SPECTACULAR POSSIBILITIES

I took a trip up to the Bay Area last weekend. It’s a 5.5 hour drive (without traffic) from LA, and I settled into the driver’s seat, automatically reaching for a familiar audiobook: Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt, read by Lincoln Hoppe. It’s a trip I’ve made several times and a story I’ve listened to several times more since its publication in 2011, yet it has never failed to elicit the same depth of emotion each time. It draws me back to a place I’d never visited and a time I’d never experienced: a small town in upstate New York in 1968, the peak of the Vietnam War era.

Fourteen year old Doug Swieteck is starting eighth grade in a new school in a new town, where his father has just secured a new job after being fired for a poor attitude and a questionable work ethic. The Dump, his family’s latest residence, is small and dingy. His father is spiteful. His older brother is a menace. His gentle mother rarely smiles anymore. And Doug can’t think of a single good thing about the stupid town they've just moved to.

You can easily envision the trajectory for a kid like that: he’ll grow up to be a bully, a thief, a liar, a victim and a victimizer. And everyone else in town thinks so too-- including Doug himself.

Until he finds unexpected solace in a public library and purpose in a rare copy of John James Audubon's Birds of America. There’s something mesmerizing about the paintings in Audubon’s book, even for Doug, who would be the first to tell you he’s no artist. Soon he’s drawn into the stories he sees in each carefully crafted bird, which become the metaphor by which he interprets his world. His spirit soars and dives throughout the novel as he faces a deluge of circumstances that test his resolve to sketch a different future for himself.

Another librarian (whose name I unfortunately cannot recall) wrote in her review of the book that it had broken her heart and put it back together a thousand times. I can certainly relate to that feeling. There’s a lot to mull over here: the tangible and intangible effects of the war on returned veterans and their families, the dichotomy of wealth and poverty, the cyclical nature of abuse, and the problematic prejudices of adults. At the same time there’s the thrilling freedom of art, the unexpected kindness of others, the gentle glow of first love, the healing found in offering compassion even when it seems undeserved, and a long lingering note of Possibility. It’s a tale of resilience and redemption.

I highly recommend listening to the audio version of book (which still counts as reading, in case you’re wondering!) Lincoln Hoppe’s reading of Okay for Now received an American Library Association Odyssey Honor in 2012 as one of the best audiobooks produced for children and young adults, available in English in the United States.

A truly rewarding read for grades 6 and up.

SOMEONE TELL THE LEMMINGS

In Read the Book, Lemmings! by Ame Dyckman with illustrations by Zachariah OHora, three small, adorably fuzzy, and sadly illiterate rodents evidently have yet to read the definitive book on lemmings, which CLEARLY states that lemmings do NOT jump off cliffs.

Aboard the S.S. Cliff (a barge which may or may not in fact be a large whale), First Mate Foxy, the very much literate arctic fox, is surprised by the revelations of his new leisure reading material, Everything About Lemmings. “Huh! Says here, lemmings don’t jump off cliffs,” he muses aloud.

Unfortunately, the three aforementioned local lemmings also suffer from selective hearing, in addition to being highly suggestible and terrible eavesdroppers. At the mention of “jump,” they immediately dive enthusiastically overboard, which in turn necessitates a quick rescue effort by Foxy. He takes the impressionable lemmings under his wing, gives them tiny hats as well as ridiculous, yet apt, names (“Jumper,” “Me Too,” and “Ditto”) in order to better scold them.

What follows is a hilarious tale of repeated dives, rescues, scoldings, and schoolings.

The author explains the inspiration for this picture book as a late discovery that lemmings don’t jump off cliffs, followed immediately by the thought: “‘OH NO! DID ANYONE TELL THE LEMMINGS?!’ So we made this book. You’re welcome, lemmings.” The author-illustrator duo previously collaborated to create the equally charming picture books Wolfie the Bunny (reviewed here) and Horrible Bear!

Ages 4+

FEED THE BRAIN!

Did you feed your baby's brain today? Just as children’s bodies need food, so too do their brains need “brain food”. And there is no better source of brain food - vocabulary, pre-literacy skills, knowledge-building, rich interactions - than reading aloud!

-From the Read Aloud Campaign

http://www.readaloud.org/15minutes.html

NEVER TIRE OF READING

FEWER THAN HALF OF CHILDREN IN THE UNITED STATES ARE READ TO DAILY.

IT'S ONLY 15 MINUTES A DAY. READ ALOUD!

Since early 2012, the Read Aloud 15 MINUTES National Campaign has brought together community leaders and the key groups who reach parents from birth to age 5 with messaging, materials, and parent engagement programs.

Read aloud to your child.  The books are free at the library!  

READING IS NEVER EASY

Travis is new to the middle school, new to the area and not happy at all.  When he meets outspoken, Velveeta, a classmate, things begin to look up until he has to read out loud in class.  He feels like a Bluefish all over again.  

Bluefish by Pat Schmatz is a hopeful story of new friendships and hidden secrets.  A realistic look at how middle schoolers deal with death, alcoholism, parents, neglect, bullying, and school.  For mature readers in 6 grade and up.  

LIFE IS BETTER WITH CUPCAKES

From Jennifer, Children's Librarian at the Montrose Branch Library

Close to Famous by Joan Bauer 

If you think cupcakes are fluff, you’re wrong. Baking can get you through hard times. That’s what Foster McFee learns from her Food Network idol, Sonny Kroll. Foster’s life hasn’t been easy. After losing her dad, Foster’s mom dates an abusive Elvis impersonator. One day, they pack the car and move abruptly. Their only hope being – to start over.

Life is different in Culpepper, where they settle. But when things are tough, Foster bakes. Soon, her baking skills gain notoriety and she’s getting cupcake orders from a local café. With the help of new friends, including a former movie star, Foster blossoms. She faces her troubles, one cupcake at a time. And by the end, inadvertently, you might have faced yours.

A funny, realistic, and touching read. For grades 5-8.