The Book Review Club (April 2016)

Welcome to the April edition of The Book Review Club! Here's a famous first line for you: "It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen." (from 1984 by George Orwell) We have loads of reviews this month, which means we've all been reading good books and want to pass on the word!

WHEN THE WHISTLE BLOWS
 by Fran Cannon Slayton (middle grade, historical)

I met Fran in March of 2010 at the Virginia Book Festival in Charlottesville, VA. She might not remember (there were scads of kid lit authors), but Fran made an impression on me: smart, articulate, helpful, genuine. Above all, genuine. Her middle-grade novel, WHEN THE WHISLE BLOWS, has been on my TBR list since that meeting. Yes, yes, my pile of to-read books is totally out of control! It's threatening to take over the bedroom! Anyway, I finally read WHEN THE WHISLE BLOWS last week during my Oklahoma trip, and I LOVED IT!

This past January, Fran was diagnosed with brain cancer. She writes a very honest and heart-warming/heart-wrenching blog about this ongoing journey. Here's the link to Fran's My Unexpected Journey.

WHEN THE WHISTLE BLOWS opens on Halloween 1943 in the small mountain town of Rowlesburg, West Virginia. Jimmy Cannon is in seventh grade and wants nothing more than to grow up and, like his dad and older brother, work for the railroad....the "iron horse." Unfortunately, the steam engine is on its way out, and, like the rest of us, Jimmy is unable to stop change. Jimmy's dad, whose birthday is on Halloween, predicts the coming of the diesel engine. By the end of the book, this prediction comes true. Each chapter is the next Halloween. Which is pretty cool because you see Jimmy growing up a year at a time, all the way to 1949. Also, each chapter gives us a slice of Jimmy's life: pranks with his friends, a robbery, his uncle's wake, a high-school football game, etc. A great strength of this book lies in the characters. They are well developed and authentic. I was sorry to reach the last page and know my time with them was over. As the mother of three boys, I can attest that the author really and truly captured the boy perspective. Another strength is the historical details. They are woven seamlessly into the narrative and dialogue. For me, WHEN THE WHISTLE BLOWS is reminiscent of a Jack London or a Richard Peck novel. Yes, it's that good.

Not something I normally do as part of a book review: Fran will need help to cover medical expenses. Buying this book would help. For other ways to pitch in, click here.

(Dear FCC: I bought this book. Plain and simple. And I'm glad I did.)

And staying on track (oh, come on, you were waiting for at least one train pun!) ...onto the rest of our reviews. Please click through. You won't want to miss a single one! Choo choo! (That's it! Seriously, I'm done :) )

MIDDLE GRADE/YOUNG ADULT FICTION BOOK REVIEWS
Ellen Booraem: GRAYLING'S SONG by Karen Cushman (middle grade, fantasy)

Jody Feldman: THE MYSTERIOUS MOONSHINE by Eric Luper (middle grade, mystery)

Beth Bonini of TRAC: ILLUMINAE by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff (YA, science fiction)

Rob Costello: BUTTERFLY by Sonya Hartnett (young adult)

Sarah Laurence: THIS IS THE STORY OF YOU by Beth Kephart (young adult, contemporary)

Stacy Nyikos: THE PASSENGER by Alexandra Bracken (young adult, science fiction)


ADULT FICTION BOOK REVIEWS
Alyssa Goodnight: FLIGHT OF DREAMS by Ariel Lawhon (historical)

Jenn Jilks of Cottage Country: YOU'RE ONLY OLD ONCE by Dr. Seuss (humorous)

Patti Abbott:  ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE by Anthony Doerr

Linda McLaughlin: THE DOG WHO KNEW TOO MUCH by Spencer Quinn (mystery)
                                 PAW ENFORCEMENT by Diane Kelly (mystery)
                                 A DOG'S PURPOSE by W. Bruce Cameron

Lucy Sartain of Ranting and Raving: THE HAUNTING OF MADDY CLARE by Simone St. James
                                                            (part romance, part historical, part mystery, seriously creepy!)

Ray Potthoff: THE REVENANT by Michael Punke (historical)

Stacy of the Cat's Meow: THE SWANS OF FIFTH AVENUE by Melanie Benjamin


NONFICTION REVIEW
Jenn Jilks of Cottage Country: ALL-ELECTRIC AMERICA by David Freeman & Leah Parks
                                                  THE LIFE & TIMES OF LILIAN J. RICE by Diane Welch
                                                   (biography)

Scott Parker: LEONARD: MY 50 YEAR FRIENDSHIP WITH A REMARKABLE MAN
                      by William Shatner (memoir)



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!

This past weekend was the Virginia Festival of the Book in Charlottesville, VA. That is one really fun book festival and one really cute town.

I was on an author panel, chatting about setting. Yes, it's true; I'll talk about anything! Above is our fantastic panel: (back) Keri Mikulski, (who brought delish salt water taffy to share), me; (front) PJ Hoover (who is always uberfun and smiley), Stacy Nyikos (I just noticed she has an adorable new website) and Suzanne Morgan Williams, (who phoned me this morning at home BY MISTAKE!!).

I like this photo of Suzanne Morgan Williams' arm, me and Keri Mikulski. This is the first time I met Keri IRL. She couldn't be nicer.

I also met James of Book Chic. He has an interview with moi. What can I say about James? Entertaining. Friendly. A book lover.

Here are myself and PJ Hoover with Susan of Wastepaper Prose. Susan's pretty wild and crazy and delightful. And she often has book giveaways on her blog. PJ said I squealed when I learned Susan's identity. Not true. I'm too cool to squeal.

Following our author panel and other panels and an author reception where I chatted nonstop (who, moi?) with all sorts of people, I went out to "dinner". Yes, I placed quotation marks around dinner. Keep reading, and you'll see why.

Here are a few of my "dinner" companions: Suzanne Morgan Williams, Stacy Nyikos and Irene Latham. I am SO glad Irene was there. She has an adorable Alabama accent which is easy on the ears. Even more important, SHE EATS LIKE A BIRD. You will see why the latter is important a little further down.

Here are some more "dinner" companions: Bonnie Doerr, PJ Hoover, and Fran Cannon Slayton


This is my "dinner"!! It's tuna tartar. Well, what there is of it is tuna tartar!! Do you see the quarter? That's to give you some perspective. Three potato chips and a bite and a half of tuna. And it cost $13.

A major apology to Suzanne Morgan Williams and Bonnie Doerr who copied me by ordering this excuse for a meal. A huge thank-you to Irene Latham who SHARED her steak and asparagus with me.

All joking aside, it was a great weekend and a great book festival! And I have done a marvelous job with linking in this post, if I do say so myself.

Oh, and just in case you were wondering, I sent i so don't do famous in to Editor Wendy!!! (Child #4 is thrilled!)