Now You Say Yes (Bill Harley)

 

I need to do a better job of writing down who recommended a book to me and/or why. I wish I knew why I ended up with this book. I'm glad I did though! It might have been because of the eclipse aspect of it. It might have been because of the autistic character. All I know is it was a really great read. Mari's ability to learn to work with her brother Connor to get him to cooperate with her plan was smart. Mari's perseverance and wisdom in figuring out what to do now that they're alone was also inspiring. Her thoughts about what people think of her and her brother were well written. It is a read well worth the time.

The title comes from something that Connor would often say when badgering someone about something he wanted or something he wanted to do, "Now you say yes!"

I thought it was a pretty realistic portrayal of an autistic person, although, the comments from people about him being weird or a freak made me wince. Then again, people do say those things. I appreciated the growing love Mari had for her brother and how she took care of him.

Goodreads says:

A middle grade novel about two orphaned siblings (my interjection: They're not really orphans....they do have a dad - but he left) on a cross-country journey in search of their place in the world.

When her adoptive mother dies, fifteen-year-old Mari and is desperate to avoid being caught up in the foster system. Again. And to complicate matters, she is now the only one who can take care of her super-smart and on-the-spectrum nine-year-old stepbrother, Conor.

Is there anyone Mari can trust to help them? Certainly not her mother’s current boyfriend, Dennis. Not the doctors or her teachers, who would be obliged to call in social services. So in a desperate move, Mari takes Conor and sets out to find their estranged grandmother, hoping to throw themselves at the mercy of the only person who might take them in.

On their way to New England, the duo experiences the snarls of LA traffic, the backroads of the Midwest, and a monumental stop in Missouri where they witness the solar eclipse, an event with which Conor is obsessed. Mari also learns about the inner workings of her stepbrother’s mind and about her connections to him and to the world…and maybe even a little about her own place in it.

Ratburger (David Walliams)

 

The quotes from other authors say David Walliams books are so funny. Kids do enjoy reading them. This is the second novel of his that I've read aloud. I'm not sure I'll do another one. They're just a little to crazy for me. My kids struggle with the British terms/words and I find myself having to "translate" as I read. It moved slow enough that when kids were absent, they didn't even ask about what they missed when they were absent. They were able to just continue with the story wherever we picked up. We read this one in June and didn't even finish it. No one even asked me to read it on the last day. I finished it after the kids were all gone and I have to say, I'm not sorry I didn't read the end aloud to them. It's kind of disturbing. 

I think he's trying to be a modern day Roald Dahl. That isn't helping the cause though. I'm not a huge fan of Roald Dahl either. I have enjoyed David Walliams picture books though. 

This one was a little disturbing....feeding ground up rats to kids and all. Zoe's stepmother is nasty. Her dad is absent. Kids are disturbingly mean. Maybe I'm just too old for this kind of humor. With all the books in the world, I can't say I'll encourage my students to read anymore of these.

Goodreads says:

The fifth screamingly funny novel from David Walliams, number one bestseller and fastest growing children's author in the country. Hot on the heels of bestselling Gangsta Granny comes another hilarious, action-packed and touching novel - the story of a little girl called Zoe. Things are not looking good for Zoe. Her stepmother Sheila is so lazy she gets Zoe to pick her nose for her. The school bully Tina Trotts makes her life a misery - mainly by flobbing on her head. And now the evil Burt from Burt's Burgers is after her pet rat! And guess what he wants to do with it? The clue is in the title...From the author that is being called 'a new Roald Dahl', Ratburger is not to be missed!

A Place to Hang The Moon (Kate Albus)

 

I loved this book! I ended up reading it in a 24 hour period. It was a Children's Lit book club book but I kept putting off reading it because I figured it'd be a quick read plus I read a review that if you've read The War That Saved My Life, it's pretty much the same - which I have read. However, that reviewer was wrong! I don't think they're the same at all. 

I loved how the children in this story loved to read. It was really what led them to finding a new family after being orphaned and then having their grandmother die. Reading really does save lives.

The title comes from a saying that William tells his siblings his mom used to say - that her children could hang the moon, meaning that they were the most amazing humans. The children look for someone who feels the same way about them and in the end the person who does become their new family actualy ends up saying this very thing by chance.

p. 25 The first words of a new book are so delicious - like the first taste of a cookie fresh from the oven and not yet proerly cooled.

p. 102 "What about Anne of Green Gables?" she asked.
"Is it another orphan story?" Anna asked.
The librarian chuckled. "I suppose there are rather a lot of orphan stories out there."
"Why do grown-ups write so many of them?" William asked.
"I hadn't really thought about it, "Mrs. Muller confessed. "Perhaps they think children fancy the notion of living on their own, without adults to tell them what to do. It's quite daft, if you think about it."

p. 243 "I believe it was the poet, Mr. Yeats, who said that the world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow and sharper?" 

Setting: June 1940 in England

The Pearce family: Edmund (a bit of a trouble-maker type child), the youngest Anna, and William, who is 12.
Mrs Collins - their housekeeper
Harold Engersoll "does not have that gift for explain complex things to children"
Frances
Miss Caw
Mrs. Warren 
Ms Norton
Mrs. Griffith
Mrs Mueller

I looked up Operation Pied Piper and found some really interesting information. I shared this video, called The Mothers Who Waved Goodbye, at our book club meeting:

Goodreads says:
Set against the backdrop of World War II, Anna, Edmund, and William are evacuated from London to live in the countryside, bouncing from home to home in search of a permanent family.

It is 1940 and Anna, 9, Edmund, 11, and William, 12, have just lost their grandmother. Unfortunately, she left no provision for their guardianship in her will. Her solicitor comes up with a preposterous plan: he will arrange for the children to join a group of schoolchildren who are being evacuated to a village in the country, where they will live with families for the duration of the war. He also hopes that whoever takes the children on might end up willing to adopt them and become their new family--providing, of course, that the children can agree on the choice.

Moving from one family to another, the children suffer the cruel trickery of foster brothers, the cold realities of outdoor toilets, and the hollowness of empty tummies. They seek comfort in the village lending library, whose kind librarian, Nora Muller, seems an excellent candidate--except that she has a German husband whose whereabouts are currently unknown. Nevertheless, Nora's cottage is a place of bedtime stories and fireplaces, of vegetable gardens and hot, milky tea. Most important, it's a place where someone thinks they all three hung the moon. Which is really all you need in a mom, if you think about it.

Fans of The War That Saved My Life and other World War II fiction will find an instant classic in A Place to Hang the Moon.

The Sworn Virgin (Kristopher Dukes)

I really reveled in the theme of a woman not just falling to societal expectations, but instead doing what she needed to do to not just survive, but to live.

I enjoyed the twists and turns to the story. They definitely kept me reading. I was also taken by the seriousness with which oaths are taken.

On Goodreads the author shared how she came up with the idea for the book.

Years ago, I read an article in The New York Times about the last remaining sworn virgins in the mountains of Albania. Immediately, the basic conflict of "The Sworn Virgin," based on the true tradition, popped into my mind: What happens when you must choose between your love, or your life?

I began researching the culture of the Albanian mountains, learning how traveling into the mountains in 1910, from a Western point of view, was like traveling back thousands of years in time. Understanding the rules of Eleanora's world shaped the context of the characters, and how Eleanora could be true to her time -- but a rebel, as well.



Goodreads says:

What would you do if your father was suddenly and mysteriously murdered, leaving you alone in 1910s Albania?

When 18-year-old Diana’s father is mysteriously shot dead in the cobblestone streets of 1910s Albania, Diana must abandon her dream of studying art in Italy as she struggles to survive in a remote mountain village with her stepmother Mirlinda. 

Nearing starvation, Mirlinda secretly sells Diana into marriage with Edi, the cruel heir of a powerful clan. Rather than lose her freedom, Diana swears to remain a virgin for the rest of her life, a tradition that gives her the right to live as a man: she is now head of her household, can work for a living and carry a gun. She may participate in the vengeful blood feuds that consume the mountain tribes, but she may not be killed—unless she forsakes her vow. 

When an ill stranger stumbles into her life, she nurses him back to health, saving his life but risking her own when she falls in love with him. . .

Train to Somewhere (Eve Bunting)

Oh my gosh. This is so heartbreaking! We read this, hoping all along the way that Marianne would meet her at one of the stops.

She never did.

And it ends like that.

My class sat and stared at me. Then someone said, "That's it?"

Interesting to read a story that doesn't end happily! We thought maybe we could write an ending so that it actually feels like it ends.

I don't think it's a bad thing for kids to read books like this though. It certainly brought out some emotions. It started a great discussion about adoption and orphans and appreciating our parents. And it sounds like we will have a good writing project! We also had a good discussion about historical fiction.

Goodreads says:

Marianne, heading west with fourteen other children on an Orphan Train, is sure her mother will show up at one of the stations along the way. When her mother left Marianne at the orphanage, hadn't she promised she'd come for her after making a new life in the West? Stop after stop goes by, and there's no sign of her mother in the crowds that come to look over the children. No one shows any interest in adopting shy, plain Marianne, either. But that's all right: She has to be free for her mother to claim her. Then the train pulls into its final stop, a town called Somewhere . . . 

The Invention of Hugo Cabret (Brian Selznick)

I'm not one to re-read books very often. I have read this book a number of times though and love it every time. I have done this as a read-aloud before (good thing for smart boards where you can easily show all the pictures!) and this year I decided to do it as a novel study. I have done other Brian Selznick books before. It has always been a fantastic experience. The tricky part is getting enough copies of the book. It is an expensive book to buy so I haven't even dared ask the school to buy a class set. Instead, the Calgary Public Library kindly got enough copies that we could share a book amongst two students. It was wonderful!

I love it how kids take more care with illustrations. In this book you cannot ignore the illustrations. They tell the story as much as the words do, and sometimes tell you parts of the story the words have not told you.

Most of my students have not read a book as big as this one (although many claim they have...they are really moreso in the Geronimo Stilton mode as a whole, it seems). This one is a great stretcher and hopefully they will go on to read Wonderstruck and The Marvels this summer.

Recently, I have been reading Notice and Note and have tried to implement its strategies when I'm reading. I definitely plan to start using these strategies next year with book club.

Some of my favorite quotes and some of the Notice and Note signposts I noticed:

This is a great look into how we often can't know everything about someone else. Sometimes people do things that seem mean and they would totally not give themselves the same label because they have reasons for what they're doing.
p. 168 Hugo blinked. He had never thought of himself as mean before. The old man was mean, not him. Hugo had no choice...he had to keep secrets, but he couldn't explain this to the girl.

Again and again (Everytime Hugo is about to steal something he tubs his buttons):
p. 186  Hugo continued flipping through the book, seeing if there was anything at all about automata, but the book was silent on the subject. Still, Hugo wanted it very much. He knew that Monsieur Labisse lent books to Isabelle, but Hugo didn't want to just borrow this one. He wanted to own it.
He slipped it under his arm and inched toward the door. He rubbed the remaining buttons on his jacket...

Ah ha moment (Hugo and Isabelle realize maybe they can help Papa Georges find happiness):
p. 374 "Did you ever notice that all machines are made for some reason?" he asked Isabelle. "They are built ot make you laugh, like a mouse here, or to tell the time, like clocks, or to fill you with wonder, like the automaton. Maybe that's why a broken machines always makes me a little sad, because it isn't able to do what it was meant to do."
Isabelle picked up the mouse, wound it again, and set it down.
"Maybe it's the same with people," Hugo continued. "If you lose your purpose...it's like you're broken."

then on p. 494 Isabelle and Hugo find out that Papa Georges was the one who painted an interesting picture of Prometheus that they saw. He says: "Then you know that Prometheus was rescued in the end. His chains were broken, and he was finally set free." The old man squinted one of his eyes and added, "How about that."

Goodreads summary:

Orphan, clock keeper, and thief, Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. But when his world suddenly interlocks with an eccentric, bookish girl and a bitter old man who runs a toy booth in the station, Hugo's undercover life, and his most precious secret, are put in jeopardy. A cryptic drawing, a treasured notebook, a stolen key, a mechanical man, and a hidden message from Hugo's dead father form the backbone of this intricate, tender, and spellbinding mystery.