May 2012
VOLUME 3, ISSUE 3
NEW AND OF INTEREST
9
Plague Town: An Ashley Parker Novel Page 8
Brave Dragons: A Chinese Basketball Team, an American Coach, and Two Cultures Clashing
18
Page 20
Carly’s Voice: Breaking Through Autism Page 24
26 95
Every Day’s a Dog’s Day: A Year in Poems Page 41
Welcome to Children’s Book Week! Holy Moly...130 book reviews written by children
Celebration of Children’s Book Week and the Premier of Kids’ Book Review Pages 25- 76
204 Reviews INSIDE!
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San Francisco Book Review • April 2012 • 3
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Ah...it’s FINALLY here! It’s my most favoritest of all the issues we do throughout the year --- the one celebrating Children’s Book Week. This is the fourth year we’ve produced an insert inside our regular May issue that’s written by the children. And boy did we have a blast this year! We shook things up a bit and did it a little differently. We had overwhelming response to our calling for young readers -- which resulted in 51 pages of Children’s, Tweens, and Young Adult reviews written by the kids. You’ll find that starting on page 25. In addition to this whopping insert, we’ve surrounded it by a smattering of our adult reviewers who give you their take on the books they’ve read for us. Spring is in the air, which is always a time for change. It’s with great saddness that we bid farewell to our Associate Editor, Lisa Rodgers, who launched her book publishing career with us after graduating from Sacramento State University over the summer. While we’re very bummed to see her go, we’re also extremely proud that she was accepted for the NYU Summer Publishing Institute and will be moving to NYC in mid-May. You’ll be “seeing” some new faces ‘round here to help fill the huge void that Lisa will leave. We’re proud to have several college students (and some graduates) who intern with us, and will be bringing two of them on as Editorial Assistants, in addition to a new graphic designer to help with publication layout and the website. We’ll be migrating to producing a publication app over the summer, which is very exciting! We hope you enjoy this issue as much as we’ve loved putting it together.
Issue Navigation. Tap/click to go to... Cover San Francisco Book Review • April 2012 • 4
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Book Reviews
Category
Science Fiction & Fantasy
is sought by theater troupes and the competition is intense. Magic is an integral part of the performance, with only one masquer who, through the magic, plays all the parts. The central character, Cade, is the tregetour, a wizard who is both playwright and magic wielder who provides the power for all the magic used on stage. He and his two partners have been seeking a glisker, who must be an elf with the talent to release the magic and create the illusions for the play. When they find Mieka, their search is over, but trouble is just beginning. This is an intriguing look at a fantasy world that deals with art, passion, politics and magic. The stage in this first book in the planned series The Glass Thorns brings the reader into a world they will want to revisit. Rawn draws fascinating characters and keeps her stage small, but she hints of far reaching consequences to come. Reviewed by Beth Revers Intruder: Foreigner #13 By C. J. Cherryh DAW, $25.95, 368 pages, Format: Hard
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Touchstone: Book One of the Glass Thorns By Melanie Rawn Tor, $25.99, 363 pages, Format: Hard
«««« In a world where the paranormal races are inextricably mixed, you find magic talents appearing in surprising ways. Theater is performed by just four people, who are always men. Prized inclusion on the court sponsored circuits
Felicitous thirteen indeed, in this case. That is how deeply we are now into the episodes/volumes of C.J. Cherryh’s Foreigner universe. It’s an appropriate time for resolution, clarification, and revelations, both personal and societal. The author accomplishes all of that, and succeeds as well in doing something only she could. She makes the manifestation of the atevi bonding reflex, manchi, emotionally and rationally satisfying for human sensibilities whilst emphasizing the alienness of it as well as she always has. Additionally, she continues to masterfully development the characters, both human and atevi. Bren now essays nearly independent actions and plans, incorporating his vast knowledge of atevi clans and personae to negotiate for the inclusion of clans and territories into the central government, while out of communication and in considerable personal danger. Young Cajeiri is learning how to collect manchi for himself and how to carve a life out of the forced isolation his father’s prominence thrusts on the family. Much time is spent in the young fellow’s desperately sincere point of view, enriching the experience.
San Francisco Book Review • April 2012 • 5
Book Reviews
Science Fiction & Fantasy
Tabini, central to Bren’s efforts, shines light on many tangles and quandries. A fine weave! Reviewed by David Lloyd Sutton The Clockwork Vampire Chronicles By Andy Remic Angry Robot, $15.99, 891 pages, Format: Trade
««« Kell was a ferocious warrior, a man who inspired legends. In retirement and caring for his beloved granddaughter Nienna, he finds himself called back into action against the Army of Iron, a horrendous legion of vampiric warriors slaughtering its way across the kingdom in a frenzied blitzkrieg. Now it’s up to Kell, Nienna, Nienna’s friend Kat, and lecherous swordsman Saark to elude their terrible foes and warn the king. As the intrepid group wages a seemingly endless campaign for survival, they’ll confront monsters, magic, treachery, and terror. Awash in gore, speckled with sex, and balls-out in every sense of the word, The Clockwork Vampire Chronicles compendium is sword and sorcery as directed by Rob Zombie. Never failing to skimp on the visceral details or pass up an opportunity at a lusty interlude, this trilogy is a LOT of story for your money, though it’s hardly everybody’s cup of tea. Reveling in elaborately brutal descriptions of every axe blow, the book can be something of a chore as you struggle through pages-long recounts of violent skirmishes, but the narrative as a whole is suitably epic, instilling a surprising amount of depth and history to this curious world, even as it’s torn asunder. Reviewed by Glenn Dallas
7 Scorpions: Revolution By Mike Saxton Sagido Publishing, $18.50, 518 pages, Format: Trade
«««.5 Scorpions must remain true to the nature and sometimes that means a little revenge is in order. 7 Scorpions Revolution picks up the fight a year and a half later, as Militia 28 has found out about a clone of the presidential “football” (the briefcase with all of the nuclear missile codes) and a working nuclear bomb, and have sent teams to recover them. Although the rescue doesn’t turn out as well as they would hope, they now have the means to deal Zodiac a finishing blow. However, Zodiac learns where the rebel base is and is out for blood. Secrets are revealed along the way, and Zodiac is finally unmasked, all as a prelude to the conclusion of the series. This book follows the genre standard that the second book must be darker, and it delivers it in spades. A number of characters are killed as the missions prove deadlier than they have the past, and there are a number of gamechanging revelations here. Although used quite a bit, some of the flashbacks could have been handled through other techniques better, they do add to the generally irreverent tone of the book; they become a running gag unto themselves that works rather well, especially once Zodiac is revealed and you figure which memories are his. This is a sequel that shows how much fun sequels can be. Militia 28 is working as a team, and dealing with upsets as best they can. Even as the heroes are mowed down, you can’t help but root for even the most throwaway characters and hope that the Grand Army will be defeated, even as it looks more hopeless with every battle. It should be interesting to see what Vince and company does in the next book, assuming that they live to see it. Sponsored Review
San Francisco Book Review • April 2012 • 6
Book Reviews
Science Fiction & Fantasy
Triggers By Robert J. Sawyer Ace, $25.95, 340 pages, Format: Hard
««««« The United States is under siege by terrorists. While preparations for a counteroffensive are laid, the president is struck down. As he’s rushed to the nearest hospital for surgery, a scientist begins an experimental treatment to ease the traumatic memories of a PTSD-afflicted soldier. But when a bomb destroys the White House and the ensuing electromagnetic pulse affects the experiment, it triggers an impossible sideeffect: people begin to share the memories of others. Including the president. And secrets have a way of getting out... I admit, I was a bit dubious when I read the book jacket teaser of Sawyer’s latest, Triggers, but I should have known better. Robert J. Sawyer’s greatest gift has always been his ability to incorporate the human element into stories about complex scientific ideas, and Triggers is one of his most emotional and successful to date. While the hunt for the person possessing the President’s memories is interesting, it holds a distant second place to the enthralling exploration of how this accident has linked the lives of these people. Learning their backstories and watching the consequences unfold is a genuine treat. Despite the near-dystopian setting, Triggers is haunting in its optimism. It was a joy to read. Reviewed by Glenn Dallas Kendrick and Sara of Draconia By K. T. Tran Open Sail Books, $14.95, 279 pages Format: Trade
«««« Disclaimer: I am not, nor have I ever been, a science fiction/fantasy fan. Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, let me go on to say that K.T. Tran’s intricate tale of Kendrick and Sara’s ill-
fated love and desire to save the world from the Dark Lord held my interest from beginning to end. Tran successfully sucked me in and didn’t let me go until the last page. That, my friends, is the earmark of a talented writer. K.T. Tran has earned my praises with this work of fiction. I think that what entrances the reader most of all is that Kendrick and Sara of Draconia is a touching love story and a battle against evil in equal parts. The evil God of War is finally able to unleash his plan of cleansing the world by plunging it into darkness just as Kendrick and Sara meet and discover their love – which has gone on for a millennium without their knowledge. If all of this sounds confusing, I assure you that – in the hands of Tran – it strangely makes perfect sense in the novel. Will Kendrick and Sara be able to save the world? Will the God of War take over and reduce everything to darkness and dust? Will their love be able to withstand the battle? Will they continue to live on immortally (as they have so far)? These are the questions that keep you turning the pages...and I wouldn’t dare spoil the fun for you. Let’s just say, the ending is a stunner. Science fiction far or not – this is a winner and gets my vote! Sponsored Review
John Boyne The Absolutist John is the author of seven novels for adults and two for children. The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas won two Irish Book Awards, was shortlisted for the British Book Award, reached No.1 on the New York Times Bestseller List and was made into an award-winning Miramax feature film. His novels are published in over 40 languages. He lives in Dublin.
Click/Tap to listen to the inter view. San Francisco Book Review • April 2012 • 7
Book Reviews
is recruited to join a secret paramilitary organization that will train her fight back. Together with a group of fellow wild cards and Gabriel, their hunky instructor, Ashley realizes that the fate of Redwood Grove, and potentially the world, rests in their hands. At times Fredstis’ writing style seems to be a parody of similar stories in the genre. Her descriptions of blood and gore scenes are a bit overdone. Ashley’s inner dialogue can be corny. Because the wild cards are already immune, they don’t have much to lose and the stakes don’t seem as high as they should be. There are better zombie horror stories out there, but this is a fun read if you’re looking for a quick date with the living dead. Reviewed by Kathryn Franklin
Category
Horror
Plague Town: An Ashley Parker Novel By Dana Fredsti Titan Books, $7.99, 359 pages, Format: Mass
«««« Once you have caught the Walker’s flu, there is very little hope. After several days of horrible aches and pains, you die…and then you get back up again with an insatiable hunger for human flesh. That’s the way it goes, unless you are a “wild card” – immune to the virus and any subsequent bites. Ashley Parker is a wild card and the heroine of Dana Fredstis’ horror novel Plague Town. Once healed, Ashley San Francisco Book Review • April 2012 • 8
Book Reviews
Category
Mystery, Crime & Thriller
Seven years later, the now-32 Driver is back in Driven, living in Phoenix. On the first page of this lean, terse, brutal sequel, he and his fiancée Elsa go for a walk (!). Elsa is dead and the two assassins are dead by Driver’s hands. The mob has shown up, apparently to kill him. As our fifth largest city, it’s difficult to write about Phoenix’s mean streets, since presumably they’re so hot and wide to walk. But Sallis captures the strangely featureless artificial city. Driver gets a new ride—an anonymous Fairlane and the bad guys keep tracking him down as he dispatches them one after another, sometimes having a philosophical dialogue beforehand. Nothing coheres in this brutish universe as Driver tries to get to the source of all this hired help trying to shut him down. “Do the dots connect?’ asks Manny, Driver’s old friend. “Could all be random.” That’s the essence of the Sallis universe, where his loners like Driver can only labor like Sisyphus endlessly and unavailing for eternity battling the “unapprehended forces.” Reviewed by Phil Semler Anatomy of Injustice: A Murder Case Gone Wrong By Raymond Bonner Knopf, $26.95, 299 pages, Format: Hard
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Driven By James Sallis Poisoned Pen Press, $19.95, 148 pages, Format: Hard
««««« Drive, James Sallis’s 2005 neo-noir-revenge-vendetta classic, was made into a 2011 movie with Hollywood hunk Ryan Gosling. Sallis didn’t write the screenplay, the film had many changes, not all bad, but that’s the movies— it was a visual homage to the 60s Steve McQueen--not Sallis’s literary homage to the 50s pulp.
In 1982, an elderly white widow was murdered in a small South Carolina town. Within days, a semiliterate and mentally retarded black man were arrested on flimsy evidence. He was found guilty and sentenced to death row. Raymond Bonner, winner of a Pulitzer Prize, details the twists and turns of the justice de-railed in Anatomy of Injustice: A Murder Case Gone Wrong. Bonner was once a reporter for The New York Times, who spent several weeks on assignment looking into capital punishment. During this reporting, he learned of the case of Edward Lee Elmore and his seven-day trial and the subsequent appeals and trials. After being on death row for more than a decade, Diana Holt, a Texas-native lawyer, started championing Elmore’s case. The reader is taken back to the 1980s South and forward into the legal challenges that ultimately reveal injustice. An investigative reporter and former lawyer, Bonner’s well-
San Francisco Book Review • April 2012 • 9
Book Reviews
Mystery, Crime & Thrillers
honed skills are evident as he spends time painstakingly illustrating the crime, the community in which the crime took place, Elmore’s life—in and out of prison—and Holt’s fervent belief in justice. Anatomy of Injustice is a fascinating nonfiction read. Reviewed by Elizabeth Humphrey Manhattan Mortar Attacks By Diogenes Laputa Diogenes, $0.99, 850 KB, Format: eBook
«««« Hello mortar, hello fodder. God help the author if he finds that to be an outrageous pun as he has me trumped. The hero of this actioner is named Sam Adams, while a scientist of debatable loyalties carries the burden of the name Dr. Mossad. Whether or not one enjoys this kind of thing -- I haven’t mentioned a certain rear door entrance named Paris Hilton until now -- depends on whether one enjoys this kind of thing. Puns are like cigarettes, either a source of satisfaction or the cause of cancer. I leave the choice up to you. All this hoof to the mouth wordplay aside, Manhattan Mortar Attacks is an entertaining action book. The bad guys have glommed onto a mortar system that can precisely target, whilst the good guys (led by the foamy Sam Adams) seek to wrestle it back. No harm there and there’s fun to be had. The media, of course, are as dumb as cattle in a hail storm, staring upwards and seeing nothing until nothing thwacks them in the head. Once Sam Adams uses his head (don’t try and out-pun me, boy) and suggests manipulating the plodding internet and broadcast media for their own investigative efforts does the plot take off. If one takes Manhattan Mortar Attacks as a grimly serious Tom Clancy-style novel, well you couldn’t be more doomed. If, on the other hand, one enjoys the whimsicality of Ian Fleming in his James Bond/Pussy Galore days, this might just be the book for you. Strangely, the more you see through the book, the more fun you’ll have. Sponsored Review
Off the Grid By Blaine C. Readler Full Arc Press, $14.95, 237 pages, Format: Trade
«««« Off The Grid is a cautionary thriller. It will keep you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end with its combination of genetic modifications, fantasy elements, and a love story. I can assure you that you will never look at the field of cloning the same again! After losing her beloved nephew in a tragic accident, Fels convinces her reluctant husband, Carl, to abandon their cushy, ultra-modern life in San Diego and move to a remote cabin in the middle of the Cuyamaca Mountains. To say that Carl isn’t thrilled with this arrangement would be an understatement, but his love for Fels prevails and he vows to make do with this new life -- and even makes a strange new friend in the mountain elder, who takes it upon himself to educate Carl on the ancient Indian tribes and tales of the mountains. Little does Carl know, this information will prove incredibly important. Fels returns home from her job at a biotech with a ferret -- a lab animal that no longer has a role in the lab. She falls in love with the little creature and eventually comes to believe that this ferret is actually her nephew reincarnated. When the ferret becomes pregnant and gives birth, she is overjoyed. That is, until it’s discovered that there is something very very wrong with these ferrets -- they’re genetically modified to be evil! Suddenly everyone’s life is in danger. The ferrets are out for blood and death. There’s no escaping and what was once a love simple country life turns into warfare. Who will win in the end? You’re gonna have to read the book to find out.... and I suggest that you do! It’s a winner for sure. Sponsored Review
San Francisco Book Review • April 2012 • 10
Book Reviews
Mystery, Crime & Thrillers
Crime Montage By Patricia L. Morin Top, $14.95, 214 pages, Format: Trade
«««« When you see the word “crime” in a book title you, might automatically think of actions that result in police investigations, trials, jail time. But Crime Montage doesn’t limit itself to legal drama. This book shows that crime can be so much more than that. What about moral, but not legal, crimes? Crimes committed by creatures from other worlds? Planning a crime, but not following through? Imagining a crime? Crimes that seem excusable, even by the victim? Crime Montage is made up of ten short stories and one poem that encompass all kinds of concepts of crime. Crime Montage includes pieces in so many different genres, moods, time periods, and settings that it seems amazing that they were all written by the same author. If I didn’t see only one author’s name on the book spine, I never would have believed it! Patricia Morin tries on so many different hats–humor, suspense, horror, paranormal– that each short story feels fresh and unexpected. Crime Montage jumps from laugh aloud funny to goose bump creepy to a satisfying puzzle to untangle. It’s hard to believe that any reader will not find at least one story that is in the style they enjoy. Morin also manages to pull off a few of my favorites: surprise endings. Don’t miss “Murder Most Fowl!” With each paragraph, I changed my mind about what I simply knew would happen – and in the end I was totally surprised! With such a variety to choose from you’ll find that once you start reading, you won’t want to put down Crime Montage until page 214. And when you reach that final page, you’ll find yourself asking, “Did she write any other book?” Happily, the answer is “Yes!” Sponsored Review
Murder and Mayhem: 52 Crimes That Shocked Early California 1849-1949 By Michael Thomas Barry Schiffer Publishing, $19.99, 192 pages, Format: Trade
«««.5 What is the fascination with the criminally-minded? As humans, we are intrigued to know what lurks behind the physical offense and travel deeper into the psychosis of a killer, as dangerous as it seems, it is even more so and we are engaged by the “why’s” and “who’s” of it all. We get to be amateur sleuths and use our intellect, along with given clues, in a way we rarely do in everyday life. And it has been going on like this since the beginning. In Murder and Mayhem, we are invited to go back in time with 52 of the most unforgettable, and some lesser known, crime headlines. If you find yourself curling up in front of the TV on Law and Order night or unable to turn out the reading lamp when faced with a good thriller, you will be entertained and enthralled by the stories set in early California days. With cases as infamous as The Black Dahlia, The Black Widow (a.k.a. Louise Peete), Joaquin Murrieta, the bombing of the Los Angeles Times Building, and the killing of the notorious Bugsy Siegel, readers are taken through a brief, yet thoroughly absorbing, tale of the crimes while incorporating black and white photos and detailed accounts relying on time and, sometimes, real account witnesses. As an unbiased account of crimes, this is a quick and appealing read, answering some questions for those of us who have only heard of these stories as legends and sometimes not finding answers at all, but peeling back the layers and inviting in more research and interest. As a reader of short stories, I appreciate the quick accounts; some stories are one page, while the more notorious or historically backed reach longer lengths of several pages. There could be more back story in some of these stories. There are some grammatical errors that have been missed
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Book Reviews
Mystery, Crime & Thrillers
and with so many details and names in each case, sometimes the reading (even in brief passages) can be a tad overwhelming. Nonetheless, a curious read that is worth checking out if you are a history buff and a would-be forensic detective. Who knows, you may even be motivated to dig deeper. Sponsored Review The Men Made of Stone By Logan Lo Grifters, $2.99, 473 KB, Format: eBook
«««.5 Let’s start with praise that I consider of the highest order. Logan Lo’s novel The Men Made of Stone has enough going for it that, while reading, I kept thinking back to Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange. Both have a strong and unyielding hum of ultra-violence. Both have outbursts of humanity and humor that stand out sharply from the hum. Those breaks become gasps of welcome air to parched lungs, and this is not an effect one runs into in humdrum, grind ‘em out action thrillers. It’s a pity really that the director of the film version of A Clockwork Orange, Stanley Kubrick, remains dead, as in his hands, there would be a quite intriguing film here. There are as many excellent books and movies about the Italian
Mafia as you can shake a cannoli at, yet the equal intrigue of the competing Asian organized crime mobs of New York have not received the same treatment. Then again, Asian stories, as a whole, have not really received their due in terms of marketing and publicity. Logan Lo’s novel is not for the casual reader--let’s be clear about this. Rather ominously, before one reads the first chapter, there is a two-page list of characters, like the dramatis personae in Shakespeare. Personally, I never needed to refer to it, finding that the flow of Lo’s story about the club owner named C and his encounters with the mobs managed to explain itself just fine. Amidst the violence, there are pieces of knowledge interjected that give the whole a certain veritas, such as the Asian mobs picking up the sending of a black rose to an impending victim. Good ideas are always worth sharing. A book not for the weak of heart, but one that will please the strong of mind. Sponsored Review
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“Sad Wings Of Providence” : a good vs. evil tale of faith, doubt, trust and deception. Question the possibilities …
Sadwings.com San Francisco Book Review • April 2012 • 12
Book Reviews
Category
Historical Fiction
The Family Affair By Leon H. Gildin Diamond River Books, $16.95, 226 pages, Format: Trade
der coercion during her captivity kept her (and her beloved friend/husband Chaim) alive until they were able to live free – but also destroy her decades later. Gildin’s novels are a wonderful example of the adage “we are as sick as our secrets” – and no one is haunted more than Rosa. The Polski Affair tells Rosa’s story of captivity in the Nazi ghetto, her fateful meeting with her now-husband, Chaim, and most importantly, her time as a personal (and sexual) servant to a Nazi Commander at the Hotel Polski. The orders she followed during her time at the Polski allowed her and Chaim to finally find freedom; but keep her in bondage of regret until she is given the chance to return to the scene of the crime and participate in the War Crimes Trial by testifying against the very man who kept her captive, but who then also freed her and her husband. It is there that she begins to pick up the pieces of her soul and come to a place of acceptance of the past. That is, until her own son’s research into the hotel threatens to break open that door to the past in The Family Affair. Through his research, he discovers that his mother has been hiding the fact that his father is actually the Nazi Commander. He flies to meet the commander (who has been convicted of war crimes), stumbles across a half brother whom everyone thought was dead, and returns to push all the secrets into the open. The consequences of this create an ending that is bittersweet, but excellently executed, by the author. These are two must-reads for anyone interested in historical fiction. I enjoyed them wholeheartedly. Sponsored Review Hide Me Among the Graves By Tim Powers William Morrow, $25.99, 511 pages, Format: Hard
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«««« The Polski Affair By Leon H. Gildin Diamond River Books, $16.95, 194 pages, Format: Trade
«««« In two of the most powerful novels I’ve read in a while, Leon Gildin explores the emotional consequences of surviving the Holocaust through the story of Rosa Feurmann and her family. We witness how the decisions she made un-
Hide Me Among the Graves by Tim Powers sees us in an alternate history with a group featuring the Rossetti family confronting vampires, a dangerous revenant, and assorted ghosts to keep themselves and Victorian London safe. Although it’s not a real sequel to The Stress of Her Regard, there are family connections and the theme of the Nephilim and their ability
San Francisco Book Review • April 2012 • 13
Book Reviews
Historical Fiction
to attach themselves to humans remains the same. The language describing the lives and deaths of people in Britain’s capital is beautifully evocative as the plot winds carefully through historical fact to reveal the secret history hidden beneath. There’s a real irony that becomes apparent as the story unwinds. It seems these poets and artists only produce their very best work when they are under the “influence” of these “vampires.” This makes them hesitate. How hard should they push to dispose of these creatures when the price would be a loss in the quality of their poetry and paintings? What sharpens their determination is that there are immediate threats to innocent children. Some sacrifices are unacceptable. So they make what they hope will be a decisive move. This is a fascinating read for anyone who enjoys historical supernatural drama. Reviewed by David Marshall
Fans who loved de Rosnay’s runaway bestseller Sarah’s Key may be disappointed this time around. Though the historical aspects will be enlightening to modern-day readers, they are not nearly as compelling as the subject matter of the former novel. Even the dangling carrot of a long-kept secret, a favorite theme in de Rosnay’s work, wears a bit thin in this latest effort. Shortcomings notwithstanding, the novel’s sense of place will resonate with many readers. Rose’s personal crisis drives her to write letters to her late husband, Armand, intertwining descriptions and memories of their home and community. The evocative scene on the book’s dust jacket beckons with a depiction of the two elegant lovers strolling between straight rows of blazing yellow trees toward the house they loved. You may just follow them home. Reviewed by Diana Irvine
The House I Loved By Tatiana de Rosnay St. Martin’s Press, $25.99, 222 pages, Format: Hard «««.5 Wrecking crews inch closer, but silver-haired widow Rose Brazelet refuses to abandon her beloved home, site of cherished memories and Rose’s painful secret. In her latest novel, Tatiana de Rosnay returns to her forte: mingling Parisian history with family secrets. Set in the 1860s, The House I Loved explores the emotional impact of Napoleon III’s modernization of Paris, which required the demolition of whole neighborhoods over a two-decade period.
In the King’s Name By Alexander Kent McBooks Press, $16.95, 263 pages, Format: Trade
“It was as if a giant had lumbered out here,
and with a huge, clumsy hand, like an angry child, he had knocked away the little streets I had known all my life.”
«« As a huge fan of good historic fiction, I was immensely pleased to open my mailbox and find In the King’s Name by Douglas Reeman (pseudonym Alexander Kent) waiting for me. I had heard amazing things about the Bolitho series. The series follows the military adventures of Royal Naval Officers Richard and Adam Bolitho from the American Revolution through the Napoleonic Era. If you are a fan of the Bolitho novels, I’ve got some bad news for you. The story was confusing and disjointed. The book takes place in the early 1800s, yet the sailors use modern American slang. The storylines don’t come to any sort of conclusion either. I was not impressed. In the King’s Name begins in 1819 when Adam Bolitho is ordered to go to Freetown, West Africa, with secret order’s for the outpost’s senior officer. Danger, intrigue, and runins with dangerous slave traders await the newly married
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Book Reviews
Historical Fiction
and fiery Naval Officer. As the reader, I wasn’t sure exactly what the “mission” was. The storyline seemed disoriented and confused, as if it was full of ideas and potential but was many edits away from being something good. I’m not sure whether I’d have liked the book more had I read the rest of the series first, but as a stand-alone novel I’d say In the King’s Name missed the mark. Reviewed by Jennifer Melville Sonoma Rose: An Elm Creek Quilt Novel By Jennifer Chiaverini Dutton, $25.95, 401 pages, Format: Hard
««« Jennifer Chiaverini has tasked herself with exploring turbulent periods in American history through the eyes and lives of women. Sonoma Rose is set in California during the Prohibition era. It focuses on the near-destruction of the wine industry by over-zealous Federal agents. Rosa Diaz Barclay flees an abusive bootlegger husband with her four children and her lover, Lars Jorgensen. They go to ground in Sonoma County, where they learn the art of wine-making and the inestimable value of friendship. The book is plot driven and the plot is intricate. The characters are lightly sketched and not given to introspection. Rosa particularly comes across more like the vaporous heroine of a soap opera than the earthy, loving woman she is intended to be. Lars could be interesting if he had a more active role. The Italian-American family who shelter the runaways are vibrant and lusty but seem to fall out of the story when they have served their purpose. The portrait of Prohibition and its proponents through the vantage points of beleaguered vintners is fascinating. The relentless persecution of the wine making families by revenuers, who would not rest until the lawbreakers were jailed, is particularly poignant. Read this one for the history instead of the relationships. Reviewed by Elizabeth Benford
The Shoemaker’s Wife: A Novel By Adriana Trigiani Harper, $26.99, 468 pages, Format: Hard
««« When Ciro Lazzari and his brother, Eduardo, were ten and eleven years old, their widowed mother abandoned them at a convent in the Italian Alps. Five years later, the nuns arranged for Eduardo to study for the priesthood and for Ciro to apprentice to a shoemaker in New York City. Ciro is a survivor. Though his child heart was broken, he grows up, learns a trade, fights for America in the Great War, and returns to New York to locate and marry his childhood sweetheart, Vincenza.
“Beware
the things of this world that can mean nothing or everything.” Enza is also a survivor. She sails to America to seek her fortune, almost dies of seasickness, and is worked like a slave by a distant relative. She manages to learn English, make an Irish-American friend, move to New York, and find work as a seamstress at the Metropolitan, where she sometimes cooks pasta for her countryman, Enrico Caruso. Adriana Trigiani based these adventurous emigrants on her grandparents. Her admiration for her forbears often approaches reverence. Enza and Ciro are prone to musing for pages on life’s vicissitudes, which appreciably slows the pace of the novel. Nevertheless, for those of us fond of shedding nostalgic tears, this is a satisfying read. Reviewed by Elizabeth Benford
San Francisco Book Review • April 2012 • 15
“
After completing my first novel, I didn’t mind when people came up to me after a reading and talked to me as if I had personally experienced the wars between Palestine and Israel in the 1960s. I must admit it was flattering after so many years of being a mere shadow on a landscape upon which my mother, great-grandmother, and greatgreat grandmother were born. My mother’s family were native Jewish Palestinians, dating far back to the beginning of the nineteenth century when my great-grandmother and great-grandfather settled in ancient Jerusalem, beginning our family. My grandfather founded and ran the very first department store in old Jerusalem, my uncles, aunts, and mother all fought in the Jewish underground from the 1930s through the creation of the State of Israel. Some branches of the family even dated as far back to Palestine as the 1600s. Though I had never personally experienced the causalities and sorrows of the constant war in Jerusalem, I felt a rightful heir to its history, current and past. So I did not bother to correct the many people who assumed that, like my main character, I had absconded behind the borders as
a young girl of only fourteen, running off with an American diplomat’s son. I didn’t, of course, do any of those things and was usually safe inside my grandmother’s home when I visited Israel as a child, the fighting far away.
During my many visits to my mother’s family house in Jerusalem from my home in America, I wasn’t even permitted to go into the streets if there was news of another skirmish. Still, I relished the new self-definition my first novel gave me. Though I lived in America, my mother took me every three years to spend summers in Jerusalem since I was a very young child. When I published Edges, I was suddenly recognized as a person who had a “voice” in a history, where before I had felt an outsider, only a child in a vastly fascinating, though violent and foreign, land. I had finally laid claim to my heritage by writing a fiction convincing enough for people to think I had lived its history myself. I had no idea where this new presumptuousness would lead until I wrote and published my second novel, Hysteria. This time, I wrote about a psychotic woman incarcerated inside a mental institution in 1974. Set in the turbulent 1970s, Hysteria is a story of a young woman who retreats from the outside world into a world of delusion and the private terrors of a New York City Psychiatric Hospital. Suffering from a sexual delusion and just plain “crazy,” I had hoped my character would be affecting and moving to readers. I took great pains trying to describe her inner life
San Francisco Book Review • April 2012 • 16
Viewpoints Article
as authentically and convincingly as I could. I wanted to make her feel “real” to the reader, the issues of mental illness were so pressing for me, I had witnessed too many people suffer under society’s stigma. What I didn’t bank on was that readers, as with Edges, would immediately assume I was writing pure autobiography. That the mentally ill character was really me. I was introduced as a “memoirist” many times (though the novel is written as a narrative in third person) and everywhere I read, people looked at me with great consternation and concern. Many said things like “I am so sorry you went into a mental hospital when you were young. I do hope this writing was therapeutic for you.” What? I wanted to scream. It’s not me, I’m not her. No, I was NEVER crazy like that. But the more I protested, the more people thought I was only being defensive, nodding but not believing me, “Sure, I understand,” they would retort. I don’t have a clear answer for the contradictory pleasures in creating a fiction narrative that convinces readers that you, the writer, are, indeed, the main character. It is both a fine compliment and a curse that people believe your fiction is so “real” and you can congratulate yourself for achieving such convincing, authentic-sounding prose. Perhaps this confusion on the reader’s part reflects a more profound problem in our story-telling world that now includes reality TV shows, and a myriad of confessional tell-all memoirs, rarely separating truth from fiction. But it is a given these days as a published writer, that although you’ve published your work as “a novel,” the first question in nearly every interview and book club visit is whether the book is based on a true story. How one answers that has proven to me to be a lot more complicated
than I once imagined. Where does truth end and fiction begin when, often, if a book is good, it will tell a deeper truth through inventing a fiction to contain it, or as Picasso once said, “Art is the lie that tells the truth.” In such a blurring of boundaries, there are a lot of spaces the reader will fill in. How an author will suffer or delight in the mix-up seems a new challenge.
About Leora Skolkin-Smith
Leora Skolkin-Smith was born in Manhattan in 1952, and spent her childhood between Pound Ridge, New York, and Israel, traveling with her family to her mother’s birthplace in Jerusalem every three years. She earned her BA and MFA and was awarded a teaching fellowship for graduate work, all at Sarah Lawrence. Her first published novel, Edges was edited and published by the late Grace Paley for Ms. Paley’s own imprint at Glad Day books. Edges was nominated for the 2006 PEN/ Faulkner Award and The PEN/ Ernest Hemingway Award by Grace Paley; a National Women Studies Association Conference Selection; a Bloomsbury Review Pick, 2006: “Favorite Books of the Last 25 Years”; a Jewish Book Council Selection, 2005; and won the 2008 Earphones Award for an original audio production narrated by Tovah Feldshuh. In addition, it is currently in development as a feature film, produced by Triboro Pictures. Leora was recently a panelist, on “Israel in Fiction” at the The Miami International Book Fair, 2006, and a panelist, on “War in Writing”, at the Virginia Festival of the Book, 2006. She is currently a contributing editor to readysteadybook.com. and her critical essays have been published in The Washington Post, The National Book Critic’s Circle’s Critical Mass, and other places. Her latest novel, Hystera, will be published by Fiction Studio Books this November.
San Francisco Book Review • April 2012 • 17
Book Reviews
Category
Popular Fiction
new world of selecting curriculum and sticking to a schedule, balancing children of different grades with a baby, managing the house, and maintaining relationships with her husband, family, and friends. You will laugh and cry, learn new things, and find new inspiration on every page. Whether you homeschool or not, you’ll be able to relate to Julianne’s struggles, fears, joys, and accomplishments as a parent. I could not put this book down and have since shared it with every homeschooling mom I know! From one homeschooling mother to another, brava, Mrs. Hawkins! “This year of homeschooling and mothering has been one of the hardest years ever, but one of the best,” Hawkins concludes her novel, “I wouldn’t trade those hours with my children for all the treasure or leisure in the world.” I felt as if the author were speaking to me and offering encouragement for our own homeschooling journey. Pick this book up today and share it with someone you love. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! Reviewed by Jennifer Melville Lone Wolf: A Novel By Jodi Picoult Atria Books, $28.00, 421 pages, Format: Hard
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The Homeschool Experiment: A Novel By Charity Hawkins Familyman Ministries, $12.99, 244 pages, Format: Trade
««««« Homeschooling parents around the world, rejoice! Charity Hawkin’s The Homeschool Experiment is the mainstream, hilarious, and refreshingly accurate homeschooling book you’ve been waiting for. Julianne Miller’s husband would love her to homeschool their three kids and she feels God nudging her to give it a try. She’s an intelligent, capable adult and adores her children, so how hard could it be? She jumps headfirst into a
Jodi Picoult fans certainly will not be disappointed with her latest novel, Lone Wolf, a story of Lucas Warren, a divorced wolf biologist who has dedicated most of his life to studying wolves. Luke has lost sight of the needs of his family and given up everything to live among the wolf pack. When he and his daughter Cara are involved in a serious motor vehicle accident, he is left fighting for his life on a ventilator. Cara’s estranged brother, Edward, is summoned to return home after several years, and is Luke’s only legal next-of-kin. Things become complicated as Cara and Edward have differing opinions as to Luke’s final wishes, and a legal battle ensues. Secrets are revealed and the family is on the verge of being torn apart. Picoult masterfully demonstrates her talent. The characters are well developed. The reader is drawn into each of their lives and can feel nothing but empathy for each of them. Picoult’s in-depth research on wolves and their behavior is well expressed and articulated beautifully
San Francisco Book Review • April 2012 • 18
Book Reviews
Popular Fiction
throughout the story as we learn about them from Luke’s perspective. Her research on traumatic brain injuries and the legal issues involved regarding life support and organ donation are also vital to her story, making her characters true-to-life. An interesting look at animal behavior, this poignant novel is certain to be well worth the read. Reviewed by Jennifer Ochs Heart’s Blood By Elizabeth Zinn CreateSpace, $13.95, 254 pages, Format: Trade
stay with you forever--that is how powerful theses characters are emotionally. Another great aspect of the book is the interesting mix of American, Mexican, and Indian culture - much like the Southwest itself. It is an honest and true representation of that lifestyle. Heart’s Blood is a nostalgic western mixed with a modern drama, primed with enough action to keep you wanting more. But the best thing about this book is its heart. Sponsored Review
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Diving for Carlos, or, Heroes’ Welcome Blues By William J. Jackson CreateSpace, $14.95, 411 pages, Format: Trade
I’ve been to Arizona once, and this book reminds me of the desert landscape and the people there better than any picture I took. The plot of this story follows one man, Tyler McNeil, or you can just call him Ty. After the death of his parents and a failed marriage, Ty gets the urge to move to a home near the border of Mexico, in Arizona. As he leaves rodeo life behind, he buys a rough rodeo horse named RedEye, a horse that is beaten up and headed for slaughter. This is a second chance for both of them. Starting over fresh on the ranch, Ty unexpectedly becomes a father. Lita, his adopted daughter, is now the center of his life and a new source of strength and anxiety. Of course, this life is not without twists and turns. Lita’s birth father resurfaces, close friends die, and a deep secret about Ty’s past threatens to undo his new family. It is these struggles that make this a great book. Along with friends and family, Ty builds a new life and shows that everyone deserves a second chance. The central theme in the book is that family and blood ties are not needed to feel connected. In fact, a relationship built on circumstance can be even stronger than a connection of blood. Every character, and even the animals, feels genuine in this book. I loved Blue, the old family dog, who would sit in the hallway and protect baby Lita. I even cried when Suzanne died of cancer. After reading this book, the people in it will
In this part-stream of consciousness, part-science fiction, part-modern day mythology, Hector returns to his hometown, Silvis, Illinois, after Carlos visits him in a dream one year after committing suicide. Hector sees the dream as a sign to rediscover his past and that of his hometown. Jackson bases the characters Scoto and Lucian on the Great Plains myth of the two trickster brothers. Scoto secretly runs the town through political and financial channels. Jackson dedicates more than one chapter to Scoto’s speeches, vitriolic diatribes aimed at the innocent Father Lucian, who attempts to stop Scoto’s abuse of people and the environment. These explicit speeches could offend sensitive readers and detract from the other characters and the plot of the story. Hector, Lucian, and their friends attempt to stop Scoto’s destruction of their town before Hector leaves to fight in Vietnam. While large sections of the book are difficult to plow through because of their explicit content, Jackson creates a three-dimensional world. By the end of the novel, the reader knows Hector and his friends well and empathizes with their story of growing up in a corrupt town and fighting in a destructive war. Sponsored Review
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San Francisco Book Review • April 2012 • 19
Book Reviews
Category
Modern Literature
Chinese/American relations as it is about basketball, thus offering up something for both the sports enthusiast and the poli/sci buff. If you are one of the lucky ones in whom both topics tickle your fancy – then this book is a gift from the heavens to you. For those of us not particularly stirred by either topic, this might not be the book exact book for us. Jim Yardley is an excellent writer, his ability to weave a story together with facts and entertainment is exceptional, and the reader can tell that he has grown to care deeply about China and the men he watched try to achieve stardom. Brave Dragons tells the story of the Chinese Basketball Association and their attempts at westernizing (and thereby improving) their teams by bringing in the American players and coaches. Problems inevitably arise in terms of cultures clashing and tempers flaring all over the place. This is an experiment borne out of a good idea but not very easily executed. In the end, the cultural differences between the nations were simply too great to achieve real success. The book, however is worthy of its own success. Overall, Brave Dragons piqued and held my interest for about half of the book. By the second half, I had trouble continuing to work up the same excitement to keep going. The writing is well done. The story is interesting, and if these are your topics of choice then I highly recommend Brave Dragons to you. Otherwise, I might pass on it. Reviewed by Elizabeth Raymond Any Day Now: A Novel By Terry Bisson Overlook, $24.95, 287 pages, Format: Hard
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Brave Dragons: A Chinese Basketball Team, an American Coach, and Two Cultures Clashing By Jim Yardley Knopf, $26.95, 320 pages, Format: Hard
««« In the midst of the Jeremy Lin “Linsanity” that has swept New York and the rest of the country by storm, award-winner Jim Yardly has put forth a volume that is as much about
As the Beatnik movement nears its end, a young man named Clay embraces it, embarking on an unpredictable odyssey toward a utopian world of new experiences. As he transitions from aspired Beat poet to counterculture member of a commune, the country changes around him, galvanized by the impact of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King. But when an alternate world emerges where racial and political tensions have birthed a decade far darker and more complicated than the ‘60s we’ve known, how will Clay and his com-
San Francisco Book Review • April 2012 • 20
Book Reviews
Modern Literature
rades endure? What will happen to their dreams? Terry Bisson has crafted some of my favorite thoughtprovoking short stories, but I’ll admit that his novels have never resonated as strongly with me. Until now, that is. Any Day Now is a fascinating examination of the struggle for self-definition and idealism against both the machinations of authority and the whimsical and cruel vagaries of fate. Clay’s journey introduces him to plenty of iconic figures of the time, and even as Bisson deftly shifts history, these now-mythical figures cast as long a shadow as ever. That marvelous juxtaposition of how brutal the quest for peace can be is thoroughly enthralling, creating a truly unique reading experience. Reviewed by Glenn Dallas
cho and unsympathetic, he vacillates between his desires and drifts from one bad decision to the next, all the while hiding his true nature from the women who love him. Almost Never provides an amazing glimpse into Mexican life in the 1940s. This wonderful English translation encapsulates middle-class Catholic hypocrisies and exposes the seedy side of provincial life. While it’s not a novel recommended for readers with short attention spans, it’s definitely catnip for literature majors who want to get their panties in a twist. Reviewed by Rachel Anne Calabia
Almost Never By Daniel Sada, Katherine Silver (translator) Graywolf Press, $16.00, 344 pages, Format: Trade
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«««« Like most ambitious literary novels, Almost Never is preoccupied with sex. Indeed, it begins with a discussion of sex and ends along similar lines. Between the first and last pages, however, the narrative meanders like a wily serpent and begs for the reader’s total concentration. The story revolves around an educated farm manager named Demetrio. Bored with his job and life in general, one day he visits a bordello where he meets a beautiful prostitute named Mireya. Despite his daily trysts with her, Demetrio remains unsatisfied. This discontent grows when Demetrio meets a proper young lady named Renata from a faraway town and becomes smitten with her, too. Ignorant of each other’s existence and their own madonna-whore dichotomy, both women scheme to ensnare the young man into matrimony. A chorus line of meddlesome aunts, mothers, and busybodies complicate the situation each step of the way. Why they want him is difficult to understand. Demetrio is a maddening creature to follow. Ma-
Perla By Carolina De Robertis Knopf, $25.95, 256 pages, Format: Hard Perla is a good girl, the obedient daughter of a naval officer and wealthy socialite in Argentina. She fiercely loves her father, but her love comes at a price. She knows there are secrets of which her family never speaks, “lies” told by others to slander her father. She knows he played a role in the loss of the desaparecidos, The Disappeared, and that there are atrocities in which he must have taken part. So she mentally cuts herself in two, burying the disloyal part of herself that feels shame for her father’s actions and wants answers to her family’s unanswered questions. Perla maintains this uneasy balance until she starts dating Gabriel, a journalist who reports on the search for the desaparecidos and the circumstances that led to their disappearance. He pushes Perla to ask the questions she has steadfastly refused to ask. Feeling threatened, she isolates herself in her family’s home, speaking to no one. And then the stranger arrives. Powerful and moving, Perla asks the question, is it possible to love a monster? At what cost? Perla’s conflict is visceral and heart-wrenching, and De Robertis’s poetic writing offers passages that make the soul ache. How will Perla, and Argentina, heal from this painful rift in history? Reviewed by Tammy McCartney
San Francisco Book Review • April 2012 • 21
Book Reviews
Category
Sequential Art
saying. Yet what are readers to make of the fact that here he is perhaps the most well developed character you’ll find on the page? The plot consists of recycled B movie material: a space ship sent to explore for Mega City One returns, crash landing in Antarctica. Judges from various nations, each more two-dimensionally stereotypical than the last (the Irish Judge is a drunkard, the Indian a pseudo-mystic, the Japanese samurai better suited to WWII Looney Tunes, etc). If you expected it to get cleverer from there, you’ll be sorely disappointed. Reviewed by Jordan Magill Dollhouse Volume 1: Epitaphs By Andrew Chambliss, Jed Whedon Dark Horse, $18.99, 160 pages, Format: Trade
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Judge Dredd: Crusade & Frankenstein Division By Grant Morrison, Mark Millar, Carlos Ezquerra, Mick Austin 2000 AD, $16.99, 96 pages, Format: Trade
««« Having past his thirtieth year, Judge Dredd is now older than more than few of his readers. Dredd has over those decades served as a fine mirror to society, as writer after writer uses his world to reflect the struggles of our own, with varying degrees of success. Given the extraordinary talent of Mark Millar and Grant Morrison, both of whom stand out as writers who have time and again used folks in capes and garish tights to offer crisp, vivid social critiques, expectations for Judge Dredd: Crusade and Frankenstein Division will surely run high. Tragically, here the product of their talent shows no sign of the sparks in either man’s previous work. That Judge Dredd is often, to say the least, a caricature, goes without
The apocalypse has come, but not in a way anyone expected. Instead of nuclear war or a contagious disease, the end of humanity as we know it is a frightening new technology that can erase your personality, leaving you a blank slate ready to be imprinted with something new. The Rossum Corporation has been using this technology for years in their “Dollhouses,” where humans are programmed to become the playthings of wealthy clients. But now people can have their personalities wiped over the phone, or even over radio transmissions, and it’s up to a small group of survivors—led by the infamous Alpha—to find a way to protect the innocent masses from becoming mindless slaves. Dollhouse: Epitaphs tells a story not fully explained in Joss Whedon’s television series, and devoted fans will surely devour this graphic novel to get the details. Readers unfamiliar with the show might have a hard time understanding everything, despite a brief history given at the beginning. The artwork is decent, although I usually find that characters drawn to resemble real-life actors don’t really mesh well with characters created purely for a comic. All in all a satisfying read, but one that probably will not appeal to everyone. Reviewed by Holly Scudero
San Francisco Book Review • April 2012 • 22
Book Reviews
Category
Biographies & Memoirs
my favorite thing about the book. Each story was contained in its own universe and did not suffer from not knowing the other stories. It fits beautifully with the time period that Jacobs is describing. Some parts would start at the end of the tale and work its way backwards to the beginning. In the first story, we meet Ruth and Jacobs as lovers and then it fades back to when they first met. I think it is a brilliant way of storytelling. This book is an honest look at the real San Francisco in the mid-Sixties. Admittedly, I wasn’t alive at that point, but after talking to people who were, while doing research for this book, I found similar narrations. The people in the book are well-illustrated with accent being spell phonetically (I personally loved that) and using the lingo from that decade. It took me a while to get used to cat meaning a person, not a house pet. The book has an aura of entertainment, or simply put, it was fun to read. There are some great unforgettable stories stashed inside but there were also some demons in this book. Murder, burn schemes, and the occasional bad trip often take center stage to show that not everything in the sixties was carefree. The book is balanced well in that way, not too lighthearted and not too dark, but always with a roguish tone. In that way, the book separates from what is considered stereotypical and shows us the real counter culture. Mark Jacobs does a wonderful job showcasing the life he had and the people that made it so great. Sponsored Review House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East By Anthony Shadid Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $26.00, 336 pages Format: Hard
San Fran ‘60s, Stories of San Francisco and the Birth of the Hippies By Mark Jacobs Escallonia Press, $5.05, 182 pages, Format: Trade
««««« This autobiographical tale follows a young man as he experiments with both love and drugs. Both show to have horrible side effects. Mark Jacobs recounts some of his adventures in the height of the Haight-Ashbury era. The book is done more like short stories with recurring characters rather than an large novel with a continuous plot. That was
«««« Foreign correspondent Anthony Shadid died in Syria days before the publication of House of Stone, the tribute to his heritage. An experienced war reporter, posted to the Middle East to cover the fighting, he died off the battlefield, an accidental death that leaves the book and the tales it tells more poignant. Twin themes criss-cross the pages, the restoration of the stone house built by his forebears in a Lebanese vil-
San Francisco Book Review • April 2012 • 23
Book Reviews
Biographies & Memoirs
lage and the story of his family’s emigration to the United States. It is a metaphor symbolizing the successive tragedies that have befallen the region since before the Ottoman Empire led to Lebanon’s birth. For Shadid, the tragedies culminated in a destructive Israeli attack shortly before he started to implement his dream. And it is the story of migrants, young wide-eyed relatives fleeing their homeland, hoping to be absorbed into a new world. Nostalgic? Indeed, but with a hard, unsentimental core. Shadid employs the ‘locals’ who jerk him around with the same regularity as Peter Mayle’s Provence laborers, but he persists in the same way, befriending them as his only option to see the work completed.|The separate narrative about relatives who paved the way for him in Oklahoma describes the culture they brought with them to their new, wholly different urban world. House of Stone is a worthy legacy. Reviewed by Jane Manaster Carly’s Voice: Breaking Through Autism By Arthur Fleischmann Touchstone, $24.00, 386 pages, Format: Hard
««««« If I had my way, Carly’s Voice would be required reading for all – particularly those touched by the enigma that is autism in any way. Carly’s Voice tells the awe-inspiring story of Carly Fleischmann and her family as they navigate their way through the world of her severe autism. Arthur Fleischmann does the reader – and the autistic community at large – a huge favor by refusing to sugar coat anything. We get to witness the destruction, unmanageability, tears, and screams of the family firsthand and without a censor. The result is a truly profound journey
into the mind of this powerfully courageous young woman. Carly has severe autism. She cannot speak at all. Her ticks, tantrums, spasms, and self-stimulating behaviors leave the home in total chaos. Like most autistics, she will not make eye contact, shuns attempts at physical affections, and appears lost in her own world and completely unreachable. But, like most teens, she is boy-crazy, coy, sarcastic at times, and amazingly adept at deploying guilt traps as needed. This dichotomy is stunning. The young woman who seems so far away, so lost in her own world and a complete stranger to normalcy, actually is totally on top of the ball. And, we get to witness this through her writings. Through her writing, Carly invites us into her private world. She takes the time to explain her movements and tantrums. She explains, at length, many of the mysteries of autism – including what it feels like to suffer from it. How do Autistic’s see the world? Carly gives us a view. What she manages to convey – even with her delayed cognitive development – is nothing short of amazing. And vastly useful for parents, educators and the public at large. Carly’s Voice changed the way I see the autistic world and I feel strongly she will have the same effect on you. Carly – you’re a brave young woman. Thank you for coming out of your world to educate ours. Reviewed by Elizabeth Raymond
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San Francisco Book Review • April 2012 • 24
Kids Book Review W
elcome to our most favorite issue of the year -- the issue that celebrates Children’s Book Week. To promote children’s literacy, we opened up our program nationwide and got an absolutely overwhelming response! In this issue, we have nearly 100 kids reviewing our Children’s, Tweens, and Young Adult books, packing in a whopping 130 reviews. We have the really little guys (age 2) reviewing the board books on up to high schoolers reviewing our Young Adult titles. The children had some great incentive to review as many books as they could, because one of our (adult) Canadian reviewers donated his two sets of Commemorative Roahd Dahl Stamp sets. The kid’s names will be put into a hat -one name per book reviewed -and two names will be drawn to see who the winner will be. This year, we took our program one step further. With most of the reviews, you’ll see a cute photo of that child with the book they reviewed. The parents got really creative with this, and our staff has had such fun seeing the photos. Little Zachary, who’s 5, was probably the most eager of the lot to review for us.
Peterson, age 14, was harder to please. Apparently his mother mistakenly selected “romancetype” books for him, which was met with much dissatisfaction! But, we persevered and tried to get him some books that were more to his liking. A HUGE thank you goes out to all of the publicists who sent in so many great, great books for the kids to review. They are your audience. I hope that you come away from reading this publication feeling as great as we do -- the kids loved doing this so much. In addition to kids from across the nation, we had one entire third grade classroom of 17 kids (and their teacher, Andrea Sullivan) reviewing for our May issue. We hope you enjoy reading this special section as much as we enjoyed putting it together. I couldn’t have done this without the help from my staff, Associate Editor, Lisa Rodgers and Editorial Assistant, Missy McEwen. Thanks, you two!
San Francisco Book Review • April 2012 • 25
Children’s Falcon By Tim Jessell Random House Books for Young Readers, $17.99, 40 pages Format: Hard
««««« There was a little boy who wished he wanted to be a falcon. He imagined that he was a falcon. The falcon’s wings would slice through the air in the mountains. He went to a forest, and he went to the sea. Then he went to a city, and sat on a perch and watched all the birds scatter everywhere. He went down, and all the people dashed. The boy saw a falcon and said, “If only I was a falcon.” I did like this book. I liked the pictures of the falcon, and I liked the pictures of the places and the birds and the falcon. I wish that we were the baby falcons and Mama and Papa were the mother and father falcons. I would like to be a falcon because no birds would get in my way. This book made me think that I was a falcon. The House at the End of Ladybug Lane By Elise Primavera, Valeria Docampo (illustrator) Robin Corey Books, $16.99, 40 pages, Format: Hard
««««« The House at the End of Ladybug Lane is a story about a little girl named Angelina Neatolini. She comes from a line of extremely neat people. Her great– great–great–great–great grandfather invented the garbage can. But Angelina was not neat. The city that they used to live in was not neat, so they moved
to the house at the end of Ladybug Lane so they could have a neater place to live. And they cleaned everything – even polishing the flowers and vacuuming the grass. Angelina pestered her parents to give her a pet. But they told her, “Pets are not neat” and did not give her one. One night, she looks out her bedroom window and wishes for a pet. A hard-of-hearing ladybug appears and through magic, gives Angelina a pest. The pest is very good at baking. Some other creatures appear in the night with other skills. What do they do? What do her parents say? You’ll have to read the book to find out. I really liked the book because I liked the little girl and all of the creatures are nice. I also liked the skills the creatures had. I liked almost all the pictures except for one of a spider – I don’t like spiders, even if they’re pink. This book would be good for anyone – even an adult. And it is okay for a boy or a girl. Suppose You Meet a Dinosaur: A First Book of Manners By Judy Sierra, Tim Bowers (illustrator) Knopf Books for Young Readers, $16.99, Format: Hard
«««« The setting of this book, Suppose You Meet a Dinosaur, is in a grocery store. In the store, while shopping, a girl meets a dinosaur who is also shopping. When they meet, the girl says, “Hello.” This is because you are supposed to say “hi” or “hello” when you meet someone. When the girl needs to go potty, the dinosaur is in her way! The girl says, “Excuse me!” The dinosaur moves out of her way. What if someone is in your way? Say, “Excuse me!” even if it’s a dinosaur. The girl helps the dinosaur pick up a big mess that the dinosaur made with her tail. The dinosaur says, “Thank you.” The
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Children’s rest of the book has lots of great information on how to be polite. I liked the book because it tells people how to be polite. Everyone needs to be polite. I think others should read the book so they can learn great manners. If someone does not know how to have good manners, this is a great book to read! The pictures are funny too! Princess Baby By Karen Katz Schwartz & Wade, $6.99, 32 pages, Format: Board Book
««««« Princess Baby is about a little girl whose parents never call her by her real name. They always call her by other names like Buttercup, Cupcake, Gumdrop, or something like that. She was not happy about this because she wanted to be called by her real name. She spends the next part of the book describing herself and at the very end finally tells us what she would like to be called --her real name--which is…oh, I can’t tell you that. You’ll have to read the book to find out by yourself. She also likes to play dress up and to do pretend play. I really liked the book because I liked the little girl. I also liked the silly names she was called. I also liked the pictures because they were nice and colorful. Although I kind of guessed the ending before I read the book, it was still fun to read it. This book would be good for a two-year-old girl. It is probably too simple for a three- or four-year old, and most boys would probably not like a story about a princess.
Van Gogh and the Sunflowers By Laurence Anholt Auryn, $0.99, 59.2 MB, Format: iPad App
«««.5 There were very big sunflowers where Camille lived. Camille ran through the sunflower fields every day to meet his father, who was a postman. Camille and his father worked together lifting down the heavy sacks of mail. A strange man with a straw hat, yellow beard, and brown eyes appeared one day in Camille’s town. Vincent introduced himself to Camille and his father. Vincent moved into the yellow house at the end of Camille’s street. Camille’s father wanted to help Vincent because he had no money or friends. They loaded a cart with pots, pans, and furniture for Vincent. Camille picked sunflowers and put them in a pot for Vincent. Vincent liked having two good friends and asked Camille’s father if he wanted to have his picture painted. Vincent told him to dress in his best blue uniform. Camille loved Vincent’s painting. Vincent painted Camille’s whole family, including Camille. Camille brought his painting to school, but all the kids began to laugh. Vincent was soon being picked on by the adults and children for being a painter. Camille called Vincent “the sunflower man” because he always painted the sunflowers in the field. Some children threw rocks at Camille and Vincent and that made them both mad, so Vincent decided to do something. Read the book to find out. This book was very well written. I like how you can interact with the book on the iPad. It’s fun, yet educational. It’s a great book for children 3 to 10 years old.
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Children’s Welcome to Death Valley: A Guided Tour Through California’s Death Valley National Park By Janet Morgan Art and Adventures Publications, $16.95, Format: Trade
««««« This is a hard book to tell all about! It’s about a place named Death Valley and tells about how ravens live in it. Two ravens tell the story about Death Valley; they love Death Valley! Death Valley is about lots of life, not really about death. It tells about the nature in Death Valley, and it shows what it looks like there in paintings. It’s interesting because it’s about nature and there are lots of facts. Little kids and older kids would probably both like this book. Celebrating Chinese Festivals: A Collection of Holiday Tales, Poems and Activities By Sanmu Tang Better Link Press, $16.95, 72 pages, Format: Hard
««««« This book talks about seven Chinese Festivals: (1) the Chinese New Year, (2) the Lantern Festival, (3) the Qingning Festival, (4) the Dragon Boat Festival, (5) the Chinese Valentine’s Day, (6) The Mid-Autumn Festival, and (7) the Double Ninth Festival. It explains how these festivals started, what they mean, and how they are celebrated by telling stories about the festivals. The book also has three simple recipes for foods that the Chinese use to celebrate some of the festivals.
I like the book so much because I like studying about Chinese festivals and learning about the Chinese, and learning about their culture. I can also learn about the gods they worship, and learn about what they look like and what they represent. The drawings in the book are really nice because they make the food look yummy and they help me to understand what is going on in the story. This book would be good for a boy or girl of any age. But the younger kids will need someone to read it to them. The Water Dragon: A Chinese Legend By Li Jian Better Link Press, $16.95, Format: Hard
«««« The Water Dragon: A Chinese Legend is a classic Chinese folktale. The main character, Ah Bao, finds a magic red stone. When he brings it back to his village he discovers he can provide for the villagers in many different ways. But, when a drought occurs, Ah Bao realizes the magic stone isn’t enough to end the famine and save his village. He willingly sets off in search of the water dragon. One the way he encounters more than one danger, but bravely forges ahead. The ending, beautifully told both with words and illustrations, will leave the readers pleasantly surprised. I read The Water Dragon to my 3rd grade students as a read aloud. It is a wonderfully told folktale with lovely illustrations. The kids loved it. It is written in English and has Chinese sub characters. For teachers, this book would be a wonderful addition to your collection of legends and folktales. Parents can read it aloud to their children. My students absolutely were delighted by the ending! Reviewed by Andrea Sullivan (Teacher)
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Children’s Friends Forever 2 By Naomi Suss Vantage Press, $9.95, 35 pages, Format: Trade
««« In Friends Forever 2, Guenevere the Butterfly is worried that her friends won’t recognize her anymore. Last time they saw her, she was a caterpillar. She meets a squirrel named Scooter and takes him to meet her friends Hoppy and Flutterby by the pond. Hoppy and Flutterby miss Guenevere and wonder how much she’s changed. She used to be called Fuzzy, but now that she’s a beautiful butterfly she goes by Guenevere. They also make friends with a bunny. A crocodile comes along too and wants to be friends but they’re scared of him. They make him a flower wreath so he doesn’t look so scary and they’re all friends forever. I did not care for this book at all. I didn’t like how everything rhymed and how we didn’t know anything more about the characters than their names. What do they like to do? Where are they from? Plus, they automatically become friends with everyone else without even getting to know them! That’s way too little kid, and I’m only seven. I also thought it was really silly how they made the crocodile a flower wreath so he wasn’t scary and then would be his friend. That doesn’t seem very realistic to me. Friends Forever 2 was easy to read, but I wouldn’t read it again. The Penguin Lady By Carol A. Cole, Sherry Rogers (illustrator) Sylvan Dell Publishing, $9.95, 32 pages, Format: Trade
««« The Penguin Lady is a book about a lady, Penelope Parker, which gets a penguin from her brother on her birthday. When people learn she has a penguin they started calling her the Penguin Lady. At first she thinks the penguin is a sweet gift. But that soon changes as trouble begins. The
newspaper even writes an article about her and puts her picture in the newspaper. She thought she had to do something about her penguin situation; I can’t tell you what though, as that would ruin the ending. I think this book deserves three stars because it was a good book, but there were lots of things that it didn’t include. It didn’t include the penguins’ names; I really wanted to know what their names were. This book is a good book for kids aged seven through nine. Parents could also read this book aloud to younger children at night. Younger children would really like the unusual gift and how the penguin causes trouble in the house. It’s funny! I also enjoyed that the author, Carol A. Cole, includes activities for young readers to learn more about real penguins that live in the world. It shows where they live and how big different species of penguins are. It even has a quiz. For kids who use Accelerated Reader at school, it is possible to take a quiz on this book as well. I did! Reviewed by Emily - age 8 Out of This World: Poems and Facts about Space By Amy Sklansky, Stacey Schuett (illustrator) Knopf Books for Young Readers, $17.99, 40 pages Format: Hard
«««« Out of This World is a book that has poems and facts about space. My favorite fact in the book is about the Weightless Wonder, a plane with no seats but is specially outfitted with padded floors so astronauts won’t get hurt. It’s nicknamed the Vomit Comet because two out of three astronauts get motion sick when riding in it! My fa-
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Children’s vorite poem is Vacation Destination. It is about a boy who could not figure out which planet to travel to. I loved this poem because he described different things about the planets like Saturn’s rings and how Uranus is a toppled planet. Another great fact was that a black hole comes from a massive star that collapsed in on itself. I think others should read Out of This World because it helps you learn about space and planets. The book tells that the beginning of the universe is called the Big Bang, but they forgot to say that the end of the universe is called the Big Crunch! Red Redmond and the Great Plane Adventure By Earl M. Furfine Lulu, $19.95, 32 pages, Format: Mass
«««« This is a book about planes, and it has a dog, which is Red Redmond’s dog. The dog is his best friend! Red went in a cage with his dog when it got unlocked - something interesting happened after that! It involved Red and the dog exploring a plane, and learning what the different parts on the plane did. The book was good - it interested me because it was about planes. It had a happy ending! Kids that like adventures would like this book. Dinosaur World By Claire Llewellyn Kingfisher, $3.99, 32 page, Format: Trade
««««« Dinosaur World was a book about many kinds of dinosaurs. It was awesome. The book pretends that we go to a dinosaur park. We see dinosaurs like the Stegosaurus, Maiasaura, and Tyrannosaurus Rex. We learn how fossils are made and that dinosaurs come in lots of different shapes and colors. Sometimes dinosaur books have lots of compli-
cated words and are hard to read, but not this one! My favorite dinosaur is the Maiasaura and it was in this book. I like the Maiasaura because it is a plant eater and the Maiasaura picture in the book is really cool. It looks real. I like that the book has lots of colorful pictures and it is easy to read. I really like dinosaurs, so this book was perfect for me. It will teach you about lots of kinds of dinosaurs, different time periods, and extinction. That is when the dinosaurs died. There are lots of facts about each kind of dinosaur too, like how big it was, when and where it lived, and the types of food it liked to eat. Any kid who likes dinosaurs would love Dinosaur World. What Animals Eat By Brenda Stones Kingfisher, $3.99, 32 pages, Format: Trade
««««« This book is about what animals eat! It talks about animals eating animals, and it talks about how animals eat plants and meat. It talks about lots of different kinds of animals, like elephants and lambs, lions and cows, giraffes and rabbits. This book is to make you interested in nature! Cats eat owls, owls eat mice, and mice eat cheese. This book talks about different kinds of food chains. There are herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores. Do you know what an herbivore is? This book will tell you!
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Children’s I liked this book because it has a bunny on the front! Also because it said stuff about nature, and taught me things. You would like this book! I would recommend it to other people because it’s interesting, about animals and food! Butterflies By Thea Feldman Kingfisher, $3.99, 32 pages, Format: Trade
««««« This is about butterflies and the biggest and smallest butterflies. One butterfly they tell us about is bigger than the book! It even tells about how colors can save a butterfly’s life. The book tells how butterflies are born--it’s pretty gross, and cool. Yes, I liked the book because it was cool. It had pictures, I think they were photographs. People would be interested in this book if they liked nature. Did you know moths can look like butterflies? The book talks some about moths. Rosie Flo’s Coloring Fashion Show By Roz Streeten Chronicle Books, $16.99, Format: Other
««««« This box contains a popup fashion show stage with dolls that you can color. The fashion show is made up of about twenty-five cutout paper dolls, a cute toy poodle, a fashion runway, chairs, and walls enclosing the room. I used markers to color the dolls, and then made my own faces,
legs, and arms for each doll. I also added my own ideas, including creating strobe lights using two small flashlights attached to a drumstick that I placed overhead. I then used the bottom and top of the box to create a dressing room that attached to the main fashion floor stage. Lastly, I added a stage sign with an “R” on it, for “Rosie.” I really liked the fashion show because it’s so pretty once I colored it and made each doll my own creation. I think it was just right for my age. I asked for a little help from my mom; she showed me how to set up the fashion show theatre. I did the rest and added my own finishing touches. I would definitely recommend this to other girls. Jinchalo By Matthew Forsythe Drawn & Quarterly, $17.95, 120 pages, Format: Trade
««««« Hi, I would like to introduce you to a book called Jinchalo. Well, do you like charades? Because this book is like charades. There are no words, very unusual; the only clues to the story are pictures. Can you imagine a book with no words? It helps a reader figure out how characters feel through actions and not words. There is a little bit of Jack and the Beanstock in it, even though it is a Korean Folktale. Voguchi, a young girl, is sent to the market after lunch one day. She bumps into a bird like chicken, Jinchalo, and they’re both carrying HUGE eggs. When they bump into each other, the eggs get mixed up. Jinchalo doesn’t realize he has the wrong egg. Voguchi doesn’t realize it either. The events of mixing up the eggs leads to a big problem. I can’t tell you the problem or it will give away the ending. I recommend Jinchalo to children ages 8-13. It’s an outstanding book! Even though it’s a folktale, Voguchi reminds me of one of my friends: they’re both always grumpy. If you like adventures, it’s a must read. It’s also a bit of a funny book. I should also mention the shape-shifter; I liked him. There are a few monsters and robots and weird bugs that look like they
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Children’s came from a new galaxy. The author/illustrator, Matthew Forsythe, is a beautiful artist and storyteller. I think this a book that you really should read. It’s really fun to imagine and make up the words in your mind as you read the story. Reviewed by Gavyn - age 8 Oliver By Judith Rossell Harper, $16.99, 32 pages, Format: Hard
“Don’t take me!” I rate this book five stars. It gives a lot of feelings. I felt like she would never survive. The pictures tell the story well. I recommend this for ages 3 to adult. Reviewed by Esther - age 7 Armour: A 3-Dimensional Exploration By Bob Moulder Tango Books, $22.95, 20 pages, Format: Hard
««««« I really liked the book because I liked the little girl. I also liked the silly names she was called. I also liked the pictures because they were nice and colorful. Although I kind of guessed the ending before I read the book, it was still fun to read it. This book would be good for a two-year old girl. It is probably too simple for a threeor four-year old and most boys would probably not like a story about a princess. I liked this book so much because I like the pictures, and I like the story because it’s really silly and he likes to build things and to make things and when his mom tells him something, he always tries experiments to try to figure them out. This book would be good for both a boy or a girl. I think kids up to six or seven years old could enjoy it. A three-year old would probably like it but not understand it as much as a little older kid. Zoo Girl By Rebecca Elliott Lion UK, $14.99, 32 pages, Format: Hard
««««« There was a little girl who thought she had no family, no friends, and little necessities. She found animals and made friends with them. Then she was discovered. She yelled out
«««« Armour is a book about armor and famous battles. It has some pop-up pages and other pages that are flat where you lift up flaps and read about their armor. The book has four types of warriors in different centuries and shows the different types of armor and also weapons they used. The book talks about the Greek Hoplite who had a little armor, the Medieval Knight from the 12th Century who had a little more armor, a Samurai Warrior, who had really different armor, and the Medieval Knight from the 15th Century, who had very serious armor. The flat pages show the armor of single warriors and the pop-up pages show different battles. I like that some are flat pages and some are pop-up. I like the pages focusing on the armor the best and wish there were more of those. It’s fun to pull the different layers up, and I like to learn the new words describing the armor and weapons. You can open the book to any page and start reading, like a reference book. The only thing that was bad was on the Samurai Warrior page. The ‘splint’ on the armor looked very interesting but I couldn’t figure out what it was and the book didn’t tell me. I like the Medieval Knight from the 15th Century the best because he has the most serious armor. If you like warriors or armor or battles, I think you should really get this book!
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Children’s Dinosaur Pet By Neil Sedaka, Tim Bowers, Marc Sedaka Imagine, $17.95, 32 pages, Format: Hard
««« Dinosaur Pet is the story of a boy and his dinosaur. In January, the dinosaur hatches from his egg. As the months go by, he grows bigger and bigger. In March, the dinosaur pet eats at least eight times a day. By May, he’s too tall and can’t stand up straight in the boy’s house. By September, his tail alone is thirty feet long! Fifty turkeys isn’t enough to fill him up in November. The boy loves his dinosaur pet but knows things are going to get rough the next year because his dinosaur is getting, way, way too big! If you listen to the music CD first and read the book just like they sing the song, it’s easy to read and cute too. If you don’t listen to the CD or read it exactly like they sing the song, it’s really hard to read Dinosaur Pet out loud. It was weird reading sentences like “Every day, every day, every day, every day of the year. Every day of the year.” Plus, the last page says the same thing four times: “I love, I love, I love my dinosaur pet. Yeah, sweet dinosaur pet.” That’s not how normal books are written and it’s hard to read. It’s more like a song than a story. If I forgot how the song went, reading the book was hard. Hansel and Gretel: A Pop-Up Book By Brothers Grimm, Louise Rowe, (illustrator) Tango Books, $16.99, 14 pages, Format: Hard
««««« There were a brother and sister named Hansel and Gretel. There was a little cottage on the edge of a great forest. There was a wicked stepmother and a woodcutter father. They all
ran out of food so the parents left Hansel and Gretel in the forest. Hansel and Gretel found a gingerbread cottage that had a roof with cake, and windows of transparent sugar. An old woman came hobbling out. It was really a mean old witch but they thought it was a nice person. She was on the watch for children and she locked up poor Hansel. Then she said to Gretel, “He’s going to be nice and fat, and then I will eat him.” Four weeks later, he still didn’t seem to get any fatter because he stuck out a chicken bone instead of his finger and her eyes were not so good. Next morning, the witch was getting impatient. She said, “The first thing we’re going to do is BAKE! Creep into the oven, Gretel...” The witch had a plan to shut the oven door and roast poor Gretel. Read the rest and see what happens! I already knew about Hansel and Gretel from Legoland, but the pop-up is really fun. The story wasn’t too long or short, it was just right. I love the page with the pop-up lollipops and the cottage best. I like that the pictures are a little dark because it made me a little scared, which was great. I would definitely recommend that you buy it! Pinch and Dash Make Soup By Michael J. Daley, Thomas F. Yezerski (illustrator) Charlesbridge, $5.95, Format: Trade
«««« Pinch and Dash made soup. Pinch wanted soup, but he didn’t want to make the soup. He had a potato, spinach, and some cheese. He didn’t want to go all the way to the restaurant, so he went to Dash’s house to eat lunch with him. He took a little hot sauce and some pepper. Dash made skinny soup, but Pinch wanted fat soup. Pinch had to keep going home for a potato, spinach, and cheese. Then Pinch wanted to add a pinch of hot sauce and a pinch of pepper, but Dash
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Children’s did not want to. How will they finish the soup? I liked this book because it was a really fun book for me. They were best friends at the end and they made the soup together. It was funny because they both put in the same things without knowing it. It had a funny ending. I like Pinch because he didn’t shout and he was silly and kind of lazy. He didn’t listen to Dash. I liked the pictures and I think it would be a fun book for other people to read. I think my little brother would like it a lot. If All the Animals Came Inside By Eric Pinder, Marc Brown (illustrator) Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, $16.99, 40 pages Format: Hard
««««« If All the Animals Came Inside is a rhyming book and it’s all about animals coming inside a house and they keep on making a mess. A family lives in the house and they don’t clean it up. The characters are fun in this book. One funny part is when the boy and the kangaroo break the sofa when the boy is in the kangaroo’s pouch. Another mess is when the rhinos spill popcorn as they are watching the Arthur show on TV. At the end of the story the little boy and girl learn lesson. I like this book because it is a funny book. I think it’s a good book and it rhymes. I like rhyming books. Also it has a lot of animals. I’ll tell you some. There are elephants, monkeys, pandas, lions, hippos, a yak, and a porcupine. One funny part is when the dad sits on the porcupine; it
made me giggle inside. There’s more than one funny part though. I think the author, Eric Pinder, did a great job writing this book. I definitely recommend this book for other readers and it’s a fun read aloud. The illustrations are amazing and unusual. You should read it too! I’d give it six stars if I could. Reviewed by Ethan C. - age 8 Revenge of the Dinotrux By Chris Gall Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, $16.99, 32 pages Format: Hard
««««« The story is about the Dinotrux having their revenge. They were stuck in a drafty museum with lots of overexcited visitors. They escaped from the museum and they did mischief... except for Garbageadon. Garbageadon ate cars which made him mean, not mischievous. The mayor said, “Attention! Dinotrux! You must go to school and learn new ways.” So they went to school, but were mischievous even more. Then something interesting happens, but you have to read the book to find out. I like this book so much! The dinosaurs have very funny names like Cementosaurus, and Velocitractors instead of Velociraptors. There are just the right amount of words for children and I like the illustrations. It’s good to read Dinotrux to get ready for this book. Dinotrux is a reference book that introduces you to the characters. But you can also read Revenge of the Dinotrux first and Dinotrux second; that works too. I really like the thing that happens at the end, but I can’t tell you what that is. Do you know what’s interesting? I don’t love dinosaurs and I don’t love trucks, but I really like this book anyway. It’s so funny; you just have to get it!
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Children’s The Very Fairy Princess: Here Comes the Flower Girl! By Emma Walton Hamilton, Christine Davenier (illustrator) Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, $16.99, 32 pages Format: Hard
««« It was about a girl who said that she was a fairy princess, but no one believed her. But then she said that she had a sparkly feeling inside her that she was. She got to be a flower girl because her aunt and a fire chief were getting married. The next day she hopped out of bed and all of her sparkly decorations were ruined. She said that it would be the most unsparkly day in wedding history! It turned out to be a nice day, but before that, her Aunt Sue gave her a flower girl dress. She hoped it would be a big sparkly dress with lots of petticoats, but it turned out to be a plain white dress with holes in it. The Fire Chief slipped a ring on Aunt Sue’s finger. That’s the end. I liked the book because that was the same dress that her Aunt Sue was wearing. I liked the way she made her decorations and because she was a flower girl. I would like to be a flower girl someday. I think my friends would like it. All Kinds of Kisses By Tafuri, Nancy Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, $16.99, 32 pages Format: Hard
«««« All Kinds of Kisses by Nancy Tafuri; as the title says, it is about different kinds of kisses. The characters are about baby animals and their mothers, reminding me of my mom and me. Before reading this book, I never thought that animals do kiss their babies. It is a sweet and cute book to read for the little ones. For example, a little pup loves woof kisses, and a little kitten loves meow kisses. The illustration of baby animals cuddling and cozy-ing with their
W
e were about a month into our Children’s Book Week project, and we had already mailed out several books to our young readers, when I received an email from little Zachary’s mom saying that she realized that Zachary already had several books from us to review, but on the list of new books, he spotted one from his favorite illustrator -- Simon Basher. She explained to me that Zachary has been collecting all of the Basher books. Zachary wanted to show us his collection, so his mom sent us a photo with Zachary holding ALL of his Basher books. Zachary pleaded his case for us to send him a sixth book -- telling his mom to let us know that should we choose to give him the Basher Science: Oceans Making Waves! book, he promised to write an analysis comparing this latest Basher book to those in his collection. ...to which I replied (in my head), HE’S FIVE! As you can see in Zachary’s reviews, he does not disappoint. His review of Oceans was, indeed, a wonderful comparitive analysis. And Zachary blew us away. -- Heidi Komlofske moms really make me want to snuggle up with mom. It is appropriate to read to children at bed time, either at night or at nap. It will give them a snug when you tuck them in. The reason I gave the book a 4 star rating is because it is a really cute book. They say things like, a little duckling loves peep kisses. It is such a nice thing to say and hear. I gave one less star because the author didn’t explain why a little duckling loves peep kisses, not a quack kisses from
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Children’s mommy duck. So, what’s the best kiss for little ones? Read on and find out. Reviewed by Andromeda - age 9 Chick & Chickie Play All Day! By Claude Ponti Toon Books, $12.95, 36 pages, Format: Hard
««««« This book is about Chick and Chickie, two chickens that play in their play room. They make masks and scare each other. They like to scare each other and it is funny! I like it when the masks scare each other, too. Chick and Chickie also like to play school with the letter A, and do all kinds of things to him. It is funny when the A runs away from them. I liked this book, and I liked the funny parts a lot. I liked the masks they made and I wanted to make my own. I would like to see Chick and Chickie play with other letters. I wish it was a longer story! I would tell my friends to read this book because it is funny, and I could read it all by myself. Tallulah’s Solo By Marilyn Singer, Alexandra Boiger (illustrator) Clarion Books, $16.99, 40 pages, Format: Hard
«««« Tallulah’s Solo is a story about a little girl who likes ballet. Tallulah dreamed about being in the winter dance recital. She thought her brother would be a good dancer too so she showed him around the studio. First, she showed him the balance bar, then she showed him the mirrors to watch yourself move in, and last the
time out chair when you don’t listen. During Beckett’s class he paid attention for a little bit then started to play around, but never got in trouble. Tallulah told her brother if you want to be a good dancer you must pay better attention. One day he kept making funny faces in the mirror and he didn’t go to the time out chair. At the next dancing class he did it again, he hung upside down at the bar and he did not go to the time-out chair. The next day he finally got to the time-out chair and Tallulah said, “Serves you right!” She told him that SHE never wanted to be in the time-out chair herself. I did like Tallulah’s Solo! I liked it because she helped her brother for the concert, even when she didn’t get to be the princess in the recital. Yes, I would recommend Tallulah’s Solo, especially if someone has a little brother or sister. You can relate to the characters because of that. I loved the illustrations too. Reviewed by Alexandrea - age 9 More By I. C. Springman, Brian Lies (illustrator) Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, $16.99, 40 pages Format: Hard
«««« This book was about a bird who wanted a lot of things. The bird didn’t have anything. First a mouse gave a marble to the bird. Then the bird found more things, like a toothbrush, a clock, a necklace, another necklace, two bracelets, and lots of other things. Then the mouse said, “Too much things!” and the bird had to get more and more nests. The branch broke and the mouse family had to help get the bird out of the things that he got.
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Children’s I did like this book, because the mouse gave the bird just one thing. I liked the pictures of the things the bird collected. I liked that the mouse teached the bird that the bird should only get one thing instead of a lot of things. I would tell my friends to read this book because it has a very good lesson in it, and I liked the pictures a lot. Magritte’s Marvelous Hat By D. B. Johnson Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, $16.99, 32 pages Format: Hard
«««« I like this book because it’s weird, funny, and makes me think. The story begins when the painter Magritte sees a floating hat in a window. He tries on the hat. It floats above his head. He loved the way the hat did not pinch his ears or muss his hair so he bought it. Magritte walked home and went back to his painting. Something about the hat made painting easier. The next day Magritte and his hat played in the park. Then he went home and painted a picture even better than the day before. All Magritte wanted to do was paint. But the hat wanted to play so it bounced out the window without Magritte. He rushed out to find his hat because he couldn’t paint without it, but the hat was hiding. Magritte decided to play the hat’s favorite game, hide-and-seek. Magritte hid but the hat couldn’t find him. Magritte was home when the hat flew back in the window and landed on his head. Magritte floated up in the air! I want a hat like Magritte’s. I loved the book because of the flying hat! Others should probably read it because it’s funny and surprising.
The Adventures of Sir Balin the Ill-Fated (Knights’ Tale Series) By Gerald Morris, Aaron Renier (illustrator) Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, $14.99, 128 pages Format: Hard
«««« The Adventures of Sir Balin the Ill-Fated is a chapter book that is part of the Knights’ Tales series written by Gerald Morris with pictures by Aaron Renier. The book starts out with Balin being christened by the Old Woman of a Mountain who tells Balin’s future, like he won’t ever refuse an adventure or he will be the noblest knight in the country. It is a funny story. Sir Balin has a brother Sir Balan (who he calls Lanny), but they are not twins. Twenty years later, Sir Balin goes on many adventures and brings misfortune wherever he goes. His first one in the book is The Knight with Two Swords. Then he and his brother find King Royns. Another tale is against Harleus Le Berbeus, a bad guy who has an invisible suit. He puts it on and then attacks knights. Sir Balin does not like Harleus when he does these bad things. After Sir Balin hurts Harleus, his twin brother Sir Gorlon comes after Balin. There is Lady Annalise, who is The Questing Lady, and she tells people to go on quests. I liked the part where the brothers fooled people. Just Ducks! By Nicola Davies, Salvatore Rubbino (illustrator) Candlewick Press, $15.99, 32 pages, Format: Hard
««««« This book is about ducks and how they swim and are awake a lot. This is a book that tells about ducks! There is
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Children’s Plant a Kiss By Amy Krouse Rosenthal, Peter J. Reynolds (illustrator) HarperCollins, $14.99, 40 pages, Format: Hard
a little girl in the story that watches ducks, and she also feeds them. I like nature and ducks, which is why I liked this book. Little kids would like this book because most little kids like ducks!
«««««
Amelia Bedelia’s First Vote By Herman Parish Greenwillow Books, $16.99, 32 pages, Format: Hard
««««« Amelia Bedelia’s First Vote is about a little girl, Amelia Bedelia, who always loves to go to school and have adventures. She is very kind, but she understands words differently than what people mean and that’s what makes her funny. My dad says that she takes things literally—although taking things is wrong. She learns about different things at school including elections. One day she runs into Mr. K, the principal of the school, and he decides to let the students vote on the rules of the school. Some of the voting choices are ice cream sandwiches for lunch, growing berries in the school garden, or homework free Wednesdays. The vote ends up in a tie until a letter appears with a final vote. I like this book because it’s a nice book about kids and about how voting works. It’s also funny how Amelia understands or doesn’t understand what people mean. I also like the pictures. This book would be good for a girl or boy. I think kids five years old and older would enjoy it.
Plant a Kiss is about a girl named Little Miss who planted a kiss and went through a learning process that it takes time for a plant to grow. It needs sunshine, water, greetings, and repeat as the days go by. Little Miss waited and waited, and voila! One day, the kiss sprouted, and she shouted and shouted for joy! It takes time for a kiss to grow into a bliss. The characters are Little Miss and her friends whom she shared the kiss that she planted. I absolutely love this book is because the author also sends a message of giving and sharing in very simple words and cute illustration, especially the sparkly and glittery kisses. They stand-out to little ones. I can tell why the authors’s message is giving is because Little Misses’ friends said that she shouldn’t share the kiss that she planted because it was too rare or too precious, but she didn’t listen to them and shared her kisses. She proves her friends wrong. When she came back, the tiny kisses became an endless supply of happiness! I would recommend this book to anyone. It is such a great book. Reviewed by Andromeda - age 9 Gideon & Otto By Olivier Dunrea Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, $9.99, 32 pages, Format: Hard
««««« This was about a Duck and an Octopus. Otto is the octopus, and Gideon is the duck. They are friends. The duck did lots of things with Otto, because Otto was his favorite friend. Well, his other friends were his fa-
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Children’s vorite too, but that was his most favorite. He hid in the leaves with Otto, he played in the water with Otto. Then Gideon played with the bunnies, and Otto got knocked off the wall that Gideon put him on. Otto can’t move around very much, because he is just a stuffed animal. And the reason he went on the turtle is because he can’t move by himself. Then Gideon’s mom said it was time for dinner, so Gideon had to find Otto. This book had very fun pictures. It was a fun book because I like the pictures. I have a friend Walrus that I do everything with her, just like Gideon does with Otto. I do lots of things with my Walrus. I watch movies with her and I sleep with her. I like to take her to Grandma’s house, but one time I lost her and I had to sleep without her. When I got Walrus back I was so happy, just like Gideon. Mega Mash-Up: Aliens vs Mad Scientists Under the Ocean By Nikalas Catlow, Tim Wesson Nosy Crow, $6.99, 96 pages, Format: Trade
«««« Mega Mash-Up #3: Aliens vs. Mad Scientists Under the Ocean was written by Nikalas Catlow, Tim Wesson, and … You! This is a fun book that is kind of like a comic book. It’s great if you like to draw because you read the story and then you can draw different characters or items in the book. In the beginning of the book, the real authors put a list of characters with pictures. On each page, there is space for you to draw a picture, like a scientists’ communication device. But if you don’t know how to draw one of those, they put a glossary with pictures of communication devices or other stuff you might draw.
If you don’t like to draw, you may not like this book. But you could read it without drawing the pictures as well. There are other Mega Mash-Up books, but I don’t know about them. This one is about the scientists and the aliens are fighting one another and it takes place under water. The aliens want to destroy our world by stopping it from spinning. It is a pretty cool book! Dini Dinosaur By Karen Beaumont, Daniel Roode (illustrator) Greenwillow Books, $14.99, Format: Hard
««««« This book is about Dini Dinosaur and his mom at their house. Dini Dinosaur got himself all muddy. Mama made him take a bath. He didn’t remember to get undressed! Dini doesn’t know how to take a bath very well! His mama helped him and it tickled. Then they read a book and got ready for bed. Dini loves his Mama. I liked this book because I love dinosaurs. It was funny when Dini’s mom scrubbed him so well. I would take off my clothes before I took a bath! He is a SillySaurus! I think my friends would like this book too, and the words were easy to read. I liked the pictures too. It made me want to draw a dinosaur. Reviewed by Delaney - age 5 Three Little Beavers By Jean Heilprin Diehl, Cathy Morrison (illustrator) Sylvan Dell Publishing, $9.95, 32 pages, Format: Trade
««««« I would give this book ten stars! This book is about three little beavers that eat wood – they get trapped in cages! I think this is a story. There are some facts about beavers in this book that are interesting to read. It’s an exciting book! The girl beaver doesn’t think she’s good at anything, so she swims away and pretends to be a floating log to get by a boat with people in it. She learns to be useful and helps save her family, at the end when they have a sort of adventure.
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Children’s I liked it so much because it was about beavers, and had cute pictures of beavers. It would be interesting to kids because I’m sure all little kids like beavers because they’re cute! I think other people should read the book. You could save beavers by learning about them in this book, like the people in the book learned about beavers to help them. It’s important to save beavers cause they’re cool I guess. Beavers are an important part of nature and help with the food chain. The Titanic Notebook: The Story of the World’s Most Famous Ship By Claire Hawcock Insight Editions, $24.99, 16 pages, Format: Hard
«««« The White Star Line Titanic Notebook by Claire Hawcock follows one of the grandest and most famous ships of the 20th century from its construction to its maiden voyage, from its sinking to its rediscovery at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. Hancock, along with several other contributors, successfully built a bold visual experience with creative pop-ups, historical photographs, and detailed illustrations. The entire life of the Titanic is retold in a fun and informative way that appeals to a younger audience as well as adults. Kids will really find the book fascinating for its foldouts and flaps that reveal tidbits of information. At the end, kids will love the build-your-own paper Titanic model. Overall, the book was a great read and will definitely appeal to kids who enjoy history or kids who just like pop-ups. Reviewed by Jeanette - age 17
T
rying to manage nearly 100 children participating in the program -- and their parents -- was a bit like herding cats. We knew that we’d have to be super-organized about the whole process. It didn’t help that I not only decided to include photos of the kids holding the books they’d reviewed, but also going the extra mile and putting them into a cute Polaroid frame for 130 reviews! (What was I thinking?!) We had amazing response from the parents, who sent me their child’s photos even before their reviews were ready. (Thank you!) There was one email I received from a parent -Amy Simko -- as we approached our April 15th deadline, and I thought “This situation, surely, is going to win the prize for the best ‘my dog ate my homework’ excuse.” She explained to me...”Shortly after we got the book, we were forced to vacate our house due to a mold issue and we’re still awaiting insurance approval and remediation. We were instructed to leave everything behind and I only just got the remediation company to come to the house to clean the book (and our library books that were due) so we could complete the review.” This shows the dedication these children (and their parents) had for this program. And, Hayden, we are so very fortunate that you got to read and review your book in time. Most certainly worth the wait! -- Heidi Komlofske
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Children’s Basher Science: Oceans Making Waves! By Dan Green, Simon Basher (illustrator) Kingfisher, $8.99, 128 pages, Format: Trade
««««« This is a reference book about things in the ocean. Some of the interesting chapters are: “Shoreline Gang” – these guys live near the shore, “Openwater Crew” – these guys live in the wide-open water, and “Deep-Down Dandies” – this section has vents and animals who are very far down, almost touching the floor of the ocean. There is a picture on one side and a funny description written by the creature on the other page. There is also a poster that you can tear out and unfold. I like Basher’s Oceans so much!! It’s larger than a lot of the other Basher books. What’s fun about all the Basher books is that the pictures have faces and personalities, even though they are not alive, and they do talking that’s very helpful, and you learn from them. Like in Oceans, there are
pictures of Mid-Ocean Ridge, Trench, Oil Rig, and Pollution – all looking like little characters. Some of the Basher books, like Astronomy, are all little guys that aren’t normally alive, talking about themselves, but Basher’s Oceans has pictures of living things, too. Some of my favorites in this book are Plankton, Sea Anemone, Sea Urchin, Angler Fish, Tripod Fish, and Hydrothermal Vent. This book made me want to go on the internet with my mom and find more pictures and print them out. It also made me want to draw them! Get this book!! Every Day’s a Dog’s Day: A Year in Poems By Marilyn Singer, Miki Sakamoto (illustrator) Dial Books for Young Readers, $16.99, 32 pages Format: Hard
««««« This unique book of poems about dogs features four main characters. Buddy, Rosalie, Barkley and Fizz all express their daily doggy lives through poetry. Each poem has its own setting which reflects the words in the poem. Some of the illustrations are set in snow and others in the mud. Some illustrations reflect the holiday that the poem is about. Others are about the days that something special or memorable happen to the dogs. Some are simple days about things that dogs like to do like chasing cats. All of the poems help the readers to understand how the dogs feel about each of the events in the poems. The pictures really help add to the poems and help the reader understand what each poem is about. For example, the poem called “Visit to the Vet” has a picture of the dog on the vet’s table and it’s easy to see that the dog is not happy! The dog’s perspectives are better understood by their human friends after reading these poems. People who love dog’s or have them
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Children’s for pets should read these poems. I liked the book because all of the dogs talked about their thoughts in poetry. I enjoyed the rhythm of the poems and the rhyming words too. The stories give insight into the dog’s world and help the readers to better understand animals and dogs. I liked that some of the poems even show that dogs have other dog friends. One of the poems is really silly because the dog asks his dog friends who gave him a flea. Two of my favorite poems in this book are Dog Show and Obstacle Course. I enjoyed these because the illustrations show the dogs having lot of fun. I like the picture of the dog sleeping in the middle of the course on the page of the poem called Obstacle Course. I thought it was neat that the first poem and the last poem were alike since it brings together the start and end of the book to show that a year has passed. This book would be enjoyable for children between four and eight. Both boys and girls would enjoy this book, especially if they like dogs. Dear Flyary By Dianne Young, John Martz (illustrator) Kids Can Press, $16.95, 32 pages, Format: Hard
««««« This is a fictional storybook about a little alien named Frazzle and his Model 7 spaceship. At first, his spaceship works great and makes the sound “Hummmmmm Hummmmmm.”He takes it to his work at the Binkler Factory and everybody loves (or as the aliens say, ‘bighearts’) his new spaceship.Then the spaceship starts making the sound “Hummmm piffle piffle Hummmm piffle piffle,” so Frazzle finds a small repair shop and the sign says (out loud!) “Welcome to the Wurpitz Hoolo’s Spaceship Repair, Wash and Fillerup Station.”The rest of the book is about Frazzle and his troubles with the spaceship.
One of the things that makes this book different from other books about aliens is that Dear Flyary has a different language in it.It took a little bit of time to figure out what all of the alien language was, but then it was very fun. Like Frazzle says “the engine purred like a tarkleby” instead of “purred like a kitten.”Some of the other fun words are flixsome (‘great!’), smallheart (‘like a tiny bit’), spinblasters (‘fireworks’), and noteymaker (‘musical instrument’). I like the pictures - they’re goofy - and I like how the book is written like a diary (Frazzle calls it a flyary).The book isn’t too long or too short, it’s just right.Any kid would like this book! A Hen for Izzy Pippik By Aubrey Davis, Marie Lafrance (illustrator) Kids Can Press, $16.95, 32 pages, Format: Hard
««««« It is about a girl who found a hen and its home said, ‘A Hen for Izzy Pippik.’She took it home to her Grandpa and her mother. Her Grandpa said, “Scrambled?” and her mother said, “Chicken soup.” But Shaina said, “No, you can’t eat her; this hen belongs to Izzy Pippik!” They made a nest in her crate, and the hen laid an egg in the night. In a few years, the hens started scrambling in every direction. They spilled baby biscuits all over the floor. The hens grew, and the girl’s mother took a broom and tried to shoe them out of the house.The people liked the hens very much because they brought them good fortune. I would recommend this book.I really liked how Shaina wanted the hens to go back to Izzy Pippik because they were his hens and how Izzy Pippik sold all the hens back to the people. I liked that the hen wanted to stay with Shaina
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Children’s because she liked her more than him. I liked the drawings, and I felt good after I read this story.I thought it was really funny how there were eggs all over everywhere. 10 Hungry Rabbits: Counting & Color Concepts By Anita Lobel Knopf Books for Young Readers, $9.99, 24 pages Format: Hard
«««« In this book, the baby rabbits are hungry. They go out to the garden to pick vegetables. Each one finds a different ingredient for momma rabbit’s special soup. I enjoyed having my mommy and daddy read this book to me. I really liked all the colors and had fun counting with the rabbits. It is one of my favorite books. Little Bunny By Lisa McCue Random House Books for Young Readers, $6.99, 20 pages, Format: Board book
««« This book is about a bunny who is going home. He hops through a forest and a park, and some other places. He likes flowers and ducklings. He likes skunk cabbage and frogs. The bunny jumps to his brothers when he gets home. I liked some parts of this book. I liked when the frogs are croaking and when the ducks are quacking. It’s fun to make noises with them. I liked to learn about dew. I would like to live in a burrow and snuggle with bunny brothers. I didn’t like this book as much because it didn’t have very many words and it was kind of boring to read more than once. The pictures were okay though. Reviewed by Delaney - age 5
The Fashion Coloring Book: Over 50 Designers and Looks to Color By Carol Chu , Lulu Chang Graphia, $12.99, 128 pages, Format: Trade
««««« This book, The Fashion Coloring Book, is perfect. It has tons of designs that you can color yourself. There are tons of things, like coloring jackets, hairstyles, dresses, pants, shorts, sunglasses, earrings, necklaces, rings, shoes, and hats. I like that this book gives things that designers have said to the writer. I even get to learn some tips about fashion. Also, I learned about lots of designers. I also learned that you can organize your clothes like if it looks like it is country, try looking for clothes that look country, like a plaid jacket, a tank top, jeans, and toughlooking shoes. I also found some things that I never knew. The only designer I know is my aunt on my mom’s side. Now I know loads of designers, like Gareth Pugh, Murcia Dada… I get to sort of design it in a way, but drawing, but coloring to make the items’ colors unique. I love to draw designs of clothes. I am usually wearing different combinations of clothes, like I saw in this book. I recommend this book to others because you are learning about design and thinking about how to do it. I think this is a great book. Nikki and Deja: Wedding Drama By Karen English, Laura Freeman (illustrator) Clarion Books, $14.99, 112 pages, Format: Hard
««« Miss Shelby is getting married! Miss Shelby has two invitations for her students, because two people couldn’t attend her wedding. And, Nikki and Deja’s name are drawn
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Children’s out of a box of student names in her class.Now, Nikki and Deja can’t decide on which color dress Nikki should get. The story is about Nikki’s and Deja’s friendship that breaks when Deja’s Aunt Dee loses her job. Deja is worried that she can’t even get a new dress, shoes, hairdo, or a present for her teacher’s wedding.Nikki doesn’t know what to say to Deja when this happens, and the two friends drift apart. The girls in the class decide to have a competition with two teams, the Purple Lilacs and the Red Roses. They are trying to see which team has the best wedding planners. Nikki and Deja are on opposing teams. As a 2nd grader, this book was a little hard to read.It was a long book with 10 chapters. I liked it because it had girls in it, and it definitely taught me about how friendship can be tested.I gave it 3 stars, because I just prefer more adventure in the story. Reviewed by Christina - age 7 The Great Divide By Suzanne Slade, Erin E. Hunter (illustrator) Sylvan Dell Publishing, $9.95, 32 pages, Format: Trade
««« The Great Divide is a book about animals. Each page has a new type of animal and it teaches you what big groups of that animal are called. Most of the animals’ families have really surprising names. (Did you know that a group of jellyfish is called a smack?!? That’s so funny!) There are math problems about dividing up the groups of animals. For example: if there are 12 gorillas and you divide them into four groups, how many gorillas are in each group? I didn’t like the math problems because it stopped
the fun of the story. I just wanted to read the story, not do math problems. All the animals were grouped together, so you really didn’t have to divide – all you had to do was count how many groups were on the page. I would recommend this book because you learn more about animals and the pictures are really cool. Just ignore the math problems! Rolling, Rolling, Rolling By Mary L. Pulcher, Annie Lindemann, Massimo Mongiardo (illustrator) Vantage Press, $9.95, 34 pages, Format: Trade
««« Rolling, Rolling, Rolling is about fruits and vegetables rolling on hills and grass on a hot sunny day. It’s so hot, that the vegetable families decide to leave their gardens and go exploring to get out of the heat. As these talking fruits and vegetables go rolling around they meet many adventures on the way.It is a funny book. Rolling, Rolling, Rolling is a great book for preschool through third grade. I recommend it as a read-aloud at school as well. There are a lot of characters too. There are four watermelons, four cantaloupes, and four cucumbers. I liked the make believe characters a lot. The main character is Daddy Cantaloupe. I read it more than once and enjoyed even more the second time. The author, Mary L. Pulcher, has a lot of imagination. The one thing I didn’t like very much were the pictures, because it took me a while to figure out the characters actually had faces. The pictures are in black and white, just like a chapter book. I would have liked more color in the pictures so it would be easier to understand the characters. I hope you enjoy this book, because I do. Reviewed by Roman - age 9
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Children’s Gopher to the Rescue! A Volcano Recovery Story By Terry Catasús Jennings, Laurie O’Keefe (illustrator) Sylvan Dell Publishing, $9.95, 30 pages, Format: Trade
«««« Gopher to the Rescue! A Volcano Recovery Story is about a gopher who lives on a mountainside that’s actually a volcano. When the volcano erupts, some of the animals that live there run away, but Gopher stays because he lives underground where the volcano can’t affect him. He goes on digging and eating during the eruption. He digs under the ash, which makes the soil better so plants can regrow. This brings back the animals that had to run away during the volcano eruption. I liked when Gopher ran into Toad’s and Salamander’s burrows because it was funny. I learned that gopher holes can actually make the soil better. A person who likes animals would like this book. Teachers would also like this book. Reviewed by Nathan - age 8 Cougar Cub Tales: The Sneezy Wheezy Day By Sharon Cramer Talking Bird Books, $14.95, 38 pages, Format: Hard
««««« This book is about two cougar cubs who are brother and sister. They live at the edge of the hills. And they learned to bounce and to pounce and other cat skills. One day, they went to a pool to swim, but the boy cougar felt sick all of a sudden. His sister wanted to take care of him, so they went to visit an owl. The own gave the boy cougar a slice of care-berry pie. That did not help him, so they went to visit several other animals, including a stag, a warthog, and a fox who all had different
ideas of how to make him feel better. His sister keeps on taking care of him every step of the way and he feels better by the end. I liked the book because I like the ideas the animals came up with to try to make the boy cougar feel better. I also liked how sister took care of brother. I didn’t like the pictures as much as other books, because I didn’t like how the cougar cubs were drawn and they are in every picture. This book would be good for a boy or girl up to age 7. Home in the Cave By Janet Halfmann, Shennen Bersani (illustrator) Sylvan Dell Publishing, $9.95, 32 pages, Format: Trade
««««« Home in the Cave is about a bat and his friend named Packrat. The story takes place in the cave where they both live. In the beginning of the story, the baby bat’s mother goes hunting for insects at dusk. While she’s away, baby bat realizes he’s let go of the roof of the cave and he flies for the very first time. He tries using his sonar to tell him where he’s going and, instead, falls onto the ledge where the packrat lives. Packrat and bat go exploring together and learn about all the other creatures that live in the cave with them. I liked this story because it is about animals and also because it actually teaches you about what bats eat and give their babies to eat. It also explains what the cave dwelling fish and bugs eat, including the blind salamander, spiders, termites, crayfish, millipedes, centipedes, and lots of other creepy crawlers. I enjoyed learning what the babies do when their mothers are hunting for food. My most favorite part is when baby bat and packrat go exploring and they see all the insects and water animals. Then they hug and become best friends. I think you should read it and you should because it helps you learn about bats and it’s so good I would read it a thousand times. That’s how much I liked this book!The illustrations were really good also; it shows the cave from all different views. Reviewed by Wyatt - age 8
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Children’s Baby Animals By Thea Feldman Kingfisher, $3.99, 32 pages, Format: Trade
was one of the most interesting things about the book. I also liked the pictures in this book. Reviewed by Nathan - age 8
««« This is a Level One Beginning to Read book about baby animals. All animals begin as a baby of some sort and many animals have different names for their babies. For example, a calf can be a baby cow, dolphin, or even a killer whale! Some of the babies in the book are humans, ducks, elephants, dogs, cats, deer, turtles, frogs, lions, snakes, kangaroos, and rabbits. My favorite from the book is the killer whale because it is part of the dolphin family. I love dolphins! Baby Animals is filled with fun pictures of babies with their moms. The best picture is of a dog with six puppies. They are so cute! My least favorite picture is the spiders – they are eeky! I like this book because most of the pictures are cute and colorful. It would be better, though, if there was more information about the animals. Baby Animals is good for really young kids because it doesn’t have many words, but it is full of fun pictures. I would recommend it for very young readers who don’t know how to read too well. Pirates By Philip Steele Kingfisher, $3.99, 32 pages, Format: Trade
««««« This book is about pirates and what they do. I learned that William de Marisco was dragged to death on a horse for being a pirate. Learning how people were punished for being pirates
Secrets of the Garden: Food Chains and the Food Web in Our Backyard By Kathleen W. Zoehfeld, Priscilla Lamont (illustrator) Knopf Books for Young Readers, $16.99, 40 pages Format: Hard
««««« This book is all about plants and food. A family is planting a vegetable garden. Plants turn the sun into food. We eat the plants and get energy. Rabbits, mice and bugs also eat the plants, and they get eaten by hawks and other bugs, and they get energy. They make food chains at home in the garden. I liked this book so much that I’d like to give it ten stars. I liked all of the drawings of plants, animals, the sun and people. I liked learning about food chains and webs. I think other kids would love this book. Reviewed by Greysen - age 5 Lucky and Squash By Jeanne Birdsall, Jane Dyer (illustrator) Harper, $16.99, 32 pages, Format: Hard
«««« Lucky and Squash is a book that is based partly on a true story of a girl whose name is Jeanne Birdsall. She’s the author of this book which partly tells about her life. She wrote this book by getting an idea about her and her neighbor’s pet dogs that got in lots of trouble. In the story Lucky and Squash go somewhere where they’re not supposed to. They leave clues so owners can find them. They have three adventures together so that their owners will get together, hopefully falling in love. If they do Lucky and Squash will get to be brothers forever, living in the same yard. A surprising ending will lead you to think of writing a book yourself! I think Lucky and Squash should be a book for first, second, and third graders. It teaches about having friends,
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Children’s spending time together, and having fun. Younger children will enjoy reading it with their parents. I thought it was terrific because two best friends have fun together, which makes you happy and smile as you read it. While you read it there will be more than one event so I think this book should be good for children learning how a plot builds. The illustrator, Jane Dyer, paints cool watercolor pictures which are very realistic and beautiful. These pictures really help tell the story. I loved the book! Reviewed by Savana - age 9 Sir Cumference and the Viking’s Map: A Math Adventure By Cindy Neuschwander, Wayne Geehan (illustrator) Charlesbridge, $7.95, 32 pages, Format: Trade
«« Sir Cumference and the Viking’s Map is descriptive and funny. The main characters are cousins, Radius and Per, who wanted an adventure. In the land of Angleland, Radius and Per come across a house in a hill and find a treasure map inside. The map leads them to Xaxon Yellowbearyd, a ghost Viking. Radius and Per have to travel to the points (0,3) on the x, y map to find Xaxon Yellowbearyd and the treasure. Yellowbearyd teaches them about the x and y axis. There are many puns in this story, like how Xaxon Yellowbearyd’s initials are XY and he created the x and y axis. I would give this a two and one half stars out of five stars. I would recommend this to fourth, fifth and sixth graders who are boys or girls. I also think people who love math will like this mathy book. I liked this book because it is mathematical and funny. My favorite part is when Radius and Per get into the water and swim to Xaxon Yellowbearyd’s
ghost canoe. People who liked other Sir Cumference books will like Sir Cumference and the Viking’s Map. Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns about Sportsmanship By Howard Binkow, Susan F. Cornelison, Illustrator Thunderbolt Publishing, $15, 32 pages, Format: Hard
«««« Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns About Sportsmanship: Winning Isn’t Everything is a book about Howard the rabbit who thinks he has to be the best at everything. Howard was playing a soccer game but he didn’t always win. Howard won the seed spitting contest at the fair. He also won the sledgehammer and pie-eating contest. He won a second place trophy, but he wasn’t happy about it so he kicked the trophy. Howard had good sportsmanship and cheered his friends on when they were in a contest. Howard learned how to play well with his team and also to have good sportsmanship. I liked this book a lot. I liked the book because it had a lot of characters in it; it was interesting to see how Howard’s attitude changed. I really like how the main characters played the soccer game. The illustrations are awesome; I especially liked the one where Howard wins the pie eating contest. I would want others to read this book too. It might be especially good for kids who play sports. Coaches might even share it with their teams because winning isn’t everything. Reviewed by Maggie - age 8 Tuesday By David Wiesner Clarion Books, $17, 32 pages, Format: Hard
«««« The setting for this book is on a Tuesday night at a pond where some frogs were sleeping. Suddenly, a brown frog lifted off up into the air. As the brown frog waved goodbye to the other frogs, a green frog rose up into the air too. A turtle just watched as the frogs rose up on their lily pads and began to fly! That was at about 8:00 PM. They flew over
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Children’s the pond. A green and brown frog looked very happy. The brown frog had fun chasing a black bird. The frogs flew toward a house and the brown frog waved at a man in the house who was eating a sandwich. That was at 11:21 PM. Frogs ripping sheets from a clothes line looked like Super Frogs! That night they flew all over the town having fun on their lily pads. When the sun came up, the flying stopped but on the next Tuesday at 7:58 PM, someone else got to fly! This is a good book for kids who can’t read yet or ones who like to make up their own stories because there aren’t many words in this book. It uses great pictures to tell the story! Life in a Castle: A 3-Dimensional Carousel Book By Tim Hutchinson Tango Books, $24.99, 1 page, Format: Hard
«««« This book is all about life in a castle! It’s a very cool book to look at. It comes with a little book that tells you a little bit about the people in the castle, and after you read about the people, you can pop out little cards with the people on them! The paper people are very fun to play with, and you can place them all around the castle. The book is an excellent 3D way to show the inside of a castle. Instead of a boring book with plain illustrations, this book comes to life! It is full of cabinets and wardrobes and closets and tons of other little nooks and crannies to find and look in. It even has a drawbridge! The reason I only gave it 4 stars is because it is hard to keep the book open. It comes with two strings
for this purpose, but it is hard to tie them together while holding the book open and almost impossible to tie it tight. Other than that, it is an excellent book! Reviewed by Delaney - age 12 Waiting for Ice By Sandra Markle, Alan Marks (illustrator) Charlesbridge, $15.95, 32 pages, Format: Hard
«««« Waiting for Ice is based on a true story about a polar bear cub that has lost her mother. Polar bear cubs usually stay with their mothers for two or three years but this cub is alone at only ten months old. The weather is warmer than usual and the bears have to wait for the ice to form so they can hunt. At the beach polar bears fight over the few fish that wash ashore. For the next few weeks the young cub stays alive by eating leftover food from the other bears. Finally the ice is back and the cub heads out to learn to hunt on the Arctic Ocean like the big bears. I think this book is an excellent book for 7-10-year-olds. I think Alan Marks did a great job on the illustrations. Sandra Markle, the author, did a superb job writing Waiting for Ice. She tells an amazing true story about a ten-month-old polar bear cub who is an orphan. At the same time this book gives some great information about how polar bears find food. I like the part where polar bears bite the whale bones. I think Alan Marks could add a little more excitement to the pictures. Reviewed by Thomas - age 8
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Children’s Edgar Allen Poe’s Pie: Math Puzzlers in Classic Poems By J. Patrick Lewis, Michael Slack (illustrator) Harcourt Children’s Books, $16.99, 40 pages, Format: Hard
««««« Math + poetry + fun = Edgar Allan Poe’s Pie! This book by J. Patrick Lewis is full of challenging yet hilarious poems that will make numbers jump into your head! I think this book is for children who like both math and poetry. The poet has turned these classic poems into math puzzles that will stretch your number skills and tickle your funny bone. My favorite poem is “Lewis Carroll’s Fish and Chips” because it made me hungry! Did you know that Lewis Carroll’s real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson? He not only wrote Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, but was a mathematician too! In the entire collection, this poem had the hardest math problems, with decimals and division. Now I gave you three puzzles. A word to the wise-Pay attention and follow my lips. For arithmetic brilliance, a father’s surprise: Stop the studying -- eat fish and chips.” So if you like poetic brainteasers, try your hand at this book of poems. You might also like John Ciardi’s Shark Teeth. It’s lots of fun to figure out the numerical solutions. A Warmer World By Caroline Arnold, Jamie Hogan (illustrator) Charlesbridge, $7.95, 32 pages, Format: Trade
«««« A Warmer World is a non-fiction book about how climate changes are affecting wildlife all over the world. It includes stories of animals such as polar bears, walruses, butterflies, squirrels, mice, krill, penguins, and the arctic fox. It also
includes a sad story about one extinct animal, the golden toad, which lived in the cloud forests of Costa Rica but hasn’t been seen since 1989 because the cloud forest dried up. On each page the author, Caroline Arnold, writes about the seasons and weather changes. She tells about how animals are moving and even dying because of the weather changes. She gives information about animals in the ocean, arctic, and rainforest. A Warmer World is a wonderful book. I recommend this book for kids aged 6-9. I like how the author organized the book; she tells about the weather changes on one page and has a story of the animal that lives in that habitat on the other. This book would also be good for people to read who always pollute the earth because they could learn from it. I think this book is good for elementary schools that are studying animals and their habitats. I myself learned that it isn’t always other people’s fault that animals are hurt, sometimes it’s the weather. Reviewed by Hunter - age 9 The Really Awful Musicians By John Manders Clarion Books, $16.99, 32 pages, Format: Hard
««««« This book is set in medieval time. The king is faced with a problem of really awful musicians. The king can’t stand the awful musicians anymore, so he banishes the musicians and all music from the kingdom. The musicians, afraid of losing their lives, run away. A small group of musicians band togeth- er and learn how to make music sound good, when they all play together. I really liked this book, because it teaches the reader a
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Children’s little bit of history about music. I would recommend this book to any of my friends and family. This book is for those who like a good story, music, and history. Can I Bring Woolly to the Library, Ms. Reaeer? By Lois G. Grambling, Judy Love (illustrator) Charlesbridge, $16.95, 32 pages, Format: Trade
««««« A boy wants to bring Woolly, a woolly mammoth, to the library. So, he asks the lady who checks out books if he can. The boys says Woolly can write his name, learn not to bellow in the library, wear slippers to be quiet, and help check out books. Woolly could help shelve books, but the shelves may fall down. Then, the boy finds out that Woolly will get homesick for his parents in the North Pole. So, he asks to bring a saber tooth tiger instead. I liked this book. I liked the pictures of Woolly at the library. I thought the book was funny, and I liked reading parts of it by myself. I think other kids would also like it. Reviewed by Greysen - age 5
Because our Children’s Book Week was so surpisingly successful, and we ended up having to turn kids away when we reached more than 100 book reviews, we thought...
What the heck. Let’s do this! And Kids’ Book Review was born. So, we’re going to continue this amazing energy that these kids have created by featuring Children’s, Tweens, and Young Adult reviews in EVERY issue of San Francisco and Sacramento Book Reviews. (Although we won’t be featuring the volume of books appearing in this issue ... because that might just kill us!)
Do you have a child who loves to read?
Come read with us! Interested? Click HERE.
Greysen, Logan & Kyle came to our office to pick up their books and immediately plopped onto the floor to begin reading.
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San Francisco Book Review • April 2012 • 50
Tweens Chomp By Carl Hiaasen Knopf Books for Young Readers, $16.99, 304 pages Format: Hard
««««« Wahoo Cray, an animal wrangler’s son, has been trying to help his father ever since a frozen iguana gave him a concussion. While Wahoo is helpful and good-tempered, his father is the opposite - fiery and stubborn. When he accepts a job as the animal wrangler for a reality TV show, the so-called survivalist, Derek Badger, turns out to be a spoiled brat of a celebrity whose television scenes are completely phony - the smallest things, down to the mud on Derek’s boots, are fake. To add to things, a girl called Tuna shows up and needs help hiding from her father, who has given her a black eye. As the three of them travel with Derek Badger’s crew to the Everglades, they discover more about each other and the quirky adventure begins! I really liked this book; it was exciting and funny, the characters were all hilarious, believable and intriguing in their own ways. It made me laugh, and yes, I would recommend this to any tween who likes humor, survival, animals and adventure. Crow By Barbara Wright Random House Books for Young Readers, $16.99, 304 pages Format: Hard
««« Crow is about a boy named Moses Thomas. Moses goes through many unexpected problems as the tension between white and black communities grow. Then the white
community attacks! They nearly wipe out the entire black community, and while some of the surviving African-Americans are shipped off, one tries to stay... It’s a so-so book because it’s pretty violent and a lot of blood. It’s really sad when a lot of people died around the middle. But it’s sad in a lot of places; here are some of them. It’s sad when the bike contest happens. It’s also sad when Moses plays a trick on his friend. There are two more sad parts, but they’d spoil the ending. Reviewed by Chase - age 9 Magic Tree House Fact Tracker: Abraham Lincoln By Mary Pope Osborne, Natalie Pope Boyce, Sal Murdocca (illustrator) Random House Books for Young Readers, $5.99, 128 pages Format: Trade
«««« This book tells us about Abraham Lincoln’s life and his family. It also tells us about the Civil War that happened in the United States a long time ago. Mr. Lincoln grew up in a log cabin. The book has a great picture of the inside of a log cabin and shows all the things inside of it. They had fires instead of stoves and no TV or video games. Sometimes everyone slept in the same room. It was very different than our houses now. Abraham Lincoln only went to school for a little while. The book says that he only went to school for about a year. That’s less than me! But he loved books and would walk a long, long way to borrow books. I think Abra-
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Tweens ham Lincoln loved books as much as I do. He had a sad life. A lot of people died in his life. I would recommend this book for any kid in school. It would be really useful if you had to do a report on Abraham Lincoln. I usually like mystery stories and comic books, but if you think this is boring call me. I don’t like the Fact Tracker books as much as the regular Magic Tree stories though. If you like this story, you’ll love Magic Tree House #47: Abe Lincoln at Last! Magic Tree House #47: Abe Lincoln at Last! By Mary Pope Osborne, Sal Murdocca (illustrator) Random House Books for Young Readers, $12.99, 128 pages Format: Hard «««.5 Jack and Annie are off on another adventure. This time the two must travel back in time in search of items needed to help their friend Teddy, who accidentally placed a magic spell on someone. Jack and Annie travel back to meet President Lincoln. It turns out that he gives the two something they need, but they in turn offer him something he needs as well. I really liked this book and would suggest it to my friends in second and third grade. I liked hearing a little bit about how people lived back during the Civil War and also when President Lincoln was a little boy. Lower the Trap (Lobster Chronicles) By Jessica Scott Kerrin Kids Can Press, $15.95, 128 pages, Format: Hard
««« Graeme, a lobster fisherman’s son, wants to become a marine biologist.One day, his father comes in from the boat with a huge lobster that must be at least 50 years old.Graeme hopes to sell the lobster at the auction and use the money
to go to an aquarium to study.Graeme really wants to go to the aquarium, but doesn’t know if he should instead let the lobster go.Meanwhile, an annoying rich kid from school is bribing Graeme to help him figure out who stole the teacher’s cactus. I liked the descriptions of the bay and I liked the characters and how they thought.It was fun to see how lobster fishermen caught lobsters.But I was disappointed in the end, because I disagreed with the choice Graeme made.I felt like the choice was kind of taken away from him.There will be two other books in the series; I think it would be fun to read them if just to see the perspectives of the other characters.The book was short and easy to read; I think this book would be a good one for younger readers. Ice Island By Sherry Shahan Delacorte Books for Young Readers, $15.99, 176 pages Format: Hard
««««« Ice Island is about a girl named Tatum. Tatum went through quite a few sad times. She has also gone through some happy times. Here are some of them. In the beginning, Tatum meets Cole. Cole is a kind Siberian Yupik boy. And there is one in the beginning when Tatum receives Bandit. Bandit is a black cinnamon-speckled dog. Bandit, Tatum, and Cole play major roles in the story. It’s a happy/sad story. I would recommend it to anyone who likes adventure books. Sherry Shahan seems to be a great author. Honestly, I was worried throughout the book, but it was still a great
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Tweens book. Like an adventure? Like snowy places? Then this is the book for you. It is sad, yes, but it is really happy, too. Ice Island is very adventurous. Reviewed by Chase - age 9 Stealing Magic: A Sixty-Eight Rooms Adventure By Marianne Malone, Greg Call (illustrator) Random House Books for Young Readers, $16.99, 256 pages, Format: Hard
««««« Stealing Magic is the second book after The Sixty-Eight Rooms. It is very helpful to have read the first book. Stealing Magic is about an art thief stealing three magic keys. The three magic keys have special powers. If a female is holding one, she can shrink. If a male is touching the female, he can shrink too. When they shrink, they can explore The Thorne Rooms, which are tiny dollhouse-sized rooms in a museum. The rooms are portals to other places and times. Ruthie and Jack are two kids who are good at solving mysteries. Jack already has one of the keys. Ruthie and Jack are trying to get the other two keys back from the thief, but first they need to figure out who the thief is. They suspect it is Mr. Bell, but they need to prove it. Jack and Ruthie are in a race to beat the thief to the last two keys. The story was great! I recommend that all the people 6 to 20 read Stealing Magic, especially if you like mysteries and adventure stories. The story was great because I loved the mystery. I now want to read the first book!
Wonder By R.J. Palacio Knopf Books for Young Readers, $15.99, 320 pages Format: Hard
«««« Wonder, an amazing book written by R.J. Palacio, is about a 10-year-old boy named August. August isn’t just an ordinary boy; he has facial deformities. Just by his appearance, everyone thinks he is just a weird boy, but once everyone gets to know him, he is just like any other boy, but even cooler! Auggie, his nickname, has been home-schooled for most of his life. His parents think it is time for him to make his own friends and go to a local school. Auggie is, of course, self-conscious about his looks and he has no idea what school is like! But with the help of a great principal, caring friend, and a loving family, Auggie learns many life lessons. I got hooked reading Wonder once I got to know the characters. The author really makes you feel a meaningful connection to Auggie and the other kids. My favorite part was when Olivia, Auggie’s older sister, talks about the way she lives with Auggie. This is my favorite part because I can relate to Olivia better than anyone else in the story. We have similar social issues. Also because when Auggie talks about his life, you feel so bad for him and do not even think about his sister. But when Olivia talks, she says that Auggie gets all the attention and she has to teach herself to be patient and understanding. You think of the story in a different way. Wonder makes you realize that you shouldn’t judge someone by their appearance; it’s about their personality and who they actually are.
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Tweens Margaret and the Moth Tree By Kari Trogen, Brit Trogen Kids Can Press, $15.95, 176 pages, Format: Hard
The Island Horse By Susan Hughes Kids Can Press, $16.95, 160 pages, Format: Hard
«««««
«««««
A young girl named Margaret was orphaned and sent to live with her uncle, who never spoke if he could help it. In the quietude of her uncle’s house, Margaret’s hearing became keener and keener until she could hear a shadow creeping across the lawn. She would have been able to perfect her hearing but her uncle died and she was put into the care of her great aunt, who loved to talk, which destroyed her gift of hearing. Then her great aunt passed away and she was sent to an orphanage. Unknown to the people who contributed to the orphanage, and to the people who supervised the orphanage, the carelady was a cruel bully who delighted in nothing more than hurting the children and making them her slaves. When Margaret found the moth tree, she knew she found an oasis, and with the moths’ help masterminded a plan to defeat ‘The Switch’ once and for all. I liked the book because there was a lot of depth of character. Margaret was put through a lot of different situations and showed that she had a lot of levels to her personality. I liked that in the end she had to make a choice. Both of her choices could have been good, but she chose the better one. I also liked the perspectives of the moths’ personalities. I would recommend this book to other people because it is exciting and captivating.
The book was about a girl named Ellie who lived on a main island and then moved to an island called Sable Island. When she was at the island she met this wild horse. When she first tried to touch it, it reared back, but eventually it rubbed her hand. She met this girl named Sarah. Sarah was very quick. While Ellie was at the island she met her father’s horse, named Cora. Ellie didn’t want to be at the island, because it didn’t feel like home, and while she was at the mainland she told her mother they would always be there. Eventually she got to like the island. This book is the best I’ve ever read! There was a lot of mystery, and I liked it because there were horses and two girls in it. I think other people would like to read it because it had some very fun exciting events in the book. I liked thinking about riding a horse and thinking about how fun it would be to slip through the air Able to Play: Overcoming Physical Challenges (Good Sports) By Glenn Stout Sandpiper, $5.99, 112 pages, Format: Trade
««« Good Sports: Able to Play is about famous baseball players who overcome challenges – one had lost a finger as a child, one only had one arm, one was deaf and another had diabetes and tried to hide it. Despite these disadvantages, they both practiced for years and became so good they entered the Baseball Hall of Fame. Sometimes people didn’t think
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Tweens they could do it, but they didn’t give up – they kept on trying! My favorite chapter was about Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown, who lost a finger but could still pitch. I learned that even if you have something wrong with you, you can do anything if you believe in yourself. The players worked hard and they became famous. I liked the story a lot. The people in the book make me want to try hard. I recommend Good Sports to anyone over six years old because it shows you what you can do if you are in a bad accident or have a disability you can still count on playing sports if you try hard. Reviewed by Cole - age 6 The Storm Makers By Jennifer E. Smith, Brett Helquist (illustrator) Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, $16.99, 384 pages Format: Hard
««««« Ruby and Simon are a good, fun match. They know how to cheer each other up and work together. It is also very beautiful how their characters grow together and learn together. The McDuffs move to Wisconsin, so Simon and Ruby McDuff deal with moving, as well as the power to create storms. When their decision could change the fate of the world, they must make the right one. The lives of thousands depend upon them. This is the first book for awhile that I’ve been able to read without feeling that I shouldn’t be reading it. The swift pace was wonderful. I already liked Brett Helquist’s drawings and this book only improved my opinion. When
I recommend this book to my friends, I will say, “This book is fast paced and easy to read. You will love this book because of the spunky character, and because of the bafflingly amazing and awesome storyline. If you are short on books to read, come to me because this is the best book I’ve read in 2012.” Little Wings #1: Willa Bean’s Cloud Dreams By Cecilia Galante, Kristi Valiant (illustrator) Random House Books for Young Readers, $4.99, 112 pages Format: Trade
««««« Willa Bean is a cupid who has a million-bajillion freckles, bright purple wings with silver tips, and (like me) crazy curls. But Willa can’t fly, so she has to go to school to learn. She has a bad first day of classes! There is a mean cupid in Willa’s class named Vivi. She calls Willa Bean a Meanie Mouth. Willa does have a best friend named Harper who helps to make school better. Willa and Harper love to dig for treasure on Cloud Eight and put it in Willa Bean’s hair or in their treasure chest. They also learn The Cupid Rule: “The very best way to spend your day is to be kind, all the time.” My favorite part of the story is when Willa Bean learns why she can’t fly, but I like it less when she wants to throw up! Willa Bean and Harper learn that it’s good to be different because then everyone can be themselves. I really loved this book because it was different and it was about being different. I would recommend Cloud Dreams to older girls because the older kids can read chapter books and I think only girls like cupids.
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Tweens Poison Most Vial: A Mystery By Benedict Carey Amulet Books, $16.95, 240 pages, Format: Hard
««««« Dr. Ramachandran has been murdered by poison and Ruby’s father (Mr. Rose) is being blamed. Ruby’s best friend is a boy named Rex, whose full name is Theodore Rexford. Ruby wants to prove that her father is innocent. The window lady (Clara Whitmore) who lives in the same apartment building knows a lot about chemistry, which is helpful. Ruby, Rex and Mrs. Whitmore all work together to find out who killed Dr. Ramachandran. Ruby and Rex go through amazing adventures as they investigate the many suspects. It was an interesting mystery about chemistry. I LOVED Poison Most Vial! The Flying Beaver Brothers and the Fishy Business By Maxwell Eaton Knopf Books for Young Readers, $6.99, 96 pages Format: Trade
««««« Ace and Bub, the Beaver Brothers, were at home when Bob and Bob, the evil Penguins, woke them up. The penguins had made them pancakes. They startled the Beaver Brothers! In this story, the Beaver Brothers are trying to stop the evil fish from making Fish Stix. Most people thought the Fish Stix were so cool and they bought a lot of them. The fish were lying to everyone, saying their Fish Stix were
good for the environment but they were really destroying the trees. I though it was super funny! My favorite part was when the fish itches his butt. The scariest part was the beavers were going to get thrown in the grinder. I won’t tell you what happened because mom says it will spoil the surprise. I really, really liked this book. I recommend reading this book if you’re a kid from 4 to 100 years old. Even my dad laughed when he read it. You’ll like this book if you like jokes and comic books. The Genius Files #1: Mission Unstoppable By Dan Gutman HarperCollins, $6.99, 304 pages, Format: Trade
«««« The main characters in The Genius Files: Mission Unstoppable are Coke and Pepsi McDonald. The story is set in the United States. Coke and Pepsi McDonald are enrolled in the Genius Files, a group of kids with extremely high IQs. However, the Genius Files has enemies. When the leader of the Genius Files goes rogue and unites the enemies, Coke and Pepsi are in trouble. As they are taken across the United States by their parents to visit landmarks, their enemies assault them at every stop. However, they have some friends that are with the Genius Files and help them whenever they can. I think this book was well done. I couldn’t figure out what was going to happen. I also thought the book was very humorous. I wouldn’t recommend it for younger children because it has complex words and it was disgusting at one point. (Coke and Pepsi empty a full port-a-potty’s worth of sewage onto one of the enemies.) Also, the print is medium sized, and the book has a lot of pages. Overall, I would recommend it for older kids. Reviewed by Logan Petersen - age 10
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Tweens 13 Hangmen By Art Corriveau Amulet Books, $16.95, 352 pages, Format: Hard
««««« In America in 2009, Tony gets a cap as a present for his 13th birthday from his Great-Uncle Angelo. Later, he learns that his family is moving; Uncle Angelo had died and left his house to Tony, on the strange conditions that only Tony could sleep in the attic, and Tony couldn’t sell the house until he was 21. The house is a wreck, but when Tony places his cap on a shelf in his new room, he finds that Uncle Angelo was murdered and the next-door neighbors have been wanting the house for centuries. Tony is able to use the cap to help other boys, from different time periods, figure out how to solve the mystery and to keep their house, #13 on Hangmen Street. I loved this book! I liked how Tony was able to help other 13-year-olds from different time periods. There was a lot of history involved, and Tony’s older brother was eventually nice to him. The story was very tight; everything was connected to everything else. The plot moved fast and the characters were new and interesting. They used their differences to help each other. I would recommend it to all my friends, both boys and girls. Fake Mustache: Or, How Jodie O’Rodeo and Her Wonder Horse (and Some Nerdy Kid) Saved the U.S. Presidential Election from a Mad Genius Criminal Mastermind By Tom Angleberger Amulet Books, $13.95, 208 pages, Format: Hard
«««« It all started on Casper’s birthday. Casper had been saving up for the number seven handlebar mustache at Sven’s
A
mother I hadn’t yet worked with sent me an email in late March, asking if her son could review Illuminate. I regretfully told her we couldn’t fulfill the request. We had just switched gears from mailing books out to processing incoming reviews. With the deadline looming and knowing the time involved to prep the reviews and the adorable photos for layout, we didn’t want to mail the book out and risk him missing the deadline. And then I learned that he’d had an emergency appendectomy, had only just gotten back on his feet, and was super excited about the possibility of reviewing the book. Heidi and I have a particular soft spot for kids who love to read and, well, let’s just say Tee was, indeed, quite excited to review Illuminate. --Lisa Rodgers
Fair Priced Store, but needed 10 more dollars, so he made his friend Lenny give him the 10 dollars since Lenny gave Casper such a bad present. But that mustache changed everything. After Casper got the mustache, he decided to get a man-about-town suit to look more like an adult. Lenny decided to go home after that. His parents were watching the news and Lenny saw Casper! Casper had been caught robbing a bank and had stolen millions of dollars! Lenny went to Casper’s house to see if it was true. When Lenny went to Casper’s room, he couldn’t even open the door because his room was filled with
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Tweens money bags. Casper really had robbed the bank! This is an great book with many exciting twists and turns. I would definintely recommend this book to 10-year-olds and up. A Greyhound of a Girl By Roddy Doyle Amulet Books, $16.95, 192 pages, Format: Hard
««««« Mary and her best friend are taken away from each other. Now that her best friend is gone it is harder for Mary with her poor old granny in the hospital about to die. Along the way she meets a lady named Tansey. Tansey helps Mary through it. The setting is very early in Ireland. Mary is trying to be as strong as she can be when she thinks of her granny dying. I loved this book so so so much that if they let me give more than 5 stars I would have to give it 90 stars. I think 9-13 year olds would love it also, so would young adults. If you like adventures you would love this book. I think anyone would love this a lot. I hope you like this book. As soon as you get it, you must read it. Reviewed by Peyton - age 9 Earwig and the Witch By Diana Wynne Jones, Paul O. Zelinsky (illustrator) Greenwillow Books, $15.99, 140 pages, Format: Trade
««««« I really like Earwig and the Witch. It is scary to think about not having any parents and it seems like a lot of books for my age (I am eight) have characters in them that have no parents. I think that is to make us pay attention because
it is scary to not have parents. Earwig is a silly name and I liked it a lot. I also liked that she was really smart and wanted to outsmart the witch! Earwig liked to be at the orphanage. She had it good there and everyone did what she wanted. When she went to live with the witch who was her new parent she had to do chores and stuff. I didn’t really feel too bad for Earwig. I have to do chores too, that’s just part of having a parent or two. There is a lot of mystery about who Earwig really is and why that witch came for her and why no one else ever adopted her. I liked the ending a lot and I am very sad Mrs. Jones has passed away and this might be the last book we get written by her. Earwig is a very nice book. The Mask of Destiny By Richard Newsome Walden Pond Press, $16.99, 384 pages, Format: Hard
««««« This book is the last book in The Archer Legacy series. The main characters are three kids named Gerald, Sam and Ruby. In this book, Gerald is accused of murder, so he is being chased around Europe by the police. At the same time, Gerald is trying to figure out how his ancestors were related to a huge treasure. Charlotte, the murdered man’s niece who likes to make poisons, chases Gerald so she can get to the treasure first. So, Gerald and his friends are traveling across Europe trying to find clues fast enough so the police don’t catch them and before Charlotte gets to the treasure. I think other kids would like this book because it is interesting. You can’t figure out the end until you read it. The char-
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Tweens acters never give up hope in finding clues and the treasure and clearing Gerald’s name. The book is also funny. Richard Newsome is really good writer. I think kids with very good imaginations would really like this book, and I am going to read the other two books in the series as soon as I get them. Reviewed by Kyle Petersen - age 9 Tua and the Elephant By R. P. Harris, Taeeun Yo (illustrator) Chronicle Books, $16.99, 204 pages, Format: Hard
«««« This is a story about a girl named Tua who lives in Chang Mai, Thailand. Tua lives near a busy night market and her mother works nights at a restaurant. While her mom is at work, Tua goes to the night market. While wandering around the market, she discovers an elephant. It is being mistreated by two mahouts who are only using the elephant for money. Tua feels the elephant is speaking to her and that she has to help it escape. She begins by stealing the elephant and trying to find it a home. She has many adventures trying to hide a big elephant and not having the mahouts find her and the elephant. You will have to read the book to find out about all the fun adventures! I liked the book because it was adventurous and it gave me a sense of what life in Thailand is like. It was fun reading about all the exciting and scary journeys she goes on with the elephant. I liked how Tua and the elephant had a close relationship that you do not see often. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading suspenseful realistic fiction. Reviewed by Elliott - age 7
Explorer: The Mystery Boxes By Kazu Kibushi (editor) Amulet Books, $10.95, 128 pages, Format: Trade
«««« This book had several stories; each story had at least one box in it, but none of the stories had the same kind of box. In one story, there was a girl who was going to fight a monster guy who had killed her father. Then a messenger came with a box that would show her what had happened to her father and where he was. The box took her to an island of ghosts who had been killed in the war. In a different story, another box was under a girl’s bed under the floorboards, and in it was a little doll of wax. At first, the doll did the girl’s chores, but eventu- ally it started doing horrible things like scribbling all over the walls and not cleaning it up. In a third story, a box trapped a butter thief that a grandma had been trying to catch. I liked this book. The story of the butter thief is my favorite, but I also really liked the one about spring cleaning. There were two I didn’t like; the one about the ghost island and one about an escape. All the stories were comics or cartoons. I liked the drawings; they were funny, like the drawings that are in children’s books. I would recommend this book to people who like comics. Fast Dog, Cool Cat, Hot Dog, and A Time For Action By Arnold Haber, Audrey Walker, Illustrator Dyllie Productions, $15.95, 112 pages, Format: Trade
««««« This story begins with Comet, the fast dog, arriving at his forever-home with Patty. Patty’s family adopts Comet after San Francisco Book Review • April 2012 • 59
Tweens he retired from dog racing. He still loves to run, but now he has to learn to live with a family. Comet has to learn how to get up the stairs, he has to learn what a mirror was, and he also has to learn what a window is. Patty is willing to help Comet learn all these new things: she even gives him peanut butter as a reward. Comet meets some interesting animals in his new neighborhood, such as the “cool cat,” Rodrigo. Rodrigo is a Spanish cat and he helps Comet, too. Another animal that helps Comet is Igloo, the hot dog. The three animals become really close friends. One time, a boy named Frankie, makes fun of all the animals and Patty. He even breaks Patty’s lunchbox and eats her favorite cookies. Comet, Rodrigo and Igloo know they had to do something to help Patty. Can they figure out a way to help Patty? Read this awesome story to find out! I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves animals. I think a good reader in second grade or higher would enjoy this book. One of my favorite parts of this story was when Comet learned his first lesson: whenever you go up the stairs, there will be peanut butter. Comet loves peanut butter, it is his favorite snack, and because of this he learned the lesson quickly. Fast Dog, Cool Cat, Hot Dog, and A Time For Action was a totally radical book to read! Reviewed by David - age 8 Higgins Hole By Kevin Boreen, David Clark (illustrator) Charlesbridge, $16.95, 224 pages, Format: Hard
««««« Higgins Hole is a book about many kinds of fish trying to protect their home. Lutus the lobster, their leader, is the first to talk to Tacitus, the leader of the great white sharks, who is invading Higgins Hole. The story takes place in an underwater town. Many different fish help try to save Higgins Hole from, and the fish there from being eaten by, Tacitus and his gang of great white sharks.
The excellence in this book is high. The author, Kevin Boreen, tells a book that you don’t want to stop reading. I highly recommend this book for children as young as 8 or older. Higgins Hole has high vocabulary. It is a great read-aloud, too. A good book for you if you like an adventure story combined with funny story. Reviewed by Ethan M. - age 9 Vincent Shadow: The Top Secret Toys By Tim Kehoe Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, $15.99, 272 pages Format: Hard
««« Vincent Shadow is an inventor, a toy inventor. Luckily for him, he’s about to have an internship at the best toy company in the world! Or, it would have been lucky if he had inventions to build. After his first day as an intern, the company owner dies. Without toys, the future of the company looks bleak. If only Vincent could uncover the secrets of the famous scientist, Nikola Tesla. Surely if he could do that, anything is possible. The Top Secret Toys has a plot that is much different than many books I’ve read. Instead of starting slow then speeding up or starting in the middle and back-tracking with the plot, it starts with a question. Being that I aspire to be an inventor myself, I found the story intriguing. Also, I have an interest in the work of the real-life Nikola Tesla as well. Although not gripping or exciting, I liked the mystery of the plot. There are illustrations of inventions also, something I really appreciate. This is a good read, but not generally as fast-paced as I would like, so I gave this book three stars. Reviewed by Alexander - age 11
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Tweens Dumpling Days By Grace Lin Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, $15.99, 272 pages Format: Hard
««««« A ten-year-old girl named Pacey went with her two sisters, Lissy and Ki-ki, to Taiwan for a month to be at Grandma’s sixtieth birthday party. When they first got to Taiwan they went to a restaurant. Pacey loved dumplings, so she ordered them. The restauant had a special kind that had soup inside them. On the way to Grandma’s house she saw a few mailboxes. The top one said ‘Family,’ the middle one said ‘Friends,’ and the bottom one said’ Lover.’ Pacey put her letter in the ‘Friends’ mailbox. While she was in Taiwan, she went to an art class to learn to paint Chinese pictures. Her sisters had art classes too. Pacey saw a lot of things that were different from her home, and at first she didn’t like Taiwan, but then she came to like it. I would really recommend reading it; it was awesome! I liked the part where it had Japanese dumpling desserts. They sounded really yummy. I think Pacey was a very nice character, and the paper cutting Ki-Ki had done was very well done. Pacey’s drawing was really cool too. I really really liked the story of how they went to Taiwan and all the legendary things that happened. I like what happened at the end at the Grandma’s birthday party, and how Pacey ended up liking Taiwan.
How to Train Your Dragon Book 8: How to Break a Dragon’s Heart By Cressida Cowell Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, $12.99, 320 pages Format: Hard
««««« This is another book in the How to Drain Your Dragon series. There is Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, like always. There is also Fishlegs, Toothless, Camicazi, Stoik the Vast, the Beast, and Alvin the Treacherous. Alvin is the bad guy. The story takes place in the Archipelago (which is more than one island), but really they bounce around a lot. This story is about Hiccup rescuing Camicazi after she was captured by Flabbergasted and put into a tree. In the process, Hiccup also gets put into the tree. There is a lot of adventure. Toothless is at a “magical stone” and keeps getting stuck to armor and swords. During the story, Hiccup has to battle Berserks, be chased by Scarers, and save Fishlegs from being fed to the Beast. All of this while Hiccup has an impossible task to complete. I really liked this book. It has a lot of action and fighting, but it also has a lot of humor. I would recommend it to anyone who likes dragons, swords, and humor, or the How to Train Your Dragon series. Reviewed by Libby - age 10 Promise the Night By Michaela MacColl Chronicle Books, $16.99, 264 pages, Format: Hard
«««« Promise the Night is an outstanding, historical fiction novel. Based on her childhood, Beryl Markham was the first woman to fly nonstop and solo across the Atlantic Ocean from England to America, against the prevailing winds. Markham made her historic flight in 1936. Packed with action, Promise the Night will captivate any preteen who loves history. Born in England in 1902, Beryl Clutterbuck, at the age of two, moves to a ranch in British East Africa,
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Tweens now known as Kenya. The book begins when Beryl is now ten years old, and she helps her father take care of the horses on his sprawling ranch. Beryl is nothing like a proper English girl; she is feisty and strong-willed. She runs and jumps with the boys of the Nandi, an African tribe. Beryl is a likable character: she befriends a Nandi boy and shows her bravery by going on a lion hunt. Anyone who has big dreams will be inspired by this book because Beryl’s spirit is never broken. Learning what might have made Beryl want “to fly over the valley, like an eagle” is an exciting adventure not to be missed. The Last Apprentice: Grimalkin, the Witch Assassin By Joseph Delaney Greenwillow Books, $16.99, 400 pages, Format: Hard
«««« The main/strong characters in the book are Grimalkin, Bowker, Thorne, Alice Deane, the Spook, Tom Ward, Wynde, Slake, and the Kretch. There is also the Fiend but he does not feature prominently in the book. There are many settings including a knight’s castle, Pendle tower, quite a few fields and forests, and an abandoned castle. Grimalkin, a very strong heroine, is a witch assassin. The main plot in the book is about Grimalkin, who has the Fiend’s head, and how she is running away from his followers. I think that Grimalkin, the Witch Assassin is a really good book. It has a lot of action and adventure and a lot of fighting. I think that it has too much killing and death, so I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone under ten. Still, it is a pretty good book and I think it fits in a series very well.
The characters have a lot of different traits such as being proud, intuitive, persistent, strong, and kind. It is pretty fun to read. It is also fun to guess the main and supporting characters and you need to infer a lot. I could say one thing: the author knows his stuff and writes in a very suspenseful way! It also has a pretty good beginning scene and it isn’t confusing at all if you haven’t read the previous books. Reviewed by Nicholas - age 9 Cinderella Smith: The More the Merrier By Stephanie Barden, Diane Goode (illustrator) HarperCollins, $15.99, 144 pages, Format: Hard
«««« The school spelling bee is coming up. And the prize is… the right to pick the theme to a class party! Cinderella Smith doesn’t know what type of party she wants. Although when the class bully, Rosemary T. and her table mates, decide to do an “I Believe in Unicorns Party,” Cinderella’s game steps up. All her friends try to help her prepare for the competition. Mean words are said between Rosemary T. and Cinderella. What can Cinderella do to fix their relationship? When the class spelling bee comes alive, the class finalists are Cinderella, a boy named Zachery, and … Rosemary T. Cinderella wants to win the school spelling bee so bad, but will she prevail? I really enjoyed reading this book. If I were in Cinderella’s class, I would be her friend. She stands up for others and she is not afraid of saying what she thinks. She is also very fun and clever. I love how she makes up her own words like vexylent, which means very, extremely excellent. I would recommend this book. Reviewed by Faith - age 7 (Susan Tung)
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Tweens Herbert’s Wormhole: The Rise and Fall of El Solo Libre By Peter Nelson, Rohitash Rao (illustrator) HarperCollins, $12.99, 320 pages, Format: Hard
«««« Herbert’s Wormhole #2 “The Rise and Fall of El Solo Libre is an excellent book! The book is set mostly in the future, but also in the present time. Herbert’s town is called Merwinsville and he and his friends visit it in 2109. The main characters are Herbert, Sammy, and Alex (a.k.a. El Solo Libre). In the first book, Herbert and Alex’s parents force them to have a playdate instead of playing video games. They discover Herbert’s backyard slide is a wormhole that lets them go to the future and back. In The Rise and Fall of El Solo Libre, Herbert and his friends use the wormhole to travel back and forth to see their friends in the future. Herbert and his friends try to defeat evil aliens called Klapthorians that are invading future Merwinsville. This book was a real page turner! I liked it because it was an exciting science fiction story. I thought the funny clothing and character details were comical and goofy. The story has a suspenseful feeling, and when you have to stop reading you don’t want to stop! It also has an unexpected ending. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes sci-fi and funny alien stories. Kids who liked The Zombie Chasers or The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series will love it!
Rosie and the Wedding Day Rescue (Flower Girl World) By Lynelle Woolley, Karen Wolcott (illustrator) Markelle Media, $4.99, 80 pages, Format: Trade
«««« Rosie Anderson is a detective. Her favorite babysitter Greta is getting married. When Greta asks if Rosie would be her flower girl, Rosie agrees. But Rosie is nervous about being a flower girl. She doesn’t like wearing dresses. When she meets the other flower girls, Starr and Iris, she gets even more worried. They all pick nice dresses, while she picks a plain white one. The day of the wedding arrives. Rosie is still nervous. But when she tries on the dress, she gets excited. Rosie and her mom arrive at the hotel. She puts on her hair ribbon and anxiously awaits the wedding. Starr’s twin brothers rip the wedding gown. The wedding ring is missing! Rosie feels she has to do something to help the bride. Using her detective skills, will Rosie find the wedding ring and save Greta’s wedding? This book has good pictures and a good story line. The author does a great job describing what happens. It is a wonderful book. I would recommend it. The book is perfect for nervous flower girls and girls who probably won’t be flower girls any time soon. Overall, I would say that the story is an enjoyable read. Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer Summer By Megan McDonald, Peter Reynold (illustrator) Candlewick Press, $15.99, 208 pages, Format: Hard ««««.5 I read Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer Summer. I also watched the movie. The book and the movie are pretty different. The whole main idea of the book is that Judy, the main girl in the book, was determined to make this summer the best summer ever. She had a whole chart with
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Tweens dares and dares got the friends thrill points. The goal is to add up all of the thrill points at the end of the summer, and whoever has the most wins! But two of Judy’s best friends, Amy and Rocky, go away to summer camp, so Judy’s stuck with only one friend, Frank. And her summer just got worse when her parents are going away for the summer, because her Grandpa Lou hurt his back and needs help and she doesn’t get to go with them. Her Aunt Opal (who she’s never met) is the babysitter of her and her brother, Stink. Is Aunt Opal coming good news or bad news? And can Judy’s summer be saved? Overall I loved Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer Summer. I would recommend this book to ages seven and eight year old’s. But, the book doesn’t have any hard words, so some 6 year old’s MIGHT be able to read Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer Summer. I liked this book because the font is big; it has cool pictures, and a great plot. I think that both boys and girls would like Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer Summer, but, to be fair, it’s a little more of a girl book. BUT it would still be a great book for boys and girls. Have you ever had a book where it looks really good and you want to read it, but for some weird reason you don’t read it on purpose? But then, when you finally start reading it, you can’t stop until you read it all? That’s what Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer Summer does. Be SURE to check out more Judy Moody books like. Judy Moody girl detective (I read this one) Judy Moody gets famous! Judy Moody goes to college and TONS (I mean gazillion) more! And books about Stink, Judy’s little brother.
The Wicked and the Just By J. Anderson Coats Harcourt Children’s Books, $16.99, 352 pages, Format: Hard
«« This book is set in 13th Century England and Wales. The King of England is offering Cecily’s father a beautiful house and cheap rent if he will patrol Caernarvon, Wales and keep the Welsh citizens in line. Cecily’s father takes her from Edgeley and plops her in Caernarvon. Cecily meets a servant girl named Gwen, who is Welsh. Gwen hates how whiny Cecily is, especially since Cecily has life so much better than she does. As Cecily realizes what is happening to the Welsh, tensions are rising and soon Cecily is in mortal danger. I liked how the author used different fonts for Cecily and Gwen, because I could tell who was speaking right away. I also found it interesting that Gwen’s font and style of writing were less refined than Cecily’s. I liked how the girls developed a relationship where they could understand each other better. I enjoyed the story at first (although Cecily was incredibly annoying in her whining), but as the plot progressed the story got more focused on the war and became bloodier and bloodier and grittier and grittier. For example, in one scene, Cecily trips over one of her neighbors who is dead in the road, and “the gutters run with blood.” By the end of the book, I wanted to stop, burn it, and hide under my covers. Above World By Jenn Reese Candlewick Press, $16.99, 360 pages, Format: Hard
««««« The Kampii, mermaids born without tails who get them when they are thirteen, are in trouble. The necklaces that help them breathe are losing their power. Aluna is going to San Francisco Book Review • April 2012 • 64
Tweens the above world, where there are other kinds of creatures like Aviars (humans with wings) and Equians (halfhorse/half-man), to try to find the power that can help their necklaces work again. Aluna’s sister is captured by Fathom, a clone of the director of biomedics, and she has to go find her. Dash, an Equian, helps her. Hoku and Dash find out that Fathom took the power from the necklaces for Liu, a part-human/part-crab with eight legs. Aluna finds her sister and defeats Fathom. I treasured this book! What the Dog Said By Randi Reisfeld Bloomsbury Kids, $16.99, 256 pages, Format: Hard
«««« This book is about a girl named Grace who gets a brown and gray mutt (who they later name Rex) at the pound which she thinks is talking to her. She is about 12 years old with curly brown hair; she has freckles and hazel eyes. She has a sister named Regan who is in high school, with blond hair and blue eyes. When they get Rex, Regan and Grace’s mom decides to use Rex as a service dog to help disabled people. The setting of the training department is a small grassy area in the mall blocked off for other mall visitors. There is a small stage with a microphone and ten
chairs for the trainers like Grace. Grace’s father was killed in a car accident and Grace meets one of the boys who was in the car of who killed her father. She tries to get him to talk about the accident, but instead of telling her he goes and tells the police, confessing everything. Another part of the story is that Regan’s high school best friend Sheena tries to steal jewelry from their home. After Regan finds out, her and Sheena’s friendship is over for good. I liked this book a lot because I thought it had really good context and really good writing. I also liked it because I thought the author did a very good job explaining the characters and what the characters were feeling. This book is a very good example of what some people can feel like when someone in your life dies and how it’s very sad when someone dies. I recommend this book to anyone who loves a good story about friendship and love. Big Nate Goes for Broke By Lincoln Peirce HarperCollins, $12.99, 224 pages, Format: Hard
««««« Big Nate Goes for Broke is another Big Nate book about Nate Wright who is a third grader at P.S. 38. He is President of the Cartooning Club. In Big Nate Goes for Broke, Nate and his class have to go to another middle school because workers are repairing the fire alarm sprinklers at P.S. 38. This is bad for them because the school they have to go to is Jefferson Middle School, which is their arch rival! Nate has never won a game against JMS. JMS always beats P.S. 38 at everything. After a cafeteria fight on the first day, Nate gets a broken wrist. His friend DeeDee comes up with a great idea to have a snow sculpture contest between the two schools. It turns out Jefferson Middle is full of cheaters, and P.S. 38 isn’t as uncreative as they thought they were.
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Tweens I love this book. I love all the Big Nate books. Nate is funny and I love big chapter books. The funniest part is when Nate jumps off the table to rescue his friend Chad’s medical pillow. I would definitely recommend this book to other kids because it will help them improve their reading. Neversink By Barry Wolverton Walden Pond Press, $16.99, 304 pages, Format: Hard
««««« When the owls of Tytonia impose upon the peaceful inhabitants of the polar island of Neversink, the seabirds, called auks, find themselves losing their freedom. As tensions rise, the auks begin to break away from their passive ways to defend themselves, but it will take a brave puffin, a scholarly walrus, and a sharp-tongued hummingbird to resolve this before it becomes war! The pace of Neversink starts out slowly, but speeds up later. The story is set in the Ice Age, maybe because the author wanted to avoid dealing with issues of interfering humans and global warming in the story line. The story’s plot is reminiscent of the American Revolution at first, but there is a twist that makes this story unique. There is also a scene almost identical to a part in Alice in Wonderland that adds to Neversink’s humor. I enjoyed the humor and the action of the story, but I regret that the author didn’t leave room for a sequel. My favorite characters were Lockley, the puffin, and Astra and Oopik, the twin snowy owls. I liked Lockley because I admired his courage in leading the auks against the owls. Lockley managed to demonstrate how one puffin’s family problem was in actuality the whole colony’s problem. As for the owl characters, well, I just like snowy owls as a personal preference. Your preference may differ. I also noticed that auk mythology is almost identical, in terms of sea goddesses, with Inuit mythology. As a whole, I would certainly recommend this to other readers. It is definitely an enthralling read. Reviewed by Alexander - age 11
The Zombie Chasers #3: Sludgment Day By John Kloepfer HarperCollins, $15.99, 224 pages, Format: Hard
««««« Zombie Chasers #3: Sludgement Day is a super funny book. The setting is mainly in Phoenix, Arizona, but also has parts in Montana. In the story, a zombie outbreak is caused by the new fast food restaurant called Burger Dog. The main characters are Zack, Rice, Zoe, Ozzie and Madison. I really like that the main character Zack and I have the same name! Zack and his friends all work together to stop the zombie outbreak. My favorite part is a scene in the Mall of America where Madison’s dog gets kidnapped by two teenagers who want to heal their zombie girlfriends. I’d give this book a five star rating. I liked this book because it is very suspenseful and has funny weapons. My favorite weapon was the soccer-sock baseball bludgeon, which is used to dismember zombies with the weight. I also really liked Ozzie’s night vision goggles and how he can fight with a broken foot. Sludgement Day had sudden changes in plans, martial arts, and a lot of zombies! People who liked Zombiekins or books with brutal zombie fights will like this book. The Genius Files #2: Never Say Genius By Dan Gutman HarperCollins, $16.99, 288 pages, Format: Hard
««««« I love this book! A year ago, I got the first book and I loved it, too. I couldn’t wait to get this second one. This book is so funny, mysterious, surprising with many cliffhangers. You’ll keep biting your nails wondering what will happen
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Tweens next. This has tons of twists and turns, as I would put it. This book helps kids learn things about the United States. I had no idea about the different museums, like the Rock and Roll Museum, one about mustard, 15-cent McDonald’s, the largest egg, the longest overalls, and the spy history museum. This book has really funny things that are also scary. Like there is a guy who looks like Archie, the cartoon character, who is called Archie Clone. He is a guy that is the last guy (other than the Coke and Pepsi). The reason why is because he wanted $1 million! Archie Clone is very strange who tries to kill people with food, like French fries, oil and ice cream. Also, in Cubs Stadium, Mrs. Higgins, Coke and Pepsi’s health teacher, told them that there was a bomb in the pit of the baseball field, and then pretended to shoot them with a chocolate gun. Then in the hotel where they were staying they saw Maya and Bones Two. The Genius Files…then Coke and Pepsi went to the international Spy Museum and found out that they needed to go to the Smithsonian Museum in DC. They go there and solve the mystery before Archie Clone does something bad. This book is very exciting. I can’t wait for the third. Cold Cereal By Adam Rex Balzer + Bray, $16.99, 432 pages, Format: Hard
««««« Scottish (Scott for short) Play Doe is friends with Erno and Emily Utz, who are supposed to be twins. Scott’s father, John Doe, is an actor whose nickname is Reggie Dwight. Scott has migraines (a headache that makes you see and hear unusual things) and sees a rabbit-man and a unicat while biking to school. On the first day of school, he takes a field trip to the Goodco Cereal Factory. When he’s
there he “accidentally” picks up a leprechaun who wants to be called Mick. Erno and Emily get puzzles from their foster parent Mr. Wilson and compete against each other to get a prize; Emily wins and lets Erno win on their birthday month. They both meet a man named Merle Lynn (Merlin). Emily has been taking Milk-7 (a medicine that makes you really smart) for ten years. Someone finds a rabbit-man whose name is Harvey and lets him stay at his home. Mick and Harvey’s magic is almost gone. It was a very good book! Deadtime Stories: The Witching Game By Annette Cascone, Gina Cascone Starscape, $14.99, 192 pages, Format: Hard
«««« Many versions of “Bloody Mary” have been written and normally for kids my age. This story is set in an ordinary house with ordinary people who are pretty much doing nothing much out of the ordinary. The main character is named Lindsey. She has a sister named Alyssa. Lindsey’s friends are named Ralphie, Tommy, and Bree. Events start to spice up a bit after Lindsey’s mom brings home an antique mirror, and of course they had to try playing and saying “Bloody Mary.” Strange things start happening. Every time they make a wish, it comes
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Tweens true - but it always comes at a price. I selected this book out of pure nostalgia. I know I am just ten, but I remember a time when I was obsessed with horror stories, but it seems like such a long time ago. The clever title of this series caught my eye. When I received the book, I was really pleased with the scary cover too. I did enjoy reading this book and it would be something I would recommend for someone who is looking for a book that is light, fun, and quick. Unfortunately, for horror fans, it’s probably not scary enough. The target audience for this book are boys like myself who would rather not be caught reading something a little too girly but in this case, probably someone younger or less book crazy will enjoy this book more than I did. I gave this book four stars because I think it did serve its purpose but it just didn’t fit me since I am a little on the odd side. The Sigh By Marjane Satrapi Archaia Entertainment, $10.95, 56 pages, Format: Hard
«««« A merchant asks his three daughters what they want for gifts. The first wants a peacock-feather dress; the second, a fine scarf; and the third, Rose, wants a blue bean. The merchant finds all the gifts but the bean, and when he returns without it Rose sighs, which conjures The Sigh. The Sigh offers a blue bean for the payment that Rose will follow it to its land. She is taken to a faraway kingdom and falls in love with its ruler. As they walk in the garden, Rose accidentally takes the Prince’s life. Devastated, she has herself sold at slave markets to punish herself and try to find the Prince’s life.
I liked the drawings in this book; I thought they were a beautiful and surprising accent to this story. The characters were very interesting. It was a good picture/short chapter book. I think this book is a lot like the fairy tales Beauty and the Beast and East o’ the Sun, West o’ the Moon. I liked the modern way in which the author told this story. I would recommend this book. Zeke Meeks vs. the Putrid Puppet Pals By D.L. Green Picture Window Books, $21.32, 128 pages, Format: Hard
««««« Zeke Meeks is about a kid named Zeke who is a third grader, who hates these puppet pal toys. They are the most popular toys in the third grade class because Owen Leach decided they are. Owen is the most popular kid, so he decides if anything is popular. Everyone is playing with the puppet pals, even Zeke’s best friend, Hector. The kids who don’t have them are upset. Finally, he buys a bag of twelve puppet pals, but he still hates them. Inside the bag is one rare wasp puppet, and Zeke hates bugs. An evil girl named Grace wants the rare one and threatens to scratch Zeke is he won’t give it to her. Owen stops her and tells her nobody will talk to her if she keeps being mean. I loved this book, it was long enough and had funny parts, like when the wind blew away all the puppet pals on the playground at school. I would recommend it to other kids who like to read funny books. Zeke is cool because he isn’t afraid to tell his friends that he hates puppet pals.
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Tweens The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: Book III: The Unseen Guest By Maryrose Wood, Jon Klassen (illustrator) Balzer + Bray, $15.99, 352 pages, Format: Hard
««««« The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place were raised by wolves. Lord Frederick of Ashton Place’s mother came to call with a companion who owns a ostrich. The ostrich was let loose on the premises of Ashton Place by an unknown hand. They find the ostrich, but they also find that Fredrick’s mother’s husband may still be alive! The author leaves you clamoring for the next installment. I loved this book! I like all the characters, how they grow up and learn. I like how the children were always friendly and happy and nice to everyone; I like how they learned their lessons and found creative ways to use them. Penelope, the governess, was only 16 but had wisdom beyond her years. She was spunky and bright and well-educated; she knew how to weigh possibilities and make careful decisions. She hardly ever got carried away from solid judgement. I liked how her tastes matured in what she read and what she liked; she was still open-minded, she just had more mature tastes in reading. I would recommend this book to all my friends! This is the third book in the series, and I can hardly wait for the next!
jobs and trying to go to school, so she’s never around. Meanwhile, Tucker has to be responsible for his disabled younger brother. Then Tucker uncovers a chance to save his family from falling apart. It’s a chance to win a college scholarship for his mother that will enable her to quit one of her jobs and continue her educational pursuits. Tucker hopes it will make his mother’s life easier. All he has to do is make the best superhero sidekick ever as part of a comic contest. It should be easy; after all, Tucker has been drawing heroes since, well, since he could draw. But nothing is ever easy. Beanboy is an interesting twist on the traditional super hero story. I appreciated how the author switched between the comic that Tucker is writing and the real life of the main character. I found Tucker’s perspective in the story and the lines of dialogue amusing. My favorite part of the story was the interaction between Tucker, the main character, and the school bully. I also enjoyed the little coincidences and mysteries that were unveiled throughout the story. The characters were believable, the plot was never too slow, and the story was reasonably engaging. I would recommend this book to all superhero lovers, but I gave this story four stars because it lacked the action-packed excitement that I have come to expect from superhero stories. Reviewed by Alexander - age 11
The Adventures of Beanboy By Lisa Harkrader Houghton Mifflin Harcdourt, $9.99, 240 pages Format: Hard
«««« Tucker MacBean has a problem, many problems actually. The biggest of these is the lack of money. While Tucker’s father is absent, his mother is working multiple low-paying San Francisco Book Review • April 2012 • 69
Young Adult After the Snow By S. D. Crockett Feiwel & Friends, $16.99, 304 pages, Format: Hard
««« A boy named Willow finds a girl named Mary and together they try to find Mary’s father and a way to escape from their frozen world. The book begins when Willow discovers that his father, stepmother, and adopted siblings have been taken. Willow sets out to the city to find his family, and on the way saves Mary, fends off a pack of feral dogs, and defeats a swarm of cannibals. The second part of the book is about Willow’s time in the city, where he makes coats, gloves, and hats while trying to discover his father’s whereabouts. I liked this book even though it was a post-apocalyptic novel. There were not many characters, but all the characters were extensively developed and well portrayed. The book had a positive atmosphere because Willow actually succeeded at some things. It also used a clever blend of action and description that kept me entertained. I enjoyed how Willow got advice from the Dog Spirit, who both kept Willow from making mistakes and gave an entertaining perspective on the adventure, even though the Dog was, disappointingly, only in the first part of the book. I would recommend this book to connoisseur of the post-apocalyptic genre.
Shine By Lauren Myracle Amulet Books, $7.95, 376 pages, Format: Trade
«««« After estranging herself from her town for three years, Cat must face it again to uncover the mystery that lies within a horrendous hate-crime committed to her former best friend Patrick. Patrick’s sexuality has always been a source of maliciousness, this being mindlessly exhibited when he was found cruelly beaten and slandered at a local gas station. Cat, enraged and determined to find out who did it, begins by questioning Patrick’s friends, those closest to the crime. This includes her brother and his best friend who scarred her into her alienation. In a small Southern community remiss with secrets and entrenched in prejudice, word quickly gets around of Cat’s investigation, and to those who would do anything to stop it. Lauren Myracle addresses a social stigma that echoes of a beloved classic, To Kill A Mockingbird. Cat’s innocence calls for a distanced, but nonetheless compelling view. Shine is remarkably real, and readers will surely empathize. Alex - age 15 (Sophie Masri) Love? Maybe. By Heather Hepler Dial Books for Young Readers, $16.99, 272 pages Format: Hard
««««« Love? Maybe. is a wonderful story of love, friendship and, of course…candy. This story is about a girl named Piper who doesn’t believe in love. And just because her birthday is on Valentine’s Day doesn’t mean
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Young Adult she loves love. This book is great. I love it when they are at the candy store and they make confectionary hearts, truffles, and chocolate. Why? Because I love candy. Anyways, I think Charlie is just so brave standing up to this guy who Piper will be going out with. I love that Charlie is in love with Piper. Also that someone (maybe Charlie?) sends presents to Piper in her locker, like a wind up rat. In the beginning, all seems hopeless; then Piper finally finds her true love. Does she decide to be friends with Charlie Wishman? You’ll have to read the book and find out. But I know that Steven is mean and not my favorite character in the book. He doesn’t treat Charlie very nicely. In fact, he’s mean to him. I love that Piper is so strong-minded. But they all need to learn more about love. I recommend this for any girl and maybe boys. I loved this book. The Night She Disappeared By April Henry Henry Holt Books for Young Readers, $16.99, 240 pages Format: Hard
««« A girl named Gabby and her coworker Drew struggle to find Kayla, another coworker who has been kidnapped. The book begins as Kayla leaves Pete’s Pizza Parlor, where she works, to deliver a pizza. After Kayla does not return after a few hours, Drew, who had been working the same shift, calls the police, who find Kayla’s car but no signs of a struggle. Gabby, however, had traded shifts with Kayla for that night and became convinced that she was the one who was meant to be kidnapped. The rest of the book is about how Drew and Gabby try to find Kayla.
This book was okay; I feel that it had a very large amount of text for a conclusion that could have happened much earlier and that was fairly obvious. I feel like this book is mediocre; it is not a particularly good book, but it is not a bad book. It was easy to read, and although it had a somewhat standard premise the characters were well-developed and believable. In fact, their perfect normalcy is what makes me most dislike this book. I would recommend this novel for someone needing a few hours of entertainment. Cloaked By Alex Flinn HarperTeen, $9.99, 341 pages, Format: Trade
«««« Cloaked is the story about simple shoe repairman, Johnny, who longs for adventure in his life. His dream comes true when a famous princess shows up and sends him on a journey to find her lost brother. The only catch is that he’s a frog! A fabulously written book that references many unique, and sometimes unfamiliar, fairy tales such as “The Elves and the Shoemaker” and “The Golden Bird.” This book is especially good for fans of the Harry Potter series and of the book Island of the Aunts. Reviewed by Jeanette - age 17 172 Hours on the Moon By Johan Harstad Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, $17.99, 368 pages Format: Hard
««« The main characters in the book are the three teens who win the lottery to go to the moon after decades of no human landings. They are Mia from Norway, Antoine from France and Midori from Japan. The others are the regular astronauts who are the crew on the shuttle that takes the 3 main charac-
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Young Adult ters to the moon. There are many settings including NASA, and of course the moon, and of course some bits of Japan, France and Norway. A lot of the twists and turns are on the moon. The main plot in this book is around the experiences of the 3 teenagers on the moon – the reason NASA stopped sending people to the moon was kept secret, and this new shuttle, with the teens is an experiment that goes wrong. I think that 172 Hours on the Moon was just okay. It seemed unbelievable that parents would send their teenage kids to a NASA program, but given that it was NASA, who wouldn’t want to go? I just visited the NASA Space Center in Houston recently, and went on the tram tour, and I didn’t think the author explained the training as I would probably have. There really wasn’t much action happening, and it was sometimes kind of scary in a very strange way. Some of the twists were confusing, and I didn’t like the end very much. A lot of the things in the book were not explained enough, and ended very abruptly, without any explanations. But the ending was pretty cool – I didn’t enjoy reading through the book very much, but enjoyed the end very much. Nicholas - age 9 Fair Coin By E. C. Meyers Pyr, $16.95, 250 pages, Format: Hard
«««« Ephriam lives with his alcoholic mother. One day, he comes home from school to find her sitting at the kitchen table, overdosed on sleeping pills. He rushes her to the hospital and discovers a boy who looks just like him who had died. In the dead boy’s wallet Ephriam finds a coin that, when flipped, causes wishes to come true. Ephriam thinks his
troubles are over until his best friend starts to covet the coin, his girlfriend starts to hate him, and his world begins to crumble. The rest of the book is how Ephriam tries to turn everything back to the way it was before. I liked this book; it was a Monkey’s Paw kind of story, which I always enjoy. It showed the many facets of Ephriam’s character as he travelled between alternate realities. It was slightly confusing at first, but later on it became much easier to understand and I enjoyed the ending. It was a clever plot and an intriguing premise. I will recommend this book to others as an engaging science fiction novel. Ship of Souls By Zetta Elliott AmazonEncore, $9.95, 132 pages, Format: Trade
«««.5 A math whiz, a basketball star, and a girl. So like a lot of stories, you have the brain, the jock/athlete, and the beauty. Of course there is tragedy in it too, like a major illness of a person close to the main character, and it is after this event that interesting things start to happen. I like the bird character a lot, although I have a hard time imagining birds to be soothing and tender. I think it is mostly a story of finding a place you belong to, your niche or your group, and having adventures with your new friends. An exciting journey happens, and of course the three friends have to stay together to reach the end in one piece. Sure, it’s not exactly original, but it was still a fun enough read for me. This book was good because the characters were realistic and easy to relate to for a kid like me. I would have given it more stars, but I have a bias against books written in the present tense and it ends up being an awkward
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Young Adult read for me. That did not stop me from enjoying it though. I enjoy a lot of books that are written in the first person. The copy I had was an uncorrected proof and I guess that would explain errors in grammar and spelling. I would recommend this to people who enjoy adventure/mystery books. It’s a quick and fun enough read if you have some free time to spare. The Drowned Cities By Paolo Bacigalupi Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, $17.99, 448 pages Format: Hard
««« The Drowned Cities is a post-apocalyptic novel about a girl, Mahlia, an enormous half-man bred for war, and their desperate quest to find Mahlia’s friend, Mouse, before he is killed. The book begins as Mahlia and her friend Mouse go into the jungle to look for food. There they find a half-dead creature who is being hunted by one of the many military factions that roam the country. As Mahlia nourishes the creature back to health, her village is burned and Mouse is forcefully inducted into the military that is hunting the half-man, whose name is Tool. Mahlia convinces Tool to help her find her friend. This book was well-written with an intricate plot and complex characters. The characters responded believably to their situations and all them had remarkable character depth. I also enjoyed the way that the perspective shifted among the several main characters; it gave the reader several different viewpoints, which was useful to see that the world was not black-and-white. I do not particularly enjoy post-apocalyptic novels, and the whole book, as most of these novels are, was shrouded in forboding and despair. I would probably reccomend this book to people who enjoy the post-apocalyptic novel genre.
Dragons of the Watch: A Novel By Donita K. Paul WaterBrook Press, $13.99, 382 pages, Format: Trade
«««« Dragons of the Watch by Donita K. Paul is about a young girl named Ellicinderpart Clarenbessipawl (Ellie for short) who lives in the country with her family and her pet goat, Tak. Her life is fairly dull until her aunt and uncle visit and invite her to attend the princess and prince’s wedding celebration held in the city. Ellie is excited for a change and readily agrees; however, disaster soon strikes. Ellie ends up becoming sidetracked when Tak delays their journey and causes them both to become hopelessly lost. Soon the pair stumble upon something strange: a large glass bottle in the middle of nowhere. The two fall inside the bottle and become trapped within with no escape. What Ellie doesn’t know is that they aren’t alone...others are in the bottle as well but there’s something different about these people... Dragons of the Watch is a fast-paced, thrilling adventure with likable characters who are easy to relate to. Coupled with a little magic thrown in, this novel is a page-turner for anyone. Just when you think you have things figured out, the story takes a whole new turn. This is a very fun, light read and was overall enjoyable and easy to finish, being hard to put down for even a second! Jeanette - age 17 The Obsidian Blade By Pete Hautman Candlewick Press, $16.99, 320 pages, Format: Hard
«««« The Obsidian Blade is about a thirteen-year-old boy named Tucker Feye. Tucker’s father is a Reverend and is deeply devoted to God. One day, Revered Feye has to go onto the roof to fix a loose shingle and he vanishes. Later, he comes back with an oddly dressed girl named Lahlia and her cat. After the arrival, life seems to fall apart for Tucker. His mother is slowly going mad and his father has lost his belief in God.
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Young Adult When Tucker comes home one day to find them both gone, he discovers an object that bends time and space: the Klaatu diskos. I really enjoyed reading The Obsidian Blade and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys science fiction/fantasy books. My only complaint would be that the plot becomes slightly polluted toward the end. The characters were well developed and the plot as a whole was well thought out. The book is about three-hundred pages long and each page pulls you deeper into the story. The Obsidian Blade is a very good book for anyone who loves adventure stories. Ripper By Stefan Petrucha Philomel, $17.99, 432 pages, Format: Hard
««««« Ripper is about a boy named Carver, an orphan who is adopted by a detective, Hawking, from the Pinkerton Agency. The book follows Carver as he tries to solve his first case, a series of serial murders in New York, and as he tries to find his father. During the book, Carver’s loyalties are challenged when he begins to find dark secrets about who his father is and that all is not as it seems.
I enjoyed this book immensely. This is one of the most entertaining mystery novels I have read; it has an intricate plot, clever twists and turns, and cunning trials and betrayals. The characters are fun; Carver, though naive, is endearing, Teddy Roosevelt is the cruel chief of police who doesn’t believe anything the Pinkerton Agency says, and the old, grouchy Hawking is intelligent and sardonic. I liked the inter-character relationships, especially how Carver left behind his petty conflict with the school bully and managed to cooperate with him to solve the mystery. I definitely recommend this book. Illuminate: A Gilded Angels Novel, Book 1 By Aimee Agresti Harcourt Children’s Books, $17.99, 528 pages, Format: Hard
«««« As the book begins on a frigid January day, we find high school student Haven Terra called to the principal’s office. The principal tells her that she and two of her fellow honor students, Dante Dennis, her best friend, and Lance, a quiet boy from her AP European History class, will have the privilege of interning at the soon-toopen Lexington Hotel. When Haven, Dante, and Lance arrive at the hotel, they meet the manager, Aurelia Brown, and her second-in-command, Lucian Grove, both of them tall, elegant, and ridiculously beautiful. As Haven shakes hands with Lucian, a sharp jolt travels through her, and she begins to fall in love with him. But as the story moves forward, things become increasingly strange. The hotel’s underground nightclub has a blackout on opening night, a book appears telling Haven to beware all beautiful things, and Haven’s photographs of “The Outfit,” Aurelia’s personal squad, begin to change, showing
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Young Adult rotting corpses where beautiful people once stood. What’s going on? You’ll have to read the book to find out. I thought it was a bit difficult to truly immerse yourself in the beginning, but as the story goes on and you invest more time, you find yourself pulled further and further into the story. It is an interesting read with more than its share of plot twists. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again By Frank Cittrell Boyce, Joe Berger (illusrtator) Candlewick Press, $15.99, 192 pages, Format: Hard
««« The Tooting family finds an old rusty camping van and fixes it up really nice, but the engine is broken, so they go to the scrapyard. In a tree, they find a big engine that looked like it should belong to an airplane. They put the engine in their camper and go for a drive, but they soon realize that the car is driving them, not the other way around. The car drives off a cliff and they discover it has wings! They drive to Paris and find the car’s headlights and a villian who is trying to buy Chitty Chitty Bang Bang off them. As they drive around the world looking for the parts from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’s old self, they realize the man from Paris is following them. When there is a dastardly attempt on the children’s lives, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang must find a way to save them. I didn’t really like or not like the book; it is not my favorite or least favorite. I liked the characters but the book seemed haphazard and copying the original, which I liked better. It was fast-paced; there was no waiting for setting things up. There was a lot of action and surprises. It was fun to imagine flying in a car and going different places. I would recommend this book to girls and boys ages 8-10.
The Unofficial Heroes of Olympus Companion: Gods, Monsters, Myths and What’s in Store for Jason, Piper and Leo By Richard Marcus, Natalie Buczynsky, Jonathan Shelnutt Ulysses Press, $12.95, 190 pages, Format: Trade
««« The Unofficial Heroes of Olympus Companion by Natalie Buczynsky, Jonathan Shelnutt, and Richard Marcus is a book which recounts the tales of the 12 Olympians, the lesser gods, and the mythical beasts and monsters of ancient Greek and Roman folklore. Along with their stories, the reader is also acquainted with the story of the modern half-human children of the gods such as Percy Jackson. The book is very well written and organized, offering scores of information and trivia about the Greek gods and heroes and how Jackson encounters these divine, mythical beings along his journeys. Heroes of Olympus is definitely a great read and an interesting guide to the ancient gods, how they were revered in Greece, and how they were absorbed into Roman religion. This book will definitely appeal to history buffs and anyone interested in ancient mythologies. Jeanette - age 17 The Galahad Legacy By Dom Testa Tor Teen, $17.99, 304 pages, Format: Hard
«««« This book continues the saga of a group of 251 teens aboard the colonization ship, Galahad. They are travelling to the star Eros, as the last hope of humanity after all the adults on their planet were killed by a comet-born plague. In this book, their leader returns from the Great Unknown beyond the Wormhole, bringing with her an alien form of life which causes contention and also new bonds among the crew members. The book is also about whether or not the crew members will trust the alien.
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Young Adult I liked this book. It was a science fiction novel, which I usually don’t like, but this one was well-written. It had welldelevoped and complex characters, as well as a good blend of atmosphere and description, with sufficient but not gratuitous action. I enjoyed the way the characters interacted. I really enjoyed the way the author moved the plot, spending an adequate time describing the characters and giving vivid descriptions of the scenes. I would recommend this book to people who enjoy the science-fiction genre, as well as to an open-minded general reader.
This book is so bad I can feel the noxious fumes coming from it. The only action is Shorty’s two-day claw to freedom; the rest is troubled memories and clouded musings. L’Ouverture’s struggle for freedom was the only thing that kept me awake during this tedious and discordant monologue. Most disturbingly, this book is filled with rape, murder, blood, and people so shot up that you could “see the lights through [their] bodies.” The book dwells frequently on voodoo, including using powder of great leaders’ bones to make someone invincible, the eating of babies, and the reanimation of corpses. Not only are these things put into the book, but they appear to be endorsed. I would never recommend this book to anyone; I hope to forget about it as quickly as possible, and I pray it won’t give me nightmares.
Kids Book Review In Darkness By Nick Lake Bloomsbury Kids, $17.99, 352 pages, Format: Hard
« This book is about a boy, Shorty, who is trapped in the rubble of a collapsed hospital in Haiti. While in the dark, he shares the experiences and thoughts of Toussaint L’Ouverture, the leader of the Haitian revolution some 200 years earlier. The book splits itself between L’Ouverture’s and Shorty’s viewpoints, with Shorty telling his experiences in Haiti’s drug wars and l’Ouverture relating his struggle for freedom. San Francisco Book Review • April 2012 • 76
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C
athy Luchetti is the author of eight books about the settling of the American West in the 18th and 19th centuries, from religion to cooking and cuisine to courtship rituals and child-rearing. She was invited by Laura Bush to come to the White House to be part of a discussion of Women in the West. She has received numerous honors, including the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award for Literary Excellence for Women of the West (1982) co-authored with Carol Olwell. Her book Home on the Range: A Culinary History of the American West received the James Beard Best Writing on American Food Award in 1994. Medicine Women: The Story of Early-American Women Doctors (1999) was short-listed for the Willa Cather Award in non-fiction. Other books include Under God’s Spell: Frontier Evangelists, 17721915, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich (San Diego, CA), 1989; “I Do!”: Courtship, Love, and Marriage on the American Frontier: A Glimpse at America’s Romantic Past through Photographs, Diaries, and Journals, 1715-1915, Villard Books (New York, NY), 1995; The Hot Flash Cookbook: Delicious Recipes for Health and Well-Being through Menopause, Chronicle Books (San Francisco), 1997; Mama Says: Inspiration, Wit and Wisdom from the Mothers in Our Lives, Loyola Press (Chicago), 1999. Her book Children of the West: Family Life on the Frontier, Norton (New York, NY), published in 2001, was named by the Los Angeles Times one of the Best Books of 2001—The West.
Zara Raab: You got together with a friend, Carol Olwell, to write the first of your histories of the American West. I imagine there are some deep streams in your own personal history, your childhood in Texas, that may account for your motivation for writing so many wonderful books about the American West. Cathy Luchetti: I am a “Woman of the West.” I grew up in Texas with lots of bedtime stories about the West. One set of my great-great grandparents came West across the Great Plains in Conistoga wagons. They settled in what became Baker, Oregon. ZR: Where is Baker, exactly? CL: Baker is east of Portland, in a desert area––in a place you don’t imagine could be in Oregon. It’s desert with a. little bit of grassland, like eastern Washington State. ZR: Was Baker a family name of yours? The town of Baker is named in honor of U.S. Senator Edward D. Baker, is that correct? And wasn’t he the only sitting senator to be killed in a military engagement? He died in 1861 while leading a charge of 1,700 Union Army soldiers up a ridge at Ball’s Bluff, Virginia, during the American Civil War. CL: Yes, that’s correct. One Baker signed the pioneer register. Frederick Waymire, on my grandfather’s side, was part of the Oregon Continental Congress, had 17 children, and was called the “Far West Davy Crockett.” Another ancestor, also a great-great grandfather, started the second oldest winery in Napa in 1855 and called it To Kalon, which is Greek for “The Highest Good”. His name was Henry
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Viewpoints Article Walker Crabb. He was from Germany or Wales, we’re not sure which, and he brought with him all these strains of plants and planted them and built a big beautiful old house. Crabb’s wines were widely known and his Black Burgundy was especially highly regarded in the West. The house burned, but it has been rebuilt, so it’s still there. Mondavi owns the winery now and kept a To Kalon history room up until a few years ago. My mother and I would get trotted out every few years to represent the family. The vineyard became rather famous in the 20th Century as the source of the Georges de Latour wines. But yes, I had a pioneer background that made me interested in the lives of these pioneers who came West in the 19th Century. ZR: Did any of these relatives or ancestors write letter or keep diaries? CL: Unfortunately, no. Well, wait. There were a number of interviews or articles written about Crabb’s winery back at the turn of the century. Those are on recorded at the St. Helena Historical Society. No letters, which is another reason I was curious. ZR: What about old photographs? CL: Unfortunately, only a few photographs. But if you go into the pioneer museum in Baker, Or egon, you can see my great-great- grandmother’s signature. ZR: You’ve written eight books, mostly about the American West and the people who settled it in the 19th Century. These are large books, full of fascinating details and wonderfully evocative period photographs. Tell us how you went about gathering materials from diaries and other primary sources for your books. CL: I owe everything to librarians at the archives and historical societies around the country. Every one of my books was prefaced by a massive mailing to a hundred different archives asking them if they had any lesser known correspondence in their files that had to do with the themes of the book. “Yes,” they would write back to me, “We have this collection, that collection.” Sometimes they would be able to photocopy parts of letters for me. Other times I would travel to the place to research the materials, or I would hire someone to do the research. Over time, I would get a sense of what the collections had and as more things became
available on line it was easier to look there. But the work was always done with the generous support of the librarians and archivists who with their knowledge and expertise would unearth these little known collections of letters and diaries. My usual practice in beginning a book was to accrue information on the subject until it got to be the shape and size of a book. So the first part of writing was a treasure hunt for information. It was a great way to combine travel with research. For example, North Dakota has a fabulous collection of some of the most beautiful photographs and best diaries I’ve ever seen. They hardly charge anything for the use of their materials. Here in California, Susan Snyder at the Bancroft Library has been extremely helpful. So I really enjoyed working with the Bancroft. The California History Library in Sacramento has got a wonderful collection, too, as does the Colorado State Historical Society. ZR: I notice you use some photographs from the collection of Paul Palmquist. Did you work with him? CL: Oh, yes, I worked with Paul Palmquist for years. He was local, so I always included his photograph. Then he was so unfortunately killed. The photographs in his collection are extraordinary. I also developed a real relationship with the University of Nevada. I donated almost all my research materials to the Nevada Historical Society. I also did a lot of work at the Mormon Archives both in Salt Lake City and the Oakland LDS Temple Archives. ZR: What are the fees for the use of photographs? CL: The Library of Congress or the National Archives or any of smaller places would charge very little. The Amon Carter Museum in Texas will have the very same things the Nevada or Nebraska Historical Society has, but charge five times as much for it. The use fees occur on an enormous sliding scale from $250 to $12.50 for a single photograph. Sometimes I’d find the same photo in a junk or thrift store, or in one of the ghost towns in the Sierra selling memorabilia. Then the cost was very little. I did a lot of work at the National Archives and the Library of Congress. I spent a lot of time in North Dakota, one of the most desolate places I’d ever been.
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Viewpoints Article ZR: One diary you use in your texts describes crossing what is now Jayhawker Mountain in the desert around southern California. The hardships people underwent just going from one place to another were extraordinary. CL: I was just down there backpacking with my son. The idea that anybody could cross that desert is all but unbelievable. In fact, we passed Jayhawker Mountain and we were thinking of climbing, but it was the driest, most desolate place I’ve ever seen. That diary tells just how confused people could get without maps and navigation aid. They had the Drinking Gourd and the North Star and one guide
course all I could do was get out of there: I couldn’t wait to leave Texas. But then as you grow up, your roots come back, so I longed for the desert. I found this group called Desert Survivors, an odd group of people who drive hours and hours just to be in the desert, longing for vistas, and dry terrain and all the things that the desert offers. So I’ve participated with them backpacking, hiking and exploring for well over 20 years.
and somebody had to make a decision about whether the guide knew where he was going.
CL: There is a desire in this age of complete comfort to pare back and experience things on an extreme level. Going out into the desert gives you a chance to do that. I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily in the spirit of the pioneers. I do not go in costume. I doubt if the women in my book Women of the West were interested in mountaineering or exploration. But there are some parallels.
ZR: I understand you are involved with the environmental group Desert Survivors. Tell us about that. CL: I grew up in the desert in Midland, Texas. Right outside my door there were sand dunes. Rattlesnakes, too. And of
ZR: Are people re-enacting pioneer times when they do this? Like the Civil War re-enactments that are so popular in the South?
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Viewpoints Article ZR: Let’s turn to Home on the Range: A Culinary History of the American West, which won the James Beard Writing on American Food Award in 1994. CL: Yes. The James Beard Foundation Award ceremony was held in New York at the Lincoln Center. ZR: So in addition to being a marvelously gifted writer, you’re also known for your cooking. What kind of kitchen did your own mother have when you were a child? CL: I hate to say this, but I’m sure I’m interested in cooking because my mother was a terrible cook. She was a devotee of the casserole, especially if it had Fritos or potato chips on top of it. I‘m interested in good cooking because I never got much of it. She showed how she felt about being a housewife through her cooking. She became a much better cook in her sixties. She developed a kind of interest in it. I like to experiment. I like to take something that you already have and imagine you can make it more interesting. It’s like a puzzle. That’s definitely what the pioneers did. They had dribs and drabs of things. And they had to make something of it. Being in the Peace Corp was instructive, too, in this regard. There were no stores. People would come around selling eggs one day and meat another day. Being in the Peace Corp was the first time I have ever been hungry. It made me think about food in a way I had not thought about food before I developed a curiosity about how to doctor dishes and make them more interesting. I like to do signature pieces, not necessarily fancy but different. As a kid, I was always trying to feed my brother things I’d made from roots and berries and seeds, bird nests and lawn clippings. I served up dishes from whatever happened to be around. And he was smart enough not to eat them. ZR: When we were kids, we’d mash up acorns and make a paste of that. It was part of a staple for the native Americans. CL: My kids and I would do that at a family ranch in Middletown. We’d put the acorn meal in the stream overnight, and the next day mix it up with Bisquick. I don’t’ think I’ve ever tasted anything so good. Now it’s called wild crafting and bush crafting. Lots of people are eager to find foods in nature. All kinds of people give classes in how to go about it.
ZR: Have you ever given a class in this? CL: No, but when my book Home on the Range came out, I’d prepare recipes for bram brack, buckwheat or hoe cakes in the fire place for the author interviews. I’d make Birds on Toast and Washday Rice or drip coffee with roasted carrots whenever I gave a lecture. ZR: Talk about your lectures. CL: Every time a book came out, I’d be invited to give talks about it. And because I’m basically very shy, I made a power point show, where I combined the most interesting parts of each book, anecdotally, into one presentation, and if someone wanted me to talk at a book store, I’d take my presentation. I remember being in the Tattered Cover in Denver, the head of the Storytellers Association came up to me and asked if I would be a key note speaker, with hundreds of people in the audience, using this power point show. It turned out just fine despite my nervousness. I would always respond, albeit somewhat reluctantly, if someone asked me to make a presentation. The power point show was a good device and I was happy to use it. I gave a presentation at the Library of Congress and at the National Archives. These were televised. ZR: Impressive. Are the videos available to the public? CL: Yes, the videos are archived. ZR: Home on the Range mentions recipes from the wild west like ragout de prairie dog, mountain sheep antelope, roast grizzly bear, elk steak, codfish balls. Have you tasted these things? Is it possible to? Area these places in the foothills of California where it is possible to go into a restaurant and order, say, a “Hangtown Fry” (an egg and oyster dish)? Or how about beans cooked in the bean-hole method—larded with pork fat and buried in live embers? What about walnut catsup? [65] CL: In the Mother Lode country, probably you can get Hangtown Fry or some version of it. I gave a lecture at the Virginia City opera house where some of these dishes were offered. There was also a Nevada State Historical Society event for which I’ve had professional chefs prepare elk steak and Birds on Toast.
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Viewpoints Article ZR: Your books inspired you to do these unusual things. CL: On another occasion some of these dishes were given away as part of a raffle in Nevada. The people who bought the tickets and won the raffle got to come to my house where we served elk steak. It was a big money raiser for the Nevada Historical Society. ZR: You were enterprising in a very pioneer spirited way. CL: Yes, I guess I was–including screenplay gigs in Hollywood. One screenplay was called “Hot on the Trail,” produced by William Wyler’s daughter, Kathleen Wyler. The filmmakers wanted to do a documentary on the West and hired me to be the screenwriter. I went to New York and was held captive in the Port Authority Building. It was really interesting. The images would be on screen and I would write the script. I had to write the script quickly as the images came flowing across this massive screen. And then there was the enormously popular TV western of the 1990’s, with Jane Seymour as the lead––Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. They used my books and actually flew me to Hollywood several times to consult on how the surgeons would operate on patients. Would the early doctors really sew up a wound by putting a 50-cent piece under the skin? My publisher said, “Well, gee, since this program is willing to fly you to Hollywood, why don’t you write a book?” So that’s how I came to write Medicine Women: The Story of Early-American Women Doctors. ZR: Medicine Women was the book short listed for a Willa Cather Award in non-fiction in 1999? CL: Yes, that’s correct. ZR: What other entanglements with Hollywood did you experience? CL: A major film company was doing a documentary on courtship and marriage in the West and they, too, flew me to Hollywood to be their consultant. They used photographs and stories from my 1995 book “I Do!”: Courtship, Love, and Marriage on the American Frontier, but of course the photographs are in the public domain, so I didn’t really benefit. They used me as the research tool. I can’t say the photographs were mine, but the collection was mine. I flew down with my son Zack and we played Hollywood-for-aday.
Every so often Women in the West is optioned by a movie producer. Then it’s dropped, because no one can figure out how to make it into a film. But they keep trying. The book is used by many producers and other writers as resource material. Sometimes this gets acknowledged. ZR: Could your agent have protected you? CL: If any of them had optioned the book, yes. But the movie people were just using me as a consultant. These experiences were little adventures into a totally foreign world. The phone would ring, and a little Hollywood voice would say, “Darling, it’s just heavenly. The book is heavenly,” in a soft, Southern drawl. And then the option would drop. I should say: “Darling, it’s just funny. Very funny.” In the end, though, despite all the interest shown in it by movie producers, Women of the West was never made into a film. A play, a theater production, has been created from it, with little vignettes from the book. It was quite effective. ZR: It should be a TV series, because it’s episodic. . . What are your thoughts of novelists who draw on the West for their stories, writers like Wallace Stegner? Did you ever think of writing a novel? CL: No, never. Writing a period novel does not interest me at all. I don’t read historical fiction and I don’t write it. I love literature, though. Stegner’s Angle of Repose is fabulous literature. The general Western is fiction dressed up as history; it a way of introducing readers to the West. ZR: Regarding Women of the West, did you ever look at Mary Hallock Foote’s letters later published as A Victorian Gentlewoman in the Far West and later still used by Wallace Stegner as the basis for his novel Angel of Repose? CL: Wallace was utterly bona fide in taking life events such as Hallock’s story and using them in his fiction. The book gives her credit for the letters. Just as a personal aside, the movie The Descendants got an Academy Award, not because it was such a great movie, but because the Oscar people think they should give an award to things that have to do with history. I think that’s why The Descendants got so much notice in the Oscars. We haven’t really honored Hawaii and its roots this year. So the director of that film was lucky enough to step into a category that the right people felt obliged to award.
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Viewpoints Article ZR: What are you working on now? You have a new book in the works. CL: I am working on a manuscript I’m calling “Travels with My Headache.” It’s basically traveling with my headache and examining folkloric, food and other remedies and apocrypha having to do with headaches. I’m going in to the direction of my earlier book, The Hot Flash Cookbook.
I read lots of Mexican and South American books. Rain of Gold, a novel by Victor Villiasenor is one. I like nature writing, too, like Craig Childs’ The Secret Knowledge of Water: Discovering the Essence of the American Desert, for example. I love H.P. Lovecraft, and I keep a Guttenberg text of James Joyce’s Ulysses my desk.
ZR: What are your travel plans these days? I know you and Peter have traveled extensively in the past. CL: We’ve traveled in Tibet, Peru, China, Mexico, and Greece. We’ve been in Mexico again recently, and I’m writing little stories about it, investigating the teas and remedies that people there have for headaches. I’ve anthropomorphized my headache. This book is a whimsical approach to a self-help book. There are a lot of books on how to cure a headache, and mine is going to be a more folkloric, travel guide approach to the subject. It’s interesting and it’s fun. I get to riff on lots of weird, interesting stuff. For example, did you know that the philosopher Wittgenstein loved to destabilize complete strangers as well as colleagues with questions like, “Do dogs have headaches?” For him, words were the salvation and damnation of everything. Do dogs get ice cream headaches? I am asking my veterinary friends. Every time a new headache question of a magical, apocryphal or whimsical nature comes up, I pursue it . This book is not going to be the Merk manual for headaches—more like an “Eat, Pray, Headache” kind of narrative. But I will say I‘ve probably read at least a thousand diaries and journals from the old West and no one complained about headaches. Not that they didn’t have them; I’m sure that they sallied forth even with a headache. It’s one of those things that people accommodated. I’m looking at all the people in literature who had headaches, like Virginia Woolf, to see how headaches affected their lives. We’ll see. It’s fun to write.
This is the first part of a two-part interview. Please check SanFranciscoBookReview.com next month for Part 2.
ZR: Will there be photographs? CL: Not really just text. I don’t see it as visual. ZR: What are you reading now, and how do you decide? CL: I am reading Peter Diamandi’s book Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think. It’s so optimistic. I’m not really a doom and gloom person. I don’t focus on the end of the world and how terrible things are.
About the Int e rvie w e r Zara Raa b Zara lives in Berkeley and is one of the first women to graduate in architecture from UC Berkeley. She grew up along California’s North Coast, attending school in Portland when she was fourteen, and later Mills College and the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) for college and graduate school. In her twenties, she traveled, living in Paris, Seattle, and Washington, D.C., where she made a living as a freelance editor and writer, participating for a time in the Capitol Hill Poetry Group, before returning to the West Coast to raise her children. Early California is a subject of her book Swimming the Eel, just as the drama of family life is the subject of The Book of Gretel. In leaving behind the rural counties, she became a part of the human potential movement of the 1960s, and that movement perhaps more than anything, shapes her life and her work. Since she was a teenager, she kept journals, and sometimes returns to those early notebooks for ideas. Her poems appear in many literary reviews and magazines, including The Dark Horse, The Evansville Review, River Styx, Crab Orchard Review, Nimrod, Dos Passos Review, Arts & Letters, and others. She also review books and writes essays on literature for various publications, including the Redwood Coast Review, Poetry Flash, Valparaiso Poetry Review, Colorado Review, San Francisco/Sacramento Book Reviews, and The Boxcar Poetry Review.
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Book Reviews
friendship is a powerful ally in fighting illness, CF is now an illness children survive for years, and children with the disease are just like everyone else. This is not just a book for kids with CF. It is a book for children who might encounter others with the disease, which is very likely many children. Unfortunately, it is not a rare disease.
Category
Children’s
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Like two peas in a pod we are there for each other. We know that when CF gets tough, we can rely on one another.”
Charming illustrations bring this little story to life. The rhyming text tells Charlie’s story well, but could benefit from some polish and editing. However, that doesn’t detract much from this sweet book. Reviewed by Rosi Hollinbeck What Little Boys Are Made Of By Robert Neubecker Balzer + Bray, $14.99, 32 pages Format: Hard
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Charlie and Me By Kathryn Archambault Beaver’s Pond Press, $16.95, 32 pages, Format: Hard
«««« Charlie likes to do the same things other kids – play baseball, play the drums, play in the creek. But Charlie has Cystic Fibrosis, and that means he has to spend time taking care of himself in ways other kids don’t have to. His best frienad, Kathryn, tells the very personal story of Charlie having to grow up with Cystic Fibrosis, a devastating chronic, hereditary illness many families have to deal with. The story of Charlie and his life-long fight against CF is a terrific way to introduce children to the idea of living with the disease and instill in them some other ideas: true
What are little boys made of? In this modern retelling of the 19th century nursery rhyme, boys are made of much more than “frogs and snails and puppydogs’ tails.” Trapped inside on a rainy day, Neubecker’s little boy uses his imagination and a few toy props to become an astronaut in deep space, an explorer in a wild jungle, a pirate on the prow of his ship, the star of an intense soccer match, and a knight on the back of a fierce dragon. Frogs and snails and puppy-dogs’ tails are too sedate for this energetic little boy. He’s made of “blast and boom and uppity zoom!” The book’s illustrations are as energetic and vibrant as the protagonist. Neubecker presents his imaginary journeys on two-page spreads that teem with life. The animals in the jungle bare their teeth at the reader; the pirates on the ship swing and shout and wave their swords. The reader feels the motion and the excitement. The book ends when the little boy shares a snack with his mother and then snuggles in to read a book with her. Neubecker’s little boy is made of “a kiss and a hug, a snuggle and LOVE.” Reviewed by Tammy McCartney
San Francisco Book Review • April 2012 • 83
Book Reviews
Children’s
A Box Story By Kenneth Kit Lamug RabbleBox, $9.99, 40 pages, Format: Trade
««« Looking for activities to fill a rainy day? A Box Story provides the perfect springboard for creative ways to turn an empty box into a work of art and a vehicle (both literally and figuratively) for the imagination. In A Box Story, a box can be a sailboat, a bed, or a repository for cherished memories. It can make you feel big or small; it can keep you safe or store your ideas. In A Box Story, a box is never empty, only waiting. The book concludes with a statement and a question: “Now, it’s your turn. What’s in your box?” A Box Story is a misnomer because the book is more an illustrated list of possibilities than a story. Each two-page layout features a different use for the same box. It is this box that provides continuity throughout the book and ties the ideas together, rather than the book’s missing plot. The simple illustrations are imaginative and often beautiful with eye-catching colors. The best thing about the book is the open ending with its invitation for young readers to fill their own boxes. Sponsored Review Moonlight By Helen V. Griffith, Laura Dronzek (illustrator) Greenwillow Books, $16.99, 32 pages, Format: Hard
««««« On a cloudy night, Rabbit grows tired of waiting up to see the moon. He goes to bed in his deep burrow. Then the moon comes out from behind a cloud, and its light flows over a sleeping world in this luscious rhyming tale while Rabbit sleeps. With Griffith’s magical poetry, moonlight takes on a unique imagery that melts all through the book, reaching mountainsides and streams and outer
space, touching forest creatures, fish, and even Rabbit, lost in his dreams. Dronzek’s illustrations capture the magic of Griffith’s poetic language. Each named object is limned in the special yellow of the story’s moonlight, while the background is muted, giving a ghostly atmosphere that suggests the deep of night. This is a story that children will treasure and want to savor again and again—a future classic. Reviewed by Elizabeth Varadan What Happens to Our Trash? By D. J. Ward, Paul Meisel (illustrator) HarperCollins, $5.99, 40 pages, Format: Trade
««««« In this children’s book geared toward ages five to nine, D.J. Ward has written a book that will not only interest and educate children, but will also teach the adults many facts they probably do not know. It is a wonderful book for parents and children to share, easily understood and crammed with information. The beautiful illustrations by Paul Meisel enhance the appealing story of trash by giving a visual that easily holds a child’s interest. Landfills, alternative energy, recycling, and composting are explored, giving greater understanding and encouraging making “where we live a cleaner, greener place.” Additionally included at the end of this book is a “Find Out More About Trash” section that shares information on creating a home compost pile, as well as other interesting trash facts, complete with online sites to continue learning. What Happens to Our Trash? is a wonderful book to have in a child’s personal library, and this reviewer believes it would be a great addition in schools to make science more personal and relative to children’s everyday life. Reviewed by Angie Mangino
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Children’s
Book Reviews
Zachary’s Ball: Fenway Centennial Edition By Matt Tavares Candlewick Press, $15.99, 32 pages, Format: Hard
«««« Zachary’s father takes him to a baseball game at Fenway Park, home of his favorite team, the Boston Red Sox. Being in the park is a dream come true. Everything seems so close, and Buck Spoonwell is the first up. Everyone is cheering for a home run, but Spoonwell pops the ball up and everyone groans. A sure out! But then the wind kicks up and sends the ball over the seats, right where Zachary and his father are sitting. When his father catches the ball and gives it to Zachary, something magical happens: Zachary is in the game, not watching the game. He has great adventures before he finds himself back at the game with his father. He keeps the ball in his room, even taking it to bed, until one day, long after, he cannot find the ball. Every summer, he goes to games, hoping to catch another ball. The real strength of this old-fashioned picture book is the wonderfully detailed black-and-white drawings. The book, filled with nostalgia, may appeal more to the parents and grandparents who will buy it than the children who will read it. Reviewed by Rosi Hollinbeck
traditional house with two parents contrasted with Bot’s castle-like laboratory home shared with an inventor) will amuse young readers. Yaccarino keeps the color scheme simple using just a few colors—blue, green, orange, yellow, purple. The precise gouache on watercolor paper illustrations have a digital quality. Dyckman’s declarative sentences are short and simple enough for early readers: He took the robot home/ The boy fed him applesauce. And Bot’s lines are fun to read aloud using your best robot voice. Boy + Bot is a cute and amusing departure from typical buddy stories where the friends get mad at each other, then predictably makeup. Children will be eager to read more tales of Boy and Bot’s adventures in their same but different worlds. Reviewed by Africa Hands
Kids Book Review
Boy and Bot By Ame Dyckman, Dan Yaccarino Knopf Books for Young Readers, $16.99, 32 pages Format: Hard
««««« Boy and Bot have a simple misunderstanding. When Bot’s switch is accidentally shut off, Boy thinks Bot is sick. When Bot finds Boy asleep, he thinks Boy has malfunctioned. In mirror scenes, each tries to help the other come back to life: Boy reads Bot a book, Bot reads Boy an instruction manual. The differences in lifestyle (Boy’s San Francisco Book Review • April 2012 • 85
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drinking habit, not the usual sort of pet for a middle-grade boy. When he discovers some “suits” are after the jackalope, he decides he needs to protect Jack at all costs, even if it means having to partner up with his very resourceful science-geek neighbor, Agatha. Jack isn’t easy to conceal. He has a habit of shredding whatever they put him in to hide him. The two of them make a great team and manage to outsmart the “suits” – for quite awhile. Emily Ecton has crafted a great, fun story that will have middle-grade boys and girls turning pages from the beginning of this tale right through to the end. It’s funny and smart with great characters and fast-paced writing. This is a “don’t miss” for the middle-grade crowd. Reviewed by Rosi Hollinbeck
Category
Tweens
Oddfellow’s Orphanage By Emily Winfield Martin Random House Books for Young Readers, $14.99, 131 pages Format: Hard
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Project Jackalope By Emily Ecton Chronicle Books, $15.99, 256 pages, Format: Hard
««««« Jeremy isn’t very happy. He comes home to find a note from his odd neighbor, Professor Twitchett. He had broken into Jeremy’s apartment when no one was home and left his latest experiment for Jeremy’s safekeeping. When he sees what it is, Jeremy knows he’s got his hands full. It’s a jackalope – a rabbit with deadly antlers and a whiskey-
In children’s stories, orphanages are often portrayed as terrible places to live, where teachers are mean and kids are unhappy. But Oddfellow’s Orphanage is a magically wonderful place where lost souls find love and friendship. Emily Winfield Martin, author of Oddfellow’s Orphanage, has created a story where classes include Fairy Tale Studies and Cryptozoology and a field trip to the Great Green Lake may result in a monster sighting. One day a new girl arrives at the orphanage. Although mute, Delia fits in perfectly. Readers will discover the marvelous world of Oddfellow’s through the eyes of its newest orphan. Meet Ollie the onion-headed boy, Hugo the hedgehog, and Imogen the tattooed girl. Martin’s beautiful illustrations are spread throughout the book. Her unique writing and artistic style will delight children and adults. Also by Martin is The Black Apple’s Paper Doll Primer, which serves as a perfect companion to the book. Sixteen characters of Martin’s imaginary world are profiled and readers can make their own paper dolls. Although few things are normal at the orphanage, children still discover the importance of friendship and the joys of learning from caring adult role models. Reviewed by Kathryn Franklin
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Book Reviews
Tweens
Riley Mack and the Other Known Troublemakers By Chris Grabenstein HarperCollins, $16.99, 320 pages, Format: Hard
««««« Riley Mack is known around town as a troublemaker, thanks to Chief of Police Brown and his good-for-nothing son, Gavin. But Chief Brown is far from a saint himself and uses Riley to deflect suspicion from those around him. But Riley can handle himself and just about anyone else. He has a gang, but they are all really, really smart and really, really good kids, who use their talents to right wrongs in their little town. Mongo, a gentle giant, Jake, a techno-genius, and Briana, master of disguise, are joined by Jamal, the word-meister, as the gang that supports Riley Mack in his daring endeavors. Riley’s dad is in Afghanistan, fighting for our country, and he has told Riley he needs to protect things at home. Riley’s mom works for a sleazy, embezzling bank manager and has her hands full keeping the home fires burning. Riley and the other “troublemakers” put together daring rescues and sniff out nefarious doings. This book is funny and smart, filled with adventurous exploits and a cast of crazy characters. Kids from eight up will enjoy every page filled with daring action led by Riley, who isn’t a troublemaker at all, but the town hero. Reviewed by Rosi Hollinbeck
Jake and Lily By Jerry Spinelli Balzer + Bray, $15.99, 336 pages Format: Hard
««««« Jerry Spinelli has constructed a fun and amazing novel again. Jake and Lily, twins who were born on a train, have a special secret. They have goombla, a magical twin thing. When Lily gets hurt, Jake can feel it on himself, even if he’s twenty miles away! And when Jake yells, “Stop!” Lily hears it from a different city! Their goombla is what makes them best friends. It’s what keeps them together. It’s basically what controls their universe. So when Jake decides to take a break from Lily, Lily is absolutely heart broken. Jake goes biking with his own friends, leaving Lily sorrowful. She just can’t let go of her best friend from birth. She can’t live her life like this! The two don’t make eye contact or speak for weeks! And the worst part is . . . they no longer have goombla. Will the two become friends again? Or will they carry on with their separated lives? Spinelli keeps the readers turning page after page. The story is full of inspiration, motivation, and friendship. A novel worthy of five stars! Reviewed by Sarah Guller, Age 11
Arrrrgggghhhh! i should have checked the san francisco book review website before buying this book!
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Book Reviews
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Young Adult
1800s Russia of the privileged? What can surpass the beauty of frothy gowns, courtly intrigue, and handsome boys? Necromancy, and everyone knows necromancy never works out. Katerina Alexandrovna, Duchess of Oldenburg is a royal debutante with a dastardly secret. She can raise the dead. No one knows about her curse. Not the Tsar, not her friends, not even her family. She hates this ability and is loathe to use it, but what if this curse could be a gift in disguise? What if it could save someone you’ve come to care about; would you use it? Come for the history, stay for the dark paranormal plot expertly weaved into this chilly mystery. The boys are dazzling, the plot is horrifying and intriguing all at once, and the characters are well fleshed out and full of quirks. The Russian lore was used well and I enjoyed learning about being a debut noble in the court of the Tsar. Although I haven’t read many books that deal with necromancy, I can’t help but feel Bridges triumphed in her debut. Reviewed by Pamela van Hylckama Vlieg Loss By Jackie Morse Kessler Graphia, $8.99, 258 pages, Format: Trade
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The Gathering Storm: The Katerina Trilogy, Vol. I By Robin Bridges Delacorte Books for Young Readers, $17.99, 386 pages Format: Hard
«««« Robin Bridges delights with her debut young adult historical fantasy The Gathering Storm. What can be better than a book that highlights the late
Billy Ballard is not just bullied but tormented by several kids at his high school. Not only does Billy have to deal with the constant barrage of insults, threats and physical abuse from his peers, but the teachers seem to ignore the situation. Things at home are no piece of cake, either, as Billy has become his grandfather’s caretaker while seeing him degrade from Alzheimer’s. Billy has also developed feelings for his best friend and doesn’t seem to know how to approach her about it. All of these situations get more complicated when Billy makes a deal with the white Horseman of the Apocalypse to take over his duties. That’s quite a bit to pack into a short novel. This was a difficult book for me to get through. Although I felt really bad for Billy and his situation, I just couldn’t connect with
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Book Reviews
Young Adult
the story or with Billy. Much of the time is spent with Billy battling “the white,” which I found to be very slow and monotonous. I found myself wanting to skip several pages to get to the end. I found that this book was just not for me. I did, however, really like Death. I was intrigued by him, and he gave Loss a much-needed dose of humor. Reviewed by Patricia Mendoza Brave New Love By Paula Guran Running Press Teens, $14.95, 390 pages, Format: Trade
«««« Brave New Love is an anthology filled with fifteen stories of finding love under the duress of a dystopic environment. Teens and adults will delight in the short fiction contributed to this title by fifteen of today’s hottest dystopian writers. While all the stories are very good, a few stand out for really making the reader think and feel. “Berserker Eyes” by Maria V. Snyder, a master of dystopia, tells the story of Kate, who lives in a compound and fears her genetics will send her into a beseecher rage. “Now Purple With Love’s Wound” by Carrie Vaughn is the story of a couple bonded together with the use of chemicals and features an 18-page narrative. I enjoyed seeing fifteen different worlds for the price of one book and I loved the fact that this compilation was filled with diversity of race and sexual orientation. I haven’t seen very many anthologies deal with dystopian environments, but I do think that Brave New Love did it well, and the obvious play on Huxley’s Brave New World title is relevant and smart. The volume reads fast and gives the reader much to ponder. Highly recommended. Reviewed by Pamela van Hylckama Vlieg
The Calling By Kelley Armstrong HarperCollins, $17.99, 326 pages, Format: Hard
«««« The Calling by Kelley Armstrong, the second novel in The Darkness Rising trilogy, is as action-packed and engaging as the first! A must read if you’re a fan of Mrs. Armstrong’s novels. The Calling picks up immediately after the first novel ended. After Maya and her friends are kidnapped and their helicopter crashes, they stop at nothing to get home to their parents and to unravel the mysteries of their powers. I really like the heroine Maya; she is strong and funny, but she has flaws that make her more relatable. Her and her group of friends all have to face their own issues and face loss together while trying to evade the groups that are hunting them. What I enjoyed the most about this book was the small hints and clues that related to Armstrong’s trilogy, The Darkest Powers series, and a sense that maybe in the third book we’d see a bit of some of our favorite characters from that series. The cover art is beautifully done; the model on the cover is exactly what I imagined Maya to look like.
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No, seriously. You think you’re going to change into a cougar? Maybe in thirty years you’ll start thinking college boys are kinda hot, but that’s the only sort of cougar you can turn into, Maya. Anything else is nuts.”
If you’re a fan of paranormal YA with mystery and romance, The Calling is for you! Reviewed by Jaime Arnold
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Book Reviews
Category
Cooking, Food & Wine
to be an artist to create most of the 365 breakfast ideas, but it helps to have some artistic inclinations. This is a picture book with photos illustrating the many, many ideas the authors came up with, most very funny. They may be simple and easy to reproduce, but some are hard (such as reproducing Mona Lisa painting). Yet these are ideas, and once you tried a few you are on your own to create a breakfast with your child from available ingredients. You must have ideas ready, work fast and have very warm plates handy so hot items like fried eggs, fresh pancakes, or a bowl of oatmeal remain hot. Each creation stresses nutrition as well, thus ingredients are not chosen haphazardly. The photos range from quarter-page to full-page size and there is very little text. The four chapters include eggs, waffles/pancakes, oatmeal/cereal/fruit, and toast/bagels/snacks. The book is small with sturdy, splash-resistant pages. Great project with kids. Reviewed by George Erdosh Cowgirl Chef: Texas Cooking with a French Accent By Ellise Pierce Running Press, $25.00, 324 pages, Format: Hard
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Funny Food: 365 Healthy, Silly, Creative Breakfasts By Bill Wurtzel, Claire Wurtzel Welcome Books, $19.95, 160 pages, Format: Hard
«««« With the perfect combination of an artist-educator, Bill and Claire Wurtzel created Funny Food, a book aim toward children. But their breakfast ideas are equally well-suited to serve for guests, whether friends or family. You don’t have
Not only can this lady cook, she can write! Her background and obvious expertise as an author make this fine cookbook not only attractive and original, but a positive delight to read. This is an expatriate’s tale of struggling with another language, a climate radically different from her native Texas, and foodstuffs deceptively diverging from those she first learned to cook with. Leaner beef, butter that behaves differently, but also sea salt of a particular origin that does more than salt should be able to do, a wondrous variety of cheeses . . . In attempting to assuage her homesickness by recreating flavors from home, Ms. Pierce has succeeded in creating a composite culinary culture. She shares it with extraordinarily clear and non-fussy instructions. Smokin’ Tortilla Soup is not just “put this in that and do this to it;” it coordinates with the home manufacture of tortillas, in a place where they otherwise would not exist. Asparagus and Avocado Soup starts with the growers, their business survival, history, and a graphic few lines about cutting your own spears from the earth.
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Cooking, Food & Wine
Ellise Pierce offers over a hundred nicely served recipes, with humor, gusto, and an obvious love of food as side dishes. Reviewed by David Lloyd Sutton Cooking Light Way to Cook Grilling: The Complete Visual Guide to Healthy Grilling By Editors of Cooking Light Magazine Oxmoor House, $24.95, 320 pages, Format: Trade
««««« You’ll have a tough job finding a better, more cook-friendly cookbook on grilling than Way to Cook—Grilling. Written and edited by Cooking Light, should you be on a diet, this is the perfect book for you. And you can substitute regular in-
Looking for some down-home cookin’? Download the Unofficial Guide to Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives
gredients for the low-fat versions if diet is of no concern to you. Recipes are excellent, written in step-by-step format, easily accessible for even the most novice cooks. To help further, photo illustrations provide visual aids both for cooking steps and the final results. Many of the full-page photos have arrows labeling ingredients and brief informative descriptions. Every recipe has detailed per-serving nutritional information and brief yet useful head notes. In addition, many equally practical and informative tables and sidebars labeled Kitchen How-To, such as Make Memphis-style Sauce, Make Delicious Salmon Burgers. Recipe ingredients, with a few exceptions, are available in any supermarket. Layout of recipes is excellent with the cook in mind to avoid flipping pages. Photo illustrations are both beautiful to look at and great help in cooking. Recipes range from grilling standards through the more complex international creations. The separate subject and recipe indexes are excellent. Reviewed by George Erdosh Lard: The Lost Art of Cooking with Your Grandmother’s Secret Ingredient By the editors of Grit Magazine Andrews McMeel Publishing, $24.99, 233 pages Format: Trade
«««« Just reading the title of this cookbook, Lard, is likely to turn most home cooks off—but not professionals. Good lard has special properties that give quality and flavor to many types of foods, particularly baked goods. Even dieticians may consent, since lard is no more harmful to health than butter (and who can cook without butter?). Published by the editors of Grit Magazine, this is a good all-purpose cookbook having mainly standard San Francisco Book Review • April 2012 • 91
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Cooking, Food & Wine
recipes (Texas Hash, Fried Chicken) but in every single one the secret ingredient is lard. Not the inexpensive generic kind available in supermarkets, but the old-fashioned, unprocessed, flavorful lard you find in specialty food stores, online (expensive!), or render yourself. Some not so common recipes pop up here and there (spaghetti with chicken liver, fried in lard and chocolate kraut cake). The book’s production is simple with monochrome brown-toned photos and text in brown and blue. Head notes are very good. The layout is excellent, cook friendly, and many, many stories related to pigs and lard are dispersed among recipes. Three sets of inbound food photos provide additional illustrations. The list of recipes in front of each chapter is helpful, and the excellent index is cross-referenced well. Reviewed by George Erdosh
each recipe. Preceding each of the seven chapters, Medearis adds her personal touch as she does throughout the book. She offers guidance to assist in living a healthful life, serving to affirm her initial statement on page one. “While a diabetic diagnosis may change the way you eat, it shouldn’t impact the pure pleasure of a deliciously prepared meal.” Diabetics and their entire family, adults and children alike, will benefit from the Kitchen Diva’s thoughtfully and lovingly prepared diabetic cookbook. Reviewed by Angie Mangino
The Kitchen Diva’s Diabetic Cookbook: 150 Healthy, Delicious Recipes for Diabetics and Those Who Dine with Them By Angela Shelf Medearis Andrews McMeel Publishing, $24.99, 272 pages Format: Trade
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««««« The Kitchen Diva’s Diabetic Cookbook offers so much more than 150 recipes for those with diabetes, including good food the entire family will enjoy. Each of the recipes adds exchange list values and carbohydrate choices along with the detailed nutritional and caloric analysis. From Flavor Infusions of dips, dressings, sauces, and spice mixes to Sweet Finishes and Nighttime Nibbles, Medearis offers seven budget friendly chapters to prepare healthful, enjoyable meals all day long. Striking photographs whet the appetite for these Southern inspired foods. The introduction includes a healthy kitchen guide; lists for stocking the pantry, refrigerator, and freezer; and an explanation of the nutrition information she provides with
Simple Honest Food: The Best of Bill Granger By Bill Granger Lyons Press, $35.00, 320 pages Format: Hard If you had to sum up what cooking is all about in this new decade, it would have to be “simple and fresh.” We live in a world that needs fast cooking in order to keep up with our lifestyle, and fresh healthy cooking to help fight the obesity epidemic. The native Australian Bill Granger is clearly trying to please that demographic with this new book. If you haven’t hear of Bill Granger, he owns restaurants from Japan to the United Kingdom and is host of a show called Bill’s Food. The book is all about clean simple meals, from breakfast to dessert. The book stays true to the title. Everything in it is simple and elegant, including the pictures, ingredients, and directions. I absolutely loved the pictures in this book. That was my favorite part of it. The recipes are pretty simple and basic, not too many include crazy food items that I have never heard of or needed to take a trip to buy. I found most ingredients in my cupboard. The real issue with the book is the directions. In some recipes they felt like they were lacking in some steps and some focus. The meals inside this book are worth looking at and trying out, but make sure not to follow everything to the letter. Reviewed by Kevin Brown
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Book Reviews
Category
Romance
looks like he’s about to take a plunge into the stormy sea and rescues him. Their encounter threatens to send both parties into a forced marriage. Too bad Roman has vowed never to wed - in order to break the Norwich curse - and Esme has sworn never to give away her heart. All they have to do is keep everything secret from the Prince Regent. If he found out, they’d have no choice but to tie the knot. Still, love makes both of them wonder if perhaps rules weren’t meant to be broken. I loved the lighthearted banter, the realistic characters, and the impossible circumstances surrounding this book. Their love story was unique and I found myself rooting for the hero and heroine. Esme is a gem of a heroine and one you won’t soon forget. The romantic tension is killer and the plotline is fantastic. The Art of Duke Hunting is the second of Nash’s regency romance series including Between the Duke and the Deep Blue Sea. She pulled it off with a bang and I can’t wait to see what happens next! Reviewed by Jennifer Melville Blame It on Bath: The Truth About the Duke By Caroline Linden Avon, $7.99, 384 pages, Format: Mass
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The Art of Duke Hunting By Sophia Nash Avon, $7.99, 353 pages, Format: Mass
««««« Roman, the cursed Duke of Norwich, is terrified when he wakes up on a ship… in the middle of a violent storm… tied to the taffrail. Wasn’t it one of his rules in life, never to go to sea? What exactly happened at that royal bachelor party, anyway? Esme, the Countess of Derby, spies a man who
Even if this is the middle of a threepart saga, don’t be deterred from reading it whenever. It stands alone very well. It’s a marriage of convenience plot with a delicious twist: it’s the bride who has the money, and chooses her groom who needs it! She knows the story, but he doesn’t until late in the novel, and by then he’s all wrapped up and unwilling to change a thing. Very neat! Katherine Howe is a 30-year-old widow with a beautiful, if shallow, mother who has convinced the poor girl that no man will ever love her, so she should marry a wealthy man. She did that, and he died, leaving her very wealthy and at the mercy of his grubby nephew. But once upon a time, a neighboring young man was kind to her and she’s never forgotten him. When she hears a rumor about him and his two brothers being in possible financial difficulties, she sets out to marry him, thus neatly solving the problems of both of them.
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Romance
Except, of course, that the man she marries is occasionally a bit thick in the head! Gerard de Lacey, the younger son of the Duke of Durham, finally puts the pieces together and realizes the worth of the treasure that’s fallen into his lap. Lovely. Reviewed by Kelly Ferjutz The Surrender of Miss Fairbourne By Madeline Hunter Jove, $7.99, 344 pages, Format: Mass
«««« I’ve been a secret reader of Madeline Hunter, having read most of the Seduction series while on extended holiday. This author revels in strong female leads who are fueled by their dedication to their art or their ideals. This time around, the titular character is the newly orphaned daughter left in charge of a prestigious auction house. Emma Fairbourne is determined to preserve her family’s business, clinging to the slim hope that her brother is still alive to claim his inheritance, despite all reports he was lost at sea. The man who stands in the way of her ambitions is her father’s silent partner, the handsome Earl of Southwaite, who is determined to sell the business. Like most good Regency romances, the book features some solid material that serves as a backdrop for the romance. In this case, the issues of smuggling and spying are essential to the intrigue. Hunter also doesn’t let the occasional historical inaccuracy get in the way of a good story. While there are some contrived situations which seem improbable given the time period, all of this is secondary to the seduction. If you like your historical romances seasoned with handsome nobles with a dash of art history on the side, The Surrender of Miss Fairbourne makes excellent light reading. Reviewed by Rachel Anne Calabia
A Scandalous Countess: A Novel of the Malloren World By Jo Beverly Signet, $7.99, 432 pages, Format: Mass
««« In one night, Lady Georgia Maybury loses everything. On moment, she’s partying and living the good high society life. The next, she wakes up to discover that her beloved husband has been killed in a duel. As the couple had no children, the young widow is basically kicked out of her house with her basic belongings and returns to her parents house to grieve for a year… and avoid scandal. Unfortunately for Georgia, even a year isn’t enough to quiet the rumors of her alleged infidelities and the mysteries surrounding her husband’s death. Society believes that she was the cause of her husband’s fatal duel. Georgia plans to re-enter society just as spectacularly as before and find a new husband. The last place she expects to find herself is in the arms of a titled but impoverished Naval Officer. Although good for a light read, I didn’t sympathize with the heroine at all. She spent her marriage flirting with and kissing numerous men and wonders why the society ladies don’t like her? Hard to imagine. Not to mention that her father tries trading her for a horse. I didn’t find the chemistry between Georgia and Dracy very thrilling, but it was sweet and mild. It was a quick read with spunk and personality, though. If you’re looking for a light beach read with a scandalous heroine and an unusual hero, this is the historic romance for you. Reviewed by Jennifer Melville
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Book Reviews
late the changing emotions of the landscape and the inhabitants during this transitory period that has been forgotten in our current frenetic technological state. Using a 35 mm camera with the then new kodachrome color film, Charles Cushman, a traveling businessman, acted as an itinerant photographer, capturing the essence of the country. Moving across the continent, west to east and north to south, his images recorded the people, the neighborhoods, agricultural sites, the glory of the natural scenery, industrial production, urban development, and suburban life. For the mature, these images will reawaken memories; for the youthful, the pictures recall life in the past century. This series of sensitive photographs have a patina of thoughtful timelessness that is lacking in the precise digital reproductions currently in vogue. Along with artists like Edward Hopper, this amateur photographer and his candid collection of color slides filtered through his eyes serve as a hallmark of social realism. Reviewed by Aron Row
Category
History
Mr. President: How and Why the Founders Created a Chief Executive By Ray Raphael Knopf, $27.95, 324 pages, Format: Hard
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The Day in Its Color: Charles Cushman’s Photographic Journey Through a Vanishing America By Eric Sandweiss Oxford University Press, $39.95, 240 pages Format: Hard
««««« Chronicled in this classic collection of kodakchrome photos is a pictorial history of America in the years between 1938-1969. The photographs are spellbinding as they re-
Even the most advanced history classes skim quickly over the creation of the federal government and its various offices. With hundreds of years of history to cover, some things are inevitably left out. But a crucial concept -- the birth of the presidency -- is one most classes hardly consider. How did the framers of the Constitution decide to design the highest office in the land? Mr. President explores that very idea with nigh-excruciating precision, delving into the quarrels between ideals and personal interests that became a battleground of procedure and minutiae. Examining names both famous and obscure, as well as their contributions to both policy and discussion, Raphael virtually places us inside the chamber as the Constitution is forged. Washington assumes office about halfway through the book, and here the framers begin to discover exactly what has been missed, not to mention what works and what
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History
doesn’t. Later, the first true test of their convoluted electoral system comes to pass with the election that follows Washington’s presidency, and the rocky emergence of the two-party system in response. Rich with revelations about the motivations of those involved, Mr. President is a dense yet interesting read. Reviewed by Glenn Dallas The Testament of Judith Barton By Wendy Powers & Robin McLeod $3.99, 284 pages, Format: eBook
sadly realizes that the direction this Judith’s life is going is parallel to the Judith in Hitchcock’s suspenseful movie, Vertigo. Powers and McLeod produce a solid novel of Judith’s assumed life. Although some sections are slower paced than others, Hitchcock fans will appreciate this homage to one of his classic and complex heroines. Sponsored Review Babylon: Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization By Paul Kriwaczek Thomas Dunne, $27.99, 282 pages, Format: Hard
«««« The Testament of Judith Barton: A Novel by Wendy Powers and Robin McLeod takes the reader into the life and mind of Judith Barton, the pivotal character in Alfred Hitchcock’s classic film Vertigo. The novel fills in the back story of how Barton arrived at the intriguing place she did—as a body double for Gavin Elster’s wife Madeleine. Powers and McLeod do justice to the character of Judith and her humble Salina, Kansas, beginnings. In the novel, which holds a cinematic structure as a brief prologue followed by three acts, readers become steeped in Judith’s early life in part one, including her begrudging interest in acting in school plays with her slightly older sister. The authors establish Judith’s strong relationships with her family and the changes they are forced to overcome. Powers and McLeod set Judith’s life in faster motion as she drives out of Kansas alongside her sister. Our protagonist has a bold streak and, in Act Two, she ends up in San Francisco. Powers and McLeod heat up the plot in this act as Judith becomes a single, independent woman—no easy feat during the 1950s in an unfamiliar city while trusting strangers. But Judith succeeds in finding an apartment and job. Throughout the novel, there are specks of sibling rivalry between Judith and Maggie and these don’t disappear with Judith’s independence. But the simple story gets decidedly sinister and more complicated as Gavin Elster appears on the novel’s pages. The complications intensify as the reader
««««« Paul Kriwaczek begins with a quote from Professor Quentin Skinner of Cambridge University: “History which does not inform present-day concerns amounts to little more than self-indulgent antiquarianism.” You could hardly accuse Mr. Kriwaczek of self-indulgent antiquarianism. This is a lively and sometimes humorous account of Mesopotamian civilization, from its beginnings over 6,000 years ago to the fall of Babylon in 539 BCE. A central theme is that a civilization is comparable to a living organism: it is born, it grows to maturity, then declines and dies, all in agreement with natural laws. A people’s history is not as influenced by arbitrary decisions and actions as we might think. By following the track of Mesopotamian civilization, we might discover laws that could enlighten perceptions of our own times. Kriwaczek notes that cultures tend to focus on the future when things are going well, and become obsessed with the past when things don’t look so bright. Babylonians of the mid-first millennium BCE were so passionate about their past that they essentially invented the science of archeology. Compare that with modern interest in history, genealogy, and preservation and it’s not hard to see how a study of Mesopotamian civilization can “inform present-day concerns.” Reviewed by Paul Mullinger
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Book Reviews Predator: Why fabulous Christian women can’t find love in today’s church By Lakevia Amey CreateSpace, $15.00, 184 pages, Format: eBook
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Category
Religion New American Haggadah By Jonathan Safran Foer, Nathan Englander (translator) Little, Brown and Company, $29.99, 160 pages Format: Hard
«««« This new Haggadah largely succeeds in reinvigorating the Passover service, an experience that is unique in its origins and setting. The story of the Exodus from Egypt, while hardly neglected in synagogues, is a story remembered each year in the Jewish home. Thus, its manner of observance defines Jewish life in a very special way. The age-old Hebrew text remains the anchor. The translation by Nathan Englander is hard-edged American vernacular – with a bit of exaltation here and there. It sounds at once fresh and unfamiliar to those used to standard translations. To those unburdened by such echoes, it will be especially inviting. The design is visually engaging, employing imaginative page layout, typography, and original artwork. Running across the tops of the pages, but only readable by rotating the book 90 degrees, is a telegraphic history of the Jewish people. This timeline links this year’s rehearsal of the story to all the tellings over the generations and centuries. Another special feature, also requiring a 90 degree turn, arranges four commentaries on particular themes, images or key phrases. Each set carries meditations labeled “Nation,” “House of Study,” “Playground,” and “Library.” Foer’s dynamic balance of tradition and contemporaneity will offend a few, while pleasing many more. Reviewed by Phil Jason
Christian women everywhere are forewarned that there are people in the world (and at church) who seek Christian women for other than honorable reasons. In an honest and thought-provoking manner, Amey shares her own experiences as a single Christian woman looking to become equally yoked with that perfect “man of God.” Alas, this is not the case, as Amey, through prayer, common sense, revelatory dreams, and a bit of oldfashioned detective work, comes to terms with the often-troubled journey of single women everywhere. Many subjects are covered. One important topic rendered for conversation is the question of whether or not a man will actually wait to have sex until after the marriage ceremony. This subject alone should prompt discussion of issues of morality often not adequately addressed within the Christian church. The idea that abstinence is unnatural or passé in today’s world is open for review here. Amey offers her own viewpoint, complete with scriptural backup for her stance on promiscuity and Christian single dating. Honest about her own past, she warns others not to close their eyes to the reality that one’s innocence may be painfully abused by predators. A second topic open for long, and thoughtful debate is the question of whether or not tithing is a requirement for today’s Christian. While Amey endorses tithing, and backs up her viewpoint with scriptural references, there may be readers who would challenge this belief. The book is a quick read, with lots of surprises along the way, as man after man reveals his seamier side, offering sexual encounters and lying about the past, the present and their future plans. Predator would be a great conversation starter for church singles’ groups and single women looking for that special someone who may be, as the Bible warns, a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Sponsored Review
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Book Reviews Category
Reference
Lipstick and the Leash By Camilla Gray-Nelson Double Dove Press, $17.95, 208 pages, Format: Trade
«««.5 The connection between an animal and its owner is strong, but if the animal senses weakness, the relationship may spiral out of control. Enter Camilla Gray-Nelson. The veteran dog trainer learned simple lessons while growing up on a farm, where she realized the secret to getting what you want isn’t accomplished by yelling. Instead, it’s quiet strength that brings success. Gray-Nelson shares her beliefs in Lipstick and the Leash: A Woman’s Guide to Getting What Your Want From Your Dog and Your Life. This self-help guide debunks several myths, that GrayNelson calls the Lassie Syndrome, about our canine friends. She explains how body language, followthrough and feedback help control your dog. She asserts that posture, eye contact, clear boundaries and feedback, and follow-through can make the difference between a yipping puppy and a well-behaved dog. One of the best sections of the book is when Gray-Nelson introduces personality types and compares those attributes between animals and humans. Lipstick and the Leash also includes photographs illustrating methods for training your dog and keeping him or her controlled. Gray-Nelson believes that by applying these natural leadership skills to your personal life as well, you’ll develop confidence and effectiveness. If females feel they need stronger control of their life, and their doggy, they may want to apply the lipstick. Or, they can let common sense guide them. Reviewed by LuAnn Schindler
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Book Reviews
from Young’s central thesis, that African American culture is American culture, no limb of a trunk, but a root which nourishes the whole. Reviewed by Jordan Magill
Category
Books About Books The Grey Album: On the Blackness of Blackness By Kevin Young Graywolf Press, $25.00, 463 pages, Format: Trade
««««« Long an admirer of Kevin Young’s sly lyrical poetry, I approached The Grey Album with some trepidation. What could this poet want to convey to readers that pushed him to prose? As it turns out, Young has a great deal to say, all said with the sharp eye, good humor, and honesty found in his earlier works. Young has large fish to fry locating the origins modernism. This requires striking a careful balance. On the one side, Young must defend modernism from those who brand it as cultural imperialism in new clothes. On the other, he wants to forcefully assert the centrality of the African American contribution at the origins modernist movement. He locates this contribution in music and poetry. From Dunbar to Kaufman, and Armstrong to Jay-Z, Young marshals an eclectic range of material in the service of his argument. The glue in these essays is the idea of “storying.” This art of verbal dissimulation Young sees as central to African American survival under slavery and the oppression which followed emancipation. The evolution of storying fascinates, particularly as it fuels literature, music, and popular culture. A part of me was disappointed that Young didn’t follow his arc to storying’s ethically challenging moments, such as with Robeson. Yet this does not detracts
Philosophical Interventions: Reviews 1986-2011 By Martha C. Nussbaum Oxford University Press, $29.95, 420 pages, Format: Hard
«««« In the 2008 documentary, The Examined Life by Astra Taylor, Nussbaum walks along Chicago’s Lake Michigan posing questions on the nature of justice to the camera, which tracks in front of her. She gets ten minutes in the film. She later reviewed the film, excerpted in this book, that despite a “keen visual imagination and a vivid sense of atmosphere and place” it nonetheless “presents a portrait of philosophy that is ... a betrayal of the tradition of philosophizing that began, in Europe, with the life of Socrates.” I suppose anytime we have popularized philosophy, we’ve failed since philosophy is not ever popular unless it’s bogus and shrill. Most of the voluble intellectual celebrities— most not really philosophers but talking heads-- seemed to enjoy being in the film. But being with a Cornel West or Slavoj Žižek , for example, was like being trapped in an elevator with a loony, a pretentious one at that. Nussbaum’s book of 34 book reviews and one film review are the writings of a major philosopher and public intellectual; reviews of philosophical books in publications from the last 25 years aimed to the general interest reader. Book reviews may become irrelevant; Internet blogging may take over philosophy. The public intellectual may no longer have periodicals to engage views with readers. However, the Socratic tradition can still engage us. Reviewed by Phil Semler
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Book Reviews
Category
Business & Investing
earth examples he uses to illustrate how capitalism works, or doesn’t work.llFrom the onset, Chang debunks the standardized theory that free trade is the end-all, be-all of international business deals. He tears down the illusions of “unregulated” markets, showing specifically how government politics plays a role even when we think they don’t.llChang breaks each “Thing” down into “What they tell you” and “What they don’t tell you.” He explains candidly why wages in one country is substantially higher than wages in another country for the exact same service. He shows how catering to the short term desires of shareholders, and overpaying corporate managers has driven our most profitable industries into the red. He tells us why the trickle down method never seems to trickle all the way to the bottom. He teaches us the measures need to stay on the positive side of the separation of wealth, as a nation, as corporations, and as individuals. Reviewed by C.D. Quyn All In: How the Best Managers Create a Culture of Belief and Drive Big Results By Adrian Gostick, Chester Elton Free Press, $25.00, 231 pages, Format: Hard
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23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism By Ha-Joon Chang Bloomsbury Press, $25.95, 288 pages, Format: Trade
«««« Mythbuster Ha-Joon Chang, a Cambridge economics professor, explains one “Thing” at a time in a tenor of crisp wit that makes us smile while he makes his point. You don’t have to be an economics major to grasp the down to
The authors of this book are workplace specialists who present a blueprint for managers to have a high-achieving company. These steps include developing a customer focus and enabling employees to visualize the future and address upcoming challenges to see new opportunities as they arise. Employees need to feel that managers are truthful and direct. This, according to the writers, will instill trust and a culture of openness. Employees must be held accountable and should know when they have the elements for success to complete a task. The basic premise of this book is how great leaders create unique and profitable places to work. These leaders must develop an environment wherein every step forward is noted and applauded. Employees must have the ability to keep promises to individuals as well as groups. Failure to be accountable by employees can be seen by such things
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Business & Investing
as missed deadlines, misunderstandings, personal failures, errors in judgment, or petty disagreements. Questions to be asked after reading this highly informative study are: Do you have employees who care about the company but are burned out? Do you have employees who care but are not always focused on the right behaviors? Do you have employees who are willing to recommend the company’s products and services? Finally, a good manager ensures that individuals have opportunities and challenges to reach their highest level of performance. Reviewed by Claude Ury The Interview Expert: How to Get the Job You Want By John Lees FT Press, $17.99, 195 pages, Format: Trade
««««« Managers and HR specialists feel that a successful interview includes some of the following practices: being a careful listener by focusing on questions, looking at the job as a worthwhile activity and not just a paycheck, and sharing what one has learned from relevant job experience. Prospective employers should be prepared with questions to ask that may come along in the position being filled. Additionally, this important book explains why CV’s are rejected.
Many candidates who apply for jobs have poor interview skills. Some fail to correctly organize the paperwork included with their application. Others may be inappropriately dressed or have a speaking style that fails to impress the persons(s) conducting the interview. Handling interview nervousness and getting into the right frame of mind for an interview is very important. Some methods for preparing for an interview are preparing your opening remarks for the initial minutes of the interview by pointing out how valuable you can be to an organization, and your checking resources to increase your ability to predict what you may be asked at an interview. Questions asked after the interview might include some of the following: “At what do you excel?”, “What are your specialties of expertise in your field?”, “ How easy are you to work with or what is your impact on others?” The most important lessons to be learned from reading this book are about your attitude, impact, and the means by which you present yourself. It is about being relaxed and being in control of oneself during an interview. Reviewed by Claude Ury
The largest transfer of wealth the world has ever seen is well underway. This book puts you on the right side of that equation with a simple step by step plan to create great wealth.
Available At:
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Book Reviews
Category
Self-Help
successful people have this problem. Why is it a problem? If you continue to think the same way, you will get the same results and experience the same emotions day after day. Therefore, can you honestly say that you are taking charge of your own life and writing your inner script? Bill Wackermann, the author ofFlip the Script: How to Turn the Tables and Win in Business and Life does not claim to know everything. He does offer some good advice. This book has three parts. Part One helps you to understand how self-sabotage works. As you process your own thoughts, it will be necessary use a flip tip. Part Two helps you navigate through the process via interactive exercises, and part Three helps you to win. The exercises are great because they help identify the real issues that you need to work on. The author uses the experiences of real people to drive the point home. Wackermann has a kind voice, and this always helps in self-examination books. Reviewed by Vivian Dixon Sober Idea-Links: The New Creativity By Jim Link Beaver’s Pond Press, $24.95, 264 pages, Format: Hard
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Flip the Script: How to Turn the Tables and Win in Business and Life By Bill Wackermann Free Press, $26.00, 217 pages, Format: Hard
««««« Most folks need self-examination to learn about themselves so that they can become better people. It is not unusual to think negatively, or to cave in to doubt. Even very
In Idea-Links: The New Creativity , Jim Link proposes a new way of approaching creativity. Dispensing with the idea that creativity is innate in all of us, Link suggests “learning and applying specific disciplines consistently over time.” Link has spent decades helping businesses and their employees generate ideas. Link’s approach is refreshing in that he dispenses with any magical creativity thinking or with utilizing creativity exercises that, he writes, no one uses anyway. Divided into three sections, Link explains in the first two parts (Making Idea-Links and Creative Reframing) in detail the disciplines Link suggests are needed to become more creative. In the third part, Link provides practical approaches to applying them at work. Using definitions and visual representations throughout, Link provides a base for learning to be creative—notice, analyze and store—and a way to getting your ideas out into the world. Link provides examples of finding idea-links at home or at work. Link also espouses that his book enables
San Francisco Book Review • April 2012 • 102
Book Reviews
Self-Help
your colleagues and you to share a common language about creativity, which also enhances the creativity process. IdeaLinks challenges the ideas about creativity and, if you need a better way to access your creativity, a strong read. Reviewed by Elizabeth Humphrey You Are What You Wear: What Your Clothes Reveal About You By Jennifer Baumgartner Da Capo Lifelong Books, $16.00, 256 pages, Format: Trade
««« We’ve all heard the phrase “you are what you eat,” but did you know that you’re also what you wear? Apparently what you wear tells the world about you: your inner demons, your personal challenges, your defeats and challenges at a glance. Yikes! What do sweat pants, flip flops, and a baggy shirt say about me? Dr. Jennifer Baumgartner tells readers that our wardrobes represent unresolved conflicts and issues in our lives. By building wardrobes to match the way we would want the world to see us, we can also somehow magically resolve those issues we’ve been hiding inside. There’s a lot of no-brainer material here. We either know someone who’s a shopaholic, someone who dresses inappropriately by revealing too much or by making selections that aren’t age appropriate. Others are desperate to “keep up” with current fashion and high priced designer labels. Dr. Baumgartner applies psychological analysis to why we make these choices. There are questions and checklists in each chapter, as she assists a client with their own individual dressing faux pas and brings to light what their choices reveal about them. If nothing else, You Are What You Wear—What Your Clothes Reveal About You might nudge you to get rid of those hole-riddled stained sweatpants and opt for something that portrays you to the world in a more positive way. Reviewed by Laura Friedkin
Princes & Ogres: Integration of Psyche and Soul By Don Mordasini Millennial Mind Publishing, $22.00, 241 pages Format: Trade
«««« Princes & Ogres: Integration of Psyche and Soul by Don Mordasini is a selfhelp book written to “…accelerate our personal growth by blending the best part of modern psychology with ancient spiritual wisdom”. In Princes & Ogres, Mordasini describes how perception is the key to understanding the world around us. He differentiates our perceived reality from reality itself, and how our reality is shaped by our perceptions and the values and beliefs placed upon what we perceive. According to Mordasini, “We need to become aware of our mind’s tendency to interpret reality according to its beliefs; we need to take full responsibility for projecting our thoughts onto what is actually taking place out there.” By understanding these concepts set forth by Mordasini, he seeks to lead people to their “fullest potential”. Mordasini provides a great deal of discussion about integrating our mind and soul in order to raise our consciousness and ultimately live more fulfilling lives. “With discerning wisdom, we can make better choices in our lives.” Conceptually and theoretically, Mordasini provides a narrative across the spectrum of psychology and spiritually for the general reader to understand with ease. For those interested in the mind and body, Princes & Ogres makes for an interesting read. Reviewed by Jennifer Ochs
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