Tag Archive | abandonment

I for Infandous, by Elana K. Arnold (book review) – mom & daughter share everything?

Apr10

book cover of Infandous by Elana K Arnold published by Carolrhoda Lab| recommended on BooksYALove.comDreaming of mom as a mermaid who loved a wolf,
Creating fantabulous art pieces from discarded items,
One misstep away from homelessness…

Sephora has always loved her so-beautiful mother, disliked her own name, and wondered why her dad abandoned mom before her birth.

Snag this March 2015 book at your local library or favorite independent bookstore (those aren’t referral links; never any monetizing links on BooksYALove!) to see how Sephora copes with a fairy tale ending that’s anything but charming.

What kept secrets should remain secret?
**kmm

Book info: Infandous / Elana K. Arnold. Carolrhoda Lab, 2015.   [author site]  [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Eclipsed by her beautiful mom, California teen artist Sephora steps out of her comfort zone with guys and finds the fairy tales she loved as a child transformed into something much Grimmer.

Retaking summer school geometry so she can graduate next year, Sephora swelters over her found-art pieces in a storeroom of the cruddy apartment she shares with her single mom and looks half-heartedly for a part-time job (she’ll visit her aunt and family in Atlanta soon, so really what’s the point in looking?)

Skateboarding and surfing are good ways to forget how almost-broke they are, to forget that older guy Felix from spring break, to try to be someone else like in the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm (Disney lied).

Why can’t she and mom go back to sharing everything?
Why is her mom so interested in the young surfer guy down the hall?
Why isn’t working on her art taking her mind off Felix and stuff?

The Grimm versions of several fairy tales appear between sections of Sephora’s story, reminding us that rarely are their endings happily-ever-after but often as shocking as this book’s conclusion. (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)

E for Etherworld, by Claudia Gabel & Cheryl Klam (book review) – escape from virtual paradise turned hell!

Apr6

book cover of Etherworld by Claudia Gabel and Cheryl Klam published by Katherine Tegen BooksEscape from polluted world to nature paradise through virtual reality!
It’s simple, it’s safe… it’s addictive.

Regan has mourned her father’s death for too many months, watched his fabulous virtual reality creation be exploited by young protege whose mother is profits-first, realized the dangers of Elusion – and discovered that Dad may be alive!

All she has to do is enter Elusion undetected, tweak technical stuff beyond her understanding, and pray that new boyfriend Josh is really on her side…

Just published on March 31st, Etherworld  is the answer to the potential and peril begun in Elusion  (my no-spoiler recommendation here) which recently came out in paperback – so you can read them both now!

**kmm

Book info: Etherworld (Elusion, book 2) / Claudia Gabel & Cheryl Klam. Katherine Tegen Books, 2015.  [Claudia’s website]  [Cheryl’s website]  [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Missing teens and a criminal conspiracy – if Regan can escape from Elusion using her father’s Etherworld technology, she can prove that the virtual reality system makers knew its addictive dangers, unless they get her first!

In pollution-clogged 22nd century test cities, some teens who hacked their Equips to stay in Elusion far past the safe time limits have disappeared, but the escape-to-nature vr will still be released nationwide.

Regan travels into Elusion with her boyfriend Josh, whose sister is among the missing, as they follow clues that Regan’s father is still alive. Warnings from the Elusion creator’s protege Patrick don’t ring true once they learn that his mother falsified Elusion’s safety data so their company could make millions.

Elusion’s ads say that nothing can harm you in an Escape since your body isn’t really there, but Regan and Josh discover that’s not true! A vicious predator follows them from Escape to Escape, safe havens become traps, and they meet others who cannot be in a two-person Escape, yet are.

Returning from Elusion will land her in the psych ward, staying there may unhinge her mind… but finding her father is worth the risk.

This exciting sequel to Elusion  (my review here) examines the limits of loyalty, the dangers of greed, and the potential good and bad that any new technology can bring. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

D for Heather Demetrios – I’ll Meet You There (book review) – choose love or escape from sad hometown?

Apr4

book cover of I'll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios published by Henry HoltEndure dead-end hometown one last summer,
escape to art school and freedom…
if only it were that easy.

Skylar can’t leave her alcoholic mother now, doesn’t want Josh to face his PTSD alone, but how can she give up her dream of college?

This strong novel tackles questions of responsibility and abandonment, duty and fear, almost-good-enough and too-good-to-abandon as Sky’s narrative is punctuated with Josh’s often-anguished thoughts.

Don’t miss the author’s letter to the reader here and the book’s first chapters that she shares for free.

Have you known a serviceperson who returned from war-front duty unchanged?

**kmm

Book info: I’ll Meet You There / Heather Demetrios. Henry Holt, 2015.  [author site]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: As Skylar endures one last summer before college, her growing attraction to a young Marine disabled overseas and her mother’s inability to cope with life could strand the teen artist in her rural California hometown.

Math-genius Chris and artistic Sky have vowed to escape this agricultural backwater, heading for opposite coasts on big scholarships in just a few months. It’ll be hard leaving best friend Dylan (who’s never known that Chris adores her) and her baby, but it would be unbearable to stay in Creek View.

Sky and Chris drop by the as-usual-drunk weekend party to welcome home her former co-worker just returned from Afghanistan, but no one told her that brash, womanizing Josh had left his leg behind, as well as his self-confidence.

Counting down the days until she leaves for college, Sky is stunned when Mom loses her fast-food job and crawls back into the booze bottle where she’d retreated for so long when Dad died in a drunk-driving wreck.

Josh begins working at the Paradise hotel with Sky again, between therapy appointments, and they fall into an uneasy companionship that could become something more. Motel-owner Marge’s son died in the war before she moved here, so she understands when Josh suddenly freezes as a car backfires nearby.

The parts are coming together in the collage that Sky’s creating for Marge – more of the ‘California quirky’ that’s making the Paradise its own destination – but Sky can’t put her mom’s life back on track, can’t figure out where she and Josh fit into one another’s lives, and can’t see how she can give up her dreams or go after them either.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

B for Burning Kingdoms, by Lauren DeStefano (book review) – escape from tyranny to war

Apr2

book cover of Burning Kingdoms by Lauren DeStefano published by Simon Schuster BFYRTheir king betrayed his subjects’ trust.
Their only hope – fly over the Edge and pray,
pray that the land below has a wiser king…

Each refugee from stratospheric Interment has left for their own reason, but Morgan is shocked to discover Celeste’s motive and how far the princess will go to get what she wants.

You can read Burning Kingdoms without the first book in the Internment Chronicles (as I did), but learning in detail what led Morgan and friends to escape that Perfect Ruin high in the sky would certainly enhance your immersion into this almost-our-1920s world.

What would you give up to save those you loved?
**kmm

Book info: Burning Kingdoms (Internment Chronicles, book 2) / Lauren DeStefano. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2015.  [author site]  [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Fleeing their floating sky-island, Morgan and other young rebels find themselves grounded in Havelais whose king wants to use their knowledge to ramp up his war for rare resources, the same ones abundant on Internment.

Morgan and her betrothed, her blinded brother, her best friend – they had to leave or be killed by the King. But why did the crown princess demand to come on this one-way journey?

Snow falling from the sky, multiple children in one family, an amusement park just for glimpsing ‘the magic floating island’ -Havelais has many things that Morgan had never imagined, including aerial warfare with bombs from a neighboring kingdom.

Housed at the amusement park hotel by the king’s advisor, only Morgan and Pen venture out regularly, sneaking into speakeasies and cinemas with Mr. Piper’s teenage daughter Birdie or riding in son Nimble’s beloved auto-mobile car, until the princess is granted an audience with the king and inadvertently gives Havelais a reason to travel to Internment at last.

How can the princess believe the king will become an ally?
Why does Morgan sometimes wish that her betrothed hadn’t stayed by her side?

This second book in the Internment Chronicles swoops down from the Perfect Ruin  created by Internment’s flawed king and his ever-tightening grip on its citizenry to bring new faces and voices into a conflict that may consume them all.   (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

A for assassin in Seeker, by Arwen Elys Dayton (book review) – higher purpose or highest bidder?

Apr1

book cover of Seeker by Arwen Elys Dayton published by Delacorte PressYou can endure tough training for a good cause.
You can sacrifice personal ease for a higher purpose.
But what if it’s all a lie?

Quin’s shock at discovering that she and Shinobu have been honed into elite assassins instead of justice-seekers is matched by John’s fury at being denied that same life – the birthright that brought them together will separate them forever.

But John isn’t so ready to let the ancient artifacts slip away from him, craving the power of travel through space-time that Seekers use.

Find this February release at your local library or independent bookstore so you can get the whole story before it becomes a movie (yes, already in scripting!)

**kmm

Book info: Seeker / Arwen Elys Dayton. Delacorte Press, 2015. [author site]  [publisher site]   Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Trained in deadly martial arts since childhood to become a peace-Seeker like her stern father, Quin finds instead that she’s blood-bound into life as an assassin – unless she and her training partners can find a way to break free.

Family heritage and ancient artifacts allow Seekers to travel through time and space, but few apprentices train in the wilds of Scotland now. Shinobu lost his Japanese mother to an accident, John saw his mother vanish into thin air, and Quin’s mother tries not to hear the 3 teens’ mental grumbling about how hard Briac and Alistair work them.

When the Dreads arrive from somewhere in time to administer the Seeker oath, Quin and Shinobu learn the truth about their heritage and gift, while John has been cast out.

Brutal attack on the stronghold, leaping across the world to Hong Kong, strange messages from unexpected sources – can the Seeker way be turned back to peace or must they remain assassins for the highest bidder forever?

Chapters told by Quin, John, Shinobu, and the Young Dread add depth and dimension to this tale of determination to shift destiny’s course versus purpose warped by greed. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Searching for Sky, by Jillian Cantor (book review) – from island innocence to modern conflict

Mar25

book cover of Searching for Sky by Jillian Cantor published by BloomsburyMoving to Island as babies,
surrounded by beauty and bounty and love –
swept away unwillingly into modern life!

Of course, an island paradise would be better than the strife and hustle of city life, but to discover that deceit and death were used to get baby Sky and toddler River to Island in the first place?

Pick up this May 2014 release at your local library or independent bookstore to see how Sky and River adjust to modern life, or if they even can.

And read the letter than the author wrote to her teen self on the Dear Teen Me site – wise words.

**kmm

Book info: Searching For Sky / Jillian Cantor. Bloomsbury, 2014.  [author site]  [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Taken from their remote Island home where only four lived to the frantic noise of California, teens River and Sky must learn to cope with modern life and discover whether the world’s truth is their own.

On Island, River’s father Helmut and Sky’s mother Petal taught them all the skills of life – fishing in Ocean, counting, storing food in Shelter. But Helmut and Petal ate mushrooms and died, just before Sky’s 16th birthday.

Then a boat came and took them to the California place where Petal once lived. Now Sky and River are separated, and Sky must live inside a house-box with her mother’s mother and listen to Searching for Sky, by Jillian Cantor (book review) – from island innocence to modern conflictpeople who try to teach her about money and murder and reading.

Only Ben next door listens when she wants to visit Ocean, to not be called Megan.

Are these things the people say about Helmut true -murder and kidnapping?
Where has River gone?
Can Sky find any way to be herself again?

From innocence to confusion, Sky must suddenly grow up in a world she never imagined as she grapples with terrible truths and irresistible lies. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Dissonance, by Erica O’Rourke (book review) – traveling to parallel worlds through music

Mar19

book cover of Dissonance by Erica O'Rourke published by Simon Schuster BFYREvery choice creates a parallel world.
Nothing can destroy these echo worlds.
But something is!

Del has the talent to Walk between worlds, but when an echo of popular Simon actually notices her, she ignores safety protocols and Walks from echo to echo until she finds a Simon who adores her. Then the trouble really begins!

Read chapter one here for free on the publisher’s site, find this 2014 book at your local library or independent bookstore, and look for just-published book 2 Harmonic, realizing that your choice might spin off another world…

**kmm

Book info: Dissonance (Dissonance, book 1) / Erica O’Rourke. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2014. [author site]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Following the family talent of world-walking, Del ventures far beyond what her apprenticeship allows, searching for love in the parallel worlds created by every choice and endangering our Key world with what she discovers!

Having older sister Addie supervise her final practice Walks instead of Mom or Dad or even ditzy Grandpa Monty doesn’t suit the Chicago teen, so musical Delaney explores on her own – entering the pivot where a choice split that echo away from the Key world, listening for an echo world’s specific frequency, leaving a tiny origami star in each world as a breadcrumb trail home, just in case.

When Del interacts too much with an echo, creating a dissonance in that world that the Consort of Walkers will need to erase, she saves them the trouble by doing it herself, with scary results.

Now forbidden by the Consort to Walk alone, stuck on a music class project with standoffish Simon yet aching to return to echo Simon who cares for her, Del only dares to Walk when Grandpa leaves the Key world to continue his search across echos for Grandma, an experienced Walker who never returned home.

Why can’t they just tune a dissonance instead of erasing an echo world?
Can she Walk and make a teensy change to fix something in the Key world?
Will the real Simon ever love Del?

When Del’s extracurricular Walks uncover a startling secret, the Consort of Walkers argues about the best course of action, but it may be too late to save the multiverse! First book in the Dissonance series. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Out of the Dragon’s Mouth, by Joyce Burns Zeiss (book review) – fleeing Vietnam, holding on to hope

Mar17

book cover of Out of the Dragon's Mouth by Joyce Burns Zeiss published by FluxIf the communists find them – dishonor and death.
If the soldiers search the boat for refugees – death by drowning.
If they don’t get out of the refugee camp soon – death by despair?

Mai must obey her parents when they send her with uncle Hiep to escape the Vietnamese communists, but how will a sheltered teen schoolgirl survive the terrible trip across the gulf, packed like salted fish in the creaking boat’s hold, or the primitive conditions in the refugee camp?

Read the first chapter here free, then look for this recent paperback release at the local library branch or independent bookstore nearest you.

Forty years after the US military left as Saigon fell to communist forces, so many stories need to be told and remembered.
Did Vietnamese refugees settle in your community?

**kmm

Book info: Out of the Dragon’s Mouth / Joyce Burns Zeiss. Flux Books, 2015.   [author site]  [publisher site]   Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Fleeing Vietnam after communist takeover, 14 year old Mai and her just-older uncle Hiep must survive the rough crossing to refugee camp before they have any hope of reaching their relatives in America, but living in the camp becomes an ordeal, too.

When Mai’s brother fell ill, the teen daughter of Chinese business family had to take his place with Hiep – the bribes were paid, and the Communist forces were searching too near their hiding place.

Fortunately, Small Auntie would be waiting for them at the Malaysian island camp; unfortunately, her nickname described her temper as well as her height. She demanded that Mai and Hiep pay to stay with the family in shelter of a small boat, even though the Red Cross provides food for all.

Every day, they listen for their names to be called so they may leave for their uncle’s home in America. Days turn to weeks – Small Auntie casts them out because they have no money left.

Weeks turn to months as Mai and Hiep live under a tarp tent with other young people whose parents didn’t make it to camp. Lan and her sister Ngoc teach Mai to knit – Chicago is very cold, says Uncle.  Kien of the blue eyes tells her about his American soldier father who tried to get him and his mother out of Saigon as US forces departed.

The slim gold bracelet that Mother sewed into Mai’s clothing seems to be running out, as accidents and disease touch the camp. Will Mai and Hiep ever get to America?

As the 40th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon nears, this refugee tale is both a moment in history and a reflection of realities still faced by too many. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)