Audiobook: The Mango Tree

Leave a comment

by Annabelle Tometitch
Read by the author
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is a depiction of abuse by a parent, talk of suicide, and swearing, including multiple f-bombs. It’s in the Biography section of the bookstore.

Annabelle Tomtetich’s mom, an immigrant from the Philippines, was arrested for firing a BB gun at a person who was trying to steal her mangoes from the mango tree in her front yard. To understand how she came to this point Tometich takes us through her (not her mother’s) childhood, the relationship she had with her mother, and possibly most importantly, how she views the relationship her mother had with the world around her. It’s a fascinating story, one that I think a lot of children of immigrants will recognize, but it’s also a story of grief and heartache, of anxiety and compulsion, and of coming to terms with life in southwest Florida. 

This was a delightful memoir. I related to the 70s childhood of no phones and hanging out with friends, though I didn’t have an over-protective Philippine mom. I appreciated the way Tomtetich tied everything together – from her father’s death when she was 9, through her obsessive need for approval, and her discovery of her love of writing and food, to her up-and-down relationship with her mother. I feel that Tometitch did an excellent job as a narrator as well.

My only regret was that it was less food-y than I was hoping it would be, but that’s just a minor quibble. It’s an excellent book to listen to.  

City Girls

1 Comment

by Loretta Lopez
First sentence: “My body is still getting used to hers.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: While this is super short, and the main characters are eleven, it deals with some pretty heavy themes (including sexual and physical abuse, divorce, sickness, and death). It’s in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore.  

This slim book is three interconnected short stories, each one following a girl in a Manhattan Middle School. Elisa is fresh from El Salvador and is petitioning the US government for asylum so she can stay in the United States with her mom, so she doesn’t have to go back to her abusive grandmother and the predator she calls “chicken man”. Lucia accidentally catches her father in an affair and has to deal with the weight of that, and then the aftermath when she confronts him. Alice is constantly acting out in class, but her father is distant and her mother is dying of cancer. The three girls become friends over their sixth-grade year, as they deal with their trials individually and collectively. 

I wanted to like this book. (Well, I started out listening to the audiobook, but the first narrator, the one who voiced Elisa, made some annoying narrative choices.) I like the idea of interconnected short stories, I like the idea of looking at race and culture from different perspectives. And I do understand that children go through trauma. But I wonder who the audience is for this book. The trauma is not spelled out, though a smart reader could figure it out (maybe not an 11-year-old one, though). It’s short, so maybe it’s geared at younger readers? But, the content isn’t really appropriate for 2nd and 3rd graders. It’s a conundrum. 

That said, I think the book is good to have out there, and it’s always good to have stories about Hard Things for kids who need them. 

Just Shy of Ordinary

Leave a comment

by A. J. Sass
First sentence: “Day one of my new normal began on the Sunday before I started my first-ever day of public school.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There is some talk of crushes and like-liking people, there is mention of anxious self-mutilating behaviors, and it’s on the longer end for the age range. It’s in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore.

Shai has a plan to create their new normal: come out as non-binary to their mom and their closest friends (done), wear sleeves to cover their arms so they stop picking and pulling out the hairs when they get anxious (their best friend Mille designed and made the sleeves as an added bonus), and start 8th grade at a public school. They believe that the change of routine will help with the picking. Except they test out of 8th grade (they’ve been homeschooled up until now), and get put into 9th grade. High school! 

So while Shai is anxious about starting something new, they meet a couple of people -Nia and Edie – who seem nice enough to be friends. (And maybe even tell them that they’re non-binary!)And then their English teacher assigns a long-term project that has Shai thinking about their Jewish heritage. It’s all complicated and difficult, but maybe this new normal will turn out for the best. 

This is a simple tale – the conflict is mostly internal, with Shai struggling with anxiety and the compulsion of picking, as well as the distance they feel from their mom, who has been studying and working to get a new job. But Shai was an enjoyable character to spend time with. I think Sass did a good job portraying the uncertainties that a kid would go through when they’re redefining who they are, as well as the added challenge of skipping a grade and starting something really big, like public school. I appreciated the inclusion that Shai’s mom, grandparents, and friends showed, as well as the diversity in their small-ish Wisconsin town. While it’s not a book that really blew me away, it is one that made me smile, and I enjoyed until the end. I’m glad it’s out there for the kids who need it. 

 

Novel Love Story

Leave a comment

by Ashley Poston
First sentence: “There once was a town.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: June 25, 2024
ARC most likely sent to me by the publisher rep, because he’s awesome that way.
Content: There is some swearing, including a few f-bombs, and some off-screen sex. It will be in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Eileen (side note: one of the joys in this book is the number of times there’s a “come on, Eileen” joke. I loved it!) is an adjunct English professor who not-so-secretly loves romance books. Specifically the Eloraton series by Rachel Flowers. It has seen her through good times, and bad – including a recent breakup that was devastating. She and her best friend Prudence are part of an online book club devoted to reading romance and they meet once a year in a cabin in the Hudson Valley to read and talk and drink wine. Except the only person who can go this year is Eileen. So, she heads north from Atlanta in her 1979 Pinto… and gets lost in a rainstorm once she gets to New York. Where she accidentally almost hits a man in the road and wakes up… in Eloraton.

Her car won’t start, and she has no cell service, so she’s stuck for a few days in a fictional town, with a guy – Anders – who also knows that the town is fictional.

That’s the premise – but the heart of the story is deeper than that. It’s about the power books have in our lives, the way characters can feel real, and letting go when it’s time, and embracing change. It’s about books and stories and community and connection.

And I adored it. (Of course!) It’s not as spicy as Seven Year Slip, but it’s sweet. And at its heart, it’s about Eileen learning to embrace love again. It’s about how love is important but maybe friendships are more important. It’s about grief and loss and moving on. But there are also some dreamy kisses and a grumpy-sunshine trope that made me smile (though I never could quite picture Anders with the blonde hair he was supposed to have).

It’s an absolute delight of a novel.

Audiobook: Freaks, Gleeks, and Dawson’s Creek

Leave a comment

by Thea Glassman
Read by Christine Lakin
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is swearing, including multiple f-bombs, as well as talk of bullying. It’s in the Film section of the bookstore.

When we recently drove down to Dallas to see the eclipse, I went through my backlog of audiobooks, looking for something interesting we could listen to and I landed on this. From the subtitle – How 7 Teen Shows Transformed Television – it sounded like an interesting look at pop culture and the ways that teen stories can affect television as a whole. She was looking at The Fresh Prince of Bel Aire, My So-Called Life, Dawson’s Creek, The OC, Freaks & Geeks, Friday Night Lights, and Glee. Although we’ve not watched many of the shows, we figured, why not listen and see if we learn anything interesting?

What we got – and we bailed on about half of it – was a fangirl’s treatise on each show. At one point, one of the girls asked “What is her thesis? Does she even have one?” And we had to say that her thesis, as far as we could tell, was “I loved these shows, and you should too.” She documented each series from the beginning to the end, talking about and to writers, creators, and maybe actors. Many personal interviews were going to be done. This is all fine and good: if you love your ’90s teen soaps, then more power to you. I am just objecting to the idea that there was substance to this book. Because there wasn’t.

We ended up skipping The OC, Freaks & Geeks, and Friday Night Lights because we just weren’t that interested in what she had to say. But, I suppose, if you, like her, loved these shows, you’d probably get more out of this book than I did.

Audiobook: Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands

Leave a comment

by Heather Fawcett
Read by Ell Potter & Michael Dodds
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Others in the series: Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries
Content: There are some dangerous moments and an off-screen sex scene. For some reason, it’s in the Romance section of the bookstore, which I disagree with. (While it has a romance, it’s not Romance!)

Spoilers for the first one, obviously.

It’s a little while after the events of the last book, and Emily and Wendell have settled back into teaching (such as it is, for Wendell) at Cambridge. But, soon after his birthday, he starts feeling ill, and his faerie magic goes haywire. It turns out that his stepmother -who overthrew his father and killed his entire family for the throne – is stepping up her assassination plan. This concerns Emily and she’s more than ever determined to find the Nexus and get Wendell back to his realm so he can off his stepmother. This involves a trip to the Alps, this time with the department head and Emily’s niece in tow. As they try to unravel the mystery of the Nexus, Wendell slowly deteriorates. Will they be able to find it and get him back to his realm in time?

Much like the first book, this is utterly delightful. The combination of historical fiction and faerie magic is charming, and Emily is a delightful narrator to be our guide through this world. It’s doubly delightful on audiobook with Potter doing an admirable job capturing all the characters and the intricacies of the plot. I loved the twists and turns in this one, and I liked that Fawcett allowed Emily to save Wendell by using her own wits, and not relying on magic to get her out of trouble.

I don’t know if this is it for Wendell and Emily – the book had a logical end to the story – but I’d happily follow them on more adventures! Such a good series.

The Fireborne Blade

1 Comment

by Charlotte Bond
First sentence: “On my oath, I, Sir Nathaniel, do swear that what I am about to tell the Distinguished Mage is the truth.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: May 28, 2024
Review copy pilfered from the ARC shelves at work.
Content: There is violence and some pretty gruesome deaths. It will be in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

Maddileh is a knight. She’s managed to get herself disgraced – it was something to do with an ex-lover and punching him in the face because he was an ass. She figures that there’s only one way to reclaim her honor: get the legendary Fireborne Blade from The White Lady Dragon. It’s impossible, but she’s going to do it.

Of course, it’s not that simple. Her story is interspersed with chapters that are histories – some oral, some told by others – of knights who fought dragons and often didn’t live to tell their tales. If the White Lady is anything like these… then how is Maddileh going to survive? The narrative also jumps in time – sometimes you’re present with her and her squire in the tunnels, others you’re getting her backstory.

This slim novel is utterly compelling. It’s tight, it’s giving me dragons in a way I haven’t seen dragons before (yay for that), and it’s got characters I care about. The publisher is comparing it to Fourth Wing, etc. but that’s not it: it’s more comparable to T. Kingfisher, Martha Wells, or Nicola Griffith than the sprawling, over-dramatic Fourth Wing. This prose is SPARE. The action is intense. The romance is incredibly understated. It’s masterfully done, and I hope it finds an audience because I think it’s fantastic. (Bonus: the sequel is out in October.)

Finally Heard

Leave a comment

by Kelly Yang
First sentence: “‘Mom!’ Millie, my sister, protests, banging on the door.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Others in the series: Finally Seen
Content: There is talk of puberty, crushes, and social media. It’s in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore, but I’d give it to the older end of the age range.

Lina’s mom’s business making bath bombs has stalled, and the thing that they need to save it? Social media. It’s also taken over the 5th grade- everyone in Lina’s class seemed to have gotten phones over spring break, and there’s no stopping the posting, looking at the phones, and worst of all: the bullying in the Discord chats. And Lina’s no exception. She, her sister, and her friends discover that they’re good at making content for people, and her mom becomes obsessed with answering every comment posted. On top of that, Lina’s starting to go through puberty and has no idea how to deal with her changing body. It’s all spiraling out of control.

Yes, it’s a treatise against 10- and 11-year-olds having phones and access to social media, but Yang has woven a good story here. I like Lina’s confusion both with puberty and with social media. It felt honest and real: kids don’t know what they’re getting into at that age. Yang touches on all aspects of social media: the addiction, the bullying, the misrepresentation, and does it in a way that’s very accessible for kids.

I liked the first book in the series better, but this one was a solid story.

Monthly Round-Up: March 2024

Leave a comment

Happy Easter and Happy Trans Day of Visibility! I hope it’s a wonderful day whatever you choose to celebrate.

My favorite this month:

Somewhere Beyond the Sea

Are you surprised? I’m excited for everyone to be able to experience it.

As for the rest:

Adult fiction

The Guncle Abroad
Rainbow Black (audiobook)
The Spellshop
Happily Never Ater (audiobook)

Non-fiction:

All Boys Aren’t Blue (audiobook)
American Zion

Graphic Novels:

Witch Hat Atelier Kitchen: vol 1
Amulet: The Cloud Searchers (reread)

Middle Grade

Finding Hope (Audiobook)

What did you like this month?

Somewhere Beyond the Sea

Leave a comment

by T.J. Klune
First sentence: “Stepping off the ferry and onto the island for the first time in decades, Arthur Parnassus thought he’d burst into flames then and there.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Others in the series: The House in the Cerulean Sea
Release date: September 10, 2024
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Content: There is talk of abuse and a couple of moments of actual abuse. There is talk of trauma and CPTSD. It will be in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

I have to admit: I didn’t think this book was necessary. The House in the Cerulean Sea is an absolute delight of a book that ended quite satisfactorily. However, I am also not sad to spend more time on Marsyas Island with Arthur, Linus, and the children, and this book makes the case that it needs to exist.

This picks up soon after Cerulean Sea – the government is holding hearings to determine the future of the Department in Charge of Magical Youth. Arthur, having lived in an orphanage when he was young and is currently the headmaster of one, decides to face things and goes to testify. Which, of course, goes horribly wrong. So, another inspector is sent out to see what Arthur, Linus, and the children are up to and if the home is up to DICOMY standards.

Nothing – and everything – goes right.

Much like the first book, this is less about the plot and more about the characters. I adore the children – from Sal stepping into his own as a young man and a leader, to Talia and Phee, to Lucy and Chauncy, and David, the newest one – a yeti who has been on the run since his parents were brutally murdered. I adore Arthur and Linus and their relationship, and the way they wholly support and love each other. I can tell that Klune is angry at all the laws that are being passed targeting LGBT youth – especially the trans bills – and that they’re being done in the name of “protecting the children” and he harnesses that anger to good effect here. There are some absolute laugh-out-loud moments and some pages that are so beautifully written and so moving that I could hardly see the page for my tears.

So, no, while this book was not “needed”, it is wanted and welcome, and I’ll happily read anything else Klune decides to write about this family.