Book Review: The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl

Premise: Alba has graduated from high school. Now it's her last summer with her friends, who are all moving away. But Alba doesn't want to go. She wants everything to stay the same. And then, the weirdos start showing up in her town claiming that the world is about to end and only this town will survive.

Title: The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl
Author: Melissa Kiel
Length: 294 pages
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone
Content Appropriate For: Grades 9-12
Format: Digital ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley

Three adjectives that describe this book: unique, nerdy, slow

So, I'm definitely not the right audience for this book. But, I'm sure high school students everywhere will be happy to have a protagonist who is thoroughly confused, and possibly terrified, about what's next after high school. There are lots of things that I liked about Cinnamon Girl, but all that "What am I doing with my life?" got really old for me.

Things I Liked - 
* It's really really Australian. They have Christmas in the summer! And there was lots of great Aussie slang. It totally captured regular life in small-town Australia.... not that I've ever been there, but it just felt accurate.
* Alba is a Real Girl. She isn't some skinny-mini, fashionista. Alba has her own interests and personal style. She's a real girl. Yay for real girls!
* Alba is a nerd. She's into comics and  drawing and baking. Alba is smart, and her dialogue is witty and full of comic book references.
* The last 50 pages were intense. They kind of snuck up on me. I was surprised at how invested I had become in these characters.

Things I Disliked -
* It's normal Realistic Fiction. From the cover and title, I was expecting more elements of fantasy or sci-fi. But, no.
* The build-up was slow and tedious. All that character development and internal conflict just about killed me. Can we get some plot in the first half please?!
* So much angst! I'm definitely not the target audience!

3.5 stars

Classics Review: A Long Way from Chicago

Premise: Joey and Mary Alice spend one week each summer in a small town with their grandmother, a liar, shotgun shooter, and terrible influence. Set during the 1930s, and told in 9 short stories (one for each summer), this book is wildly unforgettable.

Title: A Long Way From Chicago
Author: Richard Peck
Length: 160 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Series or Stand Alone: Book 1 of 3
Content appropriate for: Grades 5-7

Three adjectives that describe this book: hilarious, unique, entertaining

I have been avoiding this book forever. Absolutely nothing about it appealed to me. Luckily I'm doing the Classics Club challenge, so I needed to read it. I read A Long Way From Chicago as an audiobook, and it's the perfect book for that format - the novel is really a collection of 7 stories, so the audiobook feels like having your own personal storyteller. The narrator, Ron McLarty, has great comedic timing and his voices for Grandma Dowdel and her neighbors were spot-on.

The situations in this book are over-the-top, in a similar style to adult Southern Fiction. It's full of fun caricatures like a shotgun-toting Grandma and an arrogant local sheriff. This book made me laugh out loud and holler, "Get it Grandma!" I also thought it painted a good picture of life in the 1930s.

This week I started it as a read aloud and my students are absolutely loving it. I'm trying to stick to that storyteller feel, and the classroom is full of laughter.

Sidenote: Parents, guardians, and teachers may want to know that this book contains several references to alcohol and one scene with drunk old men in their underwear.

Magic and Mystery Collide in Bad Magic

Premise: After a graffiti incident at school, Clay is sent to a camp for struggling kids on an isolated volcanic island. When Clay meets the other campers and discovers ruins occupied by a ghost, he vows to get off the island.

Title: Bad Magic
Author: Pseudonymous Bosch
Length: 400 pages
Genre: Mystery / Fantasyish
Series or Stand Alone: Book 1 in a new series
Content appropriate for: Grades 5-8
Format: Digital ARC provided by Little Brown Books via Edelweiss
Publication Date: September 16, 2014

Three adjectives that describe this book: mysterious, strange, twisty

Bad Magic, is a wildly unique mystery with an intriguing solution. I especially enjoyed all the book-love - one setting is a library, one character is a book nerd, and there are frequent discussions of Shakespeare's The Tempest.

Pseudonymous Bosch is well-known for his Secret Series, in which he makes heavy use of authorial intrusions, similar to those used by Lemony Snicket in the Series of Unfortunate Events. I enjoyed the first few books in the Secret Series, but became annoyed by the over-the-top jokey tone by the end of book 2.

Bad Magic, however, represents a shift for the better for Bosch. He still uses intrusions to keep things fresh, but they are toned-down and refreshing when compared to The Secret Series. Those books were silly, this one was mysterious and effective.

Against the Grain Book Review: The Fourteenth Goldfish

Premise: Things get strange when Ellie's elderly grandfather shows up at her house as a teenage boy. Grandpa is a scientist and he's discovered a way to reverse aging. Now he's living with Ellie and her mom, and things are very strange.

Title: The Fourteenth Goldfish
Author: Jennifer L. Holm
Pages: 208 pages
Genre: Realistic / Science Fiction
Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone
Content Appropriate For: Grades 4-7
Format: Digital ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Publication Date: August 26, 2014

Three adjectives that describe this book: fanciful, unique, simple

The Fourteenth Goldfish is getting so much positive buzz! There have been talks of it winning the Newbery, the Goodreads page is glowing, and it was even selected for the 2014 Global Read Aloud. So it feels like blasphemy to say, but I found The Fourteenth Goldfish kind of disappointing. That's why I'm calling this an Against the Grain Book Review - my thinking appears to diverge from what most folks are thinking.

The Fourteenth Goldfish just didn't feel complete to me. It's a really straight-forward, single-plot story so that should make it easy to follow, but there were gaps in the narrative that made me lose track of how much time was passing and how various events were connected. A longer book, maybe from different perspectives, may have worked better.

Still, it was a fun read with some great moments. Grandpa Melvin may be one of my favorite characters in a long time.

People seem to really like the science aspect of this book, but it really disappointed me. Maybe it's because I have worked with researchers on how kids view scientists, but this book reinforced more stereotypes than it combated. However, I love love loved the talk about believing in possibilities and that scientists are passionate people who don't give up.

Overall, The Fourteenth Goldfish may provide a good starting point for classroom conversations about science, scientists, and fuzzy morality.

3.5 stars

Book Review: Otherbound by Corinne Duyvis

Premise: Nolan longs for a life uninterrupted. Every time he blinks, he's yanked from his Arizona town into Amara's mind, a world away, which makes even simple things like hobbies and homework impossible. He's spent years as a powerless observer of Amara's life. Amara, a servant tasked with protecting a cursed princess, has no idea he's there until he learns to control her, and they communicate for the first time. Amara is terrified. Then, she's furious.

Title: Otherbound
Author: Corinne Duyvis
Length: 400 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone
Content Appropriate For: Grades 9-12
Format: Digital ARC provided by Amulet Books via NetGalley
Publication Date: June 17, 2014

Three adjectives that describe this book: unique, intriguing, dangerous

I was intrigued by Otherbound. I love reading the worlds that authors create, and in this book Corinne Duyvis had to create two vastly different worlds. I was eager to see how she would manage the switching back and forth between worlds, and if it would be confusing as the reader. The short answer is that the switching between worlds was smooth and easy to follow, but the world development had a few holes.

Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy

Premise: Prince Liam. Prince Frederic. Prince Duncan. Prince Gustav. You've never heard of them, have you? These are the princes who saved Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White, and Rapunzel, respectively, and yet, thanks to those lousy bards who wrote the tales, you likely know them only as Prince Charming. But all of this is about to change. Rejected by their princesses and cast out of their castles, Liam, Frederic, Duncan, and Gustav stumble upon an evil plot that could endanger each of their kingdoms. (from Goodreads)

Title: The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom
Author: Christopher Healy
Length: 436 pages
Genre: Fantasy, Re-invented Fairy Tale
Series or Stand-Alone: 1st book of (currently) 3
Content appropriate for: Grades 3-8
Format: Hardback in the classroom library

Three adjectives that describe this book: hilarious, creative, adventurous

This book is a rollicking good time with lots of witty humor along with bad puns, fun characters, and a witch with an evil plot. I absolutely loved the way Christopher Healy played around with gender roles and stereotypical fairy tale characters. Healy crafted a book with a distinct authorial voice, and a world of terrifically crafted characters. So fun!

My only complaint is that it got a little slow in the middle. The novelty was wearing off and the climax was a few too many pages away, while the characters traipsed about it in the woods... I wonder if Healy should have shaved 50ish pages off the middle. Overall there was TONS of action, though, so it's only a minor complaint.

Overall, a solid 4 stars!

This post is part of the A to Z Blogging Challenge.

Freakling by Lana Krumwiede

Premise: In twelve-year-old Taemon’s city, everyone has a power called psi—the ability to move and manipulate objects with their minds. When Taemon loses his psi in a traumatic accident, he must hide his lack of power by any means possible. (from Goodreads)

Title and Author: Freakling by Lana Krumwiede
Length: 320 pages
Genre: Science Fiction
Series or Stand-Alone: 1st book of 2 (so far)
Content appropriate for: Grades 6-8
Format: Gifted hardback

Three adjectives that describe this book: intense, unique, futuristic

Dystopia is all the rage these days (Think Hunger Games and Divergent). Sometimes dystopian books seem too similar, like there's nothing new out there anymore. But, no! Freakling is an entirely unique and wholly engrossing dystopia.

Doll Bones by Holly Black ~ Abbreviated Review

Doll Bones is a simply told tale of friendship and a creepy doll. I was really hesitant to read it at first, even though I've loved everything else that Holly Black has written - a book about kids who like to play with dolls? Sounds lame. But when it won a Newberry honor, I decided to give it a whirl.

Premise: Zach, Poppy, and Alice have been friends forever, playing an ongoing game with their action figures and dolls. But now that they're older, Zach's dad thinks he should move on to other games. Just when their friendship is about to break, Poppy's mother's creepy bone-china doll sends her a message. Suddenly, the kids find themselves crossing state lines on a quest to find the identity of the doll and put her to rest.

Review: I loved how genuine the friendship felt between Zach, Alice, and Poppy. As they each dealt with their changing middle school identities, there were equal parts arguing and regret about arguing.

I didn't expect to like the creepy doll stuff, but Holly Black included just enough creepiness to keep the reader going when the friendship bits got too realistic. Still, she stayed out of "totally scary" territory, which is something I appreciate. It turned out to be more of a mystery with great friendship elements, than anything else.

I've heard that this book is hugely popular with readers in grades 4-7. Can't wait to give it to a 5th grader!

This post is part of the A to Z Blogging Challenge.

Classics Review: The 13 Clocks

You probably skip the Premise section of my book reviews. That's okay most of the time... but not this time.The 13 Clocks better than anything I've seen or read. I didn't write it myself. I stole it from Goodreads. But it was just to perfect to ignore. So just this once, be sure to read the premise:

Premise:
How can anyone describe this book? It isn't a parable, a fairy story or a poem, but rather a mixture of all three. It is beautiful and it is comic. It is philosophical and it is cheery... There are only a few reasons why everybody has always wanted to read this kind of story, but they are basic:
* Everybody has always wanted to love a Princess.
* Everybody has always wanted to be a Prince.
* Everybody has always wanted the wicked Duke to be punished.
* Everybody has always wanted to live happily ever after.

Too little of this kind of thing is going on in the world today. But all of it is going on valorously in The 13 Clocks.

Title: The 13 Clocks
Author: James Thurber
Length: 128 pages
Genre: Fantasy / Classic
Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone
Content Appropriate For: Grades 3-5

Three adjectives that describe this book: whimsical, fanciful, amusing

This classic pseudo fairy tale was so much fun to read. The story centers on an evil duke who sets impossible tasks for princes who want took marry the Princess Saralinda. The language of this story is so fun. It begs to be read aloud. Slipping frequently into poetry and word play. There are lots of places where the text hides fun rhythms and terrific rhymes sneak up. As Neil Gaiman says in the introduction, it slips easily and frequently into poetry.

Dark Life by Kat Falls

Premise: Dive deep into the vivid underwater world of Dark Life! The oceans rose, swallowing the lowlands. Earthquakes shattered the continents, toppling entire regions into the rising water. Now, humans live packed into stack cities. The only ones with any space of their own are those who live on the ocean floor: the Dark Life. Ty has spent his whole life living deep undersea. When outlaws attack his homestead, he finds himself in a fight to save the only home he has ever known. Joined by Gemma, a girl from Topside, Ty ventures into the frontier's rough underworld and discovers some dark secrets to Dark Life. Secrets that threaten to destroy everything. (Amazon)

Title: Dark Life
Author: Kat Falls
Length: 304 pages
Genre: Science Fiction
Series or Stand Alone: First book in the Dark Life series
Content appropriate for: Grades 5-8

                      
                  
                      3.5 stars

Three Adjectives: engaging, adventurous, unique

In a time when readers are inundated with post-apocalyptic, dystopian novels, Dark Life breaths new life into old themes. The author, Kat Falls, combines the Wild West, mutants, and marine life to craft what should have been fantastic book. I found myself cheering on Ty in his pursuit of the Seablite Gang, yet in a more skilled writer's hands, this book would have earned four, possibly five stars in my rating. 

What this book truly lacked was pace; it could have benefited from being trimmed down by 30-50 pages. The stretches between the action-packed moments of chase and discovery were often bogged down with forced dialogue and awkward exposition. At times, Falls failed to paint a clear picture of what was happening because of the technology of this world, but at the same time I could clearly picture the magnificent jellyfish houses of the subsea homesteads. 

In spite of its flaws, the mystery of this story was quite intriguing. I found Ty and his family to be dynamic and colorful characters, while Gemma was an admirable female protagonist. What this story lacked in strong craft, it made up in imagination and adventure. I'm not sure that I will continue to read this series, but I still would recommend this book to anyone looking for a new twist on the dystopian novel.

Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Premise: Luke has never been to school. He's never had a birthday party, or gone to a friend's house. Luke is one of the shadow children, a third child forbidden by the Population Police. He's lived his entire life in hiding, and now, with a new housing development replacing the woods next to his family's farm, he is no longer even allowed to go outside. The one day Luke sees a girl's face in the window of a house where he knows two other children already live. Finally, he's met a shadow child like himself. Jen is willing to risk everything to come out of the shadows--does Luke dare to become involved in her dangerous plan? (Amazon)

Title: Among the Hidden
Author: Margaret Peterson Haddix
Length: 153 pages
Genre: Science Fiction
Series or Stand Alone: Shadow Children
Content appropriate for: Grades 5-8

                                  4.5 stars

Three Adjectives: unique, thought-provoking, gripping

"Among the Hidden is just one of the books you have to read," my students said to me over and over again. This book had been gathering dust on my TBR pile for going on three years before I decided to read it. 

Now that I have completed it, I can see what all the buzz is about. Haddix is a master of world-building in science fiction novels. She truly takes her time to craft the structure of this futuristic world of control and constraint. I found myself questioning up until the end what Luke would do. Though this was mostly a character building and setting development piece, Haddix will keep you hanging on until the tragic end. Make sure you have the second book, Among the Betrayed on hand once you finish this one. 

Tiger by Jeff Stone

Premise: Fu is one of 5 children trained in kung fu. When their temple is viciously attacked, he must decide how to defend truth and justice now that he is on his own.

Title: Tiger
Author: Jeff Stone
Length: 208 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Series or Stand-Alone: First book in a 7-book series
Content appropriate for: grades 3-5

3.5 Stars

3 adjectives that describe this book: action-packed, unique, simple

I enjoyed this kung fu novel. It's a genre I'm not accustomed to and I found it quite fun. It was kind of like watching a kung fu movie in my mind. I am already thinking of which students would love this book, especially some of my boys who are developing and dormant readers.

I have two primary thoughts on Tiger. For one thing, Jeff Stone does a great job managing perspective. I hate it when the reader understands things long before the character. That approach just makes me think the character is stupid. Jeff Stone, however, designed his writing so that my understandings evolved in sync with the character's understandings. When Fu was angry with the tiger hunters, I was angry. When he attacked them, I believed that his attack was justified. Later when he realized that he had acted too quickly and made a mistake, I found myself agreeing with him. When he felt ashamed, I also felt ashamed. Jeff Stone's writing really impressed me in this regard.

On the other hand, the kung fu fighting scenes were really confusing. There was so much detail about each hand, elbow, and finger position that I got lost. Also, the story only follows one primary incident (stemming from Fu's attack on the tiger hunters). I found the world of early China fascinating and wanted more. Yes, I know this is a series so I can get more that way, but there wasn't really enough here to get me really invested.

Still, I think several of my students, especially the boys, would love this book.

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Premise: Some people are born with gifts. These are the Graced. Some people have the Grace of cooking amazing meals or climbing tall trees. Katsa was born with a much more sinister Grace - she kills. Employed by the king to punish those that disobey him, Katsa is an effective tool. When she meets Po, who is Graced with the ability to fight, she starts to see her situation differently and begins a quest to save an entire kingdom.

Title: Graceling

Author: Kristin Cashore

Length: 471 pages

Genre: Fantasy

Series or Stand-Alone: First book of 3 companion novels

Content appropriate for: grades 9+

4.5 stars

3 adjectives that describe this book: magnificent, action-packed, unique

Graceling is a novel that balances many characteristics that don't seem to fit together. The plot is both adventurous and humorous, heroic and brutal. Katsa, the main character, is both savage and gentle. Though I love fantasy adventure books, rarely do I find them to be genuinely fun. Generally, I find that books that make me laugh out loud are merely trite entertainment. Graceling turned these truths on their heads. From the opening pages I was captivated by Katsa's brutality, wit, and gender bending. 

Cashore's world-building was as thorough and seamless as her character development.  I hate romance novels, and resist anything too much like Twilight. Somehow, though, the romantic elements in Graceling were far from sappy, and added a great deal to the story. Though the plot did drag at times, Cashore avoided the pitfall that bugs me the most in YA and children's literature. The characters figured out the plot twists at almost the same time I did. I didn't have to wait 20+ pages for them to figure it out already!

Graceling was wonderfully fun. Katsa was a thrilling main character to sit with for a few hundred pages. I enjoyed every slice of her sword and punch of her fist. I don't think I'll read the follow-up companion novel, Fire, which follows a secondary character that I'm not particularly interested in. However, the second companion novel, Bitterblue, may make it onto my TBR pile since it follows another witty gender-bending character from Graceling. 

Update 1.21.2013:  Two friends have told me that Fire is a must read book. Apparently the sample chapter at the end of Graceling is not very representative of the actual book. My friend Sarah raved and raved about Fire so it's officially moving near the top of my TBR list.  ~ Amanda