Stewart – Legion of the Dead

Stewart, Paul & Chris Riddell. Barnaby Grimes: Legion of the Dead. New York: David Fickling Books, 2010.

Legion of the Dead is the third installment in the adventures of Barnaby Grimes. Barnaby is a tick-tock lad; a delivery boy – who plies his trade by running along the rooftops of his fair city in true Highstacking fashion. In a Victorian city which is not-quite London, filled with all manner of odd goings-on, Barnaby’s quick wits & indomitable character keep him just ahead of the dangers lurking around every turn. In this thrilling volume Our Hero stumbles across a mysterious rash of grave-robbing; only to discover that the truth is far more horrifying than he could possible imagine.

I’ve quite enjoyed the Barnaby Grimes series (Legion of the Dead was preceded by Curse of the Night Wolf & Return of the Emerald Skull). Barnaby is a fun, admirable, but not too goody-goody sort of character & the mysteries into which he embroils himself are both interesting & imaginative. Legion of the Dead follows suit & while much of Barnaby’s adventure has a strong ‘I saw that coming’ factor, Stewart & Riddell manage to keep a fair number of surprises on hand as well. Barnaby inhabits an almost steampunky Victorian world full of strange artifacts & curious doings. The world itself, with its specialized lingo (such as ‘Highstacking’) is as much of a character as Our Hero himself. In addition, the excellent illustrations throughout really add to the book & to the not-quite-real city that Barnaby inhabits. I’ve generally found that most of Stewart & Riddell’s books are far more visually appealing than they are to read, but the Barnaby Grimes series seems to break that trend. While they’ll never be high literature, they make great little reads for boys. There was even a scene in Legion that I found a little scary – it had a genuine creep factor which is more than I usually expect of a book of this stripe. My one critique also holds true for the other books in this series, which is this: Barnaby is definitely a boys’ series. This may not even be a critique; I like that books are being written for guys – we need them – so maybe this is more of an observation. S&R’s other books, while also obviously boy-books, have relatively strong or interesting female characters, but in Barnaby Grimes, the ladies are little more than pretty faces for Our Hero to admire. Is that bad? I dunno, but it is somewhat striking.

All in all, I would recommend the Barnaby Grimes series to boys ages 8 – 12ish; especially if the kid likes supernatural stories. Or, for adults who like kids books like this. They’d be good Halloween-time reads, too. I would definitely recommend them before the Edge Chronicles or any other Stewart & Riddell books. On my super-fancy rating system, I’d give Legion of the Dead (& for that matter, the other Barnaby Grimes, too as this has really turned out to be a review of the series rather than the individual title) a Check it Out rating. They’re good; they’re worth reading, but I wouldn’t go much out of my way to get ahold of them. I do, however, think that they should be a staple for a library’s collection.

Shan – Cirque du Freak

Shan, Darren. Cirque du Freak: a Living Nightmare. New York: Little, Brown & Company, 2001. pp. 257.

The first volume of the Darren Shan/ Cirque du Freak series is the first-person narrative of Darren Shan (not his real name) who got himself into the kind of trouble most kids don’t even have nightmares about. Darren & his best friend Steve sneak out to the forbidden Cirque du Freak; a mysterious freak show that suddenly pops up in their little town. They witness much that is strange at the Cirque du Freak, but the highlight for Darren, a self-professed lover of spiders, is a trained tarantula by the name of Madame Octa. For Darren’s friend Steve, however, Madame Octa’s owner’s is far more fascinating – a vampire! When Darren steals the deadly Madame Octa only to have it bite Steve, Darren is left with a decision; does he let his best friend die, agree to become the vampire’s assistant?!

When I saw Cirque du Freak on this week’s reading list, I knew it would be the title I wanted to review. A few months ago, we showed the movie Vampire’s Assistant as a teen afterschool movie at the library & I was really impressed by it. What surprised me most about the book, however, it that it is written for a much younger audience than I expected. Our library keeps all the Shan books in the YA section; they seem to be popular with older teens & the movie portrays Darren as an older teen. However, in the book, he seems quite a bit younger. The almighty internets disagree about how old he’s supposed to be, but a School Library Journal review places him at age 12.[1] More importantly, the book ‘feels’ like it was written for grade-schoolers. NoveList gives it a lexile range of 650; which translates to a 3^rd to 5^th grade reading level.[2] This threw me a little bit at first; it was simply not what I was expecting. Nevertheless, I really liked the book; I’m definitely going to continue on through the series.

The aforementioned review offers this critique; “this volume is neither as well written nor as compulsively readable as the “Harry Potter” books (Scholastic), though surely J. K. Rowling’s endorsement on the cover will win it a few fans.”[3] While I definitely agree that Shan’s no Harry Potter, I think that the series still has a definite appeal. The author got the idea for the books after reading Goosebumps for the first time, & wanted to write something just as scary, but with more substance.[4] Knowing this, the feel of the books make more sense. I was not the only one who expected a book for an older audience; numerous popular reviews on LibraryThing express a similar surprise to my own, including one by Luxx, whose assertion that “I had to stop and remind myself to consider the intended audience very frequently,” certainly rings true.[5]

I am definitely going to modify the audience to whom I recommend the Shan series to at the library; following the lead of co-workers, I have offered it to many older teens & Twilight fans. While they may still enjoy Cirque du Freak, it’s definitely a better recommendation for kids looking to move up from Goosebumps. Unless my opinion changes by the time I finish with the series, I may put in a recommendation to move it from YA to JFiction.

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[1] Capehart, Timothy, “Cirque du Freak: the Saga of Darren Shan,” School Library Journal, vol. 41, issue 5, pp.159. as found in NoveList. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=noh&tg=UI&an=081656&site=novelist-live (accessed 25 April 2010).

[2] “Cirque du Freak: the saga of Darren Shan,” NoveList.

http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=noh&tg=UI&an=081656&site=novelist-live (accessed 25 April 2010).

[3] Capehart

[4] Shan, Darren. “Author Notes,” The Saga of Darren Shan Books. http://www.darrenshan.com/vampires/books/01cirque.html (accessed 25 April 2010).

[5] Luxx, “Cirque du Freak,” LibraryThing, 16 Jan. 2010. http://www.librarything.com/work/220546 (accessed 25 April 2010).

Choldenko – Al Capone does my Shirts

Choldenko, Gennifer. Al Capone does my Shirts. New York; G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 2004.

A Newbery Honor book, Al Capone does my Shirts tells the story of 12 year old Moose Flanagan who, in 1935 moves with his family to Alcatraz. Moose’s sister is autistic & his father takes a job on the island so that they can be closer to the specialist doctors in San Francisco. Moose has a hard enough time fitting in & trying to keep his mind off of baseball just as it is. The schemes of the warden’s daughter only add to his problems. Seeking to capitalize on the fame of the prisons’ notorious inmates, she concocts a scheme to charge for their classmates’ clothes to be laundered by famous felons.

Al Capone was all right. I’m not really a fan of the whole Alcatraz – Al Capone thing, so I think it would have more appeal to others but It’s a popular book & I’ve been wanting to read it for a while. I also wasn’t crazy about the story; spoiled girl scams classmates for cash + unwilling hero caught up in her plan + need to protect/ help the autistic sister; but again, I can see how it has appeal. I’m not always crazy about a story when we can see from the very beginning that the protagonist is going to get blamed for something not their fault. I mean, obviously we need conflict – & we can usually trust that in a book like this ‘it will all work out in the end,’ but I’d like a little surprise or ingenuity. The Alcatraz/ Capone hook may do that for some people but not really for me. I guess mostly, I thought that with a title like Al Capone does my Shirts, I’d be getting something funnier. Don’t get me wrong; Choldenko does have some humor & does a good job with it, but I would not describe it as a primarily funny book. As a historian, what I do really appreciate is that the author provides a section in the back with real facts about Alcatraz & its inmates. She distinguishes between a work of history & a work of historical fiction (which this is). Certainly, I never knew that families actually lived on Alcatraz – babies were even born there.

So… good book for some, not necessarily for me.

As a Newbery Honor Book, reviews for Al Capone as easy to come by. Walter Hogan, writing for VOYA says, “Choldenko…weaves three As-Alcatraz, Al Capone, and autism-into an excellent historical novel for middle-grade readers.”[1] Somewhat more descriptive is ladycato’s descriptive review on LibraryThing; “This middle grade book is a quick read… there were some annoying aspects for me, mainly the warden’s daughter, Piper… It’s rather like an episode of the Flintstones, wherein you know everything is going to go wrong right from the get-go and the innocent is going to get the blame… I’ll be keeping this in my library for my son to read it someday, but I’m not going to rush out and buy the sequel.”[2] As is beginning to become a habit, I’m finding popular reviews to be more informative in terms of a “should I read it?” than the professional reviews in the LIB literature.

Definitely a good title to be displayed with Newbery’s, or with gangster, prison, or Depression-era stuff. Also, I would probably recommend this title to anyone of middle school reading age looking for a book with characters of special needs – not a common request, but it does pop up from time to time. Al Capone would also be a good booktalk book for any middle grade class working on history.

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[1] Hogan, Walter. “Al Capone does my Shirts,” VOYA Reviews. April 2004. as found in Baker & Taylor’s Title Source 3. http://ts3f.informata.com/TS3/record.jsp?rn=9&ps=9&fr=0&anc=9&bs=1&fb=0&n=E%3A\webapp\ts3\main\users\ls000017.rec&AF=2248867&FirstRec=Y (accessed 4/4/10).

[2] ladycato. “Al Capone does my Shirts,” 14 May 2010. LibraryThing. http://www.librarything.com/work/189748 (accessed 4/4/10).

Hale – Murder, My Tweet

Hale, Bruce. Murder, My Tweet: From the Tattered Casebook of Chet Gecko, Private Eye. Orlando, FL: Harcourt, 2004.

The tenth book in the Chet Gecko series, Murder, My Tweet is an elementary school mystery in which Our Hero, wisecracking gumshoe Chet Gecko finds that a simple case of follow-that-boyfriend quickly devolves into an insidious plot to finger is partner, Natalie Attired for blackmail. Then, just as Chet is about to clear his partner’s name, Natalie mysteriously disappears. Caught within a tangled web of “killer robots, lovesick parrots, and a school band called The Stench Bombs,” Chet must find his partner – before it’s too late.

I’ve been wanting to read a Chet Gecko book for some time – they’re pretty popular at my library & frankly, I’m charmed by the covers & catchy titles. Suspecting that they don’t really need to be read in order, I just grabbed the only one on the shelf – Murder, My Tweet (I would have preferred to read Key Lardo – because I find the title funnier, but I needed to get it read this week for class & didn’t want to wait). All in all, I liked it. I find the premise amusing – an elementary school filled with anthropomorphic animals of all sorts with a chubby 6^th grade gecko in a trench coat & fedora serving as P.I. for his fellow students. Each animal does its own thing – Chet climbs up walls, the mole digs holes in the playground, & the ringtail squirts musk all over when he’s frightened. It’s a great mystery for upper elementary school kids looking for a fun & funny read. Chet’s never-ending gumshoe monologues can get a little tiresome at times, but they’re clever & amusing & I suspect that kids won’t really mind. The illustrated plates throughout add to the fun & humor of the book.

I really couldn’t find any actual professional ‘reviews’ of the book; just a couple of descriptive blurbs masquerading as reviews; School Library Journal says “As he has in previous titles, Hale saturates the story with wacky wordplay, corny jokes, and droll humor,”[1] & The Horn Book Guide describes Chat to be, “as mouthy as ever, and his jokes fly fast and free – even when he’s up against an “Industrial-Strength Nerd” and his evil robot army.”[2] I did, however, get a couple of popular reviews off of Amazon.com, including this endearing one; “at first my son refused to read it, but after reading the first two chapters aloud as a bedtime story, he was hooked. He has since read all of the Chet Gecko novels and loves each and every one.”[3] Out of the 7 popular reviews, there was only one negative one; “Bruce Hale encourages violance and judgemental attitudes. As a teacher, there is no way I would allow my students to read this book.”[4] (I’ve left the spelling just as Mr. Smith wrote it, so as not to misquote him… he is, after all, a teacher).

I would definitely include any Chet Geckos in a number of library children’s displays; mystery, certainly, but it could also fit into a humor collection, or a collection of stories with anthropomorphic animal-characters (I recently did such a display entitled “Tails of Heroism”). It would also be a good selection to read a chapter from for older elementary class visits.

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[1] “Murder, My Tweet,” School Library Journal Reviews, Oct. 2004, as found in Baker & Taylor’s Title Source 3. http://ts3d.informata.com/TS3/record.jsp?rn=5&anc=2&ps=6&fr=0&fb=0&bs=1&n=E%3A%5Cwebapp%5Cts3%5Cmain%5Cusers%5Cls000131.rec (accessed 25 March 2010).

[2] “Murder, My Tweet,” Horn Book Guide Reviews, Spring 2005, as found in Baker & Taylor’s Title Source 3. http://ts3d.informata.com/TS3/record.jsp?rn=5&anc=2&ps=6&fr=0&fb=0&bs=1&n=E%3A%5Cwebapp%5Cts3%5Cmain%5Cusers%5Cls000131.rec (accessed 25 March 2010).

[3] Ms. Parrothead “Book Lover,” “Tweet-heart of a Book!!,” Amazon.com, 29 August, 2006. http://www.amazon.com/Murder-My-Tweet-Gecko-Mystery/dp/0152052194/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1269557285&sr=8-1 (accessed 25 March 2010).

[4] Brian D. Smith, “Corrupting our Children,” Amazon.com, 29 August, 2006. http://www.amazon.com/Murder-My-Tweet-Gecko-Mystery/dp/0152052194/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1269557285&sr=8-1 (accessed 25 March 2010).

Mass – 11 Birthdays

Mass, Wendy. 11 Birthdays. New York: Scholastic, 2009.

Best friends Amanda & Leo have shared, & celebrated, their birthdays together for 10 years straight – until some unkind words bring their friendship to a crashing halt on their 10^th birthday. Now, on the occasion of their (separate) 11^th birthday parties they are forced to reconsider their feud as the day of the party repeats itself over & over again. Both frustrated & entertained by their do-over birthdays, the pair come to their own resolution & renew their friendship.

11 Birthdays was an enjoyable, if predictable read. Told from Amanda’s perspective, the narrative seems authentic enough for an 11-year-old & her feelings, fears & joys all feel natural. The opportunity for so many do-over’s helps Amanda build her self-confidence & the reader gets to see her grow as she relives her birthday over & over again. The overall pace was slow, & rather reminiscent of Groundhog Day, but a good recommendation for girls of Amanda’s own age.

Booklist gave 11 Birthdays a Starred Review calling it “a rewarding choice for readers and a natural for booktalks and discussion groups.”[1] However, Kirkus Reviews called it “slow-paced,” & described the “flatness of the individual characters, particularly Leo.”[2]

I have to agree with the Booklist review; 11 Birthdays has great potential for a library booktalk or discussion group. I will definitely be using it as a recommendation for middle-grade girl readers who come into my library.

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[1] “11 Birthdays,” Booklist Reviews. December 2008, no. 2. as found in Baker & Taylor’s Title Source 3. http://ts3b.informata.com/TS3/record.jsp?rn=7&ps=7&fr=0&anc=7&bs=1&fb=0&n=E%3A\webapp\ts3\main\users\ls000645.rec&FirstRec=Y (accessed 7 March 2010).

[2] “11 Birthdays,” Kirkus Reviews. December 2008, no. 2. as found in Baker & Taylor’s Title Source 3. http://ts3b.informata.com/TS3/record.jsp?rn=7&ps=7&fr=0&anc=7&bs=1&fb=0&n=E%3A\webapp\ts3\main\users\ls000645.rec&FirstRec=Y (accessed 7 March 2010).