Do you ever play that game where you and your friends try to decide which super power would be the awesomest one to have? Would you want to fly through the atmosphere, control people’s minds, wield extreme strength? The possibilities are endless, and all delicious in their own way. (I’ve always been partial to invisibility, myself.)

Well, in Savvy by Ingrid Law, each member of the Beaumont family gets a super power when they turn 13. And sure that sounds really cool, but unfortunately, no one gets to choose their power — and guess what: it’s actually really hard to control your gift. So Grandpa ends up causing earthquakes when he’s upset, and the two oldest kids create hurricanes and electricity. Momma’s perfect, but that means she also makes perfect mistakes, never little oversights. And now… it’s Mibs’ turn.

But just before Mibs turns 13, her father is in a horrible car accident and lands in a coma. So when she wakes up on her birthday, Mibs is convinced that the universe intends for her to use her power to heal her dad. But that means traveling to the hospital in another town — so somehow Mibs ends up on a bus with a random crew of companions, including one who seems to hate her and one who’s a total stranger. Oh, and did I mention that the bus is headed in the wrong direction? Yeah…

With this set-up, you can see why I was totally captivated by this story. I couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen! And I loved Mibs as the narrator; even though there are obviously major fantastical elements to the book, I found Mibs to be totally real. I just hope that Mibs puts in an appearance in Scumble, Ingrid Laws’ companion book to Savvy, which just came out this month!

Well, I guess I’ll have to wait until I read Scumble to get an answer to my question. But you don’t have to wait to read Savvy, so go pick up a copy today! And if I still haven’t convinced you, then check out this AMAZING video created by an 11-year-old fan of Savvy named Sunny (with some help from her own family). It’s a stop-motion video of a scene from the book:

Pretty awesome, right? Dude, I think Nancy’s gonna be super jealous when she sees this…

— Karen
Karen once heard that only people with something to hide would rather be invisible than have the ability to fly. But Karen has nothing to hide from her Kidsmomo readers! OR DOES SHE?

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I’ve mentioned before that I’m a HUGE fan of Edward Eager, who wrote a bunch of sweet, playful books about kids who discover temporary access points to magical adventures in their everyday world. His books include Half Magic, Magic by the Lake, Magic Or Not?, and The Time Garden (which was my pick for our time travel theme). There are seven books in all, and I’ve read each one multiple times over the years. It’s always been one of my great disappointments that Edward Eager never wrote more.

But thanks to Laurel Snyder, I now have one more chance to feel the same delight that Eager’s books always brought me. Her book, Any Which Wall, is a wonderful tribute to Eager, who is also one of her favorite authors.

The story is about four kids who come across a mysterious wall in a field near their neighborhood. They quickly realize that the wall grants wishes, and so the adventures begin — with Henry, Emma, Roy, and Susan zipping through time and space to the destinations of their dreams.

We included Any Which Wall in our beach reads booklist, and it really is perfect for sunshiney summer reading. If you’re looking for deep magical mythology or dramatic and dangerous exploits, then this is not the book for you. But who needs all that stuff all the time? Not me!

A couple weeks ago, I took the book with me on an hour-long subway ride to go bike riding on a little island by NYC. Reading Any Which Wall on the way there was amazing, because it set just the right tone for my day of fun in the sun, and it also made the time go by super quickly. So thank you, Laurel Snyder! I guess you could say that the kids in Any Which Wall found magic through a wall, and I found magic through a book!

Have any of you guys read Any Which Wall or any of Edward Eager’s books? Leave a comment and let me know, or send in a review of your own!

— Karen

Karen hasn’t come across any magical walls yet, but she often wishes for a magical subway train to take her away on an adventure — particularly on Monday mornings when she’s on her way to the office…

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You probably know by now that Nancy and I are both suckers for sweet romantic stories, so of course we both positively flipped when we read Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen. And then we flipped AGAIN when we found out the book was being made into a movie. And now there’s just a couple days to go until it’s in theaters! (At least, if you live in L.A. or Sacramento or Austin. Sadly, the rest of us have to wait until August 27th.*)

Are you as excited for this film as we are? Here’s the trailer:

Looks cute, huh? Although I was pretty surprised to see that the film is set in the 1950s and 60s! The book is actually set in today’s times, but I can see that it would work in the past. What do you guys think?

If you haven’t already read Flipped, I suggest you run out and get a copy right now. It’s not a cutesy tween girl book with bubbly pink lettering on the cover; it’s a thoughtful story of two kids who make up their minds about one another early on, and then eventually start looking deeper, only to realize that their views of each other say a lot about who they are themselves — and what kind of people they want to be.

Plus it’s told in alternating points of view between Juli and Bryce, so you get both perspectives, which is a refreshing change from most books involving crushes and all that. (You can’t fool us — we know boys think about girls too!)

Of course, that’s all MY point of view. In the spirit of the book, I also want to present Nancy’s review of Flipped, which she shared in our Romance theme podcast:

So, what are you waiting for? You’ve got two days to read the book (or re-read it) before the movie comes out on Friday!

And also check out this post from Wendelin van Draanen’s blog, where she talks about her trip to visit the movie set during filming. Apparently there were a bunch of coincidences that led to a very magical experience for her. I TOTALLY got teary-eyed reading about it — not to mention even more excited for the upcoming movie! Nancy and I will be seeing it when it opens in New York. How about you?

— Karen

Karen’s first crush was on Chris, a boy who went to her preschool. She used to tell people they were going to get married. But then in elementary school, she shifted her affections to Matt, the boy who stood behind her in line and pulled on her braid. So fickle.

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* UPDATE 8/5/2010: So, I have some good news and some bad news. Which do you want to hear first? Uh, I can’t actually hear your answer, so I’m going to pretend that you said you want the bad news first. Here it is: Turns out that Flipped is only opening in limited release tomorrow, August 6th. According to this awesome movie fansite that I just discovered, the film opens only in Los Angeles, Sacramento, and Austin tomorrow. For the rest of us, the wide release date is August 27th. Boo! Cry… But remember I said I have good news too? Well, this just means you have more time to read the book before the movie hits the big screen! Hey, silver linings, people…

There are many things in this world that divide us. Some of us are dog lovers while others prefer cats. Some of us crave ice cream while others enjoy sorbet (ahem, Nancy). Some of us are first in line for horror films while others are such fraidy cats that they even have to mute TV commercials for scary movies (okay, fine, I’m in the second camp). But despite all our differences, I think there’s one thing we can all agree on: Holes by Louis Sachar is one darn amazing book. And not just because it’s a Newbery Medal winner, it’s just… really, really good.

So for obvious reasons, children’s book lovers everywhere (or at least in the U.S.) were all excited when the companion book, Small Steps, was published years later. I was among those children’s book lovers eagerly anticipating its release. And then… well, it took me four years to get around to reading it. FAIL.

Of course, that means I’m totally behind the times — when it’s kind of my job to be on top of this stuff. (Seriously, Small Steps came out in 2006. That’s before even Harry Potter 7. And the first Diary of a Wimpy Kid hadn’t even been published yet! MASSIVE FAIL by me.)

But that’s not even the worst part. No, the worst part is that I missed out on reading a great book! Because, as we can expect from Louis Sachar, Small Steps is pretty darn good. Although to be honest, it’s not as fantastic as Holes — but then again, very few books are.

Small Steps is the story of Armpit, who was one of Stanley’s fellow inmates at Camp Green Lake. Now that he’s free, Armpit’s just trying to make it through high school and stay out of trouble. But with a friend like X-Ray (also from Camp Green Lake days), you know that’s not gonna happen. It’s not good for Armpit, but it makes for a captivating read! Get ready for: a ticket scalping scheme, a teen pop idol, a criminal investigation, and a sweet new friend.

I do have to warn you, there’s some pretty whacked out crazy stuff that goes down towards the end of the story, so I’d recommend this book for only middle schoolers and up. The plot twists kind of reminded me of Carl Hiaasen’s books for kids: Hoot, Scat, and Flush. (If you need to get your parents on board with you reading Small Steps, show them the Wikipedia plot summary of the book, which gives details on what I’m talking about. But don’t read the re-cap yourself — major spoiler alert!)

In the book, Armpit learns some valuable lessons, and I did too: don’t wait four years to read a book that everyone else says is really awesome, especially if it’s written by the same awesome author of another awesome book that you think is awesome! Please, learn from my mistake.

— Karen

Karen doesn’t take small steps. She has long legs, so she actually walks with pretty big strides. And yet, Karen has never been a fast runner. What’s up with that?

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Telling ghost stories around a bonfire, bonding over the awful food in the mess hall, sharing a bunk with your new best friend… Sleep-away camp can be the most wonderful experience of your childhood — OR NOT! At least, not for all the characters in these summer camp books.

BUT just because camp isn’t perfect, that doesn’t mean these guys can’t make the best of it! See how their away-from-home adventures unfold in these summer camp books (in no particular order):

1. Fat Camp Commandos by Daniel Pinkwater (Karen’s pick)
2. The Summer Camp Mystery (Boxcar Children series) by Gertrude Chandler Warner (Nancy’s pick)
3. Summer Camp Secrets series by Katy Grant
4. Summer Ball by Mike Lupica
5. Camp Confidential series by Melissa J. Morgan
6. Amelia’s Itchy-Twitchy, Lovey-Dovey Summer at Camp Mosquito by Marissa Moss
7. Help! I’m Trapped in the First Day of Summer Camp by Todd Strasser
8. Dilly’s Summer Camp Diary by Cynthia Copeland Lewis
9. Lunch Lady and the Summer Camp Shakedown by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
10. How I Survived My Summer Vacation by Bruce Coville
11. Letters from Camp by Kate Klise

If you’ve read any of these, send in your book review. Or send in a review of your favorite summer camp book.

UPDATE 8/17/10: We revealed the answer to our Summer Camp Mystery Book Theater in the “Bug Juice” Podcast, so take a listen if you want to know the answer. Or just tune in if you want to hear Nancy and Karen giggle over a stupid mispronunciation. We’re immature.

A while back, I read Forget Me Not by Coleen Murtagh Paratore. It’s part of the Wedding Planner’s Daughter series, and this particular installment takes place over the summer — but this post actually isn’t to recommend Forget Me Not as a beach read for the season. Instead, I want to recommend some of the books that the main character of Forget Me Not likes.

Confused? No, you haven’t entered The Twilight Zone. You see, in Forget Me Not, Willa loves reading what she calls “skinny-punch books” — books that are short but pack an emotional punch. NOT books about diet beverages, as you might have first assumed. (HA HA! I slay myself…)

Here’s Willa’s list of skinny-punch winners:

• Bronx Masquerade by Nikki Grimes
• Edward’s Eyes by Patricia MacLachlan
• Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan
• Green Angel by Alice Hoffman
• The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes
• Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson
• Love that Dog by Sharon Creech
• Missing May by Cynthia Rylant
• True Believer by Virginia Euwer Wolff
• The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman

And I also want to add some of my own skinny-punch faves:

• Granny Torrelli Makes Soup by Sharon Creech
• Secret Letters From 0 To 10 by Susie Morgenstern
• The BFG by Roald Dahl
• Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
• Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary

Have you read any of these? Or do you have your own skinny-punch picks? Leave a comment and let me know!

— Karen

Karen used to love Hawaiian Punch when she was a kid. Now she prefers root beer. Especially if you put some ice cream in there. Yum…

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From Africa to Egypt to France to Tibet… Who needs a passport when you can pick up a book?

Sure, maybe you wish you could actually travel to foreign countries, but given some of the dangerous situations in these globe-trotting adventures, we’re perfectly happy to just read about them. Seriously, the folks in these books are chased through the jungle, pursued by secret agents, and even tricked by gods. No, thank you.

But hey, their stories make for excellent reading! So, here are some globe-trotting adventure books (in no particular order):

1. The Voyages Of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting (Karen’s pick)
2. Kane Chronicles Book #1: The Red Pyramid (Nancy’s pick)
3. The 39 Clues series by various authors
4. Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos by R.L. Lafevers
5. Treasure Island: The Graphic Novel adapted by Tim Hamilton from the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson
6. Around the World in a Hundred Years by Jean Fritz
7. The Wanderer by Sharon Creech
8. Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz
9. Everest series by Gordan Korman
10. Peak by Roland Smith
11. Middleworld series by Jon and Pamela Voelkel
12. The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene du Bois
13. Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne

If you’ve read any of these, send in your book review. Or send in a review of your favorite globe-trotting adventure.

UPDATE 7/27/10: We revealed the answer to our Globe-Trotting Adventures Mystery Book Theater in the “Adventure Is Out There!” Podcast, so take a listen if you want to know the answer. Or just tune in if you want to hear Nancy and Karen fight over the best form of transportation. Yes, we take our transport very seriously…

If you read Nancy’s post about her experience at Book Expo America, then you know that I snatched up her copy of Mitali Perkins’ Bamboo People before you can say, “Excuse me, where are you taking my book? Hey, I wanted to read that!”

Part of the reason I wanted to check out the book (which comes out today) is because I knew it had been getting lots of good reviews. But the bigger reason is because Bamboo People takes place in Burma (also known as Myanmar), and as you might recall from my posts about traveling to Burma last winter, that’s where my mom grew up.

My mom pointing to the address of the house in Rangoon (the former capital of Burma) where she was born and grew up.

There aren’t many books set in Burma — let alone kids’ books — so I was pumped to get my hands on a copy of Bamboo People. And as soon as I got ahold of the book, I was hooked.

The story is broken up into two parts:

Part 1 is told from the perspective of 15-year-old Chiko, the educated son of a doctor. But he’s not leading a comfortable life at all. The military government has imprisoned Chiko’s father, and he and his mother live in fear that Chiko will be forced into army service at any minute. Then their nightmare comes true, and Chiko’s off to the jungle for training — forced to serve a government that oppresses its people, and to fight a native group that Chiko doesn’t believe is the enemy.

Part 2 is narrated by Tu Reh, also 15 years old. He is a member of the native group defending themselves from the Burmese government. As a child, he watched Burmese soldiers burning his village — so unlike Chiko, he believes in his cause. But what will he do when everything he thinks he knows is challenged?

As you can see, the story is totally gripping. I couldn’t want to see what would happen next and read a few pages whenever I had a spare moment — to the point where I would pull out the book in the elevator, on a 5-minute bus ride, even while I waited by the photocopier. Yes, the story is THAT suspenseful.

My mom chatted with these girls from the Pa-Oh tribe in Burma. They're a different tribe than in the book, but the two groups have some cultural similarities.

But beyond that, I also enjoyed getting a view into the situation in Burma, which doesn’t get a lot of attention in the United States. And even though I visited Burma not too long ago, a lot of what I read in the book was new to me!

So I lent Bamboo People to my mom (sorry, Nancy, you’re never getting your book back!), and I asked her what she thought, as a former Burmese citizen.

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Soon summer will be in full swing, and hopefully you’ve already started tackling your summer reading lists! Karen and I did some sleuthing and discovered that authors have summer reading lists too — check out what some of your favorite authors are planning to read in the coming months. (Thanks to School Library Journal for the scoop.)

Kimberly Willis Holt, author of Piper Reed, When Zachary Beaver Came to Town, and The Water Seeker:

Kathi Appelt’s Keeper will be among the first. 11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass looks delightful enough to slip into my picnic basket. Elsa Hahne’s You Are Where You Eat might be a cookbook, but the stories about New Orleans neighborhoods and the folks that live there add a dimension to my reading palate like a hefty dose of New Orleans hot sauce splashed on red beans and rice. And who knows? Maybe I’ll take the book into the kitchen.

Yum!

Amy Krouse Rosenthal, author of The Wonder Book:

Because I hope/plan/pray to finish my (first) novel this summer and worry about the influence of literary giants and their magnificent voices seeping into my easily distractible brain, I will (sadly) be trying NOT to read much this summer. This will be a first, and every fiber in my body will be aching to read, I assure you. Can you ask me this question again in September?

So, there you have it — the only reason that it’s okay NOT to read: to write. (Yes, I know there’s sleeping, eating, breathing, exercising… and a lot more reasons. But you know what I mean.)

From Jay Asher, author of Thirteen Reasons Why:
[NOTE: This is a book for teens with some pretty heavy themes, so we're not recommending this one for you guys — but we are into what this author is reading this summer!]

New middle-grade fiction: The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger, and When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead.

Middle-grade fiction that I loved as a child and I’d like to see if I can understand why (it’ll be depressing if I can’t): Mrs. Piggle Wiggle by Betty MacDonald, and The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene du Bois.

Middle-grade fiction that I did not love as a child and I’d like to see if my tastes have changed (I doubt they have): Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes.

Middle-grade fiction that I always wanted to read as a child but apparently never got around to (my inner-child will be pleased): James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl, and The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin.

I like this very analytical approach Jay Asher has taken.

From Daniel Pinkwater, author of Adventures of a Cat-Whiskered Girl and The Hoboken Chicken Emergency:

I was a nightmare of a student — or I would have been if any of my teachers cared to notice. I was mistrustful, suspicious, and resistant. I made a point of never reading assigned books, and I kept this up all the way through college. “Did you read the assignment?” “No, but I found this other book.”

As soon as school was over, every summer became a marathon of reading my own choices — at least a book a day. Later, when I became a writer, I discovered a trick: If I didn’t read, I would be compelled to write, just to get my fiction fix. The more I wrote, and the more projects I had in hand, the less I would read in order to keep myself going, until I did no reading at all, except for little vacations from writing, when I would gobble up books in the old way. Summer, which for the first half of my life had been the great reading season, also turns out to be a great writing season.

It's a whale of a book!

This summer I expect to be working on a novel, so my summer reading list is as follows: nothing at all, if possible. Unless the novel gets stuck, in which case I might read [Miguel De Cervantes'] Don Quixote, The New Knowledge of Dog Behavior by Clarence Pfaffenberger… I Am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to Be Your Class President by Josh Lieb, The Meaning of Modern Sculpture by R. H. Wilenski, or, Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick… there are plenty of books lying around.

Mr. Pinkwater, The New Knowledge of Dog Behavior looks intriguing, but I think you should tackle I Am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to Be Your Class President before Moby-Dick… Otherwise you’ll never finish the novel you’re writing! [NOTE: Except for I Am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to Be Your Class President, all of Daniel Pinkwater's summer reading pics were written for adults. But hey, if you're up for a challenge...]

So that’s what some authors are reading this summer. How about you? What’s on YOUR summer reading list?

— Nancy

Nancy is a procrastinator, so she’s actually still working on her Spring Reading List. Of 2008.

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What’s the #1 book of the 2000s? According to an online vote, it’s Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy!

Okay, fine, the poll was limited to 50 books by Irish authors. But still, that shortlist of 50 books was created by booksellers and librarians, and it included mostly adult books — so you know there was some serious competition. And yet, a fantasy novel for kids beat them all out! So now a children’s book about an undead wizard/detective holds the title of “Irish Book of the Decade” in the Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards! Who would have thunk it?

Well, maybe William (age 13) could have predicted it. He posted an amazingly awesome review of Skulduggery Pleasant on Kidsmomo months ago, describing just how surprising and exciting the book is. Way to be a trailblazer, William!

In case you missed it, here’s a peek at what William had to say about Skulduggery Pleasant:

First things first… this book is totally awesome!
Seriously! It’ll blow at your brains until there’s nothing left of it, just a gibbering wreck in a strait jacket.
I hope I’m not putting you off the idea of reading the book.
If you like books about guns and sword fights, you’ll love it.
If you enjoy reading books with magicians blowing each other up on main street, great.
If you don’t like those kind of things at all, EVEN BETTER.

Intrigued? Check out William’s full review!

And then head over to the official Skulduggery site to hear an audio excerpt from the book! (Be warned: it’s totally creepy.)

Or, if you’re like William and you’re already a Skulduggery fan, leave a comment with your thoughts on the big win!

— Karen

Karen has never published a book — let alone a book of the decade — but she did win an award for a short story that she wrote in high school. It was about a girl who’s in a fight with her mother, but it was a verbal argument, no skeletons involved. Maybe that would have made the story better.
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