Advance note on St. Louis County Summer Reading Program Here is some advanced information on the 2003 St. Louis County Summer Reading Program. The 2003 program will kick off with three outdoor parties in county parks on Saturday, June 7. Hours are 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. They will be at Faust Park in West County, North County Recreation Complex in North County and Kennedy Recreation Complex in South County. If you want more information, call the St. Louis County Library at (314) 994-3300. Young Saint Louis.com will have fuller coverage in the June, 2003, edition. It goes on-line June 1.

This month's book reviews...

See the picture on the cover of this paperback. That's a cat's head on a boy's body. Ten-year-old Peter Fortune is the boy. The cat is Peter's seventeen-year-old -cat, named William. Afternoons, after school on cold winter days, Peter liked to lie down on the carpet in front of the living room fireplace and pet his old friend William the Cat. One unusual day, he was guided by William to a button-like bone just beneath the cat's chin. Peter found out that he could zip open the cat's fur and let William out of it. To Peter's astonishment, the cat then showed him how to zip off his own skin. The two were able to change into each other's skins. The cat became Peter. Peter became the cat. Peter thought it was great because now he could sleep in every morning like William. He need not go out in the cold every morning to go to school. In fact, he could sleep all day if he wanted to. Now that's a daydream!

But Peter was in for some surprises. That evening when he went out to roam around the backyard, he was confronted by the big tomcat that had been bullying William the Cat for sometime. The cat bully would even slip in the pet door and eat William's food. Poor old William couldn't do anything but watch. But now, the cat bully didn't realize he was facing a much younger William. Peter took great delight in winning this battle for his old friend.

"The Daydreamer" is just a telling of a number of Peter's fantastic daydreams. Like Peter, you soon start having trouble knowing what is just a daydream and what are real-world happenings. Peter has an imagination that may be just a little more active than most ten-year-olds. And, of course, that's what makes the books so much fun to read.

 

Two best friends change from regular letters
to e-mail to hold on to their friendship

Elizabeth and Tara had been best friends all through grade school. When Tara's family moved to another state, the girls had maintained their friendship through regular letter writing. Now they were both in seventh grade and life was getting more hectic for each of them. Since both of their families had acquired a home computer, the girls switched over from writing letters to exchanging regular, or sometimes irregular, e-mail messages.

As with all kids, each of their families had its own set of problems. Elizabeth's father had an alcohol problem that had caused her mother to insist he leave them because he refused to alter his behavior. Even when out of the home, he exerted a disturbing influence on the family. Elizabeth's mother had to take a fulltime job. Elizabeth had to take on more and more responsibilities around the small apartment that they had to move to.

Tara's parents had married quite young and were slow to settle down and accept the responsibilities of a family. Now, they were finally in a home of their own and were expecting a new baby. Tara had to think about a new little brother or sister's arrival and what it would mean to her home life.

Both girls were facing the experiences that come with starting to grow up. Elizabeth was more settled and quiet in her life style. Tara was much more outgoing and unpredictable in her behavior. Both girls were starting to be aware of boys. Each reacted differently to becoming teenagers. Could these two girls continue to be friends and supportive of each other through e-mail and infrequent visits to each other? As you read their e-mail messages, you, along with the girls, begin to wonder if they can possibly remain best friends.

 

Sometimes telling the truth and nothing
but the truth can get you into trouble

Wallace Wallace, besides having an unusual name, could never tell anything but the truth. If anybody, family member, teacher, or classmate, asked him how he liked something, he had to tell them just what he thought. His own father told lies constantly, always exaggerating everything, so Wallace was determined never to lie and always to say just what he thought.

In his English class, when required to do a book report on a book titled "Old Shep, My Pal", he stated, "This book couldn't be any lousier if it came with a letter bomb. I wouldn't recommend it to my worst enemy." Unfortunately, not only was the book an award-winning kids' book, it just happened to be his English teacher's favorite. Wallace explained that he was tired of reading dog books where the dog hero always died at the end. But his English teacher accepted no explanations and told Wallace to rewrite an acceptable report and until he did, he would be on detention every day after school.

Of course, Wallace refused to write good things about a book he hated, so he had to quit the middle school football team since he couldn't make their practices anymore. In last year's final game, he had accidentally scored the touchdown that won his school the championship, so everybody in school is upset that he had to leave the team. They all thought he was a football hero. Other kids were writing reports on "Old Shep, My Pal" and begging Wallace to turn them in so he could rejoin the team. But Wallace would not change his mind.

Things kept getting worse. The English teacher was directing the school play, so Wallace had to start spending his after school detention at play practice. The actors were preparing to put on a play based on "Old Shep, My Pal." Naturally, Wallace had to keep pointing out that the play was just as dumb as the book. In addition, the football team started losing every game it played. Wallace finds that he is becoming the most unpopular guy in the whole school.

It is surprising how complicated the plot becomes before, finally, this hilarious book can be brought to a conclusion.

 

Good kids can get into trouble if they let
a bad kid lead them around

It was summer and Frankie had just finished kindergarten. He was trying hard to keep up with his brother Earl, who was middle school aged, and Wayne, a cousin who was still older. He couldn't understand why Wayne would scout around neighborhoods looking for bicycles. Wayne would bully Earl into helping him "borrow" bicycles they found and ride off on them. Wayne would tell Frankie that they always took the bikes back that evening. And of course, they weren't taking them back. They were stealing them and selling them for money.

Earl knew what they were doing was wrong and he hated it. But Earl needed money to buy food for his little brother, Frankie, and for Angela, their sister. Besides he was afraid of Wayne who threatened him with bodily harm if he didn't help steal things. The mother of the three kids had recently died. Their Aunt Lula was supposed to be caring for them while their dad was out of town looking for a job. Without the father knowing about it, Lula had abandoned the kids.

For the first part of the book, we are seeing everything through Frankie's eyes. Just as he doesn't understand what's going on, we don't quite understand it either. Just like little Frankie, though, we know what's going on isn't quite making sense. As Wayne plans more and more criminal activities, we worry more and more about the three kids. Can all of this have a happy ending? You need to read the book to find out the answer.