Hungry for More

After finishing Gone, by Michael Grant, I was grateful I had already stocked the second book in the series, Hunger, so I could start it right away. These books may seem unnecessarily large, but it is hard to put them down, and you find yourself flying through them like nothing. By the end I am not quite sure why the story took almost 600 pages to complete, but I know I wasn't bored for one single page.

After the big showdown between Caine and Sam that destroyed a number of buildings in Perdido Beach, things haven't gotten any better. More and more kids are developing supernatural powers, food is becoming more and more scarce, and Caine and the Coates Thugs are becoming more and more desperate. Sam has tried to organize the kids to harvest food from the fields, but between the kids' lack of motivation to do anything but play video games and watch movies and the terrifying worm mutations in the fields that can devour a kid in less than a minute, the food stays in the fields rotting away.

The food situation isn't the scariest thing facing the kids in the FAYZ, though. The deep, scary darkness in the mine shaft that gave Drake Merwin his whip arm has its grip on both Caine and Lana. Now its hungry and wants Caine to help it. That involves a fuel rod being taken to the mine shaft from the power plant and all the consequences you can imagine. Now Sam is involved in the fight of his life and has to stop Caine and the others from destroying the power plant and all the kids along with it. If only the gaiaphage- the mine shaft creeper- didn't have such a control over the minds of the most powerful kids.

This was a great follow-up to the first book in this proposed six book series. These kids have been left to survive, and some are rising to the occasion and maturing too quickly, but others are just kids. They want their mothers, they want to be taken care of, and they don't understand the concept of taking care of themselves. Most importantly, they can't imagine having to work in order to eat- especially when Sam, Astrid, Edilio and the others have worked so hard to keep them fed. They are just kids, and they act like they are just kids.

The best part of this book is that it gives kids a chance to really see how they would react to a situation like this. Some of the other dystopias and PA young adult fiction out there makes it a bit difficult for kids to imagine themselves in a similar situation, but the Gone novels give them a chance to figure out which kid they would be. Would they be a leader like Sam, a thinker like Astrid, a right-hand man like Edilio, or an opportunist like Quinn? Would they get up and go pick cabbages instead of playing their PS3 or Wii's? Would they be controlling like Caine, logical like Diana, or terrifying and monstrous like Drake? How would they feel if they developed powers and their friends didn't, or vice versa? This book is filled with questions that make for incredible comparisons and discussions. And it will leave you craving more. I have already started the third book, Lies, and am disappointed to wait months for the fourth book to be released!

The Dunderheads

Welcome to our guest bloggers, Ms. Loftus' 6th Grade Literature Class, from The Kildonan School.  Read what they have to say about their class' recent read, The Dunderheads, by Paul Fleischman.

The Dunderheads 

If you like a story of a nasty, fiendish teacher named Miss Breakbone, you will find The Dunderheads to be a thrilling tale of adventure and mystery. “Never have I been asked to teach such a scraping together of fiddling, twiddling, time- squandering, mind-wandering, doodling, dozing, don’t knowing dunderheads.” She reminds us of Cruella Deville! We love the creative characters like Nails whose nails become different shapes and sizes, customized to fit and unlock a safe. He’ll always have a file on hand! Hollywood is an obsessive movie watcher. “She’s got every movie that was ever made and has watched them all eleven times.” She’s been in so many movie theaters that she has night vision. She helps the gang by using her night vision to see in the dark and by using her sixth sense to guess what will happen next. Google Eyes read a book about hypnotism and can now put people into a two week trance. Just ask the librarian. We loved how the kids broke into their teacher’s house to take back a confiscated toy. Some of our readers thought the book was a bit over exaggerated and definitely not for very young kids who might be frightened by their teachers. Most of us sixth graders at The Kildonan School loved this book. So read The Dunderheads and look out for the meanest teacher in town!

I was a Goner in Only Five Pages!

One would think with the crazy first weeks of school, I would have no time to plow through an almost 600 paged book, but Gone, by Michael Grant, does not give you the opportunity to put it down. From the first five pages, this book grabs you by the seat of the pants and hurls you through a creepy post-apocalyptic world where all people over the age of 14 simply disappear- *poof* and gone.

Sam, also known as School Bus Sam after he rescued his school bus full of kids when the driver had a heart attack, was once a hero, but has faded back into the wallflower he is happiest being. When all the adults and kids over 14 disappear in Perdido Beach, though, Sam is the one all the other kids start looking to for guidance. No one know what happened to the adults, but right in front of their eyes, they all just disappeared. Sam is reluctant to be their leader, but when he rushes into a burning building to save a little girl, it is clear heroism is simply in his nature. With the help of his friends, Astrid, Edilio, and Quinn, they set off to find Astrid's autistic little brother and hopefully some adults. What they find, however, is that a giant, electrified border has made a circle around the whole area- exactly a 10 mile radius all around the nuclear power plant. Nothing can come in and no one can get out. Something strange is also happening to everything and everyone living within the wall. The animals are mutating and some of the kids are starting to develop powers.

The real showdown, however, starts when the Coates Academy kids (a school for delinquent rich kids) come down from the school to take over as leaders of Perdido Beach. Their leader, Caine, is all too willing to use his powers to gain control or let his evil sidekick, Drake, wield his menacing punishments. Kids are beaten to death for defying Caine's rules, food is an ever-growing concern, and safety becomes a luxury. Can Sam come to terms with his own power? Can he, with the support of his friends, become a true leader among the kids inside the wall?

This is an amazing story about kids forced to grow up quickly. When they have to defend themselves with guns found at the power plant, Sam finds himself struggling with the idea of asking 8th graders to wield guns while being horrified at asking a 5th or 6th grader to defend themselves. This story has a lot of Lord of the Flies themes as civilized life quickly breaks down. The lead characters are the embodiment of good and evil, with consciences and cravings for power being the ultimate battle. Kids are quickly given roles of nurse, day care operator, guard, and cook. These same kids had parents and adults to take care of them not 24 hours earlier. It is a harsh new world where anything is possible.

The reading level is relatively accessible, but the story is very, very long. It is action packed and there isn't a dull moment in the whole story, but 500+ pages is a lot to ask of a middle school student. Therefore, I would save this great story for an older kid who reads a lot or is really into this type of story. It might overwhelm a struggling reader who isn't ready for such a long book. Otherwise, I would suggest everyone give this book a try! It has a little bit of everything from an apocalypse to supernatural powers! You can't ask for much more! Just be careful when picking up the next two books. The second book is Hunger, and the third is Lies. I accidentally picked up the third book and ruined a little of the second story before I even got a chance to read it! Oh well. It won't stop be from reading the next two books!!

Two Pleasures Struggling Readers Miss Out On

Before school began, I had the absolute pleasure of seeing Suzanne Collins at Oblong Books and Music in Millerton, NY. Oblong is an amazing little indie store, but it is off the beaten path, so I was surprised a celebrity like Ms. Collins was coming to our small town! The event was exciting with a huge line snaking around the store before the event, gift bags from Scholastic, and the anticipation of seeing the beloved author of the Hunger Games series.

When we all packed into the top floor (as many people as it could hold!), we were treated with an incredible reading. First was an excerpt from Catching Fire so we could "get used to the Futuristic Appalachian accent" Collins uses to portray Katniss Everdeen. (It was a pretty cool accent!). Then she read from the first chapter of Mockingjay. Before she started reading I was thinking about a) how uncomfortable I was squished in a lump on the hardwood floor and b) how gosh darn cool it was that Suzanne Collins has the same shoes I do! Then the book reading began and the story of Katniss, District 12, and Panem washed over me like seeing an old friend. I was sitting not 4 feet from the same woman whose books I have read multiple times (the most recent rereading was of the first two books right before the third was released)!

This was not the first time I had the opportunity to meet an author. Working in bookstores throughout college and having attended a number of author functions, I have had the opportunity to meet a number of wonderful authors- some famous, some not. But there is always something exhilarating about the experience- even when the author is nothing like what you expected form their book! This got me thinking. My students are struggling readers. They are dyslexic, and reading has always been elusive for them- this chore adults keep telling them they should like and be good at. My students struggle to get through a single book, let alone to reread it. And they seem so relieved to finish a book that meeting the author is the furthest thing from their minds. It almost seems, both comically and sadly, that they see the author as purposely torturing them with those pages.

Rereading can be such an incredible experience. The first book I reread was Ann M. Martin's 10 Kids no Pets when I was in elementary school. I LOVED this book! Since then, rereading has been comforting for me- like a visit from an old friend or a favorite aunt or uncle- something that doesn't happen often, but when you see them again, it is as though no time has passed. With Suzanne Collins' books, rereading was just as exciting as the first time I plowed through those pages. For my students, however, they are just happy to finish any book. Rarely do they have the opportunity to love a book enough to pick it up again. This realization made me so sad!

How do we get children to revisit stories they have already read? How do we get them excited to meet an author, especially to hear the author read from a book they loved? I think the most crucial part in making book lovers out of struggling readers is finding the perfect book for that student. Yesterday was my first day of classes for the school year. I discovered one of my students has the same love for dystopian and post-apocalyptic literature as I do. We barely got his homework down because we talked about doomsday stories for almost the entire period! It was beautiful! Making a connection with a student like that is the very reason I became a teacher. And throw the books into the mix and you have just made my year! Enthusiasm is contagious. When we are excited about books, our students become excited. If we know our students, know the books, and are excited about them, cultivated a love for reading just might happen, struggling reader or not!

Back on the Air

Thank goodness for Jess, is all I can say. She has been reading and writing like a house on fire...all summer! And the truth is, I don't even have anything to say today. Much like in my other blog, I have developed a nasty case of writer's block. I have read many books this summer and written about none of them; the thought of sitting down to relive them in some book reviews feels like an insurmountable task. I don't know if I will do it at all or if I will start fresh. In the meantime, I need to write something so I can get over my pesky affliction and just start writing.

Instead of a review today, I will leave you with this, my summer reading list. Even though the tutors at The Kildonan School make individualized book lists for our students, I like to have a list on hand...it can help guide the tutors, it is ready to go if a student (or parent) loses the list we sent home, and it helps me narrow down the selections I will purchase for the school. Maybe, you'll it useful as we all go back to school. I know I will refer to it when I set out to pick reading books for my students. Forgive me...I hope I'll be back soon!

Students with Reading Skills 5th Grade and Below:

The 39 Clues Series (various authors; various reading levels)

Colfer, Eoin - Half-Moon Investigations (GE=3.3)

Creech, Sharon - The Unfinished Angel (and others by this author)

DiCamillo, Kate - The Magician’s Elephant (GE=5.0)

Fitzpatrick, Rebecca - Hush, Hush (GE=4.5)

Fredericks, Mariah - Head Games (GE=2.5)

Giff, Patricia Reilly - Wild Girl (GE=4.0) (and others by this author)

Gatekeepers series (various authors; varying reading levels)

Horvath, Polly - My One Hundred Adventures (GE=4.8)

Lockhart, E. - The Treasure Map of Boys

Mead, Richelle - Vampire Academy (GE=3.7)

Morgan, Clay - The Boy Who Spoke Dog (GE=3.5)

Nimmo, Jenny - Charlie Bone series

Prue, Sally - Playing With Fire (GE=3.5)

Shearer, Alex - Canned (GE=3.5)

Stiefvater, Maggie - Shiver (GE=4.5); Lament: The Faerie Queen’s Deception

Students with Reading Skills between 5th and 7th Grade:

The 39 Clues Series (various authors; various reading levels)

Black, Holly and Cecil Castellucci (eds.) - Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd

Collins, Suzanne - Catching Fire (GE=5.4) (and others by this author)

Dessen, Sarah - Along for the Ride (and others by this author)

Fleming, Candace - The Great and Only Barnum

Hoose, Phillip - Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice

Kelly, Jacqueline - The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

Lin, Grace - Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

Madigan, L.K. - Flash Burnout

Myers, Walter Dean - Riot (GE=5.3)

Partridge, Elizabeth - Marching for Freedom

Philbrick, Rodman - The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg

Sonnenblick, Jordan - After Ever After (and others by this author)

Stead, Rebecca - When You Reach Me

Stone, Tanya Lee - Almost Astronauts

Williams-Garcia, Rita - Jumped

Yancey, Rick - Monstrumologist

Yep, Laurence - City of Fire

Students with Reading Levels 7 and Above:

B., David - Epileptic

Barnes, John - Tales of the Madman Underground

Bradley, Alan - The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

Bray, Libba - Going Bovine

Draper, Sharon - Just Another Hero

Fisher, Catherine - Incarceron

Garcia, Kami and Margaret Stohl - Beautiful Creatures

Griffin, Paul - The Orange Houses

Heiligman, Deborah - Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith

Hoffman, Beth - Saving Cee Cee Honeycutt

Jinks, Catherine - The Reformed Vampire Support Group

LaCour, Nina - Hold Still

Larsson, Stieg - The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (and others in this series)

Lieb, Josh - I Am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to Be Your 

President

Ockler, Sarah - Twenty Boy Summer

Peters, Julie Anne - By the Time You Read This, I’ll Be Dead

Rapp, Adam - Punkzilla

Ryan, Carrie - The Forest of Hands and Teeth (and others in this series)

Taylor, Laini - Lips Touch: Three Times (GE=8.4)

Zarr, Sara - Once Was Lost; Story of a Girl

Additional Selections for Outstanding Readers: The Alex Awards:

The Alex Awards are given by the American Library Association to ten books

written for adults that have special appeal to young adults, ages 12 through

18. The winning titles are selected from the previous year's publishing.

Carriger, Gail - Soulless: An Alexia Tarabotti Novel

Currie, Ron, Jr. - Everything Matters

Finkel, David - The Good Soldiers

Grossman, Lev - The Magicians

Kamkwamba, William and Bryan Mealer - The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

Rock, Peter - My Abandonment

Rosoff, Meg - The Bride’s Farewell

Small, David - Stitches: A Memoir

Welch, Diana and Liz Welch et. al. - The Kids Are All Right: A Memoir

Wilson, Kevin - Tunneling to the Center of the Earth

Most Mature Book in the Series!

It is so fun to watch a series grow up with each and every installment. The Gallagher Girls series has done just that. From a silly tween series to an engaging young adult series with real characters and real problems, Only the Good Spy Young is a wonderful transformation to be a part of!

In the third book, Cammie realized it wasn't Macey McHenry the rouge spies were trying to kidnap, it was her. With this realization comes the terrifying reality that her favorite teacher, Joe Solomon, might be part of the organization that is trying to take Cammie. Now that Solomon is on the run, a new Covert Ops teacher is assigned to the Academy, but he seems only concerned with getting into Sublevel Two and what the girls know about Solomon. The most important teacher with the most important class, but he doesn't teach them anything- only presses them for any information they might be hiding. When it comes out that Solomon was somehow involved in her father's disappearance, Cammie is determined to get to the bottom of what Solomon's involvement was in her father's disappearance and her kidnapping attempts. The only way she can really get the information, however, is by learning more about her friend Zach from Blackthorne and with the help of her faithful friends, Bex, Liz, and Macey.

This fourth book was much more serious. The girls are now in real danger at the hand of the secret society that is after Cammie. The fact that the rouge spies shot and nearly killed her Aunt Abby at the end of the third book makes this story line all the more serious. And with more serious danger comes a more thrilling story. The nicest part of this series is the fact that the books are short, and won't overwhelm a reluctant reader, but they will grow with the reader, pushing them to more mature stories and reading levels. This story ends with a little bit of a cliffhanger, so I hope Ally Carter pulls another Gallagher Girls story out soon!

Mockingjays on the Fence

I want to premise this review with a few things. First, Hunger Games is one of my favorite books. Catching Fire was just as good, if not better! Finally, Suzanne Collins must have made some kind of Faustian deal to be such an amazing writer, or at least have some special powers. When the third and final installment was released on Tuesday, I was thrilled! I have been waiting for this book for over a year! But when it came to actually reading the book, I knew something was wrong. Earlier in the week I had reread the first two books and found them just as captivating and engrossing as the first time I had read them. But Mockingjay? I kept putting it down! I had no problem setting it aside to do something else... This didn't bode well.

Mockingjay picks up shortly after Catching Fire left off with the rebels from District 13 saving Katniss, Finnick, and Beetee from the arena in the 75th Hunger Games. Her family and Gale and his family have gotten out of District 12 with a handful of other refugees, but most of the people and all of the district (except Victor's Village) has been bombed and burned to the ground. Now Katniss is living with the other refugees and District 13 in their underground facilities that are basically a subterranean city. But Katniss isn't really "living" in the the realest sense. Mostly she hides, shirks her duties, and avoids all contact with people if possible.

When President Coin, the leader of District 13, wants Katniss to agree to be the Mockingjay, a symbol of freedom and courage for the rebel movement against the Capitol, Katniss refuses at first. When she sees Peeta, who was captured by the Capitol, on TV and he has clearly been beaten and tortured, she agrees to be the Mockingjay with a few conditions- one being the immunity of all Hunger Games victors, including Peeta. District 13 then primps and preens Katniss into the Mockingjay and parades her through multiple propaganda videos (called propos) to keep the war effort motivated. Of course, this involves keeping her mostly out of danger, with the exception of a few surprise attacks by the Capitol.

*Spoiler Alert*
Once the Districts have been won over by the rebels, however, the Capitol is the final battle to be won. Coin creates a group of "Celebrity" soldiers that includes Katniss, Finnick, Gale, and Peeta, among others, and she sends them off to the Capitol. The carefully planned mission, however, goes horribly awry when the "pods" (easily triggered defensive weapons that carry everything from black tar waves, to shrapnel bombs, to tracker jackers) are too numerous to avoid. As the Capitol bombs their previous hiding place and assumes they are all dead, the group makes its way to President Snow's mansion on an assassination mission. It doesn't go as planned, however, and Katniss's greatest fears are quickly becoming realities.

I wanted to love this book so much. In fact, it wouldn't have taken much for me to absolutely love it as much as the first two books in the series, but for some reason it fell short for me. It wasn't a huge disappointment, just not as amazing as the first two books were. I would love to hear how others felt about it, because I am worried maybe my own expectations negatively affected my opinion. The truth is I hated Katniss in this book. She was weak and damaged. Ok, I can accept that. But she was also whiny, petulant, and refused to take responsibility for the revolution she played a part in. I wanted so much more out of this older, more mature, and wiser Katniss. I didn't want her to hide in laundry rooms and broom closets for naps throughout the whole book. Even when she gets Peeta back (in bad shape, but away from the Capitol at least), she is still moping about. She does go on about killing Snow, but it almost seems like an afterthought.

Another complaint was the rushed feeling of the deaths of major characters. I will admit, I was reading quickly at some points, but I would read a paragraph and a character would be gone with very little explanation or time to process. Just GONE! Now, I read quite a few apocalyptic stories and dystopias, and I am not surprised when important characters are killed. That is, after all, the nature of the genre. But why wouldn't you give those characters the respect they are due?

I did like the guilt Katniss displayed at how many lives were at stake because of the revolution she was involved in. Every rebel life, every innocent civilian life, and every district that was affected by the war is like one more thing peeling away at Katniss's sanity. I know she was a reluctant face of this war, but is important to see her pain for each and every death her involvement is even loosely responsible for. This humility was one of the most endearing qualities in Katniss, from her first time in the arena with the loss of Rue and even Thresh, all the way to the loss of her friends, like Cinna, and the people of her district. Unfortunately, this guilt seemed to overwhelm the determined Katniss we saw in the first two books- the Katniss who grieved for those losses but it didn't make her stop surviving the most hopeless of situations.

On a whole, this was a decent ending to the series. It isn't what I expected, but that is a good quality in a book. There were some things I didn't like, but they didn't ruin the whole thing for me. I loved this series as a whole, and can't wait to give it to my new students this school year. I am interested to hear what others though, though!