Book Reviews

Review: Loula Is Leaving for Africa by Anne Villeneuve

| Tasha

loula is leaving for Africa

Loula Is Leaving for Africa by Anne Villeneuve

Loula has had enough of her mean triplet brothers and decides to run away.  She packs up her cat, tea set and best drawing.  She knows she wants to be far away from her brothers.  She announces to her parents that she is leaving for Africa, but neither of them seem concerned.  The only one who notices that she is running away is Gilbert, the family chauffeur.  Happily, Gilbert also knows just how to get to Africa.  It will involve riding camels, crossing a desert and taking a plane and a boat.  But most importantly, it also takes lots of imagination and one good friend.

Told with wonderful wit, this book starts out like many running away books and then takes a cheery turn.  Villeneuve tells the story with a light hand, allowing her illustrations to show the truth of what is happening while the text remains primarily dialogue.  The result is a book that has depth and creativity but reads quickly and effortlessly.

Villeneuve’s art evokes Madeleine and Babar somehow.  It has a timeless feel, swirls of watercolor.  One of the most effective images is the series of sky pictures as Gilbert and Loula sit along the river as the sun goes down.  The attention to color and the motionless pair next to each other capture those moments in life when all is perfection. 

A winner of a picture book, this is one that belongs in every running-away bag or bedtime stack.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from digital galley received from NetGalley and Kids Can Press.

Review: Boxers & Saints by Gene Luen Yang

| Tasha

boxers saints

Boxers by Gene Luen Yang

Saints by Gene Luen Yang

These two incredible graphic novels tell the story of the Boxer Rebellion in China in 1898.  Boxers is told from the point of view of Little Bao, a young villager who has seen the foreign missionaries and soldiers take the ancient Chinese gods and beliefs and smash them apart.  Trained in kung fu by a wandering man and also introduced to a ritual to bring the ancient gods to life, Little Bao becomes the leader of a band of commoners who become instrumental in the rebellion.  Saints looks at the other side of the rebellion and is the story of Four-Girl, a daughter not even given a real name by her family.  She finds a place for herself in Christianity, at first only attending the teachings because of the cookies but eventually finding a new name and new identity as Vibiana.  Her faith makes her a target and both Vibiana and Little Bao have to find the extent of their beliefs and what they are willing to sacrifice for them.  There are no easy answers here, no right and wrong, there are only choices in the middle of violence.

Yang has created two books that must be read together to get a full picture of the history.  Both books are one-sided, showing only the point of view of the rebels or the Christians.  At the same time, they are both balanced against one another, showing the violence on both sides, the hubris, and the faith.  They also both capture a young individual caught up in history and questioning their own choices.

As always, Yang has written a compelling book.  His art is strong and his story arcs are well developed.  I found Boxers to be the more interesting of the two with the Chinese gods and the question of being in control of that amount of violence.  Saints to me is a necessary foil to Boxers but lacks its depth.  That said, Boxers is one of the more compelling graphic novels I have read for tweens, so Saints had a lot to live up to. 

Highly recommended, this graphic novel duo has a place in every library collection.  Its violence and questions about faith, duty and responsibility make it a good choice for teens and tweens.  Appropriate for ages 12-15.

Reviewed from digital galleys received from NetGalley and First Second.

Review: Dee Dee and Me by Amy Schwartz

| Tasha

dee dee and me

Dee Dee and Me by Amy Schwartz

Told from the point of view of the younger sister, Hannah has had enough of her older sister Dee Dee.  Dee Dee always gets her way, gets the best seat, eats the best food.  She manages to do it in sneaky ways that seem nice as first but don’t end up that way for Hannah.  So Hannah decides to run away and packs up all the things she doesn’t want to share with Dee Dee.  In the end, she decides not to really run away because she can’t find her teddy bear.  But all alone, she spends time with the things she had packed up.  When Dee Dee appears having finally done something really nice for Hannah, Hannah puts her foot down and makes some new rules for them to play together.  This is a book that captures sibling relationships to a tee, or perhaps to a Dee.

Schwartz infuses her story with touches of humor that make Dee Dee’s tyrannical attitudes more funny than threatening.  Both Hannah and Dee Dee have strong personalities and individual perspectives.  Schwartz does a good job of telling Hannah’s story clearly but also making sure that Dee Dee is not vilified entirely.  The art is vivid and colorful, displaying a family home filled with small details and lots of flowers.  It is a home that you want to visit and play in. 

This is a superb telling of two siblings at odds that is filled with humor and charm.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Antigoddess by Kendare Blake

| Tasha

antigoddess

Antigoddess by Kendare Blake

Published September 10, 2013.

From the author of Anna Dressed in Blood comes the first book in a new series, The Goddess War.   The Old Gods have been around forever and knew that they would be around for eternity.  But then Athena started to sprout feathers under her skin and in her lungs.  Hermes started to lose weight and become emaciated.  They started to do the impossible: they began to die.  Desperate to find a solution, Athena and Hermes search out Cassandra, the prophetess, who is an regular teenager but one who has visions and is linked to the ancient Cassandra from Troy.  There are more Gods involved though.  Apollo is there to protect his beloved Cassandra.  Hera is moving to survive while the other Gods die and Poseidon is throwing his considerable power behind her.  This is one God-sized epic throwdown that you will not want to miss!

Blake’s world building is incredible here.  While she builds off of Greek mythology, she has created a scenario where the Gods are humanized through their mortality.  They are still amazing, wondrous beings, but somehow Blake manages to mix that with a fragility that makes them accessible in a new way. 

Her writing is fresh and vivid both in character development and in the many action scenes.  Danger seems to lurk everywhere and there are wonderful moments where the shock of violence after being lulled away is breathtaking. The book is so filled with violent action scenes that it is completely compelling to read. 

Vivid and dazzling, this book will appeal to fans of Greek mythology and fantasy novels.  Appropriate for ages 15-18.

Reviewed from ARC received from Tor.

Review: How to Hide a Lion by Helen Stephens

| Tasha

how to hide a lion

How to Hide a Lion by Helen Stephens

Oh my, what a charmer of a book!  It is the story of a lion who comes to town to buy a hat.  But the people in town are afraid of him and chase him away.  He runs off to hide in a yard under a dog house where he is discovered by a little girl named Iris.  Iris immediately recognizes that he is a kind lion and invites him into her house.  They did their best to keep him hidden and Iris took good care of him by brushing his mane and putting a bandage on his hurt foot.  They also had a lot of fun, but that’s when they would almost be discovered.  A lion bouncing on a bed makes a lot of noise!  When Iris’ mother discovered the lion, the lion ran off.  He hid with the stone lions in front of the Town Hall.  While he was there, he saw two burglars leaving the Hall.  After the lion saves the day, everyone in town realizes what a kind lion he actually is and present him with… a hat.

Stephens has created a picture book that has a simple appeal.  The growing friendship between the lion and the little girl is done in a very organic and natural way.  Humor is sprinkled throughout as the little girl attempts to hide the lion.  Stephens also makes sure that even though the lion is kind, he is still completely a lion and an animal.  The two main characters are wonderfully different and make for compelling characters especially when paired.

The art in the book reads as vintage with their bright color washes.  The lines of the drawings are done with a light hand and are nicely simple.  This is a book that would be right at home next to Lyle Crocodile.  It reads immediately as a classic and hopefully will become one!

Too clever to be called sweet, this book is warm and friendly.  A perfect book to share with your big cat at home or to curl up like a lion and listen to.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy received from Henry Holt and Co.

Review: Monster on the Hill by Rob Harrell

| Tasha

monster on the hill

Monster on the Hill by Rob Harrell

In 1860s England, each little town has its own monster that terrorizes its population.  And they love it!  In fact, there is money to be made if your town has a popular monster.  It brings in tourism and you can sell merchandise too.  However, the monster at Stoker-on-Avon was not a popular monster.  He barely left his cave anymore, sulking on the hill above the town.  Rayburn was one depressed monster.  It is up to Dr. Charles Wilkie, an inventor whose workshop was shut down by the town and who is willing to do almost anything to get it back, and Timothy, a street urchin who snuck along, to get Rayburn back in fighting spirit again.  This graphic novel is packed with new friends, old pals, big battles, and amazing monsters. 

Harrell took this graphic novel quickly out of any stereotypical themes very quickly by having the populations appreciate their monsters so thoroughly.  The mix of delight and monsters is great fun, adding a real unexpected twist to the story.  Rayburn is a wonderful character with a gloomy perspective that plays nicely off of the enthusiasm of the human characters.

Harrell’s art is filled with color and dynamic movement.  He brilliantly captures monster battles and is equally successful at creating friendship bonds between characters.  The art welcomes children to enter the world of the book, where they will find a great mashup of modern art and humor with a historical fantasy setting.

Fun, vivid and filled with action, this graphic novel will prove popular in every library.  Appropriate for ages 8-12.

Reviewed from library copy.

More Than This by Patrick Ness

| Tasha

more than this

More Than This by Patrick Ness

Released September 10, 2013.

After Seth drowns, bones smashed against rocks, muscles clenching in the icy water, he wakes up.  He is naked except for some bandages and very weak, but most disturbing, he is back in England at his childhood home.  A home that contains many of the worst memories of his life, except for his most recent ones.  There is no one else around, even the insects are silent and no birds or planes fly overhead.  Seth is completely alone in a world that is covered with dust and dirt.  Seth can’t sleep either because whenever he does, memories sweep over him, specifically ones that he would prefer to never remember and it’s as if he was living them all over again.  Is this the afterlife?  His own personal hell?  Seth has to first figure out how to survive and then start finding answers.

Ness creates a world, a hell, an afterlife, a future that is breathtakingly haunting.  It is profoundly empty, amazingly personal, and intensely confusing.  Readers who enter this book will be taken on a journey that is astonishing.  It is a puzzle that they will solve along with Seth and the answer will be astonishing.  I don’t want to give things away because the book is such a journey to the truth.

Ness writes powerfully of first loves, suicide and having to life with one’s decisions.  Seth’s death in the water is described in great detail, each moment captures, each pain explored.  As the memories flash into his head, the reader starts to understand what drove Seth to kill himself but also other deep truths about Seth and his life. 

Complex, gritty and profoundly beautiful, this book is a wonder of writing.  It is beyond inventive, taking readers to a place they never expected to find.  You are in the hands of a master storyteller here in one of his best books yet.  Appropriate for ages 14-17.

Reviewed from ARC received from Candlewick Press.

Review: Picture Day Perfection by Deborah Diesen

| Tasha

picture day perfection

Picture Day Perfection by Deborah Diesen, illustrated by Dan Santat

Picture Day is a day when you want to take the perfect picture.  That doesn’t come easily!  In fact, the boy in this book has been planning his Picture Day for months.  But nothing seems to be going well at all.  First is the bedhead hair that makes his brother laugh, then his favorite shirt is stained and smelly, and that all leads into the incident with the syrup at breakfast.  The day continues this way and when he gets to school he starts to get into trouble with how he is acting.  He won’t practice his smile, choosing instead to stick out his tongue.  He sends paint flying during art.  He doesn’t get a comb to fix his hair.  In the end though, it all comes off just like he planned, or does it?

Diesen has a wonderful kid-like sense of humor that is very evident throughout this book.  Her timing is great, the story will have everyone laughing.  Readers will figure out what is really happening in this book just as the author decides to reveal it.  Then the entire book still makes sense, but in a different way.  It makes for a great read.

Add in Santat’s vibrant and equally funny art and you have a real winner.  Santat captures the funniest moments in the text with great style.  The image of the syrup incident is my favorite but I also love the picture taken at the end of the book. 

Funny, pure silliness and just right for the start of a new school year.  Try this one out with older elementary students since they will love the humor too.  Appropriate for ages 5-8.

Reviewed from copy received from Abrams Books for Young Readers.

Review: Once Upon a Northern Night by Jean E. Pendziwol

| Tasha

once upon a northern night

Once Upon a Northern Night by Jean E. Pendziwol, illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault

This glimmering book takes a lingering and loving look at a Canadian winter night.  It starts just before the snow begins to fall, one flake then more.  Then the ground is covered with a snowy blanket, a blanket just like the one you are sleeping under.  The book goes on to talk about the beauty of the winter forest, snow that will dust your head and nose as you pass under the trees.  Animals appear; the deer munch on the frozen apples, a great gray owl silently drifts by, rabbits scamper only going still when the fox walks past.  The book continues to talk about the beauty of the snow once the sky clears, the patterns of frost on window panes.  It ends with the dazzle of the snowy morning.

As a native of Wisconsin, this Canadian import speaks directly to my love of winter evenings, nights and days.  This lullaby of a book opens each poetic stanza with “Once upon a northern night…” and then leads into another beautiful wonder that is present there.  Northern readers will see their own love reflected here, others will start to understand the beauty and exquisite nature of winter.  Pendziwol plays with imagery and truly finds the wonder in each moment she captures.  It is pure beauty, glittery as snow but oh so much warmer.

Arsenault’s illustrations are done in nighttime sepia tones, the color drained away except for pops of frozen apples, owl eyes, fox orange and deep night sky blues.  The snow itself makes up much of the images, dancing in the air, covering branches, capturing footprints.  One can almost feel the coldness seep from the page.  Then there is the final page with morning arriving that is suddenly color and ends the book just perfectly with its icy shimmer.

This picture book is perfect for a bedtime story curled up near the fire or under toasty warm blankets as the snow falls.  It is a quiet and lovely book, one to treasure and share.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from library copy.