Fourmile by Watt Key

If you have been slogging through my book reviews, you likely have an idea of the types of books I seek out. Alysa is a little more maleable than I am in some ways, and this time, I doubt you will be surprised that I LOVED Fourmile. The cover captured me from the start, and I had heard great things about Alabama Moon but haven't yet read it. Yet. So with the cover leading me, I dove in.

See: the cover has you caught too. I know. What could these two-- a teen boy and his faithful dog Joe-- be looking at? Looking for? And who is walking up?

These questions and more will be answered in this fabulously written tale about the boy on the cover, his dog and all they are yearning for in their lives. Twelve-year-old Foster is trying to make a go at living life without his father who died the year before. Couple that with the fact that his mother is dating a slick fellow who smiles when he is with her and grunts when he anywhere near Foster. Joe growls at boyfriend Dax every time the dog encounters Dax, making for more tension on the farm. One day while Foster is painting, stranger Gary walks up the road, engages kindly with the boy, and is invited  to spend the night in the barn. Dax, furious that another man is on his territory, starts to show his true colors, Foster's mother ends up letting Gary stay and do some home repairs, further ticking off Dax, Joe tries to bite Dax....and this is all in the first third of the book. As Foster searches for that missing father figure, he learns tons about life, commitment, and friendship.

Fourmile. Nicely done.

Period.8 by Chris Crutcher

I squeal when I think of Chris Crutcher creating new work. He is one of my favorite all-time young adult authors. Deadline and Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes are simply two of the best books ever to me. Crutcher's own story and his gifted way of weaving the stories of others into his books simply engages me fully. I find his work brilliant. Imagine my anticipation then when I heard about Period.8. Huge fits as a descriptor.

I really enjoyed Period.8. The writing surprised me a little, feeling more like a mystery novel than what I have noticed in Crutcher's previous writings. The typical Crutcher characters show up here: teen boy-- home life totally wonked up by a cheating dad and can't-let-hubby-go mom and school life totally connected to one main important awesome teacher named Logsdon who goes by Logs; teen girl-- key sidekick (read GIRLFRIEND) to said teen boy, total cat's meow in all categories (kind, fierce, thoughtful, dedicated, relentless, smart--the list goes on); and then there are the friends wandering around--they come in all shapes and sizes and I mean ALL. The teacher, Logs, hosts this gathering-for-students time called Period 8. In Period 8, interested students come in and talk about what is bugging them with the complete agreement that what is said in Period 8 stays in Period 8. Unfortunately that isn't quite true. Crutcher does his usual show of throwing in life and death stuff, teen angst and real life stuff, and he ties the stories together in an unusual storyline teens can find ways to deal with bullies (although in this book the dealing with bullies part is fairly brutal). Crutcher seems to know alot about bullies from his work as a social worker, and he brings out the ugly by bringing this particular bully into the picture for this book. Makes me wonder who he knows might have experienced something like this.

Ahhh, another Crutcher fix satisfied!

**Oh and guess what? Alysa told me she wants to start writing for the blog again this summer, said she will have time then. Yippeee!!!! 

Bruised by Sarah Skilton

Cover art matters. Think of those times when you saw the cover of a book and felt that instant, magical draw. The cover of Bruised is pretty impressive, and I found myself looking more and more at it as I read the story. You will see—you will want to understand why the trophy of the martial artist breaks apart.

Sure, the story will tell you: teen black belt survives a horrific hold-up in a local restaurant. She blanks most of the memory, blames herself for the gunman getting killed, and checks out of most of the rest of her life. Until she is able to step back enough to understand that she couldn’t change what happened in that hold- up. The idea of someone professionally trained in self-defense freezing in a situation like a hold- up makes great sense for a storyline, but this is the first time I have read about it in a young adult novel. I really liked how Skilton wove this story, and I feel certain some of her art came from her own experiences as a black belt herself.

I suggest you search this one out. And of course, check out the great cover!

One Cool Friend by Toni Buzzeo

Looking for a little lighthearted funness to read? I know funness is not a word, but read this book and you will see why I laid into that new word. Father/son, stuffed animal/real, twisted truths/honest relationships all show up in this clever story. Multigenre in nature--love that, Tom Romano--and with David Small's brilliant illustrations, kids will swallow this one hook, line, and sinker.

As I read this book again, I can almost see my mother in place of the father (although she is not near as self-absorbed) and me in place of the boy (although I am nowhere near as well-dressed), us finding our ways further into what interests us and then: collision!

Happy Reading! One Cool Friend. Pure funness.

Red Kite, Blue Kite by Ji-li Jiang

The author's bio starts with these words: "Ji-li Jiang was born in Shanghi, China, and now lives near San Francisco, California. For over twenty years she nursed her childhood memories of surviving the Cultural Revolution, and she finally brought them to life in her first book, Red Scarf Girl, which has become required reading in many schools..."

I kinda think Red Kite, Blue Kite ought to become required reading in many schools. The illustrator wisely offers spaciousness, breathing room to the painful story of a boy and his relationship with his father, Baba. The boy and Baba love to fly kites together among other things. Then, "a bad time comes." Baba must go to a labor camp to work. They arrange to fly their kites at dawn and dusk, ensuring each is thinking about the other and seeing the other's kite, even at a great distance apart. Months later, Baba returns for a superbrief time and tells the boy that he, the father, can no longer fly his kite, but the boy must continue to fly his. Angry for his father leaving again, his grandmother smoothes his anger with the story of how the father got to the boy. Confirmed as important, the boy commits to flying his kite even more.

No spoiler here. You gotta read this one. It is beautiful. Important. Required. Red Kite, Blue Kite.

When Thunder Comes: Poems for Civil Rights Leaders by J. Patrick Lewis

The front cover will stop you. The title force you to open it. On the first pages of the book, just after the title page, these words are written:

The poor and dispossessed take up the drums
For civil rights--freedoms to think and speak,
Petition, pray, and vote. When thunder comes,
The civil righteous are finished being meek. 
Why Sylvia Mendez bet against long odds, 
How Harvey Milk turned hatred on its head,
Why Helen Zia railed against tin gods,

How Freedom Summer's soldiers faced the dread
Are tales of thunder that I hope to tell 
From my thin bag of verse for you to hear
In miniature, like ringing a small bell,
And know a million bells can drown out fear.
For history was mute witness when such crimes
Discolored and discredited our times.

You read the poems then, in order, out of order, the images (created by five different illustrators) calling to you, the strength singing from the pages, the truths laying there for you and me to lift into our hands, our hearts, our minds, to continue the change these people and others like them started. Read it out loud for ears and softly for inner ears; just read it to a bunch of folks. When Thunder Comes: Poems for Civil Rights Leaders. As Black Elk said in his famous speech turned into a poem, "maybe we are who we have been waiting for."

Breathing Room by Marsha Hayles

Historical fiction: check.
Multigenre: check.
Engaging story: check.
Out of the ordinary: check.
Realistic: check.
Amazing autobiographical connections by the author that totally make me want to know more about her and her life growing up with a doctor for a dad who worked for Mayo Clinic: check plus.

Breathing Room is a keeper. I really enjoyed the quiet and calm energy of this story, if you can believe such a life threatening situation could be framed in a quiet voice. A teen girl who has TB moves into a sanatorium to rest and recuperate. While there for what must be a long time, she creates relationships with a number of girls and the medical staff that treat them, much to the thwarted efforts and surprise of the staff. A common practice in the '40's and '50's, these institutions are literally absent in our lives now having disappeared rapidly with the discovery of antibiotics and the disease being more controlled. The author offers plenty of history around the operations of a sanatorium: her father worked at the Mayo Clinic in the '40's. In a special section, she includes historical photos and brief stories that help readers link the author with the story. Find this gem if you are looking for some US historical fiction framed around medical issues and WW II.