Book review - Nessie Quest

Title: Nessie Quest
Author: Melissa Savage
Genre: realistic fiction
Similar books: Song for a Whale by Lynne Kelly
                      Little Green Men at the Mercury Inn by Greg Leitich Smith
Rating:

a sweet story

Summary (provided by publisher): Ada Ru finally thought her parents were going to agree to a Fitzhugh family vacation in Disney World the summer before sixth grade, until her father announces he's taking a teaching position in Scotland, and moving the family there for the entire summer.
Ada Ru is anything but happy. She doesn't like their new home, she hates haggis, and she certainly doesn't like the idea that she will be away from her best friend all summer. To top it all off, there is said to be a monster in the lake near their house!
That's when she meets Hamish Bean Timmy, Hammy Bean for short, captain of the Nessie Quest Monster Chaser boat tour. He knows everything there is to know about the fabled Loch Ness Monster and Scotland. But as the two unlikely friends embark on an epic adventure to spot the lake monster, they end up discovering more than they ever could have imagined. 

My opinion: Aliens and cryptids are, invariably, a metaphor for social or personal issues. They represent a character's isolation. This book deviates from the standard by lowering the stakes. Ada doesn't really have a lot of concern here. She's spending a summer away from home. The isolation is Hammy Bean's. Ada's involvement in the plot is entirely through Hammy Bean. She isn't even directly involved in the biggest dramatic scene. This means that the reader is somewhat emotionally isolated from the plot. It's a nice exploration of friendship and how we interact with each other but not an especially deep one.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.

Weekend hodgepodge

Ever have a weekend where you can't settle on a project? I definitely had one of those this weekend. I couldn't seem to get y act together enough to focus on a big project. I did assemble a kit: a solar powered plant monitor.

And after binging The Mandalorian, I couldn't help but draw the Child. 

 

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.