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The Great American Read | Ghost | Episode 3 | PBS

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Author, Jason Reynolds discusses his novel, Ghost.

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Dusti Bowling talks INSIGNIFICANT EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF A CACTUS!

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NC Bookwatch
Season 15 Episode 1511 | 26m 46s |

We are going to meet an 11-year-old girl who is so afflicted with Cerebral Palsy that she can hardly move and cannot speak. Although she may be smartest person in her school, she is treated as though she has no intellectual potential until... we'll let her tell her own story through her fictional biography, as written by Sharon Draper who will talk to us about her book, "Out of My Mind."

Aired: 09/14/12

Rating: NR

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NC Bookwatch | Sharon Draper, Out Of My Mind | Season 15 | Episode 1511 | PBS

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NC Bookwatch Season 15 Episode 1511 | 26m 46s | We are going to meet an 11-year-old girl who is so afflicted with Cerebral Palsy that she can hardly move and cannot speak. Although she may be smartest person in her school, she is treated as though she has no intellectual potential until...

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This is the first installment of March's MTYT, Mary and Prisca discuss the middle grade novel Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus. Author Dusti Bowling incorporates desert scenes of Arizona and a genetic disorder within a well-rounded story of everyday life and mystery.

The most important things to know about Aven Green are:
1. She plays soccer
2. She loves math
3. She has her own blog
4. She plays the guitar
5. She is mind-blowingly flexible
6. She used to have best friends named Emily and Kayla
7. She now has best friends named Connor and Zion
8. She lives in a western-themed amusement park
9. She has a wicked sense of humor
10. She has a can-do attitude.
These hobbies and characteristics might seem ordinary. However, they become extraordinary when readers learn Aven has a rare genetic disorder and was born without arms. Since she was adopted at age two, Aven's parent's insisted she learn to do things for herself. As a result, Aven is an upbeat, problem-solving middle schooler who uncovers the mystery of the missing photo at Stagecoach Pass Amusement Park.

MARY: I so enjoyed reading Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus. The protagonist, 13-year-old Aven, is well-developed and believable. I can envision Aven as a student in my own classroom. I heard Dusti Bowling speak at the Tucson Festival of Books on March 10, 2018, on how she developed the character of Aven. Dusti told us about a relative who lost an arm while serving in the military. Dusti thought about the everyday tasks he would struggle with like opening a jar. Then Dusti told us she came across a story featuring a mother with no arms who used her feet instead. And that's how Aven came to be!

As a former Arizonian, I can easily picture the setting of the story, which takes place in Scottsdale, AZ. I relate to Aven when she compares the Arizona heat to the inside of a dishwasher! As Aven practices soccer in the evening, I also waited to go outside until the temperature dropped after the sun set.

PRISCA: I enjoyed this book, too! I love Aven from the start! She is confident, optimistic, strong and seems unfazed without arms. And yes-after living in Arizona, I also relate to surviving summer's heat! The descriptions of Aven accomplishing everyday tasks like getting dressed, eating, etc., are amazing. She makes me aware of how minor the things I complain about are! She also has a tender heart. I am struck by how she reaches out to Connor and is so understanding about his Tourette syndrome.

MARY: Aven is certainly amazing, but I appreciate that her genetic disorder isn't Bowling's focus, but one of many threads woven into the story. I am equally concerned with Connor's struggles with Tourette's, Aven's struggles to make friends at her new school and the parents' efforts to revive Stagecoach Pass. I am also intrigued by the mystery of the missing photo and when Henry calls Aven a Cavanaugh, the last name of the park's owner. When I think about it, there seems to be several threads running through this story. Nonetheless, Bowling expertly weaves them together into a coherent story readers will enjoy.

Title: Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus
Author: Dusti Bowling
ISBN:978133826342
Publisher: Sterling Children's Books
Publication Date: September 5, 2017
This is the first installment of March's issue of My Take Your Take. Check back next week to see what books we've selected and to follow the conversation!

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MTYT: Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus * Worlds of Words

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This is the first installment of March's MTYT, Mary and Prisca discuss the middle grade novel Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus. Author Dusti Bowling incorporates desert scenes of Arizona and a genetic disorder within a well-rounded story of everyday life and mystery.

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Here Wee Read | Contemporary Living for Book Loving Families

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Front Desk by Kelly Yang: A Book Review | Here Wee Read

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Disclaimer: I was provided with an advanced review copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own. Front Desk by Kelly Yang Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books Format: Hardcover Pages: 304 Age Range: 8-12 Grade Level: 3-7 Synopsis Mia Tang has a lot of secr…

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Out of My Mind (Sharon Draper) Book Trailer

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A deftly told story that dramatizes how Danes appointed themselves bodyguards-not only for their king, who was in the habit...

The author of the Anastasia books as well as more serious fiction ( Rabble Starkey, 1987) offers her first historical fiction-a story about the escape of the Jews from Denmark in 1943.

Five years younger than Lisa in Carol Matas' Lisa's War (1989), Annemarie Johansen has, at 10, known three years of Nazi occupation. Though ever cautious and fearful of the ubiquitous soldiers, she is largely unaware of the extent of the danger around her; the Resistance kept even its participants safer by telling them as little as possible, and Annemarie has never been told that her older sister Lise died in its service. When the Germans plan to round up the Jews, the Johansens take in Annemarie's friend, Ellen Rosen, and pretend she is their daughter; later, they travel to Uncle Hendrik's house on the coast, where the Rosens and other Jews are transported by fishing boat to Sweden. Apart from Lise's offstage death, there is little violence here; like Annemarie, the reader is protected from the full implications of events-but will be caught up in the suspense and menace of several encounters with soldiers and in Annemarie's courageous run as courier on the night of the escape. The book concludes with the Jews' return, after the war, to homes well kept for them by their neighbors.

A deftly told story that dramatizes how Danes appointed themselves bodyguards-not only for their king, who was in the habit of riding alone in Copenhagen, but for their Jews. (Historical fiction. 9-12)

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George, a fourth-grader who knows she is a girl, despite appearances, begins to tell her secret.

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Ghost wants to be the fastest sprinter on his elite middle school track team, but his past is slowing him down in this first electrifying novel of a brand-new series from Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award–winning author Jason Reynolds.

Ghost. Lu. Patina. Sunny. Four kids from wildly different backgrounds with personalities that are explosive when they clash. But they are also four kids chosen for an elite middle school track team—a team that could qualify them for the Junior Olympics if they can get their acts together. They all have a lot to lose, but they also have a lot to prove, not only to each other, but to themselves.

Running. That’s all Ghost (real name Castle Cranshaw) has ever known. But Ghost has been running for the wrong reasons—it all started with running away from his father, who, when Ghost was a very little boy, chased him and his mother through their apartment, then down the street, with a loaded gun, aiming to kill. Since then, Ghost has been the one causing problems—and running away from them—until he meets Coach, an ex-Olympic Medalist who sees something in Ghost: crazy natural talent. If Ghost can stay on track, literally and figuratively, he could be the best sprinter in the city. Can Ghost harness his raw talent for speed, or will his past finally catch up to him?

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Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus Book Trailer

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Book Trailer and Review: Front Desk by Kelly Yang

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Castle “Ghost” Cranshaw feels like he’s been running ever since his dad pulled that gun on him and his mom—and used it.

His dad’s been in jail three years now, but Ghost still feels the trauma, which is probably at the root of the many “altercations” he gets into at middle school. When he inserts himself into a practice for a local elite track team, the Defenders, he’s fast enough that the hard-as-nails coach decides to put him on the team. Ghost is surprised to find himself caring enough about being on the team that he curbs his behavior to avoid “altercations.” But Ma doesn’t have money to spare on things like fancy running shoes, so Ghost shoplifts a pair that make his feet feel impossibly light—and his conscience correspondingly heavy. Ghost’s narration is candid and colloquial, reminiscent of such original voices as Bud Caldwell and Joey Pigza; his level of self-understanding is both believably childlike and disarming in its perception. He is self-focused enough that secondary characters initially feel one-dimensional, Coach in particular, but as he gets to know them better, so do readers, in a way that unfolds naturally and pleasingly. His three fellow “newbies” on the Defenders await their turns to star in subsequent series outings. Characters are black by default; those few white people in Ghost’s world are described as such.

An endearing protagonist runs the first, fast leg of Reynolds' promising relay. (Fiction. 10-14)

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Thirteen-year-old Aven Green, the heroine of Bowling's sensitive and funny novel, was born without arms due to a rare genetic condition. When her adoptive parents take jobs at an Arizona theme park, Aven leaves behind her comfortable social life, starting over with new peers and teachers to stare at her. After days of self-consciously eating her lunches in a bathroom stall at school (she eats with her feet), Aven opens up to two students: Connor, who has Tourette's syndrome, and Zion, who is teased for being overweight. Bowling, the author of three self-published YA novels, lets readers see Aven as a full, complex teenager-even while those around her have trouble doing so-and gives her a sharp sense of humor, including a penchant for inventing gruesome stories about how she lost her arms. Bowling's novel demonstrates how negotiating others' discomfort can be one of the most challenging aspects of having a physical difference and how friendship can mitigate that discomfort. A major revelation that leads to a somewhat-too-tidy ending is a minor blemish in an otherwise openhearted, empathic book. Ages 8-12. Agent: Shannon Hassan, Marsal Lyon Literary. (Sept.)

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Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling

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Thirteen-year-old Aven Green, the heroine of Bowling's sensitive and funny novel, was born without arms due to a rare genetic condition. When her adoptive parents take jobs at an Arizona theme park, Aven leaves behind her comfortable social life, starting over with new peers and teachers to stare at her.

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Through the story of fifth-grader Mia Tang, readers experience the courage, hard work, and dreams of a young Chinese immigrant.

A small room behind the office of the Calivista Motel is home for Mia and her parents. Hired by the rich, coal-hearted Mr. Yao, the family works bone-numbing hours cleaning rooms, fixing problems, and managing the front desk. Troubles check in from every direction: at home, where her mom belittles her love of writing; at school, where bullies and lies surround her; and especially at the motel, where the family battles financial ruin. Yet along the seemingly endless roller coaster of poverty, hope appears in small places. Debut author Yang weaves in autobiographical content while creating a feisty and empowered heroine. The supporting characters are rich in voice and context, with multiple villains and friends that achingly reveal life in America in the 1990s for persons of color and those living in poverty. Heavy themes, including extortion, fraud, and racism, are balanced with the naïve dreams and determination of a 10-year-old. The power of Mia's newfound skill in English pushes her to fight for her community, which has lovingly become her adopted family in this new land. With bittersweet information on Chinese immigration to America added in an author's note, this book captures many important themes to explore individually or in the classroom.

Many readers will recognize themselves or their neighbors in these pages. (Historical fiction. 8-12)

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Through the story of fifth-grader Mia Tang, readers experience the courage, hard work, and dreams of a young Chinese immigrant. A small room behind the office of the Calivista Motel is home for Mia and her parents. Hired by the rich, coal-hearted Mr. Yao, the family works bone-numbing hours cleaning rooms, fixing problems, and managing the front desk.

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Melody, diagnosed with cerebral palsy, cannot walk or talk. Despite her parents’ best efforts, the outside world has defined her by her condition. Melody’s life changes when inclusion classrooms are introduced in her school, and she interacts with children other than those in her special-needs unit.…

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The Horn Book Magazine and The Horn Book Guide are the most distinguished journals in the field of children's and young adult literature and the core of our company. Founded in 1924 by Bertha Mahony to herald the best in children's literature, more than eighty-five years later, we are still following her lead.