The One and Only Bob
The One and Only series, Book 2
Katherine Applegate
Harper
Fiction, CH Fantasy
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: Everyone calls dogs "man's best friend", but Bob the mutt knows that the feeling is far from mutual. Would a "best friend" tear him and his littermates from their mother when they were just a few weeks old? Would a "best friend" then throw the helpless puppies from the window of a moving truck, to land in a ditch (if they were lucky) and fend for themselves - leaving just one determined survivor? Even when Bob found his way to the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and the enclosure of Ivan the gorilla, he knew better than to trust people; just look at what they did to Ivan's elephant friend Stella, the baby elephant Ruby, and Ivan himself.
That was a year ago. Now, Ivan and Ruby have better lives in a local zoo and Bob lives with the girl Julia and her family. Still, much as he loves the ear scratches and the soft bed and the regular meals, he tries his best to keep his stray mutt edge, resisting all efforts at training. After all, he knows just how little a human's love really means.
When a hurricane sweeps through, Bob and his friends are thrown into chaos... and, unexpectedly, Bob hears a bark he hasn't heard since his puppy days: the voice of his sister Boss, whom he hasn't seen since they were tossed out the window of a truck. Maybe he wasn't the only one to survive, after all - but what can one little mutt hope to do in the middle of a disaster?
REVIEW: I enjoyed Applegate's fictionalization of the real-life Ivan's tale in The One and Only Ivan, but didn't think it needed a sequel. Where do you go from that ending, anyway? But Bob does, indeed, have his own story that's worth telling... and, in Applegate's typical fashion, she manages to manipulate simple prose into sucker-punches to the feelings at will.
Bob was always the hardscrabble mutt with the heart of gold, building a jaded wall around his feelings and a heart that had been broken too many times in the past. He openly scoffs at dogs who grovel to humans, even humans who treat them terribly. Clearly the species is untrustworthy. Just look at what they're doing with the planet, and why Ruby and Ivan and the other zoo animals will never be safe in the shrinking patches of wilderness left to their kind. But he can't help but feel warm toward Julia and her family; they did help rescue Ivan and his friends from their horrible days in the Big Top Mall, after all, so they're not bad, but be darned if he'll ever be one of those sad sack pooches treating humans like gods on Earth. Lately, though, he's been having bad dreams, dreams where he loses everyone - and where, somewhere in the distance, his sister Boss is also lost and alone. Then the storm hits, tearing his world apart, scattering the zoo animals (some do not make it; Applegate has never pretended death is never an option, not in any of her books), and giving Bob a painful sliver of hope when he hears a very familiar voice from the nearby animal shelter. But the waters are still rising, the winds still blowing, and the danger is far from past. Bob the streetwise mutt, who has only ever looked out for "numero uno", must decide whether he's willing to risk everything for a chance to save the ones he loves - even if those chances are slim, bordering on none.
If one wants to be overly-critical, Bob does feel a little "human" in his head, but so did Ivan, and it didn't hurt his story (or soften the emotional blows or payoffs). That's about all I can think of against it. For a children's book, Bob faces very real peril and possibility of failure, and not everyone can (or wants to) be "saved" when Mother Nature gets angry. If this is any indication of the storytelling level, then I expect I'll be reading the rest of the series at some point.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The One and Only Ivan (Katherine Applegate) - My Review
Pony Confidential (Christina Lynch) - My Review
Pax (Sara Pennypacker) - My Review
Showing posts with label children's book. Show all posts
Showing posts with label children's book. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 7, 2026
Wednesday, October 22, 2025
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (Robert C. O'Brien)
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
The Rats of NIMH series, Book 1
Robert C. O'Brien
Simon and Schuster
Fiction, CH Fantasy/Sci-Fi
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: Like many animals around the Fitzgibbon Farm in the English countryside, the widowed mouse Mrs. Frisby makes her winter home in the fallow fields, moving her four children to her summer house by the brook before the human plows the thawed earth. But this year, her young son Timothy has taken ill, and won't be well enough when an early thaw necessitates an early relocation. If she stays where she is, the plow will surely destroy her family. In desperation, she turns to an unlikely ally: the rats who live beneath the rose hedge. Even for their kind, these rats have a peculiar, secretive reputation, but they may be Mrs. Frisby's only chance to save her children... and she, in turn, might help them when they need it most.
REVIEW: Like many children of the 1980's, I saw the Don Bluth animated movie based on this book (at a drive-in, if memory serves)... and I confess that, as a kid, I found it boring enough I think I nodded off during it. (But, then, I found many of Don Bluth's animated movies overlong and boring as a kid, even if the animation was often beautiful.) Maybe if I'd been familiar with this 1971 book I'd have understood what the film was trying to do - but, then, I'd probably have found the book a little dull and over-talkative as a child as well. As a grown-up, I can appreciate what it was doing and how relatively groundbreaking it was, introducing sci-fi concepts into a talking-animal setting, though I also admit to wishing O'Brien had stopped talking over and around everything, particularly when filling in backstory.
It begins like many a classic anthropomorphic critter tale begins, with a mouse who is both a scurrying little farm animal, fearful of predators and the farm cat Dragon (which is indeed something of a "dragon" in the tale, a beastly hunter from which few escape), and also a widow who has a "house" in a cinder block and sits down at a table with her children for meals. From early on, death is an unspoken specter in the animal world; she is happy when she finds an unattended stash of food gathered by some other animal, even as she is saddened by acknowledging that it likely met its fate in one of the winter hunts by the humans. When her smallest son Timothy takes ill, she makes a dangerous trek to a wise mouse who is skilled in herbal medicines, but is warned that the boy must not be moved for at least a month - and the ground is already thawing, meaning her home will likely not be safe for even a week. Thus, her desperate quest to find help... a quest that inevitably leads to the rats (not a spoiler if it's in the title) and the tale of NIMH (again, not a spoiler if it's in the title).
This becomes O'Brien's excuse to infodump all over the frantic-mother-trying-to-save-her-children-from-death-by-plow-blade plot with the backstory of how the farm's rat population came to their unusual abilities and intelligence, including but far from limited to tapping the Fitzgibbons' electricity and water, constructing motors and machinery, and mastering reading and writing. It's enough for an entirely different book altogether, yet it's shoehorned in here, overshadowing Mrs. Frisby's plight before the two ideas come to a somewhat lopsided coexistence as the connection to her late husband is revealed.
The widow mouse is less meek and passive than some females in these kinds of stories (and some in this very story, to be honest; her own two daughters are dismissively described as the pretty one and the silly one, while female rats are shown to be minimal participants in the colony's projects and the one named girl rat is a shallow infatuated stereotype), forced by circumstance to bravery and resourcefulness not common in wild rodents. The fact that death is always shadowing the characters lends some genuine peril to their situation; it's always an acknowledged possibility that not everyone will make it out alive. Along the way, O'Brien just can't resist bogging the story down in side-tracks through pointless details and cul-de-sacs that add little to the tale itself except word count. The wrap-up has some strong moments, but feels a little abrupt and unfinished; apparently the two sequels were written by O'Brien's daughter after his death, so the dangling loose threads were not even intentional bridges to more tales.
There are several interesting ideas explored (if somewhat unevenly), concepts of intelligence and civilization and animal experimentation's potential ramifications. O'Brien also presents some nice imagery, and the story (when it's not weighted down by its own meandering loops) isn't bad. The parts don't always seem to mesh together, though; it's clear O'Brien was more interested in his rats, their origins and potential fate, than the somewhat cutesy and mildly mismatched tale of the country mouse widow and her children, who ultimately exist mostly to be awed by the rats and their amazing abilities and potential. It's still a classic in its way.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Watership Down (Richard Adams) - My Review
The Tale of Despereaux (Kate DiCamillo) - My Review
The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents (Terry Pratchett) - My Review
The Rats of NIMH series, Book 1
Robert C. O'Brien
Simon and Schuster
Fiction, CH Fantasy/Sci-Fi
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: Like many animals around the Fitzgibbon Farm in the English countryside, the widowed mouse Mrs. Frisby makes her winter home in the fallow fields, moving her four children to her summer house by the brook before the human plows the thawed earth. But this year, her young son Timothy has taken ill, and won't be well enough when an early thaw necessitates an early relocation. If she stays where she is, the plow will surely destroy her family. In desperation, she turns to an unlikely ally: the rats who live beneath the rose hedge. Even for their kind, these rats have a peculiar, secretive reputation, but they may be Mrs. Frisby's only chance to save her children... and she, in turn, might help them when they need it most.
REVIEW: Like many children of the 1980's, I saw the Don Bluth animated movie based on this book (at a drive-in, if memory serves)... and I confess that, as a kid, I found it boring enough I think I nodded off during it. (But, then, I found many of Don Bluth's animated movies overlong and boring as a kid, even if the animation was often beautiful.) Maybe if I'd been familiar with this 1971 book I'd have understood what the film was trying to do - but, then, I'd probably have found the book a little dull and over-talkative as a child as well. As a grown-up, I can appreciate what it was doing and how relatively groundbreaking it was, introducing sci-fi concepts into a talking-animal setting, though I also admit to wishing O'Brien had stopped talking over and around everything, particularly when filling in backstory.
It begins like many a classic anthropomorphic critter tale begins, with a mouse who is both a scurrying little farm animal, fearful of predators and the farm cat Dragon (which is indeed something of a "dragon" in the tale, a beastly hunter from which few escape), and also a widow who has a "house" in a cinder block and sits down at a table with her children for meals. From early on, death is an unspoken specter in the animal world; she is happy when she finds an unattended stash of food gathered by some other animal, even as she is saddened by acknowledging that it likely met its fate in one of the winter hunts by the humans. When her smallest son Timothy takes ill, she makes a dangerous trek to a wise mouse who is skilled in herbal medicines, but is warned that the boy must not be moved for at least a month - and the ground is already thawing, meaning her home will likely not be safe for even a week. Thus, her desperate quest to find help... a quest that inevitably leads to the rats (not a spoiler if it's in the title) and the tale of NIMH (again, not a spoiler if it's in the title).
This becomes O'Brien's excuse to infodump all over the frantic-mother-trying-to-save-her-children-from-death-by-plow-blade plot with the backstory of how the farm's rat population came to their unusual abilities and intelligence, including but far from limited to tapping the Fitzgibbons' electricity and water, constructing motors and machinery, and mastering reading and writing. It's enough for an entirely different book altogether, yet it's shoehorned in here, overshadowing Mrs. Frisby's plight before the two ideas come to a somewhat lopsided coexistence as the connection to her late husband is revealed.
The widow mouse is less meek and passive than some females in these kinds of stories (and some in this very story, to be honest; her own two daughters are dismissively described as the pretty one and the silly one, while female rats are shown to be minimal participants in the colony's projects and the one named girl rat is a shallow infatuated stereotype), forced by circumstance to bravery and resourcefulness not common in wild rodents. The fact that death is always shadowing the characters lends some genuine peril to their situation; it's always an acknowledged possibility that not everyone will make it out alive. Along the way, O'Brien just can't resist bogging the story down in side-tracks through pointless details and cul-de-sacs that add little to the tale itself except word count. The wrap-up has some strong moments, but feels a little abrupt and unfinished; apparently the two sequels were written by O'Brien's daughter after his death, so the dangling loose threads were not even intentional bridges to more tales.
There are several interesting ideas explored (if somewhat unevenly), concepts of intelligence and civilization and animal experimentation's potential ramifications. O'Brien also presents some nice imagery, and the story (when it's not weighted down by its own meandering loops) isn't bad. The parts don't always seem to mesh together, though; it's clear O'Brien was more interested in his rats, their origins and potential fate, than the somewhat cutesy and mildly mismatched tale of the country mouse widow and her children, who ultimately exist mostly to be awed by the rats and their amazing abilities and potential. It's still a classic in its way.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Watership Down (Richard Adams) - My Review
The Tale of Despereaux (Kate DiCamillo) - My Review
The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents (Terry Pratchett) - My Review
Friday, October 10, 2025
A Week in the Woods (Andrew Clements)
A Week in the Woods
Andrew Clements
Atheneum Books
Fiction, CH Adventure
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: For over a decade, the highlight of the fifth grade year at Hardy Elementary has been A Week in the Woods, five days and nights camping out in a national forest and learning about the natural world. Mr. Maxwell, the science teacher, is the organizer and greatest proponent of the outing, being an avid woodsman and environmentalist. He loves sharing his passion for the wilderness with young minds, always eager to learn... but one thing he cannot stand is slackers, or spoiled, entitled, wealthy kids whose families make their money off destroying the planet. So it was inevitable that he'd take a dislike to the new kid in his class, Mark Chelmsley (the Fourth). The boy's parents spent more renovating a local historic farm house and acreage than the entire town sees in a year, and the kid himself is every bit as disengaged and even snotty as one would expect from a wealthy boy "slumming" with commoners. A kid like that might even ruin A Week in the Woods - and Mr. Maxwell is determined not to let that happen.
Mark is tired of bouncing around the world from house to house, his parents gone on business trips more often than not. He loves his caretakers, and isn't neglected by any means, but he misses Mom and Dad and doesn't really feel attached to anyone or anywhere... until he arrives in the Chelmsleys' latest home in New Hampshire. The wooded hills seem to call to him, and he develops a love of the land beyond anything he's experienced before. The only real drawback is his school - a public school, for the first time in his life - and the science teacher Mr. Maxwell. The man seems to dislike him from the start, the two developing a rivalry that only barely stays civil. But when Mr. Maxwell lets his grudge go too far, Mark finally snaps. He sets out to prove himself to the teacher and everyone... never expecting things to go so wrong.
REVIEW: Many children's books reduce adults to caricatures, mere obstacles that must be either avoided or overcome by the young protagonists. Clements never cheapens his stories like that. Here, both Mr. Maxwell and young Mark are well rounded, with clear roots and motivations for their behavior and their rivalry. The science teacher comes from a love of both teaching and the environment, and has seen what entitled people do to the planet... and what an unmotivated, slacker student can do to a classroom. Mark, meanwhile, has been told time and again that his brief foray in public school is a chance to relax; it won't really count, after all, for a boy already assured entry into an elite private boarding school, and besides his own schools covered most of the curriculum at least a year or two before so it's all old news. His disengagement masks a loneliness even the boy doesn't quite acknowledge, but which comes across to Mr. Maxwell as something else entirely. When young Mark discovers his own love of the woods, this could be a means to connect with the standoffish teacher, especially when he realizes himself how his attitude is contributing to his social isolation and he tries to change, but by then the faculty has made up its mind, especially Mr. Maxwell, who only digs in harder as the boy tries to establish a truce. It all culminates in the promised school camping trip, where Mr. Maxwell leaps to a conclusion and harsh judgement and pushes Mark too far. Given that the title and blurb center this camping trip as a main plot point, it feels like Clements drags his feet in getting there, wandering through backstory and Mark's earlier excursions into the woods on his family's property as he builds confidence and skills (helped by one of his caretakers, who has experience camping from his childhood in Russia). That said, the story does a decent job letting both Mark and Mr. Maxwell earn their lessons (it's not just the child who has something to learn, here). Despite the slower, wandering start, its portrayal of a boy's sense of wonder as he discovers a new world outdoors, how easily miscommunication between teachers and students can start, and the lasting ramifications of classroom grudges rings true.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Janitor's Boy (Andrew Clements) - My Review
My Side of the Mountain (Jean Craighead George) - My Review
Hatchet (Gary Paulsen) - My Review
Andrew Clements
Atheneum Books
Fiction, CH Adventure
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: For over a decade, the highlight of the fifth grade year at Hardy Elementary has been A Week in the Woods, five days and nights camping out in a national forest and learning about the natural world. Mr. Maxwell, the science teacher, is the organizer and greatest proponent of the outing, being an avid woodsman and environmentalist. He loves sharing his passion for the wilderness with young minds, always eager to learn... but one thing he cannot stand is slackers, or spoiled, entitled, wealthy kids whose families make their money off destroying the planet. So it was inevitable that he'd take a dislike to the new kid in his class, Mark Chelmsley (the Fourth). The boy's parents spent more renovating a local historic farm house and acreage than the entire town sees in a year, and the kid himself is every bit as disengaged and even snotty as one would expect from a wealthy boy "slumming" with commoners. A kid like that might even ruin A Week in the Woods - and Mr. Maxwell is determined not to let that happen.
Mark is tired of bouncing around the world from house to house, his parents gone on business trips more often than not. He loves his caretakers, and isn't neglected by any means, but he misses Mom and Dad and doesn't really feel attached to anyone or anywhere... until he arrives in the Chelmsleys' latest home in New Hampshire. The wooded hills seem to call to him, and he develops a love of the land beyond anything he's experienced before. The only real drawback is his school - a public school, for the first time in his life - and the science teacher Mr. Maxwell. The man seems to dislike him from the start, the two developing a rivalry that only barely stays civil. But when Mr. Maxwell lets his grudge go too far, Mark finally snaps. He sets out to prove himself to the teacher and everyone... never expecting things to go so wrong.
REVIEW: Many children's books reduce adults to caricatures, mere obstacles that must be either avoided or overcome by the young protagonists. Clements never cheapens his stories like that. Here, both Mr. Maxwell and young Mark are well rounded, with clear roots and motivations for their behavior and their rivalry. The science teacher comes from a love of both teaching and the environment, and has seen what entitled people do to the planet... and what an unmotivated, slacker student can do to a classroom. Mark, meanwhile, has been told time and again that his brief foray in public school is a chance to relax; it won't really count, after all, for a boy already assured entry into an elite private boarding school, and besides his own schools covered most of the curriculum at least a year or two before so it's all old news. His disengagement masks a loneliness even the boy doesn't quite acknowledge, but which comes across to Mr. Maxwell as something else entirely. When young Mark discovers his own love of the woods, this could be a means to connect with the standoffish teacher, especially when he realizes himself how his attitude is contributing to his social isolation and he tries to change, but by then the faculty has made up its mind, especially Mr. Maxwell, who only digs in harder as the boy tries to establish a truce. It all culminates in the promised school camping trip, where Mr. Maxwell leaps to a conclusion and harsh judgement and pushes Mark too far. Given that the title and blurb center this camping trip as a main plot point, it feels like Clements drags his feet in getting there, wandering through backstory and Mark's earlier excursions into the woods on his family's property as he builds confidence and skills (helped by one of his caretakers, who has experience camping from his childhood in Russia). That said, the story does a decent job letting both Mark and Mr. Maxwell earn their lessons (it's not just the child who has something to learn, here). Despite the slower, wandering start, its portrayal of a boy's sense of wonder as he discovers a new world outdoors, how easily miscommunication between teachers and students can start, and the lasting ramifications of classroom grudges rings true.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Janitor's Boy (Andrew Clements) - My Review
My Side of the Mountain (Jean Craighead George) - My Review
Hatchet (Gary Paulsen) - My Review
Friday, May 16, 2025
Confessions of an Imaginary Friend (Michelle Cuevas)
Confessions of an Imaginary Friend: A Memoir by Jacques Papier
Michelle Cuevas
Rocky Pond Books
Fiction, CH Fantasy/Humor
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: Jacques Papier has always felt invisible; teachers ignore his raised hand, nobody picks him for teams at recess, and his parents even have to be reminded to set a place for him at the table. If not for his twin sister and best friend Fleur, he'd wonder if he even existed at all.
It isn't until he talks to the roller-skating cowgirl at the playground - a girl nobody else seems to notice - that he begins to realize that he's imaginary.
Driven to an existential (or nonexistential) crisis by this discovery, Jacques seeks out other imaginary friends as he tries to figure out just who, and what, he really is, a journey that will lead him far from his beloved sister Fleur on an adventure beyond even his own imagination.
REVIEW: Clearly inspired by the song "Puff the Magic Dragon" with some elements of Toy Story, this tale of an imaginary friend discovering his true self and purpose beyond the girl who created him is surprisingly touching while still being whimsical, exploring the ways in which imagination takes on a (literal) life of its own as it enables people to become better selves, even beyond the mind that sparked it.
Written from Jacques's point of view (and narrated with a light French accent in the audiobook version), the imaginary boy starts out feeling invisible in the way children often do, only it's clear to everyone but Jacques that there's more to it than that. Still, Fleur has more than enough love and belief to sustain them both... which is why, in addition to being increasingly upset by how he's overlooked, Jacques becomes very cross when he overhears their parents talking behind closed doors, concerned about Fleur's imaginary friend. She never kept secrets from him before - he knows because they keep a detailed map of their world, and all the secrets they've discovered in it. Nowhere on that map is a place for an imaginary friend! In retaliation, he tries to come up with his own imaginary friend, a dragon-herring, which doesn't go well and leads to a tipping point where the Papiers demand Fleur get rid of her nonexistent brother. (This, in turn, ends up leading to a psychiatrist when Fleur decides that Jacques is no more invisible and imaginary than she herself feels, and goes to extreme lengths to prove her own nonexistence to her skeptical parents.) Forced to confront his own reality, Jacques finds a community of other imaginary friends, and comes to understand that his kind can be both a help and a hindrance to the children they're with; some are just playmates, but others are signs of deeper problems, more enablers than healers, and not all of them are helpful, as he learns the hard way when he sets out on his own on the dubious word of another imaginary being. Through a series of mostly-amusing adventures and child companions, all of which involve some reinvention of himself, Jacques learns what it means to be an embodiment of imagination, and just what kind of friend he is meant to be. The ending kicked the rating up a half-notch with a moment of pure wonder and beauty (and a much better ending than the song that inspired the protagonist's name).
You Might Also Enjoy:
Crenshaw (Katherine Applegate) - My Review
Day Dreamers (Emily Winfield Martin) - My Review
The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend (Dan Santat) - My Review
Michelle Cuevas
Rocky Pond Books
Fiction, CH Fantasy/Humor
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: Jacques Papier has always felt invisible; teachers ignore his raised hand, nobody picks him for teams at recess, and his parents even have to be reminded to set a place for him at the table. If not for his twin sister and best friend Fleur, he'd wonder if he even existed at all.
It isn't until he talks to the roller-skating cowgirl at the playground - a girl nobody else seems to notice - that he begins to realize that he's imaginary.
Driven to an existential (or nonexistential) crisis by this discovery, Jacques seeks out other imaginary friends as he tries to figure out just who, and what, he really is, a journey that will lead him far from his beloved sister Fleur on an adventure beyond even his own imagination.
REVIEW: Clearly inspired by the song "Puff the Magic Dragon" with some elements of Toy Story, this tale of an imaginary friend discovering his true self and purpose beyond the girl who created him is surprisingly touching while still being whimsical, exploring the ways in which imagination takes on a (literal) life of its own as it enables people to become better selves, even beyond the mind that sparked it.
Written from Jacques's point of view (and narrated with a light French accent in the audiobook version), the imaginary boy starts out feeling invisible in the way children often do, only it's clear to everyone but Jacques that there's more to it than that. Still, Fleur has more than enough love and belief to sustain them both... which is why, in addition to being increasingly upset by how he's overlooked, Jacques becomes very cross when he overhears their parents talking behind closed doors, concerned about Fleur's imaginary friend. She never kept secrets from him before - he knows because they keep a detailed map of their world, and all the secrets they've discovered in it. Nowhere on that map is a place for an imaginary friend! In retaliation, he tries to come up with his own imaginary friend, a dragon-herring, which doesn't go well and leads to a tipping point where the Papiers demand Fleur get rid of her nonexistent brother. (This, in turn, ends up leading to a psychiatrist when Fleur decides that Jacques is no more invisible and imaginary than she herself feels, and goes to extreme lengths to prove her own nonexistence to her skeptical parents.) Forced to confront his own reality, Jacques finds a community of other imaginary friends, and comes to understand that his kind can be both a help and a hindrance to the children they're with; some are just playmates, but others are signs of deeper problems, more enablers than healers, and not all of them are helpful, as he learns the hard way when he sets out on his own on the dubious word of another imaginary being. Through a series of mostly-amusing adventures and child companions, all of which involve some reinvention of himself, Jacques learns what it means to be an embodiment of imagination, and just what kind of friend he is meant to be. The ending kicked the rating up a half-notch with a moment of pure wonder and beauty (and a much better ending than the song that inspired the protagonist's name).
You Might Also Enjoy:
Crenshaw (Katherine Applegate) - My Review
Day Dreamers (Emily Winfield Martin) - My Review
The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend (Dan Santat) - My Review
Wednesday, March 26, 2025
The Bakery Dragon (Devin Elle Kurtz)
The Bakery Dragon
Devin Elle Kurtz
Knopf
Fiction, CH Fantasy/Picture Book
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: A dragon is never a proper dragon until they have a hoard of gold, but when little Ember tries following the others, he's too small and clumsy to steal from humans, and is soon left behind. Determined not to return home until he gets his paws on treasure, he stays overnight in a human town... only to discover a new kind of "gold" at the local bakery.
REVIEW: I've been keeping an eye on this one, having followed the artist's works online for a while, but never got a chance to corner the book at work for a read until today. With bright, charming illustrations, author/artist Kurtz tells a simple, warmhearted story of a little misfit finding his own way to succeed. Quite enjoyable, and a nice way to fill some down time at work.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Dragon With a Chocolate Heart (Stephanie Burgis) - My Review
The Truth About Dragons (Julie Leung) - My Review
The Tea Dragon Society (K. O'Neill) - My Review
Devin Elle Kurtz
Knopf
Fiction, CH Fantasy/Picture Book
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: A dragon is never a proper dragon until they have a hoard of gold, but when little Ember tries following the others, he's too small and clumsy to steal from humans, and is soon left behind. Determined not to return home until he gets his paws on treasure, he stays overnight in a human town... only to discover a new kind of "gold" at the local bakery.
REVIEW: I've been keeping an eye on this one, having followed the artist's works online for a while, but never got a chance to corner the book at work for a read until today. With bright, charming illustrations, author/artist Kurtz tells a simple, warmhearted story of a little misfit finding his own way to succeed. Quite enjoyable, and a nice way to fill some down time at work.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Dragon With a Chocolate Heart (Stephanie Burgis) - My Review
The Truth About Dragons (Julie Leung) - My Review
The Tea Dragon Society (K. O'Neill) - My Review
Friday, January 10, 2025
Once Upon a Marigold (Jean Ferris)
Once Upon a Marigold
The Tales of Marigold series, Book 1
Jean Ferris
Harcourt
Fiction, CH Fantasy/Humor
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: Edric the troll never meant to become a father, let alone a father to a human boy. But one day, as he was roaming the woods looking for various odds and ends to add to his collections, he and his two dogs found a child hiding in a berry patch. Young Christian hasn't been abducted or abandoned; he ran away, tired of his parents' endless rules and how they get mad at him for his many messy, often nonfunctional inventions. Furthermore, he steadfastly refuses to go back home - not that he even remembers which way home is anymore, or who his parents are other than "Mother" and "Father". The troll decides to take him back home to his cozy cavern, but just for one night... which becomes two, which becomes ten years. Now a young man, it's time for Christian to set forth and find his way in the world - and he knows just where to go.
For a long time, Christian has been watching the royal family across the river from his woodsy home. He watched as the shrewish queen and doddering but kindly old king married off their beautiful triplet daughters, then turned their attention to the shy, bookish youngest girl... a girl who makes Christian's heart feel strange and fizzy when he looks at her through the troll's spyglass. When he works up the courage to send her a p-mail - via carrier pigeon - he is thrilled when Princess Marigold writes back. Thus begins a friendship that becomes the center of Christian's young world, and the reason that his first destination upon leaving Edric's cave is across the river to the castle itself, to find his first job. Even though he knows, as a commoner, he'll never truly be her peer, he can't wait to meet Marigold in person. But, though Edric taught him well, even instructing him in etiquette and manners, it's been a very long time since Christian lived among people - and he couldn't have picked a worse time to show up at the castle. Queen Olympia is determined to marry off the stubborn princess to get her out of the way for her own impending ascent to the throne. And if Marigold still refuses to marry, well, there are other ways to get rid of pesky heirs...
REVIEW: This story is exactly what it promises to be: a light, humorous, once-upon-a-time fairy tale with all the requisite trappings and a generally goodhearted nature. This isn't the sort of story where one can expect lots of character depth or plot intricacy, but rather one where there are good people worth rooting for, bad people worth hissing at, some setbacks to overcome and lessons to be learned, and no spoiler for guessing things end on an upbeat note (save a little hook for the sequel). Everyone has just enough personal quirks to differentiate them on the page, just enough of a goal and a personality to drive them through their roles in the plot (including the dogs) and add some small wrinkles or complications to the story, though a few of these felt like setups to payoffs that were forgotten or brushed off the page, and a couple developments came across as a little contrived and convenient even for a children's story. (I also felt that, even for a simple fairy tale, Queen Olympia was rather one-note as a villain, and could've used a little more justification/rationalization for the extreme measures she took toward her goals.) Still, this is a generally enjoyable tale, even if it's hardly breaking new ground in the "fractured fairy tale" subgenre.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The School for Good and Evil (Soman Chainani) - My Review
The Legend of Hobart (Heather Mullaly) - My Review
The Enchanted Forest Chronicles (Patricia C. Wrede) - My Review
The Tales of Marigold series, Book 1
Jean Ferris
Harcourt
Fiction, CH Fantasy/Humor
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: Edric the troll never meant to become a father, let alone a father to a human boy. But one day, as he was roaming the woods looking for various odds and ends to add to his collections, he and his two dogs found a child hiding in a berry patch. Young Christian hasn't been abducted or abandoned; he ran away, tired of his parents' endless rules and how they get mad at him for his many messy, often nonfunctional inventions. Furthermore, he steadfastly refuses to go back home - not that he even remembers which way home is anymore, or who his parents are other than "Mother" and "Father". The troll decides to take him back home to his cozy cavern, but just for one night... which becomes two, which becomes ten years. Now a young man, it's time for Christian to set forth and find his way in the world - and he knows just where to go.
For a long time, Christian has been watching the royal family across the river from his woodsy home. He watched as the shrewish queen and doddering but kindly old king married off their beautiful triplet daughters, then turned their attention to the shy, bookish youngest girl... a girl who makes Christian's heart feel strange and fizzy when he looks at her through the troll's spyglass. When he works up the courage to send her a p-mail - via carrier pigeon - he is thrilled when Princess Marigold writes back. Thus begins a friendship that becomes the center of Christian's young world, and the reason that his first destination upon leaving Edric's cave is across the river to the castle itself, to find his first job. Even though he knows, as a commoner, he'll never truly be her peer, he can't wait to meet Marigold in person. But, though Edric taught him well, even instructing him in etiquette and manners, it's been a very long time since Christian lived among people - and he couldn't have picked a worse time to show up at the castle. Queen Olympia is determined to marry off the stubborn princess to get her out of the way for her own impending ascent to the throne. And if Marigold still refuses to marry, well, there are other ways to get rid of pesky heirs...
REVIEW: This story is exactly what it promises to be: a light, humorous, once-upon-a-time fairy tale with all the requisite trappings and a generally goodhearted nature. This isn't the sort of story where one can expect lots of character depth or plot intricacy, but rather one where there are good people worth rooting for, bad people worth hissing at, some setbacks to overcome and lessons to be learned, and no spoiler for guessing things end on an upbeat note (save a little hook for the sequel). Everyone has just enough personal quirks to differentiate them on the page, just enough of a goal and a personality to drive them through their roles in the plot (including the dogs) and add some small wrinkles or complications to the story, though a few of these felt like setups to payoffs that were forgotten or brushed off the page, and a couple developments came across as a little contrived and convenient even for a children's story. (I also felt that, even for a simple fairy tale, Queen Olympia was rather one-note as a villain, and could've used a little more justification/rationalization for the extreme measures she took toward her goals.) Still, this is a generally enjoyable tale, even if it's hardly breaking new ground in the "fractured fairy tale" subgenre.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The School for Good and Evil (Soman Chainani) - My Review
The Legend of Hobart (Heather Mullaly) - My Review
The Enchanted Forest Chronicles (Patricia C. Wrede) - My Review
Friday, December 13, 2024
Let This Radicalize You (Kelly Hayes and Mariame Kaba)
Let This Radicalize You: Organizing and the Revolution of Reciprocal Care (Abolitionist Papers)
Kelly Hayes and Mariame Kaba
Haymarket Books
Nonfiction, Essays/History/Politics
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: It's no secret that we're living in turbulent times. The rolling back of rights, the gutting of environmental regulations just as climate change approaches a dangerous tipping point, the removal of any and all guardrails on greed, the rise of state violence, the stripping of viable venues and options for protest and dissent... not just in America, but around the world, it seems that cruelty, regression, greed, and authoritarianism are on the rise. But giving up has never been an option. In this book, two experienced leaders and organizers explore how to effectively resist in a time that seems openly hostile to resistance.
REVIEW: Since November this year (2024), I've been struggling to find anything resembling hope for the future of the country I live in and coming up with little to nothing, not helped by the fact that I'm not in a position to do much, if anything, about any of the innumerable dangers looming in the new year and beyond (dangers that are already here in some form or another). Don't give up, fight back, is the rallying cry on social media and elsewhere. Where? How? I ask, only to be told once more that if I don't do something and just give up They win. I was hoping this title would help answer those questions, or at least give me some ideas... or hope. Did it manage any of that? A little.
From the outset, it's clear that this book isn't quite targeting me. It's targeting current and would-be leaders and activists, offering advice not just on how to effectively recruit and organize people but on how to avoid burnout, mission creep, losing focus, and other risks, as well as some advice on dealing with the inevitable pushback one will encounter when challenging the status quo, legal and otherwise. A fair bit of word count is devoted to the importance of community and mutual support, not just for political or activism purposes but basic life needs. A vital community, one not reliant on social media (which is useful, to be sure, but, as has been illustrated all too clearly with "X" and others, not something one can rely on for privacy or even safe and neutral discussion), is the essential heart of any remotely successful activism group. The authors address the need to learn social skills and patient listening (skills that have fallen out of common practice in today's age of instant digital gratification and intentionally fractured attention spans), finding ways to meet people where they are and seek common cause for mutual benefit. They also emphasize the need to avoid the creep of dread and cynicism that can paralyze us and end resistance before it begins, essentially complying in advance. That's one heck of an ask, especially in 2024, but necessary just for basic survival.
For people better positioned to start or join activism and resistance efforts, this book offers plenty of information and moral support, plus appendices with practical links (such as how to deal with chemical weapons that police commonly unleash on rallies, and how to resist unlawful law enforcement action). That person may not be me for various reasons of life circumstances (plus me being me; there's a reason the number one advice I was given growing up was that the best way I could help was to stay out of the way, as I'm both congenitally invisible and basically useless), but it was still interesting to get an inside look at how more effective people can rally and organize and, every once in a while, actually succeed. That's hopeful, at least.
You Might Also Enjoy:
I'm Not Dying With You Tonight (Kimberly Jones and Gilly Segal) - My Review
What Unites Us (Dan Rather and Elias Kirshner) - My Review
The Hate U Give (Angie Thomas) - My Review
Kelly Hayes and Mariame Kaba
Haymarket Books
Nonfiction, Essays/History/Politics
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: It's no secret that we're living in turbulent times. The rolling back of rights, the gutting of environmental regulations just as climate change approaches a dangerous tipping point, the removal of any and all guardrails on greed, the rise of state violence, the stripping of viable venues and options for protest and dissent... not just in America, but around the world, it seems that cruelty, regression, greed, and authoritarianism are on the rise. But giving up has never been an option. In this book, two experienced leaders and organizers explore how to effectively resist in a time that seems openly hostile to resistance.
REVIEW: Since November this year (2024), I've been struggling to find anything resembling hope for the future of the country I live in and coming up with little to nothing, not helped by the fact that I'm not in a position to do much, if anything, about any of the innumerable dangers looming in the new year and beyond (dangers that are already here in some form or another). Don't give up, fight back, is the rallying cry on social media and elsewhere. Where? How? I ask, only to be told once more that if I don't do something and just give up They win. I was hoping this title would help answer those questions, or at least give me some ideas... or hope. Did it manage any of that? A little.
From the outset, it's clear that this book isn't quite targeting me. It's targeting current and would-be leaders and activists, offering advice not just on how to effectively recruit and organize people but on how to avoid burnout, mission creep, losing focus, and other risks, as well as some advice on dealing with the inevitable pushback one will encounter when challenging the status quo, legal and otherwise. A fair bit of word count is devoted to the importance of community and mutual support, not just for political or activism purposes but basic life needs. A vital community, one not reliant on social media (which is useful, to be sure, but, as has been illustrated all too clearly with "X" and others, not something one can rely on for privacy or even safe and neutral discussion), is the essential heart of any remotely successful activism group. The authors address the need to learn social skills and patient listening (skills that have fallen out of common practice in today's age of instant digital gratification and intentionally fractured attention spans), finding ways to meet people where they are and seek common cause for mutual benefit. They also emphasize the need to avoid the creep of dread and cynicism that can paralyze us and end resistance before it begins, essentially complying in advance. That's one heck of an ask, especially in 2024, but necessary just for basic survival.
For people better positioned to start or join activism and resistance efforts, this book offers plenty of information and moral support, plus appendices with practical links (such as how to deal with chemical weapons that police commonly unleash on rallies, and how to resist unlawful law enforcement action). That person may not be me for various reasons of life circumstances (plus me being me; there's a reason the number one advice I was given growing up was that the best way I could help was to stay out of the way, as I'm both congenitally invisible and basically useless), but it was still interesting to get an inside look at how more effective people can rally and organize and, every once in a while, actually succeed. That's hopeful, at least.
You Might Also Enjoy:
I'm Not Dying With You Tonight (Kimberly Jones and Gilly Segal) - My Review
What Unites Us (Dan Rather and Elias Kirshner) - My Review
The Hate U Give (Angie Thomas) - My Review
Friday, October 18, 2024
The Dragon's Child and The Night of the Unicorn (Jenny Nimmo)
The Dragon's Child and The Night of the Unicorn
Jenny Nimmo
Recorded Books
Fiction, CH Collection/Fantasy
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Author Jenny Nimmo presents two fantasy stories:
The Dragon's Child: The young dragon Dando, a late bloomer, cannot fly, and is accidentally left behind when the others migrate north... just when vicious monsters known as Doggins approach through the dark woods, and a ship full of dangerous humans arrives.
The Night of the Unicorn: A magical night full of shooting stars brings an old unicorn to the fields near young Amber's farm and starts an epic quest by aging chicken Hennie, a journey that will have consequences for the entire farming community.
REVIEW: As the descriptions likely imply, this pair of stories is fairly light in tone, cozy bedtime tales with some peril, some heart, and some whimsy.
The Dragon's Child was the stronger of the pair (though I may be biased, as I'm more of a dragon person than a unicorn person), telling the tale of a little underdog dragon who has to find a reason to grow up before he can fly - a reason he finds unexpectedly in a girl prisoner of the invading humans (who aren't quite ordinary humans), and the leader's spoiled princeling son. There's a hair more depth to everyone, even the baddies (except for the Doggins, of course), than one might expect in a fairy tale.
The Night of the Unicorn underplays the titular unicorn; it's more about the brave little chicken whose quest to find the old rooster William inadvertently weaves together many lives, human and animal. The result feels a little overlong and scattered and doesn't deliver the payoff that the first story offered, though it's generally enjoyable.
You Might Also Enjoy:
A Glory of Unicorns (Bruce Coville) - My Review
The Dragons at Crumbling Castle (Terry Pratchett) - My Review
The Dragon of Lonely Island (Rebecca Rupp) - My Review
Jenny Nimmo
Recorded Books
Fiction, CH Collection/Fantasy
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Author Jenny Nimmo presents two fantasy stories:
The Dragon's Child: The young dragon Dando, a late bloomer, cannot fly, and is accidentally left behind when the others migrate north... just when vicious monsters known as Doggins approach through the dark woods, and a ship full of dangerous humans arrives.
The Night of the Unicorn: A magical night full of shooting stars brings an old unicorn to the fields near young Amber's farm and starts an epic quest by aging chicken Hennie, a journey that will have consequences for the entire farming community.
REVIEW: As the descriptions likely imply, this pair of stories is fairly light in tone, cozy bedtime tales with some peril, some heart, and some whimsy.
The Dragon's Child was the stronger of the pair (though I may be biased, as I'm more of a dragon person than a unicorn person), telling the tale of a little underdog dragon who has to find a reason to grow up before he can fly - a reason he finds unexpectedly in a girl prisoner of the invading humans (who aren't quite ordinary humans), and the leader's spoiled princeling son. There's a hair more depth to everyone, even the baddies (except for the Doggins, of course), than one might expect in a fairy tale.
The Night of the Unicorn underplays the titular unicorn; it's more about the brave little chicken whose quest to find the old rooster William inadvertently weaves together many lives, human and animal. The result feels a little overlong and scattered and doesn't deliver the payoff that the first story offered, though it's generally enjoyable.
You Might Also Enjoy:
A Glory of Unicorns (Bruce Coville) - My Review
The Dragons at Crumbling Castle (Terry Pratchett) - My Review
The Dragon of Lonely Island (Rebecca Rupp) - My Review
Saturday, September 28, 2024
CatStronauts: Mission Moon (Drew Brockington)
CatStronauts: Mission Moon
The CatStronauts series, Book 1
Drew Brockington
Little, Brown and Company
Fiction, CH Graphic Novel/Humor/Sci-Fi
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Oh, no! The world is about to run out of power! Fortunately, the President of America knows just who to call: the World's Best Scientist, who hatches a plan to put a solar power plant on the moon and beam energy back to Earth via microwave. To accomplish this, World's Best Scientist knows who else to call: the CatStronauts over at the Catsup Space Agency. Major Meowser, Waffles, Blanket, and Pom Pom - as well as the entire space agency, which hasn't conducted a moon mission in 30 years - have just 60 days to train, build a rocket, and get the lunar power plant online, or Earth will run out of energy and life as every cat knows it will end.
REVIEW: Melding humor and science and more than a few nods to the history of the (human) space race, CatStronauts is a fun little graphic novel for kids (and grown-ups reading along, or just looking for a light, fast-reading adventure). The illustrations are whimsical, with details that add to the humor and the resonance for those looking for real-world space connections. Characters are simple yet distinct and fun, learning to work together in a crunch and science their way through problems in true astronaut fashion, and the plot moves briskly (with more than a few throwaway puns and jokes). There's a little peril, a little conflict, and no real spoiler that things come together by the end. I had fun reading it, and if I ever need a light pick-me-up in the future, I might continue the series.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Captain Raptor and the Space Pirates (Kevin O'Malley and Patrick O'Brien) - My Review
In the Red (Christopher Swiedler) - My Review
Quantum Mechanics (Jeff Weigel) - My Review
The CatStronauts series, Book 1
Drew Brockington
Little, Brown and Company
Fiction, CH Graphic Novel/Humor/Sci-Fi
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Oh, no! The world is about to run out of power! Fortunately, the President of America knows just who to call: the World's Best Scientist, who hatches a plan to put a solar power plant on the moon and beam energy back to Earth via microwave. To accomplish this, World's Best Scientist knows who else to call: the CatStronauts over at the Catsup Space Agency. Major Meowser, Waffles, Blanket, and Pom Pom - as well as the entire space agency, which hasn't conducted a moon mission in 30 years - have just 60 days to train, build a rocket, and get the lunar power plant online, or Earth will run out of energy and life as every cat knows it will end.
REVIEW: Melding humor and science and more than a few nods to the history of the (human) space race, CatStronauts is a fun little graphic novel for kids (and grown-ups reading along, or just looking for a light, fast-reading adventure). The illustrations are whimsical, with details that add to the humor and the resonance for those looking for real-world space connections. Characters are simple yet distinct and fun, learning to work together in a crunch and science their way through problems in true astronaut fashion, and the plot moves briskly (with more than a few throwaway puns and jokes). There's a little peril, a little conflict, and no real spoiler that things come together by the end. I had fun reading it, and if I ever need a light pick-me-up in the future, I might continue the series.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Captain Raptor and the Space Pirates (Kevin O'Malley and Patrick O'Brien) - My Review
In the Red (Christopher Swiedler) - My Review
Quantum Mechanics (Jeff Weigel) - My Review
Friday, June 28, 2024
The Legend of Hobart (Heather Mullaly)
The Legend of Hobart
Heather Mullaly
Favored Oak Press
Fiction, CH Fantasy/Humor
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: Young Hobart of Finnagen may be the seventh son of a pig farmer, but he dreams of becoming a hero. Unfortunately, he can only enter the King's School for the Education of Future Knights if three people testify to his heroic deeds on the May Day of his twelfth year, and his village is sadly devoid of damsels in need of rescue (they all practice martial arts and assure him the last thing they need is a rescuer), babies in need of saving from house fires (everyone's far too careful), or other good deeds in need of doing. Worse, Hobart's small size, stutter, and stumbling efforts whenever he does attempt acts of bravery have earned him nothing but scorn and bullying; the son of the local lord dubbed him Ho-brat and the name has sadly stuck (with the added surname "Bull Hat" after an unfortunate encounter with an angry bull). Even his family doesn't take him seriously when he tells him his dreams. With the days until May Day dwindling, Hobart decides only one deed will be heroic enough to not only get him into the school for knights, but silence his tormentors once and for all: slaying a dragon. Thus, he sets out on a quest of his very own... but what he finds along the way will make him reconsider everything he thought he knew about bravery, heroism, and what it means to be a knight.
REVIEW: The Legend of Hobart is a light, amusing tale of a boy who wants to be a hero without quite understanding the term. Set in an idealized "once upon a time" fantasy land, it offers just enough peril to challenge Hobart and the companions he picks up along the way, providing setbacks and adventures and problems Hobart has to figure out with the four magic gifts granted by the old wise woman he consults on setting out. (Normally it's three gifts, but she's something of a nonconformist wise woman and gives him four... though whether Albert the cowardly talking horse is a gift or not is open to debate, even by Hobart.) Eventually, of course, he has his meeting with the dragon - but it goes without saying that things do not go the way he always imagined they'd go back in Finnegan. It's all a decently adventurous tale, especially for a younger reader, with some silly moments along the way, but I found the ending rushed, and it also seemed to forget a few things I was sure would come into play somehow.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Odd and the Frost Giants (Neil Gaiman) - My Review
Have Sword, Will Travel (Garth Nix and Sean Williams) - My Review
A Darkening of Dragons (S. A. Patrick) - My Review
Heather Mullaly
Favored Oak Press
Fiction, CH Fantasy/Humor
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: Young Hobart of Finnagen may be the seventh son of a pig farmer, but he dreams of becoming a hero. Unfortunately, he can only enter the King's School for the Education of Future Knights if three people testify to his heroic deeds on the May Day of his twelfth year, and his village is sadly devoid of damsels in need of rescue (they all practice martial arts and assure him the last thing they need is a rescuer), babies in need of saving from house fires (everyone's far too careful), or other good deeds in need of doing. Worse, Hobart's small size, stutter, and stumbling efforts whenever he does attempt acts of bravery have earned him nothing but scorn and bullying; the son of the local lord dubbed him Ho-brat and the name has sadly stuck (with the added surname "Bull Hat" after an unfortunate encounter with an angry bull). Even his family doesn't take him seriously when he tells him his dreams. With the days until May Day dwindling, Hobart decides only one deed will be heroic enough to not only get him into the school for knights, but silence his tormentors once and for all: slaying a dragon. Thus, he sets out on a quest of his very own... but what he finds along the way will make him reconsider everything he thought he knew about bravery, heroism, and what it means to be a knight.
REVIEW: The Legend of Hobart is a light, amusing tale of a boy who wants to be a hero without quite understanding the term. Set in an idealized "once upon a time" fantasy land, it offers just enough peril to challenge Hobart and the companions he picks up along the way, providing setbacks and adventures and problems Hobart has to figure out with the four magic gifts granted by the old wise woman he consults on setting out. (Normally it's three gifts, but she's something of a nonconformist wise woman and gives him four... though whether Albert the cowardly talking horse is a gift or not is open to debate, even by Hobart.) Eventually, of course, he has his meeting with the dragon - but it goes without saying that things do not go the way he always imagined they'd go back in Finnegan. It's all a decently adventurous tale, especially for a younger reader, with some silly moments along the way, but I found the ending rushed, and it also seemed to forget a few things I was sure would come into play somehow.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Odd and the Frost Giants (Neil Gaiman) - My Review
Have Sword, Will Travel (Garth Nix and Sean Williams) - My Review
A Darkening of Dragons (S. A. Patrick) - My Review
Friday, April 26, 2024
The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales (Jon Scieszka)
The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales
Jon Scieszka, illustrations by Lane Smith
Viking
Fiction, CH Collection/Fantasy/Humor/Picture Book
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: A Goldilocks thwarted by the exceptionally oversized chairs at the home of the Three Elephants... a peculiar race to determine if the Hare really can grow hair faster than the Tortoise can run... a giant who insists on adding his own story to a fairy tale collection... a mischievous little man made entirely of stinky cheese... What, these aren't the stories you're used to? Correct - they're not fairy tales. They're fairly stupid tales, brought to you by your narrator, Jack.
REVIEW: This award-winning book still gets decent library circulation, so it was there when we hit a lull at work. Just as the title promises, every story in this collection is stupid and more than a little sarcastic and silly. The fourth wall is gleefully shattered by Jack, a narrator who often has trouble keeping the characters in line, while the little red hen (who canonically made a loaf of bread without assistance despite repeated requests for aid with planting the wheat, milling the flour, and baking the loaf) insists on trying to squeeze her story into whatever blank spaces she can find... even if they're before the title page or on the back cover. The tales are all short enough not to overstay their welcome, as is the book itself. It made this grown-up chuckle more than once.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Chloe and the Lion (Mac Barnett) - My Review
The Boy Who Cried Ninja (Alex Latimer) - My Review
The Paper Bag Princess (Robert N. Munsch) - My Review
Jon Scieszka, illustrations by Lane Smith
Viking
Fiction, CH Collection/Fantasy/Humor/Picture Book
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: A Goldilocks thwarted by the exceptionally oversized chairs at the home of the Three Elephants... a peculiar race to determine if the Hare really can grow hair faster than the Tortoise can run... a giant who insists on adding his own story to a fairy tale collection... a mischievous little man made entirely of stinky cheese... What, these aren't the stories you're used to? Correct - they're not fairy tales. They're fairly stupid tales, brought to you by your narrator, Jack.
REVIEW: This award-winning book still gets decent library circulation, so it was there when we hit a lull at work. Just as the title promises, every story in this collection is stupid and more than a little sarcastic and silly. The fourth wall is gleefully shattered by Jack, a narrator who often has trouble keeping the characters in line, while the little red hen (who canonically made a loaf of bread without assistance despite repeated requests for aid with planting the wheat, milling the flour, and baking the loaf) insists on trying to squeeze her story into whatever blank spaces she can find... even if they're before the title page or on the back cover. The tales are all short enough not to overstay their welcome, as is the book itself. It made this grown-up chuckle more than once.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Chloe and the Lion (Mac Barnett) - My Review
The Boy Who Cried Ninja (Alex Latimer) - My Review
The Paper Bag Princess (Robert N. Munsch) - My Review
Friday, April 5, 2024
The Truth About Dragons (Julie Leung)
The Truth About Dragons
Julie Leung, illustrations by Hanna Cha
Henry Holt and Co.
Fiction, CH Fantasy/Picture Book/Poetry
***** (Great)
DESCRIPTION: At bedtime, a young child's mother tells him a tale of two grandmothers and two dragons, both of which hold their own truth.
REVIEW: This gorgeous picture book celebrates two cultures with two different dragon traditions. Are dragons dangerous hoarders of gold or benevolent river spirits? They are both (and more besides), and for a child with a biracial background, they both have wonder and wisdom to share. The dragon illustrations simply gleam on the page.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Drawn Together (Minh Le) - My Review
John Ronald's Dragons (Caroline McAlister) - My Review
Tell Me a Dragon (Jackie Morris) - My Review
Julie Leung, illustrations by Hanna Cha
Henry Holt and Co.
Fiction, CH Fantasy/Picture Book/Poetry
***** (Great)
DESCRIPTION: At bedtime, a young child's mother tells him a tale of two grandmothers and two dragons, both of which hold their own truth.
REVIEW: This gorgeous picture book celebrates two cultures with two different dragon traditions. Are dragons dangerous hoarders of gold or benevolent river spirits? They are both (and more besides), and for a child with a biracial background, they both have wonder and wisdom to share. The dragon illustrations simply gleam on the page.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Drawn Together (Minh Le) - My Review
John Ronald's Dragons (Caroline McAlister) - My Review
Tell Me a Dragon (Jackie Morris) - My Review
The Janitor's Boy (Andrew Clements)
The Janitor's Boy
Andrew Clements
Atheneum Books
Fiction, CH General Fiction
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: Jack Rankin used to be proud of his father... way back when he was in second grade, before he realized that janitors were considered the lowest of the low. Now, he's stuck in the very school where his father works. Worse, when a classmate got sick, Dad smiled at him in front of the whole class and said hello to Jack, calling him "son". Of course, the class bullies latch onto this bit of information in a snap... and it never would've happened if his father had a better job! This calls for revenge, by way of a massive wad of gum smeared under a desk in the music room: just the way to send a message to his father about what Jack thinks of janitors in general and him in particular.
Unfortunately, teachers and principals aren't as oblivious as kids would like to believe, at least not when it really matters. Caught, Jack is sentenced to three weeks of gum cleaning duty after school, which will mean working with his dad. How much worse could his life get?
But then Jack discovers the janitors' secret: keys that let them access any room in the building. He never expected his explorations to teach him more about his father, and why the man seems so happy and proud being "just" a school janitor.
REVIEW: I've only read a few of Clements's books, but the ones I have read have been stellar. He really had a way of capturing the often-awkward, sometimes-painful moments of growing up, and presenting adults as something more than monolithic masses even in stories geared around young protagonists. This story is a small slice of a boy's life, but a pivotal one, as Jack struggles in a vice between peer pressure and family; he never truly hates his father, not at a bone-deep level at any rate, but feels frustrated and, yes, more than a little ashamed to be known as the janitor's boy. Sentenced to work with the janitors after school, he learns there's more to them and their jobs than he ever stopped to think about before, just as he learns that there's more to his father than he ever realized; everything and everyone has hidden facets, from old school buildings to the people whom he's always taken for granted around him. Meanwhile, the act of gum-based vandalism/rebellion wakes his father John up to the fact that Jack isn't a little kid anymore, and that a growing boy needs more to hold onto if there's going to be a relationship in the future. John finally brings the boy into his confidence about some of the forces that shaped him, including his own stressful relationship with Jack's late grandfather. It culminates in a rite of passage that's both a literal and metaphoric journey out of young childhood and young childish emotions and viewpoints and into something more mature and nuanced.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Frindle (Andrew Clements) - My Review
Ghost (Jason Reynolds) - My Review
Andrew Clements
Atheneum Books
Fiction, CH General Fiction
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: Jack Rankin used to be proud of his father... way back when he was in second grade, before he realized that janitors were considered the lowest of the low. Now, he's stuck in the very school where his father works. Worse, when a classmate got sick, Dad smiled at him in front of the whole class and said hello to Jack, calling him "son". Of course, the class bullies latch onto this bit of information in a snap... and it never would've happened if his father had a better job! This calls for revenge, by way of a massive wad of gum smeared under a desk in the music room: just the way to send a message to his father about what Jack thinks of janitors in general and him in particular.
Unfortunately, teachers and principals aren't as oblivious as kids would like to believe, at least not when it really matters. Caught, Jack is sentenced to three weeks of gum cleaning duty after school, which will mean working with his dad. How much worse could his life get?
But then Jack discovers the janitors' secret: keys that let them access any room in the building. He never expected his explorations to teach him more about his father, and why the man seems so happy and proud being "just" a school janitor.
REVIEW: I've only read a few of Clements's books, but the ones I have read have been stellar. He really had a way of capturing the often-awkward, sometimes-painful moments of growing up, and presenting adults as something more than monolithic masses even in stories geared around young protagonists. This story is a small slice of a boy's life, but a pivotal one, as Jack struggles in a vice between peer pressure and family; he never truly hates his father, not at a bone-deep level at any rate, but feels frustrated and, yes, more than a little ashamed to be known as the janitor's boy. Sentenced to work with the janitors after school, he learns there's more to them and their jobs than he ever stopped to think about before, just as he learns that there's more to his father than he ever realized; everything and everyone has hidden facets, from old school buildings to the people whom he's always taken for granted around him. Meanwhile, the act of gum-based vandalism/rebellion wakes his father John up to the fact that Jack isn't a little kid anymore, and that a growing boy needs more to hold onto if there's going to be a relationship in the future. John finally brings the boy into his confidence about some of the forces that shaped him, including his own stressful relationship with Jack's late grandfather. It culminates in a rite of passage that's both a literal and metaphoric journey out of young childhood and young childish emotions and viewpoints and into something more mature and nuanced.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Frindle (Andrew Clements) - My Review
Ghost (Jason Reynolds) - My Review
The Mighty Odds (Amy Ignatow)
The Mighty Odds
The Odds series, Book 1
Amy Ignatow
Amulet Books
Fiction, CH? Action/Humor/Sci-Fi
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Nick's always been something of a nerd. Martina hides behind her sketchbook, unnoticed by everyone. Farshad had hoped that middle school would be a chance for new friends and a new start until the popular kids branded him "Terror Boy", an unkind reference to his Middle Eastern heritage. Cookie, the only Black girl in Deborah Reed Middle School, has clawed her way to the top of the social ladder and does not intend to slip so much as a single rung. They were four ordinary middle school students, on their way back to rural Muellersville from a field trip to Philadelphia... before the accident. Now, they all have super powers - sort of. Nick can transport himself, but only four inches to the left. Martina can change her eye color. Farshad's thumbs have super strength. And Cookie can hear people's thoughts if they're thinking about directions. None of these powers are the sort of things to write a movie franchise about, but they're all signs that something extraordinary happened - and, unimpressive as these new gifts are, someone is trying very, very hard to get their hands on the kids.
REVIEW: I'll admit I came close to docking this book a half-point for a cliffhanger ending (and for poor formatting on the audiobook version I borrowed; inexplicably, the last fifteen or so minutes of the file are just the first part of the book replaying). Aside from that, it's exactly what it looks like from the description: a light, fun tale of mismatched kids bonded by new powers and new enemies. (Well, kids and a few others, but that risks spoilers.) The fact that the major employer in Muellersville is a chemical company should be a hint that something sinister is afoot, and the accident lands the hapless kids squarely in the middle of it. Light as the overall concept is, the characters are generally more than simple sketches, each having a decently interesting backstory that helps explain where they are when they start out and how they react once they become involved in something as unusual as developing strange powers seemingly out of nowhere. They are not natural friends, separated by racial, social, and economic divides that even mysterious abilities and shared trauma can't easily bridge. By the end, they're still not completely at ease with teamwork, but they're working on it, and none of them are so stupidly stubborn as to keep rejecting the need to band together against a common enemy (though it does take some convincing). I ultimately decided to give it the benefit of the doubt on that cliffhanger and round it up.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Invasion (K. A. Applegate) - My Review
Sister of the Chosen One (Erin Armknecht and Colleen Oakes) - My Review
Power Up (Kate Leth) - My Review
The Odds series, Book 1
Amy Ignatow
Amulet Books
Fiction, CH? Action/Humor/Sci-Fi
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Nick's always been something of a nerd. Martina hides behind her sketchbook, unnoticed by everyone. Farshad had hoped that middle school would be a chance for new friends and a new start until the popular kids branded him "Terror Boy", an unkind reference to his Middle Eastern heritage. Cookie, the only Black girl in Deborah Reed Middle School, has clawed her way to the top of the social ladder and does not intend to slip so much as a single rung. They were four ordinary middle school students, on their way back to rural Muellersville from a field trip to Philadelphia... before the accident. Now, they all have super powers - sort of. Nick can transport himself, but only four inches to the left. Martina can change her eye color. Farshad's thumbs have super strength. And Cookie can hear people's thoughts if they're thinking about directions. None of these powers are the sort of things to write a movie franchise about, but they're all signs that something extraordinary happened - and, unimpressive as these new gifts are, someone is trying very, very hard to get their hands on the kids.
REVIEW: I'll admit I came close to docking this book a half-point for a cliffhanger ending (and for poor formatting on the audiobook version I borrowed; inexplicably, the last fifteen or so minutes of the file are just the first part of the book replaying). Aside from that, it's exactly what it looks like from the description: a light, fun tale of mismatched kids bonded by new powers and new enemies. (Well, kids and a few others, but that risks spoilers.) The fact that the major employer in Muellersville is a chemical company should be a hint that something sinister is afoot, and the accident lands the hapless kids squarely in the middle of it. Light as the overall concept is, the characters are generally more than simple sketches, each having a decently interesting backstory that helps explain where they are when they start out and how they react once they become involved in something as unusual as developing strange powers seemingly out of nowhere. They are not natural friends, separated by racial, social, and economic divides that even mysterious abilities and shared trauma can't easily bridge. By the end, they're still not completely at ease with teamwork, but they're working on it, and none of them are so stupidly stubborn as to keep rejecting the need to band together against a common enemy (though it does take some convincing). I ultimately decided to give it the benefit of the doubt on that cliffhanger and round it up.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Invasion (K. A. Applegate) - My Review
Sister of the Chosen One (Erin Armknecht and Colleen Oakes) - My Review
Power Up (Kate Leth) - My Review
Thursday, March 28, 2024
The Jolly Regina (Kara LaReau)
The Jolly Regina
The Unintentional Adventures of the Bland Sisters series, Book 1
Kara LaReau
Amulet Books
Fiction, CH? Adventure/Humor
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Jaundice and Kale Bland have lived alone in their drab little house near Dullsville ever since their parents left on an "errand" and never returned (at least, not yet, but surely any day now). In the meantime, they mend socks and eat cheese sandwiches and entertain themselves by watching the grass grow and reading to each other from their favorite (and only) book, Dr. Nathaniel Snoote's Illustrated Children's Dictionary. It's a dull life, a predictable life, and it's just the kind of life they want.
Then the stranger knocks on their door with a surprise - the "surprise" being a burlap sack and an abduction to the deck of a pirate ship. The captain, "Dead-Eye" Delilah, claims that Mother and Father Bland were her hostages not so long ago, but when they refused to give up the location of the famed treasure of Captain Ann Tennille, the pirates marooned them on Gilly Guns Island, then came back to grab the girls. If they can't tell Delilah where the booty is, they'll be stuck scrubbing decks on the ship forever.
Jaundice and Kale know nothing about gold; they don't even like the color (their favorites being brown and gray). Now, though, they at least know where their parents are, and that they're in trouble (and not out on an errand at all). But what can two girls who have hardly ever set foot outside their home before, who don't even like the word "adventure", hope to do about it?
REVIEW: As the description implies, this is a lightweight, often silly little adventure tale starring two girls who would much rather mend socks and stare at their wallpaper than be out and about. Nevertheless, sometimes adventure is thrust upon those who least want it, and with a little scraping of pluck and the help of their dictionary and its educational sidebars, they manage to get by. Characters don't tend to have a ton of depth, but there's sometimes a little more to them than is initially apparent; one thing the Bland sisters learn is that most everyone has a story if you sit and let them tell it. The text is riddled with puns, many of which aim at least a couple generations over the target age, and the narrative is quick and lively. Does the experience turn Jaundice and Kale into seasoned, eager adventurers? Hardly, but they are not quite the same girls they were at the end of their adventure, and the fact that it's Book 1 of a series hints that there's more in store for the reluctant travelers. There's a bit at the end that almost knocked it down a half star, some implications where I was probably reading a little too much into things (with shades of adults misunderstanding possibly-neurodivergent children and their needs and trying to make them be people that they just are not). Overall, though, it made for a quick and amusing yarn.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Fortunately, the Milk (Neil Gaiman) - My Review
Piratica (Tanith Lee) - My Review
Meet the Dullards (Sara Pennypacker) - My Review
The Unintentional Adventures of the Bland Sisters series, Book 1
Kara LaReau
Amulet Books
Fiction, CH? Adventure/Humor
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Jaundice and Kale Bland have lived alone in their drab little house near Dullsville ever since their parents left on an "errand" and never returned (at least, not yet, but surely any day now). In the meantime, they mend socks and eat cheese sandwiches and entertain themselves by watching the grass grow and reading to each other from their favorite (and only) book, Dr. Nathaniel Snoote's Illustrated Children's Dictionary. It's a dull life, a predictable life, and it's just the kind of life they want.
Then the stranger knocks on their door with a surprise - the "surprise" being a burlap sack and an abduction to the deck of a pirate ship. The captain, "Dead-Eye" Delilah, claims that Mother and Father Bland were her hostages not so long ago, but when they refused to give up the location of the famed treasure of Captain Ann Tennille, the pirates marooned them on Gilly Guns Island, then came back to grab the girls. If they can't tell Delilah where the booty is, they'll be stuck scrubbing decks on the ship forever.
Jaundice and Kale know nothing about gold; they don't even like the color (their favorites being brown and gray). Now, though, they at least know where their parents are, and that they're in trouble (and not out on an errand at all). But what can two girls who have hardly ever set foot outside their home before, who don't even like the word "adventure", hope to do about it?
REVIEW: As the description implies, this is a lightweight, often silly little adventure tale starring two girls who would much rather mend socks and stare at their wallpaper than be out and about. Nevertheless, sometimes adventure is thrust upon those who least want it, and with a little scraping of pluck and the help of their dictionary and its educational sidebars, they manage to get by. Characters don't tend to have a ton of depth, but there's sometimes a little more to them than is initially apparent; one thing the Bland sisters learn is that most everyone has a story if you sit and let them tell it. The text is riddled with puns, many of which aim at least a couple generations over the target age, and the narrative is quick and lively. Does the experience turn Jaundice and Kale into seasoned, eager adventurers? Hardly, but they are not quite the same girls they were at the end of their adventure, and the fact that it's Book 1 of a series hints that there's more in store for the reluctant travelers. There's a bit at the end that almost knocked it down a half star, some implications where I was probably reading a little too much into things (with shades of adults misunderstanding possibly-neurodivergent children and their needs and trying to make them be people that they just are not). Overall, though, it made for a quick and amusing yarn.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Fortunately, the Milk (Neil Gaiman) - My Review
Piratica (Tanith Lee) - My Review
Meet the Dullards (Sara Pennypacker) - My Review
Thursday, March 14, 2024
The Lost Words (Robert Macfarlane)
The Lost Words
Robert Macfarlane
Anansi International
Fiction, CH Poetry
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: When the Oxford Children's Dictionary was updated in 2007, several words were removed as no longer relevant to young readers, replaced with more modern terms related to technology. Acorn, newt, raven, willow... their loss hinted at a loss of nature, a loss of connection to the green world beyond the classroom. With these poems inspired by the missing words, Robert Macfarlane hopes to reforge that connection and spark the sense of wonder that the natural world can bring, even in the internet age.
REVIEW: This is a case where the presentation - in this case, the audiobook - had a distinct impact on the rating. The poems themselves are decent, if a bit variable in quality and content. (I also wonder how much a kid who didn't already know and appreciate nature - particularly the nature of the English countryside - would get out of some of them.) But the audiobook insisted on inserting long lulls between the poems full of birdsong and natural sounds. They comprised at least a third of the total runtime; I timed more than one as longer than the accompanying poem. There's adding atmosphere, and there's just plain overkill... I think this one would work better in the original format, as a picture book with illustrations by Jackie Morris, but as I listened to the audiobook, it's the audiobook version I must review.
(As a closing note, I wonder why the original word definitions weren't included, either with the poems or in an afterword. Wasn't half the point to re-introduce those words to children's vocabulary?)
You Might Also Enjoy:
Being a Beast (Charles Foster) - My Review
Imagine a World (Rob Gonsalves) - My Review
The Dream of the Thylacine (Margaret Wild) - My Review
Robert Macfarlane
Anansi International
Fiction, CH Poetry
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: When the Oxford Children's Dictionary was updated in 2007, several words were removed as no longer relevant to young readers, replaced with more modern terms related to technology. Acorn, newt, raven, willow... their loss hinted at a loss of nature, a loss of connection to the green world beyond the classroom. With these poems inspired by the missing words, Robert Macfarlane hopes to reforge that connection and spark the sense of wonder that the natural world can bring, even in the internet age.
REVIEW: This is a case where the presentation - in this case, the audiobook - had a distinct impact on the rating. The poems themselves are decent, if a bit variable in quality and content. (I also wonder how much a kid who didn't already know and appreciate nature - particularly the nature of the English countryside - would get out of some of them.) But the audiobook insisted on inserting long lulls between the poems full of birdsong and natural sounds. They comprised at least a third of the total runtime; I timed more than one as longer than the accompanying poem. There's adding atmosphere, and there's just plain overkill... I think this one would work better in the original format, as a picture book with illustrations by Jackie Morris, but as I listened to the audiobook, it's the audiobook version I must review.
(As a closing note, I wonder why the original word definitions weren't included, either with the poems or in an afterword. Wasn't half the point to re-introduce those words to children's vocabulary?)
You Might Also Enjoy:
Being a Beast (Charles Foster) - My Review
Imagine a World (Rob Gonsalves) - My Review
The Dream of the Thylacine (Margaret Wild) - My Review
Wednesday, March 6, 2024
The Dragons at Crumbling Castle (Terry Pratchett)
The Dragons at Crumbling Castle: And Other Tales
Terry Pratchett
Clarion Books
Fiction, CH? Collection/Fantasy/Humor
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: One of King Arthur's least promising knights leads a quest to rid Crumbling Castle of a dragon infestation... a race of tiny people, so small they can dwell upon a speck of dust, explore the wild universe within a living room... a boring prince sets out to seek his fortune... an ordinary bus trip takes an extraordinary turn through time... This volume collects fourteen stories written by the legendary author Sir Terry Pratchett.
REVIEW: Long before Discworld debuted and changed the course of fantasy and satire, Terry Pratchett was a teenage journalist who penned numerous little confections like the ones collected here. Some, such as the "carpet people" tales, revisit the same settings and a few of the same characters - those stories would eventually inspire his first published novel, The Carpet People - but many of the rest are just light, often silly amusements. Even then, there are traces of Pratchett's later, more signature style and wit, and every story brims with imagination. If there aren't really any girl characters of note, and if there are hints of some racial stereotypes now and again, well, not only was the author just a teenager, but the stories were written in emulation of older fairy stories, adventure yarns, and once-upon-a-time tales that shared similar blind spots. The whole may not be up to the lofty heights Pratchett would later reach, but are certainly enjoyable and entertaining for what they are.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Odds are Good (Bruce Coville) - My Review
The Bromeliad Trilogy (Terry Pratchett) - My Review
Book of Enchantments (Patricia C. Wrede) - My Review
Terry Pratchett
Clarion Books
Fiction, CH? Collection/Fantasy/Humor
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: One of King Arthur's least promising knights leads a quest to rid Crumbling Castle of a dragon infestation... a race of tiny people, so small they can dwell upon a speck of dust, explore the wild universe within a living room... a boring prince sets out to seek his fortune... an ordinary bus trip takes an extraordinary turn through time... This volume collects fourteen stories written by the legendary author Sir Terry Pratchett.
REVIEW: Long before Discworld debuted and changed the course of fantasy and satire, Terry Pratchett was a teenage journalist who penned numerous little confections like the ones collected here. Some, such as the "carpet people" tales, revisit the same settings and a few of the same characters - those stories would eventually inspire his first published novel, The Carpet People - but many of the rest are just light, often silly amusements. Even then, there are traces of Pratchett's later, more signature style and wit, and every story brims with imagination. If there aren't really any girl characters of note, and if there are hints of some racial stereotypes now and again, well, not only was the author just a teenager, but the stories were written in emulation of older fairy stories, adventure yarns, and once-upon-a-time tales that shared similar blind spots. The whole may not be up to the lofty heights Pratchett would later reach, but are certainly enjoyable and entertaining for what they are.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Odds are Good (Bruce Coville) - My Review
The Bromeliad Trilogy (Terry Pratchett) - My Review
Book of Enchantments (Patricia C. Wrede) - My Review
Wednesday, January 24, 2024
Fire Truck vs. Dragon (Chris Barton)
Fire Truck vs. Dragon
Chris Barton, illustrations by Shanda McCloskey
Little, Brown Books
Fiction, CH Fantasy/Humor/Picture Book
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Dragon and Fire Truck are the best of friends, and have all sorts of fun together. So what happens when two kids decide they'd rather see a fight than have a party?
REVIEW: This sequel to Shark vs. Train again juxtaposes two unlikely contestants in a battle for supremacy... or, at least, that's what the kids keep hoping happens. Instead, Dragon and Fire Truck get along great - but they're nothing if not crowd pleasers, so they give rivalry a go, with amusing consequences. It's a fun, quick read that manages not to retread the original story.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Shark vs. Train (Chris Barton) - My Review
The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors (Drew Daywalt) - My Review
Dragons Love Tacos (Adam Rubin) - My Review
Chris Barton, illustrations by Shanda McCloskey
Little, Brown Books
Fiction, CH Fantasy/Humor/Picture Book
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Dragon and Fire Truck are the best of friends, and have all sorts of fun together. So what happens when two kids decide they'd rather see a fight than have a party?
REVIEW: This sequel to Shark vs. Train again juxtaposes two unlikely contestants in a battle for supremacy... or, at least, that's what the kids keep hoping happens. Instead, Dragon and Fire Truck get along great - but they're nothing if not crowd pleasers, so they give rivalry a go, with amusing consequences. It's a fun, quick read that manages not to retread the original story.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Shark vs. Train (Chris Barton) - My Review
The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors (Drew Daywalt) - My Review
Dragons Love Tacos (Adam Rubin) - My Review
Wednesday, January 3, 2024
Hello, Universe (Erin Entrada Kelly)
Hello, Universe
Erin Entrada Kelly
Greenwillow Books
Fiction, CH General Fiction
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: Shy Virgil Salinas is used to feeling like a misfit, even in his own family; aside from his beloved grandmother, nobody else seems to understand him, teasing him for not being boisterous or outspoken or athletic. He can't even say he's an excellent student to compensate, because he struggles with his multiplication tables - something the class bully Chet never lets him forget (though Virgil's hardly the only target for that brute). But his biggest failure by far, the one that haunts him and shadows his days even as summer break starts, is the fact that he couldn't even screw up his courage to say one word - not one! - to Valencia Somerset. His life couldn't possibly get any worse... until it does, and he ends up stuck in the bottom of an old well, his cell phone broken, and nobody even knowing he's missing.
Kaori Tanaka inherited the second sight, but doesn't know from where; maybe it was one of her past lives, because it sure wasn't her straight-laced parents. She's trying to start a side hustle counseling other kids about their problems, but so far Virgil is her only client. When he comes to her for help, she tells him to gather five unique stones so she can do a reading. (What kind of reading, she doesn't know; it usually just comes to her in the moment.) But when he doesn't return, she gets another feeling... a feeling that something is very, very wrong.
Valencia Somerset doesn't have friends anymore, but she's happy that way - at least, that's what she tells herself. Being deaf hasn't hindered her education, but it seems many kids find it too much work to remember how to talk to her, or that even hearing aids don't mean she can always understand every word, especially in noisy places. But she has her nature journal and the small patch of woods near her home, the name of a deaf saint she read about once (so she has someone, at least, to talk to, even if her family isn't religious), and even a stray dog, Sacred, she's taken to feeding without her mother's knowledge. But when a persistent nightmare keeps her awake for several nights in a row, she gets desperate enough to call a number she found on a business card at the supermarket - the number of a self-proclaimed psychic who only deals with kids like her: Kaori Tanaka.
In one fateful afternoon, these lives will come together, and everyone will be changed.
REVIEW: The premise is interesting, and the characters feel authentic, all wading through that nebulous age when a grown-up future is looking more plausible (despite how frustratingly obtuse so many adults seem to be) yet where magical thinking is still very much alive and well. The story itself isn't bad, but I kept expecting an extra kick, an extra spark, something to make it a little more; it always felt like that spark was just a little ways away. Even by the end, that spark hadn't quite struck.
In rotating chapters, the kids each tell their sides of the story. Virgil feels like an utter failure; but for his grandmother and her stories (and his pet guinea pig Gulliver - though he just learned that guinea pigs are social animals, so he feels like he's even failed his beloved pet by not having a friend for it), he'd have nothing at all. His mother and father and perfect twin brothers all call him "Turtle", because he's still hiding in his shell... as if his preference for silence is one more thing wrong with him. The fact that he couldn't even talk to the one girl he felt like he could befriend, Valencia, only cements his certainty that he's doomed to a life of loneliness. The only kid he feels he can talk freely to is Kaori, who honestly does try to help, even if some of her "second sight" insights are nebulous at best. As for Kaori, she is firmly convinced she's somehow different and special, a throwback to some older time, though most of her insights would probably be called "cold reading" in an adult psychic, following reactions and cues from the client to get closer to what they need (or want) to hear (not that she's intentionally deceptive; cold reading can often be subconscious, and can still lead to real insight). Whether or not she really has talents is left ambiguous, as there certainly seems to be slightly more than coincidence going on. Valencia has long ago come to terms with her deafness, but understandably still gets frustrated at times by people; even her own mother can't quite seem to figure out how to deal with a deaf child, often erring on the side of overprotectiveness. She doesn't set out to make any friends, telling herself she's fine with her own company (and the company of her private saint, part of an indistinct yearning for spiritual answers that her secular family hasn't noticed or addressed), but finds herself pulled in when Kaori's worries about Virgil spill over into their meeting. There are also a couple chapters about the bully Chet, though they mostly serve to offer minor explanations about how he came by his behavior (as usual, handed down from family); he was rather underused, honestly, and didn't really undergo much of a transformation or change to justify his page time. Virgil, in the bottom of the well, undergoes a personal ordeal and epiphany reminiscent of his grandmother's folk tales from the Philippenes, while the others change in smaller yet equally significant ways (save Chet).
As mentioned before, the plot is decent enough, and wraps up well, though with some few things unanswered or unresolved. I just kept thinking that it was building to something just a little more than expected, something truly special. It was this subtle feeling of dissatisfaction, plus a sense that the changes weren't quite finished (or, in Chet's case, hardly even started), that led me to shave a half-star off the rating.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Canyon's Edge (Dusti Bowling) - My Review
Alone (Megan E. Freeman) - My Review
The Girl in the Well is Me (Karen Rivers) - My Review
Erin Entrada Kelly
Greenwillow Books
Fiction, CH General Fiction
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: Shy Virgil Salinas is used to feeling like a misfit, even in his own family; aside from his beloved grandmother, nobody else seems to understand him, teasing him for not being boisterous or outspoken or athletic. He can't even say he's an excellent student to compensate, because he struggles with his multiplication tables - something the class bully Chet never lets him forget (though Virgil's hardly the only target for that brute). But his biggest failure by far, the one that haunts him and shadows his days even as summer break starts, is the fact that he couldn't even screw up his courage to say one word - not one! - to Valencia Somerset. His life couldn't possibly get any worse... until it does, and he ends up stuck in the bottom of an old well, his cell phone broken, and nobody even knowing he's missing.
Kaori Tanaka inherited the second sight, but doesn't know from where; maybe it was one of her past lives, because it sure wasn't her straight-laced parents. She's trying to start a side hustle counseling other kids about their problems, but so far Virgil is her only client. When he comes to her for help, she tells him to gather five unique stones so she can do a reading. (What kind of reading, she doesn't know; it usually just comes to her in the moment.) But when he doesn't return, she gets another feeling... a feeling that something is very, very wrong.
Valencia Somerset doesn't have friends anymore, but she's happy that way - at least, that's what she tells herself. Being deaf hasn't hindered her education, but it seems many kids find it too much work to remember how to talk to her, or that even hearing aids don't mean she can always understand every word, especially in noisy places. But she has her nature journal and the small patch of woods near her home, the name of a deaf saint she read about once (so she has someone, at least, to talk to, even if her family isn't religious), and even a stray dog, Sacred, she's taken to feeding without her mother's knowledge. But when a persistent nightmare keeps her awake for several nights in a row, she gets desperate enough to call a number she found on a business card at the supermarket - the number of a self-proclaimed psychic who only deals with kids like her: Kaori Tanaka.
In one fateful afternoon, these lives will come together, and everyone will be changed.
REVIEW: The premise is interesting, and the characters feel authentic, all wading through that nebulous age when a grown-up future is looking more plausible (despite how frustratingly obtuse so many adults seem to be) yet where magical thinking is still very much alive and well. The story itself isn't bad, but I kept expecting an extra kick, an extra spark, something to make it a little more; it always felt like that spark was just a little ways away. Even by the end, that spark hadn't quite struck.
In rotating chapters, the kids each tell their sides of the story. Virgil feels like an utter failure; but for his grandmother and her stories (and his pet guinea pig Gulliver - though he just learned that guinea pigs are social animals, so he feels like he's even failed his beloved pet by not having a friend for it), he'd have nothing at all. His mother and father and perfect twin brothers all call him "Turtle", because he's still hiding in his shell... as if his preference for silence is one more thing wrong with him. The fact that he couldn't even talk to the one girl he felt like he could befriend, Valencia, only cements his certainty that he's doomed to a life of loneliness. The only kid he feels he can talk freely to is Kaori, who honestly does try to help, even if some of her "second sight" insights are nebulous at best. As for Kaori, she is firmly convinced she's somehow different and special, a throwback to some older time, though most of her insights would probably be called "cold reading" in an adult psychic, following reactions and cues from the client to get closer to what they need (or want) to hear (not that she's intentionally deceptive; cold reading can often be subconscious, and can still lead to real insight). Whether or not she really has talents is left ambiguous, as there certainly seems to be slightly more than coincidence going on. Valencia has long ago come to terms with her deafness, but understandably still gets frustrated at times by people; even her own mother can't quite seem to figure out how to deal with a deaf child, often erring on the side of overprotectiveness. She doesn't set out to make any friends, telling herself she's fine with her own company (and the company of her private saint, part of an indistinct yearning for spiritual answers that her secular family hasn't noticed or addressed), but finds herself pulled in when Kaori's worries about Virgil spill over into their meeting. There are also a couple chapters about the bully Chet, though they mostly serve to offer minor explanations about how he came by his behavior (as usual, handed down from family); he was rather underused, honestly, and didn't really undergo much of a transformation or change to justify his page time. Virgil, in the bottom of the well, undergoes a personal ordeal and epiphany reminiscent of his grandmother's folk tales from the Philippenes, while the others change in smaller yet equally significant ways (save Chet).
As mentioned before, the plot is decent enough, and wraps up well, though with some few things unanswered or unresolved. I just kept thinking that it was building to something just a little more than expected, something truly special. It was this subtle feeling of dissatisfaction, plus a sense that the changes weren't quite finished (or, in Chet's case, hardly even started), that led me to shave a half-star off the rating.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Canyon's Edge (Dusti Bowling) - My Review
Alone (Megan E. Freeman) - My Review
The Girl in the Well is Me (Karen Rivers) - My Review
Wednesday, December 6, 2023
The Princess and the Goblin (George MacDonald)
The Princess and the Goblin
George MacDonald
Tantor
Fiction, CH Fantasy
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: Eight-year-old Princess Irene, as pure and good as she is beautiful, lives a sheltered life in the royal house while her father travels about the kingdom. She is so sheltered she doesn't even know about the goblins who live underneath the mountains of the kingdom: hateful beings who may once have been men but have been twisted and turned ugly by generations of exile away from the sun, whose sole purpose and joy is tormenting surface-dwellers. It is only after she stays out too late one evening that she even glimpses a goblin - an encounter where a miner boy, Curdie, saves them by reciting songs and verses (for everyone knows goblins despise both, being unable to sing or rhyme, possibly owing to their lack of souls). But her first encounter is not to be her last, as the king and queen of the monsters have concocted a diabolical plot to exact ultimate revenge against the kingdom and the men they have despised for so very long.
REVIEW: First published in 1872, this classic tale has been cited as a significant source of inspiration by authors from J. R. R. Tolkien to C. S. Lewis, while MacDonald himself was influential to many more; apparently he was mentor to Lewis Carroll and encouraged him to publish Alice in Wonderland. When read (or listened to) in 2023, The Princess and the Goblin still holds some charm and has some memorable imagery, but unfortunately it can't help showing its age, particularly if one happens to be a secular reader.
In the way of so many fairy tales, the story takes place in an idealized "once upon a time" kingdom of happy, uncomplicated people, living happy, uncomplicated lives, where the commoners are content to serve and toil under a just and noble king and where enemies are clearly defined not only by their physical differences but by their utter embrace of an inherent, soulless evil and an entire culture built around harassing their "betters" from the dark and deep places to which they were long ago banished. (One can't help seeing certain racial/cultural implications, here, especially as the tale unfolds and religious subtexts become more and more glaringly obvious.) Into this world is born Irene, a girl who has anything a child could possibly want and then some, looked after by a nursemaid who perpetually misreads situations, fumbles in her duties, overreacts, cowers before the rank and general perfection of her charge, and otherwise reminds the reader that those of lower classes are inherently inferior even to eight-year-old nobility, who are by blood and blessing closer to heavenly influences; indeed, the lesser classes are to be pitied for their inability to bask in divine glory like the princess. It's while exploring the royal house that Irene first stumbles across the hidden high tower room and her "great-great grandmother" namesake, who from the start is at the very least ghostly and later is quite clearly some manner of godly incarnation, offering comfort and healing and guidance and ritual cleansings (but which others, of lesser blood and therefore less inherent divine favor, often refuse to believe - indeed, to ask for actual proof of anything is tantamount to blasphemy). There's certainly a direct line of literary influence between the elder Irene and C. S. Lewis's lion Aslan, though at least Aslan got off his tufted tail now and again to go out and directly do something in the greater world, while Grandmother Irene mostly sits about serenely in her tower, even as her influence leads Princess Irene into risky situations (that the girl nevertheless rises to, making her a decently competent heroine given her literary circumstances). Meanwhile, miner boy Curdie stumbles across the goblin plot whilst working deep in the mountains, and risks life and limb to investigate deep in the stony bowels of the enemy stronghold. It takes the two of them (and, of course, not a little bit of Grandmother's enigmatic advice and tweaks to the strings of fate) to figure out the danger... but will anyone believe either child, when one is just a lowly miner and the other an innocent young princess whose foolish nursemaid has already spread tales about to discredit her as prone to flights of fancy (having disbelieved the girl's encounter with Grandmother)?
As I mentioned earlier, MacDonald presents some decent, memorable imagery, if imagery sometimes oversaturated with Symbolism and Messages about theological concepts like redemption and enlightenment and other things that this atheist-leaning agnostic only recognizes in the vaguest of terms. The goblins are nasty enemies, reveling in their cruelty, and their mutated animals, even described only in the vaguest of terms (being too twisted for the storyteller to put adequately into words), likely have fueled countless nightmares. Countering this is the ethereal, grandmotherly presence of the elder Irene, who may or may not be an embodiment of Princess Irene's real great-great grandmother (the more the story goes on, the less she seems like she's even the spirit of a mortal woman and the more she seems like either a saint or a goddess), who also has some interesting imagery woven around her presence. The characters may not be particularly deep, but they have an interesting adventure and are not beyond the odd failure (even with divine protection). Ultimately, though, the aforementioned oversaturation of Symbolism (and the unpleasant, creeping suspicion that the goblins were meant to be stand-ins for "anyone not sufficiently white or Christian for holy redemption, who is therefore automatically a despicable agent of evil") cost it in the ratings. I also can't say I was impressed with the quality of the audiobook I listened to; the sound was weirdly inconsistent from chapter to chapter (likely from different recording sessions, but I've never encountered one where the "cuts" had such glaringly different volumes or audio quality; I swear some of the chapters sounded like the microphone was underwater, they were so muddied and muted, while others were painfully strident).
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Best of Lewis Carroll (Lewis Carroll) - My Review
The Chronicles of Narnia (C. S. Lewis) - My Review
The Castle in the Attic (Elizabeth Winthrop) - My Review
George MacDonald
Tantor
Fiction, CH Fantasy
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: Eight-year-old Princess Irene, as pure and good as she is beautiful, lives a sheltered life in the royal house while her father travels about the kingdom. She is so sheltered she doesn't even know about the goblins who live underneath the mountains of the kingdom: hateful beings who may once have been men but have been twisted and turned ugly by generations of exile away from the sun, whose sole purpose and joy is tormenting surface-dwellers. It is only after she stays out too late one evening that she even glimpses a goblin - an encounter where a miner boy, Curdie, saves them by reciting songs and verses (for everyone knows goblins despise both, being unable to sing or rhyme, possibly owing to their lack of souls). But her first encounter is not to be her last, as the king and queen of the monsters have concocted a diabolical plot to exact ultimate revenge against the kingdom and the men they have despised for so very long.
REVIEW: First published in 1872, this classic tale has been cited as a significant source of inspiration by authors from J. R. R. Tolkien to C. S. Lewis, while MacDonald himself was influential to many more; apparently he was mentor to Lewis Carroll and encouraged him to publish Alice in Wonderland. When read (or listened to) in 2023, The Princess and the Goblin still holds some charm and has some memorable imagery, but unfortunately it can't help showing its age, particularly if one happens to be a secular reader.
In the way of so many fairy tales, the story takes place in an idealized "once upon a time" kingdom of happy, uncomplicated people, living happy, uncomplicated lives, where the commoners are content to serve and toil under a just and noble king and where enemies are clearly defined not only by their physical differences but by their utter embrace of an inherent, soulless evil and an entire culture built around harassing their "betters" from the dark and deep places to which they were long ago banished. (One can't help seeing certain racial/cultural implications, here, especially as the tale unfolds and religious subtexts become more and more glaringly obvious.) Into this world is born Irene, a girl who has anything a child could possibly want and then some, looked after by a nursemaid who perpetually misreads situations, fumbles in her duties, overreacts, cowers before the rank and general perfection of her charge, and otherwise reminds the reader that those of lower classes are inherently inferior even to eight-year-old nobility, who are by blood and blessing closer to heavenly influences; indeed, the lesser classes are to be pitied for their inability to bask in divine glory like the princess. It's while exploring the royal house that Irene first stumbles across the hidden high tower room and her "great-great grandmother" namesake, who from the start is at the very least ghostly and later is quite clearly some manner of godly incarnation, offering comfort and healing and guidance and ritual cleansings (but which others, of lesser blood and therefore less inherent divine favor, often refuse to believe - indeed, to ask for actual proof of anything is tantamount to blasphemy). There's certainly a direct line of literary influence between the elder Irene and C. S. Lewis's lion Aslan, though at least Aslan got off his tufted tail now and again to go out and directly do something in the greater world, while Grandmother Irene mostly sits about serenely in her tower, even as her influence leads Princess Irene into risky situations (that the girl nevertheless rises to, making her a decently competent heroine given her literary circumstances). Meanwhile, miner boy Curdie stumbles across the goblin plot whilst working deep in the mountains, and risks life and limb to investigate deep in the stony bowels of the enemy stronghold. It takes the two of them (and, of course, not a little bit of Grandmother's enigmatic advice and tweaks to the strings of fate) to figure out the danger... but will anyone believe either child, when one is just a lowly miner and the other an innocent young princess whose foolish nursemaid has already spread tales about to discredit her as prone to flights of fancy (having disbelieved the girl's encounter with Grandmother)?
As I mentioned earlier, MacDonald presents some decent, memorable imagery, if imagery sometimes oversaturated with Symbolism and Messages about theological concepts like redemption and enlightenment and other things that this atheist-leaning agnostic only recognizes in the vaguest of terms. The goblins are nasty enemies, reveling in their cruelty, and their mutated animals, even described only in the vaguest of terms (being too twisted for the storyteller to put adequately into words), likely have fueled countless nightmares. Countering this is the ethereal, grandmotherly presence of the elder Irene, who may or may not be an embodiment of Princess Irene's real great-great grandmother (the more the story goes on, the less she seems like she's even the spirit of a mortal woman and the more she seems like either a saint or a goddess), who also has some interesting imagery woven around her presence. The characters may not be particularly deep, but they have an interesting adventure and are not beyond the odd failure (even with divine protection). Ultimately, though, the aforementioned oversaturation of Symbolism (and the unpleasant, creeping suspicion that the goblins were meant to be stand-ins for "anyone not sufficiently white or Christian for holy redemption, who is therefore automatically a despicable agent of evil") cost it in the ratings. I also can't say I was impressed with the quality of the audiobook I listened to; the sound was weirdly inconsistent from chapter to chapter (likely from different recording sessions, but I've never encountered one where the "cuts" had such glaringly different volumes or audio quality; I swear some of the chapters sounded like the microphone was underwater, they were so muddied and muted, while others were painfully strident).
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Best of Lewis Carroll (Lewis Carroll) - My Review
The Chronicles of Narnia (C. S. Lewis) - My Review
The Castle in the Attic (Elizabeth Winthrop) - My Review
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