Showing posts with label SciFi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SciFi. Show all posts

#IMWAYR November 7, 2022


Welcome! It's #IMWAYR time again, when bloggers share what they have been reading and find out what others have been up to. Kathryn hosts the adult version of this meme at Book Date. Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers host the kidlit rendition. These are fabulous places to start your search  for what to read next.

On Sunday as I write this, we are experiencing our second snowfall. It's divinely lovely and peaceful, but maybe a bit too soon? I guess it always feels too soon, but with hope it won't last long. I still don't have winter tires on my car...

Titles with a 🍁 indicate this is a Canadian or Indigenous Canadian Author and or Illustrator.

Clicking on the title will take you to the Goodreads page of the book.

BLOG POSTS LAST WEEK

PICTURE BOOKS 

Lala, a wild kind of child, has her own kind of magic. Unfortunately, her mother doesn't see or appreciate this in her.
Against a black and grey city, Lala emits a golden hue as she goes about her daily activities full of joy and energy. Lala spends time in her garden in an empty lot nurturing the plants there. I was struck by the profound contrast between the mother's words to Lala, and Lala's words to plants. Where Lala's words are full of kindness, her mother's are harsh.
When her mother, in an attempt to tame her, refuses to let her go outdoors, Lala's garden magically grows huge and comes in search of her.
As much as I appreciate this book, I was also a bit distressed that it took such a magnitude of magic for Lala's mother to finally accept her as she was.
Alas, there is no magic for other wild children like her.
Gracey Zhang was born in Canada, but now lives in the USA. I hope she is still a Canadian. 

There is much to gush about here.
This charming tale tells of two Chinese girls who overcome obstacles to get to know one another and become friends. Both have come from the country and are now living in a city. Because they don't have residency permits for this area, they are unable to attend public school, and their parents can't afford to pay for school for them.
Rebecca Evans artwork, rendered in pencil and watercolour, is stunning. I love the bright colours of the two girls against a gloomy backdrop of blue greys.
While the story is set in China, the issues of bullying, loneliness and finding a friend are universal themes that children from around the world can relate to.
I appreciated the glossary and pronunciation guide at the beginning of the book that helped me figure out both how to pronounce the Chinese words and to understand them. However, because it is situated on the copyright page, I suspect it might end up being overlooked.
I also appreciated the author's note at the end of this book explaining more about the social situation in China.

This story of a "multiracial child navigating identity and belonging draws from author Tasha Spillett-Sumner's own experience growing up as an Afro-Indigenous girl." It is a gorgeous book with a refrain that will be especially poignant for multiracial children, yet has an important message for all of us. 

"You're part of me
and I'm part of you.

I'm beautiful like me
and you're beautiful like you."

You can read my full review here.  



I Hope by Monique Gray Smith & Gabrielle Grimard (Illustrator) September 13 2022 🍁

If you are not already a hard core Gabrielle Grimard fan by now, this book will certainly turn you into one. Her soft dreamy artwork makes this book feel like a blessing. 
This dual language book in both English and Plains Cree, is about adults wishing wonderful things for their children. It showcases multicultural groups of children from different parts of the world. 
This is a wonderful book to get for graduates, but will work for students of any age. I will be purchasing copies of this for my grandchildren.

 NON FICTION PICTURE BOOKS 


Bellen Woodward, in grade 6 at the time of this book, is responsible for Crayola coming out with Crayola Colours of the World Crayons: crayons that reflect the many different skin colours of children around the world.
Bellen began by just changing the language around the one crayon called flesh. Instead of handing it over when someone asked for the skin colour crayon, she replied, "Which one? Skin can be any number of beautiful crayons." Soon this way of looking at crayons and skin colour was reflected across her school.
This part of the story was clear to me, but what happened afterwards to influence Crayola is not. Still I appreciate the section that sets out, in general terms, how anyone can bring change into the world.

NON FICTION GRAPHIC


This is a great introduction to crows. As an adult reader I’m not the target audience, but I was charmed by both the goofy dog and the clever crow.
I’m kind of fascinated by crows and have read adult nonfiction about them. This meant that much of the research wasn’t new to me. But the graphic format certainly helped consolidate my understanding.
I plan to purchase a copy for an adult friend who is crow crazy and collects all things crow.

NON FICTION 

5 stars

The Talk: Conversations about Race, Love & Truth byWade Hudson et al August 11, 2020

This collection of writings by diverse authors is an important template for how to make the world a better place for all of us. 
I listened to it once, but no sooner finished it than I started it again. 
You will too if you haven't already been introduced to it. 

MG NOVELS

4 stars

The Lion of Mars by Jennifer L Holm & Maxwell Glick (Narrator) January 5, 2021

I am always happy to read/listen to anything by Jennifer L Holm. 
Bell has been raised on Mars in the American compound. They live in Lava tubes underground. It's a small loving community. However, they are estranged from the other colonies living nearby. 
When illness strikes the adults in their home, Bell and another boy end up heading off to ask them for help. A new reality is opened up to them. By the time the book is done, Bell has changed relationships between the communities for the better. 
 
YA & ADULT FICTION


I really wanted to like this book. I read reviews that lauded it. The premise sounded fascinating. It follows a pair of video game designers from their first meeting as children on into their 40s. As fascinated as I was by the game designing, I didn’t like any of these characters very much. Quite regularly I wanted to smack them across the head and tell them to grow up and get over themselves!
 
CURRENTLY

Butt Sandwich & Tree by Wesley King  🍁

No Vacancy by Tziporah Cohen  🍁

A Green Velvet Secret by Vicki Grant  🍁

Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures by Vincent Lam  🍁

UP NEXT - MAYBE

Death in a Darkening Mist (Lane Winslow #2) by Iona Whishaw 🍁

The Stone Sky (The Broken Earth, #3) by N.K. Jemisin

Narwhalicorn and Jelly (A Narwhal and Jelly Book #7) by Ben Clanton

READING GOALS

#MustReadFiction 23/24 one in progress

#MustReadNonFiction 16/18

Canadian Authors 69/100 four in progress

Indigenous Authors 18/25

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 257/250

2022 Big Book Summer Challenge 7
Canada Reads shortlist 5/5 

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#IMWAYR August 15, 2022

Welcome readers! It's #IMWAYR time again, when bloggers share what they have been reading and find out what others have been up to. Kathryn hosts the adult version of this meme at Book Date. Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers host the kidlit rendition. These are fabulous places to start your search for what to read next.

This post I'm sharing a couple of weeks reading. I had no internet or technology when I was camping this last while, so I ended up writing out my thoughts in pencil on paper. It was a strangely liberating experience. Ideas seem to write themselves. Although I did have to edit these perceptions, I noticed that I ended up producing more. So this got me wondering, is it too much? What do people prefer to read - in depth reflections or just a one sentence blurb? I definitely prefer to read something about the books you have been reading - the more the better. 

This article, The Problem with Female Protagonists, came up in my Facebook memories a couple of weeks ago.  I reread it and wondered about my own reading life. Do I read mostly about women? men? 

I went and looked at the data for this year so far. I wish I had included a category for queer characters and gender of author, but will leave that for another time. Here are my results. Let me know if you want to copy the form for your own use.


Titles with a 🍁 indicate this is a Canadian or Indigenous Canadian Author and or Illustrator.

Clicking on the title will take you to the Goodreads page of the book.

PICTURE BOOKS

5 stars

Abdul's Story by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow & Tiffany Rose (Illustrator)

Abdul finds that telling stories is easy, but writing them down is hard. He has trouble forming letters and spelling words correctly. He is about to give up writing when an author who looks much like him visits their classroom. He tells a story about a community very much like Abdul's. Mr Muhammad encourages the children to write their own stories. When he sees how disheartened Abdul is about his messy paper, he shows him his own messy notebook. This gives Abdul the courage to continue on with his own writing.
This is a wonderful book. I love the multicultural classroom and community portrayed in the pages. I love that it provides an overview of what the writing process looks like. I especially appreciate that it shows how attempting to get everything perfect the first time round interferes with eventually creating a brilliant story. That's an important message for all of us.

Slightly slapstick, this book is loaded with rhyming ridiculousness.
Mr. Watson and his partner, Mr. Nelson, start out with three chickens. Their life becomes pure chaos as those three chickens reproduce to become 456 birds. They had:
Chickens in the sink,
chickens on the bed,
chickens in the bread box,
chickens on their heads!
It isn't until Mr. Nelson threatens to move out into the coop out back - alone, that Mr. Watson finally comes up with a plan for what to do with all those chickens.
I appreciate much about this one: in particular, the gay couple just being a couple; the humour; and the illustrations so loaded with detail, readers can spend hours poring over them. Thanks to Linda Bai for the introduction to this.

4 stars

Rosa's Song by Helena Ku Rhee & Pascal Campion (Illustrations) June 14, 2022

Jae and his family have moved into an apartment building in a new city in a new country. He mopes about their suite missing home. After his mother sends him off to make new friends, he knocks on a door and meets Rosa and her parrot, Pollito. They become fast friends. Rosa and Pollito teach Jae the song, When I fly Away, My Heart Stays Here.
One day, without warning, Rosa is gone. She left Pollito behind for Jae who is heartbroken. Eventually two new children knock on his door.
In her author's note, Helena Ku Rhee talks about growing up in an apartment much like this one. Like Jae, friendships were often "disrupted just as they are forming."
I like the multicultural community portrayed in Pascal Campion's illustrations.


Africa decides to join a Double Dutch Competition. She has never double dutched before, but her grandmother was a champion, so Africa is certain she has it in her too. She has one week to be ready for it. At first she tries to learn on her own. Then she gets her friends to help her. They might not do double dutch, but they teach her how to dance; step in rhythm; clap and sing; and double cartwheel, back flip, and summersault.
On the day of the competition, Africa uses the skills her friends taught her to double dutch even better than her grandmother used to.
The artwork in this book is glorious! Anna Cunha's illustration are vibrant and sing with action.

4 stars

The Queen of Kindergarten by Derrick Barnes &Vanessa Brantley-Newton (Illustrator)

A young girl's mother sends her off to her first day of kindergarten with a tiara and rules for how to be a queen. The rules are: 1.Brighten any room you enter; 2. Be caring and kind; and 3. Be helpful to others. These are good rules for people of any age and gender.
If I was still working I would have ordered this book for the library in a heartbeat. I just wish this book and The King of Kindergarten had been titled with A as in A Queen of Kindergarten, rather than the.

MG NOVELS


I finished this, and then started it all over again.
It is the second in Pratchett's Bromeliad series.
The nomes (four inch tall people) now live in buildings in an abandoned quarry. Life is much harder than it was in their department store lives in Truckers. It is winter, already a hard time, when a notice goes up that the quarry is going to opened again.
A small crew head out on a scouting mission to the nearby airport while Grimma, (a budding feminist) and the rest of the leadership come up with a plan to make the humans go away. Believing that humans always obey signs, they create some badly spelled ones warning them to keep out. They lock the gate with a heavy chain and padlock. They spike the tires of a lorry that tries to enter. The humans keep coming.
Eventually they capture a night security guard.
Knowing that more humans will arrive with the dawn, the Nomes climb aboard JCB (Jecub) an abandoned digger they have refurbished with parts taken from the decommissioned lorry. 
Will they be captured and forced to make shoes, do housework, and paint flowers in exchange for bowls of milk? You will have to read the book and find out. 
The important thing about Pratchett's work is that while we are laughing, he provides a mirror for us to see ourselves with clarity and compassion. I can't help but wonder if Nomes really are smarter than humans.


I love this series about a group of teenage spies. With each story, the drama of their mission is counterbalanced by the social and emotional development of their characters.
To succeed in their new mission, Paris has to up his chess game so he can participate in chess prodigy tournaments in Moscow and Beijing.
Sydney, acting as a junior reporter, follows a billionaire's daughter around the world to uncover his role in soviet missiles.
Brooklyn is stuck in summer school where she connects with Charlotte, a previous member of the team. Together they manage to crack an important to code that enables the success of the operation.
The goal this time is to recruit a young North Korean chess prodigy, Dae-Jung, and his nuclear scientist father, Park Jin-Sun, before Umbra can kidnap them.
Luckily their adopted father, (code named Mother,) is there to support the team through their all their challenges.
Now I have to wait til next February for the next instalment.


If Ellis Earl (Earl) was a real person, he would be two years my junior. The same historic events would have reverberated across both our lives. That's where the similarities end. My family endured a short stint of abject poverty, but was a choice made by my parents in hopes of a better life to follow. Earl's poverty is a permanent fixture, a grind brought about because of the colour of his skin. Those events were significantly more profound for him and his family than I could have begun to imagine.
The conditions Earl and his family have to live in are horrific. He lives with his widowed mother and a large number of siblings. Then they end up looking after three of this brother's children while their mom is having another baby. In addition to the constant gnawing hunger, they live in an already crowded three room shack that leaks when it rains and floods the only way out.
Of course Earl loves school. School is his salvation and a potential way out of his misery. He has a fantastic teacher who cares for the educational, physical, emotional and social well being of students under his care. It's because of him that the circumstances of Earl and his family eventually improves. Mr. Foster gives Earl a copy of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as a gift. Earl was a struggling reader until he became engaged in Charlie's story. He noted their similar circumstances and hopes to someday win his own kind of golden ticket. 
This is a book about making connections and looking forward. It's about the power of one important teacher in a child's life. It is still a hard read. 
I hope that all those real children Earl represents did manage to find their way into a better life.

4 stars

Me (Moth) by Amber McBride (Author and Narrator) August 17, 2021

I listened to this book. I'm not sure it was the ideal medium for the story. While I appreciated the language, I think reading with my eyes would have had a more profound impact.
It's a book that deals with grief, isolation and abandonment. It's about first love.
Moth lost her entire family in a car accident. Sani sees ghosts. The two help each other find their way from their past into their futures.
I'm not going to spoil this book for you, but part of it was a huge surprise for me. It was a necessary revelation that enabled the two youth to move forward, but it still shocked me.

In 2017, women in Korea earned 63¢ for every dollar their male counterparts made. In 2021 it is still the lowest ratio in OPEC countries.
Kim Jiyoung, a symbolic character, epitomizes this story of gender inequality in Korea. She represents the experiences of Korean women, especially those with a career who are married with children.
The book is supposed to be a clinical assessment of a married woman with one child. Her husband sent her to see him after she began to behave peculiar.
"In a chilling, eerily truncated third-person voice, Jiyoung’s entire life is recounted to the psychiatrist—a narrative infused with disparate elements of frustration, perseverance, and submission. Born in 1982 and given the most common name for Korean baby girls, Jiyoung quickly becomes the unfavored sister to her princeling little brother. Always, her behavior is policed by the male figures around her—from the elementary school teachers who enforce strict uniforms for girls, to the coworkers who install a hidden camera in the women’s restroom and post their photos online. In her father’s eyes, it is Jiyoung’s fault that men harass her late at night; in her husband’s eyes, it is Jiyoung’s duty to forsake her career to take care of him and their child—to put them first."
At the end, the psychiatrist acknowledges that he would not be aware of women's reality without having met Kim Jiyoung, but he still doesn't make connections from her to the women in his own life.
Those of us from other parts of the world will find ourselves reflected in Kim Jiyoung's reality and in turn, see our own culture through new eyes.
This book leads us to ask all kinds of questions. What is it like for women in other parts of the world? Will/Did this book bring about change for women in Korea?
Here in Canada how many women stay home because child care is either not available or so expensive as to make continuing to work financially ridiculous? Even when women continue working following childbirth, they end up taking on a majority of the work at home. While they are at least spared the disdain of stay at home moms in Korea, we still don't acknowledge the value of their unpaid labour.
I am left contemplating my Korean daughter in law's experiences here in Canada. She has a master's degree in translation work. Before she was married, she lost or couldn't get jobs because of her gender. In Canada her options are limited because her qualifications are not recognized here. Like many married woman in Korea, she is a stay at home mom with two children and does contract work from home. I wondered how different her life is here compared to there. She tells me it is much better.

4.5 stars

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers & Emmett Grosland (Narrator) July 13, 2021

This book is a kind of blessing - a promise of a better world to come.
Eons before the story begins, human beings built robots to do their work. One day robots awoke to consciousness and eventually an agreement was made between themselves and humans to live separate lives. It was a catalyst that changed human beings and their environments for the better.
This is the the story of Sibling Dex, a nongendered city monk who longs for more. They want to listen to the sound of crickets in the evening after working. They want a more meaningful purpose to their life.
After a few initial mishaps, Sibling Dex ends up with a successful tea cart, travelling through rural areas helping others get through the tribulations of their days. But there are no crickets. It still isn't enough. They decide to go in search of true wilderness.
On the way Sibling Dex meets up with Mosscap, a sentient robot. Mosscap is on a mission to find out what humans want. As they travel together, learning more about one another, a heartwarming friendship blossoms between the two of them.
I will definitely be reading more of Becky Chambers' words.

CURRENTLY

Yolk by Mary H.K. Choi March 2, 2021
The Fort by Gordon Korman June 28, 2022  🍁
Wings by Terry Pratchett & Stephen Briggs (Narrator) January 1, 1990

UP NEXT

Barry Squires, Full Tilt by Heather Smith  🍁
Cub by Cynthia L. Copeland, 

READING GOALS

#MustReadFiction 17/24

#MustReadNonFiction 13/18

Canadian Authors 49/100 

Canada Reads shortlist 5/5 

Indigenous Authors 12/25

2022 Big Book Summer Challenge 7

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 193/250

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#IMWAYR July 19, 2021

Hello everyone. It's #IMWAYR time again, when readers share what they have been reading and find out what others have been up to in the past week. Kathryn hosts the adult version of this meme at Book Date. Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers host the kidlit rendition. Whatever you are looking forward to in your next great read, these are fabulous places to start your search.

I'm trying hard to get on top of my picture book reading these days. I should be more than half way through my #MustReadPBIn2021 reading goal but I'm not. It's not a hardship to read these book, in fact it's mostly pure joy. I intend to do better. 

I'm also continue trying to get my garden under control. I fear is a losing battle, but one I'm not prepared to concede quite yet. We have been enjoying feasting on all the fruits of our labour. Nothing tastes as good as a bacon and tomato sandwich made with home made bacon, bread, and freshly picked tomatoes. It tastes delicious even without the bacon. 

We got our second jab last week. I am happy to report that other than a sore arm neither my partner or I experienced any side effects. 

Titles with a 🍁 indicate this is a Canadian or Indigenous Canadian Author and or Illustrator. 

Clicking on the title will take you to the Goodreads page of the book. 

RECENT BLOG POSTS


PICTURE BOOKS

 
4 stars

And Then It's Spring by Julie Fogliano & Erin E. Stead (Illustrator) January 1, 2012

A young boy and his dog plant seeds at the end of winter and wait for them to finally grow. I love the vintage feel of Stead's illustrations.

3.5 stars

Little Wolf by Teoni Spathelfer & Natassia Davies (Illustrator) May 19 2021 🍁

This tells of a young Indigenous girl growing up in a city while holding fast to her roots and culture. She spends summers on her grandfather’s fishing boat. She looks for animals wherever she is. The highlight of her younger years is getting a dog. While she endures some racism, she stays strong. The library becomes her favourite place. She spends hours there reading about other cultures and the leadership of MLK.
This doesn’t have a plot or story arc. It just highlights the ordinary life of this young urban Indigenous girl.
Natassia Davis’ art is glorious.

5 stars

Because by Mo Willems & Amber Ren (Illustrator) March 5, 2019

Because this book is a celebration of music and happenstance. Because this book gave me shivers while I read it. Because I’m encouraging everyone to pick it up and give it a chance. 

4 stars

Julián at the Wedding by Jessica Love October 6, 2020

I absolutely adore the art work in this picture book. I love that it celebrates love itself. I appreciate that it captures the acceptance and joy of childhood. 

5 stars

Almost Time by Gary D. Schmidt, Elizabeth Stickney & G. Brian Karas (Illustrator) January 14, 2020

When there is no more maple syrup for his pancakes, a young boy knows that sugaring off time will be soon. When his tooth becomes loose, his father says it will come out when it’s time to collect maple syrup. I loved the hints of how the season is progressing. It’s there in the increasing amount of daylight and in the gradual warming of the air. In spite of this, from the boy’s perspective, it still seams take ages and ages.
“But the days were still cold. And the nights were still long.”

4 stars

I Promise by Catherine Hernandez & Syrus Marcus Ware (Illustrations) October 15, 2019 🍁

This book made me happy. A young girl asks her mother where her different friends come from. Her mother responds that each one comes from a promise. Sometimes it’s a promise that every child deserves a safe home. Sometimes it’s a promise to share and take turns because different people are good at different kinds of things.
While this book might be a celebration of queer families, these promises resonate for all of us.

NON FICTION PICTURE BOOKS

5 stars

Terry Fox and Me by Mary Beth Leatherdale & Milan Pavlović (Illustrator) August 4, 2020 🍁

People outside of Canada hardly know of Terry Fox. In Canada he has more than once been voted our number one hero.
He was always an athlete. When he was at university, bone cancer was discovered in his leg. 80% was amputated. A year or so later, using a prosthetic leg, he set off on the Marathon Of Hope. He planned to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research. This narrative, told from the perspective of his best friend, Doug Alvarado, gives us additional insight into the kind of person Terry was. Doug helped him train for the daily marathon and was with him everyday until Terry was forced to stop. His cancer had returned.
Each year people take up Terry’s challenge and participate in the annual Marathon of Hope. To date $800 million dollars have been raised. In 2020 three million students participated in the run.

5 stars

She Caught the Light: Williamina Stevens Fleming: Astronomer by Kathryn Lasky & Julianna Swaney (Illustrations) January 1, 2021

Williamina (Mina) Flemming was a bright child who ended up having to leave school and go to work when her father died.
When her husband disappeared, Mina, then pregnant, found a job working as a maid for the Director of the Harvard college observatory, Professor Pickering, and his wife Elizabeth. Both of them recognized her intelligence and eventually Mrs. Pickering urged her husband to hire Mina. Because she was a woman, Mina wasn’t allowed to look through a telescope. What she saw were the glass plates that recorded what men saw through them. She was one of a team of women known as the "human computers."
Eventually William Mina Patton Stevens Fleming was the first woman to be appointed to a titled position at Harvard University: the curator of astronomical photographs. In her lifetime she classified the spectra of over 10,000 stars and created the classification system that helped map the universe.
Julianna Swaney used watercolor, gouache, colour pencil and Photoshop to create these illustrations.
The back matter contains a timeline, a glossary, a biography, and author's note, and a bibliography. 
Many thanks to Jeanne Walker at True Tales & A Cherry On Top for introducing me to this book.

NON FICTION GRAPHIC

5 stars

Fred & Marjorie: A Doctor, a Dog, and the Discovery of Insulin by Deborah Kerbel & Angela Yoon (Illustrations) 🍁

They didn't wear capes, but Banting and Best were superheroes. The two scientists worked with stray dogs to find a cure for diabetes. This exciting graphic novel shows how insulin was discovered and created.
We need more inspirational stories like this one.
These scientists sold their rights for the treatment for $1 each. None of them were rich. In fact, Banting barely made ends meet until he was finally given a salary.
Today, disaster capitalists manufacture and sell insulin at prices so high that individuals with the disease die because they can't afford their medication.
You can read my full blog post here.


Sila’s mother, Oya, had to return to Turkey to get some documents signed to sort out her immigration status. Almost a year later, she is still there. Sila and her father’s despair are almost overwhelming.
One day Sila’s father takes her with him to do some repairs on an old truck. The two of them make friends with Gino, its owner. He lives on a wild expanse of land surrounded by an eight foot high stone wall that he purchased with lottery winnings. One day they meet at a donut shop to celebrate Gino’s birthday. A disbanding circus group arrives and before the day is done, Gino has purchased himself an elephant named Veda and a very cranky bear. He soon finds a suitable place for the bear, but sets out on a steep learning curve for how to look after an elephant.
At school Silas has been paired up in a special project with Mateo, an autistic boy. Eventually the two of them become friends. That summer they work together at Gino’s helping out with Veda. Mateo’s mother is a lawyer and when she finds out what has happened to Oya, works with another lawyer in the firm pro bono to bring her home.
This book is beautifully written. Goldberg Sloan writes authentic, emotionally engaging characters readers can’t help but care about. The multiple storylines come together in a fairytale ending. I loved it.
I wondered about this not being an own voices novel. On the book jacket it says that Holly Goldberg Sloan spent part of her childhood growing up in Istanbul. It feels authentic to me, but I wonder what a Turkish reader would think.

5 stars

Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells April 27, 2021

I am of the opinion that if you haven't read any Murderbot Diaries, then you are living a deprived life. Murderbot just might be my favourite fictional character. They are definitely my favourite sci fi character. In this story Murderbot works with the security team on Preservation Station to solve a murder.
This one might not have had quite as much humour as some of the others, but it was pure joy to be reading about this character again. I've also got the audiobook on reserve and am looking forward to listening to it. Kevin R. Free has nailed this character in the other books. 

NON FICTION


I listened to this, but plan to read the print version. Sometimes I sink into despair when I think about the lack of progress being made towards dealing with the climate crisis. Seth Klein managed to fill me with hope. He outlines a plan for how a New Green Deal can be implemented. He bases it on the strategies implemented during the second world war, with the proviso that we leave out the racist aspects of those times. I might end up purchasing copies for everyone I know. 

4 stars

Fred Korematsu Speaks up by Laura Atkins, Stan Yogi & Yutaka Houlette (Illustrator) January 30, 2017

The unfair story of Japanese internment here in Canada and in the United States isn’t new to me. However, Fred Korematsu’s story is. Fred grew up wanting to be like any other American teen. When Pearl Harbour was bombed and Japanese Americans were forced to leave their homes on the west coast, he pretended to be someone from Hawaii. He got caught and thrown in jail. A lawyer from the ACLU took in his case for free. They took his case to the Supreme Court where they lost. Forty years later another lawyer approached Fred. New evidence showed that government had lied in the evidence presented to the original judges. Fred was exonerated. Until his death, he continued to fight for fair treatment of all people who were imprisoned because of what they looked like.
I like the formate of this book. Part of the story is told in poetry. There are plenty of more traditional nonfiction text features including photographs, text boxes, and plain text. Cartoons and other artwork capture the personal experiences of other internees.
I like that at the same time as the book highlights Fred’s experiences, it articulated the important role of allies when prejudice and injustice take place.

CURRENTLY 

If I Tell You The Truth by Jasmin Kaur
Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future by Elizabeth Kolbert & Rebecca Lowman (Narrator)
Ways to Grow Love by Renée Watson, 

UP NEXT

The Disability Experience: Working Toward Belonging by Hannalora Leavitt
I'll continue to work at getting the picture book pile under control.

BLOG POSTS PLANNED FOR NEXT WEEK

A Kid Is a Kid Is a Kid by Sara O'Leary

PROGRESS ON MY READING GOALS

#MustReadIn2021 20/25 

#MustReadNFIn2021 8/12

#MustReadPBIn2021 45/100 

Big Book Summer Challenge 4 one in progress

Books by Canadian Indigenous Authors 24/25

Books by Canadian Authors: 76/100 - one in progress

Canada Reads 2021 4/5 

Discworld Series 41/41

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 265 /333 

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