Picture Book PIck: Fly!

fly!
by Mark Teague
Beachlane Books
2019
40 pages
ISBN: 97815344451

fly! is a story done with illustrations and  no words. Illustration bubbles above the mommy bird and baby (teen) bird tell the entire story. Teague captures animal behavior well and develops character for both birds via personality through their actions and "dialog" between them.

Baby bird doesn't want to leave the nest where his mother feeds and protects him. Mother tells him he's getting bigger and birds are birds. Birds fly. Soon they will migrate to Florida (Welcome to Florida sign), and he needs to learn to fly. Baby bird imagines flying on a hang glider or using superhero powers complete with cape to fly, or maybe he can take a train or skateboard to Florida. Mother tells him in order to get food and stay safe from predators like cats and owls, he must learn to fly. That does it! The image of an evil owl sends baby bird into the air.

A sweet animal story and a mother's love for her child make fly! a special book. Young readers will have a blast creating dialog for each two-page spread. Early learners and creative writers could use the picture book to develop their own stories.

Highly recommended for all young readers and creative writers.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received the book from the publisher. I did not received monetary compensation for this review.

Southern Charmer: Tupelo Honey

 

Tupelo Honey
(Kindle)
Lis Anna-Langston
Mapleton Publishers
2016
247 pages

Now available as Kindle

Tupelo Honey will tug at your heartstrings and sing off the pages.  Set in the 1970s in a small Southern town, the story of young Tupelo begins with a picture of her daily existence. Tupelo's home life can only be described as broken and painful. Her mother is a wretched, broken, mean drug addict with a salty mouth and she shows Tupelo no motherly love but instead inflicting  intense abuse--both  physical and mental. Thank goodness for the kindness of strangers. Mother's then boyfriend Nash is charming and sweet to Tupelo and believes in her. He becomes a constant in her life even though her crazy mother continues to push him away. Eventually Nash is lost to Tupelo when her mother grabs her and takes a "vacation" to California. Tupelo is homesick and using her wits figures out a way to trick a cop into sending her home. What Tupelo lacks in parents, she makes up in moxie.

Another coping mechanism is the existence of Moochi, Tupelo's imaginary dog/man friend who helps her out in tight situations. Tupelo is able to hold conversations with him and he gives her good advice and ideas.

Grandmother Marmalade does all she can for her granddaughter--taking her in when her own daughter has a bout with drugs or booze. Marmalade has her hands full with her two grown sons. Mental illness cuts a large swath in this family with both of Tupelo's uncles suffering from possible schizophrenia.

Readers will love Tupelo and empathize with her struggles to find a home and be loved. Through heartbreak, pain, fair, loss, desperation, Tupelo never loses her enthusiastic voice. Tupelo Honey is a wonderful book that teaches us  many lessons about love and family. It is a shame that it contains profanity which may keep it off of middle grade and middle school lists. I understand the use of the profanity. It is used primarily by Tupelo's drugged out, no good mother.

Readers will cheer for  Tupelo as she navigates the problem adults which seem to plague her life. When she sees Nash again I wanted to jump up and down for her! This is one book that proves that although  you can't choose your family, you can  choose where you belong.

Highly recommended grade 5-up with warning of profanity, drug abuse, violence.

Non-Fiction Pick: 77 Things You Absolutely Have To Do Before You Finish College

77 Things You Absolutely Have To Do Before You Finish College
by Halley Bondy
Zest Books
2014
191 pages, with resources
ISBN: 9781936976003

Informative and insightful, this book will give college bound grads some ideas what their future will be like. The book is divided into seven sections: Around the Pad (dorm room or apartment), Getting Out and About On Your Own, Taking Advantage of School, Being Social, Body and Health, Spoil Yourself, and For the Future.

Renting an apartment for the first time is a scary adventure. The author warns readers to take an experienced person with you--someone who has rented or bought property before (like a parent, older sibling or friend) will know what questions to ask, will point out faults and weaknesses of the property and its condition, and will be able to "translate" the lease agreement. This is sage advice even for young people who think they know everything. As a licensed realtor myself, I see how some apartment managers/property management companies can take advantage of the young, the inexperienced, the naïve, or the just plain ignorant lessee.

Other entries are  creating  a photo collection, joining a political campaign, joining  a college group, eating  all alone at a restaurant, trying  some weird kind of food like squid ink pasta and volunteering  at a shelter. "Learn Self Defense" does not show up until mid-book, but I think it should have been the #1 entry. College age students, primarily girls, should be aware of national statistics and take pro-active steps to avoid dangerous situations According to a report from the CDC, "In a study of undergraduate women, 19% experienced attempted or completed sexual assault since entering college." That is a staggering number! At my daughter's university, incoming freshmen and transfer students are given a lecture by campus police at orientation. The police warn to walk in groups and there is an app to contact campus security. The all call system warns students of dangerous situations such as a campus lock down or severe weather.

This book is the ideal going away gift for high school seniors and graduates. Although the cover is underwhelming to say the least, the information is valuable and well-organized. The cover should have been more colorful, maybe with a collage of college (haha, see what I did there?) symbols--a few mascots (made up ones, of course so the publisher does not have to pay for them), car keys, textbooks and a bill from the book store for over $1000 for just 3 textbooks, a microscope, pom poms, a football field, and a bowl of ramen--the staple of dorm rooms worldwide!

Recommended for any high school senior--either going away to college or commuting.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)

Ghostly Pick: Doll Bones

Doll Bones
by Holly Black
Margaret K. McElderry Books
2013
256 (page count quoted on publisher's arc)

Available May 7, 2013 (date from publisher's arc)

Creepy, spooky, and downright strange, Doll Bones will delight tween fans of ghost stories and things that go bump in the night. Author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series Jeff Kinney says, "Nobody does spooky like Holly Black. Doll Bones is a book that will make you sleep with the lights on" (quote from publisher's flyer included with the shipment of the arc).



Best friends Zach, Poppy and Alice have played their game with dolls for years. Zach plays with a pirate doll he calls William the Blade, captain of the ship Neptune's Pearl. Alice's G.I. Jane doll is Lady Jaye, a thief who sneaks passage on the Pearl and Poppy's dolls are evil mermaids intent on destroying the ship and its crew. There is one doll strictly off limits; the kids refer to her only as The Great Queen and she lives in the china cabinet inside Poppy's house. Poppy's mother says she is old and made of fine bone china and worth a fortune. The kids make up a story for her; she is The Great Queen who rules over all the kingdoms.

When Poppy begins having nightmares and is haunted by a blond girl dressed in a nightgown who wants Poppy to bury her, Poppy enlists her friends' help. The Great Queen is made not just of china  but of bones! The child in the dream tells Poppy that the doll in the china cabinet is actually her.

The friends hatch a plan to ride the bus to Liverpool, Ohio, where the doll was manufactured. There,  the vision told Poppy, bury her (the doll) in the cemetary under a willow tree.

The kids' adventure is like one of their play stories. There are leering, crazy strangers and villians, a few helpful fairy godmothers (a donut shop owner and a waitress), and a not-so-nice librarian.

One problem and it probably only bothers librarians: the librarian in the book  is depicted as blinking "...owlishly behind her bright-green glasses" * and she comes off as gruff and not kid-friendly--not exactly the type of librarian depiction that this librarian/blogger likes to see in kid-lit. In fact, the librarian threatens to call the police and warns the kids that they better not have vandalized the place. The illustration of the librarian by Eliza Wheeler depicts a prim and very properly dressed middle aged woman. Again, not the face of librarians today. This is a librarian from yesteryear. C'mon, Holly Black, I know you've met librarians across the country, and you know librarians today are way cool.

Could Poppy be going crazy? Is she really dreaming about a ghost of a real girl who was murdered? Could the doll really be made of the girl's bones? Who was the little girl and who killed her? Could a doll be evil and haunting Poppy? When Zach has a creepy dream of his own, he becomes a believer. The kids decide to find the willow tree and solve the mystery.

Highly recommended for fans of ghost stories grade 5-up.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)

*Quoted material from the arc