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Everything except the chair before the fire, and the cat curled up on your lap.
Was this fantasy or realistic fiction? I don’t really know how to classify it. What it definitely is is a story of friendship and family. Lana Morris is in foster care with a bunch of SNKs (special needs kids) and she hates it except for her foster father. Then one day, on a joyride, Lana goes into a house of odd and amazing things and finds an old fashioned Ladies Drawing Kit. Soon Lana realizes that whatever she draws on the paper comes true. But wishes are not always what they seem and slowly, as Lana tries to make life better for the SNKs and herself, things keep getting worse. Meanwhile, there is an intriguing side story about the next door neighbor boy.
This is a great book, but I am not really sure what it is. Not only does it have the fantasy elements, it also has very realistic elements. I liked the mixture, but wish I knew how to categorize it.
Whitney is trading in buildings for trees. She is headed from the city to Northern California, and foster home #12. #12 because of the top five complaints about Whitney from foster parents...
1. Big, sassy mouth
2. Too hyper
3. Doesn't always stick to the truth
4. Thinks she knows everything
5. Climbs everything (p.19)
A funny thing happens when she gets to her new school. There are 7 other foster kids in 6th grade alone. There is something about Forest Glen...the "downtown" is pretty much boarded up, and when Whitney hides in the closet listen to the social worker and her new foster mom talking, she gets the feeling that maybe she is just a paycheque after all. The logging industry that allowed Forest Glen to survive has been on the decline, in a large part due to environmentalist pressures.
Striker, her new foster brother, is very much an outdoorsy kid, and even though he threatens her, Whitney follows him into the woods. She has never felt so at home anywhere before. There's just something about the woods and the trees. Even the yellow banana slugs are kind of interesting if you pay attention to them! And there is one huge tree, Big Momma, that speaks to Whitney in a way that a city kid never imagined...scary but homey at the same time.
Soon Whitney is back in full foster mode. She has discovered over time that standing out is much better than blending in. Adopting her foster mom's nickname for her, Termite quickly tracks down the other fosters, and convinces them to take part in an after school science club. They explore the woods, and adopt a piece of highway to care for themselves.
All of a sudden, the down trodden parents of Forest Glen seem to be getting happy again. The kids soon learn that the logging is to start again. Looking at the maps, Big Momma is on the chopping block. Can a bunch of outsiders save a tree? Will the residents want to keep trouble making foster kids around once that $700 and change per month doesn't make such a difference?
I love Termite. She's an ADHD bundle of energy. She's annoying, loud-mouthed, and brash, but there is something endearing about her. She is a survivor, and really, she's got nothing to lose. She landed in the right family this time. Sometimes folks need a bit of shaking up.
I found this title by Jill Wolfson on the shelves of my local library, and will definitely be purchasing it for my school library. What a great companion to Joey Pigza, and a great read for girls or boys.
Wolfson, Jill. 2005. What I Call Life.
Cal Lavender knows only one thing: the life she is living now...it is not her life. It all started when her mom had an episode at the local library. Now Cal finds herself living in a group home, sharing a bedroom with other foster kids--none of them ‘normal’--and learning to knit from the Knitting Lady. This environment isn’t home. These strange people aren’t her family. She doesn’t know what to think about anything...but day by day she begins to piece together her life and come to some important conclusions. She’ll have to unlearn some habits, but she might just figure out this thing called life.
I, Cal Lavender, was definitely not myself. A fuzz brain, crying and whiny the night before. Definitely not me. But after I brushed my teeth, checked the mirror, and adjusted My Face for Unbearably Unpleasant and Embarrassing Situations, I felt more myself. Or at least as close to myself as an eleven-year-old can be when she is being forced to live not her real life. (44)
It can happen that way, can’t it?? One day, things are one way. And the next day, the life you are living, what you call life, changes forever. (105)
http://www.jillwolfson.com/
Jinks, Catherine. 2007. Evil Genius.
Cadel Piggott is a genius. There’s no denying it. But that doesn’t always mean he makes smart decisions. The reader first meets the hero, Cadel, when he is seven years old. Already placed several grades ahead, he is a genius when it comes to everything but people. Alone. Isolated. Cadel rarely makes the effort to make friends. After all, his classmates have always been older than him. Significantly older than him. But luckily, Cadel has one person in the world he can talk to. One person who understands him. That person is Dr. Thaddeus Roth. This “counselor” who helps troubled youth takes a special interest in Cadel. But all isn’t what it seems as the story unfolds. Secrets. Lies. Half-truths. Plots. Schemes. Manipulations. Betrayals. Cadel isn’t always a likable hero, but his story is full of one adventure after another.
Read the rest of my review in May's issue of The Edge of the Forest. Also of note: I made the 'best of the blogs' section as well!
Shelfari is a Book Collection, Chat, and Reading Friend's Website.
I'm going to give this one a try!