Big Hero 6

Production Team:  Disney; Directed by Don Hall, Chris Williams
                              Screenplay:  Jordan Roberts, Daniel Gerson, Robert Baird

Rating:  ** (2 stars out of 3 possible, "B")
              Recommended

Audience:  Second grade and up  (PG)

If you're like me, this movie will take you by surprise.  Your kids will come home from school begging to see Big Hero 6 and Baymax because all their friends said how great it was.  You will not know what they are talking about.  You will be suspicious, first of all, because everyone likes it; second of all, because it's Disney; thirdly, because it is about foreign concepts like robots, high-tech science nerds and unbelievable super heroes.  Finally, who or what is Baymax, and what does "Big Hero 6" even mean?  What kind of title is that?  Just stay tuned....

For the most part, this movie is a home run hit.  The concepts are fresh and new; the characters are unique and appealing; the plot is creative and energetic; the futuristic setting, San Fransokyo, is clever and attractive; the robot sidekick, Baymax, is entertaining and poignant at the same time.

Coming-Of-Age Classics (Girls, Part Two)

Titles:  Up a Road Slowly by Irene Hunt
            The Endless Steppe by Esther Hautzig

Ratings:  0 stars out of 3 possible, "D/F"
               Not Recommended

Audience:  Teenage Girls ages 13 and up

Here are two more "classic coming-of-age-books" that also have limited utility.  (Incidently, Up a Road Slowly received the Newbery Medal and The Endless Steppe was nominated for a National Book Award.)

My own mother purchased these books for me when I was about 13 years old.  Mom rarely purchased any surprises for us kids, and being an eager reader, I dove right in.  I discovered two of the most boring, depressing books I had ever encountered!  (Just read the titles again!)  If you have an introverted, moody, melancholy teen or pre-teen, you will not encourage communication or cheerfulness with books of this ilk.

On the bookshelf for my own two girls right now (ages 13 and 10), you will find books like The Westing Game, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, Katie John and Heathcliffe, Harriet the Spy, The Cat Ate My Gymsuit, Winter Wheat, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, even A Farewell to Arms.  But you will not find Up a Road Slowly or The Endless Steppe.  I do not remember what happened to them.

If you have a daughter particularly drawn to books about girls and their relationships, also consider L. M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables and Emily of New Moon series.

Coming-of-Age Classics (Girls, Part One)

Titles:  Jacob Have I Loved (Katherine Paterson)
            Summer of My German Soldier (Bette Greene)

Ratings:  0 stars out of 3 possible, "D/F"
               Not Recommended

Audience:  Teenage Girls ages 15 and up

Both books have a number of things in common:  award winners (Newbery for Paterson, National Book Award finalist for Greene); state-side WWII setting; female protagonists dealing with adolescent emotions and dysfunctional families.  For me, both also fall into the category of Classics You Don't Have to Read.