Review of If You Could See the Sun, by Ann Liang

Paranormal, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

If You Could See the Sun

by Ann Liang

Inkyard Press, 2022. 341 pages.
Review written November 29, 2022, from my own copy, sent by the publisher for the Cybils Awards
Starred Review

This book begins when Alice Sun’s parents tell her they can only afford one more semester of the elite international school she attends in Beijing, where she vies for top scores with her nemesis Henry Li. She is the only scholarship student at the school, but half of tuition simply isn’t enough.

Then when attending classes, worried about having to leave, Alice feels completely unseen — and turns invisible. For a short period of time, she can’t see her reflection and no one can see her.

At first she turns to people for help, but no one can do anything, not even her beloved aunt. But something Henry Li says makes her wonder if she can monetize her power. So he makes an app — and people can anonymously ask the “Beijing Ghost” to do things for them in secret.

Well, it starts by working out beautifully, but the requests get more and more shady. But if Alice can earn enough money, she can pay the tuition herself and stay at her school. But how far is she willing to go? And what happens if she gets caught?

I like the way this debut author takes one paranormal situation — spontaneously turning invisible — and builds a story about it. The phenomenon is never explained, though it seems to happen when Alice feels most overlooked. The book also shines light on inequities of wealth and power. And of course there’s a nice romance.

AnnLiang.com

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Review of Lemonade in Winter, by Emily Jenkins and G. Brian Karas

Contemporary, Mathematical, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

Lemonade in Winter

A Book About Two Kids Counting Money

written by Emily Jenkins
illustrated by G. Brian Karas

Schwartz and Wade Books (Random House), 2012. 36 pages.
Review written October 4, 2022, from a library book
Starred Review
2023 Mathical Honor Book, age 5-7

Okay, here’s a super fun story that also teaches kids how to count money — exactly the sort of thing we look for in the Mathical Book Prize.

It’s a freezing cold day in the neighborhood. Everything’s covered with thick snow, and icicles are hanging everywhere. Inside, big sister Pauline gets what she thinks is a brilliant idea: Let’s have a lemonade stand! Her little brother John-John gets excited, too, and wants to help.

Both parents discourage the idea: “Don’t you see it’s freezing?” “Don’t you hear the wind?”

But the kids gather all the quarters they can find:

“Each time you get four quarters, that’s a dollar,” says Pauline.
“Four quarters, that’s money!” says John-John.

They buy lemons and limes for a dollar each, sugar for two dollars, and cups for two dollars. I like the way the picture shows the quarters laid out on the counter in front of each item.

“We have twenty-four quarters, and that’s six dollars,”
Pauline tells John-John as she counts out the money.

When they’re getting ready to go out, their parents are still discouraging, but they make the lemonade and limeade and set up their stand in the snow in front of their house. They’re selling for fifty cents a cup.

When no one comes, they decide to advertise, and sing a catchy song about lemonade and limeade for fifty cents a cup. (Perfect for reading aloud at storytime!)

Every time they sell a cup, Pauline explains the amounts to John-John:

Fifty cents, that’s two quarters,” Pauline tells John-John.
“Two drinks is four quarters — and that’s a dollar.”
She puts the money in a green plastic box.

They try entertainment — John-John does cartwheels. They keep singing their song. When there still aren’t many people about, they decide to have a sale. Now it’s twenty-five cents a cup. Then they add decorations. And keep singing their song.

When they empty both pitchers, Pauline diagrams out how many cups they sold for how many quarters and adds it all up. When she realizes they only made four dollars, she starts to cry. They started with six dollars!

But John-John has the perfect solution of what to do with their hard-earned four dollars.

After the story, there’s a page at the back with the heading “Pauline Explains Money to John-John.” There’s a wonderful explanation of pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, and dollar bills.

I love this book because it’s a truly delightful picture book story, and it’s super good practice counting quarters and how much they’re worth. As well as introducing the concepts of profit and loss. But with a happy ending, despite the loss.

Tremendous fun!

emilyjenkins.com
gbriankaras.com
randomhouse.com/kids

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Review of What’s Your Story? by Sarah Heath

Christian, Nonfiction Review 0

What’s Your Story?

Seeing Your Life Through God’s Eyes

How Joseph’s Story Can Help You Tell Yours

by Sarah Heath

Abingdon Press, 2017. 128 pages.
Review written 11/11/22 from my own copy.

My church small group has been going through What’s Your Story this Fall, and it’s been great for group discussion.

The book is short — designed to cover only four weeks of meetings, with one bonus week at the end. We did a week at the beginning, but it worked well for us, because we meet on nights when our local school system is in session, and they had lots of Monday holidays this Fall — so the book is getting us exactly through Advent.

And it’s a good study for getting to know each other. The author mostly uses the framework from Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey to look at your own life and Joseph’s life story in the Bible.

I thought that approach was just a little simplistic — but she does acknowledge the complexity of actual lives, and provides a good jumping-off place to talk about our own lives. Basically, the chapters cover the Call to Adventure or Inciting Incident (Joseph sold into slavery), then Plot Twists (Joseph thrown into prison), then Climactic Moments – or embracing your desire and identity (Joseph interpreting Pharaoh’s dreams and exalted as ruler over Egypt), and finally the aftermath and preparation for another journey. In the fifth “bonus” week, the author encourages study participants to tell their stories to each other.

Despite there only being four chapters, each chapter is rather long, and you could spend two weeks on each chapter. I felt like we were only beginning the discussion with one week. The book includes journal pages, with big questions or quotations written in calligraphy and room to write your responses. For example, I enjoyed the blank timeline where she asks the reader to diagram the positive and negative plot twists in your life and look for themes.

Now, I’ve already done a lot of thinking about my life when I wrote Project 52 — the year I was 52 years old, I blogged each week about one year of my life. I’m also sitting in a very good place on my timeline when it’s easy to see how God took all my negative plot twists and worked them out for good. So I didn’t desperately need to hear this idea of your life as a story you’re co-writing with God. But I hope that perspective made my discussion encouraging. And I did enjoy having a vehicle for discussing that fundamental idea.

Here’s a nice quotation that reflects the approach you’ll find in this book:

I think it is problematic when we make people neurotic about finding “the calling” on their lives instead of helping people look for themes and see how their passions create deep desires that can translate into many fields. What you desire matters! What makes you come alive? What would the world miss if you didn’t tell your story? These are all the questions we should be answering when we are cowriting our story with God. It’s about more than just “What do you want to do when you grow up?”

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Review of Shackled, by Candy J. Cooper

History, Starred Review, Teen Nonfiction 0

Shackled

A Tale of Wronged Kids, Rogue Judges, and a Town that Looked Away

by Candy J. Cooper

Calkins Creek, 2024. 192 pages.
Review written November 18, 2024, from a library book.
Starred Review

Shackled is a book that’s painful to read, but is tremendously important. It tells the story of a group of men, including judges, who made millions of dollars by locking kids up.

The book opens telling the story of a fourteen-year-old girl who, with her friend, wrote with Sharpie on a few street signs in 2005. She was brought before judge Mark Ciavarella in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.

Carisa and Agelia listened as Ciavarella judged the two girls “delinquent,” or guilty, of eighty-six counts of vandalism. In the next breath he imposed their sentence: an indefinite stay at a wilderness camp that relied on extreme discipline and boot camp-like drills. With those words the girls heard a rattling sound from a corner of the courtroom. Soon a court worker appeared holding two medieval-looking sets of shackles. The worker enchained Carisa and Angelia like cartoon criminals – wrapping heavy leather belts around their narrow waists; snapping iron handcuffs to their child-size wrists; and clamping leg irons around their slender ankles. The girls looked to their stunned parents. The court worker turned the girls away. Ciavarella called the next case. The girls clomped in their high-heeled dress shoes past the judge’s bench and toward the door.

The book goes on to explain the full scope of the judge’s scheme. He was getting kickbacks from a man who’d gotten a contract to build a new detention center for youth, as well as various other money-making opportunities to go with every child he managed to sentence. The judge and his friends made millions of dollars in a few years and found ways to hide the money. Eventually local news reporters began to uncover suspicious details – like the much higher than normal incarceration rate of teens in Luzerne county – and eventually the FBI got involved. One of the men turned informant, and they were caught in a scandalous trial.

The sad part, though, is the many young lives devastated by the judge’s arbitrary rulings – designed to line his own pockets.

The author doesn’t leave us entirely discouraged, telling about the Restorative Justice movement now gaining ground across America, and about the judge’s victims who were able to tell their stories and win justice in a civil case. Though they admit that the now-grown victims will probably never see the money – but they gained something important by getting to tell their stories.

It’s all sobering and sad, but I’m so glad this book exists to shine light on a horrible injustice carried out on thousands of kids – in the worst possible way, the name of justice itself.

candyjcooper.com
astrapublishinghouse.com

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Review of Out of My Heart, by Sharon M. Draper, read by Sisi Aisha Johnson

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

Out of My Heart

by Sharon M. Draper
read by Sisi Aisha Johnson

Simon & Schuster Audio, 2021. 7 hours, 21 minutes.
Review written October 12, 2024, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

I’ve long intended to read this sequel to the brilliant Out of My Mind, and finally placed a hold on the audiobook when I heard that a third book is out. Took me long enough! But I’m so glad I finally did listen to this story.

Once again, we’re spending time with Melody, a brilliant girl with cerebral palsy. In the first book, she learned to talk at last with the help of a machine, and instead of being in the class for kids with mental difficulties, got moved to the regular class and won a place on the quiz team. But that book had a sad thing happen at the end.

I’m happy to report that this book is only happy for Melody. She goes to camp! It’s a camp specifically for kids with special needs, and Melody gets to swim, paint, ride on a boat, swing on swings, ride a zipline, ride a horse, and even dance. She makes firm friendships with the three other girls in her cabin and even with a boy in another cabin.

Yes, there are adventures and small setbacks, but this is a happy book, all about Melody getting to do lots of things for the very first time that many would say are a normal part of childhood. It made me happy to read it and also wonder about how many experiences like that are available to kids like Melody. It’s a lovely story, well-told.

sharondraper.com

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Review of Chapter after Chapter, by Heather Sellers

Creativity, Nonfiction Review, Starred Review, Writing 0

Chapter after Chapter

Discover the Dedication & Focus You Need to Write the Book of your Dreams

by Heather Sellers

Writer’s Digest Books, 2007. 242 pages.
Review written January 6, 2022, from my own copy.
Starred Review

This is a book about writing a book.

The chapters are short, good for a short burst of inspiration and thought. They include exercises, which I did not do (for the most part). I freely admit, I would have gotten more out of this book if I had done the exercises. Do the exercises!

It also took me a very long time to read this book, but when I did pull it out and dip into it, it helped keep me on track and helped keep me going on writing a book. In fact, it helped me remember that I did want to write a book and to start a new project when the pandemic hit.

There are 33 chapters, and I especially liked Chapter 26, “Just Want to Be Done.” I read it when I was on the brink of falling into the “just want to be done” trap myself. At the end of 2021, I’d been working on a book since the start of 2020. But it goes slowly when I only give it my spare time. I can finish this project, but I need to keep going. I’ve still got another half a draft to go.

This gives you a taste of Heather Sellers role as the voice of experienced reason:

Every writer I know reaches this stage. “Just-want-to-be-done-itis” is a nasty little virus that typically strikes during the revision process. It’s like a wart. You pick at it. You obsess about it. I have worked so hard on this book. I have worked harder on this than anything else. I just want to be done. I don’t want to work any more.

What is really happening is a giant fear attack. You wish you were done – that it was good just like it is. You are scared to look at it again deeply, because you are afraid you’ll find hideous flaws, horrendous things you have said, idiotic sentences. You are afraid you won’t know how to fix these things. You wish you didn’t even know about the problem; you kind of close your eyes and tiptoe around.

Of course there’s always more work to do on any book, and at some point you have to let it go and call it Good Enough. But successful writers, published writers, continue to work on their books long after they first hear the “I’m done!” chant….

Writing this book will take a lot longer than you want it to take. Hasn’t everything fabulous in your life taken more time than you thought it would?

She tells you that the first few times you hear that voice, it’s time to step back and see what you can do to make the book better. And it did me good to realize that voice coming too soon is a normal part of the process.

There’s lots more in this book. It’s about the process of writing a book, from the beginning of having the idea to actually writing it to seeking a publisher and getting published. And it’s very much about the mental process you go through along the way.

Have you ever wanted to write a book? This book will help you do it.

heathersellers.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 Burn Down, Rise Up, by Vincent Tirado

Paranormal, Teen Fiction Review 0

Burn Down, Rise Up

by Vincent Tirado

Sourcebooks Fire, 2022. 338 pages.
Review written November 28, 2022, from my own copy, picked up at ALA Annual Conference.
2023 Pura Belpré Award Winner

Burn Down, Rise Up is a scary paranormal novel set in the Bronx. It starts with a kid frantic, raving about breaking the rules of the game. He’s got black rot coming out of him and fights off a nurse and breaks out of the hospital.

That nurse is Raquel’s Mom, and she starts getting the black rot in her own lungs and gets put into a medically-induced coma. But at school Raquel’s friend Charlize is mourning her cousin who went missing.

Raquel, Charlize, Aaron, and Mario — all friends who used to spend time together, start researching and discover a Train Challenge, also known as the Echo Game. You go into your local subway at 3:00 am, follow certain rules including staying on the train until 4:00 am. If you turn around or get off, you’re going to get caught in the Echo.

In the Bronx, the Echo takes them back to the 70s, when the Bronx burned down because of slumlords not caring about their tenants. It’s a hellscape, with wounded dead people wandering around. If you attract their attention, they attack. Charlize thinks she sees her cousin and gets off the train. So then Charlize goes missing as well — just as Raquel realizes she’s attracted to her.

The idea is imaginative — an internet challenge that risks your life. I learned a lot about the Bronx in the 70s — and many horrible things that happened because of racism.

Now, I personally, like the rules of magic to be well-defined and understandable, and this didn’t really fit that. I wasn’t quite sure how Raquel figured out what she should try to do to save the people she loved. But I was sure that Raquel was in great danger and wouldn’t lose without a fight.

Amazingly, this is a debut novel. I think it’s a sign of great things to come.

v-e-tirado.com

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Review of Compound Fracture, by Andrew Joseph White

Contemporary, Paranormal, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

Compound Fracture

by Andrew Joseph White

Peachtree Teen, 2024. 371 pages.
Review written November 19, 2024, from a library book.
Starred Review

I have gone back and forth many times as to whether to review this book. The folks who like the books I usually review shouldn’t take for granted that they’ll like this one. But let me say: The writing is stellar. The fact that I’ve been thinking about the book all day the day after I finished it says much about it.

My problem with the book? Well, it felt like a step too far when the protagonist’s friend was planning premeditated murder. It was justified! – and I didn’t like that either.

Now, the author walks the line with this incredibly well. Our protagonist is responsible for more than one death, but is not guilty of murder. And the book doesn’t end well for anyone who is guilty of murder. But there’s horrific violence here. And efforts that have been made to peacefully or politically overcome the bad guys – represented by the sheriff in this West Virginia county – are what ticks off that horrific violence. I feel like the message is: Sometimes the only way to overcome violence is with violence. And I don’t like that message or agree with it – even if it’s satisfying to see the evil ones lose in a fictional setting. (Not that the good folks aren’t traumatized along the way – I did warn you!)

The book has a wonderful sense of place, too, with pictures of coal miners on the endpapers. Miles Abernathy’s family has lived in Twist Creek County, West Virginia, for generations, and his great-great-grandfather led a coal miners’ strike – and was executed by the sheriff – the ancestor of the current sheriff – by hammering a railroad spike through his mouth.

As the book opens, Miles writes an email for his parents, telling them he’s trans, and then heads to a high school graduation party to show his friend Cooper photographic evidence he got from his dad’s safe that Sheriff Davies was the one responsible for the accident that caused Cooper’s mother’s death and Miles’ dad’s disability. Okay, that sentence was too long – but the book starts with Miles trying to do something for justice.

And that doesn’t end well. Miles gets brutally beaten and left for dead by the sheriff’s son and his two friends. In the hospital later, when Sheriff Davies talks to him, he has to pretend to have forgotten everything. But then in an encounter with one of his attackers, the other boy accidentally falls, hits his head, and dies. It was an accident, but Miles has no evidence – so Cooper helps him hide the body in the old mine. And from there… well, let’s just say that things escalate.

The author writes a letter at the front of the book, even while writing it hoping he’ll be able to change it before the book was published, but sad that he hasn’t been able to. Here’s part of that letter:

Instead, I have to write about how tough it is to be trans in America right now. By the time Compound Fracture is released, I’ll be twenty-six years old, and I’ll have seen bathroom bills, state-sponsored attempts to remove trans kids from supportive parents, crackdowns on gender-related care, and so much more. And if you’re disabled on top of it? Christ.

I guess what I’m saying is, I’m sorry it’s so difficult. We shouldn’t have to fight so hard to exist. We deserve better.

But, of course, this is a book about fighting as hard as you can. So please note that we’re going to deal with some difficult topics: graphic violence including police violence, transphobia, opioid use and withdrawal, and disturbing images. This is a book about an autistic, queer trans kid who loves his family and all the people who love him back . . . as well as all the people who want him dead. Actually, this book is kind of like moonshine. It’s gonna burn like hell going down….

If I promise you that this book has a happy ending, does that make it better? Does that make any of it easier to swallow?

And typing out that note reminds me of things I love about the book. Miles is a fully fleshed-out character and a great portrayal of an autistic, queer trans kid dealing with hard things as best he can. Another thing I love is the community portrayed in this book. There are loving parents also going through hard things, and in the end the whole community stands for what’s right.

But it’s a hard story along the way. And let me say again: Although it feels therapeutic to read about triumphing over hateful violence with violence, please don’t try this at home! I personally believe that nonviolence is more powerful in the long run.

But if this book can shine light on the injustice of targeting people who speak up against abuses of power? If it can show you a trans kid just trying to live his life (and the lovely imperfect way his family responds to his coming out)? – Then it’s doing good work.

Whatever else you think of it, this story will stick with you.

andrewjosephwhite.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 Our Crooked Hearts, by Melissa Albert

Paranormal, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

Our Crooked Hearts

by Melissa Albert

Flatiron Books, 2022. 340 pages.
Review written November 21, 2022, from a library book
Starred Review

This book is dark and haunting, and marvelously well-woven. The story has two threads: some chapters set in “The suburbs, Right now” and others set in “The city, Back then.”

The book begins in the suburbs right now with Ivy. She’s going home from a party with Nate, and she just broke up with him, but got into the car before she realized he was drunk. So when they swerve off the road after almost hitting an ethereal naked girl, she only admits to her busted lip and not the strange visitation.

But the next morning, Nate’s got a similar bruise on his face. More disturbing is the decapitated rabbit on their driveway. But when Ivy’s mother buries the rabbit and takes the teeth, Ivy starts wondering what’s going on.

But the chapters in the city back then are about Ivy’s mother, Dana, and her friend Fee. They discovered that magic is real. But when another girl, Marion, gets into their circle, she wants to take things deeper and darker.

As the reader progresses through the book, we gradually find out what happened back then and how it’s impacting what’s happening now. And the chances are high that the impact won’t be a good thing.

It adds up to a haunting novel about magic and motherhood, identity and memory. With lots of sinister moments.

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Review of True You: A Gender Journey, by Gwen Agna and Shelley Rotner

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

True You

A Gender Journey

by Gwen Agna and Shelley Rotner
Photographs by Shelley Rotner

Clarion Books (HarperCollins), 2022. 48 pages.
Review written December 13, 2022, from a library book
Starred Review

Hooray! Shelley Rotner, author and photographer of many gorgeous photo-illustrated picture books, has turned her attention to the beautiful variety of children’s genders. Working with another early childhood educator, the two have written a book that explains gender in a way that children can understand. There are also nine pages of back matter with more information and further resources.

As with all of Shelley Rotner’s books, the main feature of the book is big, beautiful photographs of active children.

The book begins:

We are kids!

Girls, boys,
neither,
both,
or just not sure.

The photos show these kids being joyful, curious, and creative.

After some introductions, we meet specific kids, with speech bubbles coming from their pictures. The authors interviewed many kids and used their words. Here are a couple of them:

They thought I was a boy when I was born. But now, sometimes I feel like a girl.

Everyone can dress however they want.

Boys can wear dresses and girls don’t have to.

Another kid —

When I was born, people said I was a girl.
They were right!

I’m a girl because I feel like a girl!

People should love everybody for who they are. Anyone can play with dolls. All the colors are for everyone. Everybody can be strong.

As the book says, “Sometimes kids are just being kids — exploring different things!”

This big beautiful book can touch off accepting and supportive conversations. Whether or not your child is gender-nonconforming, this book will help them understand their peers, with an emphasis on kindness and acceptance. And there are plenty of resources for parents at the back.

gwenagna.com
shelleyrotner.com
harpercollinschildrens.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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