Book review - Operation Sisterhood

 

Title: Operation Sisterhood

Author: Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich

Genre: realistic fiction

Similar books: The Swag is in the Socks by Kelly J Baptiste

                      Take Back the Block by Chrystal D Giles

Rating:

 

 a solid read

Summary (provided by publisher): Bo and her mom always had their own rhythm. But ever since they moved to Harlem, Bo’s world has fallen out of sync. She and Mum are now living with Mum’s boyfriend Bill, his daughter Sunday, the twins, Lili and Lee, the twins' parents…along with a dog, two cats, a bearded dragon, a turtle, and chickens. All in one brownstone! With so many people squished together, Bo isn’t so sure there is room for her.

My opinion: We don't get a lot of non-traditional families in books. And I don't mean simple blended families. We get those all the time. We're talking about multiple parents living in a house together and sharing responsibilities. They all take care of the kids, take turns cooking, pay the bills, all that adult stuff. So not only do we have Bo trying to figure out being a part of a larger family, we have the whole family working at being a part of the community. All of these characters are trying to find the balance between staying true to themselves yet accepted by the people around them. The conflicts are believable and the characters complex. Well worth the time.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Casual pants

 I've had these pants for a couple of years now. 

 

They're quirky and comfortable. And too big. I used to be able to roll and tuck the waistband and sort of keep them up but then the elastic wore out. I could have turned them to rags but I feel like they've got another year in them yet. Since they're much too big, they're perfect for an upgrade.

First, I cut off the elastic. It was a pretty wide band but there was enough left along the top to stitch an new, straight waistband and still be modest. I played with a lot of ideas for a new closure method and decided on a tie. I made a little loop beside each back pocket and added ties along the front. The tie feeds through the loops and then ties at the front.

Book review - Stuntboy, in the Meantime

 

Title: Stuntboy, in the Meantime

Author: Jason Jeynolds

Genre: realistic fiction

Similar books: Pugnapped! by Marty Kelley

                      Superhero Harry by Rachel Ruiz

Rating:

 

a solid combination of fantasy and reality

Summary (provided by publisher): Portico Reeves’s superpower is making sure all the other superheroes—like his parents and two best friends—stay super. And safe. Super safe. And he does this all in secret. No one in his civilian life knows he’s actually…Stuntboy!
But his regular Portico identity is pretty cool, too. He lives in the biggest house on the block, maybe in the whole city, which basically makes it a castle. His mom calls where they live an apartment building. But a building with fifty doors just in the hallways is definitely a castle. And behind those fifty doors live a bunch of different people who Stuntboy saves all the time. In fact, he’s the only reason the cat, New Name Every Day, has nine lives.
All this is swell except for Portico’s other secret, his not-so-super secret. His parents are fighting all the time. They’re trying to hide it by repeatedly telling Portico to go check on a neighbor “in the meantime.” But Portico knows “meantime” means his parents are heading into the Mean Time which means they’re about to get into it, and well, Portico’s superhero responsibility is to save them, too—as soon as he figures out how.
Only, all these secrets give Portico the worry wiggles, the frets, which his mom calls anxiety. Plus, like all superheroes, Portico has an arch-nemesis who is determined to prove that there is nothing super about Portico at all.

My opinion: When well done, a combination of the imagined superhero and real life makes for a a solid read. And Jason Reynolds produces consistently solid writing. Portico is a convincing character, coping with anxiety, bullying, and his parents' fighting without an excessive degree of self-reflection. This makes it meaningful but still accessible for a young audience. The child characters are reasonably complex while the adult characters are kept minimal, since it is not their story.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Listen with me

 

The Swallows' Flight by Hilary McKay

There's a lot going on in this book, with four major characters, but it never becomes overwhelming. It helps that the individual sections are not overly complex or carrying a strong narrative. Each chapter is really more of a vignette or snapshot of life than a scene in an ongoing story. Add in secondary and tertiary characters with charm and individuality and we have a realistic story that can almost be described as gentle, even as it talks about war, death, and destruction. It is a story of characters rather than events.

Non-fiction book review - A Saint a Day

 

A Saint a Day by Meredith Hinds

Saints are a subject I know very little about, so I can't speak to the factual accuracy of these profiles. I can tell you that each story is short and easy to understand, just a couple of paragraphs that teach the reader a moral and religious message. This book would make a nice gift for a middle grader or could work well as a part of a religious home-school curriculum.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Book review - Waking Romeo

 

Title: Waking Romeo

Author: Kathryn Barker

Genre: sci-fi

Similar books: Mirror X by Karri Thompson

                      After Eden by Helen Douglas

Rating:

 

not as exciting as I'd hoped

Summary (provided by publisher): Year: 2083. Location: London. Mission: Wake Romeo.
It’s the end of the world. Literally. Time travel is possible, but only forward. And only a handful of families choose to remain in the “now,” living off of the scraps left behind.
Among them are eighteen-year-old Juliet and the love of her life, Romeo. But things are far from rosy for Jules. Romeo lies in a coma and Jules is estranged from her friends and family, dealing with the very real fallout of their wild romance.
Then a mysterious time traveler, Ellis, impossibly arrives from the future with a mission that makes Juliet question everything she knows about life and love.
Can Jules wake Romeo—and rewrite her future?

My opinion: Barker has included some interesting elements here. The Romeo and Juliet framework turned out to be a bit of an unnecessary diversion, a complication that took up unnecessary space. More interesting is the approach to time travel. We see the destructive power of time travel. That can only be interesting for so long, though. The excessive complications of time travel and chaos in the world with constant nods to Shakespeare were a bit tiresome after a while. It's a book I'd recommend only to serious sci-fi fans.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Book review - Birdie's Billions

 

Title: Birdie's Billions

Author: Edith Cohn

Genre: realistic fiction

Similar books: Millionaires for a Month by Stacy McAnulty

                     Skateboard Sibby by Clare O'Connor

Rating:

 

a good one for group discussion

Summary (provided by publisher): For as long as eleven-year-old Birdie can remember, it's always been just her and her mom, which means there's not a lot of extra money to spend on things like new clothes and batons from the fancy gymnastics store. Still, they always find a way to make ends meet. Then Birdie makes one silly mistake that has a big consequence: Mom loses her job. Now things are more dire than ever, and Birdie knows it's up to her to fix it.
When Birdie discovers a huge stash of cash in an abandoned house, she just knows it must be the answer to their problems. But the people who left that money behind aren't willing to give it up so easily. Does “finders, keepers” count when it's half a million dollars?

My opinion: The strength in this book is definitely the moral dilemma. Cohn presents us with a believable scenario. Bridie is old enough to recognize both the precarious nature of her financial situation and the likely suspicious nature of the money she finds. She is a realistic character, likeable but not perfect. She justifies a lot of bad decisions, keeping secrets and alienating those closest to her. She lies and manipulates. Since her ultimate goal is selfless she remains likeable. She also faces consequences for all of her bad decisions. The messaging is clear enough to allow for a solid discussion with a group of young readers.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley