Where The Best Books Are!: Middle School is Worse Than Meatloaf

Friday, August 27, 2010

Middle School is Worse Than Meatloaf

By Jennifer L. Holm

Pictures by Elicia Castaldi

Simon & Schuster, 2007

$12.99, ages 8-12, 128 pages

Imagine a book told exclusively through a 12-year-old girl's stuff, everything from refrigerator notes to the back of her homework assignment.

In this brilliantly conceived book by Newbery Honor-winning Holm, readers sift through the life of seventh grader Ginny, reading all of the scraps of notes she's written while at home and at school.

Each note feels very personal and touches upon things that linger in her thoughts: things she wishes she could do, others she has to do, and all of the things she worries and wonders about.

As seventh grade begins, Ginny's got a big to-do list. For one, she wants her mom to remarry. For another, she has to get the role of Sugarplum Fairy in the Nutcracker.

And then, wouldn't it be great, if just this once, she looked good in her school photo?

Ahh, the first day of school -- a fresh slate, a chance to be the kid everyone thinks is cool. But then Brian Bukvic shouts out to Ginny across the newly polished school floors, "Hey, Banana Nose!" and, well, it looks like things are the same as ever.

Or maybe, worse than she imagined. Worse than even the "gray and gristly" meatloaf in the cafeteria?

Suddenly one thing after another goes wrong. Ginny accidentally colors her hair pink, is sent to detention for throwing frogs in class and is edged out in the lead role of the recital by her ex-best friend.

It might just take a glob of dough she's molded for the science fair to turn things around. But you'll have to read the notes tacked on her bulletin board and fridge to find out...

1 comment:

AnonymousAugust 27, 2010 at 6:20 PM
Sounds like a book all kids in middle school will enjoy reading. Fun title.
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Sun Valley Receives Novels!

This April, Where the Best Books Are! passed out 20 free copies of Orson Scott Card's award-winning Ender's Game in Colorado's poorest neighborhood as part of World Book Night. World Book Night is an annual worldwide event sponsored by book publishers and sellers, and is aimed at spreading the joy of reading among people who never read or rarely pick up a book. Where the Best Books Are! requested Sun Valley Youth Center as its giveaway location, and was one of tens of thousands of volunteers selected to pass out books.

For the Love of Books

Bookspeak! Poems about Books. Whimsical collages and type combine with clever rhymes in a wondrous ode to books. In one poem, a character pleads with readers to liberate him; in another, an Index competes with the book cover and Table of Contents for the reader's attention. Laura Purdie Salas (Stampede!) humanizes everything from the middle of story, as it laments that it never gets to go first, to a checked out library book that feels like it's gone on vacation. My favorite: "The Sky is Looming" about a book getting squashed by a head: "I'm buried under cheek and drool / and hair three inches deep. / My reader drifted close, then far, / then gently fell asleep..." Charmingly illustrated by Josee Bisaillon, Clarion, $16.99, ages 4-8, 32 pages.

2011 Children's Choice Award Winners

Rick Riordan wins Author of the Year and David Wiesner takes Illustrator of the Year in the 4th annual Children's Choice Book Awards. Riordan wins for The Lost Hero (The Heroes of Olympus, Book 1) and Wiesner for Art & Max. Other winners include Johanna Kerby's Little Pink Pup, Jarrett J. Krosoczka's Lunch Lady and the Summer Camp Shakedown, Riordan's The Red Pyramid (The Kane Chronicles, Book 1) and John Green and David Levithan's Will Grayson, Will Grayson. A record breaking 500,000 votes were cast in the only national book awards selected by children.

Quotes from Authors, Books and the Kids Who Love Them

"In my world, everyone's a pony and they all eat rainbows and poop butterflies." (Dr. Seuss)

"...Very often when crazy people are not actively being crazy, they are less crazy than regular people who are a little bit crazy at all times." (Big Audrey in Daniel Pinkwater's Adventures of a Cat-Whiskered Girl)

"Grown-ups and ants are a lot alike. If they relaxed a little, they'd have a better time." (Bean in Annie Barrows's Ivy & Bean: What's the Big Idea?, Book 7)

"Wishes are slippery things. You have to be very specific or you can get exactly what you wished for and still end up with nothing."
(Cynthia Lord's Touch Blue)

"Treat yourself with respect and ignore people who don't treat you with dignity."
(Grandma Penshine in Tracy Trivas's Wish Stealers)

"I will respect the tree and not throw away his pieces."

(Tate Miller, 6-year-old reader, on choosing to erase a misspelled word and correct it, rather than toss the paper and start over.)

"I can read in red. I can read in blue. I can read in pickle color too!" (from Dr. Seuss's I Can Read With My Eyes Shut)

"How do you catch sunbeams to make them work for you?" (from The Kids' Solar Energy Book by Tilly Spetgang and Malcolm Wells)

Need just the right book?

I'd like to help! Email me your questions and I'll select them to answer in this feature.

Q. I want my 6-year-old to get excited about reading but I'm having a hard time wading through all of the readers, knowing which ones are better than others. Are there some series you'd recommend more highly than others?

A. My three boys have been a great testing ground for early readers, and I can tell you from experience that the books that engaged them the most were funny in a way they could appreciate. Mo Willems' Elephant and Piggie Books (Hyperion Books for Children) are brilliant. My youngest laughs out loud as he reads them and gets a charge out of saying sound words like "Oof!" that help break up the new words he's learning. We're also big fans of the Toon Books, including the Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor-winning Stinky. Published in a cartoon format, the books are funny, easy-to-read and wonderfully quirky. Other stellar books include Kate DiCamillo's Mercy Watson Books (Candlewick Press) and the hilarious new Max Spaniel series by David Catrow (Orchard Books).

Books Not to Miss.

Little Treasures, Endearments from Around the World. Children bat their lashes and giggle in delight, in this sweet ode to terms of affection by Jacqueline K. Ogburn. Illustrator Raschka captures the subtlety of a child's expression -- from a shy glance to a beguiling look -- all with loose, spare brush strokes. Houghton Mifflin, $16.99, ages 4-8, 40 pages.

I Don't Want to Be a Pea! Hugo the hippo wants to be a princess for the Fairy-Tale Fancy Dress Party and tells his best friend Bella the bird that she should be a pea. But that isn't fair. Bella doesn't want to be a little round vegetable, and in no time the two are storming off in opposite directions. Talk about two peas in a pod! Could it be that a few costume alterations could make them both happy? An adorable tale about compromise, written by Ann Bonwill and illustrated by Simon Rickerty. Atheneum, $14.99, ages 2-6, 32 pages.

Heart and Soul. Caldecott winner Kadir Nelson writes like a man who's weathered life and now sits on his porch recalling how things once were, in this marvelous history of the African-American experience. Equally compelling are his portraits: faces etched with hardship, yet glistening with determination. Balzer + Bray, $19.99, ages 9 and up, 108 pages.

Sammy in the Sky. A girl reflects on all the things she loved about her late dog Sammy, then celebrates his life by blowing bubbles into the sky. As the bubbles float up on a breeze, a cloud that looks like Sammy seems to bound across the sky after them. "I love you, Sammy!" she yells to the cloud. "You're still the best hound dog in the whole wide world." A beautiful, reassuring story about coping with a lost pet. By Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Barbara Walsh, paintings by Jamie Wyeth, Candlewick, $16.99, ages 4-7, 32pages.

The Green Mother Goose, Saving the World One Rhyme at a Time. Mother Goose favorites are repurposed into catchy green rhymes, in this clever book of whimsical poetry and collages. On one page, Jack Be Nimble turns off the tap; on another, readers chant, "One, Two, We Can Renew." By Jan Peck & David Davis, illustrated by Carin Berger. Sterling, $14.95, ages 4-8, 32 pages.

The Art of Disney Epic Mickey. The creators of the groundbreaking 2010 video game Disney Epic Mickey explore how it came to be, in this lush coffee table book filled with concept art, designs and in-depth analysis of the game. By Austin Grossman, with a foreward by Warren Spector. Disney Editions, $40, all ages, 160 pages.

Tallulah's Tutu. A little girl thinks she can become a great ballerina in just a few classes, but when she doesn't earn her tutu as soon as she'd like, she gives up trying. But will her love of dance call her back to class? By Marilyn Singer, illustrated by Alexandra Boiger, Clarion, $16.99, ages 4 and up, 40 pages.

The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes. Beatrice thrives on being perfect until one day she makes a very public mistake, and discovers that it's okay to let go and laugh at herself. By Mark Pett & Gary Rubinstein, illustrated by Mark Pett. Sourcebooks, $14.99, ages 4 and up, 32 pages.

Slightly Invisible, Featuring Charlie and Lola. Charlie and Marv have made an invisibility potion to look for sneaky creatures, and don't want to be bothered by Lola. Only now Lola's friend Soren Lorensen has gulped down most of the potion. Will they need Lola's help after all? Written and illustrated by Lauren Child, Candlewick, $16.99, ages 3 and up, 40 pages.

Tumford the Terrible. Tumford the cat is always getting into mischief and though he feels bad about it, he can't get himself to apologize for his mistakes. Then one day at the fair, Tumford gets into the worst trouble yet and discovers the wondrous effect of saying he's sorry. Written & illustrated by Nancy Tillman. Feiwel & Friends, $16.99, ages 3 and up, 32 pages.

My Name is Mina And I Love The Night. Anything Seems Possible At Night When The Rest of The World Has Gone to Sleep. Mina McKee, the quirky, endearing neighbor girl from David Almond's highly acclaimed 2008 debut Skellig, journals about herself and the world around her in this lyrical, intimate prequel. By David Almond. Delacorte Press, $15.99, 272 pages. Read an early review from The Guardian here.

Liesl & Poe: Locked away in the attic with only a sketchbook to keep her company, a lonely girl named Liesl looks to a ghost to help her escape from her cruel stepmother and lay her father's ashes to rest. Little does she know the box containing his ashes has been mixed up with one containing the greatest magic ever known. A tender, beautiful novel by bestselling adult author Lauren Oliver. HarperCollins, $16.99, ages 8-12, 320 pages.

The Apothecary: Janie and Benjamin discover elixirs they never imagined could exist, as they embark on a dangerous quest to save Benjamin's father, a London apothecary, and prevent nuclear disaster. From award-winning adult author Maile Meloy comes a sparkling children's debut in which the extraordinary becomes possible. G. P. Putnam's Sons, $16.99, ages 9 and up, 365 pages.

The Son of Neptune: In a camp miles away from where demigods Jason, Piper and Leo inherited a quest to rescue Hera, queen of the gods, a new camper has arrived who appears to be the son of Neptune, god of the sea, in this much-anticipated second book in Rick Riordan's Heroes of Olympus. The story, the second of five, is told alternately by Percy, Frank and Hazel, and takes place about two months after the first book, The Lost Hero. Disney-Hyperion, $19.99, ages 9-12, 544 pages

Publisher Giveaways and Offers!

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While vacationing at the beach, a toy action figure and his loyal pet are mistaken for flotsam and carried off to a dolly's sand castle. Will the duo ever do valiant deeds again? Or will they play dress-up forever? Another hilarious adventure starring Traction Man and Scrubbing Brush by Mimi Grey. Alfred A. Knopf, $16.99.


Tom Lichtenheld says good-bye to political mud-slinging and suggests a new bipartisan mascot, the "Giraffe of National Unity," in his latest blog art. Lichtenheld is the illustrator of Duck Rabbit! & Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site. For more books by Lichtenheld, visit Chronicle Books.