The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis

So I begin my journey to Narnia. I remember an aunt giving me a copy of The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe for Christmas one year. As a kid I was very reluctant to reading assignments both from teachers and well meaning aunts. I have now become interested in the Chronicles of Narnia and the first book of the series has sustained my curiosity. Put simply, The Magician's Nephew details the birth of Narnia. Now that I know how Narnia was made and why the wardrobe is so significant, I'm ready to move on to The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe.

My favorite thing about this book is the realistic and captivating characterizations. Thought the book is decades old situations and reactions between the characters remain true and entertaining. Full disclosure, I listed to the book as read by Kenneth Branagh who really brought the text to life. If you are a fan of audio books, I would totally recommend Branagh's recording.

More from my literary world.....

I know that I'm officially on break from school because I've started giving myself projects. Not big projects (surprised?), but I'm ready to work again. The upcoming semester of school at UNT looks to be a bit lighter than my last (we shall see). For now I'm making it my goal to continue updating this blog with thoughts, feelings and reviews on the things that I'm reading.

I will continue to post on children's and young adult literature in the same format previously used. I'm also planning on posting quick blurbs on "grown-up" books that I read.

Since being on break I read David Sedaris' Chipmunk Seeks Squirrel. By in large I am an avid reader of Sedaris and a huge fan. However, this book was not my favorite. I will say that the final piece of the book "The Grieving Owl" was simply brilliant and I will surely read it again and again.

Did I mention that I'm a big fan of David Sedaris? I have a tradition of reading Holidays On Ice each year around Christmas. This year was no exception. After many reads this books still sheds new light on old holiday truths while remaining as entertaining as ever.

I've just cracked open my second P.D. James novel, An Unsuitable Job For A Woman. So far the book is extreamly well written with a pace that moves but still says "classic English mystery." The tone of the book is less dark than expected do to the pragmatic protagonist Cordelia Gray. More on An Unsuitable Job For A Woman after I finish it.

Up next, I'll be listening to The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis and reading Tokyo Vice by Jake Adelstein.

Module 15: The Grooming of Alice by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Summary
Alice and her friends struggle through the summer before their freshman year of high school. Instead of having the time of her life, we see our heroine faced with a new set of challenges. Alice’s father is on the verge of becoming engaged, her friend Elizabeth is struggling with an eating disorder while her friend Pamela is facing major issues at home. Alice must also learn to cope as a dear friend and mentor struggles with health issues. The Grooming of Alice spends a great deal of time focusing on body image and the idea of finding your own “normal” as Alice and Pamela contend with Elizabeth and her struggle with weight.

Impressions
Overall I think Naylor does a fantastic job addressing some tough issues teens face while refraining from becoming moralistic or preachy. The reader is allowed to process difficult issues like weight, sexuality, and relationships along with Alice. Though part of a series, Naylor creates relationships in this book in a way that makes a newcomer feel like a veteran. I quickly felt like I knew Alice, her friends and her family. As a general note, this book does express sexuality and the female anatomy in a very upfront and honest way. I would feel comfortable recommending this book to older middle schoolers (8th grade) and high school students. In my opinion, all references are made in decent taste that empowers and educates the reader.

Review: Booklist
In the "Story behind the Story" about the Alice books [BKL My 1 99], Naylor talks about how she keeps up with the contemporary teen scene. This twelfth book in the series is as relevant, candid, and touching as ever, both funny and reassuring about what it means to be "normal." It's the summer before high school. One of Alice's friends seems headed for anorexia, her older brother has a superficial girlfriend, and another friend, Pamela, is having trouble at home. When Pamela runs away and asks Alice to hide her overnight, Alice must decide if loyalty to her friend comes before being honest with her dad. Alice is a bit too wise and therapeutic (she says she wants to become a psychiatrist), but fans of the series will grab this for the poignant friendship, family, and dating stories, as well as for the facts about their bodies and insights into themselves. In a great climactic episode, the friends attend a "For Girls Only" seminar at the YMCA, where they learn about grooming and nutrition and also about male and female private parts. They gasp and giggle and cover their faces when the nurse tells them to go home and examine themselves with a hand mirror, but, of course, they do what she says, Then Alice tries to tell her father and brother about it.

Suggested Activities
I would include this book in a library display that focuses on series targeted toward older teen readers, primarily female. The display would include a sign that reads “Books Girls LUV.” I would also include the Twilight series and the Gossip Girl series among others.

Bibliography
Naylor, P.R. (2000). The Grooming of Alice. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers. ISBN: 0689826338.

Rochman, H. (2000, June). [Review for the book The Grooming of Alice by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor] Booklist, 96, 1880-1880.

Module 14: Make Lemonade by Virginia Euwer Wolff

Summary
In simple verse, Virginia Euwer Wolff tells the story of LaVaughn, a young teen charged with babysitting for a teen mother while maintaining good grades and potential for a good future. LaVaughn gets a job caring for Jolly’s children. Jolly, while fiercely attached to her children, is ill-equipped to care for them. With the help of LaVaughn and LaVaughn’s mother Jolly is able to get an education and learn to care for and support her children. During this process, LaVaughn gets an education into the real world, inspiring her to succeed in school to secure a place for herself in college.

Impressions
I was struck by the simple, yet powerful truth conveyed in this book. The characters in Make Lemonade are faced with enormous struggle that is understated in many cases. Wolff brings the facts to the reader and gives the reader an opportunity to meet half way with empathy and concern for the characters. LaVaughn is naive about Jolly’s challenges in many cases, which likely matches the naivety of the reader. The reader discovers the books’ heartbreaks and triumphs with LaVaughn. This book is written in verse, making it simple and void of fluff. Make Lemonade is a great read for older teens and adults. This book leaved the reader empowered and inspired to create change but person and in others.

Review: Publishers Weekly
Poetry is everywhere, as Wolff (The Mozart Season) proves by fashioning her novel with meltingly lyric blank verse in the voice of an inner-city 14-year-old. As LaVaughn tells it, "This word COLLEGE is in my house, / and you have to walk around it in the rooms / like furniture." A paying job will be her ticket out of the housing projects, so she agrees to baby-sit the two children of unwed Jolly, 17, in an apartment so wretched "even the roaches are driven up the wall." Jolly is fired from her factory job and her already dire situation gets worse. Through her "Steam" (aka self-esteem) class, LaVaughn decides that it isn't honorable to use Jolly's money to prevent herself becoming like Jolly, so she watches the kids for free while Jolly looks for work. But there are few opportunities for a nearly illiterate dropout, and LaVaughn sees that her unpaid baby-sitting is a form of welfare. Heeding her mother, LaVaughn decides that the older girl has to "take hold." She prods Jolly to go back to school, where the skills she learns not only change her life but save that of her baby. Radiant with hope, this keenly observed and poignant novel is a stellar addition to YA literature.

Suggested Activities
I would use Make Lemonade as resource for child development students, teen mothers and crisis center volunteers. While no book or person can predict each challenge a care giver or volunteer might encounter, this book opens up the realm of possibilities for the uninformed while still creating a sense of hope.

Bibliography
Wolff, V.E. (1993) Make Lemonade. New York: H. Holt. ISBN: 080502228.

[Review of the book Make Lemonade by Virginia Euwer Wolff]. Publishers Weekly, 240(22), 56-56.

Module 13: Babymouse: Our Hero by Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm

Summary
In this installation of the Babymouse graphic novel series, we see Babymouse face one of her greatest fears: playing dodge ball. The book gives us context for Babymouse’s fear of dodge ball as we see her previous exploits in the game. We are also given a portrait of her ultra intimidating dodge ball competitor, a bully cat. Babymouse faces her fears with the help of her friend Wilson. In the end Babymouse not only plays dodge ball, but is the hero of the game.

Impressions
Babymouse: Our Hero was the third graphic novel I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. After training my eyes and brain on how to read graphic novels with the previous two that I read, I was prepared to fully enjoy this book. Babymouse is a character that I think a lot of young readers can identify with. Babymouse is admittedly far from perfect, her every flaw shows. She likes to sleep late, misses the bus, and forgets her gym shoes— the list goes on. I like that this character, flaws and all, is able to prevail with a bit of courage and help from her best friend. This book perfectly illustrates how to show kids that you don’t have to be perfect to do something right or to do something well. Beyond a well told story, the illustrations in this book are really fun and entertaining. Like a well illustrated traditional picture book, the panels in this graphic novel give us further insight into the story beyond what is offered by the text. The illustrator draws your eye to key points of the illustration by highlighting them in pink against an otherwise black and white picture. This is a fun book that offers a great story accompanied by exciting illustrations, its sure to appeal to many young readers.

Review: Booklist
Our Hero, the first of two books in an energetic comics series created by a brother-sister team (Jennifer's Our Only May Amelia was a Newbery Honor Book), introduces Babymouse, a young rodent possessed of an admirably gender-bending array of interests and plagued by typical school traumas. The main confrontation takes place on the harrowing battlefield known as the dodge-ball court, the site of an earlier trauma for Babymouse. At the end of a furious match, arrogant class idol Felicia Furrypaws (a cat, of course) gets a satisfying comeuppance and Babymouse faces her fears. In Queen of the World, Babymouse, the wise-cracking rodent stand-in for your average, adventure-seeking nine-year-old, strives to capture Felicia's goodwill, finally achieving her end at the expense of Wilson Weasel, truest of friends. But, wouldn't you know it, Felicia's world has little to offer a smart, fun-loving mouse, after all.

The Holms spruce up some well-trod ground with breathless pacing and clever flights of Babymouse's imagination, and their manic, pink-toned illustrations of Babymouse and her cohorts vigorously reflect the internal life of any million-ideas-a-minute middle-school student

Suggested Activities
This book would be a great cross curricular material for a gym class and language arts class. At times students are sick or injured and cannot fully participate in gym. Having Babymouse: Our Hero on hand could be a great way to engage students in at least reading about dodge ball if they’re not able to participate in class.

Bibliography
Holm, J.L. & M. (2005) Babymouse: Our Hero. New York: Random House. ISBN: 0375832300.

Karp, J. (2005, December) [Review for the book Babymouse: Our Hero by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm]. Booklist, 102(7), 48-48.

Module 12: The Road to Oz: Twists, Turns, Bumps, and Triumphs in the Life of L. Frank Baum by Kathleen Krull, Illustrated by Kevin Hawkes

Summary
The Road to Oz follows the life of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz author L. Frank Baum. Baum is born into a wealthy family, but struggles to find his place in life. To support his wife and four children Baum tries acting, sales and eventually begins to work in the newspaper industry. As Baum raised his children, he became known for inventing compelling stories for them. He eventually decides to turn his passion for storytelling into a book for children. He writes The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the bestselling children’s book.

Impressions
As I was reading this book I knew Baum would eventually write The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Still, Kathleen Krull manages to create a wonderful sense of suspense. I kept thinking, “Will he get his life together so he can write the book already?” I think that beloved authors like Baum can be immortalized because of their works. This book shows his humanity as he struggles to find a vocation and support his family. Many artistic and literary greats are charged with a long road to success. This book uses Baum to illustrate the merits in continuously striving to do something you love. At the same time Krull shows the reader how Baum’s struggle affected his wife and family. Kevin Hawkes’s use of acrylic paint creates a vibrant picture that captures the Victorian setting beautifully. The characters on each page have life and motion which helped to keep me engaged in the story. The Road to Oz is a great read for anyone who loves The Wonderful Wizard of Oz or the film it inspired, The Wizard of Oz.

Review: Library Media Connection
Once upon a time, there was no Dorothy from Kansas and her little dog, Toto. There was no tornado that whirled them to a magic world named Oz--Someone had to make it all up.’ Author Kathleen Krull skillfully tells young readers precisely how an interesting man named Frank L. Baum did so. Through vivid anecdotes and strong research, Baum comes to life as not only the author of these beloved stories, but also as a human, who failed time and time again in a variety of pursuits. Persistence and heart are characteristics of Baum that shine through thanks to Krull. Kevin Hawkes’s skillful illustrations add much to the text, making this biography a delicious visual feast.

Review: Kirkus Review
With customary vivacity and a fine sense of irony, Krull portrays her subject as a genial family man who suffered reverse after reverse thanks to a bad combination of deep-seated optimism and zero business sense--but pulled through when his love of storytelling and sense of audience at last led to a novel that instantly became (she notes) the Harry Potter of its day. She does mention Baum's anti-American Indian screeds, but in general tells a brisk, admiring tale that mirrors the tone of his talespinning--aptly illustrated by Hawkes's scenes of a frail, dapper looking gent, generally sporting a smile beneath a bushy mustache and gazing abstractedly into the distance. An admirable companion to Krull's Boy on Fairfield Street: How Ted Geisel Grew Up To Become Dr. Seuss (2004), this profile not only provides a similarly illuminating peek beneath the authorial curtain, but leaves readers understanding just how groundbreaking The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was, as an adventure story with both a female protagonist and no overwhelming Moral Lesson.

Suggested Activities
I would include The Road to Oz in an Oz reading list. After reading each selection on the list, readers would be rewarded with a ticket to a screening of The Wizard of Oz complete with candy and popcorn.

Bibliography
Krull, K. (2008) The Road to Oz: Twists, Turns, Bumps, and Triumphs in the Life of L. Frank Baum. New York: Alfred A. Knopf ISBN: 0375832165.

Coleman, J. (2008, November) [Review of the book The Road to Oz: Twists, Turns, Bumps, and Triumphs in the Life of L. Frank Baum by Kathleen Krull] Library Media Connection, 27(3), 83-84.

[Review of the book The Road to Oz: Twists, Turns, Bumps, and Triumphs in the Life of L. Frank Baum by Kathleen Krull] Kirkus Reviews, 76(15), 230-230.

Module 11: Baseball Saved Us by Ken Mochizuki, Illustrated by Dom Lee

Summary
Baseball Saved Us tells the story of a Japanese boy living in an internment camp during World War II. In an effort to liven up the bitter experience of the camp, the boy’s father initiates the creation of a baseball field where adults and children can engage in baseball games. Men, women and children across the camp do their bit to make the baseball field. In a crucial baseball game the boy makes the game winning hit. We see him return to his home at the end of the book. He tells of how he faces discrimination from neighbors and classmates, but also how baseball helps him to find acceptance.

Impressions
As a baseball lover, I was very excited to read Baseball Saved Us. This book is a fantastic example of non-fiction information being conveyed in a way that is interesting and accessible to the reader. The text is succinct, understated and easy to read. The illustrations not only show the story, they set the mood of the book. I think that this book is a must read for children interested in World War II. The Japanese internment camps are an under taught section in American History. This book is a great tool for introducing the topic.

Review: Horn Book Magazine
Mochizuki's moving story opens with a note telling readers about the internment camps the United States government established in 1942 to house, against their will, people of Japanese descent. The author's parents were sent to the Minidoka camp in Idaho; this story, told in the first person, is inspired by actual events. A young boy and his family are prisoners, living in crowded barracks in a dusty camp surrounded by a barbed-wire fence. His father, in response to the growing boredom and resulting bad humor of the camp's residents, decides to build a baseball field. Everyone in camp contributes, and soon bleachers, bases, and uniforms are ready. The narrator, teased back home for his lack of ability in the game, now has the opportunity to shine, since he is the same height as so many of the other Japanese-American boys. The normally impassive guard From Grandmas at Bat. C) 1993 by Emily Arnold McCully. in the tower gives him a grin and a thumbs-up sign when he hits his first home run. When he returns home, the boy again feels insecure: "Nobody on my team or the other team or even anybody in the crowd looked like me." The racist taunts of the crowd spur him on to another homer and acceptance by his teammates. The story effectively conveys the narrator's sense of isolation, his confusion about being a target of prejudice, and the importance of baseball in his life. Dom Lee's pictures, executed in a scratchboard and oil paint technique, are highly accomplished. At first glance they seem monotonous and depressing, since they are suffused with the brown dust that was ever-present in many of the internment camps, located in the middle of deserts. In fact, these somber scenes provide a telling contrast to the last few pages in which the sky, as well as the boy's world, brightens as he is welcomed to his team. A suitable introduction to Sheila Hamanaka's The Journey: Japanese Americans, Racism and Renewal(Orchard), which deals with the same subject for slightly older readers.

Suggested Activities
I would include Baseball Saved Us in a display of sports books with the aim of introducing the book to readers who enjoy reading about sports.

Bibliography
Mochizuki, K (1993). Baseball Saved Us. New York: Lee & Low books, Inc. ISBN: 1880000199.

Fader, E. (1993, August). [Review for the book Baseball Saved Us by Ken Mochizuki]. Horn Book Magazine, 69(4), 453-454.