WWW Wednesday

What are you currently reading?

Heiress of Nowhere by Stacey Lee - When her employer is murdered, Lucy races to find out what happened to him before the blame falls on her and in the process uncovers secrets about the island where they live and her own past.

What did you recently finish reading?

The Mystery of the Haunted Dance Hall by Charis Cotter - Something is going on with a cabin of girls at their summer camp and it's up to Bee and her new friend Zippy to find out what.

What do you think you'll read next?

How Can I Help You Today by Julia L. Rule

Book review - The Mystery of the Haunted Dance Hall

 

Title: The Mystery of the Haunted Dance Hall

Author: Charis Cotter

Genre: mystery

Age range: middle grade

Similar book: The Secret of the Mansion by Julie Campbell

Summary (provided by publisher): Bee's mom has a job in New York City for the summer, so Bee is being sent to summer camp. She's not excited about it. Being around other people is hard for her, plus she knows nothing about campfires, she's not a good swimmer and she's never even been in a canoe.

When she first arrives, things go pretty much as she expected. The other girls either make fun of her or ignore her, and the woods surrounding the camp give her the creeps: she keeps hearing elusive music coming from somewhere in the distance, and there's something unearthly about it.

But then Zippy comes on the scene — an oddball like Bee, but with a lot more confidence and hard-won knowledge gleaned from many summers spent at this exact camp. And most importantly, Zippy has also discovered mysterious behavior going on at the camp: the older girls from the Hawks cabin are sneaking out to do . . . something. They're always exhausted, and their flashlight batteries are running out at an alarming rate. But their counselors are never woken up by girls sneaking out, no one on staff doing nightly rounds ever sees them outside the cabin, and even when they start doing a bed check at night, the girls all seem to be in their bunks.

Zippy and Bee are on the case, and with the help of an unlikely ally, they try to figure out what the Hawks are up to. But they soon discover there's more going on than just the usual summer-camp hijinks. How are the Hawks getting out at night? What is the deal with the (very cute) mysterious boy who seems to be working with the groundskeeper? Where is the distant music coming from? And what does the reclusive camp founder know about all of it?

What I liked: A mystery at a summer camp is a solid set-up for a book. After all, where do kids have more freedom to explore and investigate than at camp? Additionally, this book really captures the vibe of a 1960's story. Reading this book feels very much like reading a book written for kids at that time. 

What I didn't like: The characters are middling in their presentation. Their motivations are unclear and they aren't especially complex. This is a book driven more by action than by character so there aren't really deep explorations of themes or relationships. It's simple entertainment and not much more.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Book review - One Word Six Letters

 

Title: One Word, Six Letters

Author: Adib Khorram    

Genre: realistic fiction

Age range: teen

Similar book: Prom Babies by Kekla Magoon

Summary (provided by publisher): Freshmen Dayton and Farshid couldn’t be more different—or so it seems.

When Dayton takes a dare and shouts the f-slur at a visiting author during a school event, it sets off a chain reaction that forces both boys to face parts of themselves they’d rather ignore.

Dayton, grappling with the fallout of his actions, faces rejection from his friends, disappointment from his parents, and a growing awareness of the harm he’s caused. Meanwhile, Farshid is left to untangle his own feelings—about himself and about the quiet struggle of coming to terms with his queerness in a world steeped in heteronormativity.

As their lives unexpectedly intersect, Dayton and Farshid must reckon with what kind of men they want to become and whether they have the courage to defy toxic masculinity and societal expectations.

What I liked: This could easily have been a simplistic exploration of toxic masculinity. We could have Dayton painted as a shallow bully, not understanding the harm of his actions and Farshid as a simple victim. But Khorram does not fall into that trap. Instead we have two characters who are influenced by culture in small but important ways. Little experiences drive their behavior in extreme but believable ways. This results in characters who are not always likeable but are always realistic. The book is much stronger for it.

What I didn't like: There are moments in this book that are deeply uncomfortable. That's not something I dislike, per se, but I do feel the need to point it out. A deeply sensitive or innocent reader may struggle some but overall the plot is careful not to go to extremes.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Book review - Sprout

 

Title: Sprout

Author: Taylor Tyng

Genre: magical realism

Age range: middle grade

Similar book: Bloom by Nicola Skinner

Summary (provided by publisher): Sprout has gotten used to hiding. Having antlers growing out of your head will do that. But when she learns that another girl with wild antlers has been spotted, Sprout is determined to see if there is someone else out there who understands the strangeness she feels.

Soon she attracts the attention of E.B., a fellow oddball, who remembers everything he has ever seen, read, or heard. And he's not the only one fascinated by Sprout. A curious doctor and a set of terrifying twins are tracking Sprout's every move. But nothing could have prepared Sprout for the dark secrets that have taken root in her town. Digging up the truth might help Sprout understand her past--or it might spell the end of her town forever.

What I liked: Sprout centers on a pair of compelling characters. They are defined as people beyond the thing that makes them peculiar. While the plot is certainly odd, the characters keep us grounded.

What I didn't like: I can roll with some odd plot decisions. I'm cool with plots about kids with inexplicable antlers. But the explanation this book gives for Sprout's condition is a stretch. It attempts to explore some larger societal issues but doesn't really go deep enough. With a plot that feels like it wraps up too quickly, it doesn't quite make it onto my top tier of book choices.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Book review - When the Rain Came

 

Title: When the Rain Came

Author: Matt Eicheldinger

Genre: dystopia

Age range: teen

Similar book: Rebel Darling by Valerie Best

Summary (provided by publisher): “If we stay here, if we keep wandering without a real plan, we won’t last. Maybe The Hill is dangerous. But maybe it’s not. It’s the only plan we have.”

Seventeen-year-old Aurora knows how to survive. Life in the foster system has taught her how to stay quiet, stay smart, and stay ready. But nothing could prepare her for this: a never-ending storm that swallows cities, drowns forests, and turns the world into a flooded wasteland.

Trapped in a collapsing house with her strict prepper foster parents, Aurora is forced to live by their rules just to stay alive. Until the day they disappear without a trace.

Alone. Abandoned. And running out of time.

All Aurora has is a waterlogged scrap of paper and a name: “The Hill.” 

With looters closing in and the floodwaters rising higher each day, she’s left with one impossible choice—stay and wait for the storm to take her, or risk everything on a journey through the drowned remains of the world, to a find a place that may or not exist.

It’s forward or nothing.

What I liked: The scenario here is strong and reasonably plausible. We have a character with enough information to stand a chance of survival and a background that makes her flexible and willing to take chances. The pacing is strong and there is enough action to propel the reader forward

What I didn't like: The characters aren't especially complex. The plot takes some logical leaps. This is clearly the first in a series so the ending isn't particularly satisfying. While the individual moments are engaging the plot overall isn't especially beleivable.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Non-fiction book review - Pretty Close But Not the Same

 

Pretty Close But Not the Same by Meg Fleming

This book straddles the line between standard picture book and non-fiction. In the non-fiction column , it is not a story book. There is no true plot. It's a basic comparison of similar animals, pointing out simple ways that the two differ. In the picture book column, it is fairly playful. The focus is more on having fun than strict scientific classifications. The text rhymes. It's a book that would be fun to enjoy with preschoolers and the simple illustrations will appeal to that age range as well.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Bowtie hairpins

 When I made my bowtie bowtie, I had an idea that you could also use it as a hairbow. Then, looking at my scraps, I realized that I had pieces that could be turned into pasta-sized bowties. And at that size, they were perfect for hairpins.