Book review - Recipe for Disaster

Title: Didi Dodo Future Spy - Recipe for Disaster
Author: Tom Angleberger
Genre: humor
Similar books: The Bolds by Julian Clary
                      Claude in the City by Alex T Smith
Rating:

cleverly silly

Summary (provided by publisher): In this series opener, Koko Dodo the cookie chef has a big problem. Today is the day of the royal cookie contest, and someone has stolen his top-secret fudge sauce! Luckily, a spy enters the scene just in time (or rather, crashes in on her roller skates): Didi Dodo! This might be Didi’s first case ever, but she has a daring plan to help Koko. Koko would prefer a safe, simple, sure-to-work plan, but without another option, he and the amateur sleuth take off on a wacky caper full of high-speed chases and big belly laughs that could only come from the mind of the inimitable Tom Angleberger. Each book in the series will focus on a food-related mystery.

My opinion: Angleberger certainly has a talent for developing unique characters. In the case of an early chapter book like this one, unique characters are what make it enjoyable and memorable. The mystery of the stolen fudge sauce follows a pretty obvious story arc but it includes some great elements. First we have this wild adventure with crazy exploits, constantly adding to the cast of characters. Secondly, there's a message about fair play and competition. Not just the standard message about not cheating, but the idea that a contest where the same competitor always wins entertains no one. Not knowing, anticipation, is what makes a contest worth doing/watching. Making that the final conclusion elevates this above the standard early elementary story.
More information: Recipe for Disaster releases March 19.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.

Book review - Stand on the Sky

Title: Stand on the Sky
Author: Erin Bow
Genre: realistic fiction
Similar books: Everlasting Nora by Marie Miranda Cruz
                      Running on the Roof of the World by Jess Butterworth
Rating:

compelling

Summary (provided by publisher): It goes against all tradition for Aisulu to train an eagle, for among the Kazakh nomads, only men can fly them. But everything changes when Aisulu discovers that her brother, Serik, has been concealing a bad limp that risks not just his future as the family's leader, but his life too.
When her parents leave to seek a cure for Serik in a distant hospital, Aisulu finds herself living with her intimidating uncle and strange auntie—and secretly caring for an orphaned baby eagle. To save her brother and keep her family from having to leave their nomadic life behind forever, Aisulu must earn her eagle’s trust and fight for her right to soar.  Along the way, she discovers that family are people who choose each other, home is a place you build, and hope is a thing with feathers.

My opinion: The life of nomads is so different from what most of us experience, that exploration alone makes this worth reading for most of us. A close look at the ins and outs of life in another culture is always uplifting. But while those little details will be foreign to most readers, there's a universality to the larger messages. Aisulu's culture undervalues her because of her gender. And because she doesn't fit a traditional gender role, she feels rejected and invisible within her own family. Her family crisis actually opens up her world. In seeking solace in raising an eagle, she begins to challenge her societal norms. And this challenging she begins to view those around her through anew lens. She begins to value other outsiders, to find a secondary family. It's a great read in and of itself and would make a great starting point for a group discussion, especially if you paired it with a book set in the US with similar themes.

More information: Stand on the Sky releases March 5.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.

Books on screen

A Wrinkle In Time

 

I wrote previously about my less than pleasant viewing of the first movie version of A Wrinkle in Time. It wasn't terribly long after that experience that I heard another movie was in the works. I had some hope, given it's bigger name cast and big budget, but had managed expectations.

Let's start by pointing out the obvious: A Wrinkle in Time is a complex, theoretical story. It takes the reader through multiple dimensions, talks about physics and time travel, dips into philosophy, and has heavy religious and moral overtones. This makes it difficult to represent on film, especially for the mass market. Necessarily, changes get made. Some have little bearing on the overall tone of the story, even if they are startling or disappointing (like removing Aunt Beast - I love the character but she can be removed without harming the plot). I want to take a look at three changes and their impact on the movie.

1) The nature of Mrs. Who, Mrs. Which, and Mrs. Whatsit. In the book, they are described as looking like crones, our standard idea of witches. They are craggy, wispy, and a bit disconcerting. The movie version of the Mrs is more spritely. They're like fairies, but more substantial. This is primarily a cosmetic change but also impacts their general perception. 

2) Camazotz. In the book, the planet Camazotz is eerie. It's disturbingly uniform. This is it's menace. The scenes on Camazotz are meant to make us uneasy. The movie makes Camazotz a little "off" but more enticing. Meg, Calvin, and Charles Wallace are seduced  by IT rather than being beaten down by the sameness.

3) The religious elements. L'Engle's writing isn't Christian, per se, but has definite religious overtone. Various religious texts are quoted throughout the novel and religious figures are pointed to as the heroes of the light. The movie quotes, instead, artists and scientists and the light bringers. While this makes it more accessible to the general public it does take away from L'Engle's message.

Here's the thing about A Wrinkle In Time: it's complex. It is intentionally opaque. We're not supposed to understand it in a single reading. L'Engle believes in the importance of asking questions that we can't answer. She values asking questions, thinking about them. I  think that's the main point of the book, to get us thinking about big questions. As such, it makes it difficult to film. Movies are generally built on clear answers, solid conclusions. Two people may read the book and take completely different things from it, conclusions that are different from the one in the movie. And for the viewer who hasn't read the book, there's a lot of weird, unexplained occurrences that are hard to understand without the book for context. It's a much stronger effort than the last version but it simply can't hold a candle to the novel. Give this movie a view, but always go back to the book if you really want to understand the story.

Non-fiction book review - Flower Talk

Flower Talk by Sara Levine

I can't say as I'd ever put much thought into why flowers come in different colors. I knew that certain creatures pollinated specific flowers. I didn't realize just how much color played into that selection. As a picture book, this is a very brief overview and I'm sure color selection is more complicated than is represented here. Still, it's a solid introduction to the idea, walking us through the general assumptions we can make about pollination based on color and scent alone. 

Flower Talk releases March 5.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.

You can tell what I've been (re)reading

I had kind of a busy weekend so there wasn't a lot of extra time for crafting. I did manage to decorate an Altoid tin with a quote from A Wrinkle In Time. Not sure what I'll be storing in this little tin, but I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

 

Book review - Pay Attention, Carter Jones

Title: Pay Attention, Carter Jones
Author: Gary D. Schmidt
Genre: realistic fiction
Similar books: Sidetracked by Diana Harmon Asher
                      The Great Wall of Lucy Wu by Wendy Wan-Long Shang
Rating:

simply lovely

Summary (provided by publisher): Carter Jones is astonished early one morning when he finds a real English butler, bowler hat and all, on the doorstep—one who stays to help the Jones family, which is a little bit broken.
In addition to figuring out middle school, Carter has to adjust to the unwelcome presence of this new know-it-all adult in his life and navigate the butler's notions of decorum. And ultimately, when his burden of grief and anger from the past can no longer be ignored, Carter learns that a burden becomes lighter when it is shared.

My opinion: Gary D. Schmidt's books break my heart in the best possible way. The plot here is a simple one, without a lot of complication. A good portion of it's beauty is in that simplicity. A fair amount of the text is actually dedicated to the playing of cricket and the use of technical terms. But all of that build up pays off in the central metaphor: finding your way to growing up. If there would otherwise be any ambiguity for the reader that is cleared up with the repeated refrain "remember who you are" which we can of course understand to me "remember the kind of person you want to be." If the characters weren't so well presented that sort of obvious lesson would be a blunt instrument but the charm of the writing covers that.
As a bonus, fans of Schmidt's prior books will recognize many teachers and neighbors as previous central characters (an occurrence that never failed to make me smile).
 
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.

Graphic novel spotlight - Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant

Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant by Tony Cliff

Delilah Dirk is a charming adventure series featuring a dashing female adventurer and her hapless, somewhat unwilling, sidekick. Surprisingly, there is no central plot to this particular volume. There's no big villain they're fighting against, no large aim. They aren't aiming for revenge or treasure or power. They're just adventuring, righting the occasional wrong. The interest is in the interplay between Delilah and the titular Lieutenant, the differences between their personalities. And it's an absolute delight. The characters change each other. Delilah softens a little. The Lieutenant has his eyes opened to excitement and novelty. The overall feel is surprisingly gentle (in spite of a large number of swordings). The illustrations are fantastic, all about action and dynamic lines and expressive faces. 

 

Book review - Operation Frog Effect

Title: Operation Frog Effect
Author: Sarah Scheerger
Genre: realistic fiction
Similar books: Frindle by Andrew Clements
                      The Reckless Club by Beth Vrabel
Rating:

Better than anticipated

Summary (provided by publisher): Hi--
It's us, Ms. Graham's class. We didn't mean to mess things up. But we did. We took things too far, and now Ms. Graham is in trouble--for something we did. We made a mistake. The question is, can we fix it? Ms. Graham taught us that we get to choose the kind of people we want to be and that a single act can create ripples. So get ready, world--we're about to make some ripples.
Sincerely,
Kayley, Kai, Henry, Aviva, Cecilia, Blake, Sharon, Emily (and Kermit, class frog)
Everyone makes mistakes. But what happens when your mistake hurts someone else? Told in eight perspectives--including one in graphic novel form, Operation Frog Effect celebrates standing up and standing together, and tells the unforgettable story of how eight very different kids take responsibility for their actions and unite for a cause they all believe in.

My opinion: This books has a couple of notable strengths. First, the perspective range is limited. While that does mean that the remainder of the class basically disappears from the narrative, it allows the 8 perspective students to develop into complex characters with unique voices. Secondly, there are consequences to their actions. Yes, they are able to make things right for the most part but some things can't be fixed just because they're sorry. Just as there are troubles too big for them to tackle head on. I liked that message, that when you see a problem in the world you start by finding some small way you can help out. Maybe you can't change the whole world but you can make one thing better for a couple of people and that's a start. Now, there are some believably issues but that's not uncommon in middle grade books.

More information: Operation Frog Effect releases February 26
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Lion Dancer

I've got some bigger projects in the works. So for now, here's a doodle I made this week in honor of Chinese New Year. My favorite element of New Year parades: Lion dancers.

Book review - How I Became A Spy

Title: How I Became A Spy
Author: Deborah Hopkinson
Genre: historical fiction
Similar books: Listen to the Moon by Michael Morpurgo
                      The Romeo and Juliet Code by Phoebe Stone
Rating:

less than I wanted it to be

Summary (provided by publisher): Bertie Bradshaw never set out to become a spy. He never imagined traipsing around war-torn London, solving ciphers, practicing surveillance, and searching for a traitor to the Allied forces. He certainly never expected that a strong-willed American girl named Eleanor would play Watson to his Holmes (or Holmes to his Watson, depending on who you ask).
But when a young woman goes missing, leaving behind a coded notebook, Bertie is determined to solve the mystery. With the help of Eleanor and his friend David, a Jewish refugee--and, of course, his trusty pup, Little Roo--Bertie must decipher the notebook in time to stop a double agent from spilling the biggest secret of all to the Nazis.

My opinion: At face value, the plot for this book is interesting. Espionage is, by it's very nature, intriguing. And Hopkinson is playing with some interesting ideas. I like d the inclusion of instruction in codes and ciphers. We do get some subtle social lessons: guilt, gender bias, racism. These are fairly simple explorations. I found the actual writing stiff and unrelatable. And the plot is built on a shaky premise that is not sufficiently explained. It doesn't live up to promise.

More information: How I Became a Spy releases February 12.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley..

Pick 6: animals

I'm often intrigued by the approach an author takes to a plot. This is especially true when they make the main characters animals. You can do things with animal characters that would seem implausible with humans. Simply by virtue of being animals, they encourage us to expand our suspension of disbelief. Not to mention they're usually cute and fun. Here are six new books published in the past six months that feature animal characters.

6 new animal stories

1. Freya & Zoose by Emily Butler
2. Kitten Construction Company: Meet the House Kittens by John Green
3. Snazzy Cat Capers by Deanna Kent
4. Tiger Vs Nightmare by Emily Tetri
5. Narwhal's Otter Friend by Ben Clanton
6. Escape from the Palace by Santa Montefiore

Book review - Pretty in Punxsutawney

Title: Pretty in Punxsutawney
Author: Laurie Boyle Crompton
Genre: romance
Similar books: 29 Dates by Melissa de la Cruz
                      Not Now, Not Ever by Lily Anderson
Rating:

nice enough

Summary (provided by publisher): A Groundhog Day meets Pretty in Pink mashup that tells the tale of a shy, introverted high school girl who must relive the first day of school over and over again until her first kiss can break the curse … she hopes.
Andie is the type of girl who always comes up with the perfect thing to say … after it’s too late to say it. She’s addicted to romance movies—okay, all movies—but has yet to experience her first kiss. After a move to Punxsutawney, PA, for her senior year, she gets caught in an endless loop of her first day at her new school, reliving those 24 hours again and again.
Convinced the curse will be broken when she meets her true love, Andie embarks on a mission: infiltrating the various cliques—from the jocks to the nerds to the misfits—to find the one boy who can break the spell. What she discovers along the way is that people who seem completely different can often share the very same hopes, dreams, and hang-ups. And that even a day that has been lived over and over can be filled with unexpected connections and plenty of happy endings.

My opinion: I wasn't sure the plot of this book would really land for me, given that I haven't seen either of the influencing movies. As it turns out, they are so culturally ubiquitous that I could guess much of the plot regardless. There were details referenced with which I was unfamiliar, but major plot points were fine. In some ways, the plot is the epitome of a shallow teen rom-com. While the parallels are intentional, it never transcends the genre standards. Andi meets a cute guy who's a bad match for her, explores friend groups, realizes there is more to others than the surface, etc. And while it's admirable to have your protagonist realize that her snap judgements are ignorant, it's a very shallow lesson. The romance is flat and expected, most of the characters without much nuance. It's entertaining, to be certain, but doesn't have much depth backing it. A light read.
Advanced Reader copy provided by NetGalley

The Great Owl Repaint Project part 6

This owl was almost separate from my big project. Mostly the original design was so quirky. The shape is truly odd and there are these funny star shapes around the eyes. It makes the original glaze that much more disappointing. They really could have gone wild on the design and I considered it myself. 
 

It looks so much like a cat

In the end, though, he really wanted to be part of the owl family. The new design is inspired by the Malay Eagle Owl. He's been dubbed Crazy Uncle Seawolf.

Check out the rest of the family:  Evangeline, Leif, Clara, Beatrice, and Rowan .