Hattie Ever After Satisfying Sequel

Followers of Literate Lives know that one of the reasons Karen and I started this blog was our fascination with Newbery Award winners.  We shared the goal of reading the winners and honors every year and that brought us to where we are today, reviewing good books for kids.

One of my all time favorite Newbery books is Hattie Big Sky, a 2007 honor book.  Never mind Newbery, it's one of my all time favorite books...PERIOD!  It is the only book we've ever done twice for Grand Discussion and I still get it into the hands of my better readers as often as possible.

Two years ago, Kirby Larson visited Bailey and revealed to our Newbery Club that she was working on a sequel to Hattie.  This was after much questioning from our group about what happened to Hattie next?  As with most books they read the kids wanted more to the story, they needed closure.  We have been eagerly waiting to find out what happens next for Hattie, and after finishing Hattie Ever After, I can honestly say, she done real good!


In Hattie Ever After, Hattie travels to San Francisco with dreams of becoming a newspaper reporter.  She hooks up with a traveling Vaudeville show and arrives in San Francisco chasing not only her dream, but trying to solve some of the mystery behind Uncle Chester.  Kirby Larson is a master of research and accuracy.  Her description of San Francisco in the 1920s and Hattie's small town reaction to the city are wonderful and draw the reader into Hattie's next adventure.

As Hattie pursues her dream she is pulled into a mystery surrounding Uncle Chester and some shady dealings that he may or may not have been involved with.  New characters help Hattie's investigation and career advancement, and of course Charlie is back and the on and off romance continues.  The book is a little more romantic than the first, but true to Hattie's character, she doesn't give up her goals and aspirations.

I really liked Hattie Ever After, it's always fun to see what happens next for a favorite character.  I'm thinking the kids that read the first Hattie are going to approve of what Kirby Larson has done with this special character.  I'm pretty sure they will be satisfied with the ending and able to let her rest. 

2 Quick Reviews

I've returned from my first of two annual pilgrimages to Boston and that long bus ride provided plenty of reading time. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate this trip but the kids were terrific and real troopers in their ponchos and raincoats. I've managed to finish 2 new books since my last post and enjoyed both.

I finally got my hands on a copy of The Friendship Doll by my friend Kirby Larson. She shared the background of the book and even some of the story with the kids at Bailey when she visited and I was intrigued from the beginning. The book did not disappoint. Back in 1927 Japan sent a set of 58 traditional Japanese dolls to the children of the United States. The dolls then went on tour and over the years, most have gone missing. The Friendship Doll is told through the eyes of one doll, Miss Kanagawa, who calls herself an ambassador and carries herself in just that fashion. She starts in New York at the ceremony to present the dolls where she "interacts" with a young girl named Bunny Harnden who constantly feels left out, by her classmates and her wealthy family. She is chosen to be part of the committee to welcome the dolls, but not chosen to recite her speech. Even though Bunny feels hers was the best speech, the honor goes to Belle Roosevelt, the granddaughter of Theodore Roosevelt. Before the ceremony Bunny makes a connection with Miss Kanagawa even "hearing" the doll speak to her. The connection changes Bunny, making her less self centered and more willing to reach out an help others and understand their feelings and behaviors.

The book continues in a similar theme. Miss Kanagawa connects with a series of girls through the years. The girls' situations are all different and yet they all have things in common that provide the catalyst for the Kanagawa connection. In the last chapter, the doll actually makes a connection with a boy, Mason, who uses Miss Kanagawa to help an Alzheimer's patient remember things from her past. It's a very touching finish to a wonderful book. I'll be adding it to my list of great books that are less than 200 pages.

The second was an ARC of a fun mystery that I got from Sally at Cover to Cover after the Central Ohio Blogger breakfast. The Mystery of the Missing Everything by Ben H. Winters comes out in September and will be added to our library as soon as I can get my hands on a copy. It's actually the second book featuring the students of Mary Todd Lincoln Middle School, the first was The Secret Life of Ms. Finkleman which I have already reserved at the library.

The detective in the book is Bethesda Fielding and she is put on the case when the gymnastics championship trophy goes missing from Achievement Alcove. This sets Principal Van Vreeland into a royal hissy fit and she cancels all extra curricular activities including the 8th grade trip to Camp Taproot. The mystery winds and weaves its way through the book with suspects changing all the time for detective Bethesda. The reader is introduced to plenty of very interesting characters like the wimpy vice principal Jasper Ferrars who moonlights in musical theater, Reenie, the new kid, who is a bit mysterious, maybe a little mean and always has her nose in a book, just to name a couple. The book is funny, fast paced and full of enough plot twists to keep a kid reading. In the end, just when I thought Bethesda had the case wrapped up, Ben H. Winters throws another twist and gave me an excellent ending.

48 Hour Book Challenge - Wrapup (Karen)

What a fun weekend this has been! By participating in MotherReader's (thanks, Pam!!) 48 Hour Book Challenge, I created many opportunities for reading and activities surrounding the reading community since Friday afternoon. I didn't exactly follow the rules because we had a friend of my youngest daughter staying with us , so I read and participated in chunks of times over the last 3 days. I read 2 books Friday afternoon, met my fellow Central Ohio bloggers for breakfast and book shopping on Saturday morning, read 3 1/2 books on Saturday afternoon, and Sunday afternoon, when I was the only one in the house, I read 3 more books (finished the other 1/2 from Saturday, and ended the evening by beginning another one).

Final total: reading off and on for 3 days, I managed to read 8 1/2 books. I'm so pleased that I was able to set aside time to immerse myself in some new books, and some great conversations (both online and in person) with people who love books as much as I do!

I already shared about my Friday and Saturday reading, but I have to share about my last three books I read yesterday. They were probably my favorite.

I finished Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu. I don't want to ruin the plot, because this book doesn't even come out until this October, but I do have to say the themes within the story make it an incredibly important read. A couple of notes, however. The main character is at one point reading When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. I loved how cleverly Ursu lets the reader know that without ever mentioning the actual title, and how well she connected the two story lines. Another part that truly stuck a chord with me is the following:

"Somewhere ahead there was a boy who had been her best friend. She had known so many versions of him, she carried all of them with her."

If that passage doesn't capture the essence of friendship, I'm not sure what does. I kept reading the section over and over, loving it more each time.

The next book I read was a picture book, A Nation's Hope: The Story of Boxing Legend Joe Louis by Matt de la Pena and illustrated by Kadir Nelson. Both the words and illustrations are amazing. I can't wait to pair this picture book with Bird in a Box, a historical fiction by Andrea Davis Pinkney. I'll need to post more about this book later, but let it suffice to say that this pair of books is definitely on the "short list" of books I've already to begun to think about sharing in read aloud with my class.

The final book I read was The Friendship Doll by Kirby Larson. I've read several other bloggers who thought the same thing, but this book is very reminiscent of Edward Tulane. The doll in this story answers a need for both young and old alike who come into her presence. Again, not wanting to ruin the story for anyone, I will say I loved the way Kirby Larson concluded the story. It gave me a real sense of closure in a story like this that jumps from setting to another.

Great reads, great weekend! Thanks again to Pam for hosting such a fun event!!

Kirby Larson Visit HUGE Success

How lucky I am to teach in a building where staff, students and parents all support special events like author visits. I worry sometimes that the every other year schedule might be too much, too overwhelming and too frequent. I worry that the kids will begin to take it for granted and the staff tire of me asking them to read books that may not fit exactly into their curriculum. Then the event comes and I realize I worry too much!

I have spent the last two days in the company of Newbery Honor author Kirby Larson. Just let me say that she is AWESOME! Kirby met my colleague Joyce and I at the airport, a meeting we almost messed up by sitting in the wrong concourse! Fortunately we met on the escalator and things went smoothly from there.
After a quick stop at Starbucks on the first day, we were off to Bailey where Kirby presented first to a group of 11 classes, about 225 kids ages PreK to grade 2. She captured their attention from the get go and they were with her for the entire 40 minute presentation. The presentation featured her book The Two Bobbies and the process she and Mary Nethery went through to create this touching picture book. They finished with some thoughtful questions and I knew we were in for a special two days.

The next two groups were smaller, and included grades 3 - 5. I was proud of our kids and how much they remembered about Kirby from our classes leading up to her visit. Her presentation for the older kids featured her path to becoming an author. I was impressed with some of the photos she shared, especially the school photo with the sweet cat glasses and the family photo of her bossing her siblings. It takes a lot of courage to share those sorts of things, but that's what made our time with Kirby so special and how she connected with the kids at Bailey. Kids are smart and they know when adults are genuine and comfortable talking to them. They had no doubt about Kirby, she was a sincere as they come.

The kids were a bit shocked when she revealed that it took 21 tries to get The Two Bobbies just right, and 31 for Nubs!

The teachers were grateful she shared this fact hoping it will make it easier to convince their students to write that paragraph at least one more time.

The readers of Hattie Big Sky were mesmerized by the photo of the actual Homestead site of Kirby's great grandmother, the inspiration for the story.

We were all taken in by the photos of her dog, WINSTON THE WONDER DOG!
I was thrilled, and so were the kids with her personal conversations as she signed each book.
She became an honorary member of the Bailey Newbery Club over pizza.
Of course she signed the wall in THE PIT making creative use of the letter "I."
There are so many things that made the visit a HUGE success, but the most important reason is that Kirby Larson is so wonderful to be around. The students, staff and parents of Bailey Elementary School are truly fortunate to have had this opportunity.

A Grand Discussion for Kirby Larson

As I posted a while ago, Kirby Larson is coming to our school next week. In order to have a successful author visit, everyone knows the kids have to know about the author's books. Because of this, my friend Joyce and I repeated a Grand Discussion book for the first time. We re-discussed Hattie Big Sky. Of course, we had to publicize, which gave us the chance to bust out what is probably our favorite photo. I wish I had a computer version of this so it would show up better, but we did this "old school," we actually cut and pasted our photos on top of American Gothic, no Photoshop, we used scissors and glue.

The thought bubbles that I cut off have Joyce thinking, "Look at that sky!" and my thought response, "Sure is big!"

We had 20 kids and parents show for the discussion, a good number, very manageable and they all fit in the library. Of course the conversations were excellent, very thoughtful and fun.

As it was the first time we discussed Hattie Big Sky, the book was a hit, most of the group putting it among their favorites.

When asked if they thought they could do what Hattie did, I was surprised at the number of parents and kids who thought they could. Put me among those who have not desire to even try.

Of course a Grand Discussion would not be complete without cookies. We had some parents contribute this time so there were plenty of cookies to go around.

All in all it was a wonderful evening and a fabulous way to wrap up our Grand Discussions for the year and prepare for our visit from Kirby Larson.

Two Bobbies Katrina Survivors

Kirby Larson wrote one of my favorite Newbery Honor books, Hattie Big Sky. When I saw that she had a non-fiction picture book out, I had to read it. I wasn't disappointed.

A dog and a cat, both with no tails, were left behind when their owners had to evacuate. The two stuck together through the floods of contaminated water, lack of food, vicious dogs, and a number of other scary situations. When they were finally rescued by a construction worker named Rich, Bobbi was still protective of Bob Cat, not allowing anyone near her. Eventually Rich takes the two friends to a temporary shelter set up by Best Friends Animal Society, an appropriate name considering these two survivors. However, both animals are nervous when separated. Bob Cat paces in her pen, and Bobbi howled all night, keeping the rest of the animals and human workers awake all night. The two are reunited and everything settles down. To add to the amazing part of the two, it is discovered that Bob Cat is blind and Bobbi had served as her "guide dog" through their entire ordeal. The animals are featured on the Anderson Cooper 360 show and hundreds volunteered to adopt them, but only one made the long journey to meet them face to...uh muzzle. An immediate bond was formed and the Bobbies have a new home.

It's a touching story that will elicit lots of ooohs and aaahs when read out loud. The illustrations by Jean Cassels make the two heroes come alive and compliment the story by Kirby Larson and partner Mary Nethery.

Read Becky's Book Review.
Cool video trailer of the book.