Book review - Stranger on the Home Front

 

Title: Stranger on the Home Front

Author: Maya Chhabra

Genre: historical fiction

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Rating: 

 

interesting but stiff

Summary (provided by publisher): It’s 1916, and Europe is at war. Yet Margaret Singh, living an entire ocean away in California, is unaffected. Then the United States enters the war against Germany. Suddenly the entire country is up in arms against those who seem “un-American” or speak against the country’s ally, Great Britain. When Margaret’s father is arrested for his ties to the Ghadar Party, a group of Indian immigrants seeking to win India’s independence from Great Britain, Margaret’s own allegiances are called into question. But she was born in America and America itself fought to be freed from British rule. So what does it even mean to be American? 

My opinion: I'm a big fan of books that tell often overlooked parts of history. Personally, I'd heard a little about the Ghadar Party, but only a little and nothing about the plight of Indian immigrants in the US. Anything about this ignored history is worth reading at least once if only so we can be informed, understand the darker parts of our country's past. But it's not an especially deep or entertaining read. The characters are underdeveloped and the plot is only explored on a very surface level. Consider this an introduction, not a truly complex story.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.

Bookmark

I bought a planner in an effort to make myself more organized and productive this year. It has a nice little pocket and an elastic to keep it closed. The one thing it's lacking - a marker for the current week. Now, I have plenty of basic bookmarks around but who wants to stick with something basic? Instead, I used a scrap of teal cardboard left over from the frame I made a couple of weeks ago to make this astronaut dinosaur.

 

Book review - Just Our Luck

 

Title: Just Our Luck

Author: Julia Walton

Genre: realistic fiction

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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 

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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.