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

Book talk: Ship Breaker (Virginia Readers' Choice, 2012-2013)

 

Nailer Lopez is a teen with a full-time, grueling, and potentially lethal job, a job which requires him to have facial tattoos which mark him as part of a work crew and also requires him to be fairly small and lightweight. What is he? He’s a ship breaker: he scavenges wrecked, beached ships for their metal. Nailer has to crawl through tight, mazelike ducts inside the ship, usually in utter darkness, and cut away copper wire, aluminum, nickel, and steel clips. It’s really, really scary inside those dark, airless, dead ships and tankers. Kids have gotten lost and trapped and died inside of them. You crawl through tunnels over dead rats’ bodies. You pray to the Scavenge God that you’ll get out alive, and that you’ll scavenge enough metal to stay on your work crew. In this world you’re loyal only to your closest friends. So what would Nailer do if he found a girl, barely alive yet clearly very rich, on a beached ship containing both wealth and dead bodies?

Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi. Little, Brown: 2010. 326 p. Virginia Reader’s Choice for high school: 2012-2013.

Ship Breaker

Book talk: Dash and Lily's Book of Dares (Virginia Reader's Choice, 2012-2013)

 

Teens mostly e-mail, text, IM, or call each other nowadays, right? Dash and Lily are completely different. They met by notebook, and it stayed that way for a while. Let me explain. Dash, short for Dashiell, is in his favorite bookstore in New York City, and on the shelves he finds a red moleskin notebook with handwritten instructions involving a challenge, and not an easy one. The challenge – if done correctly – will get the notebook back to its owner. The challenge involves writing, intelligence, willingness to make a fool out of himself, and some luck. And so the game starts. Dash and Lily don’t actually meet for a while. They couldn’t tell you what the other one even looks like: they’re both blanks to each, in that respect. They start sharing through writing: thoughts, memories, aspirations – you know, the kind of stuff it’s easier to write that to say. But both harbor a desire to meet in real life, yet the signs are there that they won’t and can’t have the type of relationship that they had through the notebook. What if meeting in real life ruins everything? Read Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan.

Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. 260 p. Knopf, 2010. Virginia Reader's Choice, 2012-2013. Booktalk to high school.

Note: This I posted this book talk in November 2010, but I'm re-posting it with better tags.

Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares

Booktalk: Touch Blue (Virginia Readers' Choice, 2012-2013)

 

Can you imagine if your school was at risk of being shut down if more kids did not attend? Yeah, I knew you’d like that.

But Tess, age 11, goes to school in a one-room schoolhouse on a small island off the coast of Maine. There’s just a handful of other kids who attend her tiny school, because Tess’s island doesn’t have that many children. Tess’s mom is the teacher. And when you live on small island, school is one of the things that keeps you busy and entertained. The school is part of Tess’s life, along with the lobster boats, the ocean, the salt breeze, the sea birds, and the ferry.

Yet the state of Maine won’t fund her school and keep it open unless more kids attend. But where will Tess’s tiny island get more kids? No new families are moving to their island, but several families have a cool idea – adopt some foster children who need a good home.

So Tess’s family decides to adopt a 13-year-old redheaded boy named Aaron. Aaron has been moved from family to family, and it’s about time he gets a solid, loving family. Tess is really, really excited. She’s always wanted an older brother.

But when Tess takes Aaron around the island, he seems unimpressed. And when he sees their little one-room school, he actually says, “I can’t believe I had to quit my jazz band to come here.” He doesn’t seem to like the other islanders, and he rarely smiles. Tess has a problem. How do you get someone to love an island if he’s determined to hate it?

Touch Blue by Cynthia Lord. 186 p. New York: Scholastic, 2010. Virginia Readers’ Choice (Elementary/Intermediate) for 2012-2013. This title would also work well for middle schoolers.

Touch Blue

Booktalk: Swim the Fly (Virginia Readers' Choice, 2012-2013)

 

High schooler Matt Gratton is a decent swimmer, but not when it comes to the butterfly stroke, possibly the hardest stroke out there to master. He himself admits that he looks like “a palsied whippet struggling for its life”(41) when he swims it. But Matt would do anything for a hot girl, especially a hot girl named Kelly. She’s impressed that he volunteered to swim the 100-yard butterfly (the fly) in a major meet. Matt and his friends, Sean and Coop, would do a lot to impress girls. Their major goal for the summer is to see a naked girl: a live one. They even hide in a closet at a party, but it backfires majorly, although they might have prevented a pregnancy, who knows. Intelligent strategy is not their strong point. Matt’s buddy Sean even intentionally pigged out on junk food just so he could barf in the pool, on purpose. Actually, that did get Matt out of swimming the fly, so it wasn’t totally stupid. How much of a fool is Matt going to be at the final meet? And will the girl of his dreams ever see anything in him at all? Swim the Fly by Don Calame.

Swim the Fly by Don Calame. 345 p. Candlewick Press, 2009. Virginia Readers' Choice (High School) for 2012-2013. Contains mature references.

Swim the Fly

Booktalk: We Are in a Book! (Virginia Readers' Choice, 2011-2012)

Gerald the elephant and Piggie have the feeling that they are being watched. [Show pp. 6-7] But who could it be? Who do you think is watching them? Right: you are! You’re the reader!

Gerald and Piggie have just realized they’re in a book! And what do they think about that? [Show pp. 18-19] It’s totally cool! [Show them dancing on pp. 20-21]. They are so, so excited to be in a book. Wouldn’t it be cool if you were in a book? You could do all sorts of amazing things.

And Piggie has realized that! He has realized that he can make YOU, his reader, say a word. Guess which word he picked? [Show pp. 28-29]. BANANA!!

[Turn to pp. 30-31]. You cracked them up! I haven’t seen Gerald and Piggie laugh this hard in ages! In fact, Gerald is laughing so hard he has to lie down on the floor! [Turn to pp. 34-35] I haven’t seen this many “ha ha’s” ever!

But what are Gerald and Piggie going to do when this book … ends?

We Are in a Book: [An Elephant and Piggie Book] by Mo Willems. Hyperion, 2010. 64 p. Booktalk to primary grades. Virginia Readers’ Choice (2011-2012).