ALAN Online

{mosimage}Alan Gratz. SAMURAI SHORTSTOP.  Dial. 2006. Toyo is a Japanese boy growing up in a time of great change in Japan.  The 19^th century is growing to a close, and the emperor has embraced all things modern.  In the same breath, ancient traditions have been banned, including the samurai.  Born to a samurai family, Toyo instead chooses baseball as a path to achievement. He faces cruelty from classmates and indifference from his father as he learns to navigate this new world (M/H).  Gratz’ debut novel is remarkable in both its depiction of a sympathetic, noble character, as well its thoroughness of research.  Fans of Graham Salisbury’s EYES OF THE EMPEROR will find this an excellent companion read.

{mosimage}Iain Lawrence. GEMINI SUMMER. Delacorte Press. 2006.  Danny River wants a dog badly, and he gets one—a reincarnated one. It’s 1965, the space program is in full-bloom (Danny’s brother wants to be an astronaut), the winds of change are blowing, and the whole River family is, well…wacky.  Danny’s troubles begin after his dog bites the neighborhood bully and in an effort to escape the police who want the dog, he runs off to Cape Canaveral, where the Gemini rocket is preparing to launch (M/H).  Written in a wry, deceptively simple voice, GEMINI SUMMER is the kind of quiet, emotionally-engaging fiction, free of drug-abuse and sexual exploits, that is so rarely published in today’s market.

{mosimage}Nancy Mercado, ed. TRIPPING OVER THE LUNCH LADY. Puffin. 2006.  There are two universal truths about middle school—lunch and PE are the best classes, except when it comes to lunch, “best” is a relative term.  In this collection of hilarious short stories, we get a double-dose of laughter, along with a side of goulash, served up by top-flight writers Angela Johnson, David Lubar, James Proimos, David Talbot Rice, Susan Richards Shreve, Terry Trueman, Rachel Vail, Lee Wardlaw, and Sarah Weeks (MG/M/RR). 

{mosimage}John H. Ritter. UNDER THE BASEBALL MOON. Philomel. 2006. Ritter returns to the familiar territory of The Boy Who Saved Baseball as Andy Ramos, skater/musician joins forces with Gloria Martinez, softball pitcher/love interest, against Max Lucero, a shadowy modern-day Old Scratch who seems able to give Andy everything he’s dreamed of—for a price (bwa-ha-ha!) (M/H).  Mixing music, sports, language, culture, and more than a little magical realism, Ritter creates a fresh look at the sports novel.  This ain’t your daddy’s baseball novel!

{mosimage}Arthur Slade.  MEGIDDO’S SHADOW.  Wendy Lamb Books/Random House. 2006.  In the midst of World War I, 16-year-old Canadian Edward dreams of becoming a soldier like his older brother.  But when his brother is killed in action, Edward lies about his age to join the Canadian army, leaving his mentally frail father alone to care for the family farm.  Full of an idealized view of war, Edward is shipped off to England, where he finds himself not in the infantry, but in the cavalry.  There, he learns to break horses and then to ride them into battle.  He learns what it means to be a soldier and also, what it fells like to fall in love—in this case, with a beautiful nurse who is shipped out to the French front just as Edward’s unit is given orders to fight in the Holy Land against the Turks.  There, in the hottest, driest part of the world, he quickly learns that war is not what he dreamt it would be (M/H).  MEGIDDO’S SHADOW is a brilliant novel.  Slade has crafted a story that is both timeless and contemporary, reminding us one again how easily young men march off to war and how easily those wars start.

 MG indicates appropriateness for tweens
M indicates appropriateness for middle school
H indicates appropriateness for high school
RR indicates appeal to a reluctant reader (Our definition of reluctant reader is someone who can read but for whom reading is not important. We have known “honor” students who fit this definition.)
* indicates available in paperback

Publishers who would like to have books reviews in "Bill's Best Books" should contact David Gill at gilld at uncw.edu