Dragonbreath

Vernon, U. (2009) Dragonbreath. New York, NY: Dial Books.

 

Review:

 

Danny Dragonbreath may be a dragon, but he can’t breathe fire.  Yet.  At the moment, though, he has bigger problems, like the F his teacher gave him on his report on the ocean.  Apparently it’s not acceptable to turn in an essay on the fictional Snorklebats and pretend it’s a scientific research paper.  Now Danny has just one day to make up his missed assignment or his mom’s going to kill him.  So he drags his best friend Wendell to the pier to visit his Uncle Edward, a sea serpent.  Perhaps Danny should be more worried about something other than his mom wanting him dead?

 

With Vernon as the author, a big part of Dragonbreath’s appeal is, of course, the illustrations, which are sprinkled throughout the book.  Some appearing where they would in more classic children’s novels, others going on for pages and including comic style speech bubbles.  That’s not all this book has to recommend it though, the story was entertaining, the humor spot on, and the characters likable.  Personally, I also loved the science information Vernon seamlessly added into her story.  You wouldn’t think that a humorous tale about a dragon, an iguana, and a sea serpent would try to include educational, scientific information, but Vernon has a keen understanding of what younger tweens know to be fantasy and a respect for their ability to separate likely fact from clear fiction.

Best for ages 6-10

 

Author website: http://ursulavernon.com/

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

Riordan, R. (2005)  Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.  New York, NY: Hyperion Books for Children.

 

Review:

Percy Jackson is one of those kids that can’t seem to do anything right, but even he thinks it’s weird when he appears to to have obliterated his math teacher.  (He didn’t mean to!)  Things get even more odd when he comes home after having been kicked out of school (that part isn’t weird) and monsters start coming after him.  There’s a reasonable explanation for all this strangeness, though.  Percy is the son of a God, and Zeus (not his father) thinks he’s stolen something from him.  So all Percy has to do is find Zeus’ most powerful weapon, return it to him, and everything will be fine.   That’s it!  Easy, right?

 

In the first of what looks to be an incredibly entertaining series, Riordan creates a world that manages to blend Greek myths and modern life.  Percy is a great tween hero, he’s neither perfect nor overly reluctant.  While he felt like a failure before his adventure, readers know him to be a champion long before his identity is revealed.  His companions, Annabeth Chase and Grover Underwood, are a great match for Percy and his quest.  I look forward to reading the rest of series, and tweens will too.

 

Best for ages 10-15

 

Author website: http://www.rickriordan.com/home.aspx

Miley Cyrus

Cyrus, M., Armato, A., James, T., & Karaoglu, D. (2010) Who Own My Heart [Recorded by Miley Cyrus].  On Can’t Be Tamed [mp3].  Hollywood, CA: Hollywood Records.

Cyrus, M., Armato, A., James, T., Neumann, P., & Pompetzki, M.  (2010) Can’t Be Tamed [Recorded by Miley Cyrus].  On Can’t Be Tamed [mp3].  Hollywood, CA: Hollywood Records.

Cyrus, M. & Shanks, J.  (2010) Stay [Recorded by Miley Cyrus].  On Can’t Be Tamed [mp3].  Hollywood, CA: Hollywood Records.

[I wish I could just send you to this post at Tiger Beatdown in lieu of an actual review, as theirs will always be the much better review to read, but I can’t really turn in someone else’s blog post for my homework.  So here goes…]

After trashing the last couple of musicians, I’m now going to have to admit that I actually enjoyed Cyrus’ songs.   They still feel very extra shiny polished in a way that smells of lots and lots people working on Miley Cyrus, The Star.*  But.  They are actually interesting and, despite the being more mature songs, are also the kinds of things I’d like tween girls to be thinking about.

Yeah, I know, that’s not exactly an uncontroversial statement.  Now, I’m not really talking younger tweens here, and it’s clear that Miley has become more of a teen artist than a tween artist as she has moved into adulthood herself.

 

Granted, Stay is a pretty typical love ballad, but it’s also more musically sophisticated than, for example, Everclear’s offerings.  Who Owns My Heart had mine from the first though – talking about the difference between desire and love?  In a ways that also suggests she’s pondering if any love would ever be worth living up her artistic passions?  The lyrics are definitely more mature (although, when is rock not about sex?) but the questions are ones I want (older) tweens asking themselves.

And then there’s Can’t be Tamed.  Of course there’s going to be adults that are made uneasy by adolescents declaring their independence.  Especially when you throw “girls” and “sex” into the mix. I’m not really all that thrilled about tween girls thinking they need to be sexy, sexy to rebel myself.  At the same time, the fact that we seem to continually try to control girls’ sexuality rather than guide them is part of what led to this song and video, as is the idea that for girls, “sexually available” = “adult.”  So it seems to me that it’s very appropriate for older tweens to be listening to Miley – and for the adults in their lives to be engaging in conversations with them about why they think Miley is rebelling the way that she is.

Best for ages 13-16

Artist website: http://www.mileycyrus.com/

 

 

*right, so, probably shouldn’t have reread Sady and Amanda’s post right before writing this.

The Phantom Tollbooth

Juster, N.  (1961)  The Phantom Tollbooth.  New York, NY: Random House Children’s Books.

Review:

Nothing interests Milo.  Everyday is just another repetition of the same old humdrum that filled the day before.  Until a mysterious package arrives that sends Milo off to a strange world where watchdogs keep time, sounds are kept locked in vaults, and colors are created by an orchestra.  In no time at all, Milo is off on a quest to rescue not one princess, but two – Rhyme and Reason.  Will Milo manage to complete his quest?  Will he be able to find his way home afterwards?  And if he gets back, will Milo still think the world holds nothing but boredom.

 

Norton Juster’s classic has delighted tweens for decades, long before the term was even coined, and will continue to do so for decades to come.   The Phantom Tollbooth will especially delight younger tweens who are ready to graduate from Kat Kong and Dogzilla to more sophisticated word play, and yet still enjoy a day spend imagining themselves in places of their own creation.

 

 

Best for ages 8-12

ttyl

Showoff

Books to Make You Cry

Cyberbullying

One of the traditions at my high school was for the school newspaper to devote much of the final issue of the last year to “wills” from the seniors to students in other classes.  My sophomore year, the advisor of the newspaper got into trouble because the newspaper editors – all seniors, all good students going onto expensive colleges – had co-opted that tradition in order to publicly print lists along the lines of “girls I’d like to…” you get the idea.

From Totally Wired:

Teens have also used blogs and Web sites to post lists or rankings of other students.

Yeah, so what else is new?  In other non-news people are still nostalgic for the past, despite the past having poorer health carer and more discrimination.

I’m not trying to say that cyberbullying is not a specific problem that presents unique obstacles, just that a certain amount of the issue – as Goldstein alludes to when she talks about people finally studying bullying – is that we are finally starting to care. Sometimes.

That kids do this isn’t new, it’s just that the scale is finally forcing us to pay attention to it, when we didn’t before. That same advisor is still teaching.* He also gets good reviews at ratemyteacher.com, because, like a lot of bullies, he’s very personable. I don’t think he’d still be teaching if the story had made the news because it was posted online. But the fact that the outside world didn’t hear about it didn’t make it any less damaging to the students that were at the school at the time, it just made it infinitely less embarrassing for the school district.

I also think it’s worth pointing out that a lot of the bullying that kids do is often copying the bullying that adults do – even if the frequency is higher. If we want to teach boys and girls that, for example, they should not be passing around private photos without the permission of the person in the photo, then we need to stop acting like adults who find themselves in this situation deserve what they get. Making it about the worthiness of the victim instead of the action of the bully makes it easy and likely that the victim will be blamed and the bullying will continue.

*no, I don’t know that he knew about it beforehand, but I was around at the time – I was a member of the junior class writing staff – and I saw how he handled the aftermath. With lots of smirks and smiles.

How to Build Your Own Country

Wyatt, V. (2009) How to Build Your Own Country.  Tonawanda, NY: Kids Can Press

Review:

Have you ever wanted to have your own country?  Thinking of creating your own nation but aren’t sure how to get started?  Then read How to Build Your Own Country!  Step by step instructions show you how to not only choose you flag, currency, and motto – but also how to decide what kind of government you will have and how you will pay for everything.  It’s the must have guide for anyone looking to carve their own niche in the world.

This was one of the funniest and clever non-fiction books I’ve read all semester.  It starts with a common game among tweens – creating one’s own country or world – and uses that to explain basic concepts about diplomacy and government.  The first few bits of instruction touch on the kinds of things tweens usually focus on when world-building: name, language, flags, money, etc.  The rest of the book however, explains concepts like oligarchies or reviews some of the basics of holding elections, and it’s all done in an easy to understand and tongue-in-cheek manner that is sure to keep tweens as entertained as they learn.

Best for ages 6-11

Series website: http://www.kidscanpress.com/Canada/CitizenKid-C5065.aspx?section=5&series=2

Everlife

Gerrard, M., Origliasso, J., Origlasso, L., & Nevil, R. (2007) Faded [Recorded by Everlife]. On Everlife. Buena Vista, CA: Buena Vista Records

Gorely, A., & Farren, C. (2007) Static [Recorded by Everlife].  On Everlife. Buena Vista, CA: Buena Vista Records

Gerrard, M., Hezlep, A., Ross, J., & Ross, S. (2007) Find Yourself in You [Recorded by Everlife]. On Everlife. Buena Vista, CA: Buena Vista Records

Review:

Angst! Drama! Rebellion!

All of which, unfortunately, sounds much less sincere when it comes pre-packaged.  Find Yourself in You is upbeat, but full of shallow “go you!” lyrics and got on my nerves pretty quickly.  Faded is much better; it reminds me a bit of Michelle Branch – if she wrote lyrics that sounded more like P!nk.  It will likely also resonate with many tweens who feel pressured – by parents, friends, teachers, etc. – to act or be a certain way, or who don’t feel like they have a voice.  Which is pretty much all of them.  Static is a little more mature, it’s about a relationship falling apart, but it’s also more generally about not feeling heard, like Faded.

The themes feel more teen than tween, but the presentation is more tween than teen, so…

Best for ages 11-15.

 

Artist website: http://everlife.squarespace.com/