WHEN YOU REACH ME, By Rebecca Stead

Stead, Rebecca.  WHEN YOU REACH ME.  New York: Wendy Lamb Books, 2009.  ISBN 978-0-385-73742-5

 

Twelve-year-old Miranda constantly rereads one book over and over again, the story of a young girl traveling through time.  Yet Miranda doesn’t think time travel is real – it is just too complicated for her to understand or believe.  That is, until she starts to receive a series of mysterious notes from someone who seems to know about things before they happen.  The notes warn that her best friend is in trouble and Miranda worries she won’t be able to figure them out before it is too late.

 

Rebecca Stead’s Newbery-winning novel, WHEN YOU REACH ME, opens up the mysterious world of traveling through time for children, in a plot that is thrilling and believable.  Readers will become captivated with the cryptic notes Miranda starts to discover, and will feel her suspense as she tries to piece together who is sending them to her.  Stead’s cast of young characters are relatable and likeable, as even Marcus, the apparent bully, becomes someone they root for and want to protect, and the crazy “laughing man” on the street corner becomes a character they pity and feel sorrow for.  Stead creates suspense throughout the novel, which grows all the way until the very end, where a surprising twist will leave readers believing in the impossible.

 

 Young readers will identify with Stead’s heroine, who faces the typical problems of a sixth-grade student.  Miranda’s best friend no longer wants to walk to school with her, she is starting to experience new feelings toward a boy she works with, and her mother’s small apartment and messy habits are beginning to embarrass her.  Miranda is growing up and realizing that following the mean crowd at school does not make her feel good about herself.  Described as a veil that covers her eyes and makes everything blurry, Stead explains people’s tendency to ignore the big picture in life and see only what they want to see.  This feeling begins to trouble Miranda, as she realizes she wants to help the girl her friends pick on in class and she discovers the boy that once scared her on her walk home from school is really a brilliant friend and ally.

 

Stead’s young-adult novel is so beautifully and truthfully written that you will forget it contains elements of fantasy.  The idea of traveling back into time is real and genuine, so much so that readers will believe in an ending that has a character reappearing years older to save the life of a young friend.  Stead’s message is subtle yet clear: good will prevail and characters should not be judged based on their outward appearances or actions.  The most outlandish and wacky character, the Laughing Man, in fact becomes the true hero of the story.  And even the seemingly spoiled rich girl who no one likes turns out to be a caring and faithful friend.  Miranda evolves as the book progresses, learning to see past stereotypes and misconceptions in those around her.  Stead’s writing is simple and straightforward, with dialogue that is true-to-life for an easy read for students and young adults.  The chapters are short and quick, and are cleverly titled with categories such as, “Things You Hold On To,” which mirrors Miranda’s mother’s incessant practicing for her turn on the 70’s game show, THE $20,000 PYRAMID.  Stead’s novel is clever and touching and will create a willing suspension of disbelief in even the most serious of young readers.

 

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Praise for WHEN YOU REACH ME:

 

"In this taut novel, every word, every sentence, has meaning and substance. A hybrid of genres, it is a complex mystery, a work of historical fiction, a school story and one of friendship, with a leitmotif of time travel running through it. Most of all the novel is a thrilling puzzle." - THE NEW YORK TIMES

 

"This unusual, thought-provoking mystery will appeal to several types of readers." - SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL

 

Middle grade students can become detectives as they read WHEN YOU REACH ME, searching the book, chapter titles, and even its cover illustration for clues as to who is sending the mysterious notes to Miranda.

 

An interview with author Rebecca Stead about her experience writing WHEN YOU REACH ME can be found on Amazon here.

 

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Sources:

 

http://www.amazon.com/When-You-Reach-Yearling-Newbery/dp/0375850864

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/16/books/review/KidsChronicle-t.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

THE BOOK THIEF, By Markus Zusak

Zusak, Markus.  THE BOOK THIEF.  New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005.  ISBN 9780375842207

It is 1939, in Nazi Germany, and Liesel Meminger is a young girl with two big secrets.  She steals books wherever she can find them – starting with The Grave Digger’s Handbook at her little brother’s funeral – and her foster family is hiding a Jewish man in their basement, while Hitler’s regime marches the streets outside their home.  Liesel’s foster father, Hans Hubermann, teaches her how to read and gifts her with the power of words, a power so great it can comfort the entire neighborhood as Liesel reads aloud in a crowded basement during bomb raids; so great it can convince an entire population to follow Hitler and the Nazis in destroying the Jewish race.  Narrated by the elusive Death, who floats in and out of Liesel’s life as she loses those she loves most, THE BOOK THIEF is a haunting story of love and friendship that will stick with you long after you read the last page.

Markus Zusak has created a perfect masterpiece of young adult literature.  Recognized as a Michael L. Printz Honor Book, THE BOOK THIEF is eloquently written with such captivating style that even the devastating plot of death and destruction in World War II Germany is bearable and even hopeful.  Readers will pull for Liesel from the very beginning, caring so greatly about her and her friendships with her loving foster father Hans, Max, her hidden friend in the basement, and Rudy, a fiercely loyal friend in her Molching neighborhood.  Liesel's pure, innocent heart is evident through her interactions with the gentle young man hidden in her basement.  Readers will feel her worried anticipation as she collects treasures for him while he is sick and asleep for weeks at a time, and will later agonize with her as she dares to hope to catch of glimpse of him each time the Jews are marched through her city streets.  Rudy, a friend who fiercely loves Liesel, is her constant companion and will stop at nothing to impress her, hopeful of winning a kiss, despite her constant protests against it.  The budding romance between the two friends grows carefully throughout the book, ending with Rudy finally earning a kiss at the story’s heartbreaking conclusion.  Zusak’s cast of characters are genuine and endearing and Liesel's journey through her childhood in Nazi Germany is painful at times, but always full of hope that she will  escape it all, with her beloved books and a captivating story to tell.

Zusak’s book is so beautifully told that readers will often forget that the voice behind the story is that of Death, a fantastical element that gives THE BOOK THIEF a unique and creative spin.  The characters of the story do not interact with Death, other than when he swiftly carries them away if they meet the ultimate cost of the war raging around them.  Yet Death is not proud of his job and does it with a heavy heart, and at times even he is too overcome with sorrow to face his gruesome task. He is gentle with the children he must take and describes the glowing colors of the sky he gazes at, rather than the silent faces he must carry away.  Zusak makes his unusual narrator believable and even pitied, as Death goes about his job, condemning the war and the ways humans can kill so many of their own.  Perhaps the hardest of all for Death was when he was forced to pick up young Rudy. As he saw him lying lifeless, Death echoes the emotions of the reader, noting, “He does something to me, that boy.  Every time.  It’s his only detriment.  He steps on my heart.  He makes me cry.” (p. 531)  Death follows Liesel along throughout her entire life, keeping a special keepsake for her - the book she poured her heart into throughout the war, which was lost when her town was bombed. 

Zusak’s theme is illustrated best through the secret friendship of Liesel and Max. The young girl helps save the life of the hidden Jew, and he repays her by gifting her with two books he has written for her, handmade stories that tell how Hitler decides to rule the world with words.  Yet Liesel, the heroic “Word Shaker,” can overtake the power of evil with her pure-hearted love for all those around her.  Love conquers evil.  The message is told so perfectly through Max’s stories and illustrations, which are as precious in the novel as they surely are to Liesel in her collection of treasured books.

THE BOOK THIEF is a perfect story and one of my favorite young adult books.  It’s long list of awards prove that others feel the same about Marcus Zusak’s novel:

Winner of the Michael L. Printz Honor Book Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature

Winner of the Book Sense Book of the Year Award for Children’s Literature

Winner of the National Jewish Book Award

Winner of the Association of Jewish Libraries Teen Book Award

A Quill Award Nominee

A PUBLISHERS WEEKLY Best Book of the Year

A KIRKUS REVIEWS Editor’s Choice

A HORN BOOK Fanfare

A SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL Best Book of the Year

A BOOKLIST Editor’s Choice

“One of the most highly anticipated young-adult books in years.” – THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

“It’s the book to pick up for people who love to read.” – THE FLORIDA TIMES-UNION

Markus Zusak delivers a haunting yet poetic story of love amidst despair in THE BOOK THIEF.  

Students studying World War II and Nazi Germany can read the story for a personal tale of how the war affected those living through this gruesome time.  Readers who love THE BOOK THIEF may also enjoy:

BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY, By Ruta Sepetys, ISBN 014242059X

THE UPSTAIRS ROOM, By Johanna Reiss, ISBN 006440370X

NUMER THE STARS, By Lois Lowry, ISBN 0547577098

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Sources:

http://www.randomhouse.com/features/markuszusak/

THE EVOLUTION OF CALPURNIA TATE, By Jacqueline Kelly

Kelly, Jacqueline. 2009. THE EVOLUTION OF CALPURNIA TATE.  New York: Henry Holt and Company.  ISBN 978-0-312-65930-1

Eleven-year-old Calpurnia Virginia Tate, or Callie Vee, is not like other Texas girls in 1899.  She’s not a great piano player, can’t stand sewing, barely gets by in her Deportment class at school, and would much prefer swimming in the river on a hot day to lounging around inside.  Out of her six brothers, Callie is the only one with enough nerve to build a friendship with her daunting grandfather, and the pair soon becomes fast friends and naturalists, studying Darwin and observing the world around them.  Callie’s mother is horrified that her daughter is learning evolution instead of housewifery, but with the dawning of the twentieth century and a new modern era, Callie just may discover that, for her, anything is possible.

Jacqueline Kelly’s young heroine is ambitious and independent, determined not to give in to a life of good posture and stain removing skills, much to her mother’s dismay.  Young girls will smile as Callie discovers her beloved pond is full of tiny, moving creatures and will laugh when her carefully nursed caterpillar hatches into the world’s largest moth, instead of a beautiful butterfly.  Callie teaches girls that it is okay not to be girly, and that studying science and nature is exciting and exhilarating.  Kelly’s message is loud and clear throughout the novel: girls don’t have to learn the piano and marry well.  Instead, they can become scientists and analysts who are aware of and learning from their environment.  Callie’s Granddaddy encourages her passion for discovery and helps her realize she can find answers to the many questions she records in her notebook if she just sits back and observes.  Compared to the other adults in Callie’s life, Granddaddy is the only one who seems to accept that times are changing and the world is opening up beyond their small Texas town.

The novel’s setting is a colorful and vivid backdrop for Callie’s tale.  The Tate family is Texas born and bred, with pride for the state running through their blood.  Callie’s brothers are all named for heroes of the Alamo (J.B. stands for Jim Bowie) and even a liter of kittens is named after famous Texas bandits (Jesse James is the favorite).  Callie’s mother withers in the Texas summer heat until a brand new “wind machine” is brought home for some reprieve.  Callie’s science classroom with her grandfather is the sprawling Texas Hill Country, with the San Marcos River behind her house and a university in Austin, just a few towns over.  Kelly’s description of the setting is detailed and vibrant, allowing readers to feel the heat of the summer press down on them, just as the family dogs do while they lay still on the porch, too hot to use any energy.

Callie’s voice is youthful and inquisitive, like any young scholar who is curious about the world around her.  She is appalled when her brothers fall in love with her best friend and can’t hide her disappointment when her mother gifts her with The Science of Housewifery, instead of an actual science book.  Her knowledge of and passion for science grows and matures throughout the story, cumulating when she discovers a new plant species with the help of her grandfather, which an official telegram from Washington proudly confirms.  Callie can’t believe she has earned her place in one of her beloved science books.  The novel’s plot concludes with the story’s climax, as the New Year rings in the twentieth century and time does not end.  As Callie wonders to herself, “Part of me wanted our lives to go on as they always had… The other part of me yearned for a desperate and dramatic change.”  Readers are left to wonder and hope: will Callie get to experience a changed world?

“THE EVOLUTION OF CALPURNIA TATE is the most delightful historical novel for tweens in many, many years.” – THE NEW YORKER

“In her debut novel, Jacqueline Kelly brings to vivid life a boisterous small-town family at the dawn of a new century.  And she especially shines in her depiction of the natural world that so intrigues Callie.”  THE WASHINGTON POST

“Callie’s transformation into an adult and her unexpected bravery make for an exciting and enjoyable read.” – PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, Starred Review

THE EVOLUTION OF CALPURNIA TATE is a charming and unique historical tale of a young girls’ coming of age.  Kelly cleverly starts each chapter with a verse from Callie’s inspiration, Darwin’s THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES, and lists her extensive research for the novel in an acknowledgement section at the book’s end.  Her preparation took her to institutions such as the Texas Commission for the Arts and to horticulturists and professors at universities across the state of Texas.  A Newbery Honor Book, ALA Notable Children’s Book, Chicago Public Library Best of the Best and an ALA Notable Book, THE EVOLUTION OF CALPURNIA TATE will become a fast favorite of young adults. 

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Readers may also enjoy:

CHARLES AND EMMA: THE DARWINS’ LEAP OF FAITH, By Deborah Heiligman, ISBN 0312661045

MOON OVER MANIFEST, By Claire Vanderpool, ISBN 0375858296

WHEN YOU REACH ME, By Rebecca Stead, ISBN 037585064

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Sources:

http://www.amazon.com/Evolution-Calpurnia-Tate-Jacqueline-Kelly/dp/031265930X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1365644090&sr=1-1&keywords=the+evolution+of+calpurnia+tate

DEAD END IN NORVELT, By Jack Gantos

Gantos, Jack. 2011. DEAD END IN NORVELT. Read by Jack Gantos.  New York: Macmillan Audio.  Audiobook, 7:12.  ISBN 1427213569

In 1962, Jack Gantos is having the worst summer of his life.  Grounded for good after he shot his dad’s Japanese sniper rifle and mowed down all his mom’s corn, he can’t imagine his vacation getting much worse. That is until his mom volunteers him to help out Mrs. Volker, an elderly neighbor and one of the last few original residents of his Pennsylvania town of Norvelt.  Jack records and types obituaries for the town paper with Mrs. Volker, which soon gets him wrapped up in a small town murder mystery that ultimately teachers him the value and importance of history.

DEAD END IN NORVELT, read aloud by author and title character Jack Gantos, is a captivating story about a picture-perfect town that is slowly dying away, literally.  The novel’s setting is in fact its star character.  The city of Norvelt represents the idealist life in the United States in the fifties and sixties, a way of life that is diminishing during the summer of 1962.  Neighbors can no longer trade or barter for goods or services, a fact that Jack’s mother finds appalling and disheartening.  Young Jack is bored by his town’s slow pace of life and escapes into his favorite history books to help the time pass each day.  What he soon realizes is that the utopian Norvelt, which is carefully being dismantled and moved away, house by house, has its own rich history with ties to exciting events across American history, much like the books he loves to read.  Jack’s unusual friendship with Mrs. Volker, an elderly lady who admires Mrs. Roselvelt and the values on which she helped found the small town, teaches Jack respect and regard for the past, a theme that Gantos weaves throughout the book.  The plot turns suspenseful when the town realizes too many of Norvelt’s original residents are oddly passing away within weeks of each other, and readers will be swept into the investigation of Jack, Mrs. Norvelt, and her wacky neighbors.  The surprise ending is more than just a mystery solved, but also concludes with Jack finally winning his freedom from an entire summer spent grounded and a startling adventure that will put Norvelt back in the history books for good.

Young Jack Gantos is a serious yet kind character who hates to disappoint his parents, but still can’t resist the lure of sneaking out every now and then while grounded.  Teenagers across the country will relate to his dramatized boredom, as well as his weak stomach for all things surrounding death and gore.  He is a believable character with an innocence that makes him trusting and likable.  Gantos’s tells the story in a personal style, with his narration of the novel reflecting his emotions and feelings of a young boy growing up in small town, America.  Historically set in the 1960’s and following the post-depression generation, Gantos sprinkles in other historical tidbits through Jack’s own readings and Mrs. Volker’s expanded obituaries, which will have readers checking his facts and pining to learn more.  For example, Mrs. Volker gives Jack and expanded summary of the coincidental deaths of Presidents Thomas Jefferson and John Adams on the same day, July 4, 1826.  Gantos’s research is detailed and thorough, spanning eras and centuries.  Young adults with a knack for history will be captivated by Gantos's tale of his own life (and then some) in DEAD END IN NORVELT.

“A fast paced and witty read.” – SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL

“A bit of autobiography works itself in all of Gantos’s work, but he one-ups himself in this wildly entertaining meld of truth and fiction by naming the main character… Jackie Gantos.”  PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

“Gantos, as always, delivers bushels of food for thought and plenty of outright guffaws.” – BOOKLIST

Awards and Recognitions:

* Scott O’Dell Award

* 2012 Newbery Medal

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Young adults who enjoy DEAD END NORVELT can check out more by Jack Gantos:

WHAT WOULD JOEY PIGZA DO?, ISBN 0060544031

JACK ON THE TRACKS: FOUR SEASONS OF FIFTH GRADE, ISBN 0374437173

An interview with Jack Gantos can be found on his website at:

http://www.readingrockets.org/books/interviews/gantos/

Other historical fiction novels set in the 1960’s:

NEIL ARMSTRONG IS MY UNCLE AND OTHER LIES MUSCLE MAN MCGINTY TOLD ME, By Nan Marino, ISBN 0312665482

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Sources:

http://www.amazon.com/Dead-End-Norvelt-Jack-Gantos/dp/0374379939

http://www.jackgantos.com

THE BALLAD OF LUCY WHIPPLE, By Karen Cushman

Cushman, Karen.  THE BALLAD OF LUCY WHIPPLE.  New York: Clarion Books, 1996.  ISBN 0395728061

Twelve-year-old California Morning Whipple hates moving to the state of California just as much as she hates being named after it.  She insists on being called Lucy and spends her days living in a cramped boarding house in Lucky Diggins, a small gold mining town, scheming about how to get back home to Massachusetts.  Lucy can’t believe her mom willingly brought her family across the country to live in the dirt and grime, but soon discovers that a true home is more than just a fancy house back in New England.

Karen Cushman’s portrayal of life for a young family during the California Gold rush is both exciting and heartbreaking, as readers follow the young narrator through the challenges of starting over out West in the late 1850’s.  Lucy Whipple is a strong-willed character, whose quick sarcasm and passionate emotions will have readers pulling for her throughout the novel.  Her dramatic letters back home to her grandparents are a humorous yet accurate depiction of just how different her life in California was from the luxuries she enjoyed in Massachusetts.  Through Lucy’s bold spirit and creative solutions to her problems, Cushman creates a heroine young girls can cheer for and relate to as the tale of her family unfolds.  The story’s plot is authentic and detailed, leaving young readers to imagine what it would feel like to live in a cramped tent with strangers, eating rabbits and squirrels for meals and working hard the entire day.  Lucy’s life is far from glamorous, which is a true portrayal of life in unsettled California during the mid 1800’s.  Cushman also gives her characters accurate voices that are true to the dialect of this era, which can especially be seen in the voice of Bernard Freeman, a runaway slave who is seeking freedom in the West.

THE BALLAD OF LUCY WHIPPLE has a heartwarming message of finding your true self and following your dreams.  This attitude was exactly what led some brave women, like Lucy’s mother Arvella Whipple, to leave the comfort of their lives and chase their dreams in California, even without husbands or men to help them.  The theme of finding your place in the world and establishing a true home will still ring true to young readers today who, like Lucy, may not always agree with what their parents think is best.  Lucy’s fervor is evident in her precious books, which allow her to escape her harsh reality and eventually even guide her to discover her true passion of helping others realize the wonderful world of a book.  Her fate of becoming California’s first librarian was carefully woven throughout the story, beginning when she meticulously recorded the borrower of each of her books in the mining towns around Lucky Diggins.  Cushman’s message is relevant and clear: follow your heart and you will find your true home, whether it be in the excitement of the unknown Sandwich Islands or in the thrill of establishing one of the first real towns in California.

Karen Cushman’s THE BALLAD OF LUCY WHIPPLE shines as a historical fiction tale of a young girl struggling through life during the California gold rush.  Cushman includes an extensive author’s note at the novel’s end, which points readers to more information on the women and children who ran west searching for gold, instead of the usual men who history portrays in these events.  Cushman’s research was through and detailed, giving THE BALLAD OF LUCY WHIPPLE the authenticity to stand as a valid fictional portrayal of this time period.  Children will relate to Lucy and her siblings, crying tears with her for lost family members and hoping she finds a home where she can be happy. 

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY gives a starred review to this novel, calling it “a coming-of-age story with rich historical flavor.”

“With zest and wit, Cushman gives us the domestic side of the western frontier adventure – what it was like for women and especially children…. Many readers will recognize their own dislocations in Lucy’s reluctant adventure.” – BOOKLIST

“With a story that is less a period piece than a timeless and richly comic coming-of-age story, Cushman remains on a roll.” – KIRKUS REVIEWS

Winner of the John and Patricia Beatty Award

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Readers who enjoyed Lucy Whipple’s tale may also like Karen Cushman’s other historical fiction novels, such as:

THE MIDWIFE’S APPRENTICE, By Karen Cushman, winner of the 1996 Newbery medal, ISBN 0547722176

CATHERINE, CALLED BIRDY, By Karen Cushman, a Newbery Honor book, ISBN 0547722184

Karen Cushman’s website, www.karencushman.com, includes podcasts on her books and a video interview with the author.

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Sources:

http://www.amazon.com/Ballad-Lucy-Whipple-Karen-Cushman/dp/0064406849