Category Archives: By Age Range

Review: Caterpillar Summer by Gillian McDunn

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Clean Fiction, Contemporary, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , , , , , ,
Caterpillar Summer by Gillian McDunn - cover shows a girl holding a bait fishing pole standing back-to-back with a younger boy holding a shark toy on a beach.

Caterpillar Summer
Gillian McDunn
Bloomsbury USA Children’s
Published April 2, 2019

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About CATERPILLAR SUMMER

Cat and her brother Chicken have always had a very special bond–Cat is one of the few people who can keep Chicken happy. When he has a “meltdown” she’s the one who scratches his back and reads his favorite story. She’s the one who knows what Chicken needs. Since their mom has had to work double-hard to keep their family afloat after their father passed away, Cat has been the glue holding her family together.

But even the strongest glue sometimes struggles to hold. When a summer trip doesn’t go according to plan, Cat and Chicken end up spending three weeks with grandparents they never knew. For the first time in years, Cat has the opportunity to be a kid again, and the journey she takes shows that even the most broken or strained relationships can be healed if people take the time to walk in one another’s shoes.

My Review

Oh my gosh THIS BOOK! I loved so many things. Cat begins fishing because she’s hoping it will be the key to relationships that matter to her, but then she falls in love with fishing. It becomes something she needs, an outlet and interest that’s just for her. I absolutely identified with this whole emotional process because it’s how I came to love fly fishing so much.

When my grandfather passed away, I watched my dad grieve and had this sudden realization that someday, I will be in his shoes. Someday he’ll be gone. I’d grown up going out in the boat fishing with him, and I still treasure those memories. But at that point, I hadn’t fished since I was maybe twelve or thirteen years old. So I decided to learn to fly fish, partly because it seemed more fun than lure fishing and partly because I wanted to spend more time with my dad, who also loves fly fishing.

Then I fell in love with fishing all over again. And it’s funny, I think that love for fishing has been as great a bond as the activity itself. It’s really fun to have those shared experiences and moments together, but there’s also something to having that passion and sharing in the excitement and celebration of a great day on the water, or the fight of bringing in a big fish.

Anyway, all that to say that CATERPILLAR SUMMER really captures those magical properties of fishing. The way it can make you fall in love with it, and the way it can bring people together. And the way it can be the thing you need without you knowing you needed it.

I think the relationships in the story are expertly done. Cat’s relationship with her brother and the battle between her love for him, her fears about something happening to him, and the frustration and disappointment every time her own needs or desires get overlooked feel so real and understandable.

I love the quiet way Cat’s grandmother notices the way Cat feels and eases some of the burden. She says something to Cat at one point about how keeping a family together can be a quiet kind of work– and it’s exactly the validation Cat needs at that moment. She realizes she has an ally and that someone really sees her.

Cat’s grandfather, too, is an amazing character. Gruff and distant at first, but such a tender heart underneath all of that. And I love that it’s nature walks and fishing that bring him and Cat together and help them open their hearts to one another.

The progression of Cat’s relationship with her mom is powerful, too. Cat has to find real courage to speak up, to voice things she knew her mom wouldn’t want to hear. She risks disappointing or angering her, both of which Cat really fears.

I feel like I could go on and on about this book. So many things about it are so well done and really resonated with me. I hope CATERPILLAR SUMMER gets the awards and recognition it’s due. I know it will go on my shelf as one of my treasured books, one I’m sure I’ll go back and read again and again.

Readers who enjoyed ELSIE MAE HAS SOMETHING TO SAY by Nancy Cavanaugh or THE BENEFITS OF BEING AN OCTOPUS by Ann Braden absolutely need to read CATERPILLAR SUMMER.

Representation
Cat’s mom (and grandparents) are white and her dad is black. She talks briefly about how sometimes people don’t realize they’re all the same family because of the difference in the way they look. Cat’s brother has some sensory issues, and is maybe autistic (the story doesn’t specify).

Recommended for ages 8 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of CATERPILLAR SUMMER in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links, which don’t cost the reader anything when used. They help cover the costs of running this blog and occasionally provide an efficient caffeine delivery system for the blogger.

Review: The Everlasting Rose by Dhonielle Clayton

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,

The Everlasting Rose (The Belles #2)
Dhonielle Clayton
Freeform/Disney Book Group
Published March 9, 2019

Amazon | Barnes & Noble |Goodreads

About THE EVERLASTING ROSE

In this sequel to the instant New York Times bestseller, Camille, her sister Edel, and her guard and new love Remy must race against time to find Princess Charlotte. Sophia’s Imperial forces will stop at nothing to keep the rebels from returning Charlotte to the castle and her rightful place as queen.

With the help of an underground resistance movement called The Iron Ladies-a society that rejects beauty treatments entirely-and the backing of alternative newspaper The Spider’s Web, Camille uses her powers, her connections and her cunning to outwit her greatest nemesis, Sophia, and restore peace to Orleans.

My Review

I was a little hesitant to read THE EVERLASTING ROSE because a friend reviewed it and didn’t really like the writing and dialog. Based on her review, I kind of expected it to be trite or annoying or something, but I wanted to give it a try.

And I’m so glad I did. I fell in love with the story world and all its fantastical, steampunk elements. I loved the little floating lanterns and mini blimps and OMG the teacup dragons!

Camille won me over immediately, with her love for her Belle sisters and her desire to protect them and rescue those in danger. Even her anger felt easy to identify with. The story moves along at a quick pace, and Camille never wavers from her goal. I found myself staying up too late trying to fit in just one more chapter before going to bed because I really wanted to know what happened next.

My only difficulty was that I wasn’t already familiar with the story world, so I sometimes felt a little confused about some of the ways the Belle system worked. I’m not sure I understand the use of the leeches or how the Belles rebalanced their arcana. So I wish I’d read THE BELLES before THE EVERLASTING ROSE.

In terms of language and romance, this is a pretty mild book. Readers should be aware that two characters die by suicide on scene in the book, and the story does reference torture. Read the content section for more details.

Fans of THE RUBY AIRSHIP by Sharon Gosling should check out THE EVERLASTING ROSE.

Representation
Camille and some other characters have brown skin. Some minor characters are gay.

Recommended for ages 12 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. At one point Camille sleeps in bed with a man, but it’s less romantic and more hiding from certain death.

Spiritual Content
Many gods and goddesses exist in the heavens, disconnected from earth. They’ve left various favors behind – including the existence of the Belles. Another favor is teacup pets – tiny versions of animals like dragons or elephants.

Belles have arcana in their blood which gives them power to do magic. They mostly use this power to perform beauty treatments on others.

Violent Content and Trigger Warning – suicide
Sophia tortures her enemies (happens off-scene, but Camille witnesses the results). Camille witnesses two characters suddenly commit suicide. It happens quickly, but it’s shocking to the reader and devastating to Camille.

Drug Content
Sophia gets drunk on champagne.

Note: I received a free copy of THE EVERLASTING ROSE in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links, which don’t cost the reader anything when used but which help cover the costs of running this blog and occasionally provide an efficient caffeine delivery system for the blogger.

Review: To Best the Boys by Mary Weber

Young Adult/Teen 12-18

To Best the Boys
Mary Weber
Thomas Nelson
Published March 19, 2019

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About TO BEST THE BOYS

Every year for the past fifty-four years, the residents of Pinsbury Port receive a mysterious letter inviting all eligible-aged boys to compete for an esteemed scholarship to the all-male Stemwick University. Every year, the poorer residents look to see that their names are on the list. The wealthier look to see how likely their sons are to survive. And Rhen Tellur opens it to see if she can derive which substances the ink and parchment are created from, using her father’s microscope.

In the province of Caldon, where women are trained in wifely duties and men are encouraged into collegiate education, sixteen-year-old Rhen Tellur wants nothing more than to become a scientist. As the poor of her seaside town fall prey to a deadly disease, she and her father work desperately to find a cure. But when her Mum succumbs to it as well? Rhen decides to take the future into her own hands—through the annual all-male scholarship competition.

With her cousin, Seleni, by her side, the girls don disguises and enter Mr. Holm’s labyrinth, to best the boys and claim the scholarship prize. Except not everyone’s ready for a girl who doesn’t know her place. And not everyone survives the maze.

My Review

From the very beginning, I loved the spooky, dangerous story world of TO BEST THE BOYS. Ghouls stalk through the mist at night, and sirens make the sea a treacherous place. Add to that a fearless, smart-as-a-whip heroine and you’ve got a story which delivers on the promised wild ride.

I loved Rhen’s passion for science. I also loved that TO BEST THE BOYS features a heroine who’s deeply into science, but the book doesn’t feel like a science book. Does that make sense? It didn’t feel like so much of the book was about the science that it would be a turn-off to readers who don’t really have an interest in science.

Rhen doesn’t neatly fit in the world into which she was born. She doesn’t want to marry and devote her life only to raising a family. She wants an education, something that her society denies her an opportunity to pursue.

I liked that the story took a moment to give a nod to women who do desire a hearth and home life. Not everyone is the same or wants the same things, and it’s okay to want to be a full time homemaker, too.

On the romance element in TO BEST THE BOYS. Y’all, Mary Weber knows how to write strong men. Like, not just physically strong, which obviously Lute is because of being a fisherman. But a strength of character and heart. He supports Rhen, sometimes simply by standing back and not interfering. He tries very hard to respect her wishes, even when he believes she’s doing something foolish. I liked him a lot. Definitely a worthy addition to a book boyfriend list, if you’re the type to keep one.

Overall, I liked this book so much. From the spooky story world to the like-Hunger-Games-but-for-college contest to the whip-sharp heroine, TO BEST THE BOYS has so much to offer. A great pick for DIVERGENT fans.

Recommended for ages 12 up.

Representation
Characters are described as having tan skin and dark hair. Rhen describes struggles with dyslexia. Lute’s younger brother has some delays and sensory issues.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
A few made up curses like “hulls”. Sometimes “bloody” is used as a curse as well.

Romance/Sexual Content
A couple steamy kisses between boy and girl. At one point, Seleni and Rhen overhear some boys making comments about which girls they’re interested in and how far they’ve gotten with them. The comments stay pretty vague, but it’s clearly wrong and offensive.

Spiritual Content
Monsters like basilisks, ghouls, and sirens make travel at night especially treacherous.

Violent Content
Rhen visits the morgue to collect blood samples for her research. She makes a mistake when collecting a sample, and causes a body to explode.

In the contest, two boys actively try to harm or kill other contestants.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of TO BEST THE BOYS in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links, which don’t cost the reader anything when used but which help cover the costs of running this blog and occasionally provide an efficient caffeine delivery system for the blogger.

Review: Obsidio by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Sci-Fi, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , ,

Obsidio (The Illuminae Files #3)
Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
Knopf Books for Young Readers
Published March 13, 2018

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About OBSIDIO

Kady, Ezra, Hanna, and Nik narrowly escaped with their lives from the attacks on Heimdall station and now find themselves crammed with 2,000 refugees on the container ship, Mao. With the jump station destroyed and their resources scarce, the only option is to return to Kerenza—but who knows what they’ll find seven months after the invasion?

Meanwhile, Kady’s cousin, Asha, survived the initial BeiTech assault and has joined Kerenza’s ragtag underground resistance. When Rhys—an old flame from Asha’s past—reappears on Kerenza, the two find themselves on opposite sides of the conflict. 

With time running out, a final battle will be waged on land and in space, heroes will fall, and hearts will be broken.

My Review

I’ve probably said this about all the other books in the Illuminae Files series, but I really liked the format of the story. It’s told in a series of instant message chat logs, video transcriptions, and emails. It’s funny — I wondered earlier in the series who was transcribing the videos, because sometimes the transcriber adds some humor or clearly has an opinion about the character in the video feed. OBSIDIO mentions how those transcriptions came to be. I didn’t pay enough attention to figure out who transcribed which videos, but I bet someone has figured it out.

I read a hardback version of OBSIDIO which was really different for me. For ILLUMINAE, think I had an eARC and then read an ebook version of GEMINA. I liked the hard cover version because some of the pages are meant to be seen in a two-page spread, which I haven’t figured out how to do on the Kindle app. So that would be my recommendation for this series, to read a physical copy rather than an ebook, where you’ll lose those two-page spreads or as an audiobook, where you would lose the illustrations that tell some of the story, too.

If there is a drawback to this book, it’s that we’re keeping tabs on so many characters in order to wrap up the whole series that we don’t really get to focus on some of the individual stories. I liked Asha and Rhys and found their story interesting, but not as compelling as Hanna and Nik or Kady and Ezra, and I think it’s because there wasn’t time in the story to focus on them as much.

On the whole, though, I found OBSIDIO funny– definitely had some laugh out loud moments– and thought-provoking. A really entertaining end to a super fun series. This is a series you need to read from the beginning, though, so start with ILLUMINAE if you’re new to the books.

Recommended for ages 12 up.

Representation
Asha has darker skin. Nik and his cousin Ella are from a mafia family. Ella is wheelchair bound.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
One thing that’s kind of clever about this series is that they black out all the uses of profanity. It’s like someone went through the transcripts with a sharpie and colored over them. There are lots of black marks where characters used curses, but I didn’t catch any that were exposed.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. Some innuendo. For instance, at one point I think a girl says she’s going to change clothes and the boy responds with a comment like, “down boy”. Things like that. Couples sometimes talk about plans to share bunks in their limited sleep hours. (Anything that happens between them happens off-scene.)

Spiritual Content
Some exploration of what it means to be alive and to love. AIDAN, a computer system, develops feelings and attachments.

Violent Content
A gas kills thousands of people. Conditions on the mining colony are pretty grim. Workers comply with BeiTech because they have family members imprisoned. Thousands of bodies lie in a mass grave. Soldiers are ordered to kill any unidentified person immediately. At one point, characters witness a young girl murdered by soldiers.

Drug Content
Nik smokes cigarettes.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which don’t cost the reader anything, but when used, help support my blog.

Review: In the Neighborhood of True by Susan Kaplan Carlton

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Historical, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , ,

In the Neighborhood of True
Susan Kaplan Carlton
Algonquin Young Readers
Available April 9, 2019

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF TRUE

After her father’s death, Ruth Robb and her family transplant themselves in the summer of 1958 from New York City to Atlanta—the land of debutantes, sweet tea, and the Ku Klux Klan. In her new hometown, Ruth quickly figures out she can be Jewish or she can be popular, but she can’t be both. Eager to fit in with the blond girls in the “pastel posse,” Ruth decides to hide her religion. Before she knows it, she is falling for the handsome and charming Davis and sipping Cokes with him and his friends at the all-white, all-Christian Club.

Does it matter that Ruth’s mother makes her attend services at the local synagogue every week? Not as long as nobody outside her family knows the truth. At temple Ruth meets Max, who is serious and intense about the fight for social justice, and now she is caught between two worlds, two religions, and two boys. But when a violent hate crime brings the different parts of Ruth’s life into sharp conflict, she will have to choose between all she’s come to love about her new life and standing up for what she believes.

My Review

I found IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF TRUE to be utterly addicting to read. I’d sneak a few more pages in while microwaving the baby’s lunch. Or while waiting for my older daughter to finish brushing her teeth before bed. Anytime I had more than 30 seconds free, I jumped right back into the book.

I loved Ruth’s voice. She’s frank, pragmatic and constantly caught me off guard (in a great way) with colorful descriptions of things. At first she doesn’t seem bothered by hiding her identity. She values fitting in so much more than her faith, which feels especially far away after her father’s death. She knows she’s being shallow about it. But as things happen and she begins to form connections within her faith community, the racism in her debutante community only becomes more stark and uncomfortable to Ruth. I thought that progression felt very real, raw, and powerful.

The only thing I didn’t love about IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF TRUE was an element of the ending. I don’t want to give anything away, so I’ll add a spoiler section at the end of this post to talk about that. Over all, though, I really enjoyed the book. Check out the content section below for notes on those topics.

Recommended for ages 16 up.

Representation
Ruth, her sisters, and her mother are Jewish. Other characters are white. Many of the upscale clubs and community events are still closed to Jews and other races at the time the story happens. The story condemns those attitudes.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
15-20 instances of mild to strong profanity.

Romance/Sexual Content
Brief kissing between boy and girl. Ruth undresses with a boyfriend. She and her sister discuss sex– which her sister, who’s in college, seems to have a lot of. Her sister sends her a box of condoms. Ruth makes plans to have sex with her boyfriend on prom night. The scene describes the lead into the event but not much of the event itself.

Spiritual Content
Ruth attends synagogue services with her mom and sister. Most of the sermon that’s related to us has to do with social justice issues.

Violent Content
Ruth’s mother tells her about a young black man who was lynched. One of the boys in Ruth’s friend circle makes some ugly racist comments. See spoiler section for more.

Drug Content
Ruth’s friends offer her Southern Comfort, which gets her very drunk the first time she has it. She drinks some again another time.

Note: I received a free copy of IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF TRUE in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links, which don’t cost the reader anything, but when used, help support my blog.

About Susan Kaplan Carlton

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Carlton currently teaches writing at Boston University. She is the author of the YA novels Love & Haight and Lobsterland. Her writing has also appeared in Self,Elle, Mademoiselle, and Seventeen. She lived for a time with her family in Atlanta, where her daughters learned the finer points of etiquette from a little pink book and the power of social justice from their synagogue.

SPOILER
A bomb destroys a building. No one is hurt, but it’s a building dear to many people, and clearly awful and traumatic.

So here’s my issue with the end of the book: I liked the ending as a whole. Ruth does the right thing, stands up for herself and her community, makes a place for herself– her real self. I loved that. But I felt like she ultimately chose sides.

One of her debutante friends continued to reach out to her after the trial and after Ruth goes public with her faith. But instead of acknowledging that reach across the gap, Ruth sort of retreated to her side and said she was too busy for this friendship. It’s a pretty realistic ending, so I get it.

I guess I just wanted those girls to be bigger than the moment they were in, if that makes sense. I wanted them to be able to reach across lines of race and faith and say those things didn’t matter, and I didn’t feel like that was the message there. Seriously, though, I loved the book other than that and of course, some of the content.

Review: Far From Agrabah by Aisha Saeed

Book Review and Content, Clean Fiction, Fantasy, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,

Far From Agrabah Review and Giveaway

I’ve really been liking the novels that take place kind of between the scenes of some of my favorite Disney movies, like Beauty and the Beast: Lost in a Book, and Aladdin: Far From Agrabah. Today, I’m partnering with Disney Book Group to offer a giveaway for Aladdin: Far From Agrabah and a magic carpet-style reading blanket. Read on for my review of the book and don’t miss the details of the giveaway below.

Far From Agrabah
Aisha Saeed
Disney Hyperion
Published April 2, 2019

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About FAR FROM AGRABAH

This stunning original novel will tell an all-new story set in the world of the new film, featuring Aladdin and Jasmine. A magic carpet ride full of adventure, suspense, and wonder written by New York Times Bestselling author Aisha Saeed, this story will be a must-read for any Aladdin fans who find themselves drawn into and enchanted by the magical world of Agrabah and beyond.

My Review

Aladdin: Far From Agrabah begins with Prince Ali trying to impress Princess Jasmine and follows them through the magic carpet ride which allows her to get to know him and totally changes how she feels about him. It’s mostly off-script from the original story, something that could have happened in a deleted scene.

In the original animated movie, we don’t really get to know Jasmine very well. We learned about her desire to marry for love and her frustration at being kept apart from her kingdom. But in this book, we get to know her much more deeply. She dreams of things much bigger than marriage. She wants to lead her people. Jasmine wants to make a difference in their lives. She has ideas she wants to try if only someone would give her a chance.

Aladdin treats her as his equal, and never acts as though this is noteworthy. He wants to impress her with his wealth and prestige, but clearly considers her thoughtful and worthy of his respect. They make a great team, and the story really captures that partnership dynamic to their relationship.

Interspersed through the story are snippets from a history that Jasmine studies about great leaders. I liked how the story tied the lessons from history into the present through the moral lessons the leaders learned. It wasn’t preachy at all, but made the book seem like so much more than a fairy tale.

Aladdin fans, especially fans of Princess Jasmine, won’t want to miss this deeper look into the fabulous magic carpet ride that took Jasmine and her prince into a whole new world.

Recommended for ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Major characters are Middle Eastern.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
One instance of mild profanity.

Romance/Sexual Content
Brief kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Aladdin relies on the genie’s wish-granting ability to create a fictitious kingdom of Ababwa.

Violent Content
A man threatens to kill an ally of Aladdin’s and threatens a young boy with a knife. He makes a comment at one point asking if he should torture the boy, cutting off his fingers or toes first.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of FAR FROM AGRABAH in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost readers anything. They help cover the costs of my blog and help me purchase more books.

About Aisha Saeed

Twitter | Instagram

Aisha Saeed is the author of Written in the Stars which was listed as a best book of 2015 by Bank Street Books, a 2016 YALSA Quick Pick For Reluctant Readers, and named one of the top ten books all Young Georgians Should Read in 2016. She is also the author of the middle grade novel Amal Unbound which has received starred reviews from Publisher’s Weekly and Kirkus and is a Global Read Aloud for 2018. Aisha is also a founding member of the nonprofit We Need Diverse Books™. She has been featured on MTV, the Huffington Post, NBC, and the BBC, and her writings have appeared in publications including the journal ALAN and the Orlando Sentinel.

Enter the Giveaway

I’m partnering with Disney Books to give away a free copy of FAR FROM AGRABAH plus your own magic carpet reading blanket! Open to US addresses only. Enter the giveaway below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway