Which one of these things does not belong? Where is the fabulous blue cover with the striking looming moon threatening Miranda’s world as tidal waves, earthquakes, volcanoes, and communication interruptions change everything? The cover that drew boys and girls to the hardcover when the book was first published? The cover that spawned two look alike sequel covers? This purply-pink dresser makes it seem as if the biggest problem facing Miranda is which lipstick to choose tonight.

One of my 8th grade teachers saw the cover in the book fair and debated for three days and then refused to buy it. Pfeffer’s book is popular in her classroom and in the science fiction unit we teach and she wanted another copy or two, but decided to wait to find it elsewhere. I don’t blame her. This dystopian series has been popular with both boys and girls in my middle schools but this cover does not represent the story accurately…even with Miranda’s longing for prom and driver’s license and a normal teen life amidst the major crisis she is facing.

The publisher for the hardcover and the paperback with the original looming moon cover is Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and the paperback with that cover appears to be available in the prominent online book vendors. So…I am kicking myself for not looking at the imprint on this book fair edition. Was it also HMH or was it a special book fair publication? The plot thickens. Do any of you book cover sleuths have any clues for me?

Lynn:

Digit’s voice is unique and immediate and it was the strength of the voice and her fascinating gift that captured me.  I don’t know a teen with a Digit’s mathematical genius but I do know far too many gifted young people – especially girls – who do all they can to hide what makes them exceptional and it was this strong thread that was at the heart of the book.  There’s plenty more here though.  This is a sweet romance, a clever puzzle and a satisfying coming of age story all wrapped up in one terrific heart-pounding thriller.  And make no mistake, this is quite a thriller!  Schemes, double-crosses and nasty villains kept me reading far into the night.

I read this book which was originally titled “Digit”  in a plain cover galley.  OK – the cover WAS pink but I have to say I was taken aback when I saw the final cover.  While it’s attractive I’m not convinced that the cover really conveys the essence of this smart suspenseful story.  You may have to push it to the teens who will relate to it best but I guarantee that anyone who starts it won’t be able to put it down till they’ve galloped to the end!

Cindy: Check reality at the door for this one, folks. I like this mystery for all the reasons Lynn does, but Holy Fibonacci Series, Batman, you have to be willing to forgive a lot. Let’s say our young math genius does manage to connect the dots between the number code to the terrorists to the extent that she has to fake a kidnapping and go into hiding to save her life. And let’s say the FBI let’s the young agent and 17 year-old “hottie” hole up on mattresses in a warehouse and delegates the translation and decoding of phone transcripts to these two who then figure out where an important item is hidden. Why, oh WHY, if she was in such danger in L.A. that she had to go into hiding would the FBI allow her to travel with the agent to Grand Central Station in NYC to look for the clue. Yeah, no danger there. Good grief. But teen mysteries have always been fraught with these problems. How many teens are in the position to get involved with real mysteries? My middle schoolers love Finding Lubchenko by Michael Simmons and it certainly requires a similar suspension of belief.

Even with these quibbles, the book is a page turner and the romance and the issue of Farrah embracing her academic talents will make this a fun summer beach read to recommend. I mean, who is this past Nancy Drew addict to criticize a mystery for having some lapses in reality? And, truth be told, I am still haunted by a past female middle school student who refused to read any fiction unless it included math. I was worn to a frazzle finding her books she would read. I would buy this just in memory of that girl.

Cindy

“…love your children, and believe in them passionately.”*

His life’s work showed us that he did.

*–Biography Today Author Series, V. 2. Omnigraphics, 1996.

Cindy

Rotational symmetry spins the lesson on its head! If an object can rotate around a single center point and maintain its shape it has rotational symmetry. The white trillium flowers blooming here in Michigan or a wind turbine blade is an example.

Add this book to your collection to support geometry Common Core Standards (4.G.3) but in addition to the suggested activities for practice in finding and creating symmetry examples, check out this fabulous webquest with many activities to support the concepts introduced here.

Oh, and a head’s up. It’s Mother’s Day this coming Sunday and MOM is symmetrical! HA!

Update: The author has this offer available:  a FREE 20 page PDF to go with Seeing Symmetry that can be downloaded here: Seeing Symmetry Activity Pack

For more Nonfiction Monday blog fun, head over to The Swimmer Writer. Enjoy!

Lynn:

The action is non-stop, the passel of eccentric characters from Whittlin’ Walt to Poker Face Jace to Sam Clemens himself are a hoot and the historic setting is as fascinating as it is vividly drawn. (There’s great stuff here on silver mining!) Lawrence throws in some truly surprising plot twists that will have readers shouting, “Whoa” in delight as the story speeds by like a runaway stage. Smart-as-a whip P. K. is a great character and I can’t wait to meet him again in new adventures.  As for me—well, partner—like P.K., I’m done trying to read faces and moving on to feet, “the most honest part of the body.”

Cindy: Well, pard-ners. Hang on to your slouch hat, indeed! And your fedora too. If you haven’t noticed, the mystery-crazy folks at the helm of Booklist are back in their Mystery Month saddle and Bookends is joining the fun. We’ll be adding a youth mystery post every Wednesday this month, perhaps a few other surprises along the way as well…we can’t play all of our cards this first week. But we hope you will tune in…and if you love mysteries but are not regular readers of some of the other Booklistonline blogs, take a peek this month. You are surely in for some mysterious shenanigans.

Cindy

A woman with young teen children asked me what I thought about the books and when I responded enthusiastically, she said she just couldn’t get excited about books that pit children against children in a fight to the death. A male teacher, big fan of Harry Potter, admitted he can’t bring himself to read these for the same reason. The woman had read the first book at least, but just couldn’t get past the violence. She started to come around when I talked about the issues of socio-economic differences, corrupt governments supressing their people, our fascination with reality tv, the power of the media, compassion for our adversaries, remaining true to yourself at great risk/cost…etc.  These weren’t the first concerns I’d heard. So…I’m curious. Have you read any of the books in the series? Seen the movie? Or are you avoiding them…and if so, is it due to the premise? Leave a comment. And may the odds be ever in your favor.

Cindy

Here’s the poem that is going in my pocket on what will be a very busy day. I’d love to have you post the poem that you will be carrying in the comments for us. Any day filled with poetry is a good day.

Come With Me

To the quiet minute between two noisy minutes
It’s always waiting ready to welcome us
Tucked under the wing of the day
I’ll be there
Where will you be?

–Naomi Shihab Nye

Cindy

Back to Pete and his L.A. Times Prize winning novel, The Big Crunch. We blogged about it a year ago and you can catch that here. And you can read an interview by editor David Levithan with Pete about this book here. Oh, and the best part? Pete’s reaction to the weekend and details of surprise celebration party thrown for him upon his return home! Read it here on Pete’s blog. Congrats, Pete!

Lynn:

I really appreciate Hopkinson’s approach to the subject.  In the introduction she acknowledges the intense fascination with the event but goes on to point out that our interest makes us all historians.

We can’t help being curious.  What happened?  Why?  Who said what when?  What did it mean? And, of course what if?

Through the eyes and voices of some of the survivors, Hopkinson introduces readers to the ship itself, to its crew and passengers and takes us through a step-by-step investigation of what happened.  This provides us with a slight distancing that I found helpful  but it is impossible not to find these actual words and experiences intensely poignant.  Most eye-opening for me were the chapters that chronicled the 90 minutes from the collision to the final sinking and the chapters that describes the conditions in the lifeboats as the stunned survivors hoped for rescue.  Short sections depict what was happening to the individuals we had been introduced to in a vivid and terrifying count-down as the minutes clicked by.   New to me was the information on the boats in the area and the efforts of Carpathian and its crew to get to the Titanic in time and how the survivors were picked up and treated as the ship steamed to New York.

The book is packed with fascinating illustrations, photographs, maps, and telegrams.  The back matter is stellar and includes biographies of the passengers, survivor letters, a time line, fascinating statistics, a bibliography and much more.  I read the book in galley and cannot wait to see the finished copy!  This one is a must purchase for elementary and middle school collections.  Interest in this event is always high and this outstanding book does just what Hopkinson hopes it will do – “reminds us that our lives are fragile and precious and makes us wonder what it would have been like to have been aboard so many years ago.”

Cindy: It seemed you couldn’t turn anywhere this week without running into an iceberg…um…coverage of the Titanic anniversary. Even my church rearranged our seating yesterday into cruise ship dining circular tables and played music from the ship while the teaching focused on hubris. While many were following the History Channel’s Twitter stream reliving the key moments of the Titanic voyage, I was happier reading Deborah Hopkinson’s take this weekend. The big moments and the small are included. For instance,  the deviation from the norm when crew cat Jenny carried her litter of kittens off the ship, prompting one crew member to leave as well, considering Jenny’s actions a bad omen.

I, like Lynn, am eager to see this book in its finished state. Normally, that wouldn’t be a problem but for the first time in 28 years of my career, my budgets were frozen mid-year. I never spend my whole budget in the fall, prefering to save money for spring releases, award titles announced mid-year, and new projects that my teachers scheme up and are excited about. But, my Scholastic Book Fair starts tomorrow, and surely when I unpack the cases today I will find Titanic: Voices from the Disaster among the offerings and can snag some copies with my profits…and booktalk it during the sale to my students. Fingers crossed….that fireman sailor is not the only superstitious one.

For more nonfiction books please go to today’s Nonfiction Monday host, The Nonfiction Detectives.