Tag: friendship

REVIEW: After Zero by Christina Collins

REVIEW: After Zero by Christina Collins

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Sourcebooks in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

Elise is the “quiet” one. It’s almost become a game for her. How can she get through the school day with as few words as possible? Unfortunately her teachers love things like group discussions and oral presentations. But a bathroom pass can do wonders to help her avoid those projects, at least for awhile.

Elise was homeschooled for elementary school. And she missed out on things other kids seemed to take for granted like birthday parties and negotiating social relationships. Now Elise is in a public middle school. She skipped ahead to 8th grade while her one neighborhood friend is in 7th. But Elise struggles even to talk to her.

At the beginning of the year Elise talked some. But a few false starts left her feeling exposed and awkward. It felt safer to just keep to herself.

But when Elise discovers a secret her mom has been keeping, things start to spiral out of control for Elise. And if she won’t – or can’t – speak up, how can she ever find out the truth or find help?

Review

For most of the book, I struggled to figure out where things were going. I cared about Elise and felt desperate for her to speak – to get help or stick up for herself. There were some out-of-the-ordinary moments that left me wondering if the book was somehow in the fantasy genre and I missed it in the description. If I hadn’t agreed to review this, I might not have pushed through to the end. And that would have been a shame.

This is the sort of book that you can’t evaluate except from the end. You have to press through all of your questions and frustration for Elise. Because in the end, everything ties together and becomes clear.

I learned a lot in this story about Elise’s situation. I don’t want to give anything away by saying more. I will say this will fit with the collection of middle grade books exploring mental health, but it brings an entirely new piece into the discussion. I don’t know of another book that looks at kids like Elise. And the author told the story in such a way that the reader was desperate for Elise to get her answers even if the reader doesn’t know how they are going to come about.

This would be great for upper elementary and middle school readers, especially for fans of books like Finding Perfect, Still a Work in Progress, Family Game Night and Other Catastrophes, and The Seventh Wish.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: Planet Grief by Monique Polak

REVIEW: Planet Grief by Monique Polak

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received an electronic ARC/ review copy of this book from Netgalley and Orca Book Publishers in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

Abby is furious with her father. She does NOT want to spend her weekend at some grief retreat. She’d rather be at soccer – with friends, running around, not thinking about how it is almost Mother’s Day and her mother is dead. If only a heart transplant had come through for her sooner, or if she had not even gotten sick at all.

Christopher isn’t quite as reluctant about the grief retreat as Abby. His main worry is that someone will find out exactly HOW his father died. His mom assures him that the retreat leader, Eugene, is the only one who will know. But Christopher still walks in with his defenses up.

The other kids in the group are Gustavo who has been to grief retreat before because of his father’s death. As a seasoned participant, he helps Eugene with the group activities. Antoine and his moms are grieving the loss of Antoine’s little brother who died from SIDS. And Felicia is there because both of her parents died.

As Abby and Christopher experience grief retreat and participate in some exercises to help them with their losses, they are surprised by the things they learn about their fellow group members – and about themselves.

Review

This is an emotional and touching story. And it is so well written. I felt like the grief and emotions expressed by the characters were completely on target. I felt them and understood them. The complicated experience of grief was portrayed in a way that middle grade readers can understand. I think kids who have experienced loss could read this and feel understood. They might even get some new insights into their own grief experience. Kids who have not experienced death have a chance to gain insight and empathy by reading the experience of these characters.

I think this book could find a home in every single classroom and school library as well as home libraries. For those who tend to avoid books with gay characters due to religious reasons, I think the two moms in this story (who are never in a scene together due to the extreme grief of one of the women) are a small part of a much larger – and much more important – story. I think the value of this book to grieving kids and their friends far outweighs any questions the kids might have about a character with two moms.

I highly recommend this story.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥½

REVIEW: Giant Days by Non Pratt

REVIEW: Giant Days by Non Pratt

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Amulet books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

Susan, Daisy and Esther are in their first year of college. As neighbors, it was natural that they would become friends.

Susan is studying medicine. She also has background as a non-licensed private investigator. She has a strong personality and no patience for bullies.

Daisy was raised by her grandmother and home-schooled. She’s sweet and naive and eager to try new things and find her place at college. Although signing up for 32 extracurriculars might be going too far.

Esther comes from money. She’s officially an English major but she never goes to class. She’s used to BSing her way through things but college students are more savvy than she realized. She’s desperate to be friends with a Goth-looking girl she’s seen glimpses of on campus.

While the girls care about one another, they get sidetracked by their personal drama. And while they are focused on themselves, one of the girls walks into a situation she might not be able to get out of.

Review

This is a quirky story. It took awhile for me to get the feel of the girls and for the story to build to the main crisis. But the girls and their friendship is really the point of the story. So once I had  sense of each of the girls, I was on board for the rest.

I don’t know that I had a favorite among the core characters. I loved Susan’s strong personality. I wish the private investigator pieces were a little bigger because that was a fun twist to her character. I cracked up at Daisy’s 32 clubs and her inability to choose what to keep and what to leave. Esther wants so desperately for Vectra to like her that she puts up with Vectra’s appalling behavior. I was so sad for Esther. I was cheering for her to dump Vectra and stick with her true friends.

The climax at the end was terrific. It made the rest of the book come together, and the characters got to be the best versions of themselves. The source material for this is a graphic novel series. I’m curious to see how similar the graphic novels are to this and how the different format changes or enhances the story. (Some mature content and adult behavior.)

Rating: ♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: The Princess and the Absolutely Not a Princess by Emma Wunsch

REVIEW: The Princess and the Absolutely Not a Princess by Emma Wunsch

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Amulet Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

Princess Miranda is about to start third grade, and she’ll be going to school for the first time ever. Her castle tutor has finally retired (maybe several years later than she should have). Her teacher seems nice enough, but Princess Miranda would rather still be at home.

Maude Kaye is joining the same third grade class as Princess Miranda. She’s highly verbal and describes herself as a “social justice advocate.”

The girls don’t hit it off. Maude always has several hard boiled eggs with her for lunch, and Princess Miranda finds the thought of them disgusting, much less the smell.  Maude thinks Princess Miranda believes she’s better than everyone. And Princess Miranda is overwhelmed by school and standardized testing and feeling completely unprepared academically for school.

The tension comes to a head when Princess Miranda starts handing out birthday party invitations and sees Maude has been drawing and writing about her in her class journal. So she refuses to invite Maude to her party. And Maude knows she is the only one left out.

Review

At it’s core, this is a story about misunderstandings and faulty assumptions getting in the way of friendship. It’s easy to see things from the perspective of each of the girls. Readers just have to wait until the girls work out their misconceptions.

There’s an opportunity here for readers to learn empathy for Princess Miranda and her struggles at school. They can also see that for every behavior (for example Miranda is always at school early), there are several possible motives (Maude assumes it is because she is trying to flaunt the rules because she is better than everyone else. In truth, she is there for extra help.). Readers can also see how alike the girls can be – and how they can help one another – once they give it a try.

There are hints at a deeper story – like the kids who bonded over the loss of their parents, the solidarity of the kids when Maude tells them she wasn’t invited to the party – that might develop in future books.

This is a solid early chapter book /transitional chapter book for kids ready to stretch their new reading skills into longer stories. This is book one in the Miranda and Maude series.

Rating: ♥♥♥

REVIEW: Rules of the Ruff by Heidi Lang

REVIEW: Rules of the Ruff by Heidi Lang

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Amulet Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

Jessie is spending the summer with her aunt and uncle and cousin “Ann-Marie.” Ann-Marie used to be just Ann and she was fun to hang out with back then. But when she became friends with Loralee, she wanted to be called Ann-Marie instead. She never sticks up for Jessie when Loralee is hateful, cruel or manipulative. Ann-Marie usually doesn’t pay attention to Jessie unless Loralee stands her up.

So Jessie decides to find her own summer fun by pestering her grumpy neighbor, Wes, to let her join his dog-walking business. Wes agrees to take Jessie along only if she learns the Rules of the Ruff – his rules for working with dogs.

Jessie learns a lot about the dogs – and about Wes – through their partnership. When a rival dog walker moves in on Wes’ business, Jessie is incensed. When she hears that the rival doesn’t even love the dogs like Wes does, that it’s just a job to her, Jessie decides to serve up a little vengeance and get Wes’ clients back. But things quickly turn ugly and the Rules of the Ruff might not be enough to set things right again.

Review

This was a cute story with characters that produced some strong emotions in me. Loralee is horrible. She’s a typical, hateful middle grade bully/mean girl, and she’s just awful. Monique, the rival dog walker, really ticked me off, too, with her cavalier attitude about putting Wes out of business. Max and Ann’s inability to stand up to Loralee at times was infuriating. The author did a great job developing characters that incited strong feelings.

I loved Jessie’s persistence and self-acceptance. She never tried to be something she wasn’t. And she makes some really selfless choices in the book that were both painful to read and also inspiring.

On one level, this is a dog story but even more than that it’s a relationship story.  Jessie’s relationships with each of the characters tell the reader so much about Jessie and about the people around her. The Rules of the Ruff come in handy with people, not just with dogs. Hand this to your favorite dog lover and be prepared for him or her to really connect with these characters, too.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥

BONUS REVIEW: Awesome! by Craig Shuttlewood

BONUS REVIEW: Awesome! by Craig Shuttlewood

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received an electronic ARC/review copy of this book from Netgalley and Capstone in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

Marvin the moose saves the day and becomes a woodland hero. And his best friend, Woody the beaver, helps Marvin highlight his new status. But soon Woody is feeling  jealous and left out. And his attempts to get attention might get him a different sort of attention than what he was aiming for.

Review

I enjoyed the illustrations in this one. This is exactly the sort of art I enjoy and the kind that would grab my attention as I walked past the book on a shelf.  And the story is a classic dilemma. I think this would be great for use at home or at school to start conversations with kids about jealousy, feeling left out, and healthy vs unhealthy ways to  get recognition or to stand out in the crowd.

Rating: ♥♥♥

REVIEW: The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair by Amy Makechnie

REVIEW: The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair by Amy Makechnie

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received an electronic review copy from Netgalley and Atheneium Books for Young Readers in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

Guinevere, her sister Elizabeth (Bitty), and their dad move back to Gwyn’s parents’ home town, Crow, Iowa, because of Vienna. Vienna is Gwyn’s mother. Six years ago, when Gwyn was four and Bitty was a baby, Vienna’s heart stopped. Her brain was without oxygen for a long time. While she was eventually revived, her brain was damaged. Vienna doesn’t remember anything now beyond age 13. She remembers her husband because they had been childhood friends. She remembers her mother and sisters, but she can’t reconcile their older, adult lives with her childhood memories. She doesn’t know her daughters at all.

In Iowa, Gwyn and Bitty have Nana and their dad there to help them with the day in and day out activities. They see Vienna at her care facility and on outings, but it is hard to see the person who should love you the most not even know who you are. One saving grace to the whole move is Gwyn’s friendship with Micah and Jimmy. Along with Bitty, the four kids do everything together, including their attempts to solve the disappearance of a local man. Micah’s mom, Gaysie, is Gwyn’s primary suspect. Everyone in town talks about her and whispers about “the accident” that happened when Gwyn’s parents and Gaysie were kids.

Gwyn will learn a lot about her new community, her new friends, her mom and even herself as she experiences these early months in Iowa.

Review

This is a lovely, heartbreaking story of family and friendship. There are several layers to this, and they all worked well.

On the surface, this is about Gwyn and her family, especially her mother. My heart broke for Gwyn (who acts older than 10 in a lot of ways) as she tries to manage her emotions about her mother. The situation is difficult and tragic, but Gwyn’s dad refuses to lose hope. Gwyn’s anger and resentment is understandable; she is grieving in her own way the lost of her mother in a parental role in her life.

This is also about the past. The family moves back to Iowa hoping the familiar people and places will help Vienna regain some of the memories she has lost. There are a lot of references to the past, especially to the friendship between Gwyn’s parents and Gaysie, and the mysterious “accident.”

Then there’s the mystery. Gaysie’s neighbor and friend, Wilber, disappears, and Gwyn is determined to figure out what happened to him. At the same time, there’s also her friendship with Jimmy and Micah which grows while they work on the mystery.

I don’t think the mystery is central enough to put this in that genre. I’d categorize this as realistic fiction. It’s beautiful and emotional. A really engaging story. This would be a great addition to personal libraries, school libraries, classroom libraries and class read-alouds. Just be sure to have tissues nearby!

Rating: ♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: The Game Masters of Garden Place by Denis Markell

REVIEW: The Game Masters of Garden Place by Denis Markell

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Delacorte Books for Young Readers in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

The adventurers – Torgrim, Bran, Jandia, Mirak and Gerontius – are on a quest to find the pieces of an ancient scepter. They have secured six of the seven pieces, but the final battle seems impossible to win.

Ralph, Noel, JoJo, Persephone and Cammi have been playing Reign of Dragons for a couple years. Their original Game Master moved away so the kids have been taking turns planning the next part of their campaign for the pieces of the Seven Serpent Scepter. But as they’ve gotten older, everyone but Ralph seems to be drifting away from the game.

Ralph plans one final gaming day with his friends hoping to find the final piece of the scepter before the rest quit Reign of Dragons all together. But one roll of a golden d20 changes everything when  their characters – Torgrim, Bram, Jandia, Mirak and Gerontius – are pulled from the game into the real world.

Review

This was SO fun! I’ve never played Dungeons and Dragons, but I know enough that I was able to follow along with the game play here. Kids who aren’t familiar with RPGs (Role Playing Games) may need a 5 minute tutorial about how the game works, but the rest of the story will make sense for everyone.

The characters in this – both the real life kids and their game counterparts – are terrific. It took me a little while to get all of them straight – which adventurer had which powers, which kid went with which character, etc. The kids are racially diverse (there’s a conversation about this when the kids explain that dynamic to the adventurers which is terrific) and one of the kids seems to be working through some things regarding his sexuality although it is fairly subtle. While these things round out the characters, they aren’t “issues” to be addressed in the story. These are just pieces of who the characters are. There are some fantastic moments when the kids really click with their game counterparts which was fun. The characters were my favorite part of this story.

This is a delightful fantasy book. The first 40% or so is set up – getting to know the kids, getting the history of their game play, and seeing the game characters in action. Then the game characters are pulled into our world. I loved seeing the adventurers trying to sort out our culture. And the connection between the game world and ours was handled in a clever way.

I highly recommend this book for kids who love fantasy and gaming and RPGs and the like. This was so fun!

Rating: ♥♥♥♥½

REVIEW: The Fantastic Library Rescue and Other Major Plot Twists by Deborah Lytton

REVIEW: The Fantastic Library Rescue and Other Major Plot Twists by Deborah Lytton

Posted on by Jaymie

[Thanks to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Jabberwocky for the opportunity to read an electronic ARC/review copy of this book. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

Ruby Starr is a book fanatic. She loves to read and even started a book club with her friends. And then other kids also started book clubs. They’ve started a great reading culture in their school.

When Ruby and her friends pick out a brand new book for their club to read, they struggle to get enough copies for their group to share. That’s when Ruby discovers the school library is having budget issues. The library hours are being cut, and they can’t buy any new books.

Ruby and her friends decide to do something to help the library. But Ruby’s desire to be the hero in her own story causes some trouble that snowballs into a big mess.

Review

This is a cute middle grade book that feels geared toward the younger side of the age range. The characters are around ten and their interactions focus on friendships, homework and food fights. Ruby is a fun, imaginative, and creative character. The action of the story is occasionally set to the side when Ruby’s imagination kicks in.

I love that Ruby owns and names her feelings – even if she’s not proud of them. She recognizes that she wants to be in charge, be the hero, save the day. And that can make her envious and make her refuse the help of others around her.

The story about the book club and the library rescue was solid, but even better was Ruby’s personal story. Her thoughts and feelings and choices, her triumphs and failures, made this a worthwhile read for me.

This is the second book in a series. I haven’t read the first book, but that did not impact my understanding of the things going on in this story. Give this to elementary kids who enjoy friendship stories and stories that celebrate books and reading.

Rating: ♥♥♥½

REVIEW: EngiNerds by Jarrett Lerner

REVIEW: EngiNerds by Jarrett Lerner

Posted on by Jaymie

[Thanks to the author, Jarrett Lerner, who hosted a social media contest in 2017 where I won a copy of EngiNerds.]

Summary

Kennedy and his crew of friends call themselves “The EngiNerds.” There’s roughly a dozen of them, and they hang out in the science lab at lunch. Ken’s best friend is Dan. His nemesis is John Henry Knox, a kid obsessed with weather.

One day Ken comes home from school and finds a huge and heavy box on his porch with his name on it. Dan helps him get it in the house, and they start to put it together. After a brief distraction, they come back and find a fully assembled robot.

Greeeg, the robot, is apparently smart enough to assemble himself. And he’s VERY hungry. Greeeg will eat anything – except radishes – including glass jars and take out containers. At first, Ken thinks Greeeg is another cool present from his grandpa like the wind tunnel or the train set. But Grandpa K. didn’t send Greeeg. And Ken is starting to think that his cool new robot might be a lot more dangerous than he first thought.

Review

This was page after page of fun. The boys are quirky and smart. They bicker and banter, but when push comes to shove, they back each other up. I didn’t even get to know them very well yet in this first book. There’s a lot more to discover about the boys in the next book, I hope.

And the robot adventure is just getting started for Ken and his friends. There are plenty of mysteries and unanswered questions to carry readers further into the series.

If this had come out when I was teaching, I would have needed several copies of this in the library. I know just the kids I would have given this one to. They would have gobbled it up, begging for more.

I highly recommend it for the middle grade readers in your life who enjoy funny, quirky stories and science fiction.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥