The Frog Who Croaked

What a fun book! While the mystery is not overly complex, it is solidly constructed much like your standard cop show. While Zengo and O'Malley are in stereotypical roles (the overly eager and impulsive rookie and the slightly jaded old-timer) the novelty of the world Krosoczka has built keeps the characters from feeling stale. And of course there is the vaguely menacing specter of Pandini looming over the plot. He reminded me of Daredevil's Kingpin. His reputation is built on good intentions but something darker drives him. All in all, this is a solid introduction to a middle grade series.

Read Between the Lines

The thing about most novels is you only get one or two perspectives on the story. While our hero is facing adversity and meeting with a variety of other characters, some only for a moment, life goes on around him. But what does that mean for the people he meets? It's refreshing to read books like this one which acknowledge that every individual has a story. These stories all intertwine to create a larger plot. In this case of this novel, each small story in some way involves the middle finger gesture. More than that, though, they are connected by the idea of self-discovery. Every character in this book makes some discovery about himself/herself. These discoveries may be affirming or depressing. Either way, the character ends this one day enlightened in some small way. It's a pretty interesting slice of life.

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

In historical fiction, it's important to capture both the events and the sense of the corresponding era. This is a task that this novel more than accomplishes. The Tate family jumps out from the page, as real as your own neighbor. Their adventures and foibles are entertaining and humorous, much like the tales in Christopher Paul Curtis's The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963. At the same time there is an underlying current of worry and dissatisfaction throughout the novel. Calpurnia simply does not fit into societal expectations. A chance encounter with  her grandfather opens up the world for her in a way that virtually guarantees that she won't be satisfied with the life of domesticity that her mother has planned for her. It is both surprising and satisfying that her discontent remains at the conclusion of the novel, a likely result given that there were precious few opportunities for girls at the turn of the century. This book is an absolute delight.

A Court of Thorns and Roses

A Court of Thorns and Roses is a little more on the high fantasy side of things than I usually prefer. A great deal of the plot deals with bargains and the inter-workings and machinations of the high fae. I found those elements to be rather wearing. At heart, though, this is an excellent retelling of Beauty and the Beast. I'd go so far as to say I prefer it to Disney's version. For one thing, Feyre is a far more powerful character than Disney's Belle. Feyre has given up everything to protect her family. She's a hardened hunter, undereducated, though we see touches of a softer side early on with her fondness for painting. She's stubborn, outspoken, and opinionated, attributes that serve a heroine well in high fantasy. Prythian is a delightfully described world, making this book worth reading for descriptions alone. It's a weighty read but worth wading through if you have the patience.

The Doubt Factory

Book #1 complete!

The Doubt Factory is a complex, political novel. It's the story of a privileged teenage girl who has her whole world shaken by what she thinks is a prankster called 2.0. It isn't long before she discovers that 2.0 is much more. This group of activists has uncovered a industry of misinformation and doubt that has allowed dangerous, life-threatening products to remain on the market, unlabeled, for years. Companies are getting rich at the cost of human lives. And 2.0 isn't going to stand for it any longer. They just need Alix's help to get proof and get the message out.

I love books like this one about being awakened to the dark side of our modern life. Teens are already questioning many things about their personal lives. It's important to encourage them to question the larger world as well. The Doubt Factory takes a very close look at public relations and the media, encouraging the reader to look beyond the story that is being spun to the facts underneath. The writing is tight and tense. The characters have complexity and voice. This is a great book for the thinking reader.

And...Go!

I'm super excited to get started on the 48 Hour Book Challenge! It's now 8 am and this is my official Starting Line post. Join me periodically over the next 48 hours to see what I've read so far.

Here's my to-read pile

Not pictured: The Doubt Factory, The Disappearance of Emily H, Out of the Dragon's Mouth, Razorhurst, and How to Fly With Broken Wings

Books on screen

Coraline

If you've ever read Neil Gaiman, you know he's kind of the king of weird. Coraline is often considered his crowning achievement (though personally I prefer The Graveyard Book or Fortunately, the Milk). The whole book reads like a nightmare, seeded with a constant sense of unreality. 
The movie makes a few significant changes. It adds two elements: a neighbor boy and dolls which watch the other mother's victims. Wybie, the neighbor, is in many ways a sensible addition. In the book Coraline spends a great deal of time alone so much of the plot exposition takes place in her mind. Another character allows the exposition to be verbalized. The dolls feel a little unnecessary.
More noticeable, and more questionable, is the nature of the other home. In the movie, the world beyond the door has a delightful magical quality not present in the book. In the book the "other" has a decidedly unnatural feel, whole-heartedly unsettling. While it makes the menace of the other mother more startling, it isn't true to the original story.
Other changes can be explained away as necessary for cinematography, pacing and the like. While I certainly prefer the book and the absolutely eerie audio book narrated by Gaiman himself, the movie is worth a watch. At the very least its an impressive feat of stop motion animation.