Stratton, Allan. Chanda’s Wars.
Harper Collins/Tempest, 2008, $18.99, 384p, 978-0-06-087264-9
Conflict-Fiction
Continuing the story of Chanda from the title Chanda’s Secrets, the African teen is now caring for her little brother and sister after her mother dies from AIDS in their fictional sub-Saharan country. She travels to her mother’s village to visit her family, including her grandparents and aunt who disavowed and turned away her mother when she was dying. Chanda doesn’t really want to go, but is going to make peace among the family. While she is there, her family arranges a marriage for this independent young woman. She flips out about this and runs off to the bush. Meanwhile, the rebels are invading the countryside, and kidnap her whole family, including her brother and sister. Her aunt is killed and her siblings are forced to become child soldiers. Chanda eventually teams up with the young man to whom she was to marry to rescue Soly and Iris, as well as his brother who was also kidnapped. The situations become frightening as they hunt the evil Mandiki and his rebel faction. Whereas Chanda’s Secrets focused on the problem of AIDS, this newer title focuses on the crisis of child soldiers when her siblings are kidnapped. Horrific situations make this a book best suited for grades 8 and above. Those who read the previous book will definitely want to read this title. TW
Showing posts with label Harper_Collins. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Harper_Collins. Show all posts
Friday, September 12, 2008
The Tide Knot (Ingo). by Helen Dunmore
Dunmore, Helen. The Tide Knot (Ingo).
Harper Collins, 2008, $17.89, 330p, 978-0-06-081856-2
Fantasy
In this sequel to Ingo, Sapphy and her family have moved from the Cornish cliffs to the seaside town of St. Pirans after the disappearance and supposed drowning of her father. Her brother Conor is trying to assimilate into the everyday world but Sapphy cannot forget that they both carry the blood of the Mer and are still drawn irresistibly to the underwater world of Ingo. She manages to evade her family and return to the sea, swimming with the Mer and visiting their world. The longer she spends in Ingo, the more difficult she finds it to return to the world of the Earth. She and Conor face the ever-increasing danger of going too deep into Ingo and breaking the balance between land and sea irrevocably. Her father returns briefly to warn her of an impending disaster, but she and Conor cannot avoid its path.
Dunmore convincingly tells of the difficult and dangerous choices that Sapphy and Conor must make and the repercussions that occur with each decision. Her lyrical writing style will engage the readers and make them anxious to read more about the undersea world of Ingo. While better read in sequence, this book can stand on its own. SO
Harper Collins, 2008, $17.89, 330p, 978-0-06-081856-2
Fantasy
In this sequel to Ingo, Sapphy and her family have moved from the Cornish cliffs to the seaside town of St. Pirans after the disappearance and supposed drowning of her father. Her brother Conor is trying to assimilate into the everyday world but Sapphy cannot forget that they both carry the blood of the Mer and are still drawn irresistibly to the underwater world of Ingo. She manages to evade her family and return to the sea, swimming with the Mer and visiting their world. The longer she spends in Ingo, the more difficult she finds it to return to the world of the Earth. She and Conor face the ever-increasing danger of going too deep into Ingo and breaking the balance between land and sea irrevocably. Her father returns briefly to warn her of an impending disaster, but she and Conor cannot avoid its path.
Dunmore convincingly tells of the difficult and dangerous choices that Sapphy and Conor must make and the repercussions that occur with each decision. Her lyrical writing style will engage the readers and make them anxious to read more about the undersea world of Ingo. While better read in sequence, this book can stand on its own. SO
Waiting for normal. by Leslie Conner
Connor, Leslie. Waiting for normal.
Harper Collins, 2008, $17.89, 290p, 978-0-06-089088-9
Realistic fiction
Addie and her mother are moved into a tiny trailer on a busy corner under the elevated train in Schenectady, NY. Addie quickly settles in and makes friends with neighbors who run a mini-market across the street. Soula, while usually upbeat, is fighting the effects of her chemotherapy. treatment Addie misses terribly her ex-step-father Dwight and her two younger half-sisters who were taken from her mother due to neglect. Addie is used to being very resourceful at keeping herself fed when mother stays away from the trailer for days at a time. Addie’s visits with Dwight on school vacations show her a vision of normal that eventually becomes too painful for Addie to bear. The situation comes to a head when the trailer burns down. There is a happy new beginning in store for Addie.
A very believable story of abandonment, neglect, and the search for love and “normal”. The issues of neglect and a dysfunctional parent are not sensationalized nor trivialized.
Excellent read for middle school. JT
Harper Collins, 2008, $17.89, 290p, 978-0-06-089088-9
Realistic fiction
Addie and her mother are moved into a tiny trailer on a busy corner under the elevated train in Schenectady, NY. Addie quickly settles in and makes friends with neighbors who run a mini-market across the street. Soula, while usually upbeat, is fighting the effects of her chemotherapy. treatment Addie misses terribly her ex-step-father Dwight and her two younger half-sisters who were taken from her mother due to neglect. Addie is used to being very resourceful at keeping herself fed when mother stays away from the trailer for days at a time. Addie’s visits with Dwight on school vacations show her a vision of normal that eventually becomes too painful for Addie to bear. The situation comes to a head when the trailer burns down. There is a happy new beginning in store for Addie.
A very believable story of abandonment, neglect, and the search for love and “normal”. The issues of neglect and a dysfunctional parent are not sensationalized nor trivialized.
Excellent read for middle school. JT
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Honeybee: Poems by Naomi Shihab Nye
Nye, Naomi Shihab. Honeybee: Poems.
Greenwillow see Harper Collins, 2008,164p, $17.89, 978-0-06-085390-7
Middle school
In eighty-two poems and short prose paragraphs, Naomi Shihab Nye examines the world in which we live. She touches on many of the essentials of that are necessary in living the “good” life. Her work ranges from a description of the beautiful dance of the honeybee and its importance to the world to sorrowful discussions about the art of war. Lovely in tone, she both illuminates the dichotomies that cause such divisions in our lives and calms the emotions. SO
Greenwillow see Harper Collins, 2008,164p, $17.89, 978-0-06-085390-7
Middle school
In eighty-two poems and short prose paragraphs, Naomi Shihab Nye examines the world in which we live. She touches on many of the essentials of that are necessary in living the “good” life. Her work ranges from a description of the beautiful dance of the honeybee and its importance to the world to sorrowful discussions about the art of war. Lovely in tone, she both illuminates the dichotomies that cause such divisions in our lives and calms the emotions. SO
Saturday, March 29, 2008
The Secret Life of Sparrow Delaney.
Harper, Suzanne. The Secret Life of Sparrow Delaney.
Greenwillow(Harper Collins), 2007. $17.89 364p 978-0-06-113159-2
In Lily Dale, New York, a community dedicated to the religion of Spiritualism, tenth-grader Sparrow Delaney, the youngest daughter in an eccentric family of psychics, agonizes over whether to reveal her special abilities to help a friend.
What do you do when you see spirits and you are the 7th daughter of a 7th daughter in a family of psychics and you live in a community of spiritualists? If you are 10th grader Sparrow, you deny your gift and go to a high school as far away from your home as possible. Sparrow’s eccentric family is puzzled by Sparrow’s apparent lack of spiritual gifts, and they continue to hope that she will show some sign of being as gifted as they are. Sparrow has done an admirable job hiding her gifts and her spirit guides, but unfortunately, she can’t hide those gifts from the ghost of Luke, a teenage boy whom she encounters in her new school. The persistent ghost just happens to be the brother of Jack, a boy who catches Sparrow’s interest, and he adamantly maintains that Luke is not dead. Luke needs Sparrow’s psychic gifts to help Jack come to terms with his disappearance and his death. Sparrow needs to claim her gift to accomplish it. She also comes to terms with her abilities when she realizes that it is a gift that can bring healing to others. Sparrow is an entertaining character, as are the spirit guides. The dialog is natural, and the plot moves at a good pace. Luke and Jack’s story have an ending similar to the movie Ghost, which gave the originality of the Sparrow’s world, is probably the only way to bring the story to a satisfying conclusion. Nonetheless, this is an entertaining well-written read, with both emotion and wit.
Recommended for collections looking for a lighthearted approach to the supernatural. RZ
Greenwillow(Harper Collins), 2007. $17.89 364p 978-0-06-113159-2
In Lily Dale, New York, a community dedicated to the religion of Spiritualism, tenth-grader Sparrow Delaney, the youngest daughter in an eccentric family of psychics, agonizes over whether to reveal her special abilities to help a friend.
What do you do when you see spirits and you are the 7th daughter of a 7th daughter in a family of psychics and you live in a community of spiritualists? If you are 10th grader Sparrow, you deny your gift and go to a high school as far away from your home as possible. Sparrow’s eccentric family is puzzled by Sparrow’s apparent lack of spiritual gifts, and they continue to hope that she will show some sign of being as gifted as they are. Sparrow has done an admirable job hiding her gifts and her spirit guides, but unfortunately, she can’t hide those gifts from the ghost of Luke, a teenage boy whom she encounters in her new school. The persistent ghost just happens to be the brother of Jack, a boy who catches Sparrow’s interest, and he adamantly maintains that Luke is not dead. Luke needs Sparrow’s psychic gifts to help Jack come to terms with his disappearance and his death. Sparrow needs to claim her gift to accomplish it. She also comes to terms with her abilities when she realizes that it is a gift that can bring healing to others. Sparrow is an entertaining character, as are the spirit guides. The dialog is natural, and the plot moves at a good pace. Luke and Jack’s story have an ending similar to the movie Ghost, which gave the originality of the Sparrow’s world, is probably the only way to bring the story to a satisfying conclusion. Nonetheless, this is an entertaining well-written read, with both emotion and wit.
Recommended for collections looking for a lighthearted approach to the supernatural. RZ
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