Book review - The Madman of Piney Woods

Title: The Madman of Piney Woods
Author: Christopher Paul Curtis
Genre: historical fiction
Similar books: Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko
                     Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt
Rating: 

Absolutely engrossing

Summary: Benji wants nothing more than to be a newspaperman, to finally be good at something that will get him praise like his younger siblings get all the time. Red is trying to make it through each day with his angry, sometimes viscous, Irish grandmother. These two very different boys have never met but when a local competition brings them together they for a loose bond, a bond that will be cemented by a mysterious man in the forest.
My Opinion: While this is a companion to Elijah of Buxton, one need not read it first to understand the plot of this novel. I didn't. And I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Curtis has this almost conversational writing style so that even the sections narrated by Red, which were far more formal in their narrative style, felt like the narrator was sitting nearby talking to you. Pair that with a great plot, a sense of play but also of duty and respect for those who have gone before. While the conclusion is somewhat dark and serious, it's a great book for a middle grade reader and could spark some excellent discussion.
More Information: The Madman of Piney Woods releases September 30.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Pick 6: Heists

This is actually the list that inspired this whole feature. I was noticing a surprising number of books with plots that centered around heists and complicated plans. So, here are six heist novels published in the last six months.

6 new heist novels
1. Fat Boy Vs. The Cheerleaders by Geoff Herbach

2. The Great Greene Heist by Varian Johnson

3. Coin Heist by Elisa Ludwig

4. Loot by Jude Watson

5. Pretenders by Lisi Harrison

6. The Graham Cracker Plot by Shelley Tougas

WWW Wednesday

What are you currently reading?
Famous Last Words by Katie Alender
When Willa moved in with her new step-father in Hollywood. she didn't have a lot of expectations. Life had been rough since her father died two years ago. Meanwhile, Hollywood is under siege by a serial killer attacking young actresses. These two things converge when Willa begins to see things. Is she hallucinating? Or is there a spirit trying to tell her something about the killer?
Who doesn't love a serial killer story? This one has started out really well and I look forward to seeing how the case unfolds.

What did you recently finish reading?
The Madman of Pine Woods by Christopher Paul Curtis
Benji wants nothing more than to be a newspaperman, to finally be good at something that will get him praise like his younger siblings get all the time. Red is trying to make it through each day with his angry, sometimes viscous, Irish grandmother. These two very different boys have never met but when a local competition brings them together they for a loose bond, a bond that will be cemented by a mysterious man in the forest.
I haven't actually read the book that precedes this one (Elijah of Buxton) but that really isn't a big deal. The story stands very much on it's own. While race does play a role in the plot, at heart it is much more than that. It is more about what it means to be human, to be a good person. Curtis does not bully us into any conclusions, but leads us gently to some thought provoking ideas. This will be a great one to discuss with young readers.

What do you think you will read next?
The Only Thing to Fear by Caroline Tung Richmond
When I was a kid in history class I occasionally found myself wondering what life would be like if a key battle or something had ended differently. Clearly I am not the only one who thinks this way as Richmond has written a whole novel about a world where the Nazis won WWII. This could be amazing. 

Book review - Tabula Rasa

Title: Tabula Rasa
Author: Kristen Lipperty-Martin
Genre: sci-fi/thriller
Similar books: BZRK by Michael Grant
                     Slated by Teri Terry
Rating:

action-packed, pretty engrossing

Summary: All Sarah can remember is the hospital. She's been told she is undergoing treatment to erase painful memories, that she's being given a chance to start over. That doesn't explain the wariness of the nurses who seem to treat her like a dangerous animal. And it certainly doesn't explain the soldiers who burst into the hospital as Sarah is undergoing one of her final treatments. Soldiers who gun down staff, blow up rooms, and seem intent on hunting her down. She is in a fight for her life that she doesn't understand.
My opinion: Amnesia as a plot device is an old idea but each author seems to find a new approach. The nice thing here is that the reader finds out information right along with Sarah. This novel has a pretty solid cast of characters, some with complex motivations. While the plot gets a little muddy at times, it follows a largely sensible line of thought. Constant motion adds to the appeal here. A great action story.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Earrings

When I first got started with polymer clay it was my intention to make beads. That was it. My attempts at beads quickly gave way to small figures and Christmas ornaments. As time has passed, I find myself in a never ending quest for new projects to try. One thing I've attempted has been earrings with small polymer clay shapes. Here are some of the better ones I've made.

Poptarts

Snowmen

Golden Snitches

Robots

Owls

Bananas

Puppets!

My big program during the school year is a puppet making workshop. We meet once a month and teach the kids how to make a puppet. We also do some cumulative work towards our annual puppet show. Yesterday was our first workshop of the school year. We taught the kids how to make a bird sock puppet. Here are some pictures of the kids in action.

Our youngest participant this month was just 3 years old. He had a great time.

This bird sports a spectacular hat.

This bird has eye spots at the end of it's beak to protect it from predators. An ingenious choice on the part of this young puppeteer.

This puppeteer was incredibly focused and managed to color the entire sock and beak with markers (both were white to begin with) while also helping a younger kid with his puppet.

 

Book review - I'll Give You the Sun

Title: I'll Give You the Sun
Author: Jandy Nelson
Genre: realistic fiction
Similar books: The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone by Adele Griffin
                     Made of Stars by Kelley York
Rating:

Lovely and a little dizzying

Summary: Growing up, fraternal twins Jude and Noah were inseparable. They communicated without speaking, never played rock-paper-scissors since they always threw the same shape. Jude was the only one who understoond Noah's eccentricities. Now that the twins are teenagers, things have changed and they could not be more different. This book is told in two voices and time periods - Noah at age 13 (when they begin to change) and Jude at age 16 (when they hardly know each other any more).
My opinion: This book has been getting a lot of buzz and I can certainly see why. What a masterpiece. Nelson deftly manages two vastly different characters and two different points in their lives. Noah is very much an "other", so off from "normal" that anything is possible. Jude is incredibly damaged, broken by fears and secrets. And secrets play a huge role in the plot. We see these secrets and their effects slowly unfold, revealing how these previously close kids got to a point where they don't even talk. Beyond plot, this book is beauty and art. There is this great exploration of the artist's temperament and the process of creating. And absolutely wonderful phrasing. There's a beauty in the description of even little things. One of my personal favorite lines is "the strong smell of the ocean too, like he's carrying it on his back". That line just blows me away.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by Net Galley