Bug in a Vacuum

Bug in a Vacuum
Written and illustrated by Mélanie Watt

My rating: ★★★★

ISBN: 978-1770496453
Publisher: Tundra
Date of publication: August 25, 2015
Age: Grades K - 4

Themes: the 5 stages of grief, a fly, cleaning, change

A fly buzzes through a house, minding its own business, when its entire life changes with the switch of a button. Sucked into the void of a vacuum bag, this one little bug moves through denial, bargaining, anger, despair and eventually acceptance—the five stages of grief—as it comes to terms with its fate. Will there be a light at the end of the tunnel?

This book has such a fine subtle humor—the illustrations, especially. Each page of art has something hilarious adding to the storyline (keep an eye on the dog, especially). The plot, of course, is clever and original, dealing with the five stages of grief. I mean, it's really an all-around great book. But, I would say it's definitely for older kids. Besides the subtleties and more mature plot, the book itself is long. It's a chunk of a picture book. I wouldn't read it in storytime for my preschoolers, but I'd still recommend it.

As for readalikes? Watt has a bunch of awesome books that deal with different anxieties or life changes (eg Scaredy Squirrel), and this fits right in to her collection.

Find it at your library or on Amazon

Flowchart Poster Display

Well, I thought I'd show you my set up for the poster I made last week. Nothing too surprising here, but I do love the look!

Fills up a good amount of the end cap, and I left half of the space open for book displays and also a bookmark booklist with the call numbers of all the books in our library.

So there you have it! Inspiration to print and hang your own! The file can be found on the original post from last week. 

The Swap

The Swap
Megan Shull

My rating: ★★★★

ISBN: 978-0062311696
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Date of publication: August 26, 2014
Age: Grades 6 - 9
Genre: Realistic Fiction, Fantasy

Themes: family relationships, middle school, friendship, self-discovery, puberty

As middle school starts, popular Jack Malloy is thinking girls have it so easy. Shy Ellie O'Brien is wishing she could be anyone but herself. And BAM! With one random wish, Jack and Ellie are living life in each other's shoes. Ellie finds an impossible-to-please father and acting like everything's cool is way tough to handle. Jack finds that facing mean girls at sleepovers and getting grilled about your period is way harder than taking a hit to the face at sports practice. They soon find that the best way to learn about yourself is spending some time in another person's shoes. But how will they ever change back?

This book is HILARIOUS. And I'm saying that in all caps because I honestly laughed out loud (rather loudly, actually, to the embarrassment of those around me) multiple times throughout the book. But guess what? I also teared up. It's heartwarming and hilarious all-in-one.

Shull does a fantastic job of revealing the depth of her two main characters through the eyes of each other—that Jack is still struggling with the death of his mom and that Ellie's lack of confidence may stem from the abandonment of her father. But Shull also manages to keep it totally lighthearted when dealing with the raging hormones and other maladies of adolescence. Be forewarned, plenty of talk about periods, boobs, peeing, and Jack's "morning tent pole" are scattered throughout. Again, hilarious, but I have trouble picturing my seventh-grade-self appreciating it.

The lack of a fifth star stems mainly from some plot mistakes. The nurse who originally "casts the spell" to switch Jack and Ellie completely disappears from the rest of the book. Also, I felt the ending dragged, and may have even been too sweet (read: hardly realistic). The dialogue as well...do middle-schoolers really talk like that? I mourn the next generation if that's the case. I gagged a bit every time Sassy Gaines said "awk."

So I'll recommend it, but probably to the older middle-school crowd, or even to parents. The empathy learned, the love gained, and the confidence built is pretty inspiring. It's a great for fans of Wendy Mass (it's a good step up from 11 Birthdays) and Goodbye Stranger.

Find it at your library or on Amazon

Storytime Preview

Guess what? Storytime finally starts up again next week! We take the summer off to concentrate on summer reading and collection management. So, preschool storytime prep is fully underway this week!

For this post, then, I thought I'd just show some of the themes I'm planning for this semester, and the fantastic new and favorite books I'll be using for each. Maybe it'll get your brain going for some ideas of your own!