Monthly Archives: July 2012

Savvy by Ingrid Law

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A delightful swim in the mind and family of Mibs Beaumont. The Beaumonts are a family of get special powers, their savvies, on their thirteenth birthdays and their story falls somewhere between a tall tale and a Cynthia Voight novel. A Wizard of Oz motif adds flavor and meaning without committing that literary sin of drawing a series of parallels and allowing the referenced work to do all the heavy lifting. And there certainly is heavy lifting as Savvy touches on first love, family loss, alienation, and overall the teenage odyssey to find one’s true self.

Although a wonderful book, its deft use of colloquial and idiomatic English for characterization will sadly be lost on all but the most fluent ELL readers. If you have the patience, save this gem until later in your studies, when you become familiar with regional differences in American English.

(Coming on Thursday: a review of the sequel, Scumble)

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Two Chicago friends take a summer road trip and end up in rural Tennessee, where one of the boys begins to recover from being dumped for the nineteenth time by a girl named Katherine by crafting a mathematical equation to determine the ending of all future relationships.  Romantic math, anagrams, hunting wild boar, and a suspect tomb: this book has everything necessary to make a nicely empathetic YA novel.  (Grade level: 9+.)

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love John Green – I am a proud nerdfighter, in fact – but his female characters fall a bit flat for me. This time, I began to wonder if that doesn’t have its advantages. For example, all characters are being interpreted through the eyes of Colin Singleton (whose name is a sly reference to the Green’s background reviewing conjoined twin stories), so how would such a young man with great intelligence but limited social skills see the young women around him? One theme of the book is the difference between memory and reality, after all. Colin spends much of the book attempting to turn his romantic history of failure into a mathematical equation – a flattening out of female characters if I ever did see one. That one typical complaint dealt with by claiming it is an asset, I can whole heartedly recommend this books. We need more authors like Green who can address teen romance in a way that will appeal to male readers, particularly while staring down the barrel of rampant adolescent awkwardness.

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In The Obstinate Pen, a pen refuses to write what the writer intends, instead producing some choice insults and urging the writers to action.  Of course, such obstinacy usually gets it ejected and on its way to another unsuspecting owner.  (Grade level 2+.)

The Obstinate Pen by Frank W. Dormer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Great read-aloud or read-alone that managed to get a most anti-romance second grader cheering along with the text, “Kiss her, banana head!” I guess that makes this the added material Peter Falk’s character needed in The Princess Bride. Although both text and illustration felt a bit flat, it wasn’t for any reason I could identify, and both are generally charming. Particularly for a pen that yells insults.

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We’ve just posted our first booklist: a list of 20 great wordless books!

Wordless books can be used as extended writing and conversation prompts with both English-learning and English-fluent students.  Furthermore, they can be enjoyed with family and friends in a child’s first language, and we believe it is important to seek out ways to support all of a student’s languages.

Our booklists will feature:

• A quick list with cover images
• A longer list with bibliographic information, links to the books’ Goodreads pages, and a brief description
• Notes for teachers and parents on how to incorporate the books into a student’s work.

After the death of her father, Gilda Joyce takes control of her life through “storytelling” – though some might bluntly call it lying.  Her imagination and drive earn her a trip to California for the summer where she meets a long-lost uncle, his daughter … and perhaps even a ghost.  (Grade level 6+.)

Gilda Joyce: Psychic Investigator by Jennifer Allison

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ah, the beloved Quirky, Notemaking Narrator, in the tradition of Anastasia Krupnik and Harriet the Spy. Perhaps my cooled affection is because I encountered Gilda as an adult, though I am still pretty quirky and I still take lots of notes… Regardless, Gilda Joyce is a lovely character, and I can see why several students have regarded her with such great affection, but some small something is missing for me. A hallmark of such characters is a sweetly desperate earnestness; Gilda Joyce certainly has that, but (and please take this with a grain of salt, since I don’t criticize authors for being different from their characters and I don’t actually claim to know anything about this author’s personality) perhaps Jennifer Allison could use a bit of earnestness herself?

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