Book talk: Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman

It's a bummer when your mom goes out of town: annoying stuff happens, such as running out of milk when you normally don't, and your dad has to leave you to go get some. This is exactly what brings about a run-in with space aliens, you know? I'm serious. They're out there, waiting. This is part of what dad said he encountered:

Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman

1). Space aliens who want to re-decorate our earth, replacing trees with pink flamingos.
2). Pirates who have never heard of walking a plank. Duh!
3). A time-traveling stegosaurus who wears goggles and owns a time machine cardboard box.
4). Dinosaurs who love cereal, but they eat theirs dry.
5). Vampires with a lisp, called wumpires. Check out their accents.
6). Three dwarves with flowerpots on their heads who do a little dance.

Where are the Galactic Police when you need them?

Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman. 128 p. HarperCollins: 2013. Booktalk to intermediate grades, reluctant readers in middle school.

Book talk: When You Reach Me (Virginia Readers' Choice, 2012-2013)

Raise your hand if you like to write notes. They’re fun, aren’t they? It’s also fun to get notes.

But Miranda has been getting notes from someone who doesn’t sign the notes.  Miranda doesn’t know if the note writer is male or female, young or old. She doesn’t know how the note writer even knows her. You know what’s even stranger? The notes appear in her stuff, and she doesn’t know how the notes got there. How do you get a note into a locked house?

So Miranda has a predicament. Fortunately, she’s pretty tough: she’s in sixth grade, and she walks around New York City by herself. She’s got street smarts, too. She knows how to behave around the homeless man on the corner and the boys who beat up her best friend, Sal. Oh wait, Sal doesn’t want to hang out with Miranda any more. Cross him off the best friend list.

Let’s go back to these mysterious notes. Why can’t Miranda just ignore them? It’s probably just some stupid prank, right? But what if the notes had a ring of truth to them? What if something in the notes even predicted future events using specific details?

Why are these notes so important, and who is writing them? When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead.

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. 199 p. Yearling, 2009. Newbery Medal, 2010. Virginia Readers’ Choice (middle school), 2012-2013.

When You Reach Me