Review: Rutabaga the Adventure Chef: Book 1

Rutabaga the Adventure Chef: Book 1 by Eric Colossal
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This one is for all the burgeoning foodies out there! Rutabaga goes on adventures looking for exotic foods to include in his recipes, to eventually go into his restaurant. Boy, does he get into adventures! Dragons, cook-offs, and following around Norse-ish figures. I enjoyed this one a lot, and I'm hoping to read more of them.

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Review: Cody and the Fountain of Happiness

Cody and the Fountain of Happiness by Tricia Springstubb
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Cody is so excited for summer vacation. It's going to be great! Nothing to do but hang out with her older brother, who only pretends to be annoyed by her. Things are a little different this summer though. Mom is up for a promotion at work, which leaves her with a case of the whim-whams at times. Her brother is moping over a girl, which Cody doesn't entirely understand. And she has a new friend who she has convinced that she has hypnotized his cat. This story is adorable and great for those ready to move on from a story like Magic Tree House but aren't ready for something too hard yet.

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Review: Little Robot

Little Robot by Ben Hatke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is another great story from Ben Hatke. It's the story of a lonely girl engineer who meets a robot and become friends. The robot is being chased by the company that made him, however. Can they stay friends despite the odds?

There are few words in "Little Robot," so you are really relying on the pictures to tell you the story. I never felt confused or misguided, and would love to read more adventures between these two.

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Review: Echo

Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is beautiful. It's beautiful in appearance and beautiful writing. I loved this one so much. It's intimidating in size and historical fiction, which is generally appealing to me, but not necessarily the general public. However, they should all pick this one up! It's the story of four people: Otto, Friedrich, Michael, and Ivy. Their stories end up connected by a harmonica and a love of music, eventually ending with most of the characters meeting. There's also a fairy tale aspect with three sisters interacting with Otto. Each story is heartbreaking. Friedrich is in Germany while the Nazi party is rising in power. Michael is an orphan trying to stay with his brother and find a family. Ivy is trying to deal with her brother being away in WWII and also being segregated from the local school due to her race.

This was a book I had a hard time putting down, and also a book that made me want to pick up my instrument and play again (or get a ukelele, or get a harmonica.)

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Review: The Island of Dr. Libris

The Island of Dr. Libris by Chris Grabenstein
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this one quite a lot. Billy is spending the summer in a cottage on a lake with his mom. His dad is staying behind in New York. Little does he know that Dr. Libris has been plotting to get Billy to this house to test out his experiment--an island where things you read come to life!

I definitely enjoyed this read. It was quick, fun, and there's a cast of characters to enjoy. I did think it wrapped up a little quickly and sloppily, but to be fair, I was speed reading and tired at the time, so others may enjoy the ending more than I did.

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Review: We Are All Made of Molecules

We Are All Made of Molecules by Susin Nielsen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this story so much. I was way more into Stewart's story than Ashley's. It took a while for me to catch up to Ashley. I wondered how her parents, while being so nice, could create such a self-centered, popularity-obsessed child. Stewart was so much easier for me to love. I felt like he was doing the right thing so often and Ashley was too obsessed with the way she looked and getting with Jared. However, she came around at the end. I really liked the dual story perspectives, because it did humanize both of them, even if I liked one of them better. I think kids will appreciate the perspectives of two different kids at the same school getting along, and I think the blended family aspect will speak to a lot as well.

It does contain scenes with underage drinking, and some talk about bras and sexual activity.

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Review: Listen, Slowly

Listen, Slowly by Thanhha Lai
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Much like Lai's last book, I was captivated by this one. Mai (or Mia in school) is being forced to go to Vietnam with her father and Ba (her grandmother). Ba has been separated from her husband since THE WAR and has finally decided to go back to get closure. A detective has told her that he has had contact with someone connected to her missing grandfather. Mai is not excited about this trip at all. She's supposed to be on the beach with her friend, possibly interacting with the boy she likes (HIM). On the trip, though, she begins to learn more about where she is from, and what's important to her.

I thought Mai was pretty believable, with her devotion to family but also her desire to be on the beach and be a typical American teen. I also understood why she stopped speaking Vietnamese after going to school. Her growing acceptance and discovery of the land her parents came from and the culture she is connected to was believable as well. I think it had just the right amount of references to THE WAR. As an adult, I wished for a bit more about what had been happening in Vietnam, but I think for kids who might not have any background about the Vietnam War at all, it was the right amount. A beautiful story.

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