The Floating Circus by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer

Summary: In this historical fiction which takes place in the 1850's we meet 12 year old orphaned Owen. Leaving his younger brother, Zach behind to be adopted Owen is saved and befriended by a freed slave, Solomon. Solomon lives and works on the River Palace, a circus on a riverboat. The two work side by side cleaning animal stalls and performing other manual labor. Owen's new family consist of Solomon, the circus performers, and the Greene family who have a son Caleb. Caleb teaches Owen how to set type in a printing press. When the riverboat suffers a great fire and all of the contents are auctioned off, Owen must decide whether to return to his brother, go and live with the Greene family or remain in the circus business.

Comments: I liked Owen. I was rooting for him to survive not only his harsh life but to survive this frightening time during history. Reviews suggest that Owen seems too insightful for his age. The setting was fascinating. I experienced it through sight, sound, and smell.

There are some violent scenes. Men pay Lord Hathaway, the owner of the floating circus money to board the boat to feed live animals to ravenous lions. In another scene a runaway slave boards the riverboat and is hunted down by slave catchers. Owen gets caught in the middle. He sees the slave and when questioned he lies to the slave catchers about his sighting. Had he been charged for aiding a slave under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1950, he could have faced 6 months in prison and a hefty fine.

Author's note includes history of the floating circus, general history of the circus including Dan Rice "whose distinctive looks were the inspiration for the "Uncle Sam" figure", slavery during that time and the break out of yellow fever in New Orleans.

Audience: 5th-6th grade and up

Bloody Jack, book 1 (audio)

Bloody Jack by L.A. Meyer. 2007.

Audience: 6th Grade and up; 12 and up

My Rating: 5*s of 5

Summary: Jacky Faber,having secured a position as ship's boy aboard the HMS "Dolphin," welcomes the respite from the desperation and hunger of life on the streets of eighteenth-century London, and now has only one thing to worry about--keeping the crew from learning that he is actually a girl.

Comments: The only complaint I can muster for this fantastically narrated story is that I want more, more, more! I bloody loved this book! Jacky is a capable, likable, ingenious girl and I enjoyed taking this voyage with her. I can't wait for the next audio! http://www.jackyfaber.com/

Awards:

Read-alikes: Pirates! by Celia Rees, Bloody Jack adventures books 2-5 by L.A. Meyer

Jinx by Meg Cabot (audio)

Jinx by Meg Cabot. 2007.
Audience: 7th Grade and up; 12 and up
My Rating: 4*s of 5
Summary: Sixteen-year-old Jean "Jinx" Honeychurch, the descendant of a witch, must leave Iowa to live with relatives in Manhattan after the first spell she casts goes awry, but she will have to improve her skills to stop her cousin from practicing black magic that endangers them and the boy they both like.
Comments: With a mediocre narrator, this book was slow to hook me. But once the magic kicked in, I was hooked. Jinx herself reminds me of the character from Dairy Queen in that she often cannot manage to speak her mind or insist that she be treated with respect or fairness. This clearly becomes purposeful at the end of the story when she *finally* stands up for herself and comes into her own.
Awards:
Read-alikes: Avalon High by Cabot

The Nina, the Pinta, and the Vanishing Treasure by Jill Santopolo

Summary: A new detective is on the scene, Alec Flint: Super Sleuth. In his first mystery, Alec a fourth grader investigates the disappearance of a Christopher Columbus exhibit at a local museum. He reluctantly names Gina his partner even though she is a bit bossy. Before joining Alec, she is in the middle of her own investigation into the disappearance of an art teacher at their school. Never the twain shall meet?
With knowledge about the voyage of Christopher Columbus, a new friendship, some pizza, and a little poking around, Alec and Gina crack their cases.
To keep the investigation top secret, Alec and Gina write in code. Readers can decode on their own or if they just want to keep to the story, the code translations are in the back of the book.

Comments: I like this new series. The prose is lively and kept my attention. 2nd mystery, The Random Blue Notes is due out in June 2009.

Audience: Perfect for 3rd-4th graders and up.

Advice

Cute + funny video by Jarrett Krosoczka that would be a great answer to over-asked question, "Where do you get your ideas?" It's 17 minutes, but so worth it.


BOOK BY BOOK: the making of a monkey man from Jarrett Krosoczka on Vimeo.

One False Note

One False Note (39 Clues series, book 2) by Gordon Korman. 2008.
Audience: 4-8th Grade
My Rating: 2*s of 5
Summary: Amy and Dan Cahill are in the lead to find thirty-nine clues that safeguard a great power, and are in possession of a coded sheet of Mozart's music that will help them find the next clue while their relatives follow in close pursuit. (Does not include game cards.)
Comments: I was really disappointed with this book. Between the series hype and the author's reputation, I had high expectations that this flat action story fell far short of. It reads like the screenplay to Da Vinci Code probably did or any given transcript of "The Amazing Race." This might be a good thing, though, for this age audience and espeically boys/reluctant readers? I might also feel differently had I read book 1 and/or checked out the other branches of this multi-media series.
Awards:
Read-alikes: Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan, The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan

I'm not even sure how to start this review. I've typed and deleted the first sentence about eight times.

Liga lives with and suffers under the hand of her father (her mother is dead, of course) in a small cottage just outside of a small village. After living through various versions of hellish ordeals, Liga is granted a gift of kindness from an otherworldly being and finds herself in an idealized dream world where she raises two daughters (the products of her previous traumatic experiences). Everything goes great until a witch and a ne'er-do-well ruffian create a rift between the real world and Liga's dream world, and Liga is forced to face the real world again. What does the cover have to do with the story? Well, a man dressed as a bear (something that used to happen during festivals in France for-realz?) is transported from real time to the magical land where Liga and her daughters live, and he (turns into a real bear while in the magical land) stays with them and secretly wishes he was part of their family. Unfortunately for him he is forced back into his own time, time in the magical land moves much more quickly that that of the real world.

This book is a retelling of Rose Red and Snow White with some other myths/cultural references thrown in. This is a book contains the results of the ugly emotions human can potentially harbor and act upon and some scenes are difficult to read. The concept was interesting, the mixing of folk tales was interesting, the ability of the author to use language of the time period was commendable. There is some fantastic imagery in this book. This book is much like Living Dead Girl in that it is teetering on the very edge of YA/Adult fiction. While well-written and complex, I have a hard time thinking of a teen Iwould feel comfortable recommending this to. Its language and diction will be difficult for some readers. While not everything is spelled out on the page, the allusions and imagery is hard to take in. Much like Wideacre, readers who enjoy this kind of story will find it and love it.

WARNING: This book contains incest, rape, assault.

I haven't read anything by Margo Lanagan before, and this book was recommended to me by a committee I'm on.

The Schwa Was Here

The Schwa Was Here by Neal Shusterman. 2004/2006 reissue.
Audience: 6-10th Grade; Ages 11-15
My Rating: 4.5*s of 5
Summary: A Brooklyn eighth-grader nicknamed Antsy befriends the Schwa, an "invisible-ish" boy who is tired of blending into his surroundings and going unnoticed by nearly everyone.

Comments: Antsy wins me over again. He is a delightful and fun narrator who Shusterman told me (eeeee!) is based on "his alter ego...a kid who says out loud everything [Neal] wanted to but couldn't." As with Antsy Does Time, death/loss is dealt with in a humourous, but never mocking way. I read the two Antsy stories out of order and they stood alone very nicely.

Awards: Lone Star list 2006, lots of journal lists
Read-alikes: Antsy Does Time by Shusterman and according to the author, eventually Antsy Floats (to feature another gramatical charcter...Tilda)