Review of The Princess in Black Takes a Vacation, by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale

Beginning Chapter Books, Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy, Starred Review 0

princess_in_black_takes_a_vacation_largeThe Princess in Black Takes a Vacation

by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale
illustrated by LeUyen Pham

Candlewick Press, 2016. 88 pages.
Starred Review

Oh, how I love the Princess in Black! This is the fourth book about frilly and pink Princess Magnolia, who disguises herself as the Princess in Black to fight monsters with ninja moves.

In this book, I was happy to see the Goat Avenger finally step up to help out. We found out about him in Book One. But even if you haven’t read Book One, you’ll find out what’s up:

The Goat Avenger was the same height as her friend Duff. He even had the same smile. But it couldn’t be Duff. Duff did not wear a mask.

The Princess in Black is tired. She has fought fifteen monsters this week. So the Goat Avenger offers to protect the goats while she takes a vacation.

However, no sooner does Princess Magnolia start napping on the perfect beach, than a giant sea monster surfaces.

Maybe if I just lie here the monster will go away, thought Princess Magnolia.

“ROOOAAARRR!” said the sea monster. “EAT PEOPLE!”

The people on the beach screamed.

Fortunately, Princess Magnolia has brought her disguise along with her beach gear. And fortunately, there’s a handy bathing tent where she can change.

Can the Princess in Black save the day against a giant sea monster? And will she ever get a vacation? And can the Goat Avenger protect the goats from monsters?

This series is just so much fun. I love the cartoon-like illustrations. The monsters are monstrous, but not too scary. The language is simple, perfect for beginning readers, but full of humor. I like the way the Princess in Black does use ninja moves (again my favorite is Twinkle Twinkle Little Smash!), but she also tells the monsters to behave, and that they are not allowed to eat goats or people.

Even though there’s a princess on the cover, these books are for kids of any gender. My co-worker’s five-year-old son loves them, as will any kid who likes superheroes or ninja moves or feeling powerful.

squeetus.com
candlewick.com

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Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

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Review of Ghost, by Jason Reynolds

Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary, Starred Review 0

ghost_largeGhost

Track: Book 1

by Jason Reynolds

Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2016. 180 pages.
Starred Review

Castle Cranshaw, who’s giving himself the nickname Ghost, learned to run the night his dad shot at Ghost and his Ma.

So when I was done sitting at the bus stop in front of the gym, and came across all those kids on the track at the park, practicing, I had to go see what was going on, because running ain’t nothing I ever had to practice. It’s just something I knew how to do.

It turns out that Ghost is as fast as the fastest kid on the team — so the coach lets him join. But Ghost’s Ma will only let him stay on the team if he can stay out of trouble. And then all the other kids have nice shoes. How can he ask his Ma to pay for shoes like that?

This story is simple — a kid’s life is transformed by becoming part of a team — but it’s carried out well. There’s nothing stereotypical about the story, even if you can sum it up in a stereotypical way.

The details of Ghost’s life — the particular ways he gets bullied, his particular temptations that get him in trouble, the particular kids he gets to know on the track team, the particular coach with a bald head and missing tooth who drives a taxi — all those particulars make this story come to life and feel like something we haven’t heard before.

I cringed when I saw “Track: Book 1” on the title page, because the last two books I read were also Book One. But this book is complete in itself — Okay, they don’t tell you who wins the race at the end, which is slightly annoying, but the story is complete and gets us to Ghost’s first race.

All the same, I’m glad I’ll get to find out what happens next for Ghost and his new family on the track team.

jasonwritesbooks.com
simonandschuster.com/kids

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Review of Wolf Hollow, by Lauren Wolk

Children's Fiction Review, Historical, Starred Review 0

wolf_hollow_largeWolf Hollow

by Lauren Wolk

Dutton Children’s Books (Penguin Random House), 2016. 291 pages.
Starred Review

Here’s the Prologue of this book:

The year I turned twelve, I learned how to lie.

I don’t mean the small fibs that children tell. I mean real lies fed by real fears — things I said and did that took me out of the life I’d always known and put me down hard into a new one.

It was the autumn of 1943 when my steady life began to spin, not only because of the war that had drawn the whole world into a screaming brawl, but also because of the dark-hearted girl who came to our hills and changed everything.

At times, I was so confused that I felt like the stem of a pinwheel surrounded by whir and clatter, but through that whole unsettling time I knew that it simply would not do to hide in the barn with a book and an apple and let events plunge forward without me. It would not do to turn twelve without earning my keep, and by that I meant my place, my small authority, the possibility that I would amount to something.

But there was more to it than that.

The year I turned twelve, I learned that what I said and what I did mattered.

So much, sometimes, that I wasn’t sure I wanted such a burden.

But I took it anyway, and I carried it as best I could.

At the end of the book, Annabelle says:

But Wolf Ho

So this is a story about Lies and about Truth, about basic questions of Right and Wrong.

It’s not a World War II story, even though that’s the backdrop. Annabelle lives on a farm in Wolf Hollow. She attends a one-room school and looks out for her little brothers.

The story involves a dark-hearted girl who comes to Wolf Hollow, and who looks sweet and pretty to the adults, but is a cruel and relentless bully.

It also involves a homeless man named Toby, a veteran of World War I, who roams the hills with three guns on his back and camps out in an abandoned building. Again, to adults Toby looks scary, but he’s open-hearted and kind.

Annabelle has a window on both those people that isn’t shared with most of the folks in Wolf Hollow.

This book isn’t light-hearted and doesn’t really have a happy ending. But it’s a book about doing what’s right and seeing who people really are.

But it’s also a lovely book about love and friendship that leaves you uplifted in spite of the tough issues it uncovers.

penguin.com/youngreaders

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Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

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Review of Towers Falling, by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary 0

towers_falling_largeTowers Falling

by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Little, Brown and Company, 2016. 228 pages.

Granted, this is a message book. But the message is timely, and the execution is carried out with a mostly light touch.

Central to the book is Dèja, a 10-year-old girl who lives with her family in an apartment in a homeless shelter in Brooklyn. She’s starting 5th grade in 2016 at a new school.

The new school is the best one she’s ever attended, and she makes two good friends — a new boy from Arizona and a Muslim girl — and she loves her teacher, Miss Garcia.

But the class starts a unit talking about what happened on September 11, 2001. The school has windows looking out on the Manhattan skyline.

Dèja knows absolutely nothing about the Twin Towers. She’s confused and shocked by what her classmates tell her — as it gradually unfolds in conversation.

Dèja having a Muslim friend also plays into it, as she is very sensitive about the events as well.

I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that Dèja pretty quickly guesses that her father’s inability to work and frequent headaches have to do with September 11. Sure enough, she snoops into his locked suitcase and learns that he was a survivor. They eventually do talk about it.

What startled me most about this book was realizing that kids today don’t have any memory at all of the Twin Towers falling. They weren’t born yet. In fact, the teacher in the book was a fifth-grade student when the towers fell and saw them fall through the school windows.

So yes, the plot is a tiny bit stilted — with a lot of the events turning on the teacher’s lesson plans. But I think it’s lovely that this book is here, a jumping off place for discussing that pivotal event and talking about what connects us as Americans.

Coincidentally, just this last week my cousin visited the 9/11 memorial in New York City. So I had just heard about and seen pictures of the striking imagery and the wonderful detail that flowers go next to the names of those whose birthday it would be.

And the story also stands as the story of a kid in a homeless shelter trying to cope, trying to make friends. It’s not a long book, but it’s a lovely contribution and will give kids much to think about and talk about.

jewellparkerrhodes.com/children
lb-kids.com

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Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

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Review of The Creeping Shadow, by Jonathan Stroud

Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy, Starred Review 0

creeping_shadow_largeThe Creeping Shadow

Lockwood & Co. Book Four

Disney/Hyperion, 2016. 445 pages.
Starred Review

I finished rereading Lockwood & Co. Book Three, The Hollow Boy a week before this one was scheduled to come out, so I waited for it anxiously. I had a copy preordered via Amazon, but I also put a library copy on hold just in case that would be faster. (The library was only a day behind Amazon, as it happened.)

First, I’ll say right up front that this is not the end of the series. This book, like the rest, ends with some new information that makes you anxious to read the next book. It’s not too annoying – you still have a complete story in these pages – but it does make you impatient for the next installment.

The good side of that is that there will be a next installment! This is a series I don’t want to end.

Yes, you should definitely read these books in order. There is a progression. But each book does feel complete with some adventures that tie together and culminate in a victory for our heroes. Though the new information at the end of each book always promises complications.

The basic scenario of all the books is alternate reality London, where for fifty years there has been a “Problem” with ghosts showing up and terrorizing the populace. Once people reach a certain age, they can’t see ghosts any more, so children in agencies fight the ghosts and find the Sources that keep them coming back to our world.

Most agencies have adult supervisors, but Lockwood & Co. is run by children themselves. (They don’t give Lockwood’s age directly, but I’m thinking he’s about fourteen.) They fight ghosts with weapons like silver-tipped rapiers, salt bombs, and iron chains. Agents are children with psychic talents to sense the ghosts – not everyone has them. And no one seems to be as gifted with Listening as our narrator Lucy Carlyle. She even has a skull in a jar that she talks with and keeps close.

At the start of this book, Lucy has been working on her own for a while as a consultant. She’s developed the Lucy Carlyle Formula for dealing with ghosts. “Use their name. Ask the question. Keep it simple.” She asks ghosts what they want. Sometimes they answer her. Though the way they answer is sometimes dangerous.

As the book opens, Lockwood comes back to her and asks for help on a case, the case of the Ealing Cannibal. The morning after that case, someone breaks into her apartment and steals the skull in the jar.

So this book develops differently than the previous volumes. There’s a lot of mortal danger from living people as well as from ghosts. Someone is keeping lots of powerful Sources from being destroyed. For what purpose? And can Lucy get the skull back?

Jonathan Stroud is definitely not lacking in imagination. There’s still lots of direct fighting ghosts – and he comes up with new twists such as a ghost who can only be seen in mirrors. But there is also a sense of bigger plots going on around our heroes – and a knowledge of danger because powerful people don’t want their plots discovered.

I don’t need to say more about the plot in this book. Read the books in order, and if you’ve read the first three books, I very much doubt you’ll want to stop. Yes, Book Four is just as good. Yes, it brings new twists into the story. Yes, it will be frustrating to wait for Book Five.

There is a progression in the series. We find out a little bit more about Lockwood’s background. (I love the use they find for something from his parents’ collection.) We find out a little bit more about the Problem. We find out a little bit more about the most powerful agencies in London. And along the way we get to enjoy Lockwood’s charisma, Lucy’s talent, George’s cleverness, and Holly’s efficiency. And the relationships between the four of them just get more complex. I can’t get enough of these books!

LockwoodandCo.com
jonathanstroud.com
DisneyBooks.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 My Life With the Liars, by Caela Carter

Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary, Starred Review 0

my_life_with_the_liars_largeMy Life with the Liars

by Caela Carter

Harper, 2016. 285 pages.
Starred Review

Here’s how this book begins:

It is just like Father Prophet said it would be. The dark is everywhere, inky black above and below and to either side, squishing me back into the seat where the strap across my shoulder holds me, trapped. The man who is driving said I couldn’t turn on the light. He said it would make it too hard for him to see the road. But I’m sure he was lying. The Outside is full of Liars and Darkness. That’s what Father Prophet said.

The book is written from the perspective of Zylynn. She’s been taken from everything she knows to live with her Dad — and she doesn’t even know what that word means.

Zylynn was taken ten days before her thirteenth birthday and her Ceremony. So she’s got to get back to the Light in time. She mustn’t be taken in by the Liars.

Zylynn’s story is told in the present and in flashbacks. She thinks she’s been sent to the Outside because she committed an Abomination. But if she prays to Father Prophet hard enough and only thinks about the Light, surely she can get back. Surely Father Prophet will come for her.

Gradually, Zylynn’s story is unfolded. She’s so hungry, she stores food under her bed. There’s much she doesn’t understand. And she just wants to go back. Or does she?

Caela Carter skillfully weaves this story, revealing what Zylynn’s life was like in the Light. Even kids who are not familiar with the concept of cults will realize something’s wrong with her perspective.

I had some trouble believing that people would actually get pulled in to such a cult and bring their children. But in the Acknowledgements at the end, the author said, “To cult survivors: thank you. If you shared your story, believe me, I found it.” She also showed that the cult Zylynn was in got worse gradually. And for Zylynn, it was all she knew, so she had no way of knowing the truth.

It’s beautiful to watch Zylynn slowly learning to open up to her new family, to new experiences. Her plight pulls you in. Will she make it back in time for her thirteenth birthday? Or will she figure out that the stories she was told about the Liars were all lies?

caelacarter.com
harpercollinschildrens.com

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Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

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Review of Unidentified Suburban Object, by Mike Jung

Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary, Science Fiction 0

unidentified_suburban_object_largeUnidentified Suburban Object

by Mike Jung

Arthur A. Levine Books (Scholastic), 2016. 265 pages.

Chloe Cho has always felt different. She’s the only Korean student in her entire school in her town of Primrose Heights. And her parents won’t tell her anything about their background. When she tries to research her roots, they react strangely and change the subject.

So Chloe’s excited about the new social studies teacher at their school – Ms. Lee, who’s Korean. Maybe Chloe can finally talk with someone about her heritage.

But when Ms. Lee’s first assignment is to write down a family story, Chloe’s parents simply won’t cooperate. They buy Chloe the new violin she’s wanted for years – could it just be a distraction?

Eventually, Chloe learns that she is even more of an outsider than she had thought. Then she has to figure out what to tell her best friend, who couldn’t possibly believe her, could she?

This is a middle school story about friendships and family and fitting in. Along the way, it asks some thought-provoking questions and makes you wonder about some things our society takes for granted.

mikejung.com
scholastic.com

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Review of The Hollow Boy audiobook, by Jonathan Stroud

Audiobooks, Children's Fiction Review, Starred Review 0

hollow_boy_audio_largeThe Hollow Boy

Lockwood & Co., Book Three

by Jonathan Stroud
read by Emily Bevan

Listening Library, 2015. 12 hours on 10 compact discs.
Starred Review

Today I finished listening to the audiobook of Lockwood & Co. Book Three — and ordered the hardback edition of Lockwood & Co. Book Four! I love this timing. If I remember right, they did the same thing last year — brought out the audiobook of the last volume a few months before the next volume was coming out in print. Listening to the audiobook version is the perfect way to prepare for the next book coming out!

It’s a series, and you do need to read the books in order, so I shouldn’t say too much about later volumes — but rereading Book Three gives me an excuse to rave about the series again.

My only complaint about the audiobook versions is that so far each volume has had a different reader. But it had been a year since I listened to Volume Two, and I liked the reader of Volume Three a lot. I don’t know a lot about British accents, but I did gather that she gave Lucy a working-class accent, which is appropriate. And Holly Munroe even sounded annoyingly perfect.

I’m struck again by how brilliant the writing is. All the emotions and relationships are done by showing rather than telling — and so realistic. We never find out exactly what age they are, but they’re kids, young teens — and Lucy clearly is attracted to her friend Anthony Lockwood and loves working with him and values their team. And then this perfectly together young woman gets hired while she’s out of town having a disappointing trip back with her family. And Lockwood and George like the way Holly is so perfect and together and annoyingly feminine.

And oh my goodness, I relate to Lucy maybe a little too much.

And that part isn’t even the focus of the story, which is about an outbreak of ghosts in Chelsea. George, ever the brilliant researcher, figures out that DEPRAC forces are looking in the wrong place, and Lockwood & Co. tackle a frighteningly powerful entity.

Meanwhile, Lucy’s power of communicating with Visitors is getting stronger all the time. But it’s unprecedented, and she doesn’t think the normal rules should apply. However, just because she can communicate with ghosts doesn’t necessarily mean she should.

I am so excited that the next volume comes out September 13!

listeninglibrary.com

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Source: This review is based on a library audiobook from Fairfax County Public Library.

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 To Catch a Cheat, by Varian Johnson

Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary, Starred Review 0

to_catch_a_cheat_largeTo Catch a Cheat

by Varian Johnson

Arthur A. Levine Books, Scholastic, 2016. 241 pages.
Starred Review

This sequel to The Great Greene Heist can be enjoyed on its own, though why limit the fun? The first book explains how Jackson Greene’s team was assembled, but other than that, you can go on with the story in To Catch a Cheat.

Jackson Greene keeps trying to give up running cons. But someone has hacked the new security cameras at school, backed up the toilets and flooded the school — and faked footage of Jackson and his team doing the deed. Their terms: Steal the key to Mrs. Clark’s legendary end-of-term exam, or the fake video footage will be turned over to the principal.

The principal doesn’t trust Jackson, so he won’t wait for them to prove the video was faked.

What’s more, they have to include two of their opponents in the exam heist. But Jackson and his team are pretty sure those two aren’t the real mastermind behind the plot. Who has it in for Jackson? And how can they get the fake video without letting anyone get away with cheating?

I’ll be honest — I’m not sure I followed every step of the elaborate plan Jackson and his friends worked out. But I definitely enjoyed the journey.

Again, To Catch a Cheat has a multicultural cast and realistic middle school students — smart and tech-savvy, but definitely still kids. Jackson has patched things up with Gaby de la Cruz and is spending a lot of time with her, but now the caper he’s having trouble planning is when to kiss her.

More good-natured fun and cleverness. What could be better? Elaborate plans for a team to break into school and steal a test — but also work it out that the cheats are the ones who get caught. Can they pull it off? Who better than Jackson Greene? He’s trying to stay retired, but what can a con artist do when he gets framed?

varianjohnson.com
arthuralevinebooks.com
scholastic.com

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Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

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Review of Waylon! One Awesome Thing, by Sara Pennypacker

Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary, Starred Review 0

waylon_largeWaylon!

One Awesome Thing

by Sara Pennypacker
pictures by Marla Frazee

Disney Hyperion, 2016. 198 pages.
Starred Review

Here is some consolation that the series of books about Clementine has finished. We don’t have to totally say good-by to Clementine, because now we can get to know Waylon. Waylon is Clementine’s classmate, and now they are in fourth grade.

Sara Pennypacker is a genius at dramatizing child-sized concerns. Waylon is a budding scientist now navigating things like a leader in his class dividing everyone in the class into teams. And his teenage sister Charlotte has changed her name to Neon and wears nothing but black. Then a kid from last year is back – and he looks like trouble. Which team will they put him on?

Waylon doesn’t like the idea of teams, but he still finds he wants to be put on a team. He’s got a problem with blurting out scientific facts that seem exciting to him.

Waylon gets a journal where he can write down his awesome ideas. Soon a cause comes up that seems worth all his energy. Will it bring the class together?

I just don’t find it in me to be quite as big a fan of Waylon as I am of Clementine, but I strongly suspect he’ll grow on me. And I’m glad that there’s something more, but a little bit different, for fans of Clementine.

I like Waylon’s family almost as much as I like Clementine’s family. His mom is a scientist with a lab. His dad is a writer who often does acting in the park on Saturdays. On the Saturday we see, he’s posing as a living statue of Ben Franklin who moves suddenly and surprises people. Waylon learns useful things from watching him.

Here’s what Waylon does in the park after spending some time watching his dad:

Waylon . . . took off to find a good place to play Want This Dog?

Waylon stretched out on an empty bench with a view of the park. He would never have a dog – ever – because his mother was deathly allergic. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t pretend. Whenever a dog went by, he imagined that its owner was trying to give it away. No thanks, he imagined himself saying to a woman with a poodle. Too fluffy.

No, he thought when a teenager tugged a Saint Bernard past his bench. Too slobbery.

Playing Want This Dog? Made him both sad and happy at the same time. It hurt to see all those dogs he could never have. The truth was, he would have loved to take any of them. Still, it made him feel strangely happy that in all the times he’d played, he had never imagined himself answering Yes.

If he didn’t know better, he could believe that the perfect dog – the one meant just for him – was waiting out there. But waiting for what, he couldn’t imagine.

Once again, I like the way Sara Pennypacker brings all the disparate threads in Waylon’s life together, in a completely satisfying, but realistic, climax.

sarapennypacker.com
marlafrazee.com
DisneyBooks.com

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Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

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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