Review: Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers

Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers by Deborah Heiligman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Deb Heiligman wrote another winner, folks. (And I know I'm not alone in saying this, as the Horn Book has recognized this book already as being worthy of an award.) This paired very well with my viewing of "Loving Vincent," the oil-painted animation film that came out this year. It was interesting to see the two different perspectives on the life and death of Vincent Van Gogh, and his brother Theo. Heiligman has written a work that feels like a painting. It changes as time goes by, it's flexible about it's format, and it's written in gallery stages. At first, I wasn't sure what to think about this, and it grew on me. Noticing formatting of a book isn't something I normally spend a lot of time on, but this was worth examining. Highly recommended.

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Review: Dreaming Up: A Celebration of Building

Dreaming Up: A Celebration of Building by Christy Hale
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was more fun than I expected to read in storytime. The kids liked the illustrations on the left side, the adults the photographs on the right.

For children's librarians--it's a good book to pair with a Lego/block building event.

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Review: The Someday Birds

The Someday Birds by Sally J. Pla
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is really good. Charlie lives with his grandmother, older sister, and twin younger brothers. Their father is in the hospital, having suffered a brain injury while in Afghanistan. Charlie has a particular way of viewing the world, which is unique to him. He displays traits of OCD and autism, but neither is explicitly named. Events happen which require him to go on a road trip with his siblings and a woman they sort of know from the hospital. While on the trip, Charlie will be testing on how much he can handle. He will also attempt to find all the birds on the "Someday" list that he and his dad have created.

Charlie feels so real. You feel for this kid, who sees the world a specific way, knows it's different, but sticks to his own guns for the most part. He's struggling with a lot, but he makes his way through it. He doesn't always make the best choices, but he makes the choices that make sense for him. I really enjoyed it.

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Review: Dreams of Gods & Monsters

Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

One of the most beautifully written series I have ever read. Love, love, love it. I love all the ships. I don't really have great words for my feelings about it, just that it is wonderful and that I stayed up late reading it.

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Review: Still Life

Still Life by Louise Penny
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Believe the hype. This was excellent.

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Review: The Gauntlet

The Gauntlet by Karuna Riazi
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this one. It's a lot like Jumanji in a chapter book, with some cool twists. Farah loves to play games, despite the fact that she always has to include her younger brother, Ahmed. It's her 12th birthday party, and friends and family are gathering in her new apartment on the Upper East Side of New York City. Things with her friends are a little strained, but she's hoping they get better. Her aunt gives her a gift of a mysterious game. When Ahmed impulsively goes into the game, Farah and her friends Alex and Essie must go in after him and beat the game in order to make it back out...alive.

I am a big fan of diversity in books, and so I was excited to read this offering from Salaam Reads. I think Riazi does an excellent job of setting the groundwork for a game in a world different from others. I had to do a little research to picture everything, but it was fun to do. I do think the actual world of the Gauntlet was hard to picture, I was imagining clockwork and minarets together but trying to get all the different levels was a little hard. I did find the games intriguing. Overall, I liked it a lot.

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Review: Strange Fruit: Billie Holiday and the Power of a Protest Song

Strange Fruit: Billie Holiday and the Power of a Protest Song by Gary Golio
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

While I didn't like this as much as his previous book about Jimi Hendrix, this book is an excellent introduction to Billie Holiday and the song. I think it treats the subject of lynching with the respect it deserves, while also not being too much for the age group it is aimed at to handle.

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Review: A Letter to My Teacher

A Letter to My Teacher by Deborah Hopkinson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved it! It's definitely a great gift for the teachers that have been special in your child's life.

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Review: Ms. Bixby's Last Day

Ms. Bixby's Last Day by John David Anderson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I didn't have a chance to read this during MSBA pre-season, so I read it now. It's funny, because I wasn't a huge fan of Anderson's Sidekicked, but I really enjoyed his two more recent stories. This one is about three boys who want to give their teacher her ideal last day, after she leaves school due to cancer treatments. It's funny and sad all at once, and if you are an educator, it reminds you of the impact you can have on student lives. An excellent choice for the list.

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Review: My Lame Life: Queen of the Misfits

My book club picks a lot of different books. We've read middle grade poetic biographies, YA fantasy, adult literary fiction, and non-fiction. One time we picked a book called People I Want to Punch in the Throat by Jen Mann. I laughed so hard at her book, and immediately went and asked her to be my friend on Facebook, which she graciously allowed me to do. Ever since, I have been enjoying her thoughts there and on her blog, and hope to read her other books soon.

My Lame Life: Queen of the Misfits is Mann's first foray into the field of young adult literature. Plum Parrish, our narrator, is about to move from New Jersey to Kansas because of her father's job transfer. She is not excited about the move, but it is a chance for her to start over. In New Jersey, she has two friends, and one of them is her French teacher. Can Plum find her tribe in a new state?

I laughed just as hard at this book as I did at People. Mann has realistically captured the teen experience, from the self-centered way they view the world, to the horrors of gym class and having a "cooler" sibling. I loved the journal format, and the way Plum had a list of people or things that she wanted to punch after each entry. The way that Plum's friendships and relationships with her family change over the course of the novel felt natural too. Additionally, I have a fear of bats, and the scene with Plum, the bat, and her family had me laughing and cringing. If I had a daughter with a bat in her hair, I'm not sure I would immediately jump to help either.

I immediately added to the YA collection at the library I work at. I did receive a free copy of the book from the author in return in for my honest review.

Review: Saving the Whole Wide World

Saving the Whole Wide World by Judd Winick
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I read this one because it was the only nominee for the Children's Book Award in the middle-grade category that I hadn't read yet. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had read the first book in the series. Hilo is pretty cool, and the ending is quite a cliffhanger.

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Happy Book Birthday, Quest for the Golden Arrow!

I was lucky enough to receive a copy of the second Time Stoppers book, Quest for the Golden Arrow, from the author, Carrie Jones. However, it came during peak Maine Student Book Award reading season, so I was unable to read it until recently. I decided that I would post the review in time for its birthday, so that I could help drum up excitement for the book on its publication day.

The book picks up the morning after the first book, Time Stoppers, ends. Annie Nobody wakes up happy, but soon realizes something is off. As her friends rejoin her in Miss Cornelia's house, they realize that the beloved woman is missing. From there, Annie and her friends go off on an adventure in hopes of rescuing her. Bloom, Jamie, and Annie learn lots of things about themselves on the journey, and it ends on a perilous note that will make readers anxious for the next book.

One of the things I love most about this series is how well I can hear the voice of the author. I know not everyone is lucky enough to know authors and hear things in their cadence, but I don't even need to try hard for this. I hear Carrie telling me this story in my head, just as I did in the first Time Stoppers book. This makes sense, as the story was created as an oral story years ago, but I love that it hasn't lost that flavor through the years. The other thing I love about this story is that Aurora and Bar Harbor feel like the real places they are. The book does travel beyond these towns, and I hope it is just as realistic there, as it is in Maine.

There were still moment when I got annoyed that Annie was so hard on herself, but when I think about myself, I realize that I react similarly. So maybe it's one of those situations where things hit home too closely? I also really felt for Jamie. In this book, he's still struggling with whether or not he will become a troll, and people don't always react well to that.

There are a few new characters I love. I don't want to spoil much of the book, but my favorite has multiple legs that can be used for different things at the same time.

Recommended for juvenile fantasy readers or realistic fiction readers that can cross over to fantasy from time to time.