Meet Violet Mackerel

Have you met Violet Mackerel ?

First published in Australia and now released in the US, readers will love these stories written by Anna Brandford about an appealing girl and her mission to think outside the box.

Violet lives with her family, her mother, big brother, Dylan, and big sister, Nicola. In Violet Mackerel’s Remarkable Recovery, six-year-old Violet looks on the positive side of things when she learns her tonsils need to be removed. She hopes the experience will bring her a new friend and the change in her voice will make her an extraordinary opera singer.

When she sees a blue china bird that costs ten dollars at the Saturday market, seven-year-old Violet tries to figure out how she can earn the money to buy it. In the end, by thinking outside the box, Violet comes up with a clever plan for getting it. Read, Violet Mackerel and the Brilliant Plot.

If you have enjoyed the stories of Ivy & Bean (Annie Barrows) and Clementine (Sara Pennypacker) then you will definitely want to check out Violet Mackerel.  The humorous, thoroughly engaging text is well-written and accompanied by simple black and white sketches that complement the story.

There are two books available now, with more on the way.

NEW MAINE STUDENT BOOK AWARD LIST

It's out! The Maine Student Book Award Committee (MSBA) has published their 2013-2014 list of books. Students will begin reading from this list after April. The titles in red mean they are available to read through out Cloud Library, which means they are available anytime, anyplace.

2013-2014 Reading List (2012 copyright)

Aguirre, Jorge. Giants Beware!
Airgood, Ellen. Prairie Evers.
Applegate, Katherine. The One and Only Ivan.
Bauer, Marion Dane. Little Dog, Lost.
Beck, W. H. Malcolm at Midnight.
Bell, Juliet. Kepler’s Dream.
Cerullo, Mary M. Giant Squid: Searching for a Sea Monster.
Coville, Bruce. Always October.
Evans, Lissa. Horten’s Miraculous Mechanisms: Magic, Mystery & A Very Strange Adventure.
Fearing, Mark. Earthling!
Fforde, Jasper. The Last Dragonslayer.
Fleming, Candace. On the Day I Died.
Healy, Christopher. The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom.
Hearst, Michael. Unusual Creatures: A Mostly Accurate Account of Some of Earth’s Strangest Animals.
Hunt, Lynda. One for the Murphys.
Kelly, Lynne. Chained.
Key, Watt. Fourmile.
Korman, Gordon. Ungifted.
Kraatz, Jeramey. The Cloak Society.
Lacey, Josh. Island of Thieves.
Levine, Kristin. The Lions of Little Rock.
Lewis, J. Patrick, ed. National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry.
Lin, Grace. Starry River of the Sky. .
Messner, Kate. Capture the Flag.
Meyer, Marissa. Cinder.
Nielsen, Jennifer A. The False Prince.
Palacio, R.J. Wonder.
Pennypacker, Sara. Summer of the Gypsy Moths.
Poblocki, Dan. The Ghost of Graylock.
Preus, Margi. Shadow on the Mountain.
Ritter, John H. Fenway Fever.
Rodkey, Geoff. Deadweather and Sunrise.
Rusch, Elizabeth. The Mighty Mars Rovers: the Incredible Adventures of Spirit and Opportunity.
Schlitz, Laura Amy. Splendors and Glooms.
Sheinkin, Steve. Bomb: The Race to Build -- and Steal -- the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon.
Stead, Rebecca. Liar & Spy.
TenNapel, Doug. Cardboard.
Thomson, Jamie. Dark Lord: The Early Years.
Voorhoeve, Anne C. My Family for the War.

The Tripods Trilogy

Long before The Hunger Games, Divergent by Veronica Roth, and even The Giver by Lois Lowry, there was The Tripods Trilogy. Written by British author John Christopher (1922-2012) during the middle 1960’s, the series was a gateway for children into science fiction. The titles in the series are: The White Mountains, City of Gold and Lead, and Pool of Fire.

In the series, Christopher depicts a world, low-tech and almost medieval in nature, suffering under the control of aliens who can only survive Earth's inimical atmosphere by moving around in deadly tripodal machines. In this world, children, at age 14, are fitted with a mind-controlling cap that keeps them, and all the adults, docile.  Weeks before he is to be capped, Will Parker and his cousin Luke secretly run away to join a band of uncapped people far off in the Alps. The book follows Will and a group of uncapped adolescents as they bravely confront the menace of the Tripods. In the end, the results they achieve are not entirely what they expected.

I do recommend this series to students who like the dystopian genre.  The writing is engaging, and the story has a depth not often found in newer titles. The only disappointing aspect of this series is the absence of strong female characters. It is all about boys coming to the rescue. There is no Katnis Everdeen at their side. Yet, I believe the quality of writing and the fast-paced adventure makes these worth reading.  

P.S. I hear this series is being made into a movie.

Stickman Odyssey by Christopher Ford

What is the hottest graphic novel right now at the Library?



Stickman Odyssey by Christopher Ford.  In this humorous take on Homer’s Odyssey, Zozimos, banished from his country by his evil stepmother, has many adventures as he prepares to return home to claim the throne that is rightfully his.

In book two, The Wrath of Zozimos, the exiled prince Zozimos, in his quest to reclaim the throne of Sticatha from his evil stepmother, has fought golems, matched wits with a sphinx, and overcome his own ineptitude to, well, stay alive. Now, with his homeland finally in sight, he and his band of misfits ready themselves for battle. Only it's not quite the fight they were expecting.

Draw with stick figures, this is part a heroic adventure and lowbrow humor is a mad romp through this classic tale. Kirkus Reviews says, Readers may feel as though they're flipping channels on a remote, and every channel is showing an action movie. Maybe, but here at the Library boys are sitting back and savoring every bit of the story.

Stickman Odyssey is perfect for those who have already devoured Percy Jackson and the Olympians series and Mary Pope Osborne’s Tales from the Odysse. For more mature readers, ages 14 and up, try Troy by Adele Geras. Told from the point of view of the women of Troy, this novel portrays the last weeks of the Trojan War, when women, sick of tending the wounded and men are tired of fighting, bored gods and goddesses find ways to stir things up.

Chapter books that are great read alouds

In 1948, Ruth Stiles Gannett, a recent graduate from Vassar College published My Father’s Dragon. It was an immediate success, winning a Newbery Honor Award in 1949. I often recommend this book to parents who want to move away from picture books to longer chapter books. My Father’s Dragon is perfect because the chapters are short, the story moves at a quick pace, and there are illustrations on almost every page. First in the trilogy, My Father’s Dragon is about a boy named Elmer who is determined to rescue a poor baby dragon who is being used by a group of lazy wild animals to ferry them across the river on Wild Island. The humorous, gently scary text and richly expressive illustrations are a perfect match.



In Elmer and the Dragon, book 2, Elmer and his flying dragon, on their way home, land on an unusual island and help some canaries uncover a buried treasure.

The adventure continues in book 3, The Dragons of Blueland. Once again, Elmer comes to the aid of his flying baby dragon when men discover its retreat and begin to hunt it.

This trilogy has continuously remained in print since its publication, for over 40 years. The illustrations were done by the author’s step-mother, Ruth Chrisman Gannett.

If your child(ren) enjoys My Father’s Dragon, you might then try:
The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden
Babe the Gallant Pig by Dick King-Smith
Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond
The Rescuers by Margery Sharp
The Story of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting

Steve Jenkins

In My First Day, husband and wife team Steve Jenkins and Robin Page explore what animals do on the first day they are born. For an newborn animal, the first twenty-four hours can be a challenge. Using torn and cut paper collage, each animal almost jumps off the page. On my first day, it was dark, and I was surrounded by a million other baby bats. But when my mother returned from catching insects, my cry and scent led her right to me.  Mexican Free-Tailed Bat.

The authors include brief scientific information for each entry at the end of this excellent science book.

Share other Steve Jenkins books with your children.

DO YOU ENJOY FANTASY BOOKS?

 As a child learning how to read, I found fantasy overwhelming because there was so much to keep track of. I poo pooed it for years until I stumbled upon the books of Tamora Piece. Each book in her long list of titles is replete with strong female characters and believable magical adventures. I still love Song of the lioness series where readers are introduced to Alanna, an eleven-year-old who aspires to be a knight even though she is a girl.

In January, Pierce won the American Library Association’s 2013 Margaret A Edwards Award for her contribution to quality writing for children. If you have a reader who is just starting to sample fantasy, introduce them to Tamora Pierce. They will thank you one day.