Title: No Fixed Address
Author: Susin Nielsen
Genre: realistic fiction
Similar books: The Secret Life of Lincoln Jones by Wendelin van Draanen
Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate
Rating:
 |
| a solid read |
Summary (provided by publisher): For fans of Wendelin van Draanen and Cynthia Lord, a touching and funny middle-grade story about family, friendship, and growing up when you're one step away from homelessness.
Twelve-and-three-quarter-year-old Felix Knutsson has a knack for trivia. His favorite game show is Who What Where When; he even named his gerbil after the host. Felix's mom, Astrid, is loving but can't seem to hold on to a job. So when they get evicted from their latest shabby apartment, they have to move into a van. Astrid swears him to secrecy; he can't tell anyone about their living arrangement, not even Dylan and Winnie, his best friends at his new school. If he does, she warns him, he'll be taken away from her and put in foster care.
As their circumstances go from bad to worse, Felix gets a chance to audition for a junior edition of Who What Where When, and he's determined to earn a spot on the show. Winning the cash prize could make everything okay again. But things don't turn out the way he expects. . . .
Susin Nielsen deftly combines humor, heartbreak, and hope in this moving story about people who slip through the cracks in society, and about the power of friendship and community to make all the difference.
My opinion: Nielsen's strength is in her characters, well developed and usually atypical. In this case we have a single mother and her quirky son. Topically, it deals with poverty, homelessness, and mental illness and the way these issues affect and compound one another. I like that we see living around the poverty line as normal. Felix admits to his friends that things are tough at home, that his mother sometimes loses her job, that money is tight. This is not seen as shameful but a fact of life. It's only the homelessness that he has to hide, between school rules and the looming threat of the foster system. Each complication to their situation makes the other elements harder to overcome and drives them deeper into poverty. It's a sympathetic, charming read. A few plot elements are a bit fantastic but not to an unforgivable degree.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley
The Musical Monsters of Turkey Hollow / Turkey Hollow
Originally conceived as a television special that was never produced, one would expect the movie version of this story to be much stronger than the graphic novel. Especially given the role that music plays in the original story. Really, though, Langridge's version feels closer to what Jim Henson intended to produce.
The plot: With the help of mysterious monsters living in the woods near Turkey Hollow, Tim and Anna stop a scheming farmer from stealing their aunt's land. This is the base plot of both versions of the story. The book is a bit more light-hearted, focusing on music and playfulness. The movie version has a bleaker tone from the outset. It adds a recent divorce, an apparently life-threatening feather allergy, a terrifying local legend, and makes the aunt a fairly angry naturalist.
The plot of the two versions differs on a lot of details. More importantly, the tone is vastly different. The book captures the innocence of early Muppets. The movie has the more cynical outlook of modern movies. If you love Jim Henson, buy the book.
The True Tale of a Giantess by Anne Renaud
Society has an unfortunate habit of undervaluing or exploiting people with atypical bodies, leading to things like freak shows. Renaud's presentation somewhat whitewashes Barnum, giving us his curiosities as a family who were given amazing opportunities. While this is true, we aren't really shown much of the negatives of being a circus freak, none of the exploitation. I enjoyed reading bout what appeared to be a largely positive experience of this young woman getting to see the world and making a place to fit her since the world would not adapt to her. This could spark some interesting conversations with young readers.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.
Title: Kitten Construction Company
Author: John Patrick Green
Genre: graphic novel
Similar books: Peter and Ernesto by Graham Annable
Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea by Ben Clanton
Rating:
 |
| certainly unique |
Summary (provided by publisher): All Marmalade wants to do is build things.
She is, after all, a trained architect.
She’s also a distractingly adorable kitten.
Fed up with not being taken seriously because she's so cute,Marmalade bands together with a handful of other aspiring builders—all of them kittens. But in a world where humans call the shots, can the Kitten Construction Company prove their worth . . . without giving up the very things that make them kittens?
(Don't worry, dear reader, the answer is definitely"yes"!)
My Opinion: Kittens working in construction feels like a pretty niche intersection of interests. The appeal for older readers is certainly going to be in the tongue-in-cheek juxtaposition of these ideas. It's a ludicrous image, kittens building a high rise. Green presents us with a truly bizarre idea with zero explanation. How/why are kittens getting jobs? Green doesn't bother with the why, just the silliness inherent in the image. There is a lot of humor supporting a message about being true to yourself, even when all of society dismisses your dreams.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.
Learn to Draw Mickey Mouse & Friends
Personally, I find "how to draw" books a bit of a mixed bag. Too often, the focus is on presenting the subject in as few steps as possible. This can lead to a lot of frustration for a young artist as the change between the steps isn't always clear. That isn't the case here. Steps are fairly clear. More importantly, this is more than a simple how to. It's a short retrospective, an exploration of how characters change over time. We are shown how personality changes are reflected in drawing style and how changes in art styles can influence character. That makes this as much a coffee table book as a drawing book, so there's a little something for everyone.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.
Title: Snazzy Cat Capers
Author: Deanna Kent
Genre: adventure
Similar books: Binky the Space Cat by Ashley Spires
Platypus Police Squad by Jarrett Krosoczka
Rating:
 |
| delicious fun |
Summary (provided by publisher): Ophelia von Hairball is on a mission to be the world’s most famous cat burglar. In order to win the prestigious Top Burglar Award from the Furry Feline Burglary Institute (FFBI), she must steal the giant Himalayan diamond. But her ne-fur-ious cousin Pierre will stop at nothing to thwart her plans. Determined to get her paws on the prize, Ophelia reluctantly enlists the help of Oscar F. Gold, a goldfish who invents nifty gadgets. Together, they embark on a globe-trotting mission to pull off Ophelia's most daring heist yet!
My opinion: A heist plot isn't the first thing you think of for a young audience. It's also somewhat counter-intuitive to have a career thief as your protagonist in children's fiction. Kent is aware of these potential concerns. Members of the FFBI steal jewels, but only to prove they can do it and then they return the loot to the owners. Their goals are more about being classy and smart than acquiring goods. Really, that's the central message of this book: the difference between doing things the right way, thinking through all the angles, and doing things the easy way. There are, of course, messages about being a team player and fighting fair, as is typical of kid's novels. This volume gives us a solid introduction to a few characters, aspects I'd expect to see built upon in future volumes. The print books is peppered with stylized, appealing illustrations. The audio book has a great sense of timing. It's not so slow as to become boring but not so fast that a young listener will have difficulty following. Eileen Stevens narrates with a variety of voices.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley, Audio provided by Macmillain Audio
Last week I posted about a plaque I repainted. It turned out okay so I thought I might paint some more and sell them, eventually.
Eventually came sooner than I expected. As it turns out, my small town had an art show this weekend and I wanted to submit something. I wasn't happy with that river scene so I thought I'd try something new. The sword in the stone has been on my mind lately and seemed like a good subject for a painting. I'm MUCH happier with this one.
