Book Review: Kids were different back then

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Avi's characters often mature in flawed, youthful ways, and Charlotte Doyle as a girl not particularly good at self-reflection is no exception. She grows significantly (more than would likely be historically accurate; more on that in a moment), but rarely through an accurate internal monologue - though part of her growth is in fact the improving accuracy in how she critically evaluates her world.

Most historical fiction about girls choose to either flout strictures of the time regarding girls' behavior and expectations, or to limit the plot by working within such limitations. Charlotte begins as just such a limited character in just such a limited world, but the adventuresome plot takes her well beyond such behavior and expectations. While the openness with which she confronts her world later in the book may not be the historic norm, it functions appropriately to make the story interesting and relatable for modern readers.

ELL's may enjoy the appendices labeling the parts of a ship and showing the timetable for keeping watch. The other vocabulary is similarly advanced, but knowing that the nautical words are just as unfamiliar to fluent English speakers may encourage ELLs to dive in (pun intended). Connecting that vocabulary to dictionary pronunciation guides or online sound files will be essential for such words as forecastle and gunwale. Although not an easy book, it still contains yet-deeper maturity of plot and characterization that will keep readers from feeling like they are reading a tale intended for younger children.



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Book Review: A Wordless Book for the Imagination

Sector 7 by David Wiesner

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Wiesner's wordless books epitomize the complexity and dream-like nature that illustrations can achieve when not bound by the conventions of language.  This may seem to make them more difficult to use for story-telling, but they consistently inspire readers to rise to the challenge; if the adult isn't up to the task, the children are likely able to fill in.

This time, Wiesner's tale of an Empire State Building field trip includes the discovery by one student of a hidden world which may further delight those readers familiar with Rick Riordan's The Last Olympians.  The boy travels to a factory in the sky where clouds are made; he uses his drawing skills to spice things up, and readers familiar with Wiesner's other books will see some familiar creatures coming to life. This story takes the familiar activity of searching for patterns in the clouds one step further, imbuing the game with magical possibilities.

ELLs can use wordless books in several ways: as extended writing prompts, as "texts" which will allow them to tell the story at exactly their level of fluency, and as material to take home and share with parents and other family members who may often struggle against their own language barriers in supporting their child's schoolwork as fully as they would like.


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Book review: An original voice

Savvy by Ingrid Law

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A delightful swim in the mind and family of Mibs Beaumont. The Beaumonts are a family of get special powers, their savvies, on their thirteenth birthdays and their story falls somewhere between a tall tale and a Cynthia Voight novel. A Wizard of Oz motif adds flavor and meaning without committing that literary sin of drawing a series of parallels and allowing the referenced work to do all the heavy lifting. And there certainly is heavy lifting as Savvy touches on first love, family loss, alienation, and overall the teenage odyssey to find one's true self.

Although a wonderful book, its deft use of colloquial and idiomatic English for characterization will sadly be lost on all but the most fluent ELL readers. If you have the patience, save this gem until later in your studies, when you become familiar with regional differences in American English.



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Book Review: A Satisfying Sequel

Scumble by Ingrid Law

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When a book is as original and delightful as Ingrid Law's Savvy, it is usually hard not to be disappointed by the sequel.  Somehow, Law has avoided that trap, creating a follow up that keeps some of what made Savvy wonderful but also moving forward to fresher fields.  Scumble is not only a satisfying read on its own, it withstands comparisons to its predecessor.

Thirteen year old Ledger Kale is Mibs Beaumont's cousin and just coming into his own savvy.  Most pleasing for the reader, Ledge has some of Mibs' highly original narrative voice, but not so much that it becomes precious.  He is her cousin, and their voices are clearly cousins, too.  The book opens with another road trip, but that's quickly completed and the setting this time is the Wyoming ranch of another cousin.  Ledge's personality and his story are more focused on himself, proving that an adolescent's self-discovery doesn't need to have a strong external force to be compelling.

ELLs may find Scumble easier to read than Savvy because Ledge's way of speaking is less regional, but it will still require readers from other cultures to have patience navigating a highly idiomatic narration.  For those advanced students who do read it, they may find some personally familiar themes of upheaval and adjustment, as well as the frustration of trying to care for family and self in an unfamiliar setting.


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Book Review: A "Multicultural" Book That Actually Incorporate Multiple Cultures

Naamah And The Ark At Night by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In the tradition of the best bedtime stories, Naamah feels comfortably familiar before the first reading is done. This "lullaby" uses the ghazal, an Islamic poetic form, to create a gentle rocking reminiscent of a ship at sea or a parent's arms.

Meade's paper collages use a heavy card stock to create a dimensionality, and the simple shapes allude to the obscuring shadows or backlighting moon, even when watercolors fill in greater detail.

With the word "night" ending each line, and internal rhymes across the couplets, this book would be great to read aloud together with the most beginning ELL student, or to examine the oddities of English spelling with others. It also has that exotic-yet-comfortable atmosphere which many students respond well to when they are still adjusting to a move.

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Book Review: A necessary sequel

Among the Impostors by Margaret Peterson Haddix

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A much-needed sequel to Margaret Peterson Haddix's Among the Hidden, hero Luke Grant had moved out of hiding and now must confront the challenges of an isolated child thrust into a strange and possibly hostile situation. Haddix illustrates the characteristics of someone who has spent his life hiding in fear for that life, while also capturing something of the boy who has been unquestioningly loved and protected within his family, unfolding these elements well as the plot progresses.

Luke is full of questions, wanting to consider all sides of an issue and all possible consequences in this unsafe worl, which helps keep the reader involved and participating in the heavy moral issues raised by this dystopic series. However, in this second of seven book, the answers are not yet available.

ELLs will find that the vocabulary isn't any easier that in the first book. Now the author has added characters with hidden motives or distrusting personalities which mean even deciphering the specific worlds may not yield a accurate understanding unless the reader's fluency allows her to capture the connotations of "a sharp stare" or "make a beeline."



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Book Review: For kids who love Diary of a Wimpy Kid and parents who don't

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Appealing to the Diary of a Wimpy Kid crowd, but with more subtle revelation of plot (perhaps merely having a plot will distinguish it from Kinney's works) and a non-didactic message of acceptance. The tale is broken into very short vignettes which may particularly help reluctant readers, as might the design which is intended to look like pages right out of a kid's notebook.

ELL readers will appreciate the doodles which help provide information about the text, although they are less supportive than traditional illustrations. The casual tone may be difficult for some, and this is not a book which will appeal to most adult readers. However, for more advanced young ELLs who also want to figure out how to fit in to a new school, this book may make them feel a little better prepared.



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Book Review: 17 Things I'm Not Allowed To Do Anymore

17 Things I'm Not Allowed to Do Anymore by Jenny Offill

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Full of ideas about sisterly antagonism, beaverish obsession, and go-your-own-wayness (that would be to school, backwards), one kid manages to learn the wrong lessons from the angry, worried, or baffled adults who must follow in her wake.

Carpenter enhances her pen and ink illustrations by replacing some elements of the drawing with photographed versions of the offending objects: a stapler, cauliflower, a one-dollar bill featuring a portrait of a beaver. This focuses the eye in a way which is similar to an adult's reminiscence of a childhood memory, so much so in fact that a second reading may be required to notice the innocent, beleaguered, and occasionally guileful face of this heir-to-Ramona herself.

The repeated "I had an idea to ... . I am not allowed to ... anymore" works well for ELLs and easily lends itself to a ”17 More Things" writing assignment.



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