Book review - Thirty to Sixty Days

 

Title: Thirty to Sixty Days

Author: Alikay Wood

Genre: realistic fiction

Similar books: Farewell Tour of a Terminal Optimist by John Young

                     The Pull of Gravity by Gae Polisner

Rating:

 

entertaining and quirky

Summary (provided by publisher): Hattie Larken doesn’t know if she’s ever really been real in her life. A compulsive liar with a quick-witted response to everything, she’s willing to do whatever it takes to just skate through the rest of high school until she can graduate and escape it all: the mind-numbing monotony of this town, the guilt of everything that happened with her dad, and the debt that her mom’s dealing with that she feels responsible for.
But then Hattie finds out she’s dying. Not like in that overdramatic way that people sometimes say they’re dying. She’s literally dying. Apparently, she was exposed to a parasite because of a mistake her mom’s company made. (And no, the irony of that all is not lost on Hattie…) And she’s not the only one. Two other kids from her class also have been exposed to the parasite: Carmen, who seems to be totally perfect, with the class presidency, a loving family, and a totally beautiful girlfriend; and Albie, a quiet kid who survived childhood cancer only to deal with this, which feels like an incredibly cruel joke from the universe.
Hattie, Albie, and Carmen are told they only have thirty to sixty days to live. But instead of just sitting around a hospital and waiting to die, the three kids form an unlikely alliance to live the last days of their lives out to the fullest. Stealing and sailing a boat to Miami? Absolutely. Adopting the turtle that a random college student hands to them? Of course—they couldn’t leave Scooter to fend for himself! Sneaking into the sold-out music festival in town? You better believe it! And if Hattie just happens to find a way to raise some money for her mom through filming all their misadventures—well, she’s not going to not do that then.

My opinion: This is a construct we seem to love to explore - what people do when they know their time is limited. In this case, as in most narratives of this ilk, is a madcap road trip where the characters do things seemingly against their own natures. They take big chances, try things that they've always wanted, and get in all sorts of crazy mishaps. In this case it includes some truly odd details that are perhaps too strange if you overthink them. If you can roll with the plot as it happens it's suitably entertaining. There are certainly edifying messages to take away from it and it feels fairly tongue in cheek. So don't expect a real deep read but it is entertaining and has some reflection backing it up.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Custom flamingo

 Once upon a time I bought a lawn flamingo. It had little outfits and I was going to keep it in a house plant because the irony of keeping a lawn flamingo indoors struck me as hilarious. Then I found a cheap flamingo with wiggle eyes and it was so tacky that I had to have it. And I reasoned that two lawn flamingos (the first one had moved outside at that point) was perfectly tacky.

Fast forward several years. There are currently four flamingos in my yard and one waiting to be customized. Plus this one, which I've just finished with color shift paint. 

Book review - Maizy Chen's Last Chance

 

Title: Maizy Chen's Last Chance

Author: Lisa Yee

Genre: realistic fiction

Similar books: Hike to Home by Jess Rinker

                     Partly Cloudy by Tanita S Davis

Rating:

 

interesting without becoming intense

Summary (provided by publisher): Welcome to the Golden Palace!
Maizy has never been to Last Chance, Minnesota . . . until now. Her mom’s plan is just to stay for a couple weeks, until her grandfather gets better. But plans change, and as Maizy spends more time in Last Chance and at the Golden Palace—the restaurant that’s been in her family for generations—she makes some discoveries.For instance:
    You can tell a LOT about someone by the way they order food.
    People can surprise you. Sometimes in good ways, sometimes in disappointing ways.
    And the Golden Palace has secrets...
But the more Maizy discovers, the more questions she has. Like, why are her mom and her grandmother always fighting? Who are the people in the photographs on the office wall? And when she discovers that a beloved family treasure has gone missing—and someone has left a racist note—Maizy decides it’s time to find the answers.

My opinion: Yee has created a solid balance between Maizy's modern experience and the stories about her family's connection to Minnesota. There are thematic parallels between the two that encourage young readers to reflect and compare. It's not terribly deep, perhaps, but hits about right for a fourth or fifth grader. More importantly, the characters are realistic and well developed. We care about these characters and even secondary and tertiary characters have multiple aspects. A solid read for most any middle grade reader.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Listen with me

 

The Chaperone by M Hendrix

Going into this book I saw it as having potential to revitalize the tired teen dystopian fiction market. That was, perhaps, too much pressure to put on a single book. It didn't blow me away. Honestly, I think it over-simplifies it's conflict. A truly compelling dystopian novel relies on one of two ideas: either it's impossible to escape or the alternative is too dangerous. That's where this book fails. New America is too obviously "bad" as it strips girls of all agency. When Stella learns about the truth about Old America, it is too obviously "good". She sees only the benefits. There is no true dilemma and not enough explanation as to how New America happened or why people stayed. While the concept is strong there isn't enough nuance to the plot. I applaud Hendrix for recognizing how our current political climate could go horribly awry but I don't fully love this book.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Book review - Almost There and Almost Not

 

Title: Almost There and Almost Not

Author: Linda Urban

Genre: magical realism

Similar books: The Elephant's Girl by Celesta Rimington

                      Spirit's Key by Edith Cohn

Rating:

 

well balanced

Summary (provided by publisher): California Poppy has been dropped off, yet again, with an unsuspecting relative. This time it’s her eccentric Great-Aunt Monica, a woman she’s never even met. Aunt Monica has no idea what to do with an eleven-year-old, so she puts California to work researching their ancestor, the once-famous etiquette expert Eleanor Fontaine.
California soon discovers that Great-Great-Great Aunt Eleanor is...not exactly alive and well, but a ghost—and a super sensitive one at that. The grand dame bursts into clouds of dust whenever she loses her composure, which happens quite often. Still, an unexpected four-legged friend and some old-fashioned letter writing make this decidedly strange situation one that California can handle.
Just as California’s starting to feel like she’s found a place for herself, life turns upside-down yet again. Thankfully, this time she has some friends almost by her side...

My opinion: Urban has found the perfect balance of elements to make this a nearly gentle, sensitive read. With a largely abandoned child character encountering ghosts and living with a grief-stricken relative it could easily become maudlin and over-wrought. Instead we meet a likeable, far from perfect protagonist learning to handle her overwhelming emotions and coming to terms with the ways her father has failed her. Through her encounters with the ghost she learns about the complexities of all people and her lessons in calligraphy and etiquette help her to express herself more clearly. It may not be a thrilling book but it is a thoughtful one and may be good for discussion with young readers.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Book review - Back to the Bright Before

 

Title: Back to the Bright Before

Author: Katherin Nolte

Genre: magical realism

Similar books: Looking for True by Tricia Springstubb

                      The Midnight Children by Dan Gemeinhart

Rating:

 

I'm not fully sure about this one

Summary (provided by publisher): When eleven-year-old Pet Martin’s dad falls from a ladder on their family farm, it isn’t just his body that crashes to the ground. So does every hope her family had for the future. Money is scarce, and Pet’s mom is bone-tired from waiting tables at the local diner, and even with the extra hours, it’s not enough for a third surgery for Pet’s dad. Her five-year-old brother, Simon, now refuses to say anything except the word “cheese.” Worst of all? The ladder accident was Pet’s fault.
She’s determined to fix things—but how? Good old-fashioned grit…and maybe a little bit of magic.
When a neighbor recites a poem about an ancient coin hidden somewhere on the grounds of the local abbey, Pet forms a plan. With her brother, a borrowed chicken, and a stolen pony, Pet runs away from home. If she can find the coin, Daddy can have his surgery, Momma can stop her constant working, and Simon might speak again. But Pet isn't the only one who wants the coin…which means searching for it is more dangerous than she ever imagined.

My opinion: There are solid elements at play here. It's a quest for a treasure - a special coin that can solve all of this family's problems. We have a lurking villain and a charming, if somewhat strange, assortment of details. Nuns, taffy, a chicken, a treasure, and chainsaw carving are not things we expect to see together but Nolte makes them work. It's the quest itself that gives me some pause. Because when Pet and Simon set out on their quest they seem to leave the natural world behind. They encounter a series of increasingly odd beings that tell them stories about their parents, shedding light on their past and the influences on their current situation. The journey feels far more symbolic than literal, even in the world of the book, and that creates an emotional distance that may make it difficult for young readers to engage.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Pick 6: history

 Sometimes history can be a struggle to understand. It tends to be presented as a series of facts, disconnected from everything else. We may not recognize why it matters. And that's why I like historical fiction. A good book set in the past helps to personalize the past, to make it real and remind us that these dry events we learn in class happened to regular people. Here are six historical fiction novels published in the past six months.

Six new historical novels

1. For Lamb by Lesa Cline-Ransome
2. The Lost Year by Katherine Marsh
3. Wild Bird by Diane Zahler
4. Bea and the New Deal Horse by L M Ellis
5. A Sky Full of Song by Susan Lynn Meyer
6. When Clouds Touch Us by Thanha Lai