We had a large group at our last meeting and we discussed our picture
book first: My Favorite Pets: by Gus W. for Ms. Smolinski's Class by
Jeanne Birdsall. All of our comments were favorable. Many liked the book, some
loved it, and one reader liked it but thought it was a little too
"comic-bookish' due to the dialog balloons in many of the illustrations. But --
that being said, we all loved the illustrations, including the expressions on
the sheep. We thought they were humorous, and perfectly fit with the text
which was Gus' actual report on sheep, done in 2nd-grade-type manuscript
writing, shown realistically on each page. We liked the arc of the story as the
sheep's activities became more and more ridiculous, and the way Gus teased his
little brother and the way his parents reacted. We thought the book could be
useful in a classroom setting as an example of writing a simple report, and even
as an introduction to the study of animals on a farm. We liked the ending, where
the teacher's grade (B+) and remarks were shown in red pencil on Gus' report.
Basically positive reactions all the way around.
We had a great discussion of the novel, Orphan Island by Laurel
Snyder. Everyone said they loved the beginning, and were brought immediately
into the story by the descriptions of the nine orphans on the seemingly perfect
island, and the various personalities and interactions between them as they
learned about using elements of their natural world to survive, and followed a
hierarchy of 'power' according to age. When Jinny's best friend, Deen was called
to leave in the green boat, and was replaced by the newcomer, Ess, a little
girl, Jinny suddenly had new responsibilities as a caretaker, since she was now
the oldest. As her character was developed,and various crises occurred, it
became more and more obvious that this role was difficult for her, and she
learned many things about herself. But -- when the green boat returned (we
assume a year later) for her, she decided not to leave. Suddenly things became
very chaotic on the island, and she felt responsible since she had disobeyed the
rules. This is when many of our opinions about the story changed. Many of us
felt that the remainder of the book was not so much fun to read, as the
narrative was more and more in Jinny's head -- the angst of a 12-year-old girl
-- and it just became cumbersome. No-one liked the ending, although it was
obvious that there would be a sequel. Some said they would never read it; others
would. We also had many questions about how the island got 'organized' in the
first place, who decided which children went there, who made the rules that
everyone followed, where the green boat went when it left, and more. Perhaps a
prequel would have been a good idea? Everyone agreed in their dislike for the
character Ben, who was a year younger than Jinny, did all of the cooking, and
seemed to know everything and always have the answer. He was just too perfect
for words! So....mixed reviews altogether, and some curiosity about what might
come next from this author.
