Non-fiction book review - Evicted

 

Evicted! by Alice Faye Duncan

When we learn about the Civil Rights Movement, we learn some about voting restrictions and the challenges to getting the right to vote protected for all citizens. This part of history is often glossed over, getting brief mention, as the bulk of our education focuses on sit-ins and bus boycotts. I personally never learned about the Fayette County Tent City Movement. This book is an excellent way to learn about it. We are presented with a wide variety of important figures, their backgrounds and individual motivations for being involved. Some sections are presented as more straightforward narratives, others as poetry. It's all lyrical and sparse, the word choice careful and intentional to create the most impact without embellishment. An excellent addition to any history collection.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Book review - For Lamb

 

Title: For Lamb

Author: Lesa Cline-Ransome

Genre: historical fiction

Similar books: Mirror Girls by Kelly McWilliams

                      The Invincible Summer of Juniper Jones by Daven McQueen

Rating:

 

solid characters

Summary (provided by publisher): For Lamb follows a family striving to better their lives in the late 1930s Jackson, Mississippi. Lamb’s mother is a hard-working, creative seamstress who cannot reveal she is a lesbian. Lamb’s brother has a brilliant mind and has even earned a college scholarship for a black college up north-- if only he could curb his impulsiveness and rebellious nature.
Lamb herself is a quiet and studious girl. She is also naive.  As she tentatively accepts the friendly overtures of a white girl who loans her a book she loves, she sets a off a calamitous series of events that pulls in her mother, charming hustler uncle, estranged father, and brother, and ends in a lynching.

My opinion: There is no question from the beginning how this book is going to end. So this is not a book driven by action. It is reflective. We cycle through characters in turn, learning about their pasts and their motivations. We come to understand why they interact with others the way that they do, why they can be harsh, cruel, selfish, or spineless. As we come to understand them more we also come to understand why the ending is inevitable. We can see it on the horizon a couple of chapters ahead and yet the character development is interesting enough to keep us engaged. It's an upsetting read but one worth making your way through.

More information: For Lamb releases January 10.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Nalbinding

 The first craft I have to share with you this year doesn't look like much. In fact, it isn't much. 

I'm learning nalbinding and this is the first time I successfully completed joining without getting the whole thing twisted (I'm very good at nalbinding mobius strips). It's still not very good, uneven and chaotic. But my goal this year is to cut myself a little slack, to stop expecting perfection right away. So I'm celebrating this little loop of yarn. And I invite you to do the same. Celebrate your small victories.

Book review - They're Watching You

 

Title: They're Watching You

Author: Chelsea Ichaso

Genre: thriller/mystery

Similar books: Sanctuary Bay by Laura J Burns

                     Poor Little Dead Girls by Lizzie Friend

Rating:

 

maybe too much of a stretch

Summary (provided by publisher): It's been two weeks since Polly St. James went missing. The police, the headmistress of Torrey-Wells Academy, and even her parents have ruled her a runaway. But not Maren, her best friend and roommate. She knows Polly had a secret that she was about to share with Maren before she disappeared— something to do with the elite, ultra-rich crowd at Torrey-Wells.
Then Maren finds an envelope hidden among Polly's things: an invitation to the Gamemaster's Society. Do not tell anyone, it says. Maren is certain her classmates in the Society know the truth about what happened to Polly, though it's no easy feat to join. Once Maren's made it through the treacherous initiation, she discovers a world she never knew existed within her school, where Society members compete in high-stakes games for unheard-of rewards—Ivy League connections, privileges, favors.
But Maren's been drawn into a different game: for every win, she'll receive a clue about Polly. And as Maren keeps winning, she begins to see just how powerful the Society's game is—bigger and deadlier than she ever imagined. They see, they know, they control. And they kill.

My opinion: A book about a secret society is already asking you to willingly suspend your disbelief. So it has to create a believable, compelling scenario. I though that was going to be the case here. I actually really love the idea of this society structuring around games. Not games of chance, but those of skill, of planning your moves twelve steps ahead and using information to your best advantage. It's a solid concept. Unfortunately the details are for more to the extreme. And the characters are not compelling and believable enough to drive the plot and keep us engaged. The result is a story that tries too hard and suffers as a result.

More information: They're Watching You releases January 3.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Listen with me

 

The Lost Year by Katherine Marsh

What better way to roll into the new year than with a heavy tale about a kid living through the COVID pandemic learning about the Ukranian famine of the 1930's? In all seriousness, this sounds like a fascinating tale about a very seldom mentioned part of history that I am genuinely looking forward to hearing. 

Non-fiction book review - Meet the National Animals

 

Meet the National Animals by Catherine Veitch

I don't know about anyone else, but I had never really thought much about what animals might be the symbol for other nations, so This was a fun exploration. Some will come as little surprise  - the kiwi for New Zealand, the panda for China, the Lemur for Madagascar - but others required a bit of explanation. And we do get that. Each page gives us a few facts about the animal and a sentence or two about why they are the symbol for that nation. With a simple vocabulary and cartoon style illustrations even a young child will enjoy this book in small doses.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.

Book review - Ode to a Nobody

 

Title: Ode to a Nobody

Author: Caroline Brooks DuBois

Genre: realistic fiction/verse novel

Similar books:The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

                     Rhyme Schemer by K A Holt

Rating:

 

solid

Summary (provided by publisher): Before the storm, thirteen-year-old Quinn was happy flying under the radar. She was average. Unremarkable. Always looking for an escape from her house, where her bickering parents fawned over her genius big brother.
     Inside our broken home / we didn’t know how broken / the world outside was.
But after the storm, Quinn can’t seem to go back to average. Her friends weren't affected by the tornado in the same way. To them, the storm left behind a playground of abandoned houses and distracted adults. As Quinn struggles to find stability in the tornado’s aftermath, she must choose: between homes, friendships, and versions of herself.
       Nothing that was mine / yesterday is mine today.

My opinion: DuBois has created an interesting combination of elements here. You might not think that a natural disaster story would be well conveyed by the verse novel format but since the tornado functions largely as a catalyst for addressing relationship issues, for forcing Quinn to come to terms with her own opinions and strengths, it words surprisingly well. As with any verse novel, our relationship with and understanding of the characters is limited. But this is a strong example of the genre.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley