When we're little, books are mostly about the pictures. Then when we're a little bigger, the words get more important, but we still like those pictures a lot. Then at some point we might feel like we're not supposed to care about the pictures anymore because we're, like, too old for that stuff. But fortunately, stories can be told in so many ways these days, and many of them involve words and images working together, complementing each other, in graphic novels, comics, and other books that are still very much about the pictures.
Ottoline Goes to School, written and illustrated by Chris Riddell (HarperCollins) is like that. Funny, offbeat, and wonderfully weird, it's the story of Ottoline, who's cared for by servants and her strange but loyal friend Mr. Munroe while her parents travel the world as "Collectors." (This is the second book in the Ottoline series; the first is titled Ottoline and the Yellow Cat.) Ottoline meets a charismatic new friend named Cecily, who entices her to enroll in the Alice B. Smith School for the Differently Gifted. The adventures that follow involve a campus mystery, Ottoline's search for her "gift," and some lessons about friendship. But it's the illustrations that really make this book special; they'll make you giggle and take a closer look, really bringing you into Ottoline's world. It's a strange one for sure, but much of it will seem oddly familiar too...
Do you believe in "angels"? Maybe your idea of angels is tied to your established faith or spirituality. Maybe you just imagine cherubs with wings or women in long gowns, like you've seen in paintings. Or perhaps to you, an angel is just some unseen force that watches over us and comes to help when it's needed most. The idea of angels has been around since the beginning of civilization, and represents that part of us that's just good, plain and simple.
In "The Unfinished Angel" (HarperCollins Children's Books), author Sharon Creech lets a real "live" angel do the talking. And what talking he/she does! The first thing you'll notice (and love) about the book is the funny, not-quite-grammatical voice of this unnamed being, who's lived for centuries in an ancient stone tower in a tiny Alpine village. Our angel feels untrained and without a mission, doing what he/she can to help the locals but generally fed up with people, until a young American girl named Zola moves to town with her father. Zola is unique in many ways, including her ability to see and hear the angel...and in the end, inspire the angel to make some extraordinary things happen.
"The Unfinished Angel" will make you giggle and wonder if maybe there's an angel in your neighborhood, "flishing" into the heads of people as they sleep and making things generally okay. We love that this angel has insecurities and pet peeves just like everyone else. Zola's character is so interesting and entertaining, we wish we understood a little more about her and where she's coming from. It actually feels like this book could be longer and the story more involved, especially with such wonderful personalities populating it. But if you're feeling unlucky or just kind of annoyed by life, this is one quick read that will lift your spirits and help you discover the magic in seemingly small acts of kindness.
What would
your life be like if your name was Odd? Not an odd name, like Mistress
Wafflebutter or Fishy McBaconfoot, but actually the name "Odd"? Neil Gaiman,
author of instant classics like "Coraline" and "The Graveyard Book" (as well as
many other amazing books for both older and younger readers), starts off with
this simple premise in his new book "Odd and the Frost Giants" (HarperCollins).
Odd lives
in a small village in Norway during the time of the Vikings, and although his
name is considered lucky, he lives a fairly unlucky life. First his father dies
in a sea raid, then an accident in the woods leaves him with a crushed leg and
a permanent limp. Finally, his mother remarries an unfriendly man who has his
own kids to worry about and no love of his new stepson. But things really get
bad when something, well, odd happens to his village: spring fails to come when
it's supposed to, and after weeks of cold and ice and snow, the townspeople turn
mean and nasty. Little Odd, gifted (or perhaps cursed) with the sort of "I'm-smarter-than-you"
grin that makes others want to thump him, retreats from the bullies to his dad's
old woodcutting shed deep in the forest to live alone. Only he's not alone for
long. Almost immediately he finds three companions, a fox, a bear, and a
one-eyed eagle, that turn out to be anything but ordinary animals. This magical
trio, who have problems that make Odd's life seem easy by comparison, inspire
our hero to embark on an epic adventure that just might, if he's lucky, save
his strange new friends, rescue an otherworldly realm from a giant menace (a
menacing giant), and keep his village from perishing in an endless winter.
Sounds cool, right?
We like "Odd
and the Frost Giants." Quite a bit actually. It's weird, and funny, and written
with a sense of simple fun that proves its author, a bestseller with an
impressive list of awards, is still just a kid at heart. Odd is a character who
is easy to root for, and his story is filled with moments of inspired magic,
awesome adventure, and true bravery. The animal characters are pretty amazing
too, with their own mysterious predicaments and goals, and the fox is so
fascinating that he nearly steals the whole book from the title character. Like
the best writers of fantasy for young readers, Gaiman does a great job of
mixing the fantastic stuff, like talking animals and mountain-sized bad guys,
with the stuff we can all relate to, like hometown bullies or the complications
of living in a stepfamily. Odd is an odd kid, but in many ways he also a
completely normal kid... like you, or any kid you know. Adding to all this fun
are fanciful and smile-inspiring ink drawings by Brett Helquist, who
illustrated the Series of Unfortunate Events books. Oh, and there's a pair of
flying shoes, too.
The only
problem we have with this book is that it's just too darned short, and with
just 117 pages and rather large print, it takes just an hour or two to devour
it whole. (Maybe that's a good thing if you're pressed for reading time.) We
couldn't help feeling that this should really just be one chapter in a longer
story, and by the final page, we were left wanting...needing...to know more about
smart, smart-alecky Odd, and what happens to him next. Fortunately, Neil Gaiman's
bio at the end of the book tells us that he "thinks there are more stories
about Odd he would like to tell." Brilliant. Get writing, Mister Gaiman, and we'll
get reading!
Well obviously, we are all about advice over here at IML. We love giving it, and we love getting it, and we love to see all of you doing the same. Hopefully, if you came to our site for some helpful tips or solutions to some kind of problem, you found some answers. There aren't a lot of other places out there that provide advice just for tweens.
That's why we couldn't wait to check out a new book series by Marlene Wallach, President of the Wilhelmina Kids & Teens modeling agency. These four books are: "My Self: A Guide To Me"; "My Beauty: A Guide To Looking & Feeling Great"; "My Look: A Guide To Fashion & Style"; and "My Life: A Guide To Health & Fitness." Aimed specifically at pre-teen girls, they offer solid advice on a range of topics including skin care and hair care, physical fitness and stress relief, clothes and makeup, and self-confidence and relationships.
What we like about these books: they're spiral bound and feel sort of like personal help notebooks, filled with quizzes, mini-worksheets, practical quick-hints, and real-life stories. While the books don't go into deep detail on any one topic, the fact that each section is short and to-the-point could come in handy if you're having a bad day and just want a few encouraging tips or words of wisdom. The tone of the books is upbeat and positive, and really aims to empower you to help yourself.
What we didn't like so much: In trying to cover such a broad range of subjects, some serious ones are glossed over too lightly. A few of the books are organized in such a way that it's hard to find what you're looking for, especially if you have a specific problem you want to read about. The photos are cool and colorful, but we wish the girls pictured weren't all skinny models; we would like to have seen a better representation of "real" girls of different sizes.
The bottom line: if you're looking for something fun to read with your buds at a sleepover or talk about with a parent, or just want some advice to keep handy when your body image or self-confidence is down in the dumps, these books are worth checking out. They won't offer all the answers, but will probably serve up some yummy food for thought!
Here at IML we absolutely love hearing you talk about your families, and it's clear that while every family is different, the big things are pretty much the same for everyone. Just take a look at any You Said It page in our Family section, and you're bound to find a post that makes you think, "Yes! It's the same at my house!"
We were excited to check out "My So-Called Family" by Courtney Sheinmel (Simon & Schuster). This book was originally released in hardcover last fall, but the paperback edition will be available on September 15, 2009. It's a story that asks the question "What makes a family?" -- a question that forces us to look at how different families can look similar when it comes to what's important.
In "My So-Called Family," thirteen-year-old Leah is different. Her
friends at her new school in New York have two parents, but she knows her
father only as Donor 730 -- his identity in the Lyon's Reproductive Services catalog.
Leah has a loving family, including a mother, a step-dad and a half-brother,
but when her brother gets an assignment from school to draw a family tree, Leah
realizes she wants to learn more about her own roots...setting off a chain of
events that lead to an exciting discovery: she has a slew of half-siblings,
including a girl close to her own age.She's willing to do anything to meet them, even if it means keeping her
new family a secret from her mom.
While Leah's situation might be unusual, her quest to
find -- and define -- her family leads her to issues we can all relate to,
like trying to fit in, navigating a new school, and feeling lonely... not to
mention her changing relationship with her mom and the changes her body is
going through. We particularly enjoyed Leah's relationship with her five-year-old brother, and her friends' relationships with their
siblings provide interesting contrast to Leah's. With writing that's fast-paced and funny, Sheinmel will keep you
turning pages until you finally find out how Leah will reconcile her biological
family with the family she's grown up with.
There's just something about a new-kid-in-town story that appeals to everyone, probably because the idea of starting over in an unfamiliar place -- at a new school, with new people, with a whole new set of rules -- can be terrifying. It's a good springboard for adventure, so many stories for young people grab onto this theme (you know, like those little tales of "Twilight" and "Harry Potter"). We recently found a great new book that twists it in a way you might not have seen before.
In "Alibi Junior High" by Greg Logsted (Simon and Schuster), 13-year-old Cody Saron comes to live with his aunt and start junior high. But Cody hasn't just moved; he's in hiding. For years, he's traveled the globe with his father, an undercover CIA agent who's taught him five languages, martial arts, and some serious spy-skills. But after they survive a cafe bombing meant to kill them, the safest place for Cody is the Connecticut suburbs. Cody finds that the dangers of international espionage are nothing compared to an ordinary day of junior high, where everyone thinks he's a freak, teachers are convinced he's trouble, and something as simple as a first crush leaves him totally clueless. (Too bad he doesn't have IML to help him! He could have gotten lots of advice about Middle School, Bullies, and When Your Family Moves.)
It doesn't help that he's still traumatized by the bombing and has never had any friends besides his dad. The only people he can relate to is his aunt Jenny, whose sister is the mom Cody lost when he was 2, and his neighbor Andy, who's just returned home from a tour of duty in Iraq. Can Cody stay true to who he is and also survive the strange new world of middle school? And who's that guy in the woods who seems to be watching the house?
The writing in "Alibi Junior High" is funny and honest and feels very real. Even though he's got a unique story, Cody's just one of those characters -- a new kid, an outsider -- who we can all can relate to in some way. We think guys as well as girls will enjoy it.
Ottoline Goes to School, written and illustrated by Chris Riddell (HarperCollins) is like that. Funny, offbeat, and wonderfully weird, it's the story of Ottoline, who's cared for by servants and her strange but loyal friend Mr. Munroe while her parents travel the world as "Collectors." (This is the second book in the Ottoline series; the first is titled Ottoline and the Yellow Cat.) Ottoline meets a charismatic new friend named Cecily, who entices her to enroll in the Alice B. Smith School for the Differently Gifted. The adventures that follow involve a campus mystery, Ottoline's search for her "gift," and some lessons about friendship. But it's the illustrations that really make this book special; they'll make you giggle and take a closer look, really bringing you into Ottoline's world. It's a strange one for sure, but much of it will seem oddly familiar too...
In "The Unfinished Angel" (HarperCollins Children's Books), author Sharon Creech lets a real "live" angel do the talking. And what talking he/she does! The first thing you'll notice (and love) about the book is the funny, not-quite-grammatical voice of this unnamed being, who's lived for centuries in an ancient stone tower in a tiny Alpine village. Our angel feels untrained and without a mission, doing what he/she can to help the locals but generally fed up with people, until a young American girl named Zola moves to town with her father. Zola is unique in many ways, including her ability to see and hear the angel...and in the end, inspire the angel to make some extraordinary things happen. 
