Ghost

Jason Reynolds is a phenomenal young adult writer. He truly understands his audience and has created another book that all my boys and reluctant readers are picking up.  

Castle “Ghost” Cranshaw is a runner.  He’s run away from his unpredictably violent father and his own problems at school, but now he’s run straight onto a track team. The only catch is he has to stay out of trouble to stay on the team.  That’s easy enough to say but harder to accomplish in reality.

This book does a really good job with pacing.  There’s never any real lag in the story and everything flows together.  I also really enjoy how it shows actions and consequences.  For example, Ghost doesn’t have money for real track shoes, so he ends up stealing some.  For a while he thinks he gets away with it, but in the end he has to confess to his mistake.  I also like how they acknowledged his complicated feelings.  Yes, he’s done bad things, but he understands they are not what he wants to do.  However, I do feel like it could have been taken further.  For example, Ghost has some PTSD from the night that his father became violent towards him.  He can’t sleep in his room, and he freaks out when he’s stuck in the storage room at the local grocery store since that’s where he ran to hide.  But this is never really explained or resolved, so it’s just something you have to infer. I guess I really wanted more to this book, but since it’s the first in a series, we will get to know the characters more as we go (the second book Patina just came out).

Overall, it’s a good book for the target audience (it kind of reminds me of the Bluford book series that was popular about ten years ago), but more advanced middle schoolers may need a more challenging read.

The Odds of Loving Grover Cleveland

The Odds of Loving Grover Cleveland feels like a warm, comforting hug (if books had arms…which would be weird…and a little gross).  It will make you laugh out loud, cry with sorrow, and feel all the emotions in between.

Zander has been sent to summer camp.  A summer camp for kids who are messed up in some way, shape, or form.  At first, Zander doesn’t want to participate in arts and crafts or share-apy sessions, but then she sort of by accident gets pulled into a group of dysfunctional friends.  Cassie, Zander’s bunkmate, is a “manic-depressive-bipolar-anorexic disaster” who pushes everyone away with her bad attitude.  Alex Trebek is a pathological liar.  And Grover Cleveland is PC (pre-crazy) and is preparing for the day he follows his father’s schizophrenic footsteps.  Throughout the book, they learn to let go of some of their anxieties and learn that “reality might be ugly, but sometimes we can be broken and beautiful.”

The best part about this book are the characters.  Zander is the perfect narrator for this story because she’s already so far inside her own head.  She doesn’t outwardly show a lot of emotions, so when she’s confronted with characters that spew their emotions everywhere, it makes for an interesting story.  Grover is just adorably hilarious.  He’s never scared to speak up—especially if it will confuse the counselors—and has a quick wit.  His interactions with Zander compliment each other well. And then there’s Cassie.  She’s the girl you love to hate.  She’s loud, she gets into everyone’s business, she purposefully causes chaos, but in the end, you can’t help but like her. Alex is more of a throw away character—just there for some comic relief and to round out the friend group to four—but the other characters more than make up for that.

I’ve read stories like this before, but none have the heart that this book has.  

The Traitor's Game

The Traitor’s Game is what you would expect from a Jennifer A. Nielsen book: lots of plot twists and changing alliances.  If you haven’t read her other works, she’s also written The Mark of the Thief trilogy (see blog post here), The False Prince trilogy, and A Night Divided (see blog post here). 

This one is set in a fictional country of Antora where a tyrannical Lord Endrick has taken control.  With the help of the Dominion, he’s wiped out the rest of his Endrean people and stolen their magic so he’s practically immortal.  Or is he?  The Coracks and the Halderians (two rebel groups trying to fight Lord Endrick) believe there is a dagger that holds magic that can kill Lord Endrick, the Olden Blade.  Enter Kestra.  Her father is Lord Endrick’s right-hand man and a part of the most powerful family in the country, and she may be the only one who knows where the blade is hiding.  So, the Coracks blackmail her into helping them find the blade.  In the middle of all the politics, there is also a tension between Kestra and one of her captors, Simon, who used to be her childhood friend.  A romantic entanglement is the last thing Kestra wants (or needs) if she’s going to get through this scenario alive.

I’m still on the fence about how this series will go.  I felt like there was a lot going on with all the different groups vying for power.  It was hard at times to keep track of all of them and who was mad at whom.  For example, the Coracks were the ones who planned Kestra’s kidnapping and blackmail, but on their way back to her home, they are also raided by the Halderians who may happen to have a mole in the Corack operation.  Crazy, right?  Then she also decided to throw magic in the mix, too?  It seems like a fantasy hodgepodge.

I do have to give kudos to the main character, Kestra.  She’s a multifaceted character with many layers.  She can defend herself (and does multiple times by stealing knives off soldiers or disabling them with defense moves) and she’s a pro at compartmentalizing her priorities (which is good because between an arranged marriage, Simon’s obvious feelings for her, and figuring out who she can trust with her darkest secrets, she has her brain full).  I can’t wait to see how she gets herself out of her tangled situation (don’t worry, this is the first of a trilogy).

Was I in love with it?  Not really.  Will I read the sequels when they come out?  Definitely.  

*This book just came out at the end of February, so check it out now!

806

Meet KT.  She just found out her deadbeat dad who walked out on her isn’t her biological father.  However, the truth isn’t much better; her real father is anonymous sperm donor 806.  After realizing her life isn’t complete, she decides to investigate, starting with finding any other donor 806 siblings that may be out there.  She ends up meeting Gabe (a nerd who’s allergic to everything and is into magic tricks) and Jesse (the star swimmer at her school and reigning jock king).  They are donor 806’s kids and want to find their biological father, too.  This starts a crazy cross country road trip to hunt for him.

On the surface, this book has potential to be hilarious.  However, it falls flat.  Yes, there are funny things that happen but for the most part it seemed rather jumbled.  There were some parts that didn’t seem like they belonged, like Gabe’s crush on Daisy.  Or their Jeep getting stolen by a guy robbing a convenience store then finding him literally one page later and getting the Jeep back.  Or running out of gas and then having to persuade the cops to give them gas while trying to evade their questions.  Or all their parents being blissfully unaware of their road trip (Gabe and Jesse’s parents are out of the country…conveniently…and KT’s mom just doesn’t really care where she is).  It all just seems a little implausible to me.

The characters also seemed a little one-sided.  As the story progressed, it got better, but readers shouldn’t have to wait until 80% of the way through the book before they see any type of growth in a character. 

It was good for a rainy Saturday read, but not much more. 

*I received this book free from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

The Beauty That Remains

This book is achingly beautiful and poignant.  Over the three days it took me to read it, I cried.  Every.  Single.  Time.  But it was worth the extra tissues and puffy eyes.

The story revolves around three teens who’ve lost someone important in their lives:  Autumn’s best friend Tavia just died in a car accident, Logan’s ex-boyfriend Bram committed suicide a month ago, and Shay’s twin sister died of leukemia three months ago.  They are all going through grief and pain and loss and blame.  However, the one connection they all have is the band Unraveling Lovely.  Their lyrics are the backdrop to their pain and their go-to music to drown out their sadness.

The best thing about this book and the reason I would recommend it is how it deals with grief.  Not everyone will show their pain the same way.  Some, like Autumn, try to hold it in until they feel like they are downing without air.  Some, like Logan, try to escape into distractions and deny their pain.  Others, like Shay, start to have panic attacks at the most random times.  I think that sometimes we are told that we can only grieve one way when we have a loss or that there is a time frame for grief, but really it will be different for everyone.  But the best thing is that it teaches kids it’s okay.  It’s okay to feel like you’re going to burst into a million pieces over a simple toothbrush.  It’s okay to forgive, even if the person you need to forgive isn’t here anymore to hear you say it.  And it’s okay to talk about it.  Some of the characters end up getting professional help, but they all realize that they have to open up to their friends and those who love them to help them deal with their pain.  It doesn’t glamorize death.  It makes it real and painful and shows the reactions of those left behind in a true way.

Recently, I experienced this kind of grief. My cousin had a baby, the first cousin on that side of the family to have kids that my kids could play with.  His name was Aubrey, and he was perfect.  He lived a week before contracting a virus he couldn’t fight.  I never got to meet him, never got to tell him how loved he was, never got to introduce him to my boys, and that wrecked me.  The mother in me pours out to my cousin in pain and hope and understanding.  I know how easily something like this could happen to my boys.  Without my faith in a God that works all things for good, I don’t think I would have handled it as well.  I may not like the circumstances, but I can put my trust in an infallible God that heals broken hearts.

Bad things happen.  That is a fact of life.  This book let’s everyone know that although things may seem bleak, there is still beauty that remains.

*I’d recommend this for high school and up since it does have some situations of teen drinking and some drug/sex references.

**Thanks, Net Galley, for this book!  It was just released, so find it at your local library today.

A Letter to A Wrinkle in Time

Dear Wrinkle in Time,

I guess congratulations are in order.  You are about to be one (of the many) books that now have a movie.  I know that’s the reason why my book club chose you as our reading book (and because most of us have kids so why not choose a book we can enjoy WITH them?  It’s a win-win situation) and I know people are eager to see what kind of adaptation will happen on the big screen.

However, I am not a convert to your pages.  I’ve tried to read you three times (I mean, how many times does one need to read a book to realize they don’t like it?) and each time I think I understand you a little better.  But that doesn’t mean I like you.  

The first time I cracked your pages, I utterly despised you.  It was sixth grade and my teacher thought she would pull you off her shelf and read you aloud to us.  Big mistake.  To capture the attention of a room of eleven-year-olds, you need to be a little more relatable.  Yes, my imagination was wild as a child, but science fiction isn’t usually a child’s first genre to love.  And it’s hard to love (or even appreciate) something that is just so totally foreign.  I mean, you made up words…you purposefully confused me (or so I thought) with your science-talk…your bad guy was not physically fighting anyone but worming his way into their brains.  Ew!  So I vowed to push you aside and not read you again.

Then I became a teacher.  I felt bad for you.  Why had I tossed you aside?  What had you done to deserve my response of, “Oh, you’re reading A Wrinkle in Time?  I’ve never liked it, but good luck…”?  So like any good English teacher, I tried again. And again you were found wanting.  By this time I had at least been introduced to science fiction and found my mind was able to accept more of your principles now.  Sure, they’re squeezing themselves between time and space.  Okay, they land on a two-dimensional planet by accident.  I can make sense of this.  

But like the last time the characters annoyed me.  Meg Murry, the main character, seemed childish and impetuous (how many times does she stomp her foot in anger, as a thirteen year old?  I’m around thirteen year olds all the time and I’ve never seen one stomp their foot).  Charles Wallace, Meg’s precocious little brother, is just creepy.  I have an almost-five-year-old, and I would be weirded out if he talked to me the way he does.  And don’t get me started on Calvin O’Keefe, the kid who shows up randomly because of a “feeling” and never goes away.  It’s a little too “we are fated to meet and now I love you”, which if you’ve ever heard me talk about teen romance books, this is my biggest pet peeve.

Maybe I’m being too harsh on you (I think I can hear you sobbing on my nightstand). You do have some good qualities.  Like your message about love being stronger than hate. How Meg’s love leads her back to her brother and her father and gives her the ability to help them when noting else will.  You also admit that it’s okay to be scared.  No one has to be confident and brave all the time, but true bravery is doing what is necessary even when you are scared.  You teach children not to judge others based on their appearances, like Meg did with Aunt Beast and the witches, because you never know what’s a person’s really like until you get to know them.

So let’s just agree to disagree and move on with our lives.  People love you, so don’t worry, Wrinkle (just not THIS person)…you’re not going anywhere anytime soon.

Sincerely, 

Mrs. Harper

Why Reading the Same Book to Your Kids Over and Over Makes You Crazy…But It’s Totally Worth It

All parents know this problem well.  Your little mini-me has just handed you THAT book again.  The SAME book you read for thirty minutes straight the day before…and the day before that…and the day before that.  Chances are you have the book memorized by this point.  You would love to hide the book on the top shelf of the closet for a few months.  But you can’t.  Because you love your child (sometimes you have to take a deep breath and remind yourself before cracking open THAT book again) and you know reading to them is beneficial in more ways than one.

So you take the book out of their chubby, outstretched hand, settle them in your lap, and start from the beginning.  Again.  

“Into the garden bumbled a bee…”

“Noisy yellow digger meets someone new…”

“There once was an elephant who liked to smash small cars…”

You read the story.  You do the voices, the inflections.  You sound chipper and happy that you get to read the book again.  You show them the words with your finger.  You point out parts of the picture (“Look!  See the baby find the mommy?”  or  “Wow!  That’s a lot of fish!  Which is your favorite?”) and listen to their rambling answers.  You get to the end of the story with a final THE END…only to have your child flip the book back over, point at the cover, and say, “Again!”  

This is an example that seems to happen daily in our house.  We all love books and have them literally in every room of our house.  Bathrooms included.  

So even though it makes me crazy, I will always sit down and read THAT book to my child again because it’s the early interaction that’s important, not the book.  It’s hearing words said aloud by a person.  It’s knowing that your child is loved and important enough for their parent to push away other distractions—like phones or, in my case, my books—to simply enjoy an activity together.  Many studies have shown that talking to your children and reading to them increases their language acquisition. By reading to your child twenty minutes a day for a year, you are exposing them to over 1,800,000 words. I’ve been known to have conversations with my non-talking babies, just so they can hear my voice and know that I’m there.  

Parents fail at a lot of things.  No one is perfect.  However, we all can talk to our children.  We can all take a little bit of time away from ourselves to invest in our children.  Because at the end of the day, that’s love.  And if that means sitting on my kitchen floor to read a book while simultaneously trying to make sure dinner doesn’t burn, then so be it.

Need some new reading selections?  My boys are currently loving these titles:

The Elephant who Liked to Smash Small Cars by Jean Merrill

Hooray for Fish! by Lucy Cousins

Sharks (Usborne Lift-the-Flap) by Phillip Clarke

Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown

Nibbles: the Book Monster by Emma Yarlett

The Wizard of Oz series by L. Frank Baum

Night-Night, Forrest Friends by Annie Bach

Llama Llama Nighty Night by Anna Dewdney