Mo Wren, Lost and Found by Tricia Springstubb

If you are looking for a new series for your 7-10 year old reader, please check out (children's librarian) Tricia Springstubb's 2 books about the Wren family: What Happened on Fox Street (2010) and Mo Wren, Lost and Found (2011).

The stories wrap around themes of family - especially the ones you create, being a good friend, and growing up. Mo is the steady older sister trying to hold her father and sister together now that their mom has died. She's thoughtful, caring, and smart. The secondary characters are equally fascinating and real, although I wanted to give Mr. Wren a swift kick in the pants on more than one occasion (for instance, leaving his kids at a laundromat for a few hours.)

In the second book, the Wrens move to the other side of town (across the river) from the homey Fox Street to the anonymous 213th Street. Mo and Dottie meet new people, learn to navigate city streets, help their dad start a new restaurant business, and encounter a local curse. It's scary and different but our steadfast Mo keeps (mostly) calm and carries on. As their dear elderly friend Da says, "fortune favors the brave".

Feel good books that will be a pleasure to read and share. Check them out.

The Fault In Our Stars - post-it note edition

Last week my copy of John Green's book finally came in on library holds. It was on hold since February (the earliest it was available here) and while I was anxious, I was pleased it had such a long holds list. To make it more fun, this was inside my book:

Aw, Nerdfighters. Right back atcha.

Patti already reviewed the book here. I second that it is an amazing work. Plus, it mentions stormtroopers. But seriously, I am so happy John Green writes books.

Mock Printz-ing it up

We are well into our reading for potential Mock Printz titles. Here are three of the titles that we're considering that I've recently finished, in very brief :

The Miseducation of Cameron Post - Emily M. Danforth

I feel like there is a lot of buzz about this one that I've sort of skimmed over. I think it was a really strong piece of writing that took a long time to get to the best part. It is set in the 90s and the main character would actually have been the exact age I was (which was sort of neat). I felt like it took a long time with Cameron's journey. The real strength of the book is the part of the plot where Cameron is sent to a boarding school to get "de-gayed." I know these places exist, but I have never read a YA book that deals with them. The author really shines during the last third and writes with an amazingly level of empathy for everyone involved, while clearly showing how devastating such places are. I wish that we had gotten to explore that more. I think the book would have been stronger for it. 

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe - Benjamin Alire Saenz

Another book dealing with gay teens, this one also written beautifully and with an amazing level of empathy and set in El Paso. The parents in this book are really great in that they are good supportive parents, although not without flaws. It is also set in the 90s (i don't have a copy in front of me, but it was set in the recent past i do remember that). This one I questioned more about the dates because I wasn't sure why it was set then. It was another quiet journey of self-discovery. I knew this one was going to make me cry before I picked it up, and it did - but not as much as I had feared. 

After the Snow - S. D. Crockett

The thing I've seen most in reviews of this title is the comparison of Willo's voice in this title to the girl's voice in Blood Red Road. I can see that comparison. I see the similarities for sure. I don't think the vernacular is as strong here, especially since it is only Willo who seems to talk this way. I also don't know why language would have changed so much in only one generation. Or why Willow seems to have a totem animal that talks to him other than he is wicked isolated. Or why after only 20 some odd years the entire system would have fallen apart to such extremes. I don't know - something about the timeline really bothered me. I think it got a ton of starred reviews, but I didn't think it stood out that much for me.

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Book Source = Library Copies

Snow Rabbit, Spring Rabbit by Il Sung Na

When I saw this book in the spring/Easter display at my library I was immediately drawn to it. Ah, of course it is Il Sung Na! I absolutely adore A Book of Sleep. I love the layered illustrations and the whimsy.

Snow Rabbit, Spring Rabbit: A Book of Changing Seasons follows in similar style to A Book of Sleep. The animals in the forest are getting ready for winter. We have geese flying away from the cold and bears hibernating. But he also includes a couple unusual animals: turtles swimming to warmer water and alligators (or crocodiles) still in the water. My favorite are the squirrels, mainly due to the fact that my 3 year old calls them "swirls". The narrator on this journey is our dear white rabbit... who, as we move through winter into spring, changes color.

I think this would make a fine storytime book about the seasons. Be sure to brush up on why the rabbit (or hare) changes colors.

Absolutely charming. Extremely beautiful. Unquestionably talented.

Also, this book is called Brrrr...A Book of Winter in the UK where all his books are first published. A Book of Sleep is titled Zzzzz..A Book of Sleep. I think this is funny.


Coming soon: Hide and Seek (June)

Letting Go

When we moved into our house I finally had space to take some of my old things still residing at my parents' house. I particularly looked forward to acquiring my extensive L.M. Montgomery collection. I imagined lining them up on our bookshelves and admiring them.

But the reality is that we don't have the space and the books sat in a box for a year and a half. This week I let myself admit the hard truth: I can't keep them here anymore. Okay, I am keeping the first few Anne books, but the rest need to be released.

Other than space, the pressing issue is that this is Florida. Stuff gets funky. Paper stuff gets really funky. I was such a good librarian-in-training 25 years ago that even though they have age issues (discoloration, odor) they hardly have any creases or dents. I treasured them. So before the whole collection spoils and is useful to no one, I am going to donate them to my library's book sale. Maybe the book sale won't want them but I can't think like that! I am going to cling to the thought that the books will get to the sale and some wonderful person will be thrilled to her fingertips. The books deserve to be out and about and not just admired once a year or whenever I get around to cleaning out the closet. I am a hopeless romantic...which you probably figured out since I have a zillion Anne books.

From 7th grade through high school I scoured book stores and libraries for titles. I checked the book list in the front of each Bantam Books edition for new titles. Among the Shadows? What is this?! I fortunately began my obsession during the resurgence of Anne due to the TV series. (See well loved AoGG in above picture.) Older and obscure L. M. Montgomery stories were collected and republished and it just fed my fascination. It was a perfect storm of swooning nerdy teenage awesomeness.

Thanks for being my friends, dear beloved books. I hope you encounter another kindred spirit and bring some light into her life.

Your obedient servant,
joanna

Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, Anne of the Island, Anne of Windy Poplars, Anne's House of Dreams, Anne of Ingleside, Rainbow Valley, Rilla of Ingleside
Emily of New Moon,  Emily Climbs, Emily's Quest
Pat of Silver Bush, Mistress Pat
The Blue Castle
Magic for Marigold
Jane of Lantern Hill
The Story Girl, The Golden Road
A Tangled Web
Kilmeny of the Orchard
Chronicles of Avonlea, Further Chronicles of Avonlea
After Many Days
Akin to Anne
Among the Shadows
The Road to Yesterday
Along the Shore
At the Altar
The Doctor's Sweetheart and Other Stories
Maud: the Life of L.M. Montgomery by Harry Bruce

(See also : Top 10 YA, and prequel review.)

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Holy mackerel people! I found the ARC to Insurgent squirreled away among the adult ARCs that our adult selectors receive. What are the chances! Needless to say, I snagged that sucker.

And I couldn't put it down. I think I liked it more than the first book. Seriously. It was pretty much awesome from start to finish.

The book basically begins where the last one left off. They are still on the train escaping. Tris, Tobias, Peter, Marcus, and Caleb hop off the train and are given refuge with the Amity. Only the refuge doesn't last long and from the start of the book until the end there is non-stop plot-progressing action that is fantastic. Tris is still Tris. Meaning she is still awfully hard on herself - to the point where it can detract a little from the story - but by mid-book I think you can see a turning point. And by the end, she's come to terms with a lot of things she needed to.

Looking back over my review of the first book, I feel as though the author addressed almost all of my "potential problem" list:

Love interest too perfect? Not anymore, now that we spend more time with Tobias we realize he's got flaws just like the rest of us. And some pretty gaping ones at that.

Factions don't really make sense? Well, they still are sort of strange - but we have an entire plot dedicated to learning more about them and we learn about all of them. We spend some quality time with Amity and Candor and it helps to expand the storyline in necessary ways. The author did a good job expanding the reader's knowledge of the political structure without it bogging down the action. And then we get to the end of the story and it blows the whole thing wide open. And I mean wide open. I can't wait to see where the story goes in the next book.

Are the simulations for real? As in, why wouldn't they have immediately recognized Tris as divergent? Well, turns out they sort of did, but there were things going on that couldn't be revealed until the sequel. I loved the continuation of the nefarious simulations created by Jeanine. And how Tris is forced to endure more of them.

People heal waaaaaay too quickly? No magical-at-the-speed-of-light healing in this one. People who were injured early on remained injured throughout - they did heal, but bullet wounds did not go away after a week. Indeed, serious injuries did not completely heal at all.

We've got people showing up that were thought to be dead, we've got more traitors than you can shake a stick at, we've got an entire political structure that is imploding and so many people fighting for power that it seems as though things are never going to improve.

If you at all liked the first book I think this one will knock your socks off.

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Book Source = ARC found on 4th floor

Beneath a Meth Moon by Jacqueline Woodson

I wasn’t sure how I would enjoy this book. Realistic fiction, or rather realistic fiction that deals with an "issue" is generally not my favorite type of story. However, how can a reader not trust Ms. Woodson to take them on a journey? She is one of the best YA writers out there. I’ve read enough of her books to trust her implicitly. I may struggle with the subject, but I know I’m going to enjoy excellent writing, characterization, and storytelling along the way.

This is a book about meth. It is a story of a girl with heartache and tragedy in her life, although nothing that support and family can’t help you through. Laurel has all that, but when she’s offered meth for the first time she naively and sort of unquestionably takes it anyway. Perhaps she didn’t realize what it was? Regardless, she’s immediately transformed. It fills up the holes inside of her much more quickly than they were healing on their own. And like it will, meth quickly takes over her life.

It is an interesting contrast between how lyrical the book is written and how ugly meth is. The sores, the scratching, the desperation, it is all there in the book, but because Woodson can write with grace, this isn’t what I would call a gritty book.

There are interesting religious references. Laurel grows up in Pass Christian, a gulf coast town in Mississipi, she loses her family to a flood (caused by Hurricane Katrina), Her father moves her to a town named Galilee, where she eventually meets Moses, a boy who symbolically parts the flood waters helping her find her way to recovery and home.

This is a beautifully written book. I will say that I had a hard time connecting with Laurel. I felt held at hands length away. I felt sorry for her, but I didn’t empathize on a level that I expected to. In any case, I did appreciate how these were average everyday kids that fell into this. They weren’t typical “at risk” kids. I also appreciated how clearly it was shown that recovery is incredibly difficult, often more so for meth than other drugs. What would have driven this home would have been a meth fact page/resource list at the end.

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Book Source = Library Copy

Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake

This sequel to Anna Dressed in Blood starts fairly soon after the first book ends. Anna has dragged the Obeahman to hell (or wherever it is ghosts go). Cas is still reeling from losing her and is having trouble moving on. Mostly because he doesn’t feel as though she’s truly at rest. It doesn’t help that he keeps thinking he hears her laugh, or spots her dress, or sees her hair in the corner of his eye. Pretty soon, he’s sure that she’s haunting him and, turns out, she is.

Girl of Nightmares is substantially different from the first installment. But where there is less ghost hunting there is substantially more conspiracy. Luckily it totally works. The characters and storyline are strong enough to move along in a new direction (which, really it would have to right? How long can a romance go on between a ghost and a ghost hunter? Actually, don’t answer that. Readers, consider yourself lucky ).

We’ve got a secret society that looms large, which is very fun. We’ve got a new character that is going to show up in sequels that is going to be a match for Cas and challenge him in several ways. We’ve got people with secret pasts and secret missions. It is good stuff. And it whips up to a frenetic conclusion.

It is published in August and already I can’t wait for the sequel. I Want it now!

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Book Source = Renee's Review Copy

YALSA, What's up?

Joanna mentioned this several posts back, but did you know you have to register with YALSA in order to view their award and booklist information?

Honestly, YALSA. What’s up? Why the lock-down on your booklists? Did you feel like you needed to throw up some barriers to all that free and accessible information?

So now if you'd like to take a peek at the award winners you have to register.

“If you are not a member, you will need to fill out this form. By filling out this form, you will receive some kind of contact from YALSA and will be provided an opportunity to opt-out of future communications at that time.”

Did you like that? You will be provided the opportunity to opt-out later. Gee, thanks guys! I also love that I’ll receive “some kind of contact!” That is just creepy! Are y'all going to show up on my doorstep with pamphlets proselytizing the virtues of being an ALA member?

The kicker is that then they ask what kind of information you want to receive from YALSA. And they don’t give you the option to receive nothing. It is required to pick one (or more!) categories of information that will then be sent to you via email. The lesson I learned from this? Information is not free! Even from an organization the professes the freedom to read!

“Thank you for telling us a little more about yourself so that we can meet your needs! You may now access the following pages”

I don’t know how to tell you this, but you met my needs a lot better before I was forced to give you my email address and receive spam from you!

Stop the crazyness!

Sincerely,

Patti

Chopsticks by Jessica Anthony and Rodrigo Corral

My first feeling when I put down this book was confusion. What exactly happened in this story? I knew I was missing something big. So I went and read the professional reviews. Ahhh, I thought. I did miss something. They say, "read it more than once." So I did. My feelings when I put down this book for the second time? There was less confusion, more appreciation, but probably mostly frustration. Why frustration? Well, this is a concept book told through photos, video stills, letters, paintings, programs. It pushes the boundaries of storytelling. However, there was much left unexplained and it's visual strengths created some narrative weaknesses.

Please don't read this review unless you have read the book, or are curious about what happened. Spoilers ahead. You've been warned.

What we think we know: Glory is a piano prodigy. Her mother is dead and her father seems to be a bit overbearing on her piano career, forcing her to perform and tour the world. Glory meets and falls in love with Frank, the boy next door. Father does not approve. Frank is an artist who paints beautiful pictures. Glory seems to be mentally unstable and can't stop playing chopsticks.

She is institutionalized and then disappears one day.

What we actually know: Apparently nothing.

Recurring pictures/themes:

1. Frank's school logo is the SAME as the institution where Glory has been sent by the end of the book. The names of the school/institution is different, but the principle/administrator has the same name (the institution is hilariously called "Golden Hands Rest Facility" which made me think it was an institution created for piano prodigies who need mental health breaks so they can get back to performing).

2. We think Frank is an artist, but the photos at the end show Glory painting some of the very paintings Frank was supposed to have painted.

3. Wine. Glory's mom was a wine importer. There is a special bottle of wine in her old trunk that is the same type that Frank is given by his parents on his 16th birthday. The wine seems to come from Mendoza Estate. Frank's last name is Mendoza. Frank has moved here from Argentina. The wine seems to be from Argentina.

4. The Kraken. It shows up as stickers, on t-shirts, on paintings.

5. There is more, but I'm kind of working up a funk because I don't like how open ended it is.

I really liked the idea. I did. I loved the interconnections and the questions they raised, but there were so many possibilities that the reader is left with...nothing. I mean, can we trust the photos or not? Can we trust the IMs or not? What is made up? What is exaggerated? What is true? Did Frank exist or is Glory schizophrenic? I love the unreliable narrator, but without more to go on this really starts to feel like an exercise in futility which is incredibly frustrating.

By the end I was pretty convinced that the entire story was a figment of Glory's imagination. She is an artist and the damn girl never played anything but chopsticks in her life. She created Frank out of a wine label with a dude's picture on it and fabricated an entire history with him that never existed.

What I find the most frustrating is not even that. It isn't. It is that I couldn't find enough clues to definitively say what happened in the story. Now, Patti, you might say, "Isn't that the point?" And I might answer, "sure, but that doesn't mean that at the end of the story you've got a success."

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Book Source = Library Copy