The Bad Beginning: Book the First by Lemony Snicket

Snicket, Lemony. The Bad Beginning: Book the First. New York: HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 1999. 176 pages $12.99 ISBN 9780064407663

Plot Summary: Newly orphaned Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire are moved from the terrible Mr. Poe house to the even more terrible Count Olaf house. The children try to move back to the slightly less terrible Poe house, but Mr. Poe will not here any of it. They know Count Olaf is evil, and just wants their money, but have no help in stopping him. Ultimately their fate is in their own hands.

Critical Evaluation: This is quite a quirky book. If I thought a book about orphans would be depressing, a book about rich orphans whose only relatives don't want them and just want their money is even more depressing. And yet, I found myself giggling through much of the book. The book is very clever and I'm interested in how much worse the lives of the Baudelaire children will get through the rest of the series.

Reader's Annotation: Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire fight for their right to the family inheritance and fair treatment in the shadow of mean Count Olaf.

Author Bio: Lemony Snicket is the author of the Series of Unfortunate Events, the picture books The Composer is Dead, The Lump of Coal and The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming as well as Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can't Avoid and Unfortunate Events tie-ins. Lemony Snicket is a pen name for author Daniel Handler. Handler has published three books under his own name, The Basic Eight, Watch Your Mouth and Adverbs. Handler graduated from Wesleyan University in 1992 and married Lisa Brown, whom he met in college. The couple lives in San Francisco with their son Otto.

Genre: Modern Fairy Tale, Drama

Curriculum Ties: None.

Booktalking Ideas: Reading the first chapter would be a great way to lure students into reading the series.

Reading Level/Interest Age: Ages 9-12, Grades 3-6

Challenges: The murder of the parents may be an issue, but the author doesn't go into detail.

Reason for including: I have been intrigued by this series for a while, but had only seen the movie until this semester. I know it is very popular, probably among younger tweens.

Mick Harte was Here by Barbara Park

Park, Barbara. Mick Harte was Here. New York: Apple Soup Books, 1995. 89 pages. $15.00 ISBN 9780679870883

Plot Summary: Phoebe tells the story of her brother, younger by ten months, who was killed in a bike accident. The story alternates between flashbacks and present day where Phoebe and her family are dealing with Mick's death.

Critical Evaluation: When I read this book in elementary school I remember crying quite a lot, and I always wore my helmet after that. Although the subject matter is very grim, I think it is an essential read if merely to reinforce the use of bike helmets. Barbara did an excellent job balancing the mourning of Mick's family and the humorous flashbacks.

Reader's Annotation: Phoebe wants you to learn one thing from her brother's death, always wear a helmet.

Author Bio: Barbara Park is the author of several children's books including Beanpole, Dear God, HELP!!! Love, Earl and the Junie B. Jones series. Barbara Park lives in Arizona with her husband and has two grown sons, David and Steven.

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Curriculum Ties: This is a must read for any upper elementary or middle school reading list.

Booktalking Ideas: Talk about the necessity of wearing a helmet.

Reading Level/Interest Age: Ages 8-12

Challenges: None.

Reason for including: While I wouldn't say this is one of my favorite books, it is definitely on the top of my list of books that have affected me at one point. I think this is a great book, very thought provoking.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Alexie, Sherman. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2007. 288 pages. $8.99 ISBN 9780316013697

Plot Summary: Junior loves to draw, in fact cartooning is his way of coping with life. He lives on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Washington and is the son of alcoholic parents. One day Junior gets so fed up with the poor education at their reservation school that he talks back to one of his teachers. However, it isn't Junior that comes apologizing, it's the teacher who encourages him to seek out better education. Junior decides it is time for a change and has his parents enroll him in the nearest non-reservation high school, which happens to be all white students. Although Junior knew it would be hard, he is faced with taunts, crushes, difficult friendships for the chance to learn. When he thought high school was as hard as it could get, he is faced with real tragedy and if forced to cope with comedy.

Critical Evaluation: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is one of the best books I've read this year. Alexie is so honest about the trials he went through, and other kids have gone through. I admit that some of the things he talked about were a bit shocking, but overall it is a book tweens need to read.

Reader's Annotation: High school is hard. Try being the only Spokane Indian in an all-white high school. That's harder. Junior may look like a weakling on the outside, but in actuality he is strong of heart and so funny he'll make you laugh your socks off.

Author Bio: Sherman J. Alexie, Jr. grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Wellpinit, Washington. Like his character Junior, he was born hydrocephalic, with water on the brain. After several operations he was thought not to live, and after he outlived their predictions he was thought to live with severe mental retardation. Despite his seizures, Alexie learned to read at a very early age. He also went to Reardan High school, an all white high school. In college he wanted to be a doctor, but after trying to take human anatomy and not getting through it he changed his course. He graduated from WSU with a BA in American Studies, received the Washington State Arts Commission Poetry Fellowship in 1991 and the National Endowment for the Arts Poetry Fellowship in 1992. He has published several books including poetry and fiction, and wrote a few screenplays.

Genre: Realistic Fiction, Humor, Drama

Curriculum Ties: This should be assigned to every middle school student, whether in social studies, language arts/English or for a summer reading list.

Booktalking Ideas: Reading the first chapter to the class, making sure to show any illustrations, would be a good way to get kids interested in the book.

Reading Level/Interest Age: 11 and up

Challenges: The language use and alcohol references may cause some concern especially with fifth and six graders (and parents).

Reason for including: Well, this book was assigned for the class. However, I wanted to read the book and was excited to be able to read it.