Non-fiction book review - The Great Shark Rescue

The Great Shark Rescue by Sandra Markle

If you're looking for a solid, accessible introduction to an animal and the ecological concerns surrounding it, Markle's books a a good place to start. Through the simple story of a pair of whale sharks in danger, Markle is able to introduce the reader to a wide variety of issues: the biology of sharks; how sea creatures get classified; how commercial fishing nets work; how scientists track and study sharks; how ocean species are affected by climate change; conservation efforts; the things we still don't know about this species. Each element is introduced and explored organically. 
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Book review - Black Canary: Ignite

Title: Black Canary: Ignite
Author: Meg Cabot
Genre: super hero
Similar books: Teen Titans: Raven by Kami Garcia

                      Supergirl: Being Super by Mariko Tamaki
Rating:

a fun little adventure

Summary (provided by publisher): Thirteen-year-old Dinah Lance knows exactly what she wants, who she is, and where she's going. First, she'll win the battle of the bands with her two best friends, then she'll join the Gotham City Junior Police Academy so she can solve crimes just like her dad. Who knows, her rock-star group of friends may even save the world, but first they'll need to agree on a band name. When a mysterious figure keeps getting in the way of Dinah's goals and threatens her friends and family, she'll learn more about herself, her mother's secret past, and navigating the various power chords of life.
With expressive and energetic art by Cara McGee to match the trademark attitude and spunk of Meg Cabot's characters and dialogue, this mother-daughter story embraces the highs and lows of growing up without growing out of what makes us unique. It's an inspirational song that encourages readers to find their own special voices to sing along with Black Canary!

My opinion: Black Canary is a superhero who doesn't get enough attention. All of the attention tends to be focused on the Superman/Batman world. While Black Canary exists in the same universe (the Joker is referenced several times in this book) those characters exist on the periphery. Dinah is able to establish herself as a hero of her own merits, to explore her powers without comparing to other heroes. And her powers are unique, sonic disruption through the power of her voice. This is not a perfect book. Characters get only a minimal amount of development and the plot can be a bit scattered. Still, it's a fun introduction to a character who deserves more attntion.
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Book review - What Makes Us

Title: What Makes Us
Author: Rafi Mittlefehldt
Genre: realistic fiction
Similar books: Borderline by Allan Stratton
                      Anger is a Gift by Mark Oshiro
Rating:

lots to think about

Summary (provided by publisher): Eran Sharon knows nothing of his father except that he left when Eran was a baby. Now a senior in high school and living with his protective but tight-lipped mother, Eran is a passionate young man deeply interested in social justice and equality. When he learns that the Houston police have launched a program to increase traffic stops, Eran organizes a peaceful protest. But a heated moment at the protest goes viral, and a reporter connects the Sharon family to a tragedy fifteen years earlier — and asks if Eran is anything like his father, a supposed terrorist. Soon enough, Eran is wondering the same thing, especially when the people he’s gone to school and temple with for years start to look at him differently. Timely, powerful, and full of nuance, Rafi Mittlefehldt’s sophomore novel confronts the prejudices, fears, and strengths of family and community, striking right to the heart of what makes us who we are.

My opinion: Several years ago we saw a lot of books about the families of school shooters. Now we've moved on to the families of terrorists. While the details change the general themes remain the same: grief at war with guilt and the pressures of public perception. In this case, we have the added complication of racism and anti-semitism. Eran's anger in complicated not only by his family history but by a public pre-disposed to unfairly judging him based on his race.This is just an added complication to the question of whether anger and violence are ever justified. There are elements of generational guilt and community ties. It comes to no solid conclusions, just starts a conversation that we must all decide for ourselves.
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Graphic Novel Spotlight - The Tea Dragon Society

The Tea Dragon Society and The Tea Dragon Festival by Katie O'Neill

As you might expect from the titles, the Tea Dragon books are a gentle and artistic exploration of a society. This is a world with dragons and other mythological creatures. Some are humanoid and, in fact, interact with people on the same level. Others, primarily the tea dragons, are more like pets or farm animals. Through the course of the two books we see various aspects of the world: careers, relationships, and dangers. The dangers come into play more in The Tea Dragon Festival, where we see the wildness and violence of the world. Even so, this is a relatively minor element of the plot. It's shown more as a complexity of the world an a real plot element. The art style is soft colors without distinct outlines, making the books gentle both to read and to look at.

Non-fiction book review - Ours to Share

Ours to Share by Kari Jones

Jones covers a great deal of group living in a handful of pages. This means that this is a simple overview but that's to be expected. Anything beyond an overview of the history of community becomes pretty complicated pretty quickly. Jones walks us through different forms of early society with a special focus on shared resources. It's the modern era, of course, that gets the most focus and that changes format. In the modern era we look at the difficulties of living in communities and the problems sharing resources. This highlights a serious and complex issue in a way accessible to young kids.
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Book review - Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky

Title: Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky
Author: Kwame Mbalia
Genre: fantasy/mythology
Similar books: Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi
                      The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste
Rating:

a delightful reimagining

Summary (provided by publisher): Seventh grader Tristan Strong feels anything but strong ever since he failed to save his best friend when they were in a bus accident together. All he has left of Eddie is the journal his friend wrote stories in. Tristan is dreading the month he's going to spend on his grandparents' farm in Alabama, where he's being sent to heal from the tragedy. But on his first night there, a sticky creature shows up in his bedroom and steals Eddie's notebook. Tristan chases after it--is that a doll?--and a tug-of-war ensues between them underneath a Bottle Tree. In a last attempt to wrestle the journal out of the creature's hands, Tristan punches the tree, accidentally ripping open a chasm into the MidPass, a volatile place with a burning sea, haunted bone ships, and iron monsters that are hunting the inhabitants of this world. Tristan finds himself in the middle of a battle that has left black American folk heroes John Henry and Brer Rabbit exhausted. In order to get back home, Tristan and these new allies will need to entice the god Anansi, the Weaver, to come out of hiding and seal the hole in the sky. But bartering with the trickster Anansi always comes at a price. Can Tristan save this world before he loses more of the things he loves?

My opinion: If you're familiar with Rick Riordan, you probably know what to expect from this book. A normal kid finds himself thrown into a world of mythology. The difference with this series, of course, is that Tristan is not a demi-god. In fact, there aren't many gods in this book. These are mostly legendary figures with god-like powers. John Henry, Brer Rabbit, that sort of thing. So Tristan's tie to their world is more related to personality and internal traits than blood. He starts out as an average kid, simply dealing with big issues: grief, parental expectations, fear and anger. Mbalia is exploring not specific stories so much as the role of storytelling in culture, how it morphs overtime but still ties us to our past. With a solid cast of characters and just the right amount of complexity for a middle grade novel, I consider this one a must read.
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Book review - Under the Broken Sky

Title: Under the Broken Sky
Author: Mariko Nagai
Genre: historical fiction/verse novel
Similar books: The Taste of Rain by Monique Polak
                      The Art of Taxidermy by Sharon Kernot
Rating:

lovely insight into a little recognized perspective

Summary (provided by publisher): Twelve-year-old Natsu and her family live a quiet farm life in Manchuria, near the border of the Soviet Union. But the life they’ve known begins to unravel when her father is recruited to the Japanese army, and Natsu and her little sister, Cricket, are left orphaned and destitute.
In a desperate move to keep her sister alive, Natsu sells Cricket to a Russian family following the 1945 Soviet occupation. The journey to redemption for Natsu's broken family is rife with struggles, but Natsu is tenacious and will stop at nothing to get her little sister back.
Literary and historically insightful, this is one of the great untold stories of WWII. Much like the Newbery Honor book Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai, Mariko Nagai's Under the Broken Sky is powerful, poignant, and ultimately hopeful.

My opinion: We tend to get a lot of books about WWII, usually about persecution in Europe or resistance groups in Germany or France. Seldom to we read about other people whose lives were entirely changed by the war. We don't get regular citizens just trying to live in Germany or Japan, people who are loyal to their government. Good citizens, not committing atrocities, caught up in something larger than them. In this case we have Japanese citizens in China, children who have lived their entire lives in this occupied territory, suddenly in terrible dangers as Japan begins to lose the war. Children who are essentially on a death march. It's much like the stories we read of Jews fleeing Europe, walking through the night, sick and starving. And that's what makes it important. This is not a story about ideologies but about the general horrors of war, of being stripped of dignity and humanity. This could be used to great affect as a supplementary text.
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