Surviving the Applewhites

Tolan, S.S. (2002). Surviving the Applewhites. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc.

Plot Summary:
After being thrown out of every school in Rhode Island and his parents landing in jail, Jake Semple is sent to live with his grandfather in North Carolina. But, even with a new start, Jake hasn’t changed at all and gets kicked out of school again. An interesting possibility presents itself though, and Jake is invited to attend the Creative Academy, a school run by the Applewhite family for their children. Zedediah Applewhite, a woodworker, has two sons, Randolph, a theatre director, and Archie, also a woodworker. Archie is married to Lucille, a poet, and Randolph is marred to Sybil, a popular author. Randolph and Sybil have four children: Hal, a sculptor, Cordelia, a dancer who is composing and staring in her own ballet, and Destiny and E.D. E.D. is Jake’s age and is the only Applewhite not okay with Jake attending their school. She is also the only one who actually develops and follows a set curriculum for herself, therefore the family thinks it best to initially pair Jake with her for his education. Out of work, Randolph takes on a job as director of the upcoming production of Sound of Music at the local small theatre in town. His behavior manages to alienate his entire crew, leading to them leave the production. Randolph urges the other Applewhite's to take up the jobs of the crew and pitch in to help, but the manager of the theatre has had enough of Randolph, his rainbow production, and his crazy antics, and decides to cancel the performance. The Applewhite's kick into high gear and show that they, as well as the journalist and Lucille's guru who have also taken up residence at the Applewhite compound, can all work together to put on this production.
Review:
This book is hilarious. It has so much going on, I was not bored for a minute. It has a nice happy ending with Jake and E.D. having a sense of pride and belonging in their roles in the musical. It’s also neat to see this self-absorbed bickering family come together in the name of art to produce something truly unique. There is a good balance of obvious humor, with the dog and Destiny harassing Jake, and good moral to the story of Jake losing his rebellious ways after discovering something he’s good at that give him joy. This book will definitely appeal to both boys and girls.

Genre:
Fiction

Reading Level:
Ages 9 - 12

Subjects/Themes:
homeschooling, creative arts, family

Award Information:
Newbery Honor Book 2003
Character Names/Descriptions:
Edith Applewhite (E.D.): daughter of Randolph and Sybil; the only Applewhite not particularly artistic; very detail oriented and organized; develops her own curriculum for her home schooling
Jake Semple: taken in by the Applewhite's; kicked out of every school in Rhode Island; parents are in jail
Destiny Applewhite: four year-old brother of E.D.; likes to follow around after Jake; asks a lot of questions
Cordelia Applewhite: E.D.'s older sister; starring in and composing a one-woman ballet
Hal Applewhite: E.D.'s reclusive older brother; changes his artistic focus periodically; currently a sculpter
Zedediah Applewhite: father of Archie and Randolph; grandfather to E.D., Hal, Cordelia, and Destiny
Randolph Applewhite: son of Zedediah; married to Sybil; father of E.D., Hal, Cordelia, and Destiny; theater director
Sybil Jameson (Debbie Applewhite): wife of Randolph; mother of E.D., Hal, Cordelia, and Destiny; famous author
Archie Applewhite: son of Zedediah; married to Lucille; woodworker; tattooed
Lucille Applewhite: married to Archie; poet; the one who invited Jake to join the Creative Academy
Jeremy Bernstein: journalist who moves in with the Applewhite's to document their artistic endeavors

Annotation:
A troubled tween finds joy in an unlikely place as he attends an artistic family's creative academy.

Belle Prater's Boy

White, R. (1996). Belle Prater's Boy. Canada: Harper Collins Canada Ltd.

Plot Summary:

One morning Belle Prater disappeared. She left behind an alcoholic husband and their cross-eyed son, Woodrow. After it was clear Belle wasn’t coming back any time soon, Woodrow went to live with his grandparents in Coal Valley, VA. Next door to his grandparents live Woodrow’s cousin, Gypsy, and his Aunt, Beauty, and her husband, Porter. Gypsy and Woodrow are the same age, but hadn’t spent that much time together on account of there having been a disagreement of some sort between their mothers long ago. Gypsy can’t wait to ask Woodrow what he thinks happened to his mom, and neither can anyone else in their small town. Gypsy and Woodrow become very close, Woodrow is an excellent storyteller and Gypsy is beautiful and tells great jokes. They are well liked by friends and classmates. Through the course of the story things which had been kept from the both of them about their parents' pasts begins to come out, things that are hard to hear and digest. But their friendship keeps them strong as they learn some of life’s hardest lessons.

Review:

This is a beautifully written book. I loved every bit of it. The writing is poetic and lyrical, full of sweet tales. Woodrow and Gypsy, each from different backgrounds, are struggling with the same things in life, wanting to be seen for who they are not how they appear. They also are both dealing with the loss of a parent. I loved the descriptive setting, interesting characters, and odd names of the characters. I love how the story slowly unfolds as you read it. The author doesn’t sum up the book at the end, the reader is left with enough details to draw their own conclusions. The author does an excellent job of showing the thought processes that arise in tweens as they slowly begin to open their eyes to life as it occurs around them, whether they want to or not.

Genre:

Fiction

Reading Level:

Ages 9 – 12

Subjects/Themes:

Family, friendship, loss, self-identity

Series Information:

There is a sequel to this book entitled, "The Search for Belle Prater"

Awards Information:

Newbery Honor Book 1997

Character Names/Descriptions:
Gypsy Arbutus Leemaster: Woodrow's cousin; her father died when she was young, is known for her long beautiful hair
Woodrow Prater: Gypsy's cousin; Belle Prater's boy; is cross-eyed; lives with his grandparents
Belle Prater: Gypsy's aunt; Woodrow's mom; went missing; was depressed
Love Ball Dotson: Gypsy's mom; was always more beautiful that Belle; fell in love with and married Belle's boyfriend, who became Gypsy's father
Porter Dotson: Love's new husband; Gypsy's stepfather
Amos Leemaster: Gypsy's dad; killed himself while depressed after being badly burned

Annotation:
Sharing similar losses in their life, two cousins become best of friends while learning some of life's hardest lessons.

Al Capone Does My Shirts

Choldenko, G. (2004). Al Capone Does My Shirts. New York, NY: G.P. Putnam's Sons.

Plot Summary:
Moose and his family move to Alcatraz Island for his dad's new job as a guard and electrician at the prison. The island has apartments for guards and their families so that they can be close by in case anything happens with the prisoners. Moose's family moves him away from his friends and home to Alcatraz so that his parents can send his older sister, Natalie, to a special school, the Esther P. Marinoff School in San Francisco. Natalie is autistic, although that was not a known diagnosis in 1935, the year in which the book begins. Moose befriends the other kids on the island and becomes notorious at his school in San Francisco for living among the likes of Al Capone and Machine Gun Kelly. Natalie does not immediately get into the school and requires special care to prepare her for another shot at acceptance into the school. These lessons are expensive and Moose's mom must work evenings, leaving Natalie in the care of Moose. Moose's outlook on his experiences on the island and his feelings towards his sister begin to change, prompting him to take a big chance in getting Al Capone to pull some strings to make a good thing to happen.

Review:
The setting for this book is incredible. I had no idea that families ever lived on Alcatraz Island. The author does an incredible job of not letting the book get lost in the setting, it's more about Moose and his conflicted self as he navigates new experiences in his new surroundings. I would get so frustrated reading about the responsibilities loaded onto Moose in taking care of his sister. After finishing the book, the author's note states that the author's sister was autistic, which makes sense due to the incredible job she did in capturing the emotions associated with having a sibling with autism. Moose is realistically conflicted about most things in his life, where he lives, his friends, and his feelings towards girls; which is very common to boys this age. The author adds another layer to this with his relationship with his sister and loving her, but also being resentful for the responsibilities placed on him. I especially enjoyed the author's note at the end providing historical accounts of life for families and prisoners on Alcatraz Island. I found myself wondering at the probability of many things throughout the book, so the first hand accounts were very welcome at the end.

Genre:
realistic fiction, historical fiction

Reading Level:
Ages 9 - 12

Subjects/Themes:
siblings, autism, Alcatraz

Series Information:
Al Capone Shines My Shoes is the sequel to this book.

Awards:
2005 Newbery Honor Book

Character Names/Descriptions:
Matthew Flanagan (Moose): 12 year-old boy just moved to Alcatraz Island; sister Natalie is autistic, he takes care of her a lot; likes baseball
Natalie Flanagan: Moose's sister; is 15 years-old, but their mom tells everyone she is 10; is trying to get into the Esther P. Marinoff school; loves counting the buttons in her button box; becomes friendly with an inmate on garden detail (Onion 105)
Al Capone: notorious gangster imprisoned on the island; helps Moose out with a special favor
Theresa Mattaman: girl living on the island; 7 years-old; gets along well with Natalie
Piper Williams: warden's daughter; smart; always scheming; goes to Moose's school in San Francisco
Annie: girl living on the island; 12 years-old; good at playing catch
Jimmy Mattaman: Theresa's brother; builds contraptions

Annotation:
Moose and his family move to Alcatraz Island in 1935. Once there he must adapt to his new life and adjust to the increased responsibility of his autistic sister.

The Dark is Rising

Cooper, S. (1973). The Dark is Rising. New York, NY: Margaret K. McElerry Books.

Plot Description:

It is the eve of his eleventh birthday and Will Stanton notices that things around him are a little strange. The animals are acting funny, there was a strange man on the road, and his neighbor gave him an unexpected gift of a bronze circle with a cross in it to wear on his belt. Will wakes up on his birthday to find the outside of his home covered in snow, but the outside has changed, it no longer looks like it typically does, instead his house is on the edge of the woods. Will attempts to wake his siblings, but they keep sleeping. Will leaves his house to check out the snow. On his walk he sees that where his neighbor’s house once was is now a blacksmith shop, and his neighbor is a blacksmith. He is putting shoes on a black horse for a man dressed all in black. The Black Rider scares Will and he feels as if he shouldn’t trust him. The blacksmith advises will to get on a white horse that appears and he is taken by the horse to ornate wood doors. It is here that Will meets Merriman Lyon and the Lady and is told his fate. He is the seventh son of a seventh son and although he is only 11, Will is told that he is the last of the Old Ones, born to conquer the Dark. Will’s duty is the sign seeker and he must find all of the six signs (such as the one given to him from the blacksmith neighbor). As the days progress Will learns more of his fate, his powers, and sees that he can live in between time, moving from one era to another to find the signs. With the help of Merriman and the other Old Ones, Will must find the six signs and battle the Dark.

Review:

I really wanted to get into this book, but just as with the first book in the series, it didn’t completely grab me. I felt that it was a little slow at times and very dark. There was a lot going on and I often found myself confused. Aside from that, it is well written. Susan Cooper uses vocabulary above what one would typically find in a tween novel encouraging tweens to read up. I believe that my issues with the book have less to do with how it was written and more about me and what I look for in a book. I know plenty of people who loved this book as a tween and it is a Newbery Honor book, but I personally didn’t really enjoy it. In books about good versus evil, I prefer there to be more of a balance between the two. I felt that this book was overwhelmingly dark, I would have liked some relief from that as I read.

Genre:

fantasy, mystery

Reading Level:

Ages 9 - 12

Similar Books:

Harry Potter series; Over Sea, Under Stone series

Subjects/Themes:

good versus evil, family, siblings

Awards:

Newbery Honor Book

Character Names/Descriptions:

Will Stanton: Eleven year old boy, he is the seventh son of a seventh son, he is the last born of the Old Ones who are meant to conquer the Dark, he is the sign seeker

Merriman Lyon: Older man, Old One, assists Will on his quest to find the signs

Series Information:

This is the second book in Susan Cooper's "The Dark is Rising" series. This series consists of five books, one of which won a Newbery medal and one which received a Newbery honor.

Annotation:

On his eleventh birthday Will Stanton discovers that there is more in store for him in his life than he could have dreamed imaginable. His destiny is to be an Old One, the sign seeker, he must work with other Old Ones to defeat the Dark.

The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963

Curtis, C.P. (1995). The Watsons Go to Birmingham -- 1963. New York, NY: Delacorte Press.

Plot Description:

The Watsons, consisting of Kenny (the middle child), Joetta (his younger sister) Byron (the oldest) and their parents, Daniel and Wilona are an African American family living in Flint, Michigan in the 1960s. The book is told from Kenny’s perspective. The majority of the book is Kenny recounting funny stories of the day to day lives of his family, the “Weird Watsons.” He and Byron don’t get along very well, his older brother is much too cool to hang around with Kenny. Some of the stories include Byron getting his lips stuck on their family car’s mirror while kissing his reflection when he was supposed to be scraping ice off of the car with Kenny. Another is about Kenny and his lazy eye and how he befriends Rufus, a new poor student just moved from the South. Kenny thinks that Rufus is his "saver", sent to save Kenny by taking all the attention from the bullies away from him, but when Rufus starts tagging along with Kenny, his plan backfires. A lot of the stories are about the trouble Byron gets himself into through playing with matches or getting his hair relaxed. Finally, his parents decide the best thing for him would be to take him to Birmingham, Alabama to spend the summer (and perhaps longer) with his Grandma Sands. The family readies their old car, the “Brown Bomber,” and prepares to make the trip to see their Grandma to leave Byron. With the upcoming trip, some discussion arises in the Watson family about the differences between their lives in Flint and those of African Americans living in Birmingham. Through his tragic experiences in Birmingham, including the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, Kenny faces a really difficult reality which only his older brother’s toughness can help him through.

Review:

I truly loved this book. I laughed out loud in parts and sobbed in others. It was incredibly written, especially seeing such a horrible act as the 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham dealt with through a 10 year old boy’s eyes. Through Kenny’s descriptions and tales of his family you fall in love with the “Weird Watsons” seeing similarities between them and each of our own families. I love how the author starts off keeping the book very light and funny; as the family is preparing and then traveling to Birmingham he introduces some heavier subject matter, such as racism and the differences between Michigan and the South. Then, once in Birmingham the book takes a very serious and tragic turn with the bombing and the author takes the reader into a much deeper understanding of Kenny and the Watson family. The interactions between the family are funny and touching. The relationship between Kenny and Byron is very well written, that strange tug of war siblings have between loving and hating one another. I loved how the epilogue discussed that although this is a fictitious story, the bombing did happen and young girls did die, young girls like Joetta, who the reader had come to love while reading the book. This gives a very personal, real, and emotional meaning to the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing and the civil rights movement for the reader.

Genre:

Historical Fiction

Reading Level:

Ages 9 - 12

Similar Books:

Subjects/Themes:

Civil Rights Movement, Family, Siblings, 1960s

Awards:

Newbery Honor Book

Coretta Scott King Award

Character Names/Descriptions:

Kenny Watson: Kenny is the middle Watson child. He is ten years old and narrates the book.

Byron Watson (By): Byron is the oldest Watson child. He is a bit of a rebel and is the reason the family must go to Birmingham.

Joetta Watson (Joey): Joey is the youngest Watson child. She is very protective of her brothers.

Annotation:

The Watsons are an African American family living in Michigan in the 196os. The family decides to take a trip to visit family in Birmingham, Alabama. It is through this trip and one particular tragic even that the Watson children learn about the harsh realities of racism in the South and become even closer as a family.

Because of Winn-Dixie

DiCamillo, K. (2000). Because of Winn-Dixie. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc.

Plot Description:
One summer, India Opal Buloni (Opal) and her father move to Naomi, Florida because her father has taken on the position of preacher at a church in town. Opal soon befriends a stray dog, named Winn-Dixie, who she feels a special connection to, having been left by her mother when she was a baby. Opal is lonely in this new town, having left all of her friends behind. Through her own kind demeanor and Winn-Dixie's friendly spirit Opal befriends an interesting mix of friends who, along with Winn-Dixie, teach her about love, loss, and friendship.

Review:
Because of Winn-Dixie had me laughing and crying the entire way through. As the reader, I was immediately drawn to Opal through her kindness of spirit. Anyone who has ever been the new kid in town could easily identify with her struggles at leaving behind her old life and trying to make a new one. I enjoyed the odd mix of friends Opal meets and the lessons learned from each. The characters were all very well developed making the reader feel as if they were experiencing these lessons of love, loss, and friendship right along with Opal.

Genre:
Realistic Fiction

Reading Level:
Grades 4 - 7

Similar Books:

Subject/Themes:
friendship, relationships, loss, single-parent

Awards:
Newbery Honor Book, Josette Frank Award

Character Names/Descriptions:
India Opal Buloni (Opal) is a preacher's daughter new in town who immediate befriends a stray dog, Winn-Dixie. She and her dog befriend an interesting mix of friends.

Winn-Dixie is a stray dog taken in by India Opal Buloni. Through his friendly demeanor and toothy smile, he gives Opal the courage to make new friends.

Annotation:
Being the new girl in town has Opal feeling lonely and missing her absent mother more than ever. Through the friendship of a stray dog, Winn-Dixie, Opal is able to make new friends who learn from one another the lessons of love, loss, and friendship.