The Royal Ranger (Ranger's Apprentice #12) by John Flanagan

An entertaining conclusion that comes full circle from the first book. Flanagan sticks to his usual formula of dry humor in the adult characters and a protagonist that grows up while facing dangers. While this story's pacing slows a bit in the middle because of the focus on training an apprentice, it picks up with an exciting ending. About 17 years has passed and Will Treaty is now middle-aged. Many of the characters from previous books have died or are dying. Others are doing well in old-age and have found happiness with a partner. Will has had a tragedy in his life that has left him grieving and unable to move on in life. When Halt comes up with a crazy plan for Will to apprentice the first girl Ranger, it's a challenge Will can't resist. It also helps him love someone again and begin healing from his own personal loss.

Flanagan creates strong female characters with flaws. Some might feel its slow as this girl Ranger grows up and makes mistakes while learning from them and changing. This part of the story which involves her training doesn't have as much action found in other Ranger Apprentice stories but I enjoyed the character development. It's Flanagan. I know the action will come on full force eventually. And it does. Will isn't as crotchety as Halt so there is less of a dynamic between the two, but Will is his own person and a good teacher. Will never got Halt's jokes in the previous novels but in this one he does get the girls. I kept waiting for that oddball humor to show up but it didn't. The horse humor does though. They are still talking to their anthropomorphic horses. I did laugh when Will got irritated with the girl for correcting him at times. Hmmm... imagine that... adults getting exasperated with kids. All-in-all good fun.

When the girl Ranger makes her first kill she is shocked and Flanagan shows this quite well. Then when she makes the second kill she isn't shocked at all and is glad her victim is dead. This didn't jive with the first reaction and I wondered how she hardened so quickly. I do think Flanagan does a nice job showing how a girl has to adapt to the physical differences of being a Ranger. She isn't going to be able to string a huge bow and must find a weapon that works for someone small and less muscular. She's quick and smart and it is these qualities that make her good. I did think it odd that she fell asleep in the middle of a battle. Wouldn't she have gone after Will right away? Or maybe that was showing she was a kid and not really a seasoned warrior. The series begins in book one with a boy apprentice who wants to be a knight but is too small and becomes a Ranger or spy. This last book comes full circle and has that same boy training the first girl Ranger. A nice ending to a fun series.

3 Smileys

Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made (Timmy Failure #1) by Stephan Pastis

In English classes, teachers often have lessons where students examine the reliability of a character's voice. Some tell the truth and some don't. Huckleberry Finn is an "unreliable narrator" who even says outright that sometimes he tells the truth, sometimes he lies, and sometimes he stretches the truth.  Take a look at Holden Caulfield in "Catcher and the Rye," another top-notch unreliable narrator spewing contradictory statements and hyperboles in most of his dialogue. Some unreliable narrators in children's literature are: "The False Prince" by Jennifer Nielsen, "Liar & Spy" by Rebecca Stead, and "Monster" by Walter Dean Myers. Add to that list, "Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made," except stamp some great comic book pictures along with text and a protagonist like Elmer Fudd and you have a comedic unreliable narrator that makes me think of the Looney Tunes cartoon characters I grew up with in the 60's and 70's. In some ways Timmy's character reminds me of Junie B. Jones who acts superior to others, calls people stupid, yells at adults, acts like a twit head, talks back, and is mean to most peers.  As the students say, "she's so dumb she's funny!" Timmy is so patently dumb he's funny too.

Timmy is a cathartic release of emotions for people who are either weary of making mistakes (like me) or afraid of making mistakes. Timmy makes mistakes. He drives a Failuremobile. He has a detective agency with a 1500 pound polar bear as a partner who never speaks in the book.  The first case mentioned in the plot involves a kid in Timmy's class who hires him to find his missing Halloween candy. Timmy sees the classmate's younger brother with wrappers and writes in his notebook that the kid "is not tidy." He's the world's worst detective and as a parade of characters continue so does the humor and evidence of Timmy's problems at home and school. One such character, Timmy's teacher, shows he shouldn't be teaching anymore. He lacks energy, enthusiasm, and calls Timmy, "Captain Thickhead." While the scene is funny, Pastis uses good comedic technique by observing or poking fun at the failures found in human nature. When the new creative teacher is hired, the contrast between the two is duly noted.

Timmy hasn't had an easy life and its his problems interspersed with the humor that make this book better than similar fare. His single mom has lost her job and is dating a loser boyfriend that puts Timmy down. His mom clearly loves Timmy, reading to him before bed, blowing in his ear trying to make him laugh, and disciplining him when necessary. He's a handful and she does the best she can but the two live in a one bedroom apartment and there is little space. His nemesis is a classmate, "Corrina, Corrina" who also has a detective agency, is smart, and has a more stable life. Timmy isn't even on her radar even though he thinks he is all she thinks about. He's failing school and his friend is the playground lady and polar bear that is either real or a figment of his imagination.

Pastis sure defies stereotypes. Take Flo the librarian that is short not for "Florence. It's short for 'Misshelve my books and the blood will FLOw." Timmy thinks that Flo gives him favors because he knows that he's a detective with connections to spring him from jail, need be. "And I, in turn, know he's looking out for the Timmynator." Flo looks like he belongs on a motorcycle wearing a leather vest with no shirt underneath and a World War I spiked German Helmet. Detective Timmy usually comes up with the most ludicrous reasons for solving his crimes and observing others. He notes that Flo reads dangerous books such as "To Kill a Mockingbird" and Emily Dickinson poetry. Timmy's delusional behavior hides the desperate side of his reality. I just saw a movie trailer for "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty." Timmy seems like the juvenile version of Walter Mitty.

One of my favorite parts is when Timmy has been grounded and forced to study because his mom got a letter from the principal saying he was failing grade level and would be held back. "I'm sitting there reading something about something when I see the pattern of the wood grain in my desk. And before I know it, I'm watching tiny me running through the maze." A funny illustration of big-Timmy and mini-Timmy tooling on the wood grain with big Timmy cheering "Go, me, go"  accompanies the text. Timmy's muses, "And away goes an hour. So I try to read again. But I hear a dog. Which makes me think of cars. Which rhymes with jars. Which hold mayonnaise. So now I'm eating a bologna sandwich. And two hours are gone. So I try to study again." I had a laugh-out-loud moment on the elliptical machine scaring the woman chugging away next to me.

Timmy is a bit of a kindred spirit. I sat down to write this book review and the sunshine slashed a bright path across the smooth tile floor. It radiated warmth. What goes with warm sunshine? A chocolate sundae. I looked in the freezer. No ice cream. Ah, but a handy-dandy ice cream shop is around the corner. I snuck there and and smothered my chocolate ice cream with M & M's. And there goes an hour. Then I looked at the kitchen table. The Pringles chips looked good. Which rhymes with tingles. Which made me go eat them. Which reminded me to make a dentist appointment. Which reminded me to pack my tennis bag and prepare a lesson for coaching tomorrow. And now two hours are gone. I'm back at my laptop. The sun is gone. Ah well. I'll try again.

When I was in college we used to stick popcorn up our nose and sing into our curling irons like microphones. And no, I did this perfectly sober. Okay... maybe I'm being an unreliable narrator with an unreliable memory, but that's besides the point. One of the things I love working with kids is they remind me to lighten up and be silly like I did as a kid (or young adult). When Timmy sticks three pencils up his nose because Rollo is so serious about studying I guffawed pretty loud while reading that on the elliptical machine. It was the second time I startled a girl exercising next to me. The text reads, "Here's how I teach Rollo" and the photo has Timmy with one eye looking dead on and the other slightly askew. A pencil hangs from each nose and one is sticking out of his ear with the speech bubble, "How'd those get in there?" Juvenile, silliness abounds with some heartfelt issues that Timmy is dealing with that make this quite witty and more memorable than the influx of Diary-of-a-Wimpy-Kid-wanna-be's. Stephen Pastis was a lawyer before becoming a syndicated cartoonist and is most known for the comic strip, "Pearls Before Swine." His adult wit and childish humor should make this popular with the middle grade readers. Toss in some really funny illustrations and you have a winner.  Move over Junie B. Jones. You've met your match.

4 Smileys

The Boy Who Swam with Piranhas by David Almond, Oliver Jeffers (Illustrations)

"Would you like my lads to see who is tooting' their hooter and put it to a halt?" asks Clarence P. Clapp regarding a car that is honking its horn at an "ossifer." Clarence is the king of malapropisms, mispronunciations, and misspellings in this goofy story by David Almond. While it nods it head at the great Russian writer, Fyodor Dostoyevsky using some literary techniques found in his works and even naming one of the characters after him, it is Almond's own creation with childlike and satirical human behavior. My brain kept trying to pull out fragments of Dostoyevsky's novel, The Brothers Karamzov, that I read decades ago. I repeat, decades. I have a fuzzy recall of Dostoyevsky using malapropisms and having an intrusive narrator that enhances the theme of truth just like Almond has an omniscient narrator that enhances the theme of choosing your own destiny to the point that the reader chooses the villain's ending, but I might be wrong. The unfinished ending that tells the reader to choose the villain's resolution might frustrate some readers and I've read a few reviews on Goodreads that express this exact disappointment, but personally, I thought it was funny and figured, of course, the daft Clapp who is full of crap would jump in with the piranhas. I'd eat him if I was a piranha. But what will students think of all the metaphorical silliness? That's the question I'm not sure how to answer. It might be just a bit too weird for them. Or they'll laugh their heads off.

Stanley Potts has quit school to help his uncle Ernie with his new business venture of canning fish. When his aunt gives Stanley money for his birthday and the day off he goes to the carnival and buys some goldfish that sets off a series of events leading to him running away from home. He works for the carnival goldfish stall run by the man, Dostoyevsky, and his daughter, Nitasha, where Stanley changes them into regarding the goldfish as something special and seeing the world as having possibilities. He gives them hope, which in turn, gives them joy. When Pancho Pirelli, the famous man who swims with the piranhas decides to take Stanley on as an apprentice, Stanley decides to forge his own identity and do what brings him happiness.

The many points of view give different messages and themes such as growing up, taking risks, dealing with nasty people, becoming independent, getting a first job, finding your identity, reinventing yourself, finding your special talent, finding something that makes you happy, creating your own history, and discovering the possibilities in life - to name a few. The silly, nonsensical Clarence P. Clapp is great satire on the theme that extreme behavior even when representing good or the law, as in Clapp's occupation, can be bad. Extremist views can justify actions that cross the line of justice to persecution and Clapp seems to show this at the end. He's destroyed Ernie's business but continues to zealously attack Stanley Potts and his family.  He's so convinced of his righteousness that he will swim with the piranhas because he thinks he understands them versus representing their ruthless feeding side more than anything else. Perhaps Stanley will save Clapp as he has saved so many people in the story.

At first I thought Gypsy Rose was going to follow the cliched, stereotypical path of the greedy gypsy, but she not only foreshadows Stanley's future, she philosophically tells him to pursue his heart's desires, forgive those who make mistakes, and to not be afraid. She uses a beam of moonlight as a means of payment and what started out as a minor character I wasn't sure about was one that became interesting as the story progressed. Come to think of it, I didn't like Dostoyevsky at first either. Many characters come across as cartoonish at first and get more interesting as the plot unfolds.

This book is very artistic and as a librarian with decades of reading literature, I appreciate what David Almond does in this tale. I don't know if young readers will delight in it. Is it too weird? Is the character too unapproachable? I admire Almond's piece of work and the risk he takes creating something quite different from the norm. There are many factors that prevent authors in general from pushing boundaries whether in children's literature or elsewhere. I had a conversation with my dad, an architect, who talked about how difficult it was for him to take risks with building designs because of potential client loss. To teach the value of making mistakes is not a part of the cultural norm. And what if the mistake costs oodles of money? Is this book a mistake, you ask? I don't think so. The nice thing about Almond is he has a strong following and can take risks. Okay. Enough musings. Oliver Jeffers illustrations and their understated simplicity complement the text quite well and add to the humor. Children's literature needs these type of books, but this one might need explaining by teachers to young readers.  Decide for yourself. Obviously, I can't.

5 Smileys

The Great Trouble: A Mystery of London, the Blue Death, and a Boy Called Eel by Deborah Hopkinson

Deborah Hopkinson knows how to pass on interesting historical facts. While I've read her nonfiction books, this is the first fiction book of hers that I've read and I'm not surprised that I found the story lacking a bit in character development, but full of great facts. Hopkinson presents an interesting study of how an epidemic spreads throughout a community as a medical professional, with the assistant of an orphan, studies patterns and causes in an effort to determine the origin of a disease.

Eel is an orphan in 1854 London who has gotten a job at the Lion Brewey, a lucky break that pulls him away from full-time mudlarking, a type of scavenging for junk from the Thames river to sell to traders. Eel has a secret and must make more money than the average mudlarker. When his stable job is threatened and the townspeople around the Broad Street Water pump get sick with cholera, Eel finds himself helping Dr. John Snow a man who believes previous theories of the disease being air-borne as incorrect. Eel isn't sure he can help Dr. Snow prove his theory but he is willing to help him.

Eel begins the story with a heavy accent while talking to Jake. This gets lost later in the story and he sounds more educated as the story goes on, especially at the end with Dr. Snow who is trying to teach him to think like a scientist in regards to the patterns of cholera in the neighborhood. I thought that perhaps knowing the source of cholera would take too much tension out of the story, but it is more about solving where the original source of the contamination occurred and the process for mapping it out.

The subplot with Eel and his mysterious money was predictable and didn't interest me as much as the main story. It adds to the story as a whole and is necessary but I thought it was too predictable and I wasn't vested in those characters as much as the process for figuring out the disease. I have always found epidemiology fascinating and the manner in which scientists determine what causes an outbreak and its source is a bit of a mystery. This story helps give a glimpse of evidence-based decisions in medicine that lead to improved public health. Normally I am drawn to a story by the characters rather than the nonfiction elements, but that was not the case here.

3 Smileys

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

Vampirism as an epidemic. An interesting premise that doesn't quite work in Holly Black's latest book. Tana wakes up after passing out at a party to find everyone violently murdered by vampires. They missed her because she was behind the shower curtain in the bathtub. When she finds her ex-boyfriend, Aiden, and a vampire, Gavriel, chained in a room, she helps them escape as the vampires return to the crime scene. If you are looking for light entertainment with not many plot twists, fair world-building, and a vampire love story then you'll enjoy this one. The gory, violent start grabbed my attention with a main character who seemed unhinged because of her guilt over causing the death of her vampire mother as a young girl; however, the story sputters later in the novel and doesn't come together in a satisfying way for me.

Tana was scratched by a vampire along with Aiden who was bitten at the party. After their escape, they traveled to Coldtown knowing their vampire symptoms would show in 48 hours. Coldtowns were cities where vampires and humans were trapped and quarantined after an outbreak of newly turned vampires infecting too many humans as a result of the side effect of crazed bloodlust. Outside the cities vampires were hunted and killed, but inside they were left alone. Coldtowns showed how vampires and humans lived side-by-side glamorizing the immortal life of vampires and broadcasting to the world lavish vampire parties and decadent lifestyles. Daily deaths were common in these towns and not broadcast with the vampire as predator and the human as prey. The Coldtowns were supposed to keep vampires and people from leaving but Lucien's gang managed to leave and return. Humans could leave with a marker but that was a rare occurrence and not always honored by authorities.

Tana knew that if infected by her scratch at the party, she and Aiden had another chance to not become vampires by spending 88 dangerous days dealing with the infection quarantined in Coldtown.  No cops or bounty hunters would come looking for them and she wouldn't put her dad and sister at risk of getting infected. Also, the success of this method was not guaranteed. Tana, Aidan, and Gavriel picked up two humans who wanted to become vampires in Coldtown. The one girl was addicted to her celebrity online status and was choosing to be a vampire for all the wrong reasons. Her twin brother questioned the intelligence of their actions but followed her anyway.  They represented those who found the thought of being immortal tantalizing and basked in the glow of an online presence that gave them an identity. Tana's younger sister was lured by the Coldtown glamor while their father thought of vampires as monsters, no longer human. When Tana got there she found that the humans were easy prey for the vampires and it was difficult to survive at the bottom of the food chain. She did find good people in Jameson and Valentina who became trapped when the quarantine happened, but they are the exceptions not the rule.

The world-building explained the Coldtowns and politics of vampires, but human prejudices toward vampires and vice versa could have been clearer. Tana valued her humanity above all else and the overarching message of "is a vampire human" and according to Tana, yes, got muddied at the end of the story.  Gavriel was attracted to Tana because she saved him and showed kindness, while her fatal attraction was tied in with the guilt of causing her mother's death and being bitten once. Tana's father was the character most prejudiced against vampires seeing them as monsters but his point of view wasn't explored in-depth. Instead he seemed to be in denial over the horror of how he protected their family. At the end when Tana started acting more like a vampire who kills, versus a human the overarching message of being prejudiced against those who are different was lost. When Tana setup a camera at the end, I thought she was really out of character reminding me of Midnight and Lucien who were into the celebrity status. Yes, she was also trying to show how to detox her vampire poisoning or whatever you want to call it, but someone had already done that on the Internet so wasn't she showing the same self-narcissism the others showed? The whole "you are now famous," for killing a vampire seemed contradictory to what she represented as a human being. Then throw in the lack of remorse when killing other vampires and she seemed like the monster or more like her father.

Holly Black has written many novels and is skilled at the craft. I thought the book was interesting until everyone went their separate ways in Coldtown. That's when the plot weakened for me and the love story didn't quite work. Gavriel was an ancient vampire and up to that point Tana kept surprising him by being unpredictable. When Tana's motivation became to save her sister it pulled the story away from Gavriel and Tana's romance creating two story lines that weren't as interesting as Tana's self-destructive behaviors found in the beginning. Or perhaps too many characters started to dilute the main and secondary ones. I wasn't particularly interested in Valentina and Jameson although I understand they were supposed to represent "good" people in a dystopian society. I would have preferred the annoying Aiden getting more page time.

I struggled with this book's use of flashbacks to give the back story of vampires. Flashbacks interrupt the narrative and I have a personal dislike for most that I come across. This is more personal taste and they have to be really well done for me to not skim. I tend to feel annoyed because something exciting was happening in the plot and blammo, I'm back hearing some ancient vampire history. Then I buzz through the chapter to get back to the action and miss some crucial detail that would fill in the gaps of the world-building because of my impatience. I say this because I might have done that with this book and that is why I wasn't sure how Lucien's minions got out and perhaps I misinterpreted the overarching theme. I should read it again but it just didn't sustain my interest enough.

2 Smileys

Zebra Forest by Adina Rishe Gewirtz

This is not an action-stuffed animal, but instead a thought-provoking drama that would make for good discussions with grades 5 and up. When an escaped convict flees to Annie, Rew, and Gran's house taking the family hostage, the threesome examine their lives, the definition of a criminal, and making ethical choices. What at first seems black and white to Annie and Rew's childlike view, becomes fuzzy as they get to know the convict and his history. Unsure what to do with their new knowledge, Annie and Rew must decide what is the right thing to do and in the process grow up and mature quickly.

Eleven-year-old Annie is a well-developed character as the story is told from her first person point of view. While her internal changes and struggles are clear, Rew and Gran suffer a bit more in the tale. Gran seems to be suffering from depression and while Dad and daughter discuss if she's broken and do not think so, I thought her grief from losing her husband and the trauma of her son's situation meant she needed some counseling and/or medication. She was a mess. Rew suffers from anger issues, and while Annie reminds the reader of it, he seemed to be slamming his bedroom door repetitively. The climax shows him being transformed by an incident in a way that clarifies the extreme stubbornness.

When the convict escapes from the jail by their house and takes them hostage, the three know he is a murderer. As Annie learns his story over a period of time, her view of him changes from one that is "bad" to one that has "made a mistake." She finds that her hate has turned to empathy and she isn't sure she likes it. While the circumstances surrounding the randomness of the convict happening to find their house stretches the imagination, not to mention that it contradicts Gran's attempt to erase their existence to the point a lawyer can't find them, it is necessary for the plot to move forward. While a bit weak in plot structure, the strong character development makes up for it.  

The chapters are short and the book is roughly 200 pages. while I wasn't convinced that the girl wouldn't tell someone in the beginning about the convict, I was convinced later on as she learned the convict's story. The author addresses this by her worrying that the family would get shot like the hostages in Iran. The parallels between Rew and Annie's situation and the pirates in "Treasure Island" was an interesting touch in showing how the two cope with anger and neglectful adults. Annie is self-reliant and forced to be more grown-up than most children her age. She talks about how her Gran as being an excellent liar and not being so bad at it herself. She lies to the social worker because she doesn't want to be separated from her family and makes the best of her situation. More importantly, she learns the importance of facing problems, acceptance, and forgiving mistakes in others.

4 Smileys

The Boy On The Porch by Sharon Creech

This beautifully written book reads like an adult short story. The child, Jacob, in the story is mute and the point-of-view comes strictly from the adults. Jacob plays, draws, and interacts with the people and animals, but he never speaks out loud. It reminds me of the book, "The Prince Who Fell from the Sky," that has a boy who has no dialogue in the story. This technique makes me identify with the adult voice and seems off-kilter for the target audience of children. I liked the adult perspective on the uncertainties of being a parent, but will young readers connect with the characters and plot? I'm not sure. The pacing might be slow for some young readers, but oh-my, I do like how Sharon Creech puts sentences together. Just as Jacob taps out songs and sounds on any object he can find, Creech has a rhythm to her sentences that makes me want to sing. My only question is the audience and what students will think of the book.

John and Marta find a six or seven-year old boy, Jacob, abandoned on their porch with a note asking them to look after him. The note says the person will come back and get him, but as time passes it seems very unlikely. Because Jacob can't speak, John and Marta cannot find out any information from him about his past and who wrote the note. Months go by and they come to love the boy like their own child making them fearful of him being taken back and marring their happiness as a family. A nice message regarding what makes a family.

This story is about the transformation of John and Marta from a childless couple to learning what it means to love and care for a young boy. John is worried Jacob isn't boyish enough while Marta worries about him not having friends. They nurture his talent for music and painting and do not bully or criticize him. In return, he loves them unconditionally. The two struggle with telling the authorities about the lost boy because they don't really want him to be found by the person who left the note. They eventually do the right thing, but almost lose the boy over their choice. Creech shows how their decision was from a good heart, even if misguided. The story also shows the lack of laws in place to protect children from parents who don't know how to parent. In this regard, it might be a good book for a book club with grade 5 students. The story is only 150 pages so it is a quick read. The plot is well organized and the tension from wondering when or if the parents will come back for the boy kept me turning the pages. Like I said, I just don't know if students will take interest.

4 Smileys