Though the title implies it’s a Christmas story, it’s really a story about the challenges of moving far away and adjusting to a new culture.  The story opens as Eduardo and his family leave their village to move to a new home, where football means something different.  As he wonders when he will ever feel at home, his uncle gives him some signs of the passing of time to watch for as they wait for Christmas: hills turning the color of the sun, pumpkins smiling, and trees riding on cars.  Though these ideas seem strange to Eduardo, he does indeed see each come to pass, indicating it is finally time to open his treasured Christmas box, containing the nativity figures he carved with his grandfather.  Connecting his past traditions with his present location finally helps him feel at home.

A beautiful picture book, recounting a little know, but important bit of American slavery history, this story tells the tale of the beginning of the end of slavery in Massachusetts.  During the days of the American Revolution, Mumbet worked as a “servant for life,” in the home of Colonel John Ashley of Berkshire County, Massachusetts.  In the course of her work, she was able to overhear the words of the declaration of independence and the new Massachusetts Constitution, and was able to turn the words of freedom and equality on her own situation, suing for and winning her freedom.  According to the author’s note in the back, two years after Mumbet won her freedom, slavery was declared unconstitutional throughout Massachusetts, and freedom was granted to all slaves in the state.

It’s a wordless book, showing a young girl picking up a single line and wiggling it into assorted shapes from her imagination.  I know the artwork is meant to look child-like, but it really just looks kinda sloppy and gray and unattractive, with lots of smudge marks across the whole thing.

A cute story of cooperation, it’s got a lot of repetition in the text, which gives it the flavor of a folk tale that might have been handed down by word of mouth, and makes it good for beginning readers.  It tells of a group of animals who are trying to reach the moon to take a taste:  One animal after another finds it just out of reach, and calls upon another animal to climb on it’s back, until there is a whole tower of animals.  The moon, thinking it is a game, keeps moving out of reach, until it grows bored with the game and decides the small mouse at the top of the tower can’t do too much damage, so he lets the mouse take a taste, which he shares with the others.  A fish who watches the whole thing can’t imagine why the others are all working so hard to reach the moon in the sky, when there’s another so much handier in the water.

Cat Fanciers here is a relatively new breed of cat for you- Singapura.  They are the “smallest pedigree cat breed. . This breed was first recognized by the Cat Fanciers’ Association in 1982.

This breed is highly affectionate, wanting for constant attention or interaction, and highly intelligent. Singapuras are sepia agouti in color, quiet voiced, large eared, and have almond-shaped eyes. They are climbers and active.

Facts about the season of Autumn in relationship to sun are presented in an uninteresting way.

The hand-drawn childlike illustrations suggest a pre-school audience , but the vocabulary is for upper primary to intermediate readers.

There are basically two different types of people:  those who love cats or those who love dogs.  In The Pet Wars Otto and his older sister Lexi are at war with one another.  Lexi wants a cat and Otto wants a dog.  Their mother decides that whomever earns $500 first will get to buy the pet of their choice.  Lexi is pretty bright, not only at school, but very clever as well.  She starts up a tutoring program with the help of her teachers who recommend to failing students that they hire Lexi to help them study and before long she is raking in the money.  Otto is totally off the wall and really cannot come up with a moneymaking plan.  All of his ideas cost him money and are actually very funny (from an adult perspective–I’m not sure if kids will get the humor).  Until he hits on a dog-walking business.  Now, this would be a terrific business for him if he were somewhat organized and responsible.  But Otto is the total opposite of Lexi and he is always scrambling to make it right.  This is a story that kids who love pets will love regardless if they are a cat lover or a dog lover.

I had a dog for over 16 years and she was as much a part of our family as my kids.  I lost her four years ago and I still mourn her.  In this story, which takes place in Seattle during WWII, Hobie is 12 years old and has a German Shepherd named Duke.  Hobie’s father is overseas fighting in the war and it seemed that although the war was halfway around the world, it still affected Americans deeply.  They sacrificed much to help their soldiers and families changed.  The same can’t be said for today’s wars as many of us don’t even think about the fighting going on in the Middle East.  During WWII an organization called Dogs for Defense was formed in which Americans donated their pet dogs to the cause.  The dogs were sent overseas to help the soldiers.  Currently dogs are trained and used for sniffing out explosives and drugs, but they aren’t acquired by donation of an American.  During WWII dogs actually served in combat by sniffing out bombs and using their loyalty to help soldiers.  In this story, Hobie struggles with the decision as to whether or not to send Duke to war.  It seemed as though everyone he encountered was doing something to help the war effort and it seemed almost traitorous not to do something.  He agreed to send Duke in the hopes it would help to get his father back safe.  Thankfully Duke returned safe and sound, a hero.  I don’t think I could have been as brave as Hobie.

Just opposite the dedication page, illustrator Chuck Groenink has us looking down upon an old typewriter, possibly from the 1920s or 1930s , with a typed letter explaining what a haiku is and how Santa loves them. Thus begins Santa’s own collection of haiku, “one for each day from December 1 to December 25, and catch a glimpse of life at the North Pole.”

December 7’s might be my personal favorite:

Navigating by

the stars, Comet and I drag

this year’s tree homeward.

Each of the 25 haiku is nestled in a muted sepia tinted illustration ( with some navy blue, red, and green) with a touch of Scandinavian influence and nostalgia.

An intelligent psychological thriller awaits a reader who opens the pages into The Ruining by Anna Collomore.  A Gatsby-esq yellow mansion adorns the cover of the book, eluding to the classic tale of love and loss — the title alludes to the same.  The question is, who will be ruined?   Readers first meet Annie.  Annie wants to leave all of her past behind.  At 18, she’s escaping from her home to become a nanny for a wealthy family in the San Francisco Bay area.  The Cohens look like they have it all.  Two young children, lucrative careers, and now a live-in nanny.  Annie’s primary job is to care for Zoe, the 3 year old daughter.  She is also getting to go to college on the Cohen’s dime.  Libby Cohen begins their relationship as wanting to be a confidant and friend to Annie.  But Annie’s little mistakes here and there allow Collomore to slowly peel away Libby’s fantastic life and show her to be the manipulator she is proud to be.  Poor Annie is the brunt of pent up emotion and she doesn’t know why.  Further literary connections to a classic feminist short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” foreshadow Annie’s eventual mental breakdown at the hands of Libby.  But Collomore has other twists and turns along the way that make this story one that students will want to read in one sitting.  There’s a love interest for Annie, as well as two back-stories that pressure both of the main characters and create tension throughout.  There are times when a chapter will be confusing and fast paced, as an attempt to mimick the chaos going on in Annie’s mind at the hands of Libby.  The only frustration lies in how fast and clean the ending comes.  It doesn’t follow the theme of distrust developed throughout the book and is a bit of a let down, even though it has a happy ending.  A better ending would have reflected Annie’s growth while still acknowledging that she’ll never fully be able to trust herself or others for a very long time.  Still, I believe this book will be passed from girlfriend to girlfriend as a great read.  Recommended for high school and public libraries.