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Turtle in Paradise. Jennifer L. Holm. 2010. Random House. 208 pages.

Everyone thinks children are sweet as Necco Wafters, but I’ve lived long enough to know the truth: kids are rotten. The only difference between grown-ups and kids is that grown-ups go to jail for murder. Kids get away with it.

There are so many things to love about Turtle in Paradise. I loved the narrator, Turtle. I loved the characterization and the storytelling. I loved the writing. (Jennifer Holm has a way with words!) I loved the setting: Key West, Florida, 1930s. I loved the little details that help a reader feel settled in a specific time and place. In this case, Turtle’s love of comics (like Little Orphan Annie and Terry and the Pirates) and radio dramas (the Shadow) and her dislike of Shirley Temple.

The book stars an eleven year old, Turtle, who is moving from Pennsylvania to Florida. She is meeting her mother’s family for the first time. She’s coming to stay with her aunt and her cousins. (Her mom is staying behind with the new boyfriend and the new job.) It’s a “surprise” visit too. Minnie has no idea her sister is sending her daughter to stay with her. Will Turtle fit in with her cousins Buddy, Beans, and Kermit? Will she get along with Aunt Minnie? And what about her grandmother?! Turtle didn’t even know she had a grandmother living until she settled into her new life. Will Turtle find a way to open up with this new family, and make a place for herself in this new community? Will she find a way to be in the Diaper Gang even if she is a girl?

I would definitely recommend this one. I think it would make a great read aloud. It’s got heart, humor, and adventure!

My favorite quotes:

Kids lie. We have to or we’d never get anything. But grown-ups lie, too–they just do it differently. They leave things out; they don’t give you the whole story. (51)

In my opinion, the fellas who make Hollywood pictures are really just salesmen. Instead of peddling girdles, they sell thrills and chills, and folks eat them up. Not me, though. I’m no sucker. I know there’s no such thing as giant apes climbing skyscrapers or mummies walking out of tombs. But just try telling that to the boys. (123)

It’s a fact: if a kid is being nice, he’s probably up to no good. (131)

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Turtle in Paradise (MG)

Knightley Academy. Violet Haberdasher. 2010. Simon & Schuster. 469 pages.

The Midsummer School for Boys sat on top of a steep but rather flat hill, staring down its nose at the village below.

Set in an alternate Victorian England. It stars a young boy, Henry Grim. He is lower class, a servant. But he’s smart. Very smart. And he surprises almost everyone when he passes the incredibly difficult entrance exam to Knightley Academy. No one from his school–Midsummer School for Boys–has passed in five years. Henry is NOT a student. He’s a servant who studies in his spare time–nights mostly. He’s become friendly with one of the professors. But Henry won’t be the only commoner attending. No, there will be three commoners admitted. And if they do well, then there’s always the chance that more will be permitted to attend in the future. If they don’t, well, then it will remain an elite privilege for the upper classes. Do Henry and his friends have what it takes? Can Henry handle all the unique challenges in his path? It certainly won’t be an easy task!

I enjoyed this book very much! I liked the characters. I liked the plot. And the writing was fun.

“Curses, as you surely remember, are meant to be broken. And once they break, unlike satchel straps or pairs of spectacles, they do not need to be fixed. However, to break something has consequences, and curses are no exception.” (71)

“Everything’s a bad bargain if you never meant to gamble in the first place.” (84)

“It is a truth universally acknowledged that the problem with new shoes is that they are never as comfortable as the ones they are meant to replace. But Henry hadn’t known this. After all, he’d never had a pair of new shoes before.” (86)

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Knightley Academy (MG)

Leaving Gee’s Bend. Irene Latham. 2010. Penguin. 240 pages.

Mama pulled a chicken egg from behind the azalea bush in our front yard and narrowed her eyes. “Ludelphia Bennett! You go back in there and get your eye patch.”

Historical fiction. Set in Gee’s Bend, Alabama. 1932.

Ludelphia’s mother is dying, and there’s nothing she can do about it. That’s what everyone says. But Ludelphia isn’t convinced. She thinks that if she can just get a doctor–a real doctor–to come and see her mother, there might be a chance. True, Ludelphia has never left Gee’s Bend, has never been to Camden. But. If there’s a chance that someone could help her–no matter how small–she’s got to brave it. It’s scary, no doubt about it, because it isn’t easy to leave Gee’s Bend. It requires a ferry. Which may not be a big deal…if you’re not in a hurry, if the ferry man can be found, if there hasn’t been a big storm upsetting the river, if you know exactly where you’re going. Ludelphia will have to brave more than just the river…as she embarks on this journey. A journey that proves physically and emotionally demanding.

I liked this one.

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Leaving Gee’s Bend (MG)

Nest for Celeste: A Story About Art, Inspiration, and the Meaning of Home. Henry Cole. 2010. HarperCollins. 342 pages.

Below the crackled and faded painting of a horse, beneath the heavy sideboard, under the worn carpet, and dusty floorboards of the dining room, sat Celeste, hunched over her worktable. She was weaving a basket from blades of dried grasses.

If you’re a fan of the Tale of Despereaux, The Underneath, or Night Fairy, then you should consider reading Henry Cole’s A Nest for Celeste. Who is Celeste? She’s a mouse who doesn’t quite have a place to call home. She’s bullied by two rats–Trixie and Illianna–though we later learn that it are these rats who taught her to live in the big house, so they can’t be all bad. When she’s not being bullied by the rats or chased by the cat, Celeste likes to spend her time weaving baskets of all shapes and sizes. She uses these baskets when she’s about the house. She gathers crumbs and other small remnants that only a mouse could appreciate–blades of grass, the occasional feather, etc. One day after a vigorous escape from the cat, Celeste finds a “better” home. But this home isn’t a true home either. It’s a boot. With an owner. Fortunately, it’s owned by a young boy, Joseph, who appreciates just how cute and little and harmless she is. He calls her “Little One.” And he likes to carry her with him in his pocket. Who is Joseph? He’s a young boy who is an assistant to John James Audubon. For those unfamiliar with Audubon, he was a nineteenth century artist. He specialized in painting wildlife–birds. Did the birds love Audubon? Not so much. With good reason.

I didn’t love this one. Not as much as I hoped anyway. It is beautifully illustrated. It’s a novel about loneliness, friendship, and finding happiness where you can, when you can.

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Nest for Celeste (MG)

The Everlasting Now. Sara H. Banks. 2010. Peachtree Publishers. 176 pages.

When I first met Champion Luckey, I didn’t know that he was going to change my life. Maybe you never know when that’s going to happen; it’s not like something you’re expecting. It’s more like getting struck by lightning and living to tell about it.

Historical fiction. Set during the Depression. In Alabama. In 1937. Our narrator, “Brother” Longstreet Sayre, is coming of age at a difficult time in America. One unforgettable summer, he becomes close friends with Champion Always Luckey. (He is the nephew of Lily Luther, the Sayre’s housekeeper.) That friendship surprises and upsets. Some at least. Champion is black. Brother is white. During these months Brother sees the world around him in a new way. He notices the differences, the restrictions, the injustices for the first time. It’s not like he thought the world was perfect before–he’s lost his father; he’s felt the rawness of pain and grief–but he is realizing that the world needs to be changed. And he wants to be a part of that change. He wants the world to be better.

I liked this one. Not like I love To Kill A Mockingbird. Not like I enjoyed Moon Over Manifest. Or The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had. But I did like it.

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The Everlasting Now (MG)

Theodosia and the Staff of Osiris. R.L. LaFevers. 2008. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 400 pages.

The lace on my party frock itched horribly.

Theodosia is back in her second adventure. The first being Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos. Theodosia is an eleven year old who takes advantage of her parents’ neglect. She enjoys her independence. She needs time for her research. She needs her freedom to work undercover as well. Which is why Theodosia hates the fact that her grandmother is insisting on a governess. Theodosia doesn’t need a governess to slow her down! How can Theodosia save the world, save Britain at the very least, if she is always being watched? And the world does need saving…make no mistake about that. Chaos is on the rise again in the second book. This time the ‘magical’ artifact–ancient Egyptian artifact of course–is a staff with the ability to raise the dead. Can Theodosia keep the staff out of the wrong hands?

I enjoyed this one.

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Theodosia and the Staff of Osiris (MG)

The Water Seeker. Kimberly Willis Holt. 2010. May 2010. Henry Holt. 320 pages.

Jake Kincaid was known as the dowser. With a forked branch, he’d made his way from the Arkansas Territory to Missouri, stopping at farms to find waters for new wells. His plan was to raise enough money so he could do what he wanted and never pick up the branch again. But the dowsing was a gift. And a gift might be abandoned, but it will always be there, waiting to be claimed.

Is there an easy way to describe Kimberly Willis Holt’s newest book The Water Seeker? I’ll try my best to do it justice. Amos’ father, Jake, is a trapper. One year Jake returned to discover that his wife has died, but that he has a son. Jake takes the infant and travels to see his brother (Gil) and sister-in-law (Rebecca). He leaves Amos there with the promise that he’ll be back as often as he can. He’s not completely turning over the care of his son, but he’s a trapper and his life is a traveling life. Delilah, Amos’ mother, had a great talent for drawing. Though he never knew his mother, he does have her gift. He also has a gift passed down from his father–the gift of dowsing. But he’s embarrassed to let anyone know. After all, his father hates this gift. And would rather do anything but use it. But sometimes a man has no choice. He has to do things he hates in order to support his family.

One year Jake returns–and not alone–to learn that Rebecca has died and that Gil and Amos have moved in with a neighboring family. So Jake decides to take his son–then about six–with him. Jake has married an Indian woman, Blue Owl, and the three will be a real family and start a new life. But life is never that easy. They arrive at Jake’s cabin and find that Daisy, Delilah’s sister, and Homer, her husband, have been living there. Since Jake knows the family background, he can’t knowingly send these two away. So the family expands. And keeps expanding–soon Amos has a cousin, Finn.

America is changing too. Its landscape. Its culture. Its “destiny.” As much as Jake would love to keep trapping–that just isn’t a possibility these days. So Jake decides to try his hand at scouting. He has been recruited to help lead a wagon west on the Oregon trail. The whole family–Jake, Blue Owl, Amos, Daisy, Homer, Finn–set out on a new adventure together. An exhausting, dangerous journey that will take them from Independence, Missouri, to Willamette Valley in Oregon.

The Water Seeker covers decades of American history, from the 1830s to the 1850s. When Amos begins his journey across America, he is about fourteen, his cousin, Finn, is six. So Amos grows up–in so many ways–during this difficult journey. He learns life lessons, has his first heartache, and learns what true love is all about.

The Water Seeker is a complex novel. The characters–and there are so many!–are all well-developed. I loved getting to know them all. There were so many people that loved Amos through the years, so many people who were part of his family–traditional or not. I loved meeting the different families on the wagon train. I loved the realism of it all. Heading west was not easy. It was dangerous. Bad things happened. They just did. One of the lessons Amos learns is that life may be hard, but it’s good too. Some things make the journey worth it.

I really enjoyed The Water Seeker. I think Holt is a good storyteller, a good writer. If you love historical fiction, then this one might be for you. I think it would also appeal to adult readers who love historical fiction. Even if they don’t usually read children’s books. I think there is enough complexity, enough story, enough heart to satisfy.

Other reviews: Kids Lit,

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The Water Seeker (MG)

The Sign of the Beaver. Elizabeth George Speare. 1983. Random House. 135 pages.

It took me less than an hour to read this Newbery Honor book. What did I think about it? Well, it’s flawed for one thing. With its use of words like “savage” and “squaw” etc. to describe American Indians. (One of the things that I noticed throughout was the broken English used by the Indian characters.)

The book stars a young boy named Matt. He’s twelve or thirteen. And his father has left him in the family’s new cabin in the wilderness of Maine. His father needed his son’s help in building the cabin and planting the corn. And now he needs his son’s help in “protecting” this new home while he returns to his family to bring back his wife and daughter.

Should Matt have been able to survive on his own? Maybe, maybe not. Certain circumstances come about leaving Matt’s survival in question–his gun is stolen, much of his food is destroyed. Fortunately, there are a few local Indians who go out of their way to befriend the young boy. Through the months as he waits for his family to return, Matt slowly but surely sees Attean–the Indian boy–as a friend, a true friend, almost a brother. There are layers of distrust and hatred–on both sides–that must be overcome for this friendship to work. That doesn’t mean Attean trusts white men. That doesn’t mean Attean is happy that white settlers are moving onto his people’s hunting grounds. That he is happy to be moving because of all this “progress.”

One of the interesting aspects of this one is that Matt shares with Attean Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe. He reads–albeit an edited version of the tale–aloud to him. Matt’s commentary–his observations–on Robinson Crusoe are interesting–to me. His little asides, his little realizations. His friendship with Attean lead him to question (though perhaps not drastically enough) his favorite book. Though Matt has his flawed moments–he is meant to represent (I believe) a thinking person.

The novel is flawed in my opinion. I think readers should think about the way Attean is presented, how he is portrayed. To consider that this is Matt’s story, his perspective. And that Attean’s story would be different.

See More On Sign Of the Beaver at American Indians in Children’s Literature.
And When Books Fall Out of Fashion at The Miss Rumphius Effect.

He opened Robinson Crusoe at the first page and began to read. I was born in the year 1632, in the city of York….He stopped. He remembered suddenly how the first time he had tried to read this book he had found that first page so dull he had come close to giving up right there. He had better skip the beginning and get on with the story if he wanted to catch Attean’s attention. “I’ll read the part about the storm at sea,” he said.

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The Sign of the Beaver

The Firefly Letters: A Suffragette’s Journey to Cuba. Margarita Engle. 2010. Henry Holt. 160 pages.

I absolutely loved The Firefly Letters. I found it so amazing, so beautiful, so right. This isn’t the first Margarita Engle novel I’ve read–she writes verse novels set in Cuba; all historical. (I’ve read The Poet Slave of Cuba, The Surrender Tree, and Tropical Secrets.) But I must admit that this one is definitely my favorite so far.

The Firefly Letters is told in verse through three narrators–primarily. Cecilia, a young slave woman still mourning her lost home, her lost family. Elena, the daughter of a wealthy slave owner. Fredrika, a Swedish woman, far from home and on a mission. How are these three connected? How do their stories connect? Fredrika is staying–as a guest–at Elena’s home. Cecilia is her translator–she’s a slave that has learned to speak English, a valuable asset. Why is Fredrika in Cuba? What brings her around the world? She’s a writer. And her mission is to write about Cuba–to write the truth–which means shedding light on the evils of slavery. Her mission brings her into close contact with all sorts of people. How will knowing Fredrika change these two young women? Will Frederika’s strange, outlandish ideas of freedom, of equality, make an impact?

This story has staying power. Here is one of my favorite poems–narrated by Cecilia.

Imagine my nervousness
having to translate while Fredrika
scolds the schoolmistress
for keeping girls in class
only one hour per day
and for teaching them nothing
but embroidery, lacemaking,
and saints’ lives
while boys study all day long
learning mathematics and science.

Elena looks so astounded
sitting in her classroom,
surrounded by giggling girls
in silk dresses with lace ruffles,
while Fredrika scolds and I translate,
all the time thinking
that one hour of school
is more than any slave girl
can hope to receive in a lifetime. (61-62)

The book is based in part on the life of Fredrika Bremer.

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The Firefly Letters (MG/YA)

The Sons of Liberty (#1). Alexander Lagos and Joseph Lagos. 2010. Random House. 176 pages.

I rarely trust the publisher’s own synopsis of a book. This one reads

“With its vile villains, electrifying action, and riveting suspense, The Sons of Liberty casts new light on the faces and events of pre-Revolution America, including Ben Franklin and the French and Indian War. American history has rarely been this compelling–and it’s never looked this good.”

But I was in the mood for a graphic novel, and I thought I’d give this one a chance.

Within a few pages, I was hooked. (It actually had me reading standing up for a couple of minutes–something that almost never happens.)

The two protagonists of The Sons of Liberty are runaway slaves. While running for their lives, running for freedom, these two–Brody and Graham–get caught up in a brutal experiment–an experiment that leaves them with amazing super powers. The boys do not understand this change–and neither does Benjamin Franklin and his friend Benjamin Lay. Both men have different ideas of what is best for the boys–one would seek to keep them secret, keep them protected; the other seeks to train them in the African martial art dambe, to train them to fight for what they believe in, to fight against the evils around them. What does the future hold for these two? Well, that remains to be seen as this is just the first in the series…

Historical fantasy set in Colonial America.

So I have to agree with the synopsis on this one. It is very compelling. (Read in one sitting. Read anxiously at that. I just had to know what happened next.)

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The Sons of Liberty #1 (MG)