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Review: Last Summer at Eden by Christina Hergenrader

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Last Summer at EdenLast Summer At Eden
Christina Hergenrader
Concordia House
Published on March 1, 2017

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About Last Summer at Eden
Poppi Savot needs a new direction. After her mother’s death to cancer, the smalltown Minnesota girl can’t seem to find her true north anymore. So when she gets a call from a small Christian camp in Southern California, Poppi races into the unknown, hoping a new job will solve everything.
When she arrives at Camp Eden, things already start falling apart. With camp enrollment at a record low and camp about to close for good, her new boss tells Poppi she may as well pack up and head straight back home. But Poppi isn’t giving up. Walking into Camp Eden, she felt the first stirring of peace since she lost her mom, and she’s not going to let go of that without a fight. Poppi rallies together the camp’s ragtag team of counselors and launches a plan to save Eden.

My Review
Last Summer at Eden might get the award for most fun book I’ve read this year. It absolutely felt like being away at summer camp! I loved the references to camp songs and all the emotional highs and lows of the campers plus all the drama that comes from being in close quarters with strangers for ten weeks.

The romance part of the story is sweet and doesn’t dominate. I liked that Poppi figures things out for herself, and that it’s not a “hey, a man has the answers,” kind of story. I also liked the balance between Poppi’s goal of saving the camp and the evolution of her relationship with God.

Last Summer at Eden has some unforgettable characters, too. I loved Wolfgang, the German foreign exchange counselor and the cook obsessed with recycling. And Nat! The enthusiastic, cheerleader who tells the truth straight-up, best friend everyone needs. Everyone seriously needs a Nat in their lives.

The only thing I kind of wished were different about this book is that it were told from the perspective of a younger character (like one of the counselors). That would have placed it more solidly within the young adult arena. At nineteen, Poppi’s a little older than the average young adult heroine.

I liked the book anyway, and I think readers who enjoy books by Laura L. Smith (everyone needs a little Laura L. Smith in their lives, just like Nat!) will absolutely love Last Summer at Eden.

Readers looking for a clean and also hilariously fun camp story really need this one on their reading lists. This is the perfect read for summer or the next best thing when summer feels like a distant memory.

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Cultural Elements
Major characters are white or not physically described.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Brief kissing between boy and girl.
Camp counselors talk to a couple of the kids (individually) about saving sex for marriage after they’re caught sneaking out to meet up at night. The talk is pretty vague, referring to sex as “the good stuff” and talking about how other kids might brag that they’re “doing stuff”, etc.

Spiritual Content
Poppi wrestles with feeling abandoned by God. She realizes through trying to save Camp Eden that she stopped believing God will take care of her and is trustworthy. Through her experiences at camp and her efforts to save Eden, she faces the root of those feelings—losing her mom—and begins to rebuild her trust in God.
Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
Poppi’s dad is an alcoholic. She talks about this as a struggle for her personally in that she wants to invite him into her life but knows she has to have boundaries. For instance, she wants to invite him to camp but feels like he won’t be able to enjoy a visit without drinking, and that will present a lot of problems for everyone, so she doesn’t invite him.

Review and Blog Tour: The Third Mushroom by Jennifer L. Holm

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I’m super excited to be part of my first ever Rockstar Blog Tour. Yay! When I saw the invitation to review The Third Mushroom by Jennifer L. Holm, I really couldn’t resist. I had so much fun reading the first book about Ellie and her grandfather-trapped-in-a-teenager’s-body that I absolutely had to find out what happens to them next in this book, The Third Mushroom. Read on for my review, some information about the author, other stops on the tour and a chance to win your very own copy of the book!

The Third Mushroom
Jennifer L. Holm
Random House
Published on September 4, 2018

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads  | Audible | iBooks | TBD

About The Third Mushroom
Ellie’s grandpa Melvin is a world-renowned scientist . . . in the body of a fourteen-year-old boy. His feet stink, and he eats everything in the refrigerator–and Ellie is so happy to have him around. Grandpa may not exactly fit in at middle school, but he certainly keeps things interesting. When he and Ellie team up for the county science fair, no one realizes just how groundbreaking their experiment will be. The formula for eternal youth may be within their reach! And when Ellie’s cat, Jonas Salk, gets sick, the stakes become even higher. But is the key to eternal life really the key to happiness? Sometimes even the most careful experiments yield unexpected–and wonderful–results.

My Review
I loved The Fourteenth Goldfish with its zany characters and love for science, so when I saw this sequel, The Third Mushroom, I pretty much HAD to read it. Ellie’s grandpa still cracked me up with his goofy blend of grandpa-slash-teenage-boy-ness. I loved the way he referred to hormonal issues as “The Puberty” and his cute relationship with the librarian.
There’s one part (I don’t want to give away what happens) that’s super sad. I wasn’t prepared for it, and it brought back the memories of my own similar experience. Those scenes were tough to read because they were so moving, but overall, there’s a positive message through it. (I’ll add a spoiler section to the end since it might be something you’d want to know about before reading if you’ve got a sensitive kid who’s just been through what Ellie’s experience.)
I also liked the way the story addressed the shifting relationships Ellie experiences. I so remember that stuff happening in middle school and how disconcerting it could be.
Science again plays a fun and interesting role in the story, as Ellie and her grandfather enter a science fair together and learn about various scientists who’ve made important contributions in the past. The end of the book includes a short list of resources to learn more about the scientists and discoveries mentioned in the book, which I thought was a nice touch as well.
Overall, if you enjoy spunky, fun stories, The Third Mushroom is a great pick. You can find my review of The Fourteenth Goldfish here.

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Cultural Elements
Ellie and her family are white. Her best friend is a boy named Raj, who dresses as a goth.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Ellie goes on a date with a boy and holds his hand. She feels a little disappointed that she’s not more excited about the whole thing, and the possible romance kind of fizzles out.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
Ellie learns a bit about the invention of penicillin. She and her grandfather discover a compound that seems to have some regenerative capabilities. See spoiler section at the end of the post for more details.


Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Amazon links are affiliate links, meaning if you click the link and purchase items from Amazon.com, I will get a small percentage of the sale at no extra cost to you. This helps cover the costs of running my blog.

About Jennifer L. Holm

Website | Twitter | Facebook |  Goodreads

Jennifer L. Holm is a NEW YORK TIMES bestselling children’s author and the recipient of three Newbery Honors for her novels OUR ONLY MAY AMELIA, PENNY FROM HEAVEN, and TURTLE IN PARADISE. Jennifer collaborates with her brother, Matthew Holm, on two graphic novel series — the Eisner Award-winning Babymouse series and the bestselling Squish series. Her new novel is THE FOURTEENTH GOLDFISH. She lives in California with her husband and two children.

Visit the Other Stop on The Third Mushroom Blog Tour

Week One:

9/3/2018- Beagles & Books– Review

9/4/2018- BookHounds YA– Excerpt

9/5/2018- The Story Sanctuary– Review

9/6/2018- Rhythmicbooktrovert – Review

9/7/2018- Here’s to Happy Endings– Review

Week Two:

9/10/2018- For the Love of KidLit– Interview

9/11/2018- YA Books Central– Interview

9/12/2018- The OWL– Review

9/13/2018- Book-Keeping– Review

9/14/2018- Two Points of Interest– Review

Enter to Win a Copy of The Third Mushroom

Three winners will each receive one copy of The Third Mushroom by Jennifer L. Holm.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Spoiler Alert – super sad scenes

I mentioned above that something happens in the book that’s sad and was hard for me to read because I didn’t expect it and it brought back my own memories of a similar event. What happens is that Ellie’s cat gets seriously injured. The family isn’t sure what happened, but they suspect he was hit by a car. Desperate to help him, Ellie asks her grandfather to inject the formula they’ve discovered into the cat near his damaged spine. It’s too late for the poor furry little guy, and shortly after that, Ellie and her family make the difficult decision to put him to sleep. She grieves for the loss, feeling alternately lost, hurt, angry, etc. Ultimately, she ends up rescuing another cat who’s about to become homeless and realizes she still has love to share and another cat needs her.

It so reminded me of my own experience losing a cat – I particularly identified with feeling like the heart was missing from my home. I hated being home in an empty house without a cat. Which is how I started visiting an animal shelter just to see kitty faces. And how my next cat won me over. You can see a picture of both my rescue cats on my Instagram.

Anyway – normally I don’t post spoilers, but if you’ve been through the experience of losing a pet recently, this part of the book will either be healing or too much. It happens near the end of the book, and is only the focus of a few scenes, but like I said, it’s pretty moving.

Review: Fat Girl on a Plane by Kelly deVos

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

Fat Girl on a Plane
Kelly deVos
Harlequin Teen
Published on June 5, 2018

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About Fat Girl on a Plane
FAT.

High school senior Cookie Vonn’s post-graduation dreams include getting out of Phoenix, attending Parsons and becoming the next great fashion designer. But in the world of fashion, being fat is a cardinal sin. It doesn’t help that she’s constantly compared to her supermodel mother—and named after a dessert.

Thanks to her job at a fashion blog, Cookie scores a trip to New York to pitch her portfolio and appeal for a scholarship, but her plans are put on standby when she’s declared too fat to fly. Forced to turn to her BFF for cash, Cookie buys a second seat on the plane. She arrives in the city to find that she’s been replaced by the boss’s daughter, a girl who’s everything she’s not—ultrathin and superrich. Bowing to society’s pressure, she vows to lose weight, get out of the friend zone with her crush, and put her life on track.

SKINNY.

Cookie expected sunshine and rainbows, but nothing about her new life is turning out like she planned. When the fashion designer of the moment offers her what she’s always wanted—an opportunity to live and study in New York—she finds herself in a world full of people more interested in putting women down than dressing them up. Her designs make waves, but her real dream of creating great clothes for people of all sizes seems to grow more distant by the day.

Will she realize that she’s always had the power to make her own dreams come true?

My Review
I want to say the thing this book does best is give this 360 degree look at the way the world treats people based on their weight. The truth is, it does an amazing job at exposing these sometimes ugly truths, but the writing and the characters are also pretty spectacular.

Cookie is a strong woman. She’s competent, capable, and talented. But she’s not perfect. Wounded by prejudices she’s experienced, she allows herself to judge others based on the same system she abhors being applied to herself. Ultimately she learns that achieving her weight goal doesn’t change everything in the way she expected. Turns out being skinny isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, either.

I want to say so many things that would spoil the story because they were elements or plot moments that I thought were fantastic. Early on we’re told this isn’t a Cinderella story about a girl who loses weight and lives happily ever after, and it’s true—this is not that story. It’s much more about a girl looking for the path to her best self and her best life. That journey changes her inside even more than it changes her outside. And perhaps above all, that’s the story’s real power.

You know me—I wish Fat Girl on a Plane didn’t have some of the sexual stuff or profanity in it that it does, because those simply aren’t the things I enjoy reading. See the content information below for more details. I thought the characters and story were powerful and nicely done, though.

Recommended for Ages 18 up.

Cultural Elements
Major characters are white. For half the book, Cookie is overweight. The other half of the book shows moments from her weight loss journey and more significantly, the difference in the way people treat her at her different sizes.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Infrequent use of extreme profanity.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between man and woman. Two relatively brief scenes showing sex but including some details.

Spiritual Content
Cookie attends some church events. (I loved the conversations with the priest in the story—he’s a funny, practical guy.)

Violent Content
Two young men get into a fist fight. Cookie experiences some bullying, cruelty, and some unwanted sexual comments.

Drug Content
Cookie drinks alcohol in a couple of scenes. In one instance, she’s overseas and over the legal drinking age.

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

 

Review: Breakout by Kate Messner

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

Breakout
Kate Messner
Bloomsbury
Published on June 5, 2018

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Breakout

Nora Tucker is looking forward to summer vacation in Wolf Creek–two months of swimming, popsicles, and brushing up on her journalism skills for the school paper. But when two inmates break out of the town’s maximum security prison, everything changes. Doors are locked, helicopters fly over the woods, and police patrol the school grounds. Worst of all, everyone is on edge, and fear brings out the worst in some people Nora has known her whole life. Even if police catch the inmates, she worries that home might never feel the same.

Told in letters, poems, text messages, news stories, and comics–a series of documents Nora collects for the Wolf Creek Community Time Capsule Project–BREAKOUT is a thrilling story that will leave readers thinking about who’s really welcome in the places we call home.

My Review

I’ve read several books lately that show racism and its pervasiveness in schools and communities. BREAKOUT did an amazing job showing what might be called more subtle racism—things where you might at first dismiss the incident as not a big deal or the result of some oversensitivity. The storytelling peels back those layers of indifference and shows the harmful, ugly truth. Telling the story through Nora’s and Elidee’s letters, text messages, poetry, and recorded conversations created the feel of a candid view into the small community.

There are so many things I like about BREAKOUT. Elidee’s poetry and her admiration for Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jacqueline Woodson. Lizzie’s parody news articles. The fact that we get Nora’s perspective as the prison superintendent’s daughter and Elidee’s as the sister of an inmate. I love that the book also includes a reading list of other books on these topics, from books for young readers to texts more appropriate for teen readers.

While the social issues are a solid, important part of the story, at its core, this is a tale of three girls who learn what it is to be friends. To take chances, to trust one another, to forgive, to put themselves in the other girls’ shoes. All those reasons make BREAKOUT a great read.

Content Notes for Breakout

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Nora and Lizzie are from a small, rural, mostly white town (except for the prison, where a majority of the prisoners are black.). Elidee is black and new to the town. Two inmates from the prison escape: one black, one white. The story shows instances of racism and prejudice—most are fairly subtle, like one store owner only enforcing a rule about backpacks being held on the counter when a black customer enters the store.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Nora, Lizzie, and Elidee and their families all help at a church volunteer event making a ham supper for the officers searching for the escaped inmates. They’re all part of the church community.

Violent Content
Teachers rush Nora and her friends inside a school building when officers announce that the escaped inmates are nearby. Accusations emerge stating that some officers physically harm prisoners. A young man is killed trying to evade police. (Nora and her friends don’t witness any of that.)

Drug Content
None.

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

Review: One of Us Is Lying by Karen McManus

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One of Us Is Lying
Karen McManus
Delacorte Press
Published May 30, 2017

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About One of Us Is Lying

On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention.

Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule.

Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess.

Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing.

Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher.

And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High’s notorious gossip app.

Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention Simon’s dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn’t an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he’d planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer who’s still on the loose?

Everyone has secrets, right? What really matters is how far you would go to protect them.

My Review for One of Us is Lying

This is definitely the kind of story that keeps you turning pages late into the night. Every chapter hints at and slowly reveals new secrets that change what you know about each character in the room with Simon when he dies.

I liked that each character had a lot more going on than it originally appeared, and each is a lot deeper than her classmates initially perceive her to be. I liked each of the characters a lot, especially as I got to know them.

Throughout the story, important clues come from surprising places, which again kept me guessing. There was a point at which I thought I had the plot figured out and was pretty close. Honestly, by then, I was so invested in the story and so curious as to what would happen to the truly innocent parties, that I didn’t care if I turned out to be right.

If you’re a fan of the cult classic The Breakfast Club or murder mysteries in general, you need to add this one to your summer reading list. If you’re like me, once you read the first chapter, you won’t be able to put it down.

The series continues with One of Us Is Next, out in early 2022.

Content Notes for One of Us is Lying

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Bronwyn and her sister are half-Latino. One character comes out as gay midway through the story.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used with moderate frequency.

Romance/Sexual Content
Addy’s mother teaches her that the only way to keep a man is to keep him sexually satisfied. She and her boyfriend make out on her bed, and it’s clear she means to have sex with him. Through the course of the story, she begins to question her mom’s advice and eventually decides to take a break from dating and be herself.

Some kisses are exchanged between boy and girl or between two boys.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
A boy goes into anaphylactic shock and dies.

Drug Content
Nate sells drugs to pay the bills his father ignores. After Simon’s death, he stops, knowing the police investigation puts him at too great a risk of getting caught. Eventually he finds other reasons not to pick the habit up again.

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 ONE OF US IS LYING in exchange for my honest review.

Read the Next Book in the Series

One of Us Is Next by Karen McManus

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads | My Review

The highly anticipated sequel to the New York Times bestselling thriller everyone is talking about, One of Us Is Lying! There’s a new mystery to solve at Bayview High, and there’s a whole new set of rules.

Bronwyn’s younger sister, Maeve, and her best friend/ex-boyfriend, Knox, and their friend Phoebe become targets of the next gossip attack. Appearances from the original Bayview Four.

Review: Beyond Clueless by Linas Alsenas

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

Beyond Clueless
Linas Alsenas
Harry N. Abrams
Published August 18, 2015

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

When Marty learns she’ll be at a different high school than her best friend Jimmy, at first she’s devastated. She fears she and Jimmy will drift apart, and his new distraction with his first boyfriend only seems to prove her right. But Marty finds the perfect solution in a school production of Into the Woods. She finds ways for Jimmy and his new friends to be involved, and even involves her new friend Xiang. But even with the play, Marty feels like everyone has a special someone except her. Then a hunky actor takes an interest in her, and Marty swoons. But Felix pushes Marty in ways she doesn’t expect, and she struggles to figure out whether she needs to catch up with everyone else on the whole romance thing. When her friends express concern, Marty realizes she may have to choose between her new flame and her friends.

I feel like I kind of had a love-hate relationship with this book. I loved Marty’s spunky voice. Her friendship with Jimmy and their shared love of musicals was so sweet. I loved following the awkward transition into high school and the way it changed the relationships in Marty’s life.

On the other hand, I wasn’t a huge fan of these fifteen-year-old kids drinking so casually, and the way older family members provided alcohol to them like it was no big thing. I had a hard time with that. I also struggled with Xiang’s character. On the one hand, she describes this sort of repressive home life where her parents are so controlling that she’s afraid to admit she likes a boy from her youth orchestra group. After all, she reasons, nothing could happen between them anyway; her parents won’t allow it. But she doesn’t seem to have any qualms at all about putting on make-up or changing into clothes her parents wouldn’t approve of once she’s out of the house. And just how is this girl getting cigarettes and keeping them (plus contraband makeup and clothes) hidden in this home where her parents are supposed to be all up in her business? I found those ideas hard to reconcile.

However, I really enjoyed the whole high school production part of the story. I liked that the story included kids participating in the production off-stage as well as the actors. I liked that Marty’s perceptions of people get challenged on a lot of levels. It’s not just her perception of Jimmy’s new friends she has to adjust, but also her beliefs about Felix, the stage manager, even her parents, too. For me, that’s what made the story most enjoyable. Learning that we’re sometimes wrong in how we perceive situations and people around us is something we all have to deal with. I thought that part of Beyond Clueless was really well-done.

If you’re a musical fan or a fan of theater, you may want to add this one to your list.

Recommended for Ages 15 up.

Cultural Elements
Marty (white) befriends a Chinese girl at school. Her best friend is gay and dating his first boyfriend.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used with moderate frequency.

Romance/Sexual Content
Marty sees some affection between the boys – holding hands, brief kissing. She vaguely wonders if they’re doing more, but never asks. Her friend Xiang briefly described some of her relationship with her boyfriend—hints that they do more than kiss and at one point makes a crude comment about him.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Marty learns that one of her friends punched another boy backstage during her performance.

Drug Content
Marty and her friends (who are all fifteen and sixteen) drink beer provided by older relatives.

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

 

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