Book review - Genius

Title: Genius - The Game
Author: Leopoldo Gout
Genre: thriller
Similar books: Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
                     The Silence of Six by E.C. Myers
Rating:

exciting but over-simplified

Summary(provided by publisher):Trust no one. Every camera is an eye. Every microphone an ear. Find me and we can stop him together.
The Game: Get ready for Zero Hour as 200 geniuses from around the world go head to head in a competition hand-devised by India's youngest CEO and visionary.
The Players:
Rex- One of the best programmers/hackers in the world, this 16-year-old Mexican-American is determined to find his missing brother.
Tunde-This14-year-old self-taught engineering genius has drawn the attention of a ruthless military warlord by single-handedly bringing electricity and internet to his small Nigerian village.
Painted Wolf-One of China's most respected activist bloggers, this mysterious 16-year-old is being pulled into the spotlight by her father's new deal with a corrupt Chinese official.
The Stakes: Are higher than you can imagine. Like life and death. Welcome to the revolution. And get ready to run.

My opinion: A surface understanding of computers, networking, engineering, and/or coding is helpful but not necessary when reading this book. The narrative presumes we understand these things and thus provides no explanation. While the sciences play a major role in the plot there isn't a lot of detail. For instance, we're told that Tunde builds a laser from parts scavenged from the auditorium. While there are design drawing, understanding how it works or even exactly what it does are not crucial to following the plot. Similarly, while politics and power plays are involved in the plot, they are linear, black and white. There is a clear villain, the implication that those in power are either corrupt or inept, not a lot of room for grey areas. Entertaining, decent pacing. I'd have liked to have seen the characters given a little more depth, more genuine personal conflict with others apart from that which is inherent in competition. A decent thrilling read. Just not anything you'll spend much time contemplating later.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.

It's always winter...

When I first moved into my new place, I was immediately enamored with the builtin storage in one bedroom. With nearly a dozen drawers and a large wardrobe, its a great space-saver. Even better, its a wardrobe. I had visions of painting the back of it to look like the entrance into Narnia. In the end, I decided to paint a panel to insert into the wardrobe rather than the wall itself. I got a large piece of cardboard, a reference picture from the Lionsgate movie of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and plenty of acrylic paint. After an afternoon of concentrated effort, this is what I ended up with.

Book review - The Sound of Us

Title: The Sound of Us
Author: Julie Hammerle
Genre: romance
Similar books: Guitar Notes  by Mary Amato
                     Signs Point to Us by Sandy Hall
Rating:

Nice enough

Summary(provided by publisher): Kiki Nichols might not survive music camp.
She’s put her TV-loving, nerdy self aside for one summer to prove she’s got what it takes: she can be cool enough to make friends, she can earn that music scholarship, and she can get into Krause University’s music program.
Except camp has rigid conduct rules—which means her thrilling late-night jam session with the hot, equally geeky drummer can’t happen again, even though they love all the same shows, and fifteen minutes making music with him meant more than every aria she’s ever sung.
But when someone starts reporting singers who break conduct rules, music camp turns survival of the fittest, and people are getting kicked out. If Kiki’s going to get that scholarship, her chance to make true friends—and her first real chance at something more—might cost her the future she wants more than anything.

My opinion: What I liked about this one: Kiki is passionate. She has strong interests and doesn't let her opinions be swayed by others. She finds her own strength, not in other people but in spite of them. Her relationships with Jack and her former best friend don't end up fixed. They find a sort of stalemate, a potential for things to get better in the future. And while Kiki does end up stronger, her life isn't perfect. She's an anxious weirdo with only a vague plan for her future. She has simply accepted those imperfect parts of herself. 
What I didn't like: the cliches. Kiki is a cliche, a nerdy girl, mildly overweight, introverted, with a tv obsession and a semi-secret musical talent. Her parents are cliches, pushing their children to choose "practical" majors instead of the arts (though honestly, what's so practical about studying Latin?), setting ultimatums, overly concerned with what others will think. Even the other campers fit into an expectation for a performing arts program: at least one who is elitist and almost all cut-throat. It can work to embrace cliches if characterization is strong enough, especially if there is a touch of self-effacing humor. That's not the case here. Most of the characters were not developed beyond a basic profile. A read for an afternoon or two but nothing that will blow you away and ultimately forgettable.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.

Graphic Novel Spotlight: Bad Machinery

Bad Machinery series by John Allison

Bad Machinery is a middle grade graphic novel series out of Great Britain.  It is, to put it simply, odd. But the most delightful kind of odd. Quirky in a strangely endearing way. Allison combines pseudo-paranormal investigation with regular preteen concerns: crushes, popularity, siblings. The books follow two groups of students, one of boys and one of girls, as they investigate mysteries in their town. These mysteries usually have some unusual element. There is a heavy dose of humor in each book and that, with the extreme quirkiness, makes for a surprisingly enjoyable read. While these books might not be a good choice for every tween, for the reader with an unusual sense of humor they should be a hit.

 

 

When you can't find a good poster, make your own

I've been on something of a Harry Potter kick of late which is weird considering I haven't read or watched Harry Potter in something like six months.

Actually, this week's project is just as inspired by art as it is by Harry Potter. I was thinking about Magritte's pipe painting recently and, for no explicable reason, I got to thinking about Harry Potter. And this is the end result.
 

Not a portkey, though it could be

Pick 6: Magic

Spells, faeries, witches, giants. Magical elements seem to resonate with young readers and there are some really excellent fantasy novels being written for them. Here are six books published in the past six months that feature magic.

6 new magical novels

1. Crystal Cadets by Anne Toole and Katie O'Neil

2. The Door By the Staircase by Katherine Marsh

3. Simon Thorn and the Wolf's Den by Aimee Carter

4. Believe Your Eyes by Cori Doerrfeld and Tyler Page

5. Red  by Liesel Shurtiff

6. Shadow Magic by Joshua Khann

Book review - Doodle Adventures

Title: Doodle Adventures: The Search for the Slimy Space Slugs
Author: Mike Lowery
Genre: humor
Similar books: Meet the Bigfeet by Kevin Sherry
                     Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey
Rating:

Silly and fun

Summary(provided by publisher): Pick up a pencil or pen. Sharpen your imagination! Here's an adventure story where you, the reader, directly participate. DOODLE ADVENTURES: THE SEARCH FOR SLIMY SPACE SLUGS! marries the pleasures of doodling and drawing with the fun of a ripping good story. Like a visual Mad Libs chapter book, or a graphic novel where the reader gets to help with the graphics, it celebrates engaging, gamelike, fill-in fun for middle-grade readers.
Mike Lowery brings the fresh lively look of his Kid's Awesome Activity Calendar, with more than 65,000 copies in print, to the first in a series of DOODLE ADVENTURES—lighthearted fantasy stories where the reader first draws him- or herself into the story, and then continues by following prompts and adding more illustrations and doodles. The full-color book is sturdy paper over board with beautiful cream paper—perfect for defacing! Page after page mixes Lowery's hand-lettered text with illustrations and then lots of room for the reader's contributions.
Set in space, the book invites the reader to join Carl, a duck and member of a super-secret international group of explorers, on a journey in search of a very important grail-like object—a jar with an artifact that's gone missing. By the end of the adventure, you'll have cowritten a tale you can read again and again and show off to family and friends.

My opinion: This book would have been the perfect choice for my nephew about five years ago. He's a bit too old for it now but it would be a great choice for any wildly creative kid. The bigger the imagination, the better the end result will be. It has the potential to be incredibly creative, with ridiculous and mildly gross humor. It would be fun for a kid to complete alone or as an ongoing project with a parent. There's not a great deal of plot but enough of one that a kid could potentially enjoy reading it again, even after completing all of the doodles.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.