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. 

It's Monday! What are you reading? 7-20-15

Originally hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, Jen over at Teach Mentor Texts along with Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers also host a kidlit version of It's Monday! What are You Reading?

My Monday posts are generally just a highlight of what I've been reading during the week so if you'd like to see all that I've been reading, follow my Goodreads page.

I missed last week's It's Monday! post because I was in Costa Rica, which I will blog about more soon, but I did write a little bit about it yesterday on my teaching blog: Owning Up -- #semicolonEDU

I was also hoping to have the chance to blog about the awesomeness that was #nErDcampMI, but I feel like that ship has sailed, so here's a Storify instead.

This It's Monday! post will chronicle some of the things I've read over the past two weeks.


Reviewed:

Bernice Gets Carried Away by Hannah E. Harrison


I finished reading:
 
Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead
I will be reviewing this one soon, but spoiler alert: I didn't love it the way I love When You Reach Me. 


Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate
If you want to move a student up a reading ladder that pairs the heartbreak and hope of Eve Bunting's Yard Sale with the emotion and imagination of The Adventures of Beekle by Dan Santat, look no further than Katherine Applegate's newest novel.


My Drunk Kitchen by Hannah Hart 
Hannah Hart has mastered the art of cookbookery without actually having written a cookbook. A fun parody of the cookbook genre, while also being deep and heartfelt in places, once you root through all the puns and silly humor.


Something Extraordinary by Ben Clanton 
The wish and search for something extraordinary to happen often means we are missing out on the extraordinary things that are happening all around us that are just disguised as ordinary things. The message of this book puts me in mind of The Man with the Violin and how so often beautiful things are passing us by because we are too oblivious to notice. 


I finished reading with my ears:

Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan
Absolutely breathtaking. I need to collect my thoughts and then write a thorough review soon!  


Currently reading:

The Truth Commission by Susan Juby
I'm not very far into this one but I already love it. I know I'll be recommending this like crazy! 


Currently reading with my ears:

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Unmapped Sea by Maryrose Wood 
The Incorrigibles series is a comfort read for me. Katherine Kellgren is perfection as an audiobook narrator.  

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. 

It's Monday! What are you reading? 7-6-15

Originally hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, Jen over at Teach Mentor Texts along with Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers also host a kidlit version of It's Monday! What are You Reading?

My Monday posts are generally just a highlight of what I've been reading during the week so if you'd like to see all that I've been reading, follow my Goodreads page.

I'm so excited that today I will be at nErDcamp! I am excited to see and meet new Nerdy Book Club friends!

Next week I won't have an It's Monday! post because my husband and I will be in Costa Rica until July 18th! I'm so excited! It's my first time there and since we are very much "get up and go" kind of travelers, I'm looking forward to all of the new adventure stories I will be bringing back with me.


Last week I reviewed: 

The Moon is Going to Addy's House by Ida Pearle
This is Sadie by Sara O'Leary, illustrated by Julie Morstad


I also posted:

Lucy Knisley fangirling


Current giveaway:

The Paper Cowboy by Kristin Levine


I finished reading: 


Jumped In by Patrick Flores-Scott
Oh the tears. Thank goodness I wasn't out in public when I was reading this. The last 40 pages of the book had me weeping incessantly. I would love to make this a read aloud in my classroom, but I fear I won't be able to get through the ending. Plus there's a fair bit of language, which could get awkward with middle schoolers. Would be a good high school read aloud though. 

Radiator Days by Lucy Knisley
Because I can't get enough of her work. This is a series of short comics she created while she was in art school. 


Favorite picture books from last week:


Float by Daniel Miyares 
A beautiful wordless picture book with a perfectly resonant ending.

Ice Cream Summer by Peter Sis
A blithe, whimsical, and slightly irreverent story that combines fantastical illustrations with facts about the history of ice cream. 
   

Still reading:
 
Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead
I don't know how I feel about this book yet. I'm still perplexed. Which I think is typical Rebecca Stead, so I'm just going to ride this wave. 


Still reading with my ears:

Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan
I need to purchase a copy of the hardcover just because it's one of those special books that needs to be owned, but having said that, I can't imagine NOT listening to the audiobook. The addition of the music makes this almost an otherworldly experience. I have broken down crying about three times now and I'm only halfway through it. But I'm a crier so don't use me as the measuring stick for how emotional this book will make you. :) 

This is Sadie by Sara O'Leary, illustrated by Julie Morstad

Sadie's wings can take her anywhere she wants to go. And they always bring her home again. The days are never long enough for Sadie. So many things to make and do and be.

Oh my heart.

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.

Gift this book to your daughters to show them they can do anything or be anyone they want to be. Gift this to your sons to show them it's OK to be "like a girl." Sadie is a role model to kids and adults alike. Let's not forget there's a Sadie in all of us.



This is Sadie by Sara O'Leary, illustrated by Julie Morstad
Published: May 12, 2015
Publisher: Tundra Books
Pages: 32
Format: Picture Book
Audience: Primary (EVERYONE!)
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. 

Freedom to Read giveaway hop: The Paper Cowboy by Kristin Levine

For my portion of the blog hop I will be giving away:

The Paper Cowboy by Kristin Levine
Published: September 4, 2014
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 343
Genre: Historical Fiction
Audience: Middle Grade

Goodreads Summary:
Though he thinks of himself as a cowboy, Tommy is really a bully.  He's always playing cruel jokes on classmates or stealing from the store. But Tommy has a reason: life at home is tough. His abusive mother isn't well; in fact, she may be mentally ill, and his sister, Mary Lou, is in the hospital badly burned from doing a chore it was really Tommy's turn to do. To make amends, Tommy takes over Mary Lou's paper route. But the paper route also becomes the perfect way for Tommy to investigate his neighbors after stumbling across a copy of The Daily Worker, a communist newspaper.

Tommy is shocked to learn that one of his neighbors could be a communist, and soon fear of a communist in this tight-knit community takes hold of everyone when Tommy uses the paper to frame a storeowner, Mr. McKenzie. As Mr. McKenzie's business slowly falls apart and Mary Lou doesn't seem to get any better, Tommy's mother's abuse gets worse causing Tommy's bullying to spiral out of control.


Terms and conditions:
Must be 13 or older to enter and have a U.S. mailing address
One winner will be selected
Use the Rafflecopter widget to enter

Lucy Knisley fangirling

I have gradually become obsessed with the writing and artwork of Lucy Knisley. It started back in 2009 when I read French Milk, a rough-around-the-edges travelogue of her 5-week trip to Paris with her mother at the end of 2006/beginning of 2007. Even though there was a messiness to her writing and artwork, that in a way enhanced the experience because it really emphasized the journal-writing quality of the narrative.

Then two years ago I read and reviewed Knisley's more traditional graphic memoir Relish and became an instant fangirl. So when I discovered that Knisley had recently published two new travelogues, I stopped what I was currently reading and picked up An Age of License and Displacement.

These two travelogues cover life's spectrum it seems. In An Age of License, Knisley writes with both the spirit of youthful exuberance and a brooding, restless heart. This narrative is meant to celebrate youth and the ability to just pick up and go at a moment's notice.

The French have a saying for the time when you're young and experimenting with your lives and careers. They call it: L' Age License. As in: License to experience, mess up, license to fail, license to do... whatever, before you're settled.

An Age of License is Knisley's time to be carefree and uninhibited. She doesn't have to think or worry about whether or not to get up and go -- even though she does. Whereas, Displacement is a much different narrative, which Knisley even explicitly acknowledges when she compares the two trips:

That trip [in An Age of License] was about independence, sex, youth, and adventure. This trip is about patience, care, mortality, respect, sympathy, and love.

On this trip, 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. There was so much about both of these books that really resonated with me. I love the reflective duality between the two narratives, which is clearly not lost on Knisley. As I see my own parents age and I wrestle with my familial relationships, Displacement really hit home for me, especially the very last line of the book:

Good or bad, it's important to feel connected sometimes. Even if that connection can be painful.

Overall, I love seeing how Knisley's career is evolving. Because most of her books are travelogues, they have a confessional quality to them, which makes them all the more provocative to read. There are moments of deep reflection, as noted in the snippets above, but then there are also really funny, lighthearted scenes, such as this adorable moment in An Age of License where Knisley is driving in France with a croissant hanging out of her mouth.
 
At first, this looks like a page for the reader to just breeze by. A full-page panel with minimal text to give the reader's eyes a break. But the more you stop and think about it, there really is a lot to say about what is happening in the narrative and in her life. In this one illustration Knisley is commenting on her own age of license. She's alone, she can pick up and go as she pleases, and is choosing to indulge in the things that will give her happiness and pleasure. Every time I read a book by Knisley, my wanderlust only intensifies. 





If you buy any of these books 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.