Author: beth

Book Review: Roscoe Riley Rules: Never Glue Your Friends to Chairs

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January 25, 2011

7:00 am

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Roscoe Riley Rules #1: Never Glue Your Friends to Chairs (Roscoe Riley Rules (Hardback))Roscoe Riley Rules #1: Never Glue Your Friends to Chairs (Roscoe Riley Rules by Katherine Alice Applegate

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book Source: Checked out from my library.

Kids have to follow so many rules!
Sometimes my brain forgets to remember them all.
It’s not like I try to find ways to get into trouble. It’s just that trouble has a way of finding me.

In this first book in a series, Roscoe Riley, a first-grader with “high spirits”, welcomes us to his Official Time-Out Corner to hear the story of exactly what put him there this time. He was really just trying to help his teacher. Who knew it was a bad idea to glue things to people with the Super-Mega-Gonzo Glue?

This is a quick, breezy read, with one- and two-sentence paragraphs and short chapters interspersed with Brian Biggs’ cartoony black-and-white illustrations. Well-meaning but short-sighted Roscoe will be a familiar character to adults and kids, and his droll delivery will raise more than a few giggles. I can’t help but think of Roscoe Riley as similar to Junie B. Jones, but with more boy-appeal. Perfect for young readers just getting into chapter books.

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Book Review: Shine

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January 20, 2011

7:00 am

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ShineShine by Lauren Myracle

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book Source: e-ARC from publisher via NetGalley.com, by request

Maybe God was a giant eyeball in the hazy June sky, only there was a burn mark on His pupil in the exact spot of Black Creek, North Carolina, and that was why He didn’t see me.

For the last three years, 16-year-old Cat has been keeping to herself. Something bad happened, and after it did, she stopped talking to just about anyone, even her best friend, Patrick. But when Patrick is found unconscious outside the gas station, left for dead, the victim of an apparent homophobic hate crime, she takes it upon herself to uncover his attacker.

The book opens with a newspaper account of the attack on Patrick and a description of the hard times the town of Black Creek, NC, had recently faced, complete with quotes from townspeople that make certain prejudices clear from the start. The rest of the novel is told from Cat’s first-person point-of-view. She questions everyone from her own brother to the local meth distributor, forcing buried secrets out into the open once and for all. Poverty and addiction have taken their toll on quite a few residents of Black Creek, and Cat’s suspicion that the local law enforcement won’t work too hard on solving the case is easy to believe.

Myracle weaves a gripping story, creating strong characters and providing just enough misdirection to keep the mystery intriguing. Squeamish readers be warned: there is strong language and some violence in this book, but none of it feels gratuitous. Drugs and guns are plentiful in Black Creek, and some ugly slurs come all-too-easily from characters’ mouths. Cat’s struggle to deal with her own past and her determination to find Patrick’s attacker build up to a satisfying conclusion. I was up until 1 in the morning finishing the last few chapters; I just couldn’t put it down.

Shine is scheduled for publication in May of 2011.

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W… W… W… Wednesday for January 19, 2011

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January 19, 2011

10:00 am

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W… W… W… Wednesdays is a meme hosted by Should Be Reading.

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

My answers:

What are you currently reading? I’m into the second chapter of Possessing Genius: The Bizarre Odyssey of Einstein’s Brain by Carolyn Abraham, the first book on my Off the Shelf Challenge list. I really am enjoying it; I just keep getting distracted!

And what is this distraction? This week, I’ve been distracted by Caitlin Shetterly’s Made for You and Me: Going West, Going Broke, Finding Home, another e-ARC courtesy of NetGalley.

The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus

What did you recently finish reading? A couple days ago, I finished the NetGalley e-ARC of The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus by Sonya Sones. Scheduled for release in April 2011, this is Sones’ first novel for adults. It’s a novel-in-poems about a woman dealing with her ailing mother, her impending empty nest, and her own aging body. It’s a lot funnier than that description makes it sound.

What do you think you’ll read next? I have yet another NetGalley e-ARC, Jane Austen: A Life Revealed by Catherine Reef. Scheduled for release in April 2011, this is billed as the first young adult trade biography on Austen. Somehow, I have made it to my 30s without ever reading any Austen, so this should be especially interesting. I do have the complete works of Austen on the nook; think I’ll be inspired to read them after this?

See today’s other W… W… W… Wednesday entries at Should Be Reading.

Book Review: Sassy: Little Sister is not my Name

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January 18, 2011

7:00 am

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Little Sister Is Not My Name (Sassy, #2) Little Sister Is Not My Name (Sassy, #2) by Sharon M. Draper

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Book Source: Checked out from my library

I’m trying something new. If my family can’t call me by my real name, I’m not going to talk to them.

Sassy Simone Sanford is nine-and-a-half years old. She’s the smallest person in her family and the smallest person in her fourth-grade class. But she has a big personality and plenty of flair. In this first volume in a series aimed squarely at 3rd-5th girls, Sassy introduces herself, her friends, and her family, including professional storyteller Grammy.

When I think of Sharon Draper, I think of books like The Battle of Jericho and Out of My Mind, so this sweet and fluffy series is a nice change of pace. Sassy’s world is a pleasant one – her big issues include her frustrations with having to wear a uniform and the fact that her whole family tends to call her “Little Sister”. The descriptions of her classmates indicate that her school is highly diverse, and everybody seems to get along splendidly. Recommend especially to girls growing out of Junie B. Jones and Clementine.

A little note: I don’t know why GoodReads has this listed as book #2. It’s the first book in the series.

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Picture Book Knits: Three Little Kittens

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January 16, 2011

7:00 am

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Three Little Kittens by Jerry Pinkney

Caldecott medalist Pinkney adds some very special knitterly touches to the classic nursery rhyme about those careless kittens. Busy playing outside, all three kittens lose their lovely hand-knit mittens, and Mama tells them they cannot have any pie. The kittens quickly go out and find their mittens, then get pie all over them! After washing and drying those messy mittens, the kittens are ready to head back outside to play.

Music is provided on the inside of the dust jacket to sing the words of the book (sadly, nearly inaccessible in my library copy, as the dust jacket is covered with plastic and firmly fastened to the cover; some libraries will likely remove the dust jacket entirely), and the text definitely works better sung than simply read.

The best part of the book, though, is the artwork. Pinkney’s watercolor and graphite pencil illustrations form double-page full-bleed spreads with wonderful details. On the title page spread, the kittens peer out the window at three birds, one of which is wearing a knitted hat with earflaps and a pompom on top! In the next spread, the reader sees Mama Cat knitting, her mitten pattern open on the floor. And, of course, one of the kittens’ favorite playthings appears to be a large ball of yellow yarn.

A sweet addition to any picture book collection, with details that will be especially appreciated by knitting parents.

(Source note: I checked this book out from my public library.)

Reading Challenge Update: January

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January 15, 2011

11:00 am

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Here we are, halfway through the first month of the year. Let’s see how I’m doing on my 2011 Reading Challenges.

At the moment, I’m at 1/12. Technically, I’ve finished two e-books in 2011, but I started one of them in the last few days of December 2010. The one I started and finished in 2011 was Lauren Myracle’s forthcoming YA novel Shine, in e-ARC format, courtesy of NetGalley. I’ll have a review up next week. I’ve started another e-ARC, Sonya Sones’ first adult novel, The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus. Like her YA books, this is a novel-in-verse. It’s very funny so far.

Um, yeah. Those three ARCS from Hachette are still sitting on my coffee table, and I’m waiting for the other titles on my list to show up in my library.

This one, I confess, is not going so well, either. I’m one chapter into Possessing Genius. I’m enjoying it so far. It’s just, you know, I have these shiny new ARCs calling to me from the nook….

I’ll get back to you next month.

How are your Reading Challenges going?

Book Review: Jumpstart the World

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January 13, 2011

7:00 am

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Jumpstart the WorldJumpstart the World by Catherine Ryan Hyde

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Book Source: Checked out from my library

Lately I’ve been noticing how people have these ways of accidentally letting you see what’s important to them.

Just days before her sixteenth birthday, Elle moves into a new apartment. Alone. Except for a one-eyed cat she’s just rescued from the pound. Her mother would rather pay to put her teenage daughter up in an apartment in New York City than risk losing her boyfriend, Donald. The first neighbor Elle meets is Frank, an older guy who sparks an unexpected attraction in Elle. When she learns that Frank is a transgender man, it throws her into a whirl of confusion.

Jumpstart the World is a story of growing up, becoming independent, and finding one’s role in life. To teens dreaming of the day they get to move out of the family home (like the small group she begins to befriend at her new school), Elle’s situation looks great at first, but it quickly becomes apparent that being alone might not be all it’s cracked up to be. In first-person (but not present-tense!) narration, Hyde maintains a voice for Elle that reflects a slightly-more-mature-than-average, little-bit-prickly, sixteen-year-old girl wrestling with issues of love, friendship, and family. The book opens with Elle remarking on her mother’s frequent use of the words “beautiful” and “ugly” as an indication of what her mother considers important, and I was struck by how often Elle uses “weird” or “weirdly”, underscoring how much she thinks about what is normal and what is not. The focus throughout the book remains tight on Elle and her immediate situation. Details about her previous home life are sparse (whatever happened to her father?), and although the novel is written in past tense, it’s clear that these are very recent events. This realistic contemporary novel has clear appeal to anyone who has had that outside-looking-in feeling, and the conclusion of Elle’s story is both satisfying and hopeful.

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W… W… W… Wednesday for January 12, 2011

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January 12, 2011

9:20 am

2 Comments on W… W… W… Wednesday for January 12, 2011

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W… W… W… Wednesdays is a meme hosted by Should Be Reading.

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?
 

My answers:

What are you currently reading? I’m one chapter into Possessing Genius: The Bizarre Odyssey of Einstein’s Brain by Carolyn Abraham, the first book on my Off the Shelf Challenge list. I’m enjoying it so far.

What did you recently finish reading? I was up until 1 this morning finishing Shine by Lauren Myracle. It’s a gripping young adult mystery set in rural North Carolina. Strong characters and just enough misdirection kept me glued to my nook screen. I read it as an e-ARC via NetGalley; the book is due out in May of 2011. Full review coming soon.

The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus

What do you think you’ll read next? Next up is another NetGalley e-ARC, The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus by Sonya Sones. Scheduled for release in April 2011, this is Sones’ first novel for adults. I’ve been a fan of Sones’ writing since reading Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy when I was in Library School.

See today’s other W… W… W… Wednesday entries at Should Be Reading.