Two Losers and Two Winners

Young adult books hot off the presses: 

The two books that I did not read, but started to read are Boy Minus Girl  by Richard Uhlig and Handbook for Hot Witches by Dame Darcy.

 

BoyMinus Girl had a striking voice, plenty of sarcasm and might even be a good read, but there were too many references to what teenage boys want to do to teenage girls and I just couldn’t keep going. Having said that, it might be the book that would keep a teenaged boy reading.

 

Handbook for Hot Witches gives the definition of what a hot witch is (probably not what you are thinking from the title) and then gives tips and pointers on how to be the best kind of hot witch in your category. Again, this did not interest me, but I can think of others who might delight in this book.

 

The first winner: Melody Burning by Whitley Strieber. Strieber is a writer for adults and promoter of the supernatural. This is his first attempt at writing for young adults and he does an excellent job! Melody is a young soon-to-be superstar whose mother dominates her life and career. Beresford is a young man who grew up in the bowels of a fancy high rise apartment building in Los Angeles. You will find mystery, romance and family struggles to keep you interested. While some of the plot lines are a little hard to believe, there are strong emotions to keep you interested. 

Emily’s Dress by Kathryn Burak is a dark tale of high school angst about suicide and murder, but ultimately about true love and how to overcome. Claire is trying to finish her final year of high school while reconciling her feelings about her mother’s suicide and her best friend’s sudden disappearance a year before. A loving father and new friends help her to see the good within herself and together they solve the mystery of her former friend’s disappearance. In spite of the dark topics, this is definitely worth reading.

More Picture Books

Sweet Baby Feet by Margaret O’Hair, illustrated by Tracy Dockray

A quick rhyming story about those chubby, cuddly, bouncy baby feet. If you have a toddler in the house, this is a must read. Can’t wait to try it with Wes.

The Chandeliers by Vincent X. Kirsch

The Chandeliers are a family of performing giraffes and until the night of the multiple disasters, Rufus just sits on the sidelines and watches. But, on this, his night of nights, he helps his granny with her costume and his uncle with his lines, he rescues his great-granddaddy and covers for the lighting tech. He does it all, and he gets to take a bow at the end. Hooray for Rufus and all the youngest family members who wait in the sidelines to have their turn in the family spotlight.

The Forgiveness Garden by Lauren Thompson, illustrated by Christy Hale

Dr. Suess told similar stories in the Sneeches and the Butter Battle Book, but it is a story worth telling and one that  unfortunately still needs to be heard. The Vayams and the Gamtes are fighting and a young  Vayam woman is wounded. When her people capture the Gamte who threw the stone at her head, it is her place to throw the first stone at him. But, she refuses. She encourages her people to work with the Gamte people to make a forgiveness garden. The endnotes describe a forgiveness garden in Beirut, Lebanon. My favorite line in the book is at the end when the injured girl and her attacker sit in the garden for the first time, “What do you think they said?” Use this to start the discussion.

Suryia Swims by Bhagavan Antle and Thea Feldman, photographs by Barry Bland. 

Suryia is an orangutan and orangutans do not swim; but Suryia learns to swim with her best friend, Roscoe, the dog. Told in short, simple sentences, the reader follows Suryia in her progression from bathing, to dunking her head in the pool, to frolicking and playing with elephants, tigers and an otter. The photographs make this book with several great underwater shots! (True story)

Rhyming picture books

I have received a number of picture books that rhyme, lately. I usually love the rhythm of the rhyme and recognize how the use of rhymes with early readers increases comprehension as well as attention to language. But, for some of these, it is a stretch. Here they are in the order in which I enjoyed them. The great thing about reading is that some of my bottom picks may be at the top of your list. Enjoy!

Working Mummies by Joan Horton, pictures by Drazen Kozjan

Working Mummies starts and ends with plays on words and works these puns into almost every page. The mummy doctor “doses them with coffin syrup.” And one of my favorites: “This mummy’s a librarian./She has a great selection/ of rare and wiggly book worms/in her specimen collection.” While told in a light hearted way, it sends the message that mummies can do anything, be a manicurist, a dentist or a manufacturer, but no matter what they do, they will come home to “hug their boys and ghouls.” 

Miss Lina’s Ballerinas and the Wicked Wish by Grace Maccarone, pictures by Christine Davenier

Another in the series of dancing ballerinas in Miss LIna’s school. When auditioning for parts in the city ballet, all the little girls get to dance the waltz, except Regina, who is cast to be a dancing rat along with Tony. Regina is so upset that she wishes on of her friends will get sick so she can dance the waltz. As her friends succumb to various illnesses, Regina realizes that she doesn’t want them to be sick, and she would rather dance as a rat. As usual, all’s well that ends well and all dancers perform to their highest abilities.

The Monster Who Lost his Mean by Tiffany Strelitz Haber, pictures by Kirstie Edmunds

Monster loses his M to become a monster who is no longer mean. He is drubbed out of the Monster Forest and bullied by his friends, but finds that being Not Mean is just so much for fun than being Mean. He thinks up mean things to do, but without his M, he just can’t follow through. In the end, his new “people-friends” throw him a party to celebrate his new “Onster” state.  The rhymes work and the cartoon pictures are appealing to all.

 

Frankenstein, a Monstrous Parody by Ludworst Bemonster

Staunch children’s book readers will recognize the parody that begins with, “In a creepy old castle/all covered with spines,/ lived twelve ugly monsters in two crooked lines.” Rick Walton and Nathan Hale have teamed up to write this monstrous take on Bemelmans’ popular Madeline series books. Fun for the older crowd.

Kate and Nate are Running Late by Kate Egan, pictures by Dan Yaccarino

Mother, Kate, and son Nate are running late and the morning is a disaster. Between sleeping past the alarm and falling in a puddle, and not being able to find homework, or shoes or socks, it seems that everything is keeping them to getting to work and school on time. Simple rhymes and a simple story line, but it may appeal more to the moms than to the kids. 

Moby Dick: Chasing the Great White Whale by Eric A. Kimmel, pictures by Andrew Glass

Great pictures and I would say that this certainly moves faster and is told in way fewer words than the original, but am not sure this is a story I would ever read to a child. Interesting concept.