Smoke and Mirrors by Mike Costa

I was going through the graphic novel section of the library when I came across this book. I liked this story. It had many unexpected twists and turns. The alternate world developed by Costa is logical and consistent (with the exception of both speaking English). He layered the story well, dropping little surprises here and there that kept me interested throughout.

Imagine a world where magic was real and really worked on established and understood principles. A world similar to ours, but not identical. This is the world that stage magician Terry Ward finds himself in. To survive he becomes a street performer, his tricks and illusions--never seen on this world before--are as amazing to people there as to people here.

He has created a solitary existence for himself, always afraid that he will be discovered for being the only nonmagical person on the planet. Ethan is a young man who is not satisfied with the commonplace magic of his world. When he sees Ward perform, he is mystified, and batters his way past Ward's emotional defenses to become his pupil.

Before the story is finished, Ward finds himself up against one of the most accomplished magicians of this world he's found himself in.

It's a good one-shot graphic novel. Worth giving it a read.

Gumption: Relighting the Torch of Freedom with America's Gutsiest Troublemakers by Nick Offerman

I really enjoyed listening to Nick Offerman's first book, Paddle Your Own Canoe: One Man's Fundamentals for Delicious Living, and was looking forward to his second book with a great deal of anticipation. I was not disappointed.

In this book Offerman talks about gumption:  combination of hard work, courage, and a willingness to go down the less travelled road. It began in an almost expected way--with several of the Founding Fathers. What made his biographical sketches of them different were the way he told these stories and his own particular interpretations of their lives and the lessons he learned from them. Offerman is a great story teller. And while he takes himself lightly, he does not take his message lightly: that an intrinsic quality of the American character is the willingness to go against the grain and to do your own thing. More than that, though, to do it well enough that you can make enormous change--whether this is what you set out to do or not.

The book was idiosyncratic in that, after some of the expected historical figures (Washington, Franklin, Madison) and moving to other, less expected, figures (Frederick Douglass, Theodore Roosevelt, and Eleanor Roosevelt) his list becomes much more personal. I was introduced to historical figures I had not heard of and contemporary Americans--some known to me, some not. All these stories were told with a dry wit and wry humor that stayed on message.

I have often thought that many of the best comedians were also philosophers. That they spread the world views of their philosophies with humor to help the medicine go down. Offerman is in this vein. He has a philosophy of life that he is passionate about. It includes such attributes as individualism, working hard at work worth doing, perseverance, a fierce defense of our American right to be who we want to be, and a fiercer belief that government should stay out of our private lives and decisions, but be there to help those who need it.

This is all told in an extremely amusing way that kept me listening raptly. While I won't be putting this book in my seventh grade classroom library (there is some language in there that would get me fired), I do not hesitate to recommend it to older teens and to grown folks. This is not just the usual historical subjects. It is worth noting that while I did indeed learn a lot from the book, it was at no time pedantic or boring. This is something the best teachers strive for and that Offerman delivers.

Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

“Everybody is smart in different ways. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its life believing it is stupid.”

Ally doesn't fit in. She feels stupid. Whenever she tries to read the letters jump around and it isn't long until the black letters on the white page give her a killer headache. She would rather draw. She's really good at drawing. But if it means not reading, or not writing, she'd rather go to the principal's office.

Then her teacher goes on maternity leave and a new teacher, Mr. Daniels, comes to teach her class. He's different. He doesn't make her feel stupid. While he is there she makes friends with Keisha and Alfred, two students who are also different. I found myself especially identifying with Alfred.

I have to admit, I nearly teared up several times while reading this book. It reminds me a bit of Patricia Polacco's Thank you, Mr. Faulker, and that is a high compliment. The emotions that Hunt is able to bring out--Ally's fears and insecurities, her despair, and her eventual confidence and happiness--are vivid and real. As a teacher I have taught students like Ally, and I wish I could have done it half as gracefully as Mr. Daniels does.

This all strikes me as very realistic. It is more than just a book I want to put in my classroom library, it is a book I want to read aloud to my students. I highly recommend this book. It is wonderful.

Dr. Bird's Advice for Sad Poets by Evan Roskos

The title is the first thing that caught my attention. It reminded me of some of the off-the-wall titles of Paul Zindel's young adult novels. As I read the blurb, I knew I had to check this book out. It looked just too interesting to pass up.

I'm glad that I did read it. It was not always an easy read. James, the main character and narrator, has self-confessed mental issues. He is in an abusive home where recently his sister, Jorie, had been kicked out after being expelled from school for fighting. His best friend, Derek, is not always nice to him (and is having an affair with an engaged woman). He desperately wants to get the attention of Beth, the pretty blonde girl of his dreams.

But who is he kidding? He hugs trees (literally), yawps his barbaric yawp, and has extreme social anxiety. Plus, when he tried to impress her by saving an injured bird from getting run over, he literally gets hit by a bus. He is stunned when she starts talking to him. It appears his sister was the major contributor to the school's literary magazine. With her gone, there is a problem. Beth, the co-editor of the magazine, asks for his help.

Throughout the story we see through James's eyes the many misadventures he has as he tries to understand what led his sister to be expelled and banished from the family home. He also struggles to understand his burgeoning relationship with Beth. The ending was satisfying because it was believable in context.

I identified a lot with James. While I never hugged trees or had a giant pigeon as my imaginary therapist, I had my own bouts with social anxiety when in high school. I don't think I would recommend this for younger teens, but for older teens (and adults, too, for that matter) I would say give it a try. I liked it.

El Deafo by Cece Bell

This was different. This is a loose biographical account of Cece Bell's loss of hearing as a child. What makes it different is that the book is a graphic novel and all the characters are anthropomorphized rabbits. With rabbits being renowned for their good hearing, having the characters be rabbits accentuates how much the loss of hearing hurts.

I liked that the book was not a self-pitying type of read. The main character was believable. She had her faults as well as her strengths. She never felt sorry for herself about being deaf, but did often feel stupid for not understanding things as quickly as others. She also was more of a follower than a leader. These qualities gave her an underdog aspect that had me rooting for her throughout the book.

In her imagination she is the superhero El Deafo, using her Phonic Ear to hear all and to fight for right. These flights of imagination often have real life consequences for her. Not all of them are good.

Full of lessons on how it feels to be deaf without being preachy, I recommend this book, the first Newbery Honor book in graphic novel form that I have read. I am looking forward to getting a copy to put on the shelf of my classroom library.