Geo Librarian

For the Love of Music: The Remarkable Story of Maria Anna Mozart written by Elizabeth Rusch paintings by Steve Johnson & Lou Fancher Tricycle Press, 2011 ISBN: 978-1-58246-326-1 Grades 1 and up Reviewed from book borrowed from public library. Reviewed for Beehive Book Awards BLURB : By the time she was 12, she was considered one of the finest pianists in Europe, but today few people know her name. Maria Mozart, like her famous brother Wolfgang, was a musical prodigy. The talented siblings toured Europe, playing before kings and empresses, were showered with gifts and favors, and lived in a whirlwind life of music and travel. They were best friends, collaborators, and confidantes. As they grew older, Wolfgang was encouraged to pursue his musical ambitions, while Maria was told she must stop performing and, ultimately, marry. But she was determined to continue playing the piano every day, for the love of music . . . . I'll say up front that I loved this book, s...

Soar, Elinor! written by Tami Lewis Brown, pictures by Francois Roca Farrar Straus Giroux, 2010 ISBN: 978-0-374-37115-9 Grades 2-5 Reviewed from purchased copy for Beehive Book Awards. BLURB : Elinor Smith was six when she first went for a ride in a rickety "flying machine," and she was just sixteen when she earned her aviation license in 1928. But not everyone thought that girls should fly. When male pilots and newspapermen mocked her, Elinor decided to perform an aerial maneuver they thought was impossible: flying under all four bridges that span New York City's East River. Gorgeous sweeping illustrations by François Roca show how Elinor pulled off this risky feat skillfully and with style.  I really enjoyed this book.  The combination of gorgeous illustrations and great text pair nicely in this title.  I am also a big fan of books about people following their dreams and passions. I appreciated how Elinor's parents encouraged her in her d...

Forbidden Sea written by Sheila A. Nielson Scholastic Press, 2010 ISBN:  978-0-545-09734-5 Grades 5-8 Reviewed from copy borrowed from library. BLURB : Yet, when the islanders find out about Adrianne's encounters with the mermaid she is scorned, for this small and superstitious community believes the mermaid will bring devastation to the island if Adrianne does not give herself to the sea. When Adrianne comes face-to-face with the mermaid of Windwaithe Island, of whom she has heard terrible stories all her life, she is convinced the mermaid means to take her younger sister. Adrianne, fierce-willed and courageous, is determined to protect her sister from the mermaid, and her family from starvation. However, the mermaid continues to haunt Adrianne in her dreams and with her song.  A powerful and lyrical story of one girl who must choose between having everything and having those she loves. I came across this book while doing reading for the Beehive Book Awards...

The Friendship Doll written by Kirby Larson Delacourte Press, 2011 ISBN: 978-0-385-73745-6 Grades 3-6 Reviewed from purchased copy. Utah Children's Beehive Book Award Nominee BLURB : I am Miss Kanagawa. In 1927, my 57 doll-sisters and I were sent from Japan to America as Ambassadors of Friendship. Our work wasn't all peach blossoms and tea cakes. My story will take you from New York to Oregon, during the Great Depression. Though few in this tale are as fascinating as I, their stories won't be an unpleasant diversion. You will make the acquaintance of Bunny, bent on revenge; Lois, with her head in the clouds; Willie Mae, who not only awakened my heart, but broke it; and Lucy, a friend so dear, not even war could part us. I have put this tale to paper because from those 58 Friendship Dolls only 45 remain. I know that someone who chooses this book is capable of solving the mystery of the missing sisters. Perhaps that someone is you. I wasn't sure what ...

I've been pretty busy the last couple of days with school and the numerous things that need to be done, but I have finished another book.  I'm also about a third of the way into The Secret Life of Ms. Finkleman .  I also plan to start Grace Lin's Dumpling Day s about which I have been hearing many good things.  Miles to Go for Freedom is on my list as well.  I need at least one good nonfiction read.  head on over to Just Deb for some Middle Grade fun. The Familiars written by Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson HarperCollins, 2010 ISBN:  978-0061961106 Grades 3-6 Reviewed from purchased ebook. BLURB: Is the kingdom's fate in the hands of an orphan cat?  Running fast to save his life, Aldwyn ducks into an unusual pet store. Moments later Jack, a young wizard in training, comes in to choose a magical animal to be his familiar. Aldwyn's always been clever. But magical? Jack thinks so and Aldwyn is happy to play along.  He just has t...

With Monday off of work I managed to get more reading done than I expected I would.  I finished two books.  I won't be able to get as much reading done for the rest of the week, but I hope to finish at least two more. Jake  written by Audrey Couloumbis Random House Books for Young Readers, 2010 ISBN: 978-0375856310 Grades 3-6 Reviewed from purchased e-book. Nominated for Beehive Book Award Fiction. Opinions expressed are solely my own. BLURB :  A heartwarming holiday story from Audrey Couloumbis, the Newbery Honor–winning author of Getting Near to Baby.  With beautiful writing and an endearing young narrator so honest and full of hope that you can't help but fall in love with him, Audrey Couloumbis tells a story, of a young boy and the grandfather that he’s just getting to know, that will make readers laugh and cry and, most of all, appreciate the gift of family. It's a few days before Christmas when ten-year-old Jake's mom breaks her leg, e...

I love middle grade books, in fact, I think they are my favorite genre.  So, of course, I have to participate in this fun readathon.  Since I go back to school this week I won't be able to read as much as I'd like, but I hope to finish at least a few books.  Here's the list I will be reading from: It's Raining Cupcakes by Lisa Schroeder The Secret Life of Ms. Finkleman by Ben H. Winters The Familiars by Adam Jay Epstein & Andrew Jacobson (e-book) Jake by Audrey Couloumbis (e-book) Miles to Go for Freedom by Linda Barrett Osborne (nonfiction) Glory Be by Augusta Scattergood Dumpling Days by Grace Lin Depending on my mood, there are a bunch of others I will consider as well, books I need to read for the Beehive Book Awards (Children's Literature Association of Utah).

Big Wig: A Little History of Hair written by Kathleen Krull, illustrated by Peter Malone Arthur A. Levine Books, 2011 ISBN:  978-0-439-67640-3 Grades 1-5 Reviewed from copy borrowed from library. BLURB :  History has never been hairier. Did you know that kings AND queens wore fake beards in Ancient Egypt? Or that hair was used in medicine at the height of the Incan Empire? Or that Queen Elizabeth I had more than 80 wigs in various shades of red? Kathleen Krull and Peter Malone start at the dawn of history and bring us up to contemporary times, using incredible bits and bobs of hair fact and lore to show us just how much things have changed (and how they haven't!). This is a perfect way to introduce young readers to the idea of a longitudinal study. And it's also an irreverant and playful look at what funny fashion victims we humans have always been! As I read this book, I confess, there were parts where I wrinkled my nose and went, ewwwh.  I found it kin...

The Fires Beneath the Sea written by Lydia Millet Big Mouth House, 2011 ISBN: 978-193152071-3 Grades 3-6 Reviewed from purchased copy. All opinions expressed are solely my own. BLURB :  Cara's mother has disappeared. Her father isn't talking about it. Her big brother Max is hiding behind his iPod, and her genius little brother Jackson is busy studying the creatures he collects from the beach. But when a watery specter begins to haunt the family's Cape Cod home, Cara and her brothers realize that their scientist mother may not be who they thought she was—and that the world has much stranger, much older inhabitants than they had imagined. With help from Cara's best friend Hayley, the three embark on a quest that will lead them from the Cape's hidden, ancient places to a shipwreck at the bottom of the sea. They're soon on the front lines of an ancient battle between good and evil, with the terrifying "pouring man" close on their heels....

Waiting for the Magic w ritten by Patricia MacLachlan, illustrated by Amy June Bates Atheneum Books for Young Reader, 2011 ISBN: 978-1-4169-2745-7 Interest Level: Grades 3-6 Reviewed from copy borrowed from school library. The opinions expressed in this review are solely my own. BLURB : People may drift apart But love can hold them together. Sometimes we find that love through magic – Sometimes that magic is all around us This is a story about all of these things. But it's also a story about how four dogs and one cat help one boy and his sister save their family. This is a rather interesting blurb.  I think this is the first blurb I've read that reads like a poem.  Yet it fits the rather dreamy, gentle nature of the story.  In some ways it reminds me of Kate DiCamillo's work on The Tale of Despereaux , The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane , or The Magician's Elephant .  The writing is certainly as good as DiCamillo's and the illus...

A Dog's Way Home written by Bobbie Pyron Katherine Tegen Books, 2011 ISBN: 978-0-06-198674-1 Interest Level: Grades 4-8 Received free in a giveaway hosted by A Patchwork of Books . Opinions expressed here are solely my own. BLURB: One late fall afternoon, a tragic highway accident leaves eleven-year-old Abby and her beloved Shetland sheepdog, Tam, stranded at opposite ends of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Though each is determined to be reunited with the other, the days separating them turn to weeks, then months, and dangers and changes fill up Abby's and Tam's lives. Will they ever find their way back home to one another?  I consider myself generally speaking a cat person.  I'm much more comfortable around cats than dogs.  But I do still enjoy reading books about dogs.  When I first heard about this book, I wasn't sure that I would really like it.  Of course, I do really like other dog books.  Jack London's Call of the Wild and White Fang are ...

The Luck of the Buttons written by Anne Ylvisaker Candlewick Press, 2011 ISBN: 978-0-7636-5066-7 Interest Level: Grades 3-6 Reviewed from purchased copy. BLURB: In Iowa circa 1929, spunky twelve-year-old Tugs vows to turn her family’s luck around, with the help of a Brownie camera and a small-town mystery.  Tugs Esther Button was born to a luckless family. Buttons don’t presume to be singers or dancers. They aren’t athletes or artists, good listeners, or model citizens. The one time a Button ever made the late Goodhue Gazette - before Harvey Moore came along with his talk of launching a new paper - was when Great Grandaddy Ike accidentally set Town Hall ablaze. Tomboy Tugs looks at her hapless family and sees her own reflection looking back until she befriends popular Aggie Millhouse, wins a new camera in the Independence Day raffle, and stumbles into a mystery only she can solve. Suddenly this is a summer of change - and by its end, being a Button may just turn...

Missing on Superstition Mountain written by Elise Broach, illustrations by Antonio Javier Caparo Henry Holt and Company, 2011 ISBN: 978-0-8050-9047-5 Grades 3-6 Reviewed from purchased copy. BLURB : It’s summer and the three Barker brothers—Simon, Henry, and Jack—just moved from Illinois to Arizona. Their parents have warned them repeatedly not to explore Superstition Mountain, which is near their home. But when their cat Josie goes missing, they see no other choice. There’s something unusually creepy about the mountain and after the boys find three human skulls, they grow determined to uncover the mystery. Have people really gone missing over the years, and could there be someone or some thing lurking in the woods? Together with their new neighbor Delilah, the Barker boys are dead-set on cracking the case even if it means putting themselves in harm’s way. I have really enjoyed Elise Broach's other books, Shakespeare's Secret and Masterpiece.  So I was look...