Mrs. B is reading...Freak the Mighty

Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick

Everything changes for Maxwell Kane the summer before his 8th grade year when Freak moves in down the street.

Max, who is in the learning disabled class, describes himself as a Butthead who doesn’t have a Brain. Max is a big kid who does his speaking with his fists and his feet. It doesn’t help that he looks like his father, Kenny “Killer” Kane. Since Maxwell’s mother is dead and his father is in jail, he lives in the basement with his Grim and his Gram.

Max is bored, hanging out in his back yard one summer day, when he notices a moving van parked down the street. Soon after, he sees a “weird-looking little dude” about two feet tall with a twisted body, waving his crutches around and yelling at the movers. Max soon discovers that while the boy’s body is crippled his brain is not. He is a genius! When the new kid spots Max, he demands that he identify himself and goes on to shoot him with his crutch saying “die, earthling, die!” So while it doesn’t look like the start of a beautiful friendship, in no time the two are inseparable.

With Kevin riding on Max’s shoulders, the two start having adventures together as Freak the Mighty. They go on a quest to rescue fair maidens and slay dragons. It turns out to be a really cool summer. But not all fairy tales have happy endings.

Mrs. B is reading…Reasons to be Happy

Reasons To Be Happy by Katrina Kittle
Looking at the cover of this book, I was expecting a light, fluffy chick-lit story. I had no idea it would have such an impact on me!

Hannah was a happy girl. So much so that she kept a list of all of the things that made her happy. She was even excited to start her 8th grade year in a new school. How quickly things change!

Hannah was always okay with being the plain-jane, ordinary daughter of two of Hollywood’s most glamourous stars. But on the first day at her new school, she unintentionally became part of the mean-girls clique. This led her to doubt everything about herself, including the things that made her the most happy, like her artwork and running. Suddenly she felt ugly. She was afraid that she’d never be able to live up to her parents expectations. Worst of all, her mom got sick.

Hannah had to find a way to deal with it all. She thought she had found a secret remedy, but was it really helping or only making things worse? What happened to the girl she used to be and how could she get her back?

Reasons To Be Happy was touching and inspiring. It made me smile and it made me cry. It took me back to when I was in middle school. I wish this book had been around for me then. If you’ve ever worried about fitting in, follow Hannah on her journey and she just may inspire you too.

My reasons to be happy:
-Learning something about myself when I least expect it
-Knowing that our library has the perfect book for just the right person waiting to read Hannah's story

Mrs. B is reading…Dead End in Norvelt

Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos

“School was finally out and I was standing on a picnic table in our backyard getting ready for a great summer when my mother walked up to me and ruined it.” -- Jack Gantos

It is the summer of 1962 and Jack’s mom informs him that he has been enlisted to help out their old neighbor, Miss Volker, to write obituaries for the local paper. She will dictate the stories about the residents who have passed on and Jack will prepare them for print.

But that was the least of his problems. “Oh sweet cheeze-us!” Jack hadn’t known that the rifle was loaded when he aimed and fired at the enemy on the drive-in movie screen, which led to his being grounded for the summer.

And then there was the small problem of his “sensitive” nose from which blood would come spewing out of whenever Jack got a little excited

Oh, and did I mention that someone might be killing off all the original little old ladies of Norvelt?

You’ll get to know the locals as you join Jack on his adventures, some of which include:
-trying to silently pass gas to save the life of a deer
-checking on the elderly to see if it is too soon to write an obituary…while dressed as the Grimm Reaper
-sneaking out of the house to go on Girl Scout fire patrol with his best friend, Bunny

This pleasant story is part adventure, part historical fiction, part murder mystery and full of quirky characters.

Mrs. B is reading…After Ever After

After Ever After by Jordan Sonnenblick

If you’ve read Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick, then you MUST read After Ever After.

Actually, if you haven’t read Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie, you should still read After Ever After…and then read Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie too.

Actually, let’s make this easy…if you see a book by Jordan Sonnenblick…read it.  And let me just say in advance…you’re welcome.

After Ever After is another winner by Jordan Sonnenblick.  He spent 11 years teaching middle school before he started writing full-time.  Maybe that’s why when you read his books you can tell that he gets what it’s like to be a middle school student.  

After Ever After is a follow-up to the book Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie, in which 8th grader Steven Alper is faced with his 5-year-old brother’s leukemia diagnosis.  In After Ever After, Jeffrey Alper, Steven’s brother, is now in 8th grade himself and has his own story to tell.

Though in remission, the cancer is never far from Jeffrey’s mind.  He still worries that it will return.  In addition, he has to handle all of the normal stuff that middle school students deal with.  Like just meeting the girl of his dreams.  And trying to figure out what is up with his best friend Tad, a fellow cancer survivor, who has been acting strange and keeping secrets. Also, there are the impending state standardized math tests that Jeffrey must pass or he'll be forced to repeat the 8th grade.  On top of it all, he'd love to be able to talk to his brother Steven about everything, but unfortunately Steven is "wandering around Africa with a pair of bongos strapped to his back" trying to "find himself.“ 

After Ever After is an honest, funny look at a middle-school student's emotional roller-coaster of a life.

Mrs. B is reading…The Grimm Legacy

The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman

When one of Elizabeth’s teachers recommends that she apply for a job at the New-York Circulating Material Repository, not only did she like the idea of earning some money, but she also thought it might be a good way to make a few friends. Being the new girl at school wasnt easy.

The Repository is similar to a library, but instead of books, it has collections of objects for people to borrow. It has everything from shoes to tea sets and globes to rugs. It even has historical items, like a wig worn by Marie Antoinette. But the most valuable collection is hidden in a secret room in the basement. Only the most trusted repository employees will receive access to the Grimm Collection, where magical items from the Grimm fairy tales are kept. Things such as spindles and straw and a golden egg. Oh, and even a magical mirror that speaks in riddles and can tell you anything that you want to know!

Elizabeth and her new friends get caught up in a dangerous adventure to try and catch the thief when the magical items begin to disappear. And, to make it even more it more important to find the criminal, they have to do it quickly before they become suspects!

Mrs. B is reading…When You Reach Me

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

As the story begins, Miranda’s mother is preparing to be a contestant on the game show, $20,000 Pyramid. As they practice for the speed round and the Winner’s Circle, they add items to the wish list that hangs on their fridge. While they try not to get their hopes up, it’s too late for that. This is just a part of the story though…

Miranda and Sal have been best friends for years, but everything changes the day Sal gets punched by Marcus. Sal begins to shut Miranda out, and she finds herself spending time with Annemarie & Colin. Then things turn strange. Various items start to disappear, like a key, a shoe and a bank.  Not only do things go missing, but anonymous notes start to appear:

“I am coming to save your friend’s life, and my own.
I ask two favors. First you must write me a letter…
The trip is a difficult one. I will not be myself when I reach you.”


What does this mean? The notes keep appearing and Miranda soon realizes that whomever is writing them knows things that no one could know. How could the note-writer possibly know what happens in the future?

Not only is this story a mystery, but it is also a story about relationships and friendships. Take time to read this one. You won’t regret it!

When You Reach Me is the next book we are reading for Cover2Cover.  Our meeting will be on Wednesday, February 22, 2012 from 3:00-4:15 in the Canonsburg Middle School Library Media Center.  See Mrs. Barbarino for a copy of the book and a permission slip if you would like to attend.  Please come and join us!

Mrs. B is reading…The London Eye Mystery

The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd

Ted and Kat allow their visiting cousin Salim to decide how they spend the day. Salim decides they should fly the London Eye, a giant Ferris Wheel that is a popular tourist attraction.

A stranger offers them a free ticket and Ted and Kat decide that since Salim is visiting, he should use it. When the London Eye finishes circling and Salim’s pod empties out, he is no where to be found. Evidently, what goes up doesn’t necessarily come down. And so the mystery begins.

The police are brought in but even they are mystified by Salim’s vanishing into thin air. Ted has some theories though. Maybe Salim spontaneously combusted? Or maybe he entered a time-warp? Or maybe there is a more logical explanation for what happened to Salim? Ted and Kat work together to follow the clues and try and solve Salim’s mysterious disappearance.

Check this one out if you like to work through mysteries.

Mrs. B is reading...How to Survive Middle School

How to Survive Middle School by Donna Gephart

David Greenberg plans to be the next Jon Stewart but he first has to figure out how to survive Harman Middle School.

David produces his own show TalkTime and posts the videos on YouTube. His best friend Elliott used to help him with the show, but they had a falling out. Now David has to figure out a way to deal with:
        6.        Middle school (much scarier than it sounds!)
        5.         His best friend gone girl-crazy
        4.         A runaway mom who has no phone!
        3.         The threat of a swirlie on his birthday
        2.        A terrifying cousin
        1.         His # 1 fan, Bubbe (his Jewish grandmother)
1/2.        And Hammy, the hamster who’s determined to break David’s heart

David makes a new friend, the peppermint-smelling Sophie,while dealing with all of his issues. She loves David’s videos and shares them with a few friends, who share them with a few more friends. Before David knows it, TalkTime has gone viral and David is an internet superstar! You’d think he’d be thrilled, but instead he finds himself asking “What good does it to be famous online when in real life, I go to a school where all I am is ‘Lameberg’?”

Read How to Survive Middle School, and then join us at the January meeting of Cover2Cover to talk about the book and balancing an online life with a real life.

Mrs. B is reading...Uprising

Uprising by Margaret Peterson Haddix

“Do you know what it is like to work in a shirtwaist factory? In the wintertime, I’m there before the sun comes up, and if the boss wants to make me work until midnight, he can do that. What could I do to stop him? I’m just a girl. Just one girl. I can work, day in and day out, hour after hour at the sewing machines, and then at the end of the week if he decides he doesn’t want to pay me for all my work, what can I do? He can make all sorts of excuses--‘Oh, I had to charge you for the use of the sewing machine--for the electricity to run it--for the needles that broke....’ He can make up any excuse he wants, but if he doesn’t want to pay me what I’m owed, he doesn’t have to. What can I do? I’m just one girl.”
-Yetta

Yetta, a Russian immigrant along with hundreds of other immigrants, works long hours under awful conditions at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. Yetta decides to join the fight for fair treatment and better working conditions by becoming a member of the newly formed labor union. Yetta joins the union members on the picket line and ends up meeting Bella, another immigrant who had to put up with the terrible working conditions in order to send money to her starving family in Italy. Jane, daughter of a wealthy businessman, leaves her privileged world in search of real meaning in her life and also joins the workers on the picket line. The three girls become close friends.

The strike ends in time, though little is resolved and working conditions are not much better. Yetta and Bella are back at work and Jane is visiting the factory on a fateful day in March 1911 when a spark from a careless worker’s cigarette starts a catastrophic fire. The fire ends up being one of the worst workplace disasters in history. Many do not survive.

Uprising is based on true events that took place during the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory strike during 1909-10 and the major fire that happened there on March 25, 1911, that resulted in the deaths of 146 workers. Yetta, Bella and Jane are fictional characters but the story of their friendship and empowering desire to make a difference brings the events to life.

Mrs. B is reading...Chasing Vermeer

Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett, illustrated by Brett Helquist

“Dear Friend: I would like your help in identifying a crime that is now centuries old.” This simple anonymous letter left on the doorsteps of three different residents of the same town kicks off a complex mystery involving the theft of a Vermeer painting. Classmates Petra and Calder come together and find themselves at the center of this international art scandal.

A series of coincidences, unanswered questions and secret codes are a central part of this story which is part mystery, part puzzle and part adventure. Petra and Calder must put all the pieces together without knowing who can help because everyone is under suspicion. And they are racing against the clock so they can find the thief before he goes through with his threat and destroys the valuable piece of art.

This is a fun, slowly-unfolding story with lots of twists and turns.

Mrs. B is reading...Adam Canfield of the Slash

Adam Canfield of the Slash by Michael Winerip

“Our job as reporters is to tell the truth as we see it. It has to be backed by facts, but that’s what good newspapers do.” - Adam Canfield of the Slash

Adam Canfield went from finding out the facts to figuring out how the facts would end up in the Slash, the Harris Elementary/Middle School newspaper. He moves from star reporter to co-editor because Jennifer, a girl “with a pretty good smile”, asks him to help her out even though he really thinks digging up the details and writing a story is much better than being an editor.

“Adam Canfield of the Slash” by Michael Winerip tells the story of how what you think at first can become something totally different. Adam learns that adding another “program” to his “over-programmed” life actually puts Adam smack in the middle of local mysteries that he helps investigate, solve and report about and makes his decision totally worth it in the end.

Mrs. B is reading...Okay for Now

Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt


I didn’t think I would have any interest in reading an entire book about Doug Swieteck, a minor character from Gary D. Schmidt’s The Wednesday Wars. Was I ever wrong! I have to say, this is the best book I’ve read in awhile. I laughed. I cried. I wanted to build a time machine, travel back to Marysville, circa 1968, and work with Mr. Powell at the Marysville Free Public Library. Oh, and hang out at Spicer’s Deli and drink a really cold coke.

You don’t have to read The Wednesday Wars first to appreciate Okay for Now. It stands on its own. However, if you read both, you may be reminded that there is often more to a person than what you first see on the surface.

After his father is fired, Doug Swieteck moves with his family to “stupid” Marysville, New York. Life at the Swieteck home is less than desirable. Doug’s father is a jerk. His mother he loves dearly, but she is unable to stand up for herself, let alone her boys. His oldest brother is serving in Vietnam, and his other brother is a bit of a hoodlum. No wonder everyone thinks Doug must be a “skinny thug” too.

Lil Spicer is his first new friend in Marysville. She arranges for Doug to work for her father who owns a deli, making deliveries to some of the folks in town. As he begins to interact with the people of Marysville (on his delivery route, at school, and of course, at the library!) he experiences kindness and friendship that he hadn’t expected or even hoped for.

There’s so much more that I could say about this book, but why not stop in the library and check it out for yourself! Also, if you want to know more about birds than you ever thought you’d care to know...this is the book for you.

Mrs. B is reading...Okay for Now

Just started reading Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt.

Only about 10 pages in and my heart is breaking...
...10 more pages and Doug Swieteck (the main character) found the library. A bright spot!

Mrs. B is reading...The Wednesday Wars

The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt

“Of all the kids in the seventh grade at Camillo Junor High, there was one kid that Mrs. Baker hated with heat whiter than the sun.
Me.
And let me tell you, it wasn’t for anything I’d done.”
- Holling Hoodhood

Holling Hoodhood is sure that Mrs. Baker hates him. Why wouldn’t she? Instead of having Wednesday afternoon’s off, she’s stuck with him while his classmates leave for religion class. Of course she has it out for him! Why else would she make him read Shakespeare outside of class? And that’s not all he has to deal with. There’s the cream puff incident, crazed rats on the loose, yellow tights with feathers on the...well I won’t tell you where they were...a baseball hero who is less than a hero, and that’s just for starters. In spite of himself, Holing begins to learn who he is and who he wants to be.

The Wednesday Wars may take you a few chapters to get into it, but stick it out. As Holling Hoodhood would say: “Let me tell you, it was just swell.”