New fav dessert

Image courtesy of G-ma's bakery

 

Chocolate Caramel Crackers

Will in Scarlet by Matthew Cody

Image courtesy of Netgalley.com

 

Will in Scarlet

by Matthew Cody

 

Having thoroughly enjoyed Powerless by Matthew Cody, I was excited to read Will in Scarlet.  I wasn't disappointed!  Cody has an effortless writing style that propels the reader through his characters' adventures.  The Will of Will in Scarlet is a young boy who suddenly has to become a man when his father is off to war his castle is raided, his uncle killed before his eyes and his mother is whisked off to safety to her homeland.
 

The adventures are what will appeal to young boys, but the story is what captivated this old librarian.  Will must chose between revenge and friendship.  I'm happy to say that he chooses wisely.  Young readers will see themselves in some of the situation that Will encounters.  Although this story is set in medieval England, students today will easily recognize having to choose between letting their anger get the best of them and sticking up for what is right and good. 

I think that Will in Scarlet would make a good addition to a school library, primarily for grades five through seven.  Teachers might be able to make some curriculum connections with the story being a re-telling of the classic Robin Hood. 

 



far far away

far far away
by Tom McNeal

The cover of far far away will draw you in, but the story will keep you there.  A smart homage to the Grimm Brothers, far far away makes a nod to several of their cautionary tales.  Perhaps the most notable of those tales is Hansel and Gretel.

Our main character, Jeremy Johnson Johnson, is a shy, fairy-tale-loving child whose mother abandoned him literally and whose father is just not available. He is sole owner of the Two Book Bookstore, a retail facility that has one publication, his grandfather's autobiography.  Did I mention that Jeremy is also haunted (in a good way) by the ghost of Jacob Grimm?  Jeremy is befriended by the beautiful and adventurous Ginger, and it's Ginger's shenanigans that cast them in their own fairy tale.
Although I would have like McNeal to have connected this story more to Jeremy's grandfather's autobiography and his mother's disappearance, this rich narrative had me holding my breath to the bitter end.
The situations that McNeal puts his young characters in allows for detailed character development which made me feel like I really knew Jeremy, Ginger and their supporting cast.  I could practically small the baking Princecakes and the pine trees in the woods with his vivid setting of the scenery.
Although I'm not sure that today's middle school child will find these small town characters familiar, I would consider far far away to be a modern day fair tale with lessons for many middle school children.