WWRW: Five for Summer Reading

I've been tearing through the 2015 Caudill nominees and here are soundbites about five that I've read recently.

1.

Saving Zasha by Randi Barrow is set in post WWII Russia, all the German shepherds and pretty much all the dogs in Russia have been destroyed.  Anti-German sentiment still runs high, but a fatherless family with three kids risks everything to save a German shepherd found in the forest.

This story starts out grim but turned out much less dark than I anticipated.  In fact, the ending was downright pleasant.  Plus, it's always interesting to read yet another perspective on World War II.

2.

The Clockwork Three by Matthew J. Kirby is The Invention of Hugo Cabret meets Oliver Twist and A Little Princess.  The Clockwork Three includes Frederick the orphan apprenticed to a clockmaker who is secretly making an automaton, a mechanical man, in the basement of his master's shop, Hannah, a servant in the grand hotel who by a lucky turn of events becomes the personal assistant to the wealthy Madame Pomeroy, and Giuseppe, a talented violinist who owes everything to the evil "Fagin" in charge of all the buskers.

Part steampunk, part fairy tale, part depressing Dickensian novel, The Clockwork Three is a mesmerizing tale or three whose plotlines all cross and become united at the end. Madame Pomeroy is a medium at a seance invoking the dead and she does a reading with tarot cards, and there is quite a bit of violence, lots of beatings, locking young boys in a cellar full of rats, and a murder threat hanging over the local man of the cloth.  Definitely for the mature student.

3.

Ungifted by Gordon Korman.  What would happen if a hyper possibly ADD kid accidentally caused a disatrous accident at his middle school and when he got caught by the superintendent his name was inadvertently added to the list of kids to be transferred to the local school for the gifted and talented?

Donovan Curtis may not be a genius on paper, but his impact on the Academy for Scholastic Distinction and its students is undeniable.  Not only does he change the students and the way they approach problems and take risks, but Donovan grows in sensitivity, protecting these nerds from ridicule from his homeboys back at Hardcastle Middle School.

4.

Tuesdays at the Castle by one of my favorite authors, Jessica Day George, is an adventure in a land of royalty and wizards, but in this story the Castle Glower itself is an important character.  Also of note is the loving pair of parents (the king and queen), and the three royal offspring who love and respect each other (even if they don't always agree).  A fun read for any competent reader.

5.

Never Say Die by Will Hobbs is about a GROLAR bear!  Yes, you read that right.  Part grizzly, part polar bear, this hybrid creature is the result of disappearing ice in the Arctic circle due to global warming.  I thought everyone knew that global warming isn't really a thing, but I digress.

Nick Thrasher is the half-white half-Inuit teen who discovered the grolar when packs of fresh caribou meat were ripped from his back while hunting.  Nick's half brother Ryan contacts him for the first time ever about going on an expedition on the Firth River for a month.

Ryan is thirteen years older than Nick, an expert outdoorsman, and a professional wildlife photographer for National Geographic. Ryan would surely love to snap a cover photo of a grolar.  Ryan and Nick meet disaster pretty early.  The fact that Ryan insisted Nick leave his gun behind is likely to come back to bite them.  But I can't say for certain, since I'm not finished.

Yes, there is a lot of politics mixed into this tale of wilderness survival.  Nick's mother and father were never married.  His father was also an adventurer, and died somewhere in the Himalayas one month after Nick was born, which is just one more reason why I will never mess around in the Himalayas.  If you can stomach the environmental and anti-gun sentiments, this book is appropriate for middle-school and up.

Since I review five books here, I just might link-up my link-up to Heather's Five Favorites, not that these are my favorite books...whatever.

An InLinkz Link-up

WWRW: Five Fast Books for Boys

Candy Bomber by Michael O. Tunnell is the non-fiction account of how one American pilot began delivering candy to post-WWII German children in both East and West Germany, and how his little kindness developed into a huge undertaking with many, many pilots helping and warehouses full of candy donations.

Stay Where You Are And Then Leave is written by John Boyne, who also wrote The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, which I have not read, nor have I seen the movie.

Stay Where You Are And Then Leave is a WWI account of Alfie, a young boy in London.  His father volunteered to serve his country as soon as the war began, but his letters have stopped.  Alfie's mother insists that his father cannot write because he is on a secret mission.  Alfie fears his father is dead.

The truth is somewhere in between and Alfie makes his own secret mission to discover it.

John Boyne has a gift for story-telling, that's for sure.

The Mark of the Dragonfly by Jaleigh Johnson is steampunk fantasy for middle schoolers.  The main characters are actually two girls, but there is enough machinery, magic, and mutant creatures to satisfy any boy.

My only complaint about this book is that its really the prequel to an entire series.  It's difficult to get immersed in a new world, learning the rules, "is there magic?"  "who has it?"  "what kind of world is this?", but then to not reach any sort of conclusion after investing all those brain cells is a little disappointing.  Guess I'm going to have to read the next one.

Ghetto Cowboy by G. Neri is the only book in this post that I have not actually finished yet, but that's not stopping me from reviewing it.

Did you know there is such a thing as urban cowboys?  In inner city Philadelphia, no less?  In this book, based on the actual Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club, there are a group of black cowboys who buy and race retired thoroughbreds, as well as providing riding lessons to the wayward youths in the area.

In Ghetto Cowboy, Coltrane has been skipping school and is dangerously close to being held back a year.  His mother, having reached the end of her rope, packs all of his stuff and drives him from Detroit to Philly, where he meets his father for the first time.  His mother then leaves him in this strange city with this strange man in a cowboy hat.

His father is a "ghetto cowboy," working with horses, living near the stables, and occasionally racing in a nearby park to earn funds to keep the horses.  This new lifestyle has a huge impact on Coltrane, and though I'm not quite finished yet, I can see that his time in Philly with the horses and the other cowboys is going to turn his life around.

Edmund is reading Mr. Tucket (The Francis Tucket Books)  by Gary Paulsen.  Peter read these, and I read this first one way back when, now it's Edmund's turn.  Here is a little something he wrote about Mr. Tucket by Gary Paulsen:

WHY I WOULD STAY WITH THIS WILD MAN!

This wild, bizarre mountain man, Mr. Grimes, rescued me from a Pawnee tribe.  He gave me a choice to stay with him or go with the farmers to the Oregon Trail.  I would choose  to stay with him these are the reasons.

The most important reason to stay is that I would be in good hands if any trouble came to me.  He came to my rescue, as you know, when I was in captivity by the Pawnee tribe. 

Another  reason I would  be in good hands is because he is good with a gun and he's WILD!  So he will teach me his ways to survive and his ways of life.

He would not baby me and he would let me make my own decisions.  For example, he would let me decide whether to go with the farmers or not.

These are some of the main reasons I would stay with Mr. Grimes.

An InLinkz Link-up

It's What We're Reading Wednesday: Etiquette & Espionage

When the quote on the back of a book says, "Absolutely charming, comical, and full of whimsy...It is the perfect steampunk version of Harry Potter."  I expect great things.

Prepare to be disappointed.

Etiquette & Espionage:  Book the First, Finishing School by Gail Carriger is a long and clunky mystery.

What is the mystery about?  That IS the mystery.

The story opens with Sophronia, spunky young teen, getting whisked off to finishing school. On the way to the finishing school, the carriage containing her soon-to-be best friend Dimity, Dimity's brother, and headmistress Mademoiselle Geraldine, is attacked not by highwaymen, but by FLYWAYMEN!

They escape the flywaymen and their airdinghy, and discover that Mademoiselle Geraldine is actually senior student, Monique the cliche mean girl.  They eventually make it to the school, which floats above the earth on the moors and is constantly moving it's location (this is the only likeness to HP I see) .

Wait!  I almost forgot!  The school has both a vampire and a werewolf on staff.

The school, is indeed a finishing school, as in, finishing off one's first husband to get the money and moving on to marry someone else.  Though there is mention of a missing prototype and the mysterious Picklemen, the reader is left in the dark about the "who's," the "what's," and the "why's".

Who is looking for the prototype?  Why?  What is it a prototype of?  Patience, dear reader.  You will find out on PAGE 173 WHAT THE DANG PROTOTYPE IS.  Yes, you must wait until page 173 for most, but not all of the information you seek.

I spent a lot of time wondering if there was a prequel I missed because Book the First is very confusing.  Aside from missing key plot points, the writing is befuddling and the descriptions are simply not there.  If you want to know what the werewolf looks like, he is very-good looking and does not wear shoes.  If you want to know what the vampire looks like, he has a mustache.  What does Sophronia look like?  She is mousy, and small-chested but her bosom is considerably larger by the end of the book.  At least three female characters are described as looking "ladies of the night" what with their red handkerchiefs and such, but as far as I can tell, none of them actually are.

Perhaps the most thoughtful line in the book comes at the very end.   Sophronia has a realization, "Many was the lady whose belief in another's sound judgment was based solely upon that other judging her favorably."  No, that wasn't translated from some eastern language.  I lifted that gem straight from the page.

Like other books that try too hard, Ettiquette & Espionage uses lots of invented vocabulary and ridiculous names.  Mrs. Barnaclegoose and Lord Dingleproops are only outdone by the leader of the dastardly Picklemen, the feared Master Chutney.  I could not make this stuff up.

Despite my complaints, Ettiquette & Espionage is most likely appropriate for...say...eleven or twelve and up?  I searched and searched for some righteous plot, but until more light is shed on the purposes of the Picklemen or the aims of the ladies' finishing school, it is still unclear to me who is good and who is bad.

I slogged through this interminable tome with loathing, but this review might be the most fun thing I've ever written.

Merciful heavens, there's already a sequel.  Curtsies & Conspiracies.  I...I just can't...I cannot....

An InLinkz Link-up