Top Ten Underrated Books

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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s theme lists underrated books, or books with fewer than two thousand ratings on Goodreads. I’ve talked about a lot of these books before. Some are indie or small press novels. Others remain largely undiscovered for reasons I can’t quite figure. All are books I would happily pick up and read all over again.

Top Ten Underrated BooksTop Ten Underrated Books

Glass Girl by Laura Anderson Kurke

You know when you find one of those books where the writing itself is as beautiful as the story? Glass Girl is like that to me. Big emotions, great characters, and a totally swoon-worthy romance. I’m no cowgirl, but I totally loved this Wyoming story.

To Get to You by Joanne Bischof

This one took me by surprise. After reading the back cover copy, I wasn’t totally sure what I’d be getting into. Something about best friends and a cross-country trip? Reuniting with an estranged parent? It sounded a little Hallmark-y to me, in all honesty. Bischof won me over with her straightforward writing. She kept it real when it came to Riley’s relationship with his dad. I liked the way she set up the relationships – the history between Riley and his parents, and his developing relationship with the girl.

The Unlikely Debut of Ellie Sweet by Stephanie Morrill

Seriously. If you have a girl in early teens and you’re looking for clean, funny books with a lot of heart, and you haven’t read anything by Stephanie Morrill, just stop now and fix that. I always laugh. I always cry. I always wish for another chapter. Good stuff. (Did I mention she has a historical mystery coming out next year?! I. Can’t. Wait!!!)

I Have Seen Him in the Watchfires by Cathy Gohlke

Every time I read historical fiction, I think I should read more of it because I enjoy it so much, especially when it’s as done as well as Christy Award-winning author Cathy Gohlke’s novels. This novel goes deep and paints the Civil War in stark detail. For history fans interested in a clean read, this is a must.

Chasing Lilacs by Carla Stewart

I love when authors tackle difficult subjects with poise and honesty, and that’s just what Carla Stewart does in her debut novel Chasing Lilacs. Twelve year-old Sammie faces her mother’s mental health issues and suicide during a time (the 1950s) when these things were hushed up. It’s a bit darker than some of my other selections here, but still a worthy read.

Wind and Shadow by Kathy Tyers

Okay, don’t read the Goodreads copy because it’s really confusing. This book is a continuation of Tyers’ Firebird series, so it’s probably best to start there. I read this one first, and I promise it’s not as confusing as Goodreads makes it sound. Wind Haworth was my favorite character. She’s a young diplomat trying to find her place in a very tense politically volatile situation. I really liked the marriage of politics and sci-fi in this novel.

Liberty by Annie Laurie Cechini

This is a light, fun sci-fi story that I think would appeal to fans of Firefly. A quirky crew and a space mission. What’s not to like? Definitely worth checking this one out.

Update – sorry. It looks like this one is currently out of print!

Mercy’s Prince by Katy Huth Jones

I remember being really impressed with the fact that the characters don’t whine when they’re faced with really tough choices. (I mean, let’s face it. Whining can ruin a great story. Even Luke Skywalker’s whining got old, right?) I found the whole can-do attitude and the story itself really intriguing and refreshing.

Traitor’s Masque by Kenley Davidson

I love fairy tales retold, so as soon as I saw this retelling of Cinderella, I was intrigued. This isn’t a classic Cinderella. Davidson’s heroine finds herself recruited to spy for an unknown Lord who promises, in exchange, the one thing she wants most: freedom from her step-mother’s domain. What will she do when completing her task requires her to betray the prince with whom she’s falling in love?

Curio by Evangeline Denmark

I read this book months ago and I still wake up thinking about it sometimes. I loved the story-within-a-story element to this novel. What is it about a boy with wings that I find so intriguing, too? Gah. I loved it. If you’re a fan of dystopian stories or steampunk, you definitely have to check this one out.

Have you read these books?

If you’ve read and enjoyed any of these books, help the author out. Take a few minutes and rate them on Goodreads and post a quick review! You don’t have to do anything fancy. Think of two things you liked and a book or genre that you found similarly enjoyable whose readers might also enjoy the book. Post, and you’re done!

Doing this really helps an author out. Amazon and other sites have goofy rules about what promotional tools authors can access based on the number of reviews posted for their work.

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Review: Paper Wishes by Lois Sepahban

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Clean Fiction, Historical, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , ,

Paper Wishes
Lois Sepahban
Farrar, Straus, and Giroux

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

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.

 

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Review: The Crowd by Alleece Balts

Book Review and Content, Christian World-View, Clean Fiction, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , ,

The Crowd
Alleece Balts
Available January 10, 2016

Amazon | Goodreads | Author web site

Ella’s excitement over her acceptance into a prestigious school quickly fades when she has her first run-in with the Crowd. These future politicians and business leaders possess the power to make life miserable for the other students. When Jackson, the Crowd leader, turns his attention to Ella, she wants nothing more than to slip back into anonymity. Only her friendship with Lucas, a boy from another school, gives her any joy. With each new challenge the Crowd tosses her way, Ella reminds herself of her father’s words: be kind. Her mother quotes Eleanor Roosevelt, Ella’s namesake, and Ella strives to live up to those lofty words. But if she’s going to find peace at school, she’ll have to take down the Crowd.

One of the things I liked about this book was how often the people and relationships in Ella’s life turned out to be different than they first seemed. She’d make judgments about the people around her and then have to decide whether or not to shift her expectations as she gained more experience. I thought that was pretty realistically portrayed.

The story kind of follows two separate tracks. On one hand, it’s a romance. On the other, it’s a tale about bullying. Most of the time I thought those two ideas played well with each other, but there were moments where the romance seemed to overshadow the other story elements. Overall, this didn’t lessen the enjoyment for me. I just sometimes forgot that there was more going on than blossoming love.

The faith elements come through naturally, and I enjoyed the way those moments unfolded. I liked how her faith was integrated with the wise voices in her life, like her dad’s reminders to be kind and her mom’s Eleanor Roosevelt quotes.

Overall, I thought this was a sweet, clean story. If you’re looking for a lighter read that still explores issues like bullying, maybe as an alternative to something like Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers, check out The Crowd.

Cultural Elements
Most of the characters in The Crowd are or appear to be white. Ella becomes friends with a girl named Jayla, who is the only African-American student at their school. Ella’s friend Lucas is described as Latin.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
No profanity. There are a couple of crude comments. For example, one boy makes a comment to another boy about wanting to “bang” a girl.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing. A boy and girl fall asleep on a bed after talking for hours.

Spiritual Content
Ella’s faith is extremely important to her. She often prays for guidance. She and her aunt study proverbs together and attend church regularly. Ella volunteers to sing in the choir, but becomes discouraged when it feels more like performance than worship.

Violent Content
Kids at school pick on Ella. They do some hurtful things along the lines of ruining her skirt by placing a broken pen in her seat.

Ella learns some town history in which a boy shot two girls before killing himself in a school shooting. Another girl gets shot when a gun accidentally goes off.

Drug Content
Ella hears rumors about Jackson’s wild past involving a lot of drinking. Ella’s dad achieved great success as a musician in a rock band, and he lived a hard party life until becoming a Christian and leaving the band. We don’t learn many details about either Jackson’s rumored past or Ella’s dad’s rock star days. There are no descriptions of alcohol or drug use, just references to the fact that they happened.

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

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Top Ten Middle Grade Reads

Blogger's Favorites, Lists, Middle Grade 8-12,

Top Ten Middle Grade Reads (2015-2016)

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Today, my spin on the topic is this: middle grade reads. As the parent of an enthusiastic middle grade reader, I’m always looking for books that will spark conversations, explore interesting ideas, or generate all those deep emotions as only a well-written book can. Here are the best of the middle grade books I’ve read in the last couple of years.

The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin

Review | Amazon | Goodreads

I loved the way the author used information about jellyfish in this story, but what was ultimately most powerful was Suzy’s voice. This story packed a big emotional punch, and I love that.

The Year of the Book by Andrea Cheng

Review to come | Amazon | Goodreads

While I haven’t made it to posting this review yet, this is another must-read, in my humble blogger opinion. I completely identified with Anna’s struggle to connect with her friends and find peace in her identity.

Grayling’s Song by Karen Cushman

Review | Amazon | Goodreads

Quirky characters were the big win for me in this novel. I mean, seriously?! A shape-shifting mouse? So cute. And the team of unlikely allies reminded me of the team of odd part-dragon characters helping Seraphina in Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman.

Escape from Sudan by Amanda DiCianni

Review | Amazon | Goodreads

This was another unexpected find. When the author, who’d been a missionary to this part of the world, approached me with Escape from Sudan, the subject of the story definitely interested me. Books like this one are great ways to start conversations about world events and to introduce those ideas in ways appropriate for middle readers.

It Ain’t So Awful, Falafel by Firoozeh Dumas

Review | Amazon | Goodreads

This is another tale with a powerful punch. In the wake of the hostage crisis in Iran, an Iranian-American girl navigates a suddenly hostile California town. She’s smart, funny and immediately goes for the heartstrings. I want this book in classrooms everywhere.

Just My Luck by Cammie McGovern

Review | Amazon | Goodreads

Too often simple kindness gets overlooked in our fast-paced modern world. In this story, Benny wrestles with being kind to others in the midst of troubling family circumstances: his father suffered an accident and may never be the same. I loved Benny from page one.

Towers Falling by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Review | Amazon | Goodreads

As part of a school history project, Deja discovers the truth about what changed the New York skyline on September 11, 2001, and the connection it has to her family. While this one got a little preachy– a side effect of the classroom setting for many of the book’s scenes– I really appreciated the honest but not graphic look at another big moment in US history.

Paper Wishes by Lois Sepahban

Review to Come | Amazon | Goodreads

I’m cheating a bit, since my review for this book won’t be posted until the middle of July. But seriously. Another great, really relevant book. A young girl is forced to leave her island town with her family to live in a Japanese Internment camp. The details are all gentle– it’s very middle grade level stuff– but it absolutely captures the message about how traumatic and wrong that moment in American history was.

When Did You See Her Last? by Lemony Snicket

Review | Amazon | Goodreads

I love the blend of noir and humor in this wacky mystery. This was one series that had both my daughter and me watching for release dates and rushing to the bookstore to get the copy of the latest release.

Between Shadows by Kathleen Cook Waldron

Review | Amazon | Goodreads

I had the pleasure of meeting this author on vacation a few months before her book came out. My grandmother’s death was a hugely significant loss in my life, so when she described her novel about a boy and his family rediscovering one another after his grandfather’s death, I was instantly intrigued. I’m super excited that I got to read it!

What are your favorite middle grade books?

You’ve read my list. Have you read any of them? What did you think? Which books top your favorites for middle grade literature? (Thing ages 8-12.) Leave a comment with your answer!

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Review: Towers Falling by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Book Review and Content, Clean Fiction, Contemporary, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , ,

Towers Falling
Jewell Parker Rhodes
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Available July 12, 2016

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

When Deja’s family loses their home and are forced to move to a shelter, she starts fifth grade at a new school. She’s embarrassed by her family’s situation and braced for judgment from the other kids. Instead, Ben, also a new kid, and Sabeen, a sweet girl who covers her hair with a scarf, become Deja’s new friends. As their teacher, Miss Garcia, begins a unit about history connecting to the present, the class learns about the World Trade Center towers falling on September 11, 2001. The material covered in the classroom is gentle and oblique, but Deja feels there’s a much more gruesome truth that no one dares to tell her. Her questions and research lead her to a harder realization: a connection between her father’s anxiety and respiratory illness and the terrorist attack that caused the collapse of the towers.

Before I picked up this novel and still now that I’ve finished it, I can’t help but admire the author for tackling the topic of the September 11 attack as the basis for a middle grade story. For the most part, I think the topic was handled with extreme care. Deja’s dad is extremely uncomfortable at first when he learns that the school is teaching his daughter about the terrorist attack. He visits the school and speaks with Miss Garcia and the school’s principal. I liked the inclusion of that element. It felt very real and natural, and certainly something that concerned parents may do. Deja had her own anxiety about what would happen as a result of her father’s visit, and her friends and trusted adults in her life were able to reassure her.

At one point Deja and Ben skip school to visit the memorial site where the World Trade Center once stood. They return home to find worried and angry parents, but there’s not much discussion about it beyond that.

I can only find one issue with the story. Many scenes take place in a classroom or other forum where someone else educates Deja about the history of the September 11 attack. This leaves the book feeling a bit preachy at times. Sometimes Deja privately processes the information she’s been told. Those were some of the most powerful moments in the story. She begins to understand how much the past affects her present, something so simple but so true and nicely woven into the plot of this tale.

Cultural Elements
Deja and her family are African-American. Her mother moved to the United States from Jamaica, as she says, for a better life. Ben’s grandmother comes from Mexico. Sabeen’s family is from Turkey. They are practicing Muslims. Deja meets Sabeen’s parents, grandmother, and her uncle and enjoys dinner with them of traditional Turkish foods. Sabeen also makes Turkish delight and baklava to share with her friends.

The diversity of the character cast felt very organic and natural to the story. I enjoyed the richness it brought to the novel, and especially the descriptions of the food prepared by Sabeen’s family, as it sounded delicious!

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Deja’s friend Sabeen and her family practice Islam. She briefly discusses the prejudice against Muslims that her family faces in America and how hurtful this is to her family.

Violent Content
Deja and Ben watch videos online showing the towers falling. She notices people leaping from the building.

Drug Content
Her father suffers from a debilitating illness. At one point Deja wonders if the doctor has changed his medicine.

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

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Review: Paper and Fire by Rachel Caine

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

Paper and Fire
Rachel Caine
New American Library/Random House
Available July 5, 2016

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Jess survived induction into the Library, but life as one of their soldiers is far more grueling than he expected. The girl he loves is locked away forever, and his best friend is lost. When rumors bring Jess’s old classmates together again, they face a terrible choice: a rescue mission that would mean living the rest of their lives on the run from the Library, if they manage to escape. Jess promises refuge with his family, but even he isn’t sure he can count on his father to hide them without having something valuable to offer in return.

After devouring the series opener, INK AND BONE, (and then pestering everyone I know to also go read it) I was anxious to start reading PAPER AND FIRE. I love Jess. Something about the combination of his cleverness and vulnerability makes it essential for me to root for him.

I felt like the story in INK AND BONE was a tiny bit more organized, but I still really enjoyed PAPER AND FIRE. In the first book, I was nervous about liking each new character as they were introduced. In PAPER AND FIRE, I was biting my nails down to the quick because again and again, all the characters I love find themselves in mortal peril. I kept having to stop and take a breath.

One of the really difficult things for a series like this where the story world is so unbelievably inventive is that the second book doesn’t have that wow factor with regard to that story world. We already know about the Great Library and the sinister automata. Though they’re still as unique and interesting, I didn’t feel the same awe, because I had kind of already acclimated to the wonder. If that makes sense. I felt the same way about THE HUNGER GAMES. But by the second book, I was like, oh yeah, the Arena. I remember that. Not quite the same.

So yeah. That’s my take. Still a great read, and possibly cleaner than the first book. I’m super excited to see what happens in the next book, ASH AND QUILL.

Content Notes

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Some passionate kissing. At one point, it seems like two characters are winding up to have sex, but they argue instead, and that kills the mood.

Two men kiss.

Jess and his friends learn that in the Iron Tower, Obscurists are matched based on ability and forced to have sex in order to produce children. The process isn’t described, but during Morgan’s imprisonment, Jess worries for her and hates the idea of her being forced into anything.

Spiritual Content
Khalila is a practicing Muslim.

Violent Content
Burners use Greek fire to set books and themselves ablaze. They also use it against soldiers and members of the Great Library. Jess serves as a soldier and faces battle. The battle descriptions are more about the strategy than about warfare. Guns are used.

Jess and the others learn that Wolfe and other prisoners were tortured. While there aren’t scenes actively depicting the torture, characters who’ve experienced it react strongly to any triggers, and there are some references to the fact that it happened. At one point, Jess and the team find the room where others have been tortured.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links which don’t cost you anything but help support this blog.

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