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Review: The Ogress and the Orphans by Kelly Barnhill

Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , ,
The Ogress and the Orphans by Kelly Barnhill

The Ogress and the Orphans
Kelly Barnhill
Algonquin Young Readers
Published March 8, 2022

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About The Ogress and the Orphans

A fantasy about the power of generosity and love, and how a community suffers when they disappear.

Stone-in-the-Glen, once a lovely town, has fallen on hard times. Fires, floods, and other calamities have caused the people to lose their library, their school, their park, and even their neighborliness. The people put their faith in the Mayor, a dazzling fellow who promises he alone can help. After all, he is a famous dragon slayer. (At least, no one has seen a dragon in his presence.) Only the clever children of the Orphan House and the kindly Ogress at the edge of town can see how dire the town’s problems are.

Then one day a child goes missing from the Orphan House. At the Mayor’s suggestion, all eyes turn to the Ogress. The Orphans know this can’t be: the Ogress, along with a flock of excellent crows, secretly delivers gifts to the people of Stone-in-the-Glen.

But how can the Orphans tell the story of the Ogress’s goodness to people who refuse to listen? And how can they make their deluded neighbors see the real villain in their midst?

My Review

I was not prepared for the timeliness of this book. I’m not even sure I read the back cover copy. I’ve heard countless amazing things about the book from other reviewers and friends, so I picked it up on the strength of those recommendations. Plus, I loved The Girl Who Drank the Moon, also by Barnhill, so I had high expectations.

Within the first few pages, I was hooked. The story centers around a small town that’s not doing so well. It used to be lovely, and the children in the home for orphans try to remember that loveliness and figure out why it disappeared. The other villagers seem convinced that the ogress who lives just outside town must be the reason. But the older children remember her moving in after the town lost its shine.

Periodically, a narrator speaks directly to the reader as an eyewitness to past events. I loved this, but I can see some readers finding it annoying. If it was simply an excuse to break the fourth wall and fill readers in on information the other characters don’t have, it would be kind of gimmicky. However, the author reveals the narrator’s identity late in the book, and it so perfectly fits in with the story world she’s created and the story’s overall message. That moment when we learn who the narrator is landed beautifully with me. I felt like all the pieces of the tale had snapped into place.

Another thing that the author does so well is balancing darkness and light in this book. The town is failing. Neighbors don’t trust one another. The children don’t have enough to eat. At the same time, whimsical elements offer hope and create a sense of wonder and magic, even in the bleakness. One child hears the wooden beams of the house, made from old oak trees, tell the stories of the town and its inhabitants. The ogress bakes treats and leaves them on the villagers’ doorsteps. The crows speak to one another in a language the children learn from a book in their reading room.

Conclusion

This beautiful story examines the value of community and the kinds of events that erode or destroy our connections to one another. But it doesn’t stop there. Barnhill also shows how a courageous few speaking up against injustice and taking steps to show kindness and protect the vulnerable can change the course of others. Each person has a role in rebuilding connections and creating a more just community.

This book is as whimsical as it is timely. The storytelling speaks truth in love and reminds us who our best selves are. I can’t recommend this book enough. It’s absolutely worth a read. This one is going on my summer read-aloud list for sure.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
There are some fantasy-based characters, like dragons, ogres, etc. Dragons have a spiritual practice that evolved over time in which they live as an animal for a period of time as an exercise in developing empathy or broadening their experience.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Demonizing of an outsider. References to and brief descriptions of a building fire.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. All opinions are my own.

Review: Bad Graces by Kyrie McCauley

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Horror, Magical Realism, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,

Bad Graces
Kyrie McCauley
Publisher
Published

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About Bad Graces

Yellowjackets meets House of Hollow in award-winning author Kyrie McCauley’s gripping and magical YA thriller following a group of young women as they face the stress of harsh elements, a mysterious monster, and an unraveling of secrets after their yacht is wrecked off the coast of North America.

Liv Whitlock knows she doesn’t belong there. But after years of stumbling between foster homes, often due to her own self-destructive tendencies, Liv desperately needs to change the trajectory of her life … so she steals her perfect sister’s identity.

Liv starts to rewrite her story, winning a prestigious internship on a movie set filming in Alaska, and finds herself on a luxury yacht alongside pop star Paris Grace, actress sisters Effie and Miri Knight, Olympic gymnast Rosalind Torres, and social media influencer Celia Jones. Liv tries to find common ground with her famous companions, but just as the group starts to bond, a violent storm wrecks their vessel, stranding them on an island in the North Pacific Ocean.

Among the threats of starvation and exposure, they learn there is a predator lurking in the forest, unlike anything they’ve seen before—until they begin to see it in themselves. Every injury they suffer on the island causes inexplicable changes in their bodies. With little hope for rescue and only each other as their final tether to humanity, can the girls endure the ominous forces at work on the island? Or will they lose themselves to their darker natures?

My Review

This is the third novel by Kyrie McCauley that I’ve read. The first was a contemporary YA, and the second was her first horror novel. I loved them both, so I could not wait to read this one.

As a character, Liv pretty much had me right from the beginning. She’s been in the foster care system, and she warns us that she’s violent. Even at the beginning, it seemed like there was more to the stories she shared in which she acted out.

The story gets creepy at times. Several characters share stories about past trauma (without going into much detail) in which adults harmed them as children. In one instance, it was a teenager verbalizing intent to harm a younger teen. In the others, the perpetrators were adults.

On the island, Liv and others see bones pinned to a tree. The changes to their bodies involve body horror elements as well. (You may not want to read this book if you are squeamish about mushrooms or fungi.)

The book’s themes were really interesting. The girls discuss whether they’re being punished by being stuck on the island. They wonder if there’s a connection between the changes in their bodies and the trauma they’ve experienced. At one point, Liv asks whether people can change. Her girlfriend tells her that’s the wrong question, because people are always changing. The question should be whether people can remain the same. I thought that was an interesting way to put that and an interesting thought experiment, and it dovetailed with the story in a cool way.

While some parts of the story are dark, there’s a lot of light in this book, too. It’s about the healing power of sisterhood, found family, and love. The cast is super inclusive, including characters from various backgrounds, and the story highlights a queer romance. If you liked Don’t Let the Forest In, definitely check out Bad Graces.

Content Notes for Bad Graces

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Several characters are queer. One is Black. Another is Latina. Several are British. One is American.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Profanity used pretty moderately.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing and references to sex.

Spiritual Content
Some supernatural elements.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Someone dies after jumping off a yacht in a storm. Someone else dies attempting to rescue them. References to an adult man whom the girls hint is unsafe with women. A teenage boy verbalizing an intent to harm a younger girl (we don’t know precisely what he says). References to an adult responsible for an athlete’s health and well-being who did not protect her. The girls hear an attack on someone in the woods from a distance. A predator appears. The story contains body horror elements. A girl’s toe is nearly severed. Someone else suffers a serious injury to her shoulder. Someone falls from a great height. Characters attempt medical care, including giving stitches and removing dead tissue.

Drug Content
References to alcohol use. Some characters appear drunk in a couple of scenes.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: Sylvia Doe and the 100-Year Flood by Robert Beatty

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Magical Realism, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , , , , ,

Sylvia Doe and the 100-Year Flood
Robert Beatty
Disney Hyperion
Published October 8, 2024

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About Sylvia Doe and the 100-Year Flood

Sylvia Doe doesn’t know where she was born or the people she came from. She doesn’t even know her real last name. Sylvia has lived at the Highground Home for Children in the mountains of North Carolina for as long as she can remember. Whenever the administrators place her with a foster family in the city, she runs away, back to her horse Kitty Hawk—her best friend—and the other horses in the herd, the only place she feels like she belongs.

When Hurricane Jessamine causes the remote mountain valley where she lives to flood, Sylvia must rescue her beloved horses. But she begins to encounter strange and wondrous things floating down the river. Glittering gemstones and wild animals that don’t belong — everything’s out of place. Then she spots an unconscious boy floating in the water. As she drags him onto the shore and their adventure together begins, Sylvia wonders who he is and where he came from. And why does she feel such a strong connection to this mysterious boy?

SYLVIA DOE has earned the prestigious STARRED REVIEW from both Kirkus Reviews and Publisher’s Weekly. The award-winning author Kwame Alexander praised the story, saying “Magical realism at its best!”

My Review

This book came out right around the time when Hurricane Helene devastated western North Carolina with rain and flooding. It took me a while to circle back to read the story, but I’d heard so many amazing things about it that I didn’t want to miss it.

Robert Beatty has an incredible ability to write about difficult or intense things in what feels like this very gentle way. Sylvia Doe and the 100-year Flood has some high-energy scenes in which the characters face situations of peril as they’re swept away by floodwater or desperately searching for storm survivors. Yet the tone of the story remains gentle. I love that.

The story includes a little bit of romance between Sylvia and another character. It stays very sweet, with some blushing and attraction. I think there’s a scene where the two snuggle together and another where they kiss each other. I like that their feelings for one another don’t overtake the story and that the disaster situations remain the focus despite their shifting emotions.

Sylvia has been in foster care since she was found alone in the wilderness. She recognizes that the foster care system, and in particular, her social worker, is trying to do good things. The story doesn’t demonize the system or highlight its many challenges or places it can cause harm. But it does present a story in which the system, even as it functions the way it should, isn’t a good fit for Sylvia as a child. She needs something the foster care system can’t provide for her.

The strong connections Sylvia feels to animals, especially horses and birds, will make this one a great fit for animal-loving readers. The magical realism elements add an otherworldly feel that makes Sylvia Doe and the 100-year Flood appealing to readers looking for something beyond the reality in which we live.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Sylvia has light brown skin tones. She has grown up in foster care.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Brief kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Some unseen force has pulled animals and other things from other times and places into a flooded North Carolina river.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Reference to flash flooding and hurricane damage. Sylvia spots a group of dead sandhill cranes, apparently killed in the hurricane. Three children die (off-scene) due to the hurricane and flood conditions.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery

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Anne of Green Gables (Anne of Green Gables #1)
Lucy Maud Montgomery
Puffin Books
Published August 28, 2014 (Orig. 1908)

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About Anne of Green Gables

The cherished favorite featuring everyone’s favorite red-headed orphan, now in a deluxe hardcover edition with beautiful cover illustrations by Anna Bond, the artist behind world-renowned stationery brand Rifle Paper Co.

Anne, an eleven-year-old orphan, is sent by mistake to live with a lonely, middle-aged brother and sister on a Prince Edward Island farm and proceeds to make an indelible impression on everyone around her.

Anne Gets Into a Lot of “Scrapes”

I remember reading this series to my daughter when she was in fourth grade. We both enjoyed the wild stories about Anne, Matthew, and Marilla and their neighbors at Prince Edward Island. It’s funny reading this book now, in the days when people are so quick to challenge a book, and thinking about some of the scenes and the age group we target this book toward.

For example, Anne accidentally gets her best friend drunk, which causes no small stir. At one point, her teacher shows obvious romantic interest in one of the other students. If a middle grade book published today included those scenes, would people be so quick to accept it, the way we are with Anne of Green Gables?

Perhaps because this is a book that many parents grew up reading or hearing about, it feels like a safe story and isn’t scrutinized the same way that books being published today might be.

I love this series, and I’m not a fan of book bans, so I’m not at all arguing that we should take a closer look at classics and start banning them, too. I do think it’s appropriate to consider the historical context of the work and to reflect on classic literature through the lens of equality, to note things like references to colonialism, which may be tempting to take for granted. Noting those things helps us realize how unchallenged and accepted those ideas were in the time a particular book was written.

My Review

For me, scenes like the one in which Anne accidentally gets her best friend drunk reflect information about Anne’s character and her life before coming to Green Gables. She often gets into “scrapes,” as she calls them, over information she might have known had she grown up with Matthew and Marilla or information she would not have known had she had a more sheltered upbringing with a family on Prince Edward Island.

Her behavior routinely challenges the people in her community, who think of themselves as being the most upstanding and proper. Most often, Anne eventually charms these judgmental characters with her sincerity and exuberance. I love that about her and about the people in her life (that they allow themselves to warm to her).

I love the author’s use of the omniscient point of view. Usually I prefer a close first-person narrative, but Montgomery has a keen sense of when to zoom into a particular character’s viewpoint to deliver a meaningful observation. She reveals Marilla’s surprising love for Anne and shows Matthew’s debilitating shyness.

I also love the strong characterization of the cast. Anne remains dramatic and imaginative. Diana loves Anne’s whimsical nature but remains more practical herself. Marilla grumbles and fusses, but underneath it, her soft heart is moved by her love for others. Matthew is the sweet, softhearted, quiet man who does what needs doing without making a fuss about it.

The novel also centers women as characters, from Anne and Marilla to Mrs. Rachel Lynde, the woman who knows everything going on in the neighborhood, to Miss Stacey, Anne’s teacher, to Mrs. Allen, the minister’s wife and a mentor to Anne, to Anne’s best friend Diana and the other girls she knows from school.

Conclusion

It’s such a sweet book and so full of insight into love and humanity. My older daughter was nine when we read this book together, which turned out to be the perfect age for her.

I enjoyed this reread, and I suspect it won’t be the last time I revisit Anne of Green Gables.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Characters are white. Marilla has chronic headaches and a degenerative vision problem. The text describes some characters as fat, often implying that it’s an asset.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Anne’s teacher has what appears to be a romantic relationship with one of the older students.

Spiritual Content
Anne attends church, and Marilla instructs her to say her prayers every night. There’s a bit of commentary about Christianity off and on throughout the book. For instance, Anne speaks critically of a minister’s prayers, saying it seems like he’s not interested in the words he’s saying or has forgotten their meaning. She questions why paintings of Jesus always show him looking so somber.

When she meets the new minister’s wife, she reflects that Mrs. Allen’s faith brings her joy and comfort and that she’s the kind of person who would be a Christian even if she didn’t need to in order to get into Heaven.

Violent Content
Brief reference to colonialism (people settling on Prince Edward Island). Anne witnesses the death of a person close to her and experiences profound grief after the loss.

Anne relates the plot of a story she’s written to Diana. The tale involves a woman who pushes her best friend off a bridge. The woman’s lover leaps into the river after her, but both drown. The story concludes with the murderer having a mental breakdown and being confined to an institution.

Drug Content
Anne mistakenly offers her best friend Diana currant wine instead of raspberry cordial. Diana drinks three glasses of the beverage and goes home drunk, scandalizing the neighborhood.

Other Negative Content
Brief body shaming. Early in the book, a neighbor criticizes Anne for being too skinny and ugly. Anne retaliates by calling the woman fat. Later, Anne suggests a schoolmate could not play the role of the fairy queen because she’s plus-sized and a fairy queen “should be thin.”

Marilla makes a derisive comment about Italians (not wanting them around or in her house).

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. All opinions are my own.

Review: The Medici Heist by Caitlin Schneiderhan

Book Review and Content, Historical, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , ,

The Medici Heist
Caitlin Schneiderhan
Feiwel & Friends
Published August 6, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Medici Heist

Welcome to Florence, 1517, a world of intrigue, opulence, secrets, and murder. The Medici family rules the city from their seat of wealth, but the people of Florence remember the few decades they spent as a Republic, free from the Medicis and their puppet Pope, Leo X.

Sharp-witted seventeen-year-old con-woman Rosa Cellini has plans for the Pope and the Medicis – and, more specifically, the mountain of indulgence money they’ve been extorting from the people of Tuscany. To pull off the Renaissance’s greatest robbery, she’ll recruit a team of capable Sarra the tinkerer, Khalid the fighter, and Giacomo, the irrepressible master of disguise. To top it all off, and to smooth their entrance into the fortress-like Palazzo Medici, Rosa even enlists the reluctant help of famed artist and local misanthrope, Michelangelo.

Old secrets resurface and tensions in the gang flare as the authorities draw closer and the Medicis’ noose pulls tighter around Tuscany itself. What began as a robbery becomes a bid to save Florence from certain destruction – if Rosa and company don’t destroy each other first.

Get ready for an absolute swashbuckling riot, beginning with a ‘mud’ pie to the Pope’s face, and ending with a climatic heist that would give Danny Ocean a run for his money. Bursting with snark, innuendo and action, Medici Heist is your next un-put-downable obsession.

My Review

I can definitely see the comparisons to Ocean’s 11 with this book. It does have a heist in which a team of people, each with a particular area of expertise, work together to steal something, and their motives are not always what they seem. Instead of being a modern-day tale, this one is set in sixteenth-century Italy, though.

I’ve read several novels written by screenplay writers, and it’s going to sound weird, but I am starting to feel like I can tell when it happens. There are certain things that I keep running into in these books. In some scenes in The Medici Heist, I felt like what I was reading would make a cool movie scene, but it didn’t always translate well to a novel format.

For example, the opening scene begins from the perspective of a child who barely appears in the rest of the book. There is some circular storytelling, where toward the end, we reference the significance of that moment again, but it was strange to start a novel from the viewpoint of a character who never does anything important or even really appears on scene again in the book. But I could see a movie opening that way much more easily.

I like that the story has an ensemble cast (this might make it a good choice for readers who enjoyed Six of Crows) and that each character has a secret or hidden objective or motive that comes into play as the heist takes place. I also enjoyed the way that Rosa and Sarra’s relationship evolves. They were once as close as sisters and then drifted apart. They begin the story with very different feelings about the past which they have to work through. I loved how that worked out in the book and the way it impacted the overall story.

On the whole, this one started a bit slow for me, but around chapter nine or ten, I started investing more in the characters and their relationships. Readers who enjoy historical fiction or heist adventures will want to check this one out.

Content Notes for The Medici Heist

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Two characters are gay. Main characters are Italian.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
A very enthusiastic kiss between husband and wife at a wedding. The observer describes them gazing at each other lustily during the ceremony. Kissing between two young men.

Spiritual Content
The Pope and a Cardinal are characters in the book, though he’s not very admirable ones. Characters visit a chapel to pray in several scenes. One worries that going against the Pope, God’s mouthpiece, means going against God, but hopes that God understands their reasons.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Battle violence. A fire destroys a building. Riots erupt in the streets one night.

Drug Content
Several characters are (or appear) drunk. Soldiers try to arrest two drunk men who are fighting. In the end, they’re simply escorted somewhere to sober up.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: Coyote Lost and Found by Dan Gemeinhart

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Coyote Lost and Found
Dan Gemeinhart
Henry Holt & Co.
Published March 5, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Coyote Lost and Found

It’s been almost a year since Coyote and her dad left the road behind and settled down in a small Oregon town. . . time spent grieving the loss of her mom and sisters and trying to fit in at school. But just as life is becoming a new version of normal, Coyote discovers a box containing her mom’s ashes. And she thinks she might finally be ready to say goodbye.

So Coyote and her dad gear up for an epic cross-country road trip to scatter the ashes at her mom’s chosen resting place. The only problem? Coyote has no idea where that resting place is—and the secret’s hidden in a book that Coyote mistakenly sold last year, somewhere in the country. Now, it’s up to Coyote to track down the treasured book . . . without her dad ever finding out that it’s lost. It’s time to fire up their trusty bus, Yager, pick up some old friends, discover some new ones, and hit the road on another unforgettable adventure.

My Review

I have a friend who loves voicey middle grade with a southern feel to it, and this book immediately made me think of her. Coyote is an absolute wonder. She’s unconventional and a little wild, kind of a loner, and has such a huge heart. I really like Rodeo, her dad, as well. He’s got a very hippy sensibility and definitely wouldn’t be everyone’s pick for best dad, but his temperament really works with Coyote, and he works really hard to make sure she has what she needs.

This is a book about grief. It’s a book about saying goodbye to someone you’ve already lost, and how sometimes grief is a journey, and on that journey, you have to say goodbye more than once. Some of the scenes in which Coyote and her dad talk about or around their losses were so poignant. I cried more than once.

It’s also a story set during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, so it has an underlying uncertainty and loneliness to it. It doesn’t have to do with the pandemic at all, really, but the shutdowns and fears about the virus impacted different characters and scenes in ways that made me think.

The only thing I kept waiting for and felt like was missing from the story is more information about Coyote’s sisters. She lost her mom and two sisters in a car accident long before this book (and another about Coyote and her dad) takes place. While this book focused on the loss of her mom, I felt like it was a little odd that she never named her sisters or had any memories of them or longing for them specifically. I haven’t yet read COYOTE SUNRISE, so it’s possible her relationships with them are explained more fully in the other book.

On the whole, I loved Coyote’s powerful voice and the sweet and silly rituals she shares with her dad and the lucky people they bring into their lives. I can definitely see fans of Kate DiCamillo’s contemporary novels or fans of Gillian McDunn loving this book.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Coyote’s best friend is Latine American. Another character is Asian American.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
See violent content.

Romance/Sexual Content
Coyote gets uncomfortable when she realizes her dad may have romantic feelings for a neighbor.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
A white clerk threatens an Asian American customer, holding up a baseball bat and saying racist things.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of COYOTE LOST AND FOUND in exchange for my honest review. All opinions my own.