Must Read In 2016 Spring Update

One, of many reasons why I appreciate Carrie Gelson at There's a Book for That, is that she encouraged me to join a group of bloggers who winnow their Goodreads' to read list down to a mostly manageable number of books to commit to reading each year.  

This year I changed things up by picking books I wanted to read, not just that I thought I should read. So far this has been a good strategy. I committed to reading 36 specific books in 2016. I've already finished fifteen. While I have loved some of them more than others, they were all worth the energy I put into making sure I read them. 

Here (in no particular order) are my favorites so far. Each one of these garnered five stars. I've made links to a review if I finished one.

Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta was on my list last year. I carried it over for this year. It is a stunning read. 

  

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates forced me to see the world through a different lens. It made the difference between thinking I knew what it meant to be black in America, and understanding it at a much more visceral level. I am certain that I read All American Boys by Jason Reynolds with more sensitivity and empathy because of having read Coates' work first. 

There are few things finer than a well written middle grade novel. Death by Toilet Paper by Donna Gephart,the story of a young boy trying to cope after the death of his father, is the epitome of this reality. 

I love the Penderwicks family. Somehow I had overlooked the third in the series, The Penderwicks at Point Mouette by Jeanne Birdsall. This is another heartwarming, enduring story about people I wish were real.

Pax by Sarah Pennypacker is a beautifully crafted and deeply philosophical story. I regularly stopped reading to write down quotes. I'm sure it will become a classic.

I lied about not putting these books in any particular order. 

I saved the best for last.

Each new book in Sheila Turnage's Tupelo Landing series makes me giddy with joy. Her words are imbued with a perfect marriage of joy and truth: a feat rarely achieved by other middle grade authors (and maybe even authors in general). The worst thing about finishing The Odds of Getting Even, is that I now have to wait for the next one in the series to be published. I might just go and start them all over again.

How is your list coming along?

#IMWAYR MARCH 27, 2016

Here we are.  #IMWAYR time again. Thanks to Jen at Mentor Text and Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers for hosting this weekly event where readers of kidlit get together to share what we have been reading in the previous week.

First off, thanks so much for everyone's kind words last week. My mother has just been transferred to the palliative ward at the hospital while we wait for a hospice space to become available. It isn't easy, but we, (my siblings and I) are coping. I've felt some guilt for going away this past week, but  a sister came over from the island to be with Mom and my brother was back from his vacation. Many other relatives made the trek from other places to spend time with her as well. 

Otherwise, my week has been busy with renovations, but peaceful. I read some amazing books and managed to write a couple of blog posts. I found time to listen to the Canada Reads 2016 podcasts and am excited to take some of the questions about the books to use with my book club at school. 

COMPLETED

3 stars

Audacity Jones to the Rescue by Kirby Larson

Although I enjoyed this book, it just didn't work for me as well as I had hoped. Audacity Jones is a spunky young girl who lives at Miss Maisie's School for Wayward Girls. When their benefactor, The Commodore, comes searching for an orphan to help him on a mission, she volunteers. The Commodore and his driver take her on a long road trip to Washington DC. Some kind of nefarious plan is afoot and it's up to Audacity and her friends, both new and old, to stop it. 
I enjoyed this plot but it was the characters and their relationships that kept me going.

4 stars

Honey by Sarah Weeks

I had forgotten why I liked Sarah Weeks until reading this book. You can't help but admire and empathize with her characters. Melody's father is behaving strangely and she wants to know why and who he has been calling Honey on the phone. This ois a sweet story that involves mixed up conclusions based on insufficient information. Having the dog in there will make it appeal to many of my readers.

Sweetland by Michael Crummey

4 stars

This is one of the Canada Reads titles that didn't make the short list. I get it since it really doesn't seem to be about transformation and starting over. However, it won the Governor General award in 2014 and I can see why. It continues to haunt me. This book is about the end of a life and the end of the place we call home. In this case it's an island off the coast of Newfoundland. Now that most of the youth have left, the remaining inhabitants have been offered a financial incentive to leave. The catch is that everyone must buy in. Moses Sweetland is the last holdout. The story is circular with present day events triggering recollections of major events in Moses' past. It put me into a state of mourning for Moses and many of my stoic uncles who are now gone. 

3 stars

Dumplin' by Julie Murphy

I wanted to like this book more than I did. Unfortunately Willowdean Dixon just didn't grab me and make me really care about her. On top of this I couldn't connect with anybody wanting to participate in a beauty pageant. 

5 stars

The Odds of Getting Even (Tupelo Landing #3) by Sheila Turnage

Gush, gush, swoon, swoon. Yes, I loved this book. Sheila Turnage is one of my favourite writers of middle grade fiction. I flat out adore the idea of her writing a book. I read this, Pax and Crenshaw kind of at the same time. I think my appreciation for them suffered as a result of the inevitable comparison. 

4.5 stars

Pax by Sara Pennypacker

There is nothing quite so fabulous as a superbly written middle grade novel. This one, a story of a boy and his fox, is going to be in my top ten this year. It's about war and truth and peace. It is a deeply philosophical book. I made some connections to Kate DiCamillo's The Magician's Elephant while reading it, but it stands on it's own. It might be the only book that could hold its own in comparison to The Odds of Getting Even. 

Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate

I've just finished this one and need to think a bit more about how I feel about it. I enjoyed it, but it just didn't live up to my expectations I think. Maybe I'll change my mind after it percolates with me for a while. 

CURRENTLY

I've just started listening to Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden but I'll take a break from it if one of my YA or MG titles becomes available. I'm reading When I was the Greatest by Jason Reynolds.

UP NEXT

All American Boy by Jason Reynolds and whatever strikes my fancy. The Shepherd's Crown by Terry Pratchett, the last in the Tiffany Aching series is ready for me to pick up at the VPL. I will probably start that as soon as I get it. 

The Odds of Getting Even by Sheila Turnage

I would give a lot to be able to write half so exquisitely as Sheila Turnage. After I finish one of her novels, I have to remind myself to be kind to whatever comes next, because the truth is, she is a very hard act to follow. 

See what I mean from these little excerpts pertaining to Mo's arch enemy.

"Attila's face would be pretty if she didn't live behind it."

"Only Attila possesses perfect tread. The rest of us ride on the slick memory of new tires."

Turnage unique voice invites you into her world from the get go. It's an invitation you can't refuse because if you do, you know you'll regret it. As impossible as it seems, each book seems to outdo the previous. 

If you haven't read Three Times Lucky and The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing, you are living a deprived life. Stop what you are doing right now, go get these books and read them! 

In this, the third in the Tupelo Landing series, the Desperado Detectives, Mo, Dale and Harm, have to figure out who is behind the thefts in their small town. Mo and Harm are pretty sure it is Dale's father, although Dale insists he is being framed. Even more importantly, they have to figure out who is trying to kill Dale's older brother, Lavender.

There are puppies to find the perfect adoptive pet owners for. 

There are enemies to get even with. 

Turnage just gets so many things right. She doesn't shirk from exposing the darker side of living in a small community. "Gossips are like snipers, ... They run out of bullets after a while." At the same time, Tupelo Landing and it's inhabitants are so real and memorable, you could easily think of booking a vacation at the inn. 

What really stuns me though, is her capacity to craft such glorious characters. Each one is a complex individual with strengths and flaws. I swear, you end up caring for all of them, even the most dastardly. 

Here is the thing, even Macon, the escaped convict, and Dale's abusive father, is revealed as a multifaceted human being. Turnage helps us to understand and see the good in Macon that Dale sees. This is why Dale doesn't stop caring for him. When the church is broken into and the clues point to Macon, many people in Tupelo Landing turn on Dale and his family. Dale reflects, "Things are ... wrong," he said. "I can't think it yet, but I can feel it. Right here," he said, laying his hand just below his ribs. "In that place that folds up like a lawn chair when you're scared."

Mr Red claims to have known Dale since his father used to bring Dale by when he was "no bigger than a minute. Macon was a better man then," he said. "But he can't let things go. He's never satisfied. Everything feels like a slight to him. It doesn't matter how much he drinks or steals or makes Rose cry, nothing will ever fill Macon up."

And eventually Dale reveals to Mo, "He did a lot of bad. But he watched over Lavender and ran into that fire same as we did." .... If you don't stand up for the glimmer of good left in somebody, how will it ever be more?"

Ultimately, there are important lessons about life, love and human nature for our characters to learn. Especially on getting even. 

"I want to go see Daddy before he goes to trial," he (Dale) said. "I want to thank him for the things he taught me, and I want to say goodbye."

He looked at me his blue eyes serious. "You wanted to get even with him," he said, and I nodded. "I used to think I'd get even with him one day too. But there ain't no getting even Mo. The only even you ever get is inside yourself - when you don't need to get even any more."

The Tupelo Landing novels are loaded with humor and mystery, and at the same time, imbued with universal truths. Life with all its joys and heartaches, is messy business. This Turnage reveals to us, is what it means to be human. 

Pax by Sara Pennypacker

I'm pretty sure this book is going to become a classic. It's the story of a young boy, Peter, and Pax, his tame fox. When Peter's father leaves to go to war, the boy is forced to abandon the fox in a forest. He is with his grandfather less than twenty four hours when he realizes what a terrible mistake it was. He gathers what he thinks he will need and heads out, hoping to hike cross country 300 miles to where he last saw Pax.

The story is told alternately from both their perspectives. Pax struggles to survive on his own but manages to connect with other foxes. Peter breaks his leg and ends up convalescing with Vola, a woman damaged from an earlier war. Peter is afraid of his anger and worried that if he lets it loose he will end up like his abusive father. They end up helping each other begin to heal.

At least some of the power in this book comes from the anonymity of place. The characters represent all people and animals caught up in the atrocities of war. It is beautifully crafted and deeply philosophical. I stopped reading many times to make note of quotations from the book. There are many phrases and sentences that took my breath away.

Many of these emerge out of the conversations between Peter and Vola. 

"I have peace here."
"Because it's so quiet?"
"No. Because I am exactly where I should be, doing exactly what I should be doing. That is peace."

"Now you're antiwar, right?
Vola steepled her fingers under her chin. "That's a complicated thing. What I am is for telling the truth about it. About what it costs. People should tell the truth about what war costs. That's taken me a long time to figure out."

"The plain truth can be the hardest thing to see when it's about yourself. If you don't want to know the truth you'll do anything to disguise it."

The water was what the war was all about. Peter remembered Vola asking him which side his father was fighting on. Peter had answered her, stunned that she would even have to ask. "The right side," he'd added indignantly.
"Boy," Vola had said, and then "Boy!" again to make sure she had his attention. "Do you think anyone in the history of this world ever set out to fight for the wrong side?"

Perhaps because I am here with my mother as she nears the end of her life, this sentence where Pax lays down with the old Gray fox resonated powerfully with me. 

He could offer only withness, but nothing else was asked.