Dovey Coe

Readers of this blog will know I'm a sucker for a catchy title.  Unfortunately, all of the great titles I came up with for Frances O'Roark Dowell's Dovey Coe were spoilers.  And if you read this blog you will also know that I am very anti-spoiler.

Of course by me saying all of this you have probably figured out that there is some kind of twist in Dovey Coe.  Well, there is-but there's no way I'm going to tell you what it is.  To prevent any more spoilers I'll give you the summary from the back of the book:

"My name is Dovey Coe and I reckon it don't matter if you like me or not.  I'm here to lay the record straight, to let you know them folks saying I done a terrible thing are liars.  I am to prove it, too.  I hated Parnell Caraway as much as the next person, but I didn't kill him."  

In the reading class I co-teach we are talking about flashback and foreshadowing.  While flashback is easy to spot I have a terrible time finding foreshadowing.  My husband seems to always be able to guess the end of the story where I always feel completely surprised.  Dovey Coe would be an excellent book to use when teaching foreshadowing.  Can you spot it? 

No spoilers....that's kids stuff.  

PS This is also a Reading Olympics book.  

Go Find It

Megan Frazer Blakemore's The Water Castle has to be one of the most realistic "fantasy" books I have ever read.  I think that's why I can't quite decide how I feel about it.  It was a compelling story, splendidly written, and the tale weaved between the past and the present (something I love).  All of these facts make it seem like I should love it; so why do I feel decidedly neutral?

This cover is different than the one
 on the book I read.
 This cover is much better! 

The book centers around the Appledore family and their quest for the Fountain of Youth.  Sounds like it should be fantasy, right?  But it isn't.  In the present day settings Ephraim attends a regular school (albeit all of the students are gifted), in a regular town (albeit one full of history where people live abnormally long lives).  His friendships are usual (except they are the first steps to overcoming old feuds), and his house is just a house (a bit quirky perhaps, and it has all those hidden rooms...).

So as you can see this book isn't quite real but it isn't quite fantasy. Notice I didn't describe the historic Appledore's also featured in the book.  To do so would give way too much away.  You'll have to read the book yourself.

This is a book I enjoyed reading, but not one I couldn't put down.  It walks a strange balance between the past and the present, between reality and myth.  Something about that I just didn't love.  Will I recommend it to students, absolutely.  Was it worth reading, of course.  Is it worthy of being on the Reading Olympics list, indeed it is.  It just wasn't one of my favorite.  And that's OK.  Not every book is a favorite.  And just because I didn't love it doesn't mean that you won't.

Searching out the myth...that's kids stuff.  

Ripple Effect

Margaret Peterson Haddix is quickly becoming one of my new favorite authors.  Her stories are engaging, suspenseful and interesting while still being readable (aka even struggling reader will be able to understand the story-it's not so full of high level vocabulary and literary devices that it becomes hard to understand).  These stories are also written from the young main characters perspective, something many of my students really love.

Currently I read Margaret Peterson Haddix's Found.  This is book 1 in her new series, "The Missing."  I suspected this book would be good because I read the Among the Hidden series and loved it.  This new series is completely different but just as good.

Jonah is 13 and he's always known that he was adopted (seeing as how his parents have read every book on doing adoption right), but the records were sealed so he doesn't know anything about his birth parents.  That doesn't really bother Jonah because he's never really wondered about it, he's comfortable with his adoptive family and things are good.  Well, until Jonah starts receiving mysterious notes in the mail.  And his new friend Chip learns he is adopted when he starts receiving the same notes.  Things get even weirder when they learn the FBI was involved with the initial phases of the adoption.

Once Jonah, his sister Katherine, and Chip start diving into the mystery behind the adoptions things really get interesting.  I would love to tell you about it but that would spoil the book.  You'll just have to read it yourself to see what happens.  The title of this post is a clue though...

Finding your past....that's kids stuff

PS We were lucky enough to get the rest of the series at the book fair so I will be finishing them over the weekend!

This is War

Holling Hoodhood just started 7th grade and his teacher is Mrs. Baker.  On Wednesdays, half of the class leaves early for Hebrew school and the other half leaves early for Catechism class at the local Catholic church.  Hollling is Presbyterian so he attends neither.  This means he is the only student in Mrs. Bakers class every Wednesday afternoon.  Thus the Wednesday Wars begin.

Gary D. Schmidt's The Wednesday Wars is told form Holling's perspective.  This made it very enjoyable for me to read since, as a teacher, I naturally read things from the teachers perspective.  It was fascinating to see Holling's perceptions and I wonder how many of my own students feel the same way. Originally, Holling views the Wednesday afternoons he spends with Mrs. Baker as a type of war, but slowly he begins to realize maybe all teachers aren't out to destroy him.

Set in 1967, this book also touches on very significant events in United States history, from the war in Vietnam to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.  But these events are shown through the lens of your typical American family who are most concerned with the family business and the local town. This was a different time, with different family dynamics and parenting styles all of which are masterfully represented in this book.  

My only complaint about the book lies with the cover.  The cover looks very kid-like and silly.  When reading the book I was surprised by its depth, the cover had set me up for something much lighter and more superficial.  As much as we say, "dont' judge a book by it's cover" we all know that people do (myself included!).  I worry that student's won't pick up this book because they think it's too young.

Warring with your teacher...that's kids stuff.  

sssshhhhhh

It's a secret.  It's true!  The Name of this Book is Secret, that's the first book in the "secret series" by Pseudonymous Bosch (heads up-this is also a Reading Olympics book).  As you might imagine, this book is suspenseful and full of intrigue, but in my opinion those things aren't the real selling point of this book.

What made this book great is the tone in which it is written.  It's reads just like someone is telling you a secret, even though the act of telling is against their better judgement.  Listen to this warning from the beginning of the book:

"Generally speaking, books don't cause much harm.  Except when you read them, that is.  Then they cause all kinds of problems.  Books can, for example, give you ideas.  I don't know if you've ever had an idea before, but, if you have, you know how much trouble an idea can get you into...But the main reason this book is so dangerous is that it contains a secret." 

This book follows the story of Cass and Max-Earnest (if those are even their real names) as they try to figure out the source of a host of mysterious happenings.  Cass and Max-Earnest both have their own quirks, Cass is working to become a survivalist while Max-Earnest can't seem to stop talking, but that's nothing compared to the very unique people they run into on their journey.  Mix in a little alchemy (is that really a spoiler-most big secrets can be traced back to alchemy) and you have the makings of a big adventure.  

Overall a very engaging read.  Throughout the first half of the book I wasn't sure if I would finish the series, but now that I've finished the book I just have to see what happens next. 

Telling a secret...that's kids stuff.   

That's Personal

Every now and then a book will come along and you feel like it is just speaking right to your soul.  The book so closely mirrors your thoughts and feelings that you could have written it yourself.  Donna Cooner has written not one but two of these books.

The first is Skinny, the story of a high school girl who is morbidly obese and decides to get gastric bypass surgery.  The book chronicles her transformation both inside and out.  What I found most gripping about this book was the inner monologue of the main character-Ever.  Ever gives voice to the dark thoughts that everyone who has ever struggled with weight knows all too well.  As someone who has always been heavier than average, Ever's journey deeply resonated with me.  This book is unflinchingly honest and definitely worth the read.

The second Donna Cooner book is Can't Look Away.  In this book famous beauty blogger Torrey Grey has her world turned upside down when her younger sister is struck and killed by a drunk driver.  I myself have suffered gut wrenching losses due to drunk drivers so I felt Torrey's pain.  I could also resonate with her journey through the guilt and anger and final to a place where she can start to accept her, "new normal."  Moving states and changing schools don't appear to help with this transition but it just might work out in the end.  Yes, this book is sad but that doesn't mean it's not worth reading.  This book is real and honest and sometimes that's just what you need.

Getting personal...that's kids stuff.