Epic Cardboard Adventures by Leslie Manlapig
I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I fully applaud encouraging kids to explore their creativity with simple materials. Most of these projects can be made with cardboard, glue, tape, and paint. And they're more than just art projects. These are toys, props for make believe. Fantastic. On the other hand, we are given very specific, step by step directions. While I understand their necessity, there's no opportunity for personalization, nor even any encouragement to invent. I know that as a child I wouldn't have needed the book to suggest ways I could change a project but I've worked with enough kids to know that many do. They need someone to suggest that the reader needn't follow the directions exactly.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.
Title: Fum
Author: Adam Rapp
Genre: realistic fiction/surrealism
Similar books: The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton
The True Tale of the Monster Billy Dean Telt by Hisself by David Almond
Rating:
 |
| truly odd |
Summary (provided by publisher): What is it like to be a giant? Meet Corinthia Bledsoe, a seven-foot tall high-school junior who can predict the future.
Over seven feet tall and with a newfound ability to sense future events, Corinthia Bledsoe is far more than just another Midwestern high-school junior; she’s a force of nature. When she predicts with terrifying accuracy the outcome of a tornado that will hit her high school, leaving a cow standing midcourt in the Lugo Memorial field house, Corinthia finds herself at the epicenter of another kind of storm entirely. And as things get stranger and stranger — both in her small town and her own home — lives start to intersect in ways even Corinthia can’t foresee.
My opinion: There's weird and then there's weird. I kept expecting clearer elements of magic. We have prophecy, of a sort. I was waiting for the acknowledgement of Corinthia as a seer or something. We have a number of odd happenings, but the town just sort of rolls with it. It's sort of surreal. And we don't get any clear answers. Her brother, what's actually happening to Corinithia, her mother's other life, the volunteer at the school. All of these sub-plots are happening but don't resolve or even tie into the main plot in any significant way. In the end, it's hard to draw any conclusions or take away any messages. Too weird for me.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.
While shopping at a thrift store, I happened upon a plush camel with a strangely long and dangly neck and legs. As I examined the camel I realized it had, at one point, been a marionette. Since it was still in good shape I decided to buy it and make it a puppet once more. I haven't decided, yet, if it will be a marionette or a rod puppet. While I decided on the format, I've been developing him into a character. Wilber (short for Wilberforce) is going to have a rather extensive wardrobe, I suspect. To begin with, he has a monocle and a collar with a necktie. The monocle was made from a piece of plastic packaging, wire, and hot glue. His collar was the cuff of an old polo shirt, the tie a bit of a sock.
Title: Chaotic Good
Author: Whitney Gardner
Genre: realistic fiction
Similar books: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
All the Feels by Danika Stone
Rating:
 |
| nerdy fun |
Summary (provided by publisher): Cosplay, comic shops, and college applications collide in this illustrated novel, perfect for fans of Adam Silvera and Noelle Steveson!
Cameron's cosplay creations are finally starting to earn her attention--attention she hopes to use to get into the CalArts costume design department for college. But after she wins a major competition, she inadvertently sets off a firestorm of angry comments from male fans online.
When Cameron's family moves the summer before her senior year, she hopes to complete her costume portfolio in peace and quiet away from the abuse.
Unfortunately, the only comic shop in town--her main destination for character reference--is staffed by a dudebro owner who challenges every woman who comes into the shop.
At her twin brother's suggestion, Cameron borrows a set of his clothes and uses her costuming expertise to waltz into the shop as Boy Cameron, where she's shocked at how easily she's accepted into the nerd inner sanctum. Soon, Cameron finds herself drafted into a D&D campaign alongside the jerky shop-owner Brody, friendly (almost flirtatiously so) clerk Wyatt, handsome Lincoln, and her brother Cooper, dragged along for good measure.
But as her "secret identity" gets more and more entrenched, Cameron's portfolio falls by the wayside--and her feelings for Lincoln threaten to make a complicated situation even more precarious in this geek girl anthem from You're Welcome, Universe author Whitney Gardner, complete with fully illustrated comic pages inked by Gardner herself.
My opinion: With nerd culture finally legitimized, it's time to take things a step further. Its time to take a harder look at the culture, to point out it's flaws. Nerds can be very harsh, especially to those perceived as posers and noobs. Anyone who doesn't like the thing we like the way we like it is inherently wrong. And many nerds are especially hard on girls. And Gardner takes us deep into the dark side of the nerd world, pointing out cruelty in abundance. We see sexism, cyber-bullying, and doxing. She also uses D&D as a metaphor for character's fears and failings. The lot is overly predictable. It wraps up neatly. Normally that level of predictability would be annoying but in this case its acceptable because the characters are so likeable. Not terribly complex but certainly likeable.
More information: Chaotic Good releases March 13.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.
I Got a Chicken for My Birthday by Laura Gehl
It's a fairly universal experience, disappointment in a gift that we've been given. And the intent of the plot is clear: gratitude and looking past disappointment to see possibilities. It points us to that occasion when the gift we didn't want turns out to be a wonderful thing. It just does it in a fantastical way. It's silly fun with heart behind it. Little kids will enjoy the sillyness. Older kids could use it as a starting point for a creative project. What could their own chicken do?
More information: I Got a Chicken for my Birthday releases March 1.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley
Ada Lovelace by Isabel Sanchez Vegara
Lovelace is a figure I wish that I knew more about. Seriously, friends, this lady is the mother of Binary code! She's basically the reason we have computers. And yet when we teach Women's history we teach Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, and Clara Barton. That's about it. Kids need more female STEM heroes, which is where books like this one come into play. This is a very basic book. We are given only the simplest information. Vegara doesn't even use the term binary. Use this book to introduce the topic, to pique a child's interest.
More information: Ada Lovelace releases March 1.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.
In my family, we are fond of giving craft kits as gifts. And I have a well known fondness for llamas. So, it should come as no surprise that my Christmas gifts this year included this kit.
The kit included a sheet of felt, three colors of paint, pom poms, and some floss. To get the look that I wanted, I needed to add a little paint of my own. She's a pretty sweet creature.
