Dragonbreath

A dragon plush reading a dragon book

Vernon, Ursula. Dragonbreath. New York : Dial Books, 2009.

Plot: Danny Dragonbreath, the only dragon in a school for reptiles and amphibians, often dreams of adventures. Then he fulfills them. In the first of the series, Danny needs to finish a research project about the ocean. Rather than go to the library, takes his friend, Wendell the iguana, to the Sargasso Sea to visit his cousin, Edward the sea serpent. Edward cheerfully shows them a coral reef and a shipwreck. Unfortunately, they are not as prepared for the deep ocean as they think they are, particularly when the giant squid shows up.

Genre: Science, Fantasy, Adventure, Animals

Reading Level: Grades 4-9

Similar Titles: Nate the Great, The Invention of Hugo Cabret: A Novel in Words and Pictures

Personal Thoughts: Much like Nate the Great and Diary of a Wimpy Kid, the book combines comics and text to tell a story. Dragonbreath manages to stand out through its fantastic setting, real-world logic, and quirky humor. 

Pure Grit: How American World War II Nurses Survived Batte and Prison Camp in the Pacific

Thank you...

Farrell, Mary Conk. Pure Grit: How American World War II Nurses Survived Battle and Prison Camp in the Pacific. New York : Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2014.

Plot: During World War II, thousands of soldiers were injured, killed, and captured. So were their nurses. The caretakers never experienced training for combat situations, but they quickly rose to the demands of the position. Unfortunately, the position in the Pacific was especially horrific. The Philippines saw the capture of over one hundred nurses. The text documents the nurses' fight to support their troops while fighting racism, disease, and starvation in the Japanese prison camps.

Genre: History

Reading Level: Grades 7-9. Please be aware several intense subjects, including rape, death, wartime captivity, and disease are discussed, so warn sensitive readers.

Similar Titles:  Bomb: the Race to Build - and Steal - the World's Most Dangerous Weapon, Left for Dead: A Young Man's Search for Justice for the USS Indianapolis

Personal Thoughts: Many books on war parrot the "war is bad" slogan, but this text brings a new aspect of battle to light. Soldiers are not the only victims. Nurses, doctors, laborers, and undertakers were treated as badly, if not worse than, their fighting counterparts. Even after the war, many suffered due to diseases and trauma for the rest of their lives. War is not good, but texts like these remind readers why.

Hero Dogs: Courageous Canines in Action

 Hero dogs, lazy mosasaur

Jackson, Donna M. Hero Dogs: Courageous Canines in Action. New York : Little, Brown, 2003.

Plot: For centuries, dogs have worked with people in daily life. However, the animals help during emergencies. The title follows several canines and their trainers assisting with the aftermath of the Twin Tower disaster. Dogs assisted with rescue efforts, but they also helped people cope with the frustrations and loss within the rescue efforts. Special mention is given to the care and training the hounds receive, showing the effort involved with raising and maintaining such beasts.

The title ends with chapters of assistant dogs, which help people on a daily basis.

Genre: Animals, History

Reading Levels: Grades 4-9

Similar Titles: Animal Heroes, Horse Heroes

Personal Thoughts: The title goes into detail on how much work goes into training a hero dog, which is important. Not every dog has what it takes to work in rescue, assistance, or police situations. Most would, in fact, make horrible pets. A lot of effort goes into them, making what they do more exotic and special than many people may realize.

The title also describes the attacks on September 11th, which is especially important to this blog. As of this year, none of the intended audience of the titles reviewed in the blog were alive during. Yet, the aftermath of the Twin Towers affect the readers' daily lives. It is important for older readers to remember tweens do not know life before the events, and it is important for elders to explain why the attacks have the significance they do. 

The One and Only Ivan

I read a monkey book...

Applegate, Katherine. The One and Only Ivan. New York : Harper, 2012.

Plot: Ivan the gorilla lives in a shopping mall with a group of other broken, forgotten animals. He seems content with his life, though, until Ruby arrives. Her presence forces him to slowly realize the domain he calls home is a cage, and a small one at that. Determined to spare her the life of an enclosed performer, Ivan sets off a quest to get Ruby into the zoo, where she can live happily. His efforts bring changes not only to her, but to him as well. It is not easy to make such a change, though. Nor is it easy to face the truth of his own life.

Genre: Animals, Historical Fiction

Reading Level: Grades 4-9; be aware, it is a Newbery Award winner, so nice things die. Warn sensitive readers appropriately.

Similar Titles: The Underneath, Chained

Personal Thoughts: The story offers an ideal introduction for stream-of-consciousness narration and animal welfare issues. However, it uses real characters and situations in a manner which diminishes actual events.

Caution: Incoming soapbox 

Ivan was a former pet kept in a small cage in a mall. However, his owners were not the cruel, alcoholic, negligent people the title implies. In Ivan's early life, it was perfectly acceptable to keep a wild-caught animal in such conditions. This does  not make it right, but it was legal and does explain why he lived in such a situation. Additionally,  his owners did not likely work their animals to exhaustion like Ruby was. It makes no sense to do so, since the animals were their main source of income. Why knowingly put such a valuable commodity in danger? An interview with Ivan's owner also implies more concern than stubbornness, since Ivan's health could easily have suffered through a tough move. Many exotic animals have died in transit to new habitats, so the worry, though ultimately unproven, was valid. Additionally, he and his family requested Ivan's ashes after the gorilla died in the zoo they donated him to. They cared enough to ultimately let a zoo have a multi-thousand dollar animal for free and still wished to remember him after his death, unlike Mac from the text. Readers should be encouraged to improve the living situation of animals in their community, but not by demonizing owners for not impulsively changing without concern for the animals involved.

Soapbox ending. Resume writing blog.

Overall, the story is interesting, but not entirely accurate to real events.

Odd and the Frost Giants

A big guy, a little guy, and a bird

Gaiman, Neil. Odd and the Frost Giants. New York : Harper, 2009.

Plot: Odd, a strong-willed but crippled boy, always finds joy in the spring. As the winter lingers to obscene lengths, he runs away to his father's old hut, only to discover a strangely determined fox. The vulpine interloper introduces him to a bear and eagle. The three are the Norse gods Loki, Thor, and Odin. Odd must break their curse to summon spring, but he may find more than a change in weather during his quest.

Genre: Fantasy, Coming of Age

Reading Level: Grades 4-9

Similar Titles: Loki's Wolves, Book of Three, The Raiders

Personal Thoughts: A light story by Neil Gaiman. The story focuses mostly on Odd, rather than his larger-than-life companions, but it also shows him his mother's fairly tragic past. Much like mythology in general, his story is an attempt to explain the unexplainable situations guiding his past, present, and future.

However, the title does not have quite the impact of some of Gaiman's other works, such as Coraline, which seems strange. Both heroes find themselves in strange situations. Both must accomplish seemingly impossible goals to save themselves and others. Both learn to appreciate their parents, especially their mothers, through their adventures. Coraline, ultimately, seems bettered developed, perhaps due to the presence of unsympathetic faults, such as stubbornness and selfishness.  The many unknowns surrounding her antagonist makes the heroine more intriguing as well. Unfamiliarity, after all, requires the readers to invest themselves in an attempt to understand the text. Ultimately, Odd is an interesting character, but not as interesting as some others popular heroes.

Side Note: I wonder how new readers will view the story in a post-Avengers movie society.

Regin of the Sea Dragons

All hail Jerome, King of the Sea Dragons!

Collard, Sneed B. and Plant, Andrew. Reign of the Sea Dragons. Watertown, MA : Charlesbridge, 2008.

Plot: While dinosaurs claimed nearly every ecological niche on land, a variety of sea monsters ruled over the water. The text reviews the extinct marine reptiles claiming the apex predator role in pre-history. Such creatures include the dolphin-like ichtyosaurs, elegant elasmosaurs, and monstrous mosasaurs. Hand-drawn illustrations allow readers to envision the giant reptiles, while the text describes the creatures as well as the history of their discovery.

Genre: Animals, History, Science

Reading Level: Grades 4-9

Similar Titles: Sea Monsters, Ichtyosaurs, Ocean Monsters

Personal Thoughts: I have read a number of titles about prehistoric animals (surprising, I know), but this one stood out for several reasons. It avoided most of the more sensational images found in most titles (only one predator is shown with a gaping mouth facing the reader, for example). Also, it noted the controversy surrounding ancient reptiles, such as the flexibility of elasmosaur necks and body temperature of icthyosaurs. Additionally, it used hand-drawn images instead of computer-generated ones. Neither is necessarily superior to the other, but the contrast was pleasant. As such, I recommend the title to fans of prehistory.

Titanic: Voices from the Disaster

 I couldn't get a picture for this entry, so please use your imagination to merge these two images

Hopkinson, Deborah. Titanic: Voices from the Disaster. New York : Scholastic Press, 2012.

Plot: Everyone knows about the disastrous voyage of the RMS Titanic, but the actual people involved with the event are often romanticized, idealized, mocked, or ignored. The text attempts to amend past misinformation by focusing on the people involved with the ship's design, creation, utility, and demise. Images from the ship's first voyage and surviving relics add context to the story. To further the human aspect of the story, the text also offers a short list of the "main characters" and their post-Titanic lives. The title includes a bibliography of additional resources and links to interviews from some of the survivors.

Genre: History

Reading Level: Grades 4-9

Similar Titles: Titanic, National Geographic Kids: Titanic

Personal Thoughts: I already knew the ending.

All questionable attempts a humor aside, the book provided an enjoyable and enlightening read. Like many students, I learned about the Titanic in middle school. However, most of the texts I read focused on the folly of the ship's design and foolishness of her passengers. This book focused on the people as people, instead of object lessons. Also, it reminds readers that life continued, often with difficulty, after the ship sank. Many lost all they had in the disaster, while a few gained a degree of fame and fortune through their survival. Many managed to live for years after the disaster, while some died of health complications caused by the wreck shortly after their rescue. The texts presents the Titanic as a real, human story, instead of a warning against arrogance.