humor

Book Review: The Absolute Value of Mike by Kathryn Erskine

| Tasha

absolutevaluemike

The Absolute Value of Mike by Kathryn Erskine

Released June 9, 2011.

Mike takes care of his father, who is a rather absent-minded mathematical genius.  But Mike is definitely not mathematical, despite his father’s hopes.  When Mike’s father decides to send him to spend the summer with distant relatives in rural Pennsylvania to work on an engineering project, Mike sees it as a way to finally prove himself to his father.  Mike discovers far more than an engineering project when he arrives.  In fact, there is no engineering project at all.  There is his wild-driving nearly-blind aunt, his uncle who is so deep in mourning over the death of his adult son that he can’t move, a homeless man who has good business sense and is willing to give the shirt off his back, literally, and a tattooed and pierced girl who needs a family.  He finds a town that is working on a project to adopt a boy from Romania, a boy that Mike realizes is very connected to him in a personal way.  Mike has a lot to learn this summer, just not about engineering.

Erskine is a chameleon of an author, changing her tone, her writing style to match this lighter novel that has a strong, meaningful core.  The humor here ranges from subtle to laugh-out-loud funny observations and asides.  At its heart, this is a book about a boy who doesn’t know his own strengths or his own worth, because it can’t be measured mathematically.  It’s a book that is steeped in math down to its chapter titles, but at the same time speaks to the knowledge that humans and their abilities sometimes don’t add up logically.

This is also a book about loss and grief.  It’s a book about handling what the world has given you either by giving up altogether or by continuing on.  It’s a book about connections, building them, creating them.  And about how the hardest connections to create can be the closest ones.

This is a funny, light book that reads quickly and will stun readers by being far deeper and more meaningful than they would have ever expected.  Appropriate for ages 11-14.

Reviewed from ARC received from the author.

Also reviewed by:

Book Review: Manners Mash-Up

| Tasha

mannersmashup

Manners Mash-Up

Fourteen picture book creators take on manners in this mash up of talent.  Each illustrator is given a double page spread to fill with their work as well as some advice on how to mind their manners.  There is a specific setting in each one, including school, birthday party, table manners, and the supermarket.  All of the illustrators approach manners with a light touch and plenty of humor, meaning that this is one manners book that children will actually enjoy!

One of the pleasures of the book is turning the page and discovering an entirely different style from a new illustrator.   The book includes illustrators like Bob Shea, Tedd Arnold, Lynn Munsinger, Sophie Blackall, and Adam Rex.   It keeps the book very fresh, as each illustrator works in their distinct and unique style.  The lists of manner rules are very silly, especially when they deal with the ultimate manner rule of no picking! 

Manner books at libraries tend to come in sets of books and trend toward the preachy.  This is a fresh, funny look at manners that puts those to shame.  Make room on your library shelf for this one!  Appropriate for ages 5-8.

Reviewed from copy received from Dial Books for Young Readers.

Also reviewed by:

Book Review: Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

| Tasha

beautyqueens

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

Released May 24, 2011.

Printz-award winning author, Libba Bray, returns with another modern story for teens that is filled with satire, sarcasm, and wit.  It is the story of a plane of beauty pageant contestants that crashes on an island. The girls must figure out not only how to deal with several deaths and the wildlife of the island, but also how to keep up their beauty routines and pageant skills.  As the days pass, the girls discover that they have far more skills than anyone would have thought and that it takes a woman to build a village, or at least a hut.  As their chance at a rescue diminishes, they discover that the island is home to far more than they ever dreamed or dreaded. 

The book begins as a chance to giggle at the poor girls who are left to fend for themselves rather ineptly.  Readers will smugly watch the beauties have tiffs and arguments.  It is all very satisfying to see them get their due.  But then the book twists, stealthily, until readers see the real girls behind the makeup and start to root for these heroines.  It is masterfully done and all with a lot of humor. 

Bray takes the opportunity to really give commentary on our American life.  She skewers beauty ads, commercialization, pert actresses, and reality TV.  She mocks popular stores and movies.  But this book has depth as well as biting humor.  The contestants who survive are portrayed as individuals, which gives us a cast of teen girls who are all unique and fascinating.

The book also remedies some of the worst tropes of teen novels.  First, the girls may love hot boys, but they do not need the boys to rescue them.  Second, those same hot boys are great for hot sex scenes, and this book has them for sure.  The girls have sexual encounters with no horrible things happening to them as payback for their slutty ways.  They have sex on their own terms, with the boys they choose, and the world continues to turn.  Imagine that!

Bray also introduces a lesbian character who doesn’t angst over being a lesbian, a bisexual, and a transgendered girl who finds love in a young pirate who steals her high heels. 

The cover is great.  I love the lipstick in place of ammo and the sash that if you look closely is battered and dirty.  It speaks directly to the book, its humor and attitude.

This book is wildly, laugh-out-loud funny.  Bray has created a read that is exactly what I needed in my late teens to see that I was OK the way I was.  Each and every teen girl will see themselves supported by this book, and hey the hot scenes alone make it worth the read!  This is a great feminist read for any teen girl. Appropriate for ages 16-18.

Reviewed from ARC received from Scholastic Press.

Also reviewed by:

Book Review–Cat Secrets by Jef Czekaj

| Tasha

catsecrets

Cat Secrets by Jef Czekaj

This book is for cats only, so if you want to read it you will have to prove that you are, in fact, a cat.  The cats in the book are hard to deceive.  If you keep turning the pages, they will be on to the fact that you are not a cat at all.  They will test you.  You will have to meow.  You will have to purr.  Can you stretch like a cat too? And then the final test.  Can you nap like a cat?  This is a book that happily breaks down the fourth wall, celebrating silliness through a very interactive story line. 

Czekaj follows the likes of Mo Willems and one of my childhood favorites, The Monster at the End of This Book, as he allows the audience into the book and to feel as if they have input into the storyline.  His very simple illustrations have a modern feel to them.  They let the humor stand on its own and don’t oversell it at all. 

This is a book that will read aloud extremely well.  It’s one that I would save for that final book of a story time because it will stop the wiggles immediately.  Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Also reviewed by 100 Scope Notes and Creative Literacy.

Octopus Soup: A Yummy Wordless Treat

| Tasha

octopussoup

Octopus Soup by Mercer Mayer

When an octopus climbs up an anchor line and into a fisherman’s basket, it causes all sorts of chaos.  The octopus is flung onto the head of someone cleaning the street and from there is chased through a window.  Taking refuge in a pitcher of water, the octopus is discovered by a chef with a taste for octopus soup.  A chase ensues, ending with the octopus hanging from the dock until it drops into the chef’s waiting soup pot.  But don’t fret, there is yet another twist in this tale.

Mayer’s latest features vaudeville physical humor and a timeless story.  The wordless story has more than enough humor to keep children giggling, enough tension to keep them wondering what will happen, and more than enough appeal for young readers. 

Hand this to children too young to be reading yet who want a book they can “read” on their own.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from library copy.

Guyku: A Year of Haiku for Boys

| Tasha

guyku

Guyku: A Year of Haiku for Boys by Bob Raczka, illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds

A brilliant combination of haiku poems, clever humor, and engaging illustrations, this book is sure to appeal to its target audience of guys and also to girls.  Celebrating the small things in life, each haiku takes a moment in time and then offers a grin to the reader.  The poems are arranged in seasons, fitting because so many of them are about nature and a boy’s relationship with it.  Whether it is flying a kite, skipping rocks, leaf piles or snowball fights, children will relate easily to these vignettes about the things that make life fun. 

Raczka’s haiku are light-hearted and enjoyable.  Thanks to the brief nature of the format, the poems are easily shared aloud.  Nicely, the poems stand on their own or work together as a larger piece of writing.  Reynolds’ art is equally engaging.  It too has a great humor about it but also a sense that a moment is being captured. 

A celebration of seasons, play and boyhood, this book is a treat.  If librarians are looking for something to take with them for summer reading program visits, the summer haiku here would make a great thing to share with boys of many ages.  Appropriate for ages 6-9.

Reviewed from library copy.

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Jake Goes Peanuts: Sticky Silliness

| Tasha

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Jake Goes Peanuts by Michael Wright

This third Jake book is a yummy choice.  Jake was a kid who didn’t like a lot of foods.  In fact, he only liked one.  Peanut butter.  It’s all he wanted to eat for any meal.  So his parents hatched a peanut-buttery plan to fix the situation.  For an entire week, everything that Jake ate would have peanut butter in it.  It sounded like a great plan to Jake!  There was peanut butter roast, peanut butter pancakes, peanut butter soda cooled by peanut butter ice, peanut butter turkey.  Even Jake’s dog got to try peanut butter dog food, but his bowl got stuck on his head.  But even peanut-butter loving Jake could not take one more bite by the end of the week.  Though he only ate one or two lima beans and his mother’s tuna casserole is still frightening.

Written with a big dose of humor, this book is jaunty and great fun.  Written in rhyme, the book bounces along without ever getting stuck in a peanut butter jam.  Wright’s illustrations are modern and add to the humor.  The expressions of the parents are priceless, often with eyes half-lidded and apparently stunned.  Wright is not afraid to take the scenario to an extreme, which will delight young children, especially the comment about peanut-butter poop. 

A very funny peanut butter romp, this book is appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy received from Feiwel & Friends.

Also reviewed by Kiss the Book.

The Boss Baby: So Funny and So True!

| Tasha

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The Boss Baby by Marla Frazee

When the baby arrives it is obvious that he is the boss of the household.  He makes constant demands which if not met result in a fit.  He expects lots of perks like beverages whenever he asks.  And he needs lots of attention, or meetings.  But you can only push employees so far, and when they near collapse, the boss is forced to think outside the box!  This very funny take on being a new parent and welcoming a baby into a home is perfect for expectant parents and just might give new siblings an idea of what they are in store for. 

Frazee’s tone in the text here is delightful with its business terms and matter of fact approach.  Her text plays the straight man against the humor of her illustrations.  The baby with his little striped tie and business-suit sleeper is the epitome of the grumpy baby.  Frazee has captured those sleep-deprived early days of a baby to great effect and with glorious humor.

Get this hilarious book into the hands of new parents and new siblings.  They are sure to relate to it and laugh out loud if not too sleep deprived.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Beach Lane Books.

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Lulu and the Brontosaurus

| Tasha

lulu

Lulu and the Brontosaurus by Judith Viorst, illustrated by Lane Smith

Lulu was a pain, a real pain.  She demanded that her parents give her everything she wanted.  And if they didn’t?  Then she threw a fit, screaming, throwing herself on the floor and kicking her feet.  Until her parents agreed to give her exactly what she wanted.  But that all changed when Lulu demanded a brontosaurus for a pet for her birthday.  Her parents tried to explain that a brontosaurus was huge and wild and not suitable, but Lulu threw a tantrum.  However, this time it did not work.  So Lulu set off on her own to find herself a brontosaurus.  As she entered the forest, she sang herself a song about getting a brontosaurus for a pet.  Going deeper into the forest, she encountered some wild animals but even they could not scare her from her mission.  Eventually, Lulu does find a brontosaurus deep in the forest, but will he be the ideal pet she has been expecting?

A great beginning chapter book, young readers will enjoy the over-the-top humor that will keep them laughing.  The short chapters will also help keep reluctant readers going as will the large number of black-and-white illustrations from the master Lane Smith.  The illustrations hearken back to Syd Hoff’s Danny and the Dinosaur with the smiling brontosaurus, but are edgier as well with great perspectives.

Viorst has obviously had fun playing with the book format here.  She opens the book saying that of course she knows that humans and dinosaurs have never existed at the same time!  It sets the tone perfectly for the story itself which is filled with humor throughout.  Various fonts are used throughout the book, some for singing, others for effect in reading.  Later in the book, the chapters are numbered by the half chapter just for fun and to laugh about the very short chapters of the book.  And finally, the book ends with different endings for the reader to choose from. 

A winning early chapter book, this has the dinosaur appeal combined with great illustrations and clever writing.  Appropriate for ages 5-7.

Reviewed from book received from Atheneum.

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