Lily and Dunkin by Donna Gephart (Booktalk)

Have you ever met someone who hated his or her name? You have to meet Lily and Dunkin.

Lily's real name is Tim, which she hates. She's always felt as if she were truly a girl, but the world sees her as a boy. Lily's mom calls her Lily, but her dad insists on calling her Tim. Lily is in 8th grade and wants to start taking hormone blockers so that she can ultimately transition to becoming female. At school everyone knows her as Tim; she dresses as a boy.

One of my favorite novels of 2016.

Norbert also hates his name, and who can blame him? He's also in 8th grade, and he's bipolar; he developed early, and he's really tall for his age. Without his medication, there are two versions of him: one is manic and filled with energy, and the other is sluggish and extremely depressed. Plus he's got that lousy name.

Do these two people have anything in common? They sound incredibly different, and they're at different popularity levels at school. But after a few encounters, they get to know each other. Find out what happens in this amazing novel called Lily and Dunkin.

Lily and Dunkin by Donna Gephart. 2016: 352 pages, Delacourt Books for Young Readers. Booktalk to middle school, high school.

Goodbye, Stranger by Rebecca Stead Booktalk

Bridge is a middle school girl who got hit by a car which she was younger and she almost died. That's her on the cover with a friend of hers. She's fine now, and she has two best friends whom she loves and trusts: Tab and Em. Tab is very headstrong and opinionated: she's a bit of a tomboy, and she loves history and politics. You'd never catch Tab putting on makeup or showing an interest in it. Emily is more traditionally "girly" and the boys notice her; she's good at sports and knows more of the "popular" kids. Emily also has a boyfriend but doesn't want to call it that.

When you look at the three girls' personalities, they're actually fairly different, but they get along well and support one another loyally. Yet something changes when someone - we don't know who - gets Em's boyfriend's phone and finds a personal photo of Emily. This person forwards the photo to someone who then forwards the photo, and so on and so on. It's not a naked photo, but it's not a photo that Emily wants "out there." You'll have to read the novel to see the description of the photo!

So who did this? Can we trust Em's boyfriend? And more importantly, will Em survive the mean words and harsh words headed her way? And will her two best friends understand what she is going through? Will they stand by her? And who is this mysterious stranger alluded to in the title, "Goodbye, Stranger?" Read and find out.

Goodbye, Stranger by Rebecca Stead. 304 pages. Wendy Lamb Books, 2015. Booktalk to middle school and high school. 

Book talk: The Boundless by Kenneth Oppel

Imagine you are going to ride the longest train in the world -- the Boundless: she's seven miles long and holds over six thousand passengers. Think about it: seven miles long. There are entire cities shorter than that! Anyhow, some people claim the Boundless is too big, and there's one creepy fact you should know: she carries her dead founder's coffin in a locked and guarded room. Creepy, huh?

Will is our young hero, and he needs to get into that locked coffin room. His family used to be poor, but thanks to the Boundless and its creator, they are now rich. Life is good.

Did I just say Will's life was good? Strike that. At one point, he got off the Boundless, went into the woods, and barely made it back to the departing train -- he got on the caboose on the very end. So why is that a problem? First of all, the Boundless is seven miles long, and it's not easy to travel between cars. Many of them are locked, and there are different classes of passengers on the train: the rich are at the front, the middle class are somewhere in the middle, and the poor are crammed together in over-crowded cars at the end. Will's dad is at the front, and Will is at the very back.

Will stinks, and there are men on board trying to kill him. He stinks because he doused himself with the urine -- that's pee -- of a supposed sasquatch, a huge, monstrous, ape-like creature. That stuff stinks. The men trying to kill him stink as well, only not literally. What kind of a crazy train is this? Read Kenneth Oppel's The Boundless to find out.

The Boundless by Kenneth Oppel. Simon & Schuster, 2014. Booktalk to grades 5-9.

Book talk: The 13 Clocks by James Thurber

[You'll begin this booktalk by showing the bleak picture of the castle, shown in some editions on the front pastedown endpaper.]

Would you want to live here?

Would you like to live in this castle? [Wait for responses.] Why not? Right, it's creepy. It's cold, gloomy, dark, lonely, and time has stopped there. Not a fun place to live. The only thing I like about this castle is that it has a hidden door which leads to a secret stairway which opens in on a room called the oak room. But it's really, really dark in there, and by "there," I mean everywhere in the castle. Even creepier, you sometimes hear laughter in the dark. It's this evil creature called the Todal. I'll tell you more about him in a minute.

The Duke is the creepy seated man.

The Duke is what's wrong with this castle. He's an evil, whiny, vicious, lying man with cold hands and a cold heart. He has been cruel to animals, and cruel to people, as well. His niece, Saralinda, is beautiful but kind of spaced out. I can't tell you why. The Duke stopped time and all the clocks in the castle are stuck on ten to five. It's called being stuck in Then. It's always Then, and never Now. That must be incredibly boring and kind of sad.

There are other characters you'll meet, but I did promise to tell you about the Todal. He looks like a blob of glup; he smells of old, unopened rooms; and he makes a sound like rabbits screaming. The Todal is waiting for the Duke to fail.

When the castle gets a human visitor -- his name is Xingu -- we find out he has several secrets about him, and he seems kind and good. But can he bring about the Duke's downfall? Or, even worse, the Todal's?

The 13 Clocks by James Thurber. 124 pages. 1950/reprint: The New York Review Children's Collection. Booktalk to intermediate grades, middle school.

Book talk: Ungifted by Gordon Korman

Like a lot of us, Donovan isn't stupid, but he's not an academic genius, either. Actually, I'm wrong. Donovan is kind of stupid. He hit a statue pretty hard, and part of it rolled off and destroyed much of his school's gym, causing thousands and thousands of dollars worth of damage. Luckily, no one was hurt or killed. But the principal was mad. Very, very mad. And mad people can get distracted and put names on the wrong list because they're too busy being mad to pay attention. Instead of putting Donovan's name on some bad student list, the principal put Donovan's name on a list of kids recommended for the gifted school: the Academy of Scholastic Distinction. The geniuses. And Donovan's no genius.

So what does Donovan do? He certainly doesn't want to bring it to the principal's attention. It would actually be funny if he could just pass his classes there, but they're really, really hard. He's in over his head. The smart kids' math classes are way, way harder than anything he can handle. In fact, the only thing he can do at the genius school is drive the robot the other kids assembled. As one well-versed in video games, he's pretty good at that. He really likes the smart kids and they seem to like him. In spite of himself, Donovan loves his new school.

But how is Donovan going to stay at a school where he can't pass his classes and even his teachers suspect he's there by mistake?

Ungifted by Gordon Korman. 280 pages. 2012: Balzer + Bray. Booktalk to intermediate grades (3-6) and middle school.

Book talk: Jane, the Fox, and Me

This is Helene. She has a defeated, hunted look about her. Her shoulders are often slumped.

The best part of Helene's day is reading Jane Eyre which she loves. She gets lost in it, and she loves Jane Eyre's strength and resilience.

The worst part of Helene's day is being around Genevieve, a snob and a bully. Genevieve and her friends write mean things on the walls about Helene's weight. They lie and say that Helene smells. They used to be nice to Helene.

But there are hints that things may change for Helene.

 She makes a brief -- but amazing -- connection with a shy fox, and there's a girl with equally bright eyes who rescues Helene from a lonely, harsh experience. Jane, the Fox, and Me by Fanny Britt and Isabelle Arsenault.


Jane, the Fox, and Me by Fanny Britt and Isabelle Arsenault. Graphic novel. 2012: Groundwood books. 101 pages. Booktalk to upper elementary, middle school.

Book talk: Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes

Hold up your right hand. [Wait for kids to do this.]

As a 14-year-old silversmith apprentice, this hand is your most important tool. Yes, you'll be working with other tools, but your hand needs to be strong, flexible, and capable of delicate, little movements, like carving or engraving. You live in Boston around the time of the Revolutionary War, and your hand   insures your job, your right to live under your master's roof, and your future. That hand is your whole life.

Put your hand down. I have some bad news. You spilled burning hot silver on your hand - it wasn't your fault, but it is your problem. Your hand doesn't work right anymore, and you can't be a silversmith in this town with one working hand.

Parents? I forgot to mention. You don't have any. You're an orphan, and now you've got nowhere to go…

Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes. Winner: Newbery Award, 1944. Published 1943. 320 pages. Booktalk to upper elementary, middle school.

Johnny Tremain

Book talk: The Mighty Miss Malone by Christopher Paul Curtis (Newbery contender)

[Show cover.] Like all of us, Deza Malone was born with advantages and setbacks. I’m going to get the bad stuff out of the way first, so here it is:

Deza and her family are living during the Great Depression, a time in the United States when many people were poor, many children went hungry, and many men and women could not find jobs.

Deza’s family is especially poor and cannot afford medical care. Although Deza is basically healthy, her teeth are rotting are she is often in pain because of this. She’s only 12, and that shouldn’t be happening to someone that young. Deza overhears her father privately talking about how upset he is over her teeth and how frustrated he is that he can’t do anything about them.

Racism is still alive and well during the Great Depression, and many whites still look down on African-Africans. Deza and her family have experienced racism and prejudice first hand.

Okay, I got some of the bad stuff out of the way. Now for the cool stuff about Deza.

Deza is an awesome friend and sister. She’s funny, loyal, and kind. She and her best friend, Clarice, look out for each other. They have a secret sign that means, “two girls, one heart.”

Deza is super smart and never brags or has an attitude about it. She’s a great reader and a brilliant writer. The only time she got a low grade on an essay was when she had a teacher who didn’t believe in giving good grades to African-Americans. Ever.

Deza is tough (she can hold her own in a fist fight) and surprisingly sneaky (in a good way). I can’t tell you what she did that was sneaky, but it really took me by surprise, and that’s part of the reason her father calls her The Mighty Miss Malone.

The Mighty Miss Malone by Christopher Paul Curtis. 2012: Wendy Lamb Books. 307 pages. Booktalk to intermediate grades and middle school. Newbery 2013 contender.

Book talk: Wonder by R.J. Palacio (Newbery 2013 contender)

[For this book talk, you are going to be the main character, Auggie, but you’ll wear a bag – any bag as long as you can see/breathe – over your head for the entire book talk.]

Hi, I’d like to introduce myself. My name is August, or Auggie for short. I’m the main character in the book you’re gonna read, called Wonder. Yeah, I can hear you murmuring about the bag on my head. No, I am not going to take it off. I repeat: no, I am not going to take this bag off. Why? I’m glad you asked.

Because the second I take this bag off my head, some of you will gasp. Some of you will snicker. Some of you may even call me names and point. I’m used to seeing kids put their hands over their mouths when they see me. Heck, I’m even used to their parents doing that, and yes, it is extremely rude and cruel. I’m not giving you the satisfaction of that.

I get judged on my face all the time, every second of every day. People forget what they’re doing or saying when they see me, and not in a good way. Would I like a chance to escape my fate/face? Haha: did you get the pun? Okay, I’ll repeat it, so listen carefully. Would I like a chance to escape my fate/face? Get it: my face is my fate? Oh, never mind. Actually, mind. Because of the way I look, I’ve been homeschooled my whole life. And now my parents are going to send me to a real school, where my face will be subjected to your judgments, comments, and criticism all the time. My parents are nervous about it. Very, very nervous.

You think you could be me? Even for one day? I bet you wouldn’t last one hour.

Wonder by R.J. Palacio. 2012: Knopf. 315 pages. Booktalk to middle grades (intermediate) and middle school. Newbery contender, 2013.

Wonder

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

Book talk: Bulu: African Wonder Dog (Virginia Readers' Choice, 2012-2013)

 

You think your dog is cool? Ha! He cannot possibly be cooler than Bulu, African wonder dog [show cover or other pictures in the book of Bulu]. This is the story of a real-life dog, a Jack Russell terrier mix, who lived on wildlife education center located in a remote part of Zambia, a country in Africa. I’m going to quiz you on Bulu’s life. Do your best to guess the right answer.

Question 1. Bulu warned his unsuspecting owners about the presence of

a). a deadly snake

b). a crocodile

c). an elephant

d). all of the above

If you guessed “e,” all of the above, you’re right. Bulu had a sixth sense for when other wild animals – harmful or not – were around, and he always did his best to warn his owners.

Question 2. Bulu was super nice to which animals who lived with him in his owners’ small house?

a). two baby warthogs

b). a baby bushbuck (a type of antelope)

c). baby monkeys

d). all of the above

You guessed “all of the above” again? You’re right! Bulu’s owners were setting up a wildlife education center, and they wanted to help rehabilitate injured or parentless animals, too. Bulu accepted these animal orphans as friends and would even cuddle with them.

Question 3. All dogs love treats. Which treat was Bulu’s favorite?

a). vanilla cookies from Starbucks

b). French fries from McDonalds

c). buttered bread

d). worms

You think they have a Starbucks or a McDonalds in the wilds of Zambia? There isn’t a market for miles and miles! This is the wilderness! Bulu liked buttered bread.

Last question. If you’re a dog, like Bulu, and you get attacked by a lion, what are your chances of survival?

a). slim to none

b). survive a lion attack? Hahahahahahhahhahahaah….

c). I don’t even want to think about it.

Does this one sound like a trick question? Not a trick, it’s a “teaser.” To find, read Bulu: African Wonder Dog by Dick Houston.

BULU – African Wonder Dog

Book talk: Heart of a Samurai (Virginia Readers' Choice, 2012-2013)

 

Do you remember the story of Odysseus? He was away from his home for a very, very long time, but he never forgot his homeland, and he always longed to return.

Manjiro was a 14-year-old Japanese boy on a fishing expedition when he and his shipmates got lost and landed on a tiny island populated only by birds. When the birds left the island, Manjiro and his mates started to starve to death, but luckily they were rescued, by men with blue eyes who did not understand a single word they said. These men spoke English and were whale-hunters. Manjiro now found himself on a different type of boat, with very different mates, whale-hunting. Manjiro ends up in America.

So why can’t Manjiro just go home? It’s not that easy to do in 1841. After all, he’s lucky to alive at all. Being a foreigner in America at this time is not easy. He’s mocked for the way he looks and the way he talks. But he’s fond of the man who adopted him and treated him kindly. He’s there for many years before he’s given the chance to go home again. Can he even still speak Japanese? Will anyone recognize him? Will his family remember him? The Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus.

The Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus.  Amulet Books, 2010. 301 pages. Virginia Readers' Choice for middle school, 2012-2013.

Heart of a Samurai