Teddy & Co. by Cynthia Voigt | Book Review

Teddy & Co. by Cynthia Voigt, illustrations by Paola Zakimi.

My copy: Knopf Books for Young Readers, November 2016. ARC (review copy), 179 pages.

Source: Courtesy of my local bookstore.

Synopsis:

Teddy is a thinking kind of bear. Of all his friends, he does the most wondering. He lives with a ragtag group of lost toys—a very hungry snake, an elephant who likes to bake, two charmingly silly pigs, and a reclusive penguin—and they all bump along happily together. But their peaceful world gets shaken up when new toys arrive—first a rabbit, who is not as soft and floppy as he looks, and then a beautiful doll with royal ambitions. Will the newcomers learn to fit into the community? Or will the community be forever changed by them? As Teddy the philosopher would answer: Yes.

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Teddy is a stuffed bear without legs whose mode of transportation is a red wagon his elephant friend pulls around. Hooray for the representation of disabled characters in books for young people.

This book is a cute little tale about a bunch of toys and their day to day adventures when two new toys show up unexpectedly: a douche-y rabbit and a bratty doll who decides she’s going to be Queen of everything.

Zodiac by Sam Wilson | Book Review

Zodiac by Sam Wilson.

My copy: Pegasus Crime, February 7th, 2017. ARC (review copy), 446 pages.

Source: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, Pegasus Books!

Synopsis:

A starting new thriller with one of the most original concepts in years, where the line between a life of luxury and an existence of poverty can be determined by the stroke of midnight.

In San Celeste, a series of uniquely brutal murders targets victims from totally different walks of life. In a society divided according to Zodiac signs, those differences are cast at birth and binding for life. All eyes are on detective Jerome Burton and astrological profiler Lindi Childs—divided in their beliefs over whether the answer is written in the stars, but united in their conviction that there is an ingenious serial killer executing a grand plan.

Together, they will unravel a dark tale of betrayal, lost love, broken promises and a devastating truth with the power to tear their world apart…

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I haven’t read a good thriller in a while. I forgot how much I enjoy the tension, action, and fast pace. Zodiac sometimes meanders, but everything is there for a reason. The chapters are short and snappy, and the information given is all fascinating. It’s a mind game to find a murderer, and while the victims seem pretty random at first — they couldn’t be more darkly connected.

Wonder Women: 25 Innovators, Inventors, and Trailblazers Who Changed History by Sam Maggs | Book Review

Wonder Women: 25 Innovators, Inventors, and Trailblazers Who Changed History by Sam Maggs.

My copy: Quirk Books, October 4th, 2016. ARC (review copy), 240 pages.

Source: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, Quirk Books!

About the book:

Ever heard of Allied spy Noor Inayat Khan, a Muslim woman whom the Nazis considered “highly dangerous”? Or German painter and entomologist Maria Sibylla Merian, who planned and embarked on the world’s first scientific expedition? How about Huang Daopo, the inventor who fled an abusive child marriage only to revolutionize textile production in China?

Women have always been able to change the world, even when they didn’t get the credit. In Wonder Women, author Sam Maggs introduces you to pioneering female scientists, engineers, mathematicians, adventurers, and inventors—each profile a study in passion, smarts, and stickto-itiveness, complete with portraits by Google doodler Sophia Foster-Dimino, an extensive bibliography, and a guide to present-day women-centric STEM organizations.

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Women in history had it hard. Women today still do, but it is thanks to these pioneers of their gender and generation that we can freely attend college, study STEM, travel the globe, fly planes, wear pants, and climb mountains, among other things that were unheard of for women even just a century ago.

Queen of Hearts by Colleen Oakes | Book Review

Queen of Hearts by Colleen Oakes. Queen of Hearts, #1.

My copy: HarperTeen (Harper Collins Publishers), May 3rd, 2016. ARC (review copy), 306 pages.

Source: Courtesy of the freebie ARC shelf at my local bookstore.

Synopsis:

As Princess of Wonderland Palace and the future Queen of Hearts, Dinah’s days are an endless monotony of tea, tarts, and a stream of vicious humiliations at the hands of her father, the King of Hearts. The only highlight of her days is visiting Wardley, her childhood best friend, the future Knave of Hearts — and the love of her life.

When an enchanting stranger arrives at the Palace, Dinah watches as everything she’s ever wanted threatens to crumble. As her coronation date approaches, a series of suspicious and bloody events suggests that something sinister stirs in the whimsical halls of Wonderland. It’s up to Dinah to unravel the mysteries that lurk both inside and under the Palace before she loses her own head to a clever and faceless foe.

Part epic fantasy, part twisted fairy tale, this dazzling saga will have readers shivering as Dinahs furious nature sweeps Wonderland up in the maelstrom of her wrath.

Familiar characters such as Cheshire, the White Rabbit, and the Mad Hatter make their appearance, enchanting readers with this new, dark take on Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

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Thoughts on Queen of Hearts:

• Well. This was disappointing.
• The writing felt very juvenile, and there were scenes that were obviously not juvenile in the slightest. (Um, pretending to “do it” in a coat closet? Probably not something for middle grade readers.)
• Where was the plot. Where was it. Hellooooo, plot? Where aaaaaaare yoooooou? O_O Nothing happened until the middle-ish, then a great one thing happened (gasp! Torture! Graphic things! Aiiee!), and then it went back to nothing happening. I really expected a thicker plot — this effing Wonderland! You can literally do ANYTHING — but there wasn’t much here.
• Speaking of it being Wonderland, I was expecting some of its famous characters to pop up. I expected lots of magic and bizarre things, but, sadly, none of that appeared. No Cheshire Cat, no White Rabbit, no Caterpillar, at least not in the colorful way you might expect. Just bratty Dinah, who I shall rant about in the next paragraph.
• I really didn’t care for/like any of the characters. Everyone felt so bland. Dinah, though, Princess of Hearts, oh boy. She was kind of a b*tch. And not a sympathetic b*tch. There are some characters that act badly but you understand where they’re coming from, or at least their motivations somewhat justify their actions. I like these morally gray characters; they’re layered and feel real. I may or may not like them, but at least they’re not two-dimensional. Well, this does not describe Dinah. She was mean, rude, whiny, pushy, hypocritical, and rash. (She literally goes and does something insanely dangerous because of a “bad feeling.” Agh.) And then she was ALL OVER her best friend and (of course) love interest, when he was clear he wasn’t into her the same way. (Couldn’t remember his name for the life of me, so I had to go look: Wardley.) Gah. I couldn’t stand Dinah.
• While reading Queen of Hearts, I didn’t hate it. But now that I’ve had some time to think about it and actually get my thoughts in order, I strongly disliked it. As my first Wonderland retelling (though it feels more like a prequel), this was disappointing. ♦

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Have you read Queen of Hearts?
If you haven’t, would you be interested to?
What’s a Wonderland retelling you recommend?
(I know of Splintered, so gimme something else!)
Comment below letting me know!

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Ask Me How I Got Here by Christine Heppermann | Book Review

Ask Me How I Got Here by Christine Heppermann.

My copy: Greenwillow Books (Harper Collins Publishers), May 2016. ARC, 225 pages.

Source: Courtesy of the freebie ARC shelf at my local bookstore!

Synopsis:

From the author of the acclaimed Poisoned Apples comes a novel in verse about a young woman and the aftermath of a life-altering decision. This thought-provoking and sophisticated read further confirms Christine Heppermann as an important voice in the tradition of Ellen Hopkins, Laurie Halse Anderson, and A. S. King.

Addie has always known what she was running toward. In cross-country, in life, in love. Until she and her boyfriend—her sensitive, good-guy boyfriend—are careless one night and she ends up pregnant. Addie makes the difficult choice to have an abortion. And after that—even though she knows it was the right decision for her—nothing is the same anymore. She doesn’t want anyone besides her parents and her boyfriend to know what happened; she doesn’t want to run cross-country; she can’t bring herself to be excited about anything. Until she reconnects with Juliana, a former teammate who’s going through her own dark places.

Once again, Christine Heppermann writes with an unflinching honesty and a deep sensitivity about the complexities of being a teenager, being a woman. Her free-verse poems are moving, provocative, and often full of wry humor and a sharp wit. Like Laurie Halse Anderson and Ellen Hopkins, Christine Heppermann is a voice to turn to for the truth of difficult subjects. Ask Me How I Got Here is a literary exploration of sexuality, religion, and self-discovery.

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While I haven’t read any A.S. King, I have read Ellen Hopkins and Laurie Halse Anderson. Ask Me How I Got Here does tackle serious teen issues in verse form, much like Ellen Hopkin’s writing style and Laurie Halse Anderson’s stories, but Ask Me How I Got Here lacks the depth it should have, and that I wanted it to have.

Review — Currents by Jane Petrlik Smolik

Book title: Currents
Author: Jane Petrlik Smolik
Publisher: Charlesbridge Publishing
Release date: September 2015
Format: ARC, 318 pages
Source: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, Charlesbridge!

Synopsis:

This middle-grade historical novel follows three young girls living very different lives who are connected by one bottle that makes two journeys across the ocean.

It’s 1854 and eleven-year-old Bones is a slave on a Virginia plantation. When she finds her name in the slave-record book, she rips it out, rolls it up, and sets it free, corked inside a bottle alongside the carved peach pit heart her long-lost father made for her. Across the Atlantic on the Isle of Wight, motherless Lady Bess Kent and her sister discover Bones’s bottle half-buried on the beach. Leaving Bones’s name where it began and keeping the peach pit heart for herself, Bess hides her mother’s pearl-encrusted cross necklace in the bottles so her scheming stepmother, Elsie, can’t sell it off like she’s done with other family heirlooms. When Harry, a local stonemason’s son, takes the fall for Elsie’s thefts, Bess works with her seafaring friend, Chap, to help him escape. She gives the bottle to Harry and tells him to sell the cross. Back across the Atlantic in Boston, Mary Margaret Casey and her father are at the docks when Mary Margaret spies something shiny. Her father fishes it out of the water, and they use the cross to pay for a much needed doctor’s visit for Mary Margaret’s ailing sister. As Bess did, Mary Margaret leaves Bones’s name where it belongs. An epilogue returns briefly to each girl, completing the circle of the three unexpectedly interconnected lives.

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Currents is a really lovely book that follows the lives of three completely different girls living in the 1800s: Bones, a slave on a Virginia plantation, Bess, a British Duke’s daughter, and Mary Margaret, an Irish immigrant living in Boston. I loved the idea of a “message in a bottle” being carried by the currents from one girl to the next. It was fascinating seeing how its contents and mystery and history affected each girl who found it.

Mini-Review — Find the Good by Heather Lende

Book title: Find the Good: Unexpected Life Lessons from a Small-Town Obiturary Writer
Author: Heather Lende
Publisher: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill (Workman Publishing)
Release date: April 2015
Format: ARC, 161 pages
Source: I received this book from the publisher through Shelf Awareness in exchange for review consideration. This in no way affects my review; all opinions are my own. Thank you, Algonquin!

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About the book:

As the obituary writer in a spectacularly beautiful but often dangerous spit of land in Alaska, Heather Lende knows something about last words and lives well lived. Now she’s distilled what she’s learned about how to live a more exhilarating and meaningful life into three words: find the good. It’s that simple–and that hard.

Quirky and profound, individual and universal, Find the Good offers up short chapters that help us unlearn the habit–and it is a habit–of seeing only the negatives. Lende reminds us that we can choose to see any event–starting a new job or being laid off from an old one, getting married or getting divorced–as an opportunity to find the good. As she says, “We are all writing our own obituary every day by how we live. The best news is that there’s still time for additions and revisions before it goes to press.”

Ever since Algonquin published her first book, the New York Times bestseller If You Lived Here, I’d Know Your Name, Heather Lende has been praised for her storytelling talent and her plainspoken wisdom. The Los Angeles Times called her “part Annie Dillard, part Anne Lamott,” and that comparison has never been more apt as she gives us a fresh, positive perspective from which to view our relationships, our obligations, our priorities, our community, and our world.

An antidote to the cynicism and self-centeredness that we are bombarded with every day in the news, in our politics, and even at times in ourselves, Find the Good helps us rediscover what’s right with the world.

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The (really short) review:

People are fascinating. Everyone has a story. Heather Lende is an obituary writer who lives in Haines, Alaska — a town of only 2,000 inhabitants. She writes about people she knew or didn’t know, and this sweet little book is about finding happiness and goodness in the world and in people. We shouldn’t take things for granted, and we need to appreciate the little things in life more, as well as continue to love and live, take risks and confront fears. Heather shares her own experiences as well as stories about those she’s written about. It’s a heartening little book that conveys a great message, one that’s not new by any means but that is presented in a unique way. ♦

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So tell me…

Have you read Find the Good? If you haven’t, would you be interested to? What was the last book you read that made you think about the little things in life, and how we need to appreciate them more? Comment below letting me know! And, as always, happy reading!

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Review — Dear Hank Williams by Kimberly Willis Holt

Dear Hank Williams
by Kimberly Willis Holt
Christy Ottaviano Books (Henry Holt and Company BFYR)
April 14th, 2015 — Happy Book Birthday! *Throws confetti*
ARC, 214 pages
Source: I received this book from the publisher through Shelf Awareness in exchange for review consideration. This in no way affects my review; all opinions are my own. Thank you, Henry Holt and Company!

View on Goodreads.

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Synopsis:

It’s 1948 in Rippling Creek, Louisiana, and Tate P. Ellerbee’s new teacher has just given her class an assignment–learning the art of letter-writing. Luckily, Tate has the perfect pen pal in mind: Hank Williams, a country music singer whose star has just begun to rise. Tate and her great-aunt and -uncle listen to him on the radio every Saturday night, and Tate just knows that she and Hank are kindred spirits.

Told entirely through Tate’s hopeful letters, this beautifully drawn novel from National Book Award-winning author Kimberly Willis Holt gradually unfolds a story of family love, overcoming tragedy, and an insightful girl learning to find her voice.

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The review:

Dear Hank Williams is a lovely little romp set in 1948 Louisiana. Tate P. Ellerbee’s teacher has her entire class write to a pen pal. For their assignment, some children pick family members they don’t see often, while others are brave enough to correspond with Japanese children, despite the remaining tension between the two nations a few years after World War II has ended. Tate, however, chooses to write to a young up-and-coming country music star she listens to on the radio: Hank Williams. And thus, we have our book.

Review — The Tragic Age by Stephen Metcalfe

The Tragic Age
by Stephen Metcalfe
St. Martin’s Griffin
March 2015
ARC, 310 pages
Source: I received this book from the publisher via Shelf Awareness in exchange for review consideration. This in no way affects my review; all opinions are my own. Thank you, St. Martin’s Griffin!

View on Goodreads here.

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Synopsis:

This is the story of Billy Kinsey, heir to a lottery fortune, part genius, part philosopher and social critic, full time insomniac and closeted rock drummer. Billy has decided that the best way to deal with an absurd world is to stay away from it. Do not volunteer. Do not join in. Billy will be the first to tell you it doesn’t always work— not when your twin sister, Dorie, has died, not when your unhappy parents are at war with one another, not when frazzled soccer moms in two ton SUVs are more dangerous than atom bombs, and not when your guidance counselor keeps asking why you haven’t applied to college.

Billy’s life changes when two people enter his life. Twom Twomey is a charismatic renegade who believes that truly living means going a little outlaw. Twom and Billy become one another’s mutual benefactor and friend. At the same time, Billy is reintroduced to Gretchen Quinn, an old and adored friend of Dorie’s. It is Gretchen who suggests to Billy that the world can be transformed by　creative acts of the soul.

With Twom, Billy visits the dark side. And with Gretchen, Billy experiences possibilities.Billy knows that one path is leading him toward disaster and the other toward happiness. The problem is—Billy doesn’t trust happiness. It’s the age he’s at. The tragic age.

Stephen Metcalfe’s brilliant, debut coming-of-age novel, The Tragic Age, will teach you to learn to love, trust and truly be alive in an absurd world.

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The review:

Billy Kinsey knows all about everything. Every page there is a fact he shares about something that relates to his life and current situation. I thought it was a unique approach, but sometimes I felt like I was reading news headlines and those “did you know?” boxes in little kid educational materials. Basically, I read books for stories, not for facts I can find all over the internet. Sometimes these random facts worked, but most of the time they were jarring and lifted me out of the story. You could say Billy’s a know-it-all, but that term, at least for me, is only applied to people who actually tell others all the things they know. Billy kept these tidbits and info bites to himself, which made him seem nerdy and quirky, if a bit passive and depressed overall.

Review — Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan

Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan. | My copy: ARC, 585 pages, Scholastic Press, released February 24th, 2015. | Source: The publisher via Shelf Awareness. | View on Goodreads here.

Summary:

Music, magic, and a real-life miracle meld in this genre-defying masterpiece from storytelling maestro Pam Muñoz Ryan.

Lost and alone in a forbidden forest, Otto meets three mysterious sisters and suddenly finds himself entwined in a puzzling quest involving a prophecy, a promise, and a harmonica.

Decades later, Friedrich in Germany, Mike in Pennsylvania, and Ivy in California each, in turn, become interwoven when the very same harmonica lands in their lives. All the children face daunting challenges: rescuing a father, protecting a brother, holding a family together. And ultimately, pulled by the invisible thread of destiny, their suspenseful solo stories converge in an orchestral crescendo.

Richly imagined and masterfully crafted, ECHO pushes the boundaries of genre and form, and shows us what is possible in how we tell stories. The result is an impassioned, uplifting, and virtuosic tour de force that will resound in your heart long after the last note has been struck.

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The review:

I read and loved Pam Muñoz Ryan’s Esperanza Rising and Becoming Naomi Leon. Her middle grade books are wonderful coming of age stories that feature young heroines who have supportive families. Echo is much different from Pam’s other books. For one, it’s a doorstop, clocking in at almost 600 pages (but it reads quickly, don’t worry; there’s also a lot of white space, so it doesn’t seem as daunting as you’d think). Second, it’s a historical novel that weaves three different narratives together. Each child comes to possess a very special harmonica, each child his musically gifted, and each faces the threat of their family being torn apart.