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?

A Stranger to Command

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by Sherwood Smith
ages: 13+
First sentence: “You’re a new one.”
Review copy won from Charlotte’s Library

First off: this has the ugliest. cover. ever. After I got it in the mail, I took a look at it and thought: man, they’re not doing much to promote what hopefully will be an awesome story inside.

Then I stuck it on my shelf. Every time I looked at it, I just thought: ugh.

Eventually, I did crack it open. Partially because I loved Crown Duel and this is billed as the “exciting prequel”. Partially because I was looking for some good sweeping fantasy, and hoping this would fit the bill.

Unfortunately, I bailed halfway through. The book wasn’t doing it for me. It’s the story of Vidanric as a 15 year old, sent off to a military school in a far-away kingdom because his king is killing off all the heirs in his kingdom. He has to adjust, to learn, to fight homesickness… blah, blah, blah.

It was glacially slow; I made it through Vidanric’s (now known as Shevraeth) first year and about halfway into his second when I just got bored. I put it down, and now, two weeks later, have no desire to learn any more about Marloven’s military tactics, their boy-king, the prophecy, or the unseen force that’s rising in the north. (Or wherever.)

I wanted this one to be so much more. Disappointing.

Sunday Salon: Why I Go To KidLitCon

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I’ve been meaning to write this post for weeks, but with vacation and summertime computer usage by my children (we really need another computer around here!) I’ve hardly been on the blog at all. Just enough to whip off yet another review (at least I can read while everyone else is hogging the computer!), but not enough to spread news.

The 5th Annual KidlitCon is set for September 16-17 in Seattle this year. Registration is open through August 31, but after August 1, the price bumps up $5. And — this is beyond cool, I think — Scott Westerfeld is the keynote speaker.

This will be the third KidLitCon I’ve gone to. Why do I choose this one above everything else bookish out there I could go to, like BEA? (Though I’m tossing around the idea of going to the Texas Book Festival this year. That is, if there’s going to be any authors I’m interested in. They haven’t put up the list yet… I may go, regardless; I’ve always kind of wanted to do a big book festival, and the one in DC is on a bad weekend.) I’d like to be able to go to more, but time and money won’t allow it.

I go to KidLitCon because it’s small. I’m an introvert, and honestly? While BEA appeals to me (as does ALA), the idea of so many people and me being there by myself thoroughly intimidates (and terrifies) me. KidLitCon is the right size: there’s usually around 100 participants, so there’s enough people there to have a diversity, but not so many that there’s a mob. Just perfect.

I go to KidLitCon because it helps me be a better blogger. Or at least I’d like to think that. Sure, a lot of the panels are directed toward helping authors navigate the world of social media, but there are ones about blogging and reviewing and connecting with said authors and publishers. I find it engaging and thrilling to be talking to like-minded people; ones who are just as passionate about not only reading but about children’s books (and not just what’s hip in YA) as I am.

Speaking of which: I go to KidLitCon because of the people. This seriously may be the biggest reason for me. By the time I started going, I’d been following blogs for years, and I wanted to meet the people whose writing I enjoyed. I figured if they were as lovely in person as the were on the web, then I’d be in good company. (I was right.) The thing I think I like most about this group of people is that they are some of the kindest, most inclusive people I’ve ever met. Sure, I’m not a librarian, or a literacy advocate, or an author, or even that good of a writer, but they don’t seem to mind. (Or if they do mind me crashing their party, no one’s ever said so.) I feel as much a part of the group as Carol Rasco (who, by the way, has a delightful Arkansan accent and is a pleasure to talk to).

Those are my reasons for going. If you go, what are yours? And if not, consider joining us. You won’t regret it. I promise.

What Momma Left Me

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by Renee Watson
ages: 10+
First sentence: “I don’t have many good memories of my daddy.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy provided by the publisher

Serenity is 13 years old; her brother Danny is 12. And they just watched their their mother violently die.

Starting life over with their grandparents — their mother’s parents — isn’t easy. There’s a new school, new rules at home which include, and all the haunted memories that comes with their mother’s death. On top of that, they suddenly find themselves as PK’s — preacher’s kids, or in this case, grandkids — since their Grandpa is a preacher, and all that entails. Serenity seems to find solace in that, but Danny; let’s just say that Danny’s tendency is to turn out as well as their drug-dealing father.

Let’s just say that this one is very realistic.

Very. Realistic.

Depressingly realistic.

I know there are kids out there who live like this. And kudos to the grandparents who are trying to raise their grandkids right. But. Oh, it was so heartbreaking to read. Heartbreaking that these kids were caught up in adult problems, and going about making the same choices their parents made. Heartbreaking that there are people out there who call themselves parents, and yet never take time to take care of their kids. Heartbreaking that books like this are needed in order to give kids hope that things may turn out all right. Hopefully.

It’s well written enough, with poetry scattered through, drawing on Maya Angelou for strength. The chapter titles were from the Lord’s Prayer, as well, which I thought was a nice touch.

It’s still a depressing book, though.

The Dressmaker of Khair Khana

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Five Sisters, One Remarkable Family, and the Woman who Risked Everything to Keep Them Safe
by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
ages: adult
First sentence:”I touched down in Afghanistan for the first time on a raw winter morning in 2005 after two days of travel that took me from Boston to Dubai via London.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

Life is not easy in Afghanistan. It hasn’t been for a long time, now. Between the Soviet occupation, the civil war, the Taliban, and the U.S. retaliation, everyday life for Afghanis is difficult, to say the least. Especially for the women. Especially during the Taliban years, when they were essentially relegated to their homes; held prisoner in their own houses.

With the men and boys fleeing to Iran and Pakistan for work, and to avoid being force-drafted into the Taliban army, how do these women — some of them highly educated — provide for themselves and their families?

Lemmon focuses on one family — the five sisters of the title, but one, Kamila, in particular — who take the bull by the horns and, working within the Taliban’s rules, manage to find a way to thrive under the strict rules and foreboding environment.

On the one hand, what Kamila does in creating a sewing/tailoring business that provides merchandise to local stores and employs local women and girls truly is an inspirational thing. Her innovation and resilience is impressive; she worked within the bounds the Taliban set, and only once did she ever come close to going afoul of the Amr bil-Maroof, the police who enforced the strict morality code. Even then, she was able to talk her way out of things. Her faith and optimism are amazing; if she believed it could be done, she found a way to make it so.

However, it seemed that Lemmon was trying too hard to make the book inspirational. it’s hard to pinpoint, exactly (and it may work for some people), but it’s overall feeling was: “This is INSPIRATIONAL. Pay attention!” The blurbs on the back don’t help: this book will Change Your Life. (And given Greg Mortensen’s problems, having a big blurb on the cover by him doesn’t really help with the credibility.) Additionally, while it’s a non-fiction book and telling is to be expected, there was way too much telling and not enough showing. She told me that the women were scared by the Taliban; she never showed me. She told me that they worked hard, were stressed, and yet overcame all; she never showed me. The other problem was time: the movie covers 13 years, and yet reads as if Kamila achieved all this in a matter of months.

I’m sure there are better books about women under the Taliban, ones that show how resilient and strong they were in spite of everything. And while this is an impressive story, this book is not one of them.

Close to Famous

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by Joan Bauer
ages: 11+
First sentence: “The last place I thought I’d be when this day began is where I am, which is in a car.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

Things in this book that I’m getting mightily tired of:
Dead parent (this time, it was in Iraq; at least it wasn’t cancer)
Small town as a place of Redemption and Wholesome Values (why doesn’t anyone ever write about how confining a small town can be?)
Cooking/food as a means to Overcome Everything
Mom’s bad boyfriends (this time there was domestic abuse)

Things that worked reasonably well, even though I’ve seen them before:
Children who have a Brilliant Talent (in this case, baking) that Brings The Town Together
Faded Hollywood stars who have Lessons to Teach
Pursuing your dreams as a Means For Happiness
Big Bad Businesses that Promise Things to small towns but Never Follow Through (a prison was built outside of this town, and they promised lots of jobs. Of course, it never happened. Likewise, there was a small subplot about a big business trying to buy out a church. I never quite understood what the purpose of that one was.)

Things that I actually liked:
The cover
That the main character couldn’t read. There was no explanation given, no label; she just has a hard time reading. Bauer handled it well, the shame our main character, Foster, felt because she couldn’t read and her desire to want to read as well as her inability to overcome this. It was a damning portrait of schools: she slid through the grades because no one wanted to hold her back, and yet no one took the time to help actually teach her to read. If she hadn’t moved and found a group of people who were willing to help, then what would have happened to her? It made me angry at the teachers and the schools that let her slide, that never saw Foster for what she was: a person who needed help. Argh.

Things I wished the book had included:
Recipes!

I think the ultimate problem with this book is that it was too much like several others I’ve read and/or tried to read (Rocky Road, Scones and Sensibility, Dear Julia, Waiting for Normal, Okay for Now, The Dancing Pancake; not to mention It’s Raining Cupcakes, which I actually didn’t read, but C did), that I felt more annoyance than enjoyment while reading. Which is too bad, because I usually like Bauer’s books.

How Lamar’s Bad Prank Won a Bubba-Sized Trophy

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by Crystal Allen
ages: 12+
First sentence: “Since Saturday, I’ve fried Sergio like catfish, mashed him like potatoes, and creamed his corn in ten straight games of bowling.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

Lamar has got it going on. Sure, he lives in small-town Coffin, Indiana. Sure, he’s got asthma, which keeps him from playing champion basketball like his older brother Xavier. Sure, he’s 13 years old and doesn’t have a girlfriend (what’s the deal with 13-year-olds and girlfriends these days?). But he’s the King of Sriker’s bowling alley. He knows his game, he knows he’s good. He’s got it going on.

It’s frustrating, though, being 13-years-old and living in Xavier’s shadow. Everyone in town — their father included — respects, admires and cheers for Xavier. And Lamar? He’s just a bowler. The epitome of lame, even if he is the best in the town.

Enter Billy Jenks. Sure, he’s trouble, but he’s offering Lamar a chance to earn some money to get the dream bowling ball he’s always wanted, and maybe he’ll get some respect as well. And it seems like Billy is a kindred spirit (okay, so it wasn’t in those words exactly): he gets where Lamar’s coming from. He understands. Until it all goes south.

I was torn about this one: the characters were tough for me to like; I don’t know exactly why I was turned off by Lamar, but I was. I understand he was trying his best, doing his best, working towards things, but I just never connected. And I didn’t particularly like his friends, brother, or dad. (His eventual girlfriend, on the other hand, was a spitfire. Can we have a book about her please?) I did, however, like that when things went south, and Lamar’s actions have serious consequences and he faced them without blinking. No whining, no blaming. Just sucked it up, and took it.

However, while I liked that part, I did feel it veered into the saccharine at the end. Sure, a happy ending is nice, but this one seemed a bit, well, over the top. All love and happiness and goodness and lessons learned. It left me kind of… meh.

That said, I think it’s a good debut; I’ll be interested to see what Allen has to offer next.

Audiobook: The Wee Free Men

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by Terry Pratchett
read by Stephen Briggs
ages: 9+
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

I first read The Wee Free Men two years ago, and thoroughly enjoyed every bit of the time I spent with the book. It’s hilarious, adventuresome, cool, and Tiffany Aching, even when she’s just 11 years old, is a force to be reckoned with. There’s a power in her, a determination. I love that in this world, all it takes to be a witch is powers of observation and the knowledge that you’re the only one who can do anything about the situation.

There’s magic, of course, but it’s not flashy magic. It’s quite, subtle, and still there, even after you know how it’s done.

That said, I loved hearing this book read aloud. Even more so than when I read it. It’s fine reading it and all, but nothing — nothing! — is funnier than someone doing a spot-on Scottish accent for the Nac Mac Feegle. And the voice for Toad? So deadpan, so hilarious. I laughed. So hard. Often. And I actually got the section near the end when Tiffany goes up against the Queen; something which I remember eluding me when I read it. Perhaps because listening to it means I go through things more carefully than when I read them? Whatever it is, listening to the audiobook made this books so much more loveable and enjoyable than it already was.

Which means, of course, that I’m going to have to listen to the rest of the Tiffany Aching books.

Audiobook: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

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by C. S. Lewis
ages: 7+
read by Michael York
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

I don’t quite know where to start with this. I read the books for the first time in college, and I think I liked them. Though I’m nowhere near the Lewis devotee as some. (Including Hubby.) I saw the movie, but wasn’t impressed. And, honestly, I didn’t remember much about the story.

But, there had been some talk around the house about the Narnia books, mostly because we’d just watched The Voyage of the Dawn Treader movie. A and K were curious about the stories, so I picked up this one to listen to while we were on the trip.

And, to be thoroughly honest, it didn’t stick with me. Sure, I enjoyed it while I was listening to is, as did A and K. But, two weeks later (there is a reason I put posts up right after I finish things), all I can remember about the story was that it was nice. And that I was surprised at how little the Pevensie kids actually did. Mostly it involved them reacting to events, getting caught up in events and watching events unfold. Very rarely were they actual active participants in the story, which disappointed me.

But the younger girls enjoyed it, and Michael York did an admirable job reading it. And it kept everyone from arguing in the car for a few hours. So it wasn’t really time wasted.

The Last Little Blue Envelope

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by Maureen Johnson
ages: 13+
First sentence: “It was that time of day again.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

It’s been forever and a year since I’ve read 13 Little Blue Envelopes, and while I remember enjoying it, I didn’t remember much else. I wanted to read this book not so much because I was invested in the story of Ginny and her quest to do what the letters from her (now dead) aunt instructed, but because I adore Maureen Johnson and her writing. I’m on board for any story she wants to tell.

Thankfully, MJ made it easy for me to pick up this one without revisiting the first one.

Apparently (since I didn’t remember that), Ginny’s backpack with the letters in it got stolen at the end of the last book. (Hence the need for a sequel. And for the title.) She’s basically given up ever completing the quest, and has tried to move on with her life, filling out college applications. It’s all just okay, being normal. Then out of the blue, a guy named Oliver contacts her: he has her letters, and he’s willing to give them back to her. For a price.

And, off she goes on another adventure. This one will take her across France, Belgium, Netherlands, and Ireland. It will involve romance, but again only in a subtle, understated way. It’s more about tying up loose ends, saying goodbye and learning about art. There’s a lot about art, actually, something which I thoroughly enjoyed.

It’s a good book; intelligent fluff for those who think their books should be smart and fun as well as swoony and sweet.

The Penderwicks at Point Mouette

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by Jeanne Birdsall
ages: 10+
First sentence: “The Penderwick family was being torn apart.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

How can I express my love for the Penderwicks?

Honestly? I can’t. I adore them, I want to be a part of their world.

Though I’ve noticed something: I think the Penderwicks are better when they’re on vacation than when they are at home.

This time, newly wed Dad and Iantha are off to England for a conference/honeymoon and Rosalind is off to a much-deserved vacation with her friend Anna to New Jersey. The rest of the Penderwicks — acting OAP (Oldest Available Penderwick) Skye, Jane and Batty, plus honorary Penderwick brother Jeffrey — are off with their Aunt Claire to a lovely little cottage in Maine for two weeks.

Perhaps it’s the lovely little cottages that make the books so wonderful? I’m beginning to think that everyone should have a vacation at a lovely little cottage.

Things happen at Point Mouette, of course. They meet a lovely next-door neighbor, Alec, who has an annoying dog but a wonderful piano; some more honorary siblings and a first-love in Mercedes and Dominic, who are staying at the Inn with their grandparents. They have adventures, discover things, bond, fight, and are just thoroughly wonderful.

I know this has been said many times, but it’s really the main charm of the book: I love how Birdsall combines an old-fashioned feel with the modern times. These books aren’t historical, they aren’t set anytime other than present, and yet they feel timeless. You could picture Anne Shirley or the March sisters having the adventures that the Penderwick girls have, and yet threaded through the books are modern themes like divorce and bad mothers and cancer. It’s a wonderful balance, something which gives these books their charm, and pulls readers in (and it’s not just adults; my daughters adore the Penderwicks) and holds them there, making them fall in love with the characters.

This is why I read.