Non-fiction book review - On Track

 

On Track by Tom Adams

We all know a train kid, the ones who love Thomas the Tank and live for a glimpse of a passing engine. Many grow out of it but some don't and those are the kids this book is meant for. Adams walks the reader step by step through the development of rail travel, each innovation and misstep. There is plenty of detail about the technology involved but also a lot of emphasis on social change. We're learning a great deal here about globalization and industrialization and how these changes had both positive and negative impacts on our lives. This is a great choice if you have any interest in transportation, history, or sociology. It can be read in short burst or all at once and would work well as a supplemental text for a classroom or homeschool setting.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Pick 6: humor

 If October is for all things spooky, let's shift gears and lean into the funny for November. Who doesn't love a good laugh while reading. Here's six funny novels published in the past six months.

Six new humor books:

1. The Monstrous Adventures of Mummy Man and Waffles by Steve Behling
2. An Unlikely Pair by Bob Scott
3. SCRAM by Rory Luchy
4. The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science by Kate Mckinnon
5. Bog Myrtle by Sid Sharp
6. Pizza and Taco: Best Christmas Ever by Stephen Shasken

Muff - or - How to keep your bunny with you all the time

 My hands get very cold. I wear mittens as soon as it is chilly. But when I started spinning angora fiber I had a thought that I might make an old-fashioned muff from the yarn.

Here's the yarn

I had vague ideas about knitting that muff. But when I finished my first ball of yarn I got a little bit of "good yarn anxiety" and put it away for a while. I finally got my yarn out again with a clearer plan. Instead of knitting, I decided to nalbind my muff, making the exterior with wool yarn (for sturdiness and extra warmth). The inner part is all angora and having your hands inside is like petting a rabbit constantly. I don't have directions for you because my approach to nalbinding tends more towards "vibes" than set patterns.

Book review - Every Story Ever Told

 

Title: Every Story Ever Told

Author: Ami Polonsky

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Similar books: Ruptured by Joanne Rossmassler Fritz

                      Sky Ropes by Sondra Soderborg

Rating:

Thoughtful

Summary (provided by publisher): Stevie Jane Cohen-Kaplan’s sheltered suburban life is shattered by a mass shooting at a festival in her town. In the aftermath, her brain feels broken. She can’t bear to visit her mom, recovering in the hospital under Stevie’s dad’s watchful eye, or to be pent up in her grandparents’ nearby Manhattan apartment.

To escape the apartment and her own thoughts, Stevie starts adventuring around New York City with her best friend, Avi, and a new therapy dog (in training). The trio starts chasing stories—about a neighbor’s life after the Holocaust, Stevie’s grandfathers who died of AIDS long before she was born, and even about her own mom’s activist upbringing. These stories may not bring Stevie all the way back to “normal,” but can they help her find a new version of herself?

My opinion: If Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close had been written for a child audience, the result might be something akin to this novel. It is a bit of a gut-punch read. These are capital B Big topics going on in this story - mass shooting, surviving the Holocaust, the AIDS crisis, and finding your way through PTSD. Each step of Stevie's journey is a painful one. She makes bad choices, can't explain her motivations. But we are deeply invested in her story from the beginning. A word on that beginning - the book opens before the shooting. Over the course of the first few chapters we live that shooting with her (as well as a couple of brief flashbacks). But while the events are described it is in the same fragmented way that Stevie experiences it. While there is no graphic violence there is blood and it may well be upsetting for middle grade readers. It is absolutely respectful but honest, so bear that in mind before selecting this book. 

More information: Every Story Ever Told releases October 29
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Listen with me

 

Tangleroot by Kalela Williams

Consider the set-up here - a girl forced to spend the summer at an old plantation with her high-achieving mother who is searching for details about family history. We're going to expect secrets uncovered about the slave-owning history of the town and probably some modern racism along with a confrontation between the girl and her mother. And all of that is present. There's nothing supernatural here, no ghosts haunting the place (though the early chapters certainly would have allowed for it). Ultimately, it's not even about confronting racism, exactly. Instead Williams has used a town's racist past as a method of exploring identity. Noni picks apart the history of the families that lived at Tangleroot, certainly, but she also ends up examining herself. She's asking what motivates her and the kind of person she wants to be. This is less of a thriller, though it has some big reveals and dramatic moments, and more of a piece that asks us to question behavior and attitudes. Not only is this one worth reading, it's probably worthy of a second or third pass to truly explore the ideas at play.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

WWW Wednesday

What are you currently reading?

Lonely Places by Kate Anderson - Chase's family has been living on the road for years, roaming the country in a converted school bus. They've settled for the year in a lookout tower in the middle of Pando. It should be a chance for Chase to work and earn some money, for her sister Guthrie to heal from a trauma. But strange things happen in Pando and Chase fears loosing her sister forever.

What did you recently finish reading?

Every Story Ever Told by Ami Polonsky - After a mass shooting at a street festival, Stevie feels like she's falling apart. With her best friend and her newly acquired therapy dog, she tracks down bits of her mother's history and starts putting herself together again.

What do you think you'll read next?

Let it Glow by Marissa Meyer and Joanne Levy

Book review - Giddy Barber Explodes in 11

 

Title: Giddy Barber Explodes in 11

Author: Dina Havranek

Genre: realistic fiction

Similar books: Wild Swans by Jessica Spotswood

                      Life Unaware by Cole Gibsen

Rating:

relatable

Summary (provided by publisher): Giddy Barber knows with certainty she’s going to become a mechanical engineer. What she doesn't know is the last time she smiled.

With her parents overworked and unavailable, it falls to Giddy to make sure her siblings stay on track. But she’s exhausted. When you’re the person everyone else turns to, what do you do when you hit a wall?

Giddy finds an answer online—if you can’t handle how things are going, shake them up. Is it sound advice? Unclear. But is Giddy willing to try anything? Absolutely. Putting eleven days on the clock, she’ll change her routine. But soon it becomes clear that some problems are bigger than what an online column can fix—her family is fracturing, her anxiety is mounting, and all she knows is this: Something. Has. To. Give.

My opinion: We're hearing increasing reports of teens who are stretched to the limit and struggling with stress and depression. So Giddy's situation is timely. We see a character who is not only tightly wound and over scheduled, she's desperately unhappy and has no idea what would make her happy. The advice she follows sets me a bit on edge. Not only does she pick it up from what sounds like a pretty questionable source, her method of following it is deeply flawed. So her decisions can be pretty cringe-inducing. And the tension builds steadily throughout the book. The titular explosion feels increasingly inevitable. The resolution is ultimately satisfying and addresses some of her poor decision-making. Certainly, I wouldn't recommend that any reader follow Giddy's method of fixing their life but it's a solid illustration of how desperately wrong and over-burdened teen's life can turn.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley