Book Reviews

Review: Engines of the Broken World by Jason Vanhee

| Tasha

engines of the broken world

Engines of the Broken World by Jason Vanhee

Merciful’s mother has finally died.  After years of growing more and more confused and cruel, she died as the weather grew colder and colder.  Merciful and her brother Gospel had wanted to bury her properly but the bitter weather had worsened and prevented them from digging a hole.  The snow came too, lashing the windows and keeping them from even venturing out to the barn to check on the animals.  So they put their mother under the table and went to bed.  The Minister, in an animal form, said prayers over her but was also firm in saying that she needed a proper burial.  Merciful is starting breakfast the next morning when she hears it, a voice she thought she would never hear again, singing her childhood song.

This novel is completely unique.  It is the story not of a post-apocalyptic world but of the days leading directly into an apocalypse.  Yet it is also a book that explores religion in a way that will certainly bother many people.  This is a religion beyond decay, heading into the final days, one that is flagging but still powerful.  Even better, it is one that is familiar to many of us.  Now add zombies to this complex world, and you are starting to understand why this book is so difficult to explain.

Against this dire setting, we have two young characters Merciful and Gospel.  The two do not get along, both approaching the world from different places.  Yet given the claustrophobic setting, the two are forced to see the truth about each other and their strengths.  It is this setting of a blizzard at the end of the world that makes this book so haunting.  Vanhee writes in a voice that we haven’t heard before either, he tinkers with perception of the characters, and he has created a book where you can’t trust much at all.  It is a wonderfully slippery book, that changes underneath you and turns into something unexpected.  Yet it is also filled with moments of great beauty and character. 

A horror book for teens, this is also something much more.  It is a beautifully written apocalypse that is harrowing, striking and powerful.  Appropriate for ages 13-15.

Reviewed from copy received from Henry Holt and Co.

Review: Captain Cat by Inga Moore

| Tasha

captain cat

Captain Cat by Inga Moore

Captain Cat is a trader, but he’s not very good at making profitable deals.  You see, instead of trading for riches, he trades for cats.  So his ship is full of them.  All of the other traders make fun of him for this, but Captain Cat is very happy surrounded by the furry creatures.  He decides to head off and see new places, far from the trade routes he usually travels.  On the way, he is caught in a violent storm that blows him off course, right off the map!  There he discovers a small rocky island led by a young queen.  She and the population are very friendly, and have never seen cats before.  When the cats take care of the island’s rat problem, the queen begs Captain Cat to leave them behind.  What is a cat-loving caption to do?

This is a very engaging book.  It was different right off of the bat with a sailor surrounded by cats who hate water.  Throughout the story, it continues to surprise and delight.  It never heads where you expect it to, yet ends up being completely delightful both along the way and in the end.  Unlike many picture books, Moore tells a full story here.  It not only has the structure of a full story, but also has a depth that can be missing in picture books.

The illustrations are finely done with lots of details.  Done in mixed media, they have fine lines and soft colors.  Thanks to their detail, this book would best be used with small groups or individual children.

Take a feline-filled journey with this clever picture book.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Little Santa by Jon Agee

| Tasha

little santa

Little Santa by Jon Agee

Christmas books are tricky.  They are often too sugary and sparkly or simply dull.  Happily, each year there are little holiday gems.  This is one of those.  It is the story of a young Santa and how he grew up and became the Santa everyone loves.  Santa grew up at the North Pole along with his large family.  While he loved it there, everyone else in his family hated it.  They planned to move to Florida instead.  But just when everyone was packed and ready to leave, a huge blizzard hit.  It was up to Santa to figure out how to save his family.  He set off to look for help and along the way found a flying reindeer and a group of elves.  Soon it was Santa to the rescue!  The elves, reindeer and Santa made such a great team that the rest is history.

Agee keeps far away from anything too tinsel-filled or cute.  He uses his trademark simple illustrations to keep a straight-forward tone to the book that is very refreshing in the crowded Christmas market.  He also manages to be a bit sly and silly along the way, adding a bit of zest into this Christmas treat.  The writing is clear and crisp, perfect for sharing aloud.

Grab a cup of cocoa with plenty of marshmallows and get ready to share a stellar new Christmas gift.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Reality Boy by A. S. King

| Tasha

reality boy

Reality Boy by A. S. King

Gerald became a reality TV star at age five when his mother brought in a television nanny to help him with his anger issues.  He had been putting holes in the walls.  He then started crapping around the house, often caught on camera.  Now Gerald is seventeen and still struggling with anger in his life.  His abusive older sister is back home, living in the basement.  His closer sister has gone to college in Scotland and never calls.  His mother and father are both entirely ineffective to stop anything.  Gerald spends much of his time in Gerland, a world filled with ice cream and candy, where no one is angry or mean.  But he can’t live there forever, and he has to return to the real world where he has no friends and people call him The Crapper.  It’s all too much sometimes for Gerald to handle, but he has to figure out a way to handle things that doesn’t have him escaping to a fantasy world or beating someone bloody.

I found this book to be entirely gripping.  The premise of a boy who is damaged by a reality show that is meant to help (at least on the surface) is very clever.  As the layers of the story are pulled back, one discovers who the true problem is.  King does this in surprising ways though flashbacks that continue to shock even though one thinks all is revealed.  This is a book that will do much to show teens that abuse by siblings and children happens to others.

King has created a wounded hero in Gerald.  He is stunted by his family, unable to grow up and unable to control his outbursts.  The reader aches for him, roots for him and yes is also frightened by his lack of control.  He is a teen caught by his past and unable to see a future.  One weakness of the book is the depiction of Gerald’s family.  They are not fully developed and the book loses something because of that, given that they are so much of the story of Gerald’s dysfunction. 

Gerald is a magnificent character, and the book is compelling and harrowing.  Appropriate for ages 15-18.

Reviewed from digital copy received from NetGalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

Review: Whale Shines by Fiona Robinson

| Tasha

whale shines

Whale Shines: An Artistic Tale by Fiona Robinson

Published November 5, 2013.

Whale is a living billboard, swimming slowly through the ocean with a poster to advertise the upcoming art show.  Along the way, he passes all sorts of sea creatures creating art.  The hammerhead shark is working on sculptures from sea debris.  Eel is forming lines in the sand.  Octopus, cuttlefish and giant squid were scaring each other to collect their ink.  Whale mutters to himself that he wishes he could make something too.  That’s when the plankton around him tell him to try.  But whale just can’t think of anything that he’d be able to do.  After all, he doesn’t squirt ink, and he can’t slither in the sand.  It’s going to take a lot of creativity and some risk for whale to even try creating art.

Robinson has created a simply gorgeous book here.  Her writing is lovely, slow-paced and languid just like Whale floating by displaying his advertisement.  Whale is a solitary figure in the story, lone and distant from the others.  As he drifts past, he is separate from everyone else.  Robinson successfully manages his transformation from wallflower to fully-engaged artist in a way that rings honest and doesn’t seem rushed.

Her art is lovely, filled with the deep colors of the ocean.  It is green and blue hues that shine.  Popping against those are the bright colors of the creatures and the coral in reds and yellows.  The result is a picture book with stunning visuals that truly evoke life underwater. 

A luminous picture book with glowing underwater scenes, this book will speak to all artists, even those reluctant to reveal themselves.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Abrams Books for Young Readers.

Review: Rawr! by Todd H. Doodler

| Tasha

rawr

Rawr! by Todd H. Doodler

Meet Rex, a very polite and well-behaved dinosaur, who is here to tell you that being a dinosaur in modern human society is hard.  He’s bigger than everyone else in his class, even his teachers.  He doesn’t fit in a desk.  He isn’t good at hide-and-seek.  And he is so big that everyone thinks he is scary.  But really, Rex isn’t scary at all.  He is helpful, polite and even has a great (big) smile.  What everyone should remember is that when Rex gives a really big “Rawr!” he is trying to say hello.  So don’t be scared of dinosaurs, they just might be as friendly as Rex.

Doodler has created as story that simple and straight forward, making it perfect for very small children.  He has inserted plenty of humor into the story, which will be a welcome diversion for both parents and children.  Rex is a character that pops off of the page with his energy and his size.  Doodler’s art has great appeal and is filled with bright colors encased in thick black lines. 

Expect this to be a new favorite at bedtime!  Appropriate for ages 1-3.

Reviewed from copy received from Scholastic.

Review: The Tortoise & the Hare by Jerry Pinkney

| Tasha

tortoise and the hare

The Tortoise and the Hare by Jerry Pinkney

Wow.  This companion book to Pinkney’s Caldecott Medal winning The Lion & the Mouse is another outstanding book.  Set in the deserts of the Southwest, the story has all sorts of animals gathered to watch the race, including badgers, lynx, mice, and vultures.  All of them wear at least one piece of clothing, from hats to bandanas to pants.  As the pages of the book turn, readers will get to see how each of the animals approaches the race, from the frenzy and then sloth of the hare to the steadiness of the tortoise.  Readers will get a sense of the slowness also from the words on the page that every so tantalizingly make out phrases as the pages turn. 

Told in few words, the book is all about the illustrations which are magnificent.  Filled with tiny details to linger over, each illustration is beautifully composed and helps move the story forward.  Pinkney stays true to the classic tale, not changing any of the storyline.  He manages to take stories that can become overly wordy and with images alone tell their story and make them appropriate and thrilling for a young audience.  I will always see his illustrations when I hear this story.  That is talent!

Quite simply, this is another masterpiece by Pinkney.  A must-have book for every library serving preschoolers.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Tea Cakes for Tosh by Kelly Starling Lyons

| Tasha

tea cakes for tosh

Tea Cakes for Tosh by Kelly Starling Lyons, illustrated by E. B. Lewis

Tosh loved spending time with his grandma Honey, who baked him tea cakes.  She told him stories of the cakes, dating all the way back to his great-great-great-great-grandma Ida who made the best tea cakes around.  But those tea cakes were not for her children, they were for her owners since she was a slave.  Sometimes though, she would make some extra cakes for her children to promise that things would change.  Honey started to forget things, like where she parked her car and phone numbers.  Then one day, she forgot how to make tea cakes.  Luckily, Tosh knew just how to help.

Lyons has created a relationship between grandmother and grandchild here that is warm and loving and filled with sweet baked good too.  She shows the importance of generation in a family by tying in the history of the tea cakes.  I appreciate seeing a boy’s relationship with his grandmother where the boy is also interested in his heritage and being in the kitchen. 

Lewis has illustrated the book with realistic watercolors that capture the relationship of the two main characters.  He switches to black and white images when family history is discussed and shows the tea cakes on recipe cards too.  The entire book is filled with warm colors that speak to the sunny relationship being depicted.

A beauty of a book, this picture book celebrates family heritage, grandparents and the power of food to bring people closer together.  Appropriate for ages 5-7.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: The Big Wet Balloon by Liniers

| Tasha

big wet balloon

The Big Wet Balloon by Liniers

Inspired by his daughters aged 3 and 5, this book celebrates a rainy day.  When Matilda wakes up on a Saturday morning, she is delighted by everything she can do that day.  Clemmie, her little sister, gets excited too.  But then their day turns out to be filled with rain.  Matilda is undaunted and sets out to persuade Clemmie to join her out in the rain.  Clemmie is very hesitant, insisting that it is wet, until Matilda shows her the umbrella and how to use it.  Clemmie then enjoys the rain until her red balloon floats off when she gets too excited.  But Matilda finds a way to make that right as well.

Liniers shows his adoration for his daughters in this book.  Clemmie is clearly a toddler and expresses herself in early sentences and short words.  Matilda is an enthusiastic older sibling who wants to spend time out in the weather.  It is a pleasure to see a sibling relationship depicted with such warmth and evident love for one another.  Matilda is never frustrated by the situation, always coming up with another way to approach it.  The words and art dance together here.  Both help tell this story of a rainy and wet Saturday. 

My children always loved rain more than sun, so this is a book that they would have loved.  Time to get out rain slickers and umbrellas and play in the rain!  Appropriate for ages 3-6.

Reviewed from library copy.