Book review - Bump

 

Title: Bump

Author: Matt Wallace

Genre: realistic fiction

Similar books: Chirp by Kate Messner

                      Sidetracked by Diana Harmon Asher

Rating:

 

a surprising read

 

Summary (provided by publisher): MJ knows what it means to hurt. Bruises from gymnastics heal, but big hurts—like her dad not being around anymore—don’t go away. Now her mom needs to work two jobs, and MJ doesn’t have friends at school to lean on.
There is only one thing MJ loves: the world of professional wrestling. She especially idolizes the luchadores and the stories they tell in the ring. When MJ learns that her neighbor, Mr. Arellano, runs a wrestling school, she has a new mission in life: join the school, train hard, and become a wrestler.
But trouble lies ahead. After wrestling in a showcase event, MJ attracts the attention of Mr. Arellano’s enemy at the State Athletic Commission. There are threats to shut the school down, putting MJ’s new home—and the community that welcomed her—at risk. What can MJ do to save her new family?

My opinion: I never would have expected to enjoy a book about wrestling as much as I enjoyed this one. I never really watched wrestling so I expected that I would feel lost by the terminology, or just by the focus on the sport. But Wallace does an excellent job of integrating definitions naturally into the plot via MJ's introduction to various skills. This book celebrates how a wrestler's individual skills and showmanship works towards the overall benefit of the school. The plot of the Athletic Commission trying to shut down the school serves to ratchet up the tension but bay not have been entirely necessary and makes extreme. Personally, I have liked a bit more about luchadores and their relationship to American wrestling. Even so, its a highly entertaining read.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Listen with me

 

The Quantum Weirdness of the Almost-Kiss by Amy Noelle Parks

I love that the math/science elements of this book are more than just a gimmick. It's not just that it is set at an academy or that Evie is "really into math". It's a vital part of the plot. It forms the lens through which Evie views the world. Also, there are some frank discussions about privilege and prejudice. How much harder it will be for Evie to get taken seriously because she's a girl. How she has to consider things that Caleb never even thinks about. And yet, her own place of privilege based on her private school education and whiteness. And I liked the view of relationships. Sure, we all know from the start that Evie and Caleb will end up together. But that doesn't invalidate their other relationships. They can like different people in different ways.

There were elements I didn't like as well, most of them involving Bex. To be clear, I liked the character. I like the way she supports and challenges the main characters. She presents her own concerns and biases. But she's also largely there to prompt discussions about religion and femininity. The religious discussions are fairly elementary, not what we would expect of advanced students. I do appreciate that Bex is both a woman of science and a religious person, a combination generally not present in books. But her conversations about beauty and femininity bothered me. She won't let Evie wear bland clothes when presenting. She has to look "amazing", like she has some obligation to natural beauty, like she has an obligation to play up her feminine characteristics.

Overall, I feel like the positives outweigh the negatives but I also would want to discuss them with teen readers, to encourage them to read those scenes critically and consider the messages they convey. 

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Non-fiction book review - Unspeakable

 

Unspeakable by Carole Boston Weatherford

The first thing I feel the need to point about this book is that it refers to the event correctly. Other things I've read or heard about this call it the "Tulsa Race Riot". And Weatherford correctly identifies it as a massacre. The information ire relayed in a gentle, measure way. Each new element starts with "once upon a time" and then tells us a little information that influences what happened. Thus we learn about the population of the region; how Greenwood became segregated and the Black population became successful and the growing financial disparity between the two groups. We learn about systemic racism and the outbreak of horrific violence ruled by anger and jealousy. This story of cruelty and destruction is told in as gentle and sensitive a way possible and doesn't stop with the massacre. We're told how the event was covered up, only recently fully acknowledged and reconciled by the public. The illustrations are stylized but detailed and capture the feel of the era. And while the text doesn't go into much detail, there is a more involved author's note that give a fair amount of information. An absolute must have for a Black History collection. 

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Book review - Take Back the Block

 

Title: Take Back the Block

Author: Chrystal D Giles

Genre: realistic fiction

Similar books: That Girl Lucy Moon by Amy Timberlake

                      Pieces of Why by K. L. Going

Rating:

 

good for societal awareness

 

Summary (provided by publisher: Brand-new kicks, ripped denim shorts, Supreme tee--
Wes Henderson has the best style in sixth grade. That--and hanging out with his crew (his best friends since little-kid days) and playing video games--is what he wants to be thinking about at the start of the school year, not the protests his parents are always dragging him to.
But when a real estate developer makes an offer to buy Kensington Oaks, the neighborhood Wes has lived his whole life, everything changes. The grownups are supposed to have all the answers, but all they're doing is arguing. Even Wes's best friends are fighting. And some of them may be moving. Wes isn't about to give up the only home he's ever known. Wes has always been good at puzzles, and he knows there has to be a missing piece that will solve this puzzle and save the Oaks. But can he find it . . . before it's too late?

My opinion: Not enough books address gentrification at all, much less explain what it is in a way easily understood by a middle grade audience. Wes is a character whose parents want him to be socially aware and responsible. They want him to care about what's going on in the world. Like most kids, Wes doesn't see the point. Like most of us, he only really starts to care when things directly affect him. When he sees how gentrification affects his neighborhood he begins to understand the point of protesting. He see how a person can make a difference, how trying even when an action is futile says something to those in charge. Giles takes the exploration a step further by introducing us to two ends of the spectrum: a character whose family is benefiting from upward mobility but now faces increased social pressure and one whose world is falling apart, who faces bullying and violence at every turn. While the resolution rests on a few convenient turns, the ideas are worth discussing and the book on the whole is pleasant to read.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Cards

 Greeting cards are a great way to experiment with drawing techniques on the small scale. Here are three I drew this weekend.

Book review - Magic's Most Wanted

 

Title: Magic's Most Wanted

Author: Tyler Whitesides

Genre: fantasy

Similar books: Guardians of the Gryphon's Claw by Todd Calgi Gallicano

                      Eva Evergreen, Semi-Magical Witch by Julie Abe

Rating:

 

well-plotted

Summary (provided by publisher): For Mason Mortimer Morrison, life isn’t so magical.
His dad was just sent to jail, his grades have been plummeting from meh to yikes, and, oh yeah, two officers from some organization called Magix just showed up to arrest him in the middle of fourth period.
Talk about bad luck.
Mason knows he’s innocent. But in order to clear his name, he’s going to need the help of a plucky Magix junior detective and a cantankerous talking bunny—and a little bit of magic.

My opinion: When a plot centers on magic, I feel very strongly that said magic needs to follow clear rules. If it has no bounds, then anything can happen and there are no real stakes for the characters. In the case of this book, a particular magical object can do just about anything but is limited to a single ability. And Whitesides never deviates from this rule, only takes advantage of built-in loopholes. Magic aside, this is a pretty standard adventure quest. We have a mismatched team thrown together by circumstance, working together for a single aim. There's a vast conspiracy years in the making. Basically, exactly what you would expect. It's pretty entertaining, though lacking in depth.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Graphic Novel Spotlight - How to Treat Magical Beasts

 

How to Treat Magical Beasts by Kaziya

I read a fair amount of graphic novels, but there's always been a hole in my understanding of manga. I've struggled to find a series that speaks to me. But I've held firm in my belief that there is a book in every genre for every reader. And at last that belief has paid off. How To Treat Magical Beasts is the perfect series for me and I suspect for a lot of other readers as well. It takes place in a world where magic is slowly being replaced by technology. This is a theory of magic that I enjoy speculating over, that science causes a slow magical extinction. Ziska and her master are finding a way to use the two ideas together. With her magic weakened, Ziska must also apply concepts she has learned from science to treat wounded magical creatures. At the same time, her master is open to learning from her magical cures and applying some of her ideas to medicine. I love the idea that the two ideas can work together instead of canceling each other out. With expressive illustrations that pay attention to detail, this series is both fascinating to read and absorbing to look at.