Inside Out and Back Again Review

Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


While I was reading the books that were selected for our Mock-Newbery Award this year, I found myself favoring the one just read. And it happened again. I really enjoyed Inside Out and Back Again and it is my choice for our Mock-Newbery Award. I was hesitant to make that decision because I was worried that maybe I thought it was the best because it was the freshest in my mind, but I decided that is not true here are some of my reasons:

It's age appropriate. While Okay For Now and Small as an Elephant aren't necessarily inappropriate, I can't see myself suggesting them to 8 - 12 year-olds. And while Junonia was age appropriate, there wasn't enough to the plot to be able to "sell" it.

It's written in verse. While poetry may turn some readers off, it may appeal to reluctant readers (not as many words to a page).

It's historical fiction. Historical fiction is often assigned reading for schools and you can only suggest Johnny Tremain so many times.

It has a strong female main character.

It's a good description of what it's like to live during wartime and what it's like to be an immigrant. People who move to a new country, for whatever reason, where language and customs are, well, foreign, are incredibly brave.

It'll be interesting to see what they results are of this year's Mock-Newbery Award.



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Title: Book of Spells a private prequel
Author: Kate Brian
Genera: Fantasy
Ratings: 4 out of 5
All Eliza Williams wants is to be free, no one to tell her how to act, dress, and what to read. And one day while discovering she finds the book of spell. What starts like harmless fun won’t end that way. The Billings girls find them self in more trouble than they ever imagined.

Forever

Can i review Forever by the Maggie something?

Books for Review

Here are few titles that need to be reviewed:

Alibi Junior High by Greg Logsted

The Yo-Yo Prophet by Karen Krossing - Advanced Reading Copy

Robert Pattinson: Shining Star (Celebrity Biographies) by Michael A. Schuman

First Day on Earth by Cecil Castellucci - Advanced Reading Copy

Lightbringer by K.D. McEntire - Advanced Reading Copy

Forever by Maggie Stiefvater

STAB members, leave a comment with which title you want to read/review so that we all know what is taken/still avaiable. If anyone else is interested in reviewing these books, let me know and I'll talk to you about becoming a Sharonville Teen Advisory Board member!

No More Dead Dogs

Title: No More Dead Dogs

Author: Gordon Korman

Genera: Realistic Fiction

Ratings : 4 out of 5

This book was about Wallace Wallace, star of the Giants football team. Wallace doesn’t like the book ‘Old Sheep My Pal’ so writes a bad review about it. His English teacher tells him he has detention until he writes a decent report. Not only is he banned from football he also has to sit at play rehearsals for detention. He doesn’t rewrite the report but starts helping direct the play. It’s a humorous book that you won’t put down until you’re done.

Ghetto Cowboy Review

Ghetto Cowboy by G. Neri

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Dropped off by his Mom to live with his Dad in a totally different city, Cole feels abandoned and rejected. Not only does he have to adjust to living with his dad, but he also has to adjust to living with horses in the middle of Philadelphia.

These urban stables are having a tough time surviving, but they do the best they can to provide good homes for unwanted horses and alternatives to gang life for the local teens.

Cole adjusted a little too quickly to this new life for my taste. One day he was angry and resistant and the next he was all gung-ho to save the horses and the stables. There should have been more reasons for Cole to come to acceptance. But, that's ok, I got over it.

Because this is written in Cole's voice, it can be sometime hard to follow. But, the improper English and slang gave the book authenticity. It would have been a worse book if the grammar was correct.

Quick read. Good for jr high reluctant reader.



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Okay For Now Book Review

Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This reminded me a lot of Bridge to Terabithia: boy at new school struggling to fit in, not great family situation, friendship with girl. It was interesting that most of the relationships that Doug created were with the adults around him. The scenes at school dealt more with his teachers than the other students. I want to read The Wednesday Wars now.



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Hurricanes on the Brain

All the news about Hurricane Irene got me to thinking about hurricanes in general. I found out a few interesting facts:

Hurricane season in the Atlantic Ocean runs from June 1 to November 30

Australians call hurricanes willy-willies

The word hurricane comes from the Taino Native American word, hurucane, meaning evil spirit of the wind.

Hurricanes are the only weather disasters that have been given their own names.

Every second, a large hurricane releases the energy of 10 atomic bombs.

In the Pacific Ocean, hurricanes are called typhoons; in the Indian Ocean, they are call tropical cyclones.

The planet Jupiter has a hurricane that has been going on for over 300 years. It can be seen as a red spot on the planet. This hurricane on Jupiter is larger than the Earth itself.