Review of Go to Sleep (I Miss You), by Lucy Knisley

Humorous, Nonfiction Review, Starred Review 0

Go to Sleep

(I Miss You)

Cartoons from the Fog of New Parenthood

by Lucy Knisley

First Second, 2020. 178 pages.
Review written March 29, 2020, from a library book
Starred Review

What fun! Lucy Knisley, a noted author/illustrator of graphic memoirs, has had a baby! This book is the result.

My own babies are 32 and 25 years old, but I still couldn’t keep from laughing with recognition as I read this book. She nails the ambivalences of parenthood – all the way from the intoxicating smell of their hair to the desperation when they won’t stop crying.

She covers so much! The trials of nursing, the baby equipment, the inventions we really need, the outfits they go through (ours and theirs), adventures in eating, and so much else.

This might make a fun baby shower gift for a new Mom. Though I’m not sure if you really want to warn them! I am sure that as they’re going through it, the laughter will provide comfort, as will the knowledge that they are not alone.

And for an old mom like me, we get the delight of being reminded of that time with our precious babies – and why it’s also a relief to be done with that time.

lucyknisley.com
firstsecondbooks.com

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

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but 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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48 Hour Book Challenge August 2025 – Finish Line

48-Hour Book Challenge 0

I did it! I completed this year’s 48-Hour Book Challenge!

As feared, yesterday was pretty much a wash-out for reading. I’m happy, though, because the family crisis was resolved in a surprisingly wonderful way, with me sort of coordinating and help from others, including my ex-husband. Instead of being resentful of spending my day off not reading, I’m happy I had the day off to help out. On top of that, the musical “Parade” at the Kennedy Center last night was amazing! The performance was astoundingly good. The topic was hard-hitting – antisemitism and racism in Georgia showing a Jewish man wrongly convicted and eventually lynched in 1915. But it was incredibly well-done with wonderful music.

And today? Instead of using some of the time to blog and post reviews (which I didn’t get to yesterday, either) – I wanted to read, doggone it! And I was happy to be reading an incredibly good book – the advance reader copy of Sisters in the Wind, by Angeline Boulley. I haven’t written the review yet, but it was just as good as her first two – wonderful! I ended up with a positive experience of this year’s 48HBC because I got to take the time to devour that book.

My stats for the 48 hours are probably my lowest:

Time spent:
14 hours, 35 minutes total:
8 hours, 35 minutes Reading
30 minutes blogging (Starting line post)
5 hours, 10 minutes Listening to the audiobook James
20 minutes with details (spreadsheets and stuff)

I wrote 603 words and read 505 pages. I only finished one book, but made good headway on several. (The way I read nonfiction is to read one chapter at a time. I also started a graphic novel toward the end and got a lot of pages in.)

Now, I’m not quite sure how I’ll get those Mathical books read, but I did get one more book read that I got at ALA Annual conference, and my kid is having things work out great, so it’s been a good weekend so far.

Now, my plan for Labor Day is to make progress on my new website, prayingwiththepsalmists.com. I’m hoping those plans will go better!

48-Hour Book Challenge August 2025 – Starting Line

48-Hour Book Challenge 0

Woo-hoo! It’s time for this year’s 48-Hour Book Challenge!

I got the idea from Pam Coughlan when she was posting on her MotherReader blog. Pam was super creative and organized, and she got the whole kidlit blogging community joining in and even got sponsors to donate to charity!

As for me: I simply set aside a 48-hour time period when I will try to do as much reading and blogging as possible. I took Friday off this week, so I’m beginning tonight, Thursday, at 9:30 pm. And will see how much time I can spend on books between now and Saturday at 9:30 pm.

Honestly, I feel like I’m set up for failure this time – and then I remind myself I can’t “fail” at reading. It’s not a competition. Any amount of time I get to spend on this is good.

But first I agreed to go with some friends to a musical at the Kennedy Center tomorrow night. Okay, that will be worth it! And it will break up the reading and get me out and about. It’s a good thing! (And I could have said No if I didn’t believe that.)

Then tonight I learned a family member far away is having a crisis and I will need to work from a distance at helping to solve it. That will take some time. But here’s the bright side to that – 1) It’s good I can help. 2) Reading will help me not obsess and worry about the things I can’t do. I hope. Already tonight I put off dealing with it until tomorrow – but I hope I will be calm and able to be helpful.

Okay, so Reading!

The great thing about the 48-Hour Book Challenge, and why I keep coming back to them – is that they give me permission to read. And SKIP housework for a bit.

This year, I don’t want to get any further behind on posting reviews (I’m down to 56 reviews written but not posted! A couple years ago, there were 270.)- so I’m going to allow writing and posting reviews. In fact, I finished an Audiobook tonight, so one of the first things I need to do is review that book. So that will take more time from actual reading – but it’s all reading related.

Why do I want to get reading time in? Well, Book Award Season has started, and I have books to read for the Mathical Book Prize. On top of that, I promised myself that this year I would read all 24 books I picked up at ALA Annual Conference. I have read 8 of them already, mostly picture books – and I’d love to read the Advance Reader Copies before the books are published, but that will take some doing.

Which reminds me – I’m also going to count time spent reading old reviews as part of #Sonderbooks25, my celebration of my 25th year of writing Sonderbooks. My first plan was to reread all the reviews of Sonderbooks Stand-outs from every year, but I was having so much fun, I’m now reading ALL my old reviews. I believe there are more than 5,000 – and I am still only on 2003 reviews, Sonderbooks #62 – when I was still posting as “issues,” before I’d heard of blogs.

Time blogging also counts! So I just spent a chunk of time writing this post, and I want to get to reading – and listening. (Listening is what I do while eating and doing other basic life tasks.) We’ll see how I do, but any reading time is good. (And I’m afraid I’ve still got Monday off for housework and for working on my new website, prayingwiththepsalmists.com.

Happy Reading!

Review of Drown Me with Dreams, by Gabi Burton

Audiobooks, Fantasy, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

Drown Me with Dreams

by Gabi Burton
read by Dami Olukoya

Bloomsbury YA, 2024. 12 hours, 52 minutes.
Review written August 17, 2025, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

Let me say again that I love the new trend in fantasy books of publishing duologies instead of trilogies. Drown Me with Dreams completes the duology begun in Sing Me to Sleep (a 2023 Sonderbooks Stand-out), following the siren Saoirse, who’s the only one of her kind in the kingdom of Keirdre, after the king slaughtered them all as monsters. (An advantage to listening to the book is now I know how to pronounce that.)

Things have changed for Saoirse in this book – I don’t want to give too many details and give away the first book, but now Saoirse is living openly as a siren, and she finds a way to cross the barrier to leave Keirdre. But she won’t be able to come back if Hayes doesn’t bring the barrier down – and that could have terrible consequences.

In this book, besides doing some sleuthing and plotting for the good of the kingdom, Saoirse also learns not to be afraid of her power – and that she doesn’t have to use it to kill.

In the first book, I got a little bogged down with the world-building – a kingdom enclosed by a barrier that not even birds can get through? I have trouble believing it. But in this book, I was used to the idea, and the focus was more on how could they bring it down without starting multiple wars. There was also speculation about what makes a good ruler. Can a good man be a good ruler to a kingdom that was founded to reward ruthlessness?

I’m also a little skeptical of Saoirse’s ability to taste other people’s emotions. Because how does it get in her mouth instantly? I mean, if it were a smell, it could waft in the air, but these were described even as tastes in the back of her throat. Again by this time, I was used to the idea, and the descriptions were so creative, never mind details like that. The emotions weren’t described as simply salty or spicy or sweet, but through a wide range from cinnamon to orange to old stew going rancid. It turns out that with this power, Saoirse can tell when someone is lying, which did make sense.

For most of the book, Saoirse is across the barrier from the one she loves – but she can dream walk to see him. There’s another world-building detail that was a little hard for me – they can touch and feel each other, but it’s only a dream. So when Saoirse talks to Hayes in the dream walk – what is her actual body doing? Apparently nothing. It’s all a little murky – but the romance is beautifully done, and questions of trust are explored. And then the beads she uses to dream walk stop working exactly when it causes the most possible misunderstanding. (Which is precisely how coincidences should work in fiction – cause problems, and we’ll believe it. Solve problems, and it feels way too convenient.)

So – without giving details, this second book made me love the whole duology more. The first book was a debut novel I read when on the Morris Award Committee – and this second book is even stronger – full of tension and intrigue, and finishes off the story in a satisfying, but not predictable way. The author has already grown in her writing in just one book. I look forward to seeing what she will do next.

gabiburton.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 Are We There Yet? by Stacy McAnulty, illustrations by Elizabeth Baddeley

Children's Nonfiction Review, History, Starred Review 0

Are We There Yet?

The First Road Trip Across America

by Stacy McAnulty
illustrations by Elizabeth Baddeley

Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2025. 44 pages.
Review written July 21, 2025, from a library book.
Starred Review

This totally fun picture book tells the true story of the first team – including a dog – to ride in a car all the way across America.

The caption on the first page sets the tone:

This is the absolutely true story of a ridiculous journey that started as a bet, turned into a race, and ended in a – well, hang on, and see how it turns out.

They start by explaining why the bet that Dr. Horatio Nelson Jackson made in 1903 was foolish: not many paved roads, no highways, no cross-country road maps, and iffy quality of equipment. What’s more, Jackson didn’t even have a car or know how to drive!

He wasn’t daunted. He bought a used Winton Touring Car, and hired twenty-two-year-old Sewall Crocker to come along and teach him to drive.

It lacked the luxuries we expect in today’s cars – things like a windshield, seat belts, mirrors, doors, a trunk, or a roof.

Of course, every good road trip needs a dog! So a little ways down the road, they purchased a dog named Bud. They got Bud goggles to match their own (remember, no windshields) – and the pictures get all the cuter from there on out.

The trip was completely different from travel today. Plenty of stories of breakdowns, getting stuck in the mud, and important things flying out of the car when it got up to high speed – thirty miles an hour or so.

Of course, when other teams got wind of it and tried to cross the country first, this added a nice dose of competition.

And the whole story is told in a thoroughly entertaining format with pictures that add to the fun. There’s some nice back matter to put it in context. Makes me want to take a trip to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History and find Bud’s glasses.

stacymcanulty.com
EBaddeley.com

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Review of Good Dirt, by Charmaine Wilkerson, read by January LaVoy

Audiobooks, Contemporary, Fiction Review, Starred Review 0

Good Dirt

by Charmaine Wilkerson
read by January LaVoy

Books on Tape, 2025. 11 hours, 27 minutes.
Review written August 22, 2025, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

Good Dirt, from the author of Black Cake, is another sweeping saga that shows us a person in extraordinary circumstances in the present and weaves a tapestry of history around that person.

In Good Dirt, Ebony Freeman has fled to France in order to get some time to herself, nine months after the man she was supposed to marry didn’t show up for the wedding.

This wasn’t Ebbie’s first brush with notoriety, and the first time was even worse: When she was ten years old, her fifteen-year-old brother was shot in their Connecticut home when some thieves were trying to steal their family’s historic old jar. Ebbie was with her brother when he died and saw the jar in pieces on the floor.

The family was proud of that jar, and loved to tell stories about its history. It came to New England when Ebbie’s great-great-grandfather brought it along when he stowed away on a ship and made his way to freedom. Moses, the enslaved man who made the jar, carved an inscription on the bottom of the jar, at a time when it was illegal for enslaved people to read or write. That inscription has inspired the family for generations.

But now Ebbie’s managing her friend’s guesthouse in France – and the first people to show up are her ex-fiance and his new girlfriend, Ashley. It’s not as big a coincidence as it seems – Ashley had picked up an ad Ebbie’s friend had placed in a neighborhood cafe when she was in the area for Ebbie’s planned wedding. But the awkward situation forces Ebbie to think through a lot of things she’d been avoiding.

And that’s the situation that fuels the book. Ebbie decides to write the stories of the jar, and we learn its rich history while watching Ebbie deal with her own history and what this all means for the present with the man she’d planned to marry in front of her on the other side of the ocean.

As in Black Cake, Charmaine Wilkerson gives us multiple perspectives on events. I, for one, didn’t care what the ex-fiance thought about things – but she uses even that to help us get to know the whole family – all still dealing with the loss of Ebbie’s brother, and trying to go on with dignity in the present.

This is another powerful story that completely enthralls.

charmspen.com

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Review of Kismat Connection, by Ananya Devarajan, read by Reena Dutt and Vikas Adam

Audiobooks, Contemporary, Teen Fiction Review 0

Kismat Connection

by Ananya Devarajan
read by Reena Dutt and Vikas Adam

Harlequin Audio, 2023. 8 hours, 41 minutes.
Review written October 7, 2023, from a library eaudiobook.

Kismat Connection is a sweet romance about two Indian American seniors in high school who have been best friends since childhood. We get the story told from both their perspectives.

Arjun is a lacrosse star who wants to be an aerospace engineer. His mother has traveled often for work since his dad left, and he’s learned not to count on her. Instead, he spends time with Madhuri’s family, who welcomes him as if he’s their own. He has long been in love with Madhuri, but doesn’t dare tell her because he doesn’t want to mess up their friendship.

But when Madhuri’s mother reads both their astrological charts for the upcoming year and Arjun’s forecasts great success but Madhuri’s outlines trouble – Madhuri thinks of a way to fight against fate. She devises a plan to date Arjun for their senior year – but plan in advance to break up the day after graduation. She thinks of course it will work because neither of them will ever have romantic feelings for their best friend.

Well, it surprises no one but Madhuri when things get more complicated than that.

This book is a delightful rom-com with thoughts about free will and destiny as well as finding who you truly are and following your heart.

ananyadevarajan.com

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Review of Bob the Vampire Snail, by Andrea Zuill

Delightfully Silly, Picture Book Review 0

Bob the Vampire Snail

by Andrea Zuill

Random House Studio, 2025. 40 pages.
Review written August 19, 2025, from a library book.

I read a lot more picture books than I review – but when I am compelled to read bits of a book to my coworkers, as I did with this one – that one’s worth telling the world about.

What got me laughing out loud was the little bug with speech bubbles presenting “facts,” beginning on the very first page, even before the title page. We see a posted sign:

Did you know that all snails are named Bob?
It’s true!
They feel that having the same name helps keep their lives simple. Snails like a straightforward, bland, uncomplicated life. They take to heart that they are not the life of the party, which, by the way, they wouldn’t go to even if they were invited.

And then the bug comments:

Excuse me! I don’t know where the creator of this book gets their information, but none of this is true.

The story that follows is a completely silly one about a snail named Bob who gets turned into a vampire with wings, fangs, no reflection, and a dollop of invincibility. When it first happens, he turns to the other Bobs for help, but he’s way too complicated for them. And the bug comments:

If you’re ever in trouble, snails should never be the first choice when seeking help.

The main story in the book is about Bob figuring out his new life and what he now likes to eat. And trying to find a friend who will hang out with a vampire snail. Nothing deep or profound here. But plenty that’s very, very silly.

andreazuill.org

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Review of Too Small Tola Makes It Count, by Atinuke

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

Too Small Tola Makes It Count

by Atinuke
illustrated by Onyinye Iwu

Candlewick Press, 2024. First published in the United Kingdom in 2023. 90 pages.
Review written March 17, 2025, from a library book.
Starred Review

I love Too Small Tola! Here are more adventures for children ready to read chapter books. You don’t have to have read the earlier ones to enjoy this one, but I do recommend them, and characters return.

I like the way these books give younger children a window into other people’s lives without any need to feel sorry for them and showing lots of love.

Too Small Tola lives in Lagos, unbelievable Lagos.

In Lagos there are children who live in mansions. Mansions so big, their parents have to call their children’s cell phones to find which room they are in!

And in Lagos there are children who sleep on cardboard boxes under bridges where people step over them both day and night.

Tola’s family is lucky. They do not own a mansion or even an apartment. But they do not sleep under bridges either. They are lucky enough to have the roof of one room over their heads.

Tola lives with her Grandmommy and an older brother and older sister. We’re getting to know some of the other people in their building.

In past books, Tola was able to solve some problems using Math. In this book, there are some life problems to solve, which can be trickier. Tola is able to solve problems for her neighbors, but she can’t get her school classmates to believe that she worked for a famous rock star’s family during the lockdown – until they get a nice comeuppance in the last chapter.

Other problems involve helping Mrs. Shaky-Shaky, who can no longer go up the stairs, and traveling to the beach to escape the heat, and watching her neighbor’s baby, who makes an escape.

It all involves everyday life for Tola, and we get to enjoy the kind and wonderful people she interacts with every day, as well as appreciate Tola’s ingenuity.

These books always make me smile.

atinuke.co.uk
onyinyeiwu.com
candlewick.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 Holding Up the Sky, by Rebecca Alasdair

Contemporary, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

Holding Up the Sky

by Rebecca Alasdair

Southscript Press, 2022. 334 pages.
Review written March 14, 2023, from a library book.
Starred Review

Holding Up the Sky is a coming-out story, and one that is tough. We’re following Carter, who’s got so many burdens in his life as a senior in high school, it feels like he’s holding up the sky.

He used to have a big brother looking out for him, but his brother and his father were killed in an accident that happened the afternoon of his brother’s graduation dinner. Since then, Carter knows he’s a disappointment to his mother. She has to work long hours so they can stay in their home. And Carter works to keep his grades up so he can be a doctor one day and make his mother proud of him.

And then one day, as Carter is trying to hold things together, a new boy comes to school who is flamboyantly and proudly gay. Carter doesn’t dare admit how much he’s attracted to him. Because if his mother finds out, she’ll be horrified.

We get a warning at the very front of the book that Carter’s going to end up turning to suicide to find freedom. All the plot points from there on out are predictable – but they still had my heart aching along with Carter.

I don’t usually cry over young adult novels any more, unlike when I was a teen myself. But this one had me in tears. I figured out what was coming, but it still seemed all too much. Why couldn’t this kid see how precious he was? How dare a parent treat him like that? Yet I read this book after having just learned about the suicide of a young transgender woman after her parents forced her to detransition. It was all too easy to believe this story.

I will say this: The story does end both hopefully and realistically. In many ways, it’s a message book (with a good message), but it also had me absorbed and invested in the story.

rebeccaalasdair.com
southscriptpress.com.au

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