Come Home, Angus
by Patrick Downes
Illustrations by Boris Kulidov
Orchard Books
2016
32 pages
ISBN: 9780545597685

Available July 2016

Angus wakes up angry. He is quite the personality! He tells his dog to walk faster, he yells at his bird for singing too loudly, and scolds the cat for purring. When he refuses to eat breakfast because his pancakes are too thin, his mother admonishes him to apologize to the pets. Angus refuses and talks back. His mother tells him that there are rules. She reminds him that being angry is not reason to be rude, and Angus decides it's high time he left this house and all its rules. He packs his bag to run away. I am pleased to say he remembers to pack  a favorite book!

Angus sets off and as he walks we see his figure get smaller and smaller on the page. In the angry pages, the figure of Angus takes up the entire page dwarfing his animals and even his mother. His anger is a giant. He walks many blocks and realizes that he's in a part of the city that he doesn't recognize. He sits down and watches people all the while feeling more lost and more afraid. He realizes he forgot to pack a lunch. He turns back home and when he gets there, he is greeted by his happy pets and is handed a  sardine sandwich from his smiling mother.

This little charmer of a book  has a decidedly British feel. The names of the pets: Clive, Pennycake, Arthur and main character's name  Angus are all names that children may not be familiar with. Also, the idea of a child craving a sardine sandwich is whimsical, although sardines are a popular deli choice. Young readers will love Angus and his temper, his meltdown and the realization that home is where the love is: the pets, his mother, and sustenance.

Highly recommended for pre-school and anyone who's ever thrown a temper tantrum or left home for a few minutes. This one is a ton of fun.

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

Magical Storytelling Pick: Wink Poppy Midnight

 

Wink Poppy Midnight

by April Genevieve Tucholke

Dial Books

2016

247 pages

ISBN: 9780803740488

 

 

 

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/08/14/april-genevieve-tucholke-wink-poppy-midnight-excerpt

 

"Tucholke walks a fine, spine-chilling line. . .  An eerie, tangled story with plenty of questions: Who can be trusted? Who—or what—pulls the strings? . . . The book keeps readers wondering. Nicely constructed and planned, with unexpected twists to intrigue and entertain.”  

—Kirkus starred review

“A dark, unpredictable mystery that . . . shimmer[s] with sumptuous descriptions and complicated psychologies. . . . Occult accoutrements, descriptions of the wild landscape, and a twisting-turning plot create an uncertain atmosphere that constantly shift readers’ perceptions of who is trustworthy.”

 —Publishers Weekly

 

From the author's website:

 

Spring 2016 Kids’ Indie Next List

 

Amazon Editors' Best Books of the month, March 2016

 

A Junior Library Guild Selection

 

Teen Vogue’s Best New YA Books of 2016

 

PureWow's Best of Spring

 

Wink Poppy Midnight is that rare book: equal parts magic, mystery, romance and intrigue. Textured and rich, the prose sings off the pages. Tucholke is one fine storyteller; she pulls you in, makes you believe in magic, throws crazy plot twists at you, adds a few red herrings for spice, plays you like a fiddle and then leaves you breathless, confused and delighted. "Every story needs a hero. Every story needs a villain. Every story needs a secret." (from the inside cover). Readers will not see this story's ending coming, and believe me, there's no way to prepare for it--any of it.

 

Wink is a masterful storyteller who believes, truly believes--to the depths of her being--in fairy tales. Poppy is a mean girl; the girl who seemingly has no heart. She cares nothing for any one and she only acts in her own self-interest. She's a true sociopath. She plays with both Midnight and Wink, toying with their hearts and heads until Wink can bear it no more. Wink convinces Midnight of a plan to bring Poppy down a notch or two.

When their plan goes off the rails, Poppy disappears. Both Wink and Midnight feel guilt, but Wink knows Poppy is still playing a game with them. Wink knows Poppy like she knows herself. Midnight once loved Poppy, and he still smells her perfume in his room. Is she a ghost? Is he seeing things? If she's alive, why won't she come back?

Someone is pulling the strings and someone is lying, but whom? Is it Poppy manipulating others into thinking she is dead? Or is it Wink, the pixie storyteller? Everyone loves Wink, but with her intelligence and creative, whimsical mind, could she be the mastermind for murder? Or is it someone else behind the scenes? Someone Poppy used to love?

Minor characters are drawn into the mystery and add to the suspense. Wink's younger siblings think Poppy has drowned, and Wink might even believe it.

After a chilling séance, an accidental fire burns down the spooky Roman Luck House and the kids escape, everyone except Midnight. Wink fears Midnight is dead, but (spoiler alert) someone or something pulled him from the house. Only Midnight knows what really happened but he's not talking--he has too much to lose.

Heroes and villains are never truly heroic nor truly evil. Sometimes it's hard to tell the good from the bad--unlike most fairy tales where ugly ogres and cackling witches are bad and beautiful princesses and handsome heroes are always good. Wink needs her fairy tales to make sense of her life and she is such a lyrical storyteller, she has all the other kids  believing in fairy magic and heroic quests. When they listen to Wink, they believe in princesses and witches.

Wink Poppy Midnight will haunt you long after you have finished reading. The only thing missing for me was a more gothic setting. This book could have gone southern gothic or gothic romance, but it didn't. Perhaps that is the way the author intended.

Cover art captures magic elements of Wink's stories: a snake, a full moon, a spider's web, an owl, an apple, flowers, a butterfly.

 

Highly, highly recommended for mature readers. Mature situations. Poppy is quite a seductress.

 

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

 

 

 

 

Fiction Pick: The Honest Truth

The Honest Truth
by Dan Gemeinhart
Scholastic Press
2015
240 pages
ISBN: 9780545665766

Available January 27, 2015

Honest, open, generous, inspirational  and deeply moving, The Honest Truth will stay with you long after you've turned the last page.

Mark is a deep thinker; he writes haiku, loves his dog, takes photos with  his old camera, and wants to climb a mountain. He has to climb that mountain if it's the last thing he does. And it might be because he's dying.

Mark leaves a note for his best friend in the form of haiku. Jess figures where Mark is going, but is too afraid to tell the adults. She wants to help her friend, but is keeping his secret really helping him or not?

Mark goes off with Beau, his faithful canine companion and best dog friend whose heart is bigger than his whole  body. Beau would follow Mark into battle and fight valiantly by his side, never wavering, never backing down. They will need each other to face the elements and troubles they will face.

I cried when I read the author's note to early readers and I didn't stop even after finishing this book. There is more than one kind of hero in the world--some of them have four legs. Be ready with a NEW box of tissues at your side when you open The Honest Truth--you'll need it.

Highly, highly recommended grade 5-up. Death and dying.

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)

Mystery Pick: Turn Left at the Cow

Turn Left at the Cow
by Lisa Bullard
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing
2013
304 pages


Rife with witty repartee, Turn Left at the Cow is seriously entertaining! Middle grade readers will love sarcastic Travis and the acid tongue of Iz. Well developed characters and an old mystery will draw readers in and keep them reading. Lisa Bullard is spot on with her tween dialog and snarky sarcasm.

Set in rural Minnesota, city boy Travis feels out of it. There's no big city out here. There are cows. And dirt roads. And heads made out of butter. And all kinds of funky meat that's been in his grandmother's freezer for eons. The only reason Travis is in Minnesota at all is that he knows he's not wanted in California now that his mom has married Dale, his new step-dad.  Travis goes in search of his real father's roots, and runs away to his grandmother in "Old-McDonald ville."

Neighbor kids Kenny and Iz tell Travis that his father was a bank robber who stole money and hid it somewhere near the town before he disappeared. Travis wonders if his real father is alive. Maybe he went into hiding somewhere. Travis is desperate for answers and grills his grandmother for them. Speaking with her is like speaking to a brick wall; she doesn't want to tell him anything about his own father. Travis decides to go along with Kenny and Iz on their "treasure hunt." He wants to find the missing bank  money as badly as they do, hoping that it will give him answers about his presumed dead  father.

The unlikely trio start digging for clues  and are soon find themselves in danger. Someone else is looking for that money and that someone will do anything to find it first. Travis is questioned by the police when he shops at the local store. Someone is using marked money from the bank robbery, and the police think Travis found the money and is spending it. Why is that money suddenly showing up in town? Travis knows he didn't find the money, but just who did? And why are they spending it? To throw blame on Travis?

When Travis is threatened, the three kids work together to trap the real bank robber. Travis suspects his own grandmother may be involved, but he's afraid to confront her.

This book will resonate with middle grades and middle school readers and will entertain reluctant readers.

Highly, highly recommended 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)

Dystopian Romance Pick: Eve

Eve
by Anna Carey
Harper
2011
336 pages

Stunning, skillful, shocking, and smoldering, this first novel in a planned trilogy will have teens talking and leave teen girls a little light headed. This is the best dystopian novel I've read all year!

From the first pages, I was mesmerized by the world Eve lives in--a girls' boarding school in the middle of nowhere that has armed guards patrolling the grounds. Are they keeping the bad guys out or the girls in? The girls all came to the school as orphans--all except for Arden, that is. She arrives at age eight and never really fits in. Arden likes to break rules and Eve has never really been friends with her.


It is the day before graduation and Eve can't wait to give her valedictorian speech. She runs into Arden near the gate and realizes that Arden plans to run away. Arden tells Eve the "truth." Eve can't believe it. She knows for sure after graduation the girls go to the building across the lake where they all learn their trades. Then the lucky ones will go to the city and live fabulous lives. That's what the teachers have always told them. They wouldn't lie, would they?


Years before a plague has killed most of the population. Cities and civilization have fallen and one man unites the people: the King. In order to make sure his subjects don't die off, the King has factories where girls like Eve are kept tied to their beds--with one job only--grow the population. At least one baby per year. They are used like farm animals and treated far worse. When Eve learns that her future will not be filled with dinner at glamorous restaurants with white napkins and high fashion gowns, she escapes that night with the help of a concerned teacher.

She heads out not knowing where she's going really, but knowing to stay out of sight because MEN are bad--MEN will hurt you, MEN are not to be trusted. She heads west and looks for signs that read 80 hoping to find Califia (California).

Eve's journey is terrifying and provocative. The King's men have a special reason to catch this runaway. The King himself fancies Eve as his own wife and wishes her to bear his offspring. Now that she's missing, the King has put a price on her head. As she's running, she is saved by a boy on horseback. She doesn't trust him because she's always been taught that MEN are bad. Caleb saves both Eve and Arden, taking them to a safe place in the forest where his band of boys hide out from the King's men.

Eve soon fits right in and meets the youngest boys, Benny and Silas, and begins to teach them to read. In a poignant scene Benny asks Eve, "Are you my mother?" The young boys are evocative of The Lost Boys in Peter Pan. The leader of the pack is mad at Eve for embarrassing him in front of the others and fighting off his advances. He wants revenge. Leif tells a hunter where Eve is and he comes and picks up Arden and Eve.

An elderly lady comes to their rescue and they are able to escape to an Underground Railroad of sorts. Eve tries to send a message to Caleb but puts everyone, including herself, in danger.

Thrilling and well-written with compelling characters, this novel really rocks! My seventeen year old daughter read it first and told me, "Mom, you better read this!!" Also, she told her non-reading friend about it, and the non-reader called her the next day to tell her, "I stayed up after two in the morning reading Eve! I love it!"

Readers who liked The Hunger Games and The Forest of Hands and Teeth will love this new trilogy. I predict it will shoot up the Best Seller list and become the new Twilight. Are you listening, Hollywood? This would make a great movie!

Highly, highly recommended grades 7-up. Mention of girls being used to populate the country, no sex, no language, except when Caleb sings a silly song about "balls."

view the book trailer here

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