Happy New Year and First Review of the New Year

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Iggy Loomis: A Hagfish Called Shirley by Jennifer Allison
Genre: Elementary, Science Fiction
Source: I received a copy  to facilitate my review. The opinons expressed here are my own.

This is the second book in the new Iggy Loomis series by Jennifer Allison.  Iggy and his brother Daniel live next door to a family of aliens.  Allistair is Daniel's new best friend.  Unfortunately something happened while Daniel and his brother were visiting Allistair and now when Iggy gets upset or super excited, he turns into a bug or his buggy parts start to appear.  They have been able to control it most of the time.  Iggy is super excited because Allistair has a cool pet.  They go to see it and find out it is a hagfish.  This is not what most humans would have as a pet.  Unfortunately things in their life start to go really bad when Iggy drops Shirley the hagfish into the toilet and flushes it.  This is a fun book to read.  You keep wondering how they are going to get out of each situation without getting caught.  You keep wondering what Iggy is going to turn into next.  I would strongly suggest that you take this fun ride with Iggy and the gang and read this series now.  Start you new year off right with a great book.

The Locket by Suzanne Lieurance

Genre: Middle Grade, Historical Fiction
Source: Purchased

If you are looking for a historical fiction that will knock your socks off then this is the book.  This story is a familiar one to many of us. It is the story of lives lost in one of the worst fires in New York City.  Galena and Anya are two Jewish sisters who have immigrated from Russia with their parents.  Anya works on the 10th floor of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. Galena is only 14 and works on the eighth floor. Her job is to snip loose threads from the garments. She works six days a week.  Her sister's boyfriend Dimitri is trying to get Anya to join the union.  Their mother is against it. Dimitri wants them to be safe and he knows that working for the union is the only way that can be guaranteed. In March of 1911 a fire broke out in the factory.  Anya runs upstairs to find her sister.  What she witnesses that day is such a horror.  When talking to my students about it they will be able to make connections between this book and the Towers that were hit on 9/11.  It is a book that is hard to put down.  It is a story that must be heard again and again.  It is one I will definitely read to my students.

The (Almost) Perfect Guide to Imperfect Boys by Barbara Dee

Genre:  Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction
Source: I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

I really loved this book.  Finley and Maya are best friends and eighth graders. They have been studying boys all year.  They have even kept a notebook of their observations. They call it The Amphibian Life Cycle. They have basically divided boys into three categories. The first categories is called Tadpoles.  These are the immature boys who still do and say dumb things that seem so elementary.  The next category is called Croakers.  These are the boys whose voices are beginning to change as are they.  They are no longer tadpoles but aren't up to the final category yet. The third and final category is called Frogs. This is when boys begin to talk intelligently to girls and see like they are more mature and prepared for high school.  As in all schools you have the mean kids, in this case the "mean girls". What happens when the mean girls get hold of the notebook and share it with everyone?  Disaster.  

I've thought about this book a lot. When we return to school I want to introduce the book to my classes.  To be fair I want to read just a little bit of it.  Then I want to to have my students write a very short essay on how they see the opposite sex and if they believe the girls were justified.  I loved the way the last few chapters went. It proves that in middle school the boys and girls are both trying to figure each other out. They are both confused.  I believe this book will give my students and middle school age kids everywhere a look at how similar they all are and may make them think about ways to handle situations like this.

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