As Brave as You by Jason Reynolds

(nearly five stars)

“Yeah, but you never, like, I’on’t know, just walk around your yard? Not all the way to the edge, but just a little bit? ’Cause if I had a big yard like this back home, I would be in it all the time. Even if I was blind,” Genie said. Grandpop cocked his head. “Is that so?” 

Genie wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Yep.” 

“Well, I guess I gotta figure out how to get as brave as you, Little Wood.”

The opening lines of As Brave as You might make you think this will 'just' be a funny book (perhaps filled with toilet humour) but if you think that you will discover you are so 'wrong'.

#460: Poop. Poop is stupid. Stupid poop. Stupid. Poopid. Poopidity. Is poopidity a word?

The boys are cleaning up dog poo. #460 is a way that Genie keeps track of his questions - especially here living with his grandparents who have no internet and so he has no way to use his friend 'Google'. The boys have come from Brooklyn to North Hill, Virginia. Their parents are supposed to be on a holiday. They are supposed to be 'working things out' and hopefully finding a way to stay together so meanwhile Genie and Ernie are trying to adjust to living in a totally new place with new rules. 

Back to Genie's questions. He writes them in a special book:

Genie flipped through pages of his notebook—where he kept his best questions. Some had already been answered, and some were still mysteries. He landed on one that he had totally forgotten about—#389: Do honey badgers eat honey?

Genie was the kind of kid who kept a small jacked-up notebook and pen in his pocket just so that he could jot down interesting things whenever they came. The point was to keep a list—a numbered list—of all the things he needed to Google, because to Genie, the more questions you had, the more answers you could find. And the more answers you found, the more you knew. And the more you knew, the less you made mistakes. Genie wasn’t about mistakes.

Genie is wise beyond his years, and he has a wonderful level of emotional intelligence.  After their long car trip to the country this is what he says about his mum:

The skin on her face looked heavy, and Genie wondered if she had slept at all during the ride. Actually, the skin on her face had been looking heavy for a few months.

There is another layer to this visit - Genie's father and his grandfather have not spoken to each other for years - so something bad must have happened in the past. AND also, Grandpop is totally blind and yet he manages to navigate inside the house. Inside yes, but he needs Genie to help him learn how to walk outside. 

Genie and Grandpop bond over Grandpop's secret inside greenhouse garden and over names - Genie is a girl's name given to a boy and Grandpop's name is Brooke. Ernie and Genie learn about selling peas at the market. It should be an uneventful Summer but of course it is not especially after the boys meet Tess who lives on the next farm. And good news Tess has Wi-Fi so Genie can get onto his backlog of questions. 

Oh and my heart broke when Genie accidentally broke the little red toy truck that had belonged to his Uncle Wood (spoiler alert - his uncle was a soldier who died in action twenty years ago in operation Desert Storm).

#442: Why am I so stupid? Why did he have to leave the truck on the floor? Why? His first day at Grandma and Grandpop’s house, and he had already messed up. The first day. He just couldn’t believe it. He hated making mistakes. All he could think about was how he had to make it right. He had to fix it. But… how?

I do have to give a content warning - this book contains guns, and a shooting.

He turned to open the refrigerator door, and that’s when Genie noticed something was sticking up from the back of his pants like a short tail. Oh… my… G—it was a pistol—the handle of a pistol! Genie had never actually seen a gun in real life, just on the cop shows Ma was always watching, or in movies—action flicks, sci-fi flicks, and even the scary flicks Genie and Ernie weren’t supposed to be watching. ... Questions to remember: What’s a blind man doing with a gun?  Why would Grandpop have a gun, period?

Readers aged 11+ with reading stamina will enjoy this book and the story twists and turns will keep them turning the pages desperate to see if young Genie can atone for his mistakes - breaking that precious truck and accidentally killing one of Grandpop's special birds not to mention the messy issue of Ernie's tooth, the gun shot and his worry about his mum and dad. 

Publisher blurb: Genie’s summer is full of surprises. The first is that he and his big brother, Ernie, are leaving Brooklyn for the very first time to spend the summer with their grandparents all the way in Virginia—in the COUNTRY! The second surprise comes when Genie figures out that their grandfather is blind. Thunderstruck, Genie peppers Grandpop with questions about how he hides it so well (besides wearing way cool Ray-Bans). How does he match his clothes? Know where to walk? Cook with a gas stove? Pour a glass of sweet tea without spilling it? Genie thinks Grandpop must be the bravest guy he’s ever known, but he starts to notice that his grandfather never leaves the house—as in NEVER. And when he finds the secret room that Grandpop is always disappearing into—a room so full of songbirds and plants that it’s almost as if it’s been pulled inside-out—he begins to wonder if his grandfather is really so brave after all. Then Ernie lets him down in the bravery department. It’s his fourteenth birthday, and, Grandpop says to become a man, you have to learn how to shoot a gun. Genie thinks that is AWESOME until he realizes Ernie has no interest in learning how to shoot. None. Nada. Dumbfounded by Ernie’s reluctance, Genie is left to wonder—is bravery and becoming a man only about proving something, or is it just as important to own up to what you won’t do?

This is one of those books where you feel as though you are sitting right beside the family. I especially loved Grandma's cooking and her no-nonsense approach to the boys. 

Reynolds gives his readers uncommonly well-developed, complex characters, especially the completely believable Genie and Grandpop, whose stubborn self-sufficiency belies his vulnerability and whose flawed love both Genie and readers will cherish. This pitch-perfect contemporary novel gently explores the past’s repercussions on the present. Kirkus Star review

Reynolds captures the bond that Grandpop and Genie form in a tender, believable, and entertaining way, delivered through smart and funny prose and sparkling dialogue. School Library Journal

Awards:

• ALA Notable Children's Books
• Bank Street Best Books of the Year
• William Allen White Children's Book Award Reading List (KS)
• ALA Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book
• Chicago Public Library's Best of the Best
• Rebecca Caudill Young Reader's Book Award (IL)
• ALA Schneider Family Book Award
• ALA Notable Children's Recording
• Wisconsin State Reading Association's Reading List
• Center for the Study of Multicultural Children's Literature Best Multicultural Books List
• New York Public Library Best Books for Kids
• Kirkus Prize Winner
• USBBY Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities Award List

Genie's questions sometimes act as a light relief from some of the heavy themes in this book - here are a few that gave me a smile:

#458: Grits? What exactly are they? And I get that they’re called grits because they’re gritty, but who thought that name was a good idea? That’s like naming peas green slime balls.

#456: How come glaucoma isn’t called eyecoma? Technically, Grandpop’s eyes are ’sleep, right? Eye… coma. Makes more sense.

#447: What does it mean to shoot the breeze? I know one thing, ain’t no breeze nowhere around here for Grandpop to shoot. 

#448: What does a month of Sundays mean? Has there ever actually been a month of Sundays? Maybe the first month of Sundays was the January after Jesus was born. 

#449: Is the sun hotter in the south? If so, then a month of sundaes makes more sense.

#486: How come teeth ain’t called mouthnails? Or maybe fingernails should be called fingerteeth. 

#487: Do old birds ever lose their beaks? Do they ever crack them pecking hard things? If they do, does that change the way they sing? 

#488: Why do they sing anyway? And is the song of a bird different if the bird is in a tree, in the sky, or in a cage?

A Night Divided by Jennifer A Nielsen

"The fence began to be replaced with a concrete wall that was taller, thicker and stronger. Sharp edges of broken glass were cemented into the top to prevent anyone from climbing over it, and watchtowers were built so fewer officers could guard larger areas. With one stacked block of concrete over another our prison slowly became a fortress. And all we did was watch it happen."

On the night the Berlin wall divides the city Gerta's father and one of her brothers has travelled to the west. Now they are a family divided with Gerta's mother and oldest brother Fritz on one side and her father and middle brother Dominic on the other side. Over the coming months life on the eastern side becomes harder and no one can leave - if they are caught, they are jailed or worse executed. Gerta hears that the brother of her best friend has a plan to leave but the next day they learn he has died. Gerta knows any attempt to reunite her family will be extremely dangerous. But then she sees her father across the wall, and he seems to be sending her a message about digging. Mysteriously Gerta receives a drawing which has perhaps come from her father. It is a building and when she finds it, she discovers there might be a way to dig a tunnel to the other side. 

"It was just a pencil drawing of an old building. Square and made entirely of brick, there were two long windows in the front, but with no glass in them except for jagged pieces in the corners. An old chimney ran up the side of the building ... There were three ground-level window openings too, but no door."

Here are a couple more text quotes:

"I wanted books that weren't censored. I wanted to see places that were now only pictures in smuggled magazines that had passed through many hands. ... I wanted a home without hidden microphones, and friends and neighbors I could talk to without wondering if they would report me to the secret police. And I wanted control over my own life ... "

"We've lied to the state and to the police and to nearly everyone we've spoken to in the last month. You said yourself that isn't wrong, not for this tunnel ... right now we are sitting directly below the Death Strip! What does a stolen shovel matter at this point."

Every page of this book will have you holding your breath. It seems impossible that Gerta and her brother can possibly do this and not be found. Adding to the tension their mother has had to leave to visit their grandmother, and their food is running out and their nosy neighbour is certain to inform on them to the Stasi. Ms Yingling gives a detailed plot summary in her blog post. 

Bookseller blurb: With the rise of the Berlin Wall, Gerta finds her family suddenly divided. She, her mother, and her brother Fritz live on the eastern side, controlled by the Soviets. Her father and middle brother, who had gone west in search of work, cannot return home. Gerta knows it is dangerous to watch the wall, yet she can't help herself. She sees the East German soldiers with their guns trained on their own citizens; she, her family, her neighbors and friends are prisoners in their own city. But one day on her way to school, Gerta spots her father on a viewing platform on the western side, pantomiming a peculiar dance. Gerta concludes that her father wants her and Fritz to tunnel beneath the wall, out of East Berlin. However, if they are caught, the consequences will be deadly. No one can be trusted. Will Gerta and her family find their way to freedom?

I picked up this book which was published in 2015 for just AUS$4 from a recent charity book sale - it is in hardcover copy with an intact dust jacket. I really enjoyed A Night Divided but the Kirkus review is not so positive:

Based on historical fact, the story shines a personal light on the many families who were separated by the division of the two cities. Nielsen convincingly paints a chilling picture of repressive, Communist-controlled East Berlin, so much so that when Greta sees her father on the other side of the wall, years later, pantomiming digging, readers easily accept her plan to dig an escape tunnel into West Berlin. Kirkus

This is a wonderfully written story about life behind the Berlin Wall. Middle school audiences will devour this fast-paced thriller about a horrific time in German history. Historical Novel Society

You can see other books by Jennifer A Nielsen here. 

This book is the perfect follow on from these:

The Wall between us

The Great escape

Escape

A Million Shades of Grey by Cynthia Kadohata

This is the UK cover from Simon and Schuster

This is the US cover

This story opens in 1973 in the Highlands of South Vietnam. The war is all around the village of Y'Tin but somehow his family are going on with their daily lives. Y'Tin's father is working for the US army as a tracker and his son has this skill too but all Y'Tin wants to do is look after the elephants - especially Lady. Jump forward to 1975. The US army have left and Y'Tin is now an elephant keeper but the war is not over and there are discussions among the adults about the desperate need to leave before the soliders from the North and the Viet Cong arrive. Then comes the terrible day when the soldier do come and T'Tin and his friends are captured. He desperately hopes his mother and father and two sisters have escaped. The following few days are utterly dreadful. People from his village are shot; their houses are burned down and the boys from the village have to dig huge grave pits. Somehow though, Y'Tin and a friend do manage to escape and deep in the jungle they are reunited with their elephants. Sadly though, there is more trouble ahead. 

You can read the blurb and a book extract on the publisher page. And here is the author page. A Million Shades of Grey was published in 2010 but it is still available.  I also found this list of five middle grade novels also about the Vietnam War. If you select the label either Vietnam or Vietnam War from this post you will find some picture books that are well worth exploring too. 

A fascinating window into post–Vietnam War history and a wonderfully intimate character study. Kirkus

Though the setting might be unfamiliar to young readers, Kadohata does a good job describing it without overloading her narrative with political details. Y’Tin’s inner monologues make it easy to sympathize with his character and to understand the events in his life. ... some of the more violent scenes and allusions to war crimes might be difficult for readers ... Historical Novel Society

If you have students in your school studying the Vietnam War then this book should be added to their wide reading book list. It gives another perspective on that conflict and is set just after the US army have left and the North have begun their invasion. Reading this book (for ages 11+) will take some reading stamina because the action doesn't really kick in until around page 75.

If you are interested in reading other books about care of elephants and the special bond that forms between these huge creatures and humans look for these:

The Magician's Elephant

The what on earth institute of wonder

The Elephant in the Room

The Great Elephant Chase

Singing with elephants

The Girl who Stole an Elephant

I picked this book, A million Shades of Grey, in a library because I previously enjoy two other books by Cynthia Kadohata - Kira-Kira and Weedflower. A couple of years ago I read this one:

Half a world away

Christmas is coming to Australia - take time to read about the past

We have reached day ten of my twelve books of Christmas for 2021. 

My good friend from Kinderbookswitheverything suggested I should share this book with you as another title for my Australian Christmas books because it is a good one to follow-up to my WWII story from yesterday - The Angel with a Mouth-Organ. 

Early on Christmas morning the guns stop firing. A deathly silence creeps over the pitted and ruined landscape. A young soldier peers through a periscope over the top of the trench. Way out in no-man’sland, he sees a small red shape moving on the barbed wire. A brightly coloured robin is trapped. One wing is flapping helplessly. An eloquent counterpoint to the senselessness and inhumanity of war, In Flanders Fields tells the story of a young homesick World War I soldier, who risks his life to cross the no-man’s land and rescue a robin caught in the barbed wire that separates the opposing forces, dug into their trenches. This moving picture book is a plea for compassion. Norman Jorgensen 

In Flanders Fields by Australian author Norman Jorgensen and Australian illustrator Brian Harrison-Lever is set at Christmas during World War I. The small robin is trapped in the barbed wire fence.  A young solider bravely ventures out of his trench over to the wire to free the bird. As he turns to return to his comrades he hears singing - Silent Night - sung in German and back safely in the trench his mates are singing the same song.

I am pleased to say this book from 2002 is still available and for a really good price. In Flanders Fields won the CBCA Picture Book of the Year award in 2003. Here is a video of the whole book but I suggest you watch it without sound and read the text yourself. 

The title of this book is taken from the famous poem by Canadian John McCrae. 

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

    That mark our place; and in the sky

    The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

    Loved and were loved, and now we lie,

        In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

    The torch; be yours to hold it high.

    If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

        In Flanders fields.

Take a look at this post from Kinderbookswitheverything and these companion reads:

Christmas in the Trenches

Shooting at the Stars

The Button War by Avi

I should have heeded the warning that came with this book that it was like Lord of the Flies. When I started this blog I said it would be for books I enjoyed reading. The Button War is a very powerful story and I think it will appeal to boys who might be reluctant readers so I am including it here even though it is a book that deeply disturbed me. I read it in one day but I had to keep stopping to take a breath as each horrible situation arose.

The term ego is one you could apply to this book. Jurek lives in poverty. His parents are dead. His sister is hostile. Jurek needs a forum where he feels powerful. Where he can be king. Jurek needs to feed his ego. For Jurek the perfect audience is a group of other boys. They are all aged twelve and live in a small village in Poland. The boys enjoy hanging out together around the town water pump but none of them feel able to stand up to Jurek and his cruel dares and regular taunting.

Jurek finds a button in the forest. He declares that he is the true King. Jurek sets the boys a dare to find a better button. In this new game Jurek says the "winner" will be their King but Jurek himself is determined to win at all costs, He keeps changing the rules. His main rival for leadership is Patryk. Patryk knows this button challenge is silly, then later he knows it is dangerous but he also needs to put an end to the power wielded by Jurek. He just cannot seem to find a way to stop all of this. He needs to find the best button.

It is 1914 and this small Polish village is caught up in the events of World War One. After finding his first button Jurek wants another. He decides the best prize would be a button from a Russian army uniform. The village has been invaded by Russian soldiers. Jurek's sister, in need of money, takes in their washing. Jurek takes a button from a coat on the clothes line late at night and then insists Patryk attempt this too.

Meanwhile the war is impacting the village. A German plane flies over head and drops a bomb on the school. German soldiers now invade their town forcing the Russians to retreat but the Russians don't run away they gather reinforcements and prepare for another battle to regain control of the village.

This is no longer just a game for a group of boys. It has now become very, very dangerous. The story began with seven boys. How many will be left at the end? Things now spin out of control with life and death consequences. I think this is a book for very mature readers 11+.

Read some reviews:

• Ms Yingling : "Intriguing"
• Postcards from Purgatory: "Riveting"
• Kirkus: "War ... is devastating"
• The Children's War: "Action-packed, exciting"

Here are some text quotes to give you a flavour of this writing:

"I took another step. Once near the end of the bed, I sank to my knees. From there I reached out to the soldiers tunic, grasped a button with the fingers of my left hand, and pulled."

"In the middle of the area lay another soldier's body. He was all twisted, like a cloth doll that had been tossed away. He was on his back, face up, brown jacket in tatters, skin exposed, torn and bloody. I stared at him but didn't feel much emotion. I was getting used to the dead."

Take a look at Avi's web site. Here is an excellent video where Avi talks about the inspiration for this book and his own exploration of war buttons.

Here is the US cover.

The Legend of Podkin One-Ear by Kieran Larwood illustrated by David Watt

"Stories belong to the teller', says the bard. 'At least half of them do. The other part belongs to the listeners. When a good story is told to a good listener, the pair of them own it together."

"Stories aren't all about fighting and revenge,' says the bard. 'You have to have a bit of character development in there as well. Some suspense, some atmosphere. A little bit of romance."

Podkin is the son of Lopkin, the chieftain.  He has a sister called Paz and a brother called Pook. Life in Munbury longburrow is good and this is an especially happy night because it is Bramblemas eve and tomorrow there will be presents! Then, in the space of a few minutes, this warm scene explodes into one of violence and death. The Grom have arrived. They are after a small dagger called Starclaw. It is one of twelve special gifts given to the first tribes at the start of time.

Who are the Grom? Once they were small grey rabbits but something in the river got into their veins or perhaps they tunneled too far down and "came across something cursed and poisonous. ... They turned into something else. Something evil and unnatural."

Pod, Paz and little Pook are now on the run and it is winter, it is bitterly cold and while Starclaw is indeed a special weapon it is powerless against the metal bodies of the Grom.

The power of this writing comes from the atmosphere created by Kieran Larwood. You will see, hear, smell and touch every scene and person in this vividly created world.

It is the bard who tells this ancient tale. He has arrived on a different Bramblemas eve with a story to tell to the eager listeners in Thornwood warren.  It is an evening of storytelling, legends and turnip soup.

Here are some text extracts to give you a sense of this writing.

Scramashank the Gorm Lord "This wasn't a rabbit any more. If it ever had been, it was now something else entirely. A walking slab of metal and meat, pierced through with rusty thorns and nails. Its armour overlapped in sheets of jagged, dented iron; mottled with rust and splashes of dried crimson that looked very much like blood."

Lady Russet - she has been enslaved by Scramshank. "Before, she had been a plump, bristling bundle of life, with zinging fur, a bubbling giggle and eyes that sparkled like glimmers of summer sunlight. Now her skin hung off her face in folds. Lines of worry creased her brow; her eyes were hollow, haunted, red-rimmed, as if she'd been crying. Crying for a long, long time."

Bridgit's home.  Paz describes this wonderful place of safety and comfort where Podkin's wounded ear receives tender care. "She saw lots of clay pots and jars, all labelled in with neat Ogham writing, some overflowing with herbs and bulbs: wild garlic, rosemary, foxglove, rosehip and lots of mushrooms, like ink cap, blusher, penny bun, brittlegill and angel's bonnet." I was excited to discover these are all real mushroom names.


The Legend of Podkin One-Ear has been published with many different covers. Which one appeals to you?

You can listen to chapter one here.  Here is an interview with the author.  I would follow The Legend of Podkin One-Ear with Varjak Paw, Mouseheart, and the wonderful Redwall series by Brian Jacques. The evil Gorm that we meet in Podkin reminded me of the Creeps in Ollie's Odyssey.

The Legend of Podkin One-Ear was the winner of the Blue Peter Award in 2017.  Here is a set of reviews by young UK students and you can read other reviews with more plot details by clicking on the review quotes below.  I highly recommend The Legend of Podkin One-Ear - for me it is absolutely a ten out of ten book and I am rushing off to pick up the sequel - The Gift of Dark Hollow. The third installment (The Beasts of Grimheart) will arrive later this year.

An original fantasy with warrior rabbits, fierce foes, sibling loyalty, riveting adventure, and genuine storytelling.  Kirkus

A wonderfully told tale of adventure and adversity, packed with courage, heart and hope. Kieran Larwood has created a rich fantasy world in a time long after humans have left the world, complete with it’s own religions, superstitions and traditions.  Miss Cleveland is reading

Shooting at the stars the Christmas Truce of 1914 by John Hendrix

"Every man on the front, no matter what his uniform, was cold, fearful, and with out hope of returning home anytime soon. Although these soldiers were at war and spoke different languages, the English, French, and Germans shared much - songs, faith, and a deep love of Christmas. This is the true story of what happened one cold winter evening."

This is the perfect to pair with Christmas in the Trenches and with the anniversary of the end of WWI next year I am sure there will be renewed interest in books set at that time. This pair of books are also good to share at Christmas with older students - giving them a different and important perspective about war.

Shooting at the stars takes the form of  a letter written in a rough hand printed style.  "Was I really finishing school only a few month ago?"  The young soldier, Charlie, describes the trenches, the rain, the mud and the rats. Then he goes on to talk about Christmas eve 1914.  "When we stepped outdoors we heard the sounds of singing."

"I didn't know what was happening, but it wasn't war! For one glorious Christmas morning, war had taken a holiday."  And so the men bury their dead, talk to each other, take photographs and exchange small gifts.

Even though they were ordered back to the fighting and events like this were never repeated.  You can read more here on the BBC web site.  Also in this book you will find detailed historical notes and an excellent prologue which sets the scene.

Charlie writes :

"Altogether it was splendid day with our foes. Tomorrow I suppose we will all fight for our countries. And when the major returns we will have to follow his orders. But I suspect our side will spend the rest of the night aiming high above their trenches, shooting at the stars."

Here is a review where you can see some of the excellent art from this book.  Take a look at the author/illustrator web site to see more of his books.  Here is a set of teaching ideas to extend your students' understanding of these events.

Timed with the centenary of World War I but a lesson for always, Hendrix’s tale pulls young readers close and shows the human side of war.  Kirkus