Reviews: Three fantastic poetry books for everyone including young children

 

Three delightful children's picture poetry books which will delight all ages.

Take Off Your Brave: The World Through the Eyes of a Preschool Poet

Poems by Nadim (Age 4)

First published in the UK in 2021, in the US by Candlewick Press, 2022

In 2020 Nadim brought home a poem from school. He and his mum sat and talked about it and what makes up a poem. Nadim wanted to write one but didn't know w a topic. His mother told him he could write about anything. "For example," she asked, "what did you take off when you came home from school?" Nadim listed physical things but when she asked him if there was anything else, Nadim thought for a moment then replied, "You take off your brave." And a poetry project was born. Now Nadim's younger sister and his preschool class have even contributed to it. 

 

The poems are all darling, or at least have a darling aspect to them. In "Love", the first poem of the collection, Nadim starts with the line Everyone has to have someone and ends with Everyone has love / Even baddies.

 

 

 

Out of This World: Star-Studded Haiku

By Sally Walker

 

Candlewick Press, 2022

 

"In a perfect union of art and science, Sally Walker uses her nonfiction writing skills to explore space through haiku accompanied by narrative explanations of the wonders of the universe beyond our atmosphere" (Publisher).

 

The illustrations by Matthew Trueman help the reader and listener to imagine these spectacular views.

 

The Universe Begins

 

one minuscule speck

grows into the universe

a mind-boggling birth

 

 

The 1619 Project: Born on the Water 

by Nikole Hannah-James and Renee Watson

 

Koklia, 2022

 

When a student receives a family tree assignment and can only trace back three generations, Grandma gathers the whole family together, and the student learns that 400 years ago, in 1619, their ancestors were stolen and brought to America as slaves. But before that they had a home, a land, a language. She learned about how the people said to be born of the water survived and how they planted new dreams and hopes, learned new words for love, friends, family, joy, and home. This book should be required reading for everyone, young and old alike.

 

They Had a Language

 

They spoke Kimbundu,

had their own words

for love

for friends

for family.

-Anne

Review: Two new books by the same two friends

Jason Reynolds (author) and Jason Griffin (artist) have been best friends since college days. In 2022 they collaborated on two different projects which led to these two books:

Ain't Burned All the Bright

and

My Name is Jason. Mine Too. Our Story Our Way 

In My Name is Jason the two men tell their story of leaving college, moving to New York, and living the life of starving artists. They tell this story in poetry and artwork. The back page of the cover sums up the book this way: A poet. An artist. / One black. One white. / Two voices. One journey. Both the art and the poetry capture the mood and the flux of their lives at that time, 25 years ago. Now Reynolds is a published author of over ten book and was the 2020-21 Ambassador for Young People's Literature. Griffin has partnered with Reynolds on other works, has displayed his art around the world, and has created commissioned murals.

A page from My Name is Jason. Mine Too.

Ain't Burned All the Bright was born out of the 2020 pandemic and Black Lives Matter riots. Reynolds was stuck at home, like all of us, and he needed an outlet to express his feelings. He contacted Griffin and the project was born. The book cover flap describes the book this way: Jason Reynolds using three longgggggg sentences, and Jason Griffin, using three hundred pages of a pocket-size moleskin, have mind-melded this fierce-vulnerable-brilliant-terrifying-whatiswrongwithhumans-hopefilled-hopeful-tender-heartbreaking-heartmaking manifesto on what it means not to be able to breathe, and how the people and things at your fingertips are actually the oxygen you most need.

The work is profound and moving. It truly captures our pandemic years -- the pain, loneliness, restlessness, and  our reliance on family members in our inner circles. Since it only has three sentences, even though they are long ones, the art has to carry a lot of the messages. Both my husband and have remarked that we want/need to read books published since the pandemic lock-downs since they will reflect our lived experiences. This is one such book. 

The news is so bad. Why won't anyone change the channel? Sample from Ain't Burned the Bright.

I highly recommend both books to you.

-Anne

Review and quotes: AND WE RISE

Title: And We Rise: The Civil Rights in Poems by Erica Martin

Book Beginnings quote:

It's 1877 when

Jim Crow law says it's 

    acceptable

    legal

    lawful

to segregate Blacks

&

    whites

based on the color of

their skin.

Friday56 quote:

1960

the same people who mock

                                          beat

    &                                   kill us

slather on sticky lotion

and fry their pale skin 

Summary: This is Erica Martin's debut poetry collection -- the well-documented events that shaped the nation's treatment of Blacks and the lesson known figures and moments which shaped the Civil Rights movement over a century in the fight for justice and equality.

Review: This poetry collection is fantastic. First it is targeted at secondary students who might not be that familiar with reading poetry. As you can see from my two examples, the poetry is very easy to understand and accessible. Secondly, it beautifully and concisely distills the whole Civil Rights movement into around 50 poems where the reader will actually feel the drumbeat of marching feet and the pulse of the movement. If you are a teen librarian, you must get this book for your collection, then get it into the hands of the teachers at your school who can bring it to the students attention. Fantastic.

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

TTT: Books I Read on a Vacation

 Top Ten Tuesday: Books I've Read on a Vacation 

 

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

I read this tome on a summer vacation to Whistler, B.C. when my kids were little so we had to leave time in our schedule for naps. I remember laying on the big king-sized bed reading and reading. I had to, it is over 1000 pages long.

Deacon King Kong by James McBride

My husband and I listened to this book driving to and home from our last vacation this year, our 2022 Labor Day vacation.

Stranger Planet 2 by Nathan W. Pyl

I read this darling and so funny little book during a recent vacation to Palm Springs, CA. It was so hot outside, we spent a lot of time inside reading.

The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green

Another book my husband and I listened to together on a vacation trip to Lake Tahoe last year, 2021.

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

Same summer as above. We listened to this audiobook as we traveled for a family reunion vacation at a golf resort.

The Soul of America by Jon Meacham

Back in November 2018 my husband and I took a weekend vacation to the Oregon Coast. We listened to this nonfiction book by a historian and it was like a salve on a wound. He had a lot to say about our political issues in context to history.

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

My daughter and I drove across country during the summer of 2018 from New York to home in Washington State and listened to audiobooks the whole way. This was one of our favorites. We made it into a vacation with sight-seeing at Mt. Rushmore, the Badlands National Park, and the Corn Palace.

Uprooted: The Japanese American Experience During WWII by Albert Marrin

A weird choice for vacation reading, I know. It was the fall of 2017 and I was newly retired. But I was also a first round judge for Cybils for nonfiction books. I had to read something like 45 books in 2 months for it. I couldn't take nine days off for a vacation to China so I loaded up my e-reader and away we flew over the ocean. I was reading this particular book while we were racing across the country on a super fast train going from Bejing to Xian.

 

Looking for Alaska by John Green and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon

I read both of these books while on a vacation of a lifetime in Italy the summer of 2014. I picked them up in the hotels where we stayed on the shelf for tourists to leave a book and pick up a book. They were both rereads for me but now hold special memories associated with a fantastic trip.

A Good Man is Hard To Find and Other Stories by Flannery O'Conner

I am book-ending my list with books I've read at Whistler. We own a time share there and so we often cross the border for lovely vacations. This book is made up of very memorable stories. I read them sitting by the pool overlooking Whistler and Blackcomb ski areas the summer of 2016.

Clearly I don't usually read light, fluffy reads while on vacation. Ha!

-Anne

Sunday Salon -- Fall Edition

As I walked around the yard this week I found quite a few treasures: flowers still blooming because the weather is still fairly warm and sunny; apples and tomatoes ready for picking; green blueberries which no doubt will not ripen before first frost; a blue spruce tree with cones full of yellow pollen (This time of year?); and garden spiders who have been eating well all summer and now frighten us by their size.

Weather today: sunny and warm. We are not experiencing typical fall weather, though the local meteorologist warned that cooler weather is around the bend. 

Two sick boys: both of our grandsons have some tummy virus. Our daughter is keeping us posted with "puking updates." We remember those days when being a parent meant cleaning up after sick kids, over and over again, and wishing we knew what we could do to make them feel better.

Reading, reading, reading: I have started pre-reading for my role as a Cybils judge. This year I'm on the poetry panel which includes Children's and YA poetry collections and novels-in-verse. I placed a bunch of books on hold at two libraries I frequent (city and county) and came home with armloads full of books. If I can manage to read a book a day, I'll be able to manage this pile before they are due in three weeks. In the meantime, I've been placing new holds as nominations are still being accepted. Here is the list of poetry books I'll be reading: Cybils Poetry/Novels in Verse

Books/Reading/Reviews:

• Currently reading:
• Singing with Elephants by Margarita Engle: a novel in verse about an eleven-year-old girl who is lonely after moving with family from Cuba. I am LOVING the poetry. E-Book; 4%.
• Respect the Mic edited by Hanif Abdurraqib. A collection from 20 years of poetry from the Spoken Word Club at a Chicago-area high school. The contributors to this collection all seem to have had their lives changed by poetry, in a good way. Very inspiring. Print; 43%.
• Poetry RX: How 50 Inspiring Poems Can Heal and Bring Joy to Your Life by Norman Rosenthal, MD. This is not part of the Cybils project and it is right up my alley. Not only are great poems highlighted, but also information about the poet and how the poem can help others who are dealing with similar situations. Audio; 26%.
• Searching for Sylvie Lee by Jean Kwok. A book club selection about family secrets. Print. 18%.
• The Door of No Return by Kwame Alexander. A novel-in-verse set in Ghana (Gold Coast) in the 1800s. I'm still trying to get a fix on where this story is leading. Print; 36%.
• A Swim in the Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life by George Saunders. Don and I are listening to this book together and are finding it so well written and interesting. Audio; 55%.
   
• Recently finished (in the last two weeks): 
• Nine children's or poetry books. If you want to see the whole list, check out my Goodreads page.
• As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner. This was my Classics Club Spin #31 book. Not a favorite, but I finished it. (Print)
• The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin. A story about friendships and life as both women face death. I cried. (Audio.)
• Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. Another story about friendships, grief, and new beginnings. This one includes an octopus. (Audio)
   
• Book reviews written (click on title):
• As I Lay Dying
• Respect the Mic
• Remarkably Bright Creatures
• The Cartographers
  

 

 Think about this:

Everyone should watch this interview with Scott Galloway, author of Adrift: America in 100 Charts. Both Don and I think it is excellent and Galloway certainly takes a different approach to information than we are used to hearing. The interview is 15 minutes long. Take the time to view it. (Republicans, Democrats, Everyone!)

This is especially poignant this week since we are watching the Ken Burns series The U.S. and the Holocaust on PBS. So disturbing.

I would add: You are against abortion unless the person who paid for it is Herschel Walker.

And for laughs and for smiles: 

The Seattle Mariners pulled off a miracle win over the Toronto Blue Jays to take the Wild Card Series. They were down 8-1 after five innings, but came back to win 10-9! This is the first time our Mariners have been in the postseason for 21 years. It all feels like a miracle.

-Anne

Review: RESPECT THE MIC

 Respect the Mic is a poetry collection that celebrates 20 years of poetry from a Chicago-area high school. Peter Kahn, the English teacher who hosted the first Spoken Word Club in his school and Dan "Sully" Sullivan, a student who flourished because of the club, are the editors of the book which pulls poetry from student poets from all twenty years of the club. Kahn siad, "We wanted the club to create a place of belonging for all members, and particularly our Black students, where their experiences and voices could be heard loudly, proudly, and clearly." Sully, who was ready to drop out of high school when he turned seventeen, said, "I was looking for a place I felt like myself, was accepted for everything that I am and had witnessed. I found that in the Spoken Word Club."

The poetry is divided into five sections: Notes from Here; Coming of Age; Monsters at Home; Welcomes, Farewells, and Odes; and Survival Tactics, with around fifteen poems per section. Each of the contributors were identified by the years of involvement in the Spoken Word Club and their education/careers beyond. I, personally, was deeply affected by this. Almost all the poets have gone on to great things, many of them earning MFAs or working toward others Masters and Doctorate degrees. Did poetry have anything to do with this? I'm inclined to believe it did. 

In the introduction to the second section, Sully Sullivan, talks about "voltas" in life as well as in poetry:

In his next performance, Kane [another student] belted, 'Change ain't nothing but pain, but the only thing I'm afraid of is staying the same.' And there is was -- the volta, the point at which the poem awakens us from previous thought and turns in a new direction... Yet here we are, standing on the road's edge, staring a volta right in the face. The eager device, that lurking angle, is an Italian word meaning turn...We need to confront the volta of our immediate lives and turn, however daunting, around the bend toward the unknown (36).

As an old, white lady who lives in a suburban town in the Pacific Northwest, I couldn't relate to all the poems, but I did sense the passion, pain, frustration, love, etc. that thrummed through them. I am mostly impressed by the impact the Spoken Word club and poetry had on the lives of these poets.

I do have a criticism, though, but it is not leveled against the editors or the participants. My criticism is directed toward the publisher. The structure and layout of the book is unappealing. The paper is low quality, the font uninspiring, and there is no color, even as section dividers. Nothing about the cover screams "Teenagers pick me up!" If I were still a high school librarian I would certainly buy this book for my collection but I know it would be a tough book to get students to want to read. Sigh. Why do publishers do this? This is not the first time I've encountered what should be an excellent book which sells itself short with a poor presentation. 

If you are a purchasing librarian, you definitely want this book in your YA collection. If you are a secondary English teacher, get yourself a copy of Respect the Mic and get inspired for changing up your poetry unit. Find ways to get students involved with poetry/spoken word on a personal level.

-Anne

Review and quotes: REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES

Title: Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

Book Beginnings quote:

Friday56 quote:

“Tova has always felt more than a bit of empathy for the sharks, with their never-ending laps around the tank. She understands what it means to never be able to stop moving, lest you find yourself unable to breathe.” 

Summary:

After Tova Sullivan's husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she's been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.

Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn't dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors--until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.

Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova's son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it's too late. (Publisher)

Review: Back in 2015 an octopus at the Seattle Aquarium named Ink, made the news because he kept escaping his enclosure. A year later an octopus named Inky, made the news in New Zealand for the same thing. Apparently there are lots of stories of large octopuses who have made their way out of enclosures at night to roam around the aquariums where they are imprisoned. When I read about Marcellus, the Giant Pacific Octopus in the fictitious seaside town of Sowell Bay, Washington, I was charmed from the start. Then to add to my delight, the narrator, Michael Urie, did a perfect job reading the part of Marcellus on the audiobook. He made Marcellus sound  a bit like a snotty, know-it-all but also vulnerable and lonely. When Tova finds Marcellus in the break room eating out of the food left behind in the garbage, the two form an unlikely friendship -- human and octopus.

Tova's loneliness is broken up by interactions with women in her social group, the owner of the grocery store where she shops, and the young man who replaces her at work while she is recovering from a sprained ankle. All of the characters are flawed but genuine. The mystery of what happened to Eric, Tova's son who disappeared one night not long after he graduated from high school, drives the narrative slowly but determinatively to a heart-warming conclusion. Remarkable Bright Creatures is a quiet story about love, loss, and grief. It is also a story about how we choose to spend our lives and how, if we are lucky, we can be open to finding love again after loss. 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

Review: AS I LAY DYING

Several years ago I helped an English teacher orchestrate a reading project where students selected small groups and everyone in that group read the same book. The class had about ten titles to pick from. One of the choices was As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner. I had read most of the the other titles, so book talking them was easy. I hadn't read As I Lay Dying so I was forced to use the publisher's notes for my book talk. I said something like: "As I Lay Dying is considered to be one of the most important and influential novels of the 20th Century. Faulkner wrote it in a six-week period of time and did very little editing. It has lots of narrators and is written in the stream-of-consciousness style, like the way we all think. It is a story about a family who transports their dead mother home to be buried and troubles befall them." I don't think my book talk was very inspiring so I was surprised that a group of boys selected it as their choice.

Several weeks later, when the class project was complete, one boy handed back As I Lay Dying and asked me if I'd ever read it. I told him I hadn't. "Don't," was his reply. He went on to tell me that it was an awful book full of people's thoughts and super hard to figure out what was happening, sort of like a nonsensical dream.

I've been thinking about that boy and his command that I not read As I Lay Dying as I, too, have struggled to figure it out. I agree with him that the writing, the stream-of-consciousness style, was a little like a reading about a nonsense dream. Interestingly Faulkner used fifteen narrators in this fairly short book. Fifteen! And each one spoke differently than the others. Some, the more educated among the group, used proper spelling and grammar as they spoke in their thoughts. Others less educated used vernacular and had lots of incomplete thoughts or disjointed ones. Egads, it was hard to glean the action from their narrations. Even Addie, the dead mother, narrated a chapter.

And speaking of action, what was the story about? Well, Addie Bundren, the mother of five children now mostly grown, and wife to Anse, a stingy, backwards man, dies. Before her death she secures a promise that she will be buried among her family in town, some forty miles away from where the family lives. Even before her death her eldest son starts building her casket and plans are being made for the arduous trip via wagon to transport her home to be buried. But troubles follow the family from the outset. It rains so hard that the bridge across the river is washed out, fording the roiling river causes the mules to go down, the casket is nearly lost in the water, and Cash's leg is broken. Believe it or not things go downhill from that point. One would think that the family, joined in grief and duty, would be united in their task, but the motives of each person revealed themselves to be less than honorable. Anse was especially selfish as seen in the last lines of the book.

I had a feeling that I'd have trouble with this book, so I decided to watch the 2013 version of "As I Lay Dying" starring James Franko to help me out. The movie very closely to the book, using the actual dialogue, the multiple narrators, and all the details of the horrific quest to return Addie home to be buried. I didn't particularly like the movie either, but at least it gave me some pictures of the family, their abject poverty, and the Depression-era times.

Faulkner published As I Lay Dying in 1930 and the story was set in Mississippi. Both the setting and the time frame were hauntingly realistic. And what about the title? Faulkner grabbed it from a line in the Odyssey. I'd say it is about perfect. The family certainly did seem like they were marching down to Hades.

Read for Classics Club Spin #31.

-Anne

TTT: Recently read Children's Books with my short reviews.

Today's topic is related to favorite bookstores. I did a post on this very topic two years ago. Here is that post if you'd like to see what bookstores I'd like to visit. (TTT Bookstores.) If you want to read a book about bookstores worthy of driving out of the way, check out this one: Footnotes from the World's Greatest Bookstores by Bob Eckstein.

 Top Ten Tuesday: Recently read Children's books with my short reviews.

A Library by Nikki Giovanni

Poet Nikki Giovanni imagines going to all the places in her head that the books in a library once took her as a young girl. Libraries are magical places. 

Published: 2022; read Sept. 27, 2022

Rating 5 stars

Imasaurus by Anne Ylvisaker

As it turns out children (and all humans) have lots of the same bones and body parts are T-Rex. This hilarious book, which is favorite of my five-year-old grandson, is tremendously fun to read aloud. "Iamasaurus. I am noodlevorous. One of the genus Ridiculorous. Mothers abhor us. Babies adore us. We romp and we stomp and we chomp on the floras."

Published: 2022; read Sept. 27, 2022. 

Rating 4 stars

Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A to Z by Irene Latham and Charles Waters

I love this "dictionary" full of words for a better world. Each word has a poem, a quote, and a personal anecdote related to it. I loved, loved, loved this book whose target audience is middle grade students.

Published in 2020; I read on Sept. 26, 2022.

Rating 5 stars.

Goodnight Racism by Ibram X. Kendi

We have to get this right. We have to stop being racists. A good place to start is with our young. Read this to the children in your life and start the process of becoming a better ancestor. 

Published in 2022; Read on Sept 26, 2022.

Rating 5 stars.

 

 

CDC? by William Steig

A word game in a book. (CDC=See the Sea). I've had this book on my shelf for years because I used to think it was hilarious. I didn't laugh when I reread it this summer. Humor changes over time? Not sure. 

Published in 1984; read on Sept. 13th.

Rating 3 stars. 

Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears by Verna Aardema

This classic children's book won the Caldecott Award for good reason. I read it with my grandson as part of the '100 Books You Should Hear Before Kindergarten' project with him. It is funny yet has a good morale of the story.

Published in 1975, read on Sept 8th.

Rating 5 stars.

Woke: A Young Poet's Call to Justice by Mahogany Browne

Poems that hit on all aspect of justice and injustice. Impactful. Target audience middle grade students. 

Published in 2020; read on Sept 25th.

Rating 4 stars.

Watercress by Andrea Wang

Last year's Caldecott winner is a precious story about a girl who gets a chance to embrace her Chinese heritage.

Published 2021, read Aug. 5th

Rating 5 stars

 

Poetry for Young People: Emily Dickinson 

Selections of Dickinson's poems with beautiful and fun illustrations. A nice collection.

Published in 1994; read Oct. 3, 2022.

Rating 3.75 stars.

-Anne

Review and quotes: THE CARTOGRAPHERS

I love this cover. It was the first thing that attracted me to the book.

Title: The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd

Book Beginnings quote: 

In the dim light of her desk's single bulb lamp, the map nearly glowed.

Friday56 quote (from unknown page somewhere in book):

“They told us they’d found a town, but not just any town . . . a hidden place, just a few minutes down the road. So invisible that you could drive or walk by every day for your entire life and never know it was there, accessible only if you had the key. You can imagine our reactions. “That,” Romi finally said, “is the biggest load of bull I’ve ever heard.” It sounded like something out of a children’s fantasy novel.” 

Summary:

Nell Young’s whole life and greatest passion is cartography. Her father, Dr. Daniel Young, is a legend in the field and Nell’s personal hero. But she hasn’t seen or spoken to him ever since he cruelly fired her and destroyed her reputation after an argument over an old, cheap gas station highway map.

But when Dr. Young is found dead in his office at the New York Public Library, with the very same seemingly worthless map hidden in his desk, Nell can’t resist investigating. To her surprise, she soon discovers that the map is incredibly valuable and exceedingly rare. In fact, she may now have the only copy left in existence... because a mysterious collector has been hunting down and destroying every last one—along with anyone who gets in the way.

But why?

To answer that question, Nell embarks on a dangerous journey to reveal a dark family secret and discovers the true power that lies in maps... (from the publisher)

Review: When I read the summary of The Cartographers I was pretty excited to get started reading it. Maps, mystery, murder? It all sounded so exotic and different than anything I'd ever read before. I also read several reviews from my blogging friends and I thought this is a perfect book for my husband and I to listen to on a planned road trip. When the library copy wasn't available in time for our trip I used an Audible credit to purchase the audiobook. It didn't take us long to notice that there were some worrisome and irritating issues with the writing, particularly when the point of view shifted from the main character, Nell, to one of the many other characters. Each had a story to tell and Shepherd just couldn't figure out how to do it in a non-clunky way. Another device that Shepherd used throughout the book was for Nell to question everything in multiple sets of questions. It got to the point that my husband would start mimicking the narration with Why and What and How questions just to be funny.

When we got to our destination, we were halfway finished with the book and we decided we were invested enough in the mystery that we wanted to continue listening even though the writing was bothersome. Once we figured out who was the murderer we still couldn't figure why he felt compelled to murder not just Dr. Young but several other people as well. I'm honestly not sure if the author figured out that angle either so she just wrote a story and hoped we wouldn't notice. At one point my husband comment that the scenes reminded him of the old ScoobyDoo cartoon where their characters were always confronted with ghosts and monster who were actually common people trying to scare them off. We laughed about that idea. Then a few hours later, I was looking at my Audible app to how much time we had left in the book when I stumbled upon a reader's review of the book. It was the first in line:

Ha-ha. We couldn't stop laughing. We weren't the only ones that noticed the writing, I like his word, "sophomoric", it described the writing perfectly. And we both picked up on the ScoobyDoo vibe.

Lest you think I hated the book completely, that is not true.  I rated the book with 3 stars. I liked the idea of phantom towns and the creative way that they were found and utilized. I didn't hate the book, I just wanted to warn you that there are a few problems with it. Read many other reviews before you decide if you still want to read the book.

I couldn't resist any a little humor here.

 

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