Cindy: I live in Michigan, so mid-March is not too late to write about snowstorm books. In fact, it’s snowing as I write this post. Snow Struck (Delacorte, 2022) is the second storm novel by Nick Courage, an author who lives in New Orleans and knows something of weather disasters. This adventure features two Florida kids who are excited to visit their NYC cousin and see some snow at Christmas. Elizabeth and Matty have been living in a hotel since a hurricane took the roof off their house, so the trip is even more exciting. They arrive at the start of a freak storm that starts with temps in the 80s that quickly change as an arctic front sweeps through and they get more snow than they bargained for. As he did in his first book, Courage puts readers into the heads of various animals affected by the changing climate and the storm, with some beautiful nature writing, and provides additional information and tension through the perspective of climate scientists and weather experts. But nothing will ratchet up the suspense like a missing dog and the dangerous search for it on the empty streets of Manhattan. Watch out for that huge, falling Christmas tree in Rockefeller Plaza!

When my middle schoolers were getting excited about impending snowstorms and the possibility of snow days, I would always booktalk Michael Northrup’s survival story Trapped (Scholastic, 2011) about a group of high school students who get trapped at school in a big storm. Snow Struck will be perfect for a younger tween audience and might also spur them into some action to help our climate. Spring will come to Michigan, soon, right?

Cindy and Lynn: Have we got a treat for you! The Kalamazoo (MI) Public Library is hosting its annual Youth Literature Seminar this coming Friday, November 12, 2021 and you can attend virtually (for free) by signing up here. Keynote speakers include Betsy Bird, Meg Medina, and Gene Luen Yang. Bookends Blog is proud to continue our booktalks for this seminar in the afternoon breakout session. This year’s theme for our booktalks is a diversion from our usual “Best Books of the Year” session. Nothing was usual about the past year and a half. This year we are presenting: Overcoming Pandemic “Languishing”: Cindy & Lynn’s 2020/2021 Comfort Reads. You may recall our earlier post this year that defined “Languishing” in terms of reading. Well, we worked hard to overcome it and will be presenting the books that held our attention. While the rest of the world comforted themselves by baking banana bread, we sought comfort in books that we could escape into, or at least that were so compelling we could forget the outside world.

We hope you can join us. The seminar, with its theme of “Celebrating a New Beginning” is free and offers a wide variety of engaging speakers. To trauma and beyond! See you there!

Lynn: Once upon a time there was a camel named Scheherazade, who was called Zada. Kathi Appelt tells us Zada’s story, in her charming new book, Once Upon a Camel (S&S/Atheneum, 2021) Zada is a story teller just like her famous namesake and her story of family, love, courage, and holding on to memories is a story that saves the lives of her friends, the Kestrel family, and Zada herself.

It all started in a West Texas sandstorm in 1910. No, wait, it all started in Smyrna, Syria in 1850. Two tiny camels were born into the Pasha’s famous stables, destined to become best friends and prize racers. Zada and Asiye were fast friends and as fast of the winds of the desert. Zada and her Kestrel family’s story of danger and adventure comes later. So let us return to the Texas wilderness of 1910 and the towering haboob that blows Pard and Perlita into the choking sand and leaves Zada to care for their chicks, Wims and Beulah, and to somehow get them to safety at the Mission so many miles away.

It is a tale of dangers and fears, of bravery and love, and above all it is all about the power of story. And isn’t that something we all need to lighten our way through the darkness of whatever storm we walk through?

Kathi Appelt’s newest story is guaranteed to win the hearts of every reader. With richly developed and endearing characters, a spellbinding plot, and, of course, a happy ending. I love the historical facts that sparked this story. Yes, there really were camels brought to Texas just prior to the Civil War! This is the PERFECT book for reading aloud in a classroom. The chapters are short, packed with humor and perilous moments that will have listeners begging for just one more chapter!

Cindy: Put this book on display and Eric Rohmann’s gorgeous and slightly silly cover illustration will have it fly off the shelf as fast as an American Kestrel! Zada with her two nestling kestrel babies perched on her head will have kids giggling before they even start to read. His art sprinkled throughout the book is a treat as well.

I agree with Lynn about this being a great read-aloud, whether in a classroom or between parent and child. The time-shifting plot and stories within stories structure will require a strong reader or a little explanation from an adult, but the payoff is delightful. My middle schoolers were always fascinated by my booktalk for Susan Fletcher’s Shadow Spinner (Atheneum, 1999), because I started with an introduction to Scheherazade, a legendary character they did not know. Some had heard of the tales of the One Thousand and One Nights, and of course, Aladdin, thanks to Disney, but they did not know of the storyteller or the way in which she saved her life, and that of the other women in ancient Persia. In fact, we stenciled a quote from that book on the library bulkhead to remind our students every visit of the power of story. “Stories can save your life.” Indeed.