Counting by 7s

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by Holly Goldberg Sloan
ages: 10+
First sentence: “We sit together outside the Fosters Freeze at a see-green, metal picnic table.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date August 29, 2013
Review copy snagged off the ARC shelves at work.

Every once in a while there comes a middle grade book that’s perfect. I know, I know: that’s a lot to live up to. But, really: this one is.

To begin with it has an age-old, very tired, depressing premise: 12-year-old Willow Chase’s parents have died in a horrible car accident, and now she has to Deal With Things. But, Holly Goldberg Sloan (whose first book, I’ll Be There, was also magnificent) is such a talented writer she takes a cliche situation and turns it on its head.

Willow Chase is an exceptional girl. She’s a quiet one, obsessed with numbers (counting by 7s, mostly), medical conditions (as in human ones; she’s great at diagnosing things and diseases fascinate her), and plants (her backyard in Bakersfield, CA is practically a garden of Eden.). She’s black, but her adopted parents are white. And she wasn’t fitting in in her new middle school, which is how she ended up in counselor Dell Duke’s office for cheating.

In fact, she was with Dell and two other kids he counsels — a Vietnamese brother and sister: Mai and Quang-ha — when she got the news that she was now an orphan. And that’s when the real story starts. Willow, naturally and believably, doesn’t quite know how to deal with the sudden death of her entire family. (Her parents, conveniently, don’t have siblings or parents either.) But rather than leave Willow to the system, Mai steps in an makes a difference: she convinces her mother to take Willow in.

The real heart and soul of this book — and the real reason it’s so perfect — is that Sloan never makes it feel depressing. In fact, even though Willow’s going through a hard time and Sloan never forgets that, it’s an incredibly hopeful one. She plays with the idea of family and of connectedness in unexpected ways. On top of being absolutely refreshing with her subject matter, she never talks down to her reader. Sure, her sentences are simple — it is a middle grade book after all — but they are never simplistic. She respects her characters and her readers, and knows how to pick the best words to make the book flow, even when it’s being simple.

In other words: practically perfect in every way.

Flicker & Burn Release Date

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I don’t usually do this, but Ted asked so nicely, and I’m really liking this series. So: here’s the Flicker & Burn book trailer on its release date. Enjoy!


Official Flicker & Burn Book Trailer from T.M. Goeglein. Subscribe to the Cold Fury channel on Vimeo.

Clockwork Prince

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by Cassandra Clare
ages: 14+
First sentence: ” The fog was thick, muffling sound and sight.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Others in the series: Clockwork Angel

Picking up pretty much exactly where the first book left off (spoilers for that, of course): Mortmain is still at large, Will is still cursed and angsty about it, Jem is still dying, and Tessa still doesn’t know what she is. Mortmain, for this book at least, stays well in the background as other interests take precedence: the head of the London Institute, Charlotte, is being challenged for her position by Benedict Lightwood,  and has been given an ultimatum: find Mortmain in two weeks, or lose your position.

So, the Enclave at the Institute sets out to do just that, and gets bogged down in some interesting messes. Jessamine is stepping out with Tessa’s (evil) brother Nate; Benedict is messing around with some less-than-nice elements;  and Mortmain is a whole lot older than he looks and has been planning his revenge for a long, long time. And that’s not even mentioning the whole Jem-Tessa-Will love triangle. Or Will’s search with Magnus (yay!) to end his curse.

(As a side note: M has said she needs a t-shirt that says: “Magnus Bane is more fabulous than you.” She found this one, which is close enough.)

It’s very much a middle book in the trilogy, except I think Clare handles it better than most people. Mortmain is gone, but she gives us a very real villain in Nate, and Jessamine’s deception and treachery is quite delightful. Perhaps one of the things I liked best was seeing how all the names fit in with the first series (which, I suppose, is one reason to read those first, but I think it would work the other way, too). And seeing how much the Shadowhunters have changed. It frustrated me that I still had no answers about Tessa, or why Mortmain wants her, but I was able to roll with it. Speaking of Tessa: she’s a fabulous character. They all are. (Even angsty Will.) I don’t know why it is that I like these characters better than the ones in the Mortal Instruments. Perhaps it’s because the world seems more complex. Or maybe it’s just because I’m comparing them to Clary and Jace and so on, and finding these characters more interesting. (Or maybe just because I like Victorian London better than contemporary NYC. It could be that.) What ever it is, I’m happily moving on to the last book, just to see how it all ends.

Clockwork Angel

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by Cassandra Clare

ages: 14+
First sentence: “The demon exploded in a shower of ichor and guts.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
You don’t have to read The Mortal Instruments series first, but I think it helps.
Tessa Gray is an orphan on her way to London to be with her older brother when she’s kidnapped by a couple of women calling themselves Dark Sisters. They force her to wake up a latent power she has, called Changing, saying they’re prepping her for the Magister. She manages to escape with the help of a couple of Shadowhunters — Will Herondale and Jem Carstairs — who take her back to the Institute in London. Where Tess learns about the whole Shadowhunter world, and the fact that no one knows quite who she is. Oh, and that the Magister isn’t going to give up looking for her. 
There’s more to this — of course there is — including a wicked cool twist I didn’t see coming. I enjoyed seeing the Shadowhunter world from the perspective of Victorian London. And the smattering of steampunk with the automatons was a nice touch.  In fact, in many ways, I liked this one better than the Mortal Instruments. It’s funnier, it’s more intense, and it’s got a more interesting plot. Oh, and Tessa is a WAY better heroine than Clary. Sure, it’s kind of confusing: you never find out what Tessa is, or why the Magister wants her. And the beginning leaves your head spinning. But the end is completely worth it.
On to the next one.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

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It’s my favorite time of the year: the call for Cybils judges!! It’s fun, it’s exciting, it’s… well, fun AND exciting. And a lot of work. But fun (and exciting) work. I’ve done this for several years now, and I have to say that one of the reasons I keep my (almost 9 years old) blog going is so I can be a part of this. (*fingers crossed*) You want to be a part of it too? Check out the call for applications and throw your hat into the ring.

ALSO: the announcement for the 7th annual KidLitCon was announced. So far it’s just the city — Austin, TX — and the dates — November 8 and 9th. If you can, I’d strongly encourage coming. It’s a blast.

Anna Was Here

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by Jane Kurtz
ages: 8+
First sentence: “I was attending the weekly meeting of the Safety Club and thinking about my birthday party when the best thing and the worst things of my entire life filled me up and knocked me flat.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: August 29, 2013
Review copy given to me by a manager at the store.

Anna Nickel is a preacher’s kid, which she doesn’t really mind. Her dad’s just one of the ministers at their church in Colorado, and they’ve got a comfortable life. Then, her dad decides that he needs to uproot everything and move to Oakwood, Kansas — where he’s from — and be the temporary main preacher in the church there while they figure things out.

Anna, and this is a huge understatement, doesn’t want to go.

She protests her new pink room by sleeping in a sleeping bag in the hallway. She flat-out refuses to go to school. Even her usual pick-me-up of Preparing for Any Disaster (tips included in the book) doesn’t work. She doesn’t want to meet new relatives. She just wants. to. go. home.

But she’s only not-quite-10, so of course she can’t. And she has to learn to adapt. Even if it is against her will.

This was an okay book as far as middle grade fiction goes. I liked that — aside from Anna’s dad being overly involved in his work, which makes sense given the situation — the family was a good, solid one. I liked that Kurtz knew how to deal with religion and religious people; she didn’t make them out to be goody-goodies, or angsty, or unreachable. They’re just people trying to muddle through. But aside from that, the book is really flat. The entire conflict was that Anna didn’t want to move. I understand that — I experienced that — but it got old pretty fast in the book (at least for me). I wanted there to be some additional conflict, something more than just not liking small-town Kansas. Or moving.

But, that may have been adult sensibilities coming through. It really is hard to find a good MG book with a decent, together family. So there’s that. At least.

The Running Dream

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by Wendelin Van Draanen
ages: 12+
First sentence: “My life is over.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

Sixteen-year-old Jessica is a runner. A good one, too. But only hours after she set a new league record in the 400 meter, an out-of-control truck hit the school bus that was transporting the track team, killing one member and injuring Jessica severely enough that they had to amputate her leg.

And for a runner, that is the worst thing possible.

This book, thankfully, is not about the accident. Though there is some talk about insurance and liability — the driver of the other vehicle doesn’t have insurance coverage — it is mostly about Jessica’s recovery. It’s not an easy one: she has to learn to adapt to only having one leg, and the stares that generates. Then, she has to adapt to wearing a prosthetic leg (I didn’t know about the cost of prosthetics or about the time and logistics involved in getting them). And then, finally: she and the track team raise the money to get her a running prosthetic.

And along the way, Jessica makes friends with Rosa, a math genius with cerebral palsy, who wants to be seen for herself and not her condition.

In fact, that’s the whole message of the book: the call to see people for who they are not for what hinders them. However, while I felt the book definitely had a message, it was done in such a way that it didn’t feel preachy. I actually understood Jessica’s pain — emotional more than physical — and her uncertainty and doubt. I actually cheered when she made milestones, and was touched at the outpouring of goodwill from the community. Van Draanen created characters and an inspirational story to surround her message, and so her message went down smoothly.

In fact, I thought this book was sweet and touching. And definitely worth the read.

State of the TBR Pile: August 2013

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One final summer book club report. The 3-5th grade club did well. Sure, it was mostly just A and another girl, but I’m hopeful that it can grow. We’re going to keep going during the school year, and I’m going to get some flyers made up and talk to elementary school librarians to see if we can grow it. The 6-8th grade club is a bust. Complete. I couldn’t even convince C to come yesterday. But I want to have something for that age group, so I’m thinking something along the lines of Book People’s Teen Press Corps. I’m not quite sure what I’m doing with this — other than letting them read ARCs and blogging/reviewing them — so I’m open to suggestions as to getting them involved and interested and ideas for running the program. Also: if you have any suggestions for cool names, I’m up for it as well. I had a friend do some brainstorming (I’ve got nothing. I can’t name things. I don’t even think I came up with the name of my blog!) and she came up with Book Refs, or Book Wreckers, or Brainstains, or Waterlogged… but any other suggestions would be INCREDIBLY helpful. Thank you in advance.

My pile this month has more ARCs than library books — mostly because I need to clear out some of my piles.

The Spectacular Now, by Tim Tharp (partially because of Sara Zarr’s tumblr piece, and partially because our accountant knows Tharp and she doesn’t think I’ll like it. I want to prove her wrong.)
Clockwork Prince, by Cassandra Clare (because I’ve read all the rest of them…)
The Madman’s Daughter, by Megan Shephard (I’ve wanted to read this for a while.)
Clockwork Angel, by Cassandra Clare (and yes, Clockwork Princess is in the house; M is currently reading it.)
Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, by Laurie Viera Regler (I will get to this. I will get to this.)
Untold, by Sarah Rees Brennan (Need I say why? *squee*)
The Beginning of Everything, by Robin Schneider (one of my managers said, “It’s the most like John Green that I’ve ever read.)
The Screaming Staircase, by Jonathan Stroud (because it’s Jonathan Stroud.)
Shadows, by Robin McKinley (I have to keep up with her.

And three from last month, which I really still want to get to:
Winger, by Andrew Smith
Wild Awake, by Hilary T. Smith
The Immortal Von B, by M. Scott Carter

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

The Dude and the Zen Master

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by Jeff Bridges and Bernie Glassman
ages: adult
First sentence:
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

The thing I like most about this book — and what drew me to it in the first place — is the title. I liked that they’re playing off of The Big Lebowski and Jeff Bridge’s role in it. I like the thought that the Dude is a Zen master. I also like the idea of Jeff Bridges as the Dude and the Bernie Glassman is a Zen master.

I don’t know what I really expected from this book. It is exactly what it claims to be: a conversation between Jeff and Bernie. Nothing more.

And that’s where the problems lie. Although we get a bit of history about Bridges’ life — his childhood, his marriage, his acting — it’s mostly just a long, winding conversation about whatever strikes the fancy of these two men. Which is interesting, for the most part. They riff (best word, that) on Zen, The Dude, Buddhism, acting, activism, love, music, politics.

What it’s not is linear. And (for me at least), that mattered a great deal. I think they tried to have everything tie into something Meaningful, but it just didn’t work as a whole. So, I took to reading it in small chunks. Which made it work better. I’d read until I got tired of their circular discussion (and honestly, of Bridges: he talks a lot — either that or Bernie is just a great listener — and he doesn’t always make sense) and then put the book down for a few days.

In the end, it wasn’t what I’d hoped it would be. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t terrific either. I’m going to be Zen about it though, and just accept it and move on.

It’s what they would have wanted.

City of Lost Souls

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by Cassandra Clare
ages: 14+
First sentence: “Simon stood and stared numbly at the front door of his house.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Others in the series: City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass, City of Fallen Angels

This series — now five books in — is becoming increasingly complex and somewhat convoluted (not necessarily in a bad way). I’m not sure I can even begin to summarize what went on in this one. Let me try (spoilers for all. You’ve been warned.)

Jace and Sebastian are connected, linked in such a way that to harm one is to hurt the other. And Jace isn’t himself, but rather an extension of Sebastian. Clary knows this, but goes over to Team Evil anyway with the express idea that she’ll figure out what their plan is and report back to Simon using these fairy rings.

Meanwhile, Simon, Alec, Isabelle, and Magnus (I loved that Magnus played an active role in this book) are off searching for a way to split Jace and Sebastian apart that doesn’t involve killing Jace. (It’s okay if Sebastian dies. In fact, they wish he would.) This involves raising a prince of Hell as well as an angel. It’s more complex than that, but those are the basic bones of the story.

This one was a lot harder to get a grip on. It’s bigger than the others (or it feels bigger, anyway), weighing in at 534 pages. And it was a lot slower to get started as well. But the end? It was totally worth the slog to get there. I really liked the role Simon had to play, as well as Isabelle — while she’s not quite the same Isabelle I liked in City of Bones, I think she’s settling into herself, and there was some of the spunk I liked. In fact, there was a lot of the sass and spunk from the first books back. I know Jace wasn’t himself in this one, but I liked him a whole lot better than I have for a couple of books. He was funny. And even Clary wasn’t simpering; she finally puts up a fight for what she believes, and makes an impact. And her decisions at the end? Courageous.

And I’m committed: I need the next one to come out so I can see how this all ends.