Simon Bloom Plays With Newton's Laws

Micheal Reisman's Simon Bloom the Gravity Keeper is science fiction with an emphasis on the SCIENCE! The realms of knowledge, geology, biology, physics, history, etc. are controlled by a panel of keepers. Each possesses a book entitled Teacher's Edition of which they are the keeper. The members of each realm are able to bend the rules of their particular area to suit their needs and control things on Earth. The council of physics meets in a mysteriously hidden wooded area near Simon's house. When Simon stumbles onto their meeting area, the Physics Teacher's Edition falls out of the sky and hits him in the head and the adventure begins.

Simon begins to experiment with bending the Newton's Laws of Gravity and finds himself floating and bouncing around his room. He eventually gets it under control, and begins to enjoy the experience. His best friend Owen is afraid of everything, including the tacos in the school lunch room and wants no part of the fun. The third person in the story is Alysha, a friend of Simon's from kindergarten who has become very popular, hanging with the beautiful people, even if she doesn't really like them. Alysha becomes curious about a change in Simon, and follows him into the mysterious woods and catches him experimenting. Simon shares his talents of bending the laws of gravity with Owen and Alysha, and the three become sort of a group of pre-teen super heroes fighting crime by changing the laws of physics, in particular, friction, and velocity.

This is where I'm not sure about the level of this book. The adventure of good versus evil is the stuff of comic books, good guys (and gals) fighting villains using their super powers is easy to follow and understand. Reisman does a good job of explaining the physics of what is going on, but I'm afraid many readers will be lost with the very scientific explanations. Toward the end of the story when Simon messes with the time and space continuum...WHOA... the explanation lost me completely! Very deep!

I liked the characters and the idea behind the book. The story is told by a narrator that seems to be an outsider but ends up getting involved. The chapters where the kids meet him are very entertaining, and I loved the scene created in his apartment where he watches the story unfold. Simon's friend Owen has some very funny lines, and the relationship between Alysha, the popular girl, and the two outcasts is well written and believable. As I said, the whole book has a comic book feel to it and I couldn't help but think it would have made a great graphic novel. I was not surprised to see that it has been picked up by Universal to be turned into a movie. I predict that kids will love it for the action.

As for me, I'm struggling with who to recommend this one for. They will need to be pretty high level thinkers with an appreciation for science fiction that is heavy on the science. Readers who do not enjoy science, should be ready to scan over the explanation parts. The book might make a good read aloud for classes studying Newton's Laws which is an intriguing thought since there are not many read alouds that will tie into the science curriculum.

Slice of Life -- week of April 28

My husband and I just celebrated our 23rd wedding anniversary. The night before our anniversary was a Saturday, and my thoughtful husband got reservations for us at one of our favorite restaurants. We had a lovely dinner -- wonderful setting and ambience, delightful company, and delicious food (we did all the courses -- appetizers, salad, entree, and a shared dessert). And as nice as all that was, the best part came the next day.

On our actual anniversary, I had a lot of errands to do. I decided to also add to my "to do" list, a trip to my favorite meat market -- Weiland's. I was going to get some really good steaks to grill out for dinner. Since it was our anniversary, I asked my husband, M, if he wanted to go on a field trip with me to Weiland's. He hesitated, but gave in reluctantly (after all, it was our anniversary), and off we went. We got to the market, and spent about twenty to thirty minutes looking at and ordering the meat, checking out the deli, and discovering Weiland's premade food -- M found his new favorite thing -- already-made twice-baked potato. We checked out, loaded our groceries in the car, and headed home. We were in a much more eclectic neighborhood than where we actually live, so as we drove, we enjoyed noticing all the different businesses and the different neighborhoods. On the way, we stopped at a gas station where I had earned $1.80 off each gallon of gas, so we filled up the tank. We marveled at the price we paid -- it's been a long, long time since we paid that little!! We joked about being "old" and paying so much attention to the gas pump prices -- we were so proud of our deal!

So, if you're wondering where I'm going with this, here it is: that Sunday, our anniversary, was full of the small moments (or "slices") of life. We did them together and had a blast. It wasn't a romantic getaway to some tropical island, but instead, it was the everyday moments that I spent with M that day that made me realize why we've stayed married for 23 years, and why I look forward to many, many more years together! Sure, I'd take the island getaway, but life is really more about those small, everyday moments. Those are the moments that a marriage consists of, and I plan to treasure all of them.

For more slices, head on over to Two Writing Teachers.

The Gollywhopper Games are Great!!

In my next few posts about books, I'd like to share some fun books I've read recently that would be good end of year or summer reading books to share with children.

The first one is The Gollywhopper Games by Jody Feldman. It is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory meets The Mysterious Benedict Society meets Survivor meets American Idol.

The premise of the story is a competition sponsored by the Golly Toy & Game Company. The main character, Gil Goodson (don't you just love the names!), has his own personal agenda for making it into the competition, and then winning it (maybe).

American Idol similarities -- thousands of contestants wait in line just to make it into the Golly Toy and Game Company's facility where the competition will be held. Once they get in, their task is to be one of the finalists -- no, they don't have to sing, but they have to know a great deal about solving puzzles that require mega-knowledge about all of the Golly toys.

Survivor similarities -- You have to outwit and outplay the other contestants. That sometimes requires teamwork for our main character, Gil. Other times, it involves being smarter than those around you. There are many challenges in the contest, followed by the need to solve a puzzle. I must admit, the characters in this book were always a few steps ahead of me -- I never solved the puzzle before they led me in the right direction. I think kids reading this book would love to try to outwit the characters during the challenges. Another similarity, the winner cannot identify himself/herself until after the televised show -- the actual competition is taped.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory similarities -- The Golly Toy and Game Company is literally a child's dream come true! Everything is larger than life , and designed to overwhelm the eyes and the senses. Treasure chests with jewels and crowns, sleeping hippopotamuses, hot air balloons, giant bowling pins, palm trees, beaches, rainbow walls, walls that move at will -- those are just a few of the amazing things the characters encounter during the competition. And a competition would not be complete without the prerequisite badly-behaved children, as well.

The Mysterious Benedict Society similarities -- The most important lesson learned in TMBS is that it takes all of us and our unique gifts and talents to complete certain tasks in life. That again is a factor in The Gollywhopper Games as well.

I really, really enjoyed The Gollywhopper Games. It's not full of beautiful, descriptive language (though the descriptions of the inside of The Golly Toys and Games Company are quite detailed), but it's fun, and it made me think -- I really wanted to solve some of the puzzles. (Needless to say, I would have been eliminated very early in the competition with the puzzle-solving ability I displayed.) The characters are interesting -- why is it so important for Gil to win? -- plus you meet some other unique characters along the way. It's very suspenseful -- I read it in an afternoon. I just couldn't wait to see what happened in each of the next tasks and puzzles. There's even a twist at the end that ties up the loose ends.

Jody Feldman must have had fun thinking of all the puzzles, because she leaves the readers with one final puzzle AFTER the ending.

My last rationale for why you should read The Gollywhopper Games -- just saying the title makes me smile!

LuLu Atlantis: A Bizarre One

I guess I just didn't get this one! It started right and all. LuLu is feeling left out due to the birth of her new baby brother and she runs away from home. So far so good. She makes friends with an imaginary spider in top hat and gloves. Cute. She goes back home after running into a frog prince and a skunk with an empty yogurt container on his head...and this is where it lost me.

LuLu meets and converses with a number of strange characters, the Gangster Bakers, a heavenly evil cat princess with gold boots and plenty of bling, a cranky aunt and hard of hearing grandfather. Throughout, the characters converse with each other , especially LuLu's mother who seems a little spacey and is called Mother by all of the other characters. I found it hard to distinguish the real from the imaginary and who could see and talk to who.

And finally, there is the Eggman! Coo Coo ka Choo! WHO IS HE!? He sells eggs to the locals that he gets from the nearby farmer who doesn't seem to like anybody near his farm. The Eggman is always around, at family celebrations and at the family picnic at when tragedy strikes, all the while, LuLu's father is never around. Something fishy is going on here!

All in all, a very bizarre, confusing little book that I won't recommend to anyone, but I felt compelled to finish it to see if I could figure it out in the end. I didn't. I guess like I said in the beginning, I just don't get this one!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

With summer right around the corner, 30 days, but who's counting, I thought I'd check out a couple of new baseball books. I'm excited to add them to our collection and recommend them to our students. I just hope I don't say something corny like, "It's a beautiful day for baseball, so let's read two!" but I probably will.

The first is by sports writer Mike Lupica, The Big Field. I have read several by Lupica, both kids and adult sports books. He is one of today's best sports authors. He always does a great mix of describing the sports and creating believable characters. The Big Field continues the formula. Hutch is the star shortstop for his American Legion team trying to make it to the big baseball stadium for the championship game. Everything seems to be on track until he has to give up his favorite position to the new kid Daryl, an aloof, natural who clearly doesn't have the same love of the game as Hutch. Add in Hutch's father who was the star shortstop for the same American Legion team in his day, but doesn't want to encourage his son's dreams for fear of him getting hurt, and you have the classic Lupica sports novel. The drama is well written with enough young teen humor to break it up and make this an enjoyable sports read. For another review see Fuse #8.

The second is a book called Six Innings by James Preller. It brought to mind the older baseball book I used to read aloud each spring, Hang Tough, Paul Mather. Preller takes one little league game, six innings and creates an incredible story. The action of each inning is described in awesome baseball detail. Intertwined with the boys playing are stories of their lives off the field. The stories come to light as each boy bats or makes a great play in the field, or in one case announces the game from the press box. One boy is the son of a police officer killed in the line of duty. Another has been diagnosed with osteosarcoma, bone cancer. One player's father supports his little league fun, but constantly reminds him that he shouldn't take it seriously. The catcher for the team has an injured arm, but won't tell is father the coach it hurts to throw. This is a great book for lovers of baseball. Kids will relate to most of the players and will thrill to the realistic baseball action. Preller has taken great care to make it realistic by combining the action from some well known actual major league games.

Two fun, action packed baseball books to start the summer that most 4th and 5th graders can read and enjoy. It makes me want to buy some Crackerjack, hot dogs and put the Cleveland Indians on the TV! PLAY BALL!!

Slice of Life -- week of April 21

My youngest daugher, C, and I went on her first college visit last Wednesday. We were going to visit Miami University, the same school I called home for 4 years of my young adult life. As we approached the campus, I got a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach. Would this be the same campus I left 31 years ago, or would everything be changed beyond recognition?

There are many hilly country roads that lead to Oxford, Ohio, home of Miami U. As we crested the last hill, I got my first view of the campus as it is today. I heaved a huge sigh of relief. Even though over 3 decades had passed, my beloved red brick campus with lots of green space was still there.

C and I (ok, it was me!) had incorrectly alloted the time for the trip, so we had three hours on our hands to kill before our 2:00 appointment and tour of campus. No problem -- after 31 years, this might be C's college visit, but there was lots I wanted to see and share with her!!

We started by driving around the campus. With each new street, millions of memories came flooding back. The dorm I stayed in with a family friend when I was a high school senior. Emerson, my freshman dorm where I had a crazy roommate who moved out and then I moved to the basement level where I had many good friends. Springtime, and laying out on the "Emerson Beach" in nice weather. Flowers - the dorm I lived in as a sophomore on the end of campus where I was close to one of the fraternity rows and the dining hall that housed training tables for all athletes. (At this point in the tour, C says to me, "We wouldn't have been friends. You focused too much on boys.") Richards -- the dorm I lived in junior year with my friend, Lisa (still an integral part of our family even today!). We moved to that quad to be closer to the dorm our sorority suite was in (no sorority houses at Miami). MacCracken -- the dorm I lived in senior year - yes, I lived in a dorm all 4 years / apartment life seemed too real-life for me. The Res -- only now they call it the Shriver Center (named after the President of Miami when I was there). McGuffey Hall -- the education building where I spent most of my last three years. King Library -- only now it has a coffee shop downstairs -- a true sign of the times.

We then looked for the parking lot that our map assured us was there. It's a good thing there's a sign by the street that says "Parking Garage" because, in keeping with the Georgian red brick feel of Miami, the garage looks just like any other building on campus, complete with windows. They really made sure it blended in with its surroundings. We parked the car, and then walked "uptown" -- translated, that means we walked up the street into the small town of Oxford.

I was delighted to see that Oxford hadn't lost any of its charm, either. The town square is still there, though it has been rehabbed and is more beautiful than I remember. On one side of the square, the same barber shop that was there when I attended Miami. Same college bookstore and same movie theater (only they moved the marquee from the side street to the main street). The dining establishments have completely changed since I was there, but there was a lot available for both the people of the town as well as the college students. Townspeople and college students alike, strolling the sidewalks of Oxford -- what great memories that brought back!

But, no matter where we went or what we did for the rest of the day, the essence of what Miami is still lives on 31 years after I graduated. Even with all the new athletic facilities, fabulous state of the art rec center, ice hockey arena, dorms, educational buildings, and bus systems, it still "felt" the same. It was the equivalent, for me, of being in a time warp.

However, I know it's now 2008, and not 1977 -- this is C's time. I wonder if she feels the magnetic pull of Miami the same way I do even now.

For more slices, head on over to Two Writing Teachers.

Nonfiction Monday - Riding to Washington

Riding to Washington by Gwenyth Swain and illustrated by David Geister is quite a lovely book! It is part of the Tales of Young Americans Series.

The story is told in first person by Janie, a young girl from Indianapolis. Her father comes home one night to tell his wife he wants to go on a bus to Washington to hear a speech. Her reaction is that Janie cannot stay home; she is a mischief maker. So, by default, Janie ends up going with her dad on the bus from Indianapolis to Washington to hear Dr. Martin Luther King speak. Her dad tells her they are going to see history. Janie isn't wild about the history she learns at school, so she's not so sure about this bus trip.

Also, at this moment in time, Janie's only frame of reference when it comes to "colored or black folks" is what she sees on the television. From that, she infers they live in the South, get sprayed with water by police, and are nipped at by police dogs.

There are three parts of this book that are quite powerful. Each one gave me goosebumps.

The first moment is when they arrive at the theatre in Indianapolis to board the bus for Washington, and Janie observes the people around her. She says: "There were old people mixed with young people. Preachers mixed with farmers. And me and Daddy and just a few other whites mixed in with a whole bunch of coloreds." Goosebumps as I thought about how people from all walks of life came together for this very important moment!

The second moment is the scene where Mrs. Taylor (a black lady on Janie's bus) and Janie ask the bus driver to stop at a gas station because they need to use the restroom. The bus driver points out the "No Coloreds" sign. But little Janie, joined hands with Mrs. Taylor and went into the gas station where a young boy tries to stop them. Then, Janie says, "It's like my mama and daddy always say, 'You got the choice to do the right thing or not.' Mama says I make a lot of wrong choices, but I think letting us in would be the right one now." What intelligent words for such a young girl -- goosebumps again!

Finally, the illustration of all the people gathered to hear Dr. Martin Luther King speak in Washington on August 28, 1963, is amazing. The illustrator, David Geister, paints a powerful picture of the sea of humanity, all there to hear the famous, "I Have a Dream" speech. Goosebumps, goosebumps, goosebumps!

The end of this book has an author's note that is well worth reading. The author's (Gwyneth Swain) father and grandfather actually took a bus trip to see Dr. Martin Luther King deliver his famous speech. She ends by saying that even more historic than the speech was the fact that people of all skin colors and religions came together for the dream of peace. What a phenomenal moment in history!!

This book is very kid friendly. I actually borrowed this from the "new book" section in our local library, but I will be buying it very soon, as this is a must have for our classroom library!! In addition to being a wonderful story about a significant time in history, it will also serve as a great mentor text when we study how to write literary nonfiction.

For the Nonfiction Monday roundup, go on over to Picture Book of the Day.