Make Up Posts #tbt and Fact Friday!

Oops! Boy did I goof this week!. This morning, I checked my blog to see that my Saturday, "What's New" posted went up and saw, not only that it did not post, but I didn't post a #tbt or a Fact Friday. I posted them to my school's learning platform and the public library FB page, but not my blog! Then "What's New?" post was accidentally scheduled for August 27! Man, oh man! My brain is turning to mush! Time to play catch up.

#tbt:

Image: Scholastic Inc. 

The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen. 352 p. The Ascendance Trilogy #1. Scholastic Press/ Scholastic Inc., April, 20212. 9780545284134. (Own.)

 #tbt features The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen. This first-person narrative is book one of what was the Ascendance Trilogy, now series. Sage is a fifteen-year-old orphan who lives in Miss Turdbeldy's Orphanage for Disadvantaged Boys in the kingdom of Carthya. He's defiant as well as a thief and Miss Turdbeldy is more than happy to have him taken off her hands when a nobleman named Bevin Connor comes to collect four boys. Very quickly, the boys all learn that they are enrolled in a crash course in how to impersonate a prince and that only one of them, the false prince, will come out alive. If you love adventure narrated with sass and humor, you will love this series. 

It was published in the spring of 2012. The sequels, The Runaway King and The Shadow Throne were published in 2013 and 2014 respectively.

Fact Friday: 

Image: Abrams Books

The Woman Who Split the Atom: The Life of Lise Meitner by Marissa Moss. 264 p. Abrams Books for Young Readers/ Abrams Books, April, 2022. 9781419758539. (Review of finished copy borrowed from public library.)

Fact Friday features The Woman Who Split the Atom: The Life of Lise Meitner by Marissa Moss. Life was hard for women who were interested in the sciences in the early twentieth century. They had to work twice as hard as their male counterparts, were given terrible working conditions and very little, if any pay. Often, male colleagues stole or took credit for the discoveries of female scientists. Such was the case with Lise Meitner. She was a physicist who worked very closely with a chemist named Otto Hahn. He did credit her in their early work, though his name was always first. However, when Hitler came to power and Jews were being stripped of everything, Hahn did little to protect Meitner and she resisted other colleagues pleas to leave Germany. Not only that, but absolutely failed to credit Meitner when HE won the Nobel Prize for HER work on splitting atoms. Without her calculations, Hahn had no idea what he was looking at.

This biography is absorbing. Chapters are short and each begins with an engaging, illustrated introduction. Over fifty pages of back matter contains archival photos, an afterword, an author's note, a timeline of Meitner's achievements, a glossary, thumbnail biographies of the other scientists that were mentioned in the text, chapter notes, sources, and an index.

The Woman Who Split the Atom would appeal to readers who enjoy biographies, science, and women's history.

What's New?

"Stacking the Shelves" was a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews. It seems the blog is gone though, so I will just continue to post a "What's New? post whenever I receive new books. 

For Review:

Image: LernerBooks

A River's Gifts: the Mighty Elwha River Reborn by Patricia Newman. Illustrated by Natasha Donovan. 48 p. Millbrook Press/ Lerner Publishing Group, September 6, 2022. 9781541598706.

Publisher synopsis: A mighty river. A long history.

For thousands of years, the Elwha river flowed north to the sea. The river churned with salmon, which helped feed bears, otters, and eagles. The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, known as the Strong People located in the Pacific Northwest, were grateful for the river’s abundance. All that changed in the 1790s when strangers came who did not understand the river’s gifts. The strangers built dams, and the environmental consequences were disastrous.

Sibert honoree Patricia Newman and award-winning illustrator Natasha Donovan join forces to tell the story of the Elwha, chronicling how the Strong People successfully fought to restore the river and their way of life.

I have enjoyed Patricia Newman's longer non-fiction titles and can't wait to dig into this picture book!

Purchased: I received some generous AZ gift cards from some students and bought these for our school library:

Image: Scholastic Inc.

Miss Quinces by Kat Fajardo. 250 p. Graphix/ Scholastic Inc. May, 2022. 9781338535594.

Publisher synopsis: Sue just wants to spend the summer reading and making comics at sleepaway camp with her friends, but instead she gets stuck going to Honduras to visit relatives with her parents and two sisters. They live way out in the country, which means no texting, no cable, and no Internet! The trip takes a turn for the worse when Sue's mother announces that they'll be having a surprise quinceañera for Sue, which is the last thing she wants. She can't imagine wearing a big, floofy, colorful dress! What is Sue going to do? And how will she survive all this "quality" time with her rambunctious family?

Image: Chronicle Books

Shine on Luz Véliz! by Rebecca Balcarcel. 268 p. Chronicle Books, May, 2022. 9781797209678.

Publisher synopsis: A beautiful coming-of-age story for fans of Front Desk and Merci Suárez Changes Gears, this book celebrates identity, language, heritage, family, and the determination to follow one’s own inner light.

Have you ever been the best at something . . . only to lose it all?

Luz Véliz is a soccer star—or rather, she was a soccer star. With her serious knee injury, it’s unlikely she’ll be back on the field anytime soon. But without soccer, who is she? Even her dad treats her differently now—like he doesn’t know her or, worse, like he doesn’t even like her. When Luz discovers she has a knack for coding, it feels like a lifeline to a better self. If she can just ace the May Showcase, she’ll not only skip a level in her coding courses and impress Ms. Freeman and intriguing, brilliant Trevor—she’ll have her parents cheering her on from the sidelines, just the way she likes it.

But something—someone—is about to enter the Vélizes’ life. And when Solana arrives, nothing will be the same, ever again.

Unforgettable characters, family drama, and dauntless determination illuminate Luz’s journey as she summons her inner strength and learns to accept others and embrace the enduring connection of family. Through it all, Luz’s light is a constant—a guide for others, a path forward through the dark, and an ineffable celebration of her own eternal self.

Image: Workman

Slip by Marika McCoola. Illustrated by Aatmaja Pandya. 198 p. Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill/ Workman, June, 2022. 9781643752495. 

Publisher synopsis: Right before Jade is about to leave for a summer art intensive, her best friend, Phoebe, attempts suicide. How is Jade supposed to focus on herself right now?

But at the Art Farm, Jade has artistic opportunities she’s been waiting for her whole life. And as she gets to know her classmates, she begins to fall for whimsical, upbeat, comfortable-in-her-own-skin Mary. Jade pours herself into making ceramic monsters that vent her stress and insecurities, but when she puts her creatures in the kiln, something unreal happens: they come to life. And they’re taking a stand: if Jade won’t confront her problems, her problems are going to confront her, including the scariest of them all—if Jade grows, prospers, and even falls in love this summer, is she leaving Phoebe behind?

Image: HarperCollins Publishers

Queer Ducks (And Other Animals): The Natural World of Animal Sexuality by Eliot Schrefer. 240 p. Katherine Tegen Books/ HarperCollins Publishers, May, 2022. 9780063069490.

Publisher synopsis: This groundbreaking illustrated YA nonfiction title from two-time National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestselling author Eliot Schrefer is a well-researched and teen-friendly exploration of the gamut of queer behaviors observed in animals.

A quiet revolution has been underway in recent years, with study after study revealing substantial same-sex sexual behavior in animals. Join celebrated author Eliot Schrefer on an exploration of queer behavior in the animal world—from albatrosses to bonobos to clownfish to doodlebugs.

In sharp and witty prose—aided by humorous comics from artist Jules Zuckerberg—Schrefer uses science, history, anthropology, and sociology to illustrate the diversity of sexual behavior in the animal world. Interviews with researchers in the field offer additional insights for readers and aspiring scientists.

Queer behavior in animals is as diverse and complex—and as natural—as it is in our own species. It doesn’t set us apart from animals—it bonds us even closer to our animal selves.

What's new with you?

Waiting on Wednesday: My Nest of Silence written and illustrated by Matt Faulkner.

Image: Simon & Schuster

My Nest of Silence written and illustrated by Matt Faulkner. 384 p. Atheneum Books for Young Readers/ Simon & Schuster, October 18, 2022. 9781534477629.

Happy Wednesday! It's a lovely day out there! I should've turned the AC off and opened windows last night as the temps did dip into the lowish 60s. Opportunity lost. I hope you are able to get outside and enjoy the weather! 

Waiting on Wednesday features My Nest of Silence written and illustrated by Matt Faulkner. A true student of history studies the mistakes that were made and can be critical of injustices committed while still loving their country. That includes reading well-researched historical fiction. Japanese American citizens had their property confiscated and were imprisoned after Japan attacked the U.S. Mr. Faulkner's graphic novel hybrid will release this October. 

Here's the publisher synopsis: Told in a brilliant blend of prose and graphic novel, this unforgettable middle grade story about a Japanese American family during World War II is written and illustrated by Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature winner Matt Faulkner.

Manzanar is nothing like home. Yet the relocation center is where Mari and her family have to live, now that the government has decided that Japanese Americans aren’t American enough. Determined to prove them wrong, Mari’s brother Mak has joined the army and is heading off to war. In protest, Mari has stopped talking for the duration of the war. Or at least until Mak comes home safe.

Still, Mari has no trouble expressing herself through her drawings. Mak, too, expresses himself in his letters home, first from training camp and later from the front lines of World War II, where he is fighting with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. But while his letters are reassuring, reality is not: Mak is facing danger at every turn, from racism within the army to violence on the battlefield.

In turns humorous and heartbreaking, Mari and Mak’s story will stick with readers long after the last page.

Teen Tuesday: Himawari House by Harmony Becker

Image: Macmillan

Himawari House by Harmony Becker. 384 p. First:Second/ Macmillan, November, 2021. 9781250235565. (Review of finished copy borrowed from public library.)

Happy Tuesday! I think we will get a bit of a break from the heat here in the northeast today, so please enjoy the day. Teen Tuesday features Himawari House by Harmony Becker. This beautifully rendered graphic novel follows Nao as she spends her gap year in Japan at a Japanese language immersion institute and tries to reconnect with the culture she insisted on shedding when she moved to the U.S. with her white father and Japanese mother. She shares space at HImawari House with four other teens who are studying in Japan. Hyeyoung is from Korea, Tina is from Singapore and two brothers, Shinichi and Masaki.

The novel covers the entire year as Nao navigates feelings of isolation in her search for cultural identity. Her Japanese language immersion classes are exhausting, but that is the language that allows her to connect with her roommates as they bond over meals, sightseeing and long talks about life. The text is mostly bi-lingual, though there are occasions when there is no translation, leaving the reader to figure it out. The art is rendered mostly in blues and the panel placement keeps things fluid.

While the teens in the novel are college age (my students are in middle school), mature teen graphic novel fans will enjoy Himawari House.

Middle Grade Monday: The Captive Kingdom by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Image: Scholastic Inc.

The Captive Kingdom by Jennifer A. Nielsen. Unabridged e-audiobook, ~10 hours. Read by Charlie McWade. Ascendance Series #4. Scholastic Audio/ Scholastic Inc., October, 2020. (Review of e-audiobook borrowed from public library.)

Middle Grade Monday features The Captive Kingdom by Jennifer A. Nielsen. The Ascendance Trilogy turned into a series with this new addition to Sage/ Jaron's adventures. Ms. Nielsen thought Jaron's story was over in 2014 when the third and final book of the trilogy released, but some five years later, Ms. Nielsen says she heard Jaron saying, "I'm bored," and so Ms. Nielsen went to work. 

While this book can stand alone, if you enjoy a willful, snarky main character who is as infuriating as he is entertaining, you won't want to miss the first three books. With later books in a series, I try not to say too much in summary in order not to spoil. I will say that I wasn't as enamored by Jaron this time around, but his young fans will love this installment. I found a fair amount of repetition and a good deal of reliance on coincidence that stretched credulity a bit. 

The narrator continues to do a good job bringing Jaron to life. 

Teen Tuesday and Audiobook Review: Family of Liars by E. Lockhart

Image: Penguin Random House

Family of Liars by E. Lockhart. Unabridged e-audiobook, ~531 minutes. Read by Kimberly Farr. Listening Library, May, 2022. 9780593608852. (Review of downloadable e-audiobook borrowed from the public library.)

Teen Tuesday features Family of Liars by E. Lockhart. This story is a prequel to Ms. Lockhart's We Were Liars. This book is wildly popular among TMS eighth graders and was published in 2014. It contains one of the best plot twists in YA lit. While Family of Liars is a pre-quel, there are spoilers to We Were Liars, so while the book can be read as a stand alone, I'd read We Were Liars first.

Carrie Lennox Taft Sinclair is asked "What's the worst thing you've ever done?" by her son during one of his late night visits to their vacation compound. Yes, compound. The Sinclairs are very wealthy and own an island off the coast of Massachusetts. Carrie reluctantly returns to the summer of 1987 to tell her son the story. It was a year after her youngest sister drowned. She's still grieving, but the family never shows any emotion and so, Carrie is grieving alone. She's also becoming addicted to pain killers after having jaw surgery at her father's insistence. That summer she not only discovers a family secret, but also falls for Pfeff, the flighty friend of her cousin's boyfriend.

This story surprised in the best possible ways. I was pleasantly surprised by the narrator's performance, because I didn't love her narration of French Braid. Fans of the first book will WANT this book and love it. 

Middle Grade Monday: The Aquanaut by Dan Santat.

Image: Scholastic

The Aquanaut by Dan Santat. 256 p. Graphix/ Scholastic, March, 2022. 9780545497619. Review of finished copy borrowed from public library.

Happy Monday! I'm approaching the halfway point in my summer break. I've read twenty books so far, well below my usual goal of at least one book a day, but I'm reading every day and enjoying nearly everything I read. How's your goal going?

Middle Grade Monday features The Aquanaut by Dan Santat. This is a sci/fi graphic novel centered around a little girl named Sophia, whose oceanographer father was lost at sea while on a research trip some years earlier. In fact, that disaster at sea is how the book opens, so be prepared. Fast-forward to today and Sophia is a distracted student living with her equally distracted uncle who is also an oceanographer who works for the an aquarium called Aqualand. Sophia's uncle is being pressured by the CEO and the investors to do something shady. He also promised to help Sophia with her science project. In the meanwhile, an aquanaut dressed in an old-fashioned diving suit emerges from the ocean near Aqualand trying to pass as human, but is, in fact being piloted by four sea creatures who had a connection to Sophia's father.

At turns hilarious, heartwarming and suspenseful, the art is just perfect. Rich, lush colors and perfectly paced panel placement encourages the reader to swallow this tale whole. I did, then turned back to page one for another read-through. I just know my GN fans are going to gobble this one up. 

Fact Friday: The Boy Who Failed Dodgeball by Jordan Sonnenblick

Image: Scholastic Inc.

The Boy Who Failed Dodgeball by Jordan Sonnenblick. 246 p. Scholastic Press/ Scholastic Inc., June, 2022. 9781338749601. (Review of finished copy borrowed from public library.)

Fact Friday features The Boy Who Failed Dodgeball by Jordan Sonnenblick. Young Jordan Sonnenblick is entering middle school on Staten Island. He's attending I.S. 61, which is an arts magnet school, and he's pumped to be placed in morning band class. It's the class that performs and those students get to wear the red blazers. He's not pumped about acing all the math tests for a city-wide math competition and he refuses to join math club. Oh! And he gets off on the wrong foot with his L.A. teacher and is sent to the vice-principal's office on the first day of school!

Middle grade readers are treated to the highs and lows of Jordan's sixth grade year. Even though it takes place in the 1980s and modern tweens might not know who Evel Knievel was, they will relate to the anxiety of making new friends (and enemies), keeping old friends, having crushes and going on dates.

Amusing spot art is sprinkled throughout this episodic memoir, which is often laugh-out-loud funny. Fans of the author's books will enjoy reading this and super-fans may recognize a name or two. It sure was fun revisiting young Jordan. I hope there will be more from the boy who failed.

#tbt: The Year I Lost My Grip by Jordan Sonnenblick

#tbt features Curveball: the Year I Lost My Grip by Jordan Sonnenblick. Rising freshman, Peter Friedman is an ace pitcher. Knowing that he has a place on the high school baseball team eased the anxiety of starting high school for Peter. However, his life is upended when he shreds his elbow while pitching in his Little League championships over the summer. His doctor told him that he can never pitch again. His world is rocked once more when he realizes that his beloved grandfather is losing his memory. His grandfather was a famous photographer and he gifts Peter his equipment. Curveball is the often laugh-out-loud first-person story of Peter's freshman year of high school as he readjusts his game plan, tries to fix his grandfather, finds the girl of his dreams and loses a best friend.

Curveball: the Year I Lost My Grip was published in 2012. TMS hosted a visit Mr. Sonnenblick way back in June of 2010. He spent the day giving two assemblies, had lunch with the LA teachers and gave a writing workshop to the eighth graders in the library, where he read from a draft of Curveball. It was quite exciting to listen to a real author read from a work in progress. 

Picture Book Review: Pink is Not a Color by Lindsay Ward

Image: Author's Website

Pink is Not a Color by Lindsay Ward. unpgd. Two Lions, July, 2022. 9781542026864. (Review of finished copy courtesy of Blue Slip Media.)

Adorable little Pink is perfectly pleased with the predominance of her favorite color in her abode. She sports pink boots and a pink unicorn headband. She paints pictures of her pet, Phil, the flamingo in her room. All is well until she finds her friends the primaries decorating for a rainbow party and realizes that she's not included. The secondaries are included, but she's not part of the rainbow and the party is a rainbow extravaganza! Wait! Could this mean Pink is NOT a color? All the other colors rush to make amends, but the damage is done. Pink is in a full-on mid-color crisis. 

The very best picture books entertain while they subtly teach. This book pairs wonderfully with This Book is Gray to introduce color theory to just about any age group. There's energy in the illustrations as well as plenty of visual humor leading to many happy requests for rereading. Additionally, the lessons here are also social emotional. Young readers who are not feeling self-confident can relate and confident young readers have the opportunity to empathize. 

The end pages are decorated and contain great information. Unfortunately, part of each is covered by the flaps, which isn't a problem for home libraries. Minor niggle. I still love decorated end pages. Pink is Not a Color is a joyful addition to any library. 

Victory. Stand! Raising My Fist for Justice by Tommie Smith and Derrick Barnes. Illustrated by Dawn Anybwile

Image: Norton Young Readers

Waiting on Wednesday features a graphic novel memoir called Victory. Stand! Raising My Fist for Justice by Tommie Smith and Derrick Barnes. Illustrated by Dawud Anyabwile. Mr. Anyabwile is fast becoming one of my favorite graphic novel artists. He illustrated Kwame Alexander's The Crossover. Mr. Barnes won a Newbery Honor for his debut picture book, Crown: Ode to a Fresh Cut. He collaborated with Mr. Smith on this memoir. It will be published on September 27 (my birthday!). 

Here's the publisher synopsis: A groundbreaking and timely graphic memoir from one of the most iconic figures in American sports—and a tribute to his fight for civil rights.

On October 16, 1968, during the medal ceremony at the Mexico City Olympics, Tommie Smith, the gold medal winner in the 200-meter sprint, and John Carlos, the bronze medal winner, stood on the podium in black socks and raised their black-gloved fists to protest racial injustice inflicted upon African Americans. Both men were forced to leave the Olympics, received death threats, and faced ostracism and continuing economic hardships.

In his first-ever memoir for young readers, Tommie Smith looks back on his childhood growing up in rural Texas through to his stellar athletic career, culminating in his historic victory and Olympic podium protest. Cowritten with Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Author Honor recipient Derrick Barnes and illustrated with bold and muscular artwork from Emmy Award–winning illustrator Dawud Anyabwile, Victory. Stand! paints a stirring portrait of an iconic moment in Olympic history that still resonates today.

I can't wait to add this to my school library's collection. And, isn't that cover amazing? Happy reading!

Teen Tuesday and Audiobook Review: All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir

Image: Penguin Random House

All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir. Unabridged e-audiobook, ~10 hours, 26 minutes. Read by Deepti Gupta, Kamran R. Khan and Kausar Mohammed. Listening Library, March, 2022. 9780593502228. (Review of finished e-audio borrowed from public library.)

Teen Tuesday features All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir. Ms. Tahir made a huge splash with her debut trilogy starter, An Ember in the Ashes. Here she turns from fantasy to contemporary realistic fiction and the results are gut-wrenching and utterly compelling.

Salahudin and Noor are eighteen-year-old seniors living in a small town in the Mojave Desert in California. They are the only Muslims in town and used to be best friends. Noor is an orphan who lost her parents in an earthquake in Pakistan when she was six. Her uncle, who owns a liquor store and was her only living relative, brought her to the U.S., but has banned her from speaking Punjabi or practicing Islam. Though Noor wishes to attend college and eventually study medicine, her uncle's plans for her to work at his liquor store full-time.

Sal's parents own the financially failing Cloud Rest Motel and his mother, Misbah has ignored her health problems due to lack of insurance. His father struggles with alcoholism. Sal learns of the severity of the financial problems when Misbah dies. His father is useless and Sal vows to save the motel, but makes a poor choice in order to do so.

The POV (point-of-view) shifts between Noor and Sal in the present with snippets of the past narrated by Misbah. The result is a feeling of immediacy and utter dread as the story unfolds. Issues of class, race, Islamaphobia, abuse, found family and the criminal justice system collide in a compelling, yet painful narrative. I read this one with my ears and had to stop often due to the intensity of emotions I felt.

Mature teen fans of the author's Ember in the Ashes Trilogy will most definitely want to read All My Rage, as will fans of contemporary realistic fiction. This is a story that will stay with me for a long time. 

I'm so glad I read this with my ears. The three narrators were pitch perfect. 

Middle Grade Monday and Audiobook Review: The Second Chance of Benjamin Waterfalls by James Bird

HC Image: Macmillan Publishers

The Second Chance of Benjamin Waterfalls by James Bird. Unabridged e-audio book, ~7 hours. Read by Christopher Salazar. Dreamscape Media, April, 2022. 9781666527629. (Review of e-audiobook borrowed from public library.)

Happy Monday! How's your summer going? The weekend's weather sure was a gift. Hot, but dry and nicely breezy. I got a lot of walking and yard work done. 

Middle Grade Monday features The Second Chance of Benjamin Waterfalls by James Bird. Benjamin Waterfalls is one angry teen. His dad left the family seven years earlier, when Benny was six. He shoplifts and has a side hustle selling his stolen goods at school. Now he's angry with himself because he has been caught shoplifting, of all things, a stuffed bear. He has no idea what possessed him and now he's before a judge he's seen before and the judge is not happy that he's back. It seems that Benny is headed to juvie, but his mother steps in with the idea of sending Benny to live in Grand Portage with his dad on the Ojibwe reservation and attend a tribal boot camp. Benny would almost rather go to boot camp than spend any time with his dad.

This thoughtful novel of redemption contains some interesting characters, each flawed in their own way. The boot camp isn't at all what Benny was expecting and he comes to appreciate the Ojibwe way of life and reconnects with his culture. Ojibwe words and phrases are sprinkled throughout as are customs and traditions. 

But wait, you may be wondering about that second person on the cover. Who is that masked girl?  Why does no one seem bothered by the fact that she never takes it off? Read the book to find out. By that, I recommend that you read with your eyes instead of with your ears, as I did. 

Regular readers of this blog know that my pet peeve with audiobooks has to do with adult readers reading first-person narratives of kids. Women can generally pull it off, but very few men can. While this narrator seemed comfortable pronouncing the Ojibwa words, I felt he was trying too hard to sound like a sarcastic kid. It came off over-the-top to me.

Fact Friday: Star Child: a Biographical Constellation of Octavia E. Butler by Ibi Zoboi

Image: Penguin Random House

Star Child: a Biographical Constellation of Octavia E. Butler by Ibi Zoboi. 128 p. Penguin Young Readers Group, January, 2022. 9780399187384. (Review of finished copy of hc and audio borrowed from public library.)

Happy Friday! I hope your summer is going well and that you're getting outdoors as well as reading as much as you can. Boo and I have been taking lots of long walks in the early morning before it gets too hot.

Fact Friday features Star Child: a Biographical Constellation of Octavia Estelle Butler by Ibi Zoboi. Octavia E. Butler was a science fiction writer notable not just for her superb writing, but also for the fact that she was a Black woman in a field dominated by white men. Ms. Zoboi's unique biography combines poems and commentary with photos to relate the life of Ms. Butler.

Octavia E. Butler's father died when she was four. She grew up in Pasadena, California with her mother and grandmother. She didn't do particularly well in school due to her undiagnosed dyslexia, but she had a fertile imagination and made up stories. The poems vary from playful concrete poems to couplets and blank verse. 

Each section is introduced in prose that provides context for the poems to follow. Quotes by Ms. Butler are liberally sprinkled throughout the book. The author discusses her fandom in the final section and back matter includes a list of Ms. Butler's books, acknowledgements, source notes and photo credits.

I originally started reading this one with my ears and it didn't work. The author read the prose sections and, well, there's a reason why authors aren't always the best readers of their work (Douglas Adams and Libba Bray being notable exceptions). Ms. Zoboi sounded flat and like she had a cold. (She narrated her MG debut, My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich, and, while I didn't love the book, I noted on GR that the author narrated ably. So maybe she had a cold. That's on the producers.) Plus, I missed the illustrations and some of the more interesting poems that played with space. I switched to reading with my eyes.

I'm looking forward to adding this intriguing biography to my school's collection this fall. I'm not sure who the reader is though. I didn't encounter Ms. Butler until well into adulthood and neither did the author. 

#tbt: The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud

Image: Hachette Book Group

The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud. 400 p. Originally Disney/ Hyperion, now Hachette Book Group, September, 2013. (own)

#tbt features The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud. The citizens of England are beset with the Problem. They are overrun with ghosts that are malevolent and deadly. The problem is, they can be seen only by children. There are agencies run by adults who hire children under the age of eighteen, arm them with rapiers, iron chains, and magnesium fire and send them out on missions. Children can see the ghosts, but are not immune to their ghosttouch and many die as well. Lucy Carlyle joins Lockwood and Co., an agency trying to make a name for itself and run by Anthony Lockwood with the help of George Cubbins. The other agencies are not happy about this upstart agency run by a teen boy and when Lucy, Anthony and George inadvertently burn a house down during a job, there are calls to shut the agency down. Anthony accepts a dicey job at London's most haunted mansion in an effort to make a name for himself and the agency.

This series starter is atmospheric and spooky, filled with colorful characters and witty dialogue. The story is told from Lucy's point-of-view. She has a few secrets she'd prefer not to share with Anthony and George. George isn't delighted with Lucy's arrival and Anthony's got some secrets as well.

Jonathan Stroud is a British author who is best known for his Bartimaeus Trilogy. The Screaming Staircase was first published in the UK in August of 2013, and in the US the following month. While it was optioned for film in 2012, the rights were sold. It will be a Netflix series set to release soon.

Waiting on Wednesday: Whale Done by Stuart Gibbs

Image: Simon & Schuster

Whale Done by Stuart Gibbs. 352 p. FunJungle #8. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, February 21, 2022. 9781534499317.

Happy Wednesday! Stuart Gibbs, a hands-down TMS favorite author, has another FunJungle book coming out! Yes! The eighth book in this hilarious series, called Whale Done, is due out on February 21, 2023! 

Here's the publisher synopsis: After an escaped kangaroo starts a fire that burns down his house, Teddy Fitzroy accepts an invitation to go to Malibu with his girlfriend, Summer, and her mother, Kandace. He’s hoping to spend some time relaxing on the beach, but wherever Teddy goes, trouble isn’t far behind.

First, a massive dead whale has washed up on the beach—and before anyone can determine what killed it, it explodes. Doc, the head vet from FunJungle, suspects something fishy is going on and ropes Teddy and Summer into helping him investigate.

Then, Teddy stumbles upon yet another mystery involving tons of stolen sand. And the paparazzi start spreading rumors about Summer dating a celebrity, leading Teddy to question their relationship.

Without Summer as his trusted partner, can Teddy navigate the rough waters of this glitzy world and uncover what’s going on?

I can't wait! Happy reading!

Teen Tuesday and Audiobook Review: The Most Dazzling Girl in Berlin by Kip Wilson

Image: HarperCollins Publishers

The Most Dazzling Girl in Berlin by Kip Wilson. Unabridged e-audiobook, ~4 hours, 20 minutes. Read by Juliette Goglia. Versify/ HarperCollins Publishers, March, 2022. 9780358669258. (Review of downloadable e-audiobook borrowed from the public library.)

Teen Tuesday features The Most Dazzling Girl in Berlin by Kip Wilson. The year is 1932 in this historical verse novel. Eighteen-year-old Hilde has just aged out of the orphanage she has lived in since her mother died. She's now trudging the streets of Berlin in search of a job with few prospects. After living rough and sleeping in parks, Hilde stumbles upon the Café Lila, a cabaret where gay and lesbian patrons safely gather and find community. Hilde catches the eye of Rosa, one of the café's waitresses and singers, who makes Hilde feel welcomed. She pitches in to help since they are short staffed and, has a job by the end of the evening, but not a place to stay, until Rosa invites her to stay in the apartment she shares with her aunt.

Friendship and, ultimately, romance bloom, but there are dark times on the horizon in Germany. Hitler is rising to power and unleashing raging anti-semitism and homophobia. Readers of this spare, evocative verse novel become fully immersed in 1932 Berlin and its thriving lgbtq community while knowing the devastation that is looming. Back matter includes an author's note and resources for further reading.

The narrator's performance was well-paced and German words and phrases seemingly fluent. Ms. Wilson's debut, White Rose, is a stunning work of historical fiction that was extensively researched. The same can be said for her sophomore novel. Mature teen fans of White Rose will be spellbound by The Most Dazzling Girl in Berlin.

Middle Grade Monday and Audiobook Review: Alice Austen Lived Here by Alex Gino

Image: Scholastic Inc.

Alice Austen Lived Here by Alex Gino. Unabridged e-audio, ~3 hours, 38 minutes. Narrated by the author. Scholastic Audio/ Scholastic Inc., April, 2022. 

Happy Monday! Happy Fourth of July? The weather here is dry and clear. The town is quiet. Most of the stores in my tiny downtown are closed. No parades, no fireworks. Nice and quiet. Time to garden, read and contemplate. 

Middle Grade Monday features Alice Austen Lived Here by Alex Gino. This is their fourth novel, and I've read every one since their debut, George/ Melissa. Sam and T.J. are best friends and seventh graders who live on Staten Island. (For any reader not from the northeast, Staten Island is a borough of New York City. It connects to Brooklyn via the Verrazano Narrows Bridge and to Manhattan via ferry service. It's actually closer to New Jersey!) 

Both Sam and T.J. identify as non-binary and have supportive families as well as a loving found family. Their stodgy, traditional social studies teacher assigns a research project where partners chose a figure in history that had a Staten Island connection. The partnership with the highest grade would have their project submitted to a monument contest. Sam is not enthusiastic about the project until they learn of Alice Austen, a lesbian photographer from the 1800s, who actually has a ferry boat named after her. Sam did not know about Alice Austen's identity and was stoked to learn that Alice Austen actually lived for a while in their apartment!

There's a lot packed into this short, middle-grade novel. Sam and T.J. are comfortable in their skin and articulate about body positivity and gender. The issue is not about their coming out, but of LGBTQIA+ history and how the lens of history seems focused on cis, white men  tending to leave out the contributions of women, people of color and the LGBTQIA+ community. There's still playfulness in the story via the best friendship and various inter-generational ties. 

The book was narrated by the author, who imbued her characters with spunk and confidence and sounded appropriately youthful. 

There are a fair number of fans of the author's books at my school and I know they will be happy to meet Sam and T.J.

What's New?

"Stacking the Shelves" was a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews. It seems the blog is gone though, so I will just continue to post a "What's New? post whenever I receive new books. 

For Review:

Image: Author's Website

The Other Side of the River by Alda P. Dobbs. 354 p. Sourcebooks Young Readers, September 6, 2022. 9781728238449.

Publisher synopsis: Having escaped the Mexican Revolution, Petra Luna’s story continues as her and her family try and make a new life in America. The Other Side of the River is an entirely different world and, like all immigrants to this new land, Petra must adapt to survive. Her strength and courage will be tested like never before as she fights for herself, her family, and her dreams.

I really became invested in Petra's story in Ms. Dobbs' debut, and Pura Bel Pré-Honor winning, The Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna and am excited to read more.

Purchased: nothing!

What's new with you?

Fact Friday: Hope is an Arrow: The Story of Lebanese American Poet Kahlil Gibran by Cory McCarthy

Image: Candlewick Press

Hope is an Arrow: The Story of Lebanese American Poet Kahlil Gibran by Cory McCarthy. Illustrated by Ekua Holmes. unpgd. Candlewick Press, July 5, 2022. 9781536200324. (Review of finished copy courtesy of publisher.)

Gibran Kahlil Gibran was born in Bsharri, what is now Lebanon in 1883. He was an introvert who preferred to spend time in the woods and found comfort in his art.  Religious turmoil in his country led to his father's imprisonment and his mother's and siblings' immigration to the south end of Boston, where his name was Americanized. In America, Kahlil noticed that the clashes were between the classes as he witnessed first-hand the disdain with which his hard-working mother was treated. 

His older brother was needed to work and his sisters were not allowed to go to school, leaving only Kahlil with an education. His art caught the attention of a famous photographer, Fred Holland Day, when he was only thirteen. Day took him under his wing and helped launch his art career, but his mother, fearing that he was becoming too Americanized, sent him back to Lebanon to study and live with his father. He eventually returned to America and, at the age of forty, published The Prophet, which would eventually be published in over forty languages. Its continued popularity makes Gibran the world's third best-selling poet. 

The author relates the details of the poet's life sparely and sprinkled with quotes from his writings. Even though the intended audience will most likely be unfamiliar with the name, their parents, and certainly their grandparents, probably have a beaten copy of The Prophet in the home library. Gibran's immigrant experience, straddling two cultures will be relatable to young audiences, perhaps inspiring young readers to seek out his writing. Back matter contains photos and detailed source notes that fill out details.

The art is stunning and utterly engaging. The colors and textures invite lingering on each spread as Ms. Holmes juxtaposes the poet's dual identities. 

Picture book biographies, when they are well done, can pique a reader's interest in learning more. Hope is an Arrow introduces a new generation to a wise poet.