Review: Where Futures End by Parker Peevyhouse

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Where Futures End
Parker Peevyhouse
Kathy Dawson Books
Published February 9, 2016

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Where Futures End follows the interconnected stories of five teens. Dylan finds a way to cross into another world. Years later, Brixney tries to use social media to keep from being imprisoned in a debtor’s colony. Years after that, Epony and her boyfriend craft new identities for themselves as reality stars only to learn the secure future they crave will cost them what matters most: their authenticity and their love for each other. Later still Reef embarks on a dangerous mission via virtual reality game in an attempt to win an escape from a terror-stricken city. At last, Quinn meets a stranger who reveals to her a terrible choice, one that links her story back to all the others before.

Confession: I actually read this book several months ago and have been horribly slow at posting my review on my blog, which is terrible because I loved it so much!

This story is unlike anything I’ve read before. At first, because it’s so different, I worried that I wouldn’t like it. It seems like this really cerebral type of story, and I feel like those kinds of stories often have shallow characters or often let the events overshadow the characters. Where Futures End has great characters, though. I was hooked on Dylan from the very opening pages. As his story ended, I was nervous again about starting Brixney’s story, because I worried I wouldn’t like her as much as I liked Dylan.

But I did. Every time the story switched to a new piece (it’s written like five shorter stories one right after another) of the story, I fell in love with a completely new set of characters and a completely new story world. I loved the way each story reached back to the ones that came before in some way, so you really had the sense of history impacting the future.

I really enjoyed reading this one, and definitely recommend it, especially to sci-fi readers. If you enjoyed the movie Cloud Atlas, you definitely need to read this book. If you like books that are really unusual and unique or have a puzzle or moral dilemma to them, definitely get yourself a copy of Where Futures End.

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used infrequently. (Fewer than ten times.)

Romance/Sexual Content
Kisses and hints at more between Epony and her boyfriend. Reef takes a wife because it helps him gain better standing in the online game, but he wonders if he’ll be able to consummate the relationship. (He doesn’t.)

Spiritual Content
The human world connects to another alien world, but only those with a strong vorpal, kind of an aura or energy can cross between the human world and the other.

A man catches Brixney eating ice cream nuggets and asks if she paid for them. She comments that he prays to God she has. Later she remembers a game she and Brandon play where they imitate the painting in the Sistine Chapel—one as Adam, the other as God, reaching toward one another.

Violent Content
Reef faces battles in the virtual game he plays.

Drug Content
Epony’s boyfriend tells her that sometimes he gets drunk when he hangs out with older boys.

Reef struggles with an addiction to resin, something he started young, after witnessing his mother do the same. Stopping will damage his organs.

 

Review: Amina’s Voice by Hena Khan

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Amina’s Voice
Hena Khan
Salaam Reads/Simon & Schuster
Published March 14, 2017

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Now that Amina is in middle school, it seems everything is changing. Her best friend Soojin wants to hang out with Emily. Amina remembers Emily making fun of her and Soojin in elementary school. Soojin wants to celebrate becoming an American citizen by changing her name, and she wants Amina to help her pick something “American.” Amina struggles to find her own place in the shifting world. Soojin encourages her to sing a solo for a chorus concert, but Amina worries she’ll freeze up and be unable to speak. Then she learns she’ll have to speak at a recitation of the Quran. She dreads the idea, especially when her very strict uncle from Pakistan volunteers to coach her the verses she’s selected to speak.

When her mosque is vandalized and the recitation canceled, Amina feels devastated. In the wake of the disaster, the community rallies around her, and she discovers that friendship crosses boundaries and survives changes, sometimes even flourishes because of them.

I heard about this book on Aisha Saeed’s blog where she recommended several books, including this one. I enjoyed reading about a practicing Muslim family and Amina’s struggle to balance her spiritual beliefs with other parts of her life. As a practicing Christian who grew up in public school, I remember facing some of the same kinds of challenges and having some of the same fears and concerns.

I loved that Amina’s best friend is a practicing Christian, too. Actually, during middle school, my best friend was a practicing Jew. I found that having deep spiritual commitment gave us a kind of common ground I wouldn’t have expected, because we both held deep belief that sometimes held us apart from our classmates.

It’s funny… I hadn’t thought about what it would be like to watch that relationship as a parent (my parents loved my friend and clearly valued our friendship.) Now, as a parent of a child in a school district with a significant Muslim presence, I find I feel similarly. I would love for my daughter to have a friend like Amina. I think having someone to share that feeling of otherness that comes from a deep faith and challenging each other to love across religious lines was one of the most valuable experiences I had as a middle school kid.

My own experience aside, I loved this book. It was easy to identify with Amina. She’s a good girl who wants to do right and struggles with fear and shyness. The story really delves into her understanding of friendship and community, issues common to all of us. I enjoyed the way her relationship with her parents, her brother, and her friends at school changed as she grew to see herself differently and began to explore her connection with her community more deeply.

If you’re looking for a story that exemplifies the power of coming together as a family and a community, this is a great pick. Amina’s Voice is also a good read for a shy child trying to find his or her place in the changing landscape of school transition.

Recommended for Ages 8 up.

Cultural Elements
Amina and her family are practicing Muslims. Her parents are from Pakistan, and an uncle from Pakistan comes to visit the family. Amina’s best friend Soojin and her family are Korean.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Amina’s family takes time to pray and attend services. Her uncle has much more strict beliefs than Amina’s family. When he visits, he expresses some of his more conservative views—such as music being sinful. Amina worries that her love and talent for music make her an evil person. Her parents share their own views—that Allah gave her this special talent for a reason—and this comforts her.

When Amina lets a secret slip and embarrasses a friend, she worries that she’ll be condemned for speaking against someone, as her uncle claims. Her parents reassure her that harming someone else wasn’t what was in her heart. Therefore, they tell her, she’s not the evil person the scripture in the Quran meant to identify.

After an attack on the mosque, the community, including a local Christian church, rallies together to help raise funds and find ways to repair the damage and provide places for services in the meantime.

Violent Content
Amina and her family witness the aftermath of a fire and destruction at her mosque.

Drug Content
Amina worries after learning her brother spent time with boys who were smoking. She bursts into tears when confronting him, but feels reassured to learn he didn’t smoke with them.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

 

Review: A Crown of Wishes by Roshani Chokshi

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Crown of Wishes
Rokshani Chokshi
St. Martin’s Griffin
Available March 28, 2017

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

From Goodreads
Gauri, the princess of Bharata, has been taken as a prisoner of war by her kingdom’s enemies. Faced with a future of exile and scorn, Gauri has nothing left to lose. Hope unexpectedly comes in the form of Vikram, the cunning prince of a neighboring land and her sworn enemy kingdom. Unsatisfied with becoming a mere puppet king, Vikram offers Gauri a chance to win back her kingdom in exchange for her battle prowess. Together, they’ll have to set aside their differences and team up to win the Tournament of Wishes—a competition held in a mythical city where the Lord of Wealth promises a wish to the victor.

Reaching the tournament is just the beginning. Once they arrive, danger takes on new shapes: poisonous courtesans and mischievous story birds, a feast of fears and twisted fairy revels.

Every which way they turn new trials will test their wit and strength. But what Gauri and Vikram will soon discover is that there’s nothing more dangerous than what they most desire.

My Review
Author Roshani Chokshi described this novel as more a sister or companion novel to her THE STAR-TOUCHED QUEEN, and it definitely is. You can start with this story and follow every bit of it just fine. If you read THE STAR-TOUCHED QUEEN, you may remember Vikram as the boy from the tapestry Maya asks about. Gauri, of course, is Maya’s sister.

A CROWN OF WISHES contains the same mythical feel and style as her debut. I forgot how much I loved that until. If you liked BOOK OF A THOUSAND DAYS by Shannon Hale, you absolutely need to check out this series. I loved the characters and felt like they make a balanced team. Gauri is a warrior—both in her talent for battle and the fierceness of her heart. She will fight for those she loves any way she can. I liked that Vikram doesn’t challenge her head-to-head. He listens, analyzes, and then acts, often outwitting his opponent. As the two face challenges, both those strengths become necessary. I loved the balance they brought to one another.

Also, I can’t forget Aasha, whose courage totally stole the show. At first, I wasn’t sure I really cared enough about her story to follow it with much interest. Soon enough, though, I felt just as much for her as Gauri and Vikram. I loved that she had this dream so far outside what her desires were supposed to be. She became this sort of glaring exception to the rules, and I couldn’t help rooting for someone whose greatest desire was, at its heart, to have her humanity again. Her point-of-view and part of the story were another unexpected gem. I’m starting to think Roshani Chokshi’s superpower is to create characters who seem like they should be unlikeable and make you adore them.

If you’re a fan of fairytales or mythology, you definitely want to add this book to your shelves along with THE STAR-TOUCHED QUEEN.

Recommended for Ages 13 up.

Representation
Features Indian characters and creatures from Indian folklore and mythology.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used fewer than ten times.

Romance/Sexual Content
When Gauri and Vikram agree to partner in the tournament, they do not realize that to partner they must be lovers. They agree to pretend for others, but in their private lives, they maintain distance from one another.

The last night of the tournament is a celebration in which everyone is to pair up with a lover. We understand that Gauri and Vikram see others paired up and, er, celebrating, but no details. We do witness the exchange of some kisses.

Spiritual Content
The story contains magic and mythical creatures. On their journey to the tournament where they hope to win a wish, Gauri and Vikram meet a group of Vishakanya women, who feed on desires and whose touch will poison them to death. They form an agreement with a vetala, a being of incorporeal evil who steals bodies to continue to exist. The vetala promises to help them if they help him find his next body. At one point Gauri and Vikram listen to a story about a river who fell in love with a man.

They eventually learn that the tournament began the moment they accepted the invitation. They recognize the lord of the tournament as someone who they’ve met along the journey as well.

The story challenges Gauri and Vikram’s beliefs about good and evil. More than once, creatures they believed to be evil defy their expectations and turn out to be noble or good. Ultimately, A CROWN OF WISHES explores the meaning of love and how love—both in friendship and as lovers—affects our choices.

Violent Content
Gauri briefly remembers her time spent as a soldier. She carries special knives at all times, ready for a fight. At one point, a group of Vanara, monkey-like creatures capture them and threaten to have them executed. .

Drug Content
Gauri eats a golden apple, a fruit that gives her supernatural strength for a time.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Spotlight and Top Ten: Organize Your Way by Katie and Kelly McMenamin

Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , ,

If you’re like me, organizing is a soothing thing. Bringing a little order to the chaos always makes me feel better. So I’m really interested in checking out this book Organize Your Way which covers lots of different ways to organize because, hey, we’re all different, and different methods work better for each of us. Read on for a little more about the book, a list of top ten organizational tips from the authors, and a chance to win a finished copy!

Organize Your Way: Simple Strategies for Every Personality
Katie McMenamin and Kelly McMenamin
Sterling
Published March 14, 2017

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Stressing over the mess? Discover YOUR personal organizing style—and stay organized forever!
Organization isn’t one-size-fits-all. Different people need different solutions. Fortunately, Katie and Kelly McMenamin—the organizing gurus behind PixiesDidIt!®—have found the key to making organization stick, with strategies that work for every personality.

Whether you’re OCD or a little less fastidious, Katie and Kelly will help you discover your organizational style, using unconventional approaches or sticking to what already works. Along with personality-based solutions for every space in your home, they offer advice on solving strife between different “PixieTypes.” So you can keep the stuff you love . . . and the peace!

About Katie and Kelly McMenamin

Website | Facebook | Twitter

Katie McMenamin and Kelly McMenamin are sisters, professional organizers, personality-type experts, and founders of PixieDidIt! Their business is an outgrowth of buttoned-up hedge fund analyst Kelly spending 30-odd years trying and failing to get her messy older sister Katie, a writer, to be more organized. Countless fights ensued until they had an idea: What if there is more than one way to organize? Today, they spend the bulk of their time organizing for clients, writing for their website, and giving talks on how to organize according to your personality type. Kelly lives in NYC with her husband and three sons and Katie lives in their hometown, the Land of Champions, aka Cleveland, OH, with her husband and three daughters.

Top Ten Organizational Tips from Organizing Your Way Authors Katie and Kelly

1. Knowing who you are is the key to organization mainly because if you’re pretending to be someone else, it’s hard to remember where that pretend person put something!

2. Change is hard, so be honest about organizing tasks. People who never hang up their coats in a closet, probably never will; get a coat rack and call it a day.

3. Perfect isn’t real. Magazine perfection is styled by a professional whose job it is to make everything perfection for the millisecond it takes to snap a photo.

4. No shame, no blame! You liking clear, spotless surfaces doesn’t make you OCD (it’s not a personality disorder), it’s your personality type.

5. Later Box It. When you can’t part with a useless item, store it away in a box and revisit that box in a few months (a year), whatever you missed keep, whatever you forgot … dude, let it go.

6. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Change is hard (see #2!) so if storing TP right next to the toilet works for you, do it, but for heaven’s sake try to make it look nice—unless you live alone on Antarctica then who cares.

7. Organizing at its core is about retrieval. Period. Can you easily find and get things when you need them. Everything else is an argument about aesthetics.

8. One-step solutions are golden. Hanging up your coat is a five-step process whereas popping it on a hook is one-step. Light bulb (at least it was for us!)

9. Be loud & proud. So, you write important To Do’s on your hand in a pinch. Who cares? Don’t apologize, defend it and tell any scolds where they can go.

10. There’s no best way to organize—just the best one for you!

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One winner will receive a finished copy of Organize Your Way by Katie and Kelly McMenamin (US Only)

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Review: Giant Smugglers by Matt Solomon and Chris Pauls

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Fantasy, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , ,

Giant Smugglers
Matt Solomon and Chris Pauls
Feiwel & Friends
Published May 17, 2016

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Thirteen-year-old Charlie stands up to a bully and soon finds himself on the run. When he ducks into an abandoned warehouse, he discovers someone else already hiding there: a giant! Charlie soon learns that the giant is on his way to meet his family, but an evil doctor and his team of scientists are close to finding him. If they find the giant, they’ll harvest growth hormones and use them to make a fortune on athletes and soldiers. Charlie vows to help his new friend escape and to keep him from becoming anyone’s science experiment.

The story moves quickly, right from the first page. The bad guys are uncomplicated in their villainy. Charlie and the giant, whom he names Bruce, develop the kind of friendship that can only come of shared adventures. At one point, they visit a drive-in movie theater to watch a movie, and of course, things go horribly but hilariously wrong. Charlie teaches Bruce some moves he learned in Bruce Lee movies, something he used to share with his brother who’s now gone. Opening up to the giant allows Charlie to begin processing his grief over his brother’s absence. It’s clear the friendship has a healing effect on both boys. Giant Smugglers is perfect for fans of urban adventure and friendship.

Recommended for Ages 10 up.

Cultural Elements
Mostly white characters.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity and crude language used rarely. The bad guys drop a few mild swear words.

Romance/Sexual Content
One kiss between a boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
A boy punches another kid. A giant tosses a human around. One man called The Stick attacks a giant and clearly has no remorse for harming others.

At one point Charlie takes his stepdad’s car without his permission. Charlie doesn’t know how to drive, but he’s the champ of a car racing video game called Total Turbo, and he relies on his gaming skills to keep him safe on the road.

Drug Content
A man uses his son to test a steroid-like drug to make him faster and stronger.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

 

Top Ten Tuesday: Top YA Books Coming in Spring 2017

Lists, Middle Grade 8-12, Young Adult/Teen 12-18,

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Today’s theme: books coming out in spring 2017 I can’t wait to read. Here’s my list…

Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett – April 4, 2017

A teen spin on You’ve Got Mail? Sign me up! Film geeks who’ve been happily chatting it up online end up in the same town– only she can’t stand him. She doesn’t know it’s him she’s been pouring her heart out to via the web, but eventually, she starts to feel, well, something. Is it worth trading in her perfect online romance for an imperfect reality?

It Started with Goodbye by Christina June – May 9, 2017

A girl with an online graphic design business who uncovers secrets in her house? Yes, please. Also, I’m totally intrigued by the feisty step-abuela-slash-fairy-godmother. Sounds like a story with a unique protagonist that explores blended family relationships.

 

A Crown of Wishes by Roshani Chokshi – March 28, 2017

Since I read Chokshi’s debut The Star-Touched Queen, I’ve been desperate to read more. She called this book more a sister than a sequel, so it’s totally fair to read it without reading The Star-Touched Queen first. (Though I’m not sure why you would want to, since the first was SO good.)

Amina’s Voice by Hena Khan – March 14, 2017

I saw this book on Aisha Saeed’s blog listed as a must-read, and lo, I was able to get my very own review copy! It’s a little more serious than It Ain’t So Awful, Falafel, but I love Amina’s relationships with her family and her tender heart. This is a perfect story to encourage a shy kid.

Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor – March 28, 2017

I fell in love with Taylor’s writing in the opening pages of her debut novel, Daughter of Smoke and Bone. This story– about the aftermath of a war between gods and men– promises to have the same sort of fascinating twist on myth, tortured heroes, strong heroine and heartbreaking, gorgeous storytelling as the other series. I. Can’t. Wait.

Gem and Dixie by Sara Zarr – April 4, 2017

If you love sister books, you need to check this one out. Two sisters grow up in an unstable home where they can only count on each other realize they may have to sever their relationship in order to survive. Zarr has an amazing ability to write characters so that you feel like you’re sitting inside them. This is a must-read for contemporary YA fans looking for an emotional story.

A Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh – May 16, 2017

Samurai, bandits, assassins, politics, and secrets. This looks absolutely delicious. When a girl promised in marriage to raise her family’s fortune journeys to meet her future husband, she’s attacked by bandits sent to kill her. She disguises herself as a boy and infiltrates their ranks, only to learn terrible secrets which make her question everything she’s ever known.

Defy the Stars by Claudia Gray – April 4, 2017

A girl desperate to save her planet from a robot army finds help in an unlikely place: an advanced prototype whose programming commands him to obey her. As they work together, she begins to think maybe there’s more to him and his loyalty than programming. Definitely looks like a brain-bendy, action-packed sci-fi adventure.

Hit the Ground Running by Mark Burley – April 25, 2017

A suspenseful novel featuring a parkour expert? Yup! When Eric’s family goes missing, he teams up with unlikely new friends to uncover dangerous secrets.

One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus – May 30, 2017

The Breakfast Club plus a murder. Five strangers walk into detention. Only four walk out alive. So, who did it? The brain? The beauty? The criminal? The athlete? They all have something to hide. I can’t wait to read this!

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas – February 28, 2017

Okay, technically I’m cheating since this came out the last day of February and that isn’t really spring. But, seriously. I’ve heard nothing but praise for this daring, timely novel about a girl who witnesses the shooting of an unarmed boy.

Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner – March 7, 2017

A simple text kills his three best friends. As if that’s not horrible enough, Blake learns he’ll be under a criminal investigation. When his best friend’s grandmother asks him to spend a day with her saying goodbye to her grandson, he hesitates. But as he begins to try to help others deal with their grief, he begins to find his own path toward healing.