Carnegie Medal Shortlist 2009: Ostrich Boys

Title: Ostrich Boys

Author: Keith Gray

Publisher: Random House Children's Books

Genre: Teen

Age level: 12+

Themes: Solving mysteries, getting revenge, adventure
Synopsis: Ross is dead, and Blake, Sim, and Kenny are furious. Sure, they're upset that their best friend was hit by a car at the age of fifteen. But they're even angrier at the hypocrisy of the kids and teachers who made Ross's life miserable, then behaved at the funeral as if they cared. The three boys are all set to vandalize the houses of the guilty when inspiration strikes. What's the best way to get revenge? Steal Ross's ashes and give him the funeral he deserves! The boys' plan for a quick two-day trip from the English coast to the tiny village of Ross in southern Scotland, a place Ross had always wanted to go, turns into an unforgettable journey with illegal train rides, bungee jumping, girls, and high-speed police chases- all with Ross's ashes along for the ride. As events spin wildly out of control, the three friends must take their heads out of the sand long enouh to answer the question: What really happened to Ross? Keith Gray is an award-winning author from the United Kingdom, making his U.S. debut with this action-packed and darkly humorous novel about friendship and loss.

About the author: Keith Gray grew up in Grimsby, England, and knew that he wanted to be a writer even though he never received top marks in English. Since then, Keith has gone on to write seven books. He won the Angus Book Award and the Smarties Prize Silver Award. Ostrich Boys was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal and the 2007 Costa Book Award.

Pre-reading activities: Ask the students to brainstorm what they think the cover of the book symbolizes, listing ideas such as "road," "motorcycle," etc. After reading the first chapter, list the characters and some character traits, and why they think the boys wrote "Haunted by Ross Fell" on Mr. Fowler's door.

Post-reading activities: Write a column of all the characters found in the book, and write a paragraph explaining each one's role in figuring out what happened to Ross. Also, the students can write about a time when they have banded together with friends to figure out a mystery or try to solve a problem, comparing themselves to the character they felt they had most in common with.

Reflection: This book seemed very interesting by the cover of the book, which looked like a black road from the cover. After reading the first chapter and the last line that said "But before I turned to run, I looked at what he'd sprayed in hasty, spiky, harsh black letters that bled down the history teacher's door 'HAUNTED BY ROSS FELL'," I knew that I wanted to continue on in the boy's quest to find out what really happened to Ross to cause his death.

Works cited:
Barnes & Noble 
Ostrich Boys picture 

Carnegie Medal Shortlist 2009: Creature of the Night

Title: Creature of the Night

Author: Kate Thompson

Publisher: Roaring Brook Press

Genre: Young Adult

Age level: 8+

Themes: Solving mysteries, adventure, engaging in risky behavior, danger 
Synopsis: Bobby isn't afraid of a little danger. He thrives on it. Smoking, drinking, racing stolen cars: All the cops in Dublin know him and his gang. But the real danger might not be in Dublin after all. Bobby's mother has just moved their family to a quaint house in an idyllic village where he's meant to reform. Only something's not right about that house. The previous tenant mysteriously disappeared. Stories of murder surround the family who lived there for years. And now even Bobby's little brother talks about a strange visitor who comes to the house at night. Bobby isn't afraid of a little danger. But this danger isn't like the rush of driving fast. It's not like the reckless thrill of getting high or the sudden strength of his mother's temper. This danger lurks and creeps and won't go away. This danger is more like the suffocating helplessness of his own future. Bobby isn't afraid, he just wants to know one thing: Who is the Creature of the Night?

About the author: Kate Thompson was born in Halifax, Yorkshire, in 1956. Her family moved to Leamington Spa when she was 8, then Worcester when she was 15. Though her house was always full of "interesting" people, but she spent most of her time at the riding stables and racing yard than being in conversations. Early on she loved writing stores, and in her teenage years she wrote poetry and songs, but she didn't start writing seriously until the late 1980's. She joined the North Clare Writers' Workshop, and produced poems and short stories on a regular basis. In 1992 Knute Skinner, one of the members of the writers' workshop, published a collection of her poems, called There Is Something. Since 1997, she has published at least one book per year.

Pre-reading activities: List the symbols represented on the front cover: dark house/cottage, blue door, trees, dead grass; list students' reactions to each symbol and the emotions sparked by the symbols (despair, fear, mystery, sadness/darkness, etc). Talk about the setting of the story and the students' reactions to the first 2 pages- the family seems poor, Bobby seems like a trouble maker and that is why his mother wanted to move out of Dublin, the mother seems to get into trouble herself and maybe that's where Bobby gets it from.

Post-reading activities: List the main characters and their personality traits, and explain why Bobby wanted to hurt Fluke. The students will also write about a time when they were mad at a family member or friend and thought about harming them or wishing something bad would happen to them. Instead of hurting them, the students could resolve their own problem without violence.

Reflection: This book seemed very dark and mysterious from the cover, but after I started reading it I found it wasn't very mysterious at the beginning. It had some dry parts to it, but each chapter was very short (only a few pages) so it did make me want to read on and find out what happened as the story progressed. I found that there was some obscene language in the book, but I think that it could be handled well in a classroom where the teacher presented it with maturity and let the students know that there would be inappropriate language. I also found some words that the students might be unfamiliar with because of where the story takes place, but it represents a lifestyle different from my own.

Works cited:

Creature of the Night picture 

Amazon 

Kate Thompson's page

Carnegie Medal Shortlist 2009: Cosmic

Title: Cosmic

Author: Frank Cottrell

Publisher: HarperCollins

Genre: Fiction

Age level: 8-12

Themes: Exploring unknown situations, exploring childhood fantasies, finding your true self
Synopsis: Liam has always felt a bit like he's stuck between two worlds. This is primarily because he's a twelve-year-old kid who looks like he's about thirty. Sometimes it's not so bad, like when his new principal mistakes him for a teacher on the first day of school or when he convinces a car dealer to let him take a Porsche out on a test drive. But mostly it's just frustrating, being a kid trapped in an adult world. And so he decides to flip things around. Liam cons his way onto the first spaceship to take civilians into space, a special flight for a group of kids and an adult chaperone, and he is going as the adult chaperone. It's not long before Liam, along with his friends, is stuck between two worlds again--only this time he's 239,000 miles from home. Frank Cottrell Boyce, author of MILLIONS and FRAMED, brings us a funny and touching story of the many ways in which grown-upness is truly wasted on grown-ups.

About the author: Frank Cottrell Boyce was born in Liverpool and studied English at Oxford University. He first worked as a television critic for Living Marxism magazine, and wrote episodes for Coronation Street and Brookside. He then collaborated with director Michael Winterbottom on the film Forget About Me, in 1990, and this was followed by further screenplays written for the same director: Butterfly Kiss in 1995; Welcome to Sarajevo in 1997; The Claim in 2000, originally based on Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge; 24 Hour Party People in 2002; Code 46 in 2003; and A Cock and Bull Story in 2005. He also worked with other directors, including writing the screenplays for the films Revenger's Tragedy, in 2002, an adaptation of Thomas Middleton's 17th-century play; Hilary and Jackie; Millions; and Grow Your Own in 2007. In 2004, he wrote a book for children based on his own screenplay - Millions - and this book won the 2004 Carnegie Medal. His second children's novel, Framed, was shortlisted for both the 2005 Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread Children's Book of the Year Award. He has won several awards for his screenplays, and lives in Liverpool with his family. His third novel, Cosmic, was published in 2008, and was shortlisted for the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize and the Roald Dahl Funny Prize in the same year. His latest novel is Desirable (2008).

Pre-reading activities: Ask the students to brainstorm what some of their biggest dreams are, and where they would like to go, even if it was for a day. Write a list of their dream destinations on the board and some adjectives they would describe their dream destinations, such as exciting, scary (especially since they've never been there), adventurous.

Post-reading activities: Several scenes will be written on the board, and students will be able to choose which one they would like to recreate. They will be in groups of 3-4, add to the scene and perform their skit in front of the class.

Reflection: I thought this book had more of a futuristic sense, and I think it would be good for kids to actually think about what it'll be like in the future. It gives children a chance to imagine themselves in space and what they think it would be like.

Works cited:

Cosmic picture 

Barnes & Noble 

Frank Cottrell Boyce