Book Reviews

Rush

| Tasha

Rush by Jonathan Friesen

The author of Jerk, California (winner of the Schneider Family Book Award) returns with another great read.  The only thing that will clear the clouds from Jake’s head is risking his life.  He jumps off of waterfalls, takes risky rides on his dirtbike, climbs the town watertower, and scales rock walls.  His father and older brother don’t understand what he does at all.  His father basically owns their town and his perfect brother is following in his footsteps as a firefighter, something that holds no appeal for Jake.  One thing with appeal is his best friend Salome, but he can never let it become anything more than just friends, because he hurts anything he gets close to and he can’t do that to her.  When Jake’s older brother loses his best friend and quits the firefighters, Jake is offered a place on a crew that rappels into wildfires.  It is a crew with a record of young firefighters dying.  Jake isn’t worried, this suits his thrill-seeking nature just fine, but Salome refuses to stand by and watch him die.   He now has to choose between his friend and the rush.

My short summary above just scratches the surface of this novel.  It is a novel of depression and trying anything to feel clarity and connection.  It is a novel of family, exploring the tension-filled relationship between brothers as well as fathers and sons.  It is a novel of love, of taking that final step and feeling a different kind of clarity and rush.  It is a novel of bravery, of honor, of betrayal.  It is a novel that reads at breakneck pace, yet never loses touch with the importance of character and setting.

Jake is a great character in the novel, exploring the reason why people take large risks.  He is a tormented soul, unable to form connections with those he loves, able only to bond with the thrills.  Yet at the same time, he has friends who love him, despite the ways he pushes them away.  The novel is beautifully written, exploring the danger and power of fire, which is used as a perfect metaphor for Jake and his own destructive nature. 

A novel that will appeal to a broad range of readers, from those who are thrill seekers themselves and want a great action-filled read to those who are interested in a well-drawn character facing incredible odds.  Appropriate for ages 15-18.

Reviewed from copy received from Speak.

Check out Jonathan Friesen’s website, his blog, and an interview about his inspiration for the book.

Summer Birds

| Tasha

Summer Birds: the Butterflies of Maria Merian by Margarita Engle, illustrated by Julie Paschkis

Maria, a young girl living in Germany during the Middle Ages, disproves the ancient belief that butterflies, frogs and other small creatures spontaneously generate from mud.  Maria instead observes their transformations as they change from egg to caterpillar and finally to moth or butterfly.  She must study them in secret because others would accuse her of witchcraft for dealing with these insects that they believe are evil.  She paints what she sees, documenting the changes and her observations of their lives.  Readers will enjoy this marriage of science and art in a picture book format.

Maria can serve as an inspiration for us all.  She took a long-standing theory and through her own powers of observation and judgment disproved it.  Following her own interests of science and art, Maria was an explorer, a scientist and a discoverer.  The author’s note at the end of the book tells readers more of Maria’s story, including what she went on to do as an adult.  Charmingly, the picture book remains simple and straight forward, never getting bogged down in the mud.

Paschkis’ art has a folk-art feel that ties it naturally to the time period of the story.  Her use of strong, simple lines echoes the simple strength of the writing as well.  As a reader, I had expected to see more of Engle’s poetry in evidence here in her first picture book.  It was a pleasure to see that she excels at simple storytelling just as much as she does at imagery and poetry.

A powerful combination of art and science, just like Maria, this book is appropriate for ages 5-9.

Reviewed from copy received from Henry Holt.

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Griff Carver, Hallway Patrol

| Tasha

Griff Carver, Hallway Patrol by Jim Krieg

Griff Carver is a legend in school law enforcement, but he was expelled from his old school for going too far in the name of justice.  Now he’s at Rampart Middle School, a school that is perfect on the surface, but seething with crime underneath.  Griff is not a rookie.  He can sense littering out of the corner of his eye, nabbing the principal of the school on his first day on patrol.  Griff finds himself partnered with Tommy, a Camp Scout, who is unable to see past the thin veneer of respectability at his school.  Instead, Tommy accuses Griff of being the bad guy, resulting him getting him kicked off of Patrol Squad.  That won’t be enough to get Griff to stop seeking out the real bad guy who is running a fake hallpass scheme.

Tongue-in-cheek and riotously funny, this book takes the crime genre and sets it in middle school.  Fans of crime fiction and crime programs will love seeing some of the favorite tropes of the genre played with.  The lingo Griff uses is dead on, adding to the humor of the book.  The pairing of the veteran Griff with the naive Tommy is also directly out of the genre.  Adding to the feel is the use of recorded statements and Patrol Squad reports to form the storyline. 

The setting here is humorously drawn as well.  The middle school is depicted not in lengthy descriptions but through the eyes of hall patrol.  I especially enjoyed No Man’s Land, the area on the school grounds where the erasers are cleaned, forming a permanent fog of dust.  What could be more perfect for the genre than a meeting in the fog?

A great summer read, this book will have middle school readers laughing out loud, engaged with both the humor and the action itself.  Appropriate for ages 10-13.

Reviewed from copy received from Razor Bill.

One Pup’s Up

| Tasha

One Pup’s Up by Marsha Wilson Chall, illustrated by Henry Cole

Count along to ten with adorable puppies in this picture book.  It all starts when one puppy wakes up, then more puppies join in on the fun.  They tumble, roll, drink, piddle, chase, and much more.  Another puppy joins in the fray with each new activity until dinner time.  Then they slowly head to sleep, one at a time, counting down until they are all asleep.  Of course, then it starts again the second one pup is up.

A very simple premise and simply told story, this book is filled with toddler appeal.  The ease of the story along with its galloping rhyme and rhythm make it irresistible.  Chall’s grace with so few words is evident on each page, allowing the images to tell the story.  Cole’s puppies are playful balls of fun, that young readers will be drawn to and relate to.  The illustrations are wonderfully large and bright with plenty of white space, making them ideal for use with a group.

Get those toddlers counting with these puppies and be ready for giggles when the piddle line appears.  A delightful, light-hearted counting book appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from copy received from McElderry Books.

Doodlebug

| Tasha

Doodlebug by Karen Romano Young

Dodo has been expelled from her last school because she tried to sell her Ritalin to other students in her class.  Now her family is moving from LA to San Francisco.  Her parents are hoping for a fresh start for their careers and for Dodo.  Her younger sister Momo is angry about the move, and Dodo is unsure that it will make any difference at all.  On the trip, Dodo discovers that she loves to draw, that doodling makes her calmer and better able to deal with the drive and the move.  Dodo starts a new school, changing her nickname to Doodlebug.  Her doodling is accepted in some classes and forbidden in others.  Momo is desperate to join the school’s choir, so she tries several stunts, like singing into the PA system of the school.  Both girls may have pushed it a bit too far in their new school.  Will Dodo be expelled again?

A fabulous combination of journal, graphic novel and story, this book allows readers to really understand what it is to be a visual learner and to have ADD.  Dodo is a great character, fully developed and complex.  Just as wonderfully drawn are her family members, even the new cat, Sven.  They are all complicated and interesting, portraying a real, multicultural family dealing with change and opportunity. 

Young’s creativity is fully on display here with pages filled with a variety of lettering, lots of drawings and plenty of forward momentum.  Several touches will resonate with young artists who will find the names of the pens used to make the black and white illustrations.  They will get plenty of inspiration to create their own journals, capture their own lives and adventures. 

Highly recommended, this book will be enjoyed by readers who enjoyed the Joey Pigza series, Amelia’s Notebook, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid.  Appropriate for ages 9-13.

Reviewed from copy received from Feiwel and Friends.

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Check out Karen Romano Young’s website.

Wendell’s Workshop

| Tasha

Wendell’s Workshop by Chris Riddell

Wendell was very busy inventing things, so he didn’t have time to clean up his workshop.  When it finally became too untidy to bear, Wendell invented a robot named Clunk to help him.  Clunk did the housework, but in such a way that it made an even larger mess.  So Wendell threw him down the rubbish chute.  Wendell created a second robot to help clean.  This robot looked a lot like him, so he called him Wendelbot.  Wendelbot was great at cleaning, but too great.  Finally Wendel himself was the only untidy thing left, until Wendelbot threw him down the chute.  Wendel found Clunk there and they devised a plan to stop Wendelbot in his quest to tidy the world.

Riddell has created a robot picture book that has a great story yet resists being too wordy or complex for young children.  The book reads aloud very well, filled with great sound effects, wonderful big booms, and plenty of clutter.  It is a story that all children will relate to happily whether they love robots or not.  Riddell also laces his story with plenty of humor, which is carried directly into the illustrations.  Wendel himself is very cute and fuzzy, a wonderful contrast to the hard surfaces of the robots.  The detail of the illustrations is delightful, from the rolling screws to the intriguing depths of the rubbish pile. 

This is a picture book with lots to love plus robots!  Appropriate for ages 3-6.

Reviewed from library copy.

You can also check out a video of the book being read aloud on YouTube.  It’s a bit blurry, but still offers great glimpses of the illustrations:

Wonder Horse

| Tasha

 

Wonder Horse: the True Story of the World’s Smartest Horse by Emily Arnold McCully

“Doc” Bill Key was born a slave and always had a knack with animals.  When Emancipation came, he became a veterinarian and a businessman.  After purchasing an Arabian mare from a circus, Doc bred her hoping to have a fast racehorse.  But the foal was born with twisted legs and worse, the mare died after giving birth.  It was a bit before Doc realized how intelligent the foal, Jim, was.  Soon Jim had moved into the house to sleep and had learned to open the paddock lock and also find where Doc kept the apples.  Doc wondered what else Jim could learn to do.  Slowly, Jim learned the alphabet and colors.  Doc and Jim performed for audiences until their act was questioned as a fraud.  An independent panel came in and tested Jim without Doc in the room, proving that Jim indeed was able to read, spell, do arithmetic, and knew his colors.  The two continued to travel together and perform, demonstrating the intelligence of animals and that kindness is the key to learning.

This book is ideal for animal lovers who will root for Doc and Jim from the beginning.  The fact that it is a true story makes it a far more interesting read.  McCully manages to offer a vast amount of information and insight in a picture book format without losing the ease of phrase that is necessary for this age group.  Young readers will delight in how and what Jim learned as well as the relationship between trainer and animal.  The book does not turn away from the racism leveled at Doc.  McCully addresses it with frankness and subtlety, allowing the book to be read and understood at different levels.

McCully’s paintings capture the connection and relationship of Doc and Jim as well as the beauty of the horse.  The author’s note at the end is also of interest.  It offers a photograph of Doc and Jim where readers will be pleased to see how close a resemblance they have to the illustrations in the book.

A celebration of trainer and animal as well as kindness and perseverance, this book will delight young horse fans.  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Reviewed from copy received from Henry Holt.

The Cow Loves Cookies

| Tasha

The Cow Loves Cookies by Karma Wilson, illustrated by Marcellus Hall

Told in a jaunty rhyme, this book shows life on a farm through a funny, quirky lens.  Farmer feeds each animal every day.  The horse eats hay.  The chickens eat chicken feed.  The geese eat corn.  The pig eats slop.  The dog loves doggie treats.  As each animal is introduced along with the food it eats, the chorus chimes in with “the cow loves cookies.”  Then with each new animal, the previous ones are added to the rhyme, forming a fun, cumulative tale.  In the end, the reader will be pleased to find out exactly how the cow got a taste for cookies. 

This book is made to read aloud with its great rhymes that never grow stale and the wonderful rhythm that is built into them.  Even better, there is that chorus line that children will love to help repeat.  Hall’s illustrations echo the light-hearted tone of the text with their free flowing style and friendliness.  They are also large enough to work well with a group of children.

Add this one to your storytime reads for barnyard books.  Perhaps even concluding the stories with some cookies, you know that the children love cookies!  Appropriate for ages 3-6.

Reviewed from copy received from McElderry Books.

Scars

| Tasha

Scars by Cheryl Rainfield

Kendra has started to remember her abuse as a child, but she is unable to see her abuser’s face in her memories.  She believes she is being followed by her abuser, so she lives in fear that even as she works to remember, he is stalking her.  To cope with the pressure of the memories, Kendra cuts her arm, releasing all of her stress, anguish and pain and making it something she can handle.  Kendra also does amazing art work that reveals the pain of her abuse and the emotional toll it is taking on her.  Her mother, a professional artist, has been critical of the raw emotion of Kendra’s work, so Kendra hides her work from her.  Her father has become emotionally distant after Kendra told her parents about the abuse, so Kendra turns to her therapist, her art teacher, and her new girlfriend for support.  As Kendra’s memories build, readers will be unable to put the book down until all is revealed.

Rainfield, herself a survivor of abuse and cutting, has captured the situation with such power and ferocity that it can be painful to read.  Readers will find themselves in a vise of tension and menace that mirrors Kendra’s.  Rainfield has written a powerhouse of a book that is astoundingly honest and burningly real.  The character of Kendra is written with empathy and skill.  She never reads as a victim but as a heroine, seeking the truth about what happened to her.  The use of her art in the book to connect her to other people, speak when she cannot say the words, and scream for her pain is hauntingly real.

Get this into the hands of readers who enjoy tense, realistic reads.  The cover is beautifully done, capturing the cutting and the tension in a single image.  A brilliant book written in nervy honesty.  Appropriate for ages 14-18.

Reviewed from library copy.

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