Kids Reading
Kids Reading -10-12 Yrs Olds
Wednesday, July 11th, 2007
Kids Reading -10-12 Yrs Olds
Wednesday, July 11th, 2007
Everyone who knows me, understands I love to read and always try to interest my children into reading.” Recently, I was with a great reader, a ten year old from NY and as” I often do, read all of his books he took with him on vacation.
I will be adding books for all ages, so keep coming back!” Do you have a favorite book for your toddler or child?” Let me know as I am always looking for interesting books.
If you have a 10-12 year old boy/girl,” who enjoy sports, here are some great books they might enjoy.” All but the Island triology and Last Shot seems to deal more with a boy’s view.” Mike Lupica’s books has” a great girl character who is a friend and takes a gentle look at young friendships.
Mike Lupica
Travel Team
Summer Ball
I have to say that I really like Mike Lupica’s books.” He covers a young boy who loves basketball but who is also short and has had to find ways to be taken seriously on the court.” These books deal with more than basketball.” You see his friendship with a young girl blossom and how he deals with his dad and mom’s divorce.” His dad had potential of being a great professional basketball player till he got injured.” In these books his father is trying to come back into his life.” I wanted to keep reading to see if our young man could meet the challenges of disappointments, pressure of the spot he loves and the trials of growing up.” Definitely high on my list for young readers.
Matt Christopher (says it’s #1 Sport Series for kids-hmmhg!)”
The Kid only hit Homers
Comeback of the Home Run Kid
These are quick fun reads but I’m not sure I like the morals given in these books.” I know kids don’t think that expanded and only see them as adventure stories but I do have a tendency to want something positive to come from stories.” The first book deals with a kid who loves” baseball but isn’t that great of a hitter.” Then this “mysterious” person teaches him to hit but no one seems to see this person” but him.” The first one is in reality the Babe and yes, suddenly he starts hitting home runs every time!” Then the Babe disappears and suddenly the kid can’t hit that homer.” So the book is never about his skill improving” but an artificial means to success.” In the second book, (not listed here) he meets up with a player from the World Series where the “players threw a world series for money.” This player teaches him how to cheat by sliding in and faking the tag or faking a fly ball catch.” Yes, he feels bad by the end and in the next book he has to deal with how kids view him now.” I just think that this is a great idea for a series and I wish the author had made better use of the lesson learned.” However, having said that, kids will enjoy the books.
Richard and Florence
Atwater (1938)
Mr. Popper’s Penquins
Dan Gutman -” Satch and Me, Babe and me, Shoeless Joe and Me
Joe Stoshack has the amazing ability to travel back through time when he touches an old baseball card!” He wonders, was Satch the fastest pitcher of his time?” Did the Babe really point his shot on that famous home run?” Did Shoeless Joe really throw that famous World Series?”
Dan Gutman describes the era that Joe travels back to so you not only get a great story but you also get a feel for how it was in the days of the hero.” In Satch you find how it was for Negro League and you wonder what records he would have broken if had been allowed in the majors early in his career.” He really gets into the persona of the Babe, a man with too much heart and a zest for life.” He doesn’t answer the question if Shoeless Joe threw the series but takes the facts we did know and lets you make the decision.”
John Feinstein
Last Shot” (First in a series-boy and girl become sport writers and solve a few mysteries/problems along the way)
Steven Thomas wants to be a sports writer.” He gets his chance to attend the College Championship and sit in the press box” to cover the game as a real reporter!” He meets the second runner up, Susan Carol, and soon discover she knows as much about sports as he does and is pretty cool even if her favorite team is Duke!” In this series, it looks like they will encounter various problems and mysteries and try to solve them.” In this first book, they uncover how a young player is being blackmailed into throwing a game for gamblers.” I found this interesting as it throws in how much pressure is on ball players in college.” For the sport minded girl or boy, this is going to be an interesting series.
Gordon Korman Island Triology
What happens when 6 mismatched kids are sent for a month to learn discipline on a sailing ship and find they have to fight for survival after their boat is destroyed in a storm?” This is actually three books in one:” Shipwreck, Survival and Escape.” I liked the way Gordon Korman describes his characters.” They all have problems and all feel like their parents don’t understand them.” ” One is just trying to get attention, one feels stressed to be “perfect”, one has wrapped himself up in tv documentaries rather than try and deal with his peers- well you get the idea!” This is a decent adventure story for young readers.” I actually enjoyed reading it myself!
Beverly Cleary
The Mouse and the Motorcycle:” This probably would appeal more to 8-10 year olds and as usual, Beverly Cleary has managed to write a short and funny story about a mouse whose family lives in an old hotel and the adventures he has when he” has with a motorcycle brought by a visiting” boy.
Judy Blume
Super Fudge!” Nobody writes characters like Judy Blume.” She never soft sells kids attitudes so her book comes across with some real issues and feelings that kids face.” In Super Fudge! she explores the challenges a boy faces when he asked to move to a new home for 9 months at the same time his parents announce they are expecting another child.” He already has a younger brother who drives him crazy so he is not happy at all about this new event.” I have always liked the way Judy Blume tackles issues that kids face and doesn’t try to write down to them.”