The Fledgling by Jane Langton

Have you ever wanted to fly?

Have you ever known that, if you could just find the right time or the right place or the right mindset, you could soar up over the trees, over your house, be and explore like a real true bird?

Georgie has. She's not only dreamed of being able to fly, she's done so. First on the back of the largest goose in the nearby flock - the Goose Prince - and then on her own, round and round in lazy circles above Walden Pond. Night after night, in the fresh crisp fall air, seeing the world like toys below her while the Goose Prince drifts right beside her, fingertip to wingtip.

It seems like a dream; cool calm nights of the most wondrous experiences with a noble and intelligent companion. But it's not a dream, Georgie knows. It's real, truly real and wonderful.

But not everyone can believe it. Her family worries about her, the neighbor lady - who is the only one who's ever seen Georgie fly - thinks she's either a saint or a moonchild. And creepy Mr. Preek is determined to protect Georgie from the 'giant wild attack bird' whether Georgie wants him to or not.

January Wild! Book Club

This was the very first meeting of our new book club for grades 2-6. We took the official vote to name the book club, and the winner was: Wild! Book Club. We're wild about books around here!

Sasha brought A Dog Named Christmas by Greg Kincaid. Sasha loves dogs and other wild animals, so this book was perfect for her.

Keean read The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman. He enjoyed the adventure after Jemmy and the prince ran away from the palace, and the fact that they learned to be friends.

Miss Jennie brought two books this month, a historical fiction and a fun adventure. The Robber and Me by Joseph Holub was originally written in German and was translated into English. It's a neat story about a boy who moves to a little German village, the friends he makes, and the robber who lives in the forest. Agent Boo by Alex de Campi and Edo Fuijkschot is a great book that's half comic book, half chapter book. The story moves in and out of the illustrations, bringing it to life!

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Melinda Sordino is a high school freshman with a terrible secret, no friends, and a newly acquired habit of remaining mute whenever possible. She is ostracized by her classmates for calling the police to break up a summer party. Gradually, readers will realize the events of that party are the catalyst that sent her spiraling out of control. Will she find her voice in time to save herself?

Anderson does an excellent job of writing realistic teen dialog and creating believable settings and scenarios for her characters to interact. Date rape, which is the trauma Melinda experiences, is thinly veiled and easily predicted; however, there is still interesting build-up to the final scene.

The conclusion of the book may be considered a bit too perfect for more mature readers but, overall, Speak navigates the inner mind of a traumatized teenager with impressive insight. Melinda's use of art to express herself, her parents' detached attitudes, and her utter sense of despair will have readers rooting for her.

The Robber and Me by Josef Holub; translated by Elizabeth D. Crawford

When Boniface woke up in a warm soft featherbed, he thought at first that he was in heaven. The last thing he knew, he'd been lost in the middle of the woods on a freezing-cold night. But if he was safe and warm now, with no memory of getting from the forest to this bed, did that mean that it had all been a dream? His father's death, the year with his aunt, the horrid cart-ride with the man who stank to high heaven? And what about the man Boniface thought he remembered - the one with the big black hat who picked him up and carried him out of the forest?

It hadn't been a dream - except maybe the man with the big black hat; no one is sure about that. But Boniface is indeed in the tiny village of Graab (in Germany, you understand), in the house of his uncle, the mayor, and life is about to be very interesting.

His uncle is strict, and the schoolmaster even more so. There's Christian Knapp, who is the son of the local robber and so is always in trouble, but he stands up for Boniface against a bully. And then there's Frederika, his uncle's maid, who is tall and stout and has a loud voice, but Boniface suspects she's actually a very kind person.

But when Boniface learns about several holdups in the area committed by a man in a big black hat, he has a difficult decision to make. Does he help the man who probably rescued him from the forest, and tell his uncle what he knows? Or does he keep quiet and not risk this new family he's found?

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

You know Scrooge and Marley, Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim, and the ghosts of Past, Present, and Future - but do you know them in their original tale?

A Christmas Carol was written over a century ago, in 1843, and it still lives on in plays and movies, with real live actors or with cartoon characters. But I think that its true spirit is in reading the original words as Charles Dickens wrote them. As beautiful as the movie banquets and balls are, it's hard to take in all the details of the wonder shown there, the way you can with the rich descriptions Dickens provides of tables piled high with treats or of the people who move in and out of Scrooge's life.

As author Karen Hesse writes in the foreword of the 1999 paperback edition, A Christmas Carol is "as funny and optimistic as it is frightening. It brims with the sounds, smells, and sights of nineteenth-century England; it crackles with characters as fresh and alive today as they were when Dickens first created them."

This Christmas season, curl up with a copy of A Christmas Carol and transport yourself into another time, another place... shiver with Scrooge in the presence of the ghosts, laugh with Mr. Fezziwig, and echo with Tiny Tim, "God bless us, every one."

Mostly Monty by Johanna Hurwitz

Monty has asthma. That means that sometimes it's hard for him to breathe, especially if there is a lot of dust or if there is a dog or a cat in the room. It also means that he can't go camping, or join Little League, or run around as much as the other kids in his neighborhood.

But there are a lot of things Monty can do. He's a terrific reader - he's only in first grade, but his teacher says he reads as well as a fourth grader. He's also very observant; he finds a lot of lost things at school and makes sure that they get to the Lost and Found lady. Now, that doesn't mean that Monty doesn't make mistakes sometimes, but at least he always tries his best - and has fun along the way!

For young readers who are looking for something adventuresome and challenging to read, Monty is here to lend a hand!

Agent Boo by Alex de Campi and Edo Fuijkschot

Move over, Kim Possible! There's a new agent in town!

Fourth-grader Boo is more surprised than anyone when Agent's companion Pumpkin chooses her instead of any of the graduating seniors to replace a fallen Agent. Every kid in Space City has grown up on the stories of the Agents - how they built Space City, how they protect the Multiverse from the evils of Queen Misery, all of their heroes. The Agents are smart, strong, and brave - all the things Boo isn't!

But when one of Queen Misery's tricks leaves the Agents' Aerie empty, Boo has to figure out a way to save the day without help from anyone but herself!

This chapter book is chock-full of illustrations and comic-style pages which bring the story to full and exciting life!

Two Bear Cubs: A Miwok Legend from California's Yosemite Valley by Robert San Souci

Once upon a time, before the world was what it is today, two bear cubs wandered away from Oo-hoo'-mah-tee, Mother Grizzly Bear, and fell asleep on a sun-warmed rock. They were so tired from playing and splashing in the river that they slept for many days and many nights, not realizing that the rock they were sleeping on was growing taller, and bigger, and taller...

When Mother Grizzly Bear goes in search of her two small cubs, it will take the effort of several of her friends - and one unusual hero - to get Older Brother and Little Brother back down on solid earth.

This origin tale of the El Capitan landmark in Yosemite Valley is full of beautiful paintings by Daniel San Souci and details of Miwok life from many years ago.

The Funeral Director's Son by Coleen Murtagh Paratore

I hear dead people.

No, seriously! You probably think I'm like the kid in that movie, what was it, something about the senses... but I'm not. I just hear dead people, sometimes.

Sometimes. Not all the time. Just... sometimes there's something someone needs to say, or have done, or something like that, before they're ready to catch the big ship in the sky. It's like an anchor, you know, something heavy tying them to the world.

Okay, yeah, I sound crazy. But I'm not. This is just one of my jobs.

Yup, Christopher "Kip" Campbell, messenger for the dead. Also, Christopher "Kip" Campbell, Outdoor Guy for Campbell and Sons Funeral Home. You're welcome anytime. Any day that ends in y. Morning, noon, or night. It's a family business, serving you and your family.

And sometimes I just want to get far away from it all.

Boxes for Katje by Candace Fleming

I had another book I was going to talk about this week - a chapter book that I've been holding onto for more than a week itself and am looking forward to reviewing. But I picked this one up by happenstance and it touched me so much that I had to write about it right now right now right now.

Boxes for Katje is a story of two little girls - one in Olst, Holland, and the other in Mayfield, Indiana, USofA. It is 1945, and World War II has just ended. Everyone in Europe is making do and going without after the ravages of the great war: they patch and repatch old clothing, save worn shoes for the cold months, and go without soap, milk, meat, or sugar.

And then one day Katje Van Stegeran recieves a box in the mail - a box from a girl named Rosie in America! Inside is a bar of soap, a thick pair of wool socks, and a treasure - a chocolate bar!

When Katje writes Rosie to thank her for the gifts, she begins an exchange that becomes the support the village of Olst needs to survive the horrible, harsh winter in store. And at the end of winter, Katje is able to send Rosie a beautiful gift of her own.

One of the very best things about this story is that it is based on a true one: the author's mother did send a box of useful things to a little girl named Katje in Holland, and that small box became many large ones of coats and food and shoes from her whole community by the time the winter ended. This is the kind of story that makes you cry a little because of the good in the world, and is an excellent resource for discussions of volunteering, the world wars, and the ways we can help each other out in difficult times. Stacey Dressen-McQueen's pictures are vibrant, charming, and folksy, and will have you lingering over each page even as the story draws you on.

The Snake Scientist by Sy Montgomery and Nic Bishop

In the Narcisse Snake Dens, 130 kilometers north of Winnipeg, Canada, approximately 60,000 garter snakes gather every year to sleep out the cold winter months.

And in spring, snake scientist Bob Mason and his team of scientists and volunteers gather to study these thousands of amazing and interesting creatures. They measure them, weigh them, check their temperature, and ask them to do experiments so that maybe, one fact at a time, we can learn the answers to questions like: How do snakes hibernate? How do snakes recognize each other? How do they travel from the dens to the marshes and back every year? Where do baby snakes spend the winters?

Nic Bishop's vibrant photographs bring you face-to-face and nose-to-tongue with these fascinating critters: snakes!

The Hockey Sweater by Roch Carrier

Here in Michigan, home of Hockeytown, we take our hockey seriously. That is why we can relate so well to The Hockey Sweater. Roch, a schoolboy in Quebec, idolizes and wears the same red, white, and blue hockey sweater as his hero, Montreal Canadiens star player Maurice “The Rocket” Richard, as do all the other boys in the village. When he outgrows his beloved Montreal Canadiens sweater and his mother orders a new one, he is horrified when he receives a blue and white sweater of the despised Toronto Maple Leafs. Feeling left out and snubbed by everyone in the village, he loses his temper and is advised to go to church and ask for forgiveness. Read The Hockey Sweater and find out what Roch asks for at church. You are guaranteed to smile.

Surviving Brick Johnson by Laurie Myers

It was a perfectly innocent mistake. In fact, Alex didn't realize it was a mistake until after he'd made it.

See, the guys at the lunch table were doing impressions - Bugs Bunny, Road Runner, that kind of thing. Alex was never quite sure what made him do it, but he did an impression of Brick Johnson, the new transfer student in his class. And everybody laughed.

Everybody except Brick Johnson, that is. Big and mean looking (bigger than skinny Alex, that's for sure!), Brick leaned over the table and said, "At my other school a boy did an imitation of me and..."

And what?!? Alex doesn't know, because a teacher interrupted them right then. And I punched him? And they never saw him again? And I gave him a big hug and a lollipop? (Alex is pretty sure it's not that last one.)

Whatever it might be, Alex is making sure to stay well out of Brick's way - which is tough when it seems that every time he turns around, Brick's in the area. Great! Not even two weeks into his fifth grade year and Alex is already starting to worry that he won't live to be one hundred.

But even while he's running away from Brick, Alex is learning some things about himself and about the other guy that could change the way he thinks about a few things...

Encyclopedia Brown Keeps the Peace by Donald J. Sobol

Criminals young and old, experienced or not, know to stay out of Idaville. You can't pull off a crime large or small without getting caught. And nobody knows why.

Well... a few people know. Like Bugs Meany - he keeps getting caught whenever he pulls something sneaky. Sally Kimball knows; she's a ten-year-old girl who's quick with her fists and her wits. And so does Police Chief Brown - and a select handful of his son's friends!

Yes, ten-year-old Encylopedia Brown (only his parents call him Leroy) is the best crimebuster Idaville has ever known. No case is too small - or too big - for Encyclopedia's keen eye and encyclopedic knowledge. It's the smallest clues that often turn a case, and Encyclopedia is a wiz at discovering them.

And you can too! There are ten cases per book, with the answers listed at the end of the book. See how many you can solve before Encyclopedia Brown does!

Green Boy by Susan Cooper

Long Pond Cay has always been a special spot for twelve-year-old Trey and his brother Lou. Its white sand beaches are always changing, with some new treasure to discover every visit, and there's even a small cave that the brothers have claimed as their own. Lou, who has never spoken in all his seven years, seems to have an affinity with the ospreys - large white birds - who live on the cay.

But the cay is threatened by a group of foreign businessmen who want to build a large hotel and resort there. They're planning to reshape the sea floor and the surrounding cays to create space for tennis courts, restaurants, and even a golf course! They've promised to bring in work and money for the local people, but they're only going to end up destroying the ecosystem of plants and animals that live in the shallow warm waters around the cays.

Trey and Lou's grandfather works hard to fight to save the cay, but the boys have their own fight ahead of them, spurred by a discovery they make on Long Pond Cay. In the time between the changing tides, a doorway opens to a strange land - one full of concrete and noise, fast vehicles and strange rules. And a prophecy that Lou is meant to bring about destruction and rebirth - a prophecy the Government wants to stop and the Underworlders work to make happen...