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Review: Brother’s Keeper by Julie Lee

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Historical, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , ,
Brother's Keeper by Julie Lee

Brother’s Keeper
Julie Lee
Holiday House
Published July 21, 2020

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About Brother’s Keeper

North Korea. December, 1950.

Twelve-year-old Sora and her family live under an iron set of rules: No travel without a permit. No criticism of the government. No absences from Communist meetings. Wear red. Hang pictures of the Great Leader. Don’t trust your neighbors. Don’t speak your mind. You are being watched.

But war is coming, war between North and South Korea, between the Soviets and the Americans. War causes chaos–and war is the perfect time to escape. The plan is simple: Sora and her family will walk hundreds of miles to the South Korean city of Busan from their tiny mountain village. They just need to avoid napalm, frostbite, border guards, and enemy soldiers.

But they can’t. And when an incendiary bombing changes everything, Sora and her little brother Young will have to get to Busan on their own. Can a twelve-year-old girl and her eight-year-old brother survive three hundred miles of war zone in winter?

My Review

As I started to read BROTHER’S KEEPER, I worried about how dark it would be. I worried that I wouldn’t be able to handle it. And I won’t lie, some scenes were hard because they were so heartbreaking.

What I loved, though, was Sora’s resourcefulness and her will to survive. I loved her love for books and stories and the hope she continually kindled inside of her that she would see her family again.

BROTHER’S KEEPER doesn’t shy away from the ugliness of war. But through the struggles and bitter coldness of winter, the love between Sora and her brother and their hope for the future shine so brightly. I’m so glad I read this book.

If you like raw, gripping historical novels by Ruta Sepetys (though those are aimed at a slightly older audience) or EVERY FALLING STAR by Sunju Lee and Elizabeth McClelland, please check out BROTHER’S KEEPER.

Content Notes for Brother’s Keeper

Recommended for Ages 10 to 14.

Representation
All named characters are North or South Korean.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Sora and her family are Christians. They’ve been forbidden to practice their faith but have a Bible hidden in their home.

Violent Content
Some descriptions of civilians, including children being shot or bombed. One very brief scene shows domestic violence. In one scene, two children fall through the ice into a freezing river and die.

Drug Content
Some mentions of adults drinking alcohol.

Note: I received a free copy of BROTHER’S KEEPER 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: Thomas Jefferson and the Return of the Magic Hat by Deborah Kalb

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Historical, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , ,

Thomas Jefferson and the Return of the Magic Hat (The President and Me #3)
Deborah Kalb
Schiffer Kids
Published September 28, 2020

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About Thomas Jefferson and the Return of the Magic Hat

After almost six months in Maryland, fifth-grader Oliver still misses his friends back in New Jersey. But things start to change one day, when his neighbor–and possible new friend–Sam lends Oliver a magic hat that takes him back to the 18th- and 19th-century world of Thomas Jefferson. Oliver and his sisters–Cassie, the nice one, and Ruby, the annoying one–end up learning more about Jefferson than they’d expected. And Oliver finds that his new neighborhood might not be so terrible after all. 

Thomas Jefferson and the Return of the Magic Hat is the third in The President and Me series that began with George Washington and the Magic Hat and John Adams and the Magic Bobblehead. This new adventure brings back previous characters Sam, Ava, J.P. (blink and you might miss them, though!), and of course the cantankerous talking hat itself.

My Review

Oliver is a sweet character with a big family who’s still acclimating to his new school. He struggles with a couple classmates who bully him for blurting out little known facts about presidents. I found him pretty easy to identify with.

He time travels backward to Thomas Jefferson’s lifetime and witnesses some key moments in his life: seeing him working on the Declaration of Independence, meeting him as he’s looking at the land which will become his estate, Monticello, and eavesdropping on the meeting between Jefferson, Hamiton and Madison to discuss the US capital.

It was neat to get to see snippets of those moments. The historical scenes always seemed really short to me– whenever Oliver removes the hat from his head, he returns to the present, and he seems to do that a lot!– so sometimes that felt a bit choppy. But it also kept the balance of the story focused on Oliver and the things he learns about friendship and family through his time traveling experiences.

One of the things I was really interested in is that early on in the story, Oliver and his friends discuss the fact that though Thomas Jefferson wrote about equality, he owned slaves. In fact, some were his own children. It seemed like the story might have intended to explore that issue more deeply, perhaps even to discuss it with Jefferson himself.

Oliver does meet Jefferson’s son, Madison Hemmings, and there’s a brief drive-by of a sort of explanation that Jefferson moderated/removed overt anti-slavery words in the Declaration of Independence because the Revolution needed the support of colonies who depended on slavery.

The obvious contradiction in his belief to be against slavery and the fact the he owned slaves is acknowledged. But on the whole, the issue isn’t deeply explored, and I was a bit disappointed by that because of the setup.

I thought the book was interesting, and enjoyed the present-day conflicts that Oliver had to navigate with friends and sisters. I think readers who have just outgrown the Magic Treehouse books, but still enjoy that type of story will enjoy this series.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 10.

Representation
Main characters are white. Oliver has brief encounters with a young Black slave in Thomas Jefferson’s house.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
A talking hat guides Oliver and his friends on time travel adventures.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of THOMAS JEFFERSON AND THE RETURN OF THE MAGIC HAT 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: The Mostly Invisible Boy by AJ Vanderhorst

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

The Mostly Invisible Boy (Casey Grimes #1)
AJ Vanderhorst
INtense Publications
Published April 25, 2020

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About The Mostly Invisible Boy

Eleven-year-old Casey Grimes is invisible. Really. When he leaves suburbia and infiltrates a secret forest society, he can finally be seen—but Sylvan Woods hates outsiders as much as it loves killing monsters. As Butcher Beasts invade, his flimsy cover story falls apart, and courage is his only chance to belong.

My Review

My favorite thing about this book was the relationship between Casey and his sister, Gloria. The story definitely paints Gloria as an unrealistic character. She’s a young child and she’s hardly ever rattled, always loves others, has complete confidence in her older brother. However, I think because there are so many other dark things happening in the book, I didn’t mind that so much.

I thought the world of the Sylvan Woods was pretty enchanting and unusual, though I was a little confused at times. Why did Gloria already know the names of the creatures? Who explained everything to his parents, or did they already know? Why was Casey invisible at the beginning of the story? I felt like there were some things that got left unanswered.

On the whole, though, I really enjoyed the relationships between Luci and Casey and Gloria. They exchanged some fun banter and had lots of wacky adventures. The story entertains from the first page to the last.

I think fans of books by Lemony Snicket will enjoy the bizarre situations and reality juxtaposed with unreality as well as the almost caricature-like minor characters. It’s the kind of story my daughter and I would have enjoyed reading aloud when she was in fourth grade.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Casey and his family are white. Three of the Sylvans they meet are described as having brown/bronze skin.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Contains some magic and creatures of fantasy. Casey is literally invisible at the start of the story. Butcher Beasts, like giant wasps, seek to destroy the Sylvans.

Violent Content
Some situations of peril. Casey nearly falls out of a tree. Monsters chase him and Gloria through the woods and attack them in two different scenes.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of MOSTLY INVISIBLE BOY 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: Again Again by E. Lockhart

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,

Again Again
E. Lockhart
Delacorte Press
Published June 2, 2020

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About Again Again

In this novel full of surprises from the New York Times bestselling author of We Were Liars and Genuine Fraud, E. Lockhart ups the ante with an inventive and romantic story about human connection, forgiveness, self-discovery, and possibility.

If you could live your life again, what would you do differently?

After a near-fatal family catastrophe and an unexpected romantic upheaval, Adelaide Buchwald finds herself catapulted into a summer of wild possibility, during which she will fall in and out of love a thousand times—while finally confronting the secrets she keeps, her ideas about love, and the weird grandiosity of the human mind.

A raw, funny story that will surprise you over and over, Again Again gives us an indelible heroine grappling with the terrible and wonderful problem of loving other people.

My Review

It took me a little bit to get my footing with this book. Basically, as a scene unfolds, there are other possible outcomes that appear in bold (at least, they’re bold in the ARC). So you read a scene as it plays out several different possible ways. Then the text goes back to normal and you read on.

At first, I found it a little confusing. In a way, that made the story reflect Adelaide herself– because she’s definitely confused and kind of going in circles at the beginning of the story.

The more I read, the more I liked the style of storytelling and the characters in the book. I especially liked Adelaide’s relationship with her brother, Toby. It felt so raw and aching and yet like there was so much potential for joy there. The way they spoke about their parents felt so real in terms of sibling relationships.

I feel like AGAIN AGAIN delivered a thing that drew me to E. Lockhart’s writing in the first place (She also wrote WE WERE LIARS, which I LOVED!). It’s like she has this uncanny ability to peel back the outer layers and cut straight to the core of emotions and grief and sort of reinvent the experience of reading a book. I wouldn’t want every book to be told in this way, but I feel like it really worked for this particular book with this particular family. All in all, I am so glad I read it, and would definitely recommend it to others.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Adelaide’s roommate is a lesbian.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used a couple dozen times or so throughout the book.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. Reference to sex and nudity.

Spiritual Content
Some reference to a higher power.

Violent Content
A girl gets bitten on her wrist pretty severely by a Pitbull.

Drug Content
Adelaide and Toby’s parents are pretty permissive about teens drinking alcohol. One character develops an addiction to opiates and then heroin. One scene describes finding out a person has overdosed on heroin.

Note: I received a free copy of AGAIN AGAIN 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: The Eye of Ra by Ben Gartner

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

The Eye of Ra
Ben Gartner
Crescent Vista Press
Published February 1, 2020

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About The Eye of Ra

Exploring a mysterious cave in the mountains behind their house, John and his sister Sarah are shocked to discover they’ve time traveled to ancient Egypt!

Now they must work together to find a way back home from an ancient civilization of golden desert sand and a towering new pyramid, without parents to save them. The adventures abound—cobras, scorpions, a tomb robber, and more! The two kids have to trust each other, make friends who can help, and survive the challenges thrown at them . . . or be stuck in ancient Egypt forever.

For readers graduating from the Magic Treehouse series and ready for intense action, dive into this middle grade novel rich with meticulous historical detail.

My Review

I feel like books about time travel to ancient civilizations are really nostalgic for me because I used to really love a movie like that when I was little, so I was excited to read THE EYE OF RA for that reason.

It’s a cute story– brother and sister with really different personalities find themselves tossed into life in ancient Egypt and trying to figure out how to get home. I liked that Sarah is the adventurous one and John is the more structured, introverted one. I feel like lots of stories would have had those personalities reversed, so I thought it was kind of fun to see it this way.

Disclaimer: I know very little about ancient Egypt and the construction of the pyramids, so I can’t really speak to the historical accuracy there. I did find it a little odd that the characters from ancient Egypt still spoke in a modern way and the relationship between the husband and wife as well as between the parents and children was very modern. That part of it felt a little more like a Fred Flintstone version of ancient life, if that makes sense?

I thought it was cool that John and Sarah meet someone in ancient Egypt who face one of the same difficulties they face (moving far away) and that it made them consider elements of the move that they hadn’t considered before.

The ending seemed a little abrupt to me. I would have liked the kids to have been more actively involved in solving the mystery. At the start, they’re very much taking ownership of locating the thief and solving the crime, and I liked that– I wanted that energy to continue through the end of the book.

Overall, I thought it was a fun read that would be enjoyable for middle elementary school readers, like maybe third to fifth grade.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 10.

Representation
Sarah and John are white and the other kids are Egyptian.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Reference to a kiss between Sarah and a boy.

Spiritual Content
References to Egyptian mythology – the god Ra and others.

Violent Content
Some situations of peril.

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 EYE OF RA in exchange for my honest review.

Review: The Slug Queen Chronicles by S. O. Thomas

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

The Slug Queen Chronicles
S. O. Thomas
Published April 2, 2020

Amazon | Book Depository | Indiebound | Goodreads

About The Slug Queen Chronicles

She never believed in fairies… until one set its sights on her little brother. Now, she must risk everything to get him back.

On her twelfth birthday, Cricket Kane uncovers a chilling secret–tooth fairies have stopped collecting single teeth and have resorted to kidnapping children instead. When her brother is taken, the fairy leaves a changeling and a toxic black dust in his place. The dust soon infects the rest of her family, but to her surprise, she’s immune!

With the guidance of a mysterious cat, Cricket follows the fairy to a magical land where legendary creatures are real. When Santa himself takes her under his wing, Cricket learns she’s the only one who can harness the power of the dust to rescue her brother and the other missing children. But doing so might cost her life.

Can she summon the courage and strength to save her family and herself?

Find out now in this middle-grade fantasy for fans of Nevermoor and The Land of Stories!



My Review

One of the things I like about THE SLUG QUEEN CHRONICLES is that it features a blended family. Cricket’s dad has remarried and he and Cricket’s stepmom have just had a baby. Cricket talks a little bit about that adjustment, but more from the practical side and not much in terms of deep emotional processing. I liked seeing that representation in literature.

I also really like Cricket’s character. She’s loyal, determined, and smart. I found it easy to root for her on her quest to save her brother.

The story is pretty action-oriented. Things happen quickly, new complications rising in every episode or chapter. The cast of characters is a bit large, but they’re introduced more slowly, which helps make it easier to keep track of them all.

I think readers who enjoy dark fantasy, like SHADOW MAGIC by Joshua Khan will enjoy this book.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Cricket is black.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
The story contains magical creatures and fairy bargains– such as trading something you want for something you need. Not all humans can sense magic or see fairies. Cricket is special in these abilities.

Violent Content
Some situations of peril. Cricket has to eat or drink gross-looking or -smelling things. Some of the creatures are scary. An old woman gets hit on the head and collapses.

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 SLUG QUEEN CHRONICLES in exchange for my honest review.