The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

            

      The Graveyard Book is a book about a young boy named Bod, short for Nobody Owens, and the adventures he has while living in a graveyard.  At the beginning of the book, when Bod is still just a toddler, his parents and sister are killed and he survives only because he had just learned to walk and literally walked straight out the door and into the graveyard that was nearby.  The Owens, a couple that had died many centuries before, adopts him—after much arguing—as their own, and Silas acts as a godparent to Bod. Silas teaches him about the graveyard, answers any questions he has, and is somebody Bod turns to frequently throughout the book.  Bod and a girl he meets, Scarlett, go on many adventures together including visiting the oldest grave in the graveyard.  They are met by the “Sleer” who guards the “master’s treasure” although the master hasn’t been there for a long time.  Scarlett soon has to leave, much to her displeasure.  Bod has many other adventures as he grows up: befriending a witch named Elizabeth Hempstock, getting kidnapped by a pawnshop owner in an attempt to get a graveyard for Elizabeth, celebrating a festival where they all dance the Macabre, attending school but having to leave because two bullies that he stood up against made it hard to keep a low profile, getting captured by Ghouls and finding out that his mentor Silas is part of a group called the Honor Guards and his sub Miss Lupescu is a werewolf, and learning how to do things like Fade, Haunt and Dream Walk. Towards the end of the book, Scarlett comes back and Bod is attacked by four people, including the man who killed his family, who are all part of an evil society called the Jacks of All Trades.  With Bod’s knowledge of the graveyard, he’s able to lure one of the Jacks into a deep grave, and two more into another realm where the Ghouls live.  The final Jack, the one who killed his family, Bod is able to convince to become the Sleer’s master, which entails being swallowed into the wall and never returning.  Scarlett is so scarred after seeing what Bod did that she goes back to Scotland.  Since nobody is coming after Nobody anymore, he is free to live his life and he plans on making it great.

           The Graveyard Book has been nominated for and won many awards, but I found it a little slow.  I do believe, however, that if I had read this book a few years ago I would have liked it.  This book is good for younger readers, with an age range of 7-12, especially those with a strong imagination and who love “scary” stuff.  I’m sure that many younger kids would find this book interesting, exciting, scary, adventurous, and inspiring.

Reviewed by Angie

Song of the Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell

 

        Elaine lives in a world of men. At a young age, she lost her mother, causing her father, two brothers, and her to move to an army camp. There, the men fight in King Arthur’s army against the barbarians. Elaine tends to the men’s ripped clothes and injuries, but mostly, she spends her time running around like a wild boy and wishing for the handsome Lancelot to see her as more than a little girl. Though she has many friends at the camp, she longs for the company of a girl, a new friend. Then, one day, Elaine believes that new friend has arrived, Gwyenivere. Gwyenivere is engaged to Arthur as a compromise and has absolutely no interest in being Elaine’s friend. In fact, she is cruel to Elaine, and Elaine begins to believe they will never be friends. That is, until they are both captured by barbarians. Together, they are able to escape and send word to King Arthur’s army about the barbarians’ plans. King Arthur and his army triumph. Elaine finds freedom, happiness, a man who sees her as more than a little girl, and a new friend.

          Song of the Sparrow is an amazing addition to the story of King Arthur. It was a beautiful story of true friendship and love. Personally, being always fascinated by the legend of King Arthur, I enjoyed the book very much. It was an exciting adventure as well as a moving love story. Even though I enjoyed the book, there were times when the medieval language made it slightly difficult to understand. I would recommend this book to everyone ten and up because of the complicated  language, but Song of the Sparrow is a truly fascinating and exciting story.

Reviewed by Ana

Edward's Eyes by Patricia MacLachlan

 

Edward is one of a kind.  He comes from a large, loving family.  His older brother Jake took him under his wing since the day he came home from the hospital when he was born.  Edward has the ability to make anyone smile, get along with everyone, and throw a perfect knuckle ball.  Everyone knows that Edward is special.  Jake is especially proud to call him his younger brother.  Their summers are filled with family, fun, and baseball.  Soon, another family member is added.  Edward already says it will be a girl before they even know.  Baby Sabine is born, and Edward is right, it’s a girl.  Edward takes Sabine under his wing similar to the way Jake raised Edward in his own care.  But, after a tragic accident, the family is left without Edward and they feel lost.  Jake is very angry when he finds out his parents have donated Edward’s corneas to someone they don’t even know.  Time passes, and they get a letter saying how thankful the recipient of the corneas is and how much he needed them.  They aren’t supposed to be in contact with the donor, but Jake and his family meet the man Edward’s corneas were donated to.  Jake soon realizes that Edward would be happy with the man and the way his eyes gave back a life, and he comes to accept Edward’s loss and the generous gift he has provided.

        I think that Edward’s Eyes was a very well written story.  The plot is realistic and most readers should be able to relate to the story.  It was an easy read, but it kept me locked in and wanting to know what happened next.  The author, Patricia MacLachlan, is known for writing children’s stories but I think this book is good for almost any person over the age of 10.  This book will spark many emotions for its readers.  It contains a tragedy; however, it shows the importance of family. 

 

Reviewed by Mary H

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

Lia Overbrook and Cassie Parrish have been best friends since the third grade.  But as they grow up, they both develop destructive obsessions with body image, dragging each other down because each is afraid of dealing with her appearance.  Lia is anorexic, and Cassie is a victim of bulimia.  As things become too tough, Cassie is put into rehab by her parents.  After she is “recovered,” Cassie breaks off her friendship with Lia.  Six months later, after not having communicated with her ex-friend in ages, Lia receives thirty-three phone calls from Cassie in one evening but refuses to answer.  When she discovers the next day that Cassie has died alone in a dirty motel room, Lia realizes that Cassie had been calling for help and she is confounded by guilt.  Lia's parents divorced and absorbed in their own careers and new lives, are unaware of the severity of their daughter's eating problem.  Through all this, Lia keeps her family at a distance, concealing her inner turmoil and tricking them into believing she’s healthy.  Lia's fragile hold on health and reality is slipping; haunted by Cassie's ghost, she finds herself losing control of her life, sinking into cutting and starvation that can only end in her own death.

Lia’s story is written from her point of view, which is very effective in showing how serious her problems are and how she views life.  Being able to read her thoughts and actions is both disturbing and thrilling—it’s what gives the story its power.  I think that girls would be interested to read this book and see the life of Lia and how she lives with anorexia, because it can show them that starving to become skinny is never the answer and can lead to death. Also, if someone is suffering from an eating disorder, this book could save their life.  Having an eating disorder is no laughing manner, and could end in death or serious injuries to the person’s health.  This book shows Lia as she starves herself and as she walks on the brink of death in her constant struggle of eating enough to live and not eating too much to be “fat.”  Maybe Wintergirls could prompt someone to recognize that they—or a friend—has a problem and needs professional help.

I wouldn’t recommend this book to those under the age of thirteen, and even then the reader must be able to handle serious topics and situations.  For those thirteen and older, this book shows it isn’t easy being anorexic and the disease is not something to make fun of.  I would also recommend this book to parents because if they see the signs in their children, they can stop them before it’s too late and get them help.  The only problem with this book is it’s very powerful and could be hard to get through form some readers.  Laurie Halse Anderson did it again- she wrote another stunning and serious book to show the reader a problem and what it’s like to have this problem.  She is an amazing writer of teen and adult novels and I’d recommend any book by her, especially Wintergirls.

Reviewed by Katie

Laurie Halse Anderson speaks about Wintergirls

Links to important Anorexia Websites

National Association of Anorexia Nervosa 

National Insitutes of Health webpage  

The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt

 

            The Wednesday Wars, by Gary Schmidt, revolves around the adolescence of Holling Hoodhood during the late 1960s. Holling lives in the New York suburbs and is just starting seventh grade at a time when the Vietnam War is raging and the civil rights movement is tearing across the country. On Holling’s first day of seventh grade, he decides that his teacher, Mrs. Baker, wants to destroy him. What makes the whole predicament worse is that Holling must stay with Mrs. Baker on Wednesday afternoons while all the other seventh grade students get to leave. Half of the class is Jewish and attends Hebrew School at Temple Beth-El, and the other half is Catholic and attends Catechism at Saint Adelbert’s. Since Holling is Presbyterian and does not have classes, he must endure horrible Mrs. Baker all by himself on Wednesday afternoons. The predicament becomes even worse after his family gets involved. Holling’s father is the owner of Hoodhood and Associates, a local architecture agency that just so happens to be a contender to do architectural work for the Baker Sporting Emporium. Mrs. Baker’s family owns the Baker Sporting Emporium, so that means that Holling must be extremely cautious that he does not make Mrs. Baker angry and ruin his family’s opportunity. Mrs. Baker makes Holling clean erasers and complete other nifty jobs during their initial Wednesday afternoon get-togethers. Holling manages to ruin a cluster of delicious cream puffs that get a group of women sick and let two revolting class pets escape during that time. She then decides to make Holling read Shakespeare during their time to avoid any more catastrophes from happening. Mrs. Baker realizes how much potential Holling has, but he dreads the thought of reading books like Hamlet and The Merchant of Venice. Holling simply does not have faith in himself and is not very outgoing. However, as they begin reading, Holling discovers that Shakespeare is not half bad. He begins using a colorful set of insults that only a person who reads Shakespeare would know. Holling slowly develops a new sense of confidence that was missing in his life. 

             Holling performs in the Long Island Shakespeare Company’s production of The Tempest, gets a girlfriend, and joins the track team. Holling also finds that the evil Mrs. Baker is not as bad as he thought she was. She takes him to Opening Day at Yankee Stadium after his father lets him down. Mrs. Baker becomes a great friend to Holling during his times of need. By the end of the book Holling realizes that the only thing holding him back is himself. He does not have to worry about pressure from Mrs. Baker, his father, or anyone for that matter. Holling realizes that it is not wrong to do the right thing even if other people may disagree with it. By reading and learning Shakespeare, Holling learns many important lessons and gets a deep sense of confidence through the experience.

            I enjoyed reading The Wednesday Wars even though it is not necessarily an exciting book. It does not have a climatic ending that takes your breath away. However, it makes up for that by having a strong plot and an intriguing set of characters. While Holling struggles with the pressure weighing on him from Mrs. Baker and his father, we see how the other characters deal with their problems. Mai Thi is from Vietnam, and she faces prejudices that she does not deserve because of her race. Danny has a bar mitzvah to worry about. Meryl Lee’s father is also the head of a major architecture agency and gets pressure from him too. Doug has a big brother in eighth grade that is a bully to him and Holling, who fears Doug’s brother and sees him as a threat. The story also shows how well the time period is affecting everyone. Mrs. Bigio, the school lunch lady, grieves the loss of her husband who died in Vietnam Mrs. Baker’s brother is fighting in Vietnam.  She manages to get through teaching her students without going into a nervous breakdown from fear that her brother is dead or missing. Holling’s family even experiences tension between Holling’s father and his sister Heather. Heather thinks of herself as a flower child out to change the world, and she bickers with her conformist father over politics and other worldly events. She ends up running away in order to find herself but gets lost in Minnesota with no place to go. Holling manages to get her money for a train heading for New York. The book shows through Holling and the other character’s stories that people can overcome their problems if they have the right mindset. I would suggest this book to any teenager feeling that their problems are too big to handle. 
Reviewed by John

Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu

                

               Breadcrumbs is a story about a young girl who goes on a life-risking journey just to save her best friend. Hazel and Jack are two best friends and fifth graders at Lovelace elementary. While most kids their age are playing sports and other activities, Hazel and Jack are pretending to be medieval knights or playing made up games such as superhero baseball. The main character and narrator of the story, Hazel, does not fit in with other kids in her class and has an “overactive imagination.” She loves to daydream about dragons and witches, and is often in trouble with her teacher for not paying attention during class. During the story, however, the one person who truly understands her changes into someone Hazel doesn’t recognize anymore. He doesn’t go through a physical transformation, but when a shard of glass fallen out of the sky from an enchanted mirror lands in Jack’s eye, he becomes a whole new person inside. Jack stops hanging out with Hazel and starts hanging out with his male friends. Shortly after Jack’s sudden transformation, he unexpectedly goes on a trip to visit his “Aunt Bernice.” But when Jack’s friend Tyler tells Hazel that he witnessed Jack entering the forest with some sort of witch on a sleigh, Hazel knows something terrible has happened to Jack. She must enter the snowy woods in her Minnesota backyard and go on a dangerous mission to save her friend. Throughout the journey Hazel runs into some frightening encounters, magical creatures, and even learns a bit about herself along the way.

                Reading this book has really taught me a valuable lesson… not to judge a book by it’s cover, literally. After skimming the contents and checking this book out at the library, I was eager to begin reading. Shortly after, I’ll admit, I found myself falling asleep.  Halfway through the book, however, the pace did seem to pick up and I started to become more engaged. Parts of her journey through the woods were riveting and brought my excitement level up, but I still thought that for the most part I would rather be reading something more attention grabbing. Towards the end, I found myself beginning to become more fascinated with the story.  The message behind the story was strong and important. Friendship is something of great value, and is something worth fighting for. I respected how Hazel would never give up on Jack, even when it seemed that all hope was lost.               

              I recommend this book to people within the ages of 8 and 11, but maybe not those who are in 7th and 8th grade or up.  I say this because it would make sense that a book about fifth graders would be written for children around the age of fifth grade.  The story is completely appropriate and I don’t see any reason why parents should disapprove of it. 

 Reviewed by Maddie