TEARS TO DANCING: A Middle Grade Review by Guest Reviewer Mara Scudder

REVIEW

Tears to Dancing (Dancing Bear Publishing: 2012) by Laura Thomas is an intimate book tracing one young ballerina’s struggle with losing both her parents and her ability to dance in a traumatic car crash. The protagonist, Bethany, takes center stage in this character-driven novel. Few outside forces (aside from the car crash) affected the protagonist or much of the cast at all. Instead, the author explored their inner dialogue and struggle with grief through slow-paced, intimate chapters that echo character-centered classics.

One of the biggest drawbacks of the work was the fact that it opened with the death of Bethany’s parents. As a result, it was difficult to mourn with or even understand what she had lost throughout most of the novel. The first time the readers heard of her parents was when they learned that they had died, and this made it more difficult to relate to Bethany’s grief, which was the biggest element of the work.

Another issue I found was that several of the characters played the strawman -- Bethany’s best friend is very much the one-dimensional “rich girl” cliche, while her “church friend” is a teenager with a heart of gold. This was a detriment to the dialogue, as well as Bethany’s relationships.

Aside from that, there were definitely some very heartwarming scenes and powerful themes that came from the protagonist’s discovery of the gospel. Although it was certainly not perfect, the work had some powerful ideas to share. Bethany developed dramatically over the work, and I am looking forward to reading the next two parts of the trilogy.

GUEST BLOGGER

Hi! My name is Mara, and I’m a Christian artist, violinist, and blogger. I remember the day that I decided that I would learn something new about what makes a good story from every book I picked up — whether it was good, bad, or a mixture of both. I use my blog as a way of sharing some of the tips and tricks I’ve learned and highlighting which books, cartoons, and movies have taught me the most about writing an awesome story. I’m in tenth grade and live in Philadelphia.  

TWO SPLENDID SEAFARING PICTURE BOOKS + 2 GIVEAWAYS

 If you're like me, you give books as presents. On today's blog, I have two fun books published by Sleeping Bear Press that will make great presents for a young pirate or sailor in your life. Both books use great wordplay which will tickle the ears of both kids and adults.

REVIEWS

PIRATES DON'T DANCE

What happens when a young man (who loves to dance) signs up to be a pirate? Author-illustrator Shawna J.C. Tenney answers that question in this action-packed picture book.

More than anything, Jack wanted to be a pirate. 

......

When Jack heard the 

slosh slosh slap of the waves,

the flip flip flap of the sails,

the creak creak crack of the ship,

he felt the rhythm in his soul

But, he quickly found out that,

Jack danced without knowing it. At sword-fighting practice, he saw the pirates-in-training stumble and fumble. Jack couldn't help himself.

He showed his fellow trainees how to grand jete' over gullies during a treasure hunt. But that got everybody in trouble.

Finally, a feared pirate came on board. Jack and his friends hid and watched.

Jack couldn't just stand by and do nothing--he had to dance! 

It was a fierce battle. In the end, the Captain conceded. "Blimey! Keep dancing, Jack! KEEP DANCING!"

Jack's amazing dancing steps won the battle, the Captain's heart, and the reward of becoming an official pirate. From then on, everyone put their best foot forward.

Parents, grandparents, and teachers will enjoy the pleasure of reading this story out loud and children will enjoy the onomatopoeia and how an unlikely hero wins the day.

To read about Shawna's backstory for writing and illustrating this book, please see this post on Kathy Temean's blog.

Back matter includes an author's note, explanations of dance movements, and pirate speak definitions.

MONSTERS IN THE BRINY

Lynn Becker's rhyming debut picturebook is about mythical sea creatures and the mayhem they cause when they meet up with a boat full of hardy, young sailors. Scott Brundage performs his magic with marvelous illustrations that are as funny and rollicking as the text. 

The first monster who appears even before the first page is a Kraken.

You would

Share some jokes and your best riddle,

Feed her cakes from Cookie's griddle,

Teach her how to bow the fiddle,

Kraken in the briny.

Just when the sailors successfully tame a surly, scruffly, sea goat, the ship gets a visit from a

The sailors 

Keep a bucket at the ready,

Mop his forehead if he's sweaty,

Tuck him into serpent beddy,

Serpent in the briny.

Next, the brave sailors meet a tearful turtle. They find innovative ways to cheer him up.

 Readers will be anxious to find out what sea monster is next. 

How about a hungry hydra?

"Yo! Ho! And up he's rising, Yo! Ho! He's quite surprising,

But wait. 

One of the sailors is sick of shipwrecking monsters.

So,

Yo! Ho! And up we're rising,

Yo! Ho! We're all surprising,

Yo! Ho! We're harmonizing,

Monsters in the briny.

The back matter includes two pages about sea monsters and the music to "Monsters in the Briny" which is based on an old sea shanty about a drunken sailor. 

If you're interested in reading about Lynn's book journey, you can find it on Kathy Temean's blog. 

I recently took a webinar with children's book author Pat Miller. She encouraged picture book writers to look at different frameworks for their story idea. Using a song was one of her suggestions. Now I see how that can work so well--particularly with the imaginative team of Lynn Becker and Scott Brundage. This week Lynn and Scott will share some of the inside scoops behind this sea-faring creation in the Talking Story Facebook group. Don't miss the childhood game that inspired Lynn and some of Scott's drafts! (P.S. If you're not a member yet, just click on the link and request to join it.)

GIVEAWAYS

Please leave a comment by November 23 and let me know which book you're interested in winning. MAKE SURE YOU LEAVE YOUR NAME AND EMAIL ADDRESS IF YOU ARE NEW TO MY BLOG. If you follow my blog or sign up to follow it, I'll give you two chances. 

Congratulations to Theresa Milstein who won SUPERPOWER? from last week's blog.