Shorter Musings: MG Fantasy WITH ANIMALS!

Sometimes I read a book, and I even enjoy it, but I don't have much to say about it. I jot down a few thoughts and then I move on. When these start to pile up, I put them together in one post.

Here are some MG Fantasy books (animals included) I have read recently with my thoughts.

The Adventures of a South Pole Pig by Chris Kurtz
I concede it was well written. And it will appeal to a certain group on the younger end of the MG/upper end of the Early Chapter Book spectrum. I did not enjoy it at all. I almost DNFed it. I would have except I didn't have a back up book the day I was reading it. (Lesson: ALWAYS have a back up book.) This book embodies everything I LOATHE about animal stories and it was far too precious. In a world where Charlotte's Web exists why do we need this book? (We don't.)

Flora and Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo

I adore the concept of Flora and Ulysses. A squirrel receives super powers (that involve poetry writing) after being sucked up by a new ultra-vacuum and pairs up with a lonely girl to save the world. The book is filled with larger than life characters and adventures that kids will find hilarious while reading it, if they can get through the difficult language. (Words like posit and malfeasance are regularly used by the two child protagonists.)The sentence level writing is excellent, but overall this book was just too full of quirky for me to love. Way too full. This is a one way ticket to Quirky Town in Quirky Country, residents all super-quirky. A little quirky gives a book a certain shine. Too much quirky and I'm going to not enjoy it. Unfortunately this one fell in the latter camp for me. I do think it would make an outstanding read aloud and could be tremendously useful teaching writing to upper level elementary students.

The Mouse with the Question Mark Tail by Richard Peck

The Mouse with the Question Mark Tail is a cute read about a young mouse who lives at Buckingham Palace in the days surrounding Queen Victoria's Jubilee. He is an engaging little mouse and his story includes all of the requisite elements of a mouse tale: an encounter with a cat, a barn scene, some startled royalty, a flight around in the talons of a flying creature, and a discovery of his importance despite his small size. Nothing new or ground breaking, but it is all well written and fun. It would make an excellent read aloud for the 1st-3rd grade crowd.

Zombie Baseball Beatdown by Paulo Bacigalupi
IT HAS COWS! IT COUNTS!
I didn't enjoy reading this book at all. The characterization was shallow and there was little actual plot development. When you factor in the didactic tone and the grossness of it all, I had a hard time finishing it. It had so much potential, but all the characters are one note stereotypes. Even the heroes had very little to offer that was likeable. Bacigalupi definitely wanted to write a book that shed some light on the issues of the exploitation of illegal immigrant workers and the overall dodginess of the meat packing industry. All well and good. We should be discussing and thinking about those things, but his execution of this was heavy handed. Kids will be drawn to it because they like creepy gross books, but beyond that there is nothing on offer here.

Comments

Serafina and the Black Cloak

Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty is a thrilling tale of mystery and adventure set at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC in 1899. Having lived in Asheville and visited the house several times, there was no way I was going to pass up a chance to read this. (Also it's MG fantasy, always a bonus for me.) Serafina lives in secret in the basement of the Vanderbilt's spacious vacation home. She has lived there most of her life. Her father worked on the house as it was being built and is the mechanic who runs the massive generator and keeps the electricity going. Serafina is the chief rat catcher, slipping through the halls of her massive home secretly and quietly. She is light on her feet, sees well in the dark, and is quick enough to catch the vermin and keep them out. Serafina knows she if different and strange. Her father insists she stay hidden. But all that changes when one night Serafina witnesses a horrible crime. A little girl, a guest in the house, is fleein

Shorter Musings MG Fantasy

Here are some shorter musings on recent MG fantasy reads. Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack This book is fun. It is a book full of adventure, an obvious bad guy, some more complicated morally gray area characters, and a strong, brave heroine. It is also a book about friendships, community, and fighting for what is right. All things that usually work for me really well. While I enjoyed this, I did feel it was a little overlong and there were certain plot points at the end I didn't love. However, there were things I thought were done really well, such as Anya's Jewish faith and the idea that power needs to be challenged. In the end it was a middle of the road read for me, but it is one I will certainly be recommending to dragon and fantasy adventure lovers I know! R is for Rebel by J. Anderson Coats This is tough because I usually really like Coats's books. I had such a hard time with this one though on so many levels. It's difficult to get into because t

Favorite Kissing Scenes

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The Field Guide to the North American Teeanager

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