Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat

Jonell, Lynne. 2007. Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat. Art by Jonathan Bean.

"Emmy was a good girl. At least she tried very hard to be good."

It continues, "She did her homework without being told. She ate all her vegetables, even the slimy ones. And she never talked back to her nanny, Miss Barmy, although it was almost impossible to keep quiet, some days. Of course no one can keep this kind of thing up forever. But Miss Barmy had told Emmy that if she were a good girl, her parents would probably want to see her more often: so Emmy kept on bravely trying. So far it hadn't helped." (1)

This might have been a very dull story. Really. If Emmy had kept on being good. Kept on trying. Kept on striving. Fortunately, for the reader. Emmy chose to listen to a Rat. Not just any rat, mind you, though appearances can be deceiving. She met The Rat in school; he was the class pet. One day he tells her, "Try being bad for once. You might like it." (4) (Yes, he tells her. A talking rat. That shouldn't really surprise anyone, right?)

This book is most unusual. But it's fun. It's smart. It's funny. It's magical. This is just a fun little fantasy for anyone and everyone who's a kid at heart. And there's a sequel. I'll be getting to that one soon I hope!


© Becky Laney of Young Readers

My Last Best Friend

Bowe, Julie. 2007. My Last Best Friend.

I enjoyed My Last Best Friend right from the start:

"I'm Ida May, and there's one thing I know. Fourth grade isn't fourth at all. Fourth means you've done something at least three times before. But fourth grade is nothing like third grade. Or second grade. Or first grade.
In fourth grade there is no more printing There is only cursive. I hate cursive.
In fourth grade you are not allowed to add and subtract. You are only allowed to multiply and divide.
In fourth grade you're a baby if you still want to play with Barbies. Or if the Tooth Fairy still comes to your house. Or if you want your mother to walk you to the bus stop. Third grade is the last grade you can get by with any of that. Trust me." (1)

Our narrator, Ida May, is great. I found her voice to be believable. And I cared for her almost immediately. Ida May's "problems" are authentic ones. Her best friend has moved away. She's starting a new school year, and she doesn't have--make that doesn't want--another best friend. She's a bit intimidated by some of the other kids in her class. Especially by the mean, bully Jenna Drews. And she just wishes it would all go away. Her parents just don't understand. (As an adult, I can see that they just want their child to be "happy." And sometimes to get to that happy place later--further on in the future--you've got to be pushed into doing some things you just don't like in the here and now.) But Ida May feels her parents are always pushing and prodding and picking on her when it comes to the "friends" issue. (They want her to have friends and to be popular and part of the crowd instead of isolated on her own.)

What she finds is a friend through a pen pal. Stacey Merriweather is the new girl. On the surface, she's best pals with the "evil" Jenna Drews. But Ida May feels that maybe just maybe Stacey isn't what she seems. That beneath the surface, there's someone there that would be her friend. Ida knows Stacey is a liar. That she's not telling the truth. That she's keeping secrets. And before Ida risks revealing herself, she wants a few reassurances, promises. Thus a correspondence begins between Anastasia (Stacey) and Cordelia (Ida). She's able to be herself, her true self, on paper and really begins to open up again to the possibility of friendship and happiness.

Life. School. Friendship. Bullies. Family.

© Becky Laney of Young Readers

Dodger and Me

Sonnenblick, Jordan. 2008. Dodger and Me.

Dodger and Me is a gem of a book and the beginning of a new series by Jordan Sonnenblick. The book stars Willie Ryan and his mostly-always best friend, Dodger. Here's how the flap reads, "What would you do if your best friend was: 1) imaginary, 2) an oversize blue chimp in surfer shorts (Potentially embarrassiiing, but, hey, no one else can see him, right?, 3) Proposing a plan to help you improve your life, 4) Did we say imaginary?, 5) Driving you crazy?!?!" And the back reads, "Okay, I was unpopular. But was I so amazingly unpopular that I needed a magical blue chimp for a best friend? Quite possibly."

Here's how the book itself begins, "Look, if I'm going to tell you everything that happened between me and Dodger, you have to promise you won't tell. And you won't laugh. And you won't mention any of this to dumb old Lizzie from England. I have a weird feeling she wouldn't appreciate it. Not that I care what she thinks. Anyway, I guess I'll have to trust you on this, right? Plus, I'm busting to tell somebody about it. So here goes."

Willie Ryan is a baseball loving kid. Of course it's a slight problem that baseball doesn't quite love him as much as he loves it. He's not all that great a player. He wants to be, no doubt about it, he wants it more than anything. But he has a tendency to goof up when he's up to bat. And this is how we first meet him. And how Willie first meets Dodger.

After losing the game, Willie is off on his own. Ignoring his mom's warnings, he is daring enough to take a shortcut through the woods. While there, he picks up a piece of litter. Not something you'd think was life-changing, right? But this piece of trash isn't ordinary. For out springs Dodger--the blue chimp that isn't quite a genie, but passes for one in an emergency. And the powers that be have deemed Willie an emergency. His friendless condition that is. That and the fact that his mom is the most overprotective mom on the planet--or so Willie thinks.

Once Dodger makes his appearance, there is no doubt about it...Willie's life will change. But will it be for better or for worse?

The book is enjoyable. And it's funny. It's the right blend of what a book is supposed to be.
© Becky Laney of Young Readers

Hip Hop Speaks to Children

Giovanni, Nikki, editor. 2008. Hip Hop Speaks to Children: A Celebration of Poetry with a Beat. (Includes 1 Audio CD) Sourcebooks. For more information on the book, see here. (Also includes video of Nikki Giovanni talking about the book.)

I really enjoyed this poetry collection. There are 51 selections from 42 poets and performers; the CD contains 30 performances--many featuring the poets themselves reading their work. The poems, the artwork, the CD...all complement each other to create a wonderful experience. What can you find? Well, here's just a sampling: "Aloneness" by Gwendolyn Brooks, "Oh, Words" by Eloise Greenfield, "Harlem Night Song" by Langston Hughes, "Harlem Hopscotch" by Maya Angelou, "The Creation" by James Weldon Johnson*, "Rapper's Delight" by Sugarhill Gang*, "Everything is Everything" by Lauryn Hill, "The Rose That Grew From The Concrete" by Tupac Shakur, and many many more.

My favorite poem--well, the poem I'm getting ready to share for Poetry Friday--is...

Books by Eloise Greenfield

I've got
books on the bunk bed
books on the chair
books on the couch
And every old where
But I want more books
just can't get enough
want more books about
all kinds of stuff, like
Jackie's troubles, Raymond's joys
Rabbits, kangaroos, girls and boys
Mountains, valleys, winter, spring
Camp fires, vampires
Every old thing
I want to
Lie down on my bunk bed!
Lean back in
my chair
Curl up on the couch
And every old
where
And
read
more
books!

*Some selections are "From...."
© Becky Laney of Young Readers

Frankenstein Takes the Cake

Rex, Adam. 2008. Frankenstein Takes the Cake Which Is Full of Of Funny Stuff Like Rotting Heads and Giant Gorillas and Zombies Dressed As Little Girls and Edgar Allan Poe. The Book We Mean--Not The Cake.

This book, Frankenstein Takes the Cake, is the follow up to Adam Rex's Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich. (A book which sadly I haven't read yet though I have heard wonderful stuff about it.) The book is a collection of semi-related poems--funny poems about the lighter side of the dark and spooky. The illustrations are perfectly paired with the text.

Here's one of my favorites:

New Glasses
In her classes, without glasses,
she could barely see the board.
With her specs she checks the teachers,
sees their frightened, frozen features--

Oh so that's why,
when she raised her hand,
Medusa was ignored.

My other favorite from the book was "E.T. Mail."

E.T.-Mail
We assumed it was the case
that in a place as big as space
we'd find some trace of other races
with our scientific bases.

When a signal was detected,
it was not what we expected.
In the subject line it pleaded,
Please reply--
Assistance needed
SALUTATIONS TO YOUR HEALTH.
PLEASE HELP ME TRANSFER ALL MY WEALTH
INTO YOUR BANK ACCOUNT ON EARTH--
ELEVEN MILLION DOLLARS WORTH.
I NEED YOUR ANSWER RIGHT AWAY.
PLEASE SEND A LETTER BACK TODAY
(ALONG WITH FIFTY DOLLARS, PLEASE,
TO PAY THE MONEY-TRANSFER FEES).
We gasped--a message from the stars!
And then another came from Mars:
NEED BIGGER, YELLOWER ANTENNAE?
HAVE TOO FEW OR HAVE TOO MANY?
LOSS OF VIGOR? LOUSY SLEEPER?
OUR PRESCRIPTION DRUGS ARE CHEAPER!!!
We were noticing a pattern,
when a bunch arrived from Saturn:
FANCY WATCHES! CLICK AND SEE!
and GET YOUR HYPERSCHOOL DEGREE.
At SINGLES IN YOUR SECTOR!!!
we disabled our detector.
Then we emptied out the cache
and dragged the letters to the trash.
So that's the fact we had to face:
There's no intelligence in space.
But that's okay--for what it's worth,
there isn't much of it on Earth.

Anyway, this was a fun book. A really fun book. I can't really compare it to the first book (better, worse, bout the same) but I can say that I enjoyed it all on its own.

© Becky Laney of Young Readers