Recently in Chapter Books Category

The Other Side of the Island by Allegra Goodman

In the 18th year following Enclosure, everything in people's lives is regulated.  Honor and her parents move to live on Island 365, where they are kept safe by a Watcher's tower, curfew is strictly set for everyone, and behavior is expected to conform to the norm.  But Honor's parents don't conform.  They leave in the middle of the night, take her to the edge of the ocean to feel the forbidden dangerous water, and most public of all, have a second child!  Honor knows that because of these behaviors, her family is in danger.  She does her best to conform herself, doing her school work perfectly, acting the same as other people, but it may not be enough to keep her family intact.

I have a mixed reaction to the cover of this book.  I love the girl, the clouds, the motion of it.  However, it really doesn't read as dystopian science fiction and I worry that fans of that sort of novel will miss it.  This book is a gripping look at the future after climate change has melted the polar icecaps.  The world is now islands which are Enclosed with domes from the dangerous weather patterns.  Everything is about being safe, and that is achieved through uniformity and unity.  But at great cost.

The characters are well done, especially Honor who is very human, while being trapped in a society she doesn't understand.  Her reactions drive the book, moving the story forward as she discovers the truth about her world.  The setting is equally well depicted, helping to show rather than tell the truth about the world to the reader. 

Highly recommended for fans of dystopian fiction. 

Swords by Ben Boos.

This nonfiction book is packed full of information on many types of swords ranging from Iron Age swords to those carried by ninjas.  Readers will enjoy the detailed information on each type of sword and its wielder, filled with details about the blade, the hilt and the way it is used in battle.  In each chapter, there is a vivid double-spread that highlights swords from that period rendered in 3-D style. 

This is a book that will capture children's imaginations, have them poring over the book, and talking about it with friends.  The ink line drawings are detailed and accompanied by the detailed information while the two-page spreads are images only, allowing the swords to speak for themselves.  All sorts of readers will enjoy this book, whether looking for information or just fuel for their imagination.

No needs to sell this book, just face it out on your nonfiction shelves and it will never ever sit for long.  Recommended for ages 8-12.

The Worry Tree by Marianne Musgrove.

Juliet is a born worrier.  She worries about lots of things: her grandmother falling, her little sister driving her batty, hygiene, her parents arguing and especially her two best friends fighting over her.  After things with her little sister finally come to a head, she gets to move into her father's old junk room.  There she discovers a mural on the wall, hidden behind the wallpaper.  It shows a tree filled with animals, designed to take your worries and watch over them for you.  Exactly what Juliet (and her grandmother as a little girl) needs. 

This is a lovely timeless story perfect for those children who find themselves victims of their own worries.  Juliet is nicely portrayed as a worrier, not a whiner.  She feels responsible for so many things, just as many children do.  Her family is seen as busy but still involved: a true modern family.  Additionally, the process of telling your concerns to someone or something else is sound advice. 

This book would work as a read aloud for classes as well.  A nicely done, Australian import, it is appropriate for ages 7-9.

What the World Eats by Faith D'Aluisio and Peter Menzel.

I dare you to pick up this book and not be captivated.  Through photographs, fascinating statistics and humanizing essays, readers get a glimpse of what people in different countries eat each week.  Every entry in the book begins with a photograph of a single family surrounded by the food they would normally consume in a single week.  Then the foods are categorized and listed, and that family's lifestyle is examined in detail as well.  Small details of their lives are shared and those lend the greatest insight into the similarities and differences between cultures.  Using the vehicle of food, our world is revealed in intimate and loving detail.

Menzel's photographs are vivid, striking and clear.  He not only photographs families and food, but often reveals the inner spirit of the subjects as well.  There is a story in every photograph that goes beyond meals.  The differences between cultures is staggering, just as it should be.  This is the type of book that American children need to be exposed to, to see beyond the consumerism that surrounds them and into the lives of others who share our planet.  The wonder of the book is that it is all managed without lectures, rather it is left up to the reader themselves to draw their own conclusions. 

I savored this book, reading about just a few families and then setting it aside so that it wouldn't disappear too quickly.  It is a great book to have available in a classroom where children can peruse it and discuss it.   Highly recommended, it is appropriate for ages 9-15.

Brooklyn Bridge by Karen Hesse.

Joseph feels trapped in his Brooklyn apartment surrounded by the Teddy Bears that his family invented a few months ago.  The bears have taken over their lives, their space and their toy store.  Now Joseph spends his days stuffing bears, packaging them, and being responsible for his younger brother and sister.  And all he longs to do is go to Coney Island, the symbol of all that is fun and all that is not his current life.  But life isn't that simple, as he quickly finds out as he faces falling in love, a death in the family, and much more during the summer he's fourteen years old.

Hesse has created a novel filled with characters that are so well written they come to life.  Even the more extreme characters in the family ring true and have hidden complexities to them which are a treat to discover.  Joseph himself is a true teen with a certain focus on himself rather than his family.  It is when he faces hardship that his true character shines through.  Hesse's voice as a writer is equally strong here with attention to period detail that make the setting as much a part of the story as the characters.  Never intrusive, her voice is a guiding light bringing the period to life for children who may have no knowledge of it.  Hesse has also blended humor, tragedy and a real family into this story.  One never knows quite where the book is heading because of her skillful writing, elevating what could have been a simple quiet story into something with dramatic tension that is hard to put down.

Highly recommended as great historical fiction that is very well-written and conceived, this book is appropriate for 10-13 year olds.  It would also work as a book to read aloud and discussed in a 5th or 6th grade classroom.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman.

When Bod was a toddler, his entire family was murdered as they slept.  Bod escaped into a nearby graveyard where the ghosts and creatures of the graveyard decided to care for him and protect him.  As Bod grows up, he is taught about the world as the ghosts understand it.  He is taught to Fade, Dreamwalk and cast Fear on people.  But he is not allowed to leave the protection of the graveyard.  When he does venture out, he finds himself confused about the living and where he himself fits in their society.  Will he be able to survive the horrors of the living?

Gaiman has done it again, taking what could have been a simple horror book and infusing it with humanity, grace and substance.  It is a delight to explore the graveyard through Bod's eyes and meet its many denizens.  Bod's adventures range from the everyday boyhood mishaps of a normal childhood to the more amazing and surprising encounters with ghouls, witches and murderers.  Gaiman does a masterful job of combining the two, creating a novel filled with adventure and horror that is entirely appropriate for young readers.

Gaiman's characters are intriguing and believable, right down to the ghosts themselves.  Bod is a wonderful hero with plenty of nerve, gumption, and smarts.  It is his character who makes the entire novel work, his reactions that allow us our own and his voice that carries the book. 

One of the best ghost stories to come out in recent years, this novel is appropriate for ages 10 and up.