Bluefish

Title: Bluefish
Author: Pat Schmatz
Copyright: 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5334-7

Travis:
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.  Travis has always been the Bluefish, ever since first grade when all the students were assigned leveled reading groups.  While all the kids around him moved forward Travis remained the stupid Blue Fish. 

Velveeta:
When Calvin, the only person who ever helped Velveeta succeed, dies of a heart attack she is left alone with a drunk mother just trying to get by.  It's the first day of school and her mom forgot to buy her any school supplies. In fact her mother forgets everything except to buy more alcohol, she always remembers that. 

Then Velveeta meets Travis all because of a flying shoe, and their lives will never be the same.  Travis meets a teacher who doesn't make him feel stupid because he can't read, and Velveeta makes a friend who cares about her and doesn't say anything about her home situation.  Travis even shares half his dessert with her everyday what could be a better friend then that. 

Both Travis and Velveeta have a lot of pain and regret to work through, but maybe, just maybe together they'll make it alright. 

No Castles Here

Title: No Castles Here
Author: A.C.E. Bauer
Copyright: 2007
ISBN: 978-0-375-83921-4

This book is for all the kids who truly believe that their parents are trying to ruin their life.  Augie Boretski does not fit in.  He just happens to be a scrawny white kid living in Camden, New Jersey.  All Augie wants is to survive Camden so that he can go somewhere better. 

Everything starts to fall apart in Augie's life when he accidentally steals a magical fairy tale book.  Yes, he accidentally stole the book.  That's the sort of kid Augie is. He lies to his mother and the neighbor, takes the train from Camden to Philadelphia, hides out in a bookstore, then runs out still holding a book.  He doesn't even like books, Augie was only holding it as a prop so that no one would bug him. 

Just to make his life worse at the age of twelve Augies mother decides that he needs a "male role model" and signs him up to participate in the Big Brothers program.  Augie is getting beat up every day, having his lunch stolen, and hiding from drug dealers, an ice storm wrecks his school the only place he feels safe.

Augie decides that for the first time in his life he will stand up for something.  Now read the book to find out what he stands for. 

The Last Song

Title: The Last Song
Author: Eva Wiseman
Copyright: 2012
ISBN: 978-0-88776-979-5

I am always on the lookout for accessible historical fiction that is written during a time period that children typically don't know much about.  When I picked up "The Last Song" I was deceived by the cover!  I was shocked when I started reading to discover that it was not a holocaust book like a expected by instead was set in Toledo, Spain during the Spanish Inquisition 1491! 

Well at that point I was committed, I had bought the book, I had started reading the book and I was hooked.  For the record I knew absolutely nothing about the Spanish Inquisition when I started reading.  In fact I couldn't even quite rationalize when 1491 would have been.  None of that stopped me, and in fact the story line is so compelling, none of my concerns even mattered. 

This is the story of Isabel an almost fifteen year old girl who discovers in chapter 1 that she must marry a boy she despises in order to keep her safe from the inquisition.  No matter how many questions she asks no one will tell Isabel why she would ever have to be kept safe her family is full of good Christians what could the problem be?

Isabel soon learns that her family is hiding a dark past and in her time of need people she thought she could trust will desert her.  However, when she meets a young Jewish boy named Yonah she also learns to accept her background and her family for what it is.  Follow the emotional journey of Isabel as she learns what it means to be Jewish during a time of persecution. 

Bake Mice Bake

Title: Bake Mice Bake
Author: Eric Seltzer
Illustrator: Natascha Rosenberg
Copyright: 2012
ISBN: 978-0-448-45763-5

People who regularly read my book reviews know that I hate Easy Readers.  In fact, just about anyone who comes into the library knows about my dislike of Easy Readers.  Typically I won't even bother to review them since there are so many better books in the world.  However I do occasionally find a book that I think I can "use" in some way.

Bake, Mice, Bake is a new easy reader featuring four mice who own the Cakes and More bakery.  Since I used to work as a baker I am a softy for books that involve cooking and baking.  If you are looking for a way to get your child more involved in the kitchen this is the book you want.  It uses all the various action words that your child will need to help learn to cook.  The mice cut, chop, drop, mop, crack, whip, pour, drip etc.  Each short phrase features an adorable picture to illustrate the action. 

One of my favorite pages includes a picture of a mouse dropping an egg, and then grabbing a mop to clean up the mess!  What better skill could we teach children then cleaning up after themselves.  If you are looking for a new easy reader for your child, consider checking out Bake, Mice, Bake and then doing a little baking together!