Emily Windsnap and the Castle in the Mist

Author: Liz Kessler
Reading Level: 3rd - 5th

Publisher: Candlewick
Edition: Hardcover, 2007 (ARC)
The third installment of the Emily Windsnap series. I didn't read the first two but would not consider seeking them out and reading them after scanning quickly (not quite worth my time or energy to read carefully) this book. I wonder if mer-people were real, would they be displeased at the general portrayal of their characteristics?

Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree

Author: Lauren Tarshis
Rating:
Reading Level: 4th - 6th

Pages:
Publisher: Dial
Edition: Hardcover, 2007 (ARC)
The tone, matter-of-fact, aloof, observatory, self-aware, emotionally detailed -- is very interesting -- at least at the beginning. It becomes a little boring after a while. The chapters from Colleen's viewpoint are told pretty much in this same tone, which does not quite fit her timid personality. Even though the story is seen through Emma-Jean's eyes and thus are all exaggerated (slightly or largely,) certain events (such as the Queen Been losing her hold on the 7th-grade populace) still need the real-life logic to convince this reader.

Genies, Meanies, and Magic Rings

Author: Stephen Mitchell
Rating:
Reading Level: 2nd - 4th

Pages:
Publisher: Walker
Edition: Hardcover, 2007 (ARC)

The retelling is skillfully done -- although I do not see how "new" and "fresh" these versions are from the older version. To gain insight, I must see some of other retellings. There are only three stories and two of them are so familiar so I wasn't getting excited about them. The second, unfamiliar story, however, is definitely interesting and worth reading.

Captives

Author: Tom Pow
Rating:
Reading Level: 7th and up

Pages:
Publisher: Roaring Brooks
Edition: Hardcover, 2007 (ARC)

I really appreciate the layered perspectives from all parties and the courage Tom Pow exibits as an author to not put forth a more popular view point in condamning the captors. The setting is brought to life vividly and each character and their back story convincingly portrayed.

The switch from Part I to Part II is a little too fast and it took some adjusting to change gear and expectations. To have the second part as an unpolished manuscript that Martin scribbled in one night seems a bit far-fetched, though.

The New Policeman

Author: Kate Thompson
Rating:
Reading Level: 5th-8th

Pages: 442
Publisher: Greenwillow
Edition: Hardcover, 2007

Hallucinating. Mesmerizing. Tantallizing. Extraordinary.
(Charming, seductive and completely enthralling - as described by Eoin Colfer, which is apt, as well.)

I especially adore the fact that, instead of leaving the identity of The New Policeman subtly hinted and hidden for readers to puzzle over (although it got more and more obvious as the book goes -- perfectly executed, those little hints throughout), there is a resounding confirmation. It makes this a most satisfyig children's book: the readers are not left with a malencholy that hangs over our head -- which it can EASILY go.

The short chapters match so well with the missing Time. As an Irish music fan, I can't help but humming all the tunes after each chapter. How cleverly done those are -- and Thompson even composed a couple herself.

This is a deserving award winner (of both the 2005 Guardian and Whitbread Awards) and should be relentlessly promoted to all worthy young readers!

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Author: Brian Selznick
Rating:
Reading Level: 4th-6th

Pages: 533
Publisher: Scholastic
Edition: Hardcover, 2007

The superb and impeccable design gives me such pleasure that I feel like hugging this big fact block of a book every time I see it! Selznick's cinamatic illustrations that take up most of the 533 pages, blend seamlessly with the crisp text and enigmatic storyline.

I like how Hugo's plans do not always pan out the same ways he imagined -- often they go wrong, but in a very realistic way. The adults intervene just the right amount so the situation never becomes hopeless without reducing the excitement generated by Hugo's desparation and urgency. Of course, there are a lot of coincidences, following the Dickensian storytelling tradition.

A most wonderful offer!

Mismatch

Author: Lensey Namioka
Rating:
Reading Level: 6th-8th grade

Pages: 217
Publisher: Delacorte
Edition: Hardcover, 2006

I agree with almost every notion Namioka presents in this book: that no singular experience (no matter one's race or heritage) is truly shared by all and that one has to discover and rediscover one's heritage and relationship with that heritage over and over again: a life long endeavor.

However, these "messages" are so heavy that I felt as if being sat on by a giant troll and had the air squeezed out of my lungs the entire time while reading this book. This is not an organic story, growing out of the young couple's (Japanese and Chinese American teens) love for each other, but a plastic plant with the author's hands manipulating the shapes of the branches and the color of the flowers and all the folds of the leaves. It seems such a shame that a potentially profound story can become so superficial and the "solutions" of the cultural and racial conflicts are unconvincingly simplistic. I cannot bring myself to believe that the grandmother (who is about my own mother's age, with similar experience as a Chinese young girl in Japanese occupied China) would have accepted the Japanese family within a week of her discovery of this dating business. How can someone's life-long bias against an entire orther race be altered overnight? Anyone who does not have this specific "Asian" experience should still know that racial biases do not get resolved like this. This story's all happy endings render all the messages too lightweighted to matter at all.