Book review - Goodbye Stranger

Title: Goodbye Stranger
Author: Rebecca Stead
Genre: realistic  fiction
Similar books: Hold Fast by Blue Balliett
                     Blue Gold by Elizabeth Stewart
Rating:

pretty eye-opening

Summary: Bridge, Emily, and Tabitha have been best friends for years. It has always been easy for them to live by their one rule: no fighting. Now that they are starting seventh grade, though, they are developing different interests and being friends isn't so easy. Meanwhile, Sherm is trying to work through some family issues through letters to his grandfather and an anonymous high schooler is hiding out from parents and friend troubles.

My opinion: One subplot in this novel is likely to garner a great deal of attention, focusing as it does on questionable photographs and online privacy. Almost more importantly, it's about sexual politics and gender inequality even among middle schoolers. We see a situation where inappropriate photos are spread around of both a boy and a girl. The girl's reputation and self-esteem are obliterated. She sees reprisals in school and among her peers. The boy gets only sympathy and some mild disapproval. That entire sub-plot is a great topic for discussion with young readers. The other kids stories, while less controversial, are no less compelling. Speaking of all those stories, it takes a very skilled writer to juggle not only multiple plots and perspectives but also multiple formats and tenses. Stead is clearly up to the challenge, producing a complex but cohesive plot. It's not all heavy either. Light-hearted, sweet moments keep this from becoming too much of a brow-creaser. 
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.

Graphic Novel Spotlight - Baba Yaga's Assistant

Baba Yaga's Assistant by Marika McCoola

I remember reading a Baba Yaga story once as a kid in a collection of "spooky" stories for Halloween. It was the only exposure to Baba Yaga I ever had growing up, which is a shame because they really are fantastic folk tales. The heroines in these stories rely on a combination of bravery, kindness, and cleverness. Their virtues allow them to rescue themselves (plus they must be "good" as Baba Yaga eats "bad" kids). While Emily Carroll's illustration style isn't my favorite, it is well suited to this story of a young woman unhappy with her life who seeks out Baba Yaga.

Non-fiction book review - She Takes a Stand

Title: She Takes a Stand
Author: Michael Elsohn Ross

I've read a number of collections like this one, stories of women who make a difference in their communities, often at great personal risk. This is one of the better ones I've read. Some of the names are familiar. Others are new but equally inspiring. These women in this book come from a variety of time periods and locations. They fount for different rights, defied different unfair laws and policies, showing that any problem you see is worth fighting. And you don't have to be "important" to do the fighting. This would make a solid addition to any teen collection.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.

Book review - Con Academy

Title: Con Academy
Author: Joe Schreiber
Genre: realistic fiction/thriller
Similar books: The Great Greene Heist by Varian Johnson
                     Sway by Kat Spears
Rating: 

Sneaky fun

Summary: Will is tired of running low-level cons with his criminal father. At seventeen, he's ready for a better life. So, he cons his way into a place at an elite prep school where he soon meets fellow con artist Andrea. Running two scams at one school promises to be disastrous, so they make a deal: the first one to con privileged jerk Brandt Rush out of $50,000 gets to stay. The other must vanish without a trace. Will sets up a scam with his uncle, one of the great grifters. Unfortunately, he'll have to work with his father as well if he wants any chance of breaking free.

My opinion: Con artists make for great stories. The plot is inherently exciting with the antihero nearly caught on multiple occasions. The characters in this novel have a fair amount of depth. The plot moves along at a solid pace and has plenty of twists and turns without ever going too far. There was a point where I thought it might slip over the line to something ridiculous but Schreiber reigned it in in time. A great, exciting read.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.

Meet Toaster

While at the local Goodwill this week with some friends, we found a Folkmanis wild boar puppet. It was pretty cute but had seen some hard use and the fur was getting nearly threadbare in spots. Still, at just a dollar the price was right. I figured I could make him a little outfit that would cover up a lot of that roughness. Various ideas for clothes were thrown around (cowboy boots, a tutu, that kind of thing) but after we named him Brandolph "Toaster" Marquis, I got more of a hipster vibe for the whole thing. Here are some photos of Toaster in his completed outfit.

He's really a rather jaunty fellow, especially given the way his legs arranged themselves in this photo

a facial close-up

 Toaster's hat is cut down from a stocking cap with simple holes cut for his ears. His shirt is actually a baby shirt with the neckline pulled really low so you can access the hole that makes him a puppet. His vest is a simple rounded rectangle with armholes cut from an old sweatshirt. I sewed his skinny jeans from the leg of an old pair of jeans. They feature a hole in the seat for his tail to poke through which is not visible in any of these photos. His shoes are kind of boot/loafer hybrid made from craft foam, felt, and hot glue. The scarf and pipe cleaner glasses are just placeholders, representing items I'd like to make for him in the future once I track down some better materials. None of his clothing is attached so we can update his look in future if desired.

Book review - School for Sidekicks

Title: School for Sidekicks
Author: Kelly McCullough
Genre: sci-fi/superhero
Similar books: Hero by Mike Lupica
                     Hero Worship by Christopher Long
Rating:

super-cool

Summary: Evan has always dreamed of being a superhero but no matter how many times he checks, he never seems to develop any powers. Not until he takes a trip to a local amusement park and has a strange experience with one of the attractions. Then, on a class trip to a museum, he has an encounter with a villain that turns out, surprisingly, in his favor. The next thing he knows he's been swept off to a secret school for meta-humans, known to the students as the School for Sidekicks. Apprenticed to a has-been hero, Evan soon discovers that being a superhero is far more complicated than he ever dreamed.

My Opinion: Modern books about superheroes are doing a great job of exploring the very nature of being "super" (or as this books calls it "meta"). This particular novel really explores heroes and villains, pointing out the necessity and sacrifice of both and providing a larger design for both sides of the dichotomy. I also appreciated the way this novel points out the inherent danger to non-powered humans simply because powered humans exist. There is only the beginning of exploration of character in this novel but given how it ended this is clearly the first in a series and I presume that the characters will develop further in future books. 

More information: School for Sidekicks releases August 4.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.

Pick 6: music

Have you ever noticed that characters in novels tend to have the same hobbies. They're either athletes, aspiring writers, or musicians. For this list, I gathered titles where being a musician plays an important role in the plot. So, here are six books published in the last six months that in some way feature musicians. Most of these titles are teen oriented but #3 is more of a Diary of a Wimpy Kid read-alike.

6 new books about musicians

1. Kissing Ted Callahan (and Other Guys) by Amy Spalding

2. The Queen of Bright and Shiny Things by Ann Aguirre

3. Excellent Excuses (and Other Good Stuff) by Liz Pichon

4. The Rise and Fall of the Gallivanters by M J Beaufrand

5. Jesse's Girl by Miranda Kenneally

6. Song of Summer by Laura Lee Anderson