Animal jars

With my craft fair now less than three weeks away all of my crafting time is focused on preparation. Here's one of the items I'll be selling. These jars are made from standard sized baby food jars, E-6000 craft glue, acrylic paint, and Mod Podge.

 

Book review - In Real Life

Title: In Real Life
Author: Cory Doctorow
Genre: graphic novel/realistic fiction
Similar books: For the Win by Cory Doctorow
                     Crogan Adventures series by Chris Schweizer
Rating:

mind expanding

Summary: Anda started playing Coarsegold Online after a presentation at her school. As a member of an all female guild, she feels like she can finally be her true self. In the game she is a fighter, a leader, dependable and she makes several new friends. When she happens upon a young Chinese gold farmer, she begins to question everything she thought she knew about the game and about her world. She'd like to help Raymond, but the situation is far more complicated than she realizes.
My Opinion: This is the perfect book to argue for the value of graphic novels. It's exciting, filled with fight scenes and a tight, quick moving plot. The art is phenomenal. It is somewhat cartoony with loads of details, great use of light, and a nicely muted color scheme that adds to the atmosphere. Most importantly it is thought provoking. Doctorow asks the reader to consider issues of social justice, thoughtful consumption, politics, economics, and effective protest. This will be a great book for teens beginning to think about their place in the larger world.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley
 

Pick 6: Horror

I know I've done a horror list already but given that Halloween is almost here, this seems to be the appropriate topic. So, here are six more books published in the last six months populated with monsters, ghosts, and other creepy things.

6 new horror novels

1. Welcome to the Dark House by Laurie Faria Stolarz

2. The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco

3. Amity by Micol Ostow

4. The Book of Bad Things by Dan Poblocki

5. Mary: the Summoning by Hillary Monahan

6. All Those Broken Angels by Peter Adam Salomon

WWW Wednesday

What are you currently reading?
Beau, Lee, the Bomb, and Me by Mary McKinley
Rusty is used to being alone in high school. She is one of the weird kids - too smart for her own good and overweight. She doesn't expect things to change until college. Then she meets new kid Beau. Beau is the target of all the high school bullies and they become fast friends along with Rusty's cartooning friend Leoni. When the bullying gets violent Beau has had enough. He decides to run away to San Francisco (where his uncle lives). Rusty and Leoni are determined not to let him go alone.
So far this one reminds me of the classic road trip story. Take three teens and set them on the road for a series of misadventures. Rusty's voice is strong and mostly endearing (if a little preachy at times). 
 
What did you recently finish reading?
Mr. Katz is a Zombie by M.C. Lesh
When he goes along with his parents to investigate reports of a haunted house, J.D. meets a ghost who asks him to remove a dangerous book from the house. He expects that to be the end of it but then the book falls into the wrong hands. Specifically, the hands of his best friend Rodney who accidentally turns their teacher, Mr. Katz, into a zombie. It is up to J.D., Rodney, and twins Randy and Ricky to turn him back.
This is a good zombie book for younger kids. Not particularly violent and only moderately gross. Personally, I'd have liked to have seen a little more character development but the plot was relatively solid.

What do you think you will read next?
Watched by CJ Lyons
A tale of web crime and blackmail. This could be a very exciting read.

Book review - Every Breath

Title: Every Breath
Author: Ellie Marney
Genre: mystery
Similar books: Blink and Caution by Tim Wynne-Jones
                     The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin by Josh Berk
Rating:

Engrossing, a little dark

Summary: When Rachel Watts moved to Melbourne and became friends with James Mycroft she never expected that the friendship would get her involved in a mystery. A late night visit to the Melbourne Zoo uncovers the body of Homeless Dave, an eccentric friend of Mycroft's who has been violently murdered. Mycroft's personal connection with the victim paired with his obsession with forensics draws them into the investigation. His extreme focus and lack of boundaries, paired with Rachel's willingness to follow him and the painful secrets they both bear, gets them into trouble.
My Opinion: The comparisons between this book and every other Sherlock Holmes story are going to be unavoidable - Marney named her characters Mycroft and Watts for a reason after all. Rather than try to subtly weave in all of the comparisons she just lays it all on the line, even having the characters point out their resemblance to the famed detective pair. By making the similarity obvious, Marney frees up her book to focus on more important things: the development of the plot and the characters. The pacing and atmosphere are excellent, giving the novel a dark and gritty feel. The characters are nicely developed. My main complaint is with the revelation of the killer. Because of the description of the plot provided, both on NetGalley and Amazon, I guessed at the killer's identity pretty early on. If you have not yet, do yourself a favor and DON'T read any plot descriptions. Simply immerse yourself in this story of two broken teens solving a murder.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley
 

More finger puppets

As part of my preparation for craft fair season I've been making more finger puppets. Here are some of my recent favorites.
 

Batman and Puppets

When we discovered that 2014 marked the 75th year of Batman it seemed like the perfect idea for a program. So, Wednesday we had had our Batman celebration. With participants ranging in age from under a year old all the way up to adults, it was a major success. Plus, it was the perfect excuse to wear a costume.

Batman/superhero book display

Arkaham Asylum, photo op

The Streets of Gotham obstacle course

This was the end of the obstacle course and my favorite part - carry a baby over a pool of lava

Where does the Joker belong, other than in Arkham

Participants had the option to have their photo taken with these sound effect bubbles

Mr. Peanut served nicely as The Penguin.

Also this week we had our monthly puppet workshop. As always, the kids had some interesting puppets to share.

This was the original we made as an example

I love the eyes on this one. A little creepy but awesome.

Another dragon

This monster has excellent red eyes and sharp teeth

And this ogre is the complete package: warts, ear hair, snaggle tooth, and (if you look really closely) green glitter boogers crusting its nostril.