Absolutely Almost

Absolutely Almost

Lisa Graff

2014

Albie has always been an almost child.  He often doesn’t get things correct (like math or spelling) but he can almost do it.  He is ten and he’s going to starting a new school and he’ll have a new nanny.  He’d not very excited about the new nanny part – he thinks he’s too old for one – but he hopes his new school will be better than his last one.  It doesn’t take long, however, for the class bully to target Albie and another student in the class, Betsy.  Together at the bottom of the class social ladder, Albie and Betsy become friends.

Things aren’t always great at home, either.  While Albie comes to love Calista, his new nanny, his parents aren’t always easy.  They are constantly disappointed that Albie doesn’t do as well as they expect in school, and their expectations are sometimes unreasonable.

But then the bully finds out that Albie’s best friend is a reality tv star, and suddenly Albie is “cool.”  While Albie’s position in the class has sky-rocketed, Betsy’s is still at the bottom.  Albie does what he can to tell Betsy how to become popular, and he doesn’t understand why Betsy doesn’t seem to appreciate his efforts.  Inevitably, things fall apart for Albie and he has to realize that if life isn’t going to be absolutely perfect for him, it might can be absolutely almost – and that’s good enough.

While I was at Nerdcamp Michigan early this month, I listened to people rave about this book, so as soon as I got home I requested it from my public library.  I really enjoyed it.  I cannot think of many books about children who struggle like Albie, but they are much needed.  Albie is like so many children that I teach – he does his best but somehow that is never good enough.  I became really frustrated with his parents during the book – high expectations are fine but their expectations were unreasonable for Albie’s abilities and I really wished they would put forth the effort to work with him one-on-one so that they could see that he was really trying to do well. I think at the end they got it, and that they loved Albie for who he was.  My favorite quote in the book was one of his dad’s, “I think the hard thing for you, Albie, is not going to be getting what you want in life, but figuring out what that is.  Once you know what you want – really, truly – I know  you’ll get it.”

Nonfiction Monday: "The President Has Been Shot!"

"The President Has Been Shot!" : The Assassination of John F. Kennedy
James L. Swanson
2013

One sunny November afternoon the President of the United States was traveling on a campaign visit to Dallas, Texas.  President Kennedy, his wife Jackie, and the governor of Texas and his wife were traveling in a convertible limousine when three shots rang out.  Governor Connnally was seriously injured; President Kennedy was dead, parts of his brain splattered across the limousine and on his wife.

Who would do such a thing?  Lee Harvey Oswald was a pretty much a loser.  He had failed at everything he’d ever tried to do.  There’s no evidence that he spent a long time planning the assassination; instead, it was pretty much a crime of opportunity. “The President Has Been Shot!” reviews the entire, terrible weekend – a weekend that changed the country.

A finalist for the YALSA nonfiction award this past year, “The President Has Been Shot!” is a thorough account of the assassination.  The book was divided into two parts – part one was an introduction to Kennedy and part two was the assassination.  Although I understand Swanson’s need to inform young adults about Kennedy’s life and the early years of his presidency, I found this section to be a bit choppy and I’m afraid it might turn off some readers.  Once part two began, I was riveted to the story and I think most of my  students will be too.

The Great Green Heist by Varian Johnson

The Great Greene Heist

Varian Johnson

Published May 27, 2014

Quick Summary:  Jackson Greene has said he was finished with schemes and capers.  After all, his last one cost him the girl he cares about plus he now has to have weekly meetings with the principal to make sure he’s staying out of trouble.  But now that very girl needs him.  Gaby is running for Student Council president and Jackson realizes that the boy running against her will stoop to anything in order to win, even getting his father to bribe the principal, Dr. Kelsey.  In order to ensure that Gaby wins, Jackson has to run the biggest caper of his life, and he has to do it without letting Gaby know what’s going on.

 My Thoughts:  This is the first book I've read by Varian Johnson and I really liked it.  The author's notes states The Westing Game was one of Mr. Johnson's inspirations and that was one of the reasons I wanted to read it.  It is a book that will be perfect for my more sophisticated readers.  Much has been written about its diversity, and I was thrilled with both the diverse cast and that no big deal was made of it. This is definitely one I'll be adding to my school collection.

Copy source:  ARC received at nErDcampMI.

Sunday Evening Finish Post -- 45 Hour Book Challenge

          So I'm declaring an end to my challenge.  Even though I didn't read as much as I did the two other years I've participated, I'm pretty pleased with what I've done, especially since I didn't think I'd be able to participate at all this year.
          In all I read 2 books, finished another book that I'd already started, and am more than half-way through The Savage Fortress.  I read for 12 hours and 31 minutes and I blogged and visited other sites for 3 hours and 35 minutes.  I spent more time visiting and commenting other sites this year than I have in the past and I really enjoyed that aspect of the challenge.  I did notice that I'm reading more slowly than I did in the past -- I'm not sure if that's due to age or just general tiredness.
         I look forward to next year's challenge  -- it's a great way to start a summer.

Sunday Afternoon Update and Review for Lovetorn

I squeezed in one more hour of reading last night and then another 1 1/2 hours this morning before church.  I finished Lovetorn (review below).  I have to go to a funeral this afternoon but I have to get in 1 1/2 more hours to have 12 hours of reading.

Lovetorn

Kavita Daswani

2012

Shalini has been raised in India with her entire extended family – thirty-seven family members living in the house and she is not the least bit excited when her father announces that he has taken a job in the United States and their family of four will be moving there for two years.  Not only will she have to leave her extended family, she’ll also have to leave her fiancé, a boy she has been engaged to since she was three.  Going from her small private school to being a junior at a large public school is also a challenge.  Some people make fun of her and she doesn’t seem to fit in anywhere.  To make matters worse, her mother falls into a deep depression and spends days at time in her bedroom.

            But then Shalini joins a group called Food4Life and she becomes involved in raising money for the charity.  She meets a boy named Toby and is instantly attracted to him.  Now she is torn – how can she fall for an American boy when she’s engaged to someone else?

           I liked Lovetorn but I felt it was a mess in places.  I grant you that I am a middle school librarian and have never been in a high school, but I thought the girls who were mean to Shalini acted more like middle school students than high school students.  I also had a hard time believing that a girl who has been engaged and devoted to a boy since she was little would so quickly fall for someone else. 

          One thing I liked about the story was closeness of her family, and yet their inability at first to help the mom.  I felt that this was perhaps the most authentic part of the book.

Saturday Evening Update and Review for 90 Miles to Havana

    I read for about 8 hours and I've spent 2 hours with blogging and social media.  I've only completed 2 books so this isn't my fastest work but I'm just glad to be able to spend some time reading this weekend.  Here's my review for the book I finished this afternoon:

90 Miles to Havana

Enrique Flores-Gallis

2010

Pura Belpre Honor Book

Julian is the youngest of three brothers in Cuba in 1961.  His biggest problem seems to be learning to stand up for himself until the Revolution happens and life is turned upside down.  Julian comes from a fairly well-to-do family (his father builds buildings) and things become difficult for them.  Afraid that her children will be taken away from her, Julian's mother decides to send her boys to America where she promises that they will go to a lovely camp until their parents can join them.  The camp, however, is not lovely -- and the boys are in danger of being separated and sent to different orphanages across the country.  Julian has a lot of growing up to do and in a world that is very foreign to him.

     I liked this book fairly well.  I really felt for Julian and his family.  I did feel that several events were implausible, but this didn't destroy to story for me.  I must admit to knowing very little about the Cuban Revolution, so it was nice to read a book set during this time period.

48 Hour Update

   So I finally finished Command Authority  by Tom Clancy.  Not his worst book, but certainly not his best.  I'm now going to start 90 Miles to Havana, which is on our state's Battle of the Books list for next year.
   Here's my breakdown so far.  I'm really trying to spend time on the social media portion of the challenge, something I've not done before:

Friday, June 6
     7:30 - 9:30     Read Command Authority.

Saturday, June 7
     9:08 - 9:19     Blogging/ Social Media
     9:19 - 12:39   Finished Command Authority
    1:03 - 1:42      Blogging/Social Media