Book review - Race to the Sun

Title: Race to the Sun
Author: Rebecca Roanhorse
Genre: fantasy adventure
Similar books: Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi
                      The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste
Rating:

a solidly pleasant read

Summary (provided by publisher): Lately, seventh grader Nizhoni Begay has been able to detect monsters, like that man in the fancy suit who was in the bleachers at her basketball game. Turns out he's Mr. Charles, her dad's new boss at the oil and gas company, and he's alarmingly interested in Nizhoni and her brother, Mac, their Navajo heritage, and the legend of the Hero Twins. Nizhoni knows he's a threat, but her father won't believe her. When Dad disappears the next day, leaving behind a message that says "Run!", the siblings and Nizhoni's best friend, Davery, are thrust into a rescue mission that can only be accomplished with the help of Diné Holy People, all disguised as quirky characters. Their aid will come at a price: the kids must pass a series of trials in which it seems like nature itself is out to kill them. If Nizhoni, Mac, and Davery can reach the House of the Sun, they will be outfitted with what they need to defeat the ancient monsters Mr. Charles has unleashed. But it will take more than weapons for Nizhoni to become the hero she was destined to be . . . Timeless themes such as the importance of family and respect for the land resonate in this funny, fast-paced, and exciting quest adventure set in the American Southwest. 

My opinion: At first glance, this is little more than a Percy Jackson clone. This is another writer following Riordan's formula with a different culture's mythology. It follows a standard hero journey: seeking an object that will allow them to defeat the villain, traveling with companions, confronting your personality flaws along the way. The over all plot is, thus, fairly predictable. But Roanhorse does a pretty good job of putting interesting flesh onto those standard bones. The characters have reasonable complexity. And Nizhoni's personal journey is a compelling one. As always, books like this one encourage the reader to learn more about a culture and it's mythology.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Listen with me

Now that we're nearly a month into the new year, I feel like it's time to try something new. For a couple of years now I've been listening to audio books, usually while I run. But I've never had a good place to discuss them here on the blog. That changes now.

Here's the plan: I'll post about audio books as I start listening to them. This first post will be about what drew me to the book and my thoughts going into it. Once I finish the audio, I'll post again about my opinions. Feel free to listen along with me and share your impressions as well. It should be fun!

Our inaugural audio:

 Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

I've been looking forward to this one since I watched the first episode of the Amazon series and was utterly enchanted. And I've never read a Neil Gaiman book that wasn't good, so I have high hopes for the humor and entertainment value of this book so long as it is well read.

Full disclosure: I started listening to this one on Monday so I'm about and hour and a half in as of this post.

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.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

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.