What I learned from MG Books - #3

I just read a GREAT book! Here's what I learned...

No Castles Here by A.C.E. Bauer. 270 pages. Random House.

*Sweet story with happy ending (inner city neighborhood, bullying turns to friendship, empowering youth - saving school and community) This is an all-around feel-good story that all kids should read.

*Great book cover. I mean GREAT! It made me wonder what the story was about. I had to read it.

*Great opening 

    Great opening hook -- “Augie snuck out.”

    Great opening descriptions -- 

“Camden…armpit of the world.” 

“tall building…like a fortress with its drawbridge up.” 

“He felt his t-shirt unpeel from his back.”

*Two Stories in one, entertwined. One is Augie’s life in run-down city neighborhood. One is the fairy tale he is reading. Later, the two stories intersect in a neat way.

*The boy, Augie, grows and learns as the book progresses.

*Great role models (hard-working mom, Big Brother, teacher, bookstore owner)

*Great sense of community and belonging (chorus, neighborhood, school)

What I learned from MG Books - #2

I'm reading MG books in the attempt to define what makes a good book. I'll share what I learn.

Book #2: The Lost Children, a MG fantasy, by Carolyn Cohagan. 

Here's what I learned (and what I learned not to do) from this author/book. 

• Do write a great first line that catches a reader’s attention.

I was intrigued by the first line “Josephine Russing owns 387 pairs of gloves”. I wanted to find out why, so I checked the book out from the library. Sadly, that line was the best that I read.      

• Don’t create a silly, unbelievable story.

I couldn’t connect with the story or the characters. The silliness ruined it.

Examples of silliness:

Josephine’s father, Mr. Russing had a law passed in their town that every person must wear gloves in public, even seamstresses in his sewing factory must sew while wearing gloves. Can you imagine sewing while wearing gloves?

Mr. Russing’s factory makes the gloves. His factories are in the shape of ducks. Ducks? Really?

Then, there is back story about a little boy. His dad, a light house keeper, allowed his light to go out, then called the son to get the coal, and then shoveled like mad to get the light going again. Meanwhile, a ship wrecks and the boy is basically blamed for it. His family was then taken away when they could not pay for the replacement of the ship and crew. How is this the boy’s fault? And why is this important?   

• Don’t create cookie-cutter bad guys.

This book has two nasty ladies in it. Kitchen Maggie is the fat one. Stairwell Ruth is the thin one. Both are cookie-cutter and unbelievable as characters.

I forced myself to read to page 55, but then I had to stop. The reading was that painful. Maybe I shouldn’t do a review on this one since I didn’t read it all, but I did learn what not to do, so I’m sharing it. Having said all that, the reviews on Amazon were pretty good, so that leaves me wondering if the book got better. 55 pages was enough for me.

What I learned from MG Books - #1

I'm reading MG books in the attempt to define what makes a good book. I'll share what I learn.

 

Book #1: The Sky Inside, a MG sci-fi mystery, by Clare B. Dunkle. 

Here's what I learned from this author/book.

• Write simple, easy to understand chapters.

• Don't get too technical even if it is sci-fi.

• Adult characters, especially parents, should be believable.

Martin's parents were not played as dumb adults. They had believable interactions with each other and with the children. As the story progresses you see their short-falls and fears. They are portrayed as real people. 

• Child characters and their actions should be believable. 

The main character, Martin, reminded me of a 13 year old boy I know, even down to some of his personality traits! He loves his old sneakers. He worries he is dying when he gets a terrible sunburn. He starts to figure out that something is terribly wrong in the suburb. He has compassion for younger kids.  

• Insert key aspects that kids love.

Kids would love Alldog, the toy that acts like a real dog. It is a robot that can morph into any type of dog. Chip is his name and he is as loyal as any dog. Other fun kid interests: exploring the underground city, robots, video games, skipping school, and even the oven that is like a lottery, determining what you get to eat for dinner.

• Have an over-arching theme or moral for the story.

This one was about lies. Every aspect of the suburb is built on lies. Martin sees how the lies have completely degraded society and his family.

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If you'd like to know more about this book, here is a synopsis I wrote, as well as the actual back book jacket quote.

Synopsis: Martin, age 13 has a Wonder Baby sister, age 6, who is super smart. They live with their parents in the Sky Dome suburb and are told that outside the dome poisons will kill you. All the suburbs’ supplied come in off the train, called a packet, and are decontamized. Martin gets an Alldog toy for his birthday, but this robotic dog can do things others can’t, like deprogram unauthorized doors. The suburb inhabitants are constantly being watched. People disappear. Then, when a man comes and takes all the Wonder Babies away, Martin sets out to find them.

Back Cover: Quote from book – “The ads had started running on mid-morning television the summer after Martin’s fourth birthday. “Wonder babies are here!” they announced….Never had the arrival of the stork brought such excitement. Overflowing  with charm and intelligence, WonderBabies were like nothing the suburb had seen before. But that didn’t turn out to be a good thing.”