Envy

Posted on May 9, 2013 by Mrs.N

Envy by Anna Godbersen

This is the third book in the Luxe series:  The Luxe (#1), Rumors (#2)

Sometimes I think Anna Godbersen might hate her readers.  I can’t think of any other reasonable explanation for why she makes such unpleasant books with so many unpleasant characters and unpleasant things happening to the few tolerable characters there are.  Envy picks up where Rumors left off.  Basically, the Holland sisters’ lives are ruined.  Henry Schoonmaker’s life is ruined.  Several extraordinarily unpleasant female characters get rewarded repeatedly for being extraordinarily unpleasant females.  Envy is no more than a variation on the theme.  The aforementioned lives threaten to improve, but of course, are still ruined and the unpleasant females continue to be mostly unpleasant.  I almost had a moment in the middle when I was enjoying myself and then I realized that all of the positive things I was hoping might happen didn’t have a chance of happening because Godbersen was not about to let me have my way like that.

I would recommend this for teens – sex is never explicit but is very much implied in multiple places.  While the language isn’t terrible compared to many other books for teens, this certainly has plenty of drinking and smoking.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – A woman is undressing in front of a man who is not her husband.  There are engagements and marriages.  A woman has kissed a man.  A girl was “whoring about.” A woman wears various ensembles to convince her husband to sleep with her.  A girl lost her virginity outside of marriage. Someone cheats on his or her spouse.  People lay in bed without clothes. An unmarried woman is pregnant. Her mother suggests quick marriage or they will have to “take care of it.” Two people have sex in a place with minimal privacy.  It is not explicitly stated that they have sex, but it is certainly implied.
Profanity – “damned,” “ass,” “oh, God,” “hell,” “what in God’s name,” ‘idiot,” “bastard,” “stupid,”
Death, Violence and Gore – A character died at the end of Rumors and that character’s death is mentioned.  A faked death is mentioned.   A soldier saw action at the battle of San Juan Hill and was injured.  The sinking of the Maine is referenced.  A soldier’s brother was killed and all his skin burned off. Penelope wishes she could slap a girl. A peripheral character dies. A man imagines killing someone. A man undresses a woman and pushes her down in the bed.  Multiple characters join the army.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – People drink alcohol and get drunk.  One man is said to have “a drinking life.”  Another man is repeatedly intoxicated (sometimes at inappropriate times of day).  Alcohol mentioned includes champagne cocktails, Madeira, cognac, champagne, bourbon, beer, scotch, brandy . Many characters smoke cigarettes.
Frightening or Intense Things – None.

Posted in Teen | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can’t Avoid

Posted on May 7, 2013 by Mrs.N

Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can’t Avoid by Lemony Snicket

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Lemony Snicket (perhaps you were nowhere near the world of children’s literature around the turn of the century – the 2000s that is) he is the mastermind behind the hugely popular Series of Unfortunate Events books.

This is a very Lemony Snickety take on advice books.  I’ve never really understood this type of book because reading them cover to cover often seems like an odd thing to do.  I prefer this type of book for when you are a captive audience because if you’re forced to leave in the middle, you don’t particularly mind.  In the case of this book, I think the quotes are a ton of fun and would be great for classroom discussion.  If you teach in a school where Responsive Classroom is part of your day or if you have the freedom to discuss quotes, there are many in this book which are both entertaining and thought provoking.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – There’s a statement about how we might all prefer to stay in our mother’s wombs creating a lot of fat irritated women.  He speculates that the jacks in a deck of cards are really the queens’ young boyfriends.
Profanity – “idiot”,
Death, Violence and Gore – There’s a joke about cowboys being pummeled by deer and antelope at play.  Snicket points out that peer pressure will often lead to you being dead or uncomfortable.  He also points out that people will often do what you say if you whip them.  Babies who entertain themselves are in danger of falling down wells.  Hyenas who entertain themselves may eat you.  He speculates about what someone might say if they were having an arm chewed off by an alligator.  Kings and queens are executed (not by Snicket, just historically). Snicket offers quite a few thoughts on grief or death of a loved one. He mentions that you may have been trampled by an ox.  He also points out that everyone will die and someone will perhaps be hit by a bus.  One page disputes Death’s portrayal as a cloaked figure and points out that he might approach noisily or sneak in.  He points out that jumping off a bridge may lead to drowning.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – A man who smokes cigarettes is mentioned.
Frightening or Intense Things – None.

Posted in Middle Grades, Teen, Tween | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Clara Lee and the Apple Pie Dream

Posted on May 3, 2013 by Mrs.N

Clara Lee and the Apple Pie Dream by Jenny Han

Clara Lee is super excited for the Apple Blossom Festival.  More than anything, she wants to be Little Miss Apple Pie and wear her beautiful red Korean dress and stand on a float and wave.  But how can she compete with Dionne Gregory whose ancestors helped found the town and whose mother was Little Miss Apple Pie too?  Clara Lee must find away to convince people that she is every bit as American as Dionne and just as deserving of the Little Miss Apple Pie Crown.

Infused with interesting cultural information about Clara’s Korean family, Jenny Han’s book is just terrific. It’s also jammed packed with figurative language which is great for young readers to see!  Illustrations break up the text making it accessible for children who are transitioning towards more difficult chapter books.

This would be great choice for first or second graders who are reading well above grade level because the content  is so accessible.  It will be on level for most third grade students.

Great for: I would recommend this for lovers of Grace Lin’s The Year of the Dog It’s a bit easier, but still great.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – A boy wants to be Clara’s valentine for always but she just considers him a buddy.
Profanity – “darned”, “baha bighead” “pain in the you know what”, “bah humbug”
Death, Violence and Gore – Clara has dreams where her grandfather dies.  There’s a bible reference to how Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery.  Clara tried to pinch her sister.  She kicks someone.  A man will take out his glass eye and let you look at it.  There is more pinching.  In a dream a bug sprays someone and a man throws apples at someone.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – None.

Posted in Little Ones, Middle Grades, Primary Grades | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Another May, Another Mish-Mosh

Posted on May 1, 2013 by Mrs.N

As usual, May is the month of my spring blog-keeping where I ferret out all of the posts that have been lurking around without a home and post them in a themeless free for all.  This month I’ve  got evil librarians, a Little Miss Apple Pie contest, an addition to the Little House series, a bit of time travel, a tale of victory over polio and much more.  Click back often, you never know what you’ll find.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Rabbit Race

Posted on April 29, 2013 by Mrs.N

Rabbit Race by Ben M. Baglio

Rabbit Race is part of the Animal Ark series which is a huge hit among third grade animal lovers.  And since there are about a trillion of them, the trick is usually getting students to branch out to other animal books, not figuring out how to get them to keep reading the series.

In this one, Mandy and her buddy James befriend a new boy in town.  Jack is younger than they are, but he needs friends.  In addition to the usual difficulties of moving, he’s missing his dog Fred, who died recently.  Mandy feels certain that if Jack can just care for a new pet that he’ll be well on his way to cheering up.  She concocts a plan to have him adopt a rabbit, just as the school is planning an animal themed school picnic.  With baby bunnies and go-cart races things are bound to look up for Jack soon!

Sex, Nudity, Dating – A rabbit is pregnant.  There is some information about the habits of pregnant rabbits. The rabbit “strained to give birth” as the kids watched.
Profanity – “hate,”
Death, Violence and Gore – A boy’s dog has died.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – A rabbit is in a runaway go-cart which is headed for a little girl.

 

 

Posted in Primary Grades | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Orwell’s Luck

Posted on April 26, 2013 by Mrs.N

Orwell’s Luck by Richard W. Jennings

The narrator encounters an injured rabbit in her yard.  Determined that he will survive, she takes him into her home and nurses him back to life.  Although his back feet are paralyzed at first, the rabbit has quite an active life.  In fact, it’s not long before the narrator suspects that Orwell is up to a lot more than anyone would believe.  Whether it’s just strange coincidence, or this is one lucky rabbit, things begin to take some interesting turns.

This is a very unusual book. The style of writing and the storyline will be quite unfamiliar to most readers. I found it a little hard to stick with, but definitely intriguing.  Because of the complexity of the situations in the book and the vocabulary I would recommend it for Grade 5 and up.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – The narrator gives a valentine to a boy.  There’s a mention of rabbits starting families.
Profanity –”What in the Sam Hill?”
Death, Violence and Gore – A rabbit has likely been hit by a car.  The narrator references terrorists.  There are some concerns that the other household pets (a dog and a cat) may want to eat a rabbit.  The rabbit bites the narrator (who then has vague worries about rabies, rabbit fever and tetanus).  The narrator’s father speculates the rabbit has broken his back or pelvis and “is a goner.”  Some frogs and goldfish freeze to death in the pond.  A dog snatches and plans to eat the rabbit.  The father points out that people eat rabbit.  The newspaper has an article on people being killed by lightning and how many die from it each year.  The narrator briefly mistakes a dead skunk for her rabbit.  The father falls while painting and needs foot surgery involving bolts.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – None.

Posted in Middle Grades, Tween | Tagged | Leave a comment

The Velveteen Rabbit

Posted on April 24, 2013 by Mrs.N

The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams

My impressions of this from childhood were that it was a vastly depressing story about the demise of a beloved stuffed rabbit.  I think perhaps I was projecting a bit, how very sad I would have been if anyone had swiped my favorite stuffed toy and planned on burning it.  But in re-reading, all my thoughts were of the rabbit, and not of the boy.  And so, I was relieved to find out that the story doesn’t end badly for the rabbit at all, that there’s a bit of magic at the end that will make everything quite right.

Based on my own experience,  I would say that some of the smallest listeners will be upset or concerned by this story.  It might be necessary to stress that no one plans on taking or burning any of their beloved stuffed animals no matter how sick they get.  The copy I linked to is one with particularly nice illustrations, courtesy of Michael Hague.  The text is far more complex than what you would usually expect from a picture book, so it’s not one to grab and expect to breeze through before bed.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – None.
Profanity – None.
Death, Violence and Gore – In describing what it takes to become Real, the Skin Horse says that your eyes might drop out.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – The little boy becomes very ill with scarlet fever.  The doctor recommends burning the Velveteen Rabbit.

Posted in Little Ones, Primary Grades | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The Tale of Peter Rabbit

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Mrs.N

The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter

I have no idea why this is the most famous and beloved of Beatrix Potter’s stories.  It’s certainly never been my favorite.  But it is a classic, and quite a good lesson about obeying your mother, so I’d have to say it’s an essential for all children.

Mother rabbit warns her bunnies to stay far from Mr. McGregor’s garden.  The little girls, Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail, obey her and have a lovely day among the blackberries.  Peter is quite mischievous however and ventures into the garden where he eats his fill of carrots, french beans and radishes.  He does not go undetected however and spends much of the story either running or hiding with Mr. McGregor in hot pursuit.

This is ideally a read aloud for little ones.  Parents will appreciate that the story is quite short and the illustrations lovely.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – None.
Profanity – None.
Death, Violence and Gore – Peter’s father had an accident at the McGregors and was put into a pie.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – In much of the book, Peter is being chased by Mr. McGregor.

Posted in Little Ones, Primary Grades | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Rabbit Hill

Posted on April 18, 2013 by Mrs.N

Rabbit Hill by Robert Lawson

Things have been hard for all the small animals.  The prior owners of the house did not take care of their property and there was little food to be had.  With the house having been vacant for some time, there has been little to eat for the creatures.  But there is good news, new folks are coming.  Much time is spent speculating as to whether or not the new folks will be the right kind of folks and whether things will change for the better, but all speculation is put to rest when the new family arrives.  Things have indeed changed for the better.  There are of course, some unexpected sadnesses, but ultimately life is much better on Rabbit Hill.

This is a sweet, slow, old-fashioned book.  The vocabulary is incredibly difficult at times, and the interest level is well below the reading level, so it is likely to be best used as a read aloud, with a grown-up safe at hand to clear up and confusion at the difficult words. Just in case you need to look up the difficult words yourself, a sampling is below.

Vocabulary: auspicious, felicitous, shiftless, hearsay, renaissance, cherished, shrilly, leeward, indignantly, perished, diabolical, husbanding, straitened, provender, inherent, indubitably, propitious, codger, aspersions, dassent, gentilities, impertinent, hypocritical, scoundrel, tetched, tarapaulins,

Sex, Nudity, Dating – None.
Profanity – “tarnation,” “blasted,” “dingblasted,” “gumdinged,” “Oh Lord,” “queer” is used several times in the old-fashioned sense, meaning odd,  the animals hear “a man’s Curse” and a woman says things “no lady should ever say.”
Death, Violence and Gore – A rabbit leads dogs that were chasing it to an electric fence.  There’s no mention of what happens at the fence, whether the dogs backed off, or shocked lightly or worse.  Animals worry about traps, poison, explosives, shotguns and rifles.  Some rabbits were once killed by a man who put the exhaust pipe of his car down into a burrow.  There’s a brief discussion of the deaths of bunnies by other animals and an illustration of a bunny sitting by bunny gravestones.  There’s a mention of how a long time ago the redcoats came and people were shooting at them. Rabbits are wary of moving vans since a rabbit died because of one.  One animal knew someone who read a lot of books, but he “died a couple of years ago.”  Fox and skunk eat chickens.  A rabbit is hit by a car.  Another rabbit brags about how he used to run in front of cars and make them crash. A rabbit worries that the humans are torturing another rabbit.  The rabbits worry a gallows is being built to hang a rabbit.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – Uncle Analdas smokes tobacco.  A man smokes a pipe.
Frightening or Intense Things – None.

Posted in Primary Grades | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes

Posted on April 16, 2013 by Mrs.N

The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes Gift Edition with Charm by Du Bose Heyward

A small country bunny wants nothing more than to be chosen as one of the five (yes, five) Easter Bunnies who deliver all the eggs and baskets.  Yet when she is small, no one believes she is capable because she is young and little and from the country.  And when she is grown and has 21 children all of her own, no one thinks she can manage because she has so many small rabbits.  But anyone who believes that doesn’t know the true magic of being a good mother, for anyone who can manage that many children effectively is certainly up to any task put before them.  And so the mother bunny does win her chance.

This is a sweet, if old fashioned Easter tale.  It will be best for little listeners.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – A bunny grows up, gets married and has 21 babies.
Profanity – None.
Death, Violence and Gore – None.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – The bunny gets slightly injured in a fall. There are some references to sick and ill children.  The mother bunny leaves her children unattended while she delivers her eggs (er, where is the father bunny after all?)

Posted in Little Ones, Primary Grades | Tagged , , | 4 Comments