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?

The Accidental Genius of Weasel High, by Rick Detorie

I was immediately drawn to this book after reading the title, which is one of the more interesting ones that I’ve come across.  The story is about Larkin Pace, a high school student an amateur filmmaker.  “The Accidental Genius” is one of those books where the main character is telling his own story, and writing it down as a long-term diary as part of a school assignment.

This book is probably always going to be compared to “Diary of a Wimpy Kid”, because the author includes hilarious cartoons to complement his writing.  However, the two books are actually very different.  This is mostly because Larkin Pace is a high school kid with high school problems, like dating, school bullies, and exploring a career.  The subject matter is a little bit more mature than the “Wimpy Kid” series, but somehow that makes the cartoon illustrations seem even more welcome.  The pictures serve to lighten the mood while Larkin discusses the problems and challenges of his life.

The book’s chapters tend to focus on the most memorable events that happened to Larkin, so you really feel like you’re sneaking a peek at someone’s most personal thoughts.  I liked how the author didn’t include any dates in each chapter—it almost seems like Larkin started his writing assignment on a regular schedule, but falls out of a routine.  He tends to provide his updates after the most impressionable moments occur, which makes this book seem even more like a student project!

One thing I noted in “The Accidental Genius” was that there were no major life-changing events that happened to Larkin.  He’s a (mostly) normal kid, with a (mostly) happy family, with a (mostly) normal group of friends.   But somehow, following his experiences over the course of a year makes for a really interesting book!   This book made me think about all of those times when I’ve been bored in class, or a little uninterested with my own (mostly) normal life.  Do you ever feel that way?  Have you ever considered that someone else might be interested by what we do?  

Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain

When I first read “Tom Sawyer”, I was captivated by the setting almost as much I was by the story itself.  Rural Missouri must have been an awesome place for Tom Sawyer to grow up!  It seemed like there was more than enough opportunity for adventure in this small town, with all the open land and hidden caves.  Living along the Mississippi River would definitely allow a boy to explore to his heart’s content.

Tom Sawyer and his best friend, Huckleberry Finn, are definitely not the most well-behaved boys in town!  They’re the type of kids who would sneak off to a graveyard at midnight, which is where their adventure actually begins.  These two friends stumble into a gang of graverobbers, and secretly witness a murder!  From there, the boys become wrapped up in the manhunt for an outlaw named Injun Joe, and the search for his secret buried treasure.

As much as I enjoy the excellent books that are being written today, not many of them have the main characters involved in dangerous situations like these.  I guess that people today might think that a story that involves a murder or a manhunt wouldn’t be appropriate for kids?  In my opinion, things like this are essential to a good adventure story.  If Tom Sawyer wasn’t in any kind of real danger, do you think that you would care as much about him?

“Tom Sawyer” is one of those classic books that everyone should read, and it definitely gets my highest recommendation.  It really made me think back to my own hometown, and the small adventures that I had there when I was growing up.  Take a second to think about your own home.  Has anything ever happened to you there that you might consider to be an adventure?