#tbt: The Honest Truth by Dan Gemeinhart

Image: Scholastic Inc.

The Honest Truth by Dan Gemeinhart. 240 p. Scholastic Press/ Scholastic Inc., January, 2015. (Own)

#tbt features The Honest Truth by Dan Gemeinhart. Twelve-year old Mark had plans to climb Mount Rainer with his grandpa. When his grandpa died and Mark learned that the cancer he has been battling since kindergarten has returned, he decides to make that trip with his dog, Beau. He packs some cash, a camera and a notebook and sets out on the 200+ miles to the mountain. The only person who knows about Mark's plans is his best friend, Jessie, whom he has sworn to secrecy.

This first-person narration alternates with half-chapters from Jessie's POV as she struggles to keep Mark's secret. Suspense is high as Mark's quest is not "after-school special," but filled with danger from both humans and the elements. Suspension of belief is required, though middle school readers won't notice. Students who love adventure as well as students who love dog stories will be riveted. 

The Honest Truth was Mr. Gemeinhart's debut novel. At that time, he was still working as a school librarian. He has published six additional novels and has a forthcoming picture book.

Teen Tuesday: Three Things I Know are True by Betty Culley

Image: HarperCollins Publishers

Three Things I Know are True by Betty Culley. 470 p. HarperTeen/ HarperCollins Publishers, January, 2020. 9780062908025. (Review of copy borrowed from public library.)

Teen Tuesday features a debut from 2020 that teens who crave sad are going to love. Three Things I Know are True by Betty Culley is a novel in verse narrated by fifteen-year-old Liv, whose seventeen-year-old brother, Jonah is in a vegetative state after a gun accident. Jonah was always brash and impulsive. When he found a gun in his best friend Clay's attic, he started waving it around wildly, asking Clay if he thought the gun was loaded. Despite Clay's pleas to put the gun down, Jonah put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger.

Now Jonah is home with round-the-clock nurses to care for him and the many machines that keep him alive. Liv's mother is suing Clay's parents and Liv has lost her two best friends. She and Clay meet secretly by the river that runs past their houses and play a favorite game of theirs called "Tell Me Three Things That are True" as they try and come to terms with their grief and worry over the upcoming trial that has split the town.

This spare verse novel pares a myriad of emotions down into a series of imagery that sucks the reader in from page one. I read this in one sitting. I needed to know what happened. I was so happy that Alex at Randomly Reading read and reviewed this book or I would've missed it.* I was also impressed by the medical stuff and how accurate it was, then learned in the author bio that Ms. Culley is a nurse. Kudos.

I can't wait to hear what my teen readers think of Three Things I Know are True and I'm looking forward to reading the author's sophomore effort. 

*I was going to write a short aside here, but it sort of morphed into a post and drew attention away from my review. Check it out here. 

Middle Grade Monday and Audiobook Review: Nevermoor: the trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend

Image: Hachette 

Nevermoor: the trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend. Unabridged e-audiobook, ~11 hours. Read by Gemma Whelan, Hachette Book Group, October, 2017. 9781478923435. (Review of e-audio borrowed from public library.)

Middle Grade Monday features Nevermoor: the trials of Morrigan Crow. If you love fantasy, you must try this book! It has been on my tbr forever and I'm so glad I finally got to it.

Morrigan Crow is cursed. Anything and everything that goes wrong in her town is blamed on her and her father has to pay. She's supposed to die on the eve of her eleventh birthday. Instead, she is whisked away by Jupiter North, who smuggles her into Nevermoor, where he intends to sponsor her for a spot in the Wundrous Society. 

The worldbuilding is unique as are the characters. There's suspense, humor, action and surprises. Something for everyone. The Trials of Morrigan Crow is book one of the Nevermoor series, published in 2017 and was Australian author, Townsend's debut.

The narration was brisk and engaging. Gemma Whelan had distinct voices and perfect pacing. Totally beguiled, I moved directly onto the second book and that will be highlighted next Monday. 

Audiobook Review: The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner

The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner. Unabridged audiobook on 8 compact discs; 9 hours. Performed by Michael Crouch, Ariadne Meyers, and Ethan Sawyer. Random House/ Books on Tape/ Listening Library, March, 2016. 9780147521316. (Review from copy borrowed from public library)

Dill (Dillard Early Junior) is about to start his senior year of high school and is dreading it for all the usual reasons plus one. He knows his best friend Lydia is blowing their small town of Forestville, Tennessee for college - probably in New York City. So each ritual they have is either a last, or counting down to life without Lydia. He also has a best friend in Travis and Travis isn't going anywhere; but he loves Lydia with all his heart and knows his life will be dimmer without her. 

The three are an unlikely trio bound together because none of them fit in to the small town mindset. Lydia is a free spirit and independent thinker who questions and challenges the status quo constantly. She is lovingly raised by two doting parents. Travis is a gentle giant. He could easily be mistaken for a football player (like his older brother, Matt) due to his size but he'd much rather hunker down to reread his favorite fantasy series than throw a football. He lives in fear of his abusive father, who grieves the loss of his older son and favorite. Matt was killed by an I.E.D. while deployed overseas. And Dill lives with his mother in a rundown house, works many hours to help his mother pay the bills and rarely makes eye contact with people so as not to witness the spark of recognition in their eyes when they connect his name to that of his father's. Dillard Early Sr. is currently serving time in the State Penitentiary for possessing child pornography.

Each chapter switches third-person point-of-view and narrator. The three narrators were spectacular! This is the second audio in a row for me where Michael Crouch was the narrator. I am becoming a real fan and am planning a blog post about him in an effort to prevent birdwalking off this post. I have enjoyed performances by Ariadne Meyers as well. I do believe she and Kirby Heynborne made All the Bright Places a better book than it actually is. Ethan Sawyer is a new-to-me narrator but I sure will look for more.

I am sorry that it took so long to get to read this luminous debut. The age was pegged at high school and I'm way behind with my YA reading. And, truth-be-told, I don't gravitate toward books featuring religion, let alone evangelical religion. But I do read as many award winners as I can and this one won plenty. Deservedly so. The writing is gorgeous. And those three characters! Each one is portrayed so vividly, they leap from the pages. I feared for each one for different reasons. Each one was capable of being the "tragedy" alluded to in the summary.

When it finally happened, on disc 6 of 8, I happened to be gardening and I kneeled in my garden and wept and wept. It was gut-wrenching. I continued on to the next disc with trepidation. I was ironing by then and had to stop, not breathing through the next crisis. Give this to your students/ patrons who adore literary novels that also make you weep. It's not all sadness and gloom though. There is some humor and realistic hope.

This book gave me a book hangover. I did not want to move right on to the next book as is my usual habit (especially during summer). I actually wished I had a print copy to revisit passages. Were I reading with my eyes, multiple sections would be highlighted, Post-It Noted and quoted here. The Serpent King is not to be missed. The hype is real. I can't wait to read the author's sophomore effort, The Good-bye Days. It's available at my library in print version. Michael Crouch narrates the audiobook and I'm debating splurging for it as my library cooperative doesn't own it.

Non-Fiction Monday: Little Melba and Her Big Trombone by Katheryn Russell-Brown

Little Melba and Her Big Trombone by Katheryn Russell-Brown. Illustrated by Frank Morrison. unpgd. lee & Low Books, August, 2014. 9781600608988. (Won)

Melba Doretta Liston was a musical prodigy born in Kansas City in 1926. When she was seven, she begged her parents for a trombone and, although she could barely hold the instrument, soon mastered it. By the time she reached high school, she was a respected musician and composer. She played with many of the jazz greats of the time, including Billie Holiday, Dizzie Gillespie, Duke Ellington and Quincy Jones. 

The rhythmic text is zingy and accented by onomatopoeia. The exuberant illustrations fairly pop off the pages. This biography celebrates the life and contributions of an African-American woman who routinely confronted racism as she brought joy to fans. Even after suffering a stroke, Ms. Liston continued to compose. 

This is a fine addition to the biography section of any classroom, school or public library.

               

The Honest Truth by Dan Gemeinhart

The Honest Truth by Dan Gemeinhart. 240 p. Scholastic Inc., January 27, 2015. 9780545665735. (Review from arc provided by publisher)

Twelve-year-old Mark has spent most of his short life battling cancer and has just received word that it's back and it's bad. He's done now. All he wants to do is take his dog and climb Mount Rainier, a trip his grandpa promised him once he got better. But Grandpa died and Mark isn't getting better so he's going. Now. Despite the fact that it's winter. Despite the fact that he's never climbed a mountain. Despite the fact that his medicine makes him nauseous but if he doesn't take it he gets blinding headaches. 

Mark's quite the little schemer. He purchases a bogus bus ticket, ditches his clothes and takes the train wearing a backpack containing about a hundred dollars, his camera and trusty notebook into which he writes haiku. He carries Beau, his dog, in a duffle. He tells no one of his plans, not even his best friend, Jessie. But he does leave a message in their secret place. Once Jessie pieces the clues together, she's in a bit of a fix morally. While she wants to honor Mark's wishes, she aches for his heartbroken parents especially when a snowstorm bears down on the area.

Her POV is told in half-chapters. They are short and intense. His chapters are marked by miles from his destination. While his journey is not easy, suspension of belief is required especially if one is familiar with terminal illness, mountain climbing in general and Mount Rainier in particular. Gemeinhart was smart and kept details suitably vague. Young readers won't notice. The book will have wide appeal - from readers who love weepies to those who want adventure/ survival to those who want a story with a great dog. I must admit to feeling a tad angry at Mark, not for what he put his parents through (well, maybe a bit) but for what he put his dog through. That dog, man, what a great dog.

Confession time. I wasn't eager to read this book - yet another cancer book. This one being compared to TFIOS, a book I did not particularly care for, didn't make me want to read it either. In fact, the cover colors sort of evokes TFIOS. Add to that the knee-jerk reaction I get to HYPE and, well, I just was not rushing to read it. Perhaps my own recent pas de deux with the disease added to my disinclination. Also I think I'm a bit hard on cancer books going all the way back to me at 14 reading Love Story with rolling eyes instead of crying eyes. (Well, maybe a little.) Nursing school and my first career as a nurse added to my propensity to be hard on these books. Don't get me wrong. I love a good cry over a book but a cancer book has to be amazing for me to love it. 

Oh, I will cry. It doesn't take much to get me bawling. I just won't love the cancer book. It's too dang easy to write. Most adult readers have some experience with the disease and bring their own emotions that are all too easily tapped. Writing a good cancer book for kids, especially middle grade kids, which is where The Honest Truth is being marketed, is trickier. I can think of only three I would call amazing: Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie, (okay four, its companion, After Ever After) by Jordan Sonnenblick; Ways to Live Forever by Sally Nichols and Me, Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews. The first three told compelling stories while nailing the medicine and showing the disease in all its messy ugliness but staying solidly middle grade. Me, Earl and the Dying Girl, is solidly YA and is perhaps one of the bravest cancer books for its irreverence and rather unlikeable main character.

Oh, contemplating an unlikeable main character made me think of a fifth memorable cancer book - Jenny Downham's Before I Die. Oh! How I raged at Tessa! I read it with my ears while shoveling about seven inches of snow off my driveway. I was so involved in Tessa's story, the driveway was done and I didn't remember doing it. Of course, I got her motivation but she still wreaked havoc on her poor devoted dad. I didn't like her and felt guilty for not liking her because she was dying for crying out loud. And this is is a good time to circle back to Mark and The Honest Truth because this is a review of that book for crying out loud. 

While Mark did not reach the level of unlike-ability for me that Tessa did, I am clearly reacting to the choices of both teens as a parent. Actually, I didn't dislike Mark. I just found his decision incredibly selfish and impulsive and poorly planned. Kids won't. So add The Honest Truth to your school or public library collection and get out there booktalking it. I booktalked the book without reading it first (something I rarely do) back in early December. I had an extra arc so I gave it to the eighth grade LA teacher who brought her classes in for the booktalks. She reports it hasn't been back on her shelf since. Trust me, it'll be a go-to book. And do keep an eye out for this promising author's sophomore book. Not too much pressure, eh Mr. Gemeinhart?

The Secret Hum of a Daisy by Tracy Holczer

The Secret Hum of a Daisy by Tracy Holczer. 312 p. G.P. Putnam's Sons/ Penguin Young Readers Group, May 1, 2014. 9780399163937. (Review from arc courtesy of publisher.)

The only family twelve-year-old Grace has known her whole life was her mother, who up and moved them whenever she got the itch. Grace was tired of their itinerant ways and told her mother so- the night before she died. She wanted to stay put with Mrs. Greene and her daughter, Lacey, Grace's best friend. Now Grace not only finds herself without Mrs. Greene but in the custody of a grandmother she never knew, a grandmother, according to her mother, who never wanted her.

Oh my. What a lovely, poignant and heartbreaking book this is! There's a beautiful blurb by Richard Peck on the cover and it has received starred reviews from PW and SLJ as well as a warm and positive review from Kirkus. What more can I add? Not much, except that this story and Grace's voice has stuck with me since early May when I first read the book. It has it all - voice, lovely setting, memorable characters, and gorgeous cover. It's perfect. There will be tears, but also a few chuckles and maybe a bit of irritation with Grace along the way to a well and truly satisfying conclusion.

Grace's mother was an artist who loved poetry and imbued a love of poetry into her daughter, who loves to write but finds she can't since she discovered her mother's body down by the river.

     "I noticed you aren't carrying around your notebook. I used to think it was stuck to your armpit," Mrs. Greene said.
     It was too confusing to explain my thoughts on Before and After, since I wasn't real firm on it myself. "I haven't much felt like writing."
     "I don't much feel like taking my fiber in the morning. But I need it." (p. 181)

Mrs. Greene is such a wise and wonderful character in a story filled with vivid characters.

     "You will go your whole life, Gracie May, and every single person in it will fail you in one way or another. It's all about the repair. It's all about letting yourself change those pictures."
     "Maybe the repair is Grandma's job. Maybe that's why Mama never went back."
     "This isn't like a hole in a boat, where you get yourself some wood and some patching and you're good to go. It's a two-person job."
     "So maybe I need Grandma to make the first move."
     "Hasn't she?" (pp. 188-89)

This auspicious debut is a must purchase. It is a 2014 favorite of mine. I would not be surprised to hear about it come next January. Give it to your thoughtful tween readers who love weepies, lovely, layered writing, or who loved Love, Aubrey by Suzanne LaFleur. 

Many thanks to Stacey Barney for sending this to me. I'm sorry I took so long to write about it.

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Unabridged MP3 audiobook, 13 hours, 14 minutes. Read by Mandy Williams, Listening Library, Inc. July, 2012. 9780307968937. (Purchased.)

Sixteen-year-old Seraphina doesn't like the spotlight because she has a secret to hide. But she's inquisitive and brave and is also terrifically musical, a talent she inherited from her mother. Unfortunately, that's not the only thing Seraphina inherited. She has scales, as in dragon's scales. Her mother was a dragon, who passed as human, fell in love with the queen's lawyer, hid this small detail from him and died giving birth to her daughter. 

Dragons and humans in the kingdom of Goredd have abided by a treaty uneasily for the past forty years. There's lots of racism on each side, but a half-breed is unheard of. In fact, Seraphina's mother was expelled from her family and dragonkind for mating with a human.  Her father took pains to keep Seraphina out of sight until her musical talent burst forth and could not be contained. She's now assistant music mistress at court, music instructor and friend to the heir to the crown as well as friend to the princess' fiance. 

And that's just the beginning of the intrigue. I can't remember being sucked into a world quickly and so completely. I was instantly smitten by Seraphina - her voice, her intellect, her moral compass. The worldbuilding was vivid and fascinating. I could see Goredd in my mind's eye. This debut definitely lived up to the hype and, I wouldn't mind visiting again should there be a sequel. 

Mandy Williams' voice was perfect for Seraphina. Tinkling and musical, with just the right amount of reserve and humor. The voices she uses for the large cast of characters were distinctive and unique.  I'm glad that I chose to read it first with my ears. Although I am a huge fantasy fan, I find that the unusual names, places and objects can be stumbling blocks for me. Hearing it read fluidly helps me become immersed in the setting. Did I mention the worldbuilding? So fine.

Give this utterly original fantasy to middle school fans of dragon stories, especially fans of that other dragon series, the one that, um borrows heavily from better stories.