Hollow City

Hollow City Ransom Riggs

This sequel to Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children picks up exactly where the last one left off. Having been a few years between books, it was a little confusing in the beginning as I tried to remember plot details and the world that Riggs has built.

Jacob and his friends are out of the loop, but still in the 1940s, traveling from their island to London, trying to find another ymbryne who can hopefully fix Miss Peregrine. Along the way they discover more about the Peculiar world, finding other loops and allies, all the while fighting hollows and wights. Of course, once they get to London, they still have to find another ymbryne (it’s not like they’re in the phone book) and deal with the dangers that the Blitz creates when you’re no longer in a timeloop. It all concludes in another wrenching ending that will leave us waiting desperately for the next book.

I do still love the interplay of the photos and the text, but I feel like the photos didn’t work quite as well--maybe because Riggs used all his best ones in the first book, of what needed to be illustrated wasn’t as peculiar, or because I was already used to it from the first book. I’m not sure why. I didn’t NOT work, it just wasn’t as awesome as the first book in that regard. It is still really well designed as a book though. I like the brown papers marking new chapters--it really adds to the feel created by the photographs and the story--retro paranormal, as well.

I did like the further exploration of the world, and the problems with their weird place in time--being out of a loop, but not being in the present creates issues. Some of the things I liked about the first one aren’t here there-- there’s not that is he/isn’t he on Jacob’s reliableness as a narrator. There’s not the slow reveal of this other world, or the slowly building tension--this is a lot more fast-moving action-- and I think that’s where the story needed to go, but it didn’t wow me in the same way. That’s not to say I didn’t like it--I liked it a lot, I just wasn’t as absolutely floored by it the same way I was floored by Miss Peregrine. I do look forward to getting back into the this world with the next book--I just hope it doesn’t take two years before it comes out!

Book Provided by... my local library

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Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic

Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic David Quammen

We’re all going to die. And it’s probably bats or monkeys that will do us in.

As you may remember, I’m a huge fan for medical epidemic books and stories so I was very excited to come across this one, which is about diseases we get from animals, and the science of how a spillover works-- what makes something go from an animal to a human and then make large numbers of us very sick?

Quammen looks at several zoonosis (infections we get from animals) throughout history, and the history of how it made people sick, how they figured out what was going on, and what made it spillover and spread. And he looks at A LOT of diseases such as Hendra, Ebola, SARS, AIDS, Malaria, Lyme, and a host of others. Along the way, he also talks to many scientists about what they’re doing now to be ready for the next one-- what will it be, where will it hit, what can we do to be prepared.

One on hand it’s fascinating. On the other, it’s terrifying (even though he doesn’t want us to freak out too much. I mean, we will all die at some point. And probably not of the next BIG ONE. Which will probably be a flu. And probably from bats or monkeys. Man, I really like bats.)

It’s very interesting, but it does occasionally get bogged down (I found the AIDS stuff a little too academic and wasn’t a fan of his speculative fiction about how it spread in humans).

It was a weird one, because I LOVED it, but it took me FOREVER to finish. Not sure why.

If you liked Outbreak and The Hot Zone, you should probably read this one (if nothing else, just to find out that everything you thought you knew about Ebola is false.) Plus! It's an Outstanding Book for the College Bound.

Book Provided by... my local library

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Keeping Corner

Keeping Corner Kashmira Sheth

Remember The Edge of the Forest? I still have a few reviews that ran in that wonderful magazine that I'm reprinting here...



Leela was engaged at the age of two and married at the age of nine. Next year, when she turns thirteen, she will celebrate her anu and move into her husband’s house. Leela’s excited for her anu but when her husband is suddenly killed, everything changes.

Following Brahmin custom, Leela is forced to shave her hair, smash her bangles, and wear muddy brown saris. She will be unable to remarry and must keep corner—stay in the house—for a full year. Leela’s family is devastated by her loss and their grief permeates the household, making it impossible for Leela to imagine any sort of future.

But India is changing. Gandhi is leading the people to stand up to the English. Leela wonders how a small, old man in a dhoti can change the white men who sit so straight on their horses, but Gandhi is. Confined to the house, Leela is still caught in a struggle between the old and new as India stands on the brink of liberation—both from the English and from tradition.

Based on the true story of her great-aunt, Sheth paints a lush, vibrant picture of Indian home life. Leela’s story moves with the weather and seasons as she marks off her time before being allowed outside. Moving and honest, Leela’s tale of drawing inspiration from Gandhi to find agency in her own life is sure to strike readers and linger long after the last page.

ARC Provided by... a coworker, who picked it up at ALA (maybe? this ran back in 2007-- I don't quite remember)

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The Forbidden Rose

The Forbidden Rose Joanna Bourne

This is a weird one for me to review. One on hand, it didn't always work for me as a romance. On the other, I freaking loved it.

William Doyle is an English spy, sent to France to assassinate the Marquis de Fleurignac, who has come up with a list of English nobles--nobles that are being picked off one by one at home. The servant girl he finds speaks French too well to be what she claims, but he knows she will lead him to what he's looking for

Marguerite de Fleurignac survived the burning of her chateau, but her network that smuggles aristocracy out of revolutionary France has been compromised--she must tell the others before they're arrested. She doesn't trust the man who looks at the rubble of her home with too calculating an eye, but he may be her only chance at survival.

So, this one was a bit too insta-love for me, and I never really bought into their chemistry. Also, the steamy bits were...not that steamy. BUT. The story is incredible. The politics and intrigue in this one! Where it doesn't always work as a romance, it shines as a spy novel. I also like that what was keeping them apart wasn't the fact they wouldn't just say what needed to be said, or they had closed themselves off to love-- their main obstacles weren't emotional, but the turmoil of revolutionary Paris and their greater causes. When they were apart, they were physically apart (like when William is arrested for being a counter-revolutionary) there are a million sides and games being played-- that's where this novel shines and that's what's added the rest of Bourne's Spymaster series to my TBR.

Book Provided by... my local library

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Attack of Jabba the Puppett

Surprise Attack of Jabba the Puppett: An Origami Yoda Book Tom Angleberger

The Fun Time Menace has fully descended on McQuarrie Middle School. All electives have been cancelled and the kids are instead being forced to watch horrible videos (featuring rapping calculators) teach them how to do basic math they already understand.

A Rebel Alliance is needed.

There are a ton of new origami Star Wars characters introduced in this one as Tommy & Co. recruit members to their cause to get rid of FunTime. They’re smart about it--they use math to know how to throw the test to show that FunTime wasn’t effective--if X number of kids fail, then they can get rid of it for next year. They also find ways to work some of their missing electives back in.

The problem is that even though the kids are actually being rather reasonable, Principal Rabbski’s not really listening to them, and they’ll need help from some very unexpected places to get their point across.

I really like the turn the series took. It’s about a much bigger issue than just one student or one piece of maybe magical origami. It’s an entire school movement, and it tackles so many issues we face in education today-- the FunTime menace isn’t real, but it is. (*cough* AR *cough*) We put so much emphasis on test scores, that’s we’ve opened a market for people to cash in without any real benefit to the schools and students and this book really looks at this, in a hilarious manner.

I also really liked how Dwight chose each character for the different kids in the alliance. Much like he showed with the original Origami Yoda, Dwight notices things about people and knows how to nudge them in the right directions.


Book Provided by... my local library

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No Future for You

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 Volume 2: No Future for You Joss Whedon, Georges Jeanty and Brian K. Vaughn

So, this big thing to know about this one is FAITH FAITH FAITH FAITH FAITH.

I really grew to love Faith as a character ever since they defeated the mayor. She's complicated and fascinating. She's the star of this story, as Giles sends her to put down a rogue slayer, being "advised" by a warlock who works for Twilight (Season 8's Big Bad). Hilariously, this involves Faith pretending to be British aristocracy. The rogue slayer is being groomed to kill Buffy, unless Faith can stop her. Of course, in true Faith/Buffy fashion, no one's clued Buffy in to who's the good guy and who's the bad guy in this situation.

One of the things I loved about this was how it flashed back to the TV series so you see what Faith's demons are, with her narration. It really delves into her character and psyche more than the show did, which makes her even more complicated and fascinating.

At the end, there's a story about Buffy and Willow visiting some mystical forces, which reveals some secrets neither really want revealed, and some movement on Dawn's giant curse.

But, mostly, FAITH FAITH FAITH FAITH FAITH FAITH FAITH. (Also, a brief glance of Robin (Principal) Wood.

Book Provided by... my local library

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My Beloved Brontosaurus

My Beloved Brontosaurus: On the Road with Old Bones, New Science, and Our Favorite Dinosaurs Brian Switek

Guys-- it’s a dinosaur book FOR GROWNUPS. And it’s sad, because it turns out that everything I thought I knew about dinosaurs is TOTALLY WRONG.

Like the fact that dinos aren’t related to birds. BIRDS ARE DINOSAURS. The ones we think of are technically “non-avian dinosaurs.” Just… let that sink in a bit. Seriously, I’ve just been going around like Tracy Jordan screaming DINOSAUR at the pigeons on the street.

The crazy thing is, there is a TON of discovery happening in dinosaurs right now. Switek tells us the new science and explains the history of scientific thought about dinos and why it’s been changing. All while still maintaining his little-kid love of the giant animals. He doesn’t shy away from admitting the pop culture influences his original thoughts and ideas about dinos came from.

He also looks at a lot of the really big questions we ask about dinosaurs-- what color were they? Why did they die? How did something that big reproduce? Were they good parents? What did they sound like? How did they get that HUGE?! Why were they that big? Seriously, did their tails get in the way of mating? (Yes, there is an entire chapter on research into the logistics of reproduction. I, for one, am glad to live in a world where legit scientists have funding to study the physics of dinosaur sex. It warms my heart.)

It’s super interesting and very readable. I could have used more visuals (mostly to remind me which -asaurus is which) but I really liked it. PLUS! It's an Outstanding Book for the College Bound.


Book Provided by... my local library

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Medusa's Gaze and Vampire's Bite

The Science of Monsters: The Origins of the Creatures We Love to Fear Matt Kaplan

Kaplan looks at many mythical monsters and what was going on in the world that people explained with monsters. He then looks at how the roles of the particular monster have changed over the years as our understanding and world has changed. I think it's at it's strongest when talking about the scientific explanation for things that we understand now, but back then Occam's Razor really did logically lead to "vampire." I also found the exploration of the role such creatures play today in our collective psyche (and how it has changed over time) to be interesting--especially when he looks at what we most fear today, and what's going on in our world that makes us fear those things instead of others. (Although, see below, I do have a few complaints about this section.)

Kaplan writes for the Economist, and much of this book has that same tone of sarcastic snark, which is something I personally love but may be a major turn-off for some readers. It's an adult book, but it's written in a very accessible, readable style (again, think Economist) and I think many teens would enjoy it.

My main complaint is when he’s looking at Greek monsters today, he obviously uses a lot of Percy Jackson, but… he uses the movie, not the books. I’m not even sure he’s aware that they are books. *headdesk* *headdesk* *headdesk* He does the same thing with Harry Potter, but we at least mentions the books. When it comes to adult stuff (such as Jurassic Park) he’ll actually talk about the differences between books and movie.

But, I did learn a lot and it was very readable and interesting. It’s mostly European-centric, but he does pull in non-European cultures and monsters occasionally. He does a great job at looking how sometimes different cultures have different monsters that look similar but are very different-- often one sees it as evil, one sees it as an overall benevolent force.

It’s a great look at how humans use monsters to explain what we don’t understand and also as a way to name our fears.


Book Provided by... my local library

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How I Killed Pluto: And Why It Had It Coming

How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming Mike Brown

Ever since he was a kid, Brown wanted to discover planets. But, when he did discover some, instead of being excited he discovered a planet, he realized that, really, Pluto shouldn’t count as a planet, because that made what he was finding make a lot more sense.

Brown is a hilarious and fascinating as he tells us about the development of thought about the solar system, how modern astronomy works (it’s a lot of coding!), why Pluto isn’t a planet, and his own life. Plus, oh the shennanigans and in-fighting (astronomer politics! who knew?!)

Not a lot of scientists can write like this- heck, not a lot of writers can write like this. It’s a wonderful and fascinating book that really digs into the story-behind-the-story of when Pluto stopped being a planet.

Book Provided by... my local library

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Five Dysfunctions of a Team

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable Patrick Lencioni

I have a lot of super-awesome volunteers at my library. One of them has a fancy-schmancy day job as a high-level executive. When I became branch manager, we were talking about my new role and management stuff and she highly recommended Patrick Lencioni, this book in general. So I read it.

I loved it. It’s a “Leadership Fable” which made it a much easier read for me. The first 75% of the book is a story about a dysfunctional software company and how a new CEO came in and fixed the team and the problem and successes they had along the way. As a story, it wasn’t that awesome, but as someone who thinks in story, it was a much easier, faster, and accessible read than a normal “how to” management book. I read it in an evening and the points made are going to stick with me for a lot longer because of it. I was skeptical going in, but I really appreciated the style. The last 25% is a little more “how to” that goes a little more in-depth on the 5 dysfunctions, how to spot them, and how to get over them.

I also think Lencioni makes good points on how to make a team work. He really focuses on the overall goal of the team, and not individual success and ego. Part of this is a good dose of conflict (because good conflict creates better buy-in) and holding each other accountable. I also liked how his team-building exercises and overall method wasn’t touchy-feely. (No trust falls!) and stays largely focused on the actual business at hand, while still being broadly applicable.

I also liked how he has five dysfunctions, but they really play into each other and are all part of a larger problem, and how if you have problem in one area, you almost definitionally are going to have problems in another.

Now, I work with an awesome team, so I won’t be putting what I learned into direct process, but I’ll be keeping it in mind to evaluate if we continue to be awesome in the future.

And, I’ll be checking out Lencioni’s other leadership books.

(ooo.. there’s also a manga version)

Book Provided by... my local library

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Everbound

Everbound Brodi Ashton

Jake went into the Everneath in Nikki’s place. Jake is what kept her alive when she was there and she’s not about to let him go that easily. There’s only one solution--she’s going in after him. Of course, to save him, she has to work with, and trust, Cole, who has his own agenda for getting Nikki back to the Everneath.

I do love a good story where the girl saves the guy. I also like how this one builds on the mythology, politics, and world-building of the Everneath. You really get to dig into this world more, as most of the action takes place in the Everneath as Nikki tries to rescue Jake.

I reviewed the third book in the trilogy, Evertrue, here at RT Book Reviews.


Book Provided by... my local library

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Everneath

Everneath Brodi Ashton

Nikki Beckett is back in town, but everything’s different. She’s been gone for 6 months and there are rumors surrounding where she’s been--most people assume rehab. She knows she was taken by Everliving, an immortal who feasts on human energy. Being feasted on kills you, but Nikki survived, never being able to forget Jake, her boyfriend. But because Nikki survived, she’s not the only one who’s back--Cole, the Everliving who dragged her into the Everneath, is also back, and has to get her to go back to the Everneath with him. Nikki only has 6 months, and then she has to go back for good. 6 months to say goodbye properly and to make everything right, but it’ll be harder than she ever expected.

I liked this one. It’s told in alternating timelines, now, when Nikki’s trying to settle back into life so she can fix the mess she left behind and make things OK for when she goes away again, and then, which shows the beginning of her relationship with Jake, and how she ended up in the Everneath. This allows for a slow unveiling of the backstory, and a slow introduction to the mythology that Ashton’s creating and playing with (overall, the story is Persephone meets Orpheus). I also liked her family. Things are tense with her politician father after her disappearance, but they’re working on it. I like the balance he tries to strike between being a responsible parent and getting her the help he thinks she needs and not being so stifling that she leaves again. And her little brother is awesome.

I also just liked Nikki. I liked her voice. I liked that she didn’t have any superpowers, but could also take care of herself. She wasn’t a shy mousey clutzy girl that everyone actually loved, but was more middle-of-the-road real.

Stay tuned for my review of the sequel tomorrow.

ARC Provided by... the publisher for review consideration (hey look at that! Sometimes I do get around to reading the unsolicited ARCs that I set aside because they look interesting!)

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Spoken Here: Travels Among Threatened Languages

Spoken Here: Travels Among Threatened Languages Mark Abley

Abley starts in Australia, then travels to Oklahoma, the Isle of Man, Provence, Wales, and then New York, looking at minority languages that are in danger of dying out, and what people are trying to do in order to save them (with varying degrees of success.)

Along the way, he provides a potent argument for the role a language plays in culture and why keeping the small, endangered languages alive is important. (His argument is compelling enough that I personally feel it broadens out well as to why it’s important to learn another language-- not just for trade or commerce, but as a way to provide another way of looking at the world.)

Abley’s not a linguist, and I know that some of this book irks actual linguists and scholars in the field, but I think his non-expert approach really works in making the subject accessible to non-expert readers.

My main complaint is that it’s fairly European/North American-centric. While other areas of the world are touched on, I think it would have been stronger to look at other areas of the world more in-depth.

Parts of it are heart-breaking as languages and cultures die, stamped out by English and other dominant forces. But the things people are doing to try to save their language were inspiring, and, of course, we can always look to Wales and Israel to see how a dead language can come back.

Language death isn’t something one often thinks about, but it’s becoming more and more of an issue, and as a language dies, so much dies with it.

Book Provided by... my local library

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Diverse Book Reading List

Tweeting about how we need Diversity in Books is all well and good, but in order to make it work, we need to put our money where are mouth is.

Here are some books I bought yesterday:



Code Name Komiko by Naomi Paul

The Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson

Charm & Strange by Stephanie Kuehn

Prophecy (The Dragon King Chronicles) by Ellen Oh

Mismatch by Lesley Namioka

These are all books I haven't read yet, so I'm excited to dig into them.

And, I've started to make a Pinterest Board with diverse books that I've read and reviewed, in case you're looking for recommendations of where to put your money.


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.

We Need Diverse Books

There's been a lot of talk for years about lack of diversity in children's and teen publishing. Lately, as mainstream media picks it up, it seems to have reached a critical head. As part of this groundswell, there is the We Need Diverse Books Campaign. It's supposed to start on Thursday, but the hashtag is already all over Twitter.

A lot of people are sharing stories and feelings about not being able to see themselves in the books they read. Or talking about the youth they work with who can't see themselves. I used to work in an area where the vast majority of my users were African or African American. I was always told they wanted a book about kids "like them" (read: black) that "wasn't old, or sad" (read: not historical fiction about slavery or civil rights). And I had books to give them! But not enough to get them through a school year, even if they could/would read every age/reading level. And they need diverse books.

But you know what? White kids do, too. And not just in a feel good "diversity is good for everyone" way (even though I firmly believe that.)

I grew up in NorthEast Wisconsin. When I was growing up, the largest group of non-white people were Hmong immigrants (or, at my age level, children of Hmong immigrants.) Name a book with Hmong people.

There's The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures, which came out in 1998 (the year I graduated from high school) with is nonfiction and for adults.

There's Pa Lia's First Day: A Jackson Friends Book. There are 4 books in the Jackson Friends series. I read the last one first--Stinky Stern Forever: A Jackson Friends Book, so I didn't know Pa Lia's name from the title, but she appears on the first page.

Pa Lia. I read it and stopped. Really? I read it again. And again. Pa Lia? REALLY?! It couldn't really be... no... PA LIA? And I read on and there were other cultural clues and OMFG YES THERE WAS A HMONG KID IN THIS CLASSROOM.

Finally, there was a book with a classroom that looked like mine looked for 12 years. I didn't realize how much that was lacking, and how much I needed a classroom to look like mine, until I saw that name in that book. I literally cried with relief. I was in my late 20s, crying with relief and joy that an early chapter book had a classroom that looked like my classroom.

If I need a Hmong character in books so badly, because I need my world reflected, even as an adult, how the hell did my Hmong classmates feel, never seeing themselves anywhere? What kind of disservice have we done to children, when the page denies their very existence? The 3 books I mention here, plus the other 2 in the Jackson Friends series are the ONLY books I know of with Hmong characters. So, 1 series. 1 adult nonfiction. That's it.

Seriously. All I want are books that reflect the world I live in. I'm a white girl with a middle class background. The books we have on our shelves are supposed to be reflecting me, but their all-white pages aren't even doing that. My experiences are more than me. They are the people around me. I'm white, but my world isn't. Why are my books?


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.

You

You Charles Benoit

You're a largely misunderstood kid that everyone thinks is a troublemaker. You know better but they don't, so sometimes you just go with it. It's what they expect of you anyway. It starts with the blood, something gone horribly wrong. It ends there, too. The in-between is the girl you like. The in-between is the new kid who likes you for some reason. You like him too, until it's all gone wrong. So very wrong.

Overall, it's an enjoyable read. The quick pace of the plot and the second-person narration help drive the reader to turn the pages quickly and draw you in. I liked it but didn't think it was anything special. And then someone pointed out that's a retelling of Othello and my mind exploded. Because it totally is. It's a Shakespeare retelling that will appeal to struggling and reluctant readers-- a fun read with some source material that's really subtly woven in (and then once it's pointed out to you, all you can do is shout OMG DUH and feel stupid for missing it.)

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.

State of the Onion

State of the Onion Julie Hyzy

Last month, the library had an edible books contest. For prizes, I gave away books about food and asked Twitter what were the best food-based cozies out there. A lot of people voted by Hyzy's "White House Chef Mystery" series, so I picked up the first one as a prize. I was intrigued enough by the title that I couldn't resist reading it, too.

Olivia Paras is an assistant White House chef. The Executive Chef is about to retire, and Olivia is one of the final candidates for his job. Her main competition is a TV celebrity chef that Olivia's worked with before-- and does not want to work with again. If she gets the job, Olivia knows she'll be leaving the White House. But the drama and pressure is soon pushed to the side when Olivia is walking back to work and sees a guy fleeing from the Secret Service and clocks him with her frying pan. Suddenly, she's trying to figure out a massive conspiracy that may end up in someone assassinating the President. Before she can solve it, she gets a glimpse of the world's most feared assassin and then she's no longer trying to save the President's life, but her own.

This was a fun one. I liked the behind-the-scenes look at the White House staff and the kitchen-- the differences in preparing a simple lunch for the first family versus a major state dinner and all the planning that happens. I liked the tension between Olivia and the new head of Culture-and-Faith-based Etiquette Affairs (he's such a jerk!!!)

I also liked her secret Secret Service boyfriend and the tension between them as Olivia got herself more involved with the case that he kept trying to push her off of. Overall it was very enjoyable and I didn't guess the ending. The bad guy was on my list of possible bad guys, but there was enough in there that I kept guessing on my choices. It was also often funny-- I especially liked when we finally meet the celebrity chef that Olivia is competing with. I think this is a series I'll continue reading.

Also-- do you have any good cozy recs? Mysteries, especially cozies are HUGE with the adults at my library, and now that I'm the adult librarian, I need to up my reader's advisory game. Leave 'em in the comments if you've got 'em.

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.

Two Boys Kissing

Two Boys Kissing David Levithan

After Tariq is beaten for being gay, Craig comes up with an idea, and his ex-boyfriend Harry is the only one who can help. Craig wants them to break the world record for kissing.

Tariq is filming and live-streaming it from multiple angles, so no one can question it. They’re doing it in public-- on the lawn of the high school.

We also have other stories woven through-- Peter and Neil, who live a few towns over and have been dating for over a year, Avery and Ryan, who meet at a gay prom the night before the kiss begins, and Cooper, who is closeted and struggling when his parents find out.

The kiss itself is the central plot-point, but what I found most powerful about the book is the narrator-- a generalized “we” of the gay men who died of AIDS in the 70s/80s. It was devastating and made me unexpectedly sob. I wonder if teens will find it as moving as I did, as they leave a lot unexplained. They mention how no one cared until a movie star and teenage hemophiliac died. When talking about the hate and violence, they mention the 19-year-old strung up along the highway. These are small, passing references to things I know and remember. Ok, I don’t remember Rock Hudson dying and he never meant much to me, but I do remember Ryan White. I remember his advocacy and his death. I most definitely remember Matthew Shepard's murder. I know what a huge effing dealPhiladelphia was when it came out. Do teens? And this isn’t to say they won’t “get” the book, or enjoy it, but just that the emotional impact readers of a certain age are getting won’t transfer over.

I love love love love that there’s a trans character. I love that while it creates fear and uncertainty in his life (well, I don’t love that bit, but it’s realistic) it’s not a big deal for the narrators. They never question that Avery is a boy, that he’s a gay boy. They just feel for him that much more because he’s carrying around that much more. Handled so well.

And, let’s just talk about the cover, shall we?

Two boys kissing. You know what this means.

For us, it was a secret gesture. Secret because we were afraid. Secret because we were ashamed. Secret because it was story that nobody was telling.

But what power it had. Whether we cloaked it in the guise of You be the boy and I’ll be the girl, or whether we defiantly called it by its name, when we kissed, we know how powerful it was. Our kisses were seismic. When seen by the wrong person, they could destroy us. When shared with the right person, they had the power of confirmation, the force of destiny.

If you put enough closets together, you have enough space for a room. If you put enough rooms together, you have space for a house. If you put enough houses together, you have space for a town, then a city, then a nation, then a world.

We knew the private power of our kisses. Then came the first time we were witnesses, the first time we saw it happen out in the open. For some of us, it was before we ourselves had ever been kissed. We fled our towns, came to the city, and there on the streets we saw two boys kissing for the first time. And the power now what the power of possibility. Over time, it wasn’t just on the street or in the clubs or at the parties we threw. It was in the newspaper. On television. In movies. Every time we saw two boys kissing like that, the power grew…

Every time two boys kiss, it opens up the world a little more. Your world. The world we left. The world we left you.

And now there are two boys kissing on the cover of a major release book aimed at teens.


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.

Spell it Out

Spell It Out: The Curious, Enthralling and Extraordinary Story of English Spelling David Crystal

Much like he does in The Story of English in 100 Words, Crystal has made language history exceedingly accessible. This is a basic history of English spelling and how it developed over time, and why it’s so darn wacky. (Short story-- trying to use the latin alphabet for a non-Latin language, scribes changing spelling to make things easier/prettier on the page, French influence after the Norman conquest, and the Great Vowel shift.)

But, for a book that could easily be boring, short chapters and a conversational style make this one an easy read. I also love love love love that Crystal doesn’t decry texting and the internet as ruining spelling. He also makes wonderful arguments as to why spelling is more important than ever. There's also an entire section for early education teachers with his ideas about how to teach spelling to make it more relevant, easier, and fun.

Very fun, and an Outstanding Book for the College Bound that I think teens will really enjoy.

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.

Graphic Novel Week: Pluto

Pluto by Naoki Urasawa, based on work by Osama Tezuka.


I'm going to review the entire 8-volume series as one, because that's how I think about it, because that's how we looked at it for inclusion on the Outstanding Books and College Bound list for Science and Technology.

Urasawa takes a story arc from Osama Tezuka's classic Astro Boy series and retells it for an older audience. The first volumes really focus on Gesicht, a top European detective who's looking into the horrible murders of some of the world's leading robots. It's soon evident that the serial killer is targeting the seven most powerful robots in the world. This troubles Gesicht for many professional reasons, but many personal ones as well--most of the seven are his friends, because he is one of them. This killer is unlike anything they've ever seen before--he's too fast to be captured on film, so he can't be human, but he doesn't show up on any robot sensors, so he can't be a robot.

As the mystery deepens, we meet the other robots, get backstories-- many are haunted by what they saw and did in the last great war and many live their lives today as a way to atone for their actions then. There are flickers of something at the edges of Gesicht's memory that he can't quite place, but he thinks it's important.

And through it all it raises questions of what it means to be human and where the line is between Artificial Intelligence and humanity--if we get too good at designing AI, will there be a line any more? Can there be one? What about an injured human with robotic parts? How much robot is too much robot? And through it all, it's just a damn good, engaging story that has many heartbreaking moments. An early one that stands out is the story of North, a robot who is known for the death and destruction he brought during the war. He's now a butler to a composer who loathes him because everyone knows robots can't feel. All North wants to do is make music, to play piano and bring beauty to the world, but the composer won't let him, because robots are emotionless and can't understand or play true music because of it. It perfectly sets up the prejudices many have against robots, while showing that many of these AI systems are so advanced that robots may not be that emotionless after all. It's a tender story that sets up a lot of the larger issues and dynamics in the series.

I love the world Tezuka and Urasawa have built, and it's eerie to realize that the geopolitics read as super-current, but were in the original text from the 60s. As someone whose never read Astro Boy, I'm not familiar with the source material, but that's ok. The story is amazing on its own, but I do like the touch that each volume has a bit of back matter--an essay, an interview, another comic-- from a variety of people--Tezuka's son, manga scholars, other artists-- that help give both works a context to each other and to the larger manga world. It was very interesting and helpful. (Plus, I just love that Japan takes drawn books so seriously that there are a lot of manga scholars out there.)

I highly recommend it.

Books 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.

Graphic Novel Week: Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms

Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms Fumiyo Kouno, translated from the Japanese by Naoko Amemiya and Andy Nakatani

This isn't currently in print, but many libraries still have it and it's seriously worth tracking down a copy. It's two stories, in one book. "Town of Evening Calm" deals with Minami, a young woman who, 10 years prior, survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. She's still haunted by that day, and has intense guilt about the fact she survived when so many didn't. (Including many members of her immediate family.) "Country of Cherry Blossoms" is in two parts and takes place in 1987, the second part in 2004, and on one hand is a story of changing friendships and aging parents, but on the other is a look at how the bombing still lingers in Japanese society and thought. They're connected, but I won't tell you how.

This is an Outstanding Book for the College Bound, on the History and Cultures list. I didn't read it when we were working on the list, because I was on different subcommittees, but hearing the History and Cultures people talk about it, it was on my list of ones to pick up immediately.

The author's note at the end explains why Kouno wrote the story. She's from Hiroshima, where they avoid the subject. When she moved to Tokyo she discovered that the rest of Japan (excepting Nagasaki) don't talk about it because they don't understand it. They don't the scars those cities still bear, and how they're different than the ones the rest of Japan has.

The result is beautifully drawn book. "Town of Evening Calm" is rather heartbreaking, but "Country of Cherry Blossoms" is often very funny. It's a fascinating look into a time and place and effects events still have decades down to the line.


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.

Bloggiesta!

It's Bloggiesta time! That wonderful time when we set aside a few days to do the nitty-gritty work on our blogs. I almost missed it.

I'll be honest. Last week, after 8 years, I almost pulled the plug on Biblio File. You'll notice posting's been... sporadic. I just haven't been feeling the review bug lately. I haven't felt connected with the blogging community in a while. All my work last year on YA Reading List, plus Outstanding Books, plus a pretty major career shift might have broken me. Not to mention the Kung Fu Princess will be 3 in June and needs/wants a lot of attention that I need/want to give her.

And then I realize I don't think I ever officially announced my career shift here on the blog. At the beginning of September, I went from being the half-time youth services librarian to being the full-time Acting Branch Manager of my branch, which also includes being the adult services librarian. In February, I got to drop the "Acting" from my job title. It's super-exciting, but a major shift, not only in time spent working, but in my focus and what I'm doing. It's really fun and I'm loving it, but there's definitely a learning curve.

Blogging just seemed... like a chore. I don't want it to be a chore. But then, I read Snow White and wanted to talk about it. That's why I started blogging in the first place--to find my book nerd people. And I miss the blogging community. SO! Let's throw myself back in headfirst and see if it sticks. Let's try again and Bloggiesta just perfectly coincides with that. Join me by signing up here.

Here are some bloggy things I want to accomplish between now and Sunday:

1. Write a #$@#-ton of reviews. I'm so far behind on reviewing. I'm so far behind, I don't even know how behind I am. Obviously, in a perfect world, I'd write ALL the reviews and catch up. That's not going to happen. Let's aim for 30 (doable, but insane) and be happy if I write 10. Which leads to...
2. Record-keeping. On of the reasons I don't know how far behind I am is because my back-end planning spreadsheets haven't been updated in 6 months. Let's fix that.
3. Work on my new interview project--reach out to potential interviewees, come up with a set list of questions.
4. Write a "state of the blog" post for YA Reading List.
5. Before #4, I should probably figure out what the "state of the blog" IS for YA Reading List.
6. Sort the bookshelves.
7. Read some blogs. I'm really behind on this.
8. Update the professional blog lists. I've officially moved from children's/teen to adult services/management, so I need to find some new ones and weed out some others.
9. Research my spam comment problem.
10. Do some mini-challenges and have fun.


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.

Graphic Novel Week: The Unwritten--Tommy Taylor and the Bogus Identity

Unwritten Vol. 1: Tommy Taylor and the Bogus Identity Mike Carey and Peter Gross

This is one that’s been on my radar forever. Like since Leila reviewed back in, oh 2012.

I *finally* got around to reading it, and it’s so good! Tom’s father wrote a series of highly popular fantasy novels (think Harry Potter), but made Tommy the lead character (think Christopher Robin.) People have a really hard time realizing that Tom the man and Tommy the fictional character aren’t the same person.

Coupled with this is the fact that when he was younger, his father disappeared without a trace, leaving the series unfinished and his estate was very complicated, making it so Tom can’t get any of the money. Tom makes a living by signing his father’s books and making public appearances-- this doesn’t help people separate the two identities, and it means constant questions about his father’s abandonment.

Only, at this con, a fan points out that Tom Taylor, the real person, doesn’t actually exist--which is how Tom learns that most of his identity is fabricated. Then, as he tries to trace his past he discovers that the line between fiction and reality might be thinner than he ever imagined… maybe there Tom the man and Tommy the character aren’t that different…

This one is obviously a lot of set up for the greater story, which I can’t wait to delve into. I like how the book incorporates a lot of the Tommy Taylor novels, interweaving them with the main story, as well as lots of flashbacks from Tom’s past.

Tom’s father was also very into literary geography-- knowing where people wrote things, the real places that inspired fiction settings, and the trivia behind it all. It’s a slightly annoying party trick of Tom’s-- reciting all of it as he travels, but it’s fun to read and it looks like it’s going to be important to the larger plot, which I find very intriguing.

The next volume is on its way to me-- I can’t wait to read it and see what happens next.

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.

Graphic Novel Week: Fables

So, I think the last two volumes of Fables really work together, as they have overlapping timelines for the main story, so I'm going to review them together.

Fables, Vol. 18: Cubs in Toyland Bill Willingham

Fables Vol. 19: Snow White Bill Willingham

Cubs in Toyland starts in the with main story right away. Therese has a toy boat that takes her to be the Queen of Toyland, but Toyland is a dark, twisted place. It's the island of Misfit toys-- toys that were all involved in the death of a child. They have hopes for a Queen that will restore them, but there is no food to sustain Therese. Meanwhile, Snow, Bigby, and Therese's brothers and sisters are frantically searching for her. One will find her, with devastating consequences.

It then moves onto some back story on Bigby Wolf, and destiny.

The first third of Snow White takes place in Oz, wrapping up the storyline of Bufkin. It's a good end to the story, and it was dragging a bit there and needed to be wrapped up, but I will miss him greatly in the lost business office of the Fabletown.

The last part of the book is where the "Snow White" title of the Omnibus comes from and covers the same amount of time, showing what's happening in New York when Therese goes missing. Now, here's a very cool thing-- the magical car that we got out the end of Fairest: Wide Awake has appeared-- so Bigby and Stinky are off through worlds, tracking the missing cubs. Meanwhile, the fencing instructor from Castle Dark? The one that Mrs. Spratt/Leigh was into? Turns out, he's Snow White's fiance, pre-Prince Charming days and he's come to claim her. Snow's having none of it, but he has some powerful magic working there. This, too, has devastating consequences.


So, I wanted to look at these together, partly because I'm super-behind on reviewing, but this time it works out, because these volumes play out so well. The main storyline in each volumes actually ends with more-or-less the same panel. (The "camera angle" is a bit different, but the scene, and dialogue, are the same.) Both storylines are heartbreaking and they both bring back some of the magic that's been lacking a bit. I wasn't a huge fan of the whole Mr. Dark storyline (I just don't think it every really got going or had the same gravitas as the Empire in terms of the Big Bad.) I think this hits at a much deeper, more emotional level in a way I think is a first for the series.

I read Cubs in Toyland a full year ago, and Toyland is so creepy, it still gives me the heebie-jeebies. I love the way the storylines play on each other-- ending Snow White with that same panel is the ultimate gut punch in a gut punch of a book. I don't know if this series has every really made me cry, but both of these did.

Also, let's give a shout-out for Ambrose Wolf. He's obviously the "loser" or the pack, but adult Ambrose plays a large narrator role in these stories, and it's great to see a glimpse of who he's going to grow into. Maybe not a hero, but a pretty great stand-up scholarly guy (with a wife I have suspicions about. Check out the color of her skin--is it because it's nighttime and it's shadow? Or is she actually green, and quite probably the Lady of the Lake?)

And, I love that the Fairest series is weaving in a bit right now. In general, I like that Fairest is about stuff outside of Fabletown, but it's weaving in in small, interesting ways. I'm intrigued.

Anyway, this whole set is super powerful and moving and I need to TALK ABOUT IT. Hit me up if you want to discuss.

Question-- the cover artwork for Snow White looks a lot like it was probably an alternate possibility for the cover artwork for the new edition of Legends in Exile (aka, Fables #1). What is the symbolism there?

Also, I had forgotten about the end story in Cubs of Toyland until I started working on this review. I have some hope about things now. If you haven't read them yet, it's very relevant to what happens in Snow White. I think. I hope.



Books Provided by... my wallet

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.

Graphic Novel Week: Buffy Season 8: The Long Way Home

The Long Way Home Joss Whedon.

I know I’m totally late to this party, but Buffy didn’t end when the show did! Buffy lives! In comic book form!

So, now that all the potentials are slayers, they’re all divided up into different teams, working different parts of the world, killing baddies. But Willow’s missing, Amy’s back, and so is a gross skinless Jonathan. Plus, Dawn is a giant. And the Army thinks Buffy’s the enemy. All in a day’s work for a slayer!

But, this is a comic book with many over-reaching plot threads, and it jumps around a lot, which is a bit different from the show and took some getting used to. Also, while the characters look like the actors who played them, they’re still drawings and it’s a bit hard to get into. Luckily, the voice is still there, so I can "hear" it properly in my head. I’m really excited to see where this is going. I should have gotten a few volumes at ones, because I have to waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaait for the second one. It’s checked out. And I’m not the first person on the holds list for it! (Which is awesome, given these books came out in 2007 and they’re still popular!)

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.

Eye of Minds

The Eye of Minds James Dashner

Michael’s parents are often traveling and like most serious gamers, he spends most of his time in his coffin-- the next step in virtual reality equipment that affects all the senses very realistically. All of Michael’s friends and hang-outs are in the VirtNet. He can usually afford what he wants, but he’s good enough he can also just look at the code that makes up his world and hack his way in.

But something weird’s going on -- a gamer named Kaine has driven gamers to suicide-- cutting out the device that acts as the shield between reality and virtual reality-- so when they die in the VirtNet, they die in the real world, too.

The police are after him, but they need the help of Michael and his friends. They go on a terrifying adventure to stop someone who is always a step or two ahead--someone who knows the code better than they do, better than anyone.

And, what they find is beyond what anyone expects.

It’s a fun action sci/fi thriller where the VirtNet setting allows for some very fun settings and landscapes that Michael and his friends have to work or hack their way through. Of course, it all leads up to a big twist reveal ending, setting up the second book perfectly. Now you just have to wait for the second book.

I probably won’t pick it up-- I enjoyed the book, but it’s not really my thing, so I’m not the right reader for it. (Although I liked it enough that I will probably make one of the teens at work tell me what happens, like I did with the Lockdown series.)

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.

Fallen Beauty Blog Tour

Fallen Beauty Erika Robuck

In the late 1920's/ early 1930's, two women live in upstate New York. Laura has an unsuitable love affair, one that leaves her with a child, the scandal of her small town. The other is Edna St. Vincent Millay, the renowned poet. Told in both voices, their lives start to intersect.

While it was the Millay angle that intrigued me, it was Laura's story that drew me in and made the novel for me. It has shades of The Scarlet Letter, as Laura refuses to name Grace's father, and is shunned my most of the town. Her sister is married to an up-and-coming politician, and while they remain very close (Marie being her only friend) there is tension between Everett's career ambitions and Laura's scandal. Laura's a hard character--she loves her daughter, but cannot forgive herself for what happened to bring her daughter into this world, and cannot forgive the town for shunning her even though she judges herself just as harshly, if not more so, than they do.

Millay's a harder character to judge. Robuck is constrained by the realities of who she was. She did her research and did a good job of capturing her voice, but has a harder time explaining her actions. Laura isn't always a likeable character, but she's an understandable one. Millay flies into rages and orders all those around her to do her bidding. She orders ex-lovers to return to her side, and plays their affections off one another. Her free-love and open lifestyle had a definite mean and vindictive streak. But because Millay is not Robuck's character, there is little explanation for her actions that can be given beside "temperamental poet." The language is definitely more beautiful in Millay's sections (it is, afterall, in the voice of a poet) but it was Laura's story and Laura's journey that really drew me into the story and kept me turning the pages.

This is not Robuck's first novel based on authors--she also has Call Me Zelda and Hemingway's Girl.


Book Provided by... the publisher, as part of the Fallen Beauty blog tour.

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.

Packing for Mars

Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void Mary Roach

So, this is the first Roach I’ve read. She’s been on my radar forever, but I finally picked some up, and I’m very glad I did. Hilarious and smart writing about science-- sign me up. Packing for Mars is part astronaut history, part space travel technology, and part looking at what we’ll have to figure out what we need if we’re ever going to get to Mars (beyond Congress approving NASA’s budget.)

Along the way she explores the challenges of pooping in zero-gravity (apparently Gemini had a lot of, uh, fecal matter, floating around in the capsule with them) and how to design a really safe seat for take-offs and landings. Not to mention how to find appetizing food (turns out most early space food was designed by veterinarians) and how disorienting bobbing around in zero-gravity is (or how disorienting it is to have OTHER people bobbing by you). And she looks at the differences between a short 2-week max mission (like Gemini and Apollo) to months-long (like ISS stints) to the years it would take to get to Mars.

Very readable and enjoyable (I laughed out loud A LOT, even though I was often in public and got some looks) it’s also a great look at where we’ve been, where we could go, and why we should go there.

I highly recommend, and it is an Outstanding Book for the College Bound.

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.

Interview with Holly Schindler

As part of her blog tour for The Junction of Sunshine and Lucky, Holly Schindler is stopping by to talk to us about her book, writing, and other things!

Your previous novels have been YA-- what's the difference between writing YA and MG and why did you make the switch?

Actually, I started writing YA and MG at the same time. A bit of backstory: I got my master’s in the spring of ’01, and was encouraged to devote full-time attention to getting my writing career off the ground. I still wanted to do my part to pay my own bills, though, so I started teaching music lessons in the afternoons. And I was shocked at how familiar those kids seemed—as familiar as the kids I’d known when I was in school! They actually inspired me to try my hand at writing in the juvenile market; I dove in headfirst, trying both MG and YA at the same time. (The first books I published were YA, but I’d been writing MG all along as well.)

The main difference is that your characters have different abilities, which changes your plot to some extent. Something as simple as the ability to drive can change your book dramatically; a teen has access to a car, so they can go literally anywhere. An MG character has a bike—their “backyard” is much smaller than a teen’s. It changes the shape of the book.

Librarians are always on the look out for books with diversity--especially stories that feature characters of color that aren't about race, so it's worth mentioning that your main character Auggie and the mean girl, Victoria, are both African-American. However, this fact is very subtly coded in the text (and one reference to Auggie feeling like her skin looked like mud while Victoria's was fine imported chocolate) so readers might miss it. Can you talk a bit about diversity in middle grade lit, why you made your characters African-American, and why you wrote it the way you did?

My YAs began with concepts: in A Blue So Dark, I played with the idea of mental illness and creativity being linked; in Playing Hurt, I explored learning the difference between loving someone and being IN love. But THE JUNCTION began with a figure—Grampa Gus. I saw him as clearly as I’ve seen anyone in my life. When I first envisioned him, he was African American. But as I drafted the book, I knew I wanted a neighborhood to look every bit as diverse as the figures in Auggie’s yard. I wanted to show the different faces who were all in the same boat.

Your book deals with a lot of heavier topics--class, beauty, eminent domain, changing friendships, and missing parents, and deals with them well, but it's not a heavy book. Why were these issues important for you to discuss and what was your process for dealing with them without making the story a total bummer?

It’s funny—early critique of the book when I was attempting to shop it was that the original beginning chapters were a bummer. (I certainly didn’t think so, but I did go back and rework those opening chapters several times—even after the book was acquired—in order to make them feel lighter.) The trick is pulling the reader in early on so that they know it’ll be a delight to come to your book—not something they dread! You want to draw a reader back, make sure they will finish your book, be hungry for another read.

If you had Auggie's artistic talent what changes would you make to your house? (Personally, I'm all about colored glass in my windows!)

I’m with you on the colored glass! And the sidewalk—I’d love that, too.

If you could go back in time and talk to yourself when you were Auggie's age, what would your advice be?

Never, never, never be afraid to say what you think. Even when it goes against what everyone else is saying or doing.

What are you working on now?

My next MG—and my next YA, Feral, which releases on August 26! FERAL is my first thriller:

It’s too late for you. You’re dead.

Those words float through Claire Cain’s head as she lies broken and barely alive after a brutal beating. And the words continue to haunt her months later, in the relentless, terrifying nightmares that plague her sleep. So when her father is offered a teaching sabbatical in another state, Claire is hopeful that getting out of Chicago, away from the things that remind her of what she went through, will offer a way to start anew.

But when she arrives in Peculiar, Missouri, Claire quickly realizes something is wrong—the town is brimming with hidden dangers and overrun by feral cats. And her fears are confirmed when a popular high school girl, Serena Sims, is suddenly found dead in the icy woods behind the school. While everyone is quick to say Serena died in an accident, Claire knows there’s more to it—for she was the one who found Serena, battered and most certainly dead, surrounded by the town’s feral cats.

Now Claire vows to learn the truth about what happened, but the closer she gets to uncovering the mystery, the closer she also gets to discovering a frightening reality about herself and the damage she truly sustained in that Chicago alley. . . .

With an eerie setting and heart-stopping twists and turns, Holly Schindler weaves a gripping story that will make you question everything you think you know.

What are you currently reading?

The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing

What are you currently watching?

RAKE. THE AMERICANS. (Not really kid-friendly, eh?)

What are you currently listening to?

The SteelDrivers. Will Hoge (he’s my favorite, actually).

Thanks for stopping by Holly!


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.

Junction of Sunshine and Lucky

The Junction of Sunshine and Lucky Holly Schindler

Auggie likes her neighborhood and going to the dump with her Grandpa Gus, a trash hauler. But her school has closed down, and she and her friends have to go to a different one, in a neighborhood with a lot more money. Suddenly, the fact that Auggie and her friends don't have new things is a big deal. Suddenly Auggie's best friend would rather spend time with Victoria, who sneers at Auggie and Grandpa every chance she can. Victoria's father is on the town council and he's started the House Beautification Committee and everyone has to comply. Auggie has some grand ideas to make her house beautiful, but not everyone agrees with her idea of beauty.

I haven't read any middle grade in a while--my time on Outstanding Books for the College Bound really focused my reading on teen and adult, mostly adult, titles. This was a great re-introduction to the age range. Schindler really captures a lot of Auggie's confusion and the delicate politics of a 5th-grade classroom and changing friendships. I loved Auggie's voice and the brave face she put on. There is A LOT going on under the surface of this story, and some very BIG ISSUES are touched on--class divide between Auggie's neighborhood and the rest of town, eminent domain (the House Beautification Committee will never be happy with Auggie's neighborhood for spoiler-y reasons), the fact that Auggie lives with her Grandpa while her mom is out in California becoming a star. But despite these big issues, it's not a downer book. The story is told through Auggie's voice, and a lot is about her artistic vision for making her house beautiful, making it into its own work of art.

Also, I should note, Auggie's town is very diverse and Schindler writes race with a very sublte hand. Auggie and the mean girl, Victoria, are both African-American. But race doesn't play a role in the story.


Book Provided by... the author, for inclusion in her blog tour.

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.