Teen Tuesday: Beasts of Prey by Ayana Grey

Image: Penguin Random House

Beasts of Prey by Ayana Grey. 388 p. G.P. Putnam's Sons/ Penguin Young Readers, September 28, 2021. 9780593405680. (Review of arc courtesy of publisher.)

Teen Tuesday features a mesmerizing debut fantasy called Beasts of Prey by Ayana Gray. Sixteen-year-old Kofi lives in the city of Lkossa, which sits at the edge of the Greater Jungle, where the dreaded Shetani lives and feeds on unlucky citizens. Koffi is indentured to the Night Zoo due to a debt her now-dead father could not pay. She and her mother care for the dangerous beasts that are exhibited in the zoo. Ekon is the second son of a warrior/ hero who was slain by the Shetani years earlier. He is about to complete the final ritual before becoming a Son of the Six and warrior like his father and older brother.

Magic is outlawed in Lkossa and Koffi is brimming with it. Knowing that her life is at stake should this be discovered, she suppresses it, but the magic bursts free when those she loves are endangered. It seems that she has the power to tame the Shetani. The owner of the Night Zoo wants to add the Shetani to his menagerie, so he blackmails Koffi into hunting for it.

Ekon failed his ritual when he not only failed to kill the Shetani, but also allowed Koffi to escape. He will need to leave the temple in disgrace, but is offered a chance to redeem himself if he can capture the Shetani. He forms an uneasy alliance with Koffi and they head into the Greater Jungle where they become prey themselves.

Ms. Gray's world-building is vivid and immersive. Suspense is high from the outset and gradually ratchets up as pages fly by. Koffi and Ekon are flawed and instantly likable and Adiah, the occasional third POV, is mysterious. Fans of intricately layered fantasy might get whiplash from the plot twists. They will gobble this whole and pant for the next installment.

Beasts of Prey is due out September 28. Pre-order it! I can't wait to get it into my students' hands. Impressive debut!

Middle Grade Monday: President of the Whole Fifth Grade by Sherri Winston

Image: Hachette Book Group

President of the Whole Fifth Grade by Sherri Winston. Unabridged e-audiobook, ~5 hours, 18 minutes. Read by Joniece Abbott-Pratt. Tantor Media, September, 2020. 9781705251638. (Review of e-audio borrowed from public library.)

Middle Grade Monday features President of the Whole Fifth Grade by Sherri Winston. Brianna Justice has life goals. She intends on building a cupcake empire and becoming rich, but first, she needs to become president of her fifth grade class. Why? Her idol, baking celebrity, Miss Delicious credits becoming president of her own fifth grade as the secret to her success. Since Miss Delicious attended the very same school as Brianna, well, it's just meant to be! With the help of her two best friends, Brianna just knows the path to her presidency will be easy. Her plans are foiled when new girl, Jasmine Moon decides to run and seems to have some underhanded tricks up her sleeve.

I found this older title while browsing for a new audiobook in the Libby app. The story is humorous and the fifth grade drama is fairly realistic. Brianna lets her ambition get in the way of her friendship and not only makes some questionable choices, but becomes downright unlikable. Readers who enjoy school and friendship stories will enjoy this book.

What's New?

Summer break is winding down! Just a few more days to squeeze in some reading before heading back. 

For Review:

Image: Lerner Publishing 

AfterMath by Emily Barth Isler. 266 p. Carolrhoda Books/ Lerner Publishing Group, September 7, 2021. 9781541599116.

Publisher synopsis: After her brother's death from a congenital heart defect, twelve-year-old Lucy is not prepared to be the new kid at school—especially in a grade full of survivors of a shooting that happened four years ago. Without the shared past that both unites and divides her classmates, Lucy feels isolated and unable to share her family's own loss, which is profoundly different from the trauma of her peers. 

Lucy clings to her love of math, which provides the absolute answers she craves. But through budding friendships and an after-school mime class, Lucy discovers that while grief can take many shapes and sadness may feel infinite, love is just as powerful.

Image: Simon & Schuster

Threads of Peace: How Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. Changed the World by Uma Krishnaswami. 326 p. A Caitlyn Dlouhy Book/ Atheneum Books for Young Readers/ Simon & Schuster, August, 2021. 9781481416788.

Publisher synopsis: Mahatma Gandhi and Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. both shook, and changed, the world, in their quest for peace among all people, but what threads connected these great activists together in their shared goal of social revolution?

A lawyer and activist, tiny of stature with giant ideas, in British-ruled India at the beginning of the 20th century.

A minister from Georgia with a thunderous voice and hopes for peace at the height of the civil rights movement in America.

Born more than a half-century apart, with seemingly little in common except one shared wish, both would go on to be icons of peaceful resistance and human decency. Both preached love for all human beings, regardless of race or religion. Both believed that freedom and justice were won by not one, but many. Both met their ends in the most unpeaceful of ways—assassination.

But what led them down the path of peace? How did their experiences parallel...and diverge? Threads of Peace keenly examines and celebrates these extraordinary activists’ lives, the threads that connect them, and the threads of peace they laid throughout the world, for us to pick up, and weave together.

Purchased: nothing!

What was in your mailbox this week? 

Fact Friday: River Stories by Timothy Knapman.

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Image: HarperCollins Publishers

River Stories by Timothy Knapman. Illustrated by Ashling Lindsay & Irene Montano. unpaged. Egmont/ HarperCollins, June, 2021. 9781405292542. (Review of finished copy courtesy of publisher.)

Happy Friday TMS Readers! Fact Friday features River Stories by Thomas Knapman. Illustrated by Ashling Lindsay & Irene Montano. Travel the length of five major rivers of the world in this unique picture book. The text relates interesting facts, history and even mythology. An impressive gatefold opens to reveal gorgeous illustrations that depict the course and major landmarks of these rivers, making this book a terrific "impressionistic lesson" for young geographers.

Friday Memes: Playing the Cards You're Dealt by Varian Johnson

Book Beginnings is hosted by Rose City Reader and Friday 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice.

Image: Scholastic Inc.

Playing the Cards You're Dealt by Varian Johnson. 320 p. Scholastic Press, October 5, 2021. 9781338780949.

Publisher synopsis: SECRETS ARE ALWAYS A GAMBLE

Ten-year-old Anthony Joplin has made it to double digits! Which means he’s finally big enough to play in the spades tournament every Joplin Man before him seems to have won. So while Ant’s friends are stressing about fifth grade homework and girls, he only has one thing on his mind: how he’ll measure up to his father’s expectations at the card table.

Then Ant’s best friend gets grounded, and he’s forced to find another spades partner. And Shirley, the new girl in his class, isn’t exactly what he has in mind. She doesn’t understand that trash talking is part of the game. Or why Ant’s dad doesn’t want him playing with a girl. But she’s smart and tough and pretty, and knows every card trick in the book. So Ant decides to join forces with Shirley — and keep his plans a secret.

Only it turns out secrets are another Joplin Man tradition. And his father is hiding one so big it may tear their family apart…

First Line: The house always wins.

Page 56: Jamal cackled, "little Ant, still scared to talk to girls."

     "What's with you and all the little stuff," And said. "Lay off, okay?"

     "Come on, Ant. It's just a joke. Don't be so sensitive."

     Ant couldn't help but notice how it was "just a joke" when Jamal said stuff, but Shirley was a "dumb girl" when she did the same.

How much do you love that cover? I am mesmerized!

#tbt: East by Edith Pattou

Image: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

East by Edith Pattou. 498 p. Harcourt Inc., 2003. 9780152045630. (own)

#tbt features East by Edith Pattou. East is a novel-length retelling of the Norwegian folk tale, East of the Sun, West of the Moon, which is a variation of the myth of Cupid and Psyche. 

This intricate and layered story requires a patient reader, but is fascinating. Rose was born to a superstitious mother, who insisted to her husband that she bear 7 children to represent all the points on a compass. When one died, her mother got pregnant with Rose and insisted she would be born facing east as the child who died had. Rose always felt like an outsider growing up and now her family is falling apart. When a huge white bear shows up with a proposition-her family will become healthy and wealthy if she comes away with him, Rose accepts instantly. 

She's carried away to a castle hidden in the mountains and, while she's relatively happy living with this mysterious creature, she is homesick. The bear allows her to visit her family for one month, but makes her promise not to speak to anyone of their arrangement. She promises, and when she tells her brother about it, her mother overhears. She insists that Rose return to the castle with a magic candle, so that she can gaze upon the creature at night. 

Once Rose does so, she learns that she has failed to help the bear break a curse. He becomes prisoner of a Troll Queen and disappears.

East was published in 2003 and was named a Top Ten Best Book for Young Adults in 2004. In 2018, West, a sequel, was published. 

While the cover of the e-book is nice enough and matches the cover of West, I absolutely love the original cover, with its embossed compass rose wrapping around the cover.

Waiting on Wednesday: Room to Dream by Kelly Yang

Image: Scholastic Inc.

Room to Dream by Kelly Yang. 320 p. Front Desk Series #3. Scholastic Inc., September 21, 2021. 9781338621129.

Waiting on Wednesday features Room to Dream by Kelly Yang. This is the third installment of the Front Desk series. Both Front Desk and Three Keys are popular at my school. 

Here's the publisher's synopsis: Mia Tang is going for her dreams! 

After years of hard work, Mia Tang finally gets to go on vacation with her family — to China! A total dream come true! Mia can't wait to see all her cousins and grandparents again, especially her cousin Shen. As she roams around Beijing, witnessing some of the big changes China's going through, Mia thinks about the changes in her own life, like ...

1. Lupe's taking classes at the high school! And Mia's own plans to be a big writer are… stuck.

2. Something happened with Jason and Mia has no idea what to do about it.

3. New buildings are popping up all around the motel, and small businesses are disappearing.

Can the Calivista survive? Buckle up! Mia is more determined than ever to get through the turbulence, now that she finally has… room to dream!

Room to Dream releases on September 21.