Middle Grade Monday and Audiobook Review: Just Like That by Gary D. Schmidt

Image: HarperCollins Publishers

Just Like That by Gary D. Schmidt. Unabridged e-audiobook, ~11 hrs., 43 min. Read by Leah Horowitz. Recorded Books, 2021. 

Happy Monday! We had quite the wet and wild weekend here in northern NJ! I hope you're all dry and cozy. Middle Grade Monday features Just Like That by Gary D. Schmidt. Meryl Lee Kowalski reluctantly heads to Maine from Long Island with her parents for "a new start." She will be attending St. Elene's Preparatory School for Girls in Harpswell, Maine. Dr. Nora Macknockater promises Meryl Lee's parents that she will help Meryl Lee become "accomplished." All Meryl Lee wants to do is keep the "blank" at bay. Ever since the death of her best friend Holling Hoodhood, Meryl Lee is awash in grief, in the blank.

The year is 1968 and it's a turbulent time for the country. The Vietnam War is very unpopular. Young women are questioning sex roles. Teachers at St. Elene's demand academic rigor, but some balk at questions that challenge the status quo. Meryl Lee's rich roommate hates her, her English teacher has it in for her, and she's roped into joining field hockey, where she finally meets two girls with friendship possibiliy. She doesn't understand the rule that she can't befriend the girls who serve the school and upsets decorum one evening when she dares to pour her own water.

In a parallel plot, thirteen-year-old Matt Coffin is on the run from a notorious gang boss. Dr. Macknockater finds him holed up in an abandoned shed and shelters him in her home. This strand of the story adds a menacing touch.

Fans of The Wednesday Wars and Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy will be delighted by the Easter Eggs, but the story stands on its own quite nicely. As with any book by Mr. Schmidt, laughter can be quickly followed by tears and vice versa.

Arc Review: House of Marionne by J. Elle

Image: Penguin Random House

House of Marionne by J. Elle. 432 p. Razorbill/ Penguin Young Readers, August 29, 2023. 9780593527702. (Review of bound manuscript courtesy of publisher.)

Happy Tuesday! I hope you are enjoying the sunshine and relative cool this morning! Boo and I were finally able to get in a nice long walk this morning. Teen Tuesday features House of Marionne by J. Elle. This is a fantasy series starter and will release in late August.

Seventeen-year-old Quel is used to life on the run with her mom. Quel possesses a dark magic she calls Toushana and an elite band of assassins called Draguns are tasked with hunting down anyone with this forbidden magic and killing them. So far, Quel's mom has been successful in keeping her hidden by moving frequently, but Quel messed up and now she's separated from her mom and the safe spot they were to meet in turns out to be not-so-safe. She turns to the one person her mother has forbidden, her grandmother. Turns out, her grandmother is headmistress of House Marionne and is delighted to reunite with Quel and determined to have her hone her magic and debut.

Quel is relieved to be safe, eager to learn magic that she hope will tame her toushana, but not too thrilled about the wardrobe, curtseying and etiquette lessons. She's also terrified of Jordan. He's been assigned to mentor her, but he's also a Dragun. What will happen if he finds out who she really is? And why is he so hot? It's distracting and dangerous.

Sinister and gothic with a steamy, slow-burn romance and plot twists galore. This was fun. Look for it August 29. Apparently, there's a limited edition first printing available for pre-order. Happy reading!

Middle Grade Monday: Miles Morales Shock Waves by Justin A. Reynolds. Illustrated by Pablo Leon.

Image: Scholastic Inc.

Miles Morales: Shock Waves (Original Spider-man graphic novel) by Justin A. Reynolds. Illustrated by Pablo Leon. 128 p. Graphix/ Scholastic Inc., June, 2021. 9781338648034. (Review of finished copy courtesy of publisher.)

Middle Grade Monday features Miles Morales: Shock Waves by Justin A. Reynolds. Miles Morales is just trying to get by in Brooklyn. He attends New Visions Academy boarding school by day and swings through the city streets stopping crime by night as Spider Man. When does this kid sleep? When a hurricane hits his mother's native Puerto Rico, she starts raising funds and Miles pitches in to help. Kyle, a new student, suggests that her  father might help. He gets his new employer to donate and then he goes missing. Two unusual interns also work at the company and were involved in a theft that Spider Man thwarted days earlier. Is there a connection between the girls, the rock they left behind, Kyle's father's disappearance AND the earthquake in Puerto Rico?

My knowledge of the Marvel Superhero Universe is paltry at best. That said, I enjoyed this graphic novel. Miles is a winning narrator, just trying to survive boarding school and figuring out what his art project will be. The art is energetic and vibrant and one of the final panels reveals a twist, which is presumably the basis for a future installment. I can't wait to see what my students think and I'm looking forward to reading the next one.

Middle Grade Monday: The Principal Strikes Back by Jarrett J. Krosoczka

The Principal Strikes Back by Jarrett J. Krosoczka. Jedi Academy #6. Scholastic Inc., July, 2018. 9781338188240. (Review from finished copy courtesy of publisher.)

Victor is heading back to Jedi Academy for his last year. He's kind of bummed because he's missing his sister, who graduated and he wants to get back on good terms with his classmates after last year. Unfortunately, there's a new principal at the school, a huge, mean droid who has a ton of new rules and all the teachers cowed. What's going one here?

This series is entertaining with its mix of graphic novel panels and sidebars such as Stargram posts, blogs, and web sites adding to the humor. The books are very popular at my school so this won't sit on the shelf!

Teen Tuesday: The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater. Raven Cycle series #1. Scholastic Inc., September, 2012. 9780545424929. (Own)

Teen Tuesday features The Raven Boys by Maggie Steifvater. The Raven Boys is book one of a four book paranormal series called The Raven Cycle. Blue Sargent lives in Henrietta, Virginia in a family of psychics but has no psychic power herself. She is cursed by the prophecy that she will kill her true love with their first kiss. Henrietta is also the location of Aglionby Academy, an exclusive prep school for rich boys. Blue is not interested in them, but one boy, Gansey, is on a quest. He is hoping to find an ancient Welsh king. This work of magical realism is peopled with fascinating characters and set in a town so vivid it is almost a character itself. 

Teen Tuesday and Audio Review: Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider

Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider. Unabridged downloaded audiobook. Eight hours, seven minutes. Read by Khristine Hvam and James Fouhey. HarperAudio, 2015.

Seventeen-year-old Lane had his life mapped out. He's number two in his graduating class and planning on applying early action to Stanford. Then drug-resistant tuberculosis derails his plans. Instead of attending his AP classes, he's at Latham House, a sanatorium for teens with the disease. He thinks he can keep up with his studies and become well enough to leave. He's also captivated by Sadie and her group of cool friends. He knew Sadie from summer camp when they were thirteen but he was too shy to talk to her.

Sadie remembers Lane alright and is still furious with him for standing her up at a camp dance. Sadie has been at Latham House for over a year. She's not getting better but she's not getting worse. She has cultivated her cool persona very carefully and is a bit terrified of getting well enough to return to the real world, where she was definitely not cool.

This dual narrative makes its way down a predictable path but, the characters are interesting and the idea of a TB epidemic among teens is intriguing. The narrative doesn't go into the hows and whys of it though. Khristine Hvam is one of my favorite narrators and James Fouhey is new to me. They did a good job and sounded appropriately young. 

This story should appeal to teen fans of tragic romance like The Fault in Our Stars.

I downloaded this book from Audiobooksync's Free Summer Audiobook program. If you don't already know about it, check it out for next summer! The "summer" is already over (it starts in May), but they post links to download two audiobooks each  week for thirteen weeks.  

#tbt: Samurai Shortstop by Alan Gratz

Samurai Shortstop by Alan Gratz. 320 p. Dial Books/ Penguin Young Readers Group, May, 2006. 9780142410998. (Own)

The day before fifteen-year-old Toyo Shimada is to start boarding school, his father forces him to witness his uncle commit seppuku, or ritual suicide, rather than renounce his Samurai status. It is the late 1800s and feudal Japan is embracing Western customs and modernizing. Toyo's father completes the ritual and informs Toyo that he expects him to do the same when his father's time comes. 

At boarding school, Toyo is subjected to cruel hazing by upperclassmen and his father arrives daily to teach him the way of the Samurai. While the cultures clash in many ways, Toyo falls in love with baseball and sees similarities between it and Bushido. 

Samurai Shortstop was Gratz's debut in 2006. According to his website, Samurai Shortstop made quite a few lists including, Best Picks for Young Adults; the 2006 Washington Post Top Ten Picks for Children; Booklist’s 2006 Top Ten Sports Books for Youth; Booklist’s 2006 Top Ten First Books for Youth; The New York Public Library’s Books for the Teen Age 2007 and 2007 Bank Street College of Education Best Children’s Books of the Year. Not too shabby! He has since written 14 books for young people, many of which are historical fiction.

Middle Grade Monday: The Silver Mask by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare

The Silver Mask by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare. 232 p. The Magisterium series #4. Scholastic Press/ Scholastic Inc., October, 2017. 9780545522366. (Finished copy courtesy of publisher for review)

Here's what went on the morning announcements: Middle Grade Monday features The Silver Mask by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare. This is book four in the Magisterium series so if you haven’t read the series, go start it right now with The Iron Trials. If you’re a fan of this terrific fantasy series, you need this book! The only problem with it is that we have to wait for another year to find out what happens in the fifth and final book of the series.

Fuller review: It is six months after the conclusion of The Bronze Key. Aaron is dead and Call is a prisoner in the panopticon. He's basically in isolation - no visitors, chained, 24/7 guards who keep their distance from the Enemy of Death. Oh, and he's interrogated. Frequently. 

He's surprised to be visited by Jasper, of all people. Then it's Jasper's turn to be surprised as he's caught up in a jail break when Tamara shows up to spirit Call away. Only, they are betrayed and they all end up prisoners on an island with Alex and Master Joseph. Call is tasked with finishing Constantine's work. He has to find a way to bring the dead to life. 

The pace is whiplash fast. This installment hits the ground running and doesn't leave you much room to breath as plot twists and surprises abound. Tears threatened and big questions were asked and not quite answered. Fans of this series will not be disappointed. They have been panting for this installment and will be gasping for the final installment. Too bad it'll be at least a year before we find out what's in store for Callum Hunt.

Blog Tour: Doreen by Ilana Manaster

Doreen by Ilana Manaster. 336 p. RP Teen/ Running Press Book Publisher, June 6, 2016. 9780762459629. (Review from arc courtesy of the publisher.) 

This is a retelling of The Picture of Dorian Gray set in the present at a New England boarding school. Doreen Gray arrives at the elite Chandler Academy in her junior year because her estranged father and the headmaster were have been friends since they both attended Chandler years ago. Doreen has been admitted as a favor.

Poor Doreen is a lumpy, pimply mess of a bully magnet. Her cousin, Biz hasn't seen her since Doreen's parents divorced many years earlier and, since she is good at heart, tries to make Doreen feel at home. Biz's roommate, Heidi is the resident queen bee. Were it not for Doreen's relation to Biz, Heidi would probably make Doreen's life miserable. But Heidi sees something in Doreen and she decides to offer Doreen a makeover and introductions around school.

Biz, who is a whiz at Photoshop, takes a picture of Doreen and touches it up a bit. The result is shocking and looks nothing like the real Doreen. Doreen tearfully accuses Biz of making fun of her and wishes that she looked like the beauty in the photo. The next day, Doreen wakes and finds herself transformed into that beauty. Heidi continues to groom Doreen, who proves to be a quick study. It isn't long before Doreen is ruling the campus, breaking curfew as well as hearts. 

She is not the only one with secrets. 

This was a fun read, perfect for summer reading. Teen readers who have The Picture of Dorian Gray assigned for high school will be amused by the retelling but the story stands on its own and will be enjoyed by teens who have not read the classic. The setting is vivid. The social interactions are believable. There are sympathetic characters as well as characters teens will love to hate. There's plenty of suspense to spare as Doreen seems unstoppable. Recommended!