Book Reviews

Scaredy Squirrel at the Beach

| Tasha

 

Scaredy Squirrel at the Beach by Melanie Watt.

Scaredy returns in his third book that follows the same wonderful theme as the first two.  Though Scaredy would love to go to the beach there are so many wrong crowds that he could be surrounded by that he doesn’t think it’s wise.  So Scaredy creates a beach of his own using an inflatable pool and kitty litter.  But something is missing – the sounds are all wrong.  So Scaredy sets off to find a seashell at the beach to put to his ear.  He plans carefully but somehow doesn’t factor in one little detail – people.

Watt’s art is as always very fresh and fun.  The quirks of Scaredy’s logic and thoughts are again thoroughly entertaining.  I love the touches of oven mitts, his middle name, and the care he puts into anything he does.  Very funny, unique and above all child-friendly.

Highly recommended where the first two were popular.  But if you don’t have the first two, make sure you get those as well.  The cover art will get the books moving off of your shelves and the stories will keep them coming back for more.  Recommended for ages 5-7.

Ink Exchange

| Tasha

Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr.

The sequel to the amazing Wicked Lovely tells the story of one of Aislinn’s human friends who doesn’t know anything about the faeries living around them or that Aislinn is now Queen of the Summer Court.  Leslie is a girl whose life has turned upside down, her mother left, her father turned inward, her brother deals drugs, and she was sold as a sexual favor to cover his debts.  She is damaged but not broken as she turns to a tattoo to restart her life, declaring her body her own again.  But it is not that simple, because Rabbit, her tattoo artist has ties to the Dark Court and Leslie finds herself slowly drawn into their fight for survival through the very tattoo she thought would mark a new beginning of freedom.

The world building here is exquisitely done.  Marr takes the world she built in Wicked Lovely and makes it deeper, darker and more intense.  Her writing is skillful, drawing you into the same web Leslie is trapped in.  By the end there is such a sense of claustrophobia and control that it is almost hard to breathe, but equally hard to put down.  Masterfully done.

I enjoyed Leslie as a heroine throughout the novel.  She is tough but still somehow vulnerable, wise but naive, and these qualities make her all the more intriguing and human.  Equally well portrayed are the two faeries Niall and Irial who struggle to not fall for Leslie but fail.  The Dark Court could have been chillingly callous and cruel, but Marr has managed to make them multi-dimensional and even allows readers to have some understanding of their motives and emotions.  It is a delicate balance that Marr achieves and that lies at the heart of the success of this novel.

Highly recommended for readers of the first novel, this book will fly off the shelves and into the hands of teens everywhere.

What I Read on Spring Break

| Tasha

I meant to do a full review of all of these, and they do deserve it, but right now I am completely swamped and want to get these back to the library shelves so others can enjoy them.  So I’ll do a brief (even briefer than normal) snapshot of each title.  I consider them all must-reads.

One Whole and Perfect Day by Judith Clarke.

I had heard wonderful things about this book for months and months, but no local library purchased it until it was a Printz Honor Book.  It is the intimate but inherently funny story of a family with all of their ups and downs, strained relationships, new-found friends and lovers, and the meeting of strangers who then become part of your life.  Written with grace and beauty by Clarke, the book dips and dives through lives, allowing us to laugh at our own and see beauty where we may not have seen it before.  It also demonstrates without preaching or bullying that we are all interconnected beyond our small lives.  Simply wonderful and definitely a book that is purely teen but is not bleak or dark.  Lovely.

The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd.

Salim boards the London Eye and goes up but never comes down.  Now his cousins Ted and Kat must figure out how and why Salim never came back down to earth.  A great mystery for middle-graders, this book has what seems to be an impossible situation, a moment where all of the evidence clicks into place neatly, and two great detectives in the young siblings who each have their own strengths.  Great characterization is the real center of the book here, despite the wonderful mystery.  Ted is a unique boy who has features of autism but is highly functioning.  His quirks make him the detective he is and allow his brain to see things from a different perspective.  What is best about the book is that Ted is never pitied or looked down upon, rather he is seen as special and interesting.  What a treat of a character!  Highly recommended for pre-teens, this would make a stellar book talk.

Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin.

From the author of Elsewhere, comes another winning teen novel.  Naomi falls down a set of stairs and hits her head at the bottom, losing her memory.  As she wakes up into a life she no longer remembers, she has to piece together why she is dating a tennis jock, why she has the friends she does, and what she wants to do with her life now.  It is a wonderful journey of self-discovery encapsulated by her lost memory.  Beautifully written and effortlessly plotted, the book is fresh and fast.  Zevin manages with both of her novels to create complex situations that envelope a truth.  This book is one that teens will flock to read, enjoy entirely, and pass on to their friends.

What's So Bad About Being an Only Child?

| Tasha

What’s So Bad About Being an Only Child? by Cari Best, illustrated by Sophie Blackall.

Rosemary Emma Angela Lynette Isabelle Iris Malone knows what it feels like to be an only child.  And to her, it feels horrible!  Smothering and lonely at the same time.  She begs for a sibling, sulks for a sibling, but her parents don’t understand what’s wrong with being an only child.  Rosemary struggles with her lack of brother or sisterhood until she meets a turtle at the pond and brings it home.  Soon other animals follow as well and she has a menagerie at home who play with her, argue, share secrets and generally are the family she never had.

Rosemary is a character written and illustrated with such verve and vinegar.  She’s a refreshing change from other little girls in picture books who can be a bit too pink and frilly to read as real.  Rosemary is a true child from her pigtails to her crooked teeth to the glint of frustration in her eye.  The illustrations and the text work well together, creating the pitch-perfect tone here.

While reading the book, I feared that this little girl was going to find a way to have a baby enter her family in one way or another.  So I was happily surprised when she started collecting animals to be her family. 

Immensely fun to read aloud and a joy to share, this book will be loved by children with many brothers and sisters or those with none.  Recommended for ages 5-7.

Looking for Loons

| Tasha

Looking for Loons by Jennifer Lloyd, illustrated by Kirsti Anne Wakelin.

Woken by the first morning sun, Patrick heads to the porch to watch for loons on the lake.  One by one, his family members join him, each awoken by a sound or smell to the beauty of the fall day.  It takes patience and willpower (to not succumb to the smell of a pancake breakfast) to watch for the loons.  By the end of the book, Patrick’s patience is rewarded.

The prose in this book is poetic and beautiful.  It perfectly captures the stillness of a morning broken only by the slightest of noises like slippers flopping, kettles whistling and skillets being placed on the stove.  The interludes where the text breaks away from the cabin and looks towards other creatures around the lake are wonderful as well, allowing readers to “see” birds, frogs, and beavers.

As you can see from the cover, the art of this book is done with realism and softness.  It dances between almost photographic realism and a blurriness of sunshine and dappling of leaves.  As the text moves to outside glimpses, so do the illustrations, revealing even more creatures than the text itself. 

Perfect reading for anyone who heads north to a cabin or wishes they could.  This book is not only about loons, but also about wilderness and patience and family.  It has a cozy warmth about it, perfectly capturing a sunny autumn morning.  Recommended for ages 5-8.

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

| Tasha

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart.

Released March 25th, 2008.

Frankie is a sophomore at a private boarding school, Alabaster.  As a freshman she was invisible to the popular crowd, although her older sister had introduced her to everyone multiple times.  But now with a fuller figure, she gains the attention of Matthew, a very cute senior.  Frankie starts going out with Matthew but becomes more and more worried about what exactly he sees in her beyond her body.  When she discovers that Matthew and his friends are part of a secret all-male society on campus, she waits and waits for him to tell her about it.  But when he doesn’t, Frankie takes matters into her own hands and makes the Loyal Order her own with a blend of modern technology and classic pranks.

Lockhart pays homage to Wodehouse with her writing style and delivery, offering a classic feel to the prose but also a broad sweep of caustic humor.  It is this humor and the sharp tongues and wit of the characters that bring the book to life.  The cleverness of the dialogue is marvelous to see as is Frankie’s pride in her own intelligence.  Frankie is one of the brightest and unexpected of heroines.  Her inability to play by the rules is refreshing as is her refusal to be simply a girlfriend while the boys have all of the intrigue and fun.

Recommended for other smart teens who will enjoy the wordplay, humor and wit of the book.  You may see a run on Wodehouse after they read this!

Visit E. Lockhart’s website and blog for information on her books, appearances and more.

A Visitor for Bear

| Tasha

A Visitor for Bear by Bonny Becker, illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton.

Bear never has visitors, in fact he even has a sign on his door that says “NO visitors allowed.”  When a small determined Mouse comes to the door, Bear turns him away.  But Mouse appears all over inside Bear’s house as he prepares for breakfast.  After trying and trying to keep Mouse out of his house, Bear gives up and allows him to stay for tea.  And with that one snack together, Bear discovers that maybe, just maybe, he doesn’t hate having visitors so very much.

This book is simply charming.  The soft-hued illustrations don’t shy away from some great slapstick comedy routines.  They will delight young readers.  The repetition and rhythm in text makes this a perfect read-aloud and children will enjoy chorusing some of the repetition along with the reader.  Under all of this runs a story that is warm and filled with friendliness. 

A great choice for reading aloud to preschoolers and Kindergarten classes. 

Not a Stick

| Tasha

Not a Stick by Antoinette Portis.

Portis returns with a second book following her winning Not a Box.  This time readers experience the joy and play that a stick can create.  A piglet finds a stick and begins to play with it.  The adult voice cautions throughout how a stick should be handled, but the pig is just happily caught up in imaginative play. 

The illustrations here are thick line drawings that echo childhood and the text is short and wonderfully supports the spirit of the illustrations.  The sense of freedom and play here is captured to perfection, just as it was with the first book. 

Very toddler friendly, this book can be shared with a wide range of children from ages 3-6.

Red Truck

| Tasha

Red Truck by Kersten Hamilton, illustrated by Valeria Petrone.

Red Truck is a hard-working tow truck, especially on a rainy, slushy day when the school bus is stuck on a slippery hill.  Red Truck zooms, pulls, and roars its way through the puddles and ice to save the day.

A perfect book for toddlers and young preschoolers, this book reads aloud like a dream.  So many truck books for small children are just a list of parts and noises, but this book has a story, action and will be popular from the moment it gets into children’s hands.  It is the red truck on the cover and the bright vehicles that pop on the grey background that will have small hands reaching for it.  The pictures are very child-friendly and marvelously bold and simple.  Perfection for reading to a large group.

Zooooom over and pick this one out.  It’s a guaranteed hit with the preschool set.  Recommended for ages 2-4.