This has been a steadily popular book in my middle school library with 4th and 5th grade girls for the past 2 or 3 years and it has good reasons to be so. The ingredients are delicious: an old family feud, an enchantment placed on the two friends, the re-living of the same day with variations depending on one’s choices (which include some REALLY poor but thrilling ones,) and the reforge of a lost friendship. What not to love? I am also grateful that the narrator has a pleasant voice. A delightful ride, for sure.

As all children’s lit lovers know, this is one of the most anticipated sequels of the year.  With the success of The Lost Hero, Riordan set himself quite a high bar to pass — and he came in slight short.  Percy is not as witty or clueless (ironic given that he lost most of him memories) as the beloved, unexpected everyday hero in the previous series.  The two new “heroes” do not generate the same reader admiration that the three new leading characters (Jason, Leo, and Piper) from Lost Hero.  And Hazel and Frank’s potentially awesome powers did not quite get the play each could have.

That said, the book is still full of quirky scenes and exciting adventures.  I especially love the notion that the Amazons are the power behind amazon.com and totally enjoy the Harpy Ella and her voracious appetite for books.  One of my students wrote a reaction to this book and I agree with her musings on some stylistic and character development matters.  Here’s the link: http://blogs.dalton.org/scifan/2011/11/17/603/

In this no-frill biography, the touching devotion of Amelia’s husband comes through vividly. (I looked him up on the internet and found that he’s the grandson and namesake of the prominent American publisher, G.P. Putnam. It was not clearly stated in the book his relationship with this publishing company.) I appreciate that Fleming makes it quite clear how pig-headed and impulsive Amelia was. She’s a heroine whose lasting impact on women’s social status cannot be denied, but one that is real and full of personal histories and faults, not on a lofty pedestal.

This is a short and charming caper story with some not-quite-so-believable reconciliations — especially the incredibly fast and easy resolution of the mother-daughter relationship which was so extremely strained. I did enjoy the notion of aunt Polly being such a generous soul and that her legacy was felt and practiced throughout the town by those who truly loved her. I think many young readers will find great satisfaction in reading this story but those who came to PIE because they loved So B. It! should be told before hand to not expect the same kind of intensity, originality, and affecting ending as that previous most-beloved tale.

I adored The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Brian’s Caldecott winning, form-innovating, ground-breaking novel told in text and pictures. I have been waiting for Wonderstruck with both happy anticipation and a slight dosage of anxiety: what IF it is not as good? What if it feels like the author has set a trap for himself and cannot top his last achievement? Would I be as taken by this story as the mysterious tale of Hugo? Would I feel that it is merely a repeat of what he already did once and since it is such a singular and unique format, it might not bear the weight of a second attempt…

I am so pleased that the book is not at all these What Ifs… Instead, it tells a fascinating and moving story succinctly and attractively with text and pictures. And instead of a novelty, it might start a different kind of storytelling form for others who are similarly minded and have suitable tales to present in this way.

I did so want to SEE Ben’s story, though. I was craving pictures for his part of the tale! That, to me, is a strength of the book: I can see how young people can be compelled to “illustrate” parts of the text. Others might be inspired to curate a personal “Cabinet of Wonder” (a personal museum.) And all of us will learn to appreciate all the connections that we make throughout our lives with others.

The release date of the book is September 13th, a day after the start of the year at my school, and I can’t wait to have it on display to herald a year of reading with a wonderful new book for all my students! Let’s shout HURRAY together for another tour de force by Brian Selznick!

I’m not sure that this is “graphic novel” treatment of Say’s personal life as many have categorized it.  It has text and it has graphics but it feels more like a scrapbook with clippings of thoughts and images (both photographs and drawings).  I probably would call this a picture book memoir.  It is brutally honest: I felt pained by the lack of tenderness and affection from family members that Say received as a child and a youth. But it also shows how one can make one’s own family from those who appreciate and spiritually and emotionally adopt one as a child or a sibling. I hope by making this book, Allen Say has made and found peace with his unhappy past.  This is definitely a title worth sharing with many.

One question though: how would a young reader (say, in 2nd or 3rd grade) perceive the Japan-America conflict of War World II by reading these lines:

page 10: Then a war began in 1941. When bombs started to fall on our city, Mother took us and fled to a village named Tabuse between Hiroshima and Iwakuni.

page 12: When the war ended four years later, everything was broken.

page 13: The American forces occupied Japan on my eighth birthday, August 28, 1945. Our house in Yokohama had been destroyed. Father went to the south island of Kyushu and found work in the city of Sasebo.

I must admit that as a Chinese person who grew up in Taiwan (which was a Chinese province colonized and occupied by Japan for 50 or so years until the conclusion of WWII) and whose mother lost her entire family due to the Japanese occupation of North Eastern China, when I read a Japanese author’s personal perspectives on these events or the time period, I had to forcefully remind myself that: this is a person who happened to have grown up in a country that invaded my own country and that Allen Say was not personally responsible for the atrocity (and yes, it IS an atrocity) that his mother land caused in my mother land way before I was born. And yet, I still wonder if there could have been other ways to make those statements that show clearly to any young reader that War did not come to Japan without Japan’s bringing it on to itself AND that instead of using the word “occupied,” although accurate, Say and his editor could have found a different word to describe the American Forces’ presence in Japan post WWII – especially since the young readers encountering this book most likely wouldn’t have had much background knowledge of the whole sequence of events that led to such occupation.

It’s really quite an oddly enjoyable weird tale. Some of the images can be disturbing, but effectively and purposefully so. I think plenty of young readers will find this a very interesting read.

I found myself thoroughly engrossed in this tale of fantasy/scifi blend. Usually, I get annoyed by authors who mix magical elements in otherwise supposedly a science fiction world. It always seems to be a cop-out: when something cannot be sufficiently explained with scientific theories or technical knowledge, we just throw in some magical powers and voila, the story can move on. Fisher did something different here: she created a world of magical elements with a few technological gadgets thrown in here and there. The little guessing games of what each object is (an easy one is a pair of binoculars made with the “unfamiliar” materials – plastic? -) entertains and intrigues the reader.

I would have liked to see the Dark City developed a bit more — the city is too vaguely described and I simply couldn’t figure out why there are still people in this place since the readers are not shown how the commerce works to support such a place and its inhabitants.

Still, can’t wait for the book to be released (May) so I can promote it to my young readers and can’t wait to read the 3 sequels which will come out in quick succession: June, July, and August!

(Based on the Advanced Readers Copy)

It’s definitely a fun ride. Many young readers must really enjoy the fast pace, the satisfying notion that one can behave badly with light consequences or even rewarded for such behaviors, and the espionage aspects of the storyline.