 40 pp • 7” x 11 1/4” Scheduled Month: October 2008

Leaves swirl through the air, pumpkins ripen, and geese take fl ight. But one lone yellow leaf clings to its branch and thinks, Not yet. Not yet, as the harvest moon blooms “amber in the starry sky.” Not yet, as the nights grow long. Not yet, when there’s a dusting of snow. Th en, high on an icy branch, there is a fl ash of scarlet—another leaf is still holding tight. “Will you?” Little Scarlet Leaf asks. “I will!” says Little Yellow Leaf. “And one, two, three, they let go and soared.” Full-color collages.

JLG REVIEW Carin Berger is an award- A trail of dashes on the endpapers leads to a swirling yellow leaf and draws the reader winning designer and into this beautiful book about being afraid of change—and the importance of having illustrator. To create her a friend to help face that fear. It is inevitable that Little Yellow Leaf will let go of its artwork, she is endlessly branch. Little Yellow Leaf accepts this truth, saying Not yet, rather than no or never. on the hunt for odd bits of Still, tension builds as the warm orange colors of the early pages are replaced with chilly paper ephemera at fl ea markets, antiquarian bookstores, and junk shops. She also fi nds blues. Time seems to be running out when Little Yellow Leaf meets Little Scarlet Leaf. her collage materials in the “most mundane Alone, each leaf was afraid. Together, they are fearless, joyous, and free, as they dance on places,” on the sidewalk, in the recycling bin, the wind high above snow-dusted fi elds. and in her husband’s coat pockets. Th e text of this spare story is carefully and dramatically arranged. Short bursts of text Carin Berger lives with her family in are laid out with poetry-like line breaks. On one page, words appear on four glowing New York City. images of the setting sun; on another, the words arch around the crown of an almost- bare oak tree. Readers will be attracted to the clean design and striking images of this simply told but uplifting story. Th ey may also enjoy puzzling out the bits of words, numbers, and blocks of text that add texture to the collages.

CURRICULUM INDICATIONS Book type: Picture book. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Science. Genre: Easy fi ction. Classroom units: Seasons. Colors. Choices. Main characters: A little yellow leaf that is not quite ready to fall from Topics: Autumn. Leaves. Fear of the unknown. Feeling ready. Sun. Snow. the tree. Finding a friend. Letting go. Setting: On an almost bare oak tree as autumn advances to winter. Comprehension skills: Compare and contrast. Summary: A little yellow leaf does not feel ready to fall as autumn passes Sensitive areas: None. and winter approaches. Finally the yellow leaf spots a scarlet leaf also clinging to the tree, and together the two dance away.

4 jlgmonthly • OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2008 866-205-0570 OCTOBER GRADES K–1 • PRIMARY P

The Origami Master

by Nathaniel Lachenmeyer • illustrated by Aki Sogabe

Albert Whitman • ISBN: 9780807561348 • Dewey: E • 32 pp • 8” x 10” Scheduled Month: October 2008

One morning Shima the Origami Master wakes up to fi nd a beautiful paper elephant on his desk. Th e next day he fi nds a magnifi cent dragon. Both of them surpass his own creations, so Shima decides to hide and catch the intruder who can best him. To his surprise, the intruder is a warbler, which he easily captures and locks in a cage. He off ers the bird nuts and berries, and—hoping to learn its secrets—origami paper. Includes instructions for making an origami bird. Full-color art, created with cut paper and watercolor.

JLG REVIEW With Th e Origami Master, Nathaniel Lachenmeyer and Aki Sogabe bring readers a tale as simple and elegant as origami itself. Sogabe’s art pairs bold outlines with minimal backgrounds, keeping the reader’s attention fi xed on the story’s characters and their artwork. Lachenmeyer’s text is similarly sparse, with no extraneous dialogue or gimmickry to distract from the book’s plotline. Such restraint adds to the impression that Th e Origami Master could be mistaken for a long-forgotten gem of ancient folklore. Like those classic tales, it boasts a small cast of archetypal characters—in this case, an artist whose pride too quickly turns to jealousy and a bird whose innocent nature requires freedom. And like many of the most beloved folktales, Th e Origami Master brings home its moral lesson with a succession of clever plot twists. Children will particularly love Th e Origami Master for its bright depictions of folded- paper animals—including spiders, elephants, and dragons. Anticipating young readers’ interest in the art form, the book also provides easy-to-follow instructions for making their own origami.

Nathaniel Lachenmeyer has always been interested in origami. Aki Sogabe was born in Shizuoka, Japan, and lives in About The Origami Master he says, “The idea of making something Bellevue, Washington. “The magical but warm story of so beautiful and intricate from a single piece of paper is very an origami master and a warbler reminded me of my appealing. Once I discovered the works of contemporary origami childhood,” she says. “I believe this story gives children artists, I knew that I wanted to write a picture book about an the wonderful traditions of origami, and origami master. I have always loved animals, especially birds, so it was a pleasure to the warblers and plum blossoms are be able to introduce an avian origami master into this story.” symbols of spring in Japan.” Mr. Lachenmeyer lives near Atlanta, Georgia, with his wife and two children. Visit Aki Sogabe’s Web site at Visit Nathaniel Lachenmeyer’s Web site at www.nathaniellachenmeyer.com akisogabe.samsbiz.com

Aki Sogabe photo: Steve Sogabe

CURRICULUM INDICATIONS Book type: Picture book. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Art. Genre: Fiction. Classroom units: Art and artists. Freedom. Animals. Main characters: Origami Master Shima; a warbler. Topics: Origami. Birds. Birdsongs. Cages. Sadness. Escape. Apologies. Setting: Shima’s home high in the mountains. Comprehension skills: Cause and eff ect. Summary: Shima lives alone, making origami. One day a warbler builds Sensitive areas: None. a nest outside his home. The warbler watches Shima and learns to do origami. Shima traps the warbler, but the caged bird is too sad to make anything. In the morning, Shima discovers that the bird has escaped, using an origami key. Shima understands his mistake and is happy to hear the warbler sing from its nest. www.juniorlibraryguild.com OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2008 • jlgmonthly 5 P+ PRIMARY • GRADES K–1 OCTOBER

How to Heal a Broken Wing

written and illustrated by Bob Graham

Candlewick • ISBN: 9780763639037 • Dewey: E • 40 pp • 8 1/8” x 11 13/16” Scheduled Month: October 2008

“High above the city, no one heard the soft thud of feathers against glass. No one saw the bird fall. No one looked down . . . except Will.” On a crowded city street, a young boy crouches by a fallen pigeon and persuades his mother to let him take it home with them. Together, the boy’s family tends to it, hoping that “with rest . . . and time,” the bird may fl y again. Full-color art includes wordless sequences that advance the plot.

JLG REVIEW Bob Graham’s latest picture book is a study in extremes: measured on the scale of city life, a pigeon is miniscule, barely a dot on the horizon. But if, to paraphrase a Jewish saying, every life is like a universe, Will’s act of compassion is simultaneously small and gigantic. What makes Graham’s message even more poignant is his choice of animal: not a wide-eyed puppy begging to be taken home from the pound or a beautiful songbird found injured in a suburban yard, but a simple, common pigeon—an animal so often associated with the worst aspects of city life. Graham’s art lends a quiet magic to the tale, and his shifting color palette—grays for city streets and crowds, pinks and blues for cozy home life, golden yellows for moments of triumph or compassion— helps readers stay connected to the mostly wordless storyline. Despite the sparseness of its text, How to Heal a Broken Wing is well suited for small group read alouds. Children will delight in watching Will and his parents work together to save the pigeon. Adults will appreciate the book’s spirit of optimism. And both sets of readers will be left basking in this book’s warm glow long after story time is over.

Bob Graham says he wanted to write a story about a pigeon rescued by a child, “because children are our future and our hope for a more caring world. I wanted to show human kindness enacted in ordinary, everyday, and seemingly insignifi cant events. It was important for Will’s actions to be the focus of the story, so I tried to let the pictures do the talking with a minimum number of words.” Mr. Graham lives in Australia with his wife, Carolyn. They have two children and two grandchildren. He writes: “To my grandchildren, I am Bob rather than Granddad. I enjoy reading them books, mostly other people’s, and very occasionally I will read them one of mine.”

CURRICULUM INDICATIONS Book type: Easy picture book. for it until it can fl y again, eventually releasing it into the sky in the grand Genre: Fiction. square where they found it. Main characters: A wild pigeon; Will, a compassionate young boy; Will’s Curriculum areas: Language arts. Science. parents. Classroom units: Cities. Pet care. Urban life. Problem solving. Setting: In a broad and bustling square and at Will’s home, both in a big Topics: Urban wildlife. Pigeons. Compassion. Caring for a wild animal. city. Healing. The phases of the moon. The passage of time. Summary: A pigeon crashes into a glass skyscraper and falls to the Comprehension skills: Author’s purpose. Sequence. pavement. None of the passersby pay it any mind, but Will, who is Sensitive areas: Touching a wild animal. emerging from the underground with his mother, rushes over to the injured bird. Will’s mother tries to pull him away, but Will refuses to leave. To his mother’s dismay, he picks up the bird. Finally persuaded to help, Will’s mother wraps the pigeon in her scarf. They take it home and care

6 jlgmonthly • OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2008 866-205-0570 OCTOBER GRADES 1–3 • EASY READING E

The Scrambled States of America Talent Show

written and illustrated by Laurie Keller

Holt • ISBN: 9780805079975 • Dewey: E • 40 pp • 10” x 10” Scheduled Month: October 2008

Th e fi fty states are excited about the talent show: Iowa will perform stand-up, Pennsylvania will play a peppy tune on the Liberty Bell, and Georgia will join California, Idaho, and Massachusetts as one of the Jolly Jugglers—or will she? Every time she starts to rehearse, she gets a bad case of the shakes. After fi nding that Georgia’s square miles, temperature, and average yearly rainfall are normal, Dr. Globe makes a diagnosis: stage fright. Will imagining the audience members in their underwear calm Georgia’s nerves? Full-color acrylic paint and collages assembled in Adobe Photoshop. Laurie Keller has received many requests over the years from readers asking her to write a sequel to her fi rst book, JLG REVIEW The Scrambled States of America. She says, “Several people Th is companion to the popular Th e Scrambled States of America lets readers know right suggested that Nevada and away they are in for a treat, with endpapers that do the impossible: make statehood Mississippi, who fell in love in dates and abbreviations funny. “Hey, Idaho—you and Laurie Keller have the same the original story, get married. It sounded like fun, and I BIRTHDAY!” “Hmmm, I wonder which one of us is older?” imagined lots of silly situations, but I couldn’t With Laurie Keller’s good-natured zaniness, an otherwise straightforward plot—if fi gure out what to do with the newlyweds you accept the premise of animate states—becomes funny, memorable, and enjoyably after the wedding. Since relocating seemed informative. Many of the performances off er a sprinkling of fact. For example, out of the question, I put the wedding on hold and went with the talent show idea.” Delaware, the First State, is also the fi rst act in the show. Readers will easily remember Ms. Keller says she had so much fun writing the comical image of “freakishly strong” Rhode Island, the smallest state, holding about the states again that she plans to write gigantic Alaska, the largest state, above his head. Even the humorous chain of events another sequel soon. “It will most likely take that jolts Georgia out of her stage fright begins with a whiff of her “peachy” perfume. place at summer camp and focus on regions While Georgia doesn’t have to use the underwear trick to get through her juggling act, of the country.” Visit Laurie Keller’s Web site at readers still get a chance to see some of the states in www.lauriekeller.com their unmentionables. Almost nothing is as funny to kids as underwear, but the witty asides on every page ensure laughs from start to fi nish.

CURRICULUM INDICATIONS Book type: Picture book. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Geography. Genre: Humor. Classroom units: The United States. Main characters: The fi fty states. Topics: The United States. Talent shows. Stagehands. Performers. Stage Setting: A talent show. fright. Humor. Summary: The states decide to put on a talent show. Some states work Comprehension skills: Author’s purpose. behind the scenes, while others perform singly or in groups. Georgia has Sensitive areas: None. a bad case of stage fright.

www.juniorlibraryguild.com OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2008 • jlgmonthly 7 E+ EASY READING • GRADES 1–3 OCTOBER

Art from Her Heart Folk Artist Clementine Hunter

by Kathy Whitehead • illustrated by Shane W. Evans

Putnam’s • ISBN: 9780399242199 • Dewey: 759.13 B • 32 pp • 8” x 10” Scheduled Month: October 2008

“Clementine waited until her work in the Big House was done and the twinkle of stars fi lled the night sky above the Cane River. She was ready to paint, like the artists she cooked and cleaned for on Melrose Plantation. . . . Instead of canvas, she used window shades, glass bottles, black iron skillets, and old boards—whatever she could fi nd. In the middle of her hundred years, Clementine Hunter had decided to paint.” Hunter’s work, inspired by memories of picking cotton and pecans, wash days, weddings, and baptisms, now hangs in museums across the country. Bibliography. Author’s note. Full-color Kathy Whitehead loves to mixed-media illustrations. visit historical sites. A few years ago, she visited the Melrose Plantation near JLG REVIEW Natchitoches, Louisiana. There she saw the work of African American With striking illustrations and simple, evocative text, Art from Her Heart is an folk artist Clementine Hunter. “I instantly understated biography of a fascinating American artist. knew I wanted to write a biography about the Clementine Hunter is presented as serious and humble, her work fi rmly grounded life and work of this famous Louisiana artist,” she says. “However, it took a second trip to in her experience. Born in late December 1886 or early January 1887, she worked on Melrose and several years of refl ection on Melrose Plantation, a Louisiana haven Hunter’s life before I felt like I could put pen for artists and writers. Hunter was self- to paper.” taught and began to paint at the age of Ms. Whitehead lives in College Station, Texas, with her husband, Bill. They have fi fty. Without presuming to understand two children. her motivations for beginning to paint, Visit Kathy Whitehead’s Web site at the book focuses instead on the practical www.kathywhitehead.com aspects of Hunter’s work: where she got the paints she used and the objects on Shane W. Evans says, “My favorite part of illustration is putting a rainbow of paints which she painted. in all the crannies and nooks. My work, with Shane W. Evans’s mixed-media its simple lines and playful color schemes, illustrations, which incorporate is inspired by my travels and my love of brushstrokes, fabric, and lines drawn in comic books.” Mr. Evans has illustrated more than pencil, further emphasize this materiality. To Evans’s credit, he does not try to mimic thirty children’s books. He lives in Kansas Hunter’s style in his own illustrations. Th erefore, when reproductions of Hunter’s City, Missouri, with his wife, paintings do appear in the book, they stand out distinctly. daughter, and two dogs. As the story moves between scenes of Hunter painting and scenes of her and others Visit Shane W. Evans’s Web working on the plantation, gestures and postures are repeated, suggesting a continuity site at www.shaneevans.com between Hunter’s paintings and the activities that inspired them. Although the book Kathy Whitehead photo: has an optimistic and even triumphant tone, it does not gloss over the discrimination Specialties Photography027 Hunter faced. For example, even when her paintings hung in museums and galleries, one gallery would not let her in the front door; she waited until after hours to see her own work on display. Th is biography is an unsentimental and extremely moving portrayal of an artist and her work.

CURRICULUM INDICATIONS Book type: Picture book. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Art. African American studies. Genre: Biography. Classroom units: Art and artists. African Americans. Biography. Main characters: Self-taught artist Clementine Hunter. Topics: Clementine Hunter (ca. 1886–1988). Art. Making do. Plantation Setting: Melrose Plantation in Natchitoches, Louisiana. life. Family. Art exhibits. Prejudice. Segregation. Summary: An illustrated biography of Clementine Hunter, explaining Comprehension skills: Fact and opinion. Main idea and details. how she began to paint, how she chose her subjects, what materials she Sensitive areas: None. used, and how her art became well-known.

8 jlgmonthly • OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2008 866-205-0570 OCTOBER GRADES 2–4 • INDEPENDENT READERS I

Mo and Jo Fighting Together Forever

by Jay Lynch • art by Dean Haspiel

TOON • ISBN: 9780979923852 • Dewey: E • 40 pp • 6” x 9” Scheduled Month: October 2008

Mona and Joey, sister and brother, have two things in common: a favorite superhero, Mojo, and a favorite enemy, each other. One day, their mailman, Mr. Mojoski, reveals his secret identity: he’s Mojo! He tells them he’s retiring and gives them the costume that grants him his powers. Mo and Jo fi ght over it and rip it in half, but their mother fashions two new costumes from the material. When they put on the costumes, Mo gains super-stretchiness, while Jo obtains powerful magnetic boots. Th en Mojo’s nemesis, Saw-Jaw, attacks the city, and Mo and Jo have to fi ght together to thwart him. Graphic-novel format. Full-color illustrations. Jay Lynch enjoyed reading funny superhero comics like Plastic Man when he was a JLG REVIEW kid. When he wasn’t reading comic books, he would draw his own cartoon For many kids, being just like their favorite characters on the sidewalk in front of his house. He says, “I loved to hide in the bushes superhero would be the coolest thing and listen to what the other kids had to say imaginable. Mo and Jo makes that dream come about my sidewalk drawings. If I could have true for two siblings, giving young readers an any superpower, I’d like to know what color idea of what the experience might be like. Mo something is just by touching it.” Visit Jay Lynch’s Web site at and Jo’s exploration of their new abilities as they www.mindspring.com/~jaylynch quarrel with each other is playful, and kids may be inspired to create their own superheroes, powers, and comic books. Dean Haspiel used to read Fantastic Four However, the book also explores a common superhero theme embodied in the and Shazam! when he was a kid. He has enduring Spider-Man formulation: “With great power, there must also come great drawn superheroes for Marvel and DC Comics and created his own responsibility!” While Mo and Jo’s powers comically amplify their bickering, their comic book characters. “If I could refusal to act as a team has dangerous consequences when Saw-Jaw attacks. Brother and have any superpower,” Mr. Haspiel sister both learn that with their exciting abilities come new challenges and duties—a says, “I’d like to fl y. That would just neat metaphor for growing up. be cool!” Visit Dean Haspiel’s Web site at As such, this book is a fi ne introduction to the rich literature of comics. Th e dramatic, www.deanhaspiel.com punning dialogue recalls classic comics, and the impressive book design and layout refl ect the writer and artist’s backgrounds in the medium.

CURRICULUM INDICATIONS Book type: Graphic novel. gets one of the two superpowers. But in order to defeat Saw-Jaw, Mo and Genre: Comic book. Jo must work together to become team Mojo. Main characters: Mona and Joey, two siblings who are constantly Curriculum areas: Language arts. bickering; Mr. Mojoski, aka the superhero Mighty Mojo; arch-villain Classroom units: Siblings. Teamwork. Graphic novels. Saw-Jaw. Topics: Sibling rivalry. Superheroes. Costumes. Superpowers. Parades. Setting: The siblings’ apartment; a big city during a parade. Villains. Cooperation. Success. Summary: Mona and Joey are always fi ghting. When Mr. Mojoski gives Comprehension skills: Author’s purpose. them his Mojo suit, which contains superhero powers, they fi ght over it Sensitive areas: Sibling insults and threats. and rip it. Their mother makes the suit into two diff erent outfi ts, and each

www.juniorlibraryguild.com OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2008 • jlgmonthly 9 I + INDEPENDENT READERS • GRADES 2–4 OCTOBER

Twenty-Odd Ducks Why, Every Punctuation Mark Counts!

by Lynne Truss • illustrated by Bonnie Timmons

Putnam’s • ISBN: 9780399250583 • Dewey: 429.2 • 32 pp • 10 1/2” x 7” Scheduled Month: October 2008

In an illustration in Twenty-Odd Ducks, guests sit around a dinner table in formal attire, yelling and throwing wine at one another in the queen’s absence. Th e accompanying caption reads: Th e queen: without her, dinner is noisy. In the adjacent illustration, the queen screams, jumps on the table, and waves her cutlery in the air as she awaits her meal. Th e caption reads: Th e queen, without her dinner, is noisy. Th ese and other humorous examples demonstrate how punctuation can dramatically change the meaning of a sentence. Introduction. Detailed explanations of each example. Full-color illustrations.

JLG REVIEW Abstract concepts of correct punctuation become highly teachable and surprisingly entertaining in Lynne Truss’s latest picture book. Th e central technique of the book, demonstrating how punctuation can alter the meaning of what is seemingly the same sentence, is very eff ective. However, Truss’s smart phrasing and examples, together with artist Bonnie Timmons’s funny illustrations, are what make this book exceptional. Familiar fi gures (e.g. pirates and cowboys) and situations (e.g. buying shoes) are, with the addition of a question mark or the subtraction of a comma, cast in unusual and humorous new lights that readers will remember. In a particularly impressive example at the end of the book, a few shifts in punctuation change a message to a teacher from highly complimentary to hilariously rude.

Lynne Truss enjoys the process of writing children’s books on punctuation. Bonnie Timmons is best “With each book, it is a lot of fun coming up with a list of funny examples known for inspiring and creating to show how punctuation changes the sense of a string of words. When we gave the ideas images for the 1990s sitcom to illustrator Bonnie Timmons, she added pictures that had us shouting with laughter. I really Caroline in the City. She and her husband live on a love the work that she has done.” small horse farm near Coatesville, Pennsylvania. Ms. Truss lives in England with her two cats, Daisy and Bill. Visit Bonnie Timmons’s Web site at Visit Lynne Truss’s Web site at www.lynnetruss.com www.bonnietimmons.com

Bonnie Timmons photo: Jim Graham

CURRICULUM INDICATIONS Book type: Picture book. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Genre: Illustrated grammar. Classroom units: Grammar, usage, and mechanics. Word play. Humor. Main characters: Punctuation marks and their eff ects. Topics: Punctuation. Question marks. Periods. Semicolons. Commas. Setting: n/a Hyphens. Quotation marks. Exclamation points. Parentheses. Colons. Placement of punctuation. Summary: Thirteen sets of paired pictures graphically demonstrate the eff ect produced by changing punctuation: These are Jack’s parents; who Comprehension skills: Compare and contrast. Organize textual elements. could be happier? is very diff erent from These are Jack’s parents, who could Sensitive areas: None. be happier.

10 jlgmonthly • OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2008 866-205-0570 OCTOBER GRADES 3–5 • INTERMEDIATE A

Masterpiece

by Elise Broach • illustrated by Kelly Murphy

Holt • ISBN: 9780805082708 • Dewey: E • 304 pp • 5 1/2” x 8 1/4” Scheduled Month: October 2008

Discovering an open ink bottle in eleven-year-old James’s room one night, Marvin, a young beetle, is overcome with the urge to draw. James’s father, an artist, sees the resulting drawing and likens it to the work of Renaissance master Albrecht Dürer. Th inking James is the artist, he whisks James, the drawing, and—unwittingly—Marvin off to the Dürer exhibit at the Met. Th en, surprisingly, the curator asks James to make a decoy drawing to help catch a thief with a penchant for stealing Dürers. Fortunately, Marvin is willing to help. Author’s note. Black-and-white illustrations. Elise Broach started Masterpiece late one night when she was a JLG REVIEW graduate student. “My contact lens washed down the bathroom sink,” Masterpiece is at once a warm friendship story, she says. “I sat on the fl oor for an hour loosening the pipe below a suspenseful mystery, an exciting adventure, the sink. At some point, I started fantasizing and a charming introduction to the art world. about how wonderful it would be to have While Marvin and his family consider humans a creature small enough to shimmy down careless and daft (but good providers of food and the drain and retrieve the contact for me. After I fl ushed it out of the pipe, I sat down furnishings!), they also regard them as dangerous. at my desk and wrote the fi rst few chapters. Marvin, a kindhearted young beetle, makes an I didn’t return to the story for twenty years, exception for eleven-year-old James, a thoroughly but I think it became a better book because likeable kid who doesn’t get enough attention from of that.” his divorced parents. Visit Elise Broach’s Web site at www.elisebroach.com Marvin can understand James’s every word but isn’t able to speak to him. Th e book has moments Kelly Murphy says, “Masterpiece of great tension when Marvin struggles to convey is my fi rst illustrated novel, and vital information—like the identity of the thief— I loved working on it.” She has illustrated several picture books to his human friend. “Marvin went crazy. He leapt in the air, rolled over, waved all his and looks forward to working on legs, and spun in a mad circle. Here! Look, James! Now you’ll know! ” As the two work more chapter books in the future. out how to communicate, they develop a genuinely touching friendship. Elise Broach Ms. Murphy lives in Massachusetts. tempers this sweetness with some hilariously shudder-inducing moments, such as when Visit Kelly Murphy’s Web site at Marvin takes a swim in the drinking glass of a man involved in the art heist. www.kelmurphy.com Kelly Murphy’s detailed spot illustrations provide insight into both the human and beetle worlds and add immeasurably to the book. And Marvin himself is adorable! One can only guess what Albrecht Dürer might have thought of having a beetle’s work compared to his own, but Broach and Murphy make this improbable idea entirely convincing. Kids will fall in love with this irresistible little bug and get swept up in his adventures. Th ey might even become curious about the artist whose drawings Marvin and James strive so hard to protect.

CURRICULUM INDICATIONS Book type: Novel. to use James’s skills to foil an art theft, which means that Marvin must Genre: Fiction. choose either to expose himself to the dangers of the outside world or to abandon his new friend. Main characters: Marvin, a black beetle and master artist; eleven-year- old James Pompaday, a boy who notices the little things; Elaine, Marvin’s Curriculum areas: Language arts. Art. boastful cousin; artist Karl Terik, James’s father; Christina Balcony, a Classroom units: Art and artists. Friendship. Crime. Risks and curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Denny MacGuffi n, a curator consequences. Adventures. at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles; Mr. and Mrs. Pompaday, James’s Topics: Beetles. Helping others. Swimming. Plumbing. Overbearing mother and stepfather. mothers. Birthdays. Parties. Presents. Drawing. Pride. Danger. Albrecht Setting: The Pompadays’ apartment in New York City; the Metropolitan Dürer (1471–1528). Journeys. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Museum of Art. Separation. Loyalty. Art reproductions. Art heists. The four virtues. Summary: James isn’t very excited when he receives a new pen-and-ink Communication. Picnics. Turtles. Rescues. Divorce. Doing what’s right. set from his father for his eleventh birthday. When Marvin sees the set, he Thieves. Double crosses. Evidence. Picking locks. Solving crimes. Escapes. can’t help using the ink to make a miniature drawing for James. This leads Motives. Family. Injuries. Friendship. to a friendship between Marvin and James, but it also presents a problem: Comprehension skills: Deduce and infer. Fantasy and reality. everyone now thinks James is a master artist. Christina Balcony wants Sensitive areas: None. www.juniorlibraryguild.com OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2008 • jlgmonthly 11 A+ INTERMEDIATE • GRADES 3–5 OCTOBER

Gully’s Travels

by Tor Seidler • pictures by Brock Cole

Scholastic • ISBN: 9780545025065 • Dewey: E • 192 pp • 6 3/4” x 8 7/8” Scheduled Month: October 2008

Gully, a Lhasa apso, enjoys a cushy, quiet life. He lives with his kind owner, a professor, at One Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. He eats Prime Premium and spends summers in Paris. Th en the professor becomes engaged to a woman who’s allergic to long-haired dogs, so he reluctantly gives Gully away—to his doorman. Suddenly Gully’s refi ned life is turned upside down. He is thrown into a crowded Queens house with the big, raucous Montoya family, who also own three mutts. Convinced this new situation is all a mistake, Gully forms an escape plan. Black-and-white illustrations.

JLG REVIEW Tor Seidler grew up in Vermont and later, Seattle, In this charming adventure story, delightfully illustrated by Brock Cole, Tor Seidler Washington. His parents eff ectively depicts a pampered dog’s point of view during a period of dramatic change. were involved in the theater. Mr. Seidler often writes about When Professor Rattigan leaves Gully with the Montoya family, the Lhasa apso’s animals. “I always liked children’s literature,” confusion and despair seem perfectly understandable. It is equally convincing that he says. “My stepfather used to tell terrifi c Gully’s loyalty to the professor leads him to plot his escape, managing, miraculously, to bedtime stories to my older brother and me. travel back to Manhattan by subway. He made up episodes which featured animal characters whose foibles were, in fact, ours.” Readers will identify with Gully as he struggles to come to terms with his new life and Mr. Seidler lives in New York City. makes new friends with nineteen-year-old Roberto Montoya and a gerbil named J.C. And they will root for Gully throughout his attempts to fi nd his way home. Brock Cole studied English at Kenyon College As Gully travels from riches to rags—and ultimately arrives at a richness of another in Gambier, Ohio, and received a PhD in sort—he learns about loyalty and friendship. Readers will enjoy Gully’s adventures and philosophy from the University of Minnesota. After teaching philosophy for several years at sigh with relief as the story reaches its satisfying conclusion. the University of Wisconsin, he began writing and illustrating books for children. “I had always wanted to write, and I loved to draw,” he recalls. “I had small children, who were a wonderful audience. Children’s books seemed a perfect fi t.” Mr. Cole and his wife live in Buff alo, New York.

CURRICULUM INDICATIONS Book type: Chapter book. way to regain his former life, Gulliver—now called Gully—journeys from Genre: Fiction. Queens to Manhattan, then later from New York to Paris. Main characters: Gulliver, a Lhasa apso with a very comfortable life; Curriculum areas: Language arts. Professor Rattigan, Gulliver’s owner; Carlos Montoya, the doorman in Classroom units: Animals. Journeys. Loss. Professor Rattigan’s building; Roberto, Carlos’s eldest son; J.C. the gerbil, Topics: New acquaintances. Snobbery. Manhattan. Chess. Manhattan Gulliver’s new friend. apartments. Paris. Queens, New York. Strangers. The Columbia School of Setting: New York City; Paris. Journalism. Indignities. Fainting. Acting lessons. Homesickness. Gerbils. Summary: Gulliver’s pleasant life—strolls around Washington Square, Kindness. Escape. Rejection. Writing. The beach. Near drownings. The summers in Paris, all the Prime Premium he desires—changes drastically life of stray dogs. Abandonment. Suicide. Lost dogs. Collars. Newspaper when his professor decides to marry a woman allergic to dog hair. Gulliver articles. Journeys. Celebrations. Reunions. Choices. suddenly fi nds himself living in Carlos’s house in Queens with children Comprehension skills: Point of view. Sequence. who want to hug him and other animals who mock him. Searching for a Sensitive areas: Mild language. Attempted suicide. Alcohol use.

12 jlgmonthly • OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2008 866-205-0570 OCTOBER GRADES 2–6 • BIOGRAPHY ELEMENTARY BE

Boys of Steel The Creators of Superman

by Marc Tyler Nobleman • illustrated by Ross MacDonald

Knopf • ISBN: 9780375938023 • Dewey: 741.5092’2 • 40 pp • 8 1/2” x 11” Scheduled Month: October 2008

As teenagers, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster enjoyed reading about heroes like Flash Gordon and Tarzan. Th ey also made up their own stories. Late one summer night, Jerry had an idea for a hero who would be all the strongmen he’d ever heard of, “only more so.” Before dawn, Jerry ran to Joe’s apartment, where Jerry created sketches. Soon they prepared a series of comic strips. It took three more years to fi nd a publisher, but when Superman fi nally debuted in 1938, the new superhero was an instant hit. Extensive author’s note. Sources. Full-color illustrations. Marc Tyler Nobleman had planned to write about the teenage cocreators of Superman JLG REVIEW since he was in college: “I set the idea aside for nearly a decade Judging by the number of children who wear before I decided to revive it as a picture book. I am thrilled that it will fi nally be released Superman costumes on Halloween, Superman’s during the seventy-year anniversary of popularity remains enormous even seventy years after Superman.” his debut. So his creators, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, are a natural Mr. Noblemen lives in Connecticut with his choice for a children’s biography. In this fast-paced, exciting, and carefully researched wife and two children. Visit Mark Tyler Nobleman’s Web site at picture book, Marc Tyler Nobleman focuses on what inspired these two shy teens in www.noblemania.blogspot.com depression-era Cleveland to create a comic strip, their search for a publisher, and their triumph of igniting countless fans’ imaginations. Th en, in an impressive, thorough, and Ross MacDonald has illustrated several highly readable afterword, Nobleman turns to some of the sadder details of the story. picture books, including his own Another Siegel and Shuster sold the fi rst Superman story to the publisher now called DC Perfect Day. His cartoons regularly appear in Vanity Fair and the New York Times, among Comics, along with all rights to the character, for $130 dollars—terms that were other publications. He lives in Connecticut not uncommon at the time. As a result, while the Man of Steel fought for justice, with his wife, two children, two dogs, three his creators, and later their families, fought for a share of Superman’s copyright and cats, and a large collection of type and enormous profi ts. To this day, negotiations are ongoing. printing equipment. Visit Ross MacDonald’s Web site at Ross MacDonald’s clever illustrations for Boys of Steel evoke the time period and www.ross-macdonald.com incorporate comic-book conventions such as thought bubbles, motion lines, and multiple panels. Playful moments include an illustration that depicts Jerry Siegel lying in bed, imagining himself leaping over a building and lifting a car above his head. Th is fi ne book is a must-read for comic-book fans as well as budding writers and illustrators.

CURRICULUM INDICATIONS Book type: Picture book. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Art. Genre: Narrative nonfi ction. Classroom units: Art and artists. Books about books. Heroes. Main characters: Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the writer and artist who Topics: Jerry Siegel (1914–1996). Joe Shuster (1914–1992). Comic strips. created Superman. The Great Depression. Writing. Social outcasts. Drawing. Inspiration. Setting: Cleveland, Ohio, during the Great Depression. Superman. Teamwork. Public success. Biographies. Authors’ rights. Summary: The story of how Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster—short, glasses- Comprehension skills: Author’s purpose. Fact and opinion. wearing introverts who met in high school—created “the greatest Sensitive areas: None. superhero of all time.” www.juniorlibraryguild.com OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2008 • jlgmonthly 13 ME MYSTERY/ADVENTURE ELEMENTARY • GRADES 2–6 OCTOBER

No Girls Allowed Tales of Daring Women Dressed as Men for Love, Freedom and Adventure

by Susan Hughes • illustrated by Willow Dawson

Kids Can • ISBN: 9781554531776 • Dewey: 806.77’80820922 • 80 pp • 6” x 9” Scheduled Month: October 2008

In ninth-century Scandinavia, Alfhild, a princess, became a Viking raider. In France, in 1738, Esther Brandeau, a Jew, posed as a Catholic boy to gain passage to America. In nineteenth-century Scotland, a woman practiced medicine—as a man called James Barry. Th ese and four other true stories of women who didn’t allow gender inequality to stand in their way are presented in graphic-novel format. Afterword. Further reading. Black-and-white illustrations.

JLG REVIEW Girls and boys will fi nd these stories fascinating and thought- provoking. It’s always exciting to read about someone standing up for equality, but most of the women featured in this book did great things despite sexism, not to make a point about it, so the book is never didactic. Every chapter opens with a map and an introduction that effi ciently explain the physical and historical setting of each tale. Th e graphic-novel layout makes the accounts accessible: the combination of pictures and dialogue brings the girls’ stories to life. No Girls Allowed covers various time periods from 1500 BCE to 1867 CE. Susan Hughes notes that when she researched the book, “more recent examples of women disguising themselves as men are harder to come by. More commonly, women are now being promised equal treatment by law.” Surely the status women enjoy today is thanks, in part, to the actions of brave women—like the ones in this book—who paved the road toward equality. Th ese inspiring tales will encourage readers to believe in the importance of their own actions and to learn more about those who made equal rights a reality.

Susan Hughes came up with the idea for this book when she was Willow Dawson was inspired by the courage doing research for a book proposal on spies, codes, and other and determination of these heroic girls. “It was undercover activities. “As I was researching women spies,” she says, a wonderful experience to be a part of telling “I began to stumble upon story after story of girls and women who their story,” she says. had disguised themselves as men in order to spy or accomplish Ms. Dawson lives with her husband in an old house in Toronto, other activities. Writing about the lives of such determined, tenacious women Canada. In her spare time, she plays the saw and keyboards; she in a graphic-novel form was a new and fascinating experience for me.” also sings in a band. Visit Susan Hughes’s Web site at www.susanhughes.ca Visit Willow Dawson’s Web site at www.willowdawson.com

Susan Hughes photo: Kevin Coles

CURRICULUM INDICATIONS Book type: Graphic novel. Topics: Egypt. Hatshetsup (ca. 1500 BC). Royalty. Succession. Strong Genre: Biography. women. Girls dressing like boys. Mu Lan (ca. 600). Military drafts. Victories. Honor. Alfhild (ca. 900). Overprotective parents. Vikings. Pirates. Marriage. Main characters: Hatshepsut; Mu Lan; Alfhild; Esther Brandeau; James Esther Brandeau (ca. 1730s). Persecution of Jews. Shipwrecks. The Barry; Ellen Craft; and Sarah Rosetta Wakeman. New World. James Barry (ca. 1795–1865). Medical school. South Africa. Setting: Various settings ranging from ancient Egypt to Civil War America. Prison inspections. Ellen Craft (ca. 1826–ca. 1897). Slavery. Love. Escape. Summary: Biographies of seven women who acted and dressed as men Disguises. Sarah Rosetta Wakeman (1843–1864). The Civil War. Poverty. in order to achieve their goals. The Union Army. Forced marches. Illness. Death. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Social studies. History. Women’s studies. Comprehension skills: Organize textual elements. Compare and contrast. Classroom units: Gender roles. Biography. Problem solving. Graphic Sensitive areas: None. novels. Identity.

14 jlgmonthly • OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2008 866-205-0570 OCTOBER GRADES 2-6 • NONFICTION ELEMENTARY NE

Angel Girl

by Laurie Friedman • illustrated by Ofra Amit

Lerner • ISBN: 9780822587392 • Dewey: 940.53’18092 • 32 pp • 9 3/4” x 9 3/4” Scheduled Month: October 2008

Herman was only eleven in 1942 when soldiers forced his family onto the trains. Sent to a work camp in Germany where he was always cold, tired, and hungry, Herman was in danger of starvation. Th en one day, outside the camp fence, a young girl appeared and tossed him an apple. Each day she returned with another apple, but “One wrong move meant death,” Herman says. “My death. Her death.” Th e girl saved Herman’s life, and he survived to see his camp liberated. Th en he left for England and the United States . . . but he and his angel girl would meet again. Based on a true story. Author’s note. Endnote. Full-color illustrations.

Laurie Friedman found the idea JLG REVIEW that inspired Angel Girl in the newspaper: “When I fi rst read Of the many tales spawned by the Holocaust, very few can be told honestly and still Herman and Roma Rosenblat’s miraculous story, I put my head remain suitable for young readers. Angel Girl is one of these few. Laurie Friedman down on my desk and wept. So I found and Ofra Amit do an admirable job of making their book accessible without the Rosenblats and spent many hours sentimentalizing or softening the events. Context is provided by an author’s note and interviewing them. Their experiences are an an endnote, but the story itself does not assume any familiarity with the history of the amazing story of love and hope. I am honored to tell children the story of what happened to period; it simply tells of a boy forcibly separated from his home and mother, and of how Herman and Roma.” he survived. Ms. Friedman lives in Miami, Florida, with Th is is a story of the exemplary courage displayed by Herman and Roma, the girl her husband, two children, and a bichon frise who risked her life to save him. Th e text is minimal and moving, and the illustrations named Ollie. emphasize both the disorientation of the work camp and the gentle good fortune of Visit Laurie Friedman’s Web site at www.lernerbooks.com/angelgirl the resolution. Th rough the fi rst half of the book, the horizon in the paintings Ofra Amit says her goal in illustrating Angel is often on a bias. Th e color palette is Girl was to convey the Rosenblats’ emotional limited mostly to grays, blues, and browns. story. “I want my art to create something moving that will make people think deeply of Bodies tilt and seem about to fall over. In human nature, for good and for bad.” the second half, fi gures are more fi rmly Ms. Amit lives in Tel Aviv, grounded, and there are warmer, more Israel, with her husband and vibrant colors in the illustrations. two daughters. Based on a true story, the book’s qualifi ed Visit Ofra Amit’s Web site at www.ofra-amit.com happy ending is so unlikely as to seem miraculous. Th is is a subtle prompt that will lead readers to wonder about those who were not so lucky.

CURRICULUM INDICATIONS Book type: Picture book. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Social studies. Genre: Narrative nonfi ction. Classroom units: Kindness. World War II. Survival. Main characters: Herman Rosenblat, taken to a Nazi work camp at age Topics: World War II. The Holocaust. Separation. Concentration camps. eleven; Roma, a girl who gives Herman apples. Grief. Dreams. Apples. Memory. Telling stories. Reunions. Setting: At a Nazi work camp in Germany during World War II. Comprehension skills: Sequence. Author’s purpose. Summary: Alone and frightened in the work camp for men, Herman is Sensitive areas: The Holocaust. also cold and starving. One day a girl from a nearby farm sees him and begins secretly giving him apples through the fence. After the war, in England and then America, Herman as an adult continues to brood over his past, when he meets a woman who somehow knows his story. www.juniorlibraryguild.com OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2008 • jlgmonthly 15 SE SPORTS ELEMENTARY • GRADES 2–6 OCTOBER

Go Long!

by Tiki & Ronde Barber with Paul Mantell

Simon & Schuster • ISBN: 9781416936190 • Dewey: F • 160 pp • 6” x 9” Scheduled Month: October 2008

Th irteen-year-olds Tiki and Ronde like Coach Spangler and love winning football games, so they’re upset when he leaves to take a coaching spot on the high school team. Th en school offi cials choose a seemingly odd replacement: Tiki’s former science teacher, Mr. Wheeler. Th ough Tiki and Ronde discover that Wheeler played professional football until an injury forced him to retire, he has no coaching experience, and his clumsy eff orts to unify the team backfi re. Soon the arrogant new quarterback, Cody, is leading an open mutiny against Wheeler, and it’s up to Tiki and Ronde to make sure the team doesn’t fall apart.

JLG REVIEW Tiki and Ronde Barber, twins and NFL superstars, have collaborated on four previous children’s books. Inspired by events from Tiki and Ronde Barber’s childhoods, Go Long! is an enjoyable Tiki Barber says, “It’s been sports story that also provides a glimpse of two future football stars in the making. Kids great writing books with will relish the opportunity to imagine themselves in the Barbers’ places as Tiki and Ronde. We are teammates Ronde show their prowess on the gridiron. again, just like when we were younger. Our Tiki and Ronde’s close sibling relationship will engage readers. Th eir eff orts to mom gave us a love of maintain brotherly friendship and unity are endearing—and have a broader implication reading and taught us the when set against the football team’s schism. Tiki is an early supporter of the new coach, importance of believing in while Ronde is skeptical; the brothers argue and yourself and never giving snipe at each other over the issue. Finally Tiki, by up. I hope that our books will teach kids some of the Ronde and Tiki looked one being civil to Ronde and by proving the eff ectiveness same values.” another in the eye. They didn’t of the coach’s tactics, convinces Ronde to support Tiki Barber, formerly a running back for say a word, but then, they Wheeler. Th eir example is an inspiration to the rest of the New York Giants, is a correspondent for didn’t have to. As always, the team and shows how respect and patience on an the Today Show. He lives in New York with his each knew what the other was wife and their two sons. Ronde Barber is a interpersonal level translates to team unity. Even Cody, cornerback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. thinking—that the Eagles’ the conceited quarterback and strong antagonist, season was hanging in the He lives in Florida with his wife and their undergoes a welcome turnaround. two daughters. balance and that everything was riding on who the new Paul Mantell is the author of more than one coach would turn out to be. hundred books for young readers. —Go Long! Tiki and Ronde Barber photo: Cade Martin

CURRICULUM INDICATIONS Book type: Chapter book. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Physical education. Genre: Fiction. Classroom units: Sports. Competition. Teamwork. Main characters: Twin eighth-graders Tiki and Ronde Barber; starting Topics: Football. Junior high school. Coaches. Winning. Teammates. quarterback Cody Hansen; new team coach Sam Wheeler. Tryouts. Newspapers. Bad attitudes. Game tapes. Supportive parents. Setting: On the practice and game fi elds of the Hidden Valley Junior High Blaming others. Switching identities. Getting benched. Leadership. School Eagles; at Kessler’s soda shop; in the Barber home. Comprehension skills: Cause and eff ect. Author’s purpose. Summary: The Eagles are expected to have a big season this year, but a Sensitive areas: None. last-minute coaching change has many in the locker room doubting their chances. The worst of the skeptics is starting quarterback Cody Hansen. When Cody’s me-fi rst attitude starts costing the team games, Tiki tries to fi nd a solution, but fi rst he’ll have to convince his twin to listen to the coach.

16 jlgmonthly • OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2008 866-205-0570 OCTOBER GRADES 5–7 • UPPER ELEMENTARY & JUNIOR HIGH B

Our Farm Four Seasons with Five Kids on One Family’s Farm

written and photographed by Michael J. Rosen

Darby Creek • ISBN: 9781581960679 • Dewey: 630/.9771/59 • 144 pp • 7 3/8” x 8 5/8” Scheduled Month: October 2008

What would life be like with a herd of cows in your yard, twenty-four chicks in your living room, a coonhound and a beagle sleeping on your porch, and a work-crazed border collie who wants to herd everything? How long does it take to mow ninety acres and move fi ve hundred tons of manure? Caleb, Chase, Cayne, Grey, and Ali, along with their parents, Becky and Dave, share a year of their life in this intimate depiction of one family and their small Ohio farm. Author’s note. Resources. Illustrated with full-color photographs.

JLG REVIEW Th e photographic journal Our Farm immerses the reader into farm and family life. After an introduction to the family members (including dogs and cats), the book continues season by season. Each section starts with a “by the Numbers” page. On the winter page, for example, readers learn that each cow eats twenty-fi ve to thirty-fi ve pounds of hay in one day. More fascinating farm-specifi c facts are discovered through the Bennetts’ engaging dialogue. Talking about caring for baby chicks before they are big enough to be moved to the coop, Becky says, “If you accidentally put the lamp too close, the chicks will stay right underneath anyway, and they’ll get cooked! Th ey don’t know any better.” Fittingly, Our Farm is also a warm family portrait. Th e fi ve children range in age from four to seventeen, and their sibling relationships will ring true with the book’s audience. “Th e best thing about having four brothers is nothing,” says Ali, the youngest. “Th e only nice thing they let me do is run for touchdowns when we play football. But, like if I say, ‘Be still and quit wiggling!’ they’ll just yell and wiggle.” Readers will greatly enjoy their time with the Bennetts and will want to revisit the farm through the pages of this book.

Michael J. Rosen came to the Bennett farm to record a one-year journal of life on a rural Ohio farm: “What I found was that it’s the small diff erences— among dogs, chickens, cows, or seasons—that the Bennetts and every other farm family learn to identify and appreciate. My hope is that once you’ve listened to the seven voices in this book, you will come to feel that what you understand about the world is less important than your capacity to understand worlds—worlds that may lie no farther than the next county.” Mr. Rosen lives with his family amid one hundred forested acres in central Ohio—not far from the Bennett family farm. Visit Michael J. Rosen’s Web site at www.fi dosopher.com

CURRICULUM INDICATIONS Book type: Nonfi ction. Topics: Farming. Farm families. Money. Dogs. Hunting. Cows. Cats. Perry Genre: Nonfi ction. County, Ohio. Raising chickens. Incubation. Winter activities. Hay. Rats. Extermination. Hay lofts. Games. Animal feed. Artifi cial insemination. Main characters: The Bennett children: seventeen-year-old Caleb, fi fteen- Calves. Tagging cattle. Death. Rabbits. Timber. Tree houses. Fences. Farm year-old Chase, ten-year-old Cayne, eight-year-old Grey, and four-year-old machinery. Manure. Wildlife. Grapes. Ponds. Fish. Mushrooms. County Ali; their parents, Becky and Dave Bennett. fairs. Wild fruit. Corn. Milk cows. School. Butchering cattle. Turkeys. Deer. Setting: The Bennetts’ family farm in the small Perry County town of Taking stock of the year. Glenford, Ohio. Comprehension skills: Fact and opinion. Organize textual elements. Summary: In their own words, the Bennetts describe day-to-day life over Sensitive areas: Frank talk about animal reproduction. Guns. Animals the course of a year on their small farm. being killed. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Science. Classroom units: Contemporary American society. Farms. Family. Brothers and sisters. Biology. www.juniorlibraryguild.com OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2008 • jlgmonthly 17 B+ UPPER ELEMENTARY & JUNIOR HIGH • GRADES 5–7 OCTOBER

Ways to Live Forever

by Sally Nicholls

Arthur A. Levine • ISBN: 9780545069489 • Dewey: F • 256 pp • 5 1/2” x 8 1/4” Scheduled Month: October 2008

“Five facts about me: My name is Sam. I am eleven years old. I collect stories and fantastic facts. I have leukemia. By the time you read this, I will probably be dead.” Living through the last stages of cancer, Sam writes a book about himself, in which, along with facts and his story, he includes pictures, questions, and lists. Lists like “Th ings Th at I Want to Do,” “What to Do When Someone Dies,” and “Ways to Live Forever.” Includes a list of cancer Web sites and literature about death and dying.

JLG REVIEW Sally Nicholls was in her third year of college Ways to Live Forever is an impressive debut novel that addresses a diffi cult subject in an when she decided that she wanted to be age-appropriate way. a writer. She says, “I realized Sam’s matter-of-fact voice, as well as his lists and other journal entries, provide a with some panic that I was now remarkable sense of immediacy that allows readers to feel they really know Sam—a supposed to earn a living, so I enrolled in a writing program and curious, eager boy, who despite his illness, is full of life. He has many questions that started to write. It was here that are impossible to answer defi nitively: Why did he get sick? Will he die? Will it hurt? I wrote Ways to Live Forever. I will As Sam and his family struggle to accept the unfairness of Sam’s situation, their ever- never forget my creative writing changing range of emotions is realistic and believable; the evolution of Sam’s father’s tutor telling me to write the book that only I could write. She pointed out that feelings is particularly moving. I would only be a second-rate J. K. Rowling, Although the book is about terminal illness, it remains unsentimental. Th ere are but I was the best Sally Nicholls that anyone many light moments, especially in the friendship between Sam and Felix, a slightly could ever be. Four months after I fi nished older, cynical boy, who also has cancer. Despite the fact that they are ill, Sam and the book, I had a publisher. It has all been Felix are still regular kids. Th ings on Sam’s to-do list, for instance, include “break very exciting and rewarding.” Ms. Nicholls lives in a little fl at in London a world record . . . Watch all the horror fi lms I’m not allowed to watch . . . Go up and spends her time writing and working for down-escalators and down up-escalators.” While Felix doesn’t make his own lists, a charity organization. he decides it’s important to help fulfi ll Sam’s wishes, even if it requires some creative Visit Sally Nicholls’s Web site at interpretation. Th e ways Felix goes about helping Sam “see a ghost” and “do teenage www.sallynicholls.com things like drink and smoke and have girlfriends” (numbers 5 and 6 on Sam’s list) are touching and funny. Th e conclusion of this exceptional novel is deeply aff ecting and feels just right. Ways to Live Forever will linger with readers long after the last page.

CURRICULUM INDICATIONS Book type: Novel. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Genre: Fictional journal. Classroom units: Death. Grief. Writing. Family. Religion. Main characters: The author of the journal, eleven-year-old Sam Topics: Leukemia. Dying. Writing. Family. Death. Lists. World records. McQueen, who is dying of leukemia; Felix Strange, Sam’s thirteen-year-old Friendship. Cigarettes. God. Horror movies. Chemotherapy. Escalators. best friend, who is dying of cancer; Ella, Sam’s younger sister; Mr. and Mrs. Ghosts. Ouija boards. Teenagers. Alcohol. Kissing. Cycles in nature. McQueen; Mrs. Willis, Sam and Felix’s teacher; Annie, Sam’s nurse. Hospitals. Grief. Dead bodies. The soul. Funerals. Sledding. Airships. Setting: At Sam’s home; at Felix’s home; at the hospital; around Medical choices. Presents. Good-byes. Middlesbrough, UK. Comprehension skills: Point of view. Cause and eff ect. Summary: At Mrs. Willis’s suggestion, Sam begins writing about his Sensitive areas: Tobacco and alcohol use by minors. life and impending death, including lists of things important to Sam, questions no one ever seems to answer, and stories about everyday events. With Felix’s help, Sam, before dying, completes his list of Things to Do; attending Felix’s funeral was not on that list.

18 jlgmonthly • OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2008 866-205-0570 OCTOBER GRADES 6–9 • ADVANCED READERS C

The Shepherd’s Granddaughter

by Anne Laurel Carter

Groundwood • ISBN: 9780888999023 • Dewey: F • 192 pp • 5” x 7” Scheduled Month: October 2008

In the hills of Palestine, Amani learns from her grandfather, Seedo, how to herd sheep. When Seedo dies, Amani struggles to continue his legacy. Her uncle Hani continually sells off sheep to support the family, and Israeli settlers encroaching on the family’s land limit where the fl ock can graze. Amani knows that it’s unsafe for anyone, not to mention a young girl, to travel alone in the disputed land, even if she is just herding her sheep. But with the occupation threatening her fl ock—and her family—what choice does Amani have? Glossary.

Anne Laurel Carter was JLG REVIEW born and raised in Toronto, Canada. At seventeen she Anne Laurel Carter not only tackles the tough subject of the Israeli/Palestinian confl ict, left to live on kibbutzim but off ers a rarely seen perspective on the issue. She has written a story that relegates in Israel. Her experiences politics to the sidelines, focusing instead on such basic human needs as health care, there left her with an ongoing concern for peace in the Middle East. Learning about food, and land to live on. When Amani hears her brother Omar suggest violence other cultures compelled Ms. Carter to study against the Israelis, or watches her grandfather suff er during the agonizingly slow rides French, acquire a master’s degree in second to the hospital over uneven roads, she’s worried about her family’s future, not about language teaching, and teach in isolated international relations. Cree communities. Through her involvement in IBBY, the Amani’s story brings into question not which side is right, but rather how (or if) International Board on Books for Young the two sides can compromise to fulfi ll the needs of each—and if they can’t, what People, Ms. Carter was invited to teach the consequences will be. Th e Shepherd’s Granddaughter, with its timely and poignant creative writing in Ramallah, Palestine, in subject matter, will undoubtedly lead to many stimulating discussions, as well as a February 2005. Since then, she has lived greater understanding of Palestinian politics and people. with families on three research trips to Palestine, including a stay with a farming family outside Hebron, where The Shepherd’s Granddaughter is set. Ms. Carter has four children and works as a school librarian outside Toronto. Visit Anne Laurel Carter’s Web site at www.annecarter.com

CURRICULUM INDICATIONS Book type: Novel. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Social studies. Multicultural studies. Genre: Fiction. Classroom units: The Middle East. Cultures. Choices. Family. Coming of Main characters: Amani, a young girl who wants to follow in her age. Politics. Repressive governments. Gender roles. grandfather’s footsteps; Seedo, a shepherd, Amani’s grandfather; Sitti, Topics: Shepherding. Sheep. Wolves. Birth. Rams. Gender roles. Islam. Amani’s grandmother; Rose and Aref, Amani’s parents; Fatima and Hani, Patriarchal society. Science. Veterinarians. Israeli settlement. Suicide Amani’s aunt and uncle; Omar, Amani’s older brother. bombings. Olives. Harvest. Checkpoints. Death. Grief. Nonviolent protests. Setting: On Seedo’s mountain and in the nearby valley outside Al Khalil, School. Secret places. Arrests. Poetry. Poison. Demolition. Reunions. Palestine. Lawyers. Summary: Amani wants nothing more than to be a shepherd, like her Comprehension skills: Author’s purpose. Point of view. grandfather. But with increasingly violent Israeli settlers encroaching Sensitive areas: Graphic description of the birth process. on her family’s land, Amani has more to worry about than the wolves rumored to be living on the mountain.

www.juniorlibraryguild.com OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2008 • jlgmonthly 19 C+ ADVANCED READERS • GRADES 6–9 OCTOBER

In Mozart’s Shadow His Sister’s Story

by Carolyn Meyer

Harcourt • ISBN: 9780152055943 • Dewey: F • 272 pp • 5 1/2” x 8 1/4” Scheduled Month: October 2008

Nine-year-old Nannerl Mozart is a wonderful musician, but her brother Wolferl, age fi ve, has already surpassed her talent. Initially the siblings play concerts together across Europe, but then their father, Leopold, decides Nannerl should remain in their hometown of Salzburg, Austria. Th ough Nannerl pleads with Leopold over many years, he never gives her the opportunity to become a professional musician. Despite not realizing her dream, Nannerl sees a chance for happiness: she hopes to marry retired army captain Armand d’Ippold—if her father doesn’t stand in her way. Author’s note. Carolyn Meyer says it was JLG REVIEW her interest in music that led her fi rst to Mozart and then to wonder about his talented Readers will be completely immersed in Nannerl’s world, experiencing her fl eeting joys but forgotten sister, Nannerl. and frequent disappointments. Carolyn Meyer populates her novel with compelling “The plot was tricky,” she characters and adds vivid historical details throughout: “Papa described the miserable says, “because Mozart and weather, days of rain broken by cold so fi erce they had to buy foot bags lined with wolf his sister were often separated, and I wanted fur, and the wretched inns and dreary food with nothing to eat but brussels sprouts to tell both sides of the story.” One of Ms. Meyer’s favorite things about and eggs.” being a writer is doing the research: “It was Meyer creates a convincing portrait not only of eighteenth-century Austria, but also great to see the house in Salzburg where of Nannerl’s lifelong quest for happiness, shaped by the twin desires for recognition Mozart was born and where he and Nannerl and autonomy: “I was fairly content, though my life was nothing as I’d once imagined lived for years. I even bought a gadget for making spaetzle so that I could eat like it would be. I often played at recitals or accompanied other musicians, but these Mozart, listen to his wonderful music, and performances came up far short of my imagine his life while I wrote the book.” early dreams. I lived out those dreams Ms. Meyer lives in Albuquerque, New It was a pretty watercolor, but I never liked alone at home, playing for my father and Mexico, with her husband. the way I was portrayed, as though I were brother, but mainly for myself.” Visit Carolyn Meyer’s Web site at fading from the picture, while Wolferl www.readcarolyn.com occupied the center of attention and Papa Th ose with an interest in music, loomed over us both. That portrait seemed historical fi ction, women’s roles in history, Carolyn Meyer photo: Diane J. Schmidt to refl ect my role: I didn’t stand out. I or just fi rst-rate storytelling will surely wondered if I ever would. enjoy In Mozart’s Shadow. —In Mozart’s Shadow

CURRICULUM INDICATIONS Book type: Novel. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Music. Women’s studies. Genre: Fictionalized autobiography. Classroom units: Gender roles. Art and artists. Family. Main characters: Maria Anna (Nannerl) Mozart, who tells her story; Topics: Music. Performances. Fathers. Prodigies. Mozart. European tours. musical genius Wolfgang (Wolferl) Mozart, Nannerl’s younger brother; European aristocracy. Sibling rivalry. Illness. Court positions. Hairdressers. family patriarch Leopold Mozart; meek wife Anna Maria Mozart, Nannerl Women’s roles. Obedience. Fame. Money. Disappointment. Suitors. and Wolferl’s mother; Katherina (Katherl) Gilowsky, Nannerl’s closest Composition. Tutoring. Housekeeping. Death. Grief. Proposals. Parental friend and confi dante. blessings. Weddings. Stepchildren. Loneliness. Setting: Salzburg, Austria; various European cities; during Wolfgang Comprehension skills: Point of view. Compare and contrast. Mozart’s life (1756–1791). Sensitive areas: Mild sexual themes. Summary: Nannerl tells the story of what it is like to be a highly talented female musician, forced to live in the shadow of her brother’s musical genius.

20 jlgmonthly • OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2008 866-205-0570 OCTOBER GRADES 7–11 • FANTASY/SCIENCE FICTION MIDDLE & HIGH SCHOOL FM

The Unnameables

by Ellen Booraem

Harcourt • ISBN: 9780152063689 • Dewey: F • 256 pp • 5 1/2” x 8 1/4” Scheduled Month: October 2008

Everything on Medford and Prudy’s island has a purpose and a proper name, and Useless items are forbidden. Th e two friends discover an artifact depicting a strange, goat-like fi gure—an object so Useless it is Unnameable. Prudy knows her duty: she should report the object or destroy it; Medford’s decision to hide the beautiful object places a strain on their friendship. Th en a living Goatman turns up at Medford’s house and uncovers Medford’s other secret: he’s been carving Unnameable objects. Th e tempest accompanying the Goatman’s appearance grips the entire town, forcing Prudy and the others to question their strictly utilitarian beliefs.

Ellen Booraem has known Medford Runyuin and the Goatman for years: “The characters JLG REVIEW originated in paintings by my partner, Robert Shillady,” she “But beware Useless conversation with foreigners, for the Unnameable hovers nearby.” says. “Medford was his alter Th e quote is taken from A Frugall Compendium of Home Arts and Farme Chores by ego, and the Goatman was his Capability C. Craft, as Amended and Annotated by the Island Council of Names, a fi ctional sidekick. Originally, I set out book that serves as the law of the island. Th e community that adheres to its teachings to write a picture book about them, but they got away refers to it simply as the Book. from me and turned into a novel. I wasn’t While the laws articulated by the Book are secular, the culture and language of the happy with it, so I put it in a drawer for island in Ellen Booraem’s Th e Unnameables are informed by classic Protestant texts eighteen years. In 2003, I decided to give including the work of Samuel Pepys, the King James Bible, and George Washington’s fi ction writing another try, and, to my Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation. Although we surprise, I had a wonderful time rewriting the book from scratch. It was revised fi ve more discover late in the story that it takes place in contemporary times, the island feels like times before it saw print, but now I am a it could be part of Puritan New England. Th e brilliant marshalling of historical styles fi ction-writing addict.” and diction helps Booraem establish an atmosphere of oppressiveness and paranoia Ms. Booraem lives in Brooklin, Maine. comparable to that found in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Th e Scarlet Letter or Arthur Miller’s The Unnameables is her fi rst novel. Visit Ellen Booraem’s Web site at Th e Crucible. www.ellenbooraem.com Readers will sympathize with Medford’s love of beautiful objects and with his diffi culty in hiding his creativity. Th e confl ict that this precipitates between him and his Ellen Booraem photo: Sherry Streeter best friend, Prudy, whose place in the community is more secure than his, is moving. And the exciting events that follow the appearance of an odd creature whom Medford calls Goatman build to a thrilling climax, in which the lies of the community’s leaders are exposed.

CURRICULUM INDICATIONS Book type: Novel. arrival of the Goatman, a smelly half man, half goat whose ability to call Genre: Fantasy. up the wind blows open doors to secrets people in Town would rather keep hidden. Main characters: Thirteen-year-old Medford Runyuin, who washed up on Island as a baby; Medford’s best friend, Prudy, who is apprenticed to Curriculum areas: Language arts. become a Learned; Deemer Learned, the town’s teacher and controller Classroom units: Art and artists. Repressive governments. Orphans. Jobs. of the Archives; Earnest Carpenter, Prudy’s older brother; Boyce Carver, Identity. Fantasy. Strange occurrences. Medford’s foster father. Topics: Order. Islands. Wind. Usefulness. Names. Bullies. Jobs. School. Setting: The orderly island, known as Island, on which the people have Gossip. Exile. Art. Fear of the unknown. Coming of age. Dogs. Strange segregated themselves from the rest of the world; in the present day. creatures. Secrets. Arrest. Jail. Books. Jailbreaks. Book burning. Town Summary: On Island, everything Useful has a Useful name, and meetings. Saving a life. Punishment. everything not Useful is Nameless—or worse, Unnameable and Comprehension skills: Cause and eff ect. Sequence. forbidden. Medford knows that the small items he carves are Sensitive areas: None. Unnameables, but he cannot help making them. Medford hopes he can keep his hobby a secret forever, but he is not counting on the www.juniorlibraryguild.com OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2008 • jlgmonthly 21 GM GRAPHIC NOVELS MIDDLE & HIGH SCHOOL • GRADES 7–11 OCTOBER

The Lindbergh Child America’s Hero and the Crime of the Century

written and illustrated by Rick Geary

NBM Publishing • ISBN: 9781561635290 • Dewey: 364.154092 • 80 pp • 6” x 9” Scheduled Month: October 2008

“At 10:00 PM Betty Gow enters the nursery to check on the baby. She feels a chill in the room and turns on an electric heater. Finding it strange not to hear the boy’s breathing, she looks into the crib to fi nd him . . . gone!” When famous aviator Charles Lindbergh’s child disappeared in 1932, the nation was transfi xed. Th is narrative depicts the many curious characters involved and follows the ransom demands, false leads, and the fi nal outcome of the thrilling mystery. Includes bibliography and maps. Black-and-white illustrations. Rick Geary has been writing and illustrating graphic novels for years. He recently fi nished his graphic-novel series, A Treasury JLG REVIEW of Victorian Murder. The Lindbergh Child inaugurates a new series about famous murder cases of the twentieth Th e fi rst thing one notices upon opening Th e Lindbergh Child is the art: engaging century. “This is the perfect story to illustrations clearly rendered in pen and ink. Th e precision of the drawings helps start the series,” he says. “The story clarify the details of a very complicated case; the somewhat stylized nature of the of the kidnapping and murder of the art is evocative of the time period in which the events took place. famous aviator’s son was, at the time, Th e book treats the case of Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr.’s disappearance and remains to this day, the crime of the century.” Mr. Geary’s adaptation of H. G. thoroughly, without oversimplifying. Following the police investigation chronologically, Wells’s The Invisible Man is featured on page readers see how the detectives used a variety of techniques in their attempts to 54 of this issue of JLG Monthly. apprehend the kidnappers and recover the baby. One particularly impressive episode Mr. Geary and his wife, Deborah, live in involves the work of a wood identifi cation expert at the U.S. Department of Carrizozo, New Mexico. Visit Rick Geary’s Web site at Agriculture’s Forest Service Laboratory, who examined the wood of a ladder left behind www.rickgeary.com by the criminal. Based on particular features of the wood used to build the ladder, he provided evidence that helped to implicate the suspect when he was found. Th e graphic-novel format is perfect for simultaneously advancing the narrative and highlighting such specifi c kinds of evidence. Fans of detective tales, true crime, and graphic novels will all be thrilled to learn the details of a case that has been called the crime of the century.

CURRICULUM INDICATIONS Book type: Graphic novel. trial, conviction, and execution of Richard Hauptmann for the kidnapping Genre: Narrative nonfi ction. and murder. Alternate theories of the crime are also examined. Main characters: Charles A. Lindbergh, known as the Lone Eagle for Curriculum areas: Language arts. American history. his solo fl ight across the Atlantic; Dr. John F. Condon, self-appointed Classroom units: Graphic novels. Crime and punishment. Mystery. go-between for Lindbergh and the kidnappers; “John,” a shadowy fi gure Topics: Charles A. Lindbergh (1902–1974). The Lindbergh kidnapping demanding the ransom; Richard Hauptmann, the man convicted of and case. Domestic help. Ransom notes. Crime scenes. Evidence. Police executed for the kidnapping; members of Lindbergh’s staff ; various law investigations. Scams. Serial numbers. Dead bodies. Psychological enforcement authorities. profi les. Forensics. Accusations. Trials. The death penalty. Guilt and Setting: Lindbergh’s estate near Hopewell, New Jersey, where the innocence. Crime theories. kidnapping takes place; the Bronx, New York, the center of the manhunt. Comprehension skills: Organize textual elements. Deduce and infer. Summary: A graphic-novel account of the kidnapping of the Lindbergh Sensitive areas: Capital punishment. baby, which takes the reader step by step through the crime, the ransom demands, and the manhunt for the baby’s murderer, as well as the arrest,

22 jlgmonthly • OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2008 866-205-0570 OCTOBER GRADES 7–11 • MYSTERY/ADVENTURE MIDDLE & HIGH SCHOOL MM

The Door Of No Return

by Sarah Mussi

McElderry • ISBN: 9781416915508 • Dewey: F • 400 pp • 5 1/2” x 8 1/4” Scheduled Month: October 2008

Zac, sixteen, lives in Gloucester, England, with his grandfather. Pops says that he and Zac are descendents of a Ghanaian king and heirs to a hidden fortune, but Zac doesn’t believe it. As far as Zac can tell, the only proof of his grandfather’s claims are a series of diaries Pops wrote, plus the “tribal marks” on Zac’s back—scars Pops put there. Th en mysterious attackers kill Pops and steal his diaries, leaving Zac to solve the mysteries of his lineage and his grandfather’s murder. Writer’s note.

JLG REVIEW Combining, as she puts it, “history that did happen with a story that could have happened,” Sarah Mussi has written a fi rst-rate thriller. Th e story, told through legal documents, diary entries, newspaper articles, Zac’s slang-fi lled commentary, and more, will thoroughly engage readers, as will a fascinating rendition of Ghanaian history. Most absorbing, though, are the novel’s Murder. It’s hard even now to write that. Pops murdered. many mysteries, ranging from the personal (Zac’s ancestry) to the Will I ever forget that frosty night? Will I ever stop going over international (Britain’s responsibility toward Ghana). and over it, trying to fi nd a way to make it come out diff erently? Th ough Th e Door of No Return easily fi ts into the thriller —The Door of No Return genre, the substantial questions it raises about power and identity add depth. For instance, should relatives of slaves receive reparations? How can a single person stand against an entire government? What defi nes a person? Is it his interests, his family history, his beliefs? Th ese are but a few of the weighty issues readers will discover woven into the book’s twisting plot.

Sarah Mussi was born in Gloucestershire, England, where the fi rst part of The Door of No Return takes place. She says, “I was inspired to write the book by a visit to a small slaving fort called Shama, on the coast of Ghana. It was so horrifi c to stand in those dark dungeons that I was left with an overwhelming desire to change history. So, I imagined a character that could travel back through The Door of No Return and regain his lost kingdom.” Ms. Mussi lives in Brixton, England, but spends as much time as possible in Ghana: “Ghana is really my home. My house there, with my old dog, is waiting for me to come home from my stays in England. So it goes without saying that I am passionate about Africa’s history, its present, and its future.” Visit Sarah Mussi’s Web site at www.sarahmussi.co.uk

CURRICULUM INDICATIONS Book type: Novel. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Social studies. Genre: Thriller. Classroom units: Slavery and freedom. Cultures. Death. Journeys. Main characters: Newly orphaned sixteen-year-old Zac Baxter; Marion Mystery. Orphans. Strange occurrences. and Bernard Caruthers, Zac’s foster parents; Ashley, Zac’s roommate at the Topics: Lawsuits. Diaries. Family lore. Muggings. Death. Suspicious community home; Badu, a Ghanaian boy living in the Cabo Corso leper behavior. Social workers. Paranoia. Foster homes. Grief. Graves. Theft. community; Mina, a Portuguese volunteer at Cabo Corso; Ms. Shaw, Zac’s Being framed. Translation. Tribal marks. Reparations. Relocation. County case worker; Raphael, Zac’s lawyer. homes. Investigation. Pursuit. Conspiracies. Murder. The slave trade. Setting: Gloucester, England; Cabo Corso, Ghana; Cape Coast Castle, Lawyers. Codes. Arrests. Setups. Ghana. African roads. European forts. Ghana. Leper colonies. Guard dogs. Intimidation. Betrayal. Volunteering. Solitary confi nement. Cover-ups. Fights. Maps. Government communications. Summary: Before his death during a mugging, Zac’s grandfather had Escape. The jungle. Leopards. Dog bites. Rabies. Prophecies. Canoes. been spinning wild stories that Zac is the last of the Baktu princes, that Dungeons. Capture. Recognition. Rescue. Evidence. Justice. a fortune awaits them in Ghana, and that evidence exists which would support a lawsuit to make the British government pay reparations for its Comprehension skills: Deduce and infer. Sequence. role in the slave trade. Now Zac is being followed and framed for crimes Sensitive areas: Underage drinking. he did not commit. It soon becomes clear to Zac that someone powerful believes he holds a map to the treasure and that this someone won’t be happy until the truth is buried along with Zac. www.juniorlibraryguild.com OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2008 • jlgmonthly 23 NM NONFICTION MIDDLE & HIGH SCHOOL • GRADES 7–11 OCTOBER

Off to War Voices of Soldiers’ Children

by Deborah Ellis

Groundwood • ISBN: 9780888998941 • Dewey: 303.6’6083 • 176 pp • 5 1/2” x 8 1/2” Scheduled Month: October 2008

“Dad is always a little diff erent when he comes back from deployments because he has to get used to America again,” says Allison. Her brother Matt adds, “He’s always overjoyed that he’s in the States where no one is trying to shoot at him.” In candid and moving interviews, children of American and Canadian military personnel who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan describe their experiences. Th e interviews touch on subjects such as the children’s worries, what it is like when a parent returns from combat, and whether the children plan to join the military. Glossary. Further Deborah Ellis is a residential mental health counselor in Toronto, Canada. “The topics that information. Black-and-white photographs. I write about are usually subjects I am very passionate about,” she says. “I’ve been doing antiwar JLG REVIEW work since I was seventeen years old, and I decided it was time for Off to War goes beyond the oft-repeated statements of support for military families and children of war to have a voice. provides a forum for the children of soldiers to speak openly about their experiences. The things I’m passionate about Th e result is tremendously moving and enlightening. Th e children’s responses vary today are the things I’ve always widely: some children are frightened for been passionate about. One of the things that drives me is the knowledge that what we do the parent who is serving, while some can change the world. I hope that my books They told us at the camp that we should be are not; some hope to become soldiers will help children realize that if we don’t proud of ourselves, because we are also themselves, while others don’t. speak out about injustice in the world, then serving the country, even though we are Readers will sympathize with nothing will change.” just kids. We’re serving by being proud refl ections like Erika’s: “It will be our fi rst of the people we love who are fi ghting to Christmas without [my father at home]. keep us free. —Deserée, age 10 I don’t even want to celebrate. I don’t —Off to War even want a Christmas tree. Th e reason is, it’s hard to have fun when at the same time he might be in the middle of a battle. I could be laughing and singing and right at that moment, he could be getting shot or bombed, or maybe he’s hurt or scared.” Each interview is accompanied by a small photograph of the child or children being interviewed. Like the interviews themselves, the pictures help put a unique and individual face on a topic that is too often discussed in abstract generalities. Sure to spark discussions, this book will bring home just how enormous and complicated questions of war and peace can be.

CURRICULUM INDICATIONS Book type: Nonfi ction. Topics: The military. War. Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Afghanistan. Iraq. Genre: Journalistic nonfi ction. Military deployments. Missing parents. Grief. Coping mechanisms. Support groups. The National Guard. Anti-war protests. Petawawa, Main characters: Children of soldiers in the Canadian and U.S. military. Ontario. Care packages. Combat stress. Depression. Wicca. Temporary Setting: Various. leave. Injuries. Civilians. Child abuse. Secrets. Military pay. The Iraq Green Summary: In their own voices, children tell what life is like with parents Zone. Divorce. Death. in the military. Much of the discussion concerns parents who have been Comprehension skills: Point of view. Compare and contrast. deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. Sensitive areas: Discussion of alcohol and drug abuse. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Social studies. Classroom units: War. Family. Cultures.

24 jlgmonthly • OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2008 866-205-0570 OCTOBER GRADES 7–11 • SPORTS MIDDLE & HIGH SCHOOL SM

Box Out

by John Coy

Scholastic • ISBN: 9780439870320 • Dewey: F • 256 pp • 5 1/2” x 8 1/4” Scheduled Month: October 2008

When a varsity basketball player is injured, Liam Bergstrom is tapped to move up to varsity from JV. He’s thrilled and knows that he must stay focused for the notoriously tough Coach Kloss to keep him on the team. As Liam learns that Coach Kloss requires strict adherence to his extracurricular requirements and overtly religious pre-game rituals, he grows more and more uncomfortable. Will Liam join the fl ock, or will he speak out?

JLG REVIEW Box Out uses athletics to respectfully and artfully engage teens about a much broader issue—the role of religion in public schools. Specifi cally, the book addresses the question of religion in public school sports. Is it acceptable for a coach in a public school to lead prayers before a game? Box Out may challenge some readers by having a defi nite opinion: no. Liam, a Christian, objects to Coach Kloss’s policies on the basis that they “Staley, will you lead us in a prayer?” pressure kids to profess Christian belief in order to get playing Coach kneels on the bench. time. Kloss, hotheaded and overbearing, is clearly the antagonist, Staley steps forward and Liam folds his and when Liam notifi es an organization that specializes in issues hands. Does everybody on varsity have of separation of church and state, Liam’s actions are presented in a to do this? Is he going to have to lead positive light. prayers, too? But his decision has signifi cant consequences: his letter initiates a —Box Out schoolwide investigation, and Coach Kloss tells Liam that his actions have jeopardized the team; even Liam’s father is initially reluctant to praise Liam’s actions. Th us, while the author stakes out a fi rm viewpoint, he fairly presents diff ering opinions and acknowledges the diffi culties and nuances of situations such as these. Readers will be prompted to seriously consider how religious and public spheres intersect.

John Coy wanted to write a book about a teen that is torn between his love of basketball and his belief that what his coach is doing is not right. “Three individuals were important in the idea for the book, and I don’t even know their names,” Mr. Coy says. “I noticed the three while I was doing research on my previous novel, Crackback. At the end of a football game, all the players, on both teams, were invited onto the fi eld to say the Lord’s Prayer. These three players were the only ones from either team who stayed on the sideline. I wondered what they were thinking and why they had made their decision.” Mr. Coy lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Visit John Coy’s Web site at www.johncoy.com

CURRICULUM INDICATIONS Book type: Novel. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Physical education. Social studies. Genre: Realistic fi ction. Classroom units: The Constitution. Sports. Choices. Religion. Competition. Main characters: Tenth-grader Liam Bergstrom; Coach Kloss, boys’ varsity Courage. School stories. Teamwork. basketball coach; Darius Buckner, Liam’s teammate; Jared Drake, varsity Topics: Basketball. Coaches. Girlfriends. Prayer. Teamwork. Quitting. basketball player and leader of the Horizon Athletic Fellowship; Kate Free throws. Losing. Jobs. Parents. Jealousy. Art. Religious groups. The and Arlen Bergstrom, Liam’s mother and father; Mackenzie Kost, Liam’s separation of church and state. Nursing homes. Peer pressure. Shooting girlfriend; Seth Crowley, Liam’s best friend; Jack Franzen, art teacher and games. Standing up to authority. Breakups. Practice. Intimidation. Leaves coach of the girls’ basketball team; members of the girls’ basketball team. of Grass. Pickup games. Gallery openings. Setting: Horizon High School; the Bergstrom home; in the snowy town of Comprehension skills: Author’s purpose. Compare and contrast. Horizon. Sensitive areas: Underage drinking and smoking while in Europe. Summary: Liam is excited to be promoted from junior varsity, but he is Internet porn. Homophobic epithets. Sexual orientation. uncomfortable with the prayers Coach Kloss is leading before games and at halftime. www.juniorlibraryguild.com OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2008 • jlgmonthly 25 Y YOUNG ADULTS • GRADES 9 & UP OCTOBER

The Landing

by John Ibbitson

Kids Can • ISBN: 9781554532346 • Dewey: 813’.54 • 160 pp • 5 1/4” x 7 7/8” Scheduled Month: October 2008

Muskoka, Canada, the Great Depression: Fifteen-year-old Ben wants to be a violinist, but his chances of leaving Cook’s Landing, the family farm, grow slimmer every year. Th en one day in early summer, possible salvation arrives in the form of a new neighbor—Ruth Chapman, a wealthy New Yorker. Unlike other women in Muskoka, she smokes and swears—and introduces Ben to Mozart and Sibelius. Ben’s mother keeps telling him that “things can happen” if he makes a good impression. . . . But, as the summer starts to wane, so does Ruth Chapman’s interest in Ben and, consequently, Ben’s hopes for his future. Historical note. Note from the author. John Ibbitson has spent most of his career working as a reporter. He currently writes JLG REVIEW a column and commentary on American politics and society for Th e Landing belongs to that breed of historical fi ction in which characters, and not a Canadian newspaper. Along the events, are the main attraction. Th ere are no gunshots, no murders, no political way, he has also written several books for young readers. When conspiracies in John Ibbitson’s novel. What readers will fi nd instead is a quiet, he isn’t writing, Mr. Ibbitson’s beautifully crafted tale about a boy’s musical aspirations and his family’s poverty. interests include reading history Without ever becoming too bleak or repetitive, Th e Landing paints a clear picture and biographies, listening to music, and of the eff ect that limited resources can have on people’s lives, personalities, and playing poker with reporters. He lives in imaginations. Ben’s desperation is tangible and fully justifi ed, and it helps readers Washington, DC. understand what the Great Depression was like without resorting to dry facts and fi gures or apocryphal anecdotes. Th e Landing will especially appeal to young musicians—or anyone with a burgeoning love of Bach or Beethoven. Ibbitson describes Ben’s feeling of exaltation while playing or listening to music in lyrical, full-bodied prose: “But this music washed over and around him, surrounded him, swirled past him, his pulse racing to catch up. . . . Th e sound poured into his chest and up and down his spine, dark as chocolate and fast as horses and glorious, glorious.” In the end, Ben’s story will linger in readers’ memories much like a song— bittersweet, mournful, and, in its concluding notes, cautiously hopeful.

CURRICULUM INDICATIONS Book type: Novel. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Genre: Historical fi ction. Classroom units: Art and artists. Coming of age. Dreams. Family. Identity. Main characters: Fifteen-year-old Ben Mercer; Mary Mercer, Ben’s mother; Topics: Concerts. Orchestras. The violin. The Depression. Barbers. Summer Henry Cook, Ben’s frustrated uncle; Ruth Chapman, the urbane new cottages. Chores. Boating. Lakes. Small towns. Tourists. Traveling in owner of nearby Pine Island. style. Alcohol. Emancipated women. Employers. Smoking. New York Setting: Cook’s Landing in Muskoka, Ontario, Canada, during one eventful City. Classical music. Parties. Hired help. Waiting tables. Mixing drinks. summer and fall in 1934. The rich. Playing for an audience. Hangovers. Misunderstandings. Plans for the future. Feeling unneeded. Departures. Presents. Storms. Boating Summary: When Ben’s father died six years ago, Ben and his mother came accidents. Swimming. Death. Grief. Loss. Moving away. to live with her brother, Henry. Now Ben is fi fteen and afraid he will be trapped in Muskoka forever. Then newly widowed Ruth Chapman buys Comprehension skills: Point of view. Compare and contrast. Pine Island and hires Henry and Ben to fi x up the cottage. While working Sensitive areas: Alcohol abuse. for Ruth, Ben is given a brief glimpse into a whole new world, which makes him feel all the more trapped when Ruth leaves at the end of the summer. Then a disaster on the lake turns Ben’s life upside down.

26 jlgmonthly • OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2008 866-205-0570 OCTOBER GRADES 9 & UP • YOUNG ADULTS Y+

The Hunger Games

by Suzanne Collins

Scholastic • ISBN: 9780439023481 • Dewey: F • 420 pp • 5 1/2” x 8 1/4” Scheduled Month: October 2008

In a post-apocalyptic future, North America has become Panem—a collection of twelve districts surrounding a prosperous Capitol City. Each year, as punishment for a long-ago rebellion, the Capitol selects one boy and one girl from each district to compete in the Hunger Games, a televised fi ght to the death. When Primrose, Katniss’s younger sister, is among the two names called from District 12, Katniss volunteers to take her sister’s place. After all, it’s her skill with a bow and arrow that has put food on the family table since their father’s death. But can Katniss, who is willing to risk her life to save her sister’s, learn to kill humans the same way she hunts—without mercy? Suzanne Collins says that The Hunger Games was inspired in part by the Greek JLG REVIEW myth of Theseus, in which Crete forced the city of Suzanne Collins’s Th e Hunger Games is at once timeless and contemporary. Like William Athens to send children into Golding’s Lord of the Flies, Collins’s novel pits children against one another in an the labyrinth to fi ght the Minotaur: “Even as a kid, I could appreciate how ruthless this was. isolated world full of danger, investigating the trade-off s individuals make when they’re Crete was sending a very clear message: ‘Mess forced to choose between survival and morality. But Th e Hunger Games also concerns with us and we’ll do something worse than itself with the ethics of a distinctly modern phenomenon: reality television—and, more kill you. We’ll kill your children.’” specifi cally, televised suff ering. Another infl uence was watching “too Th anks to Collins’s close third-person narration and Katniss’s endearingly tough- many” gladiator movies. “But it wasn’t until the much more recent experience of channel minded personality, the book never becomes overtly philosophical. Similarly, Katniss’s surfi ng between reality TV programming and intrinsic sense of fairness buff ers readers—and, on occasion, Katniss’s competitors— actual war coverage that Katniss’s story came from the Games’ full potential for brutality. Readers will be able to root for Katniss to me.” without feeling complicit in the Games’ depravity. Ms. Collins is now working on the second book in the trilogy. “I am so haunted by the As the novel progresses, Collins shifts focus from the Games to their live broadcast. story and the two teenage heroes,” she says. What eff ect, the book asks, does being watched around the clock have on one’s reality? “It has completely taken over my life. Every For Katniss, the answer is nuanced but devastating: she can no longer distinguish spare minute I’ve had has been consumed which of her actions come from her heart and which are meant to satisfy audience with fi nding out what would happen next.” expectations. It’s another complication in an already enthralling, epic novel. Ms. Collins lives in Connecticut with her family. Once they start reading, readers will have a hard time putting Th e Hunger Games Visit Suzanne Collins’s Web site at aside. Th is is fast-paced, gripping writing, as action-packed as it is thought-provoking. www.suzannecollinsbooks.com

Suzanne Collins photo: Cap Pryor

CURRICULUM INDICATIONS Book type: Novel. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Genre: Science fi ction. Classroom units: Science fi ction. Survival. Death. Competition. Dystopias. Main characters: Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who enters the Choices. Repressive governments. Coming of age. Hunger Games to protect her sister, Prim; Peeta Mellark, Katniss’s Topics: Sisters. Friendship. Hunting. Weapons. Repression. Hunger. classmate and fellow tribute in the Hunger Games; Haymitch Abernathy, Trading. Unfairness. Resentment. Lotteries. Blood sport. Grief. former winner of the games, now mentor to Katniss and Peeta; eighteen- Responsibility. Kindness. Gifts. Keeping up appearances. Genetic year-old Gale, Katniss’s hunting companion; Rue, a competitor who mutations. Mentors. Alcohol abuse. Sponsors. Stylists. Criminals. reminds Katniss of Prim. Punishment. Skills. Training. Evaluation. Partners. Makeovers. Television Setting: The Seam, a coal-mining district; the Capitol, center of the post- interviews. Declarations of love. Anxiety. Decisions. Escapes. Survival. apocalyptic North American feudal country of Panem; at the arena for the Betrayal. Dehydration. Fire. Tree climbing. Wasps. Rescues. Alliances. Hunger Games. Supplies. Traps. Death. Grief. Music. Rules. Injuries. Loyalty. Medicine. Repaying debts. Suicide pacts. Victory. Surgery. Putting on a show. Summary: Once a year, each of the twelve districts sends two tributes— Romance. one boy and one girl—to compete to the death in the Hunger Games. No one from District 12 has survived the Games in the last thirty years, Comprehension skills: Deduce and infer. Point of view. leaving only the drunkard Haymitch to shepherd Katniss and Peeta Sensitive areas: Violence. Alcohol abuse. through the ordeal. www.juniorlibraryguild.com OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2008 • jlgmonthly 27 HH HISTORY HIGH SCHOOL • GRADES 10 & UP OCTOBER

Sovay

by Celia Rees

Bloomsbury • ISBN: 9781599902036 • Dewey: F • 416 pp • 5 1/16” x 7 3/4” Scheduled Month: October 2008

1794: Sovay Middleton’s father, a British noble, is falsely accused of being a Jacobin spy. Sovay cleverly intercepts the warrant for his arrest, then travels to the family’s London estate to warn her father of the danger he faces. When she arrives, she learns that Sir Middleton is missing, as is Sovay’s brother, Hugh. Rumor has it that both men are trapped—and likely in danger—in France. To reunite her family, Sovay must risk her life, evading revolutionaries and traitors at every turn.

JLG REVIEW Celia Rees was inspired to write Sovay by a Sovay provides a rich depiction of late-eighteenth-century England and Revolutionary traditional ballad about a girl who disguises France. Th e book’s action moves from aristocratic mansions to humble inns to law herself as a highwayman in order to humiliate offi ces, from brothels to street riots to jails, and includes fully drawn characters her faithless lover. “I fi nd ballads very redolent, very from each of these places. Th e diverse locations and characters add both interest and powerful, because they give information; through them, Celia Rees paints a you a snapshot of the time,” multifaceted picture of the era. she says. “They’re the stories The France that she could see In addition to describing the lives of people of of the people. This ballad is a was a republic, at war with all classes, Rees portrays conditions and events—the little jewel of a story. You can half the nations of Europe, see it all—the girl, the lover, dangers of traveling in France without a tri-color, for the garden, it has a strong line of passion. including her own. Sovay example, and Robespierre’s downfall—in such vivid My friend said to me: ‘You should write about would be an alien, an enemy, detail that readers will undoubtedly be curious to learn her.’ So I did.” Ms. Rees says she has always but she had no choice. She had even more about the time period. been fascinated by social history and enjoys to go on. However hostile the bringing the vibrant history of the eighteenth country, her father was there, century to life. ill and perhaps in danger. Ms. Rees lives in Warwickshire, England. Visit Celia Rees’s Web site at —Sovay www.celiarees.com

CURRICULUM INDICATIONS Book type: Novel. Curriculum areas: Language arts. European history. Genre: Historical fi ction. Classroom units: Historical fi ction. Adventures. Repressive governments. Main characters: Adventurous, beautiful, seventeen-year-old Sovay Gender roles. Middleton, aka Captain Blaze; debonair American operative Virgil Barrett; Topics: Betrayal. Revenge. Highwaymen. Girls dressing like boys. Artists. Captain Jake Greenwood, rogue and highwayman; stalwart Gabriel Warnings. Accusations. Identities. Human rights. Spies. Disappearances. Stanhope, son of the Middletons’ steward; dashing French National Guard Brothels. Burglary. Lawyers. Ciphers. Conspiracies. Bankers. Puppet shows. Captain Théodore Léon; odious conspirator and spymaster Sir Robert Fashion. Protest meetings. Repression. Kidnapping. Charity. Distrust. High Dysart; Toby, a cross-dressing young brothel assistant and burglar. society. The Illuminati. Mansions. Laboratories. Reanimation. Dungeons. Setting: The Middletons’ English country estate; London, England; Paris, Induction ceremonies. Escapes. Secret tunnels. Fires. Hot air balloons. France; all in the spring and summer of 1794. The French Republic. Prisons. Forgers. The guillotine. Robespierre. Arrests. Trials. Historical forces. Marriage. Summary: When Sovay dresses as a highwayman to test the mettle of her fi ancé, she has no idea that historical and personal forces threaten Comprehension skills: Compare and contrast. Point of view. the safety and life of her brother, her father, and those dearest to her. Sensitive areas: Some mature themes. She soon fi nds herself caught in a web of intrigue threatening to topple the English crown, and the path she must take to save her family and her country leads through the heart of revolutionary France.

28 jlgmonthly • OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2008 866-205-0570 OCTOBER GRADES 10 & UP • HIGH-INTEREST READING HIGH SCHOOL HI

No Choirboy Murder, Violence, and Teenagers on Death Row

by Susan Kuklin

Holt • ISBN: 9780805079500 • Dewey: 364.66092/273 • 256 pp • 6” x 9” Scheduled Month: October 2008

“I ask myself, What’s to be done with my life now?” Until a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2005, sentencing juvenile off enders to death for their crimes was still legal in twenty states. In separate interviews, the author speaks to three young men sentenced to death prior to the Supreme Court decision. She also speaks with the family of a teen who was executed, the family of a murder victim, and an anti–death penalty advocate. Author’s note. Further reading. Black-and-white photographs.

Susan Kuklin has written and photographed books JLG REVIEW for young adults on diffi cult and important A truly gripping read, No Choirboy will appeal to a diverse audience. Readers will subjects such as AIDS, appreciate the captivating stories and honest language of the interviewees in this series teen pregnancy, and suicide. “My books are meant to follow the of revelatory and moving interviews. stories that go behind the headlines and the One inmate speaks of the unexpected kindness he found on death row: “You get a sound bites that are fed to us by the nightly teenage kid coming in who knows nothing about prison, nothing about people, nothing news,” she says. “The people in my books about life, it would have been easy to take advantage of him . . . But [the other inmates] describe how they respond to, or are aff ected didn’t do that. Th ey became almost like fathers in a weird kinda way.” Another convict by, a law or a societal condition. I recently audited a class on capital punishment law speaks of his thoughts after killing a man at fourteen: “I realized my life was over.” at NYU Law School. As I learned more about Interviews with families aff ected by the death penalty add an often searing perspective capital punishment in the United States, I on how these cases change lives outside prison as well. Photographs of the subjects make came to realize that I should write a book on the connection between reader and interviewee even more personal. Additionally, Susan people who committed murder when they were juveniles. My husband, who is currently Kuklin’s introductions and comments in each chapter, combined with an interview with a professor of law at Brooklyn Law School, Bryan Stevenson, a prisoners’ rights advocate, provide useful information about capital and his colleagues have been instrumental in punishment in the United States. helping to do the research for No Choirboy.” Ms. Kuklin and her husband live in New York City. Visit Susan Kuklin’s Web site at www.susankuklin.com

CURRICULUM INDICATIONS Book type: Nonfi ction. describe their feelings as family members of a murder victim; and Genre: Journalistic nonfi ction. Stevenson discusses the unfairness of the death penalty system as it presently stands in America, then describes his role in the lives of death Main characters: Convicted murderers Roy Burgess Jr., Mark Melvin, and row inmates. Nanon Williams, all sentenced as adults for crimes committed as juveniles; Rena and Jamaal Beazley, mother and brother of Napoleon Beazley, who Curriculum areas: Language arts. Social studies. was executed for a crime committed as a juvenile; Mary and Paul Jenkins, Classroom units: Crime and punishment. Death. Grief. Contemporary sister and brother of teenage murder victim William Jenkins; anti–death American society. penalty attorney and law professor Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Topics: Death sentences. Prison. Death row. Gangs. Murder. Plea Justice Initiative of Alabama. deals. Religion. Arrest. Legal representation. Regret. Personal growth. Setting: Various prisons in Alabama and Texas; the Beazleys’ home in Executions. Appeals. Prison populations. Drugs. Families. Homosexuality. Grapeland, Texas; Mary Jenkins’s dorm room; NYU Law School. Rape. Grief. Juvenile off enders. Fights. Racism. Respect. Mentors. Prison Summary: In their own words, Burgess, Melvin, and Williams—convicted guards. Writing. Sentencing guidelines. Jurors. Forgiveness. Unfairness. of brutal murders committed before the age of eighteen—describe their Victimization. lives in prison and on death row, giving readers an unvarnished look Comprehension skills: Fact and opinion. Point of view. at the American prison system from the inside; the Beazleys describe Sensitive areas: Mature themes. Strong language. Sexual themes. their feelings as family members of an executed criminal; the Jenkinses Drug abuse. Racism. Violence. www.juniorlibraryguild.com OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2008 • jlgmonthly 29 YM MATURE YOUNG ADULTS • GRADES 11 & UP OCTOBER

Paper Towns

by John Green

Dutton • ISBN: 9780525478188 • Dewey: F • 320 pp • 5 1/2” x 8 1/4” Scheduled Month: October 2008

Although they were friends as kids, Margo is now at the center of the popular crowd, and Quentin just idolizes her from afar. Th en one night, Margo shows up at Quentin’s window and, mysteriously, asks him to help her do “eleven things,” including fi ve that involve a “getaway man.” Quentin is still reliving their adventures the next day when he learns that Margo has disappeared. He thinks she must be “. . . doing Margo stuff . Making stories. Rocking worlds.” But as he follows the trail of clues she left behind, he discovers a far diff erent Margo from the one he thought he knew. Author’s note. John Green wanted to be an earthworm JLG REVIEW scientist when he was a kid. But he killed off his entire earthworm farm due to his general In Paper Towns, John Green creates memorable characters with humorous, smart, inability to care for pets. Later, he made a list of things he was good and realistic dialogue that will satisfy his fans and earn him new ones. Whether at. The list included telling lies and reading about a breakneck road trip or about Quentin and Margo breaking sitting, so he decided to become into Sea World in the middle of the night, readers will be highly entertained. a writer. However, Paper Towns isn’t just a fun story, it is also an intriguing examination of “I’ve learned a lot from the experience of writing my previous image and identity. books, and that feeds into my current “Margo was not a miracle,” Quentin says. “She was not an adventure. She was writing. Many people will say that Paper not a fi ne and precious thing. She was a girl.” Looking for the “real” Margo, Quentin Towns is like Looking for Alaska, my fi rst novel. talks to his friends, family, and people he never thought he’d speak to, including I don’t really agree with this, but in some Lacey, one of Margo’s closest and most popular friends. As he searches, he has a larger subtle ways, Paper Towns is written against my fi rst novel, as a kind of response to what revelation: everyone Margo knows sees her diff erently. At a party, Quentin and Lacey I see as the insuffi ciencies inherent to telling talk: “‘Th at doesn’t sound like my Margo,’ she said, and I thought of my Margo, and the story.” Lacey’s Margo, and Mrs. Spiegelman’s Margo, and all of us looking at her refl ection Mr. Green lives in Indianapolis, Indiana, in diff erent fun house mirrors.” Quentin recognizes that Margo has more actively with his wife. Visit John Green’s Web site at cultivated her image than most people do, but he wonders how much responsibility he www.sparksfl yup.com and others bear for not trying harder to get to know her. An important part of the novel is the fi ctional Wikipedia-like Web site, Omnictionary (www.omnictionary.com). Green has added a bonus for diligent Internet users: an actual online Omnictionary at that Web address with articles to deepen the mystery of the novel and enhance the reading experience.

CURRICULUM INDICATIONS Book type: Novel. Curriculum areas: Language arts. Genre: Mystery. Classroom units: Mystery. Coming of age. Journeys. Main characters: The narrator, Quentin (“Q”) Jacobsen; Margo Roth Topics: Corpses. Suicide. Investigations. Senior prom. Rumors. Online Spiegelman, Q’s enigmatic, alluring neighbor and classmate; Ben and encyclopedias. Bullies. Girlfriends. Adventures. Getaway cars. Revenge. Radar, Q’s fellow band nerds; Lacey Pemberton, Margo’s sort-of friend. Breaking and entering. Suburban materialism. The high school social Setting: Jeff erson Park, Florida, a soulless subdivision outside Orlando. ladder. Blackmail. Disappearances. Parenting. Clues. Leaves of Grass. Undeveloped subdivisions. Abandoned buildings. Human connections. Summary: After taking Q on a night-long adventure settling scores, Maps. Drunks. Parties. Perceiving others. Planning. Graduation. Road Margo disappears, and Q is sure she has committed suicide. He is also trips. Convenience stores. Car games. Accidents. Confrontations. convinced that, before leaving, Margo has left him the clues he will Misunderstandings. Escape. Burying the past. need to fi nd her body. As Q follows the trail Margo has left, he begins to understand that he never really knew Margo, although he has been in Comprehension skills: Deduce and infer. Compare and contrast. love with her for as long as he can remember. Sensitive areas: Strong language. Underage drinking.

30 jlgmonthly • OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2008 866-205-0570 december 2008 forthcoming titles

Marco Flamingo / Marco Flamenco NE Fun with Roman Numerals by David A. Adler The Other Side of the Island PS MM by Sheila Jarkins by Allegra Goodman SE Football Double Threat Matt Christopher K Dinosaur vs. Bedtime by Bob Shea Phenomena: Secrets of the Senses NM A The Adventures of Givret the Short: by Donna M. Jackson P Too Many Toys by David Shannon The Knights’ Tales by Gerald Morris Lay-ups and Long Shots: An Anthology of P+ Santa Duck by David Milgrim SM A+ The Runaway Dolls Short Stories by Joseph Bruchac et al A Brand-New Day with Mouse and Mole E by Ann M. Martin and Laura Godwin Y Larry and the Meaning of Life by Janet Tashjian by Wong Herbert Yee B The Attack on Pearl Harbor: An Interactive Y+ Lifeblood: Darkside, Book 2 by Tom Becker E+ Dodsworth in Paris by Tim Egan History Adventure by Allison Lassieur The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Pteranodon: The Giant of the Sky B+ HH I Hard Gold: The Colorado Gold Rush of 1859 Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom by David West by Avi on the Waves by M. T. Anderson I+ Tyrannosaurus: The Tyrant Lizard by Rob Shone C The Serial Garden: The Complete Armitage The Year We Disappeared: A Father-Daughter HI A River of Words: The Story of William Family Stories by Joan Aiken Memoir by Cylin Busby and John Busby BE Carlos Williams by Jen Bryant C+ Antsy Does Time by Neal Shusterman The Knife of Never Letting Go: Chaos Walking, YM Nancy Drew, Girl Detective, Graphic Novel FM Book One by Patrick Ness ME Here Lies Arthur by Philip Reeve #14: Sleight of Dan by Stefan Petrucha and GM Sarah Kinney The Good Neighbors: Book One, Kin by Holly Black www.juniorlibraryguild.com OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2008 • jlgmonthly 31 january 2009 forthcoming titles

FLIP B O

O K

Seasons of the Year / Las estaciones del año The Sign of the Sinister Sorcerer: C+ The Freedom Business poems by Marilyn Nelson PS ME by Margaret Hall A John Bellairs Mystery featuring FM Time’s Chariot by Ben Jeapes Lewis Barnavelt by Brad Strickland K Who Made This Cake? by Chihiro Nakagawa GM The Savage by David Almond Name That Style: All about Isms in Art How to Make a Cherry Pie and See NE P by Bob Raczka MM The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman the U.S.A. by Marjorie Priceman Seabiscuit: The Wonder Horse NM Up Close: Ronald Reagan by James Sutherland P+ Those Darn Squirrels! by Adam Rubin SE by Meghan McCarthy SM Out of Reach by V. M. Jones Two Bobbies: A True Story of Hurricane E Magical Kids: The Smallest Girl Ever; Katrina, Friendship, and Survival A Y The Boy Who Could Fly by Sally Gardner Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd by Kirby Larson and Mary Nethery Emmy and the Home for Troubled Girls Y+ How to Ditch Your Fairy by Justine Larbalestier Home on the Range: John A. Lomax and A+ E+ by Lynne Jonell The Devil on Trial: Witches, Anarchists, His Cowboy Songs by Deborah Hopkinson HH Atheists, Communists, and Terrorists in B All About Sleep from A to Zzzz by Elaine Scott I Nikki & Deja: Birthday Blues America’s Courtrooms by Phillip Marguiles and by Karen English Wild Horses: Galloping Through Time B+ Maxine Rosaler by Kelly Milner Halls I+ Mighty Monty by Johanna Hurwitz HI The Juvie Three by Gordon Korman Sword of Waters: The Shield, Sword, and Crown, Whaam!: The Art & Life of Roy Lichtenstein C YM BE Book Two by Hilari Bell Dishes by Rich Wallace by Susan Goldman Rubin

32 jlgmonthly • OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2008 866-205-0570 february 2009 forthcoming titles

PS Abuelos by Pat Mora Annie’s Adventures: The Sisters 8, Book 1 FM The Tomorrow Code by Brian Falkner ME by Lauren Baratz-Logsted K No Babysitters Allowed by Amber Stewart Ramp Rats: A Graphic Guide Adventure GM When I Grow Up: A Young Person’s Guide by Liam O’Donnell About Rodents: A Guide for Children NE P to Interesting & Unusual Occupations by Cathryn Sill Seven Paths to Death by Jessica Loy MM by Dorothy & Thomas Hoobler P+ Spuds by Karen Hesse On the Court with . . . LeBron James SE The Mayfl ower and the Pilgrims’ New World E Bed, Bats, & Beyond by Joan Holub Matt Christopher NM by Nathaniel Philbrick When Louis Armstrong Taught Me Scat Science Warriors: The Battle Against E+ A SM Paralyzed by Jeff Rud by Muriel Harris Weinstein Invasive Species by Sneed B. Collard III Y Bonechiller by Graham McNamee Gertrude Is Gertrude Is Gertrude Is Gertrude A+ The Worry Tree by Marianne Musgrove I by Jonah Winter Y+ The Musician’s Daughter by Susanne Dunlap B Bird by Rita Murphy Galileo’s Leaning Tower Experiment HH Two Girls of Gettysburg by Lisa Klein I+ B+ My One Hundred Adventures by Polly Horvath by Wendy Macdonald HI The Hand You’re Dealt by Paul Volponi The True Adventures of Charley Darwin Wanda Gág: The Girl Who Lived to Draw C BE by Carolyn Meyer YM Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan by Deborah Kogan Ray C+ Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson

www.juniorlibraryguild.com OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2008 • jlgmonthly 33 march 2009 forthcoming titles

Book Fiesta!: A Children’s Day/Book Day BE Pippo the Fool by Tracey E. Fern FM Starclimber by Kenneth Oppel PS Celebration / Book Fiesta!: Una celebración Durinda’s Dangers: The Sisters 8, Book 2 Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone: de El día de los niños/El día de los libros ME GM by Lauren Baratz-Logsted The Odyssey of Flight 33 adapted by by Pat Mora Mark Kneece from Rod Serling’s original script NE Bubble Homes and Fish Farts by Fiona Bayrock K Birds by Kevin Henkes MM Shadowed Summer by Saundra Mitchell Ray & Me: A Baseball Card Adventure P A Penguin Story by Antoinette Portis SE by Dan Gutman I’ll Pass for Your Comrade: Women Soldiers NM P+ Bird, Butterfl y, Eel by James Prosek in the Civil War by Anita Silvey The Anne Frank Case: Simon Wiesenthal’s Search A Pearl and Wagner: One Funny Day for the Truth by Susan Goldman Rubin SM The White Gates by Bonnie Ramthun E by Kate McMullan A+ Fortune’s Magic Farm by Suzanne Selfors Y Eon: Dragoneye Reborn by Alison Goodman Cork & Fuzz: Finders Keepers E+ B Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw by Jeff Kinney Y+ Partly Cloudy by Gary Soto by Dori Chaconas Mexican Immigrants in America: An Interactive Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap I Money Madness by David A. Adler B+ HH History Adventure by Rachael Hanel of Faith by Deborah Heiligman A Whiff of Pine, a Hint of Skunk: I+ Morning in a Diff erent Place HI Dope Sick by Walter Dean Myers A Forest of Poems by Deborah Ruddell C by Mary Ann McGuigan Firebirds Soaring: An Anthology of Original YM C+ Everything Is Fine by Ann Dee Ellis Speculative Fiction edited by Sharyn November

34 jlgmonthly • OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2008 866-205-0570 jlg news & notes

Junior Library Guild is an active supporter of academic conferences throughout the United States. We value these opportunities to meet you, our library clientele, and learn how we can better serve the library community. We invite you to come by to chat with us, browse the latest books, hear about what’s new or upcoming, and tell us how we’re doing. Look for us at the following conferences:

Louisana Library and Media Professionals (LA LAMP) Virginia Educational Media Association (VEMA) West Monroe, LA, September 9, 2008 Richmond, VA, November 6–8, 2008 Natchitoches, LA, September 10, 2008 Lafayette, LA, September 11, 2008 North Carolina School Library Media Association Gonzales, LA, September 12, 2008 (NCSLMA) Winston-Salem, NC, October 29–31, 2008 Encyclo-Media 28 Oklahoma City, OK, September 18–19, 2008 New Jersey Association of School Librarians (NJASL) East Brunswick, NJ, November 13–15, 2008 Alabama Library and Media Professionals (AL LAMP) Mobile, AL, September 22, 2008 Indiana Library Federation Montgomery, AL, September 23, 2008 Indianapolis, IN, November 18–20, 2008 Bessomer, AL, September 24, 2008 Tennessee Association of School Librarians (TASL) Florida Association for Media in Education (FAME) Franklin, TN, November 20–22, 2008 Kissimmee, FL, September 24–26, 2008 California School Library Association (CSLA) Kentucky Library Association/Kentucky School Sacramento, CA, November 20–23, 2008 Media Association (KLA/KSMA) Louisville, KY, October 1–4, 2008 American Library Association Midwinter Denver, CO, January 23–26, 2009 Iowa Library Association West Des Moines, IA, October 15–16, 2008 National Reading Recovery (RRCNA) Columbus, OH, February 7–10, 2009 Georgia Counsel of Media Organizations (COMO XX) Athens, GA, October 15–17, 2008 Texas Library Association (TLA) Houston, TX, March 30–April 4, 2009 Ohio Educational Library Media Association (OELMA) Columbus, OH, October 22–24, 2008 American Association of School Librarians— 14th National Conference Massachusetts School Library Association (MSLA) Charlotte, NC, November 5–8, 2009 Sturbridge, MA, November 2–3, 2008

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