Tag: family

REVIEW: Apartment 1986 by Lisa Papademetriou

REVIEW: Apartment 1986 by Lisa Papademetriou

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Callie’s in something of a new stage of life. Her dad recently got a new job, and the family moved to NYC. Her mom’s given up her social work job to start a soap business. Callie has changed schools and is trying to find her way with a new crowd.

When Callie’s dad loses his new job, everything starts to shift again. Callie feels the need to keep up with her friends which right now means $250 for a concert ticket. But her parents are tense, and this is NOT the time to ask for that kind of money. But the money is only one issue at school. She’s also having issues with her history teacher. And if she gets one more tardy, the school will call her parents.

When Callie oversleeps one day, she decides to skip school all together (text in an excuse, avoid another tardy) and spend the day at a museum. It’s educational! She’ll go back tomorrow. But one day becomes two and then becomes a pattern. The time away from school temporarily postpones her issues there, and gives her time for a new friend, time to reconsider an old friendship, and time to gain new insights into her family. But problems rarely disappear when you avoid them.

Review

This was delightful! I loved Callie. She’s smart and earnest and a little quirky. Her friendship with Cassius is great. While she doesn’t share much with him about the things swirling in her life, he’s a sounding board for her – a safe place to think.

I loved Callie’s family, too. The family side of Callie’s story – the relationships, the things she learns about her family – was my favorite part. I discovered great layers to the characters as the story went on. I found the sections where the family talks about Callie’s uncle were really well-done.

In some ways, as I was reading, I felt the story meandered in several different directions. There’s the family stuff and the money stuff and the new vs. old friends stuff and then the Callie-centric stuff. It all holds together, though, with Callie at the center of it all, figuring out life one step at a time. Loved it!

Rating: ♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: A Spoonful of Magic by Irene Radford

REVIEW: A Spoonful of Magic by Irene Radford

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Daphne “Daffy” Deschants celebrates her 13th wedding anniversary by calling out her husband, “G”(Gabriel), for sleeping around. She has pictures to prove it! And they came from G’s own work email. She’s starting to notice a new side of G. He only seems to care about their kids – and Daffy being around to care for them while his work takes him all around the world. And she thinks he’s used magic on her, too.

Daffy and her family live in Eugene, Oregon, home of a fairy festival and plenty of shops selling mystical and magical items. But Daffy hadn’t realized the extent of real magic in town, in her own house… and maybe even in herself.

Evil magic exists and G, as Sheriff of the Guild of Master Wizards, is hunting for one of the worst. But the evil seems to be circling ever closer to G’s family. How can he protect them when Daffy’s kicked him out of the house and doesn’t trust him?

Review

I have mixed feelings about this one. I generally love fantasy and magic stories like this one. And there were parts of this I really enjoyed. I liked Daffy and her kids. The pieces about the kids growing into their place in this magical world were great. At the same time, I did not like G at all. He was far too cavalier about his marriage and family to be likable in my opinion.

I also wanted a lot more world building. I felt like things were abruptly revealed, but also incompletely. Maybe that was because Daffy is the point of view character, and she is only just learning about this world herself. Point of view was interesting in this, too, as Daffy told her part of the story in first person while the other parts of the story that took place outside of her involvement were told in third person.

As urban fantasy goes, this was good (except for some of the world building as I mentioned). Personally, some of the magic pieces were dark for me, and I didn’t enjoy them. I also didn’t care for G’s ethics when it came to his marriage. Other readers might not be bothered by these things and may enjoy this story more than I did.

Thanks to Netgalley and DAW for an electronic review copy of this book offered in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: ♥♥♥

REVIEW: The Silver Moon of Summer by Leila Howland

REVIEW: The Silver Moon of Summer by Leila Howland

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

The Silver Sisters are back in Pruett, Massachusetts to spend a couple weeks with their Aunt Sunny. Marigold (14), Zinnie (13), and Lily (7) are ready for another summer of East Coast adventures and self-discovery.

Marigold auditions for a part in a TV show shooting in Pruett. While the TV filming is making life difficult for her maybe-boyfriend, Peter, it gives Marigold a chance to make a new friend who will be at her performing arts school in the fall.

Zinnie is going to spend the summer working on her blog. She hopes the school writing assignment will help her earn the job of Editor in Chief for the school’s literary journal. But she has to find adventures around Pruett to write about.

Lily has become an animal expert over the last year. She loves her naturalist camp at Pruett, and she teaches her family all sorts of things about animals. But an even bigger job this summer is reminding her big sisters not to fight. Their fights have caused major trouble over the last two summers. Is it even possible for Marigold and Zinnie to NOT fight for two whole weeks?

Review

This is a lovely third installment for this terrific middle grade series about family and identity. The girls have grown up nicely over the three books. They each have found their own niche (acting, writing, science), but the push and pull between Marigold and Zinnie is still there. Sisters so close in age vacillate  between being best friends and needing their own space. Marigold and Zinnie seem very normal in their sisterly dynamic.

Romance is a bigger factor in this story than in previous books as both Marigold and Zinnie hope their friendships with Peter and Max respectively can become something more this summer. This is still kept at an appropriate level (hand holding, declarations of “like,” quick kisses) for the book’s target audience.

These books are ideal summer reads – the setting is perfect – or fall reads for kids who want to relive the freedom of summer. The content is realistic, and the conflicts keep the story moving while still being “light” in tone. Great fun in store for readers of all three books in this series. (Some readers/families may raise a red flag at the use of a Ouija board by the girls in one scene.) I’ve been recommending this series to a lot of folks this year.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: Well, That Was Awkward by Rachel Vail

REVIEW: Well, That Was Awkward by Rachel Vail

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Gracie is a fairly typical 8th grader. She has a couple best friends and a larger circle of kids she hangs out with. Her parents are mostly okay, except they are overprotective. She can’t really go anywhere alone, she’s not allowed to have a pet, and she doesn’t feel like she can show anyone her true feelings. She’s smart, a reader, and she cares about charity, raising money for turtle rescues and book charities.

But things start to change in 8th grade. Gracie starts wondering about her parents and how they survived what happened to her sister. And she wonders what her role is in her family in light of her sister. Then there are the crushes. Gracie finds herself in a Cyrano DeBergerac-like role between her best friend Sienna and Gracie’s own maybe-crush AJ. And, in typical middle school fashion, there’s a stuck up mean girl and plenty of questions and doubts about physical traits and identity. When all of those pieces collide – family, friends, crushes, and mean girls, Gracie may find herself standing alone.

Review

I ADORED this! When I tried to summarize it, I realized how much is going on in this story! It’s hard to put it all together and keep it concise. But in the reading, it all hangs together perfectly!

Gracie tells the story in first person, so you get her stream-of-consciousness thinking, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Her “voice” is excellent! It has a funny, fast pace to it that really clicked for me. If this book existed when I was a teen, I would have read it over and over until it fell apart. I would have completely identified with Gracie.

I enjoyed the whole ensemble in this story. The development between Gracie and her parents is lovely and touching. I liked the evolution in the group of girls around Gracie, watching them wrestle with growing up and identity. And her other best friend, Emmett, is so cool and endearing.

This was an absolute delight! I hugged the book when I finished. I will be recommending this one often and reading it again in the future.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: The Golden Nutmeg by Christopher Tozier

REVIEW: The Golden Nutmeg by Christopher Tozier

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Revel Harrison loves soccer. Video games or school he could take or leave, but he eats, sleeps and breathes soccer.

His team, the Fighting Pomelos, isn’t very good. They have moments of brilliance, but their coach is a volunteer who doesn’t know a lot about technique. He doesn’t really even know the names of the kids on the team.

But Revel has potential. His friends know it. So does the coach. The local travel team is even scouting him. But travel teams are expensive. There’s the uniform and specific equipment and all sorts of fees. On a regular day, that would be a lot of money. But Revel’s mom just lost her job. And then his dad loses his job, too. Maybe it would be better if Revel just stuck with the Pomelos. Maybe soccer isn’t all Revel thought it was.

Review

I received a copy of this book from the author along with a review request. In return, I promised an honest review of the book.

This story is very heavy on soccer details. In 165 pages, there are five games and several practices. I think this would appeal to kids who love soccer and play it a lot. They’ll understand the different positions and game rules and maybe be able to picture the action. Kids who don’t play soccer may have a harder time engaging with this book.

The story around the games felt thin to me. There were things going on with Revel’s parents and then another plot point with a guy on the soccer team. I didn’t feel those parts got the same attention as the soccer games. Since I am not big on soccer, it was harder for me to enjoy the story without a more balanced treatment of the different plot points.

In the hands of the right reader, this could be a great story. I was not that reader. In a school setting, I might have had luck finding an audience for this, but it would not have had wide-spread appeal for my students. My rating for this one is based on finding readers who love soccer like the main character does. For a more general audience, my rating would have to be a little lower.  This seems to be marketed as more of a middle grade story, but I feel this would be a better fit for a younger reader who needs a simpler story line or perhaps an older elementary student who struggles to stick with a longer, more intricate plot.

Rating: ♥♥♥

REVIEW: Real Friends by Shannon Hale

REVIEW: Real Friends by Shannon Hale

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Shannon Hale shares stories of her elementary school years, mostly focused on school friendships in this graphic novel memoir. Girls’ friendships in those years can be fraught with cliques, and girls can get caught up in the ebb and flow of in-crowds and outcasts. Shannon shares experiences from both sides of that continuum. She also faced backlash at home from an older sister who was also struggling with social relationships and friend issues.

Review

This is a lovely graphic novel memoir along the lines of Raina Telgemeier’s Smile or Cece Bell’s El Deafo. If I was still teaching, I would want to have multiple copies of this one because my students would keep this in circulation all year.

For every Queen Bee clique leader in school, there are 3-10 girls who feel the rush of acceptance and the sting of being shunned that cycles in these circles. Even though Shannon’s story is anchored in the late 70s and early 80s pop culture (Charlie’s Angels, Wonder Woman, Michael Jackson, Chicago 17), the friend experiences – and some sibling experiences – span generations.

The art work is beautiful and will grab the attention of graphic novel fans. Also, the end notes explain some of the story factors – anxiety and minor OCD behaviors – as well as sharing a little of the “epilogue” that is Shannon’s life today.

This book can give readers a sense of hope and feeling of being understood. They will hopefully glean that they are not alone in the struggle. Perfect for school and home libraries.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: Greetings from Witness Protection by Jake Burt

REVIEW: Greetings from Witness Protection by Jake Burt

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Charlotte Trevor is in 7th grade, oldest child of Harriet and Jonathan Trevor, big sister to Jackson. She’s an average student. She plays on the basketball team at school, but they’ve never won a game. She has a handful of good friends, but she tries to blend into the background.

That’s because Charlotte Trevor doesn’t exist.

None of the Trevors really do. Harriet and Jonathan and Jackson are in Witness Protection because Harriet testified against her mob family. Charlotte’s real name is Nikki. She’s been in foster care and out-of-home placements for years after her grandmother died. But the US Marshals think Nikki is book smart and street smart enough to pose as part of this family so they can become a family of four if anyone’s trying to find them.

But the rules for secrecy and safety are strict. And Nikki’s past is no joke. There’s a lot for her to overcome if she’s going to pull this off. Everyone’s lives depend on her getting this right.

Review

I have loved the idea of this book since I first heard the premise. But the actual execution of the story exceeded my expectations. There’s lots of humor and lots of heart to this story. I loved it from start to finish.

Nikki/Charlotte is a fantastic character. When you consider all she does to stay under the radar at her new school, you get the idea that she is wicked smart. She has some unhealthy coping mechanisms from her past, but her past doesn’t make her angry or keep her from making attachments to others. She’s confident and wise. She uses her past to help in her new “assignment” with the Marshals.

The story holds together so well. There’s the witness protection piece, the piece that focuses on Nikki’s past, and then the present piece of a 13-year-old girl (who comes off a little older) trying to negotiate a new family and a new middle school. I was thrilled with how it all clicked into place. I recommend this book highly!

Many thanks to the folks at Feiwel & Friends and Netgalley for providing an electronic review copy in exchange for an honest review. It was a treat to read this book!

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: The Perfect Score by Rob Buyea

REVIEW: The Perfect Score by Rob Buyea

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

As their sixth grade year begins, these five kids have a lot going on:

  • Gavin loves football but isn’t so hot on school. His dad dropped out to take over the family business, so Gavin thinks that is his destiny, too, unless football gives him another choice.
  • Randi’s whole life is about gymnastics. And early on she enjoyed that. But now she’s practicing 6 days a week, including three hours on school nights. But she’s somehow supposed to keep her grades up, too. And her mom wants her to ace the CSAs (state standardized tests) so she can be placed in the highest levels in 7th grade.
  • Natalie is the teacher’s pet of the class. She’s never really had friends before but things may be starting to change this year. Once she has friends, what is Natalie willing to do for them?
  • Scott is crazy smart but also something of a naive goof ball. He doesn’t realize some of the guys in his class aren’t teasing him because they like him. They are mocking him.
  • Trevor doesn’t care about much more than cutting up with his friends at school and steering clear of his older brother and his crew at home. Those guys have always told Trevor he was a mistake. And Trevor has started to believe them.

In the middle of these individual stories, there’s the larger story of a class of 6th graders, their teachers/administrators, and the state standardized tests. As the kids lose more and more of what has made the year special to make space for test prep, they become more and more desperate to ace the test and put it behind them. Whatever it takes.

Review

Wow, this was FANTASTIC! I loved all the kids – well, the punkish one won me over in the end. Their concerns and actions felt genuine. I cared about them from the first page. The adults were fantastic, too – not perfect by any means. But they felt real, and they were trying to do the right things (even when they failed to).

I loved the author’s previous series about another teacher, Mr. Terupt, and his students. But because it’s so special, I worried that this wouldn’t live up to it. My worry was unnecessary. This was a delight to read from start to finish. Buyea does an awesome job with this format of a handful of kids telling the story. Each has a distinct voice and style. It’s great. There’s so much more nuance to the story than just the test at the center of the plot. Every part of it worked for me. I was thrilled to hear that he’s already been working on a sequel.

Many thanks to Delacorte books and Netgalley for an electronic review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: Mabel Opal Pear and the Rules for Spying by Amanda Hosch

REVIEW: Mabel Opal Pear and the Rules for Spying by Amanda Hosch

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Mabel’s parents are spies. Specifically, they  are “Cleaners.” They go in after another spy leaves a problem in the course of their work. Mabel loves that they do such cool, important work. But she likes it even better when they’re home. Then, she and her mom work in the family’s collectible spoon museum. Her dad works on phone lines in Mount Rainier National Park. When her parents are home, her Aunt Gertie doesn’t have to leave Mabel “pity” cinnamon rolls for breakfast.

When Mabel’s parents get called away on a new mission, Aunt Gertie doesn’t show up to stay with Mabel. She wakes up to her horrible Uncle Frank and Aunt Stella and torturous cousin, Victoria, instead. Mabel’s own spy senses know something is really wrong. Gertie has been arrested. Frank and Stella are beyond desperate to get into the spoon museum, and a Washington Border Patrol agent insists that Mabel’s family members are thieves. Mabel will have to follow her 36 Rules for a Successful Life as an Undercover Secret Agent to figure out what is really going on!

Review

I was hooked after the first chapter! Mabel has a terrific “voice.” She’s smart. She’s a reader. She puts her family first (even if it means distancing herself from potential friends in order to protect her secrets). The first chapter introduces us to a lot of the main players and sets up the story without feeling like an information dump. The author does a fantastic job of moving the reader forward, balancing new questions with backstory in just the right portions.

The mystery is great. Mabel’s response to the events feel realistic for a kid her age. There are several questions left unanswered, so I hope that means there will be a sequel!

This book made me giddy! It was a perfect book for me – a smart and resourceful main character, a terrific mystery, and a fun, engaging story. I loved it from start to finish. The Nathan Fillion reference in the back matter solidified this author in my “favorites” department.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Capstone for providing an electronic review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: Murder, Magic and What We Wore by Kelly Jones

REVIEW: Murder, Magic and What We Wore by Kelly Jones

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Annis Whitworth has been raised by her Aunt Cassia, who cared for her when her mother became sick while her father traveled for work. Annis has long suspected that her father was a spy. And that seems to be confirmed when his lawyer arrives, talking in code and announcing that her father is dead.

Annis isn’t convinced that her father died in an accident. The facts don’t line up. And she finds a message in the handkerchiefs that are among her father’s things. But when she cannot get anyone to take her seriously, she is determined to figure things out for herself. But all of her father’s money has disappeared. Annis and her aunt have nothing to live off of. But Annis discovers that she can do magic – she can sew glamours and change garments into other items when she sews. So Annis is going to put her magic – and her mind – to work to save her country, save what’s left of her family, and discover what really happened to her father.

Review

This was a delight from start to finish. The story holds up well as historical fiction and also as a mystery. The magical elements are a nice twist. They give this story something special to set it apart. An extra layer of awesome.

Annis and her maid, Millie, are fantastic as a team. But the author makes sure the reader doesn’t forget their differences in station and what assets and liabilities they each bring  to the partnership. There are some great nuances to their relationship.

While I figured out the mystery well before the end, there were several little twists and reveals left to come. Overall the full solution and wrap up was thorough and satisfying. There are a lot of ways to continue this as a series – more adventures for Annis and Millie and others to have in this time period and more to develop on the magic side of the story.

I will absolutely read any additional books in this series because I thoroughly enjoyed this one!

Many thanks to Knopf Books and Netgalley for providing an electronic review copy in exchange for an honest review. It was a treat to read this book!

Rating: ♥♥♥♥½