Review and quotes: ALL MY RAGE

Title: All My Rage by Sahaa Tahir

Book Beginnings quote: 

"The clouds over Lahore were purple as a gossip's tongue the day my mother told me I would wed."

Friday56 quote: 

“Each moment joins the next, a murmuration of starlings exploding out of the rafters of my mind and into the the heavens, moving as one, revealing a greater purpose.”

Summary:  

Lahore, Pakistan. Then.
Misbah is a dreamer and storyteller, newly married to Toufiq in an arranged match. After their young life is shaken by tragedy, they come to the United States and open the Clouds' Rest Inn Motel, hoping for a new start.
 
Juniper, California. Now.
Salahudin and Noor are more than best friends; they are family. Growing up as outcasts in the small desert town of Juniper, California, they understand each other the way no one else does. Until The Fight, which destroys their bond with the swift fury of a star exploding. (Publisher)

Review: Once, not too long ago, almost all I read was YA lit. Now it is rare that I choose to read YA books at all. But when I became aware of All My Rage something told me I had to read it. And I am glad I did. First it is told from the point-of-view of three Pakistani transplants: Misbah, who came to the US with her husband; Salahudin, Misbah's son and light of her life; and Noor, an earthquake survivor living in the US with her uncle, her only living relative. Salahudin and Noor find each other in first grade, misfits in the American school they attend and a deep friendship is formed. Their friendship is strong until a misunderstanding and a fight their senior year and they don't reconcile their differences until it is almost too late. In the meantime, both of their live start to unravel. The story is both heart-breaking and heart-mending.

The author, Sahaa Tahir, is a Pakastani-American best known for her fantasy series, An Ember in the Ashes and its sequels. All My Rage won the 2022 National Book Award for Young People's Literature. She immigrated from Pakistan as a child and lived in the Majave Desert area of California, where the book All My Rage was set. Though the story is not autobiographical there are some similarities with the author's life and with her characters' lives. The book is full of touchy topics, in fact Tahir opens the novel with a warning of trigger topics,: drug/alcohol addiction, sexual abuse; physical abuse, bullying and racism, and drug dealing. When asked, in an interview for the Daily Bruin (the UCLA Newspaper, where she graduated) what Tahir wants her readers to take away from her book. Her answer is very revealing about her own lived experiences: 

"Having written for young people for years now, I would never dare to tell them what to take away from my book. However, I will say that I hope any reader who needs this book will find it. Any reader who needs to feel less alone, I hope they’re able to find this book. As a young person, I needed a book like this. That’s a huge part of why I wrote it."

This is an important and powerful book on so may levels. I highly recommend it.

Book Beginnings on Friday is hosted by Rose City Reader. Share the opening quote from current book.
The Friday56 is hosted at Freda's Voice.  Find a quote from page 56 to share. 
Visit these two websites to participate. Click on links to read quotes from books other people are reading. It is a great way to make blog friends and to get suggestions for new reading material.  

-Anne

Catching up on past due reviews, with quotes

It's the end of the year. Time to finish up all my past due reviews from 2022 and turn the page, starting a new year.  

***********************************************************************************

Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah // St. Martin's Press, 2008. 479 pages.

 

 Summary: Kate and Tully become friends in 8th grade when the unlikely friends meet up one dark night when each has escaped their houses on Firefly Lane. Their friendship lasts for three decades until a single act of betrayal breaks up their friendship. Can it be mended?

Review: I am a huge Kristin Hannah fan. I especially love her books The Four Winds and The Nightingale, both published after this book. I am not a fan of this book however. I was irritated by the girls unequal relationship and that it continued and went on and on for so many pages.

Clearly I am not a fan of this book and I wouldn't usually even bother writing a review of a book I rated with such a low score, but this was a book club selection and I made a goal to review ALL my book club reads. Also, many of the gals in the club really liked the book, two of the members rated it as their favorite book read by the club in 2022. They obviously found something in the book that I didn't find. My recommendation if you haven't read anything by Kristin Hannah is to select one of her more recently published books.

Quote:

"That was the thing about best friends. Like sisters and mothers, they could piss you off and make you cry and break your heart, but in the end, when the chips were down, they were there, making you laugh even in your darkest hours."

Rating: 2 stars

Odder by Katherine Applegate // Feiwel Friends, 2022. 288 pages.

Summary: Odder, a sea otter, spends her days off the coast of central California, practicing her underwater acrobatics and spinning the quirky stories for which she’s known. She’s a fearless daredevil, curious to a fault. But when Odder comes face-to-face with a predator, her life takes a dramatic turn, one that will challenge everything she believes about herself—and about the humans who hope to save her. Inspired by the true story of a Monterey Bay Aquarium program that pairs orphaned otter pups with surrogate mothers, this poignant and humorous tale told in free verse examines bravery and healing through the eyes of one of nature’s most beloved and charming animals.

Review: This is a darling tale, told from the point-of-view of a sea otter pup, has an excellent conservation message perfect for 3rd to 5th grade readers. I had just learned about the Monterey Bay conservation area on a show about national parks in the world. Now this sweet story brings the information to life. Told in free verse, it is an easy read, though it does have tense moments of survival.

Quote: 

Nobody has her moves.
She doesn’t just swim to the bottom,
she dive-bombs.
She doesn’t just somersault,
she triple-doughnuts.
She doesn’t just ride the waves,
she makes them.

Rating: 4.5 stars.

Poetry RX: How Fifty Inspiring Poems Can Heal and Bring Joy to Your Life by Norman E. Rosenthal, M.D. // G & D Media, 2021. 380 pages. Tantor Audio, 9 hours, 11 minutes. Narrated by Marguerite Gavin and Scott Pratt.

Summary: Poetry to heal, inspire, and enjoy.

Poetry Rx presents 50 great poems as seen through the eyes of a renowned psychiatrist. In this book, the reader gains insights into love, sorrow, ecstasy, and everything in between: love in the moment or for a lifetime; love that is fulfilling or addictive; when to break up; and how to survive when someone breaks up with you. Separate sections deal with responses to the natural world and the varieties of human experience. Other sections involve finding your way in the world and the search for meaning, as well as the final stages of life.

In describing this multitude of human experiences, using vignettes from his work and life, Rosenthal serves as a comforting guide to these poetic works of genius. Through his writing, the workings of the mind, as depicted by these gifted writers speak to us as intimately as our closest friends. (Publisher) 

Review: I found great comfort in many of the poems selected and analyzed by Dr. Rosenthal. I listened to the audiobook and would listen as I walked the dog or drove around town doing errands. By dribbling it out in such a way, I took full advantage of each poem and enjoyed Rosenthal's thoughts more than if I powered through the book in a few days. I want my own print copy now so I can refer back to it in future times. 

Quote from the introduction: 

“As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world has closed down in many ways, depriving us of joy, companionship, love and adventure. Against this backdrop of loss and hardship, we are seeking novel remedies, and poetry is a surprisingly powerful remedy, not just for the moment but for our entire life. Poetry can serve both as a balm and a vaccine for the soul.” 

Rating: 4 stars.

  

Seven Empty Houses by Samantha Schweblin. Translated by Megan McDowell // Riverhead Books, 2022. 208 pages.

 

Summary: The seven houses in these seven stories are empty. Some are devoid of love or life or furniture, of people or the truth or of memories. But in Samanta Schweblin's tense, visionary tales, something always creeps back in: a ghost, a fight, trespassers, a list of things to do before you die, a child's first encounter with a dark choice or the fallibility of parents. (Publisher)

Review: I probably wouldn't have read or even known about this small story collection were it not for seven Empty Houses being named as one of the five National Book Award winner, a book translated into English in 2022. What I enjoy about reading short stories is how quickly the action starts and stops. Authors rather bog down their stories with too many details or back stories. One must just jump into the action and hang on for the ride. The author is a Argentine Spanish-speaking writer but she lives in Berlin. Every story had something to do with a house and I couldn't quite place these houses in the world. I just knew, somehow, that they weren't in the US. No big deal. The stories were all sort of creepy, or odd, or off-kilter and I found them all compelling. Give it a try!

Quote from first story "None of That": 

 Rating: 4 stars

The Complete Book of Aspen by Danna Smith // Plumbago Press, 2022. 308 pages.

Summary:  

When Aspen’s best friend gives her a DNA test kit, a half teaspoon of spit is all it takes to discover her entire life has been a lie. The death of Aspen’s father breaks her small family. Aspen’s mother slips into depression, leaving Aspen and her brother, Cooper, to hold together the broken pieces of their lives. Time, love, and medical attention allow Aspen’s mom to heal, and their family begins to find a new normal. But just as the sun starts to peek out from the dark clouds of depression and loss, Aspen and her friend Sophie get the results of their DNA tests.

Learning that her beloved late father was not her biological father—and that her mother had deceived her—ignites a wild storm of emotions. Aspen struggles with her identity and the burden of being the gatekeeper of this closely guarded family secret. When her mother refuses to reveal her biological father’s name, Aspen sets out on a courageous journey to find him.

A heartbreakingly hopeful young adult novel told in narrative and creative verse by award-winning author and poet Danna Smith, based on her true DNA experience. (Publisher)

Review: Wow. I consumed this book in one gulp rarely coming up for air. Such a thoughtful story and seemingly true reaction to the news that your Dad isn't your father. Hmm. The poetry was so good. I liked it so much and I've read a lot of novels-in-verse lately, I should know! Highly recommend.

Quote:

Double Helix.

Whatever.

All I've learned

is DNA sucks

at keeping

secrets.

Rating: 4.5 stars

-Anne

Review and quotes: SEARCHING FOR SYLVIE LEE

Title: Searching for Sylvie Lee by Jean Kwok

Book Beginnings quote:

Friday56 quote (from page 19, last page of preview):

Summary:

It begins with a mystery. Sylvie, the beautiful, brilliant, successful older daughter of the Lee family, flies to the Netherlands for one final visit with her dying grandmother—and then vanishes.

Amy, the sheltered baby of the Lee family, is too young to remember a time when her parents were newly immigrated and too poor to keep Sylvie. Seven years older, Sylvie was raised by a distant relative in a faraway, foreign place, and didn’t rejoin her family in America until age nine. Timid and shy, Amy has always looked up to her sister, the fierce and fearless protector who showered her with unconditional love.

But what happened to Sylvie? Amy and her parents are distraught and desperate for answers. Sylvie has always looked out for them. Now, it’s Amy’s turn to help. Terrified yet determined, Amy retraces her sister’s movements, flying to the last place Sylvie was seen. But instead of simple answers, she discovers something much more valuable: the truth. Sylvie, the golden girl, kept painful secrets . . . secrets that will reveal more about Amy’s complicated family—and herself—than she ever could have imagined. (Publisher)

Review: Amy, the narrator of the two above quotes, is the younger daughter in the Lee family, the daughter who lives in the shadow of her beautiful, talented, star-child older sister, Sylvie. When she receives a phone call from their cousin in The Netherlands asking if Sylvie has returned to the States after her visit there, Amy gets concerned that something is wrong, very wrong. She does some investigating, like going to Sylvie's house, and becomes quite alarmed forcing her to book a flight across the Atlantic to see what she can discover about this missing sister, a sister she doesn't know as well as she thought.

I wanted to like Searching for Sylvie Lee more than I did. The mystery was clunky with a few red-herrings which never tricked me at all. We read this as a book club selection and our discussion was unremarkable. We mostly spent our hour together recalling details from the book that others had forgotten. The characters and motivations all seemed off. For example the cousin who called Amy in New York asking about Sylvie completely dismisses the idea that anything is wrong once she gets to The Netherlands. There is a cello in the story which seems so odd, since it is a difficult instrument to learn to play, and it is big and clunky. It keeps entering the story at various times, until we discover it is a good place to hide jewels. (Oh, that is why we need a cello in the story!) Few of the story's details worked for me and the plot left me feeling flat. As an immigrant story, it had potential, but that thread was only secondary to the mystery of where is Sylvie Lee, and one that was barely picked.

Rating 3 stars.

Book Beginnings on Friday is hosted by Rose City Reader. Share the opening quote from current book.
The Friday56 is hosted at Freda's Voice.  Find a quote from page 56 to share. 
Visit these two websites to participate. Click on links to read quotes from books other people are reading. It is a great way to make blog friends and to get suggestions for new reading material.  

 

-Anne

Review and quotes: THE COLOR OF MAGIC

Title: The Color of Magic (Discworld #1) by Terry Pratchett 

Book Beginnings quote:

Friday56 quote:

Summary:

The Discworld floats through space on the back of four elephants that, in turn, stand on the back of the Great A'Tuin, the cosmic turtle. It only gets weirder from here.

On the Disc is the ancient city of Ankh-Morpork, and it's here that a man named Twoflower begins his journey as the world's first tourist. At the Broken Drum tavern, he meets a failed wizard named Rincewind, who knows exactly one spell and exactly nothing about what it does. Twoflower hires Rincewind as his guide, wanting to see the heroes, wonders, and majesty (read: cutthroats, dangers, and utter shabbiness) of the city. 

This is the first of four stories within one book. From Ankh-Morpork, Twoflower and Rincewind escape in the nick of time to a forest where Rincewind is convicted of hurting a tree. Next stop is Wyrmberg, an upside-down mountain is a nation of dragon riders. The dragons are figments of the imagination, however. From Wyrmberg, the two travelers end up at the very edge of the disc, captured by Tethis, a sea troll. (Shmoop)

Review: Confused by the summary? Don't worry. The book is even more confusing. In the forward that Terry Pratchett wrote in 1989 one gets the idea that understanding everything isn't the point. The point is the humor and the fun.

The Color of Magic was originally published in 1983 in the U.K. with only 506 copies. From that very small start the Discworld series took off, eventually Pratchett published 41 Disworld novels, the last published after his death in 2015. As a high school librarian I tried, unsuccessfully, to figure out the series flow chart in order to make recommendations to my readers. There are some readers who think this, the first book in the series, is not a good place to enter the world. I understand this since I was confused for about 80% of the time I was listening to the audiobook and laughing the other 20%. I don't think words are adequate to explain the experience. I confess spending quite a bit of time marveling at Pratchett's wild imagination. I have entered Discworld finally and I plan to visit it often.

Book Beginnings on Friday is hosted by Rose City Reader. Share the opening quote from current book.
The Friday56 is hosted at Freda's Voice.  Find a quote from page 56 to share. 
Visit these two websites to participate. Click on links to read quotes from books other people are reading. It is a great way to make blog friends and to get suggestions for new reading material.  

-Anne

Children's Poetry Book Reviews Where I and a 5-Year-Old Disagree On Which Is the Best

Poetry books: You are the Loveliest; Imagine!; Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright!; Marshmallow Clouds; not pictured: Zoobilations.

 

Once I again I am reviewing more poetry books with the help of my 5-year-old grandson. I thought I had it all figured out which book(s) he would like the best and which one(s) he wouldn't.  I was wrong again, or at least in words, though not in actions. Ian, my little grandson loves books and loves to snuggle up for a good read, but he is also five so it shouldn't come as a surprise that he also gets quickly bored, ready to move on to other activities. 

Before Ian joined me to read portions of each of these books I felt sure that he would love Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright and Zoobilations best because he loves animals and both of these books focus on animals exclusively. I especially love Tiger, Tiger because it is such a large collection, one animal poem for every day of the year, many by very famous poets. To my mind both Imagine! and You Are the Loveliest have problems, possibly with their translations. Imagine! deals with some rather dark themes, like depression in adults, and people drowning due to bad immigration policies. I didn't even want to read these poems to Ian. The book is translated from Italian. You are the Loveliest contains some pretty sweet poems, but I had issues with the rhyming schemes and meter. This book is translated from Dutch.

So what did Ian think?

He loved Imagine! because each poem proposes a new way of living or thinking and ends with a shout: IMAGINE! What five-year-old doesn't relish the idea of being allowed to participate what is being read by shouting? He insisted I read the parts of the book I was hoping to avoid. I explained that those poems made me sad. After I read them, he agreed they were sad, but didn't dwell on the subject or demand I explain them. Whew.

Ian was enraptured by You are the Loveliest. So what if all the rhymes aren't quite right or the meter a little off. The illustrations by Marit Tornqvist are so sweet and the poems on themes that concern kids, like spending the night at grandma's house, dreaming, and imaginative play. I confess his reaction caused me to take a second, more positive look at the book.

Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright was the third book we picked up, and five-year-old-ants-in-pants were starting to set in. The book is big and heavy, a bit daunting. He was delighted with poems like "Anaconda" but other, longer poems didn't seem to interest him. Soon he just slammed the book shut, announcing he was done. When I explained that I had a few favorites to read him, he demurred and allowed me to flip to those poems. Then I asked if we could just leaf through the book and he could tell me to stop anywhere and I'd read out the poem(s) on that page. He agreed but he never allowed me to skip over any pages. He actually wanted me to read every poem, on every page we came to. We were somewhere in the month of March when we both decided we could judge the book fairly without reading on.

Zoobilations (unpictured) didn't get a fair examination by Ian. We read only a few poems when he decided he was done for real this time. I found the poems quite charming and funny but the book I thought he'd like the best, he gave only a cursory glance at before he turned back to Tiger, Tiger. (Ha, he did like that book!) He picked up Tiger, Tiger and carried it out of the room, wanting to show "Anaconda" to his dad. Later I noticed that he and his parents were looking through the book finding poems attached to birthdays and special events. Clearly, Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright has big-time potential, though Ian still insists that he likes Imagine! and Loveliest in a tie for the best.

Marshmallow Clouds was a reread for me and Ian hasn't had a chance to read and review it, yet. Another one of the Cybils judges exclaimed that she was quite taken with the book and asked my opinion. I hadn't reviewed it when I read it back in October and I had only the vaguest of memories of it. Therefore a reread was in order. This time around, I found this collection of free verse poems quite charming and often humorous. I am pretty eager to learn what Ian thinks of it. PBS placed it on their rather long "Best Books of 2022" list, one of only a few children's books. That alone makes it worthy of a look.

So how would I rank these five children's poetry books? Tiger, Tiger is my favorite, followed by Marshmallow Clouds, You are the Loveliest, Zoobilations, and Imagine! coming in last. Honestly I liked them all for different reasons and encourage you to look for them next time you are at a library.

-Anne

Review and quotes: THE SOUL OF AN OCTOPUS

Title: The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration Into the Wonder of Consciousness by Sy Montgomery

Book Beginnings quote: 

On a rare, warm day in mid-March, when the snow was melting into mud in New Hampshire, I traveled to Boston, where everyone was strolling along the harbor or sitting on benches licking ice cream cones. But I quit the blessed sunlight for the moist, dim sanctuary of the New England Aquarium. I had a date with a giant Pacific octopus.

Friday56 quote:

"How many of you keep octopuses?" Jennifer asked the crowd during her keynote speech, the first after Roland's introduction. About fifty hands went up."And do they have personalities?" Like a unanimous vote at a town meeting came the emphatic answer: "Yes!"

Summary:  

In pursuit of the wild, solitary, predatory octopus, popular naturalist Sy Montgomery has practiced true immersion journalism. From New England aquarium tanks to the reefs of French Polynesia and the Gulf of Mexico, she has befriended octopuses with strikingly different personalities—gentle Athena, assertive Octavia, curious Kali, and joyful Karma. Each creature shows her cleverness in myriad ways: escaping enclosures like an orangutan; jetting water to bounce balls; and endlessly tricking companions with multiple “sleights of hand” to get food.

Scientists have only recently accepted the intelligence of dogs, birds, and chimpanzees but now are watching octopuses solve problems and are trying to decipher the meaning of the animal’s color-changing techniques. With her “joyful passion for these intelligent and fascinating creatures” (Library Journal Editors’ Spring Pick), Montgomery chronicles the growing appreciation of this mollusk as she tells a unique love story. By turns funny, entertaining, touching, and profound, The Soul of an Octopus reveals what octopuses can teach us about the meeting of two very different minds. (Publisher)

Review: The Soul of an Octopus is an nonfiction book club selection for an upcoming meeting. After reading a fiction book about a friendship between a woman and an octopus in Remarkably Bright Creatures I thought this would be an enlightening and entertaining read. And indeed I did find it fascinating -- I had no idea how intelligent and octopuses are -- but I found my interest waning after about the midpoint of the book. Perhaps I would have preferred a long magazine article on the topic.  experiences with octopuses But who knows. Sy Montgomery is a good writer and she certainly makes her very personal. My hope is that words get out so that people know to treat all life as intelligent and worthy of our respect.

Now I'm a little bit worried about our book club discussion, which I'll be leading. Thankfully I found these discussion questions. I think they should give us an opportunity to discuss the merits of the book without too much whining about what we didn't like about it. 

My rating: 4 stars our of 5.

Book Beginnings on Friday is hosted by Rose City Reader. Share the opening quote from current book.
The Friday56 is hosted at Freda's Voice.  Find a quote from page 56 to share. 
Visit these two websites to participate. Click on links to read quotes from books other people are reading. It is a great way to make blog friends and to get suggestions for new reading material.  

 

-Anne

Review: THE HOPE OF ELEPHANTS

As you know, if you are a reader of this blog, I am currently acting as a judge for the Cybils Book Award, the Poetry division. When I agreed to take on the role I thought I'd be mostly judging children's poetry books. Little did I know that the bulk of my reading would be novels-in-verse/memoirs-in-verse. A goodly number of these novels haven't really distinguished themselves and are sort of all jumbled together in my mind. For these novels-in-verse to rise above the fray they not only have to have a storyline/plot that is interesting/unique/compelling/believable/ fascinating, etc. but the poetry needs to be too! Novels written in verse that don't have well constructed, almost musical poetry make me wonder why the author didn't just write the story in prose.

But that is not the case with The Hope of Elephants by Amanda Rawson Hill. Not only is the story line unique and compelling, the poetry is just beautiful. Take for instance this poem where the main character, Cass, and her father are having a conversation while they toss a baseball back and forth:

 

Can't you just imagine the ball going back and forth between Cass and her father? They are together digesting bad news in a way that makes sense to them. What is this bad news? The father has just been diagnosed with cancer...again. The doctors have just determined that the father has Li-Fraumeni Syndrome, a genetic condition which causes a predisposition to develop cancer, because of a lack of the the p53 gene. As the story progresses Cass discovers that the syndrome has a 50% genetic inheritance rate, meaning she has a 50/50 chance she has it also. As Cass is processing this new information and adjusting to their family life of extreme care not to transmit any random disease, like a cold, to her father, she learns of a study being done at the zoo in Salt Lake City on elephants. "Scientists link elephants' high resistance to cancer to their 20 copies of the p53 gene – the 'guardian of the genome' – compared with the single p53 gene found in other mammals." So far there is no cure coming toward humans from elephants, but who knows in the future?

Interestingly for me, my daughter is a genetic counselor and was able to explain many of the details of the Li-Fraumeni Syndrome to me and why it would probably be preferable for Cass to be tested early. One so she can participate in medical protocols on an accelerated schedule --blood tests, mammograms, colonoscopies, etc. -- for early detection. Two, so that the patient can make informed decisions about having/not having children. If Cass were to wait to fine out if she, too, has the syndrome, she might have a child who also has the syndrome and the patterns repeats. This is all stuff I learned from my daughter, which made the reading of the story more interesting to me. What a quandary for people in Cass's postion. 

Lest you think this book sounds like a total drag, it really is a sweet coming-of-age story which includes aspects of family love, baseball, faith, and navigating friendships. Cass does a lot of growing during this story, too, which is always rewarding for readers. 

There is one more reason I have such found spot in my heart for this book. My library didn't have a copy of it, so I checked the library catalog in Springfield, where we'd be visiting during Thanksgiving break. They had the book and I was able to check it out on my sister's card. I had to do some power reading every evening of our time in Oregon but I finished it in record time. Fortunately, it's target audience is middle grade readers. As I handed it back to my sister to return it for me, I recommended that she read it first!

-Anne

Review and quotes: ABUELA, DON'T FORGET ME

Title: Abuela, Don't Forget Me by Rex Ogle

Book Beginnings quote:

Friday56 quote:

Summary:

In his award-winning memoir Free Lunch, Rex Ogle’s abuela features as a source of love and support. In this companion-in-verse, Rex captures and celebrates the powerful presence a woman he could always count on—to give him warm hugs and ear kisses, to teach him precious words in Spanish, to bring him to the library where he could take out as many books as he wanted, and to offer safety when darkness closed in. Throughout a coming of age marked by violence and dysfunction, Abuela’s red-brick house in Abilene, Texas, offered Rex the possibility of home, and Abuela herself the possibility for a better life. Abuela, Don’t Forget Me is a lyrical portrait of the transformative and towering woman who believed in Rex even when he didn’t yet know how to believe in himself. (Publisher)

Review: Last year I was a Round 2 Cybils Award judge for high school nonfiction books. The winner from the batch of six excellent nonfiction books we read was Rex Ogle's second memoir, Punching Bag, a sequel to Free Lunch. Now that I am a first round Cybils Award judge for poetry books I am delighted to find a third book by the same author and continuation of Ogle's memoir series about his formative years and how, to a large degree, his grandmother saved his life, Abuela, Don't Forget Me.

As a first round judge this year I have read 30 novels-in-verse/memoirs-in-verse in a very short time. Most of these books haven't distinguished themselves very much, blurring into a collective blob of "I know I read that book but I can't recall many details from it." But that is not the case with Abulea, Don't Forget Me. Right from the first poem, "Hamper", I knew this book had that something special which would make it very memorable in my mind.

Rex Ogle's mother was the black sheep of her family and mentally ill. His father left the family and was only marginally a part of Rex's life. Since Rex is telling the story from the point-of-view as a child there is never any discussion in the book about what was wrong with his mother we just learn that she is both physically and emotionally abusive to her children, especially to Rex, and they usually live in a state of abject poverty. When Rex is allowed to visit his grandmother he finds total love and acceptance. She teaches him to speak some Spanish, a language his mother has abandoned and forbids him to use at home. Abuela continually says to Rex “Te amare por siempre” (I love you forever) to him. Everything else in his life is so conditional, it is such a relief to fall into the arms of one who loves him unconditionally.

This memoir-in-verse is so heartbreaking for the dastardly way Rex's mother treats him, but also so life-affirming for the salvation that he receives through his grandmother. We learn in the prologue that Ogle's abuela is now suffering from dementia. Rex wants to make sure that his abuela doesn't forget him and how much he loves her.

The three-part series (Free Lunch, Punching Bag, and Abuela, Don't Forget Me) is a must for any library collection that services teens. Abuela, Don't Forget Me could easily be read as a stand-alone as well. The operative word is "read." Read this one, for sure. (I listened to the audiobook. It was excellent also!)

Book Beginnings on Friday is hosted by Rose City Reader. Share the opening quote from current book.
The Friday56 is hosted at Freda's Voice.  Find a quote from page 56 to share. 
Visit these two websites to participate. Click on links to read quotes from books other people are reading. It is a great way to make blog friends and to get suggestions for new reading material.  

 

-Anne

Reviews: Novels-in-verse with a LGBTQIA+ theme

 

A Million Quiet Revolutions by Robin Gow

Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. 2022

Print and audio. 336 pages. Target audience: YA.

For as long as they can remember, Aaron and Oliver have only ever had each other. In a small town with few queer teenagers, let alone young trans men, they've shared milestones like coming out as trans, buying the right binders--and falling for each other.

But just as their relationship has started to blossom, Aaron moves away. Feeling adrift, separated from the one person who understands them, they seek solace in digging deep into the annals of America's past. When they discover the story of two Revolutionary War soldiers who they believe to have been trans man in love, they're inspired to pay tribute to these soldiers by adopting their names--Aaron and Oliver. As they learn, they delve further into unwritten queer stories, and they discover the transformative power of reclaiming one's place in history (Publisher).

Review: Now more than ever before I believe we need books about all types of people in our school and public libraries. If I can't relate to a book doesn't mean that book doesn't have a important message for someone else. That is the way I feel about this book about two trans individuals who are trying to make their way in the world without much support from their families and none from their communities. How dare I consider this less worthy than a book about a cis-gender young love affair? As I read a few reviews by other readers on Goodreads, I was really struck by two notions. 1. We need books that speak to everyone. The more, the better. 2. Who has been written out of history? Aaron and Oliver find solace in the story of two women who dressed as men and fought in the Revolutionary War. After the war, they lived together, telling others they were brothers. Perhaps if all peoples histories were included in our history books we would all be more accepting of people who are different than us.

My one criticism of the book has more to do with format than subject. Though this novel-in-verse employed a clever technique to establish who was speaking based on the justification of the print on the page, the speaker would often tell the other's side of the conversation by using the term "you". "You" said this or "you" did that. It got confusing. Otherwise I do recommend this book to those individuals who are questioning their sexual identity or want to understand more fully how difficult it is for an individual to express their uniqueness when it comes to genders.

Rating: 4 stars.

 

Nothing Burns As Bright As You by Ashley Woodfolk

Versify. 2022

Print and audio. 288 pages. YA+

Nothing Burns as Bright as You is an impassioned story about queer love, grief, and the complexity of female friendship that will keep your heart racing, and breaking, until the very last page.

Two girls. One wild and reckless day. Years of tumultuous history unspooling like a thin, fraying string in the hours after they set a fire.They were best friends. Until they became more. Their affections grew. Until the blurry lines became dangerous.

Over the course of a single day, the depth of their past, the confusion of their present, and the unpredictability of their future is revealed. And the girls will learn that hearts, like flames, aren’t so easily tamed. It starts with a fire. How will it end? (Publisher)

Review: In terms of poetry Nothing Burns Brighter Than You is a real stand out among novels-in-verse. In terms of plot and story, I had a very hard time with this book. First the two girls who have fallen in love are NOT in a healthy relationship with each other. One is pushy and dominant and asks of the other to do things and behave in a way that is counter to the way she is brought up and against her own conscience. Yet, because of the sick relationship that the girls have formed, she goes along with the plans which often involve fire. 

When I was in college I was in an unhealthy relationship with a boy who demanded that I, too, go against my own conscience and the way I was brought up. We had a very passionate but also sick relationship. When I read these girls story I was drug back in my memory to that time and to those feelings which have haunted me for years. Ashley Woodfolk, the author, said in her afterward that she wanted to write a book about queer relationship as she groped around to try to understand some of her past relationships, many of which were much more controlling than loving. This book, therefore, stands as an example of what a bad relationship looks like. I am just not sure it is a good example to follow.

Rating: 3.5 stars

-Anne

Reviews: Three historical novels-in-verse

 

Pauli Murray: The Life of a Pioneering Feminist and Civil Rights Activist by Rosita Stevens-Holsey and Terry Catasus Jennings

Yellow Jacket Books. 2022

Print. 280 pages. Target: YA.

 

Pauli Murray was a trailblazer who spent her life fighting for civil rights and women's rights. Writer, lawyer, activist, priest, Pauli was a champion for justice. She was a thorn in the side of white America demanding justice and equal treatment for all. She was a queer civil rights and women's rights activist before any movement advocated for either--the brilliant mind that, in 1944, conceptualized the arguments that would win Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka; and in 1964, the arguments that won women equality in the workplace.

Throughout her life, she fought for the oppressed, not only through changing laws, but by using her powerful prose to influence those who could affect change. She lived by her convictions and challenged authority to demand fairness and justice regardless of the personal consequences. Without seeking acknowledgment, glory, or financial gain for what she did, Pauli Murray fought in the trenches for many of the rights we take for granted. Her goal was human rights and the dignity of life for all (Publisher).

Review: The heading for this post is inaccurate as this book is not a novel. Here Pauli Murray's life is immortalized in a biography told in verse. As I read this very thorough biography two thoughts kept running through my head. One: how is it that I, a former high school librarian, had never heard of Pauli Murray before? And two, why on earth was such a fact heavy book written in verse? These two thoughts still confound me. Let's just put it this way -- Pauli Murray was an amazing and brilliant woman whose writings were used by others to form the basis for several well-known pieces of legislation and landmark Supreme Court decisions. If you, like me, have never heard of her you must remedy that situation immediately. One of the authors, Rosie Stevens-Holsey, is Pauli Murray's niece and is proud to help promote her aunt's legacy. About the format, the biography-in-verse makes the information approachable and enjoyable, reminding me that I don't have to be reading a stodgy old textbook to find out new information. Make sure your school and public libraries have copies of this book.

Rating: 5 stars

 

 

The Ghosts of Rose Hill by R.M. Romero

Peachtree Publishing. 2022.

Print and audio. 378 pages. Target: 8th-12th grade.

 

Sent to stay with her aunt in Prague and witness the humble life of an artist, Ilana Lopez—a biracial Jewish girl—finds herself torn between her dream of becoming a violinist and her immigrant parents’ desire for her to pursue a more stable career.

When she discovers a forgotten Jewish cemetery behind her aunt’s cottage, she meets the ghost of a kindhearted boy named Benjamin, who died over a century ago. As Ilana restores Benjamin’s grave, he introduces her to the enchanted side of Prague, where ghosts walk the streets and their kisses have warmth.

But Benjamin isn't the only one interested in Ilana. Rudolph Wassermann, a man with no shadow, has become fascinated with her and the music she plays. He offers to share his magic with her.

With spellbinding verse prose, R.M. Romero channels the spirit of myth into a brilliantly original tale, inspired by her experiences restoring Jewish cemeteries in Eastern Europe (Publisher).

Review: Right before COVID hit the world, my husband and I were in Prague. While there we visited the Pinkas Synagogue and its adjoining Jewish cemetery. Nearly all of Prague's Jews were rounded up and killed in the Holocaust. This particular synagogue now stands as a reminder of those 78,000 souls lost their lives because of their faith in Czech Republic. Their names are written out on all the walls of the synagogue. The cemetery is a seemingly crowded place with tombstones on top of tombstones. The Jews were forced to bury their dead on top of each other because the city would not allow the congregation to expand the footprint of the cemetery.

 

Though The Ghosts of Rose Hill is not an explicit historical novel it does include information about Pinkas cemetery and other Jewish cemeteries in the city of Prague which have fallen into disrepair due to the fact that so few Jews now live in the area. The book also covers information about the 1918 Flu Pandemic which killed Benjamin, one of the ghosts in this story.

 

There is a decidedly creepy vibe about the story. Magic shimmers in the background of the tale and evil makes itself known. In fact, Ilana must fight for her life and for Benjamin's release from his captor, making the story quite exciting in places.  I'm sure that students who enjoy reading supernatural/fantasy novels will find a lot to like in The Ghosts of Rose Hill.

 

Rating: 3 stars. 

 

 

Alias Anna: A True Story of Outwitting the Nazis by Susan Hood with Greg Dawson

HarperCollinsChildren's Division. 2022.

Audio and print. 339 pages.Target: Middle grades.

 

The moving true story of how young Ukrainian Jewish piano prodigies Zhanna (alias "Anna") and her sister Frina outplayed their pursuers while hiding in plain sight during the Holocaust. A middle grade nonfiction novel-in-verse by author Susan Hood with Greg Dawson (Zhanna's son).

When the Germans invade Ukraine, Zhanna, a young Jewish girl, must leave behind her friends, her freedom, and her promising musical future at the world's top conservatory. With no time to say goodbye, Zhanna, her sister Frina, and their entire family are removed from their home by the Nazis and forced on a long, cold, death march. When a guard turns a blind eye, Zhanna flees with nothing more than her musical talent, her beloved sheet music, and her father's final plea: "I don't care what you do. Just live." (Publisher)

Includes extensive back matter with original letters and photographs, additional information, and materials for further reading.

Review: Zhanna and Frina were young piano prodigies and very famous in their region of Ukraine. They were also Jews. When the Nazi's came calling they had little time to do much else than submit to them. But when given a chance to escape both girls ran, with their father's blessing. Their parents and most of their relatives were killed but the two sisters survived by changing their names and returning to the music which sustained them during the war. It is an incredible story of survival.

My husband and I listened to the audio version of the book together. Once we adjusted to the simplistic writing style, perfect for younger readers, we became quite captivated by Zhanna's story, which she had divulged to her family until her granddaughter, Aimee, asked for details of her life to complete a middle school assignment. This book is an extension of that project. 

The book includes extensive back matter with original letters and photographs and additional family information to round out the story. Both my husband and I felt that the afterward made the whole story much richer by filling in details. We also discussed how important it is to read stories like this to round out what we know about the Holocaust and the Jewish experience during World War II.

 

Rating: 4 stars.  

-Anne

Reviews: Four very different poetry books

 

Walking Gentry Home: A Memoir of My Foremothers in Verse by Alora Young

Penguin/Random House, 2022

Print. 212 pages. Audience: YA-Adult.

Walking Gentry Home tells the story of Alora Young's ancestors, from the unnamed women forgotten by the historical record but brought to life through Young's imagination; to Amy, the first of Young's foremothers to arrive in Tennessee, buried in an unmarked grave, unlike the white man who enslaved her and fathered her child; through Young's great-grandmother Gentry, unhappily married at fourteen; to her own mother, the teenage beauty queen rejected by her white neighbors; down to Young in the present day as she leaves childhood behind and becomes a young woman.

The lives of these girls and women come together to form a unique American epic in verse, one that speaks of generational curses, coming of age, homes and small towns, fleeting loves and lasting consequences, and the brutal and ever-present legacy of slavery in our nation's psyche. Each poem is a story in verse, and together they form a heart-wrenching and inspiring family saga of girls and women connected through blood and history.

Informed by archival research, the last will and testament of an enslaver, formal interviews, family lore, and even a DNA test, Walking Gentry Home gives voice to those too often muted in America: Black girls and women (Publisher).

Review: Alora Young has accomplished the almost impossible task of tracing her family lineage back seven or eight generations and in the process brings her foremothers to life through her poetry. Starting with Amy Coleman, a slave forced to have sex and bear the child of her enslaver, Harold Anderson. Almost all of her foremothers married young due to an unintended pregnancy, Young refers to this as her family's curse. As the poems drew closer in time and finally about herself I found more to relate to, or appreciated them more for how they could inform me of what life is like for Black women past and present. Many of the poems were hard to read for the darkness of the topics. Others were a joy to read for the family connections.

This poetry collection or memoir-in-verse does not fit neatly into a category. Each poem is written as a stand alone, yet taken as a whole all the poems form a story. Alora Young is a college student and the 2021 Youth Poet Laureate for the Southern United States. Because the author is young herself, it is supposed that the story would appeal to young adults, but I have a hard time imagining any teenagers who would pick up this collection. I think the target audience is really adults.

Rating: 4 stars.

 

The Real Dada Mother Goose: A Treasury of Complete Nonsense by Jon Scieszka, illustrated by Julia Rothman

Candlewick Press, 2022.

Print. 72 pages. Audience: Upper Elementary students

 

The classic nursery rhymes we know and love—upside-down, backward, in gibberish, and fresh out of bounds—as only Jon Scieszka could stage them (Publisher). 

Review: My sister, who was an Elementary reading teacher for most of her career in education, was more delighted with this book than I was, and I was thrilled with it. She kept exclaiming how kids don't know or understand Mother Goose these days, but this book would be a perfect manual for the types of activities that fourth or fifth grade teachers use to motivate and excite their students. "One by one, cherished nursery rhymes—from “Humpty Dumpty” to “Hickory Dickory Dock,” “Jack Be Nimble” to “Mother Hubbard”—fall prey to sly subversion as master of fracture Jon Scieszka and illustrator Julia Rothman refashion them into comics strips, errant book reports, anagrams, and manic mash-ups." Pure fun and a delight to read and experience.

 

Rating: 5 stars.

 

 

 

Ice Cycle: Poems About the Life of Ice by Maria Gianferrari, illustrated by Jieting Chen

Millbrook Press, 2022.

Print. Unpaged. Audience: Grades 1-4

 

A beautiful collaboration between verse and science. Brief poems and ethereal illustrations introduce readers to the many different types of ice on land and at sea. Fascinating back matter provides additional information about water as a solid, liquid, and gas, as well as more details about the unique forms of ice mentioned in the poems. Celebrate winter with this evocative and atmospheric exploration of ice! (Publisher)

Review: A few winters ago as I was walking the dog around the neighborhood I was stopped short by a unique ice formation seeming to come up from the earth like spikes. I'd never seen anything like it before. Now, after reading Ice Cycle I now know what I was looking at are called ice needles. A goal from my bucket list is to visit Yosemite National Park in the early spring or late winter when frazzle ice flows down the river. These types of books are so fun, combining poetry, information, and science. If you have a young budding scientist, like I do, look for this at your public library and request they buy it for the library collection if they don't have it. It would be a perfect book to read during the winter months when running into the different types of ice in nature is possible.

4 stars.

 

 

Book of Questions/Libro De Las Preguntas by Pablo Neruda, illustrated by Paloma Valdivia, translated from Spanish by Sara Lissa Paulson

Enchanted Lion Books. 2022.

Print. Unpaged. Target: All ages.

This bilingual Spanish-English edition is the first illustrated selection of questions, 60 in all, from Pablo Neruda's original poem (74 poems asking 316 questions) The Book of Questions, published in 1973. Holding the wonder and mystery of childhood and the experience and knowing that come with growing up, these questions are by turns lyrical, strange, surreal, spiritual, historical and political. They foreground the natural world, and their curiosity transcends all logic; and because they are paradoxes and riddles that embrace the limits of our ability to know, they engage with human freedom in the deepest way, removing the burden and constraint that somehow, we are meant to have answers to every question. Gorgeously, cosmically illustrated by Paloma Valdivia. So clearly rooted in Chilean landscapes as they are, the questions are revealed as a communion with nature and its mysteries (Publisher).

Review: Each of the 70 questions in this collection of questions come from the originals by Neruda, though only one is presented intact from the original. The other questions, presented in couplets, are drawn from the original, arranged loosely in thematic groups. I loved the illustrations and the unique presentation but admit to feeling disappointed with the poems themselves. Perhaps I should seek out the original for comparison.

Rating: 4 stars.

 

 -Anne