Sunny Side Up by Jennifer and Matthew Holm

From Goodreads:
Sunny Lewin has been packed off to Florida to live with her grandfather for the summer.  At first she thought Florida might be fun -- it is the home of Disney World, after all.  But the place where Gramps lives is no amusement park.  It’s full of . . . old people.  Really old people.

Luckily, Sunny isn’t the only kid around.  She meets Buzz, a boy who is completely obsessed with comic books, and soon they’re having adventures of their own: facing off against golfball-eating alligators, runaway cats, and mysteriously disappearing neighbors.  But the question remains -- why is Sunny down in Florida in the first place?  The answer lies in a family secret that won’t be secret to Sunny much longer. . .


I had sworn up and down that I posted a review for this book, but then I went back on Goodreads to see when I read this book and realized it was in the throes of my last semester of grad school. Ah! So that's why I never got around to posting a review of this lovely graphic novel. 

I was born in the very late 70s (Two months before 1980, in fact) but despite the fact that this book takes place in 1975-1976, an incredible sense of familiarity and nostalgia from my own childhood came creeping into my experience of reading this book. Little details as simple as the screen door on Sunny's house in Pennsylvania to the way the Sears logo looked back then, Jenni and Matt Holm clearly did their research on even the smallest of details from this time period.

More importantly though, Jenni and Matt Holm tell a heartfelt and compassionate story about a young girl who comes to realize the torment her family is experiencing at the hand of her brother who is overcoming substance abuse. It is through Sunny's experience that many kids will see their own families and the ways a family member's struggles become an entire family's burden.


Sunny Side Up by Jennifer L. and Matthew Holm
Published: August 25, 2015
Publisher: GRAPHIX
Pages: 224
Genre/Format: Realistic Fiction/Graphic Novel
Audience: Middle Grade
Disclosure: Purchased Copy

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

ARC review: Booked by Kwame Alexander

Note: The following review is based on an unpublished advance reader copy.

Just like The Crossover does with basketball, soccer circumvents what Booked is really about: family relationships, this time the main character Nick is dealing with his parent's impending divorce and a strained relationship with his parents, particularly his father. 

While it doesn't have the same bounce and groove of The Crossover, Booked is a fantastic stand-alone follow-up to Alexander's Newbery-winning novel in verse. I especially loved the character of Mr. MacDonald, AKA "The Mac," the rapping librarian.

What I love most about Alexander's work is that he has made it cool for kids to be lovers of words and language. Booked only further strengthens that conviction. While I try to tell this to my students, Alexander's books are actually showing it to them.

Other things I loved about Booked:

• How the title has multiple, layered meanings throughout the story
• The subtle and not-so-subtle homages to the poetry of Langston Hughes
• While it is mentioned in passing and with lowercase letters, Alexander gives a shoutout to the Nerdy Book Club
• Nerds and Words is a great name for a book club. I kind of want to steal it.  :)

Booked by Kwame Alexander 

Published: April 5, 2016
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Pages: 320
Genre/Format: Realistic Fiction/Novel in Verse
Audience: Middle Grade/Young Adult
Disclosure: ARC received at ALAN workshop, November 2015

*Purchasing the book from the above Bookshop affiliate link supports independent bookstores and gives me a small percentage of the sale. 

The Key to Extraordinary by Natalie Lloyd

In January of 2014 I had the privilege of reading Natalie Lloyd's first novel, A Snicker of Magic, before its publication date. I hadn't even made it to page 3 before a magical spell had been cast upon me. As I both devoured the story of Felicity Juniper Pickle and took careful note to savor Lloyd's enchanting prose, I couldn't help but feel as if I was reading a children's classic in the making. 

Over the past two years, Natalie has not only proved to be a talented author, but also a beautiful and generous spirit. I was lucky enough to meet her a few months after reading Snicker and she also graciously skyped with my class this year to give them a pep talk as they were participating in NaNoWriMo. In addition, she both surprised and humbled me when she included my name in a short story she wrote in the town and with the characters where A Snicker of Magic took place.

And so here we are in February of 2016 and Lloyd's second novel, The Key to Extraordinary, is set to hit stores this week. This is the story of Emma Pearl Casey, a young girl with a magical and renown family history. Just as with those that came before her, Emma's destiny comes to her in a dream. But when that dream indicates that she must carry out an impossible task, find the treasure that's been hidden in Blackbird Hollow's cemetery for centuries, she doesn't know how she will ever succeed. If she doesn't though, her family's business and the entire town might find itself on the other end of a wrecking ball. If Emma doesn't find the treasure, she might lose the very place she calls home, as progress might win out over history and tradition. 

I fully admit that it took me a bit longer to get into The Key to Extraordinary than it did A Snicker of Magic, but much of that had to do with where I was at the time I read it. I was finishing my last semester of grad school and was highly distracted. Even with the distractions, I could see this was another special story full of quirky, lovable characters and enchanting yet folksy prose. And I especially loved the surprise at the end, but that's all I'm saying because... NO SPOILERS! :)

So if you loved Natalie's first novel, you're sure to love this one too. And if you haven't read either of Natalie's books yet, it's time to remedy that right now! 


The Key to Extraordinary by Natalie Lloyd
Publication Date: February 23, 2015
Publisher: Scholastic
Pages: 240
Genre: Magical Realism
Audience: Middle Grade
Disclosure: Advance copy received from author

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

Top 15 favorite books of 2015

Holy cow! How did it get to be December 31st already? I am completely unprepared to write this traditional end-of-year post but here we go.

I did not even come close to my goal of reading 515 books in 2015. I was so busy with finishing my last semester of grad school this fall that reading sort of fell off the priority list. I only read 394 books this year, 76 of which were novel-length.

Despite not making my reading goal, I have to say that 2015 was a great year for books. I didn't read much middle grade this year, but I had many YA and picture book favorites.

Picture books:

Waiting by Kevin Henkes
I get the sense that this is a book the Caldecott committee is discussing at length. It has beautiful illustrations, it bares no obvious lessons (award committees tend to shy away from didacticism), and disguises itself as a simple story shrouded in complexity (the Waiting for Godot of the kid lit world as Betsy Bird likes to call it). Henkes fills your heart with affection for these sweet, quirky toys sitting on the windowsill waiting for nothing in particular it seems... 


The Moon is Going to Addy's House by Ida Pearle
Poetry doesn't always have to come in words. Sometimes poetry speaks in pictures, movement, music, or all of these things at once. The Moon is Going to Addy's House is a beautiful example of how poetry can be created in the confluence of art forms. It is a book that feels both classic and modern, both back in time and of the time. 


Drum Dream Girl by Margarita Engle, illustrated by Rafael  Lopez
This is the story of Millo Castro Zaladarriaga, a young Cuban girl who wanted desperately to play the drums, but she lived in a time when only boys were allowed to play them. This book is a gorgeous poem that celebrates the power of a passion, which is paired beautifully with Rafael Lopez's vibrant, dreamlike illustrations.

 
 This is Sadie by Sara O'Leary, illustrated by Julie Morstad   
This book is everything. This book is about as perfect as a book could possibly be. This book isn't just about Sadie. This book is about us all. We are all Sadie. Some of us just have to look harder to find her within ourselves than others. But she is there. To quote one of my 8th graders, "Sadie represents the child within us all."


Tricky Vic: The Impossibly True Story of the Man Who Sold The Eiffel Tower by Greg Pizzoli   This is what all nonfiction should be: exciting, engaging, and page-turning. Wow! Any guy who conned Al Capone and lived is a guy worth reading about.  


Graphic novels:

Sunny Side Up by Jennifer L Holm & Matthew Holm  
I was born in the very late 70s (Two months before 1980, in fact) but despite the fact that this book takes place in 1975-1976, an incredible sense of familiarity and nostalgia from my own childhood came creeping into my experience of reading this book. Little details as simple as the screen door on Sunny's house in Pennsylvania to the way the Sears logo looked back then, Jenni and Matt Holm clearly did their research on even the smallest of details from this time period. More importantly though, Jenni and Matt Holm tell a heartfelt and compassionate story about a young girl who comes to realize the torment her family is experiencing at the hand of her brother who is overcoming substance abuse. It is through Sunny's experience that many kids will see their own families and the ways a family member's struggles become an entire family's burden.


Displacement: A Travelogue by Lucy Knisley 
In this graphic memoir, Knisely, accompanies her grandparents, who are failing in health and mental faculties, on a Caribbean cruise. It is a sensitive, earnest, fatalistic look at family and mortality, yet also done somehow with a lighthearted touch.


Middle Grade:
 
Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan
This is one of the most stunning audiobooks I have ever listened to. As someone who studied classical piano for over a decade, the musical themes and accompanying soundtrack with the audiobook made this story come alive. Echo is a book for not only the readers in your life who love music, but also for those sensitive readers who are looking for books to be transcendent – to give you an experience beyond your emotions, becoming almost a spiritual experience. And that is what makes Echo more than just a heartprint book for me – it is a book that feeds my soul.


Young Adult:

Stand Off by Andrew Smith
Ryan Dean West is my all-time favorite character in YA literature. I'm so glad Andrew Smith brought him back for a sequel to help readers heal from the sadness that occurred at the end of Winger. 

 
All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely 
Books save lives. And they change hearts and minds. This will be one of those books. This book is in your face enough to start conversations, but nuanced enough to make it more than a black vs. white, us vs. them issue.  This book is a great ladder to Ta-Nehisi Coates' book which is also on my list of favorite books of 2015.


Enchanted Air  by Margarita Engle
Before I read Engle's memoir in verse, I had very little desire to ever visit Cuba someday. During and after reading Engle's memoir in verse, I have now very eagerly added it to my bucket list.


Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman
An incredibly powerful and personal tale of a young man's descent into the depths of schizophrenia. The book is a masterfully woven extended metaphor that would benefit a close reading of certain passages because important details are sure to be missed upon first reading.


Solitaire by Alice Oseman  
Tori Spring is a modern-day female Holden Caulfield. Solitaire is a genius work of young adult fiction. It is both literary and accessible. It's a book that I think hasn't been given enough marketing buzz, and so I will be personally recommending it to anyone who likes a good angsty teen drama with a whip-smart, self-deprecating protagonist.  


Adult non-fiction:

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
A book that will continue conversations started by All American Boys by looking further into the depths of white privilege and how black bodies are treated in this country. A book every white American should read and one that will make you uncomfortable. That's supposed to happen. And while you wade around in your discomfort, just know that many others continue to drown.


Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert 
Big Magic is a revelation. It is a paradigm shift in how we should approach creativity. Elizabeth Gilbert posits that we need to throw away the trope of the tormented artist in favor of lightness, curiosity and play in our creative work. She has definitely inspired me in how I will approach my writing life from this moment forward. 

Stand Off by Andrew Smith

In this sequel to Winger, fifteen-year-old Ryan Dean West is now a senior in high school and is still dealing with the aftermath of what happened at the end of the first book (no spoilers here!). Not talking about it however has resulted in some psychological torment that seems to be playing out most noticeably in his dreams and in his drawings, which once used to bring him solace. Now his rugby coach wants him to play a position that will no doubt dredge up a lot of painful memories despite the fact that he still doesn't know how to handle his own grief.

To make matters worse, Ryan Dean has been given a twelve-year-old freshman roommate, Sam Abernathy, who has his own psychological issues to deal with. No matter how hard Ryan Dean tries to be a jerk to Sam, he can't seem to shake the kid, and they turn out to be quite the comedic odd couple throughout the entire story.

I'm going to come out and make a bold proclamation right now: Ryan Dean West is my favorite character in all of YA literature. He is hilariously dysfunctional and even though he claims he only swears in his head, not out loud, this book, along with Winger, has a whole lot of swearing going on -- and you know what? I absolutely love that about it! Andrew Smith is the poet of expletives.

The addition of Sam Abernathy, Ryan Dean's equally dysfunctional twelve-year-old roommate, makes this a novel you will no doubt be laughing out loud while reading. And that is the genius of Andrew Smith. While you are busy laughing, there is also a great deal of heart and healing going on. As Smith recently said at a dinner I attended at NCTE, he felt like he needed to write a sequel to help readers move on from the trauma that occurred at the end of Winger. And with Stand Off, he achieved that in spades.

Since this is partially a food blog, I'm also going to give a shoutout to Andrew Smith for using Sam Abernathy's obsession with the Cooking Channel as comic relief in the story. When Ryan Dean can't deal with his own feelings, he always seems to be commenting on the strange dishes or new cooking techniques the Abernathy is watching in their shoebox of a dorm room and that always gave me a good chuckle.

If you are a lover of YA literature and haven't read Winger yet, stop what you're doing and go read it right now. And then when you're done with Winger, after you curse out Andrew Smith for ripping your heart out of your chest (based on some of his Facebook posts, apparently readers do send him angry emails cursing him out), then you'll immediately want to pick up Stand Off. And once you read Stand Off, all will be right with the world again.


Stand Off by Andrew Smith
Published: September 8, 2015
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 448
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Audience: Young Adult
Disclosure: Finished copy received from a Simon & Schuster rep

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

Cookbook Review: Endless Summer by Katie Lee

 In Endless Summer, Katie Lee invites readers to her home in the Hamptons, a place of beauty and bounty. Lee shows readers a different side of the Hamptons, one that is different from the life of indulgence, excess, and snobbery that is so often portrayed on TV and in movies. Here, Lee shows a more laid-back, down-home side of this place and while I'm still not completely convinced that it isn't the snobbish, persnickety hamlet of which it has been long portrayed, I also appreciate that Lee is giving readers a different view into this community that she loves.

As winter is approaching, a book like this just makes me long for an endless summer even more. Cold weather and I don't get along and so perhaps on those gray, depressing days, I can pick up this cookbook and remember what I have to look forward to when warm weather finally makes its way back to the northern hemisphere.

Individual recipes in this cookbook don't particularity stand out to me. Instead, it's the tone and the vibe of the book that intrigues me. The simple, clean layout along with the lovely yet no-nonsense writing makes Endless Summer a cookbook worth picking up and perusing even if you don't end up attempting any recipes from its pages.


Endless Summer by Katie Lee
Published: April 14, 2015
Publisher: Stewart, Tabori and Chang
Pages: 224
Genre: Cookery
Audience: Adults
Disclosure: Library Copy

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast by Josh Funk, illustrated by Brendan Kearney

Deep in the fridge and behind the green peas,
way past the tofu and left of the cheese,
up in the corner, and back by a roast,
sat Lady Pancake beside Sir French Toast.
The leftover friends were as close as could be,
until they heard news from their neighbor, Miss Brie.


The news? That there's only a single drop of maple syrup left. And now the race is on! Both Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast are determined to be the one to use up that last drop of maple syrup. But there will be many obstacles in their way: the Broccoli Forest, the Orange Juice Fountain, and Potato Mash Mountain just to name a few. And just who is this Baron von Waffle guy?

Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast is a fun foodie frolic through the fridge with two friends that briefly become frenemies in an attempt to be the one to come out on top. Josh Funk is skilled at writing meaningful rhymes that flow well and don't feel contrived, which is why I have always entered rhyming texts with trepidation, and sometimes outright groans. Because it's really hard to do rhyming well. And even harder to do it exceptionally well. I'm here to tell you there were no groans here. Only smiles. And I may or may not have audibly shouted, "Curse you Baron von Waffle!" But I think I might have just given too much away. Or have I? You'll just have to decide for yourself when you read:

Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast by Josh Funk, illustrated by Brendan Kearney
Published: September 1, 2015
Publisher: Sterling Children's Books
Pages: 40
Genre/Format: Picture Book
Audience: Primary
Disclosure: Library copy

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

A Night Divided by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Gerta and her family are living in East Berlin during the time of the Cold War. One evening her father and brother go over to the West to make preparations for their family to move to a place where they will be free, when overnight, a wall divides the city, keeping its residents caged in like animals. Gerta, her mother, and brother Fritz are now stuck in East Berlin where they must constantly fight and dodge the Stasi, the East German Secret Police, who have put a mark on their family due to their father's involvement in resistance activities while he was a citizen of the GDR.

So the next four years of Gerta's life are spent longing for her father and brother and a life with them in West Berlin. When one day, Gerta spots her father on the other side of the wall sending her what seems to be some sort of message. As she attempts to interpret her father's cryptic dance, a little while later, Gerta receives a mysterious photograph that seems to be telling her that she and her brother need to tunnel under the wall to escape into West Berlin. But after Gerta's brother Fritz faces the death of a friend as the result of a botched escape attempt, the family must consider the real possibility that attempting to dig a tunnel to the West might result in their arrest and possible death. The question is, are they willing to take the risk?

I've written about Berlin many times before. But here I go again.

Berlin is my favorite city in the entire world. When I visited it for the first time back in 2004, I had never been to a place that had such a youthful energy despite its bleak and storied past. Reminders of that past are on just about every corner you turn, yet the energy of the city still feels vibrant, palpable, and charged with hope. It is the place I realized how little one can actually learn about history inside the walls of a classroom.

When my husband and I visited visited the Checkpoint Charlie Museum during that first visit to Berlin, and despite the fact that we have very short attention spans when it comes to visiting museums, we spent over three hours there just soaking in the stories of all the people who tried to escape into the West and marveling at the lengths people went to in order to live in a free society.

Ever since that first visit to Berlin, I have been waiting for history to catch up to itself and find more children's literature about the Cold War, more specifically, about those who lived behind the Iron Curtain.

In A Night Divided, I have finally found the Berlin Wall novel I've been waiting for.

This is a meticulously crafted book. From character to plot development, Nielsen left no detail amiss. And in some ways that is both a strength and a weakness. Because this book is so perfectly and precisely crafted, it almost feels too perfect, with everything in its place just so, when we all know that life doesn't always work that way. I want to make it very clear that I am not saying this to be persnickety or nit-picky, trying to find problems where there are none, but simply noting that as I was reading, I felt like I was constantly aware of Nielsen's craft moves because they were so precise. But that is honestly the only thing I have to criticize about the book. It is page-turning, suspenseful, will fill you with emotion, and reads like an extended version of those heart-wrenching stories you read at the Checkpoint Charlie Museum. It it is exactly the kind of Cold War middle grade/young adult historical fiction I have been pining for since I first visited Berlin over ten years ago and internalized the words of John F. Kennedy back in 1963 when he stood in the shadow of the Berlin Wall and said, "Ich bin ein Berliner."


A Night Divided by Jennifer A. Nielsen
Published: August 25, 2015
Publisher: Scholastic
Pages: 384
Genre: Historical Fiction
Audience: Middle Grade/Young Adult
Disclosure: Library Download

 If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

The Truth Commission by Susan Juby

For Normandy Pale, it's hard being the sister of famous graphic novelist Keira Pale. Especially since Keira uses their family life as fodder for her famous series, the Diana Chronicles. And their parents seem to be completely oblivious to the fact that Keira does not paint any of them in a flattering light.

So while Normandy and her friends establish themselves as the Truth Commission, a way to get classmates of their prestigious art school to embrace their own truths, even if it's not pretty or on their own terms, Normandy still has yet to speak her own truth to her sister: that she resents the way their family has been portrayed in her work.

The Truth Commission is one of those books that has a lot going on in its 300+ pages, and all of those things are hard to nail down in terms of what the author is trying to accomplish. It's a work of fiction, but it's written in first person from Normandy's point-of-view like a work of creative nonfiction that she's writing as a school project.

Normandy's voice is biting, hilarious and completely unique. Her use of footnotes is clever at first but eventually turns too gimmicky and begins to feel indulgent rather than moving the narrative forward. About midway through the book, I began to grow tired of Normandy's cleverness and her friends' desire to seek the truth for what seemed to be somewhat exploitative reasons (even though they would claim otherwise). While I felt the book started off strong and I often laughed out loud at Juby's writing, I started to turn on Normandy midway through. I came close to abandoning the book a couple times.

But I'm glad I stuck with it. Things eventually turned around and I got behind Normandy and her friends again -- especially when it came to helping Normandy embrace her truth and confront her sister. If that seems spoilerish, it's really not. You can't expect that Normandy isn't going to eventually confront her sister. HOW she does it and the way it unfolds is what is so scandalous and page-turning. So if you like smart, witty, and biting teen characters, The Truth Commission is just the book for you.


The Truth Commission by Susan Juby
Published: April 14, 2015
Publisher: Viking
Pages: 320
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Audience: Young Adult
Disclosure: Finished copy provided by publisher

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

Beastly Babies by Ellen Jackson, illustrated by Brendan Wenzel

Babies can be smooth 
or hairy,

quail
or whale 
or dromedary.

And with that adorable, lilting introduction, a smile has already been plastered to my face, and it's nothing but chortles and awwws throughout the rest of the book. Because the thesis of this picture book is as follows: no matter how beastly the babies are, their mamas still love them.

Ellen Jackson's melodious rhyming verse paired with Brendan Wenzel's playful mixed media illustrations (crayon, paper collage, water color...)  make Beastly Babies a match made in picture book heaven. I'm definitely adding this book to my mock Caldecott list.

Now, one might assume from knowing me that my favorite page spread in Beastly Babies is of the sloths.

But one would be wrong. The beaver baby who bites more than he can chew had me laughing out loud and is by far my favorite.

But despite having a favorite layout, all of the illustrations are completely endearing and will likely put Beastly Babies on your list of favorite picture books of 2015. I know it's now on mine.


Beastly Babies by Ellen Jackson, illustrated by Brendan Wenzel
Published: July 7, 2015
Publisher: Beach Lane Books
Pages: 32
Genre/Format: Picture Book
Disclosure: Library copy

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

All the Lost Things by Kelly Canby

One day Olive comes across a place in the city where an old lady keeps all the lost things safe. There are many trivial things like pencils, hair clips, and bus passes, but more importantly, there are things that hold much more value such as courage, will power, and dreams. Olive decides to take five jars and fill them with these lost things to share with her family, but also the people in her city.

All the Lost Things is a wonderful mentor text to use to talk about concrete vs. abstract and how we can lose things that aren't necessarily tangible. It is also a nice reminder to kids and adults alike that the important things in our lives aren't necessarily things that you can touch or hold in your hand, but ideas that keep our souls and spirits going. There are so many great picture books that would pair beautifully with All the Lost Things, such as:

The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires
Something Extraordinary by Ben Clanton
The Man with the Violin by Kathy Stinson, illustrated by Dusan Petricic
This is Sadie by Sara O'Leary, illustrated by Julie Morstad
Float by Daniel Miyares
What Do You Do with an Idea? by Kobi Yamada



All the Lost Things by Kelly Canby
Published: April 20, 2015
Publisher: Peter Pauper Press
Pages: 32
Format: Picture Book
Audience: Primary/Middle Grade
Disclosure: Finished copy provided by publisher

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

My Drunk Kitchen by Hannah Hart

Fans of Hannah Hart's YouTube series My Drunk Kitchen will be further smitten with this "cookbook" of the same name.

If you've never seen My Drunk Kitchen before, do yourself a favor and go watch an episode. I guarantee you'll find yourself watching about 5 or 6 instead of just one. Here, I'll help you get started with this epic episode where Hannah cooks with Jamie Oliver. Basically, Hannah Hart parodies the genre of the cooking show with both humor and grace, and that is what you will also find in her "cookbook" as well.

I keep using the word cookbook in quotes because, let's be honest here, this isn't really a cookbook. No one is going to buy this to try to make anything therein, and yet, Hart has mastered the art of cookbookery without actually having written a serious cookbook. But despite the humorous, fun parody of the cookbook genre, the book has an underlying depth and heart to it once you root through all the puns and silly humor. 

As John Green states in the foreword of the book: 

...this is the wonder that is Hart's drunk kitchen: Whether you are deep in sadness or the happiest you've ever been, Hannah Hart knows how to make it better. She makes you feel less alone in the dark night of the soul, and even more joyful in the good times. 

So even though no one will open this book for the recipes, they will stay for the nuggets of humor and wisdom, such as: 

WARNING: Cooking in an oven, on a stove top, or on any heated surface (including city sidewalks in summertime) should only be attempted while accompanied by an adult. And by "adult" I mean someone who isn't drunk. It can be your kid sister too. She seems pretty responsible for a sixteen-year-old. I mean, she's always reading those YA books, so she must have learned a thing or two about life.

PRO TIP: It's always good to be eating while you're making something to eat so that way you don't eat it all if you're supposed to be sharing. 

LIFE LESSON: You might not at the standard of living that you aspire to achieve. But be patient. And sometimes eat some comfort food that you've sliced into a sushi shape. 

My Drunk Kitchen: A Guide to Eating, Drinking & Going with Your Gut by Hannah Hart 
Published: August 12, 2014
Publisher: Del Rey Street Books
Pages: 240
Genre: Humor/Cookbook
Audience: Adults
Disclosure: Library Copy


If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

Audiobook review: Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan

Goodreads summary:

Lost and alone in a forbidden forest, Otto meets three mysterious sisters and suddenly finds himself entwined in a puzzling quest involving a prophecy, a promise, and a harmonica.

Decades later, Friedrich in Germany, Mike in Pennsylvania, and Ivy in California each, in turn, become interwoven when the very same harmonica lands in their lives. All the children face daunting challenges: rescuing a father, protecting a brother, holding a family together. And ultimately, pulled by the invisible thread of destiny, their suspenseful solo stories converge in an orchestral crescendo. 

I normally like to write my own plot summaries before getting down to writing my thoughts about a book because I feel like a more legit book reviewer that way. But sometimes a book is so beautiful and complex that it takes your breath away and you can't even find the words to describe what it's about. You just know that it's a book that needs to be felt and no amount of plot synopses will convince someone to read it because it's one of those books you have tell people, "Trust me on this. Just read it." 

Echo is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read, or listened to as it were. The listening experience I think is superior to reading the physical book. Because Echo revolves around the magic of music, hearing the pieces that Ryan describes adds an extra emotional element to the narrative that reading alone cannot fulfill. There were many times I had to stop what I was doing, close my eyes, and let the music take me away, like when Friedrich walked by a window and heard the melancholy melody of Beethoven's Für Elise.

At the next corner, he turned down the thoroughfare. When he reached the music conservatory, he could hear someone practicing the piano in an upper story Beethoven's "Für Elise." For this he stopped and lifted his head, becoming lost in the music. 

Unconsciously, his hand rose and bounced to the time of the song. Friedrich smiled as he pretended the musician was following his direction. He closed his eyes and imagined the notes sprinkling down and  washing his face clean.

 Or when Mike sat at the concert grand piano at Mrs. Sturbridge's house for the first time and played the longing and mournful notes of Chopin's Nocturne in  C-Sharp Minor. 

A music book stood on the stand. He flipped the pages until he came to the Chopin Nocturne no. 20. He positioned his hands, feeling the desire, like a magnet drawing his fingertips closer.

He played the opening chords. The room filled with the rich timbre of the piano and its full-bodied tone. It wasn't like any piano he'd ever heard before. The high notes sounded brighter, the now ones darker and more ominous. 

Those moments when I could actually hear the music and not just attempt to hear it in my mind, made the story so much richer and more impactful for me. I may have cried a time or two or four. 

Because the presence of the music in the audiobook was so integral to the listening experience, there was actually a moment toward the end of the book when the absence of music detracted from the narrative and made it feel like something was missing. When Mike was playing Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, there was no music to accompany Ryan's descriptions. Since a soundtrack always accompanied the narration every other time music was mentioned in the story, this moment's absence it felt like there was a gaping hole in the audio production. If I had to venture a guess as to why it was missing, I'd say it likely had to do with permissions and copyright issues, so I hate to fault the audiobook producer for this missing element, but I do think it marred the listening experience just the slightest bit. It made me downgrade the audiobook from absolute perfection to pretty amazing – which is still a pretty darn good rating.

When I first saw the heft of Echo – and the fact that it was historical fiction – I initially balked. I could not imagine who I would recommend this book to. Historical fiction is already a hard enough sell, but then when you factor in the length, I thought Echo was doomed from the start. But I was too quick to judge. This book is beyond masterfully written – though it is that – with its delicately woven threads coming perfectly together to a seamless whole at the end. And while yes, this is historical fiction, it is also much more than that. There is an emotional element to this story that I find most historical fiction, no matter how compelling, often lacks. Echo is a book for not only the readers in your life who love music, but also for those sensitive readers who are looking for books to be transcendent – to give you an experience beyond your emotions, becoming almost a spiritual experience. And that is what makes Echo more than just a heartprint book for me – it is a book that feeds my soul.

Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan
Audiobook narrators: Mark Bramhall, David de Vries, Andrews MacLeod, Rebecca Soler
Published: February 24, 2015
Publisher: Scholastic
Pages: 592
Audiobook length: 10 hours, 37 minutes
Genre: Historical Fiction, Magical Realism
Audience: Middle Grade
Disclosure: Audiobook library download/ Purchased hardcover

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

ARC review: Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead

Goodreads Summary:

Bridge is an accident survivor who's wondering why she's still alive. Emily has new curves and an almost-boyfriend who wants a certain kind of picture. Tabitha sees through everybody's games--or so she tells the world. The three girls are best friends with one rule: No fighting. Can it get them through seventh grade? 

This year everything is different for Sherm Russo as he gets to know Bridge Barsamian. What does it mean to fall for a girl--as a friend? 

On Valentine's Day, an unnamed high school girl struggles with a betrayal. How long can she hide in plain sight?

As with all Rebecca Stead novels, Goodbye Stranger warrants a second (or third, or fourth) reading to really pick up on missed details. I didn't entirely get this one. It bounced back and forth between points-of-view (and the Valentine's Day chapters are written in second person which I will pretty much always question that stylistic choice from any writer, no matter how good they are because it is just so awkward – much like this sentence) and it was difficult to completely connect with characters.

Even with the holes in my comprehension, these are the things I was able to pick up on:
1) This book straddles the line between middle grade and YA. To the point where I wouldn't be surprised if in a year or so we start seeing Goodbye Stranger on the list of frequently most challenged books.
2) It deals with topics that every middle schooler today is either dealing with or knows someone who is dealing with, and even though there will be parents out there who insist that what Stead has written is filth, I am also convinced those parents are missing out on a really important conversation with their kids.
3) This book is getting a lot of Newbery buzz. I'm not feelin' it. That's not to say it's not an important book. It just wasn't speaking Newbery to me.

What I feel like I missed:
1) While "embrace the confusion" was a good mantra for When You Reach Me because eventually everything came to one big "aha!" moment, I ended Goodbye Stranger still feeling confused, and in a way, sort of robbed of that moment of elucidation that I come to expect from a Stead novel.  
2) Maybe I'm just dense, but I don't entirely get how the title fits with the story. 
3) I could be wrong, but I'm not entirely sure how much kid-appeal this book will actually have even though it deals with some taboo, controversial topics. I hope to be proved wrong on that one. 

For an excellent, thorough review from someone who really enjoyed Goodbye Stranger, visit Betsy Bird at A Fuse 8 Production.  


Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead
Expected Publication: August 4, 2015
Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books
Pages: 304
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Audience: Middle Grade/Young Adult
Disclosure: ARC acquired at ALA Midwinter Conference  

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

Bernice Gets Carried Away by Hannah E. Harrison

It is quite the dreary day for little Bernice as she attends a birthday party.
 

Everyone else had gotten a frosting rose on their piece of cake... but not Bernice. All she'd gotten was a plain white square from the middle.

And it only gets worse from there.

But an unexpected event leads Bernice to change her perspective and it turns her whole attitude around.

Bernice Gets Carried Away is a marvelous book to share with kids to show them how one person's kindness and change of attitude can have a ripple effect on everyone around you.

Hannah E. Harrison is a very special illustrator. Her ability to anthropomorphize animals with such expression and affection makes you want to reach in and hug every character she creates. After I read and wept openly at the end of Extraordinary Jane, I have vowed to read everything Harrison publishes. And how can you not love an illustrator who makes even the grumpiest of cats one you want to snuggle? Warm prune grapefruit soda, anyone?

Bernice Gets Carried Away by Hannah E. Harrison
Expected Publication: July 14, 2015
Publisher: Dial
Pages: 32
Format: Picture Book
Disclosure: Finished copy provided by publisher

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound.