The Savage Detectives

The Savage Detectives: A Novel by Roberto Bolaño, translated by Natasha Wimmer

This long novel covers a group of bohemian pseudo-intellectuals that refer to themselves as "visceral realists". There is a character that has a name very similar to the author that is mostly him in real life. We hear about this character, but not much from him directly. We go into detail about the other characters. At first it is a fairly straightforward narrative about the visceral realists in Mexico. Then it turns in to a few first-person vignettes by individual people from periods spanning most of the 20th century across much of the world from Latin America and the United States to Europe, Israel and Africa. The stories somewhat tie together, but are not much of narrative. The end returns to a narrative and a journey to escape a pimp and find a long lost poet, with an ending of them finally finding her, but losing her as she dies in a shootout. The characters are generally artsy miscreants. They do what they want regardless of how it fits in the world. Sex and drugs abound. They dislike the literature "establishment". I don't feel a whole lot of sympathy towards them.

Frindle

Frindle by Andrew Clements

A kid is usually able to get teachers sidetracked by bringing up topics that get them talking. However, their current elementary school teacher will not take the bait. Instead, she asks him to research the topic. He learns that words end up getting their meaning because everyone understands its use for that purpose. He puts it to the test and uses the term "frindle" to refer to a pen. It soon catches on in the class and then the school. The kids get in trouble for using it, but continue to do so. It makes the news coverage and eventually spreads on throughout the nation. A local entrepreneur has trademarked the term and used it to manufacture "frindles". He realizes he needs buy in, so negotiate a licensing agreement from the boy and his family. He later learns (via a letter sealed earlier) that the teacher who had been fighting the use of frindle had actually been supporting him all along. At the end, he donates a large sum of money in the name of the teacher and gives her a special gift. It was a lesson well learned. The book does a nice job of weaving together academic learning with an extreme scenario to make an enjoyable book.                                                                                                                     

A Bug, a Bear, and a Boy

A Bug, a Bear, and a Boy by David McPhail

A boy partners with a bug and a bear to carry out his adventures of the day. The bug is small and the bear is big, allowing them each to do certain things. The book is simple and may be entertaining for early readers.

Disgusting Digestion

Disgusting Digestion by Nick Arnold, illustrated by Tony de Saulles

This book looks at digestion and all the "gross" and "horrible" parts of it. There are many snippets describing some of the gross things that people did to progress (or regress) the understanding of digestion.  It is a fun book that explores digestion in a way kids will remember. It also provides many little known historical bits.

Junie B. Jones Audio Collection Books 9-12: Not a Crook; Party Animal; Beauty Shop Guy; Smells Something Fishy

Junie B. Jones Audio Collection Books 9-12: Not a Crook; Party Animal; Beauty Shop Guy; Smells Something Fishy by Barbara Parks

Not a Crook is the one that I remember best. She loses a mitten and then is sent to the lost and found. She decides she really likes a backpack there, but is told she can't take other people's things. She finds another girl had picked up the gove and kept it.  She later finds a fancy pen that she likes it. It takes her a while to relate this to her glove situation and not be a crook.

Party Animal - Junie and friend have sleepover at rich friends home. They cause ruckus and break things to the chagrin of rich grandma.

Beauty Shop Guy - she tries to practice beauty shop on herself and her stuffed animals.

Smells Something Fishy - I think it had to do with animals at school.

Magic Tree House Collection: Books 9-16

Magic Tree House Collection: Books 9-16 by Mary Pope Osborne

In this series of books, the kids use the treehouse to visit many past periods, primarily to gather books for Morgan Le Fay. In the process, they earn their master librarian cards. The trips include some visits to historical periods and places that are well known as well as those that are obscure. You would think that they would know a little bit more about the time periods they are exploring. There are also bits of "ghosts" that save them from some challenges. (I could do without those.)

9: Dolphins at Daybreak

They visit dolphins and communicate with them and other sea animals. (They also need to run from sharks)

10: Ghost Town at Sundown

They visit the wild west and meet a guy that is trying to protect his heard from horse thieves. He has a knack for writing and the kids encourage him to pursue the path. They later discover that a book they read about the period was written by him (and dedicated to them.) 

11: Lions at Lunchtime

They get to hang out with animals in Africa. Lions end up under their tree.

12: Polar Bears Past Bedtime

They play with polar bear cubs. Um, that does not seem like something that would be very smart. The natives of the region mention they learned a lot from the animals, but I don't think it was that way.

13:Vacation Under the Volcano

They visit Pompeii. They like the Roman times, but wonder why the soothsayer keeps saying the end is near. Then the realize the volcano is about to erupt and barely make it out in time. (But not before rescuing some books.

14: Day of the Dragon-King

In ancient China, the dragon king wants to destroy books (well actually "proto-books", they have not yet invented paper.) They rescue some.

15: Viking Ships at Sunrise

In Ireland, they encounter vikings and end up sailing away in one of their ships

16: Hour of the Olympics

The kids go to the Olympics and discover that only men are allowed. The girl tries to do some trickery to get in, but ends up in trouble.

Opposite Safari (Fisher-Price Little People)

Opposite Safari (Fisher-Price Little People) by Modern Publishing

No author. Toy company title. Yeah, this book is not much. There are a few opposites, mostly related to animal safari toys.

Bugs! Bugs! Bugs!

Bugs! Bugs! Bugs! by Jennifer Dussling

This book has many sharp photos of bugs. The focus is on bugs that capture and eat other bugs. At the end there is some coverage of protections that some bugs have to keep from being attacked.

Flashing Fire Engines

Flashing Fire Engines (Amazing Machines) by Tony Mitton and Ant Parker

Some anthropomorphic animals work as fireman and put out a fire. It has bright color and is short.

The Biggest, Best Snowman

The Biggest, Best Snowman by Margery Cuyler (Author), Will Hillenbrand (Illustrator)

A little girl is told by her big mother and big sisters that she is small and can't do much. then with the help of some animals, she builds a huge snowman. She shows it to her mom and sisters and they are impressed. It doesn't seem to be much of a story.

The Unicorn

The Unicorn by Rena Moran, illustrated by Kersti Frigell

A girl dreams of seeing a unicorn. Then a unicorn appears and she is able to spend time with it. It then leaves so another girl can have a turn. It is all very forgettable.

The Berenstain Bears' Big Bear, Small Bear

The Berenstain Bears' Big Bear, Small Bear by Stan Berenstain (Author), Jan Berenstain (Author)

Big Bear and Little Bear get the wrong size things to disastrous consequences. Then they switch and all is well. This repeats numerous times. Six year old like the book. Adults? Not so much. At least it is very short. It feels like a very cheap attempt at Go Dog Go.

Rainbow Fish and the Big Blue Whale

Rainbow Fish and the Big Blue Whale by Marcus Pfister (Author), J. Alison James (Translator)

The rainbow fish are having a good life, swimming around and eating krill. Then a big whale comes by. One fish freaks out because the whale is watching them and eating krill. He gets the fish to scurry away. The whale doesn't like that and tries to teach them a lesson. They end up in a cave and the krill are scared off. Another fish then talks with the whale and they become friends. Moral of the story, don't freak out with big different animals. It feels very basic.

A Bad Case of Stripes

A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon (Author, Illustrator)

A girl always want to fit in. She does what the reset of the crowd does. She secretly likes lima beans, but never eats them because her friends don't like them. One day she wakes up with stripes. After her doctor determines she has no other symptoms, she is allowed to go to school. There things get worse. Her stripes morph to other designs as kids make suggestions. At home other "cures" just make things worse. Her appearance changes to whatever others suggest. Finally, a little old lady cures her by giving her some lima beans. After that, she feels free to be more like herself and not always follow the crowd. The illustrations are great in this book about fitting in.

Chocolatina

Chocolatina by Erik Kraft (Author), Denise Brunkus (Illustrator)

Tina loves chocolate so much that she goes by the name Chocolatina. Her health teacher stresses that "You Are What you Eat". Chocolatina wishes that it were true. Then she wakes up one day to find she has turned into chocolate. Things are not as great as she thought they would be. She is stiff. A kid tries to take taste.. Her feet melt a bit and get stuck to the ground.  Finally her heath teacher calls her over to a private meeting. She tries to take a bite out of her, but is interrupted by the principal. This leads to the teacher being fired. The next day, Tina turns back into a person and vows to stop eating chocolate - starting tomorrow. On the final page, there is a picture of the health teacher appearing as chocolate. The book has bizarre style of drawings that work for the Dahl-esque story.

Curious George in the Snow

Curious George in the Snow by Vipay Interactive

Curious George is at a ski resort with the Man with the Yellow Hat. The Man tells him to not get in trouble... and of course he does. He jumps in a bobsled and ends up crashing into lift poll. He goes back up and takes a pizza pan down and crashes into a skier, breaking a ski, and taking the broken ski the rest of the way down. He finds the man and then watches the skier then win the race. It is a derivative George book that is a confused moral. George causes a lot of destruction, but the only "good" he seemed to do was be entertaining in his ruckus. It is a bit better than the snowy day book.

A Berry Brave Troop (Disney-Pixar's A Bug's Life)

A Berry Brave Troop (Disney-Pixar's A Bug's Life) by P. Kevin Strader, Illustrated by Kenny Yamada, Charles Landholm and Yakovetic

Adapted from book published in 1998 by Advance Publishers. A boy bug takes a girl scout troop out camping. Some grasshoppers come to the area and kidnap the pet aphid. They attack the grasshoppers and get home. It is a very moralistically confusing story.

The Gingerbread Man

The Gingerbread Man by Jim Aylesworth (Author), Barbara McClintock (Author)

This telling of the Gingerbread Man story has a humorously complex style of drawings and rhythmic storytelling. There is also a recipe on the back.

The Berenstain Bears Ride the Thunderbolt

The Berenstain Bears Ride the Thunderbolt (Step-Into-Reading, Step 1) by Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain

The Bear family go to an amusement park and ride the roller coaster. Everyone enjoys it, but papa gets motion sickness. It is told in a quick rhyming style. I can empathize with Papa and his motion sickness.

Election

Election by Tom Perrotta

A school president election is about to take place. Tracy Flick has been trying for this for all of her life. However, a smart jock has also decided to enter the race. Then at the last minute, his sister enters. However, she seems to be more interested and getting suspended and going to a Catholic girls' school. There are a whole bunch of affairs. Tracy also manages to unintentionally get a couple teachers fired. Stylistically, it is great as the book rapidly takes us into the minds of various characters. The characters themselves are all really messed up.