August 2010 – The Big Bad Book Blog

Monthly Archive for August 2010

Every Man for Himself: Ten Short Stories About Being a Guy edited by Nancy Mercado

I don’t know how I missed this one, but I did. And I’m a bit upset about that, because there are some fine stories in here. I warmed to this book from the very beginning, because Nancy Mercado tells us …what these stories are not. They are not stories about your voice changing, learning how …read more…

Published on: 16 August 2010 by Ken

Categorized under: African-American, Book Review, Books for Guys, Contemporary Fiction, Fantasy & Science Fiction, GLBTQ, Graphic Novel/Story, Intermediate Literature, Jewish-American, Multicultural Literature, YA Literature • Tagged with: absent fathers, adolescence, alcoholism, anthology, authentic, Bar Mitzvah, basketball, boys, brothers, bullies, Christmas, coming of age, courage, Craig Thompson, crime, crushes, dance, dancers, dating, David Levithan, David Lubar, drug abuse, Edward Averett, family, fathers, fear, gay, girls, graphic, guns, guys, heroes, interracial, intimidation, Jewish, Jews, masculinity, Mo Willems, mothers, New York City, Paul Acampora, pigs, platonic, prejudice, prom, puberty, punk, relationships, René Saldaña Jr., romance, Ron Koertge, rural, skateboarders, sons, stepmothers, stereotypes, Terry Trueman, urban, voice, Walter Dean Myers

My Name is Brain Brian by Jeanne Betancourt

If you’ve read my posts up to now, you’ll know how strongly I feel about what makes a book work or not. And if you’ve read my “10+ Rules” page (see the link above) and I tell you that the first chapter of this book is called “The Jokers Club” (sic) you can pretty much …read more…

Published on: 14 August 2010 by Ken

Categorized under: Book Review, Contemporary Fiction, Disabled, Intermediate Literature, Multicultural Literature, Publishing Issues • Tagged with: childhood, cliché, clubs, dyslexia, fathers, friends, friendship, geese, guns, insider, middle school, outsider, relationships, sons, students, teachers, violence, voice

Lawn Boy by Gary Paulsen

Worried about finding enough money to buy a new inner tube for his bike, a twelve-year-old boy gets an old riding mower from his grandmother for his birthday. Soon he is mowing his neighbors’ lawns, and making more money than he thought possible. When he meets Arnold, a stockbroker who teaches him about managing money, …read more…

Published on: 11 August 2010 by Ken

Categorized under: Book Review, Books for Guys, Contemporary Fiction, Early Literature, Intermediate Literature, Parenting Issues, Publishing Issues, Teaching Issues • Tagged with: accountants, anonymous narrator, boxers, boxing, child labor, conservative, economics, force, Gary Paulsen, illegal immigrants, illegal immigration, intimidation, investments, jobs, Lawn Boy, lawn mowers, lawns, liberal, money, mowers, Pablo Bernasconi, politics, taxes, voice

Brothers by Yin

In this sequel to Coolies, Shek and Wong’s younger brother Ming arrives in San Francisco from China to stay with his brothers and work in their store. Although he is admonished not to leave Chinatown, he eventually does, making his way to the local school. He meets the irrepressible Patrick, an Irish immigrant his own …read more…

Published on: 10 August 2010 by Ken

Categorized under: Asian-American, Book Review, Early Literature, Historical Fiction, Multicultural Literature, Picture Books • Tagged with: Asian-American, business, Chinese-American, Chris Soenpiet, economics, ELL, English language, illustrations, Irish-American, light, prejudice, racism, school, Yin

Coolies by Yin

As this book opens in modern times, a young unnamed boy hears the story of his ancestors, Shek and Wong, as they came to the United States from China and worked on the railroads in California, experiencing long hours, hard work, and over racism, while at the same time managing to hold on to their …read more…

Published on: 10 August 2010 by Ken

Categorized under: Asian-American, Book Review, Early Literature, Historical Fiction, Multicultural Literature, Picture Books • Tagged with: Asian-Americans, brothers, calligraphy, Chinese-Americans, Chris Soenpiet, customs, insider, prejudice, queues, racism, railroads, Yin

Attack of the Growling Eyeballs by Lin Oliver

I’ve reviewed the Hank Zipzer books twice, and while I’ve had plenty to say about Hank Zipzer and Henry Winkler, I said nothing about Mr. Winkler’s cowriter, Lin Oliver, because I had never heard of her until I encountered the Hank Zipzer books, and knew nothing of her writing. So I did what I always …read more…

Published on: 8 August 2010 by Ken

Categorized under: Book Review, Contemporary Fiction, Early Literature, Fantasy & Science Fiction, Intermediate Literature, Series Books • Tagged with: absent fathers, brothers, California, Daniel Funk, families, fantasy, grandmothers, Hank Zipzer, Henry Winkler, identity, isolation, Lin Oliver, masculinity, missing fathers, outsider, Pablo Funk, Pablo Picasso, relationships, sexism, shrinking, sisters, sons, voice, writing

PDL Book Sale – August 7, 2010

The Portage District Library had a book sale yesterday. They have six of them a year, but for some strange reason, I seem able to only get to about half of them. It’s always a lot of fun, and you can pick up some great bargains. Most paperbacks are three for a dollar, hardcovers are …read more…

Published on: 8 August 2010 by Ken

Categorized under: Events, Parenting Issues, Teaching Issues • Tagged with: bargains, book sales, books, classroom supplies, library

Hank Zipzer Revisited: A Tale of Two Tails by Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver

A while back, I wrote a less than favorable review of Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver’s first book in the Hank Zipzer series, Niagara Falls, or Does It? I have since learned that they have recently published the seventeenth novel in the series, A Brand New Me! (a title which is as off-putting as I …read more…

Published on: 4 August 2010 by Ken

Categorized under: Book Review, Books for Guys, Contemporary Fiction, Disabled, Early Literature, Intermediate Literature, Multicultural Literature, Publishing Issues, Teaching Issues • Tagged with: celebrity author, dyslexia, fathers, Hank Zipzer, Henry Winkler, Lin Oliver, metaphor, realism, simile, verisimilitude, voice, writing