Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Tan, Shaun. Tales from Outer Suburbia. New York: Scholastic Press, 2008.

2. PLOT SUMMARY

From Shaun Tan's website: "Tales from Outer Suburbia is an anthology of fifteen very short illustrated stories. Each one is about a strange situation or event that occurs in an otherwise familiar suburban world; a visit from a nut-sized foreign exchange student, a sea creature on someone’s front lawn, a new room discovered in a family home, a sinister machine installed in a park, a wise buffalo that lives in a vacant lot. The real subject of each story is how ordinary people react to these incidents, and how their significance is discovered, ignored or simply misunderstood."


3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

There is not one central character in the book. Each story has a unique and distinct character. The illustrations are dark. The creepy and strange artwork supports the text in aiding with the imagination of this surreal world. The pictures are humorous and otherworldly. The graphic novel is not what I expected. My impression of a graphic novel is an extremely long comic book. This book is more like a grown up picture book than a comic book. The text passages are not short paragraphs, but complete fantasy short stories that can span a few pages with pictures there to aid in the storytelling.


4. REVIEW EXCERPTS

 Ditmar Award for Best Artwork 2009

Matt Berman from Common Sense Media: "And now for something completely different -- again. With his previous book, The Arrival, author/illustrator created something new: a wordless graphic novel dense with visual metaphor."

David Fickling from The Guardian: "It's an extraordinary image, surprising yet inevitable, resonant with all sorts of metaphorical possibilities. And yet it's beautifully grounded in the rivalry of sibling hood, in which winning or losing an argument with your brother counts for more than discovering that the world really is flat after all. That kind of moment is what Shaun Tan excels at, and that's what makes this collection so charming, and so memorable."


5. CONNECTIONS

Other Books by Shaun Tan:
The Playground    ISBN 9783037644546
The Lost Thing     ISBN 978171632354
The Red Tree     ISBN 9780734401724
The Arrival     ISBN 9780439895293

Lesson Plans:The publisher, Scholastic Inc., has a great resource lesson plans. All of the plans located on this site are for 6th grade students and up. Find it here: Scholastic Plan

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Stiefvater, Maggie. The Scorpio Races. New York: Scholastic Press, 2011.

2. PLOT SUMMARY

From Scholastic Press: "It happens every November — the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line. Some riders live; many die. At nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He’s a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them.

Puck Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn’t given her much of a chance. So she enters the competition — the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen."


3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

This book is a magical and bloody ride. The two main characters begin to circle each others stories like water flowing down the drain. The island described is small, with the only strangers described are the tourists. Despite the size, Puck and Sean have not ever met or heard of each other. Both are enduring a dangerous training that is guaranteed to end in blood. As the days draws closer to the race, the pair also draw closer to each other. Each character is a mirror image of the other. Both Sean and Puck are smart and strong willed. The characters have a great love for the animals in their care. The text expertly describes the experience of riding a horse and the experience of training a horse for a race. The texts switch from Puck and Sean's point of view. I enjoyed that the romance aspects of the book were barely a side note in the greater adventure of the race. The book holds a strong stance of women's empowerment in male dominated sports, like equestrians. The book is set just before women's suffrage movement in America. The island of Thisby is close to "the main land" of England. There is an American character that comes to visit the island for the races that shows the financial differences between the tourists and the island locals.
The Scorpio Races was an exciting read that was difficult to put down. Once the book ended, I immediately looked for the next book. Sadly, Stiefvater has no current plans to write a sequel... but we can always hope. :)

4. REVIEW EXCERPTS

New York Times Notable Children's Book 2011

Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year 2011

School Library Journal Best Books of the Year 2011

A Horn Book Fanfare Book 2011

A Kirkus Reviews Best Teen Book 2011

ALA Notable Children's Books 2011

Michael L. Printz Honor Book 2012

Jennifer Hubert Swan from The New York Times: "Stiefvater not only steps out of the young adult fantasy box with The Scorpio Races but crushes it with pounding hooves... If The Scorpio Races sounds like nothing you've ever read, that's because it is."

From Publisher's Weekly: "A study of courage and loyalty tested... utterly compelling."

From Horn Book: "Stiefvater's novel, inspired by Manx, Irish, and Scottish legends of beautiful but deadly fairy horses that emerge from the sea each autumn, begins rivetingly and gets better and better... all the way, in fact, to best."

From Kirkus Reviews: "Masterful... like nothing else out there now."

From Booklist: "A book with cross-appeal to lovers of fantasy, horse stories, romance, and action-adventure, this seems to have a shot at being a YA blockbuster."

From School Library Journal: "Upon the sea-battered and wind-swept isle of Thisby, fall brings the famed and feared capaill uisce, or water horses, and with them, death... The author takes great liberties with the Celtic myth, but the result is marvelous."

Darienne Stewart from Common Sense Media: "Maggie Stiefvater serves up a terrific mix of action, magic, and romance that defies neat categorization into any one genre."


5. CONNECTIONS

Other Books by Maggie Stiefvater:
Shiver      ISBN 9781741697551
Linger     ISBN 9788184776188

Forever      ISBN 9788817058780

Sinner     ISBN 9781407145754

Lesson Plans:
The above link is also a great lesson plan from the publisher's. See it again here: Discussion Guide

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Gaiman, Neil. The Graveyard Book. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 2008.

2. PLOT SUMMARY

Nobody Owens is a normal boy, except that he has been raised by ghosts in a graveyard after his family is brutally murdered.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Neil Gaiman first caught my eye with his Sandman comic books.  It was not until researching this book that I realized that I was already a secret fan of his work. I have seen may of the movie adaptions of his work. I have always been attracted to the strange and creepy, but I do not like to be scared. The Graveyard Book is very humorous and smart. Although there are moments of suspense and adventure, it is not a horror novel. The fantasy leads the reader from the boy being found as a toddler to growing up to adulthood in a graveyard. The book is full of vibrant and lively characters... for the dead. The values and humor of the ghosts span across generations and centuries. As Edinger stated in her New York Times article in 2009, Gaiman writes with a sophistication without talking down to children. The ghosts all have a unique sense of humor and emanate history with every interaction with Nobody Owens. The morbid contents of the books are not depressing, but instead intriguing. I believe that both young audiences and old will feel a fascination for the inside down world of the graveyard within the world of the dead. I chose to listen to the book as it was orally read by the author, Neil Gaiman. I believe the mixture of a well written story told by a charismatic author made the story come to life even more. I know that the base of the story is a complete fabrication, but the dead seemed so alive to me. The troubles of this new kind of family kept me listening for more. Gaiman was able to bring the characters to life with different voices and accents.


4. REVIEW EXCERPTS

Cybils Awards for Fantasy and Science Fiction 2008

John Newbery Medal 2009

Hugo Award for Best Novel 2009

Locus Award for Best Young-Adult Book 2009

Carnegie Medal 2010

SFX Award for Best Novel 2010

Matt Berman from Common Sense Media: "It may seem odd to say it, but this is a lovely book. Suspenseful, yes, and a bit creepy, but lovely nonetheless."

Monica Edinger from The New York Times: "The story’s language and humor are sophisticated, but Gaiman respects his readers and trusts them to understand."


5. CONNECTIONS

Other Books by Neil Gaiman:
The Sandman     ISBN  9781840231649
Neverwhere     ISBN 9783641038649
American Gods     ISBN 9780061122910

Stardust     ISBN 9789756902509

Coraline     ISBN 9780439576888

Good Omens     ISBN 9781473214712
The Ocean at the End of the Lane     ISBN 9782846268035

Lesson Plans:

Novel Ties offers an in depth lesson plan for the novel. I love anything that gives me worksheets that are ready to print! Work smart, not harder! Find it here: Lesson Plan

Harper Collins, the publisher, has a YouTube.com page called "Harper Kids." They have all eight chapters of the book read by Neil Gaiman, the author. Gaiman has an amazing talent in oral story telling. A separate link can be found Harper Kids