Book review - Spin

Title: Spin
Author: Colleen Nelson
Genre: realistic fiction
Similar books: Solo by Kwame Alexander
                      Scar Boys by Len Vlahos
Rating:

well intentioned but a bit lacking

Summary (provided by publisher): Fifteen-year-old Delilah “Dizzy” Doucette lives with her dad and brother above their vintage record store, The Vinyl Trap. She’s learning how to spin records from her brother’s best friend, and she’s getting pretty good. But behind her bohemian life, Dizzy and her family have a secret: her mom is the megafamous singer Georgia Waters. When this secret is revealed to the world, Dizzy’s life spins out of control. She must decide what is most important to her — the family she has or the family she wants.

My opinion: I give Nelson credit: the plot of this book has an air of realism, particularly when it comes to individual character arcs. Decision have consequences, often devastating ones. The character's desires are clear to the reader, even when they are unclear to the character. And they are so driven by these desires that they dismiss potentially serious consequences. Each individual is so wrapped up in desires they can't see what they are doing to the people around them. I didn't much care for the multiple perspectives. The father's sections gave me particular trouble, mostly because the things we learn in those pages could easily have been relayed in Dizzy and her brother's pages. It didn't add anything to the plot to explore the father's inner thoughts, didn't even give him more depth. Instead, his perspective feels like and intrusive narrator.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.

Non-fiction book review - Monstrous

Monstrous by Carlyn Beccia

I'm a little floored by how much I enjoyed this book. I was expecting parts of it - the science that disproves various monsters. But  I didn't expect to learn so much. First we get history for each monster: where they first appear on record, they way their portrayal has changed over the years, and different appearances they've made. Then there's the science that surrounds them. The nutrition contend in a human. Infection rates. The physical limitations on large animals. Even the science of blood pressure. Each fact adds to the unlikelihood of a monster and teaches you a little more about the world around you. This is a great way to engage a kid with an inclination for the offbeat in the sciences.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.

Book Review - The Taste of Rain

Title: The Taste of Rain
Author: Monique Polak
Genre: historical fiction
Similar books:  The Ballad of Yaya by Jean-Marie Omont
                       The Boy at the Top of the Mountain by John Boyne
Rating:

educational

Summary (provided by publisher):
It is 1945, and thirteen-year-old Gwendolyn has been a prisoner at the Weihsien Internment Camp in northern China for nearly two and a half years. Gwendolyn is one of 140 children who were enrolled at a boarding school in Chefoo when the Japanese Imperial Army invaded China.
Life in the camp is difficult. There is not enough food or water, and even the children are forced to do hard labor. But Miss E, one of their teachers from Chefoo, has come up with an unusual scheme: she will follow the Girl Guide Code, treating Gwendolyn and her friends as if they are part of a Girl Guide troop. Girl Guides promise not only to stay positive in the most challenging situations but also to do good turns, meaning they must be kind to others without any expectation of reward. Gwendolyn hopes that when she grows up, she will be as courageous and optimistic as Miss E.
But then Gwendolyn learns that Miss E is not as full of answers as she seems, and she realizes that in order to protect a friend, she will have to do something that could never be considered a good turn. 

My opinion: This was a part of history unfamiliar to me. I had heard about European concentration camps, American camps, and POW camps in Asia. I didn't know about camps in occupied China. That alone, that lesser known bit of history, makes this book worth reading. Without the setting context, it's a pretty standard concentration camp story. We see cruelty from most captors and the captives trying to find a way to keep living. It's puberty in captivity, heading towards adulthood in the worst possible circumstances and the way that shapes the person these kids will become. It's the struggle to keep your circumstances from turning you into a bitter and twisted person. The plot is a little vague and unfocused at times but it remains a decent choice to supplement a unit on World War II.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.

His Hideous Heart Blog Tour

Hi friends! Today I'm thrilled to bring you an excerpt from the upcoming short story collection His Hideous Heart, edited by Dahlia Adler. This is a collection of 13 stories inspired by the works of Edgar Allen Poe, reimagined by modern authors. The new stories are just as eerie and artful as the originals with modern flavor and sensibilities. 

The following is an excerpt from A Drop of Stolen Ink by Emily Lloyd-Jones. It's a sort of cyber-punk reimagining of The Purloined Letter (one of my favorite Poe stories!). 

There are three things you need to know about identity theft.
First, anyone can be a victim.
A few decades ago, there were toddlers with mortgage debt. Elderly grandmothers with drained bank accounts. Even the recently deceased were resurrected for their social security numbers. In the age of the internet, we uploaded our identities and hoped corporate firewalls would protect us. Spoiler alert: they didn't. All of our information was ripe for the taking.
After several years of rampant identity crime, a solution was finally devised.
The only way to protect personal information was to put it somewhere safer: beneath our very skin. Written in government-issued electron-ink, tucked underneath layers of epidermis and powered by the body's tiny electrical impulses. 
It was a simple, elegant solution. The identity tattoos could not be duplicated and they could not be stolen-at least, not without removing a limb. And without the warmth and breath of a life, an applied tattoo went dark, and all of its information vanished.
But here's the second thing you need to know: criminals are smart. Human ingenuity knows few boundaries. There are still ways to steal one's identity.
But before you despair, here's the third thing.
Criminals may be smart.
But I'm smarter. 

Good, right?
If you'd like to read more, His Hideous Heart releases September 10.
  
 

Graphic Novel Spotlight - Witchy

Witchy by Ariel Slamet Ries

Explorations of magic aren't unusual in fiction, both traditional and graphic novels. Ries has taken a fascinating approach with this story, tying the characters' magic to their hair.  The length of their hair is a representation fo the strength of their magic as well as their respect for the spirits that provide their magic. Magic doesn't have rules, per se, but does have a direct tie to another aspect of the world. They don't fully understand their magic because they don't understand the spirit world. It's a complex mythology but Ries does not shy away from explanations and explorations. The progression of the plot only adds to the complexity of the world. The art is charming, cartoony and unafraid to take risks.

More information: Witchy releases September 17.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.

Non-fiction book review - Explorers

Explorers by Nellie Huang

Books about explorers are inherently appealing to a young audience. By their very nature they have danger, science, and sociology. The key to a book like this one is to consume it in small amounts. Reading the whole thing in a single sitting can be a bit dull. Instead, visit on occasion to learn about someone new and interesting. Huang keeps it interesting by stretching the definition to include boundary pushers: women, people of color, the young, the aging. People who were told by society they were incapable of a goal and who attempted it anyway. A great book to have on your shelf for occasional reference.

More information: Explorers releases September 3.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.

Book review - Mighty Jack and Zita the Spacegirl

Title: Mighty Jack and Zita the Spacegirl
Author: Ben Hatke
Genre: sci-fi/graphic novel
Similar books: Foiled by Jane Yolen
                      Estranged by Ethan M Aldridge
Rating:

what a delight

Summary (provided by publisher): Jack and Lilly are no strangers to heroics. They’ve befriended dragons, battled giants, and even earned the loyalty of a goblin army. So when they meet Zita the Spacegirl, fresh from her interplanetary travels and seeking their help to face a new threat, they’re more than ready for another adventure.
But the danger growing just outside the door to their world is greater than anything the new friends could have imagined. An army of giants and screeds stands ready to lay siege to Earth, determined to put the age of humans to an end.
With the gate between worlds growing weaker and time running out, can the heroes come together to save their world from their greatest enemy yet?

My opinion: No joke, I've been eagerly awaiting this book for 2 years, from the moment I finished Mighty Jack and the Goblin King and realized that Hatke was bringing Zita into Jack's world. Because the only thing better than getting a resolution to Jack's story would be reading more about Zita. And this is more than just a continuation of the Zita we knew in the original trilogy. This is an older Zita, a Zita who still feels like an outsider on Earth but is starting to gain some distance from her adventures. Jack and his crew, on the other hand, are in the midst of their adventures and have literally, physically been changed. Goblin blood, magic seeds, psychic links. They are noticeably abnormal at odds with Jack's determination to return to the status quo. Zita feels different but appears like any other kid. These ideas and petty jealousies crash together with an intersection of fairy tales, Norse mythology, and sci-fi adventure. It's a grand, sweeping story with constant action and a fair dose of social complexity. Hatke invites the reader to consider the giants in life, both literal and metaphorical. Well worth the wait.

More information: Mighty Jack and Zita the Spacegirl releases September 3.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.