Abbott, Tony. Summer Of Owen Todd.

Abbott, Tony.  Summer Of Owen Todd. Macmillan/Farrar Strauss  2017 217p  $17.99  ISBN 978-0-374-30550-5  elem/ms  Realistic Fiction VG-BN        

Owen and Sean have been best friends forever and are looking forward to the end of their sixth-grade year and a summer of freedom. But Sean’s mother hires a twenty-something-year-old EMT and church friend named Paul to be Sean’s baby-sitter for the summer because Sean is a diabetic. When Sean confides in Owen that Paul has been doing things to him that just don’t feel right and are sexual in nature, he makes Owen promise not to tell another soul.
    

This well-written novel describes the abuse of an adolescent by an adult. While the plot is unsettling and includes painful themes, it is handled in a sensitive and delicate manner. While the scenes are not at all graphic, they are disturbing.
    

Despite the difficult content of the novel, Tony Abbott has interwoven the themes of friendship, the beautiful Cape Cod setting, family, and friends throughout it. Additionally, the story is told from the perspective of the friend and not the victim, and (spoiler alert), a true friend doing the right thing as a true friend should. The pain and fear that Owen experiences are also convincingly described from the point of view of a child that age.
    

Responsibly, Abbott has also supplied resources for readers experiencing abuse or those who may know someone in that situation.  He advises adolescents with questions to seek advice from parents and counselors as well as other recommended resources. However, this information is provided in the author’s note, and maybe it would have been better if it had been included directly at the end of the story.

The novel is recommended for any upper-elementary or middle-school library. It describes the unfortunate abuse of a child in an empathetic manner, and is a story that demands discussion.

Summary: Owen and Sean have been best friends forever, and when Sean tells Owen, and no one else, what his baby-sitter is doing to him, he makes Owen promise not to tell anyone else.  The baby-sitter is a twenty-something-year-old hired by his mother because Sean is a diabetic.

Child abuse - Fiction                              --Virginia McGarvey

Anderson, M.T. Landscape With Invisible Hand.

Anderson, M.T. Landscape With Invisible Hand. Candlewick Press    2017 149p $16.99   ISBN 978-0-7636-8789-2  hs  Science Fiction  E     

Adam Costello has come up with a plan to survive the alien invasion.  The vuvv, an advanced, uber-capitalistic civilization that has landed on Earth, has allied itself with Earth’s wealthiest citizens, who live in luscious and luxurious sky homes. Meanwhile, back on the ground, technology and automation have created a planet where jobs are scarce, diseases run rampant, and the environment has been severely compromised. 

When Adam’s father runs away, his mother, unable to find work, rents part of their home to boarders, and thus begins the romance between teens Adam and Chloe.  The vuvv has a weakness for old-school American art, customs, and culture, including 1950’s TV. Adam and Chloe become reality TV stars by allowing the vuvv to watch their relationship 24/7,  a relationship based on '50’s-style customs and dating.  Adam and Chloe are a huge financial hit, but they grow to hate one another, and are sued for breach of contract and fraud. 

Adam’s next plan involves his art. He is extraordinarily talented, and he enters a contest that could bring him fame and fortune, or at least a bit of financial security.  But, while the vuvv adore his landscapes of a long-ago Earth, he prefers his works that realistically portray the actual hideousness of his world.  Should he be true to his art, or to the vuvv?

M. T. Anderson is the master of satire involving technology, automation, and those left behind. His humor is wry and his hero is the perfect foil for this cautionary tale, which will result in both laughter and reflection.   

Short science-fiction books are hard to come by. Yet, despite its brevity, this novel requires of the reader a certain level of sophistication and appreciation of satire in order to be enjoyed.      

Summary: In the future, an alien race, the vuvv, colonizes Earth, promising an end to drudgery and disease. Yet for Adam Costello and most humans, the reality brings sickness, joblessness, and poverty.        

Aliens-Fiction                                     --Lisa Teixeira

Bartok, Mira. Wonderling.

Bartok, Mira. Wonderling. Candlewick Press    2017 450p $21.99   ISBN 978-0-7636-9121-9    ms/hs     Fantasy  VG-BN      

Number 13 is a groundling, part human, part animal, and an inhabitant of Miss Carbunkle’s Home for Wayward and Misbegotten Creatures, an orphanage that houses those who have nowhere else to live. The groundlings are forced to work in the classroom learning only what suits Miss Carbunkle, and then in the factory, making widgets for hours.  It is not until the fox-like Number 13 saves a newcomer, a bird named Trinket, that he gets what he desperately lacks, a friend and a name of his own. Now known as Arthur, he and Trinket manage to escape into the wider world and search for Arthur’s true gift, that of family and song. This book is a combination of the travails of David Copperfield and a tale of magic. It is an engaging suspenseful, well-written fantasy with excellent characterizations and a well-paced plot.  This solidly written fantasy will hold the reader's attention from beginning to end.
 
This solidly written fantasy will hold the reader's attention from beginning to end.

Summary: Number 13 is a groundling, part human, part animal, and an inhabitant of Miss Carbunkle’s Home for Wayward and Misbegotten Creatures, an orphanage that houses those poor beings who have nowhere else to live.  This book is a combination of David Copperfield and a tale of magic.

Orphans-Fiction                                                                                             --Susan Ogintz

Berne, Emma Carlson. Face of Freedom: How the Photos of Frederick Douglass ...

Berne, Emma Carlson. Face of Freedom: How the Photos of Frederick Douglass ...    Capstone Publishers  2018  64p  $34.65    ISBN 978-0-7565-5617-4    ms   Nonfiction  Series: Captured History  E-BNS 

This is an excellent book for middle-school kids and older ones who are interested in the history of photography and the ways in which photography brings history alive. In the case of Frederick Douglass, one learns that he was the most photographed American of the 19th century ... more photographed than even President Lincoln! Douglass himself understood the important role that photography played in conveying the dignity and humanity of a person. Prior to the development of this technology, African Americans were only depicted in a caricatured fashion, in degrading cartoons and drawings. But with the advent of photography, a person’s full humanity could be easily conveyed in one picture. Douglass made sure that all his photographs were done to portray his dignity and intelligence, and he was very much aware of the role that they played in conveying his message of Black equality.

In addition to providing food for thought about the role of photography in the fight for abolition and equality, this title also teaches the reader a lot about the life and times of Douglass, and his strong personality and ambition as a leader.

The book is fairly easy to read but is appropriate for kids in grades 4 through high school, with wonderful photographs and plenty of white space, which is attractive to the eye. It includes a timeline, a good glossary, lists of additional resources, and an index.   Recommended for public collections and those serving kids from fourth grade through high school.

Summary: This is an excellent book for middle-school kids and older ones who are interested in the history of photography and the ways in which photography brings history alive. 

Slaves-Biography                                    --Carol L. Kennedy

Best, Cari. In the Country of Queens.

Best, Cari. In the Country of Queens. Macmillan/Farrar Strauss     2017 211p $16.99   ISBN 978-0-374-37052-7  elem/ms  Realistic Fiction  VG      

Eleven-year-old Shirley has never been able to speak up for herself. Not to her mother, described as being such a force that Shirley calls her Hurricane Anna, nor to her teacher, who has falsely accused her of plagiarism. One day, Shirley finds out that her father is not really “in absentia” but dead. Since she has always been shy and sensitive, and Anna has always been so controlling, she understands why she hasn’t been told the truth, and she vows to change. With the help of her friends, grandmother, cousin Phillie, and her storybook heroine Pippi Longstocking, she finds the courage to use her voice.

This is a well-written coming-of-age novel that will appeal to adolescents, especially those who experience shyness. It is the story of Shirley’s self-discovery and determination to make changes. The plot is fun and engaging, and readers will root for Shirley on her quest to change herself. The story is set in the 1960’s, and it accurately references the items, culture, and events of that time period.  This book is recommended for any elementary or middle-school library and will appeal to adolescents.  

Summary: Eleven-year-old Shirley has never spoken up for herself -- to her mother Hurricane Anna, to her teacher, or to anyone -- about her dreams, and she decides over the summer before junior high to find her voice.       

Coming of Age-Fiction                         --Virginia McGarvey