YOUNG PIONEER

Sasha Zaichik wants nothing more than to be a Young Pioneer and follow his father’s example. Growing up in the Communist regime, Sasha admires Stalin and looks forward to his responsibilities and duties as a Young Pioneer.  The night before the Young Pioneer ceremony, his father was arrested for being a traitor.  After his father’s arrest, everything Sasha believes about his hero Stalin and the regime all become ambiguous.

Breaking Stalin’s Nose by Eugene Yelchin is a heartfelt story about a 10-year-old boy witnessing injustice in his country.  With the arrest of his father, he has no one to turn to for help but himself.  This 2012 Newberry Honor Medal Book is highly recommended for students who enjoy historical fiction.  The reading level is appropriate for grades 4 and up.   Students who have learned world history will better relate to Sasha’s character. 

HELP ME I'M STUCK AT SUMMER CAMP!

For those of you who enjoy opening and pulling things out or reading other people's postcards and mail then this is the perfect book for you.  Postcards From Camp:  A Postal Story by Simms Taback is a very funny exchange of mail between a father and son, whose first time at camp is not enjoyable at all.  However, it's only for one week, and Michael is willing to try for his father's sake.  

The illustrations are fantastic and it's a good introduction for start for someone going off to camp.  

To be read aloud to someone or can be read by a 2nd grader and up.  

  

I CAN'T EAT THAT

James is a very picky eater.  He does not eat broccoli because it is disgusting, lasagna smells funny, milk is repulsive, oatmeal is lumpy and eggs are slimy.  In order to get James to eat his food, his father comes up with creative stories to encourage and guilt him into eating the different foods.  Either he eats the oatmeal or oatmeal will continue to grow and eat the things James likes, such as ice cream, cake and his dog.  His father’s reason for why James should eat certain food becomes even more creative as you read through each chapter.  Will the reasons and explanations James’ father give be enough for him to try new foods? Read and you shall find out!

Tales for Very Picky Eaters by Josh Schneider, is a great book for beginning chapter book readers, grades 1 and up.  This story will also be a great read-a-loud, especially by parents who have children that are picky eaters.  For 1^st grade and older.

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN ... SURVIVE ALL THIS

Chomp by Carl Hiaasen takes you on a trip through the Everglades of Florida where alligators, snakes and all sorts of wildlife are not just a great attraction but a matter of life and death.  Wahoo and his dad have been hired to provide animals (tame ones) as props for a reality show, Expedition Survival, but what they really have to do is make sure the show's star, Derek Badger, makes it through each scene without any mishap, mostly brought on by his own stupidity.  

Wahoo's classmate, Tuna, thinks Derek Badger is the most amazing adventurer, eating all kinds of stuff in order to survive as shown on his TV shows, but she comes to realize that's he's nothing but a fake.  If this wasn't all, she, Wahoo and his dad are trying to keep her away from her abusive, crazy and drunken father who is determined to bring her back home.  

This is one wild ride of a book with lots of adventure, and humor to boot.  For readers in grades 6th and older.   

THE CEMETERY IS HIS PLAYGROUND

This year is going to be different. Linc has decided that going to public school instead of being homeschooled will be an exciting change, in a normal kind of way. He will not tell people that he lives next to a cemetery, or that his mother is a cemetery expert, or that he spends most of his free time there or that his close friend is the groundskeeper. His parents had been taking him to cemeteries since he was small. When his father died suddenly, it's just him and his mom. His mom has an unusual job and dresses oddly and for now, he just wants to be a normal middle school kid.

His fantasy plan goes bust when the teacher announces that the big project of the year will be to research one grave and write a historical report about the person. Linc picks a notorious grave to research and discovers interesting facts about his own family.

Here Lies Linc by Delia Ray is a perfect little odd book about an oddball kid. For readers in 6th-8th grade.

FIND THE RED-HEADED FROG!

Shoe repair guy, Johnny, is so poor and desperate for money that he is willing to help a beautiful princess find her brother, a frog with red hair. Yes, that's right a frog! Really, he was a PRINCE who was turned into a frog by an evil witch and is now somewhere in Florida. She's desperate and would even marry him if he can find her brother! What sane guy would turn down an offer of money and marriage to a hottie of a princess? Not Johnny.

Cloaked by Alex Flinn is an action packed fantasy adventure chockful fairytale characters, talking animals, and of course, romance.

For readers in 6th-8th grade.

WINNERS - WORTH READING STILL?

This is my third attempt at reading Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary. First attempt: ran out of time, only read about 10 pages. Second attempt: I read about 50 pages and was bored by it.

Third attempt: WOW! I get why this won the Newberry in 1984. It's a boy who starts off writing letters to his favorite author as part of a class assignment who winds up unloading his thoughts about the author, his lunch, and his father in a diary (yes, there was a boy writing in a diary before Diary of a Wimpy Kid). I love the ending, because it's a happy ending, but not one that is expected. Leigh grows, befriends a classmate, learns his lessons, fields dissapointments, not all neat and tidy but we get a glimpse of his life during one year of diary entries. This is a sensitive and thoughtful look at a middle school age boy at a time in which life, his parents' divorce, is just too confusing.

This is the book group's selection for the month of June. Join Snacktime Readers on Wednesday, June 23 at 7:00 in the Children's Room of the Central Library, 222 East Harvard Street, Glendale, CA 91205, (818)548-2035.