Review of No Fits, Nelson! by Zachariah OHora

Contemporary, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

No Fits, Nilson!

by Zachariah OHora

Dial Books for Young Readers, 2013. 32 pages.
Starred Review

I always love the books that turn the tables on a toddler’s world, and give them a chance to have a new perspective on their own propensities.

In this book, Amelia has a giant blue gorilla for a friend. The last page pictures him as a small stuffed toy in bed with her, but the bulk of the book is the way Amelia sees him: A giant blue companion.

They do everything together. But Nilson does have a problem with throwing fits.

However, Amelia’s on top of it. When she sees Nilson is frustrated, not getting what he wants, impatient, and about to throw a fit, she says “No fits, Nilson!” and gives him a reason to contain himself. “We’re having banana pancakes for breakfast!” “This is an ADVENTURE, not errands!”

The pictures are such fun, with Nilson’s mounting frustration and Amelia’s calm, but then happily enjoying the day together in between the fit-crises.

I especially love the page after Nilson’s been promised banana ice cream on the way home.

Amelia covers Nilson’s mouth and stares him down with a gorilla eye lock, repeating the words banana ice cream over and over.

The picture shows tiny red words BANANA ICE CREAM over and over in a line between their eyes and between Amelia’s mouth and Nilson’s ears.

There’s a lovely climax when it turns out there’s no banana ice cream left for Amelia, and she’s the one in danger of throwing a fit. This time, Nilson is the one who saves the day and calms her down.

This book is perfect for any family whose child has ever acted like a giant gorilla. Marvellously cozy and quirky.

zohora.com
penguin.com/youngreaders

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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.

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.

Review of Savvy, by Ingrid Law

Award Challenge, Award Winners, Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary, Fantasy, Starred Review 0

Savvy

by Ingrid Law

Puffin Books, 2008. 342 pages.
Starred Review
2009 Newbery Honor Book

My copy of Savvy is inscribed to me from the author, acquired at ALA Annual Conference 2011. I finally read it on the plane on the way to ALA Annual Conference 2013. What in the world took me so long? I completely loved it. I wasn’t surprised to do so, since fantasy that wins Newbery Honor is pretty much a sure thing for me.

The book opens as Mibs is turning thirteen. Here’s how the book opens, when she explains why turning thirteen is significant in their family:

When my brother Fish turned thirteen, we moved to the deepest part of inland because of the hurricane and, of course, the fact that he’d caused it. I had liked living down south on the edge of land, next to the pushing-pulling waves. I had liked it with a mighty kind of liking, so moving had been hard — hard like the pavement the first time I fell off my pink two-wheeler and my palms burned like fire from all of the hurt just under the skin. But it was plain that Fish could live nowhere near or nearby or next to or close to or on or around any largish bodies of water. Water had a way of triggering my brother and making ordinary, everyday weather take a frightening turn for the worse.

Her turn is coming soon:

My savvy hadn’t come along yet. But I was only two days away from my very own thirteen dripping candles — though my momma’s cakes never lopped to the side or to the middle. Momma’s cakes were perfect, just like Momma, because that was her savvy. Momma was perfect. Anything she made was perfect. Everything she did was perfect. Even when she messed up, Momma messed up perfectly.

But before Mibs’ birthday can be properly celebrated, with powerful adults keeping an eye on things in case her new savvy gets out of control, her Papa gets in a car accident and is in a coma in the big city. Mibs and Fish and toddler Gypsy are left behind with Grandpa.

When the preacher’s wife gets wind of Mibs’ upcoming birthday, she plans a birthday party with her daughter and all the girls from Sunday School.

I could feel Fish and Grandpa getting more and more nervous at all the talk of parties. Thirteenth birthdays in the Beaumont family were strictly non-public affairs.

What follows is a delightful sequence of disasters. Mibs and Fish stowaway in a bus along with the preacher’s son and older daughter, driven by a Bible salesman who sells pink Bibles that no one wants. They want to get to Poppa, but have to take some detours along the way. Mibs learns her incredibly quirky Savvy, and learns a lot about people along the way.

Over-the-top adventures with quirky characters and a whole lot of heart. It’s easy to see why this book caught the attention of the Newbery committee. I’m so glad I finally read it!

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

Source: This review is based on my own copy, gotten at ALA Annual Conference and signed by the author.

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.

Review of Across a Star-Swept Sea, by Diana Peterfreund

Romance, Science Fiction, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

Across a Star-Swept Sea

by Diana Peterfreund

Balzer + Bray (HarperCollins), 2013. 449 pages.
Starred Review

Okay, before I begin the serious review, I’m going to gush a little. I LOVED this book! SO good! I stayed up all night reading it, and I’m not the least bit repentant. It helps that I have a 3-day weekend starting, but still, I haven’t read a book good enough to make me do that in awhile, and I’m so happy to find one.

Across a Star-Swept Sea is a sequel to the delightful For Darkness Shows the Stars, which was a science fiction retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion. You honestly don’t have to have read the first book. Some characters from the first book do make an appearance in the second book, but this one takes place in a totally different part of a future devastated earth, so their societies developed differently, and you don’t need to know about the society from the first book.

This book is a science fiction retelling of The Scarlet Pimpernel. As you can tell from one of the first Sonderbooks reviews I wrote, back in 2001, The Scarlet Pimpernel is one of my all-time favorites, and I’ve read it many times. That made me appreciate all the more what a brilliant job Diana Peterfreund did with this retelling. There was almost a scene-for-scene correspondence.

The big, fun thing she did was flip everyone’s gender. So “The Wild Poppy” is a 16-year-old girl, Persis Blake. It puts quite a different twist on the story.

The Scarlet Pimpernel is about a daring Englishman who saves nobles from the French Revolution. In Across a Star-Swept Sea, they’re in the same future earth as For Darkness Shows the Stars, where humankind was devastated by an accident with genetic engineering. People who used the genetic engineering gave birth to children who were “Reduced” — never having more intellectual capability than a small child.

The people living on the two islands of New Pacifica believe they are the only humans to have survived the wars. But one of the islands, Galatea, is having a revolution. Over the years, the people who were not Reduced, naturally, became the ruling class. The Reduced were capable of nothing but being servants.

However, a generation ago, a cure was developed, so that the Reduced were able to have “Regular” children. The new class of people, “regs” were still not treated well on Galatea, so they began a revolution. And the worst part is that they have developed a pill that destroys the brains of the former aristos, so they are now the Reduced ones, fit for nothing but service.

Persis Blake, in her many disguises as the Wild Poppy, is rescuing aristos from the revolutionaries. No one knows her identity, and she poses as an empty-headed socialite in the princess regent’s court of the other island, Albion. Their society has perfected genetic engineering, so she uses “genetemps” to disguise herself in any way she wants. But when one of those genetemps goes wrong and makes her sick, she’s saved by a Galatean medic who was looking for passage to Albion anyway. He’s handsome and seems to want to help the refugees, but can Persis trust the nephew of the revolutionary leader?

All the wonderful plot twists of the original are here, except that she tells you sooner (right away) the identity of the Wild Poppy. But those who know The Scarlet Pimpernel would know immediately anyway, and this works well.

If they didn’t take you seriously, they would never see you coming. Persis was the most stylish, the most glittering, the most frivolous girl in Albion. There was no way she was secretly orchestrating a spy ring.

This book is marvelously written and will make delightful reading whether you’ve read the original or not. Those who already know and love the original, like me, will appreciate this book all the more. Magnificent!

dianapeterfreund.com
epicreads.com
authortracker.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Teens/across_a_star_swept_sea.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.

Source: This review is based on my own copy, ordered via Amazon.com.

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.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Review of The Madness Underneath, by Maureen Johnson

Paranormal, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

The Madness Underneath

Shades of London, Book 2

by Maureen Johnson

G. P. Putnam’s Sons (Penguin), 2013. 290 pages.
Starred Review

This is the second book in the Shades of London series, and, yes, you should read the first book, The Name of the Star to properly enjoy this one.

Without saying too much about the first book, Rory is an American who’s going to boarding school in London. But while there, she has an almost-dying experience and then begins to see ghosts. And then one of those ghosts begins recreating the murders of Jack the Ripper. And he knows she can see him.

Book Two comes after she has survived what the Ripper tried to do to her. Her parents are upset and have been keeping her in a bubble. But some powerful friends want Rory’s help — she gained some power through her experience — and they are able to make it happen that Rory goes back to school.

But she didn’t get much work done while she was away. And the schoolwork in England was difficult already.

So now she’s in danger of failing, and there is more than one group who is interested in her, and it seems a crack has opened under her school that connects to the burying ground of Bedlam, the old mental hospital. And the ghosts that are coming out now are not happy.

In many ways, this book feels like a bridge between what went before and what comes next. But some dramatic things happen in this book, and I’m dying to know what Rory will do next.

I love Maureen Johnson’s writing style. I could easily imagine her tweeting most of the things that Rory says. The style is a little demented and a whole lot of fun, and Rory’s the kind of person who would always be fun to be around. So we get to be around her for as long as it takes to read these books.

maureenjohnsonbooks.com
penguin.com/youngreaders

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Teens/madness_underneath.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.

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.

Review of The Mighty Lalouche, by Matthew Olshan and Sophie Blackall

Historical, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

The Mighty Lalouche

by Matthew Olshan
illustrated by Sophie Blackall

Schwartz & Wade Books, 2013. 40 pages.
Starred Review

Magnifique!

One hundred and a few-odd years ago, in Paris, France, there lived a humble postman named Lalouche. He was small, Lalouche, and rather bony, but his hands were nimble, his legs were fast, and his arms were strong.

For company, he kept a finch named Geneviève.

When Lalouche loses his job because the postal service wants to use the new electric cars, he sees an ad for boxers. Lalouche is much smaller than the other boxers, but he overwhelms them with his speed and agility, and wins every time.

There’s a final showdown with The Anaconda, but Lalouche takes up the cry, “For country, mail, and Geneviève!”

However, despite all Lalouche’s surprising success, stationery stores with envelopes and stamps still make him sad. The happy ending turns that all around and makes the reader think about what success really means.

So, it’s all a charming story. There are even photos in the back and an author’s note that French boxing was actually like that – where speed and agility could win out over muscle and bulk.

But what makes this book over-the-top wonderful are the cut-out illustrations by Sophie Blackall. (Well, okay, and the way the story is perfectly paced to match them.) They have amazing attention to detail and wonderfully give the feel of nineteenth-century France. Let me strongly encourage you to check out this book and look at the pictures yourself. I have little doubt you’ll be charmed as well.

I am going to feature this book in a “Family Storytime” at the library. It’s too much fun to keep to myself.

For country, mail, and Geneviève!

matthewolshan.com
sophieblackall.com
randomhouse.com/kids

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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.

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.

Review of Let Go Now, by Karen Casey

Musings, Nonfiction Review, Starred Review 0

Let Go Now

Embracing Detachment

by Karen Casey

Conari Press, 2010. 232 pages.
Starred Review

I’ve been reading this book, slowly, a little at a time, often pausing to post quotes on Sonderquotes, for more than a year. I started reading it as a library book, but then when it was clear I was going to take ages, and that it is packed with good insights, I purchased my own copy.

There are 200 numbered meditations, with “Pause and reflect” pages after each ten meditations. All of the meditations are about detachment and letting go.

I’m divorced, and I didn’t want to be divorced. It’s been a long time, but it’s still always good to get any and all encouragement to let go of that marriage, to detach. And what do you know, the advice is good in other areas, too. I’m a Mom whose kids are becoming adults. And it turns out that most situations that cause stress can be improved by letting go of something.

Why would you want to detach? I’ll let Karen Casey explain, from the Introduction:

To begin with, I think we have to cultivate our willingness to let go, that is, to detach from the trials and tribulations of our contemporaries if we want to find the quiet peace we long for, a peace that will allow us to truly love, to truly embrace, and to appreciate those who journey with us. In this process, we also give those companions the freedom to grow and to find their own way, thus their own eventual peace too. I don’t think we can come together as loving equals without embracing the willingness to detach.

We live very codependent lives, from my perspective. By this I mean that too many of us let even the whims of others — in our families, our communities, our workplaces, even in other parts of the world — define us, determine how we feel, and then decide what we will do next in many instances. Learning to detach allows us to live the life we were meant to live. By allowing other people’s behavior, good, bad, or disinterested, control us, we miss many opportunities for movement and expression in new directions. The converse is also true: if we attempt to control the other persons on our path, wherever they may reside, keeping them “attached” to us through any means (and most of us are very practiced at this), we immobilize them, thus preventing the growth they deserve and have been prepared for already.

Detachment isn’t easy. If it were, there would be no need for a book offering to help you develop the skills to do it. And it may not have appeared on your radar screen as something you wanted to cultivate prior to picking up this book. As was already noted, we are accustomed to being enmeshed with others, letting our lives be constantly influenced by their behavior. I am not suggesting that this influence is always bad; there are good influences, too, probably everyday. We can and do observe healthy “detached” behavior in some of our friends, and perhaps they showed up on our path to serve as our teachers. It’s not always easy to discern the “good” from the “bad,” however. It’s my intent for the meditations here to illustrate those behaviors we want to mimic and those we don’t.

Rather than give you more inspiring excerpts from the book, I’m going to refer the reader to the many quotations I posted on Sonderquotes. This is a marvelous choice for reading each morning. It will help you go on your way with peace.

womens-spirituality.com
redwheelweiser.com

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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.

Source: This review is based on my own personal copy, purchased via Amazon.com.

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.

Review of The Real Boy, by Anne Ursu

Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy, Starred Review 0

The Real Boy

by Anne Ursu

Walden Pond Press, 2013. 343 pages.
Starred Review

The Barrow even had one magic worker so skilled he called himself a magician. Master Caleb was the first magician in a generation, and he helped the Asterians shine even more brightly. He had an apprentice, like most magic smiths. But like the wizards of old, he also took on a hand — a young boy from the Children’s Home — to do work too menial for a magician’s apprentice.

The boy, who was called Oscar, spent most of his time underneath Caleb’s shop, tucked in a small room in the cellar, grinding leaves into powders, extracting oils from plants, pouring tinctures into small vials — kept company by the quiet, the dark, the cocoon of a room, and a steady rotation of murmuring cats. It was a good fate for an orphan.

This book is about Oscar. When the magician Caleb goes on a trip, leaving the apprentice, Wolf, in charge, something terrible happens to Wolf. Oscar is stuck watching the shop. He doesn’t know what to do. He feels like an alien. He doesn’t know how to read people’s faces, and interacting with them makes him anxious.

But the Healer’s Apprentice, Callie, is also in charge in her master’s absence. She and Oscar help each other. She helps Oscar deal with people, and he helps Callie know which herbs will cure.

But something is going wrong with the magic, something that may be much bigger than Oscar and Callie can handle.

I’m not sure I was satisfied with the ending — not sure I understood clearly enough what had actually happened. But the book itself, the world, and especially Oscar, were delightful to spend time with.

In a contemporary novel, Oscar’s difficulties would probably have a name, a definition. I like that this fantasy novel doesn’t label Oscar. We see him as an individual, with his own particular difficulties and fears, as well as strengths and insights. Ultimately, this is a hopeful book about overcoming and doing good in spite of your own self-doubt. Go, Oscar!

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

Source: This review is based on an Advance Reader Copy I got at ALA Annual Conference and had signed by the author.

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.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Review of Tiny Little Fly, by Michael Rosen and Kevin Waldron

Animal Characters, Picture Book Review, Readalouds, Starred Review 0

Tiny Little Fly

by Michael Rosen
pictures by Kevin Waldron

Candlewick Press, 2010. 32 pages.
Starred Review

I’ve found a book I simply must read for my next Baby Storytime. It’s got great big pages and features great big animals – and one tiny little fly.

Tiny Little Fly lands on Great Big Elephant, and Great Big Hippo, and Great Big Tiger. They each wink one eye and try to catch the fly, with appropriate sound effects. They all fail.

The big vivid pictures make this perfect for a group reading, especially combined with the chorus of sounds like “Tramp! Crush! Tramp!” for the elephant. I especially like the winding trail of the fly pictured behind it. You can almost feel the fly landing.

And how common is that situation? You can easily relate to the animals saying to themselves, “I’m going to catch that fly!” But it’s so easy to believe they would vigorously try and fail.

My, oh my,
Tiny Little Fly!

At the end, there’s a big fold-out spread, with all three animals fruitlessly after the fly.

Tiny Little Fly
winks one eye. . . .
“See you all soon.
Bye, everyone, bye!”

Just right for a beginning experience with books. It’s got animals, rhymes, repetition and predictability, big lovely pictures, buzzing sounds, things to chant, and even a happy ending.

candlewick.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Picture_Books/tiny_little_fly.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.

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.

Review of Fortunately, the Milk, by Neil Gaiman

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

Fortunately, the Milk

by Neil Gaiman
illustrated by Skottie Young

Harper, 2013. 113 pages.
Starred Review

This beginning chapter book made me smile on every page. The book is essentially a tall tale told by a father about what happened when he went to the store for milk for his children’s cereal. Fortunately, the milk saved the world.

Along the way, he gets beamed into a flying saucer, meets the Queen of the Pirates, walks a plank, and travels with a time-traveling stegosaurus who invented the Button.

It’s all very silly, yet logical; very outrageous, yet matter-of-fact. And the father nobly goes through all the adventures to get milk for his children.

“Well,” I told him, “it was very lucky for me that you turned up when you did and rescued me. I am slightly lost in space and time right now and need to get home in order to make sure my children get milk for their breakfast.”

This is easy to read, but is enjoyable for any age audience. No dumbing down here! Kids ready for chapter books will be richly rewarded when they tackle this book, which includes time travel paradoxes and great silliness.

mousecircus.com
skottieyoung.com

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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.

Source: This review is based on an Advance Reader Copy loaned to me by my friend Kristin. (Thank you!)

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.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers.

Review of A Natural History of Dragons, by Marie Brennan

Fantasy, Fiction Review, Starred Review 0

A Natural History of Dragons

A Memoir by Lady Trent

by Marie Brennan

Tom Doherty Associates (Tor), 2013. 334 pages.
Starred Review

A Natural History of Dragons is set in a world similar to ours, in the Regency era, only they have dragons. The distinguished Lady Trent, a scientist and an adventurer, is now old, and she’s writing her memoirs. This book is the first volume, about her first expedition to learn about dragons.

Isabella writes about her childhood, when she already became fascinated by dragons, because of a book, The Natural History of Dragons. This is a most improper pursuit for a young lady, and she must resort to subterfuge to get to go on a dragon hunt — with nearly disastrous results.

When it comes time for Isabella to find a husband, she is sure she must hide her fascination with dragons. She considers herself fortunate indeed when she finds a man who loves her enough not only to let her read his books about dragons, but even to accompany him on an expedition to Vyrstrani to study dragons in the field.

Once in the Vyrstrani village, though, things don’t go according to plan. The person they relied on for planning their trip is missing. Dragons are attacking people, and no one knows why. Then there is evidence of smugglers.

Through it all, Isabella’s curiosity and impulsiveness consistently put her in the thick of things.

The beginning of the book is a little like Jane Austen with dragons, but the bulk of the book is about Isabella’s field work, so it’s more of an adventure tale, reminiscent of Elizabeth Peters’ Amelia Peabody books.

On the flap about the author, it says, “Marie Brennan habitually pillages her background in anthropology, archaeology, and folklore for fictional purposes.” Indeed, this book reads like a serious book about anthropology, archaeology, and folklore — only with dragons.

Great fun!

swantower.com
tor-forge.com

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Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Fiction/natural_history_of_dragons.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.

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.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!