2 Very Different Books By One Author

I recently read two books by Jennifer L. Holm and they were both wonderful, but in two different ways!
First, I finally dug into Penny From Heaven which I should have read long ago, but just never got to it. This Newbery Honor book was a gem. I am a sucker for books about Italian Americans since I am married to one, but I didn't even know this was going to be about an Italian American family, so that was an added surprise!
The story takes place during the 1950's in New Jersey (I believe). Penny Falucci, the 11 year old main character, lives with her widowed mother and maternal grandparents. Her father's large Italian family also lives in the town. The novel follows Penny in her quest to find the truth behind her father's death as she deals with life as a tween and her mother's new relationship with the milkman.
I felt so close to Penny in the story. Even though it is another time and a completely different life than I lived, I related to her Italian family through what I have learned from my own husband's family. Holm was right on! She got the nuances of Italian American life so right, I found myself laughing out loud. (Especially at Nonny, Penny's Italian grandmother.) What I was so disappointed in was myself! I did not know enough about what Italian Americans went through during World War II and post-war. Now I plan to look further into this topic, as I am so interested.
This book is great for fifth grade. I am and will continue to recommend it to students in my class. It is awesome that it recently came out in paperback making it reasonable to add to my class library. In my recommendation I let students know if they like humorous books that may make them cry, this is the book for them. Of course they are all interested.
The second book by Jennifer Holm that I read was Meatloaf is Worse Than Middle School: A Year Told Through Stuff. I mean seriously, how can one author write two books that are SO DIFFERENT and nail them both? Although this book does have a plot and storyline, it is hard to retell or summarize. But the book is exactly what it says it is- "A Year Told Through Stuff."
The story shows itself on the face of notes to friends, lists, grade cards, post cards, even bank statements. This makes the book very easy to read and kept me completely entertained. Although the main character, Ginny is in the seventh grade, I think any student fifth grade to seventh or eighth grade could relate to the book. The story gives my fifth graders a good look at what they are up against getting ready to go to middle school.
I know I shouldn't compare two books in this way, but I told my students if the are looking for something that is similar to Diary of a Wimpy Kid with a girl main character, this book would probably appeal to them. I hope that is not a bad analysis, but having read them both, I think I am on target with that statement.
This just proves authors can be so diverse. I know Jennifer is also the author of the popular Babymouse series. I haven't read any of those yet, but I surely plan to now.

kidlitosphere

Donutheart by Sue Stauffacher

Each time I would get on the Bookmobile that visits our school, I would see this book called Donuthead by Sue Stauffacher. If you have ever seen the cover of that book, you would know it was hard for me to pass up. It just looks F-U-N-N-Y. And it was. So now I see in the library there is a sequel, Donutheart by Sue Stauffacher.
Basically you must read the first to understand the second, otherwise you will wonder "What the the heck is up with this kid?" Franklin Delano Donuthead, the main character, is a rare bird. I am sure I have met his type along the way, and enjoy trying to pinpoint his real life equal. He is, in his own words, "asymmetrical" because one side of his body is longer than the other. (Something he likes to measure nightly.) He is also very cautious, a germaphob if you will. Someone he contacts on a daily basis is Gloria Nealot, his favorite chief statistician at the Washington D.C. National Safety Department. In the first book, Franklin meets Sarah Kervick. Sarah becomes Franklin's body guard, of sorts and Franklin her tutor, of sorts.
The second book finds Franklin and Sarah still friends, Franklin still measuring, Gloria still being called daily, and Sarah much worse off in her family life than before. Something new about this book is Franklin is in love. (A very strange place for Franklin) Also, Sarah has begun figure skating.
Although I liked the first book better, I still really enjoyed reading about Franklin maturing into middle school. I didn't get that lump in my throat feeling I had at the end of Donuthead, but I would recommend the book. The book definitely ended in a way that lent itself to a third book. I will be waiting and watching.

Donuthead and Donutheart Talk:
Fuse #8
Children's Literature Book Club
Sue Stauffacher Amazon Blog
Running Mad

Happy Kid by Gail Gauthier

So I read this book Happy Kid by Gail Gauthier. That is all I have to say...
Just kidding, but I am finding it hard to talk about this book.
I thought it was witty and funny and it captured the essence of a seventh grader who is a little unsure of himself and his abilities. Maybe I have just read too many books recently where the kid is a middle school "loser" in his own eyes. I just thought it was very unrealistic that this so called "unmotivated" 13 year-old would venture into reading a self-help book that was a gift from all people, his mother. Give me a break! Ain't gonna happen. Period.
One part of this book I did get into was the subplot of the State Assessment Test they had to take. (aka "The SSASies") Ha Ha, pretty funny. The fear the teachers had of this test (ie passing out practice sheets the first day of class) to the fear everyone had when it seemed there could have been some possible shady doing's prior to the test (ie a teacher gave a practice question that ended up on the test) Now these events I could relate to. These are the things middle school teachers worry about.
I also liked the fact that the main character, Kyle, was in accelerated classes. He felt, and even his family felt, he had put there by mistake. It turns out he had not. I related to the feeling of overwhelming dread Kyle had for those classes. Feeling as if he could never live up to the position and as if he was always 2 steps behind. The feeling of not being sure whether you should stick by old friends from elementary school, or try to fit in with the new group of "smarties" to which you were now a part.
All and all I would recommend the book. There was a lot going on that I felt didn't belong, but there was too much of it to even get into.
If anyone has read this book and fears I am not giving it a fair chance, feel to comment and give your opinions. I just may be too far out of it to understand. I will stand to be corrected if I am in fact being too critical.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

The first time I saw Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney in the book store, I was skeptical. I picked up the book and saw that it had cartoon pictures and diary entries and I thought, sounds like a good idea... but is it hokey? After seeing it reviewed on other sites, I decided I should at least give it a chance. And good thing I did. I thought it was hilarious!
Come to find out, the main character, Greg Heffley, has been around for awhile. The author Jeff Kinney is really involved with online game development and originally developed the character Greg for a Web comic. This book was originally a web book.
I really like the dorky, yet still cocky attitude of the main character, Greg. He is in middle school and from what my sister (a middle school teacher) tells me, he seems quite normal for a middle school student. Case-in-point: Greg talking about his rank in the popularity contest, a constant for middle school, "The best I can figure I'm somewhere around 52nd or 53rd most popular this year. But the good news is that I'm about to move up one spot because Charlie Davies is above me, and he's getting his braces next week." Another hilarious line was when Greg was talking about an anti-smoking poster contest in which he received honorable mention. "The kid who won first place is named Chris Carney. And what kind of ticks me off is that Chris smokes at least a pack of cigarettes a day." Can't you totally remember someone like that from "Junior High?" (That's what we called it)
There where millions more funnies where that came from, so if you were ever afraid of catching the "Cheese Touch," you should check out this book. ("Cheese Touch" is another story in the book so you will have to read it to find out what it means.)