CHARLIE JOE JACKSON’S GUIDE TO MAKING MONEY for Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

Posted on March 9, 2015 by Greg Pattridge

I was just beginning to read my third straight MG book and like the previous two it was going to be full of emotion and gut wrenching family situations. Death, divorce, sibling fights, and unthinkable tragedies were the norm for my book selections in February. I needed a break and my go to author for humor, Tommy Greenwald, did the trick in his fourth guide 9781596438408_p0_v3_s260x420from the Charlie Joe Jackson series.

Yes, Charlie Joe is way over the top, but he has a loving family with a sense of humor about his antics. Middle school has brought many challenges for Charlie Joe including spending a lot of time trying to figure out girls. He also is broke and ends up in three money making schemes. He narrates most of the book but does turn over a few chapters to his friend, Katie Friedman (She takes center stage in her own book released last month – KATIE FRIEDMAN GIVES UP TEXTING!)

Reluctant readers will enjoy the variety of chapter lengths (a few are only one sentence long) and any book that has cow jumping in the climax of the story is sure to appeal to many boys and girls alike. To me its like dessert and had me smiling the entire way.

PUBLICATION DATE:2014   WORD COUNT: 31,175  READING LEVEL: 5.0

FULL PLOT (From Amazon): Charlie Joe’s weekly allowance just isn’t cutting it and he desperately needs money to buy a Botman, the latest gadget to sweep his middle school. Only catch is, he wants to earn the money by doing the least amount of work possible. After several failed attempts, including a near disastrous day of dog-walking, Charlie Joe hatches a plan to throw his own bar mitzvah (no gifts please—checks only) even though he’s not Jewish. Hilarity ensues when throwing a fake coming-of-age party turns out to be much harder than it looks.

FIVE THINGS TO LIKE ABOUT CHARLIE JOE JACKSON’S GUIDE TO MAKING MONEY by Tommy Greenwald

  1. The plot is so ridiculous, but it works because Charlie Joe makes it all seem very plausible.
  2. The parents are loving and fair when CJJ makes mistakes. His older sister is also very supportive. It’s nice to have a family intact in an MG book.
  3. I notice  when boys pick up books they tend to flip through the pages to check how crowded the text is on the pages and for visuals. This series has different fonts and enough pictures to peek their interest. Little do they know its a trap, but a good one.
  4. Charlie Joe spouts his wisdom with eight separate financial tips throughout the book. Some of it actually makes sense, but most is the 13-year-old mind seeing things a bit differently. Funny all the way for sure.
  5. I can already predict the next Charlie Joe guide. It will have something to do with getting the right girlfriend. Things are headed that way with the previous stories so I hope Mr. Greenwald is already going down that writing path.

FAVORITE LINES: Now, usually I loved teacher development day, like all kids, but suddenly I realized how ridiculous it was. What was it that teachers were constantly developing anyway?

QUOTE FROM AUTHOR: “No dogs or cows were harmed in the making of this book.”

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Check the links to other Middle Grade novels over at Shannon Messenger’s Marvelous Middle Grade Monday post.

MMGM2

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FINDING THE WORM for Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

Posted on March 2, 2015 by Greg Pattridge

Mark Goldblatt’s first book, TWERP, introduced us to 12-year-old Julian Twerski. He’s a smart kid with many thoughts about life and wormgrowing up. This sequel set in 1969-70, has Julian at age 13 returning to his journal writing. The story will have you laughing, crying, and thinking. It’s a funny book wrapped up in a serious one.

If you missed out on TWERP, you’ll be familiar with Julian’s gang of friends in no time. FINDING THE WORM is a separate story that stands well on its own. If you take the journey with Julian, he’ll seem like an old friend by the last page. I call that excellent writing. It also shows a male writer can push the emotional buttons instead of avoiding them. Everybody deserves to have someone in their life like Julian. He’s loyal and his story would be perfect for anyone at that awkward almost a teenager stage.

PUBLICATION DATE:2015   PAGE COUNT: 344

FULL PLOT (From Amazon):  Trouble always seems to find thirteen-year-old Julian Twerski. First it was a bullying incident, and now he’s been accused of vandalizing a painting. The principal doesn’t want to suspend him again, so instead, he asks Julian to write a 200-word essay on good citizenship. Julian writes 200 no’s instead, and so begins an epic struggle between Julian and his principal.

Being falsely accused is bad enough, but outside of school, Julian’s dealing with even bigger issues. His friend Quentin has been really sick. How can life be fair when the nicest guy in your group has cancer? Julian’s faith and friendships are put to the test . . . and the stakes have never been higher.

FIVE THINGS TO LIKE ABOUT FINDING THE WORM by Mark Goldblatt

  1. Julian is a superb narrator and talks with his rabbi concerning life and the unfairness of it all will hit home with anyone.
  2. I love when books make me laugh and this one has some hilarious moments. Yes there will be smiles, giggles, and full blown bursts of laughter.
  3. The power of friendship is on display in a variety of forms. Julian must stand up for a sick friend but he’s also trying to understand the friendship that comes from a first crush.
  4. Life in the New York City borough of Queens is brought to life from school to games on the street. Who knew a simple pursuit known as Piggyback Tag would bring the value of friendship and community so vividly to the forefront.
  5. The parents and adults are way, way, in the background. Just what young readers want. It’s the Thirty-fourth Avenue gang that comes up with many of the growing up answers. And not everything has an easy answer.

FAVORITE LINES: After he got there, he looked up and muttered into the microphone. “I threw up in the garbage can. I’m real sorry.”

“That’s okay, honey!” his mom shouted, which made the rest of the congregation laugh.

QUOTE FROM AUTHOR: “Ever wonder why grammar matters? You may find my column for the Wall Street Journal worth a glance: Welcome Back, My Ungrammatical Students”

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Check the links to other Middle Grade novels over at Shannon Messenger’s Marvelous Middle Grade Monday post.

MMGM2

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A Reluctant Reader No More

Posted on February 26, 2015 by Greg Pattridge

Nathan is a real kid with a real problem – he hates to read. I first started working with him almost three years ago when he was in fifth grade. He wouldn’t pick up a book unless forced to by his parents or teachers. It was a different story with videos. He went through those like dessert.

Nathan will be a ninth grader in August – New teachers, new setting, but without the same troubles in reading. Yes, there has been a breakthrough with Nathan.

To educators everywhere… Don’t give up on those frustrating kids even when there are no more techniques or answers in your bag of tricks.

I’d like to say I found the magic potion to turn Nathan around, but he found it all by himself. Perhaps he had tired of my “you’re going to love this book” spiel. I kept telling his parents that some day Nathan would get a love of reading. It just took longer than most.

During my first year with Nathan, parents had his eyes tested to make sure there wasn’t a tracking problem (none), had a full battery of tests completed (Hi IQ with a non-verbal strength.) I kept digging trying to find the book that he might finish:  Diary of a Wimpy Kid diary type books, animal stories, mysteries, Choose your own Adventure, and books on tape he could follow along with his text copy. Week after week there would be a new try and nothing worked. He’d read a chapter or two and then toss the book aside.

This week I was revisiting humor books with him. He lives in my neighborhood and this almost 15-year-old sat there with a smug look on his face as we read passages of a book I won’t name. I’m sure others would be laughing out loud at its content. We didn’t get far before he stopped reading.

“Hold on a second,” he said. “Mom, where’s my backpack?”

I pointed two feet away from his own feet at a dark fully loaded backpack sitting on the floor. Yes, he’s rather scattered in his thoughts and he’s a teenager. Enough said.

“Is that yours?” I asked.

“Oh yeah. Thanks. I wanted to show you this book I’m reading.”

That was supposed to be my line. I might have fallen on the floor at this point if I hadn’t been gripping the table in front of me. So he reaches in and pulls this book out. I clutched my chest when I saw the book mark positioned two-thirds into this story. He’d discovered something he likes. Fortunately it’s a series and may connect him to other books written in the same way or numerous others by the same author.

I asked immediately… “Why this book?”

“Because the lines have space between them and the font is cool. Plus there’s videos you have to watch to make sense of the story.”

Perfect. It’s one I missed sharing but Nathan found. Of course this post would not be complete unless I shared this book title with you in hopes it might skeleton-creek-3-the-crossbonesinspire one of your reluctant readers. It’s Patrick Carman’s Skeleton Creek series, all written in journal format.

America, we have a new reader.

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WAITING FOR UNICORNS for Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

Posted on February 23, 2015 by Greg Pattridge

A quiet story that makes a loud noise. This would be perfect therapy for the child who has lost a parent. It’s told from a still grieving unicorns12-year-old girl’s point of view (turns 13 during the second half of the book). Her mother passed away due to cancer. Tal’s summer in Churchill, a town on the west shore of Hudson Bay in northern Manitoba, Canada, is the perfect place for her to heal and find that wishes do come true.

The cover is a beautiful mix of color, but you have to look carefully for clues to the story. The title in a jar. A unicorn like Narwhal,a medium sized toothed whale surfacing in the Arctic. And the Northern lights. The story is equally beautiful, though not for everyone.

PUBLICATION DATE:2015   PAGE COUNT: 240

FULL PLOT (From Amazon):  When twelve-year-old Talia—still reeling from the recent death of her mother—is forced to travel with her emotionally and physically distant whale-researcher father to the Arctic for the summer, she begins to wonder if the broken pieces inside of her will ever begin to heal. Like her jar of wishes, Talia feels bottled up and torn. Everything about life in Churchill feels foreign, including Sura, the traditional Inuit woman whom Talia must live with. But when Sura exposes her to the tradition of storytelling, she unlocks something within Talia that has long since been buried: her ability to hope, to believe again in making wishes come true.

FIVE THINGS TO LIKE ABOUT WAITING FOR UNICORNS by Beth Hautala

  1. A perfect portrayal of how new experiences and new friends can help heal past tragedies.
  2. After reading the novel I actually wanted to visit this desolate, harsh location in the Arctic. This feeling came from the way the writer’s words brought the landscape to life.
  3. If you are looking for character growth in a story, this is the one to read. Both Talia, her father, and a young friend find growth in their own way, but it’s with the help of each other that they get there.
  4. Although this surrounds a heavy topic of loss, the weight is never great. It’s told in a hopeful way.
  5. Secondary characters were there for a purpose, rather than filling pages. Birdman and his grandson, Simon, were two of my favorite non-main characters to ever grace the pages of an MG novel.

FAVORITE LINES: My chest ached from the strain of a million held-back tears, but I fought to keep them in. And in the early spring darkness, when the purple and green aurora borealis washed against the arctic sky and the still, frozen surface of Hudson Bay, I remembered Mom’s stories.

QUOTE FROM AUTHOR: “I just love writing—getting wrapped and tangled up in beautiful words. There is nothing quite like the high of losing yourself in a good story, whether you are reading it or writing it.” SOURCE

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Check the links to other Middle Grade novels over at Shannon Messenger’s Marvelous Middle Grade Monday post.

MMGM2

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MG BOOKS THAT WOULD MAKE A GOOD MOVIE

Posted on February 20, 2015 by Greg Pattridge

The annual Academy Awards are announced this Sunday evening. Like most years I’m woefully behind seeing only three of the best picture nominated films so far. I’ll still watch the award show, but I’m always more fascinated with the screenplay awards. This is where writers are recognized.

There are two categories. One for material written directly for the screen and the other for writing adapted from another source. This would typically be a novel, play, or short story, though like one of this year’s nominees (Whiplash) can also be based on a short film.

As is the norm, the nominees in this adapted category are far from anything close to middle grade writing. When the award show drags on, my thoughts will be on MG books I’d hope someday get a chance to hit the big screen. It may be a long shot for many of these but you never know.

And the envelope please…

WONDER

THE SPY CATCHERS OF MAPLE HILL

THE MARK OF THE DRAGONFLY

HOPE IS A FERRIS WHEEL

TESLA’s ATTIC

POACHED

How about you? What book would you nominate to become a movie?

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WEST OF THE MOON for Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

Posted on February 16, 2015 by Greg Pattridge

I have been on a contemporary MG binge this year so I took a break for this novel set in the mid 19th century. Filled with Norwegian history and westofmoonfolklore, it also contains some frightening scenes. I won’t provide any spoilers but it would be best to leave this one for upper MG readers.

Folktales are the driving force that make this story interesting and well told. The author notes and glossary are an added bonus and perhaps the place to start would be to read these so you’d have a better understanding of the story elements. Told in a first person POV, it is divided into three parts: THE GOAT FARM; FLIGHT; THE COLUMBUS.

Boys will not be lining up for a copy of this one, but girls who are avid readers might enjoy its depiction of life during that time. It’s harsh and it makes you thankful to live in the modern day world.

PUBLICATION DATE:2014  WORD COUNT: 42,852  READING LEVEL: 5.2

FULL PLOT (From Amazon):  In West of the Moon, award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Margi Preus expertly weaves original fiction with myth and folktale to tell the story of Astri, a young Norwegian girl desperate to join her father in America.
After being separated from her sister and sold to a cruel goat farmer, Astri makes a daring escape. She quickly retrieves her little sister, and, armed with a troll treasure, a book of spells and curses, and a possibly magic hairbrush, they set off for America. With a mysterious companion in tow and the malevolent “goatman” in pursuit, the girls head over the Norwegian mountains, through field and forest, and in and out of folktales and dreams as they steadily make their way east of the sun and west of the moon.

FIVE THINGS TO LIKE ABOUT WEST OF THE MOON by Margi Preus

  1. The folktales the MC knows so well are woven into her own story. She plays out each line like it will surely come true. Sadly, many of them do.
  2. It skillfully demonstrates how normal people can be brought to do terrible things. In the end it shows how forgiveness of yourself and others is the essential part of moving forward.
  3. I often find reading MG is a repeat experience – same themes told in a different way. I never got that feeling with this title. Surprising and enriching, the tale is one that would probably appeal to adult readers more than their children.
  4. The bond between Astri and her younger sister, Greta, is touching and one that will have you hoping your own children would have the same relationship.
  5. The immigrant’s trunk. The contents inside were required to make the long journey across the Atlantic. Apparently these trunks are still tucked away in many Eastern U.S. homes and museums.

FAVORITE LINES: Uncle comes and tucks a wisp of hair behind my ear, almost tenderly. “I’m sorry, Astri,” he says. “It can’t be helped.” That’s all there is for a good-bye, and then out the door I go.

QUOTE FROM AUTHOR: “The story relies heavily on the Norwegian folk and fairy tales my father used to tell in Norwegian (translating into English for us kids as he went along).”

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Check the links to other Middle Grade novels over at Shannon Messenger’s Marvelous Middle Grade Monday post.

MMGM2

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CYBILS AWARDS ANNOUNCED!!

Posted on February 14, 2015 by Greg Pattridge

Cybils-Logo-2014-NominatedYes, the entire list is here, from book apps and picture books through YA and non-fiction. It’s an impressive collection of literature. What’s even more exciting is the book ALWAYS in the MIDDLE nominated for the MG Fiction Award has won! Jacket+Nickel+Bay+Nick

Congratulations to Dean Pitchford and his memorable NICKEL BAY NICK.

(Here’s my original review)

I let my own copy get away to another reader so I’ll be out searching for another to put on my shelf. Of course, I’ll be re-reading the great story, too. It puts a smile on my face as does this honor for the book.

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ELVIS AND THE UNDERDOGS for Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

Posted on February 9, 2015 by Greg Pattridge

…Or in longer words ELVIS AND THE UNDERDOGS – SECRETS, SECRET SERVICE, AND ROOM SERVICE. Yes, that’s got to be the longest title Elvisfor a sequel or any other book this year.  I came across the first book in this series a year ago (ELVIS AND THE UNDERDOGS) and almost didn’t read it because I’m not a fan of stories with a talking dog. I pushed forth anyway and enjoyed the tale with its fun set of human characters, and yes, the perceptive wit of Elvis, the 200  pound Newfoundland.  I had intended to review Elvis but never got that far. I’m happy the void is removed with today’s review of the longer titled book 2.

You won’t have to worry if you missed the first book. All the important details from that story are told on the book jacket and in the first few chapters. All the characters return for another wild adventure. The series seems more appealing to new MG readers perhaps in that 8-10 age group.

You’ll grimace at how implausible all of this is but by the last page you won’t be able to get the smile off your face.

PUBLICATION DATE:2014   PAGE COUNT: 334

FULL PLOT (From Amazon): It’s been months since Benji’s former safety dog, Elvis, was whisked away by the Secret Service, but Benji still misses him terribly. Luckily, because Elvis is now the president’s dog, there are plenty of pictures and videos of him online.

While watching the footage of the president’s speech on the White House lawn, Benji and his friends Alexander and Taisy see Elvis thumping his tail repeatedly. Is he trying to tell Benji something? The kids realize it’s actually a code! And Elvis needs their help.

And so begins another madcap adventure in which these underdog best friends will have to find a way to travel to DC, find out the truth behind Elvis’s distress signals, and uncover state secrets without getting caught . . . or they may have to say good-bye to Elvis for good.

FIVE THINGS TO LIKE ABOUT ELVIS AND THE UNDERDOGS 2  by Jenny Lee

  1. The climax of the story takes place inside the White House. A very cool setting for the plot points to come to a happy conclusion.
  2. If you like plenty of slapstick with your humor look no further than the scenes in the White House kitchen.
  3. Our protagonist, Benji, is an enduring character with lots of personality. He’s been sick for most of his life and needs a service dog like Elvis to keep him out of harms way. This adds much of the heart present in the story.
  4. Despite the length of this one, it is not filled with pictures, but those that appear at the beginning of each chapter are appropriate and sometimes funny in their own right. Congrats to Kelly Light, the illustrator, for keeping the theme of the story in her drawings.
  5. This would make a great read-aloud and be especially good for kids having an unwanted stay in a hospital. I spent a week in one when I was in fifth grade and Elvis and the Underdogs would have made that time much more pleasurable.

FAVORITE LINES:

Have you ever heard the expression “small kid, big personality”? No? Well, that’s not surprising, because I just made it up.

AUTHOR QUOTE: (SOURCE)

My first dog was a mixed breed named Julie. (Hey, I’m also against giving dogs human-y names, but don’t blame me. I was six years old!) Julie apparently ran away and joined the circus after she had a run-in with the gas meter guy. Or so I was told. Again, I was six. I didn’t ask questions.

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Check the links to other Middle Grade novels over at Shannon Messenger’s Marvelous Middle Grade Monday post.

MMGM2

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SPACE CASE for Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

Posted on February 2, 2015 by Greg Pattridge

This hefty volume won’t attract reluctant readers, but for everyone else, there’s a lot to like about this moon based mystery. Twelve-year-old Dashiel has his 9781442494862hands full as he tries to figure out who killed one of the top scientists on the first human moon colony. Every good mystery should have you guessing to the end and this one does a fine job making sure there is a motive for a large number of suspects. I was fascinated by what it would be like to actually live on the moon. It sounded intriguing at first, but after what the inhabitants go through, I’m staying close to Earth.

There are two reasons why we’ll be reading future stores in this unique setting: First, there is an unusual twist at the end that I hadn’t anticipated and our MC and his family are only in the first six months of their three year stay. I have the feeling there’s going to be more intrigue, suspense, and maybe a few uninvited guests as we follow this cast of characters.

PUBLICATION DATE:2014   WORD COUNT: 70,717  READING LEVEL: 5.3

FULL PLOT (From Amazon):  Like his fellow lunarnauts—otherwise known as Moonies—living on Moon Base Alpha, twelve-year-old Dashiell Gibson is famous the world over for being one of the first humans to live on the moon.

And he’s bored out of his mind. Kids aren’t allowed on the lunar surface, meaning they’re trapped inside the tiny moon base with next to nothing to occupy their time—and the only other kid Dash’s age spends all his time hooked into virtual reality games.

Then Moon Base Alpha’s top scientist turns up dead. Dash senses there’s foul play afoot, but no one believes him. Everyone agrees Dr. Holtz went onto the lunar surface without his helmet properly affixed, simple as that. But Dr. Holtz was on the verge of an important new discovery, Dash finds out, and it’s a secret that could change everything for the Moonies—a secret someone just might kill to keep…

FIVE THINGS TO LIKE ABOUT SPACE CASE by Stuart Gibbs

  1. The science. You discover what it’s like sleeping, eating, and interacting in an environment so much different from our own. It had me saying “I didn’t know that” several times. Great discussion topics.
  2. Each chapter begins with an excerpt from THE OFFICIAL RESIDENTS’ GUIDE TO MOON BASE ALPHA. It’s a brochure like look at what to expect if chosen to be a temporary resident. Yeah, about those bathrooms…
  3. Both Dash and his new friend Kira are smart kids who think things through. They also each have parents on the trip and it’s nice to see normal families in an abnormal setting. Parents who are engaged in their children’s growth.
  4. Set in the not too distant future it never feels made-up with the technology used on the base.
  5. There’s humor in what could have been a very serious story. That’s mostly because of narrator, Dash, who has his own spin on life, family, and what he misses back on earth.

FAVORITE LINES:

Let’s get something straight, right off the bat: Everything the movies have ever taught you about space travel is garbage.

AUTHOR QUOTE:

…Writing something only 25 years in the future is kind of weird, because the potential for getting things wrong is enormous.  My readers are still going to be around in 25 years.  Hopefully, people will still be reading this book in 25 years.  So anything that is prescient will seem cool — but anything I get wrong will seem idiotic, probably. Right before I started writing, I watched the second Back to the Future movie.  (For those of you who haven’t seen it, the movie takes place in 1985, and they travel to the distant future — of 2015.)  They weren’t really shooting for reality in that movie, but it’s amazing how far off they were.  Almost nothing they imagined for 2015 has happened yet. (SOURCE)

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Check the links to other Middle Grade novels over at Shannon Messenger’s Marvelous Middle Grade Monday post.

MMGM2

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What book started your love of reading?

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Greg Pattridge

Each February, a school I once worked at has a yearly reading celebration.  It’s an “I Love Reading” theme all month with book fairs, author visits, writing workshops, reading contests, and guests each day sharing an answer to the question of the month. They invited me back again to participate. The question I have to answer in front of kids and adults is “What book in your growing up years propelled you to a lifetime of loving to read?”

I’m glad I got the question early because at first it was a difficult one to answer. I was not much into reading fiction in my elementary years. Non-fiction was my specialty. I loved the fact that I didn’t have to read a book in order or read every line – only what interested me. But what they want is a title that I can hold up and show a classroom of 4th, 5th, and 6th graders.

I scanned my brain and visions appeared of me reading the newspaper with my dad. He was a journalist and each morning a newspaper was delivered to the porch, and at that time we had two daily papers competing for our attention. Plenty of reading material. Who had time for books? Since I’m not going to hold up a newspaper I had to dig deeper for the book that hooked me on fiction.

I went to  several bookshelves in my home for an answer. One is actually a mantle in the kitchen where many of my favorite past reads end up. Nothing there. Another is in my home office where a built-in corner bookshelf is filled with books from floor to ceiling. Mostly research and college books. The last location is where the memories came back

In a guest bedroom there is a stand-alone four-shelf bookcase. It is filled with books I’ve read but haven’t given away. Many times someone asks to borrow a book from these shelves and I always say yes with the condition they don’t give it back and share it with another reader after they are finished. I glanced at the titles, some old some new, and in the lower corner were three books, the ones that got me reading fiction.

hardyboys

Yes, The Hardy Boys. I was in 5th, maybe 6th grade and a friend said I had to read the first one. I did and liked the exciting sleuthing tales of Frank and Joe Hardy so much I read the next two within a week. But then I stopped. By the time middle school began I got interested in other books and never returned despite having 187 sequels to choose from. The series is still popular worldwide today, but I’ll stay with the first three, the ones that sparked my love of fiction.

HARDY BOYS FACTS

  • The author, Franklin W. Dixon, never existed. All the books since their inception in 1927 were written by ghostwriters.
  • The Hardy Boys have been featured in five separate television programs
  • Next month Simon and Schuster will release the eighth book in the HARDY BOYS ADVENTURE SERIES titled DECEPTION ON THE SET. These books are different from the originals as they are told with alternating first person POV. The originals were all third person.

51r-w4zWzfL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_Thanks Frank and Joe and whoever is writing your current volumes for encouraging boys to read.

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