The Murderer's Ape

What an odd book.  Don't get me wrong - by the time I got to the end I appreciated it and all but dang...

• So length - 624 pages.  I listened to it on audio and it was almost 14 hours.  In some aspects I wish I had read it to enjoy the pictures
• The main character is an ape of undisclosed age.  This is odd to me.  Most children's books feature characters that are the same age as the intended reader - all the characters were adults
• The details - so many details

I am just not sure who the book is for really.  It is way too long for my students.  Junior high??  High school?  Not sure who to give my physical copy to.  

Escape from Aleppo

Nadia's family lives in Aleppo.  They have survived during the fighting but now they feel that it is time to leave and get to Turkey.  Nadia has barely left the house since she was injured by shrapnel a year earlier.  As they prepare to leave Nadia hesitates and in doing so ends up too close to their house when a bomb hits.  She survives but is knocked unconscious and is hidden under debris.  Her family thinks she is dead and they leave, but leave a message for her at a spot they planned to meet at just in case.  Nadia finds her way there, gets the message, and with the help of an old man and some boys she finds along the way makes her way out of Aleppo.

This is a good story in that it shows readers what the struggle in Syria has been about and what the experience would have been for a child trying to get it.  The book does this in a way that a middle school reader can relate to without getting too graphic.

Dewey Fairchild: Parent Problem Solver

Dewey Fairchild has figured out that he is pretty good at solving problems and has a business of helping kids solve their problems with their parents.  His cases have included a father who picks his nose, an overprotective mom, and more.  But when his parents are thinking of moving to Alaska he has to try and solve his own problem.

This was pretty cute and funny.  I felt the ending was a bit nebulous - his problem got solved but it was unclear how really 

Moto and Me

I don't actually blog about every book I read.  Some are just too short, too meh, or I really didn't like them at all.  This is especially true as I am reading books on the MSBA shortlist and I find ones that just don't work at all for me.

This on the other hand - while short - is a gem.  I loved it!!  The information was great but not too heavy for the intended audience.  The ratio of text to photographs was great and very readable.  The photographs were gorgeous.  This was just stunning!

Tillie Heart and Soul

Tillie lives with her Uncle Fred at the old Franklin Piano Factory.  Her mom is in a rehab program but Tillie is hopeful that she will be able to her skate-a-thon.  Meanwhile Tillie is struggling with typical middle school friendships.

This wasn't a bad story - simple and effective.

Zap

Luis' life is pretty normal - for an 11 year old boy of Nicaraguan descent living in a run down city in New Jersey.  Then one day the power goes out in their town and Luis and his friends set out to discover why.  Along the way they interact with a computer genius, his friend's grandfather has a stroke and is mumbling weird things, Luis is followed and threatened, and more.  Can they figure out what made the power go out and save their city?

This was pretty decent.  I read an eBook ARC from NetGalley and there were a few cases where text messages and notes between the characters were missing making those parts of the story difficult to follow.  All in all a decent book.

The Magician and the Spirits

This book told about Houdini's lifelong quest to prove or disprove the spiritualism of his day.  This was not something I knew anything about and I found it interesting, especially his friendship and then feud with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

While interesting I don't think the book would be of great interest to my particular readers and will hand this off to the junior high or high school where it may find an audience.

The Real McCoys

I absolutely loved this!!!  Moxie is a fabulous character with great voice and Milton, her younger brother is quirky and perceptive.  The mystery was cute.   But more than all that was the unique formatting of the book - great illustrations, quirky formatting.  I think kids will eat this up and I can't wait to get it in my students' hands.

The War I Finally Won

Truly wonderful.  It is hard for me to compare the 2 books since I listened to the fist on audio which was magical and read this one.  I almost wish I had gotten the audio for this as well.  Ada is a treasure.

Snow Lane

Annie is the youngest of 9 kids.  The family is poor but there is a darker secret going on.  On the outside they look like a decent family - good Catholics, mom plays the organ at church but they are falling apart.  Mom tries to keep up appearances but she is overwhelmed and when she snaps it isn't pretty.  Annie's sisters and brother cope in different ways - lashing out, running away, fighting.  Eventually things come to a head and Annie has to decide if her family is worth fighting for.

This was a tough read and yet had some funny moments like every time Annie swore she had a bunch of Hail Marys in parenthesis.  

Outside In

Ram is a homeless boy who lives off food left at shrines and from the profits he makes playing gilli.  But one day he bets the wrong boy and gets chased through the village.  He loses a bag of precious coins and ends up following a man who found it.  He ends up in the forest and there he discovers that the man, Nek, has been building statues out of junk.  Soon the two become friends and Ram helps Nek with his statues and Nek tells Ram some of the stories behind the Indian holidays.  But when outsiders threaten Nek's garden Ram has to figure out a way to either keep it a secret or help Nek's statues get the recognition they deserve.

This book is based somewhat on Nek Chand, a real artist from India.  In addition, the tales that Nek tells are simplified versions of the original tales.  The book as a whole is woven together well and will help children learn about another culture.

Project Terra: Crash Course

My last 2017 book that has been previously unreviewed by MSBA members.

Elara grew up on a planet of farmers but she has been accepted on scholarship to a school for terra forming.  When she gets to the planet she soon makes friends.  But something is off.  There is a weird warning from one of her friends, professors keep disappearing, and honestly it seems like someone is out to get her.  Can Elara figure out what is going on and save the world?

This was a pretty fun read and is the first in a series.  I did not find it as funny as it was advertised to be but it was good.

Betty Before X

So, confession.  Sometimes when I choose (hoard) books from NetGalley and Edelweiss I don't read the descriptions very thoroughly.  Often I (gasp) choose a book by it's cover or author or whatever.  Sometimes it comes back to bite me - I don't realize it's a sequel or it is too mature for my audience.  Sometimes by the time I actually read it (because I hoard some of them for months before I get to them) I forget what they were going to be about.  Case in point - Betty Before X.  I read the whole book and really enjoyed it and it wasn't until I read the afterward that I realized that the X was Malcolm X and this was the story of his wife Betty when she was a child - before X.  Oh.....

This book is a fictionalized account of Betty's young life.  Her birth in the south, her upbringing away from a young, abusive mother, and early exposure to racial tension.  Then it follows her to Detroit where she lived with her mother's new family for awhile and then moves in with another couple.  It tells of her growing awareness of social justice and the fight for equality and freedom.  

I thought the book was well done.  It shows a girl's struggle to understand her surrounding, to find love and purpose, to count her blessings in the midst of struggle, and to keep on.  

Dragonfly Song

This is one of those books that I can't believe we almost missed.  Fortunately a former MSBA member reviewed this and I decided to request it and read it.  Wow - this is really something.

Aissa was born to an important lady on her island.  She was born with a deformity - extra thumbs - which were removed by her dad right after her birth.  But then her dad died the next day seemingly as punishment.  So Aissa was sent with a healer to be left to die.  

But the healer took Aissa instead to a family who had just lost a child.  There she stayed until she was 4 and raiders killed her foster father and kidnapped her foster mother and siblings.  The last thing her mother told her was not to make a sound until they were reunited.

And she didn't.  Not when she was found, not when she was taken to live with a relative, not when she was abandoned and taken in as a lowly servant.  She never said a word.  But she listened, learned and dreamed.  

Every year her island had to give a boy and girl as tribute to the Bull King.  When Aissa was 12 she ended up going (due to another accident orchestrated by the goddess).  In her new life she learned not only about bull dancing but also was a priestess for awhile.

Without spoilers I will say that eventually Aissa found her voice and found her rightful place at long last.

The book was part prose and part poetic narrative and was beautifully done.

Flower Moon

This is the time of year when I am still reading books from last year for MSBA but because of my hoarding tendencies on Edelweiss and NetGalley I am also reading newly published books (eBooks while on elliptical).  I must say, so far the 2018s I have read have been good.

Tally Jo and Tempest are twins - just like their mother and aunt, and their grandmother and her sister.  They have always been close but lately Tempest has developed new interests and hasn't needed Tally Jo to stand up for her and help her out.  Tally Jo is upset, confused, and worried that she is losing her sister.  What is worse is that it feels like there is an actual barrier between them.

Turns out... there is.  There is some kind of curse that has run in their family.  It is why their mom and aunt never see each other, why their grandmother and her sister lived on opposite sides of the country.  Together the girls try to figure out what is happening, how it is related to the Flower Moon, and how to keep it from forcing them apart.

I really enjoyed this.  A bit of magic, lots of heart, even a budding little romance to please the middle school readers.

Invisible Emmie

Emmie is quiet, shy, almost invisible in her middle school.  To cope she draws and hangs out with her one friend.  

Katie is popular, outgoing, beautiful.  She is everything Emmie wishes she could be.

When a fake love note of Emmie's is lost and turns up in the hand of a bully, Emmie feels her life is over.  Maybe she can muster the courage of Katie to navigate this.

This was really cute and well done.  I can't wait to hand it over to some of my frequent flyer, graphic novel loving patrons tomorrow.

Not on Fifth Street

It isn't rare for towns along the Ohio River to get flooded which is why Gus and Pete's family live all the way up on Fifth Street far enough away from the river to avoid the flooding.  But 1937 is not a typical year. 

By the beginning of January it is already raining - melting the snow from December.  At first no one is overly concerned - too many other things to deal with.  Pete has school issues and Gus has girl troubles - well his family has the troubles because she is not Catholic.  But as the rain continues things get more precarious.  Gus and his dad leave to help with sandbagging efforts and we hear about Pete's efforts to save the house and the rest of his family.  But after more than a week Gus and his dad have not returned.  The second half of the book focuses on what was happening to Gus at the same time.

The book is much more than a book about a natural disaster.  At the heart of it is a story of family and love.  What is impressive to me is that while the story is based on real events the author was able to craft the characters and story into something more.  

Watchdog

In a futuristic society, Vick and Tara are living on their own trying to survive by rummaging in the dump and fixing things to sell.  Tara, although autistic, is brilliant with machines.  In fact, she built her own robotic watchdog Daisy.  One day Tara found a weird chip in the dump and used it in Daisy.  After that Daisy became pretty extraordinary for a robot.  But now there are people looking for the chip.  Can Vick and Tara escape an army of huge watchdogs and the lady looking for them?

Lots of action, a good relationship between the siblings, and a good length for middle grade readers.

Suee and the Shadow

Maine Student Book Award shortlist meeting is one week away.  There were a few books that I had heard some buzz about or that had sounded interesting but no libraries in my area had them yet.  So I bought them... this is the first.

Suee is new to the school and has trouble fighting in.  She is often annoyed and angry.  One day she wanders into an Exhibition Room and accidentally breaks a vase.  When she wakes up she is in the nurse's office and things have changed.

All of a sudden Suee's shadow is talking to her and weird things are happening all over the school.  The weirdest is the "zeroes" - kids who have been bullied, teased and now seem zombie like.  How is this happening and how can it be stopped?

I am not a big graphic novel fan and I was a bit skeptical about this as I started but then it became more intriguing and deliciously creepy which kids will love.  It appears we haven't seen the last of Suee's shadow either. 

A Crack in the Sea

This is so magical - creative, different, beautiful.  I truly loved this even though I listened to it on audio in spits and spats.  I love when I am totally surprised by something and there was a moment in the book when I was just floored by the artistry of the tale.  Well done.

The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle

So much love for this book!!

Mason Buttle is a bit slow, he sweats a lot, he is bullied by neighborhood boys, and his family is a bit of a mess.  To make matters worse, Mason's best friend Benny died a few years ago by falling off the ladder of their tree house.  Now though he has made a new friend and is learning to write and tell his story using some computer software.  

In the midst of all this though is the persistent lieutenant who thinks there is more to Benny's accident than anyone is telling.  What is the truth about that day?

I don't like to give away too much in my blogs - there is more...  a dog, a new friend who also has an accident.  So much good here.  My one complaint was the ending.  There is a big climactic moment, a reveal, the truth comes to light and then there are quite a few more chapters.  I wish the book had ended up sooner after the climax.   

I Love You, Michael Collins

And with this book I am officially done with my 2017 NetGalley and Edelweiss requests.  I have started some 2018 but I can focus on some 2017 stragglers in my piles in my room - mainly those that publishers have sent that no one has gotten to and maybe a few that I know will end up on our shortlist (or shorter books - poetic narrative, graphic novels).  How many more books can I read before our January 20th MSBA meeting ;0

This was a great book.  My one complaint is that some of Mamie's letters are really long and would she really keep writing to Michael Collins everyday?  Maybe because of the situation she was in...

Mamie's class has been asked to write a letter to one of the 3 astronauts going up in Apollo 11.  Everyone chooses Buzz Aldrin or Neil Armstrong.  Mamie chooses Michael Collins mainly because no one else does.  After her initial letter Mamie keeps writing to him - it is her way of sharing her discoveries and processing the events in her life including her mom's leaving.

There is a lot to love in this book.  Mamie is an honest character and her friendship with Buster is lovely.  While there is a lot of chaos around her Mamie is able to "stay with the ship" much like Michael Collins did.

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David loves the sport of competitive eating and he is pretty good at it himself.  It's the one thing he has.  Bring the middle child between a perfectionist older sister and an autistic younger brother makes him feel unappreciated.  But he can eat.  When he accidentally bids on half a hot dog for $2000 (long story) he decides to enter a pizza eating contest to pay his mom back.

This story had a lot of heart.  David was a good kid trying to navigate the life he has been given.  I wish the cover was a bit more kid friendly and appealing.  

The Lost Rainforest: Mez's Magic

I am not one for animal fantasy typically but I did like the beginning of this book.  

Mez is not your typical panther.  His is awake during the day - gasp.  That is not normal and not accepted.  Once, during his time awake, he sees another animal that shouldn't be awake - a boa.  Soon the 2 meet and talk.  The boy tells Mez that they are nightwalkers and they, with others born at the eclipse, have special powers.  Not only that but their powers are needed to stop the ant queen from rising.

The two set off for the ziggurat where the ant queen has been imprisoned, collecting other nightwalkers as they go.  Can Mez find his secret power and can he and his friends keep the queen from rising?

So I did like the beginning but then as I got closer to the end I got bogged down in it, especially as the sequel loomed ever more obviously.  For those who enjoy this type of fantasy I think it will be a good read but it wasn't my favorite.  

Lone Stars

Confession - I am not really into sports fiction.  But, some of my students and MSBA readers are so I decided to give this a go.

The book is about Clay, his football team the Stars, and his coach who used to play for the Dallas Cowboys.  The book focuses a lot (a lot) on concussions.  Clay gets hit early on in the book and although he doesn't get a concussion it freaks him out.  Then his best friends David, the QB, gets a concussion.  In addition, he is in a game where 2 players hit each other really hard - neither one has a concussion, but it's all around him.  Then, to top it off, his coach, who isn't really that old, starts having a hard time remembering things.  Is it due to concussions he may have had while playing?

The book does have some funny moments and it is really nice how Clay and a friend Maddie help Coach get through the season and to a reunion of his last Dallas Cowboy team.  

I did find it a bit heavy handed with the concussions.  I do understand that this is a topic that has been overlooked for far too long and is serious but it played a really big part in the book.

The Real Us

This was really well done.  Often when you have books told from different perspectives it can be hard to keep track of things but this book worked.  It also worked even though there were definitely some familiar middle school themes.

Calista is the pretty girl.  She is popular and sporty.  But in the first week of school she gets a pimple, a weird rash, and almost breaks her nose.  When her face isn't quite so pretty she finds out who her real friends are.

Laura was Calista's friend for a long time but they have drifted apart.  Laura isn't as "pretty" or as popular but she and Calista have always been a duo on the soccer team.

Damien is an artist but a physical issue keeps him from interacting much with other students.  

Can the 3 of them learn how to see the real people around them and accept themselves as well?  

My Brigadista Year

This was a fascinating book.  As someone who has gone to Guatemala several times and seen the poverty, illiteracy, and living conditions, I think books like this open the eyes of our students to life beyond our borders.  Even more, this book helps to erase some of the stigma related to Cuba and I think that it important as well.  I look forward to sharing this book with my students.

Genevieve's War

This was an accessible book about World War II and had a unique perspective.  An orphaned girl, Genevieve, had been staying with her grandmother right before the war started.  Instead of going home to live with an aunt like she was supposed to, she chose to stay in France to help her grandmother.  She then got caught up in the Resistance movement in the area.

What I liked was that it was a different perspective and it was a fairly quick read. For my younger students who are intrigued by WWII this is a gentler introduction.

I did find some of the character development a bit sparse - I wish there had been a bit more.  I also didn't like the big time jump near the end.   But this was a solid, enjoyable read overall.

TBH: This is So Awkward

Not even sure if anyone ever reads this blog.  It has definitely evolved over time.  Honestly my primary purpose for doing it is to keep track of my own reading for the Maine Student Book Award committee.  We read current titles for grades 4 - 8.  We have a big meeting in 3 weeks to create the shortlist and then meet in March for the final list.  I read A LOT!  Lately I have been reading eBooks for 30 min every morning on my elliptical (2 birds) - these are books I request (hoard) from NetGalley and Edelweiss.  I actually don't really like eBooks but it is convenient for while exercising, traveling, or floating in the pond during the summer.  Once I get almost done with an eBook I usually finish it during the day.  The physical books I read are from publishers and books I have gotten from my local library.

So where am I now?  I have finished all the 2017 eBooks from NetGalley and Edelweiss.  I actually still have a few that I had requested but have physical copies and will be reading them in the next week.  I would say there are 60 books that no one on my committee has read that have been sent by publishers.  TBH - they are either too young, too old, or something else about them speaks nah to me.  I have a few in my pile that I may get to, plus 3 coming from Amazon and another from the library.  Yes, I have no life - sleep, read, work, read, repeat.

Anyway - this book is my first 2018 book.  This book featured 3 BFFs - Cecily, Gabbie, and Prianka and is told mainly through text messages with a few memos, emails, and handwritten notes added in.  It is primarily a middle grade - best friends, crushes, homework - story but using text messages highlights the social media and cyberbullying aspect.  The primary issue is a new student Victoria who they are mainly ignoring in their texts.  

I saw the conflict coming - heck, I teach digital citizenship - but students may not.  TBH - I don't think this is worthy of being on the MSBA list - a bit too sparse and fluffy - but my students will eat it up and I can't wait to have it on my shelves.