Non-fiction book review - Normal

Normal by Magdalena and Nathaniel Newman

Medical memoirs have an obvious appeal to adult audiences. This tends to be less the case for young readers. The tie to Wonder, though, makes a significant difference in this case. Because it's one thing to read a novel and receive the author's message through the lens of a character's life. It's something else entirely to read a real person's story, to have those same lessons grounded in reality. Nathaniel's medical challenges are more the focus of this book than in the novel. Auggie's challenges were more social. We are able to see Nathaniel as a regular kid, just one with a complicated health history. While it's not an especially intense read it adds some interesting context to what can be a very intense middle grade novel. It serves as a great companion to Palacio's novel.
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Book review - The Runaway Princess

Title: The Runaway Princess
Author: Johan Troianowski
Genre: humor/graphic novel
Similar books: Sardine in Outer Space by Emmanuel Guibert
                      HIlda and the Troll by Luke Pearson
Rating:

makes some interesting choices

Summary (provided by publisher): Robin? Robin? Robin?! Where are you?
She couldn't have gone far. . . .Princesses don't run away to have their own adventures. Right? No, no, no. Princesses stay quietly and obediently at home. They would never want to see mermaids and swamps and pirates and possibly get kidnapped.
Not this princess!
Adventures awaits when Robin (bored of princess-ing all the time) embarks on the best adventure of her life—meeting friends along the way as she travels through the magical landscape of her country. But her parents aren't so pleased, and they're coming to find her and bring her back to the castle, no matter how she feels about it!

My opinion: The plot of this book starts with a simple idea - Princess Robin has run away to have an adventure - and sort of meanders its way to an ending. It is in no way a linear plot. This isn't about the story, its about the experience. We have this wild fantasy moments, magical crowd scenes, and fantastic creatures. Even more interesting, though, are the points where the reader is invited to interact with the story. Mazes, hidden pictures, word puzzles, or even just an invitation to yell. It encourages the reader to fully engage with the book. While it's not terribly complex it is appealing. And I suspect it will grow on the reader with repetition.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by publisher

Dinosaur Kit

I was pretty excited to get this color-your-own dinosaur kit for Christmas.

It came with three markers but I never even took them out of the package. Not only was I uncertain of the color choices, I feared the color would smear everywhere. Instead I used Sharpies. The result is pretty cool, I think. 

 

Book review - Saving Savannah

Title: Saving Savannah
Author: Tonya Bolden
Genre: historical fiction
Similar books: The Long Ride by Marina Budhos
                      The Ballad of Yaya by Jean-Marie Omont
Rating:

leaves you with things to consider

Summary (provided by publisher): Savannah Riddle is lucky. As a daughter of an upper class African American family in Washington D.C., she attends one of the most rigorous public schools in the nation--black or white--and has her pick among the young men in her set. But lately the structure of her society--the fancy parties, the Sunday teas, the pretentious men, and shallow young women--has started to suffocate her.
Then Savannah meets Lloyd, a young West Indian man from the working class who opens Savannah's eyes to how the other half lives. Inspired to fight for change, Savannah starts attending suffragist lectures and socialist meetings, finding herself drawn more and more to Lloyd's world.
Set against the backdrop of the press for women's rights, the Red Summer, and anarchist bombings, Saving Savannah is the story of a girl and the risks she must take to be the change in a world on the brink of dramatic transformation.

My opinion: The plot of this book is not especially complex. The central conflict - a privileged girl who expresses displeasure with her life and searches for meaning - follows an expected path. Her world is opened up, her awareness expanded, by her interactions with a domestic worker and a rough but handsome young man. Bolden attempts to add complexity with side plots - the rebellious older brother, the mother's secret history, the conflict with the best friend. The first two are little more than elements contributing to the character, not true side plots. The conflict with the friends is shallow and quickly resolved, never really explored in depth and not resolved with any true effort on either character's part. Even with those criticisms I find it worth reading. Largely because its a time and perspective that get little attention in fiction or in schools. Firstly, we have suffrage from the black perspective. There is inevitably exploration of racism but also internal to their community based on skin  tone and place of origin. And even more, there's the exploration of class divides and the ways it's inexorably entwined with race. The conclusions we're meant to draw are pretty clear so it doesn't have much value in terms of literary evaluation. The real value here is in the discussions one could have as a result, probably with an upper middle school aged group.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Graphic Novel Spotlight - Diana: Princess of the Amazons

Diana Princess of the Amazons by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale

A couple of years ago, Free Comic Book Day found me frustrated with the lack of superhero comics for young readers, prompting me to write this open letter.  Not long afterwards, DC began to prove me wrong. First with the DC Superhero girls , then Clark Kent, and now this book. And unlike some stories, this is a genuine superhero story. Sure, Diana has regular kid worries: feeling ignored, difficulty making friends, that sort of thing. But she also fights monsters. This is a solidly entertaining read. Exciting without becoming too dark for a young reader. And the characters have a reasonable degree of depth. If the big comic companies stay on this path we could be looking at a real renaissance of the superhero genre.

Non-fiction book review - The Vegetarian Cookbook

The Vegetarian Cookbook

In my opinion, too many people dismiss cookbooks aimed at children. The good ones, like this book, are just as focused on "real" foods as books aimed at adults. These recipes require peeling, slicing, and actual cooking. These recipes are good if you're just getting started cooking. They don't assume you know how to do anything. Each step is carefully explained. There's a nice glossary of cooking terms and a solid section on kitchen safety and basics. If you've always thought that going vegetarian would be too much work, involve too much fuss, this is the book that will prove you wrong.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.

Book review - Keystone

Title: Keystone
Author: Katie Delaharty
Genre: dystopia
Similar books: The Future Will Be BS-Free by Will McIntosh
                      The Hive by Barry Lyga
Rating:

a return to what we liked about dystopian fiction

Summary (provided by publisher): When Ella Karman debuts on the Social Stock Exchange, she finds out life as a high-profile "Influencer" isn't what she expected. Everyone around her is consumed by their rankings, in creating the smoke and mirrors that make them the envy of the world.
But then Ella’s best friend betrays her, her rankings tank, and she loses—everything.
Leaving her old life behind, she joins Keystone, a secret school for thieves, where students are being trained to steal everything analog and original because something—or someone—is changing history to suit their needs.
Partnered with the annoyingly hot—and utterly impossible—Garrett Alexander, who has plenty of his own secrets, Ella is forced to return to the Influencer world, while unraveling a conspiracy that began decades ago.
One wrong move and she could lose everything—again.

My opinion: After the big dystopian boom, we all got kind of burnt out on the genre and they largely disappeared from the landscape. Now they're starting to make a slow return with far more focus on quality writing and innovative ideas. The new focus, thematically, is on the negative influences of social media and complacency. How we allow ourselves to e oppressed in the name of convenience or social power. Delaharty points some blame at social media, saying that people are inclined to sell their souls in the name of influence. It's not an especially unique take though the approach has a unique spin. It takes some extreme views but uses those extremes to open our eyes to the dark sides of our own society.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley