VVMBookBlog

Here’s another book from the 2008 Maud Hart Lovelace list and what a great story!

Scott is nervous about going into high school as a freshman.  He and his friends have the usual problems with upperclassmen on those first few days of school.  But even as Scott is adjusting to high school, his world takes on a new dimension when his parents tell him that his mother is having a baby in the spring!  He’s kind of used to being the younger brother and the youngest kid, so what will this new creature do to his comfortable world?

Well, the combination of his school experiences and his still-embryonic sibling causes him to begin writing a survival manual for high school…and many other aspects of life.  In fact, his writing skills lead him to joining the school newspaper, and other school activities in his quest to get the attention of Julia, who suddenly turned beautiful over the summer!  Whatever he does in school has surprising results and usually no one is more surprised than Scott himself.

Very funny, very entertaining!  Lots of life lessons from Scott’s survival manual and journal (NOT a diary), but really funny and reader-friendly!

Have you read Black-eyed Suzie or The Boy from the Basement?  Both of these books have been really popular with students interested in reading about people with mental health problems.  And now here’s another book by the same author that I think will be added to that category of books.

Tracy is 13 years old and lives with her father who is a teacher.  Her mother died when Tracy was three, so much of her feelings of security center around her home and her father.

Now it’s the last day of school–June 16th–and Tracy is walking home with her friend Caroline like they always do.  She says goodbye to Caroline and continues on to her house when suddenly a junky orange car drives up to her, almost hitting her.  Someone–the older brother of a boy in her class–jumps out, throws her into the car, and takes off.  Then fast forward to a hospital emergency room where she finds out she’s been viciously beaten and raped.

Has what happened on that June 16th changed her forever?  How will she ever feel secure and SAFE again?  Her father and her friends so all the right things but some thoughts and memories are too painful to face.  Read this book and find out how Tracy does the hard work needed to recover from that horrible day.

First of all, here are the Division II (grades 6-8) winners from the 2007 Maud Hart Lovelace list from the whole state of Minnesota:

1st place
Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick

2nd place
Ruby Holler by Sharon Creech

3rd place
Last Dog on Earth by Daniel Ehrenhaft

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Now here below is the new list for 2008. Lots of good ones here! Start now and be ready to talk about them when school starts.

Mirror’s Tale by P. W. Catanese

Flush by Carl Hiaasen

Jackie’s Wild Seattle by Will Hobbs

* Soldier Boys by Dean Hughes

Day of Tears by Julius Lester

Gossamer by Lois Lowry

Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie by David Lubar

Heat by Mike Lupica

Shackleton’s Stowaway by Victoria McKernan

Monsoon Summer by Mitali Perkins

Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

* So B. It by Sarah Weeks

[*Titles for mature readers]

I know, what took me so long?? I should have read this LONG ago. But, I didn’t and now I did and I can see why lots of students like it…and all the books that come after it. And, it’s one of the 12 books on the new 2008 Maud Hart Lovelace list!

Percy Jackson (Perseus?) is in 6th grade and has always had trouble in school. He’s dyslexic and has ADHD, and his behavior problems have caused him to be bounced around 6 different schools in 6 years. But then something happens on a field trip to an art museum in New York City. An incident there leads to him being expelled and ultimately finding out that some of his teachers weren’t human at all but other-worldly beings that, up to now, he only knew as mythological beings.

It’s finally at Half Blood Camp, after escaping the minotaur in a battle that might mean the end of his beloved mother, that Percy learns who he really is, who his father is, and gets the details of his upcoming quest. The quest is to do something that will save the world, except he and his 2 friends, have to accomplish this task by the summer solstice, June 21st, which is in 10 days time. Now get ready for a wild ride!

This is a great story because it’s funny, contains lots of social comment if the reader is paying attention, and is entertaining. Maybe it’s even better because it really makes mythology come alive…literally! As different mythological beings were mentioned in the story, I was wishing I knew or remembered more about them. Classic Greek poet Homer wrote two epic poems, The Odyssey and The Iliad, that were mentioned in the course of the story. The reading challenge would be greater but it might be fun to find the same Lightning Thief characters in a work done in 8th century BC.