Bibliography
Paulsen, Gary. 2009. Notes from the dog. New York: Random House, Inc. ISBN 978-0-375-73845-3
Plot Summary
Johanna is a young women in her twenties who is fighting breast cancer. She is house sitting the house next door to Finn. Finn is a quiet fourteen year old boy and he doesn't have many friends. This is a story of their friendship and how Johanna helps Finn to learn to connect to people.
Critical Analysis
Gary Paulsen is known for his adventure books but in "Notes from the Dog" he writes about a different type of adventure. Here a young boy learns more about himself while helping someone else. Finn's plans for the summer ".....involved reading as many books as I could right here on my front steps and avoiding people." Finn was quiet and introverted. He only had a few friends, he thought people were "mysterious and high maintenance" He preferred people in books and had planned to speak to fewer than a dozen people that summer, that is until he met Johanna. His friendship with Johanna brings out the best in Finn and he grows and becomes a better person because of it. This book will appeal to most middle school boys who feel like they don't belong like Finn. Plus it is a short book only 132 pages long. The story does deal with the heavy topic of cancer, and a young women with breast cancer at that. Paulsen writes about it with sensitivity and a touch of humor. "Paulsen mixes sorrow and humor, depicting the rough side of chemo realistically, and he shows Finn and his friend Matthew displaying competence and compassion in caring for Johanna in a way that demonstrates to the middle-school audience that taking action to help is much better than turning away." Susan Lempke wrote in her review for Horn Book. This story is not the adventure story that one would expect from Paulsen but it is an adventure in self-discovery as Finn learns more about himself and his own strengths. It is an sweet story that most middle school students, boys as well as girls will enjoy.
Review References
The Horn Book 85 no5 572 S/O 2009
Reviewer: Lempke, Susan Dove
Bibliography
Pratchett, Terry. Nation. New York: HarperCollins, 2008. ISBN 9780061433016
Plot Summary
A tsunami destroys a small island nation. Mau, an island boy and Daphne an aristocratic English girl who was shipwrecked on the island, try to rebuild a community on the island along with a few refugees.
Critical Analysis
In the Author Notes, Terry Pratchett writes that the setting of his book "Nation" is in a "parallel universe", the story is an "alternate history" where there are similarites to actual historical events, peoples and places and other parts are fictional. Sue Giffard wrote that the books was "A rich and thought-provoking read." for School Library Journal. The themes in the story are of an adolescent transitioning to adulthood and an individual versus society. Both are themes most teens identify with as they are learning about what it means to live within a society and are in the midst becoming adults. The story is an adventure story of survival and growth, both as an individual and within a society. The main characters are rich and strong, Ermintrude/Daphne is a smart girl and Mau is thoughful and resourceful. Mau and Daphne, from completely different societies, have to learn to be leaders as they try to rebuild a civilization on the island as other survivors of the tsunami began to come around look to them for help and leadership.
Review References
School Library Journal v. 54 no. 10 (October 2008) p. 158
Reviewer Giffard, Sue
Awards
Micheal L. Printz Honor Book 2009
Bibliography
Werlin, Nancy. 2008. Impossible. New York: Dial Books, 2008.
Plot Summary
After Lucy is raped and she becomes pregnant, she learns that she is the decendant of woman who was cursed by an Elfin Knight. She has to perform three impossible tasks in order to break the curse. Her only clues are the lyrics to a folk song. If she is unable to perform the tasks she will suffer the same fate as her mother and grandmothers before her, going insane after the birth of her daughter and her daughter will suffer the same curse.
Critical Analysis
This was a very intriguing story, a magical modern love story based on old Scottish ballad. The story is a mystery, a romance and touch of fantasy. The plot was exciting and interesting and the protagonist Lucy was a strong character, a normal teenager who has suffered but has the love and support of her friends and family. Jennifer Montgomery writes in her review for School Library Journal "This unique story flows smoothly and evenly, and the well-drawn characters and subtle hints of magic early on allow readers to enter willingly into the world of fantasy." The story touches on fantasy and magic, an immortal elf who has cursed a line of women, but was very believeable. The women before the protagonist, Lucy, were unable to solve the puzzle and went mad because of it. It is believable because the world thinks the women were insane but once the reader learns of the curse, were they really suffering from insanity or the punishment from not being able to solve the curse in time?
Nancy Werlin was inspired to write the story based on the balled "Scarborough Fair" by Simon and Garfunkel. After she analyzed the lyrics of the song as an adult and learned the history of the ballad as a folksong from the 1670's in Scotland, she came up with the idea for the book. Werlin thought that a young women could indeed prove her love by solving the seemingly impossible tasks in the folksong using technology and research with the help of friends and family. The three tasks "Tell her to make me a magical shirt/Without any seam or needlework...Tell her to find me an acre of land/Between the salt water and the sea strand....Tell her to plow it with just a goat's horn,/And sow it all over with one grain of corn..." were the tasks that were impossible to solve. The tasks are the quest that Lucy goes on, the mystery she must solve to save herself and the future of her daughter. Werlin thought that the lyrics of the song were cruel for a man to ask a women to perform three impossible tasks to prove her love. The love story that Werlin wrote tells how true love and the love of family and friends, was able to solve that mystery and break that curse.
Review References
School Library Journal v. 54 no. 9 (September 2008) p. 194, 196
Reviewer: Jennifer D. Montgomery
Awards
■School Library Journal Best Book of 2008
■Booklist Editor's Choice for 2008
■Kirkus Reviews Best YA book of 2008
■VOYA Editor’s Choice book for 2008
■ABC (American Indepent Booksellers for Children) Best Books for Teens selection for 2008
■"Top 10 Fall 2008 Children's IndieNext" choice from the American Independent Booksellers Association (# 4)
■Publishers Weekly "Cuffie" honorable mention winner for 2009 in the categories "Favorite Novel of the Year" and "Best Novel for Young Readers That Adults Would Love If They Knew About It"
■American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults, 2009
■Texas Tayshas Reading List selection for 2009-2010
■Chicago Public Library Best of the Best reading list selection for 2008
■Georgia Peach Book Award list selection for 2009-2010
■CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Education) Choice for 2009
■New York Public Library "Stuff for the Teen Age" selection for 2009
■Capitol Choices list selection for 2009, District of Columbia metropolitan area
■Boston Authors' Club highly recommended book for 2009
■An ALA Teens' Top Ten nominee for 2009
■New York State suggested reading list for the Charlotte award, in the Young Adult category, for 2010
■Kentucky Bluegrass Award master list, 2009-2010.
■Pennsylvania School Library Assoc. YA Top Ten (or so) list
■Massachusetts Book Award honor book, 2009.
■Tennessee Volunteer State book award master list, YA division, 2010-2011.
■An ALA popular paperback selection, 2010.
■An Oklahoma Sequoyah Master List selection, High School, 2011
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