My Life Starring Mum - by Chloe Rayban

13 year-old Hollywood Bliss Wintermann tries to have a normal life at her Catholic boarding school where only her best friend knows that Holly’s mother is singing superstar Khandi (think Cher or Madonna). Khandi yanks Holly out of school and deposits her in a suite in the posh hotel she’s staying in London. She tells Holly that there’s been a serious threat so she wanted Holly near her because the school couldn’t provide enough security and she also says she wants to spend more time with Holly, but Holly’s not too surprised when it seems her mother forgot she exists and hasn’t even bothered to set up tutors. Holly has to make appointments to see her mom and is thrilled when she gets her mother to agree to set up tutors. She isn’t thrilled when dancing and singing tutors show up.

I was surprised that it took quite some time for Holly to realize that Khandi was using her and trying to turn her into a superstar too. Although Holly is witty at times, I wanted more emotion from her character. She never lets her mom have the honest criticism she deserves, and I don’t know many teenage girls who would handle things that way. The most interesting part of the book is Holly and Khandi’s relationship and the author spends a lot more time focusing the posh life than the real issues at hand. Although Holly doesn’t become a mini-Khandi in the end, she also doesn’t do much to improve her relationship with her mother. Maybe that means there’s a sequel in the works.

I was a little bored at times, but some pre-teens may enjoy reading about Holly’s disdain for the life of the rich and famous.

Defining Dulcie – by Paul Acampora

This story is told first person by 16 year-old Dulcie. The book begins right after the death of Dulcie’s father. He was a janitor who died after being poisoned when he accidentally mixed some chemicals while cleaning the floor at Dulcie’s high school. Her mother wants a fresh start so she moves Dulcie across the country to California. When her mother decides to sell her dad’s old truck, Dulcie has had it. The truck is the only thing she has left of her dad’s and she is not willing to let it go. Dulcie sneaks out of the house and begins a cross-country journey to return home where she hopes her grandfather will welcome her with open arms.

I know, it sounds like another one of those morbid books, but it’s not. Dulcie and her family have a great sense of humor that kept me entertained. The beauty of the book is in the details. Dulcie stops at a lot of interesting sites on her cross-country trip like the fainting goat farm in Wakeeney, Kansas and The Great American Museum of Custodial Safety in Missouri, and the Maria Stein shrine of holy Relics in Ohio (which is a real place, who knew?). I guess I connected so much because she reminded me a little of myself, I would totally stop at random sites while traveling cross country and I even have a grandfather whose wife has passed away, but still lives on in his home as shown by the pink wallpaper and pink toilet and tub she left behind.

This book was particularly interesting to me after recently reading The Janitor's Boy by Andrew Clement because the main character in The Janitor's Boy is completely embarassed that his dad is a janitor at his school. Dulcie's lack of embarassment was refreshing, she never seemed to mind that her father and grandfather were janitors and even worked as a janitor part-time herself. I thought it was interesting that both kids used their dad’s keys to sneak around the school and both of them were surprised to discover their dad's were secretly helping other kids in need.

Dulcie was a vivid character, and I loved growing along with her in this novel. I think that you will too.

Born to Rule - by Kathryn Lasky

Harry’s at a school for wizards so why shouldn’t there be a school for princesses someone out there too? Princess Alicia heads for a summer of learning to be a proper princess at Camp Princess, where arts and crafts involve real jewels and there’s a different required outfit for every activity, including swimming tiaras for lessons in the moat.

The premise is kind of silly, but I would have still been entertained if the main characters weren’t so flat, and the main mystery wasn’t really just a sidenote to frame all of the funny details of camp.

All in all, it was fluff, but it was fairly entertaining fluff that some preteens girls will still enjoy. It reminded me a little of One Over-Caffeinated Mom’s post about planning Camp Pickalicious for her daughter and friends. How many girls do you know that would love to have their own Princess Camp?

Author visits

I've been meaning to post for awhile that I got a mailing from Cover to Cover Book Store announcing a few author visits. I'm just going to copy the flyer word-for-word:

Twin sisters and authors, Julia DeVillers and Jennifer Roy, will visit Cover to Cover on Tuesday, August 15th from 6:00 until 7:30. This year, Julia's How My Personal Private Journal Became a Bestseller premiered as the Disney Channel Original Movie "Read It and Weep". Jennifer's historical novel Yellow Star was recognized with a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Award for Excellence in Children's Literature. Please join us as we welcome two very talented writers.


Award-winning author Kimberly Willis Holt will speak and autograph at Cover to Cover on Saturday, September 23, from 11:00 until 12:30. Her most recent work, Part of Me: Stories of a Louisiana Family, traces five generations during their adolescent years as they face struggles, sorrows, and triumphs. An earlier title, When Zachary Beaver Came to Town, recieved a National Book Award.

Book Meme

I've been reading as much as ever, I'm just behind in reviewing, so what's a girl to do? Procrastinate a little longer of course, and do this survey instead.

Here's a new book meme that Kelly from Big A little a has passed along. I'm going to make a rule that you can only answer with children's/young adult books.

1. One book that changed your life? I don't know about a book that's changed my life, but Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin really made me think.
2. One book you have read more than once? Growing up I read Little Women over and over again
3. One book you would want on a desert island? How could I possibly choose one book? It probably wouldn't be something beloved, it would probably non-fiction about surviving in that region or how to escape a desert island.
4. One book that made you laugh? Donuthead by Sue Stauffacher
5. One book that made you cry? The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak. You have to read it if you haven't!
6. One book you wish had been written? I wish all of the Twilight series was already written so I wouldn't have to wait for them.
7. One book you wish had never been written? Ugh, gee, let's think about this one. I know a million people love the book Love You Forever by Robert Munsch, but I CAN"T STAND IT! Yes, it makes moms everywhere cry, but come on, an elderly mother breaking into her adult son's house to hold him while he's sleeping and chant, "love you forever"? Creepy!
8. One book you are currently reading? Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism by Georgia Byng. I've never been interested in reading this book, but it was one of very few book on tape options at the library and I'm liking it a lot more than I thought that I would.
9. One book you have been meaning to read? Uglies by Scott Westerfeld or The Loud Silence of Francine Green by Karen Cushman
10. Now tag five people: All the Chld lit bloggers have already been challenge so how about my book club members? If you don't have your own blog, you can post it in the comments here.

Donuthead - by Sue Stauffacher

Since Fuse #8 is always singing praises of Donuthead by Sue Stauffacher, I figured it would be worth picking up, and I discovered Fuse #8 was certainly right about it; it was wonderful. Donuthead (full name Franklin Delano Donuthead) has one main aspiration in life; to remain as safe as possible at all times. He only eats strictly healthy food, he avoids large bodies of water and motor vehicles because drowning and car crashes are two of the highest causes of kids’ deaths, and he measures his arms and legs everyday because he’s convinced one side of his body is smaller than the other. As you might imagine, the closest thing he has to a friend is Gloria, the woman at the National Safety Department that he calls for updates on safety statistics. Then Sarah Kervick shows up at school. Franklin is immediately repulsed by her because she’s filthy, but she bullies him into meeting her to help her brush out her messy hair. Before Franklin knows it, Sarah ends up at his house and his mom becomes her new chum. As Franklin helps Sarah in her quest to be normal, Franklin learns a few lessons himself.

I’m not sure how she manages it, but somehow Stauffacher makes Franklin seems funny instead of a pitiful kid with OCD. I think the author managed to create a main character that kids will be able to relate despite the fact that he’s incredibly quirky. The relationship between Sarah and Franklin reminded me a little of Freak The Mighty, because Franklin seems unsure of why Sarah befriends him in the first place, but he warms up to her and is anxious to help her achieve her dreams.

A few things that I loved about this book: first, that Franklin’s mom is a great single mom (although I’m not sure how she can financially support her family and still have so much time off and I also wonder whether a lot of the intended audience will know about artificial insemination), and second, I love the message that there are kind, wonderful people out there helping people they barely know achieve their dreams. Then add the beautiful ending and you’ll know why I finished this book feeling so happy about life.

I agree with Fuse #8 that I’m not really sure what the author is trying to say about kids who don’t like sport and about fighting, but I found the book highly entertaining. I’ll be anxiously awaiting the release of Donutheart in the fall. In the meantime, I will have to keep checking Sue’s blog on Amazon.

The One and Only - by Holly Hobbie

Ok, I went to the book store yesterday and couldn't find Edwina the Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct, because it won't be release until September 28th; however, I did pick up an adorable new book that I couldn't resist! I have a soft spot for Toot and Puddle so when I saw the newest picture book in the series, The One and Only, I had to read through it, and I was immediately charmed and had to bring it home with me.

In this book a new pig named Bubbles copies everything Opal does, and not only does she suceed in not getting into trouble for it, she becomes the teacher's pet because the teacher doesn't realize that Bubbles is stealing all her great ideas from Opal. Opal listens to Toot's advice and remains patient and kind towards Bubbles and it pays off in the end.

I loved the Illustrations, and I was especially struck by this one. Opal decided to dress up like a monster for Halloween and of course Bubbles does the same. Any kiddie lit fan will immediately notice that Bubbles is also copying another famous picture book pig, Ian Falconer's Olivia. She's wearing hte EXACT SAME costume Olivia wears to scare her brother. I thought it was very clever of Holly Hobbie to Copy Ian Falconer in a book that's all about copying!

One other illustration that made me giggle was this one. I love Holly Hobbie's pig version of the painting American Gothic. Another clever copycat move!

I hate to admit this, but until today I didn't realize that Holly Hobbie is the very same Holly Hobbie that did the American Greeting cards of the little prairie girl with a bonnet (who is actually called Holly Hobbie so it shouldn't have taken me so long to put two and two together). It seems that Holly Hobbie (the character not the author) has been ressurected and can be seen in a new movie on Nick Jr. You can see more of her here.

Chris Van Allsburg

It's no secret that I love Chris Van Allsburg so I was incredibly happy to discover that he has a new book coming out. It's called Probuditi, and Amazon says it's sceduled for release on October 30th. Yay!

I'm on my way out of the office to see if I can find a copy of Mo Willem's new book, Edwina the Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct.

September - Recent books

We'll be meeting at Heather's house on Tuesday, September 5th to discuss some great books that are fairly new publications. Here's the list:


Princess Academy - Shannon Hale
While attending a strict academy for potential princesses with the other girls from her mountain village, fourteen-year-old Miri discovers unexpected talents and connections to her homeland.





Weedflower - Cynthia Kadohata
After twelve-year-old Sumiko and her Japanese-American family are relocated from their flower farm in southern California to an internment camp on a Mojave Indian reservation in Arizona, she helps her family and neighbors, becomes friends with a local Indian boy, and tries to hold on to her dream of owning a flower shop.




Twilight - Stephenie Meyer
When seventeen-year-old Bella leaves Phoenix to live with her father in Forks, Washington, she meets an exquisitely handsome boy at school for whom she feels an overwhelming attraction and who she comes to realize is not wholly human.

First Boy - Gary Schmidt

I loved Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary Schmidt so I was really looking forward to reading his newest book, First Boy. I was a little disappointed that this book wasn’t as beautiful and lyrical, but it was still an interesting read.

14 year-old Cooper Jewett grew up with his grandparents on a dairy farm in New Hampshire. After his grandparents pass away, Cooper is determined to maintain the dairy farm on his own. Soon he is feeling overworked between taking care of the farm, trying to keep up in school, and practicing with the cross country. Things get worse when mysterious black sedans swarm the town, Cooper’s fence is vandalized, his house is broken into, and his barn is burned down. The sheriff denies that anything is going on and threatens to file a report to have Cooper removed from the farm by child services. Senator Wickham approaches Cooper and asks him to join his campaign for the presidency. Cooper wants to stay on his farm, but it seems the Senator won’t take no for an answer.

That’s as far as I can go without any big spoilers.

There were a few things that really bothered me about this book. The first is that I felt like Schmidt really underestimates the intelligence of 14 year-olds. Cooper isn’t quick to put things together and he isn’t curious. What 14 year-old would hear at his grandfather’s funeral that neither of his parents had the last name Jewett (his own last name) and not be curious, especially when he’d never heard anything about them or seen any pictures? What 14 year-old wouldn't have spent years pestering everyone in the town to gather more infomration? It takes Cooper quite awhile to figure out that the Senator might have deeper motives for picking a random kid from a dairy farm in New Hampshire to join him on the campaign trail. It also takes him quite awhile to figure out that the Sheriff is on the senator’s side. It takes him ages to piece together how he might be involved in something that could scandalize the President of the US. I think Cooper would have probably been a little smarter, and I would have liked him more if he was.

Second, the novel never delves into how Cooper might feel angry and hurt that the people who seem to be his real parents totally deny it and make no effort to make sure that he’s ok. I think that would be on the forefront of any kid’s mind.

Third, reading this novel you would think that only the people of New Hampshire get to vote for President because all of the campaigning takes place there and there’s so much talk on the importance of what New Hampshire dairymen think of the candidates.

Even though I did have some problems with the book, it was still action packed, and a lot of kids will enjoy reading about Cooper’s adventures. I have to remind myself that not every book can be as wonderful and Lizzie Bright, and there was still a lot of fun, original content in this novel.

Another Great Blog

Ok, I had to share this new children’s literature blog: A Year Of Reading

It’s created by two teachers who have set a goal to try to read next year’s Newbery winner before it’s announced, which means they are reading all the great new children’s books they can get there hands on. I’ve frequented this blog and today I noticed that not only do they have a link to this blog (insert excited blush here), but they must be from Columbus because they talk about having breakfast with Sally Oddi, the owner of Cover to Cover Children’s Bookstore (the best bookstore that I have ever been to). I’m so jealous that they know Sally well enough to be breakfasting with her. I like to dream that some day Sally will call me to say, “Stephanie Ford please come work in my store, where I will pay you to be surrounded by children’s literature.” (Granted, that will never happen because I when I visit Cover to Cover I barely have the courage to talk to Sally let alone ask her if she’s hiring, but still, it’s a nice dream isn’t it?)

Stormbreaker - by Anthony Horowitz

I have a confession to make; until this week, I have never read any of the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz. I hadn’t even heard of the Alex Rider series until about a year ago (I know, for shame!) I finally picked the first novel in the series up and read it.

Stormbreaker begins with fourteen-year-old Alex Rider learning from a police officer that his Uncle Ian (who happens to also be his guardian) has been killed in a car accident because he wasn’t wearing his seatbelt. This strikes Alex as odd because his Uncle was a careful banker who always insisted that he wear his seatbelt. After some lucky investigation, Alex discovers his uncle’s car in a junkyard riddled with bullet holes and he knows his uncle was murdered. His Uncle’s coworker asks Alex to meet him and his office downtown to discuss his financial situation. When he leaves Alex alone in his office, Alex can’t resist temptation and jumps out of the 15-story-high window onto a flagpole and then into his Uncle’s old office. There he discovers Ian Rider was really a spy working for a secret government agency called MI6. Alex had been setup to see if he was spy material. The folks at MI6 want him on the same case that his uncle was working on when he was killed. Alex tells them he’s not interested, but they insist stating that they are his new guardians and they have control over his finances so he has no choice. Alex reluctantly agrees and is thrown into training.

This series is being called the James Bond for teenagers, and I agree with that description. Alex has cool gadgets that don’t exist in real life and he escapes all sorts of impossible situations. The plot is preposterous, but it’s interesting and fast-paced and kids love it. I’m sure many will be waiting in line for the Stormbreaker movie being released this fall. Here’s the movie poster.

The graphic novel version of Stormbreaker will be released in October.

Overall, I thought Alex was a bit of a flat character. He does struggle with not wanting to murder anyone (although there’s still plenty of murder in the book), but he doesn’t struggle with the fact that he’s been orphaned. Perhaps that’s for later books in the series.

Heat - by Mike Lupica

I've read several books that I haven't had a chance to review yet so let's start with Heat by Mike Lupica.

Michael Arroyo is the star of his Little League team; in fact, he's such a good pitcher that as his South Bronx All-stars team advances toward the playoffs to qualify for the Little League World Finals in Williamsport, Virginia, some of the coaches file a protest stating that they do not believe Michael is only twelve-years-old. Michemigratedated from Cuba with his father and older brother and they don't have his birth certificate. Michael truly is twelve-years-old, but he's keeping another secret that makes it difficult to defend himself. Meanwhile, a mysterious girl keeps showing up to watch him play and the more he sees her, the more he wants to know about her.

As you all know, I'm not much of a sports fan. One of the sports that I find particularly boring is baseball, but I was riveted by the baseball scenes in this book because characters were so well created that I really cared about what happened. All the dialogue between Michael and his friends seems realistic and added depth to the story.

This is a great book to share with all the current debates about immigration into the U.S. I love that Michael is a fairly regular kid (besides his incredible talent on the field) that readers will relate to because there are plenty of kids out there who were born and raised in the U.S. that don't understand how similar they are to kids who didn't grow up in the U.S.

I also really appreciate that this is a story of a totally normal kid whose family has never been involved in anything bad and ends up involved with social services and could possibly end up in foster care. There is such a negative stimga about families who need social services and kids who end up in foster care, and we need more books like this so kids like Michael have a chance to see someone like themselves in literature and other kids can learn to overcome some negative assumptions they might otherwise make.

I'm sure baseball fans will adore this book, but even the non-baseball fans will really enjoy it.

Peter and the Shadow Thieves - by Dave Barry & Ridley Pearson

Ok, let me get this straight, this novel is a sequel to Peter and the Starcatchers, both novels are prequels to Peter Pan, and this is the second in a series of five novels that Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson have planned.


Now what is this book that I just saw on Amazon, Escape from Carnivale, a Never Land Book also by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson? Amazon says it's scheduled to be released in September and it's told from the perspective of Little Scallop, the princess of the natives on the island where Peter lives. I guess this is becoming quite the franchise. With a title like The Never Land Books I’m guessing it’s a series. I wonder if each book will follow a different character.

I finished Peter and the Shadow Thieves late Sunday night, but it wasn’t one of those books that I keep reading because I had to know what would happen, it was one of those books that I had to push through just to finish. The book was so long!

The book begins just where Peter and the Starcatchers left off; Peter and his friends are marooned on Mullosk Island under the protection of the Mollusk natives, while Captain Hook and his pirates scheme over how to capture the boys from their fort on the other side of the island. The arrival of a new ship of pirates marks the return of Slank led by a mysterious being called Lord Ombra; they are sorely disappointed to discover that the starstuff that transformed Peter into a flying boy who never ages is gone and they set off to find Lord Aster in London to use his daughter Molly as bait to find out where the starstuff is. Of course Peter wants to help Molly so he trails the pirates to London in hopes of finding Molly before the pirates and Lord Ombra do.

I was a bit surprised to find that parts of this novel seemed more like the work of Dickens. In fact, when Peter is lost and desperate in London an older boy finds him and brings him to his master, an old man who shelters orphans and expects them to beg for him in return and won’t let any of the children escape him (suddenly I thought I was reading Oliver Twist)

I was pleased with the addition of a few new characters like George Darling and my favorite, J.M. Barrie. The plot is fast paced and I suspect that those who enjoyed Peter and the Starcatchers will enjoy the sequel too.

New Moon - by Stephenie Meyer

For those of you obsessed with Stephenie Meyer's book Twlight like me, you can find the first chapter of the Sequel, New Moon, here!

Charlie Bone and the Hidden King - by Jenny Nimmo

Ok, all of you Harry Potter elitists out there who refuse to pick up the Charlie Bone series because you think it's just another Harry Potter rip-off, get over it and pick up these books because they are good! I know this series has a lot of similarities to Harry Potter (an outcast boy with black hair suddenly discovers he has magical powers and is whisked away to a private school for children with special abilities), but is that really such a bad thing? Back in my days of working in the children's section at Borders I can't tell you how many parents came up to me and told me their child really liked Harry Potter, but wasn't interested in reading anything else so they had nothing to read until the next Harry Potter came out, and the parent wondered if there was a book that I could recommend that their child might enjoy. There should have been a button that I could push that would turn on a spotlight shining on the Charlie Bone books while a chorus of angels played in the background.

As the story goes, long ago lived the magical Red King who had ten children who each inherited a magical power. After the death of his wife, he lost control of his children and they battled against each other. The Red King disappeared and ever since his ancestors have been locked in a fight of good verses evil. Charlie learns he is one of these descendants. He has the power to step into pictures and interact with them. Once he learns of his powers he is sent to Bloors Academy where other ancestors of the Red King can keep an eye on him.

Charlie Bone and the Hidden King is the fifth book in the series. The plot maintains just as much excitement at the first book in the series. At the beginning of this novel Charlie receives a message that something bad has been set free and he must keep watch. Charlie is further perplexed when he discovers that all of the animals have fled the city. Meanwhile his mother starts acting strange, and he's still searching for information about his missing father.

Fans will be delighted to know that I huge secret is revealed in this book. I'm going to have a tough time waiting for the next book in the series. Hurry Jenny Nimmo, we need more!

The Sister's Grimm: The Unusual Suspect - Michael Buckley

I love it when the second book in a series turns out to be even better than the first, and that is just the case with this book.

Sisters Daphne and Sabrina Grimm continue their escapades as detectives in Ferryport Landing, a town where fairytale characters live among humans. Their grandmother forces them to take time off from their search for their parents to begin school. Daphne is happy to discover her teacher is Snow White, but Sabrina immediately doesn't get along with her teacher or her classmates. Sabrina becomes even more miserable when her teacher is murdered and Puck is assigned to pose as a student and keep an eye on her at school. The sisters become determined to discover what's really going on at their school.

Many series get stuck in a rut following the same formulaic pattern for each book so I was pleasantly surprised that this novel was so different than the first. The first novel feels like a complete story on it's own, but the second ends with a mega cliff-hanger. A glimmer of romance that wasn't in the first book also begins in the second novel.

The book did continue a few things that I like though, it slips in definitions of difficult words that the younger sisters doesn't understand and asks about. It also continues to introduce new characters that readers will love identifying from fairy-tales. I really like that in both novels, Daphne and Sabrina are not perfect detectives. They are real kids who make mistakes and do their best to recover from them. Readers of the first book will absolutely enjoy the second!

August - Peter Pan Prequels

We're meeting at my house this August to discuss Peter Pan Prequels.

Please read:

Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley PearsonCapt. Hook: The Adventures of a Notorius Youth by J.V. Hart

They're both rather long so that's all that's required, but if you have time, here are a few more titles:

Wendy by Karen Wallace

Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg by Gail Carson Levine

Peter and the Shadow Thieves by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson

Surviving the Applewhites

Meet the cast for the Columbus Children's Theater reading of the stage adaptation of Stephanie Tolan's novel Surviving the Applewhites.


I was able to attend the reading before I went on vacation. The play isn't finalized so the purpose of the reading was to get the reaction and advice of local people from the theater world. Katherine Paterson and Stephanie Tolan are working on the script. Can you spot them in the photo with the cast?

I was curious to see how they would handle certain aspects of the book, most notably how they would handle swearing. One of the main characters, Jake, is a juvenile delinquent with colorful language, but the novel never actually uses any swear words it just says that Jake swears or uses parrots words (the parrot in novel also swears). In the stage adaptation Jake never uses actual swear words either, he just says "bleep!" in a high pitch. I think kids will think it's funny, but it got a bit distracting after awhile.

I wondered how true to the novel the play would be since the novel's author was writing the script. The beginning was different; the characters are supposed to walk out of a large copy of the book on stage and then they argue about who the main character of the book really is and begin the story (a clever way for Tolan to remind the audience that if they like the play it's based on a book and they should go buy it). From there on most of the dialogue is straight out of the novel until the end when the actors summarize a lot of what happens instead of adding a lot of characters and staging the play that takes place within the play.

It was an interesting process to watch and I wanted to ask why Tolan chose to leave certain things out like the Guru and one of the uncles, but not a single person raised their hand during the questions and answer period, and I wasn't brave enough to start.

Afterwards I got to meet Stephanie Tolan and Katherine Paterson, and they were both as nice as I imagined them. I meant to ask Katherine Paterson about the movie adaptation of Bridge to Terebithia, but I was too star-struck to do anything but try to keep my mouth from hanging open.

There was another author sitting with Stephanie Tolan and Katherine Paterson on the first row, one of the professors who was present at my thesis defense, Janet Hickman. I have to admit that the most embarrassing moment of the evening was when she asked me what great things I've accomplished since graduation. After graduate school I planned to work as an editor in children's publishing, but then I was surprised when my husband was assigned to do his residency after medical schoool here in Columbus so I'm still working in commercial real estate as a Marketing Manger. At my thesis defense Dr. Hickman and Dr. Keifer told me that they would be happy to help me set up interviews in New York for publishing positions, but they thought I should be a writer. Now here I am, a year later I run into Dr. Hickman and what great things have I accomplished? Uh . . . I joined SCBWI, I still lead the children's literature book club, and I'm in the middle of two horrid rough drafts that seem to be going nowhere, and I'm still working in commercial real estate. Of course Dr. Hickman was totally nice about it and said she understood that everyone has to pay their bills, but I'm sure I left with burning cheeks.

The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

I’m not sure if I fell in love with this book because of the storyline or the author’s writing style or because it was narrated by death, which is such a unique perspective (I know, something narrated by death sounds dreadfully morbid, but it’s not).

I didn’t read this book quickly, I slowly let it soak in, and I actually finished it a week and a half ago, but I wanted to let it ruminate in my brain for awhile before I reviewed it (plus I was on vacation for a week and a half so I haven’t been blogging).

This novel begins with Death telling the story of Liesel Meminger growing up in Munich, Germany during World War II. Liesel is sent to a foster family in Munich because her mother has been associated with the Communist Party. Her foster father, Hans Hubermann, helps Liesel in her struggle to learn to read. Soon words surround Liesel and she becomes the Book Thief.

As you might imagine, this books is filled with the tragic events of the Holocaust, but it’s also full of the details of Liesel’s everyday life. I love the reminder that even while life is full of horrors, it has moments of comedy too.

I really wish that I purchased this book instead of checking it out from the library because there were so many beautiful sections that I was dying to highlight. Zusak has such an original way of describing things. Here are a few that delighted me:

• “Frau Diller smiled. Her teeth elbowed each other for room in her mouth (pg 155)”
  
• “When Max heard the news, his body felt like it was being screwed up into a ball, like a page littered with mistakes. Like Garbage.
  Yet each day, he managed to unravel and straighten himself, disgusted and thankful. Wrecked, but somehow not torn to pieces. (pg 194)”

I think part of the reason I was able to focus on the beautiful writing was the way it was narrated. Since Death was telling the story, the narrator already knew how everything would end and spoiled the ending ahead of time. Normally I would have hated the spoilers, but instead of rushing forward because I had to know what was going to happen, the narration allowed me to just enjoy each passage as I went along. Death even comments of this method of telling the story:

Of course, I’m being rude. I’m spoiling the ending, not only of the entire book,
but of this particular piece of it. I have given you two events in advance,
because I don’t have much interest in building mystery. Mystery bores me. It
chores me. I know what happens and so do you. It’s the machinations that wheel
us there that aggravate, perplex, interest, and astound me (pg 243).

Even though Death was only the narrator, his character intrigued me. Death was not happy about WWII, he thought it was awful. There’s a point in the story where even Death gets emotional about what happens to Liesel and after his description of the events he says, “You see? Even death has a heart (pg 242).” Death sees moments in shades of color and as he describes events he often tells the reader what color the events were. It was so intriguing to me.
All of the characters were original and I know they will each stay with me for quite awhile. I recommend that you go straight to the store or the library and pick up this book. You will be greatly rewarded!

I can’t wait to watch Zusak’s interview with School Library Journal for their Under Cover series.