Mini-Me Reads - Zero Tolerance

TITLE  Zero Tolerance
AUTHOR Claudia Mills
PUBLICATION June 18th 2013 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
READ June 07 to 08, 2013
SOURCE From Raincoast Books for review

Seventh-grader Sierra Shepard has always been the perfect student, so when she sees that she accidentally brought her mother's lunch bag to school, including a paring knife, she immediately turns in the knife at the school office. Much to her surprise, her beloved principal places her in in-school suspension and sets a hearing for her expulsion, citing the school's ironclad no weapons policy. While there, Sierra spends time with Luke, a boy who's known as a troublemaker, and discovers that he's not the person she assumed he would be--and that the lines between good and bad aren't as clear as she once thought. Claudia Mills brings another compelling school story to life with Zero Tolerance.

After reading a few mindless middle grade books that were purely for fun and to pass the time it was nice to pick up Zero Tolerance and delve into a story with strong characterizations and an important message for young readers. We are quickly thrown into Sierra Shepard’s life where being a leader at school and getting A’s are the most important things. We also get to meet a host of really great secondary characters and learn a little something along the way.

Right off the bat I was really happy with Sierra as our MC. She was a great role model for a younger audience in that good grades and being a leader at her school were very important to her. She strived to impress her teachers and parents and she also knew how to respect her elders. We do get to see her falter a bit in her path of righteousness which really brought her to life for me. She has a core group of friends in the beginning and we get to witness their ups and downs as well. As is with most MG titles there is also a pretty subtle romance in Zero Tolerance. Actually I would say that there is a bit more of a focus on the boys in Sierra’s life than in most other MG titles but it was still very much in the background. I liked the progression that her crush’s went on in the novel and how the shift really helped drive the moral of the story home with the reader.

While Sierra always ensures that she does the right thing she never guessed that it would get her into the trouble that it did. She opened her lunch kit one lunch break to find that she had brought her mothers matching kit by accident. What made this so bad is that her mom had packed an apple in her lunch, and along with that, a knife to cut it. Immediately Sierra turns it into the lunch lady who marches her straight to the office. Due to the schools “Zero Tolerance” policy when it comes to bringing weapons to school she faces immediate in school suspension and possibly expulsion. I liked how the plot really brought out that there are grey areas in what is right and wrong. Sierra did the right thing and got herself into so much trouble and I could really see both sides of the argument (though of course I think she should never have been penalized for such an innocent mistake.) We also get to meet the “bad kids” while she serves the full week of her suspension which also brought to light that people aren’t always who you think they are.

A very sweet, quick read with a great lesson to be learned, Zero Tolerance is a great read for any MG reader. Bringing to light a story of acceptance and not judging books by their covers this is not one to be missed.

Mini- Me Reads - The 13-Story Treehouse

This week I am super excited to be featuring a really fun book that I got from Macmillan here on Mini-Me Reads.  I know this meme has kind of fallen to the wayside in the last little while but I got a whole bunch of children's and middle grade books so it will slowly be coming back!

TITLE The 13-Story Treehouse
AUTHOR Andy Griffiths, Terry Denton
PUBLICATION April 16th 2013 by Feiwel & Friends
READ May 23, 2013
SOURCE From Macmillan for review

Who wouldn't want to live in a treehouse? Especially a 13-storey treehouse that has a bowling alley, a see-through swimming pool, a tank full of sharks, a library full of comics, a secret underground laboratory, a games room, self-making beds, vines you can swing on, a vegetable vaporiser and a marshmallow machine that follows you around and automatically shoots your favourite flavoured marshmallows into your mouth whenever it discerns you're hungry.

Two new characters – Andy and Terry – live here, make books together, and have a series of completely nutty adventures. Because: ANYTHING can happen in a 13-storey treehouse.

This is a major new series from Andy and Terry- and it's the logical evolution of all their previous books. There are echoes of the Just stories in the Andy and Terry friendship, the breakaway stories in the Bad Book (the Adventures of Super Finger), there's the easy readability of the Cat on the Mat and the Big Fat Cow, and like all these books, the illustrations are as much a part of the story as the story itself.

On an afternoon when I was incredibly tired and just had no drive to pick up the next novel in my reading pile, I decided I needed a light read and picked this one up. It was just what I needed at the time! This was wildly funny and reading it just didn’t take much thought at all. I breezed through it in about a half an hour (which made me feel like I accomplished something huge on an otherwise unproductive day, so brownie points there) and had so much fun in the process.

Andy and Terry live in the most kick-butt treehouse ever thought up. I mean, this place is complete with a bowling alley, full bathroom, underground laboratory and even a shark tank. With the pressure of their publisher on their backs to finish their next novel, Andy and Terry are trying to buckle down and get their work done but there are just distractions everywhere. As you can tell, there isn’t a whole bunch of realism here, it’s an escapism tale and brings the laughs.

Terry & Andy are pretty much opposites of each other. While Andy is much more goal oriented and spends much of the novel simply going along with Terry so he can finally get him settled down to work, Terry is just everywhere. This guy had the attention span of a fish! He could not sit down and concentrate on anything. I had hoped that there would be a message there about how in life it is important to buckle down at times and get the task at hand done, but it ended up that Terry's zaniness payed off and helped the cause.

The illustrations are rich and plentiful. Some pages didn’t even have words and just featured funny comic strip like doodles for the reader to zoom through. I actually found myself staring at the pictures for much longer than I spent really reading the novel. Upon finishing my 5 year old daughter came up and flipped through the book while I described the story for her and I basically ended up reading it twice. The second time around she laughed even harder than I had.

There isn’t much of a lesson to be learned here but I did enjoy watching Andy and Terry get up to random shenanigans and realize that the best stories come from every day life. From flying catnaries to gorillas hunting oversized bananas and sea monsters disguised as gorgeous mermaids this hilarious middle grade novel holds nothing back and it pays off in the end. This is middle grade for a younger audience, I would say 5-10, and it’s perfect for exactly who it is aimed at. I think this is one that my kids and I will be reading a few times in the future.

Wonder Review

TITLE Wonder
AUTHOR R.J. Palacio
PUBLICATION February 14th 2012 by Knopf
READ March 17 to 18, 2013
SOURCE Purchased

I won't describe what I look like. Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse.

August (Auggie) Pullman was born with a facial deformity that prevented him from going to a mainstream school—until now. He's about to start 5th grade at Beecher Prep, and if you've ever been the new kid then you know how hard that can be. The thing is Auggie's just an ordinary kid, with an extraordinary face. But can he convince his new classmates that he's just like them, despite appearances?

R. J. Palacio has written a spare, warm, uplifting story that will have readers laughing one minute and wiping away tears the next. With wonderfully realistic family interactions (flawed, but loving), lively school scenes, and short chapters, Wonder is accessible to readers of all levels.

I went into Wonder with really high expectations. I had heard so much raving about how touching the story was and finally decided it was time to dig in for myself. All of the praise for this one is entirely warranted. I loved this story from page one straight through to the final page. It's probably the most heartwarming and hopeful story I have ever had the pleasure of reading.

August Pullman is starting grade 5. This is a huge year for him because not only is it his first year of middle school, but it is his first year ever going to a regular school. See, Auggie was born with a severe facial deformity. He was in and out of surgeries all throughout his childhood and frankly dealing with the publics stares and comments just wan't something his parents were prepared to make him deal with. But once grade 5 came it was decided by Auggie and his parents that it was time to put himself out there. As I'm sure you can imagine many heartbreaking scenes come as a result of Auggie putting himself into such a public place. There were people he met in school that I wanted to punch because they were so cold, but what is so great about this story is that there were way more characters that I wanted to hug or give a hand shake.

Sure Auggie meets his fair share of bullying as the story goes on, but he is always such a happy guy. I admire him, I think he has a lot of traits that people in his situation would kill to have. Helping him through everything is a great group of core friends, starting with Summer. I loved how summer was some random girl who just sat with him and day one and continued to do so. She always made him feel welcome and like he had something to look forward throughout the day. Then there is Jack, sure Auggie and Jack had their ups and downs but as we got to know Jack more I became accepting of his faults and saw that he was someone who really was trying to do the right thing, he just had to figure it out the hard way. As if these friends aren't good enough, we have Auggie's family also by his side.

This novel had an amazing family unit. As his parents, his sister Olivia and Auggie all conversed with one another they became people that I loved. You could see in the witty banter between the parents that they really loved one another, I thought they were absolutely adorable. The character that I connected most with was Olivia. She really struggled with how she was often forgotten about because Auggie needed so much care. Her inner conflict with knowing that Auggie needed more attention but yet wanting to be in the limelight was portrayed so well in the story.

One thing that ended up taking me by surprise in Wonder was that we were treated to multiple POV's. I had no idea going into this that it was told in that way and every time I switched the page and saw the name of who was coming up it was like a present. The POV's flowed together so well that I felt like I was always hearing from exactly who I should be in that point of the story. I also really liked the short chapters. Some are merely a page and others span up to 4 but they are all titled and tell of an incident. It feels like we are reading journal entries from each of the characters.

I loved how this story was told, I loved the characters in the story and even more so I loved the relationships between all of the characters. This story dealt with some heavy bullying but it was so uplifting. I took away a message of hope for mankind, and how kindness really shines through in darkness. This is a must read for anyone and everyone. Pick this one up on your next trip to the bookstore, it will not disappoint.

One + One = Blue Review

TITLE One + One = Blue
AUTHOR M.J. Auch
PUBLICATION April 30th 2013 by Henry Holt and Co.
READ April 11, 2013
SOURCE Raincoast Books for review

Twelve year-old Basil knows he’s special—he’s been associating numbers with colors since he was a kid. His gift (or curse) has turned him into somewhat of a loner, but his world begins to change when he meets Tenzie, the new girl in school who has similar freakisms. She, too, has synesthesia (a condition in which one type of stimulation evokes the sensation of another). At first, Basil is somewhat annoyed with Tenzie’s pushiness, but after Basil’s estranged mother returns, his life is turned upside down . . . and Tenzie may be the only person to help him put it back together again.

Once again, MJ Auch has written a thoughtful coming-of-age novel that explores friendship, family, and fitting in.

I was so excited when I picked up ONE + ONE = BLUE and saw that the book deals with synesthesia. When I read about the condition in R.J. Anderson’s ULTRAVIOLET I quickly became fascinated with how people associate every day things with colors, or taste emotions. Could imagine being able to smell fear? M.J. Auch didn’t delve into the logistics as much as I was hoping she would, but with this novel we got a really cute story about relationships and family.

Basil is a 12 year old boy who has just entered the public school system for the first time after being homeschooled by his grandmother. Quickly we see that he is having a lot of trouble in math due to his condition. When he looks at a worksheet instead of seeing numbers and problems, he sees a rainbow. What’s worse is that some numbers in his pallet have the exact same color (1 & 0 both being white for example.) I felt really bad as he struggled with keeping up with the students around him. It was quite frustrating at the same time because he just wouldn’t ask for help and instead tried to BS his way through everything. Through this and other aspects of his life it became clear that Basil was pretty thick headed and stubborn. Oftentimes I found myself really frustrated with him because he had a tendency to be downright rude. But we do get to see a softer side of him as Tenzie begins to break down the barriers that he has had up for so long. Tenzie had such a big personality, she knew who she was and didn’t follow all of the social norms. I liked what she brought out in Basil (or Pesto as she would have us call him.) She was an incredibly sweet girl who showed Basil that he wasn’t alone as she pretty much forced herself into his life.

As these two get to know each other we learn a lot about their families and things aren’t always great in that department. Tenzie’s story broke my heart. She had ever present parents but ones who didn’t pay attention to her at all. They were so tied up in their work and they didn’t make time for her. They were also pretty selfish, always putting what they needed first and what Tenzie needed (like school supplies) second. Basil’s home life had issues too. Sure he lived with his sweet grandmother (who was awesome and artsy by the way) but he was left there by her mother as she shipped off to pursue her Hollywood dreams. As you can probably imagine, circumstance sets Basil and Tenzie off on an adventure that brings them and their families together in a great way.

A fun story about relationships and characters, ONE + ONE = BLUE is a sweet story for any middle grader. It is definitely one of the more simplistic and innocent stories I have read in the genre but it was a fun read nonetheless. I do wish we had gotten more about the synesthesia that Tenzie and Basil both had because I feel like for much of the story that was put on the back burner and only mentioned here and there. Touching lightly on junior high bullying and heavily on the importance of family this is a cute story that is sure to please any young reader.

Marco Impossible

TITLE Marco Impossible
AUTHOR Hannah Moskowitz
PUBLICATION March 19th 2013 by Roaring Brook Press
READ February 25 to 26, 2013
SOURCE From Raincoast Books for review

Thirteen-year-old best friends Stephen and Marco attempt a go-for-broke heist to break into the high school prom and get Marco onstage to confess his love for (and hopefully steal the heart of) Benji, the adorable exchange student and bass player of the prom band. Of course, things don't always go according to plan, and every heist comes with its fair share of hijinks.

Hannah Moskowitz became an author I’m very excited about after I read and loved her YA novel Teeth. Her writing style was a fast favorite of mine and I really enjoy her ability to be gritty and honest while weaving a pretty fantastical tale. Marco Impossible showcased everything I love about her but in a much more innocent way. This story dealt with issues such as bullying and tackled the confusing dynamics of many types of relationships.

Stephen has grown up being Marco’s best friend and detective partner. When there is a mystery going on the two of them always pull out their trusty notebook (full of information on everyone and everything) and hop on the case. I really liked how this habit of theirs showcased them striving to remain young in the face of entering high school and attending different schools. With their final heist of getting Marco into the prom so he could profess his love to his crush of 3 years, Benji, you could feel that they were grasping at straws and trying to live inside the heist rather than face reality. While all of their hijinx is taking place you also have Stephens large family in the background which brings a whole other aspect to the story. His now single mother is tasked with taking care of six children and through that everyone really pulls their weight in the family. I really loved the family dynamic here, all of the siblings would step up to help out the mother and their fellow siblings in any way they could and you really felt a strong family bond from all the characters.

I loved that we got the story from Stephen’s perspective. The novel really revolves in most ways around Marco, but we get a much more well rounded view of what is happening from Stephen. His need to protect Marco in the face of the bullying that’s happening is definitely admirable and you could tell he thought of Marco as another sibling of his. Marco didn’t come across as the nicest, most personable guy on Earth but as the story wears on you see that he kind of always has his guard up and I started feeling bad for him. He was ignoring all of the ugly in his life, only showing the pretty and fabulous, and letting everything build up inside. He was nervous about his new baby sister and feeling down because of how people treated him. All of these feelings were building up and really taking a toll on Stephen and Marco’s relationship and the progression their friendship goes on in the novel is really what kept me reading. They drive each other crazy and are holding so much in so I was dying to see the point where everything would finally come to the surface.

For me this story was really about the great relationships between the characters and I loved how well developed everything was. This is so much more than just your average MG novel and I’m happy to have finally read one that features a gay teen on a mission to profess his love. There needs to be more books like this because there is definitely an audience that needs these types of stories and I am thankful to Moskowitz for putting this out there. Marco Impossible is a quick read that will most definitely leave an impact on any reader.

The 13th Sign Review

TITLE The 13th Sign
AUTHOR Kristin O'Donnell Tubb
PUBLICATION January 8th 2013 by Feiwel & Friends
READ December 31, 2012
SOURCE Raincoast Books for review

What if there was a 13th zodiac sign?

You’re no longer Sagittarius, but Ophiuchus, the healer, the 13th sign.

Your personality has changed. So has your mom’s and your best friend’s.

What about the rest of the world?

What if you were the one who accidentally unlocked the 13th sign, causing this world-altering change—and infuriating the other 12 signs?

Jalen did it, and now she must use every ounce of her strength and cunning to send the signs back where they belong. Lives, including her own, depend on it.

I was told a few weeks ago that whenever I review a middle grade novel I talk about how surprised I am by it. So I am going to switch it up in this one and say that The 13th Sign was a refreshing read. Something about the innocence of the characters and the genres ability to get me to go along with whatever fantastical plot the author throws at me, gets me everytime. This one reminded me a lot of Jumanji, the releasing of ancient magic and the race to put it back in its place.

On her thirteenth birthday Jalen and her friend Ellie head out to fulfill her tradition of going to the local voodoo shop and having her horoscope read to her. Upon searching the shelves she comes across a mysterious locked book called The Keypers of the Zodiack, upon trying to purchase the book she is told that she isn’t ready for it and immediately shutdown by the shopkeeper. So naturally this sparks the girls' interest and they take the book and run (but it’s not really stealing because they leave money behind! Haha) I’m sure you can kind of piece together where the story goes from here; the girls open the mysterious book and release the 13th sign into the universe which leads to personality shifts in everyone and also the other 12 signs on a hunt for Jalen and to put the sign (and it’s hidden power) back.

The story is very much a race against time. I loved how fast paced it was and the challenges that Jalen had to overcome when she met each sign were definitely interesting. I will say though that while the challenges in the beginning felt epic and really tested Jalen’s strength, the ones at the end felt rushed and rather lazy. At first she has to test her strength and wits and really push herself to the limits and some of the very last ones were as simple as kicking over a pot. I really wish the caliber of the first challenges was maintained throughout. Even though it wasn’t, it still made for an engrossing read and I was sucked into a plot that didn’t let up at all.

As for the characters here, it’s really difficult to talk about how I connected with them. After the switch they weren’t even sure who they were anymore so neither was I. I will say that while Jalen started out feeling like a timid girl who always stayed in her place, I loved that she would just blurt out snarky things after the change and be left wondering where it came from. Her best friend Ellie was also a winner for me she was hilarious! I liked the girls banter and could feel that their friendship was deep rooted.

Of course, being a middle grade novel, there isn’t too much romance to be had here, which is one of my favorite things about the genre. Sure there are a few crushes here and there but the main focus is definitely on the plot. Brennan, Ellie’s older brother and Jalen’s crush, started out as someone that I really didn’t like. He was rude to the girls and just all around pushy but once the switch occurred he was a caring guy who was looking out for the girls best interest at every moment. This created a neat dynamic because Jalen remembered him for who he was, and he had no idea so he didn’t understand why she was so indifferent to him. Along that line though I was left to wonder why he didn’t remember anything about himself from before the switch but at the end of the novel was able to know exactly where to go because of a boy scout trip he had been on when he was younger. Maybe an explanation was needed to say that they didn’t remember how they acted but they still had memories of things they had done.

While I did take issue with a few elements in The 13th Sign it was still a novel I enjoyed a lot and was able to devour in a single sitting. It’s a fast paced story that is rich in astrological history and even some Greek mythology sprinkled in for good measure.

The Bully Book Review

TITLE The Bully Book
AUTHOR Eric Kahn Gale
PUBLICATION December 26th 2012 by HarperCollins
READ December 12, 2012
SOURCE HarperCollins for Review

The rules governing middle school are often a mystery, but for Eric Haskins, they’re a mystery he needs to solve, and fast. He’s a normal, average kid, until sixth grade starts. For some inexplicable reason, the class bully and his pack make Eric the Grunt. Even his best friend since first grade turns on him. Eric can’t figure out why he’s the Grunt until he hears about the Bully Book, a cryptic guide that teaches you how to “make trouble without getting in trouble, rule the school and be the man” and how to select the Grunt-the kid who will become the lowest of the low.

Eric Haskins may be this year’s Grunt for now, but he’s determined not to stay at the bottom of the social ladder forever. Hilarious and compelling, The Bully Book is a must-read for every tween, tween parent, librarian and educator!

     “I don’t like being me anymore.
     When I write “anymore” it makes it seem that there was a time I did like being myself. But that’s not what I’m saying.
     It’s not like I was this kid who looked in the mirror every morning and shouted, “I love myself, and it’s gonna be a great day.”
     Instead I thought, I want Cheerios for breakfast. I didn’t think about me at all. And I never thought about liking myself or not.” -quoted from an unfinished ARC

It’s books like this that make me wonder why I don’t read more middle grade novels. They always scare me; I worry that they will be too pretty and too cheesy but The Bully Book surprised me in the best way possible. We meet Eric Haskins who is just starting the 6th grade. He’s pretty excited to be at the top of his school, but is shut down pretty quick when a boy who was his best friend comes in and gives him the coldest shoulder ever. From there, things go downhill. Eric realizes that he has been deemed the Grunt and that the three popular boys of the class are out to make his 6th grade year a living hell. Eric sets out on a mission to figure out why he is the Grunt and just what exactly that is. He uncovers a decades long mystery and finds out some surprising people are at play.

     “Stop making fun of Colin. It makes you sound like an idiot. And stop calling people gay. I don’t even know why that’s an insult. There are real gay people in the world, you know, and there’s nothing wrong with them. Calling someone gay, like it’s a bad thing, is like calling someone a dentist – it doesn’t make any sense!” - quoted from an unfinished ARC

I really liked Eric. He didn’t just sit back and accept that he was being bullied. He actively set out on a mission to find out exactly what was going on and he never gave up. I also liked how even though these boys were being terrible to him he never lashed out and lost his cool, he always seemed to have a pretty level head about things. Eric didn’t have many friends in his life but Melody was there for him as much as possible. She was a sassy girl who wasn’t afraid to stand up for Eric, which was refreshing. As the story wore on she made some terrible decisions that had me wanting to scold her, and that just felt very out of character for her, which was a bit of a let down.

Being a middle grade novel, there isn’t much romance to be had. There are little crushes and Eric often talks about his feelings. I thought all of it was handled really well and felt quite realistic for the age group. They weren’t having emotions that were too old for them, which was perfect. Friendship is really at the heart of the story and as the story unfolds, Eric learns a lot about friendship.

The Bully Book is an everyday tale told in the form of a mystery. I really enjoyed the format of the novel, we get Eric’s journal entries and between the entries we get to read pages from The Book. It felt like we were seeing both sides of the story as we saw what was happening to Eric and the instructions that The Book gave to the readers. I think Gale’s decision to throw in the mystery was a fantastic idea that let readers feel like they weren’t just reading a depressing story about bullying. For a MG novel with a mere 240 pages this novel packs quite a punch. Seeing the quotes at the beginning from kids and teachers who have read this story was great and I think that kids heading into Junior High should definitely read this book!