Cannabis: The Illegalization of Weed in America

View fullsize

Box Brown turns over another piece of history to reveal its seedy underbelly. I think I'd read pretty much anything Box Brown wrote. I loved Andre the Giant and got sucked in to Tetris. I wasn't sure that I'd like or appreciate Cannabis, but I was wrong. Brown's simple line drawing and matter-of-fact writing style make clear muddled history. I think this is a timely book, not just because there are recreational cannabis laws popping up on ballots across the country, but also because we're continually being faced with dissembling politicians trotting out "scientific facts" and "polls" to support whatever legislation they're being paid to support. For people who like graphic novels, history (including Steve Sheinkin), and political scandals.

Twinderella: A Fractioned Fairy Tale by Corey Rosen Schwartz

Did you know that Cinderella had a twin sister?  Most people don't, but you should get to know Tinderella, math whiz extraordinaire.  Corey Rosen Schwartz, teamed with Deborah Marcero, has created a sure to be smash hit with Twinderella.  I love Schwartz's signature rhyming style, the words roll of my tongue magnificently, both in rhyme and meter and I can hardly wait to share this in storytime.  Marcero's illustrations, watercolor with India ink, are bright and cheery with just the right amount of detail, enough that you're always discovering new things upon rereading.  I'm also excited about the math language in here.  We know (thank you research*) that girls usually start out deficient in math language, that grown ups are more likely to use math words with boys, rather than girls, so a girl-oriented book about fractions is fantastic!  Overall, this is a cute, funny, important book.  I want to put it in the hands of all the girls who come to storytime.

*See Thirty Million Words: building a child's brain : tune in, talk more, take turns by Dana Suskind

Thank you so much to Corey Rosen Schwartz and G.P. Putnam for the galley!

View fullsize

The Worst Breakfast by China Mieville

Two sisters rehash the worst breakfast they ever have.  Their descriptions start tamely - burnt toast, soggy tomatoes, and then spiral into the most fantastical and disgusting foods.  Mieville's writing is tweely rhyming (and meta - making fun of a few slant rhymes) and Smith's watercolor illustrations pile putrid food upon putrid food.  This would be a great storytime book for two voices and a fun read to share with the whole family.  Two thumbs up!

View fullsize

Kill the Boy Band by Goldy Moldavsky

Isabel, Apple, Erin and our unnamed narrator are the biggest Strepurs around. No, not strippers, STREPURS - fans of the eponynously named boy band the Ruperts (yes all of the band members are named Rupert and not ironically). The girls find out that the Ruperts are going to be staying at the Rondack Hotel while they're in New York and use Apple's parents' money and devotion to get a room there in the hopes that they might catch a glimpse of the band. What they actually catch is one of the Ruperts in the flesh...and then they take him back to their room...and tie him up...What follows is a hilarious exploration of fandom, girl friendships, and just being a teen.

I liked this book. Just like. I know many have professed their undying love for it, but, while it was entertaining and humorous, it was also problematic. SPOILERS TO FOLLOW: The characters were diverse, which was nice, but the fat shaming of Apple was completely unnecessary and grossly cliched, also the fact that she didn't grow or really learn anything from the whole experience was sad. I did feel like the book was overall dismissive of fandom. I'm not really part of any fandom myself, but I know that fandom and fanfic and everything that goes along with that can be really important and identity forming for many teens and to make fun of it doesn't really do much to add to the conversation about that topic. Yes, we do need to talk about crazy fans ("stans"), but it's reductive to dismiss all of fandom as ridiculous or stupid. I also didn't love the whole "Am I crazy?" subplot at the end. Yes, please, let's play on centuries old hysterical female tropes. All of that being said, I think that the black black humor is cutting and brilliant and I'd like to read other stuff that Goldy Moldavsky writes. (Also this would be a hilarious movie)

View fullsize

You Look Yummy by Tatsuya Miyanishi

Tyrannosaurus Rex gets more than he bargained for when he picks a little Ankylosaurus for a snack.  

View fullsize

Tatsuya Miyanishi's little book is wonderful.  I can think of so many situations that it would be perfect for, not to mention it would definitely spark conversations between kids and their parents.  The illustrations remind me of a combination of my own child-like dinosaur drawings and Godzilla, big rounded bodies with triangle spikes. (All dinosaurs had triangle spikes; everyone knows that.)  Most kids like dinosaurs (I would say all but I can think of a few people off the top of my head who have confessed to me their lifelong fear and hatred of dinosaurs) so what better way to talk about parents and children and their relationships.  (Those of you who have been traumatized by dinosaurs, I'll give you a book about bears or something.) Two thumbs up.

My copy courtesy of Netgalley and Museyon.

Girls: Let's Sew by DK Publishing

Let's Sew is a beginner sewing book aimed at young girls. The projects are all very simple, appearing to be around the same level of difficulty. DK has done a great job designing this book. There are ample examples and diagrams showing how to do each step of the process, and the pictures are very eye-catching and colorful. I think this is great text FOR GIRLS to learn how to sew. And this is my beef. Everyone should learn how to sew, especially the basic stitches. Knowledge of sewing can engender creativity, save money, and overall be generally helpful. There's no reason why this book couldn't have included projects that would appeal to both boys and girls. Since we're encouraging girls to pursue STEM projects, we should also be encouraging boys to pursue creative pursuits as well.

View fullsize

Stiletto by Daniel O'Malley: A Review

Stiletto is the second in Daniel O'Malley's (hopefully long lived) Checquy series. The Checquy is reeling from Rook Myfanwy Thomas's announcement that an alliance had been made with the agency's long-time enemies, the Grafters. A delegation of Grafters, or the Wetenschappelijk Broederschap van Natuurkundigen as they prefer to be called, arrived for negotiations, bringing with them the two youngest of their group and a whole heap of trouble. 

View fullsize

I know that O'Malley struggled with this book - having technical issues, rewriting the draft several times, and so on and so forth. Stiletto does suffer a smidge from sophomore slump; it's not the tightly plotted, but rambly hysterical fun fest that The Rook was, but it retains the lighthearted center, all the while introducing new wonders from both the Checquy and the Broederschap. O'Malley's tone and turn of phrase are magical, turning what could be a taking-itself-way-too-seriously type of book into a fun romp through sci-fi and fantasy. That being said, the story drags a bit at the beginning and middle, and I'm still not quite sure I care enough about Odette or Felicity. They were both interesting, but not quite interesting enough to take the reins completely. I do hope that the series continues though because this world is so interesting and fun. Maybe the Americans can come to visit? Or Australia!

My copy courtesy of Edelweiss and Little, Brown, and Co.

Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld

Romance novels are a guilty pleasure of mine.   I have very high standards for my romance novels, though.  I think probably because the first one I ever read was Pride and Prejudice.  There’s very little that can compete with the tale of Darcy and Elizabeth.  I remember when I found the BBC Pride and Prejudice miniseries on VHS in my public library during my college years.  I watched the three half hour tapes that I could check out and raced back down to the library to return them and check out three more.  So imagine my surprise, delight, and trepidation on learning of Curtis Sittenfeld’s modern retelling of my favorite romance novel.

View fullsize

That all being said, Eligible is fantastic.  It takes what is a very period story and updates it in a suitable fashion.  Nothing really feels forced about the update (besides Fitzwilliam remaining Darcy’s first name); Liz is a modern woman with normal problems and quirky sisters. If one wasn’t familiar with the original inspiration (God forbid), Eligible would just seem like a contemporary romance novel.  Sittenfeld’s writing is masterful as Eligible reads just as deliciously as Austen’s own, similarly peppered with wonderful witticisms.  The magic is there and reading Eligible was like getting a bear hug from a great friend you haven’t seen in years. 

My digital copy courtesy of Edelweiss and Random House.

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Kady Grant and Ezra Mason somehow managed to survive their breakup. And an attack on their planet, home to an illegal mining operation. Now Kady and Ezra are separated by the vacuum of space - Kady on the science vessel Hypatia and Ezra on the United Terran Alliance ship Alexander - as both ships barrel through space, trying to escape the Lincoln, the BeiTech dreadnought that attacked their home. Told through a series of chat logs, internal memos, and surveillance footage, Illuminae is an no-name-taking, ass-kicking entry into the growing field of young adult sci fi. 

​

I still can't even. I got a digital chapter sampler of this from First in Line and once I'd read the first couple of pages I knew I needed to read the whole thing. In my humble opinion, Kaufman and Kristoff have done what so many other YA authors have tried to do - make a readable, believable science fiction novel for young adults. So many times I've picked up what I thought was science fiction for YAs only to find the hard science aspect (the thing that makes hard SF) completely pushed to the side in favor of a love triangle. Kaufman and Kristoff manage to maintain the teenage connection between Kady and Ezra without it overtaking the main thrust of the novel. Not only is she successful in that, she takes this one action and manages to spin it out into a hugely complicated conflict. The attack by BeiTech results in complete catastrophe for the Kerenza refugees, but the actions and problems that arise from that never feel contrived or shoe-horned in. This is compulsively readable and like the tagline says: You've never read a book like this.

My copy courtesy of First in Line and Netgalley.

Ms. Marvel: Volume 1: No Normal

Kamala Khan has the usual problems teenagers have: overly protective parents, changing friends, and homework. Normal teenage problems. Plus, you know, the ability to transform into other people and embiggen herself at will. And the little issue with being mistaken for Captain Marvel while saving the life of her friend during a weird green smokey-fog. Kamala has to figure out what she's going to do with her powers and how she's going to protect herself and her friends and her family.
 

This is such a strong start for a reboot of Ms. Marvel. Kamala Khan kicks so much butt as Ms. Marvel. I want to give this to every nerdy girl who needs a hero. Wilson does a stupendous job of creating a diverse character who is unique, round, interesting, but also accessible to a non-diverse audience (I know, I know, that sounds really awful - but I can see my teen readers picking up a graphic novel with a Muslim character and putting it right back down. The superhero aspect helps to bridge the gap - it's about Kamala and being a PoC and a Muslim, but it's also about being a superhero. I'm hoping that once they see how awesome this is, it'll be a gateway book to other books with main characters PoC.). As someone who is really just starting to dip her toe into the ocean of superheroes, this was a good intro to Ms. Marvel. I didn't feel like I was missing a ton of backstory or I'd jumped into the middle of an arc. I learned just what I needed to know about Ms. Marvel and Captain Marvel while reading volume one and I felt like Kamala is also learning right along with me. The artwork is superb. My usual comic art preference is bold clean lines and bright colors, but this worked for me. I felt like the art fit the subject well - Kamala was all over the place and long, lanky, and bendy, which feels a lot like adolescence anyway - who doesn't feel like they have hands the size of hams and pencil arms and legs? Overall two thumbs way way way up. This is definitely one for the books.

Chocolate: Sweet Science and Dark Secrets of the World's Favorite Treat

Picture this: you have in your hand a candy bar. It's a dark chocolate, sea salt Lindt bar, with smooth sweet chocolate with just a hint of bitter and a hint of salt. Perfection in a candy bar, right? But how did this bar get to be made? Where did the chocolate come from? That's the premise for Chocolate: Sweet Science & Dark Secrets of the World's Favorite Treat. In this relatively short nonfiction, Kay Frydenborg outlines the history of chocolate, from its Mesoamerican origins to its current snack status. She details the process by which chocolate is made and how technology has helped to shape the flavor of the chocolate we know today. She also explores the cacao market today and the steps that are being taken to ensure the future of chocolate.

Once we put the dust jacket on our copy, it doesn't look nearly as much like a candy bar as this image does.

This book, like most books, has its ups and downs. Frydenborg's prose is best whens she's exploring the lives of those connected with the chocolate industry. Her retelling of Hershey's rise and Lyndel Meinhardt's Amazon research trip were the highlights of the book. The personal tales flow and are relatable and interesting, unlike some of the chapters of facts and statistics which read like a textbook. I did learn a great deal about chocolate and about the history of chocolate from the text, but I was thankful that it was short. I do think that this might have been better written if it had focused on the faces behind the chocolate industry (much like a Scientists in the Field book ), not to mention if it had been more closely copy-edited. The text was riddled with errors - many letter hs were replaced with > and ek replaced with fi. It was distracting, and I hope that these are corrected in future printings. I would recommend this to tween and teen readers who grew up with Scientists in the Field and are looking for something more.

Smile by Raina Telgemeier

In a semi-autobiographical graphic novel, Raina Telgemeier tells the story of her ordeal with her teeth (and other growing up stuff). After a girl scout meeting, Raina trips and falls and injures her two front teeth. This results in more orthodontics and dental work than anyone really ever wants to think about. As the orthodontist learns to wrangle her teeth, Raina learns about growing up, making friends, and just being a kid.

​

I can't wait to bring this to the fifth graders this year. They're going to eat it up; I just know it. Raina's orthodontic adventure brought all kinds of memories back for me. The summer between my freshman and sophomore years of high school, I had maxillofacial jaw surgery - meaning a jaw surgeon cut off my top jaw and moved it back so I wouldn't have such a horrendous overbite. That plus years of braces, retainers, adjusters, spacers, brackets, and tooth extraction gave me the beautiful smile I have today. I think that's why Smile especially spoke to me; just as I was starting to go through the most awkward period of my life (no pun intended), I had to deal with a bunch of metal and pain in my mouth. Like navigating puberty isn't enough. Telgemeier does an excellent job of showing the awkwardness of first "like," learning when to make new friends and how, all while dealing with goofy looking teeth. The art of Smile is great - very colorful and cartoony which will appeal to younger readers, but not too picture book-esque that it will turn off older readers. Telgemeier did a great job capturing the outfits and style of the 80s and 90s, but without making the book look dated. I definitely think that tween girls will love this book.

The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend

Sara fears that she has made a mistake.  A BIG mistake.  Everything was supposed to be straight forward.  She was supposed to fly into the United States, take a Greyhound to Hope, Iowa, and get picked up by Amy, her Iowan pen pal, for a two month reading and relaxing vacation.  Only Amy didn't show up.  Nobody showed up to pick her up.  Luckily for Amy, the townspeople of Hope are generous and offer her a ride to Broken Wheel (in spite of their own misgivings).  When she arrives, she learns that Amy is dead.  She is sad and resigned to heading back to Sweden, but the residents of Broken Wheel have another plan in mind.  

The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend is a fun, light read.  Katarina Bivald creates a realistic portrait of small town life with Broken Wheel, highlighting the odd residents, the town loyalty in the face of a slow demise, and the intensely gossipy nature of a small, relatively closed-off community.  Bivald does well developing her female characters - especially Sara and Caroline.  I felt like I got a good picture of Tom, but the rest of the men were lost in my mind, and I frequently found myself reading a name and having to pause and think, "John...which one is John again?"  The plot is quaint and reminiscent of The Storied Life of AJ Fikrey, as mentioned in the blurb.  I love the premise and Sara's journey.  I did have a few reservations about one of the subplots (I think you'll know which one I mean when you read it), not because of its content; I'm just not sure it adds to the plot in a real meaningful way.  I really would have liked to see more development of Sara and Tom's relationship rather than this.  I have already passed on my ARC to another librarian and will definitely be adding this to our collection.  I can think of a dozen ladies who would be delighted by it.

Much thanks to Sourcebooks for the ARC!

The Nameless City by Faith Erin Hicks

Kaidu wants nothing more than to go to Dandao, the city of a thousand names. When he arrives there, he finds that the Nameless City is nothing like he imagined. He flails through his training to become a warrior, admitting that he "likes books better than blades." During an accidental excursion into the city, he runs into Rat, a girl who has always lived in the city, someone who will change his point of view of both the city and his own people's role in it.
 

The artwork in this installation is gorgeous. Hicks must have spent hours painstakingly drawing out every landscape. The details are astonishing and the coloring is rich and vibrant. That being said, the story is a little lacking. The world-building is intriguing and I definitely want to find out more about the Nameless City and its origins. The characters were interesting, but no one really stood out from the crowd. Kai was, to me, nothing more than a foil for introducing the reader to the city. This felt more like the prologue of a story than a full story in and of itself. The action really starts happening and the book ends. That being said, I will pick up the next installment to see where the story goes and how the characters develop.

My copy courtesy of First Second and Netgalley. 

Spectacular Children's Biographies

I just spent some quality time with two new-to-us children's biographies: The Right Word: Roget and his Thesaurus by Jen Bryant, illustrated by Melissa Sweet and Little Melba and Her Big Trombone by Katheryn Russell-Brown, illustrated by Frank Morrison

Bryant explores the life of Peter Mark Roget, the man behind everyone's favorite reference text, the thesaurus.  We see Roget grow from a boy who made lists to learn his Latin vocabulary, into a young man inspired by Linnaeus, into a teacher, a doctor, an inventor, and finally an author.  Bryant's text is easily readable and interesting.  She highlights important facets of Roget's life and ties them into Roget's obsession: lists.  For example, when Roget tells his mother not to worry about him, Bryant writes: "Perhaps worry wasn't quite the right word.  What was the right word?  Peter began a new list: worry, fret, grieve, despair, intrude, badger, annoy, plague, provoke, harass.  Enough to drive one mad."  The real treasure of this book is the layout and illustrations.  Sweet's illustrations are a combination of pencil and watercolor illustrations and photographed mixed media collages.  There is so much on each page to peer at and look through, at times it does feel a little overwhelming, but for me, it made the book one I wanted to spend more time with, savoring each illustration.   The author and the illustrator's notes at the end really helped to illuminate the reason behind the book and how the book was put together.  I was overjoyed with the bibliography, further reading, and sources at the end.

Melba Doretta Liston, self-taught trombone prodigy, had a whirlwind of a life, making music with big bands during the 30s, 40s, and 50s.  What Russell-Brown portrays of Melba's life is inspiring.  She teaches herself to play the trombone, graduates early, is invited to tour the country several big bands and composes music for nearly all of the jazz greats.  The details of her life as detailed in the afterword are a little more somber.  She was frequently the only woman on tour with these big bands.  Her tour with Billie Holiday was cut short due to both racism in the South and a lack of appreciation for the new be-bop sound.  She only released one solo album, and she suffered a debilitating stroke only five years after forming her own band.  Russell-Brown's prose really soars when she's writing about music and Melba's connection to it.  The illustrations though steal the show.  Morrison's oil paintings are full of color and look like they're going to burst from the page.  Melba is larger than life in them, she and her horn stretched across the whole page.  Russell-Brown compiled an extensive discography and bibliography to go along with this book, enabling the reader to both learn more about Melba AND hear the best of the jazz virtuoso. 

The Little Gardener Book Review

The little gardener loved his little garden. It was his home and his food and his life. But he’s very very little and isn’t sure that he can keep up with everything all by himself. So he makes a wish…

The Little Gardener is a beautiful book (like most Flying Eye and NoBrow titles). Emily Hughes’ illustrations are lush and rich and remind me of the Secret Garden coloring book by Johanna Basford, wild and tangled vegetation. Every part of the picture is a feast for the eyes. Hughes’ attention to detail is awesome and I couldn’t help but search each page for the little gardener’s earthworm friend and other little treasures. The text is simple but powerful, reminiscent of Margaret Wise Brown’s books. Possibly my favorite part of the physical book itself is the little flower that runs along the edge of the cloth spine. Possibly my favorite part of the text is Hughes’ dedication: “For my Pappy, Petunias still bloom for you, as do I.” Beautiful.

My copy courtesy of Flying Eye Books. Much thanks.