friendship

Review: Eighth Grade Is Making Me Sick by Jennifer L. Holm

| Tasha

eighth grade is making me sick

Eighth Grade Is Making Me Sick: Ginny Davis’s Year in Stuff by Jennifer L. Holm, illustrated by Elicia Castaldi

Ginny starts out 8th grade with big plans that she lists out.  They include trying out for cheer, being able to bike to school, sketching every day, and falling in love.  Ginny and her family have just moved to a newer, bigger house, but she’s able to stay at the same school.  Lots of things are going right for Ginny: she likes her science partner, she makes the cheer team, and she just might be falling in love too!  Unfortunately though, everything is not perfect.  Things get tough when Ginny’s mother gets pregnant and her step father loses his job.  As things start to cascade, Ginny starts to get sick.   Nothing is going like Ginny hoped it would.

This book is entirely told in objects like notes, texts, lists and letters.  Readers will love looking through the debris of Ginny’s life.  It’s almost like searching through someone’s stuff to find a storyline inside.  Castaldi’s art is a great mix of actual items and art, done in a popping mixed-media style.  The colors are pure teen-girl yet not stereotypical and I loved the inclusion of all of the books that Ginny was reading that readers can seek out too.

Holm has created a book that reads quickly and lightly, but also explores some of the deeper issues facing tweens today.  There is sickness, a blended family, and job loss to name a few.  Even friendships are explored in a deeper way than one would expect in a book this colorful and fun.

Reluctant readers and tweens who love to read will both enjoy this book which is honest and bright.  Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from copy received from Random House.

Review: One Year in Coal Harbor by Polly Horvath

| Tasha

one year in coal harbor

One Year in Coal Harbor by Polly Horvath

Return to the world of Horvath’s Newbery Honor winning Everything on a Waffle in this follow up.  Primrose Squarp is back living with her parents in Coal Harbor and everything should be just fine, but there’s more trouble brewing in town.  Primrose just knows that if people would listen to her, it would all work out fine.  Like Uncle Jack and Kate Bowzer: Primrose knows they are in love, but they just won’t admit it.  Then there’s the lack of a best friend, though the new foster kid might just be the right person.  And finally, there’s logging happening outside of town that’s bringing in protesters and developers, making for all sorts of excitement.  Horvath lives up to the first book here, giving readers another chance to spend time in Coal Harbor.

Horvath has created a beautiful setting for her book that is so much a part of the story that it could not have happened anywhere else.  She has then taken that setting and populated it with amazing characters.  There are snotty girls, loving friends, intriguing strangers, and at the heart an extended family that provides support through everything.  While the characters may be wild at times, there is such a network of community in the book that it all makes merry sense.

Though there is a sense of community and family throughout, Horvath also deals with some darker issues here.  There is the question of development of wilderness and the death of a pet.  While this darkness is there, it is not all encompassing.  The town continues to function and life goes on. 

Horvath’s writing is also exquisite.  I particularly enjoy the parts where Primrose (who is wise and interesting and exactly the sort of person any reader would want as a best friend) is thinking about life.  Here is one of my favorite passages from page 148:

…but it was as if he and I and the hills were all part of one thing, separate from other things on Earth. Just as my mother and father and I were part of one thing, separate from all else. And these small subsets within the universe, I decided, are maybe what people love best. Whether it is you and the ocean or you and your sisters or you and your B and B, your husband and children.

Fans of the first book should definitely read the second, and truly, who in could ever pass it up!  I envy new readers of the pair of books who can read them back to back and spend an extended time in Coal Harbor.  Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from digital galley from NetGalley.

Review: Big Mean Mike by Michelle Knudsen

| Tasha

big mean mike

Big Mean Mike by Michelle Knudsen, illustrated by Scott Magoon

Mike was the toughest and biggest dog in the neighborhood.  He prided himself on his spiked collar and his combat boots but best of all was his big mean car.  Just after getting a new pair of boots, Mike got a big surprise.  There in his car trunk was a little white fuzzy bunny rabbit.  Mike just knew that he couldn’t be seen with such a cute little creature because it would damage his reputation, so he set the bunny down and headed off in his car.  But things weren’t that simple to solve.  The next day he found two little white bunnies in his glove compartment.  The next day there were three bunnies on his hood.  Mike stopped driving his car until he needed to use it to get to the Monster Truck Show.  He checked everywhere for the bunnies and thought he was safe.  What is a big tough dog going to do with FOUR bunnies at a Monster Truck Show?  You will have to read it to see!

I really enjoyed this picture book about reputation and appearance.  Children will be drawn in with the flashy car and the big dog on the cover.  Happily though, this picture book has more depth than expected.  While it satisfies with cars, trucks and tough characters, it is also about appearances not really matching what’s inside.  Instead of being a mean dog, Mike is actually soft hearted.  He is always gentle with the bunnies and continuously notices how very cute they are.  He has a very soft side that is revealed gradually and delightfully.

Magoon’s illustrations add to the delight here with their cartoon toughness.  He uses clean lines, a very cool car design, and lots of spikes to display Mike’s toughness.  When the bunnies enter the story, they are pure fluff.  They bring a nice contrast to the rest of the illustrations.

A soft heart is on display once you turn that tough cover in this picture book about image and unlikely friendships.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Drama by Raina Telgemeier

| Tasha

drama

Drama by Raina Telgemeier

The author of the award-winning Smile returns with another graphic novel that captures the turmoil and thrill of being a teen.  Here the focus is on high school theater.  Callie loves theater, but not being an actress, instead her passion is set design and working behind the scenes.  This year she gets her big chance with the production of Moon over Mississippi as the main set designer.  She has a big vision, the question is whether she can pull it all off.  In particular, the cannon scene proves very challenging, but Callie knows she just has to have the cannon really fire on stage.  In the meantime, Callie is getting to know two handsome twins who are also interested in theater, enjoying her friendship with the other stage crew members, and dealing with lots of drama onstage and off. 

Telgemeier has created a graphic novel that both actors and those behind the scenes will love.  It is great to see a book focus on the efforts that it takes to really get a show running, rather than just who gets to be in the spotlight.  The story is welcoming and inclusive, just like any great theater crew.  There are gay characters, crushes on both the right and wrong people, mistakes on stage, and much more to love.  She has captured high school without being fanciful at all.

As with her previous book, Telgemeier’s art has a combination of empathy and humor.  She laughs along with her characters and never at them.  It’s a crucial difference that makes her books all the more laudable and readable. 

Highly recommended, this is one for the Glee fans and also for all of those teens who work behind the scenes rather than dreaming of time on stage.  Appropriate for ages 13-16.

Reviewed from ARC received from Scholastic.

Review: Squid and Octopus Friends for Always by Tao Nyeu

| Tasha

squid and octopus

Squid and Octopus Friends for Always by Tao Nyeu

In a series of short stories, the friendship of Squid and Octopus is revealed.  Together at the bottom of the sea, they have a several cheery adventures.  In the first story, the two get into a fight over whether mittens or socks should be worn when the weather gets cold.  It turns out that both do a great job of keeping you warm and an even better one when shared.  The second story focuses on a dream that Squid had that gave him super powers!  The only bad thing is that he’s sad now that he’s awake and normal again.  It’s up to Octopus to show him just how super he really is.  The third story has a boot sink to the bottom of the ocean.  Octopus tries to figure out what to do with it.  In the final story, the friends have a fortune cookie but worry about what sort of fortune it might contain.  All of the stories have an innate and natural sweetness to them that is striking.

Nyeu’s storytelling strength is on display in this picture book.  Though the text is nice and brief to appeal to younger audiences, Nyeu doesn’t keep it too simple.  Instead he builds in warmth and depth with words.  Just a few extra touches make this book even more memorable.

The book is illustrated with Nyeu’s trademark simplicity and limited palette.  Using greens, oranges, yellows and blues, the colors are sherbet and deep sea.  Nyeu is also a master of white space, using the background almost as another color in his work. 

A delightfully sunny picture book set in the ocean depths, young readers are sure to find two new friends here.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy received from Dial Books for Young Readers.

Review: My Life in Black and White by Natasha Friend

| Tasha

my life in black and white

My Life in Black and White by Natasha Friend

Lexi has always been known as the beautiful girl.  Her sister Ruthie is the smart one.  Her best friend Taylor is the fun one.  But that all changes when Lexi and Taylor go to a high school party.  When Lexi sees her best friend together with her boyfriend, she thinks her world has ended.  But then she is in a car accident and her face goes through the windshield.  Now Lexi has to figure out how to go on after losing the one thing that defined her beyond everything else, her beauty.  Plus she has to face it all without her best friend or her boyfriend by her side.  It’s like she lost everything in one single night, and maybe she did.

Friend excels at honesty in her teen novels.  Lexi starts out as a fairly vain young woman but after her series of disasters, readers are firmly on her side.  It is wonderful to see a book that takes the time to explore the process of grief, anger and finally acceptance so fully.  Lexi is a young woman who is strong, vital and much more than her face.  As the book proceeds, readers see beyond the beauty just as Lexi herself is discovering that there is more to her as well.

The writing here is clear and clean.  Friend explores not just Lexi’s relationship with her friends, but also how her sister is affected and how her parents cope.  There are no easy situations here, her father wants to fix everything and her relationship with her mother completely shatters.  There are sexual situations in this book, making it firmly a teen novel more appropriate for high school audiences.

There is plenty of pain in this novel, plenty of growth, but it is also smart and funny, just like Lexi herself.  Appropriate for ages 16-18.

Review: Zoe Letting Go by Nora Price

| Tasha

zoe letting go

Zoe Letting Go by Nora Price

Zoe has been placed at a treatment facility by her mother.  At Twin Birch, each of the six patients arrives on a different day, staggered so that they can have a personal intake.  When Zoe arrives, she has no idea why she is there.  It just gets more confusing as she meets the other girls who are patients too.  They are all skeletal and obviously suffering from anorexia, but Zoe is not like them.  She has never stopped eating, she is larger than all of them, and her body doesn’t shiver after eating like theirs does.  Most of all, Zoe misses her best friend, Elise.  Provided stationery by her therapist, Zoe writes Elise long letters about their friendship thinking back about all of the time they spent together and revealing slowly the nature of their relationship.  Elise, though, never writes back.  This psychological thriller will have readers eager to discover the truth about Zoe and why she is at Twin Birch.

I am torn about this book.  I could not put it down until I knew more about Zoe.  She is a fascinating protagonist, who is completely unreliable and yet very likeable.  Her doubts about why she is there serve as a very successful way to create tension and mystery.  Zoe is caught up in her own world that slowly crumbles as the book progresses. 

However, at the end of the book, the story itself falls apart.  I’m not a reader who has any problem with vague endings usually, but if you build a book around the question of what is wrong with Zoe and who she really is, you have to answer that question!  This book doesn’t do that and it is very disappointing to the reader.  I wasn’t looking for details about her life after Twin Birch, but I did want more clarity about her real relationship with Elise.  The few details offered were tantalizing glimpses of bullying, but only that.

This is a complex, riveting read that is also a fascinating look at grief, responsibility and eating disorders.  It just doesn’t coalesce at the end, sadly.  Appropriate for ages 14-16.

Reviewed from copy received from Razor Bill.

Review: Bink & Gollie: Two for One by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee

| Tasha

bink and gollie two for one

Bink & Gollie: Two for One by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee, illustrated by Tony Fucile

Oh how I adore these two characters!  I was thrilled to see Bink and Gollie returning for a second book.  This time the friends head to the state fair.  Bink wants to play Whack a Duck but her aim is not as good as she might think.  She manages to hit the man running the booth with hysterically funny results.  The two girls then head to what Gollie wants to do, which is to enter the talent show.  She assures everyone that she has several talents and Bink continues to tell people that, but it doesn’t quite work out like Gollie had expected.  Finally, the friends head to the fortune teller’s tent where they are told just what they both want to hear most.  The entire book is a laugh-out-loud funny, warm and cozy work that is simply glorious.

I really enjoyed that the different chapters in the book have very different feelings.  The first is so wildly funny that I was chortling out loud to myself and had to share it with others in my family.  The writing throughout the book is smart, clever and funny.  Readers will be able to see the jokes coming, but the writing takes it to a different level.  Above all, these two are friends who stand together and celebrate their differences.

Fucile’s art is a huge part of both the humor and the warmth of the book.  Throughout the vaudeville humor of the first chapter, I was amazed at how much physical humor could be portrayed on a page.  He has his own sense of comic timing that adds so much.

Highly recommended, if you haven’t read Bink & Gollie yet, make sure to try both books.  Fans will adore this second in the series and long for the next one immediately.  This is a modern children’s classic.  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Tracing Stars by Erin E. Moulton

| Tasha

tracing stars

Tracing Stars by Erin E. Moulton

Indie Lee Chickory is heading to her last day of school where she really doesn’t fit in.  Her older sister Bebe fits in perfectly, dresses like the others, and never seems to smell like rotting fish like Indie does.  That’s what she gets for feeding Monty, her golden lobster, before coming to school.  So whenever Indie does something that draws attention to herself, Bebe is embarrassed.  When Indie accidentally carries Monty to school on that last day, she does a lot more than draw attention, she runs away from school to get Monty into the water he needs.  But when they reach the sea, she loses him and he won’t return to her after the sirens from the police car go off.  Now Indie has to figure out not only how to get Monty back but also how to not be so weird and not embarrass Bebe anymore.  Bebe has a part in a summer musical, so she has a lot at stake.  It’s up to Indie to see how normal she can be.

This is a wonderfully deep and thoughtful book for preteens that explores expectations and sisterhood.  While Indie’s own plans may be to not stick out and not be unusual, readers will be delighted to find out that is not the message of the book.  Instead Indie is clearly her own person and unable to fit into any mold, no matter how much she may want to.  Bebe is actually the sister in crisis, the one desperate to be perfect, the one who would do almost anything to belong.  The book allows readers to figure that out on their own as the book progresses. 

While the book is deep, it is also a great read for summer because it has plenty of humor and action to keep things moving.  The setting is clear and used throughout the story almost as its own character.  The dynamics of a small tourist town, the beauty of the natural setting, and the sea herself all play into the action and the story.  The addition of a theater performance and Bebe being an actor and Indie working on set construction gives the book another element that works particularly well, and also gives the book some of its most interesting characters.

This pre-teen novel about a young girl who is unique in many ways but also wants to fit in will resonate with young readers who will be buoyed by the way the story works out.  Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from ARC received from Philomel.