An ongoing project

Last month I made a miniature bookcase from a box. And a while back I made a custom cow-headed doll. And those things have been sitting on a rail in my stairwell ever since. Recently I've taken to adding new things to that rail and it's becoming a sort of doll house for the cow-doll. She now has a furry slug pet. And a horse-robot companion. And a luchador bust on a desk. I anticipate more additions to her decor as time passes.

 

Book review - Crossing the Farak River

Title: Crossing the Farak River
Author: Michelle Aung Thin
Genre: realistic fiction
Similar books: Escape from Aleppo by N. H. Senzai
                      Running on the Roof of the World by Jess Butterworth
Rating:

Summary (provided by publisher): Fourteen-year-old Hasina is forced to flee everything she knows in this gripping account of the refugee crisis in Myanmar.
For Hasina and her younger brother Araf, the constant threat of Sit Tat, the Myanmar Army, is a way of life in Rakhine province—just uttering the name is enough to send chills down their spines. As Rohingyas, they know that when they hear the wop wop wop of their helicopters there is one thing to do—run, and don’t stop. So when soldiers invade their village one night, and Hasina awakes to her aunt's fearful voice, followed by smoke, and then a scream, run is what they do.
Hasina races deep into the Rakhine forest to hide with her cousin Ghadiya and Araf. When they emerge some days later, it is to a smouldering village. Their house is standing but where is the rest of her family? With so many Rohingyas driven out, Hasina must figure out who she can trust for help and summon the courage to fight for her family amid the escalating conflict that threatens her world and her identity.
Fast-paced and accessibly written, Hasina tackles an important topic frequently in the news but little explored in fiction. It is a poignant and thought-provoking introduction for young readers to the miliatry crackdown and ongoing persecution of Rohingya people, from the perspective of a brave and resilient protagonist.

My opinion: The conflict in Myanmar is one that Americans may be vaguely aware of but likely do not truly understand. Books like this one not only help us to understand the details of the conflict but also what life is like for the people directly affected. We are given a brief snapshot of normal life for the Rohingyas before the soldiers come and tear everything apart. The remainder of the book is the daily struggle to survive, the constant fear that the efforts they've put in won't be enough, the constant threat that the soldiers will return, and the gradual realization that there is no going back to life as it had been. The text doesn't really go into the role of social media on the persecution of the Rohingya, the element that I was actually aware of, choosing instead to humanize the conflict.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Graphic Novel Spotlight - Rickety Stitch and the Gelatinous Goo

Rickety Stitch and the Gelatinous Goo series by Ben Costa and James Parks

As you might guess from the covers, this series centers on a skeleton bard and his friend, a block of goo. After they loose their jobs in a torture dungeon they set off on a quest to learn about Rickety's past and his connection to the legendary city of Epoli based on a few clues from a series of dreams and a half remembered song. The over-arching plot is a pretty standard quest. What makes these books shine is the offbeat humor and wide cast of characters. Costa and Parks find humor in both modern office settings and traditional quest elements. And what would be one-off throwaway characters in another series make repeat appearances in this series. The humor is the perfect blend of verbal and sight gags. If you're a fan of Jeff Smith's Bone, Chris Grine's Chickenhare, or Monty Python give Rickety Stitch a read.

Non-fiction book review - Something Wonderful

Something Wonderful by Matt Ritter

There are plenty of picture books that introduce youngsters to the wonder of a seed growing. Usually these books focus on something as simple as a flower. Ritter's book, on the other hand, shows us something that most adults will be forced to admit is truly amazing. Starting with the moment that the fig seed lands in the branches of another tree and sends it's roots down to the ground. We see the whole process - the fig tree growing around and through the other tree, killing it; the leaves reaching the canopy and producing blossoms; those blossoms being pollinated by wasps and forming fruits around the wasp eggs; the fruits being eaten and the seeds spread by birds to start the process all over again. Even if much of the process is what we expect, that first stage of the roots growing down to the ground is truly wonderful.

More information: Something Wonderful releases April 22.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Book review - The Green Children of Woolpit

Title: The Green Children of Woolpit
Author: J. Anderson Coats
Genre: fantasy
Similar books: Impossible by Nancy Werlin
                      Estranged by Ethan M. Aldridge
Rating:

a serious journey

Summary (provided by publisher): An eerie, spine-tingling fantasy about a young girl who discovers two otherworldly children—and an ancient bargain that threatens to destroy them all.
It is the autumn of 1160, and twelve-year-old Agnes is helping with the harvest when she hears a frightened voice calling from the nearby woods. When she goes to investigate, Agnes can’t believe what she sees. There, at the bottom of the deep wolf traps, are two children. They are shouting in a language no one understands—and their skin is bright green.
Agnes soon discovers that these are no ordinary children; in fact, they aren’t even human. They are of the Fair Folk, and they are here to take Agnes home to their world. Trusting that the Fair Folk cannot lie, Agnes agrees to venture underground. But she soon learns just how dangerous their world is—and what it will take to break the ancient bargain meant to keep her there.

My opinion: The tale of the green children has always struck me as inherently silly. Not Coats' version. This is a story that is taken entirely seriously. The beings involved here are not fairies; these are the fae. Immortal, joyless beings that have no care for humans. They make bargains and care only for their own desires. They take people as slaves, are cruel and capricious. It's more than just the cruelty of the faerie, though. It's the harshness of life in the feudal system. It's abandoned children living in a  world that looks on them with suspicion and derision. These characters are under threat from the fae, from tha lord of the land, and from their own neighbors. Sure they take care of each other but they also sell one another out for advancement. This leaves us with characters learning to find satisfaction in daily life. There is no happily ever after, only minor victories.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Pick 6: multiple perspectives

One of the best things about fiction is the way that it opens up your world to perspectives you wouldn't otherwise understand. It's even better when a single book gives you multiple perspectives at once. Here are six book published in the past six months that are presented from more than one perspective.

6 new multiple perspective narratives

1. We Used to Be Friends by Amy Spalding
2. Don't Read the Comments by Eric Smith
3. This Train is Being Held by Ismee Williams
4. Junk Magic and Guitar Dreams by T James Logan
5. The Edge of Anything by Nora Shalaway Carpenter
6.  We are the WIldcats by Siobhan Vivian

Non fiction book review - The Spirit of Springer

The Spirit of Springer by Amanda Abler

I've never been super into whales like some. They're cool and all but they never really fascinated me. Nor am  I typically entranced by the orphaned baby animal story. This one really captured me though. Not so much specifically because of Springer. To my mind the interest is in the process. How they identified first Sprinter's pod and then her individually. Who'd have know that whales have specific dialects? And then all of the challenges of returning her to her pod: health complications; assuring that she didn't get too comfortable with people; the physical transport; and the difficulty of finding a while that would take her in. Its a quick, easy to follow read that packs a lot of facts into a short number of pages.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley