Crispin The End of Time

Horn Book (July/August, 2010)
Prolific storyteller Avi revisits the hero of his Newbery Medal winner, and this final volume in the Crispin trilogy showcases the same strengths as the earlier books: brisk, suspenseful narrative with effortlessly interwoven details of medieval life and provocative questions of ethics and morality. With their mentor, Bear, now dead, Crispin and Troth are left to make their way to Iceland, a place reportedly free from much of the strife of England and France. But when Troth's skill with herbs finds her a home in a convent, Crispin must journey on alone. He joins a family of traveling musicians purportedly on their way to perform at a wedding in the port city of Calais. It's a comfort to him that they speak his native language, but when their true natures as murderers, thieves, and kidnappers are revealed, Crispin must pull off a daring plan in order to escape them. It's another rousing page-turner, and it's sure to please fans of the series, who may also enjoy Kevin Crossley-Holland's Arthur trilogy and Nancy Farmer's Sea of Trolls trilogy.

The Boys

Kirkus Review starred (February 15, 2010)
It's a new town for a baseball-loving protagonist. Newman wastes not a moment, setting the stage with the title page: A lone moving truck chugs along a house-lined street, skyscrapers looming above. A white spread possessing only one word, "Tuesday," greets readers, with single brush strokes and blocks of color denoting a glove, a ball, a bat and a solitary boy lacing up his shoes. But the anticipated game is not to be, as the shy hero watches the sport longingly from afar. Crestfallen, he sits by a set of elderly men, and baseball dreams are traded for books, then costumes, as the child determinedly tries to stay on the bench of retirees--until the old-timers' ball game reawakens the boy's confidence. Effective visual storytelling realizes the aching love players can feel for the game, and in one lovely, lonely beat, the boy's self-imposed rejection turns to resolve, as the tyke asks to join in a kids' game. Through confident brushwork, done in a stylized '50s modern aesthetic, the artist's images reveal sports' deep truths about acceptance, a willingness to try and the intergenerational connections they bring. (Picture book. 4-8)

Big Nate in a Class All By Himself

Booklist (March 1, 2010 (Vol. 106, No. 13))
Grades 3-6. Unabashedly capitalizing on the Wimpy Kid wave (with a Jeff Kinney blurb-recommendation splashed across the cover), Peirce’s book, for a slightly younger audience, uses a mix of prose and cartoons to tell a quick story about a day in the life of an extroverted, impish kid. Peirce does have comics cred on his side: his hero, Nate, has been the star of a long-running daily comic strip. He is the classic clever kid who hates school and whose antics land him in ever-hotter water with grumbly teachers. On this particular day, he wakes up feeling fine, sweats a bit about an upcoming test, then opens a fortune cookie at school that reads, “Today you will surpass all others.” So, he dutifully goes about trying to best other kids at everything but seems to only have a knack for racking up detention slips. The cartoons provide plenty of gags at the expense of various adults and classmates, and Nate’s persistent good cheer and moxie make him a likable new proxy for young misfits.

Ball Hog

Booklist (May 15, 2010 (Vol. 106, No. 18))
Grades 2-4. Like his friend and Bobcat teammate Erin, Ben has never played soccer before, but he enjoys the practices and learns fast. However, he doesn’t enjoy playing with Mark, whose big mouth and inflated ego make him easy to dislike. Their animosity spills over onto the four-square court at recess before they begin to see the value of passing in soccer and (no coincidence) the Bobcats begin to score goals. A good sports story for younger readers, this beginning chapter book balances bits of information about playing the game with realistic scenes on the field, at home, and at school. An effective subplot portrays Ben’s shifting emotions and ethical dilemma after a friend is excluded from their regular four-square group. Beginning with tiny portraits of the team roster, lively black-and-white drawings illustrate the story. The book concludes with advice on practicing and playing the game in “Ben’s Top Tips for Soccer Players.” A promising start for the Kickers series.

The All-American Jump and Jive Jig

Booklist (April 15, 2010 (Vol. 106, No. 16))
Grades K-2. In this dance-crazy picture book, the Rockland Sock-Hop is a hit in Maine; across the Plains, they’re doing the Midwest Wiggle; and every kid in Alaska knows the Juneau Jitterbug. Bouncy rhymes lead young readers through the states and regions of America and describe their local dances, such as the D.C. Freeze (“While the music’s playing, dance as silly as you choose. When you hear the music stop, stand still like a statue”). Equally energetic is the bright pencil-and-watercolor artwork featuring cartoon-style children. Many illustrations offer details about the regions, from the dock where boys are practicing the Mackinac Milk Shake to the city skyline behind children performing the Brooklyn Boogie, while endpapers sport the highlighted dances across a map of the U.S. The conclusion invites readers to invent new dances from their own locales. Read this after Laurie Keller’s Scrambled States of America (1998) to get students moving as they continue the geography fun.

Thanking the Moon

Kirkus Review (September 1, 2010)
Opposing the exuberant energy found by this same Chinese-American family in Bringing in the New Year (2008), the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival is a much more contemplative and quiet observance. The story begins on the title page, the family in their car driving toward the moon. There is a hush as they admire the moon in the sky. Then everyone does their part to help set up the nighttime picnic. The moon-honoring table is arranged, sweet mooncakes are eaten and rounded cups of tea are carefully poured. Children then parade with bright paper lanterns, and everyone sends a secret, unspoken wish up to the moon. Not all is solemnity: "Mei-Mei plays with the pale green pomelo peel," as Ma-Ma chuckles. A gentle text and Lin's rounded art style with her signature night-sky swirls lend themselves nicely to the moon symbolism that is so very important to this celebration. An endnote further describes the festival, emphasizing families coming together, just like the moon returning to its fullness. (Picture book. 4-8)

Shark vs. Train

Booklist (April 15, 2010 (Vol. 106, No. 16))
Preschool-Grade 1. Maybe they haven’t pitted this exact pair against one another, but there’s little doubting young boys’ ability to spend hours and considerable blocks of imagination smashing different toys together in a knock-down, drag-out battle royale for romper-room supremacy. The opening spread shows two boys digging through a toy box, each pulling out a fearsome competitor. In this corner, there’s Shark (I’m going to choo-choo you up and spit you out); and in the other, Train (Ha! I’m going to fin-ish you, mackerel-breath). The bout gets progressively more ridiculous with each escalating shift in setting and rules. Early rounds in the ocean and on the tracks are split; Shark has the upper hand on the high-dive, and Train in giving carnival rides. Neither turns out to be much good at the Extreme Zombie-Squirrel Motocross video game (no thumbs) or sword fighting on a tightrope. Barton’s imaginative and wacky scenarios are knocked home by Lichtenheld’s ferociously funny artwork and will leave kids measuring up their dump truck and T-Rex for the next tale of the tape.