ROAD TRIP for Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

Posted on January 12, 2014 by Greg Pattridge

Middle grade books these days aren’t lacking for page counts. According to Amazon, many of the tops titles from 2013 far exceeded the normal number of pages expected from this genre. ESCAPE FROM MR. LEMONCELLO’S LIBRARY (304 pages), NAVIGATING EARLY (320 pages), and HOUSE OF HADES (608 pages) to name a few. I love a nice long story that will keep me entertained for weeks depending on the amount of time I have for reading, but…

13642646Before a recent two-hour plane trip, I searched for a title that could be read from beginning to end during the flight. No standing in the aisle waiting to deplane and wondering what happens next. Not a picture book, but a nice story that could hold my interest. ROAD TRIP, by Gary and Jim Paulsen, fit the requirement, coming in at 114 pages.

PUBLICATION DATE:2013    LEVEL: 4.3  WORD COUNT: 22,670

FULL PLOT (From Amazon): Dad and Ben haven’t been getting along recently and Dad hopes a road trip to rescue a border collie will help them reconnect. But Ben is on to Dad’s plan and invites  Ben’s thuggish buddy, Theo. The family dog, Atticus, comes along too and the story is told by Ben and Atticus. When their truck breaks down, they commandeer an old school bus, along with its mechanic, Gus. Next, they pick up Mia, a waitress escaping a tense situation. Only sharp-eyed Atticus realizes that Theo is on the run—and someone is following them.

FIVE THINGS TO LIKE ABOUT ROAD TRIP

  1. Atticus the dog who gives pearls of wisdom that could only come from an aging border collie. He gets to speak at the end of each chapter (except the last), and his half page to a page of thoughts are entertaining and keep the plot moving forward.
  2. It’s a dog story and no one dies.
  3. Gary Paulsen wrote this with his son, who up until this title was not an author. Their collaboration is unique and a hard one to pull off.
  4. Quite a cast of characters with their own unique personalities packed into the pages. There’s Ben, the teen narrator, his older friend, Theo, Gus the mechanic, Mia the girl searching for a life, and Ben’s parents.
  5. Fast paced and full of action.

ROAD TRIP is the perfect story to kill a few hours. Just a few negatives: The cover is misleading and would seem to call for kids of all ages. Don’t fall for this obvious marketing ploy – ROAD TRIP has some serious themes that would be best left for sixth grade and up. The protagonist is 14 and his friend 18, which is a bit on the high end of the ages expected for Middle Grade. Finally, things are wrapped up rather quickly at the end with a lot of “telling” about how things turn out … then again, without that you’d be right back reading a novel three times this size.

FAVORITE LINE:

Everyone always feels better when there is a plan (Atticus, the dog).

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

MMGM2

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Middle Grade Heaven

Posted on January 9, 2014 by Greg Pattridge

tatteredYou will find it at the Tattered Cover Bookstore on Colfax Street in Denver. The building is charming and originally was home to the historic 550 seat Bonfils-Lowenstein theater. You can still see the curtain framing the stage.

Two levels host every book imagined. It’s downstairs near the front of this indie bookseller where nine tall bookshelves filled with wonders from the middle grade genre await your eyes. Sticky notes from staff and others align the shelves with their thoughts and recommendations.

I had a grand time here today and look forward to attending one of their special events with author talks or signings.

 

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THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER for Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

Posted on January 5, 2014 by Greg Pattridge

Your first question may be – Why now? The classic tale is 138 years old.

Well, I was needing an accurate recollection of the “curing warts’ scene for a current writing project. Wasn’t there a dead cat and beans involved? I was hoping to get my answer without going out to hunt down the book, which if memory serves me was the first classic book I read as a boy. To my surprise, or possible ignorance, the pg74.cover.mediumoriginal story is available free online since the copyright expired. I read the chapter I needed and decided to go back and reread the entire story.

Here are two places where you can find the unabridged version online or this separate site allows you to download a copy from Project Gutenberg who offer more than 44,000 books to download. It’s the original writing of Mark Twain and not a current day ‘cleaned up’ retelling.

PUBLICATION DATE:1876    LEVEL: 8.1  WORD COUNT: 68,079

FULL PLOT (Wikipedia has an excellent summary if you really need it.}

FIVE THINGS TO LIKE ABOUT THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER:

  1. Despite the story being told in a time period over 100 years ago, you’ll find similarities to boys and girls today. Every one can relate to best friends, a sense of adventure, and the humorous situations.
  2. The main lesson: use your imagination to make life fun; and never lose the Tom Sawyer hiding in each of us.
  3. How does one stay entertained with no Internet, television, movies, video games, or radio? Kids of today will discover that the children of St. Petersburg never lacked things to do for keeping their lives engaged.
  4. The language of the 1800’s is said to be accurate and provides a window into the life of this era in our history.
  5. It’s a great psychological study of the life of a boy, one who starts off as rather immoral but who emerges as a young man who does the right thing.

Tom Sawyer has superb character development, exciting scenes, and memorable cliffhangers. Although the language at first can be challenging to follow, you’ll quickly be hooked with the charm this classic book brings.

FAVORITE LINE:

“Who knows, he may grow up to be President someday, unless they hang him first!” (Aunt Polly)

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

MMGM2

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Favorite Middle Grade Reading Moments 2013

Posted on December 29, 2013 by Greg Pattridge

I’ve read more middle grade books this year than any other genre and even wrote two of my own (currently going through some serious final editing). My final reading tally sits at 19 middle grade reads and 14 of those were reviewed on this blog. My reading took place in  the car,  kitchen, bed,  couch, airports, and bookstores.

With the end of the year just  a wink away, its time to present my coveted golden cup award (Okay, I got it at a garage sale) filled with the best middle grade moments of the past year, limited of course to what I read.cup

FAVORITE SETTING: The southern Florida coastal town in FLUSH by Carl Hiaasen.

FAVORITE PROTAGONIST: Opal Buloni from BECAUSE OF WINN DIXIE

FAVORITE CHARACTER NAME:Holling Hoodhood from THE WEDNESDAY WARS by Gary D. Schmidt

FAVORITE OPENING LINE: “School was finally out and I was standing on a picnic table in our backyard getting ready for a great summer vacation when my mother walked up to me and ruined it.” From DEAD END IN NORVELT by Jack Gantos.

FAVORITE ADULT: Too many to list. But they all did the most important thing for their middle grade children or students: They provided a chance for them to discover success.

BIGGEST JERK: The father in OKAY FOR NOW by Gary D. Schmidt

FAVORITE COVER: GRAVE IMAGES by Jenny GoebelP1010356FAVORITE ENDING: LIAR AND SPY by Rebecca Stead

FUNNIEST READ: Tie …. THE FOURTH STALL by Chris Rylander and FAKE MUSTACHE by Tom   Angleberger.

Favorite Best Friend: Either Annemarie or Sal from WHEN YOU REACH ME by Rebecca Stead.

I’m going to shoot for 24 middle grade reads in the next year. Have a safe and happy 2014 full of reading and writing.

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OKAY FOR NOW for Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

Posted on December 22, 2013 by Greg Pattridge

I started mentoring youth in 1998 and have continued to this day in two different mentoring organizations.  I’ve been lucky to be matched with three Okay-for-NowPBboys and two of them are now about to graduate from college. Gary D. Schmidt’s, OKAY FOR NOW, is one I would have shared with them back when they were 11 or 12. The story gives hope to those who think maybe things aren’t so good in their life.

Doug, the eighth grade protagonist, is a tough kid with a difficult family. The subject matter and length would be better suited to an upper middle grade audience. Not for any harsh language, but for some of the less than pleasant events going on in Doug’s life.

PUBLICATION DATE:2011    LEVEL: 4.9  WORD COUNT: 77,017

FULL PLOT (From GoodReads):Okay For Now, explores another seemingly improbable alliance, this one between new outsider in town Doug Swieteck and Lil Spicer, the savvy spitfire daughter of his deli owner boss. With her challenging assistance, Doug discovers new sides of himself. Along the way, he also readjusts his relationship with his abusive father, his school peers, and his older brother, a newly returned war victim of Vietnam.

FIVE THINGS TO LIKE ABOUT ‘OKAY FOR NOW’:

  1. Every person no matter what age should have a goal or mission in life and Doug has a great one: To replace the missing pictures in an original James John Audubon book stored at the local library. This is what keeps Doug moving forward despite the unfortunate happenings in his life. He feels the drawings of birds belong back in the book instead of on people’s walls.
  2. As he did in Wednesday Wars, the arts become a crucial subplot in Gary’s writing. This time it’s a boy learning how to draw and a Broadway play that provides the key scenes. Heartwarming, tragic, and funny, sometimes all at once.
  3. The setting is 1968 with the Vietnam War raging and the Apollo space missions are inching closer to a man walking on the moon. Both are expertly woven into the main plot.
  4. Each chapter is titled and pictured by one of the original Audubon plates from Birds of America. It’s not just for show either as each image is important to Doug in some way.
  5. Doug is complex and a far from perfect character. He has a lot to hide but by the end we know how he survives. The adults in his life are even less perfect, but each of them get redemption is a way I find missing in many stories.

Okay for Now will have you feeling okay forever.

FAVORITE LINE:

The bird was falling and there wasn’t a single thing in the world that cared at all.
It was the most terrifying picture I had ever seen.
The most beautiful.
 

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 Right Time to Write

Posted on December 11, 2013 by Greg Pattridge

In my past I’ve written research articles and created curriculum units. I found that the energy to do technical type of writing could occur at any time of the day. If I had a few hours I could plunge right in and get something accomplished.

faucetCreative writing has been a different journey for me. Whenever time allows, I still can get in there and do the rewriting and editing so important to reach a final draft, but ideas and plot advances often come to me in the early morning hours. I’m referring to the time before the sun comes up and my head has not been consumed by emails and texts and the always on world. I find that my words flow like an open faucet.

There is actually some research on creativity and time of day that supports the idea that certain people are more insightful in the morning, while others wait until the evening. According to the researchers it seems in my case “being a bit sleepy and vague broadens the mind’s focus.”

They warn, and I have also found this to be true, make sure you re-visit what you have created in these insightful moments during daylight when the more analytical mode is dominant. You may not like anything you created.

Maybe this was why the university I graduated from offered their writing classes at either 7 a.m. or 7 p.m. I was always in the early morning session and now I know why.

Good luck with your writing no matter what time of the day it occurs.

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WHEN YOU REACH ME for Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

Posted on December 8, 2013 by Greg Pattridge

I used to teach a Newbery Medal winner reading unit to sixth graders. It was one of my favorites, but the students rarely shared in my enthusiasm. In fact they hated the unit. It seems books that adults choose as the best were not what the students adored. One brave twelve year old proclaimed. “These books just aren’t popular,” which is true since popularity is not a criteria for the Newbery.

When_you_reach_meWHEN YOU REACH ME, by Rebecca Stead, may be just the one I needed to change the students’ perceptions. It has lively characters, a superb plot, and the ending is truly moving. That’s the result one gets  with the excellent writing throughout. I’d love to get back in the classroom to hear my skeptical students say, “Wow, awesome.”

PUBLICATION DATE:2009    LEVEL: 4.5  WORD COUNT: 39,253

FULL PLOT (From Amazon): This remarkable novel holds a fantastic puzzle at its heart.

By sixth grade, Miranda and her best friend, Sal, know how to navigate their New York City neighborhood. They know where it’s safe to go, and they know who to avoid. Like the crazy guy on the corner.

But things start to unravel. Sal gets punched by a kid on the street for what seems like no reason, and he shuts Miranda out of his life. The apartment key that Miranda’s mom keeps hidden for emergencies is stolen. And then a mysterious note arrives, scrawled on a tiny slip of paper. The notes keep coming, and Miranda slowly realizes that whoever is leaving them knows things no one should know. Each message brings her closer to believing that only she can prevent a tragic death. Until the final note makes her think she’s too late.

FIVE THINGS TO LIKE ABOUT WHEN YOU REACH ME:

  1. I immediately made a connection with Miranda’s perfectly flowing first-person narration. You’re side by side with her as all components converge at the end that explain the strange things Miranda has been witnessing.
  2. Most books end and you either put it back on the shelf or pass it along to another reader. This book will have you going back to the beginning to see how it was so expertly woven together.
  3. The emotional arc the character takes will have you trying to finish the book in one sitting. It’s funny, sad, and sometimes those two emotions occur in the same paragraph.
  4. The novel captured my attention where my recent adult reads have not even come close. It was rather sad to see it come to an end.
  5. The realistic portrayal of 1979, including the use of The $20,000 Pyramid as an integral part of the plot.  Ages 10 through adult will enjoy the unfolding of this soon to be classic story.

FAVORITE LINE:

If I ever do decide to write your letter, which I probably won’t, this is the story I would tell you.

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

MMGM2

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LIAR & SPY for Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

Posted on December 1, 2013 by Greg Pattridge

13262061LIAR & SPY, by Rebecca Stead, has become one of my favorite books on the shelf. The bonds of friendship for past and new friends is explored along with the love two parents have for their son, Georges, the ‘s’ is silent. Told from Georges perspective, it is at times funny, heartwarming, and sad. Best of all, I loved the ending.

DATE OF PUBLICATION:2012    LEVEL: 3.8

WORD COUNT: 38, 293

FULL PLOT (From Amazon): The instant New York Times bestseller from the author of the Newbery Medal book When You Reach Me: a story about spies, games, and friendship. Seventh grader Georges moves into a Brooklyn apartment building and meets Safer, a twelve-year-old self-appointed spy. Georges becomes Safer’s first spy recruit. His assignment? Tracking the mysterious Mr. X, who lives in the apartment upstairs. But as Safer becomes more demanding, Georges starts to wonder: what is a lie, and what is a game? How far is too far to go for your only friend? Like the dazzling When You Reach Me, Liar & Spy will keep readers guessing until the end.

FIVE THINGS TO LIKE ABOUT LIAR & SPY:

  1. The main character, Georges. He isn’t a super hero or sick with some terrible disease. He doesn’t own a dog that’s run away. Instead he is  a normal boy with a challenging name, who is just trying to understand friends, bullies, teachers, and parents. He could be a kid in anyone’s neighborhood.
  2. SPOILER: It’s refreshing to read a story where no one dies.
  3. A good book has an interesting protagonist. Great books also have memorable secondary characters. Here we have Safer, a strange new friend, his sister, Candy and teachers who really care about their students.
  4. The story is witty, tender, and fun. I loved how a busy mother with a double working shift communicates with her only son: through short messages using Scrabble tiles.
  5. The realistic portrayal of seventh graders. The way they spill their hearts out about certain things but internalize others. The portrait painted here will resonate with many.

FAVORITE LINE:

I have a strong feeling that I’ve just met two kids who will never make fun of my name.

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

MMGM2

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Thanksgiving… 38 years ago. Has much changed?

Posted on November 27, 2013 by Greg Pattridge

My dad spent 30 plus years as journalist. I was a kid, student, and into my own world for most of those years, but now I’m beginning to appreciate the efforts he put forth to write almost daily columns and articles for the Denver Post. As a tribute, below is his Thanksgiving column from 1975. Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!

Colorado Is Not Perfect, But There’s Holiday Peace

“Famine once we had. But other things God gave us in full share.” -Gov. William Bradford

Sleek Sheep graze along the Eagle River near Vail, Colo. Fat cattle fill the meadows along the Roaring Fork River near Aspen. The 16,000 students at Colorado State University in Fort Collins Take a respite from their books. A blanket of snow covers the Centennial State.

It is Thanksgiving, 1975, in Colorado.

Henry Kissinger recently asked: “Why do we insist on tearing ourselves apart?” And this is what many people in the Cleveland area are now asking.

And Governor Bradford’s 17th century description of Plymouth Colony is true of Colorado. We are rich in natural resources. We have enjoyed an abundant harvest in our sugar beet, hay, wheat and fruit fields. We are rich in talent in our business and governmental institutions.

Although the state has experienced a difficult economic trial, our unemployment rate never has equaled the national average or the disastrous 13 percent in Florida.

Colorado is not perfect. Among us this day are men, women and children with little incentive in life. They are jobless, ill or victims of a sometimes cruel society. Little do they know or care that since the first Pilgrim feast in 1621 the tradition of celebrating Thanksgiving Day once disappeared for 47 years in our history.

When you are a victim of cancer, or overcrowding at the State Penitentiary in Canon City, it means little that the first nationwide Thanksgiving was declared in 1977 buy the Continental Congress.

It is a difficult Thanksgiving, too, for the families of the two youngsters who drowned this week in an icy Northglenn lake. Coach John Ralston of the Broncos, his staff and players have little to cheer about after a dismal season. The families of a brilliant Ralph Sargent, a utility company executive, and Arthur Balantine, Durango Herald editor, are saddened. Death claimed them. Why do the best die the earliest?

Outside of Colorado the news is not encouraging. Troubles in Portugal, Ireland, Lebanon. New York’s financial plight prolongs. there is hunger around the globe.

Colorado, like the rest of the nation has experienced various dates for Thanksgiving. Presidents have proclaimed the holiday in hopscotch fashion. Only three months through the years have not had Thanksgiving Day: March, June and October.

President Washington proclaimed Thanksgiving Day in the fall of 1789. President Madison made it April 15, 1815 and that was the last until Abraham Lincoln declared one in 1862.

Lincoln urged that work be suspended on the day so everyone might give thanks to God.

All of Lincoln’s Thanksgivings were not in November but his final one fell on the last Thursday of November. After Lincoln, most Presidents declared the annual day on a Thursday in November although Andrew Johnson picked the first Thursday in December. The last Thursday in November was traditional until Franklin Roosevelt sparked a row by designating the third Thursday of November in 1939.

However, the date is not as important as the spirit of the celebration.

In Colorado it is a day of thanks, food and football. Gone are the historic University of Denver-University of Colorado gridiron classics at Hilltop Stadium. Television fills that void but not with as much tradition.

Coloradans can be thankful this Thanksgiving for many blessings. The pundits among us are quick to point out the blessing that uninformed actor Robert Redford has departed the state after a hit-miss attack on Gov. Dick Lamm over environmental issues.

But more important– whether you are gathering with family, friends, or at the much appreciated Salvation Army for dinner– a welcome five-letter word is a reality in our wonderful state and nation. It is PEACE!

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SCHOOLED for Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

Posted on November 24, 2013 by Greg Pattridge

schooledSCHOOLED, by Gordon Korman, is one of the few Middle Grade novels that utilizes a multiple first person narrative. Each chapter is from the perspective of either the protagonist, Capricorn Anderson, or the supporting or less than supporting cast around him. SCHOOLED is a charming, witty story of a boy trying to understand a world he has never known. After always being home schooled in a commune by his hippie grandmother, Cap must figure out his new life at a big city middle school

DATE OF PUBLICATION:2007    LEVEL: 4.9

WORD COUNT: 40,313

FULL PLOT (From Book Jacket…Click on image to read):photo

FIVE THINGS TO LIKE ABOUT SCHOOLED:

  1. Cap is a gullible character who doesn’t know better. He deals with the world of teasing and bullying in his own natural way. It’s a great lesson for any middle school boy who is dealing with trying to fit in.
  2. The hilarious side story as Cap watches daily episodes of the popular teen drama, “Trigonometry and Tears.” It helps him understand the culture of his new school.
  3. All the characters have complex thoughts and emotions, which would have been hard to flesh out from a single POV.
  4. All the storytellers point of views intermingle to a satisfying conclusion. It may be hard for some readers to bounce from one character to the next, but if they stick with it, an understanding of both worlds Cap is dealing with is the rich payoff.
  5. I don’t always feel satisfied after reading a novel for middle graders, but this one left me smiling and it should do the same for any boy or girl. It would also make a great read a loud.

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

MMGM2

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