Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat by Lynne Jonell

My name is Emmy, and I'd like to tell you a little bit about myself.  You are going to think this is weird, but I used to have a very happy life before my parents inherited a ton of money and we moved into my Great, Great Uncle William's old mansion.  Then everything changed.  I used to be the center of my parents' universe, but now they go off traveling all the time and they could care less about me.  I have a nanny, Miss Barmy, who watches over me.  She's always telling me that if I was a good girl and if I did better in school (even though I'm already an 'A' student) my parents would want to spend more time with me.  She makes me take medicine even though I'm not sick, and she's always making appointments for me to talk to a psychologist - when she clearly needs it more than I do.  She has me scheduled for all kinds of lessons after school like ballet, French, gymnastics, etc.  Sometimes I wish I could just go home and play with friends.

But that's another thing that has changed.  In my old school, I had lots of friends.  In my new school, it's as though people don't even notice me - everybody ignores me, even my teachers.  I sit next to our classroom pet rat; he says no one notices me because I'm too nice.  He says HE gets respect because he is mean, but I don't think being mean is the answer.  No one pets the rat because he bites, and no one will play with him.  Besides how much respect do you think you have when you are forced to live in a cage?  I could tell I hurt the rat's feelings when I said that to him, and since it's just not in me to be mean, I left him a note to apologize.  Later, after school, I went back and let him out of his cage.  And you know what, he wasn't the least bit grateful!  

So when I headed to dance class I thought what's the use of trying to do everything I am supposed to do when nobody really cares?  That's when I headed down the dirty old alley, and that's when things started getting mysterious, exciting, and yes, you might even say dangerous!

Because that's when I came across Miss Barmy in The Antique Rat Shop (what on earth was she doing there?) and I overheard her order the usual (what did that mean?).  And then I discovered the special collection of rats from all over the world.  The rats were very rare, and each had a tag attached to it, identifying a special ability it posessed.  I met Professor Vole, the owner of the shop.   When he found out our classroom rat looked almost exactly like one he had in the shop, he offered to buy our rat for any price I asked.  He was one of those guys who just wouldn't take no for an answer, so when he turned up at our school later on, I knew our rat was in danger.  

I had to figure out how to protect the Rat from Professor Vole, and what Miss Barmy was doing in The Antique Rat Shop.  Oh, and did I forget to mention that Joe, the kid who sits next to me at school, got bitten by the Rat and was shrunk down to the size of a Barbie doll?  And that the police were looking for him because his parents couldn't find him?  And ....  there's just too much left to tell.  You'll have to read Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat to find out the rest of the story, you won't be disappointed!

As a side note, just like Emmy in the book, I also don't like to be mean.  But I have to question the choice of artwork used for the cover of this book.  Not that it isn't good, in an old-fashioned kind of way - but I don't think it has much appeal for the target audience of this book.  It really didn't make me want to pick up the book to read it.  I did, however, like the concept that the edge of the pages turned into a "flip book" - so be sure to flip the edge of the pages to see what happens! 

The Big One-Oh by Dean Pitchford

With his tenth birthday quickly approaching, Charley Maplewood decides he really ought to celebrate "The Big One -Oh" (his first double digit birthday) in a special way.  He decides it's time to leave behind the traumatic memory of the only birthday party he has ever attended (and which he inadvertently ruined); and throw a party of his own.  Not just ANY party, mind you,  but "the best party - in the history - OF THE WORLD!"

Unfortunately, Charley has no friends and no adult support in his life.  His father lives in Scotland, his mother works all the time, and his sister is obsessed with her boyfriend. Fearful that he will turn out to be a friendless freak like his very strange neighbor, Crazy Garry; Charley is determined to make friends.

So Charley creates a list of "Things to Do For  My Party" in his Monsters & Maniacs notebook. Did I mention Charley's passion in life is collecting Monsters & Maniacs comic books?  Here's Charley's to-do list:

1.  Make Friends

2.  Watch People with Friends to Learn How

3.  Get a Theme

At times Charley seems to be the master of disaster, but he is a likeable fellow.   Join Charley as he plods his way through the perils and pitfalls of planning the perfect party.  His ups and downs in forming friendships is sure to resonate with readers.

No Talking by Andrew Clements

After asserting that "boys never talk as much as girls do, ever!" Dave Packer challenges Lynsey Burgess and the rest of the girls to a contest - boys vs. the girls; whichever side talks less for the next two days wins.  Can the fifth graders at Laketon Elementary School make it through two whole days without talking?  This isn't just ANY fifth grade class.  This class is known as the Unshushables, the loudest, most talkative class in the history of the school.  

What happens when these students are forced to find alternative ways to communicate?  How will their teachers and the principal react? And their parents?  Who will win the contest, the boys or the girls?  

In this story, Dave Packer discovers a thought-provoking quote while doing research for a report about Mahatma Gandhi:

  

For many years, one day each week Ghandi did not speak at all. Ghandi believed this was a way to bring order to the mind.

I liked the powerful questions this made Dave consider, and how he decided to give not talking a try to see what it would be like. The book seems to start out a bit slow and choppy, maybe because it isn't clear to the reader in the beginning how everything connects.  The book definitely gains momentum along the way, and finishes with a strong and satisfying ending. 

Bud, not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis

The good news is that Bud is to be placed with a foster family that has a boy two years older than him.  The bad news is that the boy turns out to be an abusive spoiled brat, whose mother believes every word he says.  The boy lies about an unfortunate incident, and Bud ends up locked in a scary shed overnight as punishment.

Bud manages to break out of the shed and is on the run ... at first without direction - just away from the authorities who would drag him back to the orphanage.  With only a few precious belongings that link him to his past, and his own philosophical "Rules and Things for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar Out of Yourself," Bud starts out on a journey which leads him to search for the identity of the father he never knew.  Bud's ability to maintain a sense of humor in the face of adversity make this book well worth the read.  

Click here to read more about the author, Christopher Paul Curtis, and his  award-winning books.

The Supernaturalist by Eoin Colfer

Abandoned as a baby, Cosmo Hill had no sponsors.  In Satellite City, that meant living in an orphanage until adulthood.  Unfortunately, experimental treatments made the average life expectancy in the orphanage only age fifteen.   Cosmo, now fourteen, figured the only way to get out alive was to escape.

In a daring attempt, Cosmo leaped from one rooftop to another handcuffed to a friend.  Landing on a generator, Cosmo received ten thousand volts of electricity through his body.  In his weakened state, he saw translucent blue creatures on his chest that seemed to be sucking the life energy out of his body.  At the last minute, he was saved by some street-smart kids who were part of a group called the Supernaturalists.  It was their mission to save humanity from these life-sucking blue parasites, which only a few people had the ability to see.  I think you'll enjoy this action-packed, futuristic, science fiction thriller - just don't count on everything being as it seems!

Some other books by Eoin Colfer:  the Artemis Fowl series, Half Moon Investigations, and The Legend of Spud Murphy.  

A Journey to the New World by Kathryn Lasky

The Diary of Remember Patience Whipple

Seasickness.  Smelly crowded quarters.  Screaming babies.  Arguments among the elders.  Scorn from the crew.  Disease.  Death.  Remember Patience Whipple describes in her diary what it was like to cross the Atlantic Ocean in the Mayflower, and the hardships the Pilgrims encountered in their first year of establishing their settlement at Plimoth.  If you've ever had trouble imagining what it would have been like to settle in the New World, read this book! (Part of the Dear America series).  To read excerpts, see video clips, learn about the authors, and find fun activities and crafts click on this link to Scholastic's Dear America web site. 

No More Nasty by Amy MacDonald

When the new substitute for Simon's class turned out to be his Great Aunt Matilda, Simon was horrified!  It wasn't that he didn't love her, under any other circumstances he would have been delighted.  But here at school?  His classes' favorite game was Sink the Sub!

And Aunt Mattie?  Well, she was just really different than other people.  She dressed strangely, she said weird things, and she thought and acted like no other teacher.  She just didn't follow the rules.  When she suggested to the class that they could win the Math Bee, they thought she was crazy.

But by the time she challenged them to think up an original project for the Science Fair, she had them almost believing they could win.  However, Mr. Farley, the science teacher, and Mr. Lister the assistant principal, weren't about to let Mrs. Maxwell (Aunt Mattie) steal away that prize.  Find out what happens by reading No More Nasty.