#IMWAYR September 28, 2015

Hurrah it's Monday! I'm looking forward to checking in with dedicated bloggers who are aficionados of children's literature. You can join the fun by checking out Jen at Teach Mentor Texts, and Kellee andRickie from Unleashing Readers, our hosts for this weekly event. 

It's been two weeks since my last post. Last weekend we moved. Well, we partly moved. We are living in our new place while we figure out what to do with the 'stuff' we left at our other one. Our new place is crowded with piles of unpacked boxes. Partly it is because we need more cupboards and book shelves. Partly it is because my partner decided to refinish the shelving unit he built when we were much younger than we are now. Thankfully I convinced him that they were not that bad so he is only refinishing the piece he started.

It has been a relief to get away from the mess at home and return to work where boxes full of new books wait for me. I've been limiting my reading of them so I can actually find time to do other work. Still, I have come to the sorry conclusion that I will never get the library under control.

Here is what I have been reading.

PICTURE BOOKS

Rufus the Writer by Elizabeth Bram, Chuck Groenink

4 stars

This is a beautiful book about a young writer. I enjoyed Rufus' stories and think the illustrations are luscious. Rufus sets up a story stand instead of a lemonade stand. He writes four stories in exchange for 'gifts' from his clients. My favorite stories include Orange is the Best Color and Annie and the Dancing Teapot. I'm looking forward to reading this to children, but think teachers will get more mileage out of it in their classrooms working with young writers.

5 stars

Butterfly Park by Elly MacKay

This is a sweet book that shows how one person can start a movement that makes the world a better place for all of them. I love the gorgeous illustrations and the sparse powerful text.

My Dog Is the Best by Laurie Ann Thompson & Paul Schmid (illustrator) 

4 stars

I am enchanted by this charming little book. If you just read the text, you will see how much this young boy loves his dog. It's in the pairing of Paul Schmid's illustrations with them that makes the reader smile. As the boy tells us about his dog, we discover that his dog isn't exactly as his words would suggest.

I'm Trying to Love Spiders by Bethany Barton

5 stars

As someone with arachnophobia, I liked this book. I still don't love spiders, but I'm coming to some kind of truce with them, so long as they stay out doors. This book is full of information about spiders and it is written in such a humorous voice that I'm certain other readers, whether they love spiders or not, will enjoy this one. This book just arrived in our school library. I'm trying to like spiders, but, as fun as it is, it isn't helping me.

5 stars

Yard Sale by Eve Bunting & Lauren Castillo

This is a story of a family that, due to financial difficulty, has to move from their house into a small apartment. It is heartbreaking to experience the sale of their possessions through the perspective of Callie, the young girl. Her confusion and sorrow resonated powerfully with me.

Marilyn's Monster by Michelle Knudsen & Matt Phelan (Illustrator)

5 stars

This is one of those books that requires a couple of readings I think. On the surface it's the story of a girl who lives in a land where eventually everyone gets their own monster. She waits and worries that she isn't good enough to have a monster. She waits until eventually, gets tired of waiting and heads off in search of her monster.  I really need to read this one again.

4 stars

The Bear Ate Your Sandwich by Julia Sarcone-Roach

Love this story of the bear that just happened to end up in a city and ended up eating someone's sandwich, or did he? I was delighted by the surprise ending!

Sidewalk Flowers by JonArno Lawson, Sydney Smith (Illustrator)

5 stars

I've read this book three times since I took it out of the box on Friday. I read it at work and knew I had to take it home for another read. I read it last night and again today. Each time I take more away from this gorgeously illustrated wordless book. I adore how in the beginning of the book, the black and white illustrations are punctuated with sparks of colour. At first it is primarily the girl's red jacket. Then as as the story progresses there are more splashes of colour in the city and the flowers. As it continues and the girl begins to give the flowers away, the world becomes more and more glorious. The page spread where she stops to put a flower on the dead bird while the father continues ahead talking on his phone, is achingly tender and poignant.

NOVELS

Gabriel Finley and the Raven's Riddle by George Hagen narrated by Michael Goldstrom

3 stars

I wanted to like this book. I really did. Ever since I read The Mob by Clem Martini, I've been fascinated by the idea of corvids having a rich history and mythology. So I was prepared to embrace the concept of a magical bond between ravens and humans. I did at first, but somewhere in the execution of this tale, it all fell apart for me. I kept thinking that either there was something wrong with my audiobook, or that my overdrive app was going wonky. I kept losing chunks of text and then suddenly it seemed like these missing bits showed up at odd times later on. On top of this, I thought I had back tracked or something, but hadn't. It was just that the text was so similar, it seemed like it had. All that aside, I quite liked the characters of the four children. I only wish they had been developed more fully. I suppose this will happen in the sequel. I doubt I'll read it though.

Imperfect Spiral by Debbie Levy

4 stars

This is another story where someone dies, but there is so much more going on than just a character dealing with it.

Danielle was babysitting five year old Humphrey when he ran into traffic and died. Her coming to grips with her grief and responsibility is a large chunk of what this book is about, but it's also about Humphrey and who he was. It's impossible not to love this remarkable little person. 

All of this would make for a great read, but what makes the book exceptional is how different members of the community use the tragedy to further their own agendas. There is the group that wants trees cut down, sidewalks laid out and streetlights put up. When it turns out that the car that hit Humphrey was driven by an undocumented immigrant, a group wants to use this to force the police to automatically report such people to ICE. It's in the complex exploration of all this, as well as Danielle's personal encounters with old friends and new, that make this book a compelling read.

This has been on my to read list for a couple of years. I made certain to get to it this year because all of my readers have sung it's praises. They were not wrong.

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertali narrated by Michael Crouch

4 stars

This book is worth all the praise that has been sung about it. On the one hand it is a coming out and coming of age story. It's a story about friendship and family. I appreciate how masterfully the characters are developed. There are no real bad guys, and even the one who did the most terrible things seems to be redeemable by the end. I also appreciated how sensible and authentic the parents and teachers of these teens are portrayed. There is a sweetness to this book that left me completely satisfied.

Currently I'm reading (and expect to be finished Sunday night), A Tangle of Knots by Lisa Graff. I've started listening to Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. It is being passed around by my grade 7's so I decided I better see what it is about. 

Up Next? More from my 2015 must read list. I'm planning on posting an update at the end of the month!

The Witch's Boy by Kelly Barnhill

Holy smokes! This book sucked me in like a whirlwind. I resented each intrusion by my everyday life until it was finished. 

It is the story of two children, Ned and Áine, who are connected by their families' use of magic. Magic is a character in the story. It is wiley and seductive, promising the user his/her heart's desire, all the while working to satisfy its own agenda. 

Sister Witch, mother to twins, Ned and Tam, is burdened with the task of keeping this magic good. She has been told it shouldn't be used for personal gain. When Ned and Tam were seven, they set off on an adventure that culminated in disaster and Tam drowned. In an effort to save Ned, Sister Witch called upon the magic to bind their souls together. Ned was left alive but damaged. Except for this one exception, she has kept the magic harnessed and used it only to heal and protect her people. 

When Áine's mother died, her father took them deep into the forest where he returned to being a bandit and took up wearing a stone amulet. The amulet was infused with magic, enough to give him a taste of what was possible if only he had more. At the same time, it twisted his heart with an evil greed for power and wealth. He managed to acquire a following of bandits prepared to go where ever he led them. Áine hoped to find a way to save her father.

Áine's father and his bandits came to Ned's town to take his family's magic and deliver it to the king of a neighbouring kingdom. At least that is what the bandit leader claimed. Ned attempted to thwart them by taking the Magic into himself, but the bandits abducted him and set off through the forest to give him to King Ott.  

Ned managed to escape the bandits and befriended a wolf cub. The two were eventually rescued by Áine. Then the three of them set out on a quest to flee the forest and elude Áine's father's men. However, stronger, more ancient forces, compelled the children towards themselves. 

This is a beautifully written fairytale. It's infused with an ambiance of otherworldliness and reality that as a reader, I couldn't quite make sense of, but wasn't prepared to let go of either. You know those stories where you can't help but ponder how authors come up with these ideas? This is one of them. 

Since I took a course with Jack Zipes a number of years ago, I'm incapable of reading anything as just a fairytale. I'm always looking for hidden messages and secrets revealed to us about ourselves and our culture. I'm still trying to figure this book out. Here is what I've come up with so far. 

This book tells us about power and its capacity to hurt and corrupt the wielder of it.

It is a book that reveals an emptiness that can never be filled or satisfied, and how this emptiness can turn into a greed that rots one's soul. 

We see how individuals can be manipulated by a charismatic leader into doing evil. We also see how good people can see beyond the evil of someone in power, and refuse to follow their instructions. 

The story shows us the pain of loss and how difficult, if not impossible, it is to return to normal after it. 

We are reminded that every action has it's consequences, no matter how well intentioned.  

It warns us to listen carefully, not just to promises made by others, but to ourselves as well. 

 "You have friends coming, and friends inside you too. But be carefull."

"Of What:" Ned asked the empty darkness.

"The Things that lie." P 154

I'll be contemplating this book for a while I think. 

I will most definitely read more by Kelly Barnhill! 

Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman

I won't begin to tell you how much I loved Rachel Hartman's Seraphina, but you can read my thoughts here. 

Here's the thing. The first in a series can be jaw dropping stunning. As readers it's our first encounter with the author's world and characters. If you followed the above link, you will know that I was completely smitten by Seraphina. But that fresh new world and remarkable characters, can't stay new in a sequel and so, to be honest, I was afraid going into this one. 

So what is the verdict? 

Ultimately, Shadow Scale is a complex, deep, and fascinating read. It's also very long. I wasn't sure that it could engage me for close to 600 pages, but it did. It isn't fresh and new in the same way that Seraphina was. This sequel is more like visiting old friends and getting to know them better. It's about making new ones, and travelling their world with them. We get to journey to different countries and immerse ourselves in their cultures. At the same time, we get a new way of understanding our own. 

In this book Seraphina sets off to find the other half dragons in hopes that together they can create a force field that will stop the old dragons from destroying Goredd and the rest of the planet. She has been able to connect to many of them in her mind, although she hasn't met them all in person. It's a challenging enough task since there are still many places where dragons and half dragons are feared and persecuted. 

As if this isn't enough, one of these other half dragons, Jannoula, has started taking over the minds of the others. Because Jannoula is a seductive, brilliant and complex character, she is a perfectly terrifying villain. She nearly took over Seraphina's mind when Seraphina was girl, but with the help of her uncle Orma, a full dragon, was able to trick her into leaving. As Jannoula gains trust and power over the half dragons and leaders of different countries, Seraphina begins to doubt her own powers and fears for what will become of them all. 

What I liked

I liked that we get to learn more about the world Seraphina inhabits. I like the diversity portrayed in the characters and the acceptance of difference that underlies the saga. 

I appreciated that there was less focus on the love interest between Prince Lucian and Seraphina, and more on the adventure. 

In this story Seraphina becomes more self aware and ultimately finds and learns to direct her own power. 

What I didn't like

I deeply missed those passages about music that left me feeling that I was the musical instrument being played. 

#IMWAYR July 27, 2015

It's Monday again, my favourite day of the week. Time to check in with hosts Jen From Mentor Texts and Kellee andRickie from Unleashing Readers, to find out what bloggers around the world are reading this week. My partner and I head off early this morning into high country. There will be no internet once we arrive, but I'm going to try to read as many blogs as I can while on the road before it disappears. 

A Handful of Stars by Cynthia Lord

5 stars

Sometimes I wonder how authors can consistently wow me with their writing. Cynthia Lord is one of them. I admire her for fitting relevant social issues into everything I've read so far. In this one, two girls from different backgrounds become friends as they paint boxes for mason bees. I fell head over heels for all these characters. This is a book that deals with prejudice, loss, friendship and finding out what is really important.

The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann

3 stars

This book didn't wow me, but it did manage to draw me into its world and get me to care about the characters somewhat. In the world of Quill, when children reach a certain age, they are labelled wanted, necessary, and unwanted. The unwanted are sent away to die. Only it turns out that the unwanted are the lucky ones who end up in the magical world of Artimé. This is a land where magic, emotions and the creative arts are celebrated.  

Twin boys end up separated and find themselves in these different worlds. Aaron remains in Quill where he begins to climb the social ladder towards a prestigious position. Alex, on the other hand, ends up in Artimé where he longs for his twin to join them. He finally figures out a way to contact Aaron, but instead of saving him, ignites events that may well bring about the downfall of Artimé.

I like the ending of this book - it was satisfying, but tantalized readers to want to find out more. 

I struggled with this strange dichotomy of creativity in this book. It breaks my heart that as education funding gets strangled, it is the fine and performing arts that get axed, but I believe that creativity is a much deeper concept that this.

The Great Good Summer by Liz Garton Scanlon

4 stars

This is another sweet middle grade novel about a girl who's mother takes off with an itinerant preacher one summer. Eventually Ivy and her friend, Paul, decided to take off in search of her. It's a journey fraught with suspense and near disaster. The two find help in unusual characters. This is a book about friendship, loss and finding out who you are. 

I really came to care about Paul, Ivy, her father, and even her mother. As a parent I could really connect to her father's anxiety and fear when the two children run away. I liked the contrast between Ivy and her faith in God and Paul and his faith in science. I think that as they grow, these beliefs will mature and change with them.

3 stars

Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett (audiobook)

I downloaded this book because I have readers who like this series. I wanted to see what it was that drew them in. Maybe it is because I have been listening to Skulduggery and The Unwanteds, but this book was too slow for me. It is a thoughtful, academic mystery that just didn't get me excited, although I did manage to finish it. I'm going to be looking at readers who like it with some awe and appreciation when they next come asking me for more like this.

4 stars

Loula and Mister the Monster by Anne Villeneuve (netgalley)

I love Loula and Gilbert, the family's lovely chauffeur. In this adventure they do their best to teach Mister, the rambunctious hound, how to behave.

5 stars

Water is Water by Miranda Paul & Jason Chin (illustrator)

This beautiful book tells the reader about the water cycle all the while revealing our personal relationship to its many incarnations. Chin's glorious illustrations embrace and enhance the patterned poetry of Paul's text.

enormous smallness: a story of ee cummings by Matthew Burgess & Kris Di Giacomo (illustrator)

5 stars

although the cover doesn't use all lowercase letters in the title of the book, I feel compelled to change it here. i read my first cummings poem in high school, lo these many years ago, and entered into an infatuation with his work that has lasted till this day. for a few years i refused to use capital letters, even into my first year of college. there, one of my beaus gave me a collection of cumming's love poems. he is long gone, but i still have the book.

i like the choices of poetry here in the book, but there aren't enough of them. It does include in just spring which gets posted on our library poetry wall just about every year. i would have a hard time choosing a favourite of his poems, but somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond, resonates for me about the transformational power of love.

I didn't know how much i had been waiting to read this biography until i had it in my hands. it feels like uncovering the secrets of an old friend.

i didn't know that cummings

         wrote his first poem when only three

         painted

         wrote screenplays

         loved elephants

         cherished Paris

and

         drove an ambulance in the first world war

after finishing this book I went to read more about his work. one of the interesting facts i discovered was that cummings was influenced by Amy Lowell, another of my favourite poets.

i'm getting this book for our library for those teachers planning on making writing a focus this year.

3 stars

A Tale of Two Mommies by Vanita Oelschlager & Mike Blanc (illustrator) (netgalley)

This is a charming story of a group of children playing. Two of them ask questions to a friend, who has two mothers, as to which mommy does certain things. Ultimately what this book shows is a young boy who is well loved by his parents.

A Year in the Life of a Total and Complete Genius by Stacey Matson

4 stars

One of my goals was to read more Canadian authors this year. With books like this, it's pure joy. 

Arthur Bean has big dreams. He plans to grow up and become a famous author. In the mean time he has to get through the many challenges of grade seven. 

Told through journal entries and emails back and forth to different characters, this story takes us through the year following the death of his mother. His father has kind of checked out of life and isn't paying much attention to anything. Then there is the writing contest due April 1. He's certain he will win if only he can come up with a story idea. The ideas, however, just don't want to come. He's got a crush on his writing buddy, but she's already got a boyfriend, even if he is a jerk. On top of all this, he has to tutor Robbie Zack, a bully who threatens him regularly. 

Arthur tests the patience of all his teachers, but for the most part, they recognize his creative brilliance and do their best to rein him in. It isn't easy. It requires an expert sense of humour. When his regular teacher breaks her leg, the substitute doesn't cope well with him, leaving both of them unhappy. 

I suspect fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid will like this book. It has some drawings but is much more text based. It would also be an interesting book for teachers to use as mentor text since Arthur has to complete a number of writing assignments.  

Currently I'm listening to Curtsies and Conspiracies (Finishing School #2) by Gail Carriger. I've in the middle of More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera on my device and I'm in the middle of Circus Mirandus by Cassie Beasley as a hardcover. 

Up next, I've got Shadow Scale by Rachel Harman, a pile of paperbacks, and a whole mess of titles on my device. I am so looking forward to being where my options are hiking, fishing, or reading. I'm hoping there won't be any hiding from, or running from, bears. 

Must Read In 2015 Summer Update

That dash of OCD in my personality means that I'm not so humiliated as I might otherwise be on the progress of my Must Read in2015 List. Whew! Otherwise, as generally hyperactive and easily distracted as I am by a flashy new hardcover, my headway would be abysmal. As it is, all I'm saying is, "It could be much worse." 

58 is the number of books on my Must Read List.

28 is the number of books I've completed. 

  

171 is the number of books I've read so far this year.

77 is the number of novels read.

The rest are an assortment of chapter books, picture books, graphic novels and nonfiction. 

I'm not so OCD that I need to count them all. 

Besides, the math might not add up. 

Choosing a top three, or five, or even ten is difficult because there are so many to keep track of. Honestly, if not for Goodreads, it would be impossible to remember them all.

After checking there, I see that I gave five stars to twelve of the books on the list. This isn't a big deal because in order to whittle my list to a mere fifty eight titles, I limited it to books with an average of at least four stars to start with. 

Of those twelve, one, The Meaning of Maggie by Megan Jean Sovern, has crazy glued itself in my consciousness. If you click on the above link you will see that it resonated at a deep and profoundly personal level to me. I've been praising it to everyone who lives in, or lived in, a family with someone who has a chronic illness, and anyone who knows someone in that situation.

Other than Maggie, a few others rise above the rest of them. 

Because it's Canada Day, here is the one five star book from a Canadian author who is on the list. 

Dance of the Banished by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch is a powerful read that tells the story of two sweethearts caught up in the Armenian genocide. Everything we have in our library by Skrypuch is very popular. 

I adored The Encyclopedia of Early Earth by Isabel Greenberg, but it's also my most recent recent read, so I'll have to see if it still glitters come the next update. 

The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex, is a powerful middle grade satire on colonization. 

Greenglass House by Kate Milford has a cast of fascinating characters and a riveting convoluted plot. I'm hoping to get to The Boneshaker this summer. 

I enjoyed This Journal Belong to Ratchett by Nancy J. Cavanaugh. I talked one of our classroom teachers into reading it and she's been getting some stunning writing from her students using it as mentor text.

  

Bird by Crystal Chan is a beautiful heart wrenching book that continues to haunt and inspire me.

I've brought home a stack of books to read over the summer. Many of these are from 'The List.' I expect to be way ahead by our next check in!