Half Magic

Title: Half Magic
Author: Edward Eager
ISBN: 0152020683

Review/Summary: I first read this book when I was 10 years old. I adored it. I re-read it for this class so I could see if I still found it amusing, smart, and suitable for tweens. I do! Eager has a writing style similar to George MacDonald or C.S. Lewis in that he makes himself a part of the story. The book is openly a story being told by an author. While narrating, Eager says all sorts of amusing things. In Half Magic, he tells the story of four siblings who find a magic talisman at the start of summer vacation. When one of the children touches the talisman and makes a wish, the wish comes true... halfway. Because the charm only half grants wishes, the children must become adept at wishing for twice what they truly want. Martha, the youngest, accidentally wishes her cat could talk. Unfortunately, the cat can only half talk. She doesn't meow anymore, but all that comes out of her mouth is jumbled nonsense. Half words. It takes Martha quite a few tries before she can successfuly fix things. Martha, Katherine, Mark and Jane go through several adventures during their summer vacation, some purposefully and some accidentally. Of course, while meeting King Arthur and travling through the desert on camel-back, the children learn all sorts of lessons. Eager wrote Half Magic in the 1950s, and sometimes it shows. But overall the book is incredibly enjoyable and imaginative. Even better, most of Eager's other titles tie in with this one, making for a kind of series reading. I'd recommend Half Magic to smart younger readers with a penchant for magical adventure.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8

Title: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8

Publisher: Dark Horse

Review/Summary: Yes, BtVS: Season 8 is a little cheesy. Yes, it makes a person wish they had the show back. But, yes, comic-book form can also take the series to places it couldn't have gone on television (special effects are expensive!). Tweens today might not know Buffy as well as girls in my generation. She's not on TV anymore. She is, however, on DVD and offered as instant-watch on Netflix. I can only hope that tween girls are watching Rory Gilmore and Buffy Summers on DVD as frequently as I did. Buffy has always been a fantastic role model, in my opinion. She does the annoying thing where she whines about her lack of normalcy, and her desire for a "normal life" (just like Claire on Heroes). But she understands that as long as she's not normal, she has to embrace her role as defender of the world. Buffy's a small girl with a big punch; someone who speaks her mind; someone who stands up for the underdog; someone who sacrifices her own interests to protect her friends and to protect strangers (remember prom?).

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: season 8 continues where the show left off. Buffy isn't the only slayer anymore, and she isn't stuck in Sunnydale. What happens when there are hundreds of slayers who can fight evil anywhere in the world? The comic-book series does its best to answer that question. Sometimes the stories are funny, sometimes sad, sometimes exciting, and sometimes a little over-the-top cheesy (Dawn is a centaur? Really?). But for girls who can't get enough of the show, or prefer to read instead of watch, I'd recommend BtVS season 8.

Hoot

Title: Hoot

Author: Carl Hiaasen

ISBN: 1905775040

Review/Summary: After Roy moves to Florida with his family, he decides it's much less interesting than Montana. But then he spots the running boy. The stranger sprints crazily along the sidewalk, through backyards and into the woods--all without shoes on. To make it even weirder, he doesn't appear to attend school. By following this mystery, Roy stumbles across another discovery: tiny, perfect burrowing owls. Unfortunately, the tiny birds are about to be bulldozed by the construction crew who's putting up Mother Paula's Pancake House. Together with the running boy, Roy tries desperately to save the owls from their terrible fate.

Hiaasen writes with a subtle sense of humor, fantastic imagery, and an uncanny ability to sound like an 11-year-old boy. "Hoot" should be an enjoyable read for just about anyone, though I'd especially recommend it to nature lovers, animal lovers, and anyone trying to stand up for justice!

Fruits Basket

Title: Fruits Basket

Format: DVD

Air Date: 2001; DVD Release: 2009

Review/Summary: This anime series was adapted from a serialized manga. The manga has since been turned into a series of books, often seen alongside titles like "Bleach" and "Naruto." "Fruits Basket" tells the story of Tohru Honda and the Sohma family. After her mother's death, Tohru has no place to live and--after a series of coincidences--winds up living with Yuki and Shigure Sohma. When their cousin Kyo appears, the crazy Sohma history is revealed to Tohru. Somehow, the Sohma's have been cursed. With a really really weird family curse. When hugged by members of the opposite sex, members of the Sohma family turn into animals from the Chinese Zodiac. Kyo becomes a cat, Shigure becomes a dog, and Yuki turns into the rat. Although the curse is the instigator for crazy hijinks early on, it also becomes the deeper focus of the show. The Sohmas have rarely gotten close to anyone outside the family for fear of revealing their curse, or out of belief that the curse will make them undesirable, lesser or unworthy. Tohru helps the Sohmas to see that they are amazing people who can still have friendships and even relationships. Tohru eventually makes it her mission to save the Sohmas by breaking the family curse.

I'd recommend Fruits Basket to tweens who already love anime. Some of the voice acting isn't the best, and the action tends to move super fast or super slow. It can be a little hard to keep up with sometimes. I loved Sailor Moon when I was in middle school, and I think I could have easily appreciated Fruits Basket, too. Once you get past the flaws, you find a strong female lead, interesting characters and a good message. The language is definitely not G-rated, so I'd feel more comfortable recommending it to tweens 13 and up.

The Waters and the Wild

Title: The Waters and the Wild
Author: Francesca Lia Block
ISBN: 0061452440

Review/Summary: Bee has never felt like she belonged. Not once in her 13 years. Rather than play, she gardened. Instead of dressing up, she put on the same hoodie or jacket every day. One night, Bee wakes up to find a girl who looks just like her standing in her bedroom. Bee researches the phenonmenon of doppelgangers and begins to fear for her life. Is the doppelganger an omen of her death? She begins talking to Joseph Hayes, aka "Haze," because of his interest in the paranormal. All of a sudden she can see past his "flaws." Bee forgets about his stutter, his thick glasses and his bad skin. And right after she makes this friend, another one comes her way: Sarah, the girl with a beautiful voice who can't seem to find her place in the modern world. Haze, Bee and Sarah form an immediate, strong bond. They try to fight Bee's doppelganger and their own lack of confidence.

Francesca Lia Block tells this story in her usual fashion: poetically and with sparse dialog. Most of the story comes from Bee's perspective, though with a 3rd-person voice. Unfortunately, none of the characters ever grow to be 3D. They remain very shallow and vague. I had a hard time holding on to them, even when I desperately wanted to. I understood that the three characters were lost, confused and sad; but I never felt any of these things. FLB poured herself into Weetzie Bat (and all the sequels). Those books remain shining in my memory, and I feel like Waters and the Wild just doesn't live up to FLB's potential in any way. I wouldn't call it a bad book, but I wouldn't necessarily call it a great one, either. It's very similar to Alice Hoffman's Green Angel, actually.

Recommended for readers 13 and up--especially fans of Francesca Lia Block and Alice Hoffman.

Smart Girls at the Party

Title: Smart Girls at the Party

Format: TV show/online

Review/Summary: Smart Girls at the Party is an Internet series created by Amy Poehler, Meredith Walker and Amy Miles. In each episode, Amy Poehler interviews a tween girl about her particular forte. The first episode, for example, features 10-year-old Cameron, who writes supernatural stories. Amy asks Cameron all about her writing techniques, writers' block, and future writing goals. It was funny to me, but only because I sounded exactly like Cameron when I was 10! Another episode features Anna, who is in 3rd grade and loves yoga. She takes the show creators outside to do some yoga, and works with each of them on their poses.

The show might turn off older tweens, if only because it features girls 9-12. Someone who is just getting out of that age group--who is perhaps 14 or 15--might not necessarily enjoy this. They might, but they might not identify with these girls anymore. For younger tweens, though--the 10 year olds and the 5th graders--would probably get a lot of encouragement out of Amy Poehler's interviews. If nothing else, they'll feel better about themselves and their own interests. Smart Girls at the Party's tagline reads: "Celebrating extraordinary individuals who are changing the world by being themselves." Poehler might be trying to turn girls on to new things, but I think she's more interested in reassuring tween girls that being themselves is completely okay.

The Secret Science Alliance

Title: The Secret Science Alliance and the Copycat Crook

Author: Eleanor Davis

ISBN: 1599903962

Summary/Review: Julian gets a second chance when he moves to a new school. No longer will he have to be Brainiac or Geek or Super Nerd! He tries really hard to be "normal" on his first few days, hoping to avoid getting stuffed into lockers or teased for being smart. But when he lets his guard down and begins babbling about aerodynamics during science class, the truth is revealed. Luckily for Julian, this turns out to be a good thing. Ben, whom Julian had written off as "dumb jock," and Greta, who seemed to be a scary troublemaker, recruit Julian into their science club. The three of them rename themselves The Secret Science Alliance and spend the whole school year creating new gadgets, gizmos and scientific pranks. But when a thieving scientist steals their invention notebook, The Secret Science Alliance must get serious. How do they stop the perpetrator from putting their projects to evil uses? Can Julian stop a crime, or just create witty "Kick Me" signs? Their skills get put to the test in this brilliant graphic novel. I'd recommend the book to anyone 8 and up who loves science, graphic novels, humor, and entertaining adventure stories.