Audiobook Review: The Diviners by Libba Bray

When Evie O'Neill's life is rocked by scandal in her small town of Zenith, Ohio, she is sent off to stay with her Uncle Will in New York City who is the owner and curator of The Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult - AKA "The Museum of the Creepy Crawlies." Despite her anger and heartbreak over the reason for her exile, she couldn't be more excited about what awaits her in New York: The lights! The glamor! The Speakeasies! And even though Uncle Will gives Evie strict instructions to stay out of trouble, she soon finds herself hanging with the flapper crowd in speakeasies and getting in trouble with the law. If it weren't for her secret and mysterious power that could possibly help her uncle and the police with a serial murder investigation, Evie might have found herself on a train back to Ohio. If she's not careful though, Evie could become a target of the killer herself.

Libba Bray proves once again what a talent she has for the written word. Her ability to set the perfect mood, whether it's 1920s New York City or a deserted island full of beauty pageant contestants, Libba always takes you on a journey to another place and time. And while getting into this novel is slow going at first, once you hit your stride, you will be hard pressed to want to stop. Though I caution you, unless getting the bejeezus scared out of you is on your list of fun things to do, you might want to reserve this book for daytime reading. Despite hitting the middle of the novel and not wanting to stop, I decided a restful sleep was better than a fitful one and chose to halt my listening until the safety of daylight hours.

Speaking of listening, let's talk about the audiobook narrator, shall we? I can't imagine anyone being a more perfect narrator for the audiobook of The Diviners than January LaVoy. While her performance is more subtle than, say, Libba Bray's in Beauty Queens or Bahni Turpin's in The True Meaning of Smekday (two of my favorite, over-the-top audiobook productions), LaVoy is a master at setting the mood. Her voice has a lighthearted bounce when she needs to be funny, and transforms to grave and austere when the book takes a spooky turn. She even manages to downright give you chills when her deep, fluid voice croons a mournful version of the Negro Spiritual "Wade in the Water." It's experiences like this that propel certain audiobooks into more a enjoyable experience than reading it on your own. The Diviners pos-i-tute-ly goes on my list of audiobooks I highly recommend over reading the book on your own. But if you're not a fan of reading with your ears, then read this one with your eyes. It's still worth it.


The Diviners by Libba Bray
Audiobook Narrator: January LaVoy
Published: September 25, 2012
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers and Listening Library
Pages: 587
Audiobook Length: 18 hours, 14 minutes
Genre: Historical Fiction/Fantasy
Audience: Young Adult (though this is a great book to give adults you're trying to convert to YA)
Disclosure: Audiobook checked out from library

You Tell Your Dog First by Alison Pace

Alison Pace has made a name for herself in the literary world by writing novels that revolve around dogs (my favorites being Pug Hill and A Pug's Tale for the obvious reason that I'm a pug owner). In You Tell Your Dog First, Pace takes her love for dogs and creates a personal series of essays that give her readers a better idea of why dogs are such an important part of her life and writing career.

With her trademark wit and humor, Pace not only shows that she gets dogs, but she gets dog-people too. In fact, I think I might be so bold as to call her the quintessential dog-person.

Despite her often self-deprecating humor and the assumption she makes that much of what she does for her dog would be considered loony to non-dog-people, Alison comes off as quite reasonable and charming. She is not the dog equivalent to the "crazy cat lady", but you get a small sense that she feels that way about herself . I, however, found her to be quite endearing and amiable, someone everyone would want to be friends with.

But with scenes like this, I don't know who could read this book and not get a good chuckle, dog-lover or not:

I didn't look at my boyfriend throughout the meal. Instead of living in the moment, or dealing with the reality of it, I busied myself with thinking about how much worse it could be. I thought: At least my sister isn't picking up Maude and suggesting that everyone pass her around the table. Because, really, she did that sometimes.

"Is it time?" I distracted myself imagining Joey saying.
"Oh, I think it is!" I imagined my uncle answering her.
"Pass the pug!" I could almost hear Nana exclaiming.
"Pass her indeed!"

As I imagined my family clapping rhythmically together, swaying from side to side and passing around a pug, as had happened before, I made it through dinner with my boyfriend sitting across from me, and my parents' Jack Russel terrier sitting happily beside him. I imagined everyone, en masse, bursting into a variation of Pass the Dutchie on the Left-Hand-Side. That never happened, but I imagined it anyway.

I find this scene hilarious for two reasons:
1) The association Pace makes with passing a pug around the table and the ridiculous song from the 80s about passing a joint around.
2) My husband and I used to play "pass the pug" when our pug Frank was a puppy to keep him from falling asleep too early and therefore wouldn't sleep through the night, so when I read "pass the pug", I immediately went to my own visions of my husband and I sitting on the couch passing a pug off each other for the better part of an evening.

I find Alison Pace's writing both endearing and intellectually stimulating and not just because it's mostly about dogs, but she has a breezy and whimsical style that always challenges my thinking with her word choice and punctuation. There are a few essays in this book that are perfect to share with students when talking about craft. I'm looking forward to using them as mentor texts.

You Tell Your Dog First is the perfect book for the dog-lover in your life or if you're just someone trying to figure out just what makes dog-people tick. So you could read this book for entertainment OR for research purposes. :)


You Tell Your Dog First by Alison Pace
Published: November 6, 2012
Publisher: Berkley Trade
Pages: 232
Genre: Nonfiction
Audience: Adults
Disclosure: Book provided by the publisher

Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans by Kadir Nelson

I could've sworn I reviewed this book last summer when I read it, but alas, it went unreviewed, which is a crying shame because this book is beautiful. And with Martin Luther King, Jr. Day coming up and Black History Month approaching, this is a book that needs to be on everyone's radar.

One of the reasons kids (and adults for that matter) find history so boring is because they are forced to read "un-biased" texts void of any voice. Told from the perspective of a "grandmother-like figure who would allow me to focus on major historical milestones that affected both her family and the rest of the country," Kadir Nelson creates a history of the African American experience full of, well, Heart and Soul.

Once you put a book like this in the hands of students, suddenly history comes alive. I am not ashamed to admit that I teared up a couple times while reading this book. For a non-fiction text to do that is quite a feat.

This would be a great mentor text to use with kids about voice and writing about history through someone else's lens.



Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans by Kadir Nelson
Published: September 27, 2011
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Pages: 108
Genre: Nonfiction
Audience: Middle Grade/Young Adult
Disclosure: Book checked out from my local library

Clear Your Shelf Giveaway Hop

For my portion of this blog hop, I am giving away a copy of:

Eat the City by Robin Shulman
Publication Date: July 10, 2012
Publisher: Crown Publishing
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 352
Genre: Nonfiction
Audience: Adults
Disclosure: Thanks to Crown Publishing for providing a copy of the book for this giveaway.

From Goodreads:

New York is not a city for growing and manufacturing food. It’s a money and real estate city, with less naked earth and industry than high-rise glass and concrete.   Yet in this intimate, visceral, and beautifully written book, Robin Shulman introduces the people of New York City  - both past and present - who  do grow vegetables, butcher meat, fish local waters, cut and refine sugar, keep bees for honey, brew beer, and make wine. In the most heavily built urban environment in the country, she shows an organic city full of intrepid and eccentric people who want to make things grow.  What’s more, Shulman artfully places today’s urban food production in the context of hundreds of years of history, and traces how we got to where we are.

 In these pages meet Willie Morgan, a Harlem man who first grew his own vegetables in a vacant lot as a front for his gambling racket. And David Selig, a beekeeper in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn who found his bees making a mysteriously red honey. Get to know Yolene Joseph, who fishes crabs out of the waters off Coney Island to make curried stews for her family. Meet the creators of the sickly sweet Manischewitz wine, whose brand grew out of Prohibition; and Jacob Ruppert, who owned a beer empire on the Upper East Side, as well as the New York Yankees.

Eat the City is about how the ability of cities to feed people has changed over time. Yet it is also, in a sense, the story of the things we long for in cities today: closer human connections, a tangible link to more basic processes, a way to shape more rounded lives, a sense of something pure.

Of course, hundreds of years ago, most food and drink consumed by New Yorkers was grown and produced within what are now the five boroughs. Yet people rarely realize that long after New York became a dense urban agglomeration, innovators, traditionalists, migrants and immigrants continued to insist on producing their own food. This book shows the perils and benefits—and the ironies and humor—when city people involve themselves in making what they eat.

Food, of course, is about hunger. We eat what we miss and what we want to become, the foods of our childhoods and the symbols of the lives we hope to lead. With wit and insight, Eat the City shows how in places like New York, people have always found ways to use their collective hunger to build their own kind of city.

ROBIN SHULMAN is a writer and reporter whose work has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, Slate, the Guardian, and many other publications.  She lives in New York City.

Teen Boat! by Dave Roman and John Green

The teen years are full of awkward, angst-filled moments. But if you thought your teen years were awkward, you've got nothing on Teen Boat, a boy who can turn from teen boy into a boat at will. The tag line of this graphic novel says everything you need to know about it: the angst of being a teen, the thrill of being a boat. And with that, you get an idea of the quirky humor and ridiculous yet intriguing premise.

This is a graphic novel that one might initially dismiss as fluff, but don't allow yourself to only be enamored with its quirkiness; there's a lot happening beneath the surface too. Upon first reading, I'm sure I missed all the symbolism permeating the story because I was just so delighted by the quirk factor. I think I will have to encounter a second reading very soon because I know there will be things I missed the first time around.

This book was a delightful surprise and I'm looking forward to reading more of Roman's work, especially after getting the chance to talk to him at NCTE/ALAN.

Dave draws in my copy of Teen Boat!

My personalized copy of Teen Boat!

Oh, and just in case you were wondering (like I was), the John Green of Teen Boat! is not the same as the John Green of VlogBrothers, The Fault in Our Stars, and Looking for Alaska.  Thanks Alyson Beecher for clearing that up for me! :)


Teen Boat! by Dave Roman and John Green
Published: May 8, 2012
Publisher: Clarion Books
Pages: 144
Genre: Graphic Novel
Audience: Young Adult
Disclosure: Copy acquired at the 2012 ALAN 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. 

ARC review: Just One Day by Gayle Forman

That whole day, being with Willem, being Lulu, it made me realize that all my life I've been living in a small, square room , with no windows and no doors. And I was fine. I was happy, even. I thought. Then someone came along and showed me there was a door in the room. One that I'd never even seen before. Then he opened it for me.

When Allyson Healy takes a trip to Europe with her best friend Melanie the summer before her Freshman year of college, she quickly discovers that most of the trip is drudgery: filled with schedules, a motherly tour guide, and tourist trap after tourist trap. But close to the end of their trip, in Stratford-Upon-Avon, Melanie and Allyson ditch their tour group to attend an underground performance of Shakespeare's The Twelfth Night. That is where she sees Willem for the first time, a ruggedly handsome Dutch actor performing in the play, and there is an irrefutable spark. So when their first chance encounter leads to a second, Allyson decides to ditch her normally good girl persona and take a risk, choosing to run off to Paris with Willem for the day.

That decision vaults her into one of the most tumultuous years of her life, filled with angst and self-discovery, and perhaps even some love along the way: love of herself and of others.

True to Gayle Forman's touching, sentimental style, she writes a page-turning narrative full of heart and soul in Just One Day. I must admit, I was a bit dubious of Allyson's intentions midway through the novel, and even found her to be a tad too emo and angsty for my liking. At certain points of the story I even found it extremely difficult to empathize with her. But I should not have doubted. Forman once again proves her writing chops and shows her readers how to truly craft a three-dimensional character.

There were so many beautiful moments in this book, and they all revolve around Allyson's journey of self-discovery. The friendship she forms with the vibrant and flamboyant D'Angelo Harrison - AKA, "Dee" - is one of the most endearing parts of the novel and helps keep the plot moving. Dee is the perfect example of how a secondary character could steal the show, and would have, if plotted incorrectly. But in this case, he came in, did his job (offered some lightheartedness to some otherwise dark and dismal scenes) and then left Allyson to do the rest.

Equally as compelling is Forman's use of travel as self-discovery (which I am obviously a big proponent of given the theme of my blog). There is a particular scene in the book where Allyson is in Paris and she enters a patisserie where there is much celebration and the people inside ask her to join them even though she doesn't know a soul in the room. Her reaction to the events that unfold along with the reason for the celebration  proves to be one of the most beautiful and memorable scenes in the book, and a perfect case for why people should travel the world: to seek out those beautiful, unexpected moments that you can't get from, as Mark Twain would say, "vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime."

Given that most people who have put this book on their to-read list know that there will be a second book told from Willem's point-of-view, the ending shouldn't be too much of a surprise. Though I have to admit, I'm glad we don't have to wait a year to read Just One Year, since the planned publication appears to be some time in 2013. I for one will be one of the first people clamoring to read it.

If you're someone like me who loves tales of travel and self-discovery, put Just One Day on your to-read list today!

If you like these books, then you might like Just One Day (and vice-versa):
Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard
Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson
If I Stay and Where She Went by Gayle Forman


Just One Day by Gayle Forman
Expected Publication: January 8, 2013
Publisher: Dutton Juvenille
Pages: 368
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Audience: Young Adult
Disclosure: ARC acquired at NCTE conference

YA2U: Bringing Authors to Your Hometown + giveaway

Have you ever wished that a big YA book tour would make a stop in your hometown? Well, here's your chance for that wish to come true! YA2U is a program that features five award-winning and best-selling authors who are holding a contest to see what city they should visit in an exclusive tour stop!

The authors are collecting votes from January 1 to February 15, and any city in the continental US or any Canadian city that has an international airport can win an exclusive visit from all five authors, including an author panel and book signing! Entering is super easy--and if you help spread the word about the contest, you can also enter win a signed copy of all of their books (TEN signed books in total!)--and the book contest is open internationally!

The authors in the program are:

• Marie Lu, the New York Times best-selling author of Legend and the upcoming Prodigy
• Marissa Meyer, the New York Times best-selling author of Cinder and the upcoming Scarlet
• Beth Revis, the New York Times best-selling author of Across the Universe, A Million Suns, and the upcoming Shades of Earth
• Victoria Schwab, author of The Near Witch and the highly-anticipated upcoming The Archived
• Megan Shepherd, author of the debut novel The Madman's Daughter

And they want to have an event in your home town! To participate, just got to the YA2U website and let them know what city you want them to come to. And while you're there, help spread the word about the contest and you can be entered to win all of their books--TEN signed books in total! 

Here's why the YA2U Team should come to MY hometown! 

Ann Arbor is a sophisticated college town full of people who love books and who love to buy from local businesses - they support indie book stores and Nicola's Books is a favorite around here. We have the beautiful University of Michigan and downtown Ann Arbor is full of lots of great restaurants and shops. Not to mention the fact that Michigan has a very large contingent of the #NerdyBookClub who are always willing to come to an author signing and fangirl it up.

Why should the YA2U Team come to your hometown? Why not join in the fun today and share with others about this program and your hometown. The more votes your town gets, the closer you are to having your very own personal tour stop! Vote for YOUR town here!

And if you help spread the word, you can also participate in the book giveaway. Tell them that you learned about YA2U from me and we both get extra entries in the contest! 

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