Picture books for everyone

Light a Candle by Godfrey Nkongolo

Bilingual picture books are a solid experience for all readers, especially books like this one with a heavy cultural influence. While most of us don't have much call to learn Swahili, the sheer existence of and exposure to another language is important in and of itself. While an American child may not immediately relate to the plot (a Tanzanian boy following the men of his tribe up the side of Mount Kilimanjaro) with the guidance of the adult reader kids of all ages will find parallels to their own experiences: societal expectations, proving yourself, finding your strength, etc.

More information: Light a Candle releases October 1.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.

Non-fiction book review - Debunk It!

Debunk it by John Grant

Books like this one are of vital importance We absolutely need to empower young people to recognize the validity of information they encounter. They need tools to evaluate headlines and news stories. Grant breaks it down in three sections: recognizing warning signs, verifying sources, and well know cases of misinformation. He makes it a point to differentiate between misleading data, bad science, and outright lies. He also provides the reader with ways to find the original study and evaluate the science that lead to the conclusion. If we find an error in one element, we know to be more suspicious of the rest of the steps. Personally, I could have done with fewer case studies, but the information in the first half is valuable enough that I'm still eager to get this book to young readers.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.

Book review - Rebel Girls

Title: Rebel Girls
Author: Elizabeth Keenan
Genre: historical fiction
Similar books: Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu
                      Goose by Dawn O'Porter
Rating:

well intentioned with some troublesome issues

Summary (provided by publisher): When it comes to being social, Athena Graves is far more comfortable creating a mixtape playlist than she is talking to cute boys—or anyone, for that matter. Plus her staunchly feminist views and love of punk rock aren’t exactly mainstream at St. Ann’s, her conservative Catholic high school.
Then a malicious rumor starts spreading through the halls…a rumor that her popular, pretty, pro-life sister had an abortion over the summer. A rumor that has the power to not only hurt Helen, but possibly see her expelled.
Despite their wildly contrasting views, Athena, Helen, and their friends must find a way to convince the student body and the administration that it doesn’t matter what Helen did or didn’t do…even if their riot grrrl protests result in the expulsion of their entire rebel girl gang.

My opinion: I like a lot of the over-arching themes of this book. Yes, Athena and her friends are getting involved in riot grrrl culture. But this is not shown as an easy or natural development. They are constantly struggling against societal norms and their own habits. They are constantly questioning what it means to be a feminist and how they should be fighting for their rights. Keenan makes it a point to show that there is no one right way to live, that each person should be able to make their own choices rather than having things dictated by any sort of governing body. The broad strokes are excellent. I struggled with a number of the details. Those problematic plot points hung me up to the point that they detracted from my enjoyment of the book on the whole. Those failings took what could have been a great book and made it just good.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.

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.