Rutabaga's Reads 2013: Part 13

In this +Scholastic books compilation, there are a couple titles for the younger readers you know and a couple for the older. Please note that I have no material connection to anyone who works for Scholastic or authors any books marketed through the company. I am simply a bookworm who supports the Scholastic Brand!

But and For, Yet and Nor: What is a Conjunction? (Mar. 1, 2010) by Brian P. Cleary.

   Brian Gable, illustrator.

“But and For, Yet and Nor” is just one of many books in Cleary’s Words are CATegorical series. His series focuses on different parts of speech, but by avenue of high-spirited rhyme that presents grammar-learning in a fun, carefree way and not an I’d-rather-get-my-teeth-pulled way. In this book, Cleary concentrates on conjunctions, not only giving the definition of them, but especially by giving examples in word and type. To name a few, he explains how they can bridge phrases or link words and even brings up the common misconception that conjunctions can’t start a sentence. I think these books are terrific, and I highly recommend them for school and classroom libraries. They’re wonderful books for intermediate elementary students and their teachers.

            How many conjunctions can you spot in this summary/review?

Ladybug Girl (Mar. 13, 2008) by David Soman & Jacky Davis.

Little Lulu is Ladybug Girl. She’s got to find her own fun, because her parents have work to do. She momentarily puts on her pouty face, but finds adventure out-of-doors with her dog, Bingo, after her big brother denies her request to play with him. He tells her she’s too little, but she thinks that is ridiculous in her preschool-age way.

            Like so many children, Lulu finds adventure through her imagination. She’s a self-appointed hero with her trusty sidekick, Bingo. This cute tale provides a platform for empowering youngsters using a subtle, fun and kid-friendly approach. The watercolor and line illustrations catch Bingo’s adorably floppy ears and Lulu’s adventures, not to mention Lulu herself in her ladybug costume. She positively stands out amidst the almost-muted backdrops. But I suppose that is the point. After all, Lulu is Ladybug Girl, and she is not too little!

Spellbinding (Apr. 1, 2013) by Maya Gold.

When her teacher gives the class a genealogy assignment, sixteen-year-old Abby Silva discovers she’s the descendent of an accused witch of the Salem Witch Trials. As she delves into her ancestry, mysterious things occur: objects move without aid and things catch fire. Abby doesn’t want to believe that she willed those things to happen. She just wants to be a “normal” teenager, albeit one who’s less invisible and more confident. She wants her school’s “it” boy, Travis Brown, to look at her instead of his odious girlfriend. There’s also the baffling yet attractive Rem Anders, who lives and works in nearby Salem. He’s hot and cold, but perhaps for good reason. Can Abby make sense of her ancestry and who she is before a reckoning tries to make the choice for her?

            This book is like a much lighter version of Stephen King’s “Carrie.” This YA paranormal novel read more like upper middle-grade fiction. That doesn’t mean it’s a watered down book with no substance. It has plenty of conflict. There’s conflict of the regular high-school-garden variety in the forms of friend issues and mean girls. Then there’s the paranormal variety such as magic and ill-intentioned witches. It keeps the reader’s attention with individual characters and an easily-visualized setting. The ending is tied up like a nice bow. Could it have been darker and more intense? Sure, but not all books have to be, and it is fine that “Spellbinding” isn’t. After all, it’s by Maya Gold and not by Stephen King.

Splendors and Glooms (Aug. 28, 2012) by Laura Amy Schlitz.

Though he has more rags than riches, Gaspare Grisini is a master puppeteer. His prowess with the puppet theatre catches Clara Wintermute’s fancy, so he comes to the Wintermute home to put on a show for her twelfth birthday party. The daughter of a wealthy and renowned physician, Clara never wants for necessities and then some. The opposite is true of Grisini’s orphaned assistants, Lizzie Rose Fawr and Parsefall Hooke. Their clothes are shabby, recompense is miserly, and they never know if they’ll have enough for a next meal. To them, the Wintermute home represents everything they don’t have: doting parents, an abundance of food, warmth, riches. Clara is enamored with the puppet theatre, but then she disappears. Grisini is suspected of kidnapping her, and Lizzie Rose and Parsefall are determined to solve the mystery. As they investigate, they open up Grisini’s suspicious past and his wicked intentions. Unbeknownst to them, they flee London only to be ensnared by Grisini’s rival, an old witch with two inheritances to dole out. One is amazing, the other is deadly.

            Schlitz earned a Newberry Honor for this middle-grade, historical fantasy novel. This story mixes magic and mystery, mishaps and misdeeds in order to create a mystical literary concoction. The book is more serious than not, but it is richly written. It is dark, but not so dark that I wouldn’t let a twelve-year-old read it. For those concerned, British slang is used, and I did see one instance of a word that rhymes with “stitch.” The splendors of the book are wondrous and positive, whereas the glooms are frightening and nightmarish (to the characters, not to you). Schlitz’s narrative and characters are so well-drawn that one can’t help but be swept up into the story, unsettling bits and all.