Greenglass House by Kate Milford

Milo is looking forward to some peace and quiet over his winter vacation.  He lives in Greenglass House, an inn frequented by smugglers.  But now that it's winter, Milo and his family finally have the place to themselves, as no one stays at the inn this time of year.

But on his very first day of vacation, a visitor appears!  And then another....and another.....and another....and soon the inn is almost full of people.  And these visitors are all a bit odd.   What brought them to Greenglass House, especially in the winter?  Bit by bit, Milo and his friend Meddy begin to discover that every guest has some sort of connection to the house itself.

When the visitors' personal items start to go missing, it's up to Milo and Meddy to find the objects, and determine who the thief is.  In the process, they learn many secrets about Greenglass House, and each other.

Greenglass House, by Kate Milford is a very well-constructed mystery with an "I-never-saw-that-coming!" plot twist at the end.  An underlying theme of the book is Milo's desire to understand his identity.  As an adopted child, he sometimes feels guilty for wondering about his birth-parents, even though his mother and father both tell him they understand his feelings.   Milo and Meddy attack solving the mystery as a role-playing game, which allows Milo to create an alter-ego for himself, and imagine who he might be had he not been adopted.   It's an interesting theme, and adds many layers to an already fascinating mystery!

Greenglass House was the June selection for The Council of Readers, and everyone agreed it was outstanding!

The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Ada is an abused 11 year old girl living in London just before the outbreak of World War II.  Her hateful mother keeps her imprisoned in the apartment, falsely telling neighbors that Ada is trouble and unfit for social interaction.  Ada's younger brother Jamie freely roams the neighborhood knowing that Ada's only problem is that she has a "bad" foot..  Ada manages to teach herself to walk though terribly painful.  When London children are being evacuated to the country to avoid anticipated German bombs, the plan is to leave Ada behind.  Instead she secretly joins Jamie on the train load of evacuated children.  As children are selected by reluctant villagers Ada and Jamie manage to stay together and remain unchosen.  The woman in charge forces them on the recluse Susan Smith.  Though at first reluctant to care for Ada and Jamie, Susan is clearly a kind person and is greatly troubled by Ada's constant flinching every time Ada makes a mistake.  Ada is slowly transformed by the kindness she receives.  Her love of horses helps her to meet new people and experience new confidence. Though understandably prickly, readers can't help to warm to Ada, a clever, loving, girl despite the damage her mother has inflicted upon her.  You'll want to know what happens to Ada and Jamie as the war develops and begins to reach not only London but the countryside.

Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce

Liam Digby is twelve years old (almost thirteen!), but you wouldn't know it to look at him.  He's had a very unusual growth spurt, and his beard has already started growing.   And that leads to some pretty interesting situations, since most people assume he's a grown-up: there was the time he was introduced to the entire school as the new Media Studies teacher, and the time he almost got to take a new Porsche for a test drive.

But the adventures really begin when Liam hears about very special contest.  A group of very lucky children - and one adult chaperone - will have the opportunity to fly into space aboard an honest-to-goodness rocket ship.  With the help of his friend Florida (who's in it for the fame and glory), Liam intends to go as the adult chaperone!

Liam soon finds out there's more to being a grown-up than being tall and growing a beard.  Consulting an advice book on parenting teenagers, Liam does his best to be "dad" to the odd assortment of children chosen to be the first kids in space.  But when their rocket goes off-course, it's up to him to be the responsible adult and do what dad's do: everything he can do to make things right.

In Cosmic, Frank Cottrell Boyce takes a very unlikely premise and turns it into a book that is both outrageously funny, and genuinely touching.  It's also the January book selection for The Council of Book Readers.  We'll be meeting on January 15 at 4:00pm to talk about it.  Why not grab a copy for yourself and join us?  We'd love to hear what you think about Liam's adventures!!

When My Name Was Keoko by Linda Sue Park

This Fall, the Council of Book Readers has been delving into Historical Fiction.  We started with a book that begins in the years just before the US entered WWII to the end of that brutal conflict.

But When My Name Was Keoko isn't about the United States' involvement in WWII, it's a about a little-known period of Korean history, when Korea was ruled by Japan.  So complete was Japanese rule that nearly everything Korean was banned - the Korean language, Korean traditions, Korean hairstyles, and even Korean names.  And so, the title character of the story is a Korean girl names Sun-hee, who has been forced to adopt the Japanese name Keoko.

What makes the book particularly interesting is that it is told from the perspectives of two different characters.  Sun-hee/Keoko and her older brother Tae-yul/Nobuo take turns narrating the story in the first-person.  We follow both of their lives through the ever-increasing dominance of the Japanese occupiers.  As the war drags on, Japan is more and more determined to subjugate their Korean colony.  But Sun-hee's uncle is a member of the underground resistance - a fact that puts the entire family in danger.

Shockingly, as it becomes more and more evident that Japan is destined to lose the war, Tae-yul voluntarily enlists in the Japanese military, to become one of the notorious kamikaze pilots - whose tactic was to crash their planes into enemy targets, sacrificing their own lives in the process.

When My Name Was Keoko is a very powerful story of identity, perseverance, and survival.  The members of the Council all gave it a resounding thumbs-up.  Not only did we enjoy the story, we learned a lot about Korean culture and history as well!

The next work of historical fiction the Council will be reading is The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg, by Rodman Philbrick.  It's a gripping story set during the American Civil War.  Come join us for discussion and friendship on Friday, November 20 at 4:00 p.m. (please sign up at the Ask-Me desk).  Hope to see you then!

Firstborn by Tor Seidler

When I heard that Tor Seidler - one of my favorite authors - had written a book set in Yellowstone National Park - one of my favorite places - I couldn't wait to read it.  I wasn't disappointed.

Firstborn is the story of a pack of wolves, and their struggles to survive in the beautiful, but often brutal, wilderness.  Told from the vantage point of  a Magpie named Maggie (who is less than impressed with her parents' lack of creativity in naming her), the story follows the magnificent wolf Blue Boy, one of the largest and most powerful wolves in the park.

Forcibly relocated from his original home in Canada, Blue Boy forms alliances with other similarly displaced wolves and forms his own pack.  Together they endure the hardships of life in the untamed wild, and eventually claim their own territory in Yellowstone's Lamar Valley.  In honor of their new-found home, Blue Boy names his firstborn son Lamar.  According to wolf tradition, Lamar is destined to become an alpha-male himself, asserting his dominance over the other wolves.

But Lamar is unlike any other wolf.  Less concerned with leading the hunt, and more concerned with exploring the natural wonders all around him, he is a bit of a disappointment to his father.  Especially of concern to Blue Boy is Lamar's interest in befriending - of all creatures - a coyote.  To the other wolves, coyotes are inferior, and friendship between the species is considered taboo.

When tragedy and treachery befall Blue Boy, Lamar must decide where his loyalties lie, and find the strength to be true to himself.  Through multiple story-arcs, that is the central theme of this moving novel: that becoming who you are and accepting yourself isn't always easy.

Filled with emotion, danger, and excitement, Firstborn is an often excruciating tale of survival, loyalty, treachery, courage, honor, and love.  A beautiful novel set in a beautiful world.

The Neddiad by Daniel Pinkwater

This was another selection read by the Council of Book Readers.*

Everyone on the Council really enjoyed it, but we all agree it's REALLY hard to describe. Set in the years just following World War II,  The Neddiad follows the adventures of Neddie Wentworthstein as he is called upon to save the world.  For Neddie is the guy with the sacred turtle.  And the guy with the sacred turtle always saves the world.

It starts out simply enough: Neddie and his father (who live in Chicago at the outset of the book) both really want to eat at the famous Brown Derby restaurant in Hollywood, California.  Since Mr. Wentworthstein made a fortune during the war selling shoe-laces to the US military, the family simply decides to move to Hollywood, so they can eat at the Brown Derby - a restaurant shaped like a hat!

There are crazy, wacky adventures a-plenty along the way, but it's when Neddie finally arrives in Hollywood that things really start getting weird.  There are ghosts, demons, elephants, mastodons, school bullies, shamans, movie stars and space police, and ... well, too many wacky characters along the way.  There's a circus, a private school, a reproduction of the Roman Colloseum, and - most importantly - the La Brea Tar Pits (which, translated, is actually "the the tar tar pits"!)  I told you it was hard to describe!

If you're looking for humor, surprises, twists and turns, and a cavalcade of interesting characters, you should have a look at The Neddiad.  The Council of Book Readers thought it was "funny," "surprising," "weird," and "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" (because such a weird book can only be described with a weird word!)


*the Council of Book Readers will next meet on Friday, May 8th at 4:00pm.  We'll be discussing A Whole Nother Story by Cuthbert Soup.  Give it a read (it's another wacky one) and come join the fun!

Boom! by Mark Haddon

Boom! is a thrilling, action-packed, zany, science fiction adventure.

It all starts out simply enough: Jimbo's horrid older sister Becky tells him she overheard the teachers at school say he was going to be sent to a "special school" with windows on the bars.  Afraid that it might possibly be true, Jimbo and his best friend Charlie come up with a plan (OK, it was really Charlies idea):  they'll put a walkie-talkie in the staff lounge at school, and they'll be able to overhear what the teachers are saying.

When they don't hear anything about Jimbo being sent away, Jimbo starts to feel less worried.  But what the boys hear next launches an adventure that involves blue-eyed aliens, a trip to Scotland, exploding Brussels sprouts, and giant spiders with monkey-faces who speak in disco slang - and that's just for starters!  Along the way, Jimbo finds out maybe Becky isn't so horrid after all.  She's certainly good at bopping things with a stick.

Boom! was the book  most recently discussed by the Rolling Meadows Library Council of Book Readers.  Everyone in the group loved it, and thought it was both exciting and hilarious.

Constable and Toop by Gareth P. Jones

They say you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but I have to admit, the cover of Constable and Toop has intrigued me ever since we added it to the collection.  I'm glad I finally decided to give it a read - I LOVED it!!

Part Victorian ghost-story, part mystery, part adventure, Constable and Toop tells the story of London in crisis.  Something is happening to the haunted houses: their ghosts are disappearing!  If it keeps up, soon all the ghosts of England will be gone.

The story is told from many view-points.  Lapsewood is a ghost who works an office job in "The Bureau" (rather hilariously, the ghost-world is run by a huge, bloated bureaucracy).  When he is transferred to another department AND sent to the living world to investigate, he knows he's in over his head.  But when he discovers the truth behind what's plaguing London's ghosts - and the dire consequences implied - he finds help from a young "rogue ghost" with street smarts and a fondness for dogs.

Meanwhile, Sam Toop is the son of an undertaker who has "the Gift:" he is able to talk to ghosts.  Usually, they approach him to help with unfinished business - relaying a final message to a loved one, delivering a last will and testament - but it isn't long before he gets involved in the mystery.

Constable and Toop is at times hilarious, at other times spine-tingling.  The twists and turns - not to mention the dizzying array of ghost characters - will keep you on the edge of your seat.  But be warned: in true Victorian fashion, the author doesn't shy away from the blood and guts and gore.  But if you can handle it, you won't regret unearthing what's plaguing the ghosts of London.

Such a fun read!

Endangered by Eliot Schrefer

Fourteen-year old Sophie isn't excited about spending the summer in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  Having lived there as a little girl, she knows all-too-well about the dangers and instability facing the war-torn country.

But the DRC is where her mother lives, rescuing bonobos - a type of great ape found only in the DRC - for release into the wild.  In fact, Sophie's family split up because Sophie's mother was more committed to the bonobos than she was to her marriage.

When Sophie encounters an illegal trader selling an injured, orphaned bonobo, she purchases him and names him Otto.  As her mother explains, buying animals in that manner only encourages the illegal hunting and selling of bonobos.

Nonetheless, Otto becomes Sophie's responsibility, and it's the first time another creature has been totally dependent on her.  When her mother's sanctuary is attacked by rebel soldiers, Sophie's responsibility to Otto becomes even more pronounced: in order to safely leave under UN protection, Sophie would have to abandon Otto.  Unable to bring herself to do that, Sophie escapes with Otto into the African jungle, in hopes of finding her mother (who was not at the sanctuary when the attack occurred).

What happens next is a series of harrowing adventures as Sophie and Otto struggle to survive amidst horrors natural and man-made: they have to find food and water, they must deal with leeches, and of course they encounter poverty, chaos, fear, and violence as the war rages on all around them.

Endangered is a gripping novel that will appeal to animal lovers and fans of adventure.  The touching and beautiful story of Sophie and Otto's relationship is juxtaposed with stark scenes  of human and animal suffering that can be a little difficult to get through.  But ultimately, this is remarkable book about learning to care about the world beyond our own concerns.  There is a lot of information in the narrative about conditions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as the lives and uncertain future of the bonobos.  In fact, one thing that really enhanced the book was the Author's Notes and interview with the author at the back of the book.  Eliot Schrefer was inspired to write Endangered after paying a visit to a real bonobo sanctuary in the Democratic Republic of Congo!

A gripping, moving, and exciting read.  Grades 6 and up.