Surprise Me by Deena Goldstone

I really liked Deena Goldstone’s first novel, titled Surprise Me.  She describes events over two decades (1994 to 2014) involving Isabelle, an aspiring writer, and Daniel, her much older mentor. Isabelle is a college student when the novel begins and she seeks out Daniel for an independent study – that one course and one term have a profound impact on her self-image.

At the same time, Daniel is a writer who is no longer writing; he’s even afraid to go outside and is struggling to have any kind of relationship with his adult children, Stefan and Alina. Somehow Isabelle and Daniel connect and inadvertently bring the best from each other. I thought that Surprise Me was like its beautiful cover – more depth than one might initially expect while being gentle, restful, and even mellow.   I liked the writing about writing here, but I especially valued the acceptance paired with quiet challenges for each other that both Isabelle and Daniel expressed. While probably too contemplative and reflective for our high school students, Surprise Me will appeal to adults and book groups looking for an inspiring novel to explore slowly.

Rocks Fall Everyone Dies by Lindsay Ribar

I was only able to read the “sneak peek” for Rocks Fall Everyone Dies by Lindsay Ribar, but I do want to read more of this story which involves magic.  From the beginning, it is hard to tell if these enchantments will be used more for good (protecting the town from dangerous rock slides) or for evil (irrevocably changing the personalities of the residents).   

Grandmother Willow, Aunt Holly and a young man called Aspen are all members of the Quick family who for generations have protected an upstate New York town by offering gifts to the Cliff.  They use personal artifacts (like a toy or book) to make a connection and then can remove defining characteristics and feelings like pleasure in solitary pursuits or a competitive streak.  Sending those “gifts” to the Cliff keeps it whole and the town stays safe, but the people involved are transformed without their knowledge or consent.  

Throughout Rocks Fall Everyone Dies, there is a feeling of menace and suspense --- a bit reminiscent of The Accident Season – which I think will attract student’s interest. Self-centered Aspen seems fairly disturbing and unwittingly cruel, too, and I am wondering how future events (possible romance? family issues?) will shape him. Rocks Fall Everyone Dies received a starred review from Kirkus.

This is Where You Belong by Melody Warnick

Last year, one of my Junior Theme students was looking into why we are attracted to live where we do and she would have found a new book, This is Where You Belong by Melody Warnick, to be extremely helpful and informative. 

Warnick describes her own travels around the country and her decision to try to feel more positive, more rooted, in Blacksburg, Virginia during her first few years living there. In chapters titled “The Lost Art of Staying Put,” “Lace up your Sneakers,” and “Buy Local,” Warnick shares statistics on Americans’ propensity for moving, on the power of walking to make us feel connected (and more observant) and on the benefits of supporting local businesses.  In fact each chapter describes an action (e.g., “Say Hi to Your Neighbors” or “Volunteer”) that Warnick adopted and the subsequent impact on her affection and interest in Blacksburg.  The tone of this non-fiction work is charmingly conversational, but Warnick backs up her observations and stories with research (at least 10% of the book is devoted to notes) as she discusses the “Art and Science of Loving the Place You Live.”

Community building plus feeling more secure and happy are central themes in This is Where You Belong. And if you are still questioning whether Warnick’s observations apply more generally, just consider, for example, the health impacts in an article in Friday’s Wall Street Journal, “Weight Can Tip the Scale in a Home Decision;” it refers to a study in the International Journal of Obesity where it was found that overweight women were three times as likely to move to a less walkable area with a higher average body mass index than were their leaner peers. This is Where You Belong by Melody Warnick is full of detail about “place attachment” and worth a look whether you already love where you live or whether you, like roughly 36 million other Americans, moved to a new place in the past year.

Nine, Ten: A September 11 Story by Nora Raleigh Baskin

Nine, Ten: A September 11 Story by Nora Raleigh Baskin is beautiful and very moving.  If you teach late elementary or early middle school or if you know a child who is 9, 10, 11, even 12, please consider sharing this book with them.

Baskin tells the story of four children, mostly 7^th graders, in the 48 hours before September 11, 2001: 

• Will who is growing up in Shanksville, Pennsylvania and trying to come to grips with his own father’s death in a highway accident.
• Sergio, a talented math student who lives in a low income area with his grandmother in New York City.
• Nadira, a young Muslim girl from Columbus, Ohio who struggles with explaining why she wears the hijab to school each day; and
• Aimee, trying to fit in at a new school in Los Angeles while her Mom, who works for Cantor Fitzgerald, is off to New York on a business trip.

Like any student that age, these four are dealing with friendships, with a possible new romance, anger over an absentee father, struggling in PE, taking math tests, and trying to figure out where to sit (and with whom) at lunch.

Baskin has crafted a story that I think will be added to the curriculum at many schools, especially this fall, due to the fifteenth year anniversary of that horrific day.  I was teaching in an elementary school in September 2001 and I remember trying to keep the day as normal as possible for our students. It was a shock and none of us really knew what was happening. Members of our parent community were in New York … and what about the Sears Tower…. Would that be next? Baskin conveys the confusion, the disbelief, and growing patriotism. My own children who were about the age of Baskin’s characters, have memories of the days that follow – writing letters to first responders and displaying flags as the country was pulling together.

I am giving Nine, Ten by Nora Raleigh Baskin my highest recommendation as a book to share and use in literature circles for late elementary or middle school students. They were not even born when 9/11 happened, and Baskin’s book will bring that history alive for them. Nine, Ten received starred reviews from both Kirkus and Publishers Weekly and will be published on June 28, 2016.