Stalactites and stalagmites, an Icelandic dragon, and dealing with the ups and downs of being a 7th grader.
These are the stories behind three new books reviewed and recommended for What We're Reading by Tracy Kampa, children's librarian at the Grand Rapids Area Library.
Stalactite & Stalagmite: A Big Tale from a Little Cave, by Drew Beckmeyer.
Tracy's take: As water seeps through caves, they deposit bits of minerals. After millions of years, those deposits form nubs on the top and bottom of caves. We know these as stalactites and stalagmites, and they are the stars of this romp through history. Our story opens as we look from inside the cave out to a volcano that is spurting lava. We also see a little nub attached to the ceiling of the cave and another on the cave floor. And then creatures start visiting: a trilobite who just crawled from the sea, an Ichthyostega who looked a little like a fish but sports legs, a triceratops, a giant ground sloth, a bat, and finally, humans.
Between each visit, the stalactite and stalagmite fondly remember each visitor. After the triceratops visited, they wondered where it had gone, and then also remembered the pretty meteors that lit up the sky after its visit and how everything turned black and how acid rain prevented the plants from growing.
And through these millions of years, the stalactite and stalagmite grew closer together, relieved that as the distance between them shrank, they no longer had to shout. They wondered what would happen when they finally joined and became an entirely different cave formation. The final pages wordlessly depict the stalactite and stalagmite becoming a column.
The back matter includes brief descriptions of all the critters we met in the book, reminding us that, “Speleothems are cave structures that are made when minerals in water form little piles. Most cannot talk.”
Oh, and a bonus. This outstanding book just won a well-deserved Caldecott Honor Award. The illustrations are simply a treat, and sharp eyes can find a timeline of Earth's history running along the bottom of the page. This book is a treasure. Don't miss Stalactite & Stalagmite: A Big Tale from a Little Cave, by Drew Beckmeyer.
Dreki: My Icelandic Dragon, by Mary Logue.
Tracy's take: I hesitate to admit this, but I'm not much of a
fantasy reader. I generally feel safer in a book where, for example, elves won't suddenly appear and the trees don't break out into song. It often makes little sense to my very literal self, and my left brain ends up meandering through several iterations of, “Wait, what?” I do, though, very much appreciate a fantasy book that is probably fantasy but is presented in such a way that allows the reader to think, “Well, maybe.”
Johan's parents are off on a cruise--a prize his father won through hard work selling CPAP machines. They will be gone for two weeks and will leave Johan a little reluctantly with Grandpa Siggy. This pair has been known to get into trouble in the past, and two weeks is a long time to expect them to behave. Shortly after Johan arrives, though, Grandpa has a medical event and falls ill. He realizes that he must tell Johan something that he has kept from him.
Grandpa has a dragon in his basement.
Johan must tend to this dragon until Grandpa is well enough to return to the task. With great trepidation, Johan does as he's asked and encounters a tiny dragon. While the dragon is eating, Johan dares to draw closer, and the dragon lashes out, marking Johan's arm with a permanent half-moon-shaped wound. Johan races upstairs to show Grandpa, who is unsurprised.
Grandpa eventually unravels the story for Johan, including how he brought the egg with him as a memory of his homeland when he immigrated from Iceland as a young man. and how the egg didn't hatch until many years later, on the day Johan was born. Grandpa Siggy also tells Johan that the dragon, or Dreki, must be returned to live its life among the other dragons in the sea, protecting the people of Iceland. And although Grandpa is becoming increasingly ill, the time has come. They must travel to Iceland and return Dreki to his home.
The adventure is fraught with moments of certain discovery, encountered with bits of magic which allowed them to get Dreki on a plane and back to Iceland. Once there, though, getting Dreki to the sea is harrowing, requiring help from new people who must not be told the secret amid the realization that both Grandpa and Dreki are becoming dangerously ill.
The moments before Johan gets to the sea are so real that I felt the iciness of the water and the weight of the dragon now growing exponentially bigger as Johan struggles the last few feet to release Dreki to his purpose. What a story. I was on board for all of it--the moments of connection between generations of family, the trip back home, the finding of new friends, the historical bits about Iceland, the wonder again about Icelandic sagas, and especially my left brain's forays into the realm of, “Well, maybe?”
This book kept me up long into the night, immersed into this fantasy world, which I dearly hoped was more than fantasy. I highly recommend you check out Dreki: My Icelandic Dragon, by Minnesota author Mary Logue.
The Moon Without Stars, by Chanel Miller.
Tracy's take: There are a few authors who are on my automatic purchase list. These are authors who have proven to write books that are wildly popular among my readers, or they write books that I know will add something important and relevant to our collection. Usually, it takes years and many books for me to feel confident to add an author to my list. I think, though, that I may add this next author after only two books.
For those of you who have been listening to me ramble on about this children's literature passion of mine for a while, you may remember a book titled Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All, which was the first foray into children's literature by Chanel Miller. It was such a unique mystery story as Magnolia and her friend attempted to find the owners of the lost socks from her parents' laundromat. And while they ferreted out the owners, they also learned their stories. That book went on to win a Newbery Honor Award--pretty impressive for a novice author.
The prologue of Miller's new book explores how one's life can change after uttering a single word. A girl one year ahead of Luna in school has died, and Luna is asked by Poppy's mother if she would like her books. Taken aback and hesitant, Luna utters the word that changed her life: “Okay.”
Over the next 10 days, Luna devours the books and is left with a sense of wonder at what Poppy has read and also at how little she is prepared for her life or even for 7th grade. “Truth is, I'd always assumed life would begin later when I was older. My real life. That middle school was just the part I had to get through. Poppy's books were nudging me to pay attention because life was already happening and I should be ready to feel everything.”
What a fantastic way to set up a story. Thus, Luna starts middle school with her best friend Scott by her side. During all the hustle and bustle of the first days of school, Luna is aware of the hurts of her friends and fellow students. She thinks back to the treasure trove of books that she inherited from Poppy and starts matching books to people who she thinks could use them. At first, it is anonymous, but soon everybody is on to her, and she gains an identity as the book doctor.
A few weeks into the year, Luna's art teacher presents a unit on how to create zines, which are small magazines. These zines spread through the 7th grade faster than a cold virus after a middle school dance, and they turned out to be the entry ticket for Luna to be one of the cool kids. This is new territory for Luna, and perhaps she doesn't handle the transition as well as she would hope. Ultimately, Luna has to decide what she is willing to give up to embrace a new identity.
If anybody remembers Judy Blume's Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, you might get a similar vibe from this wonderful story. It is, to me, a spot-on reminder of how difficult, confusing, and painful middle school can be. However, it is also a spot-on reminder of how middle school kids rise to the challenge and how kind and compassionate they are if given the chance. Growing up is not at all easy, and this book doesn't whitewash that fact, but rather serves as a guidebook of sorts on how to make it through. I loved the time I spent with Luna. Please check out The Moon Without Stars, by Chanel Miller.
Happy reading!
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