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.

This Is Why Libraries MATTER...This Is Why Reading MATTERS...This Is Why Books MATTER

I think it'd be great to have a moment for those who want to...reflect on one moment this year that they thought....this is why libraries MATTER....this is why reading MATTERS....this is why books MATTER....

Here's mine, just happened....

I just had a I Love Libraries moment.


2 of my super great readers were discussing Anna Carey's Eve series. One girl explaining to the other girl the cliffhanger at the end of book 2...conversation went on over ten minutes as I eavesdropped. They were both so into the book, they didn't notice me. When they looked over, I had my hands in a heart and said, "This is why libraries MATTER!"


I wish I had it on video...we may have to reenact it....pure gold....

Post your comments here or Tweet to #NLW16 #LibrariesTransform and #SISDheartsLibraries

I hope to hear your shares!

Memoir Pick: Dimestore: A Writer's Life

Dimestore: A Writer's Life
by Lee Smith
Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
2016
200 pages
ISBN: 9781616205027


Lee Smith's collection of personal essays embeds her as  the voice of Appalachia. Her life story reads like a country song of religion, love, life, birth, death, pain, suffering, and joy. She grew up the only child of a hard working shopkeeper and his wife. Smith's town was full of kin: cousins, uncles, aunts, and twice removed more distant cousins. Everybody who wasn't related to each other at least knew each other. There were no secrets in town...at least no long kept secrets. Church was the center of their lives: revivals, services, church suppers, prayer meetings, funerals, and baptisms.

Children ran though the hills, swam in the river, caught fish in the stream, played up and down in  all the hollers, and came home with a hand full of wildflowers or a jar of lightning bugs. Smith conjures up the magic and wisdom of a time and  a place so distant that most of us can't recall. Folks went to church on Sunday or faced the rest of the town's scorn. People stood at attention for the pledge and celebrated being American and free.

Mothers cooked three meals a day, kids ate a lunch packed in a brown paper bag, fathers sometimes sat down to dinner late, but they always had their dinner at the table. Main street consisted of the dimestore, the post office, a movie theatre, a fire house and not much else. Some topics were never talked about. Mental illnesses were called by gentler terms, "a bout," "an episode," "kindly nervous."  When someone died, the whole town took notice and brought dishes of food. Think "Mayberry RFD" with Loretta Lynn thrown in. The town of Grundy doesn't exist anymore having been flooded by the Army Corps of Engineers, but Lee Smith's love letter to a bygone town and time live on as an endearing place of love and family.

Smith pays tribute to writing and the love of reading. She includes passages of fiction and poetry written by some of her adult students. She celebrates the life and poetry of Lou Crabtree and spoke at her funeral. Lou was an elderly lady when Smith met her at a writing workshop she was teaching. Lou had suitcases full of poems and fiction and she wrote to please herself never once thinking of publishing. She wrote to soothe herself, to calm herself, to see something on the page that made her happy. That is what writing should be! Later, Smith includes a quote from Anne Tyler who said, "I write because I want more than one life." Not to get rich, not to be famous, not to travel or to be on television. Writing for the people in Smith's essays is the essence of their being.

Thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining, this short read (200 pages) is satisfying for the soul. Smith presents a simpler way of life in the glowing halo of wistful nostalgia, but it's beautiful and ethereal.

Highly recommended for adult and mature readers and all book clubs. Anyone who loves small town America, the South, and Appalachia will love this book.

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

Book Giveaway: The Kid From Diamond Street: The Extraordinary Story of Baseball Legend Edith Houghton

 

I have THREE FREE copies of this great title up for grabs! For your chance to win, post a comment to the blog. Please include your first name, city, state and email contact. Deadline for posts is April 11, 2016, at noon MST. Winners are selected randomly by Randomizer. Winners will be notified via email on April 11. Please check your email on that date. Winners have 24 hours to respond to my email. Books will ship from New York. Good luck and start posting!

 

Here is a quote from my review:

 

Fascinating, full of facts, well researched, easy to read and understand, and entertaining, this story of a girl who dared to love the game of baseball and break that "grass ceiling" gaining access into an all male sport is an incredible read and fine addition to any sports section or women's section of your collection and is a must read for sports fans and all young girls.  

 

 

What Reviewers are Saying:

    "An engaging story that reminds readers that “baseball isn’t just numbers and statistics, men and boys. Baseball is also ten-year-old girls, marching across a city to try out for a team intended for players twice their age."
–Horn Book

"Salerno's illustrations, variously rendered in charcoal, ink, and gouache, as well as digital color, lovingly evoke the time period and the settings. Much fascinating information about Edith's long and adventurous life is added in an author's note. A forgotten star shines anew."
–Kirkus Reviews

"[The Kid from Diamond Street] should especially appeal to those who enjoyed Vernick and Salerno’s Brothers at Bat: The True Story of an Amazing All-Brother Baseball Team. The compelling story and energetic illustrations make this an excellent addition."
–School Library Journal

"Salerno’s mixed-media illustrations are a lively amalgam of action and scenic panorama..."
–Bulletin

"Choice quotations from [Edith] Houghton bring her personality and love of baseball to vivid life, while Salerno’s mixed-media artwork channels the footloose energy of the Jazz Age..."
–Publishers Weekly

"This timely message about playing simply for the love of the game, as opposed to personal glory or celebrity, comes through loud and clear."
–Booklist

I Nearly MIssed This One! YA Pick: Trouble Is a Friend of Mine

Trouble Is a Friend of Mine
by Stephanie Tromly
Kathy Dawson Books
2015
334 pages
ISBN: 9780525428404

Watch a teen review

Praise

Praise for Trouble Is a Friend of Mine:
“In what reads like a combination of Veronica Mars and The Breakfast Club, debut author Tromly creates a screwball mystery with powerful crossover appeal.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“This is one of those rare books that promises something unique and actually delivers beyond expectation. At least one copy belongs in every young adult collection—maybe even two or three. Once the word gets out, this book will fly off the shelves.”—VOYA, starred review

“Fast-talking, suit-wearing Digby is an exasperating teenage Sherlock—sharply observant, impatient with social niceties, and unafraid of authority figures….Fans of Veronica Mars and Elementary will find much to like here…Zoe’s sarcastic first-person narration is fresh and funny…an offbeat and entertaining caper.”—Kirkus

“With snappy prose and wry humor alongside the gritty crime, this nod to noir moves as fast as Digby talks… An engrossing and satisfying read…[that] encourages readers to dig between the lines and see truths that even Zoe and Digby, in all their sardonic observations, can’t quite spell out.”—BCCB, starred review

“A fast-paced story….Readers will find a sharply drawn character in the irrepressible Zoe, who’s as dubious about Digby’s methods as she is curious about whether or not she can live up to his daredevilry.”—SLJ

“With acerbic banter and a healthy dose of high-school high jinks, screenwriter Tromly weaves together traditional elements of teen stories to create a Breakfast Club for a new century.”—Booklist

My Review:


Trouble Is a Friend of Mine was marketed as a cross between Veronica Mars, Sherlock and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," so I was intrigued right away and had high hopes for a great read. I wasn't disappointed and readers won't be either!


Philip Digby is that weirdly cool nerdy kid who everyone knows but isn't exactly close friends with probably because they couldn't keep up with his intellect. They admire his aplomb, his ability to finesse a situation, his benign smile, his ability to tell tall tales and get away with them, and his audacity to fight authority and win before authority  even knows they were in a fight.Whip smart, ever so random in his observances and utterances, Sherlock Holmes smart, utterly devilish,  charming, and dazzling in his brilliance, Digby befriends Zoe. Actually befriends is not the right word. He wiles his way into her life and Zoe, a little bored and a lot friendless, is confused as to why she's suddenly Digby's sidekick and a willing if confused  Dr. Watson to his witty and biting Sherlock Holmes. A cute football playing jock named Henry joins the two and soon the  trio are searching for a missing girl.  Eight years  earlier, Digby's younger sister vanished, and he's hoping if he finds what happened in the recent disappearance, he can find his sister.


I can't say enough about Digby;  he is an enchanting fellow. He is masterful at controlling the situation and keeping things on a strictly need to know basis. He has a plan to bust a drug ring and find out where the missing girl or girls are. Digby is he master of the understatement and a genius at linguistics. He takes jibs at Zoe, aka Princeton, teasing her for her clothing choices, her lack of friends, her boring life, and her wanting to attend an expensive private school. Readers later learn that Digby's home life is...well...strange!

As Zoe crushes on cute Henry, who has a mean girl cheerleader girlfriend, she realizes her feelings for Digby are more than friendship. Zoe has her share of funny lines. When she sees Henry's toned stomach, she says, "Who knew a sixteen-year-old boy who wasn't a werewolf fighting sparkly vampires could have a six-pack of abs?"

Trouble Is a Friend of Mine has a great trio of characters and lead "actors"  Digby and Zoe are sheer comic gold. After finding the bad guys, not alerting the cops, getting taken hostage, being thrown into a cellar, being held at gunpoint, finding tons of explosives and Zoe coming face to face with her biggest fear: her mother's new sleepover boyfriend, Zoe and Digby make a plan to free themselves from a car trunk. When bad guy Ezekiel opens the trunk, Zoe will stab him with an epi-pen and Digby will take the gun. While that plan sounds like it will work, what really happens is: the trunk opens, Zoe stabs the bad guy, the bad guy screams, Zoe screams, Digby screams and the trunk is slammed shut again. Zoe tells Digby that he was supposed to get the gun, but Digby says that Zoe grossed him out and he froze. Zoe hit Ezekiel directly in the eyeball with the epi-pen. Laugh out loud funny!

More surprises at the end will leave readers speechless but wanting more of Digby and Zoe.  It's great news that this book is only book one of a trilogy. Readers will have to wait until November for book 2, Trouble Makes a Comeback. What are you waiting for? Grab a copy of Trouble Is a Friend of Mine.

Highly, highly recommended grade 7-up. Some adult situations: Zoe's dad cheated on her mother and leaves her for a much younger woman, no profanity, no sex, a "hint" of romance.

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

Baseball Pick: The Kid From Diamond Street: The Extraordinary Story of Baseball Legend Edith Houghton

The Kid From Diamond Street: The Extraordinary Story of Baseball Legend Edith Houghton
by Audrey Vernick
Illustrated by Steven Salerno
Clarion Books
2015
40 pages
ISBN: 9780544611634

What Reviewers are Saying:

    "An engaging story that reminds readers that “baseball isn’t just numbers and statistics, men and boys. Baseball is also ten-year-old girls, marching across a city to try out for a team intended for players twice their age."
–Horn Book

"Salerno's illustrations, variously rendered in charcoal, ink, and gouache, as well as digital color, lovingly evoke the time period and the settings. Much fascinating information about Edith's long and adventurous life is added in an author's note. A forgotten star shines anew."
–Kirkus Reviews

"[The Kid from Diamond Street] should especially appeal to those who enjoyed Vernick and Salerno’s Brothers at Bat: The True Story of an Amazing All-Brother Baseball Team. The compelling story and energetic illustrations make this an excellent addition."
–School Library Journal

"Salerno’s mixed-media illustrations are a lively amalgam of action and scenic panorama..."
–Bulletin

"Choice quotations from [Edith] Houghton bring her personality and love of baseball to vivid life, while Salerno’s mixed-media artwork channels the footloose energy of the Jazz Age..."
–Publishers Weekly

"This timely message about playing simply for the love of the game, as opposed to personal glory or celebrity, comes through loud and clear."
–Booklist

My Review:

 

Fascinating, full of facts, well researched, easy to read and understand, and entertaining this story of a girl who dared to love the game of baseball and break that "grass" ceiling gaining access into an all male sport is an incredible read and fine addition to any sports section or women's section of your collection and is a must read for sports fans and all young girls.  

 

In the early 20th century, baseball was an all male sport, but that didn't stop ten year Edith from joining the neighborhood games with her brothers and loving the sport. Edith didn't care that girls weren't allowed to play, she loved the game and would do anything to play. When Edith heard that there was a professional women's team being formed in her hometown of Philadelphia, she tried out for the team. Although only ten years old, Edith outperformed other players. She was added to the team roster as shortstop and played with the Philadelphia Bobbies. The team played in Philadelphia and as far away as Virginia, but Edith didn't care where they played, as long as she could play.

 

Edith's father was so proud. The press was constantly writing about the Bobbies and the talented "kid." By 1925, the team had gained international attention and they were invited to play against a men's team in Japan--halfway around the world! The team set off by train from Philadelphia to Washington, playing men's teams along the way. They boarded a ship in Seattle and set off for Japan. Talk about culture shock! This was Japan in 1925. Kimonos were worn daily and people traveled by rickshaw. The Bobbies played teams all across Japan for two months, becoming quite famous.

 

They finally arrived home, and Edith continued her love of the game, playing for other teams and later becoming a major league scout for the Philadelphia Phillies, where owner Bob Carpenter was amazed by her encyclopedic knowledge of the game and players. Edith's jersey and cap from her Japan games are displayed in the Baseball Hall of Fame in the Diamond Dreams exhibit.

 

Mixed media art by Steven Salerno captures the era and the game. Ten year old Edith on the cover captivates  as she rests on the bat, glove in hand, suitcase with travel stickers at her feet. Edith has what my grandmother used to call, "gumption," and that's the finest compliment anyone can receive.

 

Highly, highly recommended for all collections, sports and otherwise. Early readers-grade 4 and up, and sports fans of all ages.

 

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book 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.

 

 

 

 

Prank Pick: Don't Get Caught

Don't Get Caught
by Kurt Dinan
Sourcebooks Fire
2016
336 pages
ISBN: 9781492630142
Available April 2016

Debut author Kurt Dinan entertains with this prank war book that will keep readers laughing. Max is the normal fly under the radar high school boy who is not the cool kid or the smart kid or the athletic kid or the talented kid. He's the average kid. When he receives an invitation to meet the Chaos Club at the water tower and to "tell no one," he is intrigued and a little excited. Why would the epic and super secret Chaos Club invite him he wonders?

Max arrives and sees other students who received invites. As the kids are figuring out what to do next, they are busted for being on school grounds after hours and for defacing the water tower. Max is not going to take this! He's going to fight back. It's the Chaos Club's fault that he was caught. He bands together with the others to form a new prank group designed to upstage and out prank  the Chaos Club.

The team decides to have a prank off and the loser will pay dearly. Max goes along with the other's pranks, and the team becomes legendary. When the odds are upped, Max gets suspended from school.  Outsmarting the vice principal Stranko is pretty easy, and the kids get away with several hilarious pranks that have the school in an uproar.

Just who is the Chaos Club? Max plans to find out and when he does, he'll be surprised.

Classic bad high school behavior, profanity, mature subject matter.

Recommended grade 9 and up.

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

Passover Pick: More Than Enough (A Passover Story)

More Than Enough: A Passover Story
by April Halpin Wayland
Illustrations by Katie Kath
Dial Books for Young Readers
2016
32 pages
ISBN: 9780803741263


from the Publisher's page:

"This warm, affectionate story embraces Passover in the spirit of dayenu, and offers a comprehensive glossary—it’s a perfect read for the entire family in anticipation and celebration of the holiday."

My review:

Foods make memories. Your grandma's homemade dumplings, her cat head biscuits (because they were the size of a cat's head), Your aunt's favorite beef stew, potato doughnuts, homemade chorizo. Each food brings back a particular memory. More Than Enough celebrates Passover and how it is celebrated in the Jewish synagogue.

The family gathers at the table, the heart of the home. A song is sung, and father reads from the Haggadah. The children listen to the story of the Jews escaping from Egypt, and the family eats food from the Seder plate, each food symbolizing a part of the story. Children will search for the Afikomen, a hidden piece of matzah, that represents a prize.

Complete with glossary this book not only entertains, it educates. Dayenu is the song that the kids sing and its literal meaning is "It would have been enough." The family counts their blessings at the dinner table as one. This is a sweet story of thanksgiving. Illustrations by Katie Kath bring the characters to life.

For Jewish families tradition is important. More Than Enough will help non-Jews and those who do not celebrate Passover understand the customs, language and tradition.

 

Sweet and charming, More Than Enough explains the symbolism of each type of food. Matzah is unleavened bread and represents fleeing from Egypt and slavery. Jewish people had no time to wait for their bread to proof (double in size). 

 

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

YA Book Giveaway: Blackhearts

I have FIVE free copies of Blackhearts up for grabs! For your chance to win, simply post to the blog. Please include your first name, city, state and email address. Deadline for posts is Monday, March 21 at noon MST. Winners are selected randomly by Randomizer and will be notified on March 21 shortly after noon MST. Please check your email that afternoon. Winners have only 24 hours to respond to my email. Books will ship from New York. Good luck and start posting! Pamela

YA Pick: Blackhearts

Blackhearts
by Nicole Castroman
Simon Pulse
2016
369 pages
ISBN: 9781481432696


Gothic romance, swashbuckling pirates, an heiress  who cannot collect her inheritance, an arranged marriage, the high seas, adventure and love! What could be better than all that?

House maid Anne Barrett is forced into servitude upon the death of her father and  her uncle kicks her and her mother out into the streets. Once her  mother dies, Anne  is alone and penniless. She is given a job in Master Drummond's house where she takes abuse from the housekeeper. She gets more than her fair share of strange looks; people in Bristol are not used to seeing a housekeeper of color (Anne's merchant father fell in love with a servant on one of his voyages).  Anne longs for escape and is stashing as much money as she can hoping to gain passage on one of the ships leaving Bristol.

Master Drummond's son returns from a year at sea and soon sparks are flying between the handsome young sailor and beautiful, exotic Anne. She keeps her distance, not trusting a master to be kind. Teach is engaged Patience, daughter of a baron and she is a girl he doesn't love. He longs to return to the sea, but his father forbids it.

When Teach is accused of piracy, he fears they will lock him up. His father still expects him to marry Patience and give up his dreams of the sea. Using the story of Blackbeard as the spark for this story, Nicole Castroman weaves a tale as compelling as any love story.

Anne and Teach are clearly star-crossed and meant only for each other, but society and people keep getting involved and trying to keep them apart. As the novel ends, both are still looking for each other. I can see book two on the horizon.

The cover art depicts a ship in a bottle. Clever minds will realize that both Anne and Teach are trapped like the ship. The title Blackhearts is a spin on the Blackbeard legend and the pink color of hearts on the cover makes the cover pop for romance fans.

Highly recommended grade 7-up. No profanity. Some kissing. Patience finds herself pregnant with another man's child but that is how it is put forth. No details.

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

Young Reader Pick: Bloom

Bloom
by Doreen Cronin
Illustrations by David Small
A Caitlyn Dlouhy Book
(Atheneum Books for Young Readers)
2016
32 pages
ISBN:9781442406209


"A mud fairy, an extraordinary girl, and a castle in peril." (from the front cover)

Bloom is not your ordinary fairy. Gone is the fairy dust, the twinkling wings, the sparkling wand. Bloom has heavy feet and leaves mud wherever she goes. The king and queen are appalled. Their kingdom is made of glass; they don't want all that mud dirtying things up. Bloom can make flowers bloom where weeds used to grow and she can make glass out of sand. All this magic isn't enough to gain the favor of the royals. They tell Bloom that she must leave. Off she goes to the forest where she makes flowers grow everywhere.

After a few years, the kingdom is in disrepair. The king and queen don't know what to do! The king ventures into the forest to ask for Bloom's help. When he declines, he sends the queen hoping for better luck. The queen also turns away Bloom's "dirty" answer to their problem. They decide to send a young servant girl who is a "nobody" hoping she will get the secret to saving their kingdom.

Genevieve finds Bloom and asks for her magic. Bloom gives her a shovel and tells her, " I will show you the magic that can save your kingdom." Genevieve is amazed! She can make bricks! She can get dirty and build things! She is worried that the king and queen will never believe her because she's just a commoner, "an ordinary girl." Bloom's answer is the mantra that all girls should hear, "Tell them there is no such thing as an ordinary girl..."With her newfound sense of power and self-esteem, Genevieve returns to her kingdom and saves it!

I LOVE the message! I love the HEART! This is a must read for every single girl on the planet (no matter what age)! Even the boys! Doreen Cronin, you have done it again! Thank you for your genius, insight, and heart. You have created a truly marvelous picture book that readers will treasure.

Illustrations by David Small and smart placement of font size and lettering carry the story across each spread. When we see Genevieve return to her kingdom, she shatters the palace door and bits and shards fly across the page.

What a treasure! What a gem of a story! Well done, you two!

So highly recommended that everyone should own this book! It's message is that great! This is a wonderful book for new readers and its mantra of, "There is no such thing as an ordinary girl," should be over the hallowed halls of every place of learning and over every crib.

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

YA Pick: It's All Your Fault

It's All Your Fault
by Paul Rudnick
Scholastic Press
2016
304 pages
ISBN: 9780545464970

Unstoppable satire, perfect profanity, bad girl behavior, good girl sanctimonious speech, fangirl furor, teen trilogy madness, what more could you want in a YA book?

Good Christian, homespun and home schooled, knee socks wearing, family singing group songstress, Bible thumping Caitlin Mary Prudence Rectitude Singleberry is approached by her crazy Aunt Nancy.  Cousin Heller Harrigan grew up a kid show sensation, Anna Banana. Now cast as Lynnea, the Chosen Winglet, in the Hollywood blockbuster movie "Angel Wars," Heller is hitting rock bottom. She's out of control with boys, booze and drugs. Nancy begs Caitlin to take the job of "babysitter" until Heller gets off the press tour. It will be Catey's good influence that will keep Heller on the straight and narrow ( Yeah, right).

Chapter titles are hilarious! "The Highway to Heller" contains this gem of conversation. "No one under the age of eighteen needs a cell phone unless they're a surgeon, drug dealer, or a prostitute." To which Heller replies, "Wouldn't it be incredible to be all three?" The girls' chemistry is believable and laugh out loud funny. Catey tries to get Heller to lay off cussing like a sailor. She is so salty, she could out cuss most sailors! Catey tells Heller to say the name of any town in New Jersey when she wants to cuss. Like "Weehawken!" Heller tries and comes up with, "Go Teaneck yourself, you Dunellen piece of  ###$$$$$$ Mount Kittatinny!" Heller's ability to come up with spot on curses at every turn  is her greatest achievement!

Every time Caitlin is introduced to any "cool" Hollywood people, they always ask her the same question, "Are you homeschooled?" Her ubiquitous knee socks make quite the impression. Later, Caitlin finds herself reveling in the spotlight. She wonders if she is sinning by acting in such a n un-Christian way. She begins to crush on the male lead of "Angel Wars" and since he's on the same press junket, she sees him all the time.

Just when you think Heller is a possessed, evil, maniacal, crazy, rude sociopath, she comes clean. She admits to Catey the reason why she began to unravel. The spotlight made her life bigger than life, so that when the filming was over, she had all this energy and nowhere to put it. In fact, at her bleakest Heller planned suicide. She had pills, white wine, and weed all "...lined up on ...Buddhist altar..." which Heller says, "...was sort of like the menu for a suicide buffet , or an LA kid's birthday party, if you added a clown who'd bring flourless brownies and soy milk."

Once Heller admits that she missed Catey for all these years, they get along. Enter cancer patient Sophie. She convinces the girls to help her carry out her plan for exiting this life. When the girls attempt Sophie's wishes, hilarity ensues with  grand theft auto, tattoos, body piercings, gun toting, scaring off armed robbers who have a sawed off shotgun, weird hair, kissing a boy, and flashing a trucker.

The cover is clever and eye-catching. Nice job of packaging this hilarious romp!

Paul Rudnick has just  taken his place among witty YA writers Andrew Smith and Libba Bray.

Highly, highly recommended grade 9-up. NOT for middle school. Profanity, sex, drugs and rock and roll.

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

Now in Paperback! Flunked: Fairy Tale Reform School

Now in Paperback!

Flunked: Fairy Tale Reform School

By Jen Calonita

February 2, 2016; Tradepaper ISBN 9781492620815

 

Book Info:

Title: Flunked: Fairy Tale Reform School

Author: Jen Calonita

Release Date: February 2, 2016

Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky

 

Praise for Flunked: Fairy Tale Reform School

 

“Spellbinding and wickedly clever.” –Leslie Margolis, author of the Annabelle Unleashed novels and the Maggie Brooklyn mysteries

 

“A fresh and funny take on the enchanted world. (And, who hasn’t always wanted to know what happened to Cinderella’s stepmother?)” –Julia DeVillers, author of the Trading Faces series and Emma Emmets, Playground Matchmaker

 

“Charming fairy-tale fun.” –Sarah Mlynowski, author of the Whatever After series

 

“Fairy tale fans will love this clever and lively tale of magic, friendship, and courage.” –Discovery Girls Magazine

 

“Gilly’s plucky spirit and determination to oust the culprit will make Flunked a popular choice for tweens” –School Library Journal

 

“Calonita blithely samples from fairy tales, nursery rhymes, and folklore in this lighthearted first book in the Fairy Tale Reform School series.” –Publishers Weekly

“There’s much to amuse and entertain fans of classic tales with a twist.” –Booklist

 

Summary:

 

Would you send a villain to do a hero’s job?

 

Flunked is an exciting new twisted fairy tale from the award-winning author of the Secrets of My Hollywood Life series.

 

Gilly wouldn’t call herself wicked, exactly…but when you have five little brothers and sisters and live in a run-down boot, you have to get creative to make ends meet. Gilly’s a pretty good thief (if she does say so herself).

 

Until she gets caught.

 

Gilly’s sentenced to three months at Fairy Tale Reform School where all of the teachers are former (super-scary) villains like the Big Bad Wolf, the Evil Queen, and Cinderella’s Wicked Stepmother. Harsh. But when she meets fellow students Jax and Kayla, she learns there’s more to this school than its heroic mission. There’s a battle brewing and Gilly has to wonder: can a villain really change?

 

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21996359-flunked?from_search=true&search_version=service

 

Buy Links:

Amazon- http://ow.ly/WeJLe

Apple- http://ow.ly/WeK0H

Barnes&Noble- http://ow.ly/WeK6d

BooksAMillion- http://ow.ly/WeKdn

!ndigo- http://ow.ly/WeKih

Indiebound- http://ow.ly/WeKox

 

About the Author:

 

Jen Calonita is the author of the Secrets of My Hollywood Life series and other books like Sleepaway Girls and Summer State of Mind, but Fairy Tale Reform School is her first middle-grade series. She rules Long Island, New York, with her husband Mike, princes Tyler and Dylan, and Chihuahua Captain Jack Sparrow, but the only castle she’d ever want to live in is Cinderella’s at Disney World. She’d love for you to visit her at jencalonitaonline.com and keep the fairy-tale fun going at happilyeverafterscrolls.net 

 

Social Networking Links:

 

Author Website: http://www.jencalonitaonline.com/MG_Flunked.html

Book Website: http://books.sourcebooks.com/enchantasia/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FairyTaleReformSchool

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JenCalonita?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jencalonita/

 

Excerpt from Flunked Fairy Tale Reform School:

There’s a boy up there, standing on the crystal chandelier! He has slightly curly blond hair and is wearing a uniform—­a navy sweater vest over a white shirt with khaki pants—­but his boots are muddy. He’s stepping on priceless crystals with cruddy boots? Is he insane?

“Jax! What are you doing up there?” Kayla whispers heatedly.

“I’m cleaning the crystal for Flora,” Jax says and rolls his eyes. “What does it look like I’m doing? I’m making

a break for it.”

Kayla applauds. “Yay! This time I know you can do it.”

I shade my eyes from the light bursting through the stained-­glass window next to the chandelier Jax is perched on. “Busting out? Why?” I ask Kayla. “I thought you said this place was cool.”

Jax laughs loudly and looks at me. I feel slightly stunned. I’ve never seen violet eyes before. “FTRS was fun for a while, but strange things have started happening and I don’t want to be here when something bad goes down.”

Strange things? What kind of strange things? Why does Kayla suddenly look pale?

“He’s exaggerating,” Kayla tells me, but she doesn’t sound convincing.

Drip. Whatever Jax is holding is leaking. Kayla and I move out of the way so we don’t get wet. “Grease,” Jax explains to me. “It lubes the window.” He swings the chandelier, and as it nears the window, he uses a fork to try to pry the window open. “A few more tries and I’ll have it.”

“Then what are you going to do, genius?” I ask. “You’re two stories up.”

Jax’s eyes gleam. “I’ve jumped from higher spots before.”

“It’s true,” Kayla says to me. “Jax once jumped from the gym to the dining hall turret. That was three stories up. We call him the Escape Artist. One time he even managed to break into Azalea and Dahlia’s rooms and borrowed their keys to the indoor pool so the whole dorm could take a midnight swim.”

“Impressive,” I tell him. “And I thought I was good at tricking obnoxious royals.”

“She stole a dragon’s tooth clip from one this morning,” Kayla fills him in.

“Nice,” Jax says. “Your first pull?”

“No, I’ve been doing it for a while,” I brag.

“Me too,” Jax says. “My father is a farmer. You can only get so far trading vegetables. I needed to kick things up a notch.”

For some reason, I don’t think any of us are going to make the transformation Headmistress Flora is looking for. “Why do you want to break out so bad?”

“I’ve got places to see, and Enchantasia isn’t one of them.” Jax swings the chandelier so hard the crystals clang together. The window latch pops open, and I watch Jax leap from the chandelier to the tiny window ledge. I’m in awe. Jax looks down at us smugly before pushing open the window. “Are you sure you two don’t want to join me?”

“There’s no time for us,” Kayla says. “Get out of here. Wait!” Her eyes widen. “You deactivated the alarm on the window, right?”

“There isn’t one,” Jax insists. “If there was, I wouldn’t be able to do this.” But when Jax lifts the window, we hear:

EEEEEE! EEEE! EEEE! Unauthorized exit! Unauthorized exit!

The shrieking sound is so intense that Kayla and I cover our ears. Within seconds, Flora is out of her office and running toward us.

Swoosh!

I feel something brush past me and I whirl around. When I look up at Jax again, a large, muscular man with a long mane of hair is hanging on to the window ledge, his furry hands pulling Jax back by his shirt. How did the man get up there without a ladder?

“Mr. Jax,” the man says in a low growl, “we really must stop meeting like this.”

 

ALSO BY JEN CALONITA:

 

Charmed: Fairy Tale Reform School

Available March 1, 2016; Hardcover: 9781492604044

 

 

Summary:

 

Charmed is the exciting sequel to the wildly popular Flunked -- second in the brand new Fairy Tale Reform School series where the teachers are (former) villains. "Charming fairy-tale fun." -Sarah Mlynowski, author of the New York Times bestselling Whatever After series.

 

It takes a (mostly) reformed thief to catch a spy. Which is why Gilly Cobbler, Enchantasia’s most notorious pickpocket, volunteers to stay locked up at Fairy Tale Reform School…indefinitely. Gilly and her friends may have defeated the Evil Queen and become reluctant heroes, but the battle for Enchantasia has just begun.

 

Alva, aka The Wicked One who cursed Sleeping Beauty, has declared war on the Princesses, and she wants the students of Fairy Tale Reform School to join her.  As her criminal classmates give in to temptation, Gilly goes undercover as a Royal Lady in Waiting (don’t laugh) to unmask a spy…before the mole can hand Alva the keys to the kingdom.

 

Her parents think Gilly the Hero is completely reformed, but sometimes you have to get your hands dirty. Sometimes it’s good to be bad…

 

Goodreads Link:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25879858-charmed?from_search=true&search_version=service

 

Pre-Order Links:

Amazon- http://ow.ly/WeOuR

Apple- http://ow.ly/WeOzZ

Barnes&Noble- http://ow.ly/WeOFR

BooksAMillion- http://ow.ly/WeOKq

!ndigo- http://ow.ly/WeOPV

Indiebound- http://ow.ly/WeOWC

 

Rafflecopter Giveaway Fairy Tale Princess Book Pack

Runs December 23^rd -Feb 29^th (US and Canada only)

 

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YA Pick: Dumplin'

Dumplin'

by Julie Murphy

Balzer + Bray

2015

371 pages

ISBN: 9780062327185

 

Advance Praise for DUMPLIN':

“I’m obsessed with this book. Wickedly funny, heartbreakingly real, full of characters to love and cheer for.Dumplin’ is such a star.”
—Katie Cotugno, author of How to Love and 99 Days

“Dumplin’ should be required reading for anyone who has ever felt even slightly uncomfortable in his or her skin. Julie Murphy’s star continues to shine with this groundbreaking, poignant story that will surely change lives.”
—John Corey Whaley, award-winning author of Noggin and Where Things Come Back

My Review:

Intelligent, witty, and beautiful, Dumplin' is testament to the strength of one tough Texas teen who won't be written off. She won't listen to haters. She won't let people shame her or shut her down. She won't let her mothers constant digs get her down. Using her moxie, Willowdean shows the town of Clover City that she is a teen tour-de-force to be reckoned with. Willowdean's mom is the Bluebonnet Pageant director and an ex-crown holder herself. In fact, her whole life has been a let down compared to winning that darned crown. It is literally her crowning achievement. She wishes her daughter would diet, so that she can be the beauty queen. She wants her daughter to be willowy and beautiful like she was in her youth. Instead of celebrating the smart, sassy and sweet daughter that she has, she longs for the outer shell--the shell that society is so enthralled with.

Willowdean has been crushing on hunky athlete Bo who just so happens is her co-worker at the burger joint. When he begins flirting with her, Will is surprised. Pleasantly so. They share a few sweet kisses and soon they seem to be in a "relationship."

Willow decides to make a point. Even though she is not considered "beautiful" due to her weight, she is going to enter the Miss Bluebonnet Pageant to make a point--fat is beautiful. Will triumphs against all odds and proves her point to her mother, to the audience and most importantly, to herself.

I loved the positive statements in Willow's personality. She owns herself, fat and all. As Willow puts it, "That cute, little fat girl is a beauty queen."

Beauty queens everywhere will love this book, fat girls will love this book, anyone who ever looked at a body part and hated it will love this book, Anyone who loves Texas, Dolly Parton, country music, bluebonnets, pageants, little towns, greasy burger joints, and pick-ups will love this book.Texans will love this book, heck, everyone will love this book.

Recommended grade 8 and up. Kissing, talk about "doing it," talk about virginity, profanity no worse than on primetime television, talk of beer money.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I purchased this book for my library. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.