On My Honor

By Marion Dane Bauer

(1955, 1986) ISBN 0899194397

One can only hope that young readers, especially tweens, will take time to glance through this book and then proceed to travel through the pages of this interesting tale.  The subject is a serious one and the lesson learned while achieved is valuable for both the book’s characters as well as for readers who will learn it in this second hand fashion.  What is learned with this reading may actually serve as a lifesaver in the future.

After promising his father, on his honor, to refrain from risky behavior Joel proceeds to fall under the influence of a risk taker and tragedy strikes.  This aspect of the story is of course heartbreaking but its telling can be invaluable for young readers of this story and readers will see Joel going through the grieving process.  Joel starts out making much use of rationalization to a great extent as he tries initially to cope with the consequences of his life choices.  However when Joel does decide to reach out, although in anger, and by blaming another person, does resolution begin to be reached.  This story also demonstrates clearly the great value of one’s family in coping with the pain of loss.

The Newbery Honor (1955) award was well deserved.

And Then There Were None

By Agatha Christie

(1939) ISBN 0312330871

This is one of the most intriguing of the books that have the fortune to be included in the mystery genre.  Written by one of the major masters of mystery books, this tale has been presented on the stage and on the screen.  The most satisfying means of enjoying this story however is in the reading of it.

Reading the recounting of how ten people invited to an island by an unknown host are then killed one by one, by person or persons unknown, and with each upcoming death, all the remaining guests, by now fully unwilling guests, the level of terror climbs higher and higher.  It does not seem to matter what means the guests take to protect themselves.  They can’t seem to hide or to protect themselves and forming alliances with one another is totally out the question inasmuch as no one can conjure up sufficient trust of one another.  This book truly presents the ultimate in pleasurable reading for hardcore mystery genre aficionados.

What makes this particular mystery so perfect is that at the end, it is almost impossible to guess the identity of the person responsible for the deaths.  It is clearly established that there are no survivors and even the police detectives are baffled.  Christie however is not that heartless and there is an explanation that makes perfect once the reader is led to it in a postscript.

Tweens can especially have a wonderful time reading this well written murder classic and in the process will have the opportunity to learn a great deal about human motivations that are quite complex.

Little House in the Big Woods

By Laura Ingalls Wilder

(1932. 1994) ISBN 0064400018

On this return visit, decades after the first reading, the reader is just as charmed by Laura Ingalls and her family and their world as happened in the first visit.  Memories of specific incidents may have faded but the warmth of the Ingalls family circle has maintained itself over time and this reading after years of absence has been even more pleasurable by this revisit.  While one can realize that this recounting of American pioneer days is somewhat romanticized, this shortcoming is a minor detail swept along to the side due to the overall strengths of the writing by Ingalls.  The details about just how a family survived on the American frontier that Ingalls includes are just the right amount of information and never lead one to boredom.  The illustrations are quite welcome in getting a better understanding of the times of Laura and her family.  The modern reader is aided quite a bit by these illustrations of a historical time.

During this delightful re-reading of this book, one of the things that struck this reader for the first time was the sense of humor that Ingalls employs in her storytelling.  This has added further to the appreciation of this author’s work by this returning visitor to her childhood memories.  As a child the humorous aspect of Ingalls’ writing was not recognized in anywhere near the same degree.  Perhaps today’s readers, especially tween readers, may also undergo the same experience if as they progress in their lifetimes they also decide to pay a return visit to the Ingalls family.  With so much wealth to bestow on their readers may the Ingalls and their loved ones continue to thrive!

The Spell of the Sorcerer’s Skull

By John Bellairs

(1984) ISBN 0803701225

In the midst of a February fun get away, Johnny Dixon and his companion, Professor Roderick Childermass, find themselves stranded when the professor’s vehicle loses a battle with the snow.  Their only choice is to take shelter in the closest inn and that chance decision will color their lives for the next few months and lead to a life or death situation.

The first thing that happens when the travelers settle down for a quiet night is that they learn the innkeeper has in his possession a clock with the name Childermass engraved on it.  Johnny and the professor accept the offer to take a look at this timepiece.  As they view this clock, the professor states that the dollhouse portion of the clock is a replicate of the Childermass parlor and that the figure in this dollhouse parlor represents an uncle who died mysteriously within the actual family parlor of the family home in Vermont.  There is an accidental touching of a skull that is the contained within the clock’s parlor.  This incident leads in a short time to Johnny having to reach out for help from others when the professor turns up missing, nowhere to be found.

With the help of several friends, Johnny succeeds in finally locating the professor but not before several scary moments which include encounters with witches and warlocks.  Johnny finds he must not leave much to chance.  Not to be overlooked is the diligent library research work in which Johnny and his friends engage in during their search for the actual location of the missing professor.

Twisted Summer

By Willo Davis Roberts

(1996) ISBN 0689804598

Cici is a girl in a hurry.  This year, after spending the precious summer elsewhere, fourteen year old Cici’s family is headed back to their usual vacation site at Crystal Lake joining their extended family as well as various other families with whom they have become close friends.

This year Cici looks forward to fitting in with the big kids since she is almost fifteen and she especially longs forward to the possibility of being considered as a girlfriend by seventeen year old, Jack.  Upon arriving at Crystal Lake Cici is dismayed to learn that during the year she missed at the lake, Jack together with his family has been snubbed by the community due to the murder conviction of Jack’s older brother, Brody.  Cici decides to remedy this situation by making it her mission to clear Brody, who she believes is innocent.  Cici sees this endeavor as also an opportunity to get closer to Jack and his family and in Cici and Jack do work well together manage to come with justice for Brody.

 

The action throughout this book is well paced, the characters are highly believable and there is not a dull moment and as such highly recommended for readers in the tween age group.

The Hardy Boys, undercover brothers. #18, D.A.N.G.E.R. spells the hangman

By Scott Lobdell

(2009) ISBN 9781597071604

Frank and Joe are presented here in Manga style as they go undercover to stop a madman who has threatened to erase the competition in the national spelling bee.  When the reigning best speller is called away to serve another duty, Joe does double duty as the stand-in as the school’s spelling bee contestant.  This however leaves Frank with double duty in attempting to solve the mystery of who is the threat to the safety of the spelling bee contestants.

The Manga style of this adventure adds to the entertainment and excitement of this adventure and makes for a fun experience for the tween audience.

Dear Mom, Get Me Out of Here!

By Ellen Conford

(1992) ISBN 0316153702

Paul Tanner’s parents have accepted a work position in Switzerland and in order to catch their plane, they drop Paul off at his new boarding school, Burnside Academy, without ever meeting with the headmaster.  They feel somewhat confident about the academic standing of the school inasmuch as Uncle Jack attended this institution thirty years prior and since Uncle Jack has achieved much and is in fact very prosperous.  Paul, however, quickly learns that relying solely on past conditions of institutions can be such a mistake.

At Burnside the food served to the students is atrocious, the plumbing leaves a great deal to be desired and that is just the beginning of the list of atrocious conditions that the Burnside boarding school students must face.  The school’s teachers do any thing but teach and the coaches are extraordinarily lacking in any athletic skills or ideas as to what is involved in athletics.

Paul finds that while his fellow students are very much academically challenged to begin with and not being helped scholastically due to the poor quality of the school’s faculty, the students have bonded and are quite co-operative with one another, and in fact are a good hearted lot.

So when Paul contacts his mother, via mail in this pre-cell phone era setting, and asks that his parents inspect the school, he has conflicting feelings about leaving.  Things have changed and he does not want to leave his new friends.  All that Paul and his school mates ever want is for the leadership of the school to be changed.  The readers of this very enjoyable book will have fun learning just how the creative lads at Burnside achieve this goal.