Sit! Stay! Read!

Chowder

by Peter Brown

When it comes to children’s books, only animal lovers need apply. Or so it seems if one is to browse the shelves of picture books at the local library or bookstore. Animals of all kinds are great protagonists for children’s stories, and when I saw the cover of Chowder I knew I had to meet him.

Summary

Chowder is a handsome bulldog who lives with the Wubbingtons. Unlike other dogs, Chowder seems to have a taste for more stimulating activities - reading the newspaper, smelling the flowers, listening to music. He even uses the toilet. However, his human-esque qualities set him apart from other animals. In fact, he has been told by other dogs that he belongs in a zoo. Poor Chowder is a bit lonely, really.

When Chowder notices a billboard for a petting zoo at the local superstore, he thinks this might be just the place to find some friends. He eagerly devises a way to get the Wubbingtons to the store. Upon his arrival, the zoo animals roll a ball to Chowder, who kicks it so hard it lands in a tree. Before he can so much as apologize, Chowder is swept up by his owners and taken into the store to shop (he usually likes to do these kinds of activities, after all). But Chowder is distressed by the lost ball, and decides he has to get it back to the animals - maybe then they’ll play with him. What ensues is a minor drama that ends in happy friendship.

Worth staying up past bedtime?

As a person with a weakness for dogs who have squashed faces, wrinkled faces, or underbites, I was immediately intrigued by this book. The illustrations were my favorite part. Chowder portrays many emotions so clearly, and I completely loved seeing him laying in a shopping cart, smelling a flower, and dancing to music. I love that Chowder didn’t try to change in order to make friends, and that he found ones who were accepting of his differences. I definitely recommend staying up late with this clever guy!

The Lure of Immortality

Series Review

The Secrets of the Immortal Nicolas Flamel, incorporating The Alchemyst, The Magician, The Sorceress, and The Necromancer

by Michael Scott

I also wanted to title this post, “Why the heck haven’t more people heard of this series, it’s amazing and everyone should read it!!” because I am baffled that there aren’t more people who are aware of it. Especially considering the fact that these books continually rank on the New York Times bestseller list.

Moving on.

It is so hard to summarize the plot in this series because it is so chock full of details and interesting tidbits, but I’ll do my best.

Summary

Do you know about Nicolas Flamel? I, perhaps like most people, first learned about him from Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (or, Harry Potter and the Alchemist’s Stone for those readers in the UK). Nicolas Flamel (who was a real person, by the way, but I’ll be discussing the literary figure from here out) is the only known maker of the sorcerer’s/alchemist’s stone, which allows the creator to make the elixir of life and turn any metal into solid gold. That much is similar between the two books, but get all thoughts of the Nicolas Flamel in HP out of your head now, because we are about to dive into a completely different character and story line.

In Michael Scott’s first book of the series, The Alchemyst, we meet Nicolas Flamel, introduced as Nick Fleming, in modern-day San Francisco. He runs a bookstore with his wife, Perenelle, introduced as Perry. He has a young employee, Josh, whose twin 15-year-old sister, Sophie, works at a coffee shop across the street. On the day we meet these four, Sophie notices some odd-looking men entering the bookstore from her vantage point at the coffee shop. Across the street, Josh is processing a new shipment of books in the basement, and as he climbs the stairs into the store, he comes across Nick in battle with the well-dressed man Sophie had been watching. The two are calmly but swiftly fighting each other, throwing what look like balls of light back and forth. The air reeks of sulfur and mint. The man, whom Nick refers to as Dee, steals a book that Nick has been holding and heads for the door. Josh lunges at Dee, and manages to rip two pages out of the book before Dee flees the scene.

I hope you don’t feel like I spoiled anything yet. This all happens in the first few pages.

It turns out that the book Dee stole is the Codex, an ancient tome that holds the secrets of the world, including instructions on how to make the sorcerer’s stone. Nicolas and Perry have been keeping this book safe for centuries, because, in the wrong hands, it could be deadly. Josh and Sophie are quickly drawn into Nick and Perry’s world, and learn that nothing in their lives is as it seemed. There is magic, immortality, legend and myth all around, and the twins are a fated part of the drama and adventure that is about to ensue.

What follows this insanely informative beginning is a whirlwind adventure so magnificent and imaginative I cannot even begin to do it justice. As of this writing, I have read the four books listed above (The Alchemyst, The Magician, The Sorceress, and The Necromancer). There is a fifth book coming, The Warlock, but it won't be out until next year.

Worth staying up past bedtime?

Do I even have to tell you that I lost sleep in my eagerness to read these books? They are like a sophisticated version of the Percy Jackson series. There are numerous references to classical and even ancient literature, history, myth, and legend. The story is smart and thought-provoking, yet not so much that it will evade younger readers. Part of me is frustrated that it is taking Scott so long to wrap it all up. I want to know what happens! However, none of the books have felt unnecessary. The characters are so well-developed, and the story is enmeshed with so many mesmerizing details that I find myself turning page after page after page, although I will admit to throwing down The Necromancer in frustration when I learned that things hadn’t been resolved by the end it.

Go out and get these books. You won’t be sorry.

V is for ...

Vegan Virgin Valentine

by Carolyn Mackler

I needed no further incentive to read this book after noticing two things about it: 1. The title (how can you not be intrigued by this title?); 2. The author, Carolyn Mackler, who wrote the fabulous The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things.

Summary

Mara Valentine is nearing the end of her senior year of high school, and she is on the fast-track to success. A straight-A student in the running for valedictorian, accepted into Yale, already has a few college credits under her belt ... basically, she’s got it all worked out. But then her niece, V, who is one year younger than Mara, comes to live with her family and throws a big wrench into Mara’s life. Where Mara is focused and determined, V is go-with-the-flow casual; Mara makes decisions with regard to how they will affect her, while V does what she wants, when she wants. Needless to say, Mara doesn’t understand V, nor does she particularly like her. This isn’t helped by the fact that, within 24 hours of her arrival, V has managed to make out with Mara’s ex-boyfriend, and the story quickly spreads around school.

However, as Mara seeks time away from home and V in order to maintain her own sanity and focus on her future, she finds herself wondering about how all of good decisions have affected her life. One thing that brings these questions to mind? Her adorable, smart, funny boss at the coffee shop, a 22-year-old entrepreneur who has yet to attend college yet can hold his own with Mara’s intellectual conversations. And as much as V makes her crazy, Mara can’t help but wonder if she would benefit from a little less structure as well.

Worth staying up past bedtime?

Definitely. Mackler did a great job shaping these characters, and as with The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things, she gives an honest and realistic portrayal of the average teenager. I really enjoyed this book and was quite happy to keep the light on late to find out what Mara would decide to do about her life.

I cannot go to school today ...

I've had that opening line from Shel Silverstein's poem Sick in my head frequently these days:

"I cannot go to school today," said little Peggy Ann McKay. "I have the measles and the mumps ..."

Although in my case, it was just a mean cold ... which turned into a really mean sinus infection. So between the end of the summer semester (two weeks to sleep in!), catching said cold, a visit from mom, moving, the start of the fall semester, and then getting sick AGAIN, I just haven’t thought about posting anything new. I’m back though, fully recovered and with a list of books that I’m just bursting to tell you about. Meanwhile, I thought I’d share with you some of my favorite books to read when I’m sick. Because for me, nothing says comfort like a good book that you can lose yourself in for several hours while waiting for medicine to kill those nasty germs ...

The Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing, by Melissa Bank

Any of the Harry Potter books, by J.K. Rowling

Lighthearted “chick lit” books by authors such as Jane Green or Jennifer Weiner

Any of the Bunnicula books, by James Howe

Cookbooks (seriously), so I can think about food that I’ll make once my appetite returns

Here's hoping none of us will need to use this list anytime soon. I'm stocking up on vitamins now in anticipation of all those germy, err, lovely kiddos who will be frequenting the library during the cold and flu season.