BoTW: How Not to be Popular

This week's Book of the Week is How Not to Be Popular by Jennifer Ziegler, a 2009 Lone Star Award winner.

Maggie has a couple of hippies for parents. She loves them dearly, but Maggie has grown tired of constantly moving from town to town, leaving behind friends and boyfriends. The latest move to Austin, Texas is the last straw. Pained at the thought of making new friends and finding a new boyfriend, Maggie decides to do everything she can at this new school to NOT be popular, to be a loner right up until the point her parents move again. The results are as predictable as they are funny.

BoTW: The Black Book of Secrets

The Black Book of Secrets by F. E. Higgins (no relation to our esteemed principal, Mrs. Higgins) is set in a 19th century village not far from a city similar to London, England. It tells the story of a young boy, Ludlow Fitch, who becomes the assistant to a strange pawnbroker. Ludlow soon begins performing the strangest of tasks: transcribing people's deepest, darkest secrets into The Black Book of Secrets.

Not all is as it seems, however. As more and more villagers pay the pawnbroker to relieve them of their burdening secrets, a web of intrigue emerges involving everyone including Ludlow himself. This 2009 Lonestar title is the perfect book for those who love a good mystery.

BoTW: The Red Blazer Girls

The Red Blazer Girls by Michael D. Beil is a throwback to the young adult mystery books from a few decades ago. It centers around the investigative antics of three teenage girls, all of the them the best of friends. The girls attend a private Catholic high school for girls. They wear red blazers as part of their school uniform, hence their namesake. Sophie narrates the story and is the glue that holds the friends together. Margaret is the brains of the trio, an intellectual powerhouse who deduces with the best of them. Rebecca is the artist and the group's comic relief.

The three have the most active of imaginations, Sophie especially. The story begins when Sophie screams out loud in class when she sees a face peering out the window of the church across from her school. Undaunted by the scare, the three quickly agree to investigate the face and sneak into the church. Instead of a ghost or murderer, the girls discover an old lady and a decades-old mystery. The mysterious old lady tasks them with solving the whereabouts of a ring that according to legend grants wishes.

The Red Blazer Girls enthusiastically take the case and proceed to sneak into a church, hide under an alter table, and use Decartes' Cartesian coordinate system to track down the ring, among other detective activities. The girls employ a healthy dose of basic algebra and geometry to solve their case and Beil unfolds the puzzles in such a way that the reader can attempt to solve the equations right alongside the young sleuths.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Red Blazer Girls. As a kid, I read every The Hardy Boys mystery I could get my hands on. Beil's Red Blazer Girls are very much in the light-hearted, investigative spirit of Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys. If you enjoy a good mystery and solving math problems, pick up The Red Blazer Girls today!

BoTW: The Eleventh Plague

I am a big fan of The Walking Dead series. I've read the first graphic novel compendium and watched both seasons of the TV series on AMC. Young adult literature didn't really have an equivalent until Jeff Hirsch wrote The Eleventh Plague, a book that mirrors everything about The Walking Dead except for the roving hordes of flesh-eating zombies.

The book opens up with Stephen helping his Dad bury Stephen's grandfather. Some years ago, the United States went to war with China. The U.S. launched nuclear weapons at China, China reciprocated by unleashing a deadly flu virus at the United States called P11H3, aka the Eleventh Plague. Stephen's grandfather just died, his mother died some years ago, and now it's just Stephen and his Dad. They are scavengers, people who roam the desolated U.S. landscape looking for bits and scraps that they can trade for food, clothes, and ammunition.

After they bury grandfather, the father and son set out again, making their way south towards Florida and a trading outpost. Along the way, they stumble upon a crashed U.S. Airforce bomber. They investigate inside the busted fuselage and discover some treasures, a warm blanket and a can of pears. The latter they choose to devour rather than save to trade later. In this post-apocalyptic world, a can of food is worth its weight in gold. Stephen and his Dad can't resist eating its contents anyways.

The two linger too long at the plane crash site and a pair of slavers stumble upon them. A thunderstorm erupting above them, Stephen and his Dad flee for their lives after unsuccessfully confronting the evil men. Running for their lives, they end up at the edge of a sharp ravine, a raging river below them. Scanning for a new escape avenue, the ground suddenly gives way underneath Stephen's Dad and the river takes him. Stephen sheds his gear and clothes and dives in after him. He grabs Dad in the middle of the churning water, but when he drags him ashore, he finds his father badly injured: a skull fracture and a broken arm and leg.

Truly alone now, how will Stephen survive? How will he care for his father without the modern luxuries of a hospital or medical supplies? Read The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch and find out! It may not have hungry, brain-munching zombies but it's still a great read!

BoTW: The Dead and the Gone

The Dead and the Gone by Susan Pfeffer is a book about a Puerto Rican family trying to survive a devastated planet Earth. The story begins when a meteor slams into the moon, knocking it out of its typical orbit. The collision brings about catastrophic climate changes to Earth, plunging the world into a sudden Ice Age. As the temperature drops worldwide, crops fail, hunger ensues, and people starve and die by the millions.

Alex Morales, all of sixteen years old, must protect and provide for his two sisters. The entire books takes place in the middle of a New York City in the midst anarchy and destruction. Be forewarned, this book is stark and serious and not for the faint of heart. It deals liberally with a variety of moral issues, including the bleak choices that come with hard survival.

The Dead and the Gone is a 2009 Lone Star award winner. It can be found on the new release shelf with the other Lone Star winners.

BoTW: The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

When I first saw the cover of The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly, my immediate thought was, "I don't want to read this book." I'll be the first to admit, I was once again judging a book by its cover. In my defense, the cover does depict the silhouette of a girl holding her hand out for a hovering dragonfly, a butterfly net slack at her side. At first glance, I thought the book was about frolicking in meadows and sewing pretty dresses, and as a dude accustomed to reading manly books like Leviathan, I had no inclination to read about a girl and her butterfly net.

You'd think I'd learn.

On a whim, I decided to give Calpurnia Tate a chance. I'm glad I did. Inside, I found an engrossing book about a young girl growing up in central Texas more than one hundred years ago. I love historical fiction and Calpurnia Tate does an exceptional job of painting a picture of what life must have been like in turn-of-the-20th century Texas.

Each chapter of the book begins with a quote from Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species and depicts one in a series of typical events in the life of Calpurnia Tate, the book's main character. Calpurnia is eleven years old, the only daughter of a family of six boys! She lives on a pecan farm not far from Austin and loves more than anything to spend time with her grandfather exploring the countryside studying the local flora and fauna.

What Calpurnia doesn't enjoy doing is everything expected of a girl growing up in 19th century Texas: sewing, cooking, knitting, piano playing, and behaving like a lady. Calpurnia struggles with the weight of these expectations throughout the entire book because deep down she knows she wants nothing more than to go to college and become a natural scientist, a life-long dream that runs counter to her mother and the community in general.

In the middle of Calpurnia's struggle to be a scientist instead of a housewife, Jacqueline Kelly masterfully describes life in the post-Civil War era. One of my favorite chapters entitled "Thanksgiving" tells the story of how Calpurnia's little brother Travis gets the responsibility of caring for the family's three turkeys, all destined for the holiday plate. Travis, a softy for all critters, wastes no time naming all three turkeys and they soon become his very own pets to the point where the turkey trio come running up to greet him whenever he approaches. When Travis discovers the family means to eat the turkeys come Thanksgiving, he does everything he can to "accidentally" allow the birds to escape. It's a hilarious and insightful chapter, but not one that ends happily for Reggie, Tom Turkey, and Lavania.

In some ways, the book's series of anecdotal stories reminds me of the 70s show Little House on the Praire. Calpurnia Tate bears a passing resemblance to the spunky Laura Ingalls. However, Calpurnia Tate is not nearly as full of homespun goodness as Little House. Unlike the TV show, which very often preached a moral code, Calpurnia Tate very much feels like a real person growing up in a unique period of U.S. history.

As you can tell by now, I highly recommend the book. It's smartly written, contains interesting, admirable characters, and is an invaluable prism for gazing into life in Texas a century ago, and yet another example of giving a book a try despite its butterfly girl cover.

BoTW: Gym Candy

Gym Candy by Carl Deuker is a 2009 Lone Star award winner. It's about a young high school football player who feels so much pressure to excel, he turns to steroids to improve his game. The book paints a pretty bleak picture of steroid use, and doesn't pull any punches in describing the drug's many side effects. The ending is especially intense and hard hitting. Gym Candy is a must-read for any sports fan, but also has broad appeal for any reader that likes a good book.

And if you like Gym Candy, you should also check out Pop by Gordon Korman, another football themed book with quality writing, great characters, and a good message.

BoTW: When You Reach Me

An event by itself often doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of a person's life. But when you string them together, can they divine a grander meaning? When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead takes a stab at answering that question within a suspenseful, mysterious novel.

Miranda, a twelve-year old of a single parent, witnesses a series of seemingly random events that eventually converge into a mission of life and death. Her mom is preparing as a contestent on the game show The $20,000 Pyramid. Miranda's best friend Sal is inexpicably punched by a new student. Miranda's apartment key goes missing. And then Miranda's received the first of many letters that says:

I am coming to save your friend's life, and my own.

I must ask two favors. First, you must write me a letter.

The notes keep coming and very often describe events that haven't even happened yet, leading Miranda to the conclusion that only she can prevent someone's premature death.

When You Reach me is the 2010 John Newbery Award Winner and features prominately on the 2010 Lone Star list as well. The American Library Association describes the book as having a "brilliantly constructed plot." Stop by the library and check it out for yourself!

BoTW: Leviathan

I raved about Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld last January (you can check the archive to read what I had to say about this new series) and I'm highlighting the book again because it's just that good!

Leviathan is a steam-punk re-imagining of World War I, full of genetically modified animals and clanker metal war machines. The plot revolves around young prince Aleksander Ferdinand, son of the Archduke Ferdinand and leader of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. When the Archduke is brutally assassinated, Alek must flee for his life and muster a plan to fight the men behind his father's death.

You need to read this book now because Behemoth is already out and the third book in the series, Goliath, came out just last month!

BoTW: Uglies

This Monday's book is Uglies by Scott Westerfeld.

First and foremost, Uglies is a science fiction book. It's about a society in the future that surgically modifies its teenage children to look beautiful. Before the surgery, a child is called an Ugly. After the surgery, they are a Pretty.

So the book is about a civilization of gorgeous models? Not even close. A minority of kids refuse to have the surgery. Instead, they flee New Pretty Town and form their own community. The government that runs New Pretty Town and conducts the transformations of Uglies to Pretties seeks to crush this rebellion and actively pursues any Ugly that chooses to think for themselves.

Looking for a great sci-fi story with a thought-provoking message about conformity and self-worth? Then look no farther than Uglies by Scott Westerfeld.