Tag Archive | teens

Furious, by Jill Wolfson (book review) – the Furies reborn or vengeance unleashed?

Jun10

book cover of Furious by Jill Wolfson published by Henry HoltThe tree-hugger, the surfer chick, and the outcast foster kid,
All angry, all the time,
Where is the justice in this world?

This modern retelling of the Greek tale of the three Furies is set in a coastal California town high school, where small unkindnesses can become overlarge events and grudges erupt into feuds too easily. Add an outside influence with less-than-clear motives for nudging things into motion, and it gets ‘interesting’ in a hurry.

Read Ambrosia’s thoughts in the prologue  here and an excerpt from Meg’s point of view here, then get ready to step into the violent whirl of life, injustice, and vengeance that makes these girls so Furious.

Is righting wrongs worth the price of losing everything else?
**kmm

Book info: Furious / Jill Wolfson.  Henry Holt & Co., 2013.  [author site]  [publisher site]

My book talk: Meg is a late-bloomer, always on the fringes, barely tolerated by her foster mother, ignored by everyone at school except best (and only) friend Raymond…until stunning Ambrosia pulls her into a class project group and unleashes something in Meg she never knew she had – and never should have awakened.

Whether she hates the birth mother who abandoned her more than she loathes her foster homes is as much a question for Meg as why she and vibrant Raymond clicked as friends. He understands why she found herself verbalizing her hatred for everyone at school who’s excluded her, right? Meg felt something deep and real within herself when she stood on her desk and finally said it out loud.

Ambrosia understands why Meg did it, and the beautiful sophisticate also understands why Alix hates anyone mocking her special needs brother and why Stephanie hates attacks on nature and the environment. For their Western Civilization creative project (with Raymond, who won’t be left out), she suggests that they investigate the Furies and justice and retribution.

Meg and Alix and Stephanie discover that if they sing together the song humming in their bones, they can dive into the minds of the wicked and stop malicious behavior. Ambrosia teaches and encourages their quest to right wrongs, while their Western Civ teacher Ms. Pallas tries to warn them of the thin line between justice and vengeance.

Can the trio bring peace and order to Hunter High?
Why did Ambrosia choose them?
How can Meg balance her thirst for retribution with her desire to be loved?

The tale of the three Furies leaps from ancient Greece to a fog-shrouded coastal California town as the teens must decide if they are really the Furies reborn or merely pawns in a sinister game.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Pieces, by Chris Lynch (book review) – brother’s organs donated, life still in pieces

Jun9

book cover of Pieces by Chris Lynch published by Simon SchusterPulling the plug means giving up,
Giving up all hope that he’ll come out of the coma,
That he’ll wake up again for his brother and best friend.
How can they say goodbye?

This family’s tough decision is made the tiniest bit better by knowing that their 20-year-old son’s organs will improve life for several other people.

Today and every day, 18 people in America will die waiting for an organ transplant. Read answers to myths about organ donation, talk to your family about it, sign up at your state registry or on your driver license as an organ donor, and hope the day never comes.

While Pieces  is the sequel to Iceman,  in this book you get enough glimpses of irreverent Duane in Eric’s reminiscences of his big brother  to have the gist of their relationship. But I’m sure that reading Iceman  first (just out in paperback this spring) would add even more to this journey of discovery, with all its stops and starts and roller-coaster emotions.

Lynch tackled a similarly tough topic in Hothouse  (my recommendation here) as best friends who are sons of best-buddy firefighters must cope with their fathers’ deaths amid questions about that last fire they fought together.

How do you go on when a vital person in your life is gone?
**kmm

Book info: Pieces / Chris Lynch. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2013.   [author interview]  [author video interview]   [publisher site]

My book talk: Diving into unknown water was so like Duane. Eric didn’t want to let his big brother and best friend go, but their parents decided organ donation is the right thing. Now pieces of Duane are inside other people all over New England, and Eric finally decides to find out how that changed their lives.

As the life support machines beeped, Eric pleaded with Duane to wake up, to get back to his crazy self, to stay with him as his best (maybe only) friend. But no miracle occurred, despite Mom’s constant prayers, so the doctors asked if Duane’s organs can be used to help others. Eric’s anger still isn’t enough to stop his world from crumbling…

A year passes and Eric decides to take up donor services on their offer to connect him with those who received a new lease on life because of Duane. Out of high school a year, and still in a fog of grief, replaying the Navy recruiting video, but never having the strength to carry through, Eric needs to know that something good came out of Duane’s accident.

Donor Services arranges for 3 recipients of Duane’s organs to join Eric for high tea at a fancy Boston hotel – teenaged Phil who can hear at last with Duane’s earbones, young mother Melinda whose new kidney will allow her to see her son grow up, and brash Barry who seems to be using Duane’s liver as a cocktail strainer. They’re nice people (except Barry), and they really enjoy hearing about the adventures that Eric shared with his big brother, telling him that if he wants to stay in touch, they do too.

Duane’s on-again-off-again girlfriend, who left the country to volunteer overseas just before the accident, is back in town, having missed the funeral and the chance to mourn with the family. Meeting the people who now have pieces of Duane sounds like a good idea to her, so suddenly Eric is taking Martha to a birthday for Melinda’s 4-year-old son at Chuck E. Cheese, helping her host a cookout at her apartment for Phil and his mom, trying not to gag when Barry flirts with her over sangria.

How are these people related to him, now that they are part-Duane?
Can’t his parents understand that meeting them would help them heal, too?
Now where does he go in life without Duane?

Walking the long road of grief recovery gets a little easier for Eric with new friends and expanded possibilities in this follow-up to Iceman,  Lynch’s first novel about the brothers.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Memory of After, by Lenore Appelhans (book review) – sinister stop-off between life and heaven

Jun6

book cover of Memory of After by Lenore Appelhans published by Simon SchusterDead, but not gone,
memory lives on,
in limbo, but never heaven?

Felicia figured she was more likely to end up in hell than heaven, considering what she’d done with Julian and to her best friend before she was banished to Grammy’s small town, but her time with Neal was slowly convincing her that forgiveness was possible.

And then she died – bam – end of second chances… or was it? Given a choice of revisiting memories of Neal forever or trying to change a corrupt system, she does have a second chance – if she dares to act.

In an unusual turn, the publisher realized that the hardback title Level 2  and its cover art (shown next to My Book Talk section) did not fit with the story, so the paperback (issued just 3 months after original pub date) uses the new title and art seen above. I agree that their first choice made this book look and sound like some paranormal video game, rather than the contest between good, not-so-good, maybe-evil, and oh-so-bad that it is.

Could you give up your favorite memories to move on?
**kmm

Book info: The Memory of After (Memory Chronicles, book 1) [hardback title: Level 2] / Lenore Appelhans. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2013.  [author’s blog]  [publisher site]  [author video interview]

book cover of Level 2 by Lenore Appelhans published by Simon Schuster, reissued as Memory of After

original hardback cover art & title

My book talk: Felicia’s not in heaven or hell, just stuck in Level 2 reliving memories over and over. When another girl in her pod vanishes and no one else remembers she was there, the teen thinks something’s amiss. When a dangerous guy from her past on Earth invades the pod to recruit her into a revolt against the angels, she knows something really strange is going on!

Not that Felicia was a good girl as a teenager, but dying just a day short of her 18th birthday seems so unfair. After the horrific incident with Julian and her best friend Autumn in Germany, her diplomat parents sent to live with her grandmother Stateside.

Felicia has lived in cities around the world, so the tiny Oklahoma town and Grammy’s strictness strangle her, but maybe it’s punishment she deserves.  School, church, school, home – that’s it. Meeting Neal at church youth group is the best thing in her world. Maybe she can overcome her guilt after all, with his love and help.

Now here she is with other dead teen girls in their stark white pod, not hungry or thirsty, accessing the best-ever memories. like her time with Neal. Suddenly Beckah finds herself trapped in her own terrifying death memory and is gone when Felicia checks on her later…and the other girls swear there never was any Beckah!

Julian’s abrupt appearance in the pod is alarming – no one ever comes in, let alone boys! He says he’s coming back for Felicia, then leaves. What’s going on? How did Julian find her? Is he dead, too?

As the pod is attacked and Felicia flees with Julian, she sees that there are thousands of pods, which means many thousands of people-drones here with their memories instead of in heaven or hell…

Why did angels set up pods filled with good memories that no one wants to abandon?
Why does Julian need Felicia’s help to “restore balance” in the afterlife?
Is Neal in one of those pods?

The battle is just beginning in this new series that takes the power of memories to a whole new level.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Reconstructing Amelia, by Kimberly McCreight (book review) – not a suicide, not a chance

Jun4

book cover of Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight published by HarperPrivate school academic pressure
or vicious peer pressure?
What sent Amelia over the edge?

First love isn’t always easy or simple. Lifelong friendships may break apart or simply drift away during high school. Parents don’t know what their children experience every minute; kids don’t think that their parents were ever in such predicaments. Told in several voices, Amelia’s story is both familiar and unusual, with an outcome you might expect, but an ending you won’t guess.

On her website, author Kimberly McCreight asks folks to post “what would you tell your mother or your daughter” – anonymously, if need be –  if they could only find the courage or the right words or the right time, sharing the conversations on her Facebook page, hoping that the right time is sooner rather than too late.

This mystery-tragedy jumped onto the bestseller lists before I could finish this post, so you should easily find it at your local library or favorite independent bookstore now.

Is it ever too late to say the right thing?
**kmm

Book info: Reconstructing Amelia / Kimberly McCreight. Harper, 2013.  [author site]  [publisher site]  [book trailer]

My book talk: Amelia would never cheat, so why would she take her own life before fighting against the false accusation? As her mother tries to uncover the truth about her death, pieces of Amelia that no one knew begin to surface through emails, text messages, and notes.

Known as an over-achiever even by Grace Hall school standards, Amelia writes thoughtful, compelling essays all the time, so the idea that she plagiarized an entire English paper about her favorite author is absurd. Her mother rushes from her law office to the posh private school when notified of her suspension for cheating, only to find that the fifteen-year-old hadn’t survived a fall from the roof. Amelia – suicide?

An anonymous text message “Amelia didn’t jump” pulls Kate from her haze of grief, as the single mother realizes that there are parts missing from the story surrounding her daughter’s death and decides that she must get to the bottom of things. With the help of a new police detective, her law firm’s IT department, and interviews with students and parents, a chilling picture emerges, centered on the social clubs which Grace Hall insists are not official school organizations.

Why did Amelia feel under so much pressure?
Who did she fall in love with and hide from everyone?
Why did she stop sharing secrets with her best friend?
What really went on with Dylan, Zaidie and the other Magpies Club girls?

This riveting story of peer pressure, indiscretions, cover-ups, and missteps on Amelia’s voyage of self-discovery is told through her diary entries, Facebook updates, text messages, emails, notes shoved in her locker, a particularly snarky blog devoted to Grace Hall gossip, plus Kate’s narrative and her own college diary.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

School Spirits, by Rachel Hawkins (book review) – ghost-hunting ain’t for amateurs!

Jun3

book cover of School Spirits by Rachel Hawkins published by HyperionMonster sighted? Check.
Banishment strategy selected? Check.
Ready to walk into high school? No way!

Of course, home-schooling makes sense when your family is frequently traveling to hunt and eliminate otherworldly baddies, but none of her martial arts training prepared practical Izzy for her first major undercover assignment – locate and banish a high-school-based ghost with a grudge!

Makeup, clothes not suitable for stalking in the shadows, a hedgehog mascot for the basketball team …  and very, very attentive boys? Hope Izzy can corner Mary Evans’ ghost during the right moon phase and get out of Ideal, Mississippi in a hurry!

Grab this serious/not-so-serious ghost-trapper tale today at your local library  or independent bookstore, first in new series by Hex Hall author Rachel Hawkins.

Which ghosts of high school would you banish forever?
**kmm

Book info: School Spirits / Rachel Hawkins. Hyperion, 2013.   [author site]  [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Being a Brannick means hunting down supernatural monsters – it’s the family business. When her big sister Finley disappears before Izzy’s training is complete, the teen finds herself walking into high school for the first time, ready to fight an avenging ghost, but so unprepared for cliques, cute boys, and pep rallies.

A science teacher was nearly killed in his lab with the door locked from the inside, and sightings of the school namesake’s ghost have been reported for the first time in years. So homeschooled Izzy is tapped to infiltrate Mary Evans High School to eliminate the ghost.

One official school club in this small Mississippi town is the Paranormal Management Society, with 3 members, all considered weird by other students. Mom always says that “civilians” who think they can take on the Prodigium make supernatural situations worse; hopefully, Izzy can nab the ghost without involving Romy, Anderson, or Dex.

Ah, Dex, who seems to be Prodigium himself, might have a crush on Izzy? She and Torin (the spirit living in Brannick mirrors for past 400 years) watch many movies and television shows about high school life, trying to get a handle on how to cope with boys who ask for phone numbers and girls who are mean and teachers who just don’t have a clue.

A mangled Barbie doll on the head cheerleader’s locker mimics the dead frog found on the science teacher’s door before he was attacked. Mary Evans appears to Izzy and is much more powerful than a ghost should be. Even after Izzy seals the ghost girl’s grave, Mary steers a speeding car into a crowd at school!

Who or what has augmented Mary Evans’ powers?
How can Izzy banish the ghost when normal techniques fail?
Why can’t she shake the feeling that Dex isn’t who he seems to be?

Vengeful, deadly, tied to high school forever – this paranormal opponent forces Izzy and her mom to delve deep into Brannick lore to find a way to save her classmates from evil School Spirits  in this new series by the author of Hex Hall.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

The Testing, by Joelle Charbonneau (book review) – keep friends close, enemies closer?

Jun2

book cover of The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau published by Houghton MifflinFor a chance at your dream, how far would you go?
What would you sacrifice?
How much can you give without giving up who you are?

This dystopian novel of trials and trust, peril and personal integrity, desperation and death is not a Hunger Games knockoff, by any means.

Testing completely done in secret, candidates’ minds wiped after they fail or succeed, the lucky ones who get into Tosu University will be assigned to other colonies and never see their families again.

Gotta be glad that the consequences of our standardized testing in the US aren’t so severe…

This is Charbonneau’s first foray into the sci-fi world and young adult books, as her previous books feature Chicago women who wind up in small towns solving mysteries, one series with inherited roller-skating rink, the other with glee club director. Glad that this is the first in a trilogy, as I can’t wait to see what happens after the candidates get to the university.

Tor.com shares a short prequel to the story, to tide you over until publication day on Tuesday, June 4.

So, how do you decide who to trust?
**kmm

Book info: The Testing (Testing, book 1) / Joelle Charbonneau.  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children’s Books, 2013.  [author site]  [publisher site]  [book trailer]

My book talk: Of course, Cia longs for a chance to attend the University! But to pass the Testing, she must be willing to do anything and to trust no one… not even her first love. The stakes are high – the dangers are too numerous to count.

All the scientists, teachers, and leaders of the cataclysm-torn United Commonwealth have passed The Testing and succeeded at Tosu University. When graduation day closes with no word from the capital, Cia thinks she’s stuck working on tractors in Five Lakes Colony forever. But the next day brings a Tosu official who tells Cia, Tomas, Malachi, and Zandri that they will leave for the Testing in the morning!

As her family and friends celebrate, Cia’s father tells of his recurring nightmares from his Testing time and  warns her to trust no one. From the moment they leave Five Lakes, everything is part of the Testing. There are only 20 openings at the University and over 150 Testing this year. Coming from her collaborative community, the 16-year-old thinks Dad is exaggerating, until another Testing candidate tries to poison her before the first exams begin!

The academic exams are hard, the practical and cooperative exams are harder, with more and more students failing each level. Phase 3 drops the remaining candidates into a city shattered by war, instructing them to return to Tosu City through hundreds of miles of disaster-blasted territory, equipped only with a few survival supplies and their wits. They can make alliances if they wish, but still only 20 will be allowed into the University… if that many survive.

Has Cia chosen the right equipment for the journey?
Can she locate Tomas near the drop-point?
Is she right to trust the boy she’s known and loved all her life – or is her father right?

First in a series set in a future United States trying to rebuild itself after nuclear war and worldwide geologic shifts, The Testing  asks whether being truly human is more than just surviving at any cost.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy through NetGalley and cover image both courtesy of the publisher.

Blogathon2013 on the horizon; TBR2012 rolls on

May31
Phillip Martin cartoon of girl lying down with book

image (c) Phillip Martin

The merry month of May…
reading, writing, reading,
slow progress on TBR2012 shelf,
WordCount Blogathon2013 dead ahead!

Oh, I recommended plenty of books in May, but only 2 from my to-be-reviewed shelf had publication dates of 2012 or earlier:

Renegade Magic, by Stephanie Burgis
Arm of the Starfish, by Madeleine L’Engle

So totaled with my January, February, March, and April TBR2012 Challenge title lists, that makes 46 pre-2013 books that I’ve offered for your consideration this year (just click on the link to get to that month’s wrap-up post with titles and links to my recommendations; each opens in new tab/window).

Now, I’m poised to take on the blog-every-day-of-June-challenge of WordCount Blogathon2013! (remember, if you sign up by 11 pm EDT/8 pm PDT today and blog each day in June, you’re eligible for nifty prizes)

I plan to take full advantage of the traditional Blogathon days for haiku, word clouds, “my top five” and at least one guest blogger, as well as sending a guest post to another Blogathonner’s blog or two. Even with those special days counted in, that still means over two dozen new books will be recommended for you in June as I #blog2013!

During the summer, I will be joining many librarians and teachers in trying to read a #bookaday (thank goodness I also review picture books for www.abookandahug.com!), Tweeting my progress @BooksYALove. Since I read fast and write with due deliberation, there may be quite a gap between my #bookaday tweet and its appearance here on BooksYALove. If you spot a title that you can’t wait to hear more about, give me a holler here, and I’ll try to move its recommendation post up the calendar.

Of course, not every book I read makes the cut for BooksYALove – only the best are good enough for YA readers to spend their time and money on, in my opinion.

So, what will you be reading and writing this summer??
**kmm

Image of reader lying down copyrighted by and courtesy of Phillip Martin http://reading.phillipmartin.info/la_reading_comprehension.htm

Arm of the Starfish, by Madeleine L’Engle (book review) – regeneration research, bad guys, international plot

May29

book cover of Arm of the Starfish by Madeleine L'Engle published by Square FishResearch with an “interesting” new development,
Remote island lab closed to outsiders,
Whispers of miracles or perhaps monsters…

Adam will have to rely on his own wits and instincts during this summer of 1965, when an amazing opportunity to assist with cutting-edge regeneration research lands him right in the middle of medical espionage, undercover agents, and foreign country misunderstandings.

Written as a near-future story in 1965, The Arm of the Starfish  reads almost like alternate history today, as events in Dr. O’Keefe’s island lab blur the line between science fiction and mysticism, with Adam having to decide whether to believe young Poly O’Keefe or beautiful Kali Cutter about the researcher’s true intentions.

You’ll find this classic beginning to the O’Keefe family stories at local library or independent bookstore in the new Square Fish edition. And, yes, the O’Keefes are related to the Murry family you know from A Wrinkle in Time.

How far should research take us toward a future with no limits on life?
**kmm

Book info: The Arm of the Starfish / Madeleine L’Engle. Square Fish, 2011 (originally published in 1965 by Farrar Straus Giroux).  [author site]  [publisher site]

My book talk: Adam’s summer job as research assistant to a noted marine biologist on a Mediterranean island is a dream come true – until he’s blamed for a young girl’s disappearance from his flight, chased through Lisbon by thugs, and drawn into a secret with international implications.

Unusual for his professor-mentor to send a recent high school graduate to assist Dr. O’Keefe with starfish regeneration experiments. Unusual that beautiful Kali warns him that O’Keefe and his associate Canon Tallis are not what they seem when she meets Adam for the very first time.

Diverted to Madrid by fog, Adam worries that he’ll miss his connection in Lisbon, but Canon Tallis assures him that they’ll wait, especially as O’Keefe’s preteen daughter Poly is on this same plane.  But when Poly goes into the airplane lavatory and doesn’t return, the flight crew tells Adam she was never aboard!

Dr. O’Keefe himself meets Adam at the airport, telling him that Poly has been kidnapped by someone wanting his research results. Before they can get to the boat for Gaea, Adam is chased and shot at, lied to, brought up-to-date on espionage, and sworn to secrecy.

How can they get Poly back safely?
What is so important about this starfish research?
Which side is Kali really on?

Science and mystical forces weave together in a 1965 outside of our history books on this island paradise where family and community must guard against mercenaries and greed. First of the O’Keefe family stories by A Wrinkle in Time  author Madeleine L’Engle, The Arm of the Starfish  is followed by Dragons in the Waters.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Loki’s Wolves, by K.L. Armstrong and M.A. Marr (book review) – teen Norse gods at Ragnarok today

May20

book cover of Lokis Wolves by KL Armstrong and MA Marr published by Little BrownMidgard Serpent and the World Tree,
Runes foretelling a champion,
Ragnarok shaking the world clean again…

But what if the champion doesn’t want everything in the present world destroyed, doesn’t want a one-way ticket to Valhalla? What if he’s just 13?

Yep, Norse mythology’s end-times playing out now…in South Dakota…with a junior high kid as Thor‘s stand-in! Since the gods themselves are long-gone, it’s up to their generations-down-the-line descendants to fill their places in the big battles.

Oh, you wonder why the authors didn’t use their full names on this co-written venture? As they noted in a talk I attended at the Texas Library Association Conference in April, they wanted to make sure that middle-grade/junior high readers weren’t thinking that their “more mature” books (like Melissa’s “Wicked Lovely” series or Kelley’s “Darkest Powers” series) were the same sort of young teen fun-action-adventure books.

Try out this excerpt from Chapter 8 at Tor for yourself, then head to your local library or independent bookstore to find this May 7th release and jump into the adventure with Matt, Laurie, and Fen.

Will Ragnarok battles begin soon?
**kmm

Book info: Loki’s Wolves (The Blackwell Pages, #1) / K.L. Armstrong and M.A. Marr. Little Brown, 2013.  [book site]   [Melissa’s blog]  [Kelley’s site]  [publisher site]

My book talk: Matt studies Norse legends at school and knows them by heart. But his family history takes on new meaning when he’s chosen for Ragnarok battle – now! And if he and his buddies can’t change this conflict, the end of the world as humans know it is assured.

Everyone in Blackwell, South Dakota, is a many-times-removed descendant of Thor or Loki, so they expect town gatherings on Norse holidays to harken back to their heritage. No one expected that the Seer would pick thirteen-year-old Matt as their champion against the Midgard Serpent. But no one can deny the signs that Ragnarok is coming, when Thor must defeat those attacking the World Tree or the world itself will end… and Matt Thorsen is the closest thing to Thor that the modern world has.

Clever Loki-kin Fen defaults on a promise to the Skulls gang and discovers that they’re shapeshifting wolves being directed by evil forces. Brekkes and Thorsens are usually at odds with each other, but when Matt asks cousin Laurie to help on his quest, Fen figures that getting out of Blackwell alive trumps old grudges.

The friends must collect Thor’s Hammer, shield, and feathers from Odin’s ravens if Matt is going to defeat the Serpent, so off they go across South Dakota. Away to Mount Rushmore hunting for the weapons, into the Black Hills searching for the descendants of Thor’s allies, and skulking through Deadwood to stay ahead of the Skulls gang and Thor’s enemies in this era.

Can they find current-day Odin and Baldur in time?
Can Laurie keep her cousin Fen clear of the shapeshifting Skulls?
Can Matt truly defeat the Midgard Serpent and save humanity?

In their first middle grade novel, bestselling authors Armstrong and Marr have created a believable slice of Norse mythology playing out in the here-and-now as Thor’s many-times-greatgrandson must decide which parts of history he doesn’t want repeated in this cycle. Book two of the Blackwell Pages trilogy, Odin’s Ravens,  is scheduled for 2014 publication. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Hoop Genius, by John Coy (book review) – basketball invented, injuries prevented

May15

book cover of Hoop Genius by John Coy illustrated by John Morse published by Carolrhoda BooksBig kids, small gym.
Lots of energy, lots of injuries.
Time for a new game!

Picture books aren’t just for the toddler set anymore! This E for Everyone book chronicles the invention of Basket Ball by teacher James Naismith over 120 years ago, trying to keep gangly, over-energetic teen boys from turning their indoor winter PE class into a free-for-all.

The illustrations by Canadian Joe Morse are as jostling and boards-thumping as any modern-day photo of NBA playoff action. You’ve seen his artwork anchoring sports writing and advertisements, as well as recent sports picture books, like  Stephen Krenksy’s 2011 hit Play Ball, Jackie.

Children’s Book Week gives all of us a reason to share our favorites, old and new, as we fan the spark of child-like wonder in each of us.

What other children’s books about sports would you recommend?
**kmm

Book info: Hoop Genius: How a Desperate Teacher and a Rowdy Gym Class Invented Basketball / John Coy; illustrated by Joe Morse. Carolrhoda Books, 2013. [author site]  [artist site]   [publisher site]

My book talk:  Indoor gym class, big guys getting bored, their new teacher reluctantly faces them with one last game to try – a new game that takes skill instead of hitting, a game with a ball and a basket.

Yes, basketball was invented in late 1891 by James Naismith in desperation, an indoor variation of the Duck on a Rock game he enjoyed growing up in Canada. His class threw a soccer ball into wooden peach baskets for goals, since no boxes available for the first game.

His young men took the game from Springfield, Massachusetts to their hometowns and beyond. Women began playing basketball in 1892, and Naismith met his future wife while refereeing a local women’s game.

Morse’s illustrations vividly show Naismith’s young men who longed to be moving and competing, all big feet and big hands, as well as their teacher’s many attempts to find them an active indoor sport that wouldn’t injure too many!  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.