Review (Becky): American Born Chinese

Title: American Born Chinese Author: Gene Luen Yang Pages: 240 Audience: Middle Grade Genre: Fantasy (graphic novel) Rating: 3 I'd friend this book on facebook 

Goodreads Summary

A tour-de-force by rising indy comics star Gene Yang, American Born Chinese tells the story of three apparently unrelated characters: Jin Wang, who moves to a new neighborhood with his family only to discover that he’s the only Chinese-American student at his new school; the powerful Monkey King, subject of one of the oldest and greatest Chinese fables; and Chin-Kee, a personification of the ultimate negative Chinese stereotype, who is ruining his cousin Danny’s life with his yearly visits. Their lives and stories come together with an unexpected twist in this action-packed modern fable. American Born Chinese is an amazing ride, all the way up to the astonishing climax.

My Thoughts
I liked the moral here of accepting yourself and cherishing your roots rather than forcing yourself to be what you think other people want. I also liked the colorful, cartoon-style illustrations. The eventual entwining of the original separate story-lines was interesting, but I didn't really care for the fantasy element. I think the story would have been more powerful if the myth was kept symbolic and the realistic story-line remained believable.  This would be a good classroom read to teach about diversity, bullying, other cultures, myths etc.

FTC Disclaimer

All reviews are solely the opinions of Becky and/or Randi. We are not paid in any way for our reviews, and all opinions are 100% honest.

Review (Becky): The Best Book Ever (also known as the Raven Boys)

Title: The Raven Boys Author: Maggie Stiefvater Pages: 408 Audience: Young Adult Genre: Fantasy (urban, paranormal, magical realism) Rating: 5-I'd marry this book and be a really jealous wife because it is just too amazing to share!
******Fine, you can read it, but you'll never love it like I do. *******

Goodreads Summary

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

My Thoughts AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry about that, but it had to be done. Maggie Stiefvater's Scorpio Races was so amazing, and since I wasn't a fan of her early work I was nervous it was going to be a sort of one hit wonder as far as appealing to me. Obviously, though, I loved the Raven boys. What really made it shine was A-the atmosphere and B-the characters.

The story is framed in an urban/suburban setting with magical realism creeping in around all the corners. It manages to be both a little gritty in tone yet flush with rich fantasy elements. We know from the very beginning something awful is going to happen, so we are left with a nearly gothic sense of foreboding. I'm not usually one for mysteries, but sans the detective jargon I loved it.

The characters were all amazing and were masterfully painted right from the start with a few quick verbal brushstrokes and then detailed as the story progressed, making it easy to get invested from the start. My favorites were Rogan and Adam. I like Rogan for his tempestuous and unexplored nature paired with fierce loyalty and Adam for his wounded home-life but strong principles. The others were also EXCELLENT as well, including well-developed secondary characters.

My one complaint for this book is that the ending is abrupt and sort of leaps ahead right after the climax. For a few minutes I thought my audio-book skipped. Because this is a series and the rest of the book was superb, it didn't bother me too much. I will be eagerly awaiting the rest of the series.

FTC Disclaimer

All reviews are solely the opinions of Becky and/or Randi. We are not paid in any way for our reviews, and all opinions are 100% honest.

Picture Book Spotlight: This is Not My Hat

Picture Book Spotlight is an original weekly post that will highlight relevant and/or popular picture books and suggest age groups and storytime themes for them. It will also include a mini-review.

Title: This is Not My Hat Authors: Jon Klassen Pages:40 Audience: K-3 Themes: fantasy, nature, art,

Summary:                                                         
When a tiny fish shoots into view wearing a round blue topper (which happens to fit him perfectly), trouble could be following close behind. So it's a good thing that enormous fish won't wake up. And even if he does, it's not like he'll ever know what happened. . . . Visual humor swims to the fore as the best-selling Jon Klassen follows his breakout debut with another deadpan-funny tale.

My Thoughts: This is a really funny book about a tiny fish who steals a big fish's hat, thinking he can get off scott free. The reader will enjoy the moments where the little fish foolishly thinks he is outsmarting the big fish.  The illustrations are artfully muted in color and look like paper or watercolor.  This would be a great pick for story-time!

Top Ten: Dark Fairy Tale and Classics Adaptations

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.  

This week our list (brought to you by Becky) is Top Ten fairy tale and classics adaptations.
  

Daughter of The Forest, by Juliet Marillier

Based on The Wild Swans.  

The Girl With Glass Feet, by Ali Shaw

New/Modern Fairytale about a girl who is turning to glass

The Wager, by Donna Jo Napoli

 Based on Don Giovanni.

Sisters Red, by Jackson Pearce

based on little red riding hood

The Book of Lost Things, by John Connolly

An amalgamation of many tales.

Cinder, by Marissa Meyer

Based on cinderella

Wicked, by Gregory Maguire

Based on the Wizard of Oz.  Ok, so it isn't technically a fairy tale lol.

The Looking Glass Wars, Frank Beddor

Based on Alice in Wonderland.  Ok, another cheat lol.  

Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan

Based on Snow White and Rose Red

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister,  by Gregory Maguire

Based on Cinderella.

                                                              

So what are your favorite adaptations? Link us up, we wanna know!

Review (Becky): Peak

Title: Peak Author: Roland Smith Pages: 246 Audience: Young Adult Genre: Contemporary Realism (Survival) Rating: 

Goodreads Summary

After Peak Marcello is arrested for scaling a New York City skyscraper, he's left with two choices: wither away in Juvenile Detention or go live with his long-lost father, who runs a climbing company in Thailand. But Peak quickly learns that his father's renewed interest in him has strings attached. Big strings. He wants Peak to be the youngest person to reach the Everest summit--and his motives are selfish at best. Even so, for a climbing addict like Peak, tackling Everest is the challenge of a lifetime. But it's also one that could cost him his life.         Roland Smith has created an action-packed adventure about friendship, sacrifice, family, and the drive to take on Everest, despite the incredible risk. Peak is a novel readers won't be able to put down.

My Thoughts
***spoiler warning**** This was an average read for me. The characters were disappointingly two-dimensional, which killed the story. We never really get inside Peak's head to find out why he likes to climb so much he tries to scale a skyscraper and deadly mountains. We never find out how Josh rationalized abandoning his son, which I was looking forward to. They basically just say "that's how he is". The two interesting characters, Zopa and his grandson, are left on the sidelines shrugging often and barely commenting. The rest of Peak's family is just an afterthought.

Another problem I had was the basic plot. I love stories of accidental survival situations, but purposefully climbing Everest is so fundamentally stupid I couldn't relate to any of the people doing it except the Sherpas who did it for their family. Climbing deadly mountains seems like a product of a huge amount of avarice. If the author had tried to give us some perspective on other sides to this I could have gotten past it. Sadly, no matter how many people went missing or how many corpses they actually walked past, it never seemed to kick in that Peak and the rest of the climbers could EASILY DIE. He was far too concerned with making the climb a competition or possibly proving himself to his father, not that this is ever addressed.

What was good? The mountaineering details and sparse descriptions of the landscape were ok. I did like the ending and Peak's take-away message. It seemed kind of pointless to make the whole thing a writing assignment yet not have Peak come to any conclusion about writing. I'd recommend to a teen who likes climbing and is looking for an easy read.

FTC Disclaimer

All reviews are solely the opinions of Becky and/or Randi. We are not paid in any way for our reviews, and all opinions are 100% honest.

Review (Becky): The Dark Inside

Title: The Dark Inside Author: Jeyn Roberts Pages: 329 Audience: Young Adult Genre: Science Fiction (apocalyptic) Rating: 3 I'd follow this book on Facebook

Goodreads Summary

Since the beginning of mankind, civilizations have fallen: the Romans, the Greeks, the Aztecs...and now us. Huge earthquakes rock the world. Cities are destroyed. But something even more awful is happening: An ancient evil has been unleashed, and it's turning everyday people into hunters, killers, and crazies. This is the world Mason, Aries, Clementine, and Michael are living in--or rather, trying to survive. Each is fleeing unspeakable horror, from murderous chaos to brutal natural disasters, and each is traveling the same road in a world gone mad. Amid the throes of the apocalypse and clinging to love and meaning wherever it can be found, these four teens are on a journey into the heart of darkness--and to find each other and a place of safety.

My Thoughts This was a perfectly readable book, but I was never hooked. The characters all seemed to have the same "voice" and with four to follow I felt like I'd only just figured out who the chapter was about when it was time to change again. I couldn't figure out what made any of these people special enough to A-survive and B-be the ones the book focused on. I was vaguely interested in Mason because of his possibility of darkness which was never explored. The concept of this book felt like a fairly shallow treatment of what could have been a meaningful idea.  We never get to the heart of what makes anyone go "bad" or stay "good", and that makes it difficult to take anything away from the story. I won't be reading the sequel. 

FTC Disclaimer

All reviews are solely the opinions of Becky and/or Randi. We are not paid in any way for our reviews, and all opinions are 100% honest.

Picture Book Spotlight: The Cloud Spinner

Picture Book Spotlight is an original weekly post that will highlight relevant and/or popular picture books and suggest age groups and storytime themes for them. It will also include a mini-review.

Title: The Cloud Spinner Authors: Michael Catchpool Pages:32 Audience: K-3 Themes: fantasy, nature, art,

Summary:                                                         
One small boy has a special gift—he can weave cloth from the clouds: gold in the early morning with the rising sun, white in the afternoon, and crimson in the evening. He spins just enough cloth for a warm scarf. But when the king sees the boy's magnificent cloth, he demands cloaks and gowns galore. "It would not be wise," the boy protests. "Your majesty does not need them!" But spin he must—and soon the world around him begins to change.

My Thoughts: What a charming picture book! The story follows a boy who can spin cloth from the clouds, but only makes as much as he needs and "not one stitch more". One day a king sees his amazing clothes and demands that the boy make him a full set of clothes from the clouds until there are none left. Then there is no rain and the kingdom suffers. The princess realizes the boy was right and brings the clouds back to him to be unwoven. I really liked the message of moderation and not using up your natural resources! The illustrations are colorful and soft looking (like clouds). A great choice for storytime!

Top Ten: Books I read in 2012

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.  

This week our list (brought to you by Becky and Randi!) is Top Ten books we read in 2012.  We cheated a little and did 20, 10 for each of us.  I'm sorry, but it had to be done.  Considering I read 500 books this year, It's really very stingy.  I had to leave out over 20 books that I would consider some of my all-time favorites.  it's most distressing.    

Becky's Top Ten Books I read in 2012

The Night Circus This is one of my favorite books of all time.  It felt more real to me than reality, and you can hardly ask for more than that in a fantasy novel.  The lush, ornate descriptions took my breath away and I loved the characters.  The romance was beautifully done and I look forward to reading this book many more times.
The Scorpio Races I read this at the beginning of the year and it rekindled my hope of finding new books I truly love.  The magical realism in this was ferocious and yet subtle.  I loved the depth of emotion in the characters and the lonely landscape.
We Need to Talk About Kevin Probably my strangest "favorite" because it was not a pleasure to read nor are there any likable characters.  This book made me think about difficult aspects of humanity.
Rotters A very dark book, not quite fantasy but certainly surreal.  The secret world of grave robbers comes to life in all of its horror.
Never Let Me Go I watched the movie version of this book first, and I love them both equally.  This is the most beautifully rendered dystopian book I've ever read, offering a bleak view of the future if cloning becomes commonplace while simultaneously showing a tragic romance. 
The Radleys This suburban paranormal story is just quirky and so realistic I could almost believe it was happening next door.
The Thirteenth Tale A glorious, layered gothic tale of literary exploration.  I already feel like I need to read this again.  The beautifully crafted language is what really stood out to me.
The Raven Boys, by Maggie Stiefvater The characters in this first installment of Stiefvater's new series are outrageously well-drawn.  Every time I listened to the audio-book I thought of her story as a verbal painting, so rich were the descriptions and atmosphere.
The Book of Lost Things, by John Connolly  I was instantly enthralled by the menacing and nightmarish feeling of this story.  I've never been one for "happy" stories, and this book just delivers on the creep while pulling from fairy-tales and weaving a world I'd love to stay the heck away from.

Randi's Top Ten Books I read in 2012 In no particular order, here are my top ten reads for the year out of 150+. Many of these are new all-time favorites of mine as well. Definitely check them out! :)

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

I completely agree with Becky, here. One of my all-time faves. The world Morgenstern created just felt so real to me and I loved it!

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Oh wow. The writing in this book. Another all-time fave. Definitely YA high fantasy, and I can't wait to crack open my copy of book 2!

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

This book breaks my heart, but I can't help but love it. I've read it twice this year, and turns out it hurt even more the second time!

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfiled

Again, I completely agree with Becky; this requires a reread! I love that this is a contemporary gothic novel. If anyone has suggestions for similar books, I'm all ears!

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys 

This book is just too good to not make my favorites list. It was painful and heart-wrenching, but also informative; I hadn't known about the deportation of Lithuanians to Siberia during WWII. This is a do-not-miss book. I'd teach this book!

My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

The characters in this book, oh my goodness. I want more of the Garrett family! An all-time favorite,.

Words in the Dust by Trent Reedy

By the time this post is published, I'll have a three-week unit plan built around this novel! This is unlike any book I've read before, and it's even more special since Mr. Reedy wrote it for a girl he met when he was in Afghanistan. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. I really hope I have the chance to teach this book someday soon.

Something Like Normal by Trish Doller 

Okay. This book is sad and hurtful, but it also has a glimmer of hope. Wow, I just realized I love some seriously sad books! :-\

Spark (#2 Elemental Series) by Brigid Kemmerer

This is now one of my favorite series, and while I loved both books, I have to say that Spark is my favorite between the two. I can't wait for the series to continue!!!

Flat-Out Love by Jessica Park

I do believe this was my first indie read ever. And also the book that schemed with The Fault in Our Stars to make me fall head over heels in love with the YA contemporary genre.

So which books made YOUR top ten of 2012? Link us up, we wanna know!

Review (Becky): The Sledding Hill

Title: The Sledding Hill Author: Chris Crutcher Pages: 256 Audience: Young Adult Genre: Fantasy (afterlife) Rating: 3 I'd read this book's wall posts on Facebook, but I'd be disappointed in them.

Goodreads Summary

First his father dies. Then his best friend Billy accidentally kicks a stack of Sheetrock over on himself, breaking his neck and effectively hitting tilt on his Earthgame. Eddie and Billy were inseparable. Still are. Billy isn't going to let a little thing like death stop him from hanging in there with his friend. And when Eddie faces an epic struggle with the powers that be, Billy will remain right there beside him.

Eli's father built the Compound to keep them safe. But are they safe—or sorry?

My Thoughts Oh this book. For about 100 pages I feared it would end up being a "Christian Tale", meaning overtly pushing the Christian agenda. while Crutcher's book does have an underlying spirituality, but it is a far cry from the extremely conservative view I so fear. While I liked the topic of this book, the morals, and the characters...I found it boring, melodramatic, and overly simplistic. I can, however, see why it has a lot of appeal to certain readers. If you are of the liberal persuasion, this book is very self-affirming. For me, though, it didn't really look at both sides with any kind of balance. It smacked of bias, and even though I agree with the ideas it was biased towards, I'm not really into that. I think this could easily have been told without the use of ghost-Billy as a narrator. I often forgot he was there anyway. I also found Crutcher's use of himself in the story annoying and self-congratulatory. On the plus side, the story tackles issues such as glbt rights, the dangers of censure, dealing with death, ADHD, and Christianity. I can't help but feel it might have been stronger if it focused on fewer of those issues in more depth, though. 

FTC Disclaimer

All reviews are solely the opinions of Becky and/or Randi. We are not paid in any way for our reviews, and all opinions are 100% honest.

Review (Becky): The Compound

Title: The Compound Author: S.A. Bodeen Pages: 248 Audience: Young Adult Genre: Science Fiction (survival) Rating: 4 I'd bring this book a crap-ton of food

Goodreads Summary

Eli and his family have lived in the underground Compound for six years. The world they knew is gone, and they've become accustomed to their new life. Accustomed, but not happy.

For Eli, no amount of luxury can stifle the dull routine of living in the same place, with only his two sisters, his father and mother, doing the same thing day after day after day.

As problems with their carefully planned existence threaten to destroy their sanctuary—and their sanity—Eli can't help but wonder if he'd rather take his chances outside.

Eli's father built the Compound to keep them safe. But are they safe—or sorry?

My Thoughts This was a horrific, compelling story. I really liked the complexity of Eli and his guilt. Bodeen manages to pack a well-developed story into 250 pages, which is no easy feat. There are some logic problems if you try to dissect it too far, but I was able to suspend my disbelief.  There are times I find it difficult to understand the mother or believe her reactions, but I guess I can't really know what I'd do unless I was locked underground for 7 years.  Regardless, I loved the tension running through the whole story. The characters felt very real and it kept me on the edge of my seat.

FTC Disclaimer

All reviews are solely the opinions of Becky and/or Randi. We are not paid in any way for our reviews, and all opinions are 100% honest.

Picture book Spotlight: Big Wolf & Little Wolf

Picture Book Spotlight is an original weekly post that will highlight relevant and/or popular picture books and suggest age groups and storytime themes for them. It will also include a mini-review.

Title: Big Wolf & Little Wolf Authors: Nadine Brun-Cosme Pages:32 Audience: K-3 Themes: Animals, Friends

Summary:                                                         
Big Wolf lives alone under a tree at the top of a hill. He is alone, but happy. One day he sees another wolf approaching, a little wolf. Without a word, Little Wolf sits down next to Big Wolf. He stays all night and all the next day. At first Big Wolf is suspicious. He also is worried that Little Wolf will grow bigger and become a rival. After a while, however, he starts to feel fond of his small companion. Just as Big Wolf is starting to get used to his new friend, Little Wolf disappears. Big Wolf spends his time staring at the horizon, waiting for Little Wolf to return, but without the slightest reason to hope that he will. But with the arrival of spring Little Wolf does return. Big Wolf is so happy his heart almost bursts. The two wolves shyly admit that without each other they found life lonely. Never again will they leave each other’s side.

My Thoughts: Cuteness! A great friendship story with brilliantly colorful, painterly illustrations.  the depth of emotion in this picture book is both intense and accessible to children.  I read the second book first and found it confusing, but now I love the series. It is kind of strange that the wolves climb trees and eat fruit, but that's part of the charm.