Four New Reads...all good

Shakespeare Makes the Playoffs
by Ron Koertge

Baseball, poetry, and teenage love

Sequel to Shakespeare Bats Cleanup

Personal Thoughts: Well written and creative. There were types of poems I have never heard of before.



Out of My Mind
By Sharon Draper

Special Needs, Quiz Bowl

Connections: Stuck in Neutral

Personal Thoughts: I have enjoyed many of Draper's books, but this is my personal favorite. Excellent.




Mockingbird
By Kathryn Erskine

Special Needs~Asperger's Syndrome, School Violence, Healing, Communication

Personal Thoughts: Very good read.





Borrowed Names
by Jeannine Atkins

Poems about: Laura Ingalls Wilder, Madam C.J. Walker, & Marie Curie

Personal Thoughts: I did not think I could handle this book...I was very wrong. I was engaged the whole time.






Happy Reading,
Dr. Quinn

Anything but Typical

Nora Baskin's Anything but Typical is just what the title states...anything but typical. The story is told by the protagonist, Jason Blake, a 12 year old autistic boy. Through his words Jason shares his thoughts, feelings, and emotions. He gives the reader a glimpse of his world as he describes excitement, anxiety, love, frustration, embarrassment and so much more.

The jest of the storyline is that Jason is an excellent communicator when it comes to writing stories. He often posts his work on a storyboard computer site. As a part of these postings, he connects with another writer from a different state. As part of a reward for not getting sent home from school for behavior, Jason's mother takes him to the storyboard convention where he will have the opportunity to meet his distant friend. Of course this is easier said than done because she is NT (neurological typical) and he is anything but typical. Ultimately Jason learns to except who he is..., "This is who I am. This is me."

I believe that Baskin did an excellent job of sharing Jason's thoughts with the reader. This book had some strong intertextual connections to Terry Trueman's Stuck in Neutral and Cynthia Lord's Rules...two other books that I enjoyed.

I highly recommend this book for upper elementary.

Keep reading,
Dr. Quinn

Cruise Control

Less than a year ago I read Terry Trueman's Stuck in Neutral (see December 17)...The story is
about Shawn McDaniel a 14 year-old boy with Cerebral Palsy which limits him from any voluntary movement and the whole thing is told from Shawn's point of view.

Yesterday I just completed Cruise Control, a companion book to Stuck in Neutral. In this book, Paul McDaniel, Shawn's older brother, tell his side of the story. Paul is a hard and bitter young man who is especially angry at his father for abandoning the McDaniel family. Throughout the book, Paul deals with his anger via sports, fighting, and alcohol...primarily through sports. Paul has a change of heart near the end of the book, but readers will have to see what happens.

Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot. I thought that Trueman did a fantastic job of showing Paul's anger throughout the book. However, I had one big problem with the ending. As a high school coach for many years and someone who has been around sports his whole life, I found the state title basketball game much too unbelievable. Persoanlly the ending turned me off.

Rating: (due to the ending)

Happy reading,
Dr. Quinn

The Little Word Catcher

Have you ever had a conversation with someone and the word you are about to say seems to have completely left your mind? Imagine that this begins to happen more and more frequently. How might it impact those around you? In The Little Word Catcher by Danielle Simard (Author) Genevieve Cote(Illustrator) young Elisa is worried because her grandmother is forgetting words more and more often.

This recently translated book is written and illustrated wonderfully. I love the connection between the grandmother and the granddaughter, and I especially appreciate the manner in which the two "share" words.

A gentle look at some early stages of Alzheimer’s

Happy Reading,
Dr. Quinn

Stuck in Neutral

I just finished Terry Trueman's Stuck in Neutral, and I am a big fan. I love the third person voice of the 14 year old protagonist, Shawn McDaniel. Shawn was born with Cerebral Palsy which limits him from any voluntary movement. No one in Shawn's life believes he has the ability to learn or even understand; however, this is far from the truth. According to Shawn, he remembers everything that he hears. He just can't communicate that with anyone, so they all think he is profoundly developmentally disabled.

Another big problem is that Shawn believes his father wants to kill him. He thinks that his father is so sad and his heart hurts so much for Shawn that the best thing for Shawn would be euthanasia.

Where did Trueman come up with such a book? After reading the Author's Note at the end of the book I found out. Trueman has a son, Sheehan, who is diagnosed just like Shawn.

Rating:

Happy Reading,
Dr. Quinn

Rules

I just returned from Santa Barbara, CA, where my wife and I spent our 20th anniversary. While on the trip I read two books: Love, Stargirl and Rules. I was planning to do two posts this afternoon (Saturday), however, my body seems to still be on Pacific time so I thought I would go ahead and post Rules tonight or this morning or whatever you want to call it (1:30 AM). BTW, the time stamp seems to be off by three hours.

First off let me say that I thoroughly enjoyed Rules by Cynthia Lord. I loved the honesty of the protagonist, Catherine. Catherine is a twelve year old girl with an eight year old brother, David, who is autistic. Although she loves her brother he often embarrasses her by doing things such as: pulling down his pants, dropping toys in the fish tank, opening cupboard doors at other people’s homes, etc.

Each chapter is titled with some sort of rule. Usually these rules are meant for David, but they often mean just as much to Catherine as they do for David. Sometimes to smooth out awkward situations or just their way of showing their love for each other, Catherine and David will recite lines from Arnold Lobel’s Frog and Toad Together. These little snippets along with the ongoing list of rules that Catherine creates throughout the book are a favorite of mine.

Another storyline is the relationship that Catherine generates with a Jason, a boy in a wheelchair. Jason has difficulty communicating verbally so he uses a book full of words and words with pictures to communicate. As the story develops Catherine adds words for David’s communication book. Words such as: awesome!, whatever!, That stinks the big one!!!, and more.

Sorry if this review is a little random, just too much travel today.

Rating:

Happy Reading, Dr. Quinn