Crafty Christmas Countdown: 22

 I bought this reindeer a year ago, intending to give it as a gift. But after I got it home I kept looking at it, feeling like there was something wrong. It finally struck me - it has no ears. That immediately disqualified it as a gift, as far as I was concerned. I tucked it away, hoping I would come up with a use for it.

This year I came up with a plan. I felt very strongly that it needed ears to look right, so I took the back off of it and cut ear shapes. I lined the ears with some scrap knit fabric. Then I had a face that looked cute but it needed a purpose. Luckily I had some little plain tote bags hanging around that the face fit on perfectly.

 

Crafty Christmas Countdown: 23

 Our dollar store has a wide selection of these little plastic buildings . For dollar decor the general look is decent. They're just a little rough around the edges. I picked out this lighthouse for an upgrade.

 

A fresh coat of paint and a pipe cleaner wreath does a lot to improve it, I think.

Crafty Christmas Countdown: 24

December snuck up on me this year, so I'm starting my crafty countdown with an easy one this year. I bought this little Jurassic World figure at the dollar store.

While it is appealing on it's own, with a hook, paint, glitter, and fabric bits it makes an excellent ornament for my tree.

Book review - Roxy

 

Title: Roxy

Author: Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

Genre: realistic fiction

Similar books: You'd Be Home Now by Kathleen Glasgow

                      Fadeaway by E.B. Vickers

Rating:

 

well intentioned but less than ideal

Summary (provided by publisher): The freeway is coming.
It will cut the neighborhood in two. Construction has already started, pushing toward this corridor of condemned houses and cracked concrete with the momentum of the inevitable. Yet there you are, in the fifth house on the left, fighting for your life.
Ramey, I.
The victim of the bet between two manufactured gods: the seductive and lethal Roxy (Oxycontin), who is at the top of her game, and the smart, high-achieving Addison (Adderall), who is tired of being the helpful one, and longs for a more dangerous, less wholesome image. The wager—a contest to see who can bring their mark to “the Party” first—is a race to the bottom of a rave that has raged since the beginning of time. And you are only human, dazzled by the lights and music. Drawn by what the drugs offer—tempted to take that step past helpful to harmful…and the troubled places that lie beyond.
But there are two I. Rameys—Isaac, a soccer player thrown into Roxy’s orbit by a bad fall and a bad doctor and Ivy, his older sister, whose increasing frustration with her untreated ADHD leads her to renew her acquaintance with Addy.
Which one are you?

My opinion: Let's be honest: addiction narratives are inherently predictable. So anytime an author finds a unique approach it's worth a look. And Shusterman has found a unique approach in personifying the drugs. In fact, I would argue that this is not Isaac and Ivy's story. Roxy and Addy really take center stage. Thus we are empathizing with the drugs rather than the people. Ivy and Isaac are fairly underdeveloped. We also meet a wide variety of other drugs, identified primarily by nicknames, so unless you're familiar with drug culture some of them are hard to recognize. It's a unique story to be sure but I don't know what readers will take from it.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Listen with me

 

So Many Beginnings by Bethany C Morrow

Like many people, I had a brief phase where I was really into Little Women. So when an author finds a new approach to the story I get the obsession, the compulsion to revisit the plot and structure. The brilliance of the original story as that it captured a very specific set of women in a very specific time of social change. We saw the world around them shifting at the same time that they are going through personal change. It makes sense, then, to do the same with newly freed women during the Civil War. We occasionally get stories of Black folks during reconstruction, but this may be the first I've seen that captures the uncertainty of life for people during the war, the drive to establish themselves as citizens with rights and capable of running their own lives.The characters deal with every day concerns as well as large social issues. Since we know the general thrust of the plot, Morrow is able to give the characters plenty of room to develop and express themselves. A solid story and a good listen in audio form.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

 

Non-fiction book review - Shelter

 

Shelter by Lois Peterson

This is a solid informative read. It should come as no surprise that there is an agenda to the text, but it's an agenda most of us should be able to get behind. Peterson wants the reader to empathize, to view the unhoused as people rather than statistics. We explore the social and economic causes iof homelessness, presented in clear and concise ways. It's presented as more cut and dry than I suspect the reality would reflect (sociology being rather "squishy" in my mind). Even so, I feel like it properly achieves it's end - helping young readers view the unhoused as complex people deserving of understanding and dignity.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Book review - Out of My Heart

 

Title: Out of My Heart

Author: Sharon M. Draper

Genre: realistic fiction

Similar books: Real by Carol Cujec

                     Roll With It by Jamie Sumner

Rating:

 

a solid read

Summary (provided by publisher): Melody, the huge-hearted heroine of Out of My Mind, is a year older, and a year braver. And now with her Medi-talker, she feels nothing’s out of her reach, not even summer camp. There have to be camps for differently-abled kids like her, and she’s going to sleuth one out. A place where she can trek through a forest, fly on a zip line, and even ride on a horse! A place where maybe she really can finally make a real friend, make her own decisions, and even do things on her own—the dream!
By the light of flickering campfires and the power of thunderstorms, through the terror of unexpected creatures in cabins and the first sparkle of a crush, Melody’s about to discover how brave and strong she really is.

My opinion: In Out of My Mind Draper introduced us to the character of Melody. That story was all about Melody proving herself in a "normal" classroom, helping her peers see her as a thinking, capable person. In this volume, Melody is no longer an outsider. We see her instead in a world where everyone is like her. Suddenly the story is not about her having to prove her normalcy, it's her in a olrd where she is normal. The plot become about her normal concerns: making friends, facing fears, having crushes. And it's not just Melody. We have a whole cast of characters who might otherwise be outsiders who, in this context, are able to be just normal kids. This volume reinforces the messaging from the first book and takes it a step further. While I don't know that it as completely necessary, it's a pleasant read.

More information: Out of My Heart releases November 17

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley