Reading Abounds

Title: How to Read Literature Like a Professor for Kids Author: Thomas C. Foster Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 70445 Description:   Demonstrates how to make everyday reading more rewarding by helping readers understand the symbols, themes, narrative devices and forms, and contexts of literary works, in an edition geared toward young readers. Rubric Rating: Level 4 - Love It Why I Read It:   I quite like literary analysis and looking for deeper  meaning while reading. Notes:   Wow, I really liked this  book. As someone who already has an English degree I  kept thinking how much this book would have helped me  if I’d read it before starting University. The book looks at  various themes that are used in literature from weather,  myth, fairy tales, food, seasons, symbolism, illness and  many others. The chapters each focus on their own  theme and use various examples from different books  and poetry. I found the writing b...

Title:  Burning Blue Author:   Paul Griffin Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 75470 Description:    When beautiful, smart Nicole, disfigured by acid thrown in her face, and computer hacker Jay meet in the school psychologist's office, they become friends and Jay resolves to find her attacker. Rubric Rating:  Level 3 - Laud It Why I Read It:   I had read Adrift by Paul Griffin and this novel sounded good as well. Notes:    I liked this book and read it over the course of two days.  Jay and Nicole go to the same school, they know of each other but don’t know each other.  Nicole is the school beauty queen and Jay is a loner with epilepsy. At an assembly in Freshman year Jay had an epileptic attack in front of the whole school.  He hasn’t been back since with the exception of meeting with Mrs. Schmidt the school Psychologist. Nicole’s life was great until someone squirted battery acid onto her face.  When Jay a...

Title:  Salt to the Sea Author:   Ruta Supetys Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 143529 Description:    In this novel based on real-life events, Prussian World War II refugees find their hopeful exodus turning into a desperate fight for survival when the ship on which they are escaping sinks in the Atlantic. Rubric Rating:   Level 4 - Love It Why I Read It:    I have read all of Ruta Sepetys’ other books and knew I wanted to read this one as well. Notes:    This novel had a bit of a slow start for me but I loved the opening lines of each characters’ chapters – For Joana guilt is a hunter, for Florian, Fate is a hunter, and for Emilia, shame is a hunter, and for Alfred fear is a hunter.  The book alternates perspectives between these four characters and I either loved or hated them all. Joana is a Lithuanian fleeing from the invading Russian forces. She is trained nurse traveling with a group of fellow refugees. Flor...

Title:  Sweet Author: Emmy Leybourne Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 118944 Description: On a celebrity cruise launching a new diet sweetener, Laurel is too seasick to even try the new product and beginning to regret taking this vacation, but when her fellow passengers start behaving oddly, her trip becomes truly terrifying. Rubric Rating: Level 4 - Love It! Why I Read It: Interesting cover and title. Notes: Laurel and her friend Vivika have scored big.  Tickets on the Solu Cruise to Lose! Laurel and Viv are healthy 17-year-olds who wear size 14 clothes.  But to today's youth that's just too big.  Everyone on the luxury cruise has been selected as a marketing ploy by Timothy Almstead, the maker of Solu.  The "solu-tion" to America's obesity epidemic.  Tom Fiorelli - or baby Tom-Tom as he's known from his early television days has been hired to do interviews and provide footage for television stations - an exclusive event that is supposed to reinvi...

Title: Brain Jack Author: Brian Falkner Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 128664 Description:   In a near-future New York City, computer genius Sam Wilson manages to hack into the AT&T network and sets off a chain of events that have a profound effect on human activity throughout the world. Rubric Rating: Level 4 - Love It! Why I Read It: Interesting write up in the catalogue and a growing interest in tech-related reading. Notes: Sam is a seventeen-year-old Hacker, one of the best around.  So good that he is able to hack into the telecomerica head offices and order a couple of "neuro" headsets for himself and his friend Fargas.  The latest technology that allows you to directly access the computer network using only your brain.  But Sam's hacking brings down services for three days - something that will go down in history.  That's when the CDD (the cyber defence division) start watching him.  It's not long before they hack Sam back and he's arrest...

Title:  Proxy Author: Alex London Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 82514 Description: Privileged Knox and his proxy, Syd, are thrown together to overthrow the system. Rubric Rating: Level 3 - Laud it! Why I Read It: Good title and interesting tag line - "Some debts cannot be repaid." Notes:   Knox is living the "lux" life.  He gets in trouble but that's ok, his proxy is always there to take his punishment.  So when he steals a car and gets into an accident he figures his proxy will get his punishment and all will go back to normal.  Except he's killed someone.  And Syd, Knox's proxy, doesn't want to pay this debt.  In this book society is split into the Upper City - those of wealth and status, and the Valve - those who eke out a living and accumulate debt and when you live in the Valve, everything costs.  Syd has done everything he can not to accrue any debt but his Patron Knox always seems to be getting into trouble and from the time ...

Title:  Butter Author: Erin Jade Lange Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 76283 Description: Unable to control his binge eating, a morbidly obese teenager nicknamed Butter decides to make a live webcast of his last meal as he attempts to eat himself to death. Rubric Rating: Level 3 - Laud It Why I Read It:   Interesting cover and title. Notes: Butter's world is empty and he uses food to fill the void.  When Butter gets fed up with the bullying at school he starts a website called "Butter's Last Meal."  While it started as just an outlet for his frustration, when he starts receiving menu suggestions the website takes on a life of its own and starts to affect his real life as well.  The boys who taunted and bullied him now invite him to sit at their table, invite him bowling, and out to parties.  He gets close to his crush Anna, who has no idea that he is the JP she has been communicating with online, until he finally plays his saxophone and she reco...

Title:  Adrift Author: Paul Griffin Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 104210 Description: Taking a job in Montauk for the summer, best friends Matt and Mike meet a couple girls who enjoy lives of privilege before the group becomes lost at sea in a small boat and must overcome respective differences in order to survive. Rubric Rating: Level 4 - Love it! Why I Read It: I picked this book at the 2016 Reading for the Love of It Conference in Toronto.  I was just going to glance at it quickly and ended up starting to read it right there. Lori's Notes: This book is a very quick read and I finished it over the course of two days.  Matt and John have been friends for years and are bonded over a shared tragedy in their past.  Matt is smart and hoping to head to Yale, John is pragmatic and is planning to become an electrician.  They're spending their summer working the tourist beaches selling drinks and ice cream and this is how they meet Driana (Dri), Estefani...

Title: Kindred Souls Author: Patricia MacLachlin Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 70437 Description: Ten-year-old Jake shares a special bond with his grandfather, but when he asks Jake to build him a sod house, Jake is not sure he wants to do it. Rubric Rating: Level 4 - Loved it! Why I Read it:  I needed a book to recommend for a good reader in Grade 2 Lori's Notes: Simple and elegant story of Jake and his grandfather Billy.  Billy is 88 and Jake thinks he will live forever.  Billy tells Jake they are "kindred souls."  While they walk around the farm where Billy was born he talks about his old sod house and tells Jake they will build one together.  When Billy gets bronchitis, Jake, his sister Lida, and brother Jesse work together to build Billy a new sod house.  Jake thinks this will make him better so he will stay, but perhaps that's not what Billy really needs.  This book is full of great quotes and ideas that are wonderful for classroom d...

Title: Wonder Author: R. J. Palacio Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 61954 Description: Ten-year-old Auggie, born with extreme facial abnormalities, must struggle with the taunting and fear of classmates as he enters a private school in Manhattan in an attempt to live a normal life. Rubric Rating: Level 4 - Love It! Why I Read It: Great cover and multiple requests from customers.  I read 365 Days of Wonder first so I needed to read this book too. Lori's Notes:   This book was fantastic.  August Pullman is a normal kid, except for his face.  August was born with a severe facial deformity, and because of all the surgeries this required August was home schooled.  Now that he is 10, Auggie is enrolled in Beecher Prep Academy. Nervous at first Auggie makes friends with Jack Will and Summer but kids can be cruel and everyone isn't as able to see past Auggie's exterior to the smart and funny kid he is inside.  Kids like Julian who tease Auggie and try to tur...

Title:  All the Light We Cannot See Author: Anthony Doerr Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 98669 Description:  A blind French girl on the run from the German occupation and a German orphan-turned-Resistance tracker struggle with their respective beliefs after a fortuitous meeting on the Brittany coast. Rubric Rating: Level 4 - Love It! Why I Read it: This book has been on my reading list for awhile and it was recommended to me by several people. Lori's Notes: This was a fantastic novel.  It may seem overwhelming in terms of size but the individual chapters are very short and read almost like mini short stories within the book.  The characters alternate between Marie-Laure a blind Parisian girl, and Werner an orphan German boy. Marie-Laure's father, Daniel LeBlanc, works in a Paris Museum as a key master and designs intricate puzzle boxes for his daughter.  Werner lives in a children's home with his sister Jutta and because of his interest in radios is qui...

Title: Big Game Author: Dan Smith Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 97154 Description: A boy hunter from a remote mountain village, the President of the  United States and a terrorist plot converge in a wilderness survival adventure involving a strange creature in the woods. Rubric Rating: Level 3 - Laud It Why I Read It: This book looked like a good adventure/survival story for boys. Lori's Notes:  It's the day of the trial.  The day before Oskari's 13th birthday.  He will walk into the forest on Mount Akka, he will hunt with the traditional bow, and he will return a man.  He will bring back what the forest gives him.  But Oskari is small and he can't even fully draw the bow back all the way.  But Oskari is determined not to disappoint his father, a man who brought back a bear.  As Oskari takes off into the forest, he heads toward his father's secret hunting ground but is quickly veered off course by the approach of a helicopter.  Thin...

Title: A Time to Dance Author: Padma Venkatraman Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 82094 Description: In India, a girl who excels a Bharatanatyam dance refuses to give up after losing a leg in an accident. Rubric Rating: Love 4 - Love It! Why I Read It: I read Climbing the Stairs by this same author and liked it so decided to read another selection by her. Lori's Notes: I was surprised when I opened the book to find the chapters written in verse rather than prose.  However, after the first couple of chapters the novel felt not like a book in verse but a book in song.  A song that made you see and feel Veda's dancing.  Veda lives with her ma, pa and Paati (grandmother).  While her mother wants Veda to become an engineer, Veda loves to dance.  And she is excited to learn that has been invited to compete in the Bharatanatyam dance competition.  Veda wins because of her amazing control over her body.  However, her greatest achievement is short lived....

Title: Colin Fischer Authors: Ashley Edward Miller & Zack Stentz Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 74916 Description: A youthful Sherlock Holmes whose Asperger's syndrome makes social interaction difficult, young Colin investigates a crime where he must uncover the greatest mystery of all -- what other people are thinking and feeling. Rubric Rating: Level 4 - Love It! Why I Read It: Interesting Cover.  I loved the little faces all over showing different emotions. Lori's Notes: I loved this book.   I’ve had it in my reading pile for a while and it finally made it to the top of the list.   I finished it in a couple of days.   With more time I probably would have finished it in one sitting.   Colin Fischer has Asperger’s syndrome and sensory integration disorder.   He doesn’t like loud noises and he definitely doesn’t like to be touched.   This is going to make his first year in high school more than a little challenging.   He doesn’t even ...

Title: Annexed Author: Sharon Dogar Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 45764 Description: The incredible story of Anne Frank told through the eyes of Peter, the teenage boy who was locked in the Annex with her. Rubric Rating:  Level 1 - Leave It Why I Read It: I like reading literature based around the WWII time period.  I've read Anne Frank's diary and I've visited the annex so this title really appealed to me. Lori's Notes:  I did not like this book.  I had such a hard time slogging through this novel.  I loved the concept - the story of being annexed with Anne Frank by Peter Van Pels but I hated that the author was attributing thoughts and feelings to a real person.  I felt that this denies who that person really was.  I would have liked the book a lot better if written by the table (many conversations and actions happen in the kitchen) or by the cat (it can follow characters room to room) and we can't ascribe any feelings/values to them. ...

Title: Cardturner Author: Louis Sachar Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 43908 Description: When his wealthy uncle, a champion bridge player who has lost his vision, asks seventeen-year-old Alton to be a cardturner for him, Alton has no idea how much he will ultimately learn from his eccentric relative.  Includes appendix by Syd Fox with information about bridge. Rubric Rating: Level 3 - Laud It Why I Read It: I really enjoyed the novel Holes and this book is by the same author. Lori's Notes: Alton's rich uncle, a champion bridge player, is blind and needs a cardturner for him to play.  A fantastic story about families and relationships, it weaves together the storylines of Alton and his uncle and first loves.  It does delve a little into the paranormal/ghostly but it wasn't distracting to the overall sense of the novel.  It also touches on the idea of how relationships change and change us.  I'm not a bridge player at all and had no idea how the game was p...

Title: The Bite of the Mango Author: Mariatu Kamara ***Canadian*** Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 34938 Description: A courageous biography by a woman from Sierra Leone who at 12 was tortured and lost her hands to child soldiers, her subsequent life in refugee camps, begging in Freetown and her eventual arrival in Toronto where she began to pull her life back together. Rubric Rating: Level 3 - Laud It Why I Read It: This book was recommended to me by several teachers as a novel suitable for curriculum study. Lori's Notes: This is a difficult read in terms of subject matter, but a compelling story written in easy language.  Mariatu's journey from a tortured 12-year-old girl in Sierra Leone who has her hands chopped off by child soldiers, through her recovery, and eventual move to Canada borders on the unbelievable.  I am amazed at the strength Mariatu shows both in surviving her physical attacks but also with the mental fortitude to survive these atrocities.  I ...

Title: The Scar Boys Author:  Len Vlahos Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 80705 Description: In a college admission essay, eighteen-year-old Harry Jones recounts a childhood defined by the hideous scars he hid behind, and how forming a band brought self-confidence, friendship, and his first kiss. Rubric Rating: Level 4 - Love it! Why I Read It: A great title and an interesting write up. Lori's Notes: This book had me captivated in the first couple of pages.  The first page consists of a college admissions essay question.  The following pages and in fact the rest of the book is Harbinger "Harry" Jones' answer to that question.  Each chapter starts with a song title and performer.  The story begins with the critical event that caused Harry's disfiguring scars.  I must say this for me was a graphic scene.  I was brought to tears and laughed out loud within the first 15 pages of the novel.  Harry must endure a painful recovery that has him addic...

Title: As Easy As Falling Off the Face of the Earth Author: Lynne Rae Perkins Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 44333 Description: A teenaged boy encounters one comedic calamity after another when his train strands him in the middle of nowhere, and everything comes down to luck. Rubric Rating: Level 3 - Laud It Why I Read It: Looking for a fun read that would be good for a boy. Lori's Notes: A series of comedic events lead to the isolation of Ry from his family.  Trying to phone his grandfather Ry gets off his train and left behind in Montana, his parents are sailing in the Caribbean and his grandfather isn't answering the phone.  The dogs (who receive their own chapters in graphic novel format) are trying to make their way back to their old home and no one seems to be able to find each other.  There were moments that had me giggling but I have to admit that throughout the novel I was waiting for "something bad to happen" and while bad things do happen they'r...