Winter Break Books

I have to admit that in the rush of holiday preparations I have not read anything new in the last week that I would recommend to everyone. However, in light of the approaching winter, I thought I would pass along some titles of books with winter/arctic themes that are appropriate given the change in season. I hope that everyone has a happy and safe holiday break, and I will see you all again in the new year!

The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean
Fourteen-year-old Symone's only friend is an imaginary incarnation of Captain Laurence "Titus" Oates, an explorer who accompanied Robert Scott on his failed expedition to the South Pole. Sym is passionate about the Antarctic and her infatuation is fed by Uncle Victor, an eccentric family friend who has cared for Sym and her mother since Sym's father's death. When Victor surprises Sym with a trip to "the Ice," she has some doubts, especially when she discovers that her mother can't come. But her excitement overshadows her initial misgivings--until realizes that Uncle Victor has an obsession of his own that runs deeper than the glaciers and threatens her life. - From Book List

North by Donna Jo Napoli
Napoli, perhaps best known for her retold fairy tales and legends, spins a compelling, modern adventure. Sixth-grader Alvin, nicknamed "Dwarf" by classmates, is dying under his fearful Mamma's overprotectiveness. When his teacher gives an assignment to select a famous African American to study, Alvin is intrigued by Matthew Henson. Starved for adventure, the boy decides to run away to the North Pole-in January. Using the money he has saved for a bicycle, he leaves his Washington, DC, neighborhood on a train bound for New York, then heads to Toronto, then on to Winnepeg. Several adults, and lots of luck, help him along the way. In Winnepeg, he jumps into a freight car bound for Churchill, nearly freezing to death during the more than 33-hour trip. Here he connects with Inuit people (he's the first African American they've ever seen), who help him get to Bylot Island near the Arctic Circle, where he spends a season with a trapper, learning to survive sunless days, eating lemming and walrus stew, and rapidly growing in stature and self-confidence. The final page finds the boy, in June, arriving home. - From School Library Journal

Shackletons Stowaway by Victoria McKernan
McKernan brings Ernest Shackleton's 1914 expedition to the Antarctic alive through the eyes of its youngest crew member. Perce Blackborow, 18, hides in a cramped locker for two days until the Endurance is at sea before revealing his presence as a stowaway. Given a chance to disembark at South Georgia Island, he signs up as a steward and a gruff Shackleton insists that he write to his family: "Tell them what god-awful mischief you've got yourself into." The ill-fated ship is crushed in the ice hundreds of miles from the nearest whaling station, forcing the crew to drag its lifeboats and gear across unstable ice floes. A perilous voyage takes them to Elephant Island, where they are stranded for months while Shackleton and five others go for help. Perce endures the worst of it, having no feeling in his frostbitten feet. Details of the ensuing amputation of toes are realistic, an example of the author's sharp eye for authenticity. Although fictional, Perce's diary entries add dimension to the character and blend imagination with historical accuracy. Several of the crew members are powerfully brought to life, including Perce's fun-loving mate, Billy; the obsessive rationer, Orde Lees; the compassionate Frank Wild; and Shackleton, the leader they all idolize. Add this suspenseful tale to adventure/survival collections. - From School Library Journal

The Magician's Elephant by Kate Di Camillo
On a perfectly ordinary day, Peter Augustus Duchene goes to the market square of the city of Baltese. Instead of buying the fish and bread that his guardian, Vilna Lutz, has asked him to procure, he uses the coin to pay a fortune-teller to get information about his sister, whom he believes to be dead. He is told that she is alive, and that an elephant will lead him to her. That very night at a performance in the town's opera house, a magician conjures up an elephant (by mistake) that crashes through the roof and cripples the society dame she happens to land on. The lives of the boy, his guardian, and the local policeman, along with the magician and his unfortunate victim, as well as a beggar, his dog, a sculptor, and a nun all intertwine in a series of events triggered by the appearance of the elephant. Miraculous events resolve not only the mystery of the whereabouts of Peter's sister, but also the deeper needs of all of the individuals involved. DiCamillo's carefully crafted prose creates an evocative aura of timelessness for a story that is, in fact, timeless. - From School Library Journal

Thanksgiving Reads

Okay, here is a great science fiction/medical thriller for you. Over the Thanksgiving holiday I read "The Adoration of Jenna Fox," by Mary Pearson. I loved this book! You know that there is something unusual about Jenna right from the start, and as more and more of her family story is revealed, you are forced to ask yourself the question of - How far would you go to save someone that you loved? See the review below, and make sure that you come and check this book out of the library. It is fantastic!

Seventeen-year-old Jenna Fox awakens after more than a year in a coma to find herself in a life—and a body—that she doesn't quite recognize. Her parents tell her that she's been in an accident, but much of her past identity and current situation remain a mystery to her: Why has her family abruptly moved from Boston to California, leaving all of her personal belongings behind? Why does her grandmother react to her with such antipathy? Why have her parents instructed her to make sure not to tell anyone about the circumstances of their move? And why can Jenna recite whole passages of Thoreau's Walden, but remember next to nothing of her own past? As she watches family videos of her childhood, strange memories begin to surface, and she slowly realizes that a terrible secret is being kept from her. Pearson has constructed a gripping, believable vision of a future dystopia. She explores issues surrounding scientific ethics, the power of science, and the nature of the soul with grace, poetry, and an apt sense of drama and suspense. —Meredith Robbins, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis High School, New York City

Welcome Bookies!

I would like to extend a special invitation to the Peck Bookies to make an entry on the blog! I understand that some of you have been reading some really wonderful books, and short stories as well and it would be great to share this with everyone! Your entry should include the title of the book/story, your thoughts on why you did or did not like it, would you recommend the book/story to others and who would you recommend it too (age level, reading interest, etc.). All entries will be emailed to me, and I will do my best to have all comments posted by the end of the day they were written.

If we have the books that you recommend in the library I will put them on display so folks can check them out!

-Mrs. MacVicar

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma

I picked up the latest entry in the Mysterious Benedict Society series at the Parent's Association Book Sale last week, and again it did not disappoint. For those of you that read the others and loved them, this one will also be an enjoyable read. All of your favorite characters and villains are there. The only thing that I find a little strange is the ending of this one. I don't want to give anything away, but while the other books have left you wondering what will happen next, this latest book feels like it ends a little too neatly. Lets hope that the author plans to write more. The characters in these books are so interesting (Constance Contraire will always be my personal favorite), and if you love to solve puzzles this is the book series for you! There is a little summary below. Write you comments! I want to hear your thoughts.



Join the Mysterious Benedict Society as Reynie, Kate, Sticky and Constance embark on a daring new adventure that threatens to force them apart from their family, friends and even each other. When an unexplained blackout engulfs Stonetown, the foursome must unravel clues relating to a nefarious new plot, while their search for answers brings them closer to danger then ever before.

Savvy

This week I finished Savvy by Ingrid Law. This is Ms. Law's first novel, and it is a great debut. I really enjoyed this book. At times the circumstances seemed rather unbelievable, but that is sort of the premise of the book, seemingly normal people can have amazing abilities. Each member of the Beaumont family has an extraordinary power, and Mibs has been waiting to discover hers. See the description below for more about the story. If you have read the book, make sure to comment! I would love to hear what you think.

Grade 4–7—Mississippi Beaumont ("Mibs" for short) simply cannot wait for her 13th birthday. There's the allure of finally becoming a teenager, of course, but in the Beaumont family, 13 is when family members get their "savvy," or unworldly power. For Mibs's older brother Fish, it's control over the elements, and for her mother it's the ability to do everything perfectly. Unfortunately, Mibs's excitement is cut short when her father is injured in a car accident. Convinced that her new powers will be able to save her Poppa, she and some new friends climb aboard a bus toting pink bibles on her birthday, in the hopes of getting to the hospital. Instead they find themselves headed in the wrong direction with the cops looking for them, Mibs's powerful brother seriously angry, and the son of a preacher man she has a crush on coming dangerously close to figuring out the Beaumonts' secret. Mibs's real savvy isn't what she expected, and neither are her traveling companions. - From School Library Journal

"The Absolutely True Diary..." and "The Underneath"

It isn't often that I read two books in a row that are both really amazing. However in the last 2 weeks it has happened to me, and I would love to share them with you. I highly recommend that you consider them both. If you have read one or both of these books I would love to here your thoughts. Make sure to comment!

I started off with The Underneath by Kathi Appelt. I will admit that I picked it up because it had animals as they main characters and I often like that perspective (i.e. Redwall, Watership Down, etc.) but the story was nothing like I thought it would be. The book follows the unlikely friendship between a calico cat and a hound dog. It also tells the tail of Grandmother Moccasin, an ancient-shape shifter, whose smothering love of her daughter ends a tragic event. The two stories come together in a final exciting (if somewhat predictable) scene. If you are a fan of gothic or mythical novels, this is the book for you. Here a brief desription, and the book is available in the library for checkout:

A calico cat, about to have kittens, hears the lonely howl of a chained-up hound deep in the backwaters of the bayou. She dares to find him in the forest, and the hound dares to befriend this cat, this feline, this creature he is supposed to hate. They are an unlikely pair, about to become an unlikely family. Ranger urges the cat to hide underneath the porch, to raise her kittens there because Gar-Face, the man living inside the house, will surely use them as alligator bait should he find them. But they are safe in the Underneath...as long as they stay in the Underneath.

Kittens, however, are notoriously curious creatures. And one kitten's one moment of curiosity sets off a chain of events that is astonishing, remarkable, and enormous in its meaning.

The second is a book that I would recommend for grades 7 and up. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. This is Alexie's first novel for young adults, and some of you may have read his novels for adults (all though they are pretty heavy). This is such a great story, and you really feel that Alexie has captured the real thoughts and experiences of Junior, the main character of the novel. Here is a brief description of the book. It is available in the library if you would like to check it out:

Arnold Spirit, a goofy-looking dork with a decent jumpshot, spends his time lamenting life on the "poor-a**" Spokane Indian reservation, drawing cartoons (which accompany, and often provide more insight than, the narrative), and, along with his aptly named pal Rowdy, laughing those laughs over anything and nothing that affix best friends so intricately together. When a teacher pleads with Arnold to want more, to escape the hopelessness of the rez, Arnold switches to a rich white school and immediately becomes as much an outcast in his own community as he is a curiosity in his new one. He weathers the typical teenage indignations and triumphs like a champ but soon faces far more trying ordeals as his home life begins to crumble and decay amidst the suffocating mire of alcoholism on the reservation. (From Book List)

Welcome!

Welcome the new Peck Reads! blog. This is an exciting opportunity for all of us to share with each other information and thoughts related to all things books. I will be the monitor of this blog, and will post info about new books that I am reading and my thoughts on them. The summer months have given me a great opportunity to read some new books and I am looking forward to sharing my thoughts here with you on them, and hearing about the great books you are reading as well. Please note the guidelines in the side bar. These are really important!

Just a few thoughts to get things started. I finally got to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince last weekend. My guess is many of you saw it this summer too, and I would love to hear what you thought about it. I re-read the book before going to see the movie (I read it the first time the weekend after it was released in publication, and I was amazed how many details I had forgotten when I re-read it). Personally, I thought that they did a great job of keeping the right "dark" tone of the book in the movie, but I was a little disappointed that they left some pretty key elements out (i.e. the battle for Hogwarts in the end, and the funeral). Also, in the book there is a lot of talk about how even Dumbledore cannot apparate out of Hogwarts, and in the end has to ride a broom to return to the school after being injured. I was hoping to see Dumbledore ride a broom! What did all of you think?

Also, I just finished reading this year's Newbery Medal winner The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (author of the book Coraline, later made into a movie). If you have not read it yet, then you must. It was fantastic. I have not loved the last couple of years choices for the Newbery Medal, so it was great to find one that I liked. It isn't the usual book for Newbery, seeing as it starts out with a rather gruesome murder, and is creepy throughout (sort of like Coraline). See description below, and come check it out of the Peck Library if it sounds like you might want to read it!

-Somewhere in contemporary Britain, "the man Jack" uses his razor-sharp knife to murder a family, but the youngest, a toddler, slips away. The boy ends up in a graveyard, where the ghostly inhabitants adopt him to keep him safe. Nobody Owens, so named because he "looks like nobody but himself," grows up among a multigenerational cast of characters from different historical periods that includes matronly Mistress Owens; ancient Roman Caius Pompeius; an opinionated young witch; a melodramatic hack poet; and Bod's beloved mentor and guardian, Silas, who is neither living nor dead and has secrets of his own. As he grows up, Bod has a series of adventures, both in and out of the graveyard, and the threat of the man Jack who continues to hunt for him is ever present. Bod's love for his graveyard family and vice versa provide the emotional center, amid suspense, spot-on humor, and delightful scene-setting. ...Gaiman has created a rich, surprising, and sometimes disturbing tale of dreams, ghouls, murderers, trickery, and family.-Megan Honig, New York Public Library Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.