Review of Ferris, by Kate DiCamillo

Audiobooks, Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary 0

Ferris

by Kate DiCamillo
read by Cherry Jones

Listening Library, 2024. 4 hours, 6 minutes.
Review written May 22, 2024, from a library eaudiobook.

You can’t go wrong with a Kate DiCamillo book. This one didn’t charm me as much as her recently published beginning chapter book, Orris and Timble, but it would be a wonderful book for a younger kid who’s ready for a true children’s novel.

In classic Kate DiCamillo fashion, we’ve got a set of quirky characters interacting in fun ways, where a small detail from the beginning of the story becomes crucial later in the story, and all the threads weave together by the end.

Of course the featured character is Ferris, a girl who’s just finished fourth grade and who was born under the Ferris wheel at the county fair. Her beloved grandmother is ailing and sees a ghost who wants them to light for the first time the chandelier in the dining room of their old house. Ferris’s uncle Ted lives in the basement, having separated from his wife Shirley, and endeavoring to paint the history of the world without much progress. Ferris’s father reads the encyclopedia for fun and insists there are raccoons in their attic. And Ferris’s sister dreams of getting her picture on a Wanted poster and takes steps to make that happen. Then there’s Ferris’s best friend, a piano player, and their teacher Mrs. Milk, who taught them wonderful vocabulary words, but is now bereft.

All of this adds up to a sweet story with lots of character and lots of heart, proving the wise saying that all good stories are love stories.

katedicamillo.com

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/ferris.html

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.

What did you think of this book?

Review of Wingbearer, by Marjorie Liu and Teny Issakhanian

Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy, Graphic Novel, Starred Review 0

Wingbearer

by Marjorie Liu
illustrated by Teny Issakhanian

Quill Tree Books, 2022. 204 pages.
Review written May 23, 2022, from a library book
Starred Review

This is the first volume in a new graphic novel series. I was captivated, my only disappointment being that the story only begins in this volume, finishing with new questions and no resolution at all.

The book pulls you into a magical world right from the outset. The beautiful paintings are like looking at a skillfully animated movie. (I was not surprised to learn at the back that the illustrator indeed has a background with Disney and Dreamworks.)

Here’s the text on the first page, highlighted to indicate a kind of voiceover effect:

I don’t know how it began. That’s the truth, I promise.

The wings tell me that birds have always been immortal. That their spirits live forever, returning to this tree to be reborn. And I ask them, “Well, what about the rest of us?”

They have no answer.

But I think that if birds have a tree, then so must every other creature. And when we die, our souls travel to that place where we rest, just like birds, until we are reborn.

Unless of course, someone — or something — gets in the way.

Zuli is a little girl who lives in the Great Tree — a tree with roots down to the heart of the earth, where souls of birds come when they die and are soon reborn and sent on. Zuli doesn’t know how she got there.

But then the souls stop coming to the tree, and Zuli decides to go out in the world to find out what’s wrong and save them, accompanied by an owl companion.

The journey out in the big world is perilous. Zuli meets some companions and also seems to be hunted by a witch queen. She does learn that something is happening to the birds in the north, so that’s the direction she wants to travel. She also learns things about herself and that some beings were watching for her. Can she learn who her people are and why she was left as a baby in the Great Tree? And of course, can she save the souls of the birds from whatever is stopping them from being reborn?

None of these questions are answered in this volume, but I love the lavish art and Zuli’s kind spirit. I also love that even though this is some other world not at all like earth with goblins and dragons and griffins, Zuli is portrayed as a beautiful girl with black skin. Why shouldn’t she represent a generic human in this fantasy world?

The book takes less than an hour to read and the story isn’t finished, but the art is so lavish, I can forgive them for not waiting until the entire story is complete to publish part of it. I’m looking forward to reading more.

Buy from Amazon.com

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.

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 Rainbow the Koala, by Remy Lai

Animal Characters, Beginning Chapter Books, Children's Fiction Review, Graphic Novel 0

Surviving the Wild

Rainbow the Koala

by Remy Lai

Henry Holt and Company, 2022. 108 pages.
Review written May 4, 2022, from a library book

This is part of a new graphic novel series fictionalizing the lives of baby animals in actual situations of environmental danger.

Rainbow the Koala is, no surprise, almost unbearably cute. It features a tiny baby koala still living in his mother’s pouch. (Did you know koalas are marsupials like kangaroos?) As Rainbow grows up, he learns from his mother to always climb trees when in danger.

Before long, she sends him out on his own. He has trouble finding water because the forest is drier than ever. He has some encounters with humans in his efforts to survive.

But then a terrible wildfire strikes. Rainbow does what he was taught and climbs as high as he can. Amazingly, he survives — and this story is based on the story of a little koala found high in a eucalyptus tree after the fires of 2019-20 in Australia.

There’s another book in this series, Star the Elephant that tells about a little elephant whose home is threatened by deforestation. The graphic novels are easy for young readers to understand, and oh my goodness, these books are cute.

remylai.com
mackids.com

Buy from Amazon.com

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.

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 The Raven Heir, by Stephanie Burgis

Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy 0

The Raven Heir

by Stephanie Burgis
read by Eleanor Jackson

Bloomsbury Children’s Books, 2021. 5 hours, 25 minutes.
Review written June 6, 2024, from a library eaudiobook.

I’m not sure why it took me so long to read this book. Stephanie Burgis consistently writes outstanding middle grade fantasy books with characters who make their way in the world, navigating their own and others’ use of magic.

This book features Cordelia, who’s been living in the forest with her mother, older brother, and her two triplets. Cordelia’s magic allows her to shapeshift into any animal, and she hates staying inside. Her family gets impatient with her always turning into a bird or a mouse or something to get out of being where she’s supposed to be. Her triplets, Rosalind and Giles, certainly have magic of some kind, but haven’t been interested in developing it just yet. Rosalind focuses on learning swordplay, and Giles loves to sing, preferably for an audience.

One fateful day after Cordelia took off in bird form, she sees people in their woods — people who turn out to be soldiers. Someone has gotten through their mother’s protection spells and says that the king has died and her child is now the rightful king. Their mother doesn’t clue the visitor in that there are three of them. She won’t answer any of Cordelia’s questions about who was born first — or anything else, for that matter. And she is not happy to be told her child will be the ruler — she went into the forest to avoid that very thing. Ever since the Raven Crown broke, folks had been squabbling over the crown. Nobody can keep it for long, and to take the crown means death will come soon. In fact, two different branches of the family are each trying to put a different child on the throne, hoping to control them as regent.

Their mother tells the triplets to flee — Cordelia as a bird and the other two through a back tunnel. When they meet up, someone claiming to be their grandmother finds them, but can they even trust her? So begins an adventure that turns into a quest, with three children, all with magical powers but dubious control, trying to escape the soldiers looking for them, rescue their mother and older brother, and learn some family secrets along the way.

This is a fun fantasy-adventure tale and is firmly middle grade, with no romance, but plenty of adventure, magic, and kid power.

I have one little quibble. At one point in the story (and only one point in the story), Cordelia is given to understand that great magic requires a sacrifice of something she loves. I’ve seen this in several other books, and it’s an idea I hate. Why do kids have to read books that say it’s noble to give up something you love? I personally would like to see a book about the magical power inherent in following what you love and becoming great at it. However, in this book, this only came up in one big example, not in every single use of magic, so it didn’t bother me as much as a book I read where every little bit of magic required sacrifice. Why do we easily accept that sacrifice, simply for the sake of sacrifice, is noble? It reminds me of folks who think prayer requires bargaining with God. I honestly think kids are a little more prone to this, so seeing it in a kids’ fantasy book is actually a pet peeve of mine. It’s a very minor point in this book — but hit my pet peeve.

There, so all but the pet peeve, this was a wonderful book by an author I love, and give it to any kids you know who love reading about kids with magical powers.

stephanieburgis.com

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/raven_heir.html

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.

What did you think of this book?

Review of The Shape of Thunder, by Jasmine Warga

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

The Shape of Thunder

by Jasmine Warga
performed by Reena Dutt and Jennifer Jill Araya

HarperAudio, 2021. 7.25 hours on 6 discs.
Review written November 29, 2021, from a library audiobook
Starred Review

The Shape of Thunder is about two best friends, Cora and Quinn, who have been torn apart by grief and horror.

Almost a year ago, Cora’s sister Mabel was killed in a school shooting. Quinn’s brother Parker was the one who did the shooting.

Neither girl’s family is coping well with what happened. They still live next door to one another, but Cora refuses to even speak to Quinn.

Then Quinn gives Cora some articles – articles about time travel. The girls get caught up in the idea that they can find a wormhole and put back time and fix all that was broken.

Cora approaches the effort as a scientist, reading interviews from scientists at MIT, clinging to any thread that time travel might be possible.

I’ll be honest, at risk of spoiling the story – if two twelve-year-old girls had managed to discover a wormhole and go back in time, I would have been disgusted with the book and the false hopes it might give to other girls.

So maybe I’m giving something away when I say that this book is a beautiful look at hard things – grief, friendship, family, life itself. A heart-wrenching story that is ultimately hopeful.

jasminewarga.com
harperaudio.com

Buy from Amazon.com

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.

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 The Dragon Warrior, by Katie Zhao

Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy 0

The Dragon Warrior

by Katie Zhao

Bloomsbury Children’s Books, 2019. 343 pages.
Review written October 27, 2019, from a library book

The Dragon Warrior is one of those stories of a modern kid discovering she’s inherited the mantle of a hero of mythology and must go on a quest to save the world from demons. She’s looking for her father, who disappeared mysteriously fighting demons years ago, and has complicated relationships with the companions fighting alongside her.

This time the mythology is Chinese mythology – and it’s complicated. I did have trouble remembering the relationships of the various gods and demons – but I thought that was only fair, and I hope there are Chinese kids reading this book who enjoy reading about characters they’ve heard of before. There was a glossary in the back, but since it was in the back I didn’t want to refer to it in the middle of the book.

Faryn Liu lives in San Francisco’s Chinatown, where her grandfather trains her to battle demons. But the other members of the Jade Society look down on her family for not having pure Chinese blood. So nobody expects her to be chosen as the Heaven Breaker and to be given a quest to solve a puzzle and make it to the Jade Emperor’s Lunar Banquet.

It does read a lot like other similar stories, but it still is a fun read. My favorite moments were the horse-loving friend getting to drive a flying chariot and Faryn learning that she can command dragons.

This book looks to be the start of a series, and there were some complications I didn’t expect. This is an action-packed book with kids fighting demons to save the world. What’s not to like?

katiezhao.com
bloomsbury.com

Buy from Amazon.com

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.

Review of Amil and the After, by Veera Hiranandani

Children's Fiction Review, Historical, Starred Review 0

Amil and the After

by Veera Hiranandani

Kokila, 2024. 261 pages.
Review written June 20, 2024, from an advance reader copy sent to me by the publisher
Starred Review

I loved this book. Now, this is no surprise – this book features the same family as in The Night Diary, one of the books the 2019 Newbery Committee I was on chose as an Honor book. I think I read that book at least three times and loved it. I was happy to spend time with Nisha and Amil again, in a happier part of their story.

And that’s what the book is about – how do you get back to a normal life after great upheaval and trauma? In The Night Diary, Nisha and Amil’s Hindu family (even though their dead mother was Muslim) have to flee Pakistan after Partition – when the country was created overnight. Their journey was dangerous and harrowing, and they saw some awful things.

Now the family is settled in Bombay in 1948. Papa is working in a hospital there, and Nisha and Amil are going to school. But it’s hard to make friends. And it’s hard for Amil to concentrate on schoolwork. He’d rather be drawing.

It’s also hard for him to forget all the things he’s seen. And he knows he’s lucky – but what about the boys like him who are unlucky? Is there anything he can do to help?

Amil’s torn between heavy thoughts like that – and just wanting to daydream about getting a bicycle. But there’s still unrest in India, and will they even be able to stay in Bombay?

This book’s told from Amil’s perspective, and I loved spending time with him again and watching him learn to be happy again. (And you can read it if you haven’t read the first book – but that will give you more context.)

veerahiranandani.com
Penguin.com/kids

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/amil_and_the_after.html

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.

What did you think of this book?

Review of Willodeen, by Katherine Applegate

Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy, Starred Review 0

Willodeen

by Katherine Applegate
illustrations by Charles Santoso

Feiwel and Friends, 2021. 263 pages.
Review written January 7, 2022, from a library book
Starred Review

This is a sweet and poignant fantasy for younger readers with a strong theme about how life is interconnected. In less skilled hands, it would be a Message Book. As it is, this lovely story has a strong theme.

Willodeen lives in a village in a world with creatures unlike those in our world. She’s narrating the story, and tells us this:

I suppose I always loved strange beasts. Even as a wee child, I was drawn to them.

The scarier, the smellier, the uglier, the better.

Of course, I was kindly disposed toward all of earth’s creatures. Birds and bats, toads and cats, slimy and scaly, noble and humble.

But I especially loved the unlovable ones. The ones folks called pests. Vermin. Monsters, even.

My favorites were called screechers. They screamed at night like demented roosters, for no reason anyone could ever make out.

They were grumpy as tired toddlers. They were sloppy as hungry hogs.

And – I guess there’s no nice way to put it – they stank to high heaven.

Willodeen’s family was killed in the Great September Fire, and now she lives with two ladies who are healers. She doesn’t like large groups of people and feels like she never got the lesson on what to say when. But she watches the creatures who live around her village.

The other folks of the village love the hummingbears – adorable little bear-like creatures with silvery wings that make bubble nests in the blue willows by the river. They have a grand Faire every year when the hummingbears nest. Willodeen has her own hummingbear who was injured in the fire and can no longer fly long distances.

But recently, there are fewer creatures in the forest. The Council put a bounty on screechers because of their terrible smell. Willodeen is horrified when the last one she has seen in months gets shot by a bounty hunter.

Then a boy who crafts little model creatures makes her a little screecher on her birthday. And that day, Willodeen discovers a baby screecher. Can they keep it hidden from the hunters?

Then when hummingbears are missing from the town – but nest in the trees where their screecher feeds at the roots – Willodeen wonders if there is a connection.

Willodeen is a wonderful lovable character who pulls you into this story. You’ll find yourself loving the stinky screechers, too.

This is a gentle story with a strong punch.

katherineapplegate.com
mackids.com

Buy from Amazon.com

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.

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 Root Magic, by Eden Royce, read by Imani Parks

Audiobooks, Children's Fiction Review, Historical, Paranormal 0

Root Magic

by Eden Royce
read by Imani Parks

HarperAudio, 2021. 10 hours on 8 compact discs.
Review written February 18, 2022, from a library audiobook.
2022 Walter Award Honor Book

Root Magic is set on a South Carolina island in 1963 among people with Gullah Geechee heritage. Jez is facing big changes after the death of her Gran. She’s been moved ahead a year in school, so for the first time, she won’t be in a class with her twin brother, Jay. But after school, their uncle, Doc, has decided they’re finally old enough to begin learning Root Magic.

Root Magic has been passed down in their family, and Gran was powerful enough to leave Jez a doll with some amazing powers. Doc tells them that Root work is mainly about protection — but their family needs protection. Their Daddy has been missing for years, there are haints in the marsh, girls at school are mean, and a white police officer is known for harassing root workers.

This book had some big surprises as Jez begins to learn to use her power. She shows compassion and plants seeds that will help her in time of need.

I have to say that I wasn’t crazy about the way the narrator read this book, and I think I might have enjoyed it more in print. But I’m glad I kept listening. I grew up hearing stories about “witch doctors” in Africa, and this presentation of root work as family heritage done with love and compassion shook up some of those ideas. Though many of the things that happened were firmly in the realm of fantasy, I appreciated the honor the book gave to family, friendship, and tradition. And I enjoyed the surprising twists and turns in the plot.

Buy from Amazon.com

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.

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 Yusuf Azeem Is Not a Hero, by Saadia Faruqi

Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary 0

Yusuf Azeem Is Not a Hero

by Saadia Faruqi

Quill Tree Books (HarperCollins), 2021. 362 pages.
Review written December 17, 2021, from a library book

Yusuf Azeem Is Not a Hero tells about a Muslim boy who lives in the small town of Frey, Texas. He’s lived there all his life. Now he’s starting middle school, and on the first day gets hateful notes left in his locker, apparently targeting him because he’s Muslim.

His family and his Muslim neighbors are building a mosque in town, working together on weekends. But a new group has moved into town calling themselves the Patriot Sons, and they bring a legal challenge to the construction.

Meanwhile, Yusuf and his friend Danial are excited to be in middle school and old enough to compete in the annual Texas Robotics Competition. The catch is that they need enough people interested in robotics in order to be able to compete.

And all of this is happening in the Fall of 2021 – the twentieth anniversary of when the Twin Towers fell. The town of Frey is planning a big commemoration. Meanwhile, Yusuf’s uncle gives him the diary he wrote when he was in middle school and the towers fell. His uncle’s best friend stopped speaking to him, and back then there was also anti-Muslim hate to contend with.

I love that this book exists, and I hope it will get many kids thinking about the perspective of American kids who are also Muslim. Yusuf is a character you can’t help but root for, trying to do what’s right, but unfairly getting picked on.

It was perhaps unfortunate that the author set it so specifically in 2021 – and assumed the pandemic would be over. I wish! (Though maybe in small-town Texas, they would still do a parade on September 11th?) The book was a little slow-moving and a little on the long side, and the plot seemed a little bit contrived — but it was all with a good heart, and I was definitely rooting for Yusuf before it was over. I do hope a lot of kids will find this book.

saadiafaruqi.com
harpercollinschildrens.com

Buy from Amazon.com

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.

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.