Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool

Each year ICCSD Teacher Librarians compose genre bibliographies of the best books of the year.  This year I am responsible for the mystery and suspense bibliography, so I have been reading a ton of mysteries, which also happens to be one of my favorite genres.  Moon Over Manifest is making the cut to be on my bibliography!

This is not a mystery in the sense of a whodunit, but more the story of someone trying to make sense of her family's past. It's 1936 and 12-year-old Abilene Tucker has always lived a free-spirited life of riding the rails with her father, Gideon.  As the book opens Abilene is riding a train by herself for the first time, as Gideon has sent her to Manifest, Missouri to live with his friend, Pastor Shady Howard.  Gideon spent some time in the town as a youth and has told Abilene many stories of the lovely and bustling Manifest.  When she arrives Abilene discover a dusty, run-down little town nothing like Gideon's wonderful vision.  What happened to change the town, or was Gideon making up his stories?  Abilene is also struggling with why Gideon has sent her away.  She tells herself that he will be coming for her at the end of the summer, but gets a funny feeling in her stomach whenever she thinks about it.

Pastor Shady turns out to not really be a pastor, but a quiet, kindly fellow who lives in a rundown old building that seems to be half saloon and half church.  Abilene soon discovers a cigar box under a loose floorboard that us filled with a mixed assortment of treasures--a fishing lure, a tiny wooden doll, a coin--as well as a bundle of letters from someone named Ned to someone named Jinx.  The letters detail Ned's experiences in World War I.  With the help of some new friends Abilene sets out to discover who Ned and Jinx were and if they have any connection to her father.  She also begins to do odd jobs for Miss Sadie, an eccentric elderly fortune teller.  Miss Sadie knows all about Jinx and Ned's past, and tells Abilene stories in intermittent flashback chapters.

This is a wonderful book, filled with interesting characters and plot developments.  The book also has some surprises which I won't give away here.  Suffice it to say that Abilene comes to terms with her feelings of abandonment and brings healing to her adoptive town.

This book is on order for the Longfellow Library!  If you need it right away you can get it at ICPL!

Smile by Raina Telgemeier

If you have braces or are getting braces you definitely need to read this book.  Even if your teeth are as straight as piano keys you should read this book!  Raina Telgemeier has written a superb graphic novel memoir remembering her tween/early teen years when she went through many trials and tribulations, both dental and social. Growing up in San Francisco during the 1980s, Raina went through the horrible Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989, which is fascinating as recounted from a young person's point of view.  The illustrations are superb as Raina stands at her window looking out at the unfamiliar dark city, subject to a power outage in the wake of the 6.9 magnitude quake that destroyed buildings, roads and lives in the city. Raina also endures quakes of the heart as she tries desperately to capture the attention of aloof Sean, the cute boy who only cares about basketball.  Raina's ups and downs are interwoven with many, many trips to the orthodontist, and even the periodontist (she bemoans the fact that there are so many "dontists!") as she first gets two false front teeth to replace those she knocked out in a fall, then undergoes the long process of moving her second teeth into the front position to replace the lost ones.  Adolescent pain and mouth pain become one.  All must be endured in the course of this funny, truthful look at growing up.

Beginnings

The love of learning, the sequestered nooks, And all the sweet serenity of books.
--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

So said our Longfellow elementary namesake, who was born over two hundred years ago, in 1807.  While much has changed, obviously, the pleasures of reading remain one of life's greatest gifts.  Even if we are reading on a digital screen.  This blog will be a place to share great books, and maybe a few stinkers too.  As a school librarian, I read many, many children's books every year. I am hoping that this will make all that reading a little more useful.  So here goes!