Wonder Struck (AR 4.0, Level 5.4) by Brian Selznick is a beautiful book.  This title follows the story of Ben and Rose.  Ben's story unfolds in words and Rose's story unfolds in pictures.  Both characters are connected by a desire to find people that are missing from their lives.  After the death of Ben's mother, he yearns to find his father.  Ben's mother, Elaine, has told him nothing about his father.  However, after accidentally finding information that may lead to his father, Ben sets out for New York City, where his father last lived.  Will Ben find his long-missing father?

Rose is desperately unhappy living with her father.  She has been creating a scrapbook about the career of a  mysterious actress, Lillian Mayhew.  Feeling that Ms. Mayhew can help her, she sets off for New York City.  What will she find there and how will Ms. Mayhew help her?

Both stories are set apart by fifty years.  However, both characters are similar in that they are both deaf.  What is truly remarkable about both characters is the lack of sadness or anger about their disabilities.  Both courageously go to one of the largest cities in the world, sure of their purpose.  The reader is immediately drawn into both stories because of the remarkably life-like drawings and compelling stories.

Brian Selznick, the Caldecott Medal winner for The Invention of Hugo Cabret (AR 4.0, Level 5.1) once again makes a movie-like book.  Mr. Selznick has said that his interest in this story began when he learned about the new sound technology in 1927, which would affect the deaf community.  Prior to 1927, both hearing and deaf people could enjoy the movies together.  After 1927, deaf people were left out of the experience of enjoying film.

According to CNN today (February 25, 2012), there has been a fourth inquest into the case of Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton and her claim that a dingo stole her baby Azaria, aged 2 months, while the family was camping near Ayer’s Rock in Australia. This tale was brought to popular knowledge in the 1988 film A Cry in the Dark for which Meryl Streep achieved an Academy Award nomination. The movie was based on the book Evil Angels by John Bryson.

Chamberlain-Creighton was cleared in the first inquest in 1981 then sentenced to life in prison in the second in 1982 when the jury found that the mother had slit the child’s throat. That verdict was overturned when a baby’s jacket was found half buried near a dingo nest in 1986. “In 1988, a Royal Commission set up to review the evidence formally quashed convictions for both husband and wife,” according to CNN. The third inquest, in 1995, left an open verdict which Chamberlain-Creighton and her former husband Michael are trying to correct to show what they say is the true cause of death – a dingo attack.

The 2012 inquest was taken on in Chamberlain-Creighton’s move to get her facts down and show that dingo attacks have been significant and are a true danger. Read more about dingoes at your library.

The coroner adjourned the fourth inquest.  

Amelia Bedelia is the classic, humorous series about what happens to someone who takes everything too literally.  Peggy Parish's Come Back, Amelia Bedelia (AR 0.5, Level 2.1) takes the unusual plot of displacing Amelia Bedelia from the Rogers' household.  Usually, everyone is understanding and tolerant about Amelia's misunderstandings.  This time, however, Mrs. Rogers has had enough and fires Amelia. 

Since Amelia does have to make a living, she blunders through other jobs as a hair dresser, file clerk, assistant dressmaker, etc.  The reader will laugh uproariously to Amelia's hijinks!

The Amelia Bedelia series is an excellent resource for kids on the autistic spectrum or English language learners.  This series demonstrates what happens to a character who takes everything literally.  Children with autism will learn to be amused to see themselves in the Amelia character.  This series is also an excellent way for children with autism and for English language learners to learn colloquialisms and slang. 

Check the City of San Jose's website for information about Fish Camp starting on April 27, 2012.  The City is proud to provide this camp, which is located in the Sierras, near Yosemite National Park. 

The Parks and Recreation has a wonderfully dedicated staff.  In the past, my kids have enjoyed summer camps and afterschool programs.  The kids love the wonderful staff in the Parks and Recreation Department because though they are strict, they definitely make the activities fun.  One of the counselors at the afterschool programs even invented a new wheelchair game to teach kids about compassion for other kids.

If you are thinking about camping this summer, definitely check out http://www.sanjoseca.gov/prns/familycamp/ for important deadlines for getting a spot on the campgrounds this summer!