Crosetto, Alice and Rajinder, Garcha. Death, Loss, and Grief in Literature for Youth: A Selective Annotated Bibliography for K-12. Scarecrow Press, 2012. ISBN: 9780810885615

This is an excellent resource for any librarian, teacher, parent, or youth worker. Stories and literature are a reflection of the human heart and soul. Our aspirations, pains, and joys can all be played out before our eyes in the form of a fictional character. By seeing this from a distance, we can connect, think, and reflect. 

But this title does not only survey fiction. Nonfiction, online resources, and other media are also explored. 

Broken into sections covering topics such as "Death of a Family Member", "Death of a Classmate or Teacher", or "Non-Fiction", detailed annotated bibliographies of books covering said topic are presented.

I was pleased to see some of the books I have read listed in the bibliography, as well as the fact that the books chosen included both classics and recent titles.

Another helpful feature was the appendixes. There were several of them, arranged to cover such topics as award winners, by author, etc.   

If you are a parent or work with youth, you will not be sorry you added this title to your collection. It can lead you down a literary path that will spark discussion, address questions, and perhaps foster healing when in conjunction with guidance from a caring adult.  

Funke, Cornelia. Ghost Knight. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2012. ISBN 978-0316056144

Elements I found worthwhile in this book: appropriately written for the age level, with just enough kick to make it interesting, Funke's illustrations, the element of a ghost story without being overly scary or dark, and the characters. 

I've always been a Funke fan, and I appreciate that she is able to write for differing age groups. I would not recommend Reckless, for instance, to many young tweens. However, this read I could. 

Boys will like the male character and the element of mystery mixed with a somewhat scary paranormal. There is also a female heroine, and the setting - a cathedral and boarding school from the 13th century, is ideal for the story. 

It's a fun, easy, paranormal read.    

Staying Nine and Silver For General Washington

This month I couldn't decide which book to review, so I am doing two. Both are aimed at the same age range, but one is geared more towards a girl, while the other a boy would enjoy reading. 

While taking juvenile literature classes in grad school, I was vehemently told to stick to new books only. My professor explained that young children and tweens cannot identify with children from even a decade ago and, with the exception of classics, (which are usually read by older tweens and teens) I would be doing them a disservice by introducing them to older books. 

However, I feel that relevancy plays a huge part in this. If the book covers certain feelings, circumstances and truths that will not fade with time, it will not only stay relevant for today, but can also be a treasured volume to read. 

  

Conrad, Pam. Staying Nine. Illustrated by Michael Wimmer. HarperCollins, 1990 ISBN 0064403777


The reason this book is so appealing, is because it deals with a subject every child and tween experiences: that in-between stage, when one is no longer a baby, but not yet an adult. I distinctly remember these emotions. 

In one particular example, I remember stomping around the house, and my grandmother admonished me to "walk more like a young lady." At that moment, I felt an almost overwhelming desire to not become a "lady". I didn't want to grow up. I didn't want to stop being a kid who could climb trees and stomp around the house. However, it was also at that moment that I realized the hand of time could be stopped by no one. 

Heather, the young protagonist in this Chapter Book (suitable for readers who are not yet ready for a Novel, but too old for Easy Readers) does not want to grow up. She decides to try and stay nine by having an unbirthday party and wearing the same clothes as last year for the school picture, among other things. This causes conflict with friends at school who do not understand her need, but is offset by a supporting mother. (These moments, both humorous and somber, are enhanced beautifully with Wimmer's detailed pencil sketches.)

One fear of Heather's is that growing up will take the fun out of life. No more make believe, no more climbing up the door frames, and no more fun. However, in probably the best moment of the story, a 23 year old friend takes off her shoes and stealthily climbs up the door frame -- thus proving that you can choose to stay young in the ways that matter most to you. 

Meadowcroft, Enid LaMonte. Silver for General Washington: A Story of Valley Forge. Scholastic, 1974. ASIN: B000PC5CYM


I wanted to mention this title because, like the above title, I have a memory associated with it. To refute the idea that, unless a book is a classic, tweens and teens will not read older books, I remember my brother and I both reading Silver for General Washington more than a decade after it was first published. 

The only reason I read it was because my older brother said that he had loved it. I balked at first (it looked like a boring war book, and the cover art harkened back to the 70's -- SO old!) but since my brother insisted it was good, I decided to give it a go. 

It didn't take long before I was swept into the world of two cousins living at the time of the revolution. Their patriotism and decision to risk taking a a dangerous journey to retrieve their family's stash of silver, for the sole purpose of giving it to General Washington (in order to help with the war effort), was instantly appealing to me. 

Would I have taken such an adventure? Why did it mean so much to them? What must it have been like, to live during the time of the revolution?

The excitement of the story kept my interest, even though the protagonists were boys. In fact, by the end of the book, I longed to take such a journey on my own. My brother had been right: it was a good book!

Summer of My German Soldier

Green, Bette. Summer of My German Soldier. Speak, 1999 ISBN: 014130636X

In one of my previous posts, I did a somewhat unfavorable review of a book that is garnering critical praise for being relevant and important in tween and young adult fiction. I stated that I disagreed with most critics, and found it irrelevant, shallow, and inappropriate for MOST tweens. (The book in question was Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging, and you can read the review here: http://lneeleylibr264digitalrecord.blogspot.com/2010/06/angus-thongs-and-full-frontal-snogging.html) 

In this review, I will change course a bit and do a somewhat favorable review of a book that has been challenged and even banned in some schools. 

A twelve-year-old Jewish girl meets and then agrees to hide a German Nazi POW who has escaped from a military prison just outside her small Southern hometown. Sounds like all the makings of a romantic thriller, right? And although I must agree that Summer of My German Soldier IS inappropriate for some audiences, it may be very profound and challenging to just the RIGHT audience. 


If I were to recommend this book to a tween, I would need to know that he or she is at a maturity level where there is an ability to process complex ideas, and I would warn against the offensive language which, in this book is more reminiscent of language one would find in To Kill a Mockingbird or Tom Sawyer (also banned books), where the words make sense in the setting and context of the story. 


And so does the racism. In fact, this book is ABOUT racism. However, what I like about the story is the challenging viewpoint it takes: the German Nazi is the good guy, the Jewish father is the bad guy, and the daughter is caught somewhere in between. 


Another fact about this book you may not find mentioned in other reviews is that the author has an obvious negative bias towards religion. This does not come through strongly at all, but in a very subtle way in specific, non-vital snippets of the story. 


Despite all of this, I appreciated and enjoyed the book. Contrary to the cover, it really is not a love story. Instead, it is a story about a very normal girl in very difficult situations. The author uses perfect visual words to create images of a small, isolated southern town in the midst of a stifling hot summer, where the slightest excitement is grasped onto until it spins out of control, landing our protagonist in a very unanticipated predicament. 


Some would say this book does not have a happy ending. I think it does. I feel that the realism of this story will inspire certain mature tweens and teens towards questioning their own life decisions, visualizing the fact that every action has an all-too-real consequence. By walking the journey with our heroine that lands her in court and eventually a reform school (rather than a romantic, unrealistic outcome to her choice to hide an enemy of the state unbeknownst to her parents), the reader will see that although life has its difficulties, the rocky parts of the journey are what mold us into who we will eventually become. 


Would definitely be a good title for discussions about coming-of-age, race, life-altering choices, and WWII. 

Blue Willow

Gates, Dorris. Blue Willow. Puffin, 1976. ISBN: 978-0140309249

Since I seem to be on the subject of memorable books from my childhood, Blue Willow is most definitely a book that stuck with me. It was the first time I had to work to read a book: not because the text was difficult, but because it gave rise to feelings inside of me that were sad and despondent, as I began to identify with the main character, a young girl who is living through the Depression.

The title refers to her one and only possession of worth: a Blue Willow plate. As her family moves from place to place she has learned to never expect permanency, and is hesitant to make friends. Ultimately friends are found, but not without difficulties.

This book expresses, in a manner light enough for tweens to enjoy, but heavy enough for them to empathize, the struggles of the Great Depression. Just as I identified with the poverty that I had heard about from my grandmother and experienced myself from time to time (in not nearly a manner as desperate, yet still feeling as if it was paramount to my young life), I was able to identify with the story and emotion of this book.

Classics (And Other Books) for Boys

Since the previous post about classics tended towards books tween girls would love (since I was drawing from my own experiences as a tween, my mind naturally went there), I wanted to make to make sure to include some resources for male tweens.

Of course, there is always the resource website Guys Read (see previous post). On the site is a list of "Classics that Actually Hold Up." I would not necessarily agree that all these titles are classics in the true sense of the word, but they are good stories exhibiting the traits of classics, recommended by guys, to guys:

http://www.guysread.com/books/categories/category/classics_that_actually_hold_up

Another website I found enjoyable was Unshelved Answers and their online dialogue/wiki about "Books Teen Boys Would Read (If They Actually Knew They Existed)". Although, once again, many of these are not classics, the classics WILL indelibly pop up from time to time, simply because the stories are great.

http://answers.unshelved.com/questions/1434/books-teen-boys-would-read-if-they-knew-they-existed