Tag Archives: sequel

Jun 10 2014

Season of Gifts by Richard Peck

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**See Parent Note at the end of this post.**

I was so excited to pick up yet another sequel to A Long Way from Chicago, starring my favorite rambunctious grandmother of literature, Grandma Dowdel.  And, for the most part, this book met my expectations.  I think that a good number of my students that read A Long Way from Chicago last year might enjoy this book.  However, since they are still elementary-aged kids, I know some of their parents probably wouldn’t want this recommendation yet.

The main character is Bob, a preacher’s son who moves to town with his family to start a new church.  It is the era of bobby socks and Elvis Presley, but their neighbor, Mrs. Dowdel, has not really embraced the changing times.  She is still as feisty and independent in her nineties as she was when her grandkids, Joey and Mary Alice visited her all those years ago.

Each chapter focuses on a different Grandma Dowdel escapade-this time with Bob and his younger sister in tow.  His older sister is 14 and has no time for small town antics.  Some of the cast of characters introduced in Chicago are still present, and others are mentioned as the parent or grandparents of the current high school students in town.  It was interesting to see Mrs. Dowdel through the eyes of her new neighbors, and I enjoyed her antics as much as ever.  I felt like I was in on the joke when comments were made about her grandkids or Effie Wilcox, so I think that reading the other books first would be a great plan and make this a worthwhile companion piece for lower middle school grades.

**Parent Note**

At the start of the book, the main character is bullied by the bigger boys in town.  This results in him being stripped and tied up in Mrs. Dowdel’s outhouse.  Additionally, towards the end of the story, Bob’s younger sister declares that she no longer believes in Santa Claus.  By the end of the novel, there is a shotgun wedding at the church for a teenage girl and her army-private beau.  There is reference made to her dress fitting very snug across her middle.

For these reasons, I don’t see that this is a book I could read with my upper elementary students.  However, parents could make this call for their own children if they feel comfortable with the subject matter.

Dec 31 2013

Forge by Laurie Halse Anderson

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OK, I admit it.  This one took a loooooooong time to get into.  In fact, I started the novel, then put it down and left it for a few months.  Forge is the sequel to the novel, Chains, with a major shift in perspective.  Isabel is our main companion throughout the first novel, but is replaced by her fellow escaped slave, Curzon, as lead narrator for the second novel.  Perhaps it was because I really wanted to know what happened to Isabel and I really didn’t care about Curzon at the end of the first book that caused me to take a long time to invest in the story…whatever the cause, I’m glad I came back to the book and finished it.

Curzon’s path diverges from Isabel before the start of the novel.  He finds himself taken in by-and eventually accepted by-a rather rag-tag group of soldiers that are suffering through the winter at Valley Forge.  His early trials in the book may put off younger female readers, but it is well worth pushing through to get to the meat of the story.  Isabel does re-enter the novel later, but by then I was fully invested in Curzon’s story.

The majority of story takes place in Valley Forge during a devastating winter for the rebel soldiers.  Every day is a struggle to survive the weather and meager rations.  For Curzon, he also has the added danger of not having any papers to prove he is actually free.  The descriptions of camp life were realistic enough to give the reader a clear picture of the misery without wallowing in sordid details of the pestilence and death that surrounded their every waking moment.

In my opinion, the author’s ability to give the reader a clear picture of how tragic the situation was for these men (just as she did with Isabel’s story in Chains) without overly graphic detail of every negative thing sets it apart from many of the current dystopian offerings.  Don’t get me wrong, some of the details are graphic and will make the reader uncomfortable, BUT I didn’t find the details to be unnecessary.  The information that is provided inspires some real thought about what life must have been like for those men fighting for the independence of our nation-and for those whose independence was not guaranteed by a military victory.

As in the first book, there are some scenes of violence that are realistic considering the time period.  Additionally, in this book there are a few references made to possible sexual abuse that Isabel may have suffered at the hands of those that bought and sold her between the end of Chains and the point where she reappears in Forge.  Those references may be missed by younger readers, but will most likely raise some questions in older or more skilled readers.  The third book in this series, Ashes, is set to debut in March of 2014.  I, for one, cannot wait to read it.