My One Hundred Adventures by Polly Horvath

Barf alert, this book is not good! I feel sad that this book was published, I feel sad that is a potential nominee for the state book award next year and most of all I feel sad that I was willing to let this book take 120 pages of my time last night. Now granted 120 pages is a little under half of the book, so it could get better, but I doubt it. First and foremost the writing style bugged me, it was written in what I assume was supposed to be the "voice" of the character (a twelve-year-old girl), what that means is a lot of simple sentences Subject, Verb, Object, Subject, Verb, Object, over and over again. It was like reading an easy-reader that's 260 pages long. Secondly, the plot was driven forward by the main character making poor choices, I can't stand that. For example, the main character Jane gets duped into babysitting for the horrible Mrs. Gourd (she's afraid of being sued) when clearly Jane just needs to have a conversation with her mother. And then there's Nellie, the preacher whose hopelessly poor decision making makes one question how it was that she survived to adulthood in the first place. Of course, Jane ends up spending a lot of time with her. And finally, this book was all about a series of adventures, many of which should have been exciting. Instead Horvath has a way of glossy over the exciting parts and deemphasizing potentially thrilling situations (who knew a hot air balloon ride- on a stolen hot air balloon no less- could be so boring?).

This book did actually remind me a little bit of a book I really like, Way Down Deep, a story about a sweet little girl with a big heart and small town charm who you fell in love with instantly. My One Hundred Adventures is like Way Down Deep if it had been written by a dung beetle or any other similarly unliterary insect. Jane is a pretty nice girl whose heart seems to be in the right place (most of the time), who while she does possess a certain charm of her own is ultimately more of a character you want to like (but never quite can), than one you'll fall in love with. And those sentences Subject, Verb, Object, Subject, Verb, Object, Arrgh!

Give this book two children who enjoy experiences commonly held to be unenjoyable, such as stubbing your toe, coming down with food poisoning or sitting next overweight mustached men with BO on the bus grades 4 to 7

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

"It takes a graveyard to raise a child."

The Graveyard Book is the story of Nobody Owens, an orphan raised by the denizens of an ancient graveyard in England. When he was little more than a baby Nobody, or "Bod" for short, had the good fortune of wandering out the front door of his home, then down the street and into a graveyard. While conventional wisdom would hold that this would be bad luck indeed, it is important to take into account Bod's circumstances. His family had just been murdered by a man named Jack, who was just one small child away from completing his task. Young Bod had no way of knowing the graveyard would provide sanctuary, but that's just what happens. When Jack comes for Bod, Silas, a mysterious inhabitant of the graveyard who is neither alive nor dead, leads Jack quietly off into the night. Mr. and Mrs. Owens, a long-dead couple who have waited centuries for a child, adopt Bod. And soon the graveyard accepts him of one of its own, that Bod might come of age living among the unliving.
Jack, however, still searches....

Neil Gaiman's latest book is grim reinterpretation of Rudyard Kipling's the Jungle Book set in a graveyard and I loved every second of it. The story is always engaging and frequently exciting. Gaiman masterfully paints a picture of a fantastic and imaginative world, while mixing in just the right amount of action and adventure. With this book Gaiman has done a wonderful job of opening up a genre usually reserved for older audiences to children. Longtime fans of Neil Gaiman won't be disappointed, the dark subject matter and macabre pen and ink illustrations are reminiscent of other Gaiman favorites, such as Coraline and the Sandman.

Give this one to young fans of horror and the supernatural grades 5-9.

The Rising Star of Rusty Nail by Lesley Blume

Rusty Nail, Minnesota is a town "famous" for being the former American Coot (a bird that looks sort of like a duck) capital of the world. Unfortunately one day they decided to just up and leave and "Rusty Nail was left with only the fond memory of the Era of the Coot." All and all Rusty Nail is a small town with few opportunities. That's why 10-year-old Franny is determined to make the most of her big chance. Franny isn't the best at math or reading or science and she and her friend Sandy have a real penchant for mischief, but if there's one thing Franny excels at it's piano. Her father even calls her his little Mozart. So when the school principal asks Franny to play piano at an assembly for a special visitor to the town Franny practices like she's never practiced before.

The book is set in the 1950s and follows many of the predictable themes of the decade: small town America, the birth of television and most of all McCarthyism. Much of the story focuses on Franny's relationship with Madame Malenko, an aloof Russian concert pianist who moves to town as well as the town's reaction to her arrival.

I've noticed that 50's themes have been popular ever since 9/11 because of the easy comparisons that can be made between McCarthyism and the war on terror. That element is definitely present in this book, but it makes it's point in more of a "don't judge a book by it's cover" fashion. This was a solid book through and through. Give this one to fans of historical fiction, music or Russian composers with unpronounceable names grades 5 thru 8.

Baseball Crazy edited by Nancy E. Mercado.

Baseball Crazy is a collection of short stories from the same editor as Every Man for Himself, but this time the theme is the national pastime, baseball. The stories follow a variety of characters from baseball stars, to bench-warmers, from statisticians, to fans and does so in a variety of formats too, mostly short stories, but also a play and poetry. Once again their are some big names like Jerry Spinelli (Maniac Magee) and Joseph Bruchac (Code Talker) backing up this collection and they deliver some great stories

I enjoyed this collection just as much as Every Man for Himself. Give this one to baseball lovers grades 4-8.

Hoot by Carl Hiaasen

The policeman nodded grimly. "Alligators," he declared.
"You're kiddin' me."
"I wish I was," said Officer Delinko. "They put alligators in your potties sir. Real live alligators."
"More than one?"
"Yes, sir."
Curly was flabbergasted. "Are they... big gators?"
Officer Delinko shrugged, "I imagine all of 'em look big," he said, "when they're swimming under your butt."

Hoot is the story of Roy Eberhardt and his quest to: avoid the dim-witted school bully, track down an odd shoeless school-skipping kid (nicknamed, of all things, Mullet Fingers) and protect some burrowing owls whose homes are about to be bulldozed (to make way for a pancake house). Not bad for a 7th grader, eh? Along the way he crosses paths with: a Police Officer desperate for a promotion, a bag full of poisonous snakes painted silver and a marketing vice president named Chuck Muckle.

Once I started reading Hoot I couldn't put it down. The story moves along at a good pace and the characters, especially Roy, are intriguing and likeable. This book made me laugh again and again, especially the pranks pulled at the construction site (the alligators in the port-a-potties is just one of many).

Not only is Hoot hilarious, it has a great message too. It stresses how thru community involvement kids can make a difference and help the environment. Give this one to kids who love: owls, the environment, and to laugh grades 5 thru 8.

The Dragon's Child by Jenny Nimmo

Dando the Dragon can't fly. And he's lost- lost in the land where dreadful Doggins lurk, and where dangerous humans have arrived. He has to find his family, but can he make the journey alone? He's not so sure.

Yesterday I decided to look up "forgettable fantasy story" in the dictionary, much to my chagrin The Dragon's Child was not listed, but it should have been. I read this story only a few days ago, but already it has begun to fade from my memory. The book is like a connect-the-dots where the dots are clichés and the lines are mediocre prose. Probably my favorite part about the book was the gimmicky dragon-shaped cover (the dotted lines in the picture denote the edge of the cover).

Give this book to children who love things that are dragon-shaped grades 2 to 4

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Winning means fame and fortune. Losing means certain death. the Hunger Games have begun....

When trying to imagine the Hunger Games think reality TV meets Roman Gladiator fights, in the future. Our protaganist Katniss is a 16 year-old coal miners daughter who poaches to help her family make ends meet. Her father died years ago and her district, is a poor one anyway, so Katniss has to apply for food aid from the government. Applying for food aid means putting your name in the lottery an extra time, but winning the lottery is hardly desirable. Every year each district (there are 12) must send two lottery winners (one male, one female) to the Capitol (a city in the Rocky Mountains where all the citizens live lives of luxury at the expense of the districts) to compete in the Hunger Games. The Hunger games are plain and simple a televised fight to the death. Twenty-four teenagers are placed in a vast wilderness arena with weapons and minimal supplies and left to fight it out over the course of a couple weeks. The winner goes on to live in luxury; the losers, well- they're already dead. And guess what? Katniss just won the lottery.

This book was an instant favorite. Katniss is a compelling female protaganist and the action and survival sequences, which dominate this book, were well written and exciting. The book can be gut-wrenchingly violent at times, but it's no worse than what you'll find on television or the news for that matter. The world is well-crafted and Collins gives just enough information to keep the story engaging, but never so much as to bog down the plot. My one (and only) complaint about this book was that while it could have been an excellent stand alone work, Collins has decided to make it into a trilogy. I hope I'm wrong, but I doubt the second book will be able to live up to the first.

Give this book to fans of Reality-TV, survial stories and action addicts grades 5+