Caddy's World

Caddy's World Hilary McKay

These were the four girls who were best friends:

Alison … hates everyone.
Ruby is clever.
Beth. Perfect.
Caddy, the bravest of the brave.
(‘Mostly because of spiders,’ said Caddy.)

This book takes place before Saffy's Angel, the summer and fall when Caddy is twelve. Caddy knows all about the genie that spins the globe on his finger and turns your world upside down. The genie struck when Indigo was born. The genie struck with Saffy showed up. The genie struck when Dad moved to London. But the genie is stuffed in the bottle and won't strike again. Everything will stay this way forever. With Indy and Saffy and Alison and Ruby and Beth. (Even Saffy knows that all the best stories begin AlisonRubyanBethanme...)

But of course, when you're 12, nothing stays the same for Alison (who may be moving to the other side of the world) Ruby (who is so clever that she's been offered a spot at a special school away from Alison and Beth and Caddy ) Beth (who is growing up and out so quickly she's too big for her pony and will do everything she can to make it stop) and Caddy (who is so terrified of the genie, she may have completely forgotten that her mother is pregnant.)

And then the Firework Baby (so-called because it was due on Guy Fawkes day, November 5) comes so very early (September 25) and Eve has to spend all of her time at the hospital and Bill's moved back to take care of the house.

Oh, the Casson family. Caddy's still... Caddy, and we see where and why and how she starts rescuing animals. Saffy and Indigo are hilarious as younger children. And you guys... picture the Casson kids with Bill in charge and Eve out of the way. Just... think about it. It's hilarious.

These books just make me happy. Even when I'm aching for the characters (and I loved the additions of Alison and Ruby and Beth.) This one focuses less on the family and more on Caddy's friends, who is who she takes refuge with when everything (once again) falls apart at home. I liked this honest look at how hard it is to live in that house, sometimes. And, as much as I love her, Rose has dominated the last few books and she can't talk in this one, yet. So, while she's a pretty major plot point, she doesn't steal the scene in the same way.

Love love love love love love love.

If you haven't read these books yet, get yourself a copy of Saffy's Angel NOW. I'll wait.

A note on the cover-- ew. I bought the Kindle version (which was released in the US in December, the US print version comes out today) and this was the cover that came attached:

Which matches the other books really well. The cover that it's being released with (up top) makes it look like some British orphan novel that takes place at the turn of the century but was published in the 70s. Blargh.


Book Provided by... my wallet

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World of Downton Abbey

The World of Downton Abbey Jessica Fellowes

I still have a slew of Cybils-related reviews to parcel out on Nonfiction Monday, but I really wanted to share this one today, which is For Fans Only! (Which I know is large parts of the kid/teen book blog world. I read your recaps every Monday.)

Fellowes (wife of series writer and creator Julian Fellowes) gives us a beautiful companion book to help us through now that Season 2 is over.

The best part is that, for the most part, this book is not about the mechanics of the show, but placing the show in the greater context of history and giving the fan more background. There are chapters on such things as family, society, war, style, and estates. General information about things like typical aristocratic Edwardian family life is given and then tied into the show-- examples often come from history and the series. The series examples are the best, because they often give us story and character background that we don’t know. Like the fact that Cora’s from Cincinnati and her father’s fortune was in dry goods.

It’s lushly illustrated with large stills from the series (often with insight and commentary from the actors), as well as historical memorabilia and photographs. There are many side bars and pull-out boxes that are, frankly, often in a weird spot. flow wise. Eventually I went back to reading the way they taught us in junior high-- read all the side bar stuff first and then go back and read the chapter.

Then, of course, there is a chapter on the workings of the show. This is where you learn about their continuity issues-- the downstairs set is in the studio outside London, and the upstairs set is on location at Highclere Castle. So, when a footman is filmed carrying a dish upstairs from the kitchen... it has to appear the same way 2 weeks later and 60 miles away when he’s filmed coming into the dining room.

It’s fascinating and beautiful, just like the show itself.

Book Provided by... my local library

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Poetry Friday: Hurricane Dancers

Quebrado

Safety.
Such a small word.

The cave bristles
with sharp crystals
shaped like beaks and claws,
and flowing ones that resemble
glassy waterfalls...

If I am not dreaming,
then perhaps I am dead,
wandering along the paths
of an afterlife
filled with wildness
and beauty.

Hurricane Dancers: The First Caribbean Pirate Shipwreck Margarita Engle

I picked this one up mainly because it was a Belpre Honor book this year, but also because I've loved the other Engle books I've read.

Like most (all?) of her work, this is Cuban historical fiction, told in verse. There are two stories here-- the first is the (true) story of Bernadino de Talavera, a disgraced landowner who steals a ship to escape debtors prison and becomes a pirate. He then kidnaps Alonso de Ojeda, the governor of Venezuela. They get shipwrecked in a hurricane and land on the South Coast of Cuba. The second story is of Caucubu, the daughter of a chieftain, who fell in love with Narido, a fisherman. In order to escape an arranged marriage, Caucubu ran away from home and hid in a cave. This is also a true story and one that has been told and told and told throughout the centuries by Cuban authors. The link between the stories is the (fictional) Quebrado, a half-Taino, half-Spanish slave who survives the shipwreck and is rescued by Narido and must warn them of what de Talavera and de Ojeda are capable of.

These five voices narrate the book in this short tale of contact. The main thread of the story is Quebrado's escape and fragile freedom and how he grows and discovers himself. The problem is it's too short-- the other stories aren't fully realized or told and steal focus away from Quebrado. I wanted so much more. The juxtaposition and intertwining of the two stories demands something a little more... epic and sweeping than this sparse and slight tale.

Today's Poetry Friday Round up is over at Gotta Book. Be sure to check it out!

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children Ransom Riggs

Jacob's grandfather always told fantastic stories about outrunning and fighting monsters before moving to a Welsh paradise with people who could float or play with fire. Eventually, Jacob stops believing and thinks his stories are a metaphor for a Jewish boy who outran Nazis to end up at a refugee home on a desolate Welsh island.

But when his grandfather is killed, Jacob sees something horrifying in the woods and his grandfather's last cryptic message "Find the bird. In the loop. On the other side of the old man's grave. September third, 1940." Jacob goes to Wales and discovers that his grandfathers stories were true. On this island is a day that repeats over and over, where children can float or manipulate life. The monsters are real, and it's up to Jacob to stop them.

You guys, this more than lived up to the hype. It takes awhile to see where it's going-- if Jacob's reliable, if his Grandfather was crazy. The world building as Jacob slowly discovers this other side of things is so well done. I loved the theory of time travel and time loops (Charlotte-- you might want to look at this for Timeslip Tuesday.) I liked how Jacob struggles between worlds and how he has to scramble to cover for himself.

I LOVED the slow build and how creepy the island was (especially when compared to September 3rd.) Also, a little thing, but I loved how it worked in the 1908 Tunguska explosion (which I first heard about in Goliath)

Plus, it has pictures! Riggs uses found vintage photography to illustrate the book and it's done so well, it's hard to believe that many of the pictures weren't taken specifically for the book.

Overall, it's an intriguing concept and idea (both the plot and the use of photographs) that could have easily fallen flat. Lucky for us, Riggs is just a damn good storyteller, so it all works so very, very well.

The ending's a bit ambiguous because there will be a sequel. Sigh. I actually liked it just as it stood, but I'll be happy to re-enter this world.

A small note on format: I read this half in print and half on my Kindle. The book design uses a lot of brown, especially on new chapter pages and photograph pages. The brown adds a lot that wasn't there on my e-ink screen. SO! This is one worth seeking out in print. Or at least use a color screen.

Book Provided by... my local library (both print and Kindle versions came from the library.)

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Froi of the Exiles

Froi of the Exiles Melina Marchetta

I have been thinking about this book for months, trying to figure out this review.

It's been three years since the end of Finnikin of the Rock. Lumatere is trying to rebuild and heal, communities and families that were kept apart are slowly finding ways of being together again.

Because recovery is never easy.

The politics are worse, as Lumatere tries to find peace with the neighboring countries who turned their backs on the exiles, who didn't try to help. Plus, the ever-present threat from Charyn, which is driven ever more home by growing number of Charynites camping on banks of the stream that serves as a border.

Froi, who is now a member of the Queen's guard, is sent into a Charyn as a spy, but what he finds there is unexpected. Charyn is also living under a curse--no child has been born in nearly 18 years. Froi is sent into the heart of a royal court with a mad princess, a scheming regent, divided loyalties, estranged families, and a plot to fix everything that his very presence has ruined.

It's Marchetta, so nothing is easy or clean. No country is all good or all bad and rulers made horrible decisions based on the best information they have. Our heroes muck everything up royally and don't even know it.

Finnikin of the Rock drew me in slowly. I read it and thought "ok, it was good, not my cup of tea, but I see why people love it" but I just kept thinking about it, and turning back to reread certain sections. Before I knew it, I had reread the entire book and by the end of the weekend, it was one of my favorite books of all time.

Already in love with Lumatere and Froi, this one didn't need that slow build. It drew me in right away. I was initially disappointed because some truths about Froi's background are painfully obvious to the reader from the get-go. But there are always hidden twists and layers, so it didn't matter that I had already figured out a central piece. And as more and more goes wrong, and our characters fail us in the most human of ways.

Nothing is clean or easy and when I finished this book I screamed and threw it across the room.

And I mean that in the best possible way. Because the events are done oh-so-well and reactions are only too believable and my heart is stuck in Lumatere and I fear for everyone.

Also, I didn't realize this is the second book in a trilogy, so I THOUGHT SHE WAS GOING TO LEAVE IT THERE FOREVER. And that would just be too cruel for words.

But, in the end, Froi of the Exiles did have the slow build, because again, my initial reaction was wrong. Because after a day of stomping about, I kept thinking about it, and not just the skill that could evoke such emotions in me, but in everything else (I'm trying not to be too spoilery. Sometimes it's all in the reveal) and, once again, Marchetta drew me in and I realized that this is a worthy sequel.

I'm failing in conveying how good this book is.

Read Finnikin first, if you haven't yet, or if you're looking for an excuse to reread it, and then read Froi.

ARC Provided by... the publisher, for work stuff

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A Rogue by Any Other Name: The First Rule of Scoundrels

A Rogue by Any Other Name: The First Rule of Scoundrels Sarah MacLean

Remember Penelope? Prim and proper and utterly boring, who got dumped by the Duke of Leighton in Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke's Heart? Well, it's been eight years and she's still unmarried, much to the consternation of her family and younger sisters.

She's shocked to find that her father has increased her dowry to include new lands he just acquired, lands that used to make up the estate of Falconwell.

Michael Bourne had just reached the age of majority when he lost everything that wasn't part of the entail. Most of the land, the money, even the contents of his house lost in a single card game. Since then he's been plotting and scheming, and amassing a massive fortune as a partner in one of London's premier gaming hells. But revenge, and his land, will be his.

So when he finds that all he has to do is marry his childhood friend Penelope, you'd think he'd just go ask her but no. He makes it look like he's compromised her so she's forced to marry him, and quickly.

Poor Penelope. She'll go along with Bourne's scheme, but only if he removes the scandal of it so that her younger sisters won't be forced into incompatible matches.

But, you know, feelings resurface, passion sizzles, and the next thing you know you've spent all day reading.

Sarah MacLean knows how to write a book! LOVE.

Now, Bourne is not my favorite romantic hero-- he's so hellbent on revenge that he forgets that Penelope might have feelings about the whole matter.

But, I loved Penelope. She's such a wet blanket in Eleven Scandals it's nice to see more of her, especially now that she's seen that being perfect has gotten her nowhere and she longs for more in life.

I like how MacLean's heroines have been cast aside by society and from the fringes see that there is more to life. Penelope is especially inspired by Leighton and Juliana-- she sees the way they look at each other and can't help but want that for herself.

I also liked  (bear with me) that she was willing to accept less. In general, this is a bad message, but it's a historically accurate one. She never planned on marrying for love, because, well, it's rare case that does. She just wanted someone she could get along with. She wants love though, and after years of waiting, she's setting the bar high. When she can't get it, I like how she bargains to make sure that her sisters marry compatibly. Not love matches, but people that won't make them miserable.

I like smart historical fiction romance. Lay some titles on me as I eagerly await MacLean's next one.

Book Provided by... my wallet

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Nonfiction Monday: Digging for Troy

Digging for Troy: From Homer to Hisarlik Jill Rubalcaba and Eric H. Cline

Hollywood's portrayals of archaeologists, such as the classic Indiana Jones, are about as close to the truth as Mickey Mouse is to a real mouse. Yet Hollywood may have gotten something right in their swashbuckling adventures. Sometimes the fantastical details of a legend really do stir adventurers into action.

Thus begins this interesting look at the legend of Troy, the people who tried to find it, what they discovered, and how archaeological practice has changed over time.

Heinrich Schliemann wanted to be remembered, and what better way to ensure your play in history than by discovering Troy and proving Homer a historian as well as poet? Unfortunately, his way of doing archaeology destroyed a lot. But, in 1870, he started digging up Troy. The site is a layer of cities, built up at different times, and Schliemann bulldozed his way down to where he thought Homer's Troy lay. Ever since then, scholars have followed in his footsteps, sifting through the mess he made, finding the different layers, and arguing over which layer was Homer's Troy and how much of The Iliad is true, how much metaphor, how much legend and flight of fancy.

Rubalcaba and Cline do a great job of explaining changing practices, findings, and conclusions as they trace the history of Troy and of scholarship done on Troy, starting with Schliemann. I especially appreciated how they made each scholar's case for why a different layer of Troy was Homer's. There's excellent use of Grecian urn art as illustrations in the sections explaining Homer's story, and photographs and maps illustrating the sections on archaeology and modern findings.

There's not much here to interest fans of Greek myth or the ancient world, but there is a lot here for fans of archaeology and discovery.

Be sure to check out today's Nonfiction Monday Roundup over at Rasco from RIF!

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Timeless

Timeless Gail Carriger

You guys! This is the LAST EVER book in the Parasol Protectorate series! On one hand, kudos to Carriger for knowing when to end her story. On the other hand, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I WANT MORE!

Luckily, we have two new series coming next year set in the same world, so I think I'll be ok.

It's been two quiet years since Genevieve Lefoux destroyed large swaths of London and the Woolsey pack moved to town.

The quiet's about the shatter-- Lady Kingair arrives with a missing Beta who promptly returns, only to be murdered. Alexia and Prudence have been summoned to Alexandria by Queen Matakara, the oldest vampire. Lyall's past is catching up to him, and Alexia's father has done some very naughty things, and then there's the matter of Ivy's hats.

Alexia and her family, with Ivy and her theater troupe, are off to Egypt to flirt with mortality and get things straightened out once and for all. But, everyone has hidden secrets and then something so drastic happens that Alexia stops eating.

I love Prudence. I love how Alexia's mind work as they attempt to discover more and more about supernaturals, preternaturals, and how this all works. I love what we discover about this world right along with her. I liked the differences in Egyptian and British technology.

Lyall and Conall both take some long looks and thoughts about what happens when a werewolf gets too old and what to do about it. I like many of the changes that take place in London while Alexia is away. (I'm trying to not get all spoilery.) There was some definite OH YAY SQUEEEing happening as I read it.

I like how Carriger keeps us guessing on who is on what side and what's going on below the surface.

I'm trying not to get all spoiler-y on you guys.

I love love love love love this series. I am very sad that it's done and CANNOT WAIT to read what Carriger does next.

Book Provided by... my wallet

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Fashion Kitty and the BOYS

Fashion Kitty and the B.O.Y.S.: (Ball of Yellow String) Charise Mericle Harper

Leon hates Fashion Kitty. Leon hates most things. Leon wants to catch Fashion Kitty!

Meanwhile, Kiki (aka, Fashion Kitty) is trying to help her friend Lester, who keeps having things ruined by his twin brother (you guessed it) Leon!

And it all comes to a big showdown on the day of the school fashion show!

Fashion Kitty remains a funny and fun read. This one was a bit different because a lot of it focused on Leon. Also, it was always a bit of a hybrid between comic book and novel, but was mostly comic book. This volume is much more evenly split between comic and text.

I most liked the changing relationship between Kiki and her little sister. Fans of Fashion Kitty will enjoy it.

Book Provided by... my local library

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Soldier Bear

Soldier Bear by Bibi Dumon Tak, translated from the Dutch by Laura Watkinson

With the partition of Poland at the beginning of WWII, members of the Polish army were taken prisoner, either by Germany or the USSR, depending what side of the border you were one. Once Germany declared war on the USSR, the Soviets let the Poles go, hoping they'd join the Soviet army. Many fled south, crossed the border into Iran, and joined up with the British.

One group of Polish prisoners making their way to the British found a bear cub. They name him Voytek and he becomes a private in the Polish army, getting into mischief and causing mayhem, but also helping to haul munitions and keeping everyone's spirits up.

It's a fun, light read, despite the horror of war. While the soldiers see some horrible things and are afraid, the book doesn't dwell there. Usually, Voytek does something silly to make everyone (including the reader) feel better. It's very episodic, which is not my cup of tea at all.

It's based on real events, and the back has photos of the real Private Voytek. There is not, however, any end matter explaining a little more about WWII (the politics at play here are complicated, and not all explained in the text) as well as detailing what parts of the story are true and what parts aren't.

It's funny, and I think kids will like it. Voytek is not the only animal in the unit and his antics, as well as those of Kaska the monkey and the various dogs are sure to delight child readers. It's a great WWII story that will appeal to both boy and girl readers and shows a different theater than we usually see in the literature. (North Africa and Italy.)

I think I would have really liked this one as a kid. As an adult, I don't dislike it, but it also didn't do much for me. Probably because of the episodic plot.

Book Provided by... my local library

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Girl of Fire and Thorns

The Girl of Fire and Thorns Rae Carson

So, I had heard good things about this one but had no desire to pick it up until ALA when Katie decided it was her mission in life to get me to read this book. So I did. THANK GOD FOR FRIENDS LIKE KATIE.

Elisa is the younger princess. She lacks the beauty, grace, charm, and political savvy of her older sister. But Elisa is the chosen one, blessed with the Godstone in her navel at her naming ceremony.

But it is Elisa, who is married off to a neighboring kingdom as part of a treaty to join forces against the invading North. But in her new home, her husband keeps their relationship a secret. There are political games afoot she doesn't understand.

And she wonders what service God has destined for her. She is the chosen one, but chosen for what?

And when she's kidnapped by rebels and sees the truth of what's happening on the borders, she must find a physical, mental, and emotional strength she doesn't think she has.

HOT DAMN.

Here are a few of the reasons why this book is totally awesome:

1. Excellent court intrigue.

2. Fast-moving and gripping plot, without being completely plot-driven.

3. Elisa's a great character. She has her limitations and is real, but never annoying. She has sister issues, but even when she wallows in them, she's trying to learn from them.

4. The way Carson handles lurve interests. They're a very MINOR part of the book (HALLELUJAH!) and I must admit I was very surprised by who she ends up with in the end. You won't see it coming. You'll wonder why more YA books don't do the same thing.

5. The way Carson handles religion. Religion is HUGE in this book (I mean, Elisa has been chosen by God. How could it not be?) It seems vaguely Catholic and Elisa finds such comfort and joy in worship, even as she struggles with the path God has given her. I love the ramifications of differing interpretations of the holy texts. I love the perversion of how the enemy practices. I love that's it not faith-based fiction, but religion is painted in a very positive light. It's something we don't see a lot of and Carson does it so very very well.

6. You know how most fantasies are set in a land and culture that is vaguely European? This one is Latin America. The dwellings are adobe and sandstone. Their skin is darker, their hair black. The northern barbarians are weird and scary with their blue eyes and light hair. Their names are Elisa, Alejandro, Ximena. It's awesome. Not just because we need SO MUCH MORE of this in our fiction, especially fantasy, but because the change of location was very refreshing.

7. Ok, apparently this is going to be a trilogy, but this book stands 100% alone. I will read the others because I loved this so much, but I don't need the others.

Overall, just freaking wonderful.

Book Provided by... my local library

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Why We Broke Up

Why We Broke Up Daniel Handler, illustrated by Maira Kalman

Dear Ed,

In a sec you'll hear a thunk. At your front door, the one nobody uses...I'm telling you why we broke up, Ed. I'm writing it in this letter, the whole truth of why it happened. And the truth is that I goddamn loved you so much...

The thunk is the box, Ed. This is what I am leaving you. Every last souvenir of the love we had, the prizes and the debris of this relationship, like the glitter in the gutter when the parade has passed, all the everything and whatnot kicked to the curb. I'm dumping the whole box back into your life, Ed, every item of you and me.

And the box does have everything from their relationship-- bottle caps and flower petals, ticket stubs and a coat, a protractor and some sugar... and the world's longest letter, detailing every detail of Ed and Min's relationship and where, and how it went wrong.

Ed is the jock, co-captain of the basketball team, with a string of popular girl girlfriends. Min is... not arty. Don't say she's arty. But she's smart and I guess we can call her alterna-girl. Not the kind Ed usually goes for. But he goes for Min.

We know it won't work for a number of reasons-- the premise of the book and the first page tell us it already ended. As an adult reader, you just know they're doomed from the set-up of personalities, but as Min details their relationship, pointing out all the red flags, you still end up cheering for them and their love and you hope they won't break up.

I love the structure-- the telling through the objects that Maira Kalman so beautifully paints. I love this book as an object-- the paper is heavy and glossy, like a coffee table book.

I had a hard time getting into it at first, but I think that was more about my head space than the book itself. But, because of it, I read it over the course of a month and in that drawn-out time frame, I became really invested in this doomed love. The way Min writes about it, it sounds like a relationship that slowly unravels and then you get to the moment of the actual break up and... Min, sweetie. You don't need 354 pages to tell Ed why you broke up. It's one sentence. He isn't worth the ink.

And that was a very disappointing end.

But, I did like portions of it. I like that Min was an "arty" girl who wasn't arty. I like that she thought she was so much deeper than she was. It was a bit annoying, but very, very, very true.  I was friends with Min in high school. I like that we never found out the exact deal with Ed's mom. I liked Ed's sister and I liked that we saw more to Ed than the stereotypical jock, but he was still a total popular boy jock.

My favorite was Min's friend Lauren, who would sing hymns at Min to torture her into spilling information. When Lauren was seven, she saw symbols in a speech balloon, and her super-Christian parents were too God-fearing to explain that the symbols meant fuck so freshman year she had this joke of saying "numbersign questionmark you" and "astrisk exclamtionpoint the world." If I were still in high school, hanging out with Min, this would be a speech pattern I'd immediately adopt. (You are so lucky you didn't know me back then. I really was insufferable)

So. This is a book that I can understand why people are gaga for it, but in the end, I wanted to like it so  much more than I actually did.

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Taft 2012

Taft 2012: A Novel Jason Heller

In the fall of 2011, a giant, mud covered figure rises from the White House lawn and stumbles towards a Presidential press conference. After extensive testing it is determined to indeed be William Howard Taft, the 27th president.

Luckily, this is a Rip Von Winkle situation, not a zombie-Taft. Heller has our Taft disappearing on the day of Wilson’s inauguration, only to awaken 100 years later. In Taft’s world, he laid down to take a nap on his way to the ceremony and awoke in a strange new world.

Soon, a grassroots organization has sprung up, calling themselves the Taft party. They have rediscovered a president who is “conservative yet forward-thinking, pro-business yet pro-regulation, principled yet open to compromise.” In a nation torn apart of partisan politics, the Tafties have discovered the ultimate moderate.

The novel is attempting to be political satire (one of the main Tafties is Allen the Electrician) but the ridiculousness of our current political climate makes it pretty hard to satirize. It ends up just being a pretty straight representation. We don’t even get the fantasy of so many people joining together to call for moderation-- everyone’s just reading what they want into how they think Taft would handle our current situation.

But in the craziness of our current political climate, Taft’s main issue is processed food. While this makes sense for a president that might be most famous for getting stuck in the bathtub, it gets a bit preachy and old.

That said, where this book really stands is when it explores Taft as a man trying to come to terms with this strange new world. At its heart, this is a novel about a fish out of water, a man who had lost much when he fell asleep but woke up to find that he had lost everything, and now has to find his own way. These are the portions that I’m sure Publisher’s Weekly was referring when they called it “surprisingly poignant.”

Taft's surprisingly ok with most of the technology (he's not sure how to use it, but he really enjoys Wii Golf and the fact that the White House chef can use "the google" to find old timey recipes to make.) I like that Taft's main surprise with cell phones isn't that the exist, but that it took them so long to exist-- in his time Marconi had just made it possible for ships to communicate over open water, so why not people over open land? His views on race relations are a little too rosy to fully be believed (he just kinda goes with it and there isn't a lot of introspection there)

But when he tries to find himself and the life he lived in the history that has since been written, as he takes stock of his life and his second chance at a new one, the book really shines. I think this is often shown in the character of Irene, a 6-year-old girl that writes Taft a letter after he loses re-election and is still alive when he awakes. Taft's connection to her, as the only person he knows who has memories of the world he knew, is heartbreaking and beautiful.

Short chapters are interspersed with “stuff”-- craigslist postings, Twitter streams, TV talk show transcripts, Secret Service memos and even an Etsy listing for a Taft mustache. Such things are always welcome in books I read and help paint the bigger cultural picture.

Overall, it was a quick and enjoyable read that pulled me out of a pretty long (and depressing) reading slump. It’s not a perfect book, but I do recommend it.

Book Provided by... my local library

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Only One Year

Only One Year Andrea Cheng, illustrated by Nicole Wong

The summer before 4th grade, Sharon’s parents send her little brother Di Di to China for an entire year. In China, Di Di will live with his grandparents, surrounded by aunts and uncles and cousins. He will learn Chinese and a year isn’t that long.

Sharon and her younger sister Mary eagerly await the weekly photographs that Nai Nai sends, but as the year goes on, their own lives take over. Then, a year is over and Di Di is back. He doesn’t remember English or his sisters. Just as they learned to live without him, they have to once again learn to live with him.

This is a short book aimed at younger end of books that I talk about here (about 3rd grade and up.) We are shown, rather than told, how Sharon and Mary deal with life without (and with) Di Di. Their play shifts from looking at photographs to playing school and adding rooms to their toy house. By showing through action instead of telling us with extensive internal dialog, Cheng perfectly balances the emotional tone-- it doesn’t diminish the pain of when Di Di leaves or the confusion when he returns, but it also doesn’t turn to wistful poignancy.

An ending author’s note explains that Di Di’s story is based on practice in some immigrant families and further goes into the details of how and why parents might send their young children abroad.

Book Provided by... my local library

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Cinder

Cinder Marissa Meyer

Cinder is a cyborg-- a cross between android and human. She's a rarity and a freak, and hides her robotic parts when she can. She's also the best mechanic in New Beijing and the main source of income for her family. A large part of this story is Cinderella (Because you couldn't guess from the title.) The other part involves the Queen of the Moon (who is way freaky and evil) coming to Earth to attempt to marry the prince and TAKE OVER THE WORLD. There are missing princesses, a deadly plague, creepy medical testing, a lot of questionable motives and alliances, PLUS! Evil stepmother + ball.

New Beijing is the capital of the Eastern Commonwealth, which seems to include all of Asia. As such, there is a mish-mash of Asian touches-- a character with the last name of Nguyen (Vietnamese) and a street called Sakura (Japanese). This is TOTALLY on purpose-- as the capital of all of Asia, of course different Asian cultures would blend in this way. As someone who's used to seeing bad Chinese settings, it initially set off some warning bells until I could talk myself down. But that's totally my own issue. I think Meyer was very deliberate in how she combined cultures and created a whole new world.

My big complaint is that I figured out all the twists about 1/3 of the way through. However, I liked the world enough that I kept reading. Only to find that nothing really resolves, the stage just gets set for the next big adventure.

Several people have complained that there's not a lot of spark between Cinder and Prince Kai. There's not. There's some "oo hot guy that I oddly respond to" but no swoon or insta-love. I'm ok with that, because it's not like we're being TOLD that they lurve each other and not seeing it. They're attracted to each other but don't really know each other and I can see this turning into a slow burn that ratchets up over the next few books.

BUT! I loved the world building. I loved the politics. I loved Kai being unexpectedly thrust into power and having no good solutions or answers to very big problems facing his people. Plus, it's a fairy tale retelling. You know how I love those. The titles of the next 3 books have already been announced-- Scarlet, Cress, and Winter. I have ideas where those names come from based on this story, but I'm also hoping for Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and Snow Queen. Too bad we have to wait until 2013.

Book Provided by... my local library

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Elephant Scientist

The Elephant Scientist Caitlin O'Connell and Donna M. Jackson

Hey look! Another awesome Scientists in the Field book!

This one's a little different because Caitlin O'Connell, the first-billed author is also the scientist being profiled. O'Connell works in Namibia, studying elephants.

While there is a lot of information about elephants in general, a lot of the book focuses on how elephants communicate. The problem is that I read Elephant Talk: The Surprising Science of Elephant Communication first, and Elephant Talk is a longer, more in-depth look at that same subject. I can't pretend that didn't color my reading and enjoyment of this title.

I really enjoyed learning how the scientists live when they're observing the elephants. It's not lab work and they can't go home at the end of the day-- they have camping tower that's very sophisticated and rustic all at the same time. They have to protect themselves from lions, take careful measurements and data, and live for months at a time on the savanna-- very interesting.

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

ugh

Hey guys.

I'll be back next week with content.

This week has too much snot.

Stupid sinus infection.

Breaking Stalin's Nose

Breaking Stalin's Nose Eugene Yelchin

I hadn't read this one yet when it won a Newbery Honor last week, but I *did* have it already checked out from the library. WIN!

Sasha is going to be inducted into the Young Pioneers tomorrow, and his hero, his father, who works for State Security will be there performing the ceremony. But in the middle of the night, his father is arrested and the neighbors claim their room. At school the next day, starting with a snowball fight gone wrong, everything unravels and Sasha starts to see the truth about Stalin, the system, and the country he loves so much.

It took me awhile to get into Sasha's voice. He buys the communist line completely and sometimes his spouting of Communist rhetoric can seem like clumsy insertion of background info, but it's not. From what I know about living under a communist dictatorship with a strong cult of personality, that's exactly how a kid who was taught to believe in the system would talk. Plus, when Yelchin is actually adding in background information, it's not clumsy. It works really well

Recently, my dad caught a gang of wreckers scheming to blow it up. Wreckers are enemies of the people who want to destroy our precious Soviet property. I can't imagine anybody who would dare to damage a monument to Comrade Stalin, but there are some bad characters out there. Obviously, they're always caught.

I think that Yelchin's black-and-white graphite drawings really add the text and the story. I especially liked the way he plays with perspective and proportion to really give a Sasha-eye view of what's going on.

As things unravel at school, Yelchin ratchets up the tension and suspense, but this is still a solidly middle grade novel.

I do wish I would have read this before it won, so then I wouldn't have read it with my 'Is this Newbery worthy?' lens. Because with that lens on, I'm questioning "would he have become disillusioned so quickly? would he really have done X?" (X is a spoiler, so I won't tell you.) And I don't think those questions would have plagued me before Monday.

BUT! All doubts aside, it is a GREAT book. I think Yelchin does a FANTASTIC job of painting a society in its ideal and its horror in a way that's understandable and gripping for younger readers without diminishing the scope or facts. After I got into his voice, I loved Sasha. I loved seeing the world through his eyes, even as that world shattered. My heart broke for him.

Also, I LOVED the ending. It's a great ending without being too neat and tidy. Yelchin also has a great author's note.


Book Provided by... my local library

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Lola and the Boy Next Door

Lola and the Boy Next Door Stephanie Perkins

Lola believes you should never wear the same outfit twice. Clothes are a costume. She's dating an older guy, a musician, and her dads don't like him (that's the worst part about having gay parents-- you get TWO overprotective fathers!) But everything comes crashing down when the Bell twins move back in next door. Lola and Cricket's weird relationship that may have been friendship, may have been more comes crashing back. Lola's birth mother shows up and moves in. And everything, everything is just wrong.

CRICKET BELL HAS DISPLACED GILBERT BLYTHE FOR MY NUMBER 1 LITERARY CRUSH.

That is all.

Ok, it's not all, but seriously CRICKET BELL OMG!

So many things done so well! I love the sense of place to the point where San Francisco and the Mission are almost characters, the same was Paris was in Anna and the French Kiss. I love that Anna and Etienne are minor characters in this book (Anna and Lola work at the movie theater together, Etienne is in school with Cricket.)

I loved the character of Calliope-- Cricket's twin sister and famous figure skater. I loved the look at how her career has overshadowed and driven her family's life. I loved how close they were--Cricket's the greatest brother ever and even though Calliope can be a bit evil, she obviously truly cares for Cricket.

I loved Lola's crazy clothes and the crisis she has with them and how it resolves.

But really, I just love Cricket Bell *sigh*

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

The Reluctant Heiress

The Reluctant Heiress Eva Ibbtoson

Last week I was in A MOOD and this book perfectly fit the bill.

Guy Farne was found on the docks in Newcastle and made his fortune to become on of the richest men in the world-- all in order to win over the snobby family of a girl he once loved.

Tessa is the under-wardrobe mistress of an opera company in Vienna. She also happens to be a Princess and heiress to Austria's most stunning castle, but it's post-WWI and Austria's nobility is crumbling. Luckily, the castle has a buyer and Tessa can devote herself to the music she loves so much.

You can see where this is going.

I love a good surprise reveal scene (like when Guy finds out Tessa's actually a Princess!) and a fun reunion and Ibbotson does them really well. I loved the glimpse into interwar noble life. I've seen it on the British side often enough, but it's different here because Austria lost and their vast empire was carved up and they turned Republic. It's a lot for them to handle and they're doing it with various levels of grace. I also loved the crazy characters in Tessa's opera company. Little details like the Yogurt Mother make it such a fun read.

The plot is predictable, and characters flat and not at all nuanced, but it was still very enjoyable and exactly what I needed.

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.