When Flora saves a squirrel from a powerful vacuum cleaner, she discovers that he has super powers. She names him Ulysses and brings him home to teach him what it means to be a hero, and she watches and waits for his true superpowers to emerge. Ulysses’ powers do emerge: a deep love for Flora and the gift of poetry. Her desire to protect him and his power to communicate changes Flora’s life in unexpected ways.
My family and I listened to this as an audiobook on our vacation. I loved the comics that Flora reads and how they were a bond between her and her dad. Ulysses totally had me from the moment he walked onto the page. The tone of the story is playful and fun, but it delves pretty deep into some emotional territory. Flora’s parents have separated, and that really unsettles her. She doubts her mom’s love for her, resenting the household lamp shaped like a shepherdess that her mother keeps in a prized spot in the house. During the separation, Flora’s relationship with her father becomes strained. Having Ulysses in her life is this huge, positive thing, and soon he begins to affect everyone around her.
Throughout the story, we laughed, we teared up. We shouted, “Holy Bagumba!” right there along with Flora and her dad. It was a great read, and a lot of fun.
Cultural Elements
Smalltown America. I don’t recall racial descriptions of characters.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
A few expressions like, “what the heck,” “holy unanticipated occurences,” and “for the love of Pete” pepper the story. Nothing heavier than that.
Romance/Sexual Content None.
Spiritual Content A woman briefly discusses Pascal’s Wager with Flora and what it means. (That believing in God on faith means one has less to lose than not believing. She also mentions that her husband, who has died, is “singing with the angels.”
Flora quotes from a comic that says, “Do not hope. Only observe.” She wrestles to follow this advice but realizes that she can’t help hoping, and that hope is what carries her through some hard moments.
Violent Content Flora’s mom wants her dad to take Ulysses out and bash him on the head with a shovel to kill him.
At one point, a man with a chef’s knife starts toward Ulysses. With her father’s implied permission, Flora trips the man.
During World War II, Irena Sendler worked with an underground network to rescue 2,500 Jewish children from Nazi occupied Poland. Her unwavering commitment to human rights began long before the war, and endured through her own incarceration and torture. She worked tirelessly to save as many as she could, and through it all insisted that she was not a hero. She’d only done what any ordinary human would do.
Though it’s nonfiction, I could not put this book down. I was so captured by the life of this incredible woman and the way her life affected so many people. I love that there’s a young reader’s edition of this story, especially because it was a group of students whose research drew community interest in Irena’s largely untold story.
This may be one of the most inspiring stories I’ve ever read. I think what touched me most was the fact that throughout her life she insisted she wasn’t a hero. That anyone could do what she’d done. And I believe that is true. That we can each make an incredible difference in the world if it’s what we pursue.
I read her story and think about some of the things happening in our own country now. While I don’t want to draw a comparison between our nation and Nazi occupied Warsaw, there are injustices happening around us. I think about the courage with which Irena Sendler faced each day, and the resolve she must have felt as she set out to rescue each child. It didn’t begin with the Nazi occupation. She stood up against prejudice during her time in college, and it nearly cost her education. It would have been easy to sit down quietly and ignore what was happening around her. To just worry about herself and her own life. Instead she protested along with her Jewish peers.
It’s easy to look back at history and say we would have been among those who fiercely opposed Nazi ideas. How many of us really would have done it, though, at risk to our own lives and the lives of our families? This is the kind of story that really challenges you to think about those things. And they’re worthy things to think about. In the end, I want Irena to be right that she’s not a hero, that her faith in us, in humanity to stand up for one another, is well-placed. That truly, ordinary people reach out to help and protect others, no matter how different from us they may be.
Recommended Reading Age: 12 up.
Cultural Elements
Follows the story of Jewish and Polish historical figures.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.
Romance/Sexual Content None.
Spiritual Content Irena and her network save some children by having them baptized into the Christian faith. Some families and members of the Jewish community object to this practice and some refused to let their children participate
Violent Content Disease and starvation plague the Jewish ghetto. The story talks briefly about the terrible cruelty of the Nazi soldiers toward the Jews, even toward babies. Few details are given, but it’s tragic and awful to think about it.
Drug Content
Irena visits a club in the wealthier side of the ghetto to hear a famous singer. Doctors perform operations with limited medical means. Irena smuggles vaccines into the ghetto.
Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
When Sloane’s family moves from New York to Florida before her senior year, she doesn’t feel she’s left much behind. A party brings her within the gravitational field of Vera, a social media starlet, and Gabe, her intensely serious twin brother with a justice complex. Without meaning to, Sloane falls into twins’ social circle, and ever deeper into their lives. When a beloved painting by their late mother goes missing, Sloane makes secret plans to bring it back. This is a problem she can fix, she knows it.
At home, Sloane’s family begins to feel more and more fractured, and finding the painting, freeing the twins from their grief, becomes an all-consuming project for Sloane. Too soon she’s forced to ask the question she can’t bear to face. What happens if she can’t bring the painting home?
Earlier this year I read First & Then by Emma Mills, which totally charmed me. I still like it, and I was nervous but also excited about reading another book by this author, because once you have those high expectations, it can be really awful if the story doesn’t live up, you know?
Well. This one blew me away. I laughed. I bawled. I sneaked out of my room in the middle of the night (after my husband was like omg, would you please go to sleep??) because I could NOT rest until I knew the ending of the book.
This book is like a list of my favorite things. Witty dialogue. An emo boy (I know, but it’s really a thing.) A deep and surprising emotional journey. True friendships from unexpected places.
I love it with all the sweat of all the babies. (Nevermind. Just read it. You’ll understand.)
Cultural Elements
Vera and Gabe’s mom is from the Dominican Republic. One of their friends is Indian. Vera and her girlfriend are lesbians.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used pretty frequently.
Romance/Sexual Content Sloane stops a bully from picking on another boy and makes a comment about him belonging at home masturbating alone. A couple boy-girl kisses. Vera dates a girl named Tash. The vampire TV show Sloane’s dad is obsessed with features two boys who are star-crossed lovers. Sloane reads a bit of racy fan fic. No details.
Spiritual Content Sloane’s dad becomes obsessed with writing fan fic based on a TV show featuring vampires.
Violent Content Boys get into a fist fight.
Drug Content
In the opening scene, Sloane is at a party where teens drink alcohol. Later, a drunk friend asks her to pick him up and give him a ride home.
Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Pax was only a kit when his family was killed, and “his boy” Peter rescued him from abandonment and certain death. Now the war front approaches, and when Peter’s father enlists, Peter has to move in with his grandpa. Far worse than being forced to leave home is the fact that Pax can’t go. Peter listens to his stern father—as he usually does—and throws Pax’s favorite toy soldier into the woods. When the fox runs to retrieve it, Peter and his dad get back in the car and leave him there—alone. But before Peter makes it through even one night under his grandfather’s roof, regret and duty spur him to action; he packs for a trek to get his best friend back and sneaks into the night. This is the story of Peter, Pax, and their independent struggles to return to one another against all odds. Told from the alternating viewpoints of Peter and Pax.
My Review
This book, to me, was like Disney’s The Fox and the Hound meets John Boyne’s Stay Where You Are and Then Leave. Well, it was all the things I loved about those stories. Pax was the cutest thing ever, and my heart totally broke for him as he got left behind. I loved Peter, too, for his devotion and loyalty to his fox. I wasn’t totally sure about Vola at first. I sort of expected her to be a brief presence in the story, but she stayed around, and actually, I came to love her, too. There’s one moment where she places her hands on Peter’s head, and it’s this really tender gesture, especially since Peter has been so starved for affection since his mom’s death. I totally bawled. It’s so sweet.
The illustrations also added a lot to the story. I loved the style of the drawings. It made me really want to give the book as a gift for Christmas. And I just might do that!
Some of the descriptions of war are a bit harsh, so this story definitely has some grit to it. In some ways, that only strengthened the power of the other themes about love and the value of a life, any life. If you liked Be Light Like a Bird by Monika Schröder, you will want to check this one out.
Cultural Elements
Vola describes herself as part Creole, part Italian among other things. Peter describes her as someone who used to speak another language that sounded like a song.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
Vola swears, saying “dyeableman.” At one we’re told Peter swears. (What he actually says doesn’t appear.)
Romance/Sexual Content None.
Spiritual Content Peter describes his connection with Pax as feeling a mental or spiritual connection. Vola tells him about the Buddhist concept of oneness—“two but not two.”
Violent Content Land mines explode, killing and injuring animals. Vola lost her leg in a similar explosion. Pax learns to hunt and kill prey. He and the other foxes eat mice, etc.
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.
Review
One of my favorite things about Caroline Stellings is her ability to tell a story with huge emotional layering. At its surface, this is a really simple tale about a girl who has a dream and takes a road trip. The backdrop of America in 1970 gives the story some added intensity. I loved that Janis Joplin makes an appearance, and even more that Easy talks so much about Billie Holiday and Bessie Green as influences of her music.
The power punches come in the characters. I don’t want to give anything away, but there were several moments where things unfolded in this perfect way. Like when you make complex origami and on the last step, pull the piece into its final shape, so that suddenly it transforms from being a bunch of sequential folds to a crane or dragon or something so much more than paper. That’s how it felt reading Freedom’s Just Another Word. Like being part of a transformation.
I loved that meeting Janis didn’t suddenly propel Easy to fame. It was a significant moment on her journey, and she learned a lot about herself and others through her encounter. But she had so much more to learn and to give. She just also had to find the courage to take those steps.
At any rate, I wholeheartedly recommend this book. (Check content to make sure it’s okay for your readers as there is some language.) If you enjoy fiction about music or musicians, definitely get yourself a copy of Freedom’s Just Another Word. I loved it.
Cultural Elements
Easy was raised by African American parents. Her mother is white and her father is black. Where she lives in Saskatoon there aren’t very many black people. She experiences some prejudice as a child. When she drives through Texas, she’s threatened and thrown out of a restaurant because of her race. There’s some discussion about places it’s unsafe for her to go, especially at night. Some places won’t let her in, others treat her coldly.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used infrequently.
Romance/Sexual Content Easy wonders how her mom forgave her father for having an affair with a white woman.
Spiritual Content Easy meets two nuns and helps them buy a car. One is judgmental and cynical. The other is kind and welcoming to Easy. Later she meets a Reverend Mother who shows a great deal of compassion for the people around her, which moves Easy.
Violent Content A man threatens Easy’s life if she doesn’t leave his restaurant.
Drug Content
Easy meets Janis Joplin and her gang. They clean out a liquor store, many of them already drunk. Janis wants Southern Comfort, and Easy finds it for her. She reflects on Janis’s hard living way of life with some sadness. Later she meets another heroin addict. When Easy sees Janis again, she talks to her about him. Janis seems sad about the man’s predicament, but expresses no desire to change her habits. Not long afterward she’s found dead of a heroin overdose.
Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
When twelve princesses of Caelan refuse to dance as commanded by their father, he imprisons them in their pavilion and offers a challenge. Anyone who discovers the princesses’ secret will marry his pick among them and choose the fate of the others. Anyone who tries and fails will be stripped of land and title or life. But it’s the forgotten thirteenth princess who holds the key to the princesses’ rebellion. Ilani may be crippled, but she is by no means powerless.
Into this standoff comes Lord Kyril Seagrave and his companions from Andar. They hunt an exiled, dangerous prince and the truth about whether Caelan means to invade their home. Kyril is supposed to lead the expedition, but near as he can tell, everyone else is more qualified for the job, and he begins to wonder if Prince Ramsey sent him simply to get him out of the way for a while. When Kyril meets Ilani, he feels a pull toward the girl he can’t explain, and he vows to right the grave injustice done when she was crippled at seven years old. But to right the wrongs of the past, the princesses’ secret must be revealed, and before exiled Prince Rowan can turn the situation to Andar’s ruin.
Political intrigue and fairytales might seem like an odd pairing, but in the Andari Chronicles, it really works. I love the way Davidson takes familiar stories and jazzes them up with new elements. I’m less familiar with the story of the “Twelve Dancing Princesses” by the Brothers Grimm than I am with the other two stories in the Andari Chronicles. This version still centers around a contest established by a king to learn the secret of his daughters, but this time instead of learning why the girls’ dance slippers are worn through each morning, the contestant must learn why the girls have refused to dance for their father. And, instead of three days and nights, each hopeful contestant has only one night to learn the secret.
Kyril plays a role in the first book in the series, Traitor’s Masque, as Prince Ramsey’s best friend and confidante. Since Ramsey’s marriage to Trystan, Kyril feels displaced and useless. The trip to Caelan at first seems like an opportunity to prove his true worth to the court. I liked Kyril a lot in Traitor’s Masque, and his motives made perfect sense to me throughout Pirouette. He and another team member, Brenna, spar frequently over an old grudge Brenna carries but refuses to name openly. The friction between those two definitely kept tension in the tale. Brenna herself is a pretty significant character, too.
Overall I enjoyed this story. I think I liked the first two books in the series a little bit better than this one. I love the characters, but there’s one moment in the climax where I felt like Kyril gets kind of sidelined and doesn’t really contribute. After all of his struggles over feeling useless and valueless, I felt a little sad for him that he kind of had to sit back and wait while others did some key things. I would have liked to see him in a more active role during that big moment.
At the same time, I liked that the climax had a less traditional resolution. I won’t spoil what happened, but it was cleverly done, and definitely gave a nod to girl power and solidarity, which I have to appreciate.
I’d still recommend the whole series to readers who like fairytale retellings. You can read my reviews of the first book, Traiter’s Masque, and the second book, Goldheart, too.
Cultural Elements
While Andar feels more like Western Europe to me, Caelan feels more Middle Eastern with the descriptions of clothing, culture, and architecture.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used infrequently.
Kyril spends the sea voyage sick and miserable. There are several descriptions saying he smells horrible and has vomit-stained clothes, etc.
Romance/Sexual Content Brenna hassles Kyril about his reputation as a shameless flirt. Kyril later explains the reasons for his behavior. Brief kissing between a man and woman.
Spiritual Content Some Caelani bear an ability to perform magic. Their gifts are usually limited to one thing, like the ability to control water or fire. Anyone who can perform magic is made a slave and forced to wear silver.
Violent Content Ilani bears multiple scars and damage to her leg after a man ordered her brutally maimed as a child. She does not recount her torture vividly, but her leg still pains her and she must walk with a cane. Her mother and brother were ordered to be executed after she was discovered to have magical abilities.
Some Caelani want to see the slaves freed and magic embraced by the people. Others fear the outcome of magic users without restraint. A girl uses her magic to kill a man.
A wild animal attacks and severely mauls a man. The attack isn’t described, but his injuries are briefly related later.
Drug Content
None.
Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
