Out in Left Field

Collins, Matt     Out in Left Field       

 Holiday House     2012  217p  $16.95

978-0-8234-2313-2       elm/ms      VG      Historical 

This is a sequel to When the Sergeant Came Marching Home.  It is a gentle, somewhat slow-moving story of farm life in rural Montana.  Donald loves baseball.  In the ninth inning of a game against the neighboring town, he misses a pop fly because he has been  hit in the forehead by the ball.  He is sure he will never live it down.  He sets his heart on archery, and is a failure.  Then he tries ice hockey, then skiing, but all with similar results.  Donald is a bit clumsy and accident prone, and each escapade presents a new disaster.  Finally Donald learns that it is possible to forgive yourself.

This is a quiet story with laugh-aloud sections about rural farm life in post-World War II America.  A good boy story for that boy who is quieter.  It is not as interesting or adventure-filled as When the Sergeant Came Marching Home.

VG    Joan Theal        Farm life, Sports, Boys

 

Freaky Fast Frankie Joe

Clifton, Lutricia       Freaky Fast Frankie Joe  

Holiday House     2012  248p 

$16.95      978-0-8234-2367-5       elm/ms    VG        Realistic fiction

Twelve-year-old Frankie Joe is sent to live with his father, whom he has never met, when his mother is sent to jail.  He is forced to leave his trailer home in Texas and travel halfway across the country to move in with his father, stepmother, and four half-brothers in Plainville, Illinois.  Frankie Joe is miserable as he tries to adjust to life with his new family.  All he can think about is moving back to Texas with his mom and old friends.  He decides to run away and ride his old bike back to Texas.  In order to raise the necessary cash, Frankie Joe initiates a plan providing a delivery service, Freaky Fast Frankie Joe’s, for his rural neighbors in Plainville.  His business is successful, and he makes money and develops new friendships in the process.  But as Frankie Joe approaches his goal, he is faced with an unimaginable betrayal, and he must rely on his own resilience and his new family’s support to cope.

Lutricia Clifton conveys an emotional story in an effectively amusing and entertaining narrative.  With colorful descriptions, the author has created a story in which the reader empathizes with the wide range of feelings that Frankie Joe experiences.  Additionally, readers will find themselves rooting for him and appreciating his ability to move forward.  This book is a real page turner from start to finish.

VG    Virginia McGarvey       Boys, Family

 

Hahn, Mary Downing. Closed for the Season.

Hahn, Mary Downing. Closed for the Season.
Clarion see Houghton Mifflin 2009 182p 16.00 978-0-547-08451-0 elm/ms

Quirky neighbor Arthur befriends the new boy on the block and reveals to him that a murder took place in his new house. The unusual pair solves the mystery and becomes heroes of their school. Mary Downing Hahn knows how to tell a good mystery that will have children choosing her books! The eerie Magic Forest is an abandoned children's paradise, complete with children's favorite childhood characters like Old King Cole and Humpty-Dumpty. Now covered in eerie kudzu vines, the park houses a dark secret. Who stole the park's ticket sale money, and how did Myrtle Donaldson, the ticket lady, meet her demise? Could she really have stolen thousands of dollars and gone to her grave with the secret of where she stashed it? When Logan's family moves into the house where she was murdered, next-door neighbor and sleuth, Arthur, steps in. With more than typical childhood curiosity and lack of good manners, he is the teenager that nobody wants to befriend. He "adopts" Logan, and they set on an adventure that leads them to become young detectives. With excellent characterizations of the main characters as well as of the shady characters and a setting inside a closed amusement park, the book will capture the interest of a reluctant reader. When the boys solve the mystery, and the father of a popular student is implicated in the crime, we learn that sometimes children do pick friends who add a certain "je ne sais quoi" to their lives, despite what adults think! MS.

A Girls’ Guide to Conflict/A Guy’s Guide to Conflict.

Kavanaugh, Dorothy. A Girls’ Guide to Conflict/A Guy’s Guide to Conflict.
Enslow, 2008, 63p, $23.95, 978-0-7660-2852-4.
Flip-It-Over Guides to Teen Emotions (Enslow) Conflict management

A Girls’ Guide to Conflict /A Guy’s Guide to Conflict by Dorothy Kavanaugh is a flip book designed for both girls and guys. Each segment of the flip book has thirteen chapters devoted to one’s emotions, the brain, resolving conflicts, listening, relationships, bullies, cliques, parents, siblings, divorce, blended families, and feelings.

The author offers practical tips/advice organized in short chapters and geared toward middle school students, but high school schools would also be able to relate. The information is presented using great graphics, callouts, boxes and bulleted and numbered lists. Since the information is presented in an easy-fun-to-read fashion, the title would appeal to reluctant readers.

Since the author presents information for guys and girls in the same book, the book would appeal to everyone and provide readers with realistic answers and suggestions. The unfortunate part about a flip book occurs when you display the title and readers can view only one side. Although the cover suggests for readers to flip the book over, I wonder how many students will actually do that.

Includes color photographs, fact boxes, fun quizzes, checklists, interesting sidebars, chapter notes, a glossary of terms, books of further reading, Internet addresses, and an index. CFM