Review of All Better Now, by Neal Shusterman

Audiobooks, Science Fiction, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

All Better Now

by Neal Shusterman
read by Greg Tremblay and Neal Shusterman

Simon & Schuster Audio, 2025. 14 hours, 10 minutes.
Review written May 9, 2025, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

Neal Shusterman knows how to write epic dystopian series. I still think the Arc of a Scythe series is unmatched, but All Better Now is a promising beginning.

The scenario: In the near future, there’s another pandemic. This one is deadlier than COVID-19, but for those who recover – all their problems are over, as far as they’re concerned. They’re happy and content and they care about others.

This gets people in power concerned. The Recoverees aren’t motivated by fear or greed. They get things secondhand, give things away, open their homes to strangers. Economies across the world will collapse if this happens to too many people. Another downside: If a Recoveree sees someone in trouble, they rush to help – forgetting to check if they are actually capable of helping. This results in multiple deaths if the situation is dangerous enough.

The main characters of the book are three teens. Mariel has been living in her car with her mother. When her mother catches the virus, nowhere will take her except a community of Recoverees at the Pier, and Mariel becomes a part of that community. Rón is the son of a billionaire with a pretentious accent in his name. He’s always been prone to depression and has survived suicide attempts, so when his father wants to cloister their family to protect them from the virus, he decides getting the virus is the right choice for his mental health, whether his father likes it or not. And Morgan has always been ruthless, doing what it takes to get ahead. So she’s recruited by the head of a charitable foundation who has gotten the virus. The woman is afraid she’ll give all the money away – so she gives Morgan charge of the money and a commission to work on a vaccine and change the world. Sure enough, when the woman recovers, she wants to thwart those plans. But Morgan’s in control now. Or is she?

The greater forces at work in the world of the novel are certainly going to change humanity. Recoverees have found peace and happiness – and they want to pass those things on. But powerful folks have too much to lose, and they’ll take drastic steps to stop the virus, ethical or not. Meanwhile there’s plenty of tension and danger as our three main characters interact in this scenario. And I won’t say how the book ends – but let’s just say the story isn’t finished.

I read Book 2 of The Arc of a Scythe, Thunderhead, the year I was reading for the Newbery Medal Committee – and I still maintain that book had the best plotting of any book I read that year. (It’s not really a book for children in my opinion, which is another discussion. But the plotting is incredible!) This book also had a set up of many different threads in a grand tapestry.

I did have a caveat that held me back from complete enjoyment – I couldn’t bring myself to believe that every single person who recovered from the virus would have the same exact effect. I’m willing to buy the premise that some kind of brain damage could do that to you – maybe – because some stroke victims have reported feeling one with all mankind – so maybe? But after seeing COVID-19 have so many different effects on so many different people – it’s hard to believe that a new coronavirus would affect everyone who recovers from it in the same way. Also, nothing was said about variants, and people were sure they couldn’t get it a second time – and that all was harder for me to believe after coming through our last pandemic.

I also didn’t really believe in the idea of an alpha spreader – someone who could still shed virus after they’ve recovered. And never stopped shedding the virus, in fact. The existence of this possibility makes the book more interesting – but it’s still hard to believe.

But given the premise, the book presents an intriguing situation. What would happen to humanity if we all became happy and altruistic? Would our current governments and economies collapse? But might it not be true that something better would arise to take its place? If it happened, would you want to get the virus, despite the 4% fatality rate? Recoverees say that at least those who die, die happy.

I definitely believed the part about people stirring up propaganda against the Recoverees and starting conspiracy theories against them. And it was funny when ruthless folks trying to stop the virus got thwarted by the kind, altruistic folks. Because after all, what they have is good for humanity! I also felt like the author realistically showed people’s motivations changing – but their keeping their main personality and still being able to make choices, sometimes against their new instincts.

So as usual, besides an entertaining ride, Neal Shusterman gave me plenty of philosophical questions to mull over. Now the only problem is waiting for the next book to come out.

storyman.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 The Power of Snow, by Bob Raczka, illustrated by Bryony Clarkson

Children's Nonfiction Review, Mathematical, Starred Review 0

The Power of Snow

by Bob Raczka
illustrated by Bryony Clarkson

Millbrook Press, 2023. 36 pages.
Review written November 9, 2023, from a library book.
Starred Review

This book is a very simple picture book that demonstrates exponents with snowflakes — on each page, the number of snowflakes doubles.

The main text is simple rhymes. The first few spreads go like this:

Two flakes play.

Four flakes sashay.

Eight flakes twirl.

Sixteen flakes swirl.

On the opposite page from the main text, we’ve got the number of snowflakes expressed with numerals and equations, like this:

27 = 2 to the seventh power

2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 = 128

The scenes behind the snowflakes look like suburban backyards, with at least one animal visitor on each page.

The most wonderful thing about this book is that the illustrator worked to get exactly the right number of snowflakes on each page. Here’s what she says in a note at the back:

Creating the art for The Power of Snow presented one tricky problem: how to show the correct number of snowflakes on each page. For this book, it was important to get the math right! Of course, the first few pages were easy. But as the quantity of flakes increased, it became much harder to count them all. So I worked out a plan. The images were created using different layers, kind of like clear sheets with different parts of the art on each one. I created a certain number of flakes on one layer. Then I duplicated this layer, flipping, scaling, and rotating it to give a natural look. Duplicating the layer allowed me to multiply the exact number of flakes as I worked. I could then add the more detailed snowflakes, counting these out individually to get to the total number. As with real snow, once the flakes became tiny and overlaid, some appear to blend together — but they are all there!

The effect is that you won’t be able to count all 16,384 flakes on the page for 214, but you can definitely get the idea.

Okay, my first reaction to this book is that it’s for a young reader — primary grades or even preschoolers who haven’t learned to multiply yet, so why are they illustrating exponents to such young readers? I do wish the word “doubled” was used, instead of relying on the multiplication notation.

But then I think about the things I showed my own kids when they were young, and I’m sure that kids exposed to this book will have an easier time understanding exponents later. In fact, hmmm, this might be a wonderful gift for my four-year-old nephew who has two big sisters. When they read it to him, they will pick up the ideas… and he will think exponents are the most natural thing in the world when it finally comes time to learn about them in school.

Yeah, I think I’m won over. Doubling before your eyes!

bobraczka.com
bryonyclarkson.com
lernerbooks.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 King Alfred and the Ice Coffin, by Kevin Crossley-Holland, illustrated by Chris Riddell

Children's Nonfiction Review, Folklore and Literature 0

King Alfred and the Ice Coffin

by Kevin Crossley-Holland
illustrated by Chris Riddell

Candlewick Studio, 2024. 88 pages.
Review written April 9, 2025, from a library book.

King Alfred and the Ice Coffin is a heavily illustrated retelling of a tale from an Old English manuscript. It’s not a graphic novel (no speech bubbles), but with illustrations on every spread (but not words on every spread), it has the feel of a graphic novel. Since the book retells an old story and gives the history of Alfred the Great – who had this tale written down – it’s shelved in juvenile nonfiction, where I’m afraid not as many kids will find it.

The overarching story is about Alfred – who never expected to be king, as the fifth son of the royal family. He loved learning, and had books in Latin translated to English, so his people could read them – and at the same time collected tales from travelers who came to his court.

This is one of those tales about a man who sailed to a far-off kingdom with the unusual custom of preserving their king who died in an ice coffin for a month, before a race that would determine who would inherit his goods.

The story is more pictures than words, and those beautiful pictures give the book a spirit of adventure.

I hope kids will find this tale of kings and seafarers, even though it’s tucked away in the nonfiction section.

candlewickstudio.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 The Swifts: A Dictionary of Scoundrels, by Beth Lincoln, read by Nikki Patel

Adventure, Audiobooks, Children's Fiction Review, Mystery, Starred Review 0

The Swifts

A Dictionary of Scoundrels

by Beth Lincoln
read by Nikki Patel

Listening Library, 2023. 9 hours, 53 minutes.
Review written October 2, 2023, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

The Swifts is a story about an adventurous family that sets themselves apart from common folk by taking their names from the family dictionary. Shenanigan Swift is a child in this family, and she’s constantly told “You can’t help your name.” People continually expect shenanigans from her, and they are not disappointed.

She and her sisters Phenomenon and Felicity live in the ancestral Swift estate while their parents are off adventuring. But adventures happen at home when Aunt Schadenfreude calls a grand Reunion of Swifts to look for the treasure hidden long ago somewhere on the estate by Vile Swift.

But this time, the Reunion is plagued by murder and attempted murder. Gumshoe Swift is obviously not up to the task of finding the culprit, so Shenanigan and her siblings — along with their nonbinary cousin Earth — take up the task.

The mystery is full of misdirection, sinister clues, and a bit of silliness, along with Shenanigan pondering whether your name is actually your destiny.

I listened to this audiobook mostly while getting way too absorbed in a jigsaw puzzle, and it provides a fun mystery adventure the whole family will enjoy (with the warning that there are some deaths). The author wasn’t going for realism, and ended up with delightfully quirky.

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Review of Watership Down, by Richard Adams, read by Peter Capaldi

Fantasy, Fiction Review, Old Favorites, Sonderbooks25, Stand-outs, Starred Review 0

Watership Down

by Richard Adams
read by Peter Capaldi

Blackstone Publishing, 2019. Novel first published in 1972. 17 hours, 31 minutes.
Review written May 3, 2025, from a library eaudiobook.
Earlier review written in 2001.
Starred Review
2002 Sonderbooks Stand-out: #2 Fiction Rereads

Ah, it was so good to revisit Watership Down! This wasn’t the one book I chose to reread from my 2002 Stand-outs as part of my #Sonderbooks25 celebration of my 25th year of writing Sonderbooks – but that motivated me to notice that my public library had an available copy of an eaudiobook – and then I couldn’t keep myself from again enjoying the epic adventures of Hazel and Fiver and Bigwig and all the rest.

It’s funny – I’ve always thought of it as an adult novel. The library has it in the adult section. But my ex-husband did read it to our kids when they were young, and Overdrive has the audiobook listed as Juvenile. I’m going to fall back on the fact that it’s truly for all ages. There is plenty of life-and-death violence, and the reading level is adult, but I think that for listening to the story, this is a perfect family adventure.

So if you’ve never read Watership Down – it’s an epic adventure of a band of rabbits. Hazel’s runt brother Fiver has a vision of death and destruction, so they leave the old warren with a few others and set off across the dangerous countryside to a sunny place on a hillside. Along the way, they meet dangers from predators, but also from other rabbits, encountering two troublesome rabbit societies. And once they arrive, they have the problem that they need some female rabbits, or the new warren can’t survive.

And especially wonderful about this book are the tales told about El-ahrairah, the mythical rabbit hero and trickster. His exploits inspire their own adventures in life-or-death situations.

And, yes, this book about rabbits is full of tension and heroism, and you come to love the very rabbity characters. They feel like real rabbits with authentic rabbit interests.

And I was so happy to revisit this tale! It was fun to hear it told with a British accent. Yes, there’s some sexism, but since it’s about rabbit does, it feels like something I can overlook. Other than that, it completely stands up to the passage of time and I was simply happy to spend time with Hazel and company again. I decided to write a new review so I’ll have one in the new phone-friendly format. This is a book I will recommend all my life long.

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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 Enter the Body, by Joy McCullough

Audiobooks, Historical, Teen Fiction Review 0

Enter the Body

by Joy McCullough
read by a full cast,
including Joy McCullough, Valerie Rose Lohman, Annie Q, and Victoria Villarreal

Listening Library, 2023. 4 hours, 23 minutes.
Review written April 23, 2023, from a library eaudiobook

Joy McCullough’s debut novel, the amazing Blood Water Paint was published the year I was on the Newbery committee, so when I hear she’s written another book, I make sure to read it. This one has more of her innovative work, looking at history in a completely new way. Of course, in this case, it’s invented history — invented by Shakespeare.

The book is centered in a trap room beneath a stage. We’ve got Shakespeare’s tragic heroines spending eternity there. All of them died horribly.

Most of them go off into corners, but Juliet, Ophelia, and Cordelia get to talking. They tell their stories from their own perspectives. All of them died tragically, because of men.

But then the part I like is where they decide to make their own choices and rewrite their stories as they want them told.

I listened to this book, and the audio production is very well done, using separate voices for the different girls. But I suspect I would have enjoyed it more reading the print version, because it’s easier to notice the author’s craft — such as when the lines start going in iambic pentameter.

In the Author’s Note she mentions that Shakespeare was known for taking established work and making it his own, so she feels she’s following in his footsteps with this book.

joymccullough.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 My Presentation Today Is About the Anaconda, by Bibi Dumon Tak

Animal Characters, Beginning Chapter Books, Children's Fiction Review, Science, Starred Review 0

My Presentation Today Is About the Anaconda

by Bibi Dumon Tak
illustrated by Annemarie Van Haeringen
translated by Nancy Forest-Flier

Levine Querido, 2025. First published in the Netherlands in 2022. 223 pages.
Review written April 29, 2025, from a library book.
Starred Review

This book: Packed with information, and ever so much fun! Also the kind of book that I ordered for the library with a note: “Show to Sondy” so I could figure out if it’s nonfiction or fiction. The answer ended up being Fiction, since it’s full of talking animals. But those animals are telling you Facts! I also immediately placed the book on hold so I could read the whole thing.

Here’s how the book begins:

To Start Off…

These are oral presentations given by animals about other animals. That’s because oral presentations can really be fun, especially when they’re not being given by the human species for once. After all, humans can make presentations super boring.

Why?
Because humans only look at things through their own human eyes.
Every single time.

Human after human.
Kid after kid.
Class after class.

YAWN!

So it’s time to take a fresh look:
Animal after animal.
Here we go!

So what follows is a bunch of animals talking about other animals: A cleaner fish talks about the shark. A blackbird talks about the rose-ringed parakeet. A midwife toad talks about the koala. A zebra tells us about all the pure black-and-white animals. A death’s head hawkmoth talks about the squirrel monkey.

Altogether, twenty animals give presentations about other animals. And the reports are quirky, each from the perspective of the particular animal giving it, sometimes telling more about that animal than about the subject of the report.

After most presentations, there’s time for questions from the animals listening, and those are quirky and interesting, too.

Perfect for kids ready for chapter books, this is all very silly, but packed with facts at the same time.

I usually only find out about translated books after they win Batchelder Award Honor. This time, I’ve got an early favorite for this year’s winner. Find out a bunch of facts about animals and do some laughing, too.

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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 The Inheritance Games, by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Audiobooks, Contemporary, Mystery, Teen Fiction Review 0

The Inheritance Games

by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
read by Christie Moreau

Hachette Audio, 2020. 10 hours, 45 minutes.
Review written March 24, 2023, from a library eaudiobook

Thanks to my friend Lisa for recommending this series to me. I’d seen the hype about the fourth book coming out this summer.

The Inheritance Games begins a series about a billionaire who died and who left puzzles for his family after him.

The biggest puzzle of all is why he left his entire multi-billion dollar estate to Avery Grahams, a teen who’d been living in her car before she got the news, in order to avoid her sister’s abusive boyfriend.

But Avery gets called to the reading of the will of Tobias Hawthorne, along with the whole family. She’s never met any of these people before. So she’s as shocked as anyone when she learns he’s left the bulk of his estate to her, passing over his grandsons, the four Hawthorne brothers.

There is a condition: She has to live in Hawthorne house for one year. It’s an enormous place, so it shouldn’t be difficult. But then someone apparently tries to kill her. And there’s the question of how she feels about the Hawthorne brothers. And she’s warned about the last girl at her new private school who lived at Hawthorne house and turned up dead.

Along with all that, the Hawthorne brothers tell her that their grandfather was always setting puzzles for them, and the letters left to them are obviously another puzzle. Avery thinks the solution to the puzzles may explain why he picked her to inherit.

But the question is: Is Avery’s existence at Hawthorne House just a part of the puzzle, or is this amazing inheritance due to something special about her?

This puzzle novel is fun, though I was a little disappointed that the clues weren’t such that the reader could really play along. Fun to watch them get solved, though. And I’m proud to say that I saw a twist at the end coming long before it happened.

And although they did solve a major puzzle in this book, the ending hints that there are more puzzles to come. The series was originally advertised as a trilogy, but book four is coming out this summer. I think I have been enticed into reading more books. And who doesn’t like a Cinderella story where a worthy but poor heroine comes into great wealth?

jenniferlynnbarnes.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 Desegregation in Northern Virginia Libraries, by Chris Barbuschak and Suzanne S. LaPierre

Nonfiction Review, Starred Review, True Stories 0

Desegregation in Northern Virginia Libraries

by Chris Barbuschak and Suzanne S. LaPierre

History Press, 2023. 206 pages.
Review written April 30, 2025, from my own copy, signed by the authors.
Starred Review

First, I owe my friends, authors Chris and Suzanne, a big apology. I attended their book launch in 2023 and got a signed copy – but I didn’t get it read until 2025. My excuse was that I was on the Morris Award committee in 2023, reading only debut young adult books – but that’s not a very good excuse in 2025! On top of that, Suzanne is the very most faithful advocate for my reviews, always liking my review posts on Facebook. So anyway, let me tell you about their wonderful book!

Yes, of course I’m biased. Chris and Suzanne both work in the Virginia Room at the City of Fairfax Regional Library branch of Fairfax County Public Library, where I worked as Youth Services Manager before I got my current position as Youth Materials Selector. I often got to spend an hour or two at the Virginia Room desk as needed – and came to appreciate their expertise and skills as researchers.

This book shows meticulous research, uncovering the history of segregation in Northern Virginia libraries, both explicit and implicit, and the brave Black activists who made desegregation happen even when a Supreme Court ruling wasn’t enough.

The book happened because one of the Fairfax County Library Board trustees, Dr. Sujatha Hamptom, challenged the established answer that FCPL had been open to everyone since its founding in 1939. Chris and Suzanne were asked to dig deeper and did the deep research in local archives that led to this book. I loved the way in their book launch they told stories of the individuals who stood up for everyone’s right to read – with legal challenges, sit-ins, and the like.

The book looks at six different Northern Virginia library systems, at notable cases elsewhere in Virginia, and at service in Washington, D. C. Even though Virginia passed a law in 1946 that libraries had to provide service to all residents – most jurisdictions still tried to meet that with separate services. And each jurisdiction had to fight for their rights in their own neighborhoods. And even when libraries were officially desegregated, there was still some time before Black people felt welcome enough to visit formerly white-only facilities.

The beautiful part of this book is how many different individuals took steps to make a difference in their own communities – and how in the long run, they succeeded, despite some individual setbacks. That’s a heartening message to read about today, when the idea that folks should be free to read what they want is being newly threatened. It’s good to read about the ordinary people who were heroes in the past by standing up for their own rights to library access.

historypress.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 Kill Joy, by Holly Jackson

Audiobooks, Mystery, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

Kill Joy

by Holly Jackson
read by Bailey Carr, Raymond J. Lee, and Bruce Mann

Listening Library, 2023. 2 hours, 37 minutes.
Review written March 12, 2023, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

Kill Joy is a prequel novella to A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. It is just plain fun. I was relieved about that, having recently finished Holly Jackson’s utterly terrifying Five Survive. This one is actually not scary.

What we’ve got is the story of how Pip chose her senior capstone project that led to her investigating the murder of Andie Bell, which started the events in the A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder trilogy.

It all begins with a murder mystery party.

The party happens toward the end of Pip’s junior year. Her friends are there — friends whose names I recognize from the series. It happens at Connor Reynolds’ house, and his big brother Jamie runs the mystery and plays the part of a Scotland Yard detective.

I was waiting for the mystery party to turn sinister, and, well, I won’t tell you about that. But let’s just say that unlike any other Holly Jackson book I’ve read, this one was more fun than scary.

So that’s why I think this is a good book to read after you’ve read the whole trilogy. It’s fun to get more insight into the characters and have some fun with them and understand how it all began. If you start with the prequel, you’re going to be very misled about the level of tension in the later books. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Oh, and the audio version has the same excellent production as the trilogy, with multiple voice actors and the same theme music at the beginning and end. A great listening experience!

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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 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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