Rockin' With Grams Pick of the Month

For today's Marvelous Middle Grade Monday post I'm sharing my Rockin' With Grams pick of the Month.


This book is for older middle graders.
I chose it for several reasons. The emphasis on science and math. I also appreciated the themes of race and bullying. This book could provide many opportunities for generational connections.

Throughout the book are opportunities to explain how things work and why. It also encourages discussions on science and math application. The narrative also shows a girl in a nontraditional role. I believe it's important for children to understand that all the technology we now enjoy came about because someone imagined it, built it and tried it. Because they were willing to take a risk.

This months pick is the Fever Crumb series by Phillip Reeves. A wonderful introduction to the science fiction and steampunk genre.

About The Book: Fever Crumb is a girl who has been adopted and raised by Dr. Crumb, a member of the order of Engineers, where she serves as apprentice. In a time and place where women are not seen as reasonable creatures, Fever is an anomaly, the only female to serve in the order.
Soon though, she must say goodbye to Dr. Crumb - nearly the only person she's ever known - to assist archeologist Kit Solent on a top-secret project. As her work begins, Fever is plagued by memories that are not her own and Kit seems to have a particular interest in finding out what they are. Fever has also been singled out by city-dwellers who declare her part Scriven.

The Scriveners, not human, ruled the city some years ago but were hunted down and killed in a victorious uprising by the people. If there are any remaining Scriven, they are to be eliminated.

All Fever knows is what she's been told: that she is an orphan. Is Fever a Scriven? Whose memories does she hold? Is the mystery of Fever, adopted daughter of Dr. Crumb, the key to the secret that lies at the heart of London?

Haunting, arresting, and astonishingly original, Fever Crumb will delight and surprise readers at every fast-paced, breathless turn. —Goodreads

What Others Have Said: "Fever Crumb is a terrific read, a sci-fi Dickens, full of orphans, villains, chases and mysteries. There's even a balloon-chase climax. I worry that if you read it before reading the others, you'll miss out on the electric shock I had when I was plunged straight into that jungle of predator cities. Like The Magician's Nephew, or the story of how your parents met, it's a beginning better told at the end." —The Guardian

"Reeve has crafted a swiftly paced story worthy of standing alone, both in terms of where Fever’s adventure may lead her next as well as the connections to the Hungry City Chronicles." —Booklist

Bloggers Weigh In: 

Death, Books and Tea

Girls In The Stacks

Dodging Commas

Enrichment Fun: 

• Create an invention together using things from around the house.
• Draw a map of an imaginary land.
• What creature could live in the world, draw or paint them. 
• Explore electrical circuits and other science things.

About The Author: 

Philip Reeve

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Blog

Tumbler

Who: Philip has been writing stories since he was five, but Mortal Engines was the first to be published. Mortal Engines defies easy categorisation. It is a gripping adventure story set in an inspired fantasy world, where moving cities trawl the globe. A magical and unique read, it immediately caught the attention of reviewers and book buyers. It was shortlisted for several awards and was the Gold Award winner at the Nestle Smarties Book Prize 2002 and the winner of the Blue Peter Book of the Year at the 2003 Awards.

Since Mortal Engines's release in 2001, followers and fans of the series have been growing exponentially. Philip Reeve is now known as one of the leading writers for young adults, with his every book achieving huge sales, glowing review coverage and award nominations. —Scholastic

Other books in the series:

MMGM: Post Apocalyptic Moby Dick? Railsea by China Meilville

About The Book: On board the moletrain Medes, Sham Yes ap Soorap watches in awe as he witnesses his first moldywarpe hunt: the giant mole bursting from the earth, the harpoonists targeting their prey, the battle resulting in one’s death and the other’s glory. But no matter how spectacular it is, Sham can't shake the sense that there is more to life than traveling the endless rails of the railsea–even if his captain can think only of the hunt for the ivory-coloured mole she’s been chasing since it took her arm all those years ago. When they come across a wrecked train, at first it's a welcome distraction. But what Sham finds in the derelict—a series of pictures hinting at something, somewhere, that should be impossible—leads to considerably more than he'd bargained for. Soon he's hunted on all sides, by pirates, trainsfolk, monsters and salvage-scrabblers. And it might not be just Sham's life that's about to change. It could be the whole of the railsea. -Goodreads

First Line: This is the story of a bloodstained boy.

One Great Passage: This particular passage is representative of the wonderful aliteration, the unique format and action packed sentences that Railesea offers:  "& if," he said,  his voice was suddenly chill & bony & metal like the scuttling of a very bad insect, "you'd like not to be cut open & dangled over the side of the train & dragged along with your legs on the ground spilling blood everything under the flatearth can smell while we go slow enough for long, long miles that they can rise eat you from the toes up from the inside out, you know what you could do for me Sham?" -Elrish, the pirate captain. (236) (Seriously, what 11-13 year-old wouldn't love that!)

What Others Are Saying: "While the beasts may be a bit too intense for those under 12, Railsea is a novel fantasy-loving teens will want to put on the bookshelf alongside the likes of Ender's Game, yet it will also easily satiate Miéville's adult fan base.
      He gives all readers a lot to dig into here, be it emotional drama, Godzilla-esque monster carnage, or the high adventure that comes only with riding the rails." -USA Today

"If Steampunk was The City of Lost Children, then SalvagePunk is supposed to be moreMad Max. It's the process of recycling, repurposing, "upcycling" old technologies. In place of Steampunk's romanticization of the past, SalvagePunk is an "act of radical forgetting," according to Miéville. It would be as though, in the movie Hugo, the eponymous character, instead of meticulously repairing the clockwork automaton, had decided to remodel it into an answering machine." -L.A. Review

What I Thought: As some of you know I am on kind of a Steampunk kick so when I saw this I couldn't pass up the chance to review it on Netgalley. The format threw me at first, which it will for any middle grade reader that isn't capably fluent. When I happened upon an Audio.com version, I jumped and was so glad I did. This is a book you want to hear the alliteration, the tempo and the beat. I then added the hardback book and was able to rewind and review passages, study conventions—what can I say—I'm a writer. Trains, giant moles monsters, strange creatures, pirates and mystery, this has it all. Sham is a great character and any teen will relate, possibly even an advanced Tween, to his quest for adventure, his struggle with difficult choices and his quick wit. If you love, as I do, watching a writer build a new world. It also helps that my degree was in communication and Mieville is always twisting and stretching language, what people say and what they mean is often two very different things. 

About The Author: 

China Mieville

Website

Facebook

Who: China Miéville is one of the most important writers working in Britain today. The author of ten novels of "weird fiction"—as well as short stories, comics, non-fiction, a roleplaying game, and academic writing on law and ideology—his 2011 science fiction novel Embassytown was acclaimed by Ursula K le Guin, among others, as "a fully achieved work of art" busy "bringing the craft of science fiction out of the backwaters". -Interview on Boing Boing

How: In terms of the genesis of the book, I can't remember precisely. I think it had an epiphanic moment. But what I'm aware of is a couple of things. One is the very, very silly joke that I've always liked burrowing monsters—Tremors, Burrowers—and I've always loved Moby Dick, and at some point I was amused by the idea of the ridiculous semiotic pun of thinking of Moby Dick but with giant moles instead of whales.  -Interview on Boing Boing

His other book for teens:

What is Un Lun Dun?  It is London through the looking glass, an urban Wonderland of strange delights where all the lost and broken things of London end up . . . and some of its lost and broken people, too–including Brokkenbroll, boss of the broken umbrellas; Obaday Fing, a tailor whose head is an enormous pin-cushion, and an empty milk carton called Curdle. See more here.

Question Of The Day: Have you written anything that turns an existing story on it's head or stretches the envelope? 

Commenters are automatically entered into the August 31st giveaway.

Please stop by and check out some of the other MMGM bloggers in my sidebar!

August Giveaway Prizes: Since the drawing occurs on my birthday I am giving lots of gifts and having lots of winners...

Grand Prize: Choice of any two books I have reviewed so far this year, 3/4 pound bag of Solace Coffee,  Madison Morgan: When Dogs Blog in paperback and Project Madison swag.

First Prize: Two Debbie Macomber books, 3/4 pound bag of Solace Coffee, Madison Morgan: When Dogs Blog in paperback, Project Madison swag.

Second Prize: No Passengers Beyond This Point by Gennifer Choldenko, 3/4 pound bag of Solace Coffee, Madison Morgan: When Dogs Blog in paperback, Project Madison swag.

There will be many more winners, more books, more coffee and more Project Madison Swag so stay tuned. [If you tweet this and paste the tweet url in your comment you will get two entries!]

Later This Week: Interview with Julie Bourbeau author of The Wednesdays. 

Next week MMGM Back to Classics: Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech

MMGM: Audio Book Review of Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Okay, so before you go all glassy-eyed thinking I'm way behind on the times—which, let's face it, sometimes I am—humor me a bit and let me explain what's up. I am going ga-ga over Steampunk! How cool is it to mix historical revisionist fiction and science fiction in one story. It's way cool and I am trying to get my hands on every clockwork-gear-shifing-steam-puffing story I can get. If you have any recommendations, by all means lay it on me. (I'm even thinking of hitting the antique flee markets and creating some awesome Steampunky-looking art for myself.) Since my list is humungous I am using audio books to digest it faster. So here is my first audio book review and it won't be my last!

Speaking of audio...if you haven't been over to download the FREE chapter one podcast of my new book, Madison Morgan: When Dogs Blog be sure to check it out and let me know what you think!

The Story: It is the cusp of World War I, and all the European powers are arming up. The Austro-Hungarians and Germans have their Clankers, steam-driven iron machines loaded with guns and ammunition. The British Darwinists employ fabricated animals as their weaponry. The Leviathan is a living airship, the most formidable airbeast in the skies of Europe. Aleksandar Ferdinand, prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, is on the run. His own people have turned on him. His title is worthless. All he has is a battle-torn Stormwalker and a loyal crew of men. Deryn Sharp is a commoner, a girl disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. She's a brilliant airman. But her secret is in constant danger of being discovered. With the Great War brewing, Alek's and Deryn's paths cross in the most unexpected way—taking them both aboard the Leviathan on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure. One that will change both their lives forever.

The Voice: Alan Cumming             



What I Thought: Loved it. Talk about incredible world building. Some have criticized it for being to laborious in the creating the world, too much description. I could see some Tweens and teens getting bogged down a bit, especially if they are reading it to themselves. Alan Cumming makes everything sound so much more interesting with his accents and dramatic voices. I'm looking forward to heading into the next two sequels, also narrated by the actor. If you're looking for a great, out of the world adventure with great characters this is a great series to get lost in. 

About The Author: Scott Westerfeld

Website


Born: May 5, 1963
Dallas, Texas, USA

Family: Pamela, mother, from West, Texas
Lloyd, father, from Crawford, Texas (the same town where George W. Bush bought his fake ranch in 2000)
Wendy and Jackie, sisters (both older)

Married writer Justine Larbalestier in 2001.
No kids; no plans for kids.

We split our time between Sydney, Australia and New York City. (Summers only, thank you.)

Grew up in Texas, California, Connecticut
My dad was a computer programmer in the 1960s-70s, when computers were as big as a house and came with a bunch of people to make them do stuff. He worked for Univac in its various forms, and we lived in Houston for the Apollo missions, in California for Boeing, and Connecticut for submarines, etc.

Education: Arts Magnet High School, Dallas, Texas
Vassar Philosophy BA in 1985
New York University, graduate work in Performance Studies 1987-8

Favorites
Writer: Samuel R. Delany
Book: I don’t know, okay? There are millions of them, you know.
But as a kid: Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
Movie: Not as many as books, but I still don’t know. I think these kinds of questions are silly.

Jobs held
factory worker (making lead soldiers!)
substitute teacher
textbook editor
software designer
ghost writer

Six Interesting Facts
1. I just bought a telescope (80mm primary)
2. I am a vegetarian (for family reasons, mostly)
3. My book So Yesterday has been translated into Slovene.
4. Languages studied: Japanese, Spanish, and Latin. Languages fluent in: English.
5. Justine and I are bisummeral, moving between the hemispheres to avoid the deadly scourge of winter.
6. I never wear jeans. Never!

Sports
Basketball—we have season tickets to the WNBA’s Liberty, second row
Cricket—newly discovered in Australia
Tennis—played semi-competently , but not often enough

Food
Mexican and Thai are my favorite
Italian is also quite excellent
Tetsuya’s is my favorite restaurant in Sydney, indeed, in the world
Otto is my current fave in NYC
Favorite meal: breakfast
Breakfast places of note
Sydney: Hopscotch, Single Origin
Dunedin: Bean Scene
New York: La Palapa, Counter
San Miguel de Allende: Nirvana

-From the website




Have you been on a Zeppelin?  

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: The Clockwork Three by Matthew J. Kirby

About The Book:

      Three ordinary children are brought together by extraordinary events. . .
     Giuseppe is an orphaned street musician from Italy, who was sold by his uncle to work as a slave for an evil padrone in the U.S. But when a mysterious green violin enters his life he begins to imagine a life of freedom.
     Hannah is a soft-hearted, strong-willed girl from the tenements, who supports her family as a hotel maid when tragedy strikes and her father can no longer work. She learns about a hidden treasure, which she knows will save her family -- if she can find it.
     And Frederick, the talented and intense clockmaker's apprentice, seeks to learn the truth about his mother while trying to forget the nightmares of the orphanage where she left him. He is determined to build an automaton and enter the clockmakers' guild -- if only he can create a working head.
     Together, the three discover they have phenomenal power when they team up as friends, and that they can overcome even the darkest of fears. -Goodreads

What Kids Are Saying:

"One of the things I really loved was how all the characters meet up in different parts of the book.  The book was told from all three of them in different chapters, and they would all see or meet each other a different times.  I really liked that."  -Bransen on Reading Tween

What Others Are Saying:

"...debut novelist Kirby has assembled all the ingredients for a rousing adventure, which he delivers with rich, transporting prose. Mixing fantasy and steampunk elements with subtle urban mythology, Kirby's immersive story can be read as a modern morality play or a satisfying stand-alone tale." --Publishers Weekly

What I Thought: 

I chose this book because the reviews said it was one of the few middle school steampunk stories out there. The cover itself is incredible looking. Kirby did an extraordinary job of switching the point of view, giving each character their own chapters. I have read books that have done this and if it isn't done well it can really mess up a good plot. Timing is everything. I really liked how he showed them crossing paths but not actually meeting. Each character had his own conflict to resolve and each of them sacrificed their own quest to assist the others. Friendship, compassion and honesty are all weaved into an exciting journey.

About The Author:

Website

Blog
Agent: Stephen Frazer
The Jennifer DeChiara Literary Agency

BIO:
"I was born in Utah, but with a father in the Navy I’ve lived all over – Rhode Island, Maryland, California (twice), and Hawaii.  As an undergraduate at Utah State University, I majored in history.  I then went on to earn M.S and Ed.S degrees in school psychology.  I live in Utah with my wife where I work as a school psychologist for a large district.
I also write, something I’ve done since I was a kid.  In high school I discovered comic books, and I wrote and illustrated one of my own.  I produced a single issue and photocopied it at Kinkos.  I stopped writing for a while after that, until later in college.  Back then I wrote mostly science fiction and fantasy short stories, and a little bit of poetry.  I’ve continued to write short stories (see issue 11), but my passion is for middle grade and young adult novels." -Kirbside

Upcoming Release On October 1, 2011


I can't wait!

Take A Risk Tuesday: Read Outside Your Comfort Zone

In college I took a film class on Western's and Horror, my two least favorite genres.  When the instructor juxtaposed  Carrie, Psycho and Videodrome  against Shane, Unforgiven and The Ballad of Little Joe, I was well out of my comfort zone. This happened again when I chose a class on popular culture and found myself learning about the origins of Punk and Rap music. Was I converted? Did I find myself dying my hair hot pink and saying, yo yo sista? Do I now thirst for Zombies and John Wayne? 

Rest assured I have retained my own tastes, I'm still me. I am a different me, more open to other points of view and I celebrate the diversity that is our human race. I love that when I look around I don't see homogenized versions of myself. My writing is better for it, at least I think so. 

So, today I challenge you to choose your next book from out of your normal genre of choice. If you've never read a romance, read one. Try some steampunk. (I just learned what this is!)

How far will you step out of your comfort zone?