The Swiss Family Robinson, by Johann David Wyss

“The Swiss Family Robinson” is an exciting adventure story about a large family who survives a terrifying shipwreck, only to become stranded on an uninhabited island!  At first the Robinson family is forced to focus on their immediate survival in the wild, but they quickly adapt and become quite comfortable living on their own.  Eventually, they make a shocking discovery when they learn that their island might not be as deserted as it appeared!

I had never read this book before, but I had seen Walt Disney’s movie version of the story.  It was exciting to notice areas where the book differed so much from the movie.  That’s one of the neat things about these older, classic books--- if you’ve got an exciting plot with some interesting characters, it can be told in an unlimited number of ways.  This book was written nearly 200 years ago, and it’s been re-printed in dozens of different versions for different age groups.  Feel free to shop around a little and choose the best version for you, even if it’s one of the comic books!  I decided to read the English translation of the original book for this review.  The author was careful to detail all of the steps that the family took to build their new home.  It was very cool to read about their ingenuity, but at times I almost felt like I was reading a survival manual!

I’ve since learned that Mr. Wyss may have been inspired by Daniel Defoe’s novel “Robinson Crusoe”, which is about a man who spends years alone on a desert island.  The family’s last name could be a clue to observant readers, pointing them towards another excellent book that the author enjoyed.  While these two books might sound similar, being stranded by yourself would actually be a very different situation from being cast away with your entire family.  But what do you think?  If you were cast off on a desert island, would you prefer to be by yourself or in a group?  Can you think of any specific people that you might want to face these hardships with?

The Candy Corn Contest, by Patricia Reilly Giff

Even though I prefer reviewing full-length novels aimed at middle-grade and young adult readers, I definitely don’t want to overlook some of the outstanding chapter books aimed at younger boys.  Patricia Reilly Giff’s “Polk Street School” series is an excellent example of these.  One great advantage of this series is that if you like the characters, you can pick up the next book and follow your new friends into their next adventure!

In “The Candy Corn Contest”, Mrs. Rooney hosts a contest with her second grade class to see if anyone can guess the number of candy corns inside a jar on her desk.  No one is successful, and during the week Richard “the Beast” Best accidentally discovers that the magic number is written on the bottom of the jar!   Richard doesn’t want to be a cheater, so he has to find a way to get out of the contest without ruining everyone else’s fun.

This situation might seem simple, but it’s probably a major ethical dilemma for a second-grader!  I think that the intended audience would really identify with Richard, especially if they thought he might get in trouble for being honest.  What do you think you would do if you were in his position?  Have you ever had to admit that you’d done something wrong, even though you knew that your honesty might get you in trouble?

Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis

This story is about Bud Caldwell, a twelve-year old orphan who runs away from his most recent foster family.  Bud travels across his home state of Michigan during the Great Depression in a search for his long-lost family.   He meets a musician who he thinks might be his father, and falls in with the man’s traveling band.  Out on the road, Bud has time to explore his family tree, and discover how little he actually knows about his roots.

This book has not only has an amazing plot, but it also has one of the most interesting settings.  Our lives today are so comfortable that it’s very easy to forget about how things were just a few generations ago.  Mr. Curtis does an excellent job of describing life during the Depression, especially the “Hoovervilles” and the conflicts between labor organizers and security men.  I can’t imagine a life where I didn’t know where I was heading next, or where my next meal was coming from.

My favorite part of this book was actually the author’s notes at the end, where Mr. Curtis wrote about how his own family influenced the story.  His relatives were the inspiration for two of the main characters, and their stories undoubtedly helped him produce such a realistic description of the era.  Mr. Curtis suggested that readers should take the time to listen to their own family members, in order to get a first-person account of history.

What do you think about his advice?  What do you know about how your parents or your grandparents grew up?  Is there anything that you don’t know about them, but might like to learn?

Travel Team, by Mike Lupica

Travel Team is an underdog story about Danny Walker, the shortest twelve-year old in Middletown.  Danny is a gifted basketball player, but he’s got some big shoes to fill.  His absentee father is a former pro ballplayer who might be best known for taking the local youth league to the national championships.  Danny’s family situation is interesting enough, but the real story begins when Danny fails to make the town’s “travel team” of top ballplayers when the coach thinks that he’s just too short to compete.

When Danny starts to think about taking a year off from basketball, his dad steps back into the picture and offers to start up an alternative ball team.  He and Danny then set about assembling an unlikely team made up of Danny, a few other misfit kids, and even the unthinkable….a girl!  After a series of losses, it quickly becomes clear that this team will never win an actual game.  Until, all of a sudden, they actually do!

I don’t want to give away too much of this book, because it’s worth reading for yourself.  It reminded me of all of Matt Christopher’s books that my classmates and I used to race through.  So many kids like to play sports, even though only a very small percentage will grow up to play professionally.  There’s so much that young people can learn from sports, and one of the most important things they can learn is how to lose well.

But what do you think?  Have you ever played on a sports team?  If so, what was something that you learned from your experience?      

The Incredible Journey, by Sheila Burnford

“The Incredible Journey” is another book where animals actually serve as the main characters, and the story is about how these housepets make a trip of several hundred miles through the wilderness to re-unite with their owners.  I’m always amazed by these type of animal stories, and how the authors succeed in letting the reader have a peek in on the animals’ thoughts and feelings.

Unlike “The Call of the Wild”, the two dogs and a cat in this book don’t feel very much in touch with wild animals, no matter how much time they spend on their own and despite the life-or-death challenges that they face.  They do adapt to their environment in order to survive, but this behavior is all done with the goal of getting back to their family.

I really enjoyed reading about how the young Labrador simply knew which direction to head.  It was almost as if he didn’t have any choice but to lead the others on this journey, like he was being pulled back to the home where he knew that they belonged.  His sense of purpose was impressive, even when the animals were presented with several easy opportunities where they could have quit their journey.

What do you think about the determination showed by these animals?  Have you ever done something where you felt like quitting wasn’t an option, even though nobody would really blame you if you did?

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy, by Gary D. Schmidt

I picked up this book before I knew that it was based on actual events.  I’m really glad for that, because I like to think of this book as a good story first and foremost, rather than a true story.  This one is about Turner Buckminster, a preacher’s son, and how he adapts to being the new kid in town in a very small Maine community.

It actually took me a few chapters before I realized that the book was set in the 1800s, and I guess that’s because I felt like I could identify with Turner.  We’ve all been the new guy at some point, and it’s easy to feel empathy for someone who’s picked on and left out.  Eventually, Turner makes friends with one particular little girl in town, whose name is Lizzie Bright.

Here’s where the problem lies:  Lizzie is black, and at this point in history, blacks are still treated like second-class citizens.  By befriending Lizzie, Turner quickly becomes an outcast himself.  During the course of the book, Turner gets caught up in the middle of the town’s plan to relocate the black families out of the area for a real estate development project.

I won’t spoil the ending here, but this one is definitely worth reading.  I like these “Man vs. Society” types of conflict, where it seems like the entire world is against one person.  Is there any way at all for the lone person to win this type of conflict?  How do you think that you would you behave if you found yourself in a situation where it seemed like everyone was against you?

The Boxcar Children, Graphic Novel by Shannon Eric Denton

I’m a huge fan of graphic novels!  I loved all the comic books that I used to read as a kid, but over the years I’ve gotten away from the worlds of Batman and Superman.  Graphic novels are kind of like comic books, but each book usually tells a self-contained story instead of being one part in an ongoing series.  Also, unlike comic books, it’s socially acceptable for a grown man to read a graphic novel in public!

I had never actually read any of the “Boxcar Children” mysteries by Gertrude Chandler Warner, so I was really excited to find this graphic novel at my library.  The Boxcar Children are two boys and two girls who become orphans after their parents die.  Afraid that they might get split up by their foster parents, the children decide to run off together.  They end up building a camp in the woods, and taking shelter inside of an abandoned railroad boxcar.  The Boxcar Children impressed me with their resourcefulness, and they did a pretty good job of running a house by themselves.

One thing I noticed about this book was that there was much more of an emphasis on pictures rather than words.  Some pages only had one or two sentences.  The illustrations did a great job of telling the story so I don’t feel like I missed out on anything, but I’ll definitely have to go back and get the original book for comparison!  Most of the sequels that follow in this series are mystery chapter books, and that’s definitely something that I’d be interested in reading.

From time to time, most kids come to wonder what would happen if they were suddenly alone in the world.  I think that the Boxcar Children were lucky to have had each other to rely on when their parents died, and that was a big reason why they were so successful in the woods.  Have you ever thought about what it would be like to live on your own?  Would you feel lonely, or scared?  Or maybe you might enjoy the time to yourself?