Crossing Worlds

Here's the continuation of my summer reading list...

6. The Million Dollar Shot by Dan Gutman. This is not to be confused with The Million Dollar Throw by Mike Lupica, which is just okay in my opinion. Dan Gutman is the writer of the Qwerty Stevens books (which are all too few), The Kid Who Ran for President, and a whole plethora of sports books. I really think Dan Gutman is a much better writer than the other writers known for sports books. The aforementioned Mike Lupica, John Feinstein, Jake Mattox, and Tim Green are all decent writers, but Gutman has a style, sense of humor, and you can really feel the players hearts instead of having the writer just tell you that they have heart. And unlike those others, Gutman involves more than just sports in his books--this one in particular involves not only basketball, but also a love of poetry shines through in this book. The suspense comes not only in whether Eddie will be able to sink the shot needed to get his mother a new home, but also in whether he and his neighbor Annie will win the poetry contest. If you like Dan Gutman (and I hope you do after this school year), I would highly recommend not only his Million Dollar series (including also Kick, Putt, Strike, and Goal), but also The Kid Who Ran for President and also his Baseball Card series. I just found out there's one of those called Roberto and Me, about Roberto Clemente, and I haven't read it. That seems wrong and must be remedied.

7. The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene du Bois. This book is a classic, and fans of the movie Up and the book James and the Giant Peach should definitely read this. It's a predecessor to both of those stories. It's about a crotchety old professor who seeks solitude by taking a year's leave and flying over the Pacific Ocean, and ends up taking the adventure of a lifetime. While I was reading this the other day, I was reminded of reading The Adventures of Marco Polo in preparation for my black belt test a few years ago. He ends up taking a world tour full of factual stuff that is mixed in with crazy fiction ideas. This one really has an appreciation for science mixed with geographical social studies presented in a very fun and entertaining way. This one is for a lover of literature, so if you're one of those people who would beg me for more reading time, you may want to look at this one.

8. Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles. I love this book in the same way that I love books by Garrison Keillor (A Prairie Home Companion) and Stuart McLean (The Vinyl Cafe), which have both inspired my DOL writing about the Fergusons and the small town of Morganville, Indiana. It's what a former student of mine (Nina Lou, I hope you're doing well!) once called "books about nothing". While it's not about nothing, really, what makes this book interesting isn't the big outside forces that make this book interesting, it's the inside narrative of main character Comfort Snowberger and her life growing up in a small-town funeral parlor with her dog, Dismay, who ironically is great at cheering people up. I started to write this entry about another book by Wiles, The Aurora County All-Stars, but realized quickly that I think I actually preferred this book. Don't get me wrong, All-Stars is also a great book which also bucks the sports book genre by having a lot of heart to it, but Each Little Bird does a great job also of making one appreciate or yearn for life in a simple small town. If you liked Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs, this is another one that will make you happy.

9. Walk the Wild Road by Nigel Hinton. This is high adventure at its most interesting and compelling. This book came out in January of this year, and I think it will be one of those books like The Life of Pi and I Am the Messenger, which is equal parts young reader book and compelling adult book. This one is about an 11-year-old named Leo who runs away from his home and ends up embarking on an adventure of a lifetime, which, without spoiling anything, leads him into a strong sense of what it means to be a friend to someone. This book has short chapters, which make it fly right by, and by the time you're done reading it, you feel a true sense of not only accomplishment, but like you've come out the other side a better person than when you started. Seriously, this book is either going to receive high high praise very soon, or it will be criminally overlooked. This one is really good.

10. As Simple As It Seems by Sarah Weeks. I admit I didn't read anything by Sarah Weeks until long after her visit to Woodbrook this spring. Listening to her give her presentation about how she gets her ideas and her method of writing made me want to read her works, but I had to put it off for a little while. This book really takes hold of your attention with a saddening beginning (a girl named Verbena finds out her father is in prison for murder, she has learning disabilities because her mom drank when she was pregnant) and uses humor to take you through her discoveries which lead to a very hopeful future for the girl. Her optimism by the end is enough to get anyone through almost anything. I would also highly recommend her book called Jumping the Scratch, which I admittedly haven't finished yet, but by tomorrow, I should have!

11. The Secret Journeys of Jack London by Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon. I'm not a fan of Jack London. Honestly, there are only so many books you can read about wolves in the snow before you get bored. For me, that number of books is less than one. This book, though, which just came out this year, was handed to me by another teacher with high recommendations. I told him that I don't like Jack London, and he said that didn't matter, that I would like this one. He was right. This is an incredibly original book. It takes a real writer--with all of his nuances and factual characteristics, and mixes them with supernatural beasts such as the Wendigo. I love the way this book assumes that things like fantasy and legend are real, and tells the story like that. It takes a young teenaged Jack London and sends him on an adventure to the Yukon Gold Rush, in which he not only battles the elements and actual wild beasts, but a (presumed fictional) reason is given for his writing about wolves so much. The illustrations in this book are by Greg Ruth, and they are beautiful, but hey, I'm a bit of an artist myself, so I look for those kinds of things. This book is far more interesting than Jack London's writing, but I have to imagine that even if you are a fan of Jack London (Brock), you would love this book. Luckily, it is the first book in a forthcoming series, so yeah, there you go, adventurers.

There you have it, ladies and gentlemen. There are some more books I could write about, but those will have to wait until another day. So don't let your brain rot this summer, get out there and improve your mind. Happy reading!