Just a note

 Hi friends

This is just a heads up. I'm taking a little break this week while I'm away on an adventure. I'll see you in May when we'll talk The One And Only Ivan, Mother's Day, Star Wars, and many, many books. See you soon.

Picture books for everyone

 

I Like This Color by Liz Goulet Dubois

This book is a bit more simple than I typically feature in this segment but frankly, I like this book. The plot is quite simple - Duck and Cluck disagree about what color they should paint a wall. They express their opinions loudly and increasingly aggressively, ultimately resulting in the colors combining into a swirl that neither one expected. The writing is simple and easy to follow. The art is also fairly simple though the characters are quite expressive. And best of all, we have an excellent use of sound effects. Some of the best sound words I've seen used in a picture book in a while. It's not a deep story but it is a lot of fun and would make an excellent read-aloud. 

More information: I Like This Color releases May 1.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Non-fiction book review - The Mind-Blowing World of Extraordinary Competitions

 

The Mind-Blowing World of Extraordinary Competitions by Anna Goldfield

 This book has solid curiosity appeal for young readers. It's the same drive that leads us to read the Guinness Book of World Records or Ripley's Believe it or Not. This book has a similar tone, focusing more on factoids than an in depth exploration of any one topic. Reading it reminded me of books like It's Disgusting and We Ate It. The reader won't learn much from this volume, necessarily, but it might encourage further reading on a topic.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Book review - Making Friends With Monsters

 

Title: Making Friends With Monsters

Author: Sandra L Rostirolla

Genre: realistic fiction

Similar books: Lolo's Light by Liz Garton Scanlon

                      Rain Rising by Courtne Comrie 

Rating: 

 

an honest look and big ideas for a middle grade audience

Summary (provided by publisher): Why does everything have to be so complicated? Why? Monsters! That’s why! They stick their scungy little noses into everything.

Twelve-year-old Sam learns this lesson the hard way. His fact-finding mission about Monsters starts off with the best of intensions. He just wants to help his older brother, Ben. After a terrible accident awakens his own Monster, Sam’s behaviour starts causing problems with everyone, including the girl he loves. He discovers the family secret that caused Ben’s downward spiral and realizes that someone else also has a Monster. And the hideous beast did something really bad.

If Sam is to get through this mess, he needs to find a way to make friends with his Monster before the ravenous beast turns around and swallows him whole. 

My opinion: Most middle grade fiction does not approach such big ideas with such such straightforward, brutal honesty. There is no delicate dancing around the desperation and depression involved here, the high stress levels and destruction of relationships and the situation devolves and the drought continues. This family gets hit with one bad thing after another and can see no way out of the increasingly deep hole. It's a brutally honest book which means it is likely to be too much for some young readers. It's a book I would want to discuss with a kid after they read it to make sure they were able to deal with the realities it discusses. 

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Garden markers

 We are in active garden planning and preparation mode around here. The seeds are purchased and some of the seedlings are started in the greenhouse. As we prepare the big garden plot I'm trying to keep myself organized. Part of that this year includes marking exactly where I've planted some of my seeds. I'm trying out some garden markers for the first time. But I hate spending money unnecessarily so I thought I'd reuse something we already had. And one thing we have in abundance is used canning jar lids. A little rubbing alcohol takes the permanent marker labels off of the lids and preps them for reuse.

I relabeled them for garden use with marker and a little paint pen for decoration.

 

Listen with me

The One and Only Ivan and The One and Only Bob by Katherine Applegate
 

What's this? Another audio post immediately after the last one? Bear with me, because this is an extra special, double audio book post. In anticipation of the release of The One and Only Ruby on May 2, I am rereading The One and Only Ivan for the second or third time and reading The One and Only Bob for the first time. I'll be posting about all three books on May 2. Read along with me if you can.

Listen with me

 Stars and Smoke by Marie Lu

Pop stars and secret agents combine surprisingly well in this thriller by Marie Lu. It helps that both Winter and Sydney are complex characters. Winter is not your typical self-centered oblivious star. He's making up for a lifetime of feeling inadequate. Sydney is harboring secrets of her own and won't let herself get close to anyone. Throw the pair into an intense situation with implications that could be world altering and you have a fast-paced, action oriented story with a little bit of pathos behind it. While the writing can fall into cliche at moments (especially in fight scenes where there are many references to shocks and starbursts of pain, to light leaving a person's eyes) the pacing is spot-on and the ending is quite satisfying. It's not especially deep but makes for an exciting listen.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Leaf pillow

 I had this idea to make a cushion shaped like a life, either for this hard wooden chair at home or for my stool at work. I wanted to use materials I already had on hand so I fashioned my cushion from a shirt, some egg crate mattress pad, and scraps of quilt batting.

First I designed my leaf shape and traced it onto the shirt. Cut out the leaf leaving a good half inch to an inch seam allowance.

Cut the same shape from the foam and quilt batting. I cut two of each to get a nice thick cushion.

 

Sew most of the way around the outline and then turn it right side out and jam the padding inside. My shirt was knit fabric so it stretched to cover the cushion without needing any trimming. Sew the opening shut.

 

At this point my leaf was pretty bulgy so I stitched in the vein lines to hold it a little flatter.

Book review - Strictly No Heroics

 

Title: Strictly No Heroics

Author: B.L. Radley

Genre: sci-fi/dystopia

Similar books: The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness

                     The Extraordinaries by T. J. Klune

Rating:

 

a bit of a mixed bag

Summary (provided by publisher): A Normie’s guide to staying alive in Sunnylake City:
1. Keep your head down.
2. Don’t make enemies.
3. Strictly no heroics.
The world is run by those with the Super gene, and Riley Jones doesn’t have it. She’s just a Normie, ducking her way around the hero vs. villain battles that constantly demolish Sunnylake City, working at a crappy diner to save up money for therapy, and trying to figure out how to tell her family that she’s queer. But when Riley retaliates against a handsy superhero at work, she finds herself in desperate need of employment, and the only place that will hire her is HENCH.
Yes, HENCH, as in henchmen: masked cronies who take villains' coffee orders, vacuum their secret lairs, and posture in the background while they fight. Riley's plan is to mind her own business and get paid...but that quickly devolves when she witnesses a horrible murder on the job. Caught in the thick of a gentrification plot, a unionization effort, and a developing crush on her prickly fellow henchwoman, Riley must face the possibility that even a powerless Normie can take a stand against injustice.

My opinion: I wished I liked this book more than I do. It starts out in what has become familiar territory - the realization that a world with superheroes probably wouldn't be very friendly to non-powered people. In this case, all of the best jobs, the roles with power and influence, go to people with powers. The "normies" are scrambling to feed their families and have few opportunities for anything better. And the "good guys" take whatever they want, no matter who it hurts. This exploration of what it means to be a hero and who declares someone a villain is fairly commonplace. This book stand out from the crowd in that it doesn't stop there. Sure, the heroes are kind of jerks. But the villains are undeniably evil if fairly ridiculous. As the plot progresses we realize that there are other power structures at play, that the dramas that play out on the news and in the streets aren't exactly what they appear. Those additional elements make this a unique read. I did struggle with it, though, largely due to pacing. There are so many elements, so many pieces at play between family drama, relationships, the details of the job, the efforts to unionize, and the larger plot of the heroes and the town, that the book seems to plod along. This is one that requires some patience.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by Net

Pick 6 - Magic

Many readers love a good magical element. Sometimes that's a whole fantasy world populated by faeries and witches. Sometimes it's a small element of magic existing in an otherwise familiar world. No matter how it is represented, magic sparks our imagination and suggests that anything is possible. Here are six books published in the past six months that feature some form of magic.

Six new magical novels

1. Suitehearts by Claire Kann
2. Unfamiliar by Haley Newsom
3. The Carrefour Curse by Dianne K Silerinis
4. Revelle by Lyssa Mia Smith
5. The Snowcat Prince by Dana Norlund
6. Midnight Strikes by Zeba Shahraz

Book review - Bea and the New Deal Horse

 

Title: Bea and the New Deal Horse

Author: L.M. Elliot

Genre: historical fiction

Similar books: Lucky Strikes by Louis Bayard

                      Saving Grace by Priscilla Cummings

Rating:

 

solid and engaging

Summary (provided by publisher): Bea wakes to Daddy’s note in a hayloft, where he abandoned her with her little sister after the stock market crash took everything: Daddy’s job at the bank, their home, Mama’s health and life.
How is Bea supposed to convince the imposing Mrs. Scott to take in two stray children? Mrs. Scott’s money and Virginia farm are drying up in a drought and the Great Depression, too. She might have to sell her beautiful horses, starting with a dangerous chestnut that has caused tragedy in the past and injures her stableman shortly after Bea arrives.
But wrestling with her own hurts and fears, Bea understands the chestnut’s skittish distrust. She sees hope in the powerful jumper—if he can compete at horse shows, they might save the farm, and maybe Bea can even win a place in Mrs. Scott’s heart.

My opinion: The first noteworthy thing about this book is the perspective. Typically books about the Depression focus on the Dust Bowl, on farmers. This book instead shows us people used to privilege. Bea goes from a comfortable home and her own pony to life on the road, hiding nights in barns, as her father fails to cope with his extreme change in circumstances. We see the same stress and loss in the Scott home as the lady of the house and just a few beloved employees try to keep the the taxes paid and the lights on. We see people helping each other and trying to maintain a little dignity even in the worst circumstances. Importantly, we also see racial injustice, failings of government, and the wasteful displays of wealth by the hyper rich. We see cruelty and it's echoing effect on those at the receiving end and on bystanders. While the ending is a bit idealized the parallels between an abused horse and people damaged by circumstance are a solid metaphor for this age group.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Tic-tac-toast

 While scrolling through Pinterest the other day (a really bad time-wasting habit, I must admit) I spotted this pin.

I loved the idea, though the avocado part didn't really resonate with me. So I set out to make my own version. Instead of toast shapes and topping shapes, I opted to make my board toast shaped with jam and butter pieces. I made my set out of scrap t-shirt, a zipper scavenged from an old pair of pants, felt, and velcro.