Book review - Part of Your Nightmare

Title: Part of Your NIghtmare
Author: Vera Strange
Genre: horror
Similar books: Curse of the Dead-Eyed Doll by Thomas Kingsley-Troupe
                      The Fearsome Foursome by Amicus Arcane
Rating:

pass

Summary (provided by publisher): Eleven-year-old Shelly Anderson just wants to be popular. Her parents have split and she has to start over at a new school with different classes, a brand new swim team and an unfamiliar social scene. So what if she just wants the cool kids to like her? Is that really too much to ask? So when Shelly finds a mysterious nautilus shell that summons the infamous sea witch, Ursula, she jumps at her chance to make a deal that will solidify her as one of the coolest girls in school. But when Shelly's wish quickly goes belly-up, she must figure out how to back out of the witch's deal before it forever binds her fate.
Grab your night-light, dear reader, and prepare to be CHILL-ed!

My opinion: Let's be frank: I found this a failure across the board. It fails to create  complex characters, a frightening atmosphere, or a compelling plot. Shelly is a middle grade trope: a girl trying to be popular and willing to abandon all of her interests and beliefs to achieve that end. This might work if she were at all conflicted with her decisions. But she's not. She throws it all away without a thought. And the secondary and tertiary characters are no better. They have no depth, no complexity, no reality. There is no real tension in the progression of the plot, no threat that puts us on edge, no shivers or eeriness. The plot follows a predictable pattern up until the final chapters, each element telegraphed well in advance. This makes the ending that much harder to accept. It doesn't really resolve the plot. It just ends. If you're looking for a kid friendly scare, I'd look elsewhere.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Pick 6: Sci-fi

There are many levels of science fiction, from mostly realistic with some mild sci-fi elements to tales entirely set in a fictional world. While my personal tastes lean more towards the former, I try to read novels that fit all over the spectrum. Luckily, there are some really good sci-fi novels being written for young people these days. Here are six sci-fi novels, from beginning readers to teen novels with a special emphasis on graphic novels, written in the last six months.

6 new sci-fi novels:

1. Subject A36 by Teri Polen
2. Samurai 8 by Masashi Kashimoto
3. Alien Nate by Dave Whamand
4. GenPet by Damion Campanario
5. Once Upon a Space-Time by Jeffrey Brown
6. Nowhere on Earth by Nick Lake

Non-fiction book review - Into the Streets

Into the Streets by Marke Bieschke

It's important to get a full understanding our our nation's history, both it's triumphs and it's failings. And a history of protest is going to inherently contain both elements. Why else do people protest than because they have been failed in some fundamental way? Bieschke starts at the nation's formation gives us an overview of times that people have turned to public protest to regain rights that have been denied them. This includes movements with which we are familiar (the Boston Tea Party, Suffrage March, Bus Boycotts, the Grape Strike) and some that are likely to be foreign (the Stonewall Riots, the Miss America Protest, the Occupation of Alcatraz). The reasons they protested were varied, as were the results of their action. And importantly, the protests highlighted include some we might consider "bad", like Klan rallies, highlighting the importance of rights for everyone, regardless of the unpopularity of their opinions. Highly readable, this is an excellent addition to resources for young people needing to understand their rights.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.

Book review - The Dream Weaver

Title: The Dream Weaver
Author: Reina Luz Alegre
Genre: realistic fiction
Similar books: In Your Shoes by Donna Gephart
                      The Dollar Kids by Jennifer Richard Jacobson
Rating:

simple but decent

Summary (provided by publisher): Zoey comes from a family of dreamers. From start-up companies to selling motorcycles, her dad is constantly chasing jobs that never seem to work out. As for Zoey, she’s willing to go along with whatever grand plans her dad dreams up—even if it means never staying in one place long enough to make real friends. Her family being together is all that matters to her.
So Zoey’s world is turned upside down when Dad announces that he’s heading to a new job in New York City without her. Instead, Zoey and her older brother, José, will stay with their Poppy at the Jersey Shore. At first, Zoey feels as lost and alone as she did after her mami died. But soon she’s distracted by an even bigger problem: the bowling alley that Poppy has owned for decades is in danger of closing!
After befriending a group of kids practicing for a summer bowling tournament, Zoey hatches a grand plan of her own to save the bowling alley. It seems like she’s found the perfect way to weave everyone’s dreams together...until unexpected events turn Zoey’s plan into one giant nightmare. Now, with her new friends counting on her and her family’s happiness hanging in the balance, Zoey will have to decide what her dream is—and how hard she’s willing to fight for it. 

My opinion: We are seeing an increasing number of books about biracial kids trying to figure out their place in the world, how they fit into two cultures and feel isolated from both, torn between the two sides of their family. Alegre adds to the conflict by showing us the extended family, the father brother and grandfather, at odds with one another. We have not only culture clash but ideological conflict and years of resentment. That alone is interesting. Then we add in peers and their interactions. Bullies, class divide, and social pressure. All of that together could easily have been too much, but Alegre keeps it in check. Mostly side issues are introduced in small moments and resolved within a few chapters. Characters clash over an issue and hash it out just a few scenes later. None of these side plots carry on very long. The final resolution is a bit rough, the conflict underdeveloped. So there are flaws, but its readable and enjoyable.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Book review - It's Girls Like You, Mickey

Title: It's Girls Like You, Mickey
Author: Patti Kim
Genre: realistic fiction
Similar books: Front Desk by Kelly Yang
                      The Secret Life of Lincoln Jones by Wendelin Van Draanen

Rating:

a couple of great characters

Summary (provided by publisher): For the first time in her confident, bold life, Mickey McDonald is nervous about starting school. Her best friend, Ok, has moved away; her father has probably left town for good; and she can’t afford to go back-to-school shopping. But she’s going to make the most of things because that’s the kind of person Mickey is. Nothing’s going to stand in her way or get her down.
Still, the first few days of school are rough, until she becomes friends with Sun Joo, who has just moved to town. Their connection is instant and strong. But things get complicated when Sydney, the popular (and mean) girl in Mickey’s class, also takes a shine to Sun Joo. Suddenly Mickey is facing her first ever friend breakup, and it’s getting harder and harder to keep her chin up. Luckily, Mickey’s made of tough stuff. 

My opinion: I was a couple of chapters into this book before I began to realize that it was a sequel. There are moments of recaps, quick overviews of the events of the previous book, but for the most part the events of this novel stand on their own. Mickey is a fantastic protagonist. She's self-assured and outspoken. She wants to be liked, to have friends, but she won't change to make that happen. She's mostly cheerful, a positive person. But that doesn't mean that she doesn't get overwhelmed by life at times. She makes mistakes and snaps at the people in her life. She lets disappointments drag her down. She's nosy and bossy and talks too much. And I like that Sun Joo calls her out. In spite of being a more reserved person, she pushes back when Mickey goes too far. We get this message that even when we mean well, it's more important to listen than to push for "what's best". Some of the book is a bit underdeveloped, a bit reliant upon random happenstance. Even so, it's charming and entertaining.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Graphic novel spotlight - Bolivar

Bolivar by Sean Rubin

Bolivar is the graphic novel for kids growing out of Imogene's Antlers or What the Mailman Brought. It takes a very strange occurrence - a dinosaur living in New York City - and makes it very commonplace. The bulk of the plot is Sybil either trying to see her neighbor or prove to others that he is a dinosaur. The adults in the neighborhood interact with Bolivar regularly but are so caught up in their own concerns that they cannot see that he isn't human. Or if they do notice something odd about him assume they can't possibly be right. This is actually a pretty high level concept for such a simple story since most of the plot is predicated on self absorption and willful ignorance. In the end, the plot doesn't even matter (though it's definitely worth reading). The illustrations are amazing. They are full of super fine details. It's a book you can enjoy simply leafing through.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Non-fiction book review - Throw Like a Girl, Cheer Like a Boy

Throw Like a Girl, Cheer Like a Boy by Robyn Ryle

I make no secret of my general disinterest in sports. What does interest me, I'm realizing, is sociology. That means that I found this book fascinating. It looks at what sports can tell us about roles in society: gender, race, class, and identity. We look at how those roles and how the public's view of various sports have changed over time. As minorities began to achieve, to threaten the superiority of the majority, efforts to hold them back become common place. It's a lot of information, a lot of individual examples, and can be a little dense but I found it compelling enough to drive me to keep reading. Additionally, it's well documented and reliably sourced. There's a clear agenda and bias in the presentation but it's so well researched that it's hard to argue with.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.