Book review - Just Our Luck

 

Title: Just Our Luck

Author: Julia Walton

Genre: realistic fiction

Similar books: Paper Towns by John Green

                     Fat Boy vs the Cheerleaders by Geoff Herbach

Rating: 

 

surprisingly pleasant

Summary (provided by publisher): "Bad luck follows lies." That was the first rule for life that Leo's Greek grandmother, Yia Yia, gave him before she died. But Leo's anxiety just caused a fight at school, and though he didn't lie, he wasn't exactly honest about how it all went down--how he went down. Now Leo's father thinks a self-defense class is exactly what his son needs to "man up."
"Leave the Paros family alone." That was Yia Yia's second rule for life. But who does Leo see sitting at the front desk of the local gym? Evey Paros, whose family supposedly cursed Leo's with bad luck. Seeing that Leo is desperate to enroll in anything but self-defense class, Evey cuts him a deal: she'll secretly enroll him in hot yoga instead--for a price. But what could the brilliant, ruthless, forbidden Evey Paros want from Leo?

My opinion: The first thing I like about this book is Leo. He's not traditionally "masculine." He doesn't like sports or fighting. He knits and crochets to cope with his anxiety. And when he does get in a fight, the jock who punches him ends up his friend. Their conflict comes more from a mutual lack of understanding than any judgment or true bullying. They can be friends and have different interests. They can find each other frustrating or mildly annoying but still likeable. And that relationship with the jock parallels Leo's relationship with his father. Sure they are different but neither one makes much of an effort to find common ground. They make assumptions about each other rather than attempting to communicate. These side relationships are, to me, more compelling than the main plot of Leo and Evey and their revenge plot, which has a couple of hard to believe turns. Still, this is an entertaining read with some heart.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Listen with me

 

The June Boys by Court Stevens

The key difference between a mystery and a thriller: what we the readers know. Because the identity of the kidnapper is as much a question mark to us as it is to Thea, this book is firmly in the mystery category. Now, a good mystery should present us with an assortment of reasonable suspects. We should be constantly changing our minds about the criminal's identity. Personally, I had a guess pretty early on that didn't waver much and I was close to right. Honestly, the weakest part of this book was the supposed motivations for the various suspects. It does have it's strong points. Consider the investigation. Thea and Nick aren't succeeding where the police fail. We see the police and the FBI actively investigating at every turn. It's just that Thea and her friends are obsessing over details and find themselves privy to information that the authorities do not have. They only keep things to themselves until they are able to confirm it, and then they hand it over. Yes they are investigating but the ultimate responsibility always belongs to the authorities. That makes this plot less one of chasing after criminals and more of discovering secrets and questioning what you know about the people closest to you. This makes it more contemplative than the standard mystery. Stevens asks us to reflect upon the difference between fact and truth, between what we know and what we believe. This is compelling enough to keep us reading and leaves us with ideas to chew on after the fact.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Non-fiction book review - Race Against Time

 

Race Against Time by Sandra Neil Wallace and Rich Wallace

I had some knowledge of the Elaine Massacre, but only because I listen to podcasts. It's certainly not something that was ever addressed in my history classes. The facts of the case are laid out in this text in a clear and concise manner. We learn about the initial incident, the arrests, and the years long fight to see justice done. Obviously, we get a fair amount of information about Scipio Jones, more about him than an of the victims. The most interesting part to me was the compromises. The results of the legal battles were far from ideal but Jones knew he had to accept these compromises to keep the men alive. There's no satisfaction in reading this book, no sense that good was done. But that's as important as a story of triumph. We need to learn about failures to help prevent their repetition. 

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Book review - Benny Feldman's All-Star Klezmer Band

 

Title: Benny Feldman's All-Star Klezmer Band

Author: Allison & Wayne Marks

Genre: realistic fiction 

Similar books:  My Year of Epic Rock by Andrea Pyros

                       I am Drums by Mike Grosso

Rating: 

 

a unique perspective to a predictable plot

Summary (provided by publisher): Eleven-year-old Benny Feldman spends his days at Sieberling School obeying his number-one rule for surviving sixth grade: blend into the background.
So when he signs up his klezmer band to play in the school talent show, his classmates are shocked. Teased by guitar superstar and former friend Jason Conroy, Benny vows to win the trophy and erase the embarrassing nickname that has haunted him since his disastrous debut performance in an first-grade Sabbath play.
But, there is a problem. Benny Feldman's All-Star Klezmer Band is only a figment of Benny's imagination. He loves the traditional klezmer music of Eastern Europe, but how is he going to find other players to join him?
With the show a few months away, Benny, an accomplished fiddler, embarks on a quest to assemble a band that will beat Jason's rock group at the talent show. His search takes him to an arcade convention, a potato chip factory, an oddities shop, and a storage room stacked with cans of creamed corn and succotash. Along the way he meets Jennifer, a jazz-loving drummer; Royce, a bow-tie-wearing clarinet prodigy; and Stuart, a braggart accordion player from Cajun Country. He also learns a great deal about the joys and sorrows that lie at the heart of klezmer and discovers that being different can be wonderful.
Eventually, the ragtag and renamed "Klez Misfits" mount the stage and the tension-filled climax will have young readers wondering until the end if Benny and his band can pull off a miracle.
This fun and feel-good story shows how friends, family, history and culture can all build confidence. Benny learns to believe in himself and has fun and finds love along the way.

My opinion: I enjoyed this one more than I expected. It addresses a couple of things that are often overlooked in fiction. Most often, when religion comes up in a book it involves the characters telling us how their family is religious in name or culture only. While we don't get details of Benny's family's belief system, we do get the sense that Judaism is a significant part of their lives, an inbuilt part of their reality. And we're seeing how that influences their every day life, not just surrounding bar mitzvah prep (the typical usage in fiction). Even more, we see how religion and music and culture are all twined together in Benny's life and in his family history. And let's talk about the music. Not a rock band. Not a country band. But music as it is wrapped into a culture. As Benny explains klezmer music to other musicians, he sees the parallels to other musical traditions. Now, I will say that the writing is a bit stiff and some of the plot elements a bit fantastic. It may have benefited from a little more nuance. Overall, though, I call this one a net positive.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.

Custom flamingo

 I have something of a fondness for lawn flamingos, especially if they are unusual in some way. I have one that I usually keep in my yard that has wiggle eyes. But I wanted something a little more unique. So I bought a plain flamingo at the dollar store.

And then spruced it up with some multi-surface acrylic paint.

Listen with me

 

The June Boys by Court Stevens

What better way to travel into the new year than by listening to a thriller while running? With missing kids, family secrets, and complex plots this one promises to be a compelling listen.

Non-fiction book review - The ABCs of Black History

 

The ABCs of Black History by Rio Cortez

The reader will not be surprised to discover that this is far from a typical alphabet book. Really, Cortez is using the alphabet as a framework to introduce a wide variety of topics related to Black History and culture. Sometimes this is famous figures (Langston Hughes or Malcolm X). Some letters are represented by important events. More intriguing are the letters represented by concepts, things that can be hard to explain but which Cortez handles masterfully. I mean, I've never seen a picture book that uses the word "diaspora" before. Each letter gets just a few rhyming lines in the main text but is explained in more depth in the final pages of notes. The content is appropriate for young children but doesn't sugarcoat reality. This would be a great framework for a Black History Month curriculum, using each letter's concept as a focus for study.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley