The Wednesday Wars

5th-8th

So, I have a confession to make right off the bat with this one. Sure it was in the recommended reads area of Thomas Hughes. Sure it won a Newbury Honor Award. Sure it fits with my project since its a new kids book and all... But I got this book because Gary Schmidt was my writing professor in college and I just knew I was going to like this one right off the bat. Which I know is unfair and biased, etc etc, but to continue the baseball metaphor, can you blame me for wanting at least one guaranteed home run?

None of that matters. This book is good. Plain and simple. You don't have to believe me. Just believe everyone else instead.

Anyway, on with the review:

Its 1967 and Holling Hoodhood is starting 7th grade. His teacher Mrs. Baker hates his guts. Every Wednesday, while half his class leaves for Hebrew School and the other half leaves for Catechism he has to spend his afternoons alone with the teacher that hates him with "heat whiter than the sun." Every Wednesday that they are left alone, Holling is put through the ringer: cleaning out the classroom, washing the chalkboard and the erasers, and even feeding the class rats. Eventually that torture sadistically extends to reading Shakespeare...which leads to performing Shakespeare and quoting Shakespeare and the incredible and wonderful understanding of the human language and human heart that results from learning to appreciate brilliant writing. Phew. That was officially a run on sentence.

Its rare to read a book with the ability to convince you of the power of good literature. I mean, as a librarian, I already believe in it. But its always nice to read books that back it up. The excellent side note in this book is that it also speaks to the wonderful influence that a talented mentor can have on the lives of their students. As it turns out, Mrs. Baker doesn't hate Holling and ends up helping him through a potentially traumatic period of time which includes the assassinations of Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. and the continuing horror of Viet Nam.

I guess I am not sure if this book officially counts as historical fiction. And despite it taking place in the late 60's, it has more of a mid 50's feel to it. Still, the family dynamic of an overbearing father, a rebellious sister, and a young boy caught in the middle provides enough fertile ground for Schmidt to pull up many ripe story lines. The book moves back and forth between negative events and positive events in Holling's life. Each one seems to build on the next as Holling works through the difficult process of growing up.

This book could be used in lots of different programs at the Library. The obvious uses would be on award winning reading lists or for a Newbury themed reading program. But the nice thing about the story is that it touches on just about all things that can be labeled "boy" or "growing up." There are excellent sections in the book on athletics (both coaching and competing), politics, rebellion, trust, religion, and tons of other topics. It is great to have a list of books like this where you can add them to a list for just about any topic.

All in all I really enjoyed reading and reviewing this book. I highly recommend it.

Kid vs. Squid

4th -8th

This was the first book that I picked up in my search to find books to review. I was immediately pulled in by the great cover art, the funny title, and the appeal of the subject matter. I am normally drawn to comedy and fantasy and this book looked like it could have it all in one.

Sadly, it didn't. The title was misleading, the story got bogged down in unimportant details and strange sidetracks, and much of the second half of the book felt thrown together. Despite crazy battles and underwater chase scenes, it ended up being kinda boring.

The basic plot line is interesting. Thatcher Hill begins the book frustrated as his parents jet off for the summer and he is forced to spend his sunny days with his strange old Uncle Griswald in Los Huelos, California where he tends to a museum of strange objects that his uncle has gathered from the beach. The town of Los Huelos is mostly deserted except for a few months each summer when the boardwalk is suddenly bustling with weird carnies and the tourists they attract.

Late one night, a young girl breaks into the museum of oddities and steals a wooden box called the "What is it?" Thatcher gives chase and finds out that the "What is it?" is actually the head of an ancient sea witch named Skalla who has laid a curse on the former inhabitants of Atlantis. These Atlanteans are the magic bound carnies that show up every summer to work the boardwalk. The young girl who absconded with the head is the young princess of Atlantis who has managed a reprieve from the spell to attempt to free her people. Thatcher and his friend Trudy spend the rest of the summer working toward that goal with crazy results.

Many of the characters that are introduced in the first half of the book sound awesome but most of them are never fully fleshed out and given a part of the book. For instance, Shoal, the Atlantean princess is spunky and energetic and the chemistry between Thatcher, Trudy, and Shoal is funny and very entertaining. However, Shoal is almost immediately kidnapped after their meeting and only shows up every few chapters after that. The same is true of the Atlantean royal guard that Trudy and Thatcher run into in their quest to permanently free Los Huelos and Shoal from Skalla's curse. The characters of the royal cook and the head of royal security are both very interesting yet only get a few moments of play in the story.

Perhaps one of the oddest things about the book is the title. There is only one scene in the entire book where Thatcher has to fight a squid and he doesn't even do any of the real fighting, his uncle Griswald does. Why the book was named Kid vs. Squid only to disappoint is beyond me. I realize that title is catchy, but false advertising sucks.

If I was going to use this in a program at the library, I would probably reserve it for supplementary reading in some sort of ocean or beach themed summer reading program. Its strange, considering how I thought this book was mediocre at best, but I am interested in what else Greg van Eekhout has to offer to young people's literature. I think that the most disappointing thing about the book is how good it could have been.

Mr. van Eekhout is obviously a talented writer who had a bunch of great ideas. The story is full of promise and there are legitimately hilarious lines placed regularly throughout the book. Thatcher and Trudy and many of the other people in the book are great sketches of what could have been awesome and adventurous characters. It just feels like he could have used an extra 6 months to finish this one up, or perhaps a better editor to make sure that there weren't quite so many plot holes or half-finished ideas.

Time to get started

So, here is the scope of my project: I have to review 10 books, three websites, and three other media sources that relate to children's literature. I am starting out with a couple of novels: Kid Vs. Squid and The Wednesday Wars that I picked out from the new book section and the staff recommendations sections of the Thomas Hughes Children's Library at Harold Washington. I will also review several picture books as well as the kid's sections of the Chicago Public Library website, the Oak Park Public Library website, and the Evanston Public Library website. Finally I will watch three movie adaptations of kids books that have come out in the past few years and give my thoughts on those.

Hullo everyone! I work at the YOUmedia Teen Library Center in downtown Chicago. I am currently in school at University of Illinois: Champaign-Urbana working to earn my Masters of Library Science! I am attending through the LEEP program which is online and befitting of a robot. This blog is being started as a final project for my Youth Literature and Reference Class. I am going to start out by reviewing a bunch of books and other media that are meant for kids. Also, I like robots...

Enjoy!