Author: Tasha

Saints and Misfits by S.K. Ali

| Tasha

Saints and Misfits by SK Ali

Saints and Misfits by S.K. Ali (9781481499248, Amazon)

At 15, Janna is a Muslim teen who is still trying to figure out who she is and how to deal with things happening in her life. She wears a hijab, like her mother, though her father doesn’t approve. Her brother has moved back in with Janna and her mother since his father pulled his funding for her brother’s college education when he switched majors. Janna is attracted to a white boy at her school and finds herself being cyber-bullied by some of his friends. Worst of all though is that another boy who is considered to be an upstanding young man tried to rape Janna. She can’t find a way to tell people about what happened to her and the boy continues to stalk her. This modern look at the life of a teen Muslim girl is an important read that shows the strength of young women as they grapple with today’s issues.

Ali’s writing is fresh and fabulous. She invites readers into the day-to-day life of a Muslim family. The question of hijabs and niqabs are discussed and in many ways demystified for the non-Muslim reader. While the sexual assault is central to the book and vital to the story, there are also other moments that are critical in Janna’s growth. Some of these are small details of caring for an elderly neighbor or figuring out that saint-like girls may have other aspects to them as well. All of these smaller details add up to the strength that Janna needs to face her larger monster.

Janna is a great heroine. She is clearly written as a younger teen, something that we often don’t see in teen novels. Since she is younger, her growth is dynamic and entirely believable. Her relationship with her mother and brother are complicated and filled with teen reality. The same is true of her tumultuous relationship with the boy she likes and her friends. Just having friends who are non-Muslim is complicated, particularly when it exposes Janna far more than she is comfortable with.

A vitally important book that serves as a window and a mirror for people in every community, this book belongs in every public and high school library. Appropriate for ages 14-18.

Reviewed from copy received from Salaam Reads.

 

Things to Do by Elaine Magliaro

| Tasha

Things to Do by Elaine Magliaro

Things to Do by Elaine Magliaro, illustrated by Catia Chien (9781452111247, Amazon)

Follow the path of a day in this poetic picture book. Little things in life are captured on the page along with weather and seasons. The book begins with dawn and the things that dawn does, then moves to the outdoors with birds and acorns. Sun, sky and eventually moon appear and do their things as well. Rain arrives, boots come out. There are spiders, snails and crickets that appear too. Each given a poem about what they do and the small beauties they create in our world.

Magliaro’s poetry is exceptional. On the very first page, readers are drawn into viewing the world through her lens that looks at small things, captures them and then moves on to the next. Each poem is separate but linked, creating an entire universe of things to do and things to see. The poetry is sometimes rhymed, sometimes not, often ending in a rhyming couplet. It is the rhythm that ties it together, moving forward, lingering and then onward.

Chien’s illustrations are soft and ethereal. She creates dawn light then bright sun and finally a huge moon that fills the pages. Each time of day is unique and special, given space on the page to shine. There is a rough softness to the images, landscapes that blur rain that shimmers.

A top-notch poetic read for children, this book celebrates small moments made large. Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from library copy.

Charlotte the Scientist Is Squished by Camille Andros

| Tasha

Charlotte the Scientist Is Squished by Camille Andros

Charlotte the Scientist Is Squished by Camille Andros, illustrated by Brianne Farley (9780544785830, Amazon)

Charlotte is a serious scientist with science instruments and protective goggles. She had one big problem, her family left her squished for room all the time. There was no space for her experiments where her siblings weren’t messing around with her equipment. So Charlotte started an experiment by asking a question, stating her hypothesis and then testing the hypothesis. Her hypothesis was that if her siblings disappeared, she’d have room to be a real scientist. Charlotte tried several ways to make her brothers and sisters disappear until she finally decided that she had to leave instead. She crafted a rocket and flew to the moon. She loved space, but as she drew her conclusions she realized that she was getting lonely. How would she find the perfect balance of space and family?

Andros has combined the scientific process with a picture book very successfully. It functions as a very strong structure for the story, using the book to both demonstrate the process but also to tell a good story about a girl scientist. The busy and crowded household will resonate with children reading the book and they will recognize their own wish for space at times, and maybe even outer space!

Farley’s illustrations are dynamic and busy. The crowded family and their interruptions to Charlotte’s experiments are clearly depicted. Charlotte’s carrot-shaped rocket is also lovely both on the moon and on earth. The images of Charlotte’s loneliness are suddenly filled with wide space despite the robot bunnies wrapped in toilet paper nearby.

An intelligent picture book with a strong scientific heroine just right for STEM units. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from library copy.

Little Pig Saves the Ship by David Hyde Costello

| Tasha

Little Pig Saves the Ship by David Hyde Costello

Little Pig Saves the Ship by David Hyde Costello (9781580897150, Amazon)

In this second Little Pig book, Little Pig isn’t big enough to join his older siblings at sailing camp. One of his brother’s gives him a rope to practice knot tying. That gets dull after a day. Happily, his grandparents come over and Poppy has been making a model ship. Little Pig helps him finish it and they sail it over and over again. Then on Saturday, the ship gets away from them and sails over a waterfall. Poppy and Little Pig try to catch it, but the current carries the ship away. Luckily, Little Pig has been practicing his knots and has the rope along in his pocket!

Costello demonstrates how little ones can be too small for some experiences but just the right size to save the day. Throughout the book there is a jolliness to the days spent with a grandfather who is happy to dabble in the water again and again. As the water runs faster after the rain, the adventure begins. Costello beautifully has Little Pig do the rescuing even as Poppy supports him in his endeavors. This is a story where the little one is the true hero.

The illustrations are immensely friendly. Costello combines sharp dark lines against flowing watercolors, making Little Pig and the other characters pop. Readers will notice that Little Pig has two grandfathers who visit, making this book a subtle LGBT-friendly read. As the days pass, Poppy’s shirts change color, marking the time in a floral way.

A second win for Little Pig! Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from copy received from Charlesbridge.

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

| Tasha

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee (9780062382801, Amazon)

Excuse me as I completely gush about this book and insist that if you haven’t read it, you rush out and get a copy. Monty, his best friend Percy and his sister Felicity are sent to Europe on a Grand Tour. The Tour is part of Monty’s repairing of his reputation after a series of naughty escapades that got him expelled from school. His father completely disapproves of Monty’s lifestyle, particularly his love of other men. But the Tour doesn’t go as planned. Monty finds himself caught in a woman’s rooms wearing very little and is forced to dash from the palace nearly naked. And that’s just the first escapade. Soon Monty, Percy and Felicity are being chased across Europe with no money and no one to save them. It’s up to Monty, the sister he has despised for years and the boy he loves to figure out how to save themselves as the danger gets deadly.

I enjoyed this book at first but did not fall head over heels for it until the party was traveling with no money. The gilded beauty of the official Tour was fine but it was the real trouble that brought the book fully alive. Happily, that takes place early in the novel and then I could not stop reading. Lee takes on so many societal ills in this book that it is dizzying. While the book is set in the past, those ills are still at play today. Subjects like racism, sexism and LGBT rights are still key. This could have just been a lighthearted romp across Europe, but those themes anchor the book, give it weight and real meaning.

The characters are exceptionally drawn. Readers get to know them steadily through the book and they grow and change, revealing themselves to be multilayered and complex. The three main characters in particular are exceptionally drawn. Monty is a glorious rake, dashing and dimpled and yet far deeper than he gives himself credit for. Percy is the perfect foil for Monty, steady and full of grace. Felicity is feminism personified, calm under pressure but not too calm when kissed.

This is an exceptional teen novel and definitely one of the best of the year. Appropriate for ages 15-18.

Reviewed from library copy.

Wrinkle in Time – Movie Trailer

| Tasha

Wowza, what a trailer! What do you think?

This Week’s Tweets, Pins and Tumbls

| Tasha

Here are some cool links I shared on my Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr accounts this week:

CHILDREN’S LIT

5 Ways to Find Diverse Books Your Kids Will Love This Summer

Chris Colfer set to turn his first children’s book into a movie | Toronto Star

Entertainment Weekly gets a first peek at Oprah and Mindy Kaling in the new adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time:

Girls can take the lead on amazing adventures! For 25 great fantasy-adventure series starring Mighty Girls, visit

Interview with Hope Larson and Rebecca Mock, KNIFE’S EDGE and COMPASS SOUTH Team:

Summer Reading For Your Woke Kid

LIBRARIES

The 6 Unexpected Things I Found in My Small-Town Library:

TEEN LIT

8 YA Heroines You’ll Love as Much as Wonder Woman:

A high school English teacher on the books her struggling readers loved so much, she never saw them again:

Should YA fiction have to teach a lesson? via

Why We Need Diverse Characters in YA Books, According to Angie Thomas

2017 South Asia Book Awards

| Tasha

The winners of the 2017 South Asia Book Awards for Children’s and Young Adult Literature have been announced. The awards are given to books that portray South Asia or South Asians living abroad. The awards include two honor books and four highly commended books:

WINNERS

25942978 What Elephants Know

Maya by Mahak Jain, illustrated by Elly MacKay

What Elephants Know by Eric Dinerstein

 

HONOR BOOKS

Book Uncle and Me A Long Pitch Home

Book Uncle and Me by Uma Krishnaswami, illustrated by Julianna Swaney

A Long Pitch Home by Natalie Dias Lorenzi

 

HIGHLY COMMENDED BOOKS

28818768 One Half from the East

The Boy and the Bindi by Vivek Shraya, illustrated by Rajni Perera

One Half from the East by Nadia Hashimi

Rani Patel in Full Effect When Bholu Came Back (English)

Rani Patel in Full Effect by Sonia Patel

When Bholu Came Back by Kavitha Punniyamurthi, illustrated by Niloufer Wadia

 

The Quest for Z by Greg Pizzoli

| Tasha

The Quest for Z by Greg Pizzoli

The Quest for Z: The True Story of Explorer Percy Fawcett and a Lost City in the Amazon by Greg Pizzoli (9780670016532, Amazon)

The author of Tricky Vic returns with another rip-roaring nonfiction picture book. It is the true story of Percy Fawcett, a British explorer who searched for an ancient city hidden in the Amazon rainforest. Fawcett had dreamed his entire life of being an explorer and as an adult took many treks into South America to map the region. They faced many dangers, such as huge snakes and natives with weapons. Many of the men he traveled with perished on the adventures but Fawcett survived. Others thought that the Amazon city was a myth while Fawcett insisted that it existed. If he found it, it would make him one of the most famous explorers of all time and one of the wealthiest too. This book tells his tale as he searched for the lost city.

Pizzoli has a knack for selecting real life stories that most people, adults and children, will not have heard of. This one is a fascinating story of belief and bravery, about a man who left family and country behind in his quest to discover the unknown. Pizzoli tells the story with lots of action and a sense of adventure in his prose. There are moments where Pizzoli allows the action to slow, the wonder of the moment to grow, and the dangers to almost overwhelm. It’s written with skill and knowledge, building to a conclusion that suits the life of Fawcett to a Z.

The book design and illustrations add so much to this nonfiction read. Done in a simple and clever style, just like Pizzoli’s picture books, the images add necessary humor to the book. The design of the book also allows additional information to be added on sidebars. Pizzoli uses his illustrations to also create moments of tension and drama, pausing the action for effect.

Smart, stylish and successful, this nonfiction picture book will take readers on quite an adventure. Appropriate for ages 5-9.

Reviewed from library copy.