Chapter Books

A good chapter book is hard to find. This, the reader's first introduction to long-form books, must have a quality mixture of entertainment, depth and reading challenge. If it is too wordy or deep, the young reader will give up. If it is too shallow or cheesy, he or she will lose interest just as easily. 

Here are three I just finished reading that I think do a pretty decent job of finding the Chapter Book sweet spot:

Bayars, Betsy. Keeper of the Doves. Puffin, 2004 
ISBN 0142400637

It is not an easy task for an author to write a story dealing with heavy subjects (family discord, mental illness, death) that is aimed at 7 to 10 year olds. However, Bayars does an excellent job of not only covering them, but embracing them as an intricate and necessary part of the story. What I loved about this book was that it came from the point of view of a child, as she would see it. Life just seems to come at her from nowhere (family members just show up. Mom is suddenly pregnant and about to give birth. Discoveries about her own story, told through other people...) and yet she has a playfulness and overall contentment throughout. 

Amie, the protagonist, has a way with words, and sees the world through her poems. This gives her a special connection to her father and grandmother, and allows her to notice many things others miss. Especially when it comes to the strange old man who lives on their property and takes care of the doves (whom her twin sisters are afraid of, and make up wild tales about). 

This story held my interest, and was not overly heavy. It would also be a great story to read aloud to younger readers who are not quite ready to tackle a Chapter Book on their own. 

Gannett, Ruth Stiles. My Father's Dragon. Illustrated by Ruth Chrisman Gannett. CreateSpage, 2010 (originally published in 1948) ISBN 1453782052 

As an adult, this tale was a tad boring due to the predictive, redundant nature of the story. However, this redundancy is also a useful tool when creating a Chapter Book. Predictability is comforting, and often helps beginner readers push through when the text may seem long. 

Still, the characters were fun and interesting. A young boy ("my father" as the narrator of the story begins) finds a talking cat. His mother hates the cat and throws it out, but feeling sorry for the cat, the boy befriends him and agrees to go on an adventure on the cat's behalf in order to save a dragon who is enslaved by talking animals on a wild island. 

The creatures are creative, and as the boy meets set after set of them, each time he is afforded the opportunity to use his cleverness to outsmart them, and eventually save the dragon. The illustrations definitely help the story along, as some parts are a bit tough to grasp, and they also provide a bit of comic relief. 

  

 Evans, Douglas. Apple Island, or The Truth About
Teachers. Illustrated by Larry Di Fiori. Scholastic, 2002
ASIN: B000VHE3CI 

I loved this book! I found it highly entertaining, funny, and extremely clever. 

As a kid, did you ever think that there was no possible way your teachers were ever kids, or did normal things outside of school? They practically lived at school, right? And furthermore, they never seemed to age. Some were crabby, and some were nice, and that was that. 

In The Truth About Teachers, we discover that this is exactly right! Teachers come from an island, where half live on the nice side and half live on the crabby side. The island is full of school-isms: Chalk Mountain, "Shhhh" Canyon, Office Palace, where Prince Apple ("principal") lives, a Big Book Building where Miss Library rides her motorized sliding ladder from section to section and never sees the light of day...everything that defines school was created and exists on Apple Island. 

When a group of students are kidnapped to this island, it is up to one of them to discover the truth about teachers and find a way to bring them all home. A truly fun read.  

Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging

Rennison, Louise. Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging: Confessions of Georgia Nicolson. Harper Tempest, 1999. ISBN 0-06-447227-2

Think Diary of a Wimpy Kid for tweens, without the illustrations, and one can pretty much have an accurate idea of what this book is about. Although critically acclaimed and with awards to its name (http://www.harpercollins.com/books/Angus-Thongs-Full-Frontal-Snogging-Louise-Rennison/?isbn=9780064472272) I would personally re-title this book "Diary of a Petty, Shallow Tween."

Now, don't misunderstand me. I laughed out loud at portions of the story, and most definitely felt as if I was reading the actual diary of quite a few of the tweens and young teens I work with regularly. However I would argue that the narrative is a reflection of a popular perception, but in reality a narrow representation of "tweendome" as we know it today.

Set in England (with a glossary in the back for us "American-type chums"), the character of Georgia Nicolson can be summed up in the following quotes:
1. "I have no friends. Not one single friend. No one has rung, no one has come around...I may as well be dead."
2. "I love my life! Jas has just phoned to say we've been invited to a party..."
3. "the only way I will believe in God is if something really bloody great happens to me soon."

The emotional rollercoaster of a protagonist alternates between highs and lows, detests her family most of the time, is obsessed with boys and "snogging" (aka "kissing" -- even to the point of visiting a professional snogger in order to learn the art) and is completely self-absorbed in an immature, comedic way.

Which, in reality, does describe the life of a typical tween. However, although every tween girl surely does experience these emotions and will be able to identify with the character, the extreme level of Georgia's shallowness will frustrate many. Young girls with socially conservative or religious backgrounds (who see relationships between the opposite sex as a serious matter, not something to be traded around like a baseball card), or girls who are involved in sports, the arts and academics (giving them a goal to strive for rather than finding their identity solely in their popularity) may not enjoy this book.

Over-all, a good look into the life of a tween, being an enthralling read for tweens that may identify, and the laugh-out-loud hilarity give it high marks, but there are also tweens (and parents) who may strongly dislike the loose morals and shallowness of the main character.