Voting Day and Celebration

Hi everyone,

we're going to wrap-up our Red Cedar Book Club on Thursday, April 16th at noon in the library. Please bring your lunches... we'll have a final chat about the books, vote on our favourites, and then celebrate all of our great reading! This celebration will only be open to those who have read a minimum of FIVE nominees from either fiction or nonfiction categories. I will be going by the list posted in the hall so be sure to update. You will receive invitations on Tuesday.

To those of you who didn't quite make it but were loyal in attending the meetings this year, you are welcome to come but you can't vote. To those of you who signed up at the beginning but lost interest after a week or two... there's always next year!!

Thanks everyone- see you on Thursday.
Mrs. Sherlock

AND THE NOMINEES ARE...

Welcome Red Cedar Book Club Bloggers! Below this post you will see all the Red Cedar nominees listed by title in alphabetical order. Please scroll down to the book you are reading to make a comment. Visit the blog often and make comments on other people's comments! It's fun to discover that we all have different opinions on the same book.

** All book cover photos and accompanying descriptions are taken from the Red Cedar Book Awards site **

A Winter for Leo by Nicole Leroux

Leo is a member of a family of flying squirrel trapeze artists. He is small for his age and has a crooked paw which makes being an acrobat difficult at times. In the grand final show of the season, he loses his grip and falls off the trapeze, ruining the show. Everyone is angry at him so he runs away. He hopes his family will come after him, and when they don’t, he wanders away into the forest where he becomes lost. Eventually he finds a door in a tree. It leads to the underground home of a near-sighted mole couple who kindly take him in.
Winter is fast approaching, so Leo must stay with the couple in their wonderfully cozy burrow. They feed and clothe him and offer him a comfortable bed. Over the winter months he learns valuable truths about himself and about others.

All the Way Home by Natale Ghent

As the summer holidays of 1978 begin, 13 year old Nat’s mother sells their home to get money to board their pony, Smokey. Nat, his 15 year old sister, Cid, their little sister, Queenie and his mother, Margaret Estabrooks move into a rented apartment in Eastview, a little town where “the only people who live in apartments are the ones the newspaper calls ‘unfortunate’”. Shortly after, Ma is hospitalized with severe pneumonia, and Nat and his sisters are visited by a man from Children’s Aid Society. Afraid they may be taken into care if their mother dies, Nat sets off on horseback for Illinois, to find the father who deserted them four years before.
Though a sequel to No Small Thing, you don’t have to have read that one first.

Alligator and Crocodile Rescue by Trish Synder

Loathed for their dining habits and adored for their skins, alligators and crocodiles were hunted almost to extinction. But thanks to some creative conservation efforts, their status has improved dramatically. Even so, they are still at risk: eight species remain on the endangered list, and some hover on the brink of extinction. In Alligator and Crocodile Rescue, you'll meet people from around the world who are helping to ensure a future for these living links to dinosaurs.

Almost Eden by Anita Horrocks

Think of how you and your friends look forward to school holidays. Now, imagine how you’d feel if you were 12 year old Elsie Redekop, living in a small, close-knit Mennonite community. Her summer was supposed to start off with a much anticipated sleep-over at her house, followed by lots of time at the community pool with her friends. Instead, her summer begins with her mother being hospitalized in the local mental institution, maybe because of the sleepover. Then her bossy older sister is put in charge of Elsie and her sometimes bratty younger sister. Then two of her best friends go off together without telling her. And that’s just the beginning. She bargains unsuccessfully with God about curing her Mom, then tries on her own to set right the wrongs she’s committed, with nearly tragic results.

Birds of Prey Rescue by Pamela Hickman

Birds of prey, or “raptors”, are meat-eating birds that are extremely well-equipped to hunt. These predators’ eyes are up to 10 times as powerful as human eyes and many of them have ultra-sensitive hearing. Unfortunately, despite their powerful senses, many of them are endangered or threatened. In Pamela Hickman’s book Birds of Prey Rescue, you’ll meet people from all over the world who are fighting to ensure there is a future for these magnificent birds.

Chasing the Moon by Penny Chamberlain

It’s 1924, and with her mother ill in the hospital, Kit Avery has been sent to live with her father. She travels alone to Saanichton, where she is disappointed to find her old home dirty and neglected. She is worried, too, about her father, who has abandoned farming to work at something he calls “night fishing.” He has a new and very fast boat, but there are no fish anywhere in sight. Kit also wonders about the boxes being stored under lock and key in the barn.
A young runaway named Caleb turns up on the farm and becomes Kit’s friend. Before long, Caleb is drawn into her father’s night-time activities, which Kit begins to suspect are connected to smuggling. She is determined to get to the bottom of things, unaware that her search is about to take her into terrible danger.

Crazy About Canada! by Vivien Bowers

Vivien Bowers ran out of things to write about Canada, so she called in the experts - that would be YOU! She asked real, live, squirmy kids what they wanted to know about Canada, and they sent in about a trillion gazillion questions. For instance, “Why are beavers’ teeth orange?” Vivien had absolutely no idea (too many orange slushees, maybe?). So she went off on a quest - an exciting search for the truth! The result is the book Crazy About Canada. Join Vivien (she's the cartoon character in the book, as well as the author) and her nerdy sidekick, a boy called Morton, as they head into the unknown to find the answers that kids want to know.

The Devil, the Banshee and Me by L.M. Falcone

Will Trenom is suspicious of the mother and daughter who have moved into the old cottage in a cemetery across the street. For one thing, the girl, Megan, never comes outside. For another, Will hears screaming and crying in the cemetery. Then he sees a Banshee, a ghostly old woman who floats in the air outside the house and wails while combing her long grey hair. It turns out that the Banshee is after Megan – and the only way Will can save his new friend is by stealing the Banshee’s comb. Will he be able to outsmart the ghostly creature? Meanwhile, how can Will protect himself from Noah, a guest at his parents’ B&B? Noah says he is the Devil’s nephew – and proves it by making Will fly, float and perch on top of bookcases when he least expects it.
This fast-paced book combines the supernatural with zany, slapstick-like comedy. The plot twists, laughs and suspenseful moments will keep you turning the pages.

Fear This Book by Jeff Szpirglas

What are you afraid of? Why? Ever heard of atychiphobia? What is it and what does fear do to your brain? This book will answer many of these questions. It will even help you not to be scared of dark places (well, at least ones not bigger than two square inches...) and explores everything you might have ever feared: ghosts, vampires, spiders and more. A great book to read around Halloween! But don’t say I didn’t warn you...

Gemini Summer by Iain Lawrence

Everyone in Danny River’s family has a passionate interest. Mom is writing a romantic novel in the basement. Dad is digging up the front lawn to build a bomb shelter. Danny’s brother Beau, determined to become an astronaut one day, is an enthusiastic fan of the Gemini space program. Danny’s own passion is dogs. He loves dogs, and they love him back! But his dream of having his own dog seems impossible.
Then tragedy strikes the River family, and everything changes. A dog does come into Danny’s life, but under circumstances that he never would have expected – or wanted. He names the dog Rocket. Who is this mysterious stray who limps into the Rivers’ yard? And how can Rocket and Danny help each other through the toughest year of Danny’s life?

Hamish X and the Cheese Pirates by Sean Cullen

Who is the mysterious Hamish X? He looks like an ordinary 10-year-old boy except he wears big black boots he can’t take off and no orphan facility can hold him. Agents Candy and Sweet of the Orphan Disposal Agency don’t seem to know what to do with him, or do they have a master plan? They sell him to the dreadful Windcity Orphanage and Cheese Factory where a small army of orphans slave to make award-winning stinky blue cheese. Hamish’s plan of escape—with his new friends, the tough, courageous Mimi, 12, and the brilliant, inventive Parveen, 8,—is well underway when the dreaded Captain Cheesebeard and his marauding band of cutthroats attack the factory. They kidnap the orphan slaves and take them away to face an unknown but undoubtedly worse fate far across the Arctic on Snow Monkey Island. Now of course the three friends have to try to free them. As Hamish says, “Anything else would make for a very dull story.” This story is far from dull. It’s exciting, fast-paced and very, very funny.

I Did it Because... by Loris Lesynski

Loris Lesynski is always curious! She is also always writing. Often she writes poems. If someone asks her ‘Why?’ she just might answer with a poem..WHY...?I did it because – well the reason was – it was really because because... I did it because – because everyone does – because because because... In I Did It Because... Loris helps you to write your own poems and to get excited about poetry. She says “poems don’t have to rhyme to be poems”. The book helps you to find the rhythm of words and, most of all, will show you how to have FUN with words. Why? Well, just because...!

I Found a Dead Bird by Jan Thornhill

“What does it mean to be alive?”“How do some things die?” “What happens to living things after death?” These are just a few of the many big questions which Jan Thornhill asked herself upon finding a dead hummingbird, and some of the questions she addresses in the book. Questions which you have probably asked yourself at some time. Throughout the book, the author looks for answers to these and more questions about life, death and how we cope with them. I was amazed at how many things she touches on in this book - not just dead birds! You will learn about life cycles, funeral ceremonies in different cultures, and much more!

I, the Spy by Allison Maher

Fifteen-year-old Andrew likes his new best friend, Brian. They enjoy hanging out together and telling jokes. But one day, soon after Brian has revealed that “Brian” is not his real name and that he and his parents are in the Witness Protection Program after his father informed on some bank embezzlers, Brian and his family go missing. Now Andrew has to step into action. Enlisting the help of his mother, who tests electronic surveillance gear, and his father, an environmental biologist, Andrew sets out to find and rescue his friend. Will his mother’s high-tech gadgets – and his courage – be up to the task? If you like fast-paced books full of danger and cool tools, you’ll like I, the Spy.

Johnny Kellock Died Today by Hadley Dyer

Jurassic Poop by Jacob Berkowitz

Any book with the name ‘poop’ in the title will be an interesting one, right? Try to predict what kind of topics the author covers in this book... How can you write a whole book about dinosaur dung?
From the first pages, in which he explains how some exhaust got preserved for millions of years, Jacob Berkowitz has lots of fascinating details for those of us interested in dinosaurs, paleontology and science. He combines his knowledge with a good sense of humour. You’ll have fun reading about a turd hoping to get lithified (turned into stone) right through to The Future of Feces. Far from being a gross book, I was surprised at how much I learned. Scientists are able to use thousands of years old droppings to teach us about species: how they lived, what they ate, how they hunted, even in which season they ate their last meal! This book might even make you aware of new areas to study if you want to become a scientist.

Magnifico by Victoria Miles

All 11-year-old Mariangela wants is to learn how to play the piano. But one day when she comes home from school, she finds her grandfather’s old accordion instead. Although Mariangela tries to learn how to play the accordion at her music lessons, it’s hard – and she’s pretty horrible! Not only that, but she has to lug the accordion through her neighbourhood so that everyone can see, especially the school bully, who makes fun of her every time she passes.
Join Mariangela and her two best friends, Esther and Dot, as they explore different cultures in their neighbourhood of Strathcona, Vancouver. As Mariangela struggles to master (and avoid playing) the accordion, she ends up learning about her family’s history and culture as they made their way to Canada from Italy. She even learns a little bit about herself along the way.

Never Be Told by Becky Citra

Never To Be Told is about 12-year-old Asia who lives on a farm in the Cariboo with an elderly couple, Eli and Maddy. After Eli has a heart attack, Asia is forced to leave her beloved farm to go and live with her grandmother in West Vancouver. She didn’t even know that she had a grandmother, so the move is enormously stressful for her. On the farm is a ghost of a young woman who is desperate to contact Asia before she leaves because only Asia can feel her presence and see and hear her, and only Asia can help her. Then when Asia moves to West Vancouver she meets, not only cousins and an aunt and uncle, but also a mysterious elderly woman who seems to want her to do something. A great story for mystery lovers.

Odd Man Out by Sarah Ellis

Kip is the ‘Odd Man Out’ in a household of females. While his mother has gone to Hawaii for her honeymoon, he’s been sent to spend a month in the summer at his grandma’s island home with five girl cousins. Gran’s house has been sold and is about to be torn down so almost anything goes. Kip and his cousins are allowed to demolish the walls, write anywhere, do anything, as long as they don’t tear down bearing walls or are mean to each other. The cousins have fun with beach campfires, swimming and exploring tide pools, but Kip is often overwhelmed by the craziness of his girl cousins and he just has to get away. He escapes to the attic which becomes his sanctuary. There he finds a complicated mystery connected to his father when he was a boy. As Kip explores a thick scrapbook which once belonged to his father, he finds out more and more about him and his strange imagination, and about himself.

Our Game by Dave Stubbs

It’s true: hockey is Canada’s game. Sticks and pucks have linked every part of our land for both men and women from the time of the first Stanley Cup in 1892 up to the 2010 Olympics. Hockey is so popular it is played on rinks, streets, game boards and computer arcades, and has loyal listeners on radio and television. Packed with fascinating information sidebars called `Facts on the Fly` we learn that women had an advantage on the rinks a hundred years ago when goalies would stop the puck with their long skirts. We read about the “greats” from Bobby Hull, to Mark Messier, Jean Beliveau and Wayne Gretzky, the history of uniforms, rules and referring and the zamboni, as well as the difference between Hat Tricks and Rat Tricks.

Rex Zero and the End of the World by Tim Wynne-Jones

Rex Norton-Norton (Rex Zero if you pretend that the hyphen is a minus sign) has just moved to Ottawa from Vancouver. His dad’s job as an engineer takes them all over and Rex has never lived anywhere long enough to be anyone’s best friend. It’s 1962, a very scary time because there was almost a nuclear war between the United States and Russia. One of Rex’s new friend’s father is digging a bomb shelter in his back yard! On top of that, there’s a panther loose in the neighbourhood park. Rex finds a way to be brave, to expose the panther, and to make some friends—all before school starts in September.

Ryan and Jimmy And the Well in Africa That Brought Them Together by Herb Shoveller

Ryan and Jimmy is the inspiring story of a Canadian boy who raises money to provide safe drinking water in Uganda, Africa. Ryan is in Grade One and saves money from doing chores to send to WaterCan. A newspaper story about Ryan’s plan encourages people help him raise $2,000 in 1999 for a well in a Ugandan village. By the time Ryan is in Grade 3 he has a Ugandan pen pal, an orphaned boy his age called Jimmy.
Ryan and his family are invited to travel to the village, and when Ryan arrives African people are lined up on either side of a road to greet him. They are clapping and calling his name as he walks alone to meet Jimmy and to see the well. The two boys become great friends before Ryan must return to Canada. These days, Ryan is a teenager who travels the world to raise money, and Jimmy, whose life was endangered by rebels, now lives permanently with Ryan’s family in Ontario and works with him to spread the word about the need for clean water in Africa.

Science Detectives by Editors of YES Magazine

Hikers in the Alps stumble over a body half buried in the ice. Who was he? How and when did he die? Murdered—5300 years ago! Learn how science detectives solved the mystery. Follow a geologist/scientist as he secretly hunts down diamonds in the Canadian North and makes himself rich. See a picture of the biggest jigsaw you could imagine—the attempted reconstruction of the Columbia space shuttle—and meet the people who put it together. 1600 dead, rotting vultures have a story to tell. Who knows how to listen? All this and more await you in this very exciting book of real-life detectives working in science.

Secret Agent Y.O.U. by Helaine Becker

This book is a lot of fun. You can take an exam to see if you’d make a good spy (Are you average looking so you could disappear in a crowd? Are you fit enough to escape pursuers?) You’ll read about the role of spies in history, learn how to disguise yourself, and to tell if someone is lying (hint: watch their body language). You can test your observation powers and learn the secrets of codes from easy to difficult.
The book tells you how to make fake blood (corn syrup and yogurt with food colouring) and how to give yourself a wart (glue mixed with bread!). Of course there’s a recipe for invisible ink. Here’s a tip for passing on a secret message: fold the message and put it under your dog’s collar. Walk the dog and meet your contact who asks if he can pet your dog. You say yes, and he removes the message from the dog’s collar, then both of you continue in opposite directions.

Squirt! by Trudee Romanek

Do you know that by the time you’re an adult, you’ll have about 96,000 km of blood vessels—enough to reach around the earth twice? Or that when your heart will beat roughly 2.5 billion times over your lifetime? Or how to make model blood from lemon jello? You can find out even more wonderful things about blood from this book. It’s well illustrated with drawings and has some interesting follow up activities—like how to find out if your hands are as strong as your heart.

Stealing Home by Ellen Schwartz

Orphaned Joey Sexton is half-black, half-Jewish. He was too white for his mostly black Bronx neighbourhood. Now he has been sent to live with his mother’s family in a Jewish neighbourhood in Brooklyn, where he’s taunted for being black. This new place is his only chance of having a real home. But how can he belong here, when everything he does seems to infuriate his unbending, overly-strict Grandfather? How will he—a passionate baseball player and Yankees fan—ever feel at home here when everyone in his new family roots for the Brooklyn Dodgers? Baseball seems to be a symbol of all that’s insurmountable between him and his relatives, but in the end it turns out to bring them together. Jackie Robinson, the first black man to play in the major leagues, inspires this change, too. Read and find out how. The story also features a very spunky girl cousin who plays a mean game of baseball. Not just for baseball fans.

Sundancer by Shelley Peterson

Sundancer is the story of a beautiful high-spirited chestnut horse and the girl who came to care for him. ‘Bird’, short for Alberta, is a girl with a rare gift: although she doesn’t talk to people, she can talk to and understand animals in her mind. When her aunt Hannah has a horse which arrives on her farm acting upset and unreachable, it’s Bird who cares for him and they form a strong bond, performing many unusual feats together.
However, one day, Bird’s mother arrives. At first Bird is excited because she’ll get to see her younger sister. But when her mother is obviously ashamed of her and pretends she is Bird’s aunt, it opens old wounds. Then when the owner of Sundancer arrives and demands to have his horse back, things get more complicated.
If you’re a lover of horses, this is an excellent read for you.

Vroom! By Timothy Miller

Who doesn’t love car races? The noise. The speed. The excitement. Fasten your seatbelt for facts, photos and fun as you learn about the cars, the tracks and the competitions.
Did you know that only seven crew members are allowed to work at a pit stop? One person jacks up the car and four others, working in pairs, change each tire while two fill the fuel tank. All this in 18 seconds! This book has many fascinating facts, like the information that an Indy car, racing at 220 mph, travels the length of a football field in just one second. You’ll also learn about Keely Benner, a junior dragster who loves to race against boys in the 8 to 17 class, and has a wall full of trophies to prove she’s a winner.

Well-Schooled Fish and Feathered Bandits by Peter Christie

It goes without saying that you learn from other people all the time. Goodness! You’re in school for hours every day learning stuff from others. But what about animals? Do they actually learn from each other the way we do? You bet they do.

This book will give you lots of interesting examples. How about dancing monkeys? In Tanzania, chimpanzees teach each other to dance a wild boogie-woogie when it rains. In the Ivory Coast the chimpanzee dance is slow and deliberate and includes martial art-like posing. (Essential information if you’re caught in Africa without an umbrella!) Humpback whales teach each other to sing different songs. Domestic chickens teach one another that chicken meat is delicious. There are a lot of good photos in this book, too. It’s not very long, but it’s packed with things to know.