I'm not Catholic. I've never observed Lent. But I love Pancake Tuesday. Who doesn't love an excuse to eat pancakes? This year I had the day off so I decided to make it an extreme Pancake Tuesday by having some form of pancakes at every meal.
Breakfast was mixed berry peanut butter pancakes.
Lunch was stir-fried vegetables with these Xi'an tofu and cabbage stuffed pancakes.
Is the title of this book a bit extreme? Sure. It's certainly designed to play on a kid's fondness for the macabre. But the information it contains is solid. The actual text is informative without hyperbole. With photos and charts throughout there's plenty on each page to engage a reluctant reader.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley
What are you currently reading?
Goodbye, French Fry by Rin-rin Yu - A Chinese-American girl navigates difficult classmates, what it means to be Chinese, and the possibility of having to move.
What did you recently finish reading?
Postscript by Cory McCarthy - Some of the last humans figure out how to live when the world is falling apart.
What do you think you'll read next?
Choir Grrl by Ashley Granillo
Author: Rie Neal
Age range: middle grade
Genre: realistic fiction
Similar book: Maizy Chen's Last Chance by Lisa Yee
Summary (provided by publisher): Curious ten-year-old Saffron Speiser-Green loves science—unfortunately, her “experiments” tend to end in more messes than actual answers. (Just ask the broken alarm clock that’s still at the bottom of her backpack.) Saffron has a plan, though—a blue ribbon in her school’s Project Showcase will show the world she means business.
But when Saffron’s beloved volcano project ruins the walls at Mama’s job and gets her fired, Saffron will do anything to make things right—including helping Mama convince her other mom, Mimi, that they should move to the Silicon Valley to run Gran’s coffee shop. Mama’s dream job is worth giving up the blue ribbon. Right?
Luckily for Saffron, her new friends in the Silicon Valley are busy preparing for a STEM Expo, and Saffron is determined to find a project “smart” enough to show everyone she belongs there. But the coffee shop? No customers, no vision, and…tons of debt. And if it closes, Saffron’s family will have to move again. After a class trip to the STEAMology Museum in San Francisco, though, Saffron knows how to save the café—and what to do for her STEM Expo project. But she’s going to need a lot of help.
What I liked: Saffron is sort of the modern Ramona or Clementine. She's clever and creative but also impulsive to a degree that often gets her into trouble. She is, in short, realistic. And while Saffron is disabled, her hearing issues are not central to the plot. They inform some of her behavior but that's all. It's inclusive without being a capital I issue. It's a relatively quick and engaging read.
What I didn't like: The focus of the plot can be a bit scattered. And it lacks the humor that we often see in impulsive characters. There's not a lot of depth to the plot but it's accessible.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley
Author: Lance Rubin
Age range: teen
Genre: light magical realism
Similar book: Noggin by John Corey Whaley
Summary (provided by publisher): It’s the morning of Carter Cohen’s 16th birthday, and everything’s going his way.
He’s psyched and ready to get his driver’s license, his little brother’s not hogging the bathroom, and, man, something smells good for breakfast…
But when Carter bounds downstairs, Mom bursts into tears. It happened again. It’s Carter’s 16th birthday—for the sixth time. Every time he’s supposed to turn 17, he loops back a year. His memory gets wiped clean, his body ages backward—the rest of the world moves on, just not him.
Maggie Spear, on the other hand, has been dreading this day ever since she and Carter started dating. When she spies him in the halls and he doesn’t seem to know her at all, it’s obvious that it’s over between them. She can’t be in a relationship with someone who is just going to forget her again and again. Since Carter doesn’t remember that they’re together, then it’s probably better if she just pretends that they never were.
Except Carter senses that there’s more to their story than Maggie’s letting on, and Maggie’s keeping secrets of her own—but in the process of trying to let the other go, they find themselves falling in love all over again.
With Maggie soon leaving for college and Carter’s birthday quickly coming around again, will they be able to find a forever that isn’t stuck at 16?
What I liked: Essentially, this is a time loop story. While the details of this book are a little different the heart of the plot is the same - Carter must figure out what caused him to loop and correct it, leading him to self-discovery. At least, that's what we think we're getting. The set up certainly suggests that course. But Rubin allows this plot to become much more. Certainly we explore the choices that might have lead to Carter looping. The plot transcends the simple self-discovery though. There's a broader exploration of the importance of communication and the complexities of relationships that allows the plot to move beyond the expected. This is more than simple entertainment.
What I didn't like: Some of the issues in this book are over-simplified. Characters are not especially deeply explored. Really, though, those are minor annoyances. Overall this is a solid read.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley
Every year we plant a big garden, a bulk of the vegetables we will eat. Since some of the things I like are a bit more obscure I order some of my seeds which has to be done in December or January. It's a bright spot in the depths of winter, receiving seed packets and making plans for the garden.
It can also be a problem. Once you have the seeds in hand there's this itch to plant things, to watch things grow and to eat fresh vegetables. The solution - microgreens. Buy some cheap lettuce, spinach, radish, and other edible greens seeds and plant them in a shallow tray of potting soil in a window. The greens won't get very big but you can eat them. And it's a constant reminder that Spring is, in fact, coming.
Author: Lisa Graff
Genre: realistic fiction
Age range: middle grade
Similar book: Shark Teeth by Sherri Winston
Summary (provided by publisher): Fallon Little has a secret—and it’s not how she got the enormous scar that divides her face in two.
Thirteen-year-old Fallon has only ever told one person what really happened on the day she got her scar. Why would she? The truth is dark, and Fallon has much brighter things to focus on, like being cast as the lead in the school play, and hanging out with her two best friends, Trent and Kaia. But when Fallon's uncle Geebie dies, his funeral ignites a wildfire of events that Fallon can't manage to tamp down. The school play is spiraling out of control, Fallon's impossible Aunt Lune comes to live with them, and Trent and Kaia might just be so into each other that there isn't room for Fallon in their friend group any more. And when secrets even worse than the one about Fallon's scar threaten to come to light, Fallon might not have the strength to keep them buried for much longer.
What I didn't like: This isn't so much a thing that I didn't like as something to bear in mind when recommending this book. It talks frankly and plainly about abuse. While this is never graphic and doesn't dwell on details, it also doesn't hide what happened to a character behind metaphor or leave us to fill in blanks. It depicts the abuse and the emotional fallout plainly. So be prepared to discuss and help young readers process the events of this novel.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley
What are you currently reading?
The Mighty Macy by Kwame Alexander - A verse novel about an anxious girl finding her voice and speaking up for things that matter to her.
What did you recently finish reading?
A Scar Like a River by Lisa Graff - Fallon has three big secrets that she's kept since the day she got her scar. Her uncle Geebie's funeral starts Fallon on a path of confronting her secrets and the changes in her life.
What do you think you'll read next?
Space for Saffron by Rie Neal
Author: Annie Cardi
Genre: realistic fiction
Age range: teen
Similar book: Dust by Alison Stine
Summary (provided by publisher): Pia and her brother, Max, live on an isolated farm in rural Maine, and it’s the only life they remember. Their father says the only way for them to stay protected is to stay on the farm. Pia doesn’t question it. Pia’s entire world turns upside down when her father breaks his leg, and she must be the one to venture into town to make farm deliveries. And then she sees him. Felix, a boy who is both a stranger and somehow familiar, makes her question everything she thought she knew about herself, her past, and her family. But no matter how she feels about Felix, she must always obey her father, above all else.
But Pia's feelings are too big to ignore, and the more she engages with Felix, the more she begins to see that there’s promise for her beyond the isolated world to which she’s grown accustomed. And the more she dreams about a better life, the more she wonders if her father is telling the truth about their family’s past. Pia knows her father and his friend Anthony are hiding something, and soon Pia must reckon with the damage her father is doing to their community and the damage he has done to their own lives.
What I didn't like: While the plot is mostly strong, there are a few points that suffer from having to fit into the framework of the original play. If you don't have the familiarity with the original plot these plot points feel strange and unnecessary. Additionally, the climax of the book is somewhat over the top in it's theatrics. So while it's an interesting exercise and a fun read, I don't know that this book would top my list of recommendations.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley
I've been making catnip toys from upcycled t-shirt scraps for several years now and occasionally I like to introduce a new design. Here are a few I've been working on lately.
The premise here is a familiar one: a cursed royal and a peasant must break the curse and return the royal to her rightful place. Along the way they learn about each other and gain a greater understanding of their diverse experiences. We can guess a lot of the events from the set-up but that doesn't especially matter. The characters are strong and the art is even stronger. We have a lot of fun details feeding into the plot and the goats are fantastic. Plus we have female characters who are learning about different kinds of strength and who defend themselves. This is a solid choice for the average middle grade reader.
Several years ago, I made a sketch of a puppet that I wanted to make.
Suddenly this month it just clicked. I unfortunately don't have process photos for you because I finished it in the course of about two hours in a fit of productivity. The base of the puppet is a foam mattress pad covered in thin fleece. The hair is formed from scraps of a worn out t-shirt. The shirt is made from an old thermal. You'll notice the sleeves are actually inside out. I realized my error after I had them sewn in and haven't decided yet whether it bothers me enough to fix it. I might yet add some embellishments since I think he was maybe meant to be a space explorer in which case that should be a uniform top with some badges and maybe a zipper.
I also can't remember if I had named this character so if you have any suggestions feel free to leave them in the comments.
As I suspected, there was a lot of second-hand embarrassment in this book. When you have a character who starts out the plot lying to basically everyone, we know things are going to blow up spectacularly. If that had been the entire point of the plot then I would say pass on this one. Instead, Kang is using the situation to have a real conversation about culture and assimilation. As a Korean-American, what are Jane's responsibilities to culture? Should she aspire to be all-American or should she be embracing every aspect of Korean culture? And who defines what it means to be authentically Korean? The book grapples constantly with these issues. I had thought perhaps it would also address appreciation versus fetishization and there were moments that brushed against those topics but it never truly gets into it. Even so, this is more than just a light-hearted romp of a character pretending to be something she's not. On the whole, I enjoyed this book even though it made me squirm at times. Well worth the read.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley
What are you currently reading?
Lost Girls of Hollow Lake by Rebekah Faubion - Eight girls went missing at Hollow Lake. Five returned. Now girls are starting to die and something wants the truth about what happened to be revealed.
What did you recently finish reading?
Winter White by Annie Cardi - Pia has lived an isolated life on a Maine farm with her father and brother since she was six. When she starts interacting secretly with people in town, she starts to question everything her father has ever told her.
What do you think you'll read next?
Sundown Girls by L S Stratton
Author: Patricia Ward
Genre: mystery
Age range: teen
Similar book: Starlings by Amanda Linsmeyer
Summary (provided by publisher): Mercy was named for her mother’s hopes.
Mercy, in the hope that the Sorrowing—the curse that Mercy and her family had lived with for generations—might take pity on them.
But Mercy’s name never did her any good, and it certainly didn’t save her mother.
The Sorrowing ensures that Mercy, her family, and the core families in Arbor Falls aren’t able to grow, dream, or prosper. It makes sure they stay exactly as they are—mired in the mud. Mercy has learned to live with the truth: the only way to escape the Sorrowing is to accept it.
Until the Bowens move back to town.
The Bowens are a cursed family, too, and they should know better than to test the Sorrowing. Instead, their ignorance sets off a wave of fury that promises to destroy everything.
Now, Mercy will have to unearth the horrors that unfolded that terrible night the Sorrowing was born—to face the despicable secrets of her town and break the curse before it breaks everything she has left.
What I liked: Mercy is a strong character. Her history explains her approach to her reality, creating a believable world. The realities of the curse are carefully balanced with the mystery elements, creating a rich atmosphere and enough questions to make for compelling reading and a spooky air. The truth behind the curse leaves some elements that are applicable and worth discussing for a modern reader.
What I didn't like: The pacing is a bit unbalanced, with some points dragging. Secondary characters are okay, thin at first but largely gaining a little depth as the book reaches it's climax.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley
You might think that a book about Pi would be a math text. And certainly math plays a mjor role in in this text but it is also much more than that. We learn a fair amount of history in learning about pi. This is a very readable book, easy to consume both in small bites and in large chunks. It's a book one might return to many times with lots of illustrations supporting the text.
The Big Book of Pi releases February 3.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley
Every Christmas I receive at least one craft kit as a gift. This year I got a little plaster highland cow to paint.
This story of a Korean-American girl who sets out to make herself an expert in Korean culture to "save" her baby brother and impress the boy of her dreams gives me some hesitation. It has the potential for a lot of second-hand embarrassment, something I can't always handle. At the same time, it could really dig into some issues of culture and identity so I'm willing to give it a shot. Let's give it a listen and see what we think.
What are you currently reading?
I Don't Wish You Well by Jumata Emill - Everyone thought that they knew the truth about the murders that happened in Moss Pointe but five years later new evidence is coming to light and Pryce is determined to find out the truth.
What did you recently finish reading?
The Big Bad Wolf Murder by P.G. Bell - When her rival in a game of Tooth and Claw dies suddenly on the field and Ruby is framed for his murder, it's a race against time to find out what really happened before the police catch up with her.
What do you think you'll read next?
Winter White by Annie Cardi
