Review: The Zodiac Legacy: Convergence

The Zodiac Legacy: Convergence by Stan Lee
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I liked this one. It didn't move me as much as I would have liked. It definitely felt like reading a comic in novel form. I'd give it another book before I gave up on the series overall.

I guess my biggest complaint was that I felt like there wasn't a lot of backstory or fleshed out characters. The two epilogues made me feel like there might be hope in the future, but we'll see.

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Review: Challenger Deep

Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Are you part of the one in three Americans whose family has been affected by mental illness? Then this book is for you. And even if you aren't, this book is for you. Shusterman has written a book that takes us down into the abyss with the narrator, Caden, and we stare at it, and wonder how we get back. If this wasn't MSBA reading season, I would start this book again, to follow Caden down and connect even more pieces. It is very deserving of it's place on the National Book Award Nominee list, and I will be thinking about it for years to come. I sat down and read it today, which was not necessarily what I was intending to do.

My own experience looking into that abyss is much, much milder than Caden's. I have seen it, and I have come back. Many of my friends have stared with me, and come back. I just, I want to pass this book on to so many people. I just felt it.

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Review: George

George by Alex Gino
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is an important book, and it needs to be in libraries across the country. I love everything about George, to how she uses female pronouns even though they don't match the gender she was born with, how she has a name picked out that fits her better, how she has friends but is also picked on. I still see a long road ahead of George, but I have hope that she has a great support system to get her through. A must-read.

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Review: The Boys Who Challenged Hitler: Knud Pedersen and the Churchill Club

The Boys Who Challenged Hitler: Knud Pedersen and the Churchill Club by Phillip M. Hoose
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the take of Knud Pedersen and his friends, who stood up to Hitler and the Nazi regime after Denmark peacefully let them occupy their country. Their tale of sabotage and standing up for what you want will resonate with kids, particularly because they were quite young when they started. I love the Hoose includes that he was able to interview Pedersen for the book, and that he wasn't able to write it right away due to publishing constraints.

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Review: Nightbird

Nightbird by Alice Hoffman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Twig lives with her mother on the edge of Sidwell, Massachusetts. Her family mostly keeps to themselves due to their secret. When a new family moves in next door, the younger daughter, Julia, wants desperately to be Twig's friend. Can she balance having a new friend with respecting her mother's wishes?

I'm not familiar with Hoffman, other than having seen movie adaptations of her work. I know this is Hoffman's first book for the middle grade audience, and it is a wonderful fairy tale. This is another book where I felt like the ending came on suddenly, but I was sort of racing at the end to beat sleep. I think this book will be excellent for your reader that prefers a bit of magic with their realistic fiction.

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Review: The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #1

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #1 by Ryan North
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Who doesn't love Squirrel Girl, and if so, why?

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Review: The Scorpion Rules

The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

For my fellow Maine Student Book Award reviewers-- This book will not be like the Hunger Games, which can be YA and still fall on the list.

That aside, I feel this is an excellent start to a new YA series. Wars fought over lack of water seems very logical to me, especially with the melting of the polar ice caps. That children are kept as hostages by the UN so that war is prevented and there's a evil AI overlord is just icing on the cake. I personally was a big fan of Greta, our narrator, and her entire arc (from realizing the facade she's built for herself, to her romantic not-quite-a-triangle arc.) I am especially intrigued by the ending, which I will not spoil here. Definitely a sequel to look forward to!

I received a copy of the book from NetGalley in return for my review.

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