The Almost Truth by Eileen Cook
Bibliographic Information:
Cook, E. (2012). The almost truth. New York: Simon Pulse. (978-1442440197)
Plot Summary:
Sadie has a plan. She has saved her money, filled out the forms, and she is ready to leave Bowton Island and start her real life at the University of California in Berkeley. Or she was, until she finds out that her mother has taken all of her money from her account to pay for her father’s lawyer bills and fix the bathroom.
It had taken a lot of small cons for Sadie to raise the four thousand dollar deposit needed for university. Her waitress job would never bring in enough money on its own.
With one big con, however, she still might be able to live her dream. Luckily, she is a better con artist than her father – and she looks just like an age enhanced computer-generated picture of a long lost heiress.
Critical Evaluation:
From the cover of the book one would think this novel will be a typical romance novel. It is a romance but romance is definitely not the focus of the plot. Cook is an experienced author who knows the importance of developing a character. Sadie is a well-developed character with a few quirks to keep her interesting and a complicated living situation. In the end, the book is really about personal identity and choice.
Like Ally Carter’s successful Heist Society, The Almost Truth’s heroine as is a good girl living a life on the wrong side of the law. Also like Carter’s Heist Society, humor plays an important role in keeping the plot fun and light.
Cook has also created an interesting set of secondary characters from Sadie’s con artist father to her long-time friend and current boyfriend, Brendan who willingly helps her with her cons.
The Almost Truth is a fun read that does not take itself too seriously. In a teenage market filled with dystopias it is a refreshing change.
Reader’s Annotation:
Sadie needs just one big con to change her life forever. All she needs to do is convince everyone she is a long-lost heiress. If she fails, she may end up in a cell by Daddy. The stakes are high and she can’t afford to fail.
Information About the Author:
Eileen Cook is an accomplished writer with several books to her credit including Unraveling Isobel and The Education of Hailey Kendrick. She completed high school and university in Michigan. She has a degree in English and in counseling (Eileen Cook Revealed). Currently, she lives in Vancouver.
For more information please visit Cook’s website.
Genre:
- Chick lit
- Romance fiction
- Mystery fiction
Curriculum Ties:
- N/A
Booktalking Ideas:
- Read the section where Sadie finds out her mother took her money
- Ask if her mother had the right to do so
- Create a book list of thieving heroes
Reading Level/Interest Age:
- Ages 12 and up
Challenge Issues:
- Sadie is a con artist
Why did you include this book in the titles you selected?:
I read The Almost Truth for a book committee and thought it was fun and a nice change from the darker themes found in dystopias and the teen problem novels.
Reviews:
- Ketcheson, A. (2013). The almost truth. CM Review:, 19(19). Retrieved from http://www.umanitoba.ca/cm/vol19/no19/thealmosttruth.html
References:
Eileen Cook revealed. (n.d.). Retreived from http://authors.simonandschuster.ca/Eileen-Cook/47825204/author_revealed
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
Bibliographic Information:
Bradley, A. (2009). The sweetness at the bottom of the pie. Toronto: Anchor Canada. (978-0-385-66583-4)
Flavia de Luce series, bk. 1
Plot Summary:
Flavia de Luce is having an interesting day. First, she escapes from being blindfolded and tied up in her closet by her sisters. Then she is present to see the fear on her father’s face when he finds a dead bird with a postage stamp in its’ beak on their doorstep. Later, she overhears her father arguing with a mystery man in his study – only to find this same man dead in their cucumber patch the next morning.
And so, a new detective is born. As she says, “I wish I could say I was afraid but I wasn’t. Quite the contrary. This was by far the most interesting thing that had ever happened to me in my entire life.” But it will not be her last. In her investigations she will search a man’s room, climb a tower, be kidnapped, and of course, perform some chemistry. In the end, will it be enough to save her father from prison or will she find herself sharing the cell beside him?
Critical Evaluation:
Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie is an excellent example of how a character comes from a certain place and time. In this case, Flavia needs to come from a home where she has a great deal of freedom so she can investigate the crime but also so she can do her chemistry experiments. Further, she comes from a world where girls are not expected to be adventurous or interested in worldly matters. Much of the humor of the novel comes from Flavia’s unconventional responses or her reactions to people’s expectations of her. Part of this can be attributed to her age. She is young enough at eleven to still be outspoken and be a hoyden. These behaviors may not have been as believable in a heroine at sixteen, for example.
Flavia’s ongoing spates with her sisters and irrepressible personality add a level of normalcy and humor to her character. As a result her character is Anne of Green Gables meets Sherlock Holmes.
Reader’s Annotation:
Eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce decides she must solve the murder of the man found in her cucumber patch to save her father from prison.
Information About the Author:
Born in Toronto Ontario in 1938, Alan Bradley has had a long and varied career as a writer, teacher and media technologist. After attending Ryerson University, Bradley worked as a television engineer in Ontario and Saskatoon (Jessop, 2012). Later, he served for 25 years as the Director of Television Engineering in the media centre at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon.
Bradley has written screenplays and short stories and has taught Script Writing and Television Production Courses at the University of Saskatchewan. He has been involved in the local literary scene. He was the first President of the Saskatoon Writers and a founding member of the Saskatchewan Writers Guild. He is also a founding member of The Casebook of Saskatoon, “a society devoted to the study of Sherlock Holmes and Sherlockian writings” (Author’s bio, 2013)
Alan Bradley was 70 when he wrote the Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. The story started out as a 15-page excerpt that he had written and submitted to The British Crime Writers’ Association’s Debut Dagger Award, which he won in 2007.
Interestingly, although the novel is set in England, Bradley had not been to England himself until he went to receive his award in 2007. But, he says, he grew up submersed in the English culture through his English grandparents and the English books and magazines he read. He also credits his wife, Shirley, with helping him research the subject (Catto, 2009)
Click here for an interesting conversation between Alan Bradley and Shelagh Rogers about Flavia de Luce and his newest novel, Speaking From Among the Bones.
Genre:
- Mystery – detective stories
- Historical fiction
- Crossover
Curriculum Ties:
- Chemistry
- English
- Mystery novels
- Character development
Booktalking Ideas:
- Read from page 11 as Flavia adds poison ivy oil to her sister’s lipstick
- Talk about pranks between siblings
- Read from page 24 when she eavesdrops on her father to finding the dead man
Reading Level/Interest Age:
- Ages 14 up
- Adult reading level
- Book trailer
Challenge Issues:
- N/A
Why did you include this resource in the titles you selected?:
I do not read detective stories very often but this series has received a lot of press lately. I heard an interview with Alan Bradley a few weeks ago and decided to read it. It was funny, smart, and had a good mystery.
Reviews:
Coon, J. (2009). The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. Booklist, 105(17), 35. (star review)
“Only those who dislike precocious young heroines with extraordinary vocabulary and audacious courage can fail to like this amazingly entertaining book.”
Goldsmith, F. (2009). The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. School Library Journal, 55(5), 140.
“Flavia is brave and true and hilarious, and the murder mystery is clever and satisfying.
The sweetness at the bottom of the pie. (2009). Kirkus Reviews, 77(5), 49.
Brilliant, irresistible and incorrigible, Flavia has a long future ahead of her. Bradley’s mystery debut is a standout chock full of the intellectual asides so beloved by Jonathan Gash readers. It might even send budding sleuths to chemistry classes.
Awards:
- 2007 Debut Dagger Award
- 2009 Agatha Award, Best First Novel
- 2010 Amelia Bloomer List, Young Adult Fiction
- 2010 Alex Award nominee
- 2010 Arthur Ellis Awards, Best First Novel
- Macavity Awards, Best First Mystery Novel
- 2010 Best Books for Young Adults
References:
Author’s bio.(2013) Retrieved from http://www.flaviadeluce.com/view-authors-bio/
Catto, S. (2009). Alan Bradley: The old/new face of fiction. Quill & Quire. Retrieved from http://www.quillandquire.com/authors/profile.cfm?article_id=10492
Jessop, P. (2012). Alan Bradley. In The Canadian encyclopedia. Retrieved from
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/alan-bradley
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
Bibliographic Information:
Haddon, M. (2003). The curious incident of the dog in the night-time. New York: Doubleday.(0-385-65980-6)
Plot Summary:
Fifteen-year-old Christopher John Francis Boone finds the murdered body of Wellington, his neighbour’s poodle, late one evening. He liked Wellington and thinks that his killer should be punished so he decides to find out who killed the dog. The reader learns the subsequent tale through the book Christopher writes chronicling the investigation and the events that transpire as a result of his investigation. Although never stated, by following the story through Christopher’s point of view, the reader is led to understand that Christopher is an autistic teenager.
Critical Evaluation:
Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time has been included as a text in many high school English programs for good reason. Haddon has created a work that covers a wide variety of themes and literary devices. His character of Christopher also provides great fodder for conversations about first person narrative and the concept of the “naïve narrator.”
Kunze (2010) in his article about the novel also suggests the novel is an excellent example of metafiction since the novel is shaped as the mystery story that Christopher was writing as a school project. The idea of truth and lie/real and fiction are further developed by Christopher as he tries to understand concepts of metaphor and meaning that is often inferred in language by context, emotion, and body language. As the novel progresses, this duality is further emphasized in his relationship with his father when Christopher learns his father had lied to him to protect him from some difficult news.
As an autistic teenager, Christopher struggles to understand his world through the rational. He likes mathematics because he can understand the patterns. So, he tries to find the patterns in the world around him; 4 red cars in a row make a Good Day, 5 red cars make a Super Great Day but 4 yellow cars in a row make a Black Day. He struggles to understand the emotional context of language and the interactions humans have.
Although in the extreme, these concerns are common to all people, particularly teenagers. We all struggle to interpret the cues we are given in language. I think this is one reason that this novel resonates so strongly with such a wide population. There’s a little Christopher in all of us.
Reader’s Annotation:
The death of a neighbour’s dog leads an autistic teenager on a perilous journey.
Information About the Author:
Mark Haddon is an artist, novelist, screenwriter, and poet. He was born September 26, 1962 in Northampton, England. He studied in Oxford University and later earned his master’s degree in English literature at Edinburgh University. In Scotland, he worked at Mencap (Kunze, 2010), an organization that supports people with disabilities in the community.
He has also created illustrations and cartoons for magazines and newspapers. He has also made a living painting and selling abstract art.
He wrote his first children’s book in 1987. Since then he has written and illustrated over fifteen books for children. He has also written for a number of children’s series for the BBC. In 1999 he won two BAFTAs (British Academy of Film and Television Awards), one of which was an award for his contribution to children’s television.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time was the first book Haddon intentionally wrote for adults. It is the first book to have been published simultaneously in two imprints – one for children and one for adults in England. His poetry collection, The Talking Horse and the Sad Girl and the Village Under the Sea was published in 2005.
For more information please see Mark Haddon’s website.
Genre:
- Realistic novel
- Mystery novel
Curriculum Ties:
- English course
- Point of view
- Character development
- Independence
- Social Justice
- People with special needs
Booktalking Ideas:
- Read part of the book and ask the students to describe the narrator
- Read the scene with Christopher fights with his dad. Talk about how hard it be be to parent a child with Aspergers
- People with disabilities
- Autism – What is Asperger’s
- Murder mysteries
Reading Level/Interest Age:
- Ages 14 and up
Challenge Issues:
- N/A
Why did you include this book?:
My original reason for reading the book was that my daughter (then 17) recommended it to me. I think is it is a great example of a crossover book. I also think Haddon has created an compelling character in Christopher
Reviews:
- The curious incident of the dog in the night-time (Book). (2003). Kirkus Reviews, 71(8), 557.
- Hoffert, B. (2004). The curious incident of the dog in the night-time Time (Book). Library Journal, 129(1), 49. (Best books of 2003 section)
- Huntley, K. (2003). The curious incident of the dog in the night-time (Book). Booklist, 99(15), 1376.
Awards:
- 2005 British Book Awards Book of the Year, shortlist
- 2004 Alex Award
- 2004 WH Smith Award for Fiction, shortlist
- 2004 South Bank Show Annual Award for Literature
- 2003 Whitbread Novel Award
- 2003 Whitbread Book of the Year
- 2003 Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize
- 2003 Carnegie Medal, shortlist
- 2003 British Book Awards Literary Fiction Award
- 2003 British Book Awards Children’s Book of the Year
- 2003 British Book Awards Book of the Year, shortlist
- 2003 British Book Awards Author of the Year,shortlist
- 2003 Booktrust Teenage Prize
References:
Author: Mark Haddon. Retrieved from http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/authors/mark-haddon
Kunze, P. (2010). Haddon, Mark. In G. Hamilton & B. Jones (Authors), Encyclopedia of contemporary writers and their work. Retrieved from Bloom’s Literary Reference Online database.“
Kunze, P. (2010). The curious incident of the dog in the night-time. In G. Hamilton & B. Jones (Authors), Encyclopedia of contemporary writers and their work. Retrieved from Bloom’s Literary Reference Online database.“
Mark Haddon (2013). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Haddon
Writers: Mark Haddon. Retrieved from http://literature.britishcouncil.org/mark-haddon
Paper Covers Rock by Jenny Hubbard
Bibliographic Information:
Hubbard, J. (2011). Paper covers rock. New York: Delacorte Press.
Plot Summary:
Four friends secretly take a bottle to the river to share. While enjoying this respite from school, a dare ends in the death of a friend and a subsequent cover-up of the events to save the survivors from expulsion. When Miss Dovecott, an English teacher who sees Alex as a fledgling writer, starts asking questions about the accident, Alex confesses his confusion and guilt in a journal he hides in the library as he tries to deal with his accountability and feelings of guilt. As he reviews the events leading to the tragedy Alex starts to question if the death was really an accident.
Critical Evaluation:
Alex is suffering a personal and moral dilemma; he feels great guilt for what happened at the river but he is afraid of the consequences if anyone finds out. He has no one he trusts to talk to. So, he turns to a trusted teacher through a series of letters, poems, and journal entries he writes that he will never share. Through these writings, Alex describes the events leading to the death of his friend. He struggles with his confused memories of his friends and their conversations which suggest the accident may have been contrived to hide darker secrets. He exposes his attraction to his English teacher, Miss Dovecott. Finally, he acknowledges his weakness and flawed character.
The convention of epistolary writing sets the tone and controls the movement of the plot. Hubbard’s decision to have Alex tell the story through his letters and journal adds an extra level of intimacy to the reader’s experience while portraying the contractions in Alex’s emotions and actions. Using a first person limited view, Hubbard continues the theme of contradiction by providing the reader with full disclosure from one flawed point of view.
Another strength of this debut novel is its’ foundation built on classic literature and use of poetry. The use of poetry is particularly effective in building the tension in the themes of attraction and betrayal that underlay the plot.
Reader’s Annotation:
When a dare ends in the death of a friend, sixteen-year-old Alex uses his journal to try to understand what happened – was it an accident or was it murder?
Information About the Author:
Paper Covers Rocks is a debut novel for Jenny Hubbard. Hubbard has taught English classes at the high school and the college level. In fact, she has also taught in a private all-boys boarding school.
Jenny is also a poet and very active in the theatre where is an actor and a playwright.
For more information please see her site: http://papercoversrock.co/
Genre:
- Realistic
Curriculum Ties:
- Epistolary writing
- Poetry
Booktalking Ideas:
- Journal writing – start by reading one of Alex’s letters.
- Friendship
Reading Level/Interest Age:
- Ages 14 and up
- Reading level 6.4
Challenge Issues:
- N/A
Why did you include this title?:
I reviewed this book for our book club at the high school I teach. It was one of my favorite books last year. I have incorporated the review into this post.
Reviews:
- Starred Review, Publishers Weekly, April 25, 2011:
“Hubbard has a superb handle on her boarding school setting…A powerful, ambitious debut.” - Starred Review, School Library Journal, June 2011:
“The story builds to a climax that will have readers on edge. It could be read alongside many of the classics that deal with friendship and loyalty, as well as deceit…Those who are looking for something to ponder will enjoy this compelling read.” - Starred Review, The Horn Book Magazine, July/August 2011:
“Hubbard’s characters are confounding and intriguing…The traditional, buttoned-up boarding school setting makes the perfect backdrop to this tense dictation of secrets, lies, manipulation, and the ambiguity of honor.” - Starred Review, Booklist, July 1, 2011:
“Both plotting and characters are thoroughly crafted in this stellar first novel. The poetry that Hubbard produces from Alex’s pen is brilliant, and the prose throughout is elegant in its simplicity. Reminiscent of John Knowles’ classic coming-of-age story, A Separate Peace (1959), this novel introduces Hubbard as a bright light to watch on the YA literary scene.”
Awards:
- Winner 2011 National Parenting Publications Awards (NAPPA) Gold Award
- Winner 2011 School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
- Winner 2011 Horn Book Fanfare
- Winner 2011 Booklist Children’s Editors’ Choice
- Nominee ALA Best Books for Young Adults
- Nominee North Carolina Children’s Book Award
- Nominee Texas TAYSHAS High School Reading List
- Nominee Young Adult Services Division, School Library Journal Author Award
- 2012 Williams C. Morris Finalist http://www.ala.org/yalsa/morris
City of a Thousand Dolls by Miriam Forster
City of a Thousand Dolls by Miriam Forster
Bibliographic information:
Forster, M. (2013). City of a Thousand Dolls. New York: HarperTeen. (978-0-06-212130-1).
Plot summary:
Nisha was abandoned at the gates of the City of a Thousand Dolls as a young child. The City of a Thousand Dolls is a place where orphan and unwanted girls are placed as infants or young children. There, they are trained in one of the eight houses to be musicians, healers, courtesans, and wives of nobility. Nisha arrived at the City too old to be placed in any of the Houses and so her place is somewhat tenuous as she belongs to none of the Houses but has trained in most of them. Over time, she found a place for herself as a servant and assistant to the Matron of the City.
She is now old enough to take part in the Redeeming. During the Redeeming, a person can claim a girl as an apprentice or a wife by paying a specified price, which is intended to compensate the City for her training. Nisha knows her chances of being chosen are slim but when she catches the eye of a young noble, she begins to dream that he will speak for her and she will be able to leave the City of Dolls for a new life. Nisha’s dreams are further imperiled when she catches the eye of another, who is willing to purchase her as a slave prior to the Redeeming; something that could happen because of her murky past and lack of connections.
When a series of murders threaten the security of the City, Nisha bargains to try to solve the mysterious deaths in exchange for her own freedom.
Critical evaluation:
Forster allows Nisha to tell her own story choosing to use first person narrative. This convention is common in both mystery fiction and in young adult literature. By using this convention, the author allows the reader immediate access into the thoughts and feelings of her protagonist; a successful technique when writing for a teen audience. Using first person narrative is also traditional in mysteries allowing the reader to uncover clues at the same time as the narrator.
The plot of the story follows many of the conventions found in fantasy writing; a mysterious heritage, unknown protector, and magical creatures. There is little new in this. Forster’s novel is successful, to a large measure, because of her well-thought out setting. By setting her story into a South-Asian inspired context, she is able to bring the real issue of a controlled family size policy found in China with a culture of undervaluing girls to her fantasy. These concepts provide a very modern context for the fictional City of a Thousand Dolls. To this, she has added the details to provide further foundation to her story; the girls being trained for specific tasks by the different houses, which provides some excellent secondary characters for Nisha to interact with.
Reader’s annotation:
Nisha must solve the murders occurring in the City of a Thousand Dolls to save her own life and the life of her friends. While trying to uncover the mystery, Nisha soon learns that there is more to her own story than what she was led to believe when she was abandoned at the gates of the City years below. Do the nomadic Kildi play a role in the murders? And what do the tribe of cats who call the City home know of the present mystery and her own murky past?
Information about the author:
City of a Thousand Dolls is the debut novel by Miriam Forster. In her blog, Dancing with Dragons is hard on Your Shoes, she describes herself as a “recovering barista” and “a bit of a hermit.” She is currently working on a companion book.
Genre:
- Mystery
- Fantasy
- Romance
Curriculum ties:
- Social justice issues
- World History – China: one child policy, India: caste system
Booktalking ideas:
- Strong female characters
- Companion to Little Princes
- Trailer (from HarperCollins):
Reading level/interest: 13 and up
Challenge issues:
- N/A
Why did you include this book in the titles chosen?:
- City of a Thousand Dolls was recommended by an avid teen reader who appreciated the originality of the setting and characters that wraps a tradition fantasy theme of a young protagonist finding out she is special and in the process becomes a hero. I included it because of the mystery elements.
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