Check It Out

For kids enrolled in “Wrapped Up in Reading,” the Newport Beach Public

Library’s 2002 summer reading program, there’s fun, fantasy and revealing

takes on life in new children’s fiction.

For the preschool set, Claire Masurei paints a sensitive portrait of a

child with divorced parents in “Two Homes.” With comforting scenes at

Dad’s suburban house and Mom’s city apartment, this perceptive picture

book can help children learn they’re loved no matter which household

they’re living in at any given moment.

Every kid fears being different, and irrepressible Junie B. faces that

prospect with offbeat aplomb in “Junie B., First Grader (at last!).” In

the 18th installment of her popular chapter book series for kids, Barbara

Park sends spunky Junie into a new class where she has to make friends

while worrying about looking like a “goonie bird” in her new purple

glasses.

Worry is what small, freckled Bridget does best when she contemplates

doing anything remotely risky. When she gets lost on a day-care field

trip and meets six grumpy carnivores in Pija Lindenbaum’s “Bridget and

the Gray Wolves,” she tackles her predicament with uncharacteristic

confidence -- making the goofy beasts play “hospital,” feeding them mud

and singing them songs. Young grade-schoolers will be amused by the

transformation from scaredy-cat to bossy playmate, while finding

satisfaction in Bridget’s safe return to day-care.

The sassy heroine of “What Planet Are You From, Clarice Bean” is

decidedly unafraid of new adventures. When she becomes an eco-warrior to

save a neighborhood tree, her environmental class assignment takes on new

meaning in Lauren Child’s hilarious picture book for preschoolers through

second-graders.

For chapter book readers, Lee Kochenderfer takes a snapshot of World

War II Americana in “The Victory Garden.” As her brother’s flying a

fighter plane overseas, 11-year-old Teresa rallies classmates to tend a

neighbor’s garden, sells produce to support the war effort and befriends

the class bully. While the approach is sentimental, fourth- through

sixth-graders will applaud a preteen who unites people in a time of

crisis.

Preteens can be easily mortified by Mom, and many will identify with

Laura Stephan, narrator of “A Mother to Embarrass Me.” As she lists

things to change about a parent who has gone from cool to geek, the

12-year-old brings up age-old adolescent issues. Middle-graders will nod

in recognition, while moms who read Carol Williams’ book might learn much

about the teenage psyche.

Being branded “fatso” or “retard” is the ultimate humiliation in

seventh grade, and four friends combat such labels in James Howe’s “The

Misfits.” When the outcasts run for student council on a platform

protesting name-calling, they provide an upbeat model for standing tall

in the face of tough peer pressure.

* CHECK IT OUT is written by the staff of the Newport Beach Public

Library. This week’s column is by Melissa Adams, in collaboration with

Bonnie McLaren. All titles may be reserved from home or office computers

by accessing the catalog at www.newportbeachlibrary.org.