Review of Leaves to My Knees, by Ellen Mayer, illustrated by Nicole Tadgell

Contemporary, Mathematical, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

Leaves to My Knees

by Ellen Mayer
illustrated by Nicole Tadgell

Star Bright Books, 2022. 32 pages.
Review written December 23, 2022, from my own copy, purchased via amazon.com
Starred Review

This is a very simple picture book about raking leaves — which intentionally incorporates early math concepts. I read it for the Mathical Book Prize, though first thought of it simply as a nice story for Autumn. There’s a note at the back to parents and caregivers about the mathematics of measurement you’ll find here — and yes, it uses all of those concepts in a natural way that adds to the story.

The story is simple and lovely. A girl named Camille is bundling up with her Daddy and toddler brother to rake leaves. She plans to rake a pile of leaves that’s up to her knees.

The pictures of the family raking are joyful and bright. Each family member has a rake appropriately sized for them and makes a matching pile. The raking sounds they make are swush, swish, and sweeeeee.

There are obstacles to Camille’s plan — twigs and acorns clog up the rake. Her little brother steals leaves from her pile. And the wind comes with a big whoosh. But Camille progressively makes a pile that comes to her ankles, to the tops of her boots, and finally up to her knees — perfect for jumping into!

The complete package is a sweet story that will get your preschooler thinking about comparing and measuring.

ellenmayerbooks.com

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Review of Grief in the Fourth Dimension, by Jennifer Yu

Audiobooks, Paranormal, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

Grief in the Fourth Dimension

by Jennifer Yu
read by Tim Lounibos and Raechel Wong

Tantor Media, 2024. 8 hours, 46 minutes.
Review written November 26, 2024, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

Grief in the Fourth Dimension features two dead teens in a white room. Kenny Zhou died months ago when his heart gave out unexpectedly, and Caroline Davison died in a car accident on a rainy day when she was in a hurry and the road was wet – and she got hit by a drunk driver.

Kenny doesn’t know how long he’s been in the room, but it responds to his wishes and thoughts. Furniture has appeared to make him comfortable and there’s a big-screen TV on the wall that shows him his parents and friends mourning at his funeral. Occasionally notes fall from the ceiling, responding to his thoughts.

And then Caroline shows up. It takes her a bit to realize she’s dead. But she quickly goes about making the room more comfortable. Although they went to the same high school, they never talked to each other. Now the TV begins showing her family and friends, too.

Kenny’s parents are worried that business in their restaurant has slumped after their son’s death. Caroline’s mother is looking for justice for the person who hit her daughter. Kenny’s best friend Iris hatches a scheme to do a memorial and fundraiser for his parents’ restaurant, and Caroline’s boyfriend and brother start spending time with each other. And Caroline and Kenny prove to have some things to work through themselves.

But then the two begin to discover limited ways they can reach out, to let their family and friends know they are watching – but with mixed results. They want to help them heal and move on and be happy.

And then it becomes clear that their deaths are much more closely entwined than either one realized, and the stakes become much higher. Can Caroline and Kenny help their loved ones make things right?

I’ve got to give a disclaimer: I don’t believe for a second that the afterlife will be like this for anyone. But it turns out to be a really fun way to tell a story about grief and about how many people are affected by one life. I was completely pulled into this novel from the start and able to grasp more nuances of the situations involved by looking at them from the eyes of Kenny and Caroline.

Oh, and while Caroline does miss her boyfriend, it was oddly refreshing to read a YA novel where kissing isn’t mentioned even once, let alone a novel about recently dead teens whose biggest regret isn’t that they wanted more sex. (Yes, I’ve read more than one novel like that. Not this one!)

A book about death that ends up being about life and about relationships.

byjenniferyu.com

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Review of Crimson Twill: Witch in the City, by Kallie George

Beginning Chapter Books, Children's Fiction Review 0

Crimson Twill

Witch in the City

by Kallie George
illustrated by Birgitta Sif

Candlewick Press, 2022. 54 pages.
Review written February 26, 2023, from a library book
2022 Cybils Winner, Early Chapter Books

Witch in the City begins a new early chapter book series about a young witch named Crimson Twill.

Crimson Twill was a little witch. But you might not know it. She didn’t look like a typical little witch. Instead of wearing pointy shoes, she wore gum boots. Instead of wearing a plain black dress, she wore a polka-dotted one. And instead of wearing a plain black hat, she wore one with a big bow, and the hat was crimson, just like her name.

Crimson Twill is on her way to Broomingdales with her mother, her first trip to the big city. As she looks for ways to spend her money, she finds some other out-of-place things and creatures and people. She has some gentle adventures and makes new friends.

It’s a promising introduction to a new series about a little witch who’s not like all the other witches.

kalliegeorge.com
candlewick.com

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Review of The Probability of Everything, by Sarah Everett

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

The Probability of Everything

by Sarah Everett

Clarion Books, 2023. 326 pages.
Review written January 13, 2024, from a library book.
Starred Review
2024 Mathical Honor Book, Ages 11-13

Kemi is eleven years old, and the world is ending in four days.

Or at least probably. There’s an asteroid heading toward earth, with an 84.7% chance of hitting us.

Kemi loves math and probability — especially the probability puzzles her Dad gives her. But now there’s an asteroid in the sky making everything purple. They have to leave their house in the “better” part of town and stay with her aunt and cousins. Kemi can’t believe her best friend is still going to school.

Kemi thinks about her family, including her new baby sister who won’t be born before the end of the world. She decides to make a time capsule to remember her family and everything they love most. But to find what her father will put in means doing his favorite things together with him.

And I can’t tell you what happens at the end of the book, but it did surprise me how things turned out. I liked the inclusion of the Monty Hall Problem in probability, the concise explanation, and the application that you should always pay attention to new information.

This book is about a girl coping with the end of the world by remembering what she and her family love most.

saraheverettbooks.com
harpercollinschildrens.com

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Review of You Are the Beloved, by Henri J. M. Nouwen

Christian, Nonfiction Review 0

You Are the Beloved
Daily Meditations for Spiritual Living

by Henri J. M. Nouwen
compiled and edited by Gabrielle Earnshaw

Convergent (Penguin Random House), 2017. 410 pages.
Review written January 6, 2022, from my own copy

You Are the Beloved is the book of daily readings that I used during my quiet times in 2021. They were selected from the writings of Henri Nouwen and are presented in bite-sized daily chunks.

The theme is well summed up by the title: You are the beloved. The meditations remind me that God loves me and help me think about how I should live my life in the light of that. They were a good way to start my days.

Paging through, here’s a passage I highlighted on January 14:

For most of my life I have struggled to find God, to know God, to love God. I have tried hard to follow the guidelines of the spiritual life – pray always, work for others, read the Scriptures – and to avoid the many temptations to dissipate myself. I have failed many times but always tried again, even when I was close to despair.

Now I wonder whether I have sufficiently realized that during all this time God has been trying to find me, to know me, and to love me. The question is not “How am I to find God?” but “How am I to let myself be found by him?” The question is not “How am I to know God?” but “How am I to let myself be known by God?” And, finally, the question is not “How am I to love God?” but “How am I to let myself be loved by God?” God is looking into the distance for me, trying to find me, and longing to bring me home.

This book always left me with something to think about. I do recommend it as a nice way to add inspiring meditations to your year.

henrinouwen.org

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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 What’s the Difference: Animals, by Susie Rae

Children's Nonfiction Review, Science 0

What’s the Difference

Animals

by Susie Rae

DK, 2022. 80 pages.
Review written 2/3/2023 from a library book.

I just think this book is cool. With DK’s clear photographic style, this book takes 28 pairs of animals that are often confused and shows you the differences between them.

Some examples:

Leopard or Jaguar?
Frog or Toad?
Crocodile or Alligator?
Dolphin or Porpoise?
Seal or Sea Lion?
Falcon or Hawk?
Rabbit or Hare?

It’s all laid out clearly, with photographs, plus fact bars on the side and other similar animals mentioned as well. I thought it was a lot of fun to read through.

My one quibble is that although the animals come from all over the world, many of the more common examples (like seagulls and frogs) used animals from Europe, since, after all, DK is based in England. But that was a minor quibble. Not everything has to be America-centric.

A fun book for everyone who likes animal facts.

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Review of Otherworldly, by F. T. Lukens

Audiobooks, Paranormal, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

Otherworldly

by F. T. Lukens
read by Em Grosland, Kevin R. Free, and Natalie Naudus

Simon & Schuster Audio, 2024. 11 hours, 21 minutes.
Review written November 19, 2024, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

This one charmed me. The prologue starts a bit creepily, with a witch making a bargain at a crossroads. She intends to bargain with a goddess, but instead three shades show up. The witch bargains away her soul in exchange for the secret of life – the ability to make a potion that will extend her life. When a magical familiar shows up to assist her, it’s not a cat or a bat, but a tall and handsome teenage boy.

Then chapter one of the book begins with Ellery, a teen who’s moved away from her family’s farm because after five years of winter, the farm is failing. Ellery’s impatient with her mother’s continued belief in the goddess, who clearly isn’t listening. Ellery is staying in the city with her cousin Charlie (a girl) and Charlie’s girlfriend Zada, and they’re working in the same diner as Charlie, running the dishwasher. As the book opens, Charlie alerts them that Hot Weird Guy is coming in – and we the readers recognize him as the familiar, Knox, picking up an order for the witch Arabella. Knox is friendly and open and waves at Ellery through the glass. He’s weird because he never wears clothes appropriate for the snowy weather, but he’s also definitely hot.

And then we switch to Knox’s perspective. The witch has a moment of triumph, realizing that Knox’s blood is exactly the ingredient her potion needs – and then the shades come and take her soul.

But Knox doesn’t want to go back to the Otherworld just yet, and he’s worried about how his queen (the goddess) hasn’t been answering his letters. Has she forgotten him? So he takes the potion and flees from the shades – and ends up running into Ellery in the dark behind the diner – and she ends up standing up to the shades, whom she thinks are people trying to kidnap him. Knox uses a last flash of magic and gets rid of them – for now.

Charlie and Zada are very kind people, so when Knox is obviously in trouble, they offer him a place to stay for a few days.

And that’s how Ellery gets embroiled in the otherworldly.

Knox has no magic without an active bargain, so Ellery and Knox make a bargain between themselves – Ellery will help him experience a list of fun things from the human world, and Knox will find out from supernatural sources why the winter has extended for five years.

Of course, that involves encountering more supernatural beings, which involves danger. And the having fun together indeed leads to falling in love – it’s beautiful to see.

But there are definite complications! If Knox goes back to the Otherworld, he will forget everything from the human world, because that’s his nature as a liminal being. And he will almost certainly be punished for running away from the shades. But Ellery’s not the kind of person who will let someone they love be unfairly punished.

I fell in love with the characters in this story, from Ellery the skeptic who’s still working hard to help their family, to sweet Knox, genuinely happy in human things, and to Charlie, who’s joyful chaos in human form. The story maybe sounds complicated when summarizing, but it all made sense as the book took you through it, with each complication leading to the next, and characters you wanted to keep spending time with.

ft-lukens.com

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Review of Gallant, by V. E. Schwab, read by Julian Rhind-Tutt

Paranormal, Teen Fiction Review 0

Gallant

by V. E. Schwab
read by Julian Rhind-Tutt

Greenwillow Books, 2022. 7 hours, 41 minutes.
Review written January 4, 2023, from a library eaudiobook.

I’m not a big fan of horror, so this book was just a tad too creepy for me, but you can be sure I listened to every word.

Olivia Prior has grown up in an orphanage, unable to speak. She doesn’t know why she can’t speak when she can hear perfectly well, but she’s not able to make any sounds come out of her mouth. She’s also always been able to see ghouls. She has memories of her mother, but her main tangible connection with her mother is a journal she left with Olivia at the orphanage — a journal in which it sounds like her mother is going mad. There’s a letter to Olivia at the end of the journal, where she tells Olivia that she’ll be fine, as long as she stays away from Gallant.

Then one day a letter comes to the orphanage, claiming to be from Olivia’s uncle. He’s written to every orphanage and is begging her to come home. Olivia is more than happy to leave the orphanage, but when she arrives at the estate, the place is called Gallant. And Olivia’s uncle died a year ago. And his son, her cousin, tells her to stay away.

But the caretakers, Edgar and Hannah, are happy to have Olivia, who reminds them of her mother.

It doesn’t take long, though, to realize that terrible things are happening at Gallant. On the other side of the wall, there’s a shadow house, ruled by Death himself. The Prior family tries to keep Death on the other side, but Olivia’s presence may be throwing things off. Olivia finds another journal of her mother’s, and it casts light on who she is. On which side of the wall does Olivia’s destiny lie?

This book is atmospheric and spooky. The book has a young female protagonist, but they chose as the narrator an older gentleman with a British accent — and the choice is absolutely perfect.

It’s a creepy and haunting tale that will keep you turning pages or listening to another few minutes.

veschwab.com
EpicReads.com

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Review of How Old Am I? by JR

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

How Old Am I?

1 – 100

Faces From Around the World

by JR
The Inside Out Project

Phaidon Press, 2021. 216 pages.
Review written July 28, 2021, from a library book
Starred Review

The concept of this book is very easy to explain. The execution of the concept is utterly delightful.

This book shows the faces of one hundred people from all over the world. Each one is a different age. The faces are presented in order of age, featuring the 1-year-old first and the 100-year-old last.

The questions the participants are asked are presented at the front of the book. (I actually didn’t notice this at first, but I got the idea quickly anyway.) Here are the questions:

Hello! [The person answers in their own language.]

What is your name?

How old are you?

Where do you live? Where were you born? [A small map features these places. A very large variety of places are presented.]

What makes you happy? What is your wish for the world? No matter how old we are or where we live, we each have a story to tell. What’s yours?

The section answering those last questions is short, but there’s lots that can be conveyed. Here are a few examples:

Here’s how 6-year-old Noam answered:

I am super excited about my next birthday – I wish it was today! I am proud because I already know how to read, dance, and go to sleepovers. When I’m 18, I want to be the President of America. Chocolate is what makes me happy. I wish the whole world was made of chocolate and that when you want to eat some chocolate, you can just take it from the walls around you. Chocolate is what makes everybody happy.

34-year-old Maria, from Russia, says:

When I was little I thought anything was possible. I still believe this now! When I was around 5 to 8, I had a wild imagination. I could be a princess one day, or a firefighter or teacher another. I’m still interested in different lives and now have a job making documentaries – movies that show the world around us and the lives of real people. I learn about all kinds of people in different places – from Tokyo to California, from Norway to Madagascar.

And 57-year-old Safarina from Indonesia:

It doesn’t matter how old I am, I always look forward to my next birthday. At 27 I got married, at 28 I had my first baby girl, and at 38 I had my baby boy and finished my studies, so all of those ages mean a lot to me. I am a scientist now, but before that I was a veterinarian, helping animals. I really like working as a scientist because it is exciting and unique. My family, my work, and music make me happy in life.

79-year-old Rafael, from Slovenia, says:

I started going to school when I was 7. Our school was small, old, and made of wood. We didn’t have heating or toilets, and the teachers were very strict. But home was a warm place. I had my parents and my siblings and a cherry tree that was my hideaway. I used to do my homework and studying in my tree. Later I moved to the city and learned to fix and make electrical tools and equipment. I am really proud of my job, and even at my age, I still work.

The last person featured in the book is 100-year-old Beatrice from the USA. She says:

I was a sickly child with a heart problem, and I was allergic to everything, which meant I wasn’t able to run around. When I was 7, I found the local library. I still love to read, and for the last ten years I have been a library volunteer. I never dreamed to be this age. It’s an amazing experience. I am healthy and well, I don’t walk with a cane, and I live alone. That’s not common at my age and something to be grateful for.

These quotations give you a taste, but the full experience comes with the large pictures of their smiling faces and the greetings in so many languages.

The graphic design of the book is also done well, with each person featured with a background slowly going through all the colors of the rainbow. The 1-year-old has a yellow background and so does the 100-year-old, but they’ve gone through all possible shades as the pages change slightly with each turn.

At the back, we’ve got information about the artist who created The Inside Out Project, putting large photos of people on buildings across the world. This book came out of that project. I love the way it includes people from all over the world as a result. This book is truly a delightful experience.

insideoutproject.net
phaidon.com

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Review of Same Time Next Summer, by Annabel Monaghan

Audiobooks, Fiction Review, Romance 0

Same Time Next Summer

by Annabel Monaghan
read by Brittany Pressley and Dan Bittner

Books on Tape, 2023. 6 hours, 57 minutes.
Review written September 3, 2024, from a library eaudiobook

When you’re listening to a romance novel, you shouldn’t complain if you know right away what’s going to happen, right? Especially since it was the author’s other book that made you notice the formula.

This book begins with Samantha going back to the beach where her family has spent summers for decades, along with Jack, her doctor fiance. Sam has resisted spending more than a few days there ever since she was seventeen, when Wyatt, her childhood friend and teen boyfriend (whose summer place was next door) left her and broke her heart. But now she’s over all that, engaged to be married, and her parents want her to consider getting married at the beach. Much to her surprise, Sam learns that Wyatt is back in the house next door, for the first time in years.

Okay, do you, like me, know what’s going to happen from that description? I did indulge in some fond hopes that this would be about Sam realizing what a great choice she made dating Jack, but I knew that wouldn’t happen as soon as they started in on a flashback from Wyatt’s perspective.

Like I said, the author’s earlier book, Nora Goes Off Script about a romance channel writer, made me extra aware of the formula, but I did groan a little when Sam (whose straitlaced job was in jeopardy) decided she wanted to be an art teacher for kids.

And there was one little detail that annoyed me. A high school student is not going to get a job at a library “teaching” kids, nor probably doing story times. Shelving books, maybe. Just saying.

But beyond all that? Yes, it’s a fun story. The characters are people you enjoy spending time with. Wyatt has some nice depth to him. And I have to say I did end up being surprised by what it was that broke up Sam and Wyatt when she was seventeen. It was not a letter one of them sent that never got received!

Though some day, I do want to read a romance novel about a heroine realizing she’s found someone much better for her than her first love. This isn’t that, but it’s a sweet romance that leaves you happy for the characters. It’s a feel-good story about finding the person who really gets you – and who can find fault with that?

annabelmonaghan.com

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