travel

Review: Laugh with the Moon by Shana Burg

| Tasha

laugh with the moon

Laugh with the Moon by Shana Burg

After her mother dies, Clare’s father takes her to Malawi where he had worked as a young doctor.  Clare is determined to never speak to her father again.  She has lost not just her mother, but her best friend and the potential for her first boyfriend at school.  Now she is stuck in Africa where there is little hot water, mosquito netting over the bed, and monkeys screaming outside.  As Clare starts to relax into life in Africa, she begins to make incredible friends at her new school.  Memory, a girl from the local village, quickly becomes her closest friend.  Memory too has lost her mother, though the girls don’t speak of their losses together.  Memory makes sure that Clare has things that she can eat, explains the school day to her, and even warns her of the bully in class.  As Clare faces her new school with its new language, visiting chickens, and scurrying insects, her relationship with her father starts to get better.  Clare still has big issues to face, including teaching English, putting together a play, and another large loss in her life.

Burg truly brings Malawi to life with its strong culture, the stark differences between America and Africa, and the warmth of the people.  Her writing is an invitation to explore Africa.  She celebrates both the differences in cultures and the universal aspects of life, filling the book with details that paint a full picture. 

Clare is a complex character, grieving from the loss of her mother, at first she seems remote and difficult to relate to.  Happily, she soon grows past that, becoming a vivacious personality with opinions and skills.  Her art forms a connection between her and other people who may not speak the same language, but it is her open personality that does the rest. 

The book would make a good choice for reading aloud in a classroom setting since it explores so many themes and topics.  There is plenty to discuss from death and grieving to dealing with living in another part of the world.  The glorious cover will get this moving from the shelf into young hands directly too.  Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from copy received from Delacorte Press.

Review: Around the World by Matt Phelan

| Tasha

around the world

Around the World by Matt Phelan

In this graphic novel, Phelan tells the story of three adventurers at the end of the 19th century who attempt to travel around the world.  There is Thomas Stevens in 1884 who had been working in the mines but then started bicycling.  He first bicycled across the United States, and then attempted to cycle around the world on the difficult-to-ride old-fashioned bicycle with one larger wheel.  The next adventurer is Nellie Bly in 1889, who set herself the task of beating Jules Verne’s Around the World in 80 Days.  The men running the New York World newspaper did not like her idea, but eventually came around to having her attempt it.  Her race became a national obsession and sold many newspapers for them.  Finally, there is the story of Joshua Slocum in 1895.  He restored an old sailing vessel in a time when sailing was becoming outdated.  Then all on his own, he set off to sail around the world, becoming the first person to sail around the world alone.  These three adventurers all have their own reasons for circumnavigating the globe, but they are united in their attempts.  These are all stories of determination, courage and bold ideas.

United under the umbrella of Jules Verne’s novel, these three stories are beautifully connected and yet stand entirely on their own merits as well.  The three intrepid souls are also equally connected and yet uniquely themselves.  Their journeys are made for different reasons and received differently by the public, but they are all powerful stories of independence and resourcefulness.  All three stories show the power of taking charge of one’s life and following your dreams.

Phelan’s art suits each of the stories individually and also has a cohesive whole.  There are subtle changes from one story to the next, the colors shift from blues and greens to oranges and creams and then to deeper blues and grays.  The art style stays much the same but beyond the colors there are changes in mood that are amazingly deep yet subtly done.  Stevens’ story of bicycling has a merry joei de vive to it.  Bly’s adventure is filled with energy and zip.  Then there is the lonely sailing tale that has a deep grief embedded in it that almost aches.

Beautifully done, this is one of the top graphic novels for children, period.  It is honest, emotional, and a rousing adventure-filled read.  Appropriate for ages 8-12.

Reviewed from library copy.

Also reviewed by:

Check out the book trailer:

To Timbuktu: Nine Countries, Two People, One True Story

| Tasha

totimbuktu

To Timbuktu: Nine Countries, Two People, One True Story by Casey Scieszka, illustrated by Steven Weinberg

Travel, romance and finding oneself are what makes this book irresistible.  Casey and Steven met in Morocco, had a long distance relationship across the US, and then moved together to China and eventually Mali.  This book celebrates taking leaps of faith with one another, experiencing life to the fullest, embracing different cultures, and just being entirely human in the process.  Come spend a year with an engaging couple who teach, write, draw, and inspire.

Scieszka’s writing is frank and inviting.  She captures travel and the experience of other cultures with an honesty that is very refreshing.  From the rush of a new country and its own unique culture to the isolation and boredom that sometimes result, there is no shrinking away from even the bowel-churning portions of travel.  At the same time, she depicts a growing relationship with Weinberg that slowly deepens and naturally evolves.

Weinberg’s illustrations are equally refreshing with their rough edges, free lines and widely smiling faces.  As one turns the pages in the book, each new page is often a new story, a moment captured from their travels.  The illustrations help make this work very well.

Reading this would send me into memories of my own travels, thinking about times when I had felt the same or done something similar.  If you are a traveler, this book will speak directly to you and your experiences.  If you are hoping to become one, this book will inspire you to do it.

A winning combination of illustration and story, this book will inspire older teen readers to take a different course in life: a path all their own.  Appropriate for ages 16-adult.

Reviewed from copy received from Roaring Brook Press.

The Indigo Notebook

| Tasha

The Indigo Notebook by Laura Resau

Released October 13, 2009.

Fifteen-year-old Zeeta has lived all over the world with her mother who teachers English.  She has been raised to dance in the middle of the night, bathe in mystic pools, and embrace the world and its mysteries.  Her mother spouts the poetry of Rami all the time and doesn’t believe in rules at all.  Zeeta has spent most of her life wishing that she had a normal family.  Now the two are in Ecuador.  Zeeta meets American teen, Wendell, at the market place and is drawn into a quest to find his birth parents with only the clue of a crystal that was placed in his blankets as a baby.  They journey together to a neighboring small village where the answers are hidden in time and everyone seems to have a secret.  As she tries to help Wendell on his quest, Zeeta’s home life starts to change after her mother nearly dies.  Her mother gets a normal boyfriend and starts to watch TV, set rules, and think about returning to the states.  Could it be that everything you really wish for you already have?  The first in a new series.

In this many layered, complex work, Resau has created a fascinating heroine who speaks multiple languages, is at ease approaching strangers, and Can move across the world and in a few weeks feel at home.  Zeeta is an engaging heroine whose life may seem blissful when seen from afar, but living it takes more skill that one would expect.  She is nicely balanced in the story by Wendell, who has left the US for the first time since his adoption.  Their romance is well done, with nothing beyond kissing, and an obvious deep connection to one another. 

The depiction of Ecuador is done without cleaning it up and making it pretty.  There is poverty, begging, alcoholism, deceit, and broken families.  But there are also women who are mothers of the entire village, wise healers, friendly people at the market, generosity, and beauty.  Resau does not make it simple and easy.  She revels in the complexity, creating a real world for readers to immerse themselves in.

Resau’s writing is filled with imagery.  Here is a description of the mountains from Page 98 of the ARC:

Each of the mountains has its own personality. Some beam down at you, gently, like a big-bosomed grandma.  Some are sexy, slinking around in the lacy clouds.  Others shoot up, jagged and fierce, with a passionate energy.  Some guard magical realms, their smiles silent and secret.  No wonder the locals say that the mountains are gods.

With this, her setting is built and strengthened.  Ecuador comes alive in her writing.  One can almost smell the popcorn in the air, the fresh bread baking, and the potato soup. 

Highly recommended for tween and teen readers who are looking to travel.  This book brings a place to life so vividly it is almost like being there.  Add a little romance and it becomes irresistible.  Appropriate for ages 12-15.

Reviewed from an ARC.  The quote used should be checked against the final version for accuracy.

Travel Game

| Tasha

The Travel Game by John Grandits, illustrated by R. W. Alley

A little boy lives in Buffalo, New York over the tailor shop his family owns.  He is still expected to take a nap in the afternoon, which angers him.  Seeing his frustration, his Aunt Hattie offers to play the Travel Game with him.  It’s a wonderful game, but the problem is that every time they play, he falls fast asleep right at the end.  This time he is determined it will be different.  To play the travel game you need two things:  a globe and a copy of 1001 Pictures from Around the World by George P. Smithers.  Aunt Hattie spins the globe and he puts his finger down.  First, they land in the Atlantic Ocean, but he gets to try again.  This time it lands on Hong Kong.  The book has four pictures and the two of them pretend that they are right there experiencing what it shows in the pictures.  But on the way to the pagoda in a boat taxi, Aunt Hattie falls asleep!  Now he can head back to the shop and help out instead of napping himself.

This book depicts a warm extended family who work and live together.  Small details make the book especially enticing, from the minutiae of their lunch meal to the functioning of the shop.  Grandits has created a world that is friendly, safe and filled with imagination.  I especially appreciate a story that brings the power of books to transport you to another part of the world so vividly to life.  Alley’s art is equally delightful.  His art is all about the small details, from a crowded street outside the shop to the small touches in the boy’s bedroom.  These are illustrations you will want to linger over.

This book may inspire a travel game of your own, perhaps with photographs from the Internet to fuel your imagination.  A great concept, well executed and delightfully done.  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Reviewed from library copy.