A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban

Beethovan's barbershop! I loved this book. Maybe it is the 14 years of piano lessons and multiple competitions I was involved in as a child, or being the daughter of a piano teacher, who knows. But I simply adored A Crooked Kind of Perfect (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2007).

It's sweet without being sticky, honest, real and quirky. Written for the 8-12 set, Urban captures the voice of a ten-going-on-eleven year old perfectly. 

Zoe wants to play the piano. Truth be told, she wants to play Carnegie Hall -- the ultimate in piano performance experience. But we all know how you get to Carnegie Hall, right?... Practice! (sorry, had to do it). Unfortunately, Zoe's dad has bought her an organ instead. That's right, an organ, complete with rhythm switches and foot pedals and two separate keyboards. (My grandmother had a similar thing when I was a kid and I remember thinking it was the coolest thing around -- this was way before Casios, people!)

But the organ will have to do for Zoe. After all, it does come with six weeks of lessons. Plus, her teacher has suggested she enter the Performa-A-Rama competition, where she could win a trophy!

Zoe deals with the typical 10-year-old girl issues: here today gone tomorrow best friends, the interest of boys, and then there's her mom (who's ALWAYS at work) and her unemployed dad (who has issues of his own, including an addiction to in-home courses and has diplomas for everything from aeronautics to baking on his wall).

I thoroughly enjoyed the audio book version of this, and Tai Alexandra Ricci's performance is stellar. This is one of those books that I'll be buying for gifts. 4 1/2 bookmarks!

Every Soul a Star by Wendy Mass

Witnessing a total solar eclipse is something that not many people can claim to do. But the three main characters in the latest book from Wendy Mass (Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life and A Mango Shaped Space) do just that... and they learn a little about themselves in the bargain. 

Told from the perspective of three kids: model wanna-be Bree, slightly overweight loner Jack and homeschooled astronomer in the making Ally, Every Soul A Star explores the wonders of space, Earth and how everybody has to find their own place on it.

Ally has grown up in the boonies, her parents built Moon Shadow campground out in the wilderness as a place for stargazers to pilgrimage to, and this particular summer, they'll be coming in droves as the camp is in the direct path of a total solar eclipse. She loves living under a blanket of stars, and has looked forward to this summer pretty much her whole life. But there's a catch. After the eclipse her family is going to be moving to the city for the first time ever. 

City girl Bree has just found out her family is moving to Moon Shadow to take over for Ally's family, and she's none too happy about being away from her cell phone and friend network. She's more concerned about her toenail polish than which constellations are which, and has no problem letting Ally know that she's getting the raw deal.

Jack finds himself in Moon Shadow as a way to make up for a failing science grade, and summer school. Not exactly one of Bree's popular crowd, Jack just wants to get through the summer and enjoy the outdoors while doing it.

Mass weaves these three stories together masterfully, all told in first person POV yet retaining unique voices for each. Even the snobby Bree comes off as sympathetic and likable.

I'm a huge fan of Jeremy Fink and Mango Shaped Space, and have looked forward to Mass's latest dip into a fascinating subject. She demonstrates why astronomy is so fascinating and young readers will enjoy the celestial tidbits of info they'll pick up along the way. 4 bookmarks -- would make a great holiday gift!!

(NOTE:

I'm hoping to have an interview with the author in the near future, so if you've read Every Soul a Star and have a question for Wendy Mass, post them in the comments section and I'll try to include them in the interview.)

Classic 5-Bookmark Recommendations -- Mandy by Julie Andrews

This is the first "chapter book" I ever read by myself in second grade. I was a huge fan of Julie Andrews (yes, THAT Julie Andrews) from Mary Poppins and Sound of Music and I completely fell in love with this sweet story.

Mandy is an orphan (why Disney never made a movie out of this, I'll never know) and she lives in a big sprawling orphanage in the midst of lots of land, somewhere in England (I think, at least that's always the impression I had, but that could have come from Julie Andrews' voice in my head as I read the book.)

She's an independent sort and one day she climbs over the garden wall to explore the land beyond the orphanage grounds. There she finds a rundown little cottage in need of a young girl's touch. The rest of the story takes us through Mandy's adventures as she works to fix up her secret hideaway and what happens to her on one dark and rainy night.

Mandy is a squeaky clean, lovely read for any young girl (but boys might like it too). It recently celebrated it's 35th year in print (okay, don't do the math there...) and it is well deserved.

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

There was so much negative buzz about this book when it first came out, but I tried my best not to listen. I didn't want to know anything until I read it for myself, however, I couldn't help but prepare myself for disappointment.

So I don't know if it was because I wasn't expecting to love it that... well... I kinda did.

I am a big fan of this series. I think Meyers has a great deal of talent in capturing the excitement and romance and intrigue of such a relationship. I've enjoyed where she took the story, and always felt as if Bella and Edward didn't end up together somehow, I would feel cheated.

BEFORE YOU READ ON... It's really impossible for me to review this without discussing the storyline, which most people probably already know, but if you don't want to spoil the surprise, don't read on.

Okay, with that disclaimer out of the way... we already knew going into this book that a big wedding was on deck for Bella and Edward. Alice pulled out all the stops and it's a great scene. So off the happy couple goes on their honeymoon and yes, the standard honeymoon activities ensue.

LET ME PAUSE HERE TO SAY that in no way shape or form should these books be considered appropriate for anyone under, oh I'd say 14. Maybe I'm conservative, but the sexual themes/tension within the covers are way too adult for the elementary-aged girls I've seen carrying these books around. Just my opinion on that.

Okay, back to the review. So Bella ends up pregnant. I was totally surprised by this, although it explained a lot about the pro life/pro choice buzz. Like I said, I was trying not to pay attention. At first I thought, you've got to be kidding me, right? But Meyers drew me in so well that before long this arc was just as believable as the original concept. The baby grows at an accelerated rate, and no mother who has ever carried a child like this (of which there haven't been many) have survived the birth. Edward's wrenching guilt and anguish over this, and Bella's instant maternal instincts carry us through the pages of waiting and working out how to save Bella. Of course, they end up making her a vampire when the baby is born. 

Bella turns out to be an excellent vampire, although whether this is because she had so much time to mentally prepare or whether it's from sheer stubbornness, we don't know. Jacob, who had hovered at Bella's bedside, unable to leave her during the pregnancy, discovers something amazing that totally caught me off guard and I won't mention here because finding out was just so much fun.

Then, the half human, half vampire child draws the attention of The Volturi, who suddenly have reason to condemn the family. Alice sees that they are coming for them, and they immediately recruit some of their vampire friends from around the world to stand with them. They have to convince The Volturi that the child is not an immortal child (which is forbidden).

The final showdown is tense and well done and I was kept up all hours reading which is always a good sign.

I recommend this and give it 4 bookmarks, but I do want to add this caveat -- if you have preconceived notions about the book, or feel like Meyers is trying to make a political/ethical statement, you may not want to spend the 700+ pages of reading time on it. However, if you can go into it with an open mind, forget what everyone is saying, and just enjoy the story for what it is. Which is pretty darn good.

Coming Soon

Very soon I hope to start posting Cool Kids Read podcasts, featuring interviews with young readers about their favorite books. If you're interested, click the "subscribe" button!

The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall

As a big fan of the first Penderwick story, I was eager to see what Jeanne Birdsall would do with the girls back at home. These stories remind me of classic stories from years past like All of a Kind Family (maybe it's all those sisters) and Betsy, Tacey and Tibb. Birdsall's voice is reminiscent of a more classic author in a current setting and I enjoy every word.

Back home after their adventures at Arundel, Rosalind, Skye, Jane and Battie are confronted with the wishes of their dear departed mother that their widowed father begin dating. Horrified by the idea, they put their clever heads together to make sure a step-mother is not part of their future. With misadventures and cherished moments, this second tale of the Penderwick sisters has all the appeal of the first, with a little romance thrown in for good measure. 

While it may seem a "girl" book, it should most definitely appeal to younger boys -- and might give them a good lesson about their female counterparts as well. The first book won the National Book Award... I'll be interested to see if this one is nominated on October 15th. In my opinion, it absolutely should.

A Mango Shaped Space by Wendy Mass

Wendy Mass is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. My son, my husband and I all read (separately) "Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life" and love-love-loved it. (We all cried. All of us.) Ever since, I've been wanting to check out some of her other books and I found the title of this one intriguing. The story did not disappoint.

Mia is an unusual girl in that she has a "disorder" called synesthesia. I put disorder in quotes for two reasons. One, at first Mia doesn't realize she is any different than anyone else and two, because the synesthesia is not a detriment to Mia. Quite the opposite. So what is synesthesia? Well, if you have it you might taste bananas every time someone sneezes. Or you might see puffs of mango-colored clouds come out of your cat's mouth every time she breaths. Apparently, synesthesia is different for everyone, but it's a connection between your senses and for Mia it means she sees letters and numbers in color, and with patterns and texture.  When she hears sound, she sees shapes in the air before her eyes. Life has always been like this for her, and she doesn't know any different. Until she realizes that nobody else in her world experiences things the way she does. And from then on, Mia thinks something is wrong with her. She struggles in school, has few friends, and finally confides in her parents. I won't give away any more of the story, because the from there on out, the story pulls you along magnificently as Mia and her family work to find out what's going on.

And of course, Mia's beloved cat Mango (named for the color of her breath) plays a pivotal role in helping Mia discover that who you are is not always defined by what you can or cannot do.

As a reader, I was fascinated with synesthesia and loved discovering this subculture of people who experience the world in such a unique way. As a pet lover, this book broke my heart. Mia is totally believable in how she deals with her only friends, her classmates and her siblings. Once I hit the end of the first chapter, I literally couldn't put the book down -- the pacing is excellent and I was completely engaged in Mia's world. A rare 4.75 bookmarks for this one and I can't wait to read Wendy Mass' other books -- look for upcoming reviews on Leap Day and Heaven Looks A Lot Like The Mall.