Words with Wings

Title: Words with Wings

 

Author: Nikki Grimes

 

Summary: Gabby's life has been hard lately; her parents have divorced and now she is living with her mother. She has never been as close to her mother as her father; who understands her. Gabby's life, though, now seems taken over by daydreams; lots of daydreams. Now, they are starting to affect her schoolwork and life. However, Gabby's special teacher may just find a way to help her turn those daydreams into writing.

 

Comments: I really liked this book. It won an award, and I can certainly see why. The book is very short and told through verses/poems. The story is laid out clearly and the reader will receive all the information he needs to know to follow the book; however, the reader won't find much more than the necessary information. It isn't a very detailed book; it is very to-the-point and short, which makes it a refreshing read that isn't complicated and requires a little less thinking and brain-power to understand. The main character, Gabby can probably speak to anyone who has been through or is going through a hard time; whatever it  may be.
Nikki Grimes is an amazing author; her work on the book The Road to Paris, well, it was just amazing. I really enjoyed that book (the review for that book is on here too - to access it quickly, just click on the tag Author:Nikki Grimes tag at the bottom of this post!) In fact, I think that The Road to Paris is even better than this book! I just love that book! (Okay, I know, this is supposed to be a review for Words with Wings)
Read anything written by her - there is a reason her books have been awarded.

This book is a nice quick read that is suitable for all ages.

 

Complaints: None. I would complain about it being too short, but I thought that it was tastefully done.

 

Rating: 5 stars

Ruby on the Outside

Title: Ruby on the Outside:

Author: Nora Raleigh Baskin

 

Summary: It's the summer before middle school and 11-year-old Ruby is worried about starting 6th grade. She wants to make a true friend, and when she meets a girl, Margalit Tipps at her apartment complex's pool, she thinks she has found the one. The two become fast friends, but Ruby still can't tell her everything - she can't bring herself to tell anyone her deep secret.

Ruby's mother is in prison. She went to prison when Ruby was just about 5 and Ruby lives with her aunt, Matoo (Ma, too) and she visits her real mother once a week on Saturdays - and she will until she is 31 years old. Ruby has never told anyone this and as she gets closer to Margalit in friendship, she finds it hard not to.

However, just as Ruby gets up the courage to tell her, Ruby realizes that Margalit's family's past seems to cross with Ruby's mother's past.

 

Comments: I think this was a wonderful book. Margalit and Ruby were both very likeable. Poor Ruby had such stress on her at such a young age that the reader can't help but feel sorry for her. The conflicting thoughts going on in her mind about whether or not to truly love her mother or whether or not she wanted to see her seemed very realistic to me.

I thought that Margalit's and Ruby's crossing pasts was just such a huge coincidence.

This book was very light, despite the heavy subjects that were displayed in it. It feels like a less-dramatic and less mature version of the book All the Things You Are. (I have a review for that book on this site - it is very similar to this book in that both mothers are in jail - however, they are both very different too and I recommend both).

I would still rate this as a 10+ just because of the prison themes and the descriptions of how her mother got in prison. There are some mature themes, but they are dealt with in a child-appropriate way, unlike other books (Nest).

 

Complaints: None.

 

Rating: 5 stars!

 

 

White Fur Flying

Title: White Fur Flying

 

Author: Patricia MacLachlan

 

Summary: Zoey and her family (sister, mom, & dad) are a foster family for Great Pyrenees dogs. They take in any Great Pyrenees in need and they train them and give them love until they are adopted by their forever family.

One day, new people move into the house across from Zoey. The boy, Phillip, is strange - he has just stopped talking. Everyone is worried. He doesn't talk anymore - he doesn't even make an effort.

Maybe, the Great Pyrenees and Zoey's family will be the key to Phillip talking again.  

 

Comments: This book was a book that I could really relate to, because my family, like Zoey's family, also fosters dogs. It is rare for me to read a book that mentions fostering dogs. Usually, adoption of dogs is the only topic covered in most books. I think that this book will raise awareness for the importance of fostering dogs. Adoption isn't the only option!

The book is suitable for all ages and I like that because books that can be enjoyed by all readers are becoming few and far between it seems. Phillip does go missing for a time (only a few hours) and there is just enough drama to not make it overly dramatic and just enough suspense to not make younger readers overly worried about Phillip. This book is exciting and fun to read and can be enjoyed by all!

The book was a little quick for my taste, but it is definitely a good choice for a read-aloud book or sibling story time or something. I know that I enjoyed reading this book with my sisters!

 

Complaints: None.

 

Rating: 5 stars!

 

 

Kizzy Ann Stamps

Title: Kizzy Ann Stamps

 

Author: Jeri Watts

 

Summary: Kizzy Ann is a smart and courageous girl growing up in 1963. Kizzy Ann's life is changed when she finds out that the schools in her town will now be integrated rather than segregated. Kizzy Ann is worried about going to the "white school" - she is not white and she has a long scar down her face that makes her fear what the other children at the new school will think of her.

Starting the new school is somewhat easy, however she does get trouble from a lot of the "white kids." Her brother is having a very hard time at his new high school and Kizzy Ann worries that the experience is changing him.

As she starts the new school, she finds a friend in an older man who helps Kizzy Ann train her dog, a border collie, Shag, so that they compete together in dog trials. However, it doesn't seem easy at first - Kizzy Ann isn't so sure that they will let her enter because of the color of her skin.

 

 

Comments: I loved this book! I wasn't really sure about reading it at first, but I am SO glad that I did. Kizzy Ann is so likeable and Shag is too. The book is told through letters to Kizzy Ann's new teacher at her new integrated school (the teacher is very nice). The whole book wrapped up nicely in the end - but not too nice to be unbelievable.

This book did deal with the integrated/segregated problem going on back in those days, so I'd say that the reader would have to already have a clear understanding of that before reading the book, because it does not really go into the background details of segregated/integrated like The Lions of Little Rock does. There is also some content that is more suitable for 10+.

 

Complaint: NONE!

 

Rating: 5 stars and beyond....

This Journal Belongs to Ratchet

Title: This Journal Belongs to Ratchet

 

Author: Nancy J. Cavanaugh

 

Summary: 11 year old Rachel "Ratchet" (a nickname earned from fixing cars with her father) is a homeschooled girl who moves from town to town fixing up homes with her father in exchange for free rent. Her father is a bit eccentric and unusual, and because she is homeschooled and is often helping her father fix cars, she does not get out enough to make friends - not that anyone seems interested in being friends with her anyway.

As Ratchet spends time alone in the house after working on school and cars with her father, she always can't help but notice a special box that moves with them wherever they go yet it is never opened. Ratchet suspects that the box contains information about her mother - her mother that died when she was too young to remember her well.

The book details Ratchet's life as she learns to work with others to save an important park and as she navigates through finding true friends, being different, and discovering secrets about her past.

 

Comments: I enjoyed this book. It is written through Ratchet's school work in English/Language Arts class. She is homeschooled so she just writes whatever the lesson guide says to write (essay, poem, etc.), and she always makes her life and what is going on as the subject. I think that this was a very creative way to write the book.

Ratchet was not stereotyped like some homeschooled characters in books. She had a great personality, she wanted friends, and when she did talk to people, she obviously had good social skills. However, she did seem a little secluded from the world for my taste, but it wasn't too bad.

Ratchet was likeable and any reader will find themselves cheering for her. I would recommend this book to children 10+. There really isn't much iffy content, except some boy-girl stuff, details on her mother's death and what happened before it, and just some other minor things.

 

Complaints: None.

 

Rating: 5 stars!

 

 

A Handful of Stars

Title: A Handful of Stars

 

Author: Cynthia Lord

 

Summary: It's blueberry harvesting season in Maine and Lily is helping her grandparents run their shop during the busy time. One day, Lily's blind dog, Lucky, runs away from Lily and is caught just a few fields over by a migrant blueberry harvester who is Lily's age; Salma. Salma is very nice and the two become fast friends; doing lots of things together. Lily likes Salma because Salma is invested in trying to help Lucky see again; she is one of the only ones who believes in Lily's costly plan to save his failed eyesight.

To raise the money, Lily persuades Salma to enter the Blueberry Queen pageant to try and win a monetary prize to help Lucky get what he needs. However, the idea of Salma, someone not native to Maine, participating in the pageant is not an idea easily accepted by all.

 

Comments: I loved this book. It started out slow in the first few chapters, but it did not disappoint as I got further into the book. Both girls were likeable characters. Both girls' characters were well developed, though they were not very detailed or complex - most likely in hopes that if the characters were a bit more vague in background, then the reader would be able to identify or related to them easier.

I have read some of Cynthia Lord's other works (Rules & Touch Blue) and I have enjoyed the writing in both (especially Touch Blue). Her writing always creates a clear story with characters that are easy to relate to and I love her detailing of cozy little towns such as those in Touch Blue and this book.

She is a wonderful writer, so naturally when I saw this book I knew that I had to read it!

This book is very good, however it could be more suitable for an audience that is a bit older; younger readers may not understand Lily's parents' backgrounds (both parents are dead/gone when the story takes place), and some may not understand the hard time that Salma gets for entering the pageant. However, this s a wonderful story to help them understand too.

 

Complaints: None.

 

Rating: 5 stars!

 

Counting by 7s

Title: Counting by 7s

 

Author: Holly Goldberg Sloan

 

Summary: 12-year-old Willow is a child genius who loves diagnosing medical conditions and planting/nature. As she starts middle school, she is sent to see a child counselor (by the school's recommendation) and during her meets with him, she meets two other children that are older than her; a brother and sister. She slowly forms a small friendship with them.

One day, she arrives at her house to find that her parents died earlier in the day in a car accident. Willow's friends, Mai and Quang-ha's mother offers to take her in while she waits for foster care, adoption, etc.

As Willow slowly recreates her life, she shows that one who goes through tragedy can come out being better than before.

 

Comments: I really enjoyed this book. It was recommended to me by a friend and I'm so glad that I decided to read it!

All the characters in the story were pretty well-developed for the most part, though I might have wanted to see a little more detail on Dell, the counselor.

Willow was such a likeable character and it was heartbreaking to see her going through such a tragedy; because her parents just seemed like such kind people who really understood her and I didn't know whether anyone else in the book could have that same connection with her. (Yes, I get pretty involved and intense in my reading - don't worry, I do know that she is just a fictional character!)

While I loved the book, I thought that the way Mai and Quang-ha lived with their mother just seemed somewhat unrealistic, even though they were poor. However, that can be overlooked and may have just been a little exaggerated to add some more intensity and drama to the book.

While this book is great and such a fine piece of writing, I must say that it is probably suitable for ages 10-12+ just because it is fairly long and some younger readers may be upset by all the tragedies and unfairness in this book.

This is probably going to go on my Top 10 list!

 

Complaints: I feel like the book might've wrapped up just a little too nicely; however it was good that the reader was able to find closure to the story by the end of the book.

 

Rating: 5 stars!