families

Review: Rifka Takes a Bow by Rebecca Rosenberg Perlov

| Tasha

rifka takes a bow

Rifka Takes a Bow by Betty Rosenberg Perlov, illustrated by Cosei Kawa

Rifka’s parents are actors in the Yiddish theater community, they work at The Grand and perform regularly.  So Rifka has grown up behind the stage, seeing them transform into different characters.  Sometimes they are so different, she isn’t really sure they are the same person.  When she goes to work with them, she gets to ride the subway and have a snack at the Automat.  She gets to look behind the stage and discover all of the illusions that go into doing theater.  Then one day, Rifka is climbing a set of stairs behind the stage and accidentally steps out during a performance!  What is a girl with acting in her blood going to do?

Written by a woman who herself grew up in the Yiddish Theater where her parents worked, this book captures the wonder of that lifestyle for a small child.  Perlov also shows us the intimate details of that world with the tricks of the stage, the joy of viewing a performance from the wings, and the obvious charm of having parents who are theater people.  This is a beautiful look at a world that has disappeared with the times.

Kawa’s artwork is very unique.  It has a wonderful modern feel thanks to the interesting proportions of the heads and bodies of the characters.  Perhaps the best touch are the little objects that dance in the air.  Whenever people are performing or communicating, they are there and flowing between them.  They offer a sense of the flow of this family and the flow that happens with the audience as well.

A joy to read, this book truly is a look at a lost world from the perspective of someone who actually lived it.  Appropriate for ages 5-7.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell

| Tasha

rooftoppers

Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell

Sophie was found floating in a cello case after a shipwreck, scooped out of the water by a fellow passenger, Charles, who became her guardian.  He was a single man and a scholar, and unlikely to be a suitable parent, but the two of them got along perfectly well.  The Welfare Agency did pursue the two of them and it finally got so bad that the two fled to Paris before Sophie could be sent to an orphanage.  Sophie knew that her mother was still alive although everyone else thought she was dead.  And her guardian always taught her to never ignore a possible.  So they searched Paris for her mother, following the clue she found in the cello case.  There she met Matteo, a boy who appeared in her skylight and led her to a world of the rooftops.  Together they search the roofs of Paris for the sound of her mother’s cello.  But how long can Sophie search before she is caught by the authorities?

Rundell writes so beautifully, it is impossible not to stop and linger over her phrases.  She uses unusual metaphors like “…he held her in his large hands – at arm’s length, as he would a leaky flowerpot…”  She also paints gorgeous images of her characters, “Think of nighttime with a speaking voice.  Or think how moonlight might talk, or think of ink, if ink had vocal chords.”  And she also vividly shows how characters think, “Mothers are a thing you need, like air, she thought, and water.  Even paper mothers were better than nothing – even imaginary ones.  Mothers were a place to put down your heart.  They were a resting stop to recover your breath.”  I could go on and on with quotes, since her entire novel is filled with moments like this.

Sophie and Charles are great characters, entirely unique and quirky.  At first they are living in a normal society where they don’t fit at all and the tension between them and normalcy is finely conveyed.  It is when she reaches the rooftops of Paris though that the book becomes pure quicksilver magic.  Impossible to put down, one wishes that they too could climb to the rooftops of Paris in the confident hands of Matteo, who is also a vivid and amazing character.

Profoundly original and filled with shining prose, this novel is a wondrous read.  Appropriate for ages 11-13.  Reviewed from digital galley received from Edelweiss and Simon & Schuster.

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: 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: Binny for Short by Hilary McKay

| Tasha

binny for short

Binny for Short by Hilary McKay

Binny’s life had been perfect but now she lost two of the most important things she ever had.  First, her father died, taking his stories along with him.  Then, because money became an issue, Binny’s dog had to be given away.  Her dog was taken by her mean Aunty Violet, who never told anyone where Max had been sent.  So when Binny found herself alone in a car with her Aunt, she told her exactly what she thought.  Aunty Violet died soon after that conversation and left Binny and her family her old cottage by the sea, a tiny house but one of their very own.  Now Binny finds herself in an idyllic seaside town, meeting great new friends and even better enemies, but still missing Max.  Binny though is not a girl to easily give up, so she sets about planning to find her dog, no matter what.

I am such a fan of McKay and her writing.  She has a natural flow both in her narrative and in the very real voices that all of her characters use with one another.  Additionally, her characters are all flawed and realistically drawn which adds greatly to the veracity of her books.  In the end, her books are filled with human beings who live in messy ways through their messy lives, beautifully. 

Each member of Binny’s family is worthy of their own novel.  Her older sister is glamorous and musical, yet works incredibly hard to afford the necessary lessons to be a musician.  She is also as much a parent as their lovely but scattered mother.  It is James though, her little brother, who completely steals the book.  As he wears a wetsuit that he found in the trash every day that is pink and green, he has to prove that he’s a boy often, which of course means undressing in public.  He is also growing poison lettuce in his window box from stolen seeds that just happened to find their way into his pocket.  In other words, he’s a delight.

Strong characters and splendid writing result in a virtuoso start to a new series that will have McKay fans cheering for more.  Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from copy received from Margaret McElderry Books.

Review: Cousin Irv from Mars by Bruce Eric Kaplan

| Tasha

cousin irv from mars

Cousin Irv from Mars by Bruce Eric Kaplan

Family can be difficult to get along with, especially distant cousins who come to stay for a long time.  But what if that cousin is from Mars?  Teddy is not excited about his Cousin Irv coming to visit.  When he arrives, he is so different.  He eats everything in the kitchen, takes Teddy’s pillow, wears Teddy’s clothes, and plays with his toys.  When Irv takes Teddy to school one day, Teddy is scared of what everyone would think.  But everyone loves Irv, partly thanks to the way he can vaporize things.  Teddy starts to really enjoy being with Cousin Irv, and right about that time, Irv decides to return to Mars, after all they have better coffee there.

Told in a wonderful modern tongue-in-cheek and filled with asides that speak to our culture today, this book will appeal to children and adults alike.  The humor is well developed and sophisticated, yet manages to still be child-friendly.   The text is meant to be read aloud, offering just the right comedic timing.  Kaplan’s art is simple and even minimalist.  Using lots of white space, the fine-lined art is awash in bright watercolors.  But it is the language and humor here that are really the stars of the book. 

Modern and very funny, this book will appeal to parents and children alike.  It has a great quirky oddness to it that makes it all the more fun to read.  Appropriate for ages 5-7.

Reviewed from copy received from Simon & Schuster.

Review: Truck Stop by Anne Rockwell

| Tasha

truck stop

Truck Stop by Anne Rockwell, illustrated by Melissa Iwai

Every morning the truck stop has to open for business.  A boy and his family own the truck stop and get there early in the morning before the sun has come up.  The boy squeezes the orange juice while his parents prep the other breakfast foods.  Soon the trucks start arriving.  The boy knows all of the regulars and his parents know their orders by heart.  There is Eighteen-Wheeler who wants all of his tires checked.  Milk Tank and Maisie arrive next for a sweet breakfast of coffee and doughnuts.  The man with the moving van wants pancakes.  But where is Green Gus the old pickup truck?  More trucks arrive, but still no one has seen him.  It’s not until the little boy gets on the school bus that they figure out what has happened to Gus.

Rockwell tells a story that is a fine mix of family, food and trucks.  Children will enjoy seeing how a restaurant runs and also the warmth with which regulars are remembered and served.  Still, it is the trucks that will have this book off of the shelves and into little hands.  It is good to see more than just a list of different types of trucks and instead have a book that can be read aloud as a story as well.  Even better, there is a little mystery at the end about Gus that makes it all the more fun to read.

Iwai’s illustrations are done in cut paper collages.  The types of paper add a richness to the images, combining textures from textiles, slick painted papers, and lots of patterns.  The result are pictures that are colorful and a pleasure to look at closely.

A solid book, this will be a welcome bedtime addition for any family with a truck-loving child as well as a choice pick for story times.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy received from Viking.

Review: 45 Pounds (More or Less) by K. A. Barson

| Tasha

45 pounds

45 Pounds (More or Less) by K. A. Barson

When Ann’s parents divorced and then her parents remarried and started new families, Ann turned to food to soothe herself.  Now she is 16 years old and wears a size 17.  Her mother on the other hand is a perfect size 6.  When they shop together, it is torture for Ann.  Her mother tries to motivate her, but picking out a tiny bikini as motivation is not the right way!  Then Ann is asked to be a maid of honor in her aunt’s wedding and she decides to lose 45 pounds by the wedding in 10 weeks.  Ann starts out by ordering a kit from an infomercial and eating according their diet.  To do that, she has to get a job to pay for the food.  Her summer suddenly becomes about a lot more than watching TV and eating.  Now she is attending dance lessons for the wedding, gets invited to the party of the year, and has a boy flirting with her!  It’s a summer of change, and it’s not all about losing weight.

Thank goodness for the lightness of this title.  This subject can be heavy handed at times, but not here.  Happily, the book deals with weighty topics (pun intended) but manages to remain positive and not didactic at all.  Instead it is a voyage of self-discovery for Ann and the reader.  One notes quickly that she catches the attention of the cute boy before losing lots of weight.  The book does address fad diets and infomercials as well as the way that parental pressure can backfire. 

Yet the book is not all about weight loss.  It also explores divorce and its impact on children, the way siblings can drift away, the loss of friendships, and the way that all of that impacts self esteem.  It is this depth that makes the book so rich.  One understands Ann’s pain and why she was eating to cover it all up.  Beautifully, readers are also shown that thin people may not be quite as comfortable or healthy as they may seem either.

A great pick for teen readers, this book is about being comfortable at any size.  Appropriate for ages 13-16.

Reviewed from copy received from Viking.

Review: Al Capone Does My Homework by Gennifer Choldenko

| Tasha

al capone does my homework

Al Capone Does My Homework by Gennifer Choldenko

Released August 20, 2013

This is the third and final book in the Alcatraz trilogy.  Moose is growing up on Alcatraz where his father has just been made Assistant Warden.  But with the promotion also comes dangers that he had not faced as a guard.  Moose quickly discovers that the inmates have a point system where his father is now worth a lot more points if he is attacked.  Moose has far more to worry about though, when there is a fire in their family apartment.  Moose feels very guilty because he had been watching his sister Natalie who is autistic, but he fell asleep.  Others are all too quick to blame Natalie for setting the fire, though Moose and his family don’t see her doing something like that.  Now Moose feels that he has to solve the mystery of the fire as well as protect his father as best he can, but there may be more mysteries along to solve, one that is even hinted at by a note from Capone himself!

I have loved this series from the first book.  The historical perspective of a family living on Alcatraz is tantalizing.  Yet it is Choldenko’s skill in creating characters who are immensely human and wonderfully heartfelt that makes this series so good.  Moose is a character who grows from one book to the next and within each book as well.  The growth is strong and believable.  The mystery here fits nicely in the historical setting and one finds out from the Author’s Note that the reason it is so credible is that Choldenko based much of it on real events of the time.

This series has been strong from the first book, never suffering from lagging in the middle book or from the final book trying to do too much.  Nicely, each book is individually satisfying as well, so they stand just as nicely on their own as they do in a trio.  However, I could never not find out what happened next to Moose and the other children on the island.

Satisfying and superbly written, this book is a great conclusion to a wonderful trilogy.  Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from ARC received from Dial Books.