I’ve been trying to figure out why it’s so satisfying, even illuminating, to read about people who approach life and relationships from a place outside our normal expectations. In this book, Caitlin’s world is drawn in black and white, very literal, no shades of colors, no confusing faces, and no conflicting emotions. Caitlin can read quite well, even though she’s only ten years old, and she likes definitions, words pinned down in a dictionary with definite, specific meanings.

Caitlin’s brother, Devon, used to explain the messy stuff to her–the colors and the feelings and the rules for right behavior in different situations. But now Devon is gone, killed in a school shooting, and Caitlin has to Work At It all by herself and try to find Closure for not only herself but also her father and her classmates and maybe her entire community. That’s a big job for a girl with Asperger’s who has trouble even Looking At the Person who’s speaking to her.

Caitlin is an engaging character. Her brother’s nickname for Caitlin was “Scout” from the movie/book To Kill a Mockingbird. He likened Caitlin’s direct, no nonsense approach to life to Scout’s disingenuous approach to members of the lynch mob in this scene from To Kill a Mockingbird:

“I’m back in Devon’s room staring up at SCOUT carved into the wood and seeing my special name makes me feel good. Devon said his favorite part in To Kill a Mockingbird is where Scout talks to the crowd of angry men and makes them go away. All she says is hi and that she knows their kids from school. Then all the angry men leave. I don’t Get It. But Devon says that’s exactly what I’m like because I say stuff that’s obvious and people go, Oh, and it makes them think.”

Scout looks into the forest of men who have come to lynch Tom Robbins, and she sees individuals, men from her community with names and families and the ability to feel ashamed of themselves. Caitlin must Work At It, but she, too, has the ability to approach individual children in the mob scene that is her school’s playground and begin to make friends and bring healing to those around her.

I liked this book so much, just as I enjoyed reading Marcelo in the Real World and Anything But Typical and The Speed of Dark and other books featuring autistic and Aspergers children and young adults. Autistic people, at least in literature, have a way of cutting through the bull to the heart of the matter and showing me ideas and relationships between things that I am unable to see by myself. “Simplify, simplify,” said Henry David Thoreau. Through these books and others, I’m learning to simplify a complex world and still enjoy all the colors.

Ooooh, I just learned that Mockingbird won the 2010 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. I am delighted because I think the book deserves lots of praise and attention, although Ms. Betsy at Fuse #8 (and apparently others) holds a contrary opinion. To each his own, but I’ll take Mockingbird and books like it any day.

Here’s a brief note on several of Cybils Middle Grade Fiction nominees that I’ve read this week:

The Fantastic Secret of Owen Jester by Barbara O’Connor. Owen and his friends Travis and Stumpy reminded me for some reason of the Little Rascals, and they even have a pesky girl next door named Viola. When Owen and company find something very special next to the train tracks, Viola is the only one who knows how to take advantage of the find. It’s sort of a slow, little story with no great thrills or emotional highs and lows, just some kids having a summer adventure.

The Archaeolojesters by Andreas Oertel. Cody, Eric, and Eric’s twin sister, Rachel try to save their town’s economy by perpetrating a hoax to bring in visitors. The ending is a bit unbelievable, but the the book is supposed to be the first in a series. So either the kids will reap what they sowed in the next installment, or the series will segue into a fantastical adventure that requires lots of suspension of disbelief.

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood is also the first in a series about three children who were raised by wolves. The story, which features governess Penelope Lumley, a fifteen year old graduate of the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females, is rather cute and fun, but it ends practically in mid-sentence with most of its questions unanswered. The next book in the series, The Hidden Gallery, will be in stores Feb 22, 2011. You may want to wait for it and then sneak a peek at the ending to see if the words “to be continued” are again the (non)ending, if that sort of thing bothers you as it does me. These books look to be similar in tone and attitude to Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events.

Mary Mae and the Gospel Truth by Sandra Dutton. This book attempts to reconcile a straw man version of creationism with the fossil record. Young earth creationists are presumed to be ignorant, abusive hillbillies with sort of good hearts but very, very little brain. Oh, and the “Christian” mother threatens Mary Mae with homeschooling her if Mary doesn’t forget about fossils and quit asking so many questions about the Bible. Then Mama slaps Mary Mae for being sassy. That was the last straw for me. Mary Mae’s mama believes that fossils are tricks that God put in the earth to test our faith. Blech. I’m not a believer in a young earth myself, but those who do hold that view deserve more respect than this piece of didactic stereotyping gives them.

Several of the Cybils books nominated in the Middle Grade Fiction category focus on entrepreneurship or family businesses. In Rocky Road by Rose Kent, already reviewed here, the Dobsons start an ice cream shop in Schenectady. In Crunch by Leslie Connor, also reviewed previously, three siblings run a thriving bicycle repair shop while their parents are stranded up north. Emma Freke’s mom in I, Emma Freke by Elizabeth Atkinson, leaves Emma to tend the bead shop while mom gallivants. In The Dancing Pancake by Ellen Spinelli, Bindi’s mom and aunt team up to open a restaurant called, what else, The Dancing Pancake.

And now I’ve just finished It’s Raining Cupcakes by Lisa Schroeder in which twelve year old Isabel’s family opens a cupcake shop. I don’t know who was channeling whom, but the experience of reading It’s Raining Cupcakes really reminded me of reading Rocky Road a couple of weeks ago:

Opening a food business. Check.
Twelve year old not totally on board. Check.
Mom with depression or borderline depression issues. Check.
Family pitches in to help. Check.
Neighbors and friends also pitch in. Check.
Competition threatens. Check.
Mompreneur despairs. Check.
Daughter saves the day. Check.
All’s well that ends well. The business is a success!

It’s Raining Cupcakes was a cute story, and the cupcake recipes included in the back of the book look like winners. However, I’m left to wonder what’s next? Beads, bicycles, ice cream, pancakes, cupcakes. . . Maybe a nice old-fashioned bookstore?

Other takes:
Brimful Curiosities: “I just finished a cute middle grade novel titled It’s Raining Cupcakes by Lisa Schroeder, a perfect girly diversion for a rainy summer day. From the scrumptious pink cupcake laden cover to a well-written plot with chapter titles named after different cupcakes, the book is a treat to read.”

Jama Rattigan’s Alphabet Soup: “Lisa used only the finest ingredients: a likeable, true-to-life main character, an appetizing premise, a cozy small town setting, and interesting secondary characters, all flavored with equal parts charm, humor, and suspense.”

Kim Bacciella at YA Books Central: “This is a sweet, fun tale of a young girl who wants nothing more than to travel outside her little town of Willow.”

It’s Raining Cupcakes has been nominated for the 2010 Cybils Awards in the Middle Grade Fiction category.

So, what’s your favorite cupcake or cupcake recipe?

Closed for the Season: A Mystery Story by Mary Downing Hahn.
Belly Up by Stuart Gibbs.

The mystery:
Who killed old Mrs. Donaldson?
Who murdered Henry Hippo?

The setting:
Magic Forest, Virginia’s defunct, kudzu-covered theme park.
FunJungle, America’s newest theme park/zoo located in the Texas Hill Country.

The detectives:
Logan Forbes, who just moved into the murdered woman’s house, and his sidekick, rude, bookish, misfit Arthur Jenkins, who lives next door.
Teddy Roosevelt Fitzroy, the son of a gorilla expert and a wildlife photographer, and his new friend, Samantha MacCracken, daughter of the millionaire owner of FunJungle, JJ MacCracken.

The suspects: Too many to count. In both books, I was kept guessing till the very end. Thrills and chills. Danger and creepiness. Recommended reading for mystery fans of all ages.

The authors:
Mary Dowling Hahn has been writing children’s books for over thirty years, and she’s published almost thirty books. Her books run the gamut from mysteries to ghost stories to historical fiction to fantasy. I know I’ve read her books before, but I don’t actually recognize any of the titles. Hahn’s 1991 book Stepping on the Cracks won the Scot O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction.
Stuart Gibbs has written screenplays, but Belly Up is his first published novel. He has another novel, The Last Musketeer, due out next fall.

I was quite absorbed by both of these mystery thrillers, but I would give the edge to Belly Up. I’m sure neither author expected anyone to compare the two books in the first place, but they do have a lot in common. Kudos to Stuart Gibbs for such a fast and funny debut novel, and the same to Ms. Hahn for the latest entry in a body of work that’s kept kids entertained for many years.

You can’t go wrong by picking up either of these, but if you have to choose which one to read first, check out Belly Up. After all, an exploding hippo trumps almost anything!

Other takes on Belly Up:
Jennifer at 5 Minutes for Books: “Animal lovers, and zoo or theme park afficianados will appreciate the insider info given about these industries. As a former Texan, I also enjoyed the accurate portrayal of that area.”

Debbie Winkler: “Because of the setting and the workers, I got to learn all kinds of things that I never knew about animals and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Due to Stuart Gibbs’ engaging writing style, I never felt like I was getting an info dump on animals that I didn’t care about.”

Mark Carstairs: ” It’s hard in a kids’ mystery to balance the need for the main character to investigate without making the adults seem like bad parents. That was handled here perfectly. And it changed as the book progressed, although keeping things realistic.”

Other takes on Closed for the Season:
Jen Robinson’s Book Page: “This combination of realistic interpersonal dynamics with atmospheric, suspenseful mystery is sure to please kids. Especially those kids who aren’t athletes, and have been known to spend an afternoon or two in the local library.”

ReadingJunky’s Reading Roost: “The murder, the possibility of the killer’s involvement in embezzlement, and the bulldozing of a local, historic amusement park all combine for some great adventure.”

Both Closed for the Season and Belly Up have been nominated for the 2010 Cybils Awards in the Middle Grade Fiction category.

FInally twelve years old! Rory Swenson is finally twelve, and she can’t wait to do all the things her over-protective parents have been promising to let her do when she turns twelve. In fact, Rory’s been keeping a list of those promised privileges and experiences since she was seven years old.

“A pet is a huge responsibility. You can get one when you’re twelve.”

Rory’s heard promises like that one for years, and now that’s she’s finally twelve, she’s ready to grow up, put away childhood, and do and have everything on her “Finally” list.

Finally is a sort of, kind of follow-up to last year’s 11 Birthdays by the same author. Amanda and Leo from that book show up as minor characters in this one. 11 Birthdays was one of Besty-Bee’s favorites from earlier this year, so she’s now busily engaged in reading Finally. I’ll try to remember to let you know what she thinks.

I think Finally is a fantastic story of growing up and how it’s not always what it’s cracked up to be. Rory is a great character, equal parts spunk and immaturity, and she faces all of the trials and tribulations of getting what she thinks she wants but not always what she really wants with grace and spirit.

The things that go wrong with Rory’s wish fulfillment birthday sometimes read like a sitcom, perhaps I Love Lucy or some other such madcap adventure. By the end of the book, Rory’s been bumped, bruised, nearly smothered to death, and embarrassed numerous times and in numerous situations. But she learns that her real wishes have to do with encouraging others, and her real gift is that of seeing needs and ways to help that other people miss.

Twelve year old girls and almost-twelves will see themselves in the story and enjoy comparing their own mental list with Rory’s. I predict that my almost-twelve is going to like Finally.

Wendy Mass says in this interview there’s a 13 year old companion book to 11 Birthdays and Finally coming up maybe next year. Yeah!

Other takes:
Stacked: “Finally is a fast-paced, hilarious novel that will take readers back to one of the most exciting ages in their lives, and it will resonate with middle schoolers who are themselves struggling with the challenges of never being old enough or mature enough to do some of the things that their friends do.”

Peaceful Reader: “My favorite part was the ending, which was filled with warm feelings and great resolution but the middle made me a little overwhelmed. Kids will love it though-especially the murderous bunny!”

Reading Junky’s Reading Roost: “FINALLY will have readers laughing, nodding in agreement, and sighing in sympathy as they follow Rory’s tale of reaching 12.”

Finally has been nominated for the 2010 Cybils Awards in the Middle Grade Fiction category.

Twelve year old Polly Madrassa talks like this: “I know just how to soothe a disturbed and distressed spirit, my dearest sister. Come along and we shall frolic together among the salty waves of the sea! We shall bask in the sun’s lovely rays.” For the entire book.

Ummm, yeah. It’s a little much for 309 pages. Polly’s favorites role models are Jane Austen’s Elizabeth Bennet and L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables. Hey, those girls are a couple of my favorite literary characters, too. But Polly takes her fan-girl admiration and imitation to the extreme. Her family and friends are sometimes charmed,sometimes confused, sometimes indulgent, and sometimes downright annoyed by Polly’s Austenite tendencies. Which was pretty much where I landed over the course of this book.

Polly is not only flowery talker and a drinker of tea, she’s also a matchmaker, a pastime that provides the plot of the story. Polly wants to find and facilitate “true love” for her dearest friends, Miss Wiskerton, Mr. Nightquist, and Mr. Fisk, and for her dear sister, Clementine. Polly pursues her matchmaking with all the zeal and finesse of another famous Austen character, Emma Woodhouse, which is to say much zeal and not much skill or tact. Of course, the course of true love doesn’t run smooth, to (mis)quote another famous author, and Polly’s matches turn into disasters, for the most part. But Polly has her heart in right place, and she learns eventually that her friends can not be manipulated like the characters in a book.

As I said, I became a little weary of reading Polly’s Jane Austen imitation, and I found it difficult to believe that any twelve year old could sustain such a personal drama for the length of time, about a month, that the book covers. However, on the other hand, the story was cute, and Polly’s misadventures are entertaining.

Scones and Sensibility would make a good evening’s diversion for the Pride and Prejudice/Anne of Green Gables crowd.

Other takes:
Young Adult Literature Review: Unfortunately, Polly’s speech wasn’t the only thing that wore on me but her interfering and meddling in the lives of other felt a little excessive. . . . However at this point in the story, I was pretty committed to seeing what happened with all of her matchmaking, and I kept reading. My persistence was rewarded.”

Frenetic Reader: “Though I wish some of the more minor characters and plotlines were explored more- Polly’s potential romance, for example-, I am completely enamored with Scones and Sensibility.”

One Literature Nut: “I really wanted to like this book, with its cute premise of a young girl infatuated with all things Jane Austen, the pastry shop, and multiple courtships, but I just didn’t.”

YABookNerd: “A cute tale that made me crave chocolate croissants and other goodies. Polly is sweet, funny, and hopelessly out of touch with her world, which only makes her more lovable.”

I had trouble getting past the initial premise of this story: loving father sends his three daughters (ages 11, 9, and 7) across the country on an airplane from Brooklyn to Oakland, California to spend a month with their crazy mother who deserted them seven years previously and doesn’t really want them to come. Negligent mother, Cecile, doesn’t even have a phone and may be living on the streets for all the father knows. How did he get in touch with her in the first place? How will he know if the girls arrived safely or if anyone met them when they did get there? What if Cecile is in jail (a real possibility considering the rest of the story)? Why would any decent parent send his young daughters on such a journey?

After I swallowed the implausibility of that opening gambit, I enjoyed reading about Delphine and her sisters Vonetta and Fern and their selfish, crazy mother, Cecile/Nzila, who in addition to being totally obsessed with writing poetry is also associated with the Black Panthers. The summer of 1968, the year in which the story takes place, saw the Panthers’ leader, Huey Newton, on trial for manslaughter, and the Black Panthers were holding rallies and demonstrations with the slogan “Free Huey!” The Panthers also ran a feeding program out of a church in Oakland, providing breakfast for poor children, a program which figures into the story of Delphine’s crazy summer.

The book tries to present a balanced view of the Black Panthers and of the political and social climate of the time, and as far as I can tell, it does maintain some objectivity. While the Black Panther group is providing breakfast and a place of safety during the day for Delphine and her sisters, Delphine also becomes aware that that the Panthers have been involved in some serious violence, that they carry weapons, and that being close to the Panthers might not be so safe after all. The real villains in the book are not the “pigs” (police) or white people, but rather Delphine’s negligent mom and a traitor within the Panther group itself.

Final verdict: it’s a decent story, but I don’t think it should be the number one choice for the National Book Award. The ending is a little sudden and unbelievable.

Other takes:
Melissa at Book Nut: “There wasn’t enough of a happy ending to suit me; it almost felt like they were spinning in the same place all summer. The growth that does occur is very, very subtle. I sit and think about it, and the pieces fall together… and yet there seems something a bit off.”

Liz B. at A Chair, a Fireplace and a Tea Cozy: “I’m not satisfied. I want a second book. I want to spend more time with the Gaither sisters. I want One Crazy Summer to be the start of a new series.”

Six Boxes of Books: “Delphine’s voice is well done; she’s an eleven-year-old who’s had to grow up too quickly and help take care of her sisters, but she still has the emotional maturity of an eleven-year-old.”

One Crazy Summer has been nominated for the 2010 Cybils Awards in the Middle Grade Fiction category.
One Crazy Summer is also one of five books shortlisted for the National Book Awards, Young People’s Literature division.

Betti on the High Wire begins with a circus girl whose mama is The Tallest Woman in the World with a Tail and whose dad is the famous bumpy Green Alligator Man. Big Mouth Babo, the circus girl, lives in a circus camp and sleeps in the lion’s cage. The circus animals and circus people and Babo’s mom and dad all disappeared when the soldiers came, but the circus ghosts still fly around and haunt the camp.

And all of the leftover children live in the empty circus camp with Auntie Moo who takes care of them. Babo, who is very brave, knows that her very tall mama and her green alligator daddy will come back to get her someday. In the meantime Babo is the leader of the leftover kids, and she doesn’t like Melons (foreigners) very much.

If you think that’s a confusing beginning to a realistic fiction book for middle grade readers, I must tell you that I’ve organized it and simplified it for you somewhat. I didn’t mention that Babo lives in an unspecified war torn country or that she’s “broken” with one fish eye and some missing toes. I didn’t tell you about One-Armed George and Sister Baroo and Old Lady Suri and the Teeny Tiny Puppet Man. As I read the book at first, I was completely confused and unsure of what was real and what was a figment of Babo’s very active imagination.

Strange to say the confusion works to show us, the readers, how confusing the world is for a young girl caught in a country ravaged by violence and war and then swept away to be adopted in the United States. Babo’s name changes to Betti. She gets new clothes. She eats new food. She tries to speak and understand English. Her life changes. And throughout all the changes, Babo/Betti remains a fierce little survivor; her new dad calls her their “little tiger.” She meets her new situation, new parents, new world with verve and tenacity. And since Betti is the narrator of the story, we get to see just how confusing life can be for a girl who’s taken away from everything she knows and loves, even though that familiar place is dangerous and violent, to a new place where everything is scary and strange and unpredictable.

I really loved this story once I got past the confusion of the first few chapters. I realized that the story was supposed to be confusing at first, to mirror the confusion that Babo/Betti felt and experienced. This book would be a wonderful resource for any child who is trying to understand a new adopted sibling or cousin or friend from another country. It would be great story for anyone who’s interested in bridging cultures and what it takes to bring about inter-cultural understanding. In fact, anyone who has never even thought about confronting and adapting to a new culture should read the book just to make themselves think about it just a little.

Or read it just for the fun of meeting Betti and watching her navigate the “high wire” of becoming an American girl. Good story.

Betti on the High Wire has been nominated for the 2010 Cybils Awards in the Middle Grade Fiction category.