Tag Archive | brothers

Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak, by Brian Katcher (book review) – comics, quizzes, and captures

May19

book cover of Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak by Brian Katcher published by Katherine Tegen BooksAt a comic-con, he’ll be happy.
Finally away at college, she’ll be overjoyed.
Trouble… who wants that?

When 13-year-old Clayton slips out of the QuizBowl team hotel for his first comic-con, Ana is terrified – if she loses track of him, their hyper-protective parents will disown her like they did when big sister stepped out of line.

And when things go sour during their search for Clayton at WashingCon, Zak boggles at constants that could end and possibilities that arise- without cons in his life, what else would a certified geek do?

Happy book birthday to The Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak,  your invitation to explore the world of comic-conventions, gaming, and love among geeks. For some how-to from the female perspective, try The Fangirl’s Guide to the Galaxy recommended here last week.

So, be honest – Star Wars or Star Trek?
**kmm

Book info: The Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak / Brian Katcher. Katherine Tegen Books, 2015.  [author site]  [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Chasing her little brother through a comic-con wasn’t on Ana’s list of ways to stay perfect, but with the help of cute slacker Zak, she may get the QuizBowl team back together before curfew… or maybe not.

If no-effort Zak wants to graduate, he must serve as QuizBowl alternate during weekend of Seattle’s biggest comic convention, even though he’d already planned out every moment in geek paradise.

If super-achiever Ana wants to please her parents and not get thrown out of the house like her big sister, she’s got to win this QuizBowl tournament, even though it’s no fun anymore.

If her whiz-kid little brother Clayton wants to check out WashingCon because Zak said it was cool, he’s gonna go, because why not?

The search for Clayton jumps from Ana’s world of well-rounded student activities to Zak’s universes of cosplay and card games to the death, as t-shirt slogans, a backpack mixup with deadly consequences, and the clock ticking down to QuizBowl curfew send them all racing through the night.

Zak’s old friends, Ana’s new enemies, and a cross-cultural wedding (Trek or Wars, the eternal con question) punctuate the pair’s growing appreciation for one another’s strengths and charms, as they chart their progress (or lack thereof) in alternating chapters.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Jesus Jackson, by James Ryan Daley (book review) – death, atheism & Jesus in a linen suit

May18
book cover of Jesus Jackson by James Ryan Daley published by Poison Pen Press

Big brother dead,
terrible rumors at school,
surely answers can be found… somehow.

Jon idolizes Ryan and thinks that going to Catholic high school will be less bad because his big brother is there.

But Ryan’s death on orientation day leaves Jon with a huge hole in his heart and no faith to ease his pain.

Jesus Jackson – “spiritual contractor – 100% faith guaranteed – call for free estimate” – promises to help him out; just a few questions to answer.

The book trailer here is great – don’t miss it.

Ask for this October 2014 release at your local library or independent bookstore, and travel with Jonathan through his landscape of grief and the questions that Jesus Jackson asks him to ask himself.

Have you ever found it easier to accept the crazy theory than the true answer for a difficult problem?
**kmm

Book info: Jesus Jackson / James Ryan Daley. Poison Pen Press, 2014.  [author site]  [publisher site]  [book trailer] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Jonathan’s big brother left this life too early, before they’d finished examining all religions to find one that is true, and now a guy who looks like Jesus offers to help the 14-year-old atheist find some meaning in life.

Following in Ryan’s footsteps at St. Soren’s would be easy for Jonathan if he were athletic or cute or good at pretending that Catholic school made sense. When Ryan is found dead below the school’s steep running path, Jon is devastated.

On the day of his big brother’s funeral, a guy named Jesus Jackson offers to build him new faith in a god, but Jon clings to atheism like a life raft.

Jon and his new friend Henry find suspicious shoeprints at the accident site and decide to investigate Ryan’s friends and classmates when the police ignore this new evidence.

Jesus Jackson shows up here and there, asking just the right questions to get Jon pondering life and faith and whether anything matters at all.

What can Ryan’s girlfriend share about his behavior?
How can Jon get evidence that jealous Alistair pushed Ryan?
Can a ‘spiritual contractor’ really build Jon’s faith in something?

Jon’s divorced parents are dealing with grief in different ways, his school counselor won’t leave him alone, and weird details about Ryan’s time at St. Soren’s keep popping up – freshman year can’t get any worse, can it? And Jesus is just around the corner, with more questions about Jon’s questions.

Girl Defective, by Simmone Howell (book review) – summer of music, mystery & weird

May15

book cover of Girl Defective by Simmone Howell published by Atheneum Books for Young ReadersScary-sad missing girl mystery.
Little brother thinks he’s a super-detective.
New guy at their vinyl shop has a secret.

Sky isn’t sure what’s worse – Dad ignoring the eviction notice, seeing friend Nancy drift away, or her dreams of drowned Mia.

Watching Gully all summer will be dreadful, since the 10 year old wears his pig-snout mask always and logs every scrap of conversation like a secret agent – can’t Sky just work at the family record shop and go to concerts like everyone else?

Snag a free excerpt of the book here, then ask for Girl Defective  at your local library or independent bookstore.

Did family expectations every make you defer a dream job?
**kmm

Book info: Girl Defective / Simmone Howell. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2014.  [author site]  [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: This summer, Sky just wants to run her family’s vintage vinyl shop and fall in love, but dire secrets percolate up in their scruffy Australian neighborhood, and her social-skills-lacking little brother Gully keeps calling the police with clues.

After Mom left them to “follow her art” and Dad crawled into his homebrew bottle, it’s been up to Skylark to take care of 10-year-old autist Gully (who melts down when everything isn’t just-so) and keep the doors of their vintage vinyl record shop open for collectors.

Stylish pal Nancy tries to get Sky out for concerts before a developer razes local venues (“progress” – ha!),  a missing person case is deemed suicide (who’s making those memorial murals?), and Dad hires new guy Luke to work in the shop (very cute, in a hidden-sadness way) – quite enough happening in St. Kilda before the eviction notice arrives.

What will become of the vinyl shop?
Did Gully really find clues about Mia’s death?
Could Luke really be interested in Sky?

Music, dreams, lies, love, death, and clues – not quite the summer holiday that Sky had envisioned! (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Girl in Reverse, by Barbara Stuber (book review) – adopted, bullied, seeking, found?

May11

book cover of Girl in Reverse by Barbara Stuber published by Margaret K McElderry BooksPrejudice at school,
polite silence at home,
Who am i? Who am I?

Shunned by the in-crowd, bullied as if she were a Commie spy, Lily would just like a few friends who don’t care that she’s Chinese, some answers about her past from her adoptive parents, and a door lock that can keep pesky little brother out of her room!

A box of Chinese sculptures, a new exhibit at the art museum, and a nun nearing retirement change Lily’s priorities – can she finally learn more about her birth mother?

Girl in Reverse was published as a paperback just this week and is available in hardcover and ebook, so choose your favorite way to hold this well-told tale in your hands, as Lily held the objects that connected her with Gone Mom.

What keepsake tells a family story for you?
**kmm

Book info: Girl in Reverse / Barbara Stuber. Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2014 (paperback, May 2015).  [author site]  [publisher site]  [book trailer]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: The new Chinese art exhibit may hold clues about Lily’s long-gone birth mother and is a welcome distraction from the bullying she experiences at her Kansas City high school during the Korean War.

Shortly after Lily’s adoption, Ralph was born to her new parents, who cannot understand the prejudice that Lily faces daily, labeled a ‘Commie’ as the war in Korea rages, even though she is Chinese.

Ralph finds a box in the attic, left with Lily at the orphanage by her gone-mom, and together the siblings decide to find out all they can.  Trips to Chinatown, the old orphanage, and the art museum bring more clues, as artistic Elliot tries to get Lily to embrace her heritage.

Where did Gone Mom go?
Why did she leave Lily behind?
Why was Lily’s mom in Missouri anyway?

Searching for her identity in 1950s American heartland, Lily discovers which bonds of family and culture can bend and which are too fragile to even breathe upon.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Z for Zach in Fire Sermon, by Francesca Haig (book review) – her twin, her enemy

Apr30

book cover of The Fire Sermon by Francesca Haig published by Gallery BooksBorn together, yet separated forever,
always one perfect and one flawed –
when one twin dies, so does the other.

Centuries have reduced radiation levels, but now every human pregnancy bears twins – one perfect, one deformed. Alphas have all power, outcast Omegas have none, no one has the power to stay alive when their twin dies!

Cass can control neither her visions nor her brother’s lust for power, but she still seeks a place where his captive seer cannot peer into her mind, where Alphas and Omegas can coexist.

First in a series, The Fire Sermon of nuclear holocaust seared technology’s dangers into the souls of survivors and a convenient blindness to justice into the genes of their descendants.

If your life-thread were entwined forever with that of someone you despised, how careful would you be?
**kmm

Book info: The Fire Sermon (Fire Sermon, book 1) / Francesca Haig. Gallery Books, 2015.  [author’s Twitter]  [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Four hundred years after the Blast, a young seer wishes that her life-link could carry these visions of tragedy into her twin’s brain to stop his power-grab that will shatter their society forever.

Hiding her visions kept Cass with her Alpha twin brother into their teens, but now powerful Zach uses another seer to probe her mind about the Island where the Omega resistance is said to hide.

Mutated Omegas cast out as tots are being herded into refuges so they can keep their perfect Alpha fraternal twins alive. But how can that work when every birth is an Alpha-Omega pair and every injury to one twin is experienced by the other?

As she escapes from the Alpha prison, Cass locates the tanks seen in her visions with a young man alive and aware inside one! They head to the coast, to the possibility of the Island, to a chance that the young Omega can find his missing memories.

In this world, every death is doubled – is Cass the only one who mourns both?
Omegas and Alphas living as equals – does anyone besides Cass imagine this?

First in a series, this debut novel of power and balance asks if the lessons taught by The Fire Sermon  that nearly destroyed civilization have been forgotten. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

X is eXactly, as in Me Being Me Is Exactly As Insane As You Being You, by Todd Hasak-Lowy (book review)

Apr28

book cover of Me Being Me is Exactly as Insane as You Being You by Todd Hasak-Lowy published by Simon Pulse1. Parents shouldn’t change
2. Friends shouldn’t move
3. Lists should make it easier to cope
4. Really, they should help…

Darren’s life seems so out-of-his-hands right now, after the divorce and Dad’s lifestyle change and Nick being at college.

He copes by making lists, and skipping school with amazing artist Zoey to visit Nick, and making lists, and wondering where Zoey has gone…

Just published last week, Me Being Me is Exactly as Insane as You Being You  lets Darren tell his story in his own way.

What have you done to keep things under control during an extremely hectic time?
**kmm

Book info: Me Being Me is Exactly as Insane as You Being You / Todd Hasak-Lowy. Simon Pulse, 2015.  [author site]  [publisher site]  [book trailer] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Making lists and enduring all the changes in his life leaves Darren enough energy to skip school (just once), get in trouble at brother’s university (just once), and have two girlfriends at the same time (just once), but the high school junior is still trying to figure things out – in lists.

After Dad and Mom divorced, they both were different – Darren’s not sure he likes either change, but what can he do? Making lists helps.

Names that he’d rather have, reasons that he can’t drive yet, ways to convince Zoey to take him to see Nate at college – lists are good.

But somehow, all the lists haven’t made it easier to tell a girl at band camp that he’s sort of dating Zoey or know why Mom suddenly needs to have Shabbat dinner every Friday or figure out what to tell Dad’s analyst…

Is visiting Dad’s new place going to be okay?
Where has Zoey suddenly gone?
Will anything be back to normal by his 16th birthday? (c’mon, universe!)

This Chicago teen tells his story in lists, but who knows what the last entry will be.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

W for Walrath writing Like Water On Stone (book review) – can siblings survive Armenian holocaust?

Apr27

book cover of Like Water On Stone by Dana Walrath published by Delacorte PressTied to the land, torn out by the roots,
Furrows running red, victors write the history books.
Holocaust… in Armenia?

Some Christian families fled their Armenian villages when Turkish troops ransacked their homes looking for weapons in 1915.

But Papa stayed put, believing that his Muslim neighbors will remain his friends.

Papa was wrong.

Hear the long-silent voices of the Donabedian family, speaking for all Armenian Genocide victims, as their wonderings, laments, and wishes lyrically weave through this novel-in-verse where an eagle soars from the Palu village sky through the mountains above the youngest ones as they try to find safety.

Did you know about this holocaust – which marked its 100th anniversary last week – before now?
**kmm

Book info: Like Water On Stone / Dana Walrath. Delacorte Press, 2014, paperback 2015.  [author site]  [publisher site]  [video author interview] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Twin brother and sister disagree often, but when Ottoman troops attack their Armenian village, the teens follow their parents’ orders and flee over the mountains with their little sister, away from the slaughter, watched over by an eagle whose quill made music in Papa’s hands in this many-voiced verse-novel.

Shahen longs to attend school in America with his uncle; his twin sister Sosi wants to stay always in their village. Papa counts Muslims and Christians as friends, teaches Shahen to play the oud with an eagle quill. Mama shows Sosi the cooking secrets, the best ways to weave.

In 1915, soldiers arrive in Palu, searching Christian homes for guns, taking away young men, and the killing begins. Mama dresses beardless Shahen as a girl, sends him with Sosa and so-small Miriam up the mountain trail before bravely returning home.

As Ardziv the eagle watches from the sky, the young ones hide and climb and grow hungry…

Can they survive to reach a place of safety?
Will they ever be able to contact Uncle in New York?
How can lifelong neighbors turn into enemies overnight?

This novel-in-verse hauntingly revisits a little-discussed historical event and the terrors experienced by Armenians of all ages when the Ottoman Empire decided that their land and their lives were forfeit during World War I.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

N for Nightbird, by Alice Hoffman (book review) – secrets, community, threat?

Apr16

book cover of Nightbird by Alice Hoffman published by Wendy Lamb BookxA family curse,
the lure of night and flight,
secrets kept and truths discovered…

Nightbird was published just this week; you can read chapter one here for free.

Hoffman’s magical realism shines here as it does in her Green Angel (my review) and Green Witch (my review), asking questions about love and curses and understanding.

And the wonderful Pink Apple Pie that Twig’s mother bakes? The author kindly provides a recipe here for those of us whose apple trees were not planted by Johnny Appleseed himself!

Should we hide what others might not understand about us?
**kmm

Book info: Nightbird / Alice Hoffman. Wendy Lamb Books, 2015.  [author site]  [publisher site]  [author video] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: As her day-hidden brother soars nightly over their small New England town to taste freedom, thirteen-year-old Twig wishes for friendship, little realizing that the witch’s curse on their family may link both their dreams.

The finest apple pie baker ever, her mother retreated from New York City to the family apple farm when Twig’s father left them, hiding James in the attic where his wings wouldn’t remind the folks of Sidwell about the curse on the Fowler family.

Twig is delighted when teen sisters Julia and Agate from the city move in next door, is devastated when townspeople seriously set to hunting the Sidwell Monster as James flies nightly, is determined to discover the truth about the generations-old curse that gave James his wings.

Will Twig’s mother ever feel safe in her own home town?
Who – or what – else roams the Montgomery Woods besides James?
Can love heal an ancient wrong?

Become a Nightbird  with James, delve into history and happiness with Twig and Julia, and find out why this charming town has a sudden grafitti problem in this magical tale. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

H for harmonica in Echo, by Pam Munoz Ryan (book review) – 3 musicians play a promise

Apr9

book cover of Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan published by ScholasticTerror as father is taken,
fear of orphan brothers being separated,
despair at losing friends and opportunities.

Three young people whose lives are terribly disrupted in the turbulent years leading into World War II find comfort in playing a harmonica with magical music and unknowingly fulfill a pleasing prophecy.

Find this wonderful spring 2015 release at your favorite local library or independent bookstore so that you can discover the intricate music this wonderful harmonica threads through lives that need it most.

Have a story of an object that connects you to history? Please share in the comments below.
**kmm

Book info: Echo / Pam Munoz Ryan. Scholastic Press, 2015.  [author site]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk:  A harmonica crafted through magic and mystery links three young people in different countries and times as they use their musical talents to overcome terrible odds.

In 1933 Germany, Friedrich apprentices in the harmonica factory with his father and uncle, away from those who mock his facial birthmark and conducting of the music he’s heard. As the tide of Nazi fervor overtakes his sister, threatens free-thinkers like his father, and condemns the harmonica as uncivilized, the melodies that 12 year old Friedrich plays are a small consolation.

At a Pennsylvania orphanage in 1935, Mike and little Frankie are determined to stay together. When a lawyer requests ‘musical children’ specifically, the brothers find themselves in a grand mansion whose owner wants to adopt one daughter! Tragedy took music out of Mrs. Sturbridge’s life years ago – perhaps 11 year old Mike’s practice for Hoxie’s Harmonica Band auditions can make her smile again.

Ivy plays harmonica concerts for her brother Fernando before he joins the army in 1942, before Papa is hired to care for a Japanese family’s California orange groves while they are detained in internment camp. The bigger cottage is nice, but not the rundown Americanization school for Mexican children – will the fifth grader be allowed to play in the new orchestra at the main school?

“Your fate is not yet sealed.
Even in the darkest night, a star will shine,
a bell will chime, a path will be revealed.”

Bracketed by the prophecy and promise fairy tale of the harmonica’s creation, the stories of Friedrich, Michael, and Ivy playing this fabulous instrument Echo with hope, joy, and longing to ensure their families’ well-being.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

F for flying and family in Black Dove, White Raven, by Elizabeth Wein (book review) – wings and war

Apr7

book cover of Black Dove White Raven by Elizabeth Wein published by Disney HyperionTheir mothers were closer than sisters.
They are sister and brother against the world,
and the world has turned its back on Ethiopia…

What do you know about the Second Italo-Abyssinian War? I knew nothing of this conflict which preceded World War II, but have learned that the League of Nations ignored the pleas of Ethiopia’s emperor to stop the 1935 invasion of the only African nation never ruled by Europeans…

Just published on March 31, this story of the flight-loving children of two aviation-daredevil women – one white, one black – connects World War I France with still-prejudiced USA with becoming-modern Ethiopia, as told through the school essays and journal entries of Emilia and Teo over the years.

The author counts Black Dove, White Raven as part of her Young Pilots series, along with the incredible Code Name Verity  and Rose Under Fire (check out the fascinating variations in cover art as published in other countries).

What books about young people in wartime would you recommend? Share in the comments, please!
**kmm

Book info: Black Dove, White Raven / Elizabeth Wein. Hyperion Books, 2015.  [author site]  [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher through NetGalley.

My book talk: With war edging nearer Ethiopia in 1935, an American aviatrix tries to help her adopted country and placate enemy forces while keeping her daughter Emilia and black foster son Teo safe – but some troubles cannot be flown away from.

Retired from stunt flying as ‘White Raven’ when her partner and best friend Delia ‘the Black Dove’ was killed, Momma eventually moves to Ethiopia as the pair had planned, bringing her white daughter and Delia’s half-Ethiopian son in 1930 to the only African nation never conquered by Europeans.

Seeing Emperor Haile Selassie crowned, meeting Teo’s uncles, living in a rural settlement and learning to speak Amharic – Em and Teo enjoy life with Momma, until the true price of the plane given to them by Em’s Italian aviator father is revealed.

Will old secrets send Teo to the battle lines?
Can Momma take reconnaissance photos for Italy and Ethiopia at the same time?
Will Em ever get comfortable with landing the plane?

Warriors with spears against machine guns, the League of Nations turning a deaf ear to Ethiopia’s calls for help, new calendar masking old laws. “Spiderwebs joined together can catch a lion” goes the Ethiopian proverb, but what a fragile thing to carry all the country’s hopes for peace. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)