“It’s a Mall World After All” by Janette Rallison

“It’s a Mall World After All” by Janette Rallison is a humorous novel about a teenage girl and how her job at the local mall ends up changing her life.

Charlotte works in a department store at the local mall.  She sprays customers with free perfume samples and tries to get them to buy the latest popular perfume.  It’s not exactly a glamorous job, but it is a way to make money.  In addition, her spot right near the department store door is a great lookout point to watch for cute boys. But then one day Charlotte sees her best friend’s boyfriend Bryant flirting with a another girl.

Charlotte is sure that Bryant is cheating on her friend Brianna.  But when Charlotte breaks the news to Brianna there is an unexpected result.  Brianna seems willing trust Bryant and his friend Colton over Charlotte’s testimony!

Brianna seems to think that Charlotte is just being vengeful and trying to break up Bryant’s relationship with Brianna.  Many of the other girls and boys at Charlotte’s school think that Charlotte is stuck-up, and for good reason.  Charlotte seems to have held a grudge against all the boys at her school.

Years ago they teased her with spiders and called her Charlotte the spider after reading Charlotte’s Web.  Ever since Charlotte has held them in derision, even though most of the boys don’t even remember the teasing.

Bryant’s friend Colton tells Charlotte that Bryant would never cheat on Brianna.  He assures Charlotte that Bryant had a good reason for talking to that girl at the mall.  But Charlotte still thinks that something sounds fishy.  But is is just her own paranoid thoughts or is something going on?

“It’s a Mall World After All” is a fairly decent book, although it does have a few flaws.  First of all the title is rather corny, and not completely relevant as malls don’t play a particularly important role in most of the story.

In addition the back and forth interactions of Charlotte and her friends get frustrating after a while.  Although it is obvious that Charlotte likes Colton and that Colton is interested in Charlotte they seem to spend most of their time irritated at each other.  Even Charlotte’s attitude, with a giant chip on her shoulder, and an apparent lifelong grudge toward Bryant because he left a spider in her desk years ago, is ridiculous.  It reaches a point where the reader just wants to reach in through the pages of the book, slap Charlotte upside the head and tell her “Get over yourself!”

“It’s a Mall World After All” by Janette Rallison is a decent book, and well-written despite the slightly frustrating plot everything turns out satisfying in the end.  It will appeal to teenage readers interested in a realistic fiction romance story.

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“From Sea to Shining Sea,” compiled by Amy L. Cohn

“From Sea to Shining Sea,” compiled by Amy L. Cohn is “a treasury of American folklore and Folk Songs.” This excellent collection of traditional tales and tunes does a great job of giving young readers a taste of the rich ethnic and cultural foundation of America. The collection is beautifully illustrated by eleven Caldecott Medal and four Caldecott Honor artists.

“From Sea to Shining Sea” is organized into several main sections, the first being “In the Beginning.” If you have ever been interested in the creation myths and religious beliefs of Native Americans then this is a good place to start. Nine traditional Native American tales and songs show how Raven brings fresh water and creates the first river, how Grandmother Spider brings light to world by stealing the sun, and how Coyote decorates the night by creating the stars. Perhaps the most interesting traditional tale is “Sedna, the Sea Goddess” an Inuit legend about how the animals of the sea came to be.

After covering the creation of America, “From Sea to Shining Sea” moves on to early colonization. Twelve tales from Mexico, Spain, French Louisiana, and the early British colonies. I really enjoyed the story “Why Alligator Hates Dog.” This creole tale explains how dog got on the bad side of Alligator and why Alligator likes to wait in the water like a half sunken log.

The third section, “The Shot Heard, 'Round the World” contains songs and stories from the American Revolution of 1776. The original thirteen colonies were small but they were surprisingly strong in their fight against the British. Perhaps it was due to the strength of their story telling abilities. Along with such traditional favorites such as “Paul Revere's Ride” and “Yankee Doodle Dandy” readers will find tales of courageous women and children who choose to help their country.

After the War of Independence America began to grow as it absorbed the territories to the West. The fourth section, “Bridging the Gap” contains some of the wild stories that arose during this tumultuous time. My personal favorite is “Jack and the Two-Bullet Hunt,” a humorous story about an easy going young boy who goes out on a hunt with only two bullets but comes home with much more game than he ever would have imagined!

“From Sea to Shining Sea” then moves on to tales of the sea, and the sailors that traveled it. From Mister Stormalong, to the Salem Ghost Ship the sea was a topic that created some fascinating traditional stories. Also included are such rousing sea shanties as “Blow, Boys, Blow” and “Blow, Ye Winds in the Morning.”

The fifth section, about slavery and emancipation, is entitled “Let My People Go.” It includes famous spirituals, the story of Harriet Tubman, and other tales told by slaves. The interesting thing is that the majority of the stories are filled with hope rather than despair.

Section number six is about railroad tales. After the Civil War railroad played a large role in linking the country together again, and many tales revolve around it. Well known songs such as “John Henry” rub shoulders with fascinating historical stories such as “Death of the Iron Horse,” about a group of Indians who destroy a train.

“O Pioneers,” the seventh section of “From Sea to Shining Sea” is about the pioneers who traveled across the Western lands to create new communities. This mass movement resulted in many stories including that of Charley, the first woman to vote in California.

“From Sea to Shining Sea” then moves on to modern times with fascinating and often humorous tales about tricksters, nonsense, animals, ghosts, baseball and other topics that bridge a wide range of different story genres and styles.

I think that “From Sea to Shining Sea” is a great book for young people because it gives them a broad look at the stories that were written about America and its development. The shear scope and quality writing and illustrations of “From Sea to Shining Sea” make me highly recommend it.


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“Guardian,” by Julius Lester

“Guardian,” by Julius Lester is a moving short novel about a young white boy who witnesses a shocking lynching that tears apart his family and his trust.

Fourteen-year-old Ansel Anderson lives in Davis, a small town deep in the Southern United States. In 1946 racism and hatred still run strong, but Ansel himself doesn't understand why his Dad and other grownups seem to hate black people. Ansel and his young black friend Willie are like brothers and enjoy going fishing in the afternoons when Ansel's Dad lets them off from working at the family store. But Ansel's father Bert doesn't approve of his son's friendship in the least.

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Review of "Guardian" by Julius Lester