ALA Awards Tomorrow

Tomorrow morning, the ALA will announce the winners of its numerous awards, and though I don't claim to have expertise in predicting what will win, I have fallen into the latest trend of making predictions for some of the bigger awards. I've read more than my normal quota of eligible books, and though I probably missed something in my efforts, I am prepared to offer my hopeful guesses.

For the Caldecott Award, I hope to learn that Dan Santat's Are We There Yet? was the big winner. I also hope to learn that Lisa Brown's The Airport Book, Deborah Freedman's Shy, and Beth Krommes's Before Morning received Caldecott Honors. All of those books were truly elevated by their illustrations. Often, without the illustrations, the story simply would not have worked as well as it did.

For the Newbery Award, I hope to learn that It Ain't So Awful, Falafel by Firoozeh Dumas has won. No book so deeply moved me as that this year. I also hope that The Seventh Wish by Kate Messner, The Adventurer's Guide to Successful Escapes by Wade Albert White, and Alistair Grim's Odd Aquaticum by Gregory Funaro win Newbery Honors. This was good year for middle grade novels that were startlingly funny and/or heartwarming and thought provoking.

For the Geisel Award, I honestly have no idea what will win, but I wouldn't mind seeing Dan Yaccarino's I Am A Story or maybe Ben Hatke's Nobody Likes a Goblin take the award. They are both books that are entertaining and nearly perfect in their execution. Of course, there are so many great contenders out there, it's hard to say what should come out on top.

For the Coretta Scott King Awards, I really don't know, though I'd love to see Bryan Collier win the CSK Illustrator Award for City Shapes and Andrea Davis Pinkney win the CSK Author Award for A Poem for Peter. Trouble is, Collier has won the CSK Illustrator Award numerous times before, and Pinkney has won the CSK Author Award before. I have always thought that it's is nice to spread the awards around, so I'm kind of hoping for first-timers to take the CSK awards this year.

For the Pura Belpre Awards, I'd like to see the same book win both the author and illustrator award this year. That book is Maybe Something Beautiful, written by F. Isabel Compoy and illustrated by Rafael Lopez. Both the author and the illustrator did a tremendous job and I know at the very least that the book has been mentioned in a lot of potential Caldecott Award lists, so I know it has the attention of some members of the ALA.

Of course, I have no idea what will happen tomorrow. I can hope, but I've never been that good at calling this in the past, and I'm not usually that good at focusing on reading the books that came out in the past year anyway, so we'll just have to wait and see.

Warren the 13th and the All-Seeing Eye by Tania del Rio and Will Staehle

Warren the 13th and The All-Seeing Eye by Tania del Rio

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Review copy provided by Netgalley

What a delightfully strange journey this book has been! Warren the 13th is an odd yet endearing child who lives in and loves the hotel that has been in his family since its creation twelve generations before. His parents are dead, and so his Uncle Rupert runs the hotel until Warren turns eighteen. The trouble is that Uncle Rupert has no business dabbling in hotel management. He's lazy and not too bright, and he's madly in love with an evil witch who is using him to get to a magical treasure that will restore her to her former glory. All the while, poor young Warren is forced to act as bellhop/repairman/maintenance crew for the entire hotel, which is understandably hovering in a state of decrepit disrepair brought about by Uncle Rupert's slovenly mismanagement.

It's hard not to love Warren. He's industrious, resourceful, and kindhearted, spending all day trying to do the impossible and keep things working. He has few friends, but they are steadfast and noble. His tutor and the hotel chef are odd characters as well, but they are noble and honest through and through. His evil Aunt Annaconda is the only person actively trying to make life more difficult for Warren as she attempts to uncover the secrets of the All-Seeing Eye, a possibly magical devise that she believes is housed somewhere in the hotel grounds.

The style of this book is certainly unique, from the column style of the writing to the illustrated text and odd illustrations, everything about this book screams quirky (which is an appropriate statement to make considering the publisher). The thing is, it all works so well together that you can't help but enjoy the experience. This is a great adventure with a healthy dose of mystery and magic heaped on top. I'll certainly be adding this to my school's collection. If I can say nothing else for the story, the fact that the book is so odd will sell a large segment of students on it, no questions asked. Add to that the fact that the story is well told and heartwarming to boot, and you know you're dealing with a winner. Well done.



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Over the Underworld (Book 2 of The Unbelievable FIB) by Adam Shaughnessy

The Unbelievable FIB, Book 2: Over the Underworld by Adam Shaughnessy

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A year ago, I was provided with an ARC of a book called The Entirely True Story of the Unbelievable FIB. It was an odd looking book with an equally odd title. It didn't appear to be a part of a series, and I had never heard of the author before. It just looked strange, and I wanted to know more about it. That book turned out to be the best book I read all year. I voted for it to win the middle grade category of the Goodreads choice awards, I bought it for my school library, and I recommended it to every colleague, friend, and family member that I caught in another boring conversation about the books I was reading. Sadly, I thought that was the last I'd have to do with The Unbelievable FIB.

So you can imagine my excitement upon learning that The Unbelievable FIB was coming around for another adventure. There was a new cover for the first book (nice, but I'm still a fan of the original cover), and a second book was on the way. Once again, I applied for an ARC from Netgalley, and after a week of hoping and waiting, my request was granted. I was in the middle of reading a few other books, and I tried to tell myself to wait until they were finished, but the part of me that remembered the last book wouldn't let me put it off.

Yesterday, I began reading Over the Underworld, and I have to say that I kind of let the world stop as I dove in. This time around, the cast of characters were all back, and the adventure started as soon as the book began. I was transfixed. I read and read, until much to my dismay, my e-reader simply ran out of battery. Curses! I was 82% through, and I was forced to a sudden and complete stop. Reluctantly, I let myself be drawn back into the world of people and batteries that don't last long enough to let me finish what I am reading. I plugged in my device to charge, and went on a walk with my wife, who I had been neglecting for the past couple of hours. Fast forward to this morning, 7 A.M. on a Sunday morning, and where do I find myself? Exactly where you'd expect an obsessive reader like me to be, lying in bed with my e-reader propped on my chest devouring the last 18% of Over the Underworld!

This book finds ABE and Pru, a year removed from their previous adventure, feeling neglected and forgotten. Life in Middleton has returned to sleepy small town boredom, and Mister Fox, Thor, Loki, and Odin have all been no shows since the mess with the giants has been sorted out. Pru is angry with Mister Fox for not returning. She feels used. ABE has a cooler head about everything, a theme that runs throughout this second story. In fact, an unexpected twist to this second book is that ABE has seemingly become the lead character. Pru is still significant and a good deal of the story is still focused on her perspective in everything, but ABE is the featured character here. Seventh grade is beginning and he is seemingly more focused on that going well than on reembarking on madcap investigations into the doings of the Norse gods and giants.

Still, when the two receive a summons to a council in Odin's home, they immediately comply and find themselves in the presence or more god-level turmoil. Baldur, Odin's favorite son, is dead and all signs seem to point to Loki being the murderer. Mr. Fox arrives on the scene soon early in the council meeting though with every intention of investigating the murder and possibly prove Loki's innocence. Pru and ABE soon find themselves investigating Baldur's death from the magical Hen House headquarters. Meanwhile, Thor and Hilde have been dispatched to round up the number one suspect, Loki, who has predictably gone into hiding.

Just as in book one, the investigation revolves around finding uncertainty, the real key to magic according to Mr. Fox. ABE receives visions wrapped in riddles that he alone can decipher the answers to. Pru, meanwhile, is coming to terms with her rocky start in seventh grade and the feelings of abandonment that being left in the dark about FIB business for a year has brought about. No one is above suspicion in this volume, just as in book one. Ragnarok is coming undoubtedly on its way, and time is of the essence.

This book is less focused on Middleton, with most of the real action occurring in the worlds of the gods and Middleton only being the place that the children return to regularly to attend school and interact with family. The real climax occurs in the world of the dead where once again there is a significant clash between the gods and the giants. The last few chapters offer up enough twists, both devastating and shocking, to leave you reeling and ready for what's to come in the next book. This book felt more like a part of series with a larger unresolved story arc rather than a book that just knocks you out with its greatness and leaves you wanting to reread to scoop up all the bits you missed on your first run-through.

I liked this second book in the series, though I was more impressed with the first book. It was certainly a compelling adventure, but certain elements were curiously light such as the bits of puzzling wisdom that Mr. Fox was so generous in serving up in the first adventure in Middleton. It seemed that every other line in book one was designed to bend the reader's mind just a little bit further, while in this book the adventure and the characters' intentions were fairly straightforward. I'm still on the hook for the third book in the series, which is a virtual certainty at this point, but I hope that in book three, some of that mind-bending, thought-provoking dialogue makes its return.

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Fires of Invention by J. Scott Savage

Fires of Invention by J. Scott Savage

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Review copy provided by Netgalley

This was a most unusual mixture of science fiction, dystopia, and fantasy. In the underground city of Cove, where technological advancement has been brought to an utter and complete stop, Trenton is at odds with himself. He is a mechanical whiz with a penchant for seeing potential improvements to his city's machinery and equipment, but also a devout believer in the city philosophy that curiosity, creativity, and inventiveness brought about the downfall of mankind everywhere except for Cove.

Trenton deals with a heavy sense of self-loathing as his mind continues to create while his sense of duty tells him that he should be able to suppress his creative urges. Into this mix comes Kallista Babbage, the only daughter of infamous inventor, Leo Babbage. She's not an easy sort of personality to be around, having lived most of her life as a defensive loner. She is a strong individual, hellbent on vindicating her father's work and restoring his reputation, which is is in ruins after an explosion that supposedly killed him and a number of residents in an apartment building where he was fixing a water heater.

Though their initial meeting is brought about by happenstance and Trenton is understandably resistant to being associated with Kallista, the two characters begin to work together when Trenton's mother prevents him from receiving an assignment to become a mechanic and he finds himself unable to pursue the career path that he has aspired to for as long as he can remember. What ensues is whirlwind adventure wherein Trenton and Kallista discover information that breaks down their previously held perceptions about their city and its beliefs. There is great risk and dire consequences for their behavior, but as information leads to inspiration and inspiration leads to invention, they both realize that there is no turning back for either of them.

This is a beautiful story, one that will leave readers both reeling and thoughtful. Characters are complex and multi-dimensional, and themes such as trust as friendship are as central to the plot as the "steam-punk" mechanical drive of its protagonists. I was more than a little impressed with this story as a whole. I can't wait to get my hands on the next volume in this middle grade series. This is sure to be a hit with the upper middle grade crowd as well as the young adult audience.



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Scrap City by D.S. Thornton

Scrap City by D.S. Thornton

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Review copy provided by Netgalley

This book sucked me in and stole hours of sleep, something I don't get enough of as is, but I don't hold that against it because it gave me hours of pleasure in return. It was hardly typical of the fantasy genre with the overabundance of robot-like characters called Scrappers, but this was a worthwhile read in the fantasy genre.

Jerome Barnes is a protagonist that comes with a lot of baggage. His mother and his younger brother, Max, died tragically in an accident and Jerome blames himself. As a result, he isolates himself from others as he has lost all faith in the dependability of relationships. His father is dealing with the loss by throwing himself into his work as a real estate agent, making Jerome feel even more isolated.

The story springs out of Jerome tagging along on one such real estate deal, as his father attempts to convince the town junkman to sell his junkyard to a developer. While at the junkyard, he meets a mechanical boy named Arkie and is drawn into a secret world that exists at the junkyard.

This book really had me hooked from fairly on. At times, Jerome was hard to take since he puts on such a flinty exterior, treating Cici, a girl who tirelessly tries to be friends with him, like a nuisance, but you can tell through it all that he is just a kid dealing with a bad situation in the only way he knows how.

The Scrapper world of Smithytowne is definitely the most alluring part of this story. It has a Hogwarts-like appeal,a world that exists alongside the rest of the world, yet remains entirely undetected. There is a magical element in what brings the Scrappers to life, but it's a minimal piece of the story. Mostly, the story is centered on equal parts mystery and adventure as Jerome becomes more entangled in the world of the Scrappers and the effort to save the junkyard that Smithytowne lies beneath from what turns out to be an evil developer.

While I don't read stories like this often, I was impressed by this from start to finish, and I am certainly going to add it to my library collection as soon as I can. I recommend that elementary and middle school libraries all do the same. If you don't, you're missing out. This was a real pleasure to read.



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Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead

Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Review copy provided by Netgalley

The story of Bridge and her friends is one that is sure to resonate with readers long after they finish. The primary theme is peer pressure and the evolution of friendships, and boy, does it hit that topic hard. Told from multiple points of view in a non-linear style, the story can be a little hard to follow at first, much like Rebecca Stead's other writing, but in much the same way as other work, if you persevere through your initial confusion, you are richly rewarded for your efforts. This is a book about the experience that all children go through as they enter junior high or middle school. Friendships are tested as children evolve and drawn in different directions. In some cases, friendships can't withstand that change. In others, they can and do.

Also up for discussion in this book is the effect of social media on the young. This book deals with a middle school student sharing inappropriate pictures with one another and the fallout that that sharing creates. It is a very uncomfortable topic, and I believe it is presented in a way to allow for that discomfort while also dealing with what a child might go through as a result. Really, it's powerfully presented and will make readers reflective. Even reading this as an adult, I was forced to reflect on how I might handle the situation myself. If I was a teacher and I had to deal with a student in this situation, how would I react? Would I contribute to the problem by reacting poorly, as much of the staff in the school does, or would I be more understanding? I hope for the latter.

Lastly, there is the other story being shared throughout the book. It is the story of a mystery character, one that you slowly come to realize is somehow connected to the central plot of the story, though you have to put it together piece by piece. It's another of story of friendships evolving and changing as a girl finds that her old friends are less and less relatable and maybe aren't the friends that they once were.

Ultimately, this is a story about the pressures of growing up. It's a story about the inevitable loss of innocence that teens undergo and how the relationships that they maintain help and hinder them in that process. Each character has their own life and questions that they must face, but their bonds, both good and bad, with other characters impact how they go about their individual lives.

Readers will be in for quite a journey when they read this. It's exhausting at times, but well worth the effort as all readers are sure to see themselves and others in the lives of the characters. This is not a story with good and bad guys, but people that making choices and dealing with the consequences of their actions. Beautifully presented, and memorably resolved. Great book.



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Night on Fire by Ronald Kidd

Night on Fire by Ronald Kidd

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Review copy provided by Netgalley

I was amazed by this book's unflinching presentation of racism in the time of the Civil Rights Movement. Told from the point of view of a bystander who looked on as the Freedom Riders bus and its riders were brutalized from attempting to break down the bus segregation laws that existed in Alabama and other southern states, this book brings both the historical events and the perspectives of people from both sides of what transpired in sharp focus.

What I found most impressive was how the author presented race relations. Kidd did a superb job showing the mistrust that existed between black and white community members through the eyes of a child. This book is deeply moving and memorable. While it presents racially charged hatred, it does it in a way that is sensitive to its readers. There are no examples of foul language or racial slurs with the exception of the use of the word 'crackers' in reference to white people in two places in the book. This is an honest, plainly outstanding piece of historical fiction that belongs in the libraries of elementary schools and middle schools everywhere.

I am adding a copy to my library as soon as I can. I encourage all librarians who read this to do the same. It should be in consideration for use in school curriculum as we attempt to teach this vital piece of American history. I don't know of a more compelling piece about the Freedom Riders. It's relatable and thought-provoking. Excellent book. A true pleasure to read. Given the chance, it could create engaging conversation in the classroom.



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It Ain't So Awful Falafel by Firoozeh Dumas

It Ain't So Awful, Falafel by Firoozeh Dumas

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review copy provided by Netgalley

If this isn't in contention for something from the ALA this winter, I will be seriously disappointed. It has Newbery or Printz written all over it. I've never read any of this author's other work, and this is probably the first children's book I've ever read about an Iranian American character. If there was ever a book that deserved promotion from We Need Diverse Books, this is it. I loved this.

I'd call this book historical fiction, though it's not exactly ancient history. Still, the Iranian Hostage Crisis is something from before most of this book's readers' lifetimes. This book deals with a topic that most readers will know nothing about fairly and honestly. More than simply learning about the historical period, readers will find that they can empathize with the characters. The mistreatment of this family is hard to take. I found myself questioning the motives of every friend and acquaintance she had, and every character gave me a momentary reason to wonder about their allegiances and intent. Still, all in all, it was the kindness of her neighbors and friends that I found most endearing in this book. I really loved this book and I hope that many other readers will feel the same. Given the chance, this could be a book that people will still be reading and talking about years from now. Well worth the time it would take to read. Amazing.

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The Blood Guard by Carter Roy

The Blood Guard by Carter Roy

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Review copy provided by Netgalley

If I was looking for a new series to bring me back to the middle grade fantasy genre after polishing the latest Rick Riordan or Eoin Colfer book, this would be the perfect choice. It has all the characteristic unrelenting action and sarcastic banter that have come to be genre mainstays of late. This is the story of boy whose parents lead secret lives while he leads a life of preparing for a destiny that is secret to him. I could probably write that same sentence to describe the beginning of a dozen different series written in the past dozen or so years, but it strangely doesn't mean that this book was any less satisfying for it.

This series is bound to have a fairly massive audience, and the best news is that it will leave that audience fairly satisfied so long as what comes next is as good as this first book was. One concern I have is that there is a noticeable lack of variety in the encounters with the villains. Maybe it's the fact that most of the villains are soulless thugs that behave in a predictable manner, but when the heroes have escaped from the same group of brutes over and over again, the concern becomes whether the experience remains fresh. It wasn't much of a problem in this one, but I see how it could become redundant in future volumes.

All in all, this was a good start to a series that could the next big one in the genre. It maintains an unrelenting pace and the characters are all fairly relatable. The banter is fun, lightly sarcastic, humorously oddball, and consistently action-driven. It will leave you hanging in the end, wanting the next book so you don't have to pause in your ravenous consumption. Maybe you'd be better off not starting this one until the next book is out if you're the reader that I just described. Nothing worse than having to wait to find out what happens next.



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Nobody Likes a Goblin by Ben Hatke

Nobody Likes a Goblin by Ben Hatke

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Review copy provided by Netgalley

This is one of those books that completely turns a genre on its head, and I just loved it. In this story, the goblin is the protagonist and the adventurers that invade his home are the antagonists. They come to his, pillage it for treasures that include his best friend, Skeleton, and leave. It makes the usual hero into the heartless villain essentially.

Goblin, of course, goes on a rescue mission to get his friend, Skeleton, back. He is mistreated by nearly all the other characters he meets on his journey, which pulls at your heartstrings because this goblin does nothing to earn the mistreatment that he receives, and you find yourself rooting against the cruel humans and elves of his world. They are bullies it turns out, driven by fear, that wish to destroy Goblin just for who he is.

This book could offer a great character lesson for any teacher that shares it with a class. This book, with its innocent approach, allows readers to confront the wrongness of discrimination head-on through fantasy. Therefore, you don't have to concern yourself with the awkwardness that sometimes arises out of trying to have this same discussion with more realistic examples. It offers readers a chance to think about a situation from a new point of view and should really invite a lively discussion.

I, for one, love this book, and I hope it makes a huge impact on the market when it is released. Really impressive story that will make readers empathize with a traditional enemy. Outstanding.

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Don't Dangle Your Participle by Vanita Oelschlager

Don't Dangle Your Participle by Vanita Oelschlager

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Review copy provided by Netgalley

Like the many books by Brian Cleary on parts of speech, Vanita Oelschlager's book does an excellent job of describing the proper use of a participle. It also demonstrates how a participle can be used incorrectly, utilizing humor to make the point clear. I use books like this all the time at school. Teaching these concepts can seem boring, but the use of humorous examples engages students right away. I would be as likely to use this to teach the participle concept as I would be to use Lynne Truss's Eats, Shoots & Leaves: Why, Commas Really Do Make a Difference! to teach about comma use and The Girl's Like Spaghetti: Why, You Can't Manage without Apostrophes! to teach about apostrophe use. Making it possible to laugh at the absurdity in the new meanings of a mistake means that a student understands just how important writing correctly is. This is a great book to add to any collection. It's short, but not so short as to prevent the point from being made. I was very impressed.

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The Secrets to Ruling School by Neil Swaab

The Secrets to Ruling School by Neil Swaab

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Review copy provided by Netgalley

While this book is not the only one to come out in past few years looking like a rulebook written in a school notebook, this book is singular in its overall format. This book seems to dance back and forth between instructional guide and second-person narrative. I liked that. It was a very funny book too, though I wasn't particularly keen on a couple choices of verbiage such as referring to kids being 'screwed' when things go wrong, or to 'taking a dump' in the bathroom that were sprinkled throughout. That's the kind of stuff that makes a school librarian choose not to put a book on their shelves. Also, there was a reliance on the cliched school social structure that I find tiresome and completely unrealistic in most cases. Essentially, that kind of storytelling perpetuates archaic social settings that don't reflect the reality of today, making teenagers seem one-dimensional and agonizingly predictable.

However, I don't mean to come down on this decision too hard, because I really was very impressed with the book. Within the setting he created, Swaab did an impressive job of creating a gradually escalating plan to affect change throughout the school. The cliques that he used were essential to the overall plot. Each clique needed something from the other one that made for a ever-evolving set of obstacles that the main character, me, had to overcome in order to find his comfortable place in the school.

This book is full of advice, most of it the kind that would most teachers and parents openly weep, but all of it done in a tongue-in-cheek, humorous style. The astute reader will realize that the plans, though amazing elaborate and seemingly well thought out, all have glitches that tend to make them backfire for one reason or another and generally complicate the characters' lives further. It's not until the end is in sight that you start to realize that the characters are growing from experience together and that real friendships are forming. One character I felt continually bad for was Eugene Leach, whose unpopularity made him the butt of many of jokes about lonely he was. I don't feel like that was done in good taste. Still, there is something enjoyable about this story.

I'm sure it would appeal to readers of anything from I am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to Be Your Class President or Vordak the Incomprehensible: Rule the School to fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid or Big Nate: In a Class by Himself or Dear Dumb Diary Box Set #1-4 or Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life. It was right on par with those books for crass, occasionally crude humor.

Were I a middle school librarian, I would undoubtedly add this book to my library, but as I am dealing with an elementary crowd, I would probably pass this by in my next order. Still, as a reader, I was very impressed. I liked the book. I laughed throughout, and I would happily add this book to my personal collection. Good book if the audience is ready for it.




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The Day the Mustache Took Over by Alan Katz

The Day the Mustache Took Over by Alan Katz

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Review copy provided by Netgalley

This book could probably best be described an absurd mix of Amelia Bedelia, The Cat in the Hat, and Mary Poppins. This is the story of badly behaved twin boys with parents that seemingly have no time to raise their children themselves. Therefore, the children are essentially raised by nannies that quit with such regularity that the boys have been through hundreds of them already. Then, a nanny shows up that changes everything, though this nanny is no Mary Poppins regardless of how similar their entrances.

After those early comparisons to Mary Poppins, the book swiftly shifts tones to something more akin to the Cat in the Hat, with the nanny, Martin, taking the role of the terribly behaved Cat while the twins clean up after him like Sally and her brother. The similarities to Amelia Bedelia come into play when Martin is left to his own devices while the children attend school.

All in all, this book is just an absurd romp through one bit of craziness after another. Martin, the nanny, has as much need for growth as the twins it turns out and they all do evolve into more responsible, caring versions of their earlier selves, but character growth isn't the central focus here. This is about the laughs and it does that fairly well. This is something that would probably appeal to reluctant middle-grade readers. It's illustrated, though not on every page, and the text is not overwhelmingly complex.

It ends fairly well, but mostly it seems to be a set-up for the next book in this series. This series will be a welcome addition to the humor fiction category, well-written though strongly reminiscent of stories that came before it. Well done.



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Chasing Secrets by Gennifer Choldenko

Chasing Secrets by Gennifer Choldenko

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review copy provided by Netgalley

Anyone who knows Choldenko's other work is sure to approach this one with high expectations, and happily, I can report that they will not be disappointed with the results here. I feel like this book could be called the West Coast's equivalent of Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson which was set in on the East Coast in colonial Philadelphia. However, the major difference between these two outbreaks is of course the fact that the San Francisco outbreak carried with it this terrible weight of secrecy.

Reading this, I was most impressed with the scope of different issues that Choldenko addressed in one book. There were the issues of ethnic discrimination and prejudice in turn-of-the-century San Francisco, the gender roles that limited girls and women to a powerless existence in many cases, the economic class struggles limiting citizens access to adequate medical care and educational opportunities, and most perplexing of all, the medical practices of the time and the generally poor conditions that physicians were forced to work under.

I found the main character, Lizzie, to be inspiring and unflinchingly honest. She had several personal trials to overcome in this story, but they paled in comparison to the societal troubles she faced. The time of this novel, 1900 in San Francisco seems almost unrecognizable to a reader today, and yet Choldenko gave the the landscape a surge of reality throughout that kept the story engaging and relatable.

This is an exceptional piece of historical fiction, one that could generate extensive conversation among readers. It certainly deserves a place in the classrooms of elementary and middle schools all across the country just as much as any of her Al Capone titles. It has so much teachable content that it would be a shame to let this one slip by. The entire book is very well done.

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The Night Parade by Kathryn Tanquary

The Night Parade by Kathryn Tanquary

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Review Copy provided by Netgalley

This is a thrilling read that is sure to engage readers from the moment the magic of the first begins. Set in a mountainside village in Japan, this is the story of Saki, a sullen teen from Tokyo forced to leave her beloved city for a family visit to her grandmother's home and the annual celebration of Obon. Sami starts the story as a rather unlikable character, more interested in her phone than her family. She has awful friends that are the very embodiment of the mean girl mentality, and she thinks there is nothing more important than impressing and appeasing the worst of them all, the manipulative leader of the group, Hana.

Neither Saki, nor her younger brother Jun, nor even her parents seem particularly thrilled with having to go, but they are going out of a sense of familial obligation. Saki's grandmother is probably the most likable character of all in the beginning. However, Sami soon falls in with the wrong crowd in the village and sets in motion a curse that she can only undo by traveling into the world of spirits known as the Night Parade. Over the course of three nights, she must find a way to lift the death curse she brought on with the help of the guides. However, her task will be none to easy as she soon discovers, and the consequences of failing are too great to risk.

I loved that this was a children's fantasy set in the world of Japanese folklore. It was such a refreshingly new angle. As a reader, I was entirely unaware of the celebration of Obon, and everything about this story seemed invite another unexpected chance to gain further insight into Japanese culture. While this is a highly appealing title for readers of the fantasy genre, it will hold equal appeal for YA teen readers. Along the way a reader will inevitably gain a deeper appreciation of Japanese cultural customs, which is a nice bonus. Certainly a worthwhile read that should make a big splash in fantasy market this year. Well done.



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Benji Franklin, Kid Zillionaire: Money Troubles by Raymond Bean

This book is set to be released tomorrow,  August 1, 2015, along with a few other books from Capstone Young Readers that I've previewed through NetGalley. It is probably categorized as middle grade fiction, though I would say that it probably fits best in a category I'd call younger middle grade fiction. It's the fourth Benji Franklin book to be published, and the first Benji Franklin book that I've read. Capstone has created a web page about the series, so if you want to know more about it, click here for the link. If not, below is a paragraph from NetGalley about the book, and what I thought can be found below that.

Benji Franklin is the world’s go-to super genius. He’s already saved the planet twice before, and now he’s at it again. With the help of his extraordinary problem solving skills (and a solid gold submarine or two), he’ll be busy stopping dangerous underwater earthquakes and catching outer-space cyber criminals! But with balancing saving the world and doing his homework, are there some problems too challenging for even the Kid Zillionaire?

Benji Franklin: Kid Zillionaire kind of sums up the tone of this book right in the title. Benji (that's short for Benjamin) is a boy with so much money that a real number just won't do to describe it. (If you are unaware, there is no actual number that is assigned the name zillion. It's just a word people use when they are talking about a quantity so enormous that real numbers aren't cutting it.) In short, Benji Franklin is supposed to be a modern adolescent who is so wealthy that mathematics cannot adequately describe his bank account.

What does the egregiously wealthy child do? He makes extravagant and senselessly expensive purchases (like a gold submarine with orange lightning bolts on the side), attends elementary school like a normal child, and solves problems for inept rich businessmen who value discreet service more than expertise. This book isn't meant for the analytical reader that will slowly pick it to pieces. It's pretty easy to poke holes in everything from the plot, to the characters, to the incidental details that just don't seem to add up (like a spaceship that needs a spacious runway to land despite having the ability to hover while magnetically picking up or dropping off a submarine). This book is meant to be a zany and fun caper with cartoon-like silliness and suspense. As Kirkus Reviews so perfectly described the first book in the series, "This book is the best cartoon that Hanna-Barbera never made." Think of it like Tony Stark and/or Bruce Wayne having a richer nephew that decides to be a private investigator instead focusing on finishing elementary school. He's a bit of a braggadocios egomaniac, going so far as to as to refer to himself as a superhero simply because with enough overpriced gadgetry and fairly transparent nonviolent criminals to outwit, he's been able to repeatedly save the day.

I can see this appealing to 7 and 8 year old boys particularly, as Benji lives an adolescent boy's fantasy life. He's rich beyond anyone's wildest imaginings; the whole world (including his parents and his school principal) kind of bows to his greatness, and his only real adversaries are a girl from his class named Cindy with whom he maintains a battle of wits for elementary school supremacy, and an ever growing pile of schoolwork that he can't seem to fit into his busy "superhero" schedule. I laughed a couple of times as I read this, and I'm sure the right reader would do the same. All in all, it's a good read for it's intended audience. It's a bit nonsensical and even a little delusional at times, but if you can buy into the insanity, it can be a fun ride.

BookCon 2015

The past week was a big one in the world of books, the kind of week that only comes around once a year. The annual Book Expo America event was held in New York City from Wednesday to Friday. Now, I've never been in a position to actually attend a BEA event since I work weekdays like most of the employed world, so I don't have anything to report about that other than what I heard and read about it, but thanks to the same people that organize ComicCon, there's an alternative event that happens over the weekend. What event is that? Why, it's BookCon! I know the title makes it sound like a knock-off version of ComicCon, and it is to some extent (minus the abundance of people that attend in costume), but this is something worth seeing.

On Saturday, I journeyed to Javits Center overlooking the beautiful Hudson River in Manhattan to take in the spectacle that is BookCon with a friend of mine. We started the day as I imagine cattle do when they enter a slaughter house or as families do when they decide to ride basically anything in Disney World; we queued up in a seemingly endless line of people waiting for their chance to enter the show. I've never seen so many people waiting to attend an event that revolves around books. We were all corralled into a seemingly endless basement. We had to choose between a line that would lead to one of the more highly anticipated panels with celebrity personalities B.J. Novak and Mindy Kaling, Nick Offerman, or Aziz Ansari or the wait in the still longer line that would release us onto the showroom floor sooner than that. We chose the line that let out earlier. Standing and waiting was not something we were going to do well, despite the fact that we stood and waited in a number of lines that day.

When ten o'clock rolled around, we joined an seemingly endless throng of people all being directed upstairs to showroom floor. After being driven along in that torrent for at least fifteen minutes we finally spilled into the show and began our trek through booth after booth. I wondered if this was what it felt like to enter the World's Fairs in the early 1900s. Everything was big and bold. People were everywhere. All around were exhibitors trying to hand out early proofs of upcoming books. Other exhibitors were selling featured work from their publisher. Not all the vendors were publishers. Some were simply people attempting to sell their own self-published books. In any case, we toured them all.

Within an hour, my friend and I found ourselves in line to get the autograph of Charlaine Harris as she gave away copies of her new book. Though I am not a reader of Charlaine Harris, I got in line anyway. Both the book and the autograph were free if you were only willing to wait for it, and how many opportunities like that do you get? We struck up a conversation with another BookCon goer, this one a blogger from New York who had attended a number of events like this one. The excitement was palpable. Our line wound past the showroom door of a panel that featured Annie Barrows, author of the Ivy and Bean series, though she was there to discuss her recent book for adults titled The Truth According to Us. Everywhere we went there were employees from different publishers trying to tempt us to enter their little stall and sample their wears. After getting our autograph and my friend getting a picture with the Ms. Harris, we toured a few more booths, inlcuding one for National Geographic where we were given books and bags and another for Bloomsbury books (a favorite publisher of mine) where we were given posters, and a couple of advance reader copies of books.

Penguin Random House, the same people that had arranged for Charlaine Harris earlier in the day, later featured the true highlight of my day, and possibly my reading year, the chance to meet Norton Juster and get a copy of The Phantom Tollbooth signed. If you are a regular reader of this blog (a.k.a. a figment of my imagination) then you know that I love The Phantom Tollbooth more than any other book. I have five copies of the book, in various editions and states of disrepair, on my shelves at home.  Whenever a child asks me what my favorite book is, I know the answer without hesitating. Meeting Norton Juster was like winning Publishers Clearing House, I never really believed it would happen to me. Yet, there I was, a little while later, getting my picture taken with him. The whole experience seemed unreal to me.

After that, we caught the middle of a presentation by Mac Barnett and Jory John, authors of the recent bestseller The Terrible Two, on how to prank effectively. They were truly funny as a pair. They played well off of one another, much as the characters in their book did. Sadly, we had leave while they were still presenting in order to catch another panel titled Faraway Lands.

Faraway Lands featured authors Aisha Saeed (Written in the Stars), Sabaa Tahir (An Ember in the Ashes), Renee Ahdieh (The Wrath and the Dawn), Marie Lu (The Young Elites), as they all discussed their bestselling books and what fans they were of each others' work among other things. They were all disarmingly funny people, though Marie Lu stood out among the crowd for her soft-spoken humorous insights. One memorable line that Ms. Lu offered up was about the responsibility of creating a realistic world for her characters to live in and the sometimes difficult decision to do something unpleasant to one of her characters. She said that as an author, she was God in her characters' world, and, "It's hard to be God." The whole audience cracked up at this, myself included. Renee Ahdiah amusingly added that she often emails her author friends that what she had written was "so mean" as though she was remorseful after writing a particularly cruel scene, all while secretly taking great, evil joy in making her characters suffer. Another amusing anecdote came when the authors were asked what their mothers thought of their books since in each of their books, parental figures are at least partially to blame for the problems that their protagonists face. Sabaa Tahir commented that her mother had been secretly suspicious that she was the model on whom the Commandant was based, and that now that she was a mother, whenever she had to correct her child in her mother's presence, her mother would chime in by calling her the Commandant.  Aisha Saeed had to insist to her mother that she wasn't writing about her by saying, "You didn't force me into an arranged marriage. That's kind of an important difference." Aside from the laughs and the insights, I was just startled by how young they all seemed. Seeing them on the stage, I kept thinking, 'My goodness! They're all my age or younger, and they all have bestselling books to their credit already! What have I been doing while they've been writing bestsellers?'

When we returned to the showroom floor after the presentation, we toured the remaining booths that we'd missed earlier. My friend was very excited to meet Michelle Visage, a celebrity that I knew next to nothing about, though to be honest, I didn't know who more than half of the featured attendees were. I guess that I don't keep up with pop culture and non-children's authors as well as other people do. While he got in line at 2:15 in order to be one of the first to meet her and immediately began gushing with a fellow Visage fan, I went off on my own around the showroom floor and caught half of another panel featuring my favorite author, Norton Juster. I was getting way more than my fair share of good fortune. I signed up for a few contests, read some of the books that were featured on the tables in different publishers' booths, and generally enjoyed what was going on around me before returning to the Chronicle Books pavilion where Michelle Visage would be signing posters.

While waiting to take a picture of my friend with Visage, I noticed that Mac Barnett and Jory John had entered the pavilion as well. Jory John has had a number of books published by Chronicle Books including All My Friends are Dead, K is for Knifeball: An Alphabet of Terrible Advice, and I Feel Relatively Neutral About New York, so I assume that he was there to catch up with a couple of old friends who were running the pavilion. I broke off from my friend again and introduced myself to Mac Barnett. I didn't get a chance to say anything to Jory John since he was in the middle of some reminisce with his friends, and I didn't want to interrupt, but Mac Barnett, who writes some of the funniest picture books I've read in the past couple of years as well as The Terrible Two, was extremely kind and welcoming. I think I may have gushed about what a fan I was, but he didn't seem to mind. Though I didn't ask for a picture or an autograph, I got everything I wanted from just shaking his hand and thanking him for all that he's done. He asked my name and where I was from and thanked me politely for all my compliments. Generally, he was just a good guy. Soon after, my friend got his autograph and picture with Michelle Visage (who was very kind as well), and we decided to go downstairs for one last panel before we called it a day.

On our way, we ran into none other than Marie Lu, who we'd seen earlier in the day at her author panel. I introduced us and we talked briefly. She was extremely friendly and humble just as she'd been in her panel. She spoke with us briefly and offered some words of encouragement to my friend in his writing endeavors before we parted cordially.

Then we headed onto our panel featuring Patrick Ness (The Rest of Us Just Live Here), Lauren Oliver (Before I Fall), Ellen Hopkins (Burned), and Jason Reynolds (The Boy in the Black Suit). Though of the authors I'd only read Ellen Hopkins work before, I'd seen Lauren Oliver's books in stores and even paged through a couple. I didn't know who Patrick Ness was, though everyone else in the room seemed to and they were really excited about it. Jason Reynolds, on the other hand, seemed to be the panelist that the other panelists were most excited about, and after listening to him describe his book, I understood why. After sitting through so much before that, you'd think that we'd have grown tired of the repetitive hubbub and would be anxious to conclude our day, but it was just the opposite. Patrick Ness was disarmingly funny as was Lauren Oliver, while Jason Reynolds was relaxed and exceedingly cool about the whole thing. Ellen Hopkins, star author that she is, was amazing to listen to. She was so honest about her craft and her inspiration. She was older than the other panelists, and she mentioned that a couple times as a preface to her answers, but she brought a different dynamic to the panel than the others could provide. Once again, I felt a little starstruck by the whole thing. Near the end of the panel, a little boy came running through the panel room being chased by some very embarrassed teenagers that he'd gotten away from, and though it interrupted the session briefly, the authors came to rescue, suggesting that they not chase him and allow him to come to them. Not surprisingly, their suggestion worked.

After the panel, though there was more to see if we stayed, my friend and I quietly departed BookCon, thoroughly satisfied with the experience. Though a year from now it will be held in Chicago, I'm tempted to make the pilgrimage again, and perhaps arrive a few days earlier in order to see what Book Expo America is like. If this was any indication, the trip would be well worth it.

Saving Crazy by Karen Hood-Caddy

This book is set to be released by June 16, 2015 from Dundurn Publishing. It is a young adult environmental fiction story with themes including animal rehabilitation, global warming, whale conservation, and environmental advocacy. In the interests of full disclosure, it is important for me to note that despite this being the third book in a series about The Wild Place, I have not read books 1 and 2 in the series, titled Howl and The Truth About Brave. While I might do that in the future, this is the first book I have read in the series. Below is a product description provided on Netgalley. Below that is my review of the book, also available on Goodreads.

Can a high-seas, whale-saving adventure repair the hurt between two friends? How do you decide where your heart lies when it’s being tugged at from so many sides? When Robin and Zo-Zo discover that their beloved lake has become a toxic sludge — the result of an algae bloom — they know they have to do something to fix it. But trouble begins when the two friends develop a crush on the same boy during a community meeting to save the lake. To help repair things between the girls, Robin’s grandmother, Griff, suggests a high-seas adventure with a whale-saving old friend of hers. Out on the open water Robin must decide what’s more important: a relationship with a boy or saving the animals she loves.

Saving Crazy by Karen Hood-Caddy

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I read this book as an advance copy provided by Netgalley. While I wouldn't say it's the kind of book I normally read, I read this all the way through and enjoyed it overall. The story is profoundly environmental in nature, but also a story of a teenage girl dealing with all the insecurity of her first real infatuation. A couple elements of the story came off a little bit heavy handed, one in particular being the constant harping upon global warming being to blame every time there was any environmental situation in the book. I'm no doubter of the science of global warming, but even I reached a point where I was saying, "Okay, I get it! Let's get on with the story now!"

The book did a good job of exploring the many different ways that an obsession with a boy could affect a girl's life, from her friendships, to her interests, to her goals all being compromised. Readers are sure to become attached to Griff as she helps Robin to see just what her feelings for McCoy are doing to her, and what she stands to loose from the experience.

The whale watching trip served as a nice opportunity to bring in another environmental cause, and it was a great climatic location. All in all, this would appeal to the same readers that enjoy Carl Hiassen or Jean Craighead George books, but it is also a good read for the fan of stories about teenage angst because there's plenty of that in there too. Certainly not a book for my elementary school library, but right at home in the YA crowd.

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Jars of Hope by Jennifer Roy

This book is set to be released on August 1, 2015 from Capstone Young Readers. It is a picture book biography of Irena Sendler, a Polish woman who, as a member of the secret organization known as Zegota, helped over two thousand Jewish children escape the Warsaw Ghetto during the years of Nazi occupation. Below is a one-paragraph product description provided on Netgalley. Below that is my review of the book.

Amid the horrors of World War II, Irena Sendler was an unlikely and unsung hero. While many people lived in fear of the Nazis, Irena defied them, even though it could have meant her life. She kept records of the children she helped smuggle away from the Nazis’ grasp, and when she feared her work might be discovered, she buried her lists in jars, hoping to someday recover them and reunite children with their parents. This gripping true story of a woman who took it upon herself to help save 2,500 children from the Warsaw Ghetto during the Holocaust is not only inspirational; it's unforgettable.
For ages 9-12
* Dramatic and sophisticated picture book for older audiences
* Inspirational and true story of a strong female hero
* Award-winning author of Yellow Star
* A gentler introduction to the Holocaust

Jars of Hope by Jennifer Roy

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The story of Irena Sendler, while not entirely untold, is certainly not one that springs to the average American mind when discussing Holocaust and pre-Holocaust occupation of Central Europe, yet it seems like it should. The comparison that springs to mind for me at least is to that of the Underground Railroad and Harriet Tubman in the years that led to the American Civil War. While the Holocaust and American slavery are not the same thing, the idea of a secretly organized group of people helping an oppressed people to escape from the oppressive situation seems almost identical. The reason that I draw that comparison is that the Underground Railroad is so well documented in children's literature and even in our school curriculum, yet this group, the Zegota, and many other resistance movements that formed to counteract Nazi occupation in WWII basically remain unknown to most Americans despite interest in WWII and the Holocaust being comparable to the Civil War and slavery.

Though brief, this book does a good job of describing the ingenious methods that Sendler and the Zegota developed for extracting children from the Warsaw Ghetto and the great lengths that she went to in order to preserve a sense of history for the children that were extracted. Jars of Hope refers to the fact that Sendler used buried jars to store secret information about the children she helped to escape; information that she later used to reunite some of those children with their families.

This was an inspiring read, one that revealed a part of WWII history that is otherwise little known. This would be a good book to pair with Irena Sendler And The Children Of The Warsaw Ghetto. Both books are engaging and present Sendler's story in a slightly different way. Readers of one book would certainly appreciate the other. This book was a pleasure to read.

-Early copy of this book provided by Netgalley

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Reading ARCs and Reviewing Books

Recently, I've been on a bit of a reading binge, the kind of binge that makes my wife look at me like I've lost touch with reality. These binges happen from time to time, when I look at my to-read list on Goodreads and realize that it's been outgrowing my read list at an unsustainable pace. I work to bring things back into balance in my reading life, which of course throws all other aspects of my life into disarray. I feel like its good for me every so often.

The thing is, as I quested after that elusive moment when I feel as though I am caught up again, I've happened upon a fascinating feature of Goodreads that I have been neglecting for most of the time I've been a member of the site. 'What feature it that?' you ask? Why, it's the giveaway feature of the site. Apparently, since Goodreads has come to be such a powerful source of inspiration to so many readers, publishers have been jumping on board and giving away ARCs or Advance Reader Copies of titles that they hope to generate some buzz for.

Anyone can enter to win one, so long as they agree to read and review what they receive. I've entered to win a number of these giveaways, and I haven't had any luck yet. That hasn't deterred me, though I'm beginning to suspect that my wife passed on the word to all these giveaways that we don't need any more books lying around the house. I'm a bit messy, though I strive not to be. Anyway, this lack of success recently combined with a little good fortune, and I've discovered another place to get ARCs. This other source has proved much more fruitful, and I intend to show that sending me an ARC is not a bad decision, so I am reading some books that are so new, they haven't even reached the shelves yet, and I plan to issue reviews of those books just as soon as I finish.

This binge is turning out to be great news for me, and even better news for my wife because all the ARCs I'm reading are electronic. No mess to clean up after, no clutter to organize. Both my wife and I get what we want. Sometimes, things work out for everybody. Hopefully, that means that coming soon will be reviews of some of the books that I've had my nose electronically buried in. Keep an eye out. They're on their way.