Author: booknutgirls

booknutgirls http://thebooknutdotcom.wordpress.com I read. I blog. I sell books. I chauffeur my kids. What more do you need to know?

Quiet Power

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quietpowerby Susan Cain (with Gregory Mone and Erica Moroz)
First sentence: “Why are you being so quiet?”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: May 3, 2016
Review copy sent to me by the publisher because we’re having the illustrator, Grant Snider (who’s local) for an event.
Content: It’s geared more toward middle- and high-school students; most of the examples are from those age groups, and the settings are generally for older kids. Though it’s written at a level that I think a 5-th grader (or an advanced 4th-grader) could handle. It’ll probably be in the Teen Information (which is where all the upper level kids’ non-fiction goes) section of the bookstore.

I’ve been meaning to read Quiet for years, but haven’t ever gotten to it. As a self-described introvert, I figured there was stuff I needed to know about us, but life, and an expanding TBR list, got in the way. The comes along Quiet Power, the young readers version of Quiet,  and all of a sudden I need to read it because of an upcoming store event. Not having read Quiet, I don’t know how it compares.

That said, this is an excellent resource for introverted kids who are trying to figure out how to navigate life. Especially the ones who think there’s something “wrong” with them. Cain has done her research, highlighting the successes of a number of introverted kids (she specifically says that this edition was requested by kids and others who have read her other book and wanted one for themselves), and giving introverted kids coping mechanisms. It covers everything from defining what an “introvert” really is (and comparing it to being “shy”), to how to handle public speaking, to finding a space in your house to retreat (restoration niches! I love that. I have definitely found that those are important in my life.). It gives encouragement: introverts can be performers, can be public speakers, can use their strengths to enact change. It’s inspiring to read about people who actually can put their mind to things and do something great.

A bit about the illustrations, since Grant Snider is local: I love the webcomic style, and the handy one-page illustrations that not only sum-up several of the chapters, but add a bit of humor as well.

There’s also a couple of chapters at the end, one for teachers on how to better help more introverted students in the classroom and one for parents to help them understand their more introverted children. It’s a great resource for the adults as well, to help kids express themselves more fully.

Definitely a good read.

Lumberjanes, Vol. 1: Beware the Kitten Holy

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lumberjanes1by Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, Brooke Allen
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There’s a bit of violence, but nothing super gory. And no language. I’ve moved this series back and forth between Middle Grade Graphic Novels and Teen Graphic Novels. It’s okay for fourth grade and up, but it’s doing better in Teen Graphic Novels, so I’ll leave it there.

The third collection in this series came out a couple weeks ago, and I was reminded that hey, I really ought to give this one a try. So I picked up the first volume (I suppose I could have sauntered down to the local comic book shop) at the library, just to see.

Oh my Holy Kitten, it’s SO much awesome. Five friends at Miss Quinzella Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet’s Camp for Hardcore Lady Types, who happen to solve supernatural mysteries using math, science, and strategy? How can this not be awesome? I’ve been trying to figure out a way to handsell it — SO MUCH AWESOME doesn’t cut it, really — because the appeal isn’t in the plot. It’s Ripley, who is a ball full of fury and cookies (and is my favorite). It’s in Mal with her “What the junk?” swears and attitude. It’s in the spoofing of the Girl Scouts, and the boys camp where they like things tidy and bake cookies. It’s in the subtle LGBTQ undertones. It’s in the silly camp badges and the Adventure Time-y art. It’s that I gave it to A and K, saying I needed someone to gush over this with, and they loved it.

It’s really just the best thing ever.

Wolf Hollow

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wolfhollowby Lauren Wolk
First sentence: “The year I turned twelve, I learned how to lie.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: May 3, 2016
Content: There’s some death and bullying and one pretty intense injury scene. Probably not for the younger set. It will probably go in the YA section (grades 6-8) of the bookstore.

It’s the fall of 1943, and Annabelle is living a happy, quiet life on her farm in Pennsylvania. Sure, the war in Germany is raging, seemingly without end, but it doesn’t really touch Annabelle’s life. What does touch her is Betty, the new girl who has moved in with her grandparents. Betty has decided that Annabelle is her target, and demands things from her. And when Annabelle refuses to give in, Betty turns her ire on bigger targets. Like Toby, the World War I veteran who Annabelle’s family has taken care of for the past few years. And so when Betty goes missing, it’s Toby who gets blamed.

On the one hand, this really grew on me. It took about 100 pages, but I finally got to where I was invested in Annabelle’s story, and curious about the direction it was taking. The writing is excellent; Wolk really does know how to spin a story. And I thought that, even though it’s a work of historical fiction, the themes of acceptance of others and defending the innocent were incredibly timely.

My problem with it? It’s not really a children’s book. Our narrator is reflecting back on her childhood, so everything is kind of infused with adult sensibilities. (At least: I thought so.) I appreciated that the parents were good parents, helping out when Annabelle confessed the bullying to them. But, it just doesn’t feel like a book I can give to a kid (maybe that special, precocious kid? The 9-year-old who likes Harper Lee, maybe.). Maybe I’m being too sensitive, dumbed down by Diary of a Wimpy Kid-like books. Maybe this is like Pax, which I had a viciously violently negative reaction to, but it turned out it was just me.

Though I didn’t have a negative reaction to this. I liked it, I thought it was well-written and the story incredibly powerful. I just don’t think it’s really a kids’ book.

The Terrible Two Get Worse

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terribletwogetworseby Mac Barnett and Jory John
First sentence: “Welcome back to Yawnee Valley, its green hills and cows, cows, cows.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Others in the series The Terrible Two
Review copy pilfered from the ARC shelves at my place of employment
Content: It’s silly, but (mostly) harmless. It’s in the middle grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore.

Niles and Miles are back, pranking the poor unsuspecting citizens — well, mostly one — of Yawnee Valley. They have gotten so bad, that the principal of their school gets fired — well, put on indefinite, unpaid leave — and his super-strict father takes over the school. He cancels everything, and effectively puts a stop to Niles and Miles’ pranks. (The best way to do that is to pretend the prank doesn’t happen. It’s the reaction that makes it a prank.) In essence, he makes Miles and Niles into “normal” students. But, because that would be a boring book, Miles and Niles team up with their former arch-enemy to kick the current principal out, and get their mojo back.

Huh. Writing that out, I sounds ridiculously stupid. (Maybe because it is…) But that’s the point, really. It lacks the cow facts of the first one that I really enjoyed, but other than that, the stupid, stupid humor of Barnett and John are back. I’m not sure it’s as funny as the first one (I liked the prank war that escalated, mostly), but it had it some moments that were pretty funny. It’s a good addition to this silly series, and I know it’ll appeal to those Wimpy Kid fans who are looking for something different.

Phoebe and Her Unicorn

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phoebeby Dana Simpson
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Others in the series: Unicorn on a Roll
Content: It’s super accessible to all ages, but I think it’s aimed at the 3rd-5th grade crowd. It’s in the Middle Grade Graphic Novel section of the bookstore.

I’ll freely admit I read these backwards, reading the sequel first. And, as a result, this one wasn’t as funny as I really wanted it to be. Still: it’s good to have Phoebe and Marigold Heavenly Nostril’s origin story (Phoebe hit Marigold with a rock which broke Marigold’s attention — she was stuck looking at her reflection — and Marigold offered a wish in return). There were some hilarious little moments (like when Phoebe brought Marigold home to meet her parents), and I loved that the line between reality and imagination (called the SHIELD OF BORINGNESS) was blurred. Is Marigold imaginary? Is she real? Does it really matter?

At any rate, both K and I really enjoyed this one, even if it’s not quite as hilarious as the sequel.

Audiobook: Furiously Happy

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furiouslyhappyby Jenny Lawson
Read by the author.
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: Lots of swearing. Lots. And lots. You’ve been warned. It’s in the adult biography section of the bookstore.

I’m late to this party. I knew who Jenny Lawson was (I do work in a bookstore, after all) and I was aware of her book. I’d just never picked it up. I have so much else to read, that I figured a small book about a weird upbringing as the daughter of a taxidermist never really appealed to me.

But, when I was looking for a new audiobook, this one jumped out at me. Ann Kingman talked about it on Books on the Nightstand a while back, and so I picked it up.

I had no idea I was missing THIS.

In a series of short, random, wandering essays, Lawson tackles her mental illnesses (ADHD, anxiety, and depression), her crazy life and marriage, therapy, the ways she copes, and her adventures in, well, everything. It’s really random  and often super hilarious. I laughed a TON. Possibly because she’s super deadpan in her reading of the book, which just helped make it that more often. But, I also appreciated her being so candid about things I struggle with. She’s right: it does help to know that there are other people out there talking about struggling with depression, who have ways of dealing with it (or not), to put in perspective your own struggles. It’s wonderful. And the fact she does it with a sense of humor is that much better, too.

I probably should backtrack and get her first book, just to be complete.

State of the TBR Pile: April 2016

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There are days when I wish I could spend all day reading a book. Then there are days when I can’t seem to find a book to capture my interest, picking up one after another and tossing it into the “maybe I’ll give it another try later” pile. Which means my TBR pile (at least the active one; there are back ups to my back up pile, but at least it’s only a shelf, for now) is in constant flux. I’m most interested in what stays on there and for how long before I move it off. Then again, like everything, staying on top of All The Books is a process. (And right now, I’m noticing that there’s a lot of YA on there…)

Here’s what’s currently on my nightstand:

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The Girl in the Well is Me by Karen Rivers
A Totally Awkward Love Story by Tom Ellen and Lucy Ivison
You Know Me Well by David Levithan and Nina LaCour
Quiet Power by Susan Cain and illustrated by Grant Stine (who’s local, and at the store on May 3rd!)
The Haters by Jesse Andrews
The Way I Used to Be by Amber Smith
The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl by Melissa Keil
Will Wilder by Raymond Arroyo
The First Time She Drowned by Kerry Kletter
The Nocturnals by Tracy Hecht
Flawed by Cecelia Ahern

What’s on your pile that you’re looking forward to?

Love & Gelato

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lovegelatoby Jenna Evans Welch
First sentence: “You’ve had bad days before, right?”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: April 12, 2016
Review copy snagged from the ARC shelves at work.
Content: There’s some drinking (the drinking age in Italy is 16) and a couple of lecherous men that the main character encounters. It’ll be in the YA section of the bookstore.

Lina’s mom has died somewhat suddenly, and several months later Lina has found herself in Florence, meeting the father  — Howard — she never knew because her mother never told her about him. It’s not exactly her idea of a good time. What she really wants is to just go home and live with her best friend.

Then she receives her mother’s journal from her time in Florence, and all of a sudden, things become more interesting. She not only learns about her mother’s secrets, but sees Florence through her mother’s eyes. It also helps that she meets a cute Italian (well, half-American) boy, Ren, to share things with.

This was was just about perfect as a summer romance. Sure, it starts with a dead parent, but after that it’s utterly charming. I loved the mystery of Lina’s father: who was he, what was he like? I loved her getting to know Howard, and I adored Ren as a character. Sure, it was a little predictable (I figured out the twist pages before Lina did), but in a comforting way. Besides, I was reading it as an escape to and a romance in Italy, not for some great literary writing. And Welch served it up (pun intended) delightfully.

 

Raymie Nightingale

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raymieby Kate DiCamillo
First sentence: “There were three of them, three girls.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Release date: April 12, 2016
Content: The publisher suggests 10 and up, but I think a 4th-grader would be able to handle it. It will be in the middle grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore.

Raymie has a plan. She will take baton lessons — it’s the summer of 1975, after all — and enter the Little Miss Central Tire competition, and win. That way, her picture will get in the paper and her father — who recently ran off with a dental hygienist — will see it and want to come home.

The thing is: her plan (like most plans) doesn’t go as she thought it would. She meets two other girls: Louisiana, whose parents have died and who wants to win the competition as much as Raymie because that means she and her grandmother will have money for more than tunafish;  and Beverly, whose mother is insisting on the competition, but who secretly hates it all and would much rather sabotage the whole thing. Together, the three of them have a summer they will never forget.

In many ways, this is vintage DiCamillo: quiet and unassuming, and yet it reaches something deep inside you. I didn’t want to put it down, not because I was thoroughly invested in the plot or the characters, but because this longing to belong, to figure out what life Means, to find and have friends all spoke to me. It’s a common enough theme, but in DiCamillo’s deft hands it transcends the ordinary. (I don’t know if I can praise this highly enough.) And yet, I think it’s going to be one of those books that adults like but kids just don’t quite get. I think this one sits better with some life experience, and some perspective coming to it. But I may be wrong.

Who ever reads it will definitely be touched, I think.

The Winner’s Kiss

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by Marie Rutkoskiwinnerskiss
First sentence: “He told himself a story.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Others in the series: The Winner’s Curse, The Winner’s Crime
Content: There’s some sexytimes, but it’s tastefully off screen. Mostly. I am toying with moving this to the Teen section (grades 9+). (I hate doing that, especially since the other two are really pretty firmly in my 6-8th grade range. But, I also don’t want one in the Teen section and the other two in the YA section, so I may just move them all, or keep this one in YA. Frustrating.)

Spoilers for the first two, obviously.  Also: I still hate these covers with a passion. I mean, they’re pretty and all, but they’re NOT the books.

Kestrel has been arrested as a traitor to her country and shipped off to a work camp in the frozen tundra. Arin is still reeling from betrayal, when Kestrel rejected him and is throwing himself into his alliance with the Dacrans, determined to beat Valoria out of his country once and for all. He’s still in love with Kestrel, but she doesn’t seem to return his affections.

Both are determined to make the best of their situation. Both are determined to exact vengeance upon the leaders of Valoria, which includes Kestrel’s father. Neither are prepared for the directions that goal will lead them.

I don’t want to give more away from the plot (though if you’re smart, you can make some assumptions from the content…), but I’ll say this. It’s a good ending. I liked how Rutkoski wrapped things up, giving the story a complete finish, while not giving us every single little detail about the future. I love how she gave both Arin and Kestrel moments to shine, moments to grow, moments to be complex and do the unexpected. I liked that there was palpable tension, not necessarily between people but in situations. I found myself biting my nails, hoping things worked out okay. I loved how no one was black or white, and that even the bad guys were complex and interesting.

I’m definitely sad that this series is ending. It was definitely a good story.