The wonders of duct tape

Today's craft is something I made about a decade ago. I got a mandolin as a gift and wanted a case to keep it in. It turns out my mandolin is a slightly off-standard shape and having a case custom made would have been prohibitively expensive. So, I decided to make my own case out of corrugated cardboard, an old egg-crate mattress pad, hot glue, fleece, and duct tape. I've been using that same case ever since. Ten years and I'm only just now needing to add new tape.

 

Book review - DC Super Hero Girls: Finals Crisis

Title: Finals Crisis
Author: Shea Fontana
Genre: graphic novel
Similar books: Princeless by Jeremy Whitley
                     The Gumazing Gum Girl! Chews Your Destiny by Rhode Montijo
Rating:

A nice, simple superhero story

Summary(provided by publisher): Class is in session! Welcome to DC Super Hero High!
It was the night before finals and the student body is hard at work... and nothing is going right! Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Harley Quinn, Batgirl and their friends are learning to become heroes, but no one knew the trials that awaited them. In the first original graphic novel from the DC Super Hero Girls line, meet the students of Superhero High School as they find out that fun, friendship and hard work are all parts of growing up!
The DC Super Hero Girls is an exciting new universe of Super Heroic storytelling that helps build character and confidence, and empowers girls to discover their true potential. Developed for girls aged 6-12, DC Super Hero Girls features DC Comics' most powerful and diverse line-up of female characters as relatable teens, playing out across multiple entertainment content platforms and product categories to create an immersive world. Icons including Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Batgirl, Harley Quinn, Bumble Bee, Poison Ivy, Katana and many more make their unprecedented teenaged introduction, as each character has her own storyline that explores what teen life is like as a Super Hero.

My opinion: I'm impressed. While recognizability of characters is clearly important in this book, it doesn't rely on it entirely. Each character gets at least a little bit of characterization, some insecurity r flaw that must be addressed by the plot. And each little plot ties up together in the larger plot. I will say that I found the ending a little disappointing. A) The culprit was pretty obvious from early on if you are at all familiar with superheroes. B) His motivations is revealed entirely via exposition in the final scenes. Some hint earlier on would have been nice. A nice choice for elementary readers though.

Advanced reader copy provided by NetGalley.

Books on screen

Goosebumps

When I first heard there was a Goosebumps movie in the works, I wondered how it would work. There were so many Goosebumps books, how could they possibly pick one to adapt. No matter which one they selected some fan would be upset to have his/her favorite monster excluded. The solution really is ingenious. The movie features all of the monsters, all of the books. The plot of the movie, then, becomes a Goosebumps book itself. Just as the books were the perfect introduction to the horror fiction genre for kids, the movie is like a horror film with training wheels. It has the standard jump scares and romantic elements but with enough humor and lack of violence to be acceptable for preteens. It does suffer from some logical failings and a notable amount of overacting, so it may not hold up to multiple viewings but that was often true of the books as well.

Book review - Towers Falling

Title: Towers Falling
Author: Jewell Parker Rhodes
Genre: realistic fiction
Similar books: Nine, Ten: a September 11 Story by Nora Raleigh Baskin
                     Hold Fast by Blue Balliett
Rating:

lovely complex story

Summary(provided by publisher): When her fifth-grade teacher hints that a series of lessons about home and community will culminate with one big answer about two tall towers once visible outside their classroom window, Deja can't help but feel confused. She sets off on a journey of discovery, with new friends Ben and Sabeen by her side. But just as she gets closer to answering big questions about who she is, what America means,
and how communities can grow (and heal), she uncovers new questions, too. Like, why does Pop get so angry when she brings up anything about the towers?
Award-winning author Jewell Parker Rhodes tells a powerful story about young people who weren't alive to witness this defining moment in history, but begin to realize how much it colors their every day.

My opinion: Just last week I praised Nora Raleigh Baskin for telling a September 11 story that personalized the tragedy without a great deal of up close emotion. Rhodes' approach is the exact opposite. While the setting is fully modern, we see the ongoing emotional effect of September 11 on a few kids. Struggles continue for a survivor and for a middle-eastern family. This is more than a September 11 story though. It's a story about homelessness, depression, and divided families. Its about finding a place to belong when you're full of anger and fatigue and confusion. It's a beautiful, tough story that resolves with hope rather than with solutions. If you can only choose one book to bring the September 11 tragedy home to middle grader readers, this may well be that book.

Advanced reader copy provided by NetGalley.

Ceramic vegetables beware

This spring our local Dollar Tree store had some small ceramic animals to paint. Not unexpectedly, the selection included rabbits, ducks, and the like. I bought a couple, put them on the table in my craft room, and promptly forgot about them. I remembered them recently when I was looking for a plastic rabbit to repaint as Bunnicula from the James Howe series. I don't think this is exactly what the designers had in mind when they made these kits but then the kit included red, yellow, and blue paint, so who knows what they were thinking.

Book review - Inspector Flytrap

Title: Inspector Flytrap
Author: Tom Angleberger an Cece Bell
Genre: Mystery/beginning chapter book
Similar books: Geronimo Stilton
                     The Ghost and Max Monroe by L.M. Falcone

Rating:

a quirky introduction to the idea of a mystery

Summary(provided by publisher): From husband-and-wife team Tom Angleberger, creator of the New York Times bestselling Origami Yoda series, and Cece Bell, author/illustrator of the Newbery Honor graphic novel El Deafo, comes the start to a funny and clever illustrated chapter-book series about a mystery-solving Venus flytrap. With easy-to-read language and illustrations on almost every page, this early-chapter-book series is a must for beginning readers.
Inspector Flytrap in the Da Vinci Cold introduces kids to the humorous and wacky world of Inspector Flytrap's Detective Agency, home to the world-renowned solver of BIG DEAL mysteries. The plant detective works tirelessly with his assistant Nina the Goat on his community's unsolved cases. There's no case too big, but there are definitely cases too small for this endearingly self-important plant detective.
Celebrating the disabled yet enabled, the character of Inspector Flytrap is wheeled everywhere (on a skateboard, of course) by his goat sidekick as this mystery-solving duo works on cases such as “The Big Deal Mystery of the Stinky Cookies” and “The Big Deal Mystery of the Missing Rose.”
On his first caper, Inspector Flytrap heads to the Art Museum's Secret Lab to discover what important message lies in a mysterious glob on a recently discovered Da Vinci flower painting. The ingenious solution: Da Vinci was allergic to flowers, and the glob is, er, evidence of that ancient sneeze.
Combining wacky humor and a silly cast of characters with adventure, friendship, and mystery, the powerhouse team of Tom Angleberger and Cece Bell have created a uniquely engaging series that is perfect for newly independent readers and fans of Ricky Ricotta, Captain Underpants, and the Galaxy Zack series. Also included in these books are some graphic novel–style pages that will attract reluctant readers.

My opinion: A plant that solves mysteries is, admittedly, an odd concept for a book, especially once you add in the talking-goat assistant. It's an idea that most of us would not come up with in a hundred years. Angleberger and Bell make it work,  though. The plots are simple and surprisingly logical. By breaking the book up into several short mysteries it is easily handled by young readers and would also work well as a read-aloud in the classroom to fill in short amounts of extra time. Most importantly, it's funny and the humor holds up to repeat reads. I look forward to seeing how this series develops.

More information: Inspector Flytrap releases August 2.
Advanced reader copy provided by NetGalley.

Graphic Novel Spotlight: Hotel Strange

Hotel Strange by Katherine and Florian Ferrier

This is a quirky series to be sure, as one might gather from the covers. Characters cover a wide range of types, both in personality and in species. The art style is relatively flat, reminiscent of your standard kids' cartoon. The plot can be a little hard to follow at times as there are events and characters referenced with little to no explanation. For pure entertainment, this is a solid choice for elementary kids. Older readers may recognize some European and manga influence both in art and storytelling.