Story Time

  King, A.S. (2016). Still Life with Tornado . Dutton Books for Young Reader. ISBN-10: 1101994886. Author, A.S. King, takes readers on a journey through Still Life with Tornado . This compelling fictional novel is a spellbinding story about a struggling sixteen-year-old, Sarah. She is stuck between past, present, and future in this riveting and emotional whirlwind of a book. Protagonist, Sarah, skips school and wanders aimlessly through Philadelphia where she meets different versions of herself in efforts to internally resolve her traumas. Ten-year-old Sarah, vividly remembers her trip to Mexico, sixteen-year-old Sarah is dealing with her twisted feelings (stuck in the middle), twenty-three-year-old Sarah thinks 16-year-old Sarah is dumb, while forty-year-old Sarah is mature and carefree. At first, readers might assume this is about a teenager dealing with an existential crisis and her yearning for art, but as the story flows along, we can plunge into different perspectives ...

BIBLIOGRAPHY Munoz, P. 2015. Echo . Scholastic Press. ISBN-10: 9780439874021. PLOT SUMMARY Pam Munoz gives readers a beautiful story of perseverance, hope, and unity in the face of adversity. Echo is a wonderfully crafted story about the power of music. The main characters are young children from different backgrounds sharing similar dreams and misfortunes. Munoz delivers three different settings from around the world; Germany, Pennsylvania, and California from 1933 to1951. Children of similar ages are experiencing similar social injustices, from segregation, discrimination, war, and Nazism. The harmonica is a magical symbol throughout the story that is marked with an “M” to identify it as a messenger. The instrument protects, brings peace, and calms the characters throughout the story. The harmonica changes lives and saves lives as well. The story starts in Germany, makes its way to Pennsylvania and ends up in California. At the end, the harmonica magically brings all of th...

BIBLIOGRAPHY Gaiman, N. and McKean, D. 2008. The Graveyard Book. HarperCollins. ISBN-10:  0060530944. PLOT SUMMARY Neil Gaiman delivers a brilliant, creepy, yet-beautiful interpretation of a coming-of-age story about a young boy who is adopted by the dead. Dave McKean’s black and white illustrations set the eerie mood of the story. The main character, Bod (Nobody Owens), is a curious child who has lived his entire life in a graveyard. Bod escapes his home at eighteen months of age after the door has been left open by his family’s murderer, Jack. A ghost couple, Mr. and Mrs. Owens, along-side Sila, Bod’s guardian, make a promise to care for Bod and keep him safe. Bod is raised by the graveyard’s community and learns their ways. Bod meets different types of creatures from ghosts, vampires, witches, ghouls, and werewolves, etc. He learns from each of them, and gets to experience good vs. evil. Bod meets a real human girl, Scarlett, and is exposed to the human world and gets ...

BIBLIOGRAPHY Hale, Shannon and Dean, Hale, N. 2008. Rapunzel’s Revenge . Bloomsbury USA Childrens. ISBN-10: 1599902885. PLOT SUMMARY Author’s Shannon and Dean Hale team up with the help of illustrator Nathan Hale to give readers a creative, adventurous, and action-packed story that shakes up the traditional Rapunzel fairytale. The graphic novel takes us on an unpredictable journey from beginning to end with fun graphics and humorous storytelling. Main character, Rapunzel, is an inquisitive and witty little girl that lives in a huge “perfect” villa with servants, guards, and a huge wall that surrounds it. She decides to go beyond her limits on her twelfth birthday. Soon discovering she had been lied to all her life and kidnapped by Gothel, her evil fake mom, she rebels and is imprisoned in a magical tower-like tree for four years. After years of attempting to escape and failing at the hands of Gothel’s powerful magic, on her sixteenth birthday, her red hair finally grows long ...

BIBLIOGRAPHY Jamieson, V. 2015. Roller Girl . Dial Books.   ISBN-10: 9780803740167. PLOT SUMMARY Author, Victoria Jamieson, brings a modern, coming of age graphic novel, Roller Girl , that is vibrant, relatable, and heart-felt. The story takes place during the summer’s transition from elementary to junior high school. Main character, Astrid, experiences troubling changes that help her grow and develop into the young woman she is meant to be. Astrid and Nicole have been best friends for years, but this summer presents them with unique challenges that break their relationship apart. Astrid is joining the derby team and Nicole is into ballet; the clash starts. Astrid lies to her mom, rages against Nicole, and almost ruins her new friendship with Zoey. Throughout the story, Astrid receives advice from her idol, Rainbow, through their secret pen pal letters that help her get through her “blue” moments. She might not be as close to Nicole as she was in the past, but she is read...

BIBLIOGRAPHY Vawter, V. 2013. Paperboy . Yearling. ISBN-10: 030793151X. PLOT SUMMARY Vincent Vawter writes a coming of age historical fiction, Paperboy , in which a young 11-year-old “Little Man” encounters the cruel reality of adulthood. The story takes place in 1959 in Memphis, Tennessee during a difficult time in U.S. history. Segregation, discrimination and racism play a role in the character’s development and overall theme. Main character, Victor, struggles with a speech impairment that makes his new job as a paperboy more difficult than expected. Live-in nanny, Mam, is a major support for Victor throughout the story. His stuttering gets him in trouble at times, but also carries some advantages. Victor meets different people along his summer journey that help him understand the adult life in a deeper level. A troubled alcoholic woman, Mrs. Worthington, a knowledgeable and well-read philosophical merchant marine, Mr. Spiro, and neighborhood African-American scary junkman,...

BIBLIOGRAPHY Curtis, C. 2007. Elijah of Buxton . Scholastic Paperbacks. ISBN-10: 0439023459. PLOT SUMMARY Christopher Paul Curtis creates a humorous, adventurous, and inspirational historical fiction in Elijah of Buxton . Elijah, is a young and playful 11-year-old boy who is famous for being first-born free from a generation of slaves in the mid 1800’s. Elijah’s family and friends are settled closed to the American border in Buxton, a settlement in Ontario, Canada. Elijah is guided by his parents, church leaders, and community members throughout the story. Elijah has never experienced slavery as more than just stories told by family and friends. He is often perceived as fragile and experiences misadventures due to the deceiving Right Reverend Zephariah. The author depicts Elijah living a fun, normal and carefree life, until conflict arises and he is faced with making tough “grown up” decisions. Elijah embarks on a journey to the United States in hopes to buy Mr. Leroy’s famil...