Archive for March, 2006
Saturday, March 25th, 2006
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Author: Martin Booth
Not physically fat, but it is fat in ideas.
The gentle words of the plot quietly convey both the great good and the unspeakable, unthinking evil that humans do to each other.
The story of an innocent British citizen who is freed after laboring for 25 years in a Soviet gulag. By the time Alexander Bayliss leaves the gulag, he does not forgive and does not forget, but accepts that good and bad can come to all people for no reason. This is a great book to read in times of sorrow.
Other deep books for sophisticated but young readers
Posted in Conceptual: age 12 and up, Culture, Fiction, History, Reading level: age 8 and up | Comments Closed
Saturday, March 25th, 2006
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| Author: | Jerry Spinelli |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 12 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 2000 |
An amazing fiction book that confronts the issue of a gifted child trying to fit in. My 10 yo and I loved this
VERY sad but VERY funny and VERY true novel. We read it to each other this summer, alternating chapters, and every time
my older daughter caught us, she'd hang out and listen.
Stargirl is a brilliant and highly eccentric high school girl.
The novel is written in the narrative voice of the boy who loves Stargirl with and for all her eccentricities and yet despite himself wants her to fit in at school so he can fit in too. |
As this book points out, to a great extent, being eccentric is a choice and it does have a profound
influence on how other students treat one. OTOH, NOT being eccentric can really isolate a person from herself.
Other books about gifted children |
| Similar books |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Stargirl |
Posted in Conceptual: age 12 and up, Culture, Dealing with bullies, Female protagonist, Fiction, Gifted, Reading level: age 8 and up | Comments Closed
Saturday, March 25th, 2006
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| Author: | Stephanie S. Tolan |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 8 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 2002 |
Joyous, involving story about a family of stereotypically gifted but stereotypically self-involved Artistes and the stereotypically Troubled Youth who benefits by becoming swept up in their passionate pursuit of Art.
Stephanie Tolan takes wonderful advantage of the fact that we all know the Sound of Music so well we can hear
the music in our heads, and those stereotypical personality types move the story along
efficiently and with great humor. The characters themselves know they are stereotypical; and their self-awareness is one of the things that saves them and the story.
Not a great book, but one we are very glad to have read.
We particularly LOVED the way butterflies weave the various plot elements together.
Excellent portrayal of the joys of homeschooling.
-- Emily Berk |
| Similar books |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Surviving the Applewhites |
Posted in Animals, Child-raising, Conceptual: 8 and up, Female protagonist, Fiction, Gifted, Homeschool, Reading level: age 8 and up | Comments Closed
Saturday, March 25th, 2006
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| Author: | Ray Bradbury |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 12 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 12 and up |
| Genre: | Fiction |
| Year of publication: | 1951 |
Spooky stories; just in case the child is thinking of getting a tatoo... |
| Similar books |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Illustrated Man, The
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Spooky stories; just in case the child is thinking of getting a tattoo…
I am not actually a Ray Bradbury fan. Not saying that every new technology is worth using, but Bradbury’s anti-technology bias oppresses me.
Posted in Conceptual: age 12 and up, Fiction, Reading level: age 12 and up, Science Fiction | Comments Closed
Saturday, March 25th, 2006
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| Author: | Isaac Asimov |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 8 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 12 and up |
| Genre: | Science fiction |
| Year of publication: | 1950 |
One of the milestones of science fiction. The three rules of robotics are still relevant today. |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: I, Robot |
Posted in Conceptual: age 12 and up, Culture, Fiction, Reading level: age 8 and up, Science Fiction | Comments Closed
Saturday, March 25th, 2006
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| Author: | Nicholson Baker |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Sophisticated readers |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Sophisticated readers |
| Genre: | Fiction |
| Year of publication: | 2003 |
One of the best books "about nothing" that we've ever come across.
A gentle family man describes his philosophy of life in a diary format. |
Features highly opinionated disquisitions on topics such as:- The best way to scrub an encrusted pan in the morning in the dark and make sure it's clean.
- The progression of a fever.
- The best ways to pick up a pair of underwear with your bare toes.
Will make you want a pet duck.
Suitable for: Mature high school level readers (others are likely to be bored out of their minds rather than amused) and adults.
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| Similar books |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Box Full of Matches, A |
Posted in Conceptual: for grown ups, Fiction, Reading level: Grown up | Comments Closed
Saturday, March 25th, 2006
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| Author: | Zilpha Keatly Snyder |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 8 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 1966 |
Twelve-year old boy learns to use and appreciate his gifts.
A soothsayer once told Harry that his was "... a rare gift, and his magic will be of a special kind."
Now, many years later, it is summer in San Francisco. It's possible that Harry has heard that same voice intone the words "The air is absolutely heavy with possibilities." Or maybe he dreamed them.
Because he performed a good deed, twelve-year old Harry (interesting name, isn't it? -- my daughter thought so!) receives a gift. As such gifts often do, this one is bestowed with limitations. Harry must never be caught displaying the gift "publicly" lest the giver of the gift be harmed.
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My 9 year old loved this story about how Harry learns to take advantage of the gifts with which he's been born and the gift he receives.
Zilpha Keatley Snyder has written MANY books! And all of the ones we have read have held our interest. Black and Blue Magic is based in the San Francisco Bay Area; we really enjoyed the geographic "cameos".
The 9 year old says, "I am SO glad I read this book!"
Much resonance, I thought, with the plight of gifted kids: to use their gifts but to use them in such a way that they do not attract undue attention. And also, that what others might imagine to be the way a gift is to be used may not actually be the way the one who has the gift might choose to use it.
-- Emily Berk |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Black and Blue Magic |
Posted in Conceptual: 8 and up, Fiction, Gifted, Reading level: age 8 and up, Science Fiction | Comments Closed
Saturday, March 25th, 2006
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| Author: | Zilpha Keatly Snyder |
| Illustrator: | Alton Raible |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Sophisticated readers |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 12 and up |
| Genre: | Dystopian/religious |
| Year of publication: | 1975 |
Issues sometimes arise for gifted readers who become infatuated with books written by authors who write for both adults and children and/or with books that are in series that are unevenly targeted. Below the Root, which is a book my 9 yr. old adored, is a prime example.
Because she reacts very poorly to unhappy endings, we had decided to recommend against her reading certain novels. So, for example, after significant discussion, we decided that Lois Lowry's The Giver was too intense for her, for now at least.
But she had loved Zilpha Keatley Snyder's The Egypt Game, and the illustration (by Alton Raible) on the back cover of Below the Root made us yearn to read the book, even though our resident teenager warned against it.
So we decided to read Below the Root together. |
Well, there are some very scary moments in this dystopian novel. In fact, towards the end of the book, we decided that we could not read it too close to bedtime because it might not end happily. But, as it turned out, in this volume of the trilogy, Snyder never manages to become as pessimistic as Lois Lowry.
Unfortunately, the story of Raamo, gifted with empathy and abilities that many others of his society don't share, doesn't exactly end in Below the Root. Or, at least, my nine year old didn't feel that it ended with the finality she would have liked. Or, maybe, she wanted the book to go on and on because the environment it describes is SO compelling.
As we've come to expect from Zilpha Keatley Snyder, in Below the Root she imagines (mostly) well-rounded, thoughtful characters who inhabit a strange but consistent and believable reality. And, as with other Snyder plots, this one is involving and (mostly) unpredictable.
Says the nine-year old, "How come they don't make great books like this into movies? A movie of this book would be so much better than Harry Potter."
So then we had to read AND ALL BETWEEN, not exactly a sequel -- it overlaps the time and takes place in a dystopia that borders that of Below the Root. And All Between is a much darker book than Below the Root in many ways. Whereas Below the Root takes place in the tree canopy, And All Between mostly takes place underground. And, And All Between expands in depth on the theme of how the corruption of the religious elite can corrupt an entire society.
But And All Between doesn't end the story either, so then we had to proceed to Until the Celebration. My child became very, very angry with the protagonist who kind of gave in to his own death. And very, very angry with the author who "let" her read so many pages to just have the protagonist "throw his life away".
Too bad -- the message in all as far as I can tell is that demonizing the Other can have bad consequences for those who do the demonizing. Sounds pretty pertinent these days, huh?
--Emily |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Below the Root |
Posted in Conceptual: age 12 and up, Fiction, Gifted, Reading level: age 8 and up, Science Fiction | Comments Closed
Saturday, March 25th, 2006
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| Author: | Marjorie Flack |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 5 and under |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 5 and under |
| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 1930 |
Doesn't rhyme so harder to memorize; funny; cool pictures; not cutesy; some pretty hard words keep it interesting |
| Similar books |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Angus and the Ducks |
Posted in Animals, Conceptual: learning to read, Fiction, Reading level: Learning | Comments Closed
Saturday, March 25th, 2006
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| Author: | Kate Chopin |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | For grown-ups
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| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | For grown-ups
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| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 1899 |
Hard to believe that these stories were written more than a century ago. Although they are firmly rooted in the bayous of Lousisiana just before the turn of the 20th century, the women in these stories face choices heartrendingly similar to those of women today. |
My favorites this week are Regret, in which a childless woman, set in her ways, is obliged to care for a some of her neighbors' children for a while. And, The Awakening itself, a novella about a woman who seems to have it all, but does not. |
| Similar books |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Awakening and Selected Stories, The |
Posted in Conceptual: for grown ups, Culture, Female protagonist, Fiction, History, Reading level: age 12 and up | Comments Closed
