Posts Tagged «orphans»
Friday, May 27th, 2011
by Carolyn Coman 263 pages Grades 6-8
Hope watches her sister get smaller and smaller as her parents drive their car away. “Forget her!” they tell Hope, but she loves Honey, how can her parents abandon her on the side of the road.
The Memory Bank is told in two ways from two points of view. Honey is quickly picked up and handed a lollipop by a smiling lady and a bunch of laughing kids; her story is told in pictures, while Hope’s is described in words.
Hope cannot forget her sister, of course, and ends up being investigated by the World Wide Memory Bank for delinquent memory creation; instead of creating new memories, all Hope can do is think about her sister. Maybe the bank will hold the key to finding her.
The authors flash back and forth between these two adventures until they come together for a smashing finish.
If you like graphic novels you might also enjoy: Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword, by Barry Deutsch, or The Invention of Hugo Cabret: A Novel in Words and Pictures, by Brian Selznick
Tags: adventure, brothers and sisters, fantasy, girls, graphic fiction, orphans
Posted in Library News | Comments Off
Sunday, April 24th, 2011
By Michaela MacColl, 367 pages Grades 7 & Up
Seventeen year-old Liza’s circumstances changed suddenly and for the worse. One day she was living a life of luxury in a fancy hotel with her parents and the next she is destitute, after her parents die in a carriage accident. Liza considers herself fortunate when she is hired to be the maid for the young princess (and soon to be queen), Victoria. She quickly finds herself caught up in the intrigue, with the previous maid mysteriously dismissed and the princess’s mother and confidante trying to take away control from the soon to be queen.
Connections: For other tales of enterprising orphans from other eras, try reading Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, Crispin: the Cross of Lead by Avi, and The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick. If none of those appeal, a subject search in our OPAC would reveal 190 books with the tracing of “orphan.”
Tags: Great Britain, historical fiction, household employees, lies, London, orphans, Queen Victoria, self-reliance, Spies
Posted in New Book Reviews | Comments Off
Friday, September 24th, 2010
By Lian Hearn, p. 305 – adventure
Takeo has never known his father, who died many years before, and he has been growing up in a remote and peaceful Japanese village surrounded by the rest of his loving family. The rest of Japan is not so; it is a time of warlords, and secret societies in the middle ages, and Takeo’s home is attacked and destroyed by a warlord named Iida who is threatening to take over the whole country. When Takeo returns from a walk in the woods and sees his village burning, something inside him takes over. He scares the warlord’s horse and causes Iida to fall to the ground. Understanding his fatal blunder, he runs back into the woods chased by the warlord’s soldiers. They all run into a man on horseback who fights for Takeo, cutting off the arm of one of Iida’s best warriors. This mysterious man turns out to be a lord of the Otori clan, another of the powerful families of Japan.
Takeo’s life changes completely from this day forward. He is adopted by the Otori and he discovers his father was a famous assassin. He also finds out his real heritage is the Tribe, a kind of secret ninja society; he possesses some of the Tribe’s extraordinary abilities. He can hear details across a crowded courtyard, or through a wooden door, he can make himself “go invisible” and become as silent as a ghost.
In these turbulent times, talents like these are desired by many, and Takeo finds himself pulled in different directions, but he is determined to complete the final task for his adopted father: kill Iida, the same lord who burned his village and killed his family. The trouble is the only way to reach the warlord in his palace is to cross the nightingale floor, a huge room covered in a floor that sings whenever anyone touches it. How can he cross the nightingale floor and avenge his family?
Connections: For other stories taking place in medieval Japan try The Samurai’s Tale, by Erik Christian Haugaard, or The Sword that Cut the Burning Grass: A Samurai Mystery, by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler.
Tags: adventure, coming of age, families, fantasy, historical fiction, identity, love stories, orphans, outsiders, survival, teenagers, teens
Posted in New Book Reviews | Comments Off
Monday, January 25th, 2010
by Elisa Carbone p. 224 Grades 5-8
Barely escaping the gallows in London, orphan Sam Collier finds himself the page to Captain John Smith and on his way to the New World to help settle the Jamestown colony. Smith believes the survival skills Sam has honed on the streets of London and even his violent temper will make him a successful settler in this challenging new frontier. Captain Smith faces challenges of his own. Although he has a good relationship with the Powhatan, the British aristocrats resent the leadership role he’s taken and do everything in their power to undermine and even arrest him. This is gripping historical fiction, based on primary source documents, that presents the Indian perspective as well as the colonial.
Connections: The Winter People by Joseph Bruchac, A Pickpocket’s Tale by Karen Schwabach, and The light in the Forest by Conrad Richter are other good novels about the Colonial Period in America.
Tags: adventure, American Indians, British colonies, Captain John Smith, Colonial America, Colonial Period, frontier and pioneer life, historical fiction, James Town, Jamestown, Native Americans, orphans, Pocahontas, Powhatan, survival, United States history
Posted in New Book Reviews | Comments Off
Sunday, October 11th, 2009
by Dene Low. p. 196 Grades 5-8
What a funny, frothy farce! Set in Victorian England, this improbable mystery concerns sixteen-year-old Petronella who is about to have her London debut when her guardian Uncle Augustus swallows a giant beetle and develops an insatiable hunger for all insects. The story begins at Petronella’s sixteenth birthday party on her large country estate where her uncle swallows the bug, two of her celebrity guests disappear, and we meet the romantic Lord James Sinclair. Filled with Petronella’s witty observations and banter, lots of slapstick, luscious language,and some romantic possibilities, this books is a delight to read.
Connections: If you enjoy this book, try the short stories and novels by P.G. Wodehouse such as How Right You Are, Jeeves, Carry on, Jeeves, and Leave It to Psmith.
Tags: adventure, girls, guardians, historical fiction, humor, insects, London, melodrama, mystery, orphans, romance, teens, uncles, Victorian England
Posted in New Book Reviews | Comments Off
Monday, July 20th, 2009
by John Flanagan p. 250 (about) Grades 5-8
If you like fast-paced, exciting adventure series, here’s an excellent one. In The Ruins of Gorlan, book one of the series, fifteen-year old Will becomes apprenticed to Halt, a senior member of the Rangers, a group of dark-cloaked, mysterious spies whose espionage protects the kingdom. His training–rigorous, often grueling–prepares Will to face the challenges to the kingdom by Morgarath, Lord of the Mountains of Rain and Night, including gigantic, ferocious wild boars and the Kalkara, ape-like creatures that use their piercing stares to paralyze their opponents.
Connections: Here are other fast-paced adventure series: Maximum Ride by James Patterson, Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan, Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer, and Alex Rider by Anthony Horowitz.
Tags: adventure, bullies, espionage, fantasy, good and evil, heroes, monsters, orphans, series, Spies
Posted in New Book Reviews | Comments Off
Wednesday, July 15th, 2009
by Ruth White, p. 197 – Grades 4-7
In Way Down Deep, WV during the summer of 1944, a cute, red-headed toddler was found on the courthouse steps. Raised by Miss Arbus, the owner of the local boarding house, Ruby Jane spends the next ten years living a comfortable life in the quiet little town filled with lots of quirky, loveable characters. When a bank robber and his family are taken in under the collective wings of the townspeople, Ruby Jane starts to piece together the puzzle of her mysterious past.
Connection: For other books with quirky characters set in a small town, try reading Richard Peck’s A Long Way from Chicago and A Year Down Yonder or Susan Patron’s Higher Power of Lucky.
Tags: coming of age, community life, foundlings, identity, magical realism, orphans, Ruth White, West Virginia
Posted in New Book Reviews | Comments Off
Monday, April 27th, 2009
by Matt Haig, p. 316 – Grades 4-8
Twelve-year-old Samuel and his sister Martha (who has recently become selectively mute) find themselves living on the edge of a mysterious forest in Norway after the sudden, tragic death of their parents. Samuel is having trouble adapting to this new strange environment and his quirky aunt’s long list of rules, including the most important – “NEVER – UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES – GO INTO THE FOREST.” The forest contains dark and dangerous creatures as well as a mystery surrounding the disappearance of Aunt Eda’s husband, Uncle Henrik. Samuel is forced into unlocking the mysteries of the forest when he has to save his sister, who also inexplicably disappears into it one day.
Connection: This story might appeal to those readers who enjoy spunky orphan stories like Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events. –CRW
Tags: adventure, fantasy, forests, imaginary creatures, magic, Matt Haig, Norway, orphans
Posted in New Book Reviews | Comments Off
Monday, April 27th, 2009
by Jacqueline Woodson, p. 136 – Grades 4-7
In this companion to Locomotion, Lonnie Collins Motion (aka Locomotion) helps his sister Lili remember life before their separate foster care placements by sending her letters filled with memories of the past triggered by his day to day experiences. Both Locomotion and Lili are happy with their foster care families, but miss their parents and being together. The letters start to focus on the importance of peace and the realities of war as Locomotion becomes more aware of his foster brother who is in the army.
Connection: This quick read might appeal to those who like Shooting the Moon by O’Rourke. –CRW
Highlight: Watch this great interview (from Reading Rockets) with Jacqueline Woodson talking about her life and her books.
Tags: African Americans, brothers and sisters, foster home care, letters, multicultural, orphans, peace, sad stories
Posted in New Book Reviews | Comments Off
