Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien. Published 1971. Newbery Medal winner.

I may have read this when I was little, but I couldn't remember so I thought I would take a stab at it again. I find that I'm not into the animal books that much, so it took me a while to get into it, but around page 100 when Nicodemus starts to tell the story of the rats of NIMH I was hooked. While the beginning is full of details and great anthropomorphism of the animal characters, there is something about the tale of the rats that is so much more exciting.

After Mrs. Frisby's son gets pneumonia and can't be moved, she finds that winter is ending and they must move to their summer home before they are plowed under by the farmer. With the help of a crow and an owl, Mrs. Frisby is told to see the rats who will help her with her problem as long as she tells them her belated husband was Jonathon Frisby. She soon finds out the rats are more than you would expect and they tell her the tale of how they came to be hiding under the rosebush and how her husband was involved. Being much smarter than the average rats, they devise a plan to move her home so that she will not have to move her son and they won't be killed if they stay.

Once the rats are part of the picture there is a lot more action and it starts to feel almost like a spy book with them creeping about the laboratory and trying to find ways to escape and live. A Classic for a reason.

Interest level: Grades 3-6 Reading level: Grade 5
Genre: They say Fantasy, but I would think its more Action/Sci-Fi. The animals aren't really talking to humans and there are no magical elements.
First in series.

Comparable titles: Stuart Little, The Trumpet of the Swan, Wind in the Willows

Book Connections: Lab Animals, The Seasons, medicinal herbs, building your own society, the habits of rats and mice

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi. Published 1990.

I had not read any of Avi's work before at least to my knowledge, so I was happy to finally read one of his selections. I'm always intrigued by prolific writers who seem to cover a different variety of topics and styles.

What I found interesting about this book is what could have just been a swashbuckling, sea adventure story turned more into a tale about class, race and gender, but without necessarily having to knock you over the head with this information. It had a great opening paragraph, but it was a bit slow for me to get into at first. Once I understood the time period and the characters more, I was able to enjoy the adventure. I especially liked the ending because I understood more about her class and expectations from her family and it surprised me what path she chose in the end. I wish there could have been more of a glimpse of this in the beginning, but I suppose it worked better to leave the comparisons between the captain and her father for the end.

So plot: Charlotte Doyle is set to sail to America to meet up with her parents and siblings in Rhode Island. When she embarks on the ship, she finds that the other families that were to be her guardians have not made it for different reasons and the shipmates keep warning her not to take the voyage. With no other choice, Charlotte continues on board and finds that there is a mutinous plot on hand to overthrow the captain. Unfortunately for Charlotte, she's not sure who to trust. Captain Jaggery who matches her in manners and civil standing or Zachariah who claims to be her one true friend on the ship. When new information comes to light, Charlotte takes a stand and soon finds that she is not the well-mannered Miss Doyle she once thought she was.

Interest level: Grade 5-8 Reading level: Grade 5
Genre: Adventure, Historical Fiction

Comparable Titles: Dagger Quick, Treasure Island, Elijah of Buxton (not about sailing, but the voice and adventure seemed similar)

Book Connections: Learning about ships of the past, Laws of the Sea, Hurricanes, Court Trails, Gender Roles

The Goats

The Goats by Brock Cole. Published 1987.

I just read a post about this book still being a classic and full of suspense and surprises on another website, so I thought I would give it a try. Based on the super cheesy 80s cover that my copy has, I was surprised by this book, but not necessarily sure it it was a good surprise.

As a practical joke, a boy and a girl are left stranded on an island completely naked. Instead of waiting for their humiliation in the morning, they decide to swim to shore and disappear. This leads to their becoming closer through their trauma and causing worry both for the camp and the girl's mother. It's a survival tale of two kids on their own trying not to get discovered by the police or anyone else.

For the most part, that description matches with that on the book cover except for the survival bit. I was expecting more of them to haunt around the camp ground and watch as everyone worried over them. I thought it would be a more guilt-based book with them torturing these that tortured them with worry over their possible death by drowning. Instead it was an odd survival tale with extreme hints at sexualization and coming-of-age in strange ways. Also its a bit dated with the segregated camp for Black kids and how they hide out there with a little bit of fear and awe. I was surprised that the girl's period played such a large role in the story and that they kept hinting at the two kids being put together to possibly have sex. From the narration and the description of the kids, I expected them to be much younger and the sex stuff kinda threw me for a loop.

It was an intriguing read and I did wonder what was going to happen to them and I was satisfied with the ending, but it was also a very odd tale of survival.

Interest level: Grades 5-8 Reading level: Grade 4 (from content I would say Grade 6 or higher)
Genre: Coming-of-age, Survival, Realistic fiction

Comparable titles: Hatchet, Are you there God, It's me Margaret?

Book Connections: bullying, the reality of practical jokes, how to survive on your own, what to do in emergencies

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!

Gregor the Overlander

Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins. Published 2003.

With the release of the official Hunger Games trailer and the excitement that is bubbling over that, I had wanted to reread Hunger Games, but I thought it would be better to tackle something I hadn't read yet, so I picked up her first novel, Gregor the Overlander. With the same suspense and sense of action as the Hunger Games book, this title did not disappoint.

This book is much more fantastical and doesn't have any of the dystopian elements, but with the entrance into the strange Underland and the creation of the caste system of creatures and the quest that ensues, readers would be happy to give this one a try after reading all of Collin's other books.

Gregor and his baby sister Boots, fall into a grate in their laundry room and thanks to a rare air current, they follow through an Alice like Wonderland hole and make it safely to the ground, only to be captured by giant talking cockroaches, or crawlers. They are taken to Regalia, the city of the Humans in the Underland and presented with a quest as had been predicted hundreds of years ago. Gregor agrees to the quest only to save his father who had disappeared more than two year before and has been discovered to be a prisoner of the dread rats, also giant and talking. With the help of giant bats and spiders, the quest sets off into the Underland.

Very Alice and Wonderland but much darker with hints of a Fellowship of the Ring style quest.

Interest level: Grades 3-6 Reading level: Grade 6
Genre: Fantasy
First in a series.

Comparable titles: Alice in Wonderland, Lord of the Rings trilogy

Book Connections: Animals that live in the deep dark, air currents, Creating your own imagined city

Book Trailer:

Milkweed

Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli. Published 2003.

I really enjoy Spinelli's work so I was not disappointed by this book at all. It was a very interesting read and a very interesting perspective on the Holocaust.

This is a story told by a young boy who has no idea who he is or where he comes from. He is a gypsy and we can assume he is about 6 years old at the beginning of the story to account for his view of the world, his lack of knowledge about his life and his narration style. Because of this we see the Holocaust through a child's innocent perspective which makes it in some ways less scary but also even more so because we worry for the narrator about the trouble he will get into because he doesn't take anything seriously and doesn't understand the implications of his actions or of the actions of those around him.

His friend Uri takes him under his wing and gives him the name Misha Pilsudski as the boy believes his name to be "Stopthief." Misha believes the stories Uri tells about him and makes his life into whatever name is given him. As he grows he becomes part of the Milgrom family and lives with them in the Jewish ghetto, turning from a gypsy street rat to a Jewish son. As he weaves in and out of Warsaw stealing food, he witnesses different things and begins to grow and see the world for what it is, but only too late.

Younger students would have no trouble reading the language of the book, but the content would be hard to grasp. Definitely more fit for grades 7 and 8.

Interest level: YA
Genre: Historical Fiction

Comparable titles: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Noah Barleywater Runs Away, Number the Stars, One and Then

Book Connections: Holocaust history, Hannukah, Warsaw, World War II, Merry-go-rounds, Milkweed, baking bread, pickled herring and pickled eggs

The Tales of Beedle the Bard

The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling. Published 2007.

Well...the Harry Potter series has ended both in print and in film, so what next? Why, Tales of Beetle the Bard of course. I was Hermione Granger for Halloween this year and I wanted a copy of this book to carry around as a prop but did not get it in time and instead created my own version. What I like about this book, isn't just the tales themselves, which are surprisingly good folk and fairy tales from a wizard perspective, but that they are framed with notes from Dumbledore and Rowling. I think this book would be a great addition to a classroom or library to be used to teach kids about informational text. It uses an introduction and footnotes and Dumbledore writes about the tales like a Professor would be writing a thesis about fairy tales. It would hold the kids interest because of the Harry Potter reference but would also teach them how to read footnotes and how to analyze a tale for historical and societal implications.

Basically, the book is a collection five tales from the wizarding world of Harry Potter including the Tale of the Three Brothers that was included in the last of the Potter books. After each tale is commentary by Dumbledore and within is commentary are footnotes by himself and Rowling (obviously all of it is Rowling but play along). The commentary dissects what each tale meant in the wizarding lore and how the tales may have changed over the years as they were supposedly written in the 15th century.

Very creative and intelligent addition to the Potter world. I can imagine reading these fairy tales along side our own Grimms and Anderson.

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

Comparable titles: Harry Potter series, Harry Potter schoolbook set, Brothers Grimm

Book Connections: informational text, fairytale/folktale unit