Orlev, Uri The Song of the Whales
Houghton Mifflin/Clarion/Graphia/Kingfisher 2010 108p 16.00
978-0-547-25752-5 ms Realistic Fiction E-BN
Mikha'el discovers that his paternal grandfather Raphael has a like soul. Happy in this new and blooming connection, he is able to join his grandfather in the old man’s dreams and share in many adventures and escapes. Beautifully and sensitively written, the lovely relationship between grandchild and grandfather is a lovely thing expressed in simple evocative language.
Uri Orlev’s young protagonist Michael has never been able to relate to children of his own age. He has been much more comfortable in the company of older adults in his New York City neighborhood. When his self-absorbed parents decide to immigrate to Israel, he is removed from his personal comfort zone and transplanted to a new world. Now known as Mikha'el, he discovers that his paternal grandfather Raphael has a similar soul. Happy with this new and blooming connection, he is able to join his grandfather in the old man’s dreams and share in many adventures and escapes. Mikha'el is always surprised when he awakens and discovers that the adventures are not real. As Raphael ages and becomes more infirm, he hints through the dream sequences that he will not always be there and his visions begin to prepare the boy for his final ending. Raphael bequeaths his special gift to the boy as his final benediction. Beautifully and sensitively written, the lovely relationship between grandchild and grandfather is a lovely thing expressed in simple evocative language. The writing is thoughtful, yet not overladen with sentimentality and will appeal to the reader on many different levels.
Highly recommended for middle school libraries. Ogintz, Susan
Showing posts with label family_dynamics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family_dynamics. Show all posts
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Grant, Vicki. Comeback
Grant, Vicki. Comeback
Orca 2010 132 9.95
978-1-55469-310-8 hs Realistic Fiction E-BN
Ria’s father disappears and is presumed dead when his small plane crashes. His swindles of friends and relatives money through his stock brokerage business leaves Ria in turmoil. She and her small brother run away with disastrous results. Grades 8+
Ria has a charmed life. Her family is wealthy, she has a great boyfriend, and she is a good student. Her mother insists on separating from her father and moves the kids to a small apartment. Ria continues to see her suave, easy talking father and hatches a plan to move herself and her small brother into her father’s new home. Before she can broach the move to her father, he takes a business trip, piloting his own small airplane. The news that his plane has crashed in a lake and he is presumed dead rattles Ria’s world. She can’t believe he is dead and is offended by those who come to express sympathy. As news of her father’s swindling money from his stock brokerage’s clients surfaces, Ria can’t face her friends or her boyfriend who turn against her because their families have lost all their life savings. To get away from it all, she takes her small brother and goes for a drive that continues late into the night and on into the next morning. With very little money, she makes poor choices and ends up in an abandoned summer camp. When her brother has an asthma attack, she realizes she is in need of help. When Ria’s dad calls (yes, he is still alive) her on her cell phone, she realizes he is both concerned and a criminal. Realistic dialogue and excellent character development accompany a fast-paced plot. Great for a hi/lo reader. For grades 8-12.
Strongly recommended, grades 8-12, especially for schools in the suburbs. A headline topic of investment brokers misusing client’s money. Realistic dialogue and a fast-paced plot tackles the fallout that affects the families of a corrupt stockbroker .. McNicol(3),Lois
Orca 2010 132 9.95
978-1-55469-310-8 hs Realistic Fiction E-BN
Ria’s father disappears and is presumed dead when his small plane crashes. His swindles of friends and relatives money through his stock brokerage business leaves Ria in turmoil. She and her small brother run away with disastrous results. Grades 8+
Ria has a charmed life. Her family is wealthy, she has a great boyfriend, and she is a good student. Her mother insists on separating from her father and moves the kids to a small apartment. Ria continues to see her suave, easy talking father and hatches a plan to move herself and her small brother into her father’s new home. Before she can broach the move to her father, he takes a business trip, piloting his own small airplane. The news that his plane has crashed in a lake and he is presumed dead rattles Ria’s world. She can’t believe he is dead and is offended by those who come to express sympathy. As news of her father’s swindling money from his stock brokerage’s clients surfaces, Ria can’t face her friends or her boyfriend who turn against her because their families have lost all their life savings. To get away from it all, she takes her small brother and goes for a drive that continues late into the night and on into the next morning. With very little money, she makes poor choices and ends up in an abandoned summer camp. When her brother has an asthma attack, she realizes she is in need of help. When Ria’s dad calls (yes, he is still alive) her on her cell phone, she realizes he is both concerned and a criminal. Realistic dialogue and excellent character development accompany a fast-paced plot. Great for a hi/lo reader. For grades 8-12.
Strongly recommended, grades 8-12, especially for schools in the suburbs. A headline topic of investment brokers misusing client’s money. Realistic dialogue and a fast-paced plot tackles the fallout that affects the families of a corrupt stockbroker .. McNicol(3),Lois
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Bell, Joanne. Juggling Fire.
Bell, Joanne. Juggling Fire.
Orca 2009 171p 12.95 978-1-55469-094-7 ms/hs
An Alaskan girl seeks answers to life’s questions. Where did her father go? Why didn’t he return? Can she survive the challenges of the Yukon to try to find her answers? Her quest is unforgettable. Orca Book Publishers has printed the perfect book. As if Orca Soundings had not already provided books for our readers that they cannot put down! In Juggling Fire, Joanne Bell combines poetry, a wonderful story about a relentless search for answers and a family with whom the reader is sure to connect. How she turns a dog named Brooks and a girl named Rachel into protagonists who are both resilient yet vulnerable is a tribute to the author’s writing ability. When Rachel’s father leaves the family due to some undiagnosed emotional disorder, or need to find himself, the family is devastated. However, both the mother and Rachel’s sister move on, mother with her carving and Rachel with her dog sledding and love of animals. Rachel is stuck. She simply cannot accept that her father disappeared, despite the challenges of surviving in the Alaskan wilderness. When she turns of age, she leaves home in search of her father, long accepted dead by authorities. Her adventures, which she endures and survives with her knowledge of life in the Yukon, make the story unforgettable. Using fairy tales, her hobby of juggling, the beauty of the Yukon and her concern for the injured Brooks who has been attacked by a grizzly, Rachel pulls herself together, finds her former home and ends up realizing that her father didn’t just leave them. He was going to come back to his family. Various theories as to his demise are cleverly woven in, yet that is not the focus of this book. Bell’s story is about a quest, and the quest includes a desire for answers, a desire for a new life and a desire for a young girl to find her niche. The descriptions of Alaska are poetic. The writing style is sublime. It is only when Rachel finds her real home and the answer to her quest that all is well again for her. Squaresky, Martha
Orca 2009 171p 12.95 978-1-55469-094-7 ms/hs
An Alaskan girl seeks answers to life’s questions. Where did her father go? Why didn’t he return? Can she survive the challenges of the Yukon to try to find her answers? Her quest is unforgettable. Orca Book Publishers has printed the perfect book. As if Orca Soundings had not already provided books for our readers that they cannot put down! In Juggling Fire, Joanne Bell combines poetry, a wonderful story about a relentless search for answers and a family with whom the reader is sure to connect. How she turns a dog named Brooks and a girl named Rachel into protagonists who are both resilient yet vulnerable is a tribute to the author’s writing ability. When Rachel’s father leaves the family due to some undiagnosed emotional disorder, or need to find himself, the family is devastated. However, both the mother and Rachel’s sister move on, mother with her carving and Rachel with her dog sledding and love of animals. Rachel is stuck. She simply cannot accept that her father disappeared, despite the challenges of surviving in the Alaskan wilderness. When she turns of age, she leaves home in search of her father, long accepted dead by authorities. Her adventures, which she endures and survives with her knowledge of life in the Yukon, make the story unforgettable. Using fairy tales, her hobby of juggling, the beauty of the Yukon and her concern for the injured Brooks who has been attacked by a grizzly, Rachel pulls herself together, finds her former home and ends up realizing that her father didn’t just leave them. He was going to come back to his family. Various theories as to his demise are cleverly woven in, yet that is not the focus of this book. Bell’s story is about a quest, and the quest includes a desire for answers, a desire for a new life and a desire for a young girl to find her niche. The descriptions of Alaska are poetic. The writing style is sublime. It is only when Rachel finds her real home and the answer to her quest that all is well again for her. Squaresky, Martha
Warman, Jessica. Breathless.
Warman, Jessica. Breathless.
Walker & Co 2009 311p 16.99 978-0-8027-9849-7 ms/hs Katie loves to swim, in fact it is the only thing that seems to bring calm and meaning into her turbulent home life. But under her popularity at her new boarding school and budding romance, lies a secret that Katie is afraid will tear her newly invented life apart. In this debut novel, Warman establishes herself as a welcome new voice in YA fiction. Katie has a lot on her plate, a schizophrenic older brother who is incarcerated in a prison for the criminally insane, parents who retreat intowork and alcoholism to deal with their problems. When she is sent to a boarding school, she retreats to the one thing that calls her otherwise chaotic life - swimming. She slowly begins to reinvent herself, only to have the secret she so desperately wants to keep (her brother) brought out into the open. Themes of friendship, love and self-worth are woven seemlessly into this coming-of-age, coming-to-grips story that will resonant with older middle school and high school readers. Nominated for 2010 Best Books for Young Adults. Conflict Naismith, Pat
Walker & Co 2009 311p 16.99 978-0-8027-9849-7 ms/hs Katie loves to swim, in fact it is the only thing that seems to bring calm and meaning into her turbulent home life. But under her popularity at her new boarding school and budding romance, lies a secret that Katie is afraid will tear her newly invented life apart. In this debut novel, Warman establishes herself as a welcome new voice in YA fiction. Katie has a lot on her plate, a schizophrenic older brother who is incarcerated in a prison for the criminally insane, parents who retreat intowork and alcoholism to deal with their problems. When she is sent to a boarding school, she retreats to the one thing that calls her otherwise chaotic life - swimming. She slowly begins to reinvent herself, only to have the secret she so desperately wants to keep (her brother) brought out into the open. Themes of friendship, love and self-worth are woven seemlessly into this coming-of-age, coming-to-grips story that will resonant with older middle school and high school readers. Nominated for 2010 Best Books for Young Adults. Conflict Naismith, Pat
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