Tag Archive | family

V is for her very disastrous Valentine’s Day, on repeat! THE DO-OVER, by Lynn Painter (YA book review) #A2Z

Apr25
Girl in blue van crashes back of red truck driven by boy. Second crash, he comforts her. Third crash, they stand apart. Book cover of The Do-Over, by Lynn Painter. Simon & Schuster.

Determined, organized,
people-pleaser –
now what’s all this!?

Her perfect Valentine’s Day plan gets a jolt when Emilie rear-ends her aloof lab partner’s truck, is told that her summer fellowship fell through, and sees her boyfriend kissing his ex!

This is not on her agenda at all: her divorced parents will be furious about the wreck, she needs that fellowship to pay for college, and how could Josh even do that to her?

Escaping to Grandma Max’s after more bad news from Dad, the high school junior turns in early so this horrible day can finally be over… and wakes up in her own bed on Valentine’s morning!

Her van is fine…until she rear-ends Nick’s truck again. Then she loses the fellowship again, and Josh is kissing Macy again… what is going on?

Next morning is Valentine’s Day yet again, and then the next is, too! Does the universe want her to change something to get out of this time loop?

On every repeated February 14th, she gets to know Nick a little better, but he doesn’t remember the next morning (also Feb. 14).

Different outfit, drive another route to school, talk her way back into the summer program, stop Josh from being alone with Macy, talk her way back into the summer program, convince Dad not to move – what else should she try?

Time for ultra-organized Emilie to go way off-script!

What single day would you want a do-over for?
**kmm

Book info: The Do-Over / Lynn Painter. Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers, hardcover 2022, paperback 2023. [author site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

U is THE UMBRELLA HOUSE and the stories it could tell! by Colleen Nelson (MG book review) #A2Z

Apr24
Two kids and dog entering an apartment building whose fire escapes hold many colorful umbrellas - book cover of The Umbrella House, by Colleen Nelson; Pajama Press

Young Voices video contest!
At Veracity News!
She just needs the right story to tell…

Growing up in Umbrella House with her grandmother, 12-year-old Roxy knows all about its origins as an abandoned building brought back to life by creative people who fought for the right to live there.

She and her best friend Scout love to show off the neighborhood on their EaVillKids video channel, from their umbrella-covered co-op to unique shops and restaurants to the 3-story high murals defiantly created by the mysterious Midnight Muralist some years ago. Surely Roxy’s contest entry will convince Veracity News to make a documentary about it!

Researching East Village history, Roxy finds out more about her late father (didn’t know he was such a talented artist!) and fellow residents, plus articles and photos about the murals and Umbrella House’s early days – who exactly was the Midnight Muralist?

Oh, no! A fancy real estate developer is buying up nearby properties – could he convince the city to change its rules and force the co-op owners to sell it?

Scout is being evasive about his photography portfolio – will he still have time to video and edit Roxy’s contest entry? Just three weeks till the deadline!

A tense meeting with the City Council, the whole neighborhood working together to save Umbrella House – if only the Midnight Muralist could help!

Although the secret Muralist is fictional, this book is based on the real Umbrella House‘s journey to legalizing the building as low-income co-op housing in 2010.

What stories could your home tell?
**kmm

Book info: The Umbrella House / Colleen Nelson. Pajama Press, hardcover 2023, paperback 2024. [author site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

T is TASTING LIGHT: Ten Science Fiction Stories to Rewire Your Perceptions, edited by A.R. Capetta & Wade Roush (YA book review) #A2Z

Apr23
vague human figure in spacesuit looking upward at title and author names on book cover of Tasting Light: Ten Science Fiction Stories to Rewire Your Perceptions,edited by A R Capetta and Wade Roush

What’s in our future?
Who gets to decide?
Can we change who gets to decide?

She hears a dead friend singing in the park – who selected that voice-mod to replace their own, and why?

Meeting him among the tethers holding together her small space city was electrifying – until she sensed one disintegrating.

Teens on different space habitats exchanging messages and dreams – via junk DNA in bio-sample data packets.

A robot far in the woods, observing the tiniest creatures in its soil – “I am very tired of humans desperately needing me to be something to them” (pg. 119).

Gender assumptions, body image, white entitlement, traditional knowledges, emotions and more…

Go to ten futures with William Alexander, K. Ancrum, Elizabeth Bear, A.R. Capetta, Charlotte Nicole Davis, Nasugraq Rainey Hopson, A.S. King, E.C. Myers, Junauda Petrus-Nasah, and graphic novelist Wendy Xu.

The authors were challenged to write YA fiction using classic hard Sci-Fi with “no magic, no faster-than-light travel, just real-world physics,” and they succeeded brilliantly with these stories “about young people discovering themselves and how their bravery can change the world in small or big ways” (pg x).

Check it out at your local library or independent bookstore – hardcover, eBook, and paperback.

What do you see in your future?
**kmm

Book info: Tasting Light: Ten Science Fiction Stories to Rewire Your Perceptions / edited by A.R. Capetta & Wade Roush. MITeen Press /Candlewick, hardcover 2022, paperback 2023. [A.R. site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

S is for SHE’LL BE THE SKY: POEMS BY WOMEN AND GIRLS, selected by Ella Risbridger (YA / MG book review) #A2Z

Apr22
Woman with cascading hair made of plants, water, trees, on book cover of She'll Be the Sky: Poems by Women and Girls, selected by Ella Risbridger. Nosy Crow Books.

Quick, quick!
How many women poets can you name?
Oh, there are so many more than that!

“There is a poem / scratched onto the walls of my throat / no one has heard it / but it is there” writes Kai Cheng Thorn (pg. 31) in this wonderful anthology of 100 short poems by women and girls.

The extensive introduction and afterword recount how the creative work of women and people of color has long been ignored while poems and novels by white men were readily published, leading to this collection. “It isn’t that art by boys is different from art by girls. It’s just that, all through history, we’ve simply paid it more attention. And that’s not fair, either.” (pg. 9)

Stars and cities, pets and wild horses, school time, family time, night time, celebrating common things, honoring persons of influence, worrying about the future – this anthology bring us all these themes and more, in words carefully chosen and artfully arranged and illustrated.

Jean Ayer lists “Everyday Things” in rhyming couplets, starting and ending her poem with
“Millionaires, presidents – even kings / Can’t get along without everyday things.” (pg. 108)

You’ve likely heard these lines “Tell me, what is it that you plan to do / with your one wild and precious life?” – you’ll be surprised by the rest of Mary Oliver’s poem “The Summer Day” when you read it in this or other collections.

Readers are invited to create their own anthology of poems, and the Indexes of poets, poems, and first lines can help point the way to other works by these women and girls and one non-binary person who asked that their poem be included here.

“When you see a poem you love, write it down. Copy it out. Print it off. Take a screenshot. Take a photo. Whatever. Write it down; learn it by heart. Keep it with you. Tell someone about it.” (pg. 133)

“Keep a poem in your pocket
and a picture in your head
and you’ll never feel lonely
at night when you’re in bed.” by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers (pg. 114)

Happy National Poetry Month!
Which is your favorite poem by a woman?
**kmm

Book info: She’ll Be the Sky: Poems by Women and Girls / selected by Ella Risbridger; illustrated by Anna Shepeta. Nosy Crow, 2022. [author site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

R is for reading and 101 WAYS TO READ A BOOK, by Timothee de Fombelle & Benjamin Chaud (Picturebook review) #A2Z

Apr20
book cover of 101 Ways to Read a Book, by Timothee de Fombelle; illustrated by Benjamin Chaud; translated by Karin Snelson & Angus Yuen-Killick. Red Comet Press.

What’s your favorite book-reading position?

Are you The Ostrich, with your head and your book buried under the bedcovers?

Perhaps you’re The Connoisseur who “politely declines dessert” to read instead.

Surrounded by many books on one subject, “The Specialist digs in,” while “The Desert Island is a world away” intently reading in a crowded place.

“The Pirate finds buried treasure” in the used bookshop, and “The Plunderer ransacks the stacks” of their library.

Indoors, outdoors, up a tree, under a table, all alone or cuddled together – so many wonderful ways to read a book!

Visit the book’s website here for a “What Type of Reader Are You? quiz.

Reading pose descriptions charmingly translated from French; pose illustrations are universal!

Be sure to heed this warning from the introduction: “certain featured poses should only be attempted by adults under the close supervision of a child.”

So… what is your favorite book reading position?
**kmm

Book info: 101 Ways to Read a Book / Timothee de Fombelle; illustrated by Benjamin Chaud; translated by Karin Snelson & Angus Yuen-Killick. Red Comet Press, 2023. [publisher site] Review copy, cover image, and sample page courtesy of the publisher.

"The Champion takes on the heavyweight" [small girl holding very large orange open book] "The Wisp travels light" [very tall person reading tiny orange book]

Q is QUESTIONS I WANT TO ASK YOU when I find you, Mom, by Michelle Falkoff (YA book review) #A2Z

Apr19
book cover of Questions I Want to Ask You, by Michelle Falkoff. Published by Harper Teen

What a great 18th birthday – Maddie with him at CrossFit, last day of senior year, getting ready for a beach party, then… a letter from his mom?!

She died when Pack was a baby, Dad always said. Now he updates the story: Mom just abandoned them and their small Massachusetts city, then died later of a drug overdose.

After watching true crime shows with his police detective dad for years, Pack is definitely going to dig into this mystery, asking Dad’s school buddies, checking old yearbooks, finding Mom’s sister who lives in Connecticut not far away!

Her letter says not to tell Dad she’s alive, and as Pack meets the family he never knew and hears their side of events, he begins to see why.

Kidnapping, drug raids – what really happened when Pack was a baby?

The more he investigates why Mom left, the more dangerous things get for her and for Pack! Is he ready for the consequences?

Senior year with Maddie made Pack want to stop time. But she’s going away to college; he’s iffy about more school. He’s completely committed to the Paleo diet that changed him from pudgy to fit; she says it’s okay to ease up after reaching major fitness goals. Can they survive a long-distance relationship?

Questions and more questions… check out Pack’s intriguing story at your local library or independent bookstore.

What’s the biggest question you have about your family’s past?
**kmm

Book info: Questions I Want to Ask You / Michelle Falkoff. Harper Teen, 2018. [author site] [publisher site] Personal copy won at Friends for Levine Querido auction; cover image courtesy of the publisher.

O is for OTHERWORLDLY source of sorrow and joy, by F.T. Lukens (YA Book Review) #A2Z

Apr17
book cover of Otherworldly, by F.T. Lukens, published by Margaret K McElderry Books / S&S

Bargain made with the Other World,
elixir of life sought by one brings winter for all
… forever?

Supernatural familiar Knox knows he’ll be whisked away the moment that a human-initiated contract is completed, everything about his time in this world erased, as usual. Hmmm…still no response from the queen about his reports.

After spring quit coming to their area five years ago, Ellery stopped believing in the goddess of earth (or river nymphs or gnomes or fae).

Ellery now works in the city to help their family try to keep the farm going (so much for school…sigh). Thankfully, cousin Charley and her girlfriend have a place for the 17 year old to stay – work, shiver, sleep, repeat.

When a hot young guy comes into their diner, Charley dares Ellery to talk to him. Oh, no, too shy!

They literally run into each other that evening, as Knox is fleeing the unearthly Shades trying to return him to the Other World before he’s seen more of this one!

If Knox signs another contract, he’ll regain his magic to fight the Shades and can stay in the human realm, so Ellery agrees – he’ll investigate this perpetual winter’s cause, and they’ll help him experience human life that he’s only seen on TV.

Between local sightseeing and work at the diner, the pair investigates the mystery of ever-winter (with help from Charley and Zada), trying to keep ahead the Shades, requesting assistance from supernatural beings also affected by the unnatural weather, realizing that Knox cannot resist being pulled back to the Other World when the last item on the contract is completed.

Told in alternating chapters by Knox and Ellery as they encounter dryads and pixies in the city, escape a hockey match brawl, and begin falling for one another.

Then Knox is suddenly before the Queen – what can Ellery do?

By the author of Spell Bound (I recommended it here), So This Is Ever After (more here), and In Deeper Waters (here).

What otherworldly being might inhabit your area?
**kmm

Book info: Otherworldly / F.T. Lukens. Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2024. [author site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

L is LUMINOUS LIFE OF LUCY LANDRY: orphan, treasure seeker, by Anna Rose Johnson (MG book review) #A2Z

Apr13
book cover of The Luminous Life of Lucy Landry, by Anna Rose Johnson. Published by Holiday House/PRH

Mama the actress died, then Papa,
now her guardian too –
where will Lucy go?

A remote lighthouse on a tiny island in vast Lake Superior!? Living with a family she’s never met? Thankfully, they’re also of Ojibwe and Acadian heritage…

So 11-year-old Lucy goes to the Martin family in 1912, an only child in hand-me-down clothes with a big imagination and few practical skills now among a bustling family of eight.

They gather seagulls’ eggs for cooking, their school lessons arrive every month with the household supply order and a box of books, and not one of the six children believes that Lucy’s mother was a famous actress…

Her ship-captain father told Lucy of a valuable ruby necklace lost when the Elva Jane shipwrecked and how a grand piano from its cargo washed ashore at Mermaid’s Cove across the water from this island – she’s determined to find that necklace in memory of her father!

But first she has to get over her fear of boats and convince the older Martin children to help her search and not make more mistakes at the lighthouse (that scary inspector could arrive any time).

The necklace’s owner is still living? Perhaps she knows a little more.
Who’s that boy searching for the necklace? Lucy must find it first!
A storm is coming while Mr. Martin is away? The children must light up the lighthouse for sailors’ safety!

Lucy tries to find her place in a new family in northern Michigan while keeping memories of her parents alive in this historical novel touched with mystery, glossary of Ojibwe and French words included.

Could you live on an island with little communication to the outside world?
**kmm

Book info: The Luminous Life of Lucy Landry / Anna Rose Johnson. Holiday House, 2024. [author site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

J is THE JOCKEY AND HER HORSE – yes, a Black girl should ride in races! by Sarah Maslin Nir & Raymond White Jr. (MG book review)

Apr11
Book cover of The Jockey and Her Horse, by Sarah Maslin Nir & Raymond White Jr. Published by Cameron Kids/ Abrams

To understand without words,
to work as a team of two,
horse and rider, running together with one mind!

Was the horse barn was Cheryl’s favorite place in the world, or the pasture where the queen mare ran with their herd? Only riding in races on Jetolara, the first thoroughbred she ever loved, could ever be better than growing up on their Ohio racehorse farm.

Dreaming of a better future for their children, her White mother and Black father married well before the 1964 Civil Rights Act allowed it nationwide.

Cheryl’s great-grandfather was a Black horse trainer who refused to let prejudice force him out of racing. Her father continues the business with pride and knowledge. He is sure that little brother Drew will be a winning jockey, when it’s really Cheryl who has the desire and skill.

A whiz at school, she accepts her mother’s challenge for 1971- if Cheryl aces her senior year classes, she’ll get to race on powerful filly Ace Regard to earn her jockey license!

Studying for academic quiz show tryouts and the jockey license exam, riding Jetolara and Ace in training runs, preparing to race nearby and travel far away to Senegal – can Cheryl do it all?

Listen in on the thoughts of Jetolara and Ace as they find their places in the herd and in Cheryl’s life, too.

This fictionalized story of Cheryl White, the first Black female professional jockey and winner of 750 races, was co-written by Cheryl’s little brother who held almost every job in horse racing – except jockey, because he grew too tall!

What’s your dream job and what will you do to get there?
**kmm

Book info: The Jockey and Her Horse (Once Upon a Horse, book 2) / Sarah Maslin Nir & Raymond White Jr., art by Laylie Frazier. Cameron Kids/Cameron + Company, 2023. [co-author interview] [artist page] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

I is for OUR INCREDIBLE LIBRARY BOOK and the Wonderful Journeys It Took, by Caroline Crowe & John Joseph (Picturebook review) #A2Z

Apr10
book cover of Our Incredible Library Book and the Wonderful Journeys It Took, written by Caroline Cooke, illustrated by John Joseph. Published by Floris Books

“Ready, Set, Library!” for National Library Week (7-13 April 2024)!

Welcome to the children’s area of a public library, filled with kids and books and parents from every part of the community.

So many books to choose from! Beyond the story told by author and illustrator in each book is “the tale of the journey it’s been on as well…”

Let’s follow a picture book from the New Books display to Nia’s house, where she read it over and over, even while her cocoa got cold (and left a little ring on a page).

Returned to the library, the book is borrowed by Luis – the first book he can read all by himself! He reads it to Abuela and even Ana while she’s in the tub (just a little bubble bath splashes onto a page).

And on and on this incredible library book travels through town in bouncy rhymes as young readers nudge sleepy cats off it (pawprints), read it to ducks in the park (muddy fingerprints), use it as a bridge for toy trucks after reading together, and as a shield in the rain. Each encounter leaves a mark on its pages or cover, showing how much this book is loved and shared.

Readers can see themselves and families like theirs in this book – kids with glasses, kids with missing front teeth, wheelchair users, moms in hijab, single dads, families of many ethnicities – as they are reminded that we can enjoy books in many places, as solo readers or with others.

What stories could your favorite book tell of its travels?
**kmm

Book info: Our Incredible Library Book and the Wonderful Journeys It Took / written by Caroline Cooke, illustrated by John Joseph. Floris Books, UK 2022, USA 2023. [illustrator site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.