Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever - a review

Kinney, Jeff. 2011 Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever. New York: Abrams.

The wait is over.  Cabin Fever has finally arrived!

I've seen a lot of movies where a kid my age finds out he's got magical powers and then gets invited to go away to some special school.  Well, if I've got an invitation coming, now would be the PERFECT time to get it.

A big snowstorm has Mrs. Heffley and the boys snowed in.  Greg is fearful that the police will be coming for him at any minute (it wasn't really vandalism - it just looks that way), Manny's reprogrammed the parental controls so that no one can watch any programs except his favorites, the basement's flooded and Rodrick moves into Greg's room, Greg has to care for Manny since Mom's glasses are broken (oops!),  Dad's stuck in a hotel (cue the bubble bath, robe, slippers, and cable TV), and the power's out.  Just a typical month in Greg Heffley's diary. Amidst the laughter, Jeff Kinney coaxes out a spirit of community, of giving, of Christmas, and family togetherness - whether Greg Heffley likes it or not.

Another great addition to the Wimpy Kid series!

One of the reasons I find the Wimpy Kid books so funny is that for all intents and purposes, I am Greg Heffley's mom (although my eyesight's better).  I see myself in her character and I laugh and I'm thankful that my children are turning out OK in spite of me. ;)  Hoping you have something to be thankful for, too.

Happy Thanksgiving!

And thanks to Abrams books for my review copy.

Reckless

Funke, Cornelia. 2010. Reckless. New York: Little Brown. (Translation by Oliver Latsch)

We don't know the difficulties encountered by Jacob Reckless when he first entered the mysterious Mirrorworld from a portal in his father's study.  By the time we meet Jacob Reckless, he is to the Mirrorworld as Aragorn is to Middle Earth - a master of local lore, people, plants and magic, easily navigating the dangerous, primitive and magical world - a world where the more evil elements of our fairy tales still reside.  The gingerbread houses of witches who eat children, the thorns that put one into deathly sleep, the Lorelei who lure boaters to their deaths - these and worse can still be found.  In the Mirrorworld Jacob is a treasure hunter, and more comfortable in the primitive world of Fairies, Dwarves and Goyl than in his own.  But he is not invulnerable, even with the help and adoration of the shape-shifter, Fox, that protects him.

In the modern world of humans, his mother, sad and withdrawn since his father's disappearance, has little hold upon Jacob.  But his brother, who has looked up to him as the father he doesn't even remember, his brother is Jacob's link to the world of his birth. Will is the reason that Jacob continually returns to the modern world.

But this time is different, it is not Jacob who has returned to Will, but Will who has traveled through the mirror, into a world where he doesn't know how to protect himself - a world where one moment, one mistake can be fatal; close behind him, his girlfriend Clara follows.  And now, it's up to Jacob to save him, to save them all.

    He picked the rose, and Clara heard the wood stem snap.  One of its thorns pricked his finger, and Will looked in surprise at the pale amber blood oozing from his petrified skin.
      He dropped the rose and rubbed his forehead.  "What's this? he said, faltering and looking at his brother.  "What have you done?"
     Clara reached out to him, but Will flinched away from her, stumbling over one of the skeletons.  The bones cracked like rotten wood under his boots. 
     "Will, listen!" Jacob grabbed his arm.  "You have to sleep.  I need more time.  When you wake up, all this will be over.  I promise."
     But Will shoved him away with such violence that Jacob staggered back, out of the shelter of the trees into the open expanse of the autumnal meadow.
     "Jacob!" Fox yelped. "Come back under the trees!"
     The image would stay with Clara forever.  Jacob, looking back.  And then the gunshot.

  Reckless is the first of a planned series about the Mirrorworld. As she did with the Inkworld, Cornelia Funke creates a dark and believable fantasy setting with a plot as thick and twisted as a path through the dark wood.  Jacob Reckless is a flawed, but likable, even admirable character.  Though this is only the first book, the conclusion is definitely satisfying.  Fans of the Inkheart series, older readers and fantasy fans will love it! Highly recommended.

As it reads on the dust cover,

"If you're looking for happily ever after, you've come to the wrong place."

 Watch and listen to Cornelia Funke read from Chapter 1. She's great!





• Reckless Educator's Guide
• A Field Guide to the Mirrorworld. This will come in handy, as I'm sure that I'll be entering the Mirrorworld again!
• Other great Reckless features at the official site.

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Manolito Four-Eyes

Lindo, Elvira. 2010. Manolito Four-Eyes: The 3rd Volume of the Great Encyclopedia of My Life. Ill. by Emilio Urberuaga. Marshall Cavendish.
(Advance Reader Copy)

Manolito Four-Eyes is a refreshing addition to the world of middle grade fiction.  Set in Carabanchel, Spain, a suburb of Madrid, the Manolito Four-Eyes series, gives the American reader a hilarious glimpse into the life of a 10-year Spanish boy.  While many aspects of young boyhood are universal - bullies, practical jokes, and general shenanigans, Manolito's adventures (or misadventures!) take place amidst a backdrop of

afternoon siestas, 

Anyway, the Bozo and I began going down to Luisa's to watch cartoons while my grandpa and my mom snored in unison upstairs.  We'd take off our shoes, we'd have a deadly cheese fight, and then we'd lay down to watch the cartoons.  Since there were only two or three cartoons, after a week we knew them all by heart, and I could fall asleep halfway through and then wake up right before the end.  I highly recommend this experience.  You only need: a couch, a VCR, and a cartoon you've seen fifty times.

overly dramatic women,

"I can't live without you, my babies, my Cata, my grandpa Nicolas. . . . You're my real family." Our Nosy Neighbor Luisa took out a handkerchief from her sleeve and wiped away a tear that none of us really saw.  She must have wiped it away before it came out her eye. "Nothing is more silly than getting mad over a video, Cat, I want you to accept a Reconciliation Dinner next week."  My mom wiped away her own invisible tear and said, "We'll be there."  When Luisa left, my mom changed to her police inspector face and thought out loud, "I wonder what she wants me to do this time?"

 and an outdoor fiesta for St. Peter's Day with grandpa,

The first ones in all of Carabanchel on the dance floor were my grandpa, me and the Bozo. I did it partly for the singer: it's sad when no one dances to the song you're singing.  Luckily, by the third song other people started to dance, and I could go back to my place at the food stand and keep drinking Coke with Big Ears, who was sitting on one of the stools.  Every once in a while, my grandpa and the Bozo would leave the dance floor and come over to have more Coke and "the usual."  I don't know how many trips they made.  There are some versions of the story that say ten - others, twelve. And the Bozo isn't even allowed to have Coke! ... What happened next is still being talked about in Carabanchel.

In this installment, Manolito's family is staying home for the summer, and while other families flee the city for vacation, Manolito notes that,

like every summer, we were the only ones left on this side of the Mazanares River... Summer in Carabanchel is like everywhere else in the world: there's a swimming pool, there's ice cream, there's siesta time, and there's a time when it's cool out.  Me and my grandpa and the Bozo go down to Hangman's Park every afternoon, we buy a super-duper ice-cream cone, and we flop down on the bench until it gets dark and my grandpa says, "Your mom doesn't realize it, but there are times when we live like millionaires."

Yes, they do.

Manolito has the wry eye of a Greg Heffley, but a bit more of a conscience.  Occasional sketches add humor to an already funny dissertation. It appears that Caroline Travalia has done a fine job of translating the text from its native Spanish. This is The 3rd Volume of the Great Encyclopedia of My Life. Manolito Four-Eyes is a "whole lotta cool" and a whole lotta funny! Highly recommended.

Read an excerpt from the first book here.

And now, after a very busy and successful summer of "Make a Splash @ Your Library," I am going to take a break for a few days and enjoy what's left of summer.

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The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg

2009. Philbrick, Rodman. The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg. New York: Blue Sky Press.

One blog I read (sorry that I can’t remember which!) said that it’s tough to get past the cover art on this one. I enjoy David Shannon's artwork and don't mean to offend; but honestly, I think that the cover art might scare away readers who would otherwise enjoy the book, but are too concerned with looking "cool." (Alas, there are such kids.)

The book, however, is an absolute winner! Set in the 1860s, Homer P. Figg and his brother Harold have a miserable existence in the care of the “meanest man in Maine,” Squinton Leach,

“A man so mean he squeezed the good out of the Holy Bible and beat us with it, and swore that God Himself had inflicted me and Harold on him, like he was Job and we was Boils and Pestilence.”

When Squinton Leach illegally sells Harold into service in the Union Army as a replacement, Homer P. Figg sets off to find him. This sounds like the set-up for a sorrow-filled tale of the Civil War. But, add in the fact that Homer P. Figg is as keen a liar and observer of human nature as was ever created by the likes of Mark Twain, and you’ve got yourself a tale that, although full of lies, lies more likely near the truth. Homer Figg shows us comedy in times of tragedy and dogged perseverance against adversity.

On his quest to free his brother from his illegal conscription, Homer meets an array of colorful characters and shares his wry observations,

as in this passage when he is travelling with an aspiring pastor,

“Dear Kate has been waiting for me all her life. She knew it the moment she looked into my eyes.” Homer wryly notes, “That does it. It can’t be true love. Mr. Willow has eyes like a sick kitten. You might love a sick kitten buy you don’t marry it, you keep it as a pet.”

Later, Homer is directed to bathe by Professor Fleabottom, his new employer and proprietor of Professor Fleabottom’s Caravan of Miracles,

“The pungent perfume of the pig is still upon you. The suffocating scent of the swine exudes from your person. In a word sir, you stink.” To which Homer declares, “Far as I’m concerned, taking a bath is sort of like drowning, with soap. Never could abide it…”

Homer’s spunk, his determination, and his ability to find joy in life during the direst of circumstances, makes him a winning hero. Yes, there is war and death and dishonesty; but there is also hope.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules

Kinney, Jeff. 2008. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules. New York: Amulet.

This follow-up to the best-selling Diary of a Wimpy Kid is hilarious! Jeff Kinney absolutely channels the mind of a middle-school boy. (For the mom, I think he may be channeling me!)
It's hard to say what's funnier - the text or the sketches.

Imagine the scene at Greg's friend Rowley's house as the boys try out their new secret language during dinner, the sketch shows Greg and Rowley giggling at the dinner table with a thoroughly angry Rowley's dad. The thought bubbles read:

YOUR-PA DAD-PA SMELLS-PA LIKE-PA A WOMAN-PA! HEE HEE HEE!

followed by:

"But Rowley's dad must have cracked our code, because I ended up getting sent home before dessert. And I haven't been invited to spend the night at Rowley's ever since."

Rodrick Rules follows Greg through his home and school adventures, but the underlying theme of this installment in Greg Heffley's adventures is brotherly love. Greg's older brother, Rodrick, may not be a gem, but he's family - and that's what really matters.

This book is laugh-out-loud funny.