Review of A Lady’s Guide to Fortune-Hunting, by Sophie Irwin

Audiobooks, Fiction Review, Historical 0

A Lady’s Guide to Fortune-Hunting

by Sophie Irwin
read by Eleanor Tomlinson

Penguin Audio, 2022. 9 hours, 40 minutes.
Review written April 4, 2024, from a library eaudiobook
Starred Review

As A Lady’s Guide to Fortune-Hunting opens, Kitty Talbot is getting jilted by the man she’s been engaged to for two years. She should have never put it off after her mother died, because now her father is dead, too, and his debts will come due in a few months, and Kitty has four younger sisters to care for. How can a young woman in Regency England pay off exorbitant debts and pay for expenses of four younger sisters? Becoming a governess or a lady’s maid would never pay enough. No, Kitty must find a man in possession of a large fortune to marry. Her former fiance was the only local prospect, so to London she must go.

Now, in Jane Austen’s novels, the fortune-hunting girls were more the villains, with a sympathetic exception of pity for Charlotte Lucas. So it took me about an hour into this audiobook to have sympathy for Kitty. But when she makes a spirited defense of her plans, saying that men could go off to war to find their fortune, is husband hunting any worse? — then she started to win me over. It didn’t take much longer of seeing her resourcefulness and determination to be fully on her side. Though I was pretty sure things wouldn’t turn out quite as she expected at the start.

Kitty goes to London with one of her younger sisters, and tries to get introductions to the men who will have enough money to meet those debts. Although Kitty’s father was a gentleman, her mother was, well, a courtesan. They find a chaperone and a place to stay with one of her mother’s former coworkers, who is posing as a widow and person of quality. Now Kitty must meet young gentlemen of sufficient income and not only win them over, but also win their mothers over.

And her plans go so well at first! Not only does she win the affections of a wealthy second son, she even endears herself to his mother. But when his older brother, Lord Radcliffe, comes to investigate, this brother does a little research and quickly warns her off, if she doesn’t want the entire London social scene to know about her background.

Well, that might have been the end for any other girl. Here’s where Kitty thoroughly won me over, because she doesn’t roll over and go away. She negotiates. Sure, she’ll leave his brother alone, but at the price of some help with her fortune-hunting.

It wasn’t hard to guess where this story was going, but how it got there was absolutely delightful.

The characters in this book are what make it so wonderful. Sure, Kitty’s mercenary, but we soon see it’s all for the sake of her sisters. And her cleverness and determination shine through. It’s a fun new perspective on Jane Austen’s world, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

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Review of Little Larry Goes to School, by Gerry Ellis with Mary Rand Hess

Children's Nonfiction Review, Science 0

Little Larry Goes to School

The True Story of a Timid Chimpanzee Who Learned to Reach New Heights

by Gerry Ellis
with Mary Rand Hess

National Geographic Kids, 2019. 32 pages.
Review written October 7, 2020, from a library book

Here’s a sweet picture book, beautifully illustrated with photographs, about an orphaned chimpanzee baby who was afraid to climb trees.

It’s all a true story and they took plenty of heart-warming photos along the way. Little Larry suffered an accident that injured him and left him an orphan when he was only a few days old (and that’s all the detail they give about the accident). So human caregivers at a sanctuary in Africa cared for him and nursed him back to health.

Little Larry had to learn how to live with other chimpanzees in the forest of the sanctuary. This book shows the process he went through, with plenty of cute photos of Little Larry.

Little Larry’s new chimp companions had fun jumping and climbing in the trees, but Little Larry preferred the forest floor. The book shows the slow process Little Larry went through to overcome his fear and learn to climb with the others.

There’s fun information at the back, including a page “Speak like Little Larry” that shows three of the sounds Larry makes – the Food Grunt, the Play Face, and the Pant-Hoot – what they mean, and how to imitate him.

This book is visually so interesting, if I ever get to booktalk in the schools again, it will be an easy winner. The message of overcoming your fears – even if you’re a chimp – is inspiring as well.

natgeokids.com

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*Note* To try to catch up on posting reviews, I’m posting the oldest reviews I’ve written on my blog without making a page on my main website. They’re still good books!

Review of Big Bad Wolf’s Yom Kippur, by David Sherrin, illustrated by Martin Morón

Animal Characters, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

Big Bad Wolf’s Yom Kippur

by David Sherrin
illustrated by Martin Morón

Apples & Honey Press, 2023. 36 pages.
Review written January 5, 2024, from a library book.
Starred Review

Oh, this book is too much fun! Thanks to Betsy Bird’s end-of-year lists at her Fuse #8 blog for alerting me to this gem.

Now I always love a little fracturing with my fairy tales, so I’m delighted with this book about Yom Kippur even though I’m not Jewish. And what’s not to like about a holiday that encourages you to ask forgiveness and change in good ways?

So this is a story of Yom Kippur — as experienced by the Big Bad Wolf, of fairy tale fame.

At the start, his neighbor Raccoon asks forgiveness for rummaging through his trash and invites him to the synagogue for Yom Kippur.

Seeing all his neighbors in one place wasn’t a terrible idea. It would be like a lunch buffet for a big hungry wolf.

But Big Bad Wolf gets some surprises at the synagogue, including a bear hug from the rabbi (who’s a bear) and having to remind himself that he’s a Big Bad Wolf, so he shouldn’t enjoy it all too much.

But later encounters that day… with Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother, and then Three Little Pigs, get the wolf acting much differently than the reader expects… with nice results. I won’t spoil it for you, but this book is delightful fun with a sweet message about being kind.

If your family celebrates Yom Kippur, this is a perfect book to introduce the holiday to your kids. If your family doesn’t celebrate Yom Kippur, this is a perfect book to introduce the holiday to both you and your kids. And silly fractured fairy tale fun, too!

davidsherrin.net
applesandhoneypress.com

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of Our Subway Baby, by Peter Mercurio, illustrated by Leo Espinosa

Children's Nonfiction Review, History, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

Our Subway Baby

The True Story of How One Baby Found His Home

by Peter Mercurio
illustrated by Leo Espinosa

Dial Books for Young Readers, 2020. 36 pages.
Review written October 7, 2020, from a library book
Starred Review

This true picture book story makes me a little teary. It tells about how the author’s partner found a baby in a subway in 2002. The book is addressed to the child, and is a sweet story without being cloying.

It was a cool August night in New York, and Danny was riding the subway home. On his way out of the station, he saw something tucked away in the corner. At first it looked like a doll. But it wasn’t.

It was you.

You were only a few hours old, wrapped up in a sweatshirt. Danny brushed your cheek. You wiggled your arms and legs.

For a moment time stopped. But then Danny jumped to action. He called the police. And then he called me.

The story tells how the two of them fell for the baby instantly and worried about him. With the help of a friendly judge, despite difficulties at that time for two dads to adopt, Danny and Peter got to adopt the subway baby.

The book shows their worries about so suddenly becoming parents, but how the baby captivated them, and how the new family of aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. helped them get everything they needed.

The Author’s Note at the back has photos and tells us that in 2012, it was Kevin’s idea to ask the same judge who facilitated his adoption to perform his dads’ marriage.

Just a lovely and sweet story, simply told. I like the way the text doesn’t make a big deal of two dads adopting but focuses on the love between the three of them that made a family. The pictures of the baby are adorably cute, too!

penguin.com/kids

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Review of The Quantum Weirdness of the Almost-Kiss, by Amy Noelle Parks

Contemporary, Romance, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

The Quantum Weirdness of the Almost-Kiss

by Amy Noelle Parks

Amulet Books, 2020. 361 pages.
Review written August 27, 2021, from a book purchased via Amazon.com
Starred Review
2022 Mathical Book Prize Honor Book, Grades 9-12

An adorable teen romance about a girl who’s a math genius, which always scores points for me.

Caleb has almost kissed his best friend Evie Beckham fourteen times. One of those times, when they were thirteen, he told her what he wanted to do, and she was not onboard. So he has been careful ever since not to let her know.

Almost four years ago, Evie talked him into applying to Newton Academy, a selective math and science boarding school. Caleb was surprised when he was accepted, but knew it was the right place for Evie. At Newton, he has watched guys try to ask Evie out, while she has shown no interest whatsoever.

But in their senior year, a new kid named Leo has come to Newton Academy. He gets Evie’s attention by being nearly as good at physics as she is, and Caleb is horrified when they start dating.

Caleb is still Evie’s best friend, though, and he knows how to help when she has an attack of social anxiety. Last year, Evie wasn’t able to cope with giving a presentation when her paper was accepted to the Frontier awards. So this year, she plans to do a project with Caleb. She’ll do the math, and he’ll do the coding.

This book maintains a wonderful balance of describing their high-level project while keeping the reader interested in the relationships. We alternate between Evie’s and Caleb’s perspectives and wonder if she’ll ever wake up to how her best friend feels about her.

The author is an associate professor of mathematics and I love that she can write such a relatable teen romance. I also appreciate that it’s the heroine who’s the star math student. The book does show many underestimating her because she’s female. There’s also some stereotyping of the mentally ill math genius, but since Evie is fighting against that stereotype – even coming from her own mother, it adds to the story instead of detracting. Evie takes her mental health into her own hands and throughout the book, we see her coping with her social anxiety in positive and helpful ways.

I confess – this book kept me reading into the small hours of the morning. Too much fun to stop!

amynoelleparks.com
piquebeyond.com

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Review of The Spirit of Springer, by Amanda Abler, illustrated by Levi Hastings

Children's Nonfiction Review, Science, Starred Review 0

The Spirit of Springer

the Real-Life Rescue of an Orphaned Orca

by Amanda Abler
illustrated by Levi Hastings

Little Bigfoot (Sasquatch Books), 2020. 52 pages.
Review written July 27, 2020, from a library book
Starred Review

The Spirit of Springer is in picture-book format, but it tells a sophisticated story of an orphaned baby orca who had traveled hundreds of miles from her pod and was rescued by scientists.

In 2002, a little orca on her own was discovered in Puget Sound, near Seattle. First, it took scientists to figure out where she belonged and which pod she had come from. Using her calls as well as other data, they determined that she was three hundred miles away from her family and that she was an orca who had been named Springer.

She was also in poor health and was not doing well on her own. The scientists also established that her mother was dead, but they needed to figure out how to get her back to her family.

This book tells about that endeavor, which was ultimately successful. It uses the perspective of two scientists who worked on the project, with notes in the back about many more people who were involved, along with more details about the pod where Springer belonged.

I expected a light-hearted, shallow story about saving an orca when I saw the cover. What I got was a detailed and inspiring story of the best efforts of humans to bring a little creature back to her family.

I thought it was especially fascinating how much is known about orca sounds and dialects. They know enough to be able to determine this when Springer was brought back to the waters of her family (in a holding pen until scientists were sure she was ready for release).

For a moment, Springer fell silent. This was the first time she had heard another orca calling in her dialect in over a year. She was so excited she could only make nonsense whale sounds, just like someone might scream, “Ahhh!” when surprised at a birthday party.

Besides giving so many scientific details, this book also is written with heart. You come to love Springer and cheer at the happy outcome.

SasquatchBooks.com

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of Louder than Hunger, by John Schu

Audiobooks, Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary, Starred Review 0

Louder than Hunger

by John Schu
read by Jeff Ebner

Listening Library, 2024. 3 hours, 43 minutes.
Review written April 5, 2024, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

John Schu is a librarian whom a lot of us other librarians know and love. He’s a Mr. Rogers-like person whose big, kind heart shines. Once a school librarian, then he started working for I think it was Scholastic, going to schools around the country, pushing books. He’s written The Gift of Story about using books in schools, as well as two picture books, This Is a School, and This Is a Story. And now he’s written a middle grade novel in verse that will wring your heart.

The story is of Jake, a 13-year-old boy diagnosed with anorexia nervosa, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety, and depression, who gets put in an inpatient program. The author says at the back that Jake is a different person from him with different details, but their lives are parallel, and he spent time being treated for the same disorders Jake has.

The book is written in verse from Jake’s perspective. I started reading the book in print, before my eaudio hold came in. I like the print version, because the poems use type size and positioning of the words on the page. I finished by listening, because that was convenient when I was doing other things, but looked through the print book after I was done to again get the feel for Jake’s voice.

And Jake’s voice in print tells us about the Voice that haunts him. It tells him not to eat. It tells him he doesn’t deserve to take up space, to even exist. It tells him not to trust the doctors at Whispering Pines. It tells him it is all he needs.

The one place Jake truly feels loved is with his Grandma, and he has wonderful memories of watching musicals with her. But Grandma isn’t doing well….

However, that link to the things Jake truly loves is ultimately going to be the key to healing.

Jake’s journey feels completely genuine. He starts out trusting no one, feeling betrayed that his mother tricked him into going to Whispering Pines. He does better, then has setbacks. And all along, the Voice is working against him, saying he doesn’t need help.

When we find out about the relentless bullying in middle school that started his trouble, it just made me so sad, imagining the wonderful human being Jake is (like his creator) being beaten down so brutally.

This entire book rings true, because it’s based on the author’s own experiences and emotions. It’s heartbreaking, yet hope-filled, because little by little, Jake begins to allow others to help him learn how to tell the Voice to be quiet and actually believe that he is worthy of taking up space in the world.

John Schu has spent years talking up other people’s books. Now so many children’s authors are excited to talk up John Schu’s book. There’s a foreword from Kate DiCamillo. And of course every librarian who’s ever met him is excited about reading it. This book fully deserves all that attention, and I’m so happy that kids across the country are going to be reading it. For kids who can relate at all to Jake, may it bring them hope and healing. And for kids who might ever be tempted to bully someone like Jake, may it help them stop and think and learn a little empathy.

A beautiful book by a person with a big, kind heart.

johnschu.com

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of Concrete Rose, by Angie Thomas

Audiobooks, Contemporary, Teen Fiction Review 0

Concrete Rose

by Angie Thomas
performed by Dion Graham

HarperAudio, 2021. 8.25 hours on 7 compact discs.
Review written August 26, 2021, from a library audiobook

Concrete Rose tells the story of seventeen-year-old Maverick Carter. As the son of a legendary gang member, now in prison, he follows in his father’s footsteps in the King Lords gang. As the book opens, he learns that a one-time incident when he and his girlfriend were on a break means that he is now a father. The same day the paternity test comes back, his baby’s mother takes off and leaves the baby with Maverick.

The rest of the book shows us Maverick figuring out what it means to be a good father. He wants to provide for his kid, so that means selling drugs with the gang, right? The owner of the store where he works after school doesn’t think so. But he doesn’t understand what Maverick is up against.

Things get more and more complicated for Maverick, and he makes some not-so-great decisions along the way, but I love the way Angie Thomas brings us along with him, not judging him, understanding how tough he has it. I also love the way she winds things up with hope at the end.

The narrator did a great job with this book. He takes on the street dialect smoothly and naturally in a way I couldn’t have necessarily reproduced reading print. Maverick tells the story in his own voice, and I felt like the kid was talking to me.

angiethomas.com
harperaudio.com

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

What did you think of this book?

*Note* To try to catch up on posting reviews, I’m posting the oldest reviews I’ve written on my blog without making a page on my main website. They’re still good books!

Review of A Firehose of Falsehood, by Teri Kanefield, art by Pat Dorian

Current Issues, Nonfiction Review, Starred Review 0

A Firehose of Falsehood

The Story of Disinformation

by Teri Kanefield
art by Pat Dorian

World Citizen Comics, First Second, 2023. 236 pages.
Review written March 15, 2024, from a library book.
Starred Review

Hooray! My favorite internet legal scholar has joined forces with World Citizen Comics, the makers of Unrig: How to Fix Our Broken Democracy, by Daniel G. Newman — another graphic novel laying out in clear, accessible language what’s going on behind the scenes in our political system. (I like both these books so much, I’m going to place a hold on the other books from this series that our library has.)

In A Firehose of Falsehood, Teri Kanefield gives us the long history of disinformation, going back to Darius I of Persia and Chandragupta Maurya of ancient India. And she shows us how disinformation — deliberate use of incorrect information — has been used in politics ever since.

Of course Stalin, Mussolini, and Hitler are given as examples and how they deliberately used falsehoods to gain power. But we also have examples in America of how disinformation was used to support enslaving people. I had no idea about the “Great Moon Hoax” of 1935, where an influential American newspaper reported that reputable scientists had found unicorns and humanlike flying creatures living on the moon.

Then we get to Max Weber, an early twentieth century German philosopher, and his ideas about government. There was “traditional” (monarchies and feudalism), “rule of law” (what democracies were going for), and “charismatic leadership” (fascism). Teri Kanefield explains, helped by Pat Dorian’s art, how they all work, and the way a charismatic leader can use false information in his favor to gain power.

In discussing Hitler, she talks about his embrace of “The Big Lie.” Since normal folks may tell small lies, it’s hard for them to believe that a leader would tell an enormous lie. So the “masses” believe it. Hitler’s main Big Lie was that all Germany’s problems came from the Jews.

Next she talks about the Soviet Union’s “Active Measures” against Americans during the Cold War. The Soviets were better at disinformation than we were, and she tells about some conspiracy theories they actually got the majority of Americans to believe, using planted (fake) news stories.

An important goal of active measures is to get people in western democracies to lose confidence in their democratic systems and their democratically elected officials.

And the book continues on to modern times, yes, using examples from people such as Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. She also talks about Russian continued efforts to disrupt United States politics, which is now much simpler than planting newspaper articles, as they can reach Americans with fake accounts on Facebook and other social media.

In talking about Putin, she explains the principle of the Firehose of Falsehoods:

The Firehose of Falsehood is a rapid and continuous stream of lies that overwhelms the listener. The liar exhibits a shameless willingness to tell contradictory and outrageous lies. It’s a way of undermining truth by making it impossible for anyone to focus on facts.

Liars have an advantage. The truth is often mundane, boring, nuanced, and too complex to fit into a sound bite. The liar, on the other hand, is free to invent. Invented stories can be designed to suit the needs of the moment, and can be catchy and easy to grasp.

But I appreciate that Teri Kanefield never leaves us in despair. She finishes up with a chapter about how to put on raincoats against the Firehose of Falsehood. Lots of ways to protect yourself from falling for the lies, as well as ideas to strengthen our democracy to stand against them.

After all, she reminds us that democracy will always be a challenge.

There will always be antidemocratic forces working to undermine truth, rule of law, and democracy. The fight for democracy and the corresponding fight for truth must be fought in each generation.

May we fight on!

terikanefield.com
worldcitizencomics.com
firstsecondbooks.com

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of How Do Bridges Work? by Roman Belyaev

Children's Nonfiction Review, Science, Starred Review 0

How Do Bridges Work?

by Roman Belyaev

b small publishing, 2020. First published in Russian in 2020.
Review written August 6, 2021, from a library book
Starred Review

This book does exactly what the title suggests – clearly explains how bridges work. There are plenty of pictures to help the reader understand.

Along the way, they show many actual examples. They look at the different ways bridges are structured and actual examples of each. Then the book looks at the many different ways bridges have been built.

In the back, there’s a fun section about actual bridges. We see the most unusual bridges, record-breaking bridges, and iconic bridges, finishing up with bridges in mythology and bridges in art.

I liked this bit of insight introducing record-breaking bridges:

Since there is no standard way to design or build a bridge, all world records are a relative concept. For example, to name the tallest bridge, first we have to specify what we mean by “height”: the height of the road deck or the height of the entire structure itself, including the pylons.

Once I opened this book, I couldn’t stop reading. The concepts are presented logically and clearly, and the reader will discover that bridges can be fascinating.

bsmall.co.uk

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Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

What did you think of this book?

*Note* To try to catch up on posting reviews, I’m posting the oldest reviews I’ve written on my blog without making a page on my main website. They’re still good books!