In fact, I’ve just handed the book to my husband who’s looking at it for the first time.  He’s giggling.  He’s making comments.  He’s engrossed.  He’s just told me, “I like this one.”  Fun for kids, fun for adults.   The design is awesome.  Fantastic text.   Can’t really get much better than this.

I’m thinking that this book is worth adding into our collection.  But is it safe?  The book does eat people.  If it even catches a whiff of peanut butter and jelly on your fingers then you are in BIG trouble.  You don’t have a chance.  And do not let your little ones read this book – especially when it’s hungry.  (You should always assume that it’s hungry.)  You would be very  lucky indeed if you come away from the reading of this book unscathed.

So if I disappear it’s pretty much safe to assume that I have become a victim and will never be heard from again.  Here’s wishing me luck . . . .

Links of interest:  Mark Fearing website, The Book That Eats People is a fiction picture book Cybils nomination for which I’m a panelist.
Genre: Fiction Picture Book, approx ages 4-8.
Publisher: Tricycle Press. August 11, 2009
Hardcover, 38 pages. ISBN 1582462682
The Book That Eats People is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

That is all.  Short and sweet.   Because this picture book is awesome and Betsy’s more awesome than I.

Links of interest:  Antoinette Portis website, more book blogger reviews.  A Penguin Story is a fiction picture book Cybils nomination for which I’m a panelist.
Genre:  Fiction Picture Book, approx ages 4-8.
Publisher: HarperCollins. December 23, 2008
Hardcover, 40 pages. ISBN 0061456888
A Penguin Story is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

Poor shy Jeremy lives on the top floor of a three-story apartment building.  Every day he looks down at the other boys and girls playing ball.  But he never goes outside.  One day, Jeremy takes out his fancy blue ball- point pen and draws a monster.  But his monster ends up to be pretty demanding and rude asking Jeremy to draw him a sandwich, a toaster, a record player, a checkerboard, a comfortable chair, a television, a hot tog, a telephone, and a piece of cake.  When the monster asks for a  hat so he can go out, Jeremy thinks with relief that he may be gone for good.

But the monster returns later that night and takes over Jeremy’s bed.  Jeremy’s a smart kid and the next morning draws the monster a bus ticket and a suitcase and helps him get out of town.  But once he puts the monster on the bus, he’s not in his room anymore.  He’s outside!  So . . . he plays ball with the neighbor kids.

I liked this one.  The illustrations are really cute.  I loved the pen and ink line quality to the blue monster.  I loved that the monster wasn’t scary.  Just very demanding.   I liked shy Jeremy and his problem solving skills.  My boys have casually looked through the pages of this one with interest although I haven’t sat down with them yet to read it cover to cover.  My four-year old is the perfect age for the short text.  The book has that special feel to it.  You just know it when you see it.

Links of interest: Peter McCarty website, more book blogger reviews, Travis at 100 Scope Notes has a much more eloquent review of this book than I do.
Genre: Fiction Picture Book, approx ages 4-8.
Publisher: Henry Holt & Co. September 1, 2009
Hardcover, 40 pages. ISBN 0805069348
Jeremy Draws a Monster is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

Gilly has been bouncing around in foster care homes for as long as she can remember.  She has a rough exterior and she won’t allow herself to get close to anybody.  Because what’s the point?  She’ll just be gone soon anyways.  But she’s smart and bright.  She does well in school just to prove everybody wrong and at the height of her success she purposely stops trying.  She feeds off of being able to control her surroundings and being able to manipulate those around her.

Gilly is in yet another new home.  One that she obviously will not tolerate.  How could she with  Maime Trotter, her obese foster mother, her new brother William Ernest who cowers at the slightest look in his direction, and the blind man next door who loves poetry – but that’s not the worst of it – he’s black too.  Gilly carries around a photo of her mother Courtney and knows that one day she will come and get her.  But when she finds herself beginning to care about her new family, she realizes that she better abandon them before they abandon her and she devises her own escape.

Gilly begins as a little girl with many prejudices and a rough exterior that she won’t let anybody through, as well as a heart that doesn’t want to be broken again.  She only wants one thing and that’s to be wanted.  But it’s the one person that she wants the most that doesn’t want her in return.  And when the chance comes will she realize that she was only chasing a dream?

A beautiful story about breaking through walls and the softening of the heart.  I highly recommend it.

I read The Great Gilly Hopkins as part of  Banned Books Week (I’m reading one banned book a day) and it was in the top 25 of most often challenged books from 1990-2000.  And to tell you the truth, it felt pretty obvious while I was reading what some parents would find offense about.  This includes Gilly’s language particularly the use of the words “damn” and “hell.”   But she is always reprimanded for it, she knows it’s wrong and the language is specifically used to illustrate the background that Gilly came from and how she changes.   Her character simply wouldn’t be the same without it.  Another reason is that Gilly is prejudice against her black school teacher and her black next-door neighbor Mr. Randolph.  Although Gilly doesn’t think much of them, both characters are portrayed in nothing but the best light.  At the end of the book, both are people who Gilly love dearly.  It’s an example of how prejudices are overcome once you actually get to know somebody.  And really, that’s something that is supposed to be wrong?  Hmmm . . . she also steals money.  So that could be another reason.  A ridiculous one at that.  (Edited to add – I found it ridiculous because she was made to return the amount and pay it off by doing chores).   SmallWorld Reads has some great commentary over at her blog about Gilly’s language that is worth checking out.

All valid reasons for having a parent know what their children are reading so they can discuss things like how words can effect people or prejudices are wrong.  I think it’s sad that somebody would rather try to remove it from a library’s collection instead of using the opportunity to engage their child with meaningful dialogue and teachable moments.

Links of interest:  Katherine Paterson website.  Other Paterson books reviewed by Maw Books:  A Midnight Clear, Selected Christmas Stories, Bridge to Terabithia (often challenged as well).
Genre:  Juvenile Fiction, approx ages 9-12.
Publisher:  Harper Collins.  June 1987.  (Copy I read and cover shown here is from Scholastic reprint 1995)
Paperback, 160 pages. ISBN 0064402010
The Great Gilly Hopkins is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon

When Matt returns to his unit, he’s still not sure what happened and despite his misgivings, his superiors are willing to just sweep the incident under the carpet.  It’s better to not say anything at all then incriminate ones self.  But can he live with himself, if indeed, he did shoot the little boy?  And will his friends who know what really happened speak up about it?  And worse, will he be able to pull the trigger next time he’s commanded to shoot?

Purple Heart is an excellent book that explores the idea that war is not black and white.  Instead it’s made up of boys and girls who have friends and family back home who will never understand what they experience every day.  McCormick doesn’t take sides or morally addresses the rightness or the wrongness of the war but rather focuses on the men – rather the boys who are on the verge on manhood – who are fighting it.  Matt Duffy is a character that many will relate to and his struggle with his conscience is also one that readers will sympathize with regardless of their own situations, war or not.

I highly recommend Purple Heart to teen boy readers, especially those with an interest in the military.  It’s not often that a book like this will come along and catch their attention.  And yet, Purple Heart isn’t just for boys.  It’s for any reader who wants to experience the war through the eyes of a young soldier who is just trying do what is right and make sense of his newfound surroundings and friends.

As always, Patricia McCormick continues her streak of excellent books on thought provoking subjects.

Links of interest:  Patricia McCormick website, more book blogger reviews.  Maw Books reviews of Sold, Cut and My Brother’s Keeper also by McCormick.
Genre:  Young Adult Fiction
Publisher:  Balzer and Bray.  September 1, 2009  – Released just this week!
Hardcover, 208 pages.  ISBN 0061730904
Purple Heart is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

Being at school wasn’t any better, because as much as he wanted to just play football, the other kids only wanted to play one thing:  war.  The other kids were always the heroes and even brought their father’s medals to prove it.  As much as he wanted to play the hero as well, he was always relegated to one role, the enemy, simply because he was Asian, and therefore looked like the enemy.

Donnie always protested and tried to explain that both his father and Uncle had been in the army during the World War II.  “How could your dad and uncle be in our army?” they taunted.  “Yeah, there wasn’t anybody looking like you guys on our side.  If you can’t prove it, you better start hiding.”

Donnie could prove it.  He’d seen his father’s medals, cap, and uniform at home but always got into trouble when he looked at them.  Wanting to know why his father and uncle never spoke of the war at home, his Uncle replied, “Real heroes don’t brag.  They just do what they are supposed to do.”

It wasn’t until they saw Donnie being chased home from school under the taunts of “Rat-tat-tat-tat! Pow! Pow! Pow! You’re dead, Donnie!” that they realized how bad things were at school and that they had the power to prove to his friends that their family had as much American loyalty as anybody else.  They promised that they would fix everything for Donnie the next day after school.  Donnie hoped that they would come through in a big way and that he would no longer be the enemy, but rather a friend.

Heroes is recommended as a great teaching tool or introduction to the concept that about 50,000 Americans of Asian and Pacific Islander descent served in the armed forces during World War II.  According to the author’s note, most notably was the 442nd Regimental Combat team, an all Japanese American regiment that fought in Europe and became one of the most highly decorated units in U.S. Army history.

This is a book that I’ll be sharing with  my two boys.

Links of interest:  Ken is also the author of  Baseball Saved Us (reviewed here), Be Water, My Friend:  The Early Years of Bruce Lee (reviewed here)  and Passage to Freedom: The Sugihara Story (reviewed here), all of which are also illustrated by Dom Lee.  Also check out the Maw Books interview with Ken Mochizuki.
Genre:  Picture Book, Fiction.  Ages 4-8.
Publisher: Lee and Low Books.  March 1997
Paperback, 32 pages.
Heroes is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powells, and Amazon.

Pure. Unplanned.  Perfect.

That’s exactly what Nick, a popular and good looking guy, wanted from summer.  And it started out that way when he hooked up with Dani and they have a casual relationship.  What I would call ‘friends with benefits.’  He’s simply having fun without the commitment.

Pure.  Unplanned.  Perfect.

But then he meets Sasha and she’s different.  He surprises himself when they get really serious, he even thinks that he’s in love.  After losing their virginity with each other (they’re sixteen) and having a grand old time, they have a moment in bed where they realize just how serious being sexually active is.  And it scares Sasha so much that she breaks off the relationship.

Nick is devastated.  As if the break up is hard enough, he is dealing with his divorced parents and his best friend since childhood coming out of the closet.   But it’s not long before Sasha reenters his life, only this time it’s on Christmas Eve and it’s to tell him that she’s pregnant.

Nick is reeling.  And understandably so.  Neither knows quite what to do about the situation but Sasha insists that she does not want to get back together.  She’ll “figure something out.”

I Know It’s Over is ultimately about teen pregnancy, teen culture, teen sexuality, first love, family relationships, sexual orientation, friendship, actions, decisions, and consequences of ones actions.

What I did like:

1. I thought that the sex scenes could have gotten extremely explicit.   Nick’s happiest when he’s having sex.  They are in bed a lot.  I’m not one to read books with a lot of sex and I’m not one for extreme details and luckily this book did not provide them as much as it could have.  I was expecting worse so was surprised that details were glossed over.
2. The fact that it was a teen pregnancy story told from the point of view from the guy.

What I didn’t like was lots and lots of assumptions and beliefs that are not once challenged or expanded on.  For example:

1. It’s totally great to have a sexual relationship at the age of 16.  Absolutely nothing wrong with it.  In fact, Nick’s dad gives him condom money.    I would have liked to seen more conversation based around the pros/cons and the responsibility one has entering into a sexual relationship.  Yes, she got pregnant but it seemed as though having sex when so young was presented as a totally okay thing.  I needed the book to explore the morals a bit more and perhaps the characters would have had more depth if that was the case.
2. Drugs and alcohol.  If you get caught, you get a slap on your hand.  But who cares.  They make you feel better and that’s what matters.  I would have liked to see some consequences from their use.
3. Homosexuality.  I mention this because to tell you the truth, I’m not 100% sure why this storyline was in the book.  Likely it was included because it furthered the exploration of  teen sexuality, but the book already had so many other issues regarding teen pregnancies that it’s inclusion made the book go over the top.
4. Abortion.  Not a single person has a second thought about abortion.  Including the parents.   Everybody was an advocate with no dissenting voices.  Nick keeps saying, “It’s not really a baby yet.”  To tell you the truth, I was bothered with this statement simply because nobody offered up the opinion that it was a baby.  I needed opposing voices.  No other options besides abortion were ever discussed.  Adoption?  Nope.  Keeping the baby? What and ruin their future?  Abortion was naturally the only solution.  I would have liked to see some deeper decision making on this one and a further exploration of the issues.
5. When somebody has a problem, you run to your friends house to “clear your head” for a while.  I thought it was odd how many times the characters would run off to a friends house to hide out instead of facing the problems head on.  Yes, friends are great.  I couldn’t have survived high school myself without them.  But everybody seemed to be hiding out half the time.
6. The parents reactions to the pregnancy are so unbelievable to me that I had a really hard time buying it.  Nick tells his father about the pregnancy the same night that he finds out about it.  His father tells him, “Let me know if there is anything I can do”  and then basically turns around and goes back home!  He calls in occasionally for updates but he does not get involved in any type of decision making, offers no counseling.  Nothing.  His kid is sixteen!  He’s not an adult and therefore incapable of making adult decisions.  Nick does not tell his mother at all, nor does his father.  She can tell something is up, but doesn’t push it.  He decides to wait until after the abortion and when he does, it’s literally a three minute conversation that goes something like, “What?  Your ex-girlfriend had an abortion today?  Oh, wow. That’s tough . . . so what  would you like for dinner?”
7. No consequences for their actions.  You would think that getting your teen girlfriend pregnant at the age of sixteen would get you in trouble. Emotionally they were hurting, but no consequences from their family.
8. What is love exactly?  The characters did not feel like they were in love to me, either.  Besides the sex, I could see nothing holding them together.  What exactly did they find so appealing about each other?  I was never really sure.

I think that there is huge teen appeal in this book and that teen readers will really like it.  But everything in that list above bothered me so much that it sometimes pained me to turn the pages to see what exactly was going to happen next.  But I did want to turn the pages.  I really wanted to know how Nick and Sasha were going to handle their situation and then got mad because things didn’t go my way.

Hmm . . . so, I’m ambiguous on I Know It’s Over.  Will teens like it?  Absolutely yes.  Did I like it?  Not as much as the teens will.  Dang it, I’m getting old and cranky.

Links of interest:  C.K Kelly Martin website.  More blogger book reviews.
Genre:  Young Adult Fiction
Publisher: Random House. September 23, 2008
Hardcover, 256 pages. ISBN: 978-0375845666
I Know It’s Over is available from your local independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.
I Know It’s Over is competing in the Nerds Heart YA book tournament and is paired up against Feathered by Laura Kasischke in which I’m the judge.  I’ll be posting my decision today.

On days that her family leaves to work early, Freckleface Strawberry (the same nickname that Julianne was given when she was a child – see video below to hear Julianne talk about this) gets to go to “Early Bird” at school.  A program that lets the kids play before school starts.  She loves Early Bird because she gets extra play instead of extra breakfast.  She loves to play four square, jump rope, tetherball, and imaginary monsters.  But he hates the days that it rains.  Because rainy days means playing dodgeball in the gym!

I really got a kick out of Freckleface Strawberry’s fear of playing dodgeball.  Both my husband and I hated dodgeball when we were in elementary school.  Needless to say, it’s the big kids who love it and the little kids who hate it.  Both of us were small.  About two months ago, my friend told us to get a babysitter and join their friends in a game of dodgeball for a Friday night out.  “Are you kidding me?!” I had said.  “Paying a babysitter to go play dodgeball does NOT sound like a fun night out.”  Needless to say, we passed.  I’ve had enough dodgeball to last me a lifetime.  It’s one of those games that I kind of wish would die out, so I don’t have to let my kids play it at school.  I mean, come on, pegging kids as hard as you can with a flying ball?  No thank you.

What makes dodgeball worse for Freckleface Strawberry is Windy Pants Patrick.  You know his type.  He’s three times the size of everybody else and he gets a kick out of throwing the ball as hard as he can and making kids cry.  She had a plan, she’d stick to the back.  Her plan worked until she found herself the last one in, which gave Patrick a perfect shot at her.   She knew it was “going to hurt, hurt, HURT!”  She decides to pretend to be a monster and then discovers that it didn’t really hurt after all (really?!) and roared like a monster to Patrick.  When Patrick gets scared, she apoligies and the next day finds both Freckleface Strawberry and Windy Pants Patrick playing together on the monkey bars.

I must admit that the ending of the book was a bit unbelievable to me as I really didn’t think that the bully of the story and the victim would become best friends.  I think maybe they could tolerate each other, but playing together?  Hmm . . . I’ll be forgiving.  I do like the idea of the book as a means for children who are being bullied to address and work through their problems.  I

I loved the illustrations by LeUyen Pham, especially Freckleface Strawberries character.  She’s just so darn cute!  The illustrations give a wonderful, retro feel to the book and really enhances the text.  Very memorable.

On the nickname, Freckleface Strawberry:

On reading:

I met Julianne Moore at BookExpo America (BEA)!  She was really sweet and signed a copy of the book for me.

That means that I now have an extra.  In a moment of selfishness, I’m keeping my signed copy but would like to give you my other one.  To enter, leave a comment telling me about your dodgeball experiences.  Have you played before?  Do you like the game?  Do you hate it?  Was there a kid who ruled the game? Comments that do not answer this question, will not be eligible.  Open internationally, I’ll close the contest in a week on June 16th.

Links of interest:  Thank you to Promo 101 for putting together Julianne’s blog tour. For complete tour information and the complete schedule, visit her tour home page.  More videos of Julianne Moore and Freckleface Strawberry: on balancing family and career, on writing, on being a redhead with freckles, on writing for children, on being a writer.
Genre: Picture book, approx ages 4-8.
Published by Bloomsbury.  April 28, 2009.
Hardcover, 40 pages. ISBN:  1599903164
Freckleface Strawberry and the Dodgeball Bully is now available from your local independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon. Order your copy today.

To tell you the truth, I actually haven’t sat down to try to read this book aloud to him yet.  His interest has been high enough without me and that’s a good thing.  And like my son, I have to agree that the illustrations by David Walker are worth poring over.  They really make the book come alive and give it that extra special “umph!” The only complaint that I would have is that the Daddy looks more like he’s a little boy himself.  I’d put him around age ten, which I found a little odd.  He needs to look like a Daddy.  But what I would change to make that so, I’m not really sure.  That said, I do think that the illustrations are the strength of this picture book.

Crocodaddy is a fun, rhyming book about a young boy who goes on a crocodaddy hunt on a hot summer’s day in the lake.  He splishes and he splashes and even gets a ride on the crock’s back as he tries to tame him.  Can he tame the wild beast?  Don’t fear.  Crocodaddy is all fun and games because after all he’s no crock, he’s just . . .  Daddy.

Down in the pond by a mossy rock,
something slithers past the dock.
Minnows dart with startled jerks -
this is where the Crocodaddy lurks!

Crocodaddy would be a fun book to read before heading out to the pool on a hot summer day and  inspire Daddies to play a new game with their kids.  I’m sure they’d get a thrill out of hunting their own Crocodaddy.

Stay tuned for a great author interview with Kim Norman tomorrow!

Links of interest:  Kim Norman,  David Walker.
Genre:  Picture book, ages 4-8 (I would put it more like ages 3-6 though)
Publisher:  Sterling.  May 5, 2009
Hardcover, 32 pages.  ISBN 978-1402744600
Crocodaddy by Kim Norman is available from your local independent bookstore, Powell’s, Barnes and Noble and Amazon.

Check out what other bloggers are saying on the Kidz Book Buzz tour:  A Christian Worldview of Fiction, A Mom Speaks, A Patchwork of Books, All About Children’s Books, Becky’s Book Reviews, Booking Mama,Cafe of Dreams, Dolce Bellezza, Elizabeth O. Dulemba, Fireside Musings, KidzBookBuzz.com, Looking Glass Reviews, Maw Books Blog, Never Jam Today, Olive Tree, Our Big Earth, Reading is My Superpower, SMS Book Reviews, The 160 Acrewoods, Through a Child’s Eyes

“Because you know what?

What? 

Chicken Butt!”

In this new fun picture book, kids will giggle and laugh over the rhythmic text and comical illustrations.  But don’t take me word for it.  My three-year-old gives you the review . . .

If you paid really close attention, you could hear my two year old up in the kitchen saying chicken butt too.  Well, I can say positively that my kids got a kick out of this book!

Erica will be on tour the rest of the week at  Tales from the Rushmore Kid,  Motherreader, A Pen and a Nest, Hen Blog,  Fuse # 8,  Write for a Reader,  Chicken Spaghetti, and Three Silly Chicks.  Erica is celebrating with a  prize drawing of Chicken Butt!, and other fun prizes.  To register for the prize drawings, all you have to do is visit any of the participating tour blogs (including this one!) and then leave a comment on Erica’s blog.

Up next: an author interview with Erica! Check it out.

Links of interest:  Erica S. Perl’s website & blog.  More blogger reviews.
Genre: Picture book, ages 2-8
Published: Abrams Books for Young Readers, April 2009
Hardcover, 32 pages. ISBN: 978-0810983250
Chicken Butt! is available from your independent bookstore, Powells and Amazon.