Children Crossing

"Wayside School was accidentally built sideways.

It was suppose to be only one story high, with thirty classrooms all in a row.
Instead it is thirty stories high, with one classroom in each story.
The builder said he was very sorry."

Here's a gem of a book that'll lure you back into the school zone: Louis Sachar's Sideways Stories From Wayside School. 

There are thirty stories in this book and they all occur in that one room on the thirteenth floor.  They are all funny, scary, and, here's the kicker, totally relatable (oh, you know it!!! ). Each chapter showcases a character from Wayside School and, somehow, evolves into its own book (way cool!!! ). When you're done, you can flip thru the pages and reread your favorites. Like school, it's the kind of book that'll get you visiting (and hopefully reading! ) again and again.  I personally loved Chapter 1, Mrs. Gorf, and found kindred friends in D.J. and Calvin.

And for whatever its worth: watch 'em apples!!!

Tudy's take: A+

Dark Gold

Do your like fairy tales? Not just the "happily-ever-after" type, but stories about hidden and magical worlds? I guess, like me, a lot of people do! Look at how popular the Harry Potter series is!!! It's a kind of fairy tale, right?

So I've kept my eye out for fairy tale books and this is what I've found - Elizabeth C. Bunce's A Curse Dark As Gold! Ooooo! Sounds scary! But what got me hooked is that it's a re-telling of that old familiar fairy tale - Rumpelstiltskin! You know the one about the secretive fairy that spins a room-full of gold and asks for a priceless payment and only the quick wit of the heroine saves her in the end? In Bunce's suspenseful version, we get to meet Charlotte Miller, the "miller's daughter" in the fairy tale, and almost understand why she risks everything to save what she holds dear. We also meet Jack Spinner, the dark fairy in the tale, and almost understand his shadowed story! All that is set against a vivid description of a time gone by when water mills still spun cloth!

It's a bit of a difficult read but worth the time and effort. After all this is the first Morris Debut Award Winner for first-time authors writing for teens! So let A Curse Dark As Gold weave a little fairy magic as summer turns to autumn! It's dark gold!