The year Louisiana – Easy for short – meets Janis Joplin is the year everything changes. Easy is a car mechanic in her dad’s shop, but she can sing the blues like someone twice her age. So when she hears that Janis Joplin is passing through her small town of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Easy is there with her heart – and her voice – in hand. It’s 1970 and Janis Joplin is an electrifying blues-rock singer at the height of her fame – and of her addictions. Yet she recognizes Easy’s talent and asks her to meet her in Texas to sing. So Easy begins an unusual journey that will change everything.
About Caroline Stellings
Caroline Stellings is an award-winning author and illustrator of numerous books for children and young adults. She has been given many honours for her work, including nominations for both the Geoffrey Bilson Award and the Hackmatack Children’s Choice Book Award, and she has won both the ForeWord Book of the Year and the Hamilton Literary Award. Her picture book Gypsy’s Fortune (Peanut Butter Press) was chosen as a Best Bet by the Ontario Library Association. Caroline has a Masters degree from McMaster University. She lives in Waterdown, Ontario.
Why I Can’t Wait to Read Freedom’s Just Another Word
I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by Caroline Stellings, but The Manager is the book that really made me fall in love with her writing. I loved the spunk and heart in that story. It was all the things I wanted the movie Million Dollar Baby to be. Read my review here.
I love music in literature, so as soon as I saw the name Janis Joplin, I was pretty sure I needed to read this book. I loved Scar Boys by Len Vlahos and I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone by Stephanie Kuenhert.
If you’re a reviewer or have a NetGalley account, you can request Freedom’s Just Another Word for review from Second Story Press. The book will be available for purchase on September 1, 2016.
Let me know if you request the book or think you want to read it! I’d love to know how you like it.
The mysterious Cloaked Bandit lives in the forest of Wessex, robbing its nobility to feed peasants displaced when the current Lord usurped the lands. Now he combs the forest seeking the identity of the Bandit, unaware that in fact, she is the rightful heir to Wessex.
When the Cloaked Bandit robs a neighboring noble, Lord Collin recognizes the girl as his childhood friend. Concerned for her safety, he convinces her to stay a week in his home, far away from Lord Wessex’s soldiers. As he learns the terrible truths that led to Juliana’s impoverished circumstances, he vows to do something to help her. Her compassion for the poor moves him, and the injustice of her father’s death stirs him to outrage. But before Collin can enact a plan to right the wrongs in Juliana’s life, she slips away, her feelings for him suddenly more than she can bear. Collin pursues her, but if Lord Wessex finds her before Collin does, his love will be lost forever.
I liked the Robin Hood-ish element of the Cloaked Bandit, and the way Juliana’s band of thieves operates like a family. Fans of the series will remember Lord Collin as one of the three knights who competed for Lady Rosemarie’s hand in marriage. I enjoyed the fact that this story followed him, but I found it difficult to connect with his character. He spent a lot of time obsessing about Juliana’s or his sister’s feelings. I wanted to feel more of the warrior-knight in him, and that stronger side didn’t show until very late in the story. I also found his flippant attitude about his wealth to be a bit strange. It was okay that he started out feeling that way, but I guess I wanted to see more maturity emerge on that front? I don’t know.
Romance dominates this medieval tale. I lost track of how many times Collin or Juliana experienced butterflies in their bellies over being near each other. I had a hard time really buying into exactly why they felt this powerful attraction toward each other. It seemed like the physical attraction overshadowed the development of their relationship. It’s definitely one of those swoony, sweet stories, which is great. I think I just wanted a little more bite or something to balance out that sweetness.
If you like Melanie Dickerson’s medieval fairy tale novels, you’ll want to check out this series by Jody Hedlund. Though A Daring Sacrifice isn’t a true retelling of the story of Robin Hood, it definitely has some similarities. If you’ve already read and enjoyed A Daring Sacrifice, and you’re looking for another story with a bit of a feminist spin on Robin Hood, try Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin McKinley.
Cultural Elements
None.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.
Romance/Sexual Content Lots of description of tingling hands and fluttering tummies when Juliana and Collin are in close proximity to each other. A few kisses. At a midnight picnic (with a chaperone) a man places his head in a lady’s lap.
Spiritual Content Juliana wrestles with the morality of her life as a thief. She knows her father raised her to do right, and that stealing is wrong. She looks for the courage to find another way to stand against her uncle. She prays in times of need. One young woman ends the story shaken and disillusioned about love and marriage. She joins a convent.
Violent Content Juliana recalls finding pieces of her father’s body after her uncle tortured him to death. Not a lot of gory detail, but even the straight descriptions are pretty harsh. Something about a young girl finding her father’s body in pieces just can’t be anything other than disturbing to me, no matter how few details there are beyond that. Juliana’s uncle captures a young thief and tortures him in an attempt to find the location of the Cloaked Bandit. The boy suffers broken bones and having his nails removed. The torture itself isn’t described, only his injuries afterward.
Juliana’s uncle arranges to have a young woman burned to death. Later, he arranges to have a man tortured to death.
Juliana describes the servant uprising that led to her father’s death. Collin describes another battle in which soldiers and civilians are injured or killed.
Drug Content
Servants give ale and wine to guests at a dinner party. Collin and Juliana both drink ale.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com® book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Ten year-old Manami loves her home on peaceful Bainbridge Island. Then her family and other Japanese American members of the community are forced to relocate to internment camps. Manami tries to smuggle her family’s dog, Yujiin, into the camp, but is forced to leave him behind. The foreign circumstances and grief over her lost dog cause her to stop speaking. Instead, Manami expresses herself through drawings she creates every night. She draws memories of Yujiin and writes asking him to find her family. She will only find her voice again if she can work through her guilt over losing Yujiin.
This realistic debut tackles a dark moment in US history, when in 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt ordered the incarceration of many Japanese Americans. As is so typical of the experience of a child, Manami focuses on one traumatic change—having to leave her dog behind—and this becomes representative to her of all that her family has lost and the grief they suffer. Sepahban’s story stays true to many elements of the historical account of Manzanar, an internment camp in California. While this is a heavy subject for middle readers, the tale walks a fine balance between capturing the true injustice of the camps without relaying too much for young readers to understand.
I love that an author has written something about this moment in our history. I think too often we want to forget the bleakest moments, especially in our own history. To do so leaves us vulnerable to making the same mistakes again. Certainly this story comes as a timely reminder even today, that to judge an entire group of people by the actions of a very small number of radicals, is not only tragic but terrible and wrong.
When I read Paper Wishes, it reminded me in some ways of Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. In Number the Stars, Lowry follows the story of a girl whose best friend must go into hiding because she is Jewish. While the story doesn’t delve into the true horrors of Nazi occupied Holland, it does give readers a view into those events that is child-sized, both in its simplicity and its relating of historical facts.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.
Romance/Sexual Content Manami learns that her brother has a girlfriend, and her family is unhappy about it. She wrestles with her own feelings about the relationship.
Spiritual Content None.
Violent Content Manami learns of a riot in the camp. Her parents rush her inside and away from noises of an angry crowd. One boy has been killed. Another dies soon after. She’s largely sheltered from the actual events.
Drug Content
None.
Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Fourteen year-old Amelia’s mother dies, leaving her and two siblings alone in the world. Amelia’s determined to run the family gas station and keep her siblings together until she comes of age. When the town learns of her mother’s death, Amelia and her siblings face being split up in foster care, and Harvey Blevins, who owns all the other gas stations in the area, sees the chance to snatch that last station he covets. What she needs is a parent figure, and the moment the bum falls off a coal wagon, she hatches a plan. If he’ll pose as her father, she can keep the family together and Mr. Blevins from stealing her mother’s legacy.
From the first to the last lines of the story, the strong sense of voice rings clear and never falters. Bayard captures the rugged poverty of a rural southern town in the 1940s with perfect clarity. As the plot unfolds, the tension builds and Harvey Blevins is driven to more and more extreme measures in his attempt to crush Amelia’s strong spirit and muscle the last independent gas station in the region into his own pocket. Lucky Strikes is ultimately an inspirational battle of wills between a rich, powerful man and a fierce young girl. As Amelia learns to embrace who she is and fight for her family, the community begins to respond to her courage. The story reminds us that sometimes the battles hardest won are themselves not the real victory because what’s gained when family and community pull together is a far greater, richer reward.
This was a hard book to classify. Amelia’s age makes her a young protagonist for the young adult genre, but the heavy content and strong language leave it decidedly beyond middle grade readership. If hard-pressed, I might label it as coming-of-age, though Amelia still feels like a young person in many ways even at the end of the story.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used with moderate frequency.
Romance/Sexual Content Amelia hears rumors about her mother being promiscuous. The source appears to be more from dislike or lack of understanding of Amelia’s mom because she was such an unusual person. Hiram disappears some nights and returns in the mornings. Amelia believes he’s spending nights with a woman companion. Amelia shares fervent kisses with a boy.
Spiritual Content At one point, the town refers to Amelia’s family as pagans. Her mother embraces the jab so that it becomes a family joke. Hiram brings a fortune teller to town to stir up interest and business.
Violent Content A fire starts in an occupied building. Someone fires shots at Amelia and her family.
Drug Content
A drunk fortune teller stays with Amelia’s family and offers her services to the townspeople for a day.
Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Millie and Bump set off for Colorado and a new life together. Leaving Mississippi is all Millie ever wanted, but it seems the dark memories she thought to escape have followed her. With the memory of what Bill Miller did still hanging over her, Millie isn’t sure she can ever accept her husband’s love, and she’s not sure the past will stay buried long enough for her to try.
As Millie’s new life begins to unravel, her Choctaw grandmother arrives. She anchors Millie with the roots of family and tradition and teaches her the healing power of forgiveness.
Just like Cantrell’s debut, Into the Free, this novel bursts with beautiful narrative. Millie’s experiences are achingly real and deeply moving. Her grandmother, Oka, stands as my favorite character. As I’d hoped after reading Into the Free, the story revisits a part of the earlier tale that happened too fast to be satisfying to me. Millie’s able to get some closure and to explain more of what was in her head in those tumultuous moments.
Additionally, though, there’s a plot element that unfolds that didn’t feel so well resolved. I don’t want to spoil the story, but it felt like one of those “just trust me” sorts of resolutions, and I think I expected more from the story which had so many other intricate conflicts. I did enjoy the ending and I’m glad I read more of Millie’s tale. The Colorado setting felt incredible realistic in all its rugged, frontier power. I loved Cantrell’s descriptions of Millie’s relationship with her horse, too.
See below for the content breakdown. This is a new adult story, exploring the first few years of a troubled marriage and Millie’s healing after a sexual assault.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.
Romance/Sexual Content – and Trigger Warnings Millie has flashbacks to the afternoon she was raped. There are snippets of sharp detail, things like her remembering the way her dress tore, or him tearing into her. Millie experiences triggers in her relationship with Bump and has to navigate those moments. We know after they are married that they are intimate. The descriptions are vague, usually hinting at coming intimacy with things like him unbuttoning her nightgown and then leaving off to begin a new scene. Millie’s struggle to connect with her husband is a significant part of the story, though. While graphic sex isn’t described, her relationship to this part of her life is one of the biggest conflicts in the story.
Spiritual Content Millie and Bump share their faith about God being able to move mountains. Millie remembers scriptures shared with her by her mother. She prays often, especially in times of peril and need.
Oka, Millie’s Choctaw grandmother visits her and shares some traditions with Millie. She cleanses the house, for example. Millie respects the significance of this ritual.
There’s a brief mention of Millie’s conversation with Babushka, an elderly palm reader she knew in Mississippi. Millie never had her palm read, but the woman seemed to see into her soul and tell Millie things she needed to hear.
Violent Content Rumors spread about a traveling man and his connection to two murders. When the man begins working for Bump, Millie fears for their safety. Millie learns about the night her grandmother was violently attacked and her grandfather killed. Two men get into a fist fight. A man is killed by a mountain lion. Millie witnesses the attack and others come with her to recover the man’s remains.
Drug Content
Millie remembers how damaging morphine use was to her mother.
Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Millie has grown up watching the Romany travelers make their yearly trek through her Mississippi town and on into the free. She longs to leave her abusive father and poverty-stricken life behind and follow them, but who would care for Mama if she goes? When tragedy swallows Millie’s family, she’s left with only the memory of her mother’s faith to guide her. A window into her father’s secret life opens to Millie, and she finds an unexpected community among his friends. As the day draws near for the Romany to return and the one person Millie has counted on to save her will appear, she finds herself torn between the life she always wanted and the life she’s learning to embrace. She’ll have to choose one path, and hope it’s the one that leads away from the long history of abuse in her family.
The prose in this story is heart-achingly beautiful. It’s no wonder the first edition of this title won the Christy Award back in 2013. Millie’s relationships are deeply developed and complex, from her friendship with the older man, Sloth, who lives next door to her family, to her relationships with each of her parents in the midst of the abuse that takes place between them.
I felt like Millie’s reactions to things, especially early on through the middle of the story definitely fit with my picture of her as the victim of and witness to abuse. There’s one moment late in the story in which something really big happens, and I felt like Millie’s reaction is much too small and she moves on much too fast. (I’m hoping that in the sequel, we get a better understanding of why this happened and how she didn’t move on the way she might want us to think she did.)
I had a bit of a hard time with the romance of the story. I wanted it to follow an entirely different course, so I had a hard time adjusting when it didn’t follow that course. Eventually I came to understand and respect Millie’s choice, but again, the part of the story where she actually makes her choice for her future felt rushed or forced, and the jilted lover is kind of like, aww, man. Yeah, okay. So I wasn’t sure what to do with that. Did he not care about her the way I thought he did? What was that supposed to mean? Regardless, by that point I was okay with her choosing the other option, so maybe it was okay.
The sequel crosses into a more new adult story, following Millie into her new marriage and watching her deal with the unresolved issues of her past in the context of marriage. I’m really eager to see how that story unfolds. The idea reminds me a little bit of Joy in the Morning by Betty Smith (who also wrote A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, one of my favorite classics.)
Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.
Romance/Sexual Content Millie and River sneak away from the gypsy camp and kiss. She feels alive inside when she’s with him, and even spends one night asleep beside him in a field.
Millie suffers a trauma (see spoiler section if you want to know details.) A wise woman tells her that you want to marry someone who is steady and safe, not someone who makes you head-over-heels crazy about them. She reads this advice as true especially considering what happened when her mother risked everything to marry her father.
Spiritual Content Millie’s grandfather is a preacher who is all about rules. Millie’s mom has a deep faith in God despite the fact that she lives the life of an outcast. There’s a strong theme throughout the story in which a living spiritual faith is juxtaposed against rule-oriented religion. Millie rejects the empty rule-bound religion and clings to the memory of her mother quoting scripture and her messages about God’s love for people.
Violent Content Millie’s dad beats her mother, once so badly that she has to be hospitalized.
Drug Content
Millie’s mother uses a morphine-like medication to relieve pain from injuries and also to escape emotional pain. It nearly costs her life.
Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
SPOILER ALERT AND TRIGGER WARNING A man rapes Millie. It’s not deeply described, but Millie’s response is included, and reading that was rough. Sensitive readers should take caution. Afterward, she is angry, but she puts the whole event aside very quickly to pursue a romantic relationship with a boy who loves her. I felt like that all happened very quickly. I wasn’t sure I really believed a girl who’d been raped so recently would immediately take off and offer to marry someone. It sounds like the sequel deals more deeply with this experience, so that might explain why Millie shoved it aside so abruptly and show her need for healing.
