2005 National Book Award Winner

Ratings Explanation

Violence:  A mean man hits a dog, who yelps in pain and retreats to its owner.

Sexual Content:  12-year-old Rosalind has a crush on 17-year-old Cagney, the gardener boy. She spies him kissing another girl and wishes it were her he were kissing, wondering what it might feel like. Children eavesdrop on a boy’s mother, who kisses her boyfriend and talks about marrying him.

Adult Themes:  Jeffrey’s mother is portrayed as an unkind, impatient, demanding woman who yells at her son and his friends a lot. She threatens to send Jeffrey to military school, where he’ll learn real discipline and proper behavior. Whether this borders on actual verbal abuse is probably up to the reader (if you’re a child, then yes; if you’re a parent, then perhaps not.) There is no physical abuse whatsoever.

Synopsis

The four Penderwick girls, their widowed father (a kindly botany professor), and their dog rent a cottage in the Massachusetts countryside for three weeks one summer, where they encounter all the delightful adventures one could possibly hope for in such a short span of time.  The cottage is actually a guest house on an enormous estate called Arundel, owned by the fabulously wealthy and equally snobbish Mrs. Tifton, whose own sweet 11-year-old son Jeffrey is in need of new and adventurous friends. He finds them, of course, in the Penderwicks–much to his mother’s chagrin, who considers the girls a very bad influence. Rosalind, who is 12, experiences the pangs of her first unrequited love when she meets the gardener boy, Cagney–seventeen, handsome, charming, and naturally inclined to see Rosalind as just a little girl. Then there is Skye, who is 11 and feisty, and hasn’t yet learned that speaking one’s mind (especially in front of Mrs. Tifton) can sometimes cause trouble. Ten-year-old Jane is an aspiring author with several unpublished books under her belt already, but just may find fodder for her new novel here at Arundel. Then there is four-year-old Batty, in butterfly wings and ever accompanied by faithful Hound, their pet dog. Together these four girls with Jeffrey in tow will escape a charging bull, ruin Mrs. Tifton’s garden party, discover a trove in Jeffrey’s attic, save runaway bunnies, and find the courage to face off to the tyrannical Mrs. Tifton herself. What more could one hope for in three short weeks?

The subtitle to this endearing novel is: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy. And really, that is all the formula one needs for summer adventure. This book follows in the tradition of the classic children’s novel about families (think Alcott’s March sisters, or Nesbit’s Bastables), where siblings stick together through all sorts of mishaps or disagreements and come out better in the end. It requires no wizardry to make children fall inlove with this kind of simple formula, but the result is indeed magical. My 9-year-old daughter devoured this book, as did everyone in her little girls’ book club, and all agreed that a summer at Arundel Cottage would be ideal (in spite of having to deal with the dreadful Mrs. Tifton and her obnoxious boyfriend, Dexter). Now they are all eager to read the sequel, The Penderwicks on Gardam Street. Highly recommended.

Ratings Explanation

Adult Themes: Nim’s mother dies in an aquatic accident when Nim is a baby. Characters in peril.

Synopsis

Nim and her scientist father, Jack, live on a beautiful, deserted island. They receive a few necessities from a supply boat every once in awhile, but otherwise live on the garden they raise and the coconuts and other fruits that grow on the island. When Jack goes on an expedition to study plankton for three days, Nim stays at home, alone. While she is completely at ease on her own, Nim is grateful to have a sea lion for a mother, a sea turtle for a friend and a marine iguana for laughs. On the day Jack is to return to the island, a terrible storm hits. Unable to reach each other by cell phone, Nim and her father communicate via notes carried by Galileo, a frigate bird. In this emergency situation, Nim must take charge of keeping their belongings and friends safe from the menacing weather, but it just so happens that help is on the way. While Jack has been away, Nim has struck up an e-mail friendship with Alex Rover, an adventure writer who contacted Jack for some scientific advice for her next book. Nim and Alex become friends and when Nim needs her the most, Alex comes to the rescue, just like the fictional heroes she writes about.

A fun, adventurous read for any age and an excellent choice for a read aloud.

Violence: There is brief talk about a dragon eating girls. A man mentions that a boy should be “horsewhipped” and a knight cuts off the head of a giant.

Adult Themes: It is mentioned that a character’s parents died when he was young.

Synopsis
John, Susan, Barnaby, Fredericka and Abbie love books and take trips to the library each week to find new treasures. One week, just as they are leaving the library for the day, one of the children reaches for an old, worn book that the librarian tells them is a “seven-day book.” Curious about what that means, the children open the book as soon as they leave the library to start reading it out loud to the group. What they find in the book surprises — they are the characters in the book and are off on their own adventure.

This book was very fun to read. Different lands, creatures and adventures with each chapter. It was a clean and very easy read. It was a great adventure that would be fun for all ages.

1958 Newbery Honor

Ratings Explanation

Adult Themes: Children lie to parents about where they are spending their time each day.

Synopsis

Portia and her brother Foster are excited to spend the summer visiting their cousin, Julian,  in the country. They are looking forward to a fun and relaxing summer exploring the woods near Julian’s house, but their summer plans take a different turn when Portia and Julian discover an abandoned resort town on the shore of a dried up lake. Portia and Julian keep their ghost town, and its two living inhabitants, a secret and spend their summer exploring the abandoned houses and learning from Mrs. Peyton and Mr. Cheever what Lake Terrago was like in its heyday of parties, picnics, concerts and eccentric citizens.

My how times (and children’s literature) have changed! This is a very sweet, slow paced story that reminded me of the books I used to read as a child. I enjoyed the walk back in time, but even though the book is over 50 years old, it didn’t seem outdated, other than the train ride to visit Julian. Much less intense than a lot of literature today, this book is appropriate for any age and would make a great read-aloud for a family with children of varying ages. Some pertinent topics to discuss would be honesty, including others, and respecting the elderly.

Ratings Explanation

Not Applicable

Ratings Explanation

Not Applicable

Synopsis

Ratings Explanation

Violence: The king demands that Elodie serve him and then spits in her face. “He whacked his chopper down on the neck of a struggling chicken.” Someone is trying to kill the Ogre. The princess slaps Elodie. People are poisoned.

Adult Themes: The people drink wine at a feast. Thiel is a thief and steals things.

Synopsis

Elodie leaves her family in pursuit of her dreams of becoming a masioner. But her best laid plans change instantly upon arrival in the town of Two Castles. There are no apprenticeships, and Elodie’s copper is stolen so she has no money. She meets the dragon, Meenore, in town and finds herself agreeing to be IT’s assistant. Meenore is no ordinary dragon. She is a mystery solving dragon, brilliant in the game of observation and deductive reasoning. Elodie’s first case with Meenore involves the Ogre that lives in one of the two castles in town. Count Jonty Um is a giant, shape shifting Ogre who’s greatest desire is to be liked and respected by the townspeople who clearly do not like him. Count Jonty Um seeks out the help of Meenore when his dog is stolen. Elodie soon finds that this mystery is much more than finding a missing dog. It’s about saving the Ogre’s life and maybe even her own.

I knew I would enjoy this book from the second paragraph. It says, “Albin stood to the side a few feet and blew his nose with a honk. He could blow his nose a dozen ways. The honk was the saddest.” I have enjoyed every book I’ve read by Gail Levine and this was no exception. I loved the mystery solving duo of Meenore the dragon and Elodie and the friendship that developed between them. I loved how Elodie didn’t take someone else’s word on who she should like and why. She gave everyone a chance and judged after knowing them. This was a fun, adventurous book, cleanly written and well done. Recommended reading level by publisher is ages 9-12. I would agree

Ratings Explanation

Adult Themes: Death, Miscarriage

Publisher’s Summary

When Colton Burpo made it through an emergency apendectomy, his family was overjoyed at his miraculous survival.  What they weren’t expecting, though, was the story that emerged in the months that followed –a story as beautiful as it was extraordinary, detailing their little boy’s trip to heaven and back.

Colton, not yet four years old, told his parents he left his body during the surgery–and authenticated that claim by describing exactly what his parents were doing in another part of the hospital while he was being operated on.  He talked of visiting heaven and relayed stories told to him by people he met there whom he had never met in life, sharing events that happened even before he was born.  He also astonished his parents with descriptions and obscure details about heaven that matched the Bible exactly, though he had not yet learned to read.

A friend gave me this book and emphatically said, “You just have to read this!”  I enjoyed this uplifting read.  Colton’s statements resonated truth.  I looked forward to hearing what Colton had to say.  Although, I quickly tired of the father’s detailed narrative.  This book reaffirms how important faith is in our lives.