Blog Tour: No One Leaves the Castle by Christopher Healy

Christopher Healy's The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom is one of my all-time favorite middle grade series (read my review here). So when Walden Pond Press asked if I would like to participate in a blog tour for Healy's newest book, I was elated. But then when I discovered it took place in the same world as the Hero's Guide, I was even more excited. My entire reading experience wasn't just about following along with the mysterious quest of the main character in this novel, but also to find all of the Easter eggs from the Hero's Guide (I will have to re-read the series to find them all, I'm sure). 

My favorite thing about Christopher Healy's books is that because he leans into humor rather than drama, that makes the fantasy setting more bearable for someone like me who doesn't love fantasy novels. Because I'm too busy laughing, I don't have time to think about how I normally shy away from fantasy. 

If you or a young reader in your life love mystery, fantasy, and humor, add No One Leaves the Castle to your TBR! And most importantly, you don't have to have read The Hero's Guide series to enjoy No One Leaves the Castle (but I recommend you read it sometime in your life because it's one of the funniest series in all of children's literature). 

ABOUT THE BOOK
Agatha Christie meets the Brothers Grimm in an unexpected, hilarious, and wholly original new fantasy-mystery from the beloved author of The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom.

The Lilac. The bard songs say that she’s the world’s most fearsome bounty hunter. That there’s no criminal she can’t catch, no mystery she can’t solve.

None of that is true. Yet.

In reality, the Lilac is just a kid, and the bard who wrote all that is her best friend, Dulcinetta. But when a priceless artifact goes missing from the home of famed monster hunter Baron Angbar, the Lilac and Netta see their chance to apprehend the thief and make a name for themselves.

When they get to Castle Angbar, however, and meet the Angbar family and their servants and guests—an unsavory group of nobles, mages, and assorted creatures, each more shady than the last—the Lilac begins to wonder if the reward is worth the trouble.

And that’s before the dead body is discovered.

Now everyone is magically sealed inside the castle—and there is a murderer among then. If the Lilac wants to make it out with her reputation intact, it’s going to be up to her to figure out who the killer is. But everyone in the castle—even the Lilac herself—has secrets to hide, and as the walls literally start to close in around them, the Lilac worries that her first job as a bounty hunter may be her last….

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Christopher Healy is the author of the New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom and its sequels, as well as the Perilous Journey of Danger and Mayhem series. Before becoming a writer, Chris worked as an actor, an ad copywriter, a toy-store display designer, a fact-checker, a dishwasher, a journalist, a costume shop clothing stitcher, a children’s entertainment reviewer, and a haunted house zombie. He lives with his family in New Jersey. You can visit him online at christopherhealy.com

Blog tour stops: 

August 2 Nerdy Book Club (@nerdybookclub)

August 7 Bluestocking Thinking (@bluesockgirl)

August 8 Teachers Who Read (@teachers_read)

August 12 Maria’s Mélange (@mariaselke)

August 15 A Foodie Bibliophile in Wanderlust (@teacherlibrarianbeth)

August 18 Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers (@grgenius)

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No One Leaves the Castle by Christopher Healy

Publication date: August 15, 2023

Publisher: Walden Pond Press

Pages: 384

Genre: Fantasy/Mystery

Audience: Middle grade

Disclosure: ARC received from publisher

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

Family Style: Memories of an American from Vietnam by Thien Pham

Back in June at the Ann Arbor Comic Arts Festival, I had the privilege of being introduced to Thien Pham by the inimitable Raina Telgemeier. When Raina recommends a book and then introduces you to the author/illustrator, you go out and read that book (Side note, I even got the privilege of driving Thien and Raina to Detroit for an adventure as part of his 100 days of noodles prior to his book's publication). This graphic memoir blew me away and touched my heart.

Thein Pham's first memory is on a refugee boat from Vietnam to Thailand and to this day, he can still taste the sweetness of the rice and the saltiness of the fish of what he ate after a near catastrophic moment on that boat. In Family Style, we go on a journey with Thien Pham and his family as they navigate their lives as refugees and then immigrants to the United States, settling in Northern California. Each chapter in this book is organized around a specific dish as we watch Thien and his family live the American dream. The culminating chapter of this book is so beautiful and emotionally resonant that I will be thinking about it for a long time. What I especially love is that Family Style is a graphic memoir that can go on ANY library shelf... middle grade readers, young adults, and adults alike can pick up this book, enjoy it, and feel like it was written just for them.

Family Style: Memories of an American from Vietnam by Thien Pham

Published: June 20, 2023

Publisher: First Second

Pages: 240

Genre: Graphic Memoir

Audience: Middle grade/Young Adult/Adult

Disclosure: Purchased copy

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

A First Time for Everything by Dan Santat

This amazing graphic memoir by Dan Santat is out in the world today and if you teach middle school especially, you need this book for your classroom library.

I read this book on my flight back home from NCTE back in November and I have been impatiently waiting to share this book with readers, but no more!

The premise of this book is that the summer before high school, Dan is presented with an opportunity to travel to Europe with a school group for 3 weeks, but he is initially ambivalent. He wants to experience new things, but he's not sure he wants to do it with some of his classmates. But as the trip goes on, he realizes how much bigger the world grows for him as he tries new and forbidden things for the first time (beer, cigarettes, coffee, and even steals a bike... this was the 80s... we were all feral in the 80s ), has his first summer romance, and he sees what the world has to offer beyond his small hometown.

I read this book on my flight home from NCTE and it was the perfect book to read on a plane. My experience living in Europe was in my 20s but I saw so much of my own experience in this book and how the world became so much bigger for me. I loved the way the story was structured, I love how it ended in a way that it felt like you were watching a movie, oh, and I also love that I understood most of the German throughout the book and laughed so hard when Dan was baring his soul to Helga, his Austrian host mother whom he lived with for a week and she said "Es tut mir leid, dass ich nicht verstehe was du sagt." This book has so much heart and is relatable in so many ways, whether that's the travel angle, the "middle school was torture" angle or the pining away for a summer romance angle. So many readers will devour this book and I'm so glad it's finally out in the world for more readers to love.

A First Time for Everything by Dan Santat

Published: February 28, 2023

Publisher: First Second

Pages: 320

Genre: Graphic Memoir

Audience: Older middle grade/younger YA

Disclosure: ARC received at NCTE 2022

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

My Pet Feet by Josh Funk, illustrated by Billy Yong

When the letter R suddenly goes missing, a little girl has to figure out where it went, or else run the risk of having pet feet instead of a pet ferret. There are also a slew of other mishaps that a missing letter R might cause you to encounter... such as a galloping hose instead of a horse, a flock of cows instead of crows, and a babbling book instead of brook just to name a few.

I can't even imagine the mental gymnastics that had to occur in order to write a book with no Rs, but Josh Funk manages to make mental gymnastics fun and entertaining. This book is no doubt going to be an uproarious read aloud favorite with groups of kids.

My Pet Feet by Josh Funk, illustrated by Billy Yong

Published: August 23, 2022

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Pages: 48

Genre/Format: Picture book

Audience: Primary

Disclosure: Digital copy provided by author

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

Emotional Inheritance: A Therapist, Her Patients, and the Legacy of Trauma by Galit Atlas, PhD

"When we learn to identify the emotional inheritance that lives within us, things start to make sense and our lives begin to change. Slowly, a door opens, a gateway between present life and past trauma." 

I wasn't planning on reading AND finishing this book in one day. I was just going to sit down and read the introduction to see if this was a book I wanted to keep reading or if I would take it back to the library. But before I knew it, I was on page 100 and couldn't stop reading. The only reason I didn't finish it in one sitting is because I needed to come up for air since the subject is so intense. Otherwise I would have finished it in one sitting; I was that riveted.  

Emotional Inheritance was not what I was expecting. When I picked it up, I fully anticipated a book full of psychological jargon and written in expository format. Instead, the book is written entirely in narrative format, and each chapter is the story from one of Atlas' clients as it illustrates anecdotally how someone inherited the trauma they are currently wrestling with in their lives. While many people will say the anecdotal nature and lack of cited research discredits this book, I would argue that Atlas' intended audience means she used this format to compel the reader to seek out more information in the field of epigenetics and inherited trauma. The page-turning nature of this book will mean that the reader likely will seek out more information about this field and want to learn more.

But speaking of lack of citations, my only issue with this book is Atlas' frequent references to Freud which, I get that Freud got some things right, but given his lack of credibility in our present day, it feels like there should have been more context to citing his work since many people now find him so problematic.  

Overall though, I thought what made Emotional Inheritance an effective read is how it compels the reader to learn more about the way trauma is baked into our DNA. 

Emotional Inheritance: A Therapist, Her Patients, and the Legacy of Trauma by Galit Atlas, PhD
Published: January 25, 2022
Publisher: Little, Brown Spark
Pages: 288
Genre: Nonfiction/Self-Help
Audience: Adults
Disclosure: Library Copy

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

Run: Book One by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, L. Fury, and Nate Powell

 

"First you march, then you run." 

John Lewis' story doesn't end with the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Run Book One is the story of tension within the membership of SNCC, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, that John Lewis was the leader of. What stands out most in reading this first book in the series are the comparisons the reader can make to what was happening in the 1960s to what is happening now -- how despite the progress that African Americans have made, white Americans always find a way to push back in an attempt to continue their oppressive behavior, both systemic and on an individual level. 

I've been thinking a lot lately about how difficult it is to live in these turbulent times, thinking that every time you turn around something horrible is happening in our country or the world, but reading Run was a good reminder that this era does not hold a monopoly on continuous terrible events. The difference is, we just have instantaneous access to those events, therefore flooding our brains with constant anxiety and existential dread. 

This book ends on a cliffhanger, which makes sense because it is intended to be a trilogy just like March. I'm really looking forward to reading the next book and if it were already available, I would be picking it up immediately. 

Run: Book One by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, L. Fury, and Nate Powell
Published: August 3, 2021
Publisher: Abrams ComicArts
Pages: 152
Genre: Memoir/Graphic Novel
Audience: Young Adult/Adult
Disclosure: Free copy received at ALA conference 2022

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

Blog Tour: The Hurricanes of Weakerville by Chris Rylander

Publisher description:

All his life, Alex Weakerman has had one passion: baseball. Specifically, the Hurricanes of Weakerville, Iowa—the scrappy independent-league team owned by his Grandpa Ira.

Even as team and the town have fallen on tough times, there’s no place Alex would rather be than at the ballpark—a hot dog in one hand, a pencil and scorebook in the other, keeping track of each and every statistic. Alex has never been all that great at playing baseball, but that doesn’t matter. For someone as painfully awkward as Alex, being a fan—and a wiz with baseball stats—is all he needs.

When Grandpa Ira passes away, though, Alex is crushed. He’s lost his best friend, and he doesn’t see any way that the team will survive. But Ira, it seems, has one last trick up his sleeve: his will names Alex the new manager of the Hurricanes.

Alex is as excited as he is terrified at the chance to finally put some of his fantasy baseball genius to use. But as he sets to work trying to win over the players, he soon learns that leading them to victory is about more than just stats. Will he be able to save his team, his hometown, and his family legacy?

The Hurricanes of Weakerville by Chris Rylander is The Sandlot meets Field of Dreams meets A League of Their Own. As someone who is not a lover a baseball the sport, but loves a good baseball story, this book fills all the satisfying notes of a good baseball story: quirky characters, a David vs. Goliath trope, and a satisfying resolution. 

About the Author:

Chris Rylander is the author of the acclaimed and bestselling “Fourth Stall” saga, the “Codename Conspiracy” trilogy, and co-author of book three in the New York Times bestselling “House of Secrets” series. He lives in Chicago, where he eats a lot of raspberry jam and frequently tries to befriend the squirrels on his block.

Publishing June 28, 2022

The Hurricanes of Weakerville Blog Tour Stops

6/21 Nerdy Book Club @nerdybookclub

6/22 A Foodie Bibliophile in Wanderlust @bethshaum

6/23 Teachers Who Read @teachers_read

6/27 LitCoachLou @litcoachlou

6/28 Bluestocking Thinking @bluesockgirl

6/29 Walden Tumblr @waldenpondpress

7/1   Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers @grgenius

The Most Dazzling Girl in Berlin by Kip Wilson

The year is 1932 in Berlin and now that Hilde is eighteen, she must leave her orphanage and set out on her own. She quickly discovers, however, that finding a job is near impossible in these economically depressed times. But fate intervenes one night when she meets Rosa, who brings Hilde to Café Lila where she meets a cast of characters that soon become her chosen family. 

As Berlin falls further and further into the authoritarian grip of the Nazis who are scapegoating Jews and the queer community, Hilde along with the employees and patrons of Café Lila continue to remain quietly hopeful and defiant... until trouble comes loudly knocking on their door. 

Just as the title suggests, this YA historical fiction in verse by Kip Wilson is dazzling.  Berlin is my favorite city on earth, mostly because there has always been a provocative, defiant, avant-garde, and counter-cultural energy about it. That was true in 2004 when I visited for the first time, and it was certainly true when this novel takes place. 

But just as this book is a window into 1930s Germany, it's also an alarming mirror to societies, including American society, that allow idealogues and populists to rise to power. 

In addition to being a cautionary historical fiction in verse, The Most Dazzling Girl in Berlin is also a gentle queer/lesbian love story, which is a much-needed addition to the canon of LGBTQ+ YA fiction, which seems to lean more heavily towards male romance. Because this book is many things (historical fiction, novel in verse, queer romance, a cautionary tale for modern times), there would be potential in the hands of a less adept writer for this book to have taken on too much. But never fear, dear reader, Kip Wilson manages to weave all of these elements perfectly and seamlessly. 

The Most Dazzling Girl in Berlin by Kip Wilson*
Published: March 29, 2022
Publisher: Versify
Pages: 416
Genre: Historical Fiction/LGBTQ+ Romance
Audience: Young Adult
Disclosure: Advance listening copy provided by publisher

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

The Midwest Survival Guide: How We Talk, Love, Work, Drink, and Eat... Everything with Ranch by Charlie Berens

Charlie Berens is a journalist and comedian known for his hilarious videos on social media that celebrate life in the Midwest. Some of my favorites are his series on Midwest Nice:

Part 1 
Part 2
Part 3

What Charlie Berens does so brilliantly in The Midwest Survival Guide is that he made the culture of being a Midwesterner not just a source of poking fun, but also of pride. Despite his hyperbolic cultural touchstones of the Midwest, there's also a great deal of truth in his hyperbole.

As a born and bred Midwesterner, I have often felt that sense of being excluded from distinctive cultural humor and conversations of the United States. Not only is the Midwest considered flyover country, it also tends to get overlooked in terms of discussions about what makes a person culturally Midwestern. We hear all the time about what makes a person a Southerner or a New Englander, for example, but rarely do we talk about the culture of the Midwest. So when Charlie Berens talks about the fashion of the Midwest, the debate over casserole vs. hotdish, the long goodbye, and of course, the beauty, humor and practicality of the word "Ope," I have to say... I felt seen.

After a difficult year that left me in quite a reading rut, I read/listened to this book in less than two days. I highly recommend reading and listening to this book concurrently because you miss something from only doing one or the other. If you only listen to the book you miss out on all the charts, maps, and illustrations. If you only read the book, then you miss the very best part of the book in my mind, which is hearing Charlie Berens' endearing and exaggerated Midwestern accent.

This will definitely be one of my favorite books of 2021.

The Midwest Survival Guide: How We Talk, Love, Work, Drink, and Eat... Everything with Ranch by Charlie Berens*
Published: October 5, 2021
Publisher: William Morrow/Harper Audio
Pages: 272
Audiobook length: 6 hours, 5 minutes
Genre: Humor/Nonfiction
Audience: Adults
Disclosure: Library Copy/Audiobook provided by publisher

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

Audiobook Review: The Storyteller by Dave Grohl

I've always loved the Foo Fighters and Dave Grohl ever since I learned he was the drummer for Nirvana and then became the guitarist and frontman for his own band after Kurt Cobain died. Foo Fighters is very much a band of my generation.  I listened to the audiobook of The Storyteller which Grohl narrates so it felt more like I was sitting with him at the kitchen table while he regaled me with stories from his life in rock n roll. I love how salt-of-the earth Grohl is, managing to stick pretty close to his humble roots despite having a life in an industry that can get you swept up in the fame, money, and vices pretty quickly. But Grohl is quick and frequent to credit his public schoolteacher mother who recognized that her son would never be fit for the academia track and let him go to pursue his dreams of being a musician before he even finished high school. What a gift that was to him to live his own life rather than trying to get him to fulfill her dreams that she had for him.

Despite my love for Grohl as a person, his writing, and hearing his rich yet gravelly baritone voice narrate his story, I did find  it frustrating that the book didn't follow a linear timeline and there were holes that I wanted to know more about (how did he meet his wife? Why are his oldest daughters talked about frequently but his third daughter only gets two passing mentions?) And yet, despite my frustration with this, I think the tone of the book was meant to be more about telling stories rather than a linear memoir, I am willing to overlook those criticisms because I loved listening to him tell his stories so much. By far the best audiobook I've listened to in 2021. 

The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music by Dave Grohl*
Published: October 5, 2021
Publisher: Dey Street Books/Harper Audio
Pages: 376
Audiobook length: 10 hours, 35 minutes
Genre: Memoir
Audience: Adults/Rock music lovers
Disclosure: Audiobook purchased from Libro.fm, which supports independent bookstores

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

In the Weeds: Around the World and Behind the Scenes with Anthony Bourdain by Tom Vitale

When Anthony Bourdain died by suicide in June of 2018, the devastation was immediate and lasting for so many, including me. It felt like a good friend died, even though I'd never met him.

Someone who did know Anthony Bourdain was author of In the Weeds, Tom Vitale. Having worked with Anthony Bourdain for over 15 years as a producer/director on No Reservations, The Layover, and Parts Unknown, Tom Vitale knew Tony better than almost anybody. In the Weeds is Vitale's story of working with such a complicated, mythical figure as Anthony Bourdain.

When I started reading In the Weeds, it was initially slow-going because it felt like Vitale was telling Tony's story from his backseat/behind-the-camera view. But as the story progressed and when the book started to feel the most engaging, was when Vitale became more confident in asserting his own story of traveling around the world rather than just describing Tony's reaction to everything. Some of my favorite moments in the narrative are when Tony isn't even present, like when Vitale went scouting locations for the Jamaica shoot of Parts Unknown and he and producer Josh Ferrell made all manner of absurd proposals just to spite the new line producer who was slashing costs left and right and forced their team to get pre-approval on any cost over $200 despite the fact that they were never extravagant with money. I also really appreciated his story of having dinner with Asia Argento in Rome after Tony's death because he did a something that I don't think Laurie Woolever's oral biography did, which was to take care not to come off as blaming Argento for Tony's death. One thing that has bothered me in the collateral damage of Bourdain's death is the misogynistic hot takes that have plagued Argento, essentially saying that she is the one responsible for his death by suicide. While Vitale does not absolve Argento, going so far as to say to her, "Everyone thinks he killed himself because of you," he also allows readers to come to their own conclusions and even manages to give her some grace. And finally, I found his telling of the behind-the-scenes chaos, drama, and choreography that was required to pull off that one short scene with President Obama in Vietnam in 2016.

Die-hard Bourdain fans will be initially be drawn to this book for untold Tony stories, but they will ultimately stay for Vitale's own gifted storytelling.

In the Weeds: Around the World and Behind the Scenes with Anthony Bourdain by Tom Vitale*
Published: October 5, 2021
Publisher: Hachette Books
Genre: Memoir
Audience: Adults/Travel lovers
Disclosure: Library copy

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

Niki Nakayama: A Chef's Tale in 13 Bites by Jamie Michalak and Debbie Michiko Florence, illustrated by Yuko Jones

Niki Nakayama grew up in Los Angeles in a traditional Japanese family. As a child she loved creating her own recipes and trying new foods.  When she expressed a desire to go to culinary school and become a chef, she was told she was too small and delicate to work in a restaurant kitchen. It seemed like people at every turn were telling her that a woman couldn't be a professional chef. 

Not only did Niki prove the doubters wrong about her ability to stand toe-to-toe with the best Japanese sushi chefs, she eventually decided to fulfill her ultimate dream of becoming a kaiseki chef, which is a type of cuisine that focuses on quality ingredients, technique, and story-telling. 

This picture book biography is a feast for the senses. As I read the book I became more and more intrigued by the idea of kaiseki and even sought out the episode of Chef's Table that Nakayama was featured on so I could learn more about her and the type of cuisine in which she specializes. If you have a budding chef in your life or just want to learn more about badass women busting glass ceilings, I highly recommend this wonderful book. 

Niki Nakayama: A Chef's Tale in 13 Bites by Jamie Michalak and Debbie Michiko Florence, illustrated by Yuko Jones

Published: September 14, 2021

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Pages: 40

Genre: Picture book biography

Audience: Primary/middle grade

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. 

The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green

In a series of essays, John Green reviews certain aspects of the Anthropocene, i.e., our current geologic age in which humans have drastically reshaped the planet. The end of each essay results in a star review, and thus the structure and purpose of the book becomes apparent: a rating system for our current human existence.

This is a book that I would have never picked up had I not already been a longtime fan of John Green's writing. He sets up the book in the introduction perfectly, reminding readers what a gifted writer he is, compelling you to keep turning the pages, even if you're not particularly interested in the topic of the essay you're currently reading. What you soon come to realize, however, is that these essays are not just about the topic listed in the chapter heading. That title is just an entry point for Green's meandering, yet purposeful style of writing. This structure is the most notable and apparent to me in his essay about the famous hotdog stand in Reykjavík, Iceland (full disclosure: I have been to said hotdog stand in Reykjavík, so that's likely why I found that essay so compelling), where he's not actually reviewing a hotdog stand, but a time in his life where he experienced a shared moment of jubilation with not only his travel companions, but an entire country. 

Not every essay held my attention, but on the whole this book is a highly satisfying read for fans of John Green and therefore I give The Anthropocene Reviewed four stars. 

The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green
Published: May 18, 2021

Publisher: Dutton

Pages: 293

Genre: Nonfiction

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. 

Hear My Voice: The Testimonies of Children Detained at the Southern Border of the United States, compiled by Warren Binford for Project Amplify

Written in both English and Spanish, and using the words of migrant children who were detained by the US government for entering the United States, this picture book shines a light on the injustices of our broken immigration system and its impact on children. This is a difficult book to read, even for adults, so it is recommended that a trusted adult read this book alongside a child. There are excellent discussion questions included in the backmatter of the book. Some adults will look at this book, start to read it and say that this book is much too heavy of a subject for a child to read about, but to those adults I say... these injustices in this book are happening to children. We need to talk with our kids about hard things, and this book gives adults the tools to do that with the excellent backmatter included at the end of the book. Hear My Voice: The Testimonies of Children Detained at the Southern Border of the United States, compiled by Warren Binford for Project Amplify Published: April 13, 2021 Publisher: Workman Genre: Nonfiction picture book Audience: Upper Elementary/Middle School 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. 

Milo Imagines the World by Matt de la Peña, illustrated by Christian Robinson

When people look down their noses at academics who study children’s literature because it isn’t literary or highbrow enough, books like Milo Imagines the World are the perfect example that children’s literature is literary, layered, complex, and worthy of study — while also being really beautiful and necessary storytelling for children to experience.

What Last Stop on Market Street does for bus rides, Milo Imagines the World does for subway rides. More specifically, in this story, Milo is on a long subway ride with his sister and he is very nervous about the destination in which he is going. To pass the time, he observes the people around him and draws stories that he imagines their lives to be. At the end of the book the reader discovers where he was going that made him so nervous and excited. While the story is certainly a social commentary, it is not didactic or preachy and it will certainly elicit great classroom discussion about assumptions and judgments we make about people.

Milo Imagines the World by Matt de la Peña, illustrated by Christian Robinson
Published: February 2, 2021
Publisher: G.P. Putnam Sons
Pages: 40

Genre/Format: Picture Book
Audience: Primary/Middle Grade
Disclosure: Review 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. 

A Kind of Paradise by Amy Rebecca Tan

"I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library." -- Jorge Luis Borges

Jamie Bunn was only trying to help the boy she had a crush on, but she ends up getting herself caught up in a cheating scandal at school. So her punishment is to do community service at her town's public library.

While spending her summer at the library, she comes face to face with members of the community she would not normally interact with: an elderly patron who tries to downplay his health issues, a man who has come on financial hard times, and even the girl who humiliated Jamie in front of her entire class.

But as the summer continues on, Jamie soon realizes that her summer of punishment is actually a blessing in disguise. Not only does she see firsthand what value the library holds for her community, but she also gets to have a front row seat to civic participation at work when her town's mayor is on a mission to close the library in order to save the town money.

A Kind of Paradise is the middle grade book answer to the The Public, the 2018 movie starring Emilio Estevez, about a renegade librarian who is on a mission to save his job while he gets himself caught up in a sit-in with homeless patrons who refuse to leave due to the extreme cold outside. Just as The Public is not a perfect movie, A Kind of Paradise has its flaws, but enumerating a long list in this book review would be missing the point of the book, which is to show kids and remind adults that libraries are important centerpieces of our community and they mean more to so many people than just borrowing books. The library is one of the few places that you can go in America today where you are not expected to spend any money, especially even more so now that many libraries are doing away with fines.

A Kind of Paradise by Amy Rebecca Tan
Published: April 30, 2019
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 303
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Audience: Middle Grade
Disclosure: Audiobook 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. 

Saturday by Oge Mora

Saturday is Ava's favorite day because she gets to spend it with her mother. So when everything during this particular Saturday seems to go terribly wrong, it is a test of Ava and her mother's resilience and sense of humor.

Oge Mora's sophomore effort is even more lovely and endearing than her Caldecott honor book Thank You, Omu. It reminds me a great deal of Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Pena and Christian Robinson. I wouldn't be surprised to also see some Caldecott hardware on this book come January. For what it's worth, this is one of my favorite picture books of 2019. 



Saturday by Oge Mora
Published: October 22, 2019
Publisher: Little, Brown
Pages: 40
Genre/Format: Picture Book
Audience: Primary
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. 

Audiobook Review: Beautiful on the Outside by Adam Rippon

When Adam Rippon became the media darling of the 2018 Winter Olympics, it was because he made the decision to soak in the experience of the Olympics rather than pushing to win the gold medal. At 28, he knew that was likely not possible. But what he didn't expect was that despite not going home with a gold medal, Adam Rippon really was the winner of the 2018 Olympics. He was joyful and sassy and shared every exciting moment with his fans.

Adam's sass has become his trademark personality trait, but sass can quickly come off as bitchiness if you're not careful. The reason his sass never comes off as bitchy in this book or in his life is because Adam is not a catty gossip. If he is talking smack about anyone, it is only himself. The only time he speaks overwhelmingly negatively about people in this book are when he describes the actions of a possessive, borderline abusive ex-boyfriend, when he describes the horrible behavior of his former coach Nikolai Morozov, and also when he discusses the manipulative behavior of Mike Pence when he tried to have a meeting with Adam before the Olympics. But as you learn in comedy, always punch up, not down. He spoke truth to power in those moments and used the rest of the book to be both hard on himself and to give himself some grace.

Verdict: I wanted to be BFFs with Adam before reading this and I want to be even more so now that I've read what an amazing, hardworking, honorable man he is -- despite the Khardashian-like trashiness he tries to portray himself as in front of the cameras. That facade is all a fun ruse, a joke he even lets the public in on, but if you don't know a lot about him, doesn't always translate for those who see him on TV in small doses. Also, other than missing out on the included photographs in the physical book, I highly recommend listening to the audiobook instead of the physical book because, of course, Adam narrates it himself.

My only criticism of this book is more a commentary on our culture. All I could think about when I was listening to the audiobook is how much the public would not allow or excuse Adam's behavior in a female skater. She WOULD come off as bitchy and ungrateful and be expected to not show any sort of humor or emotion. So as much as I love Adam, I also recognize that loving this persona that he has created would only be granted to a man and not to a woman.


Beautiful on the Outside by Adam Rippon
Published: October 15, 2019
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Pages: 256
Audiobook length: 8 hours, 19 minutes
Genre: Memoir
Audience: Adults/Skating Fans/ LGBTQIA + identifying and allies
Disclosure: Audiobook purchased with my Libro.fm credits, which supports The Brain Lair Bookstore

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: Guts by Raina Telgemeier

When Raina and her mom wake up one night with a case of the stomach flu, they both think it will pass quickly. But soon, Raina finds herself getting sick whenever she feels anxious about food, school, and life at home in her crowded apartment. Guts is her journey of discovering how anxiety manifested in physical ways in her life and how she managed her fears. 

I wanted this book to be longer. Not because it felt incomplete, but because I saw so much of myself in Raina's story and I had someone to commiserate with. I have suffered from anxiety and IBS since middle school, so this story felt like my story. 

I think this will be an important book for kids and adults to talk openly about mental health struggles, particularly anxiety, and will help to normalize going to therapy. My favorite line from the book was when Raina is in a session with her therapist and struggling to find the words to explain how she feels:

"Thoughts can exist...
Feelings can exist...
But words do not always exist."

Finding the words for your thoughts and feelings is exactly why there should be no shame in going to therapy. To be able to name a feeling is so freeing. I'm grateful that a book like this will exist for kids to help give words to their thoughts and feelings. The fact that Raina is so open about these struggles will help end the shame and stigma many people feel about mental health and digestive issues. 


Guts by Raina Telgemeier
Expected Publication: September 17, 2019
Publisher: Graphix
Pages: 215
Genre/Format: Graphic Memoir
Audience: Middle Grade
Disclosure: ARC 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.