Review of The Hedgewitch of Foxhall, by Anna Bright

Audiobooks, Fantasy, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

The Hedgewitch of Foxhall

by Anna Bright
read by Fiona Hardingham, Alister Austin, and James Meunier

HarperTeen, 2024. 12 hours.
Review written May 29, 2024, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

This is another eaudiobook I chose because it is wildly popular with our library customers. And this time, I struck pure gold! I loved this book with all my heart.

Now, as any time where the narrators have gorgeous British accents, listening to these readers made me love it all the more. But the tale itself has everything I love in a fantasy novel — characters who defy expectations and live by their own rules, magic that is easy to understand and makes sense, a plot that gets you wondering how they’ll make it through but ties up brilliantly, and of course some romance. [In this case, plenty of romance but no sex between the characters. Nowadays, I like to let people know.]

This book is set in medieval Wales, and the Author’s note reveals that she took pains to be true to what we know of that history. Our title character is Ffion. She’s a hedgewitch, not affiliated with the giant coven in Foxhall her mother and sisters are part of — a coven that charges for people even to wait in line to request help. Ffion does small magic for people who can’t afford their prices. But much worse is that the coven doesn’t care what price they take from the land to work their magic — and Ffion’s fox familiar is caught up and killed in a fire of their making. Ffion is determined to do a summoning spell to bring him back — but she will have to do it before the new moon, when his spirit will depart for good.

There are two more viewpoint characters in this book. They are the princes Dafydd and Taliesin. They are being set against each other by their father the king. The court magician — before losing his magic altogether — prophesied the death of the king at the New Moon. Everyone’s sure it has to do with fighting the encroaching Mercians and their king, King Offa. So the king sets the princes on a task of destroying the dyke King Offa has built at the border of Wales. They believe this dyke is what has leached the magic from Wales and caused sightings of magical creatures to stop.

Taliesin goes to the coven at Foxhall to get help to destroy the dyke with magic, and gets no help from them — but does recruit Ffion to his cause. Instead of using the land to give her power, Ffion gains power from her work, and she plans to walk the entire length of the dyke to gain the power to bring it down — and gain the power to summon her fox while she is doing that. But also in their travels, they realize they will need to gain the use of three magical objects important to Wales — but it will take some work to convince the current possessors of those objects to relinquish them.

Tal’s competition is his older brother Dafydd, who has long said he doesn’t want to be king. Instead of spending time in court, he works as a blacksmith, where he feels he can do unambiguous good. But their father wants Dafydd to follow after him, and as it happens, he’s been having visions of Ffion for years – to be his court magician when he is king.

Something I love about this book is that I loved all the characters and honestly wasn’t sure who I wanted to win the kingdom or who I wanted to end up with Ffion. Both princes have their own strengths and weaknesses, and since both were viewpoint characters, they each had my sympathy as the reader.

And so most of the book is traveling through Wales, ultimately trying to bring back Welsh magic. With plenty of obstacles and interactions, adding up to a marvelous tale.

And I’m super excited to find another stellar author! I found another of her books already available as an eaudiobook, so expect to hear more.

annabrightbooks.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.

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 Thanks to Frances Perkins, by Deborah Hopkinson, illustrated by Kristy Caldwell

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, Starred Review 0

Thanks to Frances Perkins

Fighter for Workers’ Rights

by Deborah Hopkinson
illustrated by Kristy Caldwell

Peachtree, 2020. 40 pages.
Review written September 17, 2020, from a library book
Starred Review

I love the way this book starts, making the book personal and rousing curiosity:

Let’s start with two math questions, especially for you younger readers.
1. How many years will it be until you turn sixty-two?
2. What year will that be?
Now, hold onto your answers until the end, when you’ll find out why this is important.
And why (when you get there) you’ll want to thank Frances Perkins.

The book goes on as a vivid picture book biography showing key events in Frances Perkins’ life. It shows Frances helping with her mother in a soup kitchen and tells about conditions for workers at that time. Frances herself witnessed the Triangle Waist Company fire on March 25, 1911, when she’d been having tea with a friend nearby. After that, she went to a memorial gathering and was inspired to fight for justice.

The book shows the good work she did and the various ways she helped workers, first in New York State, and then as the Secretary of Labor, the first female cabinet member, under Franklin Roosevelt.

Frances Perkins contributed many ideas to FDR’s New Deal, and this book mentions them and focuses in on Social Security. I love this description of Social Security:

Today, Social Security provides help for survivors: the children or spouse of a worker who has passed away. It supports children and adults with disabilities. The program also benefits older people who’ve paid Social Security taxes during their working lives.

Through Social Security, we’ve built a society where we help one another. An idea that began as a slip of paper in Frances Perkins’s desk has become a vital part of our democracy.

Now back to those math questions. Although it might well change in the future, right now most people can begin receiving Social Security benefits as early as – you guessed it – age sixty-two.

So whether you benefit from Social Security now or on some far-off day, think of this dedicated public servant and remember to say, “Thanks, Frances!”

The book also shows how hard she worked and the obstacles she faced to bring this to fruition. It’s lovely to realize how much the vision and dedication of one woman contributes to our well-being today.

deborahhopkinson.com
kristycaldwell.com
peachtree-online.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.

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 My Lost Freedom, by George Takei

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, History, Starred Review 0

My Lost Freedom

A Japanese American World War II Story

by George Takei
illustrated by Michelle Lee

Crown Books for Young Readers, 2024. 48 pages.
Review written May 13, 2024, from a library book.
Starred Review

George Takei, who ended up acting in the original Star Trek series, was five years old when his family was imprisoned in the Japanese American incarceration camps during World War II. He’s already told his story in They Called Us Enemy, a graphic novel. Now he’s put the story in picture book biography form, so that even elementary school children can learn from it.

Now, George was five. As I noticed in the graphic novel, his five-year-old perspective looked for fun in the big adventure of a train ride and a move. For example, the first camp they went to was Camp Rohwer, and he thought the soldiers on the train were trying to roar like a lion when they called out the name. (He didn’t know that soldiers on train cars with rifles wasn’t a normal way to go on vacation.)

He highlights how much his parents did to give George and his two siblings a happy and comfortable childhood. But it also comes out how much they lost. And how completely unjust it was for the government to do this to people born in America. Even when they got sent to a higher security camp because his father wouldn’t sign up for military service, George highlights the movie theater there and the stray dog they adopted.

The main part of the book ends with a happy reunion with George’s father, who had gone ahead of them after they were released to rent a home. There’s extensive back matter which reveals how hard it was to establish a home after the war with prejudice still high and only $25 from the government. A government that had confiscated all their possessions and bank accounts before the incarceration.

But I like the way George Takei doesn’t come across as bitter. Instead, he clearly stands up for what democracy should be — something his father taught him. After some young men in the camps protested, this happened:

One night, angry soldiers came roaring into the camp in jeeps, their rifles aimed at us. They were looking for radicals, but more often than not, innocent men were thrown in jail. I remember hearing women crying and wailing.

When I asked Daddy about the radicals, he said, “In a democracy, the people have the right to assemble and protest.

I’m glad this man is telling the story of what happened to him as a child, in hopes that such a thing will never happen in America again.

mklillustration.com
rhcbooks.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.

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 Your Legacy, by Schele Williams, illustrated by Tonya Engel

Children's Nonfiction Review, History, Starred Review 0

Your Legacy

A Bold Reclaiming of Our Enslaved History

Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2021. 44 pages.
Review written November 17, 2021, from a library book
Starred Review

Your Legacy is a lavishly illustrated picture book for African American children. The book reframes the story of their enslaved ancestors as one of resilience and powerfully overcoming hardship with love. And what a legitimate reframing!

The qualities of those ancestors specifically pointed out are love, intellect, courage, determination, brilliance, strength, ingenuity, grace, and dignity. Then more modern-day examples of African Americans who demonstrated these qualities are portrayed.

I thought this was such a beautiful way to look at the past.

I love the point that they didn’t all speak the same language and coming up with a way to communicate showed great ingenuity. Here’s some of that part:

When they finally landed in the Americas, they were surrounded by people from other African countries and Caribbean Islands. All of these people were now called slaves.

Your ancestors were immediately separated from one another and given new names. They were put into groups with other enslaved people, who all spoke different languages. They were forced to do grueling work.

Although they were strangers, they chose to LOVE and protect one another as family.

They needed to find a way to communicate with one another. It was their INTELLECT that allowed them to combine all the languages they spoke to create a new one, called Pidgin.

They also found a new language they could share . . . MUSIC.

That’s one part of the reframing. The whole book beautifully shows the strong spirit of people who got through adversity and passed on beautiful qualities to their descendants.

If you have African American children, this is a book to own and treasure and read with them again and again. But all children will benefit from at least reading this beautiful story.

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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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*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 Change Sings, by Amanda Gorman

Contemporary, Picture Book Review, Poetry, Starred Review 0

Change Sings

A Children’s Anthem

by Amanda Gorman
pictures by Loren Long

Viking, 2021. 32 pages.
Review written November 16, 2021, from a library book
Starred Review

I’m not usually a fan of picture books that simply try to present an uplifting idea, but this book is something special, and I can’t resist Inaugural Poet Amanda Gorman’s words.

We begin with a girl who looks like a young Amanda Gorman sitting and strumming a guitar.

I can hear change humming
In its loudest, proudest song.

I don’t fear change coming,
And so I sing along.

The pictures show the girl enlisting other kids to help make a difference — both playing instruments and cleaning up city streets and playgrounds.

They end up with a diverse cast doing good things and forming a joyful parade.

And I can’t really do it justice in a description. Check out this book and see if you aren’t uplifted, empowered, and filled with hope.

It’s about coming together, doing good, and making music together where everyone is welcome.

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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.

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 This Story Is Not About a Kitten, by Randall de Sève, illustrated by Carson Ellis

Contemporary, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

This Story Is Not About a Kitten

written by Randall de Sève
illustrated by Carson Ellis

Random House Studio, 2022. 36 pages.
Review written January 25, 2023, from a library book
Starred Review
A 2022 Capitol Choices selection

Here’s a heart-warming picture book about a community coming together to rescue a little kitten that’s lost and alone.

Oops! I told you what it’s about. The picture book itself does that with more artistic flair, in a cumulative refrain that tells us what the story is not about. Here’s an example, several pages in:

This story is not about the twins
who brought a box,
or the woman who held the dog
for the dog’s people who listened,
or the dog who stopped when it
heard the kitten,
hungry and dirty,
scared and alone,
meowing sadly,
needing a home.

As more and more people get involved, we see an entire neighborhood interacting to help. And when they figure out who can take the little lost kitten, they all come together with refreshments. And you see new friendships formed because they all worked together to help.

A beautifully simple book with a lyrical refrain, all about the connections built when people work together.

randalldeseve.com
carsonellis.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.

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 Unbound, by Joyce Scott with Brie Spangler and Melissa Sweet, art by Melissa Sweet

Art, Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, Starred Review 0

Unbound

The Life + Art of Judith Scott

by Joyce Scott
with Brie Spangler
and Melissa Sweet
Art by Melissa Sweet

Alfred A. Knopf, 2021. 44 pages.
Review written November 9, 2021, from a library book
Starred Review

Unbound is the story of Judith Scott, an artist who made wrapped fiber art sculptures.

This story is extra powerful, because it’s narrated by Judith’s twin Joyce. She starts when they were young and did everything together.

But when Joyce went to Kindergarten, she was separated from Judith, who had Down Syndrome. Before long, Judith was put into an institution, and the book expresses how terribly Joyce missed her sister.

Judy has never spoken a word. We wonder if she will ever talk. The doctors say that she is slow and will not get better, but they don’t know Judy like I do. She is perfect just the way she is. She knows things that no one else knows and sees the world in ways that I never will.

It isn’t until Joyce grows up and starts her own family that she is able to get Judith out of the institution to come live with her.

Since Joyce worked as a nurse, she found an art center that had programs for people with disabilities. It took some time, but that was where Judith discovered how much she enjoyed making wrapped fiber art sculptures.

For years, Judy wraps and weaves, creating fantastic, cocoon-like shapes filled with color.

She wraps her head in beautiful hats, scarves, and ribbons, becoming her own work of art.

Before her death, Judy’s sculptures achieved worldwide acclaim.

This story is especially inspiring because her twin sister believed in her and saw the beauty in her all along.

Melissa Sweet’s mixed-media art evokes Judith Scott’s work so beautifully. (There are some photographs to give you the idea as well.)

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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.

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 Fire, the Water, and Maudie McGinn, by Sally J. Pla, read by Gail Shalan

Audiobooks, Award Winners, Children's Fiction Review, Starred Review 1

The Fire, the Water, and Maudie McGinn

by Sally J. Pla
read by Gail Shalan

Quill Tree Books, 2023. 6 hours, 36 minutes.
Review written May 20, 2024, from a library eaudiobook
Starred Review
2024 Schneider Family Book Award Winner, Middle Grades

Oh, I love this one! I’m so glad I finally got around to listening to this award winner — the Schneider Family Award is given annually to books with the best portrayal of a disability. Awards are given for three age levels, along with Honor books, and this one won the award for Middle Grades.

The featured character in this book is Maudie McGinn, a 13-year-old girl with autism. She’s supposed to spend the summer with her Dad in his cabin in northern California. But while they are out to dinner, a wildfire sweeps in, and they have to evacuate. They find a place to stay in the coastal town near San Diego where her Dad grew up, so they’re staying in a trailer in a campground on the beach.

But Maudie’s Dad has friends there, and Maudie begins to make friends there — something she didn’t do in Texas, where she lives during the school year with her mother and stepfather. Maudie has two terrible secrets, but everything with Dad and the ocean helps her relax and begin to understand her own value. Her father has many neurodivergent traits, like Maudie, and he never puts her down for them or scolds her for them. The fact that Maudie thinks this is of note makes us wonder about her life with her mother, and plenty of flashbacks round out the picture of how much better and safer she feels with her father.

But the ocean helps Maudie put all that out of her mind. She even starts learning to surf! And she decides to surprise her father by entering the beginners’ surf competition at the town’s big end-of-summer Surf Bash. Yes, I know that might sound unrealistic in a book summary, but it builds gradually, and yes, we’re with Maudie all the way. (Though as the reader, I did have reservations about her idea of surprising her Dad.)

Maudie’s neurodivergence is sensitively and beautifully portrayed from the inside. And the flashbacks about how her mother responds to her are viscerally painful. The narrator does a wonderful job with the audiobook, giving each person a voice that fits how they’re described in words.

The ending feels almost a little too tidy — but goodness, I would have been so angry if Maudie didn’t have happy times ahead to look forward to. And it wasn’t *every* single thing that worked out for them. I fell in love with this kid while I listened to her story, and I love how she learned that keeping secrets isn’t the road to happiness.

sallyjpla.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 Indivisible, by Daniel Aleman

Audiobooks, Contemporary, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

Indivisible

by Daniel Aleman
narrated by Adan Rocha

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2021. 8 hours, 35 minutes.
Review written November 2, 2021, from a library book
Starred Review

This audiobook tells the story of Mateo Garcia, who’s a junior in high school in Brooklyn and wants to get involved in theater like his friend Adam. His parents came to America from Mexico before he was born. Then his whole life gets turned upside down when his parents get detained by ICE. Suddenly the things he used to be concerned about fade into insignificance.

Mateo doesn’t want to tell his friends at first, but big secrets like that take a toll. And meanwhile, he needs to take care of his 7-year-old sister Sophie and help at the store his parents spent years establishing. Mateo and Sophie hope against hope that things will work out, but have to figure out several new setbacks. They just want their family to be together again.

This novel has lots of heart, mixing regular high school concerns like romance and friends with fundamental concerns about housing and family.

Listening to the audiobook did pull me into this story, rooting for Mateo and his family, and frustrated about the situation so many have been thrust into, when they just want to make a home for their family.

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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.

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 Have a Beautiful, Terrible Day! by Kate Bowler

Christian, Nonfiction Review, Starred Review 0

Have a Beautiful, Terrible Day!

Daily Meditations for the Ups, Downs & In-Betweens

by Kate Bowler

Convergent, 2024. 204 pages.
Review written May 22, 2024, from my own copy purchased via Amazon.com
Starred Review

The title of this book perfectly encapsulates what’s so helpful about Kate Bowler’s writing. She is able to wish you a good day and uplift you, even while acknowledging that terrible things happen.

The content of the book is very like The Lives We Actually Have: 100 Blessings for Imperfect Days (with Jessica Ritchie). It’s a little bit oversized, and each day’s meditation takes up a spread. On the left half of the spread, we’ve got a Bible verse on the side and some thoughts about the situation where you might find yourself. On the right side, there’s a prayer for when you’re in that situation, followed by a short reflection prompt.

As an example, here’s the text on the left side of the first meditation, “when everything is out of control”:

There is something people say when you are in a lot of pain or trouble or life is out of control. They say: “All you can control is your reaction.” And, sure, that’s often good advice. We can try to reduce the scale of our problem-solving to a small, manageable step. But I don’t want you to have to skip that first true thing you are allowed to say: “I have lost control. This is happening to me.” This blessing is for when you need to say, “God, this is out of control. People keep telling me that I have control over this, but I really don’t. I need help.” Read or pray this meditation aloud if you need some divine rescue plan and some acknowledgment of that reality.

And the prayer on the facing page finishes up like this:

You are there, somewhere out there,
though I can hardly feel it.
Send an angel, send a fleet, send them now.

Like the other book, I found the meditations in this book encouraging and uplifting. They gave me words to pray that I might not have thought of on my own, but that did help bring me near to God and remember that God is listening.

This book has a section for Lent and a section for Advent, but the funny thing about that is that they miss a whole week of Lent! The 40 days of Lent on the calendar do not count Sundays. If you check a calendar, there are not a simple six weeks to Lent, because it starts on Wednesday and ends on Easter Sunday. There are, in fact, six Sundays during Lent — but that does not count Easter Sunday. The sixth Sunday of Lent is Palm Sunday. In this book, Palm Sunday is listed as the fifth Sunday of Lent, which doesn’t fit the calendar. I went back and checked — she only has 35 meditations during Lent, plus four Sundays set aside for rest. Missing the last week.

However, I just went back and did one of the earlier weeks during that week. The book is still a wonderful book of prayers, but that was a funny little glitch that the mathematician in me can’t bear to not point out. (Sorry!)

All that said, I love the way Kate Bowler models turning to God when things are difficult. Going through one of these prayers each day makes a wonderful morning routine.

katebowler.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.

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?