A Season of Gifts by Richard Peck

A Season of Gifts by Richard Peck


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I am so glad Grandma Dowdel has returned! And this is a whole new story. A new family (Grandma's new neighbors) have moved in and Grandma Dowdel helps them in her own special way. ;) I absolutely love Richard Peck's humor and character development. This book is a follow up book to A Long Way From Chicago and A Year Down Yonder, but you do not need to read the first two to enjoy this story. However, if you want a little background in the development of Grandma Dowdel, you will not want to miss the first two books. I recommend this book to 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. Although some of fifth graders in my class get into reading the other two books, I think the vocabulary of this book makes it more appropriate for 6th grade. But I would surely start them off with the series in fifth grade. I especially like the version on tape I have borrowed from the library.

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The Rising Star of Rusty Nail by Lesley M. M. Blume

The wonderful cover shot is what drew me to this book, The Rising Star of Rusty Nail by Lesley M. M. Blume. Then the story itself did all the rest.
Franny Hansen and her friend Sandy ARE what is happening in small Rusty Nail, Minnesota. Besides being a prankster, Franny is a genius piano player, just ask her. In the small town there is also another budding piano star, Nancy. (Prancy Nancy) Franny thinks she has found her ticket out of Rusty Nail when she participates in what turns out as a piano-off with Nancy in front of the governor's wife. As it turns out, the governor's wife could have cared less. Next comes the mysterious Olga Malenkov, whom everyone in the town believes to be a "commie" but who turns out to be a famous piano player. Is Olga a communist? Does she help Franny with her piano playing? Will anything come of any of this? That you will have to read to find out.
What I loved about this book also drove me crazy! It is set in 1953-54 and as such contains lots of history. Yet, I am not sure all of the book would be considered historically accurate. I spent a lot of time while reading Googling facts. Most turned up pretty accurate, except some of the McCarthy references. I also could not get over the fact that Franny constantly called her mother and father by their first name. WHAT? Not many kids would do this and ESPECIALLY NOT IN 1953! I guess Ms. Blume could have been trying to evoke the feeling that this family was anything but traditional, but that is really unnecessary once you have met the characters. In some spots the dialect was strange. Minnesota does not elicit thoughts of country twang to me, but that is often what came up in the middle of nowhere. I thought the story was a bit long in places and may not be able to hold the attention of one of my students.
On the other hand, I did love the way the book was divided into three parts. I thought the characters were very well developed. I could not stop reading because of the suspense brought forth in the plot. I was completely satisfied with the ending. I am not really one to be upset about a book's historical inaccuracy when it is a fiction book to begin with. (I just felt I needed to point them out for anyone who that really matters to.) I am quite excited to see what else Lesley M.M. Blume has in store for her readers. Her newest book Tennyson sounds like a winner.
Other Reviews of The Rising Star of Rusty Nail:
Miss Erin
Semicolon
Miss Erin Interview of Lesley M.M. Blume

Mr. Chickee's Messy Mission by Christopher Paul Curtis

I don't know what it is, maybe it is me, but another one of my very favorite authors of all time is letting me down slightly. Christopher Paul Curtis's book Mr. Chickee's Messy Mission is not my favorite. When I read the first book Mr. Chickee's Funny Money, I thought... Okay? I didn't love it and I didn't really understand it, but it was still humorous. Now I have read the second book, Mr. Chickee's Messy Mission and I am saying... NO, not that good! I very much love the humor Christopher Paul Curtis brings to his writing. I just do not understand the point of these two stories. This book in particular gets WAY OUT THERE. It is like Curtis is trying to write to a certain demographic and it is not his style. He seems to be trying to capture the demographic of kids who want to read fantasy. I just really feel like he is so much better at realistic and historical fiction.
By the way, I totally recommend the following books from Christopher Paul Curtis:
The Watson's Go to Birmingham-1963 (I read this EVERY single year!)
Bud, Not Buddy
Bucking the Sarge

Fair Weather by Richard Peck

So, I was having trouble going backwards and remembering books I have read this summer so I am going to go with the books I have read most recent. I will start with Fair Weather by Richard Peck.
GREAT BOOK! This book has been on my shelf for quite awhile. I have no idea why I never read it before, but that is beside the point. I have recently gotten into reading books by Peck. I really love his style and Fair Weather is no exception.
Being that I also teach Social Studies, I really liked the historical aspects of Fair Weather. However, they may not fit anywhere in my fifth grade curriculum. The book focuses on the year 1893 and the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. As I have mentioned before, I do not like to give away a plot. What I especially enjoy about this book is the main characters who are country bumpkins, teenage girls, and sisters. I also took note of the fact that the novel intertwines a fictional family with historical characters as if they actually interacted.
To me, I picked up a strong theme of women's liberation. But as you can imagine in 1893, the United States was still very much a man's world.
This book may be lost on fifth grade students. Perhaps with a little decoding, a lot of historical explanation, and for sure reading aloud; I can't believe anyone couldn't enjoy the story.
NOTE: Be sure to check out the Author's Note at the end for some very interesting information.