Cemetery Street

Redo due to corrections

Summary

This week I read a mystery called Cemetery Street by Brenda Seabrooke. This story is about a teen named Courtney (Coco). She has just moved to Limbo Keys, Florida with her mom and little brother. As she gets settled and has to deal with being the new kid in school, weird things start happening. First, her brother’s dog is found dead in the cemetery, and not by accident. Next, an unidentifiable man keeps showing up at the cemetery. On Halloween night Coco’s brother, Bucky goes missing and she and Josh, a new friend, go looking for him. Eventually Coco, Josh and Bucky are captured and find themselves tied up and placed in a circle where an unknown man is performing a ritual trying to summon Satan. The trio ends up escaping and manages to alert the police. A couple of days later the guys are caught. I found this to be pretty scary reading and high drama.

Impressions

I enjoyed the story very much. It was very well written and Coco and Josh saved each other by working together. There was a puzzle to be solved and the story was suspenseful especially on Halloween night. Bucky seemed to be a very sweet child. Coco’s mother was trying to be a good mother, but I think she should try harder to get a job instead of move around from town to town. I really liked the way the author made the characters true to life it made it more real. I would recommend this book to any students in middle school.

Reviews from Amazon.com from customer Kim Baccellia

Courtney is used to moving around a lot. But when her mother finds a place next to cemetery, that's way too much. The kids at her new high school tease her about this. But not all is bad. Josh, a cute boy at school seems to be interested in her! Just when things start looking up, weird things start happening around the cemetery. Courtney and Josh set out to find out what's happening.

I enjoyed this MG tale that shows a heroine who's not willing to just sit back and fade into the background. Courtney's experiences as the new kid on the block ring true. I liked her relationship with her kid brother too.

This fast paced tale is sure to appeal to those who enjoy paranormal stories without the edginess of some recent tales.

Review from Amazon.com

From School Library Journal

Grade 6–9—High school sophomore Courtney has just moved to Limbo Key, FL, with her flaky mother, who goes through husbands at breakneck speed, and her little brother, Bucky. She has to deal with a lot as she struggles to fit in at school: the only house they can afford is next to the cemetery, Mom doesn't seem concerned about getting a job although they are running out of money, and Courtney often plays the role of mother to Bucky. Set against this backdrop is the bizarre story of Satanists in the area. Dr. White, a sort of doomsday peddler, has been speaking at the school and the public library about his books on devil worship and warning the community to beware. Suddenly, strange things are happening in the cemetery, where Bucky's puppy is found with its throat slit. Courtney, with help from a new friend who gets her involved in the school newspaper, tries to solve the mystery, which culminates in the teens being locked in tombs on Halloween night. Courtney is a likable character, and it is her story that holds readers' attention. The Satanist plot is not really focused on until the last third of the book and seems forced and preachy. Though it has many elements of a compelling read, this novel unfortunately falls short.—Jake Pettit, Thompson Valley High School Library, Loveland, CO
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Lesson

For an activity I would do a read aloud with this book using one chapter a day. I feel this is a good book to use in order to bring all the students into the story. This book presents new ideas for a different genre if the student has not read mystery books.

Life As We Knew It

Redo due to corrections.

Summary

The book I choose to read this week, a science fiction genre, is Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer . This story is told by a sixteen year old girl, Miranda, whose life changes after an asteroid hits the moon, knocking it off its axis and closer to the Earth. The events she experiences are in a diary format telling what happens around the world and in Miranda’s little part of the world. There are tidal waves that wipe out the coastal area of the world, no electricity, very little gas, rationing of food, and volcanoes erupting causing climate changes around the world. Miranda gives us insight into something that could happen in the future and what the Earth and all living things will or could have to deal with should this catastrophe occur.

Impression

I enjoyed the book; it grabs you and keeps you reading to find out what will happen next in Miranda’s life. This book also was a scary detailed book as to what could happen in the future. It also shows how this could affect people in different ways and how they deal with the challenges they have to face to survive in a changing climate.

The review from Amazon.com

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-8–Pfeffer tones down the terror, but otherwise crafts a frighteningly plausible account of the local effects of a near-future worldwide catastrophe. The prospect of an asteroid hitting the Moon is just a mildly interesting news item to Pennsylvania teenager Miranda, for whom a date for the prom and the personality changes in her born-again friend, Megan, are more immediate concerns. Her priorities undergo a radical change, however, when that collision shifts the Moon into a closer orbit, causing violent earthquakes, massive tsunamis, millions of deaths, and an upsurge in volcanism. Thanks to frantic preparations by her quick-thinking mother, Miranda's family is in better shape than many as utilities and public services break down in stages, wild storms bring extremes of temperature, and outbreaks of disease turn the hospital into a dead zone. In Miranda's day-by-day journal entries, however, Pfeffer keeps nearly all of the death and explicit violence offstage, focusing instead on the stresses of spending months huddled in increasingly confined quarters, watching supplies dwindle, and wondering whether there will be any future to make the effort worthwhile. The author provides a glimmer of hope at the end, but readers will still be left stunned and thoughtful.–John Peters, New York Public Library
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review from customers on Amazon.com by M.Hanners

In this new novel "Life As We Knew It" by Susan Beth Pfeffer, the author of the highly regarded "The Year Without Michael" and many other books, a cataclysmic astronomical event threatens the very existence of the world and all of humankind. An event like this is too immense to imagine in any detail, but the story is told from the point of view of one 16 year old girl living in Pennsylvania, and the apocalyptic event is viewed from the perspective of one person in this seemingly isolated corner of the world.

Miranda begins her diary entries with the usual teen business of school, friends and family with a little digression into figure skating fandom. The forecast collision between asteroid and moon seems like a fun event, as well as an excuse for homework assignments from her teachers, in other words, of interest but not particularly interesting. But the unexpected happens and the collision knocks the moon out of its normal orbit around earth and terrible things begin to happen. Life as Miranda knew it changes quickly and relentlessly from one of normality to a frightening spectre of violent death and terrible deprivation. As suddenly as this happens in parts of world where tsunamis, earthquakes and floods wipe out huge areas of land and people, the changes in Miranda's world occur more gradually but relentlessly. Miranda's world becomes more and more focused on the tragedy and the effects of the global climactic change, and her frame of reference as a teen in a world of school, friends, sports and the future, shrinks down to the day to day survival of herself and her family of four. Miranda struggles to maintain her identity, her physical existence and her hope in the face of frightening odds against her.

The novel is a dark microcosmic view of a small town family facing the worst that life can throw at them, but it never loses hope even in the face of hopelessness. Miranda muses at one point in the book that she might as well enjoy today no matter how bad it is, because tomorrow was going to be worse. And yet there are little joys, rays of hope, and tantalizing moments of what passes for normal in the midst of an ever darkening prognosis for survival. Miranda remains true to who she is and her family shows the strength of their commitment to each other throughout this ordeal.

There are no fairy tale endings to this book, but it does end on a hopeful note and the reader is left with the conviction that better days may yet be ahead. There are moments of humor as well as despair, moments of anger as well as love and a compelling story line that makes it hard to put the book down. Miranda's fate becomes a personal issue, we want to know what happens to her and her family and we care.

This is the author's best book to date, sure to be a classroom classic and popular with teens as well as an engrossing read for adults. Don't miss this one!

Lesson

This book could be used as a read aloud and also used as a writing exercise. After the read aloud the students could write about how they would be affected if this did happen and how their lives would change. Given the age group of the students, a lively discussion could ensue.

Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians

Redo due to corrections
Summary

This week, October 18-25, I chose to write about a fantasy book, Alcatraz and the Evil Librarians. This story takes place in the world we live in, but has an alternate society in it. Alcatraz has been living in foster care all his life and he thinks he is a klutz. Alcatraz turns thirteen and receives a package of sand from his parents. The day after he receives the package, a man saying he is his grandfather shows up and tells Alcatraz he has a mission. It turns out the mission has to do with the sand he received and now the sand is missing. The sand has fallen into the evil librarians’ hand and if they don’t get the sand back it will be used for evil. The librarians, Alcatraz finds out, only let people know what they want them to know and nothing else. Information is power only for the librarians. In the course of the story, Alcatraz finds out his klutziness is the special power he has as an occulator. An occulator uses special glasses that allow Alcatraz to see the alternate society and he can see what the librarians are hiding. Alcatraz is successful in his mission to save a society and retrieves the special glasses made from the sand he received.

Impression

I thought the story was fanciful and was an enjoyable book to read. I plan to use this book in my book talk later this semester. This book will be enjoyed by any fan of fantasy or science fiction because it is in a take me away read. I see boys liking this book very much.

Review from a customer on Amazon.com

By Paul Christopher

First off, I should say that in my mid twenties I am a little older than the target "reading level" of this book. However, that didn't stop me from thoroughly enjoying every word of it. I am a big fan of Brandon Sanderson, and am glad to see that his writing skill can equally please readers of all ages.

Alcatraz Versus The Evil Librarians is the most cleverly written book I have ever had the pleasure of reading. The precisely written narration is what I enjoyed the most. Each chapter, Alcatraz (the narrator) breaks away from the story, to talk to the reader from the voice of the author. These little sections are filled with really clever tidbits that on many occasions had me laughing out loud.

The story itself is entertaining as well. True to Sanderson's form, some of the characters have a special magical "talent" that they use in very creative ways. These talents are attributes that we might not normally see as an advantage, such as always arriving late, and tripping and falling in very dramatic ways. Sanderson also does a great job shedding new light on the world we live in by comparing it to a more advanced society where light bulbs are inferior to open flames (since lights can't set things on fire) and stairs are more advanced than elevators (because you get a work out climbing them).

This is a book that I think any kid will love, with the parents enjoying it equally as much.

Lesson

In a classroom setting I would use this book in a book talk to give students options of different genres to read. I would also use this book as a read aloud and have the students continue to work with the story as a writing activity maybe make up their own story battleing the evil librarians.

Peeled

Redo due to corrections.

Summary

For this week I choose a book from the high school level called Peeled by Joan Bauer. This story takes place in a small farming town in Upstate New York. The protagonist, Hildy Biddle, a high school reporter for the school newspaper embarks on one of the most important stories of her life. She lost her father a couple of years ago and helps out on the apple orchard. This year things are looking up for the struggling town until a ghost starts appearing and the town becomes transfixed on a new reporter to the town. Mr. Piedmont the editor of The Bee starts spreading exaggerated events taking place in Banesville, New York. Hildy tries to make an accurate report on Mr. Piedmonts’ stories and facts for the school newspaper, The Core, when he decides to threaten to sue the school. As a result, The Core is shut down, but Jildy is determined to continue to tell the truth. Hildy and her journalist friends start an underground newspaper called The Peel to keep getting the truth out there. Turns out the reporter are in on a scheme to turn part of the town into an amusement part with the ghost part of the attraction. Eventually it is stopped and people get their land back.

Impression

I enjoyed this book a lot I would recommend this book to anyone. The mystery of the ghost was a great way to discuss what is happening in the town. I feel that middle school students would enjoy it just as well as high school students. I can see this group of students trying to make a difference and stand up for what is right, the truth. This book has a good message and I think even boys would like this story.

Reviews from Amazon.com

From Booklist

The orchard-growing community of Banesville, New York, is known as The Happiest Town in the Happy Apple Valley. But the sleepy town is stricken with hysteria and fear after a series of spooky happenings, and then a death occurs near the abandoned Ludlow House. As Pen Piedmont, the editor of the local paper publishes fear-mongering headlines, high-school reporter Hildy determines to find the true story behind the incidents and settle her community’s growing unrest. Although there are several puzzling incidents at the story’s center (Is there a plot against Banesville’s citizens? If so, who’s involved?), readers will be most drawn by Hildy’s growing excitement, relayed in her own strong, witty voice, as she learns from a cantankerous, demanding mentor what it takes to be a journalist. Hildy’s romance with a fellow student feels underdeveloped, and the object of her affection is a bit too good to be true. But Bauer’s gleeful wordplay, her sure sense of setting, the details of newspaper life, and the many colorful side characters make this a pleasurable read that may encourage teens to consider deeper questions about family farms, urban sprawl, and the many who profit from public fear. See the adjacent column for more novels about aspiring young journalists. Grades 6-9. --Gillian Engberg

Bauer introduces a feisty, funny teenage heroine who stays true to her mission and herself ... Highly entertaining. -- Kirkus Reviews

[Hildy's] crisp, declarative narration, subtly emulating a journalistic style, sings with tart humor and quixotic purpose. -- Horn Book

Lesson

I would in a classroom setting introduce this book in a book talk to my students or discuss the history and future of newspapers. With the internet are newspapers going to be obsolete someday?? We would have a group discussion then come back and talk about what each group thinks will happen in the future.