Book review - Please Return to the Lands of Luxury

 

Title: Please Return to the Lands of Luxury

Author: Jon Tilton

Genre: sci-fi/dystopian fiction

Similar books: The Last Beekeeper by Pablo Cartaya

                      D-39 by Irene Latham

Rating:

 

gives the reader plenty to consider

Summary (provided by publisher): An unexpected treasure. A treacherous journey. A thrilling adventure that will shape her future.
Jane lives on an island of trash. And even though she has to scavenge garbage and deal with sinister robots, she still loves her home. It’s all she’s ever experienced, from her most cherished memories to her foggy past that she can’t quite remember.
But when a doll shows up in the latest batch of garbage, everything changes. Unlike the rest of the junk, the doll is in excellent condition, including its tag which reads, “Please return to Gloria Thatcher.”
Convinced it arrived by accident, Jane vows to return the doll to its rightful owner. There’s just one problem—nobody has left the island before, thanks to the tyrannical robots guarding the Docks, a dangerous place with a mysterious history.
Will Jane find safe passage to the Lands of Luxury? Will she uncover the secrets of her past?
Embark on this thrilling adventure where Jane and her friends discover the importance of hardship and the beauty in sharing stories with life’s greatest treasure—our friends and family.

My opinion: There aren't many authors who address dystopia for such a young audience. When they do, the tend to focus on a single failing, on bad government or cruelty. Simple issues of control are easier for a child to digest and mentally resolve. Tilton does not fall into that trap. This book takes on class disparity, willful ignorance, grief and memory, and the way that bureaucracy discourages individuals from thinking. The book is not without it's faults but is admirable for addressing such big topics in simple, accessible language.

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Listen with me

 

Stars and Smoke by Marie Lu

Here is a book that promises to blend the glamour of the rising fame of a pop star with the thrills of espionage. There will be the expected elements of mismatched partners learning to respect each other but it could be a pretty exciting listen. Let's find out together.

Non-fiction book review - God Made the Dinosaurs

 

God Made the Dinosaurs by Michael and Caroline Carroll

Like most kids I went through a pretty significant phase of fascination with dinosaurs. I learned all about fossil records and carbon dating, different eras of dinosaurs and the links between species. It was all presented in a clear, scientific way that I easily accepted as fact. This lead to a lot of confusion later, then, when some well meaning person presented me with alternate ideas. With books that told me that carbon dating was based on guesses, that dinosaurs were lizards that had been allowed to live longer lives and thus kept growing to huge sizes. In short, religious books that told me science was wrong.  It was hard for me to reconcile and lead me to question whether science and religion could ever be compatible. Enter this book. I wish it was one that had existed in my youth. Because the authors lead with science. We are presented with loads of facts about the prehistoric world and the animals that lived in it. Information is cited. We aren't just told about claws and skeletons. We are told how fossils and scientific examination proves these ideas. God is acknowledged as the maker, the driving force behind these wonders. While it is science forward, there is a fair amount of "god talk" so if religion isn't your bag this isn't the book for you. But if you are looking for a way to bridge the gap between faith and science this is a solid way to do that.

More information: God Made the Dinosaurs releases April 4.

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Book review - Wild Bird

 

Title: Wild Bird

Author: Diane Zahler

Genre: historical fiction

Similar books: Northwind by Gary Paulsen

                     Where the World Ends by Geraldine McCaughrean

Rating:

 

well written but a hard sell

Summary (provided by publisher): Her name was Rype. That wasn’t really her name. It was what the strangers called her. She didn’t remember her real name. She didn’t remember anything at all.
Rype was hiding in the hollow of a tree trunk when they found her. She was hungry, small, cold, alone. She did not speak their language, or understand their mannerisms. But she knew this: To survive, she would have to go with them.
In fourteenth-century Norway, the plague has destroyed the entire village of Skeviga. To stay alive, Rype, the only one left, must embark on a sweeping adventure across Europe with the son of an English ship captain and a band of troubadours in search of a brighter future and a new home.

My opinion: Plague stories can make for pretty compelling reading, especially when it comes to the Black Death. It was a major source of fear, killing quickly and indiscriminately. So we start with Rype, the sole survivor of a plague struck village. She experiencing a world falling apart in every direction as people respond in fear to the threat of illness. So it is a book about a physical journey as well as a personal search for a way to move forward. It is absolutely beautifully written, balancing moments of beauty and joy with absolute destruction and loss. The historical context can make it a bit of a hard sell and the lack of a central thesis, a message that the reader can take from the text, makes for a slow, meandering read.

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Book Bag

 I got a package this winter and when I started to break down the box I was struck by how much it looked like an oversized book.

Because I'm me, I couldn't let the resemblance go. So I set the box aside in hopes of finding the perfect fabric to complete the look. I eventually scrounged up some coordinating fabrics out of our rag bag (I'm on a serious upcycling kick). With a little glue and a strap from my crafting supplies, I feel like the end result is a bag that at least puts one in mind of a novel.

Graphic novel spotlight

 

Twistwood Tales by A.C. McDonald

Let's start by stating this plainly - this book as a bit weird. If you like a straightforward narrative this is not the book for you. But if you're cool with strangeness, if you loved "Gravity Falls" and especially "Over the Garden Wall", then this is the book for you. It's a collection of web comics so there is no narrative, just moments and recurring characters. Some pages are one-off gags and puns, mostly darkly humorous. Other pages are a reflection on the nature of existence and a plea to be kind to yourself. This is a book you could return to time and again, always finding the thing you need be it a simple laugh or some reassurance in a hard time.

More information: Twistwood Tales releases April 4.

 Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Non-fiction book review - Grow Great Vegetables Michigan

 

Grow Great Vegetables Michigan by Bevin Cohen

 My family has been gardening for a long time but we've always relied on the wisdom of experience and habit to guide our choices. It has long been my opinion, for just about any subject, that there is always room to learn. I as eager to see what this volume could teach us. And there's a lot to glean here, even for the experienced gardener. There's a solid section on soil types and micro-climates which will absolutely inform your gardening experience. A large bulk of the text is dedicated to individual vegetables: how and when to plant them and the kind of maintenance care that they need. I am confident that the information I've learned from this book will improve the quality of our plants and eagerly encourage you to do the same.

More information: Grow Great Vegetables Michigan releases April 4.

But, you protest, I don't live in Michigan. Why should I care? Don't worry, friends. There is a whole Grow Great Vegetables series for each state.

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Book review - The Next New Syrian Girl

 

Title: The Next New Syrian Girl

Author: Ream Shukairy

Genre: realistic fiction

Similar books: Saadia by Colleen Nelson

                     Out of Nowhere by Maria Padian

Rating:

 

solid combination of elements

Summary (provided by publisher): Khadija Shami is a Syrian American high school senior raised on boxing and football. Saddled with a monstrous ego and a fierce mother to test it, she dreams of escaping her sheltered life to travel the world with her best friend.
Leene Tahir is a Syrian refugee, doing her best to adjust to the wildly unfamiliar society of a suburban Detroit high school while battling panic attacks and family pressures.
When their worlds collide the result is catastrophic. To Khadija, Leene embodies the tame, dutiful Syrian ideal she's long rebelled against. And to Leene, Khadija is the strong-willed, closed-off American who makes her doubt her place in the world.
But as Khadija digs up Leene’s past, a startling and life-changing discovery forces the two of them closer together. As the girls secretly race to unravel the truth, a friendship slowly and hesitantly begins blooming. Doubts are cast aside as they realize they have more in common than they each expected. What they find takes them on a journey all the way to Jordan, challenging what each knows about the other and herself.

My opinion: This book could easily have become a trite exploration of privilege and identity. And those are certainly big elements of this story Khadija is undeniably privileged. Not just compared to Leene but compared to the average American teen. This is where the weight of expectation comes into play. Everyone makes assumptions about who she is and what motivates here. The result is two complicated characters, both damaged by the past in unique ways. While Khadija is not always very likeable and Leene is perhaps a bit idealized they are complex enough to be interesting and keep us engaged with the plot.

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Coat pins

 At Christmastime I made a sheep pin for my coat and was surprised by how much I loved it. I'm not usually into decorations on my outerwear but I loved that sheep to the point that I left it on my coat well into February and felt a bit bereft when I finally removed it. I figured the solution was to add a more all-seasons pin to liven up my coat until warmer weather. I was inspired by old decorative medals to take a bit of ribbon and add a charm. Since it is reading month, I thought I'd make a little felt book. The results were ... underwhelming.

I had just about given up on the pin idea when I found some little decorative glass bottles at my dollar store and was reminded of a bit from one of Disney's oft forgotten gems - "The Emperor's New Groove". A felt scrap and a bit of plain white sticker with some marker was all it took to replicate the poison vial. 

 

The poison. The poison for Kuzco, the poison chosen especially to kill Kuzco, Kuzco's poison. That poison?

Book review - Midnight Strikes

 

Title: Midnight Strikes

Author: Zeba Shahnaz

Genre: fantasy

Similar books: Seeker by Arwen Elys Dalton

                     No True Echo by Gareth P Jones

Rating:

 

interesting take on the time loop

Summary (provided by publisher): Seventeen-year-old Anaïs just wants tonight to end. As an outsider at the kingdom’s glittering anniversary ball, she has no desire to rub shoulders with the nation’s most eligible (and pompous) bachelors—especially not the notoriously roguish Prince Leo. But at the stroke of midnight, an explosion rips through the palace, killing everyone in its path. Including her.
The last thing Anaïs sees is fire, smoke, chaos . . . and then she wakes up in her bedroom, hours before the ball. No one else remembers the deadly attack or believes her warnings of disaster.
Not even when it happens again. And again. And again.
If she’s going to escape this nightmarish time loop, Anaïs must take control of her own fate and stop the attack before it happens. But the court's gilded surface belies a rotten core, full of restless nobles grabbing at power, discontented commoners itching for revolution, and even royals who secretly dream of taking the throne. It's up to Anaïs to untangle these knots of deadly deceptions . . . if she can survive past midnight.

My opinion: At first blush this seems like it's going to be a fairly standard fairy tale type story. After all, we have a teen girl from an outsider family pressured to make a good impression at a royal ball. These are pretty familiar elements. But Shahnaz takes a hard left turn, introducing the time loop element at the end of the first chapter. We loop over the same events over and over, each version failing for different reasons as Anais learns more about her country, her peers, the royal family, and the nature of magic. It takes a bit of patience to wade through which details are actually going to matter but it's no less interesting for that.

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Non-fiction book review - A Star Explodes

 

A Star Explodes by James Gladstone

When we think about significant events in space, things that would have been noted historically, we tend to think of comets and eclipses. Especially when it comes to an event as far back as 1054. I guess it had never occurred to me that a supernova had ever been observed by people. This is an event that was never mentioned in any of my history or science classes. While my own knowledge of space and things observable in the night sky is pretty limited I was pretty fascinated by this quick book. I don't know that it will be enough to induce an interest in astronomy in a child but for those already into space this is a must read.

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Book review - A Bit of Earth

 

Title: A Bit of Earth

Author: Karuna Riazi

Genre: magical realism/retelling

Similar books: The Tigers in the Tower by Julia Golding

                      Listening for Lions by Gloria Whelan

Rating:

 

most interesting in comparison

Summary (provided by publisher): Growing up in Pakistan, Maria Latif has been bounced between reluctant relatives for as long as she can remember—first because of her parents’ constant travel, and then because of their deaths. Maria has always been a difficult child, and it never takes long for her guardians to tire of her. So when old friends of her parents offer to “give her a better life” in the United States, Maria is shipped to a host family across the world.
When Maria arrives on Long Island, things are not quite what she was expecting. Mr. Clayborne has left on an extended business trip, Mrs. Clayborne seems emotionally fraught, and inexplicable things keep happening in the Claybornes’ sprawling house. And then Maria finds a locked gate to an off-limits garden. Since she’s never been good at following rules, Maria decides to investigate and discovers something she never thought she’d find: a place where she feels at home.

My opinion: I wasn't sure that a modern retelling of The Secret Garden would really work. So many of the plot elements of the original story aren't really relevant any more. But the bones of the story are here - a disagreeable child sent to live with people who don't really know what to do with her; a boy who doesn't want her around; the restorative power of working in the earth. There are significant differences, of course, but I think those changes work in this book's favor. They make Maria's story a bit more universal. We all have moments where we don't feel like we belong in the place where we've found ourselves. There are some plot elements that are underdeveloped, especially the role of the two Mrs Claybornes but overall I think it's an interesting read, especially for a kid who has recently read the classic original.

More information: A Bit of Earth releases March 14.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Granny square hat

 I realized recently that even though I've been crocheting since I was a kid, I've never made granny squares. So when I found a pattern for a granny square hat in this booklet I figured it was time.

The process is pretty simple - crochet six squares and one hexagon.

Connect them with a slip-stich join and add a single crochet band.

Book review - Eb & Flow

 

Title: Eb & Flow

Author: Kelly J. Baptist

Genre: realistic fiction/verse novel

Similar books: Hazard by Frances O'Roark Dowell

                      Hidden by Helen Frost

Rating:

 

compelling reading

Summary (provided by publisher): Two kids. One fight. No one thinks they’re wrong.
Flow
I don’t even hit girls . . . is what I’m thinking.
I roll my eyes, turn them to my shoes.
Shoes I’ma wear every day till they fall off my feet.
Eb
It was all just an accident!
Nobody was trying to mess up
his Stupid Ugly Shoes.
Now I’ve got my third suspension of seventh grade.
Ebony and De’Kari (aka Flow) do not get along. How could they when their cafeteria scuffle ended with De'Kari's ruined shoes, Ebony on the ground, and both of them with ten days of at-home suspension? Now Eb and Flow have two weeks to think about and explain their behavior—to their families, to each other, and ultimately to themselves.

My opinion: Like all good verse novels, this one sets a fast pace. Yes, we're spending a fair amount of time reflecting on the characters feelings. But Baptist also paints a solid picture of the lives of these kids. We see how they interact with their families, the weight of expectations and disapproval, of responsibilities. They are also, in many ways, standard middle grade kids. They make snap decisions, react emotionally, without fully considering what might happen as a result. This leads to the fight that starts the narrative, of course, but has larger consequences later in the book as well. The messaging is easily grasped and the plot easily followed. A solid choice for most middle grade readers.

More information: Eb & Flow releases March 14.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Pick 6 - books about books

 Normally I use my pick 6 posts to feature a list of recently published books. But it's March and that means reading month so I thought I'd do something a little different. I want to share with you some books where books are vital to the plot. Some are focused on book banning and the power of reading to change a person's life. Others have books that are magic or clues to a mystery. Most of these books were published more than six months ago but maybe don't get as much attention as they deserve

Six books about books

1. Answers in the Pages by David Levithan
2. Property of the Rebel Librarian by Allison Varnes
3. Here Comes Mr. Flat by Jaume Copons
4. Ban This Book by Alan Gratz
5. Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley
6. The Most Frightening Story Ever Told by Philip Kerr 

Bonus - my favorite picture book - We Are in a Book! by Mo Willems 

 

happy reading

Non-fiction book review - The Brilliant Calculator

 

The Brilliant Calculator by Jan Lower

I certainly had never heard of Edith Clarke before this book. I had also never considered the high level math that is involved in running electrical wires. At picture book length this book clearly doesn't get into the math or theory involved in what Clarke accomplished. We are simply given the sense that it was very complicated and that Clarke sat down to use her passion for math to simplify that task and reduce the risk of arithmetic errors. What results is a book not so much about math and engineering as it is about perseverance and following your passions in the face of disapproval. If you're looking for a new face to introduce to your young readers for women's history month, consider Edith Clarke.

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Book review - You Are Here

 

Title: You Are Here: Connecting Flights

Edited by: Ellen Oh

Genre: realistic fiction/linked short stories

Similar books: The Kids of Cattywampus Street by Lisa Jahn-Clough

                      Look Both Ways by Jason Reynolds

Rating:

 

a great experience

Summary (provided by publisher): An incident at a TSA security check point sows chaos and rumors, creating a chain of events that impacts twelve young Asian Americans in a crowded and restless airport. As their disrupted journeys crisscross and collide, they encounter fellow travelers—some helpful, some hostile—as they discover the challenges of friendship, the power of courage, the importance of the right word at the right time, and the unexpected significance of a blue Stratocaster electric guitar. 
Twelve powerhouse Asian American authors explore themes of identity and belonging in the entwined experiences of young people whose family roots may extend to East and Southeast Asia, but who are themselves distinctly American.

My opinion: An airport is a place of transition, a place where hundreds of people cross paths daily, so it's a great setting for a collection of short stories. Here we see a dozen Asian characters traveling to a variety of different places. Some are excited, others resentful. They have complex relationships with their families and with their racial identity. And all of them face some degree of racism. They respond in assorted ways. And all of them cross paths in some small way, each story contributing a small element to the next. Since they're short stories none of them are especially complex. Still, they are a solid read and contribute to a reflective conversation about assumptions and race relations.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Bookmarks

 While I'm working on a couple of larger projects, one of which I hope to have ready to share with you soon, I made a couple of quick bookmarks. I had a square of this nice creamy tan colored cardstock in my stash that made me think of a well blended latte. So of course I made one of these bookmarks coffee themed.

Book review - What Stays Buried

 

Title: What Stays Buried

Author: Suzanne Young

Genre: light horror

Similar books: Spirit's Key by Edith Cohn

                      The Mesmerist by Ronald L. Smith

Rating:

 

well balanced

Summary (provided by publisher): Twelve-year-old Calista Wynn will lose her ability to speak with the dead on her thirteenth birthday.
And with only a few weeks left, children have started going missing.
When Calista meets The Tall Lady—an angry spirit with a grudge against Calista, her family, and the entire town—she knows she’s found the ghost responsible for the disappearances.
It’s up to Calista, the only one who can see The Tall Lady, to stop her. If she doesn’t, Calista won’t just lose her powers… she’ll lose everyone she has left.

My opinion: Young has given us a solid read here. There are rules provided from the start for the psychics - who can interact with ghosts and when. Their other "gifts" are a bit more nebulous and undefined which would be my primary criticism. Now, those rules are so solid that it makes the plot a bit predictable. Or to put it more positively, the ending is inevitable. We might hope for things to work out differently but we accept the resolution because it's fair. It follows the rules. There aren't a lot of complex child characters but the ones we get are solid. It's a compelling read and a solid example of the genre.

More information: What Stays Buried releases March 7.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Graphic novel spotlight: The Snowcat Prince

 

The Snowcat Prince by Dina Norlund

If ever there was a book that you should judge by the cover, it's this one. There's a lot going on in that cover image alone. We see two worlds, red toned and blue; a glowing eyed, long fanged beast; a crown that glows with power; and most importantly, a cute, large-eyed cat that radiates innocence.  All of these elements play an important role in this plot about power, family, history, and duty. The plot is strong and the art is even stronger. Even better, this is a book that you can read several times and take something different away with each read.

 

More information: The Snowcat Prince releases March 7.

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Non-fiction book review - Total Garbage

 

Total Garbage by Rebecca Donnelly

If I had to guess, I'd say most of us have only the barest idea of what happens to our garbage. We know that it goes to a landfill but do we really know what that means? Well, if we read this book we do. Donnelly presents the full picture of waste disposal in a clear and concise way with accessible vocabulary. None of this goes into a great deal of depth but each part of the process is presented along with benefits and concerns, both immediate and long term. And it doesn't stop with landfills. We also learn about waste water treatment and recycling. And the impacts explored are environmental, political, racial, and economical. I'd call this a must read for a family trying to better understand their individual impact on the world and the environment.

More information: Total Garbage releases March 7.

Advance Reader Copy provided by NetGalley