Sideways Stories From Wayside School

Sideways Stories From Wayside School
By: Louis Sachar
Harper Trophy, 1978

The first installment of Wayside School series is hilarious. Wayside School was accidentally built sideways and it is thirty stories high. However, there is no nineteenth story, there is no Miss Zarves. The children are afraid when Mrs. Jewls comes to teach them because they have never had a nice teacher before. Mrs. Jewls is afraid because she has never taught cute children before. In fact, the children are so cute that Mrs. Jewls thinks they are monkeys! Do monkeys know they are monkeys? Read about all the kids in Mrs. Jewls class. There is Joe who can't count right, Ronnie who is missing her two front teeth, Leslie who almost sells her toes, Nancy who doesn't like his name, and Louis the yard teaches who kicks Terrence over the fence. You may think these stories are silly but when Louis told the kids stories about us they thought we were silly too.

Personal Review: This is one of my favorite books. I choose to read it because I hadn't read it since I was maybe in the fourth grade. These stories are so funny! I read them to my roommates and they were cracking up. Sachar does a great job with puns. He takes real situations with real kids and twist them around so that Wayside School seems to be in another planet! I think this book is great for all ages.
Warning: This book is really silly and you might even think it's weird. Don't be surprised if you just laugh your pants off.
Ages 9-12
124 pages

They made Wayside School into a TV show! Here is the theme song:

Locked Inside

Locked Inside
By: Nancy Werlin
Laurel-Leaf Books, 2000

Marnie Skyedottir is the daughter of a celebrity, well more than a celebrity, her mother practically started her own religion. Marnie is alone. She has no friends, she has given up on school, her mother is dead, and her only hope is the money she will inherit when she is twenty-one. Marnie's only social skills are used in cyberspace. When Marnie becomes obsessed with an on-line game her computer is confiscated and worried about her absence Marnie e-mails another gamer who calls himself the Elf. Meanwhile she studies with her chemistry teacher Ms. Slaight over spring break trying not to flunk out of school. But, when Marnie is kidnapped her on-line gaming leads her guardian, Max, on a false path to find her. Marnie realizes how little her "Sorceress" alias has prepared her for this very real nightmare. However, could her mysterious gaming life save her?

Personal Review: I liked this book but I also thought it was weird. The main character, Marnie, is strange because she is obsessed with on-line gaming. The way relationships are created are also strange yet Werlin makes it sound normal. This book was a good mystery. It had a lot of twists which made it entertaining.
Warning: This book is centered on cyberspace and gaming so if you are not into that you might have a hard time relating to it. There is also a considerable amount of violence in this book.
259 pages

After the Death of Anna Gonzales

After the Death of Anna Gonzales

By: Terri Fields

Henry Holt and Co, 2002

Students hear about Anna's death through a vague announcement over the intercom. Students have different reactions. Most students didn't know her, some try to use her death as an excuse to get out of practice, class, or even homework. Others wish they had talked to her more. Some wish they had talked to her at all. A few students are angry that she would choose to end her life. Didn't Anna realize that when you kill yourself you kill a part of everyone else?

Personal Review: I thought this was a tragically beautiful book written in poems. The poems are an interesting way to show the reaction of different students. Some poems were sad while others were insensitive. I think this book shows the variety of students that exist in high school and is realistic in the reaction of those students when they hear about suicide.

Warning: This book is about suicide, people who can relate to this subject may find this book harsh.

112 pages

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy
By: Gary D. Schmidt
Laurel Leaf, 2008

When Turner Buckminster moves to Phippsburg he immediately begins thinking of lighting out for the territories. Baseball isn't the same in Maine, the church isn't the same, the people aren't the same. When Turner begins going down to shore he meets Lizzie Bright, she is the first "negro" he has ever met and is surprised by how much he likes her. As Lizzie and Turner's friendship grows Turner finds out that the people of Phippsburg are running off the people of Malaga Island, Lizzie's people. Turner does the right thing, but doing the right thing doesn't make everything right. Lizzie tells turner that whales only let you touch them if you know what they know, will Turner ever find out what the Whales know?

Personal Review: This book is one of the greatest books I have ever read. It is beautifully written. This book touched my heart. I think that everyone should read this because it talks about injustice, Christianity, charity, and kindness. Turner and Lizzie are amazing characters to read about. This book made me cry, when a book makes me cry then I know that it is good.
Warning: This book talks about racism and it might break your heart. Or if you are racist, this could be a rude awakening for you.
240 pages

Cherry Ames Clinic Nurse

Cherry Ames Clinic Nurse

By: Julie Tatham

Grosset & Dunlap, Inc, 1952

Cherry Ames loves working at the Clinic but Doctor Fortune and his assistant Wilk Wilkinson (yes, that's really his name) seem to think she works too hard. When Cherry is kidnapped and held hostage no one believes her, she even begins to doubt her certainty. When Wilk and Cherry begin to notice strange things happening around Jane Smith's Inn. With the help of Wilk and newspaper editor, Sherman Harden Cherry is able to unfold this mystery. But when Cherry attempts to rescue Sherman all by herself will all her hard work be in vain?

Personal Review: This book was really funny although not on purpose. This book was written in the 1950's so some of the things Cherry said and did were quite amusing. For example Cherry cries, "O me! O my!" This book was interesting to read because it was written such a long time ago. These books were written to encourage girls to become nurses. The writer makes Cherry appear like a heroine because she is a nurse. She is also good at everything the traditional house wife should be good at; cooking, cleaning, doing service, etc. I really didn't think this book was that bad. The plot line was entertaining and humorous.

Warning: Beware this book is sexist, it was written in the 50's!

208 pages

Check out the Cherry Ames Website!

http://www.netwrx1.com/CherryAmes/index.html

Your Eyes in Stars

Your Eyes in Stars

By: M.E. Kerr

HarperTeen, 2007

Set in 1934 this book tells the story of Jessie and her new German friend Elisa. When their friendship begins Jessie's mother doubts the motives of Elisa, but she is wrong. Jessie (whom Elisa calls Jessica) and Elisa become best friends. When they hear the trumpet at the prison sound more beautifully then they have ever heard Jessie and Elisa want to know more about the man who plays it. Jessie's father, the prison warden, tells her about the tragic story of the new inmate Slater. the girls become infatuated with the musically talented prisoner until Halloween. Their opinions of Slater change and Elisa and her family return to Germany, only things have changed as Hitler rises in power. Elisa and Jessie continue their friendship through letters but soon Elisa says goodbye. Jessie is left to wonder what happened to her dear friend and finds out things turn out different than they seem.

Personal Review: I really enjoyed reading this book. I chose to read it because I was told it was about the Holocaust. As I first started reading I wondered if this was true, the book had brief references to Hitler and Germany. However at the end the book is about the Holocaust because Elisa returns to Germany during Hitler's reign. This book was interesting, it is not often that teenage girls fall in love with prison mates. Elisa and Jessica's friendship is so strong that they write more then most friends would. I thought the end of the book was beautiful. This book gives the readers a perspective of Nazi Germany from an American Perspective as well as a German one.

Warning: This book has descriptions on crime and prison life. This book also talks about murder.

240 pages

The Looking Glass Wars

The Looking Glass Wars

by: Frank Beddor

Speak, 2007

Lewis Carroll got Alice's tale all wrong! First of all he misspelled her name. At age seven Princess Alyss Heart of Wonderlandia sees things no child should ever have to see. When the Queen of Hearts orders her bodyguard Hatter Madigan to take Alyss through the Pool of Tears and protect her, everything gets mixed up. Hatter and Alyss are separated! While Hatter searches non-stop for the Princess, Alyss is forced to adjust to our world. Does that mean she has to forget her life in Wonderlandia? Meanwhile in Wonderlandia Alyss' aunt Redd, Her Imperial Viciousness, reigns in terror. When Hatter finds Alyss and she returns to Wonderlandia her friends begin to doubt her ability to fight Redd and take her rightful place as Queen. Will living in "reality" too long result in a tragic fate for Alyss and Wonderlandia after all?

Personal Review: This book is amazing! Once you open the book and begin to read it's hard to stop. The story line is fast paced and exciting with imaginative descriptions to match. Beddor creates a completely new world which sounds so real readers will wonder if it really exists. Characters age in this book, the book starts with Alyss at seven years old and at the end she is twenty years old. Although when the characters age they still sound like teenagers it is still incredible interesting to follow their lives. This book has action, fantasy, and of course a little romance too. Girls and boys alike will love it!

Warning: This book is very violent. Many people die very bloody deaths. This book is also filled with monsters. However, the book remains light-hearted through all of this.

400 pages

Book Trailer!

Godless

Godless

By: Pete Hautman

Simon Pulse, 2004



When Jason Bock's parents force him to attend "Teen Power Meetings" sponsored by the Catholic Church he decides to make his own customized religion. He calls it the Church of the Ten-legged God or CTG for short and they worship the water tower He convinces his strange friend Shin and his ordinary friend Dan to join and they call themselves Chutengodians. When Henry's friend from the TPO meetings, Magda, decides to join then Henry Stagg wants to join to. Things go wry when they decide to climb the water tower and get caught among other things. Jason is grounded and his father tries to steer him in the right direction. What exactly is the right direction though?



Personal Review: This book is great. It was very easy to read, it didn't get boring. It is very funny, the main character, Jason Bock, who narrates the novel speaks just a fourteen/fifteen year old kid. The concerns Jason has are very realistic. He doesn't believe in God because he can't see God. So why not believe in something that you can see and touch? Jason also doesn't realize that his friends actually listen and believe the things he says until his father points this out. I think that a lot of kids are like Jason, they have questions about religion but he doesn't care enough about figuring it out to put in the effort required to gain understanding. Jason just wants to have fun, he's more interested in girls than in God. This book might raise some questions with a few youth but I think the majority will find this book easy to relate to and entertaining.
Warning: This book does have strong language and can be viewed as blasphemous, beware of this before you start reading the book. and realize that this is written from the point of view of a teenager.
208 pages

Touching Spirit Bear

Touching Spirit Bear
by: Ben Mikaelsen
HarperTeen, 2005

Cole Matthews has so much anger inside of him he can't control it and he doesn't want to. When the abuse he receives at home builds up inside of him he blames everyone else for his problems. When someone at school rat's him out, Cole blames Peter. He beats him up so savagely that Peter suffers brain damage because of the impact. All hope seems lost for Cole, no one thinks he will change except for his parole officer. In an attempt to avoid jail Cole uses the judicial system to involve himself in Circle Justice, thinking that he can find a way out of isolation. When faced with near death, Cole finally begins to change and is allowed back to the Island where he learns out to control his anger. Will Cole be able to function in society again? What about Peter? Will he ever be able to overcome the pain that Cole so brutally forced upon him?

Personal Review: I thought this book was great. It made me really think about the justice system. For youth especially it isn't doing anything to help them. There are lots of kids that are like Cole and they have no hope of becoming a contributing member of society. It is these troubled teens that need help. They need hope. They need someone to help them. I think this book was beautifully written. I was amazed at how the author described Cole's transformation. I found myself liking Cole, the violent teen, over Peter. Cole was an amazing dynamic character to read about.
Warning: This book is about violence and anger. It also describes gruesome images.
320 pages

The Lightning Thief

The Lightning Thief

by: Rick Riordan

Disney-Hyperion, 2006

Twelve year-old Percy Jackson hasn't attended one school for over a year. He is dyslexic and has ADHD, which doesn't help him at all with school work. And to top it off everyone just seems to blame everything on Percy, he just looks like a rebel. After vaporizing his math teacher, over hearing his best friend talk to an adult about him, and narrowly escaping the wrath of his smelly step-dad, a monster attacks Percy, his mother, and his best friend! It turns out Percy isn't really a freak or stupid, he's a hero! Part God and part human but which God is his dad? When his father ends up needing his help will Percy be able to fulfill his quest, fighting monster after, and save his mother too?

Personal Review: I loved this book! I was so entertaining I couldn't put it down. Rick Riordan writes like he has been twelve his whole life, this book is hilarious. I like this book because Percy seems like a troubled teen, but really he is misunderstood. This book will give kids hope, each and every teenager can be a hero, even in a small way. I loved the integration of Greek mythology, it wasn't boring or awkwardly written. Percy Jackson ends up becoming more than a traditional hero. He is a hero because he is a loyal friend and a truly honest kid. I think all kids will love this book.

Warnings: This book describes several encounters with monsters, yet it remains surprisingly light-hearted. It also references adultery, the Greek gods are famous for that. Minor warnings, but things to be aware of.

400 pages

Trailer for the new movie!