Bullies, Part Two: The Savage

The Savage

by David Almond

illustrated by

Candlewick, October 2008

review copy provided by the publisher

I had just finished the Shredderman series when I picked up The Savage. Here's a completely different take on bullies and how to deal with them.

I won't tell you lots about the story in The Savage. Sorry. It's one you have to read for yourself. And see for yourself. It is a graphic novel hybrid (an "illustrated novel") with bold, disturbing, beautiful pen and ink drawings.

I will tell you that The Savage is about a boy named Blue Baker, probably late elementary or middle school aged, who is getting over the death of his father. To do this, he writes a story about a savage boy who lives in a cave under the ruins of a chapel in the woods.

And The Savage is a story about how Blue deals with a bully. The bully in this book is a much harder, scarier bully than Alvin "Bubba" Bixby in Shredderman. Hopper walks around "smoking and sneering and spitting and swearing." In the course of the story, he turns downright vicious toward Blue. But Hopper is quieter in the end of the book, "not quite so stupid, not quite so horrible." And you'll have to read the book to find out how that happens.

MY ONE HUNDRED ADVENTURES by Polly Horvath

MY ONE HUNDRED ADVENTURES Is a book that is showing up on several Mock Newbery lists and one that I wanted to be sure to read before the Newbery announcement on January 26. Let me say that I would be VERY, VERY HAPPY if this book wins the Newbery. I love it. It is DEFINITELY one of my favorite reads of 2008. I am not sure how kids will respond to it or whether it should be in a K-5 library. It seems like 5th/6th/7th grade for me. I am not so sure about the age 9-12 marketing--not sure that the issues aren't above 9-10 year olds. I don't think that matters though--it deserves every starred review it has received--and it has received many.

I have always been a Polly Horvath fan. EVERYTHING ON A WAFFLE hooked me to her work right away! This is by far her best, in my opinion. It seems to be a tiny bit different from her other books. MY ONE HUNDRED ADVENTURES still has the quirky characters and events that make Horvath's books unique. But there is something about the writing of this book that makes is more powerful than the others. It just seems to have a different feel--if that makes sense.

I knew early in the book that it was going to be a great book, when I read:
"The library in summer is the most wonderful thing because there you get books on any subject and read them each for only as long as they hold your interest, abandoning any that don't, halfway or a quarter of the way through if you like, and store up all that knowledge in the happy corners of your mind for your own self and not to show off how much you know or spit it back at your teacher on a test paper."

The writing is definitely Newbery-worthy. So many lines jumped out at me throughout the reading:

"They wear hats with fruit on them. When I get bored I stare at their fruited hates. I wonder if we can convince some of the younger old ladies to take up fruited straw hats. Like passing the torch. Or will they regard this as some kind of next-in-line-for-the-tomb designation?"

"Suddenly I realize that everyone in the whole world, is, at the end of a day, staring at a dusky horizon, owner of a day that no one else will ever know."

"No one really understands a family but the people in it and even they each understand it differently."

"We all belong here equally, Jane...Just by being born onto the earth we are accepted and the earth supports us. We don't have to be especially good. We don't have to accomplish anything We don't even have to be healthy."

I do this often when I read great books. Tab pages of lines that I love, that I want to revisit. Then, when I am finished with the book and am having that feeling where I wish I wasn't quite finished, I go back and reread the pages that I've tabbed, looking for the lines I've loved. It is a great way to reexperience the book and to reread some of those favorite lines. A habit I started when I read WALK TWO MOONS years and yeas ago. Only when the book has lots of lines that seem to hit me as wanting to go back to.

I love this book and would love to see it win the Newbery or any other award. It is one that has great characters and great messages about life and people.

Bullies, Part One: Shredderman

Shredderman: Secret Identity

by Wendelin Van Draanen

Alfred A. Knopf, 2004

I was lucky enough to be seated at the same table as Wendelin Van Draanen at the Random House dinner at NCTE back in November. She's an author who's been in my peripheral vision for a long time (Sammy Keyes mysteries were a favorite of a former colleague; Franki has talked about Shredderman) and it was good to meet her and hear about her books. The Random House crew set aside arcs for me of her new spin off (from Shredderman) series (on the "to be reviewed" pile, I promise), and, being the reader that I am, I went out and bought all four of the Shredderman books so that I would a) check out some books that will likely be perfect for a handful of readers in my 4th grade classroom, and b) understand the origins of The Gecko and Sticky.

In case you don't know Shredderman, it's about a geeky kid named Nolan who, along with his classmates, is tortured by a bully named Alvin (nickname, "Bubba"). Nolan creates a superhero named Shredderman and builds a website devoted to "truth and justice." On the website, he "gives bullies what they deserve."

Nolan is clearly the good guy and Bubba is bad to the bone (mostly, but it takes most of the series to discover this). Nolan is clearly doing what he does on his website to make the world a better place. Nolan is a self-proclaimed cyber-superhero, via Shredderman. And I keep having this little niggling thought that the tactics Nolan has used boil down to cyber-bullying. Maybe I'm being too left-brained about this. I'll chat with my students after they've met Nolan and Bubba and Shredderman and see what they think.

In the meantime, there are some powerfully good messages about believing in yourself, playing to your strengths, following your dreams, and the power of niceness over meanness.

Shredderman's website, including a webquest and activities to download for each of the four books in the series.

Poetry Friday -- Contentment

Contentment
By Oliver Wendell Holmes

“Man wants but little here below”

Little I ask; my wants are few;
I only wish a hut of stone,
(A very plain brown stone will do,)
That I may call my own;—
And close at hand is such a one,
In yonder street that fronts the sun.

Plain food is quite enough for me;
Three courses are as good as ten;—
If Nature can subsist on three,
Thank Heaven for three. Amen!
I always thought cold victual nice;—
My choice would be vanilla-ice.

I care not much for gold or land;—
Give me a mortgage here and there,—
Some good bank-stock, some note of hand,
Or trifling railroad share,—
I only ask that Fortune send
A little more than I shall spend.

Honors are silly toys, I know,
And titles are but empty names;
I would, perhaps, be Plenipo,—
But only near St. James;
I’m very sure I should not care
To fill our Gubernator’s chair.

Jewels are baubles; ’t is a sin
To care for such unfruitful things;—
One good-sized diamond in a pin,—
Some, not so large, in rings,—
A ruby, and a pearl, or so,
Will do for me;—I laugh at show.

My dame should dress in cheap attire;
(Good, heavy silks are never dear;)—
I own perhaps I might desire
Some shawls of true Cashmere,—
Some marrowy crapes of China silk,
Like wrinkled skins on scalded milk.

I would not have the horse I drive
So fast that folks must stop and stare;
An easy gait—two forty-five—
Suits me; I do not care;—
Perhaps, for just a single spurt,
Some seconds less would do no hurt.

Of pictures, I should like to own
Titians and Raphaels three or four,—
I love so much their style and tone,
One Turner, and no more,
(A landscape,—foreground golden dirt,—
The sunshine painted with a squirt.)

Of books but few,—some fifty score
For daily use, and bound for wear;
The rest upon an upper floor;—
Some little luxury there
Of red morocco’s gilded gleam
And vellum rich as country cream.

Busts, cameos, gems,—such things as these,
Which others often show for pride,
I value for their power to please,
And selfish churls deride;—
One Stradivarius, I confess,
Two Meerschaums, I would fain possess.

Wealth’s wasteful tricks I will not learn,
Nor ape the glittering upstart fool;—
Shall not carved tables serve my turn,
But all must be of buhl*?
Give grasping pomp its double share,—
I ask but one recumbent chair.

Thus humble let me live and die,
Nor long for Midas’ golden touch;
If Heaven more generous gifts deny,
I shall not miss them much,—
Too grateful for the blessing lent
Of simple tastes and mind content!



Are you laughing? Are you blushing? Are you still going to go out and spend, spend, spend on more stuff ("but little") so that you can single-handedly save the U.S. economy?

Or are you going to stay home and practice contentment in your hut with your few (fifty score in daily use) books and your one recumbent chair?

Oliver Wendell Holmes did a pretty good job of making fun of us from back in the 1800's when, apparently, things weren't much different than they are now. Just less digital and electronic.



I found this poem by searching the Poetry Foundation archives. You can find more poetry today at the Poetry Friday round up at The Miss Rumphius Effect.

*Buhl is a decorative type of marquetry of patterned inlays of brass or tortoiseshell, or (occasionally) other materials, used on chiefly French furniture, from the 17th century.

HIGHWAY CATS by Janet Taylor Lisle

I had HIGHWAY CATS on my list of books I had hoped to read before the Newbery announcement. I finished it today and it was a great read. I love lots about the book. It is the story of cats--stray cats who live near a highway and some new kittens who give them all hope. A very sweet story with great characters. I am not one to love books where animals are the characters and they talk to each other and things. But, I liked this book and believed in these characters. My thinking during reading the book was that it would make a great read aloud for 3rd and 4th grades. The kids would like the plot-the cats are trying to protect the land where they live. But they'd also be able to talk about the characters and themes. So much about being true to who you are. The book is short--just over 100 pages which I think makes for a great length read aloud. It is also a great length for kids who are working to build stamina to read longer books. Definitely a great book for anyone who loves a good animal story. This book is being talked about on lots of Mock Newbery sites. Jean Taylor Lisle shares some insights in an interview on her site. I will definitely be adding it to the school library.

DIAMOND WILLOW by Helen Frost

I just finished DIAMOND WILLOW by Helen Frost. It is a definite must read and would probably make a great read aloud for upper elementary and middle school students. (You would just need to find a way to project the pages up on the screen during the read aloud.)

I am a Helen Frost fan. I especially love her book SPINNING THROUGH THE UNIVERSE. and read that one aloud to my 5th graders.

DIAMOND WILLOW is am amazing book. I can see why it is on so many Mock Newbery lists. The story has lots of layers, as all of Frost's do. And the layers and depth are accessible to kids--which I like. The story is the story of a girl and her sled dog. It is also a coming of age story. Frost tells the story in diamond shaped poems--one per page. And she uses bold text to give us a stronger message on each page. Frost tells the story from several perspectives--both people and animals.

So much I like about this book. I have to love the characters to love a book and I LOVE this character, Willow. I also love the dog (and I don't love all dogs.) I love the metaphor of the diamond willow and I love the layers of meaning that are there for readers.

A quick read because of the format but definitely one I'd want to read again. And one I'll put in the school library.

Look What I Bought!

I just picked up this great new cookie cookbook--MARTHA STEWART'S COOKIES. I am not one to pick up a Martha Stewart Cookbook. It all seems like far too much work for me. (just look at her prop room...). But when I saw this book, I knew I had to have it. Cookies are really the only thing I like to make/bake/cook. And I love to try new ones. This book is full of 175 cookie recipes-with photos! The Table of Contents is quite fun--photos of the cookies with the page numbers. I am going to force myself not to try any of these before I make my last cookie trays but I can't wait to go through it and find a few new cookies to try in 2009. Definitely excited about this one!

THE GRAVEYARD BOOK by Neil Gaiman

THE GRAVEYARD BOOK is one of the books being discussed on many Mock Newbery sites. So, I put it on my next read stack. I enjoyed Coraline and heard that this one was even better.
This is my first report on my Newbery Readiness Reading. A few weeks ago, I posted a list of 5 books that I'd like to have read before the Newbery is announced. Well, my pile has grown and I finished the first on the list. I will report out on the books that I do read before the January 26 Newbery announcement. The reviews won't be long because -by this point--so many others have reviewed them. I'll give you my general feeling and a few links to let you decide if the book is worth reading.

THE GRAVEYARD BOOK is a great book. It is a spooky kind of ghost story which is not my favorite genre, but I am a character reader and this is definitely a character-based book.

Nobody Owens ("Bod") escaped being murdered as a child when he escaped to a nearby graveyard. The ghosts in the graveyard decide to raise him and keep him safe and he lives most of his childhood in the graveyard. But as he grows up, he wants more from life than the graveyard can give him. He learns that life beyond the graveyard is a scary place but that living life is worth it.

The last 20 pages made the book one that will stay with me. I read this as a mom who has a senior in high school--one that will be entering a new phase of life very soon. Neil Gaiman says that he does not see this as a children's book, although children will enjoy it. It is a great coming-of-age/growing up/letting go story that will have lots of audiences. I am a person who does not enjoy horror and who stays away from things that terrify me. I don't see this as a book that will terrify kids--just spooky enough. But I am also not quite sure about the age range that it will appeal to. There is a depth about it that seems meant for older children. And there are ghosts that can be very scary. I know that my 3rd grader is a bit stressed out by the cover--she has mentioned not liking the gravestone every time that she's seen me reading it. Because I am not a reader of this genre, I don't know how it compares to other spooky tales. But what I do know is that it is a great story with a unique setting that works. Monica at Educating Alice shared it with her 4th graders and posted some of their reactions. I can definitely see why it is making its way into Newbery conversations. (although no one seems sure about whether it is actually eligible...)

Other reviews to read:
Fuse #8's is here.

The Book Swede

Becky's Book Reviews

LAST NIGHT--new wordless picture book

I have built quite a good little collection of wordless picture books so I was thrilled to pick up a new one yesterday at Cover to Cover. It is called LAST NIGHT by Hyewon Yum. The illustrations are gorgeous and the plot is a simple ones that kids will be able to follow easily.

The idea of the book reminds me a bit of WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE. A little girl does not like her dinner so has to go to her room. There, she goes to sleep. She and her bear have a great adventure and she wakes up feeling much better. A great simple book that you may want to check out if you like wordless books. We have been lucky to have lots of great new wordless books this year!

Zorgamazoo

Zorgamazoo

by Robert Paul Weston

illustrated by Victor Rivas Villa

book design by Christian Fuenfhausen

Penguin Group, 2008

review copy provided by the publisher

Zorgamazoo is a novel in verse, but not at all like the ones you're used to. Zorgamazoo is one poem. One 283 page-long poem. In rhyme. Rhyming couplets that can't help but remind you of Dr. Seuss at times.

Dr. Seuss rhymes with a little Roald Dahl thrown in -- the main character, Katrina Katrell, is a spunky little girl who has been abandoned by her rich and disinterested parents to the care of an evil guardian who wants to have Katrina lobotomized. The book design has hints of Geronimo Stilton, with fonts of varying size and style used to enhance and illustrate the telling of the story and keep things moving along briskly. 

Katrina's fate intertwines with that of Mortimer Yorgle, a zorgle who is rather a stick in the mud compared to his adventuresome but failing-in-health father. Katrina bravely runs away from her evil guardian and Morty wins a lottery whose prize is a quest to discover what's happened to the zorgles of Zorgamazoo. Luckily, Morty gets lost and winds up in the same dark, deserted subway station as Katrina, just in time to save her from a gang of thugs. After hearing Morty's story of the lost zorgles of Zorgamazoo, Katrina begs to join him in his quest (having nothing better to do and no home to return to, after all).

The story gets more and more convoluted, as our characters find themselves (and the zorgles of Zorgamazoo) trapped on the moon, and the struggle of good vs. evil takes the form of enchantment and imagination vs. boredom and tedium.

Yes, I have read over what I have written, and yes, I am aware that it sounds like I am babbling. This book defies any kind of description that makes complete sense. You'll just have to get a copy and read it. It might make a fabulous read aloud, but only if the listener is snuggled up beside you and can see the pictures and the way the words play around on the pages.

Visit the Zorgamazoo website to meet the characters, read an excerpt, and get ideas for using the book in your classroom.

Robert Paul Weston blogs at Way of the West.

Examples of illustrator Victor Rivas' illustrations are here.

Reviewed by Ali at Worducopia and Fate at The Fickle Hand of Fate.