ELEANOR AND PARK by Rainbow Rowell, IF I BUILT A CAR by Chris Van Dusen

We all agreed that Eleanor and Park was a quite wonderful book that spoke of the joys and sorrows of first love. Several of us thought that it was a bit too long - that there were some sections that, had they been shorter, would not have negatively affected the total story. We also agreed that young people - especially girls - would like reading this book, since the things that happened were so real and the relationship between Eleanor and Park developed slowly, by little bits of connection, just as real relationships do at that age (and probably at any age!). A couple of our writer members felt that it wasn't very "writerly," although they liked the story and kept reading to see what would happen next. Others felt it was beautifully written - especially in the transitions between Eleanor's and Park's voices as the story developed. We liked Park's very 'sensible' family and the obvious love between his parents, and the way they dealt with him, which certainly had an impact on his feelings for and actions toward Eleanor, and provided a healthy contrast to Eleanor's completely dysfunctional family which included her abusive stepfather and a mother who allowed the abuse to continue. We also were content with the ending: that Eleanor got to a safe, sane place with her uncle's family, and that Park learned and grew from the total experience. We felt that the 'second' ending, when Eleanor finally sent Park a post card with "three words" possibly provided the opportunity for a sequel.

As for the picture book, If I Built a Car, we had mixed feelings. On one hand, we felt that little kids who were interested in cars would love it - especially boys. Some of us were completely put off by the Seuss-like rhymes, which, although well-executed, rhythm and meter-wise, seemed to go on for too long. We basically liked the illustrations which showed the fantasy car the little boy had imagined, and felt that the illustrations would have worked fine with a sparser text. We liked the endpapers which showed the boy's plans for his super car. One of our members thought the little boy looked a bit weird and creepy in the illustrations, and several of us agreed. Some of us felt it would be a good read-aloud, and could serve as an impetus for kids to imagine their own perfect cars or planes or probably anything else.

ICEFALL by Matthew Kirby and INFINITY AND ME by Kate Hosford

At our last meeting we had stimulating discussions of both books. We were divided 4-4-1 on Icefall. Four of us loved it, four didn't, and one was ambivalent. Those who loved it noted that they thought the writing was wonderful -- even poetic; they liked the inclusion of Norse mythology; they loved how the story showed the growth of the main character, Solveig, as she dealt with issues of family, sibling rivalry, death, hunger, survival, love, and betrayal, and -- best of all -- they loved how the 'power of story' played such a signifant part in the narrative. The others weren't so thrilled by the writing, wanted a more realistic portrayal of Norse history, and didn't feel at all engaged by the characters. 

As for the picture book, Infinity and Me, we also didn't have consensus. We all agreed that it was a good way to attempt to explain the concept of infinity to young readers, and we liked the author's notes at the end of the story. Some of us felt the story was just OK, but didn't love the illustrations. People who had read the book to young children reported that the children's reactions were positive, so one could assume that that fact may be more important than what a group of grown-up ladies thinks!

THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN by Katherine Applegate and BIG MEAN MIKE by Michelle Knudsen

If we were looking for a slam-dunk positive reaction to The One and Only Ivan, it didn’t happen. We all agreed that the spare writing of this book was wonderful, even poetic, and that the transitions from one thought to another in ‘Ivan’s’ mind were perfect. A couple of our members just didn’t think the story rang true. One person thought that ‘Ivan’ was too humanized…he was an ape – how could he think like a human? Perhaps the author hadn’t done sufficient research into the behavior of apes. But others felt that ‘Ivan’s’ thoughts exactly made sense – especially since he had been raised by humans before being brought to the mall, and the idea of ‘suspending disbelief’ made everything quite plausible. We mostly all liked the minimalist little illustrations that were sparsely placed throughout the story, and felt that they were terrific. We also thought this would be a good book for reluctant readers, since the text was quite accessible, and not too dense. We learned that sadly, the real Ivan died, at age 50, at Zoo Atlanta in August, 2012.

Info about the real Ivan is here: http://www.zooatlanta.org/ivan

...and his obituary is here: http://www.zooatlanta.org/home/article_content/zoo_mourns_ivan

As for our picture book, Big Mean Mike, everyone pretty much loved it, although a couple of people thought it presented a bad example for children: a bully being the hero. But others pointed out that ‘Mike’ never actually bullied anyone…he just presented that impression, and because of that everyone was scared of him. It raised the issue of judging someone on their outward appearance rather than their actions, and also the fact that a seemingly ‘rough’ person could easily have a soft spot…like ‘Mike’ did for the little bunnies. We thought the illustrations by Scott Magoon were terrific, and matched up well with the story.

WORTH by A. La Faye and OLD ROBERT AND THE SEA-SILLY CATS by Barbara Joose

We started our discussion of Worth by agreeing that the writing was quite good....a couple of our members thought it was brilliant. One mentioned the terrific transitions that described Nate's thinking; another said it was the first book that had made her cry in a long time. But -- as we talked more, a couple of people weren't thrilled by the overuse of metaphors, and we also wondered if kids reading the book would understand the conflict between the ranchers and the farmers that played such a big part in Nate's and his family's life. We liked the fact that his parents were 'normal' people: i.e., they disagreed, they argued, but they loved their son and were each able to show him that love in their own way. We also liked the way that Nate and John's relationship developed as they grew to understand each other. It was a great discussion!

We pretty much had positive feelings about the picture book....except for a couple of details. One of our members thought that the 'silly cats' weren't really silly, but someone else pointed out that 'silly' to a child might have a different meaning than it has for an adult. We thought it was a great read-aloud because of the predictable phrases where children could join in, and also a good bedtime story, and we liked the illustrations by Jan Jutte. We liked the way that 'Old Robert,' the seaman who thought he 'had everything he needed' came to realize that he really needed something to care for. We also thought it should have ended a page earlier than it actually did.....the ending as presented in the book seemed useless and unnecessary.

CODE NAME VERITY by Elizabeth Wein and NOAH WEBSTER AND HIS WORDS by Jeri Chase Ferris

Even though our novel, Code Name Verity won a 2012 Michael Printz Honor Award as well as a great deal of positive 'buzz,' we didn't particularly love it. Most of us thought the writing was quite good, but we had a lot of problems with many of the incidents that happened in the story. We couldn't believe that a young girl imprisoned by the Gestapo would be given tons of paper and asked to write. We also didn't get the distinction between the two young women, and why the story of 'Maddie' was the main one that was told. We felt that really smart young women who were serious readers would probably like this book, and we liked the fact that it presented information about young women performing heroic tasks during World War II. But -- with all of that -- we still didn't love it!

The opposite was true with our picture book. We almost unanimously LOVED Noah Webster and His Words. We loved the writing, the inclusion of 'dictionary definitions' placed within the text, the great mixture of the art and the text, the humor, the depiction of Noah as a persistent person who never gave up on his dreams (because he was always right!!), and we marvelled at the amount of work he accomplished in his life...(for which we -- word lovers that we are -- truly thank him!) Only one of our members wasn't crazy about the book -- she didn't care for the illustrations, although she felt the text and the information presented were quite good. We also thought the 'back matter' was excellent -- the presentation of more facts about Noah Webster's life through a timeline of specific details and some additional text, plus a list of the author's sources.

WONDER by R. J. Palacio, and ON THE NIGHT YOU WERE BORN by Nancy Tillman

We were a small but mighty group at our last meeting. We all agreed that the

novel, WONDER by R.J. Palacio was -- indeed -- WONDER-ful! A couple of people had some concerns with minor plot points, but in general we all loved the way the writing and the voice rang true, the realistic portrayal of Augie and the other kids as well as their middle school experiences, the sections by Augie's sister Via and her boyfriend, the fact that it showed a healthy, 'normal,' loving family, and the excellent way it dealt with bullying and mistreatment of people who are different for some reason without becoming preachy or didactic. We all hope it will win the Newbery, which will be announced on Monday, January 28.

Regarding the picture book, ON THE NIGHT YOU WERE BORN,we all thought the illustrations were quite nice, but had a range of opinions on what I learned is called a "lullaby book." Some of us felt it was a calming book to read to a young child before bed (maybe 'cause it would put them to sleep???)while others thought it was very sweet -- maybe too sweet -- maybe even treacly. We had a great discussion about lullaby books and their purpose, and also about the idea of kids today growing up thinking they are the greatest thing the world has ever seen.....slight differences of opinion on the true value of that as a child becomes a part of the real world. Definitely something to ponder!

SON by Lois Lowry and ZEN SHORTS by Jon Muth

Our last meeting was small but terrific. After a delicious dinner of Anne's famous Holiday Lasagna and tasty sides and desserts brought by all we had a great discussion. For the first time in recent memory, we all agreed on both books!

Re: Son, the Lois Lowery book, we felt that although it was beautifully written, there was some disconnect between the three 'worlds' the book portrays. None of us liked the idea of the 'Trademaster,' and pretty much everything that happened after 'Claire' met him. Many felt that it was a definite 'mother' book, especially knowing that Lowery had lost her own son in a terrible accident, and was maybe trying to reconcile her feelings about that. We didn't feel that it really 'wrapped up' the story of The Giver as we had hoped it would. .....and so it goes.

As for the picture book, Zen Shorts, we also all agreed that although Muth's illustrations were quite wonderful, the story (actually 4 stories) itself left a bit to be desired. We thought the three 'fables' (the Zen Shorts) could have stood alone, and really had little to do with the 'story' of the three siblings.....which we thought was pretty weak. We weren't sure how much today's kids would actually 'get' the fables, but we thought that being exposed to them was a good idea.