Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshini Chokshi. Unabridged downloadable audiobook. Read by Soneela Nankani. 10 hours, 23 minutes. Listening Library, March, 2018. (Review of book borrowed from local e-library.)
Middle Grade Monday features Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi. This is the beginning of the Pandava series and is the author's middle grade debut. Twelve-year-old Aru lives with her archaeologist mom in an apartment in the Museum of Ancient Indian Art. All of her classmates are wealthy and go on expensive vacation so Aru has taken to lying about her life to fit in. When three classmates come to her apartment to catch her in a lie, they dare her to touch the Lamp of Bharata, a lamp that her mother warned her to NEVER touch. Uh-oh!
With her friends and mother frozen in time and the Sleeper released, it is up to Aru to find the reincarnations of the Pandava princes and travel through the kindgom of death to save civilization. Fans of Rick Riordan, Sarwat Chadda and Sayantani DasGupta will enjoy this fast-paced adventure. I read this one with my ears and enjoyed new-to-me narrator, Soneela Nankani's performance. She had a nice range of voices for the characters and paced the reading well.
Between the Lines: how Ernie Barnes went from the football field to the art gallery by Sandra Wallace. Illustrated by Bryan Collier. unpgd. Paula Wiseman Books/ Simon & Schuster, January, 2018. 9781481443876. (Review of purchased finished copy.)
Happy Friday TMS Readers! Our second week is in the books. I'm seeing some of you in the library asking for books. I've heard about the amazing book tastings in your LA classes. Keep it up!
Fact Friday features Between the Lines: How Ernie Barnes went from the football field to the art gallery by Sandra Wallace and illustrated by the incomparable Bryan Collier. Ernie Barnes grew up poor in the segregated south in the 1940s and 50s. As a boy, he drew on anything he could get his hands on, including mud. He thrived in his art classes and wanted to be an artist. He visited an art museum on a field trip and asked the docent if there was any art made by people of color and was told, "Your people don't express themselves that way." When he hit high school, his size impressed the football coach, who asked Ernie to join the team. Ernie had no interest in sports but the coach was undeterred and visited Ernie's mother. Ernie was on the team. And he was good. Good enough to earn a college scholarship to study art. He was good in college football too. Good enough to be drafted by a professional football team - the Colts. He played but he also drew and painted. The title, Between the Lines has several meanings, don't you think?
Bryan Collier's collage art is just gorgeous. With watercolor and deep, rich colors, Collier develops a strong visual sense of who Barnes was. He also incorporated Barnes' art style. Backmatter includes notes from both the author and the illustrator as well as photos of Ernie Barnes and his art.
This well-told picture book biography is a must for most collections. I am so happy to be adding it to my sixth grade picture book biography unit.
The Law of Finders Keepers by Sheila Turnage. 360 p. A Mo & Dale Mystery #4. Kathy Dawson Books/ Penguin Young Readers, September 11, 2018. 9780803739628. (Review from arc courtesy of publisher.)
If ever there was a series I never wanted to end, it is this one. Mo and Dale reside in my heart next to Moose Flanagan, Heidi It and only one or two other characters. A visit to Tupelo Landing makes all right in this crazy world. Indeed, the town is very nearly a character! It is a place kind of frozen in time. A place where everyone knows everyone. If one were to sneeze at one end of town, another would say, "Bless you!" on the other end. A place where kids ride their bikes and leave them unlocked in driveways and against fences.
The Law of Finders Keepers can stand alone. But if you have not read the three earlier books in the Mo & Dale Mystery series, you are missing out.
Sixth graders Mo LoBeau and her partners, Dale and Harm are the Desperado Detectives. Mo continues to search for her "Upstream Mother" and writes letters to her faithfully. The Desperado's newest case arrives when snow and a treasure hunter named Gabriel Archer blow into town. It seems that Tupelo Landing and the dastardly pirate, Blackbeard have history. It may just be that Blackbeard buried his lost treasure in Tupelo Landing. Everyone's going treasure hunt crazy and it's bringing out the worst in some residents. Crimes are being committed. Mo is also dealing with some new clues in her search for "Upstream Mother" on top of it all.
Turnage's storytelling is masterful as she juggles her large, eccentric and colorful cast of characters. I feel like I could amble into Miss Lana's cafe, grab a seat at the counter and recognize everyone who walks in the door! The rich dialogue is at turns amusing and dramatic as clues and suspense mount. I just adore the friendship between Mo and Dale and Harm. Dale just cracks me up and I admire how Mo and Harm gently help him. I am curious about the adults they will grow up to be.
So readers, sadly, it is over. We bid goodbye to Tupelo Landing with a tear or two and many laughs. The Law of Finders Keepers is a perfect conclusion to an absolutely must-read series.
Ball Don't Lie by Matt de la Peña. 288 p. Random House Children's Books, September, 2005. 9780385902588. (Own)
#tbt features Ball Don't Lie by Matt de la Peña. This was de la Peña's debut and was published in 2005. Ball Don't Lie is a gritty, intense story that takes place over twenty-four hours. Sticky is a seventeen-year-old basketball phenom; but he has had a tough life since being removed from his prostitute mother's home ten years earlier. He has moved from foster home to foster home, none being much better than the situation he was removed from. His real home, the only place he feels safe and comfortable is at the Lincoln Park basketball court where he can ball and trash talk the other players. Basketball is his thing and perhaps his ticket out. Can he manage his OCD and the demons from his past to earn himself a basketball scholarship? If you are a teen who loves basketball, you should not miss this book. Don't love basketball? Give it a try if you like intense, emotional reads.
Matt de la Peña went on to write three more YA novels set in urban settings, Mexican White Boy, We were Here, and I will Save You. He then wrote a book in the Infinity Ring series, a survival trilogy and a number of picture books, one of which, The Last Stop on Market Street, won the Newbery Medal!
Pigeon Has to go to School by Mo Willems. unpagd. Disney/ Hyperion Books for Children, July 16, 2019.
Publisher synopsis: Why does the Pigeon have to go to school? He already knows everything! And what if he doesn't like it? What if the teacher doesn't like him? What if he learns TOO MUCH!?!
Ask not for whom the school bell rings; it rings for the Pigeon!
Oh my! A new Pigeon book! Yippee! Cannot wait! #nevertoooldforpicturebooks!
Teen Tuesday features To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han. This is the first book of a trilogy of the same name. It was published in 2014 and Netflix recently released a movie. It is the story of Lara Jean Covey, her sisters and her non-existent love life, which becomes very interesting when five letters she had written to previous crushes get delivered. It's often laugh out loud funny. Of course, the cover was changed when the movie came out. I've shown both below. if you're in the mood for a fun romance, check out To All the Boys I've Loved Before. This has been an eighth grade favorite since it pubbed.
Speechless by Adam P. Schmitt. 304 p. Candlewick Press, November 6, 2018. 9781536200928. (Review from arc courtesy of publisher.)
Happy Monday TMS Readers! Middle Grade Monday features one of the oddest, but most unique and intense debuts I have ever read. In Speechless, our narrator, Jimmy is attending his first wake and funeral. He's uncomfortable because he's wearing last year's suit with a waistband so tight he fears the button will not hold and he can't find his only belt. He's uncomfortable because funeral rituals are strange and sometimes scary. He is uncomfortable and terrified because his mother has just told him that he has to deliver the eulogy.
You see, the wake and funeral are for his cousin, Patrick. Jimmy petrified of public speaking; but that's not the only reason why he does not want to speak at Patrick's funeral. He couldn't stand Patrick. They were constantly thrown together because their moms are twins and very close. Jimmy and Patrick were not. Something was wrong with Patrick and none of the adults around him could do much to control him. Time spent with Patrick meant Jimmy's day would be ruined - by getting hurt, by having something stolen or ruined or by one of Jimmy's famous meltdowns. How can he speak honestly at Patrick's funeral?
The story takes place in about twenty-four hours at the funeral home and at the church; but much of the story consists of flashbacks as Jimmy considers his highly dysfunctional extended family. Jimmy wants to do the right thing but wonders what that is. Does he get up there and lie about what a great kid Patrick was or tell the truth?
Speechless is not for everyone. It's layered and sophisticated and while there are humorous moments to lighten the mood, there is tragedy in this story and it's not just because a young person has died. I am a bit stumped as to what sort of reader I would recommend it to; not because it isn't superb but because of all the emotions it evoked in me. I am having a hard time envisioning how a young reader would engage with it. As I got to know Jimmy, my rage at his parents grew and grew. First, that they would even just bring their son to his first wake and funeral without preparing him for what would happen and then the expectation that he would, in less than twenty-four hours come up with a eulogy - without the least amount of parental support or guidance! Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, they did nothing to protect Jimmy from Patrick.
Schmitt's portrayal of this dysfunctional, co-dependent family is masterful. Jimmy is a sympathetic character that readers will want to protect. I hope Speechless finds its readers and am looking forward to reading more from Adam P. Schmitt. Impressive debut.
