Review of Solito, by Javier Zamora, read by the author

Solito

A Memoir

by Javier Zamora
read by the author

Random House Audio, 2022. 17 hours, 8 minutes.
Review written May 2, 2023, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review
2023 Alex Award winner

The Alex Award is for books written for adults that will appeal to teens. Solito is a worthy winner, since in the entire memoir the author is nine years old. It’s the intense subject matter that put this book into the adult market.

Solito is a memoir — and the story of the author’s journey from El Salvador to the United States all by himself in 1999 when he was nine years old. His grandfather took him on the first leg to Guatemala. But then Javier was entrusted to a “coyote,” supposed to be taken safely to Mexico and then the USA to be reunited at last with his parents.

The trip was supposed to be relatively simple, taking a maximum of two weeks. Pretty early on, the plans got messed up. I won’t tell you how many weeks or how many tries it took before he was reunited with his parents, because I don’t want to mess up the suspense — but it was more than one try and much more than two weeks.

The journey was harrowing. In boats, in cars, buses and vans, and on foot through the desert. The author remembers details from a child’s perspective, doing what people told him, and making up names for the desert plants and animals. He is especially grateful to the adults who took him under their wing when plans went terribly awry, pretending he was part of their family to get him safely past officials.

The author doesn’t tell you what to think about the journey. But my reaction is that this is terrible. No child should have to go through such an arduous journey just to have to be with his parents.

But no matter what you conclude, this amazing story will have you riveted and will touch your heart.

javierzamora.net

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Review of Daughter of the Moon Goddess, by Sue Lynn Tan

Daughter of the Moon Goddess

by Sue Lynn Tan
read by Natalie Naudus

HarperAudio, 2022. 15 hours, 1 minute
Review written September 5, 2023, from a library eaudiobook.
2023 Alex Award Winner (Outstanding books for adults that will have appeal to teen readers.)

I’m not completely sure why Daughter of the Moon Goddess is advertised for adults and not for teen readers. It’s a coming-of-age tale about the daughter of the moon goddess. The notes do say it’s the first part of a duology, so perhaps the second part has more mature themes. This part shows her growing up years, with the person she’s going to fall in love with still in question. There’s some kissing but no sex. (Just so you know what you’re in for.)

The story is lovely, and narrator Natalie Naudus does a good job immersing you in the tale. Xingyin has grown up with her mother on the moon. As a teen, she learns that her mother was exiled there for drinking the elixir of immortality that had been awarded to her husband, a great archer, who had saved the world by shooting down some extra suns that were burning the world. What the moon goddess kept hidden, though, was the reason she drank the elixir — it was because she was having trouble in childbirth and the doctors said that she and her baby were going to die. But she kept Xingyin (who is also immortal) hidden from the celestial emperor and empress so they wouldn’t punish her as well.

But when Xingyin accidentally accesses her magic, it brings the attention of the empress to the moon. Xingyin must leave her home and go out into the world, never revealing who she is.

Xingyin ends up in the celestial kingdom as a servant. She is determined to somehow, some way work to save her mother and set her free from the eternal imprisonment.

Then she meets a young man who turns out to be the crown prince. He is holding a competition to find a study companion. But what can there be in common between two people whose families are in enmity?

That’s only the beginning. Xingyin ends up having many adventures, no damsel in distress, but one who has inherited the amazing abilities of her archer father.

The whole tale is told with a mythical feel. Although I had a strong feeling where the plot was going, there were some surprises along the way. And though this book had a satisfying resolution, there were enough threads left hanging to make me glad to read it’s the start of a duology.

This is a gentle romantic fantasy tale with a heroine you’ll be happy to cheer for.

suelynntan.com

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Review of Leeva at Last, by Sara Pennypacker, read by Stephanie Willing

Leeva at Last

by Sara Pennypacker
read by Stephanie Willing

Balzer + Bray, 2023. 5 hours, 36 minutes.
Review written September 11, 2023, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

Leeva at Last is, essentially, a modern-day version of Roald Dahl’s Matilda without the telekinesis.

In both books, we’ve got over-the-top evil and neglectful parents with a sweet and brilliant daughter who has taught herself by reading and who is completely unappreciated.

Leeva has always followed her parents’ orders, as outlined in her Employee Manual, but one day she ventures beyond the hedge to the town library and a new world opens up to her. She meets Harry, who is running the library for his aunt, a librarian who has a life goal of making every kind of cookie in the world, but who can’t navigate the broken stairs of the library.

Leeva’s parents are the mayor and the treasurer of the town, and they rule it with an iron fist. And charge extra taxes to anyone who questions them.

There are more quirky characters, especially a boy who lives his life in Hazmat suits because his parents are insurance salespeople and have taught him all about risk. He convinces Leeva to take on the care of a badger who was orphaned when excavation was done for the mayor’s giant statue. Another friend Leeva finds is Fern, who must care for her many siblings and her great-grandparents — until Leeva gets them hooked on an exercise show.

All these characters combine together in brilliant and quirky ways to teach Leeva about community and to work things out so that people get what they deserve and everyone is happy.

None of this is meant to be realistic. However, it is fun, and it will warm your heart. In all her adventures, Leeva learns that everything is better when shared with other people.

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Review of Five Survive, by Holly Jackson

Five Survive

by Holly Jackson
read by Emma Galvin

Listening Library, 2022. 10 hours, 33 minutes.
Review written February 28, 2023, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

Okay, Holly Jackson knows how to write a thriller. When I was in the middle of this book, there was no way I was going to give this book a star, because it was all too terrifying. The situation was too horrific, and the situation was bringing out the worst in many of the characters. And the main character simply had it way too hard. But by the time I finished listening, I’m just convinced the author is brilliant.

Mind you, the situation is terrifying, so please know what you’re getting into. There are six friends traveling in an RV from Philadelphia to Spring Break in Florida. And the title is Five Survive, so you get to thinking if that is supposed to be comforting?

They get lost in an area where there’s no cellphone service and get an unexpected flat tire. They come through and change the tire, but as they turn around, all four tires go flat. It takes them some time to realize that someone shot all four tires with a rifle. The realization is helped along when they also shoot a hole in the gas tank.

We’re seeing all this from the perspective of Red Kenny. She’s got a difficult life, and it was her fault the group chose the cheaper way to travel, by RV instead of jets, because her family doesn’t have much money. Her mother, a police chief, was killed years ago, in an execution-style killing that still hasn’t been solved. Her father drowns his sorrows in alcohol. But her friend Maddy always looks out for Red. Maddy’s 21-year-old brother came along as chaperone, and their mother, an assistant D.A., is about to take down a leader in the mob with a secret star witness.

The attack on their RV has clearly been planned, and they’re told someone among them has a secret. If they reveal the secret, the rest will be released. So maybe the mob is involved? It’s all a set-up for a terrible night.

And we don’t find out which one doesn’t survive until the very end of the book. Pick up this book if you want some incredible tension.

listeninglibrary.com

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Review of Tom Lake, by Ann Patchett

Tom Lake

by Ann Patchett
performed by Meryl Streep

HarperAudio, 2023. 11 hours, 23 minutes.
Review written September 5, 2023, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

Ann Patchett writes immersive, meditative literary novels, and this newest one has a lovely dose of joy. With Meryl Streep narrating the audiobook, listening was a complete delight.

The first thing I wondered about the book: Is Tom Lake a person or a place? The answer is that it’s a place – a lake in northern Michigan where summer stock theater would happen.

The setting of the book is Spring of 2020. The world is shutdown. Lara and her husband have no workers to bring in the harvest on their cherry farm, but their three daughters, all in their 20s, have come home, and they’re doing the picking. While they work, they demand their mother tell them, at last, about her relationship with the famous movie star Peter Duke. She dated him before she met their father, when she was playing Emily in Our Town during that long-ago summer at Tom Lake.

That maybe doesn’t sound too exciting? In practice, it ended up being mesmerizing and engaging and I ended up dreaming about it when I stopped in the middle to sleep.

Lara reflects on her life choices, on Duke’s magnetic personality, on the pivotal events that turned her life to the path she ended up taking.

Something I love about the book is that it’s told by a happy middle-aged woman. She’s feeling a little guilty how happy she is in the middle of a pandemic because she got to be surrounded by her daughters and the husband she’s loved so long. (I remember feeling a little guilty how much I loved that my kids started playing online games with me once a week during the pandemic.) Yes, she went through some things when she was young. She didn’t end up making it as an actress and Duke didn’t stay with her and went on to be wildly successful. But she’s fundamentally happy about where life has taken her, and that gives the whole book a feeling of peaceful joy.

There are some surprises in the story — things her girls didn’t know at all and the reader doesn’t expect. The sense of place is strong and makes me want to go visit a cherry orchard in Michigan, or maybe find a summer stock theater show by a lake. Completely delightful.

annpatchett.com

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Review of Sorcery of Thorns, by Margaret Rogerson

Sorcery of Thorns

by Margaret Rogerson
read by Emily Ellet

Simon & Schuster Audio, 2019. 14 hours, 21 minutes.
Review written February 10, 2023, from a library eaudiobook
Starred Review

Last year, my Cybils panel chose Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson as our 2021 winner for the Cybils Award in Young Adult Speculative Fiction. And after reading for the 2022 Cybils awards, I finally made time to listen to an earlier book by Margaret Rogerson.

Sorcery of Thorns is fun because it features an apprentice librarian. But she doesn’t work in any ordinary library. Elisabeth Scrivener was a foundling who grew up in one of the Great Libraries of Austermeer — a library packed with grimoires, full of ancient magic.

But one terrible night, Elisabeth is the only one awake and she finds the director of the library dead, killed by a grimoire that got loose and turned into a malefict — a giant sentient monster. But with the director’s sword, Demonslayer, Elisabeth is able to defeat the malefict.

That gets Elisabeth the attention of all the wrong people. A young sorcerer, Magister Nathaniel Thorn, comes to escort Elisabeth to the chancellor for questioning at the magisterium, along with his demonic servant. Elisabeth knows not to trust sorcerers, but he’s surprisingly kind, and helps Elisabeth when they’re attacked by a horde of fiends. He’s compelled to take her into the protection of his own home.

But when the chancellor takes Elisabeth into custody, she begins to realize something is wrong. Little by little, Elisabeth — and eventually Nathaniel as well — start to unravel clues about a monstrous plot that could destroy the world.

I thoroughly enjoy Margaret Rogerson’s writing, and the romance in this book was delightful. Elisabeth is a wonderfully resourceful heroine who’s more likely to rescue the guy than be rescued, though some of both happens.

I do have a lot of quibbles with the magic. I never have patience for sentient objects feeling emotion. In this case, it was books, but if you look at those details too hard, it just doesn’t work. And the relationship between sorcerers and their demons has some problems as well, if you look too closely. But I enjoy Margaret Rogerson’s writing so much, I was able to set aside all those quibbles and thoroughly enjoy the story.

In fact, I finally got this audiobook listened to because I heard about a new volume coming out, Mysteries of Thorn Manor. I’m now disappointed that it’s only a novella, but happy to get to read a little more about Elisabeth and Nathaniel.

MargaretRogerson.com
simonandschuster.com/teen

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Review of Simon Sort of Says, by Erin Bow

Simon Sort of Says

by Erin Bow
read by Will Collyer

Disney Hyperion, 2023. 7 hours, 40 minutes.
Review written August 21, 2023, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

Ever since I was on the 2019 Newbery committee, I’m convinced that I’m not any good at figuring out which book will win the Newbery Medal on any given year — but I believe I am very good at identifying books that will be considered by the committee. Simon Sort of Says is one such book. I have no idea if it will win or get honor, but this is a book the Newbery committee will surely discuss. And a book those who love children’s books will love to read.

It’s got so many wonderful ingredients: Quirky characters who seem more realistic because of those quirks, a new kid in school at a very distinctive place, loving parents but kid-centric adventures, a main character who’s exceedingly likable, plenty of humor, and a serious theme dealt with realistically and sensitively. Hmmm. Listing the ingredients doesn’t convey how wonderful this book is.

Simon Sort of Says is about 12-year-old Simon O’Keeffe, who’s moving with his family to Grin and Bear It, Nebraska, part of the National Quiet Zone. [Note: The real National Radio Quiet Zone is in West Virginia. So this is a fictional town.] It’s a center for radio telescopes, astronomers, and back-to-nature types. But what Simon loves about it is that nobody has internet access. Okay, he’d like internet access himself, but if none of his classmates have it, no one will have found him on the internet, for that thing that happened two years ago and left him traumatized. Instead, he tells his new class that his family moved there because of the Alpaca Disaster when his father, a lay official with the Catholic church, was overseeing the Blessing of the Pets. Now his father works at the Catholic church in Grin and Bear It, and his mother is the new funeral director, with the family living over the funeral home.

The book begins with new-school stuff and making new friends. Especially notable is Agate, who comes from a very large family who lives on a farm. She’s brilliant, and immediately enlists Simon into a scheme to fake a message from aliens – believing that will encourage the radio astronomers. She also gives Simon a puppy to train to be a therapy dog. And it turns out the puppy is very helpful for Simon.

Okay, that description doesn’t convey the charm of this book either. I can talk about some of the quirky incidents: A peacock named Pretty Stabby. A dog named Todd who opens the refrigerator and gets himself a beer. Emus on the loose that have to be “attracted” rather than forcibly herded. A squirrel that ate the consecrated host — which Simon’s father didn’t find out about until he was leading Communion.

Now, let me also say that I hate that a book about a traumatized kid is completely realistic in this day and age. But I love that this book shows the traumatized kid finding friends, healing, and joy. And a puppy!

This is a truly wonderful book that I already want to read over again.

erinbow.com

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Review of Bloodmarked, by Tracy Deonn

Bloodmarked

Book Two of the Legendborn Cycle

by Tracy Deonn
read by Joniece Abbott-Pratt

Simon & Schuster Audio, 2022. 22 hours, 20 minutes.
Review written March 10, 2023, from a library book

First, let me say that I love the premise of this fantasy series: A bunch of white guys have passed down ancestral magic from Arthur and the knights of the Round Table. But that magic has been completely disrupted because generations ago one of those white guys raped a woman he’d enslaved. And now the Scion of Arthur is a Black girl.

At the start of the book, I thought she was going to go through the rite, completely as expected, to officially become the ruling King. But I should have known that the regents currently in power would not let a Black girl reign over them. So things take a distinct turn from that point.

But while Bree is trying to figure out the power she inherited from Arthur, she’s also trying to learn to use her Root Magic, which she inherited from her mother and her mother’s mothers. And she learns about others who work with ether magic and demons who make bargains. All while staying away from those who want to capture her and negate her power.

Meanwhile, Nick, the Scion of Lancelot, is still kidnapped. But Bree learns she can visit him when she’s in Arthur’s memories. Also meanwhile, what’s going on between her and the King’s mage? I almost rolled my eyes when another powerful person they encounter seems to be attracted to Bree, too. But I did figure out that Bree cares deeply for her friends, and her friends will do much to save her.

I do have a complaint about how long the book is, but I’ve gotten spoiled by reading lots of children’s books. I’m not even sure I could summarize what happened. (And I wouldn’t anyway, because I don’t want to give anything away.) But it’s not like the action ever lagged. Some of it was hard to understand, especially what took place in dreamscapes or figuring out how bargains actually worked.

Another peeve was that the narrator consistently pronounced “Arthur” as “Author,” and it made me a little crazy. I could chalk it up to the accent, but every single character pronounced it that way regardless of their background. I suppose it’s possible that pronunciation is closer to the original old Welsh, but every time I heard it, I’d say “Arthur!” out loud, just to get it out of my system. (It didn’t help that the audiobook I’d listened to before this one had a British character named Arthur, pronounced with the ‘r’ as I think it should be pronounced.) But I was too engaged in the story to stop listening.

I’m honestly not quite sure where things stand at the end of the book. But I’m quite sure that Bree will learn more about using her power, and that Tracy Deonn will take the reader along for the ride. And that I will want to be in on the action.

tracydeonn.com

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Review of Fourth Wing, by Rebecca Yarros

Fourth Wing

by Rebecca Yarros
read by Rebecca Soler
with Teddy Hamilton

Recorded Books, 2023. 20 hours, 43 minutes.
Review written August 13, 2023, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

Wow. Fourth Wing is a grittier, tougher, sexier adult version of a young person attending a school for wizards — or in this case, dragonriders. With all the danger (students constantly dying) and action, the book pulls you in and doesn’t stop. I found myself thinking about the book when I wasn’t listening to it.

It begins with Violet’s older sister Mira protesting to their mother that Violet’s going to die. Violet always planned to go into the scribe quadrant like their father when she got to be twenty and it was her turn to make a choice.

But her father has recently died and her mother, the general in charge of the war college, says that their family were always dragon riders, and she’ll drag Violet out of the scribe quadrant if she tries to go there. But everybody, including Violet, seems convinced that she’ll die. After all, she’s got Ehler-Danlos syndrome, which naturally doesn’t have that name, but she’s got weak joints and brittle bones that often go out of joint. And never mind that the very first day, she has to cross a parapet in the rain — recruits typically fall to their deaths before they even get a chance at the dragons.

Mira warns Violet to look to her lifelong friend Dane Atos for help, a second-year squad leader. And to watch out for Xaden Rierson, the son of the man who led a rebellion six years ago. Their mother oversaw the execution of his father, but that father was responsible for the death of their beloved brother Brennan. So of course they can be expected to hate each other. At a place where students are known to kill one another. With that warning, there’s no surprise the conflict that’s going to be in Violet’s heart, but I like how the author gets us there, showing rather than telling us why attraction happens or doesn’t happen.

Once Violet crosses the parapet, there are still many ways to die. Challenges with other cadets. Difficult training maneuvers. And it all builds toward the Threshing, when candidates may or may not bond with a dragon and then learn to wield their dragon’s magic in their own particular signet.

The world-building all develops naturally along with the action, and the author gets us completely wrapped up in it. There’s a warning at the front about violence and about sexual activity portrayed on the page. And, yes, it’s awfully messed up to have an academy to train dragon riders where a large percentage of the candidates die. Also, the sexy scenes don’t happen until two-thirds of the way through the book, but when they do, well, furniture breaks. Yes, that part is long, vivid, and over-the-top. You won’t necessarily want to listen to this with anyone else in the room.

And — I won’t say what happens, but I love it when books have an ending that makes me shout out loud with a surprising and perfect twist. The only bad part about it is that I have to wait until the next book is published to find out what happens next. (But good news! I see that Book Two is coming out in November.)

This is an amazing book. I love it that a short girl with physical limitations uses her cleverness to become a dragonrider. (Hey, I’m not giving anything away. It would be a short book if she didn’t make it.) The characters are complex (even if you can see where the romance is going), the world-building is intricate, and the dragons are just plain cool.

rebeccayarros.com

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Review of Mirror to Mirror, by Rajani LaRocca

Mirror to Mirror

by Rajani LaRocca
read by Rasha Zamamiri and Reena Dutt

Quill Tree Books, 2023. 4 hours, 1 minute.
Review written July 9, 2023, from a library eaudiobook.

Mirror to Mirror is a novel in verse about twins Maya and Chaya, during a year when they grow apart.

Maya and Chaya do everything together. They are there for each other all the time. But Maya is hiding a secret that almost seven years ago, she broke a mirror, and she believes that all the bad luck that has hit their family since then is all her fault. Her solution is that she needs to be perfect. She needs to do everything right, and maybe that way she can protect her family.

Chaya notices that Maya’s anxiety is getting out of control. She wants to tell their parents — but their parents are having trouble with each other, and Maya’s convinced she can handle it. Chaya decides that Maya needs space, that competing with her is what’s causing the trouble. So she changes her class schedule to sign up for completely different kinds of music, including the musical theater production. But this ends up breaking the twins apart even more.

It all comes to a head when the twins switch places at music camp, making a bet to see who can fool their friends the longest. But that means they have to step into each other’s shoes.

I do still feel like I miss something when I listen to a novel in verse rather than reading it and seeing what the author does with layout and formatting. I also have a better visual memory than an auditory memory, and I really had trouble for a while knowing the differences between Chaya and Maya. I think reading the book would have helped with that. There were two narrators, but their voices were very similar. But as the story picked up with the conflict between the two, it became easier to follow.

The author dedicates the book to her twin, so I’m thinking she presented an authentic picture of finding your own voice, your own music when you’ve got an identical twin.

rajanilarocca.com

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