A strange world, a strange school, and a strange kid. Now, that's my kinda book!

Summary

In a quiet English town Harry Potter lives under the stairs at his uncle and aunt’s house. His cousin Dudley is a spoiled menace. Ignored is how Harry is treated, but deep down he knows he is special. Harry receives a letter, which has never happened to him before. However, his uncle snatches it from him before he gets a chance to look inside. His uncle’s maneuverings cannot stop the owls from delivering Harry’s important letter. On the night before Harry’s birthday his uncle uproots the family to an isolated seaside cabin in an attempt to avoid the delivery owls. Later that night Hagrid, a half-giant half-human, breaks down the door and rightly gives Harry his letter of acceptance to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Hagrid also informs Harry that he is a wizard and that his uncle and aunt have been lying to him the whole time. Harry travels to Hogwarts where he finds himself a celebrity due to the evil wizard Voldemort who brutally killed his parents, but could not kill Harry. He quickly friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Once at Hogwarts Harry is sorted into Gryffindor by the Sorting Hat. He also sees all the professors of the school as well as the headmaster Professor Dumbledore. Strange occurrences begin to happen around Harry as he comes into his power. With the help of Ron and Hermione Harry unlocks some of the mysteries surrounding him and finds himself closer to Voldemort than he ever realized.

Review

The great thing about this book is its protagonist. Harry is not extraordinary at school or even in his wand abilities. In fact he is rather average, but what sets him a part is his drive and motivation to learn. He has gumption and a set of great friends. Harry may be average, but really aren’t we all pretty average? He is accessible in that regard because he has to work hard to achieve the answers and skills he wants. Harry is a character worthy of any young person’s admiration. 

Grades: 3-6

Rowling, J. K. (1997). Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. New York, NY: Scholastic Press.
ISBN: 0-590-35340-3

Cover art link: I Write A lot Blog

Here's a peek at the film version of the book, but it's up to you to read the book first and then watch the film or vice versa! Enjoy . . .

Save an empire while being endlessly entertained

The borderless kingdom of Fantastica is in danger of being consumed by the Nothing- a growing emptiness born from lack of imagination, that saddens its victims before it makes them and their surroundings disappear. There is hope for Fantastica however, its fate rests in the imagination of a shy, chubby, 12 year-old boy hiding beneath army blankets in his school’s attic, and this boy’s name is Bastian Balthazar Bux. While reading his stolen copy of The Neverending Story he begins to notice the characters are speaking about him, and to him, pleading him to help before the Nothing reaches to the Childlike Empress, Fantastica’s leader. Two words bring Bastian into the story just before the Ivory Tower, the Childlike Empress' home and Fantastica's epicenter, is lost forever. The Childlike Empresses greatfully bestows Bastian with the freedom of making wishes in order to recreate the rest of Fantastica that has disappeared. With many wishes and his gift of storytelling Bastian travels and expands Fantastica’s domain and adds to its cast of characters. However he soon realizes that he must be very careful about what to wish for, or he may disappear into the story forever.


This classic tale is layered with exotic fantasy places, fascinating and well-invented characters, and terribly creative subplots. Readers will never be able to forget the good-spirited luckdragon, Falcor, or the brave Atreyu, or even the deceptive Xayide. The Neverending Story is indeed a story about a far away land, but it also a story about Bastian, an intelligent and sensitive boy that is faced with the tragedy of losing his mother and the challenges of being bullied by his classmates. Bastian personifies both human frailty and resilience, and all other qualities in between. Ende has painstakingly woven such complex ideas with a child-friendly story that this novel may be reread several times throughout one’s life, making it without a doubt a true neverending story. Grades 4-7.


Ende, Michael. (1979). The Neverending Story (Ralph Manheim, trans.). Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc.
ISBN: 0-385-17622-8
Cover art from Fantastic Fiction,www.fantasticfiction.co.uk

Explore the moor with Saaski

Saaski is not like the other children in her village- she has darker skin, wild hair, eyes that change color, and she has a fear of metal. She is half human and half Moorfolk- which are those secretive beings that reside within a glittering mound beyond the moor outside the village. Unaccepted by the Moorfolk, she is transformed back into a baby and swapped with a human baby that belonged to villagers Yarro and Anwara. Only Old Bess, Anwara’s mother, at first suspects there is something mysteriously inhuman about the baby, but keeps it to herself. As Saaski grows and begins to display odd features and behavior the villagers begin to suspect that she is not their kind, eventually blaming her for misfortunes that affect the village. Hurt and alone, Saaski flees daily to the moor to find comfort in playing her set of bagpipes- a passion she shares with her friend Tam, another outcast. She also develops a deeper relationship with Old Bess, who keeps Saaski’s secrets about the mysterious markings she sees around her home. Saaski’s sense of security is becomes endangered when, upon midsummer’s eve, villagers make terrible threat to Saaski and her parents. Saaski and Tam escape to the moor and discover the real truth about who she is, and why she can never go back.


McGraw's The Moorchild explores how it must have been for one to be labeled an outcast from birth in a small community centuries ago. The love and appreciation Saaski receives from her parents cannot compensate for the cruelty she must endure from the rest of the village. Readers will find Saaski’s strength to carry on and courageousness to trace her past inspiring and will also delight in this novel that intertwines folk life with Irish folklore. McGraw dedicates the book to any child who has ever felt different, and that dedication speaks to many. Grades 4-7.


McGraw, Eloise. (1996). The Moorchild. New York, NY: Aladdin Paperbacks, imprint of Simon and Schuster.
ISBN: 0-689-80654-X
Cover art from Parent Central, http://www.parentcentral.shoptoit.ca/

For your next literary voyage forget Wonderland, and come to UnLondon!

Deeba and Zanna have discovered a portal in a London housing project basement that can transport them to a place where the city’s garbage and outcasts reside- UnLondon- London’s “abcity.”  Strange objects and signals, and a very talkative book belonging to UnLondon’s Propheseers have named Zanna the chosen one, or the Shwazzy, who will rescue the abcity from the Smog which threatens to poison and kill all of UnLondon’s inhabitants. Before Zanna can even complete the mission she chooses not to accept, the girls are returned to London, and their bizarre experience seems but a dream- until Deeba stumbles upon a mysterious link between the London she knows and the UnLondon she now feels compelled to return. Only Deeba knows the real reason why UnLondon is in even greater danger than its inhabitants originally thought. But how will she- a twelve-year old from a London housing project, the true Shwazzy’s funny friend, the UnShwazzy- convince UnLondoners that they are being tricked by an evil force posing to be benevolent? Luckily, a half-ghost named Hemi and an animated milk carton named Curdle have joined her crusade, but even with her two best allies she still needs more help to warn UnLondon and escape the Smog’s minions. Her journey is filled with narrow escapes from death, the most bizarre citizens, and one mysterious UnGun.

UN LUN DUNis an imaginative and fresh novel that is filled with great classic themes such as friendship, mistaken personas, (false) prophesy, and heroism. The book also alludes to the threat of pollution and how it affects political attitudes and actions. From the first chapter readers will be captivated by Meivilles’ original and witty writing, all the while feeling as surprised as Deeba by the unique cast of characters and bizarre but entertaining scenarios. UN LUN DUN is like an updated and edgy version of Alice in Wonderland and is a wonderful reminder that even the most unlikely characters can be heroes, or heroines. Grade 3 and up.


Mieville, China. (2007). UN LUN DUN. New York: Del Rey Books, an imprint of Random House
ISBN: 978-0-345-45844-5
Cover art from Random House, http://www.randomhouse.com/

Steal this fantasy!

Before Prospero and Bo’s mother died she told them stories about her favorite city, Venice, Italy. With images of golden chariots, homes built on stilts that rise above water, and masked revelers, the brothers- Prospero, 12, and Bo, 5- run away from Germany to the majestic city on the lagoon in order to avoid being separated by their aunt and uncle. They find refuge with a group of young thieves, who is led by the mysterious Thief Lord. When an equally mysterious Count comes to the Thief Lord with a peculiar request, he and his thieves jump at the chance to pull off their biggest robbery yet, and their reward promises them financial freedom forever. Somewhere in Venice there exists an old carousel whose secret can unlock either a fountain of youth for the ageing, or a portal to adulthood for the young and willing, and the Count only wants the missing wing that resides in the home of a successful photographer. However, the heist doesn’t go as smooth as the group originally planned, and in the process the young thieves’ sense of fragile security breaks away. As they become acquainted with the vary people from who they are trying to hide, true personas are revealed, solid friendships begin to crumble, and unlikely characters prove they can be both trustworthy and courageous.


Cornelia Funke’s “urban-fantasy,” The Thief Lord, is an adventuresome, enchanting, and suspenseful novel that explores friendship, loyalty, and independence. Funke’s descriptions of Venice with winged lions, grand palaces, mazes of canals, secret islands, and lagoon-meandering gondolas are as magical and imaginative as the carousel that completes the fantasy. In the midst of the action, readers will ponder what life could be like for a child who depends on his wits for survival, and for adults who have long since departed childhood. Any boy or girl who has ever dreamt of running away from unappreciative surroundings in search of a place where he or she belonged ought to read The Thief Lord. Grades 4-7.


Funke, Cornelia. (2002). The Thief Lord. Frome, Somerset, UK: The Chicken House.
ISBN: 0-439-42089-X
Cover art from kidsreads.com, http://www.kidsreads.com/guides/thief_lord2.asp

What to do on a dark and stormy night? Why not join Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin as they "wrinkle in time!"

Madeleine L’Engle’s enduring classic, A Wrinkle in Time, explores powerful themes such as good versus evil, acceptance, hope, and resilience. The most inspiring points arise when the three young characters recognize their inner strengths to derive unmatched yet convincing bravery. Some readers may find the most memorable lesson in the simplified words of the loving Aunt Beast, who shares her wisdom on survival, “For the things which are seen are temporal. But the things which are not seen are eternal.” Though there are no illustrations, L’Engle’s ability to paint vivid pictures with detailed descriptions that are rich in imaginative scenery, gentle creatures, and terrifying depictions of familiar images make this fantasy novel impossible to forget and a pleasure to read and reread.
L'Engle, Madeleine.  (1962).  A Wrinkle in Time.  New York:  Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.
Cover art link from Librarything, 2010.