Aside from my picture book review of HI, KOO, last Friday, I haven’t been very active in poetry month this year. Before May is upon us, I wanted to rectify this and highlight a poet on the blog. Today’s interview … Continue reading
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By: JOANNA MARPLE,
on 4/28/2014
Blog: Miss Marple's Musings (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: children, Interview, children's books, poetry, adults, Cancer, children's poetry, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Gwendolyn Brooks, Lee Bennett Hopkins, J. Patrick Lewis, Dorothy Parker, Job Loss, Kane Press, Donna Marie Merritt, poet interview, A Caregiver's View, A Fury of Motion by Charles Ghigna, A Journey in Poetry, Byrd's Books, Carl Sandberg, Her House and Other Poems, Hickory Stick Bookshop, Job Loss; Cancer, Love That Dog by Sharon Creech, Robert Hayden, Sailing Alone Around the Room by Billy Collins, Stairwell Books, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, Too Tall Tina, What's Wrong with Ordinary? Poems to Celebrate Life, Add a tag
After downsizing and moving to an apartment with his family, Georges (yes with an "s") and his dad are in the basement throwing out garbage when they see a sign posted on a door. "Spy Club Meeting -- TODAY!". Much to Georges' chagrin, his dad writes "What time?" on the sign, setting off a series of events that will occupy Georges' days for the next while.
Georges himself, is a big of an awkward kid. He puts up with the daily microbullying that his mom says aren't part of the big picture. The big picture of life is kind of like the Seurat print they have in their living room. If you look at it close up, it's just a bunch of dots, but back away to see the big picture and everything comes into focus. Thinking about the big picture doesn't make school any easier, however. The sarcastic clapping at his volleyball moves, the renaming him Gorgeous, the fact that his friend Jason came back from camp completely different -- these things all pepper Georges days. Add onto this the fact that his nurse mom is always at the hospital, and his dad works plenty as well, and you get a sense of what Georges is going through.
So when somebody answers on the Spy Club sign that there is a meeting at 1:30 and Georges' dad encourages him to go, nobody is more surprised than Georges to find a kid waiting in the basement room. He first meets Candy, then Safer and their family from the 6th floor. Safer says that he's a spy and that he's got his eye on one of the building's tenants. He's creepy -- always wears black and is constantly hauling big suitcases in and out of the building. Safer teaches Georges some of the art of being a spy, and before he knows it, he is in over his head.
Rebecca Stead has written what could be called the perfect tween/middle grade novel. She gets kids, and the situations the characters get into as well as their voices are spot on. Each setting rings true, and the slow simmer and reveal are plotted precisely and perfectly. Stead manages to pay close attention to detail without slowing the pace of the story. There is a message in Liar & Spy about empathy and bullying and being an ally, but it doesn't feel the least bit didactic. Liar & Spy has quickly risen into my top five for the year.
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By: JOANNA MARPLE,
on 4/28/2014
Blog: Miss Marple's Musings (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: children, Interview, children's books, poetry, adults, Cancer, children's poetry, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Gwendolyn Brooks, Lee Bennett Hopkins, J. Patrick Lewis, Dorothy Parker, Job Loss, Kane Press, Donna Marie Merritt, poet interview, A Caregiver's View, A Fury of Motion by Charles Ghigna, A Journey in Poetry, Byrd's Books, Carl Sandberg, Her House and Other Poems, Hickory Stick Bookshop, Job Loss; Cancer, Love That Dog by Sharon Creech, Robert Hayden, Sailing Alone Around the Room by Billy Collins, Stairwell Books, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, Too Tall Tina, What's Wrong with Ordinary? Poems to Celebrate Life, Add a tag
By: Stacy Dillon,
on 10/14/2012
Blog: Welcome to my Tweendom (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: bullying, Friendship, NYC, lying, families, Wendy Lamb Books, 2012, spying, job loss, Newbery contender, copy from school library, Add a tag
Blog: Welcome to my Tweendom (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: bullying, Friendship, NYC, lying, families, Wendy Lamb Books, 2012, spying, job loss, Newbery contender, copy from school library, Add a tag
Georges himself, is a big of an awkward kid. He puts up with the daily microbullying that his mom says aren't part of the big picture. The big picture of life is kind of like the Seurat print they have in their living room. If you look at it close up, it's just a bunch of dots, but back away to see the big picture and everything comes into focus. Thinking about the big picture doesn't make school any easier, however. The sarcastic clapping at his volleyball moves, the renaming him Gorgeous, the fact that his friend Jason came back from camp completely different -- these things all pepper Georges days. Add onto this the fact that his nurse mom is always at the hospital, and his dad works plenty as well, and you get a sense of what Georges is going through.
So when somebody answers on the Spy Club sign that there is a meeting at 1:30 and Georges' dad encourages him to go, nobody is more surprised than Georges to find a kid waiting in the basement room. He first meets Candy, then Safer and their family from the 6th floor. Safer says that he's a spy and that he's got his eye on one of the building's tenants. He's creepy -- always wears black and is constantly hauling big suitcases in and out of the building. Safer teaches Georges some of the art of being a spy, and before he knows it, he is in over his head.
Rebecca Stead has written what could be called the perfect tween/middle grade novel. She gets kids, and the situations the characters get into as well as their voices are spot on. Each setting rings true, and the slow simmer and reveal are plotted precisely and perfectly. Stead manages to pay close attention to detail without slowing the pace of the story. There is a message in Liar & Spy about empathy and bullying and being an ally, but it doesn't feel the least bit didactic. Liar & Spy has quickly risen into my top five for the year.
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By: smmorris,
on 3/7/2012
Blog: Kid Lit Reviews (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: best friends, fishing, golf, Loch Ness Monster, new friends, family relationships, sea monsters, job loss, 4stars, first crush, summer vacations, Middle Grade, Add a tag
Blog: Kid Lit Reviews (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: best friends, fishing, golf, Loch Ness Monster, new friends, family relationships, sea monsters, job loss, 4stars, first crush, summer vacations, Middle Grade, Add a tag
4 stars Elliot Stone’s summer is ruined! Not only will he be away from his best friend Jake, but he’ll have to miss Cassie’s graduation party of the century while he spends an entire month in a Vermont cabin on Lake Bomoseen. After Elliot’s dad shares the legend of the Loch Ness Monster, a month [...]