A. BIBLIOGRAPHY 
Carter, Ally. 2006. I’d Tell You I Love You But Then I Would Have To Kill You. New York, NY: Hyperion Paperbacks. ISBN 139781423100041
B. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Young adult girls will enjoy this novel filled with secret spy training adventures. The author chose the perfect setting for the high stake adventure. A prestigious boarding school sets the stage for these above average, young, intelligent agents, who learn to speak 14 different languages while learning highly classified skills. It’s refreshing to read girls portrayed as talented geniuses learning how to do a “man’s” job. The school is found in the midst of small town Roseville, Virginia. The people believe the girls who attend this academy are nothing but snooty girls from wealthy families. As exceptional as the girls are depicted, the reader will come to see that they are just like any other girl, with feelings of insecurity, and secret longings.
Almost immediately the novels adventure begins when a CODE RED is announced. Walls turn, foyers change, new posters are displayed, and the school transforms itself into a normal boarding school for girls. As outlandish as the plot can be, the author made each sequence of events heartfelt girly emotions that readers will connect with. Cammie, who narrates the story states: “I don’t’ know about regular girls, but when you’re a spy, getting dressed to go out can be something of a production.” (p. 142) I know with my normal thirteen year old getting dressed is always a production. Cammie also feels that life is filled with contradictions; “all I’ve heard for the last three years has been: Don’t hesitate, but be patient. Be logical—trust your instincts. Follow protocol—improvise. Never let your guard down—always look at ease. So, see, if you give a bunch of teenage girls those kinds of messages, then , yeah, eventually things are going to get interesting.” (p. 103) The protagonist deals with the same inconsistencies that young girls feel adults converse to them today. The author continues to have her protagonist, Cammie, connect with young adults by having her state: “All these years I’d thought being a spy was challenging. Turns out, being a girl is the tricky part.” (p.144) Being a girl is tricky and can be complicated. The protagonist Cammie is a likable character that readers will connect to. She’s smart yet insecure. She knows that her friends will always be there for her. She feels pressure to follow in her parents footsteps. She worries about her classes and grades, thinks about boys, and is concerned with her looks. The only disappointing part of the novel is that Cammie does not get a chance to work on a “dangerous” covert operation. “The stakes never seem very high since there are no real villains...” (SLJ)
This novel does not provide girls with an insightful or thought provoking message. It simply allows young adult girls to escape from real life dilemmas and live an adventurous double life through Cammie.
C. REVIEW EXCEPTS
School Library Journal: Cammie Morgan, 15, is a student at Gallagher Academy, a top-secret boarding school for girls who are spies-in-training. She studies covert operations, culture and assimilation, and advanced encryption, and has learned to speak 14 languages. Her troubles begin when she falls for Josh, a local boy who has no clue about her real identity. Keeping her training secret forces her to lie to her new love, which leads to comic complications.
Publishers Weekly: Set in a spy school for girls, this entertaining novel centers on 15-year-old Cammie, the headmistress's daughter, who must decide if she is cut out for a life of secrets. Though the plot takes a while to unfold, fun details and characters will keep readers engaged
D. CONNECTIONS
*Cammie mentions that society tends to underestimate women. Do you believe this statement to be true? Why or Why not.
*Cammie states: “I knew that the only thing I could do was keep putting one foot in front of the other, hoping none of the secrets on my shoulders would make me lose my balance.” (p. 223) What do secrets do to our lives?
*Cammie doesn’t believe she’s “normal.” What is normal? Does it even exist?
Visit Ally Carter at her Website: http://www.allycarter.com/
Other novels by Ally Carter:Don’t Judge a Girl by Her Cover. 2009. ISBN: 9781423116387
Cross My Heart Hope to Spy. 2008. ISBN: 1423100069
Cheating at Solitare. 2005. ISBN: 9780425205747
Carter, Ally. 2006. I’d Tell You I Love You But Then I Would Have To Kill You. New York, NY: Hyperion Paperbacks. ISBN 139781423100041
B. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Young adult girls will enjoy this novel filled with secret spy training adventures. The author chose the perfect setting for the high stake adventure. A prestigious boarding school sets the stage for these above average, young, intelligent agents, who learn to speak 14 different languages while learning highly classified skills. It’s refreshing to read girls portrayed as talented geniuses learning how to do a “man’s” job. The school is found in the midst of small town Roseville, Virginia. The people believe the girls who attend this academy are nothing but snooty girls from wealthy families. As exceptional as the girls are depicted, the reader will come to see that they are just like any other girl, with feelings of insecurity, and secret longings.
Almost immediately the novels adventure begins when a CODE RED is announced. Walls turn, foyers change, new posters are displayed, and the school transforms itself into a normal boarding school for girls. As outlandish as the plot can be, the author made each sequence of events heartfelt girly emotions that readers will connect with. Cammie, who narrates the story states: “I don’t’ know about regular girls, but when you’re a spy, getting dressed to go out can be something of a production.” (p. 142) I know with my normal thirteen year old getting dressed is always a production. Cammie also feels that life is filled with contradictions; “all I’ve heard for the last three years has been: Don’t hesitate, but be patient. Be logical—trust your instincts. Follow protocol—improvise. Never let your guard down—always look at ease. So, see, if you give a bunch of teenage girls those kinds of messages, then , yeah, eventually things are going to get interesting.” (p. 103) The protagonist deals with the same inconsistencies that young girls feel adults converse to them today. The author continues to have her protagonist, Cammie, connect with young adults by having her state: “All these years I’d thought being a spy was challenging. Turns out, being a girl is the tricky part.” (p.144) Being a girl is tricky and can be complicated. The protagonist Cammie is a likable character that readers will connect to. She’s smart yet insecure. She knows that her friends will always be there for her. She feels pressure to follow in her parents footsteps. She worries about her classes and grades, thinks about boys, and is concerned with her looks. The only disappointing part of the novel is that Cammie does not get a chance to work on a “dangerous” covert operation. “The stakes never seem very high since there are no real villains...” (SLJ)
This novel does not provide girls with an insightful or thought provoking message. It simply allows young adult girls to escape from real life dilemmas and live an adventurous double life through Cammie.
C. REVIEW EXCEPTS
School Library Journal: Cammie Morgan, 15, is a student at Gallagher Academy, a top-secret boarding school for girls who are spies-in-training. She studies covert operations, culture and assimilation, and advanced encryption, and has learned to speak 14 languages. Her troubles begin when she falls for Josh, a local boy who has no clue about her real identity. Keeping her training secret forces her to lie to her new love, which leads to comic complications.
Publishers Weekly: Set in a spy school for girls, this entertaining novel centers on 15-year-old Cammie, the headmistress's daughter, who must decide if she is cut out for a life of secrets. Though the plot takes a while to unfold, fun details and characters will keep readers engaged
D. CONNECTIONS
*Cammie mentions that society tends to underestimate women. Do you believe this statement to be true? Why or Why not.
*Cammie states: “I knew that the only thing I could do was keep putting one foot in front of the other, hoping none of the secrets on my shoulders would make me lose my balance.” (p. 223) What do secrets do to our lives?
*Cammie doesn’t believe she’s “normal.” What is normal? Does it even exist?
Visit Ally Carter at her Website: http://www.allycarter.com/
Other novels by Ally Carter:Don’t Judge a Girl by Her Cover. 2009. ISBN: 9781423116387
Cross My Heart Hope to Spy. 2008. ISBN: 1423100069
Cheating at Solitare. 2005. ISBN: 9780425205747
LAST SHOT: A FINAL FOUR MYSTERY
A. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Feinstein, John. 2005. Last Shot: A Final Four Mystery. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 0375931686
B. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
A. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Feinstein, John. 2005. Last Shot: A Final Four Mystery. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 0375931686
B. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Feinstein did an excellent job of writing a mystery novel that mixes adventure, danger, mystery, and the fun of sports all in one. I am personally not a big sports fan, but as I read through the novel, I recognized authentic names within the story. This aspect helped to make the story more realistic in nature. “References to real players and coaches mingle, almost eerily, with the fictitious characters.” (SLJ 2005) The premise, or plot of the story, was executed in a way that made it believable. Two students win a contest to be junior sports writers for a final four basketball event. I appreciated that Feinstein added a girl as a winner, described her as pretty and also made her knowledgeable. There are many young adult girls who love sports and adding a strong female character helps validate the love and appreciation girls have for the game of basketball.
The novel highlights the importance of achieving goals, writing unbiased and authentic journaling, seeking justice and truth, and it shows the not so nice side of sports as well. It does not preach out loud about ethics but places the ethics of character, sportsmanship, and rules of the game into the context of the story. The novel leads the reader to its own conclusions through the actions and decisions made by the characters within the novel. Steve and Susan, the main protagonists who won the contest are dumfounded that a professor of ethics is the culprit behind the blackmailing going on in this story. Steve realizes that “fair-and-unbiased-reporter thing was harder than it looked.” (p.20) As the two young journalist accidentally hear a player being forced to throw the final game Stevie mentions: “he felt like he was leaving a movie. But there was no leaving. Now he and Susan Carol were part of the movie.” (p.57) As they discuss what to do they realize, “who would believe us.” (p. 56) The two young writers have gumption and persist onward to solve the mystery of who is blackmailing the unknown player. As Kirkus Review states: this is, “No little-guy-overcoming-the-odds story, this is a tale of celebrity, big business, and corruption as witnessed by two eager and innocent fledgling reporters who must decide what to do with their unexpected knowledge.” The story will draw the reader in and keep them guessing as the two journalist work their way towards solving this mystery. "Young basketball fans will most appreciate the caper, but mystery buffs will also turn these pages eagerly." (Publishers Weekly 2005) Young adults will agree that this book is filled with elements that make this mystery novel a winner.
C. REVIEW EXCEPTS
Horn Book: As winners of a writing contest, eighth-graders Steven Thomas and Susan Carol Anderson travel to the NCAA Final Four as journalists. In addition to meeting college basketball celebrities, the two also uncover a plot to fix the championship game. As the fast-moving mystery takes off, the book becomes the reader's own press pass to a behind-the-scenes look at the Final Four.
Kirkus Review: When Stevie Thomas wins a sports writing contest and gets to cover the Final Four college basketball championship in New Orleans, he knows it's going to be the most unbelievable weekend of his life. And unbelievable it is, but in unexpected ways. Amidst the circus atmosphere at the Superdome-with the Blue Devils, Huskies, Coach K, Dick Vitale, and the clamor of hawkers, scalpers, and the best sportswriters in America-Stevie and his co-winner Susan Carol overhear a plot to throw the championship game.
School Library Journal: This action-packed mystery is set at the NCAA Final Four men's basketball tournament. Eighth-graders Steven Thomas and Susan Carol Anderson are aspiring journalists and winners of the U.S. Basketball Writer's Association 14-and-under writing contest. Their prize is a trip, with press credentials and reporting responsibilities, to the Final Four in New Orleans. While exploring the Superdome, they overhear a blackmail threat leveled at Minnesota State University's star player. Threatened with a falsified transcript that would disqualify him and his team, Chip Graber is pressured to deliberately lose the final game against Duke. Stevie and Susan Carol become resourceful sleuths determined to save Chip and to expose the scandal. Throughout the story, famous basketball personalities make memorable guest appearances, including spirited sports analyst Tony Kornheiser and irrepressible commentator Dick Vitale.
The novel highlights the importance of achieving goals, writing unbiased and authentic journaling, seeking justice and truth, and it shows the not so nice side of sports as well. It does not preach out loud about ethics but places the ethics of character, sportsmanship, and rules of the game into the context of the story. The novel leads the reader to its own conclusions through the actions and decisions made by the characters within the novel. Steve and Susan, the main protagonists who won the contest are dumfounded that a professor of ethics is the culprit behind the blackmailing going on in this story. Steve realizes that “fair-and-unbiased-reporter thing was harder than it looked.” (p.20) As the two young journalist accidentally hear a player being forced to throw the final game Stevie mentions: “he felt like he was leaving a movie. But there was no leaving. Now he and Susan Carol were part of the movie.” (p.57) As they discuss what to do they realize, “who would believe us.” (p. 56) The two young writers have gumption and persist onward to solve the mystery of who is blackmailing the unknown player. As Kirkus Review states: this is, “No little-guy-overcoming-the-odds story, this is a tale of celebrity, big business, and corruption as witnessed by two eager and innocent fledgling reporters who must decide what to do with their unexpected knowledge.” The story will draw the reader in and keep them guessing as the two journalist work their way towards solving this mystery. "Young basketball fans will most appreciate the caper, but mystery buffs will also turn these pages eagerly." (Publishers Weekly 2005) Young adults will agree that this book is filled with elements that make this mystery novel a winner.
C. REVIEW EXCEPTS
Horn Book: As winners of a writing contest, eighth-graders Steven Thomas and Susan Carol Anderson travel to the NCAA Final Four as journalists. In addition to meeting college basketball celebrities, the two also uncover a plot to fix the championship game. As the fast-moving mystery takes off, the book becomes the reader's own press pass to a behind-the-scenes look at the Final Four.
Kirkus Review: When Stevie Thomas wins a sports writing contest and gets to cover the Final Four college basketball championship in New Orleans, he knows it's going to be the most unbelievable weekend of his life. And unbelievable it is, but in unexpected ways. Amidst the circus atmosphere at the Superdome-with the Blue Devils, Huskies, Coach K, Dick Vitale, and the clamor of hawkers, scalpers, and the best sportswriters in America-Stevie and his co-winner Susan Carol overhear a plot to throw the championship game.
School Library Journal: This action-packed mystery is set at the NCAA Final Four men's basketball tournament. Eighth-graders Steven Thomas and Susan Carol Anderson are aspiring journalists and winners of the U.S. Basketball Writer's Association 14-and-under writing contest. Their prize is a trip, with press credentials and reporting responsibilities, to the Final Four in New Orleans. While exploring the Superdome, they overhear a blackmail threat leveled at Minnesota State University's star player. Threatened with a falsified transcript that would disqualify him and his team, Chip Graber is pressured to deliberately lose the final game against Duke. Stevie and Susan Carol become resourceful sleuths determined to save Chip and to expose the scandal. Throughout the story, famous basketball personalities make memorable guest appearances, including spirited sports analyst Tony Kornheiser and irrepressible commentator Dick Vitale.
D. CONNECTIONS
*Stevie mentions that this event would be a first-in-a-lifetime experience. What does he mean and do you believe it’s possible?
*Stevie and Susan do not feel as if they can turn to an adult and tell them what they know. Is this a true picture of how adults react to young adults approaching them with news?
*What role do ethics play in sports today?
*Stevie and Susan do not feel as if they can turn to an adult and tell them what they know. Is this a true picture of how adults react to young adults approaching them with news?
*What role do ethics play in sports today?
To learn more about John Feinstein visit: http://www.randomhouse.com/author/results.pperl?authorid=8500
*Other related novels by John Feinstein:
Change Up: Mystery at the World Series. 2009. ISBN 9780375856365
Cover Up. 2008. ISBN 9780440422051
Vanishing Act. 2008. ISBN 9780440421252
HARRIS AND MEA. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Paulsen, Gary. 1993. Harris and Me. Orlando, Florida: Harcourt Brace & Company. ISBN 0152928774
B. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Gary Paulsen has written a tale filled with rip roaring fun. The story is narrated by an 11 year old boy who has been sent from family to family to escape his alcoholic parents. The author used an appropriate setting, country life, a location that is as wide and as free as the imagination can carry you. Immediately we are introduced to the narrator’s cousin Harris and his colorful language as he states: “We heard your folks was puke drunks, is that right?” Glennis, his sister, slaps him across the head and Harris declares, “Well you can just blow it out your butt, you old cow. You ain’t no grown up to tell me what to do. How the hell am I supposed to know things if I don’t go ahead and ask them?” (p.7) And so commences the tone of the story, a journey of curiousness that ensues between Harris and his newly acquired cousin. The characters as very likable and keep the novel fresh and fun. Harris will appeal to the fun adventurous side of life. The main protagonist, the narrator, will connect with readers who long for a place to call home, a family to love, and a friendship that fills the void. “Paulsen never loses sight of his vulnerable narrator, a classic outsider never named, who finds by the end of his summer a place he finally belongs and people who love .” 1993)
The plot is filled with outrageous and sometimes authentic acts of craziness between the two boys. They hunt Commie Jap pigs, swing like Tarzan, try to escape the madness of a rooster named Ernie, experiment with an electric fence, and more. The two boys work the farm but have fun using their imagination in the process. “Between escapades, the two boys do a fair amount of raw work, socialize a little, and all in all spend a glorious summer together.” (Book Report 1994)
Young adults will enjoy the hilarious adventures. Their curiosity gets the best of them and at times Harris gets frustrated by his cousin as he declares, “you don’t know nothing, do you.” (p.43) I believe reluctant readers will have fun reading this novel. The two cousins keep the reader on their toes wondering what they will be up to next. “It wasn’t that we tried to get in trouble. Indeed, Harris and I did not think in terms of trouble at all. It’s just that many of the things we wanted to do—well perhaps all the things we wanted to do—seemed to cause difficulties in some way that we hand not expected.” The boys do cause havoc and place themselves in wild situations but as School Library Journal states: “Some stories push beyond believability and edge into tall-tale territory, but it doesn't matter.”(1993) It is a novel that will keep the reader begging for more. Paulsen has done a superb job of hooking the reader and engaging them through the plot of this fantastical adventurous story.
C. REVIEW EXCEPTS
Kirkus Review: As the boy explains, he's 11 years old that early-50's summer when a deputy sheriff dumps him with distant relatives on a north country farm--one in a long succession of makeshifts arranged in lieu of the parents who drink Four Roses neat from jelly jars and are "pretty much mean whenever they [are] conscious." The Larsons are sturdy, rough folk; Knute is virtually silent, though he's the source of his nine-year-old son Harris's richly profane vocabulary, which invariably elicits harsh (but ineffective) blows from "strapping" sister Glennis. In Harris's charge, the boy learns, the hard way, to avoid the cow with a brutal kick and the mouse-devouring "cat" that's actually a lynx. Ignored by their busy elders, Harris's imagination regularly gets the two into freewheeling "trouble" as dangerous as it is hilarious--trouble involving the two giant horses, or a runaway bike fitted with Harris's mother's gasoline washing-machine motor. By summer's end, the boy has learned to match Harris's wild pranks (he challenges Harris to urinate on an electric fence, with the expected result) and has fathomed the true humanity of the characters he so vividly and comically describes (the hired man gulping pancakes, syrup in his beard, is unforgettable). Just when he and the Larsons begin to regard each other as family, the boy is wrenched away. Poignantly, after one lonely letter from Harris, the book ends.
Horn Book: Set in the 1950s, the funny, earthy look at farm life, as viewed by an eleven-year-old city boy, includes laugh-out-loud passages as well as heaps of nostalgia. The narrator has been sent to live with relatives as a respite from his alcoholic parents. The book centers on his relationship with his nine-year-old cousin Harris and their exploits, experiments, and accidents during one memorable summer. What the two can't think of to try isn't worth telling!
School Library Journal: A nostalgic journey through a boy's breakneck summer. Told by a narrator recalling his experiences the summer he was 11, the stories begin with his being dropped by a deputy at the farm home of a distant relative. "`We heard your folks was puke drunks, is that right?'" asks the beguiling and reckless nine-year-old Harris almost immediately. Of course they are, but that dismal fact of life is forgotten nearly at once as Harris leads the two of them off on one wild adventure after another. As one might suspect from Paulsen, there are no ordinary characters residing on this backwoods farm: there's Vivian, the ornery, kicking cow; 300 pound pigs who don't look kindly on wrestling matches with boys; Ernie, the attack-rooster; Louie, the hired hand with strange table manners and an artistic streak; Buzzer, his pet lynx; and Harris's older sister, Glennis, who is constantly whacking him for swearing.
D. CONNECTIONS
*How did the setting help the believability of this story?
*How did the setting help the believability of this story?
*What did it mean to the narrator when he found the diorama of Harris’ family with a miniature of him included?
*What impact do you believe that summer had upon the narrator.
To learn more about Gary Paulsen visit: http://www.randomhouse.com/features/garypaulsen/about.html
Other novels by Gary Paulsen:
Lawn Boy. 2009. ISBN 9780553494655
Mudshark. 2009. ISBN 9780385746854
Tracker. 2007. ISBN 9781416939405
*What impact do you believe that summer had upon the narrator.
To learn more about Gary Paulsen visit: http://www.randomhouse.com/features/garypaulsen/about.html
Other novels by Gary Paulsen:
Lawn Boy. 2009. ISBN 9780553494655
Mudshark. 2009. ISBN 9780385746854
Tracker. 2007. ISBN 9781416939405
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