If you subscribe to, occasionally visit, or have just stumbled across this blog, I’d love to hear what you find helpful or interesting, and what you think I could add or change to make it better.  Particularly, I’d appreciate if it you’d click on the “Contact” tab at the top and answer any of these questions:

1) Who are you? — student, parent, teacher, librarian, space alien?

2) Is the blog useful? — Does it help you make good book choices for yourself or others?  Does it include the information you need?  What would you like to see added?

3) Is the blog useable? – Can you easily find what you want?  As the blog has gotten bigger, I’m thinking it might be time add some other way to search or organize the contents, maybe some additional lists of books by topic.

4) Is the blog fun? — Interesting?  Does it make you eager to read or share these books?

I know I enjoy writing the blog, and it helps me better serve the patrons of the library where I work.  If it helps others in Illinois, around the country, or even around the world, all the better.

Thanks for reading, thanks for your feedback!

John

Challenging (not necessarily “bad”) news:  I will need to manually redo all the book links in my blog to point to the new catalog.   Until then, after April 1, if you click on the title or cover of any book in the blog, it will take you to the portal for the new catalog system, but not the actual book record.

This is only relevant for patrons within the Illinois Heartland Library System, who may use the blog to find or request books in their local library.  The new catalog will be live for my library, Decatur Public Library, as of April 11, and I will try to get the links in the blog updated as soon as possible after that.

P.S.  For those in the IHLS, I think you will LOVE the new Polaris catalog system.  I’m very impressed with its flexibility and search capabilities.  Like any powerful piece of software, it will take a little time to learn all it can do, but it’s well worth it.  Our IHLS folk chose well.

One afternoon, twelve-year-old Derek Fallon and his best friend Matt head off to their favorite new playground — the nearby UCLA campus, where they like to skateboard and climb around walls and stair rails.  This particular day, however, Derek is noticed by a Hollywood stuntman, who offers him a job doing stunts for an upcoming movie!

This sounds like a dream come true, but there are complications.  First Derek has to get permission from his parents, and they require some things in return — like reading (which he hates, unless it’s Calvin & Hobbes) and taking better care of his pet monkey, Frank.  And his sudden fame creates friction in his friendship with Matt.  Plus doing stunts for fun is one thing, but doing them them with the camera rolling and a famous teen actress watching is quite another.

Derek’s narration is light and funny, from a perspective that will resonate with many 6th grade boys:

My parents have obviously forgotten what it’s like to be a kid with no money, no car, and no power.  Of course we say anything to get what we want — what else are we supposed to do?

This is actually the second in a series, but can be read on its own.  Based on reviews I’ve seen from kids and parents, the books have hooked a lot of reluctant readers who are attracted to a character a lot like themselves.  The look and tone are a bit Wimpy Kid, but with more plot and substance.  The wide margins are filled with Derek’s stick figure drawings, his trick for illustrating vocabulary words (actually drawn by the author’s son).  And parents will appreciate that Derek’s folks are savvy and supportive, and help him learn from his experiences.

The other books in the series so far:

• My Life as a Book (lexile: 880; AR book level: 5.2; 211 pp)
• My Life as a Cartoonist (publication date, April 30, 2013)

If you know where to look, the world is full of Portals — hidden doorways between worlds.  Eleven-year-old Tommy Learner is an unlikely member of the band of Explorers who are committed to finding and traveling through these portals.  As the story opens in New York City, 1901, Tommy and fellow explorer Bernard are preparing to check one buried in a basement.  But something goes very wrong …

Fast-forward to the present.  Twelve-year-old Jezebel Lemon decides to check out the creepy old basement of her apartment building.  And there she encounters a boy with a message:

“I don’t have much time. But you’ve got to be warned. Keep safe and trust your instincts. Be careful. Be smart. Be afraid. The Dead Gentleman’s coming.”

Suddenly he’s gone.  Maybe she was hallucinating — so she thinks, until that night when the monsters creep out of her closet.

Tommy and Jez are soon thrown together, and learn that the mysterious Dead Gentleman has set his sights on conquering Earth, the only world left where the dead stay dead.  And Tommy and Jez are the only ones left with any chance of stopping him.  The fast-paced tale includes all sorts of cool stuff, including a time-traveling airship, a clockwork bird, zombies, dinosaurs, an almost-toothless vampire, and a submarine called The Nautilus (with a nod to Jules Verne of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea fame).  The story builds to a dramatic, final battle outside New York City that kept me turning pages quickly.

Some time travel novels go to great lengths to explain the background story, how all the imaginary elements fit together in a consistent worldview (for example, The Book of Time series I’ve reviewed).  The Dead Gentleman doesn’t, which is OK.  It’s meant to move quickly.  Tommy and Jez are both bold characters, sometimes clashing, but a good team.  The ending is conclusive, but with hints of sequels yet to come.

Artemis Fowl

The fairy world is real, but these are not your storybook fairies of Tinkerbell and pixie dust.  They’re high-tech, sophisticated, and powerful, and centuries ago moved their entire civilization underground to avoid discovery by the “Mudmen” — that’s us.

One human, however, has discovered their existence: Artemis Fowl, 12-year-old criminal mastermind, genius, millionaire, and scion of a wealthy Irish family.  And Artemis has determined to restore his family’s failing fortunes by taking advantage of fairy rules.  If he can capture one, the fairies will be obliged to pay one ton of gold in ransom.

Artemis takes on more than he realizes, though, when he and his bodyguard, Butler (who “can kill you a hundred different ways without the use of weapons”), kidnap Holly Short, captain of the LEPrecon (Lower Elements Police Recon Unit).  She’s tough and smart, and together with friends Underground she may just be a match for Artemis.

The story is a fast-paced, fun mixture of magic and high-tech gadgetry, with memorable and likeable characters like Foaly the computer-geek centaur and Mulch Duggums, a kleptomaniac dwarf with a powerful digestive system.

Some reviewers dislike Artemis because he’s not much of a hero — he’s self-centered, cocky, and cold.  But he is still appealing, and so blatantly narcissistic that no reader who is not already a young millionaire genius is going to look to him as a role model.  And Artemis’ story doesn’t end with this first book.  One of the things I love about the series is the obvious transformation of Artemis Fowl into a much different young man, until the moving and powerful climax of the last book.  If you like Artemis, stick with him for a few books, and discover that it’s how you finish that really matters.  The other books, in order:

• The Arctic Incident  (lexile: 610; AR book level: 5.0; 277 pp)
• The Eternity Code (lexile: NA; AR book level: 5.0; 309 pp)
• The Opal Deception (lexile: 770; AR book level: 5.7; 342 pp)
• The Lost Colony (lexile: 740; AR book level: 5.3; 385 pp)
• The Time Paradox (lexile: 780; AR book level: 5.6; 391 pp)
• The Atlantis Complex (lexile: 900; AR book level: 6.2; 357 pp)
• The Last Guardian (lexile: NA; AR book level: 6.6; 328 pp)

Swindle, by Gordon Korman (lexile: 710; AR book level: 4.9; 252 pp)

Sixth-grader Griffin Bing (“The Man With The Plan”) and his best friend Ben Slovak are spending the night in an abandoned (maybe haunted?) house that’s due to be demolished the next day.  While exploring the house, Griffin discovers an old Babe Ruth baseball card.  Could it be genuine?  Could it be VALUABLE?

To find out, they take it the next day to S. Wendell Palomino’s “Emporium of Collectibles and Memorabilia.”  Palomino tells them it’s just a copy, not worth much, and gives them $120.

Imagine their surprise to see S. Wendell (“Swindle”) interviewed later on TV about HIS prize Babe Ruth card that he expects to auction for ONE MILLION DOLLARS!  Griffin’s been SWINDLED — and he intends to get that card back!

So Griffin puts together an intricate plan worthy of a Mission Impossible movie.  Swindle’s store is a fortress, guarded by fence, fierce dog, and high-tech security, not to mention a nosy neighbor who’s always around.  Griffin will need the diverse skills of a team of friends to pull it off, and you can bet not everything will go as planned.

Swindle is fast-paced, and funny, and appeals to every kid’s sense of justice.  You want Griffin and his pals to succeed, and show Swindle he can’t get away with taking advantage of a kid.  And for parents who might worry that the story sets a bad example — stealing the card back wasn’t perhaps the best way to right the wrong — those lessons emerge eventually.  But the ride there is quite a roller coaster.  As one reviewer has said, this is Oceans Eleven with 11-year-olds.

Griffin and his team return in four equally fun books:

• Zoobreak (lexile: 700; AR book level: 4.9; 230 pp)
• Framed (lexile: 730; AR book level: 5.2; 234 pp)
• Showoff (lexile: 740; AR book level: 5.1; 248 pp)
• Hideout (lexile: 750; AR book level: 5.2; 275 pp)

For those who would like a simpler, shorter dragon story,  here’s one old and one new which are good choices.

My Father’s Dragon, by Ruth Stiles Gannett (lexile: 910; AR book level: 5.6; 80 pp)

Though his mother doesn’t like it, Elmer Elevator befriends a stray alley cat, brings him home, and sneaks him saucers of milk.  In appreciation, the cat tells him of a far-off place he visited in younger days called Wild Island.  It’s populated by wild animals, and they have enslaved a poor baby dragon, tying him up and forcing him to ferry them back and forth across the river that divides the island.

Elmer decides to set out and rescue the dragon, and with the cat’s help carefully prepares for the journey.  The funniest part of the story is the strange array of supplies Elmer packs in his knapsack, including: chewing gum, two dozen pink lollipops, a toothbrush and toothpaste, six magnifying glasses, and seven hair ribbons.  It turns out, of course, that each is just the right thing to trick one of the animals on Wild Island so Elmer can get to the dragon and free him.  They become good friends, and the dragon is happy to fly Elmer back home.

This funny little dragon story was a Newbery Honor book in 1949, and is still popular over 60 years later.   There are two later sequels.  Elmer and the Dragon (80 pp), tells of their adventures on the way home from Wild Island, complete with an island full of canaries and a buried treasure.  In The Dragons of Blueland (80 pp), Elmer helps the dragon rescue his family from those who have discovered their secret home.  You can find all three in one volume, Three Tales of My Father’s Dragon.

Thomas and the Dragon Queen, by Shutta Crum (lexile: 770; AR book level: 5.3; 267 pp)

A kingdom at war, a fierce dragon who kidnaps a princess, and a very unlikely knight who sets out to rescue her and in the process discovers his own strengths — all make up this simple fantasy quest with good characters and an unexpected plot twist.

Twelve-year-old Thomas is the oldest of nine children, and is always busy taking care of his younger siblings.  He dreams of being a knight, but he is small for his age, and only the son of a leathersmith, not a noble.  He gets his chance one day, though, when Sir Gerald happens by, and makes Thomas his squire.

Thomas learns his duties at the castle, but one day when all the knights are away, the princess is carried off by a dragon.  Thomas bravely sets out to rescue her — but he’s so small, he can only take a short sword, and has to ride a donkey instead of a horse.  In the end, however, it will not be his stature, but rather his courage, perseverance, quick wits, and good heart that lead to success.

This is a perfect read-aloud for younger children.  The storyline is not complicated, all of the main characters (including the dragon, it turns out) are good, and Thomas has loving, wise parents.  There are enough scary moments to make it adventurous, and a happy ending for all.

On a far away planet, the peaceful Valorim face their final moments as the evil Lord Mondus and his minions besiege their city.  As the fight comes to the  innermost tower, the last of their people forges all the combined Art of the Valorim into a single jeweled chain and casts it into space to keep it from Lord Mondus.  Across unknown galaxies it travels, until it lands — in the lunchbox of 12-year old Tommy Pepper, Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Tommy doesn’t realize what he’s received, but he has a lot of other things to distract him lately.  His mother died 257 days ago, his father and younger sister are each grieving in their own ways, and an unscrupulous real estate investor is trying to get their beachfront cottage.

Soon, however, Tommy’s friends and family notice that he is able to do some pretty remarkable things, like painting a picture that actually moves.  It all seems natural to him, like the memories he has of a planet with two suns.  But they know something strange is going on when someone starts breaking into homes and even the school, ransacking but never stealing.  Something sent from far away is trying to regain a lost treasure, and Tommy and his friends will need to fight to defend his family — and perhaps, though he doesn’t realize it, save a distant planet.

What Came from the Stars shifts back and forth between Earth and the Valorim world, as the two stories gradually come together.  It may be labeled science-fiction,  but it’s much more a story about grief, forgiveness, and friendship.  You will certainly like Tommy Pepper, his family and friends.  (And you may wish that — even for just a moment — you could wear the Art of the Valorim and do the unbelievable.)

Some reviewers really like the story of Tommy Pepper, but found the interspersed narratives from the Valorim’s planet difficult to follow.  Schmidt introduces a number of made-up terms in the Valorim language, and the picture of what’s going on there is painted in spare detail.  The reader does have to work, and the complete background story is not clear until the very end.  To me, that mystery was part of the appeal of the book, and fit the storyline.  Tommy and his friends had to gradually piece together what was going on, and so does the reader.  One of Schmidt’s many strengths as a writer is that he doesn’t tell you too much — just enough to hint, and leave you the “aha!” moment of discovery.

And here’s the book that I predicted would win this year and DID!

The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate (lexile: NA; AR book level: 3.6; 305 pp)

I am Ivan.  I am a gorilla.
It’s not as easy as it looks.

Ivan is a gorilla of few words.  Humans, he says, waste words, tossing them “like banana peels,” left to rot.  And so Ivan tells his story in spare, almost poetic, prose, wasting nothing.

For 27 years Ivan has lived at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade.  Once a wild gorilla, Ivan barely remembers being taken as an infant from the jungle.  Now he lives in his “domain,” surrounded on three sides by glass walls.  His friends are Stella, an aging former circus elephant caged next to him; Bob, a stray dog who comes at night to sleep on Ivan’s belly because it’s warm; and Julia, the daughter of the mall janitor, who sits in front of Ivan’s domain each evening while her father cleans, drawing pictures.

It’s Julia who discovers that Ivan, like her, is an artist, and she keeps him supplied with crayons and paper.  Ivan’s pictures sell for $20 in the mall gift shop, but he doesn’t care; he draws for himself.

From his domain, Ivan can see the billboard along the highway advertising the mall.  There’s a picture of Stella, Mack, the owner, and an

“angry animal with fierce eyes and unkempt hair.  That animal is supposed to be me, but the artist made a mistake.  I am never angry.

Anger is precious.  A silverback uses anger to maintain order … When my father beat his chest, it was to say, Beware, listen, I am in charge.  I am angry to protect you, because that is what I was born to do.

Here in my domain, there is no one to protect.”

That is, until Ruby comes along.  Ruby is a baby elephant, brought in to revive attendance at the failing mall.  Frightened and lonely, Ruby is mothered by Stella, who asks Ivan for a promise: that he will somehow find a different future for Ruby.  To keep that promise, Ivan will need to remember the mighty silverback he was born to be, and use his artistic ability to communicate as never before.

The One and Only Ivan is a beautiful, warm, superbly-written tale, simple and yet profound, that will appeal (like so many great books) to both kids and adults. There is some sadness, but the ending makes it worth the journey.  And it was inspired by a real Ivan, a gorilla who lived for 27 years in a shopping mall in Washington.  You can read about the real Ivan at Katherine Applegate’s site here – but read the book first.

In Shiloh Cave, Indiana

I may be “That Library Guy” when hanging out at the Decatur Public Library, but away from there I do have other identities.  I am sometimes Camping Guy (and have even written a book  about that) and Hiking Guy.  And for quite a few years I’ve been a Caving Guy.  I love exploring caves, crawling, climbing, hiking underground, getting wet and muddy, wondering if each new passage will lead to beautiful formations, a cool waterfall, or just a place few people have ever been.

Caving is great fun, and even a bit adventurous — so how about some books that include caving?  You don’t have to be a caver to enjoy these.

One of the great cave explorers of history was Stephen Bishop, a slave who was among the first tour guides at Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, in the early years when it was commercialized.  With just a hand-held lantern (and none of the fancy gear cavers use today), he discovered and mapped miles of passages by himself.  Two recent historical fiction books about him:

Journey to the Bottomless Pit: The Story of Stephen Bishop & Mammoth Cave, by Elizabeth Mitchell (lexile: NA; AR book level: 5.3; 99 pp)

The year is 1838, and 17-year-old Stephen Bishop, an African-American slave, has been assigned a unique job by his master, Franklin Gorin: to learn the tour routes and lore of Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, so he can guide tourists through the cave.  Gorin has just purchased the cave, and hopes to make money from it.  Bishop soon learns the limited area of the cave that was then known, but his relentless curiosity leads him to discover miles of new passages, exploring by himself areas no one had dared to go before.   I’ve been to most of the places in Mammoth Cave described in the book, but it was still exciting to walk, crawl, and climb with Stephen as he became the first human being to ever set foot in many of them.  Lots of caving action in this historically accurate portrayal of a true adventurer.

Underground, by Jean Ferris (lexile: 770; AR book level: 4.6; 167 pp)

Ferris tells the story of Charlotte Brown, a slave assigned to work at the Mammoth Cave hotel.  She eventually meets and falls in love with the guide Stephen Bishop, and they are married, all of which is historically accurate.  At the same time, the Underground Railroad was helping escaped slaves flee to the north, and Ferris adds the story of Mammoth Cave serving as a stop on the way.  Though there is no evidence for that, it’s an intriguing idea, since the cave would have been an ideal place to hide slaves — no one knew it better than Bishop and the other African-American guides.  At the end of the story Stephen and Charlotte make a daring trip through Mammoth Cave and out neighboring Flint Ridge to help a slave escape.  Though the connection between those two cave systems wasn’t discovered until 1972, the author notes that conditions would have made it possible for Bishop to discover that route himself.

If you like the books, you should see the real thing:  Mammoth Cave National Park.  There are excellent cave tours of varying lengths, including “wild” caving tours for kids and adults.  You can even see Stephen Bishop’s grave in the old guide’s cemetery.

Want to know more about caves and caving?  Here are some great non-fiction titles in our library system:

Mammoth Cave: The World’s Longest Cave System, by Brad Burnham (24 pp)
The Creation of Caves, by J Elizabeth Mills (64 pp)
Caves, by Isaac Nadeau (24 pp)
Radical Sports: Caving, by Chris Howes (32 pp)
Caving, by Maeve Sisk (24 pp)