Gruffen, by Chris d'Lacey

An early chapter book, just beyond the level of a reader.  Shallow story, with inexplicable magic clay molded and kilned to create magic dragon helpers.  I certainly hope that d'Lacey's other series, the Last Dragon Chronicles, written for older readers, is more substantial than this.

This book may appeal to girls who have completed the even-shallower  Rainbow Magic Fairy series.  The first in a series.

Half-Minute Horrors

An anthology of 70+ very short scary stories and comics by a who's who of children's, teen, and adult authors including Neil Gaiman, Lemony Snicket, Holly Black, Margaret Atwood, Kenneth Oppel, etc.  I was hoping to find a story or two that I might want to read at the beginning of a Summer Reading Club program this year, but after finding myself so easily creeped out, I decided not to spring these on anyone without their prior consent. 

Stories range from three lines to three pages long, and as might be expected, it takes some skill to create a sense of place, tension, and conclusion in that space.  Some are markedly stronger than others, and not always by authors that one would expect to languish or excel.  Certain common tropes become repetitive, so I would not recommend reading the book in a single sitting.  A perfect book for summer campfires or Hallowe'en frights.

Amelia Bedelia, by Peggy Parish

Amelia Bedelia makes fun of the arbitrariness of the English language, and how silly it would be if we interpreted everything we were told literally.  Amelia Bedelia is constantly doing the wrong thing, believing she's doing what she was instructed.  I imagine this is particularly amusing to young children who are still learning homonyms and confusing grammatical rules.  Amelia Bedelia herself is well-meaning but daffy, and readers can take outraged joy in knowing better than she does but being unable to correct her.

There are 12 original Amelia Bedelia stories by Peggy Parish, with another 15 to date written by her nephew Herman Parish.

Poppleton series, by Cynthia Rylant

Poppleton the pig moves out to a small town where he meets some good friends with whom he has some good friendly adventures.  Each book includes three chapter length stories.  They're reminiscent of Frog and Toad, but not quite so slapstick silly, and include a larger cast of characters.

The stories are generally charming, but Poppleton and his friends don't particularly captivate me, so apart from a couple stand out stories I'm unmoved.  However, I suspect an army of young readers may disagree with me on that score.  I would happily recommend these to new readers who are somewhat less jaded than I.

Titles
Poppleton*
Poppleton and Friends*
Poppleton Everyday*
Poppleton Forever
Poppleton in Spring*
Poppleton in Fall
Poppleton Has Fun*
Poppleton in Winter

* Titles I have read

Frances the Badger series, by Russell Hoban

Russell Hoban's Frances stories are written at approximately the same reading level as Frog and Toad, but while Frog and Toad titles include a handful of short episodes, each Frances story takes up a whole book.

Frances stories are a little didactic, each involving a particular childhood problem such as going to bed, learning to accept a new sibling, or celebrating other people's birthdays without sulking that it isn't your own.  My favourite story is Bread and Jam for Frances which is the least moralistic of the bunch. 

Frances herself is charismatic and true-to-life.  She invents silly songs throughout the day, which I quite adore.  They define her character, and remind me of my own daily childhood compositions, or the way my three year old nephew revels in wordplay.  She acts intermittently stubborn, jealous, selfish, mopey, confused, happy, and loving just like any other preschooler or kindergarten aged child.

Titles:
Bread and Jam for Frances
A Baby Sister for Frances
Bedtime for Frances
A Birthday for Frances
Best Friends for Frances
A Bargain for Frances

Frog and Toad series, by Arnold Lobel

Readers/First Chapter books are very popular in my library.  This month I decided to read/reread some of the classics of the genre, the better to recommend them to our young readers.

I was also looking for stories that I could adapt for my storytimes, telling them with puppets or the felt board.  Frog and Toad stories are made for this.  They are short, memorable, funny, and touching.  I love the gentleness of these tales.  Life is very calm and problems are never too big that a good friend can't help overcome them. 

Titles:
Frog and Toad are Friends
Frog and Toad Together
Frog and Toad All Year
Days with Frog and Toad

Stitches, by David Small

Stitches is a revelation.  David Small may be a Caldecott winning illustrator, but many adults will not have known his name before this memoir appeared.  The story is precise and painful, documenting a grim and unloved childhood in the 1950's.  The grayscale illustrations are perfect; simple but full of alienation and menace.  I am amazed that this man could overcome so many uncaring moments to become a successful and functional adult.  His story is gripping.

Logicomix, by Apostolos Doxiadis and Christos H. Papadimitriou

A graphic biography of philosopher/mathematician/logician Bertrand Russell and his quest to solve all of logic's unanswered questions.  While primarily historical, liberties have been taken in order to tighten the narrative.

An unlikely success, part of the growing body of ambitious graphic nonfiction that's being published these days.

Split Screen, by Brent Hartinger

This third book of the Geography Club is a little gimmicky, with 145 pages written from Russel's perspective, and another 145 from Min's.  It has nowhere near the emotional powerful of the original, but it's a fun light read. 

We get to see more of witty, idealistic Min than ever as she ponders ethics and a new girlfriend.  Meanwhile, Russel juggles a long-distance relationship with renewed interest from his gorgeous ex-boyfriend.  A good popcorn novel.

The Demon's Lexicon, by Sarah Rees Brennan

Nick and Alan try to live normal lives, but it's difficult when they must repeatedly fight or flee from the magicians who hunt their family.  This little-known subculture of magic users increase their power by calling demons into the world whose prime desire is to possess a human body.  What starts out as a straight-forward good guys versus supernatural bad guys tale becomes much more uncertain when Nick begins to question his brother's motives and honesty.

Readers of Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series will love this book, and dark, brooding Nick in particular.

Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson

This was a difficult book to read;  well-written, but painful.  Melinda enters high school as an outcast, with the memories of something terrible shutting her in her own mind, unable or unwilling to say more words than are necessary. 

This is an "issues" book, but it isn't flat.  I wouldn't be likely to recommend it to teen readers simply looking for something entertaining, but it's perfect for high school study.  I expect it's helped a lot of young folks either find their voice or understand someone else's over the years. 

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, by John Boyne

This book irritated me more than other in ages.  The nine year old protagonist's naivete about who Hitler is, let alone the Jews, is not believable.  The conclusion is too neat, and would never happen.  The little boy in the camp would never invite anyone to visit him in there, seeing what he has seen.  The author's referral to the story as a "fable" sounds to me like an excuse for suspending plausibility.  This book has been very successful, but I cannot entirely understand why.

Found, by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Two boys discover their adoptions are nowhere near ordinary and attempt to uncover the truth.  This science fiction mystery will appeal to both boys and girls (as the third protagonist is a sister).  Many clues turn out to be red herrings, but the kids' persistence, ingenuity, and loyalty take them far. The siblings relationship is convincingly teasing, maddening, and loving. 

 Spoiler: The sequel will add historical fiction to the mix of genres.  Time travel books tend to be little too far-fetched for my own preference, particularly when the characters all accept it too easily, but this has been a popular novel and I'd be interested to hear how readers enjoy the back-in-time follow-up.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by Eric Shanower

True to the original material, as far as I can recall.  I appreciate that it features interesting elements and events that do not appear in the film.  This may direct some folks to read the L. Frank Baum novel.  I recall not being terribly impressed by Baum's writing, but that's neither here nor there.   Fantastic art.  Quite well done over all. 

Vacation Catchup

I went on vacation and fell out of the habit of chronicling.  With a month of books to catch up on, I suspect the next batch of entries may be brief.