The Fourteenth Goldfish

Ellie, beginning middle school with a best friend who has just found a passion in volleyball, is dismayed over the changes happening in her life when a surly, grouchy teenager steps into her life. This teenager happens to be her grandfather, a scientist made young again as the result of an anti-aging experiment. Forced to attend school with Ellie, Melvin, her grandfather, has a contentious relationship with Ellie's mother, despite their reversed roles. Worse, he's been kicked out of his own scientific laboratory as a trespassing teenager! As Ellie tries to help her grandfather retrieve his scientific formula, she learns about famous scientists, her mother's rebellion in choosing the arts over science, and even her own proclivity toward scientific thinking.

This is the first book I've read by Jennifer L. Holm. The cover art is eye-catching and cute in this fun and engaging middle grade read. The story is charming while departing astute observations on family dynamics. Ellie's divorce parents not only parent without dysfunction, but they are actually friendly toward each other. And Ellie discovers that despite her grandfather's and mother's oil-and-water relationship, she actually identifies with her grandfather's scientific obsession. The Fourteenth Goldfish is a humorous, enjoyable, speedy read, not laden with heavy vocabulary, and filled with realistic, identifiable characters. I hope we'll see more middle grade books coming from Jennifer L. Holm!

Flashback Friday: Bunnicula

My youngest fell under the spell of Bunnicula a few months ago, just as his brothers did when they were about his age. It took a bit of convincing as the cover art made him nervous. (I think I remember similar expressions from his older brothers.) Once we'd read a chapter or two together, he was hooked.

Bunnicula is the story of Chester, the cat, and Howard, the dog, who live a rather charmed life with their human family. The father is a professor, and Chester enjoys listening to his lectures. The family's sons are kind and fun to play with. Into the mix comes a new pet, a bunny with fangs, named Bunnicula. Shortly after the new bunny arrives, the family finds a white tomato on the table one morning. The family seems dismissive of the bunny's juice-sucking skills, but Chester is determined to catch Bunnicula in the act...no matter the cost! Predictably, various hijinks ensue in this effort.

Bunnicula is a classic read for those just beginning to read chapter books independently. Bunnicula is also a great introduction to the genre of mystery and scary stories for 1st to 3rd graders who need to take baby steps into that pool.

Under the Egg

Laura Marx Fitzgerald's debut novel, Under the Egg, delightfully weaves NYC childhood with urban farming, WWII history, and art history. I'm not sure any other middle grade novels have ever hit quite as many of my own personal interests. Needless to say, Under the Egg was a captivating read that I could not put down until I finished every last chapter. 

Under the Egg begins with Theodora Tenpenny (Theo) relying on her resourcefulness and grit to manage the large NYC house, and accompanying garden, she inherited following her grandfather's death. Theo's mother lives with her, but she clearly has some mental or emotional challenges that prevent her from truly mothering Theo. When Theo accidentally spills rubbing alcohol on one of her grandfather's paintings, a painting that easily rubs off to reveal another older, Renaissance-style painting, Theo's curiosity kicks into high gear. That curiosity leads her on an adventure involving providential new friends, pretentious art experts, Nazi internment camp research, and ultimately, the secret her grandfather was desperate for her to uncover.

Under the Egg blends equal parts mystery and adventure in an engaging romp through NYC with a most clever protagonist. Theo's self-reliance is remarkable, and her determination is admirable. Fitzgerald's writing shines, and the language, content, and dialogue ring with an advanced tone. Despite being marketed as a middle grade read, I thought 11-14 would probably be the ideal ages to read this novel, and it would make a perfect accompaniment to a middle school WWII unit study. I truly wish I could've read Under the Egg to my own 13 year old when she studied WWII last fall.

Under the Egg can be found in the Middle Grade Books section of The Book Children Store.

A Snicker of Magic

A Snicker of Magic first caught my eye, before it was even released, because of the magically fun cover. I can tell you now that the story is even sweeter than its ice cream-laden cover. Felicity Pickle just arrived in Midnight Gulch, a town formerly full of magic, after spending years tagging along with her nomadic mother in the Jalapeño Pickle, the family van. Felicity is a word collector; she sees words floating over people, items, even falling from speech, but Midnight Gulch is the first place that she's seen the word "home". Felicity quickly makes a best friend in Jonah, a quirky, wheelchair-bound, local-hero-in-disguise. Jonah encourages Felicity to participate in a school talent competition, sharing her words, something that Felicity has struggled with for a very long time. It might take more than a "snicker of magic" to help Felicity share her words, and at the same time, help Midnight Gulch overcome its past, breaking the spell that has long been troubling the entire town. 

A Snicker of Magic is a factofabulous read from beginning to end. The quirky characters, the mysterious pall cast over the town, the sprinkling of made-up (spindiddly!) words, the beautiful language...every morsel made Snicker all the more difficult to put down. Natalie Lloyd's enchanting personality beams from behind every corner. I wanted to hug Felicity's friend Jonah every time he appeared. Aside from wishing to snuff the chain-smoking aunt's cigarette every few pages, I loved every minute of toe-tapping, ice cream-tasting, word-catching, banjo-dueling delight between these pages. I couldn't imagine a more magical way to begin summer than with this sparkling masterpiece.

In addition to masterful storytelling, Natalie Lloyd left me with a few favorite quotes that I've read as of late. I'll share just a few here.

"And I think if you're lucky, a sister is the same as a friend, but better. A sister is like a super-forever-infinity friend."

"And if you say 'I love you,' and you mean it, then love makes up for a whole lifetime of mistakes. That's some kind of magic."

"I guess it doesn't matter who reached out first, though. What matters is that one of them reached out. What matters is that the other one held on."

This is Natalie Lloyd's first novel. I hope we'll be reading another one very soon.

You can find A Snicker of Magic in the Middle Grade Books section of The Book Children's Store.

Sherlock Holmes: The Ectoplasmic Man

Paulie is helping me end the hiatus here at the book children by writing a brief summary of Sherlock Holmes: The Ectoplasmic Man which he picked out recently at our local used bookstore. He's eagerly awaiting the library copies of the rest of the series of these books, which should say something about how much he enjoyed this Sherlock Holmes edition!

Sherlock Holmes: The Ectoplasmic Man is about Sherlock Holmes and when he tried to help Houdini after Houdini was arrested for robbery and murder. Houdini was falsely accused of stealing papers partly because the people of the time thought he was in touch with the spirit world because of his tricks and they were afraid of him. Holmes and Watson had a harder time helping Houdini because 2 men were chasing them and trying to steal the last paper that Houdini supposedly didn't steal himself. Holmes must put on various disguises and do strange things of that time, such as disguising himself as a very young man and flying a aeroplane to chase the villains.

I think the most interesting part of the book was the tricks that Houdini did because the author described them in lots of detail so that I could pretend I was sitting in the theater watching him. And just the fact that Sherlock Holmes was helping Houdini get out of jail was interesting.

Many thanks to Paulie for his review of Sherlock Holmes: The Ectoplasmic Man! You can find out what Paulie is reading now on the sidebar of this blog.

spreadin' the Bobbsey love (through a giveaway!)

I've mentioned a few times in the past (including the intro to this blog!) of my childhood love of the Bobbsey Twins. Through an unfortunate circumstance, I lost all of my childhood volumes that I spent many Christmases and birthdays collecting. Since then, I've always checked used bookstores and thrift shops hoping to catch someone offloading a Bobbsey Twin book or two but have been mostly unsuccessful. Even on eBay, most of the auctions I've seen would cost upwards to $200 to replace my entire collection.

Recently however, my luck in finding Bobbsey Twins books turned around in a big way. I found someone's old collection of about 20 Bobbsey Twins books at one of my favorite local used bookstores and within days found an auction on eBay that also had 20 books that were selling Buy It Now at less than $2/book. I now have something close to two-thirds of my original collection for less than $60. Of course, I realized that I would end up with a couple of duplicates. My duplicates are your gain! I'm offering a double giveaway of the following Bobbsey Twins books: The Bobbsey Twins' Adventure in Washington and The Bobbsey Twins The Secret At The Seashore.

The Secret At The Seashore is #3 in the series, although the books in this series can be read independently without needing context from previous books. Each chapter has a sketch of a main event. I can remember as a child how the pictures of the stories in my head were shaped by these sketches.

And in typical Bobbsey fashion, each book begins with the same description of the twins. Tall, slender dark-haired Bert and Nan and short, chubby blond Freddie and Flossie.

Adventure in Washington is #12. I remember feeling so much more informed about Washington, it's city, monuments, government buildings and even the political process after reading this book. What a joy it is to take the trip back to my childhood each time I read these. My own kids have really enjoyed them too. They were almost as excited as I was with our recent acquisition of so many volumes!

This giveaway will run from now through Friday at noon. At that time, I will draw 2 numbers to each win a book. To enter, simply leave me a comment (if you want to tell me about your favorite childhood book, that would be special too). To double your chances, become a follower of The Book Children (or be a current follower) and let me know in the comments. To gain another entry, blog about this giveaway and leave me a link in the comments. I'd love for another Bobbsey-lover to be born through this giveaway! :)

The winners are Bending Birches and Janice! Congrats. Email me with your address and I'll mail these out right away!