The Total Tragedy of a Girl Named Hamlet   by Erin Dionne

    Being invisible to anyone who might make your life miserable, or even uncomfortable, is the goal of many junior high students.  Nothing could be worse than saying the wrong thing, and opening up yourself to humiliation.  So, you don't say anything at all. You don't want to attract the negative attention of your teachers, so you do your best to pass your classes.  On the other hand, you don't want to be considered a geek by fellow students, so you certainly can't do really well in your classes. You must wear the same kind of clothes as everyone else, like the same music, watch the same TV shows, and generally do your best to fly under the radar.
     Such is the goal of Hamlet Kennedy.  Her higest wish is to have a good, normal 8th grade year.  She never could have imagined how difficult that would prove to be. It was bad enough that she has the strangest family anywhere, but now it appears that her genius 7 year-old sister will be attending her school to take some fine arts classes.  Can life get any worse?  An appearance in Renaissance garb by her Shakespeare-loving parents, a befriending of her little sister by her two worst enemies, and a secret admirer who keeps putting origami pigs in her locker say yes!
    A fun, light-hearted story, The Total Tragedy of a Girl named Hamlet, hits the nail on the head when describing the troubles and anxiety of an 8th-grade girl. On the 2011 Texas Lones Star list, and available in the library.
                    ~reviewed by Mrs. Sams
   



A Season

of Gifts

by Richard Peck

      I've got to admit, A Season of Gifts is a great example of my favorite kind of book--the plot not so important, but filled with funny, quirky characters doing sweet and hilarious things, filled with witty turns of phrase.  In this case, it's Mrs. Dowdel who lives next door to the new Methodist preacher and his family.  Mrs. Dowdel is old as the ground her dilapidated house sits on and as big as the side of a barn.  But she doesn't let that stop her.  She is busy from dawn till forever every single day, working in her garden and doing a variety of other things that keep her and half the town fed and clothed.  She hides a heart as big as all outdoors with a grouchy exterior.  She has a finely tuned sense of justice and has the creativity to see justice served when no one else is able to. Just ask Roscoe Burdick, the town troublemaker.  Most people either know to stay out of her way, or are foolish enough to think she's a helpless old woman.  Woe to the one who underestimates her abilities! 

      In A Season of Gifts, Peck follows the adventures of Bob and his sisters Ruth Ann and Phyllis as they settle in to small-town life next door to Mrs. Dowdel.  From haunted houses to a funeral for an Indian princess, Peck keeps the laughs coming.  Season is a companion volume to Newbery award winner, A Year Down Yonder, and Newbery Honor book, A Long Way from Chicago, which is in our school library.  This heart-warming story is a quick read and highly recommended.   ~reviewed by Mrs. Sams