You know those books that just stick with you and for some reason, you find yourself happily remembering snippets of them long after the last page has been read? Well, The Cardturner by Louis Sachar , author of Holes and the Wayside School Trilogy, was and is one of those books for me. I am still pondering it and I finished it at least three weeks ago. And the weirdest part–it’s a book about bridge!

At 17, Alton is sure that his life can’t get any worse. His girlfriend broke up with him for his best friend and he feels like he has lost everything. As summer draws near, he knows that he is going to have to get a job, but also know he is too lazy to even look for one. When his mother volunteers his driving services and time to his blind (and rich) Uncle Lester, he really knows he has no choice. So Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday afternoons, Alton drives his uncle to the club to play bridge, a card game he considers out-dated and obsolete. He is to tell his uncle, whom everyone calls Trapp at the club, his cards in suit and number order. (So all the Spades from highest to lowest, all the Hearts, Diamonds, and Clubs in the same manner. Always in that order.) He soon learns that whereas football is a physical sport with obviously viewed results, Bridge is just as challenging mentally, and when you finally sort of understand it, can be just as thrilling.

As his family pushes him to ask Trapp about his will, Alton realizes that he is actually beginning to care for this uncle he has never really known. Alton and Trapp talk about everything from old age, to religion, to love. Trapp has always seemed like a miser to Alton, someone whose heart is made of stone, but Alton slowly begins to discover that Trapp has a past and a secret that may be the cause of his callous nature.

And we can’t forget Trapp’s protege, the pretty, shy, and possibly crazy Toni Castenada who Alton is falling for faster than he is comfortable with.

This book is so well written and perfectly put together. I found myself having to stop and say to myself “Why didn’t I ever think about that that way before? That makes perfect sense!” I have a new-found love for Louis Sachar and his writing, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see this book in the awards list next year. But don’t take my word for it; come fall in love with it for yourself!

Sachar also just did an interview with Publisher’s Weekly here and it is really interesting to see how this book came about.

This is the story of Anastasia Romanov, a member of Russia’s last imperial family about to be torn apart by the violence of revolution. When the Bolsheviks take control, Anastasia and her family are exiled to Siberia while their future is being decided by rebels. Through the introduction of Sasha, a young guard, Anastasia quickly falls in love and the story becomes historical fiction. Sasha makes a very interesting version of what might have been.

Interesting historical facts:
1. Young Alexis (the brother) suffered from the hereditary debilitating bleeding disorder known as hemophilia. Alexis is one of the best known cases of this rare blood disorder marked by the lack of blood clotting factors in boys.
2. Even though the royal family had a number of pets, Joy, a spaniel, was the only pet known to survive the tragedy and be taken to England to live out her life.

(Teen, ages 12 and up)

Yes, I know that today is April 24th and that April is almost over, but I still think that it is worth noting that April is poetry month. One book that has come out in this auspicious poetry month of April is The Dreamer by Pam Muñoz Ryan and illustrated by Peter Sís. This book is so perfectly done that I am not sure how to write this review. Do I focus on how completely Pam Muñoz Ryan captured the life of Neftalí Reyes, the small child who was in love with words and changed his name to Pablo Neruda so as not to shame his father, or Peter Sís’s appropriate illustrations, how they encompass the very ideas of Pam Muñoz Ryan’s poetic language? This is such a wonderful book that the only thing that would give it its due would be to tell you to go read it for yourself, read it to your kids, students, friends, everyone!! Absolutely stunning.

A Mary Quinn Mystery, this is Book One of The Agency trilogy.

Twelve year old orphan Mary Quinn was sentenced to hang for house thieving, but an unusual set of circumstances took her from the gallows to a private school for girls. After five years of hard work at the school, Mary finds herself being invited to join an investigative agency and then from there to being a lady’s companion in a rich merchant’s home in London where everyone has a secret. This one was hard to put down, I look forward to Book Two in the trilogy. (Teen, ages 12 and up)

On Wednesday at 5:00, Sharon Draper will be here to sign her new book Out of My Mind. Sharon’s new novel is a very personal book. The main character in this novel is an 11 year old girl named Melody who has cerebral palsy, a disease that makes it impossible to control her muscles very well. Draper’s own daughter has this same disease and much of the first part of the book captures perfectly the helplessness of the disease that the whole family feels.

In Melody’s case, this disease has also taken away her voice.  Melody, however, is not mentally impaired. She may not be able to move her body, eat by herself, or even speak beside grunts and laughs, but she has a bright mind that soaks up everything. When she finally gets a device that she can program to speak for her, the world begins to open up slightly.

She secures a spot on the school’s Whiz Kids team and leads the team to a win at the regional tournament. They are invited to Nationals in Washington D.C. where they will compete for a chance to appear on Good Morning America and win money for their school. The end of this story, however, does not paint a happy, pretty image of the way most of the world views kids with such diseases, and the reader learns how strong people with debilitating diseases must be and how little it takes to make a difference in someone’s life.

Berlin, 1932: In many ways Gabriella Schramm lives a charmed, carefree life. She loves her sister, Ulla. She loves her new literature teacher. She loves her family’s summer lake house, next door to Albert Einstein’s. And most of all Gaby loves books.
But soon she begins losing all these things, one by one, as Hitler climbs to power. People Gaby thought she could trust turn out to be Nazis. Many of her friends are fleeing or, worse, being taken away. And there’s something troubling about Ulla’s boyfriend that Gaby can’t quite figure out. As always, she turns to her books for comfort—but now even those are in jeopardy of disappearing. How can Gaby say good-bye to the way of life that she loves?
Newbery Honor winner and master of historical fiction Kathryn Lasky once again brings the past to life with this searing portrait of a nation on the brink of war, seen through the eyes of a thirteen-year-old girl. (Ages 12 and up)

Read about other books by Kathryn Lasky on our blog.