The Wednesday Wars

The Wednesday Wars

 by Gary D. Schmidt

Bibliography

Schmidt, G. D. (2007). The Wednesday wars. Boston, MA: Clarion Books. ISBN 054723760X

Summary

As the only Presbyterian in his class, Holling Hoodhood has to spend every Wednesday afternoon alone with his teacher when all the other children go for religious training.  Let the war begin, or not really.  There is already a war going on in 1967 - and it is in Vietnam.  A lot of growing up occurs in The Wednesday Wars, all set against the backdrop of Vietnam Era suburbia, with a lot of Shakespeare, a little romance, and fun for everyone who reads.

Critical Analysis

The Wednesday Wars is excellent historical fiction for middle school aged readers.  It portrays the true flavor of Vietnam Era suburban America without all the grit of an actual war story.  The main character, Holling, speaks in the first person through out the novel in the mostly true voice of a seventh grader, though he does have a beautiful grasp of language for his age.  Schmidt makes good use of references to historical figures such as Bobby Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., and The Beatles.  Even though Holling is from a different era than today's readers, current middle schoolers will certainly identify with the universal themes examined in the book, such as growing up and war in far away places.

Review Excerpts

*Schmidt makes the implausible believable and the everyday momentous. Seamlessly, he knits together the story's themes: the cultural uproar of the '60s, the internal uproar of early adolescence, and the timeless wisdom of Shakespeare's words. Holling's unwavering, distinctive voice offers a gentle, hopeful, moving story of a boy who, with the right help, learns to stretch beyond the limitations of his family, his violent times, and his fear, as he leaps into his future with his eyes and his heart wide open. --Booklist

*Schmidt rises above the novel's conventions to create memorable and believable characters. --The Horn Book


Connections

*Available in Kindle edition and on audio.  I listened to the audio as I read the book.  I liked the way the narrator portrayed the children's voices, but some of the adult voices were "meaner" on the audio than I would have read them in my head.

     

* Expert from The Wednesday Wars

September Of all the kids in the seventh grade at Camillo Junior High, there was one kid that Mrs. Baker hated with heat whiter than the sun. Me. And let me tell you, it wasn't for anything I'd done. If it had been Doug Swieteck that Mrs. Baker hated, it would have made sense.

Doug Swieteck once made up a list of 410 ways to get a teacher to hate you. It began with "Spray deodorant in all her desk drawers" and got worse as it went along. A whole lot worse. I think that things became illegal around Number 167. You don't want to know what Number 400 was, and you really don't want to know what Number 410 was. But Ill tell you this much: They were the kinds of things that sent kids to juvenile detention homes in upstate New York, so far away that you never saw them again.

Doug Swieteck tried Number 6 on Mrs. Sidman last year. It was something about Wrigley gum and the teachers water fountain (which was just outside the teachers lounge) and the Polynesian Fruit Blend hair coloring that Mrs. Sidman used. It worked, and streams of juice the color of mangoes stained her face for the rest of the day, and the next day, and the next day-until, I suppose, those skin cells wore off. Doug Swieteck was suspended for two whole weeks. Just before he left, he said that next year he was going to try Number 166 to see how much time that would get him.

The day before Doug Swieteck came back, our principal reported during Morning Announcements that Mrs. Sidman had accepted "voluntary reassignment to the Main Administrative Office." We were all supposed to congratulate her on the new post. But it was hard to congratulate her because she almost never peeked out of the Main Administrative Office. Even when she had to be the playground monitor during recess, she mostly kept away from us. If you did get close, shed whip out a plastic rain hat and pull it on. Its hard to congratulate someone who's holding a plastic rain hat over her Polynesian Fruit Blend-colored hair.

See?

That's the kind of stuff that gets teachers to hate you. But the thing was, I never did any of that stuff. Never. I even stayed as far away from Doug Swieteck as I could, so if he did decide to try Number 166 on anyone, I wouldn't get blamed for standing nearby.

But it didn't matter. Mrs. Baker hated me. She hated me a whole lot worse than Mrs. Sidman hated Doug Swieteck. I knew it on Monday, the first day of seventh grade, when she called the class roll-which told you not only who was in the class but also where everyone lived. If your last name ended in "berg" or "zog" or "stein," you lived on the north side. If your last name ended in "elli" or "ini" or "o," you lived on the south side.

Lee Avenue cut right between them, and if you walked out of Camillo Junior High and followed Lee Avenue across Main Street, past MacCleans Drug Store, Goldmans Best Bakery, and the Five and Dime, you come to my house-which my father had figured out was right smack in the middle of town.

Among the Hidden

Among the Hidden
 by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Bibliography

Haddix, M. P. (1998). Among the hidden. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. ISBN0689824750

Summary

A supposed food shortage and government intervention lead to population control measures in Among the Hidden.  No more than two children are allowed per family, but what happens when there is a third child, a shadow child who must remain hidden at all costs?  What happens when one of these children longs for more and goes to find it when he spots another third child through a window?  In Among the Hidden, Luke ventures out of his safe hiding place to find company, but gets more than he bargains for when his new friend wants him to join a public protest against the government.  His entire world is at risk...will he go?

Critical Analysis

Among the Hidden is a convincing and weighty dystopic novel.  The world we read about is closely related to ours and feels like something that could happen if all conditions were right - or wrong in this case.  Haddix setting is easy to believe and she creates a covetously simple yet intriguing plot that draws the reader into the story and makes it impossible not to care about the main character, Luke, and his engaging friend, Jen.

Typical of dystopic novels, Among the Hidden carries a warning as a main theme, beware a government that controls the people and not the other way around - retain your freewill!  Psychological drama and not the events carry the story, but enough happens to keep the reader interested.  And the story is extremely well written.  Among the Hidden is targeted toward a rather young audience (ages 8-12) so while very intense, the sociological and psychological aspects are kept at a level appropriate for the age group.

Review Excerpts

* The plot development is sometimes implausible and the characterizations a bit brittle, but the unsettling, thought-provoking premise should suffice to keep readers hooked. --Publishers Weekly

* the loss of free will is the fundamental theme of an exciting and compelling story of one young person defying authority and the odds to make a difference. Readers will be captivated by Luke's predicament and his reactions to it. --School Library Journal


Connections

* Expert from Among the Hidden
   

He had never disobeyed the order to hide. Even as a toddler, barely able to walk in the backyard’s tall grass, he had somehow understood the fear in his mother’s voice. But on this day, the day they began taking the woods away, he hesitated. He took one extra breath of the fresh air, scented with clover and honeysuckle and -- coming from far away -- pine smoke. He laid his hoe down gently, and savored one last moment of feeling warm soil beneath his bare feet. He reminded himself, “I will never be allowed outside again. Maybe never again as long as I live.”

He turned and walked into the house, as silently as a shadow.

* You can listen to a sample from the audio version here.  Look under the blue cover picture.

*There are seven books in the Shadow Children Series.

• Among the Hidden
• Among the Imposters
• Among the Betrayed
• Among the Barons
• Among the Brave
• Among the Enemy
• Among the Free

Twilight

Twilight
 by Stephanie Meyer

Bibliography

Meyer, S. (2005). Twilight. London, UK: Little, Brown, & Co. ISBN 0316160172

Summary
Bella Swan leaves the warmth and sunshine of Phoenix for the grayest place in the United States, so her mother can travel with her new husband.  In Forks, WA, Bella meets Edward, a very unique boy:  Unique because he's a vampire.  Twilight chronicles the first part of Bella and Edwards story as they meet, fall in love, and fight for Bella's life in more ways than one.

Critical Analysis

Twilight is sort of like a train wreck for me.  I want to look away, yet am compelled to continue reading.  Stephanie Meyer has a knack for getting the reader to suspend disbelief, but for me it only lasts as long as I am absorbed in the story.  Once I put it down, I start to pick it apart.  I just don't see the same skill as J.K. Rowling or Philip Pullman.  I think people will continue to enjoy the story, but time will tell if it has the staying power of some others.

Meyer does draw her main characters extremely well, yet they are either too admirable or too hard to admire.  Edward is too perfect, Bella is too flawed.  She is not a bad person, but her willingness to die for anything to do with Edward is off-putting.  There is also little development in the characters personalities through the story.

Twilight does have strengths, and is a mesmerizing story.  Meyer couldn't have picked a better setting, and she crafted it very well into the storyline.  Her villains are scary and also believable.  The plot carries this story:  It is one of those books that is hard to put down.  But Twilight is essentially a love story/romance that just happens to be set in a fantasy world, rather than a true fantasy novel with all its conventions and elements.


Review Excerpts

* Their love is palpable, heightened by their touches, and teens will respond viscerally. There are some flaws here--a plot that could have been tightened, an overreliance on adjectives and adverbs to bolster dialogue--but this dark romance seeps into the soul. --Ilene Cooper

* This is far from perfect: Edward's portrayal as monstrous tragic hero is overly Byronic, and Bella's appeal is based on magic rather than character. Nonetheless, the portrayal of dangerous lovers hits the spot; fans of dark romance will find it hard to resist. --Kirkus Reviews 

* Realistic, subtle, succinct, and easy to follow, Twilight will have readers dying to sink their teeth into it.-- Hillias J. Martin, New York Public Library

Connections

* You can listen to a seven minute sample from the audio version here.

* The entire Twilight Saga includes:
Twilight
New Moon
Eclipse
Breaking Dawn


* Expert from Twilight
 
    
I'd never given much thought to how I would die -- though I'd had reason enough in the last few months -- but even if I had, I would not have imagined it like this.
I stared without breathing across the long room, into the dark eyes of the hunter, and he looked pleasantly back at me.
Surely it was a good way to die, in the place of someone else, someone I loved. Noble, even. That ought to count for something.
I knew that if I'd never gone to Forks, I wouldn't be facing death now. But, terrified as I was, I couldn't bring myself to regret the decision. When life offers you a dream so far beyond any of your expectations, it's not reasonable to grieve when it comes to an end.
The hunter smiled in a friendly way as he sauntered forward to kill me



    MY MOTHER DROVE ME TO THE AIRPORT WITH THE windows rolled down. It was seventy-five degrees in Phoenix, the sky a perfect, cloudless blue. I was wearing my favorite shirt —sleeveless, white eyelet lace; I was wearing it as a farewell gesture. My carry-on item was a parka.
In the Olympic Peninsula of northwest Washington State, a small town named Forks exists under a near-constant cover of clouds. It rains on this inconsequential town more than any other place in the United States of America. It was from this town and its gloomy, omnipresent shade that my mother escaped with me when I was only a few months old. It was in this town that I'd been compelled to spend a month every summer until I was fourteen. That was the year I finally put my foot down; these past three summers, my dad, Charlie, vacationed with me in California for two weeks instead.
It was to Forks that I now exiled myself —an action that I took with great horror. I detested Forks.
I loved Phoenix. I loved the sun and the blistering heat. I loved the vigorous, sprawling city.
"Bella," my mom said to me —the last of a thousand times —before I got on the plane. "You don't have to do this."

My mom looks like me, except with short hair and laugh lines. I felt a spasm of panic as I stared at her wide, childlike eyes. How could I leave my loving, erratic, harebrained mother to fend for herself? Of course she had Phil now, so the bills would probably get paid, there would be food in the refrigerator, gas in her car, and someone to call when she got lost, but still . . .

"I want to go," I lied. I'd always been a bad liar, but I'd been saying this lie so frequently lately that it sounded almost convincing now.

"Tell Charlie I said hi."

"I will."

"I'll see you soon," she insisted. "You can come home whenever you want —I'll come right back as soon as you need me."

But I could see the sacrifice in her eyes behind the promise.

"Don't worry about me," I urged. "It'll be great. I love you, Mom."

She hugged me tightly for a minute, and then I got on the plane, and she was gone.
It's a four-hour flight from Phoenix to Seattle, another hour in a small plane up to Port Angeles, and then an hour drive back down to Forks. Flying doesn't bother me; the hour in the car with Charlie, though, I was a little worried about.

Charlie had really been fairly nice about the whole thing. He seemed genuinely pleased that I was coming to live with him for the first time with any degree of permanence. He'd already gotten me registered for high school and was going to help me get a car.

But it was sure to be awkward with Charlie. Neither of us was what anyone would call verbose, and I didn't know what there was to say regardless. I knew he was more than a little confused by my decision —like my mother before me, I hadn't made a secret of my distaste for Forks.

When I landed in Port Angeles, it was raining. I didn't see it as an omen —just unavoidable. I'd already said my goodbyes to the sun.

Charlie was waiting for me with the cruiser. This I was expecting, too. Charlie is Police Chief Swan to the good people of Forks. My primary motivation behind buying a car, despite the scarcity of my funds, was that I refused to be driven around town in a car with red and blue lights on top. Nothing slows down traffic like a cop.

Charlie gave me an awkward, one-armed hug when I stumbled my way off the plane.

"It's good to see you, Bells," he said, smiling as he automatically caught and steadied me. "You haven't changed much. How's Renée?"

"Mom's fine. It's good to see you, too, Dad." I wasn't allowed to call him Charlie to his face.
I had only a few bags. Most of my Arizona clothes were too permeable for Washington. My mom and I had pooled our resources to supplement my winter wardrobe, but it was still scanty. It all fit easily into the trunk of the cruiser.

"I found a good car for you, really cheap," he announced when we were strapped in.

"What kind of car?" I was suspicious of the way he said "good car for you" as opposed to just "good car."

"Well, it's a truck actually, a Chevy."

"Where did you find it?"

"Do you remember Billy Black down at La Push?" La Push is the tiny Indian reservation on the coast.

"No."

"He used to go fishing with us during the summer," Charlie prompted.

That would explain why I didn't remember him. I do a good job of blocking painful, unnecessary things from my memory.

"He's in a wheelchair now," Charlie continued when I didn't respond, "so he can't drive anymore, and he offered to sell me his truck cheap."

"What year is it?" I could see from his change of expression that this was the question he was hoping I wouldn't ask.

"Well, Billy's done a lot of work on the engine —it's only a few years old, really."

I hoped he didn't think so little of me as to believe I would give up that easily. "When did he buy it?"

"He bought it in 1984, I think."

"Did he buy it new?"

"Well, no. I think it was new in the early sixties —or late fifties at the earliest," he admitted sheepishly.

"Ch —Dad, I don't really know anything about cars. I wouldn't be able to fix it if anything went wrong, and I couldn't afford a mechanic. . . ."

"Really, Bella, the thing runs great. They don't build them like that anymore."

The thing, I thought to myself . . . it had possibilities —as a nickname, at the very least.

"How cheap is cheap?" After all, that was the part I couldn't compromise on.

"Well, honey, I kind of already bought it for you. As a homecoming gift." Charlie peeked sideways at me with a hopeful expression.

Wow. Free.

The Golden Compass

The Golden Compass
 by Philip Pullman

Bibliography

Pullman, P. (1995, 2005). The golden compass: His dark materials, book 1 (Deluxe 10th anniversary edition). New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 0375838309

Summary

The Golden compass is the first of a three part epic tale and tells of Lyra's extra-ordinary adventures in a world so nearly our own but with fantastical differences!  Lyra must leave her beloved, cozy, if not exactly perfect, life to travel with her daemon, gypsies, an aeronaut, witches, and a very special bear to save children, make a delivery, and unbeknownst to her, commit a great betrayal.  Along the way she learns to use the golden compass.

Critical Analysis

Philip Pullman's greatest talent in this book is getting the reader to suspend disbelief.  He does this by creating a world believable because it is so nearly true, yet fantastic because of the parts that are clearly a world of fancy.  No small part of this great achievement is the creation of his heroine, Lyra, and other characters we grow to cherish.  Lyra is every child, yet no one's child.   She is lovable and mischievous, but by the end of the story, she is strong and righteous. She is special because she has the power to understand the compass.   Other characters are also developed with truly human strengths and weaknesses, even if they are not human.

Universal themes common to fantasy novels abound in The Golden Compass.  There is the traditional quest, good versus evil, and the heroine certainly gains self-knowledge through the adventure.  Philip Pullman manages to combine all of this into a readable, sometimes exciting novel where horrific evil must be conquered and life and death battles occur.  The ending, however, should be called "The Beginning," and characters the reader believes are villains exchange places several times through the story and may change several more times in the next books.


Review Excerpts

* In The Golden Compass, Philip Pullman has written a masterpiece that transcends genre. It is a children's book that will appeal to adults, a fantasy novel that will charm even the most hardened realist. Best of all, the author doesn't speak down to his audience, nor does he pull his punches; there is genuine terror in this book, and heartbreak, betrayal, and loss. There is also love, loyalty, and an abiding morality that infuses the story but never overwhelms it. This is one of those rare novels that one wishes would never end. --Alix Wilber

* This is a captivating fantasy, filled with excitement, suspense, and unusual characters.... There is some fine descriptive writing, filled with the kind of details that encourage suspension of disbelief. The story line moves along at a rapid clip, but flags when it delves into philosophical matters. The ending is less than satisfying, but serves as a lead-in to part two of the series. --School Library Journal


Connections

* Expert from The Golden Compass
 
     After darkness had fallen, and when the stores and equipment had all been safely unloaded and stood in waiting on the quay, Farder Coram and Lyra walked along the waterfront and looked for Einarsson's Bar. They found it easily enough: a crude concrete shed with a red neon sign flashing irregularly over the door and the sound of loud voices through the condensation-frosted windows.
     A pitted alley beside it led to a sheet-metal gate into a rear yard, where a lean-to shed stood crazily over a floor of frozen mud. Dim light through the rear window of the bar showed a vast pale form crouching upright and gnawing at a haunch of meat which it held in both hands. Lyra had an impression of blood-stained muzzle and face, small malevolent black eyes, and an immensity of dirty matted yellowish fur. As it gnawed, hideous growling, crunching, sucking noises came from it.
Farder Coram stood by the gate and called:
     "Iorek Bymison!"
     The bear stopped eating. As far as they could tell, he was looking at them directly, but it was impossible to read any expression on his face.
     "Iorek Byrnison," said Farder Coram again. "May I speak to you?"
     Lyra's heart was thumping hard, because something in the bear's presence made her feel close to coldness, danger, brutal power, but a power controlled by intelligence; and not a human intelligence, nothing like a human, because of course bears had no daemons. This strange hulking presence gnawing its meat was like nothing she had ever imagined, and she felt a profound admiration and pity for the lonely creature.
      He dropped the reindeer leg in the dirt and slumped on all fours to the gate. Then he reared up massively, ten feet or more high, as if to show how mighty he was, to remind them how useless the gate would be as a barrier, and he spoke to them from that height.
     'Well? Who are you?'

* You can listen to a sample from the audio version on Philip Pullmans website.  There are also other things to explore on the site.  Check it out here.

* His Dark Materials Trilogy includes:
The Golden Compass
The Subtle Knife
The Amber Spyglass

Curse of the Blue Tattoo

Curse of the Blue Tattoo
 by L. A. Meyer

Bibliography

Meyer, L. A. (2004). Curse of the blue tattoo. Orlando, FL: Harcourt Books. ISBN 9781415545881

Summary

Discovered!  Jack is really Jacky and so must leave the ship she loves and become a fine lady.  This doesn't work out and the adventures really begin for Jacky Faber.  Experience penny-whistle playing, colonial boarding school drama, a nefarious preacher, and lots of excitement in this Bloody Jack adventure.

Critical Analysis

Who doesn't love a good historical yarn, especially one as well written as this one?  Meyer deftly creates well-rounded characters both heroine, minor characters, and villains.  Of course Jacky has her flaws, don't we all, but you can't help but root for her with her resourceful ways and cleverness.  Set in colonial days in America, Curse of the Blue Tattoo, takes the reader back in time and allows us to glimpse the past, but not at the expense of the strongly plotted story.  Everything feels of-a-piece - the setting, the characters, and the plot - and blends into a fantastic adventure tale with a little mystery mixed in.  Really enjoyable to read and will keep teen readers up late to find out what happens next.

Review Excerpts

*Utterly engaging and incredibly well-paced, Curse of the Blue Tattoo is the very best kind of historical fiction: the kind that won’t leave teens snoring. Meyer effortlessly maintains Jacky’s sassy voice and conflicted conscience in what is shaping up to be a great series. While many readers will groan with despair as Jacky sets off yet again at the end of the book, they will also sigh with relief that they will most likely be meeting her again! --Jennifer Hubert

* Meyer does an excellent job of conveying life in Boston in 1803, particularly the rights, or lack thereof, of women. Jacky's headstrong certainty that she's in control and her cocky first-person account make her a memorable heroine. The narrative is full of lecherous men, and Jacky herself is free in her ways. This fact and the sometimes-strong language make this book more appropriate for older readers. Sure to please fans of the first title, this adventure-packed historical novel also stands on its own. --School Library Journal


Connections

* Expert from Curse of the Bloody Tattoo

It was a hard comin' I had of it, that's for sure. It was hard enough comin' up from the brig, the cell down below where they had me kept these past few weeks, squintin' into the light to see all of the dear Dolphin's sailors lined up along the spars of the great masts and in other parts of the riggin', all four hundred of 'em, bless 'em, my mates for the past year and a half, all cheerin' and hallooin' and wavin' me off. 

It was hard, too, walkin' across to the quarterdeck, where the officers were all pulled up in their fancy uniforms and where the midshipmen and side boys made two rows for me to walk between on my way off the ship, and there's Jaimy all straight and all beautiful in his new midshipman's uniform, and there's Davy and Tink and Willy, the boys of the Brotherhood to which I so lately belonged, and there's my dear sea-dad Liam lookin' as proud as any father. The Bo'sun's Mate puts his pipe to his lips and starts the warble to pipe me off the Dolphin, my sweet and only home, and I start down between their ranks, but I stop in front of Jaimy and I look at the Captain and I pleads with my teary eyes. The Captain smiles and nods and I fling my arms around Jaimy's neck and kiss him one last time, oh yes I do, and the men cheer all the louder for it, but it was short, oh so short, for too soon my arm is taken and I have to let go of Jaimy, but before I do I feel him press something into my hand and I look down and see that it's a letter. 

Then I'm led away down the gangway, but I keep my eyes on Jaimy's eyes and my hand clutched around his letter as the Professor hands me up into the carriage that's waitin' at the foot of the gangway. I keeps my eyes on Jaimy as the horses are started and we clatter away, and I rutch around in my seat and stick my head out the window to keep my blurry eyes on him but it's too far away now for me to see his eyes, just him standin' there at the rail lookin' after me, and then the coach goes around a corner and that's all. He's there, and then he's not.That was the hardest of all. I put my fingertips to my lips where his have just been and I wonder when they will again touch me in that place. If ever...Oh, Jaimy, I worry about you so much 'cause the war's on again with Napolon and all it takes is one angry cannonball, and oh, God, please.

I leave off what has up to now been fairly gentle weeping and turn to full scale, chest heavin', eyes squeezed shut, open mouth bawlin'."Well," says Professor Tilden, sittin' across from me, "you certainly have made a spectacle of yourself today, I must say."

...don't care don't care don't care don't care...

"You should compose yourself now, Miss. The school is not a far ride from the harbor. Here," he says, handing me a handkerchief, "dry your eyes."The Professor is taking me to the Lawson Peabody School for Young Girls, which is where they decided to dump me after that day on the beach when my grand Deception was blown out of the water for good and ever...


* Lots of fun on this Bloody Jack website, even some out-takes!

* Of course you want to read the whole series.

Bloody Jack Adventures
1. Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary 'Jacky' Faber, Ship's Boy (2002)
2. Curse of the Blue Tatoo: Being an Account of the Misadventures of Jacky Faber, Midshipman And Fine Lady (2004)
3. Under the Jolly Roger: Being an Account of the Further Nautical Adventures of Jacky Faber (2005)
4. In the Belly of the Bloodhound: Being an Account of a Particularly Peculiar Adventure in the Life of Jacky Faber (2006)
5. Mississippi Jack: Being an Account of the Further Waterborne Adventures of Jacky Faber, Midshipman, Fine Lady, And Lily of the West (2007)
6. My Bonny Light Horseman (2008)
7. Rapture of the Deep (2009)
8. The Wake of the Lorelei Lee (2010)

Harris and Me

Harris and Me
 by Gary Paulsen

Bibliography

Paulsen, G. (1993). Harris and me. Orlando, FL: Harcourt Books. ISBN 9780152058807

Summary

Harris and Me is the hilarious remembrance of one boy's summer spent with Harris and his family because his parents are unfit to care for him.  The boys spend the summer playing and working outdoors, getting into mischief, and loving life.  Two of the crazy things the boys try are playing war with pigs and putting a motor on a bicycle, but no one can tell these adventures like Gary Paulsen!

Critical Analysis

Oh, I wish I knew these boys from the early 1900's!  Gary Paulsen creates a whole believable family, but the boys are perfectly crafted into real people.  Maybe that's because this book is partially autobiographical, but Paulsen brings such a fullness with his writing that I bet the story is better than the memories.  Paulsen makes a harsh reality, drunken parents, palatable for his young hero and readers.  Most will long for days when such a summer, spent on farm full of love, work, and craziness, was possible.  Rich characterization, the perfect setting, and fantastically funny writing come together in Harris and Me to make a modern classic in young adult literature

Review Excerpts

* Readers will experience hearts as large as farmers' appetites, humor as broad as the county landscape and adventures as wild as boyhood imaginagtions... A hearty helping of old-fashioned, rip-roaring entertainment.  -- Publishers Weekly

* Includes laugh-out-loud passages as well as heaps of nostalgia. --The Horn Book


Connections

* Video interview with Gary Paulsen - worth a watch, certainly - and other Paulsen stuff!

* Here is an excellent author interview with Paulsen from the New York Public Library.

* Comment from Harrison, age 13:  "I like it because it has an old-fashioned air and plenty of humor."

* Expert from Harris and Me

    All this time Harris had been standing, watching, his hands behind him.  I hadn't really looked at him, but when I moved to take the box from Glennis the grown-ups fell in together and started walking toward the house and Harris came up alongside me just as I grabbed the box.
     Physically he was of a set piece with Glennis.  Blond - hair bleached white by  sun -  face perpetually sunburned and red with a peeling nose, freckles sprinkled like brown pepper over everything, and even, white teeth, except that when Harris smiled there were two gone from the front.  He was wearing a set of patched bib overalls.  No shirt, no shoes - just freckles and the bibs, which were so large he seemed to move inside them.
    "Hi."
    He walked beside me, his hands still to his rear.  I would subsequently find that this posture could be dangerous, meant he was hiding something, but I didn't know this soon so I nodded.  "Hi."
     "We heard your folks was puke drunks, is that right?"
     "Harris!"  Glennis was was walking on the other side of me and her voiced snapped.  "That's not polite, to talk that way."
     "Well you can just blow it out your butt, you old cow...."

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You
by Ally Carter

Bibliography

Carter, A. (2006). I'd tell you I love you, but then I'd have to kill you. New York, NY: Hperion Books for Children. ISBN 1423100034

Summary

Gallagher Academy is not a typical girls' boarding school; and Cammie is not a typical girl!  I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You is written as Cammie's first Covert Operations Report and details her adventures of spying and flirting during her sophomore year at Gallagher, a school for genius future spies.

Critical Analysis

Ally Carter makes a good effort with I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You and there are lots of good things about it.  The idea behind the plot of the story feels fresh and original.  The characters are likable and very well crafted - not too perfect and accurately complex. Several themes of the story - love may be worth it, be true to yourself, smart girls are great, bad things happen to good people - come through loud and clear, but without leaving the reader feeling like they sat through a lecture.  The setting is fun.  An all-girl spy school with secret passages, cute teachers, great friends is a combination that just sings of adventurous things to come.  All of these are good things.

Unfortunately, Carter's style in this books leaves something to be desired. The constant attempts and speaking in the teen voice left me disappointed and tired.  Her repetitive reminders of the spy nature of the book seemed to take the place of any real adventure, other than sneaking out of school and into a boy's home. Overall, I say the book is worth reading, because Carter seems to find her voice later in the series, and I like to start at the beginning!



Review Excerpts

* Despite any shortcomings, aficionados of this burgeoning fiction genre will be tempted to give this title a go. -- Publisher's Weekly

* The teen's double life leads to some amusing one-liners, and the invented history of the Gallagher Girls is also entertaining, but the story is short on suspense. The stakes never seem very high since there are no real villains, and the cutesy dialogue quickly becomes grating. --School Library Journal

Connections

* There are many Gallagher Girls books to enjoy!  Look for Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy, Don't Judge a Girl by her Cover, and Only the Good Spy Young

* Here is the official Ally Carter website where you can buy a T-shirt, read Ally's blog, and get all the news!

* Excerpt from I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You.

17:55 hours (that's 5:35 P.M.): The Operative moved into position.
18:00 hours:  The Operative was wishing she'd brought something to eat because she couldn't leave her post to go buy a candy bar, much less use the bathroom.
18:30 hours:  The Operative realized it's almost impossible to look pretty and/or seductive if you SERIOUSLY have to go pee.


     Back in my room, I had fifty pages of The Art of War left to translate into Arabic, a credit-card-slash-fingerprint modifier to perfect for Dr. Fibs, and Madame Dabney had been dropping big pop-quiz hints at the end of C&A.  Yet there I was, rubbing my swelling ankle and thinking that I really should be getting CoveOps extra credit for this.
     I looked at my watch again: seven forty-five.  Okay, I though, I'll give him until eight and then...
     "Hi," I heard from behind me...
     I could have said hi back in fourteen different languages (and that's not including pig Latin). And yet  I was speechless as he came to stand in front of me.