Doc: A Novel. Mary Doria Russell

This is the second book I am recommending this year.  I have to admit I maybe a bit biased about this one.  Mary Russell is someone I heard about throughout my graduate school days, and eventually met, a few years after she wrote her first novel, The Sparrow.  Since I (kindof) know her, I have sought out her books as they come out.  On the other hand, they are really delightful books.  She won the Arthur C Clark award for The Sparrow and was nominated for a Pulitzer for A Thread of Grace.   But this one may be my favorite since her first.  Doc is about Doc Holliday, famous of the shootout at the OK Corral.  But it is about how John Holliday became "Doc."  It is about him coming to terms with the hand life has dealt him and trying to deal with his life limited by illness and circumstance.  She describes it as the story of the one season of happiness in his life.   I, like Russell, fell a little bit in love with Doc over the course of this novel.    I wanted more.

Leviathan and Behemoth

I couldn't get this book out of the boy's hands.  He stayed up way past his bedtime.

Colin says:  I thought these were very good books.  They are based on events in a real war.   There are also some strange things made up, giant robots and monsters, both human creations.  I can't wait to read the next story.

I think it's steampunk for kids.

Colin's (Partial 2010)

                                                  


Enjoy!


This is only a partial list of what Colin read this year.   These are the books that he took AR tests on, plus a couple I could remember.   This does not include any book he read over the summer or any book that didn't have a test.  Still there are 54 books here, and only 2 are picture books.   The rest are chapter books, some very long.  


He read all the Percy Jackson series, and really enjoyed them, as well as both of Rick Riordan's new books, The Red Pyramid and The Lost Hero.  These, however, were not his favorite series.  That would be the Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer.  He notes the most recent of these, The Atlantic Complex, as one of his favorite books of the year.  


He was also a big fan of the Heck books, and is anxiously awaiting the fourth circle in the spring.


It is clear from going through this list that he tends towards the fantasy - or I tend towards handing him the fantasy.  Which do you think it is?  At least 2/3 of this list is fantasy, although there are a few he really enjoyed that were reality based.  These include The Fast and the Furriest, which he just read and got a huge laugh out of and Oggie Cooder, which he enjoyed much as he did the Hank Zipzer books.


Arthas, well, what can I say, the boy likes WoW.  He  read this one faster than I did, and keeps asking me for more of the same.  We decided he should read The Hobbit first, get straight to the source of all the madness.


I got him to read a couple of classics this year as well, as you can see.  He enjoyed them all, although I have not been able to get him to read any of the sequels.   These include:  A Wrinkle in Time, Mrs Frisby, The Enormous Egg, and The White Mountains.  In addition he read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe at school.  


What he is really enjoying at the moment though, are comic strips.  He keeps wanting the Sunday Comics to come to door on Sunday, based on promotional delivery.    He doesn't like that the New York Times that comes every week does not have comics in it.  He has read through all of Calvin and Hobbes, loves Foxtrot, and tries to understand The Far Side.  These have  led him to draw his own comic frames and comic strips, emulating those that he admires.  


I have provided links to all the books if you want to know more about them.  Maybe your 8-12 year old will find something among these that he or she wants to read.

Classic series of the week - The Great Brain

If you are not familiar with The Great Brain series, you should go check it out.  This is the cover when I read the series when I was a kid.  My books were falling apart by the time I was done with them, especially the fourth one, The Great Brain at the academy.  Colin read these last year and loved them as well.  Set in the 1880s in Utah, these stories of brothers, the middle one, the "Great Brain", too clever for his own good, and the younger telling of his adventures.   The adventures are everyday to over-the-top, from the first, Tom selling tickets to see the family's new indoor toilet, to setting up a "roller coaster" in his back yard.  Tom always has a plan and therein lies the entertainment.  And even though its set over a century ago, the kids and their problems are relatable - from sibling rivalry to bullying, to being the new kid at school.  A great series for your 3-6th grader.  There are 7 books in the series, although I recall mostly the first five.  AR levels 5.0-5.8, 4-7 pts.