Book review - The Labors of Hercules Beal

 

Title: The Labors of Hercules Beal

Author: Gary D. Schmidt

Genre: realistic fiction

Similar books: The Hurricanes of Weakerville by Chris Rylander

                     A Duet for Home by Karina Yan Glaser

Rating:

 

Schmidt at his best

Summary (provided by publisher): Herc Beal knows who he's named after—a mythical hero—but he's no superhero. He's the smallest kid in his class. So when his homeroom teacher at his new middle school gives him the assignment of duplicating the mythical Hercules's amazing feats in real life, he's skeptical. After all, there are no Nemean Lions on Cape Cod—and not a single Hydra in sight.
Missing his parents terribly and wishing his older brother wasn't working all the time, Herc figures out how to take his first steps along the road that the great Hercules himself once walked. Soon, new friends, human and animal, are helping him. And though his mythical role model performed his twelve labors by himself, Herc begins to see that he may not have to go it alone.

My opinion: If you know me, you know of my admiration for Gary D Schmidt. I count The Wednesday Wars and Okay For Now among my top ten favorites. So it is no small praise for me to say that this volume approaches them in excellence. In this book Schmidt has recaptured the magic of The Wednesday Wars - a run of the mill kid who is forced by a teacher to have encounters with classic literature and in the process learns about the world and himself. The lessons he learns from classics helps him decide the kind of person he is going to become, what it means to be brave and honorable. Along the way he begins to see the people around him in a new light and to accept change no matter how much it hurts. These are big ideas and the plot does not attempt to simplify the world. This is one kid finding his own ways forward, not the easy answer that fixes everything. This is a book you can reread and appreciate every time.

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Book review - The Do-Over

 

Title: The Do-Over

Author: Rodrigo Vargas and Coni Yovaniniz

Genre: realistic fiction/graphic novel

Similar books: Zebrafish by Sharon Emerson

                      Shark Summer by Ira Marcks

Rating:

 

a cute twist on a standard set-up

Summary (provided by publisher): Shy Mariana is looking for her chance to shine. She's having trouble making friends after a cross-country move to Ohio, plus, her dad refuses to let her help out at his hair salon, despite the fact that she's a social media expert!
So when she meets science whiz Zoe and creative maven Everly, and the three decide to start their own hair styling studio, she finally finds the friends—and the calling—she’s been searching for. The trio's studio, True Colors, is a smash hit, and the girls are having a blast. Not to mention, Mariana loves helping her fellow middle-school clients express themselves.
But with the town Harvest Fest on the horizon and a line of customers always at the door, the friends have to scale up quickly, and they don't always agree on how. Can Mariana find the courage to speak up for what she wants? And does True Colors have what it takes to succeed in business and friendship?

My opinion: Middle grade fiction is full of stories about kids moving to a new town and finding "their people". This narrative skews a little young but doesn't suffer for that fact. Instead it provides us with a fairly straightforward example of being true to yourself while also learning to care about the concerns of other people. The messaging alone makes it worth a read but it's presented with appealing illustrations and quirky characters. A solid choice for young middle graders.

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Graphic novel spotligh

 

Squire & Knight by Scott Chantler

The plot of this book doesn't bring a lot of surprises based on the set up: a braggart knight and his bookish squire arrive in a town troubled by a dragon. It's classic brains versus brawn as the knight charges into a fight and the squire questions the stories he hears from the villagers. The power of this book is in the artwork. Each panel contributes to the narrative, lending action, details, and dynamic facial expressions. The limited color palate keeps the page from becoming chaotic. It's a book you can read repeatedly and be entertained every time. 

 Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Book review - Ruby Lost and Found

 

Title: Ruby Lost and Found

Author: Christina Li

Genre: realistic fiction

Similar books: The Half-True Lies of Cricket Cohen by Catherine Lloyd Burns

                      Friendship Over by Julie Sternberg

Rating:

 

great characters

Summary (provided by publisher): Thanks to her Ye-Ye’s epic scavenger hunts, Ruby Chu knows San Francisco like the back of her hand. But when he dies, she feels lost. It seems like everyone, from her best friends to her older sister, is abandoning her—and after Ruby gets caught skipping lunch to avoid sitting alone, she’s staring down a summer spent at her Nai-Nai’s senior center. When a new boy from Ruby’s class, Liam Yeung, starts showing up too, Ruby’s humiliation is complete.
But Nai-Nai, her friends, and Liam all surprise Ruby. She finds herself working with Liam, who might not be as annoying as he seems, to help save a historic Chinatown bakery that’s being priced out of the neighborhood. Alongside Nai-Nai, who is keeping a secret that threatens to change everything, Ruby retraces Ye-Ye’s scavenger hunt maps in an attempt to find a way out of her grief—and maybe even find herself.

My opinion:  Dealing with grief and major life changes are, individually, enough to carry a middle grade novel. Li combines the two deftly. This books hits all the major themes of a middle grade novel - changing friendships, feeling like your life is out of control, parental disapproval, unexpected relationships. Each flows naturally into the next. It doesn't offer simple solutions, more of the reassurance that any issue is manageable with help and taken one small step at a time.

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Hat hanger

 What do you do when you have a couple of nice structured hats and no good place to hang them? You could buy a hat-rack, of course, but if you're me you look for a solution you can make for yourself. Preferably something not too expensive and relatively space saving. I took my inspiration from this pin. I did a much simpler design and used cord made from an old jersey knit sheet. 

Book review - The Takeout

 

Title: The Takeout

Author: Tracy Badua

Genre: realistic fiction

Similar books: Happily for Now by Kelly Murpy

                     Measuring Up by Lily LaMotte

Rating:

 

well plotted

Summary (provided by publisher): When a celebrity chef’s new restaurant threatens Mila’s family’s food truck, she plans to expose them for the recipe thieves they are—even if that means dabbling in the Filipino folk magic she’s tried to avoid. Fans of Tae Keller and Lily LaMotte will cheer for this charming story about food, family, and finding the place you belong.
Mila may have moved to Coral Beach months ago, but it still doesn’t feel like home. She wants to belong, but a few awkward incidents with her new friends make her wonder if she’ll ever neatly fit into the super-samey small town.
Mila feels the only place she can be herself is at her dad’s Filipino-Indian food truck, The Banana Leaf. But when celebrity chef twins the Fab Foodie Brothers open a restaurant nearby, it turns out the food they are serving is exactly the same as The Banana Leaf's--right down to the recipes!
Suspicious of the similarities, Mila teams up with family friend Ajay to investigate. She soon realizes that she needs to take the beloved Fab Foodie Brothers down before they run her family's tiny truck out of town. But that means dabbling in the Filipino folk healing and magical traditions that she has shied away from her whole life . . . as well as alienating her new friends.  
Does Mila have to choose between her family and fitting in? Or, like the best recipes, will a blend of the traditional and the unexpected mix into something truly special?

My opinion: This book could easily have fallen into an easy good vs evil dichotomy. Consider the set up: a food truck accuses a celebrity restaurant of stealing their recipes. The little guy goes against seemingly impossible odds to take down the big guy who is lying and cheating. Basic stuff. But Badua elevates the plot by adding in more complexity. The powerful restaurant promises to bring more traffic to all of the businesses in their struggling town, so fighting will harm all of their friends. And side elements include the exploration of colorism, the complexities of cultural identity, and folk magic. None of the elements are explored in deep ways but with likeable characters and engaging writing this is a solid read for middle graders.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Picture books for everyone

 

Unicorn Not Wanted by Fred Blunt

We're seeing this construct more often now in picture books: the text starts with the narrator telling us explicitly what we won't find within the pages. Almost immediately the book is interrupted by a cheeky character determined to disrupt the plan. Of course, if the narrator tells us there are too many unicorn books and thus our book will have only cowboys, we're bound to have a unicorn intruding. The rest of the book follows a predictable pattern, with the unicorn and it's pug friend trying to sneak into the story and the narrator becoming increasingly frustrated. We know what's going to happen but it doesn't really matter. This style of narrative can be very appealing to a kid's sense of humor as it relies on disguises and wild excuses. The illustrations are exaggerated and expressive, making it a lot of fun to look at. This book would make an excellent read aloud for a mixed audience primed for a laugh.

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Book review - When Clouds Touch Us

 

Title: When Clouds Touch Us

Author: Thanhha Lai

Genre: historical fiction

Similar books: In the Beautiful Country by Jane Kuo

                     Red White and Whole by Rajani LaRocca

Rating:

 

well developed

Summary (provided by publisher): Hà and her family have worked hard to make a life for themselves in the US, but it hasn’t come easy. Hà has only just started to feel settled when Mother decides that the family will move to Texas for a new job.
Hà knows how hard starting over is and doesn’t want to have to do it again. But sometimes even an unwanted change can bring opportunity, new friends, and a place to call home.

My opinion: If you've read Inside Out and Back Again you'll know what to expect from this book. The first volume introduced us to a refugee family and their struggles to find a place to belong in small town Alabama. This volume extends those ideas. Book one had them getting their feet under them. This book introduces more change as their mother is no longer satisfied with just surviving. She wants a better life for them so this book is all about making sacrifices in the name of a better future while her children try to find a place to belong again. While it builds on the events of the previous book, familiarity isn't necessary to understand this one.

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Mother's Day

 At the end of April I promised you a post about Mother's Day. I had every intention of making a gift for my mother and documenting the process here. But that didn't happen. I bought her a book and some tea and instead spent the weekend doing things with my mother. We baked bread and cinnamon rolls. We cooked meals, planned a garden, talked about everything under the sun, and made a couple of silly projects. So sure, all I have to share with you today is a flower made from a coffee filter and a hastily colored hedgehog. I regret nothing.

Book review - Ghosts, Toast, and Other Hazards

 

Title: Ghosts, Toast, and Other Hazards

Author: Susan Tan

Genre: magical realism

Similar books: Spirit's Key by Edith Cohn

                     The Elephant's Girl by Celesta Rimington

Rating:

 

excellent use of details

Summary (provided by publisher): Mo is not afraid of toast. Just to be clear. She is afraid of fires, though. Which can be caused by everyday appliances, like toasters. So toast isn’t the problem, but you could say it’s the start of a slippery slope. Since her family's recent move, Mo's been eating oatmeal for breakfast.
Moving to a new town is never easy, but it’s even harder when you’re dealing with a stepdad who just left and a mom who can’t get out of bed long enough to find a new a job.
But Mo doesn’t have time to dwell on these things. Because it’s her job to keep her family together. To keep them safe.
So when an elephant starts to haunt her dreams—and a mysterious spirit attacks her home—Mo knows it’s up to her to intervene before things get too dangerous.
With her new friend, Nathaniel, she embarks on an investigation, searching for the truth about the town, its people, and their history. But things are much more complicated and tangled than she thought.
To find out what’s really going on, Mo might have to live a little dangerously after all.

My opinion: How do you tell a ghost story without making it scary? You tell this story. You have a ghost that has an effect on the world but without really haunting anything. Now, it becomes apparent pretty early on that the ghost is a symbol for change and loss. It is, after all, a literal elephant in the room. It is the pain that Mo and her family don't want to acknowledge. While that metaphor is a bit heavy-handed for an adult reader it's about perfect for a young reader starting to read more deeply in a text. Tan uses specific sensory details to great affect so we truly experience the ghost and the junkyard along with the characters. With a decent level of character development this is a solid choice for a solo read or a book club or classroom setting.

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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 books with animal protagonists:

1. Famously Funny Parrott by Eric Daniel Weiner
2. Pluto Rocket New in Town by Paul Gillian
3. Batcat by Meggie Ramm
4. Wizkit by Tanya J Scott
5. Otis & Peanut by Naseem Hrab
6. The One and Only Ruby by Katherine Applegate
   

Book review - A Robin, a Ribbon, and a Lawn Mower

 

Title: A Robin, a Ribbon, and a Lawn Mower

Author: Mark David Smith

Genre: mystery/humor

Similar books: Wallace and Grace Take the Case by Heather Alexander

                      The Ghost and Max Monroe series by L. M. Falcone 

Rating:

 

a nice blend of elements

Summary (provided by publisher): It’s summer, and the Weird Sisters are convinced that the residents of Covenly aren’t coming to their pet emporium—and newly opened detective agency—because the sisters are too strange. So they decide to let nine-year-old Jessica Nibley teach them how to play on the swing to fit in.
They soon discover the town’s beloved tire swing lying on the ground with its rope severed. Who would do such a thing? And why? Jessica and the sisters are determined to solve the mystery. As they search for clues, they stumble onto a second mystery: the robin that nests at Chelsea Oh’s house has gone missing. So they plan to find both the robin and the swing vandal.

My opinion: This is the second book in a series, a fact I didn't realize when I started reading it though that quickly became apparent. There are many references to previous events and established relationships and identities are not rehashed. Even so, that was only a minor barrier to understanding. Since this is a beginner chapter book, the plot and writing are pretty straightforward and easy to follow. There is a fair amount of humor, largely based on the multiple meanings for words and the confusion based in homophones. So not only is this a mystery, it could be used to reinforce lessons on grammar. It's a mystery but largely light hearted. There is no danger or serious crime. It's cute and one I would easily recommend to young readers.

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Thank goodness for toothbrushes

 This winter I learned the ancient art of nalbinding after I was gifted a book and needle for Christmas. After I finished my little basket, I set aside my needle until I could find some wool yarn for my next project. 

A couple of weeks ago I was gifted the perfect yarn and wouldn't you know, I can't find the needle. I'm quite certain I put it somewhere "safe". Too safe, I guess, because I'm going to have to move everything to find it. 

I was resigned to setting aside the yarn for months when I remembered a stash of used bamboo handled toothbrushes. I'd figured I would use them for spatter painting or detailed scrubbing but I was struck by the resemblance to my nalbinding needle.

Obviously, the toothbrush is much thicker but after I cut off the brush head it only took a couple of evenings shaving it down with my pocket knife to get the right general shape. Then I drilled in the eye and sanded the whole thing down. After letting the glue dry (it cracked when I drilled it) I have a workable needle.

 

I actually kind of like the contour

May the Fourth be with you

 It's been a little while since I've done one of these. It used to be my habit to draw a Star Wars character as I imagined it looked as a baby every May 4. I quickly ran through my favorites and the exercise has forced me to think more creatively. I hadn't planned to draw one this year but this juvenile Tauntaun found it's way into my doodles this week.

Happy Star Wars Day my friends.

Graphic novel spotlight

 

Otis and Peanut by Naseem Hrab

At face value, Otis & Peanut is like a lot of early graphic novels currently on the market. Think Narwhal and Jelly or Shark and Bot. Even the title has the same construction. Now, those other books can be a lot of fun. They're silly and reach beginning readers with their easy to follow text and engaging illustrations. Otis & Peanut has those same elements. This book includes three stories where the pair work through some challenge together. These appear simple but, as with a Frog and Toad story, the simplicity masks a deeper reflection on life and identity. A fear of getting a haircut or the changes that come with moving house are met with funny solutions but also examine change and being true to yourself. And then there's "The Swing", where Otis and Peanut remember a friend who is gone. They discuss grief and how even remembering the good things is painful. This is a sweet, heartfelt story that may be a little emotionally intense for some but is beautiful anyway. Much as with Frog and Toad, this may be a book that will be appreciated by children in a surface way and on a much deeper level by their parents.

 Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Non fiction book review - The Van Buren Sisters vs. the Pants Police

 

The Van Buren Sisters vs the Pants Police by J.F. Fox

This is the sort of book we see occasionally - a woman who defies cultural standards and opens the door for future women to do the same. This one gives us a few unique details. Not only is this a story of sisters, they were raised to be independent and as capable as their brothers. It's no wonder, then, that they decided to travel the country on a motorbike, wearing trousers. It's a simple narrative. The language is easy to understand and none of the content is challenging so it's suitable for young readers.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Book review - The One and Only Ruby

 

Title: The One and Only Ruby

Author: Katherine Applegate

Genre: realistic fiction

Similar books: Star the Elephant by Remy Lai

                     Waluk by Ana Miralles 

Rating: 

 

exactly what I wanted it to be

 

Summary (proviede by publisher): Ruby’s story picks up a few months after the events of The One and Only Bob. Now living in a wildlife sanctuary, Ruby’s caretaker from the elephant orphanage in Africa where she grew up is visiting. Seeing him again brings back a flood of memories both happy and sad of her life before the circus, and she recounts the time she spent in the African savannah to Ivan and Bob.

My opinion: In each of the prior books in this trilogy, Applegate uses an immediate threat as a method for the protagonist to acknowledge and eventually work through trauma from their past. In Ivan we meet the character of Ruby, a tiny elephant who has lost her whole family and faces a life in captivity. She is an innocent who drives Ivan to act. In Bob we see a Ruby who has started to develop more personality. She's found a family and has begun to prove that she is capable of helping. And finally in this book we have Ruby as a complete character. We see her largely as a sunny, positive "kid" but we also see the trauma of her past. We see how her experiences in Africa have driven a deep fear of change into her. The threat here is less immediate. There is no abusive owner, no natural disaster. Just Ruby and her fears. In this volume Applegate completes her trifecta of the affects of trauma on a character and the ways it causes us to behave. Each book provides something different to the reader and is worth reading in it's own right. As with the other two books, this volume talks about animal cruelty in a plainspoken but never graphic way, so be aware of that if you're intending to give this book to an especially sensitive young reader. 

More information: The One and Only Ruby releases today!
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Listen with me

 

The One and Only Bob by Katherine Applegate

If you could choose anyone in the world to provide the voice of a scrappy little stray dog, who else would you choose but Danny Devito? (I'm given to understand he provided the voice for Bob in the film adaptation of The One and Only Ivan but I haven't seen it yet) Right from the start this audio book is engaging and charming. This volume gives us much more insight into the loveable scamp Bob from the first book, a stray who doesn't trust people and insists he is best on his own. This book shows us a Bob who has found a home but still doesn't fully trust anyone. The immediacy of a natural disaster and intense physical threats forces him to address the hurts of his past and find a way to move forward. This is a nice companion piece to the first book and presents trauma through a different lens.

Listen with me

 

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

This is certainly not the first time I've read this book. It is, in fact, the inspiration for the name of this blog. When I first encountered this book after it's initial publication I was blown away by the simplicity and power of the prose. By giving Ivan a straightforward voice, a tone that states things plainly and in as few words as are truly necessary, Applegate gives his lines power. They are more believable as an animal's thoughts and also leave us to draw our own conclusions. They tell us a story of cruelty and pain without becoming maudlin or overblown. The simple statement of fact actually allows the reader to feel the emotional pain more deeply. This is a book that is not only beautiful to read (or have read to you as the case may be) but holds up to repeat reading, allowing us to reflect on different aspects each time. If you have not experienced Ivan yet, do yourself a favor and give this one a listen.

New finger puppet designs

 I have a pretty solid roster of finger puppets that I make for craft fairs so I seldom try new designs these days. When I got a good deal on some large pieces of felt, though, that needed to change. Since I don't have a lot of designs using pink and light blue felt and you can only make so many pigs and song birds I'm trying out some new ideas. Here are my first two: a red panda and an axolotl.

I welcome more suggestions for pink and light blue creatures. Feel free to leave your ideas in the comments.