A slightly cooler mirror

 I found this mirror at the dollar store. I don't usually check a mirror at work but this guy wanted to be on my desk.

The white frame is a little boring, though. Luckily I have a decent assortment of paint. A touch of metallic red does wonders.

Book review - A Soft Place to Land

 

Title: A Soft Place to Land

Author: Janae Marks

Genre: realistic fiction

Similar books: Partly Cloudy by Tanita S Davis

                     The Dollar Kids by Jennifer Richard Jacobson

Rating:

 

a solid read

Summary (provided by publisher): Joy Taylor has always believed home is the house she lived in her entire life. But then her dad lost his job, and suddenly, home becomes a tiny apartment with thin walls, shared bedrooms, and a place for tense arguments between Mom and Dad. Hardest of all, Joy doesn’t have her music to escape through anymore. Without enough funds, her dreams of becoming a great pianist—and one day, a film score composer—have been put on hold.
A friendly new neighbor her age lets Joy in on the complex’s best-kept secret: the Hideout, a cozy refuge that only the kids know about. And it’s in this little hideaway that Joy starts exchanging secret messages with another kid in the building who also seems to be struggling, until—abruptly, they stop writing back. What if they’re in trouble?
Joy is determined to find out who this mystery writer is, fast, but between trying to raise funds for her music lessons, keeping on a brave face for her little sister, and worrying about her parents’ marriage, Joy isn’t sure how to keep her own head above water.

My opinion: The large elements of a "new kid" story tend to be fairly similar. A kid has to find their place among their peers. Often, this means a sudden group of fast friends. We can see this coming when Joy meets the kids in her building. While she forms friendships very quickly, those same friendships are broken just as easily by her own actions. And I like the messaging here: both Joy and her new friend learn lessons about what it means to be friends, the things we share and our right to keep secrets. While I feel like some of the issues are too easily resolved and the characters are underdeveloped, this is a solid read for a kid just beginning to search for meaning in their reading.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Pick 6: new in town

 Moving to a new town or a new school is a classic set-up for a youth novel, and with good reason. Finding yourself in a new situation, adjusting to new schedules and a new peer group; these are a solid framework for addressing personal and family issues. Here are six books published in the last six months that feature kids who recently moved to new town, neighborhoods, or schools as a primary character.

 6 New books with characters new to town:

1. Animal Rescue Friendsby Gina Loveless
2. What Comes Next by Rob Boyea
3. Long Distance by Whitney Gardner
4. Partly Cloudy by Tanita S Davis
5. A Soft Place to Land by Janae Marks
6. White Smoke by Tiffany D Jackson
   

Non-fiction book review - Earth is Big

 

Earth is Big by Steve Tomecek

This book is built on a solid concept. Scale can be incredibly difficult to grasp, especially for any measurement larger or smaller than we can see directly in front of us. You can tell me that something is 200 miles away, for example, but that doesn't mean that I truly grasp how far that is. And that's where this book comes in. We compare the size of earth to other planetary bodies, both smaller and larger. We do the same sorts of comparison with other measurements - distance, heat volume, etc. We learn a variety of science facts and also get the reminder that comparisons are relative and that a perspective change can influence our view.

Advanced Reader Copy provided  by NetGalley

Book review - We Can Be Heroes

 

Title: We Can Be Heroes

Author: Kyrie McCauley

Genre: realistic fiction/magical realism

Similar books: Love and Vandalism by Laurie Boyle Crompton

                      I Hope You're Listening by Tom Ryan

Rating:

 

gives us plenty to think about

Summary (provided by publisher): Beck and Vivian never could stand each other, but they always tried their best for their mutual friend, Cassie. After the town moves on from Cassie’s murder too fast, Beck and Vivian finally find common ground: vengeance.
They memorialize Cassie by secretly painting murals of her around town, a message to the world that Cassie won’t be forgotten. But Beck and Vivian are keeping secrets, like the third passenger riding in Beck’s VW bus with them—Cassie’s ghost.
When their murals catch the attention of a podcaster covering Cassie’s case, they become the catalyst for a debate that Bell Firearms can no longer ignore. With law enforcement closing in on them, Beck and Vivian hurry to give Cassie the closure she needs—by delivering justice to those responsible for her death.

My opinion: The elements at play here are not especially common in fiction: graffiti and true-crime podcasts. We have a tragedy in a town with an injustice that the town would rather ignore. So Beck and Vivian respond in a big, unavoidable way. With the addition of a podcast picking apart the stories that the people in power are insisting upon and it's a town on the verge. McCaughley is asking us to consider some big questions: gun culture and rights, community responsibility in the face of a tragedy. The heart of the story, though, is much smaller: broken and grieving girls who have things to prove or that they are desperate to escape. Girls who are angry and terrified and utterly trapped by grief. We have a ghost at play who isn't entirely necessary but it works over all.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Sock cat

I've been designing some sock puppets. When I found a brightly colored leopard print, it just begged to be a cat. 

 

Book review - Carry Me Home

 

Title: Carry Me Home

Author: Janet Fox

Genre: realistic fiction

Similar books: Isaiah Dunn is My Hero by Kelly J Baptist

                      Wrong Way Summer by Heidi Lang

Rating:

 

gives the reader plenty to think about

Summary (provided by publisher): Twelve-year-old Lulu and her younger sister, Serena, have a secret. As Daddy always says, “it’s best if we keep it to ourselves,” and so they have. But hiding your past is one thing. Hiding where you live—and that your Daddy has gone missing—is harder.
At first Lulu isn’t worried. Daddy has gone away once before and he came back. But as the days add up, with no sign of Daddy, Lulu struggles to take care of all the responsibilities they used to manage as a family.
Lulu knows that all it takes is one slip-up for their secret to come spilling out, for Lulu and Serena to be separated, and for all the good things that have been happening in school to be lost.
But family is all around us, and Lulu must learn to trust her new friends and community to save those she loves and to finally find her true home

My opinion: I appreciate seeing stories about the affects of homelessness on children. These characters make do and conceal truths when their existence is boiled down to just a few necessities. Books like this one show us how a "normal" low income family cam be thrown completely off balance and lose absolutely everything when there is no safety net. Lulu does a solid job keeping her family together projecting normalcy and protecting herself and her sister. This book carries a message of knowing your strength but also how it is okay to ask for help, to turn to even strangers who largely turn out to be good and kind. The plot is ultimately a bit overly optimistic but largely affirming.

More information: Carry Me Home releases October 1

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley