Book review - Serena Says

 

Title: Serena Says

Author: Tanita Davis

Genre: realistic fiction

Similar books: The Mighty Heart of Sunny St James by Ashley Herring Blake

                     The 47 People You'll Meet in Middle School by Kristin Mahoney 

Rating: 

 

more emotional complexity than we see sometimes

 

Summary (provided by publisher): JC shines like a 4th of July sparkler. She has the best ideas, the biggest, funniest laugh, and the party starts when she arrives. Serena St. John is proud to be known as her best friend.
Everything changes when JC returns from the hospital with a new kidney—and a new best friend. Out of the spotlight of JC’s friendship, suddenly things aren’t quite so sparkly in Serena’s world.
Lonely Serena works on perfecting her vlogs, hoping to earn a shot at becoming a classroom reporter. If she can be smart and funny on video, why can’t she manage that in real life? If only she could always pause, edit, or delete conversations. It would be so much easier to say the right thing at the right time . . . instead of not saying what she should, or, even worse, blurting out a secret that wasn’t hers to share.
Life doesn’t have a pause button—but as Serena discovers her voice through vlogging, she learns that she’s not just there to reflect JC’s light—she’s fully capable of shining on her own.

My opinion: The first thing I note about this book is that both Serena and JC are at fault for the change in their relationship. Both have changed and both of their decisions are making things worse between them. Additionally, we're dealing with a kid post-transplant. She doesn't feel like a new person - she's trying to go back to "normal" and thus ignores medical advice. She skips her meds and struggles with feelings that divide her from her life the ways she wants it to be. But the central focus, of course, is on Serena and her exploration of herself. She's learning to define herself apart from her friend, deciding what kind of person she wants to be. While these are typical goals for middle grade fiction, Davis acknowledges that the emotions involved are not clean cut, that somethings are not fixable and that the best we can hope for is a new normal.

More information: Serena Says releases November 3.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Graphic novel spotlight - Space Battle Lunchtime

Space Battle Lunchtime: Lights, Camera, Snacktion! by Natalie Riess

I didn't expect much from this book, but I found it surprisingly entertaining. It's not especially deep. We have a human who finds herself a part of an alien cooking show. While she is out of her depth, she's willing to take chances, to experiment with food and take chances with people. There's no fear or distrust, only openness. The plot, for the most part, goes in the directions we expect. The real strength here is the illustrations. This book leads with art, telling the subtle parts of the story with images. The characters are incredibly expressive and whole sequences are told with little to no text. This is a great book to flip through. And since the story is incomplete, it could develop complexity with future volumes.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Non-fiction book review - The Everyday Workings of Machines

The Everyday Workings of Machines by Steve Martin

These kinds of books are always going to go over well with young readers. As children we love examining how things are put together, what makes them run. Consider the sustained popularity of books like The Way Things Work. This one looks at the internal mechanisms of a wide variety of machines but only in a very simple way. We get one or two vital parts of complex machines, the whole only with simple things like balance scales or thermometers. It's a short, pleasant version of a familiar concept. 

 Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Book review - Kitty and Dragon

 

Title: Kitty and Dragon

Author: Meika Hashimoto

Genre: beginning chapter book

Similar books: Horace and Bunwinkle by PJ Gardner

                     Mercy Watson by Kate DiCamillo

Rating: 

 

cute

 

Summary (provided by publisher): Book 1 of this early reader series features three adorable stories about Kitty and Dragon—best friends, even when one of them is snoring, being messy, or having a sad day. Even though they are quite different from one another, Kitty and Dragon have learned that there’s nothing better than being together, just the way they are

My opinion: Kitty and Dragon is reminiscent of Henry and Mudge. This is the adventure in the commonplace, the exploration of friendship and conflicting personality types. While the plots are fairly standard, the illustrations are absolutely charming and Hashimoto adds enough little quirks to make the stories memorable. The writing is easy for a child to follow and well supported by the artwork.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Book review - Measuring Up

 

Title: Measuring Up

Author: Lil LaMotte

Genre: graphic novel/realistic fiction

Similar books: Original Recipe by Jessica Young

                      Front Desk by Kelly Yang

Rating: 

 

checks all the right boxes

Summary (provided by publisher): Twelve-year-old Cici has just moved from Taiwan to Seattle, and the only thing she wants more than to fit in at her new school is to celebrate her grandmother, A-má’s, seventieth birthday together.
Since she can’t go to A-má, Cici cooks up a plan to bring A-má to her by winning the grand prize in a kids’ cooking contest to pay for A-má’s plane ticket! There’s just one problem: Cici only knows how to cook Taiwanese food.
And after her pickled cucumber debacle at lunch, she’s determined to channel her inner Julia Child. Can Cici find a winning recipe to reunite with A-má, a way to fit in with her new friends, and somehow find herself too? 

My opinion: I'm a big fan of books for kids that have a focus on cooking, that show us kids exploring cuisines and experimenting with combinations. This particular book also goes deep on the ways that food is inextricably tied to culture. There's a whole sequence about rice and how it is cooked and used differently by different cultures. While the other plot elements (being the new kid, cultures clashing, parental expectation) are fairly standard for middle grade fiction, the exploration of food really sets this apart. The plot is easy to follow and makes for a very pleasant read.

More information:  Measuring Up releases October 27.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Pick 6: horror

October means it's time for my annual list of horror stories. Who doesn't love a good scare in October? It's almost required to prepare for Halloween by scaring yourself silly. Here are six horror books published in the last six months.

6 new horror novels

1. Something is Killing the Children y James Tynion IV
2. The Glare by Margot Harrison
3. Beach Nightmare by Steve Foxe
4. Whispering Pines by Heidi Lang
5. The Inkberg Enigma by Jonathan King
6. The Mutant Mushroom Takeover by Summer Rachel Short
   

Non-fiction book review - Emmy Noether

Emmy Noether by Helaine Becker

Noether was a new name to me. After this book, she's among my favorite historical figures. She's an impressive figure. For her accomplishments to be sure, but even more because of her dedication.  She didn't care about compensation or recognition. She really only cared about the math. She didn't care that people thought her too loud, big, sloppy, or clumsy. She was completely herself. I already admire her for that. Her accomplishments are hard to explain to a child audience given that they deal with theoretical physics and mathematics, Still, I'm all for giving kids a wide variety of heroes Noether is one who hasn't gotten enough attention.

 Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley