Tag Archives: Algonquin Young Readers

Review: The Dark Lord Clementine by Sarah Jean Horwitz

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The Dark Lord Clementine by Sarah Jean Horwitz

The Dark Lord Clementine
Sarah Jean Horwitz
Algonquin Young Readers
Published October 1, 2019

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Goodreads

About The Dark Lord Clementine

The new face of big evil is a little . . . small.

Dastardly deeds aren’t exactly the first things that come to mind when one hears the name “Clementine,” but as the sole heir of the infamous Dark Lord Elithor, twelve-year-old Clementine Morcerous has been groomed since birth to be the best (worst?) Evil Overlord she can be. But everything changes the day the Dark Lord Elithor is cursed by a mysterious rival.

Now, Clementine must not only search for a way to break the curse, but also take on the full responsibilities of the Dark Lord. As Clementine forms her first friendships, discovers more about her own magic than she ever dared to explore, and is called upon to break her father’s code of good and evil, she starts to question the very life she’s been fighting for. What if the Dark Lord Clementine doesn’t want to be dark after all?

My Review

What a cute book! The story world is quirky and adorable, and the writing is fun but with a lot of emotion packed into it. I giggled through some scenes and had teary eyes in others. It was so easy to identify with Clementine’s wish to do the right thing while also battling her loneliness and her longing to find her own place in life.

The relationships pulled me into the story, too. Clementine gets to know a village boy and a traveling hunter, and through them gains something she’s never experienced before: friendship. She also learns to trust herself and to view her dad in a different way– to see his flaws and love him anyway, but also to challenge him where she believes he’s wrong.

It reminded me a little bit of THE GIRL WHO DRANK THE MOON, though it’s a little less dark than that one is. I think fans of that story would definitely enjoy THE DARK LORD CLEMENTINE, though.

If you’re a fan of fantasy that doesn’t take itself too seriously, you really want to check out THE DARK LORD CLEMENTINE.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 up.

Representation
Not much character description other than Clementine’s color-changing hair. 🙂

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Some clear attraction between Clementine and a village boy.

Spiritual Content
Use of spells and magic. Mythical creatures like satyrs and unicorns.

Violent Content
A few descriptions of battle, nothing gory.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support the costs of running this blog. I received a free copy of THE DARK LORD CLEMENTINE in exchange for my honest review.

Review and Blog Tour: Naked Mole Rat Saves the World by Karen Rivers

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Magical Realism, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , , , , ,

Naked Mole Rat Saves the World
Karen Rivers
Algonquin Young Readers
Available October 15, 2019

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Goodreads

About Naked Mole Rat Saves the World

Can Kit’s super-weird superpower save her world?

Kit-with-a-small-k is navigating middle school with a really big, really strange secret: When she’s stressed, she turns into a naked mole rat.

It first happened after kit watched her best friend, Clem, fall and get hurt during an acrobatic performance on TV. Since then, the transformations keep happening—whether kit wants them to or not. Kit can’t tell Clem about it, because after the fall, Clem just hasn’t been herself. She’s sad and mad and gloomy, and keeping a secret of her own: the real reason she fell.

A year after the accident, kit and Clem still haven’t figured out how to deal with all the ways they have transformed—both inside and out. When their secrets come between them, the best friends get into a big fight. Somehow, kit has to save the day, but she doesn’t believe she can be that kind of hero. Turning into a naked mole rat isn’t really a superpower. Or is it? 

My Review

Okay, so you’re probably thinking this book sounds weird. And it is a bit weird. But oh. My. Gosh. It’s layered. And complex. The characters face incredibly challenging things and have these really complicated, very believable (okay except for the changing into a naked mole rat part!) responses to those situations. I love both kit and Clem. Their friendship felt so real. So did kit’s troubling relationship with her mom.

One thing that was tough for me is that though the book has some characters dealing with mental health issues, there isn’t really anyone calling that out and offering help. Kit feels an incredible burden, but she doesn’t know where to turn and the only other adult regularly in her life encourages some enabling behavior rather than seeking help.

I know sometimes that’s really what happens. Sometimes there isn’t anyone really looking out for a person who’s barely treading water in the midst of anxiety or depression. This book made me want to find all the kids like kit and do something to help them. To provide them with better support.

Overall I totally love this book. The emotional journeys of kit and Clem gripped my heart. I love the way the friendships felt so organic and real. I love the way Clem’s grandma told awkward family stories and laughed at strange moments.

I think readers who enjoyed FLORA & ULYSSES will love NAKED MOLE RAT SAVES THE WORLD. It’s got a lot of the same kind of deep emotional wrestling and quirky departures from reality.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 up.

Representation
Clem is Latina and is depressed. Kit and her mom both have anxiety issues, and kit was born prematurely, so that she is still small for her age and has alopecia universalis, which causes her to have no hair.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Clem’s twin brother has a crush on a girl which she teases him about.

Spiritual Content
One character learns about a relative who joined a cult and died by suicide with the whole group.

Violent Content
Some description of Clem’s accident which results in serious injuries. Brief descriptions of robbery. See above.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support the costs of running this blog. I received a free copy of NAKED MOLE RAT SAVES THE WORLD in exchange for my honest review.

About Karen Rivers

I was born, grew up, and currently live in British Columbia, where I take a lot of photos, walk a lot of paths, and write books for children, teens and adults.  

The stories I tell are emotionally honest, but they aren’t about real people.   Fiction has a way of telling the truth though, don’t you think? 

I believe that readers are always asking the question, “Am I OK?”  I write characters who suspect that they are not OK, but who eventually find inside themselves the strength to change that belief. 

Growing up is harder than ever.  The world is often egregiously unfair.  Things can seem impossible.

How do we go on?

I believe in the power of stories.  I think that stories will save us.  They can show us the way.

Novels are magical.  Books can be mirrors or windows.  We sometimes need to see ourselves.  We always need to understand others. 

Stories are all secret passages to alternate worlds where we can be safe to explore the unsafe, the unsettling or the unfair hands some people have been dealt.  

In the pages of a book, we can be braver than we are, we can go further than we’d normally dare, we can understand more than we know.  

Books make us better, period.

I believe in magic.  Do you?  

Be brave.   Be kind.   And believe this:  You are OK.  

I believe in you. 

Review: Hurricane Season by Nicole Melleby

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Coming of Age, Contemporary, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hurricane Season
Nicole Melleby
Algonquin Young Readers
Available May 7, 2019

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About HURRICANE SEASON

Fig, a sixth grader, wants more than anything to see the world as her father does. The once-renowned pianist, who hasn’t composed a song in years and has unpredictable good and bad days, is something of a mystery to Fig. Though she’s a science and math nerd, she tries taking an art class just to be closer to him, to experience life the way an artist does. But then Fig’s dad shows up at school, disoriented and desperately searching for Fig. Not only has the class not brought Fig closer to understanding him, it has brought social services to their door.

Diving into books about Van Gogh to understand the madness of artists, calling on her best friend for advice, and turning to a new neighbor for support, Fig continues to try everything she can think of to understand her father, to save him from himself, and to find space in her life to discover who she is even as the walls are falling down around her.

Nicole Melleby’s Hurricane Season is a stunning novel about a girl struggling to be a kid as pressing adult concerns weigh on her. It’s also about taking risks and facing danger, about love and art, and about coming of age and coming out. And more than anything else, it is a story of the healing power of love—and the limits of that power.

My Review

One of my favorite things about HURRICANE SEASON is the evolution of Fig’s relationship with her dad. At the beginning she really idolizes him and feels super defensive of him, even when he’s doing things that make her life a lot harder. She blames their problems on her teacher who called social services. Or on hurricane season for drawing her dad to the shoreline during its dangerous storms.

As Fig’s dad’s behavior deteriorates and starts to affect her relationships at school, she grows to resent him and his mental health problems. She feels guilty and frustrated at herself, and eventually frustrated with her dad when he’s not able to do things with her that she needs, like going to an art exhibit that’s important to her, or going to her art show at school.

Even as their relationship frays, Fig and her dad continue to share rituals that bond them. I loved their exchange: “I love you.” “Double it.” “Love you, love you.”

And in the midst of it all, a miracle happens. A new person joins their family, and as so often happens when a situation is out of control, it’s that person who helps everyone realize how untenable things have become. I liked this catalyst character in the story, too, though at times he seemed almost too perfect.

I loved the way HURRICANE SEASON used details about Van Gogh’s life and his work to frame what was happening with Fig’s dad and even Fig herself.

Also worthy of note: this is a medication-positive story. Fig’s dad eventually begins taking medication to regulate his mental health, and while the solution isn’t perfect– the story shows some difficulty getting dosage and prescriptions right for him– it’s clear that it makes a positive difference in all of their lives.

Readers who enjoyed THE BENEFITS OF BEING AN OCTOPUS by Ann Braden or NEST by Esther Ehrlich need to put HURRICANE SEASON on their reading lists.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 to 14.

Representation
All the major characters are white. Fig’s dad is from London. Fig likes girls. A man begins a romantic relationship with another man.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used once.

Romance/Sexual Content
Two men kiss. A girl has a crush on another girl.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content 
None.

Note: I received a free copy of HURRICANE SEASON by Nicole Melleby in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links which cost you nothing but which help support this blog.

Review: Wrecked by Maria Padian

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, New Adult 18up, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,

Wrecked
Maria Padian
Algonquin Young Readers

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

In the midst of Haley’s recovery from a concussion, she learns her roommate has been raped. As Jenny wrestles with the aftermath of the trauma, she’s faced with a lot of decisions: should she report the incident to the college? Should she go to the police? She depends on Haley for support, a burden which Haley isn’t sure she’s capable of shouldering. Especially when a group of aggressive feminists rally around Jenny to support her and convince her to respond the way they believe is best.

In this midst of all this, Haley meets Richard, a handsome fellow student and math tutor. Just when it seems she may have, for the first time, found someone special, she learns that Richard lives in the same house with the boy who raped Jenny. Worse still, he recently dated the gorgeous lead feminist. (She dumped him for his chauvinistic attitudes, another fact that makes Haley nervous.)

The two struggle to navigate the new relationship in the midst of the crisis, and it’s not easy. Rumors, distrust and scandal show up at every turn. If there’s any hope of a future for them, Haley and Richard will have to find out the truth about what happened to Jenny and resolve for themselves what constitutes sexual consent.

This was a tough read. (I feel like I’m saying that a lot lately.) I liked that rather than the story being from the point-of-view of the victim and perpetrator, it’s told from the perspective of bystanders. There’s a lot of hope in the development of Haley and Richard’s relationship, and a lot of opportunity for healing.

Wrecked brings a lot of great moments offering discussion on consent. It sheds light on the process a rape victim might go through as she reports the incident and the information becomes relatively public. It shows how an entitled college kid could take advantage of a girl almost without realizing it.

He should have realized it. That’s kind of the point. But honestly, isn’t this another reason that getting drunk at a party like this is a terrible idea? Would he have realized, had he been sober, that this girl was in no position to give him her consent, and that she in fact was only barely conscious? Because that’s another conversation we need to be having.

His inebriation doesn’t excuse him anymore than it would if he’d chosen to get behind the wheel of a car. But I’m not sure we’re doing a great job educating kids about this either. As a culture, don’t we sort of treat college drinking—sometimes even teen drinking—like some kind of rite of passage? At any rate, I’d have liked to see that connection between drinking and making bad—criminal, in this case—decisions more clearly drawn in Wrecked, but even without it, the focus on the consent issue was very well-done.

More and more I’m convinced that consent is a conversation we need to have and aren’t having enough. I think Padian presented a wide array of responses to the topic in Wrecked, from the uber-politically-correct feminists to the creepazoid guy who spearheads a slander campaign against Jenny on social media. If this isn’t a conversation-starter, I don’t know what is.

Cultural Elements
Most characters appear to be white middle- or upper-class. One character is African-American.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used moderately throughout the book.

Romance/Sexual Content – TRIGGER WARNING
We learn Jenny’s account of her experience through what she says in a hearing as well as in a real-time scene describing what happens to her. A boy has sex with her while she’s just in and out of consciousness. It’s described explicitly.

Richard reflects on his relationship with Carrie, and at one point begins to tell her that he enjoyed how assertive she was with him the night before. (That’s pretty much as explicit as he gets.) Later, another girl interested in him laments her status as a virgin. She worries that the fact that he has sexual experience will mean that he’s not interested in her or won’t respect her boundaries. She doesn’t feel committed to her virginity, she’s just inexperienced thus far.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
See sexual content. The rape isn’t violent in terms of the boy doesn’t attack her, though it’s no less wrong or traumatic.

Drug Content
College students drink alcohol at parties and beforehand. Rumors state that one boy who mixed drinks for a party may have added drugs to them.

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

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Review: The Girl in the Well is Me by Karen Rivers

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The Girl in the Well is Me
Karen Rivers
Algonquin Young Readers

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

When tough circumstances force Kammie’s family to relocate, she’s determined to make the most of the change. She approaches the prettiest, most popular girls and attempts to join their group. Only what results is Kammie standing on a board that splits and sends her tumbling into a well. Trapped and slowly sinking further, Kammie begs her new “friends” to help her get out. As she waits for them to bring help (and wonders if they’ve simply abandoned her) she begins to think about the good times lost and the struggles her family currently faces. Then she begins to run out of air. Joined by hallucinations, some less than friendly, Kammie wonders if she’ll be rescued, or if her last view of the world will be the dark interior of the well and the small circle of sky above her.

At first I worried that a story about a girl trapped in a well would be sort of boring. I imagine it’s kind of the way people felt before seeing Rear Window when they learned that the whole movie was filmed on a tiny set about a man in a wheelchair. (Other than the scene in which he breaks his leg, we see the whole movie from his apartment. Crazy.) Anyway – this book was not as suspenseful as the classic Hitchcock film, but it never tried to be. Still, it was far from boring.

I liked Kammie pretty immediately. She’s a spunky narrator. You can feel how hard she’s trying to fit in and have a posse around her and how lonely and isolated she is since all the drama with her family has happened. You know she’s worth ten of each of the silly girls she wanted to be friends with, and she’s smart enough to realize it, too.

I thought her relationship with her brother was especially moving. I can’t think of a lot of stories with good examples of brother/sister relationships during that time of life when sibs sometimes grow apart, each seeking their own identity. I liked that this story captured that process so well, even if it was bittersweet.

Kammie’s memories of her life before falling in the well are definitely what keeps the story moving between rescue-related events. Rivers unwinds bits and pieces of this nameless tragedy that shattered Kammie’s life, and it was easy to chase those hints and flashes down looking for what really happened to this remarkable girl.

I thought the tone and the brief use of profanity made it a heavier read than most other middle grade books. Don’t get me wrong – I thought the story was great. See below for more specifics on content.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
One swear word is repeated several times in a sentence as Kammie realizes the dire situation she’s in. There are a few crude references to bodily functions.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Kammie thinks about her grandma, who has died, and wonders briefly if she’s in Heaven.

Violence
Girls play a prank on Kammie which leads to her falling into a well. Kammie sustains serious injuries due to her fall.

Drug Content
Her father drinks alcohol.

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

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