Secret Breakers The Power of Three by HL Dennis

Before I begin this review of The Power of Three I need to warn you :

1.  This book is part one of a series of 6 and nothing (well almost nothing) is resolved by the end of the first book
2.  This book, while intriguing, does take quite a long time to read.  Not because it is particularly long but at times the plot does feel a little slow. You will need reading stamina but it is worth the effort.
3.  The action does heat up but not until about page 231 or chapter 10 then you will find yourself rushing to reach the end - now read caution number one above.
4.  To better appreciate this book you need a little knowledge of the legend of King Arthur. For the next book you need to know about Edward Elgar and in the next a little about Shakespeare.
5.  If you like books about codes and the sense of power that comes from thwarting the bad guys then you will enjoy the twists and turns of this story.

Three children,  Brodie, Tusia and Hunter, have been selected to join a team of adults who are trying to crack a code that has puzzled people for centuries.

"She reached into the trunk and lifted the bundle.  The fabric fell away.  Underneath was a thick bound book.  The red leather cover was soft, worn in places, unmarked by any writing or title apart from a small label of unreadable text in the corner. ... the letters used for the writing were not like any Brodie knew.  Even the pictures of flowers and plants weren't like anything she'd ever seen growing on earth. .. On one island she could clearly make out what looked liked a volcano and also a castle like the one sketched in her locket."

The children form the third study group named Team Veritas - searchers looking for the truth.  Brodie's mum was part of the second study group and she died when she attempted to crack this code.  For the first section of the book these newest team members complete a number of tests to ensure they are up to this important task then they learn the story of this special manuscript and its history and get to work to link the clues and solve the puzzle (sort of).

This might seem odd by my favourite character in The Power of Three is one of the baddies.  An evil woman named Kerrith who is out for promotion and revenge.

"Kerrith Vernan prided herself on three things. ... the third was her very carefully managed appearance.  You didn't get to be as good looking or as well presented as she was today without expending a lot of energy at the gym, or spending a lot of money on your stylist  ... she twisted the new diamond ring she'd bought herself around her little finger."

If you enjoy team work, books where the kids know more than the adults, codes and puzzles then pick up The Power of Three.  You might also enjoy The Mysterious Benedict Society, The Seven Professors of the far North,  A Whole Nother story or The Billonaires curse.

It is well worth taking time to look at the author web site where you can read about all the characters and read extracts from the books and see real pages from MS408.  You can read a little more about the plot.  Here is a video showing the letter the children use to solve this puzzle.

The boy on the porch by Sharon Creech

"The young couple found the child asleep in an old cushioned chair on the front porch.  He was curled against a worn pillow, his feet bare and dusty, his clothes fashioned from rough linen.  They could not imagine where he had come from or how he had made his way to their small farmhouse on a dirt road far from town."

Take a close look at these opening sentences from The boy on the porch - a masterpiece of storytelling from one of my most favourite authors - Sharon Creech.

In this short paragraph the reader can discover so many things - some explicitly stated others implied.  This couple have no children of their own perhaps, this boy comes from far away and he is poor as are the young couple who are eking out a living on this remote farm.  They may be poor but there is love and comfort in their home. On the other side this paragraph there are so many questions.  Who is this young boy?  Where has he come from?  What might happen when he wakes up?  How will the young couple react?  Will his family every be found?  Does he even have a family?  What has happened in this past to this child?

This is another one of those wonderful books that I devoured in one sitting.  In 150 pages you will go on an emotional journey where some of the questions I have listed will be answered while others will remain a mystery.  I selected this book as my 600th review because I enjoyed it so much.  I am looking forward to putting this special book into the hands of a sensitive mature reader.

Marta and John are not sure what to do. They wait until the boy awakes only to discover he cannot speak. There is a note :

Plees taik kair of Jacob

He is a god good boy.

We will be bak wen we can.

This note gives the child a name but it also raises more questions and anxieties.  When will these people return?  Who are they?  Why have they abandoned their child? Should John and Marta tell the authorities?

"When no one came for the boy by nightfall, John and Martha fashioned a small bed beside their own.  Marta fashioned a small bed beside their own. Marta offered the boy one of John's softest shirts to sleep in and set out a basin of warm water and soap for him to wash with.  She tucked him into the bed, patted his arm and hummed a few bars of an old, half-forgotten lullaby, softly, for she was embarrassed that John might hear her and think her foolish.  As she stood to go, the boy reached up and tapped her arm five or six times, in that funny way he did, always tapping lightly on surfaces ... his touch startled her, and she nearly wept, so grateful was she for the gesture."

On Sharon's web site you can read about the inspiration for this story, you can hear the author read the first chapter and you can click on a sample of the text to read it yourself.  I recommend you do all these things now!  Here is a video of Sharon reading the book so you can even see what she looks like.

This book reminded me of The Stranger by Chris van Allsburg and Ruby Holler also by Sharon Creech.

In a book world crowded with overwrought shock-fluff stories, 

this quiet novel sings.

Banjo and Ruby Red by Libby Gleeson illustrated by Freya Blackwood

Banjo is a chook dog and he takes his job very seriously.  I love the way Freya Blackwood, in Banjo and Ruby Red, captures his exuberance as he rounds up the recalcitrant chickens each evening.  "Except Ruby Red.  She sits on top of the woodheap and stares."

Her defiance seems to be a challenge for Banjo.  He perseveres, however, and eventually "Logs tumble. Sticks fly.  Ruby Red rises. Up, up, up, and then down into the chook shed, onto her perch."

One day Ruby Red goes missing.  Banjo goes for a long search through all the nooks and crannies of the farm and he finally locates her under the woolshed but she is hurt.  The reader might imagine she has been attacked by a fox or perhaps it is heat exhaustion.  It is at this point this lovely story takes a huge emotional leap.  Banjo gently "takes her in his mouth and carries her to his kennel."  This illustration reminded me of Fox by Margaret Wild (Fox is for a much older audience).

Look at the time change between the opening and closing end papers - dawn and dusk. For city kids it will be good to talk about words like woodheap, roost, chook shed, lambing shed and woolshed.  This book has been selected for our CBCA awards for 2014 and I think the youngest children will enjoy the warm heroism of Banjo and the onomatopoeic features of the text.  The feathers on the first page could be used for an art activity.

Here is the author web site and a page from the illustrator.

Other books about chickens (we have over 60) which are favourites in our school library include :
Albert and Lila by Ratik Schami
Bear and Chook by the sea by Lisa Shanahan
Bob by Tracey Campbell
John Joe and the big hen by Martin Waddell
Kip by Christina Booth
Louise, the adventures of a chicken by Kate DiCamillo
Peggy by Anna Walker
Queenie the Bantam by Bob Graham
Something wonderful by Jenny Nimmo
Wendy by Gus Gordon

Three times lucky by Sheila Turnage

The plot of Three Times Lucky is so complicated (and so rewarding) I am not going to say too much here. If you want to read every detail here is a long review.

I liked this book so much because Mo (Miss Moses LoBeau) is such a feisty, determined and loyal young girl.  She has her own life problems such as her ongoing search for her mother and the mystery of her arrival at Tupelo Landing but she is also determined to protect the people who love her especially when a murderer is on the loose.

"Trouble cruised into Tupelo Landing at exactly seven minutes past noon on Wednesday, the third of June, flashing a gold badge and driving a Chevy Impala the color of dirt.  Almost before the dust had settled, Mr Jesse turned up dead and life in Tupelo Landing turned upside down.  As far as I know, nobody expected it."

Here is a treat - you can see other possible covers by Gilbert Ford.  Finally here is an interview with the author.

Read the Google blurb: Rising sixth grader Miss Moses LoBeau lives in the small town of Tupelo Landing, NC, where everyone's business is fair game and no secret is sacred. She washed ashore in a hurricane eleven years ago, and she's been making waves ever since. Although Mo hopes someday to find her "upstream mother," she's found a home with the Colonel--a café owner with a forgotten past of his own--and Miss Lana, the fabulous café hostess. She will protect those she loves with every bit of her strong will and tough attitude. So when a lawman comes to town asking about a murder, Mo and her best friend, Dale Earnhardt Johnson III, set out to uncover the truth in hopes of saving the only family Mo has ever known.

If you enjoy books with strong characters you might also enjoy Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo and When you reach me by Rebecca Stead.

Turnage achieves a wickedly awesome tale of an 11-year-old girl with more spirit and gumption than folks twice her age. Mo LoBeau is destined to become a 

standout character in children’s fiction.

Song for a Scarlet Runner by Julie Hunt

The writing talent of Julie Hunt is certainly diverse.  She is the author of the CBCA award winning book The Coat and now we have this incredible fantasy Song for a scarlet Runner which is set in a world so beautifully crafted you will feel every bump in the road and every sound in the marshes. This title is certainly deserving of a place in the CBCA short list for 2014.

Julie Hunt takes a few pages to gently introduce the main character Peat and her sister Marlie who live an isolated life tending a small herd of cows their only visitor an aged relative who calls once a month with supplies. The Overhang, where the girls live, is between three roads - one to the Badlands, one into the marshes and one to Skerrick.

"I would never have wanted to live in Skerrick even if I had been allowed to, but Marlie would have gone back and lived there the next day if she could. She'd been born there - well we both had, but she'd lived there for six years, and I'd only been there for a day."

As the girls anxiously await the visit of Wim, a stranger arrives. His language and appearance are foreign and he seems to have some power over their animals.  Marlie is suspicious but Peat is curious.  He does not stay long and when he passes by again he does not stop. It is clear he has been beaten.  Shortly after this Wim finally arrives but she has bad news.  The stranger has infected the people of Skerrick with a deadly disease and their leader (estranged father of Peat and Marlie) is out for revenge.  This means Peat must flee her home and the only security she has ever know. With two of the paths blocked she heads to the Badlands then later to the marshes and to a destiny she could never imagine. Along the way she will make friends with some remarkable people and animals including the Sleek you see on the front cover.

Here is a short video trailer. Here are some teaching notes.  You might like to dip into the author web site. If you need to read more of the plot here is a detailed review.  Here is an interview with Julie Hunt.

If you enjoy Song for a Scarlet Runner you should also look for the Little Fur books by Isobel Carmody, Wildwood by Colin Meloy, The Stonekeeper's daughter by Linda McNabb or Tajore Arkle by Jackie French. All of these have a similar sense of place, survival, trust and friendship.

King Pig by Nick Bland

The most interesting character in King Pig has no name and almost no voice. If you look very closely you will see the tip of his little jester hat just above the grass as he walks behind his King.  On the next page we see a little more of the King with his sheep crook and a tiny corner of the page you can see that same hat some distance back from the King who is approaching his castle.  On the first page all is revealed.  The King has forced his subjects - the sheep - to make  a bridge from planks strapped to their backs.  This servitude combined with the haughty demeanor of King Pig himself certainly sets the tone and relationship between King Pig and his subjects - the sheep.  Our tiny hero is also a sheep but he will be allowed to enter the castle contrary to the sign above the castle door.

Once inside our faithful little friend prepares a delicious hot dog lunch for his master but King Pig is far more interested in those sheep who never seem to listen and worse who seem to make fun of him.  King Pig is a bully so he commands the sheep to wash his castle in the middle of the night "but he just couldn't make them like him."

Just like the Emperor in the famous fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, King Pig decides he needs new and fancier clothes. Again it is the middle of the night but he summons the sheep and puts them to work dyeing and knitting the new fancy clothes.  Yes the new outfits are indeed spectacular but still his subjects are not impressed.  "What do I have to do to make you like me!"

King Pig does feel remorse but the ending is certainly open to further discussion.  Make sure you take time to notice the hats, the topiary trees outside the castle, the tent used as a shelter by the freezing sheep and the television antenna on top of the castle.

Here are some teaching notes.  You might also discuss the double meaning in the title.  Here is a detailed review.  This book has been short listed for our CBCA Awards for 2014.

The Swap by Jan Ormerod illustrated by Andrew Joyner

Caroline Crocodile is jealous of her new baby brother.  He seems to get all the attention she craves from Mama Crocodile.  What can Caroline do?  On a shopping trip to return a newly purchased hat Caroline sees a solution to her problem.  There is a baby shop in the street.  Why not swap this brother for a different one?

"This baby brother is not exactly what I want,' she said. 'It's smelly and it dribbles, it's no fun, and it takes up all the room on my mama's lap.  I want to swap it for one that is just right."

While The Swap is not a new story and perhaps not even a very surprising one it is told with such joy and the illustrations are so much fun.  I do hope this book wins an award from the CBCA for 2014.

Make sure you go back and look at all the little extras such as number plates, the photos in the house, the sale sign outside the bookshop, the mouse and his motorcycle and the way mama's new hat exactly matches Caroline's pretty yellow dress.

After reading The Swap you might also enjoy some other books about new babies, siblings and jealousy such as  The very worst Monster by Pat Hutchins, Another Brother by Mathew Cordell, Noisy Nora by Rosemary Wells, Rosie and Tortoise by Margaret Wild or Julius the Baby of the world by Kevin Henkes.

You might like to read this review by Louise Pfanner or this one from The Bottom Shelf.