Wednesday, February 4, 2015

The Book Review Club (February 2015)


And you thought I'd post a picture of a heart for Valentine's Day! Uh, no. Not when our February Book Review Club meeting actually lands on Rosa Park's birthday! Happy Birthday, Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (1913-2005). There's really no way to segue seamlessly from that, so I won't even try.  Under my post are terrific reviews for terrific books. For all that is good and right in the world of reading, please click through.  


ALL THE ANSWERS (middle grade)
 by Kate Messner

Twelve-year-old Ava Anderson is a big hot mess of anxiety. She worries about everything. And I mean everything. From failing a math test to a band audition to the state of her parents' marriage to goats ... and the list goes on. So, when she finds a pencil that gives her answers to factual questions, you'd think she has it made in the shade. Right? Wrong. When the pencil tells her of something serious in the future for a family member (trying not to spoil anything!), Ava "realizes that sometimes the bravest people are the ones who live without all the answers."

I was a really anxious kid who had loads of stomachaches that were no doubt stress related. In the diary I kept at age 10, I worried about millions of things, including my piano teacher's choice of pieces for me! For pages and pages and pages! Yeesh.  If I could just travel back and tell myself to go enjoy a bike ride or a game of Barbies or a a book.

So, yeah, I could definitely relate to Ava. Also, I thought it was clever how sharpening the pencil shortened the life of the magic. And I loved the whole you-only-think-you-want-the-answers theme.

But what really grabbed me about this book was how true the characters felt. Even the secondary and more minor ones. Here's one example: Ava's little sister, Emma, is in a class with several Emmas. So, she wears a different name tag to school every day in an effort to be individual. I don't know a girl like this, but I can easily imagine meeting one. The book is filled with these kinds of humanizing, believable idiosyncratic details about the various characters.

In a word: recommended!

Dear FCC: The Yellow Book Road, my local children's bookstore, gave me the ARC for this book. I'm sure they had no idea I'd review it. They're just kind, generous, book-loving folk. 

Other business: A huge welcome to our newest reviewer: Rob Costello! Congratulations to Scott Parker who has started his own publishing company, Quadrant Fiction Studio. And sending bone-healing, quick-recovery vibes to Ellen Booraem who had surgery on Monday for a broken femur.

And now....onto the reviews. Please click through. You won't want to miss a single one!

MIDDLE GRADE/YOUNG ADULT FICTION BOOK REVIEWS

Alyssa Goodnight: DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE by Laini Taylor (YA)

Beth Bonini: I WAS HERE by Gayle Forman (YA)

Rob Costello: JACKABY by William Ritter (YA paranormal mystery)

Sarah Laurence: NO SURRENDER SOLIDER by Christine Kohler (YA historical)


ADULT FICTION BOOK REVIEWS

Jenn Jilks: CROW LAKE by Mary Lawson

Linda McLaughlin: JUST ONE DAMNED THING AFTER ANOTHER by Jodi Taylor (time travel)

Patti Abbott:  CLOSE TO THE BROKEN-HEARTED by Michael Hiebert (mystery)

Sarah Laurence: THE REMEDY FOR LOVE by Bill Roorbach (romantic suspense)

Scott Parker: ICERIGGER by Alan Dean Foster (science fiction)

Stacy Nyikos: THE NARROW ROAD TO THE DEEP NORTH by Richard Flanagan 
                                                                                                                    (Man Booker winner)             
                                                                                                                                         
Stacy of the Cat's Meow: TELL THE WOLVES I'M HOME by Carol Rifka Brunt (literary)


 NONFICTION REVIEW

Prairie Rose of Prairie Rose's Garden: THE 20-30 SOMETHING GARDEN GUIDE by Dee Nash
                                                              HELLSTRIP GARDENING by Evelyn Hadden
                                                              TAMING WILDFLOWERS by Miriam Goldberger




Note to Reviewers: Any errors (broken link, missed review, etc), just shoot me an email or leave a comment. Thank you so much for your reviews!