Pi in the Sky - a review

Pi in the Sky free preview

I requested this Advance Reader Copy of Pi in the Sky for 3 reasons:

1. My girls are math nerds and I was intrigued by the title
2. I need something to read  from Wendy Mass while I wait for the final book in the Willow Falls series  
3. It's a Wendy Mass book

My review will be short. Most of my Advance Review Copy books go home in the hands of young library patrons, especially book club members. My book club meets this week, and I know that one of the kids will be wanting to take this book home! 

Mass, Wendy. 2013. Pi in the Sky. New York: Little Brown.

Straight-up sci-fi, Pi in the Sky is the first-person account of Joss, seventh son of the Supreme Overlord, head of the Powers that Be (PTB), and ruler of the universe.  Joss, his family, and his best friend, Kal, inhabit an area called The Realms, hidden away in a vast area of dark matter that even the dwellers of The Realms have not fully explored. Kal's parents, OnWorlders, are stationed temporarily on Earth.

Although they know of all the planets in all the galaxies, the slow-aging inhabitants of The Realms have a particular fondness for Earth (despite our primitive nature).   But The Realms must stay hidden and unknown to outsiders.  When Annika, a young girl from Earth, looks through her telescope and spies Joss' Aunt Rae baking the "pies" that secure the fabric of the universe, the universe as we know it, is about to change.

"Seriously?" the girl says, looking around the room in annoyance. "First I dream about some old lady baking a pie and now this? I totally shouldn't have watched that Star Trek marathon last weekend."  ...

 The PTB stare at each other in amazement, and it takes a lot to amaze these guys.

"Fascinating!" Dad repeats, beaming. He loves the mysterious and unexplainable. That's why he's so good at his job.

 I just gape.

Annika is in The Realms; the Earth is gone, but where (or when) are Kal and his parents?  It's up to Joss to find a way to bring them back and right the universe.

Each chapter opens with a quote from a famous writer, scientist, or mathematician and hints at the real science behind this funny science fiction romp. Readers will enjoy this light-hearted novel that will hopefully send their thoughts skyward to ponder the depths of the universe in even the most mundane of everyday tasks.

As Carl Sagan is quoted in Chapter One, "If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe."

• Have a Nook? Get a free preview (7 chapters!) of Pi in the Sky!
• Have a Kindle?  Get yours here.

For a contemporary realistic fiction book that delves into the secrets of the universe for slightly older readers, try Every Soul a Star, another "stellar" book by Wendy Mass.

In other Wendy Mass news, Candymakers will be a movie! Follow Wendy Mass' blog for the latest details.

An Interview with author Pamela M. Tuck

Today I’m pleased to welcome Pamela M. Tuck to Shelf-employed.  Pamela’s new book titled, As Fast as Words Could Fly is illustrated by Eric Velasquez and published by Lee & Low Books.  Pamela M. Tuck is Lee & Low’s “New Voices Award” winner.

Thank you so much Lisa, for the “warm” welcome.

Congratulations, Pamela, and thanks so much for stopping by on your blog tour for As Fast as Words Could Fly.

The pleasure is mine. I appreciate the congrats and your gracious hospitality. :)

Your book is a powerful, fictional account of Mason Steele, a black teenager with a gift for typing, who is part of a group of students entering a formerly all-white high school in 1960s, North Carolina.  

Lisa: You note that As Fast as Words Could Fly is based on the experiences of your father, Moses Teel, Jr.  (I love the photo of the two of you in the Author’s Note - how proud he must be!)  The fictional Mason Steele is greatly influenced by his father.  May I assume that your father instilled the same sense of community activism and passion in you? 

Pamela: Yes. My grandfather was committed to ensuring equal opportunities, not just for his family, but for everyone. That commitment filtered down to his children and grandchildren. My father would often remind me of how the opportunities that I enjoyed did not come freely. Ordinary people, like him, had to pay a very dear price for me to be able to enjoy my rights and freedoms.  I remember when I was very young, my father told me it was better to give rather than to receive. He demonstrated this advice over and over again by helping the less fortunate and giving them a second chance at missed opportunities. As I ventured into my “role” of carrying out the mission of equality and justice, I found the reward of giving hope to someone or putting a smile on a face extremely gratifying. My goal is to make a positive difference, whether physically or through my writing.

Lisa: “‘Mason Steele, from Belvoir High, has broken all previous records with a typing speed of sixty-five words per minute.’
     No one cheered.  Mason just stared straight ahead.
     Mr. Bullock accepted the typing championship plaque for Belvoir High.  Not a single person in the audience applauded.”

Even without the illustrations, this passage paints the most powerful picture in the book. The silence is just deafening.  Did you collaborate with award-winning illustrator Eric Velasquez on the book’s illustrations? 

Pamela: No, I didn’t collaborate with Eric directly. However, I did provide photos of my family, my grandmother’s kitchen, and relevant photos of Greenville, NC’s schools, students, typing classes, etc. from the 1960s era. I am so pleased with how well Eric captured my family’s spirit of determination and pride. I know my grandfather would have been proud to see how dynamic his character is portrayed through Eric’s paintings.

Lisa: There is a librarian in your book.  In 2012, librarians appeared in no less than three Civil Rights Era books for children, Glory Be (Scholastic), The Mighty Miss Malone (Random House), and The Lions of Little Rock (Penguin), and they encompassed a range of human dispositions from helpful to hurtful. The librarian in As Fast as Words Could Fly, is somewhere in the middle.  Was there an actual librarian that played a pivotal role in your family’s history? 

Pamela: The librarian in As Fast As Words Could Fly portrays the actual librarian who impacted my father’s journey during that time. Although he was faced with resistance at first, the librarian he worked with indirectly acknowledged his skill. Instead of staying with him after school, she gave him his assignment and left him to work independently. Her unspoken trust empowered my father with confidence.

Lisa:  What lesson do you believe that As Fast as Words Could Fly has for today’s young people? Are you hopeful for the future? 

Pamela: The lesson I would love for young people to get from my story is, never limit yourself on what you can accomplish based on the opinions of others. No matter how impossible a task may seem, it can be conquered by hard work, perseverance, and belief in yourself.
As far as the future, I’m like Mason . . . I “remember” where we came from, as a people and as a nation. We have made substantial progress toward accepting diversity, and that within itself gives hope. 

Thanks so much to Pam Tuck, and to Amanda from Lee & Low Books.

Preview As Fast as Words Could Fly at Lee & Low's site.

Lena Blackburne Baseball Rubbing Mud

If you've read my blog for any length of time, you know that I'm a Phillies fan and hail from New Jersey - but did you know that New Jersey is home to Lena Blackburne Baseball Rubbing Mud, the mud discovered by one-time Phillies player, Lena Blackburne? The mud used to take the slick shine off balls used in major league baseball?

In fact, as readers will learn in Miracle Mud,

"Lena's mud is the only thing that's allowed on major-league balls.  Players can't use water or spit or shoe polish.  Just mud.  Lena's mud."

And it comes from South Jersey, but Miracle Mud won't tell you from where - that's a secret!

Oliver Dominguez' nostalgic, double-spread, painted illustrations are the perfect complement to this short and engaging biography of Lena Blackburne (1886-1968) and his famous mud. You may view eleven of the book's paintings at Oliver Dominguez' website.  The front and rear end papers are the best - clean baseballs up front, muddy ones in the back!

An Author's Note and Lena Blackburne's official stats round out this great introduction to Lena Blackburne. He never made it to the Hall of Fame, but his mud did! A great choice for baseball fans of all ages.

Kelly, David A. 2013. Miracle Mud: Lena Blackburne and the Secret Mud that Changed Baseball. Minneapolis, MN: Millbrook Press.

Don't believe it?  Want to learn more?
Check out:

• the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum article
• an in-depth article and video by MLB.com's Doug Miller, "The Mudville Line: The legend of mud rubbing" 
• CNN's segment, "Harvesting baseball's magic mud," by Thomas Andres

It's Nonfiction Monday.  Today's roundup of nonfiction posts can be found at Playing by the book.

Volcano Rising - a review

Rusch, Elizabeth. 2013. Volcano Rising. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge.
(Advance Reader Copy requested from publisher)

When kids think of volcanoes, they likely think of the awesome destructive power of  famous volcanoes past and present -  Mount Vesuvius, Krakatoa, Mount St. Helens, Mount Etna, Kilauea, and Mauna Loa.  However, if you've ever read James Michener's epic novel, Hawaii, or traveled to Hawaii, you know of the incredible creative power of volcanoes.  Each of the Hawaiian islands was created by a volcano, its molten lava rising, spreading, cooling, hardening, and eventually creating the Hawaiian island chain with its famous black sand beaches.

Volcano Rising focuses on this unique and often unheralded aspect of volcanoes, giving examples of various ways in which volcanoes may have "creative eruptions." A particularly helpful aspect of the book is its duality as a read-aloud for younger children and a more detailed text for independent readers.  In white or black text against double-spread illustrations, large text is aimed at a read-aloud audience, while smaller text delves deeper,

Creative eruptions can continue for a really long time. WHOOSH, fountains of red-hot lava squirt high into the air.  GURGLE, stinky lava streams to the shore. TSSSS, fluid lava hits the ocean, steaming, and hardens to form new land.

For more than twenty-five years, shield volcano Kilaueau (kee-lau-WAY-ah) on the Big Island of Hawaii has been in a state of creative eruption. Shield volcanoes have lots of vents, allowing runny lava to leak from cracks to form broad mounds that are shaped like shields.

Kilaueau's constant eruption has added more than 500 acres (202 hectares) to the island--that's more than 314 soccer fields! No one works or plays soccer on this new acreage yet. But they will. After all, where would the people of Hawaii live if not for the creative eruptions that helped build all their islands?

Often an artistically illustrated nonfiction book lacks the punch of a photographic one, but not in Volcano Rising.  Because the focus of the book is the process rather than the explosion, the colorfully inventive collage art of Susan Swan is perfectly suited to the text, helping to define the concept of creative eruptions in an art form created

by manipulating found objects, hand-painted papers and scans of objects and textures in Adobe Photoshop to create new patterns,adding digital paintings; and then collaging the two together

The effect is vibrant and stunning.

Volcano Vocabulary, Selected Bibliography, and Learn More sections round out this great new title.

Note: In 1980, I experienced a volcano in a very small way.  In the aftermath of the Mount Saint Helens eruption, volcanic ash rained down.  Workers were hosing the scratchy dust off vehicles as they traveled through town.  Pedestrians were wearing surgical masks to avoid breathing the ash and dust.  I scurried from bus to train as I made my way out of Portland, Oregon - more than 70 miles from the site of the explosion.  Nature is truly impressive and awesome and constantly reminds us that we are much smaller than we think.

Nonfiction Monday is here today! 

 Please add your post to the form and check back later to see the roundup of today's contributions.

Please keep in mind that I work all day, 

so all of the posts may not be updated until much later in the evening.

• Jen from Perogies and Gyoza shares When I Was Eight, a beautifully illustrated story about a very determined girl who survived the abuses of the Canadian residential school system and achieved her goal to read (and now to write).

• Frog Song by Brenda Guiberson, is the featured book at Jean Little Library, where Jennifer shares her experience of using Frog Song with 4-year-olds.

• Abby the Librarian is featuring, Relish: My Life in the Kitchen, a great graphic memoir for teens and adults who love to cook (or eat!).  I've read this one and agree that it's great!

• Anastasia of Booktalking says, "Summer is a good time to eat light healthy meals, so here are some recipes for kids to try!" Check out Delicious Vegetarian Main Dishes, part of the You're the Chef series, at her blog.

• Food is popular today!  Cindy and Lynn at Bookends also reviewed Relish, noting that "they enjoyed serving up this visual feast of a graphic novel foodie biography."

• At Stacking Books, Reshama is featuring Into the Deep, the "story of Naturalist and Explorer William Bebe. Beautifully illustrated and a great read for introducing the concept of what is a Naturalist."

• At Kid Lit About Politics, Liz reviews A Young People's History of the United States. A young adult offering, "this book offers an important view of US history, one that isn't often found in text books."

• Janet, of All About the Books with Janet Squires, has Energy Island by Allan Drummond today. "Drummond's first person narrator describes how the small Danish island of Samso achieved energy independence and became known as Energy Island to emphasize the fact that energy efficiency is within the reach of anyone willing to make the effort."  I had to look up the island's location, and found this CBS news footage about the island and its energy independence.  Interesting!

• Geo Librarian's, Heidi, reviewed The Giant and How He Humbugged America. She calls it " fascinating look at a hoax that fooled a lot of people."  I agree!  I reviewed the same book in September. When Heidi says the "giant" fooled a lot of people, she's not kidding!  Almost 1/6 of the entire United States population of the time, paid to see the famous (and fake!) Cardiff Giant.

• Over at Sonderbooks, Sondra has a review of Spirit Seeker: John Coltrane's Musical Journey. Obviously impressed with the illustrations, she says that they transform "this from an excellent, serviceable biography and good story into a stunning work of art."

And that's a wrap, folks!  I'll add any late entries tomorrow.

The Boy on the Porch - a review

Creech, Sharon. 2013. The Boy on the Porch. New York: Harper Collins.

(Advance Reader Copy supplied by publisher)

When John and Marta find a young boy, about six-years-old, asleep on their rural porch one morning, they are puzzled indeed. Sleeping serenely, it is hours before the boy wakes up, and when he does, he is alert and interested, but seemingly unconcerned about his situation,

     The boy reached into his pocket, withdrew a crumpled note, and handed it to Marta.

Pleese taik kair of Jacob. He is a god good boy. Wil be bak wen we can.

Although Jacob does not talk, it soon becomes clear that he has an innate ability to create music and to communicate with animals.  Remote neighbors of the farming community begin to speak of a boy who rides a cow.  A childless couple, John and Marta become quite fond of the strange boy, but continue to wonder how he came to be on their porch and when someone might come for him,

     "When do you think the people will come back for him?"
     "Soon, don't you think? Surely, soon."

Days turn into weeks, and weeks turn into months, and still, no one comes for the boy; John and Marta, in their own quiet way, begin to hope that perhaps, no one ever will.

Like several of her other recent titles, in The Boy on the Porch, Sharon Creech showcases her ability to write books that hover somewhere between here and there,  then and now, fantasy and reality.  Transcending place and time, Sharon Creech is a masterful storyteller - heartwarming and relevant.

Note:

This is Creech's second consecutive book that features an unusual young boy who creates great change in the lives of those whom he meets (The Great Unexpected, Harper Collins, 2012). It's also the second book that I've read in as many months that features a mute, yet communicative boy (Wild Boy: The Real Life of the Savage of Aveyron, Candlewick, 2013).  Interesting how that works out sometimes.

Due on shelves in September, 2013.

Other Sharon Creech books and stories reviewed on Shelf-employed:

• "The Raven," in Acting Out (Atheneum, 2008)
• The Great Unexpected (Harper Collins, 2012)
• The Unfinished Angel (Harper Collins, 2009)
• Love that Dog (Harper Collins, 2001)