VVMBookBlog

Logan is angry–angry at his control-freak step-father Robert, angry at his mother for not defending him against Robert’s sometimes strange actions, and angry at how all the forces in his life seem to be working against him.  And his anger causes him to do some dumb things.  Then, in order to teach Logan some “discipline and responsibility,” Robert decides that Logan needs a dog, which ends up being a mutt–a female named Jack–from the animal shelter.

This all happens against the backdrop of a strange disease that seems to be killing off all of the dogs in the area, but not before the dogs become sick enough to viciously attack anyone or anything around them.  This part of the book made it feel a little like a eerie, Stephen King-type book where forces beyond anyone’s control are building up for a bad ending!

Can’t say this was the best book ever.  Maybe there were a few too many coincidences. However it did keep me reading to see what happened with Logan, his family and Jack.

[This is one of those "don't-judge-a-book-by-its-cover" books!]

What would cause you to run away from home? For 12-year-old Dani (real name: Katahdin) it was the death of her brother (name: Springer) from muscular dystrophy, the divorce of her parents, and the way her life looked after those two tragedies.

And if you were running away from home, where would you go? Dani decided she wanted to hike the Appalachian Trail, one long continuous 2170-MILE trail running from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine. (See map) If those mountain names are familiar, you should know that Dani’s parents met, and were married, while they were hiking the trail.

Now if you’re running away from home, and soon after the start of your escape your mom comes to find you to take you back home, what would you do? Well, I guess you can read Halfway to the Sky to find out what happens from here. Does she achieve her goal of becoming a “thru-hiker” on the Appalachian Trail?

Knowing people who have hiked parts of the Trail “section-hikers”, I liked reading more about what it’s like to hike the trail. Readers who like “problem” books about how people react to challenges in their life will enjoy seeing how Dani hikes her way through her challenges.

[Map image from http://www.appalachiantrail.com/]

(This has been posted before by Ms. Moeller, but that’s because she’s faster at getting these Maud Hart Lovelace books read than I am! Two more weeks until school starts. I’d better hurry!)

I’ve heard good things about this story, and I agree that it is a good mystery with lots of suspense. Stevie and Susan Carol are 8th graders who won a writing contest to go to the USBWA (like NCAA) Final Four and be members of the press, including filing feature stories for some newspapers.

Stevie and Susan Carol, accompanied on this trip to New Orleans by their fathers, didn’t hit it off right away; Susan Carol’s favorite team ever was Duke and Stevie’s most UN-favorite team was Duke and anything connected to Duke. But eventually they go on to try to solve the mystery of a conversation they hear in the back hallway of the arena: Why is Chip Graber, star player of the Minnesota team, being blackmailed into throwing the final game of the tournament? (Note: Their success is made possible by the apparent lack of attention by their fathers of what they are doing when and where, but that’s another story.~~MC)

In real life the author, John Feinstein, is a sportswriter for the Washington Post and a sports commentator for National Public Radio, so sports is his world. Readers of this book really get a feel of things that go on at a Final Four weekend, including the personalities of the famous sportscasters and lots of behind-the-scenes activities. And, of course, there are the exciting moments in the basketball games. Check this interview of John Feinstein by the Time for Kids website.

And now we need to read the next one called Vanishing Act where Stevie and Susan Carol are together again and involved in a kidnapping incident.

What was life like back home in Illinois during World War II? I think we can get a good idea from the book On Wings of Heroes.

Davy’s life was going so well in his small town and then the United States got into the war against Germany. Within a very short time, everything changed. Davy’s older brother enlisted in the Air Force to be a pilot. And Davy’s father began reliving his war experiences during World War I. Lots of heroes in Davy’s life!

In order to support the war, US citizens were ordered to begin rationing items that were hard to get–sugar, coffee, oil, tires, etc., so that everyone had their share and to prevent people from hoarding these items. At the same time, citizens were asked to collect different things and contribute them to the war effort. This included items such as rubber, metal in tin cans, and even the fuzz from milkweed plants which was used as stuffing in life vests and suits for pilots (like Davy’s brother). We also experience the war as they did through the songs, slogans and posters (see book cover) used during the war to encourage those on the home front to be positive about the war’s outcome. This book shows how all of this was a part of their everyday life and urgently needed to support the war effort.

Richard Peck does such a great job of bringing an important time in the past, helping us really feel what was happening then, and making it funny all at the same time. Other great books by him include A Year Down Yonder, The River Between Us, and my personal favorite, Here Lies the Librarian!

Stargirl is back, but now she’s living in Pennsylvania and trying to get over being “dumped” by Leo back in Arizona. The book is actually a long letter Stargirl is writing to Leo but never sends. The diary-like entries describe Stargirl’s new life and the new interesting people now in her life:  out-spoken little Dootsie, tough-girl Alvina, and supposedly bad-boy Perry. She is home-schooled now since her previous try at public school didn’t work out so well!

Stargirl is still very much a free spirit and luckily finds people who are willing to tune into her spirit and her interests. Yes, it probably would help to read Stargirl first, although there are enough “catch-up” hints at what happened in her previous life in Arizona. It should be an enjoyable book, especially for girls, and it made daily journal-writing seem like a great idea!