What Do We Do in Dire Circumstances?

When life can't get any worse, what would you do? I've often wondered. We all go through those moments when life feels like it can't get any worse. Somehow, someway most of us find a way through it all. I've recently read two books: Cracks by Mike Klaassen. Remember his book, The Brute, I reviewed earlier? Mike has written another book which is even more gripping, and where you wonder if Bodie, the teen protagonist, can come out with his life, never mind redemption. Mike tell it like it is! This is refreshing. The other book is for adults, A Matter of Time, by Don Kirchner. Don is the protagonist in the book of his real life story that reads like a novel. Both Don and Bodie are good people who have made bad choices and who face themselves as they face terror in their dire circumstances. Both books are reminiscent of Lord of the Flies, one with teenagers on a wilderness rehabilitation camping trip and the other a man in Federal prison.

Cracks

When, while reading Cracks, it gets so intense that one wants to put the book down for a breather. One can’t. It is too gripping a read. One natural disaster after another happens to a group of five boys who are deemed potentially rehabitable, but can they be redeemed? Will they survive the disasters as well as the vengeance they reap upon one another?
The boys are taken on a spelunking trip deep into the caves of the remote Arkansas Ozarks. The first earthquake hits while the boys and their leaders are still deep in the caves. They escape only to watch their adult leaders killed in another earthquake causing a landslide to fall on them. The boys are on their own, and the only boy who has some survival skills is Bodie McCann whose foster father had previously taken him camping and fishing. Bodie soon learns that the other four boys savagely sabotage his attempts to help them escape and incessantly fight with one another, though they begrudgingly accept the food he finds and hunts for them.
Matters only get worse as the boys face more earthquakes, forest fires, and then find a cache of marijuana in a hidden mountain cabin. When they ransack another house, Bodie sees his foster parents on the T.V., begging for him to come home. The other boys refuse to let him go, so he has to run for it with them chasing him with guns and knives. Will he escape, get home, and mend his ways? Mike Klaassen has written another adventurous, powerful book. Cracks is a book young boys will relate to, knowing that there is always hope for their future in spite of the direst circumstances. This book is must read for young people and for counselors leading youth rehabilitation groups.

Science Learning At Its Finest

I would have loved to have had Max Goes to Mars in my classroom when I was teaching. I know it would have become a favorite. Last Friday night a little former pupil, now 5, his parents, and I were having tea. He began to talk about Mars and spaceships. As it was getting late his father promised him he could look up Mars on the internet the next day. He asked, "There are book pages on the Internet about Mars?" I smiled to myself as here was a child who was read books from an infant, and he relys on books for information. When he was in my preschool he would take a stack of books to his cot at naptime. Next time I see him, I will give him my review copy of this great, informative book!

Max Goes to Mars

How does a dog go to Mars? This charming, yet realistic, book written by Dr. Jeffrey Bennett, tell us just how a dog and astronauts may take the first manned spaceship to Mars. Max Goes to Mars is jam-packed with interesting scientific facts and information in fictional story form, which always appeals to young readers. Even better, the scientific information is explained fully in readable, understandable terms without over-simplifying as can happen in children’s books.

The illustrations by Alan Okamoto make a perfect marriage with story, which is the ideal for picture books. The paintings also convey a technical detail and knowledge that young readers will pour over time and again, always finding something new to discover. Almost every page has sidebars for the readers who want to learn more about the science of space travel, Mars, and the ancient mythology about the planets. As well, there is an activity page near the end, which demonstrates the orbit of Mars through a movement exercise. Most special are the photographs of the real Max at the end. They are heartwarming and will bring the readers closer to Max and his adventures.

This book is extraordinary as it brings so many elements together in a nice harmony. Teachers will also find this book to be a marvelous core for the space unit. Most highly recommended for ages 4 – 10 and classrooms from pre-school through fifth grade.