tales from outer suburbia, by shaun tan

For those of you who are not fans of graphic novels, this is one for you. Were I still in the classroom I would have several of these around to share with students as "mentor texts" to help them see the power of short stories and essays. The piece (I hate to call it a short story--it's more like an essay or poem) Distant Rain, is a lovely piece about poetry that could inspire almost anyone to begin writing a poem. Grandpa's Story is full of wisdom about what makes a marriage work and last. Alert, but not alarmed, gives me hope that we may be able to reduce our war-like mindsets.

Each of tan's stories/essays/imaginings leaves the reader with a feeling of having been touched by a creative mind with ideas that may help us move forward with life and with society. This "graphic novel" gets my highest recommendation

Life As We Knew It, by Susan Beth Pfeffer

I began this because one of my interns will be working with it this spring. It was a great read--a book that captured an afternoon and kept me from other work I should be doing. It's an apocalypse book (distopia--end of days). The basic plot line is that an asteroid hits the moon and changes earth's climate. Miranda, our protagonist, is a junior in high school with an older (college aged) and younger brother. Her parents are divorced. She is having a fairly typical adolescence until the asteroid hits.

What follows is a story of a mother's love and courage. Also a story of an adolescent (and her brothers) having to meet, accept, and overcome disaster. It is well crafted, believable, and explores a quite believable series of disastrous events. I some ways it reminded me of Laura Ingles Wilder's The Long Winter.

At first I was a little uneasy that this was going to be a "Rapture" book. It's not. However it does have a fundamentalist preacher/church as one of the secondary characters. Teachers will need to be prepared to deal with some religious questions. I wonder if it will become a challenged book.

Lexile 770. Recommended 6-12 grades. Multiple awards:

• Black-Eyed Susan Book Awards (Maryland): High School
• Booklist Editors' Choice - Books for Youth - Older Readers Category: 2006
• Garden State Teen Book Awards (New Jersey): Fiction (Grades 6-8)
• Nutmeg Children's Book Award (Connecticut): Teen category
• Texas Tayshas Reading Lists: 2007
• Truman Readers Award (Missouri)
• YALSA Best Books for Young Adults: 2007

Fablehaven by Brandon Mull

I've seen these at the book store for a while but haven't picked one up. Since my son has matured I find I'm not reading as much fantasy. This was a perfect blend of possible and fantastic. The premise is that there are preserves throughout the world in which all the fantastic and magical creatures are kept for their own safety and for the safety of the human residents of the earth. Kendra and Seth end up in Fablehaven because their parents have to attend a funeral/cruise (their maternal grandmother's final bequest to her children--by the way a great idea!).

The grandparents are the guardians of Fablehaven. Their parents do not know of the nature of this preserve. The story is well crafted and an excellent balance of kid adventure and adult mentoring of kids. I strongly recommend the book. Lexile is 700. Recommended for older kids (I agree).

Roadside Crosses, by Jeffery Deaver (2009)

This is a book I am going to bring to class today and recommend to teachers. Deaver is still exploring new literacies, the internet, and digital worlds. Roadside Crosses is a "Katherine Dance" book set in the Bay Area. It explores gaming culture and the dangers of the internet. Although Deaver portrays the dark side of the internet in this book and his most recent Lincoln Rhyme book I can't help but read a positive feeling about this new world we are all exploring as well.

There are some "contrived" plot twists and I considered the ultimate villain as a suspect from the beginning, but still the book was a compelling read. It also gave me some personal comfort in explorations of the difficulties of working within bureaucracies. Both this book and Michael Connely's recent novel The Scarecrow are going to stay in my home as reference sources.

Becka Cooper Book 2: Blood Hound, by Tamora Pierce

I have been a fan of Pierce's various series for a long time now. I particularly enjoyed her first book in the Beka Cooper series. Beka is a street kid who lives and works in the slums "the lower city" of the capital city of Tortal. (Yes this is fantasy fiction). In the first book we followed her as she worked through the apprenticeship and training to become a "dog" (police office) in the roughest area of the city. She is aided by her "powers" to hear the spirits of dead who are riding pigeons, communicate with "spinners" (dust devils), and her cat who is a magical creature--perhaps a god.

In the second book Beka is now a full fledged "dog" and in search of good working partners. The main plot of the book surrounds a counterfeiting ring. A sub theme in the book appears to be GLBT rights. Several of the secondary characters are homosexual or transgendered. There is also more explicit sexuality than has appeared in Pierce's previous books.

Sexual orientation issues are a leading cause of suicide in young adults. I believe it is important for teachers to be aware of books they can recommend to students who have need this opportunity to explore the challenges they are facing. The sexuality issues are all treated very tastefully. But, I think teachers who have been fans of the other Pierce series should read the entirety of this book before they recommend it to readers. It is for a more mature reader than the Circle of Magic, Protector of the Small, Immortals, or Song of the Lioness series.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

I have been wanting to read this since it won the Newbery. At the time I'd heard interviews and reviews of the book and it sounded quite interesting. I picked it up this weekend to get me through a rough patch in life. I did a great job of it. This is a type of a book that needs to be protected--no spoilers here. But, as others reviewing it have said, it begins with a toddler being raised in a graveyard by ghosts....

I will be reading Gaiman's other works in short order. I just hope summer is long enough.