Boy Meets Boy

Boy Meets Boy by David Leviathan. Published 2005 by Alfred A. Knopf.

This is a sweet tale of budding high school romance but not with your usual cast of boy meets girl. As the title tells us, this is boy meets boy. How do you deal with a romance that is new? How do you learn to trust each other? How do you let go of a hurt past? These are all questions similar to anyone no matter what type of relationship you're in. This book, while realistic fiction, also seems to live in the author's version of the perfect world. I know I can't wait till a time when drag queens will also be respected football quarterbacks.

If you're looking for a tale of romance with friends helping out other friends, go not further than this title. Butterflies in the stomach, breakups, heartache, winning the love of the guy...it's all here.

Interest level: Grades 6-8
Genre: Romance, Realistic Fiction, LGBT

Question to the Readers: Have you ever been hurt in the past and not wanted to trust your friends or loved ones? How do you choose to trust again? Describe the feelings of having a crush.

Read-alikes: The Summer I Learned to Fly by Reinhardt, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

The Grand Plan to Fix Everything

The Grand Plan to Fix Everything by Uma Krishnaswami. Published 2011 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

In this book, Dini finds out that her family will be moving to a secluded mountain town in India for the next two years. The only thing that can get her through the drama of leaving behind her best friend Maddie is the idea that she may meet her favorite Bollywood movie star, Dolly Singh. While Dini is not adjusting well to her Indian life, a trail of coincidental events line up like  Hindi movie plot points to make sure that all the strange events come together in a wonderful, magical way.

This book reminded me of a Bollywood movie. At some points it was over the top and melodramatic while at other moments it was calm while humorous. The present tense narration bothered me, but for others it could sound like reading one long poem. The illustrations have a sweetness that matches the text and for those wanting a glimpse into Indian life and movie stars will enjoy this read immensely.

Intended reading level: Grades 2-4
Genre: Friendship, Realistic Fiction
First in series.

Questions to the Readers: What would you do if you could meet your favorite movie star? How would you feel if you had to move half way around the world from your best friend? Have you ever traveled anywhere that was very different from how you lived at home? What was different or the same?

Read-alikes: The Great Wall of Lucy Wu by Wendy Wan-Long Shang

Every Soul a Star

Every Soul a Star by Wendy Mass. Little, Brown and Company. Published 2008.

This book was another California Young Reader nominee from a few years back. This is meant for the older elementary, early middle school level as it is told from alternating perspectives from middle school students. Two girls and one boy converge at a camp in the middle of nowhere for the Full Eclipse happening an a few weeks. Each is there for different reasons and almost all of them are completely upset about what has been foisted upon them by their parents. Their mutual annoyance ties them together initially but soon they have a larger goal when they are given the chance to take part in a world-wide scientific observation. The choices they make and the actions they take are bound to change them and along the way they may get the experience the awesome power of a full solar eclipse.

I appreciated being able to see the story from the multiple perspectives and watch as each character was able to grow and change. One character I expected more growth from but I think it is more realistic of her character and age that she didn't completely change over the course of the novel. I would love to have an epilogue or short novella of their time back at the camp a year after the story ended to see where their lives take them after they depart from the camp.

Interest level: Grades 5-8
Genre: Realistic fiction, Friendship

Questions to the Readers: Where would you rather live- a big city or the MoonShadow camp, why? What character do you most see yourself in? How did this character change over the course of the novel?

Read-alikes: Criss Cross by Lynn Rae Perkins, The Center of Everything by Linda Urban

The Giant-Slayer

The Giant-Slayer by Iain Lawrence. Yearling. Published 2009.

This book was nominated for the California Young Reader Medal last year. It did not win, but I thought it was a fantastic book. In this story, a young girl lives in the midst of the polio scare of the 1950s. She is warned to stay out of water and not to play with other children. But when her best friend catches polio after they both play in a creek, Laurie feels so bad that she breaks her father's rules and goes to visit Dickie in the iron lung wing of the polio ward. Laurie finds that the only gift she can bring the three children in iron lungs is the gift of story and begins to tell the tale of Jimmy the Giant Slayer. Sooner than later, the children begin to find that her story mirrors things in real life that she couldn't possibly know and when things turn to the worst, each child must take up part of the telling.

The writing in this novel is so descriptive. I felt like I was in the middle of the story whether it was in the hospital or in the fantasy world of Laurie's telling. Each character was varied and had their own motivations and worries. I highly recommend this read.

Intended reading level: Grades 5-8
Genre: Historical Fiction, Fantasy

Question to the Readers: How would you feel if you ended up in bed sick for longer than a week? What would you do if you couldn't move any of your limbs? How would you have ended the story of Jimmy and Colosso?

Read-alikes: Wonder by R.J. Palacio, Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick, Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio by Peg Kehret (non-fiction)

Wonder

Wonder by R.J. Palacio. Alfred A. Knopf. Published 2012.

This book was much talked about last year and for good reason. It is not the usual coming-of-age novel where a student starts his first day of school at a new school dealing with bullies and pressing middle school matters. That stuff is there, but this character is very different than any characters before. August, or Auggie, has a rare genetic disorder that has made his face look like that of a B-Movie monster. He has been home schooled his whole life due to continued illness, but his parents have decided that it is time for him to go to a real school at the start of middle school. This time period would be hard enough for anyone, but it is especially hard for Auggie as he has to deal with the reactions of all the students around him while trying to decide who he is as a person as well.

The author uses multiple perspectives to tell this story. This opens up the book to see the reactions of everyone around Auggie and letting us understand how they really feel and how actions and thoughts can actually be two different things. This was a great story for learning about being in the shoes of other people and how to accept people for who they are and not how they look.

Intended reading level: Grades 4-8
Genre: Realistic Fiction, School fiction

Questions to the Readers: Have you ever felt like an outsider? If so, how did that make you feel? In what ways has Auggie always stayed true to himself? How has he changed over the course of the novel?

Read-alikes: The Misfits by James Howe, The Giant-Slayer by Iain Lawrence

The Tiger Rising

The Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo. Candlewick Press. Published 2001.

As with many of DiCamillo's books, this story is about children coping with major turmoil in their life and finding friendship and peace over the course of the novel. Because of this, there is the sweet melancholy that is present in her others books as well. And like the mouse, elephant and dog that have precedence elsewhere, this novel has a tiger taking main stage.
The premise is that a boy working with his father at a hotel in the South finds a tiger locked in a cage in the woods. After befriending the new girl in town, whether he wanted to or not, he shares the tiger that he's found and her reaction changes the course of their lives.

Intended reading level: Grades 3-5
Genre: Realistic Fiction

Question to the Readers: If you found a tiger in your backyard, what would you do about it? Do you think Rob made the right choice? Why or why not?

Read-alikes: The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate, Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo

Tib and Tumtum: Welcome to the Tribe

Tib and Tumtum: Welcome to the Tribe by Grimaldi and Bannister. NetGalley. Graphic Universe.

This graphic novel for early elementary students was a gem. The cartoon drawings with the over-sized heads and simplistic features works well for this age level and the makes the reader feel open to the tale of a prehistoric boy and the dinosaur that he finds. Because of the nature of the story I was reminded of Calvin and Hobbes. We have a young boy with a ferocious beast as his best friend yet the beast does him, nor anyone else, any harm. The book itself, while it tells a tale in compilation, seems to be a series of separate comics with a punch line at the end of each page. While Calvin and Hobbes is meant for older readers, often addressing content that is designed for mature readers, Tib and Tumtum is meant for the kids it is geared for. The humor is spot on and I believe kids will eat it up with its dinosaur theme and the feelings of isolation and being bullied the main character Tib deals with.

The story is that a young caveboy is often ostracized for the large birthmark on his face. The other children taunt him and don't accept him into their group. Tib comes across a dinosaur who he discovers won't hurt him, yet no one believes he's found a dinosaur as they are believed to be extinct already. Telling tall tales runs in the family so everyone believes Tib is making it up. Because of this, the dinosaur is seen as Tib's imaginary friend. The rest of the story is Tib trying to convince those around him that there is a dinosaur and the consequences in having a dino friend as part of the tribe.

Interest level- Grades 1-3
First in series.

Question to the readers: What animal would you want to discover and keep as your personal friend? Do you think that kids will accept Tib into their group once they discover Tumtum?

Read-alikes: Calvin and Hobbes, Zita the Spacegirl

Wish

Wish by Beth Bracken and Kay Fraser. Published by Capstone Young Readers. NetGalley.

I don't know how I feel about this title. The writing fit the age group and I can foresee this being a good transition novel for the girls who are growing out of Fairy Realm but aren't quite old enough for Twilight. This is exactly the publishers and authors intention in this title as well. But this is an odd sweet spot. The older readers won't want to feel like they're reading a book for young kids and the young kids won't read it if it seem too dark or makes them feel uncomfortable. On that end, I think its a better read for the younger kids. It's the pictures that throw me off more than anything. While they are ethereal and dark in the right ways for a book about evil faeries, I feel there are too many of them and they are almost too realistic or dark at parts for the younger readers. What I would love to do is test this title out with some of my third and fourth graders? For the writing itself, I thought it overused flashback or retrospection and didn't stay in the action long enough or expand moments where it could have. Again, I think this was because of the strive to hit a certain reading level. On the other hand, it was very poetic and carried a sadness to it that lent itself well to the themes and the strange magical world.

In this story, two girls are best friends but over a confrontation with a boy, Soli accidentally wishes Lucy away to the faerieground where she is held prisoner by Queen Calandra. Only Soli can enter this world to try to bring Lucy back and discover mysteries about both girls' lives while she's at it.

Questions to Readers: Has a friend ever done anything to you that made you just want to wish them away? What lines should friends never cross?

Read-alikes: the Emily Windsnap books.

An Abundance of Katherines

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green. Published 2006b by Speak.

I've already sung my praises for John Green and I'm sticking to it, but at a certain point with so much expectation, not everything can live up to such a high standard. That is a horrible way to start this review, as this book had nothing wrong with it and kept to the Green oeuvre, yet had I read it first or second I may have enjoyed it more than I did reading it third. The characters are quirky and realistic. They are flawed yet grow in just the right way over the course of the novel--not so much to be absurd. There is humor and footnotes of interesting information. All this and more, yet something didn't speak to me the way Fault in Our Stars and Paper Towns did. Maybe it was the way the main character is slightly detached from reality, living in his own prodigy brain or maybe I just needed a break from this sort of teen, finding yourself novel, but it took me longer than usual to get through this one.

For plot summary: Colin Singleton is dumped by his 19th Katherine when his best friend Hassan convinces him that a road trip is the only thing that will cure him. They don't make it far when they decide to pull over and see Arch Duke Ferdinand's suppose burial place outside Gutshot, Tennessee. After meeting Lindsay, who doesn't match up with first impressions, they are asked to stay and work for her mother for $500 a week. The boys stay and Colin uses his extra time to come up with a theorem to predict future relationships based on the beginning and end of each relationship with a Katherine. If he succeeds, he will prove that he was not just a prodigy, but in fact, a genius.

Intended reading level: YA (HS)

Questions to the readers: Would you rather be the dumper or the dumpee? Why or why not? What does it mean to truly be yourself? Do you ever feel your in a situation where you are not acting like your genuine self? How do you know the difference?

Read-alikes: See other John Green titles. Perks of Being a Wallflower.

Genie Wishes

Genie Wishes by Elisabeth Dahl. ARC. Published April 2013  by Amulet Books.

I really enjoyed this book. It was perfectly realistic in all the right ways. It didn't try to be over the top to get laughs or deal with issues that were too heavy. It captured what it was like to be at the edge of adolescence exactly.

The story takes place at the end of the summer right before school starts with the impetus of a new girl, Blair, who starts to put a wedge between the main character, Genie, and her best friend, Sarah. The drama between the three builds slowly over the course of the book but in a way that is natural and true to how it would unfold in real life. The gem of this book, for me at least, was how realistic the school situations were and how the school was run. Its the first school-based book I've read in a long time that actually had students doing things that I believe students actually do these days and without the emphasis being on a horrible teacher or a mean principal. The story is shaped by  Genie becoming the class blogger and writing posts about the fifth graders dreams, wishes and hopes over the course of the year. There would be such a great tie-in with student blogging using this book as a catalyst.

Intended reading level: Grades 3-5

Questions for the Readers:
Have you ever grown distant with a good friend? How did this make you feel? What changed between you and your friend? Do you think students in fifth grade should wear make-up? Why or why not? Convince the readers to your argument persuasively.

Read-alikes: 
Lauren Myracle's birthday series (Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen), Alice series by Naylor

Like Bug Juice on a Burger

Like Bug Juice on a Burger by Julie Sternber. ARC. Published April 2013 by Amulet.

I have to say this was not my favorite book. I don't understand when text is placed in verse when it's not actually poetry. Just let it read like regular prose please. The plot is that Eleanor is going to sleep away camp for the first time. At first she is excited but once she realizes she won't be in the familiarity of her own home with her parents, she begins to dread the experience. The rest of the book is her detailing what she doesn't like about camp but realizing that she will survive it. The book was short, probably because of the verse style writing. Once I felt like the character was reaching her growth potential and where the book was really going to take off, it ended. I don't feel like I really got to know any of the other characters and her learning process seemed to come on rather quickly. I understand it was meant to be a shorter read for younger students, but I wasn't a fan. That being said, I think this was just a personal preference and other readers might like it as the writing itself was done well. Could be good summer reading potential.

Intended reading level: Grades 1-3
Second book in a series.

Questions to the Readers: 
Have you ever been to summer camp before? If so, what was your experience like? If not, would you want to go? Why? Do you think Eleanor could have done anything different to enjoy her time there more? What was your favorite name for the goat?

Read-alikes: 
Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie, Liberty Porter, Ruby Lu

Liesl and Po

Liesl and Po by Lauren Oliver. Published 2011.

I really enjoyed this book. The writing was great and the illustrations complimented it without distracting or becoming a main focus. The writing was fresh and lovely and not extraneous and it moved the story along even when there wasn't huge plot points or cliffhangers. I've heard from some students that this is their all time favorite book and from others who just couldn't get into it, so it's a mixed bag when it comes to kid reviews.

Liesl is locked in an attic room after the mysterious death of her father, when two fuzzy shapes appear in her room and decide to help her escape and bring her father's ashes to her old home. The fuzzy shapes are neither boy nor girl nor dog nor cat but some how a blur of both, but they are certainly ghosts from the Other Side.
Meanwhile, Will is an orphan who works for an alchemists who has been working on the greatest magic in the world to give to the Lady Premiere. When Will accidentally confuses the boxes with Leisel's father's ashes and the magic, the two kids find themselves working together as runaways. Many of the characters collide and their fates intertwine, which could seem too easily wrapped up, but I liked it and thought it was more whimsical.

Interest level: Grade 3-6 Reading Level: Grade 6
Genre: Fantasy, friendship

Comparable Titles: Magic Thief

Book Connections: grief, alchemy, ghost stories

The Cricket in Times Square

The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden. Published 1960. Newbery Honor Medal.

Reading this book was like experiencing deja vu. I knew I had read it when I was little but I couldn't remember anything more than what the cover suggests. As I read it this time, glimpses of memory would come back to me as if in a foggy dream, but nothing specific or jogging that made me go, "Yes, I remember this scene." I can understand how it has lasted this long. The book is easy to read, has good details, the friendship between the animals is genuine and there are enough bits of excitement spread throughout to carry you along. Sai Fong and friend are stereotyped, but not negatively, just dated.

Synopsis: A cricket ends up in a subway station in Times Square and is soon collected as a pet for the newstand owner's son, Mario. The cricket, Chester, befriends Tucker the Mouse and Harry the Cat in the train station. They discover that the cricket's beautiful musical ability can be translated to a human audience so that they can earn money for the poor Bellini family whose newstand isn't doing so well. At the heart of the book, its a tale of friendship and coming together.

Interest level: Grades 3-6 Reading level: Grade 5
Genre: Friendship, Fiction
First in series.

Comparable Titles: Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little

Book Connections: Orchestra and Opera, Crickets, Subways, Times Square, Making a newstand or business-math

Teashop Girls

Teashop Girls by Laura Schaefer. Published 2008.

I am obsessed with Afternoon Tea. It's my favorite thing in the world and my goal is to one day own a Vegan Teashop as having given up dairy it's dramatically effected my ability to enjoy scones and clotted cream. With the old tea advertisements, recipes and specific tea preparations, this book had me absorbed at first. Unfortunately, as the story ran on, I was less and less a fan of the characters or plot but read on for my love of tea.

Annie Green wants to work at her grandmother's tea shop that her and her friends grew up enjoying. She gets her wish but soon finds out that her grandmother is being evicted and business has extremely slowed down since the death of her grandfather a few years back. With the help of her friends and using her love of list making, Annie will attempt to save the Steeping Leaf for future Teashop Girls.

As I mentioned, the plot sizzled out for me. The writer tried to get all the tween girl things in their. Romantic interest, trouble with friends, school work and extracurriculars of life becoming more demanding, but it was all too much. Annie seems way older than her 13 years suggest, especially when they take on adult responsibilities of saving the teashop. I didn't really believe it was a young girl telling the story, but rather an adult author pretending what life would be like had she done these things when she was 13. Also, as much as I love tea and love that the book encouraged correct steeping and care instructions, the mention of tea in the book almost got didactic, and how can you get didactic about tea. Anyway, for girls who really love friendship and innocent romance books, this one may be up their alley, but it wasn't my favorite.

Interest level: Grades 5-8 Reading level: Grade 5
Genre: Friendship, realistic fiction
First in series.

Comparable titles: Sweet Treats and Secret Crushes

Book Connections: Tea of course!

Eleven

Eleven by Lauren Myracle. Published 2004.

After hearing about the award drama surrounding Myracle and learning about the newest in this series release, I decided I should read one of her books. Having grown up with all males and being a girl who tended to have only one good female friend, I found this book to be really interesting because I realized I never read chick lit when I was younger nor do I tend to gravitate towards it now. It was a good learning experience for me because while I couldn't relate to everything, some things will always be the same in female friendships no matter how many girls you are friends with over the years. Maybe I should have been reading these all along because I would have understood female relationships better.

The book starts on Winnie's eleventh birthday (which coinky-dink, is the second book I've read this semester where the main character shares a birthday with me. Yay March 11th!). From the get-go we see that Winnie is struggling with the dynamics of her friendships. Her best friend Amanda seems to be maturing faster than she is and because of this they are moving apart. It only becomes worse when a new girl moves to town and takes all of Amanda's attention away. Winnie must conform and feel distant or find a new friend in Dinah Devine.

The book showcases strong characters, keen observations about growing up and friendship and a strong story arch that moves from one birthday to the next.

Interest level: Grades 3-6 Reading level: Grade 4
Genre: friendship, coming-of-age
First in series (with a prequel)

Comparable titles: Sweet Treats and Secret Crushes

Book Connections: Birthday celebrations, snow days, Calendars, Chinese jump rope

Page by Paige

Page by Paige by Laura Lee Gulledge. Published 2011.

This is a graphic novel that has been getting a lot of buzz lately. I think it deserves it. The metaphors in the  artwork are great and the detail in them is amazing. The story is one that adolescents easily identify with, with concerns of identity, moving, friendships, first love and your purpose in life.

Paige Turner moves to Brooklyn with her parents in the middle of her high school years. She meets a new group of friends that has her pushing her artistic boundaries, but she is constantly questioning herself and wondering if she is good enough. Not only does she discover that she is good enough, but her artistic endeavors actually out-pace that of her friends causing some disturbance in the group. Along the way, she discovers who she is and what she loves and even falls in love with one of the members of her group.

Definitely to be suggested to kids who are struggling with their own identity and purpose, but I would reserve it for older readers as there is talk about relationships in a more candid mature manner.

Interest level: YA Reading level: YA
Genre: Graphic Novel, friendship, realistic fiction

Comparable titles: Friends with Boys, Anya's Ghost, Persepolis, Smile

Book Connections: Art journals, Drawing Telephone, Agents of Whimsy art assignments

Freak the Mighty

Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick. Published 1993.

This one is in the classics list and for good measure. Max is well over 6 feet tall and has the bulk to match but not the brains. His father is in prison for killing his mother and his grandparents, along with everyone else in town, can't help but notice how much he looks like his old man and wonder if he has anything else in common with Killer Kane. Max is pretty lonely and miserable until Kevin moves next door. A boy from his preschool class who hasn't grown any bigger since due to a rare genetic deformity that has his insides growing at a regular rate but his outsides don't match. Together, they pair up to become Freak the Mighty when Max plunks Kevin on his shoulders and finds Kevin lending him some of his well-developed smarts.

Quest after Quest, Max and Kevin, otherwise Freak the Mighty, become closer and closer friends and with the parole of Max's father, their courage and friendship is put to the test, but their true test in life is how they deal with Kevin's disorder.

Great book. Narration and pacing kept me moving along, but the characters really drew me in and the end was emotional and had me blubbering, but for all the right reasons. Great character story. Loved it.

Interest level: Grades 5-8 Reading level: Grade 5
Genre: realistic fiction, friendship

Comparable titles: Walk Two Moons, Maniac Magee, Stargirl

Book Connections: King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, Bionics, Personal Dictionaries, Computers, Study of Genetic Disorders

Book Trailer:

Leon and the Spitting Image

Leon and the Spitting Image by Allen Kurzwell. Published 2003.

This book caught my eye because we had two copies of it and one was destroyed so I had assumed it may have been read a lot at one point. I thought it would be about a witch from the cover design, but that wasn't necessarily the case.

In this book, Leon lives in a quirky hotel with his mother who is the manager. They live in Manhattan and he takes a taxi to school every day collecting countries that the taxi drivers are from. At the start of Fourth Grade, Leon and his friends meet Mrs. Hagmeyer, a strange teacher with a penchant for wearing all black, a cape with glass eyes that change every day and a sour look on her face. She teaches them all about the virtues of Medieval living including how to stitch and sew Animiles that seem to disappear from the classroom. When Leon's spitting image doll of Mrs. Hagmeyer gets covered in gooey teacher spit, he suddenly finds that he has the power to control his teacher's actions. You can only image the antics that will ensue.

This was an interesting book to me. The characters were well-rounded and quirky and the plot pacing wasn't boring or slow, but the actual inciting incident didn't really get started until more than half way through the book when Leon actually makes the doll. With the misleading nature of the cover, having some voodoo like magical element seemed to fit with a theme I was expecting but because it happened so late in the story I was beginning to let go of any magical elements for this story. From an adult perspective, I didn't see what was so horrible about the teacher's teaching style beyond her looks and her sour face. I could see that either this was leading to an end that explained why she did what she did, which was predictable to me, or an ending that chalked her up to being horrible, which would have been disappointing to me. Because it had the predicted ending, I was satisfied and would hope that students would find her antics more unbearable as they would be looking from their perspective and not the teacher's. Overall an okay read but I wouldn't rave about it.

Interest level: Grades 3-6 Reading level: Grade 5
Genre: Fantasy, Friendship

Comparable Titles: Reminded me of Harriet the Spy for some reason. Probably the setting and the school yard going-ons.

Book Connections: Medieval Times, sewing, 7 Deadly Sins, Dodgeball, Jump Rope, voodoo

The Popularity Papers

The Popularity Papers: Research for the Social Improvement and General Betterment of Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang by Amy Ignatow. Published 2010.

This book should be added to the list of Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Big Nate fan favorites. It's interesting because it takes the journal/drawing genre to a new level because the whole thing is one photo-copied layout of the author's actual work. It gives it the feel that real children actually created the thing. For one thing, this makes it feel slightly less real or as if a student actually created it, which takes away its credibility from an actual book stand point, but on the other hand it also makes it feel much more genuine. The one issue I had with this frame was that to differentiate the two girls creating it, the author uses cursive writing for Lydia's character and I think this will hinder some readers from being able to access the book if they can't read cursive yet. For the case of advanced reading 2nd graders who often go towards the diary style books because of their use of pictures, it makes it so they can't read it.

Now for the story...Lydia and Julie are best friends and have decided to observe and note all the of popular girl's doings so that they may become popular themselves. There are a number of mishaps on their journey, but what really gives the book its literary credibility is where their friendship fails in their striving to become popular. It cleverly addresses real issues with Middle School girls and shows that popularity isn't the number one goal when you have real friendship.

Interest level: Grades 3-6 Reading level: Grade 4
Genre: Friendship, Coming-of-age, Diary style
First in series

Comparable Titles: Big Nate, Dork Diaries, Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Book Connections: Musicals, Knitting, Observation Journals, Poster Making/Drawing, Norway

The Tail of Emily Windsnap

The Tail of Emily Windsnap by Liz Kessler. Published 2003.

Now that vampires, werewolves and zombies are losing their thrill, the new fad is the dark side of mermaids. This book, and the rest in the series, could benefit from this renewed attention, but it came before the new dark shift and is instead a relatively, light-hearted take on the mermaid world.

Emily Windsnap has never been swimming due to her mother's dire fear of water. While entering Middle School, she finally gets her wish to take a swim class and soon discovers that she is part mermaid when her legs freeze up and turn into a tail. She is afraid to be found out for the "freak" she is, but is happy to discover her long lost home of the sea. She soon makes a mermaid friend, Shona, who helps her discover the truth of her family and help her mom to remember where her father went and why.

A good choice for reluctant female readers who want something a step up from Beginning Chapter books, but may not be ready for heavier fare. A similar fantasy world is presented to that of the Harry Potter classics, but not as wonderfully stylized or epic.

Interest level: Grades 3-6 Reading level: Grade 4
Genre: fantasy, friendship
First in series.

Comparable titles: Harry Potter, Philippa Fisher series

Book connections: Mermaids, Beach Towns, Houseboats, Mythology of Neptune