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Looking for a detailed review of the children's novel: DESPERATE JOURNEY by Jim Murphy?

Asked by Anne Frank in Books & Authors at 12:04 AM on February 10, 2009

myjunction's Answer

DESPERATE JOURNEY
by Jim Murphy

Scholastic Press
ISBN-10: 0439078067
ISBN-13: 9780439078061
Ages 9-12
288 pages

Twelve-year-old Maggie Haggerty has only known one kind of life --- life on the Erie Canal. She and her mother, father, uncle, nine-year-old brother Eamon, a cat and four mules all live on a boat hauling supplies and cargo up and down the Erie Canal. Even though this is all Maggie has known, she somehow feels a bit lost and left out, as if she doesn't belong. She often daydreams about living in one of the many towns they pass along the Canal, or even someday visiting the big city of New York; maybe she'd fit in someplace else. However, even feeling as misplaced as she does, Maggie is still terrified that the family might lose their boat. They had to take out a loan last November after Maggie's dad got into a fight and lost all of their money. And even though Mr. Haggerty does get into numerous scuffles, they are only for good causes, like defending his family and friends or standing up to a bully. The fight in November involved a bully named Long-fingered John, and the family has never fully recovered. A dark cloud seems to hover over everyone in the boat, and Maggie misses the confident and cheerful father she used to have. Now their loan payment is due soon, and the family must push aside the gloom to deliver their bonus cargo on time --- all the way at the other end of the Erie Canal. But before they go too far, Long-fingered John makes another stab at the family. He accuses Maggie's father and uncle of attacking one of his crew members, knocking him unconscious with little hope for recovery. The sheriff arrives to arrest the two Mr. Haggertys, dragging them off to jail.

Maggie and her mom and brother have no choice but to plow ahead with the cargo as fast as possible to collect the bonus by themselves. But a mere three people, including one who is only nine and another who is feeling almost constantly sick, are a poor match for the Canal and her perilous obstacles. Maggie quickly learns the importance of putting aside the petty arguments with her brother, plugging on way past exhaustion and entrusting in the kindness of strangers --- all for the love of her family and their way of life.

Author Jim Murphy proves his amazing writing skills yet again with DESPERATE JOURNEY, in which he brings to life an important part of American history. This exciting, page-turning adventure is highly recommended.

Answered at 12:05 AM on February 10, 2009

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Could you share a gist of THE DEMON IN THE TEAHOUSE by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler?

Asked by Anne Frank in Books & Authors at 12:03 AM on February 10, 2009

myjunction's Answer

THE DEMON IN THE TEAHOUSE
by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler

Philomel
ISBN: 0399234993
Ages 10-14
208 pages

In this sequel to THE GHOST IN THE TOKAIDO INN, a 14-year-old boy named Seikei is given some very big responsibilities. Seikei is already trying to prove himself as a samurai when samurai Judge Ooka asks Seikei to help him solve a mystery. Seikei poses as an attendant in a teahouse hoping to gather information about who has set a series of fires in his Japanese city.

Answered at 12:04 AM on February 10, 2009

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What is your opinion about the novel: DEEP DOO-DOO AND THE MYSTERIOUS E-MAIL by Michael Delaney?

Asked by Anne Frank in Books & Authors at 11:59 PM on February 09, 2009

myjunction's Answer

DEEP DOO-DOO AND THE MYSTERIOUS E-MAIL
by Michael Delaney

Dutton Books
ISBN: 0525465308
Ages 8-10
128 pages

Sixth grade is turning out to be the trickiest year ever for Bennet, Pete, and Elizabeth. Bennet and Pete are best friends, Bennet and Elizabeth hate each other, and Pete has a huge crush on Elizabeth. Got that? Things are even more complicated because the kids have similar interests that put them in competition with each other, whether they like it or not. Bennet and Pete run their own news website called Deep Doo-Doo, and Elizabeth is the editor-in-chief of the school newspaper, The Purple Patch.

So when somebody climbs up the flagpole in front of the Town Hall and sticks a pumpkin on top of it, Bennet and Pete post the story on Deep Doo-Doo immediately --- but Elizabeth scoops them with a news flash from The Purple Patch. When Bennet cleverly scoops Elizabeth's scoop, he makes her seriously furious. They fight a war of whispers in social studies class, which gets some unwelcome attention from their teacher. He decides that a fitting punishment is to make them partners on their Civil War project. He says they have to work together to solve the Great Pumpkin Caper. What's that got to do with the Civil War? When Bennet and Elizabeth try to work together on anything, it's a civil war!

Well, with their teacher cracking the whip, plus a $500 reward offered by the town's newspaper to anybody who can find out who planted that pumpkin, Bennet, Pete, and Elizabeth start solving the mystery as a team. Pete, of course, is in seventh heaven around Elizabeth. Bennet has to grudgingly admire her detective skills. And she's a terrific reporter.

As they begin to gather all the facts and come up with some suspects, they get a little help from some mysterious e-mails sent to Deep Doo-Doo. At first the e-mails just seem like bad poetry, and they don't even make any sense. Until Elizabeth cracks their code and the kids realize that the poems are clues to the pumpkin mystery! When the kids narrow down the suspects and interview the top person on their list, they get into some really deep doo-doo. They find out that new mysteries mixed together with old ones can send folks off the edge. What will Bennet, Elizabeth and Pete do when they discover the secret of the pumpkin on the flagpole? And will they all end up friends? Find out in this fun whodunit.

Answered at 12:00 AM on February 10, 2009

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Pls share a review of the novel: DELIVER US FROM NORMAL by Kate Klise?

Asked by Anne Frank in Books & Authors at 12:02 AM on February 10, 2009

myjunction's Answer

DELIVER US FROM NORMAL
by Kate Klise

Scholastic Press
ISBN: 0439523222
Ages 10-14
256 pages

Sixth-grader Charles Harrisong feels like his family is the only abnormal one in the town of Normal, Illinois. He keeps a list of things that humiliate him. This list includes his family's unusual last name, his father's rattletrap truck, their mustard yellow brick house with spooky bushes in front, his Bargain Bonanza brand clothes, his embarrassingly curly hair, and the quirky personality traits of his four other siblings. Each night Charles says the same prayer: "God, please let us be a normal family. Let us get a normal car. Let us live in a normal house and do normal things and not always be so embarrassing and different and loud."

Charles believes he has another abnormality. He possesses a secret gift that allows him to see and hear things ("words, messages, hidden meanings") without his eyes and ears. It is through Charles's keen observations that readers of DELIVER US FROM NORMAL get to discover his humiliating, and often humorous, world.

What Charles doesn't realize is that he is about to lose the normality of his daily routine. After a cruel prank relating to his sister's decision to run for 7th grade class president, the Harrisong family moves away from Normal in the middle of the night. They drive to Alabama, sell everything they own, and buy a dingy houseboat in a desperate attempt to make a new home.

Despite Charles's "secret gift" of uncovering the meaning and motives behind the actions of other characters in the book, DELIVER US FROM NORMAL ends with a number of unanswered questions. Why did the family take such drastic measures in response to a school prank? What will happen to the Harrisong family now that they've found a new home? How will the family make money? Where will the kids go to school?

Limited to Charles's knowledge and viewpoint we will never know. These questions, while disturbing, do not detract from what is otherwise an entertaining and insightful book. DELIVER US FROM NORMAL presents an unusual portrait of a fiercely loving family's struggle with poverty, and the impact that struggle makes in a young person's life.

Answered at 12:02 AM on February 10, 2009

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Can you share a detailed review of the novel: DEAR PAPA by Anne Ylvisaker?

Asked by Anne Frank in Books & Authors at 11:58 PM on February 09, 2009

myjunction's Answer

DEAR PAPA
by Anne Ylvisaker

Candlewick Press
ISBN: 0763616184
Ages 9-12
192 pages

It's 1943 and nine-year-old Isabelle Anderson lives with her mother, her two older sisters, Irma and Inez, her younger brother Ian, and her younger sister Ida in St. Paul, Minnesota. It has been one year since her father died and, ever since then, her life has been very different. Irma and Inez have boyfriends and her mother sold her father's filling station and got a job! But now her mother is always tired and not acting like herself anymore. She eventually becomes so tired that she sends Isabelle to live with Uncle Bernard and Aunt Jaye in Zumbrota, Minnesota. She also sends Irma and Inez to live with Uncle Edgar on a farm. That's when their new lives begin.

While living with her uncle and aunt, Isabelle slowly adjusts to life in a small town. Even though she has new friends and her aunt and uncle are nice to her, she wishes she could be home to help her mother do everything around the house. She wants to be part of a happy family again. Then she starts thinking of a way to get back home with her sisters and to the rest of her family. One day, she steals some money from her aunt and uncle's house and goes to the bus station. Guess what? Inez is there too! They both get on the train to go back home.

When they get back home, they discover that their mother is living in a new house with Mr. Colletti, the owner, and that she has sold their old house. Eventually she gets married to him and Isabelle slowly adjusts to him being her stepfather. Then one day, her mother finds out that she is going to have a baby by Christmas! Will Isabelle adjust to another change to her family? Will Irma come back home to her family?

This heartfelt book of a girl who must experience many changes to her family touched me, because I felt the same way when I had to move to a new house and when my little sister was born. If I would have been Isabelle, I would have come home to my mother too because I would have missed her very much. If you like heartfelt and touching books, read this one to find out if her wish to have one happy family again comes true.

Answered at 11:58 PM on February 09, 2009

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Any idea about the novel: DEEP DOWN POPULAR by Phoebe Stone?

Asked by Anne Frank in Books & Authors at 12:01 AM on February 10, 2009

myjunction's Answer

DEEP DOWN POPULAR
by Phoebe Stone

Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic
ISBN: 9780439802451
Ages 9-12
288 pages

Although it's not the most exciting place in the world, Jessie Lou Ferguson's home of West Taluka Falls, Virginia, has a magic all its own. No, not the Harry Potter wizards-and-dragons kind of magic, but the magic that comes from open surroundings, family-owned businesses and life that doesn't go a mile a minute. Jessie Lou, unlike her older sister Melinda and the popular girls in school, would rather wear her black high-tops than a dress. She is a quiet writer who draws inspiration for her poems from her surroundings, her family and the most popular boy in school, Conrad Parker Smith.

Or at least, he was the most popular boy in school. Before Conrad had to wear the leg brace, he was everyone's friend, got invited to all the parties and had plenty of people cheering for him at his soccer games. He was and still is the object of Jessie Lou's longtime crush. But recently, Conrad has had to wear a leg brace. Because of it, he has withdrawn from a lot of his usual activities, and over the months his popularity has steadily declined. He has stopped playing soccer and riding his bike, and he doesn't have any real friends anymore.

Jessie Lou lives near Conrad, so her teacher asks if she'll assist him in getting around. They start to hang out with each other more, often accompanied by quirky fourth-grader Quentin Duster. Spending so much time with Conrad is Jessie Lou's dream come true, but when Conrad's leg brace comes off, will their friendship be able to survive? It seems that Conrad's popularity is about to come back, but Jessie Lou is the same Jessie Lou she's always been. What does popularity mean to Conrad?

Spend some time in the hot South with Jessie Lou, her mom and sister, and the person she loves more than anyone else --- her cranky grandfather. This is a time of great change for Jessie Lou, but like all of us, she doesn't always see the changes in herself for some time after they've already happened. Through Conrad, Jessie Lou will see what it really means to be popular and to be a friend. Through everyone else, she'll see what it means to have a sense of place, self and family.

Answered at 12:01 AM on February 10, 2009

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Share a gist of: A DAY FOR VINCENT CHIN AND ME by Jacqueline Turner Banks?

Asked by Anne Frank in Books & Authors at 11:53 PM on February 09, 2009

myjunction's Answer

A DAY FOR VINCENT CHIN AND ME
by Jacqueline Turner Banks

Houghton Mifflin
ISBN: 061813199X
Ages 8-12
112 pages

Sixth grader Tommy and the rest of "the Posse" --- his best friends Angela, Faye and twins Judy and Jury --- band together to help solve a problem in Tommy's neighborhood. They want to stop the cars from speeding by, especially when Tommy's young, deaf neighbor is out playing. Things are going just fine until Tommy's mother takes up a cause of her own --- she is participating in a rally against racism. Tommy can't believe it --- why does she want to call attention to their Japanese-American heritage?

Answered at 11:53 PM on February 09, 2009

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Looking for a detailed review of the children's novel: DAWN UNDERCOVER by Anna Dale?

Asked by Anne Frank in Books & Authors at 11:50 PM on February 09, 2009

myjunction's Answer

DAWN UNDERCOVER by Anna Dale

Bloomsbury USA Children's Books
ISBN: 1582346577
Ages 7-10
380 pages

Wouldn't you love to be a spy? Doesn't it sound so adventurous, so important, and most of all, like a whole lot of fun? That's exactly why 11-year-old Dawn Buckle is so thrilled to be selected as a child spy for the British spying organization, S.H.H. (Strictly Hush-Hush), in the P.S.S.T. division (Pursuit of Scheming Spies and Traitors). Dawn possesses the perfect qualities for a spy --- on most days people don't even notice her, and when they do, they forget about her almost instantly. Even her own classroom teacher couldn't remember her name. Why? Maybe it's because she's described as "timid, bland and nondescript" and wore "crumpled, baggy clothes and was never without a pair of mushroom-colored knee socks and battered gym shoes."

But when Dawn is chosen to go on a top-secret mission, she starts to get noticed for the first time in her life. Upon arriving at the P.S.S.T. headquarters, she is introduced to a quirky cast of spy-types who work hard to train her in the ins and outs of spying. She has to read books like KEEPING TO THE SHADOWS, and also must learn both spying terms and the Cumberbatch Alphabet --- a secret alphabet that spies use. Then, Dawn has to pass a spy exam. She passes, to both her and P.S.S.T.'s surprise, with flying colors. It seems that she has been made for spying and now will be put to the test on her first mission. The mission aims to track down a missing spy along with an evil criminal, Murdo Meek. Dawn is to travel to the small town of Cherry Bentley with an adult escort, Trudy, the spying headquarter's uptight secretary.

P.S.S.T. gives Dawn a whole new wardrobe plus a new name and identity for her spying mission. She's no longer drab Dawn in mushroom-colored knee socks. She's now Kitty Wilson, secret spy girl. Can Dawn put together the clues she finds in Cherry Bentley to outsmart Murdo Meek and save the missing spy along the way?

DAWN UNDERCOVER is a fun read filled with mystery and adventure --- all good things a spy novel should possess. The character of Dawn Buckle is highly likeable and the reader will feel good to see this once-drab girl start to shine. Though the book feels a bit long at points, the ending is highly satisfying. Young readers will also enjoy the glossary at the back of the book, which includes a list of acronyms, spying terms and the funny Cumberbatch Alphabet.

Answered at 11:51 PM on February 09, 2009

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Looking for a review of the novel: THE DAY OF THE DJINN WARRIORS: Children of the Lamp, Book Four by P. B. Kerr?

Asked by Anne Frank in Books & Authors at 11:54 PM on February 09, 2009

myjunction's Answer

THE DAY OF THE DJINN WARRIORS: Children of the Lamp, Book Four
by P. B. Kerr

Scholastic Paperbacks
Hardcover: 9780439932141
Paperback: 9780439932165
Ages 9-12
400 pages

When John and Philippa first see their father after returning from an adventure in Nepal and India, they are shocked to find him changed into a very old man. Mr. Gaunt had been a normal human until his wife Layla --- one of the most powerful djinns in the world --- put him under a Methuselah spell. She hopes this will keep her children by his side and prevent the djinn twins from following her to Babylon, where she is going to assume the position of “Blue Djinn of Babylon.”

Unbeknownst to Layla, however, John and Philippa temporarily had been replaced by imitations so they could pursue other adventures. To reverse the aging process, they must get help and are faced with some very serious decisions: How will they be able to leave their father under such circumstances? And how can they get their mother back home and prevent her from becoming the Blue Djinn of Babylon?

Djinns cannot be discouraged easily. And before you know it, after a few setbacks --- such as a terrible accident in which their beloved housekeeper ends up unconscious in the hospital --- help arrives on a whirlwind, in the person of the strange magical djinn Marion Morrison. Nurse Marion wears cowboy boots and has “two beady gray eyes that she was able to control so that she could look in two different directions at the same time.”

In a complicated and wild story, the twins embark on yet another adventure as they try to find the true Blue Djinn of Babylon (Faustina, who has lost her body somewhere in England) and help her brother Dybbuk (who is on the brink of joining forces with the dark side after he discovers that his father is none other than Iblis, the most evil djinn in the world). Their Uncle John, the butler Mr. Groanin and the kindly old djinn Mr. Rakshasas join them. Using their abilities to go in and out of bodies, make transformations and other magical djinn skills, they find themselves in a series of mysterious mishaps involving disappearing people, ancient Chinese terracotta warriors who are being controlled by evil forces, haunted museums, robberies and even some unexpected help from none other than Marco Polo!

Readers will be surprised to see what happens to John and Philippa’s mother, how the abilities of a little nun help them, and how an erupting volcano changes everything. The twins have their work cut out for them in yet another exciting tale from P. B. Kerr’s bestselling Children of the Lamp series.

Answered at 11:55 PM on February 09, 2009

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Any idea about the poetry book: DEAR MOTHER, DEAR DAUGHTER: Poems for Young People by Jane Yolen ?

Asked by Anne Frank in Books & Authors at 11:56 PM on February 09, 2009

myjunction's Answer

DEAR MOTHER, DEAR DAUGHTER: Poems for Young People
by Jane Yolen and Heidi E. Y. Stemple and illustrated by Gil Ashby.

Boyds Mills
ISBN: 1563978865
Ages 10-12
40 pages

Accomplished author Yolen and her real-life daughter create a book that any mom and daughter can relate to. This collection of 17 pairs of poems --- each spread features a "Dear Mother" poem by Stemple on the left and a "Dear Daughter" poem by Yolen on the right --- tackles all the sensitive coming-of-age issues every family faces. Poems about the battles over doing homework, cleaning a bedroom, body image, talking on the phone --- they're all here. And readers will especially enjoy the realistic tone and comforting support found throughout.

Answered at 11:57 PM on February 09, 2009

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