Listen with me

 

Return to Sender by Vera Brosgol

I've enjoyed Brosgol's graphic novels, so when I found she had written a regular novel about a boy with a magic mail slot I figured that would be worth a listen. Let's give it a try.

WWW Wednesday

 What are you currently reading?

Our Big Table by Lisa Voisard - A simple exploration of 150 different foods.

What did you recently finish reading?

Tig by Heather Smith - After their mother abandoned them Tig and Peter lived alone for months. Now they're in the care of their uncle and are struggling to adjust.

What do you think you'll read next?

Maeve Mulvaney Has Had Enough by Kelly Mangan

Non-fiction book review - Jellyfish Scientist

 

Jellyfish Scientist by Michelle Cusolito

I love a picture book biography as a way of introducing a figure. This is probably all going to be new information for most readers. Personally, I had never heard of Maude Delap and she's now top of my list of people to learn more about. This book does more than just tell us about the scientist, though. Through a surprisingly brief text with accessible vocabulary we learn not just about Delap but the process she used for studying jellyfish. So we get history, biology, and a breakdown of the scientific method all in one charming book.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Graphic novel spotlight - Ghost Town

 

Ghost Town by Eric Colossal

Plenty of graphic novels are just one thing - funny, exciting, heart-felt, scary. It's what we expect. With Ghost Town, though, Colossal had managed to combine all four of those elements into a single narrative in a way that feels natural and understandable. With a solid cast of characters and illustrations that convey complex emotions, this is a book that is fun to read and leaves the reader with some ideas to consider. While the plot certainly stretches the bounds of believability it never pushes the ideas too far and doesn't attempt to over-explain. While this won't be everyone's cup of tea, it's a fun experience if you're willing to give it a chance.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

WWW Wednesday

 What are you currently reading?

An Impossible Thing to Say by Arya Shah - An Iranian American teen living in Arizona navigates relationships, family, and the immediate aftermath of the attack on the World Trade Center.

What did you recently finish reading?

Rainbow Fair by Diana Ma - Sophie's school holds a Rainbow Fair, celebrating the cultural backgrounds of the students. Sophie's always been in the Chinese booth but her teacher just found out she's Muslim and students can only work one booth. 

What do you think you'll read next?

Ghost Town by Eric Colossal

Book review - The Pecan Sheller

 

Title: The Pecan Sheller

Author: Lupe Ruiz-Flores

Genre: historical fiction

Age range: upper middle grade

Similar book: Rima's Rebellion by Margarita Engle

Summary (provided by publisher): In 1930s San Antonio, thirteen-year-old Petra dreams of going to college and becoming a writer.

But with her beloved father dead, two younger siblings to care for, and with a stepmother struggling to make ends meet, Petra has to drop out of school to shell pecans at a factory. Hoping it's only temporary, she tries not to despair over the grueling work conditions. But after the unhealthy environment leads to tragedy and workers' already low wages are cut, Petra knows things need to change. She and her coworkers go on strike for higher wages and safer conditions, risking everything they have for the hope of a better future.

What I liked: There's a clear progression of Petra's relationships both with her stepmother and with her job. We see how circumstance and the impetuous nature of youth drive her towards protest and also gain a clear understanding of the reluctance and situations that keep people in and unfair environment.

What I didn't like: The narrative is a bit too sparse at times, stating plainly what could be conveyed through "showing". We are never living the situation with the characters but are always quite aware that we are reading.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Book review - A Day at the Beach

 

Title: A Day at the Beach

Author: Gary D. Schmidt and Ron Koertge

Genre: realistic fiction

Age range: middle grade

Similar book: You are Here edited by Ellen Oh

Summary (provided by publisher): Here’s what’s so cool about the beach. Kids are everywhere! Kids you know, kids you want to know. Wandering from one blanket to another, from one family to another. Somebody’s mom reads a fat summer novel. Somebody’s dad snores with an iPad on his chest. Babies cry. Girls laugh. Frisbee players whoop! Kites in the perfect blue sky.  

Some kids bodysurf. Some don’t even like the water. They build sand cities for their friends and sand jails for the grown-ups, and when the tide comes in everything gets washed away. 

There’s the other world, where all kids hear is tomorrow, next week, next year. And then there’s the beach, where everything is right now! 

Why can’t every day be a day at the beach?

What I liked: With Schmidt and Koertge behind the narrative you know you're headed for tight, carefully chosen prose and emotional depth. This book is more of a collection of connected vignettes than a regular narrative so we never follow a character for long, but each moment is well explained and has its own impact over all.

What I didn't like: Since each vignette is quite short, there are moments when we are definitely left wanting more, storylines that are woefully incomplete.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley