Listen with me

 

All the Best Liars by Amelia Kahaney

Former friends and long time friends, poverty and privilege, revenge and escape all combine together in a solid thriller. The narrative flits back and forth through a six month span, slowly revealing the events that lead to the death of one character and who is really to blame. While the eventual reveal isn't terribly surprising, we've gone through so many suggestions and motivations by that point that it remains satisfying. All three major characters have a reasonable amount of complexity and motivations that aren't immediately apparent. While it's not the most innovative book you'll ever read, it's solidly compelling and carries enough tension that it will probably support a repeat read (or listen).

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Non-fiction book review - Honeybee Rescue

 

Honeybee Rescue by Loree Griffin Burns

Most books that we get about bees stress the role that they play in nature and their behavior within the hive, and frankly that's what I was expecting from this book. Instead, Burns focuses on manufactured hives and bees on the small farm. We are presented with a particular case of a group that has swarmed and is establishing a new hive in a barn. Through simple prose we learn why it needs to be moved and the careful process used to safely relocate them. It's a more subtle way to teach about bee behavior.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Book review - Catastrophe

 

Title: Catastrophe

Author: Sherri Winston

Genre: mystery

Similar books: The Case of the Stolen Sixpence by Holly Webb 

                      The Amazing Life of Azaleah Lane by Nikki Shannon Smith

Rating:

 

solid junior mystery

Summary (provided by publisher): Detective Tip #1 Try not to jump to conclusions. Wednesday and her service dog, Woof, are the best detectives in the whole world—or at least their neighborhood. But can they find Mrs. Winters’s missing cat before her big trip? Or will the case of the cat-napped kitty be their first unsolved mystery? 

My opinion: Elementary mysteries are a real challenge to pull off. The author has to set appropriate stakes that will be exciting and meaningful to the child reader without becoming too frightening or putting the characters in real danger. So most of these books center on missing pets or favorite toys, and this one is no exception. But it has a couple of things going for it. First, the vocabulary is accessibly and the writing is straightforward. This means that kids just beginning to read independently will be able to follow the plot as it will assist in comprehension. Second, there is an emphasis on proper investigation techniques and not relying on assumptions. Wednesday has to learn to examine all of the evidence to get a complete picture of what happened to the cat. Lastly, Wednesday's physical limitations, while important to her character and motivations, do not define the plot or every interaction people have with her. It simply an influence on her decision making and on important people in her life. This strikes me as a series worth watching.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Three dapper birds

 

I found this dress really cheap at the store. I liked the bright color and most importantly it has pockets. But it needed a little help. For one thing, it was 2 sizes too big. Luckily, that was easily correctable. I was able to take it in at an angle starting at the armpit and leaving the pockets untouched. Once I got it resized, it was still a bit boring. I wanted to take that basic stripe pattern and jazz it up a bit. 

I planned out a design for the bottom of the skirt that I planned to draw or stitch on some plain fabric that I would then iron onto it. As luck would have it, though, when I opened my sewing box to find my iron-on interfacing, I found instead this metalic patch fabric I'd bought on a whim. It was the perfect thing to really make my design pop.

I traced my design onto the patch fabric, cut it out, and ironed it in place. I finished it off with permanent marker, adding detail to my birds and "telephone lines" to the striping on the dress. 

 

Book review - Theo Tan and the Fox Spirit

 

Title: Theo Tan and the Fox Spirit

Author: Jesse Q. Sutanto

Genre: fantasy/magical realism

Similar books: Ace Takes Flight by Cory McCarthy

                     Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee

Rating:

 

pretty fun with decent original elements

 

Summary (provided by publisher): Theo Tan doesn't want a spirit companion. He just wants to be a normal American kid, playing video games, going to conventions, and using cirth pendants to cast his spells like everyone else. But, when his older brother dies, Theo ends up inheriting Jamie's fox spirit, Kai.
Kai isn't happy about this either. Theo is nothing like Jamie, and the two of them have never gotten along. But, when they realize the mysterious journal Jamie left Theo is filled with clues and secret codes, it's clear that something strange was going on with Jamie's internship at Reapling Corp.
But the only way onto the campus is the highly competitive "Know Your Roots" summer camp program, a celebration of Chinese and Indian cultures designed to help connect students with their heritage. Theo and Kai will have to put aside their differences long enough to honor Jamie's last wishes, or the mystery he died for will remain unsolved forever...

My opinion: At first glance, this looks like just another Percy Jackson clone. And I won't deny that they share some literary DNA. Even so, Sutanto has done a fair bit to make both the plot and the character stand out from the pack. For one thing, magic is not something that Theo falls into by surprise. It's a fully integrated part of his world. It's only his relationship to that magic that changes as the novel progresses. And Theo does not embrace his adventure or stumble through it because he has no alternative. He fights his growing knowledge of the spirit realm, resents it's intrusion on his normal life. He isn't a noble, heroic character. Theo is selfish and petty. In other words: he's a normal kid who has to learn to look beyond his own interests. There's solid character development across the board here. Add in exploration of mythology and spirits that extends beyond just the basics and a genuine meditation on the sliding scale between "good" and "evil" and there's enough to entertain a kid and give them something to chew on after they're done reading. The plot may be a bit predictable but it doesn't harm the entertainment value.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Picture books for everyone

 

Norton and the Bear by Gabriel Evans

There is no shortage of picture books about the importance of individuality and being true to yourself. A few are written about the idea of copycats, usually a younger sibling who wants to be "just like" the older one causing a great deal of frustration for both and resulting in the realization that copying is a compliment but finding ways for the younger one to be different. I like that this book doesn't try to explain the bear's behavior. It just admires Norton's style and replicates it. It's not about the bear needing to be exactly like Norton but rather sharing the same tastes, much to Norton's great annoyance. The plot is more about Norton's intense need to be different to the point that he can't see how he hurts the bear until it's too late. Evans is suggesting to the reader that other peoples choices are not about you and don't have to effect you. All of this is done with simple prose and charming illustrations featuring expressive characters that support the text well.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Book review - Esme's Birthday Conga Line

 

Title: Esme's Birthday Conga Line

Author: Lourdes Heuer

Genre: early chapter book

Similar books: Henry and Mudge series by Cynthia Rylant

                     Kitty and Dragon by Meika Hashimoto

Rating:

 

cute and easy to understand

 

Summary (provided by publisher): Esme lives with her grandparents on the uppermost floor of the topmost best building. It's her birthday. Mimi and Pipo gave her a beautiful guitar. But they didn't plan a birthday party.
Esme thinks this is the way with grandparents. They don't know about parties or piñatas or birthday cake. No problem! Esme is great at problem solving.
With the help of her cat, El Toro, and a LOT of help from her neighbors in the topmost best building, the irrepressible Esme gets the birthday party of her dreams. 

My opinion: This book straddles the line between picture book and chapter book, much like Henry and Mudge. The plot has the simplicity of a picture book, a basic conflict with only minimal complications. Much of the complication is seen more in the illustrations than in the text itself. The writing is a bit more fleshed out, including more details and descriptive language than would be typical of a picture book. This leaves us with a quick, charming, easy to follow story that helps a beginning reader gain confidence. It helps that Esme is an irrepressible character. When her birthday isn't what she expected, she makes it happen for herself. She doesn't moan about not having a birthday party; she plans her own. Sure, that leaves some chaos in her wake but her cheerfulness wins over even the grumpiest of neighbors.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Listen with me

 

All the Best Liars by Amelia Kahaney

This book promises some great elements: the straining of a lifelong friendship between girls, complicated secrets, and multiple perspectives on a single dramatic event.

Book review - Duet

 

Title: Duet

Author: Elise Broach

Genre: realistic fiction/magical realism

Similar books: Flora & Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo

                      Fleabrain Loves Franny by Joanne Rocklin

Rating:

 

charming and not overly dramatic

Summary (provided by publisher): Welcome to the world of Mirabelle, a young goldfinch who loves to sing and dreams of becoming a musical star. She lives with her family in the backyard of a piano teacher, and she is quickly intrigued by Mr. Starek's newest pupil. Michael Jin is an eleven-year-old keyboard sensation, but lesson after lesson, he refuses to play.  With the prestigious Chopin Festival looming at summer’s end, how will he be ready in time?  Mirabelle is responsible for Michael’s breakthrough—to her own astonishment, she sings the Chopin piece he is beginning to play at the piano. It is their first duet.
Thus begins a secret adventure that will take Mirabelle and Michael further than they ever imagined—in music, in friendship, and in solving the mystery of a lost piano that could be worth millions.  A house full of treasures holds the clues. There, Mirabelle, Michael, and their friend Emily will make an important discovery that links the great composer Frederic Chopin, the trailblazing author George Sand, and the French Romantic painter Eugene Delacroix.
A fast-paced, history-rich mystery will have young readers hooked as they root for boy and bird in this beautifully told novel, full of emotion and suspense.

My opinion: At face value, this is a story about a boy and a bird that learn to recognize their own abilities and rely on their shared strength to accomplish things. Even more than that, though, there is a celebration of the beauty, artistry, and near magic of music and musicians. Of their instruments. Broach addresses the way that the same song played by the same artist may sound different with different instruments. Composition affects resonance which can become important with instrumental music. It was cool to see that explored in any book, much less one for children. And that exploration as well as the historical mystery involving Chopin is explained with enough detail to be interesting without ever becoming overwhelming. There's enough tension and mystery to keep the reader engaged but nothing that will become too much for sensitive kids.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Pick 6: music

 Have you ever noticed that characters in novels tend to have the same hobbies? They're either athletes, aspiring writers, or musicians. For this list, I gathered titles where being a musician plays an important role in the plot. So, here are six books published in the last six months that in some way feature musicians

6 new books about musicians

1. The Way I Say It by Nancy Tandon
2. The Legend of Brightblade by Ethan M Aldridge
3. Wrath by Marcus Sedgwick
4. Scout is Not a Band Kid by Jade Armstrong
5. A Duet for Home by Karina Yan Glaser
6. Duet by Elise Broach
   

Book review - Gideon Green in Black and White

 

Title: Gideon Green in Black and White

Author: Katie Henry

Genre: Mystery

Similar books: Cold by Mariko Tamaki

                      Dead Weight by Terry Blas

Rating:

 

quirky, but reasonably entertaining

Summary (provided by publisher): Gideon’s short-lived run as a locally famous boy detective ended when middle school started, and everyone else—including his best friend, Lily—moved on while Gideon kept holding on to his trench coat, fedora, and his treasured film noir collection. Now he’s sixteen and officially retired. That is, until Lily shows up suddenly at Gideon’s door, needing his help.
He might be mad at her for cutting him off with no explanation, but Gideon can’t turn down a case. As a cover, Gideon joins Lily on the school paper. Surprisingly, he finds himself warming up to the welcoming, close-knit staff . . . especially Tess, the cute, witty editor-in-chief.
But as the case gets bigger than Gideon or Lily could have anticipated, Gideon must balance his black-and-white quest for the truth with the full colors of real life—or risk a permanent fade to black.

My opinion: It's a plot we don't often see: the once loved child detective finds the world has moved on and his interests in solving mysteries now make him an outcast. And much like in the lesser known movie "Mystery Team" we have a young detective used to finding missing toys and observing strange goings on at a neighbor's house suddenly confronted with the realities of real, dangerous crime. While the book has it's amusing moments it leans more into the noir feel. It shoots for grit, often falling a bit short, leaving the reader in a bit of a no-man's land of tone. Gideon's development as a character, having to confront his own short comings and learn to rely on and trust other people, give the book some depth and heart, making it worth a read.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Watercolor bookmarks

 A lot of my craft supplies are still packed and stored from my move so I've started small on this week's craft project. The good news: it looks super cool and is easy for just about anyone to do. All you need is some heavy paper (I used watercolor paper), watercolor paints, a fine tipped marker, and some good scissors. 

Swirl paint all over your paper and let it dry. The pattern doesn't matter, just whatever looks good to you. While the paper is drying, cut out your template. I drew a stylized feather for my main design.

Once my watercolor was dry, I traced my template on the paper. Again, placement doesn't matter, just whatever looks good to you. I was able to fit about 6 feathers on my paper. Go over the outline and any details with your marker and then cut it out. 

 

lovely watercolor feathers

 

After cutting out my feathers I had some decent sized scraps of paper left, so I also made some llamas.

Book review - Gone Dark

Title: Gone Dark

Author: Amanda Panitch

Genre: adventure/survival

Similar books: 96 Miles by JL Esplin

                      How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff

Rating:

 

sort of loses the track towards the end

Summary (provided by publisher): When seventeen-year-old Zara escaped her father’s backwoods survivalist compound five years ago, she traded crossbows and skinning hides for electricity and video games…and tried to forget the tragedy that drove her away.
Until a malware attack on the United States electrical grids cuts off the entire country’s power.
In the wake of the disaster and the chaos that ensues, Zara is forced to call upon skills she thought she’d never use again—and her best bet to survive is to go back to the home she left behind. Drawing upon a resilience she didn’t know she had, Zara leads a growing group of friends on an epic journey across a crumbling country back to her father’s compound, where their only hope for salvation lies.
But with every step she takes, Zara wonders if she truly has what it takes to face her father and the secrets of her past, or if she’d be better off hiding in the dark.

My opinion: Most of us have probably entertained the idea: what happens to the world if the grid goes down? It should come as no surprise then that authors explore this in teen novels. In this case we have a character with the perfect skill set to survive in an emergency. She knows how to protect herself, where to go for safety, and has emergency supplies ready to go. This can't protect her from chaos, though. From random events that make her survival much less of a guarantee. It informs her choices, makes her and her crew more likely to survive to be sure. The first couple of chapters are tense and action packed. As her group travels, though, their challenges become increasingly strange. Society seems to be crumbling at an accelerated pace. As they face bizarre foes, my ability to engage with the plot waned. What began as an interesting though experiment became chaos and meaningless violence.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley
 

Graphic Novel Spotlight - The Well

 

The Well by Jake Wyatt

In this book Wyatt has presented us with a unique concept. The set-up is actually fairly familiar if you read much fantasy - a group of isolated islands, largely held captive by a monster. But we don't jump directly into the secrets that lead to the situation. Instead our protagonist gets involved with wishes, with the magic at the core of the area. Through an impending curse she, and thus the reader, learns about fleeting, destructive, or selfish all consuming nature of wishes. The story is equal parts reflective and action oriented, perfectly suited to the graphic novel format. 

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Non-fiction book review - The Astronomer Who Questioned Everything

 

The Astronomer Who Questioned Everything By Laura Alary

 I love reading these children's biographies and recognizing what the reader is meant to apply to their own life from the details that the author gives focus. In this book Alary devotes most of the focus on Mitchell learning to ask questions, to be curious in an era that didn't encourage such things for girls. So the reader can gather the importance of thinking for yourself when it comes to innovation The story is fairly simple, easy enough for elementary readers to follow. The illustrations are stylized but not to a degree that makes them hard to follow. A solid addition to a picture book biography collection, especially one with a STEM focus.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Book review - Family of Liars

 

Title: Family of Liars

Author: e. lockhart

Genre: realistic fiction

Similar books: Where Secrets Lie by Eva V. Gibson

                     The Whole Thing Together by Ann Brashares

Rating:

 

not as good as it's predecessor

Summary (provided by publisher):A windswept private island off the coast of Massachusetts.
A hungry ocean, churning with secrets and sorrow.
A fiery, addicted heiress. An irresistible, unpredictable boy.
A summer of unforgivable betrayal and terrible mistakes.
Welcome back to the Sinclair family.
They were always liars.

My opinion: We Were Liars captured a lot of attention upon it's release and with good reason. Not only did it shine a stark light on privileged families and the destructive nature of inter-generational wealth, it did so with a compelling narrative and innovative structure. And it was a complete engaging book that left us thinking, left enough unanswered that we thought about it and debated it afterwards. But it didn't leave much room for further exploration, at least not in the form of a sequel. So it was not surprising when I learned that Lockhart was revisiting the Sinclair family that this was done in the form of a prequel. There are references in the first book to secrets and lies from the previous generation and this book endeavors to tell us about those secrets. But I'm not sure we really needed this. It doesn't break ground the way the first book did, ends up feeling like a rehash of the same ideas. If you're a true fan of We Were Liars this might be worth a read but I wouldn't make it a "must-read".

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Book review - Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians

 

Title: Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians

Author: Brandon Sanderson

Genre: adventure/humor

Similar books: The Name of This Book is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch

                     The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

Rating:

 

a clever collection of details

Summary (provided by publisher): Everything I'd known about the world was a lie.
On my thirteenth birthday, I, Alcatraz Smedry (yes, I got named after a prison, don’t ask) received my inheritance: a bag of sand. And then I accidentally destroyed my foster parents’ kitchen. It’s not my fault, things just break around me, I swear!
I thought the sand was a joke until evil Librarians came to steal it. You’re probably thinking, “Librarians are nice people who recommend good books,” but that’s just what they want you to think! It turns out they’re actually a secret cult keeping the truth from you—a hidden world filled with magical eyeglasses, talking dinosaurs, and knights with crystal swords!
Or so my Grandpa Smedry claimed when he suddenly showed up to rescue me. So now I have to go with him to invade the local library and get that sand back, before it's used to conquer the world. And Grandpa says how I keep breaking things is actually an amazing talent. There’s no way that can all be true, right?
Will I ever make it back home alive?

My opinion: There is a very specific subgenre of middle grade fiction that this book fits into: books where reality is not what we think. Where a very normal kid finds themself in the midst of a wild adventure with villains and sword fights, with mythological beasts and plots to take over the world. And peculiarities about yourself turn out to be signs that you are meant for something bigger. Sand, weird glasses, and a tendency to break things don't sound like elements that would make for an exciting story so it is a testament to Sanderson's skill and creativity that this book makes any kind of sense. It follows an internal logic even if it defies the logic of the natural world. This is a book that will be too much for many readers but is worth a look if you like the off-beat.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Picture books for everyone

 

Franz's Phantasmagorical Machine by Beth Anderson

In this book Anderson tells the story of Austrian inventor Franz Gsellmann. He's some one most of us will never have heard of. He didn't invent something we use every day or that everyone admires for it's ingenuity. In fact, what he invented is really just an oddity, more of an art piece than an invention. That's actually what makes this book worth reading. It's not a story of innovation, constantly striving to make a thing better. It's a celebration of curiosity, of doing a thing simply because it brings you joy. While it may be of limited interest to the average reader, I could easily see using this in a classroom setting to introduce a creative project.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.

Non-fiction book review - A Taste for Poison

 A Taste for Poison by Neil Bradbury

Like many people, I have some fascination with true crime. It is the non-fiction sub-genre that I find consistently compelling rather than dry and dull. And that interest extends to books like this one, less about individual killers than about poisons and their historical use. I expected this to be a deep dive into the 11 historical cases with a brief overview of the poison involved. Not so, friends! Bradbury dives deep into the effects of poisons on the body, the science of neurotransmitters and how poisons both kill and cure. For a more clinical exploration it did a solid job of keeping me engaged even though I am not especially science minded. And I have a couple of friends interested in bio-chemistry who will likely enjoy it even more.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

 

Hello again

 Hi friends. I know I disappeared for a while there. I had it in my head that I could keep up a regular blogging schedule while moving house. And it turns out I very much cannot. 

But, I've finished moving and hope to be back to my normal blogging schedule soon. Thanks for sticking with me.