Review: Pax

Pax by Sara Pennypacker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is one that I'll be thinking about for a while. The writing of this story is beautiful. I love the general plot. I love the way Pennypacker chose to tell part of the story from Peter's point of view and part of the plot from Pax's. I love Vola so much, and she breaks my heart.

I need to sit with the ending however. It doesn't end the way I would like, which isn't really the problem. I had to read it three times, because I felt like I missed something. It was so sudden. I'm hoping it will rise in my esteem as time goes on.


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Review: I Am Coyote

I Am Coyote by Geri Vistein
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This book definitely had a lot of good coyote information and made me feel more sympathetic to them. However, the choice of present tense didn't work for me, and it really just wasn't my cup of tea. I think I would have rather read the same sort of information in a nonfiction title.

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Review: The Girl Who Fell

The Girl Who Fell by Shannon M. Parker
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It feels weird to say "it was amazing!" about a book that deals with an abusive relationship, but this one truly is. I was curious about how I would deal with this book knowing that it was about an abusive relationship from the start--would I still fall for Alec? Or would that ruin the book for me? The truth is, it adds an interesting layer. For me, I was constantly stating on Twitter about how I wanted Zephyr (the main character) to not be interested in Alec, and yet you can totally see how she falls for him. There is something dark and charming about him, even as you realize that he is bad news. And hopefully, you will realize it before Zephyr does. And hopefully that realization will help young women as they navigate relationships in their teen years and beyond. An essential for library and personal collections.

Many thanks to Edelweiss and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC for review.

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Review: Randoms

Randoms by David Liss
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this one. It took me longer than I expected to read. It is a bit of a tome--485 pages. The other reason is that so many science fiction references are scattered throughout, I wanted to go and research them all. I think knowing the basics of those references does increase your enjoyment of the book, but if you don't, perhaps it will inspire you to learn more. I know I asked a lot of questions about Martian Manhunter after reading it.

Zeke Reynolds has been invited to an intergalactic study-abroad type situation as the "random." The other delegates are all exceptional children. They also leave Zeke out, because statistically it is better for them to do so. Can Zeke still have a good year, despite being left out?

It's hard for me to give too much of a synopsis here, because I don't want to spoil anything. If you have readers who love science fiction that are in grades 4 and up, this book will be a winner.

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Review: The Wolf Wilder

The Wolf Wilder by Katherine Rundell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another excellent choice from Rundell, about a girl and her mother who retrain wolves to live in the wild. When the wolves attack the wrong man, Feo's mother is arrested and taken to St. Petersburg. Feo must rely on her wits and some new friends to save her mother and the wolves.

I've never heard of wolf wilding before, and I was a little disappointed to see that it's not really a thing, although other animals are sometimes wilded--let out of zoos I suppose. Still, I enjoyed this story about a girl with companions that she respects but also understands they aren't pets.

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Review: How Machines Work: Zoo Break!

How Machines Work: Zoo Break! by DK Publishing
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I definitely needed to read this one twice. It wasn't the type of book that was meant for me to be reading when I'm tired, because it addresses a part of my brain that I'm not really used to using. I definitely asked for help on how the systems work, because I was trying to understand the book. I think kids might figure it out more readily than I would, and most likely they would be building models to figure it out, rather than trying to visualize in their head. The idea of a sloth escaping was continually funny to me (so much effort!).

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Lunar New Year Try-It Tuesday

This week's Try-It Tuesday event was to create your own dragon out of egg cartons, toilet paper tubes, and yarn. This is the idea I had in my head: http://www.pinkstripeysocks.com/2015/02/recycled-chinese-new-year-dragon-craft.html

 I put a tarp out on the floor, paint, paintbrushes, and let the kids go to town! I had Valentine supplies out as a way to pass the time while the paint was drying. Unfortunately, it took them an hour of my hour and a half program to paint. So I scrambled around to make kids for them to take home to complete their project with the addition of fasteners, straws and the directions. They had a grand time (well until Valentine making. That's when some kids decided computers were cooler.) I would do this craft again, but with way more time planned and activities to do while waiting.