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In the 'Old' days before this group was overhauled, many of us have read the following books. I won't be rereading them all.

They should all be widely available, and worth reading, so I hope to see at least a little discussion. I have not yet read Heart of a Samurai so I will try to do so this time around.

Turtle in Paradise
Heart of a Samurai
One Crazy Summer (was popular & provoked good conversation)
Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night (optional; repeat from Nov. 2013)

And it's November! One Crazy Summer is a short novel that was a big hit when this group read it a few years ago. I was not awed by it, but I did thoroughly enjoy the adventure, the family story, and the history. Thank goodness there was a bit of humor to leaven it.

And if you've not gotten around to reading Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night, well, I can't recommend it highly enough, as it's beautiful poetry, and art, and of course science. And it's not just adults who enjoy it - I've heard that it is accessible to children, too, even those who normally are leery of award-winners.

And now I have to put Heart of a Samurai on my bedside table. I can't start it tonight, but it doesn't look long so I'm sure I'll be back soon with some thoughts!

I read Dark Emperor last year and loved it too. I'm going to try to get to One Crazy Summer since I met the author last year and was very impressed by her life and discussion. I also have Heart of a Samurai that I'll get to eventually. Amazon says I bought Turtle in Paradise, but so far I've had no luck in finding it on my shelves. Maybe I misfiled it. Anyway, I have much to accomplish this month plus have a trip planned to San Antonio - got talked into it by a friend! Plus Thanksgiving. But . . . a busy month is a FUN month, right?

Absolutely! Enjoy. :)

Tricia wrote: "I read Dark Emperor last year and loved it too. I'm going to try to get to One Crazy Summer since I met the author last year and was very impressed by her life and discussion. I also have Heart o..."

I don't know what you have planned to do in San Antonio, but if you have time, maybe you can come say hi to me at the Johnston Branch Library (6307 Sun Valley Dr.). I work Sundays through Thursdays most weeks.

Beverly wrote: "Tricia wrote: "I read Dark Emperor last year and loved it too. I'm going to try to get to One Crazy Summer since I met the author last year and was very impressed by her life and discussion. I al..."


That would be fun to meet another Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ buddy! I don't really know where we will be going since it's a Road Scholar tour. I know we're seeing the normal tourist places in and around SA and then we're going out to LBJ Ranch. We're staying at the Crockett Hotel. I guess I should check the itinerary! If you want to leave me any messages email me at [email protected] I'll be in SA from the Nov. 8 to 16.

I'll trek to my tiny South Lake Tahoe library tomorrow hoping to find one or more of these titles.

I started reading Turtle in Paradise and it's making me laugh. It may take me longer to read this and One Crazy Summer since I'm working on the NaNoWriMos project.

Tricia wrote: "Beverly wrote: "Tricia wrote: "I read Dark Emperor last year and loved it too. I'm going to try to get to One Crazy Summer since I met the author last year and was very impressed by her life and d..."

OK, thanks!

Yeah! I found my copy of Turtle in Paradise! Now I just have to find the time to read it!

I have read all of these...and won't get back to them this month. So I am just posting my reviews here.

Turtle in Paradise. Read this with my girls. Based on events in author's own life. Some funny parts, some sad parts. We enjoyed it but I'm not sure it is a book that will stick out to any of us as a very favorite.

Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night:
Joyce Sidman has a wonderful talent for combining poetry and prose to teach about scientific topics in an engaging and accessible way. The illustrations by Rick Allen complement and contribute to the text. This may be my favorite Sidman book so far, but perhaps that is because the subject matter interests me the most. Or perhaps because it directly relates to some of the core curriculum concepts I teach so I know I can use it in my classroom in addition to sharing it with my own children at home.

My favorite poem was "I am a Baby Porcupette" (I didn't know that's what baby porcupines are called.). I like the rhyming pattern and its rhythm...but I also like the image of the mother and baby nibbling leaves and grass ...and of course, how they deal with threats... "Raise my quills and pirouette." My 8 year old really liked "Love Poem of the Primrose Moth" and thought it very interesting that the moth looks just like the primrose flower. I also found "Ballad of the Wandering Eft" very interesting. I love the combination of poetry and facts. I have yet to read a book by Sidman that didn't impress me.

Heart of a Samurai. Somehow I didn't review this book.l.rated it 4 stars but no review.

One Crazy Summer. review Great characters...interesting historical fiction about kids who become involved with the Black Panthers in Oakland, CA. Loved the kids and wanted to smack Cecile, the mom...but you were supposed to mostly feel this way.

I also remember that this one led to some interesting discussion. Well worth reading.

I gave Turtle in Paradise two stars. Here's what I said at the time:

The characters weren't developed as unique individuals, the boys were almost impossibly horrid, most of the adults weren't much better, the climate was unremittingly hot and sticky - I'm so glad the book was short so I could escape. If you think this is 'nice' and 'funny' I'm very glad I don't live in your world.

A couple of specific examples of the horrid boys - they taunt an old man until he falls out of his wagon into the dust, and they drag a rock tied to a string against people's windows at night to scare them.

I can't tell you about all the horrid-ness of the adults, but for one: right at the beginning the aunt takes Turtle's paper dolls away from her because the dolls were 'stolen' by Turtle's mother from the aunt back when they were children.

Horrid climate - scorpions, hurricanes, thick sticky air - and never a clue about why some people choose to live there and call it Paradise.

Really? This is a fun book?

I gave Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night five stars, and will take this opportunity to hype it again:

Another wonder from Sidman. These books that combine glorious art, rich poetry, and good hard science are truly amazing. I do recommend every one to classroom teachers, home-schoolers, fans of poetry, fans of wildlife, etc.

In this particular one, the poems were a bit more direct than some of her other more fanciful and subtle works. Thinking about that, I realized that older children (say, age 9 to 17) would probably enjoy writing their own poems as inspired by these. For example, consider the first verse of:

_*I Am a Baby Porcupette*_

I am a baby porcupette.
My paws are small, my nose is wet.
And as I nurse against my mom,
we mew and coo a soft duet.

Did you know baby porcupines are called porcupettes, and that during the day the baby sleeps under a log while mom sleeps in a tree? I didn't, but after I read this poem, enjoyed the accompanying illustration, and studied the adjacent text, I knew stuff about porcupines I never did before.

And kids could choose their own nocturnal animals, learn something new about them, and write a poem, maybe even create an illustration.

I think my favorite poem here is _*Night-Spider's Advice*_ It's the one that has a little bit of subtle humor....

One Crazy Summer wasn't one of *my* favorites. I gave it three stars:

Hmm. Maybe 3.5 stars. I guess this was good, but for some reason it didn't quite hit me. Maybe because there was no leavening humor, and the main character was a bit under-developed - she was more of a role-filler than a real person. Still, it belongs in every 5th-or 6th- grade Social Studies classroom, imo. Now I'm off to look up We Real Cool by Gwendolyn Brooks.

And now I've read Heart of a Samurai. I'll be using this space to sort out my thoughts. I'm not sure if I'll rate it 3 or 4 stars.

I really liked that it was a true story, and I loved all the reproductions of the documents, especially Manjiro's drawings.

I loved how he was "Manjiro" all his life, even when he was "John Mung." In other words, the author tells us that her research indicates that he kept his sense of Japanese self even through his American adventures, even at the times when he felt he had no hope of getting back to Japan.

I really liked the themes and the bits that I learned. For example I appreciated that he felt that he could help bridge peaceful relations between Japan and America (and that, apparently, he did).

I'm thankful for the appendices, including the author's note that the two characters I found least believable were invented. I'm thankful that this does seem carefully researched and presented.

But I gotta say, I just didn't really enjoy it. And I don't know how many children would. Some, of course - it does have adventure, a bit of humor, interesting facts... and I did keep turning the pages rather than closing it and going to sleep....

(Maybe that's my problem - maybe I read it too fast.)

Well, I do recommend it if you're trying to decide whether to read it or not. I liked it more than I expected to, after all. Still, 3.49 stars. ;)

I listened to the audio recording of this book and I loved every minute of it. I kept thinking it was like Moby Dick for kids even though the plots weren't the same there was something epic about it. I didn't see the images or the appendices and that didn't detract from my enjoyment. I was long, but if you're not in a rush, I'd recommend it.

That's interesting, that you enjoyed it so much without the wonderful bonus material. It is just a bit on the long side for a children's book, but engaging. The 'epic' feel is, in my opinion, more of a descriptor of how much life, how many adventures, transpire, rather than sheer page count. :)

Turtle in Paradise: I read this back in 2011, so I don't remember a lot of details. Here is the short review I wrote for it: Not really the kind of book I like reading, because I really don't like reading about the Great Depression era, but this was a good read, focusing on the growing friendship of the children in the story.

That's almost about what I remember thinking about that book, too. :)

Dark Emperor: These lovely, descriptive poems feature nocturnal animals and some plants. Some poems rhyme and some are free verse. The poem about the owl is a shape poem, in the shape of an owl. The illustrations are beautiful hand-made linoleum/wood block prints, then hand-colored. It certainly deserved its Newbery Honor citation.

Agreed. One of my favorite books ever.

I loved One Crazy Summer I loved the storyline, the characters, and learning about this historical period. I know Garcia has another book with these same girls and it's waiting for me on my bookshelf. What I didn't understand in the story was why the father and grandmother would send their children to Oakland to see their mother when she wanted nothing to do with them. That was my main worry! Otherwise Rita Williams-Garcia did a wonderful job teaching the reader about the Black Panthers and the turmoil happening at that time in Oakland. If you read this book with your children, I'm sure questions and discussion would be numerous.

Indeed, this does lend itself to discussion. The (old) fiction club read it before it won the Newbery, and consensus was, iirc, that it was very good and really made us think.