Fat Vampire: A Never Coming of Age Story

Fat Vampire: A Never Coming of Age Story
by Adam Rex

Doug was turned into a vampire at the worst possible age – 15.  So he will forever be undead, unable to drive, unable to lose his baby fat, unable to clear up his acne.  He will forever be awkward around girls.  He is mysteriously matched with a vampire mentor who will hopefully help him out of this awkward stage to become that glorious vampire image.

This book started out so well – two geeky kids, a vampire and his bff, at a Comic-Con; the vampire too afraid to actually bite someone, stealing blood packets from a Red Cross blood donation van.  But my hopes of the continuing misadventures of an awkward teenage vampire were quickly dashed as the story progressed. At one point in the story (I forget which, since it wasn’t terribly memorable), Doug turns into something completely different than fat and awkward – just kind of an all-around jerk.  I lost more and more interest in him, and none of the other characters made me want to care what happened to them.  This is one that probably everyone could avoid, even the most hardcore vampire-fiction lovers.

Adam Rex, I still love your Frankenstein poetry.

Image taken from http://www.amazon.com.

The Chronicles of Harris Burdick

The Chronicles of Harris Burdick
by Chris Van Allsburg et al.

The chronicles of Harris Burdick are based on the 14 mysterious drawings, titles and captions supposedly left at a publisher’s home in the mid 1950′s.  Mr. Burdick brought them to a Mr. Peter Wenders, promising to bring the rest of the stories that went with the drawings the following day.  Burdick never returned and was never heard from again.  The art and quips were originally published in 1984 after Chris Van Allsburg first heard this story in The Mysteries of Harris Burdick.  Since then, these drawings have captured the imaginations of readers and writers everywhere.  These 14 chronicles, inspired by Burdick’s mysterious work, are written by some of the most prominent authors in fiction.

I had never heard of The Mysteries of Harris Burdick until I read a review for The Chronicles of Harris Burdick.  All the reviews I read raved.  Naturally intrigued, I checked both of them out.  There was reason to rave.  With just one brief sentence, the drawings (obviously the work of the Caldecott medalist Van Allsburg) invoke all kinds of emotions – hilarity, tragedy, horror, whimsy, and curiosity, just to name a few.  It is easy to see how you can’t not be inspired to write the rest of the untold story.  Like with any collection of short stories, there are those that make you wonder, “That was really the best you could do?” And then there are those that you want to reread again as soon as you’ve finished.  For very different reasons, those for me were the ones by Jon Scieszka (hilarity), Linda Sue Park (heartbreak), Walter Dean Myers (mystery), and Chris Van Allsburg (whimsy).

Image taken from http://www.amazon.com.

Hera: The Goddess and Her Glory

Hera: The Goddess and Her Glory
by George O’Connor

The Olympians series continues with Hera, Queen of the Gods, who always seems to be known only for her terrible jealousy and temper.  O’Connor attempts to dispel that reputation and spin Hera’s delicate wrath in a new light.  Starting with Zeus’ pursuit of her, she is painted as a strong female character with family values at the center of her actions.  Most of the book is taken up with the story of Heracles (Hercules in the Latin), who was forced to do twelve tasks to appease the goddess.  While he is furious that he is made to do these things simply because he is a bastard child of Zeus, Jason (of Jason and the Argonauts) gives him a different perspective.  If she hadn’t made him do all of these things, he never would have won the glory and heroism that have made his name known throughout the world.  It even means “The Glory of Hera.”

In the afterward, O’Connor admits that Hera is his favorite goddess.  He contests that she gets a bad rap because pretty much all mythology was written down by men – they never bothered to ask the women their tales.  There were some stories in here about Hera that I’d never heard before.  And there probably are a lot more that will never be told because they never were written down by men.  The book as a whole has a good composition, and Hera’s story and artwork is much easier to follow than her husband’s.  And if you pay attention closely, you can see how they all begin weaving into one another.

Image taken from http://www.amazon.com.

The Vicar of Nibbleswicke

The Vicar of Nibbleswicke
by Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake (illus.)

Robert Lee suffered from dyslexia as a boy.  But he trained his eyes to be able to read properly and grew up and went on to higher education.  He became the Reverend Lee, and went to pastor the small village of Nibbleswicke.  It wasn’t until he got to Nibbleswicke that he realized that this would be his first job ever.  Would he do a good job?  Would the townspeople respect him?  These thoughts and others triggered great stress in Reverend Lee.  And that stress triggered something even stranger – a sort of verbal dyslexia.  He wouldn’t even realize he was doing it – turning the most important words in his sentences into insulting or incomprehensible backwards gibberish.  With the only cure as silly as the affliction, the people of Nibbleswicke all agreed that this vicar was by far, the most interesting cleric they had ever seen.

Another confession time.  This is the first Roald Dahl book I have ever read.  And I’m not just rereading it, either.  Somehow, I missed all of these in my childhood.  I’m so sorry Mr. Dahl.  It won’t happen again.  A light and silly little book, it’s easy to see why generations of children love Dahl’s works.  His is a world of obvious nonsense that Lewis Carroll would be proud of.

Image taken from http://www.amazon.com.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
by Lewis Carroll

Do I really need to write a synopsis for this classic trove of children’s literature? It’s so well-known and celebrated in many countries.  The little girl, Alice, chases the white rabbit down a hole into Wonderland, through a mad tea party, to the silliest croquet game ever invented and incurring the wrath of the death-sentence happy queen.

I feel like I need to confess – though I have read many allusions to and adaptations of and seen movies based on this book, I had not read it until a week or so ago.  If I had realized how short it was (130 pages on my iPhone (which is about 2 paragraphs per page)), I’m sure I’d have picked it up sooner.  Oh well.  Better late than never, right?  Needless to say, I loved it.  Knowing all the many references to it, finally seeing the source was a delight.  I know that Through the Looking Glass won’t be far behind.

Image taken from http://www.amazon.com.

Bugs by the Numbers

Bugs by the Numbers
by Sharon Werner and Sarah Foss

Bugs.  Insects.  Arachnids.  Creepy-crawlies.  They are everywhere.  And kids’ fascination with them has not waned over the generations.  Bugs by the Numbers is filled with fun facts about 21 different kinds of icky gross things in a way that you won’t soon forget.

A worthy offering after their breathtaking debut with Alphabeasties.  But where Alphabeasties amazed us with its design concept, Bugs by the Numbers takes it a step further.  This book is filled with interesting facts about the bugs that are crawling across the pages, and they are presented in a memorable way.  For example, when you see a firefly made up of 98′s and 2′s, you’re going to be much more inclined to recall that only 2% of the energy fireflies use to produce their light is lost to heat than if you were just reading it as a side note.  You probably won’t even remember that after you’re done reading this blog post, since it looks so boring here.  Not so with this book.  Prepare to be dazzled.

Image taken from http://www.amazon.com.

Jim Henson: The Guy Who Played with Puppets

Jim Henson: The Guy Who Played with Puppets
by Kathleen Krull, Steve Johnson, and Lou Fancher (illus.)

Growing up, Jim Henson’s favorite thing to do was to make people laugh.  He put on small productions at home for his family, and eventually acted in school.  He was captivated by the movies.  But by and large, his favorite medium to work with were puppets.  But could a puppeteer actually make a living in the world?  Did people even want to see them on TV?  Well, I think we all know the answer to that one.  Along with his future wife, Jane, they created an ensemble of creatures called Muppets – a combination of marionettes and puppets – who ended up on TV and made the whole family laugh.  But Jim didn’t stop there; he believed TV could be educational as well as entertaining.  Back to the drawing board, he created another cast of Muppety friends and gave them a home on Sesame Street.  People really did want to see puppets on TV and in their movies, and it looks like they still do.

I chose to review this book in honor of the newest Muppet Movie that was released last week.  The Muppets hold a special place in my heart.  It just doesn’t feel like Christmas to me without at least 3 viewings of The Muppet Christmas Carol (1 down, 2 to go) or hearing Beaker’s verse in the Muppet 12 Days of Christmas.  And I wish that The Muppet Babies were still on TV… but that’s neither here nor there right now.  This is a lovely biography that focuses on the surprisingly quiet man behind the Muppets.  While not in-depth enough for a substantial report for school, it’s definitely interesting and timely.  Unfortunately I think that more adults who fondly remember the Muppets will be more inclined to pick this up and read it for pleasure.

Image taken from http://www.amazon.com.

Fandango Stew

Fandango Stew
by David Davis and Ben Galbraith

Fandango Stew is a western-style retelling of the classic tale “Stone Soup.”  When Slim and Luis, two desperados, ride into the town of Skinflint, there’s not much welcome.  The mayor thinks they’re scoundrels looking for a free meal.  But they say all they want to do is make some Fandango Stew – they’ve already got the Fandango Bean, they just need to borrow a kettle.  Well as the pot simmers and Slim and Luis compare this Fandango Stew to the ones made in other towns, the townsfolk will not be outdone by their neighbors.  Soon there’s salt, pepper, onions, potatoes, rice, and anything that looks like a vegetable (even the okra) simmering with the Fandango Bean.  Everyone joins these two travelers in their catchy chorus: “Chilli’s good, so is barbecue, but nothing is FINER than FANDANGO STEW!”

This picture book would make a great read aloud.  The western theme opens up the door for silly voices, and a repeating chorus makes sure all the kids will join in.  This also has some great beginning bilingual possibilities: there are Spanish words strewn throughout the text, but not so many that it’s overwhelming.  This picture book is a great addition to my library.

Image taken from http://www.amazon.com.

After

After
by Amy Efaw

When After opens, we meet Devon Davenport, 15, bleeding profusely, and hiding under a blanket.  That Night was a horrible night, and she’s not entirely sure what happened.  Her mom comes home from the night shift.  She starts talking about this abandoned baby they found in the trash can.  Who could do such a thing?  The police show up.  The find Devon.  They take her away.  What is going on?  It turns out Devon did that: she delivered a baby and threw it in the trash.  She didn’t even know she was pregnant!  Could she really be that kind of person?  Now she finds herself in a juvenile detention center.  She is facing her first trial: whether or not she should be tried as an adult because of the severity of the crime.  She must talk to her lawyer and psychologist, but nothing could make her relive That Night.

This book was haunting.  I know I use that word a lot to describe YA literature, but let me tell you why it was haunting.  I didn’t stop thinking about these characters for 3 days (well into my next book).  The night I finished this book, I dreamed about it.  I dreamed that I went through That Night like Devon did, and it was petrifying.  Honestly, how could someone not know they were pregnant?  Efaw has done some fantastic research and has created a plausible scenario in which someone might not know they were pregnant until they were delivering, and in the shock, dispose of the baby.  It’s not excusable, but it’s absolutely fascinating.  The psychology behind Devon’s story is mind-blowing.  While Devon as a character can be frustrating and kind of flat (a character in shock isn’t really going to be able to show you her emotions), the courtroom scenes kept me on the edge of my page.

Image taken from http://www.amazon.com.

Octopus Soup

Octopus Soup
by Mercer Mayer

Octopus Soup is the wordless misadventure (because as everyone knows, octopi can’t talk!) of a young octopus who leaves his mother and father in search of his own destiny.  After climbing out of the ocean and being tossed about by anthropomorphic animals who are just grossed out by him, he catches the eye of the walrus chef.  The walrus chef is bent on making octopus soup, having seen the young cephalopod running amok.  Will the little octopus escape the tusked terror?

I am usually split on wordless picture books.  They are not easy for me to use as part of a story time, but they are excellent for one-on-one reading and getting your child to glean a story from the pictures and to learn storytelling.  Octopus Soup serves this purpose very well for the older picture book audience.  The panels are busy at best, riotous at worst.  They fit the chaotic nature of the story, but this isn’t for everyone.

Image taken from http://www.amazon.com.