Title: Definitions of Indefinable Things
Author: Whitney Taylor
Genre: realistic fiction
Similar books: Life Unaware by Cole Gibsen
When We Collided by Emery Lord
Rating:
 |
| it grew on me |
Summary (provided by publisher): Reggie isn’t really a romantic: she’s been hurt too often, and doesn’t let people in as a rule. Plus, when you’re dealing with the Three Stages of Depression, it’s hard to feel warm and fuzzy. When Reggie meets Snake, though, he doesn’t give her much of a choice. Snake has a neck tattoo, a Twizzler habit, and a fair share of arrogance, but he’s funny, charming, and interested in Reggie. Snake also has an ex-girlfriend who's seven months pregnant. Good thing Reggie isn’t a romantic. Definitions of Indefinable Things follows three teens as they struggle to comprehend love, friendship, and depression—and realize one definition doesn’t always cover it.
My opinion: It's a risky move, making your protagonist aggressively abrasive. Reggie goes out of her way to make herself unlikable. It is to Taylor's credit, then, that Reggie is ultimately a likeable characters. Even before we witness her vulnerabilities there is something charming about the way she calls out people about their failings, doesn't let anyone get away with anything I also admire the presentation of mental illness here. We are presented with two clinically depressed teens. They are medicated. They don't get "fixed" or reject conventional treatment. They are miserable, just tying to find a away to hold on to a slightly less miserable existence. They don't aim for "normal", just functional. While the secondary characters lack much depth, it's a relatively enjoyable read.
More Information: Definitions of Indefinable Things releases April 4.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.
I'm
always interested to see how novels treat sensitive topics. They explore
an issue like grief from a number of perspectives. Here are six novels
written in the last six months that have grief as a central issue.
6 new novels about grief
1. We are Still Tornadoes by Michael Kun and Susan Mullen
2. The Odds of Loving Grover Cleveland by Rebekah Crane
3. The Warden's Daughter by Jerry Spinelli
4. The Sky between You and Me by Catherine Alene
5. A Tragic Kind of Wonderful by Eric Lindstrom
6. Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner
Title: Duels and Deception
Author: Cindy Anstey
Genre: historical fiction
Similar books: The Gilded Cage by Lucinda Gray
The Cure for Dreaming by Cat Winters
Rating:
 |
| atmospheric |
Summary (provided by publisher): In which a lady and a law clerk find themselves entangled in the scandal of the season...
Miss Lydia Whitfield, heiress to the family fortune, has her future entirely planned out. She will run the family estate until she marries the man of her late father's choosing, and then she will spend the rest of her days as a devoted wife. Confident in those arrangements, Lydia has tasked her young law clerk, Mr. Robert Newton, to begin drawing up the marriage contracts. Everything is going according to plan.
Until the day Lydia is kidnapped—and Robert along with her. Someone is after her fortune and won't hesitate to destroy her reputation to get it. With Robert's help, Lydia strives to keep her family's good name unsullied and expose whoever is behind this devious plot. But as their investigation delves deeper and their affections for each other grow, Lydia starts to wonder whether her carefully planned future is in fact what she truly wants...
My opinion: High marks for style. Anstey really captures the atmosphere of something like an Austen novel. And not just the setting - the dialogue and the very sensibility of the culture and the characters. The plot has a fair amount of excitement and intrigue, what with kidnapping and secret machinations towards money and influence. It's intriguing but not always compelling. For a reader used to the style and pacing of most modern novels the pacing of this one can seem kind of slow. The plot is, at times, overly reliant on convenient twists and suffers from some logical deficiencies. While it isn't the sort of thing I normally read, I know of a certain class of teens that will adore this novel.
More Information: Duels and Deception releases April 11.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.
Today's craft is a quick one. My local dollar store had some small, plain colored tote bags that were calling out to me. I happened to have an iron-on transfer that went perfectly with the bag that I bought. While experience tells me these little woven bags don't iron (picture plasticy residue all over the iron surface. Not one of my prouder moments) it was easy enough to attach the transfer to a scrap of fabric, trim it, and glue it to the bag. A little bit of fabric paint finished it off.
Title: Bull
Author: David Elliot
Genre: retelling
Similar books: Underworld by Meg Cabot
Young Olympians series by Jane Yolen
Rating:
 |
| a bit disappointing |
Summary (provided by publisher): SEE THE STORY OF THESEUS AND THE MINOTAUR
IN A WHOLE NEW LIGHT
Minos thought he could
Pull a fast one
On me,
Poseidon!
God of the Sea!
But I’m the last one
On whom you
Should try such a thing.
The nerve of that guy.
The balls. The audacity.
I AM THE OCEAN!
I got capacity!
Depths! Darkness! Delphic power!
So his sweet little plan
Went big-time sour
And his wife had a son
Born with horns and a muzzle
Who ended up
In an underground puzzle.
What is it with you mortals?
You just can’t seem to learn:
If you play with fire, babies,
You’re gonna get burned.
Much like Lin-Manuel Miranda did in Hamilton, the New York Times best-selling author David Elliott turns a classic on its head in form and approach, updating the timeless story of Theseus and the Minotaur for a new generation. A rough, rowdy, and darkly comedic young adult retelling in verse, Bull will have readers reevaluating one of mythology's most infamous monsters.
My opinion: It's not of ten that novels explore the emotions and motivations of the monster, so I was really looking forward to this one. My response, though, is mixed.
What I liked - The verse novel format keeps the pacing snappy. It's not weighted down with excess description and reflection. Additionally, it's a nod back to the original Greek storytelling method with a modern, near hip-hop, feel. Each character's perspective takes a slightly different format, helping to differentiate character and reflecting some aspect of their personality.
What I didn't like - This novel presumes that the reader has more than a passing familiarity with the tale of Theseus and the Minotaur, simply referencing several details and never really telling the reader how the myth ends. Even more troubling for me, it bills itself as the story from the Minotaur's perspective. But Asterion gets very few pages. As the story progresses, he gets fewer lines. Asterion remains largely unsympathetic.
More information: Bull releases March 28.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.
Yeh-Shen retold by Ai-Ling Louie
Retellings of classic fairy tales are a great choice for upper elementary school kids. They are, by that point, exceedingly familiar with the original story so variations fascinate them. You can explore similarities and differences. Yeh-Shen presents an interesting point of discussion as this tale actually predates the European version. Ai-Ling Louie's version is particularly atmospheric and is well supported by Young's illustrations. It may be a bit long for very young children but for the most part will go over well with mixed groups.
Children of the Past by Lois Miner Huey
Most archaeology books we read do a great job of exploring every day life in a given society. The children get a brief mention, at best. So it was very cool to read about the hard evidence we have of the roles children played in those societies - the art and tools we know for certain they produced, the jobs they did. As an adult I found all of it very exciting and fascinating. I doubt a kid will feel the same. It's heavy in text and surprisingly dense with only a few photos and side bars. A good choice for a kid with an archaeology fascination, not so much for the general youth population.
