Tag Archives: Random House Children’s Books

Review: Otto P. Nudd by Emily Butler

Book Review and Content, Clean Fiction, Contemporary, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , , ,
Otto P Nudd by Emily Butler

Otto P. Nudd
Emily Butler
Random House Children’s Books
Published December 29, 2020

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Indiebound | Goodreads

About Otto P. Nudd

Otto P. Nudd: The BEST bird in Ida Valley (at least according to him). While his buddies waste their days at the dump cracking jokes, Otto invents things with his human neighbor Old Man Bartleby in their workshop.

Marla: The Competition. This protective mama-squirrel will swipe Otto’s snacks from under his beak if it means another meal for her babies!

Pippa: The girl who loves the birds in Ida Valley, and Otto most of all. But when Bartleby’s latest contraption lands him in danger, the whole neighborhood–kids and critters alike–will have to join forces to save their oldest friend!

Emily Butler is the author of Freya & Zoose, which received a starred review from School Library Journal. In her newest novel, Emily delivers a timeless friendship tale about a brash raven, a crafty squirrel, and the neighborhood that brings them together.

Fans of The Tales of Despereaux, Pax, and Crenshaw will delight over this friendship story about a brash raven, a dutiful squirrel, and the human girl that brings them together. The perfect read for animal lovers.

My Review

I liked the quirkiness of the characters in OTTO P. NUDD. Marla is a mischievous, resourceful squirrel who speaks her mind. Pippa is a sweet, imaginative girl who leaves snacks for her friend Otto. In response, Otto leaves her shiny objects he’s found.

Otto himself is an inventor. One of the things he has made is an egg incubator to help keep his extra large egg warm. He also has a sweet relationship with Mr. Bartleby, who is also an inventor.

I kind of found myself wishing that Otto had been younger– perhaps coming of age himself– so that his journey felt more like a young bird coming of age rather than an adult bird learning some humility, though that’s still a good lesson.

Other than that, though, I enjoyed the book and especially the silly moments between friends, like the children in Pippa’s class at recess, and the conversations between Otto and Marla.

It’s easy to see that this book will appeal to readers who enjoy stories featuring animals as central characters alongside human characters. It made me think of FLORA & ULYSSES in particular.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Most major characters are animals.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
A man has an accident that results in serious injuries. Reference to a squirrel that was killed by a car.

Drug Content
None.

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

Review: Court of Miracles by Kester Grant

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

Court of Miracles
Kester Grant
Random House Children’s
Published June 2, 2020

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Indiebound | Goodreads

About Court of Miracles

Les Misérables meets Six of Crows in this page-turning adventure as a young thief finds herself going head to head with leaders of Paris’s criminal underground in the wake of the French Revolution.

In the violent urban jungle of an alternate 1828 Paris, the French Revolution has failed and the city is divided between merciless royalty and nine underworld criminal guilds, known as the Court of Miracles. Eponine (Nina) Thénardier is a talented cat burglar and member of the Thieves Guild. Nina’s life is midnight robberies, avoiding her father’s fists, and watching over her naïve adopted sister, Cosette (Ettie). When Ettie attracts the eye of the Tiger–the ruthless lord of the Guild of Flesh–Nina is caught in a desperate race to keep the younger girl safe. Her vow takes her from the city’s dark underbelly to the glittering court of Louis XVII. And it also forces Nina to make a terrible choice–protect Ettie and set off a brutal war between the guilds, or forever lose her sister to the Tiger.

My Review

I feel like retelling LES MISÉRABLES is a pretty tall undertaking. I’ll admit that I felt skeptical going into COURT OF MIRACLES. Telling the story– or reframing the story– from Eponine’s (in the story she’s known as Nina) point-of-view was a really cool choice. She’s such a compelling character in the musical (I haven’t read the book, so I’m flying a bit blind there.). I loved the idea of sticking with her throughout the story.

COURT OF MIRACLES captures that streetwise, vulnerable but clever and smart girl from the original story. I liked that the story centers around sisterhood, too, first with Nina’s biological sister and then her adopted sister, Cosette.

Also– I love that we have a female Javert! I thought that was super clever and gives a lot of interesting twists to her motives and a need to prove herself as a women in a job that’s dominated by men. I’m curious where that goes.

One of the biggest things that felt missing to me in the book, though, are the echoes of the morality that seems to fill the original story. There’s no one honorable– even Jean Valjean only helps Nina because he owes her a debt. Everyone is out for themselves. And given that most of the characters are thieves, that’s not shocking. I just felt like there was a core of the original story that didn’t carry over.

I think it’s there a little bit in the way Nina remains loyal to her sisters, despite the costs or what’s convenient. She values them and can’t turn her back on them even when it might save her.

On the whole, COURT OF MIRACLES delivers a gritty cast of characters inspired by LES MIS and reminding readers of the power of sisterhood, loyalty, and courage.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Nina and her sister have olive-toned skin which they inherited from their mother.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
References to torture and cannibalism. Members of each guild receive some kind of brand or scar that marks them as a guild member. One guild master enslaves girls for prostitution, keeping them drugged and addicted to drugs to control them.

Battles and situations of peril with some graphic descriptions.

Drug Content
References to drinking wine socially. Scenes show girls addicted to and high on opiates.

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

Review: Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Romance, Sci-Fi, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,

Illuminae
Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
Random House Children’s Books/Knopf Books for Young Readers

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

I’m going to pull the marketing copy from Goodreads because honestly, I won’t be able to come up with anything to the story better justice:

This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do.

This afternoon, her planet was invaded.

The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to fight their way onto an evacuating fleet, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.

But their problems are just getting started. A deadly plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet’s AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a tangled web of data to find the truth, it’s clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: the ex-boyfriend she swore she’d never speak to again.

Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents—including emails, schematics, military files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more—Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping, high-octane trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes.

What I thought
This story is kind of like World War Z meets 2001: A Space Oddyssey. SO. MUCH. TENSION. An unpredictable AI who may or may not be trying to kill everyone, plus a highly contagious epidemic of people basically turning into paranoid, violent zombies. In a closed spaceship. In the middle of outer space. With an enemy ship closing in behind them. Are you on the edge of your seat? OMG, you should be.

The story is told through various “records” like emails, interviews, crew reports, and instant messages. At first I didn’t think I’d like this. I felt like it really limited how things unfolded, but once I got past the first couple of chapters, I felt like the pacing and the choice of which documents are included and the order in which they appear really adds to the feeling of tension building and building as the story progresses.

I loved the quick, witty dialogue between characters, especially Ezra and Kady. What I didn’t love quite so much was that after a while, it seemed like that voice got used too often and too many characters sounded the same to me. I was definitely willing to overlook that, though. It hardly affected my ability to enjoy the story. It was just more something I happened to notice.

Also, the end was fantastic. There was a moment in which I worried that it was going to all wind down leaving me bitter and disappointed, and instead Kristoff and Kaufman totally kicked it up a notch. I would absolutely read a sequel.

Side note: I read an ARC acquired from Netgalley, so the formatting in my version may not match the final version, but I’d recommend ordering a hard copy of the book rather than an ebook. There were a few pages that, because of how they displayed, were a little bit difficult for me to read, and I felt like I was missing parts of words at the edges of the page. I think it might have been easier to read as a paperback, though I usually prefer an ebook version.

Language Content
Loads of profanity and some crude references.

Sexual Content
References to sexual acts.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violence
A biological warfare agent/virus causes those affected to become violent. Sufferers maim and decapitate others. Lots of descriptions are of the aftermath of the outbreak, but there are some really intense moments in which a point-of-view character faces someone with truly gory intent. I’m pretty sensitive to violence in literature, and it was definitely at my upper limits of what I can take.

Drug Content
See above.

Review: Suspicion by Alexandra Monir

Book Review and Content, Clean Fiction, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Paranormal, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , ,

Suspicion
Alexandra Monir
Random House Childrens’ Books
Published December 9, 2014

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

After her parents die in a suspicious fire at their family estate, Imogen wants nothing more to do with her family or her heritage at Rockford manor. When her cousin, once her closest friend and ally, also perishes, Imogen stands as the last relative capable of inheriting the property. She returns home alone to the site of countless childhood memories, of which she is now the last survivor. When police uncover evidence that her cousin’s death may not have been accidental, Imogen realizes the murderer must be among the faithful few left nearest to her. The truth will shock her.

This is one of those stories which begins at the climax and leaps back to its beginning to retell events as they happened. It’s not my favorite plot device, but it’s difficult not to invest in this story for its own sake. The pace is quick and the stakes only get higher, sort of like one part Princess Diaries, one part fairytale and one part suspense. It has this sort of otherworldly yet historical flavor to it. Seems odd, but in this case it turns out to be a great mix.

The storytelling is solid and the characters thoughtful and sometimes surprising. The plot is peppered with these really strange moments that at the time seem too bizarre to work into the plot, but the author does a great job of pulling all those odd moments together to make the whole story make sense.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
One instance of very mild profanity.

Sexual Content
Brief kissing.

Spiritual Content
Imogen has the power to cause plants to grow and flourish rapidly. There are rumors of a curse on the Rockford family from generations past and rumors of a secret hidden within the garden.

Violence
Police investigate the violent death of a teenaged girl. Few details given, but the cause of death was head trauma.

Drug Content
None.

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

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Review: Nest by Esther Ehrlich

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Nest
Esther Ehrlich
Random House Children’s
Published September 9, 2014

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Chirp begins fifth grade looking forward to another year of beloved family traditions: dancing with her mother, bird-watching hikes, and impromptu performances with her older sister Rachel. But something is different in the Orenstein house. Rachel hushes Chirp when she asks questions or wants to show her mother some new dance steps. Chirp can’t understand how these things could make her mother sad like Rachel says.

Then comes her mother’s devastating diagnosis. There will be no more dancing. As her mother’s health deteriorates, Chirp’s family unravels. Even her father’s ever-positive, talk-about-it outlook can make this okay. Nothing will be okay again.

Chirp struggles to understand the new roles her family members adopt in the crisis and to interpret the behavior of the temperamental boy who lives in her neighborhood. This is a story about grief, about the way life doesn’t stay the same, but morphs into something new when we least expect it.

Each wonderful character brings a story of his or her own, and though the reader is limited to Chirp’s version of events, it’s easy to imagine the tales that fill the space between each line. As a young bird-watcher, Chirp often relates her experiences and emotions through the birds around her. Nest is filled with a rich emotional landscape, one that transcends words, just as its narrator’s emotions would lie beyond the capacity of an eleven year-old child to explain. It’s brilliantly done. Truly a great story.

Profanity and CrudeLanguage Content
One brief instance of mild profanity.

Sexual Content
A couple very oblique, brief references to sex. (A girl worries that someone might think she’s a “lezzie;” school children ask their teacher if she’s going to teach them sex education.)

Spiritual Content
Chirp’s family celebrates her Jewish heritage and does not observe Christian holidays. Sometimes other kids make fun of her family for this. One girl comments to Chirp that even if her family doesn’t ask Jesus into their hearts, surely God will still let them into heaven.

Violence
A boy bears a bruise on his face following an unexplained home situation.

Drug Content
Chirp goes with her sister to a party at which the adults smoke marijuana. She is frightened and goes home.

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

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Review: Gabriel Finley and the Raven’s Riddle by George Hagen

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

Gabriel Finley and the Raven’s Riddle (Gabriel Finley #1)
George Hagen
Random House Children’s/Schwartz and Wade Publishing
Published August 26, 2014

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

In a world in which men have all but forgotten their friendship with ravens, one twelve year-old boy rediscovers an ancient tradition. Gabriel’s adventure begins the day he rescues a young raven and answers its riddle. With the help of Gabriel’s friends, he and his raven will embark on a dangerous journey. They must battle evil creatures to save Gabriel’s missing father.

There are some slightly dark elements in the story surrounding the evil valravens, or fallen ravens. These creatures have formed bonds with a human and betrayed him by tasting of his flesh. After this, they become evil ravens. Though they look the same as ravens, they can be recognized by their inability to laugh at a good riddle.

I found Gabriel Finley and the Raven’s Riddle fresh and intriguing. Hagen really nails writing for the middle-grade audience, creating easily digestible chapters, fanciful characters and stringing one wild adventure upon another. Because ravens begin conversations with riddles, this novel is quite peppered with them. Some will be familiar to readers, and they’re incorporated into the story in an entertaining way. Gabriel is a smart kid with great allies. I loved the way the story unfolded.

Profanity and Crude Language Content
None.

Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
In Gabriel Finley and the Raven’s Riddle, a man and a raven can form a special bond which allows them to operate as one being. Basically one is essentially spirit present in the other’s body for a time. No spiritual significance is assigned to this activity in the context of the story.

Violence
Creepy, evil raven-like creatures try to destroy a young bird as well as Gabriel and his friends. No really gory details, though the descriptions of the bad birds are sinister.

Drug Content
None.

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

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