My Name is Hamburger by Jacqueline Jules

My Name is Hamburger is a verse novel. Jacqueline Jules packs a lot into this short book - Jewish culture, discrimination, hopes and wishes, friendship complications, bullies, belonging, making new friends, Holocaust survivors, school life and family life.

The year is 1962 and Trudie's parents are holocaust survivors and Jewish. Her father owns a printing business and her mother stays home to look after her new prematurely born baby brother. 

I like how my family sit at our round table

just eating a tasty food, not a last name

I wish didn't go with my first.

Trudie has a very special friend who lives nearby named Lila. They have been friends since they were babies. Trudie excels at spelling and so as this story opens she is competing in her school level competition. Trudie is in grade four. She and her dad have been studying hard for this. She spells homogenous and makes it to the final round of two contestants but then the judge gives her a word with a silent letter - rhythm.

Like a gherkin.

That little green pickle

Kids like to crunch

This gives rise to more dreadful teasing by one horrid boy in her class - Daniel Reynolds. Trudie is so disappointed about the spelling bee but there is the hope she can compete again next year - she did make it through five rounds. I loved the way her teacher celebrates her achievement. 

School should be a happy place for Trudie but every week there is the problem of the music class. Trudi cannot sing the Christian songs and so she spends her time in the library. She loves being with the librarian Mrs Nolan, doing tasks like shelving books from A to Z. It is lucky because Trudi loves to read and she is getting close to the target on fifty books on the class reading chart. She didn't win the spelling bee perhaps she can win the reading trophy. Then a new boy arrives. He is also subjected to racial taunts because he is thought to be 'Chinese'. In fact he was born in the US.

Meanwhile Lila seems to have found a new friend. A pretty and popular girl named Sue Ellen. Young modern readers might be shocked when they read that Trudie cannot be invited to Sue Ellen's birthday party because as a Jewish child and so she is not allowed into the Colburn Country Club. The new boy, Jerry Braswell, who lives next door also used to be her friend but then he joined up with Daniel Reynolds. They taunt the girls and one day they throw water bombs at them on their way home:

Only red balloons, scattered

in little pieces all over the street

along with my trust

in mothers who understand

Trudie loves doing things with her father. Her mother is always distracted by the baby. They decide to plant a cherry tree in their garden but then Trudie comes home one day and the little plant has been destroyed. Not long after this her father has a dreadful accident and he can no longer work.

Her father does not tell Trudie much about the holocaust but he does offer some wisdom:

"He says 'hate' starts with separation and grows bigger, until it turns to stones angry people throw through windows. ... Daddy doesn't like the way I say that word 'different'. Doesn't like when it pulls people apart, puts some on a pedestal and others in the dirt."

"In my life ... I've seen people turn their backs when others suffer. But today ... true neighbours show me the best of what people can be."

I read My Name is Hamburger on a Kindle but this 2022 book is still available in paperback. Here is an interview with Jacqueline Jules. And here is a review from the Jewish Book Council.

Bookseller blurb: Trudie Hamburger is the only Jewish kid living in the small southern town of Colburn in 1962. Nobody else at her school has a father who speaks with a German accent or a last name that means chopped meat. Trudie doesn't want to be the girl who cries when Daniel Reynolds teases her. Or the girl who hides in the library to avoid singing Christian songs in music class. She doesn't want to be different. But over the course of a few pivotal months, as Trudie confronts her fears and embraces what she loves--including things that make her different from her classmates--she finally finds a way to say her name with pride.

Catching a Story Fish by Janice N Harrington

'You'd talk the whiskers off a catfish,'

Grandpa says, 'and the shine 

off a new penny.'

I like to talk.

I like to spin stories,

this-is-what-I-did stories,

this-is-what-I-saw stories,

stories to make my brother giggle-bouncy

and wiggly as a worm,

stories to make my Daddy lean in

and hold me octopus-tight,

stories to make Mama's eyes

shine birthday-candle bright.

My name is Katharen but my friends and family call me Keet - Keet Keet Parakeet.

"I used to be Keet-Keet Parakeet.
I used to talk to anyone.

I used to talk anywhere.

But now at school,

words are peanut-butter sticky

and tight was lids on pickle jars."

This seems like a perfect book to end my reading year. It is a verse novel and I adore this genre. It is a book that I knew nothing about, so it is a surprise discovery. This is a book that celebrates the power of storytelling and the importance of courage to use your voice. I love the new friendship between Keet and Allegra. And the paperback edition (2023) of this book has just been published so we can afford to buy it here in Australia. There is even a poem you could use from this book when you talk about our CBCA (Children's Book Council of Australia) 2024 slogan - Reading is Magic. 

Ms Lindle is the school Teacher-Librarian:

"Ms Lindle won't mind.
She says getting lost in a book
is a magic trick
which means that I'm a wizard."

I love Ms Lindle.  When Keet enters a story competition I can hear her warm voice when she says:

"It's a good story, Katharen.'

'Really?' I ask,

'Absolutely-truly-ruly-

no-mistake-for-certain,' Ms Lindle says."

Moving house is hard for Keet and at school the other kids tease her southern accent:

"Grandpa, the kids say I talk funny.

They laugh at my words.

They're mean. Grandpa. And I don't like,

I don't like, I don't like school at all."

Blurb from the author webpage: Keet knows the only good thing about moving away from her Alabama home is that she'll live near her beloved grandfather. When Keet starts school, it's even worse than she expected, as the kids tease her about her southern accent. Now Keet, who can "talk the whiskers off a catfish," doesn't want to open her mouth. Slowly, though, while fishing with her grandfather, she learns the art of listening. Gradually, she makes her first new friend. But just as she's beginning to settle in, her grandfather has a stroke, and even though he's still nearby, he suddenly feels ever-so-far-away. Keet is determined to reel him back to her by telling him stories; in the process she finds her voice and her grandfather again. This lyrical and deeply emotional novel-in-verse celebrates the power of story and of finding one's individual voice.

Keet's is a simple and familiar-feeling story, but one that is understated, fully realized, deftly written, and utterly absorbing ... School Library Journal

Awards

• Winner of the Paterson Prize for Books for Young People
• Arnold Adoff Poetry Honor Award

Janice N Harrington includes ten different poetry forms in her story and these are listed at the back. 

"This lyrical novel in verse effortlessly weaves together multiple poetry forms to introduce readers to Katharen, called Keet, a young girl who loves to talk and spin stories.... The poems effectively convey conflicting emotions; different styles (haiku, concrete, blues, etc.,) express moods and nuances without being distracting."  Booklist

New Girl Blues

I got the New-Girl blues.

I got those back-to-school and don’t-want-to,

do-I-have-to-Mama? do-I-have-to? blues.

Blues in my thinking, blues

in my walk. Blue and lonely lonely

because of my New-Girl talk.

I got the New-Girl,

don’t-want-to-go,

don’t-make-me-go blues.

You could use this book with a class as a way to explore poetry forms plus there is a wonderful public speaking topic idea - The Dream Report.

I would pair this book with:

The One Thing You'd Save

The friendship riddle by Megan Fazer Blakemore

 

The Friendship Riddle is a very long book and at times the reading felt like a marathon but if you can put in the effort the final scenes are rewarding.  Oddly this is another book about spelling bees.  I seem to have read quite a few lately - perhaps this is a new genre.  It is also about solving cryptic puzzles and reminded me of Mr Lemoncello's library.  At the heart of this book though is our need for friendship and the importance of truthful communication as our friendships ebb and flow.

Here are a few books I have read recently with competitions including spelling bees :

Ruth had a best friend but now the girls have reached middle school Charlotte has made friends with one of the 'cool girls' called Melissa.  She no longer talks to Ruth.

"It's not like she ditched me or we had a fight.  It's like all this shifting and sorting out happened.  Like we were dumped into a colander, and all of us small, less interesting pieces fell through and left the big, juicy berries inside.  Charlotte is a berry.  Me, I'm a lone world.  I'm that hawk flying above it all, the quiet observer on the sidelines. And that's the way I like it."

Ruth is an avid reader of a book series called Taryn Greenbottom by Harriet Wexler.  This is a fictitious book series and I did like the way Megan Frazer Blakemore wove it through this book. Here is one of the riddles found by Ruth.  There are twelve in total.  They are found in a random order and this help keep the plot moving forward.

The Friendship Riddle will be added to our senior collection for our Grade Six students.  It does discuss issues of puberty and same sex relationships and probably will have more appeal to girls.

You can read a little more about this book on the author web site.  I agree with the comments here from Ms Yingling.  Jen Robinson liked this book and she makes some interesting observations in her review.

The Stupendously Spectacular Spelling bee by Deborah Abela

A few years ago a young student from my school won the NSW State Spelling Bee final.  I was in the audience, it was broadcast on the local radio and the whole event was thrilling.  In this book - The Stupendously spectacular spelling bee - India is also a champion speller but so far her talents have been limited to spelling in front of the television.

"India Wimple could spell.  Brilliantly. On Friday nights, she and her family would huddle in front of  the TV in their pyjamas, in their small house in Yungabilla, and watch the Stupendously Spectacular Spelling Bee."

As the story begins the family are watching the finals of the spelling bee on television.  The finals are held at the Sydney Opera House.  When the winner is announced the compare seems to look straight at India when she says the next spelling bee champion could be you!  And so their journey begins.  India competes at the district level, regional finals and on to the grand final at the Sydney Opera House.

The Wimple's are battlers.  Dad has lost his job and is working as a the town handyman.  The town of Yungabilla has hit hard times and so dad is mostly paid with baked goods and IOUs.  Mum has left her job to look after Boo, India's brother, who suffers from very bad asthma.  Nanna Flo has also moved in with the family.

When the family reach Sydney everything seems to fall into place.  Checking into the aptly named Hotel Grand the family are upgraded at no extra cost to the Grand Plaza Suite.  "There were four bedrooms with king-sized beds, a kitchen stocked with food and a spa the size of a small pool."  The contestants and their families are taken on a tour of Sydney which ends at Kirribilli House where they meet the Prime Minister.

"Outside, waiters were putting the finishing touches on an equally long table filled with trays of sandwiches and cupcakes and, in the centre, a bubbling chocolate fountain surrounded by strawberries and marshmallows."

India has two main rivals in the bee.  A boy called Rajish who knows he wants to be friends with India and a girl called Summer.  Summer is a lonely rich girl.  She is despicable to India and yet India finds a way to show amazing kindness.

Every chapter features a spelling word and definition.  Here are a few of them :

tremulous, disconcerting, valorous, endeavour, disquietude, perspicacious (one of my favourite words) and splendiferous.

I think I smiled from page one to page 232 reading this book.  This whole story is like a fairy tale - so many absolutely perfect things happen to the Wimple family and their talented daughter India. Yes there are some disasters - the car breaks down on the way to the regional final, Boo has an extremely bad asthma attack and has to be taken to hospital, India arrives at the grand final in her pyjamas - but magically everything works out.  The other feature of this book that I really enjoyed was the totally authentic Australian flavour.  When the family step out onto the balcony of their grand hotel room this is the view :

"It's like being on top of the world,' Boo said.  And it was.  For the Wimples at least.  They'd never been anywhere so high or so grand.  Dad pointed out all the famous landmarks. 'There's the Harbour Bridge, and the Royal Botanical Gardens and ... Luna Park!"

Here is a set of teaching notes.  This book would make an excellent class read-a-loud especially if your class are participating in a spelling bee.  You might also enjoy Bungawitta, The Big Bazoohley, Fortune Falls, and Speechless.

Click each of the quotes below to read more reviews.

This is a fast-paced and engaging book. Abela wonderfully captures the caring spirit of family and community. 

Striving for a dream, using the support of those around you, taking one step at a time, believing in yourself and allowing obstacles to become opportunities

Fortune Falls by Jenny Goebel

In Fortune Falls jade costs more than diamonds and so do four-leaf clovers, horseshoes and rabbits' feet.  Birthday wishes should not be wasted and the child care center is called Pot-of-Gold.

Luck - good and bad - this is an elusive thing.  Don't step on a crack, don't walk under a ladder, look for four leaf clovers and of course an apple a day will keep the doctor away.

All of these ideas about staying lucky are included in Fortune Falls and I did enjoy this premise.  The idea that your propensity to good luck or bad luck could determine your future path in life was also a good one but could have been explored in a little more depth especially the final idea - the one that the story had hinted at all along - that we make our own luck by our attitude.

In Fortune Falls every life incident is attributed to luck.  Sadie seems to be plagued by bad luck and her brand of bad luck has been catastrophic for the family perhaps causing the death of her father when is path is crossed by a black cat.

Sadie is about to turn twelve and inauspiciously this will happen on a Friday and yes the date of her birthday is the 13th. When students turn 12 they have to participate in a Spring Luck Test.  This takes them from Undetermined to either Lucky or Unlucky and then determines which school they can attend.

The description of life for Unluckies is quite telling :

"I remembered Dad taking me on a trip downtown ... 'These are the luckless that have given up.' We drove by windows that had been broken out with baseball bats, ... On the streets were people with unkempt hair and beards and expressionless faces.  The worst were those staring off into space as they sat immobile on curbs or behind blowing curtains,"

The actual Spring Luck Test was intriguing.  The school hall is set up with a number of games of chance - a roulette spinner, a dice game and a ball drop game.  You might be able to use this scene with a class and make connections with the maths strand of chance and data.

The Spelling Bee is also a chapter that could be used with a class if you are preparing for a bee at school.  Compare Sadie's words with those given to the lucky but awful Felicia.

dearth gem
debauchery sugar
treacherous lilac
mercurial diary

Fans of books about dogs will also enjoy Fortune Falls.  Sadie has a very special dog :

"Wink makes people feel uncomfortable.  She makes them especially uncomfortable when her missing eye takes them by surprise. I'll be taking Wink for a walk and someone will come up to her at just the right angle, but when she turns to greet the person - her tail wagging so hard it shakes her entire backside - giving whoever it is a full view of her one-eyed, pirate-y face, the stranger usually flips."

Here is a detailed review which includes some of the issues I have raised here.

You might also enjoy A snicker of Magic and Three times lucky.

A few harrowing episodes, including graveyard escapades, a lost dog, skeletal remains, and a near-calamity facing down an oncoming train, help Sadie and readers realize she’s not all that unlucky. 

This girl’s got gumption

I put a spell on you by Adam Selzer

I love to read books that challenge me and this one certainly keeps the reader right on his or her toes all the way to the end. Using each chapter to present the point of view of each spelling bee participant we read about one class as they prepare for the annual spelling bee. This is an event which impacts on the whole town and which can make or break friendships and even lead to high levels of corruption.

Our main narrator is Chrissy, the town detective. Observing her classmates she has uncovered a huge scandal. The School Principal seems to be planning to rig the spelling bee.

Each chapter heading is a word definition which then ties into the chapter and each chapter is told by one of the major players including the students, the Principal and the ever smiling school secretary Mrs Rosemary!

My favourite character is Mutual a boy who up until now has been home schooled. He convinces his parents that to enter the Spelling Bee you need to be enrolled in a regular school. His mum and dad are fearful of corruption and germs and bad examples but they are also desperate to have their only son crowned as a champion in the Bee so they allow him to attend Gordon Liddy Community School.

If you like the writing of EL Konigsburg. Blue Baylett, Betsy Byars, Carl Hiessan, or Louis Sacher then you will love I put a Spell on you. Check out the author site. You can even read whole chapters. Mr K also has a terrific review of this book which should convince you this is a great book.