Fallout by Todd Strasser - a review

Strasser, Todd. 2013. Fallout. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.
(Advance Reader Copy)

In many ways, Scott Porter, a soon-to-be sixth grader, is a carefree boy of the 1960's, palling around with his friends - Ronnie, Freak O' Nature, and Why Can't You Be Like Johnny?  But the summer of 1962, is not carefree to most of the world.  While many of his suburban neighbors have fatalist or devil-may-care attitudes, Mr. Porter is busily preparing for the nuclear war that he feels is sure to happen.  Neighbors ridicule the family as Scott's dad builds and stocks his underground bunker.

And then, in a twist of revisionist history, it happens.  The Soviet Union attacks the United States with a nuclear bomb, and the Porter's bomb shelter, designed to accommodate Mr. and Mrs. Porter, Scott, and his younger brother, Sparky, is now the only possible option for survival.

Set in the tense, crowded, and contentious atmosphere of the over-filled bunker, the story is revealed in flashbacks of neighborhood and school events leading up to the attack.  But it is not the past that matters.  As the situation grows increasingly desperate, the bunker's inhabitants, once friends and neighbors, live only for the present.  Who deserves to eat and drink, to use the sparse toilet paper, to wash, to live -- to die?  Disability, race, personal property rights all are examined in this gritty novel.  Powerful and affecting, the baseness of the human species is uncomfortably unveiled in Fallout.

"So?" Mr. McGovern demands.

Dad gathers himself up. "I said it before and I'll say it again.  Over ... my ... dead ... body."

"It won't just be your dead body -- it will  be everyone's," Mr. McGovern counters, then turns to the Shaws. "Who gave him the right to make decisions for all of us?  Because it's his bomb shelter?  I'm sorry, but I don't think that matters anymore. We're all in this together now. Are you really comfortable putting yourself in his hands?  Letting him decide how much we eat and drink?

An Author's Note, complete with photograph of his own family's underground bunker, follows the story.

For mature readers ages 10 and up.  Due on shelves in September, 2013.

A Fallout Discussion Guide.

Pair this one with Deborah Wiles', Countdown (2010, Scholastic) or Bomb: The Race to Build -- and Steal -- the World's Most Dangerous Weapon (Flashpoint, 2012).



Note: 
I realized that in the last month, I've reviewed  I Survived: The Japanese Tsunami, 2011, Bomb: The Race to Build -- and Steal -- the World's Most Dangerous Weapon, City of the Dead: Galveston Hurricane, 1900, and The Superstorm, Hurricane Sandy. This was not an intentional dive into a literary world of disaster - just interesting titles that have arrived in my mailbox.  I think I'm done for a while now, while my cheery disposition is still intact. :)

Picture Book Roundup - Silly, dreamy, fun, well-done!

Silly, dreamy, fun, well-done  - these are my favorites today!

• Silly

Harrington, Tim. 2013. This Little Piggy. New York: Harper Collins.

Funny and silly, this is the story of what those other five little piggies are doing - forget about going to market or eating roast beef; these little piggies are painting, selling hot dogs, dancing and flying planes!

Browse inside This Little Piggy.

Click to hear the author's musical rendition of 
This Little Piggy.  You can download it, too!

• Dreamy

Giovanna Zoboli. 2013. I Wish I Had .... Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.  (Ill. by Simona Mulazzani)

A simple wish list  - one wish on each beautifully illustrated, double-spread page of this over-sized book.  Inspired by the animal kingdom, each wish is for an animal's ability,

I wish I had the quick heart of a mouse as it makes its escape ...

... and the wings of a wild goose on the day it takes flight. 

Perhaps it rhymes in its original Italian version.  No matter - it's still poetic and beautiful.

The link to a preview of I Wish I Had ... may be accessed here.

• Fun

Gibbs, Edward. I Spy on the Farm. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

I loved I Spy With My Little Eye when it was published in 2011, and I love Edward Gibbs' I Spy on the Farm as well.  Perfect for participatory sharing, kids will squeal out the answers as they look through the die-cut holes and hear the clues,

I spy with my little eye ...

 something pink that begins with a P.

Oink, oink!

Colors, letters, farm animal sounds - I Spy on the Farm has it all!

I Spy on the Farm preview here.

• Well-done

Falwell, Cathryn. 2013. Rainbow Stew. New York: Lee and Low.

Whimper, sigh, cloudy, sky,
Is it too wet to play?
We don't want to stay inside
because of rain today.

Grandpa smiles and says to us,
"I know what we can do.
Let's go and find some colors
for my famous Rainbow Stew!" 

Filled with love and frolicking fun, Rainbow Stew is a tasty delight! (Be sure to try the recipe)

Rainbow Stew preview here.
Rainbow Stew activities here!


If you're looking for the usual nonfiction post this morning, check out Sally's Bookshelf for today's Nonfiction Monday roundup.  Next week, Nonfiction Monday will be right here at Shelf-employed.  

I Survived: The Japanese Tsunami, 2011 - a review

At last year's KidLitCon, attendees were reminded to blog for a particular purpose and audience. I selfishly blog primarily for myself - to help me remember and gather my thoughts about the many children's books that I read in pursuit of my favorite job - connecting children with the "perfect" book, or in librarian terms, reader's advisory.  If along the way if I can save you some time or help you in a similar pursuit, so much the better.  This is why I don't always read the most talked about books, the most award-winning books, or the books with the greatest literary merit. I want to read what children like, and  a boy in my book club told me emphatically what he likes, I Survived books! "I've read them all," he told me.

I must confess that despite their popularity, I hadn't read any! Fortuitously, however, Scholastic sent me a galley copy of their upcoming, I Survived; The Japanese Tsunami, 2011 by Lauren Tarshis.

This is the 8th book in the series.  Written for grades 2-5, these are small, short chapter books; each chapter is only a few pages. The Japanese Tsunami, 2011, contains 13 chapters and is 83 pages, not including the back matter - facts, author's note, and resource materials.

I assume that most of the books are similar - a child survives one of history's worst natural or man made disasters.  In The Japanese Tsunami, it is Ben, an American born child visiting his Japanese grandfather, along with his mother and brother.  His father, an Air Force pilot, recently died in Iraq.

Miraculously, although Ben is swept away from the rest of the family in the tsunami, they all survive and are eventually reunited.  It's not a likely story, but here's what there is to like about it:

• Though it was written very soon (too soon?) after the disaster, it should be remembered that kids don't often pay attention to the news, and to them, March 11, 2011, may seem like a lifetime ago.  It's helpful to remind them of world-changing events.

• Books like the ones in the I Survived series help bring history alive for young people.  It's easier to relate to history if it is seen through the eyes of someone in a similar situation to one's own.

• The I Survived books are short and popular - great choices for reluctant readers.

And finally,

• Author Lauren Tarshis understands the freshness, the immensity, and the gravity of this particular disaster, and treats it with respect.  It was, after all, three separate and devastating disasters - an earthquake of epic proportions (lasting five minutes), a tsunami (hundreds of feet long and dozens of feet high), and a nuclear meltdown that sent more than 200,000 people fleeing from their homes.

In her author's notes, "A Triple Disaster," she notes that writing about the Japanese Tsunami was unlike writing the other I Survived books in which she could imagine herself in the shoes of her protagonists.  Regarding the Japanese Tsunami, 2011, she writes, the

...disaster was so enormous, I really can't being to imagine what it was like - the terror, the destruction, the exhaustion, the despair.

 What I do feel - deep in my heart - is admiration for the millions of people of the Tohoku region and throughout eastern Japan who are rebuilding their towns and their lives, who are determined to move forward ..

Due on shelves in September, 2013, this one's sure to be popular.

The art in my copy was not final, but the book will apparently have several black and white illustrations.

Kids can take an I Survived Survival Skills Quiz on the Scholastic website.

Bomb - an audiobook review

(My review of Steve Sheinkin's, Bomb, as it appeared in the July 2013 edition of School Library Journal)

Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon.By Steven Sheinkin. 6 CDs. 7:12 hrs. Prod. by Listening Library. Dist. by Listening Library/Books on Tape. 2013. ISBN 978-0-8041-2220-7. $39.


Sheinkin’s stellar nonfiction account (Flash Point, 2012) captures the science, technology, logistics, and politics of the race to build the first atomic bomb. The book gives listeners a holistic perspective, highlighting the fact that the story of the bomb, while a technological miracle of the time, is at its core, an intricate tale of daring individuals whose actions affected families, friends, communities, and nations. The story begins at the end, with the capture of American spy Harry Gold in Philadelphia. From Gold’s seizure, Sheinken takes a retrospective look at events from the discovery of nuclear fusion to the deployment and the aftermath of the uranium and plutonium bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. Gold, a chemist, in his role as Communist sympathizer and Soviet courier, is the thread that weaves this fascinating book together as it follows the trail of scientists, Nazi resisters, Soviet and American spies, workers, military commanders, and political leaders across the globe. The author’s narrative is as gripping as that of nonfiction masters such as Jim Murphy and Russell Freedman. Roy Samuelson’s clear diction and measured delivery complements the subject matter, offering students the opportunity to absorb sometimes complex material without pause. This award-winning, meticulously sourced book deserves a spot in every library.



Copyright © 2013 Library Journals, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. Reprinted with permission.

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Listen to an audio excerpt from Bomb: The Race to Build - and Steal - the World's Most Dangerous Weapon, here.

Bomb is a National Book Award Finalist, and the recipient of the Newbery Honor, Sibert Medal, and YALSA Award.

Today's Nonfiction Monday roundup is at Wrapped in Foil, 

where "finding a great children's book is like unwrapping a perfect sweet."

Excerpts, prequels, sneak peaks and other e-freebies

I try to read as many and as varied a selection of children's books as possible.  When a child comes to me and asks for a funny book, dragon book, scary book, mystery, horse book, diary book, I like to have a host of ideas in my head.  Still, it's hard to keep up.

Lately, however, the publishers have been helping.  The trend seems to be for authors to offer free prequels, excerpts and previews.  At librarian events like Book Expo America or state and library conferences, these small offerings may be in print, however, the usual format is e-book.  Why might you want these samplers? For the same reasons I do.

• You're waiting for your library book to come in.  Get started on the free chapters.
• You're not sure if you really want to spend the money to buy a particular book.  Read an excerpt.
• You want to keep up with the current offerings. Read all the excerpts that you can!
• You want to know about the hottest new series. Read a chapter or two - at least you'll be able to carry on a conversation with the kids.

So, if you've got a Nook, a Kindle, a smart phone, or a tablet, head to your favorite e-retailer or publisher site and check out the following sampling of free offerings (if you don't have access to a smart device, most are available for reading online, although it may not look quite the same):

The Seven Wonders (Harper Collins), a new series by Peter Lerangis looks phenomenal!  I don't necessarily have the time to commit to an entire new series, but I made time to read the free Seven Wonders Journals: The Select, a novella that serves as a prequel to the series, and has been described as "Percy Jackson meets Indiana Jones." I predict that kids, especially boys, will love this action-packed, adventure series.  The free prequel was excellent and you may find it on Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, or from the author's website. 

Pi in the Sky (Little Brown) , a new, humorous science fiction novel by Wendy Mass that I reviewed recently.  Seven complete chapters are available for free, and it's a great book!  The free download is available from the usual places (Amazon, B&N, publisher site), or click on my review to see the links.

Erin Hunter's Warriors series has two free downloads, Warriors: Dawn of the Clans #1: The Sun Trail (Harper Collins) and Warriors Super Edition: Tallstar's Revenge (Harper Collins). Both are available on the official website.  There is also a Warriors app and you can download the Warriors manga comics for free.

And finally, if you know (or are) a comic book fan, DC Comics often offers free previews.  In honor of the recent release of Superman (the movie), they offered a free download preview of All-Star Superman Special Edition #1 (DC Comics, June 2013)

And there you have it - something free for everyone!

And I almost forgot! Don't forget this week's free audiobook downloads from SYNC YA!  For this week only, you can download Shakespeare's Hamlet and Robin LeFevers' Grave Mercy
.