Back to School Book Lists & Other Reading Recommendations

Augh. So my kid who devours Artemis Fowl books - 300, 400, 500 pages at a time - is now facing the rather dull-in-comparison back to school reading list. With considerably less enthusiasm.

I feel you, kid. And you too, parents.

Anyway, before we entered the land of Lois Lowry books and and other familiar titles on those back to school reading lists, I'll admit we spent too little time reading this summer. Making it exactly like the past 15 or so years in our house.

#Notproud

I have friends who eschewed the library's annual summer reading programs; instead, the family implemented its own (much more strenuous) competition. Last I heard mom was behind ... time to reassign chores, methinks!

How Did Summer Reading Go in Your House?

We started strong with an anti-bullying title and what I thought would be a great history book - The Boys Who Challenged Hitler. While the story was strong, I was disappointed in the telling. 

OK I'll admit I'm nit-picking, but come on, what's an editor for? The author did a great job with research and organization, but the book would have been worlds better if it had better transitions and did a better job incorporating some storytelling conventions. 

Picky complaints aside, I recommend it for tweens and teens interested in history. Amazing what a few sneaky kids with solid convictions can accomplish! And - spoiler alert - some of them paid dearly for their actions, spending more than two years in prison during the war. Like I said, it's a great story as well as an extremely interesting chapter in history that might not have been covered in your textbooks - it wasn't in mine! And, in spite of what I think was a sub-par delivery, it's worth a read. 

Busy! Busy! But Not Giving Up on Books

Between work, family time, sports, blah, blah, blah, and some just plain summertime goofing off, it's hard to squeeze in what I consider to be a healthy amount of reading time. I have a hammock that helps a lot. And in the car, I try to enforce at least as much reading time as screen time. 

How do you squeeze in reading time? Your suggestions are mighty welcome...especially as it's about time to hit those back-to-school books. *sigh*

Lois Lowry's Having a Ball

I'm embarrassed to admit I've just gotten around to  Lois Lowry's latest, The Birthday Ball, a delightful new middle grade title that's lighthearted but not easily dismissed. As always, Lowry's writing is just right for her audience. Something of a reverse-Cinderella tale, it was published in April by Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, The Birthday Ball will appeal very much to girls and not very much to boys, I'm afraid. Amazon offers an interesting Q&A with the author here.

The Birthday Ball had to wait until I finished the non-fiction NurtureShock, chock-full of important info about kids and their development.  http://what2readornot.blogspot.com/2010/05/welcome-shock-makes-great-teacher-gift.html

An obvious hint for hard-pressed shoppers: Lowry's latest would make an ideal gift for a tween girl's birthday.  And a timely tip for parents: NurtureShock makes a nice gift for teachers. 

Slim Book for Wide Audience

OK, now that my review of The Willoughbys has published in The Cleveland Plain Dealer, I'll dish: Lois Lowry's latest book is good. Really good.

Of course, it's not meant to be. It's meant to poke fun at everything that's just a tad too cut-and-dried about those old-fashioned classic tales. And for the most part, the book's characters are bad, bad people.

Mr. and Mrs. Willoughby, you see, don't like children. Especially their own. By the end of the first chapter, they've hatched a plan to get rid of the children (Frankly, it's not that good of a plan: packing up for an extended vacation and engaging a real estate agent to sell the house with the kids in it doesn't sound exactly foolproof to me. And that's part of the fun; it's a spoof, after all.)

For their part, the kids - 12-year-old Timothy, 10-year-old twins Barnaby A and Barnaby B, and poor little one-syllable Jane - aren't much better than their folks. In fact, before the 'rents have packed a suitcase, the little rug rats have decided they'd like to be orphans. And they have a plan, too...

From page one, The Willoughbys is a send-up of every "classic" convention you can probably remember - it's got your basic baby-left-on-the-doorstep, the gruff, grimy, very rich benefactor, and an extremely resourceful nanny.

Kids will enjoy the story, sure, but adults will catch many a joke that will escape the kids. More than a few young readers, I suspect, will miss the elaborate tongue-in-cheek near references to Baby Ruth (the candy bar) and many of the slyly borrowed conventions (from Mary Poppins, James and the Giant Peach, and other weighty but not-so-often-assigned reading).

Even so, the book will be a hit with middle school readers, and just about any fan of Lemony Snicket. I just hope some of their parents pick it up, too. The glossary alone is worth a read. Giggles are free, but unfortunately not nearly plentiful enough. This book packs a bunch of 'em. Enjoy.