Category Archives: Juvenile Fiction

Read Aloud Thursday–Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown by Maud Hart Lovelace

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Our latest chapter book read-aloud has a funny back story.  Remember a few weeks ago when I was contemplating reading this to my girls and wondered if the content might be too mature for them?  Well, that very day I noticed a book lying on the table in the school room (which, if you could only see our school room most rooms in our house on most days, you would wonder how I’d even notice) and lo and behold, it was Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown.  When I asked the girls about it, Lulu informed me that she had already read it several times.  :-)  So you see, my concern was for naught.  What could I do then but read it aloud, at least for my own enjoyment (and Louise’s)?  Really, though, Lulu enjoyed it as much as we did, possibly even more since she knew how it was all going to work out, and she liked teasing us with the possibility of spoiling the ending for us.  ;-)

I have to say that we haven’t met a Betsy-Tacy book we don’t like, and I think this one might be my personal favorite.  I say this for several reasons.  First, I love that Betsy is coming into her own as a writer and her parents recognize this and send her to the library in support of this desire and talent.   I also love how the librarian finds her the best, most appropriate classics for her to read.  (The whole sequence with the book Betsy was given by Rena being thrown into the fire by her father is perfect for us twaddle-free homeschoolers.  ;-) )  Second, I love the interplay of characters that are peripheral to this story, especially Winona Root.  While Winona might be considered a “bratty, spoiled, and manipulative” child (and I agree, by the way), I still like her, for some reason.  I think this book (and also her appearance in Carney’s House Party as a young adult) helped me see her as someone with potential to be something more than just a brat; she definitely has her faults, but she’s also full of spirit and moxie and a very strong sense of self. I also love the character of Mrs. Poppy in this story.  I like how Maud Hart Lovelace reveals Mrs. Ray’s prejudice against Mrs. Poppy because of her wealth and perceived status, and how that is redeemed in the end through Mrs. Poppy’s actions.  Third, I love the whole business with Mrs. Ray’s brother.  It’s a nice little mystery with a wonderfully heartwarming resolution.  Really, there isn’t an element of this story I found unappealing or boring, and judging from the smiles on my girls’ faces, they agree.

This is the second Maud Hart Lovelace book I’ve read this month thanks to Carrie’s Reading to Know Bookclub for March.  I’m really glad March’s Bookclub host, Annette, chose Maud Hart Lovelace since I always mean to get back to her (and many, many other authors) but rarely make the time to do so without some sort of incentive.  Thanks, friends!

Reading to Know - Book Club

This is the eighth book I’ve read by Maud Hart Lovelace and reviewed here at Hope Is the Word. Here are the others with links to my reviews:

Maybe I’ll get to the next Betsy-Tacy book before my girls do!  :-)

What are you reading aloud at your house these days?  Tell us about it in the comments, or leave a link to your own Read Aloud Thursday blog post!  

Read Aloud Thursday–A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

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We finally finished our latest chapter book read-aloud, A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett.  This is a book I put on my Classics Club list because I had never read it myself, and honestly, for some reason it just never appealed to me.  I read The Secret Garden aloud to my girls almost three years ago now (and funnily enough, while we were waiting on DLM #1 to arrive!), and since I had also seen The Secret Garden movie many times as a child myself, I guess I thought I had had my fill of Frances Hodgson Burnett.  Anyway, I decided to rectify the situation since A Little Princess is a childhood classic, and I’m glad I did!

For those unfamiliar with A Little Princess, it is the story of Sara Crewe, a  British child raised in India until her widowed father sends her back to London to be educated at Miss Minchin’s seminary for girls.  Sara is a special and favored student at the seminary, thanks mostly to her father’s wealth.  However, Sara is also different–she is conscious of the fact that she is of a different social class and intelligence level than others, but she takes the less popular and intelligent girls, even the servants, under her wing.  She isn’t cowed by Miss Minchin’s mean-spirited control.  In short, Sara shows amazing maturity for a girl of her age.  She’s almost perfect.

I think that’s one reason I really didn’t want to read this book.  I really didn’t know too much about it, but somehow through the title I picked up on Sara’s perfection.  What I didn’t realize, though, is what happens to Sara halfway through the story (stop reading here if you don’t want to know!).  Through an unfortunate turn of events (most of which end up not being true after all), Sara’s father loses first his fortune and then his life.  This, of course, means that Sara’s star sets rather quickly at Miss Minchin’s school, and she is relegated to the role of school “drudge” and banished to the dreary and cold attic to live.  However, it is through Sara’s misfortune that her whole idea of behaving like a princess (which had already been established when she actually lived like one) is tried and tested.  She is truly cold; she is truly hungry; she is truly mistreated.  How will Sara react?  Well, she doesn’t do it perfectly, but she does manage to keep up her imaginings of how her life is still good. And things work out for her, of course.  Of course!  Although the resolution is quite unlikely and we saw it coming five miles away, my girls still had happy and satisfied smiles on their faces at the end of the story.

Like The Secret Garden, this story depends a lot on Magic.  This Magic is similar to the Magic alluded to in Burnett’s other book, and I still don’t like it.  It’s more like a belief (and in fact, more than belief–the reality) that things will work out according to some Plan.  It seems to me to be a stand-in for some sort of religious belief, and I’m not comfortable with that.  There’s also the whole issue of the stereotyping of Indian servants and the whole idea that Sara’s father makes his money in diamond mining.  Both of these things are controversial, so if that sort of thing is important to you in a read-aloud, you might want to avoid this one or at least be aware of the fact that they’re present.  I’m not too much bothered by the winds of political-correctness, so I tend to read on through (especially when the book was written when such things weren’t looked at strangely) and discuss it when it comes up.

All things considered,  I think I enjoyed A Little Princess more than I enjoyed The Secret Garden.  It certainly exceeded my expectations.  My only complaint about our experience is that I read the story from Lulu’s Nook, and while I’ve slowly come to enjoy using e-reader technology, I much prefer my old-fashioned Kindle over her touch-screen Nook.  I couldn’t be bothered to figure out how to underline passages (mostly because I don’t enjoy fiddling with technology and I’m usually also wrangling the DLM while I read aloud), so as much as I’d like to share a few quotes from this story, I have none to share.  Still, I give this one a Highly Recommended.

What have you been reading aloud lately?



Read Aloud Thursday–Knit Your Bit by Deborah Hopkinson

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It is with great pleasure that I share with you this Read Aloud Thursday Deborah Hopkinson‘s newest picture book, Knit Your Bit: A World War I Story.  We have long been fans of Hopkinson’s work here at Hope Is the Word, so when this opportunity presented itself to get a sneak peek at her latest work of picture fiction, I jumped at it.  Knit Your Bit is the story of Mikey, a little boy who is left behind at home when his father goes to be a soldier in World War I, and he longs to go with his dad.  His dad, however, admonishes him that “it takes just as much courage to stay behind,” and in the coming days, Mikey learns how this is true.  When his mom encourages him to take up knitting socks for the boys at the front, Mikey refuses.  That is, he refuses until his teacher announces a knitting bee at school, and the girls dare the scoffing boys to participate.  There is a Red Cross campaign to “Knit Your Bit” to provide “sox” for the men at the front, and so Mikey and his friends decide to give it a try.  While none of the boys is exactly successful, Mikey does manage to finish one whole sock during the knitting bee.  Most importantly, he learned the importance of doing something out of his comfort zone and something sacrificial to help someone else.  The story has a surprisingly touching ending which I won’t ruin by giving away here.  Steven Guarnaccia‘s illustrations are large, cartoonish, and colorful, which helps to lighten the somber subject matter a bit for the intended audience.  We all enjoyed this story a lot, and I was particularly glad to share a World War I era story with my girls since those seem to be less plentiful that stories set during other wars.  Today is the release date for Knit Your Bit, and I am grateful to Provato Marketing for providing us with a pre-publication copy to enjoy.  (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2013)

I interviewed Deborah Hopkinson back in 2011, and tomorrow I’ll be sharing a short interview I conducted with her recently regarding Knit Your Bit and Annie and Helen.  Be sure to visit Hope Is the Word again tomorrow for more about these great picture books!  Check out Deborah’s blog for more stops on the blog tour.

Other historical fiction picture books by Deborah Hopkinson I’ve reviewed:

So tell me–what have you been reading aloud with your family this week?



Read Aloud Thursday–The Moffats by Eleanor Estes

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Why did I wait so long to read The Moffats?  We have listened to and read both Eleanor Estes‘ Newbery Medal winning Ginger Pye and Pinky Pye (both links to my reviews) with great pleasure, but my efforts at reading The Moffats always stalled out before I was a chapter into it, for some reason.  Determined to read what I think must surely be a classic piece of children’s literature, I added it to my Classics Club list and decided to read it aloud, knowing that my children wouldn’t let me quit reading it if it was even remotely entertaining.  ;-)  Well, no one wanted to quit after the first chapter!

Like the Pye books, The Moffats is set in the town of Cranbury, so some of the characters are the same.  The Moffat family consists of mother, Sylvie, Jerry, Janey, Rufus, and Catherine-the-cat.  Father is deceased, and since his death, the Moffats have moved from their original home to the yellow house on New Dollar Street, which is situated in the best possible location, smack in the middle of New Dollar Street, so that one can see to the end of the street on both ends just by standing in the yard of the yellow house .  The story opens with a problem, though:  their landlord has decided to sell the yellow house, and like most children, the Moffat youngsters cannot fathom the idea of living somewhere else.  This sense of uncertainty hangs over the story, but in between the fretting and plotting how to keep the house from being sold, there are plenty of chapter-long vignettes that are just pure, childish fun.  I found myself laughing out loud with my girls as we read of the Moffats’ adventures.  My own personal favorite chapter begins with Jane innocently mimicking a man walking down the street, and then being accosted by an annoying neighbor boy and told that the man is none other than Mr. Pennypepper, the new school superintendent, and that she, Jane Moffat, could be arrested for being disrespectful to him.  Shortly after this, mama sends her downtown to the delicatessen on an errand, and because Jane is so frightened of being arrested, she hides inside a bread box outside the store when she sees the police chief coming down the street.  And then she goes to sleep. It’s a very comical scene, with one of the neighborhood gossips sitting stop the bread box and bending the ear of the deli owner, with Jane inside wanting desperately to get out, etc.  It ends happily, though, with Jane and Chief Mulligan becoming the best of buddies (once Jane is found, of course).  I can just imagine myself being that frightened of getting in trouble as a child, so this little vignette is both humorous and true-to-life.  Eleanor Estes had a way of thinking like a child and distilling childish thought into a pure, comical, and, at times, poignant point-of-view.

Another aspect of her books that I particularly enjoy are all the characters and the humorous dimension they add to the story.  Here’s an example:

Mrs. Shoemaker hesitated a moment.  Then she said ruefully, “Thank you, but I have had my dinner, so I’ll be on my way, I guess.  I’m meeting Mrs. Cadwalader in the cemetery.  You know, we spend every Sunday afternoon in the cemetery.  It’s so restful.

The names of the characters usually add just a bit more dash and humor to the story, too:

There was a good deal of suspense in ringing the Cadwaladers’ bell.  There were seven Cadwalader sisters.  Of course, you never knew which one of them would open the door.  When the door opened, you had the excitement of thinking fast to say the right Hello:  Hello, Tilly; Hello, Milly; Hello, Molly, Polly, Lollie; or Hello, Oily.  And last, Hello, Nelly.  ”Like the game of beast, bird, or fish, almost,” laughed Jane as the door swung open.  

Read that aloud without laughing.  ;-)  We were quite disappointed to have The Moffats come to an end, and we look forward to sharing more of their adventures in a few more Moffat titles.

This is the first book that I’ve read aloud to my children on the Kindle, and I have to say that aside from the fact that there are some spelling or mechanical errors and the fact that the illustrations (quite good ones by Louis Slobodkin) are not always in the right place with the text, it was a good experience.  In fact, I’d consider doing most of our read-alouds on the Kindle just because it’s easier for me to keep up with it (and not lose our place!) than it is with a paper copy, especially since we have so many of those lying around already.  (What?  You too? :-) )

This book reminds me of so many books about close-knit families and the scrapes and fun times they have.  This one definitely gets a Highly Recommended from the House of Hope!  (1941)



Chomp by Carl Hiaasen

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Chomp is the second book by Carl Hiaasen I’ve read, the first being his 2003 Newbery honor book Hoot many, many years ago in my pre-blogging days.   I had some vague memories of Hoot, and I have to say that Hiaasen‘s newest middle grade book is similar in tone and theme.

Chomp is the story of Wahoo Cray and his dad, wild animal wrangler Mickey Cray, and how they get mixed up in the production of a wildlife survivalist show.  The Crays have a real love and appreciation for wildlife; in fact, they have a wildlife menagerie living in their back yard.  Mickey Cray has worked on the set of many a wildlife show, but up until now he has drawn the line at appearing on a survivalist show, mostly because he knows they’re fake.  However, the Crays need the money, especially since Mickey suffered a concussion when an iguana fell out of a tree and clonked him on the head  (I’m not kidding) which rendered him unable to work.  Expedition Survival! sets up in their backyard, and the show’s star, Derek Badger, royally gets under Mickey’s skin, with his fake tan and his fake Australian accent and his couch potato physique.  If Mickey thinks it, he says it, so it looks like their days on this Hollywood payroll are numbered.  That is, until Derek Badger “wrestles” their huge alligator and gets some amazing video footage, by which he is convinced that he needs to take his show into the Everglades to make it “real.”  Mickey and Wahoo then embark on an adventure in the wilds of Florida, but not before they rescue a classmate of Wahoo’s, a girl named Tuna (yes–Wahoo and Tuna) who lives in  motor home in the Wal-Mart parking lot with her abusive, alcoholic father.

The story really picks up here, and it’s one mishap after another.  The end of the story involves a manhunt and a certain actor who thinks he’s turning into a vampire.  It’s actually quite entertaining and even funny in parts.  However, as much as I like a good adventure/nature story, I found one thing about this story rather annoying:  there are far too many editorializations about  Florida wildlife, and these passages totally break up the flow of the story and seem very out of place in what is essentially a funny, exciting, and satirical story.  It is akin to reading a middle grade novel with a nature magazine article cut apart and interspersed throughout the novel.  The other thing is that the bit about Tuna seems a little out-of-place, too–we get to see Wahoo trying to help a girl who’s in dire straits, and while Wahoo is apparently a caring sort of fellow, it’s almost too much, too soon.

I’m no fan of so-called reality t.v., so I appreciate this satirical look at it.   I think this book will appeal to middle grade readers, perhaps boys in particular, but it’s not as polished as some of the other 2012 Cybils middle grade finalists.

The Adventures of Beanboy by Lisa Harkrader

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Confession:  I didn’t expect to like The Adventures of Beanboy by Lisa Harkrader.  I saved it ’til almost last of all the 2012 Cybils middle grade fiction finalists, and by the time I’d gotten this far, I had almost run out of steam for middle grade fiction.  I don’t find the cover too appealing since I’m not much of a comic book or super hero fan, and the title alone was enough to hint at what might be inside it.  (Hint:  It’s not a cookbook!)  Plus, it seemed a bit too much like the Origami Yoda books (of which I’ve read the first and second) to offer much in the way of variety.  I was pleasantly surprised, then, to find this a middle grade school story that’s full of heart.

The Adventures of Beanboy is the story of Tucker McBean, comic book and superhero obsessed seventh grader, brother and primary caregiver for his developmentally delayed brother Beecher, and all around nice guy.  Tucker and Beecher’s parents have recently split, and life’s a lot different now:  they live in an apartment, his mom works and goes to school so they never see her, and Tucker has a lot of responsibility when it comes to his younger brother.  When Tucker sees that his favorite comic book publisher is holding a contest for the creation of the best sidekick for his favorite superhero and the prize is a scholarship, he decides to go for it.  His mom could really use the money, and this would solve the problem of them communicating with her by sticky notes since they never see each other.  Interspersed throughout the story are illustrations–comic panels–that are presumably created by Tucker in his quest for the creation of this new superhero sidekick.  Obviously, his sidekick is Beanboy, and his super power is (what else?) flatulence.  :-)  That’s one thread of the plot; the other one involves school and Tucker’s “arch nemesis,” a mean girl named Sam Zawicki.  When Sam ends up babysitting Beecher (through an arrangement with another babysitter the McBeans had used, so Tucker actually had nothing to do with it), Tucker begins to see Sam and her meanness in a new light.  The best word I can think of to describe Tucker and the overall theme of this story is kind, and that’s a mighty good word to associate with a middle grade novel.

I’ll admit that I’m not a fan of bathroom humor.  I’ve never read any of the other middle grade stories that feature bodily functions or underwear-clad superheroes.  I found this story’s bathroom references surprisingly understated, with most of the humor (and it’s really very subtle) coming through the illustrations.  While I can’t say I completely followed every bit of the superhero story line, I think middle grade readers will appreciate Tucker’s desire to do something to help his family.  I found the depiction of middle school life, both the boys and the girls, to be realistic.  Again, what I like most about this story is that Tucker is a genuinely nice kid, and that really does make him a superhero.  For folks who don’t mind a bit of bathroom humor, I give this one a Highly Recommended.  (Houghton Mifflin, 2012)

Other 2012 Cybils middle grade fiction finalists I’ve reviewed:

Fourmile by Watt Key

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Regular readers here know I almost never write a negative book review, mostly because if I truly don’t like a book, I probably won’t finish it.  Life’s too short.  What I have to say about Fourmile by Watt Key isn’t so much negative as it is confused.  I’m confused by why it was chosen as a middle grade fiction finalist for the 2012 Cybils Award.

Fourmile is the story of twelve year old Foster of rural south Alabama.  Foster lives alone with his mother on their deteriorating farm, and he is lost in his grief over his father’s untimely death the year before.  Linda, Foster’s mom, is making attempts to move on with her life, mostly by receiving the attentions of a very uncouth, obscene, and brutish suitor named Dax.  Foster, and more importantly, his dog, Joe, hate Dax.  Into this dismal scenario walks a mysterious stranger named Gary.  He first enters their lives to simply ask for a drink of water to see him further on his journey to Texas, but thanks to a storm, he ends up staying in their barn.  Foster is taken with him from the very beginning, and he convinces his mom that Gary will make a great jack-of-all-trades to help them get their place salable for their upcoming move to Montgomery.  After this, Foster’s life begins to both come back together and to unravel simultaneously.  He now has a seemingly respectable man in his life again, and that’s something he has sorely missed since his father’s death.  However, Dax isn’t happy about the situation at all, and he isn’t one to just lie down and take having his woman “stolen” from him like that.  This story is extremely violent, with lots of fighting and guns, and it contains a lot of profanity.

Fourmile is a coming-of-age story, which is a kind I particularly like, and it is sad and touching and probably even true-to-life, but it’s just not the kind of thing I usually spend my time on.  Now, I get that it’s a very exciting and fast read–I read it in about twenty-four hours, which is fast for me, with all the other things that require my time and attention–and no one could deny the excitement level of it, with all of Gary’s furtive glances over his shoulder, Dax’s drinking and threats, and the fighting.  The end is simply a conflagration of violence.  I realize that I’m really not the intended audience for the book; that would be, I assume, middle grade boys.  I also realize that (perhaps?) boys of this age are more interested in violence than I am, and probably have an assumed higher tolerance for it.  I just can’t imagine this book being one I’d happily hand off to my eleven year old.  I believe that what we feed our brains and souls on matters, and while it’s too early to say what our
own little boys might or might not be interested in at the ripe old age of twelve, I hope I don’t give into the culture of violence and encourage them to feed their souls on such as this.  Added to the fact that this story is extremely violent is the fact that in tone it reads much more like an adult story to me.  It feels like a story Foster is telling from the vantage point of adulthood, and though there’s nothing in the story to actually indicate that, it has that feel to it to me.  Actually, this book made me reach way back into my memory for a book that I read as required reading as a freshman in high school:  Shane by Jack Schaeffer.  I don’t recall Shane being nearly as violent (and indeed, I think the violence in Shane is implied, but I’m going on a 20+ year old memory here).  However, the idea that this mysterious stranger comes in to fill the role of a father is there.  It’s interesting, and like I said already, probably true-to-life, but I can do without all the gratuitous violence.  I can’t imagine why a preteen would need to read it.

I’m a bit disappointed, honestly, because Watt Key is an Alabama author, and I’m always ready to champion someone from my state.  I’m not criticizing his writing ability, but rather the fact that this book is marketed to children.  I’m not in favor of censorship, but I am in favor of using wisdom and discretion when it comes to what our children read.  For that reason, I cannot recommend this book for its intended audience.  (Farrar Straus Giroux, 2012)

Almost Home by Joan Bauer

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Joan Bauer has found a formula that works and works well:  a tweenage or teenage girl finds herself in an unfortunate situation, often due to unfortunate family dynamics, but through her optimism, hard work, and the help of at least one mentor/helper, she finds a happy ending.  Almost Home is no different in this regard, but I think that this might be the most dire circumstances a girl has yet to find herself in:  Sugar Mae Cole is homeless, with a “good” mother who cannot cope with their circumstances and is therefore admitted to a psychiatric hospital.  Of course, there’s also the deadbeat dad who has a gambling (and possibly alcohol) addiction.  Sugar Mae and her mother end up in a homeless shelter, and finally, Sugar Mae comes under the sheltering wings of two very good foster parents (after a short and unhappy stint in a group home).  Through it all, Sugar Mae maintains contact with her old sixth grade English teacher, a rather out-of-the-box fellow who cares genuinely for her and roots for her through cyberspace.  The story has the requisite happy ending, but not until Sugar Mae’s mother, a wannabe genteel Southern belle, stands up for herself to her ex-husband and begins to stretch her tenuous wings outside of a homeless shelter as a fully-employed and respectable woman.

If this sounds like a dark and somber story, it’s not.  Well, it is, but it’s not.  Bauer manages to keep what should be a very dark and depressing tale brimful of hope.  I have to say again that this particular situation is the worst that I remember from all of her books that I’ve read, which is most of them.  Yes, I found myself weeping on occasion over the dismal outlook of Sugar Mae’s life, but this is possibly because I’ve had dealings with quite a few children myself (through friends and relatives who are foster parents) who have been in situations similar to Sugar Mae’s, and it is rough.  While most of the children I’ve come into contact with rarely have a resolution quite as positive as Sugar’s, Bauer leaves us with the feeling that things will not be perfect, but there is always hope.  This is how it should be.

Almost Home is a 2012 Cybils finalist in the middle grade fiction category, and I can see why.  Not only is it a touching and realistic story, it is also beautifully written.  Sugar Mae’s distinctive voice shines through on every page through her thoughts, her interactions with others, the poetry she writes, and the emails she sends.  It really made me think about homelessness in a new way.  It also has Bauer‘s trademark quiet humor:

Helen pours the iced tea into glasses.  She puts a sugar bowl on the table, milk, and packets of sugar substitutes.

Please.  In my mind there is no substitute.  (256)

Bauer also includes a bit of librarian humor in this story, which is something I always appreciate:

“Are you all right?”  the librarian asked me.

“My grandpa died.”

“Oh, my dear.”  She picked up a vase with fresh flowers from the return desk and handed it to me.  ”These are for you.”

Being this was a library, I wasn’t sure if I had to return them, so I figured I’d better ask.

“They’re for you to keep,” she said.

That’s something coming from a librarian.  (14)

 

The only weaknesses I can see in this story are that there’s almost too much going on in it toward the end in terms of extraneous characters and issues (none of which I’ve mentioned here) and that it is somewhat formulaic.  Of course, that’s not really a weakness unless this work is considered in light of Bauer‘s others.  I think this would make a good winning pick for the Cybils because I can imagine that it would have lots of kid appeal.  Of all the Cybils finalists I’ve read thus far, this one is my favorite.  I will definitely be handing Joan Bauer‘s novels off to my girls in a few years when they’re ready to begin tackling issues-driven stories.  Highly Recommended.  (Viking, 2012)

Other Cybils finalists I’ve read and reviewed:

Other books by Joan Bauer I’ve reviewed at Hope Is the Word:

 

Sophia’s War by Avi

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I first learned of Avi‘s new book, Sophia’s War: A Tale of the Revolution through a Read Aloud Thursday post at Homeschool Discoveries. Kirsten’s review definitely made me eager to read this book myself, and having read a few of Avi’s many, many books in the past, I knew to expect an exciting and briskly-paced middle grade story.  I was not disappointed.

At the beginning of the novel, Sophia Calderwood is a twelve year old girl living in New York during the time of the American Revolution.  She lives with her parents and her older brother, William, whom she loves and adores with  complete devotion.  William is an intelligent seventeen year old young man who has given himself to the Patriot cause.  Mr. and Mrs. Calderwood, although older and more cautious, also support the Patriot cause.   As the story opens, William is missing and Mrs. Calderwood and Sophia are making their way back to their city home after having evacuated for a while due to the fighting.  When they return home, they learn that their home has been requisitioned for the billeting of British soldiers, William is missing, and Mr. Calderwood is having considerable difficulty getting back to the city.  Into this scenario comes their assigned boarder, the Lieutenant John André.  André is handsome and educated and pays courtly attention to the female presence in the Calderwood home, namely to Sophia.  Sophia is flattered and totally smitten with this dashing officer.  Of course, her feelings are quite conflicted; after all, he is the enemy, and his army, as it turns out, is holding her brother William a prisoner.  When André refuses to help get William released from prison, Sophia decides that she must do everything within her power to help William herself.  When that fails, Sophia throws herself into the Patriot cause with her whole heart.  The book skips ahead a few years at this point, and we meet a fifteen year old Sophia who willingly becomes a spy for the American cause.  This decision throws her into the heart of a turning point in history.  To say more than this would reveal too much in an entirely plot-driven story, so I’ll just recommend it as a great upper middle grade read for a history-loving child who also loves a good adventure.

Avi explores not only a turning point in the American Revolution, but also the idea of revenge and how there are many faces and sides to a war.  I like that–it’s more than just an exciting, fast-paced story, but it can also provoke thought.  Throughout the story I thought (and still think) that the character of Sophia isn’t really developed very much, which I know is for the sake of the extremely fast-moving story.  For example, the reader never sees her out of her element as a Patriot or spy; we never read about her friends or her interests or what she does in any free time we might have.  For someone like me who appreciates a character-driven story, this might be seen as a weakness.  However, I had almost forgiven this weakness of the story thanks to its slam-bang ending; while I can’t say I didn’t see it coming, I think Avi did a fabulous job of wrapping this very plot-driven story up with some philosophical and emotional strings in the end.  The historical note reveals that two of the three plot threads in this story are historically accurate, and that Avi particularly wanted to reveal the terrible conditions of the British prisons for American soldiers during the Revolution.  He does this and much, much more in this exciting tale.  Sophia’s War almost–but not quite–scratched the itch I have for the next Seeds of America book by Laurie Halse Anderson (my reviews of the first two, which I highly recommend, are here and here).  I give Sophia’s War a Highly Recommended as a companion to a study of the American Revolution or for anyone who just enjoys a good adventure.  (Beach Lane Books, 2012)

(Side note:  Isn’t that a great book cover?  I admit book covers aren’t something I always really notice, but I’m beginning to pay more attention.  The silhouette of a young woman’s head with a noose superimposed over it is perfect for this story.)

Read Aloud Thursday–Newly received and future plans

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With all the holiday comings-and-goings, we haven’t been reading aloud much at all in the past couple of weeks. With the exception of numerous trips through the Amazing Machines boxed set the DLM got for Christmas, most of our time has been spent reading silently, playing with Christmas toys, spending time with family, eating (!!), and working on school plans and house projects.  I’ve written before how much the DLM loves these books by Tony Mitton and Ant Parker, so adding these books to our collection was a no-brainer.  The set we got contains ten titles and comes in a little truck-shaped case.  (The link to the right is to the set, even though it only shows one book.)

Don’t let the “mini book” designation fool you–these are actually decently-sized picture books that are just right for little hands.  We give this set a Highly Recommended and have added it to our mental list (which is surely an exercise in futility ;-) ) as potential birthday presents for the preschool crowd.

The girls did receive books for Christmas, but they have been engrossed in the stories on their own.  (Correction:  Louise has been engrossed; Lulu, on the other hand, has left her books in the van and has instead been re-reading some Laura Ingalls Wilder titles for the 1,456,987th time.)  I, however, have been making plans for the new year.  Perusing the Ambleside Online booklists for the girls’ grades, I’ve settled on The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang as a shared read-aloud for me and Louise (it’s free for the Kindle, and I upgraded to add the Kindle narration for $1.99 from Audible because I expect this one to be something she’ll want to listen to again).  I’ve chosen The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald as mine and Lulu’s shared book.  It is also free for the Kindle, and not only is it an AO pick, it’s also on my Classics Club list, so I will be killing the proverbial two birds by reading this one with her.


As for our all-together book, I’m pulling out another book from my Classics Club list to read aloud to them:  The Moffats by Eleanor Estes.  We love both Ginger Pye (review) and Pinky Pye (review), so I expect this Estes title to be a winner, as well.

The real trick is going to be figuring out when to do all this reading aloud!  We started all three books yesterday, and so far I’ve managed to read aloud with the girls individually while the other girl practices the piano.  It makes for a noisy and disjointed read-aloud time, but barring nighttime (which is really out of the question at this point in my pregnancy and life with the DLM, etc.) it’s just about the only time I can come up with.  Truly–suggestions on how to manage three chapter books at a time are welcome!

What are your read-aloud plans for 2013?  I’m always eager to hear more great read-aloud suggestions!  (Oh, and if you missed last week’s RAT post in all your post-Christmas fun, I summed up our 2012 read-aloud year and we all picked our favorite chapter books.  It’s a fun post if I do say so myself!)