Book Review - The Chance You Won't Return

Title: The Chance You Won't Return
Author: Annie Cardi
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Similar books: Crazy by Han Nolan
                     So B. It by Sarah Weeks
Rating:

Eye-opening

Summary: Alex has a lot of worries. She's flunking drivers ed. She fights with her mother all of the time. And she's crushing on a cute guy at school. Her life gets even more complicated when her mother begins to believe herself to be Amelia Earhart.
My opinion: Alex is a great character. Often selfish and impulsive, she lacks confidence in her daily life. Her shame and fear regarding her mother's illness and the responsibility thrust upon her as well as the consequences of the secrets she keeps from those closest to her really grow her as a character. Add in the sensitive but grimly realistic portrayal of mental illness, and this becomes the kind of book every teen should read.

Advanced reader copy provided by NetGalley.

Books on Screen

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

 Of the movies based on kid's books that I have seen, this effort from Walden Media does the best job of replicating the events of the book as well as the sensibility. A breath-taking movie that genuinely does justice to Lewis's master book (which is what made the nest two movies such a disappointment, but that's perhaps something to discuss in another post). Additionally, this movie makes a point of something we often miss when reading the book - the Prevensies are being evacuated during the London Blitz. Were it not fro the war, they wouldn't have found the wardrobe! Both the book and the movie are well worth your time.

WWW Wednesdays

What are you currently reading?
She is Not Invisible by Marcus Sedgwick
Laureth's writer father is meant to be in Switzerland. The only problem: she just got an email saying a man found his notebook in New York City. When her father doesn't respond to any phone calls or texts, Laureth packs up her younger brother, steals her mother's credit card and gets on a plane.
I'm intrigued to see how this mystery plays out, especially to discover the tie-in of that title.
 
What did you recently finish reading?
How I Got Skinny, Famous, and Fell Madly in Love by Ken Baker
With her family in financial trouble, overweight Emery agrees to be the focus of a weight-loss reality show. As she begins to lose weight and her fame grows, Emery must face a number of truths she's not sure she's ready for. 
An interesting book hitting two hot-button issues.
  
What do you think you will read next?
The Drowning by Rachel Ward 
I rather liked Ward's series The Numbers, so this book about a young man haunted by the memory (or maybe the ghost) of his dead brother is high on my list of "to read" books.

Ninja Librarians Recon Team Week 5

The journey is almost over, friends. I'm going to miss these awesome prompts. Here's this week's prompt:
You're going on a quest to save a person who is being punished for standing up for the truth. What time period are you traveling to? Who are you trying to save? What are you taking with you?
The final requirement for this prompt, making it different than the others, is that we are instructed to answer with images. So here is my response.

I went with fairly recent history.

Muridke Pakistan, 1995

Iqbal Masih, 12 year old child labor activist

A really good disguise.

 

a riot shield

A bike, so we can make our getaway.

A trio of skirts

Ever since I came across Generation T I've made a number of different things out of t-shirts. Skirts in particular are quite comfortable. This week I made a skirt based on a Generation T design, but I'm not overly fond of it.

Just not doing it for me

I'm in the process of planning some fixes. Hopefully in a few weeks I can share new version of this skirt with you. For now, here are a few other skirts I've made, also based on Generation T designs.

This is the detail from the skirt above. It was a set of iron-on rhinestones.

 

Book Review - Noggin

Title: Noggin
Author: John Corey Whaley
Genre: Sci-fi (though a strong case could be made for calling it realistic fiction)
Similar books: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
                     Everybody Sees the Ants by A S King
Rating: 

Trying. Not. To. Cry.

Summary: When treatment for his Leukemia failed, sixteen year old Travis Coates agreed to have his head cryogenically frozen. He figured if he ever got a new body it would be decades in the future and most everyone he knew would be gone. Instead he awakens in just five years. The world is very much the same but his loved ones have changed. Travis is a teen in the wrong time.
My Opinion: I absolutely adored Whaley's debut novel, Where Things Come Back, so I was both thrilled by and terrified of this novel. I should have known Whaley would not disappoint. Travis's humor about his situation keep this book from becoming maudlin as he attempts to adjust to his new life. Still, it's a pretty serious book addressing figuring out your place in the world, lost love, accepting change, and grief. This is stuff that many teenagers deal with, making it very relatable. Travis, of course, must also figure out how to cope with his sudden fame, people who consider him a miracle or an abomination and his sense of obligation to his body donor. Plus all of his friends, his girlfriend, are now adults while he remains a teen.

Graphic Novel Night

With the popularity of graphic novels at our library, we decided to devote an evening program to them. So, last night was Graphic Novel Night. We had three main activities.

1. Vote for your favorite graphic novel series.
    I had cover art from six of our most popular graphic novel series out on a table. Kids put a poker chip on their favorite cover.

2. Book talk of some lesser known and sadly under appreciated graphic novels.
    I pulled about 15 less popular graphic novels (including 1 manga) and 2 new graphic novels and did a quick pitch for why they should read each book.


3. Make your own graphic novel
    This was probably the longest portion of the program. After a quick talk about the steps to making comics and an explanation of the Marvel method, I set them loose to draw whatever they wanted. The cool part of this portion was the conversation that came up. The kids recommended graphic novels that we don't own and I had a great talk with a manga fan. Since I don't read much manga myself, I learned a lot from her. She recommended several series she thought I might like. I did the same for her with American graphic novels and traditional print novels.